DYER | STEVE ROGERS

𝐕𝐈.𝐕

〚 HOME 〛

Darla stood outside of the Smithsonian with Steve. Her hand held his tightly, she could feel him shaking. She wrapped her other hand around his bicep and stepped closer to him.

Steve smiled down at the girl and placed a kiss on her head. He nodded and they walked into the Smithsonian to look at the Captain America memorial.

"Do you ever miss it?" Darla questioned as she walked around the room. It was empty, meaning that it was only them two there. Not that they minded. It was comfortable and they didn't have people coming up to them asking them questions about how they were going to bring everyone back. "The war I mean, fighting back in those days?"

Steve let out a small chuckle. He missed been with his friends. He missed the Howling commandos. And he even missed his friendship with Peggy.

"Sometimes." Steve nodded. His eyes flickered over to Darla who was looking at a photo of young him. "Would you have still loved me if I looked like that?"

Darla span around on her heel, not expecting Steve to be right behind her and for her to hit her head on his chest.

"Of course I would have, Cap." She brought her hand up to cup his cheek. Steve allowed a smile to form on his face. "I love you for you. Not the way that you look."

Steve connected his lips with the girls for a brief second. He loved the way that her lips always seemed so soft and the way that his nose brushed against hers.

"I love you." He whispered as she span back around and allowed him to wrap his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Do you miss her?" Darla asked curiously, her eyes flickering to the photo of the compass, which had a photo of Peggy in the top.

"I do." Steve nodded, "But only as a friend. She was a big part of my life."

"Do you ever wish that you didn't go down onto the ice?" Darla asked curiously. She wouldn't have been mad if they answer wasn't what she was wanting, but she wanted to know.

"No. Because if I didn't, I wouldn't have met you. I wouldn't have fallen in love with you. I wouldn't have joined The Avengers. I wouldn't have had this life." Steve began to trace patterns on the exposed skin of her waist. "I miss him though." Steve looked towards the photo of him and Bucky back in the 1940's.

"I miss him too." Darla whispered back. "He deserves to be here. He's been through so much. But we will get him back. We'll get them all back."

Steve let out a heavy sigh. He really wanted to believe her but with every day that passed by, he became more and more unsure of if that was actually a possibility or not.

"So, you've seen my museum, where's yours?" Steve questioned, placing a light kiss on her neck.

"I'll take you."

~

The drive to Brooklyn didn't seem that long or daunting, but once Darla stood in front of her old house everything seemed to be twice as scary.

"Are you okay?" Steve questioned as he watched her fiddle with the keys in her hands. Darla nodded nervously as she walked up the steps to her family home.

It was Steve's first time actually going inside of the house. He remembered standing outside of it to surprise her when Natasha came with him, but he couldn't bring himself to go back in.

He watched as she tried placed the key in the lock before turning it and stepping inside. She walked into the living room first, there were half drank cups of coffee on the table and the TV was still playing.

She quickly switched it off and grabbed Steve's hand. She slowly lead him upstairs to her bedroom.

Darla took a seat down on the bed, as he walked around the room. Much like how Mateo did the first day that he met her family.

Steve lightly tapped the photo of them and The Avengers with a warm smile. He would do anything to go back to those days. Despite them being chaotic, it seemed almost simpler.

"So, this was your childhood bedroom?" Steve questioned curiously as he ran his hands along her shelves, stopping at the hospital band. It had the same date on it that the accident happened.

"It was." Darla nodded, pursing her lips, noticing that the man had stopped on the hospital band. "You know, that day was probably one of the scariest days in my life." She announced. "I drove straight into an electric fence and fell unconscious almost instantly. Mateo saved my life." He paused watching as he took a seat beside her. "Then I took his. Did I do the right thing?"

For years she had been living with the guilt. Mateo saved her life and in return she ended his.

"You did. You did it to keep you and our friends safe." Steve tucked the girls hair behind her ear.

"I woke up in the hospital and I heard the voices. I woke up and heard all the people surrounding me in agony, I heard people dying. It was horrible." Darla remembered the day so vividly. "Not too long after I started drinking to stop them and to my surprise it worked. Then I met you."

She let out a small sigh, grabbing his hand.

"I'm sorry for the pain that I put you through with Mateo. But I truly loved you through it all."