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?"

[starspangledcap]

Steve started at the boy's comment. Oh God, he thought. They think I'm some kind of predator. It was certainly a natural reaction, considering how out of place he must have looked in that store, and some part of Steve was glad that Sally had a friend who was so protective of her. But a much larger part of him was horrified that Sally would assume something like that.

He needed to say something, to dispel those worries. But he couldn't think of any lie that would be convincing.

Except, perhaps, a lie that was mostly truth.

"I'm sorry. You must think I'm crazy. But I... I lost my daughter recently." He swallowed, unable to catch Sally's eyes as he spoke. "I was walking by the store, and I heard you laughing, and it reminded me so much of her. You even look alike. I'm... I'm sorry." He suddenly felt ashamed, standing there, lying to his daughter, speaking of her death when she was so clearly alive. "I shouldn't have bothered you. I'll leave."

[sal_starkrogers]

"Hey --" Sally held out her hand, a stay-here gesture, without actually touching the man. His shoulders, habitually squared, she could tell that from his walk -- they were bowed now, curved as he looked down and away. His eyes, glancing at the t-shirts next to him, were bright.

What do you say to a person who just lost someone they should never have to mourn?

The man was staring at the Magneto Was Right shirts near the counter. Sally didn't think he was really seeing them, but it was something to say. Something other than do you miss her and how old was she when she died or was she your only child.

"Was she a Magneto fan?" Sally asked. The man jerked at the question. "Or, not," Sally added hastily. "You were just staring, is all. My name is Sally, by the way."

[starspangledcap]

Steve smiled a sad smile. He hadn't been looking at the shirts at all (though some part of him was glad that his daughter wasn't wearing that particular t-shirt); he'd just needed somewhere to direct his eyes that wasn't Sally's face. She was so much the same as the girl he'd known, but there were subtle differences, too: the darker hair, the paler skin, the little scar on her chin that she hadn't had in Wanda's world. Part of him wanted to stare at her forever, but part of him didn't want to look at her at all, didn't want that confirmation that she wasn't his Sally, that she'd never be his Sally again.

"It's very nice to meet you, Sally." He paused, knowing he couldn't tell the truth here, but needing to say something. "My daughter's name was Sarah."

It was his mother's name - Sally's grandmother's name. The name of the last person whose loss had hit him this hard.

He raised his eyes to the loudspeaker's fading refrains. "She liked this song, too."

[sal_starkrogers]

Sally smiled. "A recent loss?" she said. He wanted to say more, she could tell. She was good at that -- knowing what to say to people, sometimes when they didn't even know it themselves.

She looked at him more closely. He was fit. Callused hands. Short hair, just barely starting to grow out. His goatee . . . looked wrong on his face. His eyes didn't stop checking the room, not in any nervous way, more like habit. He stood like the kids from the Kendo school.

"Were you here in time for her funeral or memorial? I mean, you -- you just got back from Iraq, right? Ah, Captain . . .?"

Behind her she could hear Emil's muttered, "damn, girl," at her nerve. But Sally didn't think the man would mind.

[starspangledcap]

"Yes," Steve replied, in response to Sally's first question. "Less than a month. She... there was a madwoman, behind the wheel of a car, who wasn't thinking about what she was doing. And my daughter was... in the way

[sal_starkrogers]

"Pleased to meet you, Captain Buchanan," Sally replied. "And, I'm sorry for your loss."

She followed his gesture to her books. "I get by," she said, not wanting to brag. Behind her Emil gave a false cough, and she kicked him a bit, in fun. "Emil, here," she said, leaning on the counter in a confiding manner, "he thinks I get good grades, but that's only because his are so bad I can help him out." She winked.

"Hey!" Email protested, standing to shake his finger at her, "That is so uncool, missy!" he said. "You help me study but who, exactly, pulled up your Spanish grade last semester? Hmm?"

Sally rolled her eyes and half hugged Emil. "Captain, this is Emil Khalidi, Emil, Captain Buchanan."

[starspangledcap]

Steve knew his daughter well enough to know when she was being humble, and this was definitely one of those times. Which meant that she really was getting good grades. Steve had never cared quite as much about Sally's academic achievement as Tony had - he'd always just told her to try her best, whether that "best" resulted in an A+ or a C+ - but if she was doing well academically it meant she was at least somewhat well-adjusted, somewhat motivated. That she was, in short, at least somewhat happy. It was a relief.

Steve stuck out his hand to shake the boy's. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Khalidi," he said. His eyes flicked back and forth between the two teenagers. Steve had never been very proficient at recognizing others' sexual orientations (he apparently hadn't even noticed his own, though that was a subject he was for the moment steadfastly ignoring). But even he could tell that this boy had no interest in dating his daughter

[sal_starkrogers]

"Pleased to meet you, Captain," Emil said softly. Sally could tell he was a little cowed. She could see why, sort of. Captain Buchanan was physically imposing, sure, but there was something else. Something . . . grieving. His grief was a cloud around him, and it insisted on respect.

But one of the things Sally liked about Emil was the fact that he was never off-balance for long.

"Best girlfriends," Emil answered, kissing Sally on the top of the head. She rolled her eyes and pushed him away, giggling. She glanced at the Captain

[starspangledcap]

Steve recognized the look in Sally's eyes. It was the look she'd had when she'd declared, a year before, that she was going to be a hero, and there was nothing her fathers could do to stop her. That stubborn, determined look of complete and utter conviction. Steve had always assumed that Sally had gotten her taste for saving the world from the environment in which she'd been raised. But the look Sally was sporting now proved that the instinct went beyond that. If her mother had chosen to keep her in New York instead of moving her to the relatively supervillain-free Minnesota, Steve had no doubt that Sally would have become just like Kate Bishop, training herself in martial arts and becoming a self-made hero, powers or no powers

[sal_starkrogers]

Sally looked at Captain Buchanan for a long moment. She always went with her instincts. Trusted them to guide her through the world.

"Captain, the church my mom - Toni - and I go to is having an International Workers' Day potluck this Sunday afternoon. Would you like to be my guest?"

[starspangledcap]

Steve's eyes widened. "I..." For a wild second, he contemplated saying yes. Why not? He hadn't even been in his new place for a week. He could stay in town for this party. He could befriend Sally and her mother (Toni - Steve had known that was her mother's name, had learned all of her background information when they'd adopted her, but he'd never noticed the irony of the name before that moment). He could cancel the lease, move out here to Minnesota, get an apartment and a job. He could have his daughter in his life again. He could be happy, here.

But Steve knew that lying to Sally long-term would start to kill him, little by little. That being around her without really being around her would only hurt him more. And he also knew that, eventually, he would go back to hero work - either as Captain America or as some other alias - and he would have to leave her, for the sake of practicality and her safety. He couldn't let that happen. It would hurt too much, for both of them, to be separated after all of that

[sal_starkrogers]

He was lying. But why was he lying? He wasn't lying about his loss. Wasn't lying about only being in town for a few days.

Sally couldn't figure him out. She squinted at him, trying to see what didn't fit. What was not right. Well, the silly hair dye wasn't right. Sally started with that. Why would he disguise his looks? She studied him openly, brazenly, not caring that he was watching her back. What color was his hair? Not darker. Lighter, obviously. Blonde, maybe?

Sally froze.

Blonde.

I really shouldn't try to figure out who he looks like, she thought faintly. He opposed the Registration Act. Soldier. Stop now. You don't want to know, Sally told herself firmly.

"Are you . . . " Sally couldn't tell him about herself, about her mom. Not this very strange man. This . . . whoever he was. But she wanted to trust him. Everything in her said trust him. "Are you a good man?" she finally asked, staring at his dark -- contact lenses, she could see, now, colored lenses -- his dark eyes.