'Deep breath, you know these people. There is no reason to be nervous. Just breathe.'

Payton gives herself a pep talk before entering the Avengers Tower. As a former SHIELD agent, Payton suffered from the fall of the organization once it was revealed that Hydra had infiltrated. She feels lucky that she made friends with the Black Widow, and even worked with the Avengers on the helicarrier during Loki's invasion. Or else she might not have been lucky enough to acquire this new position working with Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers.

"Welcome Miss Gardner, Mr. Stark is waiting for you in his office." comes the voice of Jarvis, the AI created by Tony, the moment she enters the elevator.

"Thank you Mr. Jarvis."

She keeps her face straight, hiding all hits of emotions from her face as she was trained to do. The only behavior she displays that goes against her agent training is her continuous flicking of her thumb nail, a nervous habit of hers.

The elevator stops before she reaches her destination of meeting with Tony. On the other side of the doors is the main source of her nerves, the man she was anxious and dreading seeing once again,

"Captain Rogers." Payton greet him in a straight voice, keeping her tone level.

"Agent Gardner, what brings you here?"

She is able to quickly catch on to the apprehension in his voice at seeing her for the first time since D.C. She understands why he might be weary of her, not knowing who was truly Shield and who was Hydra. But the fact that he might doubt her loyalties hurt a little.

"You do not know? Mr. Stark has hired me to work alongside Agent Hill. According to Mr. Stark, Hill, Natasha, and Clint gave glowing recommendations for me, and after the events of New York, he saw firsthand what I am capable of."

She flashes him a smile, hoping to get a small smile from him. But all she gets is his eyes narrowing slightly, jaw clenching and she feels her heart drop. This is Steve Rogers, the Captain America; if he is does not want her here then she might be out the door before she is even able to start. Closing her eyes, Payton turns her head down, letting out a small sigh. She begins to mentally and emotionally prepare herself to be told to leave and never come back.

When the elevator comes to a stop on the floor she was meeting Tony on, Steve beats her off first. She had to practically run to keep up with his long strides. 'Curse my short legs.'

Steve slams the doors open to Tony's office with Payton close behind him. She lets out a low gasp at the view Tony's office overlooks,

"Wow…" she whispers.

"Why the hell wasn't I informed of Agent Gardner being brought on?!"

Payton visibly cringed from the tone in his voice. Utterly pissed off and it is obvious that he does not want her anywhere around. Not sure if he just does not trust her or if he really does hate her. Why he might hate her she is not sure, but the thought still does not sit well with her.

"Because Captain, she is going to be working for me, not you. Besides, she comes highly recommended, passed every test given to her, including the background search. Honestly, after reading her background, I think she might be a little more boring than you."

"Hey!" she shouts, offended, crossing her arms with her bottom lip poked out slightly. "I'm not boring."

Both men just ignore her, and Tony continues to talk, "If you worried about the possibility of her being Hydra, don't. That girl is such a goody goody she could give you a run for your money. Natasha and Clint both had a hand in her training so you know she is skilled. And to top it all off, she is intelligent. I do not see the problem."

Payton stares at Steve, waiting for his response. A bubble of hope forms that Tony just saved her from being kicked out.

"She is just a kid Tony! She has no special skills or talents that could help her here. She looks like she should still be in school for heaven's sake and you are bringing her in here! To what? Get her killed? She will just be in the way!"

Oh look, the bubble has effectively been popped, her pride crushed, and heart shattered. She gave up trying to keep her agent persona up. Tears fill her eyes, but she blinks them back, and her arms drop to her side, shoulders deflated.

"Gee Captain, why don't you tell how you really feel about me. And for the record, I am almost 25 years old. Not exactly a child, then compared to you, everyone is a child. But thanks for the vote of confidence dear Captain. I guess since Captain Rogers does not agree with me being here, that means that I should take my leave?"

"Yes/No!"

Tony and Steve answer at the same time causing Payton to roll her eyes. The billionaire playboy steps up, "No, Miss Gardner, you are not to take your leave. I hired you to work for me, working with Agent Hill, not Capsicle. So please, Miss Gardner if you will follow me, the real adults can talk while the actual child can go pout. Cap?"

Tony points to the door and Steve grunts, stomping his feet to the exit. He pauses next to Payton, giving her a stare that has her blood run cold. Saying nothing, he storms out the room with the door slamming so hard behind him it causes Payton to jump.

'Well, I just made it onto the Captain's shit list...great.' Payton depressingly thinks to herself.

"Miss Gardner…?"

Tony calls out to her. She turns back to him with a forced, polite smile, "Please call me Payton Mr. Stark. And yes, please, let's go."

After her introduction meeting with Tony and Maria on what her duties were and how if needed, she will be called out to join on missions. Since it is her first day, she spends the remainder of her time at the tower getting to know the layout, meeting some of the other employees outside the Avengers, and even meeting Ms. Pepper Potts. She learns that there will be times that she might end up working with Pepper on different projects.

By the end of the day, Payton is happy and excited to be working at Avengers Tower. She has all but forgotten about her encounter with Steve earlier that morning and just focuses on getting through the day in one piece.

But in the quiet of her home, Payton's mind replays the interaction and it just has her emotions bubbling up again. While Steve says she does not have any special skills, Payton is considered to have a higher intelligence and excels in tracking and with a skill in research. She trained in hand to hand combat and is not a bad shot either. So despite what he might think, she is not useless nor will she be in the way.

His questioning of her place at the tower is not what bothered her though; well it did, just not as much as the fact that he just sees her as a kid. She is not a child, she is an adult! Okay, so maybe pouting was not a very adult thing to do, but no one can see her right now so who cares. Payton just hates when people look at her and think that she is too young. Yes she might be on the short side, standing at about 5'4", but she does not look that young other than her height.

Steve Rogers is a man that Payton looks up to (no height jokes) and respects; and she might have a "tiny" crush on him. And to know that he only sees her as a useless child it hurts, it truly hurts.

Thinking about it over and over, Payton comes to the conclusion that she is going to change Steve's opinion of her, make him notice her as a woman and not just some silly child.