Six years after the battle of New York…
Captain Steve Rogers sat idly at the small European themed café two blocks from Stark Tower. He glanced over the front of the daily paper again before turning the page, stretching his arms to block his entire corner of the small outdoor patio. He didn't like being recognized as Captain America. After all this time it still embarrassed him, which was why he usually stuck close to the tower when he wasn't off somewhere under direction from SHIELD. But this café was different. He braved the crowds of boisterous and ever nosy New Yorker's every week for this same seat. A slight clink grabbed his attention as his waitress set a small steaming cup of coffee on the round glass table top.
"Can I get you anything else?" she asked, slipping her notepad and pen back into her apron.
Steve smiled up at her and shook his head. He opened his mouth, as if he might say something. The waitress paused for a moment, expectant, hopeful. She was also familiar with the gesture, so she wasn't fazed when Steve simply shut his mouth again. She smiled at him and continued her rounds of customers.
Steve mentally slapped himself, pursing his lips behind the paper before he allowed himself another quick glance.
He had been coming to the same small, overpriced café for the better part of five months. Each week he would sit in one of the uncomfortable wicker spun chairs and wait while the cheery, blue-eyed, brown haired waitress made her rounds. Each week Steve would order the same thing and watch her over his paper. The delicate curve of her lips when she smiled. The gentle tone she used with the younger customers. The sincere conversations she made with the regulars. She was wonderful, perfect, kind-hearted…
Steve cleared his throat, adjusting the collar of his checkered shirt which felt somewhat constricting in the afternoon sun.
He ran his hand through his hair, tousling the blond locks, allowing the top corner of his paper to flutter in the wind. He caught another glimpse of the perfect woman who had captured his affection as she passed back and forth, seating a new customer.
Up until this point it was a one-sided, secret affection he held, for this woman was not only too wonderful for words, since he always seemed to be speechless around her. She was also Peggy Carter's granddaughter. Steve had fallen for the twenty-six year old granddaughter of the deceased woman he had worked with over seventy years ago. The woman he thought he might have loved before he fought Red Skull and plunged into the freezing depths of the ocean with the Tesseract, turning himself into the Tony Stark patented, Capsicle.
That was the past though; Steve had to remind himself, for it still felt like yesterday sometimes. Whether or not he loved Peggy once upon a time didn't matter because his reality now belonged to a new world. One that he was still getting used to. For him, World War II and Hydra had raged out of control a mere six years earlier and sometimes the world still caught him off guard.
Steve grinned as he watched Elizabeth Carter collect the empty dishes from one of her tables, the brown waves of hair falling over her shoulder as she loaded up her tray. She caught him staring out of the corner of her eye and gave him a small smile. Steve's heart leapt dramatically and he slid a hand absently to clutch the spot on his chest where he was certain the organ was going to emerge.
The Captain returned the smile and sighed. Another silent exchange. What it meant he couldn't be certain, all he hoped was that he was slowly working his way up to a real conversation with the woman. If it hadn't been for Tony and Natasha meddling on his behalf he never would have known about Elizabeth in the first place. What had started out as a desire to meet the family of the woman who had changed his life in many ways, quickly turned into something much more, at least for him, and maybe one day for her too, if he could work up the courage to open his mouth longer than it took to place his order.
Steve allowed himself to gaze at her a second longer before busying himself with the newspaper again. He might be old-fashioned in many ways, but staring was still as creepy as it had been seventy-six years ago, perhaps even more so now. He wasn't trying to scare her away, but the task of keeping his eyes averted from her posed a real challenge for the seasoned soldier.
Steve felt his eyes drift upwards once more, unconsciously searching for Elizabeth's face, but his attention was diverted when something strange, and yet distinctly familiar appeared in the sky, right above the STARK tower logo. The dark, shadowed form landed easily on the platform and disappeared inside. Steve stared, mouth agape, certain that he had imagined whatever it had been, but something instinctual pulled him to his feet.
Steve felt an awareness peak at the back of his neck, sending an electrifying shiver down his spine as he dropped the newspaper, each section falling apart and drifting to a different resting place on the ground.
He moved slowly, careful not to spill the drink that was still full, as he peered, unblinking into the distance. He sped up, without looking ahead as much as he was staring at the sky, and it was the high-pitched gasp that halted him.
"Oh, gosh!" Elizabeth Carter said, inhaling a quick breath as she turned, crashing into Steve with the tray full of dirty dishes. A plate of uneaten pasta tipped and sprayed along the front of Steve's shirt. "I'm so sorry," Elizabeth gasped, whipping out a napkin and wiping the garlic and pesto sauce from the checkered cotton print.
"It's no trouble," Steve said, gripping her forearms to steady the woman. She had walked into him, but the collision had barely registered with Steve. Elizabeth on the other hand had almost shot backwards. If it wasn't for Steve she would be sitting on the pavement right about now. "My apologies, mam," Steve said, watching the small blush creep into her cheeks.
It was the longest exchange he had ever had with Elizabeth and instead of reveling in the feeling he had an annoying urge to get back to the tower. He wanted to reach inside and crush whatever instincts were driving him forward because his brain was telling him to stay and talk to the doe-eyed waitress.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Steve said, pulling out his wallet. He reached inside without looking and shoved a twenty into Elizabeth's hand. He glanced over her shoulder at STARK tower and began moving forward again, this time breaking into a steady jog.
"Wait!" Elizabeth called after him. "You forgot your change!" She yelled as he retreated from the café, holding up a couple of five dollar bills.
"Keep it," Steve shouted over his shoulder. "Sorry about the mess." And he was truly sorry. He would come back again to apologize properly but for now he had to get to the tower and figure out what exactly it was that he saw.
Elizabeth furrowed her brow, pondering after the strange man. She gave a little shrug and turned back to the table where most of the dirty dishes had landed. She pocketed her generous tip, making a mental note to thank the man later. There was no doubt in her mind that she would see him again.
Chapter 2 is written. Please review and let me know if you'd like to see more. :)
