The next day, the Avengers had cleaned themselves off and dressed their wounds. As they saw Thor and Loki off to Asgard, Steve watched Natasha tilt her head back to Clint, who seemed to never be more than 5 feet from the lethal, beautiful agent, and say something to elicit a rare smile from the tormented archer. It made Steve smile in kind, to see such love after such destruction.

Once the demi-Gods had gone, the spies peeled away to God knows where, as long as they were together, and Banner and Stark prepared to geek out in whatever R&D haven the Iron Man had promised to show the scientist. But before they could go, Steve interrupted them. His vintage bike was waiting, calling him, but there was a thought he couldn't seem to part with. It would do no harm to ask, other than a mild jibe, and Steve had learned the hard way how the regret of things undone could hurt a man.

"Stark," he said. At his voice, Stark halted in his tracks with the quickness of a soldier, but masked it with the confidence and aloofness that he presented to the world.

"Hey, whatsup, Cap? You know I hate long goodbyes, let's make this quick."

"I was just wondering, did you see that woman, in the street yesterday? Loki had grabbed her and she punched him in the nose," he recalled with a half smile.

Stark laughed, "That little spitfire? Yeah, I think I woke up in time to see her drop him. I'll see what I can do," he said with that roguish grin that he always kept near. Steve blushed and stuttered an excuse, but found it unnecessary. Who knew the self-involved egomaniac could be so perceptive to the goings-on of others? Steve felt a suddenly strong affection for the man that could only be attributed to the camaraderie of war. They shook hands and parted. Steve fired up his bike, the roar of the engine vibrating through him, the anticipation of what Stark's genius could uncover on the woman who'd helped save the planet singing past his ears like the wind as he made his way down the coast.

Jeanette had a task at hand. Her club had been all but demolished, and she needed to get it up and running again as soon as possible. There was no time like after a tragedy for people to need a distraction, a sense of comfort. Though when she began this business five years ago she hardly expected an alien invasion and had therefore not purchased the insurance that would cover the damages. State Farm did not consider a foreign invasion a 'natural disaster'.

So, she spent her nest egg on getting her doors open again, and within the week, her dance floor was teeming with sock hoppers. Wearing an old dress with her chin up, after all, wasn't 'Make do and Mend' the homefront attitude of war?, she twisted and danced through the night.

She swapped war stories with her long-time patrons, after a long hug and swiping away their mutual tears. Though she found, after the initial shock-induced telling of the complete and actual truth, that she left out the part about the villain Loki and the Captain when passing on the tale. The coworkers who'd heard the full, dazed tale swapped knowing glances as she kept the juiciest details to herself. It certainly didn't keep them from telling it. Her brush with the hero had certainly stuck with her, and she thought she deserved to be selfish enough to keep that one small part of his heroics to herself. God knows he had shown enough of it that day to elevate him in the world's opinion. Jeanette thought of him often, smiling, glad that there was at least one gentlemen left in the world, one true hero. And knowing that she had brushed against it left her glowing, ready to heal as much of the world as one normal, meager human woman could.

There was a chirping. Something clicking that should not have been. Steve heard his sat phone through his open motel room door. The concept of these 'wireless' devices still had him a bit confused, but he searched for it in his luggage, not knowing yet how or why it worked, only knowing that someone on the end of the line needed him.

His 'vacation' had not been as successful as he'd hoped. The world was new and different and amazing, but he still hadn't seemed to come down off the edge of battle since one week ago, when the survival of the earth rested upon the shoulders of a rag tag band of superhumans who could barely tolerate each other. He was jumpy, tense and frustrated, so he welcomed the distraction of the mysterious sat phone and whoever was on the other end.

"Hello?" he said, bringing the device to his face. It continued to chirp. "Oh." He punched the green button on the keypad. 'Green means go.' Agent Romanoff had kindly instructed him as she gave him the device before she and her partner rode off.

"Hello?" he tried again.

"Hey loverboy!" Stark's unmistakably nonchalant voice rang through as clear as though he were standing next to him. Steve jolted a bit. This modern technology sure took some getting used to.

"Stark," he greeted. Though the 'billionaire playboy philanthropist' had warmed considerably in his opinion, they were far from being buds.

"Hey I turned up something on your Loki-punching lady love. I'm sending it to your phone. Good lu-uuck!" he sang as he severed the connection.

"Sending it to my phone?" Steve repeated, beyond confused, as he stared at the device. It chirped as a box emerged on the screen. A woman's face popped up in the left hand corner.

"Oh," he breathed. It was the girl who'd acted on pure instinct in the midst of chaos, assisting others to safety and then helping to apprehend the demi-God bent on Earth's destruction. He nearly chuckled to think of her bewilderment when he had looked into her green eyes, but his laugh stuck in his throat upon admiration. She was smiling in the picture, which could have made her difficult to identify, since her expression was mostly blank with a hint of anger in it the day he'd met her.

But it was truly her, he could tell from her beautiful, big, almond-shaped and vividly green eyes. Her name was Jeanette Richmond, and she resided in Manhattan. Of course she did. He didn't know why he'd strayed so far from the island. Perhaps he wasn't confident in Stark's ability to locate one woman among millions. He wouldn't doubt him again.

If Steve could just find her and thank her, satisfy his curiosity, maybe he could finally relax and put the battle of New York City to rest. That was the plan, anyway, and he was feeling more relaxed already as he headed back toward the city.