Who: L.L. Houston and Steve Rogers When: June 13th, 2017; afternoon (backdated) Where: Streets of New York, then a grocery store. What: L.L. and Steve have a chance encounter. They then go grocery shopping and talk about the two Jameses in their lives. Rating: Low
It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining and the temperature was hot, but the heat was kept at bay by a cool breeze. The weather was so nice L.L. just had to take a walk and enjoy it. She could have gone to Central Park, maybe traveled along Times Square or even just walked around the area near the hotel she was staying at, but she decided to head over to where Mia's apartment was located.
There was no intention of bothering Mia when she finally reached her destination. L.L. just felt comfortable in the neighborhood. She knew the layout, the people were friendly and, most importantly, she was near someone she could trust should something happen. Randomly exploring New York (or anywhere for that matter) on her own with no available lifeline nearby just wasn't an option anymore. She was too worried, too cautious. HYDRA had made her paranoid. It was just another on her long list of reasons why she hated the organization.
While walking along, L.L. heard a soft tune from her purse. Her phone was going off. She didn't rush to pick it up, knowing that whatever it was didn't need to be dealt with right away. All of her contacts had their own special ringtone and the one going off was the catch-all one. This meant it was something that could wait. It continued for about a minute before finally going silent, then a single ping sounded. A voicemail.
She let out a sigh. If whoever it was that called had left a voicemail there was a chance whatever they were calling about needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. Thinking about it, it could have been about an apartment now that she was actively looking for a new place. L.L. opened her purse and began to dig around as she continued to walk. She was concentrating so much on finding her phone (seriously, where the hell was it?!), she didn't notice a passerby coming in the opposite direction and ran right into him with an 'oof!'.
Her purse slipped off her shoulder and landed on the sidewalk, its contents spilling out onto the concrete. "Oh crap, I'm sorry!" L.L. exclaimed as she fell to her knees, scrambling to pick up her things before the wind decided to blow them away from her reach.
~~~
L.L.’s purse contents spilled out. Books dropped, though his arms fumbled to grab all but two before they hit the pavement, including the one his nose had been stuck in. The young lady had been going in a fairly straight line and had gone off course, otherwise he probably could have dodged her. Instead all he’d managed to do was keep her from jabbing herself into the book corners, which would have hurt more than his side.
“Sorry! Sorry…” he said as she apologized at the same time. Then just as quickly he was down, grabbing a receipt here, a rolling eyeliner and chapstick there, sunglasses case that their stumbling feet had kicked. “I didn’t realize… Here.” He stacked the books up after handing her some items, then picked up a pen that had rolled his way and held it out for her. Finally she lift her face enough for him to see her.
“Oh.” A pause, very still as he stayed half kneeling on the sidewalk with her pen held out. “You’re…” Wasn’t she? The pictures… and she didn’t look any different from those.
~~~
"Thank you very..." L.L. began as she reached for the pen, but went quiet when she finally caught a glimpse of the man she had bumped into. Her eyes went wide. The man kneeling in front of her was Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers. She knew him as a bunch of things: James' dad, Bucky's best friend and former partner, and, oh yeah, Captain freakin' America.
She stared at him, the two of them frozen there in awkward silence as they assessed each other. He appeared to be confused and for good reason. While Bucky was now aware of the fact she sent letters to him through time via magic, there was a chance that Steve didn't, or at least didn't quite understand the whole thing. Seeing her in the present time looking exactly like she did in the photos from decades ago was probably startling.
"Oh wow. Um... hi?" She managed a smile that ended up being a bit more awkward than she intended. L.L. took the pen from Steve and stood up, swinging her purse over her shoulder as she did so. "I'm L.L... I'm friends with James. Both of them." She offered a hand out for him to shake. "It's nice to finally meet you, sir. I've heard a lot about you. Well, everyone has heard about you. I mean, you're kind of a big deal." Oh my gods, L.L., stop talking. "Sorry for running into you like that. That was my bad. I should have been paying better attention."
~~~
Definitely her. He smiled when she started babbling, that amused, patient smile waiting out the talking. There was really not much else to do but stand and shake her hand back. “I’m not travel-back-in-time big deal. It’s good to meet you finally as well. After… So many years.” Gee, he’d known she existed longer than she’d been alive. He decided not to try to wrap his brain around that. “I was just…” He stooped to pick up his pile of books, five of them of various subjects, fiction, an autobiography by a feminist, a classic, and something science fiction. “I have a friend who lives around here that finds me books I should read. To catch up on. She gives James books, too.”
A pause. “How is he? How’s Bucky, too. Is he feeling better?”
~~~
"Ah, well, I wouldn't say it's that big a deal..." she said shyly, pink coming to her cheeks. If it was anyone else that had gone through time she would beg to differ. Time travel was a pretty damned big deal. "Okay, maybe it is, but I didn’t… yeah."
She was thankful when Steve changed the topic. Talking about her freak time hopping and letter writing was awkward. Eventually she would likely talk to him about it, but it seemed too early to go delving into that. It would mean she'd have to talk about motivations and magic and, honestly, it was just a bit much to bring up right after meeting him for the first time.
Besides, there were other things to talk about.
"Your friend wouldn't happen to be named Mia, would she?" There was no way he couldn't have been referring to her. "I know her. I've been taking her to see James."
Ah, and the inevitable question about James. “He’s doing okay. Going a bit stir-crazy, but that's understandable. He doesn't talk to me much. He sort of sees me as one of his captors." There was sad resignation in her tone. She hated being viewed in that way, but what could she do? That was just the way it was and would be until they could fully heal his mind. "He talks to Mia quite a bit, though.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “I think her visits are helping him sort things out."
The mention of Bucky brought the light pink color back to her cheeks. She turned her head to the side so she could use her hair to hide her blushing and the dumb smile that appeared on her face. "Bucky seems fine. He's eating better, at least." She let out a small chuckle, pushing some of her hair behind her ear as she looked at him again. Thankfully her blushing at subsided and the smile was now one of amusement. "Only because I'm making him, though. I swear, the man has an unhealthy obsession with Spam."
~~~
“That’s the one!” he said cheerfully, holding the pile of books against his chest. “I’m a fan of all her charity work. It’s good she’s James’ friend.”
Uncomfortable smile at that. “I suppose he would. I guess that means he hasn’t warmed up much to Bucky yet, either. Those two… I really want them to get along. We’ll have to see… after.” After things were fixed.
No, he didn’t miss the color to her cheeks at all, and he didn’t do too well at trying to hide his smile at it. “Oh, yeah, he’s a carnivore. But spam? I guess maybe because it’s familiar… Kinda army comfort food.” Yes, it had been around that long, and during the war spam was a delicacy compared to other trench foods. That didn’t make it okay to try to survive off of it now. “There’s so much better things to eat. Do you need help with meals at all? Or, sorry, you probably just order food?”
~~~
"She's definitely a good friend to have," L.L. agreed with a smile.
"No, he hasn't warmed up to him much," she confirmed, eyes sympathetic. "He doesn't seem to hate Bucky or at least he doesn't show it if he does. I think he's just frustrated more than anything." And most of that frustration and hatred had been manipulated into being directed at Captain America, but Steve didn't need to be reminded of that fact. "I don't doubt they'll get along once everything is figured out."
She perked up. "I know, right? So many better things to eat but he still insists on spam, the loon. I personally can't stand the stuff so I ended up eating most of his MREs back when... well, you know." At least L.L. assumed Bucky had informed Steve that he was protecting her during the HYDRA fiasco. "We eventually got actual food in the place. I've been bringing in groceries and cooking for the two of them on occasion so we really don't need help with meals."
L.L. tilted her head, pondering. She could tell Steve really wanted to help in some way. It must be horrible to have to sit back and do nothing while his son was going through all this. So how, then, could she allow him to help without bringing him in contact with James?
"You know, we are due for another grocery run. Would you like to come along? You could help me pick out the food James likes so he doesn't have to choke down spam and MREs all the time."
~~~
It did seem to be the thing to offer, because Steve’s face brightened. “I’d like that. I’ve gotten pretty good at pasta lately too. Pretty easy things that should be filling.” That was because Eddie knew his pasta dishes and Steve had pestered him into showing him how to make a few new things while they’d had nothing better to do than waiting for Hydra to poke its nose out again.
Unlike L.L., Steve didn’t seem nearly so worried about being out in public again, so the idea of walking into a grocery store didn’t give him any second thoughts. He was in New York, not Gotham, and Hydra was being scattered. He was in no more danger now than he ever was, really.
“Just let me drop my books off at the bike then we can find one?”
~~~
A wide smile spread across her face, pleased. Bingo. That was just the thing to lift his spirits. Even if he couldn't interact with James, he could at least do this for him. “Perfect!” She motioned for Steve to lead the way. “It'll help a lot having someone else around to help carry the groceries.” L.L. rubbed the back of her neck and looked a bit embarrassed. “I admit I tend to go a bit overboard sometimes. Last time I got a bunch of ground beef. We used it all, but still. Though, really, hamburger meat is so easy to cook and can be used for so much. Like lasagna!”
She brightened, clapping her hands together as an epiphany hit her. “You could make some lasagna for the guys tonight! If you'd like, that is.”
~~~
That did seem to be the ticket to making him feel better about that. Which was how they ended up in the grocery store, remembering ingredients and deciding how much they needed. That was another thing Steve was very good at. He didn’t grow up with technology, so remembering lists had always been necessary and he was good at converting measurements mentally and figuring out how many packages they should buy.
Also L.L. wasn’t wrong. He could carry a lot without any strain.
The conversation had moved from James to Bucky now, though. “So all those letters you sent him. Just so he felt like he had someone thinking about him at home. That was incredibly kind. He’d always light up when he got those. Oh, and the guys would tease him. Not too badly. A few I’m sure were jealous. Most in our troop were people who didn’t have anyone. We went on missions nobody with a lady and kids at home to worry about should go on.” A pause. “Well, we were pretty crazy, all things considered.”
~~~
L.L. was blushing because of course she was. Not only were they talking about Bucky which usually resulted in pink cheeks for at least a short time, but the legend that was Captain America was complimenting her. His approval of her sending those letters was reassuring. For a time she believed her actions had been terribly selfish and deceptive, but Bucky - and now Steve – seemed to think otherwise. And, while she no longer saw her actions in such a negative way, it was nice to know he didn't see it that way either.
She listened to his words with a shy smile, her eyes looking at the produce around them as opposed to Steve. She was far too embarrassed to look him in the eye. Her smile faded when she thought of the others in their troop having no one back home to send letters to. She never met them and knew only a handful of their names, but she felt an odd connection to them due to Bucky's many letters and pictures. It was sad to think they didn't have anyone, though perhaps that changed at war's end. Part of her wanted to know what their fates were, but another wanted to remain in the dark. It was less painful to believe they survived and were given nothing but the best in life.
“They were crazy times,” she replied softly as she reached out to grab a plastic bag. Not that L.L. knew personally, but she had done quite a bit of reading on the war after her brief adventure in time displacement. “You do what you have to do.” A small smile. “Even if it is a bit crazy.” She picked up an apple and squeezed it gently to access its ripeness. With a nod of approval, she placed the fruit into the bag. “I learned that recently.”
~~~
“Times are still crazy,” he noted, eyeing the green peppers while holding the handbasket. It still struck him as odd the differences of shopping for produce now as opposed to then. Then things were much more limited and seasonal. Logistics had changed considerably, though, allowing produce in all sorts of seasons and variety. “I thought we’d be done with them by now. And yet, they popped back up. I remember sitting in a room with a superior officer when I woke up, and them going through all the historical events and changes. It was a lot to take in, and the fact that… well, world peace seems to be a nice dream.” A shrug. “No retiring for me anytime soon, I guess. We’ll keep doing what we have to do.”
A hesitation, then… “So are you two going to date? You can tell me to mind my own bees’ wax. I’m just curious, or if you two have even talked about it or know what you mean to each other.”
~~~
The tomato she held dropped from her hand and plopped safely back onto the large stack of like vegetables. L.L. could feel the heat moving through her face and knew her cheeks were as red as the tomatoes in front of her.
"What?" She was completely taken aback. At no point during this outing had she expected Steve to spring such a question on her. But he had and now she needed to honestly consider the question.
"I... would like to," she admitted as she messed with a strand of her hair nervously, eyes down. "I really would. So much. But Bucky... I don't know if he would want to." Her expression turned sad. "He's so convinced that he's horrible and insists that he isn't the guy I once knew, but that's not true at all. He's been through so much and of course that would change someone, but he's still him and what he's done... it doesn't change anything."
L.L. moved her hand through her hair with a sigh. "He's a good man that was forced to do bad things. I don't care what he says, he deserves happiness." She picked up a tomato and stared at it, eyes depressed. "Even if he finds it with someone else."
~~~
The blushing for L.L. anytime Bucky came up in conversation was what the big giveaway for her was. He watched her carefully, then looked off across the produce section, not really looking at anything. “Yeah, that’s about what he said where you were concerned. That you didn’t deserve a broken mess, that none of us did.” He put some oranges in the basket. “Told him it wasn’t his decision to decide if he was good enough for us. Thing is, we do have to acknowledge that he is different from back then. We can’t treat him the same. He’s been through too much. Seen too much. A lot weighs on him. So no, he’s right. He’s not the same person you wrote letters back and forth to. Not really. But nor are we going to treat him like he was never that person, that he doesn’t mean anything to us, that just because he’s been through hell and carries it on his back doesn’t mean we don’t see that he is still good. I was just hoping he’d come around recently to accepting that. Guessing now he hasn’t.”
He held the basket out so she could drop more produce in. “Guess we’ll just have to keep being patient with him. Fair warning though. He might get pretty snippy with you, trying to chase you off. For your own good, of course, in his mind. Even when he was a kid, he was a prickly pear, hiding behind quips and playful insults. Not much for sentiment and keeping close. In a war, that was armor. Problem is, he’s still at war. Keep that in mind. Keeping pace with him… You’re going to have to decide if it’s worth what it’s going to put you through. No one will fault you if you’d rather not. You’re young yourself.”
And abruptly he changed topics. “Should we get bananas?”
~~~
L.L. listened in silence to Steve's words, considering them carefully. He was right; Bucky was no longer the man she had sent letters to, but she didn't expect him to be. She had said as much when revealing her feelings for the hero's best friend. The love she felt for Bucky wasn't limited to the man she had come to know through the letters; it included the one she had come to know over the past few weeks. Endless hours were spent with him and it seemed she fell for him more and more as each one passed. Perhaps Bucky didn't realize it or maybe he didn't want to believe it, but L.L. didn't long for him to be the man from the letters sent decades ago. She didn't blush when he teased her or insist on spending time with him because she desperately wanted to find that man from long ago. She did those things because she liked and wanted to be with him, the Bucky of the present, not some ghost of the past.
“He's worth it,” she said resolutely, ignoring his question about the bananas. “The man I've come to know over the last few weeks... I want to be with him. Him, not a distant memory. He makes me feel warm and safe... being with him makes me happy.” L.L. smiled at Steve. “So let him try to chase me off. He'll find that it's not such an easy thing to do. I'm far too stubborn to give up on happiness, both mine and his.” A pause. “And yes, I do think we need bananas,” she added, moving toward the shelf that housed the yellow fruit. She picked up a bunch and set it into the basket, then proceeded to look over the contents.
“Do we have everything, you think? Have all the ingredients for the lasagna?”
~~~
“Stubbornness. I think it’s a requirement,” he said with amusement that bordered on laughter in his words. He hadn’t had much to laugh about in the past few months, but seeing how resolute L.L. was did lift something in his chest. “He’s going to huff a lot.”
Because, well, Bucky would. They just didn’t know how to give up on him.
“All right. Garlic is all we need now. Oh, speaking of this… Has anyone communicated with James’ date? She probably thinks he just stood her up. I didn’t know if anyone got a hold of her?”
He was assuming, unfortunately. Mia hadn’t mentioned gender at all.
~~~
"I texted him a couple weeks ago and let him know James had come down with a sudden illness." L.L. paused, realization hitting her. Steve had said 'she' when talking about James' date... he didn't know James had hooked up with another guy. Oh crap. She totally just outed her friend and didn't even realize it! Time to do some form of damage control. "They're concerned and I'm keeping them updated. I'm glad they weren't too angry; James really likes them. Ah! The garlic is over there!"
She went over to pick up a clove of garlic, packed it into a bag and placed it in the shopping basket. "And we're done!" She pursued her lips in thought. "What should we do now?" Usually after grocery shopping she would port straight to Bucky's safe house and start cooking there, but that wasn't an option for Steve. Should she deliver the extra groceries and then follow Steve or should they just store them at his place? That's if he even wanted her to go to his place at all which would make transporting the lasagna a bit difficult. "How do you want to handle the groceries?"
~~~
Steve had paused when she said “him”, looking at her as she nervously bubbled about the last ingredient needed. That actually was more confirming of the slip than anything. He just blinked a lot. “Oh… Uh. We just need one. One bunch of garlic.”
I just assumed… Now I feel like a heel… No, wait. I did that because of mere chances and probabilities. So James… Oh, Arnie would probably be so happy about that. He rubbed at his brow to hide his smile while L.L. returned with the garlic. “Thank you,” he said when it was dropped into the basket and he started heading toward check-out.
“Does the…” He motioned vaguely with his free hand. “-teleporting wear you out? What are the limits on it?”
~~~
"Not really," she replied with a shrug. All of the times she had used her teleporting she hadn't noticed much of a drain energy-wise. "I'm sure if I do it too often in a short period of time it likely would. I haven't used it like that to know. It does take a bit of energy and concentration to create them so probably."
L.L. started loading the items onto the conveyor belt. "It's kinda limited. I need to know the location and picture it in my mind. I'm hoping to expand it so that I can focus on a person as opposed to a place. It's worked with one person, but he's sort of a special case." Once all the items had been taken from the basket, she started digging into her purse and brought out a wallet. "I'll have to experiment some. Later, though. When things have settled. I don't want to drain myself when I need to be available for 'porting, you know?"
~~~
“True. If you did that, James wouldn’t be able to see his friends. Just didn’t know if we should cook this at my apartment and then you could just take the whole pan over. Up to you.” He looked down. “And, uh, thank you for taking the time.”
~~~
"You don't mind me coming over?" L.L. was a little surprised. She didn't think Steve would be so willing to have a virtual stranger know where his apartment was, let alone actually spend time in it. Her attention was brought to the cashier announcing the total. L.L. looked into her wallet, took out a few bills and handed it over to the employee.
"Cooking at your apartment then taking the pan over is probably the easiest way," she said as she received her change and took a second to thank the cashier. "I can also drop off the other groceries with Bucky real quick when we get there. I create a portal when traveling so I can just leave it open while I bring the stuff over."
~~~
Steve seemed just as surprised that she asked. “You’re a friend of James and Bucky.” Heck, he’d give her a key to the place at this point, that’s how welcomed she was just for having those two close.
“Then sounds like a plan. My oven is surprisingly decent.” He picked up the bags, smiling. “It’s not far from here. You don’t mind bikes, right?”