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Chapter 18

Steve was in a good mood. No, not just a good mood, a damn good mood.

He could still see Emily's coy smile after she kissed him passionately outside of her door and feel the soft movement when her hand left his. Steve was also having...thoughts about Emily, thoughts that left him hot under the collar. Being a Catholic from the 40s who never got anywhere with girls made him a little more traditional about such matters. He hated himself for it, but he couldn't deny that he had a deep attraction to Emily.

Still, he had to hide his feelings at work. They'd agreed they had to keep it separate, it was only fair. Steve was a private person anyway, he didn't like letting his true feelings out. Emily had wanted to work at SHIELD since she was 10 and refused to let anything get in the way of her professional. It would be hard, seeing her at work and wanting to kiss her, but Steve knew they could both make it. Emily was excited by it anyway; she liked a secret work affair.

He felt good for the first time properly, even better than he did on the 4th July. Steve didn't need a woman to complete him, but finding someone he could truly be himself with was nothing short of amazing. He thought it would have been Peggy, but it wasn't. Steve wasn't going to jump the gun and say Emily was his soulmate, but he really did like her. A lot.

That happiness was ruined by one simple message.

My office right now.

Steve knew what Fury wanted by the way he messaged. He was always short in his messages, but you could always just tell. When there was a mission it was simply 'assignment. Meet me in my office.' When it was something else, it was something else.

He felt like a schoolchild going to the principal's office. Steve didn't know what he had done; he'd been on good terms with Fury since his little outburst a few weeks ago. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

At Fury's private elevator, he scanned his fingerprint to be let in. He missed elevator music; elevators these days were so dull and boring.

When the doors opened up a few floors above him, he was surprised. He was even more surprised when Emily walked in.

"Hi," she beamed.

"Hi," he stepped forward to kiss her before remembering where he was, "What are you doing here?"

"Fury wants to see me."

"Funny, he wants to see me too."

"Maybe we can finally work together again," Emily suggested.

"Yeah, that's probably it." Maybe he'd been paranoid about the message, it was probably just that. He hoped it was that at least, he liked working with Emily. Fury had been keeping a close eye on him, he knew it, so it looked like he'd proven he could keep his emotions in check. Truthfully, Steve had been worried he wouldn't be able to control himself is something happened to Emily. He trusted Emily, but not himself.

If he could learn to control himself then, he could do it now.

Fury's assistant waved them right through the door. When they entered, they saw that Agent Hill was seated at the side. That wasn't good.

"You wanted to see us, sir?" Steve asked politely, having ushered Emily in first.

"Yes, I do," Fury nodded, "I have Commander Hill with me as witness. I'm going to cut right to the chase as I am sure we all have lots to do. I want an honest answer to this question and I'm not accepting any bullshit. How long have you two been seeing each other?"

Fury knew, he had to. He wouldn't call them in unless he was absolutely sure. Still, neither were about to admit it. Time to play dumb.

"We're not seeing each other," Emily feigned ignorance, a look of pure innocence on her face, "I don't know where you'd get that idea. Sure, we're close, but it's friendship."

Fury looked between them. To the untrained eye, Emily lied flawlessly, but Fury knew the truth- that, and he was a human lie detector. Steve, however, was a terrible liar. His eyes flickered to the side and he'd immediately tensed up.

"So you two weren't kissing outside the movie theatre on West 23rd last night?"

The two looked between each other quickly, knowing there was absolutely no wiggle room out of this. They were totally busted.

"How could you possible know that?" an incredulous Emily asked.

"You were seen by a team member who reported it to me, as is protocol."

"Who told on us?" Emily asked in shock.

"That's not relevant Collins. I'd like to know how long this has been going on, as I originally asked."

"A few weeks," Steve told them, "It's not against any rules anyway and even if it was, frankly I don't care. We're not doing anything wrong so I don't know why this is a problem."

"If two SHIELD workers, whoever they are, get together, they are required to inform HR," Commander Hill piped up, "This was implemented in the 70s when there was a rather bad breakup between two agents who then got into a huge fight that cost SHIELD thousands in damages when one drove into a shed. If this has been going on for a few weeks, then it's fair to say that HR should have already been informed."

"Well forgive us for wanting to be quiet about it," Emily interjected, "We didn't want to cause any problems and we wanted to ensure this didn't affect our work. Besides, it wasn't technically official until last night so perhaps we also wanted some breathing room before we were called into our boss' office to have some girl talk."

Steve snorted at the comment, but quickly re-arranged his face when Fury glared at him.

"It's required to be reported. SHIELD needs to know so it doesn't compromise missions and so we're aware of personal issues," Hill continued, "Does being 'official' mean that this is an official relationship between the two of you?"

They both nodded sheepishly.

"Then you two are going to march straight down to HR and report this immediately," Fury told them, "I also think that I do need to look into whether I can trust you to be on missions together considering your romantic entanglement."

"That is unfair," Emily protested.

"You're not the problem, he is," Fury pointed at Steve, "I trust you Collins, you've proven it when you work with Agent Coulson. Rogers, however, seems to have a capacity for getting too personally involved in assignments, especially when he has strong positive or negative feelings for those around him. He already had his little outburst about the Alaska mission, I don't want that happening again."

"That was before Emily and I were together," Steve protested.

"Hence those feelings I talked about are stronger," Fury shot back, "I want your assurance that any personal feelings you have won't get in the way of missions."

"I promise," Steve assured, "I trust Emily's capabilities and I will ensure no mission is risked because of safety concerns."

"You too Collins."

"You just said that you trusted me!" Emily protested again.

"I say a lot of things Collins, now just promise me."

"I promise," she sighed, "Now can we go?"

"Yes. I want you both down at HR right now to report the relationship. I'm going to call down in an hour and if I find out that you two haven't been, I will skin you both alive. Now get out of my sight."

As they both left, Emily stopped and turned around.

"Whoever told on us is a total snitch."

"Get out, Collins."

Steve ushered an incensed Emily out, closing the door behind them. Once they were in the elevator, Emily face planted into Steve's chest.

"I am going to kill whoever ratted us out, what an absolute snitch. Like I love my job, but if I saw two agents making out in the street, I'd say good for them and move on. Sure I'd gossip about it, but I wouldn't go to Fury like a little bitch. Also, New York is HUGE, what are the chances of someone from work seeing us? I don't even see my neighbours outside of the apartment and we live in the same damn building. I'm going to put salt in the coffee on whoever told on us."

"Em, look at me," he cupped her face, "It's ok, I'm sure they had the best intentions."

"No, they're a rat."

"Whatever you say," he couldn't help but smile at her, "We can report it to HR and then we'll decide how to proceed."

"Fine," she agreed as the elevator dinged, "This is our floor. Now let's go and tell that nosy bitch our business. Onward."

She put her hand out dramatically, Steve laughing again. The HR office wasn't far away and when they knocked on the door, they received a cheery 'come in' as a reply.

"Shoot me," Emily whispered before they entered.

"Ah good morning, please take a seat," Helen, the HR manager smiled, especially after seeing Steve.

Steve opened Emily's chair out for her before going into his.

"So how can I help you today?" Helen cheerily asked, "Is it about your relationship?"

Steve and Emily stopped in their tracks, looking at her in utter surprise. After a few seconds, Emily realised.

"It's all over the building, isn't it?"

"Well it's still seen as gossip Agent Collins," Helen assured, "But now that I know that it isn't, I can take a note of it. Ok, here is the file I need. How long has this relationship been going on?"

"We had a few dates for a few weeks, but we didn't make it official until last night," Steve told her, uncomfortable at having to share private info like this.

"So it's serious?" Helen asked.

"Yes," the pair replied simultaneously.

"Whilst Captain Rogers has a higher clearance level, you're on the same rank so therefore it is not an abuse of power. Now, I have to read the necessary text to you."

Steve sat to attention as Helen read them the rules, whilst Emily slouched bored next to him. He tried to indicate that she should listen to it, but one look told him that she didn't give a shit about this. Once Helen was done, Emily immediately sprang to life.

"Remember to update it if there are any relationship changes," Helen reminded them, "Nobody likes a liar!"

"Are you on crack?" Emily blurted.

"Excuse me?" Helen genuinely hadn't heard her.

"That will be all, thank you," Steve loudly replied, trying to ensure neither got in more trouble today, "Emily, we best be going. Thank you for everything, we will update you if anything changes."

Emily faked a smile as they left.

"She's totally on something," she whispered once they were out of the door.

"Not the time Em."

They chatted until they arrived in the main area. As they entered, they were aware of every pair of eyes going straight on them, all whilst everyone continued about their business. Whilst SHIELD was a serious government law enforcement agency, they all craved gossip. When something happened, it was all over. Emily was guilty of that, she was straight to her friends when she heard something juicy.

"They're all staring at us," Steve whispered.

"Then let's give them a show," Emily replied.

With that, she leaned up and passionately kissed him on the lips. Steve smiled before giving into it, caught up in the moment. If everyone had to know, it would best be like this.

"I gotta go," Emily told him as they broke apart, "I am helping the tech people by using my perfect French for them to programme into the new linguistic people. Later baby."

She sauntered off, head held high as she walked out of the lobby. Steve couldn't help but smirk, glancing at the surrounding agents out of the corner of his eyes. Grinning like an idiot to himself, he put his hands in his pockets and went off to tactical training.

LIGHT ME UP-

At the end of the day, Steve couldn't wait to go home. Everyone who was everyone had found an excuse to see him, angling for information. Well, Steve wasn't going to give it. The only two he trusted to talk to were Clint and Natasha, both who had swung by upon hearing the news. Steve thought the two of them to be dear friends, so told them everything. Both were very smug, but clearly happy for the old-fashioned Captain. They both wanted him to loosen up and find himself, which he had done.

There was also the fact everyone knew there were feelings between Steve and Emily, but that was neither here nor there.

Aaron and Natalie had also come in, but Steve knew that Emily would have told them everything- they were two of her very best friends.

As he left, he had the misfortune of passing a certain someone.

"Hey Cap, nice job getting with Collins," Rumlow had his stereotypical arrogant smirk, "She may not look like Morse or Tanner, but she's one of the hottest. Guess I was right about what I said, huh?"

Steve glared at Rumlow as he walked away laughing.

He walked speedily towards the exit, desperate to get home. Until he encountered someone he realised that he'd kind of been avoiding.

"Hi Captain," Coulson smiled.

"Good afternoon Agent Coulson, I was just heading home."

"How funny, so was I. Let's walk together."

Coulson had toned down the fanboy attitude considerably since they first met, acting professionally, but Steve knew that the older man still had a rose tinted view of the Star Spangled Man with a Plan. Emily had been vague about just how much memorabilia her uncle had as not to alarm Steve, but Steve knew that it was a lot. There had been a surge in Avengers merchandise since the Battle of New York and apparently Fury was getting SHIELD's legal team to ensure they all got a cut.

Steve didn't care about the money. It just freaked him out passing Cap toys and miniature shields in store windows.

"So, you and my niece huh?" Coulson started exactly what he wanted to talk about.

"Yes. I assume you've spoken to Emily."

"She gave me the details, yes. We do usually talk to each other about everything, but we don't talk about our romantic lives, that's a bit too much for an uncle and niece to share. Well, I have to say that it was fairly obvious that there were feelings between the two of you."

"You're not the only one to have said that today."

"Figures. Like I said, it was obvious. Well, I can't complain. Emily would never let me interfere with her dating life and wouldn't usually do it anyway, she's a grown woman and that's her business. Still, she'll always be somewhat of little girl to me. I'm glad she's with you. I'm not just talking about her being with an Avenger, that's not relevant. I know Steve Rogers to be a good man, one that will be respectful and kind. Emily lights up around you, even more than usual. Everyone wants the ones they love to be happy."

"Well I'm glad I make Emily happy- she makes me very happy too."

"Good, I'm very glad. Now listen here because I am not about to repeat what I'm going to say to you. Emily is very mature and always has been. She's never let men define her, even when she was a teenager in high school. I doubt that will change now she's twenty four. Still, she's my niece and you know that she's the one I care about the most. I get that not every relationship works out- people break up all the time, we've all had break ups. Some are amicable, others are not. I will still think the same of you if you and Emily ever depart civilly. If you upset here, then that will be a different story. I am a fully trained agent and haven't got to where I am by being innocent. Emily's wellbeing is the most important to me. If I find her shedding even a single tear over you, whatever the reason, then I will show you exactly what I can do. I trust you to be good, but I won't tolerate anyone breaking my niece's heart. She's a strong girl and she'll bounce back, but I don't care about the aftermath. If you hurt Emily, I will devote every resource at my fingertips to ensure that your life is a living hell. I'll have you assigned to Antarctica with no contact with the outside world. You won't be able to look over your shoulder without worrying I'm behind you. That's not to say that Emily won't kick your ass if you hurt her, she's extremely capable of doing so without me babying her. Still, I won't abide anyone breaking her heart. Is that understood Captain?"

Coulson hadn't broken his happy demeanour throughout the entire conversation, but Steve knew he was deadly serious. Emily and Coulson were extremely close, he knew that she loved nobody more than her beloved uncle. She'd joined SHIELD because when she was a kid, she wanted to be like him. Coulson was a calm, often unflappable man, but Steve didn't doubt he would turn angry if Emily's happiness was at peril.

"Yes sir," Steve gulped.

"Well I'm glad that's cleared up, I didn't think we'd have any problems here," Coulson beamed, "We should all have dinner sometime. Well, I say that, Emily will have to cook because I can barely operate a microwave. That's my car, I'll see you tomorrow."

Without another word or glance, Coulson walked up to his beloved Lola and climbed in.

Wondering what awful tortures Coulson could bring upon him, Steve headed to his motorcycle. To his surprise, Emily was leaning against it, waiting for him.

"Hi," he approached, "Have you been waiting long?"

"No, I figured you'd be out at this time and if you weren't, I would have left. I just wanted to speak to you before the day was over because, well, it's been interesting."

"It certainly has," Steve chuckled in agreement, linking their hands together, "Has anybody bothered you?"

"Don't worry honey; you don't have to kick anyone's ass. Everyone has been prying but that's to be understood, I'm like that when there's gossip. I had Aaron and Nat to talk about it with anyway, so that's cool. As much as the secrecy was necessary and fun, I'm glad it's out in the open so we can talk to our friends about it. Even Natasha and Clint were acting like teenagers."

"They were the same with me. That was interesting to say the least. Let me know if anyone bothers you though, I'll sort it out."

"I thought we were keeping work and relationship separate?"

"Yes, but I won't tolerate anyone harassing you."

"You're so goddamn hot when you get all protective," Emily moved closer, "I am going to head home to finish my book but I was hoping maybe we could hang out sometime this week. Wednesday after work? I can cook."

"Just the two of us?"

"Just the two of us," Emily confirmed with a smile.

"That sounds wonderful, I'd like that a lot. I'll bring dessert."

"You don't have to."

"If you're going to work hard and cook for us after a long day, I have to contribute. This place near me does these ice cream desserts, I'll bring those."

"If you insist. See you tomorrow my darling," Emily put a hand on the back of his neck and kissed him.

"Goodbye doll."

Steve headed to his bike, waving at Emily as she drove away. God, he was a lucky man.

Hi all! Hope you enjoyed Chapter 17!

Next time: There's a short time jump. An innocuous comment by Tony sparks discussion between Steve and Emily when they realise how different their expectations of a relationship. This will be the last chapter before a longer time jump of three years.

Thanks again and don't forget to review. This will probably be the last time I update before 2020, so Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and a Happy New Year! Xxx