TWO YEARS LATER
The incessant beeping of the familiar iPhone alarm rang through the bedroom of the small apartment in Washington DC. Charlotte Watson groaned, attempting to roll over to shut off the alarm, though proven difficult by the arms that kept her locked in place.
She sighed, yet couldn't help the little smile that rested on her face as she rolled around to face the man lying beside her. Her fingers danced over his cheeks as his arms lightened around her waist, sending her into a fit of giggling.
"I know you're awake, Stevie. Your alarm won't shut up,"
"If I turn off the alarm, though, that means I have to get out of bed with you,"
Steve's blue eyes opened, looking down on the woman that laid in his arms. Lottie's head rested on his chest, the sunrise streaming through the curtains illuminating her face as she smiled up at him.
"We wouldn't have this argument every morning if you didn't go on a run at 6 AM,"
"It's not an argument, it's a discussion," Steve leaned down, placing a kiss on her forehead before leaning over her and shutting the alarm off. "Besides, not too many people out at 6 AM, perfect time to run."
"I know, you tell me every morning,"
Lottie sat up in bed, back leaning against the headboard as she watched Steve move about the room, opening the curtains to give them the view of the sunrise. A small smile danced on her lips as she watched him change his clothes for his run. He stole a look back at her, feeling her eyes on him as a smirk overtook his lips.
"You know, it's not nice to stare. Privacy is a wonderful thing,"
"Why? It's not anything I haven't seen-"
"Okay! Man, you are a mini Tony..."
The woman in bed couldn't help but laugh, watching the red creep up on Steve's cheeks as he shook his head at her, kneeling down to tie up his shoes. Lottie pulled herself from the bed, grabbing her robe from the chair in the corner and throwing it on.
Steve waited by the door, his arm held out to her. Lottie slid her arm through his as the moved out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.
"You could've stayed in bed," Steve told her, taking a glance back at where she sat at the island counter. She already had her laptop pulled out, most likely going through her hundreds of emails while Steve brewed the morning coffee. "What time do you have to meet with Natasha?"
"I believe about 7:30," Lottie answered, writing a quick email back to Fury confirming she'd be at headquarters at 7:30. "We have do go over some paperwork and last minute stuff with Fury before the mission. We'll text you what time we're coming to get you."
"I'll be at the same spot as usual," Steve told her, sliding her a coffee cup as he sipped his own. Lottie thanked him, taking a sip of her drink before sending a quick email back to Tony, who had sent her some specs for a new suit he was working on and wanted her opinion on. "Alright, I should probably get going. I love you."
"I love you most," Lottie said back, smiling as Steve leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips. She closed her eyes as he pulled back, placing another one on top of her head before he was out the door once more.
Lottie sighed, taking another sip of her coffee as she pulled out her phone, shooting Natasha a text to meet for breakfast before hand since she was up so early because of Steve. Nat quickly shot a text back and agreed as Lottie pulled herself from the kitchen counter and back into the bedroom.
"Miss Watson, incoming call from Mr. Stark," Lottie poked her head out of her closet to where her phone sat on her bed.
"Accept, put it on hologram mode for me, Jarvis,"
"Of course, Miss Watson,"
Lottie disappeared into the closet for another second, changing into her jacket and jeans as Tony's familiar voice floated throughout the room.
"Wow, how'd I know you'd be up this early?"
"Because you know Steve doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in," the woman shot back, exiting her closet as she grinned at the familiar sight of Tony. Her phone projected the hologram of him onto the floor in front of her bed, where he sat at his desk working on some piece of technology. "Why are you down in the lab this early?"
"Couldn't sleep, as per usual. What are you getting dolled up for? Got a hot date with the man with a plan?"
Lottie rolled her eyes, entering her and Steve's connected bathroom as she left the door opened so that Tony could see her.
"Breakfast with Natasha before we meet with Fury, have a mission later today,"
She looked back over to Tony as she straightened her hair, seeing him just staring at her.
"Why am I never invited to the fun stuff? Fury doesn't invite me, Captain Spangles doesn't call, you don't invite me anywhere!"
"Oh, like how you invited me to help you stop the Mandarin after he blew up your home, kidnapped the president, and almost killed Pepper?" Lottie raised an eyebrow at Tony, who only stared at her dumbfounded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Invite me to things and maybe people will invite you places."
"Wow, D.C. has made you cold,"
"No, that would be Steve leaving the AC on all the time,"
Lottie couldn't stop her smile as she watched Tony let out a genuine laugh at her comment. She exited the bathroom, tying her hair up as she laced up her shoes.
"I just wanted to call and say hi, haven't seen you in awhile so I thought I'd call-"
"Tony-"
"-okay fine, I wanted to say hi because I miss you, but don't repeat that to anyone," Lottie shook her head, standing in front of the hologram now as Tony smiled at her. "Okay, I'll let you go. Come visit soon, okay?"
"I promise I will. Bye Tony," the man gave a slight wave before Lottie waved off the hologram, ending the call. She grabbed her phone and her bag, exiting the room and locking up the apartment before heading down to the street below.
A sleek, black car sat right outside the apartment as Lottie smiled, walking toward it. Another sweet gift that Tony had given to her.
"Jarvis, start up the car for me,"
"Of course, Miss Watson,"
The car started up, the driver's side door opening itself as Lottie stepped inside, driving off to meet Natasha.
◼ ◼ ◼
Sam Wilson sat with his back against a tree in a park of Washington D.C., breathing heavily as he tried to get his breathing back to normal. Steve Rogers walked around the tree, grinning down at the man on the ground that he had been teasing with one simple sentence for the last hour or so.
"Need a medic?"
"I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes, TWICE!"
Steve laughed, shaking his head.
"I guess I got a late start,"
"Oh, really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap," Sam looked around for a moment before looking back up at Steve. "Did you just take it? I assumed you just took it."
"What unit you with?" Steve questioned, gesturing to the symbol on Sam's sweatshirt.
"58, Pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA," Sam held out a hand for Steve, who took it and pulled him up. "Sam Wilson."
"Steve Rogers,"
"I kind of put that together. Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting thing,"
"It takes some getting used to," Steve nodded, turning to walk away. "It's good to meet you Sam."
"It's your bed right?" Steve turned back, raising an eyebrow at Sam. "Your bed, it's too soft. When I was over there I'd sleep on the ground and use rock for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like-"
"Lying on a marshmallow. Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor," Steve finished off, sending Sam a smile. "How long?"
"Two tours. You must miss the good old days, huh?"
"Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot trying to catch up."
"And Charlotte?" Steve smiled at Sam, who was smirking at him.
"She looks like she belongs here, she adapts quite easily. She's been a big help transitioning,"
Sam nodded, thinking for a second before he shot Steve a grin.
"Marvin Gaye, 1972, "Trouble Man" soundtrack. Everything you've missed jammed into one album,"
"I'll put it on the list,"
Steve grabbed the little notebook from his back pocket, taking it out and writing down the album onto one of the pages. Lottie had given it to him, saying that anything he found out or someone told him he should watch/listen to he should write down, and they'd do it together.
Cell phone going off in his back pocket, Steve put the book away and checked the screen. A text from Lottie appeared, telling him that her and Natasha were just about there.
"Alright, Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run. If that's what you wanna call running," he said with a smirk, shaking hands with Sam.
"Oh, that's how it is?"
"Oh, that's how it is," Sam laughed, stepping back with a grin.
"Okay. Any time you wanna stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know,"
"I'll keep that in mind,"
The sound of an engine behind them made Steve and Sam turned around. Natasha and Lottie pulled up in the car, the window rolling down to face the boys. Lottie leaned on the steering wheel, smiling out at Steve as Natasha looked over as well.
"Hey fellas. Either of you know where the Smithsonian is? Found one fossil, here to pick up another,"
"Wow," Lottie mumbled with a roll of her eyes, sending Nat a smile. Steve laughed, moving toward the car and climbing into the back seat as Lottie rolled down his window.
"That's hilarious,"
The trio looked out the car to the man standing on the sidewalk. Sam Wilson leaned down, grinning toward Natasha and Lottie.
"How you doing?"
"Hey," the girls shot back in unison, grins on their lips. Steve shook his head, looking back to the man.
"Can't run everywhere,"
"No you can't,"
◼ ◼ ◼
PART THREE IS HERE!
Guys, I love this movie so much, so you know I'm going to have fun writing this. And no, I will not be replacing Natasha' role in the movie with Lottie, they will both be in this.