Chapter 2

Steve looked at the ticking clock strike noon, when Bianka was supposed to arrive at Harvy's Diner, a 1940s-style establishment that he preferred to eat at. It had a lot of history, and despite Steve never actually having been to its original incarnation in the 40s, he found that it had a lot of charm. The food was actually much higher in overall quality compared to what he remembered, the milkshakes were definitely better now than they were before. Much to his disappointment, however, very few things from his time had survived in his former Brooklyn neighbourhood.

The apartment that SHIELD had provided for him was situated directly in the neighbourhood he grew up in, but the buildings he was used to and the streets were completely different. It was a weird sort of 'Deja Vu', an example was that the Bakery that he used to get bread at was now a fitness centre. If anything, he felt even more foreign living in a neighbourhood that was once known to him, the only remaining vestiges of the era he once knew were some of the old brick buildings. At least that had not changed much, even if it wasn't much of a consolation prize.

He was notified that Bianka had accepted the offer two weeks ago, and last night she arrived in NYC from Hamburg. SHIELD had warned him that Bianka may have been 'jetlagged' due to her long flight, but he was unsure of what that exactly meant. If Bianka had any odd, tired-looking behaviour then that was apparently normal, something to do with time zones and all.

Drinking his milkshake to calm his nerves, he kept an eye out for anyone that may have remotely looked like her. From what SHIELD found on her, which was passed on to Steve, her personality was best described as 'Cold', as apparently noted by her teachers in school. He was surprised that Bianka had not gone to college, even though her grades were exemplary and any University in Germany would have accepted her without issue. If he had to hazard a guess, it was due to some personal matters instead of anything else.

The diner was actually not that full despite it being right at noon, maybe the fact that it was a weekday had something to do with it, but he was not complaining. Looking back at his watch, he double-checked the time, and he confirmed that it was indeed past noon. Still no sign of Bianka or that disguised Agent however.

He thought about using his 'phone' to call the handler responsible for the meeting, but he decided to not use it. Not that SHIELD didn't teach him, nor did he not know how to use it, but he was afraid of accidentally breaking it. He treated the thin metal and glass that was his 'phone' gingerly all the time, careful that one wrong grip would break the expensive-looking device. It genuinely looked like something that Howard Stark would have made, so there was a subconscious association with it being 'expensive'.

The Diner door opened, and he looked up immediately, scanning for the new arrivals. Unfortunately, his sight was blocked just in time by a family departing the Diner as well, deciding to get up, he walked out of his booth and towards the front.

"Mr. Rogers, over here."

Snapping his head to his left, he was immediately struck by the appearance of a long blonde-haired girl in front of him. Though calling her just a girl appeared to be an insult, the woman before him looked at him with an inquisitive gaze. She wore a simple shirt with a brown skirt, simple wear, but it appeared to fit her perfectly. Looking at her face for a few seconds longer, he tentatively called out a name, still not believing that the woman in front of him was his cousin.

"Bianka Schulz?"

She nodded slowly, a confirmation. Now that he was a bit more aware, he saw that the entire Diner was now sparing glances over to them, but more specifically on Bianka. The picture that SHIELD gave him of her was definitely underselling her appearance, and he could hazard a guess as to why many of the male diners were looking at her specifically.

He cleared his throat, ready to introduce himself. "Steve Rogers, I'm…your long lost uncle, apparently."

Bianka had a ghost of a smile on her face, and she reached her hand out, he shook it. "Bianka Schulz. I was told many things about you…"

Steve hoped that he wouldn't break his SHIELD-provided cover, but hiding secrets from people wasn't his specialty. Captain America was gone to the world, and it was best to keep it that way for now.

"So, uh, how's your family-"

Two SHIELD agents cringed at Steve's question from their listening van just outside the Diner. If cruel and unusual punishments were a thing, then watching awkward first meetings between long-lost family members had to be at the top of 'most cruel'. Whatever they did to make Fury assign them to this assignment, it was definitely not worth the secondhand feeling of embarrassment they were feeling for Steve right now.

"Isn't Bianka's family…"

"Yep, he should not have asked that."

"At least he caught himself before he continued on. God, imagine if he continued the sentence?"

"Shhhhh. She's talking again!"

"My…foster parents were loving. But I found it difficult to be with them often, I was fourteen when I was adopted by them after all."

The agents perked up, having heard Bianka recovering from Steve's question.

"Oh thank god, at least she seems calm…"

"Quiet!"

Leaning in closer, the two agents adjusted the frequency of their bug, getting a clearer feedback signal.

"I was told you had some ideas of where to take me. You said something about…your family building?"

"Apartment, it's where the Rogers family first grew up in after arriving to America."

"It seems like it's going well. What's next on the list?"

The other agent flipped through an 'itinerary' that SHIELD made for Steve to follow. He gave no promises that he would follow it, but so far it seemed to be helping him talk with Bianka.

"Alright, the initial meeting is done…next is Roger's old apartment building and then it's to New York City's most iconic…"

"That's fine. I think I'd like to go and see the pier area, where the Hudson river is."

"Sure, I know a good spot you can see the ferries from."

One of the agents raised her eyebrow at the change in location, but they could still account for the changes. They were SHIELD agents, a little change in course was expected. From their camera feed, they saw the two leave the Diner, watching as they left, Bianka spared a glance at their van for just a second, before turning away.

"Did she just look at us?"

The other agent brushed him off, they were certain their bug was completely invisible to both of them. "It's your imagination, come on, we need to follow them to the next location."

Sighing, the two agents headed back to the driver's seat, ready to head to the next location. This was what they spent years in a SHIELD academy for? Eavesdropping on the awkward first meetings of a legendary hero and his cousin? They made sure their colleagues never heard of this assignment, the two would never be able to live it down.

The first meeting between her and her supposed 'Uncle Rogers' was an awkward affair. She had meetings with new Ironblood destroyers with less awkward moments. Contrary to popular belief, she was not a cold and heartless person, she just found talking to others while being the leader of Ironblood to be a challenge. Every meeting became a game of cat and mouse, as those she talked to let her reputation influence their view of her. The reputations she had were not entirely unfound, however, for the sake of appearances, she had to be Bismarck, Flagship of the Ironblood all the time. Even when she did not want to be.

Walking on the edge of Brooklyn, Bismarck noted a large number of ferries and other ships transiting between the busy waterways. New York City reminded her of the Eagle Union version of it, but there were some key differences. The most notable one was that the buildings of NYC in her world seemed to be much less glass oriented compared to the mix of brick and stone buildings among the tall skyscrapers of this NYC.

Yes, she still had a longing feeling of returning back to sea, but it was not necessary. Besides, if she did go out to sea again, questions would be raised if she were spotted. Both in rigging and hull form.

This world already had a 'Bismarck' that existed, and its wreck was currently off the coast of France. She had no desire to challenge that historical fact right now, and she wasn't even the same Bismarck as the one that sank seventy years ago in this world. Not to mention, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know what the Ironblood of this world got up to during the war.

Steve turned to Bismarck, before asking her a question. "So, anything catch your eye so far?"

"Catch your eye?"

Bismarck's English was fine, it had an accent but was otherwise understandable. Some of the more colloquial terms still missed her completely, and the accents that New Yorkers had often made her misunderstand their words.

"Oh. Uh, it just means if anything got your attention. It's a phrase we use here."

"Ah. There is that Aircraft Carrier I saw when I was coming into the city. What is its significance?"

Germany was lacking in terms of large museum ships. So far, she had only visited U-434, or B-515 as she herself liked to be called. Meeting the Northern Parlia-Soviet submarine had been an enlightening experience for sixteen-year-old Bismarck at the time. She knew that Kansen 'spirits' had existed, but she did not have much chance to talk to one until she visited U-434. The girl was nice, and very surprised that a supposed human was actually able to talk to her. She knew nothing of what Wisdom Cubes or even Siren was, which confirmed to Bismarck that this world was an entirely different one. Humanity had control of its seas because they never lost them, though without a common enemy, it seemed that they turned their weapons on each other instead.

Steve blanked, Bismarck guessed that he didn't know what it was.

"It's…uh…I don't know. I know what you're talking about, but I've never actually been on it. Didn't know you had an interest in those things though, not what I'd expect a girl to like."

"What is that supposed to mean, Herr Rogers?"

Bismarck didn't really mean what she said, again, she made it unintentionally appear colder than she meant. Steve was a very straightforward and honest person so far though, so maybe she will get along with him just fine. As the two walked along the piers of Brooklyn, Steve kept trying to apologize to Bismarck, who found that his personality when trying to apologize was amusing. It was certainly a welcome change compared to her monotonous routine before in Hamburg if anything.

"It's fine, Uncle Rogers. I said it in jest."

He calmed down, having realized that Bismarck was only joking.

"Ah…you got me good. Anyways, we can go there tomorrow, I'm not working right now so we can go check it out if you'd like."

Bismarck liked that, the large aircraft carrier reminded her of Graf Zeppelin, whether or not she still hated everything though was another story. One that she may never know the answer to, regardless, she hoped that her friend was doing fine, wherever she was.

Shhhhhk

She heard it again, that same static noise from the Diner. Sometimes, even with their rigging stored, Kansen can hear radio frequencies when they were in close proximity to radio sets. It wasn't guaranteed, but it was still an issue for some Kansen whenever they tried to sleep in busy areas with heavy communications traffic. It went away nearly as soon as she heard it though, Bismarck chalked it up to being in an area where ferries and other boats were communicating with each other.

"Bianka? Are you alright?"

She turned back to Steve, assuring him that she was fine. Whatever it was, she hoped that it would not affect her sleep tonight.

AN:

Starting out slow first, like most of my other stories.

Be civil in the comments below.