Sally Stetins

[sal_starkrogers]

[RP for starspangledcap, locked to same]Friday night at the mall. Sally was nearly dancing through her shift. Pansy let Sal pick the music, again, and it was one of those nights in retail when everybody left the counter in a better mood than the one they brought in. Sally had a smile for everyone

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[starspangledcap]

Steve walked into the mall with no small amount of trepidation. He was pretty sure he had all of his information correct - he'd dropped Layla another e-mail, and she'd given him Sally's address and work schedule. Steve had never even heard of the shop where she worked; "Hot Topic" wasn't a store anyone he knew had ever talked about, in either universe, though it was entirely possible someone had mentioned it and it just never quite registered. Either way, Steve had no idea what to expect - about the store, or about Sally herself - and that made him incredibly apprehensive.

He also had no idea what he was going to say to Sally, once he saw her. Despite the fact that he'd spent the past twenty-four hours thinking about this, no real plan had formed in his mind. He thought that maybe just seeing her would be enough. He'd see her, and he'd see that she was well, and happy, and that would be enough. He'd turn around and head back to New Jersey, secure in the knowledge that his daughter wasn't dead, and he'd just have to live with

[sal_starkrogers]

Emil glanced casually over his shoulder at the guy and turn back to face Sally. "Chickenhawk," he mouthed silently

[starspangledcap]

Steve scrambled for a way to continue the conversation and tried his hardest not to stare at Sally. She's alive, she's alive, she's alive, his brain chanted, drowning out almost all other thought. It was the same feeling he'd had at that town with the AIM base so many months ago, when he found out for sure that Bucky had survived the Cosmic Cube incident. It was hard for his brain to focus on anything else.

His ear caught a snippet of lyrics from the loudspeaker overhead, and he realized he'd heard the song before - Sally had played it, often, on her iPod, headphones turned up so loud that Steve had been constantly yelling at her to turn them down to save her ears. ("But I have a healing factor!" she'd complained, every time.)

"What music is this?" Steve asked, casting his eyes upward, glad to have found an appropriate comment to make. "It's a good song."

[sal_starkrogers]

"It's called 'A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More Touch Me,' and it's by Fallout Boy," Sally answered.

"But that's not an invitation," Emil muttered behind her. Without looking Sally reached back and hit him gently on the side of the head.

She studied the man at the counter. Sometimes she could figure things out about people. He had a look about him. Hungry, but not it that skeezey way. Something . . . Her intuition said this guy was okay. Sally's intuition, it was pretty good. Kept her out of trouble. Kept her mom out of trouble a couple of times on the dating scene. Sally chewed at her lip and nodded thoughtfully.

"Okay, Mister," she said. "Emil, this one's in. Mister, what can I do for you? I mean -- you're not here to shop. So. What is it?"