It wasn't unusual for Steve to find his way over to Camryn's apartment. Modern day left him confused and in need of help quite often, and she was the only person he knew to ask. His questions always ranged from how to play CD's to how to get his phone to do something specific.
To Camryn's credit, she was always patient with him. She never snapped at him and she always answered every question he had for her. She grew used to his company and his presence, and Steve feared he was beginning to grow reliant on hers.
Despite how often Steve found himself at Camryn's place, it was never late at night. And certainly never two in the morning.
It was the frantic knocking that had Camryn sighing, pulling away from the bag she was packing for a new mission. Her watch had only buzzed minutes ago.
His face was of pure and utter frustration when she opened the door. He felt bad, believing he had woken her up.
"Steve? What are you doing here?" She asked in confusion. It was the middle of the night. Sure she was awake, but she didn't figure he had any reason to be.
"It's my watch. It won't shut off. And it's all frozen." He frowned, holding the small device toward her.
She glanced down at the watch that had an alarm going off, the screen frozen with the words 'Mission Alert' in bright red.
"Did you try resetting it?" She asked curiously, hitting a few buttons. The watch instantly turned black before completely restarting, the Shield logo popping up.
"No, I did not." He replied with a frown. "How did you do that?" He asked her with wide eyes as he took the watch back, looking at the mission like he had tried to the first time. Only this time it didn't go as wrong.
"I just hit these buttons." She said, reaching over and holding the power button and the volume button until a screen popped up, giving the option to restart the device.
"Oh. Thanks. I'm sorry for waking you up." He said. "I guess I freaked out a bit."
"You didn't wake me. I'm up for a mission, and by the looks of it the same mission as you?" She said, nodding to the screen.
"Depends on if you're getting briefed for a steakout." He said, knowing it was too much of a coincidence to not be the same mission.
"Yeah. Have to be there in twenty minutes. You might want to get packed." She said. "Welcome to Shield, Steve."
Camryn wasn't stupid. She knew this meant he had officially accepted Fury's offer to join the agency. And it wasn't a surprise he was so quickly on a mission. She assumed though she would be training him in a sense, considering she was the level six agent, and he was a newbie.
"Yeah, thanks. When I met with Fury yesterday he mentioned something about being level eight?" Steve asked, his brow furrowed. "I don't really know what that means."
Camryn stopped, her eyes narrowing. "I'm sorry, what? Level eight?" She asked.
Steve tilted his head to the side as he looked at her. "Yeah? Why? What does it mean?" He asked.
"Level eight means how high a clearance level you have is. I'm a level six." She snapped. She was mad. She had worked for the title she had since she was a teenager, and he walked in and was just handed a level eight clearance.
Steve frowned, not at all understanding why she was getting so mad at him. "Camryn, I didn't do anything wrong? Why are you getting so upset?" He asked.
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Go get ready before you're late." She said sternly. "I'll see you there."
She had been planning on offering him a ride, but she wasn't sure she wanted to anymore.
The door closed after Camryn watched Steve walk away, and she quickly returned to gathering what she needed, consulting her steakout packing list to double check she had what she needed.
"Goose," she whisper-shouted, not wanting to wake Emma up. "C'mere, kitty, kitty, kitty."
The cat mewled as he came from his spot on her bed, stretching before making his way over to her and jumping on the couch beside her bag.
"Good kitty. Mama will be back in a few days, okay? Be good for Emma." She said. She knew the cat had a love-hate relationship with the woman, but she really had no desire to return to Emma complaining about how mean the cat was.
After checking that the cat feeder was set right, she grabbed her keys and her gun from the safe and headed down to her car in the garage. She glanced at Steve, seeing him load his motorcycle.
With a sigh, she called him over. "Rogers, I'll give you a ride. Let's go before I change my mind."
Steve tried not to look hopeful as he grabbed his bag and moved to the passenger side of the car, opening the door and climbing in.
"Thanks." He said softly. "And about earlier, I don't know what I did to upset you, but I'm sorry."
She groaned. "Why do you have to be such a nice person, Steve? It makes it really hard to be mad at you." She huffed as she pulled out of the parking lot.
"Well, maybe if you explain why you were mad in the first place I can help you not be mad?" He suggested. He didn't like it when she was mad. He wanted her to be happy, and he especially wanted her to be happy around him.
She sighed. "I'll explain later. We have a mission we need to focus on."
"Yeah, okay. Makes sense. Focus." He said in agreement, even though he really wanted to know how he upset her so he didn't do it again.
The rest of the drive they sat in silence, and it was rather suffocating when the pair typically could find something to talk about, even if it was what movie Steve planned to watch next.
Both were thankful when Camryn pulled into the parking lot of headquarters, turning her car off and grabbing her bag.
"Come on. We're late." She said. She knew whoever was giving them their mission would be mad. A good agent was never late, and it had been years since she had been penalized for tardiness.
"It was briefing room 3B, right?" Steve asked as they walked. Even though he was a super-soldier, he was struggling to keep pace with Camryn.
"Are you asking me or telling me?" She shot back. As a level eight agent he should know the answer to his question.
Steve swallowed nervously, sensing a bit of hostility. "Telling." He said, clearing his throat.
She rolled her eyes and moved on. Deep down she knew it wasn't Steve's fault the level he was assigned, but she couldn't help how annoyed she got when she was reminded that he knew nothing about how Shield worked.
"Here we are." She mumbled as they walked into the briefing room, Maria waiting for them with an impatient look on her face.
"You're late, Simmons." She said, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "I would have expected more from a level six agent."
"Yeah, well, I was kinda busy helping the level eight agent. Shouldn't you expect more from him too?" She snarked back. She really wasn't in the mood.
"Captain Rogers is new to the agency. Everyone gets leeway in the beginning." Maria replied sternly.
"He shouldn't be entering the agency as a level eight agent then. He knows nothing about how this agency works! If you want to give him leeway, that's all fine and good, but don't start him at a level where he should be leading the missions, not being taught proper protocol." Camryn snapped.
"Need I remind you who you are talking to, Agent Simmons? Captain Rogers got the position that was believed to be deserved after his actions in Manhattan."
"You mean the same actions I performed?" She asked with a scoff. "No, he was given the position because he's Captain America. Not because he has proven he deserves it."
"Regardless, it's not your place." Maria reminded, glaring at the woman. "End of discussion. Sit down to be briefed before I remove you from this mission."
At the possibility of being taken off a mission, Camryn quickly shut her mouth and sat down, even if she was still mad.
Steve was left in the awkward position of standing in the doorway. He hadn't expected the slight blowup on Camryn's part, and he certainly hadn't thought her anger would be caused by him, even if it was directed at Maria.
"It's a simple steakout mission. Russel Hess has been evading the police for months. He's one of the top dogs of a designer drug ring. The apartment you'll be watching is believed to be his current hideout," Maria said. "Your mission is to watch it until we have confirmation the target is there and then bring him in."
"Easy enough." Camryn said.
"What's our timeline?" Steve asked, getting into his mission mode.
"Sources say we have three days before we have no chance of catching him there. He doesn't stay in one place for long." Maria replied. "You'll be supplied with additional files and equipment. He's the key to the apartment across the street where you'll be staying."
She slid the key across the table to Camryn who caught it with ease. She then stood up, knowing that was all they were going to get from the woman.
"Let's go. It'll be in the car." She said to Steve, knowing he was likely not going to understand otherwise.
Steve nodded in understanding, getting up and following her out. He was somehow unsurprised as she led him to a Shield issued car, the air between them more tense than it had been before.
"Look, I get you are mad. But we have a mission to focus on. So put that aside for now, and we can talk about it later." Steve said as she started the car.
Camryn paused at his words. "I'm sorry what? You're calling into question my focus on a mission?" She asked, her eyes narrowing as she turned to look at him. "Do not even go there with me, Rogers. I have been training to be an agent since I was thirteen years old. Never once have I let my emotions get in the way of a mission. Did I after Coulson died? No. I didn't. So do not think you have the right to question me."
Steve didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't say anything at all. The pair worked in mostly silence for the first day of their mission, aside from short conversations about meals, or establishing shifts to watch the door of the house.
"Simmons, it's my turn." Steve said after wandering out of the bedroom. It was two in the morning and he had already been asleep four hours, if you could even call it sleep. Whatever it was, it wasn't very restful, and Steve knew he was likely running off adrenaline.
"I'm good. I've not been sitting here long. You can go back to bed." She said stiffly. She was still frustrated with the situation and taking it out on him. They hadn't exactly had a chance to properly talk to each other about the situation. When Steve had tried he managed to make her more upset.
"I'm not going back to bed." He said sternly. "We take shifts. This is how this works. You agreed to it earlier."
"Yeah, well, now I'm saying I don't need to switch out." She replied, staring out the window with binoculars. They had a camera on the door, but she preferred to use her own eyes, just in case someone had tampered with the camera.
"And I'm telling you that you're going to." Steve said, his tone holding an unsaid warning. "Simmons, I really don't want to have to pull the seniority card here."
"Seniority? What seniority? The only seniority you have on me is being born in the 1930s." She snapped, rounding on him. "You may be a level eight agent, but don't think for one second you're my superior."
"It doesn't matter how I got the position. I am your superior. And you will do as I say." Steve nearly growled. "Go."
"No." She replied simply. "Make me."
She resumed looking out the window with her binoculars, beginning to ignore the man behind her. If he wanted her focused on the mission, that's what he was going to get.
"Simmons, you think I won't throw you over my shoulder and carry you into that bedroom. Get up and—" She shushed him quickly. "Do not shush me." He warned her.
"No, seriously, shut up." She said, her focus out the window more intense.
"Why are you telling me to shut up?"
"Oh my god, what part of shut up do you not understand? Come look." She said, handing him the binoculars. "You see the person in the suit? Who is still in a suit at three am?"
"He could just be getting home." Steve suggested.
"He's not drunk though. Look, what event would keep him out this late that didn't have alcohol? Clearly he wasn't concerned with driving. He got out of a cab." She said. "Plus, look. The suit is freshly pressed. And no sort of briefcase. I'll bet you that's our guy."
"So then we go apprehend him." Steve said, moving to the door. Camryn stood up and grabbed his arm.
"No, we need confirmation first. He kept his face well hidden." She said.
"How do we get that?" He asked in confusion.
"It's simple." She said. Ten minutes later she was outside the apartment door, dressed in scrubs. She plastered a worried and apologetic look on her face before knocking.
The door cracked open, the chain still in place. Whoever was in that apartment was not very welcoming to strangers.
"Yes?" The voice asked gruffly. "Who is it? What do you want?"
"Hi. I'm Elaina. I live in the apartment down the hall? I have work in a few minutes and I just locked myself out of my apartment, and my phone is in there too. Do you think I could maybe borrow yours to call my boyfriend? He's inside asleep, and I saw you going into your apartment and figured you might be awake." She said. "I'm so sorry to be a bother."
The man on the other side hesitated a moment, eyeing her up and down. She was a pretty girl, with no visible weapons. And she was dressed in scrubs, name tag and all. She seemed harmless enough.
The door closed and she could hear the chain being moved before the door swung completely open, revealing the target. He offered her his phone and Camryn took it gratefully.
"Thank you so much, sir. I'll only be a minute." She said, dialing Steve's number. "Hey, yeah. It's me. We've got our guy." She said, her entire tone and demeanour changing.
The target realized what was happening a second too late, making a run for the fire escape, only to be met with Captain America climbing through the window and blocking his path.
"Russel Hess, you are under arrest for the illegal creation and selling of designer drugs. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you." Camryn said, reading him his rights as she approached him and put the cuffs on him.
Camryn didn't talk to Steve the entire time they booked the target, and when they got back to their places, she went inside her apartment without a word. It was going to take her some time to get over it all.
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i hope you enjoyed! if you did i love hearing what you all have to say, so any comments would be appreciated!