I do not own Marvel or any of their characters! I only own my original characters

Author's Note: Alright readers! I have some bad news. Well, it's actually pretty awesome news, but it's bad for this story: I am leaving this weekend to start a semester long internship with Disney. Thus I will not have much time to write. I had such good intentions of finishing this before I left, but I don't foresee that happening. But I WILL finish it! It'll just be a little longer between chapters! Thank you all for your patience and support!

"Vitals are steady. I think he's coming out of it."

"Steve…"

"He's conscious. He's going to be alright."

"Oh Steve."

He opened his eyes, slowly, weakly. Everything hurt. He remembered standing off against the Hulk and….and crashing through glass and free falling. He'd been thrown out the window.

He would have thought he was dead, except he'd dodged death before. He calibrated himself and looked up at the doctors who were buzzing over him.

"He's going to be fine." One finally said, motioning for the others to leave. "Captain Rogers, you're going to be a little sore for a while, but you'll be okay. You went under for a good ten minutes. You would be dead if we hadn't been here."

"I-I don't understand." The blonde soldier said as he slowly pushed himself up, returning the man's curious gaze.

"You'll have to thank your girlfriend. She called out all the shots." The man started to leave, then turned and muttered, "I know for a fact SHIELD would not have saved you Captain Rogers. You were already considered dead when we got to working on you, when we revived you."

As the doctor left, Andrea sat next to him on the bed and gently stroked his cheek as he stared at the wall in shock.

"What happened?"

"Banner threw you out the window. Thor and Tony went after you, and caught you before you could hit the ground, but the impact through the glass did quite a number on you. And falling…"

Steve grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, pressing his forehead against hers. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Everyone's fine. Even Bruce is okay. I-I used the serum on him." Andrea choked out.

"It's okay. It's okay, I'm sure he's fine with it." Steve assured her, pressing his blonde hair harder against her face.

"I was scared. I was so scared. Because I thought that, when I saw you lying there unconscious, I thought that he had won. I thought that I'd inadvertedly done what he'd wanted me to. And then I heard him. I heard him laughing in my head…."

Steve shushed the girl, even though she wasn't close to crying. She'd cried enough. She'd lost enough. She'd fought enough. Now she was just going to protect him. And he'd return the favor.

"You called in all those doctors to save me." He stated simply, stroking her long blonde hair.

She nodded, "I wasn't going to let you die. Not if I could help it. The best in the country are here."

He kissed her sweetly, but it quickly deepened. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, because she could, and she longed for nothing else.

He pulled away before sneaking one more short kiss. "Is that offer for Washington still open?"

She smiled, "Of course. We'll probably have to do some press. The last thing we need is people thinking we're a scandal."

"And then we can be alone."

She smirked and stroked his cheek with her thumb, "Yes, we can be alone, but we won't do anything."

"What if we did?" Steve asked quietly.

Andrea stared at him, unsure of how to answer because she was unsure about how she felt. She wanted him, of course, she was crazy about him. He was sweet, and gentle, and sexy as hell. The things she so desperately wanted to do to him…but she loved how innocent he was. He was a gentleman, a real man, and he didn't need to sleep around to prove that.

"I-I don't understand Steve?"

He blushed and awkwardly brushed his hand through his hair before scoffing, "Nevermind. It just blurted out. Forget I said anything."

She nodded slowly, unsure if she was happy or hurt that he'd brushed off the remark.

"Miss Anderson over here!"

"Miss Anderson, can you tell us about the incident a couple of days ago?"

"Andrea, is it true you are dating Captain America?"

"Miss Anderson, where have you been all this time?"

The cameras flashed profusely as Andrea stood up to the microphone, secret service surrounding her. She brushed her hair away from her face and smiled sweetly at the press, her perfect teeth glistening.

"To answer your questions, the incident a couple of days ago was a negotiation gone wrong, which I greatly regret. My heart goes out to the family of my assistant and best friend who was lost in the accident. It is true, however, that Captain America saved me, and I have done my best to return the favor. We're figuring things out."

The reporters began to cry out at that, demanding her attention.

"Andrea, is it true that your father is planning on passing the Avengers Bill? If so, how will that reflect your relationship with the Captain and with your father?"

Andrea's eyes pierced the crowd, taking them all in before she continued, "The Bill is not getting passed. As long as I'm alive the Avengers will be active and no piece of legislation is going to stop them from protecting us. No further questions."

She walked away as the photographers continued to snap away and the reported hollered after her. She was glad Steve hadn't come with her. He wasn't great in front of crowds. Sure, he'd done his time selling war bonds in 1943, but he'd be fed to the sharks if he faced the press today. That was Tony's thing. That was Andrea's thing. That was one more thing she was going to protect him from.

Steve waited in the limo for her, and she snuggled up to him as soon as she got in.

"Please take us to my apartment." She said softly to the driver.

"You have an apartment in D.C.?" Steve wondered aloud.

"I do in fact." Andrea answered sweetly. "I'm old enough to have a place on my own and it's nice to come home to something that's not a huge white house on Pennsylvania Avenue. Besides, I'd kind of like to have you all to myself for a while without a team of superheroes of the leader of this country disrupting us."

The car pulled up in front of an apartment building and Andrea carried Maddy up to the door and pulled out a key with one hand and stuck it in the door. Steve smiled to himself as he watched her struggle a little, but she didn't ask for help. Dusk was falling upon them, and once inside the apartment Andrea placed her keys and cell phone in a bowl by the door.

"I don't want to take any calls tonight. I just want to spend time with you." She murmured as she stood close to him, placing her hands on his chest. He placed his hands on the small of his back, fighting the urge to let them fall farther.

"I'll make us some dinner. I make amazing pasta if I do say so myself." She said sweetly, moving away from him, making him want more.

Andrea knew how to work a man. She knew how to make him come crawling to her. There was something infectious about her that made Steve linger on her every word. As he sat in a kitchen chair near where she began boiling water, it hit him. This is what she did. The devious little devil. She was so dangerous, so powerful, and she knew it. Steve was struck by fear and apprehension for a moment as he watched her snap the pasta into the pot. His mind began to turn. Sure, she'd saved him, but, she's already taken down the Hulk. He'd spoken to Tony on the phone while she was at the press conference. Bruce was fine. But he couldn't become The Other Guy anymore. While Bruce saw it as a blessing, the other Avengers knew it was a curse. They wouldn't have defeated the Chitauri without him. What would they do if they needed him again?

What would they do if she got rid of their Captain?

"May I use your bathroom?" Steve asked, doing his best to keep his nerves out of his voice.

"You think I'm going to turn on you." She replied instead. She turned to face him, her eyes soft but dark.

"How do I know this isn't all part of your plan?" Steve started cautiously, standing up. Andrea studied him. He was in defense mode. He didn't need his suit or his shield. He could kill her right then if he wanted to.

"You don't. You have to trust I'm not going to hurt you. And if you don't, I guess I don't really blame you." She finished quietly, turning back to her pasta.

"Why's that?" He asked boldly, taking a step closer to her.

"Because. I have people blackmailing me. I have the government blackmailing me. I have that thing blackmailing me. I've done things that I'm not proud of. I have some pretty large skeletons in my closet…"

"Are you going to tell me?" Steve asked bluntly, standing behind the chair, as if her answer would determine if he sat back down and waited to be served or if he sprinted for the door.

Andrea noted this. Her eyes fell to the floor, then back up to his face, "Later. I'll tell you everything later, if you choose to stay."

"I'm not afraid of you Andrea. I just-I feel like you're hiding something."

"I am hiding something Steve…but let's not talk about that now. Let's just eat." She told him sternly, placing a huge plate of pasta at his place at the table.

Steve sat down, looking suspiciously between the food and Andrea. Half afraid she'd poisoned him, half afraid he was paranoid.

"Steve, please don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. Not on purpose. I promise. I swear on my life." Andrea pleaded, grabbing the edges of her wooden table in desperation.

"Let's talk about this after dinner. It's not that I'm afraid. I just don't know what you want. How do I know you aren't using me?" Steve argued back, a hurt look on his face.

Andrea placed her hand on his and sighed deeply, "Because if I was just using you or wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now."

The rest of the meal was in silence. Steve's heart hurt. He was falling fast and hard, but he wasn't sure if he could trust her. He wanted to trust her, more than anything, but something inside of him told him she was too dangerous to love. She had the serum that could take away everything…

After dinner, Andrea decided to give Steve some space, so she went to her room to do some things on her laptop. Steve paced the door outside, trying to figure out what was going on in his head and in his heart.

Finally he burst through the door, Andrea looking up at him in surprise. She'd taken off her makeup, and she wore thick framed glasses. When she opened her mouth in surprise, Steve noticed her teeth weren't as perfect as they usually were.

"You look…different." He said gently, not meaning to start the conversation with that.

She smiled weakly and shrugged, "Nobody's perfect."

"Do you wear fake teeth?" Steve asked quietly as he closed the door behind him. He watched her turn off her computer and set it on her nightstand. He now noticed she'd changed into a baggy t-shirt and pajama bottoms as well.

She nodded, keeping her eyes on him. "I do, in fact. It's better for my image if my teeth are straighter, and whiter, and overall better looking. It's the reason I wear contacts. And specialty makeup. I'm a doll they love to dress up."

He sat down next to her on the bed, stroking her messy blonde hair. "I like you better this way."

Her eyebrow shot up skeptically, "You're just saying that…"

"For the first time, I see the real you. Not who you're portrayed as, but you. It's….it's comforting." Steve stammered, unsure if he would offend her.

"Come to bed Steve. It's getting late." Is all she said in return, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Steve considered his options: he could leave, sleep on her couch, or join her. He had planned on joining her. Seeing her so dressed down and natural made him want to join her even more. But he wasn't sure how far he wanted to go.

He made up his mind and pulled his shirt up over his head and discarded it on the floor. He suddenly wished he had his shield, because he felt so unprotected. Andrea's eyes studied him as he pulled off his pants next, throwing them over his shirt. He then proceeded to crawl into bed next to Andrea, who quickly snuggled up next to him.

"Steve…You don't have to do this. I don't mind waiting." She mumbled softly into his neck as he stroked her hair.

"I don't want to wait."

An hour later they laid in bed, dripping sweat, naked under the covers. Andrea rubbed Steve's chest as he gazed at her. Her smile was sincere, but her eyes slowly turned cold.

"Steve, I need to tell you something."

He shifted to see her better, but she pulled the blanket up around her bosom. He watched her expectedly, as if he wanted to hear what she had to say, but he didn't want this moment to be ruined. It had been perfect.

She took a deep shallow breath, and placed her face in her free hand, shaking it violently. "I shouldn't have done this-I shouldn't have…. But I wanted to so badly, but….last time I was in bed with a super hero…"

"Johnny Storm?" Steve asked thoughtfully, remembering that she'd dated one of the members of the Fantastic Four.

"I'm the reason they broke up Steve. I'm the reason they got rid of their powers. They didn't want-and they couldn't say anything because they were afraid the same thing would happen to them…" She choked out, stealing a quick look back at Steve before she buried her face again.

"I don't understand." Steve replied, suddenly worried about where this was going.

I just decided I could trust her…

"We began dating. I fell for him, but I didn't exactly love him. The government approached me to use my antidote for the super soldier serum on him, because the others would quit willingly. The original serum didn't shrink the muscles it regulized the DNA, so it should have worked on him."

"It didn't?" Steve prodded.

Andrea took a deep breath, trembling, "One night, after we, ummm…." She paused awkwardly, turning deep red, "I gave him a shot of the antidote. He…he died." Her jaw hung open, trembling, as if she still couldn't believe it herself.

She watched Steve, waiting for him to bolt. But he just stared back at her, unmoving. Finally, he spoke.

"The man who threatened you is Johann Schmidt. I fought him during World War II. He was the head of Hydra, also known as the Red Skull, because the super soldier serum didn't affect him as it should have. He was the first person Erskine used it on. I thought he was dead. I thought….I thought he had died. On the plane, right before I crashed it into the ice."

Andrea stared back at him, calculating the information in her mind. "He wants to kill you. It's revenge isn't it? He's blackmailing me to get revenge on you?"

Steve nodded, "I'm sorry you were drug into all of this."

Andrea kissed his cheek and nuzzled his chin, a small tear running down her face. "I'm sorry that you just slept with the woman trying to kill you."

Author's Note: Long Chapter! I'll probably do one or two more really long ones. It'll take me a while to update, but I will! I kind of know how I want to end it, but I don't think you guys would like it. I'll work on it. Thanks for reading!