Chapter Text
“Nope. I don’t believe you.”
“Oh, come on,” Sam protested. “Why don’t you believe me?”
Carmen rolled her eyes. “You seriously expect me to believe that you met Captain America while you were jogging, and now the two of you are best buds?”
“Yes,” Sam said.
Carmen crossed her arms, but she was smiling. “Fine. Prove it.”
“Fine,” Sam said. “He usually comes to my Thursday three o’clock group. Sometimes. Occasionally. Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“Well, he mostly shows up halfway through and then sneaks in,” Sam admitted. “And then just sits in the back silently until it ends.”
“Well,” Carmen said thoughtfully. “That’s better than nothing.”
Sam sighed. “I guess.”
Carmen pulled out her phone and started flipping through the calendar in it. “My last appointment is at three tomorrow. I’ll meet you outside?”
“Sure,” Sam said. “I’ll make Steve hang around after so you can meet him.”
Carmen narrowed her eyes as she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door. “I’ll hold you to that, Wilson!”
Sam grinned at the door long after it had swung shut.
Carmen Martinez was Sam’s age, but she was already a prominent psychiatrist down at the hospital. She worked at the VA two afternoons a week, offering pro-bono appointments to those who couldn’t afford it. Sam had seen a huge difference in a lot of the vets during the two months that Carmen had been there.
They’d been on a few dates so far. Nothing too serious, just a few trips to Starbucks and a quick stop for dinner after work. They’d spent a fair amount of time together though, working on some programs they wanted to start at the VA. Sam was pretty excited about it. About the programs, and about Carmen.
She also had a three year old daughter named Cecily, whose favourite superhero was Captain America. Sam was kind of hoping to score bonus points with both Carmen and Cecily by introducing them to Steve.
To Sam’s relief, Steve did actually show up to the group the next day. He came in late, just like he always did, and took a seat in the back of the room silently.
Sam tried not to wince when he finally got a good look at him. Steve looked… well, he looked terrible. Not that Sam would say that to his face. Actually, no, he might say that to Steve’s face.
Steve’s shoulders were hunched, and he seemed to almost curl in on himself as he sat on the uncomfortable metal folding chair. His skin was sallow, and the dark circles under his eyes were almost as bad as they’d been when he and Sam were in Russia. His clothes looked clean, at least, but the plain sweater and jeans he was wearing didn’t make it look like he’d really put a lot of effort into his appearance.
Sam sighed again.
When the group finished, Sam made a beeline for Steve. Sometimes Steve ducked out the back door before Sam would even get a chance to talk with him.
“Hey,” Sam said cheerfully. “Wanna help me fold up these chairs? I’ve got to get this room cleaned up before I can leave tonight.”
“Of course, Sam,” Steve said with a smile. It didn’t reach his eyes.
With Steve’s help, they got the chairs and tables folded up and packed away in what was probably record time. Sam said goodbye to all the other group members as they got their stuff and left, leaving him and Steve alone in the room.
“So, remember that woman I told you about?” Sam said, shoving one of the stacks of chairs into the corner of the room.
“The psychiatrist?” Steve asked. He finished stacking the rest of the chairs.
“Yeah,” Sam said. “She – “
He glanced behind him as the door opened, and Carmen walked in.
“Speak of the devil,” Sam said with a grin.
Carmen rolled her eyes. “Rude.”
Sam laughed. “Steve, this is Carmen. Carmen, this is Steve.”
“Nice to meet you,” Steve said politely. He held out his hand.
Carmen had her phone in one hand, and she only glanced up at Steve as she went to shake his hand.
“Nice to meet – “ she started, and then her eyes widened. “Oh.”
Sam couldn’t help it. He laughed.
Carmen scowled at him, finally letting Steve’s hand go. “Don’t laugh at me, Wilson!”
Sam ignored her and continued to laugh. “It was funny! I’ve never seen you lost for words before.”
“I’m not lost for words,” Carmen protested. She turned back to Steve, who was watching them with a small smile. “It’s great to meet you, Steve. Sam’s told me a lot about you. Would it be rude of me to ask you for an autograph? My daughter is a huge fan of yours.”
“I’d be happy to,” Steve said. Carmen smiled and grabbed a notebook and pen from her bag, handing it to Steve.
“What’s her name?” Steve asked, already starting to write.
“Cecily.”
Steve finished, and handed the notebook back to her. “You guys heading out for the evening?”
“We’re going for dinner at that new pizza place down the street,” Carmen said.
“Oh, I heard its good,” Steve said distractedly as he followed them out of the building. He was looking at something on his phone.
“Want to come with us?” Sam asked.
“What?” Steve asked, looking up. He glanced between the two of them. “Oh, no. Thank you.”
“Come on,” Sam insisted. “When was the last time you actually ate a meal? And I’m not counting a bag of chips that you bought from the corner store as a meal.”
Steve frowned at him.
“This autograph is going to absolutely make my daughter’s day,” Carmen said. “The least I can do is buy you dinner.”
“It’s really fine,” Steve tried.
“Not taking no for an answer!” Sam said over his shoulder as he led the way out of the building and down the street.
The restaurant exclusively had booths instead of tables, and they ended up squished in one in the corner. Sam and Carmen sat next to each other, leaving Steve to sit by himself on the other side of the table.
Carmen managed to keep the conversation going. It still ended up being mostly her talking to Sam, though. Sam kept trying to include Steve in the conversation, but Steve would just answer the question and go back to staring out the window.
At least he ate the food when it finally came. He wolfed down his pizza in half the time that it took Sam and Carmen to finish theirs.
“So, Steve,” Carmen said as she picked up another piece of pizza. “What have you been up to lately? Now that you’re back from travelling with Sam?”
Steve, who was staring out the window again, didn’t seem to hear her.
“Steve,” Sam prompted.
Steve blinked. “Sorry. Uh, not much, really. I don’t have a lot to do.”
“No more aliens dropping out of the sky?” Carmen asked.
“Not that I know of,” Steve said.
The conversation continued, and Steve turned to look out the window again. Occasionally he’d pull his phone out and stare at it for a while, even though Sam doubted he was getting any texts.
Finally, they finished eating and left the restaurant. Steve ducked up to the register before either Sam or Carmen could, and paid for their entire bill despite their protests.
“Thanks for dinner, guys,” Steve said once they were back outside.
“No, thank you!” Carmen protested. “You paid for it!”
Steve shrugged. “It’s fine.”
“We’ll get the next one,” Carmen said firmly.
“Okay,” Steve said. “Um, I should probably get going. It was nice to meet you, Carmen. Nice to see you, Sam.”
He turned and started walking.
“Steve!” Sam called. “Hey, man! Are we gonna start back up running this week?”
Steve paused. “Uh, maybe. I’ll call you.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Will you, though?”
“Of course,” Steve lied unconvincingly. “See you guys later.”
Sam and Carmen watched him go.
Carmen was frowning. “Is he okay?”
“No,” Sam said.