Little Star // a Steve Rogers, Captain America, Avengers story

Prologue

Ellie watched her father through the sliding glass door as he washed patio furniture. He was a happy man in so many ways. For the hundredth, maybe the thousandth, time, she was thankful that she had kept her parents' house after the Snap. 

She heard the baby behind her, giggling as he was swept up in his grandmother's arms.

"You are the second most handsome boy in the world. Your uncle Charlie will always be the first in your Gran's heart, but you are a very close second."

Her brother groaned from the sofa in the adjoining family room. Nineteen. Ready to go to college. Not interested in his doting mother's sweet talk. Although he tried valiantly to keep his feelings to himself, she knew that the past year had been even more difficult for Charlie than for their parents. Ellie was grateful that he and Anna had become so close; the young woman would let her know if he needed help. And if push came to shove, Ellie would intercede with her baby brother, even if he didn't think he needed her.

At the moment she was needed elsewhere, however, and it was going to be a rough mission. She always hated leaving her family, but that afternoon logical Spock's words came to mind. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." It was time to tend to the needs of the many.

~

An hour later, after the usual entreaties from her mother to stay home, and a sulking silence from Charlie, Ellie and her father stood in the back yard.

"Do you have to do this, honey?" There was a catch in his voice.

"Dad, I know you're still not comfortable with what I do, and that you're searching for the person I was before you left, as well as figuring out who I am now.

"What I do is important. I help save lives. My family and friends are everything to me, but the people I save have families and friends too. You taught me the golden rule, and I know you believe in it as much as ever. I just don't think you expected me to practice it on this level, did you?"

"Shit, Ellie, sometimes it's terrifying when you do that!" He walked away shaking his head, fists clenched.

"Dad, stop it." She followed him around the shed behind the house. "Stop!"

Sitting on a sawhorse overgrown with ivy, he dropped his face into his upturned hands. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I'm so sorry."

She draped an arm across his sagging shoulders, "Sometimes I forget what you guys missed and how much it's still affecting you. And sometimes I forget that I know things about people they might not know about themselves. It's been a few years since I was in civilian practice."

"Ellie, I hate it that you deal with criminals."

"I know."

"And aliens."

"Yeah, but they're fewer and farther between."

Her father gave a short laugh. "And that you're an..."

"But I am, and I'm not going to stop."

"And even after all this time, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you're married to C-"

"No, Dad, please don't say that name. Right now, with the anniversary coming up, it hurts too much. I need to focus on work. You and Mom and Charlie are going to take care of the baby while I'm gone. Try and get your son to spend more time with mine. They both need it, especially Charlie. I'll be fine, and home in a few days."

Ellie's father kissed her forehead and walked back into the house as she paused on the patio, pulling her phone from her pocket and dialing. A moment later a familiar voice answered the call.

"What can I do for you, my little chickadee?"

"Can the bird pick me up at the park? I'm at Mom and Dad's house."

"Sure thing. It'll be there in fifteen, maybe twenty minutes."

"Perfect. You really are the best."

"I know. Hahaha. I heard they're seeing some promising results in the lab these days. They're even sitting this one out to keep working on the problem. He's going to come home, honey, I know it."

"I wish I could be as optimistic as you. A year's a long time to be gone, and you know that in this case time is... weird."

"Maybe he'll come back as his old self. You'll be the same height."

"Not helping."

"I apologize. He'll come home, Ellie, and he'll be fine. I absolutely believe it."

"I know you do, and I love you for it. I'll be in the park in fifteen."

~

Ellie sat next to Charlie, taking his hand. "Charlie, I'm going to ask you to do me a favor. Please help Mom and Dad with the baby.  Carry your nephew and save our parents' backs, ok? And take him out to the big house every day. Luke misses him when he stays here in town, and Anna would appreciate the company. I'll only be a few days." She kissed his cheek and he pushed her away, gently.

"Everyone ready to come and see me off to work? Mom, don't carry him. Do your joints a favor and put him in the stroller. I know for a fact that he's perfectly happy there. Let's go."

The walk to the park took only a few minutes. As they waited by the track, Ellie could see her own little house on the other side of the big grassy space. She hadn't given it up when they moved, instead keeping it neat and tidy and waiting for Anna when she was ready to leave the big house.

They heard it before they saw it. The Ryder hovered for a moment before setting down in the grassy center of the track. A small crowd gathered to admire it, calling out and waving at the large, smiling man at the helm. The rest of the team was already at their destination; it would be just the two of them. At least the flight would be fun, even if the job at the end of it wasn't.

At the doorway of the craft, she turned to smile and wave at her family before entering the cockpit, where she slid into the co-pilot's seat. She couldn't fly any of the team's aircraft yet; she was just looking forward to some one on one time with this particular pilot. "Fasten yourself in, small woman," he said, "I must keep you safe until he returns." She secured her 5-point harness as they lifted off. The job was just over eight thousand lightyears away. They'd be there in under four hours.

As they soared skyward, Ellie lifted the locket from under her tactical suit. Tiny diamonds, sapphires, and rubies sparkled briefly in the sunlight before the ship made the jump to lightspeed. She opened it to look at the two photos inside, her loves, a larger-than-life man and a baby boy. A tear rolled down her cheek.