Chapter Six
Dr. Emily Harthorn was not seen for two days. When Dr. Thompson and Dr. Kingston attempted to speak to her, she did not answer the door. Finally, the good doctors simply posted a sign on the door stating that she was not to be bothered. Rogers had been concerned upon seeing it for the first time, but he was assured that nothing was wrong.
Captain Rogers had taken to roaming the halls at night. It was calming, not having to deflect the astonished looks of the agents as they passed by. He had half expected agents to follow him around to ensure that he didn't make a run for it again.
It had been curiosity that had made him stay. And to be honest, Steve wasn't quite sure what his place in this new world was. There was little comfort in being in New York, his home, when it was nothing like what he remembered. As he strode down the halls, he pictured what he had seen in Times Square. Times Square! It had changed so much. When he'd last seen it, billboards, rather than lights that had dominated the skyline.
Daunting. That's what all of this was. Who would have guessed that the world had changed so much in seventy years? Steve was the first to admit that he wasn't a genius like Howard, or even the most adaptable, like Bucky. How was he supposed to catch up?
They'd brought in Dr. Harthorn, Emily, to help him, he knew, but right now he wanted to go at it alone. Maybe retreating from the world wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe he could go and get a little place Up State and start over. A smile tugged at the corner of him mouth when he thought about the house he could build. Simple. None of this 'modern' stuff (although what he'd of it seemed to have touches of Howard's ideas). Just a little piece of the home, that's what he needed.
He got it when, on Saturday, his things arrived. The clothes, of course, had been too small, most of them from before the procedure. But it was a comfort to have them all the same. Agent Sitwell had been sure to go over the inventory with him. Everything was there, even his mother's diamond earrings. Whoever had cleared out his apartment had been very thorough.
The only thing that he was missing was his compass. Although Steve had known it wasn't likely to be recovered from the wreck, he'd hoped to see it there. Sitwell had assured him that they were combing through the items on board the Hydra plane, and if they found it, it would be returned to him.
"Thanks," Steve said, placing his hand on his old Army dress uniform. "I appreciate it."
OOO
When, finally, on Sunday morning, Emily woke up, it was only because her stomach was growling fiercely. She looked at her cell phone and put it back next to the pillow, closing her eyes again, but shooting up and looking at it again.
"What the hell?" she said, throwing off the blankets and sitting up. Still in disbelief, she scrolled through the missed calls, text messages, and finally checked the voice mail.
"Hi Emily, it's Mom. Just give me a call back when you can. I want to see how New York is! Love you, Honey." Emily smiled and erased it. "Honey, just wondering where you are. Haven't heard from you in a bit. Just give me a buzz. Love you." Shaking her head, she hit the seven button. "Em, Mom's freaking out. Give her a call." Her brother's message was short and to the point. "Emily Rose Harthorn, if you do not call me back I will call the police," her mother threatened. "I am giving you until noon on Sunday."
Shaking her head, Emily typed a quick text message to her mother, letting her know that she was indeed alive and that she'd be calling her shortly. The last call was informing her that her car had arrived and she could pick it up at any time. After chugging half a bottle of water from the mini fridge, Em jumped in the shower and brushed her teeth.
"Emily Rose," Mrs. Harthorn growled when her daughter finally called an hour later.
"Hi, Mom," Emily said, a bit of a tremor in her voice. "What's up?"
"'What's up?' 'What's up?' You move to a new city and don't even bother to check in for a week?"
"Sorry Mom, I've been kind of busy," she sighed, walking from her room and snapping the door shut. Her eyes scanned the note taped to her door and she rolled her eyes before tearing it down and tossing the paper into the room. Once the door was locked, she slipped the key back into her jeans and walked down her hallway, her Chuck Taylor clad feet barely making a sound.
"You could have died for all I knew!"
"I did die, Mom, and I'm calling you from beyond the grave," Emily chuckled. "You don't have to be so dramatic. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." There was silence at the other end. "I love you," she said, her voice wheedling.
"I guess I don't have to drive down there to file a missing person report," was all her mother said. Emily couldn't help but laugh. It died, however, when she saw Captain Steven G. Rogers turn the corner. Her mouth dropped open and she stopped mid-step. Em could hear her mother talking, but couldn't understand what she was saying. Steve smiled and walked towards her.
"Hey Mom, I've gotta go. I'll call you back later."
"Em-" the phone disconnected. She slipped the phone in her pocket and pinched her thigh, flinching slightly.
"You're alive," Steve said. Emily forced herself to close her mouth and smiled.
"Uh, yeah. Kinda went comatose there for a bit, but I guess this isn't a dream," she motioned to the walls.
"You sure? Kind of feels like one to me," he smirked. Em laughed nervously.
"I can only imagine. How's your first- I mean, are you finding it- I mean…" she finished lamely, running a hand through her damp tresses. "This has got to be strange."
"That's one word for it," he nodded, shifting his weigh. Em glanced at the bag in his hand and frowned.
"Are you leaving?" He followed her gaze and shook his head.
"Agent Coulson is going to show me a gym I can go to. I tried the one here…a bit too fancy for my taste."
"Oh," she said, nodding as though she knew what he was talking about. In all honesty, she hadn't even known there was a gym on the premises. She was about to say something when her stomach growled loudly. Blushing, she pressed a hand to it and laughed embarrassingly. "I'm going to go get breakfast," she said.
"I'd go see Dr. Thompson, as well. He was worried about you," said the Captain.
"Will do. Enjoy the gym." Steve nodded, raising his hand in farewell, before they split off at the next corridor.
Captain Rogers glanced back over his shoulder and shook his head, watching as the young doctor walked away. He knew that they wanted him to talk to her, but he'd never been good at talking to dames.
"Ready?" Coulson asked as Steve walked towards him. Steve nodded, slinging his gym bag over his shoulder. The two entered the parking garage, moving towards the fleet of black sedans. One's lights flashed when the agent pressed a button on the car key. Steve raised his eyebrows and shook his head; another technological advance.
OOO
Once Emily had set up a ride to retrieve her car and some boxes from the storage company the following day, she decided to leave HQ and explore the city. It had been days, after all, since she'd seen the sun. Although she had never been told not to leave the premises, it felt oddly like sneaking out when she left.
New York was just as Em remembered it: loud, busy, and crowded. She had to dodge people rushing about their business and, rather out of practice with the city life, she found herself being passed by those behind her quite frequently. Somewhat paranoid, Emily gripped the strap of her messenger bag tightly as she looked around.
It took approximately two minutes to locate what she was looking for: Starbucks. It took another ten minutes to place her order, and a few more to locate an empty chair. Her eyes bulged when she saw the 89 e-mails in her inbox, but it became more manageable when the spam was weeded out. There were a few nasty e-mails from students who were dissatisfied with their grades, another stating that the student she'd reported for plagiarism had been found guilty and was being reprimanded, another from Dr. Collins checking in with her, five more offering graduation pictures that she looked horrible in, and then one from Dave. Emily hesitated before opening it but eventually she did.
He wanted to talk about what had happened. He was sorry about how he acted, and would she please call him. They should meet for dinner at the Denver conference.
The Denver conference!
"Shit, shit, shit," she muttered, pulling the day planner from her bag and flipping to May. There, circled and starred, was the deadline for the conference paper submissions. Em had already sent in her paper abstract and been accepted to talk about the World War II propaganda, with specific emphasis on the Captain America project. Groaning, she put the planner away, contemplating how much more work she had left to do. That's when she saw the man watching her. When she caught his eye, he quickly looked away.
Quickly, she put the computer away and picked up her coffee, slinging the bag across shoulder and standing. He didn't look up from his paper, but she saw him shift slightly. Taking a deep breath, Emily walked to the door and pushed it open, forcing herself not to look back to see if he was following. When she'd walked a few blocks away, she caught sight of him in a store window. Her hand slipped into the bag and closed around a small canister of pepper spray as she dodged into a store. A quick look around showed that it was an older bookstore.
"Can I help you?" the proprietor asked.
"No, fine thanks," Emily said, darting down the first aisle and taking an immediate left. She had lucked out with this store: like many of the best, it was full of random twists and turns created by piles of books. On any other occasion, she would have loved to explore, but now she was just wondering who the guy following her was. The bell sounded again as the door was open.
"Looking for anything in particular?"
"No," the man replied. Emily crouched down behind one of the piles as he prowled around.
"Shit," she said to herself. Yes, this had seemed like a good idea at the time, but what if he stayed up there? She'd be trapped. Unfortunately, he seemed to think along that line and placed his hands behind his back, rocking on his toes and looking rather smug.
OOO
Coulson removed his cell phone from his pocket and frowned. "Excuse me for a moment," he said. Steve looked at the shorter man and nodded before wandering over towards the boxing ring. "Yes?" he demanded upon answering.
"Sir, Dr. Harthorn has left without authorization." Coulson huffed, running a hand across his face.
"Do you have eyes on her?"
"We have an agent tailing her-"
"Call him off."
"Sir?"
"Dr. Harthorn is not required to stay on site at all times. Call off the agent."
"Yes sir. And sir?"
"What is it?"
"We have an updated report from Dr. Foster that might require your attention."
"I'll see to it when I get back." Shaking his head, the agent hung up the phone and walked back towards where Captain Rogers was staring off into space.
Coulson had been thrilled (not that he'd shown it) when they'd found his childhood hero. He'd asked Fury if he could stay back and help with Roger's transition, but the Director had insisted that he and Sitwell deal with the Blonsky/World Council issue.
"Everything alright?" Rogers asked.
"Fine," Coulson answered. "We've acquired this building recently. Tech will be putting new locks on the doors, but you're free to come here as often as you'd like. We can have a driver assigned to you-"
"That's not necessary."
"-Until we get your license renewed," Coulson finished. "If you'd like anything brought in from the other gym, we can arrange it."
Rogers shook his head, looking around the old gym. There were pictures of people he didn't know on the walls and he pointed to one. "Whose that?"
"Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time. He's the only three time World Heavyweight Champion." Steve nodded and turned away, walking towards the punching bag. He gently pushed it, listening to the metal chain creak.
"There's hand wraps in the office," stated Coulson, pointing towards the dark room.
"You box?" Rogers asked.
"A little." The Captain smiled and motioned to the bag. Although he sorely wanted to, Coulson shook his head. "I have to get back. I'm going out of town tonight and need to see to a few things. If you need anything, Dr. Harthorn will know how to get in touch with me. Did you want me to send someone to get you in a few hours?"
"That'd be great," Steve said, walking back towards the agent. He held out his hand, "Travel safe."
"I will," Coulson smiled, shaking his hero's hand.
Author's Note: Ok, yes, there isn't a lot of Emily and Steve together in this chapter, but hey, it happens. But anyways, I've included a mention of the Blonsky/World Council issue. It was addressed during "The Consultant", the one-shot from Marvel, and the after-credit scene from The Incredible Hulk. For those of you who don't know it, I highly suggest watching it on YouTube and reading the Wikipedia page on Marvel one-shots.
Also, I love how Coulson is a "fan-boy" as my friend says and always imagined that he would be all about hanging out with Rogers. However, as Fury's "one good eye" he has a lot to do for S.H.I.E.L.D. so he can't be the main person helping him. The chapter mentions his involvement with Dr. Foster and (in a round about way) Dr. Banner. SOOO, it should come as no surprise that the other Avengers will show up at some point during this story.
As for Emily, I do want to say that she's not always so wrapped up in work (which you will see later). At the moment, though, she is attempting to juggle ending her university career, a new job, a move, and keeping her family in the dark about the new job, all while trying to come to terms with a new reality. So yeah, just making excuses for my OC. As always, let me know what you think!
