Who: Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers What: Catching up Where: Diner When: backdated to Wednesday evening Warnings: nope Status: complete gdoc
Weird things were part of Sam’s life since he met Steve Rogers, but finding himself in a small midwestern town was by the far the weirdest thing yet. It was better than being in prison or on the run though, so he was willing to give it a fair shake, especially since a number of his friends and teammates were around. After a quick trip to WalMart for a few necessities and checking out the crappy apartment he was assigned, he headed out to meet Steve and get the real scoop on this place.
Some of the things people told him were hard to believe, even with the things he experienced back home. Barton said there were aliens and werewolves. Hill said not to believe Barton, but then basically told him time travel was a thing here, so why not aliens and werewolves? It was harder to believe that Bucky and Steve had a kid. And girlfriends. What did that say about him?
He smiled when he spotted Steve. “Hey, Cap,” he said. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
***
If Steve had had any part in bringing Sam here, the way he’d had a part in all the other stuff his friend had gotten pulled into because of him, Steve might’ve felt a little guilty. As it was, he was just glad to see another friendly face. He’d agreed right away to get together and really explain what this place was and fill him in on all the important details. Which, for Steve, weren’t exactly the same here as they’d have been at home. There was a lot more good here. Sam would probably appreciate that.
“Sam,” he greeted with a smile of his own as he approached, reaching out immediately to shake his friend’s hand. “Good to see you.” Genuinely good. He was a good friend. “How’re you doing?”
Showing up in a strange town with no explanation at all was never easy.
***
“I’ve been better, but I’ve also been worse, so I guess I’m doing okay,” Sam said. He might be stuck here, but so far the town seemed nice enough and since Steve seemed pretty relaxed, he figured there wasn’t much to worry about. In fact, Steve seemed happy which was a little surprising.
He picked up the menu and glanced over it, unsurprised to find that it was typical American diner fare. “What’s the deal with this place?” He’d gotten some information from the network, but he knew that Steve would give him better information.
***
Unsurprisingly, Steve was a frequent enough face around the diner that the waitress just appeared with a cup of coffee and a slice of pie almost the moment he sat down. He, of course, smiled and thanked her by name before turning his attention back to Sam.
“That’s a big question.” And the big answer was just that no one knew what the deal with this place. In the three years Steve had been here, no one had learned anything at all about why they were here, or how this place worked. All they knew was that people came and went and sometimes some crazy stuff happened.
Which wasn’t to say that Steve wouldn’t do his best to explain whatever Sam wanted to know. It just meant that he needed to know what that was first.
***
Of course Steve was a regular and had the waitresses charmed. Sam chuckled and requested the same as his friend. If he decided he wanted more than pie later, he could always get it to go. He was far more interested in hearing the details about this crazy place.
“You’ve been here a while,” he said. “But how is that possible? I just saw you when you broke us out.”
***
“Time doesn’t exactly work the same way here,” he explained, but he probably wasn’t the best person to do that. Steve was far from an expert on the details, but simple, easy to understand answers he’d manage. “You come here,things back at home just stop.”
That he was sure of. He’d gone back a handful of times, more than enough to be sure.
“So the good thing is you’re not missing anything.” That was also the bad part of it, in their world. There was some stuff Steve wouldn’t mind letting people miss. Not himself, he never cared about protecting himself, but the others.
***
“Well. Okay then,” Sam said, shaking his head. It all sounded beyond crazy to him, but considering the fact that aliens attacked Manhattan a few years ago and Stark built a killer robot, crazy was becoming the new normal. “What do we do while we’re here? I mean, it’s small town America, so I’m guessing there’s not much call for Avengers.”
Which might be a nice break, especially after the Sokovia Accords and the ensuing drama.
***
“I’m going to tell you the same thing you told me.” Not in so many words, but the intent was definitely the same. “Find what makes you happy.”
It had been solid advice, though at the time Steve hadn’t had an answer to what made him happy. He’d still just been learning to live in the world again, learning what his place was now. After a few years here, he’d found what worked for him, and it wasn’t at all what he would have expected.
“I do construction and raise a fifteen-year-old girl.” Unexpected, and some days a lot harder than saving the world.
***
Construction made sense for Steve. The raising a teenage girl thing was a bit odder. “Barnes mentioned you two have a kid,” Sam said, his eyebrows lifting in obvious curiosity. “And he said there’s a blonde in the picture.”
After seeing how awkward Steve was with Sharon Carter, it was amusing to him to think that his friend managed to hook a different hot blonde. At least he assumed she was hot. Because Steve was Captain America.
***
Of course Bucky had mentioned that. If he were any any less patient with his friends, Steve would have rolled his eyes. Instead he just let out a small gust of a laugh and shook his head.
“If you’ve got questions about that, ask them.” He was happy to talk about his girls if someone wanted to listen, but only then. Otherwise, he was sure Sam had more about this place.
***
“Oh, I wanna hear all about it,” Sam said. “How’d you end up with a teenager? Who’s the blonde and how did you get her to go out with you? Don’t leave out anything.”
***
Steve almost wondered why his friends always made it sound like he was incapable of getting a girl on his own. But, to be fair, they weren’t completely wrong. He wasn’t exactly a casanova.
“The kid’s name is Molly, and I wound up with her by being engaged to her mother. Adoptive mother.” That needed specification around here. “Who isn’t here anymore,” he added before Sam leaped to the assumption that Steve was still engaged. He wasn’t even close to that again.
“My girl’s,” she was definitely his girl now, he might not be close to engaged again but one day, sure, he could see that, and that made her his girl, “name is Veronica and, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know why she let me take her out.”
***
Sam had seen Steve with Sharon. He had good reason for the questions. Though Steve’s answer only left him more confused. “You’ve been here long enough to be engaged to one woman and now be with another one?”
That was going to be difficult to wrap his head around.
***
“Three years.” Give or take a couple of weeks. “Skye, the fiance, was sent home a little less than a year ago.” Much more than long enough to assume that she was never coming back, and he’d moved on. “Things with Veronica are still pretty new.”
But going very well. Steve definitely saw a future, if they were lucky enough to get it. Knowing this place, though, it could be pulled away from them any second.
***
“I’m sorry man,” Sam said. He knew that had to have been difficult for his friend. “So people leave here just as randomly as they show up?”
The uncertainty of life here didn’t sound like a lot of fun, but so far everyone he knew seemed to be relaxed enough about being here.
***
“Yeah, that’s pretty much the sum of it.” Said like that it didn’t sound great. “Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don’t. There’s not really much point in worrying about it. And, it’s not really so different from back home. Something can always happen no matter where you are.”
That didn’t make it any better.
***
It didn’t sound that great and Sam frowned. “What kind of stuff happens?” he asked, wishing that he had the wings with him. If there was a potential for danger, he’d feel better having the ability to take to the skies to fight.
***
It was so rarely anything actually dangerous that Steve didn’t even consider where Sam’s mind might be going.
“A lot of impossible stuff,” he explained, and for someone who pretty much was impossible, that was definitely saying something. “Most recently everyone had a talent for something new, or lost something they could do. A while before that everyone was telling the truth for a few days whether they wanted to or not.”
That one hadn’t been so bad aside from an awkward encounter with Veronica, which had actually turned out for the best. But then, Steve never made a habit of lying.
“Back in July the whole town spent a week unexpectedly on a cruise.”
That kind of stuff.
***
Okay, those seemed like fairly innocuous things and Sam relaxed a smidge. Of course, for some people, being forced to tell the truth could be a bad thing. People like Tony Stark or Nick Fury especially. So far, there didn’t seem to be any sign of either of them around though.
“Sounds like you’re pretty well settled here,” he said. “Barnes said you two live together? I’m guessing not in one of those crappy apartments.”
***
Steve actually thought the apartments were alright. He’d lived in them for a long time, actually right up until he’d moved into the house to take care of Molly. They weren’t his DC apartment by any stretch, but they were a lot better than his place back in Brooklyn.
“No, no; we’ve got a house uptown.” Actually, just about everyone from their world had wound up in a house by now, or at very least a nicer apartment. “Having Bucky move in when he showed up a few months back seemed like the right thing, you know? We had the space.”
Technically they still did, since Bucky just slept in Steve’s room for the most part.
***
“Sounds like you’re happy here,” Sam said. It was a good look on the Captain. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Steve Rogers. “Anything else I need to know about this place?”
It almost sounded too good to be true and that made him a little nervous, but if Steve wasn’t on edge and Hill told him to call her Maria, well, maybe it wasn’t all that bad.
***
Steve was happy. The happiest he's been in a long time. This place was the life he never thought he’d have.
“I'll make you a list,” he promised with a laugh.
But if there was anything anyone needed to know, it was just to not be surprised by anything.