Ingrid and Steve decided that it was best to keep their relationship a secret. SHIELD had a strict policy when it came to intimate relationships between employees. The only reason Bruce and Natasha get away with their flirting is that Natasha scares Fury a bit. He would never admit it, but he definitely didn't want to get on her bad side. Ingrid and Steve still interacted like they normally would on a daily basis, but all romance was held off until they were off duty for the day.
Steve walked cautiously down the hall to the theatre. It was 2:00 AM which meant that no one would be in it, except Ingrid of course. He opened the door slowly. "Ingrid?" He whispered into the darkness.
"On your left!" She giggled, jumping out of the darkness and playfully hitting him on the side of his head.
"Ow!" He said in a mocking tone. The two then flopped onto the large couch and talked about their day. Of course they knew what happened from a professional point of view, but it was nice to let their guards down and talk.
"How are things going with Operation: Red Star?" Ingrid asked, her head rested in the crook of Steve's neck and her hand lay on his left pectoral.
Steve shrugged. Operation: Red Star was the code name for the search for Bucky. Steve, Sam, and Natasha had been following up on leads in their spare time and they were closer than ever, which made Steve more hesitant to search. He was worried about the state Bucky would be in. "I'm just…" Steve searched for the word he was looking for, "… Concerned." He decided upon.
Ingrid nodded. She couldn't even fathom the hells that Steve had been through, but she knew a few things about what it's like to worry for your family and it was obvious that Bucky was more of a brother than a friend.
"When can we tell the others?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Tell the others about what?" Steve murmured into Ingrid's hair.
Ingrid playfully slapped him with a pillow that she seemed to produce out of thin air. "You know damn well what I mean!" She said with an amused look. "As much as I like this whole Romeo and Juliet style of dating, I must remind you that they died in the end. I don't want to keep lying to everybody." Ingrid looked at Steve with her big silver eyes. "I thought Captain America couldn't tell a lie."
Steve rolled his eyes with a smirk. "First of all, That's Abe Lincoln and second of all, the team is busy getting the whole Wanda situation sorted out. Don't tell me you haven't noticed how sporadic her powers have been lately. I doubt that dropping a bomb like this on them during a stressful time is a good idea." He said softly, "Trust me, I want to tell them just as much as you do, but you know that SHIELD would frown upon this and it's not really great timing."
Ingrid smiled. "This is why you're the strategist and I'm not." She curled up against Steve and yawned, "I might just crash here for the night." She said sleepily.
Steve nodded, "Ok, I have to leave soon so I'll say goodbye now."
"I hate it when you have solo missions, Mr. Level 8 Clearance." Ingrid complained. She gave Steve a kiss on the cheek and settled herself into the pile of pillows and blankets on the couch.
Steve smiled as Ingrid fell asleep. He was leaving for a mission the next day which is why they decided to meet for longer that night. It was a solo mission that Ingrid had been begging him not to go on but he had to accept it or a lot of people would die. A SHIELD spy picked up some intel that a large scale HYDRA attack would take place on the Parliament Building in Greece. "Goodnight, I'll see you in a week." He whispered into her ear and left to go pack.
S
When Ingrid awoke the next day she immediately got to work as to distract herself from thinking about Steve's mission, which didn't help much considering she used Steve as a distraction from Barry, who she couldn't hep thinking about as she worked. Steve wasn't a rebound for Ingrid, they both felt really strong emotions for each other but both of them knew what it's like to love someone they can't be with.
"You alright, Grid?" Tony asked, looking up from his new invention that he was working on in his lab. "You've been acting a bit sad today."
Ingrid smiled at his use of his nickname for her. They had been trying to repair their relationship and that was the first time he used her childhood nickname since she got back. It made her feel nostalgic. "Yeah, just a little worried about Steve, he's my best friend and his mission sounds dangerous."
"Don't worry about ole' Capsicle, if anything you grandfather told me about him is true, he's been through far worse." He wiped his grease stained hands with an old rag.
"You're right, I'm being paranoid." Ingrid shook her head. "How's that thing you're working on for Wanda going?" Ingrid asked, changing the subject.
"Done!" Tony proudly held up what looked like a metal headband. "I call it, The Matrix!" He said excitedly.
"The Matrix? Dad, we aren't trying to control her mind, we are helping her control her own mind therefore giving her easier control over her developing cerebral powers." Ingrid said matter-o-factly.
"I know but The Matrix sounds a lot cooler than the Cerebral Stabilizer." Tony shrugged and Ingrid let out a small chuckle.
"You and Cisco would either be best friends or worst enemies. He had a thing for naming stuff." Ingrid smiled sadly.
"I'm going to stop you right there because I am dubbing this building a Central free zone." Tony put his hand up to silence his daughter.
Ingrid laughed and went back to focusing on one of her dad's old suits. It was wrecked beyond salvation so she was doing her best to find as many recyclable parts as possible for it's replacement. "You better give that thing to Wanda soon, she hasn't been at training for awhile and I'd hate for her to fall any further behind." Ingrid said thoughtfully as she grabbed a wrench from the table beside her.
Tony nodded. "Don't worry, I'll give it to her when she gets back from lunch. I think her and Pietro went to that new gourmet sandwich place next door." Tony said, wiping the grease off his hands one last time. "Speaking of lunch, I'm going to get some of that leftover soup that Banner made. Want some?"
"That'd be great, I'll meet you in the kitchen in a second." Ingrid called out cheerfully. She then cleared off her work bench and wiped it down before join her father in the large kitchen. She had just sat down on one of the stools beside her dad when Wanda and Pietro came through the door.
"Hello, Stark family." Pietro said as he chewed on his sandwich gleefully.
"Hello, Maximoff family." Ingrid said back as she stirred her chicken noodle soup.
"Wanda! Before I forget, I finished that thing we were talking about." Tony proudly produced the Cerebral Stabilizer out from behind his back.
"Thank you so much! I haven't used my powers since the incident, I have no idea how you all live without being able to read minds!" Wanda said, lustfully looking at the futuristic looking headband. Tony handed it to her with a smile and she put it on right away.
"Ok, lets do a simple test," Tony said. "What is Ingrid thinking about right now?"
Ingrid rolled her eyes and focused her thoughts on her soup. She could almost feel Wanda staring into her mind when suddenly her phone buzzed with a text, it was Steve. Suddenly Ingrid could feel Wanda peering into all of her memories that involved Steve. She gulped with dread.
When Wanda finished she looked Ingrid dead straight in the eyes. The look she gave bore holes into Ingrid soul to the point that she felt inclined to look away when finally the serious gaze lifted. "When were you going to tell me?" She squealed in delight.
Ingrid's face turned a bright shade of red. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She mumbled.
"Tell her about what? Ingrid have you been keeping secrets from me?" Tony inquired, he looked worried.
The three faces loomed over Ingrid. "Ok, we decided that we weren't going to tell you until we were both present and Wanda's… Situation was sorted out but I guess i have no choice." Ingrid Sighed. "You might as well call the others in here."
Wanda skipped over to the intercom and sent a message across the tower asking the team to meet in the kitchen. Once they all entered they joined the crowed around Ingrid. "Is something wrong?" Natasha asked.
"No, it's just that I have a little announcement that I am being forced to make." Ingrid said as she shot an annoyed glare at Wanda, who smiled sheepishly. "Steve and I…" She paused to take a deep breath. "Are dating!" She quickly before jumping out of her seat and sprinting up to her room in a flash of silver.