Seren was quite impressed with the rigorous routine Steve kept going all on his own. It had been two weeks since he had moved into the new apartment they chose for him and things seemed to be going well. He hadn't had much trouble figuring things out, although the washing machines did require Seren's presence for a few hours. Other than that, though, he was doing well. Seren was happy to see it.

Little by little, Steve had created his own routine—a schedule—that would occupy most of his days. No job meant that he had a lot of time to himself and usually that time would lead to some nostalgia for his past, for his home. He didn't want to keep falling. He just couldn't figure out how to keep himself from doing it so often. So, for the time being, he settled on a practical routine for each day.

He would wake up, have some breakfast, do a little reading here and there about the new world. He was finally getting the hang of the internet - he thought he was since he now knew how to press the cursor and make the pages switch - and so he had a vast library of resources to keep learning. Before he knew it, it was lunch and then later on he would go out to keep exploring his new neighborhood. He had already met a few of his neighbors and he was happy to report to Seren that he kept up with most of the passing conversations. Seren may have laughed a few times when he was extra happy that he'd understood a few more slang words.

He was even getting a little help beyond Seren's personal assistance. Agent Winters had somehow gotten his number - because Seren had insisted that he immediately learn how to use a cellphone - and was taking it upon herself to send Steve pages of what was most popular in today's world concerning music, television shows, celebrities…

Chloe also primed him on the Starbucks menu. She promised him that when she returned, she would personally take him to Starbucks for an afternoon. Steve grew to like her. He definitely appreciated all the effort she was putting into helping him when she had no idea who he was beyond the history books. She was quickly becoming a friend too.

Most of Steve's routine, however, ended his day in the gym. Seren liked to check up on him every now and then and she quickly learned that her best bet was the gym. Steve had taken the sandbags very personally. Each punch he struck one with did something for him that he couldn't yet explain.

"I think it's time for dinner," Seren's voice stopped him after another punch. "God, I sounded like my mother."

Steve smiled at her. "I just got here."

"No, you didn't," Seren said. She didn't need to ask what time he got there to know that it had been hours. "C'mon, dinner. I want you to try this curry down the block from my place."

"Thank you but I'm not really hungry. I think I'm just going to stay for a few more hours."

Seren shook her head. "Alright fine, but I'm staying too." She was already walking towards him when she said it. "I think I could use a little bit of practice. Step aside, Captain. It's my turn."

Steve chuckled but did as told. He stepped back and motioned her to take a try against the sandbag.

Seren bawled her fists together and delivered a fine punch...actually, that was a very fine punch. Steve noticed that each of her punches were more or less the same strength as his. It was an odd sight and yet amusing. For once, he wasn't the odd one. He had stopped wondering what Seren was in terms of her enhancement. It was just easier that way and it gave Seren the space she needed to decide when she wanted to tell him.

Seren was proud of her work and turned to Steve, blowing some air to the red strands of her hair framing the side of her forehead. "Whaddya think? Can I take Captain America?"

Steve laughed on instinct. "Uh, I'd rather not fight you of all people." Fighting the first person he met in this new world was the last thing on his to-do list.

"Scared?" Seren smirked, loving his shifty reaction.

"N-not really but I don't mean to say that you're not scary because I imagine that-that in the field, you can be…" He trailed off when she laughed and secretly, he was grateful for it because he had no idea where he was taking that sentence.

"I think we can postpone the challenge then," she said as she sobered from her laugh.

Although if she was honest, she was a little curious how true that statement was. She knew her biology very well but Steve wasn't the average human she always faced in the field. She shook her head. Those weren't the thoughts she should be having right now. Steve had a lot of things on his plate and her job was to help him, not to add on to the problems.

"So then," she leaned against the sandbag very lightly, "Will you come get some curry with me? I can even try face-timing Chloe if that'll help? You seem to get along with her well."

Steve bobbed his head now. "It's...amusing. She has an easygoing personality. Plus, thanks to her, I know what to watch on the television."

"T.V.," Seren reminded him there was a shorter way to say it for his convenience. "And I'm happy to hear that. So...no curry?"

Steve shook his head. "Not tonight, sorry."

"That's fine," Seren shrugged.

There was a small pit in Steve's stomach that felt a lot like guilt. It wasn't very often that he was invited to places, and much less by a woman. Even though he knew that Seren was just being polite, turning her down — not once, but three times — didn't sit well with him. "But maybe tomorrow we can?"

Now it was Seren's turn to shake her head. "Sorry, I'm going to be out on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm heading to Florida. I should be back in 2 days."

"Oh...okay," Steve wasn't sure how to take that news. He supposed there should be nothing to 'take' considering Seren was not his personal assistant nor anything. He was just used to having her around. He actually wondered how she got work done if she was always checking up on him and taking him to places. Finding the answer hadn't really been much of an endeavor of his, if he was being honest.

"If you need anything just give me a call like I taught you to," Seren said. "Chloe's number three, after S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine," Steve waved her off. Of course he would be fine. He did things on his own anyways. Actually, his old friend Bucky might have a thing or two to say about that. But the point was...Seren didn't need to be around him all the time. Sooner or later, she would stop these little check ups.

~ 0 ~

Seren was dressed in her usual dark blue and black one-suit for the mission at hand. She always stood out amongst the other Agents but she wasn't conscious about it one bit. She wasn't Agent Soul right now. Besides, her suit was rather special. Somebody had owned it before her.

It was a graceful white suit with shiny silver streaks. There were two silver streaks forming a lazy V style starting from her shoulders to the middle of her chest. The same dark silver went around her waist like a belt. A third time went over her wrists like cuffs. Combat silver boots went with the suit. Around her neck was a precarious white choker with one lone silver star line seemed to twinkle no matter what.

"Ready to go?" A redheaded Agent approached Seren after she had arrived to the quinjet taking them aboard.

"Always," Seren nodded.

"I didn't think you'd show up, what with your new babysitting job…" Natasha Romanoff was always one for subtle sarcastic jabs.

It was a good thing Seren knew her well, for she didn't take offence. She rolled her eyes and started for the quinjet. "Funny. I'm actually helping a man who slept for 70 years adapt to our new society but please...take more shots."

Natasha smirked. "That was a shot?"

"You're terrible," Seren shook her head.

"So how is the Captain?"

"You would know if you came around to introduce yourself."

"I don't do introductions when they're not necessary," Natasha made a face as if it should've been obvious why things were the way they were. "Besides, he can stop by. He is going to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't he?"

Seren shrugged. "I have no idea. I mean...would it really be the best thing for him? He's a soldier, he's a veteran. Would he really want to come back to the front lines?"

Natasha curiously side-glanced Seren, something the latter didn't notice. "You sure gave it a lot of thought…"

"Why wouldn't I? He's a friend."

"No, he's an assignment," Natasha corrected Seren, not with the intention of being cold but because it was a simple fact. They all had missions and assignments and Seren's main assignment right now was to help Captain America adjust to the new world. After that assignment was completed, Seren would receive a new one like always and she would move on. That's how things worked.

Seren met Natasha's expectant glance, clearly the redhead wanted her to agree out loud, but Seren felt like it was wrong. Yes, it was an assignment but assignments didn't mean that the implicated would have to like her...and Steve did like her. They were friends. They laughed every now and then, they went to places…

To familiarize him with the world, she reminded herself. Her shoulders slumped. No, no, that couldn't be it.

Natasha was bemused with the internal struggle she could see on Seren's face. "They should've given me the assignment." With a light snort, she moved on ahead.

Seren made a face, about to respond when a new idea struck her mind. "Wait! Natasha, are we friends?" Now she was panicking that everyone she knew in S.H.I.E.L.D. were just co-workers and not friends. She quite liked having friends.

Natasha's answer was a simple laugh. "Let's go, Soul!"

"It's Stardust and you know it! Natasha!"

~0~

In the next two days, Steve had to open his eyes and realize that living alone was very different. Not having Seren pop up every now and then - or even get a call - made a huge difference in his life. It was rather silent now. Long ago, it would've been the same situation had he not had Bucky around, but now he was gone...and Seren was too.

For 2 days, the voice reminded him. See her tomorrow.

Yes, Seren was back tomorrow but...why did that still sound so far away? Maybe he still felt guilty turning her offer down for curry? Looking back at it, it really was rude. He was taught to never reject a woman's invitation...not that he ever had that trouble. No one ever invited him anyways. Another reason why he should've accepted Seren's invitation.

When morning came by, Steve had already prepared this huge monologue of an apology for Seren. He knew exactly what he was going to say and what he was going to do to show he truly was sorry. Chloe had told him that Seren really loved a 'pink drink' from Starbucks. He had no idea how to order one but he was going to figure it out and do it.

He waited until noon to call Seren. Twice he called but no one answered. No problem, she was probably still working the mission. All the after issues had to be resolved, he assumed. In the afternoon, he had the same silent results.

Alright, maybe it was a longer mission. Still, he called once more. He was beginning to feel like a burden when night strolled by. There was something starting in his stomach and he wasn't sure what it was...a gut feeling?

He was up at dawn. He decided to follow that gut feeling and not just leave those voicemails Seren taught him how to do. He only called one more time and when he still didn't get an answer, he decided to stop by the base. Someone there would give him answers. They liked him anyways.

By now, he knew most of the building. He knew the rooms he could go into and those that were 'classified'. He maneuvered himself through the building, returning the usual polite greetings with his own to the employees, until he found the one employee he could strike up a conversation with in Seren's (and Chloe's) absence. She was Fury's right hand woman apparently.

Maria Hill saw Steve approaching her and quickly sent off a few Agents. Steve noticed she looked a little tense.

"Captain," she gave him a greeting nod, though her eyes seemed to be scanning the room as if something was about to happen. It was like there was a hurry and Steve was not in the loop.

"I'm sorry to stop by like this but I wanted to see if Seren was back from her mission? I'm probably irritating her by now but I can't help the feeling that…" Steve finally noticed Maria's widened-eye stare. She was cautious in the way she stared at him, like she was waiting. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh…" Maria looked to the side, almost wishing Fury was around to take over. "We're just...running some things."

Steve had come to learn when a woman was purposely avoiding him and right now Maria Hill looked ready to walk away from him. "What kind of things?" She stayed silent. Steve felt that feeling again in his stomach. "Miss Hill, where's Seren?" Maria pursed her lips together, clearly stalling. "Ma'am, where is Seren? She was supposed to be back yesterday. She told me that."

Finally, Maria released a sigh to speak. "She was," she began, slowly, "There was an incident and a few Agents were compromised."

"What?" There was a full-fledged panic that bloomed in Steve's chest. "Was Seren compromised? Is she okay?"

Maria shrugged, truly looking like she had no idea anymore. "Director Fury is handling it. I haven't heard anything, I'm sorry." She attempted to leave, whether to attend to the other matters of S.H.I.E.L.D. or simply to avoid further questions, Steve wasn't sure but he stopped her anyways.

"Where's Seren right now? Is there a rescue mission?" This was all painstakingly familiar to him.

"Of course but...I don't know," Maria said honestly. "Director Fury is handling it. If you'd like, I can let you know when I know how things are. I'm sorry."

Well, that didn't do much for Steve. It was like nothing got done, actually. He didn't leave the base like Maria would think he would. He needed to figure out what was going on and how bad was Seren into it? He would get answers one way or another.

~ 0 ~

Chloe Winters was squinting hard on Steve's phone screen. Wherever she was, she had a bright background behind her, and was quite dusty too. He'd figured out that little 'face time' trick Seren taught him and called up the Agent for more information. No one seemed to know what was going on - or they were lying which was a safe bet - so Steve thought the more rational thing was to see what Chloe knew.

He was sadly disappointed.

"No, no, I haven't heard anything," she promised him three times before Steve would believe her. "I'm on my own mission from S.H.I.E.L.D. right now. But don't worry, Seren knows how to take care of herself. Plus, if you haven't noticed...she can deal a punch."

"I just want to know what's happened," Steve was getting tired of repeating himself. He didn't think it was wrong to want to know if his friend was okay.

Chloe adjusted the screen from her end and shot him a smile, although it was a bit awkward considering one of her eyes was squinting. Sun rays partially blocked her face too. "A mission went wrong, it's not the first time."

"Okay, but why can't I know about it? I thought these people wanted me to work with them?"

"Because that's how S.H.I.E.L.D. works. You don't get to know everything."

"Chloe, is there anything you can find out?"

Chloe shook her head. "Sorry. Like I said, I have my own assignment right now. I'm posted in Wisconsin for the time being. Why don't you come out here and help me, huh? Would make things go a lot quicker."

Steve rolled his eyes without even thinking. "Chloe!" He scolded much like Seren would. She rolled her eyes; he sure had picked that up from Seren quickly. "I'm going to figure this out on my own if no one wants to say anything."

"Steve, don't," warned Chloe. "S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't nice to begin with and if you mess around, it'll be even less kind to you."

"No offence, but I've dealt with my own share of unkind people. I can handle myself just fine."

"You ended up in ice!" Chloe exclaimed, now panicking knowing none of her words were convincing Steve to stay put. "Look, I can't do much from my end so I'll just work hard so I can get back quicker, just...just don't do anything stupid until I get back, alright?"

A light smile appeared across Steve's face at the familiar words. It's funny how his past seemed to keep coming up. "My best friend said that to me right before things got really weird."

Chloe was still panicking. "Then maybe you should've listened to him!"

"Maybe," Steve gave a light shrug of his shoulders. If he had listened to Bucky, then he would've never become 'Captain America' and all those soldiers he rescued, including Bucky, would've died anyways. Red Skull would've won. "But you know what? He wasn't that bright..."

A deep scowl ran across Chloe's face. "Are you saying I'm not that bright too? Because I will kick your ass, Captain."

"Language, Chloe!"

"Oh shut up! I'm coming as fast as I can—" The call was abruptly gone with a press of a button. Steve decided he would apologize to her later. Right now, the priority was Seren and finding out where she was and if she was okay.

Once again, Steve maneuvered himself through the facility. This time, however, he had a specific mission that wouldn't involve him 'asking questions'. It was clear that nobody wanted to answer his questions, so he would have to answer them himself. The only problem was - well, the only problem right now - that he had no idea where to go. More to that, he didn't have passcodes that he knew some doors required.

It was all a huge mess, wasn't it?

Author's Note:

I know that not much happened here but I wanted to drop in more of Steve's progress and get to finally introduce Natasha! Her relationship with Seren is going to be a good one, I promise! Plus, I've gotten a little sidetracked wrapping up the CA: WS rewrite to finally move onto AoU! So excited!

And thank you to the two reviewers!

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"