"So they make these with all kinds of stuff now," Steve eyed the odd pastry in front of him. Seren sat across from him, unable to help her laughter when he prodded the cinnamon roll with his fork several times like a high school lab experiment. "Back in the day, it was just plain."

"The pecans add a different flavor to it," Seren said. "I just thought you should try this one out before you say anything about it."

Steve raised an eyebrow at her, suspiciously eyeing her. "Which one's your favorite?"

Seren shook her head and leaned away from the table. "Oh no, I'm not going to let you be biased. I want you to try the original one and then the one with pecans. Only then can you make a fair decision."

"I could just ask one of the employees which one's your favorite," Steve countered, already glancing at the counter. This was Seren's favorite bakery and she was well known by the employees. Of course they would know what she preferred to eat there.

"You do that and you're a cheater," Seren pointed a warning finger at him, eyebrows raised. "Stay right where you are, Captain. Now eat it."

"Well, as long as you're asking nicely," Steve mumbled under his breath as he picked up his fork. He heard her laugh to herself and it did bring one small smile out of him too.

Seren propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. Maybe it was stupid to be this excited over a dessert but she'd been wanting to get Steve out of his house more than lately. She was guilty of being taken by other side emissions and regular shifts. While Steve didn't say it, Seren knew she was technically the only person he spoke to. She was his only friend and as of late, she didn't feel like a very good one. She wanted to make it up to him and today was one of those opportunities.

She told Steve about her favorite dessert shop where they sold her absolute favorite dessert: cinnamon rolls. According to Steve, it had been a very long time since he tried any kind of dessert. Before going under the ice, the war didn't exactly allow for some sweets.

Steve took a bite out of the original cinnamon roll in front of him. It was a lot sweeter than he remembered but he was also aware that he wasn't very prone to eating a lot of sugary sweets back then, even before the war. His health didn't allow for it. He then tried the pecan-filled cinnamon roll and that one was even sweeter paired with crunchiness.

"Well, what do you think?" Seren eagerly waited for his decision.

"Definitely the original one," he said without a moment's thought. Seren laughed as he struggled to get rid of the pecan cinnamon roll's taste. "Seren—this is plain sugar! What — how could you eat that?"

"Because it's good," Seren emphasized. "And, actually, my favorite is the original version. Something about the classic is just..." She shrugged, her smile widening.

"Seriously?"

"Aha," she nodded. "I love pecans but the original cinnamon rolls have my heart. I actually used to bake them when I was younger. Me and my Mom...that was our thing."

"So you know how to bake, then?"

Seren raised an eyebrow at him. "Steve Rogers, just because it's 2011 doesn't mean that women don't know how to cook anymore." He had the decency to look a little bashful for his question. Seren laughed. "Kidding, well...there are some of us who don't know how to cook but, really, nowadays that doesn't matter. So, back to your question, I do know how to bake. And cook. Cinnamon rolls are my specialty. I'll make some for you sometime."

Steve smiled at the idea. "That would be nice, thank you, but you don't have to. I actually know how to cook myself, you know. Maybe I can cook something for you and show my gratitude for everything you've done for me so far."

Seren bobbed her head, eyes squinting. "I can't remember if I ever read anything about your cooking skills. See, even though it's 2011, men still have no clue what they're doing most of the time."

"Oh," Steve said, shooting her a look. "Well, that's nice, thank you."

Seren giggled with his reaction. "It's 2011, you have no idea what men do these days. A lot of them are unnecessarily cocky which just comes off as rude. Take notes."

"Unfortunately, that was also the case back then. But you know what?"

"What?"

"You girls weren't that much better." It was Steve's turn to laugh when Seren reacted with a deep gasp. "Many girls were pretentious back then, looking for the men with the best names. Not to mention looks. Everything changes when your appearance does."

Seren hummed as she leaned forwards on the desk. "I can attest to that."

Steve leaned forwards as well, meeting her gaze with a small smirk. "So can I."

Seren's eyes squinted again. It felt like a challenge and she was going to take it. "I'm 15," she started the story, "'Mousy Seren' is my nickname, and I have short choppy hair. Brunette, by the way. No one bats an eye at me then. Cut to being an adult — I've fully joined S.H.I.E.L.D., gained some confidence, cut my hair, dyed it and now suddenly I'm being asked out by the same boys who would make fun of me."

"What did you tell them?"

Seren smirked. "I'm afraid the Captain isn't ready for my colorful language yet. Your turn."

By that point, Steve knew this had somehow turned into a game and though he wasn't looking to win — for this didn't really sound like a situation where either of them could possibly feel like a winner — he took his turn with a nod. "You know the story; you know how I used to look before the serum. No girl wants to go on a date with me but then I take the serum and suddenly everybody wants me. There was a woman who caught me off guard one time during the war. Lorraine was her name. She kissed me. She didn't even know me!" Seren's lips stretched wide as she struggled not to laugh. "Peggy nearly had my head when she found us!"

With that detail, it was impossible for Seren not to laugh. "Oh-ho, you were in trouble!"

"It's really not funny," Steve told her but she was far too into her laugh to stop now. "Peggy fired bullets at me!" It was the wrong thing to say, he knew it when Seren unceremoniously snorted into a whole new round of laughter.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Seren had to cover her mouth or else the whole shop would hear, not that she wasn't attracting attention already. "She is a legend and that's not even on the records!"

"You know, I really wasn't expecting this to be your reaction," Steve admitted, leaning back in his chair. He'd never seen Seren laugh so much in one go.

"I know, I'm sorry, but it's just so funny. To be fair, I would throw star bolts at a man if he did that to me!"

"But I didn't do anything!" Steve tried to say, to remind her how things came to be. "I didn't even know that woman!"

Seren made a gesture that she was trying to calm herself down. The struggle to stop it, however, was quite challenging. "It's just...it's funny. Many women wouldn't do anything and for Agent Carter to do that in the 40s…" She lost against the laugh again. "Oh my God!"

By this point, Steve decided to let Seren just get it out. He gestured for her to keep it coming. "Yeah, I guess. She was always like that, doing things that weren't expected of women."

Seren finally managed to claim some calmness in the midst of laughing. "Okay, okay, but...you're really telling me that you didn't like that Loraine woman at all? Not even a tiny bit? Her attention must have been something, wasn't it?"

"Well, are you telling me that you didn't like the attention those boys were giving you after high school?"

Seren calmed herself with that question. "Okay, I get the point," she gave in. "And to answer that question, no," she said uncomfortably quieter.

Steve almost felt guilty for asking in the first place.

Seren lost all her smiles and laughs in a matter of seconds. She moved some stray strands of hair from her forehead and cleared her throat. "I've been in the same position as Agent Carter. I moved out of Hudson to join S.H.I.E.L.D. full time so the people I met there and in the city didn't know 'Mousy Seren'. They just knew Seren, and apparently that version was good looking — at least more than the old me, anyways — and there were guys rounding me for dates sometimes. I always said no to them for obvious 'out of this world' reasons," she paused, hoping that Steve got the gist of that. He did and nodded her to keep going. "And then later on I'd learn that they already had new dates and whatnot. Wasn't even a week later sometimes. So much for their supposed desires to take me out. So, maybe Agent Carter was out of line with the bullets but I can understand where she was coming from. I can't imagine what it was like working in her position at that time — everything male dominated and women being like dolls. 'Be pretty, have your hair done, put a skirt on'. It must have been hard knowing what men were being honest, and which ones weren't. That's still hard today."

"I'm sorry," the words Steve spoke were light and honest, something Seren smiled at.

"It's not like you were even—"

"I know," Steve nodded, "But still. I never thought about it that way for Peggy. I'm sorry you've had to go through that too."

Seren gave a casual wave of her hand, but Steve could see that it was clearly not something so casual. However many years it was, the disappointment was still raw on her face.

"But I mean...S.H.I.E.L.D. is where you don't hide..." Steve started slowly, very cautiously, "Has there ever been some...?" He trailed off when Seren shook her head.

She leaned back in her chair, her shoulders rising as if she were trying to make herself something smaller. "It's different there too," she said quietly, eyes flickering to the side. "To some, I'm a the Agent that can't be touched. I'm the bronze — I can snap them like a twig. Don't touch S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Stardust. Then on the other spectrum, Stardust is all they see. They don't see Seren." At that point, she finally met Steve's gaze, her smile sad and resigned. Steve didn't know which one was worse. "I'm used to it. It's fine."

Steve knew that it was not fine. He also knew that he couldn't do much about it, even if he did work S.H.I.E.L.D. Some perspectives just could not be changed. "Well, I see her — you," he offered Seren a smile. He slid his unfinished original cinnamon roll toward Seren. "And she really likes cinnamon rolls, so..." He then took the pecan-filled cinnamon roll for himself.

Seren's puzzlement came out in a small chuckle. "But you said you liked the original one..."

"Yeah, but, I can share with my friend, Seren."

The ginger felt her face warm up. This was extra attention Steve was purposely giving her. "Steve, you don't...you don't have to do that. I'm 25, I'm used to it, I prom—"

"It's not a matter of 'being used to it'. And just so we're clear, if anyone pulls something like that on you again, you let me know."

Seren started giggling at the idea. "What are you going to do? You're definitely not the type to go beating people up. I've read your records, you were pretty much on the receiving end of that."

It was Steve's turn to laugh. "Yeah, alright, you got me there. I will, however, give them a good scare if I can. Sometimes the appearance is all you need, right?"

Seren nodded slowly, her lips stretching to the point of wanting to laugh again. "Okay. Hmm, I technically have a super-soldier and an Asgardian watching out for me. I am good."

Steve shook his head at her, rolling his eyes when she grinned all too smugly. In reality, it showed how good of a person and friend she was to others. And he was about to find out he was absolutely right.

"I have something for you," Seren announced. "It's something small but I think something you'll like."

"What? I don't really need presents…" Steve started to say when she grabbed her purse from her chair.

"It's not really a present as much as it is something you need but don't know where to get it from yet."

"Now I'm intrigued," he admitted. Something he needed but didn't know where to get? What could it be?

Seren pulled out a small leather bound book. She was pretty smug when she placed it on the table for him. "Go on," she motioned him to pick it up.

Steve took it into his hands and opened it up to find blank pages. There were no lines. "A sketchbook," he immediately understood and laughed lightly.

"I'm sorry it took me long to get that for you—"

"What? It's not something you had to do," Steve shot her a crazed look, almost laughing again. "I could've definitely gotten one myself, you know."

"I know. But I wanted to save you the trouble of going through the dozens of sketchbooks they have nowadays. I went with a more traditional one, by the way. I thought it'd be more your style."

"How did you know?" Steve sarcastically asked, earning her giggle in return.

"I don't know, just a guess," she went along with the game and shrugged her shoulders. "Now you can draw and have all of them in one place. More organized."

"Thank you, Seren, seriously," he sighed. "You have done so much for me, I really don't know how to ever thank you."

"Don't even think about it," Seren warned him, even pointing at him with her finger. "It's human decency to help someone else, I told you that when we officially met. One day, you'll go help someone else and then the cycle will continue."

"For you," Steve said, smiling with her. If he could do that for her then they would both win. "And you know what?"

"Hm?" Seren grabbed her fork to start digging into her cinnamon roll.

"Guess who's going to be on the first page here?"

"I don't know…"

"You!"

Seren nearly choked. "What!?" She covered her mouth to quickly finish chewing and swallow.

"Oh yeah, it's only fair," Steve went on, loving her bewildered reaction. "I mean, you bought the book, right? And you've helped me for so long now. It's only right."

"Nope!" Seren wagged a finger at him. "No! I don't do sketches!"

"Too late. And you know what I'm calling it right?"

"No! Because you're not—"

"Seren—"

"Shut up!" Seren exclaimed. "Steve, c'mon! Pick something else! There's literally so many things you can draw. Why do you gotta go pick the one that doesn't belong there?"

"Can't hear, sorry." He called a passing waitress and asked to borrow a pencil. She was more than happy to let him borrow hers.

Seren huffed. Of course he'd get anything he wanted. Half the employees there loved him.

"Keep eating," Steve waved her off, acting as if she wasn't shooting daggers at him. "I'll be quiet as a mouse."

"You know, I can kinda see why Agent Carter shot bullets at you now," Seren said in the flattest of tones. Steve's eyebrows raised at her remark, his expression sharpening at her until she started laughing. "Okay, okay…fine!"

Steve smiled at her. "There we go."

She rolled her eyes but allowed him to continue with the sketch. It was even worse, in her mind, because she was eating but apparently she was wrong. Steve promised her that she was just fine no matter what she was doing. He always got her to agree.

Much later, she would get a call from Fury himself to report to the base. She was at least done with her cinnamon roll and had even gotten a taste of other pastries afterwards. "Duty calls, I guess," she said begrudgingly.

"Well, right on time!" Steve announced proudly. He picked up his sketchbook and turned it around for her to see what he'd done.

Seren saw herself on the page, eating a cinnamon roll and looking to the side. She blushed at his accuracy. "That's...okay, that's good. Thank you."

"Glad you like it," Steve grinned with her reaction. He felt very proud right now. "And it's staying right here." He almost laughed when her entire face fell with mortification.

"Okay, seriously, why!? Plenty more things out there, just saying!" she gestured towards the glass wall on their side overlooking the street.

"Because I want to start with the person who introduced me to everything else."

Seren's eyes narrowed on him. "Do these nice things just come out randomly or do you think about them and then figure out the best times to say it?"

"You're making this a lot harder, you know?"

Seren smiled bashfully. "I'm just not used to that kind of stuff. You're sweet," she grabbed her bag and stood up. "And I have to go. See you."

"Bye," Steve said, watching her leave with his own smile. She wiggled her fingers goodbye to him before walking out the door. He started gathering his own things to leave as well when the waitress he'd borrowed a pencil from earlier stopped by. He saw 'Mary' on her name tag. "Here's your pencil by the way."

"No problem. Will you be ordering anything else?" she asked him in return.

"No, no, we're all done." Steve only realized how much time they'd spent in the shop after checking the clock on the wall. "Woah, definitely done, thank you."

Mary chuckled. "You know, I've never seen Seren spend so much time here, much less giggle as much as she did. I'm glad she finally has somebody in her life."

The mere implication made Steve's face turn red. "Actually—"

"She's really sweet. I met her my first day here, totally messed up her order but she didn't get mad like any other customer would."

"Uh, she's...sweet, yeah." He wouldn't fight her about that.

"And super pretty. I haven't met anyone else who could rock the hairstyle she has," Mary flicked her short ginger bob. "And I'm a natural ginger."

Steve half smiled at her. He would agree that he hadn't met anyone else with the same hairstyle as Seren who could possibly make it look as good as she did, but he really needed to set the record straight about what she thought he and Seren were. "She and I, we're not—"

"Oh, that's beautiful!" Mary gawked at the sketch he'd drawn of Seren. Even if he tried to cover it up, it wouldn't matter anymore. She 'awwd' with a hand on her chest. "That's super sweet! Definitely a good match!"

"Actually—" Steve was left with a finger raised in the air when Mary moved on from the table. He sighed. He hoped to God none of this would come to Seren's ears, or at the very least not when he was around. He could do without the embarrassment.

He and Seren? That could never happen. She was...so modern and out there, two things he was very far from being. He couldn't possibly be what she would want in a man. It was clear she'd been disappointed one too many times with men and he didn't ever want her to be disappointed with him too. Besides, she would definitely want someone better and he...he was okay with that.

~ 0 ~

Seren reported to the base as soon as she was called. She came to find out, however, that she was to board a quinjet as soon as she got there.

"But where are we going?" Seren asked Maria as the latter ushered her towards the quinjet.

"Fury's going to explain," was all Maria would say there and throughout the trip.

It wasn't often that Seren was brought along into these missions. Whatever it was had to be urgent and important, as well as dangerous. The only thing she was able to figure out was that their destination was New Mexico again. At first, Seren panicked thinking something had happened with Jane Foster and her research. It had been a few weeks since Thor left and had yet to return like he promised. Since then, Seren took it upon herself to keep an eye on the woman until he did.

As soon as they reached the facility which, Seren noted, was completely new to her. She couldn't remember ever being there. The facility was dark and rather dank. She did not like it.

"Where the hell are we?" she couldn't help mutter the question, her nose crinkling with the matching dank smell.

Maria led her down the corridor until they finally met with Fury at an intersection. Seren crossed her arms, glancing between the two suspiciously. "I feel like I'm being transferred like a baby. What's the mission?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Agent Soul," Fury said, leaving her even more puzzled than before.

"How so?"

"This is a long term mission."

"Yeah, I've done those," Seren said, not that she needed to because he was well aware of those. It's what made her uneasy.

"This one is indefinite," Fury declared and before Seren could properly react, he turned away to lead her somewhere new. When Seren didn't move, as she was still trying to figure out what he was talking about, Maria gently pushed her forwards to walk alongside her.

"I'm confused here and I really don't like it," Seren said as they reached a large room, a lab by the looks of it. "I like being ahead of my missions and I can't do that if I don't have the full file. What's the mission?"

"Unfortunately, this mission hasn't exactly yielded concrete results." Fury stopped and motioned Seren to take a look at something he was blocking.

Seren moved around him and came face to face with something she thought — something she firmly believed — was long gone from the world. Her eyes widened to the brim, mouth falling open in shock. She looked back at Fury, expecting him to tell her she wasn't thinking right.

The man stayed completely still, only giving one small nod to confirm the truth.

Seren returned her gaze ahead of her. It wasn't often she got nervous on missions, but this one would no doubt make her feel things she hadn't before. "What the hell is the Tesseract doing here?"

A/N:

Woah-ho, here comes the Tesseract! Excited to get this ball rolling! Chloe will be coming back too as the whole ordeal begins unraveling!

My tardiness in updating is terrible and will probably continue to be terrible. I posted on the fics that I last updated with the news that I was taking an indefinite hiatus from updating because of my course load and work. Tonight I have miraculously gotten ahead of some work but next week I'll be back on my drowning schedule so updating will no doubt be spotty again. So sorry about it but I literally barely have time to do my own things, it's sad really. You guys have no idea how nice it was to actually open this site again and see my drafts waiting for me. Really miss that.

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"