Out of Time ★ [1] ✔

A Time For Patriots

It was raining. The mud around my heels was slippery, lapping at the soles of my boots. Tents were set up around the area to protect the people and equipment from Mother Nature's tears. But it seemed to me that the weather was in tune with someone's feelings: Steve's.

It had been a long year since he became a Super Soldier. When I found out what Senator Brandt had had in mind for Steve, I couldn't help but be disappointed. His idea was to parade Steve in tights and advertise propaganda. He made films beating up Hitler too, which were so cringe-worthy I couldn't watch. But the name wasn't bad. Captain America sort of fit him.

But it was his recent performance that hadn't gone according to plan. He'd spent months performing in front of civilians with fathers, brothers and sons overseas fighting, and that was all well and good. But this time he was doing a show in front of soldiers with no mercy. The hecklers were brutal, and poor Steve hadn't dealt with that before. The awkwardness of the situation was hard to stomach. I went to find him after. I wanted to know if he was all right. We were good friends after all. I think.

I found him in a tent by himself. He wore a coat to cover his costume, possibly out of shame in combination with the cold. He was writing something in a notebook.

"Hi, Steve," I greeted softly.

He turned around instantly. His expression brightened as he stood in surprise. "Hi. What are you doin' here?"

"Officially? I'm not here at all. Don't tell anyone." I sat down next to him as he did. My eyes rolled down to the notebook, a sketch of a monkey wearing his costume on a unicycle. It wasn't a bad drawing either. "That was quite a performance."

"Yeah," he replied, deflated. "Uh...I had to improvise a little bit. The crowds I'm used to are usually more... uh...twelve."

"I did say that there was more than one way to serve your country." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "But I didn't think that it would turn out like this." I glanced at him. "I'm sorry."

He faced me, a small smile gracing his lips. "Hey, it's not your fault. At least they've got me doin' this. Phillips would have had me stuck in a lab."