Her own soft groan woke Lilly up. She couldn't suppress it because of the slight burning sensation from her nether regions that caused her to utter it. When she opened up one eye lazily, early morning sun rays, the only ones that ever reached the inside of her tiny apartment, tickled her senses. Was it morning already? What became of the night? The night that had been so awesome. Why had the night been so awesome again? Oh yes, the SHIELD summer barbecue where she had made an ass out of herself in front of the Avengers and then had hidden in the willow copse and then Steve had joined her and … Steve …

The evening events flooded back to her within the blink of an eye and while subconsciously grabbing the blanket to cover herself, Lilly whirled around to the other side of the bed. Empty. Her racing heart started to slow down. Phew. She hadn't … had she? A second ago, she could have sworn Steve Rogers had brought her home and they had … the thought alone let a flush rise to her cheeks. When she sat up in bed, blinking away the remaining sleepiness, the tingling from down below assured her that indeed she had shared the evening and the night with Steve. It still seemed unreal to her though and the fact that he was nowhere in sight didn't help. He had left, hadn't he? She held her breath for a minute to listen intently but there also came no sounds from the bathroom. And since she could see all other parts of her apt from the bed, there was no doubt that he had left before she awoke. Had he even stayed for the night? Reality started to settle in and Lilly drew the blanket up to her chin as if to hide her disappointment from the world. Steve had been such a sweetheart and gentleman but maybe he had to leave for his duty or something? Lilly swallowed the bitter feelings which started to well up and decided to (wo)man up. The blanket flew to the side and her feet hit the ground with determination. It was a bright Saturday morning and she would not spend the weekend brooding after she had had the most awesome night in her life. Her purposeful steps towards the bathroom, however, turned into an ungraceful waddle. She wasn't really used to this kind of exercise, fun as it may be. After brushing her teeth, she slipped on her favourite dark blue jersey home dress and was just about to decide if she would have the dusty cereals or the last dry bread slice for breakfast when the sound of a turning key from her own front door let her freeze. The kitchen drawer with the knifes was halfway open when Steve stepped into her living room / bed room /kitchen. What was he doing here?

"Good morning." he greeted her tentatively but with a radiating smile.

"Hey." Lilly answered a little perplexed.

"Sorry, I took your keys. I didn't want to wake you by ringing." he apologized while waving her set of apartment keys and then putting them in the little bowl by the door.

"Wake me?" Lilly was still too confused by the situation. Why was he back?

"You were still sleeping and I thought I would get us some breakfast." He carefully placed two big insulated cups onto the counter and started to open the big paper bag, he had with him. Soft cinnamon smell let Lilly come to her senses. "You only left to get breakfast?"

Now it was Steve who was confused. Why would he leave otherwise?

Before he could think of it any further, Lilly started to diffuse the situation in the hope Steve wouldn't notice her misinterpretation and the associated self-consciousness. She put her nose over the mysterious paper bag before he could take out the cinnamon rolls and the chocolate croissants. "Hmm, I love sweets for breakfast!" Lilly exclaimed enthusiastically.

When Steve jokingly pushed her to the side to take out his purchase, she grabbed the bag again and crumpled the top closed. "I have an idea!"

Steve raised his eyebrow at the little whirlwind Lilly was about to become. She bounced over to her dresser and half climbed onto the build-in shelf to reach the top. "I know its not as fancy as a mansion and a fairy garden or something but the view is fantastic." she rambled on while half in the closet. When she re-emerged again, she held a colourful quilted blanket and nodded her head towards the door. "Come, I want to show you!"

Steve grabbed the breakfast and followed Lilly out of her apt and towards the elevator. On their ride to the top floor they both stared at her feet.

"You lost your shoes." Steve smirked. "Again."

Lilly shrugged her shoulders, smirking back. "Only good can come of it." Who would ave thought she could be so cheeky?

It was summer and although it was chilly inside, the morning sun would have warmed up their destination quite nicely. At the top floor, Lilly marched down the corridor and shouldered the heavy emergency fire door open. A few last steps and another metal door and before them lay the roof. The sun had indeed done a decent job in heating up the black tar cover. She didn't come up here very often, afraid that she would not be the only one with this idea but with Steve at her side she felt safe enough. They rounded the air vents and spread the blanket on the side towards the park. The view was clear and sunny.

No words were spoken until both of them sipped on the last of their coffees. None of them knew how to continue from here on. Steve clearly enjoyed Lilly's presence but they couldn't sit on the roof forever.

Just when Steve started with a hesitant "So ...", Lilly interrupted him out of fear he would say something like 'Nice evening. Have a good life then.' and leave. "Would you go to the park with me?" she burst out. Steve shut his mouth again, surprised by Lilly's attack.

"I mean, if you want. There is this cute duck couple and they build a nest and I think ducklings will hatch any day and ..." Her voice got smaller and smaller the more she realized how pathetic her attempt at getting a date with Steve was. To watch a duck couple. Gods, Lilly, grow up!

Steve's eyes turned down to his cup, giving Lilly the answer she had feared. "I am sorry but I can't." Short pause. "I need to go back to base and take the flight back to New York in the evening."

"Oh." was Lilly's only reply.

"No! No, don't get me wrong. I really would like to visit the park but there are still things open from the last mission that can't wait and ..."

"Duty calls, hu?"

"Yeah." Steve admitted defeated. "They pick me up in an hour."

Lilly's shoulders slumped. One hour. So soon.

"But until then, tell me about the duck couple. You know, the farm I used to visit as a kid in summer also had ducks but they were the nastiest creatures that ever lived." he started to tell.

"No way! Ducks are always cute." Lilly disagreed.

"Not when you want to collect the eggs and they snap at your legs. And they have teeth. Tiny, razor-sharp teeth."

The image of Captain America being hunted by a flock of angry ducks had Lilly laughing tears and the soon to happen separation was forgotten. Instead they both stretched out on the blanket, Lilly snuggled close to Steve, and exchanged their when-I-was-a-kid stories.

The work week started all too soon and she hadn't heard of Steve again. He had promised to call but had also warned her that, while on a mission, he could not. On Monday, the whole department was filled with gossiping women. Everyone needed to share their stories from the SHIELD party and how the plan had worked out or when it hadn't. Lilly had listened if it could not be avoided and had given congratulations or made compassionate remarks when appropriate. Her own adventure, however, she had kept to herself. No one asked her since they knew she hadn't been on the list. That was all about to change, when on Wednesday morning a mysterious package of cinnamon rolls from a famous New Yorker bakery turned up along with an envelope with her name on it. The only thing the card inside said was "Feeding ducks tomorrow?"


Thank you all for your reviews and favouriting this story! I do not plan a sequel. That, I leave to your imagination.