Steve is a fast runner, I'll give him that. But I'm able to keep up with him.
Steve brought me on his morning jog, thinking I would enjoy it, and I did. I was able to think and just be free.
We had made it to Washington DC two days ago. My stuff hadn't arrived to the apartment quite yet. Steve decided to let me use his bed, being a gentleman. At first, I declined, not wanting to invade his personal space. But he insisted and I couldn't help but accept the offer. He had a puppy dog sort of look.
We woke up early for the run. The sun was still trying to wake up when we started. We jogged -- sprinted -- along the edge of a lake first.
Steve and I saw another person jogging ahead of us, a man. We quickly sprinted past the man, putting him in between us.
"On your left." Steve said.
I continued to run without speaking.
We saw the same man running in front of the Lincoln Memorial and sprint past him again.
"On your left."
This time, the man responded. "Uh-huh. On my left. Got it."
We kept running at Steve's speed, not slowing at all. We ran in front of the Lincoln Memorial building again, next to the Lincoln Memorial Reflection Pool. We could see the man running ahead once again. As we got closer, he turned his head toward Steve. "Don't say it. Don't say it."
"On your left." Steve said.
"Come on!" The man exclaimed.
We kept going until we got back to the lake where the man we had kept passing was sitting under a tree. He was a black man with very short black hair and a goatee. He looked nice.
"Need a medic?" Steve asked, walking in front of the man.
Sam laughed. "I need a new set of lungs." Gesturing vaguely to where we came from with his hand, Sam continued. "Dude, you guys just ran, like, 13 miles in 30 minutes."
Steve looked up at the lake for a moment before looking down at Sam again. "I guess we got a late start."
I let out a snort and looked at the ground as Steve joked with the man.
The man chuckled. "Really? You should be ashamed with yourself. You should take another lap." He looked away for a moment, still exhausted from the run, then looked up at us again. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."
Steve ignored the man's comment and briefly pointed to the image embroidered on his grey sweatshirt. "What unit you with?" he asked, putting his hand back on his hip.
"58th Pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA." The man replied.
Steve nodded. The man reached up for Steve to help him up. Steve firmly grasped his hand and pulled him to his feet.
"Sam Wilson." The man introduced himself to us.
"Steve Rogers."
Sam bent over, resting his hands on his knees. "I kind of put that together." he said panting. "Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."
Steve sighed. "It takes some getting used to."
Sam held his hand out to me and I shook it. "And you are?"
"Alexx Monroe."
"It's good to meet you, Sam." Steve started to turn away, ready to leave. I smiled at Sam and started to follow Steve.
"It's your bed, right?" Sam asked.
Steve turned back toward Sam. "What's that?"
I turned around again, putting my hands on my hips. This was going to be one of those conversations that I didn't have much say in.
"Your bed, it's too soft." Sam began.
Sam and Steve spoke about how their pasts were. They spoke about the beds being way too soft when they returned from practically sleeping on rocks.
I didn't cut in at all. I allowed them to talk while I stretched to make sure my muscles wouldn't go stiff later on.
"How long?" Steve asked.
"Two tours." Sam replied. "You must miss the good old days, huh?" Sam continued.
Steve sighed again. "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."
Sam nodded and smiled before thinking of something. He gestured to Steve. "Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack."
Steve nodded and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small, worn, brown notebook and a pen. He flipped to the page he was looking for and opened it wide.
Sam continued. "Everything you missed jammed into one album."
Steve looked up from the notebook and smiled to Sam. "I'll put it on the list." He wrote the soundtrack on the page in his notebook.
Steve's phone rang and a second later, so did mine. We both looked down at our phones. Exchanging looks, I knew we had received the same text. It was from Natasha.
"MISSION ALERT. EXTRACTION IMMINENT. MEET AT THE CURB. :)"
"All right, Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run." Steve pocketed his phone and shook Sam's hand. "If that's what you want to call running."
Sam held Steve's hand. "Oh, that's how it is?" Sam raised his eyebrows.
Steve made a face like he had just burned Sam. "Oh, that's how it is."
"Okay." Sam laughed. He waved to me. "Goodbye, Alexx."
Steve and I turned away and headed for the curb to meet Natasha.
"Any time either of you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know." Sam said.
Steve nodded. "I'll keep it in mind."
A black Jeep stopped at the curb, Natasha behind the wheel.
Natasha rolled down the passenger window. "Hey, guys."
"Hey, Natasha." I continued to walk toward the car.
"Do any of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil." She continued.
I opened the back passenger door and got into the back of the car.
"That's hilarious." Steve replied sarcastically.
Steve opened the passenger side door and got into the Jeep as I buckled in. He closed the door and looked out at Sam.
"How you doing?" Sam asked Natasha as he stood outside Steve's door.
"Hey." she replied.
Steve smiled. "Can't run everywhere."
"No you can't" Sam smiled.
Natasha rolled up the window, smiling at Sam and sped away.