For The Love Of A Captain Book 2

Day Trip

When we got back to our apartment, Steve went to go take a shower. I sat down on the couch and sifted through the mail. All of a sudden my phone pinged with a message. I looked down to see that it was from Sam.

S-Thought I'd let you know, there is a new exhibit down at the Smithsonian that Steve might find interesting. You should take him.

A- Thanks. Anything I should know about it in case he has questions?

S- Just be sure he wears some sort of disguise while you're there. You don't want him recognized there, trust me.

A- Thanks Sam. I'll tell him.

Just then I heard the bedroom door open and Steve stepped out drying his hair on a towel. He only had a towel wrapped around his waist but I could see he was still upset.

"Hey," I said, turning to look at him better. "How was your shower?"

"It was good. I feel a lot better now," he said.

"Sam just texted me. He said that there is a new exhibit down at the Smithsonian that he thought you might like to check out. What do you think? We could go get some lunch and then check it out?" I asked. He smiled suddenly.

"Yeah that sounds great. Did he say anything about the exhibit itself?" Steve asked, walking back into the bedroom to get dressed.

"Not really he just said, you might want to have some sort of disguise so that you weren't recognized. He said that you wouldn't want to be recognized there," I called.

"What the hell does that mean?" He asked coming back out where jeans and a blue shirt with his leather jacket over it. I stood up and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist.

"I don't know, but if you are still interested, I'd say let's go so that we can get home before it gets too late," I said, looking up at him. He looked around and let go of me long enough to pick up a ball cap that was sitting on a shelf. He put it on and turned to look at me.

"What do you think?" he asked. I laughed.

"Oh yes, you are very well disguised now. No one will know its you," i replied chuckling. He rolled his eyes and gathered me in his arms again. 

"As long as you know who I am, I'm fine with that," he said softly, leaning down to kiss me. He held me for another minute before pulling back and smiling at me. "Alright, let's go. Off to the Smithsonian to see this mystery exhibit that Sam was talking about."

***********************************************************************************************

"You know, I think the ball cap look works for you," I commented, looking at Steve as we parked his bike and prepared to go into the museum. He turned to look at me smirking.

"Oh really? And why is that?" he asked, wrapping me in his arms. 

"I'm not sure, I just like the look," I replied looking up at him. "Although you know if you grew out your hair and beard, that would be a better disguise and would look even better." He laughed and shook his head. I pulled away and put my own ball cap on, pulling my ponytail through the gap on the back and putting on a pair of fake glasses. We had decided that it was best that we both try to be as inconspicuous as possible, seeing as just about everyone knew about the Avengers and the battle of New York. I adjusted my glasses and saw Steve giving me a look.

"What?" I asked, freezing.

"I never thought that you could look so amazing in glasses. I'm kind of liking the nerdy librarian look," he replied chuckling. I fake gasped at him.

"My goodness captain Rogers! I didn't know you were into that sort of thing," I teased. He laughed again, taking my hand and walking toward the museum. "I prefer my contacts. They are easier especially when I'm on missions. Maybe I will get a pair of glasses to wear around the house though, if you'd like." He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer.

"You do that and I may never let you out of the bedroom," he whispered in my ear, making me shiver slightly. He chuckled again and we walked inside. I stepped up to the ticket counter to pay for our admission and Steve hung back a little bit. He was still worried about being recognized.

"Are you here to check out our new exhibit?" the lady behind the counter asked.

"Yes, my boyfriend and I were told by a friend about it," I replied.

"I'm a huge fan of Captain America, so when they put an exhibit about him in the museum, I almost lost my mind," she gushed. I froze. 

"I'm sorry. The new exhibit is about Captain America?" I asked, suddenly nervous. 

"Oh yes, did your friend not tell you? It's all about his past before he woke up a few years ago. I heard that they tried to reach out to him about the exhibit but never heard anything back from him. I can imagine it would probably be hard for him to see it, poor thing," she said sounding sympathetic. I could feel Steve's eyes on me and I knew he could tell something was wrong with me but he kept his distance. I was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea.

"Yeah, I can't imagine," I muttered, still slightly in shock. I thanked her and walked back over to Steve. "I think we should just go," I muttered to him.

"What? Why?" he asked, sounding concerned. "Are you ok?" 

"Sam didn't explain what this new exhibit was about and I don't think you are going to be particularly happy about it," I replied, unable to look at him.

"Sweetheart?" he asked, putting a finger under my chin to lift my face to look at him. I could tell he could see the worry in my eyes. "Did the lady over there say something to you?"

"The new exhibit...it's...oh Steve, I'm sorry...I shouldn't have brought you here," I whispered. "The new exhibit is all about the past of Captain America." He froze, shock registering on his face. He didn't speak for a minute, he just stared into my eyes.

"They tried to get me to talk about the possibility of an exhibit about my past, but I didn't want to put everything out there at that time. I guess they went ahead and did it without me," he whispered sadly. 

"Do you want to leave?" I asked, taking his hand. He used the other hand to rub the back of his neck. After a minute he spoke.

"No. Let's go see it. I want to see how well they did with it," he replied quietly. He gave me a quick hug and took my hand again as we began to walk. I was worried. I didn't know what seeing all of this was going to do to him. At least he had me and didn't have to do this alone. We hadn't walked for long when we saw a huge sign with his name on it and banners with pictures of him in his suit. We stood at the entrance of the exhibit for a few minutes, Steve staring up at the images of himself. I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb not even able to imagine what was going through his mind. I knew that this was going to be difficult. Steve had no problem talking with me about his life before the ice, but seeing it was going to be a whole other challenge. After a few minutes, he looked over at me and smiled sadly. I guess that was his way of saying that we should keep going. I was worried but hopeful as we walked into the exhibit.