Lea looked from her phone with its GPS app to the imposing building in font of her. The apartment complex was huge and quite imposing in all its shiny modern glory.

She sighed, wondering how she was supposed to carry out her mission. She'd always been a bit of a nerd and had never been obsessed with superheroes, so she didn't even know what captain America looked like! Not without the spangled suit at least, and she suspected (and hoped) that he didn't wear that 24/7.

With that cheering thought, she shook her head, braced herself for what she was starting to fear would be a trial and walked inside the building.

The lobby was spacious with a polished reception desk opposite the door. Behind it stood a bored looking receptionist filing her nails. Lea walked up to the desk and waited.

The receptionist didn't look up.

Lea coughed subtly, trying to get the woman's attention, but apparently filing one's nails was an all consuming task and the lady continued to ignore her. Lea was starting to get annoyed.

This wasn't her division. She shouldn't have to be here, but did she have a say? No, of course not! When Director High-In-The-Instep-Fury says jump, everyone's expected to leap. Now, a receptionist was so busy filing her nails, she couldn't be bothered to point Lea in the direction of a superhero that could the their only hope of, oh you know, saving the world!

Frustrated, Lea rang the bell at the desk. Not once, as it was meant to function, but seven times in quick succession. The sudden and unexpected noise caused the secretary to jump and stared at Lea with wide eyes.

Good, thought Lea maliciously.

Before Lea could ask the woman to point her in the direction of the gym, a muffled chukcle interrupted her.

The receptionist's, who was facing the source of the merriment, demeanor completely changed. Instantly, her reproachful look melted away to be replaced by a simpering look that really just made her look like she was sucking on lemons.

Lea rolled her eyes, turning to the voice and froze. The receptionist's reaction now made complete sense.

Leaning against one of the artistic pillars was a man. A blonde haired, blue eyed and extremely fit man, still trying to hide his amuesment at Lea's tantrum involving the reception bell.

Lea blinked, shaking off her surprise and raised an eyebrow at the stranger,

"May I help you?" The man smiled apologetically, and said,

"Sorry for laughing, it was rude of me. You look like you could use some assistance."

"I'm trying," she turned to glare at the still-simpering receptionist, "to find the nearest gym." The blinked in surprise,

"There's one in the building. Would you like me to show you?" He offered. Lea instinctively protested,

"Oh no, it's alright-"

"I insist," he cut her off, offering her his arm in a surprisingly gesture. She hesitantly took it and he smiled down at her laughingly, admitting,

"I was going there anyway."

With that he led her out of the lobby, nodding politely with a smile at the reception woman who sighed dreamily as the elevator doors closed behind them. Seemingly unconsious, of the effect he had, he pressed the basement level's button.

Lea awkwardly stood in the corner, trying to find something to say. The man, however, saved her, by saying,

"I haven't seen you before, do you live in one of the apartments?" She smiled at him, grateful that she didn't have to try and start a conversation.

"No, actually, I'm looking for someone and I suspect he will be in the gym."

He looked interested,

"Really? Friend of yours?" Lea took a moment, trying to think up a suitable answer. Finally, she answered,

"We have... Mutual friends." He nodded in understanding, but didn't probe further, for which Lea was secretly grateful. She wasn't very good and controlling conversations and was worried she'd let something slip.

"Do you live here?" She returned.

"Yes," he answered, but didn't say anything else.

For a moment, Lea toyed with the idea of asking him if he knew where she might find Steve Rogers, a.k.a. 'Captain America', but then dismissed the idea. This was a top secret mission after all. Lean frowned at the thought, still upset she'd had to be assigned on feild work.

If the man noticed the change in her demeanor, he didn't comment, merely waiting patiently until the elevator doors dinged open.

"This way," he said, taking the lead. Lea followed, hesitantly, trying to scrape together what she was going to say to Captain America.

Her guide finally stopped in front of a metal door, sliding his apartment card in to unlock it. Then he stepped back holding the door for her. She gave him a surprised smile and stepped in.

The gym was spacious with some simple weights tucked away and treadmill machines lined up. More prominent were the punching bags. She noticed with some curiosity that on the farthest one, there was a pile of punching bags next to it.

However, it was empty of people.

She groaned inwardly, wondering what she was supposed to do now. Go stake out his apartment door?

The man walked past her nd she recalled her manners,

"Oh thank you..." She paused, then continued hesitantly, "Um, I don't actually know your name..." The man turned back, giving her a strange, searching look. She shifted, uncomfortable under his intense gaze. He finally seemed satisfied and replied,

"Your welcome and I'm sorry you couldn't find who you were looking for. My name's Steve." Lea turned away to leave, but then froze.

Steve? It couldn't be... She turned around slowly, watching his back as he retreated to the farthest punching bag. Could it?

"That is Steve Rogers by any chance?" She asked. He was in the process of setting down his duffle bag, but stiffened when he heard her. Very slowly, he stood and turned to face her, his face guarded and set.

"And who might you be?"

Lea could have cried. Part of that was out of relief that she didn't have to become a stalker to keep her job. The other part had to do with her spending a good ten minutes in this man's company and not once realizing his identity. She closed her eyes and mentally facalmed,

"And this is why I don't do fieldwork," she muttered to herself. Then she focused on the man still facing her warily.

"I'm Agent Charleson. I work for S.H.I.E.L.D.," she said, trying to regain her composure and not show how embarrassed she was. The information, however, did nothing to relax him. Rogers continued to eye her as though she were some sort of time bomb.

"What do you want?" he finally asked. Glad they were getting somewhere, but hoping the staring contest he seemed intent on would end soon, Lea cleared her throat, reaching into her black bag.

Rogers tensed when he initially saw her movement and she inwardly scoffed. What did he think she was going to do? Pull out a gun and assassinate him? Like I even know how to work a gun. Then she remembered that, for all he knew using a gun was her forte. She slowly pulled out the file that Director Fury had instructed her to give to Captain America and set it on a nearby bench, backing away.

Seeing her cautious movements, Rogers relaxed slightly, coming forward to pick up the folder. He opened it, flipping through without really absorbing the information.

"What is this?" He asked, looking back up at Lea. She sighed, realizing she'd have to explain the events of the last few days.

"You remember the tesseract? The glowing blue thing that they found with you under ice?" He nodded and she continued, "S.H.I.E.L.D. was in possession of it." She paused and he cut in,

"I know, but you said 'was'. What happened?"

"Perceptive," she smiled, then sobered up. "It was acting up, sending out flares of gamma radiation."

"Why?" Lea shrugged in frusteration. She'd been on the elite team of scientists who had been working with the tesseract and their failure rubbed the wrong way.

"Before we could figure that out, it opened a portal and he came through." She said darkly. Rogers frowned,

"He?"

"Loki." When Rogers opened his mouth to ask who Loki was, Lea shook her head, "You'll hear enough of him later and there's a profile in the folder. Point is, he took the tesseract, some of our best agents and then collapsed the entire base."

Rogers looked slightly impressed, taking a moment to let it all sink in. Finally, he asked ,

"But... What does that have to do with me?" Lea bit her lip. She wasn't supposed to say anything about the Avengers yet.

"Director Fury is calling you in."

"Why?"

"Read Loki's profile and you'll understand." When he didn't look convinced, she sighed, "Look, just read the folder tonight. When you're done, use this." She tossed him a small keychain which he caught deftly.

"It'll summon you a ride to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base." He looked from the folder and button to her,

"What if I don't want to come?" Suddenly tired and feeling a headache coming, Lea sighed,

"Then don't press it."

"I have a choice?" He asked skeptically, one eyebrow raised. She reluctantly grinned,

"Whose answer do you want? Fury would say 'yes', but mean 'no'." His eyes twinkled in amusement for a moment. Then he asked,

"What would you say?" Lea sighed,

"It's your call, I don't care. Press it or don't." She turned to leave, but paused at the doorway to looked back at Rogers, who was staring at the folder in curiosity.

"But be forewarned," she began and he looked up. A small smile crept onto her face once more.

"If you decide not to come, I wouldn't put it past Fury to send someone to kidnap you."

She turned and left, his laughter following her out.