Starlight › Marvel [1] ✓

000. prologue

› PROLOGUE ‹

Raleigh had grown accustomed to his nights being spent in silence. He would be sitting at the dining room table, his short legs crossed underneath him, with his homework laid out in front of him and his partially eaten dinner to the side. In the bedroom directly behind him was his caretaker's bedroom and the overworked nurse could usually be found sitting at the desk filling out paperwork, but on that Wednesday evening, Kate Martin was working on doing both hers and Raleigh's laundry.

"Hey, kid," Kate pulled Raleigh's attention from his homework. She had her left arm around the small white basket that was stuffed with clothes, and in her other hand, she held her cellphone a little ways from her face. "Do you have anything else you need to add before I head back down?"

Raleigh shook his head. Satisfied, Kate hastily slipped on her shoes and put her phone back up to her ear. Raleigh went back to his (nearly completed) work.

"Yeah...yeah, he's doing good..." She told the other person on the line as she opened the door. "I'll let him know—" Her words were cut off when the door shut behind her.

He peaked through his hair to see that Kate was gone and focused back on his work. He didn't mind Kate, she had been kind enough to take him in after that accident with his parents two years prior, but he knew she was only a caretaker to him since she had never shown any warmth towards him. His birthdays usually went by without any fuss, much different from the extravagant parties his parents used to throw him, but she always made sure he received a gift from her. Besides, she ensured Raleigh had food, clothes, and a roof over his head, and for that, Raleigh appreciated that enough to never complain.

As Raleigh filled in another answer to his homework, he could faintly hear his neighbor, Steve Rogers, conversing with Kate. Steve was a kind man and always tried to ask Raleigh how he was doing on the rare occasions that he saw him outside Kate's apartment. Raleigh knew the man was also Captain America, but he never made a hassle about it because Kate had instructed him sternly to not bother the man about it.

After a few minutes, it went quiet, and Raleigh was left to pack up his finished homework while he waited for Kate to come back to check it and give him the clear to bathe.

However, Kate never returned, and a loud blast rang through the air, shaking Kate's kitchen cabinets. Raleigh's knees trembled, nearly forcing him to the ground, when he recognized the sound as a gunshot, which was followed by two other shots, again shaking the cabinets and wall. Worry rammed his gut as he thought about Kate, and with every willpower in him, he inched towards the front door. His movements were small and slow as if he was worried the shooter would come for him next if he made any wild movements.

"Captain Rogers?" Raleigh peered through the cracked door and spotted Kate approaching Steve's apartment. The laundry basket she had previously was replaced with a gun. She disappeared inside Steve's apartment, and Raleigh nearly fell into the door, inches from jamming his fingers. He didn't know why Kate had a gun or why she had called Steve in that name manner, but he knew his neighbor and caretaker were in danger. Breathing deeply, he checked behind him to make sure the shooter hadn't snuck into his apartment before following after Kate.