The debriefing from the Australian mission was later that day. Chris was surprised when Director Crenshaw messaged her that he'd just arrived at the compound for the meeting.

Honestly, she was exhausted between the mission and the night she'd spent with the two super soldiers. At least she had a heads up that her boss was there. She dressed as she did at the bureau, a black pantsuit, a modest white blouse, low heels. Somehow, she managed to get a decent makeup job on and arranged her hair into a French twist. Checking the mirror before she left, she decided she was presentable. There was a mark low on her neck and she frowned at that. Damn it, Steve. One more button done up, primly, and that scandalous mark was sufficiently covered.

As she did before, she found her way into the conference room. This time she wasn't wound uptight and worried about making an impression. She was one of the last to arrive, her space next to Natasha open.

Oh, she could feel two pairs of blue eyes on her. No, not looking at you. God, she'd lose her composure for certain if she did and she was barely hanging on by a thread. It was a miracle she didn't have a permanent blush tattooed on her face after last night.

"Morning, Danforth," Tony called as she took a seat, smirking.

Chris nodded to him, to Natasha who regarded her with a brow raised in question.

"Danforth," her boss acknowledged her and of course, he was sitting right next to them. "Having trouble keeping up with the enhanced?"

Chris caught Steve's gaze, and he did his damnedest to keep a straight face, truly. Bucky wasn't even trying to hide anything with the shit-eating grin he wore.

Chris shrugged, not reaching out to read them even though Steve's emotions were wide open, full force at her. Attraction. Desire. Amusement. Damn him.

"Possibly," she said nonchalantly.

Next to her, Natasha snorted.

Tony glanced curiously between her and the soldiers. Oh, he knew something was up. He just didn't know what. Probably better if things stayed that way.

Another wave of curiosity hit her from the other side of the table, Sam Wilson was studying her. Hard.

Tony and Nick Fury got started on the debriefing, each part of the team reviewing their assignments and how well they thought they did. By the time they got around to talk of restoring Australia's infrastructure, Chris allowed Tony to do most of the talking, adding very little of her own.

Crenshaw finally nodded. "Thank you, Directory Fury. You and your team did good work. Thanks for looking after Danforth and Jennings."

"Where is Jennings?" Chris looked around, not finding the young man.

"Seriously hung over," Sam said with a laugh. "Young man needs to learn to hold his liquor."

Crenshaw shook his head. "He needs to conduct himself better than that."

"What can we say?" Tony was talking to Crenshaw, but his eyes were on Chris. "You send them to us, we corrupt them."

"Thank you," Steve cut in on that note, "for allowing them to help us and entrusting them to us."

Her director nodded. "We seem to deal well together."

The meeting was adjourned, and Chris was already up.

"Danforth," her boss halted her movements. "I need you to stay, please."

Chris sank back down into the seat, watching everyone aside from Nick, Tony, her boss, and Steve leave the room. Bucky winked at her as he walked by, and from the quick read she did of him, he didn't know what this additional meeting was about.

Steve, however, did. His gaze was steady on her, she read a bit of worry on him.

What was going on?

Once the door was closed, Clint being the last out, Tony came and took a seat between her and her boss.

"Gentleman, thank you for agreeing to stay for this," Crenshaw started. "I appreciate your help."

Their help? What was up?

Nick Fury regarded her with his one eye, his look not unfriendly.

"Chris," her boss started, and whenever he used her first name, shit was serious, "I have some bad news. Athena's been compromised."

Chris could only stare at him. "What?"

Crenshaw's expression was as kind as it got – for him. "I'm sorry. One of the commands you used in the Australian Embassy, gave somebody watching an idea that you were there. Another spider on the line confirmed it. I'm not sure what happened but they've got your identity. They know who you are, where you live."

Her heart began to pound. The only living family she had left was her mother's younger sister.

"What about Aunt Jenny?" Chris wanted to know. Her heart sank to think she'd put that sweet lady in harm's way. Her aunt had married once but was currently divorced and had no children. At least there was that.

"We're relocating her as we speak," Crenshaw explained. "Her career in nursing makes it easy to move her. Just a bit of inconvenience. We're handling everything, but you should probably send a fruit basket. Anonymously."

Aunt Jenny deserved far more. Her entire life upended and for what? Because Chris fucked up. Her heart sank.

Steve's gaze caught hers, he was concerned for her. And there was something else…

"Where am I being sent?" She needed to know.

Fury spoke up. "Considering you've been compromised by HYDRA, we collectively have decided it would be safest for you to remain here for the time being."

Chris blew out an exhale. It made sense but… "But I'm out, right?"

Crenshaw's expression told her the answer before he could say it. "I'm sorry, Chris. It's for your own protection."

Chris shook her head, shock setting in. For now, she wasn't with the bureau. And the bureau had created Athena.

"You have technical skills that rival Stark's," Fury told her.

"Does not," Tony argued.

"Tony," Steve said in warning.

"We can certainly use those skills here and we're strong enough to protect you from HYDRA," Fury reasoned. "Perhaps in a year or so, we can reevaluate the situation."

"A year?" Chris couldn't believe it. She was losing her job in the bureau because of a simple mistake?

"Sorry, Chris," Crenshaw told her.

"So, I officially work for who now?"

"Stark Industries," Tony told her, "under a pseudonym."

Chris wasn't getting out of it. By this point, even Tony looked concerned on her behalf.

Losing her fragile grip, she rose from her chair. "Director Crenshaw, is there anything I need to do to wrap up anything for the bureau?"

The older man shook his head. "It will be taken care of. I'll get your things to you as soon as I safely can. And of course, I'll keep in touch. It's not forever, agent."

"Of course," she said even though her tone betrayed her crumbling state. "Director Fury, Mr. Stark, Captain Rogers, thank you for providing me with a job and safety. That's very generous of you. Thank you so much."

With that, Chris headed for the door, proud to have walked more or less normally until she was out the doors.

Chris snatched off her shoes the minute the doors closed and sprinted to the elevators, passing a surprised Natasha and Clint as she ran by. Still, they didn't see her cry. She held on until she made it up her room – was it the room she was going to keep? – and made it safely inside.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" She asked, shaking now.

"Yes, Agent Danforth?" the AI asked pleasantly.

"Can you put me on don't disturb for the foreseeable future," she asked. "I don't want to talk to anyone. Is that okay? Can you do that?"

"Of course, Agent. Enabling privacy protocols."

"Yeah, that," Chris said. "Thank you."

It was just surreal. For the moment, her position in the bureau was gone. Her aunt's life was being uprooted and she couldn't even reach out to her to apologize. Her apartment, gone. Her belongings, gone for a while.

Chris tried, she really did, to see the good side of the situation. Working for Tony Stark? She could do far worse. He'd been her role model after all.

Stay here with the Avengers? Steve and Bucky had to love that.

She knew enough to know that they had nothing to do with her being compromised. She'd done that herself and was even pretty certain she knew when it had happened. Still, they were here for her even if everyone did figure out what was going on between the three of them in short order. Natasha likely already figured it out.

All of it made her head and heart ache.

Pulling her hair down and shrugging out of her jacket, Chris left it on her couch, going back to her bedroom and throwing herself across the bed.

Later. Later she could piece her life together again. She could come to terms with the positives in this situation.

Right now, she was heart-broken. One small, stupid-ass mistake and she her life was upheaved.

The dam broke, and she really started to cry, to wallow in it. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

They waited until Chris left the conference room before anyone spoke.

"So, Danforth isn't part of the Avengers' Initiative?" Tony asked.

"Sure, she can be," Fury told him, "in the background. With her skills, she can offer remote support. It's not like she's enhanced or trained as one of you. It's safest if she remains here under the circumstances."

"I agree," Steve said.

Tony raised a brow at him. "What's up with Danforth and Barnes? Are they good?"

Steve nodded. "Everything's fine."

"And you?"

"What about me, Tony?"

"Kind of looked like a love triangle, Cap, not going to lie," Tony admitted. "You're not Edward to their Bella and Jacob, are you?"

Steve hated this part. He'd forgotten just how much. But if the lie would protect Bucky and Chris, he could do that. If it meant he could enjoy nights like last night, he could definitely do that.

"Everything's fine, Tony," Steve told him.

"What's the nature of the relationship between Danforth and Barnes?" Fury asked Steve directly. "Not to be indelicate but considering what's happened to Danforth's career today, I don't want things to get worse for her if they don't have to."

"Understood," Steve told him, schooling his features carefully. "But it's… casual. What do they call it these days? Friends with benefits?"

Fury nodded. "Might want to advise Barnes that it needs to stay that way for a while."

The older man made his way to the door, turning back to Tony before walking out. "Let me know if you need anything, Stark."

Tony nodded, waited until Nick left the room before turning on Steve.

"Friends with benefits, huh?" Tony was direct. "Why did both you and Chris walk out of Barnes' apartment this morning?"

"Why were you watching to see who came out of Bucky's door?" Steve shot back.

"She looked exhausted, Cap."

Steve didn't feel he owed Tony or anyone an explanation. He didn't say anything.

"No? Nothing to say?" Tony pressed.

"What do you want me to say?" Steve scowled at him.

"I want to know what's going on, Steve," Tony told him, holding up a hand when Steve tried to cut in. "No, hear me out. My compound, my people handling press for everyone here, now including her. If you guys are doing something different… I need to know so I can contain it, okay? Eventually. Right now, no one can even know she's here."

"Different?"

"Yeah, you know like back in the forties," Tony went on. "My father hinted that something went on between you and Barnes and Agent Carter. Back in the day, it meant nothing to me. Hell, if I didn't hear about you so much from my old man, I would have thought you were cool just for that."

Tony grinned, shook his head. "Now remembering those stories is taking on a whole new meaning for me, Cap. And hey, I'm not here to judge you. But I need to know if something different is going on here."

Steve didn't answer for a long moment, staring hard at the table in front of him.

"What if something… different… is going on?" Steve said quietly.

Tony was honestly shocked. Steve had to fight not to smile at the satisfaction of that.

"You mean different like you and her and him different? Like that?" Tony's brows were nearly at his hairline.

"Maybe," Steve felt his face heat up.

Tony was nearly rendered speechless. "You're serious?"

Steve was done. He went to stand up. Tony's hand on his forearm stopped.

"You are." Tony's face was a study in shock. "Wow. Cap, I've got to say, I'm… well, I'm impressed I mean…"

"Hey," Steve cut in sharply. "It's no one's business but ours. I don't want anything said. Not a word. And I don't want her or Bucky treated disrespectfully because of it, do you understand? I won't tolerate it. I'll personally put a stop to it."

Tony nodded soberly. "I gotcha. Understood. And hey, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm open-minded."

"Is there anything else?" Steve asked, wanting Tony to get it all out of his system.

"That poor girl," Tony muttered, amused, "she'd have a better chance with a bulldozer."

"Tony," Steve warned.

"Okay, okay," Tony said, putting his hands up in defense. "Well, she's my employee now and I expect you to take exceptionally good care of her. She's had a pretty terrible morning."

"You think I don't know that?"

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?"

"Yes, Tony?" the AI asked.

"What's the status of Agent Danforth?"

"She has enacted privacy protocols," the AI told them.

Tony and Steve winced.

"Good luck with that," Tony told him. "She can have a few days. That's understandable. But you two need to go… make her happy again"

Steve nodded, rose. He needed to talk to Bucky first.

He stopped at the door of the conference room.

"Is she going to be useful to you?" Steve wondered. "Chris doesn't strike me as someone who does well under glass."

"Agreed." Tony's nod was enthusiastic. "Fury wasn't kidding when he said she was almost as good as me. She very much is. But she's no good to me sad and depressed. So… you know what to do."

Steve just hoped she was okay. He and Bucky had already thrown a lot at her and then, things got worse.

Normally they were training but Bucky decided to wait for Steve, to see what the additional meeting was about. He knew it had to do with Chris. He only hoped whatever it was that Chris was okay and she wouldn't be somehow put out of their reach.

It wasn't good. He could read that on Steve's face when he walked in.

Still, his heart fluttered like a teenager's when Steve leaned down to kiss his mouth. Oh, how many years had it been since they'd last been like that? On the one hand, he was so happy he didn't know what to do with himself.

On the other, he hoped Chris was okay.

"What happened?" Bucky asked him as he took a seat next to him on the couch.

"Athena has been compromised," Steve explained.

"Shit," Bucky muttered. Yeah, it was bad. "What happens now? Is she okay?"

"Her boss and Fury decided it would be safest if she remained here with us," Steve told him. "She technically works for Stark now, she'll assist us remotely on missions. She's under our protection."

Bucky processed that for a moment. "Not that I'm unhappy she's staying here," he said, "but our poor doll baby."

"I know," Steve replied. "She loves working for the bureau. She loves her independence and she just had the rug pulled out from under her."

"Was it Australia?"

Steve nodded. "HYDRA to be more specific."

"Fuck," Bucky muttered angrily. "There's no way they're getting their hands on our girl."

"No, they aren't, but… She's not going to think we had anything to do with this, right?" Steve asked.

"Surely she'd know that wasn't the case," Bucky said. "As much as I want to keep her, I wouldn't do that to her and neither would you. Even if we knew how."

"How is going to go… with us… if she feels trapped?" Steve shook his head. "She doesn't want to talk to anyone right now. I just… I hope she's okay."

Bucky nodded. "We'll give her some time and check on her. I know she's got to be so disappointed, but she'll be safe here. Who knows? In time she might even find she's happy here."

Steve looked thoughtful. "Tony knows."

"Shit. How?"

Steve's cheeks darkened. "Seems Howard knew about us and Peggy back in the day…"

"Told you," Bucky pointed out.

"Well, Tony took that and put two and two together."

Bucky grinned. "Pretty sure Nat knows too."

"Of course she does."

"Not their business, Stevie."

"No, it's not." Steve leaned in, pressing his lips to Bucky's. "But right now, Chris is hurting. The last thing I want is for someone to say the wrong thing to her about this. She's had a foot out the door since the beginning. I don't think it would take a lot to lose her. Hell, I'm just trying to get her to give me a chance."

Bucky wrapped his flesh arm around Steve, rubbing easy circles on his substantial arm.

"I know what you mean," Bucky told him. "She's not exactly gone for me either. Not sure if that just makes me want to try harder or what. She just… she awakened something in me, Stevie. She made me want again. I need her."

Steve nodded. "She made me remember that I need you."

"I don't want to lose her, Stevie," Bucky admitted.

"We're going to have to be careful with her," Steve told him.

Bucky held Steve tighter. Just as Steve and Peggy had found each other during a time when Bucky had been out of the picture, he'd found someone who he considered every bit as wonderful as Peggy and that was saying a lot. He just knew in time Steve would come to love her ashe did.

If they could hang on to her.

"Let's get to training," Steve told him, rising from the couch.

Bucky nodded, tired from the mission and last night but eager to keep occupied until they got to see her again.