"Alright, I'm here," Sam announces to Nick Fury, quickly striding into the room looking particularly annoyed at being called in for some super-secret reason that apparently couldn't be discussed over the phone- on his day off.
"Good timing. I've got someone for you to meet. Someone I think would be an excellent candidate for the Avengers initiative."
Sam's head tilts slightly, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Shouldn't this go to Steve or Tony? Why me?"
"She has her... detriments and I think it would be better if she was slowly introduced. To avoid overwhelming her."
"If she's easily overwhelmed, this is probably not the job for her," Sam retorts.
"Trust me when I tell you it's for your own benefit that we don't overwhelm her," Nick cryptically comments.
"Not another assassin. Please not another assassin," Sam begs, it was bad enough that two of his closest friends were super soldiers and he was constantly surrounded by people who were trained to kill him in the blink of an eye, he didn't want to add another person to that list.
"She's not an assassin. Just unfamiliar with the world."
Sam's eyes narrow in suspicion. "How unfamiliar?"
"Very," Nick says, sliding over the file to him.
Sam skims it at first, barely taking in any of the information in front of him. Then the further he goes, the more enthralled and interested in your story he becomes and the more certain he becomes that he is not the man for the job. "She's never had contact with the outside world?"
"No."
"I can't take this on." Sam immediately slides the file back. "This is a job for Steve, Bruce- Vision, even. You want me to introduce her to everything? On top of all the baggage that this girl has. Do you hear how crazy that sounds?"
"She's unassimilated, but highly intelligent and very powerful . This is a person we want on our side."
"Don't you have agents for this kind of thing?"
"Wilson, she's a completely clean slate. A human raised in captivity without the slightest clue about the outside world. The next 2 years of her life will be the strangest, most difficult transition period we've ever seen, and it will make or break her," Fury forcefully states, sliding the file back. "In the wrong hands, she could be an apocalyptic threat. Now, I need someone on the straight and narrow. Someone with patience and experience that can work with her- introduce her to the world. You've got experience working with people with PTSD, para-rescue, you're the perfect person for this- I want it to be you."
"I want to meet her first," Sam bites back, refusing to agree to anything until he meets this mysterious person.
"Fine."
Together they walk into a small room just off to the side. It's brightly colored with a small TV mounted to the wall. There's scattered toys and books all around the room. It's for all intents and purposes a room for children, so he has to wonder why you're in here at all. He doesn't see your face, your back is turned and you're staring out the window, completely oblivious to the two men. Sam calls your name, not loudly enough that you're certain he's talking to you. You remain completely still, staring at the busy streets and not moving a muscle to avoid doing the wrong thing.
"Hey," Nick calls a little louder and you unfreeze at the familiar voice, the one person you'd come to trust. You whirl around and Sam has to admit that you are not what he expected. You take a look at the two men and watch them for a minute longer than socially acceptable, making Sam a little uncomfortable.
Nick points to Sam. "He's a friend. Good guy."
"Friend?" you cautiously nod, sliding off the window sill and slowly approaching the two of them.
"Friend."
You nod again with a little more assurance. "Hello."
"Hi, I'm Sam. Sam Wilson," he reaches out to shake your hand. You jolt back from his hand, and he doesn't miss the fear that momentarily flashes in your eyes. Sam takes his own hand and demonstrates a handshake with himself. "Just a handshake. I won't hurt you."
"Handshake?" you echo, your tone questioning.
"Handshake- it's another way to say hello," Sam further explains.
"Ah...I understand."
"How about you two go on a walk? She hasn't seen much of New York yet."
Sam side-eyes Fury, knowing exactly what he's trying to do. "Fine," he smiles, then whispers to Fury, "But I haven't agreed to anything yet."
"You will," Fury confidently states.
Sam's watching you intently, watching as you take in the busy city streets and the loud noise, and he waits for the inevitable moment of culture shock. For you to look at him in fear and try to run back to the building. But you don't. You're looking at the world with the awe and wonderment of a child being let loose in the city for the first time.
"You hungry?" he asks, nudging his head to the hot dog cart on the other side of the street.
"Hungry?" you repeat.
"Eat. Like food?"
You nod, excited at hearing a familiar word. "Yes, I eat food."
"I know," he chuckles. "We all do."
"This is a hot dog," Sam explains, walking up to the cart. "You can get whatever you want on it, but people will judge you based on what you decide. I'd recommend starting you off with a plain one."
You simply nod your head along to what he's saying, piecing together the words as quickly as you can while also trying to puzzle together the man in front of you. Though you weren't experienced with people, for some reason you felt like you could trust the man in front of you, even beyond Fury's assurances- he seemed kind, patiently explaining things to you without condescension. You decided right then and there that you could listen to your instincts and trust the man.
"Okay," he nods, then turns away from you to order. With two hot dogs in his hand, the two of you make your way to a nearby park bench to eat.
You smile at Sam, almost finished with your hot dog. "This is good."
"Glad you like it."
When you're done, you take the waxy paper and ball it up in your hand. Sam looks in confusion as you look at the ball in your hand. As he's about to offer to throw it away for you, you set the paper on fire and let it burn in your hand.
"Jesus," Sam jolts back, away from the small, yet contained, fire. "That's one way to get rid of your garbage." You open your hand again to show Sam the few remaining ashes, then let the wind carry them away. "Cool."
You smile, closing your hand again. "You like?"
"Very cool."
You hold out your closed hand to Sam again. Then with a grin, you open it to reveal a small sunflower in your palm. "For you," you nod, gesturing for him to grab it.
Sam gently grabs the flower, rolling it in between his pointer finger and thumb. He sighs in resignation, too quiet for you to hear over the loud cityscape, "I'm going to regret this."
By the time the two of you make it back, Fury has a knowing smirk on his face- it's almost enough to make Sam change his mind. "I'll do it."
"Told you. She grows on you."
Sam rolls his eyes, grabbing the file again. "Yeah, yeah. What exactly does this entail?"
"You're going to be in charge of making her a fully functional adult, then a fully functional Avenger."
"Fine, but we're going to do this my way."
"That's fair. There's about a handful of people that know about her, I highly suggest you only include those absolutely vital to her development. Everything else is in the file, her full history, everything we know about her. It's all there."
"Anything else?" Sam exhales deeply.
"Yes, actually," Nick hesitantly sighs. "Be gentle."
"She grew on you too?" Sam sarcastically remarks, fully expecting Fury to laugh at him- except he doesn't.
"You've spent all of an hour with her and you agreed to a 24/7 detail for an undetermined amount of time. I've been watching her for almost a month. Do with that what you will."