#gemsandgin

Steve looked at the paint samples Maria laid out before him and he wrinkled his nose. “None of those will work. I know you’re an art connoisseur, but I’m an artist. And that... that is a bit too much for a baby’s room. It should be softer, don’t you think?” 

Sarah finished exchanging papers with her contact and let out sigh of relief as he scuttled off. She pulled her hat down, shading her eyes and slipped her hands into her trouser pockets, wondering how long she should linger before hurrying off. There were always people watching, and after a moment she headed around the corner, hoping that it would just seem like she was just another man looking for some company for the night. That’s when she caught the eye of a prostitute. She smiled.

Steve had been defrosted for a month now and he still didn’t know what to do with himself. Howard had generously allowed him to stay in his home while Steve figured it out, but that only seemed to make matters worse. He wasn’t used to having nothing to do. Even as a sickly little boy, he’d sold papers on the street corner. 

Steve had been waiting all week for this day and now that it was finally hear, he was in a frenzy. After school, he hadn’t even bothered to change into his street clothes, just hoped on the subway and got off in Manhattan. He knew exactly where Marius lived: a condo in a big high rise overlooking the park. He took the elevator all the way up and knocked on the door. He bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for Marius to answer. 

“Are you Maria Collins Carbonell?” Steve asked, though he knew she was. She might be younger than the woman he knew, but she was still *her*. Still she was cute: fresh faced and collegiate. 

The night was cold, the wind blowing right through Steve’s threadbare clothing. At least the cold brought some color to his cheeks, though if he didn’t find a trick soon, he was gonna be out on his ass because he couldn’t pay his rent. But he thought he’d get lucky; there’d been a raid a few nights ago and a lot of the other boys were afraid to go out so soon after. No one wanted to get arrested for deviancy. But a boy had to eat and he’d been doing this long enough to know how not to get caught. 

Steve clasped his hands behind his back and paced around the room, waiting for Mr. Carbonell to come back from his phone call so they could finish their conversation. Steve already knew that Carbonell wasn’t going to join SHIELD, but he had a job to do, and he was going to do it, dammit. He stopped in front of a picture of a naked woman staring at herself in a mirror and sighed. 

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