I do not own Captain America, or anyone else seen as a Marvel character. If I did, that Infinity War ending never would have happened. And now that that's out of the way, enjoy!
Two years ago Jo had stopped running from SHIELD and faced what had been chasing her. It may have had to do with the fact she was captured, but we won't talk about that. Two years ago, Jo earned a friend among one of the richest men in the world, an assassin, and a slightly less withering stare from a secret organization's leader. Two years ago aliens attacked New York and were defeated by the group known as the Avengers. Two years ago Jo started a new life away from her difficult past, but now it's time to return.
Jo hummed along with the radio as she waited for the light to turn green, absentmindedly tapping her fingers to the beat of the song. She hadn't been to this part of the city since the attack, in fact Jo actively avoided this part of the city, but now she lived here and was running late for her job. The light turned green and she continued on past the park where Thor had left with Loki and the Tesseract.
Since she left, Jo did venture to the X-Men mansion for help in controlling herself. She had also been able to thank the Professor for his deal with SHIELD, it was the only reason she had been standing there that day and not locked away somewhere. Through tests she found her eyes would turn amber when angered, but only after having been a wolf for more than a week. Otherwise she would be fine if someone pissed her off. They had found out, rather by accident, that she was allergic to cotton. Kitty still regrets it to this day.
After her time in the school, Joanna spent a year hiding away in a small town near the Rocky Mountains attending a community college's online classes and learning in fields where she lacked a lot of knowledge. Engineering and science she was a natural in, but Jo needed a lot of help with history and alike. She graduated with a minor in every field she was invested in, which surprised those around her with how fast she had done it.
As a final step in the beginning of her new life, she rented a small apartment in New York, not too far away from the Avengers Tower, but close enough that if there was an emergency, she could haul ass and get help. Jo set herself up a job in a cafe not too far from her apartment and she had been working there for the past five months, and only now did she want to take time off. Ten hours later she was off work and headed home to pack.
Three weeks, she thought mildly, I hear Washington DC is nice this time of year.
Four hours of driving and three hours of finding a house left Jo exhausted. She was renting the house from a nice old man who said he didn't need it anymore. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room. The neighborhood was nice, the neighbors were too but they mostly left one to their business. According to the old man a man from the army lived next door. He cared for the old man's cat when the old man was away.
So with her sleeping arrangements made, Jo fell asleep on one of the couches the old man had left behind. He also left a few appliances like a fridge, microwave, and a brand new bed for whoever bought the house from him. Yes, he was a very nice old man.
The next day Jo spent buying cookware, utensils, and food. Then she spent time rearranging what was left of the furniture. The couch sat under the window facing the street, a chair sat opposite it and a coffee table settled itself in the middle. As soon as she finished putting her clothes into the master bedroom's closet she considered herself done. By then it was three in the afternoon. Jo needed to find something to do. So she did the one thing everyone did when vacationing in Washington DC, she went to the Smithsonian.
Jo's eyes wandered over the spaceships and airplanes above her head, she used to like space when she was little. She had wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up, but then life happened.
She stepped off the escalator and took note of where she was. A Captain America exhibit, she mused. The fact that the legend had an exhibit didn't surprise her in the least. The moment Jo stepped in the room she was greeted with a large group of people, not too big to be considered crowded, but there was enough people to say she couldn't walk seven feet in one direction without having to dodge someone.
There were pictures of the Captain before and after his transformation with the serum, information boards telling whoever read them what happened, when, and why. Display cases stood on either side of the room with objects from the war, and the Howling Commandos too, she assumed. The end of the room held a small stage of mannequins, each dressed in the way the Howling Commandos would have. Behind them was a mural depicting what each man would have looked like.
Jo catalogued the room, no one besides the security guards proved to be dangerous, but even they were low on the scale. One man however, stood out, and she grinned. The man made his way to the screening room and she followed, casually glancing at where he had been moments earlier. It was the small tribute to Bucky Barnes.
The man sat down and Jo sat behind him, taking in his attire. Blue ball cap, white shirt, blue over shirt, and jeans. Inconspicuous and it makes him easy to overlook.
"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Jo whispered, careful not to let the woman and little girl near hear her.
Steve tensed and slowly turned his head to look at Jo. He was surprised, he didn't think he'd ever see her again. Jo grinned and stepped from her seat, trading it for one next to Steve.
"Jo?" Steve asked.
"The one and only."
She didn't turn from the screen, obviously interested in what was being said by Dum Dum Dougan.
"What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that. This is your life, you already know what happened in it."
"You've changed."
And she has. Where her brown hair once fell to her midsection it now stood up and pointy, almost like Steve's hair cut but slightly longer around the sides. Jo was underweight when she first arrived in SHIELD, but two years away from running and hiding had let her fill out, and she was rather happy with this. Her height hadn't changed, she was still 5'11", only three inches shorter than the Captain himself. Jo's stormy grey eyes showed more life in them, and a mischievous glint shined through where depression and sadness had once been.
"I took a couple of years to myself," she said. "A good few months at a special school to help me with my problems, a year for college, and time in our world to make myself an actual life. Right now I'm on vacation from work in New York. What about you? Why are you here?"
"I missed everything after the war, and I needed a reminder."
"A reminder of what?"
Steve didn't answer, he just kept on watching the screen. Peggy Carter was the one being interviewed now. Jo glanced between the screen and Steve before settling in and watching. For Steve, the interview was over all too soon.
The two left the screening room and headed away from the exhibit, opting for a small cafe only a block from the Smithsonian. They shared a table outside under the shade of a tree.
"You know, next time you're trying to go undercover you should wear glasses. People with glasses easily get looked over because in a scuffle they may get broken, and glasses are expensive."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"So, what else have you been doing?" Jo asked.
"If I'm not on missions, I'm catching up on the world I missed while I was asleep."
Steve held up a small notebook open to a page of names. Jo realised that this was a list and quickly ran over the items, humming in thought.
"Alright, I got one for you. I know a lot of bands but for now, we'll start you off with the Beatles. Started off in the early 60s and lasted till the 70s, you'll have some good music, but I'm just biased."
Steve smiled and nodded, pulling out a pen and writing it down. Then they were left to comfortable silence, both enjoying the others company and the scenery around them. All too soon they had to leave the cafe and needed to head their separate ways. Jo, to her house she rented, and Steve to wherever he wanted. Before they could part Jo spoke up.
"You should go see her," Jo said.
"Who?"
"Peggy Carter, the woman you giving heartbroken eyes to in the screening room. Last I heard she lived near here." Steve stared at the woman in shock. "You didn't know, did you?" Jo said. When Steve didn't answer she continued. "Ask Fury where she is he'll know."
Jo held out her hand and Steve took it, then they both made their way to where they wanted. Steve presumably to see Peggy, and Jo wanted to see the rest of the Captain America exhibit before she went home. Instead she chose to go home straight away, after all, she did have a little over two weeks to visit again, and it was close to six at night. No need to rush things.
The next day she went to the local mall for the last item on list pertaining to the house; electronics. All she really needed was a laptop, tv, and DVD player, then she was all set. Imagine her surprise when two familiar faces walked in.
Steve, wearing something like he was in the museum, except this time he was wearing glasses and a hoodie between his shirt and jacket. Natasha was different since Jo had last seen her. Her red hair was straight and now down to her shoulders. Instead of the tight SHIELD suit show wore skinny jeans, a blue shirt, a striped hoodie with the hood on her head instead of down like Steve's, and a light jacket of the hoodie and shirt.
That's three different types of shirts and both are looking around cautiously, Jo thought. Something's up.
So despite her better judgment, she snuck up on the very dangerous, secret assassin and super soldier. Jo sidled up next to Steve and stared at him until he noticed her, it only took a second.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, Natasha only glancing up from what she was doing before continuing.
"One, I was here first. Two, I needed a tv and a laptop for the house and I already have the tv. Three, what's going on? You look suspicious."
Steve yet again didn't answer and chose to look over what Natasha was doing.
"I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware," Natasha said, "so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."
An employee suddenly showed up and was staring at the three of them.
"Can I help you guys with anything?" he asked.
Natasha gave a smile and wrapped her arms around Steve in a small hug. "Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations."
"Right! We're getting married."
The look on Steve's face was enough to make Jo snort and turn away to her own computer. Steve didn't appreciate this and shot her a frown when the employee looked to Natasha. It didn't stop her from grinning.
"Congratulations!" said the employee. "Where do you guys thinking about going?"
Steve changed his stare from Jo to the monitor below him before answering, "New Jersey."
It was Jo's turn to frown. What was in New Jersey? She knew the camp Steve had trained at was there, it said so in the one information board she read at the Smithsonian. Natasha was tracing something from SHIELD, both were disguised, so what was going on? Then add in that neither of them looked like they didn't want to be seen or talk to anyone.
"You owe me on guys," Jo whispered to Natasha - who acknowledged her only by raising an eyebrow - before turning her attention to the employee. "Actually, I could use some help."
The man quickly excused himself from Steve and joined Jo's side. Not even one minute later Steve and Natasha made their way out of the store, Steve glancing over long enough for Jo to whisper 'Be careful', then they were out of sight.
Jo woke early the next morning. She spent her time showering and browsing through the news on her new laptop, then a post came up about how an old military training facility had been destroyed in New Jersey. There had been no official statement from the government.
"Holy shit, Steve," Jo whispered, eyes wide.
A pang of nervousness and worry shot through her. Were Steve and Natasha okay? Hell, were they even still alive? Why did the bunker blow up? Did this have to do with SHIELD?
A sound from the kitchen signaled her waffles had popped up. She rushed to the kitchen and grabbed them, Jo went to butter the delicious breakfast but stopped when she noticed something odd. Two people were climbing over her neighbor's fence. The oddness turned to surprise when she noticed the two were Natasha and Steve, both covered in dirt and missing an article of clothing. While there wasn't any blood as far as she could see, Jo still couldn't help but whisper her words again.
"Holy shit, Steve."
Edited 9/1/18
