Winter's Weakness: A Captain America Fanfiction

1.

Ever since he was born, Steve Rogers always wanted to be a big brother, that was the only thing he ever really wanted in life, as a child. Little did he know, that he would get his wish. 

December 17th 1925

One cold, winter night, the Rogers family and Steve's best friend, James/ Bucky Barnes were eating dinner, making polite conversation, at the Roger's home. They heard a knock on the front door and Mr. Peter Rogers quickly excused himself  and went to go answer the door. When he opened the door, he was shocked at the sight that met him, a shivering young girl stood there, no older than eight from what he could tell. A small, broken frame, Inky black hair that went down to the her waist, and torn clothes that were nowhere near appropriate for the weather conditions.  "Do you have any food?" She asked, shivering and visibly shaking from the harsh cold. The girl had more than likely been a runaway or had simply been abandoned; left to starve and eventually freeze to death. She had bruises everywhere, she had a black eye and -from what he could tell- a deep limp, probably due to a break somewhere in her leg. Whatever had lead her to being out her all alone, to fend for herself, he didn't want to know, but, noticing how fresh that black eye was, he assumed it had happened recently.

"Where are your parents?" He asked the poor girl, she shook her head. "I don't know. Papa's dead. But my mama, she brought me here a few days ago, the last thing she told me was to run really far away and I haven't seen her since." The girl reported grimly. He moved to the side to let her in, "Why don't you come in and sit by the fire for a minute, get you out of the cold." he told her with a warm smile. After visibly hesitating, the girl slowly walked inside and waited for him to close the door and let him lead her to the family room, where the fireplace was roaring. She plopped herself down as close to the fire as possible, yet still seemed to shy away from it. He then handed her a handmade blanket from the back of his wife's favorite chair "I'll be right back, just wait here." he told her, she wordlessly nodded as she stared into the fire.

"Who was it, dear?" Mrs. Rogers asked slightly mindlessly. "A little girl. Honey, can we speak in private for a moment, in the family room?" He asked, then before getting an answer, walked into the family room, watching the little and waited for his wife. When she walked in, he began explaining before she could raise a commotion. "I found her shivering on the front porch, she's starving and half frozen. What do you think we should do? We could call the police." He asked her, she stepped back, looked over at the girl and paced for a few moments before looking back to her husband. "No. We have to keep her here, at least for a little while, until she's ready to go again. And if she won't leave, then we'll give her to the authorities" She suggested, looking at the girl once again.

Peter sighed and nodded, "We'll talk more about it tomorrow. Nothing's official tonight. let's sleep on it. She can stay here for the week or two before we do anything. We'll figure it out by then, deal?" Mrs. Rogers nods and approaches the girl. "Hi sweetheart, I'm Mrs. Sarah Rogers, that's my husband, Mr. Joseph Rogers, come with me and I'll get you something to eat. You can also meet my son and his friend." She watched the girl hesitate, but held out her hand nonetheless. When the little girl grabbed her hand and stood up, Mrs. Rogers understood why her husband had brought the child inside without asking her first. She patiently lead the girl into the dining room and  placed a spare chair next to hers and patted the seat. The little girl hesitantly made her way to the empty chair and sat down, while Mrs. Rogers went to fix up another plate for the young stranger.

"So, where're ya' from?" Mrs. Rogers asked the girl. The little girl explained as vaguely as possible, how she had ended up on their doorstep asking for food, right up to the very moment. "Well, you can stay with us for a bit. Would you like that?" Mrs. Rogers offered her, the girl immediately nodded gratefully and timidly. "Well, I'm Sarah, but you can call me Mrs. Rogers if it makes you more comfortable. The man that met you at the door is my husband, Joseph or Mr. Rogers. This here is our son, Steve and his best friend James." she introduced everyone at the table, gesturing to them each as she said their name ad they gave small smiles and waves.  "What's your name?!" Steve practically shouted, which earned him a glare from his father and a stern look from his mother along with something like "Manners" being uttered under her breath. "My name is Susan, but you can call me Suzie." The girl answered calmly, with a small wave and smile of her own.