Wouldn't Leave You (A Captain America Fan fiction)

Reliving the Past

Chapter 5 - Rachel Stark

After we got out of the car, I walk him up to my apartment. I shot him a soft smile as I open the door, slightly embarrassed. My apartment wasn't a complete mess but it was close. There was an empty pizza box on the coffee table and different pairs of shoes scattered everywhere. The sink is full of dirty dishes and there was a pan still on my stove. 

"Welcome to my home," I said softly, heat rising into my cheeks. I take a step in and throw my keys onto my counter and go straight to the fridge. "Hungry?" I ask Steve.

"Yeah," he says and then starts wrangling some of my shoes in the family room. He picks up the pizza box and places it on the counter near me. Wait, is he helping me clean? Well, this is embarrassing. 

"Steve you really don't need to do that," I say, trying to hide my embarrassment by turning my back to him.

"Hey, if it helps you out then I will do it. You're going to be my own personal soldier sitter for the next few months, helping me out, so I should help you out." That has been the sweetest thing I've ever heard from a guy in my life.

"Thanks, Steve, that is really sweet of you. Is pasta okay?" I ask, trying to steer the conversation away from my messy apartment.

"Yeah, I think anything would be pretty great right now since I haven't eaten anything in about, eh, 70 years." He says, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. I scoff. 

"Steve, I think I am going to like your sense of humor," I say, pouring some water into my biggest pot. 

I cook the pasta and answer Steve's questions on where to put things.

When the pasta is finally ready, the family room is tidy. I hand Steve a plate of noodles and he sits down at the counter. I stand on the other side and the two of us start eating.

"So, is there anything you feel would be imperative to know about me?" I ask slightly sarcastically. I really want him to say no, but I want to trust him. "I am sure that file Fury gave you is full of my deepest secrets." 

Being in the field that I am, I have always been told (especially by Natasha) 'Don't trust anyone, your secrets are what keep you alive.' But after a while, you don't need to be told anymore, it becomes an instinct. The only other people who know fully about my past are Natasha and Tony, and even he doesn't know the extent of my experiences. My past isn't as sketchy as some of the other top agents, but it is rough. 

"I want to know all that I can because I don't want you to be my babysitter, I want you to be my friend," Steve says.

"Okay, well, what do you want to know?" I ask. 

"Everything."

"All right, get ready to be bored out of your mind," I say. "I'm Rachel Stark and I am 26 years old. I was born on July 4, 1985..." 

"July 4th? Very patriotic," he says with a little smirk. I make a little face. 

"I have one sibling that I told you about earlier named Tony, who is a lot older than me. He has always out-smarted me. He's the invincible Iron Man," I say rolling my eyes. I see Steve open his file and flip a few pages. 

"Is he the one that built his own suit?" he asks, eyes still cast down at the file. 

"Yeah, he created it to help him escape captivity in Afghanistan," I say, picking up some more pasta with my fork. Steve reads a few more lines of the file. 

"Is he still making weapons?" he asks and I shake my head. 

"No, that whole experience changed him. I still don't know all that happened to him there. But what I do know is that now he relies on a very powerful magnet to survive." I say and Steve nods. 

"I have been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent since I was 18. I joined while I was at M.I.T. I ended up graduating super early and became a field agent. When I was 6, my father brought me to work one day. This was only a few weeks before he died. He walked me around all of these labs. One of his projects caught my eye. He was looking for you. He showed me the science behind your transformation and I was sucked into the project. I asked my father about you, and Peggy," at the mention of her name, I saw Steve tense. I continued anyway. 

"They helped me understand your serum and the way your metabolism worked. But a few weeks later, my parents were killed in a car crash. I was devastated. I remember that year being one of the hardest of my life. Luckily, I had Peggy to turn to. Tony was in his own world grieving: inventing and drinking to get through his problems. But I was learning even more through my grieving because I would spend every day trying to get in the lab with Peggy."

"I spent every day trying to sneak away with my dad's notes. Your experiment was like a part of my father. Eventually, Peggy got me a copy of his files and I was able to read them without being worried someone would catch me, " At this point, I looked cool as a cucumber on the outside but my mind was headed down a dark alley. 

"Once I got a bit older, Tony started to come around again and we got closer. He taught me how to drive, his girlfriend Pepper taught me to cook and clean." I paused to collect myself. My emotions were starting to run high so I needed to take a break and slow down. Running through so many emotional triggers so quickly was taking its toll. I looked over to Steve. He was just staring at me not in a creepy way but he was just listening. 

"When I was 16, I got my first boyfriend. He was perfect. Handsome, kind, a little older, giving, willing, open. I thought I loved him. But then, he slowly started to get violent. He'd call me names, control where I was going and what I was wearing. It eventually got worse. It escalated to physical violence." I looked over to Steve again to see what he was feeling. His eyes were pools of sympathy, so I decided to cut my story a little bit shorter. I rolled up my sleeve and showed him the line of scars. 

"He would beat me down to the point where I physically couldn't get up. And I couldn't do anything. I couldn't call anyone because I was scared he would hurt them too. I was eventually taken to a secluded cottage. I suffered there for months until S.H.I.E.L.D. found me." I rolled my sleeve back down and began to clean up the kitchen, taking more deep breaths. 

"Fury took me under his wing and really helped me get back into the world. He put me through the rest of my schooling and helped Peggy, who I lived with. I worked hard for the past four years and now, the only agent who can give me a run for my money in a fight is Natasha. I like where I am now." I finish, taking a deep breath. I look at Steve whose face is a mixture of emotions. Happy, sad, concerned, and scared.

"Well, I think that is enough story for tonight. I hope I didn't overwhelm you." I say, my face heating up. 

"Well, I did ask for everything," he says, breaking into a kind smile. 

"You are going to have to return the favor sometime," I say, "I've got to know all your secrets too." he chuckles. 

"You can have the bed, I'll take the couch," I tell Steve before he can ask me any questions about my story. "Try to get some sleep, okay?" 

"I'll try," he says.

"Okay, good. I CALL BATHROOM FIRST!!" I laugh as I run into the bathroom.

I feel like this will be an interesting adventure.