Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Elise looked up at her adoptive father as she ran round the memorial pool, he was slowing down for her allowing her to keep pace with him. He wanted nothing more to speed up a bit, hoping she would get tired soon and have to rest.

Footsteps approached behind her, causing her to look around to check. Anxiety took over her as she saw the large muscular man running towards her Sam seeing his daughter’s stress, quickly swapped sides with her so he would be on the outside, keeping heraway from any approaching people.

"It's okay." He soothed her .

She took a deep breath, the pair of them were just out and about. Nothing to worry about, she was safe here. Nothing could harm her here. Not only that but she was with Sam, her new father, her new protector, her superhero

The man was now passing, "On your left." He stated as he ran past.

The duo continued running, Elise was beginning to tire, which was ridiculous if you thought about it, I mean she used to be one of Hydras little lab rats, she would run everyday. But, she had been relaxing a bit as she got used to her new forever home.

Not soon after passing them, the man overtook them again, "On your left."

Sam let out a groan, annoyance taking over his body, he wanted to speed up so badly. He wanted to take over that man, but with his new daughter with him he simply wasn't able.

"Hey El?" He asked, "you getting tired yet?" He looked down at the seven year old, who just looked up at him with a grin.

"Sure, I'll wait by that tree" she pointed to a tree.

"Okay, I'll be watching as I run round, scream if you need me."

She had a knowing grin on her face, "kick his ass."
She skipped away, humming to herself.

"Watch your language! You're seven years old!" He shook his head before starting off running, she watched tentatively as her guardian attempted to take on the unsuspecting mystery muscular man in a race.

The man jogged round the corner again, noticing that Sam  had lost his small companion, he looked around for her to see her sat happily under a tree, braiding her hair. Seeing this he sped up, worry gone, taking over Sam again.
"On your left."

"Uh-huh, on my left. Got it." Sam nodded before starting to speed up again, he hated to admit it but he was trying to look cool infront of his new daughter, she had been around enhanced people all her life, basically superheroes just without the hero part. He wanted to show her that he was strong enough to protect her.

Despite speeding up, he still wasn't fast enough to keep up with the muscular man, he heard him behind him. "Don't say it! Don't you say it!" He groaned, speeding up to try and keep him from passing him.

"On your left!" Steve yelled as he passed, causing Sam to let out a groan and resulting in a laugh from the nearby girl.

"Come on!" Angrily, Sam tries to catch up to him, he needed to be fast. She was laughing at him, that was the opposite of what he was going for, though he supposed making her smile and making her feel safe were similar things.

After speeding up yet again, he had to stop to catch his breath, he couldn't do it anymore. Sighing he walked over to where Elise was sat.

"You find that funny?" He asked as he sat next to her on the ground, she nodded her head.

"Yeah, there was no way you were going to win that one" she smiled.

"Really?" He raised a brow at her, "well then, I guess there's no way of you having ice cream after dinner tonight."

She put on a pout, looking up at him with big eyes. He laughed at her. She was about to say something when the man came over.
"Need a medic?" He asked.

She tensed, she wasn't a fan of other men, it took long enough to feel somewhat comfortable around Sam, she shuffled slightly closer to him; her hand now gripping his sleeve.

Sam laughed at Steve's comment, he noticed her gripping his sleeve and looked down at her giving her a smile. It was better to not coddle her he found, let her come around in her own time, she'll talk and let go of him when she was ready, it was better not to push, he just had to show her it was okay.

"I need a new set of lungs" He quipped . "Dude, you just ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes."

"I guess I got a late start." The other runner joked.

"Oh, really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." He hesitates for a moment before saying sarcastically, "Did you just take it? I assumed you just took it."

"What unit you with?" The man suddenly asked.

"58, Pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA." He lifts his hand to shake, "Sam Wilson."

The man gives Sam a hand to help him up "Steve Rogers." He smiled down at the young girl, who had got up when Sam did. "And you are?"

Sam nudged her slightly, "Elise" she murmured, pausing before adding something else, "Wilson."

Sam couldn't help but smile, she was his daughter, even if she wasn't ready to call him 'Dad' yet or if she was never ready to call him that. She was his daughter.

"Captain america" sam laughed quietly, "Yeah I kind of put that together. Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

"It takes some getting used to. It's good to meet you, Sam, Elise" As Steve turned to leave, Sam spoke up again.

"It's your bed, right?"

"What's that?" Steve asked, confused.

"Your bed, it's too soft. When I was over there I'd sleep on the ground and use rock for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..." Sam began.

"Lying on a big marshmallow." Elise finished off for him, Sam looked down at her smiling, he was proud she managed to speak to someone.

Steve smiled at her, unsure of her situation, how would a kid know what that's like? But this was clearly unusual for her to speak, given sams reaction, not wanting to ruin this moment he spoke "Exactly like lying on a marshmallow. Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor." There was a pause before Steve asked "How long?"

"Two tours." Sam responded. There was an awkward silence between the three until Sam spoke up again,
"You must miss the good old days, huh?"

"Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot trying to catch up"

Sam begins to think "Marvin Gaye, 1972, "Trouble Man" soundtrack. Everything you've missed jammed into one album." Causing Elise to let out a small groan, he loved Marvin Gaye, every morning he had it playing whilst he made her breakfast, she had to admit it was fun to listen to music together but she was slightly bored of the same artist over and over again.

"I'll put it on the list." He got a notebook and pen out before writing it down.

"You should listen to the spice girls." Elise suddenly piped up, she had heard a song on the radio and had developed a slight obsession with the girl group.

Sam laughed, " I don't think he's going to want to listen to the spice girls."

Elise looked up at Steve who smiled at her, "I'll put it on the list aswell." Before writing it down, at that moment he got a text on his phone, "Alright, Sam, Elise. duty calls. Thanks for the run. If that's what you wanna call running."

Sam and Steve shake hands, before Steve gives the girl a high five, Sam laughed before saying  "Oh, that's how it is?" in mock offence.

"Oh, that's how it is." Steve repeated.

Elise let out a small laugh and Sam chuckled "Okay. Any time you wanna stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know."

"I'll keep it in mind." Steve nods, a smile on his face.

"Okay." Sam smiles

Just then, a car pulls up by the curb. The window rolled down to reveal one of the most beautiful women that Elise had ever seen. With a giant smirk on her face she called out to the group, "Hey, guys.
Any one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."

"That's hilarious." Steve deadpans, walking over to the car.

Sam looked at the woman, an appreciative look on his face as he not-so-subtly checked her out. "How you doing?"

"Hey." Natasha replied back.

Upon seeing the look on sams face Elise nudged him, "stop being creepy" she muttered.

"Can't run everywhere." Steve smiled.

"No, you can't." The pair watched as the car pulls of the curb and speeds away.

Chapter Text

"Come on Elise!" Sam called up the stairs, "we've got to leave!"

"I'm just doing my hair!" She called back, he rolled his eyes at the girl. Seven years old and already a diva.

A couple minutes later she came bounding down the stairs with her hair in pigtails and bows on either side of her head, a smile painted on her face as she gave him a spin showing of the new dress that Sarah had bought her.

"Let's go" he opened the door for her.

"Can I not go to Sarah's instead?" She asked looking up at him.

"She's busy today." Elise let out a huff and put on a pout, "but I'll tell you what, you can go see her at the weekend, and if your good you can have a chocolate bar, Deal?" He held his hand out.

And just like that her smile was back on her face, "Deal!" She shook his hand with enthusiasm.

"Alright pumpkin, now let's go." He pretty much herded her out the house, before making her get in the backseat.

———————————————————————————

Elise sat bored outside of the meeting, she had nothing to do. She had been given a hot chocolate and a packet of crisps by the nice lady at the front desk but she had to get back to work. The only thing she could do was wait.

She hummed to herself as she sat, her legs swinging back and forth as she was too short for the bench she was on.

She perked up when she saw Steve walk in the door, she thought he was nice, plus he was captain America! When Sam told her that she was grinning from ear to ear, he was a superhero!

He smiled at her when he walked in and came over to her, "Elise was it?"

"Yeah" she smiled. "You're captain America!"

He grinned at her, "is that your dad in there?" He gestured to the room where Sam was counselling some veterans.

"Yeah, Sam's in there. I'm not aloud to go in because I'm too young but once a fortnight they have one for younger people that I go to." Elise explained, a mischievous smirk came onto her face, "that lady at the desk is the one that Sam wanted you to impress, he has a crush on her."

Steve chuckled slightly, "alright kid, I'll see you later." He walked towards the door, he didn't go in just stood on the outside listening in.

A female veteran spoke up, "The thing is I think it's getting worse. A cop pulled me over last week, he thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED."

Sam nodded his head in understanding, he was like that at first when he came back, it's gotten better overtime but every now and then he still gets little panics, it had gotten better now he had a daughter. He liked to think they helped each other, and they did help each other. He began to talk. "Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back. It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase or in a little man-purse? It's up to you."

The meeting began to finish up, and Elise had fallen asleep, lain across the bench, a jacket covering her like a blanket. Steve smiled at Sam when he saw him, and waited for everyone to leave before he approached.

“I'll see you next week.” The woman from earlier smiled at Sam before she left.

“Yeah.” Sam nodded

“Yeah.” She repeated back to him before Sam walked over to Steve.

“Look who it is. The running man.” Sam grinned, he looked over to see Elise asleep on the bench, someone’s jacket lain over her, it was rare for her to sleep like this especially since she had been having bad nightmares, he was going to have to be careful not to wake her.

“Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense.” Steve crossed his arms.

“Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret.”

“You lose someone?” Steve asked, his eyebrows furrowed slightly in sympathy.

Sam nodded, “My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission.Standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before, till RPG knock Riley's dumb ass out of the sky.” He sighed, “Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch.”

“I'm sorry.”

“After that, I had really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?”

Steve nodded, “But you're happy now, back in the world?”

“Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero.” Sam smiled before adding, “well one person if we Count that little one over there” he gestured to Elise. He then looked back at her, and noticed the jacket wasn’t his. “Is that yours?”

Steve nodded, “yeah, she was cold.”

“Thanks for that.” Sam nodded, “So, yeah. You thinking about getting out?”

“No. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did.”

“Ultimate fighting?” Steve laughs at sam’s comment
“It's just a great idea off the top of my head. But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?”

“I don't know.” Steve sighs.

Sam nodded in understanding before checking his watch, “I’m sorry man, we’re gonna have to head off.” He went over to her about to take off the jacket when Steve spoke.

“It’s fine, keep it I wouldn’t want you to wake her, she’s pretty wrapped up in it.”

Sam nodded, “alright, thanks.” Before he picked her up careful not to wake her, “I’ll see you around.”

Chapter Text

A few days later......

Elise was exhausted. Her and Sam had just come back from another one of her runs and she was absolutely done. All she wanted was a nap, or ice cream - ice cream worked as-well.

As the pair walked through the door, she immediately sped over to the couch before collapsing on it letting at a huff of breath as she did so. Sam laughed at his daughter, "you good kid?"

"No." She groaned, before dramatically laying her arm across her face, "I'm exhausted, I fear I may be dying."

"Sure you are." He rolled his eyes at her before going into the kitchen and getting two bottles of water, he walked back into the living room and chucked one at her.

She sat bolt up right as she heard it saw through the air towards her, it was liked it was happening in slow motion. Out of pure reflex she raised her hand stopping it in mid air.

Sam stopped.

Elise stopped.

The bottle fell to the ground, the crack as it hit the wood floor the only sound in the whole house.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Elise started to panic, she didn't know what to do, she was trying to hide it from him, from everyone. She didn't want people to think she was a freak.

Oh god, what if he thought she was a freak?

Tears began to fill her eyes as she realised how much she had just messed up, what if he didn't want her anymore?

"Kid?" Sams voice was soft.

She didn't say anything, her mind still absolutely racing. Her chest began to feel tight, like a loaded truck had just parked on top of it, her breath became laboured. Her palms began to sweat, and feel sticky and she felt as though she could feel every article of clothing, she could feel everything.

He recognised that she was having a panic attack and slowly approached her, they could talk about what just happened later, for the time being he just needed to make sure she was okay.

Slowly he knelt down in front of her, "El, I need you to breathe with me, okay?" He began to slowly count in for three then out from three, regulating her breathing again.

As she began to calm down, he moved from infront of her to next to her, out of pure habit she leant into his side, he immediately responded by wrapping an arm around her.

She began to sob, "please, don't get rid of me." Her hand curled into his sweater, grabbing a tiny fistful as she began to cry harder, "please"

"What?" Sam looked at the small girl next to him, "no, no, kid of course not." He sighed, "I don’t exactly know what just happened, nor do I understand it but it doesn’t mean anything to me kid, you’re still my daughter and I’m afraid you’re going to be until the day we’re both gone.”

She sniffled, "really?"

"Mmhm" he hummed "I'm afraid you're stuck with me." He then paused for a second, “but can I ask what that was?”

“It’s like a thing I can do…” she thought about it for a second, “where like I can stop things mid air, like not very heavy things at the moment though and like when I get more like achieved with it they’ll probably be able to stop then continue on there original path instead of just dropping and-“ she stopped when she realised she was mumbling. “It’s just a thing.”

“And uh, have you always been able to do that?”

“No, I never used to when I was like younger but then they made me be able to do it.”

“And who’s ‘they’?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.” She mumbled.

“Alright, I won’t push, just you know you can come to me with anything?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, “thanks.” She then grew a smile, “can I have some ice cream?”

“No, we haven’t had dinner yet.”

“Please” she put on a pout, “it’ll cheer me up..”

“Fine.” He sighed giving in.

Elise grinned, she had found her new home.