1 – Long Distance Call – May 6, 2012

Steve watched as Aspen tensed beside him, sitting forward on the loveseat. She gripped the cell phone in her hand until her knuckles whitened. "Who is this?" she asked, her voice a harsh whisper. She was silent while the other person on the line spoke. Steve strained his ears to hear, but the connection was bad, and he could only make out a few words.

"How do you know where I am?" Aspen demanded. As the person spoke to her, Steve saw emotion flitting across Aspen's face. She started to shake a little.

She took a deep breath and asked, "Mom? Is that you?"

Steve's eyes widened. Aspen pressed a button on her phone and set it on the coffee table. A muffled voice spoke over the line. "It's me."

Aspen breathed in sharply. "After all this time," she said. "Why now?"

"I was worried. I saw the footage of New York."

"You knew I was there." Steve could tell that Aspen was trying to keep it together, but her whole body was shaking now. He wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how. Instead he focused on what her mom was saying on the other end.

"I knew. I've been keeping an eye on you."

"But you couldn't be bothered to mention that you were still alive?" Aspen asked, her tone holding an anger Steve knew came from her resentment toward her parents for never trying to find her.

There was a long pause on the other end. "Penny, I'm so sorry," her mother said.

"Don't…don't call me that." Aspen shut her eyes, and Steve saw a tear leak out. He reached out to touch her hand. She gripped it like it was the only thing holding her together. "It's been eighteen years. Eighteen years that I thought you were dead. And after I found out you were alive? Nothing changed. You still weren't there."

"I'm so sorry, Aspen. We did it to protect you. You have to believe that. I would rather have died than lose you, but it was the only way."

"Danners is dead. Why are you still hiding? Why can't we be a family?" Her voice cracked.

"I heard about Danners, but it's complicated."

"Don't give me that. You owe me an explanation. You owe me."

"I know, I know, Aspen. I can't talk about that right now."

"Where are you?" Aspen demanded.

"Did you get my package?"

"The one with the aspen bark in it, yes."

"Good. And you have the deed to the Sunflower House?"

"I booked tickets to Portland. I'm leaving Friday."

"That's where it all started, Aspen. You have everything you need."

"My childhood home, my memories. All that's missing is my family. Where's Dad?"

Aspen's mom was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure right now," she finally said. Aspen's grip on Steve's hand tightened, but he didn't wince. He squeezed her hand back to let her know that he was right there. "We got separated when we were on the run a couple of months back. I haven't heard from him." Steve could hear the worry in her voice.

"I don't even know what to say," Aspen said. "What do you say to the mom you haven't seen since you were three years old? The mom you thought was dead up until a year ago?"

"I know what I want to say. I love you, Aspen. No matter what. I love you. I wanted to say that in case we get cut off. Follow the clues."

"What do they lead to? You?"

"It's not safe right now."

"Will it ever be? Or is this just an excuse?" Aspen asked bitterly.

"It's not an excuse. I would do anything to see you right now, Aspen. If only it was possible."

"What will I find in Portland?"

"You're going to have to find out for yourself. Be careful, there are people who would see you hurt everywhere."

"Who's out there?" Aspen asked.

"Danners wasn't our only enemy." A mechanical click sounded on her mom's line. "Just be careful," she said in a rush. "I can't say more." She sounded terrified. Steve could hear the trembling she was trying to keep out of her voice. Aspen leaned forward.

"Mom?"

"I have to go, baby. I have to go. Be safe. You'll figure it out."

"No, wait! You can't just go!" Aspen cried out in frustration.

"I love you, Aspen. I love you. Remember that."

"Mom!" There was a click, and the other end went silent. Aspen screamed in frustration. "She's gone. How can she be gone?" She was crying openly now.

Steve pulled her to him as she began to sob. The sobs wracked her small body, and he felt tears soaking through his shirt. Aspen looked utterly broken in that moment, and it hurt to watch. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her. This was an unexpected turn of events. Was it coincidence that Aspen's mom had called her right before they took their trip to Portland to follow the clues the Tolvars had left behind?

After a few minutes, Aspen's sobs lessened, and she began to calm down. She pressed her head to his collar, trying to control her breath. "I'm s-sorry," she said.

"Don't apologize," he told her. She pulled back and looked up at him, green eyes wet. He could see the sorrow in them, the hurt and the pain. He brushed the hair from her face where it clung to her tear-streaked cheeks. He wished he could take that pain away.

"After all this time…" She shook her head. "I just…I don't even know how to react to this." She stood, pacing the living room. He could see the frustration and anger building up inside her. "It's not fair!" she shouted suddenly. "I spent eighteen years thinking I was an orphan. Now she thinks she can just call me? Tell me she loves me? How is that fair when I haven't seen her face since I was three? Hadn't heard her voice up until now. How is that fair to shock me with that and then take it all away in less than a minute?"

"It's not fair," he said. He stood, going over to where she was pacing and placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's not, but you know she's alive at least. It's a start, Aspen. We can find her. Can you figure out where she was calling from?"

"It was a blocked number, but I might be able to track it." She sat down in front of her computer and plugged the phone into it. Steve had no idea what she was doing, but he sat down next to her again, watching the screen curiously. Aspen typed in some numbers and then a series of numbers ran across the screen, changing every so often. He wasn't sure what they were waiting for. Aspen sat at the edge of her seat, chewing on her bottom lip, a habit he'd noticed she did when she was nervous. Something flashed up on the screen after about ten minutes. It was a map with a little red dot that pulsed and was labeled.

"Grindavik, Iceland," he read aloud.

"That's where she is."

"What's in Iceland?" he asked.

Aspen shook her head. "I don't know. I suppose it would be a safe place to disappear." She typed Grindavik into her computer. "It's a small fishing village on the coast. Less than 3,000 people." She sat back. "I don't know what to do."

"I know this might seem like impossible advice after hearing her voice, but maybe you should wait until she's ready to find you. She made it sound like it would be dangerous for you to find her now. Let's go to Portland and see what we can find there. We might learn more to help us figure out what happened to her." He watched as Aspen contemplated his words.

"You're right," she said finally. "It would be stupid to go chasing after her right now. She could have just been calling from there. We don't know she's living there."

"We'll find her," Steve assured her, hoping he was right. "Just maybe not right away."

"I don't know how I'm going to make it to Friday," she told him, shutting the top of her computer and turning to him. Her green eyes were vivid with the emotion she was feeling. It was one of the things he loved about her – she was always so compassionate and full of life. Unlike most of the agents he'd met at SHIELD, she spoke with her eyes and not just her words instead of hiding behind a carefully masked expression. "Like I can concentrate on topographic landmass weather patterns or nuclear reactions when I'm this close to going after my past."

"It's only five days," he tried to reassure her. "I'm sure you'll ace your tests."

She gave him a small smile. "I hope so."

"In the mean time, what can I do to get us ready?" he asked. He felt a little useless not knowing what to expect. Aspen had done so much for him, it was his turn to do something for her.

"Pack for an indefinite period of time," she told him. "I bought us one way tickets. I have no idea how long this is going to take. Maybe you should take a look at these." She grabbed a set of file folders sitting on the edge of the coffee table and handed them to him. He opened one and found himself looking down at a dossier that listed enemies of SHIELD. The list was fairly substantial. Some listed were just names, but others were organizations. "These are people and organizations that might want to get their hands on my parents' research or might have already. We'll have to be careful. A lot of people would do just about anything to get the complete formula."

"Was it ever completed?" Steve flipped through the pages.

"Not to my knowledge. My aunt tells me they were missing an element. I guess the experiments didn't go so well. I have some of the elements – bits and pieces they've left behind – but not enough to complete the formula."

"Do you think one of these organizations stole your serum?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Most likely. I lost the ability to track it when I broke my old phone. The memory card cracked when I threw it. Speaking of tracking." She fingered the necklace she always wore. Steve looked a little closer at it. It was a small bird charm with a little crystal that dangled next to it. "There's a miniature tracker in this bead," she said. "I should get you one too, a tracker that is. I have it set up so that certain people will always be able to check in on me, my aunt being one. I'm going to set Clint up too. He might be on a mission soon, but if anything goes wrong in Portland, he'll have a way to track us. I'll set up tracking on both our phones so we can do the same for each other if we get separated."

Steve nodded, hoping that it wouldn't come to that. Aspen looked back down at her phone as if willing it to ring so she could hear her mother's voice again. Steve knew well what it felt like to want so badly to hear a parent's voice again. It'd been so long since he'd had that opportunity. He was struck by how much he wanted to hear Peggy's voice again too. When this was over, he would call her. At least he still could. Aspen's encouragement had given him the courage. He needed to make his peace and move on. He couldn't keep living in the 40s when the 40s had left him far behind, taking everything he knew, everyone he cared about, with it. He looked over at Aspen. He'd been lucky, so lucky to have met her. He'd found someone new to care about before more than a day had even passed. He sometimes wondered why she was so loyal to him. She'd never judged him, never treated him differently because he was Captain America or because he was from an entirely different time. Her friendship had never wavered from the start despite the fact that she'd been hurt and betrayed only a few months before that.

He wanted to tell her all of this, but he held back, unsure of how she felt. Cleary she still felt something for Loki despite the fact that he had destroyed a substantial section of New York. It only affirmed his belief in her good heart. She didn't judge people, just sought the goodness in them even when no one else could see it.

"I think I'm going to turn in soon," Aspen said softly. "Sorry, I don't think I can watch the movie anymore."

"Don't worry about it," Steve said. He'd forgotten they were even watching a movie. "You have too much on your mind. Is there anything I can do before I head home?"

"No, you've done enough. Thank you. I'll call you tomorrow after my finals."

Steve stood, a little hesitant to leave Aspen alone after her shock. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" he asked. "What you just went through on top of the battle…"

"If I've learned anything the last few days, it's that I'm tougher than I thought," she said in response, giving him a small smile.

"I know you're tough," he said, smiling back.

"Did I ever tell you that during the battle, when I ran after Loki, I managed to wrest his scepter from him then called him a child and threw it down on the ground before coming to find you at the bank?"

Steve stared down at her, a grin breaking out over his face. Aspen never ceased to surprise him. She was so calm and serious most of the time, but she was spirited, there was no question of that. Loki had certainly met his match in her. "How did he react to that?" he asked her.

"I didn't stick around to see," she said with a shrug. "I have a feeling he wasn't happy though."

Steve couldn't help but be curious about what had passed between Aspen and Loki in her final conversation with him, but he would never ask. That was her business. He found himself glad that Loki was not coming back to earth for reasons that had more to do with his relationship with Aspen and less to do with the actual destruction. Whether he had a good side or not, he didn't deserve Aspen.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," he said, heading toward the door. "Good luck with your tests, I know you'll do well."

"After New York, this will be easy."

Steve wondered if she'd had nightmares last night. He'd spent his own night in his apartment trying not to think of the death and the destruction. He found it a lot easier to forget when he was around her. When he was with Aspen, everything else seemed to have a way of melting into the background. Whenever he was feeling down about his life, the past he'd been ripped away from, the people he'd never get to see again, her smile always brought him back to the present and reminded him that he did have something to be happy about, something to look forward to.

"Goodnight, Pen," he told her.

"Goodnight, Cap," she said with a wink.