Red, White and Black

I Wanna Be Your Slave

"Girl, no one needs to eat this much tuna."

I look up from the sandwich I was making at the kitchen counter to see Sam eyeing the neat stack of tuna cans that were sitting in the recycling bin waiting to go out. When his warm eyes met mine I gave him a blinding smile. He snorted in response and moved over to the fridge to pull out the carton of juice.

"You're gonna get mercury poisoning or something," he groused.

"Pftt. It's your fault I love tuna so much. You're the one who introduced me to it in the first place."

Despite the fact that I had likely looked like a horror show on top of the fact that I had threatened him with a knife, Sam had brought me back to his house. He let me use his shower and gave me some of his clothes to wear in place of the torn and destroyed dress I had been wearing. Then he had made me a tuna sandwich because he had almost nothing else in the house because he said he hadn't been grocery shopping lately. I devoured it in minutes.

Even though a part of me knew that I was probably in danger still, there was something about him that instantly made me feel safe. By the time night had fallen, he was insisting I stay in his guest bedroom because it was getting late and I looked like I needed some actual sleep. I had passed out on the softest bed I could ever remember, with my hand clenching hard around my knife.

When I finally woke again, Sam told me that I had slept for nearly two days. He also asked me what I was running from. My brain told me not to trust this man, he was a stranger, I had been conditioned to fear everyone. Everyone but the one I loved. But, when I looked in his eyes all I saw was kindness.

So, I decided to trust him and he decided to help me. I was still staying in his guest room as he said I should stay with him until I had my feet better under me. I didn't know if he fully believed everything I had told him about what I had been through, but when a few days after he found me I had healed an injury he got he believed enough.

Now, it had been nearly a month and I was finally feeling comfortable. Sam was kind, funny, and dedicated to doing the right thing. He told me he worked with people who were damaged with all sorts of pain, which is why he knew how to help me. Once he understood my powers he even helped me find a job as an orderly at the veterans' hospital he worked at.

I could barely remember what it was like to have family, but I suspected that the way I felt about Sam was what it was like.

"Earth to Tuna Melt." Sam's voice cut into my thoughts. I had zoned out with my knife halfway through slicing my sandwich in half.

Huffing lightly, I finished the job and cleaned the knife off before sticking it back into its sheath at my side.

"So, what is your plan for the day?" Sam asked as he leaned against the counter, drinking from the carton as I moved over to the table to sit down.

"Today my training at the hospital is officially over," I said as I took a bite.

Sam's grin flashed, "Hey, congrats!"

His tone filled me with warmth and I finished my sandwich quickly so that I could get to work. It was still a lot to deal with figuring out how to be normal. But Sam was making it easier than it probably would have been otherwise. Checking the time on my watch, I stood up hastily and rinsed my dish before heading to go get dressed for the day.

***

***

Dawn was slowly lightening the sky as Sam Wilson made his steady progress around The Lincoln Monument Reflecting Pool. His thoughts were on Angel and how he wanted to take her somewhere nice to celebrate her completion of the training and first full week at the hospital the upcoming weekend. His ears picked up the sound of feet coming up fast behind him and the man called out "On your left" as he streaked by.