May 4th, 2013
Three weeks. It has been three weeks since he found himself in a world so familiar yet not. He'd be walking down the street and get startled by street performers, a car that revved loudly before speeding off, or tripping on those damn curbs. Sometimes, Steve would pretend he was back in 1940 but would quickly be jolted back to reality by the cleaner air or a piece of graffiti that was bright and colorful.
The only amount of peace he could find was at night and even then…
If some woman got home safely that night or a man didn't get stabbed that wasn't any of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s business.
Speaking of.
He narrowed his eyes at the three men shouting lewd remarks at a woman in light blue scrubs from their perch on a stoop whether it was to their own place or somebody else's was unknown. People tended to mind their own business when they could. The woman ignored the men, so they got up and began to follow her, their comments growing louder and more crass.
Clenching his jaw, Steve crossed the street, breaking into a run when they surrounded her.
"Hey! Leave her be."
The leader turned to him and smirked. "What if we don't? She's just giving us money for coffee and she'll be giving something else a little sweeter."
Faster than lightning, the woman jabbed her elbow back into the face of the creep who was speaking. He doubled over and connected again with her knee.
His buddy on the right cursed and threw a punch, landing squarely on her cheek but she didn't budge an inch. The guy cried out in pain and clutched his hand like he had just punched a brick wall.
She tilted her head. "Oh… you should probably see a nurse for that. Luckily, I am one." Her massive yet slender hand engulfed his and squeezed. "Does it hurt when I do this?"
"I'm sorry!" he screamed. "I'm sorry!"
"Let this be a reminder that you shouldn't go around harassing women. We're human beings. Treat us like it."
She turned towards the remaining guy who was watching everything with wide eyes and most likely soiled pants.
"Beat it."
With a whimper, he ran off.
Steve raised his eyebrows, thoroughly impressed. "Guess you didn't need my help."
She smiled and shook her head. "No. But it was nice to know that if I did, someone was there."
"No problem," he replied and returned the smile.
She worked her jaw as she studied him. "What's Steve Rogers doing in East Harlem?"
He shrugged. "There's a twenty-four hour gym that looks like— wait, you know who I am?"
She smiled. "I have a friend that knew you. He had a few photos."
Steve raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah." She jerked her head towards the path. "Walk with me. Just because I can handle myself doesn't mean I like being harassed."
He hesitated. He didn't know this woman and she took out three men on her own. Then again, he was a super soldier. She also knew who he was. What if she was S.H.I.E.L.D. sent to monitor him? Perhaps they knew about his minor vigilante stunts. He must've been silent for two long because the nurse shouldered her bag, said, "suit yourself," and continued on her way.
"Wait, hold on." He jogged after her and caught up. "Sorry, you just took me by surprise. I don't mind walking you home. Where are we going?"
"B train to 147th street," she replied.
It was pretty far out of the way but he didn't mind. More than anything else he was tempted to talk to someone who wasn't an agent or a affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. Continuing on their way to the subway, he glanced over at her. She was nearly his height, surpassing him with her black cloud of hair. Her dark skin almost disappearing between the street lights.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Theodora, but everyone calls me Teddy."
"Steve," he said, even though she knew his name. He reached out and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."
Conversation didn't really strike up until they were on the subway. In the blaring lights Steve could see the bruise on her cheek. She didn't really look at him, instead choosing to gaze down at her phone. Her long fingers flew across the keyboard, messaging someone. A friend or parent. Perhaps a boyfriend. A picture of a cute dog appeared and she huffed quietly and smiled. He had one of those phones with a screen activated by touch but the only thing he knew how to do with it was call.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Hm?" Teddy glanced over at him.
He gestured to his own cheek.
"Oh, that." She tapped it lightly. "It'll be fine. I'm tough."
He furrowed his brow. "I've been punched in the face... a lot. How… how did you not even flinch?"
She raised an eyebrow. "That's your question? Not 'you're a girl, how'd you do that fightin' stuff'?"
Huffing out a laugh, he looked down at his hands. "I'm pretty sure I fell in love with my girl when I saw her knock a guy onto his ass with one punch."
"Cool." She leaned forward and propped her elbows on her knees. "Well, you seem pretty chill. I'm a Mutant. I'm kinda like Captain America if you was a woman and black. Super strong, super fast, increased metabolism. Plus, I knocked out Adolf Hitler 200 times."
He laughed for real this time and it felt good.
Teddy smiled slightly. "Seriously though, thanks for going in to intervene. It's—" she sighed—"It's not fun being harassed and it really wears a person down. Even if they can handle it themselves."
He paused unsure of what to say. On some days this future was alien, but human behavior hasn't really changed all that much. True, there was a lot less blatant prejudice and racism, but it was still there.
"Why so glum, sugar plum?"
He blinked and looked over to Teddy. "Huh?"
She cringed. "Sorry. Freshman year of college I started doing small rhymes and swearing with ice cream flavors because irony or whatever and I couldn't stop. It pops up more on days where I'm working in the children's ward."
"No, I don't mind that. Nobody has ever pointed out my…" he struggled to find the words. Looking away, he studied the advertisements crammed on the subway walls. "Is it that obvious?"
"It is to me but a lot of people don't notice. Not really. They got their own problems. Besides, you woke up after a seventy year sleep, you know? Of course you're gonna be sad."
An automated voice crackled over the speakers telling them their stop.
All conversation at a halt, they gathered their things and walked quickly through the piss soaked subway, past sleeping homeless people and late night workers.
Thinking back, he realized he missed something, especially since the bruise from her cheek mysteriously disappeared on the train. "What's a Mutant?"
She whipped her head around and stared at him incredulously. "What's a– where have you been?"
"Uh… trapped in ice with the Valkyrie?"
She slapped her forehead. "Ugh, I am so dumb. But seriously, somebody must've told you about us by now?"
He shook his head.
"Alright, this is gonna sound weird, but how about I help you?"
"How?"
She stopped walking and pulled out her house keys. "How 'bout by being a friend? Listen, I have finals next week and after that I work fifty hours a week at the Harlem Hospital Center. I'll teach you how to use your phone and you can contact me any time with questions and whatever."
"Really?"
Ever since he woke up, it felt like everybody wanted something from him. Even the people who were supposed to be helping him catch up on technology and current events wanted something or treated him so condescendingly that he just stopped going altogether. Teddy seemed like she genuinely wanted to help him and could do it in a way that he could understand.
"Okay. Sure, why not?"
"Last thing. Wanna come up for a slice of pie? I can explain what a Mutant is and we can come up with a list of things to catch you up on."
He hesitated and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know… it's really late."
"Thought I'd ask." She patted him on the shoulder. "Night."
He looked down the street picturing his big, empty apartment waiting for him. The only thing to greet him would be the stack of files and history books. If he were being honest with himself, a bit of company sounded better than ever. He turned to Teddy where she was unlocking a big iron door. "What kind of pie?"
She smiled. "Triple berry."
Steve followed her into the building and up to her apartment. The hallways were so narrow his shoulders almost brushed the sides of the walls. She unlocked her door, flicked on the light and waved him in. There was a small set of stairs to the right that led into her apartment.
It was miniscule. Probably the size of his childhood home. The kitchen was just a nook with a stove-oven and a small stretch of counters. A refrigerator stood off to the side of a door that might've been a room.
There was a plump pea green couch flanked by two small side tables across from a large bookcase that held her television, books, scrapbooks, and some electronics he wasn't familiar with. A roll top desk sat against the window covered with organized stacks of books and a laptop, plastic storage containers lay underneath filled with office supplies. A cherry wood armoire and matching dresser sat in the corner.
The walls were a flaking beige covered with photos of what looked like her family and one painting of a big manor. There were even a few posters. He recognized one from his movie days, another looked a bit like Peggy, but the one that really got his attention was a picture of a blue woman with red hair and yellow eyes. Mutant and Proud it read.
Above all else, he noticed how clean her place was. It wasn't a septic kind of clean from a hospital, but everything was in order and there wasn't speck of dust in sight. From what he could see her books and… he wasn't sure what the tiny boxes were, maybe audiobooks of some kind, were all in alphabetical order. The air smelled lightly of vanilla.
"It's small but it's home," she commented and pulled a table out from behind the bookcase. She quickly unfolded it and set it up. "Make yourself comfy. Slagathor, come say hello."
The biggest cat he'd ever seen leapt off the armoire and meowed. He sat down on one side of the couch and the cat leapt on the back complaining loudly.
"Shh, guests eat first," Teddy said to the feline.
To Steve's surprise, the cat seemed to do a small scoff in reply and stayed silent. Steve reached around and scratched her between her fuzzy ears. Slagathor purred, rubbing her cheek against his hand. He smiled slightly.
"Do you want ice cream on your pie?" Teddy asked.
"No, thank you."
She came over with two warm plates of pie and two forks.
Steve took a bite and closed his eyes. It was delicious. Even reheated, the crust was flaky and the filling perfectly sweet.
"So, any questions?" she asked once she was done eating and had stuffed three toy mice with food for her cat to hunt.
"A lot, actually."
If he were being honest, talking with someone made him feel better. Teddy had a smooth voice like his Mam, but hers was deep and rich whereas Mam's was high like a flute.
They didn't even discuss how he was feeling since he woke up and he was grateful for that. Everyone wanted to know if he missed the "good 'ol days" but not her. By the end of it, they put together a list of things and she gave him a small notebook to write questions and suggestions down in. She taught him how to google things (which he thought meant something else at first) and how to text on his phone. they practiced back and forth until he could write coherent sentences.
He was actually very surprised and it made him laugh a little when he saw it had a calculator.
"What?" Teddy tilted her head.
"It's just… my teachers in school always said math by memory was important because you won't be carrying scrap paper with you everywhere and calculators were too expensive."
"When I was a kid, they said you wouldn't be carrying a calculator with you everywhere. I got detention because I said one of my cousins was a nerd that had a calculator on his watch."
"Really?"
They continued to chat until the sky turned pink with dawn and Steve's new friend was drooping with exhaustion. Teddy packed him up a small box stuffed with food to take home with him. "Come back soon, okay?"
"I will," he promised and smiled. "And thanks."
"No problem boblem."
He chuckled at the rhyme. "I'll call you."
"Okay, see you soon, Steve. Maybe we can work out sometime."
"That sounds good. Bye, Teddy."
It would be a while before they'd see each other again.