"Natasha, what's your status?" Steve asks, hearing no response. "Status, Natasha?" He urges.
"Hang on!" She shouts, before leaping into action to take out multiple men. "Engine room secure." She finally reports after knocking out the last man.
"On my mark. Three, two, one." Steve orders. The strike team charges into action, busting down the door and shooting the pirates to get to the hostages.
"Allô? Je pense que la ligne est morte. J'ai perdu le contact. (Hello? Batroc, the line is dead. I lost contact with them.)" a pirate says, just then Steve throws his shield through the glass but Batroc escapes. Steve jumps into the room through the now broken window only to find Batroc running through the door.
"Hostages en route to extraction. Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play." Rumlow spoke.
"Natasha, y/n, Batroc's on the move. Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages." Steve instructed as he searched the deck.
"Roger that" you reply, rushing off to follow orders. He earns no reply from the spy as her line has gone silent.
"Natasha!" He tries again but is ambushed by Batroc leaping toward him. He raises the shield to protect himself. They fight on the main deck, Batroc leaping towards Steve and Steve rolling out of the way. He used the shield to knock the pirate back, only earning a rebound from the pirate as he jumped to his feet once more.
"How's it going there Steve?"
"Just focus on keeping the hostages safe" your friend ordered as he continued to fight.
"You heard the man, let's get them out of here" you repeat back to the strike team, leading the hostage rescue. "Steve? What was that?" You call through coms as an explosion goes off on the ship, minutes later.
"Okay. That one's on me." Natasha sighs through coms.
"You're damn right." Steve seemed angered.
"Hey are you two alright?" You worry as your friends meet up with the rest of the team.
"Did you know about Natashas mission?"
"Yeah, rescue the hostages and secure the engine room" you repeat his earlier directions. He just sighs before storming off with anger.
"He just a grumpy old man" Nat waves off his behaviour.
"He's my friend and I'm just as old as him" you argue, going to follow him.
~~~
"What do you think about going on a trip?" Steve asked as you rushed to catch up with him on his way from talking to Fury at the Triskelion.
"I take it your talk with Fury didn't go well. Where are we going?" You questioned the man, having to walk slightly faster to keep up with his pace.
"I heard they have a pretty interesting exhibit at the Smithsonian on this guy named captain America, he was a war hero or something"
"Oh yeah I heard about that guy" you laugh as he shoves you playfully. "Oh come on" you chase after him again.
"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice." A narrator reads out over the speakers in the museum. Steve wore a baseball cap over his head to keep his identity secret and so did you, after much protest on how a hat won't do much to cover your identity's, especially when your faces are all over the walls of the exhibition.
"Woah, Steve look" you point at the large painting of him next to the American flag. He simply smiles and nods as you continue through the exhibition, like a kid in a candy store.
"Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier."
You notice a young boy wearing a captain America shield shirt staring at the pair of super soldiers in front of him. You give him a small wave as Steve raises his finger to his lips with a smile drawn on them. The boy keeps quiet and nods before moving to find his parents.
"In this rare footage, everyone's favorite war hero, Captain America..." you start to watch a video until Steve walks away silently. You look to where he is going to find his suit and yours along with the howling commandos, standing on mannequins for the people to see.
"Would you look at that?" you join him.
"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division." The narration continues. You turn and freeze, seeing Bucky's face staring back at you from a photo. You sigh as Steve joins you and places a comforting arm over your shoulders.
"You okay?" He looks down at you.
"Yeah, I'm okay"
"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes, y/n y/l/n and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country."
"What's this? Y/n y/l/n and Peggy Carter discuss Steve Rodgers" Steve reads off a sign as you groan, remembering the interview that Peggy made you do with her.
"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line." Peggy started to answer the questions first.
"Captain Rogers, he lead us to fight our way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. Everyone else thought he was crazy for his ideas and plans but I would have followed him anywhere" you tell the interviewer.
"He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would-who would become my husband as it turned out." Peggy smiled down at her wedding ring.
"Can we please go?" You begged your friend who continued to watch with a smirk.
"I hate you" you cross your arms across your chest with a pout.
~~~
"What is it?" You look to your friend as you walk out of the museum.
"For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders, serve. It's just not the same."
"You're always so dramatic." You laugh at him. "Look, you saved the world." You remind him. "The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over." You tell him with honesty.
"I guess your right"
"You know, sometimes I still can't believe you came back."
"Well I couldn't leave my best friend alone" he smiles sadly to you. "I got one more place in mind before we head home" Steve tells you.
"Do I get to know where?"
"Nope"
"The thing is I think it's getting worse. A cop pulled me over last week, he thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag, I thought it was an IED." a woman speaks as you and Steve enter a building.
"Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back. It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase or in a little man-purse? It's up to you." Sam from earlier tells the group of veterans in front of him as you and Steve watch from the sides.
~~~
"I'll see you next week." The woman waves as the meeting is finished.
"Yeah." Sam smiled politely before joining you and Steve off to the side.
"Look who it is. The running man and his partner miss speedy" Wilson greets you both.
"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense." You tell him.
"Yeah, man, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret."
"You lose someone?" Steve asks, hitting a hard spot for you.
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Question of the day: what's your favourite version of Sam Wilson (winter soldier, Colvin war, TFATWS, etc)?