June 15, 2011

A knock on the door of her apartment made Lucille look up from the spread of papers on the table in front of her. Back stiff from having been bent over for so long, she slowly straightened up and went to the door to check the peephole.

She was in good shape for her eighty-eight years, but the sight of Steve standing in the hall outside her door nearly gave her a heart attack.

Wrenching the door open, Lucille took a few moments to stare at her friend. He hadn't changed. Not a single bit. He looked exactly the same as when she last saw him in one of the films that followed Captain America and his Howling Commandos. "Steve?" she whispered, feeling tears beginning to well in her eyes.

"Hey, Luci," Steve said softly, keeping his distance to let her adjust. Lucille had had enough distance for the past 67 years, however, and she grabbed his hand to pull him closer, wrapping her arms around his solid torso. Time seemed to stop while Steve held her as she cried. When she finally stopped, she pulled back, wiping at the last of the tears. She could only imagine what Steve saw: a little gray-haired old lady with reddened, wet cheeks and wrinkles everywhere. She sniffed and pulled him inside her apartment, taking a seat with him on her sofa, all the while refusing to let go of his hand.

"How…?" she breathed, still marvelling over the fact that he didn't look a day over 25.

Steve sighed, running his free hand through his blond hair. "Did – did anyone ever tell you what happened?"

"Peggy," Lucille nodded, squeezing his hand. "She found me and told me everything, how you went down in the ice. Stark searched for months, but… never found anything," she said, her voice cracking. She looked down at their hands, his flawless and smooth with youth and hers creased and dotted with age spots. When she looked back up, Steve was nodding.

"Erskine's formula did it. Kept me alive under the ice. The benefits of endless cellular regeneration," he explained with a wry smile. "SHIELD found me and hauled me out. They've been keeping me under the radar for a few weeks, but I convinced them to let me out when I found out you were still… around, and, well, here we are."

"Nothing can stop the indomitable Captain America," Lucille said with a smile that Steve returned fully.

"So, Luci, what have you been up to while I've been sleeping," he asked casually, as if he had just been taking a nap rather than buried under tons of ice. It made her chuckle, which only brightened Steve's smile.

"Well, after… everything… I became a teacher. History," she told him, pointing to her teaching degree that was hanging up on the wall among several black-and-white photos. "My World War Two unit was the most popular. I taught for just about fifty years, if you can believe it. After I retired, well, I wasn't sure what to do. I visited the Smithsonian many times when I figured it out. They had a tiny exhibit on Captain America, but it didn't do you any justice." Lucille sighed, shaking her head at the memory of the cramped corner of the National Museum of American History that held a few pictures and some explanatory plaques. "I contacted them and told them an idea I had for an expanded exhibit for Captain America and his Howling Commandos. They were kind enough to meet with me, and when I explained what I had in mind and that I could get more than just pictures to display, they were very willing to expand. I got a hold of Peggy and she was completely on board with the project. She gave me everything I asked for – the designs for your suit and the others' clothes and gear so we could make replicas, all the old documentary films, maps following the path of your missions. I even got your stage shield, since the real one was lost with you. And I've been the head curator ever since." Lucille paused, grinning at the awestruck look on Steve's face. "I suppose you haven't had a chance to go yet?"

Lucille watched Steve readjust the Giants baseball cap she had gotten him as they descended the elevator to the lower level. "We had to move the exhibit to the National Air and Space Museum because the American History building didn't have the room at the time," she explained, looping her arm through his as he helped her off the escalator. She steered him to the right and they entered the exhibit. "It bothers some of the Air and Space purists," she continued, "but it would be a hassle to move it all, so we're keeping it here."

Lucille let Steve set the pace as they wound their way through the exhibit. He paused at each display, listening to the narration and reading every word. "Wow, was I really that small?" he asked her quietly when they stopped to watch the pre- and post-serum comparison.

Lucille laughed. "You were smaller than me, Steve. I never knew how you didn't blow away in a stiff breeze." Steve chuckled, shaking his head, and they moved on.

They stopped again in front of the display of mannequins that were wearing the different outfits of the Howling Commandos. "We found an incredibly talented painter that did all the murals here," she told Steve, her gaze coming to rest on the portrait of Bucky.

"This is amazing, Luci. It looks like the real thing," he added, taking a step closer to examine his old uniform.

"We thought the replica looked a little too nice, so we threw some dirt on it to make it a bit more authentic," she agreed with a smile. Steve laughed. "There's a couple more things I think you should see," Lucille told him. "We'll watch the film first; I need to get off my feet for a few minutes." Steve nodded, taking her hand, and followed her to the next area. It was a separate room with two open doorways on either side. Inside, it looked like a miniature movie theater, the screen taking up the front wall with several tiered rows of carpeted benches rising to the back wall. Lucille pushed a button on the wall next to the doorway and joined Steve on a bench as the projector in the box behind them flickered to life and lit up the screen. Steve glanced at Lucille, whose attention was on the screen in front of her, wondering why she was silent now, when at every other display she'd had some tidbit of information to share. Lucille noticed him looking and gestured to the screen, wanting him to pay attention.

She heard his small gasp when Peggy appeared on the screen and began answering an interviewer's question about Project Rebirth. Steve wrapped an arm around Lucille's shoulders, pressing a kiss to the side of her head, and she understood the enormous amount of gratitude that he couldn't put into words. The film finished twenty minutes later, and Steve wiped his cheeks as he helped Lucille down the steps and out of the mini-theater.

"Luci," Steve began, making her pause on the way to the final display she wanted him to see. "I can't thank you enough for that – for all of this. It's – well, it's just…"

"I know, Steve," Lucille said, saving him from the impossible task of putting how he felt into words. "I wanted to make something that you could be proud of. Never in my wildest dreams did I think you'd actually see it, but I'm so glad you have." She hooked her arm around his and began walking again. "We have one more stop before we go."

She led him across the large exhibit floor to a set up of three etched glass panels. Steve let out a sigh when he saw the picture of Bucky.

"I found a way," Lucille said so quietly that Steve almost didn't hear her. "I found a way to make sure James was remembered forever, like you talked about."

"It's perfect, Luci."

-0-

Steve's back! And now we know why the Cap Museum (as I like to call it) is so banging cool. And why it's technically in the wrong building; for some reason, I felt compelled to address the point made in the 'goofs' section of the CATWS IMDb page. I hope you all are still liking what's going on. Truly, thank you so much to every one who is following, favoriting, and especially reviewing! Love.

[Guest: As much as I love the stories that have Bucky falling for an OC from the present (of which I'm reading several great ones) or the ones where the best girl friend from the 40s also gets the super-soldier treatment, I wanted to tackle the more 'natural' story, for a lack of a better way to describe it. Peggy's reintroduction in CATWS stabbed me in the feels and I've never really gotten over it... Thank you so much for your fantastic review!]