Something To Marvel At :||: Steve Rogers

Prologue

Sam Wilson played by Anthony Mackie

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Captain Steve Rogers had just finished his morning run through Washington city. He'd been accompanied this morning by a stranger, whom he had passed several times. He found this stranger trying to catch his breath beneath a tree.

"Need a medic?"

The dark-skinned man laughed at the Captain's remark. "I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran thirteen miles in thirty minutes."

"Guess I got a late start," Steve joked, smiling down at the man he hoped could be a new friend. Isabelle had been encouraging him to get out more, get to know people outside of the team.

"Really? You should be ashamed of yourself," The man grinned. "You should take another lap."

Noticing an emblem on the man's jumper, he gestured to it. "What unit are you with?"

"58th Pararescue, but now I'm working down at the VA," He held out his hand. "Sam Wilson."

"Steve Rogers," Cap took his hand and helped him up.

"I kind of figured."

A loud, clean engine interrupted them as it pulled up to the curve. A beautiful set of long slim legs, clad in black denim jeans that hugged narrow hips, followed by a white tank top that did nothing to hide the feminine figure underneath, stepped out of the beautiful Audi. Isabelle Stark ignored the stares she always drew from onlookers, making her way around the front of the car and heading towards the two men standing together with their jaws unhinged.

Iz only had eyes for one of them as she sashayed toward him. Steve Rogers tried not to drool at the sight of her, those gorgeous hips he wanted to worship, the small chest he wanted to plant his face in, or the stunning beauty that made his heart skip a beat every time he saw her face.

"Morning gentlemen," Isabelle smiled at each of them, settling on Steve.

Sam's keen gaze picked up on the tension between the two and tried not to grin as Steve straightened and fought to school his features. "Sam Wilson this is Isabelle Stark."

"Kind of figured that too," Sam politely shook her hand.

"Sam Wilson?" She titled her head. "You were over on a pararescue unit, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," He nodded, placing his hands behind his back.

"I believe they were sorry to see you go," She gave him a soft smile. "Your work at the VA is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your service."

He nodded. "Thank you, ma'am."

She shook her head, pursing her lips in a teasing way. "If we're to be friends Sam, you can't call me ma'am."

"Sorry, ma'am–" He grimaced. "Miss Stark."

"Hmmm," Isabelle only shrugged and turned to the captain. "We have a mission."

Steve nodded. "Duty calls, it was nice to meet you, Sam."

"Likewise."

Steve and Izzy turned to walk back to the car, their shoulders brushing every couple of steps. Iz snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye but found it almost painful to look at his handsome face for too long, so turned away. She instantly felt his eyes on her.

For the past eighteen months, the pair had been going back and forwards, dancing around one another, neither ready nor willing to make a move. Most of the time it didn't seem right, they were always working, sometimes together, sometimes in completely different countries. Then Izzy's modelling career had taken off once again, being booked for multiple shows, gigs and even an acting opportunity she'd had to turn down on the advice of her manager, Trudy.

The vacation Isabelle had taken Steve on to show him the world had only lastest a month before they'd been called back in. No real steps had been taken in their relationship for many reasons, mainly because they wanted to take it slow. Since then, the pair had rarely spent time together, let alone have a chance to talk about the obvious connection they shared.

"So," Steve cleared his throat as he followed her around to the driver's side, reaching the door in time to open it for her. "What's the mission?"

"Extraction."

"Of an object? Target?" He asked, after returning to his own side to slide into the passenger seat.

"Multiple hostages."

"Oh," He nodded, clicking in his seat belt and getting ready for the heart-racing ride that would be Isabelle's driving. "And, uh, you and I finally have a chance to work together?"

Iz rolled her eyes. "We went on a mission together two months ago, Steve."

With a rev of the engine, she pulled out onto the street, catapulting forward through traffic not even bothering to follow the road rules. "Yeah, but that was two months. I haven't seen you since then."

Izzy risked a glance over at him absolutely dwarfing the passenger seat beneath him. "Well," She turned back to watch what she was doing. He may have been able to survive a car wreck, but she doubted she could. "You've always known where to find me."

"So have you." He said quietly.

And here was the other thing, both of them were very, very, very unwilling to make the first move. Steve had only been in love once and that had been seventy years ago. The modern way of courting, terms of dating and expectations were much different, plus he found Isabelle Stark intimidating in regards to her level of... experience. Isabelle on the other hand was absolutely certain she was in love with the gorgeous man beside her. But she had followed in her brother's footsteps, gone down the route of having flings and remaining detached, never finding a connection with anyone. That had all gone out the window when she and Steve had started working together.

Isabelle had never done this before, had never wanted to and she was terrified she would screw it up. Plus she thought Steve might be disgusted with her past... behaviour. He'd berated her about it before. She didn't want to disappoint him, didn't want to let him down or embarrass him or not be good enough for him. Not be worthy of him. Steve Rogers was Captain America. She had grown up hearing stories about him and had seen firsthand what he could do and how that tactical mind operated.

She was just Isabelle Stark. Famous for her being the youngest Angel to walk to the catwalk, the Elemental, the youngest Stark who'd had everything sorted for her by her brother, who'd had it sorted by their father. She'd thought about it many times over the past few months but hadn't been able to justify rocking up at Steve's apartment without him thinking he was just a fling to her.

Steve, who had worked alongside and grown to know Isabelle, knew how confident and bold the young lady truly was. He couldn't fathom the reason why she wouldn't have come to him, other than she simply wasn't interested and didn't want to hurt his feelings. She had been assigned to him after all, she was a genuinely friendly person under the cool, carefree exterior she wore as protection. She was probably just pretending to be his friend, that's why she was encouraging him to go out and make new ones.

The pair of absolutely lovesick dorks sat beside each other in that car mulling over their own insecurities without a clue in the world of each other's true feelings. Or any idea of their future and the two paths that would eventually meet up as one.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

What are your thoughts? Feel free to comment!

Don't forget to vote!

Check out A Writer's Collection to find all bonus content. It's a place where extra information on your favourite works of mine and characters can be found. If anyone wants something specific, you can message me. Please, please, please, check it out!

Love always, Sare xx