A/N: Hello, hello! :) This is my first Captain America series and the third story in my Medic Examinations series, Give Me Liberty. The first story (And All Her Paths Were Peace) is listed under the CAPTAIN AMERICA section of this site while the second story (United We Stand) is listed under the Avengers as it follows the sequence of movies in the Captain America series. This is a Steve/OC story, featuring my OC Olivia Williams, and will follow mostly Steve and Olivia as they go through the movie with a few original scenes thrown in. This story will be about 10 chapters long and, as best I can manage, updated daily :)

For a reference, I picture Olivia to look something like Alison Lohman with strawberry blonde hair that leans more towards blonde. She is pale, with brown eyes, and short hair :) She tends to favor a more 1940s style of dress, but her 'superhero' uniform is a pair of red pants, tucked into dark blue boots, with a white shirt and a red jacket that has a white stripe across the middle of it and doesn't have a close to it so it stays open. She wears dark blue fingerless gloves and a white medical pack with straps that crisscross in front of her, to give the allusion of the Union flag. She was gifted a pair of vibranium batons by Phil Coulson when the Avengers assembled that she either wears crossed behind her or retracted in holsters on her thighs ;)

I hope you enjoy :)

~8~ is a scene break

Disclaimer...I don't own Captain America or things from the movie/comic, just my OC and some original aspects...or else not a hair on Bucky's head would have been harmed ;)

~8~

Washington, D.C.

Steve was trying his very best to keep his strength in check as he worked on the punching bag in the local gym he and Olivia had found in Washington D.C., one that SHIELD owned and used for their agents. After the battle of New York, SHIELD had requested that they come to their main base in D.C., where they claimed they could be of more help. It had been hard for Steve to leave the apartment they had only just started to set up, it was hard for him to leave New York at all. But his country asked, and he answered. It made sense, when he thought about it. It wouldn't be helpful to anyone if all the heroes congregated in the same place. Tony had New York covered, it was where he lived.

Captain America and Major Britannia hadn't really set down roots yet, and Washington D.C. was the center of the government. It would be a better place for the people as well, to see them based in such an area, or at least that was how Director Fury had described it.

He felt like it should have been harder, to leave New York, to leave his home. But it honestly wasn't as difficult as he'd always thought it would be when he'd been younger and thinking about where his life might go, before he enlisted, before the serum. It might have had something to do with the fact that, slowly but surely, over the course of just about 70 years, his idea of home had changed. Home wasn't a place to him, it was a person now.

One person, who was all he had left of his past, who understood him in a way no one else ever could.

He glanced over his shoulder at Olivia as she went through her own work out against another punching bag.

She had become what he associated with home. She was literally his past and present, and he knew she'd be his future, always. He knew he would be ok anywhere in the world so long as Olivia was with him, she was home. He was actually thinking that he might talk to Fury about organizing something for her. They'd been in the USA a few years since they'd woken from the ice, but they hadn't gotten to go to England for more than a quick visit or meeting with the government officials there. Maybe they could do something where they spent 3 or 4 years in the US, and the same amount based in the UK. He was sure Olivia felt the same about him as he did her, that he was home to her too, but it would be nice for her to be able to live in her country the way he'd gotten to live in his.

But he knew there was something else tying her to D.C. that went past just him, Peggy was here. Peggy Carter was living in a care facility for the elderly, specifically those suffering from mental deficiencies. It was an unfortunate reality that came with age. Peggy Carter had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, her memories weren't what they used to be, and it broke Olivia's heart each time they visited. Each visit went mostly the same, Peggy couldn't seem to recall for more than a half hour or so at a time things they spoke of. To the woman, each time was the first time she was seeing her old friend again. In a very solemn and bittersweet way, it was clear just how much Olivia had meant to Peggy, her reaction revealed it each time she saw the girl. It was hard though, each time they saw her, it was as though she remembered less and less of the relationship the two of them shared during the war.

The last two times they visited, Peggy had told him she saw how he had been eyeing Olivia during basic training and asked what his intentions were with her best friend, as though she hadn't seen them together, as though she hadn't helped Olivia pick out a Christmas gift for him during the war. And the last time, she hadn't even recognized him. Sometimes the memories came back sporadically, she would remember something from the end of the war but forget something from the start. It was like she knew they had 'died' and she was so happy to see them, but she didn't know the details of it.

Olivia would never leave while Peggy was still here, having been separated from her best friend for so long, she wouldn't put Peggy through it again. And he considered the woman a very close and dear friend as well.

He punched the bag once more, before reaching out to steady the swing of it, turning to watch Olivia go through her routine. He smiled as he saw her practicing with her batons. Being closer to the center of SHIELD had given them more access to the weapons of the organization, more specifically, the trainers. There were a handful that specialized in teaching the new recruits the lesser used weapons. SHIELD wanted their agents to be able to use anything to protect themselves. Your gun get knocked away? Break a chair and use the legs. A bomb go off nearby, grab a fallen pole and use it as a staff.

He had spoken to Fury about Olivia's use of the batons during the battle of New York, about helping her learn to use them more. From what she had told him of her 'training session' with Natasha and Maria Hill, she hadn't actually learned how to use them. She'd only just gotten them right before the battle and had sort of made it up as she went. He wanted to help her be more proficient in them if she decided to go through with using them as her preferred weapon of defense. It had taken a little bit of convincing to get her to agree to actual lessons, she was still very nervous about accidentally harming her teacher.

So he'd offered to learn along with her, so she could practice with him and so he could be there to help her focus her strength. He wasn't fond of the batons, he preferred using his hands and shield much more, a gun if necessary. But he understood why they worked better for her and he would always do all he could to make her feel comfortable. Any weapon was fine by him so long as she knew how to defend herself, it was peace of mind for him.

Once Olivia had gotten to a point of comfort in terms of her strength she was able to go about her routines, practice, and lessons on her own. Some of his favorite parts of his day were watching her as she practiced. She had come so far. He couldn't help but think of the Commandos and Peggy in those moments, like now, when he watched her using the batons on the punching bag, utilizing her control of strength and aim. They would be proud of her.

When she had agreed to the lessons, she had asserted her authority with her trainer. She had been very clear in the skills she wanted to work on, the ways she wanted to attack. She was adamant that her blows be non-lethal, meant to incapacitate and not cause irreparable harm or too intense pain. She had warned her trainer and Fury alike that she was first and foremost a medic, that would be her main role on the field. Clear and tend to civilians, tend to and protect her fallen comrades, and only after everything was secure would she use her weapons. She would NOT kill her enemy, she would knock them out for SHIELD to seize or what have them. She had stood her ground in the manner she would on missions or when she had to pull rank on others.

He was proud of her himself, he was always proud of her.

And he did quite enjoy watching her routines and practice. She was so focused and concentrated, her expressions reflecting that. Her motions were fluid by now, but sharp. Her strength controlled to a degree he honestly wasn't sure HE could manage. But, then again, she had been working on keeping her strength on par with an average human for longer than him, not utilizing her speed or strength unless she was pulling men off the battlefield. She had been far more worried about accidentally harming someone else than he had. When he was fighting, he intended to use his strength to take down the enemy, and he knew that wouldn't be the case for her. She fought and held back or used the way her wrists moved to diminish the force behind her blows.

But it was a step.

"You are burning a hole in the back of my head," Olivia's voice cut through his thoughts.

"You're worth looking at," he shrugged easily.

Olivia hit the bag once more before retracting the batons and moving them to a small set of holsters on her thighs, a gift from Natasha that she'd given to Olivia while also sending a wink at him.

He was going to kill that woman…or thank her.

He hadn't thought he was a leg man until he'd seen Olivia in her 'workout' uniform that SHIELD had offered them. It was nothing revealing. Long pants, a long sleeved shirt or short sleeved shirt depending on her preference. But the material was quite fitted and stretchy, which did not leave much to the imagination at times. The additional holsters…

He shook his head, willing himself not to let his mind venture down that path.

"The same for you," Olivia smiled at him and he barely bit back a grin at how she glanced at him up and down, "Finished with yours?"

He nodded, holding out a hand to her and tugging her close when she took it, "You?"

She nodded as well, sighing lightly as he began to shift them back and forth without realizing it, "I'm still a bit unsure of the strength but I think, if the bag is still in one piece, then it must mean I'm doing something right."

"My offer to spar with you is still open," he reminded her.

"I don't think I'm quite ready to truly spar with you with the batons."

She had gotten somewhat better with actually sparing with him in terms of fists. He had gotten her with the reminder that, if she lost her batons, she needed to keep her hand-to-hand sharp and that using the batons had proven she could control her strength and not harm her opponent. And he had expressed his own concerns with harming his sparring partner. She was the only one who could match him in terms of strength. She was the only one he felt like he could truly use the full force of a punch to the hand without fearing he'd broken it.

Slowly they had worked their way up to something of a spar, though a slow going one. Olivia was more comfortable wearing the training mitts and helping him keep his punches and kicks sharp.

Steve nodded, reminding himself that slow and steady would win the race. He didn't want to push her too much, when she was comfortable he would be there for her.

He glanced down at a watch on his wrist, "Well, we've still got some time before our mission later, what do you have in mind?"

It was the least he could do to offer her their next activity. Usually they would work out later in the day, but with the mission coming up and the nerves that always seemed to come up before one, Olivia had offered that they go work out earlier. Now that they had finished their routines, he wanted to let her pick the next thing they did.

"Hmmm," she hummed lightly, considering it, "I'm not sure. Do you have any ideas?"

"Oh, I got plenty," he grinned at her.

She began to smile as well, "Such as?"

"Well, to start…" he leaned down to give her a quick kiss.

"Steve," she laughed a bit as she pulled away a moment later, "We shouldn't, we're at a SHIELD location."

Steve looked around in an exaggerated manner, "I don't see any agents around…"

Olivia reached up a finger to press to his lips when he leaned in again, "There's always someone watching," she whispered, nodding her head to the side.

He glanced over his shoulder and up to see a security camera in the corner of the ceiling. He sighed as he looked back at her, dropping his head and shaking it in a long-suffering way.

"You're insatiable," Olivia laughed, leaning in to quickly press a kiss to the tip of his nose, making him smile even more when she patted a hand on his chest, where the necklace she had given him was nestled under his shirt.

"Can you blame me?" he chuckled, "My best girl is literally the best girl in the world."

"I'm not sure about that…"

"Oh, she is," he winked, "Trust me, Captain America says so."

"Ooh, Captain America does? Well, I shan't argue with him."

Steve laughed more, shaking his head at her as he stepped back, lowering his hands from where they were wrapped around her and sliding them along her arms to take her hands. He lifted her left hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, "I love you, Liv."

"I love you too, Steve," she smiled at him, "And you are not making it easy not to kiss you."

He grinned and winked at her, "Well, then, how about we get out of here?"

Olivia laughed at how he wiggled his eyebrows at her, only half-joking she knew. She shook her head at him, starting to step backwards towards the door to the room, Steve following along by the hand she hadn't let go of, "Why Captain Rogers, how forward of you."

"Have to be," he went along, "Can't let a dame like you get away."

"You're quite the eager beaver, aren't you?"

"Well, we have a mission coming up," he shrugged, "We won't be able to be just Steve and Liv till it's over. Need to make the most of the time we have."

"I see," she nodded, reaching the door, "In that case…" she smiled, leaning in towards him as he began to do the same…

When she suddenly turned and ran out of the room, shouting "You'll have to catch me first!" over her shoulder.

Steve laughed, shaking his head, and bolted after her.

~8~

Steve shook his head as he ran along the paths of Washington, D.C., he'd known this would happen the moment Olivia had run out of the SHIELD training gym. He'd already lost sight of her. And he was damn proud of that.

He should have expected her to rush out. While they did work out closer to the evening hours, they would tend to go on jogs in the mornings. It would have been reasonable for her to initiate the jog as well, knowing how much he liked getting his exercise in each day. That and it would certainly make him work for those kisses he'd tried to steal. Sometimes on their jogs, when they were feeling particularly competitive, they would challenge each other to see who was the fastest. She was truly of the impression that he was letting her win, that he was holding back to make her seem faster.

But, honest to god, he wasn't.

This proved it, to him at least, after so long of wondering, Olivia really was faster than him. And he was pretty sure a number of people would think he was insane for being so happy about that, that Captain America was slower than Major Britannia, but he really was pleased. Olivia hadn't gotten to utilize her own strength and speed much during the War, at least not in a way that most people noticed besides how many men she got off the field. She'd always been held back, so to see her able to use her speed to the fullest, and to be faster than him, was incredible.

They still hadn't solved who was stronger yet, but he was sure that would come eventually, and he was sure it would be a close one.

This was still close, relatively speaking. He'd only lost sight of Olivia because she made it around a turn.

He looked ahead to where an African American man was jogging too, "On your left!" he called out in warning as he dashed past the man. He turned a corner in time to see Olivia jogging backwards, winking at him, before she turned and ran faster.

"Oh, it's on," he murmured under his breath, pushing himself to go faster, a grin on his face.

He hadn't managed to catch up to her though, despite looping back around the path he'd been taking. He spotted the man from before and called out another, "On your left," as he passed.

"Uh-huh," he could hear the man mutter, "On my left. Got it."

Steve shook his head, pushing himself on, laughing to himself when he saw Olivia a good distance ahead, standing under a tree, her back leaning against it with her arms crossed, resting. He ran faster, thinking he might be able to get ahead of her while she was distracted, but it was clear she heard him coming because she took off before he could even get close.

"Minx," he muttered.

He was determined, this next time, their last lap, that he was going to catch up to her. He managed to keep her in sight the entire lap. Though he was growing suspicious she was holding back now to give him a chance to catch up. He had barely broken a sweat and he knew she probably hadn't either. He wasn't about to complain though.

About halfway through the last lap he spotted the man yet again.

"Don't say it!" he could hear the man shouting when he'd glanced back to see who was running behind him, and appeared to be pushing himself even faster, "Don't you say it!"

"On your left!" he called out, almost without noticing, his gaze and attention fixed on Olivia, he was catching up!

"Come on!" the man now behind him grumbled.

Steve pushed himself faster, as fast as he could go, making it back to where he and Olivia had started from, just as she reached the same point.

Olivia let out a squeal that morphed into a laugh when he reached her and caught her around the middle from behind, swinging her around in a circle a few times before setting her back down.

"I win," she smiled at him.

"Hmm," he hummed, "No, I don't think you did."

"I beat you here," she pointed out.

"Nope, I still don't think you won."

"You think you did then?"

He smiled at her, "I caught you," he murmured, "I count that as the win of all wins."

Olivia's expression grew soft at his words, "You caught me decades ago."

"And I thank god every day that I did," he added, in full agreement, "I caught you, and you caught me. In more ways than one."

And it was true. She had caught him when he'd nearly spiraled at the loss of Bucky. She'd caught him when he'd nearly turned into the mindless, obedient soldier he'd never wanted to be. She'd caught him at his lowest and he liked to think he caught her when she struggled too.

"I don't understand how you're still so sweet after everything that's happened," she remarked softly.

"The feeling's mutual," he told her, "You're still so kind, after everything. Don't ever change."

"You either."

He smiled at her and leaned in to press a kiss to her lips. They began to walk along the path they'd been running, his arm moving over her shoulder, the two of them using the time to cool down from their run.

"Is he alright?" Olivia asked when they'd reached the halfway mark of their path, frowning over at the same man she and Steve had passed. He was sitting down against a tree, breathing quite heavily.

"Let's check on him," Steve offered, leading them towards the man, knowing Olivia wouldn't be able to just walk past someone in need, neither could he, "Need a medic?" he asked, nodding his head over at Olivia, "We happen to have one right here…"

Olivia shook her head at him and moved to kneel next to the man, reaching out to take his hand, pressing the proper fingers to his wrist. While it wasn't as good a place to read a pulse as the neck, it was less intrusive.

"I'm fine," the man insisted, though he didn't pull his hand away, the woman was very kind to check on him. And, hell, it wasn't everyday he got a checkup by Major Britannia, "I may need a new set of lungs though," he laughed, "Dude, you just ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes."

"I guess I got a late start," Steve shrugged, though there was a smile on his face as he looked at Olivia.

"You are terrible," she murmured to him, shooting him a look over her shoulder, "70 years has created a monster."

Steve just let out a laugh. He never denied that he enjoyed watching her take off on their runs. She was joking, of course, that the way people acted in this more modern age had affected him, that he was perhaps watching her run for the sake of watching another part of her anatomy ahead of him. But that wasn't the case.

…or at least not all of it, a small part of him could admit the athletic clothing of this time was far more formfitting. Right now she was wearing a pair of dark grey jogging pants with a pink shirt.

He just believed in ladies first.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," the man remarked in a joking fashion, clearly able to read into the implication of it all, "You should take another lap."

"You should," Olivia agreed, "You lost, after all."

"Wait, YOU beat him?" the man looked at Olivia, "I didn't even see you pass me!"

"She's fast and quiet," Steve offered, "And she was teasing me the entire time."

"Oh, that's awful for you to be teased by a beautiful woman," the man rolled his eyes, "Why don't you take a lap with him too?" he looked between the two rather amused looking super soldiers, "Did you just take it? I assumed you just took it."

Olivia shook her head, patting his hand as she let go of his wrist, "Be sure to walk fairly soon, or your legs will not forgive you later."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," he gave her a small salute.

"What unit you with?" Steve asked, hearing more familiarity in his voice at how he responded to Olivia.

"58, Para-rescue. But now I'm working down at the VA. Sam Wilson."

"Olivia," she offered, standing and holding out a hand at the same time Steve did to help the man up. She laughed and stepped aside to let Steve do the honors, "And this is Steve."

"I um, kind of put that together," he warned them lightly, "Must have freaked you guys out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

"It takes some getting used to," Steve agreed.

"Though home hasn't quite changed that much," Olivia added, moving her arm around Steve's middle to rest against him.

The way she smiled at him, the way Steve returned it, it was clear to Sam that they both considered each other to be home. It was good, that they had each other. So many times people came back from their deployments and had no one that understood what they'd gone through nearby. At least they had someone who had gone through the war to help them through the transition, both to the war being over and the change in the era they found themselves in.

Steve shook himself out of the moment and looked over at Sam, "It's good to meet you, Sam."

"I hope we see you again soon," Olivia offered as they turned to go.

"It's your bed, right?" he called after them.

"What's that?" Steve glanced at him.

"Your bed, it's too soft. When I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground and use rock for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..."

"Lying on a marshmallow. Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor."

Olivia gave them both a small, sad smile at their words. Her particular bed hadn't changed much. All through the war, when she was with the Commandos, they all tended to look away and pretend they hadn't seen how she and Steve would end up sleeping next to each other during the night. She often found herself falling asleep with her head on his shoulder or his chest, listening to his heartbeat calmed her very much. So long as she had his heartbeat in her ear and his arm around her, she could sleep easy. For Steve, though, it was a little harder.

"How long?" she asked Sam.

"Two tours," Sam let out a long sigh, "You must miss the good old days, huh?"

"It…balances out, a bit," Olivia offered, "Things we lost with things we gained."

"Things aren't so bad," Steve agreed, "Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything."

"More tea options," Olivia remarked, "But, then again, iced tea," she grimaced which made Sam chuckle.

"No polio is good."

"Women's rights, much better too."

"Internet, so helpful."

"Ooh, yes," Olivia nodded, "That and the History Channel."

"We've been using them a lot, trying to catch up."

Sam looked between them, amused, "Marvin Gaye, 1972, 'Trouble Man' soundtrack. Everything you've missed jammed into one album."

"I'll put it on the list," Steve agreed, pulling out a small notebook and a pen from his pocket to jot that down.

Olivia glanced at it, reminding herself what they still had left to look into. There was the television series 'I Love Lucy,' the moon landing, when the Berlin Wall came down, someone named Steve Jobs who apparently created a very popular apple, Disco music…she wasn't sure about that one, Thai Food which did sound interesting, Star Wars vs. Star Trek, though she and Steve had seen the Star Wars movies. Natasha had broken into their apartment, they'd walked in to see her sitting on their couch and threatening to lock them in until they'd 'binge watched' a Star Wars marathon with her. There was also the Nirvana band, and another movie, Rocky, which might also have a sequel. And now there was Marvin Gaye added to it.

She nearly jumped when she felt something ping in her pocket and pulled out a mobile phone SHIELD had given them. There was a single 'text message' that read:

'Mission alert. Extraction imminent. Meet at the curb. :)'

Olivia shook her head and showed it to Steve, still infinitely amused that the Black Widow used 'emojis' as she had come to understand they were little things used for fun and silliness.

"Alright, Sam, duty calls," Steve told him, "Thanks for the run. If that's what you wanna call running."

"Oh, that's how it is?" Sam joked as he reached out to shake hands with Captain America and Major Britannia. (He just shook hands with Captain America and Major Britannia!)

"Oh, that's how it is," Steve laughed.

"It has to be," Olivia pointed out, "He hasn't managed a proper run with me either."

"Oh ho ho," Sam smiled at that, even as Steve shook his head, looking amused as well, "Well, any time you wanna stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."

"Well, we're always ready to help others," Olivia remarked, not quite promising to show up, but letting him know they fully intended to do their best.

"See you then," Sam waved them off as they turned to go, making their way to the curb just as a car pulled up.

The passenger's window rolled down and they could see Natasha within, "Hey there," she called out to them, "Any of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a couple of fossils."

"That's hilarious," Steve deadpanned, opening the door for Olivia to get in the back seat.

"It was quite witty," Olivia remarked as she headed in, Steve joining in the front seat.

Sam stepped closer, eyeing both Natasha and the car, "How you doing?"

"Hey," she smiled at him in return.

"Can't run everywhere," Steve remarked.

"No, you can't," he agreed, watching as the car took off.

It was only after they turned a corner that he realized he should have taken a picture with them, no one at the VA was going to believe he'd just met Captain America and Major Britannia.

Damn.

A/N: And we're back! :D I'm so sorry this was up so late. I intended to have this posted about a week after my Spock/Cora story but my siblings and I surprised our mom with a puppy and I was mostly on puppy watching duty and fell behind :( But we're up now with a return of Olivia and Steve, or as a vote decided, Stevia :) I wanted to add a bit more to the jogging scene to show where Olivia and Steve are right now, how they're doing, before really getting into the story ;)

I'm really excited for this one, especially the Winter Soldier, I think this was my favorite Captain America movie so I hope I do it justice for all of you too :)

And, just to end, mostly putting this here because I've promised my sister I would actually tell people it. I made a page called ko-fi, where people can show support of a person by contributing a 'cup of coffee' to them. It's not a real cup of coffee, it's a donation that is roughly the cost of a cup of coffee, or about 3 dollars. The link is up on my profile or on my tumblr's LINKS page if anyone is interested. There's no obligation, requirement, or commitment, it just sort of feels to me like a little 'let's talk about your work over a cup of coffee' ;)

Some notes on reviews...(from the end of United We Stand)...

Lol, no offense taken :) My mind goes straight to the sweetener mostly because when I worked at a small cafe, people kept asking us for Stevia and we didn't use that sweetener lol :) As for a marriage, I can say you're not the only one who will be asking that very question, someone in the story will too very soon ;)

I don't want to give away too much, but I can say the 'Aunt Liv' thing is mostly because Howard became such good friends with them, (though mostly Steve), he talked about them so much it just sort of felt like she was part of the family. That and I can't see Peggy not being 'Aunt Peggy' to Tony too as he grew up ;)

Lol, I could see Olivia substituting a curse with 'iced tea', it's definitely going to be a recurring thing for her ;)

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you've been enjoying the stories so far :D It means a lot to me to hear :')