Happy Monday, my lovely readers!

Welcome to my new story based during Captain America: The Winter Soldier!

Apologies for not updating on Tuesday last week as I said I would, I haven't had a lot of free time this week!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.

Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.

Lowri's alarm sounded right by her ear and she groaned as she rolled over to hit the snooze button. She rolled too far and she fell to the floor. She lay in the darkness and she racked her brain to figure out where she was.

Her bed wasn't that narrow, she tends to sleep in the middle so she doesn't fall out but this can't be her bed.

Then she remembered. Last night had consisted of a late-night shower because she was restless then while her hair dried naturally, she finished off most of the paperwork that came alongside her new Project that she was leading on the side.

After she grew bored of writing out the forms, she turned on her television and she vaguely remembered watching a few episodes of Game of Thrones before eventually crashing on her couch.

She groggily got up, rubbing at the sore spot in the bottom of her back and made her way slowly into her kitchen. She turned the lights that were under the high cupboards on, giving her some light and she mostly relied on the dim light streaming in through the window just in in front of her.

She checked the time and almost groaned again when she saw that it was five in the morning. Lowri set about making a smoothie to start the day with a bit of protein and Lucozade powder for energy.

Lowri yawned loudly and ran her hand through her knotted hair and her eyes watered. Her watch vibrated on her wrist and she looked at it.

A notification came up on the screen, letting her know that this was the final warning before Steve arrived for their daily morning run.

Lowri closed her eyes and groaned. She forgot that too.

There was a knock on her door that sounded far too energetic for this time in the morning and she had a feeling that it was Steve, early as usual.

Lowri turned the blender off and padded out into the dark living room. She switched the lamp on at the side of the couch and stopped at the door, she peered through the peephole and she was right. Steve was early for their run, as usual.

He wore trainers, blue sweatpants and a white t-shirt that clung to him, making Lowri unable to tear her eyes away from him.

She stepped back from the peephole and opened the door, silently cursing him for looking so preppy and eager to get running while she felt, and probably looked, like utter crap. Lowri leant against the door with a tired look in her eyes and looked up at him.

"Someone looks a bit tired this morning." Steve noted with a smile, even his bright blue eyes shone brightly as he teased her.

In the two years that had followed since Steve was found in the ice, they had formed the friendship they never had and yes, there was the flirting that made Lowri's heart soar and swell, but she guessed that a relationship was off the cards for a little while.

Steve joined S. H. I. E. L. D. a week or so after the Battle of New York and he's always eager to help out as much as he could, but he stayed in DC, the same as Lowri.

Two years may seem like a long time, but in reality, it's not.

"This someone was restless last night." Lowri said, she stepped to the side to let Steve in and then she closed the door after him. "I spent most of my night sitting at my desk. And then I binge watched Game of Thrones." Lowri headed back into the kitchen, "Worst and best decision of the year."

"That wasn't very smart of you." Steve noted as Lowri passed him. He took in her crumpled pyjamas, a light grey vest top and a darker shade of grey bottoms, herhair was loose down her back and she definitely looked tired. "For such a smart woman, you-"

"Did you know that you should never mess with a tired girl? Especially one that can create fire. I mean, when I'm tired I barely know what I'm doing." Lowri said, she turned to look at him and then she winked.

Steve let out a laugh and took a seat on the comfy chair at the window. "I'm just speaking the truth, Ri." Steve said in a light tone.

Lowri continued the blending and she couldn't hear anything else. Eventually the smoothie was done and she poured the smoothie into a cup and switched the blender off.

Steve had finally got used to calling her Lowri after about three months, though hearing the name Elizabeth was somewhat comforting, but she knew Steve had to learn to call her Lowri instead.

Lowri came back into the living room and sat down on the couch, she folded her legs beneath her and leant back against the couch.

"You didn't make it to bed last night, did you?" Steve asked, he nodded at the couch pillows gathered at one end of the couch and the fluffy blanket in a crumpled mess in the middle of the couch.

Lowri took a deep drink and looked down at the couch. She nodded her head and smiled.

"Never made it past the couch." Lowri answered. "You'd be surprised how comfortable a couch can be."

Steve shook his head at her with a smile on his face.

"That's the fourth night in a row." Steve said, he looked at her, "Do I need to confiscate your remote? I can't have you falling asleep on me on our run."

"That's why this is packed with healthy stuff, and energy." Lowri said, gesturing to her smoothie. "Besides, could you even work that remote?" She asked with mischief in her eyes.

"Really?" Steve laughed, "That's the only response you have?"

"At this time of morning, yes." Lowri replied, "Ask me in an hour or so and I may have a better answer." She added.

"Well, in an hour, hopefully we'll be running." Steve said happily then he paused, "But I don't think that's gonna happen if you're still stuck in snail mode. If we're moving at this pace, we might just be out the door."

Lowri threw a pillow at him and he caught it with a grin.

"Alright, alright. I'll switch off the snail mode." Lowri said grumpily, she placed her drink on the table in front of her and got to her feet, "Help yourself to any food or drink you want, you know where everything is." Lowri added as she walked away.

She stretched her arms high above her head, yawning loudly and her vest rose up as she stretched, revealing the pale skin underneath and the curve of her waist.

Inside her bedroom, she stripped off her sleepwear and stashed them under her pillow, then she dressed in a pair of three quarter sweatpants with the cuffs ending at her calves, a sports bra and a tank top that was more like a sports bra.

She was tempted to take a jacket but she would be sweating too much so she grabbed a pair of bright yellow trainer socks and her running trainers and left her room.

Steve had helped himself to toast while she was getting dressed and he was happily munching on a slice as he glanced around the living room from where he sat.

The flat was much like the New York flat that she had, it was light which made it look more spacious than what it really was but this one was bigger.

The desk was close by where he sat, he knew that when Lowri was doing paperwork, she liked to sit by the window and look outside. There was a pile of unorganised paperwork on the desk and on top of that, was a small black box, it looked out of place in the light décor.

Steve got up with the plate of toast in his hands and stepped closer, he put the plate down and picked up the box, which was heavier than it looked. Lowri entered the room and she saw him at her desk with the box and she tossed her trainers to the floor by the couch, they landed with a loud thump and Lowri watched as Steve jumped violently.

He turned quickly and faced her, clutching tighter on the box. Steve spied her standing beside the couch, dressed in her running gear. He looked at what she was wearing, his eyes had caught onto the tank top and was surprised.

Lowri is normally conscious of her scars on her stomach, gotten a few years ago from the Battle of New York but this top flaunts them. He could see the pale scars stand out on her skin, running from her hipbone, across her stomach and up to her chest but recently she's become more open about them. He could even see the scar from 1945 on her shoulder.

"You get scared so easily. You would think that the original Super Soldier could deal with loud noises." Lowri noted as she stepped around the couch, took a seat and took another drink of her smoothie. "Besides, that's what you get for being nosey." She added, nodding at the black box in his hand.

Steve smirked at her, "What's in the box?" He asked, holding the box up higher, Lowri pulled one of her trainers on.

"My war medals." Lowri said, she glanced up before pulling her other trainer on and she began to tie the laces up. "Well, from the second war."

"Are these your only medals?" Steve asked, he looked down at the black box in his hand.

"No." Lowri said, she moved to the other shoe. "I disappeared after the Great War, any medals from then are probably on display at a museum in London. But I've got medals from America." Lowri replied.

Steve looked up at her, slightly surprised to hear that she was around during the First World War but he kept his lips shut.

"Open it up and have a look, they're just bits of metal with flashy ribbons, nothing special really." Lowri said, she tied the last lace, sat back and reached for her smoothie again and she watched Steve.

Steve opened the box and his eyes widened at the row of medals and ribbons.

"Seems you were busy." Steve said slowly.

Lowri got to her feet and put the empty cup down on the table and walked over to him.

"They're the ones that King George VI awarded me. Apparently, Chester went behind my back and sent over the recommendations just after the war ended. They were presented to me the same time as my American ones." Lowri said as she approached him. She came to a stop beside him and looked at the medals.

"So, you have American war medals and British war medals?" Steve asked, he looked down at her, almost a foot under his height," And you think there's nothing special about them?"

"Well, yeah. Think of all the effort some people have put into the war effort, and then all they get is bits of medals with flashy ribbons." Lowri said. "I keep them because Chester is the one that got them for me."

"What are they for?" Steve asked quietly.

Lowri could tell that he didn't share her opinion for war medals, he probably liked the idea of them.

"This one," Lowri began, she pointed at the first medal on the red velvet cushion which was a yellow copper zinc alloy in the shape of a six-pointed star with GRI VI pressed into the centre with a crown above the R with a red, white and green striped ribbon. "Is the Italy Star, it's for operational service and campaigns in Italy from 1943 to 1945. Chester thought that my little adventure with you and Howard, flying over Austria, was good enough."

"This one," Lowri gestured to a similar medal to the Italy star but the ribbon was black, yellow and blue with the words Air Crew Europe Star engraved around the Royal initials. "Got this for my flying before I joined the SSR. I flew a few risky flights during the Battle of Britain, I was shot down, and my plane was badly damaged and I had to navigate the terrain in Cornwall and I got a lift with some factory workers to another airfield. It's the Air Crew Europe Star."

"The one next is the 1939-1945 Star, which everyone pretty much had for serving in the war." Lowri said, "Both of these were from my old station commander."

"Seems like you were very busy before you joined the SSR." Steve noted with a smile. He glanced at her again and was surprised to see her standing so close, she was centimetres from touching him but she didn't realise. Lowri leant forward to point at the new line of medals and her hair brushed his arm gently and a shiver went up his spine, he hoped that she didn't notice.

"Yes. The war was busy." Lowri said, she pointed to a medal painted silver in the shape of a cross with a wreath of laurel in the middle and an Imperial Crown, there were wings going across two of the legs and the ribbon was alternating white and purple. "This is the Distinguished Flying Cross, this one is from Italy too."

"That's the War Medal 1939-1945, it was awarded to anyone who served in the armed forces for at least twenty-eight days." Lowri said, pointing to a small round medal with a lion on the front with 1939-1945 printed at the top with a red, blue and white ribbon.

"This is the Military Cross," Lowri said, pointed to the one with a silver cross with an Imperial Crown set on each leg, with a purple and white ribbon. "And this is the Distinguished Service Order." The one next to the Military Cross was a small cross with a gold background, surrounded by a wreath laurel and in the middle, was an Imperial Crown in a gold and red enamelled background with a red ribbon with blue edges.

"And this one," Lowri began, she pointed to the last one and then she dropped her hand and clasped them behind her back. "This is the Victoria Cross, the highest award anyone can get." The iron cross had a lion standing in top of an Imperial Crown with the words 'for valour' written underneath with a V connection the medal to a simple purple ribbon.

"It's one of the most recognisable and distinguished medals out there. And, I had these medals for the work I did after you put the plane down." Lowri said, she looked down and away from the medals quickly.

"What did you do?" Steve asked, he closed the box and looked down at her.

"I fought with the Howling Commandos overseas. And let's just say that those few months were eventful." She pursed her lips and she looked up at Steve and then smiled.

"Eventful? Did they give you hell over there?" Steve asked.

"Who? Hydra or the Howling Commandos?" Lowri asked with a smile, Steve laughed and for a long moment, their eyes connected and she felt blown away.

"The Howling Commandos." Steve answered quickly.

"Oh, you can bet they gave me hell. It was hard work but definitely rewarding." Lowri replied. She reached for the closed box and took it from Steve.

Lowri leant across the desk, and him, to place the box back on top of her paperwork, like a paperweight. Her hair fell from her back, over her shoulder and brushed over Steve's arm again.

He wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through her hair, grab her shoulders, tilt her back and press his lips to hers but he knew that was moving far too quick for them both.

Lowri sensed something was holding him back and she looked up at him, she leant back against the table in the small space between Steve and the table.

"I thought you wanted to go on that run?" Lowri asked.

Steve dropped his eyes from her quickly and a blush grew on him cheeks.

"Uh, yes. We'd better get moving." Steve said quickly. He looked slightly uncomfortable and his eyes gave off something Lowri couldn't put her thumb on.

She stepped away from him, reached for her cup and moved to the kitchen, she skilled her cup out, left it to dry on the draining board and turned back to face Steve, now at the door.

As she walked for the door, she twisted her hair up out of her face a strapped her phone into the band on her arm. She locked the door behind her and they quickly jogged down the steps and left her building.

From her apartment building, they headed for the mall straight away. Steve is capable of running up to 50mph and well, Lowri wasn't able to run that fast.

"I still don't get why you want to go for a run this early." She commented as they started jogging. People were already emerging from their homes to make the commute to work.

The skies were still dark and there was a brisk chill, making Lowri shiver and regret not bringing a jacket.

Steve kept to Lowri said jogging pace as a warm up, they jogged round and round the National Mall at Lowri's jogging pace, which Steve seemed to be content with.

For twenty minutes, they jogged around the National Mall and then it was clear to Lowri that Steve was getting restless at staying at this pace.

"How do you keep at this pace? You haven't switched off that snail mode, have you?" Steve teased as they stayed in step and started off another lap. Lowri huffed at him, but she kept her eyes on the path in front of her.

"Yes, alright, Super Soldier. Not all of us are at our physical peak." Lowri breathed heavily. She spied a few new runners along their path, some heading in the same way and others heading towards them

"Are you struggling?" Steve asked almost cockily, Lowri shoved at him but her hand collided with pure muscle and he didn't even move, instead, she pushed herself away without meaning to.

Steve laughed at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Go on, you go push yourself, Super Solider. I'll keep at my pace and you can run at yours." Lowri said, she slowed down slightly as she began to feel a burning in her lungs.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked, he looked down and slowed down with her.

"I'm sure. You go, be an awesome runner and all that." Lowri said, she kept at this slower pace so she could get her breath back. Steve smiled at her and then began jogging at a much quicker pace.

He passed by another runner and said out loud, "On your left." As he ran by.

Lowri kept up her jogging pace, determined to jog through the pain. Steve lapped her a great many times before she caught up with the man that Steve always says 'On your left' to.

Before Lowri could introduce herself to the guy, Steve ran past once more.

"On your left." Steve said before shooting off once more.

"Uh huh. On my left. Got it." The man muttered before cursing Steve under his breath.

Lowri let out a laugh and the man turned his head to look at her.

"Don't worry about him." Lowri said as they jogged together in time. "He tends to get cocky when he hasn't had a good run in a while."

"Oh, yeah?" The man asked, "Is there any way to get him out of it?" The man asked. Lowri shook her head and smiled.

"I haven't found a way yet." Lowri replied, "He's been like this since 1942, I don't think he's gonna change any time soon."

"Damn." The man laughed.

Lowri twisted her body to face him, still running though, and offered him her hand to shake.

"I'm Lowri Jones." She said gently. The man took her hand, returned her smile and shook her hand deftly.

"Sam Wilson." The man replied, he had a happy smile and he looked at her more closely before he dropped her hand. "You're that girl on fire, aren't you? The one that was in New York?"

Lowri looked ahead and smiled, "Yeah. They really couldn't think of a more inventive name for me." Lowri said with a laugh. "I'd like to call myself something like 'Girl from Another Era' but the name is far too long and no one is old enough to get the joke."

Steve ran past them once more, "On your left."

"Except, maybe him." Lowri added with a laugh.

"How about Scorch?" Sam asked, "It's better than Girl on Fire." Lowri nodded her head and thought about it.

"Thanks, Sam. That's a good one, I'll try that one out." Lowri said, she decided in her mind to do five laps of the Mall at her fastest pace and said goodbye to Sam to complete them.

She pushed herself hard and at the end of the fifth lap, she collapsed onto the grass and rolled onto her back, breathing hard and waited for Steve to finish off his run.

Her ears were pounding and her heart felt as though it was going to explode from her chest. She desperately needed a drink but she waited until her breathing was under control and it didn't burn when she breathed in before she got up.

Lowri's legs felt like jelly as she walked over to the water fountain, she bent over to take a sip and over the dull pounding in her ears, she heard a sharp whistle pierce the air.

She looked up and glanced behind her and saw a group of about seven men in their early twenties sat together, all dressed in brand new training gear and she suspected that they only came to the mall for one reason, and that's not to exercise.

"You're looking fine, girl!" One of them called out to her. Her suspicions were proved.

"Wanna shake that booty over here?" Another man called out.

Lowri raised one of her eyebrows and pressed her lips together, she turned to the men and clasped her hands in front of her.

"You know, I would, but I honestly think you're a little young for me." Lowri replied before turning her back on them. They called out to her again, saying how she looks the right age and still looks damn fine and that they don't care about her age but Lowri walked away from the fountain and spied Steve standing just a few feet away from the fountain, looking breathless and sweaty and a little bit intimidating.

"Are they bothering you?" Steve asked, he nodded his head towards the jeering men and one by one they fell silent at the sight of the tall man with muscles everywhere, standing with his hands on his hips and looking right at them.

"It's nothing I can't handle, Steve." Lowri replied, she headed for Steve and he turned to walk with her. "Besides, I've had plenty of men try to make a move on me and I'm pretty sure you're the only one who's been successful."

She walked ahead and turned back when she noticed that Steve had stopped and was staring at her with an open mouth.

"Well, it's true." Lowri said, she turned back again and began walking again. She spied Sam leaning up against a tree, holding his chest and she headed for him. Steve caught her up and they stopped just beside Sam at the same time.

"Need a medic?" Steve asked as he came to a stop.

Sam laughed, but he still held a hand to his chest and breathed heavily.

"I need a new set of lungs." Sam breathed out, he looked up at Steve, "Dude, you ran, like, thirteen miles in thirty minutes."

Steve smiled, "Thanks to this one, we had a late start." Steve replied, gesturing to Lowri, she turned to him with a pretend look of shock but she laughed.

"Really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." Sam said, he looked away, breathed out hard and then looked back at Steve and Lowri. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it?"

Steve chuckled happily. "Guess that's on me then." Lowri said, she earned herself a laugh from both men. Steve looked down and noticed the logo on Sam's sweatshirt and he gestured towards it.

"What unit are you with?" Steve asked.

"58th Para Rescue. But, now I'm working down the VA." Sam answered. Lowri nodded her head, so, Sam's a vet. Does he miss the military life? Steve offered Sam a hand up, "Sam Wilson."

"Steve Rogers." Steve said as Sam righted himself.

"I kinda put that together." Sam answered. For a moment, Steve looked confused. "Scorch and I met on the run after you kept lapping us." Sam explained.

"I made a joke about being old and that only you and I would understand it." Lowri added. Steve looked down at the floor and chuckled.

"Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing." Sam said, he looked a little nervous as he spoke but he held his ground and looked up at Steve, Lowri turned to see Steve's reaction.

Steve seemed to freeze but then he relaxed before sighing. "It took some getting used to." Steve said slowly, he looked at Lowri and they locked eyes for a moment. Obviously, his mind had gone back to the months that had followed his defrosting. "It's good to meet you, Sam." Steve said, he nodded in Sam's direction and tuned to go, prompting Lowri to go with him.

"It's your bed, right?" Sam asked quickly, his words made Steve stop short and he turned quickly. Lowri stopped and turned too.

"What's that?" Steve asked, he tilted his head at Sam as he took a step closer to Steve and Lowri.

"Your bed, it's too soft." Sam said, "When I was there, I'd sleep on the ground, use rocks as pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like…" Sam trailed off.

"Lying on a marshmallow." Steve finished. Lowri knew exactly how they felt. For Steve, it was much worse, he missed seventy years of the beds getting softer and softer, but Lowri had been there for all of it and she didn't forget the feeling of transitioning from being overseas to living alone with a proper bed.

"Feels like I'm gonna sink right to the floor." Steve continued, he paused and looked down at the floor for a second and then he looked up again. "How long?"

"Two tours." Sam answered. Tours meant something different during the 1940's, nowadays it means you serve for a certain amount of time before being brought back home but during the war, you were out there until the war was done or you were dead. "You must miss the good old days, huh?" Sam asked.

"Well," Steve began, he placed his hands on his hips and looked around, he looked at Lowri and smiled. "Things aren't so bad, food's a lot better. We used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot, trying to catch up." Steve answered.

Sam crossed his arms and leant back slightly with a smile on his face. "Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man Soundtrack. Everything you missed jammed into one album." Sam said.

Steve grinned back at Sam, "I'll put it on the list." He said before pulling out his little notebook that Lowri had given him a few weeks after the Battle of New York. He jotted down what Sam had just told him.

Lowri's phone in the band on her arm beeped and vibrated against her arm and she pulled the phone out to check it as Steve looked up from his notebook and looked her way.

MISSION ALERT.
EXTRACTION IMMINENT
MEET AT THE CURB.
BRING SOLDIER BOY. ;)

Lowri swiped the message away and looked up. "We've got a new job. Now." Lowri said with a smile, she stepped backwards, heading for the curb and looked at Steve and Sam.

Again, I have to apologise for the late update, I feel really bad!

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