"Pup?"
Steve woke up very slowly, feeling like he was seven again, after waking up the day after a horrible asthma attack and a beating on the same day. Those had been frequent.
Yesterday, what was yesterday? He remembered having Thanksgiving dinner with everyone…He was warm here. Yesterday…there had been fighting and..and...
His eyes shot open.
He was a dog! Steve looked up frantically.
"Easy pup." A huge head hovered over him. " 'Is okay."
He moved his head and froze. Bad idea. "Ow." He hissed.
"I know it hurts." The old Shepard said softly to him. "It'll help you to git some food in that lil' stomach o' yours. You gotta git up though. I'm stuck right underneath you."
"I will." Steve tensed his muscles.
This was going to hurt. He tensed and forced himself off the German Shepard's legs. Pain burned along his spine but he crawled off the warm space to settle next to the older dog. The bigger male groaned as he pushed to his feet. He hobbled stiffly and looked back.
"Arthritis ain't fun pup." He paused, "I'm Old Joe by the way. Just 'in you call me Joe."
"Steve." The pup responded.
Joe nodded. "C'mon the Steve. We'll go get us some'in to eat."
"Yes sir." Steve was too disorientated to complain.
The pup followed, limping his way along. He stayed right on the tail of the older dog as they took to the early morning streets. People were already out and about but not so many that they couldn't skim along the walls easily. No one so much as gave them a second glance.
How could people not notice an old German Shepard and a bloody pup? It was beyond Steve.
"Ya' okay?" The wolfish old dog asked.
Steve was panting hard; he had to take four steps for every one of Joe's lengthy strides. Thankfully he was a slow walker, as it was the only thing Steve could do to keep up.
"Yes sir." He replied.
The dog stopped and Steve wobbled a bit on his tiny legs as he came to a halt. The German Shepard turned around.
"No you ain't." The big head dropped to his level again. "I may be nowhere near my prime but I can tell when a pup is having trouble. I had a couple o' pups and grandpups. I pulled other cubs offa' the streets. I raised a few of 'em myself."
Steve took the opportunity to sit and close his eyes for a second. He hung his head, ashamed of his weakness.
Joe studied him hard and felt his heart wrench.
"I'll take ya' to a friend o' mine," His voice was soft and gentle. "She'll fix you right up so we can get going. You got a home pup? You look like you do. Ya' got some weight on your belly and too much muscle for street life." The Shepard gave him a light, comforting flick on the ear, before they resumed walking at a much slower pace.
"I do. Can you help me get there?" Steve asked, suddenly a bit hopeful. "It's a big tower with a balcony. There's a big letter A on the side too."
"Hmmm." Joe thought. "Letter A? You don't mean the Avengers tower do you?"
"That's the one!" Steve yelped excitedly. He would have jumped for joy but his legs wouldn't allow it.
The Shepard looked at him with doggish smile on his face. "I didn't know they had gotten a pup. What a lucky duck you are."
"Well I um." Steve's mind whirled. How do you explain this to a dog? Joe seemed to just take everything in stride, and apparently could read. "I'm not actually a dog. I'm a person. I live there."
Joe didn't answer for a long time.
So long, Steve wondered if the dog had even heard him.
"Well that is quite a tale pup. Which one are you then?" Steve was startled by the simple acceptance. "Of course I can't say I've talked to more 'en one of 'em."
"Talked to?"
"Yeah." Joe nodded empathetically. "The big thundery fellow. He speaks our language with ease."
"That's my chance!" Steve thought. "I have to talk to him. He'll know me. I've been gone for a day now, they'll be worried. I'm the funny-looking, out of place one in the blue suit."
"Out of place one?" Joe chuckled. "Pup, you look like you're in your place more so then they do. They find their places around you. Even the dog-tongue speaker. You are like the hub of a fire truck wheel."
"No, really." Steve said. "I'm from the past, I don't know a lot about this time."
"Cub, I'm from the past." Joe replied. "You are the present. You've got the life to get moving and have others move too. You'll get tired and dragged down but you've got the years before you to pick it up again. You? Old? I'm old. You're a cub, as a dog or a human, you're just a pup."
Heavy words of philosophic meaning to hear from a dog. Steve felt like a youngster, sitting in front of his Grandfather. Unfortunately the man had died long before he, and Steve dully noticed how his memories made him feel lethargic once again. He forced his eyes open, they had only been walking for about an hour; surely he couldn't be tired yet.
"Where are we going, Mister Joe?" He asked to keep himself awake.
"Like I said; to a friend who can fix up that fancy gash across yo' back and the busted up front leg."
Steve slipped suddenly and hit the ground with a whimper.
This was going to be a long walk. A lifting sensation in the back of his neck made him freeze. He was a foot off the ground and his body acted on reflex - his tail curled under and he went limp but pulled his back legs up. He was a little bundle fit to be carried. He felt like it should hurt to be carried like this, and he was surprised to discover that he was wrong. He rocked back and forth with the swaying motion of big Joe's steps.
"You don't have to." Steve mumbled tiredly. "I can walk." He yawned.
The big dog didn't set him down and the sides of his mouth quirked upward in a half smile. The citizens started to notice them, and they became a spectacle. People stopped and murmured and took out their phone to flash pictures.
The internet was abuzz with this old German Shepard and his little blonde pup making their way around the city.