More Than Just Little Soldiers (PART 2)

CHAPTER 4: OLD HABITS DIE HARD

Steve Rogers POV

I rolled out of bed at 4:30 AM in the morning as I usually do to go on my routine morning run. I hated how my body worked by default, a still that the military drilled into me. I wanted to be able to get a full night of rest.

But I knew that wouldn't be possible for me.

My nights are plagued with nightmares from losing Bucky and every morning I wake up, on a silent run all by myself.

I had gotten used to the loneliness of being a war veteran. Knowing that all the other soldiers from WWII that were still alive were way past my age, though only physically. I felt lost in this new world that moved on without me.

I put on my jogging clothes and went out to go for a run, keeping to myself and staying away from the large crowds, when I saw a couple going for a run as well. They were following the same route as me.

And lapped me.

I was in complete shock. I have never, I mean never, ever saw anyone lap me before. Even at my slow jog, I was going much faster than a typical person's sprint. They didn't even seem to be putting much effort either. They were just running, silently but together. I picked up the pace and started to trail a little bit behind them. I didn't want to freak them out by rushing up to them and cutting past them.

I could tell they knew I was there. Their eyes trailed to the side and craned to get a good look at whichever person it was that managed to match their pace. They didn't seem to recognize me, though. They just saw me as a something.

The couple seemed awfully young, the boy couldn't have been older than 18. He had ruffled black hair that reminded me awfully like he just took a stroll on the beach. The girl had long, blond hair that went past her shoulders, even after she tied it high up on her head as a ponytail.

I continued to observe the couple, finding it rather amusing to take interest in people that were just as fast as me, when they abruptly stopped in the middle of their seventh lap, making me almost crash. I forced myself to stop, rocking on my heels for a second as I got myself to slow down.

"Why are you following us?" the boy spat out, threateningly. The two stood together, but the boy looked almost ready to fight, as if he didn't just run almost four miles in record speed. But I was right about before. They had no idea who I was.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, my name is Steve Rogers," I said, introducing myself. "I- just- can I ask you something?"

The boy looked over at the girl, who gave him a half hearted nod.

"Did you both serve in the military?"

The boy pursed his lips before responding.

"Yes, we were both in the marines. We just returned home actually. Got stuck in medical for a few months and we just got discharged."

I was shocked, these people, both so young, had served in the military?

"I was also in the military, army actually, but I served during WWII. I'm sure you've heard of the whole story with Captain America and being frozen in ice."

"Can't say we have," the girl finally spoke up, her steely gray eyes looking straight through my soul. I was shocked. Maybe they didn't make the connection that I was Captain America, but haven't they heard the news at all? "Like we said before, we were out on deployment. Didn't hear much about what was going on around here."

How did she know what I was thinking?

"It was nice to meet you Mr. Rogers, but you still haven't answered our first question," the boy said, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, yes, sorry!" I apologized, before moving on to say my story. "I didn't mean to follow you, I just got surprised, that's all. During WWII, I was injected with something called the super soldier serum, which gave me extra speed and strength. I had never met someone with the same abilities as me before. When I saw you run faster than me today, I was surprised and unknowingly started to trail behind you."

"Oh, well, I guess that makes sense," the girl murmured, leaning against the boy. "Sorry for snapping at you, we're both constantly kind of jumpy and a little high on alert right now. Didn't mean to disrespect a WWII veteran or anything."

"No, of course, I completely understand. When I came out of the ice, the war had ended decades ago, but it still felt like yesterday to me. It took me a while to get used to being a regular civilian again."

The boy cast a side glance at the girl before looking at me with a newfound sense of confusion and hope on his face.

"You mean you'll get used to it?" he asked, almost desperate. "Me, well, sorry, I never introduced myself. I'm Percy and this is Annabeth. Me and Annabeth went on our first tour, then I got kidnaped and kept in a half enemy group for six months before I managed to make them into allies, and then we got rushed into a second tour. It's been a constant battle for us and now, when it's all over, I just don't know what to do."

I felt bad for them, nodding at their story as we both took a seat on one of the benches on the side of the park.

"It takes time, Percy, but it will get better someday. May I just ask though, you both have been through a lot, but you still look very young. When did you join?"

"Oh," the girl, Annabeth, said, looking red in the face. "We're both 17 years old right now. We illegally joined the marines at 15, our first tour being at 16 years old."

If I wasn't shocked before, I definitely was now.

"Fifteen years old?! What were you thinking joining up that young!" I exclaimed, shocked at the age reveal of these young adults. No, not even young adults. Teenagers.

"Me and Annabeth were both runaways," Percy said, everything just flowing from his mouth. "I had escaped from my abusive step father and found Annabeth on the streets. We needed money, food, and shelter, and, someday, an education as well. The military could do all of that for us. We were both pretty well built and looked old for our age. So we joined up."

"Wow," I said, not being able to muster up anything else. "I was impressed at everything you said you accomplished before, but now your story is a lot more intense. Doing all of that so young."

"We did what we had to do to survive," Percy said.

And somehow I knew there was a lot more to that than he let on.