AN: I know I slowed down again in the update department. October is a month I should give up on getting anything done. I work part time at a professional haunted house in addition to my normal job. It takes a lot more energy than you would think to scare the crap out of people and send them running in abject terror! :-) I'm back and writing again so hopefully I'll get ahead and be able to start posting more regularly. Thank you guys for the comments and reviews! It really helps to know that people are still reading through the delays in updating.

Thank you Nocturnalrites for the beta! Your comments and notes always help make this a better story!

Chapter 27

Felicity checked the camera feed that showed her Verdant. Roy was still stocking the bar and preparing for opening. He'd be down in a little while to meet with Steve and Bruce but until he came down and they showed up, it was just her and Sara. The older woman was working on the salmon ladder. By the clunking and grunting she had been at it for a while. Oliver hadn't hung around long when Felicity arrived so she was fairly sure they were fighting. Sara and Oliver had been doing that a lot lately, but it was a strange kind of fighting: like they were going to out-quiet each other.

"You look like you've been at that for a while. Is it helping?" she asked, hoping to pull the blond assassin out of her silence. Maybe she could help if Sara would open up to her. Oliver seemed to take some comfort from talking to Felicity when he was upset. She squelched that thought. Oliver and Sara had floored her with their relationship or maybe just the timing of it. It was hard at first not to resent them both a little. Oliver promised that the bad news she'd just given him about his mother's lies and Thea being only Oliver's half-sister would never hurt their friendship. He'd never abandon her. It had all been very comforting until the very next day when he hooked up with Sara and pushed Felicity away.

Felicity blushed again at the thought of her embarrassing pain reliever induced rant to Oliver about wanting to be 'his' girl, not his girl but his girl… oh God. She barely kept herself from smacking her own head against a wall to knock the memories out. It had all worked out like it was supposed to. She met Steve, but it didn't completely mean that Oliver's rejection hadn't hurt.

"Earth to Felicity," Sara said in a voice that suggested she was repeating herself. Felicity pulled her mind back to the present. "Where did you go?"

"Just watching you do that," she waved her arm up and down at the ladder Sara was presently hanging from. "It looks really hard," she blurted, almost wincing at the stupid statement that just came out of her mouth, but she wasn't about to admit where her head had been. She wasn't proud of herself back then so revisiting it wasn't something she shouldn't be doing.

"It's not really that hard," Sara answered back casually as she reached the bottom rung and dropped lightly on her feet.

Not that hard, yeah right, Felicity thought. She wondered if she'd rolled her eyes. Sara was looking at her a little weirdly. Well, pulling conversation out of Sara wasn't easy on a good day and this wasn't a good day.

OK, in for a penny, in for a pound as her grandmother would say. "I've been told I'm good to talk to," she started. "I mean I know I'm usually doing the talking and it's usually babble really, but I can listen if you want." She hoped that sounded better than it did to her own ears.

"You're sweet," Sara told her, reaching out and pulling Felicity into a rare hug. "I'm fine. Just have a few things I need to work out."

With that Sara grabbed her bag, tossed a towel over her shoulder and headed out the back way. Felicity watched her come to a halt as Steve came in the door. Steve stepped back and held the door to allow Sara room.

"What was that all about?" Steve asked after the door had shut. Sara had barely acknowledged Steve as she passed him. Felicity's heart sped up at his voice. She liked how settled he always sounded, with just a hint of mischief hidden under.

"That was Sara telling me that the salmon ladder is easy," Felicity answered, deciding on a safe topic. She wasn't about to discuss how awkward she could feel around Sara or the stupid things she'd said or done before she met Steve.

"Isn't too hard, I suppose, never really took much interest in it. What started that line of thought?" he asked coming to stand in front of her and resting his hands on her hips to pull her closer to him. He was getting more comfortable with her and touching her more often. She really liked it.

"I don't know," she replied, using her nails to scratch lightly across his arm. He always got goosebumps when she did it just right. Yep, she watched his flesh react to her soft touch and smiled when she watched him shiver as it ran up his spin. "I guess I was just curious. I know I could never do that. I wouldn't make it to the first rung."

"Sure, you could," he told her, kissing her on the nose. "C'mere." Steve grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the bar. Surely he wasn't suggesting that she should try it.

"Kick off your shoes for me, doll," he instructed.

She was about to protest. She couldn't do the salmon ladder. She wouldn't make it to the first rung. Then Felicity's words died in her throat as Steve lined up behind her. He pulled her tight against him with one arm banded across her middle.

"Shoes," he reminded her.

She kicked them a little ways away from her. The concrete was cold on her toes, but the heat of Steve at her back had more to do with the shiver that ran through her than the temperature of the floor.

"Now, reach up and grab the bar," he instructed, using his arm to help her up. She obediently grabbed the bar.

"I can't do this, Steve," she protested, still holding the bar. "I'll get killed or drop the bar on my head or something equally as embarrassing." That was sure to happen. There wasn't any way she'd even be able to make the bar jump out of the first rung. She turned her head back into his shoulder and looked up at him sideways. "What if I drop it on your head and I'm the one that gives Captain America a concussion and a black eye? I could end up in jail for defacing a national icon. I wouldn't look good in orange." That caught him off guard, Steve burst out laughing. It wasn't often she could get that kind of laugh out of him, but she liked when she did.

"It's defacing public property, I think," he corrected her.

"I know, but I figured they'd have to make a new category because you're you."

"I'm not a public monument, Felicity. Don't worry, can't get arrested for defacing me."

"Vandalism?" she tried.

"Nope, not that either," he answered, still chuckling. "And I promise not to let you drop the bar on either of us. You trust me, don't you?"

His blue eyes still twinkled with amusement; he was like a big kid that wanted to show her something. Felicity's heart skipped a beat and it was suddenly a little harder to breathe.

"I trust you," she assured him. She turned her head back around and adjusted her hands on the bars. Her palms were a little sweaty and she could feel her pulse kick up with her nervousness. Then Steve put one big hand in between hers on the bar, gripping it in the center. He had a button up shirt on with the long sleeves rolled up. It framed his forearm beautifully. She couldn't take her eyes off the way the muscles rolled and flexed as he settled his hand firmly on the bar and took most of their weight.

"I'm going to be your spotter and help you out a little bit. Is that OK, doll?"

She nodded, it was more than okay. She could see what he was going to do now. He was going to lift her up to the next rung so she'd get the feeling of what it was like. He was almost tall enough with the reach of his arms. He might have to jump a little. She tilted her head back to look up again.

"Relax, Felicity," he told her. "Let your body move the same as me."

She could do that. "It's sort of like sex on a stick. I can do this," she reassured herself under her breath. Felicity jumped at the unexpected huff of air that passed by her shoulder as Steve burst out laughing again. This time, it was a deep belly laugh. She'd never heard him laugh like that before, but she was sure she wanted to again, often. She looked back over her shoulder at him. There were tears in his eyes from the laughter and his face was the brightest red she'd ever seen it.

"Before you even ask, enhanced hearing," he told her between breaths as he got himself back under control. He took a deep steadying breath, kissed her neck where her hair was pulled up and adjusted him behind her one more time.

"Here we go," he said, picking up his legs and swinging them both back and up. With his hand in the middle of the bar, Steve didn't allow her arms to take very much of her own weight and they were suddenly jumping up to the next rung. "See how easy."

She laughed and adjusted her hands. It felt really good. He was holding her so she couldn't fall, but letting her have just enough of her own weight to see how it felt to move the bar to the next rung.

"Now try to relax and move with me," he instructed patiently. "Ready?"

Steve swung his body back and up. This time she followed him more closely. Having his arm banded around her waist helped. Once again they hit the next rung. "Again," he told her keeping the movement going. They hit the next rung. Felicity was relaxing and finding the rhythm of matching Steve's moves. She laughed with delight as they hit the top rung.

"I'm not looking down," she told him. "I don't like heights, but this was fun. How do we get down now?"

"The same way we got up, but backwards." He suited actions to words and they worked their way down, rung by rung.

When they hit the floor, she let go of the bar and wiggled to get him to set her down. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she spun in his arms and pulled him down into a kiss. She licked at his lips and into his mouth as soon as he opened to her. It felt good to feel the rumble of a moan go through him. She needed to taste him. Her body was tingling with the rush of having gone to the top of the ladder and back down, even if it was Steve that took most of the weight and did the work.

"That was fun, thank you!" Felicity exclaimed after she broke the kiss. She didn't pull away. It felt really good to have his arms around her. He felt so solid and warm. Sometimes it was hard to remember he really wasn't far from her own age. Steve made her feel like she could do anything in the world as long as he was there beside her.

"See, told you it was a breeze," he agreed before capturing her lips again. Steve reached down and cupped her bottom, pulling her up his body so that she was sitting on his left forearm and his right was around her back. It was her turn to moan as he deepened their kiss.

"Maybe we should leave," a male voice said behind them, startling them.

"Where's the fun in that, Doc?" a female voice answered as Steve set her down and turned, shielding her with his body. That was a good thing, she decided as she did up the couple of buttons she was completely unsure how he'd managed to undo.

"Bruce, Nat," Steve sounded a bit winded. Felicity hid a smile. She'd done that to him. She'd made Steve Rogers all breathless. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Or notice us standing here for the last few minutes, we see that, Cap," Natasha said. The casual way that she was leaning against the desk and how far they were into the room made Felicity wonder just how long they'd been there and how much they'd seen. She dismissed the idea. Even if they'd seen her and Steve working out on the ladder, they weren't doing anything wrong.

Felicity stepped to Steve's side and got her first really good look at Natasha. She was as beautiful in real life as the pictures of her suggested and moved with a natural grace that pulled Felicity's eye to her. This was Steve's partner in the flesh. It was his kickass, drop dead gorgeous partner that probably knew more about him than anyone. The one he spoke so highly of and drew sleeping on bombed out rubble.

Felicity had to stamp out her insecurities as Steve reached behind Felicity and laid a comforting hand on the small of her back.

"Felicity, this is Dr. Bruce Banner," he told her. "And this is my partner Natasha Romanov." Steve turned and smiled down at her. "This is my best girl, Felicity Smoak." She could hear the warmth and pride in Steve's voice and see the softness in his eyes. Felicity melted a little inside. She smiled back at him, feeling like she might burst with happiness. How did I get this lucky, she thought as she turned back to the two people in front of her.

"We've talked on the phone. It's nice to finally meet you, Ms. Smoak." Bruce told her, taking the hand she'd offered. "I have the feeling you're to thank for Steve's much improved mood these days."

'Felicity," she corrected. "I'm not sure I can take credit for Steve's mood, but thank you. It's nice to meet you in person."

"We didn't mean to interrupt your training session, Felicity," Natasha remarked.

Felicity waved a hand to dismiss Natasha's concern. "Oh, we weren't really training. Steve was just showing me how to do the salmon ladder. Well, not that he was actually showing me how to do it, just how it felt to use his body to move the pole up and down." Oh God, that sounded bad. "I mean that I could never get the pole up out of the hole without... "

"Doll," Steve interrupted quickly, the red starting at his neck and moving up quickly. A fit of coughing hit Bruce at about the same time. "Natasha brought Bruce by to meet Roy."

Felicity turned gratefully to Steve. Sometimes she really hated her lack of brain/mouth filter. "I'm going to take Bruce up to meet Roy," he told everyone. "This way, Bruce." Steve was red and obviously trying not to call attention to her ramble or his reaction. He quickly pointed Bruce to the stair and was already following the other man out. He turned as they reached the stairs. "Would you mind showing Natasha the info you've got on Mr. Wilson and the Mirakuru?" It sure seemed like he was in a hurry to get upstairs. He didn't even wait for her answer. She sure knew how to clear a room.

"Men are children," Natasha commented.

"He usually takes my runaway mouth much better than that so I can let him have this one." At Natasha's smile Felicity stepped to her shoes, wiggled her feet back into them and turned back to the woman standing behind her. "My computers are over here. I can show you everything we know on Slade Wilson from the island and Oliver: all the stuff that wasn't in any files."

Natasha reached out to stop Felicity with a touch. "I've never heard Steve laugh like that. We heard him before we were even fully in the door. It was a full belly, tears in his eyes, laugh." Steve's partner paused like she was searching for her words. "It looks good on him. Don't change anything you're doing." She held Felicity's eyes for a moment, her look warm. Felicity felt like she'd earned the highest praise this deadly woman could give. She was touched and for the first time, speechless.

Natasha dropped her hand and headed toward the bank of computers. "You were going to show me intel on Slade Wilson?" Felicity hurried after her, eager to show the only woman Avenger what they had on Slade and his plans.