AN: I Slept In! AHHHHHHHHHH!

Time to see how Laura is getting on. I'm taking a different spin on some of her developing relationships.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 7 - Lion's Den

Laura was a sucker for a comfortable bed. She'd been awake an hour but she still hadn't left the warmth of her new bed, content to just cherish this short time alone. But even the beautiful white and sky blue sheets were a reminder that her peace couldn't last.

She let out a deep breath, trying to relax but giving up quickly. The white ceiling taunted her as she glared at it, knowing that soon someone somewhere would ask for her and the voice in the ceiling would disturb her solitude.

She knew that most of the Avengers would be up, she knew for a fact that Rogers and Barnes were. Her guest room was on their floor and she'd caught their scents as they passed her door at 6 am and again at 8am. Judging by the potency of their odour, she guessed that they must have gone to the gym or something.

But Laura was trying really hard to pretend that she hadn't caught Bucky's scent lingering at her door and that she hadn't been lying awake since he'd left.

Internally she questioned what she was doing there. It had seemed like a good deal at the time. Free food, hot showers and a proper double bed just seemed too good to pass up.

But could she survive in the same household as Winter?

She could see his unease around her, she'd felt it last night. She'd been enjoying herself, she had finally been able to give Ford the beautiful black eye that he deserved when Barnes's mood had brought her down.

It had been the Captain that verbally stopped her from hurting the idiot more but she could see Bucky's inner turmoil at her actions.

She knew that she had changed since Hydra, but in all fairness so he had.

She sat up, running a hand through her hair. She couldn't get too settled here, it was too dangerous. Her eyes landed on her backpack that she'd grabbed the night before. It lay directly in front of her door, just in case. She could leave whenever she wanted. They'd probably try to stop her but no one could truly cage her, if she wanted out she'd get out.

"Miss. Laura?" She jumped before scolding herself for forgetting about the voice in the ceiling.

Natasha had informed her about the "computer butler" when they had arrived at the big posh Tower, much to Tony's disappointment. Apparently the ass had planned for the AI to scare her. "My apologies ma'am but Mr. Stark has asked for your presence in the communal kitchen."

She sighed, realising that her peace was over. "Tell him, I'm on my way, Jarvis". She felt like refusing but she did technically work for the man-child.

"I will, ma'am". Laura pushed away the covers and through her legs over the edge of the mattress. She sat for a second to take a calming breath.

However when she felt steady, she grabbed her jeans from the floor and tugged them on. She had slept in her underwear and grey vest top.

She didn't exactly own many clothes and she'd been desperate to get out of that stupid outfit so she had changed into her only change of clothes.

She grabbed her choker, putting it on as she made her way to the door. Laura nudged her bag out of the way with her foot as before entering into the hallway.

The floor that belonged to Rogers and Barnes was rather nice. It was basic and simplistic but functional. A long corridor held four bedroom doors before opening into a decent sized living room and mini kitchenette. Barnes's room was beside her one and Rogers was opposite.

She briskly marched into the elevator, still very much stuck in her own thoughts. She knew that her room's location was no coincidence and she was pretty sure on who her blame should be directed at. There had to be other floors with spare rooms and yet she ended up on the same floor as Barnes.

'Stark's such an ass'. She steadied herself with this thought, preparing herself for when the elevator door opened and she'd be faced with whoever was waiting there. She was dancing on thin ice but that was nothing new to her.

The doors opened and she walked casually through them, coming face to face with an empty luxurious living area. She frowned for a second at the lack of human life before catching the scent of multiple people and more importantly…Bacon.

She followed the aroma through an archway and finally came face to face with the Avengers. The sight was domestic and really…odd. Captain America stood in front of the stove, an apron hung around his neck as he fried Bacon and scrambled eggs. A random man with salt and pepper hair sat with his nose in a newspaper, sitting at the kitchen island with a tea cup in front of him. Romanoff sat opposite the man, wearing yoga pants and a baggy top and staring at her over her coffee cup. Barnes stood leaning on a counter near Steve as the man cooked, examining her subtly.

Laura had to admit she was grateful not to have everyone's eyes on her but she was a bit apprehensive about the argument going on in the room that no one seemed to be paying attention to. Stark leaned across the island counter giving some convoluted explanation to a very angry strawberry blonde haired woman.

Laura couldn't see the woman's face but she guessed that this was the famous Pepper Potts. Her conclusion was cut short by an internal groan as Stark's eyes caught her own.

"…And here she is! Lady of the hour!" Tony exclaimed, glad for a distraction from Pep's glare, rising to greet his new employee.

"You called for me, Mr. Stark?" Laura's voice remained stoic as she levelled a weak glare at the man. Oh how that man irritated her…

"Drop the 'Mr. Stark', its Tony and while we're making nice, that is Bruce over there, he's my Science Bro" Bruce looked up from his paper at the sound of his name to see himself being introduced. He looked at the person Tony hadn't shut up about all morning, offering her a conciliatory wave of greeting. Her attention strayed onto him and gave a nod in return, before going back to glaring at Tony. The doctor went back to his paper but paused thoughtful as he felt the other guy slowly shifting under the surface. "…and you already know who this is…" Tony made his voice as happy as possible, remembering Laura's threat from last night.

Pepper rose from her seat quickly, taking a step towards the dark haired girl. Everyone watched on carefully as Pep greeted the enigma. "Hi, don't mind him, he's a conceited child". Laura put her hand forward to shake, see the woman twitching for the familiar action. She was about to speak up but the CEO continued "I know Tony made a deal with you but I don't require a bodyguard so we can renegotiate if you like". Laura watched the woman strangely, raising an eyebrow in curiosity and wondering if the woman really meant what she was saying.

Tony interrupted before Laura could get a word in edge ways. "Come on, Pep! Of course, you need a bodyguard!"

The ginger woman whirled round to snap at her boyfriend. "What about Happy? You better not be thinking of firing him." The warning in the woman's voice surprised Laura, Miss. Potts appeared to be a force to be reckoned with.

"Of course, not! But Happy's the head of security, he can't be at your side all the time." Stark argued as everyone watched the argument like it happened all the time. Mostly because it did.

"I don't need someone with me all the time!" Pepper seethed as she glared up at the billionaire.

"You kind of do." Pep's glare intensified, causing Stark to sigh deeply "Listen, What if…the tower was attacked and I wasn't here to protect you".

There was a pause as everyone waited for Pepper to retaliate but she didn't. She merely stared into Tony's eyes, seeing past the mask and seeing the pain inside. She had to admit, since becoming his girlfriend, she had become directly attached to the rich superhero and there for more in danger than ever. The thought of being attacked should of scared her more but she trusted Tony and the rest of the Avengers. She could see, however, that the hypothetical danger hurt Tony more than he was will to admit around the others.

"Surely, your AI would be alerted by an attack…" Everyone was shocked when a voice interrupted the standard Stark Potts argument, they were flabbergasted when they realised that it had been Laura who interrupted.

Tony frowned at her words. "Well yeah but my defences aren't perfect. They could theoretically be bypassed, not easily mind you." He watched as Natasha nodded in confirmation and glared at the 'Evil super spy lady'.

"Then I agree with Miss. Potts." Bucky watched X carefully, surprised and wary that she was taking a side in all this. "If your AI can alert me to the problem then I can deal with it. She doesn't need someone by her side all the time".

Pepper smiled at the younger woman but held a concerned gaze with her. "Are you sure you don't mind?" The way Tony had explain it, it had sounded like she made a deal with the devil or something. Pepper wasn't exactly happy with the idea of a bodyguard crowding around her but Laura didn't fit the "men in black" image she'd had in her head. And if it made Tony less stressed then she could get on board with it.

Laura shrugged "As long as I get paid, I don't mind". There was a part of her that missed the thrill of the fight and a part of her that just wanted the money. The other parts were things that she'd chosen to ignore for now.

The spark of stubbornness left Pep's eyes. "OK". She watched amused as Tony's eyes lit up. "We'll try it". Tony smiled giddily as he swooped in to steal a kiss from his gorgeous girl. Pepper laughed against his lips at his behaviour before pulling away. She blushed lightly, remembering that the other Avengers were in the room while pushing her boyfriend towards his seat. "Sit down, your coffee's getting cold".

Tony's eyes gleamed at his girl before they shifted to their guest. "Help yourself to coffee, Kid" He directed his words to Laura, who he'd realised, had been standing in the same spot through the entire argument. The dark haired girl nodded, walking toward the coffee machine that she had spotted next to Barnes.

Bucky watched her out of the corner of his eye as she got a cup and poured herself a drink. She hadn't met his eye when she walked past him, he noted.

In all honesty, he was struggling to know how to act around her. He had a very weak grasp on how they acted towards each other back at Hydra and it was bugging him that she wasn't giving him any clues to that question.

"Hey, Laura…" The voice made both Bucky and Laura jump. Laura hadn't expected Barnes to talk to her while side-staring at her but she quickly realised that it was Rogers who had spoken. "Would you like some eggs and bacon? I've made extra" His voice was steady but still friendly.

"Yes, thank you". She replied politely, remembering exactly who she was talking to. She held a certain amount of respect for the Captain, from what she knew he was a good man and would most likely feel unnerved by demands from her. She didn't know much about the 40's but she knew enough.

Steve dished up the food, passing it past Bucky an into Laura's hand. Bucky felt just a little bit uncomfortable with her closeness but watched her as she went to eat at the island.

He'd expected for her to be wary of the food, like he had been (and still was to a degree) when he'd first arrived here but she tucked in, not even smelling it to check if it was poisoned. He thought have her around would lead to more answers but it just created more confusion in his mind.

Laura had picked to sit on the end of the island, having calculated and guessed where everyone else was either sitting or planning on sitting. The end seat also had more room and was further way from the other avengers, the closest to her being Miss Potts.

She bit into a piece of bacon as she felt eyes on her. It wasn't Barnes, he was probably still recovering from "almost" being caught staring but everyone else at the table looked engaged in their own thing. The new one, Bruce, read the paper while Potts scrolled through a tablet, Romanoff ate her food and Tony inhaled his. It was as Steve passed Miss. Potts a plate that Laura managed to catch the Widow's eyes.

The gaze was dissecting and disappeared a second later but it unnerved the dark haired woman. She'd heard things about the Black Widow, hushed frightened words between doctors back when she was growing up so the woman's attention unsettled her.

In the peaceful silence, it was hard to believe that these were the Avengers, they acted more like a family. She was uncomfortable with how comfortable it was. "Sir, Project 'Sparkle' has been a success…" Jarvis's voice sounded almost disheartened as he softly broke the silence.

The Avengers were immediately wary at the AI's tone and that only grew worse as Tony grinned widely. "What have you done?" Bruce questioned putting his paper down for the moment. He knew all the experiments they had running down in the lab and 'Project Sparkle' was not one of them.

"Incoming" Jarvis's voice warned moments before a new voice shattered the peace.

"STARK!" The sound of bare feet storming across the living area reached their ears before Clint came into view. He stood in the archway, arms crossed, glaring poisonously at the inventor. Even those without enhanced vision could see that a layer of pink glitter covered the angry man's t-shirt and jogger bottoms.

Everyone had a really hard time containing their laughter as Clint seethed at the openly laughing billionaire. "Shouldn't have been in the vents, Birdy" the Inventor managed to get out between laughing fits.

"Shut up, Stark" Clint fumed before sulking his way over to the fridge. He would've hit the jerk but Steve would've stopped him before he could reach Tony. He'd just have to make him pay later.

"Don't go scrounging for food, you have breakfast on the way" Steve softly reprimanded the archer, feeling sorry for the man.

Clint paused before he closed the fridge, deciding to take heed of Steve's words. Instead he chose to lean against the nearby wall and glare daggers at Tony while he waited for his food.

Tony merely rolled his eyes at the glare. "Come on, Legolas. Don't be a sour puss." He said smirking before dramatically pouting. The archer's glare intensified. "Here, let me make it up to you!" Tony rose from his seat, making Clint's glare turn curious. "Meet our newest housemate!" Tony went to place his hand on Laura's shoulder but saved himself before he made that mistake.

Laura turned in her seat to face the glittery stranger. She couldn't gauge his name form the conversation so far but nicknames such as "Birdy" and "Legolas" had brought her to the conclusion that this was Hawkeye.

"Hi, I'm Clint" The archer greeted stepping forward to shake the girl's hand. He could guess that this was the elusive "X", her resemblance to Steve's drawing was uncanny.

"Laura" They shook hands as Clint huffed out a laugh.

"Your surname better not be Barton or I'm calling bullshit" First Rhodey and Barnes, and now this.

Laura could feel the other Avengers perk up a bit as she hesitated for a second. "It's Kinney, actually" She decided, feeling irritated at the corner she'd been forced into.

She usually used her father's surname when around people she didn't trust and the Avengers fell into that category. They may be the good guys but she wasn't exactly a saint. The only person in the room that she felt that she could trust, if forced to, was the Captain. She barely knew the man but Logan could only speak well of him and at the end of the day Logan was a better judge of character than she was. Captain America was a good man and, annoyingly, the reason she couldn't lie about her name.

The man had a good memory and she couldn't risk him recognising the name "Howlett". The two men's time fighting together had been short but she couldn't risk it, it would lead to questions.

And she couldn't not give a name because that would also lead to questions. So she just had to hope that they didn't recognise her mother's name.

The air grew awkward as the Avengers either wondered if that information was true or wondered why she'd hesitated. The awkwardness was only lessened when Steve turned to hand Clint his breakfast and the Archer cut the greeting short to go grab a seat and dig in, much to Laura's relief. She turned back to her food to find Romanoff's eyes once again on her but this time they held her gaze. Laura felt dread run down her spine.

"Are those the clothes you were wearing last night?" Natasha knew they were. She'd noted this fact when the dark haired girl had entered the kitchen and she had some theories on why the woman hadn't changed.

"Yes" Laura didn't even bother looking down at her clothes before answering. She knew her vest top had a few wrinkles in it from having slept in it.

"Do you not have another set?" Everyone was a bit shocked that Bucky had spoken up and over such a weird topic.

Laura turned to make eye contact with him, wondering why he'd chosen to join the conversation. "Not with me, why does it matter?"

The others could feel the air between the two getting tenser by the second. "We can drop you off at your place to get more".

The stare off between the two ended abruptly as Laura adverted her eyes for a second, wondering how on earth she was going to lie her way around this. "You don't need to go to the trouble".

"It's no trouble" Steve interrupted, wanting to break the awkwardness and tension that was enveloping the kitchen. "You'll also need to talk to your landlord if you're going to stay here". Laura winced slightly, knowing that she was slowly being trapped into this conversation.

Laura's wince was subtle but not subtle enough to escape Nat's expert eye. "Where were you staying?" She could tell something was up but wasn't about to confront the girl on it, trusting that the woman would explain eventually.

Laura thought about lying for a split second before meeting the red head's eye and realising that Natasha probably knew and would definitely call out a blatant lie. So instead she stabbed some egg and ate it to appear casual while answering "There's a place on 21st, windows are boarded up, except for one round the back. It used to be a warehouse or something"

"You were squatting" Clint stated more than questioned with a mouth full of bacon.

"Which explains why I couldn't find an address under you name" Tony supplied as he took out his phone and started to search for the location out of pure curiosity. They probably won't need to go there seeing as Laura didn't seem fussed about anything at the site.

"Wait, so that means that you don't have anything?" Pepper's voice held a mountain of concern for the younger girl. She couldn't imagine how hard it must be to be homeless.

Laura merely shrugged at her concern, finding it a tad odd. "I have my emergency pack, I don't need anything else." She didn't see the problem. Sure squatting was technically against the law but she wasn't doing it anymore so they couldn't arrested her for it.

A strange mixture of pity and pride ran through Bucky at her words. It was sad that she had to live like that but at the same time she'd been surviving and looked neither malnourished nor worse-off for it.

"Well, it's settled then, we'll go clothes shopping tomorrow" Pepper said determinedly, ignoring how the colour drained from Laura's face as she turned to the other woman present. "Natasha, you up for it?"

Natasha grinned widely, sending even more dread through Laura. "Oh definitely".

"I don't have money to waste on clothes" Laura tried to talk her way out of this. She wasn't exactly fond of shopping and the thought of doing it with two women, who were probably miles better at shopping than her, wasn't appealing.

"Of course not, that's why we'll be using Stark's card" Natasha replied not wanting to give Laura a way to back out. The trip could be a good opportunity to get a good read on the girl. The beginnings of a plan started to form in her head as she had a silent conversation with Clint.

"That's settled then" Pep announced raising from her chair with her empty place. She passed it to a smiling Steve who placed it in the sink before leaning down to peck Tony on the check. "I've got a meeting with the Western branch in half an hour so I'll see you later" She explained to Tony before addressing the two ladies while heading for the door "We'll head off after breakfast so be ready for then".

Laura looked to Tony, waiting for him to protest before Pepper left but he didn't. The smug bastard let his girlfriend walk out and merely smirked at her.

"In fact…" Clint spoke up drawing their attention. "Why don't we make it a group thing? I'm needing some new t-shirts and joggers because there is no way these are ever going to be clean again" He scowled at Tony but the man only seemed to agree with his proposal.

"Yeah sure, maybe we can even meet up with the girls for lunch. I'm sure I can rent some place out for a few hours". Tony knew it would cost a couple hundred to do so but he could easily afford it. Mostly he just wanted to see Laura after she'd been dragged around 50 different shops. He took pleasure from the small things in life…

"I think I'll pass…" Bruce said carefully. He'd just watched the ex-assassins have a secret conversation and he didn't particularly want to be mixed up in whatever they had planned. "I'm not good with crowds".

'Neither am I but I'm being forced into it' Laura thought, irritated that she was being forced into this day trip.

"You game, Cap?" Clint asked, shovelling some eggs into his mouth.

Steve hesitated for a second, glancing sideway at Bucky. Usually Bucky went where he went, unless he was being called out on a mission. However Buck wasn't watching to see what he'd chose to do, instead his gaze was firmly on a very unamused Laura. Even if the metal armed man didn't want to buy anything, he'd probably want to keep an eye on her. "Sure, why not?"

Bucky looked at his friend after hearing his reply, catching his eyes as the blonde man silently asked if he was okay with it. Barnes despised shopping, probably more than Laura appeared too. He'd only been shopping once, a few months back. Steve had taken him so as to "expose him to new environments" or something, it ended with him being over-whelmed, frustrated and extremely paranoid.

However, Bucky silently replied positively to Steve's unasked question. He wanted to keep an eye on her. He knew he was probably being obsessive but he wanted to remember more. He could feel this tug of kinship inside him whenever he saw her and he wanted context for that feeling of brotherhood.

"Okay so minus Brucie that's everyone, can't wait" Tony clapped his hands, taking so much pleasure in how annoyed Laura looked. She was quickly becoming his favourite person to mess with. She wasn't even close to beating Cap and Clint yet but she was rising up the ranks.

Laura gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to punch the billionaire through the wall. She realised that she could simply refuse to go but she also realised that Miss. Potts probably didn't want her standing around in a vest and jeans while on the job. Which horribly meant that she'd probably end up suit shopping as well. But it wasn't going to cost her money, only energy and sanity. She rose from her seat empty plate in hand, ready to escape and go hide out on Barnes and Rogers's floor.

But of course, Stark wasn't going to make her life any easier. "And before you run off, sweet cheeks, I've got a job for you" He said biting into a piece of bacon as she glared at him.

Steve met her half way, taking the plate off her before she thought of smashing over Tony's head.

Laura wished she'd thought of that before as she lowered herself back into her seat. "What job?" She questioned, continuing to try and burn holes through him with her glare.

"Well, it's less a job and more of a request or proposal…" Tony had to admit that her glare was impressive, not Natasha or Fury impressive but still something.

"Spit it out" She kept her tone even and steady. Knowing that the billionaire wasn't worth her anger. He irritated her but her anger was reserved for those who truly got under her skin.

"We have a training arena, little thing I invented about a year ago, still a bit experimental. It simulates a fight but instead of squishy people, it uses robots" Tony continued to explain, ignoring the reprimanding looks coming from Romanoff and Rogers. "There's simulations for everyone, even Cyborg over there. I want to see what you're capable of".

"Tony…" The Captain's tone would've almost been disappointed if it wasn't so annoyed. He had to admit that he wanted to know her capabilities as well but Tony should learn to ask people instead of ordering them about.

"What?" Tony turned to find the bulky blonde scowling at him. "I've hired her, I should know what I've bought!"

"What the hell, Stark?! That's no way to talk about anyone, let alone someone you've invited into your house" Clint spoke up, not really wanting Bucky's ex-Hydra buddy to kill Stark in his sleep. On second thoughts…

"These robots…" Laura asked calmly, being more intrigued than angry. She could kill Tony later, right now she wanted to know more about this training arena. "You beat them up and then what?"

Everyone, even Tony, was shocked that she was asking questions about the training room. "They get added to your score and the leftovers get swept into a secondary level, where they get smelted down and made into new one. It's actually very efficient…"

Laura processed his words. So they were recycled, meaning she could wail on them as hard as she wanted without consequence. Unfortunately, it also sounded like there'd be a lot of robot pieces littering the floor so no boots wasn't an option. Good thing they were going shopping tomorrow. "And there's simulations for everyone?"

"Not for Pepper, obviously but everyone else does" Tony began to smile, feeling hopeful that Laura would agree.

"And how much are you willing to pay me if I can beat your level, Stark?" Tony was stunned into silence for a second as he watched a smirk grow onto her face.

Laura was actually gambling with him. "Well, someone's confident." Tony laughed as the others became a bit unnerved by the sudden change in Laura's mood. "50 bucks"

"100" Laura countered Tony's offer, wanting to make a nice profit.

"Done" Tony replied quickly before shaking on it, not wanting Captain no-fun to stop them.

AN: What did you guys think of the chapter? I'm not too keen on the start. Also thought's on X23's attitude to Cap.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please Fav, Follow and Review.

Feedback helps me wake up on time. More Reviews = Posting on time.

See you next week!