I still do not own Marvel or it's affiliates.
"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better." ~J.K. Rowling
Sam Wilson was going for his morning run when a blonde man ran past. "On your left." The man ran past again.
"On your left." He said.
"Yeah. On my left. Got it."
A little later the man ran past him again. "Don't say it. Don't you say it."
"On your left."
"Oh, come on!" Sam ran faster, trying to catch up to the man, but it was hopeless. The man simply ran too fast. So Sam stopped, hands on his knees gasping for breath before he sat down under a tree clutching his side.
"Need a medic?"
Sam laughed. "I need a new set of lungs. Dude you just ran, like 13 miles in 30 minutes."
"Guess I got a late start."
"Really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap. Did you just take it? I assume you just took it." Sam couldn't help being snarky, really he couldn't. the guy had just ran laps around him, and Sam was still trying to get his breath back while the other man didn't seem out of breath at all, really.
"What unit you with?"
"58th pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA. Sam Wilson." He motioned for a hand up.
"Steve Rodgers."
"I kind of put that together." Honestly it wasn't that hard to figure out considering the man had run those laps like they were nothing. "Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."
Sam listened as the other man sighed. "It takes some getting used to. It's good to meet you Sam." Steve Rodgers turned to go and Sam couldn't help it.
"It's your bed, right?"
"What's that?" Steve turned back around.
"Your bed, it's too soft. When I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground, use rocks as pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed and it's like…"
"Lying on a marshmallow. Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor."
"Yeah."
"How long?" Steve asked him.
Sam sobered slightly. "Two tours." The other man seemed to understand. "You must miss the good old days, huh?"
The other man paused for a second. "Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better. We used to boil everything. No polio's good. Internet so helpful. Been reading that a lot trying to catch up."
Sam thought for a moment, "Marvin Gaye, 1972, trouble man soundtrack. Everything you missed jammed into one album." Steve pulled out a little notebook and wrote it down.
"I'll put it on the list." Steve's phone dinged. "All right, Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run. If that's what you want to call running."
"Oh? That's how it is?" Sam was amused.
"That's how it is." The other man joked.
"Okay." They shook hands. As Steve walked away Sam called after him. "Any time you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."
"I'll keep it in mind."
"Yeah."
A sports car drove up and stopped by the curb. The window rolled down and revealed a red head.
"Hey, fellas." She said. "Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."
"That's hilarious." Steve said walking to the car.
Sam crouched down slightly so he was eye level with the woman in the car, nodding at her. "How you doing?"
"Hey."
"Can't run everywhere." Steve said.
Sam just laughed. "No, you can't."
Let me know what you think!