"The Smithsonian?"

Steve nodded as he, Bucky, and Peter walked up the great walkway that led to one of the many museums in Washington DC.

"Have you been here?" he asked the boy, pretty sure that he knew the answer.

"No. I don't think I have, anyway. My decathlon team was going to visit one of them when we came down for the competition but the thing at the Washington monument happened and it got derailed… I don't know if my folks brought me, but I don't remember it, if they did."

"I didn't think so," Rogers told him. They'd parked the car in a regular parking area, rather than use his fame to get a better one (part of staying incognito for the moment) and the two men had put Peter between them as they joined the Saturday crowds that were touring one of the more popular areas in the nation's capitol. "I think you'll have a good time."

Peter didn't know what they were doing, but he didn't doubt it. He let Steve and bucky walk him up the sidewalk and then into a large museum. He was surprised that they didn't have to pay for entry, but they – and a couple with a little kid swinging between them – just walked in. And then snickered and rolled his eyes when Bucky and Steve offered him their hands to swing him, too. He looked around with interest when they entered.

"Wow…"

It was a huge room, and there were levels where other people were walking, and a million things to see at once. Almost too many things for a guy who was a little prone to sensory overload, but Peter was good at squinting, slightly, to minimize what he took in all at once. There were airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Real airplanes, too, not just models. All old-fashioned, and all crazily just hanging there for everyone to look at.

The one closest to Peter said the Spirit of St Louis on it, and he was shocked when he realized that it was that plane and not just a copy. Just like everything else that he looked at – and he didn't know where to look, first.

"This is pretty wild," Bucky said, also looking around – almost gawking.

"You've never been here?" Peter asked, surprised.

"No." the Winter Soldier turned to the left, and then rolled his eyes. "They have a Captain America exhibit?"

Steve shook his head.

"It's more than that," he told his friend. "Come on; I'll show you."

All three of them walked into the large exhibition room and Peter saw that Steve was right. Yes, there was a large wall with a few pictures of Steve in the old fashioned Captain America uniform that he used to wear, and there were different scripts that told about each one; different things that Steve used to do – and the people that he did it with. Peter walked over to one that showed a display with Steve laughing with another man and glanced over at Barnes, excited.

"That's you."

Bucky stepped up, too, and his expression was distant for just a moment as he studied the video that had been taken of him and Steve, clearly laughing and enjoying the other's company.

"Yeah it is." He smiled, then "I told you we were friends," he reminded the boy. "You didn't believe me?"

"I just didn't realize you were so old," Peter said, smiling – and then dodging Bucky's hand when the man pretended to take a swipe at him. "It's hard to wrap my head around that," he added, looking at the video – and then turning his attention to the other men that had been in Steve's unit in the war."

"It is for me, too," Barnes told him, also looking at the other pictures – and some other videos. "Those were crazy times. Scary, of course, but some of my best memories…"

"Because you were with Steve?"

"Right."

Rogers stepped up, now, from where he'd been hanging back, trying not to be recognized so staying a little way from the display.

"This isn't just about me, though," he told Peter. "It's an homage to the people who fought World War II," he said, looking around, and then walking away from his own wall of displays and to the next area. "We were in Europe," he reminded the boy – unnecessarily. "But we weren't the only ones out there. This is the Pacific theater," he said, pointing to some maps and a bunch of pictures – some life-sized – of men (and a few women) who were wearing uniforms of all kinds. Some were standing next to airplanes, like the pictures that Peter had seen of Nico's grandfather. Steve stepped away from that and down the hall a little farther. "And this is something that you might find interesting," he said, waving Peter over. "Because this is the exhibit for the OSS."

"What's that?" Peter asked, curiously, walking over and absently aware that bucky was right next to him, probably checking the crowd for anyone who might be a danger to their trip – or to Peter, himself.

"Office of Strategic Services," Steve said, gesturing to a couple more life-sized pictures. "They were formed to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all the branches of the military…"

"Like the CIA?" Peter asked, looking at one man who looked a little familiar. The tilt of his head, and the ears that stuck out just a little from under the hat he was wearing. He must have seen this picture in a history book, or something. "Or the FBI?"

"They were spies," Bucky said, more than able to add to the history lesson. He'd lived it, after all. "From before the CIA was even formed."

"The OSS was disbanded right after the war ended," Steve told Peter. "But the people who worked with it mostly moved to the CIA when it was formed." He pointed to the man in the photo. "You recognize him?"

"He looks familiar."

"Because he's your grandpa," Steve said, smiling. "Jefferson Patrick Parker."

Peter felt his eyes widen when Steve pointed to the caption under the photo, and he read the name. No wonder he looked so familiar. The boy hadn't met him – well, he had but he'd been really little, so he didn't remember it – but he'd seen him in some of the pictures that Jack Lee had given him.

"Wow. Really?"

He looked at the picture, carefully, but now that it had been pointed out to him, there was no mistaking it – even in black and white.

"Yes. We never really looked him up before" Steve replied. "But when this thing with your new friend Nico came up, I was curious and started to do a little digging. I found out a lot of things that we didn't know – and that you probably didn't know, either. When I brought up the idea of bringing you down to see this, Tony and Pepper agreed that it was something you should see."

"I'm glad you did," Peter assured him. He read the short article that described almost exactly what Steve had already said. "My grandpa was a spy, huh? That's pretty cool."

He couldn't wait to tell Ned.

"It's probably one of the reasons Natasha took to you so quickly," Rogers said, smiling.

Peter smiled, too.

"Can we look around?" he asked, wanting to see what else might be there for him to learn.

"That's why we're here." He gave Bucky a look, too. "You might find something interesting to look at, too."

"Yeah."