2024/2015
2024
As Lee drives up the long, tree-lined driveway to her country house in upstate New York, she lets out a relieved sigh when her headlights illuminate the front porch of her home in the late October dusk. Her husband, Steve Rogers, is sitting on the porch swing with their two-and-a-half-month-old daughter in his arms, rocking her to sleep in the crisp fall air. Parking the car in the driveway, she gets out and slowly walks up to them.
“Hi, honey,” Steve greets quietly with a smile.
“Hello, love,” she replies, kissing Steve lovingly before bending down to place a kiss on Lily’s forehead.
“How was your day? You look exhausted,” Steve queries his wife with a concerned look.
“It was good, but I am exhausted. Every new displaced person I meet tears at my heart a little bit more,” she replies, sitting next to Steve on the swing with her head on his shoulder looking down at their child.
More than a year has gone by since half the world was returned thanks to the work of the Avengers, but nothing is normal. Many folks who were blipped still do not have places to live after their homes fell into complete disrepair or were resettled by people who remained. Some folks who weren’t blipped were forced out of homes that used to belong to people who have returned. It’s all one giant mess that is taking many organizations and many people a lot of time to try and fix in a just and ethical manner in the face of an unprecedented situation.
Lee is an immigration lawyer working out of New York City. She helps people who were displaced by the events of the Blip, although that’s not how her career started. Back in undergrad, Lee knew she wanted to help people. After studying political science on the pre-law track, she decided to take a few years off from school to work in the non-profit sector in order to make a difference and to have more time to study for the LSAT before applying to law schools.
Being from a small town, she wanted a change of pace for law school, choosing to apply to Columbia, where she went, amongst a few other East Coast schools in cities. She needed to find a way to pay for it though, as her family was not supportive of her wishes to continue working in non-profit to help people in need. They rather thought she should use her career in law to make a lot of money working for corporations. This need for funding led to her applying and being selected for a fellowship with the Stark Foundation.
After the events in Sokovia, Tony Stark felt the need to use his profits from war to help the very people his technology had displaced, harmed, or killed. The Stark Foundation had a variety of initiatives including fellowships for new immigration and civil rights law students. Stark’s fellows were granted a full ride to law school with the promise of an opportunity for employment at the Foundation once they finished school and passed the Bar. In exchange for this, fellows were asked to volunteer with Tony and the Foundation on a weekly basis at the Avengers Compound, helping jumpstart the programs they were to run in a few years.
This is how Lee met Steve and got her nickname.
2015
On the day Tony brought Lee to the Compound to show her around and get familiar with the place, most of the Avengers happened to be hanging out in the living room as many of them were still getting to know each other, being fairly new to the team.
Tony started speaking from the doorway when he saw them gathered around, “Hey everyone, please meet our newest addition to the Stark Foundation. She’s one of our legal fellows out here trying to make the world a better, safer place, just like us.”
Lee followed up her introduction with a “hello” as Natasha gave a small smile and a nod.
Sam walked forward to shake her hand saying, “Hello, welcome, Lee!”
She furrowed her brow at the name, confused.
“Can I call you Lee? Much shorter than Legal Fellow since Tony failed to tell us your name… probably because he can’t be bothered to remember our real names, don’t take it personally, though,” Sam said teasingly with a wink.
Lee smiled and nodded at Sam, speaking an affirmative “sure!” in response to the nickname, releasing his handshake as Tony lit up and clapped a hand on her shoulder, “Oh, I like that! Good one, birdman. See, everyone around here gets a nickname. Lee can be yours!”
She smiled at Tony before glancing around the room, a little starstruck by all the superheroes casually acting like regular people before her, seeing the smiling face of Wanda and the stoic faces of Vision and Rhodes looking back at her as well.
“Where’s Capsicle?” Tony asked.
“Training. Couldn’t pull him away from those boxing bags today,” Natasha said.
“Capsicle?” Lee questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“He means Steve Rogers, Captain America. Dude was frozen for like, 70 years, hence, Cap-sicle,” Rhodes supplied in a flat voice, using his hands to indicate the two halves of the nickname.
Lee nodded in understanding, laughing under her breath a little at the whole situation and at Tony’s funny nicknames for the team.
“Alright, that’s enough of these guys for one day, I’ll show you the rest of the place,” Tony guided Lee out of the room as she gave a little wave and a smile to the Avengers behind her.
“Gosh, I can’t believe I just met a bunch of the Avengers, you all are so cool, going around and saving the world and shit,” Lee blurted out at she walked alongside Tony down the hall.
Tony raised an eyebrow as Lee said, “Shoot, I’m really sorry, I wasn’t expecting to be this starstruck…”
“It’s okay kid, honestly, I’d be a little offended if you weren’t, because we are awesome and I personally enjoy the praise,” Tony said placing his hand over his chest, putting her at ease.
He showed her through some lab and office spaces where she’d be working before making it to the training area.
“And here’s the infamous First Avenger!” Tony declared as they entered the training room.
Steve clocked a few more punches to the bag he was using before stopping to look up at the pair.
“Hey, Tony. Hello…” Steve trailed off glancing between Tony and Lee for an explanation of who she was, starting to undo the wraps on his hands.
“Steve, meet Lee, my new Legal Fellow at the Foundation. Lee, meet Mr. Star-Spangled Man with a Plan,” Tony introduced as Steve approached them from across the room.
As Steve moved closer, the two of them getting a better look at each other, the energy in the room started to spark between them, drawing Steve in like a magnet. An unseen connection was building so thick in the air they could almost reach out and touch it. Steve felt butterflies in his stomach bubbling up like they used to when he and Bucky would go on double dates with girls back in the day, only much stronger this time. He suddenly felt like that small kid from Brooklyn again rather than an almost 100-year-old super soldier. Goosebumps were forming on Lee’s arms as she looked up at Steve’s flushed face, waves of warmth and chills rushing over her body as her jaw slacked open, all other inputs in the room dissipating from her awareness as her whole being focused in on Steve. He now stood in front of her, their eyes locking, both slightly awestruck, as Steve reached out tentatively to shake her hand.
“H-hi… nice to…nice to meet… you,” Lee breathed out slowly, attempting to get her vocal cords to cooperate as she stared into the captain’s eyes.
“Hi…” Steve whispered as he held, instead of shook, her hand, absolutely captivated by her as time stopped and all other sounds except each other muted around them.
Lee’s heart raced and she struggled to breathe as they both felt the electricity coursing between them through their connected hands. They weren’t sure how long Tony had been saying their names until he finally waved a hand between them, breaking their trance, Steve being the first to look at him.
“Umm… you guys good? What’s uh… what just happened?” Tony asked glancing between the two of them in confusion.
They let go of each other’s hand as heat rose to their faces, Steve taking a small step backwards.
“Wh-what? Oh, sorry!” Lee spoke to Tony shakily, willing her heart to slow down and her breathing to return to normal.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into me today!” Lee exclaimed, placing her hand over her chest for stability, some sense flooding back into her brain before looking back over at Steve to find him staring at her again and feeling that focusing fog starting to take over her again.
Steve cleared his throat and shifted his gaze to the floor for a moment before looking back up hopefully to ask, “Will you be working around here now, Lee?”
She kept glancing between Tony and Steve, “Yes, yeah, uh, I’ll be around a couple times a week, I think, helping Tony get the Foundation up and running.”
Steve lit up at her answer, his heart doing a small flip at the knowledge she’d be around again, and frequently.
“Also, Lee’s not my real name, that’s just what Sam decided to call me a few minutes ago…” Lee said gesturing in the direction of the door.
She told him her real name and Steve repeated it with a smile before saying, “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you around then! Welcome to the team, Lee!”
Tony started to catch on to what was happening before him, “Yeah, seeing is all you’ll be doing there, old man. Lee is my Fellow. She’s got a lot to focus on with school and the Foundation so that she’s fully capable when I employ her as a proper lawyer in a few years.”
Lee gave Tony a sheepish look, nerves sinking into her stomach as she felt a bit like a child who got caught doing something they weren’t supposed to by a parent.
“Right… you know me… always the dedicated student, no distractions here…” Lee spoke semi-untruthfully, knowing full well that she would have a hard time getting anything done whenever she would be near Steve again.
Steve caught the falseness in her tone on response to Tony, laughing a little to himself as she tried to appease her new boss.
Lee wasn’t sure if she believed in love at first sight, but if it was real, she figured whatever had just happened between them was it. His presence made her feel simultaneously like she’d been hit by a freight train and like a bird gliding freely through the air effortlessly on a current.
“Yeah, uh huh, you better keep the distractions to a minimum… I’m not funding your law degree just so you can drop out and play 1940’s housewife with this sucker,” Tony joked, bringing a new wave of heat to Lee’s face.
“Alright, Tony, that’s enough,” Steve scowled in defense.
“You’re right it is, let’s go, Lee. I’ve got one more thing to show you before you head back to the city to hit those books!” Tony nodded his head towards the door before giving a “don’t even think about it” look at Steve who put his hands up in defense.
Lee reluctantly followed Tony, ungluing her feet from the floor where they’d been planted since first laying eyes on the man that, unbeknownst to either of them, would become her husband and the father of her children one day. She took one last glance over her shoulder, catching Steve smiling at her like a schoolboy before rounding the corner of the door and letting out a deep breath she didn’t realize she was holding, a new smile plastering on her face as she dreamily followed Tony down the hall, trying to contain herself at the thought of seeing Steve again.
2024
“I already ate, but dinner’s waiting for you on the stove, if you’re ready to go inside?” Steve asks his wife softly, pulling her out of her thoughts.
She nods, reaching out to take Lily from his arms as they get up from the porch swing and head through the front door. Once inside, Lee takes a seat at the dining table, cradling Lily in her arms as Steve makes her a plate of food. For a former superhero, Steve turned out to be surprisingly domestic in his early retirement. Early, given that his body is only around 45 years old, but well-deserved considering he’s technically 106 and has saved the world a few times. Lee is only 35 and just getting a start with her career, so having Steve stay home with the baby works out well for the three of them. Steve gets to have a more normal life that doesn’t involve running around the world fighting evil in tight pants in the middle of the night, not to say that he didn’t enjoy his job before, but it was stressful. He supports Lee’s work at the Foundation and volunteers on a weekly basis, all while finally starting a family. Lee gets a supportive husband who takes care of her and Lily like they are the most important things in the world, because to him they are now.
“Mmm, babe, this looks wonderful, thank you for cooking!” Lee says to Steve as she pulls him in for a kiss after he places the food in front of her on the table.
“Anything for you, sweetie, I know how hard your days in the city can be. Will you be working from home tomorrow, or do you need to go back downtown?” Steve asks as he moves to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in a protective embrace, chin resting on her head.
“I’ll be here. I don’t need to go back until early next week,” Lee mumbles through a mouthful of food.
Steve kisses the top of her head as Lily awakes and starts to cry out.
“Oh, sweet thing, someone’s hungry just like Mama,” Lee coos as she pauses eating to attend to breastfeeding her daughter.
Steve takes a seat next to them at the table as Lee starts to eat again now that Lily is occupied. He looks lovingly over his family, in awe of Lee’s strength to be a working mom who manages to care so deeply for her family and her clients all at once. After the birth of their child in early August, Steve convinced Lee not to go back to work full-time right away. She worked it out with the Foundation to be part-time for now, some days from home and some days in the city, as she wanted to get back to helping displaced people as soon as she was able. Steve knows his wife has a tendency to spread herself too thin, so he does everything he can to take care of her, physically, mentally, and emotionally, often reminding her that she can’t fix the world alone, as he knows from personal experience, and to take breaks so she doesn’t burn herself out.
“How was your day? Did you get any time to sketch like you wanted to?” Lee looks at Steve, taking his hand across the table.
“I did! Lily was asleep for a solid couple of hours this afternoon, so I was able to sit out back and sketch the garden,” Steve’s face lights up in response.
“That’s wonderful! Please do show me later?”
He nods before asking, “What do you want to do after you eat? Bath, tv, read, or… maybe straight to sleep?”
Lee yawns and then giggles softly, reaching up to caress Steve’s face, “I think right to sleep. Sorry, my love.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, honey, you’ve had a long day and it’s getting pretty late anyway.”
Lee and Steve smile at each other as Steve takes Lee’s plate and goes back to the kitchen to clean up.
After sitting with her baby for a little while longer, she carries Lily up to bed, setting her in her crib just as Steve walks into their bedroom. She leans down and kisses Lily’s head before Steve does the same, whispering sweet dreams to their child. They both get ready for bed in their en suite bathroom, after which Lee checks on Lily across the room once more before tucking into bed. Steve pulls Lee into his arms, kissing his wife with a sweet, soft passion before they settle down to sleep.
“Goodnight, my husband,” Lee whispers as she tucks her head into Steve’s chest.
Steve swoons at the title he’ll never get tired of hearing fall from her lips, “Goodnight, my wife. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”