OK- never say I haven't done anything for you. ;D I've worked my butt off to produce this glorious chapter in record time! So it's probably riddled with mistakes and errors, but I've checked & fixed what I've noticed.
Anyways- who wants to see Arlie meet Steve?
Read, review, ect. Enjoy!
July 26th, 2011 (Arlie)
With Owl on one side and Tasha on the other, I feel kind of like I've got my own personal body guards going into SHIELD. No- not like- I do have my own personal body guards going into SHIELD. Fury is waiting for us near the entrance and, after leading us passed several locked/coded doors, down several hallways, and into what is clearly an older part of the SHIELD New York base, he stops in front of a door.
"This is it," he says carefully examining me with his one eye. I stare right back. "Captain Rogers spends a lot of his time here," he informs me, "It's an old gym from when SHIELD was first founded that no one uses any more- not much besides a jogging track and some punching bags. Let's head in." He opens the door and the first thing I realize is: He feels most at home here. It's an old gym and it looks like it. This is probably the closest Captain Rogers can get to actually going back in time. Then I see him. He's large- and sweating- and wailing on a punching bag like it did him some personal wrong.
I'm really not sure what I can do to help this man. But this is Phil's hero, and he asked me to try.
"Captain Rogers," Fury says in a booming voice. The super soldier turns around and I get my first good look at his face. It's almost boyish and clean cut in that way that only seems to exist in old 1950's movies. Of course, that is where he belongs. His eyes are a very pale, bright blue and his hair is a purer blonde than Clint's dirty blonde. He's got some jawline, though.
He sees me and Tasha and immediately straightens up, almost as if he was uncomfortable. I notice Tasha's mouth twitch and can tell she's amused by the Super Soldier being intimidated by having to talk to women. I watch Captain Rogers shift a little on his feet as if uncertain what to do, and am actually glad Fury swoops in to save him from his discomfort.
"This is Agent Romanoff," he says with a nod at Tasha. Captain Rogers bows his head slightly and says "ma'am" in a deep, deferential voice. Tasha just raises an eyebrow. "And this is Kansas- she's not with SHIELD, but she's helped us on occasion." I debate in my head the pros and cons of sticking my tongue out at Fury. It would upset Phil, so I decide to let it be. The Captain gives me the same treatment as Tasha and I give him a small smile. I'm not sure what to make of Captain America. What does it do to a man to find out he's been asleep for seventy years- frozen in the ice? Clint doesn't trust him, and I promised my brother to be on my guard. Owl is standing close by me and carefully watching both Fury and Captain Rogers. Good dog.
"We thought," Fury continues now that introductions are over, "That they might help you with any questions or problems you might have. Agent Romanoff has had a similar experience with cultural differences and Kansas is," Fury seems to struggle with what to say here, I turn to him and raise an eyebrow.
"She's good," Tasha interjects. We all turn to her in various states: Fury with some mild disapproval and exasperation, me with some small surprise and a lot of gratitude, and Captain Rogers with confusion but acceptance.
"Well, Kansas- call your mutt off and I'll be on my way," Fury gives a dirty look to Owl, who returns it.
"Owl's not guarding you, Director- you can come and go as you please. I just wouldn't recommend coming too close to me," as if on cue, Owl gives a small, low growl in the back of his throat. Fury rolls his eyes and leaves the room.
"Agent Romanoff?" Captain Rogers asks, as if seeking reassurance that he got her name right.
"That's correct," Tasha says with a nod, going to sit on a nearby bench. I forgo the bench and just crouch down on the ground Indian-style with Owl. He shifts himself so he's lying in front of me, still on alert.
"Director Fury said you'd had a…similar experience, ma'am?" he questions, his eyebrows coming together.
"Tasha had a bit of culture to catch up when she joined SHIELD," I tell him, knowing Tasha doesn't like to answer questions. If I open up the story for her, she'll jump in, but she dislikes it when she has to answer directly.
"I was raised in an institution that hadn't had contact with the outside since the fall of the Soviet Union," she explains after a nod to me in thanks.
"The fall?" Captain Rogers asks.
Oh, dear.
Tasha crosses her arms and legs simultaneously, "Have you been debriefed on the events of the last 70 years?" she asks straight forwardly. I roll my eyes. Smooth, Tasha, really.
"What she means is," I say before Captain Rogers can answer, "What have you been told by SHIELD?"
Captain Rogers turns towards me to answer and seems thrown off by my sitting on the floor. And then he casts a cautious look at Owl. I smirk.
"It's fine, come forward a bit. Сейф, Owl." (safe) Owl relaxes marginally (he's getting to be as protective as Clint), but wags his tail a bit and sniffs the Captain's hand. "This is Owl, he's a bit protective. Kind of like having a big brother around 24/7," I joke, and am immensely proud of myself when I see I've managed to make the Captain give a small smile.
"SHIELD's given me some reading material, but," he shrugs with a self-deprecating grimace.
"It's duller than bricks, huh?" I say with sympathy. The poor guy's been asleep for seventy years and the reading material SHIELD gave him probably would put him to sleep for another seventy more.
He chuckles a little bit and gives me a nod. Tasha looks a tad confused. I look over her at laugh.
"Tasha- not everyone is like you and Phil; most people don't like reading files." She gives me a small scowl for my teasing.
"So you two are friends?" he asks, gesturing at both of us.
I nod quickly, "I've known Tasha since she came to SHIELD."
"Kansas helped me adjust to New York and the cultural differences. She made me feel like home wasn't so far away." Well, isn't that just typical Tasha? She manages to sneak in the most beautiful things in the middle of a whole bunch of ordinary sentences. I give her a small smile, touched she considered me a help with what she had struggled with so much.
"So I think we should work on your history. Catch you up on current events," I say, boucing up to my feet. Owl is startled by the motion and jumps up and begins to sniff me in an effort to see what was wrong. I pat him on the head and say "Let's go to the museum!"
Tasha grins- she actually loves going to the museum, and the only way you can get me there is if Tasha's coming or Clint. They both know all the fun parts of history that you can miss out on. They're better than tour guides.
Captain Roger's waffles a bit but when I grab him by the arm and physically drag him from the room he doesn't put up a fight. Tasha follows behind at a slower pace, smirking.
July 26th, 2011 (Steve)
I did not think when I started my workout today that I'd end up standing in a museum with two women bickering over whether or not Napoleon was any good as a general or not.
How they got on the subject, I don't know- we were in a World War I exhibit and have since moved into the World War II exhibit.
It's strange- seeing the events of my life turned into an exhibit. I look around- there are references to me in some of the plaques and even one whole mural with pictures of me, my men, comics drawn of us, cards made for kids, fans wearing Captain America memorabilia, and a dozen other things relating to me.
I stand before that wall- it's hidden partially by some other things covered in glass and labeled with tags with words like "Donated by Edward Hahn on the occasion of his death." In the corner of my mind I notice that Agent Romanoff and Kansas had stopped bickering a while ago and Kansas is now standing next to me. Owl is still by her side- he almost didn't get into the museum until Agent Romanoff told the attendant that he was a type of dog that sensed seizures for Kansas and the man was so distracted by the beautiful Agent that he barely glanced at Kansas and Owl again.
"You know," Kansas says, almost as if discussing the weather, "I remember when I was younger, I was staying with a family who were less-than-OK," she shrugs, not explaining that statement further, "so I used to love going to school since that meant getting away from them. At one point, for history class I had to do a project on a historical figure from World War II. I picked you and I had never spent so much time on a school project in my life. Mostly because it kept me out of the house but also because I wished that there were more guys like you around nowadays. But that's not what you want to hear," she says, turning to look me in the eye, "This is a museum, and it's taken your life and the things that happened to you and turned them into objects behind glass and things that need to be labeled. But look," she gestures around the room. I do as directed and notice the people in there, the mothers with their children, the teacher with her class on a field trip, the couples holding hands and whispering to each other with stars in their eyes, "The life you knew may have been made less real by having it turned into an exhibit, but the truth of life isn't the events that are happening or the year it is. The truth is- it's in people. Wonderful, ordinary people, who sometimes go to museums so they never forget where we've come from and maybe we can get a little inspired about where we're going."
I look over at this petite girl who just completely turned my view of the world on its head. She gives me a small shrug with a quirky smile.
"You may feel alone, Captain Rogers, but I promise you, you're not. You just haven't found them yet."
"Who?"
"Your family."
With that enigmatic answer, she pats her dog on the head and turns on her heel to go meet up with Agent Romanoff at a display on the Vietnam War.
I'm so surprised by Kansas I don't even realize that I hadn't known there was a war in Vietnam.
About a half hour later we're walking out of the museum and I'm joining in on the debate on Napolean. Having led men myself, I offer some insights that Agent Romanoff and Kansas hadn't thought of. The trip had impressed me with Agent Romanoff's knowledge of history. She seems to know all the interesting facts that museums and textbooks leave out since they have very little actual bearing on history. But they make it all so much more…alive.
Kansas says she wants to take Owl to the park and Agent Romanoff suggests a smaller one that is nearby and we begin to walk there.
I'll admit, it's still a bit overwhelming in New York- it's not the city I'm used to or the one I grew up in anymore, but then Kansas points out a building that she says has been around since the 19th Century and I recognize it.
I barely notice Agent Romanoff's knowing smirk as we enter the park. Kansas begins to run with Owl looping next to her and they suddenly seem like children- a little girl playing with her dog at a park.
"Agent Romanoff?" I say, coming up to where she's place herself on a bench. She inclines her head slightly, so I take that as permission to sit down and continue with my question.
"Kansas-" I drop off, not really sure how to say what I want to know.
"Yes," Agent Romanoff says, "She's usually like this. And no, she doesn't normally fully realize just how much of an impact she has. I'm from Russia, and when I first came here I was uncomfortable and homesick. She found this restaurant one day and brought me to it. It's owned by some Russian immigrants and all the food is Russian dishes and you order in Russian." She kept her eyes on the girl and dog, who have found a stick and are playing fetch now, "I still go there. It's something Kansas can show you about New York- yes, the city is constantly changing and growing, but it's because it's everyone's home all placed together. Your New York is in here somewhere, you've just got to find it. My Russia is in here. Kansas's home is somewhere. New York takes everyone's home and puts them all into one collage to make the city. It just takes a closer look to find where yours is."
"She doesn't work for SHIELD?"
Agent Romanoff seems to find this amusing, "No. She hates SHIELD, actually."
"So why does she work with them?"
"She doesn't. She knows some of the Agents and likes them, so she'll help us out on occasion, but she won't lift a finger for the agency."
"Hey, Captain," the woman in question shouts, "You're a supersoldier and we interrupted your workout- try and tire out my dog, I'm done." She settles herself on the bench on the other side of Agent Romanoff.
"Of course, ma'am," I say, standing. She waves her hand at me and rolls her eyes.
"Go, then, but stop calling me "ma'am," makes me feel old. Just call me Kansas if you have to."
"It's an unusual name," I say with a smirk.
She snorts lightly, "My brother gave it to me. Now go- my dog's about to turn himself inside out, he's so excited."
I turn and see Owl's entire body is practically vibrating with excitement.
This is also something that feels familiar. I never had a dog, but I knew dogs, and between Owl, the park we're in, and the calm chatter of Kansas and Agent Romanoff in the background, it seems almost as if, for a moment, I was home.