A/N: This piece of Steve's story deals with the Boston bombings. If this is a painful or touchy subject for you, you might want to skip down to the first (SCENE) break you see. You'll be able to read the rest of the story and stay up-to-date on what's going on in our hero's life! Also, for those who don't watch NCIS, "LEO" stands for "law enforcement officer"…Happy reading!
Steve was working out in the local boxing ring he visited at least three days a week. He had recently started training a small group of children from his parish that wanted to learn self-defense or were in need of exercise or looking after when school got out for the day. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and liked working with him. None of them were particularly good at it, but seeing as the oldest child was only nine years old, he figured there was time for improvement.
"That's right, Sheila, keep up the good work," he said encouragingly as the seven year old girl hit a punching bag. She didn't manage to make an impact on the punching bag, and the recoil of the hit sent her flying backwards. Steve quickly reached down and caught her just before she landed on her backside on the ground. "You just keep trying and some day you'll get it…"
"Whoa! It's strong!" Sheila cried as Steve set her back on her feet.
Steve looked over his shoulder just in time to see two of the boys kicking each other. "What are you two doing?" He yelped while rushing over to them and prying them apart. "Donny, Ricky, what did I tell you about kicking each other?"
"Aww, we just wanted to see if our cups really worked," Ricky said with a frown.
"They do!" Donny cried excitedly.
Steve sighed and shook his head. "You could still get hurt. No more kicking. If you want to hit, get your gear on and fight it out in the ring. But only if I'm there to watch. Why don't you two work on your calisthenics?"
The kids had just arrived from school and were getting ready for an afternoon of hard work and fun and Steve was getting ready for an afternoon of hard work and breaking up fights among the children. It took a lot of patience, but it was worth it to see their smiles and pride when they accomplished something.
Steve was leading the children in jumping jacks when a news story broke into the music coming from the radio nearby. He wasn't fully paying attention, but heard snippets about explosions at the Boston Marathon. Not wanting to scare the children, he walked over and turned down the radio, but listened to the story for a minute or two. His heart started to pound as the report talked about the marathon ending in tragedy. When he turned the radio off, his cell phone rang. "Hello?" he asked, turning to watch the children as they continued their warm-ups.
"It's Tony," the voice said in greeting. "Whatever you're doing right now, stop. Get your gear and meet me at Stark Tower in ten minutes. We're flying to Boston. We can be there in an hour."
"But I just started working with the children, I can't just leave them," Steve replied. "I need to get their parents to come pick them up first…"
"Well call them and then get over here," Tony demanded before hanging up.
Steve turned and looked at the kids and saw their smiling faces. He couldn't send them home when they were so intent on their workout. He looked around and felt relieved as Sister Mary Helen walked into the gym. She joined them occasionally when she had time to spare. Perhaps this was a literal God-send for him. "Sister, how are you today?" he asked as she approached the group.
"Wonderful," she replied, looking at the children and grinning. "They look so happy."
"Listen, I don't know if you've heard, but there's been some sort of attack in Boston just now," Steve said quietly, not wanting the children to overhear. "I need to join a few people and fly down there to help out, but I don't want to send the kids home when they're just getting started. Would you be able to stay with them until their parents arrive?"
"Of course, Steve," Sister Mary Helen replied, "I'd be happy to. You go help your friends. And stay safe…"
"I will Sister, don't worry," Steve said before turning to the children. "All right guys, I'm afraid something's come up and I have to leave early today, but Sister Mary Helen is going to stay with you and help you out until your parents come. I want you to behave yourselves around her, because she'll tell me if you're disrespectful…"
The children solemnly promised to obey her, and Steve smiled at them before taking his leave. He ran home and grabbed his uniform, shield, and a few other items before heading over to Stark Tower.
Tony was packed and ready to go when Steve arrived and their driver took them to the air field. Natasha Romanoff was with them. "Barton's there on assignment and he called me a few minutes after it happened," she explained. "It's pretty chaotic right now. He's doing his best to help out, but he asked us to come…"
"He didn't have to ask," Steve replied earnestly. "That's what we're here for." As they drove, he listened to the radio report of what was going on in Boston and felt anger well up in the pit of his stomach. After all this time, people were still trying to hurt each other? Would nothing ever change?
They arrived at the air field quickly and took off in Tony's private plane soon afterwards. A few minutes into the flight, Steve noticed Tony texting somebody on his phone, but didn't ask who it was. Maybe he was letting Pepper know where he was going. Steve went to the restroom on the plane and changed into his Captain America suit. As he looked in the mirror, he felt nervous about going out into harm's way, but knew he was prepared for anything he might see on the ground. The flight was fast, and they landed in Boston in less than an hour.
"We should contact the local LEOs," Natasha said, taking charge of the situation. "We need to coordinate our efforts with theirs." They walked in silence and Barton met up with them at the appointed meeting place near the scene of the bombing.
"It's pretty bad right now," Barton said as they walked towards the chaos.
Steve looked around at the scene and was taken aback. It was one thing to see a city under attack when it was somebody from another world trying to cause people harm, but when it was somebody from here, it was that much harder to deal with. He had brief flashes of his time in Germany, which to him, still felt so recent. Less than a year, really. He felt like he was returning from furlough back into battle. His heart began to pound as he listened to the screams and loud sirens filling his ears. He didn't realize how tightly he was gripping his shield in his hands until Tony walked up next to him. "You ok, Steve?" he asked quietly. "This is pretty messed up…"
Steve took a deep breath and shook his head briefly. "I never get used to seeing this," he replied just as quietly. "I hope I never have to."
Natasha and Clint approached the police officers at the perimeter of the bombing and spoke for several minutes before motioning to Tony and Steve to join them. "We're in," Clint said as he ducked under the crime scene tape. The rest followed suit. "The rescue efforts are under way," Clint explained as they walked, "but they still need help clearing debris and crowd control. I suggest we split up and lend a hand wherever we're needed."
Tony suited up and headed over to the nearest bombing site. Soon he was helping to cut away pieces of debris and loose parts of nearby buildings that were unstable. Natasha and Clint joined in with reuniting lost family and friends with one another. After a minute, of indecision, Steve joined Tony and used his shield to protect injured people from the debris that Steve was cutting. Within seconds, he was covered in dust and broken chunks of brick and cement. He only hoped he was able to keep most of it out of people's injuries.
The day passed quickly. When the area was stable, Steve and Tony walked to the second bombing site and helped stabilize those buildings as well. Tony took a break afterwards, but Steve walked around for a while instead. He stumbled across a couple of young children who were separated from their parents. They were crying and looked terrified. Steve took his mask off and knelt down in front of them. "Are you hurt?" he asked, looking concerned.
The older child, a girl of about seven years, shook her head and sniffed. "We don't know where our parents are!" She began to wail and threw her arms around Steve's neck.
The younger child, a boy around four years old, looked at him with wide eyes. "Captain America," he said wondrously, "Are you here to save us?" With that, he threw his arms around Steve's neck as well.
"It's going to be all right," Steve reassured the children. "Let's go find your parents." He unwrapped the children from his neck, and slipped his shield onto his back before picking the children up, holding onto them tightly. He walked slowly down the street, with a child on each hip, over to the designated area for displaced persons to reunite with their parties. He saw Clint and walked over to him.
Clint had a pen and nametag stickers and wrote the children's names on them. "We're using these to keep track of everybody," he explained. "All right, kids," he said as Steve set them down, "Let's go talk to the nice pretty lady with the list and see if we can find your parents." The kids held onto Clint's hands as they walked over to Natasha. Steve watched long enough to see Natasha consult her list and use a walkie-talkie to communicate with somebody in another area. Moments later, he saw a frantic couple run out of a coffee shop that was now a makeshift rest area, and embrace the children. He smiled before walking back out into the street. He spent the next two hours shepherding lost children from the crowds to the displaced persons area.
By the time night had fallen, all four of them were exhausted. There was not much more to be done that night, so they retired to a nearby hotel. Tony bought out a suite for them to share. But even though Steve was tired from the day's events, he was too worked up to sleep. After a quick dinner on the run, he returned to the streets of Boston. It wasn't terribly late, but the streets were nearly empty as people chose to stay inside their homes with their loved ones.
Steve wandered around, taking in the sites of the city. It was a beautiful city and under normal circumstances, he'd have loved to spend a bit of time there, taking in the historical sites. After a while, he came across a large building that had an exotic look to it. He walked closer and saw a sign indicating that it was a mosque. He hadn't done much research on Islam, and it had not been a part of his world before the accident, but he knew enough that Muslims got a lot of the blame for incidents like this, regardless of their guilt or innocence.
A few young people approached the mosque, with rocks and cans of spray paint in their hands. Even in this new era, Steve could tell the signs of bullying and impending vandalism. "Go home, citizens," he called out to them.
"Who's gonna make us?" one of the teenagers asked. He sneered at Steve. "I like your outfit, loser. Who do you think you are, Captain America?"
"Yes, I do. And I also think you need to learn some manners," Steve replied, nonplussed.
Another one of the boys threw his can of spray paint at Steve, who used his shield to deflect it. The can bounced off the shield and flew back at the boy, hitting him in the stomach and causing him to double over in pain. "This is a place of worship," Steve said sternly, "It you cannot be respectful, then you need to leave. I am not going anywhere and I will not permit you or anybody else to harm this building." He stood at attention and glared at each boy in turn.
One of the teenagers seemed to get the message and turned to walk away. After a few seconds, the rest followed suit. Steve spent the next two hours standing sentry at the entrance of the mosque, just in case anybody else wanted to do anything to it. He was relieved to see, though, that nobody else came. He left in the early hours of the morning, and returned to the hotel. He showered before falling asleep for a few hours before the rest of his friends got up the next morning.
The main rescue efforts had been completed the previous day, but Hawkeye and Tony wanted to return to the bombing site. "We might be able to see things they won't," Clint said as they walked off together.
"What about us?" Steve asked Natasha.
She shrugged her shoulders. "There's still plenty of people there," she replied. "They'll need to eat. Let's go feed them."
They walked to a nearby sandwich shop and ordered five hundred dollars worth of food to be picked up later in the morning. Afterwards, they walked to a grocery store and bought cases of bottled water and juice. At lunchtime, they picked up the sandwiches and walked around the bombing site, handing out food and drinks to all the rescue workers. Steve found his shield came in handy for that. He inverted it and used it as a serving platter. The food went quickly and they had to go buy more to feed everybody.
That evening, Steve went to a nearby hospital and visited with some of the victims and their families. The children in particular were quite eager to meet him. He signed autographs and took pictures with people. It was a lot of fun.
Part way through Wednesday, he was helping clear out a street from all the debris still littering it, when a voice startled him out of the job. "Steve!" Tony and Clint had made a big discovery that morning of a pressure cooker lid on a nearby rooftop and were currently busy helping the FBI, and Natasha was busy elsewhere, so it wasn't any of them. He turned and looked to see who had called him, and smiled when he saw who it was.
"Bruce!" he cried, setting his broom down and walking over to him. "What are you doing here?" He gave Bruce Banner a friendly hug. "It's great to see you again."
Bruce looked around at the destruction and shook his head slowly. "Tony contacted me," he replied simply. "My country needed me. Who am I to hide away anymore?"
Steve nodded in understanding. He knew that feeling very well. "I'm really glad you're here," he said earnestly. Bruce found another broom nearby and joined in with sweeping. They didn't speak much, but enjoyed one another's company in silence.
Later in the day, Tony found them and took Bruce back with him. "I think you might be able to help me in the lab," he said as they left. "We're making progress with the bombs…"
The rest of the week passed quickly as leads were found and followed. Steve and the other Avengers and SHIELD members stepped back and let the LEOs and FBI take over and found themselves on lockdown in their hotel suite on Friday, just as the rest of Boston was also in lockdown. While they wanted more than anything to be the ones to catch the perpetrators, Steve and Natasha convinced the group to let the others be the heroes this time. "We've done our job, let them get the glory," Steve said, his eyes glued to the television.
They watched the news, late into the night, until the standoff with the surviving suspect ended. They could hear car horns honking and shouting on the streets as the city erupted into celebration. It had been a long and harrowing week, and it was finally over.
(SCENE)
The next morning, they all boarded Tony's plane and flew back to New York. Steve was happy to see his apartment again after such a long absence. He hadn't realized how attached to it he'd become until now. After getting settled in again, and throwing out all the rotten food in his refrigerator, he walked to his parish for a chat with Sister Mary Helen. He filled her in on what he'd done all week. "I prayed and lit candles for you all," she said with a smile.
"Thank you, Sister," Steve replied. "I'm sure it helped."
That evening, he and Bruce went out to dinner with Natasha while Tony and Clint had a night on the town at a couple of local bars. "Trust me, it is not pretty when those two drink too much," Steve said to Bruce. "You aren't missing anything."
"Not pretty, and more than a little pathetic," Natasha added. "Those two cannot hold their liquor and never make good choices when they get drunk." Steve kept his mouth shut, but recalled the trip to the strip bar with them that ended with them being thrown out. Natasha was completely right in her assessment.
At dinner, Steve opened up to Bruce and Natasha about Susan and his conflicted feelings after meeting Bernie. "I just don't know what to do. Do you think I should try to contact Susan? Or see if Bernie's interested in dating? I just don't know what to do…I'm still not over Susan. I don't know that I'll ever be…"
"I think you should let Susan contact you when she's ready," Natasha replied. "She clearly has some issues to work on and needs some space. If it's meant to work out, it will."
"I agree, leave the girl alone until she's ready to contact you. And go for it with Bernie. There's no reason for you to sit around and suffer," Bruce said practically.
Steve thought about the possibility of dating Bernie. He'd only seen her a couple times since meeting her at Easter, but had to admit that he found her attractive, fun, and fascinating. Bernie was an artist, and had a Bohemian way about her that he found refreshing. She was very open and liberal, as many artists seemed to be. She had given him her number at Easter, but he hadn't felt brave enough yet to call her.
The next morning, taking Bruce's advice to heart, he worked up the nerve and bravely dialed Bernie's number. "Hello Miss Rosenthal, this is Steve Rogers. Is this a good time to talk?" He hoped his voice sounded more confident than he felt.
"Sure, what's up? And please, call me Bernie," she replied cheerfully.
"Uh…I was wondering…Maybe…If you wanted to…I don't know…Go out to dinner with me sometime?" Steve's heart was pounding and his throat was dry by the time he had managed to spit out the words.
"Steve, are you asking me out?" Steve sputtered in response. "I would love to go out with you. Frankly, I've been waiting since we met for you to ask. I was going to give it one more week before asking you out instead…How about tonight? We could go to this great Indian place near my studio. Do you like Indian food? And then we could go to a movie or something. What do you think?"
"I think that sounds great," Steve replied, feeling relieved. "I've never had Indian food before. Is it like berries and nuts and venison?"
Bernie was silent on the other end for a moment. "No…It's not that kind of Indian…" she finally said, sounding baffled. "I mean food from India…Anyway, come over to my studio tonight at six. We'll go from there…"
Steve hung up the phone and smiled. He'd managed to ask out another woman and hadn't fainted or died of humiliation. He hoped that his date went well and that Bernie liked him. He spent the rest of the day getting ready for it.
That night, he walked to Bernie's studio, and presented her with a bouquet of daisies and tulips. "Oh Steve, these are lovely," she said with a grin as she took his arm and steered him towards the restaurant. "I think we're going to have a great night tonight…"
Steve loved the smells inside the restaurant and felt his stomach begin to growl as soon as they sat down. He could tell that Bernie was politely trying to hide her shock when he ordered five entrees for himself, after reading through the menu. He decided he trusted her enough to tell her why he had such a big appetite. She listened quietly as he went into more detail about his past and shook her head in amazement when he finished. "I know it sounds crazy," he said after the server had filled their table with plates of food. "You might thing I'm insane, but it's true."
"It does seem far-fetched," Bernie admitted, "but after this past summer, seeing my city attacked by actual aliens, I have to think that anything is possible." She began to eat her dinner in thoughtful silence, but spoke again after a minute. "You know, you're the most heroic person I've ever met. And you don't do it for the glory or the attention; you just do it because it's who you are. So inspirational."
Steve blushed and set down his fork. "I don't know about all that," he said slowly. "I just want to help people, that's all…"
Bernie eyed him carefully, as though truly seeing him for the first time. "Would you be a model for me?" she asked boldly. "I would love to make you in glass and put you in my next exhibition…"
"Me? A model? I don't know…" Steve hated this part of his new image the most—the part where people only saw his physique.
"Don't you want to inspire people? I don't mean doing anything gratuitous. I just think making a glass sculpture of you in your Captain America uniform, with the shield, could make an amazing piece of art and a wonderful statement."
"What statement?"
Bernie was silent for a moment as she collected her thoughts. "Well, I personally think it's quite an amazing statement that one of America's greatest defenders, does so with a shield and not a gun," she finally replied. "It takes true strength and bravery to do that, and I think that could inspire a lot of people out there."
Steve thought about it for a minute before smiling. "All right," he finally said in agreement. "I'll do it."
"You won't regret it, I promise," Bernie replied with a grin. With that, they dug into their meals and enjoyed the rest of their dinner.
Steve felt it was too nice of an evening to spend it sitting in a dark movie theatre, so he suggested a walk in Central Park instead. "That would be wonderful," Bernie said as they made their way to the park. "Normally I wouldn't go this late at night, but since you're with me…"
Steve discovered that evening that Bernie was a wonderful confidant. He was no longer nervous around her and loved how full of life she was. He felt he could be completely open with her and she wouldn't judge him. They talked for hours about anything they could think of. He loved how argumentative she was. It kept him on his toes.
Things were going really well until a large masked man jumped out of the bushes and pointed a gun at them. "Give me your wallets, now!" the man demanded, his voice gravelly and intimidating.
Bernie gasped and held her hands up as though surrendering. Steve, however, became angry that this man was ruining his date and endangering her life. He looked carefully at the gun for a moment before reaching out and grabbing it out of the man's hand. "That's not even a real gun," he said as the masked man cried out in shock. With his free hand, Steve clamped down on the man's shoulder, forcing him down to a kneeling position. "Bernie, could you please call the police?" he asked. "I would, but my hands are tied…"
Bernie looked at Steve with wide eyes and quickly took out her cell phone. Within ten minutes, the police arrived and arrested the would-be thief and confiscated the gun, which was indeed fake. "Thank you," Steve said to the police as they carted the man away and they had finished making their statements.
Bernie was silent for some time as they resumed their walk. "So this is your life, huh? Just a day's work to stop a mugging and then go about your business?" she said, shaking her head.
Steve shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose so," he replied.
"And you didn't even need to change into your uniform first," Bernie said. "I thought superheroes had to change into costume first…"
"Some might," Steve replied, thinking of Tony and his Iron Man suit. "But I don't, though I wouldn't have minded having my shield just then…And please, it's a uniform, not a costume."
Suddenly, Bernie began to laugh hysterically. "This was such a cliché!" she cried after a minute. "Suphero Steve Rogers saves a damsel in distress…You're like Superman…"
Steve frowned and shook his head. "I'm nothing like Superman. For one, I'm from Earth. And for another, I'm not a comic book character. This is real life…" Bernie looked at him and continued to laugh, but this time, Steve joined in. Maybe life sometimes had comic book moments in it…
When the evening ended, and Steve walked Bernie back to her apartment, he felt brave and confident enough to kiss her goodnight. He was disappointed, however, that the spark he'd felt with Susan, wasn't there with Bernie. She seemed to have noticed it too, because instead of asking for another date, she asked about setting up time to work on her art project. "I'll need to do several sketches of you first," she explained.
With appointments set up over the next two weeks, he returned to his apartment. His phone was ringing when he arrived and when he picked up, Tony was on the other end. "So…how was your date?" he asked in greeting.
"How did you know I had a date?" Steve asked, surprised.
"I have my ways," Tony replied cryptically. "So, tell me all about it. Did you get lucky?"
"You know that's none of your business," Steve replied. He wondered if Tony would ever stop asking inappropriate questions. "I'm not the type to kiss and tell."
"So you're saying you kissed," Tony replied. "Did you at least get to second base?"
"Good night, Tony!" Steve hung up the phone and rolled his eyes.
(SCENE)
The next time Steve talked to Tony, it was at their weekly Monopoly Monday. This time, they were joined by Bruce, who was staying at Stark Tower for an extended visit.
"Are you thinking of moving here?" Steve asked Bruce as Tony dealt the money. "It would be nice, don't you think?"
Bruce shrugged and took a sip of his beer. "I've thought about it off and on since last summer," he admitted. "I'm still not sure it's a good idea…"
"You're doing fine so far," Tony replied quietly. "You've put up with me for a few days now. Not an easy task by any means…"
Bruce chuckled. "True…We'll see…"
As the three men played their game, Steve noticed that they got along better than he and Tony normally did. Maybe Bruce helped balance them out.
Tony asked about Steve's date again, and this time Bruce joined in. "So, you took my advice," he remarked. "How did it go?"
Steve told them about the date, and the mugging attempt, and how he only had friendly feelings towards Bernie.
"That's too bad," Bruce commented after Steve had finished. "Maybe you'll find somebody else soon."
"Or maybe Susan will call soon," Tony added. "When she does, you should tell her you're dating Bernie now. It'll make her jealous. Besides, even if you don't have romantic feelings for Bernie, there's absolutely nothing wrong with making out with her anyway."
Bruce looked at him incredulously. "That is a terrible idea," he replied. "That sounds like the plot of a bad 80's sitcom…" He turned to Steve. "Don't listen to him, it won't work. It never does on the sitcoms. If Susan does call, just listen to her. Talk, and let her explain. That's all that needs to happen."
Steve found Bruce's calm wisdom refreshing after having to put up with Tony and Clint's bad behavior and terrible advice. He hoped Bruce chose to stay. It would be nice to have another friend around.
(SCENE)
Steve had begun his modeling for Bernie, and was enjoying his budding friendship that came along with it. She described herself as "sassy"; a word he was unfamiliar with, but thought it suited her. They enjoyed debating and discussing politics, though he was not up-to-date with most current political situations, but Bernie also enjoyed telling him about them. She was going to start law school in California in the autumn, and Steve thought she would be an excellent lawyer one day.
Bernie looked up from her easel once in a while to make sure that her pencil strokes matched what he looked like. "You really have an amazing physique, you know. I wouldn't mind if you wanted to pose nude…" she said casually.
Steve had a coughing fit for a couple minutes while he recovered from her frankness. "I don't think I'd be comfortable with that…" he murmured.
"No worries," Bernie said with a grin. "So, how is your comic coming along?"
Steve had discussed his comics with her not long after they met. It was nice to have somebody who understood art to talk with. He hadn't worked up the nerve to tell Bruce or Tony about them yet. "I've been working on some of the other characters," he said while holding his shield close to his chest and turning to the left, as Bernie instructed him to do. He had been spending all of his free time sketching his characters and working on names and personalities for them. He had thought about a name for his scrawny soldier for a long time. He thought back to all the people he knew before his return, and he remembered, painfully, his best friend Bucky. He had lost Bucky in the war. Bucky's real name was James Buchanan, so Steve had named his scrawny soldier, Private Jimmy Buchanan, in memory of his fallen friend.
Private Jimmy was very confused with today's world, and provided an outlet for Steve to vent his frustrations. Sometimes Jimmy was angry, sometimes he was nervous, sometimes he was humiliated, but always at the core, whatever Jimmy did or felt, came from Steve's own personal experiences. Jimmy was slowly making friends, though, even if they were strange people. Jimmy's closest friend was named Tommy Smith, a young man who was very popular, but wildly irresponsible. Sometimes Jimmy got upset at how immature Tommy could be, but ultimately, he enjoyed the time they spent together. There was Cliff Barlow, Tommy's drinking buddy who always got him into trouble. Cliff had a girlfriend named Tish Saratov who was really tough and didn't take guff from anybody. And the latest addition, was another friend, Bill Flagg, who was calm, and wise and always gave him good advice.
Jimmy also had a girlfriend named Sarah Thomas. She was the most beautiful girl Jimmy had ever seen before, with long black hair and blue eyes. She was sassy, and bossy and good at leading Jimmy through all the confusing situations he found himself in.
"I think Jimmy needs some more friends," Steve added after a minute.
"Just think about who you know, and how they'd work as a comic character," Bernie suggested before setting her pencil down and declaring herself finished. "And have you thought about the best way to publish the comics when they're ready?"
"Publish? I never really thought about publishing them. I mean, who would want to read them?"
"I would, and I'm sure plenty of other people would want to read comics written by Captain America," Bernie assured him. "You don't realize how intriguing you are to others, you know. You're adorably humble that way."
"I suppose I could look into selling them to a newspaper…"
"I don't know about that. I think online's the way to go these days. You'll reach a much larger audience that way."
"Online, as in, the internet?" Steve looked as skeptical as he felt. "I don't really know anything about that…"
"I can teach you if you want," Bernie offered as she put away her materials and walked over to him. "Let's go get some lunch." Steve changed his clothes first, insisting on using the restroom to change even though Bernie offered to turn around and promised not to peek. "I am a woman of honor, Steve, I would never look, unless you wanted me to…"
Steve looked at her skeptically. "Really?"
Bernie shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I'd do my best not to, and that's probably the most you could expect of me," she replied with a grin as she ran her eyes up and down his body.
"Like I said, the restroom will be just fine," Steve replied before turning and walking across the room. He smiled to himself as he heard Bernie sigh sadly.
Bernie seemed to love nothing more than showing Steve something he'd never seen before. Today it was sushi. She showed him how to use chopsticks, which took him a few attempts to master. "Wait…it's raw fish?" he asked just before taking his first bite. He wrinkled his nose and set the piece of sushi back on the plate.
"It's all right, it's the highest grade of fish and it won't make you sick, I promise," Bernie said before taking a bite of hers. "It tastes amazing."
Steve sighed and took a small bite to test it. It was briny and fresh and unlike anything he'd ever eaten before. With his second bite, he tried a small dab of wasabi with it and liked it even better. His second piece he tasted with pickled ginger and decided he loved sushi. It took several plates to fill him up, and the bill was quite expensive, but he didn't mind. "I think all the food is the best thing about this time," he said at one point during the meal. "We never had this sort of food. We didn't always have food…"
"What?" Bernie asked, furrowing her brow.
Steve shrugged. "Well, not exactly, but there were times when there wasn't a lot available. My mom was poor, and then I was in an orphanage, and it was the Depression. There was definitely not this sort of variety, that's for sure," he explained.
"The economy's bad now too," Bernie commented while sipping green tea out of a porcelain cup.
Steve snorted. "This? This is nothing," he said. "You people today don't know how lucky you have it. Everything you can ever possibly want to eat or wear or do you can have or do at a moment's notice. And you never have to worry about where it's going to come from. You know nothing about real poverty."
"I suppose, though there are poor people in the world still," Bernie replied. "They know poverty, I imagine it hasn't changed much since your time."
"It never changes…"
"Well this discussion got depressing fast," Bernie said before standing up to leave. "Come on, let's go do something fun."
Steve got up and followed her out of the restaurant. As they walked, he thought about his life and how different it was now than it had been in the 1930's and 40's. He had a lot less to worry about in terms of money and safety of the world, but a lot more to worry about in terms of interacting with people. His days were filled with eating copious amounts of food and socializing with people. Wasn't there anything more to life? "Hey," he said after a few minutes, "Do you think I should get a job?" The idea had been in the back of his mind for a while, but he hadn't verbalized it before now.
Bernie stopped at the street corner and looked at him. "What sort of job do you think you'd like to do? I can't really see you working in an office somewhere, stuck behind a desk all day long."
"I was in the army…I suppose technically I never left it," Steve mused. "Maybe I should re-enlist."
"I don't think that's a good idea at all. The army is really different now. Weapons are quite advanced from what they used to be."
"Well, I have been known to assist S.H.I.E.L.D with things from time to time. They have some pretty sophisticated weapons," Steve replied. "And I do have a shield that's pretty advanced. Also, I do know Iron Man…"
"Then join up with S.H.I.E.L.D," Bernie replied. "But stay out of the military. They don't need superheroes. Just stick around here and you'll be fine."
Steve sighed and looked at the ground as they walked. There was just so much to think about right now and it was difficult to keep it all straight. As they arrived at his apartment, they talked for a few more minutes before Bernie kissed him on the cheek and left for the afternoon. "You keep working on those comics and we'll get them put up online. You'll be a hit, I just know it!" she said in parting.
Steve spent the rest of the afternoon drawing and working on plots. His eyes were tired by the end of the day, and he put his drawing supplies away, feeling accomplished. He had gotten out of the shower and was sitting down on the sofa to watch one of Tony's movies, when his cell phone rang. "Hello?" he said, wondering who it could be.
"Steve? Oh Steve…I've made a terrible mistake!" The person on the other end of the line began to cry.