Enemy Lines (Steve Rogers) - 2

2

Steve could feel Mo's anxieties ripple through his body, just by the way she was clinging to his arm as he led her through DC, both of them incognito. She'd taken to throwing on some skinny jeans and hoodie, head hung so as no one would recognise her. Steve himself was wearing just a baseball cap but could get away with it. He'd been to the Smithsonian so many times that he'd just learnt how to blend in.

"Hey, it's okay." He leant down and assured her as they approached the steps that led up to the building.

"You still haven't told me where we're going..." Mo replied quietly, afraid that her accent would just give the game away. That was the last thing that she wanted, for them to be recognised. 

She'd barely been outside since she'd woken up and the comfort of Steve's apartment was the only thing that she knew. It wasn't quiet, but it wasn't loud either. The sounds of DC were amplified now she was out in the open. The traffic, tall buildings and many many people making her nerves rise. To make matters worse, Steve hadn't told her where he was taking her.

The Smithsonian wasn't far from their apartment block and he now kept a firm hold of her hand as he led her inside. Tourists were not milling about just yet as the exhibition had only just opened, but no doubt that within the hour it would be heaving like it usually was.
Unfortunately his life and work, as well as his ultimate return were laid bare for everyone to learn of. Well...not all of his life. He'd kept the personal parts personal.

"If you don't think you're special or a hero? Then how come people come here every day to see this?" He asked and gestured to the section of the exhibition in front of them that he'd guided her to.

Mo stood there for a moment. The pictures of the woman who stared back at her were her.

AMERICA'S SWEETHEART: CAPTAIN BRITAIN

She read the title and then the information underneath, taking in the footage on screen of her back in the war, her life, what happened to her – the crash that had claimed her life...

"But...I didn't do anything?" She told Steve quietly as she turned to him. 

All she'd done was fly a plane and fell in love in her view. Why she was being celebrated was somewhat of a mystery, but people had fallen love with their story just as much as she'd fallen for Steve himself.

Settling herself on the bench behind them, she simply stared at the exhibit, some of her things were there. Her pilots logbook, even a replica of the plane was around the corner. Peggy and the Carter family had donated photographs.

"Captain Britain...who the hell called me that?" She questioned, never having been addressed as that by anybody back then.

"Dugan of course, we were both long gone by then." Steve admitted, only knowing that it was him from an interview he'd done some years later on an anniversary of Steve's death.

"That doesn't surprise me." Mo smiled weakly. 

Everything about Steve and his time before and during the war was all here. The Howling Commandos, Bucky, herself. His whole life on show for all to learn about. Even after his death he was still a symbol of the war, and celebrated because of it. Small boys wanted to grow up to be him, merchandise was still sold.

"I can't be that though...I don't want to be that." She admitted. "I may have super solider abilities, but I'm not a hero - I just want a normal life." 

Whatever was classed as normal anymore. Mo knew that she was anything but that, especially now. She would just have to try and make the best of it. Every day she was learning something new about modern technology, trying to fall into the role of being a housewife, just like her mother had wanted for her before the war. Women these days worked all kinds of jobs, something that she was happy to see. However the sexism was still present - not as much as it had been back then, but a woman's role in society had become more accepted.

"And no one is expecting you to do anymore duty that you already have - least of all me. You've been enhanced, but you won't be pushed into becoming what I have. I joined the Avengers because there was a threat, and I wanted to do the right thing. I still wanted to protect people." Steve told her. "But you? Lizzie, You can do anything you want."

Mo rested her head on his shoulder. "All I want is to make you happy. That's enough for me."

"You are already doing that." He reminded her.

"Even though I can't work the coffee machine after you've shown me loads of times how to?"

Steve chuckled. "Even that." 

There was still a lot for her to learn and get used to. Unfortunately, he knew that she wasn't the most patient of people and became very stressed, by not knowing how to navigate the new world she was in, very easily. 

"We tried so hard to keep it from everyone." She smiled at the film footage of them pondering over some maps before it switched to them walking together and laughing at something. Mo hadn't even realised at the time that people were documenting Captain America's every move, and ultimately her own too. As she looked at it, it was obvious that they carried a torch for one another. 

"We didn't do too much of a good job did we?" 

Mo laughed lightly and shook her head. "Things seemed to be so much easier back then...but? So much has changed that, I just feel suffocated by it all." 

"There's something else..." Steve now said, figuring that perhaps it was the best time to tell her. "Another place that I want to take you to." 

"Are you going to tell me where this time?" 

He shook his head. "No, but you're gonna like it better. I promise you that." Looking around and seeing a large group of tourists now coming into the area being led by their guide and Mo's expression turn to one of caution. "You wanna go?" 

"Please..." Her voice shook a little. 

He took her arm, and guided her out, avoiding the most pedestrianised areas until they arrived back at their apartment. "Wait here, I'll get the car." 

"Steve..." Her voice was a little panicked at the thought of him just leaving her there. 

"It's ok, i'll only be a few moments." 

She nodded quickly and turned away from the street so as to not make eye contact with anyone who passed, head hung under the hood of the hoodie in an attempt to not be recognised. "Come on, come on..." She muttered to herself, fingers twisting and fiddling with one another anxiously.  

After what had been just a few minutes, but had felt like forever in Mo's opinion, Steve brought the car around and she got in hurriedly, feeling the relief of being back safely with him.   

His hand rested on her knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I promise that you'll like this place. No crowds, no people. Just peace and quiet.

And soon, just the two of them. Like it was always meant to have been.