"So, are you still glad you met Captain America?"

I sat in the hospital room looking at my phone then over at the man in question as he continued to lay unconscious from wounds received battling the Winter Soldier on the last Project Insight Helicarrier.

Before I met him, I'd just been Sam who worked at the VA, helping people with PTSD. Now, I wasn't too sure what I was. At least from what I could tell in my reading so far, I'd met Steve so late in the game and just in passing that SHIELD hadn't investigated me. It meant that the information databases Black Widow had dumped on the Internet for everyone to see hadn't contained any information on me or linked me to my platonic soulmate, Steph, who was the one teasing me over text message at that moment.

"Yes." I finally settled on texting back, keeping it simple for now. Weird shit tended to happen with Steph, and I didn't know who might end up getting a hold of her phone and reading the messages. Best not to include too much detail.

"Are you okay?" She responded almost immediately even though her original text had been hours ago, and it was now the middle of the night.

"Yep. So is my buddy," I told her. Then on further reflection, I added, "might need a place to crash for a few days that isn't associated with either of us."

There was an extremely long pause. Enough so that I started to think she's fallen asleep because I knew there was no way she'd turn me away. "You're welcome anytime," she told me.

Steve woke up that day, but it was another couple of days before he was well enough to check out of the hospital and meet up with Natasha and Fury in the cemetery. Once they left and I made it clear to Steve that I was sticking with him in his quest to find Bucky, we stood there unsure of ourselves.

Natasha had supplied us with a clean car registered under an alias she had quickly pulled together for me. We walked over to it, but didn't immediately get in.

"We need somewhere to lay low for a few days while we go through this intel and do some research," I finally said.

Steve nodded before adding, "somewhere safe that people aren't going to look for us."

I knew he was worried about both HYDRA and summons before congress for hearings, and I had a solution for both. Gesturing for Steve to get in the car, I did the same.

After we'd been driving for half an hour, he finally said, "if we're driving to your parents', that's probably not obscure enough."

"I ever tell you about my platonic soulmates?" I asked.

"You have more than one?" He asked sounding confused. "You told me about Riley, and I assumed he was your only platonic."

With that opening, I told him the story of Steph and how I'd met her. Then I went on to tell him about going to Douglass, having to watch her marry a loser then get out of the situation, and her most recent adventures as a bounty hunter.

I knew that when her family told those stories, they considered her to be a disappointment, but I was proud of her. It must have shown through because Steve's response was, "She sounds like a hell of a dame to be able to take care of herself like that."

"She is," I easily agreed. "But please don't call her or any other woman that."

A couple more minutes passed quietly before Steve said, "is that where we're going? To stay with Steph?"

I nodded and said, "her apartment is a bit of a dump, and we'll have to sleep on the ground and the couch, but it should be off the radar. After Riley, I've kept my platonic match with Steph off the radar. I didn't know why, but my gut told me it was better, maybe even safer for her that way. I always assumed that was Riley looking out for her."

"I've slept behind enemy lines in Nazi territory, so I'm sure I can handle the floor in an apartment in Trenton."

Steve said nothing when I made a stop for a lock pick set outside of Trenton. Then we continued the rest of the way into town, stopping to pick up an abundance of groceries since Steph's cupboards were always bare when I arrived. Last, we stopped at Pino's and I picked up a meatball sub each for Steph and I… And four for Steve.

Reaching her apartment building, Steve pulled his ballcap even lower and filled his arms with groceries for the first trip up. I grabbed the subs and guided him to the correct apartment. When I knocked and didn't get a response, I made quick work of the locks.

"You can't just…"

Steve trailed off in surprised frustration, and I told him, "believe me, she's used to it."

Steve set everything down and gave me a look of disappointment that went straight to my soul as he said, "I thought you were taking care of her and keeping her safe."

Shrugging I said, "I tried to convince her to move and to let me help, but she won't. Nor will she touch the death benefits money from Riley, so more just gets fed into the bank by the Air Force each month and sits there. She has friends here in the security business, and they help keep an eye out for her, though she won't let them upgrade the security system on here."

"Why won't she take the money?" Steve asked.

"Says it's blood money. I think it's more than that though. She was so depressed for so long after Riley died that I think she just can't stand the reminder of him. At least that meant it was in an account completely separate from her husband and he couldn't get his hands on it in the divorce."

Steve looked lost in the grief of his own past, so I went about storing groceries and then took the stairs down to the car to gather our equipment and clothes bags.

When I got back upstairs, Steph was standing in the doorway with a duffle of her own slung over her shoulder. She must have come up via the elevator while I was on the stairs, and I missed her. As I approached her, I thought she was probably star struck even though she knew I was coming and had to have figured out that I'd likely being Steve with me.

Instead, I realized that she was silently crying and I looked past her to see a clearly bewildered Steve staring at her wide-eyed. Gently, I clapped a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump. When she turned and looked at me, she went from silent tears to full-on sobbing and buried herself in my chest.

Steve rushed forward to grab the bags that I dropped so I could usher her forward and pull the door shut behind us.

"I heard that you're bad with the ladies, Steve," I half-teased to try to ease the tension in the room. "But what did you say?"

"I just introduced myself and let her know that you'd told me all about her and I was sorry for her loss."

Bringing up Riley hadn't caused this kind of reaction from Steph in years, so I didn't know what had caused it.

"Can you go grab the tissue box from her bathroom and maybe a glass of water?" I asked Steve, who looked relieved to have something to do.

Murmuring to Steph, I rubbed her back soothingly. While I did, I noticed something new as her shirt rode up in the back. I carefully pushed her away and turned her then lifted up the back of her shirt even as I heard footsteps approach us once more.

Steve said something to Steph, but she didn't respond, and I just stared dumbfounded as I traced over a new set of words in black on Steph's skin.

"Hi, I'm Steve, it's a pleasure to meet you. Sam has told me wonderful things about you, and I'm sorry about Riley."

It was as though my touch brought her back to reality enough for Steph to finally speak. As I stood straight once more, I had the perfect view of Steve's face as Steph croaked out in a half-sob, "please don't die. I can't take that again."

Steve's eyes went wide, and then he went pale. I just looked between the two, head on a constant swivel as I tried to decide who to watch.

Finally I exclaimed, "Steve, you said Peggy was your soulmate but her words had faded when you woke up after the ice, and you didn't have new words. And Steph, you definitely didn't have any more words!"

Steve gave me a look of betrayal, and I threw my hands up saying, "for fuck's sake! I didn't sleep with her! Platonic, remember? Everyone knows it's an awful idea to try to make a platonic bond romantic! But I have seen her in a bikini, and she didn't have words on her back in your writing!"

Steve's eyes turned back to Steph and darkened a little at the mention of his words on her skin, and I shuddered to myself.

Steph finally managed to find the ability to speak again, and she said, "they showed up the day we texted, Sam."

So, that would be the day that Steve woke up, and the day I'd decided I was going to stick with him on his hunt for Bucky. It was also the day that the doctors stopped having to give Steve full body exams, so I had to give fate credit for keeping Steph safe. If Steve's had shown up before then, she would have been in the file dump or at the very least a ton of medical staff would have seen the words.

Steve said, "mine showed up right when I woke up. The pain from them was I think what my finally brought me back into consciousness."

"That's the same day," I said lamely, feeling the need to clarify for them.

At the same time, they both looked at me and said, "I was going to tell you, Sam…"

When they trailed off awkwardly I waved it off, saying, "you needed time to get used to the idea. I get it."