Y/n's POV:
As soon as I wake up, the memories from last night come flooding back. A wide smile spreads across my face when I remember how the night ended. Peter and I finally had our first kiss. It took us a long time but at least things are finally starting to happen... or are they? Where does this leave us now? What are we? I turn on my side to reach for my phone on the nightstand. Once I grasp it, I turn back to lay on my back. The screen lights up and I see text notifications from my friends, including Peter. Another smile forms on my face when I read his message:
Peter:
Hey, just wanted to let you know that I had a great time last night... hope we can do it again sometime :) -8:10 AM
Can we meet up today? -8:30 AM
I lightly giggle at the messages. He is the cutest thing ever. I start typing when a News notification pops up, "ABC News: John Walker Named Captain America." I huff when I read that. Oh, great, now my morning is ruined. I grab the remote from the nightstand and turn on the tv, going to the ABC channel. The first thing I see is a marching band and dancers on a football field. They're playing the Star-Spangled Man With a Plan song... the song that Steve performed in the 40s. I shake my head, already feeling bitter about this. The new Captain America, whose name I learned is John Walker, runs into the field and high-fives one of the performers before running up to the stage. The crowd goes wild as he does this.
He stands on the stage and waves while the girls in sparkly blue outfits dance around him. A blonde lady walks on stage and proudly introduces him. "Ladies and gentlemen, your new Captain America!" The audience cheers louder and fireworks go off.
I scoff. "Not my Captain America," I remark. I watch as the dancers get off the stage and Walker smiles at the crowd.
"Good morning... America," he voices, trying to sound cool. I roll my eyes at this. No matter how hard he tries, he will never be on Steve's level. The tv crew brings two chairs on stage and Walker and the interviewer sit down.
"Thank you so much for coming. This has gotta be fun though. Coming back to your high school after so much has changed?" the interviewer speaks.
"Oh, it's great. We're- oh!" Walker interrupts himself when a fan screams his name. Are these people not upset that Steve is gone? Why the hell are they kissing Walker's ass so much?
"John, I think the first thing everyone wants to know is what is it like being Captain America? Do eagles fly overhead wherever you go?" the woman asks, making him release a stupid laugh. It really wasn't that funny but whatever.
When his laughter dies down, he responds, "uh, yes." The interviewer chuckles at this. "Yeah, that and flags tend to start majestically waving in the wind," he continues, looking toward the crowd with a cocky smile. I don't hear anyone laughing, John.
"And how's the tour been? I know they did a big rollout for you, right?" the woman questions.
"It's the greatest honor of my life. Um, but I'm- I'm just a little shocked, I think. How did a guy like me end up here?" Walker replies with a short chuckle. That's what I'm wondering.
"Oh, wait, wait, wait. 'A guy like me?' Somebody's being a bit too humble," the woman chimes in. It's really not that humble, it's a thing everyone says. "For those of you who aren't familiar with John's résumé... John Walker, first person in American history to receive three Medals of Honor, ran RS-One missions in counterterrorism and hostage rescue. The government did a study of your body at MIT, and you tested off the charts in every measurable category: speed, endurance, intelligence," she summarizes. Photos and clips of Walker are displayed on the screen as she talks.
I scoff again. "Ooo, he's fast and strong, big deal," I mock, shaking my head in frustration.
"Look, here's the thing. Uh, I'm- I'm not Tony Stark," Walker commences. For some reason, I don't like hearing Tony's name out of his mouth. "I'm not Dr. Banner, okay? I don't have- I don't have the flashiest gadgets, I don't have super strength. But what I do have is guts. Uh, something Captain America always had, always needs to have, and I'm gonna need every ounce of it... because I got big shoes to fill." It's interesting how he didn't say he's not Steve Rogers... I roll my eyes for the hundredth time. Does he think having guts is all it takes to be Captain America??? Well, in that case, I guess any random person could be Cap. I'm already sick of this guy.
The interviewer questions, "did you know Steve Rogers?" This captures my interest. What's this motherfucker going to say?
"Well, I was two years out of West Point when Steve came back on the scene. I followed his career very closely as an Avenger. Uh, I- I like to think that I modeled my work after his."
"So you've always wanted to be a hero?"
"I liked that what I was doing would make people feel safe. Steve Rogers was the kind of guy who could do that. He gave me hope. Even though I never met him, he feels like a brother," Walker answers. I squeeze my fists hard, feeling a lump form in my throat. I don't believe he feels that way about Steve. Steve already had his family... and Walker certainly wasn't part of it.
"Wow," the interviewer reacts. I can't believe all these people are actually eating this up. This is pure bullshit. I turn off the tv and flop back onto the bed. I can't deal with this, I'm going back to sleep. I close my eyes and try to relax but John Walker's stupid ass is stuck in my head. I toss and turn, trying to go back to sleep but it doesn't seem to be working. Quite some time passes before I get super frustrated. I kick the blankets off of me and quickly get dressed and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and do my hair. Once I'm done, I return to my room to put on my shoes and grab a jacket. I retrieve my phone from the bed and sigh.
Good thing I know where Sam works. I think of where I want to go and disappear in a cloud of lavender smoke. I reappear in front of a military airplane hangar. Man, I am so glad I learned how to teleport. I walk toward the hangar, immediately seeing both Sam and Bucky walking out. "No, you're not!" I hear Sam say. He and Bucky freeze when they spot me.
"Y/n? What are you doing here?" Bucky questions. I stop right in front of them and they give me a puzzled look.
"Hi, Buck," I greet the brunette before gazing at Sam. "Hi, Sam," I calmly speak.
"Uh, hi, y/n... haven't seen you in a while," he awkwardly replies. I nod, trying my best to remain calm.
"Yeah, well, I'm here because... I wanted to... I needed to ask..." I struggle to ask nicely so I just give up. "Why'd you give up the shield???" I blurt. Sam makes a face that says, not this again and I'm ashamed.
"See, I'm not the only one who wants to know," Bucky comments.
"Steve didn't want this. It's not supposed to be that John Walker guy! He's not the real slim shady, you are! " I exclaim.
Bucky looks confused as hell and Sam furrows his eyebrows. "Did you just reference Eminem?"
"...Yeah, he's pretty good- but that's not the point. The point is that it should be you!"
"Thank you! I agree!" Bucky claims, gesturing his arm toward me before looking at Sam, who gives him an annoyed look.
"I've already been through this- wait, how did you even get here? Did you drive?" Sam cuts himself off to ask me that.
"No," I casually reply. He gives me a quizzical expression, wanting me to answer. "Oh, I kind of just poofed here. You know, teleportation," I add, casually shrugging. Sam furrows his eyebrows and turns to Bucky.
"Did you know she could do that?"
"Yeah," Bucky confirms, making Sam look at him more confused. "She's a witch," he clarifies. Sam's baffled and shocked expression switches to me. I only nod my head. His confused expression is suddenly replaced with a smirk.
He instantly turns to Bucky and claims, "aha! See? The Big Three!" He points at me and I knit my eyebrows together in confusion.
"I already told you that's not a thing," Bucky retorts.
"What's the Big Three?" I chime in.
"Androids, aliens, and wizards," Sam replies, making Bucky roll his eyes.
"I'm none of those," I state.
"You're a wizard," Sam replies.
"I'm not a wizard, I'm a witch," I respond, still puzzled. Bucky nods in agreement.
"See? No wizards," he adds.
"A witch is a female wizard," Sam explains, smirking and pointing his finger at us. Bucky and I stare at him as he smiles proudly. We make eye contact before glancing back at Sam.
"Anyway... you didn't answer my question," I mention, making Sam sigh.
"Look, I didn't know this was gonna happen. The shield didn't feel like it belonged to me so I thought it was best to give it to the Smithsonian. I didn't think they'd give it to someone else."
I swallow the lump in my throat and take a deep breath. I stare at the ground and mutter, "you should've kept it." I can feel Sam and Bucky's sympathetic eyes on me.
"I'm sorry... This hurts me too but right now... I have bigger things to worry about. In fact, I'm on my way to deal with it right now," Sam claims.
"We're on our way," Bucky corrects. Sam just rolls his eyes.
"Deal with what?" I ask. Sam shows me a picture of a man in a mask and explains how he's connected to an online group called the Flag Smashers. "Oh... yeah, you should go deal with that," I say.
"Yeah. Would you like to come with us? We could use one of the Big Three to fight another part of the Big Three," Sam offers. I slightly chuckle while Bucky rolls his eyes at his last sentence.
"It'll be fun," Bucky tries to persuade me. I smile at them and lightly shake my head.
"I'd love to help but if I'm spotted out as Amethyst, I'll probably get lectured and arrested..." I explain. Sam looks baffled so I add, "it's a long story, but I have other things to deal with today anyway so..."
They both nod in understanding. "Okay. Take care of yourself, kid," Sam pipes up, going in for a hug. I return the hug and thank him before letting go. He walks off and Bucky smiles warmly at me.
"It was great seeing you in person," he tells me.
"Yeah, you look less wrinkly in person than on camera," I joke, making him chuckle.
"Is that a grey hair?" he teases, squinting his eyes as he reaches for my head. I slap his hand away and laugh.
"Shut up," I reply as we both laugh. "I'll see you later," I say before hugging him.
"Alright, stay safe," he returns. We pull away from each other and Bucky pats my shoulder.
"Hey! You coming or not?" Sam yells from the plane.
Third Person POV:
"Yeah!" Bucky yells back before rolling his eyes. "He's such an asshole," he mutters before walking toward the plane. Y/n chuckles at his reaction and watches as he nears Sam. When he gets to the plane door, both men wave goodbye to the girl. Y/n waves back before quickly poofing out in a lavender cloud.
"Woah," Sam reacts when he witnesses that. Both men are impressed by what they just saw but not really surprised because of all the crazy things they've seen in the past. "How'd she learn to do that? Since when is she a witch?" Sam babbles as they enter the airplane.
"It's a long story," Bucky sighs.
•~•~•~•
Y/n's POV:
I poof back into my bedroom and drop onto the bed. "Well, this sucks," I think aloud, sighing heavily. I guess I understand where Sam is coming from but I hate that his decision led to the government giving the shield to some white guy with an irksome face... as if we don't have enough of those in the spotlight already. I look around the room until my eyes land on a wooden box on my shelf. I stand up and approach the shelf, grabbing the box and taking it to the bed.
I inhale a shaky breath and open it, revealing all the cassettes Steve collected for me over the decades. His favorite songs. I scan the cassettes and decide to select the one titled: My 40s Favorites. I go over to my desk, where the pink radio Peter gifted me sits. I insert the tape and hit play. A beautiful jazz song begins playing and I sit down, feeling my chest tighten as I remember Steve. I really miss him.
Out of nowhere, my phone starts buzzing so I take it out of my pocket and see that Peter is calling. Oh, crap, I never texted back. I answer and put the phone on speaker. "Hey, Pete," I voice.
"Hey... did you just wake up?" he asks.
"Nope. I've been up for a while, actually."
"Oh... I was just wondering because you didn't text me back," he nervously points out.
"Oh, my gosh. I know, I'm sorry. I was typing and then something came up so I forgot," I explain. That doesn't sound very good. I hope he doesn't think I'm lying.
"Oh, no, it's fine. I just... there's something I want to ask you," Peter responds, sounding more nervous.
"What?"
It's silent for a moment before Peter speaks up again. "Uh, well, I'd rather do it in person, if that's okay with you... Can you come over?"
"Sure. I'll pop in there in a second," I swiftly reply.
"Wait, what?" is all I hear him say before I hang up. I poof out of my room and into Peter's bedroom, startling him. He lets out a small yelp as he jumps back.
"Sorry," I chuckle. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's fine," he claims, recomposing himself. "Um, I thought you were gonna drive here?"
"I would've but I didn't feel like it this time. Plus, this is much faster," I answer. Peter nods and chuckles nervously. I take this opportunity to check him out. He's in a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants and there's no gel in his hair, making it look just a bit messy. He looks attractive, to say the least. "So what did you want to ask me?"
Peter tenses up, becoming notably anxious. "Um, well... yeah- uh..." he stutters. I just gaze at him, waiting for him to proceed. "Last night," he commences.
"Mhm?"
"Something happened... you know..." he continues.
"Yup," I confirm, knowing he's referring to the kiss.
"Okay. So, uh," he slightly chuckles before resuming. "I think we should talk about it. U-unless you don't want to, of course. I'm not gonna force you to talk about it. I don't even know if you do want to talk about-" he rambles before I interject.
"Peter," I voice, stepping closer to him. He stops talking and just stares at me with his big eyes. "We kissed last night," I start, making him nod. "And now you want to know where we go from there," I add. He nods again. I nod and announce, "So do I. Let's talk about it." I move past him and go to sit on his bed. He turns around to face me and just gazes at me with a shocked and nervous expression.
"O-okay," he mutters. He doesn't say anything after that so I open my mouth to speak. Right when I'm about to talk, Peter blurts, "I really like you... a lot. I guess you already know that." He chuckles nervously, causing me to nod and chuckle too. "I think you like me too," he adds.
I smile fondly. "I do. That's why I kissed you."
"Right," Peter mutters, chortling. He looks down at the floor for a second before glancing up at me. "Sooo, then, would you like to... you know..." he trails off. I just look at him expectantly, wanting him to finish that question. He looks down and plays with his fingers for a second before meeting my eyes. "...be my girlfriend?"
My breath hitches in my throat when he finishes the question. I can hear my heart pounding in my ears as I just speechlessly stare at him. He stares back with a terrified expression, probably thinking I'll reject him. A smile slowly makes its way onto my face and I nod. "Yes. I would love to be your girlfriend, Peter Parker," I softly respond. Peter's jaw drops. He looks surprised that I said yes.
He chuckles before asking, "really?" I nod again, my huge smile still on my face. "T-that's- that's great... that's really great," he dreamily speaks. I giggle and stand up from the bed, taking a step toward him.
"Really great," I repeat, placing my hand on his cheek. He gives me a lovestruck smile and I lean in, connecting our lips in a sweet kiss.
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The NWH teaser trailer is giving me so many ideas 😏