Green Tinted Glass

“Well then, Steve, would you like to go for coffee?”

Steve nodded,

“I think I’d like that.”

Lucia smiled again,

“Perfect. Follow me.”

She turned heel and walked out of the gym. After a brief moment, Steve followed her.

“So,” He began, “Where exactly are we going? And what’s your name? I deserve to know that, at least.” 

Lucia smiled over her shoulder at him as they both stepped out of the gym building and into the spring sunshine. May was her favourite time of year, not too hot yet, and with a cool breeze left over from winter. 

“We’re going to a cafe a little while from here. It’s one of my favourites, only a couple blocks from my house.” She answered him.

Steve squinted in the bright light, which contrasted with the gloomy interior of the gym. 

“And your name?”

“Lucia.” She said, and after a beat added; “Stark.” 

Steve seemed taken aback by this.

“Wait, Stark as in Howard Stark?”

She nodded. 

“He was my father. Tony Stark's my big brother, I assume S.H.I.E.L.D gave you his file?”

“Yeah. I, uh, knew your father.”

She nodded again, “Dad talked about you a lot. Or at least he did before he, well..” she trailed off.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Steve said, a sad look on his face. Lucia shook her head.

“Don’t be. You probably knew him better than I did.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t give me your file.” Steve said, changing the subject. Lucia gave a small chuckle at Fury’s meddling.

“I guessed not. Fury doesn’t want me working right now. That’s probably why he didn’t want you to know about me.” 

She breathed a heavy sigh.  

“I’m starting to get the feeling he’s hiding something from me.”

Steve had a contemplative look on his face as Lucia glanced up at him. 

“Well if he doesn’t trust you, why should I?”

Lucia stopped walking, and Steve stopped with her. She picked her next words carefully, as she didn’t want to scare Steve off. 

“You don’t have to trust me if you don’t want to. I’ve worked for S.H.I.E.L.D for eleven years now, and I’ve been a trusted member of Fury’s team for five of those years. Fury is a great director and a good man, but sometimes he has his own, unclear intentions. I don’t believe his intentions with you are entirely to your benefit. That’s why I decided to come find you and help you by myself.”

Steve nodded, seeming to find the answer he wanted in her little speech. 

“Eleven- how old did you say you are again?”

“I didn’t” Lucia replied, and continued walking down the busy Manhattan street. Steve hurried to catch up with her. 

“And what exactly are his intentions for me?”

Lucia sucked in a breath, slightly irritated at being asked a question she should know the answer to, but didn’t. 

“I’m not really that sure. My best guess is that he wants to study you, see how you react to your new environment. That’s why he’s doing a shit job of adjusting you.”

“You said you were a trusted member of his team. Why are you going against his orders?” Steve questioned, “Why are you helping me?”

She smiled at his deductive skills. Always asking the right questions. Captain America, indeed.

“While I have massive respect for Fury, I don’t always agree with his methods. He likes people who question the decisions of people in power and resist authority a little bit.” She shrugged, “he knew what he was getting into when he signed me on. As for why I’m helping you..” 

her expression soured a little as her next words took her back to where she was a year ago.

“No one deserves to be a lab rat.”

Steve nodded, satisfied with her answer. “So, are we going to a cafe or not?”

Lucia’s smile returned to her face as she answered him; “Of course. We’re already here.”

She gestured to the building behind Steve, which was just beside the grand central terminal. It had a light gray stone facade with plenty of tables out the front. The interior had many wood accents, with potted plants everywhere. It was decently busy today, there were only half a dozen tables left. One of which was her favorite table.

“Come on,” she nudged Steve with her arm, “The best table is free, let’s order before someone else gets it.”

As they walked into the building, Lucia pulled her hood up and her sunglasses down. She had dressed incognito today, as she did most days. A simple oversized hoodie with faded jeans and converse helped her blend into the crowd. As much as fame was fun, she hated being recognised in public. 

Nevertheless, as Lucia made her way to the counter, the familiar barista called out to her by name.

“Hey, hey, hey, Miss Stark!” 

Lucia rolled her eyes but smiled fondly at his enthusiasm. 

“Jonas, god damn it, keep your voice down, I don’t want to be recognised!” 

Jonas winced and mouthed an exaggerated ‘sorry’ as he made his way over to the counter to take their order. 

“How are we today? You gettin’ the usual? Ooo, who’s your friend?”

“This is Steve, and yes I’ll have the usual,” She turned to Steve, “What would you like?”

Steve gave a small shrug, 

“Plain black?” 

“A black coffee and Miss Stark’s usual, coming right up!” 

Lucia paid, tipping generously for her favorite barista of course, and moved over towards the espresso machine to wait for Jonas to make their coffee. 

“So,” she began the small talk, “how are you? How’s your boyfriend? You seem even perkier than usual today.” 

Jonas smiled at Lucia as his hands gilded effortlessly over the espresso machine, making coffee with practiced perfection. 

“I’m great. I’m better than great, actually, and my boyfriend is no longer my boyfriend!” Jonas showed her his ring finger excitedly, where there was a small band with inlaid diamonds.

“Wait, is that-“

“He PROPOSED!!” Jonas squealed, cutting her off. “He did it last night, took me to a fancy restaurant, then we went up to the roof and he popped the question! There were fairy lights everywhere and we had champagne and ugh, it was so romantic!! I’ve been dying to tell you.”

Lucia smiled warmly at Jonas, seeing how excited he was. 

“That’s great Jonas, I’m really happy for you, congratulations!” 

Jonas grinned. “Thanks! Now go get your table, you know you don’t have to wait here. One of the girls will bring it out to you in a minute, ok?” 

She smiled and nodded, exiting the cafe to find her table.

Luckily it hadn’t been taken while she was talking to Jonas, and Lucia and Steve sat down, getting comfortable. Steve opened his mouth to speak.

“Back there, he said his, uh, boyfriend proposed? But he’s a man, he can’t be married to another man.” 

She shot Steve a withering look. 

“First thing you need to know about the 21st century, Captain? We accept people for who they are. Or at least the decent people do. It’s ok to be gay, and if you can’t accept that I’ll shove you back into the arctic myself, are we clear?” 

Steve’s eyes widened, “No I wasn’t, I didn’t mean to- I mean, I think that’s great!”

This surprised her. She thought that since he was basically a ninety year old he would have an older mindset.

“I mean, y’know, back in my day people hated people like that, killed them for it, even. It was classified as a mental disorder, but it's nothing new to me. I’m just glad it's allowed now.”

Steve looked at the ground. 

“I’m glad Jonas and his boyfriend can get married.”

Lucia smiled. “Good.”

A waitress came over with their coffees, the plain black for Steve, and Lucia’s double shot latte. 

“Waiting on the big guy?” The waitress asked.

“Ma’am?” Steve inquired, confused.

“Iron man,” The waitress smiled, “A lot of people eat here just to see him fly by.”

“Right.” Steve replied, glancing at Lucia. She gave a slight nod. Yup, iron man. The super-hero moniker for her big brother. 

“Maybe another time.” Steve told the waitress. She turned to Lucia.

“The table’s yours as long as you’d like. Nobody’s waiting on it.” 

Lucia smiled, “Plus, you’ve got free wireless.” The waitress chuckled, but Steve looked at Lucia, confused.

“Radio?”

He asked.

The waitress gave him a quizzical look and left to clear a table. 

“Wifi.” Lucia replied to Steve. “They have free Wifi. It’s something you need to access the internet, the greatest invention of the technological revolution. You use your phone to access it.” 

Steve’s brows furrowed in confusion, and she sighed. 

“There really is a lot for you to learn. Come on, I think you need to go shopping.”

—

“So this is a phone, it has all the functions of the telephones you know, but it can also text, which is kinda instant telegram, I guess, and it's also a computer, a library, a tv, a phone book, a calendar, a calculator, an arcade and a clock all rolled into one.” 

Steve turned the device over in his hand, a perplexed expression on his face. They were on the second floor of the Stark tower, which was essentially a mall full of shops dedicated to different types of Stark tech. Lucia had been showing Steve all different types of devices, from laptops to tablets and currently, phones. In between explaining the uses of the tech, she had been peppering in lessons of pop culture and societal differences from now and the 1940’s. Steve had been dutifully noting everything down in his little notebook, along with little doodles of all the new devices. 

All things considered, he had been taking everything quite well. Though he seemed at a loss when it came to operating the devices, he was absorbing all the information she was bombarding him with like a ninety year old sponge. 

“Gosh, it’s really complicated, isn’t it?” Steve said, shaking his head in astonishment. Lucia nodded.

“A phone is an essential. Here, we’ll buy this one for you and get you set up. Is there anyone you could put on your contact list? If there’s anyone from, er, before that you know is still around, I’ll happily get you connected.” 

Steve looked down, a sad look on his face.

“There is actually. Just one. But.. I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.”

“That’s ok,” she replied, “just let me know if that changes and I’ll hook you up.” 

Steve smiled gratefully, and then checked his watch. 

“I should really be going, it’s almost six. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me today.”

Lucia nodded, “Anytime. But why don’t you stay for dinner? Tony should be back in half an hour or so, and delicious New York style pizza is only a call and ten minutes away. We could watch Harry Potter?” 

Steve sighed, “I shouldn’t, I don’t want to intrude-“

“You wouldn’t be! Trust me, my brother loves having guests over. And it’s better than sitting in your tiny S.H.I.E.L.D commissioned apartment alone.”

Steve thought about it for a second before sighing and shaking his head. 

“I really shouldn’t. I need some time to… process. But thank you for everything you’ve done for me today.”

She nodded, disappointed but not surprised by his answer. She bought the phone for him and they walked together towards the elevator. 

Inside, while they were gliding down towards the bottom floor in silence, she noticed Steve staring down at the streets of Manhattan, alive with the evening rush, a strange look playing across his features. 

“Steve? You ok?”

“Yeah it’s just… so different than it was. I’ve only been out of the ice for a few days. When I woke up I wasn’t even sure if we had won the war.” He turned his attention from the city below to look at Lucia’s face. 

“I miss it. The familiarity. Everything is alien to me now, even the things I thought I knew.” 

Her heart broke at his pained expression.

“Steve, oh my god I didn’t even think about that, for you it’s only been a couple days since you were fighting in a world war…” 

She trailed off, shaking her head.

“You’re going to be ok, Steve. The war is over, you can rest now. You can heal.”

Steve smiled sadly. “Something in me doesn’t believe you.”

There was a ding as the elevator reached the bottom floor. The doors parted to reveal the lobby. 

“Well, this is where I leave you.” Lucia began, “I put my phone number in there, so call me if you need anything.” she said, tapping his brand new phone. “Remember to listen to The Beatles.”

“Yes Ma’am.” he said, giving a mock salute. Lucia returned it in kind.

“See you round, Cap.” 

He smiled. She watched him walk out of the elevator and into the lobby. As the doors to the elevator closed again, ready to take her up to her private floors, she could just see him exiting Stark tower. Lucia hoped he would be ok, all alone in his tiny apartment. 

The elevator doors shut again, and she pressed the button for the seventy-fourth floor. Leftover Chinese awaited her in the kitchen, and she wasn't going to give up her idea of watching Harry Potter just because she had no one to watch it with. 

As she glided upward in the private elevator, she unfurled her hand from her side. She could feel a pulse on the ninetieth floor, and they got stronger as the elevator zoomed upwards. She closed her fist, smothering the sound as memories from a year ago began to play in her mind. Lucia didn’t know why she didn’t tell Steve about what she is. Maybe a part of her still wasn’t ready to show that side of herself to anyone but her family and closest friends. 

Lucia sighed as the elevator doors dinged and opened, and she stepped out into the living room. The power thing was a problem for another day, tonight was for Harry Potter and Chinese food. 

She tried to ignore the feeling of unease in her stomach as she heated the leftovers up and settled into the couch to watch.