Purpose (Steve Rogers + y/n)

Chapter 5

Steve parked his motorcycle and pushed his kickstand down. I let go of his waist and let him get off. He turned and helped unstrap his shield from my back.

I was always glad to get to hold it while he drove. 

I jumped off and grabbed his outstretched hand dragging him behind me. I pulled him along with me and presented our passes to the employee. She put a thin wristband on each of us and let us go in. Each wristband was only about the width of my pinky so I was easily able to collect them on my wrist.

"You have like a billion of those now." Steve laughed, pushing up my sleeves and looking at all my wristbands. "Why don't you cut them off?"

I really only had six on each wrist, all twelve of them were a dull red color. "I like them. They remind me of all the different things you've told me while we were here." I smiled and started to make my way through all the familiar exhibits.

I didn't tell Steve I had written each of the memories he had told me on the thin wristband. When he told me about Bucky, I had written 'Sergeant Bucky Barnes' on my wristband in morse code. He had told me about his mother and I had the name Sarah with a heart on one of the wristbands. Each of them had an important aspect of past Steve written on them.

Steve took the lead and led me to our favorite spot. Before we entered, Steve took his hat off and placed it on my head so no one would recognize me. I couldn't see due to how big it was on me. Steve saw this and adjusted the back so it would fit.

I looked up over the brim and smiled. Steve pushed the brim down again and smirked.

As we entered, the first thing we saw was a sign that said, 'Welcome Back, Cap!' I squeezed his hand and kept walking.

We watched as kids measured themselves with pre-serum Steve and then with his post height. One girl gasped when she saw the taller Steve. I laughed and looked over to see Steve smiling. A little boy made eye contact with Steve. His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide. Steve held a finger up to his lips to tell the boy not to tell anyone. I smiled and followed after Steve.

One vendor offered me a Captain America shirt and Steve had to drag me away so I wouldn't buy one. I had dozens of them in my closet from past trips. Steve didn't see that I had already bought an America themed bracelet.

"Everyone's favorite war hero, Captain America!" A video played, I stopped and watched the younger Steve leading the army. Steve stood by me and sighed.

"Come on. I want to show you something." He said, leading me away.

He quickly led me to the howling commando's uniforms. I leaned on the glass railing and studied his old shield.

"Bit of an upgrade." I laughed at the weak metal he had to use in the first shield.

"Just a bit." He laughed, looking at all the uniforms. "It was one of my props from my theater days." Steve laughed, looking down at me before growing serious. He looked back at the other soldier's uniforms.

"They were my best friends. They were my family." Steve said, holding my hand.

"They would have followed me anywhere, and they did," He recalled. "Each of those men were some of the best people I had met." He said, telling me each of their names. He saved Bucky's for last before looking down and saying his name quietly.

We stayed for a moment as he recalled dumb things each of the Howling Commandos had done. We both laughed and smiled at the memories, before making  our way past Bucky's section of the museum over to the movie theater. Steve and I had watched this film hundreds of times but each time I learned something new.

Steve's Pov:

Peggy came on during the film.

"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line." I looked over and Y/n was watching intently. She was taking in everything Peggy was saying. She thoughtlessly played with the wristbands she had on her wrists. I grabbed her hand to stop her and saw the code that had been written on them for the first time.

"Sergeant Bucky Barnes"

"Abraham Erskine (Made serum)"

"Bucky teased Steve all the time"

"Steve can draw! :)"

"Steve use to 'beat up' bullies (Bucky saved him)"

"Newspaper in shoes"

"Joseph Rogers served in the 1st Battalion"

I spun one around and read it.

"Sarah Rogers <3"

Tears threatened to spill as I realized she had written down all of the memories I had told her. I squeezed her hand and looked up at the film. I saw Peggy and looked back at Y/n.

For the first time, I could confidently say I was happy that I had been frozen on that ship. I had already admitted I was in love with Y/n but now I realized I didn't miss my old life. I was perfectly content here.

As the film ended, I led Y/n out and started to walk to the exit. Y/n seemed especially quiet all of the sudden. I looked over and saw she was deep in thought. Suddenly, she looked up and blurted out something that shocked me.

"I found Peggy."

I stayed silent for a moment before answering.

"What?"

"I researched into Shields files and found Peggy. She's not doing very well and I think you should go see her." Y/n said, stopping to look up at an airplane above us. I just looked at her in shock.

"She's..."
"Yeah! I didn't want to get your hopes up so I didn't tell you in case she wasn't alive." Y/n continued, looking over at me. I pulled her into a hug and let out a small laugh. Y/n squeezed me back. She grabbed my face in her hands and kissed my nose. She looked hesitant for some reason.

"Go. She's expecting you. I'll catch a taxi home." Y/n continued, smiling happily at her surprise. She still had a bit of hesitation in her voice. 

~~~