Chapter One
"I bet I can run faster than you!"
Lainey smiled so widely, she reminded Steve of the Cheshire Cat from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'.
The Disney film had come out years after he had gone in the ice, 1951 to be exact, but he had read the book written by Lewis Carroll when he was a boy back in Brooklyn.
It was one of his favorites.
The toothy grin and the mischievous look in Lainey's eyes was enough to indicate that she was up to no good.
"Well, let's see." He humored her.
Since being sent to Washington D.C. to go on missions for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s strike team, Steve had been keeping his body and mind in shape by waking up early in the morning to run in the city.
The sun was beginning to rise, marking the sky with beautiful orange and purple hues, and the weather was beginning to grow warmer.
Steve always loved a good sunrise. Even when he was in the army, he'd get up earlier than all the other soldiers in his unit just to watch. Sometimes, he would even sketch what he saw.
The highlight of his day was getting up early and taking in the sights before he had to go off to work.
And most mornings, Lainey joined him.
She had a lot of energy, that one.
And what better way to burn it off, than to exercise?
"On your mark." Steve crouched down into a starting position, prompting her to do the same. "Get set…..."
"Go!" Lainey giggled, taking off before he could prepare himself, leaving him in her wake.
Steve shook his head, clearly amused by her behavior, and hung back for a few moments, giving her a head start.
It had been a year since they had found Lainey in that old apartment in Brooklyn, and she was growing very nicely.
She was no longer that wary, skittish kid that thought the whole world was out to get her.
She smiled a lot more, her laugh was boisterous and not bashful in the slightest. She had her moments where she was timid and nervous, because one year couldn't possibly erase the eight that her biological mother put her through. But she was healing.
And most of all, she and Natasha had gotten exceptionally close.
Lainey stuck to the woman like flies to a strip. Everything Natasha did, she wanted to do. If Natasha was watching a movie, so was Lainey. If she was reading a book, Lainey was, too. Natasha had actually told him that one day the kid asked her if she could dye her hair red.
Of course, Natasha was flattered, but she denied the request with a resounding, 'not even in your dreams'.
She liked Lainey just the way she was. It was one thing for her to want to do everything she wanted to do, but to change her appearance? Natasha wasn't sure she would be doing her any favors by allowing that.
Not that she wasn't secretly amused by the fact that Lainey wanted to be her carbon copy.
Of course, she wasn't going to tell Steve that. He didn't need any information that could be used to tease her.
With his enhanced speed, Steve wouldn't have to take more than four steps to get ahead of Lainey, but he had to keep the game fair.
As fast as she was, she couldn't keep up with him, even if she wanted to.
And that's why she was on the scooter Clint picked up for her.
A nice Razor in blue, with an adjustable bar, so that she could enjoy it for a few years.
He figured since his kids were into them, Lainey might like to try it out for herself. And she loved it!
Natasha had nearly killed him when she came home to find Lainey riding around on that thing.
Who knew the woman could be such a stickler for rules?
And the scooter had so many!
No riding indoors, no sitting while riding it, hold on with both hands, only ride with an adult present, don't ride without a helmet, don't ride out of sight...
But Lainey didn't really care as long as she got to play with it.
She didn't ride it as fast as Steve could run, but it almost evened out the playing field.
Kind of...
Sort of...
Not really.
"C'mon, Steve!"
Steve let out a carefree bout of laughter, before taking off.
And as he ran, he noticed another man doing the same.
He had never actually seen him before, but didn't mind the extra company.
"On your left." He warned him as he zipped by.
The man continued to jog, thinking nothing of the encounter until Steve zipped by him again.
How was this guy doing that?
"On your left."
"Uh-huh, on my left." The man acknowledged this time. "Got it."
Show off.
And Lainey, being the cheeky kid she was, followed Steve's example. "On your left!" She yelled, scooting by him.
"Yup, got it."
What was with these two?
And just when he thought he could jog for a few minutes in peace, Steve came blowing by him again.
"Don't say it! Don't say it!"
"On your left."
"Come on!" The man huffed and sped up, in a failed attempt in keeping up with Steve.
Big mistake.
"Need a medic?" Steve joked, finding the man collapsed, leaning up against a tree trunk, clearly winded and out of breath.
"I need a new set of lungs." He tried to laugh. "Dude, you just ran, like, thirteen miles in thirty minutes."
He had never seen anything like it.
He heard all about Captain America in school and on the news after the man was found in the ice, but he never actually saw him in action.
Not in real life.
And he had to say, the stories really didn't do him justice.
"I guess I got a late start." Steve smiled as Lainey rode her scooter over to the two.
She had taken a few extra laps because she had been having so much fun. She knew that as soon as she got back to the apartment she and Natasha shared, the older woman would make her leave the scooter in the coat closet until she went outside again.
So, she had to enjoy it while she could.
"Oh, really?" The stranger scoffed. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." He waited a beat before speaking again. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."
"What unit you with?" Steve asked, noticing the veteran's sweatshirt.
"Fifty-eighth, para-rescue." The man told him. "But now I'm working down at the VA." He extended his hand to shake in greeting. "Sam Wilson."
"Steve Rogers." Steve took it and pulled him up to stand.
"Yeah, I kinda put that together." Sam smiled. "Hey, kid."
"Hi." Lainey moved behind Steve, abandoning her beloved scooter to wrap her fingers around his shirt.
She was perfectly comfortable with the Avengers, but still shy and cautious when it came to new people.
But with enough prompting and encouragement, she'd be able to power through it.
"This is Lainey." Steve introduced her, not forcing her to speak if she didn't want to.
Natasha tried her best not to speak for her. That was the difference between the two. Steve tended to baby her a bit more and Natasha tried to let her figure things out on her own before swooping in to help when Lainey tried and didn't succeed.
Not to say that she didn't do her own fair amount of coddling.
"That's a pretty name." And it seemed like Sam understood. He must have had experience with kids. "Must've freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."
"It takes some getting used to…..it's good to meet you, Sam." Steve lifted Lainey's scooter and took her hand, starting to leave.
"It's your bed, right?" Sam's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"What's that?" Steve turned to face him again.
"Your bed." Sam repeated. "It's too soft. When I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground and use rocks for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like—"
"—Lying on a marshmallow. Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor." Steve understood. "How long?"
It was nice to finally meet someone who understood.
They were both from different time periods, but they could come together and find common ground in talking about the conditions of the wars they had fought in.
It made the transition into the future that much easier.
"Two tours." Sam smiled. "You must miss the good 'ol days, huh?"
That was an understatement.
The future was great and all, but Steve missed the forties.
The music, the dancing, the empty city streets, the lack of technology, the human interaction and camaraderie.
But 2014 wasn't so bleak. It had a lot to offer.
"Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio's good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot trying to catch up."
"Marvin Gaye, 1972, 'Trouble Man' soundtrack." Sam raised a finger. "Everything you've missed jammed into one album."
"I'll put it on the list." Steve handed Lainey her scooter and pulled out his little pocket sized notebook, writing the name of the album down.
"What? You a fan?" Sam asked Lainey, having seen her face light up at the suggestion.
"Uh huh."
"How old are you, kid?"
"Nine."
"Nine, and you like Marvin Gaye?" Sam was clearly impressed.
"I like 'What's Going On' better, though." Lainey slowly came out of her shell, still hiding behind Steve.
"I can respect that." Sam nodded. "That's another great album. You've got good taste."
"What's the name of that album, again?" Steve asked, interested in listening to something Lainey took a liking to.
"What's Going On'." Lainey told him, looking at all the things he had on the list.
Star Trek? Ew.
She needed to suggest some better things.
...…like 'The Brady Bunch' or something.
"Alright, Sam." Steve sighed, looking down at his phone. "Duty calls. Thanks for the run...…if that's what you wanna call running."
"Oh, that's how it is?" Sam shook his hand.
"That's how it is." Steve chuckled.
"Okay, anytime you wanna stop by the VA and make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."
"I'll keep it in mind." Steve took Lainey's hand once again and walked over to the black sport's car that had just pulled up.
"Tasha!" Lainey lit up when the woman rolled down the window.
"Hi, голубушка." The redhead greeted her. "Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."
"That's hilarious." Steve playfully rolled his eyes, opening the passenger side door so that Lainey could crawl into the backseat, before hopping in himself.
"Bye." Lainey waved politely at Sam, getting one in return.
"How you doing?" He flirted with Natasha.
"Hey." She reciprocated before turning around to face Lainey. "Did you put your seatbelt on? I didn't hear it click."
"Do I have to?" Lainey pouted.
She always put it on, but it had become sort of an ongoing thing that she needed to argue with Natasha about doing it before she actually complied.
"I'm not moving this car until you do."
"Okay." Lainey sat back in her booster seat and drummed her fingers on her lap.
Natasha bristled and narrowed her eyes at the child. "If I'm late for work, I'm gonna lock that scooter up and you'll never get it back."
"Never?" Lainey's eyes widened comically.
"One."
"But what if I need it?"
"Two." The redhead held up two fingers and wiggled them.
"I was only playing." Lainey huffed, but put the seatbelt on all the same.
It didn't seem like now was really the time to be playing this game, so she decided to quit while she still could.
Natasha only smirked and turned around smugly, knowing she had won that round.
"Can't run everywhere." Steve shrugged as if he hadn't been watching the entire exchange.
"No, you can't."
"What's the mission today?" Lainey asked her legal guardian, balancing on her scooter as they walked through the halls of the Triskellion.
Clint had really knocked it out of the park with this gift. Natasha didn't think that Lainey was capable of playing with anything else.
"That's classified." Natasha tapped her helmet. "And you're not supposed to be riding that thing indoors."
"I won't tell Steve if you won't."
At first, Lainey thought that Natasha was bad when it came to rules. But Steve was even worse.
He hated it when she rode her scooter inside. Especially after it rained. He said she was just tracking mud into the house for someone else to clean up.
Killjoy.
"It's a deal."
"When I grow up, can I go on missions someday?"
"We'll see."
Now, what Natasha really meant, was 'no'. But she didn't want to shoot Lainey down so harshly when it was clear she was having a good day.
Lainey wasn't going become some sort of child soldier in training like she was.
Not if she could help it.
And plus, with the child's past, it was better to keep her out of this way of life.
"Can I spar?"
"We'll see."
Another 'no'.
Lainey had enough conversations with the woman to know that whenever she got a 'we'll see', it really, probably meant, 'no'. She didn't know why Natasha didn't just say what she meant instead of getting her hopes up.
She wanted to train again! She watched Natasha and Steve spar and it looked like fun! No one actually got hurt and even when they fell, they had mats to land on instead of hardwood.
And no one was forcing them to do this, they wanted to do it.
After a year of not training at all, Lainey thought that she was ready to start again, but how could she if Natasha wouldn't let her?
"You're not putting me on babysitting duty." Nick Fury grumbled as they walked into his office. "I'm the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., this isn't in the job description."
"It wasn't in mine either, but she kind of grows on you." Natasha smirked.
"You guys always say that." Lainey bit back a smile. "Where's Ms. Maria?"
"She's in her office." Fury informed her, giving her a chiding look with his one eye. "And you're not supposed to be riding that thing in here."
Lainey pouted and rolled her beloved scooter over to the couch near the window and pulled her helmet off.
Fury never let her ride it in the Triskellion. He said he didn't want her running into anybody.
Fair enough.
But it was still more fun than walking.
"Hey, I already had this discussion with her." Natasha raised her hands. "Don't look at me."
"I don't know why you insist on bringing this kid in here to annoy me."
"Because in order for me to work here full time, you need to watch her when Steve and I can't."
Lainey wasn't at all offended by the way they were talking about her.
She had always had thick skin, and she knew that they were only playing around for her benefit.
Besides, Fury looked and acted tough, but when they were all alone, he was the one who would tell her stories about a woman named, Carol Danvers and a cat named, Goose.
She wanted a cat. They were so cute.
They were so light on their feet and really sneaky. You never knew when they were coming or where they were coming from.
Lainey could be like that. Cats were cool.
"Alright, it's time for me to leave, Lainey." Natasha brushed some hair away from the nine year old's face, interrupting her train of thought. "Be good."
"I'm always good."
"Debatable." The redhead raised a brow. "Behave, I mean it. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Okay."
"Lainey, wake up." Steve gently shook her shoulder.
"Hmm?" The brunette's eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she saw him. "Hi."
She must've fallen asleep on Fury's couch.
And after the day she had, who could blame her?
She spent the rest of the day tormenting Fury in his office. If she wasn't running around as a result of her sugarless-sugar rush, she was badgering Fury with questions. Questions about where Natasha and Steve were and when they'd be back, or how did he become the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and if he answered to Maria, or if she answered to him.
Did Goose really swallow the Tesseract? What happened to him? How hard was it to run S.H.I.E.L.D.? How much paperwork did he have to do? Did he ever get to play? Did he ever go home? Did he live at the Triskellion?
Really, Lainey knew the answer to most of those questions, she just wanted to see how long it would be before she could get under his skin.
Since he wouldn't entertain her, she had to find someway to entertain herself.
Finally, Fury had enough and lifted her up off of his desk, plopping her down on the couch before covering her with a warm blanket.
And that's how she ended up falling asleep, but unfortunately, she was startled awake in the middle of the night by nightmares.
"Hi, honey. It's time to wake up. What're you still doing asleep?"
"I couldn't sleep last night." She admitted, stretching all her limbs.
"Oh yeah?" He gently rubbed her arm. "Why not? Bad dream?"
"Yeah."
"Was it the same dream?"
It was almost always the same dream.
Or, if it wasn't the same dream, it was the same idea.
And it always involved her mother, Allison.
Taking her out of that awful environment, didn't mean that Lainey wasn't still going to be affected by what she had experienced for all those years.
Things like this took time.
"Yeah."
"Well, you're safe now. There's nothing you have to worry about, I promise, okay?"
"Okay." Lainey nodded, wanting nothing more than to change the subject. "Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine. The mission was fine." Steve assured her. "Natasha's at home and she asked me to pick you up."
"Let's go!" Lainey lit up, hearing the woman's name. "Let's go!" She sat up, causing the blanket that had been draped over her to fall.
"Easy." Steve chuckled. "Did you have anything to eat yet?"
"No, I wasn't hungry."
"Lainey." The former WWII soldier scolded. "It's after twelve."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Just…..don't sell your body short, okay?"
"Okay." She downcast her eyes to avoid his.
Honestly, it was really hard to get on Lainey's case about anything.
Because of her abusive mother, everyone was a little wary of triggering her fight or flight mode.
Everyone except Natasha, that is. As evident in the car the day before.
She knew exactly how to correct the girl without doing any damage. It may have been because the two had a special bond, no one really knew. But, she knew how to get results.
And as he spent more and more time with her, Steve was getting there.
"You know, I'm a little hungry right now." He extended an olive branch to ease her nerves. "What do you say, we pick up something to eat on the way home? Maybe even get a little ice cream?"
"Ice cream?" Lainey looked up slowly.
"Yeah, but you can't tell Nat."
"I won't tell if you won't."
"A symbol of a nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice."
"Can we see your suit?" Lainey asked Steve, her hand firmly grasped in his own as they walked through the Smithsonian, as not to lose her in the sea of people.
After their brunch, they had both been talking about the things they hadn't seen before, or places they hadn't gone and would like to go.
And Lainey said she had never been to the Smithsonian Museum.
And that's when Steve realized that he hadn't either.
So, naturally, he shot Natasha a text to tell her he was keeping Lainey for a little longer than planned, and drove right to the museum.
It was amazing. There were so many exhibits to encounter, so many things to read, so many items of memorabilia to look at.
It was like nothing either of the two had ever experienced before.
"Welcome to the Smithsonian. Visitor information booths are available on the second level."
"You want to see the suit I wore back when I was a Howling Commando?" Steve teased.
"Yes!" She hopped, catching the attention of a few other people passing by.
"Sssh." Steve couldn't help but laugh. "We're undercover, remember?"
It was a game the two would often play. It replaced 'the quiet game' and made things fun for Lainey. He knew that Natasha didn't want Lainey to become a spy, but right now, she was just a kid and little kids loved to play spy games. It wouldn't hurt anything and Lainey seemed to enjoy it.
"Oh, yeah." Lainey lowered her voice. "And can we see your friend, too?"
"You want to see, Bucky's exhibit?"
He never really spoke about Bucky. He tried his best not to. But he must have let his name slip, because Lainey knew about how they were best friends since before the war.
To tell the truth, it hurt talking about Bucky. They'd known each other since forever and went through nearly everything together.
Partners in crime they were.
And now Steve was without his. He couldn't save him. He couldn't save his best friend...his brother, from falling out of that train that horrible, horrible day.
And it still haunted him.
"Yes, please." Lainey nodded politely, allowing him to lead her to his own exhibit first.
Steve watched the way her eyes popped open wide, and her jaw dropped.
"Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier."
They came across an old army enlistment wall where there was a digital of Steve before the serum, so that kids could stand up next to him and see just how tall...or short he was.
"Go ahead." Steve encouraged Lainey, knowing that this was something she'd want to do.
And as soon as he let her hand go, she raced up towards it.
It was cute, she only came up to his chest. And once the picture changed to him after the serum, his stomach.
Looking at the difference, Lainey couldn't help but giggle.
Just then, a small boy wearing a Captain America t-shirt, glanced over at Steve and immediately recognized him.
Of course, Steve wasn't bothered by the staring at all.
He just simply smiled and put a finger to his lips.
It was better to keep a low profile.
"That's really colorful." Lainey gaped at the old suit Steve had worn back in 1945, once they got around to it. "Did you attract lots of attention?"
"Sometimes."
"Did you like it?"
"Sometimes." He chuckled, ruffling her hair.
"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos, quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down Hydra, the Nazi rogue science division."
"That's him?" Lainey asked as they walked over to an exhibit with him and his old friend.
"That's him." Steve confirmed. "Bucky Barnes…..he was my best friend."
"You must miss him a lot." The child studied Bucky's picture and looked at the short clip of the two men laughing together, taking Steve's hand once again. "I know I miss Peter when I don't see him."
She hadn't seen Peter since that day they went to get m&m's in the city. With everything that had been going on, she just didn't know how to approach him or what to say to him. She missed him, but she knew that all she really had to do was hop on the train and knock on his door and he'd be there.
Bucky wasn't coming back. He couldn't come back.
And that's what hurt Steve the most.
Bucky had a smile on his face and it looked like he had just said something to make Steve laugh. Lainey could tell that the two were close.
And she didn't blame him one bit for being so sad about his friend.
"I do miss him, Buddy."
"Will you tell me stories about him?"
"I would love to."
Who knows, maybe talking about him would help Steve heal.
"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers, were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country."
"Let's move on, honey."