Christine Danforth was a bundle of nerves as she headed for the conference room of the Avengers compound. Trained as an FBI agent in Quantico, she'd risen through the ranks quickly. An expert in all things technological, she had brought down dozens of cyber terrorists in her time with the bureau and she was just shy of thirty.
Why on earth had her mentor sent her here? To Tony Stark? Chris was good at what she did, decent with self-defense and weaponry in the way any FBI agent was.
Was she enhanced? Well. Not in any way that would benefit the Avengers. Being an empath was why she choose to work in computer science to begin with. There were no emotions in the cyber world and wasn't that a welcome break?
Chris checked herself in the reflective walls of the elevator. A sober dark suit with a wine-colored blouse beneath. Heels, not too high, not too sexy. Minimal jewelry, minimal makeup. Her blonde hair was newly cut to curve at chin-length, edgy but not too eye-catching. The look was professional and that's just what she was going for.
Tony Stark was someone she hoped to impress. He'd been a hero of hers growing up. It had been he who'd made her want to pursue technology.
Stepping off the elevator, a suited man stood by the doorway of the room number given to her. The older man's eyes scanned the badge she wore around her neck.
"Agent Danforth," he said. "Please go in."
She'd kind of envisioned everyone sitting around a conference table taking notes and dealing with the situation at hand.
Instead, it was like walking into a cocktail party. There were full bars on either side of the room, people laughing and mingling. Tony Stark was at the bar to the right, talking with who she thought was James Rhodes and Dr. Bruce Banner. Next to them were two master spies, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, more famously known as Black Widow and Hawkeye. The lovely redhead swung her gaze her way, cocking an eyebrow at her.
Well, fuck.
A young woman dressed as an intern, stopped by her with a tray of drinks. "Hi, would you like a drink?"
Even the intern was bigger than her. It didn't take much. At 5'3" and slim, her stature was another reason she went into technology. Most of the people in the room were huge. Or super geniuses. Or master spies.
Jesus. Why was she even here?
"No, thank you," she told the woman.
To her left, leaning against the wall, were two men. Super soldiers. Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, and James Barnes, former HYDRA agent and best friend of Rogers. They both worked with the Avengers Initiative now though. She'd been advised by her mentor that things were strained between Rogers and Stark, been told to stay out of that. Both of them appeared to be watching her wander without a purpose.
Nodding to them, she turned to head right back out the door when someone stepped into her path.
"Hello, there." Chris looked up into the friendly face of Pepper Potts. The lovely strawberry blonde woman held out a hand to her.
"Pepper Potts," she greeted. "Can I help you?"
"No, can I help you?" Tony Stark stepped up, a wide grin on his face. He held out his hand. "Tony Stark. You are?"
"Agent Danforth," she said simply, watching the confusion on his face.
"Agent Chris… Danforth?" Tony's brow knitted as he looked to Pepper and back to her.
"Agent Christine Danforth," she corrected him.
It wasn't the first time she'd arrived where a male had been expected.
Tony recovered himself quickly, his gaze raking over her quickly before Pepper elbowed him sharply.
"So, you're the whiz kid," Tony said with a wink, then his expression became serious. "Thank you for helping with this particular mission. It's going to be a dangerous one."
Chris could feel the eyes of the super soldiers on her as she spoke, felt their… curiosity. It gave away that they would be on this mission with her. Honestly, she was grateful for that.
"I've been advised of that," she told Tony while Pepper Smirked. "I'm not an Avenger but I'll do my best for you and your team."
"We know you will," Pepper told her.
"I was also told there'd be a meeting regarding this which is why I'm here," she said, careful to keep her tone and expression neutral.
Chris wasn't trying to sense anyone's emotions but the appreciated the approval coming from Pepper, the intrigue coming from her idol. It could be worse.
"Lunch ran over," Tony explained, glancing back over his should at Rogers and Barnes. "And I'm sure you're not the only one who wants to get on with it. Rogers has been brooding at me for the last half hour."
"Sorry," Pepper told her. "Maybe if we head over, they'll follow us eventually."
Pepper motioned towards the door and Christine walked ahead, the taller woman right behind her. The soldiers were following them. Pepper led her into that conference room, a huge round table at its center.
They stopped before the table, others slowly starting to filter in.
"Agent Danforth," Pepper halted. "Let me introduce you."
Chris turned then, on eye level with the broad, muscled chest of Captain America. He was dressed in a gray dress shirt and slacks, and they fit him wonderfully, but there he was. His blue eyes respectfully stayed on her face, his curiosity lingering.
"Steve Rogers, this is Agent Christine Danforth of the FBI," Pepper explained.
Not surprisingly he had a good handshake even though he was careful, his hand swallowed hers.
"Nice to meet you," he said, very handsome when he smiled.
"It's nice to meet you," she replied.
"And this is James Barnes," Pepper motioned to the former Winter Soldier who stood just behind Steve, hands tucked away in the pockets of his own slacks.
He was also an attractive man, similar in stature to his life long best friend. His dark hair was close to the length of her own, his blue eyes were wary. He nodded in greeting. She didn't miss the way he was assessing her, any emotion of his on lockdown. She was actually impressed with such control.
Former assassin. Old habits died hard.
Taking a seat near the door, Chris watched as others drifted in and sat at the table. All of the notable Avengers were there aside from Vision, the Scarlet Witch, and Thor who she hadn't really expected. The soldiers were her nine o'clock, Bruce Banner her three. Tony and Pepper sat directly across from her, he remained standing as he started the meeting. The spies came in last, taking a seat to her left. She could feel the Black Widow's gaze on her, her emotions were also tightly controlled.
Once the doors were closed, Tony created a floating display over the table.
"Thanks to Natasha, we've gotten our hands on some intriguing intel on HYDRA," Tony began. "Thanks to a mistake by one of their people, we found a server on an abandoned base – we think it's abandoned – and if we're right, the information there might just help us target every position, every outpost they have and put them out of business."
Chris didn't miss the hope from both the spy at her side and soldiers at her right.
"The transfer of the data is going to require we have a technical genius on this end, that's me, and one on site." Tony's dark eyes focused on Chris then. "The FBI's letting us borrow Agent Danforth who will handle the hack at the base and your mission is to make sure we get the data and we keep her safe. Her boss, well, he's a tough old bastard."
Chris smirked at that. He wasn't wrong.
"Rogers will command the team heading to the base," Tony continued. "Barnes, Romanoff, Barton, and Wilson will be accompanying him and agent Danforth to the base to retrieve this data. Any questions?"
"How are you doing?" Sam Wilson smiled and waved at her from the other side of Pepper.
Chris nodded, smiling back.
When Tony continued to explain the finer points of the mission with Steve, Chris waved Tony's display closer to her down the table. Then she began zooming in on the site, the schematics, not realizing the conversation had stopped around her while she surveyed the base that was their target.
Not everyone was staring at her like she had two heads. Natasha pointed to one vent that went over the room they needed to break into.
"That might be useful," Natasha told her, pointing along its route.
Chris nodded, zooming in on the room beneath it to look at the server location, to see if she could discern anything about it for research. She studied it until Tony's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Did I say you could play with my screen?" he asked, his tone had enough of tease to tell her it wasn't a warning. His vibes were borderline amused.
Chris finished her assessment, then glanced his way. "You didn't say I couldn't, Mr. Stark."
He tipped his head. "Fair."
Steve smirked at her, cracking a smile when she pushed the screen back down the table to Tony.
"Have everything you need?" Tony asked.
Chris nodded, smiled back.
Even Barnes, they kept referring to him as Bucky so she was going to guess that's what he preferred, appeared to find it funny.
"So, tomorrow night," Tony announced. "The team will leave here at nineteen hundred hours. Danforth, did you pack for a sleepover?"
"I'm prepared for most anything," Chris told him honestly.
"Good. Toga party's after dinner." Tony nodded, dismissed the meeting. Chris was up and the first one out the door.
The hard part was over. Being in rooms with several people was difficult for her, even when she was prepared.
"Agent Danforth," Pepper called to her. Chris turned back to the lady, smiling. "I'll show you to your room."
"Thank you."
Steve held the elevator door open so they could join him and Bucky on the way up. Even though she was standing in front of the brunette, she could feel his gaze move over her now. That he found her physically appealing wasn't surprising, she got that often.
When Steve murmured something close to his ear, the feelings she caught radiating between them were comfort, familiarity and... Intimacy?
The elevator chimed with her conclusion. Were Steve and Bucky together? Not that she was judging. Given their history it would make sense.
Pepper stopped at a door, unlocking it for her with a thumbprint. She instructed Chris through the setup so she could go in and out of her room securely. It was elegant like a luxury hotel suite and apparently stocked with anything she could need.
Pepper mentioned their AI F.R.I.D.A.Y if she needed anything and advised her to Steve, Bucky, and Sam were all on the same floor as well. After a few more pleasantries, she didn't mind because Pepper was genuinely nice, she was left to her own devices in the room.
Steve and Bucky had just walked into the elevator when someone darted in behind them so quickly, Bucky actually jumped. Steve smirked to see the FBI agent they'd be taking along on the mission later, standing in the corner dressed for a run just as they were.
"Ground floor?" he asked, his voice raspy from sleep.
The young woman didn't look a lot more awake than he felt. "Please."
She barely came up to his shoulders, all slender curves and long limbs. Bucky was ogling her legs right along with him, tanned and toned and going on for days. Her pale blonde hair was pulled back into something like the bun Bucky would sometimes wear, no trace of makeup on her face. She really didn't need it.
She followed them off the elevator to the back of the compound until Steve finally glanced back at her over his shoulder. "You're welcome to join us," he offered as they reached the start of the path that ran along the compound, through the woods.
"Thanks for the offer," she said dryly, "but according to your friend Wilson, I should 'save my pride, and take my time'."
Even Bucky laughed at her spot-on impersonation of Sam, and his laughter at anything was rare.
"When did you talk to him?" Steve asked.
"At the vending machines last night," she explained.
"How about we take our time today and keep pace with you?" Steve asked, earning him a look from Bucky. What? He mouthed to his friend.
"Your choice," she told them. "It's your turf."
With a soldier on either side of her, she started running, keeping the same consistent speed he expected. It made him grin that she still ran fast enough to challenge Sam. Bucky frowned, he hated to run slow. But then he dropped slightly back, enjoying the flex of her legs and firm backside and the expression went away. He was admiring the view, much as he would have back in the day. After that, Steve decided they'd stay with her for a while.
"So where in the south are you from originally?" Steve asked as they jogged along, noting the more she spoke, the more he picked up the subtle lilt she put on certain words.
"Very good," Chris told him. There was nothing in her file about her life before Quantico. "Virginia."
"You enjoy working for the bureau?"
"I do," she told him, "It's what I wanted to do from the time I was a kid. I've never regretted it."
The path they ran along was beautiful, well-kept, and not without slight challenges. They'd moved along maybe a half mile and she ran along as if she were as familiar with it as they were.
"Do you like living here?" she asked.
"Some days," Steve said honestly. "Some days I almost want to be back out there in the world."
"I like it here," she told them. "I like the isolation myself. It's comforting somehow."
She surprised them when she glanced back over her shoulder at Bucky. He didn't speak often so most people didn't often include him in their conversation. "How about you?"
"I like it okay. I've had worse," he said simply, his gaze not drifting away from her for long.
Her attention to Bucky had Steve smiling. They ran for a few miles before he noticed her slowing down. Finally, she came to a stop, holding onto one side.
Her smile had a bit of mischief to it as she swung her gray eyes from Bucky to him. "This is where I leave you, gentlemen. Thank you. It's been fun."
Steve expected Bucky to look a bit more relieved than he did that she wasn't continuing on with them.
"Yeah, it has," Bucky told her. "See you later, doll."
Steve waved as they ran on, both of them watching her make her way back into the compound. Steve hadn't heard Bucky break out 'doll' since… well, he couldn't remember when.
"Huh? I do believe that's called flirting, Rogers," Bucky teased him.
Steve smirked at him. "So did you."
"Maybe." Bucky couldn't hold a straight face for long. "She's something."
Steve nodded, agreeing with him.
"Just do me a favor, Buck," Steve told him. "Help me keep her out of harm's way tonight."
Bucky nodded as they continued running. "You've got it."
