1 Chapter

This chapter basically shows how Captain America and Leah meet, as well as his crises and introduces an important secondary character.

The girl had her trenchcoat pulled around her with the collar high to protect her from the cold winds and was staring almost angrily at the grey footpath beneath her. It was a cold day for Brooklyn, and the skies were cloudy overhead. As she walked along without looking ahead of her, she accidentally bumped into someone; she raised her head to apologize before she realized.

"You? You're Captain America, aren't you?" She restrained herself from leaping at the man as he sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Yes, I am. Look, I am having a really bad day at the moment, and I don't want to be impolite but-" He sighed again and looked at her properly. "I'm sorry. I should at least ask your name."

"It's Leah. Hi." She awkwardly waved at him, at which he slightly smiled.

"Hi. Can I call you Steve?" It took him a few seconds to register her question.

"What? Oh, uh, sure. If you want."

"I can't believe that I'm meeting you. I love how you just save the day and- Oh, right, bad day..."

"Is it really that noticeable?" he asked, almost making her blush as he moved a little closer.

"It's okay, I should probably leave you alone. After all, superheroes have problems too, right?" Leah made to turn away from him, walking a few steps before he said after her,

"Leah?"

"Yeah?" She kept her heart in check as she turned back to him, noticing how un-Captain Americaish he looked in his jeans and long sleeved grey top. The grey especially brought out the blue in his eyes... "I feel rude asking this, but would you like to grab a coffee with me? Downtown?" She half-smiled at him; his awkwardness was so adorable...

"I have nothing better to do. Why not?"

 

The cafe was nearly empty, everyone deciding that today was not the day to go outside. It was lightly lit inside, with a sort of creamy glow inside it that gave it a natural aura. It was a cozy place called 'The Moonlit Dream", though she, of course, thought it better suited "The Dozy Daydream".

"Do you come here often?" she asked as they walked towards the counter.

"A little. It's a private enough place, and the coffee is good."

"Back again, Steve?" The clerk at the counter smiled at him warmly. She must have been around her mid twenties, maybe even a university student. 

"I can't stay away from here. It keeps drawing me back." She laughed and flicked her blonde extensions over her shoulder. 

"So, what can I get you today?"

"A cappuccino made with chocolate, thanks." He turned to Leah. "And what do you want?" The girl turned to her as if noticing her for the first time.

"Oh, I didn't see you there." She seemed to give Leah a double-sided smile. "I'm Brittany, and you are...?"

"I'm Leah. Um, I'll take a latte, thank you."

"Oh sure. I'll bring it right over to your table." The man sent her another smile as he and Leah went to sit in a secluded booth near the back of the cafe.

She looked out at the dark buildings, the clouds ominous beings ready to pounce on them in an instant. Or so it seemed to her.

 

"So, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a secretary. For, uh, Tony Stark."

"Excuse me, uh, what?" Steve seemed to be having a very hard time digesting this piece of information.

"You know Tony. He's a part of The Avengers. You know, the arrogant billionare guy?"

"How have I never seen you before then?"

"I got hired just after the incident in Manhattan. Pepper is a bit busy nowadays, dealing with all of Tony's business deals around the world, and she needed an extra hand. Since I've been there for about a month now, I'd say that I'm doing a pretty good job."

"But, The Avengers practically live in Stark Tower! I should have seen you around, at least."

"What can I say? I keep a low profile and I keep out of your way." She shrugged and looked back at him. "It's worked so far, hasn't it?"

"But you seem like such a nice person. And you don't seem to be the type of person to blend in."

"I'll take that as a compliment, then." Brittany arrived then, bringing them both their coffees with the same old fake grin plastered on her face.

"Here you go, guys. If you need anything else, I'm at the counter." For what could have passed as a very flirty wink at Steve and menacing glare at Leah, she quickly disappeared.

 

"Have you known her for very long?" Steve shook his head.

"No. I started coming here a little while back, when I stumbled upon it. There's hardly anyone in here, which is strange. A place like this should get a lot of business."

"Yeah, I suppose." She looked around at the other people in the cafe; an old man with a newspaper, and a middle aged woman with a cheesecake. Neither seemed to be aware of the world around them, as if in a trance. "Are you getting used to all of this new technology now?" He scratched the back of his head.

"Not really... It's difficult for me to understand. I know how to use a phone now," He seemed almost proud of himself at this statement, and it was all that she could do to stop herself from laughing.

"It must seem pretty crazy around here for you. I mean, you wouldn't believe how many things are on the Internet about you, both good and bad,"

"Like what?" She blushed.

"Lots of things."

"If you won't tell me now, will you tell me some other time?"

"Maybe. Don't look at me like that." He was giving her that crazy, insanely intense look that she definitely couldn't resist. 

"Like what?"

"Oh, fine then. But not today. Maybe at the tower sometime."

"I'd like that," Steve said with a quirk of his lips.  

 

"I'll be back in a minute, I have to go to the bathroom." He set down his coffee and left for the men's bathroom, leaving Leah alone at the table.

"So, how is it going?" She nearly jumped as Brittany sat herself in Captain's recently vacated spot.

"How is what going?"

"Everything! But right now, I mean Steve." She was beginning to feel very uncomfortable with the way that the conversation was going, and also how feral the other girl's grin was.

"I'd rather not answer that, I don't exactly-"

"Is it going good? Let me give you this advice, then." She leant conspiratorially forward. "Don't mess up my relationship with him."

"What?"

"I have spent weeks getting to know him, so don't even try to screw it up now with your little act."

"But I'm not-"

"I've warned you." Brittany stood up and thumped one hand against the table. "Don't say that I didn't warn you." She left as abruptly as she had arrived, leaving a slightly shell-shocked Leah at the table.

That girl had serious issues.

 

"I'm back." Steve sat back down at the table, looking up at her. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm good. Just a bit daydreamy, that's all." She shook herself as if to wake herself from a dream, though she knew it wasn't. 

"You know, you shouldn't be intimidated by Brittany. She's really nice when you get to know her."

'Yeah, like 'I'll murder you in your sleep for Captain America' nice. She's very nice, Steve'. His previous sentence proved to her just how gullible Captain was. 

"I know. It takes a lot for me to get used to people." 

'Especially ones who threaten me'.

"So do I. It takes a lot to trust people, don't you think?" She took the opportunity to stare at him a little longer than in other situations she would have allowed. 

"Yeah. I guess it does." Captain spaced out as he looked outside at the quiet Brooklyn day. "So, do you have any world-saving days coming up?"

"Not yet. Unless Tony manages to piss off another one of his clients."

"Yeah. I think his latest stakeholder, Mr. Wenshu, is contemplating assassinating him. I mean, the price that Stark offered him was horrible, but the publicity that it will give Wenshu Dynasty is... shocking. I'm sorry, I'm really beginning to bore you, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. It's interesting to hear about someone else's day that doesn't involve signing an autograph or something similar."

 

"Do you get mobbed often?"

"I've learned to blend in a little when I'm out and about. It needs perfecting, though."

"Well, no-one in here seems to have noticed you yet," she said, attempting a wide grin.

"I suppose that that's an up-side."

"I know that it's a personal question to ask, even if I have just properly met you, but why are you having such a bad day?" He scratched the back of his blonde hair.

"It's a long sort of story, and I don't want to bore you with it."

"Well, if we're going to be getting to know each other better, since we work in the same place, than I'd love to hear all about it."

"I feel rude, though. Are you sure?"

"Stop stalling, Steve."

"Okay, then." He held up his hands in surrender. "Don't say that I didn't warn you." Leah flicked her eyes over to the cafe worker, not even considering the possibility that the girl could cause her any harm.

 

"I would suggest that you don't go through with this."

"Clint, when has Steve ever listened to us?"

"Nearly all the time?" Natasha shook her head.

"If anything, we've always listened to Cap, not the other way around."

"Guys, I'm still in the room."

"Oh, we know." Tony began picking at his fingernails. "Who said you weren't part of the conversation?"

"I just feel a little left out here." He sat down on the couch, opposite Clint and Natasha; Tony remained leaning against the wall.

"Why do you all seem to stand against him?" Thor strode into the room, pulling at his new top. 'Midgardian attire' was very difficult for the god to grasp, him not understanding that he couldn't simply walk around swinging Mjolnir.

"I want to find my family. But apparently, that's a bad idea."

"How is it bad?"

"I know! I was just about to ask them that!"

"It's bad because then it will make it easier for the villains to locate the people that you love and kill them." Black Widow gave him a 'you had to say that?' look.

"Always looking on the bright side, aren't you?"

"Like you can talk, Mrs. Barton. Come on, you can't believe that none of us wouldn't notice you and Clint 'getting it on'." The two agents blushed as Thor looked at Tony with a questioning look.

"I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. All you care about is your brother."

"For good reason, Stark. He is my brother."

"But you keep forgetting that he isn't your brother. He's adopted."

"That does not mean that I do not care for him." The god tapped a finger into Iron Man's chest. "If I were you, I would end this conversation now. Before I end it."

"Back off, big guy. Just stating a fact."

"This got really off-track. Can we get back to my problem?" Steve raised his hand to grab their attention.

"Whose problem and what is it?" Bruce walked in to join their conversation.

"This is the last time that I say this before I find help elsewhere. I want to find my family."

"That's a bad idea. And trust me, I would know, Steve." The emotions that passed over Dr. Banner's face clearly told the others that he was thinking of Betty Ross, his late girlfriend.

The scientist hadn't made contact with her because he knew that it was a bad idea, partially because of Thaddeus, her angry general father. If Bruce got caught, he was dead.

"But you can understand my want to find them, don't you?" He took off his spectacles with a sigh.

"Yes, but I was smart enough not to try and find Betty. It puts her in danger."

"But I could be anonymous-"

"Do you not understand?" Clint leant forward, over the coffee table. "If you do miraculously find one of your descendants, you will put them in danger."

"You have no idea what it's like to be alone. Any of you." Steve stood up then , glad that he was dressed in civilian clothes. "Don't expect me back anytime soon." He left the rest of the Avengers alone in Stark tower, to descend down into a dark, cloudy and dense day.

 

"So that's how I ended up in Brooklyn."

"That is pretty intense," she whistled.

"But what do you think? Should I find them or not?" Leah bit her lip, not wanting this to weigh on his decision later on.

"If you wanted to, yes. But you just have to remember the risks that are involved if you do try to find them."

"Then you're like the others. You're on their side."

"Look, Steve. I know that you don't have anybody to talk to, and that you feel alone, but how would you feel if you put someone else's life into danger intentionally?" He lowered his head before lifting up his coffee and sipping it.

"You make a good point. If I could see them once, though..." She reached out a hand and lay it on his forearm gently.

"Not when you have a potential attack pending on Earth." Captain raised his head.

"Who?"

"I've been talking to Thor a little, about Asgard. He says that Loki's still imprisoned securely, but I don't believe that."

"Why not?"

"We all know that Loki has magic at his fingertips that he could easily use to escape. He's a traitor, there is no changing that." Brittany gave a cough as she passed by their table to clean a table that had just been vacated by the old man.

Leah took no notice of her, as she hadn't before.

 

"Well, I would say that I should go to Stark Tower. I have stuff to work on."

"Like Wenshu Dynasty?" She smiled.

"And other things." The girl arrived at their table to say goodbye and grab their dishes. 

"Leah, could I talk to you for a sec?"

"Yeah, sure." Steve went outside to wait patiently for her while she followed the cafe worker towards the kitchen.

"I'd like you to have this." She flourished a piece of paper to Leah, who took it. "I do want us to get along."

"But it's your phone number-"

"And maybe, just maybe, I want to keep an eye on you. You didn't seriously think that I made an idle threat, do you?" Brittany smiled as if everything was normal. "So, I guess that you'll text me sometime."

"Yeah, sure..." She sidled away from the creepy girl and walked outside to where Captain was waiting.

"Do you want a ride to the Tower?"

"Really? You don't have to do that-"

"Please, it's the least that I can do." She began walking beside him away from the cafe, trying to match his long-legged strides with difficulty. She hadn't really noticed before the extreme difference in their height, though it was apparent now.

"So, what kind of car do you drive?"

"I borrowed one from Tony, actually. Black, shiny... I don't know any other way to describe it, really."

 

"Hey, this Frank Sinatra, isn't it?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" 

"Sometimes I listen to older music. It just depends on how I feel." The music showed just how much Captain was attached to his old life and all of hiss old ways. It was sad when she thought about that, it was like being stranded in time.

"Sometimes I feel a little stranded," he said, echoing her thoughts out loud. "But the music helps me, I think."

"You really miss them, don't you?"

"Yes." Steve gripped the steering wheel tighter and make a tight turn. 

"I was going to say 'I know how you feel', but I really don't. You have to be in that situation to really know, and I never have been." He gave her an appreciative sideways look.

"It's good to know that somebody sympathizes with me, though. I don't know how I never noticed you around Stark Tower."

"I'm, like, really devious." She shrunk into the window. "I am Sauron's shadow..." The man gave her a confused look.

"Who?"

"Oh, that's right. You've never seen Lord of The Rings."

"We could watch it sometime, then." She smiled at him s he turned back to the road.

"You know, that's a really good idea."

"Are there any other movies that you like?"

"Plenty. We have to have a movie marathon someday. 24 hours with ice cream and chips." He laughed, a sound that she hadn't heard before. He had a strange laugh, but one that was easy to join.

So she did.