Disclaimer: The characters and things you recognize in this story don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel and Janet Evanovich. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize which is which. Mistakes belong to me.

A/N (or warning): In my opinion, Stephanie's mother is a huge bitch in the books, and I have written her accordingly. If you're a fan of hers, you may just want to skip down to Steve's POV once they all leave for the Plum's house.


Chapter 7

Steph's POV

We walked into the other room and looked around. All the Avengers were there, along with Pepper and quite a few of the Merry Men. Joy. More people to witness my most embarrassing moment yet.

"Steph, this could not possibly be the most embarrassing moment of your life," said Ranger.

Damn. Out loud. I looked at him, and then I pointed to the TV that was showing "Breaking News" that was Steve and I. Jesus Christ, I mean, I know I hadn't been on a date in a while, but I didn't think even my mother would qualify me going on one as "Breaking News".

Laughter. Double damn!

"Alright, kids," said Tony, "you look like you had a fun date. Was it at least worth this mess."

I blushed and looked at my feet and nodded.

"Seriously, they did that at the same time. I don't think they could get any sweeter without giving us all cavities instantly," said Sam.

I shot him my best death glare and he held up his hands in mock surrender, "Lady, you do not need to spend any more time with Tasha."

Now it was Natasha's turn to glare at Sam as Lester piped up, "can't blame that on Natasha, she could always do that. It didn't used to be scary until she started being able to back it up on the mats. Now it's terrifying."

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but I was pretty sure, since he'd recently been reminded of the fact, he wasn't. So I turned to him and nodded.

Tony clapped his hands, "Anyway, back to me. As I was saying, you've created a bit of a stir. We think that it might not take too long for people to realize that you were spotted about half an hour from where I just bought a new piece of property. So, we don't think you should stay here, at least for the next week or so."

"Babe, you need to be more aware of your surroundings. You too, Captain." Steve nodded his head looking ashamed of himself. "Until this blows over, we're going to go ahead and transfer you to our new Manhattan office. Bobby, Lester, Tank, Hector, and I will be in and out of that office for the next several weeks setting it up, and we could use your help. The rest of the guys will take turns helping Lula, for hazard pay, this weekend and next," supplied Ranger.

Tony nodded his head, "we'll be moving you into one of the guest rooms at Avengers Tower for the time being."

There was the rumbling noise of a bike outside, actually it sounded like more than one bike, and Tony nodded his head. "There's your ride. We'll have lunch here together before you go, while Pepper gives you both a crash course in dealing with the media. We recommend that you keep a low profile in Manhattan, but they'll probably find you out sooner rather than later. Then you two will head out with Clint and Natasha following you. Sam will provide aerial support. Questions?"

I thought about being angry because I hated being ordered around, but truthfully, what they were proposing made sense. Other than the Rangeman office thing. "You have a Rangeman office in New York?"

"Will by the end of the month. We've been thinking of expanding. We'll have one in Washington D.C. too about a month later."

Seemed very suspicious, but I didn't want to get into it now, so I shrugged. I looked at Steve and said, "what do you think?"

"I think it makes sense."

"Me too. There's just one problem." I noticed Ranger wince out of the corner of my eye.

"What's that?"

"I'm going to have to stop and see my parents first if I ever want my mother to speak to me again."

"Beautiful, just think of how great your life would be if she didn't!" chimed in Lester.

Steve shot him a disbelieving look and started to protest, so I said, "No, he has a point. I think that all the time. But she is my mother, so I just can't bring myself to do it. I know Trenton's out of the way, but I don't really see any way around it. Especially if I'm leaving town indefinitely. If it stretches more than a couple days and I didn't go see them before I left..." I just trailed off and shuddered at the thought.

"Okay, so we'll stop by your parents house."

Ranger barked out a laugh and clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Good luck! You better hope her Grandma isn't home." Then he turned to me and said, "I know you don't want to hear this, but if you're going to set foot back in Trenton, even if it is a quick stop, you're going to need to take extra backup with you until you're well out of town and we're sure no one is following you."

I nodded in agreement.

"Alright, that's settled then. Let us feast!" boomed Thor.

I turned and looked at him and said, "Thor, you know not every meal is a feast, right?"

Thor just nodded his head happily and strode out of the room.

A couple hours later, Steve was easing his bike to a stop outside my parents' house. I heaved a sigh and climbed off then said to him, "you might want to sit this one out, it isn't going to be pretty."

"I don't see how I can."

"Simple, you wait for me to go inside, then you pull away down the street and you and the rest of the Avengers wait out here while Rangeman goes in with me. They're used to this, so they can handle it. I see no need to subject a new group of people to this."

"Stephanie, she's your mother, how bad can it be? I go in, I ask your father for permission to date you, charm your mom, and we head back out."

I couldn't help it, I just laughed. "I'm sorry," I wheezed, "I'm not laughing at you. Not really. That's a very sweet picture you have and I wish it was going to go like that. Unfortunately…"

I trailed off as I heard the screen door slam open. I mumbled, "too late" with a wince and then I heard it. "Stephanie Michelle Plum! What are you doing out there with that motorcycle riding hooligan? What will the neighbors think? You get inside right this instant."

I sighed, "alright then, I guess you've made your choice. She's not going to want to let you in, but her Burg manners will make her. So the quicker we get inside, the less juice for the gossip mill." I turned around and walked toward the house with Steve and the rest of the Avengers and Sam following me, not saying a word.

I got to the front door and my mother was just standing there, staring at the group. "Ma, are you going to let us in? I'd rather not do this outside."

At that, she silently opened the door and walked through it, letting it slam behind her rather than holding it up for us.

"Oh this is going to be good," I thought. Steve gave my shoulder a squeeze, then held the door open for me. I walked in and found my mother waiting just inside the entryway. We were all kind of crammed in the entryway when I heard my dad yell, "for goodness sakes, Helen, let them in!"

My mother turned on her heel and stormed off into the kitchen. I led the way into the living room, where my dad was sitting in his chair. Much to my surprise, he turned off the television and stood up to greet the guests.

He introduced himself around and gave them a hearty, "it's an honor to have you in my home."

I heard my mother scoff and then commanded my presence in the kitchen with, "well, come on, there's cake and coffee to serve."

A couple of the others made as though to protest and I just shook my head frantically. "Okay, Mom, I'll be right there."

I turned to Steve and said, "just stay here, try to relax. Ignore anything you hear come out of the kitchen." Then I slowly made my way to the kitchen, not unlike a death row inmate being led off for execution.

As soon as the kitchen door swung shut behind me, I noticed that the phone had been pulled out of the wall and my mother's bottle of whiskey was at least half empty. Then it started.

"Young lady, just what do you have to say for yourself? You blew up your apartment, a good portion of the building, and as far as I can tell, at least two cars. The whole time, you're running around with those no-good vigilantes! They're criminals, Stephanie! They were brought before congress on charges. They're a public nuisance and a danger to society. How could you possibly be seen with them. What will people think?!"

She paused to take a breath and I cut in, "They are heroes. They saved the world! Most of them have done so multiple times. Congress had hearings because congress likes to talk and pretend they're important. They were never charged with anything because that would be moronic. They ran into battle with aliens who had powers and advanced weapons they had never seen before and they risked their own lives to save innocent civilians. They're super heroes and we need them! And for your information, the explosions weren't my fault. I didn't blow up anything, it was someone else trying to kill me, we don't know who."

"It absolutely was your fault. If you would just stop being so selfish and quit your job, people would stop trying to blow you up! It's really not that difficult. You go back to Joe, you promise him whatever you have to promise him to get him to marry you, you quit your job, and you start having kids. You're not getting any younger and Joe isn't going to wait forever. You're an awful bounty hunter, and it is absolutely laughable that a security company would hire you. You parade yourself around in front of criminals every day; you're practically begging these people to attack you!"

"Mrs. Plum," came Natasha's voice from behind me, "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier, my name is Natasha. Thanks for welcoming us into your home. I just want to let you know that I've seen Stephanie at her job, and she's actually quite good at it. And from what I hear her capture rate is almost unbelievably high. Bounty hunting is an important job in the community, it returns criminals, who are again breaking the law by not showing up for court, to prison. It makes communities like yours safer to have strong, competent apprehension agents like Stephanie around."

"I know who you are, you're a murderer. An assassin. KGB. I wouldn't have you in my home if my horrible daughter hadn't brought you here. And I don't need or want you in my personal conversation, so just shut up and get out."

I stood there in shock. Was my mother really that stupid? I stared at her dumbfounded. Who would say that to Black Widow?!

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm here for my friend, Stephanie."

I could see my mother getting a full head of steam going and quickly cut her off, "don't you dare call her a murderer. You don't know anything about her or her childhood. She was forced to do things you couldn't imagine, but as soon as she was given the right opportunity, she got out. And she has more than evened the score since then. She is an honorable woman."

Natasha shifted uncomfortably and looked surprised. Unfortunately, we both paused for too long, providing my mother with an opening. In a mocking tone she just said, "oh, isn't that sweet. My whore of a daughter is friends with a murderer. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse. Is this woman the one teaching you to prostitute yourself in a public street and in front of cameras? Don't think I didn't see the pictures and the videos of you with that traitor out there. He may have people fooled into thinking he's a good man, but that is obviously not the case. Just lies that this spy probably helped him come up with. If you insist on spending time with him and his 'friends' then you're no daughter of mine. I hope he breaks your heart and leaves it torn to shreds. Joe will never take you back now; you're useless to me. You're not my daughter anymore. You're nothing more than an embarrassment and a disgrace."

I heard the door bang open just as I was getting ready to lunge at her, and two hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me back into a hard chest. One that I could feel practically vibrating with rage.

Before anyone could say anything else, I was surprised to hear my father say, "Helen Plum, you are the only embarrassment here. How could you possibly say those things about these people? We, and the rest of the world, would almost certainly be dead if it weren't for them. And how dare you say those things to Stephanie? She's our daughter. We love her. Or at least I thought you did. Now it is clear that you don't. You have until the end of the day to get out of my house." He turned to me and pulled me into a hug, "Pumpkin, you are an amazing woman, I love you and I'm so proud of you. These are good people, good friends, that you brought with you today. Don't listen to your mother, you are a blessing to have as a daughter. I have no idea how you turned out the way you did, but I am thankful every day for it. Have a good trip. Your grandmother and I will be looking forward to seeing you when you get back and getting to know your new man better. You did good with this one, Princess. Please stay safe."

Now I was shocked to my toes by that. My father never said anything no matter what was going on in the house, and he certainly didn't show emotion. I gave him a big hug and whispered, "I love you too, Daddy. Tell Grandma I love her and I'll see her soon? I won't come back here if that woman is here though, we'll have to meet up somewhere else."

"Don't worry, she won't be."

With that, Steve started gently leading me out of the house. I followed him in a dazed stupor Did that all really just happen? When he opened the front door, I was shocked by what I saw. The Rangemen were holding back reporters who were camped out on the neighbor's lawn and the streets. They started screaming questions at us and I flinched backwards into Steve, not sure what to do or where to go. We weren't going to be able to get onto the motorcycle and out of here. And even if we did, we wouldn't be able to lose this many reporters. And there was no way I was going back into the house behind me.

"Plan B!" yelled out Tony. Sam reached over and grabbed me telling me to hang on. His wings popped out and he took off with me in his arms. I noticed the lightning behind us and could just make out Thor grabbing a hold of Steve. We flew to the roof of Rangeman where Sam set me down gently. My legs just gave out as everything that had happened today clicked into place in my mind and I sank down to my knees, wrapping my arms around myself and sobbing. A circle of rain appeared around us and then Thor and Steve landed. Steve immediately raced to me and gathered me in his arms, rocking me and making soothing noises.

A minute later I heard the thunk of Iron Man landing, and barely registered Natasha's voice, so he must have brought her with him. I couldn't tell you for sure, but probably 20 minutes later, everyone else had joined us. I looked up as a Stark Industries helicopter landed on the roof a ways away, and I could make out Pepper's strawberry blonde hair inside of it. Steve just picked me up and walked with me in his arms toward it. He sat down with me in his lap and somehow managed to strap us in together. The others got in, still not saying a word, and we took off.

Half an hour later, I hadn't stopped crying and we were landing. Steve just picked me up again without a word and carried me into a building. He sat with me on a couch and just continued to try to soothe me while the others sat helplessly around us watching. Eventually, Bruce got up and left the room. He came back and tried to talk to me, but I couldn't process whatever he was saying. I felt Steve nod and felt a prick in my arm. A few minutes later, I felt myself relax against Steve and fall asleep.

Steve's POV

I let out a relieved sigh when Stephanie gave in to the sedative and fell asleep. I kept her in my lap and took a deep breath. Yeah, she might be angry tomorrow, but she would have made herself sick if she hadn't stopped, and she had not been showing any signs of stopping.

I ran a hand through my hair, and looked around the room. "Fuck." I said, very clearly.

Everyone looked at me, completely shocked. I guess they'd never heard me curse like that before, but I'd been in the army during a war. I had a very full vocabulary I could use if I chose to, I just usually chose not to.

"Did he just…" stuttered out Tony.

"Yep, never thought I'd hear that," replied Sam.

I flushed and mumbled an apology to Pepper and Natasha, and Natasha just looked at me incredulously as if to say, "really? You've heard me say much worse."

Pepper just brushed it off, "no, I think that was entirely called for. What the hell happened? I thought you were just going to see her family?"

"We did," replied Tony, "and despite Steph's warnings, Captain Potty Mouth over there insisted on going in."

"I, for one, am glad we did," said Natasha. "I'm glad we were there to back her up."

"So, what the hell happened?" Pepper asked impatiently.

"It was awful." I said, "her mother clearly didn't want to let us in, but as Steph told me, she did because it was the 'polite' thing to do. Probably the only polite thing she did the whole time we were there. Stephanie introduced us to her father and things seemed tense, but okay. Then Stephanie's mother, and I am using that term in a biological sense only here, came out and told Steph to help her get cake and coffee ready to serve." I stopped then, not really wanting to continue the story.

Sam spoke up, "things were going well with her father. He was friendly, gave Steve a little bit of a tough time over the whole kissing videos thing, but ultimately gave his approval. Then we started hearing raised voices from the kitchen, and he asked Natasha to go in and back up Steph since her grandmother wasn't home."

Natasha continued, "I walked into the kitchen and neither of them noticed me at first. Things were getting worse and worse, her mother was saying some vile things, so I tried to introduce myself and take some of the heat off Steph. It didn't work and she just kept going."

Tony finished up the story, "things clearly weren't getting better, so Steph's father, Frank, went in to the kitchen and we followed him. We got there just in time to hear Helen call Natasha murderer, Stephanie a whore, and Steve a traitor. Then she basically disowned Stephanie and said that she hoped Steve broke her heart. Frank stepped in and told Helen to get out of his house. He tried to comfort and support Stephanie, but there's only so much you can do after hearing things like that. We left, but as soon as we stepped outside, the paparazzi was there waiting for us. That's when we got the hell out of there and called you in."

"Poor thing," came Pepper's response. "I can't even imagine a mother saying that to her child."

We all just nodded our heads in agreement. None of us wanted Stephanie to wake up somewhere new, confused and alone, so we just stayed there. Natasha and Clint were sitting on the floor with Natasha's head on Clint's shoulder and Clint's head resting against the top of Natasha's. Tony and Pepper were in an oversized chair. I was sitting on the chaise section of the u-shaped couch with my legs kicked out in front of me and Stephanie on my lap. Bruce and Thor were occupying the two other armchairs in the room, and Sam was mirroring me on the other chaise across the couch.

Strategies were something that always made me feel comfortable, so pushed for us to develop one. Obviously, Stephanie and I weren't going to get to head out alone again anytime soon. I took a bit more of a ribbing from my teammates on how completely oblivious I had been, and Tony had some fun showing a video that he'd spliced together of the "best" the news had to offer on the subject. It really was insane the theories that some of these people who called themselves reporters came up with!

When the discussion came up of where to put Stephanie so as to best protect her, Tony first suggested on putting her on the hotel-like floor that Stark Industries used for business guests. Nobody really liked that solution, so Natasha and Clint quickly suggested putting her in one of their guest rooms. We all had our own floor, so most of us had several rooms available. I was a bit surprised because I couldn't remember either of them ever having a guest over for dinner, let alone allowing someone to stay in their space. I suggested that she could also stay on my floor, which seemed to shock everyone, but I pointed out she'd have her own room and it was really no different than her being in the same suite as me at the hotel or same wing as me at the house. Plus, Sam also stayed on my floor when he was around, so he could be a chaperone of sorts.

"Why don't we let Steph choose?" suggested Natasha, to which I readily agreed.

We took turns getting up, taking showers and changing into more comfortable clothes. When I got back from my turn, I picked Stephanie back up and gently set her on my lap again. I gave her a brief kiss on the top of her head as she snuggled back into me making herself comfortable in her sleep. Pepper passed out blankets to everyone and we settled in, likely for the night. Unlike last time Stephanie had been asleep on my lap, I wasn't nervous at all, just content.

I woke up the instant I felt Stephanie begin to stir in my arms and glanced around the room, everyone else seemed to be asleep. She had twisted around in her sleep during the night, so we were laying chest to chest with her head in the crook of my neck. Her legs were on the outside of mine, and I gently shifter her around a little, trying to make my body's appreciation of the situation a little less obvious. I smiled down at her as she opened her eyes and realized she was sprawled out on top of me.

"I don't understand how you can be all muscle and still so comfortable," she grumbled then attempted to snuggle back in and go back to sleep.

"It's no use, Steph, we saw that you're awake, and I want to talk to you," said Natasha.

"No. Comfortable," replied Stephanie and she burrowed her face deeper into my neck. I chuckled, only to stop abruptly when I heard Stephanie growl then felt her give my neck a quick warning nip. I tried really hard to concentrate on something other than how good that felt.

"How have you not figured it out yet, Natasha? You have to give her coffee first, talk second." Clint piped up. "I'll go get it started, you make awful coffee."

"Hey!" Natasha gave us an assessing stare and her eyes lit up. I saw her reach for her phone and used my Captain America voice to say, "don't even think about it!"

Stephanie half-whimpered, half-groaned- thankfully quietly enough that only I heard it- and all I could think was, "oh man, she has even less of a filter in the morning." While that would probably be fun to test and play with one day, it was killing me at the moment.

I rubbed my hand in what I hoped was a comforting manner while glaring daggers at Natasha.

"Don't worry, Natasha, unless you tell him otherwise, Jarvis records video in this room, so I can get you all the pictures you want." This from Tony.

Clint came back out and handed me one coffee cup and set a second on the table next to me. I nodded my thanks, and jostled Stephanie, getting her to sit up next to me on the couch. We were both still under the blanket though, and she tangled her feet with mine. Despite the fact that they were freezing, I could definitely get used to this. I handed her the first cup of coffee wordlessly and watched as she downed it. Then I took the mug from her and replaced it with the second one from Clint. She looked at both Clint and I and murmured a "thanks."

I watched as she looked around then shook her head a bit. "Man, I am extra fuzzy this morning," she said, "and did we have a slumber party? did everyone sleep out here?"

Bruce cleared his throat, "I, uh. You were, uh, crying for so long. And uh. Well, you know. You were going to make yourself sick. And we were worried about you, so I uh. Well, I gave you a sedative. One Bobby told me you'd had before and wouldn't have an adverse reaction to."

We all held our breaths as Stephanie mulled it around a bit in her head. At first, you could see some anger and frustration flit across her face, but she quickly settled into gratitude. She nodded in acceptance and said, "thanks for that. It was probably a good call. But, why are we… where are we? And why are you all here?"

"I suppose I'll cut you some slack for not recognizing it from the inside, but we're in Avengers Tower, formerly Stark Tower. Welcome!" said Tony.

Then Sam chimed in with the answer to her second question saying, "we didn't want you to wake up alone in a strange place."

Tears welled up in Stephanie's eyes, and we waited while she pushed them back. Then she went around the room, giving each person a hug and murmuring her thanks. We weren't really a hugging group, but it seemed no one could resist. When she came back to the couch and resumed her previous spot with me under the blanket, she started picking at it and fiddling with it. Not looking up she said, "I just want to apologize for the things my mother said and that you had to hear them. I hope you know I don't agree with her. I just, I'm really sorry about that."

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry your mother is a huge bitch," replied Natasha, "and you made it abundantly clear that you didn't agree with her. You don't have to apologize for a damn thing she said. Thanks for standing up to her for us, I'm sorry if we caused problems with her for you. She'll probably come around."

"It's been going on for years, probably my whole life really, but it has been worse since I started bounty hunting. And she took it up another notch after I dumped Joe. It isn't your fault in any way, so don't worry about it. No, she won't come around, but I'm fine with that. It hurts, but I refuse to let her make me feel bad for being myself anymore. If I never see her again, I'll be okay with that. Maybe not today, but someday soon."

I squeezed her hand, which had stopped fiddling with the blanket, offering her my support.

"Alright," Tony said, rubbing his hands together, "a little birdy, or twelve, told me these were your favorite so… Dummy- bring us our breakfast!" His clumsy robot rolled in carrying a huge bakery box. "Now, I did get some assortment in case someone really doesn't like Spitfire's favorite, but mostly we have Boston Creme's!"

Stephanie clapped her hands with delight and grabbed herself one as the box got passed around. I had just recently gotten myself under control, so I was extremely grateful when she managed to eat it without moaning. I could tell it was taking a lot of effort for her to do so though. The box made its way back to her and I watched indecision flicker across her face. When she looked at me and said, "there's a gym right?" I just smiled and nodded as she took another, this from the woman who'd insisted on ice cream between breakfast and lunch yesterday!

Once everyone had their fill, Stephanie wanted a tour of the tower. I watched as Tony explained Jarvis to her and asked her submit to the biometric scans for the file. He started explaining how Jarvis would guide her around if needed as well as provide her access to places that she had permission to access alone, otherwise she'd need to be accompanied by someone with the appropriate permissions. I spoke up, "Jarvis, please give Stephanie complete access to my spaces."

I winked at her when she turned and looked at me in surprise. Then we both turned in surprise as Natasha and Clint gave the same command. I honestly had no idea how she had managed to win those two both over so completely in such a short amount of time, but I was grateful for it. If for no other reason than that I knew they were carefully watching her back, especially if and when I couldn't.

"Right, which brings us to, where you will be staying," exclaimed Tony, "Now, of course, I have set aside for you one of the suites that we provide to our out-of-town business guests, just a few floors away from us. But, each of these clowns get their own floor, and have plenty of extra rooms in their space as well, including fully furnished guest rooms. So, if you'd rather not be flying solo with all the boring business people, Clint and Natasha have offered you one of their guest rooms. Or the Cap there has said you can stay in a guest room at his place where Sam will also be staying. So, you get to decide."

I was completely surprised when, without any hesitation whatsoever, Steph turned to Clint & Natasha and said, "thank you so much for your offer, I really do appreciate it. I think I'd like to stay on Steve's floor though."

Clint and Natasha both looked pleased at her decision, though Natasha quickly added, "of course, it's no problem. And the offer still stands. When we have some time today, we'll show you around our floor and you can keep your access to it. We'll set aside one of the rooms as a backup room for you, just in case you need a break from the military duo." That part was said with a wink in my direction.

We spent some time familiarizing Steph with the common areas to which we'd also given her free reign, and then Pepper popped up with a medium sized bag in her hands. She handed it to me, and I took that as my cue to take Stephanie to my floor to get settled in. I was a little nervous on the way down in the elevator, I wanted her to like the space, but it was kind of plain. Though, truth be told, from what I could remember of her apartment in the few seconds I'd seen it before it had been blown up, it was definitely a vast improvement.

Sam had left to catch a quick flight down to DC and pick up some of his things from storage. He'd be back later tonight, but that meant that we were about to be alone in my apartment. Those nerves hit me again, and Stephanie looked at me and said, "I can stay with Clint and Natasha if you're not comfortable with this. I accepted because, well, I want to spend time with you and I figured you wanted me here if you offered. If you were just being chivalrous though, and this is too soon, I really don't mind staying with them."

I didn't say anything, just continued to guide her down the short hallway off the elevator and to the apartment door. I gestured for her to use her handprint to let herself in, just to make sure it was all set up properly. When the door opened, we stepped inside and I dropped the bag, picked her up, and pressed her against the foyer wall as I dropped my head down to hers in a heated kiss.

When we broke apart after a few minutes, I rested my forehead against hers and looked her in the eye before saying, "I want you here. Please don't ever doubt that." Then I gently set her down and picked her bag back up before leading her down a hallway. I stopped outside the open guest room and opened the door for her. "This is yours, there's a bathroom through that door over there that should have towels in it as well as toiletries. Please make yourself at home; you can stay as long as you want."

She smiled at me and nodded, her eyes telling me that she understood the double meaning there. Then said, "Come on, show me the rest of the place!"

I took her by the hand and lead her back into the hall pointing out the extra closet and bathroom then my room, the only other doorway in this hall because it was… oversized. Then again, that isn't particularly surprising since Tony designed all of the floors.

"Aren't you going to show me your room?" she asked with feigned innocence.

I just squeezed her hand, grinned at her, and replied, "nah, some other time. I think I'm going to make you work for that one."

Without another word, I led her out to the main area of the apartment and let her look around. It contained a sitting room, a theater room, a dining room, and a kitchen, all oversized in an open floor plan without walls between them. There was even a fully-stocked bar in the corner, not that I often took advantage of it. Once she'd walked around and gotten a good look at the place, I led her down the other hallway. In it was Sam's room, a small laundry room, another extra bathroom, and another door at the end of the hallway.

This one I led her down to and ushered her inside. Tony had seen me sketching and had turned this area into a large art studio with a small office space off to one corner and a small sitting area in the other. Everything was facing the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the city. In the center of it all stood a large easel and there were sketchbooks of various sizes scattered about. The internal wall with the door was filled with bookshelves and books, most of which I hadn't had any time or inclination to start reading yet.

Stephanie did a slow circle around the place with a huge grin on her face, "this is fantastic! You're an artist?"

"I was trying to be before this all happened," I said gesturing down at my body, "now it is just something I enjoy to pass the time when I can."

She walked back over to me, leaned up, and kissed me softly on the lips. "I think that's great. I hope you'll show me some of your art sometime."

I nodded my agreement just as Jarvis spoke up saying, "your presence has been requested in the gym in 15 minutes."

I smiled at Stephanie's groan, largely because I didn't think she actually minded all that much; I knew for a fact she'd enjoyed working with Natasha. I led her back out and we went into our bedrooms to change into workout clothes. When came back out she was carrying her weapon holster and wearing her yoga pants, tank top, and sports bra. I looked her over and said, "you don't normally wear the tank top do you? It's not athletic material."

"Nope."

"I appreciate the thought, but you don't have to put on extra clothes for me. I thought I made it clear the night of the distraction that I like you for you, regardless of what clothes you have on. Plus, you'd still be more covered than the bikini and I was fine with that. More than fine, in fact."

Steph grinned at me and I led her out of the apartment and to the elevator. We got to the gym before anyone else, and I walked over to the punching bags while Steph got started on the treadmill. She looked over her shoulder and her eyes caught mine before she turned back around, whipped off her shirt, and draped it over the machine. A minute later, Clint and Natasha walked in. Clint immediately walked over to the treadmill next to Stephanie and hopped on. The two conversed amicably and I could tell that their run was becoming a little bit of a tradition for the two of them.

Natasha was over at the barre, warming up. "Don't wear yourself out too much, she called out to Steph!" I chuckled a little as I watched her pale. I wondered when she would stop being so afraid of Natasha in the gym. They clearly got along outside the gym, so you'd think she'd understand that Nat wasn't going to hurt her. Although, Natasha fighting was definitely an intimidating thing.

About 15 minutes later, Stephanie cooled down to a walk and then made her way over to Natasha. I watched as Natasha walked her through a bunch of stretches on the barre then the mats first. They spent the next 30 minutes going over everything Natasha had taught Steph the last time, this time using Clint as a practice dummy. Then Natasha sent her over my way, telling her she'd done well, and they'd slowly add in more time each day.

I was excited to get to work with Steph on her training, boxing was kind of like my therapy. I enjoyed it, but it also provided me the opportunity to let everything else go and clear my mind. Sometimes that involved me getting stuck in my thoughts and breaking a few bags, but usually it didn't. When she got to me, I taped up her hands then led her over to an open area. I worked with her a bit having her punch and kick my hands before moving her over to a bag and working with her to adjust her form. "I don't know why you said you're hopeless at this. You're actually pretty good, and I can definitely make you very good before too long."

After another half hour, I was silently cursing my own choice to encourage her to take off her shirt. That was a lot of skin that I was brushing against when I corrected her posture. It felt great, but it was slowly driving me mad. At that point, Clint walked up to us, a knowing look on his face when he addressed me, "I think she's had enough of that, Cap. I need her to still have some arm strength left for the shooting range." Steph groaned hearing that.

Clint reached over and mussed her hair and said, "come on, for every 30 minutes of time with your gun, I'll think of something fun for you to do."

She smiled a little at that and followed Clint out of the room, grabbing her shirt on the way and putting it back on and slinging her holster over her shoulder. Natasha and I followed behind, and I was surprised when we first made our way over to the elevators. We went to Clint and Natasha's floor and Natasha spoke up, "we're just going to give you a quick tour first. Cap, you have full access here too, by the way. You have since we became partners in the field, you just never asked."

I laughed, "you actually both have full access to my floor too."

We walked inside their apartment and it was clear that Tony had actually given them two floors, which explained why the elevator skipped a number. It was like a regular apartment, a lot like mine in layout, but stretching above it were a bunch of perches and catwalks. As they were showing us around, they made a point to show us where they had weapons hidden, telling Stephanie that if anything ever went wrong, she could help herself to any of them she felt comfortable using. We're not talking a handgun here or there by the way, we're talking enough fire power to overthrow the government of a third world country.

Then they showed Stephanie to her backup room and showed her where there were weapons hidden inside that room as well- mostly duplicates of things they'd already seen her carry with Rangeman. They told her she was welcome here and in the rest of the apartment any time and for any reason. Her eyes welled up in tears and I watched their baffled but content expressions when she pulled each of them into a big hug.

Natasha cleared her throat past obvious emotion and said, "alright, well enough of that sappy nonsense, it's time to play with weapons!"

"Steph, why don't you go change into pants that you can actually wear that holster with, then meet us in the shooting range? If you're not there within 5 minutes after we get there, we're coming after you."

She split off from us in my floor on the elevator and we continued back to the gun range. I got a little bit of good natured ribbing from the two of them about the fact that she was staying on my floor, but nothing I couldn't handle. We talked through everything we wanted to cover with her. Natasha was going to work with her on throwing knives, Clint on guns, and I wanted to work with her a bit more with my shield. Depending on how tired she was, Natasha and I would work with her another day as the guns seemed the most immediately pressing.

Stephanie walked in, right on time, clearly dragging her feet. She spent 30 minutes working with her gun, and for her first "fun" break, Clint showed her how to use a bow. The others had joined us all partway through her first 30 minutes, and we watched on in amusement as Clint worked with her. It was clear that she'd never used or even touched a bow before when she started by holding it upside down and in the wrong hand. He never seemed to get frustrated though, just patiently corrected her.

"He told me earlier that she may not like weapons now, but his 'little sister' was damn well going to learn to use one and enjoy it before he was done working with her," said Natasha. "I figured if he really did see her as a little sister, there was no way he wasn't going to be working with her on the bow. I just didn't think it would be in her first session. She's not the worst I've ever seen though; he'll be able to have her hitting targets in no time."

"Out of curiosity, who is the worst you've ever seen?" asked Thor.

Natasha grumbled "I don't want to talk about it!" and Clint, who I hadn't realized could hear us barked out a laugh and called out, "it's Nat! She was absolutely awful! Halfway decent shot with it now though."

We all got a chuckle out of that, especially when she rolled grumbled to herself again about how bows were stupid anyway. Clint had switched Stephanie back over to her gun and changed out the stationary targets for moving targets. Surprisingly she was actually better at that, much better.

"She thinks about it too much when they're stationary," assessed Thor, and we all voiced our agreement. After a half an hour of that, Clint started clapping in delight.

"I was hoping you'd make it a full hour with your gun! This reward is extra fun. Avengers, suit up and assemble in Mission Training! It's paintball time!"

We all let out cheers and left to do as he said. Natasha dragged Stephanie with her and told her she should have an extra uniform that would fit Stephanie like a glove. Shen she laughed evilly when she saw me gulp at the thought. Ten minutes later, as I was getting ready to leave my apartment, Steph walked in with her original gun holster in her hands, "just dropping this off…" she trailed off when she caught sight of me in my newest uniform and I blushed a little at the look on her face. Of course, then I took in what she was wearing and I was pretty sure I had the same look on my face. A few steps later and she was in my arms again, our tongues tangling.

Jarvis interrupted a few seconds later and said, "Miss Natasha warned me this might happen. She says if you're not down there in 5 minutes, she's hacking me for the tape of this encounter and sending it to every news agency she can."

We pulled apart and rushed down to the elevator, fixing ourselves up. I cleared my throat and said, "uh, you look nice."

Seph just grinned and said, "right back at you."

We stepped off the elevator, ignoring everyone's grins and walked over to the group. We explained that Bruce didn't quite have the right temperament for paintball, so he'd be keeping score and changing up the environment as he saw fit. It was a quite high-tech room, and with Jarvis's help, he had a lot of control over various scenarios. We drew names out of a hat for teams as none of us trusted Tony not to rig the so called "random" team generator he claimed to have made for the room. It was Thor, Steph, and I against Tony, Clint, and Natasha. Thor and I both shrugged off Stephanie's profuse apologies that we got "stuck" with her.

We huddled up as Bruce went into the observation room to set up the first environment for us and went over basic strategy. While Thor and I had standard military tactics that we were well versed in to suggest, Stephanie had… entirely different strategies that we were excited to try. They would certainly take the others by surprise!

Bruce's voice came through the loudspeakers and told us that the first round would be capture the flag. The doors to the training room opened and we all stepped in, going to our corners and waiting for the five minute set up period to begin.


A/N: Sorry for the wait, I've been a bit under the weather and all the feels in the first part were difficult to write. Hope this meets your expectations. :)