To everyone who asked, my puppy is doing better. Thank You so much for asking about her. Now we see them on the road trip to Xavier's, and the fun begins...


"Alright, please be gentle with my car." Tony teased, handing him the keys. Skye shot him a glare as she attempted to grab the keys,

"Sorry, Rookie. You don't drive stick, remember?" He told her, opening the passenger side door for her, she rolled her eyes but climbed into the car. Phil leaned down and handed her an credit card,

"For getting something that isn't rabbit food, we both know he won't let you stock up on junk food for the trip."

"Thanks, Dad." Skye hugged him through the window, he took the gun from Natasha. Natasha took a small box from Clint,

"Alright, this will show you different code words if you are being followed. It's designed to capture plates and images, if anyone follows you for more then three miles."

"Another of your personal stash?" He asked, opening his door.

"Actually, it's one of mine." Clint corrected, he knew that there had been a change in the dynamics since Skye had defended him, the Avenger was more open and friendly.

"Thank You." He meant it, anything to defeat HYDRA and save the world. Skye grabbed his arm and tugged,

"We have to hit the road, Grant." She teased, he heard the barely stifled laughter. This trip was much needed, he was looking forward to spending time with her without the constant interruptions. The geekier side of him might be excited to be meeting X-Men, not that he would admit it outloud, if Skye or the team found out he would never live it down. Pulling onto the road, he let Skye pick the music, she turned on a country station. She sang along as it played a catchy song,

"She said come here boy I wanna dance. Before I said a word she was taking my hand."

"You should sing more often." He told her, she blushed and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"Maybe I will for you, any song you really want me to sing to you?" He gulped at the suggestive tone in her voice, she was determined to distract him, and damn it was working. He glanced at her, she was playing with her cell phone, but she kept peeking at him.

"You are going to kill me, Beautiful."

"No, just drive you crazy." She replied, leaning her chair back a little. He wasn't checking her out...alright he was, but she was his girl and that allowed him to admire her body. He couldn't remember yesterday without his thoughts going to when they were going to do it again, he loved the way her eyes changed as he kissed her. Their normal brown shifting to show the flecks of gold and green, it made his heart race. She really was going to be the death of him, he thought as they hit traffic and she shifted in the seat next to him.


He hung up the phone and turned to see his wife, she was wearing an amused expression. Her long white hair tied back in a loose ponytail, which he disliked because it meant her hair wasn't flowing over her shoulders so he could run his fingers through it.

"Skye is coming for a visit, I will tell Kitty and Marie."

"She's bringing a boy with her, 'Ro." He wasn't completely sure why it bothered him, Marie had Gambit and Kitty was with Bobby, but he had felt protective of Skye since she had covered for his kids all those years ago.

"Logan, she is a grown woman now. Even Marie and Kitty have boyfriends, if you can wait until they get here, you can all plan to interrogate the poor man."

"You know me so well darling." He drawled, pressing a kiss to her forehead, he loved this woman. They had been friends and allies for years, until she had nearly died, forcing him to admit that he couldn't live without her. She had been in the infirmary for almost a month, fighting for her life, he had nearly lost hope that she would ever open her blue eyes again. He still remembered the moment she had opened her eyes, her fingers had tightened around his hand, and she had smiled at him. He hadn't wasted anytime, he had kissed her deeply pouring everything he felt for her into that kiss, and she had responded in kind. It had been one of the best moment of his life, he hadn't known he could be that happy, everything had fallen into place after that. They had married after three years together, it had been nearly ten since they had tied the knot, he was only falling more in love with her. She laughed and took his hand, leading him into the kitchen where the girls were laughing and telling stories. He smiled affectionately at them, Marie looked at him,

"Morning Dad." He felt his mood lift, it was strange how much being called Dad made him happy.

"We are going to have a visitor today." Ororo told them, they all looked up expectantly, "Skye is on her way right now."

"OMG! For real? That is like so perfect." Kitty was bouncing in her chair now, Jean smiled.

"I haven't seen her in so long."

"She's coming for a visit?" Marie asked her southern drawl, making her voice sound smooth, but even that couldn't hide her excitement at the thought of a visit from her old friend.

"She needs our help and she is bringing a friend." He told them, knowing that they would be worried if he didn't explain everything.

"A male friend?" Jean asked amusement on her face, his eyes narrowed and and Jean blushed.

"Mind reading is rude, my dear." Xavier's voice came from the doorway and startling the girls.

"Yes, Professor. I'm sorry Logan." Jean apologized,

"I hear that our young Skye is on her way, I will finally have a chance to thank her for aiding us in California all those years ago." Xavier looked at the girls and smiled,

"I belive it is time for you to help straighten the house girls."

"My room is trashed, Marie help me out?" Kitty asked, turning her puppy dog eyes on the other girl, who groaned but agreed.


Back at Stark Tower, the rest of the team was working together all through the building. Fitzsimmons was locked in the lab, working on testing Skye's blood with Bruce. Natasha and Clint were sparring with Melinda. Maria Hill and Pepper were going over their plans to fix SHIELD's financials and smooth over the ruffled feathers in Governments all over the world. Phil, Steve and Tony were sitting going over the files that Fury had delivered. It was everything SHIELD had done in the the last 50 years, there was a lot of paperwork to go through. She stepped into the meeting room, the clack of her heels causing all three men to look up, she held up the files she had just spent hours locating.

"Sorry, this is the last of the files you requested on Project Deathlok. Also I took the liberty of pulling anything with Tesseract technology, from World War Two, with references to Aliens and Mythology. I did find a few interesting files that mention a little girl who was moved around a lot as a child."

"Thank You Agent?" Coulson asked, she smiled at him.

"Agent Erika Hart, Sir." She held out her hand to shake his hand in greeting, she was in awe of all the men in the room. Coulson had nearly died in the line of duty, back when she was a just out of the academy and her first station had been on the Helicarrier. She had been working under Hill, the woman had taken over her training and brought her on as both an Agent and her Personal assistant. She had been on the ground when Loki had attacked and the Helicarrier had nearly crashed into the city.

"You work for Maria." Tony said, she nodded.

"Mr. Stark, you know I do. I believe you stormed into her office to demand Agent Coulson's location, to which she replied that you would need to take that up with the Director."

"I always liked you, feisty and snarky." Tony teased, she rolled her eyes at him, knowing that he was completely devoted to Pepper. It was his way of meeting woman, he would flirt and she was used to it, he was a frequent visitor to their main base here in New York.

"Tony, you are going to make her uncomfortable." Steve reprimanded, she felt his eyes on her, shuffling the files to hide her blush. She had seen Captain Rogers many times, he was such a gentleman and still held open doors for women, she had a slight crush on him. However she wouldn't admit that, it would make him uncomfortable and besides they had more important things to deal with.

"It's alright Captain. Tony is only teasing me because Pepper isn't here to occupy him, we both know he loves her and lives to tease her endlessly." She looked at Steve, he met her gaze and she felt her cheeks burn.

"I am also pulling the files from the Original Archive room, I am transferring them to an encrypted hard drive, it will keep our files from being lost and with HYDRA bringing everything to the light."

"It makes more sense to keep it close to the vest." Coulson conceded, she handed the files to them.

"I will be at home office if you need anything else, if I find anything else I will bring it over."

"Actually, how would you feel about coming back tonight? There is no way we will be through even half of these files, we might need a new set of eyes."

"Of course, Sir. I am happy to help out in anyway I can." Her phone buzzed, telling her that she could access the building in 45 minutes.

"Everything alright?" Tony asked, concern clear in his voice, she nodded.

"Yes, just got the news I was waiting to hear. I will be back in a few hours to help out. Goodbye Gentleman."

"I will walk you down, Ms. Hart." Steve told her, setting his stack of files down on the desk. She didn't speak merely walked out with him, pointedly ignoring Tony's gleeful look. He opened the door for her, allowing her to walk through first. However apparently even Tony's money couldn't keep her heels from catching on the door frame, Steve caught her around the waist, his arms curved around her back to keep her steady. She met his eyes, butterflies in her stomach as she tried to keep her gaze away from his lips, her heart racing. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him, to feel him holding her in his arms, and to be the one he turned to when he needed comfort. Had she been paying attention she would have noticed that his gaze kept lingering on her lips, it would probably have given her the courage to make her move. Instead she used his shoulder to regain her balance before taking a breath and moving from his arms. She walked to the elevator and pressed the button, Steve followed her and they waited in silence. She picked at her blue blouse, keeping her hands busy by pulling off imaginary lint, he shifted nervously next to her.

"After you." Steve said as the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside, he followed even though they didn't speak for the trip down. She couldn't help but blame herself for them losing the playfulness, his hand on her back to lead her out sent desire through her body. She bit her lip and straightened her spine,

"Thank You Captain." She said smiling at him,

"Anytime Ms. Hart, but please call me Steve."

"Then I insist you call me Erika."

"Be careful, please." Steve said, his voice heavy with something she couldn't place.

"I should be saying that to you." She told him, as she opened her car door. He closed the door and waited until she pulled away to walk back into Stark Towers.


(I couldn't resist giving Steve a girlfriend, he's so cute when he's flustered.)