Skye's claim that she wasn't the most interesting person at Coulson's parties was a lie, Steve realized. She just closed herself off that time when their friendship bloomed. She was Coulson's foster daughter, and charismatic. She could work a room effortlessly, if she wanted. Tony adored her, they were surprisingly similar. As in, if you both left them and Bruce in a room alone, they'd both start poking him with sharp objects in hopes to test his limits.

She and Clint were surprisingly chummy, and watching her and Thor interact was hilarious. It took a while for Nat to warm up to her, but even she had a weird, quiet but nice relationship with the girl.

"I took you for a lot of things, but I didn't take you for a liar. You don't have to stand in the corner at a party," he laughed, watching her retreat again.

"Neither do you. You're Captain America, Steve. You could own this place," she smiled. Steve shrugged. He was just Steve Rogers. And yeah, he was a lucky guy. But this wasn't his scene.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he didn't check. Yeah, he knew how to text now. He still didn't use his cell phone much. Didn't have need for it. He wrote letters a lot. To himself, to Howard Stark, to Peggy. To Bucky. He had a box under his bed overflowing with them.

Maybe that was why he never took Kate home. He didn't want to risk her seeing them, reading into him as she read them. Not many people were allowed in his apartment. Just Skye, Coulson, the Avengers and Fitzsimmons. And he was pretty picky about when they could come. It was a small apartment, but it wasn't just that. It was his space. His. He didn't want it regularly invaded.

The night, Coulson's birthday, was starting to wind down. Clint and Natasha had removed themselves to their own corner of the room, standing too close and probably making plans about where they'd crash for the night. Ever since New York, which felt like ages ago, Natasha didn't let Clint work alone. She didn't want someone like Loki in his head ever again. She was fiddling with the arrow necklace around her neck.

Tony and Pepper were lingering. Tony loved Coulson more than he wanted to admit. Thor had gone, as had Banner. Coulson's team was all still here, and Hill.

Coulson made his way over and ushered Skye away. She rolled her eyes but kissed his cheek as she found Simmons.

"Happy Birthday, sir. I'm glad Loki didn't prevent you from having more," Steve said. That didn't come out right. He pressed on, waiting for Coulson's reply.

"Thanks. Hey, be careful with her, alright? She's tough, but when you feel the need to be closed off, which I know you will, she's gonna pry once in a while. She does that, and it's not bad, or malicious. You can't tear her down. Either let her, or turn her away. Just...be gentle," Coulson warned, resting his hand on Steve's shoulder. Steve nodded. He knew friendship with Skye was surprising, and potentially problematic but it was just...there.

"You have my word."

Of all the places Steve imagined himself on a Saturday, Disney Land was not one of them. He wasn't sure how Skye got them in, or why, but here he was, and it made no sense.

"Do you work at all anymore?" he asked. Skye rolled her eyes.

"We have the week off. We had a rough month," she murmured, eyes glazing over for a minute before she snapped back to reality, smile plastered on her face. She clearly had bad memories of the last month.

"Why Disney Land?"

Skye looked at the pamphlet, at the glimmering castle. She had mouse ears on her head, and had given the Minnie Mouse ones to Steve. He wasn't sure how she got them on him, but there he was. "I dunno. I had a fucked up childhood, never got to go to the place where dreams come true. It was built after you were a Capsicle. It's a pinnacle of 'Murican culture," she admitted. This was for her as much as it was for him, then.

Steve shoved his hands in his pockets, following Skye as she all but skipped over to a churro vender. The park did have some small nostalgia, as well as things Steve couldn't have dreamt of even as a boy. He would've taken his kids here, if he'd ever gotten around to having them. Maybe it was better this way. Duty to the nation before duty to himself. "You wanna get a picture with Donald Duck?" she asked.

Steve rested his hand on her back as a group of rowdy, drunk guys stumbled by. Seriously? This early in the morning? "Later. Eat that and let's go on some rides," he smiled. Skye's face lit up like he'd just sat her in a room full of S.H.I.E.L.D computers with the passwords to everything. Steve couldn't help but smile and eat the pieces of churro that she broke off for him.

Steve was sure they rode almost every ride in the park. He wasn't sure how Skye was getting in the front of lines, but there she was. And she was right; he loved it. Roller Coasters may have just been the best thing since sliced bread. She promised to come back with her team and when they walked out, there was the Bus, waiting to take them back home.

"How'd you get May to agree to pick us up?" he asked.

"She's not totally unreasonable," Skye smiled, patting Lola as she walked into the plane. Steve shook his head, jogging after her. Skye really was a talented girl.

"Do you wanna share a dessert?"

"Hm?"

Steve stopped zoning out and focused on Kate. She looked beautiful in the candlelight, green eyes aglow and blond hair curled perfectly. Her hand rested atop of his. It was their third date. Steve hadn't meant to space out, but it happened sometimes. Kate, thank god, understood that. She just smiled at him, not annoyed at having to repeat herself.

"Would you like to share a dessert?"

Something told Steve that the answer to that wasn't 'no' despite what his stomach was telling him. "Yeah, sure. What would you like?"

He let her order, not even sure what exactly she said. He was really having a hard time tonight. He had to fight off several panic attacks. This restaurant was modern. Sometimes he was fine with that, but now it made him feel painstakingly homesick, and his heart hurt a bit. Half of a fruit tart didn't exactly seem like dessert to him, but it wasn't a big deal and it made Kate happy. Besides, he wasn't really present anyway.

He felt bad. "Sorry about tonight. I'm not always this bad," he promised. Kate smiled, squeezing his hand.

"I know. You're recovering still. From...everything. Your job isn't exactly stress-free," she said delicately. Steve laughed humorlessly. That was such an understatement. He paid the check and they walked out hand in hand. "Back to your place?" she asked, still smiling.

Steve felt more panic seize him. Take her...back to his place. His safe space, with his personal objects...once he let her in he couldn't exactly shut her out. It shouldn't have been a big deal. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn't control how he felt. So few people had been there, Skye had been the quickest in terms of how soon he let her in compared to meeting him. Nat was the only one who'd ever seen his bedroom and that was because he let her sleep in there when Barton was being treated for a bad gunshot. His mouth ran dry, looking for a polite way to say no, he did not want to go back to his place. "Or mine?" she inquired. Not much better, but Steve nodded, feeling his chest loosen up a little. Kate took his hand and stepped out in the street to hail a cab.

Steve made it through the night at Kate's without any night terrors. It was a miracle. He woke up before her (he rarely had anyone wake up before him, except for Tony but Tony didn't really sleep. So) and started to make breakfast. He hoped she didn't mind him poking around her kitchen but he figured coffee, eggs and bacon would make up for it.

He saw a can of Coca Cola and temptation won over him. He opened it, taking a swig. Instantly he spit it out, jumping when he noticed how far he sprayed it. He grabbed paper towels, sighing as he began to clean up. Coca Cola did not taste the way it did when he was younger. He kept trying it...but it just wasn't the same.

"Hey."

Steve looked up and saw Kate standing in the doorway...in his shirt. When did that happen? He shook his head, smiling at her and throwing out the paper towels. "Hi. I made breakfast. I don't know how you like your eggs..." he trailed off. Kate's features softened as he talked. She walked over to him, kissing the corner of his mouth as she poured herself some coffee.

"How late are you staying?" she asked. Steve looked at her apologetically. "Right. I'll, um, give this back to you..." she said as she started slipping out of his shirt. He grabbed her hands before she could finish unbuttoning it and kissed her.

"Keep it for a while. I've got this undershirt and a jacket, I'm good," he promised. Skye said that was something girls like. That was not different from his time, but having the reassurance was nice. Kate smiled as he wolfed down his eggs. He kissed her one last time before leaving her place.

Once he was outside, Steve realized he had three new texts, all from Skye. Partially just to drive her nuts, he decided to call her. He could hear her sigh of exasperation when she picked up. "Just. Text!"

"No can do. What'd you want?"

"Dude, where have you been? I even called your place last night, but you didn't answer!" Skye said.

"I was at Kate's."

There was a beat of silence, and Steve chuckled, imagining the look on Skye's face. "You were at Kate's house?"

"Yes."

"Nicely done, Cap! Look at you, you got all the smooth moves on your own,"

She talked to him while he walked back to his place, including mocking him for walking instead of 'biking or getting a cab or anything other than walking, you dork'. He heard some noises in the background and she said goodbye before hanging up. It was weird to think that Skye had missions of her own. Not because she wasn't capable (she was, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her safety the first time she hung up on him for a mission) but her team was so different from his, it was hard to remember they all worked for the same cause.

Steve smiled to himself. Today was going to be a good day.

A/N: Alright, two in one day is good for a while. I'd love to hear from you! Did you like it? What did you like? Thanks for all of the interest!