two

"This is an outrage!" Sharon slammed the files that had been handed to her back onto the Director of CIA Special Ops' desk. "A liaison? With all due respect sir, when I joined the CIA I imagined that my line of work would not involve being a patsy for the Avengers and CIA to pass information back and forth!"

She was called into his office expecting to be further reprimanded for her behaviour the other day. She was not expecting an entirely different job change.

The director gazed at her calmly. "Be reasonable Sharon. This is more than being a 'patsy' as you so lightly put it. After further evaluation, it has been decided that the calls you made on the field leading a tactical team and simultaneously working with the Avengers is something that cannot be overlooked. We recruited you for your experience in dealing with the more... supernatural aspects of this world."

He was a man used to getting what he wanted and an angered agent was the least of his worries. That only infuriated Sharon even more.

"The mission was a test," she stated.

"It was an indication," he corrected. "Few can be considered competent for this job, you should be proud of this new assignment."

Sharon was fuming. "I'll be proud of whatever the hell I want. Who was idiotic enough to sign off on this from the Avengers?" If it was Tony, he'd be paying for it.

"That would be me."

Sharon felt her entire body stiffen.

"And idiotic isn't a term I normally associate myself with."

Dead men didn't talk and they sure as hell didn't assist in making her out to be the liaison between the Avengers and CIA.

She glanced towards the door, and sure enough her former director Nick Fury was standing there in all his one-eyed glory looking very much alive.

"Fury. I should have known you weren't dead."

She plopped down on one of the director's chairs, defeated to the fact that she could throw as many tantrums as she wanted, but it wouldn't help get her out of this one.

Fury moved forward into the office, making a point to be visible to her.

"Faking my death Carter, was a tactical move as I'm sure you've gathered by now. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been compromised far beyond recognition and even though it's gone, HYDRA is still out there. The Avengers can only do so much but with the exception of Romanoff and Barton, they're not spies. Stealth missions, undercover missions...we need spies for that."

He gave her a pointed look with his one eye causing Sharon to inwardly curse because they both knew if it weren't for her Aunt Peggy, there'd be no way in hell that she would give in as easily as she was about to.

Peggy had been instrumental in all that S.H.I.E.L.D. became except that it was doomed from the beginning with HYDRA brewing beneath its surface. She knew she owed it to her aunt to restore the old legacy she worked so hard to build. Truthfully, she already accepted the position in her mind the second Fury opened his big un-dead mouth just like he knew she would. Blowing his cover to her was crucial in order to guarantee her acceptance of the position.

Sharon blew at one of her golden locks that fell over her eye. "Dammit, Fury."


Steve was surprised by how well known Agent 13 was among everyone he worked with, and it wasn't just for her part in protecting him (although that was brought up sometimes, did you ever suspect her Cap?) but mostly for the work she had done before he had been pulled out of the ice.

Ever since the night she gave him the cold shoulder, he hasn't been able to escape her name from coming up in passing. She was rumoured to be taking on a job that would give her clearance for both CIA and Avengers ops. Steve didn't really understand why, but apparently that was a big deal.

He did understand that it also meant that they'd be working together and it didn't bode well with him that there was some bad blood between the two of them.

He thought about showing up on her doorstep with coffee in hand to make amends but later decided that ambushing her at home probably wouldn't go over very well especially since he had the distinct feeling that she did not like him.

At all.

Though he was entirely certain that he was at fault for that since she'd simply been doing her job while he took out some of his misguided Man Out of Time anger on her.

So he decided to wait until he ran into her again and go from there instead.

His opportunity came in the form of a Stark charity gala. Being a member of the Avengers he was obliged (forced?) to attend, black tie and all.

He spotted her from across the room chatting with Pepper and Sam and against his own volition found that he was heading towards them without any sort of plan on what to actually say to Agent 13 once he got there.

Luckily for him, Pepper noticed him first which saved him from having to awkwardly come up with something to say.

Pulling him in for a greeting and kissing him on the cheek she said, "Steve you look rather dashing. I'm so glad you made it! Tony had his doubts but I knew you would be here!" She turned her attention towards the group. "Do you and Sharon already know each other?"

"We're neighbours, actually," Sharon interjected.

Steve glanced over at Sharon who had been eyeing him ever since he arrived at the group.

"Captain."

He gave her a small smile, hoping to break some of the tension he could already feel building between them. "Steve, please."

Once again, he was having a hard time believing that she was the same person he used to run into all the time in their apartment building. She was always dressed in hospital scrubs whenever he saw her and openly friendly towards him. It was a far cry from the woman standing before him. She was dressed in a long, elegant white gown and regarding him like an acquaintance she barely knew.

He had to avoid looking at Sam who was trying to keep a straight face having realized that Sharon, his neighbour and the agent Steve pissed off on the field were one and the same person.

Seemingly pulling it together, Sam turned towards Pepper. "C'mon Pep, let's get ourselves a drink." He patted Steve on the shoulder and told Sharon he'd catch up with her later, dragging Pepper along with him so that it was just Steve and Sharon left.

"This is the first time I've seen you at one of these." Steve tapped the table in front of them, looking for some kind of distraction. It was times like these that he wished he had the inclination to stop by the bar and get a drink. At least it would have been something he could hold.

"It's not my first Stark gala believe me, but I had to avoid going to all the places an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D would normally visit but a nurse wouldn't."

"Oh, I suppose I never really thought about how much your life would've had to change just to keep your cover." Steve frowned. "It probably didn't help that I basically forced you out of any public S.H.I.E.L.D. events."

"Well that's one way to look at it. I'm supposed to stay out of public eye as much as possible anyway."

"Spy business, I presume."

Sharon nodded.

"What about all of this?" He gestured towards the room. "This isn't exactly incognito, especially with Tony involved."

She sipped on her wine, savouring the taste of it before letting Steve in on the secret that he didn't seem to notice.

"Believe it or not, Tony does not allow the press inside for these galas. The only time you'll come across them is outside, but if you're good like me, you can sneak right past them and they would never know you were here."

Steve did a survey of the room and realized that she was right. There were no cameras and nobody walking around with a press badge. "You'll have to show me how to sneak out of here then."

She didn't know what prompted the Captain to drop his cold act toward her but she agreed to help him nonetheless.

Feeling a little more confident, Steve decided to pursue the real reason he had sought her out tonight. "I think we got off to the wrong start ever since the night Fury was attacked in my apartment and the other day when you showed up during our ops against HYDRA. I owe you an apology – "

Sharon interrupted. "It would have been a shock to anyone finding out their neighbour wasn't really your run of the mill nurse and you were looking out for your team the other day doing your job just like I was doing mine."

Steve tried to say more but she shushed him again, not wanting to dwell on it any further. For once, she wasn't on the receiving end of his accusations, which had been the case since she'd blown her cover.

"Let's not talk about work Steve, pretty soon that's all we'll ever be talking about."

He had been thinking that he hoped work wouldn't really end up being the only subject they talked about when she asked him for a dance.

"Then we can get out of here, I've had about enough of this crap for the night."

The familiar pang that came with the memory of the date he never had shot through him and as soon as it had come, Steve pushed it away before the sadness of it had a chance to take over him.

He looked over at Sharon and offered her a smile. "I'm afraid that I'm not much of a dancer and I don't think I'm ready for my debut to be in front of all these people. I'll need a little practice first."

To anyone else, Steve's excuse would have been chalked up to his modesty, but months of studying him from afar had allowed Sharon to notice his sudden change in demeanour. She wanted to kick herself for being insensitive because she knew he had to be thinking about his last conversation with her great-aunt before he crashed the plane.

As a child, she always thought the story was so tragically romantic but it was only a story to her. To Steve it was his reality and the 1940s had only been a number of months back for him.

"Let's just get out of here Cap. Follow me."

She led them out of the building undetected as promised to a car and driver that Tony always left on standby for her whenever she attended his functions. Seeing the Captain's curious frown at the situation she offered up enough of an explanation without giving too much away. "My family has been a long time friend of the Starks. Tony, although he's much older than me, is like the annoying brother I'm glad I never had."

When they reached their respective apartments Steve and Sharon wished each other goodnight and just as Sharon was entering her apartment, Steve called out to her.

"I owe you one."

Sharon nodded and closed the door behind her.