This chapter got so fluffy! Oh boy...

Steve slowly scrubbed the pan he had used for breakfast, going through a mental checklist. He had cleared all security cameras of any evidence that Tina had ever been in the tower. He even wiped down most surfaces for fingerprints and made JARVIS promise that it wouldn't tell anyone she was there. Steve glanced at the clock. Natasha should be home very soon…I wonder how her mission went. The soldier sighed and put the last dish away. He turned to walk back to his room, but then jumped when he saw Natasha leaning on the doorway.

"Jeez! You know you're the only person that can sneak up on me?"

"I'm proud of that fact," Natasha said dryly.

"How was your mission? Everything go okay?" he asked. She nodded and followed him into the living room, perching on the arm of a couch.

"It wasn't bad. I'm actually going to do my yearly physical for SHIELD today," she said, looking pointedly at Steve.

"Oh, okay. I'm due for mine in July," he said cautiously, trying to read her face.

"So I'm going to be out all day. Stark, Pepper, and Bruce are still in D.C but they'll be back tonight. Clint is coming with me. Unless Thor shows up out of the blue, you have the house to yourself." Steve analyzed the very strange look on her face.

"Oh…kay?" The spy put a piece of paper facedown on the coffee table. Natasha then gave him a sharp look and exited the room quickly. Steve shook his head in utter confusion. He flipped the paper and saw a sketch of a fish turning into a fishbowl. It hit him like a brick wall. She knows. His eyes widened and his blood turned to ice. He sat there, frozen and breathing fast until his phone started to ring. Gingerly, he pressed 'accept'. He hated the phone. It was so weird. It didn't even have buttons for goodness' sake. "Hello?"

"Steve," Tina greeted him sounding slightly breathless, "Come pick me up now."

"Sure! Do you want to go anywhere or just hang out here-"

"Let's just go back to your house. We need to talk." Steve's brow furrowed. What was going on with the gals today? Were they all mad at him?

"Alright, Tina."

…

When Tina had gotten over fear, shock, and paranoia, she reached anger. Although fear was still a factor. Who was that?! Did Steve know her? As Steve pulled up on his motorcycle, she resolved that she was going to stay angry at him. So angry. She was going to yell and scream. Then he jumped off the bike and gave her one of his award winning smiles. NO! No, I'm very angry at you! Very very angry! And you…can't just…damn. I'm not angry anymore. Damn damn. I want to still be angry and I'm not. Tina sighed at the handsomest man she'd ever seen.

"I'm angry at you," she said very unconvincingly. She wrapped her arms around him and sat on the bike.

"Really?" Steve asked with concern.

"Yes. Now let's go so we can talk about it in private," contrary to her harsh words, Tina snuggled into his back. Steve shrugged and pulled away.

Tina strode into Steve's room and plopped herself in the loveseat. She patted the seat next to her.

"Okay, Steve. Talk." She looked at him through serious eyes. He sat next to her and put his feet up on the coffee table, measuring his breaths carefully. Steve's brain was frantically spitting out ideas, worries, plans and attempting to make some coherent response.

"I was trying to at breakfast," he offered. Tina rolled her eyes.

"And then I got to my dorm and was assaulted by some crazy lady from SHIELD who apparently knows you. Care to clarify any of that?"

"She's on my team. Her name is Natasha," Steve said slowly. "I know she can be…brusque…but she wouldn't have hurt you. Ever. I think the only reason she was in your dorm is because she found out you were with me. She probably wanted evidence that she'd found you." Steve slowly pulled the sketch out of his pocket and unfolded it for her to see. "I still don't know how she found you though. I didn't want my team to know about you at all. You know I'm a captain…I didn't want my team to think I was getting distracted or anything." Steve took Tina's hands into his own and played with her fingers while he spoke quietly. "I didn't think they'd get that you're actually what focuses me more." Tina smiled slightly and squeezed his hand. Steve's voice trembled a little as he continued speaking. "I know I've been kind of secretive. And I'm sorry about that. I hate keeping things from you." A long pause stretched out as Steve stared at the floor.

"Steve?" Tina asked quietly. "Is this about your work?" Steve nodded. "You're not…you're not going to…leave? Are you? They're not going to relocate you to some horrible place far away are they? Please don't go." Tina's eyes started tearing up and her voice broke at the end. Steve pulled Tina closer to him.

"No, no, I don't have to leave. I mean-I will…if you want me to after I tell you. If-if it freaks you out or something, I'll go and you-you'll never have to see me again-"

"No! I don't want you to leave. After you tell me what?" Steve's eyes got big again and he bit his lip. He sucked in a few breaths with some difficulty, holding her close. "Steve? Steve it's okay." Tina cupped his face in her hands.

"What if it's not?" he mumbled, "What if it's not okay?" Tina stroked his cheek and pushed his hair back from his forehead. She was starting to get really upset. What could be this bad?

"I love you, Steve," Tina whispered in his ear, "And I'm going to love you no matter what you're going to tell me, okay?" He nodded, eyes still full of fear.

"I love you, too." Steve looked into Tina's bright emerald-green eyes for strength. "I…I'm not sure where to start."

"You could try the beginning?" Tina offered with a slight grin pulling at the corners of her lips. Steve chuckled once nervously.

"Okay. My mom's name was Sarah. My dad's was Joseph. They both came from Ireland and fell in love here in New York City. They got married and bought a house together in the Lower East Side. I was born in July; two months too early. I was always a really skinny kid and had all kinds of illnesses. I had asthma, allergies, I had-"

"1989," Tina interjected. Steve looked confusedly at her. "You said 1922. If you're 23 then you had to have been born in 1989." He shook his head.

"Let me tell my story okay?" Tina sighed and Steve continued. "Anyway, I was sick all the time. Never got to play outside with other kids, never got to make any real friends. I drew instead…I've always liked doodling because of that I guess. The only kid I was ever friends with was Bucky. James Buchanan Barnes, his name was officially. But to me he was always Bucky. He stood up for me when kids would beat me up…which happened a lot. Bucky was the closest thing I had to a brother. Anyway, my dad died in the army when I was really young; I don't remember him very well. My mom worked as a nurse, but when I was thirteen she got pneumonia…couldn't shake it off. She died then. I lived with Bucky after that, and we were as close as anything. Some years later, World War two started." Steve ignored Tina's little noise of indignation and plowed on. "I kept hearing about how many American men were laying down their lives out there, trying to secure freedom for all of us at home. I felt like I had no right to do anything less. I tried to enlist. Five times. I kept getting rejected…I was too small, asthmatic, had scoliosis, heart murmur, and allergies." Steve looked Tina up and down. "I don't think I was any taller than you for that matter. And scrawny as all get out. But I want to serve so badly. It killed me to sit at home when I knew that brave men were dying in trenches every day. Bucky enlisted too. He got into the 107th regiment. Same number as my dad. I was hoping I could be assigned to the same one. The day Bucky left for Europe I enlisted again. I got caught for falsifying my enlistment forms," he chuckled a little. "Dr. Abraham Erskine and I met that day. He was fascinated that I had tried so many times. So he accepted my enlistment and put me in a special group. We trained…I thought I was going to die on those long runs," Steve laughed, "We did push-ups and sit-ups and I got a flag and jumped on a grenade and then he picked me out of the group."

"You jumped on what?" Tina asked in bewilderment.

"A grenade," Steve clarified, "It was a dummy, though. Just a test. Anyway, he picked me out of the group to be the first in an experiment. Dr. Erskine wanted to create an army of super-soldiers with a serum he'd developed. He wanted me to be the first. And it worked. I came out of the lab that day looking like I do now." Steve gestured to his tightly muscled body. "Unfortunately, a Hydra spy tried to steal the serum and the formula got lost. I was going to be the only super-soldier. I fought in the war, and helped bring down Hydra. But one day I was on an enemy plane…and it was loaded with bombs. It was either crash the plane in the water or allow millions to die…so I dove it into the ocean. I still remember how it felt. Freezing to death, except not dying. I can't even begin to describe…well…they found me recently. I got defrosted and now I'm back. Everyone I knew was dead when I woke up. I didn't really have a purpose, so I started fighting again, for SHIELD this time." Tina's eyes were wide as he finished his story. "I think you can guess what team I'm on now."

"You're…" Tina swallowed and stared at their intertwined hands. Steve's were starting to sweat. "You're Captain America," she said in a monotone. "Leader of the Avengers. One of Earth's Mightiest Heroes."

"Yes," Steve breathed. Tina remained still. He wanted to shake her and make her say something. The anticipation and nerves were eating at his insides.

"And you dare have the nerve to tell me that your missions are 'safe'? Or 'easy'?" she said angrily.

"It's hard to lose when you have a Hulk and a Norse god on your side." Tina climbed into Steve's lap and hugged him tightly.

"Well I kind of feel better that you have that shield. I guess that's more protective than standard issue military gear. And you also have Iron Man. And Black Widow and Hawkeye! Is this why you asked me who my favorite Avenger was? I did include you on that list. And you said that Captain would protect me! I see what you did there, mister. He will! He did. Or, well, you will. Because you're him and he's you. Is it weird that I have Captain America panties now? I didn't think it was weird before but now I kind of do," she rambled. Steve's puppy-dog eyes were in full effect and making it hard for her to concentrate. "I still love you, if that's what you're waiting for, you big dummy," she said. Steve's entire body released enough tension to snap an iron beam as he exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Tina," he murmured, burying his face in her hair, "I love you so much. Thank you thank you thank you."

"For what? You're a superhero! What is there for me to complain about?" Steve shrugged and kissed the tip of her nose.

"How about the fact that I'm from 1944?"

"Vintage."

"Still have horrible nightmares and the occasional flashback."

"No one's perfect. And you're still a lot closer than most people."

"Bad with technology."

"Innocent."

"Socially awkward."

"Endearing."

"You really don't care, do you?" Steve asked in wonder. Tina grinned and shook her head no.

"Is that it though?" she asked tentatively.

"Huh?"

"There's nothing else, right?" Tina asked worriedly, "That's it?" Steve threw back his head and began laughing hysterically.

"That's it? I was frozen like an ice cube for ninety years, I'm a shield-throwing, flag-wearing superhero and you say 'that's it'?" Tina giggled along with him.

"I just meant to ask if there was anything else to worry about." Steve smiled and pulled his fingers through her golden curls.

"Well…I'd worry about meeting Tony if I were you. He's kind of a handful. But you already met Natasha." Tina made a noise of disapproval, but Steve smiled anyway. "Clint is kind of quiet. Bruce is really nice, you'll like him," he mused. "Thor is hard to not love, even if he is too loud. They're all coming home tonight. You could stay for dinner and meet them all," he finished, looking into her eyes. Tina gulped.

"Oh boy. Better now than later I guess right?" Steve smiled encouragingly.

"Probably. Especially since Natasha already knows. And JARVIS will probably rat me out eventually."

"I would not have!" the AI interjected heatedly. Tina jumped.

"That's JARVIS. Ask Tony what he…it…is. I really don't understand." Tina giggled.

"Okay, Steve." Steve's head lifted as he heard the elevator doors stop at the top floor.

"Someone's home. Ready?" Tina nodded yes.

She'd never made up a bigger lie in her life.

How are the Avengers going to react to a new girl in their lives? Expect some angst soon...because breaking hearts is fun :)

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