A/N: Sorry for the long wait between Chapters. Got married, took two weeks off to clean house then went back to two and had to play catch up for two weeks. But here it is! I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2

Zaria leaned her hands on the small counter in her bathroom as she leaned her head against the fogged mirror. Sleep had eluded her last night after the incident with a certain would-be GQ model. Not only was he good looking but he could fight as well, which apparently appealed to some secretive feminine side of her. Who knew she enjoyed knowing the guy she liked would kick some ass to defend her? Did she just admit to liking him?

She groaned as she pulled her head away from the mirror. "Shape up, you're going to be late for work. Can't be thinking of that right now." She muttered to her mirrored self. Huffing, she opened her makeup bag and groaned again; no foundation. "I just want a little money to get replacement clothing and makeup is that so much to ask for? I mean I don't have TV, I don't have internet, I hardly ever run the air conditioner or the heater, why can't I just get a break and have a little extra money for some nice things? I'm so tired of my boss bitching that I wear the same thing to work two or three times a week. It's not like I have a choice, if he just paid me more- Jesus!"

During her rant she applied the little makeup she had left, exited the bathroom, grabbed her coat, purse and keys, locked the apartment door and left her building, only to nearly run straight into the chest of one handsome exercise model.

"Steve!" She gasped as she stepped back. "You scared me. What are you doing here?"

Steve smiled his bright, charming smile at her as he turned to let her by. "You said that offer for the tour was still good and you know that I don't like that you walk yourself to work so early in the morning, especially after what happened last night. So I thought I would kill two birds with one stone; so to speak. What's this about someone needing to pay you more?"

Zaria flushed a dark red color as she buttoned her trench coat closed against the wind. "You heard that?"

Steve nodded and looked at her as if he was considering something then decided against it. Instead he shoved his hands into his pockets and followed Zaria to the Subway station. "You going to tell me about it?"

Zaria puffed up her cheeks, clearly embarrassed that he had heard her ranting. "I, uh..." she cleared her throat as she tried to find an easy way of explaining it without having to go into detail. "I haven't bought new stuff for me in a while and I was thinking out loud that maybe if I could somehow get paid more I wouldn't have that problem. Or if I could just pay off some of my bills, that would work too."

"What kind of things do you need?" Steve asked curiously.

Zaria blushed, this wasn't a topic she was completely willing to talk with someone about. Her issues with money were widely known at the bar but telling it to Steve seemed intimate and embarrassing. "Well..." She started as she tried to figure out how to say things without actually saying it. A kid rushed towards them on a skateboard. His earphones were in and he was looking at his phone, not paying attention to what was around him.

Steve looked up and noticed him a moment too late so as he pulled Zaria out of the way the kid crashed into Zaria's side, sending all three of them onto the sidewalk.

"You man watch where you're going!" The kid shouted as he hopped up and tried to find his skate board.

"You should watch where you're going!" Zaria snapped as she stood and tried to brush the grime off of her coat. "You were skateboarding into a crowd of people with your earphones in while looking at your phone. Do you honestly think it's my fault that you ran into me?"

"Chill lady." The kid responded.

Zaria gruffed out a few inaudible words before she stomped her way past the kid with Steve following behind. Out of the crowd and away from the kid she took a good look at her coat and groaned. "Well this would be one of the things I need. I bet he was trying to steal something from me." She said to Steve as she examined the dirt streaks.

"What makes you say that?"

"My pocket's ripped. A lot of people put their phones or wallets in their pockets." She sighed as she massaged her temples. "This would be one of those things I don't have enough money for; since you asked. New coats, new tights," she looked at the long run in the tights she was wearing with a crestfallen face. "New clothing in general... new everything. I haven't purchased anything for myself since before my Babulya was sick."

"Babulya?"

"Grandmother in Russian." Zaria sighed as she continued down the sidewalk, into the subway station and onto the train as it pulled up to the platform. She was silent on the train as she closed her eyes and struggled not to fall asleep standing up.

"Didn't sleep well last night?" Steve asked as she noted her tired appearance.

"Not really." She admitted as she pried open an eye to look at him. "Stress and all that."

Steve nodded his agreement and fell silent for the short subway ride. They exited quickly and made their way to the museum in silence as Zaria had no energy for small talk and Steve seemed to be off in his own world. They approached the well kept tiny museum where Zaria visibly woke herself and hustled up the stone steps to the old oak doors.

"You're not going to bail on me like you did last time are you?" She asked as she turned back to see where Steve was.

Steve stood at the bottom of the steps and stared up at her. The image reminded him of the last time they were at this point, but unlike last time he smiled and climbed the steps quickly and joined her. "Wouldn't dream of it." He answered.

Zaria blushed and turned her attention to the doors, unlocking them and pushing them open for him. "Welcome to the Mark W. Clark World War Two Museum."

Steve stepped into the vast space and took in the substantial collection of wartime memorabilia. His eyes landed on a mannequin wearing the M-43 uniform while holding a M-1 Carbine.

"I think it would look good on you." Zaria said with a smile as she locked the oak doors again; the museum wasn't scheduled to open until later. "I dressed all the mannequins. Even went a little overzealous with the budget I had and found mannequins from different age groups to better portray the age of most of our soldiers that were fighting in the war." She pointed at the gun in it's hands. "That M-1 Carbine he's holding will still shoot too, but obviously George isn't going to allow us to do that."

"George?" Steve asked as he pulled his gaze away from the mannequin in uniform.

"One of the curators and partial owner of the museum." Zaria answered as she moved around the museum. "Apparently him and his sister, Annette, are related to General Clark so they purchased this place when it was down and out and dedicated it to him. Pretty much everything you see in here was donated to this place by them. I guess George was really upset that there wasn't as much mention about Clark as there is about General Patton. He's always ranting that is Patton can have a museum then-"

"So can Mark W. Clark." A new voice finished as a man came around the corner. "You're late again Zaria and you look absolutely disgusting. Do you honestly think I would allow you into my museum looking like that? And you," he indicated Steve, "the museum is closed, there are no tours at this time."

Zaria huffed. "He's with me George and if it wasn't for him I would have been even later, some kid ran into me on the street while I was coming in. I figured you would rather I came in like this then the hours later it would have been if I would have gone home and changed."

"I would have preferred if you hadn't come in at all then." He answered snidely. "And didn't you just wear that outfit two days ago?"

Zaria flushed angrily, embarrassed that her clothing choice was coming into question. "For your information I haven't worn this top in a week so no I did not wear this outfit two days ago."

"But you've worn that skirt and that ugly coat with those horrendous boots."

Zaria blistered. "Well forgive me if I can't afford to buy new clothing seeing as I don't have any money."

George opened his mouth to retort but a female voice cut him off.

"Leave her alone George, she has a point." A female came around the same corner George had entered at and eyed Zaria before looking at George. "You know you could afford to pay her more but chose not to. She is the only person here who knows how to correctly catalogue and date many of the items we've brought in over the years she's been here. I doubt you could find someone better. Hello Zaria."

"Hello Annette." Zaria answered slowly. "This is Steve, he's a friend of mine. I didn't think it would be a problem to bring him in and show him the museum since he seemed to be genuinely interested in what we have here."

Annette turned her attention to Steve and took a long moment to assess him before she smiled coyly. "Hello Steve this is the first time we've ever heard of any friends that Zaria has. It's a pleasure to meet you, I do hope you enjoy our museum." She turned back to Zaria. "Show him around but then get in the back and get back to work. There is a whole collection of buttons that have been brought in that need to be examined and sorted." With that she turned and left, taking George with her.

Steve looked over at Zaria confused and Zaria sighed, shrugging. "This is normal for them." She gestured to the museum proper. "Shall we continue?"

"It's not a very large museum is it?" Steve commented when they had finished the tour.

"Not really." Zaria agreed as she came to a stop to look at him. "George likes to complain that we can't get in the 'big attractions' like the tanks or any of the other armored vehicles. Although, honestly I can't see him spending a large chunk of cash on one of those, even if we did have the room for it."

Steve mused over what she said while scanning the museum when his eyes landed on a female mannequin dressed in the female army uniform standing next to an antique desk. An aspect of utter anguish washed over his face as his eyes took on a faraway look.

Zaria watched his face with some confusion for a moment before she considered saying something. "You don't like Rose?"

"Rose...?" Steve asked as he tore his gaze from the mannequin.

Zaria pointed at the mannequin. "That's Rose, she's special. I found a mannequin that looked like my Babulya although there was no way that she was even old enough, let alone in the right country, to serve in the United States Army but it is her desk so I thought I should put her next to it."

"The desk is your grandmother's?"

"Mm-hmm." Zaria commented as she walked over to it. "The desk is roughly around the right age for the war, it's a 1940s Secretary Desk and I think it's made my Wooton Rotary but I'm not really sure. George didn't want in here but I convinced Annette to let me bring it in. It was just going to gather dust or worse in my place and at least here it can be enjoyed. My Babulya would tell everyone that it was her first 'American purchase with American money'. She was so proud of that desk."

Steve looked over at Zaria to see a sad smile on her face. "You really loved your grandmother didn't you?"

"Yeah..." She sighed as she shook her head. "Come on, I've got one more thing I want to show you."

Zaria led the way to the back of the museum where she did her work, pushing open the door to let him enter first. Leading him over to a long table against the back wall she lifted the glass and indicated to the contents inside. "This is my secret project that I work on in my spare time."

Steve examined the contents only to be stunned; they were of him! There were old articles, cards, newspaper clippings, and photos of 'Captain America'. Shocked didn't even begin to describe how he felt. Had she figured it out that it was him? What was he going to say to get her to think it wasn't? S.H.I.E.L.D. would not appreciate some civilian figuring out his identity.

Zaria laughed. "It's silly I know. So many people tell me that this stuff isn't important but I honestly feel like this guy here was a hero too; in his own way. I'm sure he's just come actor who dressed up in a costume but the people really adored him and he was a major influence, getting people to spend money when they didn't want to spend money; he probably funded a whole battle by himself. I've never found a name for him in all my searches, I guess it just wasn't that important, but I don't want to give up yet." She shot him a glance as she leaned her hip against the table. "You know, he looks a lot like you. Maybe he's a relative."

Steve shot her a surprised look only to have her laugh.

"Don't look so scared. It's not like I think that you're him or anything, that wouldn't be possible now would it?" But the look in her eyes told him that she was thinking something very different and that odd look, that knowing look, set him on edge.

"Anyway," she began as she wiped the tears from her laughing from her eyes. "It's just a silly fascination I have, I'll probably never really know anything else about that man, but it's fun to try." With that she closed the glass and locked it. "Well I probably should get to work. Thank you for coming to the museum."

Steve smiled. "I'm glad you showed me around, I really enjoyed it. I was surprised to find that anyone liked World War II as much as I did."

Zaria smiled in response. "I had a feeling you would really enjoy the museum." She glanced down at her jacket and sighed. "I'd forgotten about this."

"Let me help." Steve took the edges of the coat and helped her out of it before he draped it over his arm. "I'll see if I can't get this cleaned for you before you leave work. When do you leave work?"

Zaria stared at him confused. "You don't have to do that for me."

"But I insist. If had noticed the man sooner you wouldn't be in this predicament. So when do you leave work?"

"I uh..." Zaria looked over at the work she was given for today than at the clock. "I should be done around 8 tonight."

"Then I will be back at 8 with your coat and maybe you wouldn't mind joining me for dinner?"

Zaria blushed and smiled. "I would love to."

Steve smiled as well, a much more brilliant one than the last few smiles she had seen on him today. They had made it to the door where he stopped to look at her for a moment. "Excellent, I will see you then."

Zaria returned to her work room after letting Steve out of the museum and locking up again. She sighed as she splayed her hands across the glass. "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." She quoted as she looked down at the photos of the World War II "Captain America". "Isn't that right, Steve?"