I don't own Marvel or The Avengers, Alex is my own character.

5th December 2011

Steve

Four months. Four months it had been and Steve was free. Free of S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital.

Okay, so he had to go back every week for check ups but that didn't matter. He had his own place in this weird world of 2011.

Steve's apartment was nice, in a block which Fury had no doubt stocked full of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents but that didn't matter. He was free to grieve all that he'd lost back in 1945. Bucky, Peggy, the rest of the Howling Commandos. All most likely dead. Well Bucky definitely was. Steve opened the fridge, which had been well stocked by the government agency and pulled out the simplest thing with no brightly coloured labels. A potato. Well as long as he tried to resist this new era. It looked like Steve was going to be eating a lot of vegetables.

He pulled the knob off the cooker on the first time, and decided that he should ring somewhere for a 'takeout' A giggly nurse had shown him how to do that. He found the number of a pizza place and called, ordering the first thing on the menu. Pizza had changed. But it was a nice change. He and Bucky used to get pizza. The change was good. Steve went to bed, after showering, still slightly wary of his new freedom.

The next morning, after discovering that Fury had stocked his cupboards with cereal they had at S. H.I.E.L.D., Steve decided to go to the gym which Fury had assured him was just down the road. It felt good to use his strength again. And the gym was exactly like he was used to, no ' modern' technology at all. A couple of old punching bags, a boxing ring, what the gym used to be like back in the day. The fact Steve was always too weak to use that was irrelevant.

Steve had another shower when he got back to his apartment. He made himself a sandwich, realising that it was about lunchtime using more vegetables from his fridge. After eating it alone at his table, Steve sat down on the couch with his laptop on his lap and set out to master it. About an hour and a half later he was ready to snap it in half. He forced himself to put it down, removing all the negativity regarding the fact that he would never fit in to this society and went out for a walk. It was time to discover what New York was really like.

It was different.

And Steve didn't like it.

He eventually found his way through all the hustle and bustle that was the overcrowded city, to a place that hadn't changed. Well, changed significantly less than the rest of the city. A light frost dusted the ground and trees as Steve shivered. Frost. Not dissimilar to ice.

Alex

Alex showed in a daze. It was too early on a Monday morning to be functioning. She hoped the shower would wake her mind up a bit, but so far it had just made her want to crawl back in to bed. Especially when the hot water cut out. At least the cold woke her up.

Next she decided that it would be fantastic to spill boiling hot water all over her worktop and fingers in the kitchen, getting hardly any in the travel mug she was supposed to be getting coffee in. Things were not going well.

Alex was finally ready to go to work when the phone rang. At 6:45 in the morning. On Caller ID, she saw it was in fact a Skype call to her mobile from her friend back in London, called Dakota. She didn't answer and sent a message regarding the time. Alex then left her apartment, half jogging as to not be late.

She was halfway to work, with five minutes to get there, plenty of time, when she realised her shirt was on backwards. She could change it when she got there. No one would notice, right?

Unlike so many people, Alex actually enjoyed working, which was good because many people would not enjoy what she did. Mainly because it involved toddlers. Yes, Alex worked in a nursery. Not a day care, because Alex had grown up and learnt the English language in London. So nursery it was. The first toddlers arrived at 7AM and since Alex was on the first shift, she had the joy of greeting them.

Alex forgot to fix her shirt until her friend, Lucy, pointed it out. Everyone had probably noticed by then. Alex threw herself in to setting up activities ready for the kids, everything from painting to puzzles with extra-large pieces.

Some kid's parents just dropped them off at the door with a hug, whereas others gave long heartfelt goodbyes. It was odd. There was a new kid that day, Jessica, three years old. Alex was tasked to make sure she enjoyed her first day and help her make friends.

Jessica was a spoilt little brat. No, seriously. No wonder her mother had given her such a heartfelt goodbye. She was three years old and spoke like she was about sixty. If Alex heard "Well my mother says..." once more, she was unsure what she would have to restrain herself from doing. Some kids were brats and you had to deal with it. She paired Jessica up with Georgina, hoping their spoilt bratness would not become competitive.

Alex's break was at 11 and she got off at 2. Fairly even spacing, what she liked. And she wasn't on the afternoon shift when the kids got cranky, which was always good. While at work, Alex almost forgot about her disastrous morning, despite the slight aching in her burnt finger. When, at five past two, she left, Alex decided she would walk through central park on her way home.

After wandering around for a bit, Steve sat himself down on a park bench, pulled out his sketch book and began to draw. He let his mind wander as he drew, his hand moving freely across the page. After 15 minutes, it began to take shape. A giant dead fish was lying on the pavement in the middle of the 'modern' New York. A fish out of water, that's exactly what he was. Steve sighed heavily. He had to learn to embrace the change, see positives in it. Maybe get to know some people, normal people.

"Would you mind if I sat here?" Steve's head snapped up, and he saw a young woman. Was he not just thinking about getting to know people? It was a sign.

"Of course not." He gestured to the empty space beside him, worrying that he was going to mess up and say some forties lingo, or miss out on some 'modern'. There was a silence as the woman sipped some coffee and looked at him warily.

"Hey, I'm Alex." She introduced herself. Her accent was British, but softer and slightly Americanized, unlike the harsh English tones of Peggy Carter.

"I'm Steve." Steve replied, suddenly wary that she might be a HYDRA spy. Then he realised where he was and focused on how nice she seemed to be. He shivered slightly as a gust of wind blew.

Alex wondered about this man in the park. Could he be trusted? Was he a HYDRA spy, ready to take her away? Then she remembered she hadn't walked away, she'd been disowned, so of course her father wouldn't want her back. "Whatcha drawing?" She asked, highly doubting the man would reply.

"A dead fish in the middle of Times Square." He replied after a moment's hesitation to decide which the best way to describe it was. "I'm not insane, I promise." Alex chuckled.

"A literal fish out of water." Steve smiled. Just what he'd thought. "So where are you from if you're the fish?" Alex asked, wondering if she was overstepping the boundaries for some random man she'd just met in the park.

"Brooklyn. But I've been in Europe for sevent... seventeen years." Steve had almost said seventy. He probably could have brushed it off as a mistake, but not is this Alex was as perceptive as she was curious. Wasn't Alex a boy's name anyway?

"So why are you here on this freezing afternoon?"

"Just clearing my head." Steve eventually replied, albeit a bit vaguely. "What about you?"

"Just stopping off on my way home from work. It's nice here, pretty even, away from all the things I should be doing. Plus all the people on my block judge me if I have Starbucks." Steve guessed that was the brand of coffee, as she lifted her cup slightly as she said it. "It's nice out here. Peaceful. Your mind can be free."

"Free enough to think up the idea of drawing a giant fish in the middle of Times Square." Steve laughed and Alex joined in.

After about half an hour it had begun to get really cold, and Steve and Alex were forced to stop their conversation. As they walked out of the park together, Alex asked, "What's your last name Steve?"

"Just Steve." He replied hesitantly. "I'll see you around, Alex." And Steve walked off with a wave, wondering if people still did that and highly doubting that in the large city he would ever see her again.