"You're slowing down," Steve said.
Adam wanted to answer, but he was too busy trying to breathe like a normal person.
A short time had passed after Fury placed him under Steve's watch. During that time, Adam had stayed close to Captain America almost all the time. He went with him on small S.H.I.E.L.D. jobs, sat through briefings he did not fully learned very quickly that being useful as an alien did not mean being useful as a normal human.
His alien forms made him strong enough for bullets and walls, but his normal body still treated morning jogging like a war crime.
Steve had brought him out before sunrise to run in Washington, D.C. He said it would help Adam adjust. Adam was starting to think Captain America had a very cruel idea of help.
They were running near the same path Steve used often. The air was cool, and normal people were jogging like they were not surrounded by secret agencies and hidden Hydra agents.
That was the strangest part for Adam. After New York, he had spent so much time near files, guards, and S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles that a normal morning felt almost fake. People ran with music in their ears. Some walked dogs. Some complained about work. Nobody knew Captain America was passing them like a blur.
Adam was several steps behind Steve when another man came into view.
Sam Wilson.
Adam almost tripped.
He recognized him at once. Sam was running at a steady pace, until Steve passed him from the side with ease.
"On your left," Steve said.
Sam looked after him. "Uh-huh."
Adam slowed down even more.
'Sam Wilson.' Adam thought. 'Falcon.'
That one face told him more than any S.H.I.E.L.D. file could have.
This was the start of the Winter Soldier story.
In the original timeline, this part came about two years after the Battle of New York. Adam did not know how much this world had shifted because of him, but the scene in front of him was too clear to ignore. Steve in Washington, Sam on the morning run, and S.H.I.E.L.D. still pretending everything was normal.
That meant the Lemurian Star mission was close.
Today, or maybe in a few days.
Adam's first reaction should have been fear.
Instead, he felt excited and worried at the same time.
'If that mission comes, will they even take me?' Adam thought.
He knew the shape of the mission. It would start with hostages on the Lemurian Star and end with Natasha copying hidden data while everyone else thought it was only a rescue. Bringing Adam there could change too much. If he phased through the ship and saved everyone too fast, Natasha's hidden job might get exposed early. If Hydra noticed him too clearly, they might move.
While Adam was thinking, Steve passed Sam again.
"On your left."
Sam made a face. "Don't say it again."
Steve passed him one more time anyway.
"On your left."
Sam stopped near the side of the path and bent forward, breathing hard. Adam finally reached them and stopped too, though he acted like he had chosen to stop on purpose.
Sam looked from Steve to Adam.
"You with him?"
Adam lifted one hand weakly. "Sadly, yes, but my body has filed a complaint."
Sam's eyes moved over him. "You look like you are about to fall over."
"I'm making both of you look good."
Steve looked at Adam with a small smile. "You fight better than you run."
Sam gave Adam another look. "How do you fight at all?"
Adam pointed toward Steve. "I usually cheat with my powers."
"That explains it."
"It does," Adam said. "Until I have to run like a regular person."
Steve started moving again. "Come on."
Sam joined him after a second.
Adam watched both of them pull ahead.
"I'm sitting down," Adam called after them. "You two keep being inspirational."
Neither of them slowed.
Adam found a bench and dropped onto it like he had been betrayed by his own legs.
He had fought aliens in New York and frozen Hydra agents, but basic cardio was somehow still winning.
While Steve and Sam kept running, Adam looked at the Omnitrix. His EXP had been rising slowly over the last few missions. Some of it came from people knowing him. Some came from respect. Some came from fear, which he was trying not to think about too much.
The number was close now.
Only a few more points, and he would reach the next level.
'Come on, give me Alien X.' Adam thought.
Then he snorted quietly.
The system had already limited him hard. Giving him a reality-warping alien would be like handing a nuclear button to someone who still complained about jogging.
'Fine. Give me something useful at least.'
A few days later, Adam's guess proved right.
Natasha Romanoff came to Steve's apartment.
Adam was already there.
Technically, he had his own apartment in the same building, but he spent more time at Steve's place than his own. It was not because he was scared. At least, that was what he told himself. The truth was that most of the people around them were S.H.I.E.L.D., and Adam knew S.H.I.E.L.D. was full of people he should not trust.
Steve did not seem to mind.
In some strange way, Adam's presence had helped him too. Steve still carried the quiet loneliness Adam remembered from the movie, but it was not as heavy now. There was always someone nearby making stupid comments about old movies and bad mission food.
When Natasha entered, she saw Adam on the couch and paused for half a second.
Adam noticed it.
"That pause was rude," he said.
Natasha looked at Steve. "We have a mission."
Adam sat up at once. "Finally. Please tell me I get to do something."
Steve gave him a look.
"I mean serious," Adam corrected. "Serious mission."
His eyes moved to Natasha.
"You're going too, right?"
Natasha smiled a little.
"I am," she said. "You're not."
Adam froze.
Steve turned toward her at the same time.