Grace wasn't a particularly extraordinary girl. At least no more extraordinary than anybody else. She grew up in New York, in a cozy little neighborhood in Brooklyn with her parents. She hadn't spoken to them in a few years due to some... disagreements about her career choice, but she never let that slow her down. After picking up a job as a Barista (coffee maker) in a little diner in High School, she'd gone to college and gotten a degree in business management, before opening up her own little coffee shop on her 23rd birthday.

She'd always had this theory that coffee brought people together, you see. When she was little she would watch her dad get up before the sun, to get ready for work. He was a surgeon, and at the time it seemed he always had the morning shift. It fascinated her to no end to watch him make coffee in the morning, the smell becoming familiar and comforting to her. He would drink it black, then he would make another cup, pour it into his travel mug and scoot off in his car. A couple hours later (at a bearable time of day she said) her mother would descend the stairs and pour herself a third of a cup of coffee, then fill the rest up with cold milk. She would then laboriously shovel in four tea spoons of sugar. Grace always wrinkled her nose when her mama made coffee. If you could call it that. She much preferred the look and smell of her dads black concoction to the cold dishwater her mum drank.

She had been in her job at the diner for 6 days, when a motley crew of firemen had come in, heads down, smelling of smoke. It wasn't hard to tell that the job that day had not bean easy. She poured each of those men coffee for hours, and listened as they recounted the tale of an electric fire in a little rundown house on the edge of city. None of the family made it out alive despite the team's best effort. It was one AM before any of them left, but they all left with belly's full of coffee and good food, and their spirits a little higher. Grace had done everything in her power to make sure that diner was a home for them on such a harrowing night, and she had personally thanked each of the firemen for the service they did this city, and the lives they saved each day. They came back countless times before she left the diner at 19. She had seen them and hundreds of others go through the lowest times and celebrate their victories in that diner, and she made sure they always did it with a cup of coffee in hand, because it was sometimes the only comfort she could give them. When she left she got a card signed by the whole team and a huge box of chocolates, and she just knew that a coffee shop was her path in life. She never wanted to miss an opportunity to meet people like that.

So after college, she took out loans and worked her butt off until 'Grace's Home Comforts' was born. It was difficult at times, and she worked every day of the week to get it off the ground. She had a dedicated staff of two at the moment; Chris Doveland (just Dove most of the time) and Elizabeth Kirk. They were more brother and sister to her than employees, and Grace suspected that was what made people want to come in to her shop. The atmosphere was home-y and comforting, and everyone was like family. In the land full of Starbucks and other faceless brand coffee shops, Grace had always thought that New York needed a little home-iness to it.

On the first anniversary of the shop opening, all hell broke loose. It was a quiet Sunday, and she was in alone save a few handfuls of customers, ten people at most. The radio lazily pushed out music into the warm and still air, until a burst of static made grace turn toward it. A reporter then ruined what was supposed to be a lazy Sunday for her with the words 'Breaking news'. There were calls to stay indoors and hide under tables, take cover wherever you were, because New York was going to hell. There were no details on what was happening, but Grace got a full enough picture when what appeared to be an armored alien crashed through her front window and broke three of her tables. She had long since put her customers into the shop basement, but had snuck back up to the front of shop to try and get a phone call out. She watched with horror as the thing stood up quickly and rounded on her, technical and sci-fi looking gun in hand. It took a step towards her when something hit it hard, in the back of the head and an audible crack sent it flying to the ground, where it didn't get back up. She lifted her gaze to none other than Captain America as he made his way further into the shop. She was sure he was saying something to her, but she couldn't hear it over the blood rushing in her ears, and she couldn't take her eyes off the alien on the floor, and the scuffed shield laying near it's head. She felt his hands grab her shoulders and turn her to face him, and finally registered his speech.

"Ma'am, are you hurt?" He said, squeezing her shoulders.

"No, I-I'm fine" She managed in a shaky voice. She swallowed thickly and turned her head to the window to get a look outside, when her day got worse. There was another thing there, aiming a spear at the Captains head. It looked sharp. Shit. Before he had a chance to see it coming, the alien had launched it at him with all the strength it had, and Grace made an unexpected move. She used both hands to launch the Captain backwards, and thankfully she succeeded as she watch him stumble a few steps back. The move had been risky, but she hadn't even realised she'd done it until the spear wedged itself into the wall, millimeters in front of her nose. She stared at the blade with wide eyes, unable to move until she registered he was shouting at her. When she could finally tear her gaze away, the star spangled man with a plan had killed the offending alien and two more that followed it in. He was beckoning her to follow him, and she did without another thought. She could only hope her customers would be safe as she and the Captain slowly made their way out onto the deserted street, sounds of gunfire and animalistic roaring in the distance. She stuck close behind him and his shield as he navigated the streets, alarmingly getting closer to the sounds. They both heard the approaching footsteps at the same time, and the Captain put a finger to his lips, urging her to be quiet as he shoved her into an alley way and disappeared around the corner. She strained her ears, and heard grunting and panting. Grace could only pray that he would be alright. Little did she know that she had her own problems to deal with at that moment in time.

She wasn't aware of the Chitauri soldier behind her until it let loose a horrible sound, presumably a war cry and raised its weapon- another spear. Several curses flew through the air as Grace realised what was about to happen and she scrambled to find any weapon. She squeaked and dodged as quickly as she could as the alien thrust it's blade at her, seemingly taking pleasure in her helplessness. At one point she fell (rather hard) onto her butt and her hand hit something cold and hard. She realised it was a length of thin pipe, about 2 foot long and heavy. Also her only option at that point. She prayed that the Captain hadn't forgotten about her as she closed her eyes and swung at the creature. She heard a clang and threw her eyes open to see that the pipe had hit off of the aliens sword, and it had paused in something like surprise. Seeing an opportunity in its apparent shock, she rushed forward and hit the pipe off the things head, dead on the center. Pain rushed up both of her arms at the force of the collision but unfortunately, it had no effect on the grotesque being before her. In answer to her pipe bashing, it raised it's spear, let loose a battle cry and leapt forward. Every muscle in Grace's body froze, and she couldn't even bring herself to flinch. The Chitauri soldier was in midair when the tables were turned and it was abruptly yanked backwards, thrown on the ground and 'eliminated' by Captain America. As he stood he looked her over, raising an eyebrow at her pipe. She vaguely noticed his cowl was missing, and she could see his face, but she couldn't bring herself to care at that point.

"Are you alright ma'am? Why didn't you yell?" He said approaching her carefully, a slightly baffled look on his handsome face. "I was busy! You were busy!" She answered, waving the pipe. He shook his head, not even trying to understand, when she noticed he was covered in dust and grime. "What happened? Where did you go?" She asked frantically searching him for obvious injury.

"There was a group of hostages in the bank next door, and a lot of Chitauri. Got them all out, took them all down" he said simply, "then came back for you". She nodded, understanding that now really wasn't the time for questions; she could hear his earpiece screaming at him to get back into the fight. Whatever was happening, they needed his help and badly. "Come on" he said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her behind him and the shield that had saved countless lives, "We're moving". And so they stepped back out onto the street, walking quickly to what Grace recognized was a kind of perimeter way off in the distance, She tried to convince herself that when she was beyond that line, she would be safe. A round of gunfire went off somewhere behind her however, and a searing pain ripping through her shoulder and chest cut off that thought. She didn't really have time to look at what hurt before the Captain whipped the shield at the offender snapping his neck. Her eyes widened as she looked on towards another three, attacking form their left. "Uh... Captain!" She said loudly from her position, gesturing to the armed group. The shield was soon enough flying in their direction, but before it made contact, what appeared to be an arrow wedged itself into the center Chitauri's chest and exploded, taking out the group before it had the chance to harm them. After collecting his shield, the Captain turned around and shouted his thanks to someone named 'Barton' in the building somewhere above her.

She couldn't really follow the conversation they had then, as she was getting a bit woozy. She put it down to shock and did her best anyway. She caught the jist; "Cap get your little friend up here, you're never going to get her to the perimeter in time and she's injured! I'll protect her here till it's over" She heard the disembodied voice shout above her. At the word injured she had become confused, and the Captain's head had whipped around so he could see her. His eyes widened, but she couldn't understand why; she hadn't been injured at all. However the wooziness was worsening, and she was struggling to remain upright at the moment. Suddenly Captain America's arm was around her waist holding her steady, and Grace dimly realised that Elizabeth would freak when she heard about this- she was the man's biggest fan. She was aware that they were moving then, more like she was being carried by the super soldier up stairs. Lots of them. Soon they reached what appeared to be offices that had been abandoned in the panic, and she felt herself get set down against a wall. She looked blearily into the concerned eyes of Captain America as he tried to assess her state of health, and gave a big and goofy smile. From somewhere to her right she heard a chuckle, and realised dimly that it must be 'Barton'.

"Go Cap, she'll be fine" She heard the voice say, and she nodded in agreement, lazily gesturing with her hands for him to go, because at that moment in time her throat was dry, and she couldn't find her voice. The last she remembered before falling unconscious was the Captain leaning down and murmuring to her "You'll be alright, when this is done we'll get you out of here safe and sound", then watching him walk away, her last conscious thought being that he had a nice ass. She was smiling as she slipped into the darkness.

So this was just an idea that popped into my head, a bit random really. It's set towards the end of the first Avenger's movie as you can probably tell, and in the next chapter there will be more interaction between Steve and Grace, as well as the other Avengers! If you love it let me know (review), if you hate it, tell me why! I'd love to hear from you. Until next time :)