Lieutenant - Daughter of the Captain

Chapter 17.0 - Struggles

Lieutenant PART TWO
[ Iron man: 2, Captain America: Winter Soldier]

She sat in a plain room, surrounded with neutral colors. Her hands clung to the rough fabric that covered her twin-sized bed.

Her eyes flitted around the room, taking in any and every detail she could.

The thread count of the sheets...

The smell of the stale air freshener...

The shade of beige painted on the drywall...

The slight discoloration on the nightstand...

Probably sat in the sun, at some point...she thought, or, she would've thought if she hadn't been too preoccupied by the thousands of people feeling way too many things all at once.

A shudder ran through her body, and she pulled her knees to her chest, her shaky hands linking in front of her shins.

Her eyes screwed shut, and she quietly sobbed into her knees.

After a few minutes, her eyes snapped open, glowing a vibrant amber color as she stared at the door.

Seconds later, Steve walked through the door with a plate in hand. He quickly placed his hand in hers, watching her body relax instantly.

A few moments later, he sat down next to her and placed the plate on his knee.

A sandwich- peanut butter and jelly -sat on what she could now see was a paper plate.

"It was, uh-" Steve cleared his throat, "It was all I could find in the cupboards," he said, his voice soft so he wouldn't startle her.

But he didn't need to speak. She could feel his unease. He was nervous, and confused, and worried.

He had no idea what he was doing.

But she didn't either.

She had agreed to live with him. She had agreed to entrusting herself to someone. She had agreed to being taken care of.

But she had no idea how that worked.

She had never been taken care of, not really. She always had to fend for herself, but now that she didn't...

...she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do...

Steve cleared his throat again, before tapping the edge of the plate.

"You should really eat something, then we can make a store run," he said, offering a kind but awkward smile.

Carter nodded, taking a wedge of the sandwhich- which he had cut into traingles -in her free hand. She quirked an eyebrow, glancing at him.

He would've rolled his eyes at her teasing, but he was entirely too relieved. After two days, Stark doing many tests, and zero answers the two of them were struggling to break through the awkward phase.

But this showed progress.

She, however, rolled her eyes at his relief. She took a bite out of the sandwhich, and nearly gasped. She knew what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was, she just hadn't had the opportunity to try one before now.

Her eyes lit up, and the ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

Steve looked at her new expression, and a positive wave spread into him.

They had taken note of everything that they could deduce about her abilities. Banner had called her an "Empath" based on their emotional nature. They knew she could feel everything that people in at least a fifteen-hundred foot radius, based on the height of Stark tower, could feel. Though they couldn't be sure how much farther her abilities span. They also knew that her abilities became focused with physical contact, and she had managed to focus with Loki in slight isolation, though it was uncontrollable. Lastly, they had discovered that she could pass these feelings to others, willingly or unwillingly.