Starter for @achingbcnes
Fluffy opalescent snow blanketed the outside of a -now abandoned- weapons facility. These kind of places could only be hit once before they’d have to be moved. Once their location was exposed, the air of anonymity was gone and if they kept it up and running, someone would surely try it again.
Steve had been here five times now, once with the team, once with Clint, and twice alone prior to this visit. It was an eerie place, far too quiet, out in the middle of nowhere. The doors had been broken down in the robbery, the owners hadn’t bothered repairing them. Knuckle marks were indented in the metal, two of them on the first door, then one on all the doors leading to the weapons safe.
He’d punched two open himself, testing his strength compared to the soldiers, it had taken him three solid hits the first time around. The second door had only taken one, albeit it was fueled by frustration, he had to push himself more than usual for that specific feat.
Snow crunches under his heavy steps as he walks the perimeter again, looking for anything he could’ve missed the other times around. A solid lead. Heck, he’d settle for a lot less than that.
This whole mission was wearing on his nerves, he couldn’t wait for it to all be behind him. The road that led there was daunting at best, a death sentence at worst. He’d nearly died fighting The Winter Soldier, and while he hadn’t been trying his hardest because somewhere in that Winter Soldier had been Bucky, he knew that even his best may not have been enough then. He wasn’t sure how well he’d stand up against five of them.
Steve knew he wasn’t alone in this, that he had a team of highly skilled avengers with him this time. Though, that fact didn’t help settle his worries much. It was his job to protect Bucky, not anyone else’s. He couldn’t let him down again.
A noise breaks him out of his stream of steady thoughts. A noise so faint if it weren’t for his enhanced hearing capabilities, he probably wouldn’t have even noticed it. His head snaps in the direction of it. For a moment, he thinks his continuous lack of sleep has finally gotten to him. That perhaps it’s an hallucination, maybe even a trick of the light.
He rubs at his eyes with the palm of his hands before looking back at the creature in front of him, half expecting it to be gone now. It’s all white, a fox he’s pretty certain. With piercing black eyes.
Steve’s seen foxes before, but something about this particular one is different. He feels himself being drawn towards it, his footsteps slow but steady as he closes the gap between him and the animal. It doesn’t run away.
“You haven’t seen anything suspicious around here, have you?” He asks, it’s a joke. Between him and animal, and he’s pretty sure that says quite a lot about his current mental state. He reaches his hand out to pet it, but it drops back to his side before his fingertips make it to it’s fur.
The world had changed a lot since the avengers began. It was a tipping point for the world. Having a group of powerful people fighting for the lives around them. Knowing their was bravery here, despite every bad thing that came with it. Meadow had changed a lot since the discovery of the avengers too. She had known of Captain America her whole life. The selfless man who had risked everything for the world. It was a story told before bed to help rid monsters from children’s minds.
Growing up, she had seen the telling as a ridiculous story. No one was coming to save the world, she’d say and roll her eyes.
And it was easy for her to turn away from it. From that kind of hope. That kind of bravery. To claim it make believe, and not worth her time.
Because believing in Superhero’s wasn’t an option for her. Not without accepting she was the very monsters they saved the world from.
And so she grew up this way, angry. Shutting down any hope. Turning a blind eye to the prospect of truth behind the story. She’d say, Captain America is nothing more than a story. A falsified fairytale people write about. A book in the fictional section, collecting dust. Anything she could think of, in an attempt the keep away from the idea.
When Tony Stark revealed to the world he was Ironman, Meadow had a bad day. More so than normal. She was fourteen at the time, first day of high school. And all of the kids she grew up with, the kids she’d shut down when they brought up superhero’s, gave her a stupid nickname for her lack of faith.
The nickname stuck with the town from there. And as a senior in high school, after three years of town teasing, Captain America returned. And it was a bad day for Meadow. But bad days were normal now. And the truth was out. And with it, she had to accept what she didn’t want to. Or so, the seventeen year old thought.
It had been five years since then. Since Captain America was back. Since Meadow believed her fate was sealed. That with her abilities, she was destined to be a monster. She had grown a lot since that town. Since leaving that town. At the age of nineteen, she had followed in the path made by the avengers. Wanting to use her abilities to help the world.
Had she known then it would lead her straight to the selfless man, she would have prepared herself. Or at least, she would’ve made sure not to shift.
Staring at the man, Meadow felt frightened. Her eyes going wide, and for a second she had forgotten she was in fox form. But she was too late, having nodded her head at his question, she let out a yelp like growl, jumping back.
Foxes don’t respond to people, she chided herself. Looking around for an escape. Trying to figure out which way was better to run. Which path would lead her far away from him, take her somewhere he wouldn’t find. She had been so caught up in her own fears, she hadn’t been paying attention to him. Her mind consumed with what would happen if he found out she was a shifter.
Steve wasn’t an expert in the natural behavior of foxes, or any animal for that matter, but he was pretty certain they didn’t answer questions when asked.
For a brief moment, he wondered if maybe he’d lost his damned mind. Perhaps this was an extremely delayed side-effect of the super soldier serum. Probably not, the serum had been designed to enhance what the person injected with it already had. He had never in his life talked to an animal before. Technically, he still hadn’t. Nodding wasn’t an end-all, be-all form of communication. It was vague enough that he could just be reading into things that weren’t exactly there.
The creature began looking side to side frantically, he assumed for the safest route of escape. It looked frightened, scared that it was in harms way. Scared that he was going to hurt it or something to that effect. The panicked look in its eyes is what finally snapped Steve out of his dazed confusion.
“I’m not going to hurt you. You can run off if you want.” He speaks softly, crouching down so he’s level with the animal. It wasn’t so weird to talk to it in a way that didn’t require an answer of any kind. It was like how Bucky spoke to Alpine.
The more he thought about the nod, the less it made sense. It must’ve been a weird coincidence. How would an animal even know what suspicious behavior looked like? It was even kind of funny, now that they were further from the nod, that he’d actually considered the animal being capable of not only knowing what he’d said, but how to answer it. It sounded utterly ridiculous now.
Steve chuckles lightly to himself, smiling now at his own silliness. Deciding he’d have to get some sleep soon, that it was probably long overdue. Still he watches the animal curiously, waiting for it to run off before he finishes up there and makes his way back to the hotel room.
Although he may appear as a threat more often than not, and despite the fact that he was definitely stronger than most, he never liked to feel threatening. Not unless he was in a fight. Not unless it was deserved. More often than not it wasn’t. Something about this animal made him feel like he could show his soft underbelly, that it might even benefit the fox too.
The man plops down on the ground, his legs crossed as he watches the animal decided what it’s going to do. His eyes are kind, his posture’s not defensive in the slightest. He’d learned that from Bucky when they were younger, how to get a stray alley cat to come up to you. That animals always responded best to kindness.
Neither him nor Bucky could really afford to have pets as kids, most couldn’t back in those days, but that hadn’t stopped his friend from befriending every wild animal that crossed his path. He wished Buck was here with him now, he’d know exactly what to do. He would’ve loved the see the fox run about in the snow.
For a moment his mind wanders to a different time, a book Bucky had gotten for Christmas when they were young. Illustrated pictures of animals and their descriptions. He doesn’t remember much of it now, Bucky probably wouldn’t either.
It’s not rare for memories like that to pop into his head, it happens a few times a day usually. Followed by a longing to go back, to relive his life again. Most of it he wouldn’t even change if he could, but there’s a few major adjustments he’d make if given the opportunity.
Last time he’d seen Peggy, she’d told him that the world has changed and none of us can go back. Steve believed that, but it didn’t hurt to dream.
Meadow’s mind was in a frenzied panic, dark thoughts consuming every part of her. She had never been this clumsy with her ability, always taking precautions to keep her secret concealed. Even when working against bad guys, especially then. And while it was different than that, and the man standing opposite of her was someone she was safe around. Even more so than when alone. It hadn’t done much to calm her.
Safe or not, it was a risk. And she had so carelessly gave signs to her identity. Despite him being Captain America, there was a chance things could go wrong. She knew why he was here, it had been the same reason she was. The two crossing paths while in an attempt to catch the group of, as she had assumed, super soldiers.
Though, in the midst of anxious thoughts, Meadow couldn’t help but worry he’d think she was one of the bad guys. That she had been wrong in her findings, and they weren’t super soldiers, rather with abilities synonymous to animalistic traits. Fear was consuming her whole, and for a second she felt a bit dizzy. A part of her knew her assumptions were merely based on her anxious mind playing tricks. And it did her well to hold on to that.
His voice broke through her pondering, and she pushed her worry to the back of her mind. It would do no good to carry on with her thoughts, and she knew she had to do something to get out of the situation. And so, she focused on his words, her eyes squinting in confusion at his proffer.
Her head tilted, questions ricocheting throughout her mind. She had been so caught up in her fear, she had mistakingly assumed he would hurt her.
In slow movements, she laid herself down to the ground, deciding against doing so. He was sitting now, and it helped pull her from her anxiety. It was this way for a while, Meadow laying on the snow covered ground. Just at the tree line of the forest. She was calm now, taking in the cold winter weather. She could hear small sounds of the lively forest, the wind moving branches in the distance and she knew no one else was around. Or not close enough, at least.
After a few minutes of basking in the calmness, when her anxiety was completely gone, Meadow’s mind went back to the suspicious thing she had seen. Looking up at the man again, Meadow began to sit up. She was slow in her standing, not wanting to alarm him. She kept in mind her current form, knowing that despite his niceness, he would still be a bit wary.
She had been here twice now, having come the day after the incident. Only having stayed ten minutes or so, as to not be caught. In that ten minutes she had come across footsteps leading away from the scene. She had followed them a mile or so, winding up at a small abandoned cabin in the woods.
No one was there, and it looked as if whoever had been there left in a hurry. Leaving behind things, she had been too scared to go through. Scared someone would come back, she took a few photos and left. She had planned on going back later on, when she had mustered up the courage.
As fate had it, she hadn’t found courage since. Not until today. Only, when she had arrived at the weapon warehouse, the girl had been distracted. Having seen the avenger there, she had lost a battle to curiosity, only to have made the reckless mistake of making noise in her process.
Walking towards Captain America, Meadow moved her head down. She wasn’t sure how else to show she wasn’t a threat. And moments after doing so she felt silly. Even if she had meant bad, she wasn’t a threat to Captain America. Not really.
Looking at him for a second in hopes he would follow, Meadow set out, following the path to the cabin. She had left herself signs, small markings to help her find her way back. Looking back at him, as if to check if he was following, she let out a small huff. She wasn’t sure if he would, however she continued on, figuring it was best to go now, as she had been putting if off for already.