Disclaimer: Nope. I own literally absolutely nothing when it comes to what I've written. I profit not at all. In fact, given that I could theoretically be doing something with this time that could earn me money, I'm almost paying to write this. And I still don't own anything anyone can even remotely recognize.

They don't leave first thing in the morning or anything like that. Taking a vacation requires a certain amount of time to plan even for one of the greatest living tacticians in modern military history. However, the fairly unlimited budget they're working with plus the fact that every media/legal connection they have is telling them to lay low and not be too obviously super hero-ish helps.

Stark decides to use the fallout time to establish a new Avengers base in upstate New York with Nick Fury. Apparently, it takes him exactly three days of parenthood to decide that Katya deserves a yard and space to make things and blow them up without repercussion. Maria Hill, Barton, and Natasha agree to stick around to help out and keep some of Stark's crazy in check. Rhodes comes out to assist and provide normalized parenting advice.

Normally the job of Stark management would have fallen to Pepper, but between being a new parent, being CEO, and handling public opinion fallout from Sokovia she's a little busy. Everyone has their multitasking limits, and taking time to be an actual presence in Katya's life will probably push hers. The fact that she's trying bolsters Cassie's faith that this arrangement will work out.

She and Steve discuss briefly and then offer to Bucky and Reyna that they could come with them for a sort of joint relaxation period. Both of their friends end up begging off. In their defense, both of their schedules are loaded to a fairly absurd level.

Reyna is managing a lot of the press coordination to handle media fall out from Ultron so that Pepper doesn't have to. She says she gains strength from the tears of the media as she thwarts them in their attempts to spin a salacious story. It's possible Bucky has never looked at her with more adoring eyes when he hears that.

For his part, Bucky volunteers to stay behind and keep Reyna company and take on some of the jobs Steve would have handled with regards to the military training at the new headquarters. Given that the man is technically a Sergeant, and may or may not have assisted in the devising of the Black Widow program, it's a job he's decidedly qualified for. The "may or may not" is a result of quite a bit of psychological torment inflicted on the only people in a position to know.

Meg wanders around the Tower for a few days while people try to figure out what her job will actually be. Eventually Stark just throws up his hands and says "Fuck it. Darcy Bennet is employed as 'Official Adult Babysitter for Science'. What title do you even want?"

That's how Meg ends up with shiny new business cards labeling her 'Vegetation & Arboreal Coordinator' with a fine print subtitle saying (professional provider of snacks to important people). It's a mouthful of a title, but it makes Meg happy and amuses Tony so it sticks. The girl is given an unfeasibly large budget, a custom designed kitchen in her new apartment in the building, and quite a bit of property in the upstate facility to turn in to greenhouses.

Pietro runs her up to survey the sight in person and manages the trip in about the time it would take a normal person to get out to Queens in a car. He seems to be settling in fine though FRIDAY has had to figure out alternative running paths for him away from populous areas so that he won't distract cars as he zips past. Steve recommends a few of the paths he likes and Sam seems to find it endlessly hilarious that Pietro takes to zipping past him making Road Runner noises. Apparently, he and Wanda used to watch American cartoons when they were very young children.

Wanda has a harder time in the city than her brother does. Apparently, so many people all living close together is a little overwhelming for a telepath. Too many minds all thinking together is something the girl likens to standing in a crowded room where everyone is talking at once when Cassie asks.

Cassie explains Wanda's problem to Tony and the man doesn't even blink before arranging to give her and Pietro apartments on the floor above the other team members. The twins have apartments next to each other and Wanda's is directly above the apartment kept empty for Rhodes when he's visiting. It lowers Wanda's stress level to have fewer people thinking in to her head and confides to Cassie that though she finds the minds of both Clint and Bucky relatively quiet, and Reyna and Pepper reassuringly organized, all of those people are in committed relationships and there are certain things she really doesn't want to hear.

The battle in Sokovia has had the effect of getting the entire team to accept the twins quickly. They fold in around the Maximoffs and enmesh them. They each do it on their own time, but they all end up in the same place eventually.

Tony, Pepper, Bucky, Clint, and Natasha all seem to be of the opinion that they've each been given enough second chances by the world to pass one along to the twins. Pepper works out where they'll live and how to introduce them to the public as new team members which Reyna assists with. Tony shows up two days after they move in to ask what kind of gear they need. Then he spends the next week or so popping up with test model shoes for Pietro to try out. Apparently, the guy has a problem with burning through the soles due to friction.

Rhodes does some long distance grumbling but handles getting the twins work visas and Cassie suspects a lot of the credit for keeping the government off their backs about weaponizing their powers goes to him. Sam brushes off his therapist training and lends a good ear to the both of them to work through the changes in trauma they're dealing with. Cassie makes a not to see if Bucky's therapist will clear some time to meet with Wanda, and maybe Katya though it's possible she'll need a child psychologist and not an adult one .

Natasha and Bucky teach themselves Sokovian as a subtle show of solidarity and Nat helps handle introducing the twins to American shopping. Clint just shows up to sit silently with Wanda when she gets stressed out. Passive as that is, Cassie wonders if it might be the most helpful thing the team does.

Cassie does their entrance medial exams and starts working on a tweaked formula for her protein bars that will up the calorie count enough for Pietro. Wanda is now, and apparently has always been, a little bit more physically delicate. Cassie writes out a list of supplements for her to start taking including iron and calcium. She also starts working on figuring out a medication she'll be able to take for migraines.

Both twins process medications in ways different from any other human being Cassie's ever met. Figuring out the right way to dose them will probably take time and an unfortunate, though unavoidable, period of trial and error. At this point, Cassie's officially blocked out the word "experimenting" from her vocabulary. There are a lot of people in the building who find the meaning attached to it more than a little bit triggering.

Wanda likes Jolly Ranchers.

Pietro attaches to Twix bars.

On the second Thursday after Sokovia Steve shows up in her office at about two in the afternoon. "Hey," he greets, leaning over to kiss her. Cassie's sitting at her desk working at her computer. Recovering the data Ultron dumped is taking some time and Tony has promised her a separate server with extra encryption when everything's uploaded.

But this is still taking forever.

Anyway, her position makes the angle of the kiss kind of awkward, but her boyfriend is an excellent kisser and this is an awesome surprise so she feels pretty compelled to work around it. They both let the kiss carry for a little longer than they probably should but it wipes the frustration and repetition her day as contained out of her head for the time being. Steve makes a regretful noise as he pulls back and straightens up.

"Well hello to you too," Cassie says with a grin. "Is this going to be a new standard greeting policy? Because I have to tell you that if it is, I really wouldn't mind."

He smiles back and manages to look more relaxed than she's seen him be in quite a while. Barton has managed to never get his face on camera, virtually nobody knows Banner is the Hulk, Sam and Rhodes are technically known but fairly low profile, and Thor is ostentatious but generally off world. Bucky has a general appearance and personal aura that keeps people and the press off his back.

The press is newly interested in who Cassie and Reyna are, but as predicted are having trouble finding anything on them. Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter are damn good at keeping the information on their campers under a full seal blackout. If the press wants to report anything on them it'll all be incredibly bland and general and mostly from after they'd turned eighteen.

After the catastrophe with Hammer Industries and pretty much any of Stark's dealings with the press, government, and general public, no one particularly wants to talk to Pepper or Tony about what's gone on. They're stuck talking with Tony since Ultron was actually invented by him, but no one is particularly happy about it. Nat makes the rounds with the Senate and is more than capable of gaming government officials, but her ability and willingness to play the game seems to make politicians uncomfortable.

What all of this boils down to is that Steve has had to spend a lot of time back down in Washington D.C handling members of the government whom he'd really rather not talk to. One of Steve's great personal and professional frustrations is that much of the government seems to think that his past service and general legend designates him as their personal dancing monkey. That's not a term Cassie would generally use, but it's one she's heard him say enough times to crib it directly from his frustrated rants.

Normally she knows Steve would tell them to shove it and refuse to play the game, but they don't have the latitude for one of the few team members the government is willing to even pretend to be on good communicative terms with to publicly piss anybody off. He's had to do a lot of professional tongue biting lately and it's definitely wearing on him. Given his own choice, she's pretty sure the only political actions Steve would take would be much more socialist and direct than conservatives would ever be willing to believe.

Some day, Cassie promises herself, she's going to bring him along to some form of human rights protest and make sure Reyna has coordinated the press to get some very nice public pictures. The New York pride parade is in June and she knows that Will is going which means he'll probably manage to drag Nico along. By extension, a large party of demigods will probably show up too.

Maybe she'll float the idea of going with Steve while they're on their mystery vacation. It's something she thinks he might be interested in going to as she's worked out that these days, Steve really just likes to talk to people about what they care about. It's how he makes his decisions on issues. Maybe Bucky and Reyna will come with them and they'll make a day of it.

An equal pay rally might also be fun to go to. Steve had been raised by a single mother during the Great Depression and the fact that she had been paid approximately half what men did had always made him angry. The fact that those circumstances haven't changed so very much over the last seventy years is something that makes him quietly furious.

Cassie bets she can sell him on both. His rebellious side will almost definitely approve of the push it would give certain members of government towards apoplexy. Come to think of it, they're probably going to want to have Tony commit some light felony to watch their reactions on camera. Surely it won't be the worst thing Stark's ever done. The man just unleashed a genocidal robot on the world for crying out loud.

"I think I can make myself more okay with public displays of affection as greetings in the future," he says.

She spins her office chair to face him more easily and Steve rests one hand on the chair back and the other on the edge of her desk. Since it's benefiting both of their moods, Cassie leans up to kiss him again, getting a good grip on the collar of his shirt to pull them closer together. He makes a noise in the back of his throat when he realizes that he'll have to shift his weight to touch her and moves the hand on the back of her chair to caress her jaw.

It's completely wonderful and completely not something either of them would do in any workplace run by someone they didn't both know personally. FRIDAY, like JARVIS before her, has a privacy setting. And it's one Cassie's definitely thinking about engaging when Steve makes a mumbled sound and pulls back, going so far as to actually take a half-step backwards.

Cassie let's herself pout at him dramatically. "Oh. You actually came to talk about things didn't you?"

He nods but his smile spreads an increment wider. "Unfortunately yes," he confirms. "But I think you'll like the subject. Have you got a minute? Or do you have an appointment you're waiting on?"

She tips her head and considers, mentally running what she remembers of her daily schedule through her head. As far as se knows she's in the clear but it can't hurt to check. She leans back to address the ceiling. "FRIDAY, am I forgetting anybody?"

"You have no appointments until three PM this afternoon. Then I believe Ms. McCaffrey will be arriving for her introductory physical. Would you like me to issue a reminder fifteen minutes prior?"

Cassie nods even though she thinks the AI probably doesn't read that kind of visual cue. "Yes. Thank you FRIDAY." She tips her head back down to look at Steve and gestures at the spare desk chair against the wall. "All yours," she tells him. "Grab a chair. Unless you were thinking about doing this kindergarten style and convening on the floor. Which is fine, but I honestly can't vouch for this floor."

Steve makes a face and reaches for the chair she'd indicated, dragging it across the floor towards her. "There are some things you shouldn't take chances with."

Cassie let's out a mock gasp and brings a hand to her heart. "Dear gods! What has happened!?" He rolls his eyes and Cassie reaches for her phone. "Hold on. I'm going to need you to repeat that so I can record it for Bucky. He'll never believe you actually said it otherwise."

"I say this with all the care and tenderness inherent to being in love with you, respectfully, and from the bottom of my heart, can it."

She laughs and extracts a packet of M&Ms from her desk drawer and offers it to him. "Sorry Honey," she says, perfectly aware that her voice doesn't actually sound that contrite. She spent the package and offers it to him. "Will you forgive me for the price of chocolate goodness?"

Steve shrugs and reaches for the offering. "I'd say the odds are good." He swallows a handful and Cassie pops a few of the candies in to her own mouth. "Do you have any appointments you can't reschedule past a week from Saturday?"

Cassie pauses to swallow. "I generally don't make appointments more than a week in advance for this job," she leans forwards. "Is this for the super secret surprise vacation I absolutely not involved in the planning of?" He grins like a little kid on Christmas and it's all the answer Cassie needs. "So the Saturday after this one until when? I'll have FRIDAY block out my schedule."

"I'll handle it," he says, still grinning and leans up to look at the ceiling the way she just had. "FRIDAY, please take the block of time I originally marked out on my own schedule for tentative vacation and confirm it and copy the dates on Cassie's calendar."

"Of course Captain," FRIDAY's cool, efficient voice says, wafting through the space.

One of her eyebrows quirks. "Really? You're not even going to tell me how long this vacation is going to be? How am I supposed to pack?"

Steve makes an enigmatic expression and eats a second handful of candy. Cassie takes the expression to mean that he is planning to pack for her and any and all of the clothing that ends up on this vacation with them is going to be ridiculously well folded. The itinerary for the trip will also probably be ridiculously detailed.

How did one schedule relaxation?

Apparently, she'll find out a week and a half from now. If anybody can work out a way to regiment a vacation it's probably her boyfriend. He actually finds planning relaxing. There's quite a bit of written and visual documentation of him helping plan the Normandy invasion and apparently he'd been one of the coordinating minds who had thought Market Garden was a bad plan likely to get a lot of people killed.

He gets freedom on their personal planning when he explicitly asks for it.

Cassie throws up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine, fine. Organize and itinerize as you will."

This time it's his turn to lift an eyebrow at her. "Itinerize?"

She tosses an M&M at him and he's irritatingly coordinated enough to duck his head and catch it in his mouth. "I may have made up a word. I think I'm keeping it. Also expect to hear the phrases 'Capping', 'schedule extremis', 'leadership level twelve', and 'because freedom'. I plan to spend a lot of time with you on a pretty much permanent basis. I need verbs, adjectives, and other language for the things you do and the way you spend time."

Steve's expression changes, softening and becoming more, well, gooey around the edges. It's the kind of look she only ever sees directed at her when they're in private and one of the ways that he tells her he loves her as much as she loves him even when he doesn't say the words explicitly. He rises half way out of his chair and bends over to kiss her again. It's soft and almost heartrendingly sweet and she raises her hands to cover his where they cup her face.

This time when he backs away he lifts one wrist and then the other and kisses each on the skin over her pulse before kissing her forehead and sitting back. "I expect to spend a lot of time with you on a pretty much permanent basis too."

The way he quotes the words back to her so exactly could to an outsider seem like he's making them a joke. Cassie knows better though. He's never shy or hesitant to return the words when she says "I love you" but he normally doesn't say it first. Unless she initiates them, he saves the words because he finds them special, and says them first when he can't help saying them, when he's overwhelmed with the feeling behind them (whenever those moments come which is sometimes random), or when he thinks he needs to say them or she needs to hear them.

But she never doubts how he feels.

There are a million ways to tell someone that you love them.

Steve shows her different ways to do it each and every day.

Cassie grins up at him. "Well good. Balanced expectations are important. Meanwhile, how much of the next week and a half will you be here for? I'll schedule some extra appointments and add some lab hours to get the new round of energy bars finished if you're going to be working long hours too. Otherwise I'll delegate some things to my lab people so my dockets empty before we head out."

"I'm home until Sunday night," he answers. "Then I'll head up to Washington for most of the week and be back on Friday night. I have to go to meetings with at least twelve senators and about five representatives. The list is only going to get longer once I get down there and I..." he trails off a moment and glances at her quickly before glancing away again. His fingers fidget together for a moment like he isn't completely sure how to say what he wants to say next. Evidently he decides on the simplest way forwards because he meets her gaze again and shrugs. "I want to save some time to visit Peggy."

Well that certainly explains some of the awkwardness. Cassie figures no guy in the history of time as ever been entirely comfortable telling their girlfriend that they'd like to plan to go visit their ex, no matter what the time between the last time they'd dated had lasted or contained. In this, he's fairly average, even if the circumstances are convoluted and basically impossible to navigate.

The thing is though, that Steve is honest about what he does. It makes being with him simple in a way she hadn't known was so nice until she experienced it. They don't deliberately avoid talking about his past. His childhood best friend is living with them after all. But they also don't talk about Peggy in particular much and Cassie doesn't ever really mention the people she dated growing up either. She knows he used to visit her when they were living in D.C full time, but he hasn't mentioned going back since.

Clearly he's been thinking about this long enough to be worried about her reaction though. Handling things going forward for the rest of the conversation is going to take a little bit of precision. Cassie aims well with projectiles, hopefully the precision will manage to translate to conversation.

She curls her legs under her in her chair and leans her chin on her hand. "You haven't seen her in a while have you?" she asks lightly.

Steve is watching her carefully like he still isn't convinced that this conversation won't end badly in terms of upsetting her. He shakes his head slowly. "Not since right before SHIELD fell. Her family moved her to a different facility out in Richmond right after it happened and everything was.. busy to say the least."

"Then you should go," Cassie says with a decisive nod. "You've got the time, and I think she'd probably like to hear about SHIELD from you." Now Steve is looking at her with the expression he normally reserves for whatever Stark's newest technology is- wary, a bit impressed, and more than a little confused. Cassie cracks a smile and tips her head. "You pictured this conversation going differently didn't you?"

Steve gives an aborted shrug and rubs at the back of his neck. "Honestly I had no idea what you'd say. Not knowing was driving me crazy."

Cassie reaches out and takes his hand. "Steve, really what I care about here is that you were worried about something and talked to me about it instead of muddling through." She squeezes his fingers. "Peggy Carter is an incredibly important part of your personal history and the only connection to your old life you've got besides Bucky. Of course you should see her when you can."

A grin brakes across Steve's face and he turns their joined hands to kiss her palm. "You are an amazing human being."

She waves her hand in a vague dismissal, blushing for a reason she can't quite name. "A quarter of one anyway. Comes straight from my grandmother. I never met her but I hear she was quite the lady and an excellent sprinter. Mercury certainly thought so anyway."

"You. Are. Incredible," Steve says, emphasizing each word separately and clearly.

Cassie leans over and kisses his cheek. "Thank you. Meanwhile, you should take at least the first half of next Saturday to see Peggy. Then you can take a train back here or I can take a train up to D.C and we can leave together from whichever we decide. You should probably pick though, seeing as I still don't know where we'll be going from there."

He's quiet for a minute before speaking in a sudden rush. "Would you like to meet her? Peggy I mean."

Cassie leans back a little to really study his face. "I'd love to," she says slowly and softly. "But are you sure? I mean, I know she's got Alzheimers. Would I throw her off?"

Steve actually does take a moment to think through what she's said and Cassie's grateful that he's considering things carefully. If the research she's done while trying to help Bucky has taught her anything it's that the brain is a funny thing, especially when it comes down to memory. The last thing she wants to do is damage the mental state of Peggy Carter in any way by being extra confusing by showing up with the woman's former boyfriend.

"I don't think it'll be a problem," Steve says. "She might need me to introduce you more than once, and sometimes she loses track of me in the middle of a conversation and can't remember that I'm not dead. But I never wanted her not to have a life after I was gone, and I think that while she's lucid, she'd like knowing that I've got a life now, and that I'm happy. She's said a few times that I always seem sad. I'd like her to see at least once, that I'm not."

Well alright then. That settles it.

Cassie smiles at him. "Okay. Then I'll finish up all of my work for the week by Friday afternoon and come down to D.C by train Friday night. We can spend most of Saturday visiting Peggy and fl out to wherever it is that we're going on Saturday night. Does that work with our mystery vacation plan?"

Steve nods. "Easily. I'll handle logistics and pack a bag for you that I'll bring down to D.C with me."

The words make Cassie pull a face. She'd been hoping to wheedle hints about their destination out of him by asking things about what she ought to pack. Her expression makes him laugh. Apparently what she's thinking is fairly obvious on her face.

They follow through on the plan they've made because of course they do. Steve has a plan. The plan will be adhered to as far as is possible.

They enjoy the weekend they have together and Steve leaves for Washington D.C early on Monday morning after a long and sleepy kiss goodbye. They talk on the phone around his meetings and Cassie's appointments and lab work. Well, they don't so much have conversations as Cassie prompts Steve along in his ranting as he vents about the sheer idiocy of the people he's being forced to play nice with. She figures it's better politically if he rants to her instead of in public, funny as a public frustration fueled rant might prove to be.

Cassie leaves New York on a train at about five o'clock in the afternoon on Friday with no luggage but the kind of carry on backpack she'd normally take on a flight with her. It's got her laptop, an extra sweater, a nice easy book, all relevant charging cords, and her own toiletries along with clothes for the next two days. Economical packing for trips is a certain skill that descendants of Mercury tended to have a bit of a knack for.

Steve meets her at the station and greets her with a hug so very enthusiastic that her feet completely leave company with the floor and the baseball cap he'd been wearing as an identity shield gets knocked clean off his head. He retrieves it when he puts her down and also gathers up her bag before leading her out in to the humid night air of the street. Once they're out he waves for a cab and manages to catch one in about twelve seconds flat.

The hotel Steve's been in for the week isn't actually too far from the apartment building they had both been living in before the move to New York. It feels almost strange to see the city as a visitor and not as a resident. Maybe she'll take an hour or two and drag Steve out to do something touristy before they leave. She thinks she'd like to see the Smithsonian without a giant gold lion attacking her.

Cassie does most of the talking during dinner which they have out at a truly wonderful Turkish restaurant. As she talks she keeps up a steady vocal pattern and throws in enough detail to be interesting. She also goes farther in to the technical details than she might any other time but Steve seems to be enjoying committing his attention to something other than the political mire he's been embroiled in for the last week. It's as they're talking that Cassie suddenly notices that the questions Steve's asking to prompt her on are highly involved and fairly complex.

"Can I ask something?" she inquires as Steve finishes off another bite of kofte kebab. He's too busy chewing to respond verbally, but makes a gesture for her to continue with his free hand. "Do you learn things differently?" she asks. "Since getting the serum I mean. I'm only asking because I've looked through the original notes on the effects and there's a lot to do with the physical effects, but after the research I've done to try to help Bucky I've noticed that most people seem to forget that the brain is a lump of muscle and tissue. It's a physical thing too."

Steve puts down his fork thoughtfully and wipes his fingers clean. "Nobody's ever actually tested it," he says slowly. "But the answer's yes. I don't really forget things once I know them. My sense of spatial awareness and mapping seems to be pretty much perfect. I learn languages faster." He takes a sip of water and then meets her eyes again. "SHIELD was having me learn Arabic before everything happened. They didn't realize I figured it out within a month."

"And you didn't tell them," Cassie surmises with a grin.

He returns it. "They knew enough about me and what they thought I could do for them. Telling them anything more just seemed... unfair. I thought they deserved to have less than the full picture for once."

"I find that to be entirely sporting and equitable," she says, happy that those kinds of questions can be asked and answered without throwing them out of equilibrium.

They take a pass on dessert at the restaurant and get gelato instead after a brief hike through the streets of the city. Having any kind of seriously Greek relative would make you either a baklava enthusiast or never want to eat it again. Her own personal history has done plenty to turn Cassie's opinion on filo dough towards the dark side. Ice cream wins out every day of the week.

The treat makes Steve's mouth taste like pistachio and chocolate and his tongue is cool but his hands are warm when they finally make their way back to their room.

The following morning Cassie takes her cue on how to dress from Steve's own neatened appearance and fresh shave and puts on the nicer of the two outfits she'd packed. It's a skirt and blouse combo bought out on a shopping trip with Pepper and a pair of flats. Of course it's possible that Peggy Carter won't care in the least what she shows up looking like, but the nicer clothing still feels like the right way to go for what they're doing that day.

Steve wanders out of the bathroom fidgeting with the collar of his button down. Somehow he's missed the fastenings and can't quite seem to get them straight. Cassie briefly flashes back on what he said last night about his spatial reasoning and swallows a smile.

"Come here," she says, not quite blocking all of the amusement in her voice. "I'll do it."

Steve looks a little embarrassed but walks over and drops his hands to let her take over. She flicks all of the buttons out of their fastenings with a series of quick slides and does them back up with brisk efficiency. Fingers trained for surgery and born for music are certainly steady enough to undo and fasten buttons. She gives his chest a light pat. "All set. Are you doing a tie you want help with?"

He raises an eyebrow. "You know how to tie one?"

Cassie braces a hand on his shoulder and gives him a quick kiss. "I've had four biological half-brothers in my life and a certain plethora of clothing incapable male friends. I can do a mean Windsor. Now tell me if I have any cowlicks in odd places and if the answer is 'no' then we can leave."

Steve steps back and leans from side to side to examine the neat bun she's managed to twist her hair in to. Then he cradles her cheek and kisses her again. "Present and correct, but I have to say that that those pins kind of look like they hurt."

They move for the door and Cassie can't help feeling a new spike of nerves. They've been creeping up and pouncing on her at random points all through the week and all week she's been belligerently squashing them down. "Well my grandad is the god of thieves. You'd be amazed at what kind of shit I can get in to and out of with a hairpin."

Steve reaches out and takes her hand as they enter the elevator and the contact settles her nerves. It takes them abut forty minutes by car to reach the facility Peggy's been moved to and Cassie fills the time by pointing out landmarks she recognizes from previous trips through the area. Of course a lot of those trips involved running for her life so the places that actually stood out were a bit haphazard.

Very few young women could pick out a full selection of available safe houses and rest stops within a ten mile radius of D.C. Some of those 'houses' are technically bush forts. They might fail the technical definition of a house. Annabeth would know the right classification but Cassie certainly doesn't.

Speaking of Annabeth, they're not really too far from where she grew up when the car pulls in and stops.

The nurse who greats them in the front reception hall must have been briefed on the fact that Steve was coming. She probably used to work for SHIELD and turned out to be one of their employees who wasn't a secret HYDRA agent. Cassie wonders if this woman is in a file somewhere on her still-trashed server.

"She's having a good morning," the nurse informs them. "She watched some CNN and had some very choice words about the goings on up on Capital Hill. I'd say that's a very positive sign."

After that she gives them directions to Peggy's room and clears out of the way.

The building they're in seems to be a converted mansion and it's remarkably empty. Cassie pokes Steve once in the ribs to get him to look down at her. "How did this place get set up?"

She asks the question because this building is huge and beautifully maintained. It's also not at all depressing and full of trained staff and top of the line medical equipment. This takes a hell of a lot of money and coordination.

"Howard Stark," Steve answers. "He uh- He and Peggy were friends after my plane went down. He left her the house and some money in his will. Apparently this house was a summer residence. Fury updated it as a secure space off the books when Peggy started getting sick."

Cassie nods because it makes sense. Most of the money in her world seems to come from someone with the last name Stark, and Fury has his fingers in everything. Why not this too?

They reach the door they've been told to go to and Cassie stands back a bit as Steve knocks. No matter how good a morning Peggy Carer might be having she should still see the person she knows before she sees a stranger. It's also possible she'll lose lucidity at any moment, though this early in the day that's substantially less likely. The sundowning phenomenon was not a lie.

The door flies open to reveal an elderly woman dressed in a neat blue house dress with long gray hair wound up in to an elegant bun. She smiles brightly when she sees Steve and the joy in her expression wipes the lines and signs of age from her face. Cassie feels like she can see two images, one the determined young woman who helped to found SHIELD and the other an equally determined woman of seventy.

"Steve," she says in a crisp British accent. "How lovely to see you. An excellent surprise." She steps forwards and reaches up with hands that are still remarkably steady and presses a kiss to Steve's cheek. "I'd been wondering when I would see you again."

Steve shuffles his feet a little and Cassie can tell that an apology for not visiting is hovering on the tip of his tongue. "I should have come sooner," he says. "I meant to. I'm sorry."

Peggy dismisses the apology with a brisk wave of her hand. "You were busy." She turns slightly and fixes her gaze on Cassie. Her eyes are a warm brown color and completely and utterly aware. There's no doubt that Peggy Carter is absolutely formidable while lucid. "And who is this?"

Cassie rightly recognizes her cue and steps forwards, offering a hand. "Cassandra Morgenstern Ma'am," she says. "Everyone calls me Cassie. It's wonderful to meet you."

The hand that takes hers is cool and firm, the skin over the bones papery. "Well," she says after assessing her for a moment. "You've rather a pretty face. One assumes the brain behind it must be functional."

It's not exactly a question but Cassie decides to treat it that way. Bucky never really gave her a shovel talk. If she's getting one now she'll weather it out and she's sure Peggy will perform her portion of the proceedings admirably.

"My instructors at Columbia and Georgetown Medical school certainly seemed to think so," she says evenly. "Though several fully trained psychologists might have something to say to the contrary."

Peggy gives her a small smile and Cassie feels like she might have passed some kind of test. "Ah well, psychology has always seemed rather imprecise as a branch of medicine. What is your specialty?"

Cassie smiles back. Medical specialties is a fun topic and one she hasn't really gotten to talk about with anyone lately. "Trauma mainly," she says. "Surgery as well. Lately I've spent quite a lot of time trying to learn advanced nuclear biology and work out a formula to keep up with this one's metabolism." At that she knocks an elbow against Steve and he rolls his eyes in response.

"A long running and noble battle and one made rather difficult by rationing," Peggy replies, stepping back through her door and gesturing for them to join him. "Come in the both of you. They've brought me tea and I was given a rather large box of cookies by my niece. The girl can't cook but she bakes like you wouldn't believe."

Steve takes her hand again and gives it a squeeze as Peggy leads them in to a well appointed and comfortable seeming living room. There's a selection of couches and stuffed armchairs arranged around a coffee table already ladened with tea for three. A set of French doors looks like they would open out on to a sunny patio containing a set of white wicker outdoor furniture. The walls are painted a tasteful light blue and the carpet is a spotless cream thing that makes Cassie want to take her shoes off at the door to avoid stepping on it.

A hand grips her forearm and Cassie allows herself to be steered over to the couch. "We'll sit. Steve darling? Why don't you bring in the cookies? They're in a tin on top of the refrigerator. You're certainly tall enough to reach it."

"That is helpful," Cassie agrees as she sits. "I sometimes make him come grocery shopping so I can get things off of the top shelves without having to jump or climb the shelves."

"Have you ever actually done either of those things?" Steve asks, retrieving the aforementioned tin with a minimal effort and coming over to join them.

Cassie scoots to the side so he can sit next to her and across from Peggy. "I may or may not have resorted to grocery climbing in the cereal isle a time or two," she hedges. "No one has any pictures and you will never be able to prove it."

Peggy gives a brisk laugh. "Oh darling you can prove almost anything and someone always has pictures. If you learn nothing else from being a spy it's that."

"We leave the spying to Natasha," Steve says, taking a cookie and swallowing it in two mouthfuls. "Or we used to anyway. I don't really know who we have doing it now. I probably outta check."

She lifts two fingers and purposefully smoothes out the wrinkles in his forehead. "Stop it," she says firmly. "We are beginning vacation in approximately twenty-four hours. You can deal with work problems another time. I promise you they will still be there. Hill probably has it handled anyway."

"Besides you were never very good at subtlety," Peggy adds, spooning a careful measure of sugar in to her tea. "Even when you were a foot smaller." She reaches out and pats his knee with the hand not holding her tea. "Best leave the spies to be spies. Like cacti, they do their best without interference," she turns back to Cassie. "Has any body ever told you the story of the flag during training?"

Cassie shakes her head. "No Steve never has." She pointedly ignores Steve's moan of protest and stays focused on Peggy. "We've had Bucky back for quite a while but his memory is still spotty. I've gotten some good stories on this one from him from before the war but not much during."

"I should have known that this was going to end with the two of you ganging up on me," Steve mutters, dropping his head in to one of his hands.

"You have met literally all of my friends by now," Cassie says unsympathetically. "You have an unfiltered tap line on every embarrassing story I have ever been a part of. I only have two sources. Man up and let me enjoy them."

Peggy grins in a way that is ever so slightly devilish. "I'm afraid Mr. Barnes would not have known this story even if his memory were in pristine working order which it by no accounts happens to be. The story I'm talking about happened during his initial training before the serum. Barnes had already been deployed for quite a while. Myself, Colonel Phillips, and the other recruits would be the only witnesses. I don't believe the story ever made it in to the museum display."

This begins what turns out to be a lovely two hours full of stories Cassie's either never heard before or heard with only the barest of details. Despite being occasionally embarrassed at the subject matter, Steve is a good enough sport to contribute his own details and between the two of them the stories come alive. Out of fairness, Cassie contributes a few stories of her own and answers each and every question directed at her with utter honesty.

She stays quiet while Steve talks about the fall of SHIELD and helps to explain what he can about what happened with Ultron. Occasionally she takes over the threads of the story when Steve has blanks. Most of those blank spaces occur during times where he was busy being beaten up or fighting off large and violent portions of a foreign highly hostile force.

However, aware as she is Peggy is clearly wearing thin by about lunch time. She starts having to double back on her own narratives and begins repeating questions she's already asked. Once or twice she frowns at Cassie like she's briefly forgotten who she is before figuring it out again. Basically, Peggy is getting tired.

Steve notices it too because he's the one who begins to make their excuses, saying they should leave so Peggy can have her afternoon. He does it tactfully enough, phrasing it like Peggy must be busy which she very much might think she is if her brain is convincing her it's sometime twenty years ago. Peggy looks a little fuzzy, but nods and stands up to show them out.

She pushes Steve towards the door in front of the two of them but holds Cassie back for a moment. "Go on out Steve," she says. "I'll just have a quick word with Cassie and send her out to you." She leans up in to the goodbye hug Steve gives her and Cassie notes that if Steve holds her carefully sometimes, he holds Peggy like she might have spun glass in her bones no matter how strong she is in personality.

"It was lovely to see you," she says. "You must come again. Bring Sergeant Barnes next time. I should like to see him as well."

"Of course Peg," Steve says with a smile. "He'll want to see you too." Then he steps back and nods to Cassie. "I'll wait for you out by the car, okay?"

Cassie nods in response. "I'll be out in a minute or two."

He leaves and then Cassie turns back to Peggy and waits for her to speak. She doesn't know exactly what's coming but she thinks they've had a positive enough interaction so far that it likely won't be bad. At the same time, she's never really been on the receiving end of a woman to woman talk with a former founder of an international intelligence agency. She's handled goddesses and queens before. How hard can this be?

...

...

...

Very hard.

Very hard is the answer.

Peggy might be getting tired but now her gaze is completely lucid. "Now then," she says. "You seem to be a lovely girl. You're obviously intelligent, capable and committed to your job, you're mentally flexible, have a good sense of humor, and most importantly you seem to realize that the people you work with are in fact people and not merely assets. Steve seems happy and appears to care for you a great deal. With all of that said I have only one question."

Cassie spreads her hands. "If you'll forgive a bad piece of wordplay, shoot."

"Very well," Peggy says with a nod. "Do you love him as much as he loves you?"

It's certainly a clear cut question and Cassie swallows once before answering. "Yes," she says clearly. "Yes I do." She bites her lower lip and then continues. "My life before I met Steve was- was impermanent. Nothing was stable and I never made any long term plans. I didn't expect to have a future. Now, the two of us are planning a future together. And it's good."

Peggy nods again, this time more decisively. "Good. He's been through so much pain and carries so much sadness. He tries to hide it but the man has never been able to lie god rest him. We all carried something like it after the war. I was very fortunate in finding a partner to carry the weight with. Steve deserves that too."

"We look out for each other," Cassie says. "The two of us in particular, but everyone on the team does really. A few of my friends from school and training have joined it now to fill in some gaps. One of them is dating Bucky actually, and Bucky and Sam look out for Steve in the field when I can't be there."

A smile spreads across Peggy's face. "From everything I've heard it sounds as though you've all managed to build the kind of extended family a lonely Irish Catholic boy and an orphaned German girl would both have only dreamed about. Dysfunctional naturally- any family with a Stark in it must be- but then again, all the best families do seem to be. My own family grew to be a rather complicated mess. And quite without my noticing."

Cassie smiles back. "'Dysfunctional' is the only kind of family I've ever had. I don't think I'd know what to do with a life with set working hours and 2.5 averages."

"Very good," Peggy says, beginning to show her towards the door. "Now off you go. Steve was quite sweet to say I must be busy, but really I believe I'm due for a nap. Meanwhile it was very lovey to meet you. You must come back again. With Steve or without him. I believe we could have quite a bit to talk over together. Perhaps with proper scones."

They're at the door now but Cassie pauses before going out. "I'll look forward to it." She hopes her voice matches the sincerity she feels with that remark and something of it must because Peggy steps forwards and hugs her goodbye instead go shaking her hand.

"Off now," she says when she breaks away. "You've a vacation to enjoy. And I do believe it will be splendid."

Cassie grins and rolls her eyes all at once as she bids Peggy goodbye and moves off down the hallway.

Clearly, the only person who is really and completely in the dark about where she'll be going on vacation is her.

Excellent.

A/N: Well there it is guys. I know it's been a while but I spent the last three weeks in the U.K with my family doing quite a bit of travel and didn't bring my computer for ease of movement and packing. We were there to help my elder sister move home after her graduation. If you've got a moment and feel inclined, project some congratulatory thoughts. Plus the airline lost all of our checked baggage and it's kind of freaked her out so nice vibes would be good. I meant for this chapter to get to the start of the vacation when I first mapped it out but the talk with Peggy ended up taking more 'screen time' than I thought it would at first. I wrote this kind of jet lagged still so there might be a few more mistakes than normal and I apologize for that. If there are seriously just too many to be tenable, please someone tell me and I'll do some edits. Can anyone guess where Steve and Cassie are going? What did you think of the chapter. Tell me what you think! Review for me! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo