Ashley was genuinely excited for her birthday. It was on a Friday so it coincided with 'Avengers Night'. She hadn't really experienced a proper night with them since she first arrived, so she couldn't wait.

Tony had organised a 'little get together' and had hinted that Ashley should look nice, so she made sure to do just that. She spent three hours getting ready, in fact. She picked out a pretty black two-piece outfit, consisting of a long sleeved crop top and an ankle length skirt, topped with red heels. Her curves were accentuated, her curly auburn locks sat prettily down her back and her makeup was done perfectly. It would be the first time she'd put on a full face of makeup since moving in and she wasn't sure how they'd all react.

Ashley gave a final look at herself in the mirror. "Okay! Here goes nothing," she muttered, before leaving her room and walking across the polished floor to the elevator, her heels clacking away against the floorboards. She stepped into the lift and tried deep breathing in an attempt to control her jitteriness. "JARVIS? Can you take me to whichever floor the party's on please?" she called out to him shakily.

"Of course, Miss Ashley," JARVIS immediately responded, sliding the doors shut for her and doing just that. "Also, a very happy birthday to you!" Ashley smirked to herself and her cheeks tinged red.

"Thank you," she giggled back. There were a few empty moments of silence before she thought of something else. "JARVIS, I don't suppose you've seen Steve come home since he left for Washington, have you?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Ashley," JARVIS responded. "He hasn't been back in a week." Ashley rolled her eyes as the elevator came to a halt. She felt like an idiot - why would she even make Steve promise to come back for her birthday when he had a ton of pressing issues to deal with?

He was Captain America, for goodness sake.

"Are you ready, Miss Ashley?" JARVIS asked her, having not reopened the elevator doors yet.

"Yeah, let's do it," Ashley breathed out a little flatly, bracing herself. So the elevator door slid open - revealing a large number of people in a whole new level of the tower that she'd never been to. It was stunning, like an extremely expansive living room, and it even had a bar. Ashley felt herself rooted to the spot. It made it even worse that she didn't really recognise anyone - so they couldn't all be there for her. There were a few people milling about that she recognised from S.H.I.E.L.D's Logistics, but not by name. She had a good mind to turn back around and disappear back into the lift, her anxiety beginning to creep up - but before she could, she heard a familiar voice from not too far away.

"Ashley!" Her eyes flickered across to the source of the sound and she soon saw Bruce approach her in a suit jacket, looking just as uncomfortable as she felt. That was the boost Ashley needed to step out of the lift properly and to quickly scurry over. "Woah! You clean up pretty good! Happy birthday!"

"Thanks," Ashley giggled with a little blush. "Um…is…this the right place? Like is this…my event?" Bruce let out a chuckle.

"It is the right place, but I don't think this party is for you," he grimaced, surveying the room again. "I think you're a little early. All these people are investors, government officials…Tony enjoys having them over once in a while to boast…brag…annoy them…it's his idea of a good time."

"This many of them at once, though?" Ashley blinked, also looking around again. "That's a lot of boasting, even for him. I even thought I saw some S.H.I.E.L.D agents-"

"That's cos you did. They get the invite too - but only the ones that, you know, aren't HYDRA?" Bruce winced as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and turned to face her once more. "I take it you heard…?"

"About the HYDRA takedown? I did," Ashley muttered sadly, also turning her attention back to him again. She has been briefly informed of Fury's extremely sudden death a few days back, and it took her a while to understand. Nobody was telling her anything and it left her even more confused, like it wasn't real. It had taken her days to process alone. "How are we meant to trust anyone?"

"Well the handful of agents we can trust are mostly in this room. I'm guessing that we're gonna have our hands full from now on, though. I hear that there's a lot of HYDRA bases that still need taking down and with bases, come agents," Bruce sighed back, already looking shattered at the mere thought of all that work.

"I mean, it's kind of our job, pal!" Ashley reminded him with an amused laugh, making him chuckle tiredly in response. Just then, they were approached by none other than Louis, with another tall dark haired man beside him. "Woah! Speak of the devil!" Ashley hummed with a friendly smile.

"Happy birthday my beautiful girrrrl!" Louis trilled, smothering Ashley in a loving hug. They had rarely come across each other in person outside of work, and Ashley was just relieved that him being here meant that he wasn't one of the HYDRA agents.

"Hiii Louis," she giggled as she hugged him back. "Thank you!" Bruce was about to politely step away to leave her to it, but Ashley discreetly tugged on his sleeve jacket so that he didn't. She adored Louis, but had a feeling that he was about to try and introduce her to the other rather handsome man behind him.

"And Dr Banner, a pleasure to see you too," Louis nodded humbly to Bruce. "You're hardly out on the field anymore!"

"Ah you know," Bruce gave an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his neck. "Paperwork, projects and stuff, it's boring but…it needs to be done."

"Don't I know it," Louis gave a polite chuckle back before awkwardly clearing his throat.

"So is this…your boyfriend?" Ashley blinked, nudging her head to the man that was still hovering awkwardly close by. The man's eyes went wide and Louis pulled a face as he swiftly shook his head.

"Ugh, no! No, this is my cousin Tyler," he shuddered, shoving Tyler forward so that he was front and centre. "He was just passing through the city and I decided to take him to an official 'My Name is Tony Stark and I'm Great!' party, cos he's never been to one before. See, his social life is pretty…well, dead."

"I know the feeling," Bruce muttered under his breath.

"Nice to meet you guys," Tyler gave them an awkward wave. His eyes were focussed on Ashley's body, skidding up and down her curves rather shamelessly. She clenched her jaw and tried her hardest not to roll her eyes, or make a sarky comment.

So he was one of those boys, was he?

"Um, you're Ashley right? I brought you a birthday gift." Bruce's eyebrows shot up as Tyler pulled a flat box from his coat pocket, and passed it over to Ashley hesitantly.

"Oh, you didn't have to!" she half cooed, half frowned. Her eyes darted across to Bruce who gave her a little helpless back.

"I insist," Tyler nodded. "Please." Ashley took it from him with an extremely forced smile, holding it firmly in her hands.

"Thank you," she breathed out as politely as possible.

"Tyler, why don't you pop to the bar and get yourself and Ashley a drink, before Stark chucks us out for Avengers Night?" Louis suggested brightly.

"Oh…okay! I-I will!" Tyler spluttered before turning on his heel and obediently making his way over to the bar.

"Damn. He has even less game than me," Bruce cringed with gritted teeth, shaking his head and taking a sip of his own drink.

"I know, I was trying to get him with Lauren from Comms but she turned out to be a secret agent HYDRA wh*re - so I decided to let that one go," Louis hissed back. Bruce spluttered into his glass whilst Ashley's eyes grew wider than anything.

"Louis," she gasped with a giggle soon following. "You can't say that!"

"And yet…!" Louis drawled back, rolling his eyes just as Tyler returned to the small group with a two filled glasses in his hands.

"Here you go, A-Ashley," he stuttered, shakily passing it over to her. Ashley winced and quickly took it from him before he spilt it.

"Thanks, Tyler," she beamed appreciatively. "I- oh my god!" Tyler blinked in confusion, unsure of what that meant, but quickly realised that Ashley was now looking past him instead of at him.

Why?

Because walking up to them was none other than the handsome Steve Rogers, dressed in a dark pair of jeans with a white long sleeved top and his semi-smart suit jacket, a small smirk playing at his pretty plump lips.

"You came!" Ashley cooed once he was close enough to hear.

"I made it my mission," Steve chuckled back, bringing her in for a sweet hug before releasing her again. "Happy birthday, Ash. Hey Doc…hey Louis and…Louis' friend."

"Cousin! He's my cousin," Louis quickly rushed out, unable to stop his mouth from grinning or his cheeks from blushing. He, like most people, found it hard to compose himself around Steve. "His name is Tyler."

"Ah jeez," Bruce muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes expressively.

"Nice to meet you Tyler," Steve nodded politely as he held a hand out to shake his.

"You too, sir. You, are awesome," Tyler breathed in genuine awe. That was all Bruce needed to hear - if he had to stand there for any more of the ever-growing Steve Rogers Fan Club, he'd lose his mind.

But luckily, a hero came over and interrupted the fun - a hero in the form of Tony Stark.

"Heyyy Birthday Red!" he sang as he slid over to them to give Ashley a hug. "I didn't know you turned up! Now I can throw all the boring ones out, ugh - I love this part of the night!" Tony shot them a tight lipped smile and began the process of rounding his guests out like sheep.

"Charming," Louis remarked sarkily. "Boring my ass-""

"He doesn't actually mean that," Bruce assured him with a short smile.

"Oh no, he definitely does," Steve interjected. Ashley beamed up at him, unable to keep the happiness off her face.

"He absolutely does, the guy's a certified cocky genius d*ck," Louis replied dryly, zipping up his jacket and nudging his cousin's ribs. "Anyway, let's go Tyler."

"Oh, right. Um, happy birthday Ashley," he coughed a little, only just realising that he still had the glass in his hands. "You can take that, I guess," he blinked, passing it over to Steve before bumbling away. Steve awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Well, that was…nice?" he mused. Louis let out a groan and chucked his head back before making his way out as well, alongside the rest of the guests.

"Awkward. Always so awkward," Bruce shuddered, letting his shoulders relax as the room slowly started to empty. "Anyway, now that's done - I'm gonna go and get another drink. Anyone want-" Bruce squeezed an eye shut and gave a tight lipped smile, remembering that both Steve and Ashley now had drinks. "Ah. Nevermind!" He made his way over to the now empty bar instead, leaving Steve and Ashley grinning at each other.

Alone.

"I-" Steve began boldly - but of course was interrupted. By who, you ask? Well, none other than-

"A celebratory occasion to say the least! I've been eagerly awaiting one of these again!" Thor's booming voice burst across the room, making Ashley jump. She turned around, expecting just to see him - but released a pleasant gasp once she saw Pepper, Clint and Natasha alongside him. They were holding large red helium balloons with slanted party hats on their heads, wearing big grins on their faces, not to mention the generously sized cream frosting birthday cake that was resting comfortably in Clint's arms. Behind Pepper was also a pretty woman that Ashley didn't recognise.

"Happy birthdaaaay!" they all sang together, Natasha blowing the little party horn at the end. They already looked a little tipsy, and their eyes were dancing in ways that Ashley had never seen before.

"Awww, thank you guys!" she giggled tearfully, rushing up to them so she could hug them. "Ah, you didn't have to do all of this!"

"Course we did," Pepper rolled her eyes. "You're part of the team now! Andddd…well, any excuse for us to get drunk and eat junk food all night is perfectly fine with us!"

"Ain't that a fact!" Clint chuckled back, already making a beeline for the bar.

"Woah Ash, don't you look smokin'," Natasha giggled as she kissed Ashley on both cheeks, making Ashley blush. "I'm guessing your man was rightfully losing his mind?"

"Well…he actually hasn't said anything about how I look yet," Ashley quickly hummed back before turning her attention over to Thor, who was standing there with his lopsided grin. "Thor…you already look drunk, hun," she blinked.

"Drunk? Oh that's for the weak - and we have yet to touch the surface!" he clapped his hands loudly before whipping a large flask of something from deep inside his coat pocket. "First - we celebrate!" Ashley smirked and stepped aside so that he could get to pouring - but then he stopped as if he just remembered something. "Oh, Ashley - this is Jane, my most wonderful loving girlfriend," he introduced the unknown woman.

"Hiii," Jane waved. "Happy birthday! You look…stunning!"

"Awww thank you, as do you," Ashley gasped thankfully, a flattered hand on her chest. "Please, come through. It's so nice to meet you!"

"You too," Jane beamed. Ashley led her over to the sofas, sitting down with her so that the two of them could join the conversation that was taking place with the rest of the team.

"So Red," Tony called as he settled down on the sofa next to Natasha, "how old are you?"

"Oh Tony, you never ask a lady how old she is," Natasha tutted disapprovingly.

"I'm twenty-five," Ashley rolled her eyes. "It's fine, I can say it…there's no way Tony hasn't already looked everything to do with me up on the S.H.I.E.L.D. database anyway."

"At least you know," Pepper murmured, narrowly avoiding Tony's scowls.

"Ah, S.H.I.E.L.D," Thor gave a miserable and hefty sigh. "How I do miss it already."

"It is sad," Bruce nodded, lifting his glass. "A toast - to S.H.I.E.L.D, and to Fury." The room fell silent as everyone lifted their glasses, a look of sadness lingering in each of their eyes.

"To Fury," they all chanted miserably.

"And…to Ashley? It's her…birthday?" Steve reminded them all lightly, shooting Ashley a small smile. Ashley grinned back at him and ducked her head as they all released a much more joyous,

"To Ashley!" and sipped their drinks with low chuckles. Ashley shot them all genuine smiles of appreciation - when suddenly, another familiar voice interrupted.

"Drinking without me already, are you?" came the smooth female voice from across the room. Everyone craned their necks to see none other than Ashley's sister Christie, dressed in a delicate white silk cowl neck dress, dazzling white trainers and a black leather jacket thrown on top, her moonlight white hair tied back. Ashley gasped at the sight of her and leapt to her feet whilst Tony and Bruce bit back their smiles, knowing that it was about to get incredibly interesting.

"Greaaat," Natasha muttered under her breath, before lifting a new bottle of beer straight to her lips. Ashley frowned and turned to face her as Christie made her way over.

"What, you don't like her?" she hummed confusedly as Thor began to boom out his greetings and the rest of the group gave a cheer.

"We're not the best of friends," Natasha put in plainly. Ashley's eyebrows shot up intriguingly as Christie shuffled her jacket off and carrying it draped over her slender arms instead.

"Ah my dearest Christie, how wonderful it is to see you again!" Thor chuckled, standing up to give her a warm hug. They had a very sibling-like bond due to all that had happened in Asgard.

"You too buddy…but I need to speak with you later," Christie whispered into his ear as they released each other. Thor gave a solemn nod before stepping aside so that she could greet the others.

"Heyyy, Ms Happy is here! Now the party can really start!" Tony smirked, standing up to kiss her cheek.

"Oh, you were holding off for little old me?" Christie rolled her eyes lightly.

"Well I mean it's nice of you to show up, Whitey. That's very considerate of you, given that you weren't even sure if you wanted to show up to my birthday and you actually know me," Clint raised a knowing brow from where he was still lazily seated.

"First of all - that's because it's you, and secondly, it would be a little odd of me not to show up to my own sister's birthday?" Christie smiled smoothly, expecting the silence to coat the room at her admission - which of course, it did. She turned to the already giggling Ashley as though nothing had happened, trying not to burst out laughing.

"What?!" Steve was the first one to yelp with an astounded laugh. His face was so adorable yet innocently confused that it absolutely sent Christie over the edge.

"THIS MAKES ALL THE SENSE," Thor suddenly groaned with his hands outstretched at Ashley, finally connecting the dots that he had roughly made around a month and a bit earlier. "It's Christie you so remind me of!" Natasha's face was paler than a sheet and she quickly fell silent, whilst Clint was clearly flabbergasted.

"I remind you of her? We look nothing alike, Thor," Christie blinked with a smirk, spinning Ashley around by her shoulders so that he could see them side by side. She was right, they didn't look alike at all. Ashley was fiery and curvy, Christie was icy and slender.

Yes they were both beautiful - but still utterly different,

"Well…either way - I cracked the code," Thor waved her off with a grumble and took another successful swig.

"Man, I am so confused - and I'm not even that drunk," Clint grumbled slowly.

"Wait, so…none of you knew they were related?" Jane piped up amusedly

"NO?" Steve, Clint and Thor stated obviously.

"No- yeah, yeah I knew, I can't lie," Bruce chuckled, ducking his head as the attention fell on him. Ashley's mouth hung open and Christie's eyebrows shot up.

"You knew all this time and you said nothing?" Natasha was the one to scoff at him, crossing her arms. Tony tutted on the side and crossed his arms too, leaning back in the sofa with a nonchalant look on his face.

But Bruce wasn't going to let him off that lightly.

"Ohhh no no no, I'm not gonna sit there and catch all the heat when Tony was the one that looked it up on the damn database!" Bruce exposed him shamelessly as Tony's eyes went wide.

"Snitches get stitches, Bruce," he reminded him through gritted teeth.

"You knew all this time?!" Ashley hissed at him accusingly, stamping her foot in annoyance. "Why didn't you just tell me?!"

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Clint quickly shot back.

"Touché," Christie hummed, settling herself down next to Steve and ruffling his hair playfully. "I'm surprised Fury never said anything earlier."

"You two are so different," Steve observed as his eyes darted from Christie to Ashley and back again. "I would've never even guessed."

"Honestly, now I've got you side by side I can see you got this little fire and ice thing going on and I kinda dig it," Tony quickly pointed out with a little smirk. "Christie, do forgive me for asking - are you older or younger?"

"Younger," Thor guessed with a loud click of his fingers.

"Correct," Christie confirmed with a smile as she crossed her leg. "Only by a couple of years though. But we look the same age so we always pretended to be un-identical twins."

"People actually fell for that?" Tony chuckled to himself.

"People are gullible, Stark," Christie sang back, making him grin over at her. "So - when did you find out?"

"Ah, Fury kinda slipped up a few weeks back and said Red here was off to save a friend of 'her sister's'," Tony waved it off. "It only took a few short minutes and some reasonably intrusive database hacking to figure it out."

"Oh, thank you for saving Ren by the way," Christie shot a genuine, grateful smile over to Ashley which made her blush. "She's a…big fan of yours now."

"You were called to save Renesme but they never called me? She's Asgardian!" Thor blinked in confusion.

"Eh, can't do it all, buddy," Clint grimaced, raising his bottle in his direction.

"Yes, and you'd know," Tony raised his eyebrows back at him. Clint shot him a deathly look and Ashley sucked in her cheeks to prevent herself from laughing.

"Wait, Christie - Darcy said that you became an assassin when you were just 17?" Jane frowned.

"I did. Ashley and I split up in our early teens," she answered after taking a sip. "She went to the mutant school run by our dad, and I went to train in Paris and then…Budapest-"

"So your mother just agreed for you to become an assassin?" Thor clarified in disbelief.

"Honestly? She didn't care too much. She knew S.H.I.E.L.D. and she trusted them," came Christie's short response, and Thor knew her well enough to understand that it signalled the end of the conversation. He clamped his mouth shut and sat back in his seat as Christie turned the attention back to her beaming sister, who still looked too happy for words. "How have you enjoyed your time so far with these nutcases, birthday girl?"

"Oh they're genuinely lovely people," Ashley answered honestly, shooting them all loving smiles. "Honestly, running away was probably the best thing I could've ever done."

"Awwww Ash!" Bruce sent a comforting smile her way, genuinely touched. He was the one who was shyest around her when she first came into Avengers Tower, but he had really warmed up to her in such a short space of time and it was evident.

Perhaps it was the fact that they were rather alike.

"Ah, cute! So which one's your favourite?" Christie just had to ask, smirking against the rim of her champagne flute. The room fell silent as all eyes fell on Ashley expectantly. They all had one name in their heads, but none of them were overly sure who she was going to pick out loud. Ashley was clearly flustered at such a question. She couldn't believe that her sister would put her on the spot like that - but then again, she really could.

"I…um…" she spluttered awkwardly, eyes darting everywhere. She felt Steve fidget a little next to her to her and, being on the other side of him, Christie did too.

"Wait, why is Steve squirming like that?" she blinked. Clint choked on his drink and Tony let out an involuntary,

"Thereee it is!"

"There what is?" Christie gasped, shooting an expectant look over the couch at her older sister. Steve covered his face with his hands to mask the undeniable look of embarrassment growing on his face. "Um, Ash?!"

"Yeah, your big sis has a big crush on Cap," Clint couldn't help but interject, narrowly avoiding the look of venom that Ashley was glaring directly at him. "Literally since the day she got here."

"What?" Christie giggled sweetly, reaching over to playfully poke her sister's thigh. "Of course you'd fall for the good boy."

"Well yeah, you can't say the same Loki-Lover," Tony frowned under his breath.

"Ohhhh please," Ashley shuddered, staring up at the ceiling. "If you're asking who my least favourite is, by the way - it's Clint!"

"Hear hear!" Christie agreed as she rolled her eyes, causing Bruce, Tony and Thor to let out knowing chuckles. Christie and Clint's relationship was all in love but was extremely specific - whereas hers and Natasha's was completely dead.

"Hey Whitey," Clint suddenly cleared his throat, straightening himself up again, "what's worse - the fact that the sister whose shadow you lived in for most of your life is now here with us or the fact that she's best friends with your arch nemesis?"

The room fell awkwardly silent.

Ashley stared over at Christie expectantly, baffled about the 'shadow' comment, whilst Christie stared at Natasha in borderline disgust. Steve still hadn't moved his hands from his face - and at this point it, seemed like the safest option.

"Ooofft," Bruce winced, sensing the tensions rise around him. "Awkwarddd…"

"God, Birdie - you really are a nuisance," Tony whistled before hopping up to turn on the music with his thin glass remote. "Alright, pizza's here! I'm gonna go get it before it's war of the assassins in here - which is my personal idea of hell but also, in a weird way: heaven." The music got a little louder and Bruce conjured up a brand new conversation with Natasha, whilst Jane decided to spark up an improv conversation with Pepper and Clint.

"Christie! The conversation you wanted to have, I believe now's the time!" Thor decided affirmatively, standing up and ushering Christie to follow him over to the bar. Christie gave one last fleeting look to Natasha before leaping to her feet as well and leaving the group without another word. Ashley and Steve were the only ones without a conversation to join, leaving them both sitting there amongst the general chatter.

Ashley still didn't understand Clint's comment.

And now it was beginning to grate on her.

It made her nervous, and when she got nervous, her hands got hot. So hot in fact, that Steve could feel the heat emit from them where he sat. He quickly placed a hand on her wrist in an attempt to snap her out of it, but the feel of his touch against her burning skin made her gasp and she quickly turned to face him.

"Steve, I need to go s-somewhere else for a second," she breathed shakily, looking dead into his eyes to show how serious she was being. She didn't know if what she could feel bubbling up were tears or fireballs, but she didn't want to figure that out once it was too late.

"Alright, come with me," Steve muttered, standing up and holding his hand out so that Ashley could take it. She did, even though her hands were almost hot to touch and trembling. Steve closed his hand over hers and firmly pulled her up, leading her straight through the party room and out onto the nearest balcony, ignoring the knowing glances from pretty much everyone in the room. Natasha watched them leave before delivering a solid punch into Clint's forearm in annoyance. Jane, Bruce and Pepper all jumped, hearing the impact it made.

"You're such an idiot!" Natasha hissed at him. "You couldn't just let her have the last word? For once?!"

"You never let her have the last word!" Clint winced back as he rubbed on his bruised arm. Natasha rolled his eyes at him and chucked her head back in exasperation, feeling both guilty and uncomfortable at what had just taken place. Christie also had her eye on Ashley as she watched her leave the room with Steve from where she and Thor were sat at the bar. All she needed was to steal a quick glance at her sister's face and noticed a dribble of something red run down her cheeks, causing her to release a sharp breath of irritation.

Great.

Now she had to find some time to talk to her about what had just happened, no doubt - and that wasn't what she wanted.

Who had time?

...

christie's back! everybody say hiiii christie! (sorry this chapter is so late btw x)