It's Now or Never

Part 1

Winter Soldier:

Sam Wilson and I were jogging around Washington, D.C. memorial when Steve Rogers quickly catches up to us and runs past us. He does this every morning for the past year. Every morning Steve runs past us and yells "On your left." I think that's why Sam goes here. He likes to tell everyone that he runs in the morning with Captain America, but it's more like every morning Sam gets lapped by Captain America.

After what felt like a minute, Steve came around again quickly and said again "On your left." Sam Wilson groaned and said,
"Uh-huh, on my left. Got it." I laughed as I watched my best friend Sam get frustrated. Sam and I continued to jog when Steve comes around again from behind us from another lap. I could see Sam get tense.
"Don't say it! Don't you say it!" Sam yelled with a smile on his face. He tried to look angry, but I could tell he was enjoying this banter.
"On your left!" Captain America said with a smile on his face as he runs by us.
"Come on!" Sam said angrily trying to catch up to him, but only after a few seconds, Sam was unable to carry on and stops to rest. I caught up with him and started to laugh at him. He was so out of breath and frustrated. As Sam rested and was catching his breath by a tree and I stood there making fun of him, Steve walked over to us.
"Need a medic?" He said to Sam, causing me to let out a loud laugh.
"I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes." Sam said as he sat up from his resting position.
"I guess I got a late start." Steve Rogers said with a laugh.
"Oh, really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap. Did you just take it? I assumed you just took it." Sam said with a smirk.
"Ya, he definitely just took it," I said lightly kicking Sam's leg as he still laid on the ground.
"What unit you two with?" Steve asked.
"58, Pararescue. And she, well she is unit 67, classified. But now we are both working down at the VA." Steve reached down and picked Sam up off the ground.
"Sam Wilson. And this is Hayes Kennedy." Sam said once he was on his feet.
Steve turned to me and gave me a little nod.
"Steve Rogers." He said back.
"I kind of put that together. Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting thing." I said as we walked towards the entrance to the Washington Monument.
"It takes some getting used to. It's good to meet you two, Sam, Hayes." Steve said as he turned to leave.
"It's your bed, right?" I said causing Steve to stop and turn around.
"What's that?" He said back.
"Your bed, it's too soft. When I was over there I'd sleep on the ground and use rocks for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..." I trailed off
"Lying on a marshmallow. Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor." Steve Rogers finished for me.
I smiled and nodded my head at him.
"How long?" Steve said looking at the both of us.
"Two tours. And Hayes her, three. You must miss the good old days, huh?" Sam said.
"Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot trying to catch up." Steve said
"Marvin Gaye, 1972, "Trouble Man" soundtrack. Everything you've missed jammed into one album." I said back.
"She gets her taste of music from me," Sam said proudly.
Steve smiled and nodded in approval.
"I'll put it on the list." He said. Steve took out a small notebook and pen. He began to write it down in his notes. I took a step closer and looked at the list which included I Love Lucy (Television); Moon Landing; Berlin Wall (Up + Down) Steve Jobs (Apple); Disco; Thai Food; Star Wars/Trek (with Star Wars crossed out, indicating that he has seen it); Nirvana (Band); Rocky (Rocky II?)
I was startled when Steve received a text. I took a step back to be next to Sam as Steve looked at his phone.
"Alright, Sam, Hayes, duty calls. Thanks for the run. If that's what you wanna call running." Steve says as he shakes both of our hands. He held on to my hand a little longer as we both stared at each other. We were interrupted when Sam laughed and said
"Oh, that's how it is? That is called running for us humans."
"Oh, that's how it is," Steve said as he released his grip on my hand and stepped away.
"Okay. Any time you wanna stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know." Sam said laughing.
"I'll keep it in mind."
Soon a car pulled up and the window rolled down.
"Hey, fellas. Either one of you knows where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil." The woman said. I looked harder and saw it was Black Widow.
"That's hilarious," Steve said as he walked over to her car and got in.
I turned to Sam and saw him giving Natasha and her car an appreciative look.
"How are you doing?" Sam said as he tried to act smooth.
"Hey," Natasha said back with a smile. I hit Sam in the arm to snap him out of his trance.
"Can't run everywhere," Steve said to us as he climbed into the car.
"No, you can't," Sam said as we watched Natasha quickly pulls away and drive off.
Sam and I stood there for a second before deciding to go home. We lived together here in Washington. He was my brother's best friend and when he died, Sam ended up filling in the role of my brother in my life. We both had trouble with nightmares and flashbacks about our times overseas. We chose to live in a house together after we both ended up getting a job at the same place. He lived downstairs and I lived upstairs, but we still had to share a kitchen and living room.
When we got home I decided to take a shower. I let the water hit me as I tried to relax. People always say they do their best thinking in the shower, but I always try not to. I always find myself thinking back to when I was overseas. While my brother and Sam were Pararescue, I was a U.S. assassin/ special ops. My group called ourselves assassins since we were the ones going in and taking out threat after threat. It was a long story how that happened, but when I was in the army with my brother, someone higher up saw my abilities and turned me and my group into what I am today. With nothing to come home to, my brother and I dedicated our lives to our country.
Once I got out of the shower, I got changed and headed to work. It was nothing special and Sam and I both hated it. The only thing good about it was people were not shooting at us anymore.