Picked up

Two weeks after she had obtained a black eye, she returned to the school in the Bronx with a bit more nervous energy than she would like. She took the extra precautions of not bringing very much money with her, carrying a home-made lunch instead. The students were kind to her as normal, but she couldn't help but miss her years practice teaching alongside High school teachers the year previous. Since it was still the end of summer, she was only helping out at year-round schools or alternative summer schools, and there was little recognition in the student's eyes when she passed them.

By the time the final bell rang, she felt the exhaustion wash over her as she checked her phone for the first time since lunch. Steve was beginning to get the idea of texting down as a form of communication, and while some evenings they did talk on the phone, it was much easier for them to check in during the day. She did have other friends, but she rarely spent time with others outside of work. Her lack of social life had never bothered her, it had always been more of a decision. Still, partially with Steves insistence and absolute ignorance of how some things worked in this century, she found herself opening up and getting out a little more often.

She couldn't help but chuckle at his question of the day: "Why do people become gluten-free?"

Recently he'd been making trips to the store to make new decisions on the foods he'd never tried before. Oreos had been a transformative experience for him two weeks prior over lunch. To Eleanor, it sounded like he was starting to get a bit stir-crazy being in Stark tower often. His runs had extended in length and time, and he was flying through novels that she and others recommended.

Steve had mentioned to her recently that he couldn't sit still for too long watching TV, because it made him feel too lazy. So another hobby he had picked up once more was making art.

Typing out a quick response to his question, she made her way around the classroom and picking up a few things the High Schoolers had left behind. She locked the desk with the spare key and then the classroom itself before heading down the long hallway to the Front Desk. More students recognized her at the end of the day, and a few waved on their way to their Extracurricular activities or on their way home.

The entrance of the school had a large staircase that opened up into a lawn and a sidewalk that followed the city street, as well as a sidewalk that went around the school building toward the sports fields. As the school had so recently ended, it seemed to be relatively busy, with parents pulling in to pick up kids. It was a beautiful day, so the students waiting sat along the fence or school wall trying to get the last rays of sunshine in after sitting inside for most of the day during class.

Eleanor checked her watch to make sure she would catch the right subway train, and began to head south on the main road when her phone rang. Seeing it was Steve, she was confused. She'd just texted him, and usually, he asked before he called.

"Hello?"

"Stop walking"

Immediately Eleanor moved to the side of the sidewalk to let the students behind her walk past. She then began to look around the school yard and the street for the man she assumed was watching her.

"Are you watching me?"

"Yup" She could hear his laugh in the phone, but her surroundings were too loud to hear wherever he was. She turned her body in a slow circle, trying to spot the familiar face of a man way to old to be in high school. When she stopped moving and was facing the school again, Steve gave her a little mercy. "Across the street from the school, on the bench in the park,"

There was a small children's park across the street that seemed to be quiet aside from the blond man in the hat and sunglasses sitting back against one of three benches. Students who had crossed the street walked past him without much of a second glance. Eleanor made eye contact and shook her head, hanging up her phone and motioning the sidewalk. She then backtracked to the school crosswalk to make her way over to her stealthy Superhero friend.

When she was close enough for him to hear her, she spoke with a casual smirk on her face. "Are you stalking me again?" It had become an inside joke that their first three meetings had been orchestrated by the Captain.

"No, it's destiny" He gave her a light wink.

Eleanor couldn't help but roll her eyes as she moved to sit beside him facing the school once more. "How'd you know it was me?" She was relatively the same size as most of the High Schoolers, and her young face had been addressed by multiple teachers in her teaching career, often times thinking she was also a student. But staring at the outflux of students from the building, she could hardly make out anyone's features enough to recognize them.

"Definitely the dress"

She glanced down at her knee length light blue work dress with cranes across it. While still professional, it had the distinct feeling of an elementary school teacher or a person born in another decade, like most of her other work clothes. She just nodded and adjusted her purse, readjusting the angle of her lunch box inside of it.

"And why are you here? You asked where I was teaching, but I thought you were just curious."

When she glanced at him, Steve didn't make eye contact, he just continued to look at the school. The number of students leaving was starting to peter out, "I was, but also last time you were on this side of town we ended up putting frozen peas on your face… I also wanted to get out of the tower." He lifted his sketchbook up to show her, tucking it in a side bag she hadn't noticed sitting at his feet. "Ready to head home?"

Once again surprised by his thoughtfulness, and definitely feeling more confident about getting back to her apartment through the subway, she nodded. She took the first few steps toward the school, when Steve softly grabbed her wrist, halting her movements.

"I parked over there," He pointed his thumb over his shoulder in the opposite direction at the suburbs on the other side of the park.

"You drove?" Eleanor hadn't really thought of it a lot, and she didn't realize that he had a car. More often than not, Steve preferred to walk places, and she couldn't remember seeing his keys when he visited her house. She still let him lead her by half a step, and he let go of her arm after he had assured himself she was following. When they hit the main road, she began looking closer at the cars that were parked, trying to find one that would match his personality. "Is it the Cadillac in that driveway?" She pointed down the street a bit of the way, figuring that an older car would be easier for him to drive and recognize, without all the fancy new tech.

Steve just chuckled and shook his head, pointing to a motorcycle next to a set of hedges in front of one of the homes. "That's me actually"

The Brunette nearly tripped over her own feet as she let her mouth drop open. She was about him driving older model vehicle but hadn't expected it to be one with only two wheels. "That death trap?" She felt her voice raise an octave.

"It's safe and it runs perfectly. We'll be fine"

"Safe? It's a Motorcycle! There aren't windows, and its half the size of a car!" Eleanor could admit that it was a nice bike, but she had to acknowledge her own humanity. "If someone hits you-you're like two-hundred times more likely to die Steve." She took a moment to realize her words.

Steve just raised an eyebrow at her.

She reassessed her comment, "If someone hits you maybe you'll be fine, but I'll be super dead"

This time he laughed and shook his head, walking closer to it and unlocking a box on the back side of it, taking out what looked to be a frisbee and pressing a button on it. The frisbee then somehow shaped itself to be a helmet, one of which he offered to Eleanor.

"You'll be fine. I happen to have pretty good reflexes, and Stark put some of his own tech in it to make it more durable. You do trust me, right? I sacrificed myself for food poisoning when I tried your new fish seasoning recipe last week." he put emphasis on his final sentence to try and persuade her.

"That fish was fine! Is this a guilt trip?"

"A what?"

"An Instance where you make me feel bad in order to get me to do what you want me to do?"

Steve just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Take the helmet."

Eleanor sighed and shook her head at him, taking it from his hands. She adjusted her hair into a low ponytail and stared at it for a second. Making eye contact with Steve, she took a breath before putting it over the top of her head. The Soldier patted the top of it twice and she felt extra padding making the helmet more form fitting to her head. He then flipped up the visor glasses and seemed to check the fit.

"How's it feel?"

"Like I'm still going to get onto a death trap?" Her voice was dry, and she tried to give him a teacher look, but felt the corner of her lips turn up in a smirk. She let him take her bag and fit it into the side pouch of the bike alongside his satchel and art set. Then after some adjusting, he pulled out a pair of vintage riding glasses. Making quick work, he flipped them over his head and adjusted them a bit before he got on the motorized vehicle and patted the spot behind him. Ella wrung her hands together, "What about your helmet?"

"Only minors are required by law to wear helmets. Adults just need eye protection." He chuckled and knocked his fist on his head. "I also have a pretty hard head"

Muttering under her breath Eleanor made her way forward, swinging a leg around the motorcycle as he instructed. He pointed out the pegs that she could use as a passenger and gave her a few hand signals to let him know if she was uncomfortable and they needed to stop. Double-checking her helmet, he let her get a grip around his waist before he started up the motorcycle. Her grip immediately got tighter, and he could feel her tense behind him as he slowly guided it out of the neighborhood.

As they entered the main street she kept her face slightly sideways, but within a few minutes of driving, he could tell that she was beginning to loosen up and look around as they weaved through traffic. She seemed to be very still as they made their way, usually tightening onto him when he made turns. Steve made sure to be extra careful of speed limits and felt a need to be more hypersensitive about his surroundings with her holding on behind him, but the trip across New York was substantially faster than it would have been using public transportation.

Pulling up to her apartment building, he parked once more under the stairs and let her get both feet onto the ground before he got off the bike. She was trying to take off the helmet by twisting it, and Steve laughed.

"Tap the top three times first."

She did as he instructed and then the helmet slipped right off her head. "How-" she stared at it for a second before shaking her head and shrugging, offering it back to Steve.

He pressed the button he'd used earlier and it flattened back into a frisbee shaped item for him to easily slip into his bike pocket as he took out Eleanor's Purse out and handed it to her. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

She took the offered Item gently, with a soft look in her eye. "It wasn't." She adjusted her bag on her arm. "Thanks for the ride, I really appreciated it." She fiddled a bit with a keychain that hung off the bag. "Do you want to come in for dinner Steve?"

"No experimental fish recipes?"

She shoved him with her shoulder. "That fish turned out FINE." Without saying anything else, she started up the stairs, only glancing behind herself when she noticed he wasn't following immediately after her. He hadn't moved but just stared at her with a stupid smile. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah. I'm coming."