Trust Me (Steve Rogers Fanfiction)

Chapter 32

AMERICA'S POV

I open my eyes slowly. No nightmares. I forgot what a good night's sleep felt like. It's been so long. Steve's strong arms are still wrapped around me protectively. I've spent so much of my life running scared. Maybe security isn't a place. Maybe it's a person.

"Hey," he mumbles, smiling a bit but still completely out of it. Did he even sleep at all?

I smile. He's still in his uniform, still dirty from battle. And yet he's just as beautiful as ever. The clock reads ten in the morning, but I don't really have a desire to move.

"Hi there." I run my fingers through his hair. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he replies. He sits up. "Are you?"

"I am now."

"No nightmares?" He asks.

"No nightmares," I confirm, nodding.

"What time is it?"

"A little past ten."

"I feel lazy," he mutters, rubbing his eyes. I lean over and give him a kiss on the forehead. "And exhausted."

"You deserve a nap. Why don't you go take a shower and I'll make some coffee?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Can I trust you alone in the kitchen?"

"I'll manage, wise guy." I jokingly punch him in the arm.

"All right." He heads to the bathroom, and I turn the coffee pot on. I at least can do that without burning the kitchen down. After that, I settle down onto the couch with a physics book, but I pause when a faint sound comes out of the bathroom.

I giggle when I realize it's Steve singing. I press my ear to the door to listen more closely.

"If you should ever leave me, though life would still go on, believe me, the world could show nothing to me. So what good would living do me? God only knows what I'd be without you." God Only Knows by The Beach Boys. Steve gets cuter by the minute, I swear.

When he comes into the kitchen dressed in jeans and a gray shirt, hair still wet, I smile. "You sounded good in there."

He blushes. "Was I really that loud?"

"Yeah. But it was cute. And you have a good voice, too."

"Well, thanks." He pours a cup of coffee for me before pouring himself one. "What do you want to do today?"

"Hm... Sam said the Smithsonian is pretty cool, if you're interested. I like history."

"Sounds good to me. We can head over after breakfast."

After breakfast turns into a few hours because steve falls asleep at the table. Knowing how exhausted he must be, I give him a kiss on the cheek and return to my physics book.

Once he wakes up, Steve and I go downstairs. He gestures to his motorcycle. "You ever ride one of these things before?"

I shake my head. "Nah, I'm faster than them."

"Come on, then," he says. I slide on behind him and put my hands around his waist. The engine comes to life, and we're off.

It's nothing like I've ever experienced before. The wind in my hair, the roar of the motor - it's wonderful. Almost like motorized running.

When we reach the Smithsonian, Steve turns around, grinning, and asks, "what did you think?"

"That was great!"

He laughs. "Glad you approve. Let's go." He takes my hand, and we spend the next few hours wandering through the different halls full of history. Both of us absolutely love looking at the art, as well as historical exhibits. We're almost ready to leave when Steve freezes.

"Steve?" I follow his train of vision and find a Captain America exhibit. I nudge his shoulder and ask quietly, "do you want to stay or go?"

"Let's go look at it," he replies, albeit uneasily. We walk into the hallway dedicated to him and listen to the narration. "See what they're saying about me."

A picture hangs on the wall of Steve pre-serum. I hold back a laugh. I know I was smaller before I became a super-soldier, but I wasn't that small. "That's you?"

"Yeah. Just a kid from Brooklyn."

"It's cute. How old were you?"

"Eighteen." We journey on into the heart of the exhibit.

"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice." There are pictures of him everywhere. It's crazy."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. In this rare footage, everyone's favorite warrior, Captain America..."

A little boy in a shirt with the signature shield, maybe six at the oldest, recognizes Steve underneath his baseball cap. His eyes go wide, and Steve puts a finger to his mouth, telling the boy to keep quiet. He nods, still starstruck.

Battle-tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division."

We walk a bit further down, where a few of the Howling Commandos have smaller displays set up to honor them. Steve stops in his tracks as we end up in front of one particular section.

"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes 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."

A black and white video plays of Steve and his handsome friend, Bucky, during the war. Even on the battlefield, it looks like they're joking around. And then the clip cuts to the two of them, maybe in an interview, laughing and pushing each other around. Steve is almost never that happy. Bcky almost looks familiar, but there's no way of me knowing a man who died before I was born. Maybe it's just his spirit. Steve glances down at the ground. "Let's keep going," I whisper, wanting to lead him away from this. He nods.

Another video plays in another room, this time of a woman. She's very pretty, with dark hair and red lipstick, probably middle-aged when it was recorded. I recognize the name. Agent Peggy Carter. She was a founder of SHIELD, I think. "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."

"Did you know her?" I whisper, putting my hand in his. She talked about Steve a few times in the interview.

"I knew all of them," he barely whispers.

"I'm sorry. We shouldn't have come. Let's just go home." I feel guilty that he has to relive all of these memories of his friends dying.

"You go, I'll catch up with you later." His blue eyes are a little misty as he turns to me.

"Are you sure?" He wants time to be alone, I realize.

"Yeah. I need some time to... to think."

"Okay." I give him a soft kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later, then. Love you."

There's a second of hesitation before he replies. "Love you too, Mer."

IT'S THE WEEKEND! At least for me, I have a three day weekend. ;)

How did you like this chapter? What do you think's going to happen?