Monster

I was right about hating the milkshake machine. The day before I had just been forced to follow another waitress around and take mental notes about what she did. Now I was required to hand out plates and make milkshakes and take orders, though supervised. The milkshake machine was a noisy, messy thing that shook violently and probably needed a lot of repair work. If I didn’t already hate the place I might convince Stark to send them an upgrade, though that would probably kill the vintage theme.

I had my hand on top of the machine as the other one tried to balance the rest of it. I had made three milkshakes already, and it wasn’t even noon yet. I felt Megan or Morgan slide up to me and smile. She was new like I was, though she had been there for a bit longer and was already off probation. Customers seemed to like her a lot. Everyone treated her like she had been there for years.

“There’s a hot guy who wants to talk to you,” she said.

“A what?” I asked, half shouting over the noisy machine.

“A hot guy. Over there.” She pointed down the length of the bar where a man was leaning against the counter. He gave me a quick wave. It was Sam Wilson. “Do you know him?” she asked. I did, but I couldn’t tell her that.

“No,” I said turning off the machine. I gave him a gesture to “hold on” and finished the milkshake. I took it out to the customer who ordered it, shared a few quick words and then told Megan/Morgan I was going on my break. Sam was waiting for me at the end of the long counter as I approached him.

“Johanna Hayes,” he said. I nodded.

“That’s me,” I replied. I gave him an expectant look.

“Oh, right. Sam Wilson.” He stuck his hand out and I shook it.

“Nice to… meet you, Sam.”

“I came uh… on behalf of Steve.” I glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Morgan/Megan had her eyes on him, but she pretended to be busy refilling ketchup bottles. I nodded quickly.

“Right. Steve. Can I get you something? A burger? Some fries? Please don’t ask for a milkshake.” He offered me an easy smile.

“A Coke would be nice.”

“Have a seat… in the back booth. I’ll go get it.”

“Thanks.”

He headed toward the booth at the far end of the dining area and did another quick scan of the area and the street outside. I went back around the counter to the soda fountain to make his drink. Megan/Morgan walked over to me, still watching Sam over my shoulder.

“He’s cute,” she said. I nodded.

“He’s a friend of my…” I didn’t want to say boyfriend. I had only met Rogers once, and I didn’t want to call him my boyfriend. “Guy… friend… that I see on occasion,” I eventually said. Her eyebrows rose in pleasant surprise.

“So you have an occasional guy friend? Is he cute too?”

“He’s big… kind of muscular. Drives a motorcycle.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah.”

I felt kind of awkward so I hurried with the soda and rushed over to the back booth to give it to Sam. I took a seat before him. He had his back to the farthest wall, and his arm stretched out over the back of the seat. I felt uncomfortable having my back exposed, but waitress Jo wasn’t supposed to be uncomfortable with things like that. So I folded my fingers in my lap.

“What do you need to talk to me about?” I whispered. He leaned forward, keeping his eyes on the busy room. Luckily no one was in our immediate area, so I felt mostly safe speaking to him there. The sound of customers and the obnoxious milkshake machine would drown out any interference.

“Just passing along some tips from Steve since you guys can’t talk yet,” he whispered as he rubbed the straw between his fingers. “Some stuff SHIELD didn’t know or stuff he wants to keep on the down low.” My eyebrows creased in confusion.

“What kind of tips?”

“This guy… Bucky or whatever. He’s a total nut case. I had the misfortune of meeting him a couple of times. But it’s a real touchy subject for Steve. They were best friends. Brothers. It’s hard to wake up one day and find that seventy years has passed, and all your friends are dead or dying. Barnes’ death was one of the hardest on him. One he had to watch himself. He wants to find the guy, but he doesn’t trust the government. He’s afraid they’ll either kill him or manipulate him. To him this isn’t just about finding Barnes. This is about saving him. You understand?”

“So this isn’t… this isn’t about locating a potential threat. This mission is going to be a lot longer than I anticipated, isn’t it?” He sighed heavily and finally moved his dark eyes to mine.

“Look,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “It’s a real important mission for Steve. It’s personal. He doesn’t want you to get hurt, but he wants you to know that it’s a real possibility. This guy is dangerous and the people who are after him are even worse. You can back out any time you want, but be careful how you treat this mission. Especially with Steve. This guy, Barnes, isn’t my favorite. In fact, I don’t like him very much.” He gave a short laugh, and I smiled in response. “But I like Steve and I know it’s important for him to help this guy… you know… recover. Or at least he thinks he can do it.” My smile dropped.

“Recovery doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s a process. It could take years. And that’s if he’s lucky.”

“I know, and that worries Steve too. But he figures he just needs to get through to this guy and maybe he can save him. Barnes’ mind is uh… delicate, let’s put it that way. He’s violent. He’s strong. I know you’re ex-Special Forces but he uh…”

“It’s okay. I know he’s stronger than me.” He laughed. “And I can relate to the situation. I can handle it.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“No.”

His eyes moved passed me, and I turned my head to watch as Megan/Morgan approached the table with a basket of fries.

“Thought you guys might like a snack,” she said as she sat the red plastic basket down on the table between us.

“I think we’re good, Morgan,” I said. She gave Sam a flirty smile and walked off. He watched her go.

“Nice kid,” he said leaning over the table. He took a fry from the basket and twirled it in his fingers. “Steve just wanted me to tell you a few things about his past with Barnes. Stuff a guy might tell his girlfriend. Best friends growing up. Steve was the puny nerdy one, but liked to get into trouble. Barnes was the protective older brother type. Liked to pick on him. But he was proud. Kind of a lady’s man. Thought he had something to prove.” I felt a knot form in the pit of my stomach. “You know back in those days guys thought going to war was the best way to do that. He shipped off, left Steve behind, became a sergeant. Damn near perfect shot as it was. Would have given his life for Steve. Ended up doing just that.”

“I already know most of this stuff.”

“That’s all Steve’s told me. I don’t know what the hell else he wanted me to tell you.” He stuck one of the thick cut fries into his mouth, and I waited for him to finish before speaking.

“Maybe he just wanted you to check me out,” I offered. He shrugged.

“I’ll tell him nice things, I promise. What about you? Any questions for me?” I watched him sift through the basket of fries.

“What about Steve’s girlfriend? His real one?” He paused.

“She’s not his girlfriend, from what I understand. It’s complicated, I guess. He never told me much about her.”

“Why isn’t she the one playing this role for him?”

“Dunno,” he said as he ate more french-fries. “Considering what he HAS told me about her, I guess it would be easy for Barnes to view her as a threat.”

“Why? Because she’s a mutant?”

“How did you know that?” he asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“Stark told me.” He huffed.

“Never even met the guy and he already gets on my nerves.” I shrugged.

“He grows on you.”

“He’s good.”

“He’s the best. He just knows that he’s the best,” I replied.

“Well yeah, it’s because she’s a mutant. It wouldn’t take Barnes too long to figure it out. Steve probably also doesn’t want her to get involved. She’s not as strong as you.”

He had his eyes on his basket of fries, but the words shocked me anyway. I never viewed myself as strong. Not anymore. I couldn’t shoot a man. I couldn’t sleep without horrible nightmares. I owned a pink knife with sparkles on it. And Sam Wilson thought I was stronger than a girl with naturally born super powers.

I cleared my throat and looked at the clock that hung above the window between the kitchen and dining area.

“I should probably get back to work,” I told him. “If that’s all you wanted to talk to me about.” He nodded slowly.

“That’s all I can think of at the moment. I figure if you’re Steve’s girl now, it might be nice for us to be friends.” I nodded and stood to my feet.

“Yeah, I’ll invite you over for dinner sometime.” He looked up at me and smiled.

“That was a joke, wasn’t it?” I laughed.

“We’ll have a pizza party.”

“Sounds good to me.” I returned the smile.

“I’ll cover your drink and fries.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me. Rogers pays my tab.” He lifted his Coke in mock cheers.

“To freedom,” he said. I laughed and shook my head.

Notes

Sorry that this is kind of another filler chapter. It exists for the sole purpose of having some more Sam Wilson. I felt this story's lack of Falcon was tragic and I decided to change it. Plus, Steve has no way to talk to her before shit gets done because of the possibility of leading Bucky to her before everything is set up. So he sent Sam to check her out. Everyone wants Bucky because they're afraid of the damage he might cause. Steve want's to save him.