Savage

by awalkerlifeforme

She was everything people feared. She wanted to defend the world but also wanted revenge on those who wrecked hers. The ones who forced her to leave Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Now she's back and while Steve attempts to get back the woman he's always considered his sister, Bucky hopes to thaw the ice that has formed around her heart. A heart that he had always believed was his.

22. Chapter 22

April, 1942
New York City, New York

Glancing down at my watch, I nodded. Another day had come and gone. But today was different. Today was the day that we would finally be putting Steve's acting to the test. It was the end of April and the weather had turned once more. It was horribly warm in the run-down theater that would putting on the show. Many of the people that were sitting out in the audience were fanning themselves from the heat. I kept the wind gently whipping around me, soft enough so that no one else could notice, but it made me a little more comfortable.

It didn't help that so many people were walking around in the backstage area. Many more than should have been able to come back here. There was the tour manager, whose name I hadn't bothered to learn, Brandt, who hadn't bothered to take his seat, and all of the dancers. The Star Spangled Singers, or whatever the hell their names were. All I knew was that there were a lot of them and not one of them was distinguishable from them others. They all seemed to have crushes on Steve. Not that they knew who he was. They just called him Captain. I really hadn't meant for the name that I'd given him to be used like this.

Approximately three weeks had passed since Abraham Erskine was murdered. It was something that still didn't sit well with me. I knew what everyone was saying. They were telling me that it wasn't really my fault. They were trying to convince me that there was nothing that could have been done without me revealing myself. But I knew that it would have been worth it to save Abraham. Maybe Steve would have been overseas right now. Maybe we would have been doing something that actually made a difference in the world. But I had done this to myself when I'd made the argument that I would stay with Steve.

In a way I was glad that we had stayed here in the States. We had been around so that we were able to stay for Abraham's funeral. He had been buried just a few days after the murder. It had been a reasonably small funeral. Abraham had no family and most of the friends that he had were through the S.S.R. With so many of them overseas, it had left only a few to stay and attend the funeral. Mostly the men that had been put out of work once he had been murdered. I did feel terribly for them. I wasn't the only one that had lost something when Operation Rebirth had died. So many of them no longer had jobs. But at least it was easy for them to get another job.

The story was different with me. There were only two choices that I had. I could either go with Chester and everyone else, which would mean leaving Steve, the one person that I had sworn that I would watch over, or I could stay here and watch over him. So I had picked to stay. I knew that Chester, Peggy, and Howard were not happy with my choice, but they had agreed. And Peggy seemed to think that staying to train Steve was a good idea. We had created him. There was no point in just letting him walk away.

But in the meantime, there was actually a way that we had to work. Steve had become an overnight sensation. Not really Steve. More like Captain America. They had been designing the shows for weeks now. This was the first time that we would actually be putting one of the shows on. Not that I really had anything to do with the shows. They mostly just thought that I was dating Steve so I traveled around with him. I'd learned to just stop arguing with them. I glanced out beyond the curtains and took in a deep breath. There was a large audience. The world had become so interested in Captain America with all of the press that Brandt had been doing for him.

We could just hope that he wouldn't mess up. And if he did, we could just hope that it wouldn't get out to Chester. I'd had a long conversation with him before he'd flown out to London that night. He had made a point to tell me that when the time came - if the time came - he would take Steve out onto the war front. But, in the meantime, our job was to take care of funding over here. I knew that Howard and Peggy were both upset to be so far away, even though Peggy was technically back home, but they both had things to keep themselves busy. Howard was working on the Hydra technology and helping to build more weaponry, while Peggy was working directly with Chester.

Much of my time was spent thinking about everyone back overseas. I wasn't angry that I had stayed back home, but I did wish that I was overseas, doing something that really mattered. I had been on the phone with Chester last week when he had told me that they were currently on the hunt for active Hydra bases. But they were well-hidden. It wasn't like the Nazi bases - which were known. Hydra was very good at staying underground and hidden. Apparently every time that they made some headway towards where one of the bases were, they seemed to move. I had a feeling that they weren't actually moving, they just had lots of decoy bases.

That had been my suggestion to Chester. In other news, I hadn't heard from Bucky since I had written him the letter about Abraham and the project. I wasn't shocked. It was only three weeks. But I normally got a letter every other week. Sometimes I got a letter once a week if I was lucky. His letters were coming through the USO so I had to continuously update them on where I was so that I could receive my letters from him properly. If I was going to get another letter... It made me sick to think about. He was fine. He had to be fine. He had promised me that he would be fine. But that didn't stop me from worrying about him.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Steve wiggling into the Captain America costume. He was wearing a pair of blue trousers that were tucked into slightly darker blue boots. He had on a long-sleeved white shirt that had white and red stripes over his abdomen. Bright red, rubber gloves, went about halfway over his arms. There was a blue piece of the shirt that went over his chest with a white star stamped in the middle. He wasn't yet wearing the stupid blue mask with the white A stamped in the middle and the white ears on the side.

He was tugging uncomfortably at the costume as I made my way back to where he was standing, looking nervously at himself in the mirror. "You look like an idiot," I told him, coming to stand in the doorway.

He glanced back at me and smiled. "Thank you, Vic," he told me. I walked behind him and started to help do up the back of the costume, that he had buttoned improperly. "Didn't you have a hand at designing this?" Steve asked me.

Over one of the nights that we had been staying in the hotel, as we were waiting to start the tour, I hadn't been able to sleep. I'd been so bored that I'd started doodling a joke to show Steve in the morning. It had really just been a joke that was supposed to be an overdone version of the costume that I had thought that they would make him. But I'd fallen asleep before I could give it to him and had left it in my bunk when I'd left. Apparently Brandt had found it and had thought that it was a riot. The costume had been designed within a matter of days, and I'd been left feeling terrible for having not hung onto it a little tighter.

Of course, I had lied to Steve and told him that someone else had done most of the design. "I sent it in as a joke," I lied, not wanting him to think that this was really all of my fault.

"Thanks for that!" Steve barked, tugging at the high neckline of the costume. "I should've asked them to make you wear the costume that the girls wear," he muttered to me.

My head snapped up as I checked over the costume to ensure that everything was correct. I would shoot myself - not that it would make any difference - over and over again before putting myself in one of those skimpy outfits. The girls were wearing a low-cut blue collared shirt that had white stars along the neckline. They had no sleeves and white gloves that went up to their elbows. The skirts were pathetically short and flouncy, with alternating white and red stripes. To complete the outfit they wore sheer tights, a blue hat, and silver heels. They also had their hair perfectly curled.

Someone would have to kill me - an impossible feat - to put me into one of those costumes. "If you ever tell someone to put me in one of those costumes, I'll electrocute you so badly that you'll never speak again," I snarled at him.

The threat didn't really seem to bother him. Although he did shift nervously away from me. I knew what he was thinking. "See, now that I know that you can do that, it makes you much scarier," he told me.

Grinning at him, I nodded brightly. "I should have told you and Bucky about this years ago. Maybe you boys would have been a little bit nicer to me," I said.

Steve raised his eyebrows at me. "We're talking about nice?" he asked me. I merely grinned and hopped up onto the vanity that he had been using. "You're the one that put me in this costume and gave me the name."

"Stop whining, you big baby," I said.

Steve smiled at me and stood off to the side, looking at himself in the mirror. He took a deep breath. Obviously he was trying to give himself a little pep-talk. "You can do this," he said, taking a few more deep breaths.

Staring sidelong at him, I watched as he continued to mouth to himself. I had a feeling that he had not remembered the lines. "Did you actually remember the lines?" I asked him.

Judging by the look that he was giving me, I assumed that he had not remembered them. "I have you to remind me of the lines if I forget," he told me guiltily.

Just like I thought. "Here," I said.

Hopping off of the vanity, I walked over to the edge of the room. The shield had been my idea. There was a blue stripe over the top of the shield that had three stars on it. The bottom half were red and white alternating stripes. Probably so that it would match the Star Spangled Singers. But that wasn't what I had designed it for. I had really designed it so that the lines could be written on the back of the shield. I handed Steve the shield and showed him the back. He smiled broadly at me.

"This was your idea?" he asked.

I nodded my head at him, hopping back up onto the vanity. "You and Bucky never did your homework," I pointed out. Steve grinned at me. They had always been too lazy to do the work. "I knew that you wouldn't remember the lines, even if I told you to remember them. Didn't think that you should make an ass out of yourself during the first show."

"Much appreciated," Steve said.

He pulled the shield onto his arm, moving it around so that he was going to be able to read the lines. "You know that you have to throw a punch out there," I told him as he began miming the lines.

That was part of the theatrically. He had to throw a fake punch to a man that was pretending to be Hitler. He had been traveling around with us for the past few weeks. They had been practicing the show for a few days and it made me laugh every time that I saw the fake punch that Steve had thrown. It was terrible. I couldn't believe that anyone would ever believe that it was real. But maybe that was the whole point. There were so many kids and women in the audience that they didn't want to scare.

Either way, Steve seemed careless with the worry of making the punch look real. "It's fake," Steve said carelessly.

"Try and make it look real," I told him.

Steve turned back to me. "I think I can manage to throw a fake punch," he said.

Actually I really didn't think that he could throw a fake punch. I had a bad feeling that he had no idea how to throw a fake punch. "We'll see," I said. A few seconds passed before the happy music started filtering through the building. The show would be starting in a few minutes. "Music is starting. That's your cue."

Holding my hand out, Steve nodded at me as we made our way towards the stage. At Steve's request, I would be backstage. I had a feeling that he didn't trust me not to make fun of him if I was out in the audience. He was probably right about that. The backstage area was starting to come alive with movement on everyone that was ready to start the show. The nerves had started to pour off of Steve. It was almost impossible not to feel them. He had never had so many people cheering for him.

As we stood backstage, the tour manager close to us, I noticed that Steve was now bouncing up and down. Grinning at myself, I watched him look over to me. "What if Bucky sees this?" Steve asked worriedly.

A monstrous grin fell over my face. Bucky would never let Steve live this down. I hoped that someone would take a video of this. I needed him to see this. "Absolutely nothing will make me happier," I told him.

Steve's head snapped over to me. He glared at me. "You're the worst person that I've ever met," he snapped. I grinned madly. I was not that bad. "You gave me this stupid name, stupid costume, and -"

"And you were the one that wanted this in the first place," I spoke over him. This wasn't my fault. I understood why he did it. Just training every day for over a year would feel like he was doing nothing. At least this was something. "My offer was to just spend time training you until you were ready to go overseas. You were the one that wanted to do this."

Steve sighed softly and ran his fingers through his hair. I would need to take another one of those pills soon. I could feel the tension building throughout my body. "I want to feel like I'm making a difference," Steve said.

I was unable to stop myself from saying something nasty. "Sure you are. You're making the rich, richer, and making the war look like a glorified action movie," I told him.

"That makes me feel better," Steve said.

The hurt shot through his body. Frowning at myself, I moved forward and laid a hand on Steve's shoulder, wishing that I hadn't said that. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for," I muttered softly.

Steve merely shook his head at me. He moved forward and grabbed me in a tight hug. I smiled into his chest. It was a vast difference from the days that when I would hug Steve, I would be able to rest my chin on his shoulder. These days, if I hugged Steve, the top of my head barely came up to his chest. When Steve finally moved away from me, I noticed that he had a sad look on his face, just like the one that I had been wearing only moments before.

"You miss him?" Steve asked me.

It didn't take a genius to know that he was talking about Bucky. I nodded at him. "Of course I do. It's not even that I need to speak to him. Plenty of days went by at Camp Lehigh that I never even spoke to him. But he was here. I could actually see him," I said, leaning back against the frame of the stage.

Steve nodded at me. I knew that as much as I missed Bucky, Steve missed him, too. "I know how you feel, Vic. But he's gonna come back. And you can both laugh about this," he said, motioning to himself.

The tour manager was staring at us and came up from the side of the stage. "Trust me. We will," I said teasingly. Bucky and I would have a field day with this. I patted Steve on the back and pulled him over to the entrance of the stage. "Come on. It's about time for you to go on," I said.

The tour manager handed him the mask that he was supposed to wear. He grabbed it and held it in his hand, ignoring me as I let out a barking laugh. "I don't know if I can do this," Steve said.

Before I could say anything, the tour manager walked up to Steve's side and spoke. I knew that he had a name, but I wasn't sure that I cared enough to learn it. "Nothing to it. Sell a few bonds - bonds buy bullets. Bullets kill Nazi's. Bing, bang, boom," he said. He patted Steve on the back, as per usual, ignoring me. "You're an American hero."

"It's just not how I pictured getting there," Steve said.

He hadn't even bothered to look at the tour manager. "The Senator's got a lot of pull up on the Hill," the tour manager said. I could see a dancer that was out on the stage checking to make sure that Steve was ready. "You play ball with us, you'll be leading your own platoon in no time," he said as Steve pulled on the hat.

My head turned to him and I narrowed my eyes. He was not a member of the Army. He couldn't make promises like that. I couldn't even make promises like that. That power laid with Chester. "You can't do that. You don't work for the Army. They're the ones that determine who creates the new platoons and the orders," I told him.

The tour manager glanced over at me. His eyes widened as if it was the first time that he was seeing me, not like he had been hitting on me just the other day. "Who are you, again?" he asked me.

"I'm in charge of him. Sergeant Victoria Phillips," I snapped.

He merely laughed at me. I could feel the fury seeping off of Steve. "Well, guess what? Out here, we're the ones that are in charge of this tour," the tour manager said. My jaws ground together as I walked towards him. I was going to kill him. He had no idea that I was actually going to kill him. "Why don't you go put on a costume and join him, honey?"

That made things no better. My eyes lit up a furious red, but with the darkness of the backstage area, he couldn't tell. "What did you just say to me?" I hissed, making my way towards him.

Steve stepped in, pushing me back behind him. "Hey. You stay away from her," he told the tour manager.

But there was no way that Steve's comment would go over very well. "Remember who you work for," the tour manager told Steve. The drum roll started out on the stage. "That's you. Go!" he said, shoving Steve.

"Good luck!" I called after him.

"Who's strong and brave, here to save the American Way?"

For all of the times that I had ever seen the lyrics, I had never actually been to one of the rehearsals. I had always been doing something else. The song was so upbeat and ridiculous that leaned over and immediately started laughing. The tour manager merely glared at me. As Steve walked towards the front of the stage, the girls pretended to be in an Army march. A few more girls crossed the stage behind Steve so that as he spoke, they were marching right behind him.

He raised the shield in front of him to read the lines and began speaking in a very stiff manner. "Not all of us can storm a beach. Or drive a tank. But there's still a way all of us can fight," he said.

"Who vows to fight like a man for what's right, night and day?"

My laughter only continued as the girls began to spread out over the stage. Steve looked very confused and uncomfortable. That didn't seem to affect the happiness of the audience. They all seemed to be having a grand time watching him. The audience was watching on the edge of their seats as Steve raised his shield and blandly began to speak once more.

"Series E Defense Bonds. Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy's gun."

"Who will campaign door to door for America?
Carry the flag shore to shore for America?
From Hoboken to Spokane?
The Star Spangled Man with a plan!
We can't ignore there's a threat and a war we must win!
Who'll hang a noose on the goose-stepping goose from Berlin?
Who will indeed lead the call for America?
Who'll rise or fall, give his all, for America?
Who's here to prove that we can?
The Star Spangled Man with a plan!"

The girls went forward to do their little routine as Steve just awkwardly stood and stared out into the crowd. He moved off to the side so that the view was unobstructed to the girls. Steve glanced back at me and I made a retching movement, much to the annoyance of the tour manager. The girls continued their little dance before moving off of the stage, coming back to cross over each other, one of them was carrying what I assumed was supposed to be a very poor replica of a rifle. I particularly liked the baby American Flags routine. The girls danced back and forth as a track of men singing played over them. Of course for all of my laughter, the audience was eating it up.

It seemed like they were singing and dancing for hours before they stopped and stood in a long line. Steve came back to the front of the stage and began to speak, each of the girls saluting him as he walked by. As the music settled and the cheers died down, the man that was dressed as Hitler began to walk backwards, supposedly hiding behind the line of the girls. I snorted under my breath at the sight of the audience panicking at the sight of the fake Hitler with his plastic gun.

"We all know it's about trying to win the war. We can't do that without bullets and bandages. Tanks and casts. And that's where you come in. Every bond you buy will help protect someone you love," Steve recited.

A few kids that were out in the audience started to stand up and shout. "Look out there!" one of them yelled.

"He's there behind you!" a little girl yelled.

"Keep our boys armed and ready and the Germans will think twice about trying to get the drop on us," Steve said. Very dramatically, the fake Hitler shoved through the line of girls. Steve turned back and threw a terribly fake punch. The audience began to madly cheer as the girls all pretended to swoon over his bravery.

In the meantime, I was laughing so hard that I was nearly crying. "That's the worst fake punch I've ever seen," I said.

Honestly I hadn't been expecting anyone to listen to me. The tour manager turned back to me and glared. "You're a woman. What could you know about fake punches?" he asked me.

My eyes narrowed at him as I turned back. "Nothing. I know about real ones," I told him with a small smile.

The tour manager rolled his eyes at me. "Never going to meet a man with an attitude like that," he said. I bit back a comment that I already had a man that would have punched him if he'd heard that comment.

"Stalwart and steady and true!
(See how this guy can shoot! We tell you, there's no substitute!)
Forceful and ready to defend the Red, White, and Blue!
(The red, white and blue!)
Who'll give the Axis the sack and is smart as a fox?
(Sure as an Eagle will soar!)
Who's makin' Adolph afraid to step out of his box?
(He's knows what we're fighting for!)
Who'll whip the giant attacking America?
We know it's no one but Captain America!
Who'll finish what they began?
Who'll kick the Krauts to Japan?
The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!
(Who's strong and brave here to save the American way?)"

The show was much longer than I had thought that it would be. It was nearly fifteen minutes of a bunch of singing and dancing and stupid antics. It reminded me of those little cartoons that kids liked to read in the comic books that they had begun distributing not long ago. I particularly liked the drummers and line kicks. If only they could actually use their reasonably impressive flexibility to do something good in the world rather than just prance around. One of the best parts of the entire show was at the end when Steve lifted up three girls on a motorcycle as the fireworks began to go off.

The long note that the girls held at the end finally died out and Steve laid down the motorcycle. He made his way to the end of the stage and said, "How many of you are ready to help me sock old Adolph on the jaw?"

As much as I thought that the show was absolutely ridiculous and stupid, it was obvious that everyone else really liked it. The crowd was cheering madly for Steve. It was so loud that the entire auditorium was starting to shake. The only good thing was that at least Steve did look a little happy. He was waving to them as the audience rose to their feet to cheer for him. He stood out there for a long time before he was finally brought back behind the stage as the audience demanded an encore.

Even as he came backstage I could hear them all shouting. The tour manager made his way out to announce that Steve would be signing autographs backstage and taking photographs. I made my way over to a very stunned-looking Steve. He smiled at me and made his way to say something. But he didn't get far. He was almost immediately taken away by Senator Brandt. I rolled my eyes and walked after him. Not that it was an easy feat. I kept getting shoved out of the way from people that wanted to meet Captain America. It was very hard to convince myself to not kill everyone that stood in my way.

By the time that I had finally made my way over to Steve, I could see that he was already overwhelmed with all of the attention that he was getting. He seemed very happy to see me. "How'd I do?" he asked me nervously.

"That's the stupidest thing that I've ever seen," I told him honestly.

A few people that were standing around were glaring at me. But Steve merely laughed and wrapped an arm over my shoulder. We were shoved apart as Brandt came running up in between us. "Wonderful! The audience loves you! You're going to be an overnight sensation! Think about it... Comic books, movies, and tours. Adoring fans everywhere," Brandt said, motioning off into the distance.

My jaws set together. I could see that Steve wasn't quite sure what to think about that. "You are aware that he is here to get overseas into the actual fight?" I asked Brandt.

He glanced back at me for a moment before waving off my comment dismissively. "Yeah. Of course," he told me before turning back to Steve. There might as well have been dollar signs in his eyes. "We're going to do a radio broadcast tomorrow so that the country can find out all about what's happening with Captain America and the tour."

"How many shows are we doing?" Steve asked.

Only pushing me further away from Steve, the tour manager, whose name I had learned was Martin Sherman, came up between the men. "As many as possible. The venue wants you back tomorrow. We're going to spend a few days here doing the shows and move on once we get an actual schedule together," he said.

"Alright. Sign some photos and then we're moving back to the hotel," Brandy ordered Steve.

The lineup to take photographs with Steve was comprised of almost everyone that had been in the audience. Before they could start moving forward, I came up on Steve's side. "You are the worst actor that I've ever seen," I told him.

Steve glanced over at me, trying to suppress a smile. "I'm not sure how, but somehow, this is your fault," he told me.

Snorting under my breath, I motioned around to the singers and dancers that were trying to make their way to take photographs with the families. "Oh, no. I'm not the one that wrote that song or found your little harlots," I snarled.

"That's rude," Steve said.

I raised my brow at him. "When have you ever known me to be nice?" I asked.

He gave me a little head tilt that told me that he realized that I was right. We stood together as the photographer snapped a photo, the light blinding me for a moment. "Excuse me, Miss!" the photographer called after me. I turned back and raised my brow. "How does it feel knowing that you're protected by Captain America?"

"I'm not a fan. I work on this tour," I told him.

The smile that he had plastered on his face fell. Martin shoved me out of the way at my words. "Get out of the way! There are people that want to see the great Captain America. Come on up everyone, say hello!" Martin yelled.

Gritting my teeth together, I deliberately brought up a force field around his feet, forcing them to walk over each other. He groaned as his feet caught together and he fell, smashing his chin on the ground. I grinned and turned back to where Steve was signing photographs of himself. He definitely looked uncomfortable with all of the attention. I merely stood off to the side, barking at least ten times that I was not one of the dancers and that I would not be a part of their pictures.

However my irritation was well worth it when someone handed Steve a crying baby. He very awkwardly held the baby at arm's length and pretended to be smiling. I snorted under my breath and watched as I leaned against the wall that was near the entrance of the stage. It was rather funny that they were looking at him like he was the light of their life. If nothing else, at least he was helping the morale back here at home. Sometimes it got hard to remember that one day the war would be over.

I'd never seen Steve as happy as he was when the baby was taken away by the mother. She looked a little sad to say goodbye to Steve. Her thoughts were certainly not something that a married woman should have been thinking about. I rolled my eyes as Steve turned to pick up the next baby. He was caught off-guard when it turned out to be Brandt. He smiled and shook Steve's hand, the two men standing very close together. Steve looked a little awkward as he gave a pathetic smile to the camera. I knew that this was all just Brandt's way of promoting himself. If nothing else, at least it was promoting Steve, too.

Despite what I'd thought, I wasn't by myself for too long. A man in a tweed suit walked up to me after a few minutes of watching Steve. I barely paid him a glance, but I already knew everything that I needed to know. Nice looking man, blonde hair, and green eyes. He was tall, about Bucky's height. He appeared to be in his late twenties. Obviously unmarried as he wore no ring. He was coming over to me to try and strike up a chat. It wouldn't go well for him if he thought that I'd reciprocate.

He leaned against the wall with me for a long time. It was about ten minutes before he finally looked over to me and spoke. "You look thrilled to be back here," he teased.

"Can I help you?" I asked him.

He looked very surprised by the abrasiveness of my answer. But he wasn't deterred. He merely smiled at me and motioned over to where the girls were standing and taking pictures. "Shouldn't you be standing with the other dancers?" he asked me.

The smile on his face told me that he hadn't scented danger yet. He would soon enough. "I'm not one of the dancers. I'm a Sergeant in the United States Army. I'm here to look after Captain America," I snarled at him.

The idiot still didn't get that I was trying to be nice and tell him that I didn't want him anywhere near me. "Impressive," he said. I nodded with an emotionless look. "But I think that you'd look like quite the dame in one of those costumes. Might serve a little better that way, ma'am," he said, thinking that he was clever.

Turning towards him with a bright smile, I was very glad to find that he thought that he had cracked me. "Get away from me before I break your arm," I told him sweetly.

The man's eyes widened. "Just trying to be friendly," he muttered.

"Try elsewhere," I called after him.

He gave me a frightened look before moving off. I could hear him complaining to his friends about how there was probably something hidden in my trousers. I rolled my eyes at him and sank back into the darkness so that no one else bothered me. It was a long time that Steve signed the photographs and took pictures with the kids. We were there for hours before Brandt and Martin started to move Steve along, with the promise that he would be back tomorrow. Steve called for me and I moved from my spot, following behind them. I was the only person that didn't smile or wave to the cameras.

The hotel that we were staying at wasn't far from the stage that we were performing at. It was convenient enough so that we barely had to spend any time in the car. I knew that we would be here for a few days as Brandt and Martin tried to put together a plan and official touring schedule. As we arrived back to the hotel I was given a conjoining room with Steve at his request. I'd requested to be as far from the dancers as I possibly could. The moment that we were given the keys I'd gone up to my room, slammed the door, and collapsed onto the bed, with the order that no one other than Steve was to bother me.

As much as I knew that I should have been getting some rest, I knew that I couldn't bring myself to fall asleep. So I was pacing back and forth through the room. I knew that this tour was going to drive me insane. I couldn't believe that people really liked all of this crap. This was the type of stuff that kids should have liked. But no; men and women both liked it, too. For a moment I actually wished that I had taken up Chester's offer to come over to London with them. I knew that they would still take me overseas back with the rest of the S.S.R. but I had already promised Steve that I would stay with him through the tour.

That didn't mean that I didn't already miss them. It was a wonderful thing to have Steve back in my life, but he was so busy these days. The tour was going to keep him busy and I knew that in a matter of time there would be so much more that he would be doing. My only solace was that at least while we weren't outdoors I was locked away in the hotel rooms, with only my thoughts to keep me company. And Steve. But currently I had a feeling that he was trying to wash away the touch of all of the people that had been shaking his hand and hugging him at the autograph session earlier. He would have to get used to that.

It turned out that I wasn't allowed to be alone with my thoughts for long. A knock sounded at the door and I groaned, walking over to answer it. It was one of the men that worked for the hotel. "Yes?" I asked him.

"Miss Victoria Phillips?" the man asked.

I nodded at him. "That's me," I said.

The man unfolded his hands from behind his back and showed me a letter. My eyes darted down to it and I felt my breath catch in my throat. "Letter for you, Miss," the man said.

"Thank you."

Grabbing the letter from the man, I thanked him once more as he offered for me to call the concierge if there was anything more that I needed. Closing the door gently behind him, I walked back over to the desk. It was Bucky's handwriting. As I should have been expecting. He was the only person that wrote me letters. My hands were shaking as I took a seat and gently opened the letter. It was more like a miniature novel this time. There were three pages in the envelope.

Vika,

Where do I even begin? I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I never got the chance to speak to Abraham Erskine but I know that he had to be a wonderful man to have earned your affections. I'm glad that you were able to capture the Agent that killed him. I thank God every day that you were alright during the attack. I know Hydra. They're violent. They don't do anything with the intent of leaving survivors. Please be careful out there. I can't stand the thought of losing you.

Maybe you don't know it, but I can tell that you're heartbroken. It's just in the way that you write. You just have a normally happy way about yourself. Don't you worry about anything, you hear me? I love you. Things are going to work out. Harvard doesn't deserve you and it never will. Who cares about those stuck-up pricks? You deserve so much better than them. And you're going to get better. I really do believe that you're going to get better than that.

I wish I was there to make you smile. I know you better than you think that I know you. So that's my goal. I want to make you smile with every letter that I send. And that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to send you a letter every time that something happens that I think would make you smile. So here goes nothing...

Here are ten of the many reasons that I love you:

1) You have the prettiest eyes that I've ever seen. I don't care what anyone ever said about them. They're gorgeous. They make you different, and I like different.

2) You're the smartest girl that I've ever met. Actually, you are the smartest person that I've ever met. Like you said, I've always been an idiot. But I feel like even more of an idiot when you're around.

3) Don't hit me for saying this when I see you again, but you're beautiful. I know that you hate the yellow eyes and I know that you hate the white hair. But I don't. I think that they're perfect. You know the first time that I saw you down in my kitchen that night... As terrified as I was that someone had gotten into the house, I was enamored in the little girl. She was so different. And I liked that. I still like that. I'm just glad that the day came that I got to love her, and that she got to love me back.

4) You're the most independent person that I know. It's nice. There are so many girls that want a guy to do everything for them. But that's not you. It never was. You're the kind of person that's going to do everything for themselves. I just hope that one day you know that you don't have to do everything yourself. I'm here for you. Always.

5) You do everything with a passion that I wish that everyone else had. The world would be such a good place. There isn't a single thing that I've ever seen you do without passion. This secret project that you're working on, the friendships that you have, and I certainly hope that I fall under that category, too. It's the sweetest thing. You have such a huge heart.

6) You don't let anything get you down. Sure, you have your moments. Everyone does. Losing your friend and Harvard is going to hurt. But you know what? You didn't lose them. Abraham Erskine loved you very much. And he would have wanted you to respect his life and move on. I know that you know that. So you're going to move on. And Harvard? You didn't lose them. They lost you.

7) You're a lousy cook. And you can't sew worth a damn.I love that about you. It's funny. Those chocolate cupcakes that you made were the worst. But you know? I used to eat a chocolate cupcake on my birthday in the years that you were gone. Even though I hated them, they reminded me of you. But they were never bad enough. Maybe you can make one on my next birthday. And those pants that you tried to sew... You forgot the leg holes. Kind of an important part. But it made me laugh. And that's always meant the most to me.

8) You don't just befriend everyone. And that's a good thing. I've always thought that it was incredible the way that you were so selective about the people that you were close to. It shows that you don't care about being popular. The only thing that you cared about was the quality of the people that were around you, not the quantity. I can't tell you how much it means to me that I fall into your acceptable range.

9) You don't care what people think about you. If there was ever anything that I could say about you, it was the fact that it didn't matter to you what people thought about you. The only thing that mattered was what you thought of yourself. But it didn't make you careless. You always cared that Steve and I thought the best of you. And, trust me, we did. We still do.

10) Maybe this one isn't so much about you... It's more about me. Because you're everything that I've ever wanted in anyone. There isn't a thing about you that I don't love. From the way that you laugh at my misfortunes, to the way that you're always around when I need you, to the way that you smile. You are such a wonderful woman.

There are so many other things that I could put here. There isn't enough time in the world for me to tell you everything that I really think of you. I wish that there was.

And if that's not enough to make you laugh - or at least smile - here's something that will. We were doing a foot march the other day towards the enemy lines for a spying mission and I walked right into a pit of quicksand. Turned out that we had gone the wrong way. Remember telling me to pay more attention when we were reading the maps? I guess you were right... No one will let me lead anymore and I'm not allowed to look over the maps.

Everywhere we go, I keep hearing, 'Hey Barnes, watch out for this and watch out for that!' I guess I should have been paying a little more attention. If you think about it, it's really your fault. I was thinking about you when I walked into it. So, thanks for making me look like an idiot. I know, I know, I don't need you to make me look like an idiot. Like you and Steve said, I'm taking all of the stupid with me.

Oh, and even better, the other day I fell straight into a mud pit. Wish you were there. I would have hugged you. I think that European mud smells worse than American mud does. Maybe I'm just biased since I have to sleep in it.

I miss my damn bed. Do you have any idea how terrible it is to sleep in mud? Not even warm mud. Cold mud. Wherever I live after the war, I want it to be mud-free. You know what I really want? A bucket of fried chicken from KFC. Meals Ready to Eat are the worst things that I've ever had. They're literally worse than anything that you could possibly cook. And you're a pretty terrible cook. No offense. I'm a pretty awful cook, too. It's why we've got Steve. At least he can use a microwave. I wouldn't trust either one of us to use one.

There aren't enough hours in the day for me to write to you. They gave me a few minutes to write back to you but I can't stay any longer. There are things that I have to do. But I will write to you with every chance that I get. Take it easy and don't stress yourself out. Things are going to get better, Vika. They always do. And if I know you - which I do - you might get knocked down for a little while, but you'll get right back up again. And you'll be stronger this time.

Chin up, kid.

I love you. And I'll see you soon. Don't go finding someone better than me, alright?

Who am I kidding? You can't find someone better than me.

I hope that this made you smile. Also, I really hope that you don't think half of me of what I think of you. I'd never be able to live up to those expectations. I hope that you're sitting wherever you are, calling me an idiot. I can't wait to come back and hear you call me an idiot to my face. Never thought that I'd miss it, but I do.

Love you, Vika,
Bucky.

My eyes were watering as I took a deep breath and placed the letter on the bedside table. That was definitely one of the sweetest letters that I had ever gotten from him. And I had gotten quite a few sweet ones. He sent me lots of little letters that were just a few sentences, something that had been written quickly before going out on a mission. I knew what they were for. They were so that he could share with me his last thoughts, in the event that he didn't make it back from wherever he was going.

The whole letter made me smile. There wasn't one part of it that didn't make me smile. I knew that he wouldn't be happy to hear that Abraham Erskine had been murdered. Even though he was a born German, he was a wonderful man. Bucky had never spoken to Abraham, but the scientist had certainly known enough about him because of what he meant to me. I cringed when I saw that he had written that he knew just how violent Hydra was. Had he gotten too close to them? I could only hope that he hadn't. I smiled at the comment that he was thankful that I was alright. I wished that he realized that I would always be alright. There was never a moment that I wouldn't be alright.

He was right. My letter had been written in a very sad manner. He could tell that my writing wasn't as happy and boisterous as they normally were. His comment about Harvard had definitely made me laugh. They were stuck-up. But they also could have gotten me a real job. But I kept trying to remind myself that it didn't matter. I had Steve to take care of for now, and when the war was over, I had a job at Stark Industries to work with. My life was already planned out for me. It was just not the way that I had anticipated this part of it to go. But things were good. Maybe not now, but they would be.

And the ten reasons that he loved me... Where did I even begin with that? That was the part that had really made me want to cry. Was there anyone that really deserved to have someone feel that way about them? Sighing softly, I realized that I wasn't the only one that was upset. Bucky was upset, too. He knew that I was upset and that there was nothing that he could do for me. He was upset enough about having to be overseas in the first place. He missed his friends and his family. Grabbing a few pieces of paper, I wrote back to him, hoping that I could at least make him smile even for just a second.

Bucky,

You know that your letter was the first time that I've really felt happy in the few weeks since Abraham has died. It really hurt to have him die. I went to his funeral. It was a small one. He really didn't have any family and most of his friends were sent overseas as the S.S.R. had been re-tasked. I chose to stay behind in the States and look after the project. If things get better - which I know that they will - I'll be out on the war front soon enough. Don't worry about me. We won't be on the front lines. I'll stay safe. I promise that.

So here's my way to try and remind you that things are going to get better. This is my way of trying to get you to smile. Here are my ten absolute favorite memories of you...

1) The first moment that I met you. When I saw you and Steve in the apartment I was terrified that you would throw me back out onto the street. I'd come from a terrible situation. You have no idea what it meant to me that you gave me things as simple as food and a place to stay. It was the first amount of kindness that someone had shown me in a long time.

2)The first time that you ever stood up for me in front of your friends. Do you remember it? I do. We were going into school for the first time. Steve's parents had signed me up over the summer because I'd really wanted to go to a normal school. The moment that we walked, in your friends started asking me if I was a charity case. You got suspended because you punched one of them in the face. Steve was suspended because he'd started cursing at them. It meant the world to me.

3)The moment that you showed me that it didn't matter that I had done some awful things to you. Even when I'd left and never even given you a reason as to where or why I had gone, you didn't care. The only thing that mattered to you was that I was back. You never pushed me to say something that I wasn't ready to say.I don't deserve someone like you. I'm glad that you don't feel the same.

4)The first time that you told me that you loved me. I wish that we could have had more time to talk about it. I wish that we could have had more time to tell it to each other more than once. I'm sorry that I didn't react well to it. But my parents had once told me that no one would ever love me. But now I know that it was a lie. And I know that I somehow got luckier than anyone else, to have you in love with me.

5)The first time that I knew that you were in love with me. Trust me when I tell you that I knew that you were in love with me for a long time before you said it for the first time. But I kept trying to pretend like you didn't. Because I thought that you would have had to be insane to fall in love with me. Maybe you are. I know that I am.

6) The moment that you made me fall in love with you. I'm not really sure when it happened. Maybe it happened when we were kids. Maybe it happened when I was gone. Maybe it happened when I saw you again. I don't know. I just know that the day came that I looked at you and I knew. I knew that you meant more to me than anyone else ever had.

7)Every single time that you stood up for Steve, no matter what everyone else thought about you. You and Steve couldn't be more different. And that's what makes your friendship so special. You two protect each other from everything. It takes a good man to stand up for a woman. It takes a great one to stand up for his friend, against everyone else.

8)The time that you tried to race me down the stairs at the apartment complex. Remember that? You broke your arm because you thought that I you were faster. You fell at the bottom of the stairs and broke your arm. I thought that it was my fault but you kept insisting that you were the idiot that had fallen. It was scary at the time. Now it just makes me smile.

9) The time that we tried to make pancakes for your parents' anniversary. We burned the pancakes, broke the pan, and scared your parents when we woke them up. The whole thing was a disaster, but it was one of the most that I'd ever laughed. It was the moment that I really felt like I was a part of a family.

10)The first kiss that we shared. And every one after it. It's a funny story. We only kissed because neither one of us understood what the other was talking about. I promise you that Howard Stark is one of my closest friends, but he means nothing even close to what you mean to me. But, for me, try and be friends? Just so that you know, each time that we kiss, it feels like the first time all over again.

I'm not good at this kind of stuff. Telling someone how I feel is not something that I'm very good at. But I'm willing to do it to show you how I feel about you. You're a pain in my ass, you make me worry about you every time that you do something stupid, and I've never met someone that drives me as nuts as you do. But I wouldn't trade you for the world. Hurry on back, alright? There's something that I can't wait to show you. I think that you'll love it. I sure do. Be safe out there.

Love always,
Vika.

Folding up the letter, I slipped it into an envelope and ran it downstairs to the concierge, handing it to the men that were down at the desk and asking them to send it first class. They had already been given the orders that anything from Steve and I were to be sent straightaway. The moment that they had sent it, I headed back upstairs and walked back into my room. I thought about going to bed, but I couldn't. I was too wound up. So, instead, I knocked on Steve's door and slipped into his room. I knew that he was still awake.

He was obviously in deep thought as I walked in. He smiled at me and looked very happy to see me. It was nice, the night that we spent together. Maybe it wasn't the most appropriate thing in the world, but Steve and I were like brother and sister. It didn't really matter. And it just made me happy to be here with him. So the two of us perched on top of the bed and laughed long into the night. As we sat together - probably keeping up the neighbors on the other side of Steve - I found myself feeling lighter than I had in weeks. Steve was on the somewhat right track, Bucky was safe for the time being, and I could have been much worse off.

June, 1942
Rochester, New York

The morning came and the alarm clock on the side of the bed began to chirp. I rolled my eyes and rolled over in the bed, smacking it to get it to turn off. I groaned the second that I realized that I had dented it. Somehow I was going to have to explain how I'd broken another one of the alarm clocks. Brandt had had to get a budget just for the clocks that I had broken. I kept blaming Steve as I changed the alarms out when he wasn't paying attention. He kept swearing that he wasn't the one that was breaking them.

It ended up working out for everyone in that way. Steve's shows were getting quite a bit more popular and so was Steve himself. Well, Captain America. That meant that it didn't matter that a few alarm clocks had been broken. The people that owned the hotels would normally just ask for a signed photograph and tickets to the show that night before letting it go. It was absolutely insane just how popular the shows had been getting. Kids, women, and men all loved the show. The audiences would demand encores almost every single night. And, on Brandt's orders, Steve would normally have to oblige, no matter how tired he was.

The whole Captain America sensation had almost been overnight. Newspaper articles had been written about the show and it had quickly demanded for more all over the state. I knew that in a matter of time we would be traveling all over the country. The shows were getting longer and more extravagant, always performing for more and more people. They were already starting to make Captain America a celebrity. There were talks of doing short movies, a radio show, and even a comic book with him as the star. On the bright side, it was encouraging people to join the war and the United States Army funding had gone through the roof.

But while Steve was becoming more and more popular, people were staring to forget about me. Not that it really bothered me. I had never been the type that liked being the center of attention, simply because it was next to impossible for me to be in the center of attention without hearing what people really thought about me. The only nice thing was that Steve spent most of his spare time with me. That was all that mattered to me. He was who I was here for. Everyone else seemed to think that I was just another one of the showgirls. Steve was always the only person that stuck up for me, telling the others to leave me alone.

Everything that I said was looked over. It had lately led me to think that I was only here to be a friend to Steve. But I knew that there were more reasons that I was here. I was here to train him to be a super-soldier. And I was going to start that training soon. In the meantime, I was going to get us coffee to wake him up. Steve had been forced to do two encores last night, followed by a three-hour photograph signing and meet-and-greet with the fans. He had barely made it upstairs before falling asleep last night.

Passing back through the lobby on the same floor that Steve and I's rooms were on, a man that was one of the promoters of the tour called out to me. "Doll, can you go get me another coffee?" he asked.

My head whipped back to him as I pushed back the red tinge in my eyes. "What?" I snarled at him, giving him a chance to rectify his mistake.

"You're one of the dancers, you've gotta go downstairs anyways to get some more," the man said.

That was when I couldn't take it anymore. "I'm not a damn waitress!" I howled, my voice echoing throughout the hall.

As soon as my shout had echoed through the halls, I could hear people in the rooms waking up. The man that had spoken to me had sunk back in his chair. He was obviously quite frightened of me. Sparks were flying at the tips of my fingers as I turned back and walked into Steve's room. His door was locked but I was easily able to unlock it with the force field. I opened up Steve's door - blackening a chunk of the handle from the electrical currents running through my hands - before slamming the door closed behind me. Steve was watching me closely as the door cracked up the middle from the impact.

"Damn it," I muttered.

Steve looked rather amused as I handed him one of the coffees. We both took a spot on the edge of his bed. "Good morning," he said teasingly, watching the sparks continue to shoot off of my fingertips.

Glancing back at the door, I realized that the door was quite a bit worse off than I had thought that it was. "I'm telling them that you did that," I said to Steve as I dropped back against the bed.

"I think that you might like this all even less than I do," Steve said.

Leaning back up onto the bed, I placed my coffee on the bedside table. "It's not your fault, Steve. I love you. But I warned you that it would turn into this," I said, motioning around us. There were posters about Captain America's appearances all over the room. "You're doing well. The world loves Captain America. The Army is getting funded and that's something that it desperately needed. You're making a name for yourself. That's what you always wanted."

This was what Steve had wanted. But I knew that this wasn't what he really wanted to be doing. He wanted to be saving lives, not starting a fundraiser. "I want to be on the war front," he told me.

"So do I," I told him sadly. But I didn't want him to feel bad. I knew that he felt like it was his fault that I had stayed here. I had stayed because of him, but I didn't blame him. "But this is where we're supposed to be right now. Chester refuses to have you over there. He's just angry because of everything that happened with Abraham."

Steve nodded, twisting the sheet on the bed. "Yeah. I am, too. What was going on out there?" he asked, referring to the shout.

"They think that I'm one of the dancers," I muttered.

Steve's eyebrows rose. We had been on this tour for over two months and they still didn't know who I was. "They don't understand that you're the one that's keeping me in line?" Steve asked disbelievingly.

I shook my head at him. My eyes narrowed a moment later. "You do something stupid - other than everything that you normally do that's stupid - and I'll be the first one to tell you," I said. Steve smiled at me. He knew that I would never let him do anything too stupid. "Whose idea was it to have you punch Hitler?" I asked after a few beats.

Steve shrugged his shoulders. "Probably Brandt," he said.

That was the only person that I could think that would have done something that corny. I smiled at him and laughed shortly. "Those punches that you throw a terrible," I teased.

"Throwing a fake punch is hard!" he exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes at him. "No it's not," I said.

"Says the mutant," Steve muttered.

"What's really hard is throwing a real punch. You want to learn how to throw a fake punch?" I asked Steve. He looked a little cautious at my offer. "Come on. You're the one that wants to be a real soldier. And that means that you have to know how to fight like one. All of the chances that we get... I'll train you to be a real super-soldier," I offered.

We could train at night when everyone else was asleep. We could use one of the ballrooms. There was a lot of space in those rooms. "I'm not sure that I want to get in a fist fight with you," Steve said nervously.

"I'll take it easy on you," I promised.

There had been a reason that I'd said that. I knew that it would hurt his pride. He didn't want a little girl to be the one to beat him. "No - No. You are not going to take it easy on me," Steve said, straightening up from the edge of the bed. He took a deep breath. "Alright. Fine. When do we start?" he asked, obliging to the fight training.

"Right now. Get up," I told him. Steve stood slowly from the bed. "I'm going to show you how to punch someone."

"I know how to punch," Steve said indignantly.

"Alright. Fine. Hit my hand."

Standing back a few feet from Steve, I held up both of my hands, palms out towards him. He stared at me for a moment and I nodded at him. He used his right hand to throw the punch and I nodded. He was going to use the arm that he was stronger with. Even now, he would always have his dominant side. He threw the fist straight into my hand and I snorted. It hadn't even gotten me to budge. Steve straightened up and glared at me as I continued to laugh.

"That was pathetic," I told him.

Steve's face colored slightly. "No it wasn't!" he barked. I merely continued to laugh. Steve crossed his hands over his chest. "Alright, if you're so good. You hit me."

A grin spread over my face. "With pleasure," I said.

Steve held his hands up towards me. He had his palms faced out to me and I thought quickly about which one I wanted to hit. I'd hit the left one, since I knew that he was weaker with it. He was standing too rigidly. He was going to fall if I hit him too hard. I threw my fist into Steve's hand, obviously surprising him. The hit was so hard that Steve twisted to the side and went flying backwards, hitting the ground on all fours. He gasped in surprise as he rolled onto his stomach.

Smiling at my handiwork, I brushed my hands off and straightened up, crossing my arms over my chest. "That's how you punch," I told Steve brightly.

He was rolling over onto his back. He was looking up at me with surprise written plainly across his face. "What are you planning to do? Punch a building to the ground?" he asked me.

"Maybe," I said, shrugging my shoulders. Steve was groaning as he tried to get back to his feet. "You're such a baby, Steve, get up. Try again," I told him.

We spent a long time trying to fight each other. Steve didn't have to be up on that stage for hours, so we had a lot of time to show each other our moves. Steve was slowly getting better, only because I kept showing him the wrong things that he was doing. He'd eventually learned to bend his knees so that he wouldn't go flying, arch his back slightly so that he wasn't so tense, and bounce back and forth. I'd taught him to follow my eyes and try to grab my hand when I punched him.

He was definitely doing better about trying to stop my punches. But his own were still not that great. I knew that he wasn't hitting me nearly as hard as he could have. It was rather funny, the way that he was still trying to keep me safe. It drove me nuts, as much as I really did love him. He was a proper gentleman that didn't want to hit a woman. But it wouldn't affect me. He needed to know that he wasn't always going to get the chance to be polite during a fight. The day would come that he didn't get the chance to give someone a second chance during a fight. He would have to either take their life or have his own taken.

"Just hit me!" I shouted, frustrated with Steve.

"I am!" he yelled back.

Rolling my eyes at him, I stepped back and crossed my arms over my chest. There was no way that that was as hard as he could hit me. Not with how large he was. "Not as hard as you can," I pointed out.

Steve shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to hit you as hard as I can," he said guiltily.

Glaring at him darkly, I made a threat that I knew would encourage him to really hit me. "Hit me as hard as you can, or I'll hit you as hard as I can. And trust me when I tell you that you won't like that," I said.

That kicked him into gear. As much as I loved Steve, he was driving me nuts that he wasn't hitting me as hard as he could. I needed to see as strong as he was so that I knew how to teach him. We both stepped back and I held my hands up so that he could hit either one that he wanted. He stared at me for a moment before rearing back and hitting me as hard as he could. It wasn't painful, but I had a feeling that whoever he did hit like that would feel differently. My torso had shifted slightly at the impact and I grinned at Steve. Now I was impressed with him. He just had to keep it up.

At my order, we fought back and forth for quite a few hours. It didn't take us long to shove the bed, tables, and few stands out of the way so that we had as much room as possible. It wasn't much, but it was enough until we were able to head downstairs and use the ballroom. We had started with the simplest moves. I showed him how to hit anyone. We went through scenarios as I demonstrated hits that would kill someone, hits that would only momentarily knock them out, and the hits that only stun someone. It was very obvious that he didn't want to kill anyone that he didn't have to.

Once I was satisfied with the way that he was able to throw a punch, I showed him how to block hits. We demonstrated the blocking moves on me first. He would try and hit me and I would show him the way to block the hit. He was bigger, so he didn't really have to worry about taking impacts. It made my job quite a bit easier. We had then changed to having me lash out and hit him as he tried to block himself from the hits. He looked extremely panicked every time that I made a move to hit him. It was almost funny the way that we had had to spend an hour alone to keep him from cringing every time that I made a move to hit him.

He had to remember that he wasn't that little shrimp anymore. He was able to take hits that would have killed him before. We had moved to showing him how to get out of holds after that. He was still pathetic with them. He seemed very surprised to see just how constricting my grip was. They were all types of holds that someone would manage to get him into. It was definitely funny that he wasn't able to hold me. It was where it came in handy to be so small. It was something that Stryker had taught me. If I moved fast, it would be almost impossible for someone to keep a grip on me for an extended period of time.

We had spent a long time on the holds at Steve's request. I showed him how to get out of a front choke hold first. As his hands wrapped around my throat I ducked underneath, backed away, and threw my fist into his face. He hadn't been able to stand upright for a few minutes after that. As he had me in a hold on the ground, I straightened one leg out, catching him in between his leg and waist, using my other leg to kick him in the face. As he wrapped an arm around my throat, I leaned backwards, punched him in the gut, and shoved him down to the ground. I showed him how, when someone was running towards him, to grab them around the neck and raise up, cutting off the windpipe.

It didn't take long for him to become completely shocked with all of the ways that I could possibly attack him, and all of the ways that it was possible for him to get away from the attacks. I was mostly teaching him defensive moves for now. When I felt that he was ready, I'd move onto offensive moves. I'd even mentioned that we would eventually get to the point on showing him how gravity and falls would actually end up helping him. That was one of my first lessons. Using an opponent's weight against them.

Just a few hours after I had started teaching him fighting moves, I had shown him a move that an opponent could use against him, since he was so heavy. One of his arms was wrapped around my upper chest, just underneath my throat, as he grabbed my arms with the other hand. I could feel his confidence. He thought that he might win this fight. But he was not.

Using just my legs, I pushed back against Steve's torso, jumped up, and kicked my legs out as hard as I could. I could feel the surprise sink into Steve's mind as the downward momentum from myself pulled Steve with me. The two of us both went collapsing to the ground. But as I landed back on the floor, I rolled forward and landed, spinning backwards the face Steve. Had I had a gun or a knife, Steve would have been already dead. He hit the ground face-first and I rolled my eyes as he started holding his nose where he had hit the ground at full force. It didn't take me long to start laughing at the distraught look on his face. He looked like he was in between irritated with himself for not seeing that one coming, and simply in a lot of pain.

Still laughing at his misfortune, I crossed my arms over my chest. He was sweating from exertion and groaning at the pain. "When I told you to catch yourself, I meant to catch yourself with your arms, not with your nose," I told him.

Steve glanced up at me and glared. "Oh, really? I thought that using my nose would be a different tactic," he told me.

"It definitely was," I said brightly, shouting at him to get up and start again.

He looked very frustrated at me, but stood upright and launched into the fight again. It was rather funny, the way that he never managed to win any of the fights. Not that I had been expecting him to. As I'd told him, it would take time. He would learn how to win the fights in time. It was only day one. It was a problem when they came to get Steve later that night and realized that he now had bruises all over him. Nothing had made me happier than seeing the put-out look on his face when he had to have makeup put on to cover them up.

Five Days Later...
Newark, New York

Steve's fist came at me faster than I had been expecting. But it didn't matter. I had seen it coming. Grabbing his hand, I leapt up and wrapped my legs around his arm, yanking him back to the floor. He hit the ground on all fours as I rolled backwards over myself. Steve groaned as I hopped back upright and nodded for him to continue. It took him a while to manage to get himself off of the ground. The moment that he had, he came to run after me. But it didn't make much of a difference. I slid underneath his legs and swept his legs out from underneath him. He hit the ground once more, groaning at the impact.

The two of us were down in the ballroom of the hotel that we were staying in for the week. It was what we normally did. We had agreed on training him three nights a week. He wanted to do more but I didn't want him to be hurt and I knew that he needed to be well rested for the shows that he was still doing. Brandt and Martin had noticed that Steve was slowing down so I knew that I would have to start taking it a little bit easier on him. The last thing that we needed was for them to manage to find a new Captain America. That would have set back the little bit of progress that we had managed to make.

We were stopping here in Newark to do a few shows before making our way to the next big city that we would be working in. Buffalo would be a few weeks from now. I knew that Steve was getting excited. It was nice to be traveling around a little more. It felt like we were actually doing something. Captain America was getting more popular and more desirable. It wasn't shocking. It was something happy in such a sad time. People liked the theatricality that they didn't normally see. Plus, even I had to admit, watching Hitler get punched in the face was funny. Just recently the tour had been expanded to other areas of the country.

As my thoughts were everywhere else, Steve was continuing to try and beat me. I knew that he was extremely frustrated with me. He knew that I wasn't paying attention fully and he still wasn't able to beat me. I did feel a little bit bad for him. He was trying so hard. But he was still new at this. I reared back and aimed a kick directly at his chest. As expected, Steve caught my leg. But the second that he was about to throw me onto my back, I twisted in midair and used my spare leg to kick him in the stomach. At the impact, he went flying across the ballroom, hitting the ground and groaning as he attempted to get back up.

Walking over to Steve, I leaned down and gave him my hand. He took it and pulled himself back to his feet, leaning over on his knees. "You alright?" I asked him, sensing the pain all over him.

Steve nodded at me with a forced smile. "I'm alive," he breathed out.

We stood together for a moment before the door to the ballroom opened. It was one of the workers at the hotel. We both glanced over at him and smiled awkwardly. People probably thought that something was happening between Steve and I because we were always together. At night and during the day. And the moments when we got caught doing something weird like this. Not that it bothered me. I'd actually think that it was funny if someone thought that we were together.

"Sergeant Victoria Phillips?" the hotel worker asked awkwardly.

"Yes?" I said.

The man cleared his throat and glanced at me. "You have a call," he said. My brows knitted together. Who was calling me at this hour? "We can forward it to your bedroom telephone if you'd like?" the man offered.

I nodded at him. "Thank you. Tell the caller that I will be with them in just a minute," I said.

"Yes, ma'am."

The man turned around and left the ballroom, letting the door closing softly behind him. I turned back to where Steve was standing and smiled. He was clearly in pain, but he was no longer winded. "You did pretty well tonight," I told him.

"You kicked me across the ballroom," Steve said bluntly.

Grinning at him, I shrugged my shoulders. It could have been worse. "But you didn't go through the wall," I said, making both Steve and I laughed. "So? See? That's an improvement!"

We had been staying at a hotel in Rochester while Steve was doing some of the shows for the people. While we were staying there, we had snuck down to the ballroom one night to start officially training Steve. I had thought that we would have more room down there to work. But it had been a mistake. We'd gotten into the fighting so much that I'd accidentally kicked Steve through the wall. We had been forced to lie and say that Steve wasn't used to his own strength so he had walked through the wall. The hotel had looked furious, even after Brandt had paid for the damage. Needless to say, we had been kicked out and asked to never return.

We were both smiling at the fond memory. That wasn't something that I wanted to forget about anytime soon. "That hotel is never going to let us back," Steve said, speaking through a laugh.

I shook my head at him. "No, they aren't." We walked towards the doors to the ballroom so that we could head back upstairs. I noticed Steve linger at the door to the ballroom. "I'm gonna head upstairs and get that call. Get some sleep. You've got a show soon," I told him. He still didn't make a move to leave. "That girl only liked you because she thinks that you're a superhero."

The night before when we'd been doing a show, a brunette girl had been flirting with Steve and offering to go out to dinner with him. It was obvious that he had appreciated that. Steve turned back to me with a little glare. "I thought that you didn't read my mind," he told me.

I really hadn't been reading his mind. "I don't. I just know that you were thinking about her," I said.

Steve narrowed his eyes at me. "What? So you're allowed to go on a date and I'm not?" he asked.

After staring at him for a moment, I began to nod. "Pretty much," I said.

As I walked out of the door, I heard Steve call after me. "How is that fair?" he asked loudly.

"Life's not fair! Go to bed!" I shouted at him.

The two of us both smiled at each other as I bid Steve a goodnight. I knew that he wasn't going to go to bed yet. He wanted to practice everything that I was showing him. Even with just five days of training I could already see a difference. He was thinking more and using a better strategy. So maybe he wouldn't be able to beat me in a fight, but he'd manage to beat just about anyone else. That was why we were training with me. If he could hold his own against me, he'd have no problem with fighting against anyone else. I walked up to my room and slipped inside. As per usual, we had a conjoining room.

Crossing over the bedroom, I sat down in the chair that was near the bedside table with the telephone on it, and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" I said.

"What the hell were you doing?"

My face turned up as I realized who the voice was. "Howard!" I chirped happily.

Even from here I could tell that he was smiling at me. I really had missed him messing with me. I curled up into the chair, knowing that this was not going to be a short conversation. "Ah, I knew that you would miss me," he said.

"Of course I've missed you, you twit," I snapped at him. I turned back to the clock and raised my brow. What was he doing awake. "Not that I'm not thrilled to hear from you, but it's one in the morning. What are you calling now for?" I asked.

"Forgetting about that time change, you know."

"You're awake at six in the morning?" I corrected.

Howard scoffed through the phone and I smiled, knowing that he was extremely frustrated with whatever he was doing. "These people don't let you sleep in. There are things that I should probably be doing, but I'm not really in the mood. So I figured that I'd give you a call and see how you were," he told me.

It figured that he wouldn't be doing the job that he had been sent there to do. "How'd you know where to find me?" I asked curiously.

"We have a schedule of the USO Tour. I've been following your movements," Howard said. It might have been a little bit creepy to anyone else, but it didn't bother me. It felt like we were closer together, even though we were extremely far away from each other. "Only so many hotels so it's pretty easy to find where you're staying."

Smiling at him, I nodded to myself, twirling the wire around my fingers. "Clever man," I said. I could hear Howard laughing on the other end. "How'd you know that I'd be awake?"

"You're a night owl," he said. I nodded at him. I'd always liked staying awake at night, when everyone else was asleep. It was quieter in the world. "How's the tour going?" Howard asked after a beat of silence.

Groaning softly, I dropped my head back against the chair. Howard laughed, obviously already knowing just how frustrated I was. "Driving me insane. Without you or Abraham or Chester around, I've just turned into another woman. They keep thinking that I'm one of the dancers. The other day I had someone ask me to get them coffee," I told Howard.

Even through the phone, I could hear him sigh. "You're far from any other girl," he said.

"Thanks."

"Don't let them get to you. You're stronger and smarter than them," he told me. I smiled softly. That was the one thing that was keeping me from losing my mind. "So you've had to take a little step backwards. You can always come out here and join the war efforts. Phillips still wants you out here," he continued.

There was a little pleading in his voice that was more like he was the one that was asking me to come out to join the war efforts. There was a little piece of me that almost said yes. But I held strong to my previous statement. "Tell him that I'll come out there the minute that Steve is allowed out there," I said, my heart giving a little quiver.

I really did want to be out there. But I had agreed to stay and keep an eye on Steve and help train him. "He's not budging on Rogers," Howard told me, just as I had figured.

Grinding my teeth together, I forced myself to say exactly what I hadn't wanted to say. "Then I'm not going. My duty is to be here with Steve. I swore to Bucky that I would protect him," I said. Howard let out a little sigh of defeat. "And in the meantime I've been training him to be a real super-soldier."

"How's that been going?" Howard asked, sounding genuinely interested.

Smiling at the fond memory of being kicked out of the hotel in the middle of the night, I grabbed a blanket and slipped it over myself. "I don't think that we're ever going to be allowed back to this hotel that we were staying at in Rochester. We've been practicing and we were using one of the ballrooms. I kicked Steve so hard that I kicked him through the wall," I told him.

Howard laughed at my words. I laughed again, wishing that we could have gotten the moment that I had kicked him through the wall on video. It was so funny. "I do miss you," Howard said.

Smiling softly, I let out a little sigh. I missed Howard, too. I missed all of them. "I miss you, too. I miss all of you. I'm just glad that I have Steve. These past few weeks have been good to catch up with each other. I've been happy to get to see him again," I said.

"And I'm sure that he's been happy to see you, too. Can't imagine anyone not missing you," Howard told me.

It was easy enough to see that it was his subtle way of asking how I was managing with Bucky being gone, but I didn't want to talk about that. So I asked him the one question that I'd been genuinely curious about since the beginning. "How have you been maintaining Stark Industries?" I asked.

Howard let out a little sigh. Obviously he missed being at home with his company. "I haven't." I raised a brow. "It's been working strictly as a weapons manufacturer for the United States Army. They don't need me to do that. With everything that's been happening all around the area, there's no room for inventing. Just winning the war."

It was one of the rare times that there was a hint of weakness in Howard. He was always so careless about everything. It was strange to hear him like this. So I steered the conversation away from Stark Industries. "Have you found anything on the Hydra weaponry?" I asked.

Now he just sounded irritated with everything. "Not anything conclusive. Those bastards are good." I smiled at Howard. "The minute that they think that we might be coming, they take any of that advanced mumbo jumbo technology and hide it away. Haven't gotten anything since Kruger's submarine. And I've picked that apart over the last few months. I don't know what runs it," he continued.

It was that blue light that I'd been seeing in Kruger's submarine. It was the thing that he had been talking about when I'd spoken to him. The other-worldly power. But what was it? That was the big question. "It's all so strange. It must be something special if Schmidt won't even let the people closest to him in on it," I told him.

Howard sighed. I could practically see him running his hands through his hair with frustration. "Best not to worry yourself with it right about now," he said. I nodded at him. We had time to figure that out. "How's the Star Spangled Man?" Howard asked after a beat.

Narrowing my eyes at him, even though I couldn't see Howard, I figured that he would know that I was glaring at him. "Why do I feel like you're the one that wrote that song?" I snarled through the receiver.

Howard scoffed at me. "I'd do better than that." I actually believed that he would have. It wouldn't have exactly been very hard. "Who designed that costume?" he asked, disgusted.

"Actually, I did." I could hear him sucking in a breath to berate me for it, so I spoke before he could. "But it was a joke. I didn't think that they would take it seriously," I added.

"Now, see, this is why I'm designing yours."

"It was a joke!"

The two of us both laughed softly. We both were silent for a few minutes before he started speaking again. "How have you been, Victoria?" he asked carefully, not wanting to irritate me.

Smiling to myself, I began to pick at my nails. "Counting down the days until I can join the war front. So is Steve. The day will come that we get out there," I told him. I could hear Howard sigh at me. Chester would learn to never put me in my place again. I was much more stubborn than he thought. "Until then, gaining funding for the Army will have to do."

"Don't worry, Victoria. You'll be out here sooner than you think."

"I hope so," I muttered.

"Colonel Phillips has been looking for you," I could hear a feminine voice calling in the background. They stopped speaking for a moment. "Howard - Who are you talking to?" she asked.

My heart skipped a beat. That sounded like Peggy. "No one," Howard said.

"Is that Victoria?" the woman's voice asked.

"Is that Peggy?" I asked.

"No," Howard said.

I wasn't sure whether he was talking to me or Peggy. "Put her on!" I barked at Howard.

"Give me the phone!" Peggy shouted.

"I'm not done talking to her!" Howard told Peggy.

"Give it here. I'll give it back to you later," Peggy said.

Rolling my eyes at their childish antics, I spoke up. "I'll be staying at a hotel in Buffalo for a while next month, okay? Steve is doing a few shows there that we have to stay for. So give me a call then. Love you, Howard," I told him, making a compromise. I could speak to him later. But I wasn't sure when the next time would be that I could speak to Peggy.

Howard scoffed at me. I knew that he wanted to talk to me, but I was desperately missing some form of girl talk. And Howard had more free time to call me. "Evidently not as much as you love Peggy," he muttered to me.

"Give her the phone," I told Howard.

"Love you, too, Victoria. I'll call you again in a few weeks," Howard said.

"Okay."

There was a little bit of clattering on the other end of the line, along with some not so nice comments, before Howard finally handed her the phone. "Vicky?" Peggy's voice finally called through the phone.

Smiling at the phone, I began to twist the line again. "Hey, Pegs, how are you?" I asked her.

Her voice immediately brightened. "Oh, much better now that I'm speaking to you! There is not one woman here. Not - one - single - woman," she said, enunciating each word, just driving the point home that she was going mad with no one to really speak to. "I'm driving myself insane being around the men all of the time. If nothing else, at least Colonel Phillips is keeping them under control. And I do have Howard. But still, I miss our girl talks," she said.

"I miss our girl talks, too," I admitted to her. As embarrassing as it was, considering that I'd never been much for girl talks before, I really did miss getting to speak with her. "There aren't any women here either. I mean, there are, but they're all the dancers for the Star Spangled Singers or whatever the hell they are," I growled mostly to myself.

Peggy snorted under her breath. "Who named them?" she asked.

"Sure as hell wasn't me."

"I can imagine that you love them," she teased me.

I laughed at her wording. "Oh, yes, they're my favorite."

"Maybe you should join them. Honestly, I would love to see you do something like that," she told me.

That was the absolute last thing that I wanted to do. I couldn't believe that someone would make such an idiot out of themselves by doing something like that. "Why don't you do it, if you think that it's so funny? I'd like to see you doing it," I told her.

She seemed just about as put off by the idea of being a dancer like that as I was. "Absolutely not," Peggy snapped at me. We were silent for a minute before she spoke again. "How's Steve?"

Her voice was careful and I smirked. She was trying not to give anything away to me. It didn't matter. I knew that she was curious how he was doing. "He's trying to get used to all of the attention from everyone. I think some part of him likes it but another part of him wants to be out there. I'm sure that he misses you," I added teasingly.

It didn't take a genius to know that she was going very red. "Shut up," she muttered.

"I'm serious."

"Have you heard from Sergeant Barnes?" Peggy said, trying to change the topic.

Smiling to myself, I nodded. "Yeah. I got a letter from him a few weeks ago. It was the cutest thing." Peggy made a little noise of excitement. "I've got to tell you all about it."

The two of us chatted back and forth for hours. We spoke about everything that I could have possibly imagined. We spent well over at hour just talking about the letter that Bucky had sent me. I could tell that Peggy was melting from the letter. So had I. It was everything that I had never thought that I would hear from someone. And it was everything that I had needed to hear. Peggy had told me all of her thoughts on the letter and had made me read each of the few letters that I had gotten to her. Some part of me thought that she might have wished that someone would send her a letter like that. I thought about harassing Steve to send her one.

It was well past six in the morning by the time that our conversation finally slowed down. We both missed seeing each other. As much as I loved Steve, I just couldn't gossip with him. And I wasn't sure how much he really wanted to talk about Bucky. We were mostly chatting about stupid girl stuff. I was sure that Peggy would get in trouble for spending so much time talking to me, but it didn't matter. I didn't want to hang up the phone and neither did she. But, finally, there was a knock at my door. And I wasn't Steve. He would have just come inside.

"Look, Peggy, someone is knocking at the door. I've got to go. Can you tell Chester that I said hello?" I asked her.

"Of course, love. I'll talk to you soon, Victoria."

"Talk to you soon, Pegs. Tell Howard and Chester that I love them. And you, too, of course," I added.

"Love you, too. Take care of yourself."

"Stay safe out there."

The two of us said goodbye once more and I called to the person on the other side of the door to give me a minute. I hung up the phone and got out of the chair, feeling very stiff from not moving from my position for a few hours. I walked over to the chair behind the desk and grabbed my robe off of it, slipping it over my shoulders and tightening it. Once it was on, I walked over to the door and opened it. One of the men that worked down at the front desk was standing there, nodding politely at me.

"May I help you?" I asked.

"Sergeant Victoria Phillips?" the man checked.

"Yes, Sir."

The man nodded at me and reached back for something. "Letter for you, ma'am," he said.

My heart skipped a beat. "Thank you," I said weakly.

The man gave me a little nod with the usual addition of coming down to the concierge or giving them a call if I needed something else. I waved them off and slammed the door the moment that he turned to walk away. I let the robe drop as I seated myself down in the chair. They had phones over at the S.S.R. base that they were at. They could call me. The only person that would be writing to me was Bucky. And, as per usual, the writing on the front was his. I slit open the letter and pulled out the paper.

Vika,

I'm not sure if I'll be able to get another letter to you in two weeks, so do me a favor and tell the little punk that I said happy birthday. I don't know how close you are to the apartment, but if you get the chance, let him know for me. And tell him that I'll try as hard as I can to make it home for his next one.

Please don't come over here, Vika. Please, please, please; do not come over here. I don't want you to see half of the things that happen over here. Things could be worse. They really could be. But I don't want you to have to see this. But I also know that you're going to do whatever you want, so, just be careful. I can't let something happen to you. Of course, you're also the toughest person that I've ever met. And I know that if Death ever came for you, you'd glare at Death, and he would leave you be.

Those are some interesting memories. Thanks for not picking too many stupid ones. Want to know what I thought about the first time that I saw you? Actually, I'm not going to tell you. That's something to save for the right moment. And that's something to save for a face-to-face conversation. You deserve kindness and so much more.

No one will ever say anything like those kids said to you with me around. Shows how pathetic people are. Having to knock down someone else just to make themselves feel better. I don't care that you left. The only thing that ever mattered to me was that you made your way back. You deserve all of the happiness in the world. And I deserve someone like you. I'll never want anyone else. I should have said that I loved you so much sooner than I did. I always knew it. So why didn't I say it? I have no damn clue. But I must have made it pretty obvious if you knew, huh? By the way, nothing made me happier than the moment that you said it back.

You mean the absolute world to me, Vika. You and Steve. You always will. The two of you are why I'm out here and fighting so hard. Steve's a little punk, but he's got a heart of gold. That's what I always thought was so great about him. Didn't matter what he looked like, and it didn't matter that the other kids thought that it was stupid that I hung out with him. He was the one person that I was always there for me. You, too, of course, but I won't kiss Steve when I see him again.

Thanks for bringing up the trip down the staircase in the apartment complex. You know that people thought that someone beat me up and that was how I broke my arm? I had to lie to them and tell them that I broke my arm at the fair. I didn't want people to know that I had broken my arm because you beat me in a race. Glad that my pain amuses you. Excuse you, those pancakes were your fault. Well, you had better like kissing me. Good luck prying me off of you when I get back. Actually, I'm not going to challenge you to that, considering that I know that you're stronger than me.

I don't care that you're not good at telling me how you feel. And, actually, I think that you've done a rather good job. I'm glad that I drive you nuts. Life would be boring if I didn't. I don't know... you wouldn't trade me for a dog? Just kidding, don't answer that. What do you want to show me? Come on, Vika. You can't just set it up and hold out of me! Horrible. Horrible thing to do to someone.

I'll be back home as soon as I can. I'm counting the days.

Love you to the moon and back,
Bucky.

Smiling softly at the letter, I took a deep breath and placed it back in the envelope, adding it to my ever-growing collection of letters that Bucky had been sending me. I sighed and curled in on myself, reading over the letter over and over again. It felt like the more that I read it, the more that it felt like he was really here with me. Maybe soon enough he would be back. It didn't take long for the door to open and Steve to walk in. I smiled and handed him the letter, allowing him to read it. We both laughed, fondly remembering the disaster with Bucky's broken arm and the pancake debacle. As happy as I was just sitting with Steve and remembering the good old days, I wanted both of my boys back.

July 4th, 1942
Buffalo, New York

It was taking me forever to get ready today. At Steve's request (technically Brandt's, but I didn't take orders from him so Steve had been forced to ask me nicely) I had dressed up for the day. As much as I really didn't want to dress up, it was the Fourth of July and that meant that there was going to be a large party. It was the biggest show that we had done since starting the tour two and a half months ago. So many people were coming out to watch the show so that we had been forced to find a bigger auditorium to do the performance in. Not that I cared. I could have cared less about the show.

The only thing that mattered to me was that today was Steve's twenty-fourth birthday. This was the first of Steve's birthdays that I would be around since I had disappeared all of those years ago. It was very special to me. I was thrilled to be able to share it with him. Particularly because Bucky wasn't around. I had bought him a chocolate cupcake from the bakery last night - an old joke between friends. I hoped that it would give him a laugh and make him feel a little bit better.

It wasn't the fact that Steve didn't like his birthdays. Actually, he had always liked his birthday. He was one of those people that always liked to do something small on his birthday, but it was usually enough to make him happy. There was the problem that - besides Bucky - I was really the only person that cared that it was his birthday. No one knew that it was Steve Rogers's birthday. They never saw him as anything more than Captain America. Steve was good about not letting it show that it bothered him, but I knew that it did. And that broke my heart. I wanted to show him that he was something more than a propaganda poster child.

We had done quite a few things for his birthday in the past. There was one year that we had gone to Coney Island. Because Bucky and I were as awful as we were, we had spent it trying to get him onto the larger rides. It hadn't taken long before he'd thrown up. We had gone to the movies a few times, too. But the only thing that he really liked were the cartoons. They were kind of cute. We had gone to the park a few times and there was even one year that he had gone out on a double-date with Bucky on his birthday. I hadn't spoken to either one of them for weeks after the incident. I'd been very hurt that they hadn't included me. They both clearly knew that they'd made a mistake as they had spent weeks trying to make it up to me.

Smiling at the fond memories - even of the birthday that I had not been included on - I opened Steve's door. He was sitting in his bed, doodling. He glanced up at me. "Happy birthday, Steve!" I chirped happily.

He laughed as I placed the cupcake down. Steve pulled me into a hug, effortlessly lifting me from the ground. Once he had let me back down, he glanced over at the cupcake. "Oh please tell me that you didn't make that cupcake yourself," he said.

Smacking him on the arm, the two of us plopped down from the bed. "Jerk. I bought it last night. It's from the cafe downstairs. You're safe," I told him.

So maybe it wasn't the birthday that either one of us had been expecting. We were stuffed together in a hotel room in an unfamiliar city with only a store-bought cupcake as a present. I had used my flames to light the candle for him to make a wish. I'd sworn that I wouldn't read his mind for the wish. We didn't have Bucky with us and we weren't where we really wanted to be... But that was all okay. Because at least we were together. And at the end of the day, that was what really mattered.

A/N: A sweet ending! So, I'm expecting about another three chapters (maybe two?) with Steve and Victoria doing the USO Tour. Some of it will be taken from the 'Star Spangled Man' scene from the movie, but most will be original content. So I hope that you guys enjoy the Victoria/Steve bonding. I really want to show how much like siblings they are. Thanks so much for the follows and favorites! Please review!Let me know how many more USO Tour chapters there should be! Until next time -A

Moniquita2: She will definitely have something to say to these men during their lifetimes! There's no way that she's going to let them get away with everything that they've said. Men like August unfortunately did exist and would look for any chance to belittle a woman. I'll miss Howard, too, but I'll take little chances to put him in the story. Steve has taken it so well because even though she's admitted what she is to him, he really hasn't seen the extent of what she can do. He doesn't see that she really is dangerous. She will tell Bucky what she is at some point in the story, I promise that. As far as the Winter Soldier, you'll have to wait and see. He knew what they had planned, but Chester was not going to let Steve onto the front lines, so he really felt like he wanted to do something, even if it was just fundraising. Plus, in the meantime, Victoria is training him to really be Captain America. Glad that you loved it! Hope you like this one too!

rebelforcauses: Yes! I was so excited to have her finally tell Steve the truth about herself. There are still some things that she needs to say, though, and she will do that in time.

kuppcake: Thank you! I originally wasn't going to have her open up to Steve but I figured that having her tell him now would be easier. Plus, he really doesn't see the extent of her powers yet. She is not a happy camper dealing with Brandt. She'll definitely have words for him at some point.