Hello everyone and welcome back for another chapter. I want to thank those who reviewed...
VampWolf92
LITTLE RED FOXX
FleurSuoh
Spirit Kiss
Applejax XD
And a big thank you to those who favorite, are following, and added me to their authors list.
Somethings I have to tell you all before we get on with the chapter. First off, I'm sort of suffering from depression due to a loss of a friend who died. She was up on a lookout and slipped. Another thing is that writers block is still kicking me in the ass so I apologize if this chapter really isn't good. Along with stress with my new job I hope this is up to all your expectations of this story.
This is more of a rather sad chapter but I hope it's not too depressing. It's going to be a short chapter as well but I promise to make the next one longer and full of fluffy times. I swear this will be the only sad chapter for a while.
So, without much said, please enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my OC.
~oOo~
Everything seemed gray, dull, and depressing.
I remember waking up inside my house with Howard and Peggy with me. They told me that they sedated me to calm me down. They...didn't want me to see anymore than I had to. Peggy held my hand as we quietly discussed what I was going to do for funeral arrangements. Howard told me that he's going to pay for everything, including living arrangements for me. Howard has always been a good friend to both of us, always interested in what my Uncle had to say even if it was nothing but an idea.
Once I was settled they went back to the hideout. They told me that Steve ran off to chase down the man who shot Uncle, and were going to wait for him. I asked, when Steve came back, if they could send him my way if the Colonel didn't want anything. I knew that since the Super Soldier trial went astray, the Colonel will not be in a happy mood and now I must...
Go through my Uncle's things.
Time seemed to stand still as I walked into his room. Everything looked as the way it did this morning when Uncle and I left for the hideout. Everything neat and tidy, nothing out-of-place and not even a layer of dust-covered his dresser. Uncle always liked neat and tidy seeing that his sister married and his parents died a few years later. He told me stories of my great grandparents when I came to live with him. I was never old enough to understand most family stories and it became quite hard when we moved. Only on rare holidays did we visit him.
I didn't move a thing as I reached under the bed to pull out the photo album that he kept under it. In it were pictures of the family. Mom and Uncle as children, the old house we used to in, summer times by a like, and other family times much happier than this. Then there's actual baby pictures of me. Each one dated and signed by my mom with the words 'Lily' with my age when the picture was took. I smiled and traced my fingers tips over the happy faces of my parents. This one was taken just when I was born.
A pudgy confused baby wrapped in a possibly pink hospital blanket looked into the camera.
I had to laugh, I did look like a very interesting and different baby. Then I noticed tear drops on the pages and I realized that I was crying. I wiped away stray tears and laid down on the bed with the photo album open to pictures of my parent's wedding day. I don't know how long I laid there but hours past when I heard the door open downstairs. Howard took the only spare key to my house and I knew he'd given it to Steve. He called my name and I answered, not bothering to get up from the bed. Steve came in and cautiously walked over to me, kneeling down, and taking my small hand in his now larger one.
"Hey." He said in a soft tone.
"Hey." I answered him. "Thank you for coming here...I just..." Steve tightened his hand and used his other hand to brush away the few tears that escaped my eyes.
"I'm here." He whispered and moved closer to me. "We made a promise remember?" I nodded my head and sniffled.
"Never to forget or leave one another alone." I told him and we just sat there for a good while before my stomach growled, making me embarrassed while Steve chuckled softly.
"When was the last time you ate?" He asked me and I couldn't remember the last time I ate. Was is still today, tomorrow, yesterday? What time is it?
"What time is it?" I asked him and he glanced over his shoulder at the clock on the wall.
"Four in the morning on a Tuesday. It's the day after." He said and I sighed. So I really did fall asleep for a while and just now, Steve's come. I hope they got the bastard.
"Then I haven't eaten since yesterday morning." I muttered and Steve moved the album away from me, taking a look before setting it down on the night stand. Steve sighed and got up, sitting on the edge of the bed before drawing me into his arms. Now that he's larger than me, he's able to hold me proper. For a few minutes we just sat still, the only noise is our breathing and the slight ticking of the clock.
"I'm taking you out for something to eat okay? There's a diner not far from here that's open all day and night. Getting out of the house might help you a bit." He said and all I could do was nod my head for an answer. Everything felt numb. "Change your clothes into something more comfortable if you want. I'll be downstairs waiting, okay?" He gave me a squeeze before letting me go and walking out of the room. Already I miss how warm he is and how safe I actually feel in his arms. I got up slowly and made my way into my room for a change of clothes. I picked out a comfortable dress with sleeves going to my elbows and small blue flowers printed on it. I slipped on a pair of shoes, grabbed my sweater and went downstairs to see Steve waiting quietly for me in the hall. We left the house in silence, Steve taking my arm after I locked the door behind us. Instead of calling for a taxi we walked the block and a half to the little diner Uncle and I visited a few times when I wasn't in the mood to actually cook.
When we arrived, the waitress seated us at a booth, Steve sliding in next to me as she handed us our menus. Steve ordered us coffee while I looked over the menu, the silence still sitting between us like a brick wall. Then I noticed something warm engulfing my hand. I looked to my right to see Steve's hand swallowing mine in his larger one as he too looked over the menu like it was the most normal thing in the world. A small smile crept up into my face as I moved my fingers to entwine with his.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Steve asked once the waitress gave us our coffee's and took our order.
"There's nothing to talk about. My Uncle is dead, his serum worked, and now I have nothing left of my family. I'm the only one left of my family, of my Uncle's work besides you. The know the Colonel, he won't allow me into the war zone and I'm not for any simple normal woman job because of what I am. Besides," I looked up at Steve with a sad smile. "who would want me for a wife anyway? I'm not the feminine motherly type men want when they're looking for woman to have children with. All they see is a pretty face." I said and took a sip of the hot drink.
"That's not true and you know it. At first glance, sure you're beautiful, but once they get to know you they'll love who you are." He said and I loved the way his cheeks burned red from the words he spoke.
"You think I'm beautiful?" I asked him and he gave me a look that made my smile just a bit bigger.
"You know the answer so why are you questioning it?" He asked with his curious look.
"Because I like hearing you say it." I said and rested my head against his shoulder. "What happened Steve? After my Uncle was shot you took off. Did you catch him, the man who killed my Uncle?"
"I chased after him, followed him until he got to the docks where he took a boy hostage but found there were no bullets left in his gun to he threw the kid into the water, thinking that I would go for the boy. I did check on the boy and found him okay. I went after the man once the kid said he was okay. He got into this sub but I caught him and dragged him from it. When I got him back on the dock he said something about cutting off one head and two more shall take its place. Then he took a tablet of poison and died." Steve said and I nodded.
"Makes sense. HYDRA. What the man meant was that agents of HYDRA are like the Lernaean Hydra who was an ancient serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads. The poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more and it has poisonous breath and blood so virulent even its tracks were deadly. The Hydra of Lerna was killed by Hercules as the second of his Twelve Labors. Beneath the waters of Lake Lerna was an entrance to the underworld and that Hydra was its guardian." I said to him just as our food arrived. I ordered eggs, toast with jam, and sausage. Steve ordered a stack of pancakes with a side of toast.
"Where did you learn that?" Steve asked and I laughed.
"From school. At the time, we were learning about Greek history and mythology. I found it interesting while others found it completely boring." I told him. I remember the lesson before they started to teach us about Hitler's ultimate power and how the Jews are nothing but rats unworthy to live on this earth. I didn't believe a word that was written, spoken, or whispered about because I knew it was all lies of a mad man wanting nothing but power to control.
"What did you want to be when you grew up?" Steve asked, taking a bite of his pancakes.
"An explorer actually. You see, my mother wanted to travel as a child but she got married and settled down before she got the chance to. I told her that when I was older I would visit all the places she dreamed of going, bring back things from my travels to show her and my father." I sighed and started to pick at my food. "She'll never get to see all the things I'll bring home. My father won't be sitting in his favorite chair, reading his books by the fireplace while my mother sits in her favorite chair near the fireplace, working on a blanket for me. She always loved making things for me like scarfs, blankets, mittens, and the like because they were much more cheaper to make than to buy at the time. No more of those happy memories." Steve took my free hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Don't say that. Just because your mom and dad and Uncle are gone doesn't mean you can't make new ones." Then he smiled and moved closer to me like he was going to lean in and whisper a secret. "I can name a few happy memories in case you've forgotten them."
"What happy memories?" I replied with a empty voice.
"One happy memory is when we first met and you found me interesting as I recall you saying earlier. Then there was that spot where we had lunch together, the dancing 'lesson' you gave me and one where I stepped out of the machine as I am now and you looked like..." He stopped and turned his head away.
"Like what?"
"Like I'm actually handsome looking." He admitted and I chuckled, moving closer so that my ear was against his beating heart and his arm was wrapped around my shoulders. In just a small amount of time I've known Steve I've never felt more safer when I'm in his arms.
Two outcasts, thrown together.
Funny how life works.
"You were always handsome Steve but women didn't see that so none of them truly deserve what a wonderful person you are. This new body doesn't change who you are, just the way people see you now. Never change Steve, not for those who've always told you no." I said and I could feel his chuckle go through me.
"Shouldn't you be taking your own advice Miss Summers?" Steve asked and I pulled away, both to our displeasure according to Steve's face when I looked up at him.
"Maybe I will." I said and sighed. "Thank you Steve, for all you have done. If it weren't for you, staying here, helping me, seeing me, I don't know how long I would last before I would have..."Steve didn't finish when he took my face in his hands with a strong look in his eyes. I saw anger and sadness in those eyes and I knew why as soon as I spoke those words. They were true though and I'm not afraid to admit it but the look Steve was giving me made me regret those words for once.
"DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT!" He hissed and brought me into his arms once again. It felt weird in the position we were sitting in due to the booth being so small. Thankfully there wasn't a lot of people to take notice of the two couple in the back of the diner. "Don't...you can't say that when I'm here listening. You're my friend besides Bucky that I care about. And you're a woman for god sakes too!" He held me tighter than before and I wrapped my own arms around his larger torso. "We made a promise. And you better damn keep it." He muttered and I held him tighter to me, afraid that if I let go he would disappear and I would wake up, only to find all of this a dream, a nightmare.
"I promise Steve. I promise."
~oOo~
So, yeah, that's the chapter but there really isn't much too it. Next chapter we'll have Peggy, Howard, and the tour going on along with some romance a head. Please forgive me if this is a sucky chapter. I will try and make the next one much much better.
Until then, please review and I bit you all a due!