It took them a week to finally get used to each other, but when they were they found that they actually enjoyed one another's company. Casey and Robert spent every morning watching the news, if anything about the female inhabitant of the apartment happened to pop up neither mentioned it. After watching the news they ate a small breakfast - always lacking milk - and had their coffee. Then, Casey would get dressed in one of the late Mrs. Frank's eccentric outfits, often comprised of a brightly colored pair of pants, a tunic blouse, or a homemade shawl. Robert claimed he always left his work clothes in his locker at work so he usually just threw on some jeans and a sweater. Robert would leave the apartment after a quick farewell, then return a few moments later, having forgotten the lunch Casey always packed him. Casey would then watch a bit of television or read some before slipping a pack of cards into her pocket and heading out for the day.

She knew full well that she would get twice the money if she stopped doing her card tricks and got a real job, but getting a job would mean making a resume and making a resume would mean giving out details. Even fake details wouldn't be safe because wherever she ended up working would know exactly what she looked like and could relay anything she told them to the police or SHIELD. So, she moved around from street corner to street corner, park to park, never staying in the same place and never bringing in more that was necessary to pay Robert for his kindness.

"Kid, you here? I brought home some takeout." Robert called, entering the apartment.

"Yeah, just a sec." Casey replied, reading the last page of a book, wiping away a tear, and then meeting her roommate in the kitchen. He held two Chinese takeout boxes and handed one to her.

"Orange chicken and rice. There's a fortune cookie in there too, but if you don't want it I will gladly take it off your hands."

"Thanks, Rob, but I actually kind of like fortune cookies."

"Dang it, so do I," He snickered, popping open some plastic packaging and taking out his chopsticks. He speared one of his own pieces of chicken and chewed contentedly, "How did it go today?"

"Fine. How about for you?"

"Misery. Some newbie thought it would be fun to use permanent marker on the whiteboard and now there is a poorly drawn picture of Captain America forever stuck to the board. It's very distracting during lessons."

Casey had learned that Robert was some kind of teacher, though he didn't say what kind, and that he trained people for special jobs. He was always complaining about some punk kid who did something stupid in class.

"Captain America, huh?"

"Yup," Robert stuffed a huge portion of rice in his mouth and talked around it, "You know I've met him before. Back in my army days."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he and his pal, Barnes, asked me to join the Liberty Legion."

"No way! They have stuff about the Liberty Legion in the Smithsonian!"

"My Madeline and I fought with them for a few years, but when we found out she was going to have a baby we dropped off the radar."

"You have a kid?"

"Huh?" Robert looked up from his food tiredly, "Oh, no, it was a… miscarriage."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, happened a long time ago."

"So you were on a team with Steve Rogers and James Barnes? That's impressive," She flicked a piece of rice at him, "You're older than you look. I could a sworn you aren't a day over sixty. How do you do it?"

"That's my secret, kid. Remember, no sob stories."

Casey smirked and continued eating her food. Maybe Robert wouldn't tell her how he looked so young, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that most of the members of the Liberty Legion were known superheroes with superpowers. She wouldn't pry though. If he had some kind of power that was his business. He didn't question her when the TV remote occasionally levitated into her hand so she wouldn't ask about how he stayed so young looking or how he sometimes moved across the room faster than she could see.

"So, tomorrow is Saturday. Does that mean you'll be off work?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just curious." Casey popped a whole fortune cookie in her mouth, remembered the fortune part, and pulled the piece of paper out of her mouth.

"What were you planning on doing tomorrow?"

"Same old same old. What do you usually do on the weekend?"

The old man got a gleam in his eye. "Nothing much… just bowling with some old friends."

"Oh, well have fun."

"Maybe you'd like to come with me?"

"I'm not really much of a bowler, besides, you probably don't want me crashing your time with your guy friends."

"Or maybe you just don't want to spend time with a bunch of geezers."

"No, that's not it!"

"Uh-huh, sure."

"Okay fine, I'll come bowling with you tomorrow. Happy?"

"Very."

Casey rolled her eyes and finished her food. When she was done she crashed on the couch and pulled the warm blanket up to her chin. Robert smiled at her before flicking off the living room lights and heading for his own room.

"Hey Rob?"

"Hmm?"

"Goodnight."

"Night to you too, Madeline." He nodded and turned to leave again.

"Hey Rob?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He waited for a moment and then turned to go one more time.

"Rob?"

Sighing, he turned back. "Yes, Madeline?"

"You're a good friend."

Robert smiled softly and crept back to his room. He quite liked his new roommate and he thought that his Madeline probably would have liked her too. This kid was growing on him and he didn't want her to go. Unfortunately, at work that day the boss had just shown a picture of the very same girl who was on his couch and told all agents that if they found her they were supposed to turn her in immediately.

Sighing, Robert sat on the edge of his bed and looked at the picture of his wife on the nightstand. She had a wonderful smile and she was always willing to help anyone in need.

Maybe "immediately"could wait a few more days. Or a week. Perhaps a month.

o*o*o*o

Every free moment he got Loki asked Heimdall how Casey was doing. He'd been so worried after throwing her into the river and confessing how he felt about her. She could have drowned with all that sedative in her system. If she didn't drown then she was probably thinking about what he had said. What if she didn't feel the same toward him? It was a frightening possibility. Even more frightening, what if she did feel the same way toward him? How would they work it out? Hearts would be broken. The people of Asgard might find out his true identity. A huge decision would have to be made and he wasn't sure what the outcome would be.

"Gatekeeper, how fares Lady Elrod today?" Loki asked, still dressed as Odin. He wished, not for the first time, that he had Heimdall's all-seeing abilities so he could see first hand how she was.

"Since you asked last she has grown accustomed to living in the home of the older Midgardian, Robert Frank, and she continues to use playing cards to create illusions. Tomorrow morn she plans on partaking in an activity with Robert Frank and some of his companions." Heimall replied.

"So she is doing alright?"

"She cried a little bit earlier…"

"What?! Why?!"

"Over the ending of a book she was reading."

"Ah. That's fine then," Loki recomposed himself, "I am glad to hear she is in safe care."

Heimdall watched his king leave and sighed. He knew something was not right with the monarch, but he couldn't quite figure out what was off. His vision could not find any evidence either, but his instinct told him to beware of trouble.

o*o*o*o

The sound of pins crashing, music from the eighties, and laughter floated out of the small, somewhat shabby building when the automatic doors slid open. The building itself had a giant plastic bowling pin on top of it and a smell that reminded Casey a bit of the locker room in her old highschool mixed with some kind of strong cheese.

"This is where you and your friends going bowling?" She asked as she and Robert walked through the door.

"Hey, cheapest bowling place this side of the city. Plus, they have excellent chips covered in cheese… what do kids call 'em?"

"Nachos."

"Right. They have excellent nachos."

"Okay…" Casey looked around nervously, spotted a security camera, and pulled up the hood on the knitted loose pullover Madeline Frank had made and that Casey was wearing over some jeans and a T-shirt that marked her as a member of a nearby supermarket's savings club.

"I see my buddy, Elton." Robert announced, hefting his bowling bag and leading Casey over to a group of elderly men. She got some curious looks, but she ignored them and smiled politely.

"Rob, what took you so long? The rest of us were here fifteen minutes ago!"

"You know me, I'm so slow." All the men let out roaring laughs at this as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Casey sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs.

"So who is this dame?" Another old man asked, gesturing to Casey.

"Jeff, you can ask her yourself."

"Sorry, ma'am. Nice to meet you, I'm Jeffrey Mace. Can I ask who you are?"

"Uh… my name is Madeline."

"Holy smokes, just like-" Elton started to say, but stopped himself, "So, you from around here?"

"I'm from the East Coast, but that's all you'll get from me."

"Secretive, huh? How do you know Robert?" Jeff asked.

"He saved me from drowning and he lets me stay at his place."

"That so?" Jeff nodded his head, "Sounds just like our Rob."

"So are you nincompoops ready to lose to me again?" Robert asked.

"Hold on, we have to get the lady a ball and some shoes, don't we?" Elton smirked, "Then you can lose to me, alright?"

Casey laughed and went to the counter to rent a pair of shoes. She was second in line, but the person at the head of the line was having some issues communicating with the clerk because he only spoke in what Casey was fairly certain was Polish. She settled in for and wait and tried to keep her face away from the cameras.

"Excuse me, miss, but I think you dropped this." A person said, joining the line behind her. She turned and saw the face she had only seen in museums, on television, and in her childhood fantasies. Captain Steve Rogers.

"Oh my gosh." She said, jumping a bit.

"Hi."

"You're Captain America!"

He looked down at himself. "Nah, I'm just Steve. No red, white, and blue today."

Casey smiled shyly and took the piece of paper he was offering her. She glanced down at it and furrowed her brow. It was a phone number.

"I didn't drop this." She stated, attempting to hand it back to the super soldier. He put his hand of hers and curled her fingers over the piece of paper. He blushed.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure you did."

Then it hit her. Captain America had just given her his phone number. She blushed and stammered profusely before finally collecting her brains enough to form an answer.

"Um, okay, wow," She took a deep breath, "I'm actually already on a date."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"

She pointed to Robert. "With that gentleman over there."

Captain Rogers smiled. "Really? Doesn't he seem a bit old for you?"

"Says the ninety year old who just hit on me." Casey grinned, putting the number in her pocket.

"Good point," He looked over at Robert, "You know, that group of men over there is the reason I'm here actually."

"Really?" She nodded, "Liberty Legion reunion."

"Actually, we just all go bowling every other Saturday."

Casey nervously pulled at the hem of her pullover. "That's nice. Rob should have told me he goes bowling with Captain America!" She swore under her breath, caught the look on his face and winced, "Sorry. I'm just excited to actually meet you. Wow."

"Can I get a name, since you obviously know mine?"

"Madeline - and yes, I know that is the name of the late Mrs. Frank."

"You look awfully familiar," Captain Rogers noted, "Have I met you before?"

Casey's eyes widened. He probably worked with SHIELD frequently and had therefore seen her picture. Maybe he knew exactly who she was and he was trying to distract her while his SHIELD buddies came and locked down the building.

"I think I'd remember meeting you, Cap," She stepped forward in line and requested shoes in her size. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the Avenger, "I'm sorry, I should have said this earlier, but I'm kind of in a relationship with someone." It was kind of true. She and Loki had a sort of relationship. She wasn't sure what sort, but they did. Besides, she wanted to see if he was going to call in all of his SHIELD friends now that he couldn't use the front of flirting.

"Well, that guy is a lucky man." He requested his pair of shoes as well and they both walked back over to the other elderly men.

"Hey kid, I see you've met Steve."

"Rob, next time we're going to hang out with some of your old pals, please tell me if we'll be interacting with a superhero!" She laughed.

"No promises! I've got Iron Man coming to do my ironing on Tuesday."

They spent the next few hours laughing, reminiscing, bowling, and eating nachos. Casey couldn't enjoy herself though because she knew that with Captain America here it would only be a short time until SHIELD found her. She didn't want to leave Robert, but if Agent Garrett came for her she knew she had to go. The thought loomed over her head as she bowled. Not a pin went down.

"Kid, are you feeling alright? You look distracted." Rob commented after she bowled her ball and it went directly into the gutter.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking, is all."

"You sure?"

"I'm fine."

Robert shrugged and took his turn. Casey clapped when he got a strike, but she was too busy worrying about SHIELD to put much effort into anything else. When she and Robert went home that night she could barely sleep she was so anxious. The only thing that calmed her down was knowing that no matter what SHIELD did to her they had no reason to hurt Rob. He'd be fine even if agents broke down the door and hauled her away again. But would she?

A/N: Wow! Two chapters in one day! That's unusual for me, isn't it? I've said before that there isn't much of the story left to tell, but that's not entirely true. I've still got a lot of writing left to do, but the plot is nearing its end. Anywho...

I don't own Robert's friends either. Elton and Jeff are supposed to be Elton T. Morrow, aka the Blue Diamond, and Jeff Mace, aka the Patriot. They are all members of the Liberty Legion along with Robert's late wife, Madeline Joyce, aka Miss America, and Bucky Barnes (who I think you probably know). Just a bit of Marvel trivia I found while coming up with friends for our resident old guy.

Let me know what you think of this chapter! I know I just kind of threw Cap in there, but he does have something to do with the plot. See ya later alligators!