Ch 36

This is a pretty short chapter. I will try post again sometime tomorrow. Enjoy. And hey, 180 reviews! That's amazing! THANK YOU ALL!

Thanks for reviewing: patty cake rocks, Chanty420, Whiteoak13, Absent minds, acompletenerd, and RealLifeGemini! Yes, there will be more cute Steve and Alyssa scenes. It wont last long. Soon we will see more of Alyssa corrupting Steve. I enjoy that. And Tony will be tormented.

Thanks for the follows: QueenOfPears, purplemonkey36, coyote-water, MagicBrownie and No.21!

"Fury put you on a leave again didn't he?" Natasha said as I made my way down to the lobby.

"You think?" I scoffed. "After what I did I'm lucky I'm not fired."

"You know it's against the rules to become a stowaway on a plane. And interfering on a mission."

"Since when do I follow rules?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"Always." I smile.

"That's not safe. You know that." Natasha reminds me.

"I'm aware but I will not let anyone get hurt because they're protecting me."

"Stubborn child…" she mumbles. "Until I have cleared you for combat you will not be pulling any more stunts like that again. The only missions you go on are ones you are assigned to. Understand?" Natasha bargains.

"Understand." I nod.

"Good. Now walk out that door and meet Pepper. She wants to meet with you in private." Natasha said turning to walk in the other direction. I continue to walk to the door. Pepper is standing outside of the car doing who knows what on her phone.

"Hey Pepper!" I run to give her a hug, she hugs me back immediately and starts to lecture me about sneaking onto missions as we head into the car. She is so a mother.

Mind you, she did have years of practice with Tony.

"Natasha told me you wanted to talk to me, what about?" I hope nothing serious is going on.

"Well there are a few things. Your father and I have been talking and we thought that if anything were to happen we want you to take over Stark Industries."

I blink at her. "Seriously? You want me to take over a billion-dollar international company if something were to happen to you? You realize this is not a wise business decision right?"

"Alyssa you would do great. And you wouldn't have to do it forever, unless you decided to."

"Are you serious? I mean I am honored but I am in no way qualified to do such. Plus I'm a nobody. I take over the company and people wonder 'who the hell is this chick?' I would be coming out of no where."

"That's another thing, the last few times you and Tony have been out father-daughter bonding you've been seen by press. That and the fundraising gala you were at. No one has confirmed anything but rumors are swirling of who you are. If you want us to reveal your identity we can, mind you we might have an issue since you work for SHIELD."

"Probably wouldn't be best. And personally I'm fine being labeled mystery girl. Keeps the world guessing." I decide.

"Oh and there is one more thing I want to talk to you about, but you have to promise to keep it a secret from Tony until I say otherwise." Pepper looks at me.

"That's a job requirement. I work for a top-secret government agency." I deadpan.

"Well, I just don't want you to tell your father before I do. It's… you're going to be a big sister." Pepper looks at me nervously.

My jaw drops once I process what she was telling me. "Oh. My. Gosh. PEPPER!" I launch myself from my seat to hug her.

"You're taking this better than I thought." Pepper smiled returning the hug.

"Pepper! You and dad are having a baby! That's awesome! Are you excited? I'm excited." I say as I release Pepper.

"Excited, nervous, anxious… think your dad will be excited?" Pepper confides sounding a little less sure.

"Dad once asked me what I think of kids out of the blue. I know he'll be over the moon Pep." I assure her.

Later when Alyssa got back home she was in a good mood. She sat on the floor and gave Bandit a through pat once she entered.

"For someone who got very close to being fired today, you are in a good mood." Steve remarked. He was still upset at Alyssa for sneaking in on a mission. But Steve couldn't find it in him to be truly mad at her. When it came down to it he knew he would have done the same thing.

"I am in a good mood Steve. Very good. Oh, by the way where would be a good place to hide this stuff for Pepper? She's picking it up tomorrow." Alyssa asked holding up a small plastic bag.

"What is that?" Steve inquired and sat down on the floor to join in on petting the dog.

Alyssa smiled "look for yourself." She said as she threw the bag at him.

Steve opened it to reveal a tiny yellow baby tee with the words 'I love Daddy' written in blue. Steve smiled.

"Pepper's pregnant?"

"Yeah, she told me this afternoon. She would tell him tonight if they didn't have some meeting or rather. She's going to tell him tomorrow via this tiny shirt." Alyssa explained.

"So that's why you're so excited." Steve looked down at the shirt again.

"Got a problem with babies or something? I haven't ever been in contact with one but they seem pretty cute. I'd have no idea what to do with one though."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, there cute. Honestly the only experience I have with kids is when I did the Captain America tour during the war. And that was only for a minute or two."

"I've never been around kids. Not until I was seventeen did I start to even know people my age. I was always around people older than me. I was expected to act like an adult in hopes to be treated like one."

"You never spent time with other kids as a kid?"

"I was pronounced a genius when I was two. I was smarter than America's most achieving high school honor roll student by four. I had two master degrees in both mechanical and aerospace engineering by fifteen. When would I have had free time to socialize Rogers? Between my advance mechanics class and my piano lessons?"

"You really did that your whole childhood?" Steve realizing she didn't seem to have much of one.

"Pretty much. I mean my parents tried to get me to make friends. They put me in classes with other kids for stuff. They put me in a beginners acting class in hopes I'd come out of my shell more. Had me join a baseball team too. I just couldn't connect with other kids. I would say things that would be no big deal to me but sounded weird to other kids. Any kid I met made fun of me." Alyssa shrugged it off as she moved to sit against the wall.

"If it makes you feel any better before the serum I used to get beat up and picked on as well." Steve moved beside Alyssa and brought an arm around her and pulled her slightly closer to him. Bandit had moved so his head was on Alyssa's lap.

"Bet those kids didn't call you a freak of nature or brainiac. Once I was told I was one lab accident away from being a super villain." Alyssa said thinking back. Steve looked down wondering how anyone could see Alyssa as a freak of nature, but being bullied himself he knew kids would say anything to be mean.

"They picked on me because I was a tiny asthmatic kid."

"Yeah well, you became Captain America. The Leader of the Avengers. A superhero. I am still a brainiac. I still put people off." Alyssa said regretfully. Steve had never realized that Alyssa was insecure because of how smart she is. She had never seemed as such but it would explain a few things. Like her needing to show up her co-worker Vanessa.

"And I am still that skinny asthmatic kid from Brooklyn that got picked on every single day and beat up in almost every ally. You are not just a brainiac. Yes you are extremely smart. But you have accomplished so much because of it. Your robots and the technology you've created have helped me and so many other agents on countless missions. You are sweet and kind, have a good sense of humor even if it is a little too much like Tony's to always be appropriate. You care deeply about your friends and the people around you. You never back down from a challenge and always try to find ways to help everyone. You are one of the best people I know Alyssa." Steve said holding onto the girl tightly.

Alyssa looked up at him and leaned her head onto his chest. "You think that?"

"I do. I think that if any of those kids that picked on you saw you now, they would regret they ever said anything but kind words to you."

"I think if they saw me right now they would just see me basically sitting on your lap on the floor…"

"You know what I meant." Steve rolled his eyes at the girl.

"I did. I do." Alyssa moved herself so she was actually sitting on Steve's lap. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. Steve held her even closer to himself on instinct, enjoying the closeness.

"You are going to be an amazing big sister Alyssa. That kid will be lucky to have you."

"Thanks but I think I'm the lucky one."

"Why's that?"

"I get you as one of my best friends. I'm really happy you're in my life Steven Grant Rogers."

"And I'm happy you're in mine Alyssa Maria Rogers." Steve smirked at the name. Alyssa buried her face into his neck and he could tell she was rolling her eyes.

"Hey Aly? Why are you sitting on me?" Steve suddenly asked curiously after a few moments of silence.

"My ass was sore from sitting on the floor."

"So… you decided to sit on me?"

"It would seem that way, yes."