emmylou | natasha romanoff

seventeen.

2014
Washington D.C.

Kennedy liked Sam Wilson. He was funny and nice and most of all he had coffee.

"I've never seen anyone put that much coffee in their sugar," Sam says as he sits down at the table across from her.

"I like it sweet," Kennedy tells him with a smile.

Sam nods his head, "There's blood on your forehead."

"I know," Kennedy says, "I might be concussed but my adrenaline is still going so I'm not sure. I'm not used to all of this."

"You're not a super soldier?" Sam asks, almost teasingly and Kennedy laughs, shaking her head.

"No, I'm actually a doctor. A surgeon," Kennedy answers, "Fighting and heroics. That's their thing."

"Doctors are the best asset," Sam tells her, "It's kind of like chess."

"And doctors are the king?" Kennedy asks, "They're the weakest piece on the board."

"Maybe," Sam says, "But the job of every other piece on that board is to protect the king. Lose him and it's game over. Lose a doctor or a medic and a man is dead in the field."

"Okay Sam, you make a pretty good point," Kennedy says as she sips her coffee.

"I tend to do that," Sam tells her and Kennedy smiles.

"So how do you know Steve?"

Sam chuckles and swipes at his top lip, "He laps me about three times on my morning jog."

"Really?" Kennedy asks with a laugh and Sam nods.

"Every time he passes me all I hear is 'on your left," Sam shakes his head, "He's insane."

"Well, he is superhuman," Kennedy jokes.

Steve enters the kitchen just as Kennedy finishes her coffee and she leaves the two men to talk as she heads into Sam's bathroom to clean the blood off of her forehead. She finds Natasha sitting in the bedroom, a far-off look on her face and Kennedy washes her hands before heading into the room.

"Hey," she says, and Natasha looks up at her. She was just in a tank top and black soot covered her arms, and there were a few spots of dry blood. Natasha looked like she'd been through hell and yet she still managed a smile when she saw Kennedy.

"How was the coffee?" Natasha asks as Kennedy sits beside her.

"It was good," Kennedy answers, "Not as good as your coffee though."

"That's because I know just how you like it," Natasha responds.

Kennedy's eyes scan over Natasha's face, "You okay?"

"I might be concussed," Natasha tells her.

"Me too," Kennedy says with a small smile.

"I should have never dragged you into all of this," Natasha says shaking her head, "I should have let you go home with Liho and Tolkien. You'd be safer there."

"Hey," Kennedy says as she reaches out and takes Natasha's hand, "Where you go, I go. It's me and you till the bitter end."

"Not bitter," Natasha tells her, "Somewhere warm and sunny with Tolkien and Liho and our children that will eventually have to go off to college."

"You know how I feel about that," Kennedy states, and Natasha smiles at her which slips away as she looks down at Kennedy's fingers and begins to play with them.