ALL THESE EXAMS

A/N: Hey everyone! So I am back with another fun chapter for you!

Enjoy!

I stayed in hospital a few days longer, healing progressively as Sam and Steve visited me quite a bit. Steve, of course, was discharged first, because, well, he was Captain America. I couldn't really argue with that.

Finally, after three days, a nice nurse whose name was Linda came up to my bed, beaming her usual bright smile.

"Well, Miss Jaines," she said sweetly, in a manner that sounds like how I would've sounded 70 years ago. "The doctor said your vitals are looking good, so they're letting you go today."

Naturally, I was ecstatic to leave, as the staring at white walls had started to get tiring. I had packed up all my stuff that Steve had dropped here and within a few hours, I was out, walking to greet Steve.

"Hey," he said, looking like a golden retriever that saw its owner after a week of spending time apart. "You okay?"

I smirked back at him. "Yep. So where's our next stop?"

He took my bags from me and began walking. "To my apartment."

I almost wanted to keel over out of frustration. "Steve, I have an apartment of my own-"

"You're still staying. After all, I don't want anyone coming after you."

"Steve," said, in a demeanour that stopped him in his tracks. "I've been off the grid for around 3 years now. Nobody's coming after me."

Then he turned around and gave me the look. This was a common look Steve used, and it was a mix between stubborn and stern. I knew that I couldn't give any other argument after his look. Damn it.

I gave a long sigh, deliberately drawing it out. "Fiiiinneee..." Was my final mumble of defeat.

And with that, we walked to his motorcycle.

"So," I began as I plopped down on the couch. "What's our first move?"

Steve was now pacing around the apartment, and he was causing a draft which was starting to annoy me. "Well," he started, sounding extremely unsure. "I've been researching with Sam, and there's no likely safe house for the Winter Soldier listed in here." He motioned to the file on the wooden table.

So basically they're nowhere.

I sighed and ran a hand through my messily braided hair, trying not to get frustrated. Usually, life seemed much easier than this.

"Do you have any other ideas?" I asked, somehow hoping he was stalling to reveal some great plan. Unlikely.

"Well... not really. Maybe he's still in D.C, but I'm not exactly sure."

I had to use all my willpower not to ram my head against a wall. Why was this so frustrating?

Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Hey Steve," I called as he trudged into the kitchen. He replied with a grunt, acknowledging that he was listening.

"Do you think I could go visit the Smithsonian?"

He returned from the kitchen, a flummoxed look written on his face. Suddenly, he shook his head before a reply. "Uh... sure. Just be careful."

"Thanks, dad," I replied sarcastically as I stood up to put on my shoes. Then, I skipped out of the door, and out onto the street.

It had taken me quite a bit to find the Smithsonian. But you have to admit, it's pretty impressive I actually found it without a map.

I entered the steel doors and immediately scanned my surroundings, sighing when I saw a metal detector. This would most likely take a while.

As I saw the entrance, I saw a group of tourists which seemed to have a lot of metal chains on them. Then, I overheard this statement. "You guys can just pass through fine," the guide said, obviously bored with his job.

Swiftly taking a few steps, I casually joined the group, following through the metal detector with no problem. As soon as that was over and done with, I disconnected myself from the group and glanced around, looking for the Smithsonian. Funny, how I've lived in D.C for years now, yet never bothered to actually have a look at the Smithsonian exhibit on Captain America myself.

I kept thinking about this as I moved down the escalator steps, making sure I kept my hair enough in my face so no one would identify me. Lots of people were still here, many families with their overeager kids and sometimes just people by themselves. Either way, I kept strolling through, thoughtfully eyeing the information as I gawked at the pictures.

My past.

It was really funny, seeing all these things and pictures back from my day. Huh, I even sound like those old people that always say,"Back in my day, we didn't have no cellphones!"

It really shocked me to find a small wing for myself, though.

That was me.

I stared at the pictures of my young self in awe, gazing at the information about me. I made a small huff at the title of my small wing. A girl lost in time. Ironic, really. I bet if I showed my face like Steve half of D.C would keel over at the irony of this heading.

Then, I moved into a little screening room, playing several clips of WWII and so on. As I leaned into the comfortable chair, I noticed basically nobody was in there but me.

Well, except for one person I just barely noticed.

It was out of the corner of my eye, really. It was a man, seemingly in his 20s or 30s, just at the entrance of the screening room. He was wearing a scruffy jacket and wore a dark cap on his head, making his face barely visible.

Either this guy doesn't know we're inside, or it's a disguise.

Since I highly doubted he was blind, considering the way his head was cocked towards the screen, I figured the latter. This made me question why on earth he would be wearing a disguise until I got a glimpse of his facial features.

His scruffy hair, glove on his left hand and unshaven face directly reminded me of someone that conveniently had similar features.

Bucky.

I didn't even notice my breath hitched until I started going dizzy. I quickly and shortly released my breath, pretending not to have noticed Bucky standing there. Then, I got up and walked out of the theatre, purposely using the doorway where Bucky was standing at.

As I walked there, I kept my head down, my hair shielding my face from view. I glanced up to see that Bucky had shifted from his spot, barely sparing me a quick look as I walked through the Smithsonian some more.

I looked through the exhibit to also see a larger wing for James Buchanan Barnes.

Immediately, I sneaked towards it, my footsteps inaudible as I gazed at the wing with shock. Because before me was a picture of the Bucky that I used to know and recognise.

It almost killed me to see him like this. Young, happy, careless. The opposite of what he was now. I thoughtfully read through the information, smirking at things I remembered that were written down there.

As the exhibit began to empty because the Smithsonian was closing, I shuffled out, to see Bucky's silhouette in my peripheral vision. I used my smarts and could tell he was following me. Obviously he'd caught onto me.

I sighed, taking several twists and turns to D.C, trying to remember my route back to Steve's apartment. I was walking down a small, secluded alley, which I know, sounds weirdly cliché, but either way, it happened. As I was saying, I was walking down that alley when a pair of hands grabbed me and shoved me against the wall.

And I could already feel that one of them was cold metal.

Oooh, fun chapter finished! Sorry for basically next to no action in this chapter. I might as well call it 'doing normal civilian things until the end where we're walking down secluded alleys and being grabbed by cold hands'.

Either way, follow, review and favourite as I write another chapter! *flies away into the sunset*