Over the following week, S.H.I.E.L.D. prepared for the next mission. Ross was around the entire week, staring at Chris often as she worked hard in her office to do her job and act oblivious. By the third day, Ross wasn't having it, standing in her doorway as she tried to head to the food court for lunch.

Chris did her best to not show emotion. Benignly she glanced up at the stern-looking man.

"Can I help you?" Chris asked calmly.

"A moment of your time, Agent Danforth," he said stepping forward, deliberately making her step back and shutting her office door behind him.

Chris went to lean on her desk and folded her arms across her desk. She watched passively as he took a seat in front of her desk.

"Our next mission in St. Petersburg is crucially important," Ross started with.

Chris nodded. It was a fact she knew and understood.

"I don't like the fact that you're involved in the mission at all," he said, narrowing his eyes on her.

Chris nodded again. "I'm aware."

"Do you honestly think because of your… inappropriate relationship with Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes that you're safe from me?" Ross said way too calmly.

"Do you honestly think bringing up an unrelated facet of my life will intimidate me at all when it comes to my career?" she asked.

His emotions were strong, made her pause. Here was a man who didn't want control. He needed it.

His feelings towards Chris? Her only significance to him was a means to hurt Steve. He wasn't even trying to hide it.

"I like your empathic ability," Ross said, the secretary doing air quotes with his fingers as he said it. "It did you no good in the FBI. Why do you think it will benefit you here?"

Natasha stood not far from her office, could see inside because of the clear glass walls. The spy eyed Ross warily, looking ready to burst in if Chris should need him. It also gave her an excuse to talk to Bruce who walked towards her in the hallway beyond.

Chris grinned at Ross.

"Is this the part where you to tell me to run off and read tarot cards at the circus, Mr. Secretary?" Chris chided him. "In truth, I didn't use or even need my extrasensory abilities to do my job at the bureau and I don't need them here. I have a particular skill set and I'm one of the best in the world at what I do. Even though I am a woman…"

Ross sneered at her for that.

"Really?" Chris said. "If I were a man, would you be here trying to make me feel bad about myself? Trying to make me doubt myself as you are right now? I doubt it."

Ross leaned forward, staring her down. "I'm not interested in the fact that you are a woman. I'm interested in the fact that after a single joint initiative with the FBI, you latched onto Barnes. By the second initiative, you lured in Rogers. Conveniently after that, Athena was compromised, and you were generously offered shelter and protection from S.H.I.E.L.D."

Now Chris was pissed. Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep a tight grip on it.

"So obviously I seduced Barnes and Rogers, clumsily compromised myself, just so I would end up where I am because I have some terrible, traitorous purpose that has yet to be revealed, right?" Chris told him in a tone that had an edge to it.

"There's no record of your activities before Quantico, Agent," Ross said sharply.

"That doesn't mean I'm a secret HYDRA agent, Mr. Secretary. Have a talk with Director Crenshaw if you're so worried about it. He'll tell you anything you wish to know," Chris explained tightly.

"I've talked to your former director," Ross told her. "His loyalty to someone so… questionable… is ill-advised. Admirable, but still… ill-advised."

Chris had reached the end of her patience with the conversation.

"What are you accusing me of?" Chris wanted to cut to the chase.

Ross stared at her defiantly.

"Come on," Chris told him with a smirk. "All of that dramatic build up and then…"

"I'm not sure what your game is, Agent," Ross rose from the chair, stepping towards her in a way meant to intimidate. "But I will find out. I will make Rogers and Barnes see you for what you truly are."

Chris didn't back down. "And what's that?"

"Rogers is an antiquated fool but he's no traitor. He can be controlled. And he controls Barnes."

Chris laughed. "And you think I control them? Who's the fool here?"

Pushing away from her desk, she was happy when she forced Ross back a step, her hands on her hips. "I have no wish to control anyone. Do you understand? If someone is good enough to earn a place in my life, I will treat them with great care and great respect. I don't use the people I care about for any hidden agenda or ulterior motives. You got that? I don't think like you. And I don't like you. If you're here to accuse me of something, get on with it. If not, move along."

"I'll figure it out," Ross told her before calmly turning and heading for the door. "It's only a matter of time."

Chris knew Nat was watching so she walked around her desk to reach for her bag in the floor, acting as if she were searching for something and trying to get herself under control. The truth was, she was so angry she was fighting off tears. She'd be damned if she'd let the bastard use her in any way against her men. And that's what he was about. She could feel it.

Chris never heard him enter. She rarely did. She smiled at the heavy warmth of his hand on her back as she rose to her feet and turned to look up into his face. Was there anything more comforting than Steve's sky-blue eyes?

"Sweetheart? You okay?" Concern colored his expression as he slid his hands up the backs of her arms.

Normally, neither she nor Steve were physically demonstrative around the compound, but she surprised him entirely when she threw herself into his arms.

"Chris, you're shaking," he said gently close to her ear. "What did the bastard say?"

He knew Ross had been there. Good.

She kept her head pressed to that impressive expanse of chest for another minute, enjoying the steady beat of his heart, before pulling back to look up into his handsome face.

"I'll tell you later," she whispered. "It's fine. He just really pissed me off."

Steve nodded his understanding. "He has that effect on people."

There was something else. She was surprised to feel dread, worry on him.

"Are you okay?" she had to ask.

"I sent Buck out on a mission with Wanda, Vision, and Sam earlier. Didn't have a chance to let you know before he took off. We tried. I'm… really sorry."

Steve was braced, waiting for her possible ire but Chris wasn't upset. It had been one nightmare of a morning between the schematics she was struggling to understand for Tony in meetings and then having to deal with Ross. Yes, she hated not getting to say goodbye to Bucky, but she'd pretty much been out of reach most of the morning. She could hardly be mad that they'd been unable to reach her.

"Steve, I understand," Chris told him, enjoying how quickly the dread fell away from him. "He won't be gone long, will he?"

Steve shook his head, clearly relieved. "He'll probably be back sometime tonight."

She blew out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Good."

"Can I take you out for lunch?" Steve asked, charming her with her favorite smile.

"Yes, please!" Chris was starving.

Not long after they were enjoying lunch, sharing a table with Nat and Bruce.

"So how are you doing with the latest schematics?" Bruce asked in that quiet way of his.

Chris shook her head. "Completely lost. My background does me no good here," she explained with a laugh.

Bruce's grin was shy. "Yeah, well, it's complicated stuff. I'd be glad to come by and see if I can help you make more sense of it."

"I would really appreciate that," Chris told him. "Thank you. Nat, I could use your take too. One set of prints was done in Russian and…"

Was it her imagination that Nat's face colored slightly?

"Yeah, sure. Let me know when you want me to come by," Nat offered.

"How about right after lunch?" Chris asked. "I've got another meeting tomorrow morning and it would be so nice to go into it knowing something."

The little smile Steve wore as he quietly ate let her know that he knew what she was up to. In her defense, Chris really did need their help. What would It hurt for the two of them to be there with her? Together?

Nat got a call and Bruce told her he'd be in her office in thirty minutes. The minute they were both gone, Steve slid a hand onto her knee under the table, speaking low into her ear.

"There's a chance this might not work out the way you hope it will," he told her.

Chris smiled. "There's a chance it might work out exactly the way I hope it will."

"Do you even really need their help?" he asked suspiciously but smiling.

"Actually, I really do," Chris explained. "Those suits and weapons Tony designs? Intricate. Very intricate. Some of it is familiar to my own knowledge base, some of it's very different. I just hope I can keep this job."

His hand gently tightened on her knee. "You want to keep this job?"

The glint of hope she read in those baby blues didn't alarm her as it would have a few weeks ago. Ever since their misunderstanding, Steve had been so careful with her, almost as if he were afraid she'd disappear in a puff of smoke if he said the wrong thing or touched her the wrong way. It was endearing how hard he tried but it also made her feel guilty.

"It's growing on me." Chris meant that. Aside from the fact that she couldn't leave the compound, her life was pretty comfortable. She'd never had such a nice place to live, made twice her highest salary, and her men?

Chris had to admit to being quite a bit spoiled.

"I have a meeting with Tony and then I think I'm going to take it easy this evening," Steve told her. "Feel free to join me when you get done with work."

They rose from the table, Steve brushed a kiss to her forehead. During the week they mostly slept in their own apartments, but Friday and Saturday nights usually saw them sleeping in together at Steve's place. Oh, there was quite a bit of grumbling from Bucky about it, but Steve was right in that they were better able to manage their work that way and it really did make their time together more special.

Chris nodded. "I'll stop by."

She dashed off hoping her afternoon with Bruce and Natasha went better than her morning had.

Steve smiled when he heard the door open, just having given her access to his apartment in the last week. His back was to the door, so he felt her rather than saw her come up behind him as he worked on a sketch, a drawing of Natasha and Bruce with an angry hulk in the background.

The smell of her perfume, the soft press of her hands on his shoulders had him stopping to just enjoy having her there. Steve smiled, happy to be having such a normal day with his best girl here to see him, his best guy already on his way home.

They'd been on a few missions, mostly him and Bucky together but a handful had seen one of them sent and one of them left at the compound. There was no awkwardness between Bucky and Chris when it was Steve who went out. They'd been an item before they'd welcomed him to the relationship and oddly, mostly, he wasn't jealous.

It was just awkward when it was just him and Chris, but he suspected that it was just him. If Chris were uncomfortable at all, it didn't show.

A myriad of worries would float through his mind even though Bucky had told him they deserved time together when he was gone, and Chris had told him she cared about him as much as she did Bucky. It still made him nervous.

"That's beautiful, Steve," Chris whispered close to his ear before pressing a kiss to his temple. Her slender arms wrapped around his shoulders and he enjoyed the warm press of her behind him, the heavy dose of her perfume that captured his senses in a way that had the pencil trembling slightly in his hand.

"Thank you," he admitted, pleased by her praise. "Can't think why they were on my mind."

"Me either." Chris laughed, walking around his chair and sitting herself in his lap. "They were so cute and just awkward with each other after lunch. You know what it's like to watch the Black Widow turn into a shy violet like that? It was hard to keep a straight face."

Steve laughed with her, he'd seen it before. Natasha out of her element, out of character, was pretty shocking not to mention rare.

"Any luck?" he asked.

Chris shrugged. "They said something about getting dinner later. Maybe?"

Steve set his sketchpad and pencils on the floor by the chair before wrapping his arms around her.

"Oh, please don't stop drawing on my account. Please? I can go," Chris told him, pleading.

Steve's attention was riveted to the beautiful woman in his lap now and he held her gently in place.

"I can draw any time," he admitted. "I don't get an opportunity like this every day."

He stole a quick kiss from her lips before trailing down her jaw to the silky soft flesh of her throat. The scent she wore was concentrated there, he buried his face there and into her tucked up hair, just breathing her in. When he began to tease the shell of her ear with his lips, to nibble at the sensitive lobe, he loved the way she squirmed in his lap. Breathlessly, her little hands clutched at his shirt, smoothed up into his hair.

Chris shifted over him, straddling his lap and he watched, fascinated, as her slim fingers began to pluck at the buttons of her blouse. When he moved to stop her, her other hand blocked his.

"Let me," she whispered. "Let me take care of you."

Steve watched as she finished unbuttoning her blouse, pulled it off, letting it float to the floor behind her somewhere. Beneath she wore a lacy gray bra, the shade nearly matched her eyes and his mouth began to water. All that creamy flesh on display, just for him.

Chris smiled at him, plucking the clip out of her hair and letting it fall in shiny blonde locks around her shoulders. He'd told her often how much he loved her hair down. Watching her run her fingers through it to arrange it? Made him want to do the same.

But he waited, wanting to see what she was up to.

Chris's hands hauled up the navy sweatshirt he wore, making him remove it before plucking at the tank he wore underneath it. Chris wasn't satisfied until he was shirtless and that was fine with him, her gentle hands skimming over his upper body in a way that had him panting.

She rained soft kisses over his chest and up his neck, her hands whisper soft on his skin as she took her time worshipping him. He ran his hands up and down the soft skin of her back, enjoying the gooseflesh he was able to raise here and there as he held onto her loosely.

When she pulled back, leaving the chair to stand before him, Steve struggled to catch his breath, unable to take his eyes off her. He watched her slide off the slacks she'd worn for work, drop them to the floor to reveal the panties that matched her bra. He slid one hand over his aching cock, he couldn't help it, as she crooked a finger at him and headed for his bedroom.

Steve got rid of his jeans on the way, his boxers dropped to the floor before he climbed on the bed. He loved the way Chris ogled him, her teeth buried in her lower lip as he joined her on his bed. So many things floating through his mind, things he wanted with her, things he wanted with her and Bucky. Of course it didn't take her long to figure him out.

"What are you thinking about?" Chris asked him, grinning.

He felt his face heat up and her laughter made it worse.

"I see," Chris told him. "Want to share those dirty thoughts, Captain?"

Steve shook his head. Sometimes he swore she could read his mind. While Steve was more than happy to drop his Captain America persona when he was in private, well, he always thought he might like to bring it out in the bedroom once in a while. What it would it be like to let the good Captain direct their activities in bed for a night? Bucky always loved a little role play.

Chris? They'd come close to playing like that a time or two. He usually saved his rougher play for when it was just him and Bucky. He didn't want to scare her or have her worried about getting hurt.

"This must be good," Chris told him, crawling to him on the bed. "Is this about some mission, Captain?"

Steve grinned at her, took himself in hand and began stroking himself in long, firm strokes.

"It is," he said using the voice he used on missions. "It's classified, and I'll have to wait until Sergeant Barnes is back to review the parameters."

"I'm on this mission too, right, Captain?" Chris played along with a teasing smile.

Steve nodded.

"How will the mission go, sir?" Chris asked him, flirting.

"Guess there's no harm in reviewing the basics," Steve told her firmly. "Undress."

Those beautiful gray eyes flashed at him as she sat up on her knees, making quick work of her bra before lifting up to pull off the lace panties.

He let his gaze slowly move over the delicate curves of her body, curves he often craved.

"Grab the headboard," he ordered, pleased when she did just that. Chris edged towards the headboard, grabbing the top bar firmly. He watched, trying not to smile, as she pushed the lower half of her body back until she was on her knees, beautiful exposed for him. When she spread her thighs apart, he saw just a hint of her glistening center, caught the faintest scent of her.

"What's next, Captain?" Chris asked, her tone still playful.

Steve pulled himself up, moved behind her. "You consent to a random inspection?"

Chris nodded, glancing shyly over her shoulder at him.

Steve moved closer behind her, on his knees with his hands on her ass now. "What was that?"

"I mean, yes, sir. I consent for inspection. Sorry, sir."

"Better," Steve grumbled.

His hands slid up her back to her shoulders, massaging here and there where he felt knots of tension. He worked her over gently before his hands slid around her ribs, capturing the firm globes of her breasts in his palms while he enjoyed the way she slightly trembled in his grasp. She was getting more turned on by the minute, he could smell it.

When he trailed his hands up her side and back to her hips, her breath caught, and he smiled, made her wait. When he leaned forward to gently sink his teeth into the meat of her ass, her gasp was loud, had his cock twitching for attention. The cheeks of her ass were so small in his hands, he gently pulled her apart, enjoying the way she slightly shook in anticipation. How wet she was, and he'd barely touched her.

When his right hand came down on her ass with a light stinging smack. He loved the little jump that resulted, but she didn't try to turn around again. He loved the light print of his hand there, caressed it.

The raw moan that tore from her throat broke his resolve.

First, he teased her with his mouth and hands, his grip on her making it impossible for her to get away from him. Not like she was really trying at first. Steve drove her insane in every way she liked, teasing her clit with the tip of his tongue before gently applying suction and sliding his fingers inside her. He loved how desperate she became in his clutches, fighting his grip and fighting to hold off her release for just a little bit longer.

Steve wanted her to come, doubling his efforts until she screamed, her knuckles white where she gripped the headboard still. The cry of his names on her lips was one of the best sounds in the world, had him hard and aching as he watched her crumple on the bed before him.

He hauled her hips back up, draping himself over her back, one hand clutching in her hair but not tight enough to hurt.

"Did I tell you that you could let go?" he whispered harshly.

"No," Chris was panting, licking her lips. "No, Captain."

Grabbing her hands, he placed them back on the headboard, his own hand only leaving hers long enough to position himself to push into her from behind, Once he was sinking into her, her lyrical gasps making him happy, his hand closed back over hers. His hands had secured hers to the top bar, not letting her go.

When Steve was buried inside her, he paused to catch his breath. Something about Chris… it felt unbelievably good to be inside her, just as Bucky said, and it had his imagination running wild, filling with desires he'd held for a while now.

"You feel so good around me," he whispered in her ear, "your tight little pussy clamped around me. There's nothing really better than that. Except…"

Chris shivered in his grasp, moaning at the devastating rhythm he'd established as he thrust in and out of her velvety heat.

"Except?" her question was a breathy little gasp.

"Want Bucky inside you too," Steve admitted roughly. "Want to feel you stretched around us both."

"Steve," Chris said on a moan, "I've wanted that. For so long…"

"Yeah?" He didn't think it was possible for him to get harder, but he did at her confession.

"Yes, please."

Gripping both of her hands with his left, he allowed his right hand to slide up her arm, over her back. Gooseflesh raised at the trail his fingers left on her body. He palmed her ass before his fingers slid between her cheeks, stopping just above where he was moving within her.

Chris shuddered as his finger traced her other entrance.

"Bucky would be below you," he explained, his finger still teasing that tender ring of flesh. "I'd be right here. Would you like that?"

Her pussy tightened around him and he hissed, unprepared for the enthusiasm of her response but he hung on.

"Please," she begged him.

"Anyone ever taken you here?" he asked, his tongue teasing the lobe of her ear.

Chris shook her head and the blush that darkened her face and neck pleased him more than it should have.

"Please," she whispered.

Steve continued to tease the entrance he planned to breach soon even as he fucked her with increasingly firm strokes.

"Steve?"

"Not tonight, Sweetheart," he told her, his hips powering against her now as hard as he dared, fighting off his own release. "With Bucky."

"Yes… yes…"

Chris came so hard, clutching around him with a ferocity and desperation that was new. He couldn't fight her like that. Steve came with her, shouting. The world went black for him as their bodies strained together in pleasure.

Chris collapsed below him, and he pulled free of her, releasing her hands. Steve curled his own body around hers, lifting each of her hands to make sure he hadn't hurt her. Gently he massaged her knuckles, brought them to his mouth for a kiss.

"Did you… did you mean that?" Chris asked, not looking at him but blushing fiercely.

"I did," he promised her.

"I've wanted to ask for that but…"

"You thought I'd tell you no?" Steve smirked at her.

Chris glanced up at him now with her soft, gray eyes and nodded.

"We'll have to be careful," Steve pointed out.

They dozed off after that, Steve pulled the sheets up over them, content to stay right there. Yeah, it was a week night, but he didn't care. He wanted her to stay right there with him more.

It was much later but before midnight when the buzz of her phone woke Chris up. Gently pulling away from Steve, she padded into the living room to snatch up her phone. As she expected, she had texts from Bucky.

BB: Either one of you awake? We just got in.

Chris: I am.

BB: Hey doll. I've missed you.

Chris: Miss you too.

BB: Can I come see you? We don't have to tell, Stevie. ?

Chris: I'm with Stevie. Come to his.

BB: REALLY? You got him to do away with "the rule"?

Chris: Not exactly. Lol Just come over.

Chris headed back to Steve's bedroom and hopped back in, deciding to stay awake so she could see their dark-haired lover who was on his way.

Next to her Steve was sprawled on his side, a smile on his face in his sleep.

It was a good night.