"catching stars" - 1x1.

[lavender moon]

After a few moments of hesitation, Charity opened the door and slowly climbed in. She shut the door with a loud ‘BaNg!’ She hadn’t meant to make so much noise. For that matter, she hadn’t meant to slam the door. She was simply nervous. To her this was a monster. A metal death machine ready to kill her. The fact that Rodgers seemed so relaxed frustrated her and she felt her hand grow warm before she finally told herself to calm down. Luka didn’t like being in the back so he put his head up front, between Steve and Dawn. He happily let his tongue loll and no one else was around and Steve had gained the dog’s trust easily by gaining Charity’s. The entire way there Charity was hugging the side off the car and holding her breath. Her face was a purple-tinted red from the lack of oxygen. She forced herself to act relatively calm though. Before she knew it the ride was over. The car pulled to a stop in front of a large building. Her eyes squinted a bit as she looked to the top of it. She hadn’t even heard whatnot Steve had said, nor did she care. This place was too cool for her to worry about him. For the moment, she admired it. Then, she was back, guarded and cut off from the world. Luka’s eyes followed the agents outside as he growled softly. “Easy Luka. Behave.” She commanded, even though she was extremely uneasy around all these people herself. In fact, her being so uneasy probably caused most of Luka’s defensiveness. She opened the side door and stepped out, Luka leaping out to stand beside her. His muscles were tense and his eyes trailed everyone. His body was basically brushing against Charity as if he was fearful that she would disappear if he wasn’t directly at her side. Rodgers must’ve sensed her unease because he reminded her that the agents flooding from the building and those entering it were just doing their jobs. “Right. I know.” She muttered softly, but Luka didn’t seem to care who they were. He didn’t like how close they were. He growled softly but stopped when Dawn gave him a warning look. She waited beside him as they stopped before a door. He was called in and so she followed. As soon as she saw this woman she didn’t like her. She had never seen her a day in her life, but something about her made her uneasy. Nevertheless, her grey eyes met this woman’s with a fiery fierceness in them. It was almost to challenge her or to show that she wasn’t afraid of whoever this was. She didn’t even like the way she talked, or the way she said ‘civilized enough to work alongside us.’ “You may call me Bridger. And I assure you that I am completely civilized.” She almost snapped at her. Her voice wasn’t a snap though. This woman clearly had power and she had to respect that to some extent. “I will also assure you that there has been some sort of mix up. I’m not a threat to society, so if you don’t mind I’ll be on my way.” She said, ready to leave, Luka just as ready to get out of the building and back home.

[ethium]

rogers listened to their banter and quietly let his gaze wander. It wasn't his place to interfere anyway. his superior sighed
"tsk tsk, darling. I'm afraid leaving isn't an option right now. Cooperate darling and we can talk about your release." at this
rogers perked up. "ma'am, there must have been a mistake. She has the free will in this situation? She came with me
willingly is this entirely necessary?" at his speech his supervisor sent a withering stern look in his direction. "Rogers keep
out of this, this is none of your concern, if it weren't for her stubborn behavior in keeping you here you'd be gone by
now. You did your part, i'm doing mine. Hold your tongue from now on." instantly rogers felt himself wither and snarl at
the same time. How dare she speak to him like he was an insolent child? How dare she act as if he was a mere object to
be used. No one had ever spoken to him in such a disrespectful manor before, and it infuriated the captain. However he
backed off and held his tongue averting his gaze with a huff. "now, where was I? Ah, Yes of course. You cannot leave i'm
afraid any enhanced persons must be promptly registered in our databases. Your dangerous, i don't care what you say i'm
thinking about what the general public will say. If you object to any of this i'll have to use force on you, so make this easier
darling and keep your mouth shut, go with the process and we'll let you go as soon as possible." she then waved her hand
pressing a buzzer on the side of her desk.

yes? is this head of processing? i'm going to need a few people down here to get
this enhanced individual straightened out. yes at least four, and i'll need someone to restrain her pooch, she doesn't look
very happy and i'd like to avoid any incidents. rogers grit his teeth and scowled. "ma'am this isn't necessary, she hasn't
done anything, she just wants to go hom-" op. "bu-" no. rogers your excused. his superior cut him off with a disappointed
scowl. Leave. Now. we'll take it from here, i don't care what deal you made with this insolent abomination, she's going to
to be a dear and cooperate with us. You can go home captain, your job is done. He fumed under his supervisor's stern gaze.
but he could see no way out of leaving. He dipped his head to the girl and mouthed sorry as he passed and exited the room.
Instantly it felt like all the air he had been trapping escaped at once and he immediately removed his helmet, there was no use
for it now. Previously he hadn't had time to remove it. He ran both hands over his face and sighed into them. The girl didn't
deserve this kind of disrespect, in all fairness rogers had never been around his superior long enough for a conversation. Today
was the longest conversation he'd had with her, and now he was beginning to wonder why he'd remained in SHIELD in the first
place.

[529 words]
bold= superior talk
──────────────
steven grant rogers.
captain america.
──────────────

ＳＴＥＶＥ

[lavender moon]

It was fair to say Charity was amazed at how disrespectful this woman was. Charity had done nothing to gain their attention other than escaping a high-tech camp. Words didn’t have a chance to flow from her lips to defend herself because Rodgers did a great job of doing it for her. She owed him now. Simply put, she was amazed by him. No one had ever stuck up for her before. For as long as she could remember she had always had to fight for herself. No one would do that for her. And now here was this hero waltzing into her life to do it for her. Unfortunately, this woman was crazy and didn’t even attempt to reason. Luka began growling softly and Charity could tell he was not fond of this woman. If she was being completely honest, she was right there with him. This was not the kind of person she imagined Rodgers to work under. She had to bite her tongue half of the time so she wouldn’t punch the woman in the face. At the same time she could fee her powers beginning to come out, her emotions taking over once more. Once the woman hit the buzzer she couldn’t stay quiet anymore. “Now wait a moment. I do not need to be handled as a wild animal. I have done nothing but cooperate up until this point and I’ve done nothing to be treated like a criminal. Now by all means, feel free to take out whatever anger you have on me, but live Agent Rodgers out of this. He was only doing his job and tending to a request I made personally.” The words flowed together in one annoyed, pissed off stream. She couldn’t stand people like the one sitting in front of her. Of course, these words didn’t even faze the woman. She sent Rodgers out and left Charity and Luka alone with her. “You cannot, And will not, hold me here like a prisoner.” She told them woman, already walking towards the door, wanting to find Rodgers. Hopefully he could help her out if this place and to freedom. Luka followed behind her, blocking and guarding her from the crazy lady.

[ethium]

the supervisor sighed. id recommend remaining here until the team arrives. otherwise things are going to get messy.
she warned tapping her manicured fingers on her desk. but if you want to go, go. my men will take care of you regardless.
rogers had returned his equipment and had changed into regular clothing. He snatched his shield up and slid it onto his back
walking down the hallway towards the exit his expression composed yet his mind reeling over the short meeting that had just
occurred. How could someone have spoken to him like that? She was truly just another bully, and he had assumed SHIELD had
recovered fine. No. they were once again led by the corrupt, and there was nothing rogers could do about it. Not while she
had legions of good men and women at her disposal, totally willing to do anything she desired. He'd continue on with his life
as normally as possible, but he'd get rid of her eventually. He just had to bide his time. His thoughts once again dwindled back
to the girl, she was left alone with the woman he had newly made his top priority. She'd likely be taken to processing, but who
knows what his superior would subject her to now that he was out of the way. The only one willing to stop her and he was now
walking out the door. Though somehow rogers was fairly certain she'd be capable of taking them out on her own, she seemed
ready to take him out just a little bit ago, and he had been fully armed and expecting someone. Then again that was on her
own grounds. not to mention it was partially rogers's fault that she was here, he had convinced her that SHIELD was here to
keep her safe, little did he know his superior had no intention of keeping her off the radar, her mere intention was keeping
her job by archiving the activity of an enhanced individual. Likely the girl would be locked up, her canine pal taken away and
likely sent to a pound or sedated depending on how badly her pet injured the men while they separated the two. Anyone
looking onto this situation would think this was a mere punishment, something the girl deserved when in reality it was the
intentions of an ill-tempered high ranking employee. Who knows what wrath is supervisor would incur on a girl who could
easily be punished for just being herself. His supervisor could easily use her rank against the girl. The bad taste in rogers's
mouth didn't go away as he walked past the door he had left not ten minutes ago. However he paused just outside, maybe
he should get her out of here. It would go against everything he trained for, and he'd be once again taking on SHIELD for the
sake of one. Granted last time SHIELD had been under the complete control of hydra.. he swallowed and braced himself
ready to launch into battle. He'd take the girl and run, she could hide out wherever she had wanted to go before he had
interrupted and brought her to this hell hole. Then he'd have to be on the run for a bit, at least until things cooled down.

[547 words]
bold= superior talk
──────────────
steven grant rogers.
captain america.
──────────────

ＳＴＥＶＥ

[lavender moon]

A moment of hesitation. It was one of those times where she paused. It was a moment of weakness, if that’s was you desire to call it. A young child ready to do something maybe incredibly stupid while the mother of said child warns against it. Then again, mother’s don’t always know best. And that incredibly stupid action could become something incredibly freeing. Still, the child pauses. They’ve been broken done and reprogrammed to believe that mother always knows best. You’re reprogrammed to believe, she does everything for you.-Charity looked over her shoulder slightly and said, “I would be a coward to stay and give in. I’ve been a coward for far to long, love.”- However, sometimes, the child does the action anyways because sometimes a child can tell when a situation is unsafe and they need to be freed from it. And sometimes, the mother desperately wants to keep them where they are, not in fear of losing them, but in fear of looking bad in front of her friends.

Charity closed the door behind her. There wasn’t any more hesitation. She ran. Her legs were strong from running before and Luka followed right behind her. The plan to find Rodger’s first was lost now. All she could think to do was run. If she stayed she might not ever see the sun again. She could never see Luka again. Maybe her apartment was beautiful or glamorous, but it was the only home she had ever known and, for a while at least, she had been free there. Now she would have to move again. Thankfully she didn’t have many items to collect. Everything could be replaced. Her grey eyes focused on the door, she was so close. So close to freedom, so close to making it out. Maybe Rodgers hadn’t made it far yet. He seemed like he had wanted to help her and she wanted any help she could get from him. He had been the only person to stand up for her and protect her, and she was forever greatful to him for that. She pushed the door open so hard that it slammed right after Luka got out. She had slowed down a lot and was now running at a normal pace. She wouldn’t make it very far on foot and her vision was beginning to blur. When she saw Rodgers she slowed down. Partially because she wanted his help, hoping he’d know what to do, and partially because she couldn’t keep going. Luka let her lean on him a bit. He was a pretty large dog and, due to this, he could easily help her walk if she needed him. “Rodgers. I can’t go back in there. I can’t do it. I have to get away from here.” The words stumbled from her mouth, her vision becoming dim as she tried to stay focused.

[ethium]

he was already out the door when the girl dashed over to him. frantically she muttered words in strings rogers didn't fully
comprehend. He put his hands out to steady her. "It's okay, It's okay. I'll get you out of here, but first catch your breath if
your this exhausted just running out of the building. it's going to be a long trek." that's when he heard the sirens. usually
indicating an intruder or an escaped prisoner. Today it indicated the girl in front of him, catch her. at all costs. Shouts
erupted as more and more agents realized what was happening and began to fall back or stalk towards the exhausted girl.
Their work required that they follow these rules, it wasn't their fault. They didn't know what was going to happen to the
girl, their only concern was keeping their jobs and following their superiors orders. Even if their superior was corrupt and
merely wanted her own gains and benefits. He pulled his shield off his back holding it in front of the girl, his left arm was
ready to grab her and pull her to safety under the shield at a moments notice, provided the agents slowly surrounding them
open fire. "are you ready? cause we're gonna start running and we can't stop until we have some cover." cover was far off
likely they would open fire when they began running, meaning rogers would need to hold up the rear, hopefully her canine
could hold off the agents to the side while he took out the back. The girl would need to make a sprint for the buildings and
trees in the distance, no slowing down and no halting. The more they waited the more agents arrived, it wouldn't be long
before containment arrived with their darts to officially take them out. "go." he shouted and sprinted for the tree line keeping
the rear as some agents panicked and opened fire, if one of these stray bullets hit the girl all wouldn't exactly be lost, but
it'd slow them down significantly. Worse case scenario he had to grab her and run. hopefully the dog wouldn't maul him but
follow the girl instead. A chopper was taking off somewhere in the distance, rogers's brain began to panic. They didn't want
her that bad did they? He was wrong. they wanted her that badly. the chopper circled round ready to block their
escape. Roger's grit his teeth and partially sighed speeding up, he yanked his shield on his back and picked up the girl. "no
time for a heads up sorry." he grunted and sprinted headlong the helicopter didn't stand a chance. He panted exhausted as
they hit the treeline and cover but agents were still running, they were far behind due to rogers's running stamina and speed
being enhanced. but they were still running, still coming. and they were ready to grab the girl at all costs. He quietly set the
girl down. "sorry, again. there just wasn't any time and you weren't going fast enough to get past the helicopter." he huffed
again running his hands down his face before glancing at the advancing agents. "we need to hurry and get out of here, it wont
be long until they find you again. We need to get to your apartment if you want to grab things, they'll be heading there next
since they figure you'll return there." He concluded before running off down the street dodging into the alleyway and making
a break for the nearest car. He broke the window, no time for subtly he'd pay off whomever car this was. And hopped in,
starting it easily. Something he had known how to do since he was eighteen. "quickly, get in." he gestured to the car around
them as he unlocked the doors. They needed to get to her apartment and fast, then they'd need to break town and get out.

[655 words]
──────────────
steven grant rogers.
captain america.
──────────────

ＳＴＥＶＥ

[lavender moon]

His hands surprisingly did a lot to steady her. It reminded her to take a breather. Passing out in that moment wouldn’t mean anything good for any of them. The best thing to do would be to stay calm. That was easy to do when a bunch of well trained agents were after you. Then again... she had Steve with her. She gulped air down and nodded. Her grey eyes focused on his brilliant blue ones. She was torn from her thoughts by blaring sirens. Great. Now everyone was out to get her. A voice boomed over the sirens. “Catch her at all costs.” It demanded. It was insane. The way they were treating her you would think she was a criminal. And in a way, she was. She had killed people in camp, hadn’t she? But she wasn’t the same then. She had been brainwashed. That was the person she had been. Since then she hadn’t done harm to anyone. So, no, Charity Dawn Bridger was not a criminal. Agent 30126 was a criminal. She didn’t have much time to think on that though. “I don’t think I get much of a choice.” She said in response to him asking if she was ready. Luka was already growling and snapping his jaws at the people near by. His growl was enough to make grown men back off. Nevertheless, the agents pursued. Though some bid back off a bit. She wouldn’t take her chances on Luka, her, and Rodgers going against all of them though. Even if they did have powers. “Yeah. I’ve got it. No stopping what so ever.” She responded, ready to start running. As soon as the sound of the letter ‘g’ left his mouth she was running as quickly as she could. The sound of helicopter propellers beating the air and the engines roaring filled her ears. They were sending helicopters and agents after her? All she had done was walk out of a building where she was being held captive! What the hell had that insane woman told them? Again, there was no time to think. She had to focus on running. Luka was barking at the following agents but he kept up, and actually took the lead. Then, out of nowhere, she was being lifted. For a fleeting moment she thought Rodgers had been taken out and someone had grabbed her. To her relief it was only Rodgers. After a few seconds she was clutching onto him, terrified to look back in fear that the agents were nearing. Luka was behind them now. He was watching the rear. She looked over Rodgers’ shoulder. “Good boy.” She told him. That dog would be getting a ton of treats as soon as she was sure she would live long enough to get them to him. Just as suddenly as he had picked her up, he was potting her down. He apologized again, but Dawn couldn’t care less. He had literally just saved her life. There was no time to be mad at him for anything anyways. “Yeah, I figured.” She said as he hijacked a nearby car. At first when she saw him run off she had panicked, thinking he had decided she wasn't worth the trouble. A sigh of relief left her when she saw him pull the car around. Normally, she would have hesitated. She hated cars more than just about anything. However, there was nothing normal about the situation they were in. She threw open the side door. "Luka! In!" She called to him. In a blur of black, tan, and brown fur the dog leapt into the car and dove into the back seat. She herself then got in and looked the door. "Don't worry about hitting my apartment. There's nothing in there worth grabbing. We need to get out of New York. Is there anywhere you know of that's safe from SHEILD? Somewhere remote. Definitely not a city." She said, buckling her seat belt before turning to look at him. She was breathing again, at a relatively normally rate. Her vision had cleared and her powers were in check. Those were all extremely good signs to her. Luka was looking out the back window of the truck at the helicopters in the distance. He was still growling softly. This time, Dawn didn't say anything to him. He could growl at the copters all he wanted to. They deserved it for trying to take her out.

[ethium]

rogers swallowed and racked his brain, a place they could go? it then struck him like lightning. he had an
old place just outside of town, where he used to go to paint the scenery. It was lovely out there, isolated
and quiet. they could see anything that was coming in or out for at least a mile. A nice old lady lived out
there, she might just let them stay for a while until he could find more permanent housing. There was
plenty of space for luka and the girl. Rogers if anything would willingly sleep outside under the stars. The
rocks were old friends when it came to sleep anyway. He stepped on the gas, speeding down the street,
some agents had abandoned chase having seen they were now in a vehicle. but he heard the familiar
sirens of SHIELD vehicles equipped with anything to take them out. And they weren't being discreet either
they were willing to have public incidents, which meant they needed this girl for something other than to
just document the fact that she was an enhanced individual. They wanted something from her, he'd need
to ask the girl later if she knew anything for now there was no time to waste. As he sped down side streets
avoiding traffic and following as many traffic laws as possible while still avoiding the dark colored SHIELD
vehicles which were most definitely armored. He finally lost them, after a large round of swerving, parking
and hiding in alleyways that he could fit with the totally innocent vehicle housing a super soldier, enhanced
girl and a giant male German shepherd. He then booked it out of town, easier than he had anticipated, which
had rogers checking his rear view mirror far often than he should have as he sped out of the town and out of
SHIELD radars. though if they thought they could track him they would, he knew for a fact they couldn't. He
bought all of his own clothing and had anticipated an event like this, to insure tracking him was improbable
he had taken care of everything clothing wise, or anything he'd keep on him on a regular basis was bought by
his own hand. Then again he'd double check everything once he got to the farmhouse, just to be safe. He'd
need to ask the girl if he could check her things as well, a bug might have been planted on her in the short
time she had been at SHIELD. In all honesty you could never tell with SHIELD.

[428 words]
──────────────
steven grant rogers.
captain america.
──────────────

ＳＴＥＶＥ

[lavender moon]

The young woman held onto the sides of the car. The sounds of the SHEILD cars blaring in her mind. It didn’t last for long though. Slowly, but surely, the sirens faded until the only thing she heard was the soft rumbling of the truck she was in. The female shut her eyes tightly for a few moments. Now that the rush was gone her mind had caught up to the fact that she was in a truck, a dead she was trying to force herself to get over. Her breath was a bit shaky still, as she hated cars and was very much afraid of them. However, after about an hour or so she was able to calm down. They were safe now. Well, as safe as two runaways could be. As she began to relax she put her feet up in the dash and leaned back as she watched the fields go byz they had gotten far out of the city now. It honestly didn’t surprise her. Rodgers had sped at an extremely fast rate through the streets. Now that they weren’t on the crowed highways outside of the city it was easier to travel. Now trees and fields were flying past. She had no problem with the view. The only forest she had ever had the privilege of seeing was Central Park. After all, it hadn’t been that long since she escaped and she didn’t remember much about her escape. It was a lot of fuzziness. In fact, the only things she remembered about Camp were the things she’d seen in her flashbacks. This didn’t worry her though. It was her normal. Not to mention it wouldn’t be surprising if Camp erases the agents memory on the regular. It was easier to keep everyone obident when obedience was the only thing anyone knew. Luka seemed to enjoy watching the trees to. He actually tried to hope up front a few times to see better. This caused Dawn to do something even more unusual for her.... she giggled. Yes, giggled. It was soft but sweet and noticeable. Luka licked her lovingly before returning to the back seat and laying down with his head on his paws. “So, I’m guessing you know of somewhere.” She said, finally addressing Rodgers. They hadn’t really spoken since getting in the car but, now that they were safe, all Dawn wanted to do was talk. She wanted to know more about... Well... everything. She wanted to learn about Rodgers himself, what his story was, how he ended up working for such a place. She wanted to learn about the word. About what it was like to grow up free. She wanted to learn about all of it. And now, she finally had someone who could answer her questions. She had full intentions of taking advantage of that.

[ethium]

as he drove he raised his eyebrows as he heard a distinct giggle, and since the dog couldn't
exactly giggle he had to assume it was the girls. He couldn't help but smile, at least she was lightening up.
"yeah i know of a place. Used to come out here when i needed a break, there's a nice old lady who lives
out here who might be willing to help us." he smiled fondly, she had always baked him cookies, had
said she enjoyed his company. but when work called he stopped coming around. hopefully she wasn't too
offended. He hadn't had meant to leave her alone for so long, oh how guilty he'd feel if she happened to be
hurt or had died while he was gone. She was such a sweet old lady. Immediately he felt guilt wash over his frame
and went silent his smile disappearing he focused on the road ahead, no longer interested in conversation. "uh-"
he felt choked up but he forced himself to focus. "would you be opposed to telling me your name? if your still
hesitant it doesn't matter that much." he inquired as he quietly hummed an old song he had heard on the radio
in his head. It was catchy and to be perfectly honest rogers wasn't completely positive he was humming it.
"where are you from anyway? I'll share my story if you'll share yours?" he asked curiously, it wasn't fair to say he
wasn't completely curious why SHIELD was so interested in her. Clearly she had something going on? perhaps
she had stolen something from SHIELD? he really should have gotten the full story before helping her, she could
actually deserve SHIELD's attention if she had stolen something or killed someone. then again he wouldn't judge
her until he knew the full story, so far she had proved herself as someone worthy of his attention.

[314 words]
──────────────
steven grant rogers.
captain america.
──────────────

ＳＴＥＶＥ