The S.H.E.I.L.D. Diaries of the Next Generation

May 16th 2028

Howard Stark's "Ingenious Intellect"

It was a fine spring day as Howard Stark walked through the hallways of the Avengers' headquarters.

The birds were singing, the weather was finally warming up and...someone was screaming.

"Help! Sound the alarms! Evacuate headquarters! Just help!"

Howard thought he recognized the voice. But the action of the person he thought was screaming seemed out of his character. But sure enough, James Rogers flew right past him then came to a screeching halt 3 inches away from him.

"What's going on?" Howard asked, "Is there an invasion?"

"Worse!"

"The Hellicarrier's gravity system just snapped and it's right above us?"

"Worse!"

"What?"

James grabbed Howard by the shoulders and shook him a couple of times between words.

"My sister is cooking," he gasped.

"Jamie?"

"No, it's the 8-year-old that you never knew about! Of course it's Jamie!"

"That's a bad thing?"

"Yes, it's a bad thing!"

"James!" a voice came from farther down the hall.

"And there she is," James said, "See ya, Stark! It's every man for himself!"

With that, he ran as fast as his stamina would allow, which was much.

"James?" Jamie appeared with a tray of…something. By this point James was gone.

"Oh, hey, Howard," Jamie said coming closer. Now Howard could see what was on the tray. It looked something like cinnamon buns.

"Hello," Howard greeted. He couldn't help but smile in her presence.

For as long as he could remember, he had had a big crush on Jamie Natasha Rogers. And who wouldn't? With her long blonde curls and bright blue eyes, she had just about every guy from New York City tripping all over her. Every time there was a mission concerning…well anywhere that included Jamie and her father, Steve Rogers would practice his "father's glare" in the mirror for any guy(s) who would try his (or their) wiles on his one and only daughter.

But it wasn't just her beauty that had Howard dreaming about her.

She was one of the sweetest girls he had ever known. She was always supportive whenever she agreed with something. And she always, always listens to her friends' dreams. His included.

But of course she wasn't without her faults, and, according to James, cooking was one of them.

"Could you do something for me?" Jamie asked.

"Sure," Howard, "I'd do just about anything for you." and he meant it.

"I was going to have James do it, but instead I ran into you first. Would you try one of these cinnamon buns for me?"

"You mean you haven't tried one yourself?" Howard asked raising a brunette eyebrow.

"No, but all of my taste buds are spoiled from trying out the glaze so I want someone else to have the first bite."

Howard thought about this for a moment. It was time to use his father's intellect.

James' reaction to her baking could have some ground. But he was her brother and would do anything to give her a bad name; well, almost anything. Even though he hadn't before.

So he took a cinnamon bun and Jamie's eyes lit up with expectation.

Howard bit into it…and suddenly wished he hadn't.

His eyes watered as he swallowed. Jamie's smile disappeared.

"Holy iron suit, that thing is hot!"

"It is?" Jamie looked confused, "I made sure they had time to cool."

"Not that kind of hot! Spicy hot! Is there some milk around here?"

"'Spicy hot'?" Jamie looked even more confused but thought more about Howard's need of the moment.

"Yes, there's milk; follow me."

Fanning his hand in front of his mouth along the way, Howard followed Jamie into the headquarters's kitchen. Up until this point, Howard didn't know they had one.

Jamie put the plate of cinnamon buns on the counter and then opened the refrigerator and took out a gallon of milk and poured Howard a big cup. She handed it to him.

Howard took the cup and downed it in a matter of 5 seconds. He finished it with a gasp and a wipe of his mouth.

"What is in those things?" he asked.

Jamie blinked for a moment.

"Nothing different from what I usually put in them," she said. She scrunched her eyebrows together. "You said they were spicy?"

"Yes," Howard said. He refilled his cup, "We only give those to our enemies, no offense."

"There's nothing in them to make them spicy," Jamie picked up a cinnamon bun and took a bite…and wished she hadn't.

Her beautiful eyes filled with tears and Howard handed her his cup.

She downed it faster than Howard had seen anybody do with any drink. She gasped and wiped her mouth. She looked stunned for a moment then she started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Howard asked.

"That's not cinnamon," Jamie said wiping her eyes.

"It's not?"

"That's chili powder!" she laughed harder, "You're right, Howard; we do give these to our enemies!"

Howard let the information sink in and then started to laugh with her. They laughed until they couldn't any more.

"What are we going to do with these?" Howard asked.

Jamie shrugged.

The door opened and agent Lance Hunter, a black ops for S.H.E.I.L.D. walked in.

"Man, I'm hungry," he said, his Australian accent showing. He then spotted Jamie's creation, "Hmm. You make these?"

Jamie nodded with an impish smile on her face.

"I think I'll have one of these," he said taking an untouched one off the plate. He walked out the door.

Howard and Jamie started to laugh again and Howard gently covered her mouth.

"Shhh," he said, "Wait for it, wait for it…" Jamie's eyes sparkled as she removed his hand from her mouth and then put her hands over it.

"SWEET CHILI PEPPERS! WHAT IS IN THESE! Wait a minute."

Hunter walked back into the kitchen and saw the two teenagers trying to contain themselves.

"These have chili powder in them, don't they?" he asked.

Jamie and Howard nodded.

"It was a mistake," Jamie said sweetly, "I don't intend on making them again."

"Good because we only give these to our enemies. No offense."

"Not taken."

"Hey, there's an idea," Lance moved as if to pick up the plate then stopped. "Do you still want these?"

"Take them," Jamie said.

"Good." he picked up the plate, "Because Fury's got an interrogation in 10 minutes and these could be useful with the right truth drug." he left.

Alright, so this is actually an updated version of what I originally had in my documents forever, but felt like I had to update it for the following reasons.

#1: This scene originally took place in the hellicarrier, but since it's no longer the Avengers' headquarters, I felt the need to alter it a bit.

#2: Grant Ward was the agent who originally came into the kitchen for a snack, but since he turned out to be a very twisted psychopath, I changed him to Lance Hunter.

Anyway, please review and comment! Constructive criticism is allowed but no language or insults please.