We remain in silence as we walk around the exhibit. His facial expressions scream annoyance but his body language betrays him. I think it’s mainly due to the fact that Steve hasn’t strayed too far away from him. When he does, James stiffens up in panic. Deep down, he knows Steve is a familiar face, even if he doesn’t remember why.

“You can talk to me,” I voice after an hour of pure silence, “that’s why I’m here. I’m the unbiased person you can talk to. I don’t know you from Adam and won’t judge you.”

He doesn’t say anything, only looks at his plaque with pain in his eyes.

“James, I get why you don’t want to talk to Steve.” I tell him, “You know he sees you one way and you see yourself a completely other way; you’re afraid he won’t accept what you’ve done. You’re afraid you won’t accept what you’ve done.”

He looks at me, jaded blue eyes scanning my face. He’s not looking for an enemy this time but for answers. He’s wondering how I knew exactly what he’s fearing.

“H-how?” He manages to stutter out.

“It’s my business to find out,” I reply. “James, I’m good at what I do and I do what I do because I’ve been in the same position. I’ve see the horrors, I’ve lived them when it came to my own family. You think you can hide it, but sometimes your body language betrays you greatly.”

“And you can help me?”

A smile appears on my face, “or I’ll die trying.” I reply to him. “I’ve never failed a soldier before and I don’t plan on starting to now. You’re worth forgiveness and saving and I’m going to work on making you believe that too.”

**

After leaving the museum I head home. I get to my townhouse and see my ex-boyfriend, Ben, sitting on my stoop; a brown paper bag shaped into a bottle is clutched in his right hand.

“What are you doing here Ben?” I ask, sighing as I fiddle nervously with my keys.

“Saw you at the museum today,” he slurs as he struggles to stand up, nearly falling over before he balanced himself. “Captain America, really Erin?”

“I’m helping him out as a favor for Sam.” I reply, “I do help friends, Ben, I’m not like you.”

“Do you really want to go there?” He spits, trying to scare me. He can’t scare me, not anymore. By now, my nosy neighbor is looking out her window investigating the yelling.

“Miss White is looking out her window,” I inform him, “she’ll make no hesitation to call the cops. You’re already in violation of the restraining order.”

“Are you threatening me?” He hisses, stumbling forward, stopping only when he gets in my face. “There wouldn’t have been a restraining order if you would have just stopped seeing that soldier.” He doesn’t need to be specific, I knew which one he was talking about.

“Sam has been there for me more than your drunken ass has,” I simply say sidestepping to get around him. “I owe that man my life, and I’ll help him do whatever, no matter what it is. So I highly suggest you leave. Miss White is extremely protective of me as of late.” A victorious grin appears on my lips when I walk up to my door, waving hello to Miss White, the lovely 80-something year old lady that lives next door. I look back at Ben, briefly, before shaking my head. He was a good man; served his country and loved his momma. But after his last tour, he wasn’t the same. He drank like a fish and got violent, putting me in the hospital once. I tried and saved him, but sometimes people don’t deserve it or want it. And that’s when you have to get out before they turn you too.

After my brush with Ben, I head straight to the bathroom and take a quick shower. Once done, I wrap a towel around my torso and head into my bedroom. I quickly change into my yoga pants and Doctor Who t-shirt. I pull my slippers on and pull my hair up in a messy bun as I walk into my living room.

I curl up on the couch and turn on the TV, instantly the news pops up. It’s always the same. Violence and politics; not like there is anything else in the world. People wonder why this generation is getting more and more violent. We broadcast it so much and glamorize people shooting up schools and killing innocent people. Video games and music aren’t to blame; it’s the news. No one else seems to see that.

Getting sick of the news and The Big Bang Theory, I turn off the TV and head to my room; it’s getting late and I’ve got to get up early in the room. I walk into my bedroom and turn the light on as I head to my closet to pick out tomorrow’s outfit. As I reach for a shirt, a box catches my eye. A smile appears on my lips as I reach for that instead, pulling it down off the top shelf. I dig through it as I walk over to my bed, sitting down when I pull out a familiar photo album.

It’s like look through into a time vortex heading straight into the 40’s. I see old pictures of my grandfather as well as his fellow Howling Commandos. A frown appears on my lips as I see an old picture of James and Steve; smiling and laughing at something. They looked happy, he looked happy. Now he looks so jaded and dead inside. I’ve got to help him get back to this once more. I’ve got to bring back his happiness...

Notes

Erin

The whole ex thing may seem random but Ben will be making visits in Erin's life quite often. Plus you'll learn more about their relationship at a later date.

Also if you're here for strictly romance, you won't get it. Romance will happen but it's not the main focus. The whole point of the story isn't for the main characters to fall in love with each other and everything will magically get better.

And I highly suggest you listen to the song Good Man by Devour the Day. That song is my inspiration to write this story. Plus Devour the Day is amazing; saw them in concert last weekend. Two of the members were from the band Egypt Central too.