brooklyn - steve rogers. / captain america.

two.

anastasia presley james
chapter two
feb. 1, 2013

it's been a little over two weeks since i've been discovered. fury asked me to train under steve rogers and natasha romanoff. steve. steve rogers. he's giving me a months time to decide, it's not difficult at all; i never wanted to be a super soldier.

i was born in 1920, women had been fighting for the basic right to have a say in this country. my world has always been more different than steve rogers'. but there is still something telling me to say yes.

*ring ring*

"there is someone at the door, miss james."

i had been looking out to the city with a glass of white wine in my hand, i was still in my work clothes.

i got out of my bed and walked out of my bedroom, through the corridor and into my main area. i saw rigo jump on a barstool by my island after i placed my wineglass on top of the island itself, and made a mental note to get him a blanket. i opened the door and saw him.

mr. stark.

"hello, sir," he brushes right past me and looked around my home. he made it a few steps in, passing rigo, he stopped at the end of my island and looked right at me with his dark brown eyes and then he looked over me.

"now my life is hard. okay, you have to get dressed. you have a party to be at and you are," he looked down at his watch and looked back up before turning around to my windows," forty-five minutes late."

mr. stark is toying with something by i shut the door behind me and let out a sigh. i walked up to my cat and began to pet him, in hopes to relax me.

"okay, you can't do this. i have never known about any party and if i did-"

"you would have said no, can you start getting dressed. i mean you can borrow something from pepper but she's too busy being a ceo, so it might be rude," he threw out there.

i rolled my eyes in my head and told myself to just suck it up, i do stand up for myself. i honestly do but for the first time i'm afraid of what happens if i say no. i'm not ready to be a science experiment again.

"well, i'm going to be an hour late. i'll get ready and meet you there," i say, walking to my door as a more polite way of telling him to leave.

he stayed where he was and then saw my couch. he looked at me and smiled before sitting down. i grabbed my wineglass and began to walk into the direction of my bedroom.

"no, mrs. doubtfire glasses!"

there is no way i'm going to this party.

➵➵➵

"another bourbon?" i nod and look at the bartender, he thinks i'm insane but i just can't get drunk.

"on the rocks, please," i turn around and see natasha.

i laugh and get off the barstool to give her a hug. she gives me a squeeze before i pull back and smile.

"i've read your file, i know you a little more than i know myself," my smile falls a little, as she sits down besides me,"hey, you look absolutely amazing. i'm very jealous, i think everyone is," she leans into me to speak into my ear, and at a low volume she says,"even rogers."

i laughed and shook my head.

"i can barely see a thing," i looked down at my glass and took a sip before turning my body towards natasha,"it's the funniest thing, i am only wearing my left eye contact."

natasha laughs and from the corner of my eye i can see the tall bartender stifle a laugh.

she lets out a sigh and turned her back to the bar and her view to the huge living room. her eyes scanned the room and she rubbed her hands off her dress.

"he threw this party for you, thought if you got to know us, open up to us. you'd be more inclined to say yes to fury's offer. i told him, being an agent isn't something you just wake up knowing you want to be, take as long as you need. just not too long," i gave her a small smile and nodded, she nodded to me and walked away.

time passed as i fiddled with the napkin and people began to leave. the ice began to melt as conversation died down.

i finished my drink and got up, should have brought a coat. my phone buzzed, it was a notification to finish another sexual harassment complaint.

it was the perfect excuse to leave. i went up the stairs, to try to make a quiet exit towards the elevator.

"adeline."

his voice sent a chill throughout my body, but it was comforting. memories flashed through my head and i turned around. i looked at him and tried to hold myself together.

"i'm sorry, i go by anastasia now. adeline was a different lifetime," he looked down and let out a dry chuckle, i tried to leave but my feet were glued to the ground and my muscles were stone. i was completely frozen.

"mr. rogers-"

"anastasia, i'm technically two years older than you but you are more experienced in life than me. it's steve, you know that."

i nod and the nerves set in.

"who knows that you knew me?" his body tensed up by the question and he cleared his throat.

"just fury," i nod and stepped closer to him.

"ad- anastasia, you should have told him no. he did this to you, you didn't chose this," his brows furrowed and he put his hand on my shoulder.

i took a step back and laughed dryly.

"you were supposed to be different, steve," i said bitterly with my teeth clenched.

he knew my father, he was an enlistment doctor before his mental illness got worse and his life became nothing but tests and experiments. my father never meant to hurt me, he just never realized what he was doing until i had fallen into a thirty-eight year long coma.

"you know what, we may have been friends in the 1930s, when we were children, but not once did you visit me when i was in the hospital. so, please, just tell me what you want from me," his face fell and he opened his mouth and nothing came out.

"old people, come on. we're trying to see who can lift thors hammer," i sighed and realized that we had been standing by the elevator for longer than 10 minutes talking. everyone was bound to make assumptions about where we had snuck off too.

i looked at stark and walked after him.

"steve, just because howard was the one who made you. doesn't make you any less of a lab rat than i am."