- 2011 -

I tried to steady my breathing as I prepared myself for my brothers funeral, him having died in action. I knew his partner, Sam Wilson, had done everything he could to keep Riley from being hit but from what I had been told it was an attack that was impossible to escape for Riley and so I lost him. I had never actually met Sam Wilson but Riley talked about him all the time in his letters. Riley seemed very fond of Sam and his skills using the weird mechanical wings but it was unfortunate that the first time U'd be meeting him would be at Riley's funeral.

Dressed in a simple black dress I headed to the church, following my brothers hearse. I had had time to come to terms with his parting but it was still hard. All throughout his time in action I was hopeful he's return in one piece, but a part of me couldn't help but prepare myself for a situation such as this so I felt quite strong. I followed my parents into the church, us sitting in the front pew with tears in our eyes, beautiful flowers rested on Riley's coffin.

The service was beautiful, and exactly what Riley would have wanted. I was sad to know that I'd never get to see or speak to my brother again and it felt as though there was a hole in my heart, but I was grateful to see just how many people turned up for his wake. A lot of them were military people dressed in their uniforms, some were old family friends but standing by the board with pictures of my brother on was Sam Wilson, so I decided to approach and introduce myself. "Hello... I'm Riley's younger sister. You're Sam Wilson, aren't you?"

"Yeah I am," he turned to me, apparently a little surprised. "(y/n), right?" He asked and I nodded with a small smile. "Sorry we're meeting under such circumstances. Riley was one of the good ones," he said, looking back at the pictures.

"Yeah, even if he was a bit of an idiot at times," I chuckled as I looked over some of the photographs.

"These are some good photos. Looks like he was quite the photographer," Sam said and I nodded.

"He said he wanted to make sure he caught the memories of when we were young so that we'd remember when we were old. Even though he- never got the chance to be old," I whispered, tears coming to my eyes. Unexpectedly Sam pulled me into a hug, it feeling warm and comforting so I hugged him tightly back.

"Y'know he spoke a lot about you. Said you were a keen tennis player," Sam whispered and I chuckled, nodding against his chest.

"We used to play against each other all the time. Tennis, ping pong," I said, us pulling apart.

"Ah, explains why I never beat him at ping pong," he chuckled. "We'd hold small tournaments, the soldiers I mean. Riley would always come out on top. Would tell us how you'd always win tennis matches, that you were the best in your squad."

"I think he was overstating that," I laughed awkwardly.

"I dunno, this trophy you guys are holdin' says otherwise," Sam picked up a picture of me winning my first tennis trophy, Riley helping me to hold it as it was very heavy. He was smiling widely, like the proud big brother he always told me he was.

"They're all such fond memories," I whispered, brushing my fingers against them. "Do you have siblings?"

"One, Sarah. She's back in Louisiana though so I don't get to see her too much," he explained.

"You should see her," I said quickly and a small smile appeared on his lips. "Don't take advantage of having her."

"You're right," he said softly. We spent the rest of the wake together, and not just talking about Riley but getting to know each other better as well. He even told me he was thinking of retiring from the military, especially after loosing Riley but despite me trying to convince him not to he admitted it had been something he had been thinking about for a while, explaining that he knew too many people with PTSD and that he'd like to help them.

After the wake he offered to walk me home despite there being a car due to take me back to my house. I happily accepted, enjoying his company too much to say goodbye. Conversation between us never ceased as we walked, it feeling completely natural and we reached my place much quicker than I would have liked. "Thanks for walking me back Sam... despite everything I've really enjoyed getting to know you."

"I'm glad I finally got to meet you," he said smoothly.

"Would it be... inappropriate to give you my number?" I asked, slightly worried about the timing. He seemed a little taken aback but pulled out his phone with a soft smile. I sighed in relief and put my contact number in there, him texting me immediately so I too would have his number.

"Again I'm sorry for your loss (y/n)," he whispered soothingly and I smiled up at him.

"Thank you Sam," I nodded, him pulling me in for another tight hug. It was comforting and warm, me breathing in his scent.

"I hope we'll see each other again soon," he suggested once we pulled apart.

"I'm sure we will."

- 2014 -

Sam and I met up all the time after our first meeting. He had quite the military, able to live off of the retirement money but he had also formed a veteran counselling group which was getting popular. He was helping soldiers get over their PTSD, or at least learning to deal with it, and I had attended a few sessions. He was very good, even if it was a little intense. He got straight to the point instead of using ridiculous words and sugarcoating things like a lot of therapists did. All the people in the group got on with him really well, and after each session I attended he approached me in particular, a smile on his face.

"You okay?" He greeted me once afternoon after shaking hands with a few of the attendees.

"I am actually. I wondered if you had time to grab some lunch?" I asked, feeling hopeful and he reached for his jacket.

"Absolutely. Your choice," he always said whenever we decided to get food together which was almost every other day. I had began to fall for the man, after all he was too charming and irresistible not to fall for. He'd always make me laugh, I'd rarely not be smiling in his company. We'd do things couples would usually do together: go shopping, eat out, go to the cinema, have movie nights at one of our places snuggled under a blanket whilst subtly throwing popcorn at each other. I didn't want to read too much into it but there was a small nagging in the back of my brain wondering if he felt the same way.

Naturally I hoped he did. I felt like the two of us would make a good couple, we had the same interests and enjoyed each others company immensely. We comforted each other when we were missing Riley, and after each session of his I attended I always stayed behind to help him tidy away. Even sometimes when I didn't attend I'd meet him there to assist, and then the two of us would go out. It felt as though we were an actual couple at times, but without the physical side to it.

Today was one of those days where I went to meet Sam after one of his sessions, us having arranged to go out for lunch. I entered the building and headed towards the hall Sam usually conducted his meetings in, but stood outside and leaning against one of the open doors was a man I hadn't met before. As I approached I saw his blonde hair and strong build, immediately recognising him. "Captain America?" I breathed, and he turned to me, a soft smile on his lips. I gulped at his attractiveness and strength, his sweet smile making me swoon. "Sorry- sorry I didn't mean to disturb you-," I muttered awkwardly, looking down before glancing into the hall seeing Sam at his podium talking to those attending todays session.

"Steve Rogers," he held his hand out for me to shake.

"(y/n) (l/n)," I greeted, taking his hand.

"You here for the meeting?" He asked.

"Yes and no... I attend them occasionally but I'm friends with Sam... what about you?" I asked.

"I only met Sam last week but he told me about his meetings... I think I probably should attend one or two," he chuckled awkwardly and I smiled softly. "So you served?"

"No, I didn't actually. My brother did though, he died a few years ago whilst on an op. He was Sam's partner," I explained.

"I'm sorry for your loss, I know what it's like to loose people close to you," he said comfortingly and I nodded.

"He's helped me a lot," I nodded towards Sam. "You should try it you know. It's hard at first but it gets easier. If you don't mind me asking... who did you loose?"

"Well, everyone really. When I came out the ice only a small handful of the people I knew from the 40s were alive. But mainly... my best friend. Bucky. Fell from a train in the Alps, his body was never found," he sighed deeply.

"I'm really sorry Steve. They say it gets easier with time, but I'm not sure it does," I admitted sadly.

"We'll always remember them though," he stepped closer to me and put his hand on my arm encouragingly. I looked into his sharp blue eyes and smiled, my heart beating a little faster at their charm.

"We will," I whispered. There was a quiet moment between us and frankly I was surprised I had just let my emotions out to a stranger, but there was just something about him. I was distracted by people exited the hall, walking past us down the hallway to the exit of the large building. Steve retracted his hand and stepped back quickly, the two of us turning to see Sam approaching, glancing between the two of us with furrowed eyebrows.

"Hey Angel," Sam pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. He'd taken to calling me lots of cute pet names, each one making me more excited and happy. "If it isn't the runnin' man," he turned to Steve but still had his arm around me. I was quite surprised he continued to hold me so close.

"Caught the last few minutes. Pretty intense," Steve said, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah brother. We all got the same problems," Sam said, looking down at me and I nodded. "Guilt... regret..."

"(y/n)'s brother?" Steve asked. "She told me just before you came out."

"Riley. My wingman. Flying a night mission..." Sam started. "Standard PJ rescue op, nothin' we hadn't done a thousand times before 'til an RPG knocked Rileys dumbass outta the sky. Nothing I could do."

I breathed in deeply, thinking of my brother and knowing Sam still blamed himself for what happened. He kissed my head quickly and I patted his chest, nodding my head towards the table that held all of his flyers and posters about how to adjust to normal life. He understood and let go of me, me leaving the two boys to it to help tidy away all of the flyers but I could still hear a bit of their conversation.

"After that, I found a really hard time finding a reason to be over there," Sam said.

"Are you happy now? Back in the world?" Steve asked.

"The number of people giving me orders is down to about zero, so hell yeah," Sam said and I smiled, neither of them seeing it as I had my back to them. I busied myself putting the leaflets away in a box when a sentence made my ears perk up a little.

"Being in a relationship with (y/n) must help too," Steve said.

"We - er - aren't in a relationship exactly..."

"But you want to be?" Steve asked and Sam sighed.

"Yeah... just wish I had a chance to ask Riley's permission, y'know, do the gentlemanly thing," Sam chuckled but my heart just focussed on the fact he admitted that he wanted to be in a relationship with me. I wasn't sure if either of them knew I could hear them, after all I wasn't that far away from them.

I wasn't paying much attention to their conversation after that until Sam suddenly appeared by my side. I tried to act as though I hadn't heard their conversation but I didn't have Avery good poker face. "You okay?" Sam chuckled and I laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah- erm-,"

"Lets put these in the office and head out for lunch. Sound good?" He suggested and I nodded, following him and trying to remain as calm as possible. I distracted myself as much as I could with conversation, him acting very calm despite what he had just admitted to. I assumed that because of this he didn't realise I could hear his and Steve's conversation, so I tried to push it to the back of my mind as much as I could.

It got to late afternoon when Sam was walking me back to my house, their conversation replaying in my head to the point where I thought I was going to explode. As soon as we were at my front door I couldn't help but blurt everything out. "I heard you and Steve talking about me and you saying you wanted to be in a relationship with me and god I hope it's true because I've wanted that for so long so please tell me it was true and you weren't just messing around-," I managed to stop myself from my out of control rambled.

Sam was quiet for a minute before a smirk began to tug at his lips. I held onto my breath, slightly worried as to what would happen next but he simply stepped closer to me. "Well it's about damn time," he said smugly. "I'm glad you feel the same way Angel."

"You really have feelings for me?" I asked just to make sure and he cupped my cheek, nodding.

"Have done for ages," he said sweetly. I couldn't wait any longer so I held onto his shirt and pulled him down, my dominance surprising him. His lips slammed against mine and I immediately concentrated on giving him the best possible kiss I could. It didn't take long for him to kiss back with just as much passion, sweeping me off of my feet.

When we finally pulled apart and my eyes fluttered open to look into his he was already smirking and looking down at me with romance in his eyes. "That was nice," I breathed, laughing lightly.

"Damn right," he teased.

"Do you want to come inside?" I asked, not necessarily with anything r-rated in mind. I just wanted to be in his company.

"You know I do Angel," he said, following me inside, our hands intertwined.