Her life changed over a skinny caramel latte, no foam.

The cup had been slid down the counter to her by Andy, a tall blue paper cup with neat black block letters around the bottom telling her what the order was. She went to work crafting the drink, setting up the espresso shots before pumping some syrup into the cup. She wasn't working on auto pilot but she wasn't really focused either, thinking about what she'd do when she got off work, the groceries she had to buy and the cleaning she had to do as she started to heat and froth the milk. She heard the machine beep twice, signalling the espresso shots were done, when a voice interrupted her thoughts and hands.

"These photographs are beautiful. Is the artist local?" a woman asked, her voice warm but sharp.

She brought her eyes off the stainless steel machine across the counter to an impeccably dressed redhead, a blackberry in one hand as she looked across the cafe at all the photos. She didn't have to ask what the woman meant, she got this question all the time. Littered on the walls around them was different landscape and portrait photos taken from around the city. She let her eyes skim the photos before going back to the coffee, her hands dumping the espresso into the cup before topping it up with the hot milk. As ordered she held off the foam, sliding it across the counter to the woman before replying.

"Yes, very local. They're mine" she said as she wiped her hands off on her yellow apron. She extended a hand across the counter to the woman who shook it warmly, smiling even wider.

"They're stunning. So E. James, that's you?" the woman asked as she accepted her coffee, pulling it close as she reached for a lid.

"Yeah, the E stands for Eva. Eva James" she finished, the woman nodding appreciatively as she fit a lid onto the top of her cup. She watched as the woman turned to leave, her sheet of strawberry blonde hair fanning down her back as she spun around but then halted as she stopped. Eva watched as her head swivelled around the cafe once more before turning back to her. She watched the woman smile before tossing her blackberry in her purse, pulling out a small leather notepad and pen.

"Actually, do you have a minute to talk?"

She had to hand it to her, Pepper Potts knew how to cut to the point. They didn't talk for long, but that didn't mean the conversation wasn't substantial- after a brief discussion and repeated enthusiasm for her work, Pepper offered to put her on a retainer for creative services, mostly for her photography. In less than 30 minutes Eva went from being a barista to being a creative asset for Stark Industries and in 35 minutes she went from being broke as hell to having more money than she'd ever hope to earn in a life time. The cheque had so many zeroes that it had made her head spin, almost choking on the water she'd been sipping when Pepper had lamented how she wished she could have offered more.

"I think your work is great but the assignment won't be easy. I wish I could pay you more but our creative services budget doesn't have a lot of room to play with" Pepper had said as she finished off her latte, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

Eva concealed her cough into a laugh, prying her eyes of the cheque for the first time in minutes as set hercup back down to look up at the redhead.

"No, this, I mean, this is extremely generous" she stuttered as she waved the cheque, Pepper smiling warmly back at her. She was about to follow up with another question when a phone started to chime loudly, Eva watching as Pepper reached down into her purse and withdrew her blackberry, grimacing almost instantly at what she saw.

"I've got to run but I'll be in touch shortly with the next steps. The assignment is going to take around 6-8 months with quite a bit of travel so I don't think you can keep working here. Will that be a problem?" Pepper inquired hesitantly as she rose to leave, Eva rising with her.

She swallowed her laughter as she shook her head, gesturing meekly to her surroundings.

"I think I'll survive without this place" she offered, Pepper giving her a warm smile once again. She watched the redhead move towards the door as she offered a final wave, Eva pocketing the cheque as she watched her leave. As soon as she was out of sight Eva inhaled deeply, committing the scent to memory before grabbing her purse from the back, pulling her apron over her head, and dropping it on the barista counter on her way out.

Eva James had fallen into photography the way most people do- by picking up a camera and realizing she had a knack for it. She'd been 10 when she took her first photograph, a grainy, out of focus shot of her father's foot. But she kept snapping photos, figuring it out shot by shot, and by the time she finished high school she knew it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. So she did what all aspiring photographers do: she went to NYU for a BA in Photography, finishing two years ago with a fancy diploma, a well-stocked portfolio, and almost $40 000 in debt. Her parents, while thankfully supportive of her passions and always ready to drop off some groceries if she needed them, couldn't help her much financial so she did what almost everyone else in her class did after they graduated: got a job at a coffee shop and displayed her art, waiting to be noticed.

She just never thought it'd actually happen. She figured she'd be living a modest life for the rest of her years, working odd jobs with photography on the side. She'd never entertained the idea of being a full time photographer no matter how romantic that notion sounded because she knew how few and far between those opportunities were- unless you were on someone's payroll, there weren't many freelance photographers who you'd call successful. So she'd come to terms with what she thought her future would be long ago, knowing that as long as she got to take photos every now and again, that'd she'd be happy. As long as photography was in her life in one way or another, she'd be just fine.

But now she was here, standing in her favourite photography store with a basket full of Sigma and Tamron lenses and filters that she was waiting to pay for. She'd just come from the bank where she'd deposited the cheque and paid her loans and debt off in one fel swoop, enjoying the bug eyed look the teller had given her when she'd pushed the cheque across the counter towards him just a little too much. It felt delirious to have this much money but she didn't think on it, pushing the thoughts of designer clothing and fast cars out of her mind. She had a job to do and she needed to focus on that, not that she knew what she'd be doing just yet.

She was just sliding the key into the door of her 4th story walk up when she heard her phone chime, Eva turning the key and thrusting the door open with her shoulder. She set her purse and bag of lenses down gently on the table as she grabbed her phone, flopping down on the sofa as she pulled up the email onto the screen.

Eva-

I've attached your itinerary for the next 6 months. All your travel and accommodations have been paid for and I've tried to include some travel activities when I could. An updated passport and some other items will be waiting for you at the check in counter for your flight tomorrow morning to Washington, DC. Sorry that you have to leave so quickly but we are working on a relatively tight timeline. If you let me know you're address I'll arrange for someone to collect your mail, pay your bills and rent while you are out of town.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with who I am or what I do but I am the CEO of Stark Industries. We work heavily with the Avengers on quite a few projects, including the ones I have for you.

New York was devastated after the alien attack, just like Sokovia has been devastated by a similar attack. Every time the Avengers rip through a city or a town on a mission they leave a crush of bad media coverage in their wake. I have no issues with the media criticizing the job they do, but from a PR stand point, we need to do something. The world needs to better understand the Avengers, and I think that can happen with your work. So I'd like to give you 3 projects to work on- 1 set of internal portraits, 1 set of portraits for external use, and a series of photos that we can design a photo essay with.

If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to reach out. Good luck working with everyone, and I can't wait to see what you capture.

Pepper.

Her heart was beating a mile a minute as she held her breath, scrolling through the itinerary at the bottom of the email. DC. Cambodia. Kazakhstan. London. Kentucky. Los Angeles. And then DC again.

She yelled loudly as she kicked her feet in the air in excitement, unable to contain it. She could have never imagined an opportunity like this. But now it was her's. And it all started tomorrow.

(A/n: This is my first venture into Avengers/CapAmerica fanfiction so, hopefully you enjoyed this first chapter! Anyways. About the story: this won't be an action packed Avengers story. It's going to be more about the characters and their insights, who they are and the way they each see the world (or at least, how I think they see the world). The moments I love most about the movies are those shared moments between each of them- I love a good fight scene but the moments of sincerity or vulnerability and what I love the most. This story will (hopefully) be full of them. Comments and reviews are always appreciated ))

Enjoy )