Sam was a taking his daily jog alone this morning. Well, he might as well be alone considering how far Bucky ran ahead of him. They had decided on central park this morning to get away from the compound a little bit and to hang out in the city.
"Barnes!" Sam yelled, out of breath. Bucky sent a small smirk back and then disappeared around the corner with no response.
Sam rolled his eyes as he came to a stop, placing his hands on top of his head. One day he would be able to out run Bucky Barnes.
As he looked around for a water fountain his attention was instead caught by a little girl, standing alone by the trail, tears streaming down her face. Glancing around to see no one paying any attention to her, he slowly walked over to her.
"Hey," he greeted the girl with a gentle smile, crouching to her height. "Is everything okay over here? A little girl as cute as you should never have tears on her face!"
She stared at him with wide eyes as her lower lip began to tremble.
"Its okay, it's okay, I'm here to help." He tried to soothe the girl and she clutched to a stuffed bunny that was wrapped in her arms. "My name is Sam. Can you tell me your name?"
"Its Elsie," she whispered, staring at his shoes.
"Can you tell me where your mom or dad is at, Elsie?"
"I lost my mommy. She was getting me a cocoa and I saw a bunny that looked just like my bun bun," she explained, presenting the stuffed animal to him, sobbing. "I wanted to follow it, but it was hopping so fast and when I turned around I was lost."
"Do you want me to help you find your mommy?" He asked, holding out a hand.
"But I'm not supposed to go with strangers!" She sobbed even harder taking two steps away from him.
"That's a very smart rule, Elsie. Did your mommy come up with it?" The girl nodded her head in response. "Well, has your mommy told about who to go to for help?"
"She said to ask police. The ones who wear blue." The way she pronounce her Ls like Ws made Sam's heart swell at the cuteness.
"Has she said anything about super heros?"
"Like Iron Man?"
"Yes, like Iron Man." He laughed. "I'm actually very close friends with those people. Cap even trusted me enough to give me his shield."
"He did?" She sniffed, trying to calm herself down.
"He did. Do you want to see a picture?" As she nodded he pulled his phone out to show her a picture of him in his new suit, him holding his arms out and bucky looking him over, somewhat impressed.
"So you can help me?"
"I would love to help you."
She carefully wrapped her small hand around two of his fingers, allowing him to lead her down the trail. He walked back the direction he came, remembering that he and Bucky had passed a coffee truck not too long ago.
"Are bunnies your favorite animal?" He asked.
"Yes. Have you seen their tails?" She asked with a small giggle.
"I have. They're very cute." He smiled at her. Her tears were drying up and she was now only sniffling. Keeping her eyes alert for her mom.
As they turned the corner and the coffee truck came into site Elsie got excited.
"Cocoa! This is where mommy gets the cocoa!"
He looked around, trying to find a panicked woman.
"Excuse me have you seen a little girl? She's 6 years old and has two yellow bows in her hair." A woman quickly asked someone walking by the truck. "She'd be carrying a bunny and wearing a white sweater."
This grabbed the attention of both Sam and Elsie.
"Mommy!" The girl sprinted towards the woman who turned instantly at the sound of her voice.
"Elsie, baby!" She caught the girl in her arms and clutched her to her body. "Don't you ever run away like that again! You scared the life out of me!"
"I'm sorry! But super hero Sam helped me find you!" She pulled back and waved Sam over to them.
She looked up to see him walking over with a small smile and a wave.
"Can you say thank you?" She whispered to her little girl.
"Thank you, Mr. Sam!" The girl cheered as she was lifted into her mom's arms.
"Really, Mr. Wilson. I appreciate it so much." She thanked him, brushing the baby hairs out of her daughter's face. He blushed at the fact that she recognize him. "I don't know what I would've done had something happened to her."
Sam couldn't help his gaze falling to her empty ring finger on her left hand. She was a beautiful woman.
"Is there anything I could do to thank you?"
He felt butterflies flying around his stomach as he tried to grow the courage to ask her out.
"Excuse me if this is out of line, but I would love to take you out for a cup of coffee sometime?"
What's the worst thing that could happen? She'd say no?
Her cheeks flushed and her gaze fell to the ground as she contemplated his request.
"Mommy!" Elsie, not so discreetly, whispered. "Do it! Mr. Sam is nice!"
The two adults laughed at the child's words. Her innocence filling their hearts.
"Umm, yeah. I'll get some coffee with you."
Sam couldn't stop smiling as they exchange phone numbers. With the promise to meet later that week he left to continue his run, and hopefully catch up with Bucky.
The kind mother's smile engraved into his brain.
A/n: I'm thinking about doing some aus but am undecided. Is this something yall would be interested in or would yall prefer I stick to the MCU as I can?
