"I WAS BORN WITH MY HEART ON MY SLEEVE, FIRE IN MY SOUL, AND A MOUTH I CAN'T CONTROL."
In which only one of the Cunningham sisters will make it out alive.
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Iris imagined meeting Captain America, but not like this.
She'd dreamed it would be for some swanky interview, with her hair and make-up impeccable, clothes color-coordinated, heels polished, and questions at the ready.
As of right now, she looked nothing like that: hair a mess, pulled into a messy ponytail with a loose thread from her shirt, make-up was smeared, almost gone entirely, and her outfit was currently hidden by a damaged, borrowed Iron Man suit. The clothes underneath were streaked with dirt, frayed at the seams, and in no way acceptable for meeting Captain America.
She was a skeleton, malnourishment rearing its head as her cheek and collar bones stood out against her sickly skin. Iris could count her ribs with no problem, and her hip bones jutted out like blades. Her eyes had sunken into their sockets, dull and tired, with dark circles the size of Texas under them to boot.
Iris did not feel badass, at all. She felt dead, a skeleton breathing.
Captain America was walking closer; he looked reserved, pained. Iris could only imagine, he'd probably lost just as many people as she had.
As long as June was still here though, that was all that mattered. As long as she had the one person in her life that cared, that thought her nearly everything she knew, she'd be okay.
The Star-Spangled Man with a plan came to a stop about two feet in front of her and cleared his throat, running her hand along the back of his neck.
"Um," He stuck out his hand. "Steve Rogers."
Iris inched closer to the landing gear holding her up and used her free hand to shake Steve's. "Iris, hey."
"I know."
She raised an eyebrow. "Do you now?"
He winced, winced. That couldn't be good. Iris did her best to shrug it off and straightened as much as her body would allow it.
"Right, as much as I'd like to stay for tea and biscuits, I have to make a call."
Iris took a deep breath and took a step forward.
She got about three and a half in before she damn near collapsed.
Actually no, she really did collapse, right into the arms of Steve Rogers.
Great, just fucking dandy. This was getting better and better.
Steve gripped her around the shoulders, hauling her back to her feet. "You're sick, and you need medical attention now."
"I need to make sure my sister is still alive, my health can wait for two goddamn seconds."
Steve's face froze, and Iris could feel his hands shaking on her shoulders. Then something clicked on in the back of her brain. Tony had said Steve and her sister were a thing, they'd been dating for a number of years if the timing worked out. So that meant Steve knew June, and that meant he knew where she was.
