It wasn't often I was at my wit's end by 0730 in the morning. However, this morning was really stretching my patience.

Abby was violently sick with a stomach bug. Evans was away on a mission so I'd stepped in to help. Clint had taken William to daycare and I was currently trying to pry Alexi out of her car seat. She hadn't seen a lot of me lately and me dropping her off at kindergarten was causing a meltdown of epic proportions. She had thought me showing up this morning meant she was coming to work with me. It normally wouldn't have been a problem but today I had to go to a Senate meeting with Coulson. It was talking about Enhanced individuals and compulsory registration if they wanted to apply for any kind of government or military job. SHIELD was against the idea but there were plenty of people for it. Coulson would be there to speak, if he had a chance, along with the head of public relations of SHIELD. He asked if I wanted to come along and I'd quickly jumped at the opportunity. I'd been following this with interest when I first heard about it. There had been some pretty impressive emails going back and forth between me, Grams and Peggy right now.

"Alexi, I promise I'm going to pick you up in a few hours," I pleaded with her over the hysterical sobbing. "I have to go to work and I can't take you with me this morning."

"I don't want you to leave," Alexi wailed, gripping onto her car seat as I gently tried to pry her away. "Don't leave me."

Abby had warned me of this. Every time Evans left for a mission it was causing Alexi to have some very epic meltdowns. I'd spent my two weeks off at the farm with Laura and the kids and I'd only been back for a few days. In that time, I'd only been to see Alexi once. She was taking everyone's absence very hard right now.

"I don't want to leave you either." I tried to switch tactics with her. "But I have a really important meeting this morning. I'll come to get you as soon as I'm done, okay?"

Alexi shook her head, wailing even louder. I wanted to bang my head against the door in frustration. I really sucked at this parenting thing. I knew I could easily pull her out of the car seat and dump her inside. It was the last thing I wanted to do though. The way she was crying was making me feel like shit for even thinking about it. However, if I didn't get her out in the next five minutes I was going to be extremely late.

"Munchkin, I'm so sorry that I have to drop you here," I said, my tone pleading. "I promise I'll come and get you the second I'm done. Then you and me will go get ice cream and you can spend the night at my place. How does that sound?"

There was a pretty strong possibility that was going to happen anyway with Abby being so sick. I was going to offer to stay the night there. But Alexi loved a sleepover at my apartment and she hadn't had one in ages. The bribery seemed to be working. Alexi's tears slowed down and she frowned at me.

"No William? He talks too much."

I had to bite my lip to stop myself laughing at her declaration. Unlike Alexi who was a little chatterbox as soon as she worked out how to talk, William was a lot slower. He spoke some simple sentences now but nowhere near as much as Alexi. She did most of the talking for him.

"Clint and William can hang out together," I negotiated with her. "How about I get Natasha over and we'll have a girls night?"

At the mention of Natasha and girls night, Alexi's fingers uncurled from her car seat. She looked at me with those huge blue eyes of her, still full of tears.

"Promise, Kari?"

The 'R' in promise came out more like a W, but I nodded giving her a bright smile. I'd promise nearly anything to get her out of the car right now.

"Promise." I held my arms out to her. "We can even have ice cream for dinner."

I was going to regret this later on. Alexi stuck her bottom lip out but finally relinquished her death grip and crawled into my arms. I snatched up her backpack and juggling the two, I managed to close the car door with my hip. Alexi wasn't going to let me go until we were well into the room so there was no point arguing. She put her head on my shoulder and buried her face into my jacket. I felt terrible for her meltdown. I had been a rather absent godmother lately.

"You handled that like a pro."

An unfamiliar male voice came from behind me. I glanced behind to see a guy around my age in a well cut suit right behind me. He was walking with one of Alexi's friends, Brylee, attached to him. Alexi saw her friend and her stormy mood was instantly forgotten. She wiggled out of my grip and bounced over to Brylee as nothing had happened. I didn't recognise the guy who was with Brylee though.

"Sorry, I'm Ben." He looked apologetic as he introduced himself. "I'm Brylee's uncle. I haven't long moved here."

"Kari, I'm Alexi's godmother." My attention was pulled away from him as Alexi tugged on my hand.

"I need Dora," Alexi said with a bright smile. "Bye, Kari."

Dora was Alexi's Dora the Explorer backpack. I handed it over to her and she and Brylee skipped ahead of us. Her meltdown was long forgotten as Alexi and Brylee talked at a million miles an hour in their high pitched chipmunk voices.

"I'm going to regret having bribed her with ice cream now," I said dryly as I watched them. "This is why I'm not a parent."

Ben laughed at my honesty. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye as we walked behind the pair. He was a little taller than me, dark haired and eyes nearly as blue as mine. He looked fit under the nice suit he was wearing.

"Me either. My sister will probably maim me when she finds out I let her have Cap'n Crunch for breakfast," Ben said with a laugh. "it was the only thing I could get her to eat. I haven't seen you before?"

"I've been away for work," I explained, fiddling with the car keys. I didn't have time to stand here and chat. I was trying not to be rude but I had to go.. "Sorry, I really have to go. I'm going to be super late otherwise."

"Yeah, of course." Ben glanced down at his watch. He cringed as he saw the time. "Me too. I keep forgetting how bad the traffic is here. It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise." I gave him a polite smile.

I went back to the car and braced myself for the horrors of rush hour DC traffic. Going into the Triskelion early to work out meant I always missed out on the worst of the traffic. At this time of the morning, it was usually chaos. As I started the car, I glanced up. Ben had turned and given me a small wave when he caught my eye. I waved back. At least he'd been polite in his leering. Some of the Dad's here and at William's daycare were downright creepy with how they looked at me.

The traffic was a nightmare as usual. My only consolation was Coulson was only three cars ahead of me when I pulled into the garage of the Triskelion. I caught up with him as we got to the elevator.

"Morning." Coulson handed me over a coffee from the tray he was balancing. He gave me a glance over and then a nod of approval. The grey pants suit did look rather sharp on me. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure." I held up my bag with a change of clothes in it. I'd actually cleaned out my locker of all the washing piling in there and now I had no spares. "I'll go dump these in my locker and I'll meet you at your office?"

"Meet me back at the car." Coulson looked preoccupied already on his phone. "We're taking one of the SHIELD ones, not Lola. Don't dawdle."

I did exactly as I was told and got back to the company cars before Coulson was there. While I waited started texting people. Natasha was having a lazy day and promised to go get some food for girl's night. There was some sparkling grape juice that came in a bottle that looked like wine. Alexi loved the stuff along with cheese and the other fancy stuff we got for girls nights. Clint let me know he'd picked William up and left some drugs for Abby. William only had a few hours at daycare today so he'd pick him up later on and head to Jared's.

Clint's message made me pause. Not because he was doing something nice but I'd get these little snatches of bizarre feelings. There wasn't any lingering awkwardness between what happened with us in Moscow. At least, I didn't feel like there was. Nothing had changed in our relationship. I couldn't even begin to describe those odd moments of where something felt different in something that wasn't a bad way.

I shrugged it off. I had too many happening today to mull over things. I went to see if Jared had replied to my earlier message. It was still unread meaning he was most likely still in bed. Natasha bed if I wasn't mistaken. I sent him an obnoxious amount of various smiley faces to see if it would wake him up. It didn't. I was about to ring him to be a pain in the ass when Coulson appeared. I shoved my phone in my jacket pocket and instantly following him to the car we were taking. He had the head of Public Relationships with him, Amanda. She had been heading of Public Relationships for as long as Mom had been in HR.

"Hi, Amanda," I said brightly. I hadn't seen her in a long time. "Coulson made sure you got the best behaved twin so nothing will fuck this up."

Amanda laughed and gave me a quick hug. We didn't have much time to waste though. The traffic going over to Capitol Hill was going to horrendous and we were late enough as it was. I sat in the backseat like the well behaved child I was. Jared had finally woken up so we were bantering over text. I made him promise to have Clint and William over for a boys night. Not that it took much persuading. Jared adored William and he was the best of all of us for coaxing more words out of William.

The only good thing about Senate hearings was being invited guests meant we had car parks already arranged for us. We were ushered through to the East Room where the hearing was being held. It was already crowded in there. Mutant rights were always a hot topic for both sides of the debate. Professor Hank McCoy was here, in his blue and fur covered glory. It made me smile to myself because I knew from personal experience from him in school that he simply did it to make people as uncomfortable as possible for these things. Professor McCoy caught my eye and I gave him a knowing smile. He was talking to someone and could only flash me a quick smile back.

As usual, things got boring quickly. I tagged along behind Coulson as Amanda was off doing her own thing. Coulson knew plenty of people and was doing the meet and greet exceptionally well. I barely got a second glance. Most people would assume I was his personal assistant. Thankfully we didn't have to wait around too long. When we got to the designated seating, I scowled realising there wasn't one for me.

"I asked," Coulson said giving me a sympathetic look. "I had to pass you off as my PA to get you in. There are seats up the back for the support staff."

I gave the most pitiful pout I could manage. I knew Coulson would have done everything in his power to get me in here. I was still annoyed at having to sit up the back with the assistants and everyone else. Coulson's sympathetic look turned into one of amusement as he shooed me away. Like the well behaved child I was, I took my seat up the back. I took my phone out of my pocket to start annoying Jared again when someone spoke in front of me.

"What are the odds?"

I glanced up to see Ben from this morning standing in front of me.

"Pretty damn slim," I said with a laugh. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm Senator Bryant's personal assistant," Ben explained, pointing over towards one of the middle aged men in the room. From memory, Senator Bryant was in opposite of this. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm with the SHIELD representatives." I pointed to Coulson and Amanda. "Though I've been relegated to the back like a naughty child."

"This is where the real workers are," Ben said with a smile. "Do you mind?"

He gestured towards the empty chair next to me. Part of me wanted to tell him to fuck off to another chair because I wasn't really in the mood to be flirted with. But, he was rather attractive and the attention wasn't completely horrid. I needed to get out more. If kissing Clint was turning me on, I desperately needed to get laid. I nodded and Ben sat down next to me. For us workers in the back, we didn't get the comfy chairs. It was a good thing I was skinny because these plastic chairs weren't built for anyone with hips.

"So, considering SHIELD and what it does, I'm guessing your boss is very much against what's being spoken about today?" Ben asked as he settled into the chair.

I eyed off Ben, wondering if he was doing this to make conversation or he was digging for information. I could have been wrong about his boss and what he thought about this all.

"There's been plenty of emails flying these last few days." I avoided the question quite well. Natasha would be proud of me. "It's a heated debate. What about you?"

"I think it's wrong." The look of disgust on Ben's face was clear. It made me relax a little. This could have gotten very awkward very quickly otherwise. "So does my boss. Mutants are people too. It's not like they can control what they're born with."

"SHIELD calls mutants, Enhanced." I corrected him gently for my own peace of mind. "I think it's a much nicer term."

"Very much so." Ben looked over at me with a quick smile.

He didn't get to say much else. Someone was walking up to the podium and a hush fell over the dull roar of the crowd. Ben sat up straighter in his seat his attention was instant to the front. It gave me a second to study him.

I still wasn't good at reading people like Natasha. It was obvious he was being a little flirty with me. Even a blind person could see that. But was he flirting because he thought I'd be an easy target to sleep with? Or for something else.

There wasn't much time to ponder it. The speaker didn't waste time into getting right into everything.

It wasn't things I hadn't heard before. The history behind why there needed to better control over Enhanced starting right from the Cuba Missile Crisis back in the '60s, the failed Sentinal program in the '70s and everything else from there. Liberty Island was still fresh in a lot of people's minds, even though it happened when I was a child. Even back then, people were still trying to bring in a Mutant Registration Act which eventually got canned because it was deemed to be a human's rights issue. The UN was still arguing over it to this day. This was the government's way of trying to weasel some sort of control over Enhanced individuals without it causing mass riots. Again. It was almost bearable until Senator Stern stood up to give his talk.

There was something about that man that set me on edge. It wasn't because of his creep factor. I'd seen him leer at anyone in a skirt from across the room. There was something about him that I didn't like or trust. Especially when he decided to give his input into this. I'd seen the footage of him during the Iron Man discussions when the government was trying to get Tony to hand over his suit. I wanted to put a bullet between his eyes back then.

"I think we can all agree that there is enough history to back a registration act like this," Stern's voice was silky smooth. "We all talk about these things like it's ancient history but we're still having these problems to this day."

Fuck. I really hoped this wasn't going to come back to me. The way Coulson glanced back at me with a look of mild panic made my stomach drop.

"A few years ago at Langley Air Force Base, a mutant lost control of their powers and killed two pilots," Stern continued right where I hoped he wouldn't. "Right after that, half of Pripyat got blown up and the mutants involved disappeared right under everyone's noses."

I was very proud of myself for not reacting beyond a clenching of my jaw.

"And what did we get from that?" SHIELD sweeping it under the carpet." Stern sent a sour look in Amanda and Coulson's direction. "Then the rest of us wondering how safe we really are."

"Considering both those agents are the top of their fields," Amanda spoke up, even though she didn't have the floor. "I'd say a lot of people sleep safer at night, including Gideon Malick who is a member of the World Security Council. After all, that pilot is now a top STRIKE agent and who singlehandedly took down a would be assassin protecting Councilman Malick not too long ago. Not to mention that agent was also a key element in a mission last year which could have had triple the causalities if it wasn't for her bravery."

I smiled to myself at Amanda's praise. It didn't last long though. While there were murmurs of what sounded like agreeance, there was also plenty of murmurs of discontent. Stern started to talk again and my attention went to my phone. I'd get up and punch him in the face if I had to listen to his shit for too much longer. I sent Jared a quick message.

So, we're now in the same category as Liberty Island for me freezing those two assholes and Pripyat. I'm not sure if I'm proud or annoyed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ben's attention pull towards me as my fingers worked over my phone screen. I shifted my position, crossing my legs which forced my arm to tilt away from him. The subtle shift wasn't noticed by him, not that he was actually looking at my phone anyway. I didn't have long to ponder it, Jared's reply came back in less than a minute.

Should I drop in? That would be funny to see their faces.

A small snort of amusement left my lips before I could stop myself. That got the attention of a few people who were sitting close to me.

"Boyfriend?" Ben asked lowly.

"Brother," I whispered back. "Being a smart ass."

Ben nodded and his attention shifted away from me. One of the two phones he had in his lap had buzzed drawing his attention away.

Stern rambled on for a good 15 more minutes. If he'd been talking about anyone else but Enhanced people, he'd be called a racist. It was honestly disturbing. It almost reminded me about some of the things Hilter used to say about Jewish people. People like him seemed to think it was perfectly acceptable to be disgusted simply because we were born with powers. As much as I tried to ignore it, my jaw was set and I was furious but the end of his rant. If men like him had his way, there'd be a fully functional Sentinel program up and running. I'm pretty sure I'd be in chains or dead within a day.

"Scum bag," Ben said under his breath as Stern sat down. I don't think I was meant to hear it. Still, I shot Ben a quick smile.

Thankfully Professor McCoy was next to speak. A voice of reason in a sea of doubt. I always loved his classes back in school. He was a patient and funny teacher, always pushing his students to be better and to challenge things. The way he spoke wasn't much different. He was passionate and mesmerising, as always. I'd forgotten what it was like to listen to him as he got onto some topic he was passionate about. As if he read my train of thought from before, Professor McCoy didn't pull any punches with what he thought about Senator Stern's way of thinking.

After Professor McCoy was done, it was Amanda's turn to say what SHIELD thought on the entire manner. Considering SHIELD were the ones left cleaning up a lot of messes with anything to do with Enhanced people, Amanda had a lot to say on the matter. I loved her. Senator Stern tried to talk over the top of her several times and she simply raised her voice over the top of him. The fifth time Stern tried to cut her off, Amanda had enough.

"Be quiet," Amanda shushed him like a naughty child. "The adults are talking."

It sent a ripple of laughter through the crowd for most people. It only angered Stern. I could only see the back of his neck but even that was turning a nasty shade of purple in his rage. Luckily a break was called before Stern could explode with rage. I breathed a sigh of relief as I stood up and stretched. Every vertebra in my back popped with a loud crack as the tension was released from them. I tilted my head from side to side, exhaling in relief as both sides cracked as well.

"Kari." Coulson came up as I was cracking my neck, a disgusted look on his face. "When you're an old lady you're going to regret that."

"Tell that to Grams," I said cheekily. "She taught me how to do it."

Grams cracked her knuckles and toes. Her toes were a near constant thing she did to annoy people. I took great delight in doing the same with my fingers when I was younger. Grams thought it was hilarious. Everyone else, not so much.

Coulson rolled his eyes in good nature at him. He held his hand up and I noticed his company credit card between his fingers.

"Don't forget the receipt please."

Judging by the look on Coulson's face he was going to enjoy this far too much. It had been a long time since I'd played the part of his personal assistant. This time there was no Pepper and Dom Perignon lunches to make it better though. I pulled a face at him but took the card anyway.

"Coffee and?" I asked.

"Something easy to shovel down, same for Amanda. She said she isn't fussy." Coulson's attention was immediately pulled away by someone wanting his attention.

I bit back a grumble of annoyance. I wanted to be here and this was the price for it. As I turned, Ben was behind me

"Going my way?" He said, holding up a piece of paper. "I have lunch orders."

"Me too." I held up Coulson's company card. I was grateful for Ben being there right now. I had no idea where I was going. "Don't let me forget the receipt like I always do."

Ben laughed and we walked off together in silence. We weren't the only ones being sent out with lunch orders. Ben took one look at the crowd and motioned for me to follow him silently.

"It will take us an hour if we go where everyone else is," Ben said lowly as we slipped away. "Did you have anything specific you or your boss wants?"

"Food, he isn't fussy and neither am I. Coffee has to be hot and if it has milk then he's happy."

"I wish my boss was as easy as yours," Ben said with a smile as he typed on his phone. "He is very fussy about his coffee. I can't remember the number of times I've had to take coffee's back because it wasn't perfect."

"I've seen Coulson lick a spoon and dip it in instant coffee when we had no water." That memory brought a smile to my face. "He will do anything for his caffeine fix."

I didn't add that all three of us had done the exact same thing. We had been at the range training with the other STRIKE teams and someone had forgotten the water. There had been food but nothing to drink much to everyone's disgust. Coulson decided he couldn't wait and lick some instant coffee to keep him going while someone drove back for supplies.

"How long have you worked with Agent Coulson?" Ben laughed at my statement. He quickly put his phone away and his full attention was back on me.

It was odd. I should have been annoyed by this but for some reason, the attention wasn't entirely unwanted. Now we had a few moments to ourselves I found myself getting a good look at Ben. He was quite handsome. It was obvious he took good care of himself. The nicely cut suit showed off some muscle definition. He didn't have a hair out of place and the cologne he was wearing suited him perfectly. My vibrator was getting very boring and Ben was obviously attracted to me. It might not be such a terrible thing to have run into him this morning.

"Nearly three years." My smile was wistful. I couldn't believe the time that had passed. "It's a crazy ride most of the time. How long have you been in DC?"

"I moved here in December and started this job just after Christmas," Ben said. He looked very pleased with the way this conversation was going. "My sister helped me get the job. I'd been doing temporary work on and off during college and then this came up. I have to admit, it's nice having a stable and grown up job, even if it means living with my sister until I get settled."

"I know how that feels," I said with a wry smile. "When I first moved to DC, it was very abrupt and I had to live with my brother for a while. He always told me I cramped his style."

"Older brother, I'm guessing?" Ben asked with a smile. "My sister is older and that's exactly what she'd say to me."

"Yeah, by 25 minutes. We're twins."

It was always amusing seeing people's reactions when I said I had a twin. The surprise was always the first thing to register with people. Then it was usually curiosity.

"That's so cool." Ben was no different. "But the youngest sibling is always the best, aren't they?"

The cheeky smile Ben flashed at me made me laugh.

"Of course we are." I couldn't resist a flirty smile. "And the best looking as well."

A faint flush crept over Ben's face. I'd hit my mark perfectly.

"Considering how gorgeous you are, I'd say that is definitely true," Ben's bold answer made me smile widely. He obviously wasn't a shy person.

"You aren't so bad yourself." I didn't hesitate. This chance encounter wasn't turning out too badly. My attention got taken away by the flirting by going into some of the lesser know corridors. "Where on earth are we going?"

"My sister is a chef here," Ben explained with a proud grin. "I get priority lunch orders and don't have to line up with everyone else."

"That is ridiculously handy." I nearly added that I should buy him dinner one night as thanks. I wasn't quite there yet though. Part of me was interested to see if he would make the suggestion himself.

"She has saved my ass so many times," Ben admitted as he led me to the staff entrance. "I think I owe her a few hundred times by now and she loves to remind me of it as well."

"Hence you doing the kindergarten run this morning?" I asked. We'd come to the staff entrance at the kitchen and Ben had stopped out here.

"I'll be doing the kindergarten run for the next year," Ben said dryly, though he was still smiling. He sent a quick message while he spoke. "She is an amazing chef and a good sister though. I'm very glad to have this opportunity."

Opportunities for being a personal assistant to an important senator didn't come along very often. Ben had landed himself a very prestigious position, one that would set him up for a career for life. It wasn't my idea of a fun job but Ben looked happy enough.

The door swung open and out came Brylee's Mom, Shelly, carrying a few styrofoam boxes. I knew her well enough from my many drop offs and play dates. She looked startled to see me though.

"Jesus, Kari." Shelly let out a breathless laugh once she recovered. She then looked over to Ben and back to me, a curious look came onto her face. "Be careful little brother. This one bites."

Ben looked uncomfortable at his sister's teasing. I was feeling gracious enough to give him some slack.

"Very funny, Shelly." I took the offered styrofoam containers from her. "We met when I dropped Alexi off this morning. Abby is sick."

Ben shot me a grateful look for changing the subject. It worked immediately. Shelly's face went from teasing to sympathetic.

"Troy is away too, isn't he?" Shelly asked. I nodded in confirmation. "Poor thing. It's always when he goes away that something happens."

"I've got Alexi and Barton has William. It's all covered," I reassured her. At least Shelly was one of the nicer Mom's that I'd come across at Alexi's kindergarten. Some of them were downright evil. I was with Evans that I'd rather face a firing squad than their judgemental stares every single day.

"I'll drop her in something for dinner." Shelly nodded as well. There was a loud bang and curse come from behind the closed doors which make Shelly sigh in aggravation. "Will you be home for dinner, Ben?"

Ben shrugged with an apologetic look on his face. It must have been a common occurrence because Shelly didn't look the least bit surprised.

"I'll leave something in the microwave. Don't forget Brylee's party next weekend, Kari." Shelly spoke as she walked back to the kitchen. The door swung closed behind her and Ben and I were left alone again.

"Siblings," I said with a laugh to stop things getting awkward. "They always know how to make things as uncomfortable as possible."

Ben relaxed instantly. I offered him the styrofoam container that had his name on the top. Whatever Shelly had whipped up for us smelt amazing.

"Don't they ever." Ben look relieved. Anything else he was about to say was cut off by one of his phones ringing. Now it was Ben's turn to sigh in aggravation.

"I've got this. You answer that." I moved the food container out of his reach. He shot me an extremely grateful look as he answered the phone.

I walked a few steps ahead of Ben white he handled whatever it was on the phone. Although there was quite a line up for coffee still, having food cut a lot of time off the lunchtime rush. We were the first of the assistants back. Coulson and Amanda were both busy speaking to people. Ben was on the phone still so I took my seat in the back and ate my early lunch while playing on my phone. Jared had sent me the cutest photo of William sitting in Clint's lap. They were both shirtless and drinking a juice box. It was utterly adorable. I sent it to Abby in hopes it would cheer her up. I'd barely finished the message by the time everyone was sitting down again. Ben came to sit down beside me again, his own food completely untouched, while he typed furiously on his phone.

The rest of the day passed by slowly. More speeches. More arguing. I was ready to assassinate Senator Stern in a dark alley by the time he was done with his shit. Nothing would be decided straight away but there was a lot of push for some kind of registration to happen. The government was going to have a hell of a time getting it through.

I was patiently waiting for Coulson to wrap up speaking with one of the Senator's he was speaking with. I thought we were home free when Ben's boss, Senator Bryant came up to him. Ben was trailing a few steps behind on the phone like he had been most of the day.

"Agent Coulson." Senator Bryant stuck his hand out in greeting. "It's a pleasure to put a name to the face."

"Likewise." Coulson had his company manners on with his easy smile and a firm handshake. Once the men dropped hands, Coulson motioned for me to come forward. "This is one third of my STRIKE Team, Agent Kari Lyngley."

That got Ben's attention. He looked up from the phone, both eyebrows raised in surprise. I ignored his reaction and stepped forward to shake Senator Bryant's hand. He had a firm handshake and kept eye contact with me. Something that always gave people bonus points with me. He glanced over me, something I was used to by now. It wasn't a leering stare, more so the fact people could never quite believe what I looked like. It never fit their mental image of what someone in STRIKE should be, especially a woman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said with an easy smile.

"What a shame we can't put you up in front of cameras and an audience." Senator Bryant shook his head ruefully. "A sharp mind combined with an exceptional operative and a pretty face goes a long way."

"That would not be good for the covert part of my job." I didn't take offence to his statement. I knew all too well how much a pretty face could help turn people's minds. Natasha was a master of it and I had learnt well.

"No, I imagine not," Senator Bryant said with a laugh. He appraised me again at arm's length. "Though I would appreciate your opinion on a few things I want to run with. It all has to do with this. Your name will be kept out of it but I believe having someone of your experience would be invaluable."

I glanced at Coulson to see if this was all going to be fine. SHIELD was very strict on outside interactions like this. While I'm sure Senator Bryant wouldn't try and dig for classified information, I still wanted Coulson's approval. His quick nod and smile gave me the answer I needed.

"Of course." I felt a bit taken back by his honesty. I had no idea how my experience could help with any of this. I was willing to give it a shot. Today hadn't been a complete waste of time after all.

"Excellent, Ben could I…" Senator Bryant turned to Ben.

Ben was already holding a business card in his hand to give over to Senator Bryant.

"Thank you." Senator Bryant took the card from him. "Shoot me through an email when you get a chance. I'll send you my speech and proposal for the next meeting on this. Any kind of point for arguments you can think of, let me know."

I took the card feeling flattered by his interest in my opinion. I didn't get to thank him as someone else was already calling for his attention.

"Excuse me." Senator Bryant turned to the person who has just spoken to him.

I flipped the card over and noticed a hastily scribbled number on the back. Today was full of surprises. I looked back up at Ben who was lingering between his boss and me.

"And what's this?" I asked Ben before he got too busy with his boss. I turned the business card around to show him the number.

"It's for in case you want to discuss anything over dinner with me," Ben said with a confident smile. "Or you need a drink after prying Alexi out of her car seat again."

I was well aware of Coulson muted laughter beside me. I could feel my cheeks warm up at the offer. It had been a long time since someone had come right out and given me their number.

"Ben."

Senator Bryant called out for him. Ben gave me one last smile before catching up to his boss. He was barely out of earshot before Coulson turned to me with a shit eating grin on his face.

"What?" I played innocent as I turned the business card over in my hands.

"Oh nothing," Coulson said, the amusement clear in his tone. "Nothing at all."

I pocketed the business card unable to hide my own smile. Despite the rocky start this morning between us, Ben organising lunch had worked in his favour. It wouldn't kill me to get out and start some sort of attempt at getting another fuck buddy.

"Are you going to text him?" Coulson asked, still grinning at me.

"Maybe later." I returned the grin. "I'll let him squirm for a bit first."

"That's my girl." Coulson looked very proud of me. "Let's get Amanda and get out of here so we can beat the afternoon traffic."

We did exactly that. Amanda was more than happy to excuse herself from the person she was talking to and leave. I was silent in the backseat while they both talked about everything today. Something like that was being proposed was going to get stalled in government for years. It would be a long time before it saw the light of day. SHIELD still needed to be prepared for the worst when it did happen though.

I went and picked up Alexi early from kindergarten. Her meltdown from this morning was long forgotten as she talked my ear off. As promised I took her for ice cream and even though the weather was cold, I let her burn off as much energy as possible at the park near home. By the time we went back to my apartment for dinner, her little eyes were barely able to keep open. Seeing Natasha gave her a second wind. It was only long enough to get her through dinner before she was passed out in front of the TV five minutes into The Princess and the Frog, her new favourite movie.

"How did it go today?" Natasha asked. She was curled up on the couch with me and we were sharing a blanket. We were onto our second bottle of wine after dinner.

"The usual horrible stuff." I took a bigger sip of wine. "Enhanced people need to be caged. We're a menace to society. It's times like this I wish Grams would come to these things and tell everyone to fuck off."

"She would too," Natasha said with a small laugh. "This is nothing but Senator Stern feeling the need to wave his cock around to make him feel better about himself. He didn't get his way with Stark turning over the Iron Man suit, so this is his next target."

"if Stark wasn't behaving himself at the moment I'd get Pepper to smack him over the head for me." I drained my glass and poured myself a refill. "I got someone's number today."

I had chosen the perfect moment to tell Natasha that. She had gone to take a drink and half choked on the mouthful. I waited for her to gain her composure before I said anything else.

"It's Brylee's Uncle, I met him while Alexi was having a meltdown in the carpark at kindergarten," I explained quickly before Natasha could demand it out of me. "Turns out, he's Senator Bryant's personal assistant. He helped me with lunch today and gave me his number afterwards."

"Wow." The smile that crept onto Natasha's face was full of mischief. "This is new for you. Are you going to text him?"

"When I get turned on by Hawk kissing me, I think it's time to find a fuck buddy," I said dryly. I'd told Natasha about our hot little make out session as soon as we came back. She had shrugged and said it happens on missions sometimes. People get caught up in their little role play and the line between reality and make believe can become very blurred.

Natasha and I both burst into girly giggles together. This was so good to sit down, drinking and laughing over things. We hadn't had this opportunity for a long time.

"In your defence, Barton is a very good kisser," Natasha said as she got her giggles under control. "Even I've been turned on by him before."

Her statement bought a fresh bout of giggles to both of us. This wine was really going to my head. It was some cheap Moscato we could both drink by the gallon. It always hit me like a ton of bricks though.

"Oh good, it's not me being desperately horny then." I drained my glass and went for a refill. Natasha did the same and I poured us both a glass. I was worse than a teenage boy right now with my sex drive. It's no wonder I got so turned on by Clint. It was also a very hot make out I had with Clint. I wasn't ever going to admit to Natasha those memories had crept into my vibrator time. It was so forbidden that train of thought. Even I could barely admit to myself I was doing it. Ben might be a very welcome distraction from those thoughts.

"There might be some of that," Natasha teased me. "Are you going to text this guy?"

"Eventually." I looked at my phone sitting beside the wine bottle. Another glass or two of wine I might be tempted to make my move sooner rather than later. "It was weird timing. He tried to talk to me in the carpark but I was running late so I brushed him off. Then he managed to be very helpful today."

"What's his name?" Natasha reached for her phone. "I'll stalk him."

"Ben Woods, or so I'm assuming." I'd had enough to drink that I snuggled up next to Natasha as she pulled Facebook up. We weren't allowed to have accounts because of work but Natasha kept a fake one for these exact reasons. "That's Brylee's last name."

Natasha pulled her up the search and started flicking through the people. It wasn't an uncommon name but we got lucky very quickly.

"That's him." I pointed to a familiar photo. Even in his mirror aviator's in the profile picture, I recognised him.

"Cute." Natasha brought up his profile and went straight for his photos. "Very cute. You should text him now. See if he wants to come around for a threesome."

"I'm not texting him that." Despite my words, I laughed.

"Dinner then, he looks like he'd be the nice respectable type until you take his clothes off." Natasha gave me a sly look. "Then you'll find out he has a sex dungeon or some weird kink. You're horny enough right now you'd give it a try at least once."

I burst out laughing. Natasha was only a second behind me.

"You aren't wrong." I looked over Natasha's shoulder to Ben's Facebook profile. Judging by Ben's photos, he'd done a bit of travelling. There were a few candid shots of him and groups of friends in Vegas, the Grand Canyon and in New York. That could be a good conversation over dinner. I really had nothing to lose here.

"Go on, text him." Natasha nudged me in the ribs with her elbow as if she read my thoughts. "I want to see what happens."

Last time Natasha had encouraged me to text someone, it had turned out to be one of the best things in my life happen afterwards.

"Fine."

I was a little wobbly getting up off the couch. I'd put the business card down on my bedside table. Alexi didn't stir at all when I crept into my room. She was sprawled across my bed, her mouth open in a soundless snore. I stopped to smile at the sight of her. She was adorable when she wasn't throwing a tantrum. At least I could understand the reasoning behind the tantrum today. The ones where her toast wasn't cut the right way I wasn't quite as understanding as. I snatched up the business card and went back out to Natasha. She'd finished her glass off again and was refilling it.

I wasn't going to be left behind so I threw my glass of wine down like a shot. At least it was sweet enough it wasn't completely horrid to do that. I grabbed my phone and plonked back down on the couch next to Natasha. I didn't hesitate as I put his number into my phone and opened up a text message.

Thanks for lunch today. I owe you dinner for it. How's next Friday sound?

I turned my phone and showed it to Natasha. She nodded in approval. Wine drunk me didn't hesitate to send it. I watched the screen in amusement as it came up as delivered. What I didn't expect was the message to come up as read a few seconds later.

"Oh shit." I laughed at my phone. "He's replying already."

Sure enough, the little dots underneath the message came up. Natasha looked over my shoulder as we watched those dots on the screen. In less than a minute I had my reply.

Friday sounds way too far away. How about Wednesday night? I have the entire afternoon off.

I knew I was grinning like an idiot. I wasn't expecting a rejection but there was always that moment of doubt.

Wednesday sounds awesome. Pick me up at 1830. I eat a lot so make it good.

This was going to be interesting.

Authors Note

I know. I'm just as surprised as everyone else at how quick this chapter came out.

So Endgame. I am still blown away by it every single time I think of it. I've seen it twice now. I'm not going to say much else because I'm guessing a lot of people haven't seen it yet. But wow. It was so incredibly epic. It also wraps up Crystallize perfectly for me, as sad as that is going to be. We're a long, long way from that point though, so never fear everyone.

Another thing I'm blown away by was the response to the last chapter! I was very nervous about it. But I'm thrilled by all of your feedback. You guys are the best readers an author could ever hope for. So this is a little arc that needs to happen just before Steve comes into it. I promise the ending of it will be worth everyone's patience.

Until next time.