Sorry, it's short! Just got back from vacation! I figured one small chapter now and one huge chapter tomorrow would be better than one monstrosity of a chapter a week from now!

The lights in the elevator glowed softly. Tony leaned against a wall, sighing.

"Fury needs to knock it the hell off with these 5 am mission planning meetings," he mumbled groggily.

Steve nodded in agreement, but truthfully, he didn't mind them too much. He'd always been an early riser. Once he got up, he usually ran ten miles and lifted weights to warm up, then he'd box for a little and try out new attack methods with his shield. The doors dinged open and Steve helped his friend stumble into the kitchen, where everyone else was gathered.

"So where are you going?" Bruce asked casually over his book.

Tony replied in an uncannily accurate imitation of Fury's voice.

"That's classified."

Steve laughed and plopped into the seat next to Thor.

"Istanbul. How many times have we been there? Like five now, right?" he wondered.

"Probably," Clint remarked absentmindedly as he flipped an omelet.

Steve looked around the room.

"Hey," he began.

Natasha cut him off and answered his question before he could ask it.

"Tina's on the phone in the living room," she smirked.

Steve nodded and wandered in. She was standing with her back to him, facing the windows. She wore grey leggings and his favorite blue SHIELD t-shirt. Although he wouldn't admit it out loud, leggings were something Steve happened to love about modern times. As Tony might have said (but Steve wouldn't even think), 'dat ass'.

"Yeah, I know, it's great right? I'm pretty happy about it," Tina said.

Steve couldn't quite make out the responses through the muffled speaker, so he lounged on the couch and waited for her to finish.

"Mmhm. Yeah. Oh, he's great. Yes, he's home. This weekend? Oh, I don't know, I'll ask him. Actually…yeah that might work out. How's mom? Yes, please."

The timbre of the voice changed from a man's bass tones to a higher pitched woman.

"Hi, mommy. It's Christina. Yes, that's me. I did draw you a picture. I'll show it to you tomorrow, maybe…I love you, mommy. Sure, that'd be nice. No, Christmas isn't for a while. When I bring you my picture, I might bring someone I want you to meet. Is that okay?" she laughed lightly, "I know how you love new people. Okay, mommy. Bye."

Tina ended the call with a bittersweet smile.

"My parents," she explained simply.

Steve's eyebrows crunched together in confusion.

"What was that about Christmas?" he asked.

Tina sighed and slumped a little, picking at the edges of her phone case.

"I don't know if you'll recognize the word, it's a fairly newly discovered disease. My mom has Alzheimer's." After briefly checking Steve's blank expression, she realized she needed to explain. "Sometimes, when people get older, they forget things, get confused really easily. Alzheimer's is that, I guess. But the problem is, it's degenerative. It just gets worse and worse."

"I know older people lose their memories sometimes…I didn't know that had a name," Steve noted.

"Yeah," Tina sighed sadly.

Steve hugged her close.

"I'm sorry, honey. How come you've never talked about this before?"

He felt Tina shrug in his arms.

"I don't know. I guess just because it makes me sad." Her voice was muffled against his chest.

Steve held her at arm's length to look into her eyes.

"You've told me so many stories about your parents, though. How did you not mention it?"

"I prefer to just think of the good times, I guess. Although as the disease goes, my mom isn't that badly off. She's happy. Confused, but happy."

Steve nodded thoughtfully and Tina brightened at a new thought.

"But I was talking to my dad, too. He was wondering if you'd wanna come visit this weekend."

"I'd love to meet your parents! I've felt kind of weird that I haven't before. My mom's probably tossing and turning in her grave because I've been dating a girl without asking her father's permission," he laughed at the thought.

Tina smiled brightly.

"Everyone's going to be at my house for the Fourth of July. But we'll probably go back before that…Bruce has been playing with pyrotechnics and I don't want to miss his fireworks! But it won't be awful, I promise! I have some really cute baby cousins. And some crazy ones, too," she rambled excitedly.

Steve smiled softly and wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger. He thought ironically about July Fourth...ha, ha fate. Good one. As she spoke, Steve concentrated on wrapping and unwrapping a lock of hair around his finger. He was desperately trying to hide his nerves. What if they don't approve of me? Will her dad assume that since we're living together we're…fondueing? Will he think I'm corrupting her? Oh gosh. What if he hates me and gets angry at Tina for being with me? I don't want to ruin her family…aghhhh. Steve took a deep breath. Get a hold of yourself, soldier. You're panicking over nothing. What would Tony say? Chill out.

"Let's pack up, then," he smiled and followed her bouncing curls into the bedroom.

…

"So you'll be gone July second to the third," Pepper stated as she typed furiously.

"Yes, but we'll be back at about ten thirty am on the fourth," Tina replied, looking nervously over her shoulder.

"That's perfect. Okay, so Natasha and Tony are taking care of wardrobe and decorations for the night. They're doing a lot of research…it's going to look genuine. Clint bought the tickets gear for all of us. Thor was in charge of coming up with a menu. He actually did a very good job. The only thing I did was remove Pop-Tarts and Cheerios from the list. And Bruce has fireworks covered. So far it looks like your idea is going to go very well."

Tina grinned.

"I hope so! Pepper, you're an angel for organizing all this."

Pepper laughed.

"Anything for our star-spangled man. But you're the one with the plan this time."

Mhmm...it appears Tina knows more than she should! She seems to have a knack for that, huh? Reviews please!