Marvel (MCU only) Stories

Who Is He?

Summary:

Steve is private about what he draws in his sketchbook. The Avengers accidentally glimps a mystery man in Steve's sketchbook. 

Ships:

Stucky

_____

Sam:

After struggling to fall back asleep for over an hour, Sam heads to the gym, hoping to catch Steve. It's early in the morning, but Steve is an animal who runs at an ungodly hour and immediately heads to the gym. He should be there, considering it is after five A.M.

Oddly enough, Steve isn't in the gym at first glance. The few times Sam has joined Steve after a nightmare, Steve has been in the middle of a workout. Sam sits his bag and water bottle on a bench and walks around the room. Tony went all out with their numerous training rooms and gyms. This particular gym is solely for weights, so there is a lot of open space.

It doesn't take Sam long to locate Steve behind a stack of training mats. Nobody understands why there must be at least ten safety mats in every gym and training room, but Tony claims it is some sort of safety hazard if they don't have them. Sam chalks it up to Tony being an idiot.

Sam isn't surprised Steve didn't hear his loud entrance. Steve is lying on his stomach on one of the mats. He has his sketchbook in front of him, one hand holding it, the other gripping a worn-down charcoal pencil.

By now, the team has figured out that when Steve is in drawing mode, not even Hulk and Thor tap dancing on Loki's back could get his attention. Nothing short of an emergency has ever been able to snap Steve out of it.

Steve is a private person when it comes to his drawings. He never shows anyone what he is working on and denies it whenever someone asks to see it. As well as he ignores every question involving the subjects of his art.

Steve looks so at peace that Sam doesn't want to disturb him. It isn't often Steve doesn't have a perpetual look of deep-set sadness when drawing. It's as if whatever or whoever he's drawing rips his heart to shreds.

Most of the team assumes Steve draws Peggy, so he's often sad. He was in love with her, or as the history books say.

The Avengers are only able to witness the moments Steve sketches in public. Who knows how he acts in private? He might break down or become the happiest man alive. No one can guess what Steve draws based on the few times they've seen him publicly.

So as not to alert Steve to his presence, Sam backs away slowly. He grabs his things and heads to the kitchen. He'll come back later, but he'll get a head start on breakfast for now. He doesn't mention his early morning attempt at working out, so Steve doesn't know his privacy was intruded upon.

Sam doesn't get a chance to return to the gym until after lunch that day. He double-checks the place he found Steve earlier in case he decided to go back. It is empty save for a single piece of paper. Sam turns the page over and gasps. It is a page from Steve's sketchbook. It must have fallen out when Steve left. Steve wouldn't have left it on purpose.

The drawing is of a dark-haired man sitting in a window with one leg in a triangle shape and the other hanging down. He's looking over his shoulder, mouth open as he's in the middle of talking. He beckons someone over with his right arm.

Every detail is perfect. So much time, effort, and emotion has gone into the piece. Sam doesn't know who the man is, but he must be special to Steve. Sam suddenly feels guilty, like he's intruding on something personal. Steve has reasons why he doesn't want people to see his pictures. Sam should respect his wishes.