Well, here we are! The sequel to the First Avengers. Just a heads up to all of you- one of the most common comments I get on my stories is that people want me to stray more from the MCU and do more original writing. I've gotten this suggestion so often that I'm finally going to wise up and listen!

This chapter will follow the beginning of the movie, but from here on I'll be adding much more of my own take on the MCU. I hope you'll agree with the direction I take this story. I would also like to point out that due to school, work, and other stories keeping me busy, I'll only be updating once a week.

As always, enjoy. :)

Exercise

"No no no no no!"

"Jo-"

"Uh-uh."

"If you would just-"

"Nope."

"Would you-"

"No."

Steve sighed, and even from underneath the comfy blankets I had pulled over my face I could imagine that same disappointed look on his face he always got when I refused to go on his morning run with him. Usually he let me get away with it and stay in bed, but something this morning made him especially stubborn. "All right, that's it."

"What's that supposed to-" My sentence was cut short when Steve grabbed my ankles and pulled me towards the end of the bed. "Hey, cut that out!"

"Nope," he mimicked me, popping the 'p' sound with a little grin as he crumpled my blanket into a ball and tossed it to the opposite side of the bed. "I have to leave for a mission today, which means you're coming whether you like it or not."

I continued to moan dramatically as he held onto my arms and pulled me out of the bed, pushing me towards the bathroom. He was already dressed in his running gear, and I complained even louder when I saw that he had laid mine out on the sink. "Steve."

"Exercise is good for you." Steve clapped his hands on my shoulders with a small smile and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the bathroom, closing the door behind himself. "Ten minutes!"

"I hate you!" I yelled through the door.

"Love you too!"

After childishly staring at my feet and kicking the floor a few times, mumbling to myself about dating the biggest workout buff in the world, I switched the shower on and resigned myself to my fate. There was no arguing with Steve when he got himself all worked up like this, especially if he was leaving for any period of time.

Thirteen minutes later - I thrive off of small victories - Steve was pulling me out of our home and leading me towards the Capitol Building where he ran every morning at an ungodly hour. Seriously, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon. Ridiculous.

"I'm glad you decided to join me this morning," he stated with a smirk that made me glare up at him. "You're so thoughtful. I just wanted to let you know that it's okay if you can't keep up."

I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest, shaking my head. "Not gonna work. You can't trick me into going any faster than a brisk walk."

"Trick you?" Steve clicked his tongue. "Who do you take me for? I'm simply stating that I completely understand if your lack of exercise has slowed you down. If you ever need a break, don't even bother catching up to tell me. You just sit down and take all the time you need."

Narrowing my eyes even further, I dropped my arms to my side as we reached the start of the bridge where he would begin his run. "You know what, Rogers? You're on. First person to finish three laps wins."

"This isn't-"

"This is so a competition now," I corrected before he could even finish. "First to three. Ready? Set..." I whirled around and broke into a sprint, not caring in the slightest that Steve was calling me a cheater behind my back. You know the old saying- cheaters always win, winners always cheat. Something like that, anyways.

I managed to stay ahead of Steve for a good five minutes before I heard his footsteps closing in behind me. Not ready to give in yet, I picked up the pace as much as my feet would allow and hurried past another jogger. "Sorry!" I called back over my shoulder when I nearly bumped into him.

Twenty minutes later I had just completed the first lap, and damn was I starting to feel it. A slow burn was spreading over my calves and my chest while I imagined my lungs rolling their imaginary eyes at the thought of having to continue supporting my heavy breathing. Despite my best efforts, I knew I was slowing down and that any minute I would see that stupid, smug little face.

When Steve passed me while laughing, I huffed a low, "Dammit!" and glared down at my legs. "You're genetically modified to keep up with him, you slackers!"

No matter how hard I pushed, I never caught back up to Steve. I actually gave up after the second lap to collapse against a tree. Cleanliness be damned, I was ridiculously tempted to just lay down in the grass and take a nap. I might have, too, if another person didn't join me in sitting against the same tree.

I glanced up from staring longingly at the ground to see who had joined me, and saw that it was the same jogger I had passed earlier. He was holding his stomach and wheezing, so I took pity on the poor guy and started fanning him with my hand. He laughed breathlessly at the practically useless act, which I responded to with a tired half-smile.

Steve ran up to us not even a minute later, and the bastard didn't even seem all that winded. He laughed at the sight of the two of us on the ground before turning to the stranger. "Need a medic?"

"I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran, like, 13 miles in 30 minutes."

"Thanks to this one." He held his hand out to help me up, which I normally would have turned down for the sake of sass, but I was way too tired to care at the moment. "Her laziness got me off to a late start."

"Really?" the man chuckled, also accepting Steve's hand when offered. "Blaming others for your misgivings? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap... Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

"Don't flatter him," I scoffed. "His ego is big enough as it is."

Steve sent me a mockingly appalled look before clicking his tongue and pointing at the man's sweatshirt. "What unit you with?"

"58th Pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA. Sam Wilson," he introduced, holding his hand out to shake Steve's.

"Steve Rogers."

"Yeah, I kind of put that together." Sam smiled at me and held his hand out, both gestures that I returned. "And you must be Joanne Moore."

"Just Jo, but yeah. Nice to meet you."

Sam nodded, looking at both of us between motioning between us. "Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

I shrugged nonchalantly, though the mention of it still made my back tense. It was nowhere near as bad a reaction as before, which I had Dr. Mitchell to thank for. I hadn't seen him since moving to Washington, but I still talked to him on the phone once or twice a month.

Steve observed my reaction knowingly before placing a hand on my back and nodding at Sam. "It takes some getting used to. It was good to meet you, Sam."

We had just turned our backs and taken a few steps away when Sam called after us. "It's your bed, right?" I stopped moving, which in turn made Steve stop. We both looked back to Sam, who had crossed his arms over his chest. "Your bed's too soft. When I was over there I'd sleep on the ground, use rocks for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..."

"Lying on a marshmallow," Steve answered for him. "Feels like I'm gonna sink right to the floor."

"The blankets," I added. "I got so used to the cold that now being warm is almost... constricting. Like I can't breathe."

Sam and Steve both nodded, and Steve's hand on my back turned into him running his knuckles down my spine while he talked to Sam. "How long?"

"Two tours. You two must miss the good old days, huh?"

"Well, things aren't so bad," Steve shrugged. "Food's a lot better. We used to boil everything."

"Video games have pretty much taken over my life," I added.

"No polio is good."

"I'm not quite sure how I ever survived without a cell phone."

"Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot trying to catch up."

"I really like our microwave."

Sam had been looking back and forth between the two of us as we listed off some of the better parts of skipping ahead 70 years into the future, nodding along with each new item. When we finished, he adopted a thoughtful look before smiling. "Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack. Everything you missed jammed into one album."

Steve pulled out a palm-sized journal that he had almost completely filled with suggestions on what to catch up on from different people and added Sam's idea to the next available page. "I'll put it on the list."

His cell phone dinged from the inside of his pocket, and I pointed at it to justify my earlier claim of needing it. "See? Crucial part of our day."

Steve chuckled and returned the phone to his pocket. "Right. Well, duty calls. Thanks for the run, Sam. If that's what you want to call a run."

"Oh, that's how it is?"

"That's how it is," Steve agreed sarcastically with a nod.

"Well, hey," Sam shrugged. "Any time you wanna stop by the VA and make me look good in front of the girl at the front desk just let me know."

Steve nodded with a small laugh before smiling at me. "I'll see you when I get back?"

I hummed thoughtfully, copying his earlier smirk. "If you're lucky."

Steve shot me his best unamused look before bending down to kiss my cheek just as a sleek black car pulled up to the side of the curb. We all watched as the window rolled down to reveal Natasha sitting in the driver's seat with a playful grin. "Hey, fellas. Any of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."

"That's hilarious," Steve said flatly while rolling his eyes. When he turned back to me, I just barely caught the well-hidden concern in his features. "You'll be safe on the way home, right?"

"No," I deadpanned. "I will take every available risk within a fifteen mile radius of myself."

"That's my girl."

I watched Steve climbed into the car with Natasha while Sam bent down to get a better look at the interior. When he and Natasha made eye contact, he nodded at her and I wondered if he recognized her as well. "How you doing?"

She smiled back at him as Steve closed the door and looked back to Sam and I. "Can't run everywhere."

"No you can't."

The window rolled up just as Natasha pulled away, the tires screeching loudly against the pavement with how quickly she sped off. An urgent mission, then. Lately it seemed as if Steve and I had switched roles at SHIELD. Even though I was technically a senior member to him, I was more used to having Clint as a partner than anyone else.

Since Clint had gone on an extended vacation at his farmhouse, I had slowed down at work. Steve, however, was going out more frequently than ever. He was gone at least once a week, whether that be staying a night at the Triskelion or a long mission outside of the country.

When Natasha and Steve were out of view, Sam let out a low whistle before turning back to me with his hands on his hips. "So, you and Captain America?"

"It's a thing, I guess," I answered vaguely with a shrug.

"Living together?"

"Also a thing." I turned from the road where the car had disappeared to Sam, using my thumb to gesture towards the sidewalk. "Wanna grab some breakfast?"

"I know a pretty great diner a few blocks south of here," he offered, already setting off.

I followed on his right, throwing my hand out in front of us. "Lead the way, buddy."