Topic: Don't Sit Under The Appletree

Lucy Rogers

Date: 2012-11-19 13:16 EST
It hadn't taken long to get the location of the correct portal. Lucy could have wished that the city hall and Governor's offices had played them for fools and dragged out the relatively simple, routine tasks of taking Steve's details, getting a minute blood sample, and using it to discover which portal would take him home. But, if anything, the line had been quicker today than it had ever been again, and barely twenty minutes after entering the offices, they were exiting, in possession of two maps - one of Rhy'Din, marking the location of the portal here, and one of New York state, marking the location of the portal there. They'd even managed to find out that Steve's Earth was Lucy's. But now they knew where the portal was, it really was only a matter of time before the nearness came to an end.

A simple blood sample was child's play to Steve Rogers. He had weathered it like a champ. The stick of a needle was nothing to him; he didn't even wince. He'd experienced far worse pain than the simple stick of a needle. It was comforting to know that Lucy was from Steve's Earth. It would make finding her that much easier when the time came. She had obviously never heard of him, but that didn't come as much of a surprise. He was a man out of time, and she'd been in Rhy'Din when he'd been reawakened. It was only a matter of time now before he returned to New York, and his heart felt heavier than ever at the thought of leaving her behind.

Lucy hesitated on the sidewalk outside the official-looking building, looking up at Steve with a helpless half-smile. "I suppose it really is time now, isn't it?" she said quietly, nodding toward the map of Rhy'Din. "Where did he say the portal is on this side?"

He glanced at the map, which didn't mean much to him, unfamiliar names of places that meant nothing to him. It seemed the city was broken up into sectors with a river running through the middle of it, surrounded by forest and mountains. The various portals had been clearly marked, and the one they'd been told to take was the closest to city hall. "It's in the Marketplace," he replied, tracing the route with a finger from their present location to that of the portal. "It's not far. We could practically walk."

She stepped up to him, peering around the curve of his shoulder to look down at the map herself, watching as his finger traced out the most direct route. Her hand reached over to still that route, retracing the line with his finger and tracing out a slightly different route. She looked up at him with a smile. "That is a less crowded route," she told him quietly. "Easier to walk the bike through."

His heart hammered hard in his chest when her hand touched his, so acutely aware of her there right beside him, peeking over his shoulder, distracting his brain from his intended trip home. He felt sadness well up inside him, wishing not for the first time that she could go with him. She'd be needed where he was going, but he wouldn't press her about it again. He just had to trust that they'd find each other again. He didn't dare turn his head to look at her, afraid she'd see right through him. He only nodded his head in agreement. "You know this place better than I do," he told her, folding the map and looking around to get his bearings.

"You can return the favor when I get to New York," she told him in answer, curling her hand about his arm for a moment as she rested her cheek against him, steeling herself for the minutes to come. "I hear it's a scary big place." She breathed him in for a long moment before letting go, glancing up and pointing to the south. "That way."

Sadness tugged at his heart as he felt her rest her cheek against his arm and he turned his head toward her, pausing a moment to breathe her in, just as she was doing the same. He leaned over to brush a kiss against her forehead, lingering a moment in silence, before she broke away from him and turned his attention back toward the matter of his leaving. It wouldn't be long now, he knew. He'd be back in New York, and all of this would feel like some crazy dream. I wish you'd come with me, he thought with a heavy heart, keeping that thought to himself, knowing she had to decide for herself, and he had to trust that they'd find each other again before long. He turned in the direction she was pointing, slanting a glance at the sky to try and gauge the direction and the time of day, with nothing familiar to guide him.

"It's not so scary once you get used to it," he replied, scanning the route they were about to take to get to their destination. No one knew who he was here. Without his uniform, he was just another face in the crowd, just another lost soul.

Lucy almost didn't pull away, content to linger against him as long as she could, prolonging the contact between them. She saw him glance skyward, inwardly grateful he hadn't noticed the two moons in the sky the night before. That could have seriously damaged his calm. "It's about midday," she offered quietly, walking the few steps toward where they had left his bike. "The portal should spit you out at a comparable time over there, but, um, I'd recommend finding a daily newspaper just to make sure of the date." His reassurances about the scariness of New York made her smile. "I'm sure I won't find it so scary after a while, then."

Oh, he'd noticed. There wasn't much that blue-eyed gaze hadn't noticed, but the twin moons were just another anomaly that made up this place called Rhy'Din. "Spit me out. That sounds comforting," he remarked, his mouth forming a thin, nervous line. "It's different from..." He broke off, realizing that his own world had become as strange to him as Rhy'Din, even New York had changed. He'd spent that last few months trying to reacquaint himself with the world, traveling from place to place, some of it familiar, but most of it changed. Even Brooklyn was different now. Nothing was the same. He wondered what London must be like now. Maybe she'd take him there someday. Scary. He found that word ironic. She knew more about his own world than he did. "You probably know more about it than I do," he said, before he could stop himself as he watched the clouds move across the unfamiliar sky.

She glanced at him, ever so slightly bemused by his comment on his own unfamiliarity with a city he said he was from. "I doubt it," was her answer, though. "All I know about New York is what I've seen in films. It looks pretty at Christmas is about the deepest insight I have about the Big Apple." She chuckled softly, gently nudging his arm with her own. "You shouldn't worry about things so much, baby. The ordinary stuff generally works itself out."

Christmas. This would be his first Christmas in seventy years. He imagined the Big Apple would look a lot different now during the holidays than it had in his own time. He looked back at her, drawing comfort from her words. If only she knew the truth. "I'm not worried," he replied, frowning. "Okay, maybe I am a little." He forced a smile, not wanting to sadden her or make her worry, like he was. "It'll be fine. It has to be." He wondered if she had any idea how much courage it was going to take to step back through that portal, not really knowing where he might end up.

"Come on. Let's get this over with." He planted a kiss on her cheek, trying to lighten the mood and not let her see how all this was really bothering him, and took hold of her hand to lead her back toward where he'd left his bike and make the final leg of the trip home.

Lucy Rogers

Date: 2012-11-19 13:21 EST
The kiss he touched to her cheek almost broke her composure, feeling the beginning of their goodbye in that affectionate gesture. Her face turned toward his, catching his lips with her own before he retreated completely, taking hold of her hand and drawing her into step with him. People said goodbye everyday without knowing for certain that they would see each other again, but always with the expectation that it would happen. Why, then, was it so hard for them, for Steve and Lucy, to embrace the expectation' She squeezed her hand in his as they approached his bike, both hands wrapped about his one. "Is there anything you need me to do?" she asked suddenly, not entirely sure why she was fishing for some kind of purpose all of a sudden.

He took the lead as they made their way back to where he'd parked his bike outside Rhy'Din City Hall, reminded of how accustomed he'd become to taking charge, leading men - and sometimes women - into battle. There was one woman had who never seemed able to take orders from him, and Lucy reminded him of her. Maybe that was why he'd fallen in love with her in the first place - she was the first woman he'd met since waking up that reminded him so completely of Peggy Carter. His last goodbye to Peggy hadn't ended so well. He could only hope the past wouldn't repeat itself with Lucy. His heart was just starting to mend, and he wasn't sure he could go through all that again.

Drawn out of his thoughts by her question, he turned to face her, an all-too-serious expression on a face that was too young for his years. There was only one thing he needed from her, but he was almost afraid to ask. "Wait for me," he replied, after a moment's hesitation, reaching to take both her hands in his.

She could have taken that entirely the wrong way, and indeed, for a moment she did, a flash of hurt spiking through her at the automatic assumption that he was thinking of the long string of men who had come before him. But she knew him better than that, despite only having known him one night, swallowing that initial reaction before it could manifest too markedly on her face. "Two weeks," she nodded. "And then I'm coming to find you, if you don't find me first."

It wasn't the long string of men that worried him. It wasn't even the fact that he might not come back or that she might have to come looking for him. He just needed her to have faith in him, to believe he was a man of his word, and that he'd do everything in his power to find her again, no matter the odds or the cost. He'd been cheated once; he wasn't going to be cheated again.

"I need you to believe in me," he explained, rubbing his thumbs against the back of her hands. His temperature ran a little higher than average, but not nearly as high as the Human Torch, and his hands were warm against hers. It wasn't time to say goodbye yet, but the time was growing closer. Too close. Goodbyes were always so damned hard. He didn't want it to be goodbye, but just see you later.

"I do believe in you," she was quick to assure him, her fingers tightening around his as she looked up into his eyes, clamping down firmly on the rather unhappy thought that this could be one of the last times she looked up at him like this. I just don't believe in me. If she could have, she would have held him there, kept him in a loop of the last twelve hours over and over again, where no one would miss his absence and he wouldn't need to feel guilt for wanting to stay with her. This doing the right thing was a lot harder, a lot more painful than Liv had made it look over the years. "I promise, Steve, I will be waiting."

Just don't wait too long, he thought. As much as he wanted her and needed her to wait, he didn't want her to end up like Peggy - old and alone and still waiting for a man who would never arrive. "Two weeks," he reiterated. "If I'm not back in two weeks..." If anyone would know where to find him, it would be Tony Stark. They'd been over all that already, and he realized he was procrastinating, putting off leaving as long as he could, but he could put it off no longer. He was needed back home, and it couldn't wait.

He looked into the warm brown depths of her eyes, and leaned in to kiss her. It was a soft kiss, a tender kiss, a kiss that was full of love and longing and more than a little sadness. A kiss that was hopeful, but just a little bit frightened. He brushed a single finger against her cheek as he leaned close, resting his temple against hers. "I'm not losing you, Luce," he promised in a whispered voice for what must have been the umpteenth time, almost as if he was trying to convince himself as much as her of his determination.

She couldn't blame him for stalling, but the guilt at doing just that was eating away at him, no matter how he tried to hide it from her. She leaned into him as he kissed her, tasting the bitter along with the sweet, trying to pour as much of her heart into that one moment of contact as she could, to reassure him that this was only au revoir and not the goodbye they were both so deathly afraid of. Resting there against him, enveloped in a love that was so much bigger than she was, Lucy believed him for the first time, clinging to that belief now like a shipwrecked survivor tossed in stormy seas does to a single piece of the ship that had carried him this far.

"Damned straight you're not," she told him fervently, forcing her voice not to tremble, not to betray the heartache that was sure to come the moment he was out of sight. She sighed, regretful, saddened, reluctant to break the moment that passed between them. "We need to get you home."

He smiled a little at the determination in her voice, reminded once again of Peggy. She had the same spunk as Peggy, the same fiery passion, but beneath all of that, she was still a woman with a woman's heart, soft and vulnerable and caring. Maybe that's why he'd fallen so hopelessly in love with her. "Yes, ma'am. I suppose we do," he admitted, the smile just a little bit wistful. The night had passed all too quickly, and once again, he'd gotten the feeling that time had almost stood still, at least, for a little while, and he was grateful for that. They'd lived a lifetime of love in one night, it seemed, and even if he never saw her again, he'd never forget her.

His smile almost broke her heart, but this time she was too stubborn to cry. Not again, not while he needed her to be stoic in the face of this goodbye. She wrapped an arm about his back, tucking herself close by his side, knowing he could steer his bike with one hand. "Come on," she told him softly. "It's just down here."

One arm slid around her waist, while the other guided his bike as they walked the short distance toward the portal and their final goodbye. "You know, you're gonna think I'm crazy, but....when this is all over, when we're together again....I'd like to go dancing. Not that crazy stuff the kids do now nowadays. That's not dancing. I mean real dancing." He wasn't sure why he was telling her that. It seemed fitting somehow. In all his years, he'd never gone on a date. Not even once. He wasn't even sure why it mattered. They'd somehow skipped past all that, past all the little things people did to get acquainted, and now it seemed they'd have to work backwards.

That crazy stuff kids do nowadays" Lucy just about managed to hide her bemused smile at this turn of phrase, wondering once again just what it was that so obviously set Steve apart from everyone else she'd ever met. It wasn't the physique, though if she was being honest with herself, that didn't hurt; it was more along the lines of the way he looked at the world around him, seeing it through old-fashioned eyes. "Real dancing?" she repeated curiously. "You mean like ....ballroom stuff, waltz and foxtrot, that kind of thing?" Tipping her head back, she looked up at him thoughtfully. It would certainly give her something to do in the next couple of weeks, and learning a new skill was something she wasn't adverse to. "I'm sure I could learn how."

Lucy Rogers

Date: 2012-11-19 13:25 EST
He had that thoughtful look on his face again as he searched his brain for the right words and phrases and points of reference. Ballroom dancing - if he understood it correctly - wasn't quite what he had in mind, but it was close. "Something like that," he replied, thoughtfully, not for the first time looking like he was a million miles away. "I never learned how to dance. Never had the chance." He blinked out of his faraway thoughts, realizing he'd told her more than he'd planned, and he blushed just a little. "Maybe we can learn together," he said, turning to face her, pulling her tighter against him.

It was her turn to smile as he turned to her again, drawn closer in the circle of his arm as she looked up at him. "I'm sure there are a lot of things we can learn together," she heard herself say, not entirely innocent of the somewhat wicked sparkle in her eyes as she reached up to touch his blushing cheek. "We already started once, after all."

"It would be nice if I could return the favor. Teach you something sometime," he smiled back, lingering in her gaze and her touch for a moment before continuing on toward the portal. He wasn't sure exactly what it was they were looking for or what it would look like when they got there.

"You already did," she murmured, letting him draw her onward once again. You opened my heart. The portals in Rhy'Din came in myriad shapes and sizes, usually manifesting in doorways or archways that people were encouraged not to go through unless they knew exactly where they would end up. The portal they were looking for was at the opening of a defunct alleyway, officially signposted as a dead end. Nothing betrayed what stood there, but there was a hum in the air you soon learned to recognise if you lived in Rhy'Din for any serious amount of time.

Lucy paused, biting her lip as she looked toward the alley. "We're here," she told him quietly, raising her hand to point to the portal itself. "Go through there, and you'll come out in New York."

He arched a brow at her reply, but didn't pursue the matter, wondering what he'd taught her that she didn't know already. She'd certainly taught him so much more than he could have ever taught her, or so he thought. He frowned as they arrived at the alley. It didn't look like much, but he could almost feel the energy, like electricity, charged in the air around them. So, this is it, he thought with a heavy heart. Am I ever gonna see you again?

He kicked the stand down on the bike and turned toward her, fingers sweeping through her hair to push it away from her face so he could see her better. "Lucy, I..." He started, faltering, not really that good with words.

Her eyes closed as his fingers swept into her hair, her own hands rising to curl against his chest as she sighed softly, selfishly enjoying these last moments before he would be gone. Hearing him falter, she opened her eyes, looking into his blue gaze with stern expectation. "You have a question to ask me when we see each other again," she reminded him, the quirk of her lips entirely caused by the memory of that question when it had passed his lips only a few hours ago. Marry me, Lucy. Ask me in New York. "I'll be very put out with you if you forget."

He smiled a little as she reminded him of the spontaneous question he'd asked only a few hours earlier, but that wasn't what he was going to say now. She'd told him to ask her again in two weeks' time, either when he returned her or when she joined him in New York. He already had his answer, and though they hardly knew each other, it didn't seem to matter. She had told him about herself, giving him her the abridged version of her life story, but she knew little more than his name. "I won't forget. How can I forget?" His fingers grazed her cheek as blue eyes met brown. "You gave me a reason to live again."

What a weight to bear, and yet, she took comfort in the burden of his existence as it settled over her. He wasn't likely to forget her if that was the way he felt. Her palm curled to his jaw, the pad of her thumb brushing over his lips as she dragged the words out, words she'd only said once to anyone not her sister, and even then, it had been in the heat of the moment. "I-I ....I love you, Steve," she stuttered through the declaration, forcing through the fear to reinforce what her heart knew was true and her mind didn't want to accept as possible. "I'll see you again soon. I promise."

That sad smile crossed his face once again, not quite as sad this time, warmed by the three little words he'd longed to hear from her, words he hadn't heard from anyone since his mom had died. Three little words that sent his heart soaring, as if on eagle's wings high into the heavens. "I love you, too, baby," he whispered back, sweeping her into his arms, smothering her promise with a kiss she'd not soon forget, one that spoke of all the tenderness and love he was feeling for her deep in his heart, returning her promise with actions, rather than words.

It shouldn't have been possible for a kiss to hold so much, to share love and loss and promises of renewal; fear and hope; tears and laughter; the past, present, and future all wrapped up neatly in passion and forgiveness and longing. The busy marketplace around them didn't matter; the curious, indulgent glances of the nosy vendors and the innocent passersby didn't even register as Lucy lost herself in Steve all over again, unable to stay there in his arms, unwilling to step back and let him go. But she had to let him go, and trust that one way or another they'd be together again before the month was out.

Breathless, flushed with love, she broke her lips from his, fingertips gently caressing his cheek as she breathed him in once again. "We're out of time."

He knew he wasn't doing either of them any favors by prolonging the inevitable. It would only be harder, more painful in the end. He broke breathlessly away from her kiss, his heart hammering in his chest. He'd never felt anything quite like this. Her love almost made him feel invincible, like anything was possible. A small ironic smile touched his lips at her choice of words, though they held a far deeper meaning for him than she could possibly know. "Yeah, we are." Out of time, out of place, but they'd fix that soon enough. He brushed another kiss against her lips, lighter this time, though not lacking in passion. "Two weeks. I promise."

"Two weeks," she repeated after him, nodding firmly. And with just the faintest sheen in her eyes betraying the sadness at the goodbye, she eased herself from his arms, her gaze gentle above the attempt at a heartening smile. A tune flickered through her mind, a golden oldie that she hadn't heard in years, and she felt her smile become easier. "Don't sit under the appletree," she told him, wondering if he'd even understand the reference.

He reluctantly let her slip from him, out of his arms, but not out of his heart. He recognized the sadness in her eyes and the threat of tears and summoned his courage to put on a brave face, to not let her see how leaving her was tearing him up inside. This was hard enough as it was, and then she called up a reference to a song he knew well, a song from his own era. It was a song about lovers parting, promising to be true, until they saw each other again. She didn't have to worry about that with him. There was no one else.

"With anyone else but me," he finished the line for her, letting her know he not only understood the reference, but the meaning behind it. Overcome with emotion, he swept her up in his arms again, kissing her with unrestrained passion, burning the memory of that last kiss into her mind and her heart so that she'd never forget him. And then, he broke away, quickly, before he could change his mind, before she asked him to stay, before he saw that painful look of regret in her eyes once again or she saw it in his. He climbed onto his bike and kick started it to life, quoting a line from his all-time favorite movie ever.

"Here's looking at you, kid." He gave her one last heart-rending smile, revved the engine, and took off at breakneck speed to disappear into the alley that served as a portal, like he'd never been there at all.

Lucy Rogers

Date: 2012-11-19 13:30 EST
'Til I come marching home ....But that was the problem, wasn't it' Home didn't really exist for her, not anymore. Home was walking away from her, getting onto his motorbike, disappearing through a portal. His parting shot made her smile, wondering why of all the movie quotes he could have left her with, he'd chosen that one. Casablanca was the one classic film she'd never seen, but she knew where the line came from, making a mental note to find it and watch it at some point during the two weeks coming.

How long she stood there, she couldn't have said, motionless in the busy rush of the marketplace, staring into the opening of an alleyway that seemed so innocuous now it had taken from her the one thing she wanted most. She understood now why Liv hadn't fought for Johnny while she, Lucy, was with him; if she had thought that Lucy felt even a fraction for the Human Torch as she did, she couldn't have brought herself to break her sister's heart. With Steve's last kiss burning on her lips, Lucy offered up a silent apology to her sister, knowing she'd never have the courage to do it face to face. She knew now what it was that had kept Liv orbiting the sun despite the pain. It was so unfair that she should learn it in a single night and have to let it go.

"No." She startled herself with the sound of her own voice, with the sensation of wetness on her cheeks as she raised her hand to wipe her eyes. No, she wasn't letting go. She was giving him time to do his duty, whatever that was, and if he didn't come back for her within two weeks, she'd go looking for him. At Stark Industries, for God's sake. She couldn't help a faint laugh, finally turning from her spot to make her way back through the Marketplace, heading for the General Hospital. How did Steve Rogers know Tony Stark" It was a question worth pondering. The playboy didn't seem the type to befriend anyone as forthright and ....perfect ....as Steve had appeared to her, and yet it was his name she'd been given, his and his partner's, Pepper Potts. How would they be able to find him for her" Why didn't he want her looking for him through the usual channels"

There was a lot she didn't know, but Lucy honestly didn't care. She knew enough, and when they were together again, he'd tell her the rest himself. For now, she had tasks of her own to complete. The first was handing in her notice to the General Hospital, terminating her residency without much explanation, only that she could not foresee herself being available to continue with work and studies here in Rhy'Din for the foreseeable future. There was some consternation, but she held firm despite offers of better pay, better accomodation, better anything. Nothing was better than being with Steve, not anymore. Liv was going to laugh so much when she realised just how hard Lucy had fallen in a single night. Gods alone knew what Johnny would have to say about it - something smart-alecky, knowing him.

The second task was easier. Terminating her lease with the hospital accomodation board was easily done, since she had also handed in her notice. She'd have to talk Liv and Johnny into holding onto a couple of boxes for her for a little while, but she didn't think that would be a problem. By the end of two weeks, she'd be homeless, jobless, and free to go to New York, hopefully with her sister's blessing. The third task ....well, that was simple. She needed to sleep, holding it off for as long as she could, not wanting to risk dreams that would wake her up with her heart aching for the one person who wasn't there.

But he was there, in a way. Lucy dragged herself into her tiny apartment, dropping her coat on a couch and kicking off her boots, already half-asleep by the time she reached her bed. She pitched forward onto it, breathing in the scent of his skin on the soft sheets, rolling over until she was curled into a ball, her chest burning with uncried tears. Her outstretched hand touched something soft, something that wasn't the cotton of her bedsheets, and she opened her eyes to find herself looking at Steve's t-shirt, the one they had discarded so hurriedly the night before, emblazoned with an eagle and the letters S.S.R.

A smile touched her weary face, holding back the tears with a warm surge of affection for the thought that had left her something to hold onto. She didn't believe for one minute that he had forgotten to pack it back among his meager belongings, hugging it to her chest in lieu of having him there instead. Something to hold onto until she could hold onto him, just as she had given him her necklace for the same purpose. She stroked the soft cotton against her cheek, surrounding herself with the scent of the man who had irretrievably stolen her heart in a single night. Soon, she promised, both herself and him, wherever he was, finally letting herself drift off to sleep. We'll be together soon.

Marry me, Lucy.

Ask me in New York.

___________________

((Cue sweeping romantic theme and intermission sign. ;-) Will Steve and Lucy see each other again? Will Johnny set fire to Luks Condos when he works out who his girlfriend's sister spent the night with' Will Fay Wray ever buy a normal pet' More coming soon! And naturally, humungus, massive, doobilicious thankidoodles to Steve's player!))