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Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the Avengers or any of the characters.

Chapter 2: Steve

Dim light was coming through the training room. Pang. Pang. Pang.
Frustrated, locked-up, packed with work that wasn't getting anywhere. Pang. Pang. Pang.

He was a lab rat. And the knock on the door meant one of his many many blood sucking white cloaked sentries was coming to check on him. Confined to the premises for "his own good".

"Sudden exposure to the historical events since your "incident" could be harmful to your psyche." He felt like a little boy who's dog had died and his parents were trying to spare him. Pang. Pang. Pang.

He didn't even turn to see who it was. "Can I have a go at it?" He held the punching bag with a resemblance of a smile on his lips. "Sure, but can you handle it?"

She snorted playing offended "Don't let my size fool you. I had Romanoff training, ok?" He made a gesture with his hands "All yours then miss."

She stared at him in disbelief "You don't think I can do it!" he giggled "I'm sure you can" he started laughing at her posture against the bag. "I could take you down when you least expect it you know."

He came closer to her to help her with posture and she took the opportunity to grab him by his arm, lock her feet on his knee and knock him down, cutting off his air with her free fist. "See? Oh, sorry"

She got up and extended her hand to help him up. He grabbed her and knocked her down "Now we're even." She raised her eyebrow "Oh really? Hell we are!" She rushed off from under him and got a couple of batons from the training area.

"What's got in to you today?" he was rather puzzled but liked this playful version of her. They started sparring while they kept having the conversation "Well, first Bruce didn't really like my noodles recipe" defused a direct attack from Steve. "I see" now he defused her attack and she's with her back on the floor. Right hook to his rib cage. Small ouch "You're quite a pussy for such a big guy you know?" He smiled at her and the game got speed up a notch, his advances were rougher and so were hers, though he couldn't get close to her once she got a hand of a bō.

However, he was enhanced to the peak of human ability after all. She ended up disarmed, face down and slightly bruised. He leaned forcing her arm behind her back in a rather painful way, but she wouldn't whine about it, not to him anyway. "You gotta admit, this is much more fun than poking needles at me, isn't it?"

He had a point. "So, what else happened in your day?" he threw a towel to her face and she whipped him in the chest with it. "Jerk" they half giggled at their dynamic "Fury gave me a deadline I can't reach unless a miracle happens and I just had to channel my frustration somehow." He checked her bruised arm and went to get ice. "Well, you came to the right room for that."

She grabbed the second towel he offered, this time with ice on it and put it on her arm. She thanked him with a gesture while sitting down, backs to the wall. "How was your day? Poor punching bag had a tough one."

He sighed and started hitting the back of his head against the wall "I'm going crazy here. I get is for my own good but-" "but it's bullshit, I know." He stopped for a second and saw her. Something was definitely wrong with her today. She never questioned these decisions before.

He kept on hitting the wall with the back of his head. "As your primary physician I'm obliged to make you stop that but" she started hitting her own head but stopped quickly after getting dizzy. She had to go back to her desk and keep working on the formula, but she couldn't find the strength to move. Steve was her friend and she was there not to blow off steam but to get him to run yet-one-more endless test. She didn't want him to feel like a freak in a cage, and certainly didn't want to be the one keeping him there. She took a deep breath. "I need to go for check-up later, right?"

She gave back the towel and put it in his face, his left cheek and upper lip seemed swollen. "I'm sorry Rogers." They got up "Hey, not every day a pretty doctor takes me down so." She looked puzzled. "Nice doctor. It's that, erm, you're not like the others. Doctor-y and all. You're sweet. You treat me like a person."

She grabbed her notebook and restrained a smile "You ARE a person, in spite of that thing they put in your system and made you all kick ass-y and tall."

He snorted "You mean that thing you're trying to synthesize again?" She looked right into his eyes and held her breath. "Yeah, well, see you later Capt."