The Causeway, Wednesday afternoon

[heroic_jawline]

After the Avengers had sent Loki with Thor back to their home planet (a fact he didn't dwell too much on in case his head exploded. Aliens existed, apparently, and enjoyed capes, drama, and inflicting massive property damage. Huh.), Steve'd taken off for a road trip to see America.

Well, if he was being honest--and he tried to be--it was to get out of New York, which was both too much like it used to be and heartbreakingly unfamiliar. At least the flat parts of the country were still reassuringly flat, and pie and cheap coffee were still pretty much the same.

He'd dropped off of SHIELD's radar, and had been...if not content, at least finding his new neutral, when a waitress in Rapid City, South Dakota had winked at him. "Phone's for you, hon," she said, pointing behind the counter. "You're Steve, right? You look like a Steve."

And that's when Steve had discovered 1) he hadn't been off the radar at all 2) Nick Fury was a terrifyingly efficient man and 3) Steve was apparently now a high school teacher.

And two days late already to his new job. He took another day and a half to drive back across the country out of sheer stubbornness, parked his motorcycle in the parking lot and walked across the causeway with his worldly possessions slung in a US Army-issue duffel and a circular leather bag along his back.

He stopped halfway across and stared up and up and up at the castle.

"Well, this sure isn't public school," he commented dryly, swiping his hair out of his eyes and squaring his shoulders.

Here went nothin'.

[OOC: omg so open.]

Comments

[good_for_six]

Against her better judgement about going out of doors in this cold, Isabela needed to check on the Call so sh'd done that after classes. She was headed towards the Perk and it's warm, welcoming warmth when she caught sight of something that made her forget the weather entirely.

"Well, hello, sweet thing."

ISABELA, NO!

[heroic_jawline]

Steve turned around to see who she was talking to.

There was, surprisingly, no one behind him.

"Oh. Me?"

[good_for_six]

Steve turning gave her a very nice view indeed.

"There's not anyone else around, sweet thing." The look she was giving him couldn't really be described as anything but predatory, but you know, in a friendly kind of way. "Guess that makes me your welcoming committee."

Isabela, no.

[heroic_jawline]

Oh, God, this was Private Lorraine all over again, and Steve still didn't know how to get out of it without getting shot at.

"Um."

Eloquent, Steve.

"I'm Steve Rogers," he finally managed, giving himself a mental pat on the back. "I'm the new teacher."

[good_for_six]

...oh. But since he wasn't one of her teachers, it probably didn't count.

Isabela, that wasn't how it worked.

"I'm Isabela. It's very nice to meet you."

[throughaphase]

Kitty had errands to run (and a birthday present to get) and sometimes that was hard to do on a small island with squirrels watching you. So she was headed out when she saw a familiar face and stopped.

"Uh, hi."

[SP but I haaad to.]

[heroic_jawline]

"Hi?" Steve said, smiling politely. "Have we met before?"

[throughaphase]

"Maybe." He looked younger than she was used to, but that didn't necessarily mean anything here. "Bear with me here. What's your name?"

[heroic_jawline]

"Steve Rogers," he replied promptly, even doing the unconscious shoulder-straightening of a trained military officer.

[throughaphase]

"So I know a version of you at least. Kitty Pryde. Hi," she smiled.

[imafuturist]

Oh sure, the one time Tony wasn't holed up in his lab. "...Cap?"

Wait, no. He was way too young.

[heroic_jawline]

Dark hair, stupid beard...but what on Earth was he doing in this place?

"Stark?" Steve replied, frowning. "Did Fury send you here too?"

[imafuturist]

Excuse you, his beard was amazing. You jealous little man, you.

"Fury?" Tony made a face at the thought. Then he took out his phone to make sure Steve wasn't an alien. By holding it up to his shoulder for a test.

Paranoia was okay when you'd been kidnapped by shapeshifting aliens, okay?

"Try Pepper and Jan."

[heroic_jawline]

Steve stared at the phone, eyebrows furrowing. "Who's Jan?"

Another girlfriend? Probably.

[imafuturist]

That really got a concerned look, but he wasn't a Skrull. Go you!

"Wasp? Janet van Dyne?" Not ringing any bells? "...you're like Barton, aren't you."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

Laura had been exploring the mainland, making sure the things she would eventually want to find there (aka nightclubs and safehouses) were, well, there, so by the time she was walking back she noticed the man. More importantly, she noticed the smell. Familiar enough, but not identical. Curious.

Stopping next to him, Laura eyed the man that was most likely Captain America. "Actually, I do not think anyone pays for their tuition here." At least she wasn't, as far as she knew.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve smiled. "Well, that's a load off," he said. "But still...fancier than I grew up with by a looooong shot. I'm Steve Rogers, new teacher."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"I suppose. My name is Laura Kinney." She blinked, but got over her surprise quickly enough. "You do not who I am."

[heroic_jawline]

"Sorry," Steve said with a slightly apologetic smile. "I seem to be doing that a lot today."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

Considering her own Cap was never going to look at her without feeling that righteous need to put her behind bars, Laura was a bit glad. "Do not worry, the version of you I know and me are not in good terms. I hope we can do things differently."

Mostly by omitting all the things.

[so_hawkward]

Clint was terribly late was heading through town when he saw the familiar face, and he stopped short for a moment, like he wasn't sure it could really be Steve. "Cap?" he asked, grinning at him.

[heroic_jawline]

Curse you, timezones! Steve looked relieved to see a familiar face. "Barton?"

[so_hawkward]

Clint laughed and went over, looking him up and down. "What are you doing here?" He had a few ideas, but he needed to know if this was his Steve or not.

[heroic_jawline]

"Teaching American history, apparently," Steve said dryly. "Director Fury's a real crack-up."

That was probably the least true thing to have been said about Fury in a while.

[so_hawkward]

"Well, who better to teach it than someone who lived through a chunk of it," Clint said with a smirk. "Did he, you know, mention much of anything about this place?"