Melody was grateful for the three weeks off she and the rest of the team had gotten after the Battle of New York.
The time off gave the team time to spend with their families, do things that didn't include saving the world, and just be themselves.
Melody spent time with her mom, and the rest of her family. She taught Steve about electronics and in return, he helped her work on her strength, hand to hand combat, and strategizing skills.
The Battle of New York was nearly two years ago, and the anniversary was slowly creeping up. Melody couldn't believe it had already been almost two years. She remembered fighting off hordes of aliens like it was yesterday.
In the two years since the battle, Steve and Melody had been running random missions when needed. Usually, Fury would text or call them and let them know when or where they were needed. Melody was happy with the change, not having to be at the S.H.I.E.L.D offices everyday gave her some sense of normalcy.
The uncle and niece duo started out their day the way they did most days, working out. Given, running 13 miles around D.C. was not what Melody was used to in the slightest, but she was determined to at least attempt to keep up with Steve.
After the first five minutes, Melody realized that keeping up with her super soldier great uncle was impossible for her. As she was running, she noticed another man in a light gray sweater running as well and decided that it would be much easier to keep up with him.
She ran on his right side, close to the water, keeping pace with him as she ran. The two never spoke a word to each other, and even if he tried to speak to her, she wouldn't hear it. She had her earbuds in and her music was so loud, the man could hear it.
Steve had lapped them three times before, saying something inaudible to her, that obviously frustrated the man running next to her.
Steve lapped them once again, again, saying something she couldn't hear.
"Oh, come on!" The man next to her shouts, making Melody laugh since she actually heard it.
She pulled the earbud out of her left ear as her and the man both slow down. They both walk off and sit across from each other, against some trees.
"Hey, you good?" Melody questions the man, slightly concerned about the amount of sweat coating the man and how hard he was panting, trying to catch his breath.
"Yeah, I'm okay." The man assures, still breathing quite heavily.
A few moments later, Steve emerges from behind the tree the man is sitting against, startling Melody slightly since she wasn't exactly paying attention.
"You guys need a medic?" Steve questions teasingly, looking between the two sitting on the ground.
"Fuck off, Steve." Melody grumbles. She wasn't even out of breath. Running was easy and she had learned how to manage her breathing when she ran track in high school.
"I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran like, 13 miles in 30 minutes." The man says, still out of breath, still panting heavily.
"I guess I got a late start." Steve says, shrugging as Melody glares at him.
"Really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap. Did you take it? I'm gonna assume that you just took it." The man jokes, earning a small laugh from Melody.
"What unit are you with?" Steve questions.
"58th Pararescue, but now, I'm working at the VA." The man tells Steve, reaching his arm out to him for help off the ground.
"Sam Wilson." The man introduces himself as Steve pulls him up.
"Steve Rogers." Steve replies.
Melody rolls her eyes. Everyone knew who he was. Hell, there's a whole exhibit in the Smithsonian about him. Anyone cold tell who he was just by looking at him. She got up on her own and stood next to Steve, joining the boys' conversation.
"Yeah, I kind of put that together. Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing. And who are you?" The man now known as Sam questions Melody.
"Melody Rogers, S.H.I.E.L.D." Melody introduces herself, sticking her hand out to Sam for him to shake.
"You helped fight the aliens in New York. And you're married?" Sam asks, looking to Steve.
"Ew. God, no. He's my uncle." Melody answers before Steve can, pulling her hand away from Sam's quickly, as if she just learned he had the plague or something.
"It was good to meet you, Sam." Steve says as he and Melody start walking away.
"It's your bed, right?" Sam questions, obviously directed at Steve.
"What's that?" Steve asks in response as he turns around.
"Your bed, it's too soft. Where I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground and use rocks for pillows like a caveman. Now I'm home, laying in bed, and it's like..." Sam starts explaining before getting cut off by Steve.
"Lying on a marshmallow. Feels like I'm gonna sink to the floor." Steve finishes for him.
"We need to get you a Sleep Number mattress, old man." Melody jokes, making Sam chuckle.
"How long?" Steve questions, completely ignoring Melody's comment.
"Two tours. You must miss the good old days, huh?" Sam asks.
"Things aren't so bad. Food is better, her cooking is incredible. We used to boil everything. No Polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot, trying to catch up." Steve tells him.
"Using that a lot, Steve. You've been using that a lot." Melody corrects him, trying to get on his nerves.
Ever since Melody's mom had told Steve about her childhood crush on Bucky, Steve had been teasing her, every single chance he got. So, in return, Melody tried to annoy him as much as possible. Whether it be by making jokes about him being old, or correcting random things he says, she had made it her mission to drive the 95 year old man crazy.
"Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack. Everything you missed, jammed into one album." Sam recommends.
"I'll put it on the list." Steve says, pulling out his little notebook and writing it down.
"Oh my God, you carry that thing around with you?! You know you could just type it up in the notes on your phone right??" Melody questions, amazed by the fact that the man actually carries around a small notebook and pen everywhere he goes.
Just then, Melody and Steve's phones go off. They're being sent out on a mission.
"Alright, Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run, if that's what the two of you want to call running." Steve teases.
"That's how it is?" Sam asks as Melody punches Steve's shoulder as hard as she possibly can.
"Oh, that's how it is and ouch, that was unnecessary." Steve says, rubbing his shoulder as he starts walking backwards.
"I'll kick your ass, Rogers." Melody threatens.
"Okay. Anytime you wanna stop by the VA and make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know." Sam tells Steve, making Melody scoff.
"I'll keep it in mind." Steve states as he reaches the sidewalk as Natasha pulls up to the curb in a black corvette.
"Hey guys, any of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil." Natasha jokes, making Melody laugh loudly.
"Ha! You're old!" Melody laughs, pointing at Steve.
"That's hilarious." Steve says blandly as he gets into the car.
"Hey, Nat." Melody says, smiling at the woman who trained her.
"Hey, Baby Hawk." Natasha responds, using the nickname she and Clint have called her for about four years now.
"How you doin?" Sam asks, crouching down to look at Nat through the window of the car.
"Hey." Natasha says flirtatiously, making Melody giggle to herself quietly.
"Can't run everywhere." Steve says, looking at Sam.
"No, you can't." Sam agrees, then Natasha and Steve pull off, speeding down the street.
"Well, fuck.." Melody sighs as she watches the car speed into the distance.
"What's up, pretty lady?" Sam questions the young agent.
"I was called in for the same mission, but I rode my motorcycle to Steve's apartment and from Steve's, we walked the 20 minutes here." Melody tells him, becoming more frustrated by the second.
"Well, Agent Rogers, it would be my genuine pleasure to give you a ride to your bike." Sam offers, pulling his car keys out of his pocket.
"Sam Wilson, you are a lifesaver! Let's go!" Melody agrees and the two of them start jogging to his car.
They make it to Steve's apartment complex in less than five minutes and Melody hops out of the car.
"Thank you, so so much." Melody tells Sam, leaning into the window before running over to her motorcycle.
She lifts the seat and grabs the keys before hopping on it and speeding off to the Triskelion, going as fast as she possibly could without getting pulled over.
Once she gets to the base and gets inside, she sprints to a locker room and gets changed into her mission gear before rushing out to find Nat and Steve and whoever else is part of the mission.
"You're late." Rumlow tells her as she rushes into the briefing room.
"Oh, piss off, Rumlow. I wouldn't have been late if I hadn't been STRANDED by the Lincoln Memorial." Melody says, glaring at Steve and Natasha.
Melody despised Rumlow and the entire STRIKE team. There was just something off about them and they were always telling her what to do or yelling at her like they were her bosses or something, even though she was higher ranking than them, which annoyed her to no end.
She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room shortly after, heading to the armory to stock up on weapons, deciding against grabbing her quiver, bow, and arrows.
She met up with the rest of her "team" at the quinjet as they all crowded in. They flew around for a while and by the time they grew close to the intended location, it was dark out.
"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them 93 minutes ago." Rumlow informs Steve, Melody, and Natasha as he shows them pictures on a computer screen.
"They have any demands?" Steve questions.
"A billion and a half." Rumlow confirms.
"Why so much?" Melody inquires.
"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.Ds." Rumlow tells them, making Melody groan in annoyance.
"So it's not off course, it's trespassing." Steve sighs, obviously also frustrated.
"I'm sure they have a good reason." Natasha says, making Melody rolls her eyes.
"You know, I'm getting really tired of being Fury's janitor." Steve tells Melody and Natasha.
Melody hums and nods in agreement. She loved her job, and she loved Fury, but doing something like this wasn't exactly what she enjoyed doing, nor was it something that seemed like it needed three Avengers and the entire STRIKE team.
"Relax, it's not that complicated." Natasha says to the two of them.
"How many pirates?" Steve questions, wanting to get this mission over with.
"25. Top mercs, led by this guy, George Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kill missions. This guy has a rep for maximum casualties." Rumlow says, showing them the information and pictures on the screen.
"And the hostages? Who's on board?" Melody asks.
"Mostly techs, one officer, Jasper Sitwell." Rumlow informs, pulling up a picture of Sitwell. "They're in the galley."
"What the hell is Jasper doing on a launch ship?" Melody asks no one in particular.
Jasper was someone she's known since she joined S.H.I.E.L.D and she'd like to think that he'd consider her a friend. She wouldn't say they were close, but they would talk occasionally, more than some of the other agents talked to each other.
"Alright, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, Mel. You sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to life pods, and get them out. Let's move." Steve instructs.
Melody was annoyed. The last thing she wanted was to be teamed up with Rumlow and the STRIKE idiots. She wasn't going to argue with Steve about it, but she sure as hell would have a few choice words for him once they got back. He knew how much she hated everyone on STRIKE. Hell, even Fury knew how much she hated them.
Melody had tuned everyone out as she picked up her gear for the mission, strapping various small hand guns, tasers, and knives to her body and grabbing one of the huge rifles the STRIKE team usually carried around.
After she was done, she went and stood with Steve and Natasha, taking in some time with them before she was temporarily stuck with the STRIKE idiots.
"Did you do anything fun Saturday night?" Natasha asks Steve, making Melody giggle.
"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, not really." Steve answers.
"Ha, you're so old." Melody teases, laughing before walking back towards the STRIKE guys.
She turns back to look just as Steve jumps out of the jet without a parachute.
"Was he wearing a parachute?" One of the airhead STRIKE guys asks.
"Nope." Melody says, popping the "p" as she straps on a parachute, jumping a few seconds after Steve.
She can see the bodies of unconscious pirates Steve has already taken care of when she notices a man yelling at Steve in French with his gun pointed at him. Melody shoots him, the man falling to the ground dead as Melody lands on the deck.
"Thanks." Steve says, glancing at her.
"Oh, no problem. I don't know what you would've done without me." Melody responds sarcastically, motioning to all of the unconscious people scattered around the deck as Rumlow, Natasha, and the rest of STRIKE land on the ship.