Humming to herself as she wandered through the halls of the museum, she looked around as the clock struck seven and people began emptying out. This was her favourite time of the day. It was the time when she had the place to herself except for security and the cleaners. It was the time when she could roam the halls and look at everything around her. The newest exhibit was almost complete and it had taken her weeks to finish organising it. Somehow they had come across the original Captain America costume and it was to join the exhibit the following week. It was being shipped from London all the way to Washington D.C. and part of Evelyn Morris' job was to make sure that everything went smoothly.

She realised that it sounded slightly strange. Surely all she had to do was sign for a parcel, right? But it was more than that. She had to ensure that she had the right holder for the suit to sit on perfectly. She had to ensure that it would be visible from all corners of the exhibit. There was the glass to clean and then there was security to consider as well. One stipulation of being given the suit was that it had to be secured. She had contacted an electronics company to come out the following morning and fit security cameras in the glass box alongside an access code to the door.

Holding her clipboard in her hand as she entered the Captain America exhibit, she kept her eyes peered down on the checklist that she had. Once they had received the costume then she had to go about ensuring that there was an event for the unveiling. That meant sending invites out to donors of the Air and Space Museum and contacting other Smithsonian patriots as well.

As she passed the first stage in the exhibit, she almost froze. She had just gone past the posters featuring Captain America's face when she saw him sat there on the wooden bench. The bench was at the back of the room and Evelyn remained hidden from view in the shadows. Pushing her large framed glasses further onto her nose, she peered at him in the distance and almost gaped at the sight.

It couldn't be him. How could it be him? He was watching the video playing on the projector, dressed in black jeans and a black leather jacket. He looked lost in his own thoughts and he clearly had not noticed Evelyn. The projector was playing a video of the Howling Commandos as they trained for one of their missions to go against HYDRA.

Stepping back, Evelyn turned around and looked at the large poster that she was confronted with. She saw his face on the poster and she had no hesitation in her mind then. It was him who was sat in the shadows and watching his past. Biting her lip, Evelyn considered going to tell him that the museum was closed, but she shook her head. She had work that needed doing and somehow she did not have it in her to go and tell him to leave. He looked sad. He looked lost. It was almost as though he was looking at a past that he could not remember.

And she suspected that he couldn't remember it. She had read all about James Buchanan Barnes. She knew about his time as the Winter Soldier. She knew how he had been experimented on and she could only begin to imagine the horrors that he had seen. There had been a massive fanfare when the President had pardoned him. Some people had complained, of course, arguing that he was a killer who needed to be brought to justice. Others argued that he had done his time. He had been brainwashed and forced to commit atrocities that would make people's blood curl. Seeing him in the viewing room, all Evelyn saw was a man who was lost.

"Hey, Charlie," Evelyn said, her heels clicking on the floor as she headed to the main entrance where the security guard was stationed. Charlie was a sixty-year-old man. He had once been part of the navy, but had retired due to injury. He had started working at the museum months before Evelyn had been transferred there from the National Postal Museum.

Charlie finished taking a sip of his coffee and looked over to Evelyn. "Evie," he said affectionately as she held her clipboard to her chest. "What are you still doing here? I would have thought that you were home by now?"

"It's the big unveiling at the end of next week," Evelyn reminded him. "My to-do list just increased tenfold. Anyway, there is this guy in the Captain America exhibit."

"Want me to go and kick him out?" Charlie asked, beginning to stand, but Evelyn held a hand out to stop him from moving any further.

"No," she said to him, shaking her head. "I…this is going to sound crazy," she admitted and perched on the edge of his desk, her pencil skirt tightening around her thighs as she crossed her legs at the ankle. Charlie brushed a hand through his greying hair and arched a brow. "But I think it is James Barnes…as in the James Barnes."

Charlie blinked a few times and Evelyn nodded, motioning to the monitor on the table in front of him. "Check it out," she urged from him.

He did as she had asked and looked to his screen. He squinted, pushing his glasses up so that he could see the screen without them. Shrugging, he sat back. "Could be," he said to her. "He's blurred to me. But he should go, Evie, the museum is shut and we could get in trouble if he is in here."

"He's watching the video playing in the projector room and isn't doing anything that could hurt," Evelyn said. "And he looked so sad…and lost…just let him stay for a little while longer. The video had almost finished anyway. Once it is done then I will turn the projector off and he will go. I'll stay out here and finish some paperwork," she said, motioning to her clipboard.

Charlie sighed. "Fine," he agreed, "but no one finds out about this."

"Promise," she smiled to him and climbed down from his desk. "You're the best, Charlie."

"And you're a soft touch," he retorted to her.

She smirked back at him and shrugged. "Only for heroes who save our lives."

He snorted. "You call that man a hero?" he asked her.

"He helped stop Thanos," she responded. "Makes him one in my book."

Evelyn went to the table in the large foyer and perched herself down. The tables were next to the closed coffee cart and she set about her paperwork for a while. She suspected there was about twenty minutes of the video left. She set about finishing off her work for the day before standing up and heading to the projection room. On her way there, however, she passed him. She looked at him as his hands remained stuffed into his leather jacket pocket and he looked straight ahead. His gaze met hers for a moment and she managed a small smile with no words. He didn't even smile back. Instead he passed her by and headed to the doors. Evelyn turned back around to see Charlie let him out and the security guard put his thumbs up to her, reaffirming that they had indeed just seen the Winter Soldier.

…

This routine continued for what seemed like weeks, but in reality it was only three weeks. The unveiling of Captain America's outfit had gone as well as possible and Evelyn had hosted the launch event without a hitch, stressing throughout the entire thing. Every day, James Barnes would come to the museum and find himself sat in the same seat, staying for an hour until the museum had closed.

Evelyn had worked late each time, telling Charlie not to worry about it. Besides, she didn't want Charlie to be on his own with someone still in the museum. She had considered saying something to him, but she didn't have it in her. He looked like he would rather be on his own anyway.

"This is getting weird," Charlie commented on a Friday night as Evelyn put a hand to her mouth and stifled a yawn. She had finished work and had gone to sit with Charlie until Barnes left. She had made him a coffee, handing him it in one of the museum's own brand mugs as she sat on the end of his desk, one leg folded over the other with her shoes dangling on her toes.

"I know," she said to him. "And I don't know how long it will go on for."

"Maybe it is time I said something to him," Charlie suggested.

"I don't mind doing it," she said. "I mean, he passes both of us every night and never says anything. Do you think he just doesn't know the closing time?"

"Or doesn't care?" he responded to her.

"Maybe," she retorted. "Maybe I should set the projector to shut at seven instead of letting it run its course to the end?"

"Not a bad idea," he said to her.

"I'll go and do that tomorrow," she said to him. "But maybe I should go and see if he is alright? Is that crazy?"

"Yes," Charlie said firmly. "He was a killer."

"Was being the operative word in that sentence," she responded and climbed down from the desk, leaving her satchel on the floor by Charlie. "I'll just walk through the exhibit and casually say hi or something, see if he responds."

"Evie-"

"-You can watch on the monitor," she said. "Besides, if he really did want to kill someone then he has had weeks to do it."

"That doesn't put me at ease," Charlie commented.

She squeezed his shoulder and walked by him. She pulled down the tight fitting blue dress she wore and continued moving to the exhibit. She grabbed a bottle of water from the closed coffee cart that was on the side of it. She vowed to pay them back in the morning. Continuing to the exhibit, she entered it and her eyes adjusted to the dark. She moved her glasses on her face and saw him in the dark. He was in the same place as he usually was. Evelyn took a deep breath and stood next to the bench. Placing the bottle of water down on it, the motion snapped his attention from the screen.

"Figured you might be thirsty. You've been here a while," was all that she said.

He looked to the water bottle and then to the girl stood in front of him. He had noticed her for the past few weeks. She was always there, dressed in smart outfits, a lanyard hanging around her neck. She wore the same patent black heels all the time and her glasses were always on her face.

He said nothing and she simply nodded, moving to leave. But then he remembered himself. He wasn't the Bucky of old. He was new. He was supposed to learn how to adjust in this new world.

"Do you work here?" he asked from her.

She stopped walking away and turned to look back at him. Nodding her head, she clasped her hands behind her back. "I do," she said to him, her long soft curled brown hair swaying as she made the motion. "I am one of the curators here…I mean…I manage this exhibit specifically."

"I see you every night," he said to her.

"I work late," she lied, not wanting to tell him the truth.

He nodded once back to her and she shrugged. "I'll leave you to it," she commented.

"There's something wrong," he responded before she could go. He stood up and remembered to take the water with him. She had been kind enough to bring it with her, the least he could do was accept it. He moved closer to her and looked her in the eye, noticing that her eyes were blue just like his. She pushed her glasses further onto her nose again and wrinkled it.

"What is wrong?" she asked him.

"Follow me," he said to her and she did as he had asked.

Moving behind him, she walked with him towards the beginning of the exhibit that contained the poster discussing his friendship with Steve Rogers. He pointed with a gloved hand to a line of text and Evelyn crouched down, hands holding her thighs as she looked at it.

"It wasn't Jacob Riis Park where Steve went on a trip," he said and Evelyn furrowed her brow. "It was Rockaway Beach…caught a ride on the back of a freezer truck back to Brooklyn."

"You're sure?" she asked.

His lips quirked for a moment at that question and she caught herself before he could respond.

"Of course you're sure. You were there, weren't you?"

"So you know who I am, huh?" he asked her.

She stood up straight and pushed her dress down her thighs. She nodded her head slowly. "I mean, hard not to when I see your face every day," she said, motioning to him on the poster. He bowed his head at that, almost seemingly embarrassed. But he kept quiet as she continued talking. "Anyway, I will have that changed. We did speak to a woman who had been there…well not me personally because I did not start the exhibit up, but I did check everything. I think her name was Dolores. She said that she had been there with you both."

"Dot," he responded to her. "She maybe got it mixed up…it was definitely Rockaway. I blew most of my money trying to win her a stuffed bear. Then blew the rest on hotdogs, hence the truck home."

"Did you get her the bear?"

"No," he replied.

There was a silence between both of them and Evelyn broke it, clearing her throat and placing her fist over her mouth before speaking; "As I said, I'll get that changed. Thanks for telling me about it."

"No problem," he replied. "I should get going."

"Yeah, sure," she said.

He began walking off and Evelyn remained stood where she was. He didn't go far before intrigue took hold of him. He stood on the spot and turned to look back at her, watching the back of her hair and her soft brown curls as she ran a hand through them.

"I never got your name," he said to her.

She turned her head over her shoulder and looked to him, eyes wide. "Evelyn," she spoke clearly. "Evelyn Morris."

"Evelyn," he repeated, testing her name on his lips. "I'll see you around."

She was about to ask if he would, but she got no chance. Instead she merely smiled to him and he turned to leave, fastening his leather jacket up to his chin. Evelyn waited for a moment, making sure he was gone before she went back to Charlie at the main entrance.

"I saw you two had a conversation," Charlie commented to her.

"He is literally a walking fact checker," she responded. "He found something that was wrong in the exhibit."

Charlie chuckled. "And that means you are not leaving her tonight until you fix it, are you?"

"You know me so well," Evelyn said and grabbed her satchel. "I'll be in the office looking it up. Shout if you need anything."

"Can this not wait until tomorrow?"

"No chance."

"You need to stop working so hard…get yourself online dating…head to a bar."

"I can think of nothing worse," Evelyn responded. "As I said, shout if you need me."

"Yeah, yeah," Charlie waved her off.

Evelyn smiled and shook her head as she headed back to the office, her mind still on James Barnes.

….

A/N: Do let me know what you think!