Chapter Text
The absolute last thing the Avengers wanted to see in a busted down shawarma shop was a pristine looking Nick Fury. They sighed and took aggressive bites of their food as the Director stepped into the restaurant, trying to avoid the rubble.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your fun—”
“Are you really?” Tony cut him off but Nick continued as if he didn’t.
“You’re needed back at S.H.I.E.L.D. we have a little situation involving Cap.”
“Little situation?”
“About, ye big.” Nick held up a hand at a height in between his chest and waist.
No one knew what the hell he meant. They took final bites and dragged their bodies from the chairs and followed Nick. Thor, Steve, and Bruce were already feeling less tired making the other three Avengers a little jealous as they made their way to headquarters. Nick guided them to the large conference room and left for a brief moment. When he returned, the newly formed Avengers looked at the kid tucked behind him. Your hair was tangled and matted which stood out against the small S.H.I.E.L.D. t-shirt turned dress you wore that had you looking relatively clean… and you were barefoot?
“Oh, an actual little situation. When in the hell did you get a kid?” Tony asked.
“She’s not mine dumbass, that’s where Captain Rogers comes in.”
The team turned to look at Steve who seemed just as shocked and confused. Nick pointed you to the empty chair beside Steve. You quietly walked over, hands clasped behind your back, and sat down. You pulled the chair into the table and only looked at Nick, not knowing anyone else in the room. There were two thoughts going in the Avengers’ heads. One, how the hell did Steve have a child who was clearly too old to be right after he was taken off ice. And two, you looked absolutely nothing like Steve. Brown hair, skin, and eyes. Everything opposite the Abercrombie & Fitch poster boy.
“Miss Rogers was rescued from a HYDRA facility, an attempt at reopening the Red Room. Along with Dr. Erskine’s stolen notebooks apparently some of your DNA was also stolen, Cap. Miss Rogers is the first child to survive after birth.”
“You’re positive she’s the only one?” Clint asked, his fatherly instincts already kicking in.
“Yes. While we couldn’t recover Dr. Erskine’s files, we found their logs. None of the other children seemed to survive, inheriting some of Cap’s ailments from before the serum or their mothers died before giving birth.”
Steve shifted uncomfortably. “And when we say DNA…”
“Dr. Erskine ever hand you a cup not for a drug test… your silence answers that for me. We’ll gladly do a paternity test again with you here but from the swabs when we defrosted you, it’s a match.”
Nick tossed a file to Steve and pulled up the same one on a screen for the rest of the team to see. Steve flipped through it, seeing your age. Twelve. Born at the turn of the new millennium. According to the file, HYDRA picked your mother based on IQ— apparently one that could rival Tony or Bruce— kidnapping her when on a graduate trip to Russia. You were supposed to be the perfect combination of the best attributes… and then they killed your mother in front of you when you were old enough to process death. HYDRA spent years trying to break you so they could send you into the Red Room and remold you as the perfect spy. But instead of breaking you, they just made you retreat into your shell.
“Miss Rogers did inherit some of your former ailments, Cap. Partial deafness and color blindness.”
“You were color blind?” Nat asked at the same time Clint asked about him being deaf.
“Yeah, born deaf in my right ear and deutan color blindness. Made it hard to tell the difference blue and purple most times, not too bad. The asthma and scarlet fever was a lot worse.”
Steve looked back at your file and saw it was recorded that your deafness was also in your right ear, which was the current side of your face he was staring at, but you were hard of hearing in the other. Your color blindness was the same as his. He frowned as he searched for an identification other than Rogers. He tapped you on the shoulder and you turned to look at him.
“What’s your name? They didn’t include it.”
“001.”
Steve looked back at the table. “You’re kidding, they didn’t even… your mother didn’t name you?”
“They wouldn’t let her.”
“Do you have one you’d like?”
You just shrugged and looked at the floor before looking back up realizing you’d need to read his lips.
“Is Sarah okay?”
You nodded.
“That was my mom’s name… do you know your mother’s?”
You brought your knees up and grabbed them as the tears started. Quickly you panicked and wiped them away mumbling sorry. Steve almost reached out and then pulled back, thinking it was a bad idea. You were used to getting hit by agents at the facility if you cried.
“No one’s going to hurt you here for showing emotions,” Natasha spoke up, hoping that you would hear a little bit since your head was currently buried. She knew exactly what you were going through.
You kept crying and they knew you didn’t. When your knees brushed against the table, Clint started knocking on it. The vibrations made you look up at him and he tapped his own ears, drawing your attention to his hearing aids. Clint signed what Nat had said.
“Elise,” you said looking back at Steve.
“Alright, Sarah Elise Rogers. That sound good to you?”
When you nodded, Steve seemed satisfied. They disbanded and Steve pulled Tony and Clint aside. Right away, Tony agreed to getting you fitted with hearing aids like Clint only in a color that worked for you. And Clint agreed to help him with sign language.
“I thought you would’ve known a bit.”
Clint was sitting outside the lab with Steve, watching Tony fit you with hearing aids.
“My mother told me to read lips and always turn to the left. She was Irish and a single mom, she didn’t want another reason for people to look down on us.”
“I’m sorry man… are you sure you can take care of a kid? Don’t tell anyone else I told you but I’ve got a small family farm, my wife and I don’t mind another little one running around. Well, older one. She beats Coop by barely two years.”
“Thank you. I don’t know if I can do it at all but I don’t think I should leave her. She needs at least one of her real parents.”
“Commendable, Cap. You ever need any help, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Let’s hope I don’t mess the kid up.”
“Anything away from the Red Room is already an improvement for her.”
Tony pressed the button on your green aids to turn them on.
“How’s that… too loud?” He said as you clutched the left ear.
Tony readjusted it to account for the fact that your left side wasn’t completely deaf.
“How bout now kid?”
You blinked rapidly and looked around.
“Should I be able to hear them outside the lab?”
“You can hear them?!”
Tony apologized when he saw how quickly you hung your head after he yelled. He had to reassure you that you weren’t in trouble and he wasn’t yelling out of anger at you but surprise. Tony left you in the lab and walked out with a set of hearing aids. He shoved them into Clint’s hand and the man automatically began exchanging his for the new ones.
“Sarah? Start talking,” Tony said at a normal level. “Clint, can you hear her?”
“No, why?”
“Turn it all the way up, now?”
“Still nothing.”
“Steve can you hear her?”
“Yeah no problem. Why?”
“Cause once I put the hearing aids on she could hear you two. Your ailments from before are like a layer on top of the serum but once peeled back she’s just like you… better watch what you say when the kid has them in.”
“Thank you, Tony. Both of you. Sarah, let’s go,” he called into the lab.
The three men watched you hop down from the table and enter the hallway, the too large shoes that had been given to you by a random agent flopping about. Tony and Clint stayed back and looked on as Steve gently placed a hand on your shoulder to guide you with him out of the building. It was the weirdest picture but if anyone could pull it off, they thought it might be Steve.
✿
“It’s not much, but I wasn’t expecting a second person exactly,” Steve said as he opened the door to his D.C. apartment.
You two had landed from New York when it got dark outside.
“I’m sorry,” you mumbled an apology.
“Nothing to be sorry for Sarah. You stay right here, get comfortable. My house is our house now.”
Steve left to knock on his neighbor’s door, hoping the blonde woman would be there and not already starting the night shift of her hospital job. A few knocks later and she opened the door.
“Hi, Steve.”
“Hello Leanne, um, this is going to be weird but I have a kid and her mom’s passed so she’s living with me now but I don’t have anything for a little girl. Would it be at all possible— just for tonight and maybe tomorrow morning— then we’ll go shopping,” Steve stumbled over his words.
“How old?”
“She’s twelve.”
“Hmm, let me check real quick. I’m bound to have some smaller items.”
His neighbor came back with more than enough for the night and next morning. She handed them to Steve with a warm smile.
“Thank you so much.”
Steve returned to find that you hadn’t moved from where he had left you. Still frozen in place, hands behind back.
“You don’t have to wait for me to say anything. This really is your place too now Sarah. Here, the bathroom is the middle door. You hungry?”
You nodded and took the pile of clothes to the guest bathroom. Steve started scrambling around to find something to make. He realized that even though it was late, most pizza places were still open so he placed an order for a simple large cheese pizza— half with pepperoni. Steve wasn’t sure if HYDRA had ever given you a pizza so this seemed like a treat? He liked pizza when he was twelve, still did now.
The smell alone of food could’ve lured you out of the bathroom. You were wearing his neighbor’s small zip up hoodie and old leggings. Steve sat down on the couch and opened the big box, beckoning you over to sit down and eat.
“Sarah? You’re not at HYDRA anymore, I won’t hurt you or let others hurt you. You don’t have to be afraid alright?”
“Alright.”
“You’re lying,” he chuckled when you looked up. “I used to lick my top lip too right before a lie.”
“I’m so—”
“And we don’t have to apologize for something that’s not that big a deal or we didn’t do wrong. Listen, I have no clue what I’m doing and I’m sure your mother would’ve been a thousands times better but you’re mine and I’m gonna take care of you alright.”
“Alright.”
Steve sat back, knowing you told the truth. “I have shampoo and conditioner to wash your hair, get those tangles out.”
You looked down at the pizza slice. “I already tried.”
Steve looked at your hair. It wasn’t just matted, it wasn’t completely curly. He could see straight ends and bits that didn’t look as shiny as the others. Steve didn’t know anything about your hair but he was sure that it shouldn’t look like that. You knew it too. ASL was the only thing about you that HYDRA accommodated to— but even then you were mainly yelled at and forced to read lips. But your hair, not taken care of. Your skin and nutrition, not taken care of like it should’ve been. And they never gave you hearing aids, just forced you to strain your left ear in attempts to hear them.
“I want to get rid of it,” you said after a moment. “All of it.”
“Okay, I have clippers in my bathroom. Do you want to do it now?”
You nodded and set down the pizza. Steve walked into his bathroom and you followed closely behind. He searched his lower cabinet for the clippers. Making sure the guard was on, he plugged in the clippers. Steve moved you to stand in front of him and he very carefully glided the clippers through your hair. You watched yourself in the mirror as the damaged curls hit the bathroom floor. Steve looked at you through the mirror and then focused back on your hair. He was so unsure how he found himself in this situation, well he knew how but it was still overwhelming. Taking care of a kid was something he had never done before. He was an only child and sure he babysitted Bucky’s younger sister before but that was with Bucky. And you weren’t his younger sister but his actual kid.
You ran a hand over your newly shaven head. It was a close cut but not completely squeaky clean bald. It felt weird but also like a weight was lifted off of your shoulders. Like you could start over with… you didn’t know what to call Steve. He didn’t say.
“What do I call you?”
“Um, I haven’t really thought about that. Whatever you want.”
Steve waited for a suggestion from you but you said nothing. He patted your shoulder and moved to get a broom to sweep up the hair on the floor. You stared at yourself while he was gone. Maybe it was because of how you looked but you still didn’t expect Steve to be your dad. You knew how genetics worked, of course it was more likely that you looked like your mother than your father but you couldn’t see a single bit of physical resemblance to Steve. Well there was one but right now it wasn’t too noticeable. Captain America’s genes were very strong, which was kind of the point. The one physical thing was the lighter hair. Constantly dyed a dark brown almost black, your hair was actually honey blonde like Steve’s.
“You can take the bed,” Steve said as he swept the floor. “The guest bedroom has nothing in it right now. Goodnight, Sarah.”
“Night.”
Steve didn’t realize how small his couch was until he had to sleep on it. He tossed and turned until he found a semi-decent sleeping position. It felt weird when he woke up, not at 6 a.m. S.H.I.E.L.D. had given him a week off for the new adjustment with you and he thought it’d be best to forgo his usual routine until you both had adjusted. So instead of going for a morning run, Steve got up and quietly slipped into his bathroom to get ready. As he stepped out of the bathroom, you rose to life. Steve waited for you to stretch and put your hearing aids back in before speaking.
“We’ll get breakfast and then go shopping.”
“Okay.”
He left so you could get ready. You stepped out in a different zip up hoodie and the same leggings. The only shoes you had were the ones that the random agent gave you, still too big no matter how tightly the laces were pulled. Steve noticed the change in hair color after you came out of the shower, having shampooed and conditioned more times than probably healthy for your hair, but he didn’t say anything.
When the two of you reached the street, Steve realized he had already messed up and the day hadn’t even begun. You had taken a taxi home from the airport because he had been taken to the airport by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to fight the Battle of New York. Now this morning, looking at the street he saw his mode of transportation. A motorcycle. That didn’t even have a sidecar or helmet. He didn’t need Clint to tell him this was absolutely not safe for a child. He opened his phone to call Natasha.
“I don’t have a car.”
“Can you drive one?”
“I… no.”
“I’ll tell Nick I can’t come in today. God, Rogers do you know how far D.C. and New York are?”
“I'll move closer, promise… eventually.”
“Whatever.”
You and Steve looked comical as you both sat on the curb waiting for Nat. He was already trying to think about how he was going to rearrange his schedule. He had to find sometime to learn to drive, and then get the license… and learn sign language from Clint, and take care of you, and find a babysitter when he went on missions, and… Steve shook his head. The list was getting longer and longer and he was starting to question if twenty-four hours was enough in a single day to do even half of the list. He also had the growing realization that he now had to catch up to the twenty-first century quicker than he had planned.
Nat finally showed up and Steve opened the backdoor for you to climb in. The three of you stopped at a cafe for breakfast. They watched you take small bites and not talk as everyone ate.
“You changed your hair,” Nat commented. “It’s pretty.”
“Thank you.”
“Did you do it this morning?”
“Unh-unh. Last night. Ste— Da— He did it… Steve.”
You pointed your fork at Steve. They both saw how you tried to figure out what to call him but none of the words seemed to fit right in your mouth. And Steve was no help because he didn’t know himself what sounded right. So for now you both seemed to accept the vague word of ‘he’.
“Good work, Rogers,” Nat said.
Breakfast was finished and the first place it was agreed that you would stop was the clothing store. You got fitted for a couple pairs of shoes and clothes. Nat and Steve let the store clerk lead you around and find things that you liked. They hung a ways back so they could talk.
“It’s blonde.”
“Yeah, definitely mine then.”
“You ready for this?”
“Not at all.”
“Everyone would understand if—”
“Nat. She’s my kid. I’m not adding onto her problems by giving her away.”
“Alright. You know they’re going to train her right?”
“What?”
“Steve, this isn’t a normal child. If Nick just wanted to tell you she was yours, you might never have actually known. She’s a mini super-soldier and trained by HYDRA. The agency isn’t going to let it go.”
“They can train her all they want, she doesn’t fight.”
“Steve…”
“No. That’s a child. Normal or not. She doesn’t fight.”
“Okay, Captain. But when the time comes, I don’t know if you’ll have much of a choice… oh that jacket looks nice.” Nat’s voice changed so quickly as you approached them.
You frowned and looked at Steve, pointing to the flowers on the jean jacket. “I can’t tell—”
“Light purple.”
Steve quickly answered, sensing how you were growing frustrated. He used to be like that when he came across certain shades that made it damn near impossible to try and guess. He relied on Bucky usually to subtly tell him which color he was looking at and would always just say dark or light because using the specific color name meant nothing to Steve.
“I want blue but light like this.”
Steve nodded and walked with you to where you had found the jackets. He sorted through until he found the pale turquoise flowers decorating one. You nodded and shrugged out of the other jean jacket to put it back on the rack. The bags were reasonable, you only bought enough. It was two loads of laundry at the absolute most.
The furniture was even quicker than clothes. You lived a simple life but Steve wasn’t sure if that was your actual personality or if it was because that’s how HYDRA forced you to live. It was just a bed— mattress ordered for delivery— a dresser and bookshelf. Steve had to convince you to buy a singular nightstand and lamp.
“Do you guys have dinner?” Nat asked as the car pulled up in front of the apartment building.
“We still have some leftover pizza.”
“I hope you’re not going to feed the kid pizza every night.”
“We’ll go grocery shopping after we put up the stuff. The store’s a five minute walk… oh, be careful Sarah, or not.”
Both Steve and Nat looked in surprise as you lifted the two large boxes that held the pieces that made up your dresser and bookshelf. It shifted a little and Steve grabbed the bigger of the two boxes from you, handing you the smaller nightstand instead. You weren’t as strong as him having only half of his serum-jacked genes but you were clearly stronger than the average twelve year old.
“We’ll be fine Nat, thank you. I’ll see you next week.”
“Thank you, Ms. Natasha,” you said before walking up the stairs to enter the building.
Steve gave a final waved to his friend before rushing to follow you. The mattress arrived just as you two came from the grocery store. You put up the groceries while Steve started to set up the furniture. It had been a day and even though the kitchen was now fully stocked, both you and Steve agreed on finishing the leftover pizza.
“Your mother, Elise. What was she like?” Steve asked, tentatively. He didn’t want to upset you like yesterday.
You looked at the pizza and then Steve, before sighing in resolve. There wasn’t much you could remember about her now. Her face was even starting to become fuzzy, they killed her the day after you had turned seven. She was your teacher and only friendly face. Big hair, she had big hair.
“She was nice.”
✿✿✿
The DMV lady was also nice. She let you sit in her office while Steve was learning to drive. He had a week. He really had all the time in the world but Steve felt he needed to learn as quickly as possible and was determined to do it before going back to work. So Nat dropped you two off at the DMV and the nice lady let you sit in her office. You were watching TV in the DMV breakroom, intrigued since you had never really been allowed to watch TV before.
“You’re doing good, Captain Rogers.”
Steve almost laughed, even the DMV people used his title.
“Not quite a motorcycle.”
The lesson continued for another hour, Steve picking up everything quickly— minus his slightly too wide turns. He thanked the instructor and they both exited the car and stepped back into the building. The office lady directed Steve towards the breakroom where you still were. He heard the workers whispering to themselves as he walked by, people tended to forget he had super hearing not just strength. Most of it was about you, trying to figure out who’s kid it was because no one believed it was Steve’s. The most funny but incorrect one was that you were related to Happy Sam Sawyer— one of his former Howling Commandos and the only black one— and had no family left or maybe were just visiting and that’s why you were there.
“Sarah, we’re all done.”
You looked over your shoulder to see Steve in the doorway. You jumped up from the couch and followed him out the building to the bus stop. Nat couldn’t pick you up since she actually had work. Steve and you got off two stops early to your confusion.
“Your apartment isn’t on this street.”
“Your file said your mom taught you a lot. I figured you’d want some books.”
Even after watching your eyes light up in the store, Steve noticed the two of you walked out with only three books. One fiction, two not. He came to the conclusion that the simple life wasn’t your style but the only way HYDRA had allowed you to live.
You sat at the table while Steve cooked dinner. He was pretty sure snacks weren’t supposed to be before dinner but he gave you one of those weird popsicles in a plastic tube. You munched on it while reading a textbook.
“Anything interesting?” Steve asked, in attempts to make some form of conversation.
You looked up at him, mouth stained purple.
“The Romans used to make dodecahedrons out of bronze mainly. And Tomoko Fuse made an icosidodecahedron out of a single sheet of colored paper which seems impossible.”
“Icosidode… what?”
“Icosidodecahedron. A polyhedron with thirty-two faces, not all the same shape. Polyhedrons are 3-D objects made of polygons since polygons are only two dimensional and the icosidodecahedron uses triangles and pentagons as its poly— I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t trying to sound precocious, you just asked me to explain and, and...”
Steve set the spoon down and rushed over to where you were crying. What did HYDRA do to you?
“Woah, woah, Sarah. Calm down. Calm down please.” Steve placed a hand on your knee. “Hey, hey, come on, doll don’t cry please. You’re not being precocious. You like this stuff and I asked you to explain.”
“They didn’t like it when I sounded too smart.”
“Well we’re not with them anymore are we? You're smarter than me kid, that’s cool, okay. Whenever you want to share some smart thing with me, don’t hesitate. So icosidodecahelion?”
“Hedron,” you whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Icosidodecahedron.”
“Same difference, right?”
Steve smiled when you made a face as if he was dumb. That was the reaction he was looking for, something other than crying. He wiped at your tears and returned to the stove, asking you to finish your explanation from before the tears had started.
“Can we make one?” you asked as Steve set down the plate of pasta.
“Um, sure. What do we need?”
“I want to make it out of straws and ribbon.”
“Okay. We’ll get it tomorrow? After my lesson?”
You nodded and began to eat dinner. After you bid him a goodnight, Steve climbed into his bed thankful to not use the couch again. He groaned and rubbed his eyes wondering what he just agreed to make. He wasn’t sure if he was even going to remember the name by tomorrow afternoon. More importantly he was worried about you hitting a breaking point. This was the second time in only three days something he’s done had made you cry. He was unsure about what caused a negative reaction and reminded you of HYDRA. Steve sat up again and grabbed his laptop and opened it up.
“Hi, Clint. Can we cut the ASL lesson a little short today? I'm fucking beat.”
“We’re learning emotions today Cap. Do you remember the alphabet?”
✿✿✿
While Steve was so close to getting his license, a week was not enough despite how hard he tried. So Nat picked you both up and the three of you headed to S.H.I.E.L.D. Your backpack was filled with supplies and a change of clothes. Steve tried to put his foot down but like Nat predicted, they wanted you in training. However, they could only manage to squeeze out two hours in the gym. Steve threatened to snap someone’s neck if they did more or even thought about taking you to the shooting range. He also had the second condition that they moved his training schedule up earlier so he could be in the gym at the same time you were.
“Okay, Miss Rogers, we’ll start you off light today. Just tests to find your baseline.”
Steve watched from the corner of his eye while he did his own training. The trainer sent you to wash up in the locker rooms and walked over to where he was running on the treadmill— his attempt to makeup for his lack of morning run.
“Captain? Miss Rogers’ test yielded interesting results.”
“Interesting?”
“Every single one of her scores is exactly one-third of yours.”
“What does that mean for Sarah?”
“Whether she gets better or not, Miss Rogers is peak human, dare I say super like you.”
Steve finished his run and left to go change in the locker rooms. You waited outside so he tried to be as quick as possible. The trainer’s words weighed heavy on him. There was something unspoken but he knew it. He knew it when Nat had said it. You were more than likely going to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Steve led you to his office. Desk work, not something he liked but for this week he was grateful. He still had to figure out school for you which, based on your talks sometimes, might be tutoring. In this moment he wished he knew Elise, had some insight into how smart she was really was. Bruce Banner, IQ 180. Tony Stark, 189. Your mother, Elise IQ 193. Steve Rogers wasn’t stupid by any means but he was also not close to 180.
And then after figuring out school, he was going to need to figure out a babysitter for when he went on missions. He had considered asking his neighbor but then the nurse would start to ask questions about his job. And what if he found himself gone for weeks instead of a simple few days? Steve was stressed. He honestly would rather be back on the day Peggy walked in on that one woman making out with him. Dodging bullets from Peggy Carter seemed a lot less stressful than thinking of a babysitter for his genius child.
Nat and another agent walked into his office with a mission report. They stopped in the doorway when they noticed you on the floor with red, white, and blue ribbons as well as clear plastic straws. Steve looked up and stepped out of the office, closing the door.
“She’s making an icosidodecahedron… I know, just go with it. She thought it was pretty. Is that from the Mexico mission?”
“No, the Canadian border. Mexico is actually still there, said they need a few more days.”
“We’re pulling them out if it takes over three days. I rather lose our lead than some agents.”
He looked behind him as he heard the door open. When you saw him and the other two still there, you immediately apologized and slammed the door shut. Steve held up a finger to Nat and the other agent before opening the door and beckoning you over. Steve bent down when you didn’t speak right away, putting himself below you to make you feel safer. He just had a feeling that one wrong thing was going to start the water works again.
“What made you feel like you had to close the door?”
“I wanted to ask but you were talking. I didn’t mean to…”
“Hey, what did I say last week?”
“We’re not with HYDRA anymore.”
“So what do you want, Sarah?”
“I got hungry.”
Steve had to stop himself from laughing. He stood up and pointed you down the hall.
“You see the elevator? Press the button labelled ‘LL’, cafeteria’s on the right.”
The three adults watched you walk down the hall and get into the elevator. Nat was going to say something and then decided against it. The way you and Steve reacted to each other on pins and needles, she didn’t want one of her side comments— even a compliment— to make Steve doubt that he could parent. So she went back to discussing the mission report.
“And the kid’s going to need to be watched. They’re requesting you on this upcoming one, four days. You leave this weekend.”
“Can you?”
“I’ll be in Moscow.”
“Okay, I’ll figure it out.”
You said nothing as you set the can of soda and salad on Steve’s desk before sitting down at the single chair on the other side of the desk. Since you said nothing, he didn’t mention it either. He also didn’t mention that he actually wasn’t hungry and popped open the tab on the soda can anyway.
✿✿✿
“Hey kiddo!” Clint greeted you happily at the airport despite the ungodly early hour that it was.
“Thank you again, Clint,” Steve said as he placed your small suitcase in your hand.
“No problem, I said any time.”
“I’ll see you in four days, Sarah.”
“Okay, Steve. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Clint watched you sigh as Steve walked away. You immediately took out the hearing aids and tucked them in your hoodie pocket. He understood and so he just scooped up your suitcase and led you through security, letting you sit in your silence that you wanted now that Steve was gone. When the plane landed, Clint drove for what felt like eternity to you. As they left the airport area and it got more rural you seemed to perk up. Clint watched you stare in amazement out the window. You rolled it down and slipped in your aids to hear the nature sounds around you. Clint’s heart almost broke when he realized you had never seen any of this in real life. You were kept at a HYDRA facility and it’s not like D.C. was full of farms.