RHETT REISER'S HEART SOARED AS HE RAN TO HOME BASE, ARMS ABOVE HIS HEAD. HE ALWAYS DID LOVE BASEBALL. This particular one was an easy win, same as always, but it never ceased to bring him copious amounts of joy. He loved running and he loved playing, loved laughing along with his friends from the street, avoiding getting in trouble, but still winding up in it regardless.

He jogged to his soda bottle, mouth watering at the thought of the cold liquid easing the scratch of his throat. He took a long sip, eyes rolling to the back of his head at the strawberry flavor, mouth stretching into a smile.

He kept his eyes closed and his head thrown back, freezing when he felt someone watching him. Lowering his drink carefully, he turned and found a small blond boy sitting on some steps watching him. Rhett didn't know him well, but he vaguely remembered someone talking about the near deaf and dumb kid who was friends with James Barnes.

He walked towards him, unsure if the boy would be able to hear his words. He frowned when the already tiny boy curled more in on himself, looking down. He raised his voice, making it as clear as it was at school.

"You want a sip?"

The boy slowly lifted his head. "What?"

Rhett frowned, raising his voice some more. "Do. You. Want. A. Sip?"

The boy jumped with every shout, as if afraid. He bit his lip and nodded slowly before stopping and quickly shaking his head, looking away. He looked so sad.

Rhett sat down next to him and held out his bottle, lowering his voice slightly so as to be heard, but not to scare the other blond.

"It's okay. Go on."

○ ○ ○

Rhett wasn't himself without his coffee. He was a snack sort of person more than anything, often choosing to snack over eating actual meals, something that his roommate constantly fussed over, going so far as to hide the snacks and only place meals on the dining table. Coffee was his one true love, though he had no trouble falling asleep. Usually.

He stood in line in the coffee shop that was known for having a great view of Stark Tower—or Avengers Tower, he could never tell with its current name anymore, the billionaire changed it every other day it seemed.

He yawned, tapping his fingers idly against his leg as he continued walking in line. He thought about Stark Tower—though it really wasn't Stark's anymore as he had sold it—and quickly moved onto his previous owner, pursing his lips; he would have loved to have met the man. His roommate had and it would continuously be something he envied.

Tony Stark probably had a killer handshake.

His musings were soon cut short as he reached the front of the line, smiling as he quickly ordered, dropping his change into the tip jar before stepping out of line, waiting for his drink. He didn't go to Starbucks like most of the other people, mostly due to its high prices and longer lines, though he had nothing against it in general.

Coffee was coffee and he needed a boost.

It was the weekend and he had already finished grading, so he was treating himself to a day of just getting out of the house and sitting outside. He didn't feel like playing baseball that day, so it was for the best that he just sit.

He smiled as he received his plate and coffee, making his way to the tables outside. He raised his eyebrows as he realized they were all full. He worried on his bottom lip; Nicky often told him of the exercises he did when he used to work with younger patients, sitting with strangers at Starbucks tables without asking permission. Psychologists had no shame.

He was tired and he needed this.

Sighing, he made his way towards the empty seat across from a man wearing an inconspicuous blue hat and plain t-shirt, a leather jacket thrown over his shoulders. He looked very much like a celebrity trying to hide from the paparazzi and the thought made Rhett smile. He couldn't see his face as he was turned slightly away, sketching something idly.

Not wanting to be rejected, he just sat down and pulled out a book, beginning to read as he waiting for his coffee to cool down. He noticed the man pause for a moment, probably to give him a quizzical look, before accepting the situation and continuing to sketch.

It was a miracle.

He made it halfway through the book before he realized he hadn't had coffee to drink in over five chapters. He sighed and set it down, staring at the empty mug. He wanted to stand up and ask for a refill, but then maybe he wouldn't be able to sit back down. Also, he felt comfortable in his current position.

"Staring at it usually doesn't do much."

He lifted his head to look at his table mate, surprised by the comment. Before he could say anything, he gasped, his heart leaping into his throat.

It was Captain America.

He looked exactly how he had when he had seen him at the baseball diamond where Nicky tried to assure him that the man he had spoken to definitely wasn't Captain America. But here he was again, right in front of him.

Serendipity was a benevolent lover.

It seemed that Rhett wasn't alone in his shocking revelation as Captain America himself did a double take, his eyes widening in disbelief.

They stared at each other for a few moments, neither knowing what to say, yet both wanting to make some form of conversation. Finally, they turned away and nothing was said.

Rhett continued to read his book, his right hand idly tracing around the lip of his cup. It took him a good few minutes to calm himself down enough to refocus on his book, though he had lowered it significantly so that he could see the other man who had begun to sketch on a new page.

Finally, he stood up and went to put away his cup, no longer wanting coffee, but not wanting to read either. He figured he could just sit and enjoy the atmosphere.

He smiled as he handed the girl at the counter his mug, her blonde hair reminding him of a friend he had yet to speak to in the past week.

He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text.

to: Diana (9:26 pm)
You still alive, kiddo?

An instant reply.

from: Diana (9:26 pm)
Watching a dog movie,
so not for long

He snorted and sent a quick emoji before pocketing his phone and raising his head, frowning when he neared the table and found it empty.

Thoughts quickly whirled in his head, but he pushed them away easily. Luckily for him, he wasn't the sort to have intrusive thoughts, something he was constantly grateful for.

As he neared, he saw that there was a paper wedged underneath the napkin holder on top of the table.

He glanced around, unsure if he should look at it. But his natural curiosity took over and he neatly pulled it from under the holder and raised an eyebrow, adjusting his glasses as he looked at it.

It was a picture of the coffee cup he had been fiddling with. He looked at the empty seat across from his own.

He reached into his satchel and pulled out the book he had been reading, placing it neatly between the pages he had been on.

With one last look to the empty table, he turned around and headed back to his apartment.

º º º

Rhett Reiser had an interesting life. His childhood had been fairly normal enough, though it wasn't as calm as others had it, but it had that childhood naivety to it that he appreciated later on in his years. He couldn't remember his teen life that well and would rather he didn't, if he was being honest. He tried not to think about his parents too much because that was a rabbit hole that made him spiral down a road that had no end or real payoff once it was finished.

So he focused more on the world he was in now, which wasn't any more normal.

He made his way to his apartment in Brooklyn that he shared with his roommate, though the latter could often be found at his office if his schedule actually had patients. He had recently acquired one that paid very well and as a result, he was often out and doing the best he could to earn the money he was being given. There had been brief talk about them moving to a nicer apartment—or Nicky getting his own, a suggestion of Rhett—but it was immediately killed with a simple, "I like the way we are now."

So he focused on the now and the apartment they stayed in where their favorite restaurants knew their usual orders and where to deliver.

He opened the gate and climbed up to their floor, the elevator forever being broken after a mishap that Nicky may or may not have been directly involved in and responsible for.

He pulled out his keys and stepped into the apartment, locking the door behind him. He sighed and dropped his satchel onto one of the chairs on the dining table, calling out the empty room.

"Honey, I'm home!"

There was a sound of shuffling items and a quick curse before the door towards the far right in a small alcove, the one facing the apartment entrance door, opened, revealing a man about Rhett's age with messy brunette hair and a wide jaw.

He yawned, opening his mouth to near bone breaking proportions. "Hey, man, how was it?"

"Did you sleep in the whole day?" Rhett asked, noticing how the man was still in his sleep wear.

"Yeah," Nicky said, yawning again, "I'm still catching up, you know?"

Rhett pursed his lips into a sad smile. There had been a period of time, longer than they would ever admit to anyone else, where neither got much sleep, Nicky less than Rhett.

It would be hard to explain to a person who didn't know who Nicky was, but the man had very powerful connections and had never dealt with any of the negative repercussions until it all came to a head at the end of September when his step-brother came to him with a proposition that he ultimately turned down. Though those men went to jail, there was still the fear of others finding out as well.

It was the middle of October now and Nicky was finally getting some much needed sleep. The man was a worrier and Rhett didn't make it any easier for him.

"Did you see Captain America again?" Nicky joked, making a face as he made his way to the kitchen.

After he had received the call from Rhett at the baseball diamond, he had been making jokes about the famed hero. Despite Nicky himself having met and being in close contact with Tony Stark, the idea of Rhett running into Steve Rogers was absurd.

"Okay, don't mock me, I believed you when you said Tony Stark was sitting in our living room for the better part of a few hours," Rhett scoffed, feeling a spark of irritation in his chest.

"Because it was realistic," Nicky scoffed.

Despite how odd it must have been for someone to listen in and hear that said, it made sense. For months, starting at the beginning of the year, Nicky had been aiding Queen-local turned New York's infamous Spider-Man, a teenage boy going by the name of Peter Parker. With that came the inevitable meet with Tony Stark himself, though it wasn't the way either of them pictured it.

"Why is it unrealistic for me to meet Captain America if Iron Man was in our living room?" Rhett demanded, following him towards the pantry, pulling out some snacks, pointedly ignoring Nicky's disproving look.

"Well, for one, Steve Rogers is currently a war criminal," Nicky pointed out, "And two, Tony did mention something to me during our session that I can't say due to confidentiality agreements, however, I will say that even with these particular things in place, you bumping into him in Central Park, with the number of people there every hour, much less every day, is highly unlikely. Unless you bumped into him again, I'm calling it your active imagination making links."

Rhett took a minute to weigh his options before saying, "We sat at the same table at that coffee shop in front of Stark Tower today."

There was a twitch in Nicky's movements, a complete shock, as if he were about to scream, before he completely mellowed. His expression turned blank and he froze. After a moment, he walked calmly towards Rhett and placed the back of his hand on the taller man's forehead.

"Don't do that!" Rhett snapped, waving away at the man's hand. Nicky did that often, much to his chagrin.

"Rhett," the man began slowly, in a patronizing tone, "You do know you just told me something so completely idiotic—"

"He drew me a picture," Rhett interrupted. He had to take a moment to realize how ridiculous he must have sounded before heading to his satchel and pulling out his book.

Nicky rubbed his face and poured himself some orange juice, watching as Rhett flipped to the page and carefully pulling out the loose paper, almost reverently. He turned it around and showed it to Nicky who paused, staring at it.

"Oh," he breathed, "You're not kidding."

"Okay, so I show you a piece of paper and you believe me?" Rhett scoffed, "It's true, but what's with the paper."

Nicky pointed towards the bottom of the paper from his position behind the counter. "There's a signature at the bottom, dumbass."

Rhett turned the paper around to see that, indeed, there was a signature at the bottom. It was quick and unreadable, but considering Nicky's extensive knowledge of superheroes, it was no doubt Captain America's autograph.

"For someone who can draw really well, he can't write," Rhett commented, scrutinizing the signature, trying to find a 'Steve Rogers' or a 'Captain America' or even just a simple 'Cap' within the scribble at the bottom corner of the page.

"Well, we all have our flaws," Nicky yawned, "Gotta say, the Accords are a huge issue right now in History classes, at least from what I've heard. Thoughts?"

Rhett shrugged. "I teach elementary, in our minds the Avengers are all still happy and living in Tony Stark's tower even though he sold it."

Nicky winced. "Reality is gonna suck."

"It already does, I don't need these kids to feel it so early on," Rhett sighed, "Teach them to be sweet and nice before people try to tell them not to, you know?"

He laughed softly. "One of the girls tried to set me up with her single dad because she said he'd been crying a lot when he thought she wasn't listening in. His wife left him recently. He and I had a very long conversation about being open to his daughter about feelings, it was good."

Nicky smiled. "I taught you so much, I'm so proud." Rhett rolled his eyes and Nicky added, "Did you get his number?"

The blond scoffed. "No, because that's really shallow of me. Also, he was not in the right mindset to start dating, I wasn't about to mess up his life even more."

Nicky paused for a moment. "You've gone soft. I mean, you're sweet to kids, but not usually to adults, what happened?"

Rhett just rolled his eyes and walked towards his room. "I need to work on my lesson plan for the week, you wanna order in?"

"You know it," Nicky replied, picking up the landline, "Don't work too hard."

Rhett paused and turned on his heel, raising an eyebrow. "You do not get to talk right now, Nick. Seriously."

"True, but I have said a lot to day and you've proven me wrong. I mean..." he laughed, shaking his head. "Captain. Freaking. America."

Rhett nodded, still holding onto the paper. "Yeah. I know."

"What are the odds?" Nicky scoffed, shaking his head.

Rhett paused as he stepped into his room, looking at the watch that always sat on his desk, always ticking.

"Yeah. I know."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 09.20.18 )

This chapter title is based off of that one Barenaked Ladies song, it's really fun, you should all listen to it.

I apologize for the AWFUL EXPOSITION, but if people haven't read Lonely Hearts, they're going to want to know how Nicky knows Tony and all that jazz, but this is Rhett's story, if you can tell by how I refuse to call Diana by name. I refuse to, at least until she shows up herself.

Also, the whole "near deaf and dumb" is an allusion to how Steve was deaf in one ear (or even both, but I'm pretty sure he was just deaf in one ear or hard of hearing in both, I'm still trying to figure that out, I'm getting different answers, but the serum did cause his hearing to become above average. Deaf and dumb was the phrase used back then and I in no way use it now, just saying.

This was a really awful chapter, I'm so sorry, but now we get some more insight into Rhett, sorta. I mean...what's the watch? Hmm...gosh this is so bad, next chapter will have more Steve content, I am so sorry you guys.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!