Hello all! This is Alice, as Amy is just now getting back from camping. I would have had this posted earlier, however Amy didn't give me the info until now. So blame her. This Chapter is also all her, as she had this written 4 chapters ago. Thank you all for you Reviews, you have no idea how much we appreciate them. I am not one for much news, so without further ado, here is the next chapter!
Chapter 10: Trouble Magnet
Brooklyn, New York
This new world that surrounded him confused him in more ways than one. There was no making sense of the craziness and no escape from the memories. Memories of how New York should've been. How New York he remembered it from seventy years ago. He could barely even understand every day normal things like a cell phone. Ever since he had woken up from being frozen in ice, there was someone who showed him new things from this strange world and how they worked. But it was slow work and often left him with a headache. He started the habit of walking around his old home of Brooklyn at night. That was the time when things seemed closer to how things were back in 1941. It was also when he met her for the first time.
He was jogging down the street while memories haunted his every step. Nearly every ally contained a memory of him getting beat up. But the
most painful was the memory of riding in the car with Peggy, pointing out these exact allies to her. Peggy. The thought alone made him wince. He pushed himself harder, trying to out run the memory of a beautiful red haired dam. A scream broke him out of his thoughts. He didn't think twice when he started running towards where the sound had come from. Ironically, it was the same ally that he was first beaten up in.
In the ally, he saw a girl cornered by three thugs. She was a teenager, sixteen or seventeen at the oldest. "Hey girly. You want to be a good girl and hand over your bag?" One of them sneered. The other two laughed. "I get her first!" One crowed. The girl's eyes widened in fear and Steve stepped in then. "I don't know what it's about this time, but that is not how you treat a lady." He said, causing the men jump in surprise and turn to him.
"And who are you?" The first man growled.
"I'm Steve Rogers." Steve responded, sizing the men up. They were only simple thugs. Once you took out the leader, the others would be helpless, uncertain of what to do.
"
Yeah? And you're gonna regret interfering. Boys, you know what to do." While the man lunged at the girl, the two other thugs raced towards the solider. They were knocked out quickly. When Steve turned to finish the final thug, his blood turned cold at the sight of the man holding a gun to the girl's head. "Release her." Steve ordered.
"Who's gonna make me? You? She'll be dead before you can even hit me." He taunted. Steve was torn on what to do. His instinct was shouting to punch the guy, but he hesitated, not wanting to risk the girl's life. Before he could do anything, the girl stomped her foot on the man's and shoved her elbow into his gut. Steve leaped at the man, knocking the gun out of his hand. Steve punched him in the gut and face before dropping him. The thug whimpered and crawled away, followed by the two others who had just woken up. "Ma'am? Are you alright?" Steve asked the girl. She stared dazed at him before nodding her head. "Thanks. I guess." She said.
"You guess? Those guys were about to hurt you." Steve said, shocked.
She shrugged. "They caught me off guard. And how do you know if I was going to be okay? For all you know I could've handled myself." She snapped. "Sorry. I'm just a little on edge. I'm not usually this close to violence and my sister finally called me earlier. We kind of lost contact with Alice for quite a while now." She apologized.
"Where has she been?" Steve asked, curious despite himself. The girl led the way out of the ally. "When she first left, it was for two months for some training thing. Afterwards she just went out on her own for a while. I'm not quite sure where though. Somewhere in South America?" She guessed.
"What did your parents say about her being gone for so long?" Steve asked, surprised by this strange girl. She stayed quite for several minutes. "I'm sorry Ma'am. If I overstepped my bounds-"
"No. It's just… It's been a while since I've thought about my parents. My sister Jen and I parents died several years ago. We're basically on our own."
"Wait. I thought Alice was your sister." Steve was starting to get confused. Well, more than he was already.
"Jen is my biological sister. Alice is my best friend who I kinda adopted her as my sister when I first met her when I was eleven." She
explained.
Suddenly, a song started playing. Steve started, shocked at the girl pulled out a cell phone from her back pocket and looked at it. She quickly pressed several buttons before putting it back to where it was. She caught Steve staring at her weirdly. "You're… ringtone… is Over There?" He asked surprised. He was proud of himself for remembering what a ringtone was.
"Ummmm. Yeah. I really like history. I picked that ringtone for one of my adoptive brothers. Alice is home… so… I'll see you around." She said, waving before running off. Steve stared after her for a moment before shaking his head and started walking towards the place he was staying. It wasn't a home to him; his home was back in 1941.
The next night Steve found himself running again down the same road. Over There's melody running through his head. He found himself whistling to it. He stopped, trying to get the song out of his head, not wanting to remember how Bucky always sang it. Steve saw a group of men push themselves off the wall they were lounging on and stalk towards a girl who had her back turned and talking on her phone. Steve squinted, had he seen the girl before? But knew what kind of men were; the bad kind that could only be found during the night where they crawled out from the darkest places on earth. Steve didn't waste anytime knocking them out. By the time he had finished with them, the girl had gotten off her phone and had punched one of them in face. Which in turn made him very pissed off.
The man lunged at the girl and Steve reacted instantly, throwing a trash can lid at the man like he would his shield. It knocked into the man's head and he crumpled to the ground. "Are you okay Ma- you! What are you doing here?" Steve demanded. It was the same girl from yesterday. "I could ask you the same thing Steve Rogers." She retorted, shaking her hand.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Steve asked, concerned.
"Nah, I'm fine. Though this one sure has a hard head. Cool trick with the trash can lid. And I realized that I never told you my name
yesterday. I'm Amy." Amy said, introducing herself. Steve shook the hand she held out to him. They quickly left the scene in case one of them woke up and decided that wanted a rematch.
"Thanks for saving me… again. I think." Amy said.
"What? You aren't going to tell me that you could've handled yourself?" Joked Steve.
"How did you know what I was going to say next?" She laughed. "But no. There was six of them. It was hardly a fair fight." She said, sticking her hands into her pockets.
"That's what I do. I save people." Steve said seriously.
"That's nice. Everyone needs a superhero every once in a while." Amy replied back just as seriously. "You know, when I said I'd see you around, I didn't mean it litterly." She said, smiling slightly.
"What are you doing that keeps you getting into these kinds of situations?" Steve asked.
"I don't know. But I'm usually with Alice or one of the guys. It's been a while since I've been on my own for a while. Speaking of Alice, I got to go. She's waiting for me so we can watch a movie together." Amy said before walking away.
"Wait!" Steve called after her. She stopped and turned back to look at Steve. His face turned red and he said, "Stay safe." Amy smiled and nodded before saying, "You too." before walking away.
"You got to be kidding me!" Steve groaned. Amy smiled sheepishly at him from where a man had her pinned against a wall. This was the third night in a row for Steve to find Amy in some kind of trouble. "I told you to stay out of trouble!"
"Actually, you told me to stay safe. Me staying out of trouble is impossible." She said. What she did next surprised him and the creep who held her. Without wasting any time, she rammed her knee up, making him lean over in pain. She then twisted out from underneath him and shoved him to the ground. Her fists flew at his face and gut before tying his hands behind his back. Steve blinked. "How the hell did you do that?"
"I told you. I can take care of myself. You always kept showing up before I could do something." Amy sighed. "When you live with Ryan and Johnny for an extended amount of time, you quickly learn how to defend yourself." She explained herself slightly.
"I have got beaten up in this ally several times and nearly every other ally down this street, but I have never met anyone prone to trouble as you are." Steve said, shaking his head.
"But you just said you got beat up a lot. And frankly, I can't believe that." Amy snorted.
"I used to be a little guy. And the difference between you and me is
that I picked those fights. Trouble just comes to you." Steve retorted. Suddenly Amy's body stiffened and she twisted aroundquickly. Steve tensed, ready for a fight.
"Alice! I know you're there! I heard you hit your forehead!" She called out.
There was rustling sound before a girl dropped down into the ally. She appeared to be a little bit older than Amy with dirty blonde hair that went until her mid-back. Her hazel eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief. Her dark tan clashed badly with her blonde hair. "It's called a face palm." The girl said- who Steve assumed was Alice- crossing her arms over her chest.
"Same difference Fake Tan."
"That's what happens when you go running around in a jungle searching for other freaks."
"What? You have never heard of sun screen?"
"Oh. Like you actually use that."
"At least I look normal, not like some blonde bimbo who spent too much time in the tanning booth."
"It's a fresh tan, and I'd rather look like an idiot than be one."
"Oh! So you think I'm an idiot now don't you?" Amy snapped, glaring.
"Why else would I follow you? I knew that you would need protection, but I didn't realize that you'd get help from a flippin' real
superhero!"
"What are you saying? That Steve was never really helping me? That he is only using me to get in my pants?" Amy seethes. Steve's face turned
beat red as he watched the two girls argue. Alice noticed his blush before her eyes flickering back to Amy. "Wait. You don't know? Oh
geeze. Didn't you read the file?"
"Of course I didn't read it!"
"What do you mean you didn't read it?! What kind of sister are you that doesn't snoop through my stuff the first chance you get?"
"What kind of sister leaves for six months without telling any of us for how long you'd be gone and never letting me- us know that you were even alive?!" Amy screamed. Silence echoed loudly. Alice swallowed hard. "I-I never meant to make you guys worry. I didn't have reception and at one point, I didn't want to call you. I needed to think thing through on my own." Alice whispered, pulling Amy into a hug who returned the gesture.
"Just leave me again like that." Amy whispered. Alice nodded.
"Promise." The two girls pulled apart. "Now that's out of the way, things will go back to normal, right little doo doo head Cootie
Queen?"
"Who are you calling a Cootie Queen, you Lint Licker?" Amy retorted, a smile on her face.
Steve cleared his throat and the girls' heads snapped towards him. "Are you done… insulting each other?" He asked hesitantly.
"Nah, we're just getting started. This is our way of making up after a fight; we crack ourselves up with silly curses." Alice explained.
"So… I'm going to go now." Steve said, backing away slowly. He didn't know what to make of these strange girls.
"No. Wait. We're going to dinner. Want to join us?" Alice asked.
"We?" Amy asked.
"You, me and the Walking Flag." Alice retorted.
"The Walking what?"
"Just start walking." Alice ordered. Amy grabbed Steve's hand and started to pull him down the street, smiling and laughing. "Come on Steve, it'll be fun." She laughed. Steve felt a smile coming on his face without meaning to. He liked Amy, regardless of how they kept meeting. It was Alice he was slightly wary of. He continued to watch her from the corner of his eye as they walked down the street to where Amy was leading them. "You know, I have a shield too." Alice said
suddenly, her voice soft enough for only Steve to hear.
"What?"
"My shield my not be round with the colors red, white, and blue, but our shields are kinda similar." Alice said, pulling out a badge with what Steve recognized as SHIELD's symbol. "So that's how you know." He said.
"Yeah. So you don't have to worry about me." Alice said. Steve nodded and felt his worries disappear.
As the three of them wait for their food, both Amy and Alice's phones went off. The songs T.N.T. and Guns For Hire by ACDC shrilled through the air. They simontaiously answered their phones. "Hi Ryan. What do you want?" Amy said while Alice said, "No Johnny, you and Ryan cannot borrow my laptop to talk to Tony." They both quickly ended their conversations. "I thought your ringtone was Over There?" Steve asked, startled the harsh and loud music coming out of their phones.
"I have a different ringtone for everyone. Over There is for Luis. T.N.T. for Ryan."
"How can you do that? Why would you want that?"
"So you can know who's calling without looking at the caller id." Amy said. Alice looked at him with a sympatric look on her face. "Here, I'll show you." Alice said, taking the phone Steve had pulled out of his pocket. "They had to give you a Smartphone, didn't they?" She joked. By the time their food arrived, Alice had shown Steve how to change his ringtone for different people.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" Amy asked as they left the dinner with full stomachs.
"I'm doing my normal routine of jogging then going to the gym. Am I going to see you tomorrow on my jog?" Steve joked. Amy blushed and shook her head. "What gym?" She asked. Steve told her and she nodded.
"Why?" Steve asked, curious.
"Because I know we'll be bored tomorrow." Amy said before skipping away.
"You know, you aren't half bad." Alice said before following her sister.
Hope you all enjoyed! Amy has assured me that she has the next chapter well underway. Please, as always, leave a review. All flames will be used to roast marshmallows for my smores. All Reviewers will receive a virtual Smore as well as a huge virtual hug.
