*little radio ditty from the 1940s*
Hello! This is Created to Write, bringing you another story for the Country Lass Series!
*deep breath* I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS STORY! *giggles*
I understand that there is a multitude of people waiting for this story to be available! *crickets* Just me? ...Okay.
I have a very important reason why I waited until now to begin posting it. And it will be mentioned at the bottom A/N.
Disclaimer: As I add to the story, there are more characters and places that I own myself, but as for anything you have seen in the MCU, and any songs I add in, I do not own that stuff. Not one bit.
I have this story outlined already, as well as the first seven chapters written. I will try to update one chapter every other day, but I will be writing at least one scene every day. So that *in Red Skull's accent* schedule *normal voice* might change.
I am also going to say right now that this story will have more Christian elements to it than others. Adventures had some in it, but- *covers mouth* I've said too much.
Sorry for the word dump, but seriously, if you are reading this, thank you for taking the time, and thank you again for reading my stories.
On to the real reason you clicked on the title-
CHAPTER 01~!
"Approaching destination," Jarvis states. August stands up and puts a hand on the co-pilot seat in front of him. He puts his hand over his eyes to shield the bright sunlight as the star peeks over the rocky terrain on the horizon. The entire mini-jet is swathed in orange and yellow light, as the rock below is painted rusty gold. August doesn't see the beauty in it, but instead finds it blinding in an irritating way.
He looks at the landing pad to the left, thin slabs of fake rock are sliding away so the pilot can land. The doors in the rock wall next to it open, with guards on either side. August looks at the side of the rock plateau that Oyster Ravine Medical is hidden inside. Just before the jet passes the edge, he sees a large window. On a usual day, that is the only indication that anything is there.
"August, put your seatbelt on," Steve says calmly. August snaps out of his trance and sits back. Steve pilots them to the designated landing pad. After the hatch starts opening, Steve shuts the mini-jet off and everyone files out. Tony and Steve lead the group, Bruce carrying a briefcase right behind. August shares a look with his brother, Josh. He mirrors August's unease. They step off together, Jacey, Finn, and Nikki following close.
The doors stay open. Without prompting, Steve, Bruce, and Tony flash their Avenger phones, silver, purple, and gold respectively. The guards nod and allow them entrance, eyeing the group after. August calmly reaches into his pocket, a silent signal for the rest to do the same. They produce cards that say they are 'Avenger Protected.' They have the same validation as the phones, and they are waved through.
August shakes off dust from the windy terrain and steps through the next set of doors. The next room is covered in white, with gray seats along the walls and a gray secretary desk at the far wall. Doors are on either side of the far wall. Steve nods to her as he goes through the door to the right and presses the elevator button. Everyone else follows. The secretary barely looks up after Steve nodded to her. August steps into one of the two elevators they use.
Walking down the halls, August peeks at some open doors with the corner of his eye. The patients are sometimes looking at them, from their beds, or from the floor, playing with toys. August stops at one, where there are two little boys. One is in the bed, the top of his head wrapped and his eyes are closed. The other had folded his arms over the bed's edge and is now resting his head on them, fast asleep in a low set chair. But August can see tears stains streaking down his face.
He turns and looks at Josh ahead of him. When he looks back, the little boy at the side of the bed is looking at him. August stares, at a loss for words.
"..Is he going to be okay?" the little boy asks. August is stuck in his spot, his mouth slightly agape. "Is my brother going to be okay?" the little boy asks again.
He looks at the boy in the bed. For a second, the scene hazes over and the boy's head bandages go away. Instead, he has his shoulder wrapped and his arm is in a cast. His blond hair peeking out around his ears becomes soft brown strands.
August feels a tear at his eye, shaking his head, "..I don't know. I'm not part of the staff." The little boy turns away, wiping new tears from his eyes. "But.. Um.. What's your name?"
"Johnny.." The boy whimpers, "my brother's name is Wilber."
"Well, Johnny, Wilber will need you when he wakes up, you understand? He needs your support, as much of it as you can give him. And with that, he'll be better than without."
"Okay mister," Johnny says, tears still in his eyes, but smiling a little, "I love my brother."
"…I'm glad." August leaves and catches up with the group.
"Got lost?" Josh asks. August shrugs without turning his head. August feels Josh taking a second to gauge what August isn't telling him. But August doesn't look him in the eye, instead he's counting the numbers next to the doors. A glaze forms on August's eyes; one quick swat and they go away.
"She's on the next hall," August points out, even though everyone knows.
Steve knocks on a closed door, number 536. A caretaker in blue and green scrubs with a gray SHIELD insignia on the right opens the door and looks at them. "Captain Rogers, Mr. Stark," she greets. She looks behind them, "Dr. Banner, and.. friends," she adds. Jacey waves.
"Hi Veronica," she says back. Veronica looks back into the room, then turns back.
"Slowly, okay?"
"We know the drill," Steve says warmly. She opens the door wider and lets them come in one at a time. Steve walks in and sees Heather on the bed. After two weeks of being at Oyster Ravine, the doctors have signed her off as physically sound. It amazed everyone how fast her body healed itself, without any medication.
Her hair has grown only a little, still only brushing her shoulders. She has it up in a mid-ponytail now, the ends tickling her neck. Steve smiles a little seeing her, but he looks into her blue eyes as she finds him at the opposite end of the room, and his smile falters.
Her eyes are dull, the outer corners turned down and slightly red. Steve's heart aches at how broken she really is, on the inside. The heartwarming girl he knew before her capture was either left in the Hydra base, or buried under thick layers of pain and trauma. Steve diligently prays for the latter.
Heather tries to smile, she really does. She is always happy when Steve visits her. But she can't bring herself to smile. She heard it takes more energy to frown than smile. But she had decided the person that said that is very wrong. Steve would know it's fake, anyway. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes anymore.
Steve steps to the side of the door for Tony and Bruce to enter. Bruce nods to her and sets the briefcase down. Tony walks over and stands behind the seat to her left. He grabs the top, crushing the cushion between his hands, only to release and repeat nervously. Steve had taken the seat to the right, finding Heather's hand and squeezing softly.
"..Hey Capsiclette," Tony says, looking to the floor.
Heather swallows thickly, "Hi.. Tony."
Tony cringes, hoping Heather doesn't see. Before, she would always respond with 'Tincan' because he hated his nickname just as much as she hated hers. Heather does notice his sudden and brief expression change and looks at her hands, closing her eyes.
Then Heather takes a slow breath and looks up to see her friends take spots along the wall or in the free space between the door and the bed. Jacey waves, smiling.
If August was concerned, Jacey was one of the bravest of them with emotional stuff. She will smile for anyone, if it had a chance that it would cheer them up. She could even make her eyes match if it came to it.
August looks to his left, where Josh is leaning against the wall. He silently watches Heather, putting a gentle smile on his features when she looks in his direction.
Josh was just under Jacey, where he would talk about anything funny, embarrassing (usually about himself), etc to make the person smile themselves. But August knows that both Josh and Jacey are heart broken at Heather's situation, just like the rest of them.
Finn is standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, trying to not look at Heather. August notices his lack of red, which he knows bothers the painter; red is practically his signature color. But Heather is still anxious around it, so everyone forgoes red for her sake; one of the reasons Natasha hasn't come to visit. Jacey also has her light strawberry hair up in a beanie hat, every strand tucked under the knit blue cap. Nikki had slowly taken a chair in the far corner of the room, examining the plain ceiling. None of the room is white.
Heather had kept a memory of wearing white, having a white room- until she was moved from the Alps- and the last nurse/caretaker to take care of her reported that she wouldn't calm down until some color (other than red) was brought into the room, to brighten it up. So there is a plant, bright green with little yellow flowers blooming, on the nightstand to her left.
Finn helped paint the chairs and nightstand friendly colors. Steve hung up a few paintings after they put up wallpaper. Fury didn't care what they did as long as they didn't paint the walls. So the wallpaper is rolling hills with clouds in the blue sky and different farm animals wandering the landscape. The animal pattern repeats every few feet, making the room look very childish. But no one cared, especially Heather.
The only things they couldn't change was the carpet and ceiling. But the carpet is an off white, so it wasn't so bad. At least, Heather told them so. The ceiling had a light in the center, which could be dimmed if need be.
August looks around the room at everybody. No one is speaking, moving, anything. There's a weight in the air, not like it's surprising. He looks at Heather. She mostly stares at her empty hand, leaning against the piled up purple pillows behind her. She makes patterns in the closest patch of gray and purple bedcovers to her chest, but peeks out at each person with a brief glance. August looks closer and sees her hand is shaking faintly. 'Can Steve tell from the hand he's holding?' August wonders.
"Ahem." Heather jumps at the small sound and everyone else looks at Bruce. "I guess we should just get to it. ..Heather," he says softer. She looks at him. "Would you like some to leave the room?"
She hesitates, then nods slowly. August pushes off from the wall he was leaning against. Without a word, he exits the room. He turns to see Josh walk over to Heather, sits in the chair, and take her hand. He looks her in the eyes and smiles, reassuring her. Heather stares back with her sorrowful blue pools, unable to reciprocate his falsified joy. Josh nods to himself and lets go. He walks out, August looking down the hall as if he was doing it the whole time. Nikki and Finn join them.
"Ms. Dalton," Bruce says, poking his head out. Nikki turns to look at him, "We need an extra set of hands."
"I can help," she says, walking back in. Jacey takes her place in the hall. The door stays open, but the group outside stand there awkwardly. August then turns and starts down the hall.
"Where are you going?" Josh asks.
"Where do you think?" August replies, not even slowing down to answer. Josh huffs and motions the rest of the group to follow. Jacey turns to the doorway, then looks at the group.
"I'll stay here," she states, "to keep watch."
Finn turns to acknowledge her, then follows the brothers.
And the story picks up with a solemn feel.
It is important to me for putting notes on the bottom, after you read the chapter, so:
IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTES! (IAN for short)
1. Learning more about August in this story. You'll see more as the story goes on.
2. I LOVE reviews! Give me feedback, they feed my inspiration and energy for the story!
3. R&R everybody!
...
OHH! Wait! Don't leave yet! I almost forgot!
I need to tell you the important reason for waiting until now. I wanted to start posting this story, today.
Why, do you ask? Well, my beautiful readers, today, is Friday, September 22nd, 2017.
...Oh, right, you don't know what that means, do you?
Well, *ahem* Drum roll please.
*drum rooooooolllllllllllll-*
TODAY, is the EXACT DAY, that HEATHER MEETS STEVE!
Her journey begins now! This day! (at about 7 o'clock, pm)
I actually figured out the dates when things happen throughout her stories! (I'm going off that Steve was frozen for exactly 70 years.)
So, throughout posting this story, I will update on the different things that happen during her Origin, as a tribute to the main character.
(If you want to read Origin as the events happen, today is Prologue through Chapter 6)
...Okay, now I'm done. Enjoy the rest of your day!
And God Bless.
~CtW