Prologue

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With a heavy sigh, Cora closed the manila folder of paperwork she'd been working on and slid it into the bin on her desk labeled "Finished". She would have to file it later on, and honestly, it was such a slow day at work, it was a hard thing to look forward to. Normally the filing of paperwork gave her a break from the almost non-stop line of people coming into the V.A, but not today. Aside from the few meetings and classes that Sam was directing, nothing had really been going on. A glance at the watch on her right wrist informed Cora that she still had four more hours before she could clock out and head home.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. I'm looking for Sam Wilson."

Cora looked up as she saw a shadow fall across the top of her desk and block out the light coming in from the glass doors across from her. The man standing before her was tall, built like a tree and he wore a friendly smile. Dressed in a simple white t-shirt and a dark blue jacket, he appeared to be any other visitor that might come to see Sam, and yet, Cora couldn't shake the feeling she knew him somehow.

"Sam is in with a group right now." Holding out her hand for a shake, Cora introduced herself, "I'm Coraline Anderson. I work with Sam. Is there anything I can help you with?" The first thing Cora noticed was that this man knew how to shake hands. Big, warm and strong, he'd gripped her hand with just the right amount of pressure and gave a firm shake. She'd always been a strong believer that you could tell a lot about a man from the way he shook hands, and judging by this guy? He was the kind of person Cora could get along with.

"Steve Rogers, Ma'am. I'm not here on business, it's more of a social call." He tucked both of his hands into his pockets and gave a nervous smile as though worried about telling her his name. In all honesty, it sounded familiar but didn't particularly mean anything significant to Cora at the moment. Then again, her brain was rather frazzled from the amount of paperwork she'd done that day.

Getting to her feet, Cora motioned for Steve to follow her down the hall. "The group session is just about over, so you're welcome to wait for him." The heels of her sky blue Mary Janes clicked against the tile with each step and Cora found herself searching for something to say, but before she could, they'd come to a set of double doors that were closed. Before she could reach for the door handle, Steve had easily sidestepped around her and opened the brown metal barrier for her.

"Oh, thank you. I can honestly say, I can't remember the last time someone held the door for me." Cora smiled as she passed him, and waited while he slowly let the door close before continuing on.

Giving a nervous scratch to the back of his ear, Steve huffed out a short laugh. "Yeah...well. I guess I tend to be a bit old fashioned when it comes to stuff like that." He cursed his Irish blood internally as he felt his cheeks darkening in embarrassment. He'd forgotten himself again and allowed his old habits, and age, to show. Since waking up in this time, Steve had spent many hours trying to become accustomed to how the modern world worked, and apparently (according to the angry woman he'd accidentally pissed off at the grocery store) holding doors for women nowadays was a big no-no. Or....at least it was according to Feminists. Honestly...it all confused the hell out of Steve.

Core laughed and the sound was light and filled with happiness against Steve's reddening ears. "Well, don't say it like it's a bad thing. People always talk down about things like that, but to be honest, I think it's nice. In a city full of jerks, it makes you stand out. And not necessarily in a bad way, either." Pausing to motion towards the open double doors just down the hall and on the right, the blonde gave a warm smile. "The meeting is in there. They should be finishing up soon, so you're welcome to wait here."

"Thank you, Ma'am." Steve gave an acknowledging nod of his head as he watched the curious woman take her leave.

"Call me Cora!" She gave another laugh and disappeared the way they had come, and Steve couldn't stop the smile that tugged at his lips.

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