Til We Meet Again

Chapter 1: The Day We Met

Authors Note:
Hey everyone! This is my first story in a while so please hang in there with me as I try and get this story set up!
This will not follow the typical MCU timeline
Thanks for reading!
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I was walking through the bustling streets of Brooklyn, trying not to run into anyone. I was heading towards the diner I work at, weaving through the people hurrying down the street, not paying mind to the young girl walking past them. As I walk past an alley, only two blocks from the diner, I hear grunts coming from the end of the alley. I turned my head to my left and see a large man towering over a much smaller man. For a moment I have a small debate on whether or not I should involve myself in the altercation.

Do not get involved Ruth, it's not your concern

But if that was me, I would want someone to help

You are going to get hurt

Well he's already hurt

I take a deep breath before turning down the alley and walk confidently down the alley towards the two men. As I get closer, I look at the smaller man, he's about my height and size, with blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. As I approach, he gets off the ground and takes another punch to the face. The man beating him says something while he's on the ground.

"You don't know when to give up, do ya?"

The smaller man pushes himself up and responds confidently

"I can do this all day" as he wipes blood from his lip. I smirk to myself at his response, silently admiring his confidence and strength. At that moment he looks up and makes eye contact with me, he looks as if he's about to say something to me, but another punch in the face beats him to it. I decided to make my presence known to the other man at this point.

"Don't you think you've gotten your point across?" I say, proud that my voice did not waver. The large man's head whips around, making eye contact with me. He stands up straight, now towering at well over 6 feet tall. He stretches his shoulders back, and rolls his head back before approaching me. As he gets closer I feel myself moving backwards until I hit the alley wall. He keeps walking towards me until our chests are touching and he is staring straight down at me before he speaks.

"What did you just say to me?" He all but growls in my face.

"I said, don't you think you've gotten your point across? Or do you just enjoy beating people smaller than you for no reason?" I said as strongly as I could. I was getting more and more nervous as this man seemed to grow more and more furious with each breath I took. He was about to speak up when I saw some small arms reach around the large man's torso. The blonde man had gotten back up and was trying to help me, but the larger man shook him off quickly before turning and punching him back down to the ground. He spit on the blonde man, and then quickly turned back to me, wrapping his hand around my throat and pushing me hard into the wall, nearly lifting me off the ground in the process. I felt a dull ache in the back of my head, and was struggling to catch a breathe when the man decided to speak,

"Y'know, this is a men's debate. A little lady like yourself should really learn to mind her business, before someone forces you to," he spoke while glaring right into my soul. My eyes started to water as my air was getting cut off, I was trying to think of a retort when a large hand grabbed the mans wrist, pulling it off my neck, allowing me to fall to the floor. When I hit the ground I start coughing and trying to catch my breath. I hear words and punches behind me, but I can't focus on whatever is going on. I can only focus on trying to breath and think clearly again. After a minute I see the large hand reach down in front of my face, and hear a voice say,

"You okay, doll?" The voice says.

I grab the hand, pulling myself up and dusting off my dress before looking up. When I look up I see the most beautiful light blue eyes I have ever seen. From looking at them I feel like I'm looking into the depths of the ocean. I snap out of my small trance, and look at the rest of the man before me. He stood around 6 feet tall, a few inches taller than me, with lightly tanned skin, and a mess of black hair on his head. He dressed simply, and had a small smirk on his face. I finally speak up and say,

"I would probably be much worse if you didn't show up. Thank you for helping me."

The man just chuckled and shook his head, looking back at the small blonde man who had managed to get back up.

"I'm used to saving this one, but I think this is the first time Steve here has brought someone else into his back alley fights," the nameless man says.

"Oh he didn't ask me to help, I heard it while I was on my way to work and decided I should help out," I defended. At least I finally had a name for the blonde man.

"Well I give you props, most people just pass by watching it happen. Thank you for helping my friend. Oh how rude of me, I didn't even introduce myself. My name is James Barnes, but you can call me Bucky, and this fella over here is Steve Rogers." The man, James, finally tells me.

"It's quite alright, and really no trouble. It's great meeting you James, and you as well Steve. My name is Ruth, Ruth Williams," I say, nodding at both of them, and adding a smile.

"Oh dear! While it's been lovely, I really do need to get to work. That was where I was off to after all." I say, suddenly remembering why I was even out this way. James frowned slightly before saying,

"Well Ruth, I really hope we meet again. Thank you again for helping my friend."

"I hope so as well James, and you too Steve. I hope you stay out of fights long enough to heal from this one. It's really not the brightest idea. I work right down the street at Gloria's Dinner, if you two are ever in the area." I smiled. I receive a nod and a smile from both of them. I pass by James, and am walking by Steve when Steve finally speaks up, for the first time since he first saw me.

"Thanks Ruth, don't know what I would have done if you didn't show up." He says nervously, scratching the back of his head, and blushing slightly.

I just laugh lightly and shake my head before adding,

"Don't worry about it Steve. Goodbye gentlemen. Until we meet again." I say as I finally turn and walk off, heading out of the alley, and turning towards the dinner.

Little did I know, that deciding to help would change my life forever.