Y/n's POV:
Peter was sent to the principal's office for skipping detention, among other reasons. Luckily, he was let off with a warning. Frankly, I feel like Ned and I were more relieved about that than Peter himself. He still seemed to be pretty bummed out about getting the Spidey suit taken away. I doubt Tony will have a hold of it forever like he claimed. I know Peter will find a way to redeem himself.
Today has been a regular unexciting school day. I spent the first 15 minutes of lunch time with the boys in the band hall until they decided to build their lego Death Star. I know building it was something they looked forward to doing together, so I thought I should leave myself out of it to give their bromance some space. I hung out with MJ for the rest of the lunch period in the photography classroom, where we messed around and took silly pictures. After the day finally ended, I felt happy about going home to the new Avengers facility.
I shut my locker and turn around to walk out of the school when I suddenly see Peter eagerly speed walking down the hall. As he's getting closer, I notice that he hasn't seen me and isn't coming up to me like he normally does.
"Hey, Pete?"
"Hey," he replies, quickly glancing at me before facing forward again. That's odd, he just zoomed right past me. He didn't talk my ear off like he always does. He had a wide smile on his face, I wonder what that's about. I shrug and walk out of the building,
The Avengers Facility
I set my backpack down on my desk and flop onto my bed, sighing in satisfaction when my body hits the mattress. Just as I'm completely comfortable, FRIDAY's voice booms throughout the room.
"Ma'am, your presence is requested in Mr. Stark's office."
"Now?"
"Yes, ma'am. Mr. Stark says it's urgent."
I groan, annoyed that I have to get up when I was feeling comfortable, and hop off my bed. I trudge out of my room and towards the stairs, making my way down to Tony's office.
"What's so important that I have to get out of bed?" I sarcastically ask as I stride into his office. I freeze when I see two other people standing across from Tony. The two individuals turn to look at me upon hearing my voice.
"Oh my God," I breathlessly whisper.
"Ah, there she is," Tony announces. "As you can see, we have visitors. Y/n, meet Roger and Jessica Rabbit."
The man rolls his eyes and walks up to me with his hand out. "Steve Rogers," he introduces himself. I shake his hand as I continue to stare at him, starstruck.
"You- you're Captain America..." He slightly grins and nods his head. I rip my eyes away from him to look at the woman standing behind him.
"A-and you're Wa-."
"Wanda Maximoff," she says, shaking my hand as well.
"Y/n Sinclair."
I redirect my stare back on Captain Rogers. I can't believe that he's standing right in front of me. He's even more handsome in person. It's so incredible that he's here, I've always wanted to ask him about his experience of getting back into the world after being gone for so long.
"I asked them to come since you have something in common with both of them. I thought a little mentoring and advice from people who understand what you're going through might be good for you," Tony mentions.
"I thought you guys were on the run, and that you two weren't on speaking terms," I first address Steve and Wanda, then refer to Tony and Steve.
"We aren't but Cap is the only person I trust, besides you, who has been defrosted, so I figured that he's the right person to talk to you... So I put everything aside and just called," Tony admits.
I feel a warmth spread through my chest at his words. Tony is willing to set his differences with Steve aside for me. That is so sweet. I look away from Steve and stare at Wanda. I've heard a great deal about her, her powers are very similar to mine. Maybe she can teach me more about them.
"So they're just here to talk to me?"
"Well, yeah but we can do some training if you're up for it," Steve answers.
My eyes widen in astonishment and I look at Wanda, who gives me a soft smile and a small nod. This is unbelievable, how is this happening right now? "S-sure, yeah. I'm definitely up for that."
Tony escorts us to the training room. I hadn't been inside here yet, so I look around the room, amazed by how nice it is. I notice Steve and Wanda doing the same thing. It must be weird to be back here, especially since they're considered criminals now.
"Alright, I'll leave you to it. I got some errands to run anyway so," Tony trails off.
"Tony," I call out before he exits the room. He turns around, waiting for me to talk. "Thank you," I utter.
He presses his lips together, smiling fondly and nods. He looks behind me and I turn to see who he's looking at. Steve is looking back at Tony and he gives him a firm nod. Tony nods back and Cap walks up to him.
"It's good to see you, Tony."
"You too, Cap."
With that, Tony leaves the room and closes the door behind him. Steve turns around to face Wanda and I. "So... you ready to start?"
I nod and he leads me to a punching bag. "Do you know how to punch?"
"Uh, I don't know. I've never needed to hit anyone, I've always relied on my powers."
"Tony told us what you can do. It's impressive but it's not always gonna be enough." He walks behind the punching bag and holds onto it. "You need to learn to fight with more than just your powers."
I nod in understanding. It makes sense, I know of the villains the Avengers have faced. They all had various skill sets, including combat, so it would make sense for me to learn how to fight combat for when I can't use my powers. Still holding the punching bag, Steve slightly pushes it forward, gesturing for me to punch it. I ball up my fists and get ready to punch, until a voice stops me.
"Wait," Wanda interjects. We turn our heads to look at her, confused.
"Why don't you show us your abilities first?" she suggests. Steve gives her a look that says: really?
Wanda speaks again, "I just think it'd be helpful to see the extent of her capabilities so we know how to properly train her."
Steve nods and moves away from the punching bag. "Let's see what you got," he voices as he goes to stand next to Wanda. I remain standing there with both hands at my sides, not knowing what to do exactly. I'm standing in front of the iconic Captain America and Wanda Maximoff, of course my brain is scrambled right now. Wanda notices my confusion and begins to instruct me.
"Form a ball like this," she says, doing it herself. "Then fire it at that punching bag."
I back up to create distance between the bag and I and glance at Wanda and Steve, who both encourage me with a small nod. I turn back and focus on the punching bag, feeling the energy surge through my hands as I create a purple sphere. I take in a breath before blasting it at the bag, sending it flying back with full force. It smacks against the wall with a loud thud. I smirk, glad that I didn't mess that up, and look over at the two superheroes. Wanda smiles proudly and looks up at Steve.
"Not bad," he states. He gives me an impressed expression, which quickly changes when he notices something. "Your nose is bleeding," he points out.
"Oh yeah, that's normal. It happens every time I use my powers," I assure him, wiping my nose.
Wanda had me showcasing my abilities for a while, even made me use them against her. We sparred with our telekinetic powers. Sometimes I would win, but oftentimes, Wanda would win at the last second and make a whole lesson on the move she made and how I need to keep my guard up. Steve showed me a thing or two as well. He taught me some fighting moves that could be useful when my powers aren't. We sparred too, and he did not go easy on me at all. Towards the end of the training session, it was two against one. They would both come at me and I had to use what I'd been taught, both powers and combat, to fight them. I was exhausted by the time Steve decided that I've had enough for the day.
"You're a fast learner," Steve comments, walking up to me as I open my water bottle and start chugging.
"Thanks. You're a good teacher." I compliment. He chuckles and thanks me. I sit down on the bench behind me and wipe the sweat off my forehead. Steve takes a seat beside me. After a moment of silence, he suddenly speaks.
"It's a strange experience."
"What?" I question, baffled by his statement.
"Being gone for a long time and then coming back to a changed world."
I look away from him and stare down at the floor. "It most definitely is strange," I reply with a sigh. "How did you cope with it? Losing your old life? Having to adapt to a new world?"
Steve inhales a sharp breath. "When I went under, the world was at war. Then, I come back and I'm told that we won. I missed all of it and everything after that." He pauses for a second before proceeding. "I woke up almost 70 years later in a strange room. It looked very 40s, even had windows with a fake view. A woman came in and told me I was in a recovery room in New York. I knew she was lying... My first clue was The Dodgers game that was playing on the radio. It was from 1941; I know because I was at that game. I bust out of the room, which turned out to be a box inside another room, when two armed men came in. Turns out I was at SHIELD. I ran out of the building and ended up on the streets of modern-day New York City. It was like I was on another planet, everything was different."
"I thought SHIELD didn't exist anymore," I note.
"It doesn't, but it did a few years ago," he responds. I nod before asking, "did they tell you you were in the future?"
"Yup. Nick Fury told me while I was surrounded by SHIELD agents in the middle of the street. He said he wanted to break it to me slowly... guess I ruined that plan," Cap says with a small chuckle. I smile but quickly stop when his smile fades into a frown. "The only thing I could think of was how I missed my date," he confesses, staring down at the floor. I feel my heart sink upon hearing this. I understand how he feels.
"You had someone in 1945?"
He nods and finally looks at me. "Peggy Carter. I met her when I joined the Army. We were supposed to go on our first date after our mission... we were going to go dancing. I'm not much of a dancer but she was gonna teach me." He leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees and folding his hands together. Poor guy, judging by the look on his face when talking about this woman, I can tell he was in love with her. I'm guessing she loved him too.
"I had someone too," I break the gloomy silence. Steve raises his head to peer at me.
"Really?" he asks, to which I nod.
"I had a boyfriend who I was with for two years. I don't know how much you use the internet but there's plenty of photos of us all over it."
"I've been trying to keep a low profile so I ditched my electronic devices, but I did manage to see a photo of you and a boy on TV."
"Yep, that's him. Jonathan Byers," I confirm. "Anyway, so it's 1985 and we're still going strong, even though he and his family had moved away. We had plans for the future, and one of those plans was to attend NYU after high school, because it was our dream school. So I reserved my spot on a campus tour and booked a flight to New York, departing from his city so I could see him before leaving. He stayed with me until boarding time... Then, all I remember is the plane hitting the earth and next thing I know, I wake up at Stark Tower and I'm told that 32 years have passed." I pause to take a breath.
"And now I come back to a world that has progressed without me, and man, has it progressed," I sarcastically remark. "I wake up to find out that he is now married to my best friend." Steve slowly turns his head to glance at me and frowns sympathetically.
"Yeah. So I understand the pain of being separated from the love of your life by none other than time," I conclude.
Cap leans his back against the wall behind him and heavily sighs. He remains quiet for a moment until he finally decides to speak up, "life has really put us through the ringer, huh?"
"Heh, yeah. It has played the most wicked game on the both of us," I reply as I bring my legs up and sit in a cross-legged position. Cap blows a raspberry and nods in agreement.
"On the bright side, at least we look good for our age," he jokes, making me laugh.
"Yeah, that's true. It's pretty cool that I get to experience two completely different decades as a teenager, and I've met some great people," I mention, shrugging.
"That's good," Steve says with a nod. "Same goes for me, except as an adult. I've met some of the best people in this era, in fact, they've become my family. Humanity has come so far since the 40s, which is a relief."
"And the 80s," I chime in. He's right. Even though there is still plenty to work on, it has become normalized to call out hateful and immoral behavior and ideals. It seems like the newer generations are seeing things for how they really are, which is something that many in the older generations don't care to do. Gen Z has fascinated me, they are the most powerful generation yet. I've seen what they can do, and I feel honored to be growing up amongst such a badass generation.
"To answer your question," Steve starts. "Wrapping your head around the truth that this is your new reality is difficult, but coping with it gets easier every day when you're surrounded by the right people."
Huh. That makes perfect sense, actually. He had Tony and the other Avengers by his side. I have Tony, Pepper, Happy, Peter, Ned, Aunt May, and MJ. Now I also have Steve and Wanda, and they all really do make my new life enjoyable.
-
-
-
The next chapter is part 2 to this one! It was supposed to be one chapter but it got really long when I wrote it, so I had to split it into two. Btw if you're still reading this book, thank you 3000 ❤️