His Angel

A Trip to the Past

Angelina

"Did you know?" Steve questioned as we walked through the SHIELD headquarters.

"Know what?" I asked innocently.

He frowned in annoyance.

"About Project Insight," he answered.

"Yes."

"And do you approve of it?"

"Steve would I ever approve of something like this? Breathing down the necks of every person in the world with a gun pressed to their back," I asked sharply giving him a look.

He ducked his head nodding. We continued walking in silence. I stopped walking when I reached the changing area for females. Steve stopped as well, a sort of lost look on his face.

"Hey," I said softly putting a hand on his arm, "Why don't we go back to when times were simpler?"

He looked a little surprised at my proposition.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" he asked.

I took a shaky breath remembering the other times I'd tried to step back into that museum. They never ended well. Slowly I nodded.

"I can do it," I promised, "I've been doing a lot better lately remember?"

"Yeah, but that's because we've removed all potential triggers. You'll be surrounded by them now," he continued concernedly.

"Steve, I'll be fine. Meet me at the garage in half an hour," I said waving off his concern.

He still didn't look sure but left it at that. I showered, put away my suit, and changed into street clothes. For me, things were easier. Steve was more well known than I, so I didn't have to hide as much as he did. However, there was apparently a new exhibit added that talks about the Guardian Angel so I had to be careful. We took our motorcycles to the Smithsonian since it was the fastest way.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked as we stepped inside.

"I'll be fine," I reassured him as I looked around.

Everywhere you looked were advertisements for the Captain America exhibit. We faded into the crowd and walked around the museum. I noticed a little boy staring at us. His eyes were wide with recognition. Steve held up a finger to his lips with a small smile. The boy nodded smiling back at him. I chuckled walking over to an area dedicated to the pre-serum version of Steve.

"Oh look how shrimpy you looked," I teased pointing to the picture.

"Ha ha," he rolled his eyes and headed off in a different direction.

"He's not shrimpy!"

I turned to see two teenage girls standing beside me.

"I think he looks adorable," the taller brunette commented with a dopey smile on her face.

"Post-serum is better in my opinion," the other who had curly red hair replied.

"I think I'll have to agree with you on that," I chuckled, "Though pre-serum is pretty adorable."

Both girls nodded laughing.

"But the real eye-candy was his friend," the redhead stated walking over to a large glass display.

I followed her a little confused. Then I saw who the display was about. A small video played in front of it, but I ignored it completely as a pair of sharp, daring eyes stared back at me.

"He's hot, am I right?" the girl chuckled.

Her face dropped though when she saw that I was staring at the picture. This hadn't been here the first time. I know that for sure. I never got past the pre-serum stuff any of the other times.

"You know you look kinda familiar," her friend said suddenly drawing my attention back to them.

"I guess I just have that kinda face," I mumbled as the once dull ache in my chest expanded painfully.

"It's her eyes!" the redhead cried grabbing my hand.

She dragged me through the museum with her friend on her heels. I tried to stop her or at least slow her down but man this kid was strong. Not to mention, I didn't want to hurt her or cause a big scene. She skidded to a stop in front of a whole new display. An elderly lady stood in front of it watching an informative video.

"Grandma check it out, this lady has the same eyes as the Guardian Angel!" the girl cried excitedly.

The woman turned around slowly. As my eyes met hers, her jaw dropped. Mine did as well as I recognized her.

"Trina?" I breathed in disbelief.

"Angelina?" she gasped, "Is it- is it really you?"

I nodded and she hugged me tightly. I hugged her back unable to believe it. She was still alive after all these years. I still had someone left.

"Wait...Angelina? As in Angelina Rogers, the Guardian Angel?" the brunette girl questioned with a wide eyes look.

"How did you know that I was..." I trailed off as I looked around us.

Massive pictures of me were everywhere. Some were from the Academy, some from my first years in the army, and some from when I was apart of the Howling Commandos. I gasped pulling away from Trina to look at everything. There was one picture that caught my eye. It was of me and Bucky. His arms were around my waist and he had a ridiculously goofy smile on his face. Meanwhile I was scolding him for some reason. The picture beside it was the two of us in the rain the first night he arrived at the 107th. There was one last picture of the two of us.

We were standing with the other Howling Commandos but it seemed as if the two of us were in our own little world. He was looking down at me and I was looking back up at him. Both of us were smiling at each other. You could practically feel the love emanating from the two of us. I felt Trina's hand on my shoulder. I glanced over to the two girls were looking at the pictures curiously.

"Even though they were in a very dangerous position both being apart of the elite strike team called the Howling Commandos, Angelina and James' love held strong and proved itself pure as gold," the brunette read aloud, "Together they tackled countless missions alongside Steve Rogers. Many of the other Commandos and soldiers recalled the times when the couple would flirt over the radios and publically display their affection. It was discovered soon after the death of James that he had been planning to..."

She gasped and looked at me. I frowned wondering why she'd stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"Maybe it's best you don't know," Trina answered slowly trying to pull me away from the exhibit.

"Know what?" I asked confused, "What was James supposedly planning?"

I pulled my arm out of her frail grasp and turned back to the exhibit. My eyes scanned over the words looking for where she'd left off. 'discovered soon after the death of James that he had been planning to propose'. I froze. What? I reread the sentence a few times. My breathing picked up as I felt an all too familiar lump form in my throat.

"Angelina?"

Trina's voice sounded distant and warped. I blinked harshly trying to fight back tears. A yellowed piece of paper caught my eye. It was stained with what looked like wine but the writing was still legible.

To the most beautiful girl in the world,

I know it's been rough these past few years trying to take out Hydra, but now it's all over. We can settle down now and never have to worry about them again. It'll be just the two of us. I've loved you since the day of the Starlight Picnic. I've never told you that before but it's true. You have no idea how hard it's been keeping this secret from you. I've waited years and years for this day to come. I nearly had a heart attack when you said you wanted to join the army. And then you applied for the Academy which just made things worse. After that you kissed me to say goodbye and damn I couldn't think straight for weeks. You have no idea the joy I felt finding out we were in the same unit. It was the greatest news I'd ever heard. But when Hydra took me, I was scared I'd never see you again. Yet, you had it all under control. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that this mission is going to be my last. Your last too, I hope. I can't promise you we'll live forever, my Angel, but I can promise you my love will never die. In other words, Angelina will you marry me?

My vision blurred until I couldn't make sense of anything. My throat burned as I stood there letting the tears run down my face. I could feel Trina hugging me but otherwise I was numb.

"Yes," I mumbled through my tears, "Yes, Bucky, yes..."