Chapter 3

Cap's POV

1 week later

I woke up to the familiar toll of my alarm at 5:30. I hopped out of bed and quickly got dressed for my morning run with Sam, no doubt that he won't give me crap about missing yesterday. I walked out of the room to find Rena on the couch. The dark circles under her eyes indicated that she had been up for a while, or just never fell asleep. She was visibly shaken, has been for the past week. Every time I ask her about it, she brushes it off and blames it on old memories. Speaking of which, I hardly know anything about her memories. I only know what's on her file and that wasn't very descriptive.

"Rena," I gingerly asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm f…no, I'm not." She said, not looking up at me, "But don't worry, I'll be fine."

I sat down next to her on the couch, "You know you can talk to me right, I'll always be here to listen."

She nodded numbly, "Yeah…I know. It's just…old memories."

"Why don't you tell me about them?"

"Why?" she scoffed, putting her defenses up, "So you can play 'therapist'?"

I shook my head, "No, so that I can understand what's eating you. Maybe help you if you want."

She looked at me questionably, "Steve…it's just…I don't know if you'll understand."

"Try me, I've been through some weird stuff, even fought against a god. Nothing really fazes me now."

"If you say so." She drew a deep breath, "When I was 11, my parents were driving me home from my school's choir concert. It was 8:32 p.m. when Dad noticed something was wrong. 30 seconds later my mom caught on. It took another minute for me to get in the loop. A drunk driver was headed for us. He was going really fast and was in the wrong lane." She wiped away a stray tear, "We had about 45 seconds before collision. Mom and Dad kept saying they loved me, that no matter what happens that they will always love me. I tried to convince them that we'll survive when we crashed. Mom and Dad died right away, a painless death. Meanwhile I was taken to the hospital with a dented skull and a busted right knee that had to be replaced."

She lifted up her face-frame bangs and moved my fingers towards the visible dent in the middle of her forehead.

"Oh my," I said quietly.

"I know, it's nothing like the battlefields in Nazi Germany. But to an 11 year-old girl, it's pretty traumatizing."

I gently placed my hand on her knee, "Rena, you never need to compare your problems to mine. I'll always listen and won't judge you. What you went through was traumatizing, you have a right to be shaken."

She nodded and I got up, convinced that wasn't the reason she was shaken.

"I'm going out for my run, I'll be back in about 30 minutes for breakfast. Okay?"

She nodded and quietly said okay. I walked out and closed the door, praying to God for healing for her.

Rena's POV

I remained seated on the couch, I've seen the shadow for about 5 times now. But I can't tell Steve, he'll just think I'm crazy. It's best if I don't say anything, but then… Well, it doesn't matter now, he's already left.

Suddenly I heard a thump outside my window. I rushed to my room where I grabbed the .45 pistol that Steve bought for me yesterday and pointed it out the window. So I'm paranoid, sue me! I stayed remarkably still in that position for about 20 minutes before Steve came back and found me like that.

"What the hell, Rena?" He nearly shouted, walking in.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't hear you come in." I said quietly.

"Doesn't matter, what I want to know is why you have a gun pointed at my living room window?"

"Would you believe me if I told you it was tourist season?" I tried with a hopeful smile.

His glare told me he didn't. I sighed and tossed the gun gently on the couch.

"If you must know," I sighed, "I heard a thump out the window and thought somebody was stalking me or you."

It wasn't totally a lie, I did hear a thump outside my window. I just wasn't telling him that it had been going on for a couple days now.

Just as he was about to say something, there was a knock at the door. I made quick work of hiding the gun while Steve answered the door. Walking back into the living room, I saw that Steve was talking with a semi-tall man with a black eye patch and a black trench coat. His one good brown eye seemed to compare with his cocoa-colored skin. I tried, and failed, to walk back into my room stealthily.

"Ah, so this is Sarena, Captain?" the man in black said as he motioned for me to walk over to him.

I carefully did so, still suspicious of him, "The one and only."

"Rena," Steve started, "This is Nick Fury… he's a…close friend of mine."

His hesitation proved otherwise, but I decided not to bring it up. Besides his name sounded so familiar. It finally came to me and I blurted out.

"Aren't you the director of SHIELD who was shot and killed?"

I felt so stupid right then and there, but who could blame me? I had a potential ghost sitting in my kitchen right now!

"That's a blunt way of putting it, but yes." Nick said.

"But then how are you..?" I drifted off.

He looked to Steve for ideas on how to explain the situation. Finally he said, "It was a lot of fancy surgery and potent medications, my dear."

I nodded understandingly, "Not that I'm not enjoying your company, but why are you here?"

He looked at me kindly, "Well, I heard that Steve adopted a girl and I wanted to see how she was faring."

Wingardium Levi-BULLSHIT! I so wasn't buying his crap. This guy wasn't here for me, at least for the reason he said he was. But I didn't say anything, Steve probably would hate me for it. I went back to my room, but left the door open so that I could still hear them.

"Steve, we need you back in the field."

I was shocked, back in the field? Didn't that field end after the end of SHIELD? What other field is there for Captain America? Besides…who would take care of me? I know I'm 14, but still…

Then I heard Steve's booming voice, "Sir, there is no field you can order me back to since SHIELD fell and you're not my superior anymore."

"Captain, the Winter Soldier has been spotted in Germany."

Winter Soldier? Oh, that one guy with the metal arm that got his mind screwed up by HYDRA. But in Germany? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

"Sir, with all due respect, I can't go because I have a child to take care of. A responsibility that you dumped on me, I might add."

Tears pricked my eyes out of confusion. Steve never wanted a daughter? He never really wanted me? I shook my head to clear my thoughts, I need to keep an open mind.

"Captain," Nick Fury said sternfully, "Black Widow is already there investigating. Your stealth suit and shield are packed away. The quinjet will be on you roof in 10 minutes. Agent Barton will be here in 5. If I were you, I'd start getting ready."

He left the room and I heard the door close. I sat down on my bed, hunched over. How could it happen so quickly? It was like just yesterday I just got here, now he's leaving me. I heard Steve push open my door.

"I assumed you heard what we were talking about."

"Yeah, every word."

He walked over and sat down on my bed, "I'll only be gone for a week or 2 at most. If all goes well, I'll be back before you know it."

I smiled, but my heart wasn't in it, "Fingers crossed."

We stayed there in silence until I said, "You should go pack; the jet will be here soon."

He nodded and said, "Why don't you help me, girlie?"

I got up and followed after him. He threw a decent-size duffel on his bed. I took the liberty of packing away his phone and charger and a few other electronics. When he looked at me questionably, I said.

"Plane rides are usually boring, even at top speed."

He smiled warmly and allowed me to tuck them away in a small pocket. Soon, I heard the sound of propellers on our roof. Steve zipped his bag shut and we walked up the fire escape to the roof.

A man with brown hair and a suit walked out of the jet. He appeared to be fangirling on the inside.

"Ready to go, Cap?" He asked.

He nodded, "As I'll ever be, Agent Coulson."

Another man came out of the quinjet. He had brown, spiky hair and wore a black tactical suit and a black tank top. A compound bow and arrow were strapped across his back. He walked over to Steve and gave him a firm handshake.

"Take care of her," Steve said firmly.

"You have my word, Cap."

Steve turned to me, "Rena, this is Agent Barton. He's going to be you-"

"Babysitter? Kinda figured that out." I said coldly.

Cap just gave Agent Barton the 'what can you do' look. He gave me one last hug and promised that he'll be back soon. Agent Barton and I watched as the quinjet took off into the horizon. When we walked back into the apartment, he said.

"So what do you what do you want to eat since it's…" He glanced at the clock, "Nearly 8 o'clock."

I shrugged, "What have we got in the pantry?"

He began to dig through while muttering, "Oatmeal, dried fruit, trail mix, and seaweed? Wow, your dad really is a stickler when it comes to food."

I chuckled, "That's not completely true. He just keeps it around for after work-outs."

"Damn, so you work out with him?"

I shrugged, "As much as I can before I pass out from exhaustion."

He chuckled, "I don't think anyone can keep up with your dad."

I laughed lightly, "So how did you get stuck being my babysitter, Agent Barton?"

He just looked up from his phone and said, "I volunteered. Figured you'd need somebody who'd understand kids. And please, call me Clint."

"Okay, Clint. So what are you ordering?"

He didn't even look up from his phone, "Ordering pizza, pepperoni alright?"

I looked at him incredulously, "Pizza for breakfast?"

Clint nodded, "Why not? It's not like Steve's going to find out?"

I laughed, this guy just might be pretty cool. I plopped back on the couch and turned on Netflix to watch some comedy special. Meanwhile, Clint set up camp in Steve's room and it was then that I realized that I was still in my pajamas which consisted of a black tank top and a pair of Steve's old sweatpants and my hair was in a curly wreck. Well, not like it matters now, I though, 3 government officials have already seen me. How much worse could it get.

Then Clint walked out of the room and laughed at my flopped over position.

"By the way," he said as he went into the kitchen to grab a drink, "Nice hair, I hear the rat's nests are totes in."

I groaned and flopped over onto the floor. This was going to be a long-ass…however long Steve is on Germany, but…it just might be fun.