I'm sorry for leaving you all hanging for so long. I hope everyone's holiday was great! Since it is snowing like crazy now I shall continue writing. Hope you all enjoy and a part of this story came from the brilliant mind of my friend BlueBrainProductions. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I still don't own the Avengers, just Rory and her father.

~R~

Rory awoke the next morning feeling a weight on her hand. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked down at the blond hair of her respected Captain. A smile appeared on Rory's face as she ran her free hand through Steve's blond locks. Steve stirred but did not wake up. Rory continued playing with Steve's hair when he yawned. She pulled her hand from Steve's hair as he sat up rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." She smiled.

Steve was in the middle of stretching when he heard her voice loud and clear. "Rory? How are you feeling? Do you need me to get the doctor?" Steve quickly asked.

"Steve, Steve, slow down. I feel perfectly fine except for my hand. You were laying on it and now it is asleep."

"Sorry…" Steve apologized rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down at his shoes.

"It's alright. Did you stay here all night?" she asked sitting up. Steve stood and helped situate the pillows behind her back. Rory thanked him with a smile and leaned back against the pillows.

"You're welcome, and yes, I was here all night" he replied.

"Thank you, Steve."

"You don't have to thank me ma'am, uh Rory." Steve quickly corrected himself as Rory gave him a blank stare.

"Yes I do. It was you who came to my rescue and I owe you for that."

Steve looked up from his hands, his eyes resting on Rory's face. The genuine and stern look on her face told him that he couldn't refuse her thanks, and if he did he'd be sorry. So instead he settled on smiling.

"And if memory serves me right, you were the one who carried me away to the jet. I owe you my life, Steve."

Rory's brow furrowed when Steve abruptly stood up and walked over to the window. The silence of the room was disturbed by the constant beeping of the machines beside Rory's bed. She moved to get up from the bed when Steve swiftly turned around, startling her.

"Rory, I li…" he began to say when the door slid open as a casually dressed Tony strutted into the room.

"It's about time you woke up, Major Sunshine." Tony said.

"I missed you too, Tony." Rory replied with a roll of her eyes. She turned back to Steve to find him clenching his fists. "What were you about to say, Steve?"

Tony looked over at the Capsicle with a grin on his face. Tony had made sure to install JARVIS so he could overhear- uh keep tabs on everyone and their conversations. Tony had a feeling he knew what Steve was about to say, but he wanted to see if Steve would say it with him in the room. Steve unclenched his fists and looked up at Rory then over at Tony. When his eyes landed on the billionaire he narrowed his eyes and glared. He saw Rory move out of the corner of his eye and looked at her, his blue eyes softening.

"It's nothing." He said before brushing by Tony and out of the room.

"Steve?" Rory called in concern.

"Did I interrupt something? I probably should have knocked. Let me go try again." Tony said slowly turning on his heel.

Rory glared at him as he put his hands up in surrender. He took a seat to her left and intertwined his hands, pressing his index fingers together and holding them against his lips. Rory saw the worried expression in Tony's eyes and leaned forward. She could tell he was thinking of something and his mind wouldn't stop moving until the news was said.

"What is it, Tony?" she asked.

Tony's eyes flicked over to Rory. "You should rest. I'll tell you later." He replied standing up.

"Don't pull that bull shit on me, Tony. What's the matter?"

Tony sighed and turned around. "It's your dad."

"What about him? He's here…isn't he?" she asked seeing Tony's brows furrow.

"He was called back to base late last night, said it was urgent. And he wanted me to give you this." Tony answered pulling out a folded piece of paper.

Rory reached out and took the paper from him and unfolded it. Her eyes scanned over the contents before stopping.

Rory,

If you're reading this then you already know that I am gone. I'm sorry for not being there when you awoke, but I'm needed at the base. I don't know how long I will be gone or what the mission is, but you won't be able to contact me. Take care of yourself, sweetheart.

Love,

Dad

P.S. I approve of Steve. He's the right partner for you.

P.S.S. I'm going to do some research on Faustus and if I find anything I will send it to you. Keep an eye on your friends and yourself.

"I'm gonna kill him the next time I see him…" she muttered crunching up the paper. "Tell me, Tony, did he seem odd when he left?"

"Odd? What would you consider odd about him?"

"The way he was acting. Did he avoid eye contact; was his back turned to you?"

"No one saw him leave, not even JARVIS…" Tony replied.

Rory looked down at the paper clenched in her hand. She knew he father was good at disappearing without being noticed, but not being detected by JARVIS? That was a whole different story. She heard Tony shuffling but didn't look up until a platinum colored card made her go cross-eyed.

"Pepper wanted me to give you this. She said to indulge yourself, get new clothes and anything else you need. Oh and I will know if you use that in a strip club." Tony said walking away.

"TONY!" Rory shouted tossing a pillow at the billionaire only to have him run out the door and the pillow gently hitting the floor.

~R~

When Rory was released from the medical bay, she was given a fresh pair of clothes. She quickly showered and changed into the dark jeans, boots and cream colored Vero Moda top. Once she was finished, she was informed that Fury wanted to see her. She made her way through the SHIELD base and stopped in front of the metal door with the director's name on it. She was about to know when the door slid open. Rory walked inside and found Fury standing behind a desk looking down at the busy New York street.

"I'm glad to see you're back on your feet, Major."

"Me too. If I had to stay in that bed any longer I would have lost my mind."

Fury turned around and smirked at her response. Rory saw him grab a set of keys off his desk and tossed them to her. She nearly fumbled the keys but caught them at the last minute and looked at them.

"What are these for?"

"They're to your new apartment. I took the liberty of having your things moved to their new location for you."

"Thank you, but what's wrong with my townhouse?" Rory asked shifting her weight to her left leg.

"Faustus knew where you lived and your place was bugged. We extracted these from the vents." He said tossing a camera onto the desk. "You're new place is in Brooklyn. There's someone waiting to take you there downstairs."

Rory nodded her in thanks and turned around. She exited the room and listened as the door slid shut behind her. She looked at the key one last time before pocketing it and walking down the hallway to the elevator.

~R~

The elevator doors dinged open as Rory finally reached the first floor. She pushed her way out of the packed elevator and walked out the front door. She looked around for her escort when her eyes spotted Steve sitting atop his motorcycle.

"So are you supposed to be my escort, Captain Rogers?" Rory asked walking up to him.

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"Well, yes but now that I know it's you I won't have to deal with being followed around by another SHIELD agent."

Steve smiled and waited as Rory climbed on behind him. She held on as they drove off and she looked around the city. Rory had been to New York once before but didn't have the chance to do much. She was there on military business. She remembered the credit card Tony handed her earlier in the day and knew the perfect place to go.

"How about we get something sweet to eat? I could really use something sugary." She said leaning forward so Steve could hear her.

"Do you have an idea where you want to go?"

"That bakery right there." She replied pointed in front of them and off to the right.

Steve slowed the motorcycle and pulled next to the curb. He shut the bike off as Rory climbed off. They both stopped when a familiar booming voice was heard behind them.

"Lady Hayes, how wonderful it is you are awake." Thor said grabbing Rory in a hug.

"Thanks. I honestly wasn't expecting you to return so soon."

"I was in the mood for some Midgardian food."

Rory looked over at Steve and then at the bakery. "Have you ever had cake?"

"Cake?"

"Come on; let me introduce you to my dear friend cake." Rory smiled turning around and entering the bakery. Steve and Thor followed behind. Once inside Thor eyed all the decadent desserts. Rory walked over to the pastries and ordered herself a bear-claw while she waited for Thor to choose.

Steve and Rory sat next to each other as they watched Thor devour an entire three layer cake. Rory's mouth hung open as the God of Thunder asked for another. That's when the idea came to her. She lightly hit Steve's arm with her hand and motioned for him to follow her after telling him her plan.

"Excuse me. I was wondering could we get a little bit of everything in here?" Rory asked the owner.

"A little bit of…everything? Are you sure?" the owner asked shocked.

Rory nodded and held out the card. The woman looked at the name on it and then back up at Rory.

"We're his personal assistants." She replied before the woman could ask where she got the card. "And he really enjoys sweets, especially cake."

The owner nodded and went to work ringing up everything so they could pay. Rory told her they wanted the items delivered directly to Stark Tower. Rory and Steve walked back over to the small table once they paid for the order. She didn't know if Tony really liked sweets or not but oh well. She could already picture the look on Tony's face when all the bakery items arrived and burst out laughing.

"I must have another!" Thor boomed as he finished off his third cake.

"I promise you will get more later, but for now you're done." Rory laughed leaning against Steve's shoulder as he too laughed.

~R~

Meanwhile at Stark Tower a few hours later, Pepper was shocked to see all the boxes from a nearby bakery piled high in the penthouse. She carefully maneuvered around the boxes making sure none of them fell.

"Tony, what did you do?" she asked.

"Remind me not to give her any more of my credit cards…" Tony replied.

"Who?"

"Rory."

Pepper's mouth formed an 'O' shape before she pursed her lips together to keep herself from laughing.

"I must say I am impressed. She got one over on you, Tony." Pepper said earning a look from Tony.

"I'm glad to see someone is amused." He muttered. Pepper chuckled and kissed his cheek before leaving the room and grabbing a small single slice of cake packaged in its own container. Her name clearly printed on it.

~R~

Sorry if this seems short. I'm falling asleep as I type this and listening to music is not helping. D: Hope you all enjoyed and I will update again either tomorrow or after work Friday. Don't forget to review!