Thanatophobia

1 | Good Old Days

p a r a n o i a

suspicion and mistrust of people or their actions without evidence or justification

~~~

Dark pinks and purples hazed over the horizon as three pairs of light footsteps echoed through the National Mall. Sam Wilson and Gryffin Rumlow ran side by side, occasionally exchanging comments. The third was much faster, and lapped the other two, always saying the same three words.

"On your left," the large man said as he sped past. Gryffing stifled a laugh and grinned at the growing look of annoyance of Sam's face. She ran ahead, following the blonde man closely, her own pace just slightly slower than his.

"Uh huh, on my left, got it." He kept on running, catching up to Gryffin who had slowed down for him. She looked up at the sky, watching the clouds roll by smoothly. She had been living in peace for awhile, and hoped it would stay that way.

She was startled from her daydreaming by harsh, quick footsteps catching up behind them. A grin made it's way back onto her face as Sam's scrunched in annoyance.

"Don't say it. Don't you say it!" he said snappily. He glanced back just as the man passed by, the same three words passing from his lips.

"On your left." His breath was slightly puffy from running but it was still strong and loud. This time, Gryffin allowed a loud laugh to erupt from her mouth as she sped up to keep up with the speedy man.

"Come on!" Sam sped up, attempting to keep up as well, but the two somehow managed to keep pace with each other, the wind whipping their faces. Gryffin's lips were stretched into a smile, her eyes dancing with mirth as she and the blonde sped around, taking laps. Her watch beeped, and she looked down, slowing to a stop.

'Guess I'm done,' she thought to herself as she walked to the tree that stood by the road. She leaned against it heavily, breathing loudly as she tried to catch her breath. She rested her arms on her head, allowing her blood to circulate. Strands of her messy ponytail stuck to the back of her neck and she swiped at them, aggravated.

Sam plopped down beside her, resting his head back against the dark wood of the tree. His sweatshirt was dark with sweat as he puffed, breathing heavily. The blonde man made his way over to the pair, and Gryffin took a deep drink of her water that sat on the ground beside her.

She looked at the man and her eyes widened as dread filled her veins.

She had just run side-by-side with Captain America.

'My brother's going to kill me if he knew about this,' she though fearfully, but her train of thought was cut off by his deep voice.

"Need a medic?" he asked jokingly as he rested his hands on his hips. He too, was breathing heavily, but he didn't seem as exhausted as Sam. Steve looked at the girl who had miraculously kept up with his pace and frowned when he saw her eyes flickering back and forth quickly, never resting on one thing for more than a moment.

She was anxious.

"I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran like, 13 miles in 30 minutes," he said, his voice puffy with laughter and exhaustion. Gryffin breathed in and out heavily as she waited for Steve to reply before inputting her own words.