No Trigger Warnings.

Slowly swapping all the words from their Serbian counterparts to Russian.

Sorry its been a bit. Two things:

One: I fell behind in editing.

Two: Loki.

Enjoy

Five: Девять

Steve Rogers Supplemental – January 9th

Steve walked around the first floor of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum with a dark blue hat and matching jacket on to disguise his identity. He entered the newer exhibit that was dedicated to him and the rest of the Howling Commandos. He stopped at the entrance placard to look at the pictures and statistics of him from before the serum the after. He looked at the scrawny man in the images and a small smile crossed his features.

'You did it,' a woman's voice spoke clearly from his memories, 'You got in… Now, you're just going to have to show them how big of a heart Brooklyn raised in you.' He smiled as he thought of Maggie, standing in front of him so many years ago. She had been so proud of him. Proud, and also nervous. Maggie had always believed him, even when no one else had. Steve sighed and turned.

As Steve looked around, trying to take his mind away from the vivid memory, he spotted a small boy wearing a Captain America shirt staring at him. He lifted his finger to his lips, hoping the boy would keep his appearance a secret. The boy smiled and nodded fervently before chasing after his family, who had continued through the exhibit.

After several other stops—which were done in an attempt to blend in with the rest of the museum visitors—Steve arrived at the mannequins of the Howling Commandos. His mannequin was stood in the center, Bucky's was to his immediate left and Maggie's to his immediate right. Their uniforms were all in pristine condition, and he couldn't help but wonder if they were their original outfits or simply replicas for display purposes. If they were their actual uniforms, they were incredibly well taken care of.

Not far from the mannequins was the first thing he was truly there for. A glass graphic of Bucky and immediately beside his, a matching one of Maggie. Their graphics both had images of them looking off, but if you stood back from them, it almost appeared as if they were looking toward each other. Between the two glass panels was a small plaque with the words 'Love on the Battlefield' and a few small paragraphs dedicated to their relationship. He smiled seeing it.

"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes, Steven Rogers and Margaret Hargrove were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield," the narrator said overhead and Steve's smiled faded as he unsuccessfully tried to ignore the voice continuing on, "Barnes and Hargrove were the only Howling Commandos to give their lives in service of their country."

Steve looked at the black and white video playing below their glass graphics. In it were group shots of the three and various combinations of them together as duos. Steve smiled as one video he wasn't sure he had seen before began to play. The three were sitting at a booth in a pub in London, a poster with his tour dates covered with a large red CANCELLED sticker behind them. Bucky had his arm wrapped around Maggie who was laughing.

Steve remembered the pub fondly; it was one she had brought him too the first time he had been in London. Steve remembered the night from the video with a smile as the three drank and laughed in the video, never realizing they were being recorded. His smile began to fade once again as he quickly realized too, it had been the last night the three had ever truly been together happily. After that, it was mission after mission until they lost each other.

Steve focused again on Maggie and watched the way she moved in the video; the way wrinkles formed around her eyes and how her nose scrunched as she laughed. He thought on the woman earlier in the day. He had called her Maggie on instinct and as he watched the videos, he was sure his instinct had been right. She instead insisted her name was in fact Annie, but he wasn't willing to believe that. It was why he had been so willing to mention Bucky to her.

He might have even been willing to give it up to the fates that her name was actually Annie and she was just a random person who happened to look like one of his oldest friends, if tears hadn't formed when he mentioned Maggie's love for Bucky. To him, it was undeniable proof she was his all but adopted sister. He had no clue how or why she was still alive—and still young for that matter—but he knew it was her. It had to be. And if she truly didn't remember who she was, he was going to remind her.

"Until our tomorrows are no more, Mags," he mumbled under his breath before leaving the exhibit and museum.

After leaving the Smithsonian Steve made his way to Peggy's nursing home, her Alzheimer's was getting worse and slowly she had been forgetting more and more important things. It was hard, but he was going to be there for her as long as he could. The room was quiet as he entered, his foot falls breaking the silence. When she heard him, she turned to look at him, her face lighting up with a smile of familiarity.

"Steve," she called, "I've missed you."

"Hey Peggy," he said moving further into the room and sitting down next to her, "how's my girl?"

"I have something for you," she said then pointed to her nightstand. There was an envelope with his name written on it, "I had my niece bring them to me." He reached forward and grabbed it. Opening it, he saw a letter and two tarnished—but familiar—rings on an equally tarnished gold chain.

"I know these," he began looking up at Peggy in surprise, "These are—"

"—Maggie left them to me," she interrupted, "It took me ages to find the real letter. The original one I found with the rings made little sense, going on about how she was leaving every part of her life behind. She would have never left those for me if she didn't intend to get them back. It was how I knew she didn't defect. I always believed she was on to something, Steve, that she knew something about Bucky. I was sure Zola knew too, but I could never get anything out of him."

Steve looked down at the rings again as Peggy trailed off. He folded the envelope up securely and placed it in the chest pocket of his jacket, looking back at Peggy—who was watching him with a soft smile. Maggie was an incredibly high priority for him, but his time with Peggy was growing less and less. He would read the letter later when he could spend more time focusing on the words. Until then, his time would be fully devoted to the love of his life.

"You should be proud of yourself, Peggy," he said looking at her pictures.

"Mmm," she said following his eyes, "I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours." He looked down and she sighed, "What is it?"

"For as long as I can remember, I just wanted to do what was right," he began and paused. His mind raced between the Lemurian Star mission, SHIELD, and to the woman he was sure was Maggie, "I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders, serve… It's just not the same."

"You're always so dramatic," Peggy said laughing, "Look, you saved the world. We rather mucked it up."

"You didn't," Steve responded immediately, "Knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stay."

"Hey," she said, taking his hand, her eyes turning serious, "The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best. And sometimes the best we can do is start over." Peggy began coughing and Steve stood to grab her a tissue when he sat back down, he called her name.

She turned to face him with a smile on her face, but it faded quickly.

"Steve," she said her voice beginning to crack.

"Yeah?" he asked, and she started gasping as tears began to flow.

"You're alive," she began and Steve's face fell instantly. He took a breath and nodded as she continued, "You came back!"

"Yeah, Peggy," he said softly and tried to maintain a smile for her.

"It's been so long," she cried, and his smile faded, "so long."

"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl," he said trying not to cry himself, "not when she owes me a dance."

Steve left the nursing home, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.

He walked up to his motorcycle and straddled it but knew his composure was fading fast. He made his way to the National Mall and parked. Soon after, he found himself sitting against a tree, his head in his hands as the tears cascaded.

After a few minutes his tears faded and he sighed, mentally preparing himself as he pulled out the letter from Maggie. He held the rings up and looked at them. Seeing them together, but not with the people they belonged to hurt his heart. After a few moments, he put the rings in his pocket and pulled out the letter. He wasn't sure how many times he read it over, but every time he read it her voice was clear in his mind.

She hadn't given up on Bucky.

And Steve wasn't going to give up on her.