Sophia Strange: The Newest Avenger (Steve Rogers x OC)

8 - Story Time

Steve looked down at the sleeping woman leaned against his shoulder. She'd passed out not long after finishing her story and slowly, inadvertently slumped against him. Probably from emotional exhaustion from the retelling of such a personally harrowing story as the one she'd shared. Steve ran his free hand against his rough stubbled jaw as he considered all the new information he had about Sophia Strange and her twin brother. He supposed he should give Stephen Strange a little more credit for the care he'd shown for his sister over the years, but it didn't change the hurt he'd caused her most recently and how much that bothered Steve. Steve had grown attached, that was certain, and felt incredibly protective of Sophia.

Presumably her brother was concerned about her health and wellbeing, and Steve also assumed this was causing him to act irrationally–but she was a grown woman and could make her own decisions about her health. And as far as Steve could tell, the ones she'd made were going to do her well. She seemed to be taking well to her new legs, and if her twin brother had taken time to see her and check on her–he would know that for himself.

Steve took a deep steady breath, trying his best not to shift too much and wake her. Before long he'd have to move to take a shift in the pilot's seat. Normally she should go with him as back-up, but she'd had a big day and he'd let her get some extra rest and let her get comfortable and help her recline her seat. It wasn't necessarily required, but was something they had come up with as a system for long flights, just in case.

He was afraid to get drawn into the feelings he was developing for the woman leaning against him. She was quite a unique individual and he loved how she held her own against all three of the men in the Quinjet with her now. He looked forward to seeing how she handled herself at the Avengers base and hoped he could get to know her further.

At just that moment Sophia stirred and stretched her body out. "Oh my goodness, Steve, I am so sorry," she said as she shifted off him, realizing the position she'd fallen asleep in.

He chuckled. "It's alright. Here let me help you recline your seat back."

"No, no. Don't we have a shift at the front?"

"I'll take care of that. You should get some more rest."

"No. I may not be much help piloting, but please let me help you keep watch. I should start my Avenger duties."

Steve smiled, admiring her persistence. "Alright then, come on. I'll show you the ropes on the controls, too."

"I don't know... I don't want to cause us to crash."

He laughed and patted her on the shoulder as they walked towards the front. "I won't let you do that, I promise."

"Don't worry, Legs, I have protocols in place. Autopilot will take over before she crashes," Tony called out after them.

Sophia stopped, and turned to look at Tony. "Legs?"

He shrugged. "Won't let me call you the other name, so 'Legs' it is."

Sophia sighed. "Alright."

Tony grinned. "Really?"

She shrugged. "Might as well, I mean, they are pretty awesome, right?" she said as she lifted one of the sweatpants legs, showing off one of her vibranium legs.

"Uh, yeah, they are." Tony said with a grin and winked at her. "Now, get to your shift, Legs. Time for Steve to show you how to fly this thing."

"Pretty sure it's going to take more than one lesson for me to learn how to fly a Quinjet," she said with a chuckle as she came to sit in the co-pilots seat by Steve.

After walking Sophia through some of the basic steps of how to fly the Quinjet, they decided it best for Steve to do the piloting and she would stick to keeping an eye out. They remained quiet at their posts for quite some time, each stealing glances at each other before Steve finally spoke up.