I was trying to navigate through the crowd on my wheelchair but people would keep running into me. They tripped, and shot me dirty looks as I desperately tried to get to Logan Books. I saw the store coming up and maneuvered over to the door. I knocked twice and peered in.
Logan, the owner of the store, saw me and opened the door, a smile on his face.
"Thanks," I said breathlessly. Rolling across the threshold I inhaled the sent of cinnamon and cloves and smiled. The shelves were covering the walls and were as tall as the ceiling. A warm fireplace was in the middle of the room, projecting heat into all the corners. Comfy chairs surrounded the fireplace with a space for my chair. I rolled over to the spot to catch my breath.
"Rough crowd?" Logan asked sitting behind the desk. He was tall with skin the color of coco. With a deep voice, he looked imposing but he was a huge softie. I met him the day I fell out of my wheelchair in front of his store.
"Yes," I said rolling over to the stack of books on the side table. That was my job, to put away the books and help costumers find the things they were looking for. Then, I could hang out until the store closes, usually I just work on stories. Then I go back to my dad's apartment for the night.
"Well, there was a big commotion downtown. I heard the Avengers had to step in and sort things out," he said standing and taking half the stack. I frowned up at him. Chuckling, he walked over and started putting the books on the shelves. I took half the stack and rolled over to the section they belonged to.
"Don't they get that is what the police is for?" I asked, putting a couple books in and reading the spine of the third.
"I don't think so," he stated and climbed the ladder to the top shelf. "Got any high books?" He calls.
"A couple," I say rifling through the stack. Setting them on my lap, I put the rest of the stack on the side table and roll over to the ladder. I hand them up to him. Turning my wheelchair I go to roll over to the rest of the stack.
"Take a break," he huffs from up top. "You've been working too hard, I see it in your face. If you see any costumers come in, take care of them, but for now relax."
"Aw, Logan, " I say. "I can help."
"Your helping me by relaxing and being a greeter." He says. I sigh and roll over to the door. Turning, I grab the book Harbinger out of my backpack and flip to my page. The room is silent except for the low hum of the heater and Logan's humming. It's so peaceful. I wish it could be this peaceful at my families house. My dad is... well... let's just say he hates me and does everything he can to make my life miserable. He was an Olympic champion runner and hoped I would be too. Unfortunately, when I was really little we got on a car accident. It killed my mom and my sister and I will never walk again. Sure, sometimes I wish I could still walk. It made it really hard to find a job, but Logan hired me immediately. Stark Tower is a few blocks down from the store and there is usually a stream of people heading there to fawn over Tony Stark. Seriously I don't know what they see in him.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts I don't even hear the bell jingle. I'm too lost in my book.
"Lin," Logan's voice says impatiently. I snap my head up and see a guy in jeans and a T-shirt looking at the books. His hair is styled in a small wave and I could swear I've seen him before. He's tall, almost as tall as Logan. I roll over to hm.
"Can I help you find anything?" I ask. He looks around then sees me and grins.
"Actually I'm looking for the history books." He says. I nod and point over to the far corner.
"There over there. Any specific point in history?" I ask.
"World war two," He says cautiously. I point to the bottom shelf.
"Right there," I say.
"Thanks," He says and walks over.
Steve Rogers POV~~~~~~~
I walk in the door and am greeted by a blast of warmth. A girl in a navy blue wheelchair is sitting by the door reading the book Harbinger. She takes no notice of me and I walk past to look at the books.
"Lin," the guy sitting behind the desk whispers. I hear rustling and a girls voice speak.
"Can I help you find anything?" I look around and spot the girl. I grin and say.
"Actually, I'm looking for the history books." She nods and points to a corner.
"They're over there. Any specific point in history?" She asks again. I weigh my options and say cautiously,"World war two."
She points to the bottom shelf."Right there."
I wait for her to make the connection but she doesn't."Thanks," I say. Walking over I look at the bottom shelf. Sure enough, there are WWll books. I pick out a decent size book and sit on one of the chairs to read it. It feels good to be away from the crowds, the noise, and Stark, at least for a bit.
Lin Mander's POV~~~~~~~
He picks out a book and sits in a chair to read. I notice he picks the chair facing away from the door. I roll over to the desk.
"What happened to that coffeepot?" I asked. Logan pointed to the back room without looking up from the book he was reading. I roll over and open the door. Seeing the coffeepot with a full pot, I pour a cup for the man. I gently set it in my lap and roll out the door and shut it softly. I desperately try to keep the cup from spilling as I roll over to the man. He's engrossed in his book and doesn't see me. I set the cup on the side table. Only then does he look up. He sees the coffee and grins.
"This for me?" He asks.
"It's not for me, I hate coffee," I tease. He grins and pats his pockets looking for a bookmark.
"Here," I say and slide a silk bookmark out of one of the pockets on my wheelchair. He takes it and turns it over in his hand.
"I can't keep this!" He exclaims.
"Yes you can, I've got about fifty of them." I assure him. He puts it in the book and closes it with a snap. I laugh.
"Well then, Mr. Fancy can I get you anything else?" I say grinning.
"Actually, do you have any creamer?" He asks.
"I'm on it," I say and roll back to the back room. Opening the door, I see the small containers and grab one. I go to roll out, but the door closes.
"Umm, HELLO!?" I shout. I'm deadly claustrophobic and I'm scared to death of the dark.
"OI I'M STILL IN HERE!!!!! " I yelled. The doorknob juggled and a dude in an expensive looking suit opened the door.
"Oh," he said looking like he was trying not to laugh. "I'm so sorry." I groaned and wheeled myself out of the room. Logan was sitting at the desk half out of his chair.
"Lin!" He said. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you where still in there!"
"You're fine." I said waving him off. I rolled over to that man ( the one who was sitting down. This is getting old calling him that.) and handed him the creamer.
"You're welcome," I said and rolled over to my spot and began to read. After a moment, I looked up.
"What's your name?" I said to the guy with the coffee. He looks up and studies me.
"Steve," He says. I nod.
"Hi Steve, I'm Lin," I say holding my hand out to shake. He grasps it and shakes it. He has a firm grip. Logan cleared his throat and I looked up. He nodded at the man in the suit who was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, looking staring at Steve. I give Logan a look like Do I have to? He nods and rolls his hand. I sigh, and roll over to the back room.
"I am in here!" I yell. Logan's chuckle sounds from outside. I grab a cup and fill it to the top with coffee. On the way out, I do my best to balance the cup, but it ends up spilling on my lap.
"Crap," I hiss. News flash. Coffee is hooootttt. I set the cup on a table and roll back to the room for a napkin. I try to scrub the coffee off, but it stains. I groan. This day is not looking so good. I roll out and grab the cup and roll back in. I fill it again and try to do it more carefully. Guess what. It spills. Again. I throw my head back and silently curse all the coffee pots in the world.
"Kid, I don't need coffee," the guy says.
"So I just spilled coffee on myself twice just for you to say you never wanted it in the first place?" I said.
"'Bout sums it up," he says.
"Ok, just clarifying." I say. I roll back to the back room and set the cup down. Freezing, I listen intently, sure I heard someone else in the room. I scan the walls, but I can't really see in the dark. I steeled myself and did something I haven't done in ten years. I will my hand to blaze and blue fire dances across my palm. I hold it out, scanning the room. I hear another shuffle. "Hey, um, your obviously your not very good at sneaking around, soooo yah. I can hear you," I said wincing at the way my voice sounded. A figure stood up and moved towards me.
"The rumors are true," a silky voice said. I carefully rolled backwards out of the room.
"Lin? What is it?" Logan asked seeing my face. Steve looked up from his book, saw me, saw the dude I'm the shadows, and leaps up, the book and coffee tumbling onto the floor.
"Mr. Rogers, a pleasure to see you again," the man says, stepping out of the shadows. He has choppy brown hair, and is moderately tall, but his eyes. His eyes are an electric blue. That can't be normal.
"Steve, you know this...gentleman?" The guy in the suit asks. Steve is pale, and his hands are shaking. I cautiously roll backwards towards the desk, but the man turns his gaze to me, and I freeze.
"He-he's a S.H.I.E.L.D agent," Steve stammers. The man mocks applause, then rolls his hand for Steve to continue. I literally have no idea what's going on, and neither does Logan, apparently.
"He's that agent that sided with Reindeer Games?" The guy in the suit says, fingering his watch.
"Yes," Steve says. "But I thought Loki is on Asgard now,"
"Oh he is," the man says. "But I think he'd be very... pleased to meet you," he says to me. I hold up my hand.
"Ok what? Asgard? Loki? What does this have to do with a reindeer anyway?" I say. "Can someone please take the time to explain WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?" I burst. Steve looks surprised and the suit dude looks like he's trying not to laugh.
"The master will enlighten you when you meet," the guy says and slips something from his pocket. All three men tense and take a step forward.
"If you lay a hand on her I swear, you will regret it the rest of your life," Logan growled behind me. I had never realized he could sound that fierce. He rolled my wheelchair back next to him. Steve's eyes never left the man once, and the guy by the window was tapping his expensive looking watch even faster now. The man lunges with incredible speed and buries a needle in my neck. I gasp, and try to shove him away but he growls in my ear
"We are coming for you." Then the pain becomes too much, and I tumble out of my wheelchair and black out.
When I wake up, the first thing I see is Steve's face about an inch from mine.
"Ak! What the heck!?" I say shoving him off of me. I hear explosions and swearing. He pulls away, blushing.
"I just wanted to make sure you were ok," he says. "The guy went berserk and started trying to drag you away, soooo," he trailed off. I hold my hand out, and he helps me sit up. The bookstore is half leveled. Small fires are everywhere and a guy in a metal suit is firing at the guy on the ground. The guy somehow got ahold of a gun and my heart lurched when I realized who was missing.
"Where's Logan?" I asked, panicked.
"He went to get the police," Steve said. My eyes came to a rest on the mangled pile of metal that used to be my wheelchair. I let out a breath.
"My dad's not going too pay for that," I say sadly. Steve looks confused, then follows my gaze to the wheelchair.
"We'll have Tony buy another one," he says. I look shocked.
"Do you know how much those cost?" I asked. He shakes his head.
"I don't think this is the time or place for that discussion, we need to get you to the tower."
"The tower?" I ask. Then I yelp with surprise as he picks me up bridal style. I wrap my arm around his neck and cling to him.
"Stark Tower," He says and breaks into a run towards the tower in the distance.
We burst through the doorway, me clinging desperately to his neck as he ran to the elevator. He presses the button marked "Lab" and hugged me to his chest. My heart was pounding.
"You-you can set me down if you want-if I'm too heavy," I stammered.
"No, no, you're fine," he says just as the door opens. He gently carries me over to a bed and sets me down. "Are you ok?" I rub the place where the needle went in my neck.
"I've been better," I admitted. He grins slightly. We sat in an awkward silence for a bit. "You can go, I feel ok." I said. He looked at me.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, go kick some star spangled booty," I laughed. He smiled and handed me a phone.
"Call Tony if you need anything ok? Jarvis is here too," he said and started walking towards the door.
"Who's Jarvis?" I asked.
"Hello. I am Mr. Stark's AI." A voice spoke from the speakers. I jumped. Steve smiled and waved. I waved back and pulled myself up on the pillow.
"Jarvis, was it?" I asked. I felt a little weird about talking to nothing.
"Yes. And you are Ms. Mander?"
"Yes," I said, smiling. "But you can call me Lin."
"Noted."
The voice goes away and all is silent for a bit. It's nice, almost like being at the bookstore again. Absently, I play with the bottom of my shirt and look around.
Sirens sound in the distance. They must be for the guy and Steve. Now I realize who the guy in the suit was, he was Tony Stark. How did I not realize that?
Jarvis's voice jerks me from my daze. "There is a person approaching the lab who does not have security clearance."
I jolted up, and dragged myself to the edge of the bed. "What?"
"There is unauthorized personal approaching the lab. I have locked the doors, but I'm afraid that will not do much."
"It will have to, thanks Jarvis." My heart is pounding. Who could it be? Another creepy agent?
I grabbed the handle of a wheelchair close to me and heaved my legs into it, coming down with a thump. I looked around the room for something to defend myself with.
The doors blew open and I covered my face, ducking down. An ice cold hand grabbed my arm and pulled it away. The man that stood there was tall, with black hair slicked back and piercing green eyes.
"Why hello," he drawled. He released the hold on my arm and put a hand to my head. I sat there like an idiot, too afraid to move. The room began to spin and the world faded to black.
