"Thank fucking God," Jimmy growled as he practically ripped his harness off and ran down the loading ramp of the plane.

I chuckled and unbuckled myself. "I'm pretty sure that's blasphemy," I mused, smiling over at Steve.

He gave a considering look before nodding. "Probably."

"You were an altar boy, weren't you?" I questioned, pulling mine and Jimmy's pack from the above netting.

He let out a laugh as he nodded. "For a while," he admitted, "but it didn't last long."

"Why not?"

"Who wants an altar boy with a black eye and split lip?"

It was my turn to laugh. "Jesus, you really did get in a lot of fights."

"You have no idea," Buchannan spoke up. "This punk couldn't go anywhere without getting into a fight."

Steve flushed lightly as he pushed Bucky away from him. "Shut up, Buck, no one asked you to get involved."

Bucky scoffed. "Please, if I didn't get involved then you would be a stain in some back alley," he stated, shoving Steve's shoulder back. "I've saved your skin more times then you care to admit."

I smiled as I looked between the two friends. "You two are adorable," I told them before shouldering the packs and following after my brother.

"And the guard said this Dr. Schmidt had left a week earlier?" Chester asked, his eyes scanning over the medical reports he had pulled out of the box.

"He said that's when the smell started," I told him.

He nodded and closed the file, his face a little paler than usual. "How long does he stay at these labs?"

"The guard wasn't sure how long he had been at their location but the research dates go back several months," I explained. "They're not consistent but it's enough of a time line to go off of."

"If you had to guess, where is he now?"

"If I had to guess?" I asked letting out a sigh. "The next closest factory."

His eyebrows shot up. "It's that easy?"

I nodded. "Going off what we know so far? Yes."

He pulled in a deep breath and nodded. "Fine, I'll discuss it with the Captain."

Fear shot through me at that. "You're not going to tell him-"

He waved his hands at me. "I'm not an idiot, Eleanor, of course I'm not going to tell him!" he snapped. "I'm going to discuss the team's next deployment."

I chastised myself and nodded. "Right, right," I agreed, clearing my throat. "Okay, uh, want me to go find him?"

He shook his head and set the file back into the box. "I'll find him in the morning," he told me.

I nodded and backed out of the room. "Night, Chester."

"Night, Eleanor."

It was a little after ten and I knew that I would find some if not all of the Howling Commandos at the local bar. It was crowded for a Wednesday night but it wasn't all that surprising, drinking usually went up during wartime. I weaved through the many bodies towards the back room where Steve and Bucky frequented, doing my best to ignore the looks I received form the other patrons.

"Evening, Eleanor."

I looked over to the bar and found Timothy and Gabe perched on the stools. "Evening, fellas," I said back, stepping over towards them. "Enjoying the comforts of English hospitality?" I asked, noticing the plates of pub food sitting on the bar in front of them.

Both men nodded together.

"Hell of a lot better than whatever they're feeding the boys at those camps," Gabe stated, reaching over and plucking a French fry from his plate. "Want one?" he asked, offering it to me.

I couldn't help but smile. "Don't mind if I do. Merci, Gabe," I said as I popped it into my mouth. "Are the others here?"

Timothy nodded and gesturing to the far corner of the bar. "Jim and Falsworth are over there," he answered.

I glanced over and spotted them by the piano.

"Jackie is chatting up some blonde damn over there," Gabe stated, pointing behind me.

I looked and found him speaking excitedly with an equally enthused blonde woman.

"And your brother took off a couple minutes ago with two lovely ladies I'm pretty sure he didn't know the name of."

An amused chuckle left me as I nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like him," I mused. "What about our brave Sargent and his trusty sidekick Captain America?"

Timothy snorted into his beer while Gabe smiled brightly.

"They're in the back," Gabe answered, gesturing in the direction I had been moving towards originally.

I nodded and flashed them a smile. "Thank you, fellas," I said before making my way towards the curtained doorway.

They were sat in the same seats as they had been the first time I came to the bar to find them. I remembered admiring the way Steve's uniform fit him so well, marveling at the effort the seamstress had to have put in to make it proportionate with his shoulder to waist ratio. I remember wanting to hug that shoulder to waist ratio but not being able and then I remembered that in the here and now I could do just that.

I embraced the giddy feeling that swelled in my chest as I practically skipped forward and wound my arms around his waist, my face pressing into the middle of his back.

He stiffened instantly, straightening to his full height. "Uh-"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a credit to your uniform, solider?" I asked, smiling brightly as I tightened my arms.

A sigh left him. "Ellie," he said, relaxing back into me. "Don't do that."

I smiled and moved my chin to rest on his shoulder. "Why? Did I scare you?" I asked, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Maybe," he answered, turning his head to look at me. "I'd hate to send you through the wall cause you hugged me."

"Are you really that jumpy?" I asked.

"Sometimes."

"So it would be a bad idea if I attack hugged you?"

He considered it for a moment before nodding. "Probably."

"Damn," I grumbled. "There goes my plan of playing Hug Ninja."

He arched an eyebrow. "Hug Ninja?" he questioned.

I nodded. "My brothers and I used to play it when we were younger," I told him. "It's kind of like Tag and hide and seek put together but you don't announce that you're playing, and the only way to win is if you manage to hug your target without them seeing you before you touch them," I explained, unable to help the laugh that left me as the memories flooded back. "This one time Jimmy managed to get Victor when he was down working on the docks. It spooked Vic so bad that he ended up throwing Jimmy into the water."

Steve beamed at that, probably imagining Jimmy flying through the air.

"Lizbeth," Bucky spoke up, looking over to me with a concerned expression, "why is it that every one of your childhood memories results in someone getting hurt?"

A snort left me. "The same reason why all of yours do. I grew up in the boys," I answered, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

He swatted my hand away. "I have a feeling that you ran the boys," he stated, giving me a pointed look.

I chuckled and shook my head. "I ran my brothers," I corrected. "There's a difference."

Bucky nodded. "I don't doubt that. You Howletts seem to be made from something else."

"And you haven't even met Victor yet."

"If he's anything like you and Jimmy then I look forward to it," he said, throwing back the rest of his drink and signaling for another one.

"You say that now," I muttered before turning my attention to Steve. "How are you tonight, solider?" I asked, turning in his arm so I could lean back against the bar.

He smiled down at me. "I'm doing better now that you're here."

I cocked my head to the side as I reached up to straighten his tie. "Is that so?"

Steve gave a small nod as his lips pulled into a grin. "I'm always better when you're with me," he said, his voice quiet enough that if I wasn't standing so close to him I wouldn't have heard it.

On an impulse I wrapped my hand around his tie and pulled him forward, my head tilting up to meet him half way.

Steve's arm constricted around my waist as a sigh left him.

I smiled against his lips before pulling back. "Hm, I could get used to that," I told him.

"You'll have to," he told me, resting his forehead against mine. "I'm not going to stop any time soon."

"I'm not sure what's gotten into you but I rather like it," I mused, giving him a chaste kiss.

He laughed lightly as his other hand came up to cup my cheek, his fingers brushing back my hair. "I'm pretty sure it's you."

"I have to agree with him," Bucky piped in.

We pulled away from each other and looked over to him.

"This is all your fault," he stated, gesturing to Steve whole bodily.

I arched an eyebrow. "All of this?" I asked, pointing to Steve as well. "This is my fault?"

He nodded. "He wasn't like this when I left him," he defended. "When I left he was a 5'4" 95 pound asthmatic who had more gumption than sense."

I let out a laugh. "And now he's a 6'2" 240 pound Super Solider with more gumption than sense," I stated, patting Steve on the chest.

"Hey," Steve protested, frowning between the two of us. "I do not-"

"Yes you do," both of us interrupted.

"Who else would jump out of a plane without knowing how a parachute works?" I demanded, giving him a pointed look.

Steve's eyes widened as he glanced over to Bucky. "Who told you that?"

"Howard," I answered. "He also told me about your first plan of action."

He cringed.

"What?" Bucky pressed, reaching out to jab my arm.

Steve shook his head. "It's not important."

"He was going to steal a jeep and drive to Austria," I found myself answering, unable to keep the teasing tone from my voice. "Our Steve here was very determined to find you."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Bucky asked, reaching up to smack the back of Steve's head.

Steve jerked away from him, shooting him a warning look. "I wasn't going to leave you there, Buck," he defended.

"You didn't know I was there for sure," he pointed out.

"Well, it's a damn good thing I didn't give a shit because you were there," Steve stated, dangerously on the edge of turning a sour mood. "You too," he added, looking to me.

I nodded. "True but I was not in need of saving," I reminded him.

"Doesn't matter."

"Steve-"

"I'm not going to apologize for wanting to save my friend," Steve cut in, glaring at said man with that firm expression he often got when confronted.

Seeing that this had the potential to turn into something ugly and loud, I leaned forward and pressed a particularly hard kiss to Steve's cheek. "While that face does make me weak in the knees I'd much rather you smile, it tends to brighten the whole room," I told him, taking extra care to speak soft enough so only he would hear.

The firm look on his face melted almost instantly as a new blush swept across his cheeks. He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to me. "The whole room, huh?"

I nodded. "It causes quiet a distraction," I informed him.

"I distract you?"

I scoffed. "As if you haven't noticed," I said, smacking the back of my hand against his chest. "I see those little smirks you get when you know I'm watching you."

He gave a small nod. "You watch me a lot."

"A habit I picked up during training," I told him. "I've been distracted by you for an awfully long time."

Bucky let out a groan. "Oh, you two are going to make me throw up," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not leaving so you two get to find somewhere else to go."

Steve looked to his friend in alarm while I laughed.

"Okay, Buchannan, we'll go be disgusting somewhere else," I assured him. "Just promise that you'll either make it to the hotel or into some poor woman's bed?" I requested.

He gave me a slightly confused look. "What exactly are you asking me to do?"

"I want you to get some sleep," I clarified.

Buchannan watched me for a moment before giving a small nod. "Alright, Lizbeth," he agreed. "I'll get some sleep."

"Good man," I praised, reaching out to pat his shoulder before turning my attention to Steve. "Come on, soldier, we're moving out," I told him, moving out of the circle of his arm and towards the back door.

Steve nodded to me and looked back to his friend. "See ya in the morning, Buck?"

The brunette gave him an easy smile and a nod. "Sure thing, punk."

Steve let out a huff of a laugh. "Jerk," he retaliated before sliding off his barstool and stepping towards me. "Where we going, Ellie?"

I tilted my head to the side as I thought. "Well, all the restaurants are closed, so are the dance halls," I mused. "The British Museum closes at eight along with The Globe," I said, unable to not be disappointed but making a mental list so I could take him when things settled down.

He laughed as he pushed open the back door. "So we're out in the cold?"

"I thought you liked our late night walks?" I questioned, smiling widely as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

He nodded quickly and pulled me closer to his side. "I love our late night walks," he assured me, leaning down to kiss the side of my head. "I just want to do something a little more special."

I smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "Oh soldier, every moment with you is special."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," he stated.

I nodded as I looked up to the sky, still amazed at how many stars managed to shine despite the lights of the city. "You should because it was," I told him, frowning slightly when his body heat dissipated as his arm fell away from me. "How many stars do you think there are?" I asked, watching my breath swirl out like smoke.

"My Mom used to say that there's a star for everyone," Steve answered. "That when we die our star appears so no one will really forget about us."

"I love that," I mused, now looking over the stars with a wonder of which one was my mother's, my father's and anyone else who I had the misfortune of outliving. I was pulled from my thoughts when a new warmth was draped over my shoulders and I glanced down to find Steve's uniform jacket. I looked over to him and smiled at the sight of his tie tucked into one of the gaps between the buttons. "You didn't have to," I told him.

He let out a laugh. "Ellie, I can see your breath," he stated, giving me a pointed look. "I'm not gonna let my girl catch a cold."

Instead of arguing and telling him that it was genetically impossible for me to catch a cold I simply flashed him a smile and slipped my arms into the sleeves. "This is ridiculous," I stated, bringing my hands up and wiggling my fingers to empathize how long the sleeves were on me. "I feel like a child."

He beamed at me and wrapped his arm around my waist once again. "I think you look beautiful," he told me.

I smiled at that and wrapped my arm around his own waist, pressing myself into his side. "Well, as I said earlier, you're a credit to your uniform."

"What context did you mean that in?" he questioned, looking down at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Because the usual definition is that I'm a credit to whichever branch of the military I'm in but…..it's never that simple with you."

I laughed at that and nodded, having the common sense to blush. "It was in the context of you looking like a Greek god in your uniform," I explained. "Your shoulder to waist ratio is heavenly."

His eyes widened as he looked down at me in surprise.

"What? You see yourself in the mirror, you know it's true," I defended.

He cleared his throat and nodded. "Uh, yeah, Bucky said something about it," he said, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck in his usual nervous fashion. "He said that it looked unnatural and that I should look into joining the circus."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "He's just jealous because he knows all the girls will get all hot and bothered over it."

"Yeah, well, I only care about my girl," he stated, seeming to smile to himself as he looked ahead of us, "and apparently she thinks it's heavenly."

I was surprisingly prideful at that. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as I leaned further into his side, my head rested on his shoulder as we strolled down the London streets.

We reached the end of the block and was faced with a small city park with a slide and a seesaw and a pair of swings.

"Steve, when was the last time you played?" I asked, pulling him to a stop.

He looked down at me in confusion. "Played?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

I nodded to the park.

He looked over and let out a startled laugh. "Oh," he said, a wide smile appearing on his face.

"That look says it all," I stated, grabbing ahold of his hand and pulling him across the street into the park. I made a beeline for the swings and claimed one with a childish giggle. I gripped the chains and kicked off the dirt patch under the swing.

Steve took the other swing, the bar holding us up groaning in protest. "I'm gonna feel real bad if I break this," he stated, bouncing slightly in to test the support.

"I'm sure if we tell the kids that Captain America broke their swing set they'll forgive you," I assured him, pumping my legs forward and back to send me higher. "Heavens knows I would."

He let out a laugh. "You're biased."

"Maybe a little."

He shook his head and pushed off the ground, not so surprisingly sending him high enough and fast enough to level out with me. "You know, I didn't spend a lot of time on playgrounds as a kid," he mused.

"You were sick a lot, right?" I asked despite already knowing the answer.

He nodded. "Not to mention that when I did I would always get into fights."

"You actually got into playground fights?"

"Have you met me?" he asked, looking over to me with a raised eyebrow.

A startled laugh left me. "Are you admitting to getting into an obscene amount of fights?"

"No, I'm admitting that I don't have a high tolerance to bullies."

"You have no tolerance," I argued.

"Maybe."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "There's something in you, Steven Grant Rogers," I told him. "I don't know what it is but it isn't compromise."

"I'll compromise."

"Not with bullies."

"They don't deserve it."

"No, I suppose not."

He laughed again and gave me a questioning look. "Did you really just call me my full name?"

"I like your full name," I told him. "Steven Grant Rogers. It's entirely you."

He nodded at that. "Yes, well, that's usually the purpose for names," he reminded me before giving me that smile that caused me distraction. "But, I like your full name too. Eleanor Lizbeth Howlett."

"I've always thought Lizbeth was a bit odd," I admitted, dropping my head back to look at the sky.

"Really? Then why do you let Bucky call you it?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Jimmy's called me Lizzy for as long as I can remember and it was my mother's name so I don't hold a complete hatred towards it."

"Grant was my dad's name," he told me. "I don't remember much about him so I like having a part of him with me."

He had spoken a little softer but the smile never faltered so I didn't take it as a bad sign. "Jimmy's and Victor's middle names are their fathers too."

He looked to me in alarm. "What?" he asked.

"What?" I asked back.

"You said 'their fathers' not 'their father'," he pointed out.

My eyes widened as I realized that I had indeed said that. I could have told him that I had misspoken but that would have been yet another lie onto the monstrous pile. "Okay," I said, putting my feet down and sliding to a stop.

Steve responded in kind, that alarmed look still on his face as he looked to me. "Ellie?"

"What I'm about to tell you only a few people know," I told him before thinking on that. "Actually, outside my family Howard is the only one who knows," I amended.

"Ellie, you don't have to tell me," he assured me, reaching out to grab my hand.

I shook my head. "I've pretty much told you already," I said with a shrug. "Victor is mine and Jimmy's half-brother."

Steve's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Did your parents remarry?"

I let out a snort of laughter. "Oh God, that would have been a disaster," I said, visioning my mother and biological father being married together. "No, uh, Victor's father and my mother had an affair, which resulted in me and Jimmy. My mother's husband, Logan, didn't know and continued not to know till the day he died. Coincidentally, that's when Jimmy and I found out as well."

"Your mom told you?"

I swallowed hard and once again considered telling him a lie that would make the whole thing easier, but I once again reminded myself of the many lies I had already told him.

"Has Bucky told you anything about my childhood?" I asked, wondering if his best friend ever spoke about the fireside conversations we shared.

Steve's eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head. "No."

I pulled in a deep breath. "I told him that my parents died when Jimmy and I were 12 and Victor was 14. I told him that we were afraid of being put into an orphanage so we ran away and took care of ourselves. What I didn't tell him was how they died," I started, dropping my eyes to the grass. "Thomas, Victor's father, showed up drunk one night with a shotgun, demanding that my mother tell us the truth. Within a ten minute conversation me, Jimmy and Victor were the only ones left alive."

It was the closest to the truth I could get. I knew that eventually I would have to tell him the whole truth but that would only be possible after telling him the truth about what I was. And between the two conversations I had with Jimmy and Howard I was more than certain that I would have to be forced to tell him, the fear of his reaction sending me into a frenzy.

"Ellie."

I looked up to him and was surprised to find tears in his eyes. "What's wrong?" I found myself asking.

Surprised twisted across his face. "After what you just told me you're asking me what's wrong?" he countered, reaching out to brush the back of his fingers against my cheek. "Ellie, you're crying for God's sake."

I brushed my hand against my own cheek and found that he was right. "Huh, I haven't cried in a long time," I whispered. "I didn't even cry when…." I trailed off, the absurdness of not crying after your parents death sounding borderline psychotic. "Maybe it's because I'm telling you."

"Why would that matter?"

"Because you matter the most," I answered instantly.

Steve's hard expression softened at that. "Ellie…."

"I've never told anyone how they died," I said, clearing my throat. "I've never wanted anyone to know but you…." I trailed off shaking my head. "I want you to know everything."

A smile twitched at his lips and he ran his thumb across my cheek. "I want to know everything," he told me. "But, Ellie, I don't want you to tell me things because you think you have to. I want you to tell me them when you're ready."

I leaned into his hand and gave him a smile of my own. "Have I ever told you how grateful I am that you asked me if I was okay?"

He laughed lightly at that and threaded his fingers through my hair. "No, but if it's as grateful as I am for asking you, then it really doesn't need to be said."

"No, I suppose it doesn't," I agreed, pulling in another calming breath and letting it out slowly. I swung towards him and gave him a quick kiss before pushing off the ground again. "I hope you know that you're stuck with me. You'll have to pry me off," I told him, releasing one of the chains so I could wipe my face free of the tears I hadn't allowed.

Steve let out a snort of laughter and rejoined me in swinging. "Oh, Ellie, if only you knew."

It's a little bit of filler fluff but it's a chapter nonetheless! Let me know what you thing!

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