VITALITY ↝ B. BARNES [1]

[22]

As the summer neared its end, giving way to fall, the atmosphere changed around the Avengers Compound. Reconstruction was finished on the west wing of the building, once again giving the team access to their living quarters, and the leaves on the trees had begun to change colors, bathing upstate New York in the beginning shades of an autumn glow. The team was once again free to move around without the threat of HYDRA looming over them, even if they were still looking over their shoulders, listening for any whisper that might come their way of the organization's movements, in search of anything that might help them one day save an old friend.

As for Elysia, she reached for the alarm clock that had begun to blare in the center of her nightstand, hitting the snooze button before sitting up in bed and pushing the stray strands of hair away from her face. She climbed out of bed and quickly changed into her training gear, a simple t-shirt and leggings with a zip-up jacket before lacing up her sneakers and wandering out the front door of her apartment.

When she reached the hallway, Elysia paused, her gaze moving to the still vacant apartment next to hers, but to her surprise, she didn't let her gaze linger before putting one foot in front of the other, down the stairs and into the kitchen where her friends were already waiting.

"There she is," Sam announced as Elysia waltzed into the kitchen, handing her a protein shake, which she took with a grateful smile. "Look at her, all ready to kick some ass."

"Wilson," she greeted, taking a drink of the shake before taking a seat next to Steve, "Rogers,"

"Sparks," Steve greeted back, though he didn't look up from the files in front of him, and Elysia peered over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of the images in front of him.

An old photograph pinned to the top of the page was dated 1961, and detailed a smiling teenage boy, who, while the super soldier genes he'd inherited had made him appear taller and more muscular than the average teen, the youthful glow about him betrayed his real age as no more than fifteen. A flop of blonde hair threatened to cover the top of his eyes, which were the exact blue of his father's. Below the picture was a stamp reading Project Sentinel- Confidential.

Elysia glanced back up at Sam at the realization of the files Steve was once again looking through, and the two locked eyes, an unspoken understanding passing between the two friends. Sam had been clued into the existence of James Rogers shortly after the HYDRA attack, and while the two of them had successfully managed to keep Steve's secret away from the rest of the team, every now and then they'd still catch him carrying around the old file, as if there was something new to discover within its contents to help him learn more about his son.

Steve finally closed the file, looking back up at Elysia with a small smile. "Beautiful day out today," he said, nodding his head in the direction of the window, where a small stream of sunlight spilled into the kitchen near where Sam still stood. "Fancy a run outside today before we train?"

"Don't expect us to take it easy on you, old man." Elysia jeered, finishing up her protein shake as Steve picked up the file, hurrying up the stairs to return it to his apartment before rejoining them in the kitchen.

Elysia followed Sam and Steve into the elevator, pressing the button to take them down to the main floor. At the ground floor, the Avengers Compound was a hodgepodge of the hustle and bustle of various employees of Stark Industries moving from one lab to the next, clocking in and out for the day and trying to make the most of their mornings. A few stopped to ogle the three Avengers walking through the atrium, but they simply stopped and nodded a quick hello before heading out to the training field outside.

Elysia took a deep breath as the cool morning air hit her face, beginning to stretch her arms as they walked towards the field. In the months since the HYDRA attack, she'd slowly but surely gotten back onto her feet and had begun training again with the team, although this time she refused to hold herself back. Endless nights in the training center and several fried training dummies that Tony needed to replace one right after the other had been the results of her newfound sense of control, but Elysia knew she had to stop at nothing to be ready whenever the opportunity arose to once again have a shot of finding HYDRA, and the Winter Soldier lying in wait beneath the surface.