A/N: so... this is my first Avengers story... originally I had started to write this using Harry potter characters, but I lost interest. The other day, I decided to revisit it but replace it with Avengers characters. Needless to say, I found way more inspiration that way. Anyway, the timeline is a little off between when Steve wake up and the then the whole thing in New York. Technically there was only a week's gap but I changed it to make it work for my story. So... without further ado... please enjoy and PLEASE review so I know whether or not I should continue :)
KIT POV
"Come on, Aengus. Today is the day." I whispered into the ear of my horse as I led him out into the round pin. Today, I was finally going to take my chances and ride him bareback.
I closed the gate to the round pin behind me before stepping into the center of the arena with him. I ran my hands over his smooth black coat, whispering soothing words to let him know that he could trust me. With gentle movements, I climbed onto his back. When I was situated comfortably, I leaned forward and patted his neck as a cooed appraisal to him.
With soft squeezes of heels, I made Aengus walk around the edges of the round pin. I couldn't help but smile as he calmly did as I asked. Just six months ago, this very same horse was rescued from an overturned truck that was on its way to slaughter. My dad and I rescued this scared and angry horse and, now, here I was sitting on his back without a saddle.
I heard a low rumble off in the distance as I saw Aengus's ears twitch toward the sound. He began to tense underneath me and his movements became antsy. "Easy boy." I tried to soothe him, but as the noise grew closer, it was no use.
Just as a bike roared up in front of the round pin, Aengus reared and I was sent flying to the ground. I landed on my back in the soft dirt with a grunt and I felt all of my air rush out of me. The bike turned off and I heard footsteps run toward me as I laid there on the ground.
"Miss? Are you alright?" a deep male voice asked me as a pair of blue eyes came into my view. He moved to help me up, but I pushed him away before sitting up.
"I'm fine." I huffed as I stood up fully and brushed the dirt off of my jeans. I glanced over to see Aengus on the other side of the pin, he had calmed down from his spook but was still eyeing the stranger behind me. With slow strides, I walk over to Aengus and grabbed the reins before whispering apologies in his ears.
"Miss, I'm sorry to bother you, but I am supposed to meet a Richard Bell here." The stranger called behind me and I turned to glare at him.
"Look, in case you can't tell, I'm kind of busy here." I snapped at him. I saw him flinch and instantly felt guilty for my attitude, but I was pissed. Trying to climb back onto Aengus was useless as he kept moving away from me. There was no way that I was going to be able to get back on him today, he was too worked up.
With a sigh, I led him back into the barn and placed him in his stall before removing the bridle from his head. I returned the bridle to the tack room and checked to make sure his feed and water bucket were full before I walked back out of the barn. The man was standing next to his bike and I let out a sigh before approaching him.
"Richard Bell is my dad. He went into town but he should be back within the hour." I explained to him as I neared him.
"Thank you. My name is Steven Rogers… Steve for short." He said as he stuck out his hand in greeting. I looked at his hand, but did not take it; I was still bitter that he had ruined my day.
"I'm Kathryn. My friends call me Kit." I said as I turned to the front porch of my house. I could hear Steve drop his hand to his side before following me.
"It's nice to meet you, Kit."
"I said my friends call me Kit." I bit at him. I knew I was being rude and this man did not deserve my attitude, but I couldn't get myself to stop.
"Sorry, Miss." Steve apologized to me as I sat on the porch steps. He stood there in front of me for a moment before taking a seat on the other side of the steps. He clasped his hands into front of his and began to twiddle his thumbs.
We sat in awkward silence for a moment before I finally spoke up. "Why are you looking for my dad?" I asked.
"I was sent out here to help him. He is good friends with someone I know and, when they heard he needed help, they called him and arranged for me to come out here." Steve explained as he stared at his hands.
"I see…" I said as I saw a cloud of dust edge its way up the drive. Dad was finally home and would finally take this visitor off my hands.
My dad's old red pickup truck pulled into the yard. The truck was appropriately named the sardine can because, whenever more than two of us tried to ride in the truck, we were packed in like the stupid little canned fish. I saw my dad step out of the truck and approach Steve as he stood up.
"You must be Steven." My dad greeted as he held out his hand.
"Yes, sir." Steve responded as he took my dad's hand in a firm grip.
"Nick has told me great things about you." My dad said with a wink as he let go of Steve's hand. I wondered what that was all about but chose to ignore it. "Kitten, why didn't you invite this young man inside?" my dad turned to me. I flinched at his use of the childhood nickname he gave me.
"Oh… I…" I stuttered, unsure of how I should answer. I didn't want to explain to my father that I was, in fact, quite rude to our guest.
"I insisted on waiting out here, sir. I enjoy the peace and quiet compared to Manhattan." Steve spoke up. My head snapped over to look at him. Why was he defending me when I was not hospitable to him in any way? Now I really felt guilty for my earlier attitude.
"Alright, then. Well, would you like to see the rest of the ranch before dinner?" dad asked Steve. Steve nodded before following my father off and toward the barn.
I stayed sitting on the porch steps and dropped my head into my hands. Sometimes I wanted to kick myself for having such a short temper. From behind me, the front door opened and shut as I heard footsteps approach me and then felt someone sit next to me.
"Who were you and dad talking to?" my little sister asked.
"His name is Steve Rogers. He's been hired by dad to help out around here." I replied as I looked up and saw the men leave the barn and heard toward the tool shed.
"He's cute."
I rolled my eyes at my sister's comment. "You're thirteen, Lizzy. You think every guy is cute."
"That's not true!" she responded defensively as she tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder before crossing her arms in front of herself in a pout.
We sat there in silence for a moment but, like always when Lizzy was around, it was short lived.
"Do you like him?"
"Seriously, Lizzy?" I asked her incredulously.
"It was just a question…" she said trying to make me feel guilty for her, but I knew how her games worked.
"A stupid question. If you're so curious about him, why don't you go follow them around?" I asked, tying to get rid of her.
Lizzy didn't respond to me and just stomped back into the house. Clearly, I had hit a nerve with her. I rested my head back in my hands and closed my eyes. Visions of Steve kept floating around in my mind… his blue eyes… his blonde hair that was perfectly styled like James Dean… his incredibly muscular…
"Kathryn!" I heard my mom shout from inside the house.
"Yeah, mom?" I called back, lifting my head up from my hands.
"Come help me set up for dinner!"
"Coming!" I responded as I stood up from my place on the porch and walked into the house.
STEVE POV
"Well, son, what do you think?" Richard asked me as he finished my tour of the ranch. I felt uncomfortable with the way he kept addressing me as someone younger than him, even though he was the only one in this household who knew how old I really was.
I looked up at the porch just as Kit was walking into the house. "She's beautiful." I responded without thinking.
I heard Richard chuckling, obviously catching my mistake. "I suppose we should get inside and wash up for dinner. Plus, there is the rest of the family to meet." He said as he began walking to the house. I followed him thinking about how I ended up here.
Six months ago, I had awoken in a secret government facility run by S.H.I.E.L.D. and had found out that I had been frozen in ice for almost seventy years. When I woke up, I found myself in a room that was a falsification of my era and, when a nurse came to greet me, I panicked and rushed past her, running out into the busy modern day Manhattan traffic. It was then that I met Nick Fury. Overwhelmed didn't even begin to cover my emotions as I listened to Fury explain everything that had happened.
Just a week ago, I had been given clearance to spend time getting to know my new era. Nick had mentioned how he had spoken to an old friend out in Riverton, Wyoming who was looking for a pair of strong arms to help him out on his ranch. So here I was, 2005 miles later.
As I wound my way up the gravels roads to get here, I could feel all the stresses of this new world leaving me. Something about being out in the middle of nowhere was comforting me and it was refreshing. However, I knew I had left a bad first impression on Mr. Bell's daughter when I first arrived.
When Richard and I had entered the house, I was greeted by the smell of a freshly baked apple pie. He led me into the kitchen where a woman was just setting platters of food onto the table. The woman had blonde hair that was piled on top of her head to keep from falling into the food.
"Caroline, this is Steve. He the young man that is going to be helping us out around here. Steve, this is my wife, Caroline." He introduced us as we shook hands.
"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." I greeted with a smile and a nod.
"Welcome to our home, Steve." She returned the smile before going back to the counter to grab a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes.
A young girl with blonde hair to match her mother's came running into the kitchen and past Richard and I, but he caught her by the shoulder and turned her to face us. "This," he began, "is our thirteen year old daughter, Elizabeth. Lizzy, this is Steve."
"Hello, Lizzy." I smiled at her. She responded with a quiet hello before running off again.
An older boy with brunette hair styled like Richard's came into the kitchen and sat at the table.
"Steve, this is Hunter, our sixteen year old boy." Richard said as he walked over to Hunter and squeezed his shoulder.
"Hi." Hunter greeted and I responded with a curt nod.
Kit walked into the kitchen, no longer wearing the dirty clothes she was wearing earlier, and carrying a small blonde boy. Her brunette hair cascaded over her shoulders in light waves and her brown eyes met mine before quickly looking away.
"You've already met Kathryn." Richard stated and I nodded as he approached his daughter and grabbed the youngest child from her arms. "Lastly, this is Liam."
"Hello, Liam. How are you?" I asked the young boy.
"I'm five!" he said as he held up three fingers. Everyone in the kitchen laughed at the little one as Richard set him down in his chair.
"Why don't you men wash up so we can eat?" Mrs. Bell suggested.
Once we had washed our hands, we all sat down at the table. Richard said a quick grace before we dug into the meal of roast beef and mashed potatoes. As we ate, I couldn't help but to think how right it felt to be sitting here at this table and sharing a meal with the Bells. I didn't know what the future held for me here, but I knew that right now, this is what I really needed.