The city
Morning came too quick for Kat, she practically growled at her alarm. She rolled over to find Steve on his back, one arm above his head, the other on his stomach. He looked adorable. She slowly scooted out of the bed and made her way around to his side, rubbing small circles on his arm. “Hey Steve, time to get up.” She whispered. He grunted and rolled to the side facing away from her. “M’sleepy. Don’t wanna.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you wanted to stay up and watch I Love Lucy mister. I told you to go to bed.” She said, rooting through her bag for some jeans and a blouse. She turned to face Steve and he was pouting. “Steven Grant Rogers, get out of that bed before I tickle you.” His mouth dropped. “You wouldn’t dare.” He said. She raised an eyebrow. She had found out about him being ticklish on accident. She went to move behind him in the kitchen of the apartment and she absentmindedly put her hand on his side and slid it across him as she stepped by, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Ninety-year-old super soldier that’s ticklish. Who would have thought.
“Oh, I would.” She said, lowering her voice. In two seconds, she jumped on top of him, her hands going to his sides before he had a chance to stop her. “Kat! No! Stop!” Steve yelped in between breaths. It figures his one damn weakness would be getting tickled. He hated it. Not so much when she did it, but he used to hate it when Bucky did it.
“Now see? You could have avoided this if you had just gotten up!” Kat teased, throwing her head back laughing. Steve took that moment to flip them so she way lying underneath him. He pinned both her wrists above her head and used the other hand to trail down her arm. “Steve don’t, please.” She whimpered, wriggling on the bed. She was more ticklish than he was, and he knew it. “Oh, why not? You got to do it to me, seems only fair.” He said, tickling her side. She tried to get away, but she couldn’t. He was too heavy on top of her.
“Okay! Okay. Truce.” Kat finally got out, able to breathe again. Steve smirked down at her and let go of her wrists, holding himself up with his hand. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and she smiled up at him curiously. He realized how close they were and cleared his throat, getting up off her, holding his hand out to help her up.
“See? This whole thing could have been avoided if you would have just gotten up when I told you to.” She teased, grabbing her clothes and poking him in the side one more time, running into the bathroom and locking the door before he got to her.
Steve shook his head chuckling as he got his clothes out and changed. He loved how casual he could be with Kat, but the fact that they were so lose just a minute ago made him realize just how much he wanted to kiss her. He was falling for her and he couldn’t stop himself. They’d only been living together for a few months, but it felt like he’d known her his whole life. She just fit perfectly into it.
She came out of the bathroom several minutes later in a pair of jeans and a navy-blue blouse, hair pulled up on a ponytail, light makeup and flats. “Okay, Jared will be here in a rental car to pick me up in ten, then were off to the first house of the day. What about you?” She asked, grabbing her phone off the charger and putting it into her back pocket.
“I’m meeting with the owner of the local VA center, then Jared is actually meeting me at an old boxing place around lunch to see about buying it, so maybe we could all get something to eat together?” He said hopefully. She nodded and smiled at him. “Sounds good. I’m ready to go, walk with me?” Steve nodded to her, grabbing his phone and following her out the door.
Kat waved to Steve as she got in the car with Jared, heading to the first house. It was a gorgeous place, tall and Victorian. “So, this place actually used to be a boarding house. There’s 6 bedrooms and a giant backyard. I think it would be perfect. It was a foreclosure, so we’d be getting it pretty cheap.” Jared told her as they walked up to the realtor. The inside was beautiful. Kat was actually jealous. She’d always wanted a house like this.
The realtor showed them each room, and the house didn’t look like it would need much work. There was hardwood flooring everywhere but the kitchen. They’d need to replace the appliances in there and buy a washer and dryer, and work on the plumbing. They’d also have to baby proof the hell out of it if it ended up being for that age group, because of how old it was.
Kat and Jared shared a look before he turned to the realtor and said, “We’ll take it.”
The second place was a smaller house, three bedrooms, full basement which could be turned into more bedrooms if need be. It was more modern, so there didn’t need to be upgrades. They decided to take that one too.
“Where are the children being kept right now?” She asked Jared. “In the Gym at the local High School. They asked the teachers to come and help out, and the nearby communities brought in whatever supplies they could, and stores have been donating supplies and food.” She nodded. “Can we go see them?” She asked. They still had some time to kill before they were going to meet Steve for lunch, so Jared agreed and drove the short distance to the school.
When they walked into the gym, there were cots everywhere. There were baby cribs lining the walls. There had to be two hundred kids in here easy. Kat got an unsettling feeling in her stomach. How was she going to help all these people? This was happening in every state. It was going to spread the foundation too thin. They walked up to a teacher and asked them who was in charge. They were pointed in the direction of the principal, who was standing at the front of the gym, handing out waters.
“Hi, I’m Katherine Jordan and this is Jared Richards. We’re here from the September foundation with Stark Industries, purchasing some places to be group homes for the children.” She told the principal, sticking her hand out. The lady looked like she was going to cry, pulling Kat into a hug. “Thank you so much for what you’re doing. I heard about your work in New York and I’m so grateful that you came here, and I know these kids will be too.” She said, pulling back. “I’m Mary Swan, the principal here. When kids started piling up at the local police stations, they asked me if I could house them here until we figured something out. Everyone has been so great about donating things and food and the kids can shower here in the locker rooms and we lock it down at night so everyone feels safe.”
Kat smiled and looked around at all the children. “How many kids are here?” She asked.
“Two hundred and thirty-five. There aren’t many older kids here, we figured they may have found friends to stay with or are out on the streets already.” She told Kat.
“Well, we will advertise the group homes and get in touch with local shelters and see if they can take the older ones, we need to let these kids know that just because they are older, they are still wanted and cared for.” Kat told her. She and Jared donated some money to the school, to help with things, and were heading for the door when she got a call from Steve.
“Hey! I was just about to call you! Jared and I are all done here and ready to meet you if you’re free?” She asked.
“Katherine, where are you?” Steve asked, a worried tone in his voice. He never used her full name. Jared raised an eyebrow at her and she put him on speaker, pulling them out into the hall so nobody else could hear.
“We’re at the high school with all the kids why?”
“I need you to stay there. There’s rioting downtown where we are supposed to meet and I don’t want you and Jared to get caught up in it.” He told her. Her head shot up to meet Jared’s gaze and the both froze.
“Steve wait I can help. Just tell me where you are, I can come get you.”
“No. Please Kat. Just stay where you are, I’ll come to you when everything dies down here.” She was about to respond when she heard gunshots and screaming in the background.
“Steve!” She cried. There wasn’t an answer.
She heard static before the line disconnected.