✪ American Noise ✪ [Captain America]

Chapter 1: Liz I

* * * Author's Notes * * *

The story begins about one year after the first Avengers film, which according to the  Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline is approximately one year before the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The ultimate goal is to catch up to the most recent MCU events, but we'll see how it goes!

Comments and votes are always extremely encouraging, so please be sure to leave some if you enjoy a chapter!

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Liz Dolan sat on a stool behind the counter of her family-owned antique shop. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a practiced bun, and her green eyes were glued to the sketchpad she was penciling in front of her. Across the glass countertop from her (on the customer side), she had set up similar stools for the Schaefer twins, Billy and Emma. Both had reddish-brown hair and brown eyes with freckles scattered across their faces and were pretending to make an effort on their homework. At the moment, the storefront of Dolan & Sons Antiques was empty except for the three of them tucked in the front corner of the shop in sight of the front door.

Outside, the weather was bright and sunny. It was one of the nicer days that Washington, D.C. had seen in quite some time after a rather brutal winter. The faint sound of traffic could be heard through the gold-lettered windows facing the street. Liz thought she heard the low rumble of what she guessed was a motorcycle.

"Miss Lizzie, what are you drawing? Is that for one of your picture books?" asked Emma, peering over her math to the sketchpad in which Liz was drawing.

Her twin brother chimed in, "They're called comic books, stupid! And that's obviously Captain America."

"Don't call me stupid, stupid. It's hard to see it upside down!" Emma retorted.

Billy ignored his sister, "Do you have pictures of the other Avengers, Miss Lizzie? I like Iron Man the best."

"Iron Man?" exclaimed Emma with mock disgust, "Everyone knows Black Widow is the coolest."

"You just think that because you're both girls!"

Liz was struggling not to laugh. Ever since the Battle of New York about a year ago, superheroes had exploded back into popular culture, and the Avengers were by far the most famous, probably because they were real-life heroes. Every kid wanted to be at least one of them, and these particular two would use any excuse to delay doing their homework. Liz smiled.

"Maybe I do, and maybe I don't!" Liz stated mischievously, "The two of you be nice and get back to your fractions. If you finish early, I might let you see my other drawings. And wouldn't it be a nice surprise for your mom if you finished before she got home?"

The twins lived in one of the apartments above the store with their mother, Catherine. Liz had volunteered to keep an eye on her ten-year-old neighbors for a few hours after their school day had ended until their mother could get home from work.

"But we hate fractions..." the twins grumbled in unison, but the idea of seeing the drawings later placated them.

A chime sounded as the front door of the shop opened. Liz looked up from her sketch to see that a tall, broad-shouldered man had entered wearing a navy blue baseball cap and matching jacket. He looked a bit lost.

Liz put on her standard helpful-shopkeeper smile, "Hello! Is there anything I can help you with, or are you just looking?"

Navy Ball Cap looked as if he had not been expecting to be addressed quite so suddenly as he looked around and found Liz behind the counter. He smiled politely and answered a bit nervously as he stepped towards her, "Good afternoon, ma'am," he looked down at a small piece of paper in his hands, "I'm not sure I'm in the right place... I'm looking for a Mr. John Dolan. I'm here about the apartment. I was told this was the address?"