The funeral was quiet and minimal, just enough to draw attention from old family friends that Jess didn't know. Her mother was laid to rest next to her father at a Brooklyn cemetery. They'd be side by side forever now, nothing would take them apart again.

Jess stared out the window of the plane as she noticed the tops of buildings peeking out over the clouds. The past four days hadn't been quite a holiday, but she did miss Brooklyn. Going back and visiting her home, looking at family photos and reminiscing memories she hadn't thought about for a long time. Brooklyn was home, no matter where she traveled and lived, no matter where she ended up after all of this, that wasn't going to change. It held all the good memories in her life.

It felt as though she hadn't even left the city when she returned to her building, throwing her bag over her shoulder as she began to climb the stairs to her floor. She was glad she left so suddenly after the night she found out about her mother's death, she didn't have to face her neighbors or their glaring eyes for a few days after what had happened.

Miss Bennett, there have been three noise complaints and another complaint of violent behavior at your apartment. Please maintain a level of respect and maturity within the building otherwise further action will be taken. Brad - manager.

Jess shook her head as she tore the note off her door, scrunching it up in her hands. She wasn't expecting a welcoming party, but a warning note from the manager wasn't the best greeting.

A few hours passed since Jess had been home before she heard knocking at her door. She closed her laptop, pausing her scan over all of her files she'd taken from SHIELD that she had only just started looking at. There was only one person who actually visited her at her apartment, so she wasn't surprised to see Steve Rogers standing outside her door.

''You're back,'' he smiled.

''Missed me, huh?'' she smirked as she held the door open for him to walk in.

''Missed you? No way. I'm just up to the last Pirates of The Caribbean movie and you said you'd kill me if I watched it without you,'' Steve grinned as he leaned against her couch.

''Yeah 'cause I need to see your expression when you see how disappointing it is,'' Jess laughed as she closed the door.

Steve watched as she threw the cushions to one side of the couch and sat in front of them, pulling her knees up to rest her chin on as he took a seat next to her. He'd missed her while she was gone. Although he'd been busy as well with SHIELD business as usual, it still didn't feel right coming home late at night without Jess walking home from work and meeting him outside or stopping him on the way to his apartment to talk or watch a movie. He valued their friendship very much because unlike everything else in his life, it was easy.

''How are you doing?'' he asked seriously.

''I'm fine, Steve. It was nothing I didn't see coming, not that that made it suck any less, but y'know, you deal with it,'' she explained. ''Don't worry about me,''

There was a moment of silence as Steve nodded in understanding, but Jess didn't want to talk about everything that had happened in her life the past few days, she wanted a distraction and since snooping through SHIELD information wasn't an option right now, she settled for making it a night in hanging out with Steve.

''Want some cocoa? I make it pretty good, like sixty percent chocolate, it's perfect,'' Jess asked, standing up and making her way over to the kitchen bench. ''What have I missed around here? Anything remotely interesting?''

''I think the hall got a new light bulb installed,'' Steve told her jokingly.

''Huh, too bad I missed that,''

''How was Brooklyn?''

''Brooklyn,'' Jess shrugged. ''Not much has changed since last time I was there,''

Steve nodded.

''Wish I could say the same,''

Jess looked over to him with a comforting smile, knowing that he was still struggling with adjusting to everything.

''I still can't believe you didn't tell me we're from the same neighborhood,'' he shook his head.

''Small world I guess,'' she put aside the issue, handing Steve a cup of warm cocoa.

''So it's your birthday in like three days, right?''

Jess rolled her eyes and groaned.

''Please don't make a fuss over my birthday,'' she glared at him. ''I could honestly care less that-''

''That you're turning 21?'' Steve finished. ''A milestone age. The adult age?''

''I've been an adult for years, turning 21 makes no difference to me,''

''Fine, if you don't wanna celebrate it then I guess that means you don't want a present or anything, huh?''

Jess turned to look at him with an annoyed expression.

''Nope,'' she told him stubbornly.

''That's too bad,'' Steve shrugged, looking pleased with himself.

''Why don't you go grab that movie and we'll watch the last Pirates of The Sea movie?'' she sat back with a smirk on her lips.

''Never gonna let that go, are you?''

It was two days later when Jess had enough time to go back to her laptop and go through certain files. Everything she was looking for at SHIELD, she was unable to get to, but the files she did manage to copy weren't entirely useless to her. She knew that Secretary Pierce had been approving operations and missions that hadn't been lodged in SHIELD's system, which made her pry even more.

That night when she was at the docks and saw those men, she was sure that they were the suspects that the agents were targeting, but now that she thought about it and everything else SHIELD was covering up, it became clear to her. They weren't the suspects, they were the agents. They were SHIELD.

''What the hell Pierce?'' she whispered as she scrolled down the screen.

SHIELD covering up their actions and hiding things was not a new revelation to Jess, and she couldn't help losing interest as she kept looking. A week ago, she would have been reading over these files as close as possible, but her motivation had been shaken after her mother's death. Doing all of this, being the person she was, it had gotten in the way of so many things in her life. Her father taught her everything she knew, he was her driving force behind finding the truth in everything, he told her all of the stories about his father that she was chasing now, but he wasn't here anymore. Her mother was all she had left and now she was gone too. Everyone was gone, she didn't know what she was fighting for anymore.

Jess kept scrolling down the complex lists of operations, yawning as she paid little attention to the words, until she saw the date on one of them. Two days from now. It was the only operation that hadn't been completed or she hadn't missed. It had no explanation and no location, but it had been approved. It was an empty slot in a long list of detailed missions.

The only other mission that wasn't detailed and had been approved was the one at the docks. They almost matched in their vagueness. Something would be happening that night.

Jess woke up to a bright, sunny morning in Washington as she looked out her bedroom window. The sun was warm on her arms as she spread out on her bed yawning, not wanting to get out of bed. There was no reason to anyway. She had the day off work and had no business to attend to anywhere, which made her remember the date. She groaned when she realized, burying her face in her pillow as she heard someone knocking on her door with perfect timing.

It was her birthday.

''No!'' she called out, knowing who it was.

''Oh come on, open up!'' Steve continued knocking.

''Hey I just remembered it was my birthday last month not this month, totally flew right by me, so just forget about it,'' she argued.

''Jessica Bennet, please open the door or I'll just break it down and you only just got the new one,''

Jess pulled herself out of bed with a loud groan of annoyance, thumping her feet against the ground as she walked over. She opened the door with a grumpy expression, folding her arms as she stared at Steve.

''No presents, no fuss, right?'' Steve held his hands up in surrender.

''Hmm,'' she squinted, suspicious.

''However I do want to take you out for breakfast. That's all I ask, then I won't bother you for the rest of the day, no one will know it's your birthday,''

Steve stared at her with a pleading grin, hoping she'd agree. It was hard to read her when she stared back at him with mixed expressions, but she soon sighed and gave an answer.

''Fine. But it's the free food that caught my attention, not he fact it's for my birthday,'' she warned.

''Fine by me,''

Jess had taken all of ten minutes to get dressed and ready to go. They wouldn't be going anywhere fancy because she simply wouldn't allow him to do that for her. She understood he was just being a friend and wanting to celebrate, but Jess didn't care for her birthday at all, especially when she had no family to share it with. It wasn't the first time she'd been alone for her birthday, but it was the first that she had no option about.

Walking downstairs, Jess was glad to see Steve just as casually dressed as she was. They'd probably be going to the diner to eat, she didn't mind, but she hoped her boss and coworkers forgot about her birthday to avoid any awkward birthday songs or cake.

''To the diner?'' she asked, walking outside as Steve held open the door.

''Wherever you want to go,'' he shrugged, handing her a key.

Jess stared at the key for a moment before looking back up at Steve, confused. He was standing there looking around as if he hadn't just handed her something, waiting for her to pick a place to go eat.

''What's this?''

''I think it's a key,''

''Steve, seriously, what as it?''

Jess watched as he pointed toward a car parked by the curb. It was silver and shiny, but it wasn't brand new. Steve knew Jess would kill him if he did that. But it was a car, and it was in really good condition, and he'd just handed her the key to it.

''I think it might unlock that one, I don't know,'' he grinned, enjoying himself.

Jess shook her head, holding the key out to him.

''No, no, no, no. You can't do that,'' she walked closer to him as he stepped back. ''Steve, don't be crazy! This is a car,''

''I know,''

''So you cannot give me a car!" she held out the keys again. ''That's way too much, it's beyond too much. I said no presents!''

''You told me you got your permit when you were 16 but never learnt properly,'' he reminded her. ''Don't think of it as a present but more like a...well I guess it is a present,''

Jess looked at him as she continued to shake her head.

''You really didn't have to do this. I mean, this is a car, not a box of chocolates or a gift voucher, it's a car!'' she shouted. ''You got me a car!''

''You can go more places now, and it's one less thing you have to save up for,''

''Steve, really, you didn't have to spend so much on me,''

''It's nothing,'' he shook his head. ''Really. You'd be surprised what 70 years of saving up and receiving would amount to,''

Jess looked over to the car again and let herself smile and appreciate what she was being given. She didn't want to accept it, but Steve was insistent. She walked over and put her arms around him, hugging him tight and she smiled.

''This is totally crazy and unnecessary,'' she told him.

''You'll get over it,'' he chuckled, hugging her back.

Thought I'd do a chapter of Steve/Jess bonding and show their relationship a bit more. Will get more into detail next chapter and it'll become a lot more intense as discoveries are made. Please review!