Monster

Five

I was right for thinking I’d hate the malt machine. I was forced to follow another waiter around on my first day and make mental notes about what I was doing. Now I was required to hand out plates and make my own shakes, though supervised. The machine was a noisy, messy thing that shook violently and could probably use a lot of repair work. If I didn’t hate the place so much, I might try to convince Stark to send them an upgrade, even if it killed the vintage theme.

I had one hand on top of the machine while the other tried to balance the rest of it. I’d already made three shakes, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Morgan slid into place at my side, her dark eyes scanning the bar full of patrons. She smiled mischievously.

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

“A what?” I asked, shouting over the noisy machine rumbling beneath my hands.

“A hot guy. Over there.” She pointed down the length of the bar where a man was leaning against the counter. He was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, but it was obvious he was watching us. He gave a wave and a smile. I recognized him from the meeting with Hill and the others. Sam Wilson wanted to talk. “Do you know him?” she asked. I didn’t know if I was supposed to tell the truth.

“Uh,” I said as I turned off the machine. “We haven’t met.”

I motioned for him to wait and finished up the shake. I took it to the customer and shared a few smiles before telling Morgan I was going on break. Sam was waiting for me at the end of the bar. I slid my notepad into the pocket of my apron and approached cautiously. He gave me a reassuring smile.

“Johanna Hayes,” he said. I nodded slowly.

“That’s me,” I replied. I gave him an expectant look, and he remembered we weren’t supposed to know each other.

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

“Nice to—meet you, Sam.”

“I came on behalf of Steve.” I glanced around the dining area to see if anyone was watching. Morgan was sizing him up from the other end of the bar, but she went back to refilling ketchup bottles when I caught her looking. I nodded back to him.

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

“A Coke would be nice.”

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

“Thanks.”

He headed to the booth, and I did another scan of the dining room and the windows. Then I slipped into the back to get his drink. Morgan followed, skipping quickly on her chunky shoes to catch up. She glanced at Sam over my shoulder.

“He’s cute,” she remarked. I only nodded absently.

“He’s a friend of my uh….” I didn’t want to call Rogers my boyfriend. Even though that was the story we were supposed to be weaving. It felt wrong. “Guy,” I decided. “Friend. That—I see on occasion.” Morgan's eyebrows rose in pleasant surprise, apparently taking my hesitation to mean something else.

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

“He’s big,” I agreed. “Kinda muscular. Rides a motorcycle.” That was all I could come up with. I knew nothing personal about Steve. And I was getting uncomfortable just telling her what I could.

“Nice,” she said anyway, nodding her head.

“Yeah.”

I felt awkward. So I hurried with the soda and rushed back to the booth to hand it off to Sam. He had his back to the wall, and his arm stretched out over the back of the seat. I didn’t like having my back exposed, but I was only supposed to be a civilian. So I slid into the seat opposite him and folded my hands in my lap.

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

“Just passing along some tips for 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 things he wanted to keep on the down low.” I’d already been given a briefing. I didn’t think there was anything else I needed to know.

“What kind of stuff?”

“This guy—Barnes. I’ve had the misfortune of meeting him a few times. If you’d even call it that. It’s a real touchy subject for Steve. They were best friends. Brothers. Barnes was the closest thing to a family he had. It’s had to wake up one day and find that everything you knew and everyone you loved is gone. Barnes’ death was hard on him. He watched it happen, blamed himself. So he wants to find the guy, rightly doesn’t trust anyone else after what happened with Hydra. He’s afraid they’ll either kill him outright or try to use him for their own benefit. This isn’t about finding Barnes to him. It’s about saving him. You understand?”

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

“Look,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “It’s important to Steve. It’s personal. He doesn’t want you to get hurt, but he wants you to know that’s a real possibility. This guy is dangerous, and the people who are after him are worse. You can back out at any time, but be careful how you treat this mission. Especially with Steve. Barnes—I don’t like him very much, to put it mildly.” He laughed, and I smiled. “But I like Steve, and I know it’s important to him to help this guy—you know—recover. I trust his judgment.” My smile fell.

“Recovery doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s a process. It could take years. He’ll be lucky just to apprehend him.”

“I know. And Steve knows that too. So he’s trying to go about it in a way that’s comfortable for Barnes. And he thinks he just needs to get through to him. But Barnes’ mind is—delicate, let’s put it that way. He’s violent. He’s strong. I know you’re Special Forces but he uh….”

“It’s okay. I know he’s stronger than I am. I’m not offended. He’s enhanced.” He laughed. “And I can relate. I think I can handle it.”

“You sure about that?” I laughed lightly.

“No.” His eyes focused on something beyond me and then Morgan appeared with a basket of fries.

“Thought you guys might like a snack,” she said, setting the small red basket on the table between us.

“I think we’re good, Morgan,” I said. She gave Sam a flirty smile and walked away. 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,” he continued. “Stuff a guy might tell his girlfriend. Best friends growing up. Steve was a puny nerdy kid who liked to get into trouble. Barnes was the protective older brother type. Liked to pick on him, but he was proud. Bit of a lady’s man from what I understand. Thought he had something to prove.” There was a knot in the pit of my stomach. I almost winced. “You know back in those days a guy 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. Smart. Quick. Would have given his life for Steve. Ended up doing just that.”

“I already know most of this stuff. The History Channel puts out a special every year.”

“That’s all Steve told me. Like I said, sensitive subject.” He stuck one of the fries into his mouth, and I waited for him to finish before voicing my thoughts.

“Sounds to me like you’re here to size me up,” I suggested. He shrugged again.

“I’ll only tell him nice things, I promise. What about you? Any questions for me? Now would be a good time to ask.” I watched him sift through the basket of fries.

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

“She’s not his girlfriend. From what I understand. It’s complicated, I guess. He hasn’t told me much about her.”

“Why isn’t she here playing this role for him? It would be much more believable if he actually liked the girl, wouldn’t it?”

“Dunno,” he said, eating more 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 enhanced? Wouldn’t that be safer?”

“How’d you know that?” he asked with furrowed brows.

“Stark told me.” He huffed in irritation.

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

“He grows on you.”

“He’s good. Not many people know about her. Steve wants to keep it that way.”

“Stark is the best. He just knows that he’s the best,” I explained.

“Well yeah, it’s because she’s enhanced. Barnes wouldn’t take very long to figure it out. But she’s also—uh—been through a lot recently. Steve doesn’t want to put her in a position that might—set her off.” He shrugged. “Anyway, Romanoff suggested you. She says you’re strong enough to handle it. I don’t think Steve’s girl could. Or he would have asked.”

He had his eyes on the basket of fries and missed the way his words startled me. I never viewed myself as particularly strong. Not anymore anyway. I couldn’t shoot a gun. I couldn’t sleep without horrible nightmares. I owned a pink knife with sparkles on it. And Sam Wilson thought I was strong enough to handle—whatever this was.

I cleared my throat and looked at the clock behind the counter.

“I should probably get back to work,” I told him. “If that’s all you wanted to talk to me about.” He nodded slowly, still reading something from me that he didn’t share.

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

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

“Was that a joke?” I laughed.

“I’ll even make a casserole.”

“Sounds good to me.” I returned the smile and tapped my fingers on the table.

“I’ll cover your drink and fries.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Don’t worry about it. Rogers pays my tab.” He lifted his Coke and pretended to offer cheers for his missing friend.

“To freedom,” he said.