Authors Note: Our apologies for the delay on this chapter. The holidays really drained away our creative energies, but here is the promised introduction of one of our heroes at last! Please review and let us know what you think!
The only light came from the wrought iron street lamps that lined the sidewalk, when Steve Rogers strode out of the private apartment building in the Upper East Side. Taking a deep breath of the chilly morning air, he started to jog easily as a warm up. Dressed all in black in a loose pair of track pants and hoodie, he blended into the pre-dawn shadows that still shrouded the streets of New York. His running shoes beat a steady rhythm on the pavement, as he slowly increased his pace. The days of casually running at his enhanced speed through the streets of D.C. were long behind him, since these days the Avengers tried to blend in as much as possible. Still, when he got out this early in the morning, he let himself pick up the pace until he was at the upper end of a marathon runners speed. He could easily use the treadmill in the gym of the obnoxiously expensive apartment building Tony had set up for their use when they were in the city, and not have to worry about controlling his speed. But he still preferred using the streets of the city and Central Park for his morning runs. Once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker he guessed. The city itself, though very different from his time, still felt like home. And any piece of home was welcome these days.
The fact that they had managed to ultimately defeat Thanos by going through the time vortex, and changing the timeline, did not completely lessen the impact of the prior events for those that had lived through it. The destruction that Thanos had wrecked on all of them leading up to that horrific last battle of the original timeline, had been reversed by their alterations through the time vortex. So when that last battle had replayed once more, instead of a divided and scattered band, they had fielded a united force of all the Avengers, Asgardians, Wakandans, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Still, Thanos' defeat had not come without a high price. Vision and Wanda, though saved from their original fate, had still fallen in the second battle, along with Thanos's own adopted daughter Nebula. Many other brave souls had lost their lives that day, and those that survived mourned them still.
Yet they had succeeded in preventing that horrific Snap, so in the end it was all still worth it. However, the scars they all still bore were slow to fade. The memories of that original battle, and watching helplessly as their friends disintegrated before their eyes, remained to haunt them. Which is why he was out so early this morning. Nothing seemed to be able to banish the demons after nightmares of those battles, except long runs. The unthinking, repetitive motion of physical exertion, soothed away the torment he found too often in sleep, and the mental focus it took him to keep his pace within the normal human limits, kept him from replaying events best left in the past.
He could usually deal with nightmares, it was the waking up, and not knowing for just a moment which reality he was in that was so hard to handle. In an effort to shut down the turmoil in his mind, Steve struggled to focus on his surroundings while keeping his pace strictly regimented to about fifteen mph. As he started to pass through Brooklyn he felt his mind ease more with the familiar sights, it wasn't exactly like he remembered it of course, but underneath the changes it was still home. He even smiled a bit in nostalgia when he recognized one of the alleys he had gotten beat up in back in the old days.
It felt like life had been so much less complicated back then. Oh sure they had nazis and mad scientists to contend with, but no aliens or having to prevent the annihilation of half the universe. Resolutely steering his mind away from those thoughts, he headed back towards Central Park for the last half of his run. Glancing at the sky that was just now starting to lighten a bit, he guessed he would make it back to the park right about true dawn. When Tony had first decided to buy the apartment building exclusively for their use, Steve had thought it was a bit ridiculous to have another base in the city when the Avengers compound was only a few hours away. But he had to admit, he loved being able to spend time here whenever he chose.
After everything that had happened, and the full realization of the fate they had so narrowly avoided, the Avengers had all set aside their differences, and committed to being a untied force once more. They had essentially torn up the accords, and put the worlds governments on notice. Their actions had more than proven them to be trustworthy in controlling their powers, and using them for the good of mankind, so any further attempts to control them would be met with full on hostility. There had been lots of grumbling from politicians and world leaders, but with the newly powerful voice of Wakanda staunchly behind them, and offering them full asylum should the rest of the nations prove difficult, the grumbling had slowly quieted to muttering. They might not like it, but with the dangers the world continued to face, having the Avengers protection was more important than controlling them. So eventually they had settled into a reluctant agreement.
Most of the team had decided it would be best to try and fly under the radar as much as possible though. So they kept their powers under strict control, and endeavored to blend into society as best they could. Tony was a lost cause, but the rest of them had seemingly integrated fairly well. Steve was fortunate that most of his public appearances had always been in full Captain America uniform complete with mask. Besides, since he had left the clean cut soldier look behind, most people would be hard pressed to recognize him. And a part of him liked having the outward signs of breaking the military mold, that his beard and longer hair represented. A lot of his illusions of the world and it's leaders, had been well and truly obliterated in the past few years, and it seemed only fitting that he should no longer look like the young naive super soldier.
Entering Central Park at a slightly slower pace, he let the beauty of his surroundings ease away the rest of his tension. The quiet peacefulness of the park in early morning, made this his favorite part of his morning runs. There were enough running paths that he could always choose a different course to keep from growing bored with the scenery, or from being too predictable in his movements. This morning he chose to head towards the lake and the Bow Bridge, it was always a nice view at sunrise and close to a nice cafe he could get breakfast at on his way home. Keeping to his steady pace for well over an hour, had finally made him break a light sweat, so he pushed his hood back as he approached the bridge. Catching sight of a woman standing on the bank next to the bridge made him slow a bit more. The camera and tripod set up in front of her explained her presence, but it was unusual to see anyone out this early except for fellow runners.
As he drew closer she bent down to look through the viewfinder on her camera, and his eyes were drawn inexorably to her jean clad bottom. The well worn jeans hugged her generous hips and the curve of her bottom just right, and made him stare for longer than he should have. A bit annoyed with himself for checking her out like that, he forced his gaze away. The path he was on veered towards the bridge and would bring him up right next to her. His curiosity getting the best of him, he let his eyes drift back to her, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face, but the fall of her long chestnut colored hair was blocking even a profile view of her. Just as he started to pass by, he let his mischievous impulses take control for a moment.
"On your left."
His deep voice drew a startled sound from the woman, and she jerked her head up from the camera just as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon. The light gently caressed her face, accenting her startled hazel eyes, and giving a soft glow to her hair. She had a fresh, sweet look to her that he found alluring, even when her expression of surprise changed to a faint look of annoyance. Chuckling a bit to himself, he crossed the bridge and chose the loop trail that would circle him around the lake, and back to the bridge. He didn't usually take this route, preferring to keep going straight instead of covering the same ground, but the chance of seeing if she would still be there drew him down the trail a bit faster.
Lizzie cursed under her breath, annoyed that she had let herself be distracted from getting the shot of those first rays of light touching the water. After she had managed to shake herself out of the daze the strangers interruption had apparently put her into, she had still taken several shots but that magical one she had been aiming for was lost. Oh well, I guess there's always tomorrow. Though the thought of another five am wake up call made her groan out loud. Sighing gustily, she unbolted the camera from her tripod, and started reviewing her images. There were several lovely ones, but she could just hear Professor Milten now. "They're nice images Lizzie, but they lack an emotional spark to draw me in." Ugh. She knew he was right, landscapes were her weakness, but it was still irritating to admit it.
Hearing a steady footfall approaching she glanced up casually, and was surprised to see the same jogger approaching. Seriously, was he determined to annoy her to death this morning or what?
"There can't be enough coffee in the world for this morning," she muttered softly to herself. She thought she heard him chuckle at that, but he was still far enough away he couldn't possibly have heard her. Steadfastly ignoring the man as he advanced down the path, she fiddled with her settings. Almost subconsciously at first, but then an idea struck and she hurriedly switched to the faster shutter speed she would use to freeze motion in a moving subject. Suddenly he was close enough that she could hear his deep breathing, and she started to have second thoughts. What was she thinking? She couldn't just take a photo of a complete stranger without their consent!
But when she heard that cocky "On your left," as he passed her again, that just did it.
Whipping her camera up she expertly set her focus, and tracked him as he moved onto the bridge. So when he glanced back over his shoulder with that same little smirk as before, she caught it perfectly. However, what started out as a little bit of silent retaliation for him wrecking her landscape vision earlier, quickly transformed into an artists appreciation. When she saw through her lens the way the rays of the early morning light were falling on him she was immediately captivated, and instinctively framed several more shots within a few brief seconds. His grin had changed to a look of faint surprise in the last shot, but she was confident she had captured his smile before it faded.
Feeling just a bit smug, she waved to him as he finished crossing the bridge, and though he seemed to hesitate for a second he retuned her greeting. Laughing softly she looked down at her camera's screen and clicked through the images. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the first one she had captured. The light catching in his eyes, and glinting off his disheveled hair was amazing, but his smile is what took her breath away. It held a mischievous charm that was reflected in his smiling eyes, and was utterly disarming. Well then, maybe there was plenty of coffee in the world after all, she thought giddily.
Unable to resist, she stood there and studied the rest of the images for longer than was strictly necessary, until finally she forced herself to turn off the camera and start packing up. It was still early, but there was no sense in standing around gawking at her photos in the middle of the park when she hadn't even had breakfast yet. Just as she was putting her tripod into its carry case, she heard footsteps once more. Glancing up she saw her jogger coming back down the path. He waved when he caught sight of her, and slowed to a walk. As he approached he casually tugged his hoodie off, and wiped the sweat from his face with it then draped it over his broad shoulder like a towel.
Oh. My. Word. Her brain short circuited at the sight of him in a black Under Armor shirt, that fit him like a second skin. It stretched over the planes of his wide chest, and hugged his bulging biceps in a way that made her feel a bit faint. Forcing her gaze away, she prayed he hadn't noticed her staring. Nervously she fiddled with the straps of her camera bag in a useless attempt to distract herself, and regain some of her composure. But the closer he came the more flustered she got, and she could feel her cheeks heating with a telltale blush. Damn it, why did she always have to blush like a teenager around men?!
"Hey there, hope I didn't startle you too much earlier," his warm, friendly voice made her look up despite her discomfort. His captivating blue eyes were smiling down at her, and she felt the blush in her cheeks deepen. He was tall, probably a couple inches over six feet, and made her feel even shorter than usual. Though at 5'4 that was honestly a pretty common thing for her. Still, his muscular build and height left her feeling diminutive.
"It definitely made me jump the first time," she replied a bit tartly. Irritated with her reaction to him, and remembering his annoying behavior from earlier, she continued in a stern voice. "So were you trying to photo bomb me or was it just a happy accident for you?"
The rumble of his warm laughter caught her off guard, and the infectious sound made her smile in response. His easy smile made him all the more handsome. Not that he needed any help in that department, she thought a bit dazedly
"I'd say happy accident," he said still smiling, "but I think I may have annoyed you with the interruption."
"Well you did make me miss my original shot, but I suppose you made up for it by standing in as my replacement subject." He laughed again at that, but this time it seemed a bit less genuine, and sparked her worry again. "I hope you don't mind I took your picture? I normally don't photograph anyone without their consent, but I'll admit to being a bit miffed with you, and I took it on the spur of the moment."
"It's not that I mind really, it's just I'm in a sort of private security group, and wouldn't want to have it get out there too much," he rubbed the back of his neck ruefully.
"Oh I'd never publish it, or post it without your consent! Like I said, it was just an impulsive move on my part, and I'm just a student anyways, not a major published photographer or anything." Biting her lower lip to make herself stop babbling, she felt her empty stomach churn with anxiety. Oh no, please don't let him ask me to delete that shot. It would almost make her physically ill to do it, but if he asked she'd have to.
Steve felt sure, as he stood there watching her brow crease in evident worry, that this transparent young woman couldn't possibly be a news or tabloid photographer. Which had been his first thought when he watched the competent way she had snapped those photos of him. He was even more positive that she couldn't be an enemy agent of any sort. The blushing alone was probably enough to convince him of that, though he determinedly ignored the fact that he still had that annoying tell at times. Regardless of that though, her battle with her obvious shyness, and the way every emotion seemed to flit across her face, was more than enough to tell him she was no threat.
His eyes were drawn involuntarily to her full lower lip, as she nervously chewed on it hard enough to leave little indents. The sight filled him with an odd sense of envy, and what he was surprised to recognize as a pang of desire. Sternly he told himself he had no business feeling anything for this woman. After all, he was easily old enough to be her grandfather. Forcing his gaze away from her lips at that depressing thought, he looked out over the lake and scrubbed his hand across his own mouth in aggravation. Clearing his throat to cover his sudden discomfort, he turned back and met her apprehensive gaze. Instead of requesting that she remove all images of him, which he really should do, he responded instinctively to the worry in her eyes.
"It's alright, as long as you agree not to post them online, I don't mind."
"Oh thank you!" The relief in her voice, painfully obvious. "It would have killed me to delete it!"
A bit of a cocky smile curved his lips at that. "Attached to my photo already are you?"
Her mouth fell open in shock, and embarrassment flooded her already pink cheeks with a scarlet blush. "Oh my goodness … that's not what I meant! I mean, of course I like your picture, but I get attached to all the pictures I take." A comical look of horror crossed her face as she realized how that might have sounded. "Oh God, not like weird attached or anything, just that I can't bear the thought of deleting them. It's like how devastated my roommate was when she dropped one of her paintings, and it shattered." She put her hands to her mouth as if to physically stop the flow of words, but a muffled "please make me shut up now," still slipped out, and made him loose the battle to contain his chuckle.
"It's ok!" he hurried to assure her, seeing that his amusement had only increased her mortification. "I actually do some drawing myself, so I understand a bit of how you'd feel if I asked you to destroy your work."
"I'm Steve, by the way," he said, holding out his hand.
Lowering her hands from her still burning cheeks, Lizzie took his outstretched hand tentatively. The frisson of awareness that hit her like a bolt of static electricity, when his large calloused palm enveloped her own, made her inhale sharply. Her eyes darted up to his to see if he had noticed anything unusual. She thought there might have been a glimmer of faint surprise there, but she couldn't be sure.
"Lizzie," she replied belatedly. Letting go of his hand, she distractedly reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Well Lizzie, I am sorry for messing up your photo this morning, but I'm glad I got to meet you," the easy charm in his smile drawing an answering one from her. "So, does your photography often bring you out this early in the morning?"
"Definitely not!" she said with an exaggerated shudder. "I'm not much of a morning person really, but I've been having a bit of trouble with one of my assignments, so my roommate suggested I should come here for the morning golden hour. Evening is always so busy here, that it's hard to get a good landscape shot."
"Ahh that makes sense," he agreed with a nod, "the park always looks it's best in the early morning anyways."
"Well it's a good thing, it's so pretty" she laughed, "since my 5:30am subway ride meant I had to skip my morning coffee to make it here in time."
"You know, I haven't had coffee yet either, care to join me?" He gestured towards the path veering to their right. "There's a little cafe just outside that entrance of the park, and they have some of the best pastries and coffee I've ever tasted."
Surprise and pleasure at his offer warred with responsibility, and helped distract her from the incredible display of rippling muscles his casual motion had caused. My goodness, how could she ever manage to have a conversation with this man without constantly getting distracted by his physical perfection? Especially in that shirt! It was totally an unfair advantage, she thought in vexation.
"I'd really like that," her voice soft with regret, "but my roommate will be expecting me home soon. And we have classes later this morning, so I had better be getting home."
"Well, you're going to have to come back to get your photo, right?" he asked teasingly.
"Yeah," she agreed, with a small sigh at the thought of another early morning. "I do really need to get that shot."
"How about tomorrow morning then? I'll bring the coffee," he offered with a charming grin at her startled look.
"Oh, you don't need to do that!" she protested, stunned that he would even offer.
"It's the least I can do to make up for razzing you so much today!" he said winking roguishly.
Laughing at his playful behavior, Lizzie fidgeted with her messenger bag strap, and tried to ignore the effects of that wink she felt low in her belly.
"Really you don't have to! You more than made up for it by standing in as my subject." And of course, I completely forgave you when you took off your hoodie, she added silently.
"I insist. Now, how do you take your coffee?" he asked in mock seriousness.
"You don't give up do you?" she said, amused with him despite herself.
"Nope. So you might as well give in, and tell me," he replied with a grin.
She studied his handsome face, looking for any hint of mockery, or for a sign that he was stringing her along. But though he definitely had an air of good natured teasing about him, she couldn't make out any indication that he was having fun at her expense. For some reason, the tiny crinkles at the corners of his eyes as he smiled down at her, eased much of her suspicion. His gaze held her captive for a beat too long, and the startling gleam of interest in his eyes shocked her to her toes. That could not be real! You're imagining things girl, she told herself sternly, there is no way a guy like this is interested in you. He's just being friendly. Lowering her eyes from his, she briefly let them drift over his features in helpless appreciation. She had never realized how attractive a beard could be on a man until now, but it added a bit of ruggedness to his strong jaw that she found madly appealing.
Indecision warred within her, but finally she answered him. "Two creams, no sugar."
"See," he raised his eyebrows questioningly, "that wasn't so bad, now was it?"
"Well I guess we'll see about that," she quipped back at him. "But really, you can't blame a girl for being cautious about meeting strange men in parks, now can you?"
"Ahh but I won't be a stranger if we meet up for coffee tomorrow, since we've just met," he corrected playfully. Though her words had actually brought up a valid concern, and he silently vowed to himself to keep an eye out for her if he saw her out and about.
Laughing at his logic, she started to lean down to get her tripod case that had been lying forgotten at their feet; but he anticipated her and picked it up before holding it out gallantly.
"Thanks," she murmured, as she tossed her hair over her shoulder to get it out of the way of the strap on her bag. "I really do need to get going, wouldn't want to miss the subway, and make myself late getting home! But it was nice meeting you Steve."
"Wait a minute," he held his hand out to stop her from leaving, "what time are we aiming for tomorrow?"
"You're really serious about coming?" she asked a bit incredulously.
"Of course, I have to bring you your coffee, remember?"
"I'm going to plan on being here at about ten after six to get set up, but sunrise isn't till 6:30 so any time around there is fine," she stated, after mentally calculating her travel and set up time.
"I'll see you then," he declared firmly.
She laughed at his conviction, but still only half believed he would really show up. Waving goodbye, she turned down the path she had walked in on earlier that morning, and headed for the subway.
He stood watching her go for a few moments, and tried to figure out why he was so determined to see her again. Sure, she was pretty, but in a gentle way that wouldn't necessarily draw a lot of attention. Still, there was an air of sweetness about her, that drew him in like a moth to a flame. And yet she had some steel in her as well he thought with a smile, as he remembered some of her come backs to his teasing. As he headed out of the park he started planning out an abbreviated route for his run tomorrow, so he would have plenty of time to get their coffee.