I've had this idea for an Avengers fic involving Cap and my OC for quite some time. I would like to thank my lovely friend Susan for being my beta, and for encouraging me to post this. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Avengers belong to Marvel, I only own my oc Emma

She had no idea how she ended up being in New York. She swore she was just in Jerusalem not even 24 hours ago.

Rewind to about 16 hours ago when she was just coming home. What had she been doing that day? Oh right, training the newbies that had all just turned 18 and joined the Israel Defense Forces, literally just the week before. She had no idea why she had even bothered taking the offer from her superior. It wasn't because she got promoted to Sergeant, or the fact that she was a good leader. But it was something about these soldiers, who were not much younger than her, that reminded them of herself when she first started.

Ok, fast forward. She remembers screaming. For someone so small, people were constantly surprised at the loud voice that came out of her. They always joked that a giant was trapped inside her. She was screaming at one of the girls who didn't know how to properly hold a gun and fire it. She couldn't go easy on even the girls. No one went easy on her.

Fast forward to the end of that day. She was pulling up to her driveway on her moped, taking the helmet off and holding it under her arm as she gathered her bag. She could feel her cropped hair sticking up but didn't bother fixing it. She was going up the steps now, keys in hand, vaguely wondering if her father had come home from the university yet. He was a professor of mathematics, just a small note to put in there.

Fast forward to inside the house. Gun. She had her gun drawn. There was a stranger inside her house. How did they get in? The door wasn't broken open, she surely would have noticed.

"I'm from SHIELD-" she vaguely remembers the agent saying, followed by him explaining what the acronym meant and what they did. "We know about your ability, Sgt. Friedman."

"How?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"That incident last month, with the Palestinian bomber." The agent said. "You saved a lot of lives that day, the story was in newspapers worldwide-" The agent went on to say that she would be of great use to SHIELD, that she'd help save lives.

Save lives? Her job was to save lives. Even though serving in the IDF was mandatory for every Israeli citizen, she dreamed of becoming a hero ever since she was a little girl. About 16 hours from now when she lands in New York, she will slightly regret her decision in leaving her father and family behind without some sort of explanation. But at this moment she is high on adrenaline and takes the offer. Next thing she knows, she has a bag ready with her things in it and is off on a private jet to America.

Now here she is, standing before a conference table with unfamiliar eyes trained on her. She literally had just stepped off the plane not even an hour ago and it's probably the jet lag settling in that is making her feel so out of focus with reality at this moment. This all happened too fast, she realizes, finally deciding to rack a hand through her cropped black hair but it still probably stuck out in every which way.

"This is Sgt. Emmanuelle Friedman, from the Israel Defense Forces," She snaps back to reality when she hears a booming voice say her name. Who's was it? Oh right, Director Nick Fury. He literally just introduced himself to you as the leader of SHIELD. "She' the new recruit to the Avengers Initiative. I've brought her here for her telepathic ability."

All the eyes in the room widen. Emmanuelle, or rather Emma, as she likes to be called, bites down hard on her lower lip. She almost draws blood.

"No way!" Someone shouts and stands up, heading over to her. Wait, is that-?

"Can you read my mind, oh right, stupid question. Of course you can. Do you know what I'm thinking?"

"Stark, sit back down!" Fury barks at him. It IS him, it's Tony Stark. His face is plastered all over television screens back in Israel. Tony pouts and reluctantly sits back down in his seat. Probably thinking up ways to corner poor Emma later to do some mind reading gypsy nonsense on him. She is then introduced to the rest of the Avengers sitting in the room. She obviously already knew who Tony Stark was, the famous Iron Man.

Dr. Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk. He seemed to show interest at the mention of her ability. Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, a highly trained Russian spy. Clint Barton, Hawkeye, a skillful sharpshooter. And Captain Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America. Emma vaguely remembers french newspaper clippings in her grandfathers desk that she found when she was a teenager. Something about the Captain storming into Europe with the intent to stop Hitler. Which gained the admiration of her grandfather, who was on the run from the Nazi's at this time. You know, him being Jewish and all. Now he was looking at her with awe. Probably from the mention of her powers, she couldn't be sure.

The meeting was dismissed and she was led to a room that would apparently be her residence for the time being in the SHIELD HQ. It looked more like a standard hotel suite; queen sized bed, dresser and drawers, television, and a bathroom. The bag that she had packed was sitting on the foot of the bed. She unzipped it, taking out some pajamas to change into and quickly passed out.

Fast forward to the next morning, where Emma is more coherent to her surroundings. Everything from the day before came back to her and she groaned. The black jeans that she was previously wearing were sprawled on the floor, she got out of bed and picked them up to rummage her hand inside the left pocket. In it was her iPhone that she was terrified of looking at at this moment. but she pressed the button on the bottom anyway, and her terrors rang true. Over 15 missed calls and texts from her panicked father, and more missed calls and texts from her sister who her father had probably rang up to ask if Emma had gone over to her place. Emma decided not to call them back right away, she needed time to think of a cover story since she couldn't possibly go with, "Hi papa, sorry I suddenly disappeared. I joined a secret agency of superheroes!"

That could not do. So she simply put her phone on the nightstand and went to the bathroom to shower. Once out of the shower and hair dried with a towel wrapped around her, she proceeded to stare at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. A Rosemary's baby haircut that was currently flopped over on her forehead, grey-not blue-but grey eyes and an upturned nose stared back at her. She was naturally very fair-skinned, but living in a desert setting gave her a farmers tan. She vainly hoped that it wouldn't fade if she was going to be living in New York. Once she properly combed out her hair and got dressed in jeans, a simple pink blouse and military boots she decided it was time for her to come out of her room to forage for food.

It wasn't until 10 minutes of mindlessly wandering through hallways that all looked the same that she had not a clue where the cafeteria was. Emma scrunched up her face. She jumped in surprise when she felt a tap on her shoulder, turning in a flash and reaching into her pocket only to come up empty. Shit, I left my gun back in Israel. She relaxed when she saw it was just Captain America's hulking frame towering over her. His face showed that he regretted having startled her.

"Sorry for startling you like that," He said apologetically. "Miss-I mean, Sgt. Friedman right?"

Emma smiled. "Just Emma. I'm only a Sgt. when I'm in uniform. Um, Steve right?" Saying his name in her accent sounded funny to Steve, but he supressed a laugh.

"Yeah," He put his hand out for a handshake. Emma shook it, and became slightly annoyed at the face that his hand literally devoured hers, reminding her of how dainty she really was. "You looked kind of lost, you need any help?"

Her stomach decided to make the sound of a dying whale. Emma did not seem embarrassed, but instead chose to stare accusingly at her stomach for a moment before looking back up. "This guy is hungry. You know where the food is?"

Steve chuckled. She seemed a bit strange, but he appreciated her sense of humor. "I was just on my way there myself to get some breakfast. Follow me."

"Great. Thank you." She said as she tried to keep up with his long strides. He seemed to notice this and slowed down slightly.

"You seemed pretty out of it yesterday, I'm glad you look better today." Steve said and then blushed when she realized what he said. Emma looked up at him, he did seem like he was genuinely concerned about her.

"Being asked to join a secret facility full of superheroes does not come up everyday. I guess I was still in shock over the whole thing. Or maybe it was the jet lag." she paused. "Flying 12 hours will do that to you."

They had reached the cafeteria and Emma immediately went for the coffee and lox and bagels. Stereotypical, she knew, but you don't get past Emma when she has her lox and bagels. When she went up to pay for her meal, she realized that she only had shekels and groaned inwardly. Steve, who was standing beside her decided to not not only pay for his breakfast but for hers as well. Emma blinked in surprise as she followed after him to sit down at a random table near the back.

"You didn't have to do that. But thank you." She said. "Once I exchange my currency to American dollars, I will pay you back."

"You don't have to do that Mis-Emma," Emma smiled at the sound of his voice saying her name. While Steve started digging into his plate of eggs and bacon, Emma took this time to snag a bottle of hot sauce from a nearby table to put on her lox. She laughed when she saw the look on Steve's face.

"Hey, don't judge," She snapped the top bagel back on and took a big bite. "It's delicious."

"Where are you from again?" Steve chuckled.

"Israel. More specifically, Jerusalem."

"How is it?"

"Hot. Smelly camels everywhere. And the threat of being bombed everyday is imminent. But it's a beautiful country." She mentioned the bombings as a joke, but she panicked when she saw Steve's frown. "No, i mean. It doesn't happen often. It's safe there. But it's also why every citizen has to serve in the Israeli army once they turn 18."

"Is that why you're a Sergeant?" Emma nodded proudly. Her phone decided to ring and she quickly yanked it out of her pocket, groaning at the name displayed on the screen. Her father.

"One moment," She said apologetically, sliding the bar at the bottom to answer the call. "Halo Papa. You can stop yelling at me. I know I disappeared, I'm so sorry. But I can assure you that I am safe. Where am I? Well, it's complicated and I am not sure whether I can explain. Please don't be angry, it's complicated. I'll explain soon. Yes. Yes, I ate. Alright, I'll call Sophia. I love you. Bye." The entire conversation was spoken in rapid paced Hebrew. She started dialing her sister's number. She looked back at Steve before she hit the send button. "Sorry, have to make a call."

The phone rang for a few minutes before she heard someone pick up the line. "Hey sis-" Emma had to pull the phone away from her ear at this point, and even Steve could hear a woman yelling angrily in a foreign tongue. Emma put the phone back at her ear and reassured her sister that she was safe and sound, and yes she ate, and no she could not explain her situation right now. She hung up and groaned. Steve looked audibly amused.

"My father, worried sick." She explained. "And then I had to call my sister, who was not very amused by my 'disappearance'."

"What did you tell them?"

"Eh, that it was complicated to explain." She polished off the last of her bagel, furrowing her eyebrows when she noticed that Steve was having a hard time trying to tell her something. By the way his mouth kept opening and closing. "What? Spit it out."

"Sorry. It's just that, this thing has been on my mind since yesterday."

"Hm?"

"You read minds, right?" He asked nervously. "Can you read my mind right now?"

"I would never invade anyone's privacy." Steve seemed to relax. "Some people have perverted minds, it's gets awkward fast once you found out what other people are thinking about."

"Then I guess you wouldn't want to read Tony's mind," Emma's eyes widened and Steve laughed.

"Not even if he begged and pleaded." They laughed and got up to throw away their trash. They walked out of the cafeteria and back to the long winding hallway.

"I was wondering," Emma started. "If you knew if this place had a gym?"

"Yeah, I was about to go over there myself."

"Great." She flexed her arm in response. "Gotta keep in shape, you know?"

Just as Steve was about to lead Emma to the gym, an agent approached them. "Sgt. Friedman?" Emma nodded, stiffening up.

"Director Fury would like to have a word with you."

I have not written a fic, much less a multi-chaptered one, in a long time, so please tell me what you think!