Coffee with a Captain

By TheDarkZannen

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon, Marvel and Disney own the Captain.

Personal Note: This was written by request of ThePointGirl. I recommend that you guys check her stories out.

This is my first online story so it's probably filled with grammar and other errors, which I'll try to fix as soon as. Thanks a bunch and enjoy.

"That will be twelve fifty, miss" Said the taxi driver to his passenger.

The young woman stepped out of the bright yellow taxi, passing the requested amount, plus a small tip to the driver. "Hope you enjoy New York" and with that friendly farewell. He sped away joining the chaos that was the big Apple.

Michelle had only arrived in New York three days ago, so far it had been more than she thought possible. In those three short days she'd moved into a small apartment in the Lower East side, she'd spent a day sightseeing and had begun the 'delightful' task off unpacking. The Stark tower stood amongst the older buildings, it was almost complete, and in a couple of weeks it would have its grand opening, which was something she was looking very forward to. But today was far more important, in about two hours she'd be heading to an interview. The job was a junior position at Pearson Hardman. Pearson Hardman was one of the top law firms in New York. It was her main reason for being in America in the first place.

After finishing University with first in Linguistics, Michelle had been contacted by one of her former teachers. He'd put her name forward to an old friend working at Pearson Hardman. So here she was, she'd left her old life behind, she was excited and terrified. The day she'd left had been the hardest; all of her friends had been there to see her off, words of advice, farewell presents, hugs, kisses and a lot of tears, surprisingly from her Male friends. She pulled out her Samsung Galaxy from her pocket, checking her emails in regards to the interview. Everything seemed in order; she'd given herself a lot of time, even so she was nervous as hell.

With two hours to spare, Michelle thought that a proper breakfast was in order, considering in her haste this morning, she'd only eaten a slice of dry toast. She began walking down the street, weaving in and out of the New Yorkers rushing about their day. After a few minutes she spotted an outdoor café called 'Central Café'. The name wasn't original; she shrugged her shoulders and made her way over. She saw only a small steel table with two empty seats; she walked over placing her larger than life bag on the slightly wobbly stainless steel table top. She then took out her note book, fountain pen and mirror, placing them on the table before dropping her bag on the identical steel chair next to her. Taking the seat facing away from the stark tower, trying her best to find a comfortable position, she began flicking through her note book.

"Good morning. What can I get you?" Michelle looked up at the waitress. The young Blonde woman had a welcoming smile; she was wearing a peach coloured dress with a black skirt, matching black leggings and a white apron. Michelle responded almost instantly, "I'd like a pot of the breakfast tea and the scones with some strawberry jam, please" Michelle got the impression that a lot of what she said didn't get through. A friend of hers had informed her beforehand, that sadly some (most) would have trouble understanding her. 'Well tough' she thought, she wouldn't change for other peoples benefit. After straightening out her order, she picked up her hand mirror and began looking herself over. She'd chosen a simple charcoal suit jacket with matching suit trousers held in place by simple black belt, she wore underneath a crisp white long sleeved shirt. Not being the tallest person in the world (five foot two) she had picked her favourite Prada shoes with the heel altered (Heightened). She brought the mirror up to scan over her face. She checked her hair her dark brown locks cut into a short bob with a slight curl at its tips, she adjusted her glasses the slim black frame fit her face well and with a light amount of makeup, it gave her the professional look she wanted. As she put the mirror back in her purse her hand instinctively reached out across the table grabbing her pen and notebook, she opened it and continued with where she'd left off the night before.

The one thing she loved more than anything was writing. She published some short stories in newspapers and magazines back home, her friends back in England had told her how she could be the next JR Roweling. She'd take her chances in the field of law, even so she still sent in the odd story to her friends if they harassed her enough. Michelle had become so engrossed in her notes that she didn't notice someone approach her table.

"Excuse me, Ma'am, would it be alright if I sit here?" spoke the masculine voice. "Sure" Michelle responded, without lifting her gaze from her notebook she reached over to the chair grabbing her Louis Vuitton bag and dropping it under her chair. After a moment she heard him pull back the chair and sit down. Not long after her new arrival appeared so did her order. The same waitress from before began placing Michelle's breakfast on the table. Once everything was in place, the blonde turned to the newcomer and smiled. "What can I get for you honey?" she said in a far more cheerful tone than before. "Cup of Joe, no sugar please" the man responded. 'An American classic' Michelle mused. Nowadays people ordered all kinds ridiculous drinks, they were normally pumped full of chemicals, creams and chocolate, it wouldn't surprise her if there weren't any coffee beans in those drinks at all. "I get that for you straight away." Chirped the blonde disappearing out of view.

With her train of thought broken by bubbly waitress and coffee, Michelle put her pen down, looking over the pages she'd written. 'So far so good, setting and plot is in place. I just need some character details' In the last week or so Michelle had started writing up ideas for a gritty detective story, so far things had been falling into place, she had a plot and setting, but she had yet to create a protagonist to her story. She needed something. Anything to inspire her.

She looked up from her note book only to gasp. She had been so engrossed in her notes that she hadn't seen who had joined her, she wished she had sooner. Luckily for Michelle he hadn't noticed her staring at him with wide eyes and open mouthed. He was reading a copy of the Daily Bugle, its headline 'Oscorp stocks at all time high' but that wasn't what she was focused on.

His golden hair cropped and short but enough to put your hands through, sky blue eyes focused intently on ink and paper; his young face early twenties? With strong cheekbones and a chiselled jawline, it was no wonder the waitress had swooned. 'He has good taste in clothes' thought Michelle. He was wearing a thick brown leather jacket; underneath he had a pale blue checked shirt and a white T-shirt pocking out under the shirt collar.

He looked up in surprise at her smiling; "Hello" he spoke in a friendly tone. Michelle froze up. "Ah" was all she could say before her face went as red as a tomato, ducking her head down, her hair shifting to cover her eyes. 'What the hell's wrong with me?! If Dillon where here he'd be laughing at him, he'd never let me live this down.' She quickly composed herself, looking him straight in the eye, trying her best to put on a serious face. This would have looked convincing, if not for her blushing. "Most people nowadays refer cappuccinos or Lattes, it's nice to see something a little old fashioned" if she hadn't been focusing on his eyes she would have missed the flash of pain cross them. 'How strange' she thought. The blonde shrugged his shoulders and responded. "I haven't met many Americans who drink tea and eat scones for breakfast." before he could finish his sentence Michelle responded "I'm not American."

"English, from London?"

Michelle smiled "That's right; I'm surprised you got it in one. Most people think I'm Australian" he looked perplexed "Why would anyone think that?" said the blonde.

"I haven't the faintest idea." After that the conversation ground to a halt. However it didn't seem to bother them. Michelle began to pour herself some tea, adding milk and pitch of sugar. She moved to the scones, spreading a dollop of butter and jam, she took a bite making sure not to stains her expensive suit, savouring the rich sweet flavours she thought about what she was doing. 'Not my best first impression, let's try this again' Michelle looked back to the mysterious blonde finishing her scone in a single bite, she leant forward. "I feel bad that I'm enjoying these by myself, would you like one?" She asked slightly hopeful he'd respond. He himself looked surprised by what she'd said, 'did he think I'd lost interest?' Michelle pondered. "That's very kind of you, I'd love to try one" he said, taking the offered plate from her, his hands brushed against hers, almost causing her to lose her grip. He began copying her previous moments before, a heaping amount of butter and jam spread atop. He took at large bite out of it, causing some of jam and butter to fall and land on the floor, leaving a colourful splat by his feet, causing Michelle to chuckle.

"There not doughnuts, but they hit the spot all same if you ask me" spoke Michelle keeping her eyes on the scene before her. His eyes where filled with enjoyment "This is pretty good." He responded with a smile, Michelle could help but something about this man made her want to get to know him, it was as if he eradiated confidence and kindness, a very rare trait indeed. "Do you live in New York?"

"I live in Brooklyn" he replied, taking a large gulp of coffee from his steaming mug. "Oh, what's it like?" Michelle responded in a curious tone, in the back of her mind she mad a mental note to check the place out, there was a lot of history in that area. "It's changed a lot since I was last there" he said. A sad smile crossing his lips "It's hard getting used to it, but its not so bad" she didn't know why, but Michelle knew there was more to what he said, by the way his posture had changed and the way he'd spoken, she wasn't going to press for answers however. "I see, so you've been traveling for a few years. You knew I was London did you spend much time in England? Have you ever been anywhere exotic?" he looked down at his feet for a moment before he responded "Traveling, yes, you could say that. I stayed in London for a little while, but I get the feeling that it's changed a lot since I was last there." He seemed to be staring at something in the distance as if he were remembering something. Michelle's eye didn't leave his face; he seemed so far away, lost even, as if he were from another time, Michelle waited until he looked back at her. She wouldn't have him wallowing like this; he'd ruin his good looks. With her eyes burning with determination, she spoke in a comforting way, hoping that what she was about to say could help in some way, anyway. "Sometimes things change, for better or worse. What's important is that you shouldn't let these changes control you or change your outlook on life. If you embrace these changes, you may find something great." Michelle paused giving him a chance to take in what she said; she smiled to herself before speaking again. "Wow, that sounded, overly preachy, didn't it?" she sounded like some of her friends, they loved preaching about pointless, trivial things, they loved their hero speeches. Even so she missed them terribly, but she'd see them again soon, she was sure of that. A week away from them and they'd be swimming the Atlantic just to talk, drink and laugh alongside her. Michelle was broken out of her thoughts, by her blonde. "No, I needed to hear that, I've got to stop living in the past. I have to try at least. Thank you" flashing a toothy grin. Michelle's cheeks turned a faint ruby red in response. "You're welcome. Anyway your drink must be stone cold by now, let's get ourselves a refill." Michelle said, trying to keep the subject away from her constant blushing. Smiling back, her mind began to wonder as the handsome blonde ordered a replacement for there now cold drinks. 'Handsome that he is…. Wait get a grip girl, sure he's sweet in that innocent way, he's tall and he definitely works out. I wonder what he looks like under that shirt?' she could feel the blood rushing to her head, if she thought her face couldn't get any redder, she'd been mistaken.

After a fresh set of tea and coffee between them, they continued talking. Michelle had been right; he had a lot to talk about. He told her the sports he loved, that he was a solider, what it was like growing up in New York. He was an artist at heart and had some of the most beautiful sketches she'd seen in a long time. She had shown him her story in progress along with a couple she'd finished. He put the note book down and moved it across back to her. "You're very talented, the stories are very detailed and creative, and I really liked the story about the agent and the solider."

Michelle lifted the note book and brought it to eye level, the old worn book had seen better days, the fake green leathers was wearing away at the corners, the paper it held crumpled and covered in ink blotches. She locked eyes with him. Light brown meeting sky blue. "That's kind of you to say, however like your drawings, it's just a hobby." Placing the notebook back into her bag.

"Most people nowadays spend their time looking in the mirror or writing about what they had for lunch on Facebook or Twitter, everyone wants their moment in the spotlight, kids especially"

"Err, right, but don't kids go outside and play?"

Michelle chuckled at that. "Only the young kids do that, once they get to the age off nine the fun and excitement of the outdoors loses its appeal to sitting on a sofa, eating junk food or watching videos on YouTube. The parents of today would rather not have to deal with complaining children, they'd rather their brains turn into mashed potatoes, by letting them watch dreadful reality T.V and play Call of Duty" Michelle looked off to the side watching the cars go by. She placed her elbow on the table, her chin resting in her palm fingers tracing her right cheek. "Sometimes I think the people of the Modern age have no idea how lucky they are. People have forgotten what was sacrificed for what we have now. Ignorance is bliss after all" A pregnant silence came between them, Michelle continued to stare at the people rushing around the streets, her free hand tracing the rim of her cup. His unwavering voice broke her out of trance; she looked back his words full of meaning and honesty. "People do remember, there just not stuck wallowing in the past, if everyone did that nothing would move forward. They'd fight just has hard as those who fought to protect their future."

'What a speech' Michelle thought, her mouth moving without her realising. "You must have girls lining up to date you….ah" her little outburst had him coughing into his jackets sleeve, while she buried her face in her hands. Trying to salvage the situation Michelle began steering the conversation to something other than the Blondes dating life, lifting her face from her hands.

"You, you said that you were in the Army, did you any tours in the Middle East?" the ball rolling again they'd both relaxed back into the conversation once more. It had been pleasant throughout, she was learning more about the blonde, and he told her a couple of stories about his army days, along with a couple of bad jokes in-between. The conversation had been friendly; with both of them have vast amounts of subject's to talk about.

"You should have seen his face, It was priceless" Laughed Michelle, the Blonde laughing along with her. " I've never heard of a party getting that out of hand before, it must have been one hell of a night" he spoke calming himself down.

"From the pieces I remember it was, however waking up under table the next morning cuddling a bottle of Jack Daniels is not something I'd like to remember"

Michelle looked over at her phone which was dangerously close to the edge of the table, as she reached out she glanced at her wrist watch. Her face twisting into shock, she jumped out of her chair almost knocking it over her phone briefly forgotten.

"Oh Shit!" Exclaimed in panic, startling her Blonde guest. "What, what's wrong?" holding the table with his right hand, his back rigid and his face full of worry.

"I've got five minutes." She replied her voice frantic. Michelle hastily grabbing her effects off the table and cramming them into her bag. Without looking his way her eyes set on making sure she hadn't forgotten anything "I'm sorry but I've got to go, I can't be late for this interview." Michelle pulled out her purse grabbing a handful of green bills out and handed dropping them on the table. "This should cover us both" as she turned to leave she paused, turning back. "You know this hole time we'd been talking I hadn't given you my name." she took a step towards the table reaching a hand across it, towards him. "My name is Michelle" The Blonde stood up from his seat in response, reaching over taking her hand in a tight handshake, smiling. "Steve Rogers, It's been a pleasure talking with you Michelle."

"Same here. You know it's sort of funny, when I was a kid I used to read these Captain America Comics. I swear he was called Steve Rogers too. Anyway – got to dash. Good bye" she turned rushing off into the swarm of people with a smile.

If Only Michelle had looked back, she would of seen the look of complete bewilderment across his face. Steve slumped back into his seat, looking up at the Stark tower his mumbled

"Comic books? You've got to be kidding"

The End

Thanks for reading.

Let me know what you think.

Regards,

The DarkZannen