As promised, here is the official first chapter of Country Lass: Return!
I don't know if anyone was wondering, "Where's Heather?" during the prologue.
For those that have, now your question has been answered.
Enjoy!
Above their heads, the green leaves start to turn a greenish yellow. The wind picked up halfway down the trail, but Heather was neither hindered nor displeased. She hops over rocks, Steve not too far behind.
"Come on!" She yells over her shoulder, taking a sharp turn around a column of rocks.
'If I didn't have the serum as well, I'd be complaining about her abundance of energy,' Steve thinks to himself, "Coming!" He takes the turn, only to see Heather already on the cliff face, rope around her waist. 'Although I think she's pushing my boundaries a little,' he adds. He takes up the other gear and follows her up. Heather waits for him, then takes off once his foot is out of the harness.
"It's so cool! But please don't tell Stark-"
"I won't, I promise," Steve says. Heather is always excited to explore the mountains. But this time, Steve can't help but smile at the child-like glee radiating off of Heather right now. She's like Steve was when his mother took him out for a treat on Saturdays.
"Waterslide, or stairs?" Heather asks, finally standing still for a second.
"Uhh.." Steve sees two entrances before them. One is higher up, a tunnel branching off from a stream, on the hill before them with water gushing down the hole. The other looks like crude stairs, with a few loose rocks. "Stairs."
Heather looks at him, "the water way is safe, you know."
"Is that where you got those scrapes?" Steve asks. Heather turns toward the chosen entrance, rubbing the wrappings on her forearm.
They start down and Heather is more careful with where she places her foot. There are a few places they have to cross a tunnel that cuts through, but Heather is sure of where she is going. They take out their Avenger phones to light the way.
The stairs tunnel turns up then flattens out. "Okay, turn off the light."
Steve does so, and Heather turns to look at him. "..What?" He asks, questioning the giant smile on her face.
"Prepare to be amazed," Heather says, then turns around and walks around the corner. Steve follows and is instantly in awe.
The entire cavern, which is circular and tall, is coated in sparkling- "Diamonds."
"Yeah.." Heather sighs, "this must have been a volcanic tube, but it's dormant now."
"And now I know why I shouldn't tell Tony," Steve says, walking to the center and looking up.
"Billionaire learns of diamonds on his property, what will he do?" Heather asks rhetorically over her shoulder. Steve nods.
"You haven't taken any?" He looks back at her.
Heather motions with both arms, "And ruin this? Not a chance! And look!" She scampers to the wall and disappears between the diamond clusters. Steve walks over as bits of rubble roll to the floor. He sees the entrance just as she pokes her head out, a few yards up the wall, "There's a balcony," she says, stating the obvious.
"I guess you spend your solo mountain treks reasonably," Steve says.
"You know I'm responsible," Heather says, sitting down.
"Yes, but you could get in danger, there are animals up here, it isn't a park, it's a mountain range."
"I know that," Heather says.
"We should get back," Steve says. He looks up. The view is pretty, with oranges and reds starting to coat the top diamonds. But it also tells him that the sun is starting to set.
Heather is next to him in moments. She starts for the tunnel, but Steve stops her.
"Do you want to get Leslie something? Or Andrew?"
Heather looks back at him. Her siblings love it when she gets them gifts. But they probably love them mostly because she visits them every time they get something. Heather looks around, then spots a couple diamond shards on the floor. "Those were there when I got here the first time," Heather tells him.
"I trust you," Steve says as she picks them up. Heather looks them over.
"..I can make these into necklaces well enough," she tucks them into her jean pockets, then Steve leads the way out to fresh air.
They walk back to the cliff and scale down, silently. When Heather's feet touch the ground she asks, "..You wanted to talk about something?"
Steve looks behind him.
"You know, before we left?"
Steve nods. He sits down on the rocks they went around earlier and pats next to him. Heather sits down too. "You know what day it is, right?"
Heather thinks, "August twenty-six. Why?"
Steve looks like he is trying to find the right words, "And do you know what is on September second?"
Heather leans against the rocks behind her, "Well.. the only thing I can think of is that school tended to start about-" She stops and looks at Steve. "..No."
Steve sighs, "Yes. Heather I'm thinking you should-"
"No, Steve. I don't want to go back to school."
"You are sixteen, Heather. You would be a junior. I suggest you finish your education and the other Avengers agree," Steve says sternly. Heather sighs.
"..Where?" Heather asks, knowing better than to complain.
"New York. I found an apartment you and I will move into. Everyone else will be at the Tower."
"Tony finished it?"
"Yes."
"..Why are you away from it?" Heather asks, looking at him from the side.
"The apartment is closer to the school. I.. we, can get to the tower fast enough if there is a mission."
Heather perks up at that, "I'll still go on missions?" Then she thinks of something else, "Will people know you are my guardian?"
"No, they won't. That wouldn't be a good idea." Heather nods. "But, that also means you can't show you are a little different than everyone else. No showing off."
"Don't worry, I have a feeling I won't have a problem," Heather says under her breath.
Steve pats Heather's knee, "We should get back so we can start packing."
He stands up as Heather asks, "When are we leaving?"
"In a couple days. We need to adjust to the area before you start school."
Heather mutters something to herself as she follows him down the trail.
"What was that?" He asks.
Heather takes a running leap, ricochets off a tree, and yells, "I hate school!" as she flips over Steve.
"But..?" Steve asks after she lands.
Heather doesn't look at him. "..I'll give it a second chance. If everyone thinks I should."
Steve nods, taking what she said for what it's worth. 'She should have something normal in her life,' he reminds himself, 'and finishing high school is important. I just hope she can see that.'
You have no idea how long I've waited to put the crystal cave into Heather's story. I had thought up dozens of scenarios, where she shows it to many many different people (not all of them were in the Marvel world, either.)
And I realize that the Appalachian Mountains probably don't have volcanoes -dormant or not- in them. This is fiction, I can do what I want.
Fun fact: I loved school, so Heather's opinions are not based off of my life story. ..Just something I wanted to clear up.
Q&A:
Do you think Heather going back to school is a good idea? Why?
See you tomorrow!
~CtW