One could say that Cassidy Forbes was a child prodigy. Both her parents were star Shield agents. She practically grew up running around headquarters. Hell, Nick Fury was her Godfather. It made perfect sense that she immediately started training when she turned eighteen.

That was fifteen years ago. Cassidy was now one of the deadliest Shield agents, next to Black Widow. When Natasha Romanov came into shield, she used what the Red Room had taught her to instill into Cassidy. When she and Natasha fought together, they moved around each other like a well-oiled machine.

Her parents were both gone now, her mother went first, when she was fifteen, then her dad just after she turned twenty. All Fury would tell her was that they died on missions. She thought she probably didn't have clearance to know how or maybe Fury was just trying to protect her. She didn't know, but it did hurt not knowing what happened to them.

She hoped that her parents were proud of her. She never wanted for anything, she lived in a very nice apartment in Manhattan, after selling her parents house. She hadn't spent much time there anyway; she was always at Shield.

Cassidy was getting ready for the day; she had a meeting with Fury at Shield. She was nervous, she wasn't sure if it was a 'Uncle Fury' meeting or a 'Director Fury' meeting. The last mission she had gone on went off without a hitch, it had just been her, Natasha and Clint, and they had brought in a notorious human sex trafficker. Maybe she was getting moved? She really didn't want to leave Manhattan, she quite liked living there.

She looked in the mirror at herself, pulling her long blonde hair up into her signature ponytail, and her eyes fell to the tiny shield on her hip. Soul marks appeared on the body when one went into puberty. In Cassidy's case, it was when she was thirteen. She was so excited when she ran in and told her mom that she not only had one, but two. Not many people had two soulmates. Her mother once told her that it meant she was special because two people could love her.

She knew what the shield stood for. It was for Captain America. But he was dead. She learned all about him in school. He sounded amazing and she wished that her soulmate would be like him. She had hoped when they found Captain America in the ice a few months ago that he could be the one. She pushed that idea down quickly. She wasn't that lucky. Someone like him couldn't be fated to be with someone like her.

The words 'I'm so sorry miss' were in bold italics underneath the perfect little shield. She wondered what her first words to him would be. Her eyes then traveled up to her collarbone where a single red star sat. The words 'Get out of my way' written in the same font. So, one of her soulmates sounded sweet, and the other kind of sounded like a jerk.

Cassidy was getting tired of waiting. She was thirty years old for God sakes. She'd dated of course, trying to find her soulmates, and she'd slept with men too, and hell, even some women. She never felt a connection with any of them though. The sex just felt her feeling hollow and incomplete after.

She shook her head away from her thoughts and continued getting ready for the day. She pulled on a pair of black jeans and a white blouse, and black leather jacket, grabbing her Shield badge and phone.

The drive to the Manhattan facility didn't take long, and Cassidy parked in her usual spot, and headed in, saying hi to a few of the agents she saw on her way to Fury's office. Hearing a 'come in' when she knocked, Cassidy opened the door and saw Fury sitting at his desk, several files scattered over it.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, stepping around and sitting in the chair opposite the desk. "Yes, Agent Forbes." Got it. This was a 'Director Fury' meeting. "What can I do for you Director?" She asked. Fury sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"After the events last month, the Avengers aren't painted in a very good light." He told her. He was talking about the Chitauri invasion. The trickster God Loki. Yes, the Avengers saved the city, but they had also destroyed half of it.

"Yes sir, I remember." She told him.

"A lot of people are angry. They think that Stark can just throw money at them and all is forgiven. It's not that easy. The Avengers need to be understood. They need to have a good light shined on them. I need someone to do that." He told her. Cassidy tilted her head, not quite understanding.

"Sir?"

"I want you to be the Avenger's new handler Forbes. Essentially you will keep an eye on them, do press tours for them, make the world see them in a good light, the kind that saves lives." Cassidy's mouth dropped open.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm not understanding." She told him. He sighed and stood, walking over and sitting in the chair next to her.

"I want you to move into the Avengers Tower. Tony Stark already has a room for you. You will run their schedules, set up interviews for them, oversee training. Make sure they don't kill each other."

"So, basically I'm a babysitter. Am I in trouble? Am I being punished for something?" She asked him.

"No. I believe you're the best person for this job. You are our best agent. I'm trusting this to you. Please Cassidy. Do this for me." He said softly. Cassidy sighed, knowing she was beaten. She always gave in when Uncle Nick asked for things like this. He really did trust her more than anyone else at Shield, other than maybe Natasha. She nodded slowly.

"Okay Uncle Nick. I'll do it. For you." She told him. He smiled, which isn't something that Nick Fury does for just anyone and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Cassidy. I promise you won't regret it."

Packing up her apartment was definitely making her regret taking this position on. There were boxes everywhere and she had hardly gotten anything packed. Nick had offered to have some new recruits come over and pack her apartment for her, but she refused. She wanted to do this herself. She just needed a bottle of wine first.

It only took her half the bottle to get everything packed, the last box being her parent's things that she had kept. Both of their Shield badges, her mother's hair pin she always wore, her fathers' gun that Nick had given to her after his funeral. She placed a picture frame of her and her parents on her fifteenth birthday in the box. That was the last picture she had of them together. Her mother died a week later.

She did have to call movers to get all the boxes to the tower. She walked up to the front desk and told the lady behind it her name and that she was moving in today. She told her to go to the ninetieth floor, which was the one directly under the penthouse. Where Tony freaking stark lived.

She pressed the button on the elevator after telling the movers the same number for the service elevator that was bigger on the backside of the garage. The doors opened to her floor and her mouth dropped open. She walked in and saw a couch and two chairs opposite a giant television on the wall. There was a double sliding glass door that led to a patio. She turned and saw a small kitchen table and kitchen, complete with everything she could ever need.

"What do you think?" A voice said behind her. She yelped and spun around, hand instinctively going to the gun in her waistband. Tony fucking Stark was standing in front of her.

"Can we not shoot the guy who pays for everything please? That would be great."