A/N: If you don't like the character's, plot or pairings, then don't read.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Captain America, only my character/s

WORD COUNT: 3, 415

Chapter 6:

Ice To Meet Ya

Seph slowly woke up, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling.

Snippets of last night flashed in her mind and she sighed, sitting up as she rested her head in her hands. It wasn't a dream.

Groaning, she fell against the mattress.

"Good morning, Miss. Brandt." JARVIS's voice sounded in the room and Seph jumped; still not used to sudden verbal appearance of the AI.

"Um, good morning, JARVIS?" Her voice was soft as she looked around the room, looking for surveillance cameras but she couldn't find any.

"Mr. Stark has requested that I show you to the dining room where he and the others, including young Mr. Brandt are located, so they may have their meal with you." JARVIS announced and Seph nodded.

"Okay! Can you please inform Mr. Stark that I'll be there shortly?" Seph asked.

"Certainly, Miss. Brandt." JARVIS said before there was silence, indicating that he went to do as he was bid.

Seph took went to the adjoining bathroom and quickly neatened her makeup, making herself look less like a panda and more normal; to which she then fixed her hair. She sighed, knowing that this was as good as it was going to get.

She exited the bathroom and the bedroom, to which JARVIS showed her the way to the kitchen/dining room where the Avengers and her nephew were sitting. Joey was sitting with Steve, bashfully showing him the new Captain America comic that she bought him for his eleventh birthday, listening intently as Steve told the boy about how they were under enemy attack while he was drawing the first draft for it.

"Ah, The Goddess of the Underworld!" Tony called, looking straight at Seph who blushed.

Steve, Thor, Natasha, Clint and Bruce looked up at to stare at the blushing woman and Joey looked up, wondering why Tony called her that.

Steve sighed at Tony's antics before he stood respectfully and walked toward Seph and took her hand. "Persephone Brandt, I'd like you to meet my co-workers and the, well," Steve sighed once again, looking at his small group of friends with a slight smile curving his lips, "the Avengers."

Seph didn't know what to do in the presence of all these amazing people. So she did the only thing she could do.

She waved awkwardly, "hey, there."

They all smiled and waved back.

Steve went about introductions and he gestured to Bruce, "this is Dr. Bruce Banner," he was careful not to speak about his alter ego to which Bruce smiled gratefully, standing to shake the Seph's hand; he watched her warily, wondering if she was going to gush about the Other Guy.

Seph smiled brightly, shaking his hand enthusiastically, "it's nice to meet you, Dr. Banner, and thank you for everything you did for us." Bruce looked a little chuffed, looking at the red-head in shock before it turned into a slight smile.

She may have addressed the Other Guy as well, but she was looking directly at Bruce. She wasn't afraid and that dispelled his earlier worries.

"Thank you, Miss. Brandt." He answered her softly, before he sat down.

"Please, call me Seph. Or be like Steve and call me Persephone, even though I've told him countless times to call me Seph." She looked at Steve, teasingly exasperated and he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

"This is Clint Barton," Steve quickly took the heat off himself and started to introduce the rest of the Avengers, Clint nodded his head, gesturing with his hand to her and she smiled, nodding. "Natasha Romanoff." Natasha studied Seph silently, making the woman wave nervously and Steve put a hand on the back on the small of her back. Nobody missed the tension leaving her shoulders as Steve rubbed gentle circles over her back. "Thor Odinson." Thor looked up, both sides of his cheeks full from the food he'd shoveled in his mouth. A bit of bacon hung from his bursting lips as he smiled, giving everyone a preview of the chewed food he had in his mouth. Everyone groaned in disgust, but Seph giggled, wiggling her fingers at him in greeting.

"We've met, albeit not under the best of circumstances." Seph said, her smile becoming a bit strained as she remembered the events of last night; that didn't go unnoticed either.

"And here's Tony, but you met him previously." Steve sighed, his hand stopping the circles and he slowly curled his arm around her waist, his fingers drumming against her hipbone.

"Persephone," Tony said her name reverently, standing up, only to bow as if he was meeting the real goddess.

So Seph played along.

She stood tall, straightened her back and adopted a regal expression. "Peasant." She addressed him, her eyebrow raised delicately. Tony's head snapped to look at the woman who teased him. Everyone around the table, even Joey, started laughing at the fact that Tony Stark was being called a peasant, Seph felt Steve chuckle gently as Tony looked mildly amused.

"I like you." Tony shrugged softly as he sat back down at the head of the table and Steve helped her into the seat next to him, before taking his own next to Joey, who looked at his aunt and he smiled softly over to her. Persephone looked over to him and she reciprocated the smile.

Natasha watched them; Joey never really looked at Seph, it was more like he was staring at someone else and as soon as they looked away; both aunt and nephew had identical expressions of heartbreak, as if they were thinking the exact same thing and it hurt too much to even conceive in thought. It was only for a fleeting moment, almost too quick to catch, but Natasha had decades of training and reading people. She wondered if it had anything to do with tragic death of Persephone's twin sister, Barbara; Joey's mother.

Steve handed Seph all types of breakfast foods and surprising everyone at the table, apart from Joey, she took a large helping of every dish and started to eat heartily, unaware of the Avengers eyes on her.

"Cap, you got a good woman there." Clint grinned, watching the petite woman eat twice her weight's worth on the plate.

"Aunt Seph always eats like that." Joey mused, watching his aunt with a somewhat amused expression.

Seph suddenly looked up, swallowing the large portion of food that she had in her mouth, "huh?" She hummed as she watched them all stare at her.

The Avengers burst into laughter and a confused Seph watched them, her eyebrows furrowed softly.

(..)

Steve and Seph were sitting down with the rest of the Avengers, waiting for the arrival of her cousin Bobby Drake; who was an active member of the X-Men.

Natasha was watching the woman carefully, who's knee was shaking in nervousness.

It was obvious she was trying to cope with the sudden events and by the trembling of her knee, the tormented look in her eyes and her hands clutching at Steve's, she was seriously trying to keep a level head. Not many people would be so calm in the presence of the Avengers, especially someone with Seph's past experiences; but Natasha was looking out for her team and it looked like Steve was very much invested in and cared about this woman.

"Sir, Mr. Drake has arrived. Shall I let him up?" JARVIS alerted them to Bobby's arrival.

"Yeah, thanks JARVIS." Tony answered, before looking up at the Avengers and a minute later, the elevator dinged and Seph stood to greet her cousin who walked into the room and Bobby Drake entered. He was wearing brown boots, washed out blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a flannel shirt that was undone and the sleeves were rolled up.

Unlike Seph, Bobby wasn't intimidated nor surprised by the Avengers.

His blue eyes scanned every inch of the room until he found Joey and Seph and strode to her, hugging her tight. "Are you alright?" He asked, his arms wrapped around her back as she smiled, her own arms sliding around his shoulders as she hugged her cousin.

"I'm okay. I'm good, Bobby." Seph reassured him as he sighed, pulling back to see the Avengers standing and Joey walking up to his uncle, and they hugged briefly.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Seph said, "uh, this is my cousin Bobby. He's an X-Man." She introduced Bobby who waved with one hand, the other stuffed in his pocket.

"Nice to meet you, guys." Bobby grinned before he slung one arm over Seph's shoulder. "Which one of you dated my cousin?" He got straight to the point with a grin on his face.

"Bobby!" Seph shrieked, her entire face going bright red as he looked over all the Avengers, his eyebrows raised slightly. He wasn't going to let it go, now that he was here.

"You didn't say I couldn't find out." Bobby pleaded his case, looking over the Avengers as Seph hid her face in her hands.

Steve chuckled before standing and walked over to Bobby, easily towering over him as he held his hand out, "Steve Rogers. I was Seph's date last night." Their hands shook

Bobby's eyes widened and looked at Seph in shock, to which the red-head smacked his chest. "Don't look so surprised, you ass!" Seph's obvious irritation at her cousins shock made laughter ripple among the superhero group and Bobby laughed, before his hand that was on Seph's shoulder turned to ice and she squealed in shock, pulling away from the sudden zero plus temperature.

Joey laughed along with Bobby, as this was a natural thing with the family while the others watched Bobby's ice hand revert back to normal easily.

Bobby looked up at the stunned individuals on the couches before turning his eyes to what they had directed their attentions to.

His hand.

Putting two and two together before his face melted into recognition, "Oh!" He exclaimed, "sorry, I'm sure Seph told you that I'm a mutant." They nodded collectively, "well, my ability is Cryokinesis." At the confused looks on Thor, Natasha, Clint, Tony, Bruce and Steve's faces, he elaborated, "the Professor's definition would be: I have the power to create sub-freezing temperatures, turn any liquid into ice, create ice projectiles and shields and even generate a full body suit of ice armor when I need to or want to."

"Okay, so," Tony piped up, trying to wrap his head around everything that's occurred, "you're related to Sub-Zero?" He looked at Seph while pointing to Bobby, who chuckled.

Seph nodded in defeat.

Steve just sighed, his head hanging in exasperation at the only remaining Stark's antics.

"Okay, all jokes aside, I'd rather my cousin and my nephew weren't targets for something they aren't." Bobby said and everyone sobered.

"We've got both perps in two glass containers. I installed the divider last night." Tony said.

"How will it keep them contained if it's glass?" Bobby looked confused.

"The container was developed for something much stronger than just two assassins." Bruce piped up, his expression grave. "It was meant for the. . Other Guy."

All of the Avengers looked solemn, almost as if they too, didn't like keeping the Hulk in a confined space, especially when he was angry.

"Anyone interrogated them, yet?" Bobby asked, pulling away from Seph as his blue eyes hardened, becoming steely.

"They have not roused yet. I'm afraid we may have struck them harder than we should have. I am used to. . . stronger opponents." Thor turned away, sheepish.

"Well, time for a wake-up call." Steve announced, his back straightening and he looked every inch of the captain he was purported to be, just like last night. "I think, Joseph, you should stay here, for your own safety. I'm not risking you and neither would your aunt." Captain America addressed the young boy who followed the order instantly.

"JARVIS will keep an eye on you. Uh, here." Tony delved into his pocket and tossed his Stark phone to the boy. "Go nuts, kid."

Joey caught the phone, sweeping his dark hair from his eyes and looked up at the billionaire, "thank you, Mr. Stark." His face showed just how excited he was, until he looked up at his aunt and the smile slipped. "W-what about Aunt Seph?" His indigo blue eyes turned to Steve and the war hero was struck. Joey had incredible eyes, almost hypnotic.

"Your aunt will come with us. She may have some things to ask about this problem. If you need anything, just ask JARVIS and he'll come get us." Steve said, smiling gently at the young boy who nodded.

"Stay safe, Aunt Seph." Joey half-smiled at Seph who nodded, tears in her eyes.

"You got it, kiddo."

(..)

Seph released a shaky breath, holding onto Steve's hand and he looked down at her to see that she was distressed.

"Hey, are you alright?" Steve worried over her.

"It's all real, isn't it?" Seph's voice was shaky as Bobby walked behind her, getting closer to their destination.

Steve looked down, ashamed. "I'm afraid so," his hand tightened around hers, trying to give her an anchor to the present, so she didn't experience another panic attack.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry about last night." Seph apologized and his heart stopped.

'She's not talking about the kiss, is she?' He thought for a fleeting moment.

"You never should have had to witness me like that. I'm so sorry." Seph sighed, looking up at Steve, "but. . thank you, for snapping me out of it."

Steve mentally sighed. She wasn't talking about the kiss, even though they would need to talk about it at some point; if she remembered, she didn't let on.

Bobby put a hand on her shoulder. "Deep breaths, Seph. Don't let it get to you." Seph nodded and focused on her breathing as she placed her well-being in the hands of her cousin and her love interest. Bobby seemed to know what he was doing as Steve turned to the cryokinetic mutant, studying him, "she had a panic attack yesterday, didn't she?" Bobby asked, his expression pensive as he turned his eyes to Steve.

"Yeah, after the assassin attacked and we subdued him, she. . had a severe panic attack." Steve kept his eyes trained to Seph, who looked more than a little sad.

Bobby sighed, obviously knowing something that Steve didn't as he squeezed Seph's shoulder softly. "It's okay, Seph." He said and she nodded, but she wasn't exactly listening.

They entered Tony's lab to see the two assassins already awake, trying to find a way out when Joanna saw Seph and the red-head's hands tightened, anger coursing through her veins, all signs of sadness and distress evaporated.

This mother, whom she trusted to look after her nephew, was going to eliminate him, regardless if Seph had been murdered or not. As far as Seph was concerned now, Joanna Vreyshkov didn't deserve to live.

Joanna smirked, "next time, I'll get the job done and that little shit of yours will be dead."

Seph's jaw clenched and she took a deep breath. "You're lucky to be alive. If it was up to me, I'd have thrown you out the window of the tallest floor and went back to drinking my coffee without batting an eyelash." She snarled and Joanna's smirk faltered, "you mess with me and you'll get a warning, you mess with my family and you won't see me coming." She snarled at the woman and the members of the Avengers let her say what she wanted.

Joanna kept her mouth shut as to not be provoked and Steve gently pulled Seph back, holding her close to his chest.

"Who sent you?" Steve commanded.

"Why would we tell you?" The man now spoke, glaring at Steve.

"Because, Mr. Gregory Kingston, well, that's not your real name is it?" Nat taunted, before continuing, "we know who the both of you are. Your identities are compromised and your both going to be our 'guests' for the entirety that the organization that you work for remains operational." Natasha spoke up calmly and Gregory's neutral expression melted into one of pure hatred, but neither prisoners spoke again before Bobby walked forward.

"Let me in there with them." He snarled, his fists clenching so hard, frost started to seep from his arms.

"They're trained assassins, they brought Steve down. What makes you think you'd fair any better?" Tony stepped forward.

"Mr. Stark, these assassins just tried to murder my family in cold blood, just because they got a flawed order. Frankly I don't care that it was misinformation, Seph and Joseph have been through so much and they've overcome many problems and some they are still dealing with today. I will never stand for someone trying to hurt what family I have left just because of that." Bobby's blue eyes turned to Seph, who's head was low. "And with all due respect to Captain Rogers," the cryokinetic mutant nodded toward the super-solder, "but I think I can shield myself a little better."

Steve looked toward the young man, chuckling at the pun.

Seph looked at her cousin in worry and he smiled cockily, "don't worry, Seph. I'll be fine."

"You're asking the queen of worrying, remember?" Seph quipped.

"Maybe you should relinquish your crown." Bobby shot back, sending her a crooked half-grin before he started forward, but Seph caught him arm, making him turn.

"Be careful, alright?" Her eyes were earnest and her breathing shook slightly. She was afraid.

Bobby nodded, his sincerity ran off him in rivulets, "always." That was all the confirmation Seph needed, for she loosened her hold and let him go. "Don't die on me, Frosty."

"If you keep calling me Frosty, I'll show you what frosty really is," Bobby warned his cousin but she grinned, challenging him like she always did.

"We'll see, snowman." Seph teased him one more time and he turned back, winking at her before his entire body was encased in his ice armor and the glass door was opened. As soon as he stood inside and the electronic door closed, the entire cage frosted over and there was nothing to be seen.

"I'm sorry, sir; but the cameras and microphones have been compromised due to the sub-zero temperatures. There is no way of telling what Mr. Drake will do." JARVIS informed of them and they all looked to Seph for confirmation, who knew Robert Drake better than anyone here.

"I wouldn't have let him go in there if I had any doubt in his promise." Seph's answer was short and to the point.

"Are you sure? Some people tend to be different than what you first initially thought." Steve countered, looking down at her as she looked up.

"I know that. My ex-boyfriend is proof of that, but I know Bobby. He would never lie to me." Seph backed up her claim, looking fierce as her back straightened and her hands balled into fists as she argued her point.

With the additional information that Nat had done, she knew that Persephone Brandt was stronger than most, had been through more than most and would fight harder than most, but Seph's display of ferocity and loyalty to her family, and the fight she put up last night to protect Steve; Nat was a little bit warmer to Seph, but she wouldn't trust her still. There were things that the red-head was keeping from them. It was only a matter of time.

That was when they heard dual muffled thuds coming from the cage.