When Steve told me he needed to go somewhere to clear his mind before we visited Peggy, I expected one of the quieter monuments of the DC area, right by the river.
I definitely did not expect the two of us to pull up next to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and walk into their busiest exhibit.
His exhibit to be precise.
Steve adjusted his hat as we walked in together, making sure no one recognized him.
I walked through security and I followed him through to the Captain America part of the building. He seemed almost conflicted to walk in. Thankfully, since I had made myself look like I'm 24, no one questioned it when I put a hand on his shoulder.
"You, aren't alone in this Steve," I smile reassuringly at him. I hold on to the side of his arm as we walk in, looking around at who DC decided to honor his time in World War Two. But to be honest, I was literally just surprised that my arm fits around his very nice bisep.....okay continuing away from that.
A speaker blares overhead, spelling out Steve's story word by word.
" A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery, and sacrifice. 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."
That's when I hear a gasp next to me and see a little boy with a Captain America shirt, awestruck at the man next to me.
"Steve, " I whisper in his ear. "I think your cover's been blown."
He turns towards the boy, and smiles, putting a finger on his lips to motion him to stay quiet.
The little boy nods, still awestruck.
The two of us walk by some of Steve's older stuff including one of his motorcycles from the war.
"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division."
We then keep walking past mannequins of the Howling Commandos, each wearing their uniforms to a section that I almost didn't notice.
"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both school yard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling commando to give his life in service of his country."
"He must have been a great person," I say and Steve smiles.
"He was a stupid punk like the rest of the team." He replies and I notice something on the exhibit.
"Well, apparently he's a stupid punk who was born in two different years," I say. Steve looks up at the panel confused and lets out a sad laugh. "Yeah, that better get changed. Come on, I think we're almost done."
Steve steers us into a theater and we sit down as the film rolls. Peggy Carter's face comes up on the screen and I feel Steve tense beside me.
"Steve we can go if you-" I start.
"No, I'll be fine." He cuts me off.
"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. Steve...Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would...who would become my husband as it turned out. Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life."
I noticed Steve looking down at his hands that hold the famous compass with Peggy's picture in it. And that's when I know he's had enough. "Steve, come on. Let's go. I think you've had enough for one day."
Steve vaguely nods and I pull him up and walk out of there to our motorcycles, not ever saying a word.
------- Half an hour later ------
"Knock knock?" I say once I get to Peggy's room. "It's Lexi."
"Come in, come in. I would get the door for you dear but I'm not exactly the most energetic person I've ever been." Peggys says from her bed. I smile and walk in the room, opening up the dark curtains and letting sunlight filter through the window.
"How was your weekend?" I ask her.
"Quite uneventful, but my niece did come and visit for a little while." She replies.
"That sounds lovely Peggy," I smile back at her. I refill her water glass and hand it to her.
"Lexi, what are you thinking?" She asks, catching me off guard.
"Huh?" I say and Peggy smiles.
"Alexis, dear I've been alive long enough to know when a girl has that look on her face, she's hiding something."
"Fine," I smile, "You got me. I ended up pulling together a surprise for you." I walk over to the door and stick my head out, motioning for Steve to get up from those ungodly chairs and come in. "That's your cue, Cap."
"Steve?" Peggy exclaims. "Is that really you?"
"Hey Peg," Steve smiles sadly. I look between the two of them and smile. "I'll give you guys some space." I go to finish up my duties, visiting a few other retired SHIELD agent's rooms and making sure they were comfortable, before sitting back down outside Peggy's room, listening quietly to the conversation.
"You should be proud of yourself, Peggy," Steve says.
"Mm. I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours." Peggy replies. "What is it?"
"For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right." Steve states. "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."
I hear Peggy chuckle and I let out a smile. "You're always so dramatic. Look, you saved the world. We rather...mucked it up."
"You didn't." Steve consoles. "Knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stay."
"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." She says before she starts coughing.
"Peggy?"
It's a little while before she speaks again. "Steve?"
"Yeah."
"You're alive! You...you came, you came back." She marvels as a tear slides down my face. The doctors say her relapses are getting worse. Agent 13 told me she only has about a year to two left. I tune out the rest of the conversation and quickly wipe the tears away before I start crying hard.
After a little while, Steve walks out and without any words, we make eye contact and walk out. I guess that's the thing with moments like this. There's almost so much going on, words aren't even necessary anymore.
"You want to pay a friend a visit?" Steve asks.
I smirk and raise an eyebrow. "Why not."
We drive our motorcycles to the VA that Sam described and walk into the hospital and we stop by the front desk.
Steve gives a small smile at the lady at the front desk who looks up at us but then does a double take of the man standing in front of her.
"Hey, we were looking for Sam Wilson. You have any idea where we might find him?" Steve asks.
"Uhh...........wow, you're......yeah! I think he's giving his seminar right now." She stutters. "T-Take the hallway down and it's the big room on the right."
"Thank you," He smiles before motioning for me to go first. "Ladies first?"
"Thank you," I say to the woman before walking down the hallway. "And thank you!" I say to Steve, smiling. We walk down the hallway and end up at the doorway of Sam's little talk, so we wait and listen.
"The thing is I think it's getting worse." One woman said. "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."
Sam nods sadly. "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 concludes this session and says goodbye to all of the vets before approaching us.
"I'll see you next week." The woman who was speaking says.
"Yeah," Sam smiles as she walks by us.
"Look who it is. The running man." Sam laughs before looking at me. "And you might you be?"
"Aww, you don't remember me, Sam?" I joke, knowing that I still look like I'm 24. "That makes me feel kinda blue. You know?"
Sam looks confused for a minute before his eyebrows go up and he recognizes me. "Blue?! I mean Lexi?!"He questions, looking between Cap and me for confirmation. When we both nod and laugh he shakes his head. "Dang girl. That's....well that's quite the trick you got going on there."
"You should have seen my reaction to it," Steve groans. "But yeah, we decided to stop by. Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense."
"Yeah, brother," Sam says. "We all got the same problems. Guilt, regret."
"You lose someone over there?" I ask.
"My wingman, Riley. Flying in the night mission. A standard rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before, till an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch."
"I'm sorry," Steve says.
"I know that feeling," I say, remembering my mom and everyone who died at Camp.
"After that, I had really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?" Sam says.
"But you're happy now, back in the world?" Steve asks.
"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero," Sam smiles. "So, hell, yeah. You thinking about getting out?"
"No. I don't know." Steve shrugs. "To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did."
"Ultimate fighting?" Sam, suggests and Steve and I laugh.
"That's always an option," I say.
"It's just a great idea off the top of my head," Sam laughs. "But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"
"I don't know." Steve answers.
"Then I guess it's time to figure that out," I say I look over at Sam and he shrugs.
"I got nothing better to do. You guys want to catch dinner?" He asks.
Steve looks like he's about to say no when I cut him off. "We'd love too."
Then he gives me a look. "What? Even Captain America needs to get out of the apartment every once in a while. Plus I think something bad is about to go down. So I think we could use a night like this."
"Alright." He concedes, shaking his head and smiling.
"Sweet, there's this really good pizza place down the road from here," Sam says.
"Is that so? Doubt it beats the ones that I had in Brooklyn." Steve jokes and I laugh.
"Oh really? We'll see about that." Sam challenges.
Hey guys!! Sorry for the late update!! I've been having a lot of stuff to get done at home so I'm updating at the first chance I have.
And now, things are gonna get more action packed so I'll see you guys in the next part! Vote and comment if you liked this part and follow me if you haven't already.
Shoot straight!
StraightOuttaArrows