"Hey, (Y/N)! I've got one," Steve whispered as he was strapped into his own Vita-Ray machine as you watched from yours.

"No, Rogers! Now isn't the time!"

"Why do men get their greatest ideas in bed?" he smirked.

You squeezed your eyes shut and turned away, hoping that your disinterest would make him stop. He was nervous, you could tell; not only from the look on his face, but the beginning of an endless array of dirty jokes that he and Bucky would use to distract themselves when they were upset. With Bucky deployed already, you were the helpless recipient of his inappropriate sense of humor.

"I'm not doing this, Steve."

"Oh, come on, don't be such a prude." You heard him wince as he was injected with something, now suddenly quieter and less enthusiastic to embarrass you. "That wasn't so bad."

"That was penicillin," the doctor said quietly.

You laughed out loud, but cleared your throat with a slight cough to regain your composure when he glared at you, but a wide grin was still spread across your lips. "C'mon, Steve. Don't be such a baby."

Your words didn't match how you felt inside; you were terrified but didn't want Steve to know. You had only agreed to do this with him because you wanted him to know you would always be at his side and supportive. They had asked for one male and one female subject, so you jumped at the chance when he had brought it up.

As the capsule rose to stand you straight and the doors began to close, you weren't so sure anymore. You quickly looked to Steve before the doors were tight, hoping to get one last look at him as he was.

"Because they're plugged into a genius," he laughed, getting the last syllable of the punchline out just as his doors sealed shut, and your own only a few seconds behind.

"Buck is gonna kill us," you mumbled, allowing the stupid joke to give you a few seconds of laughter before the harsh lights began to surround you and the pain of the serum took its hold.

~~~

Steve's eyes were filled with sadness and apprehension when he looked at you, hoping that you would have an idea that was better than his. Anything that would change the course of the mission and allow you both to survive.

"I've gotta put her in the water!" he told Peggy, on the other end of the line. You crawled along the floor of the plane behind him and pulled yourself up on his chair, struggling to hold your balance. You rested your hands on his shoulders and gave them a small squeeze to show him that you were with him, no matter what he decided.

"Please don't do this," she replied with a broken voice, "We have time. We can work it out."

"Peggy, this is my choice."

You leaned down and wrapped your arms around his shoulders and leaned in to rest your head against his. Tears began to sting at your eyes, but you held them at bay for fear of upsetting him more, fear of making his guilt even harder to bear in his final moments.

"I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance."

"A week next Saturday, at The Stork Club."

"He doesn't know how to dance," you added quietly.

"Don't worry, (Y/N), I'll show him how." You could hear the tears in her voice, and all it did was bring you more pain, knowing that the two of them would never have their chance. And, oh, how Steve deserved a chance. You turned to leave a small kiss on his cheek then stood again to watch the plane descend in its last landing.

"We'll have the band play something slow. I'd hate to step on your-"

"Steve? (Y/N)?"

~~~

"That picture really doesn't do you justice, Stevie. You're so much more handsome than that."

"Are you flirting with me, (Y/N)?"

You turned with your mouth open, feigning shock and surprise, "Eww! No! We're not going to replay that disaster again, believe me."

"Jeez, you don't have to be so absolute about it, you know. Men have feelings too," he whined, holding his hand over his chest. "I'm hurt, babe. I thought we had something special."

'The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery, and sacrifice.'

It wasn't really clear why Steve insisted that you visit his Smithsonian exhibit, looking around and seeing little kids and adults alike wearing their Captain America gear as they walked around the pictures of you and your old friends, long since gone. The first display showed the pre-serum version of him, your little Steve, barely even a shadow to his current form, which was pictured next to it.

As he made his way through the displays and re-read the information about his transformation and his career as the Captain, you held back slightly and observed him. Even though he had been here several times on his own already, every so often his hand would raise slowly and drift over the pictures as if he were trying to feel those moments directly. He didn't look sad, but rather just introspective and maybe even a bit thankful.

"You okay?" you asked quietly, putting a supportive hand on his arm, then raised the other and gently tapped on the side of his head. "What going on in there?"

'Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both the schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in the service of his country.'

His head perked up at the introduction, pausing to look for the area in which it was coming from. He shifted your hand into his and pulled you along as he read each display until he came upon the one he wanted.

"Wow, that turned out really nice," you mumbled.

You had a few pictures of Bucky that had been recovered, a few with both of you in them, smiling and happy together. This picture was different; it was taken during the war, and his expression looked a little tired. Seeing it in this large scale, and as a monument to his memory, brought a pain that you weren't expecting, and a haze of tears began to cloud your vision.

"Hey," Steve nudged, "hey, are you okay?"

"Can I have a few minutes?" Your voice was quiet and rough, beginning to fail you just a little. As Steve nodded and walked towards another display, you held your place, studying the face that you had known so well; the face of the man you thought you would spend the rest of your life with. Once Steve had told you about Bucky's fall, the two of you fought together and lived like you only had one purpose; to defeat HYDRA once and for all. For all intents and purposes, it had cost you your lives, or at least the lives you knew.

If you had no one else, at least you had each other. There was a short time when your friendship had turned into something more, but even after that had fallen apart, you still held onto some of those feelings for Bucky.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you know anything about this man on the exhibit?"

"He was a good man," you sighed, "that's all I anyone needs to know." Turning to walk away and to find Steve, you didn't look at the man with the gentle voice, whose face matched the one on the glass wall where you had just stood seconds ago.

You caught Steve's eye as you approached, and he quickly moved to stand in front of you, taking a hold of your shoulders with a look of worry. "Did you talk to him?" His head darted around and past you, searching as if he had lost something.

"Did I talk to who?"

"Buck! I brought you here because it was safe, and the team wouldn't get involved." His eyes brightened and a wide grin crossed his lips, "he was supposed to talk to you, and have it be a surprise that he's here!" He began to look past you again, "where the hell did he go?"

You felt the room begin to spin slightly, and your head felt heavy with a loud ringing in your ears. Pulling from Steve's firm grasp, you grabbed the wall and lowered yourself to sit on the floor next to him. He immediately dropped to sit next to you, his smile completely gone and his expression replaced with near panic.

"(Y/N)? What's going on? You don't have any color in your face anymore. Are you going to faint?"

"How...how is he here?" you mumbled, "Steve, are you sure? Is he...is he...himself?"

"He will be, (Y/N). No matter what happened to him, there are some things that just never change."

~~~

"Hey, Stark! What did the elephant say to the naked man?"

"Steven!" you gasped and spun on your heel to look at him in shock, "we are in the middle of a fight! Trust me when I say, there is never a good time for that!"

"Oh, come on, (Y/N)! It's always a good time for that!" Bucky laughed, running past you with a firm slap of his metal hand to your behind. "But I think he could do better!"

"Hang on a second," Tony interrupted, "what just happened?"

You shook your head and turned around to look at your friends with a disapproving glare and a point in each of their directions. "Oh, Tony. You have no idea how many years that I've heard this, and it only got worse after the war started. I don't think they have a tasteless joke that I haven't heard."

"Challenge accepted!" Bucky intercepted two more assailants and moved to your side to assist you, still thinking of a joke he wanted to use. He excitedly slapped at your arm as it came to him.

"I've got it! Hey, Rogers! What's the difference between you and eggs?"

You heard a chuckle from Tony and a whimper from your own throat, not even realizing that you had done it. "Yep, heard it before," you whispered to yourself with a look of disappointment on your face.

"Well, come on, Cap," Tony encouraged, "show us what you've got."

Steve glanced back at the group as each of you continued to fight, shaking his head slightly when he couldn't think of the correct punchline. After a few minutes, he still had yet to answer, and you started to feel bad for the guy. "I don't know, Buck. I give."

"Eggs get laid, and you don't!"

A collective groan went out over the comms, and Steve's face filled with a deep red shade, but not out of embarrassment; he actually thought that his friend was hilarious and a deep, resounding laugh followed.

"See, (Y/N)? I told you it was funny!"

Steve gave you a wink and a small smirk as he ran past his friend, leaning in close for a private reply, "no, Buck. That's not why it's funny."