A/N: Oh my gosh guys! I'm so excited for this chapter. It's so. Freaking. Adorable. If you're not already a Captain fan, prepare to be. As I told my friend, "I'm gonna make Captain work for it. He earns his meals in this household." I don't normally do romance, but this chapter was so cute to write. My new favorite thing to write. Oh, and this really annoyed me, but fanfiction was having problems last chapter with understanding the second cat's name was Super cali fragilistic expi ala docious. It was all one word, and it's annoying me because it's ACTUALLY MY CAT'S NAME. I think I would know if it was spelled wrong, thanks. Sorry for the mega long chapter, but you'll see what I just had to add on at the end. On with the squeeing!
Three days after the meeting at Sam's house she was in New York, gazing up at the rather impressive Avengers tower where Stark Enterprises was also held. It was nearly four months after the invasion and looking around you would have a hard time believing it happened at all. Everything was newly repaired and the streets were thriving with crowds. So much so that Sam was almost knocked to the ground a few times. Great. New York would be awesome.
She walked into the lobby, bags in hand, and to a reception desk of sorts. "Good afternoon, welcome to Stark Enterprises," the lady at the desk said. "Do you have an appointment?"
"Um, I think so," Sam said. "The Avengers-"
"I'm sorry," the lady cut her off with a cheery smile. "Stark Enterprises has a strict policy in regards to the Avengers Initiative, and I cannot make any formal statement on the subject. Thank you for your time."
"What? No. Can you just call Mr. Stark or- oh, I know you didn't just press a button for security on me," Sam said. This wasn't really how she thought it would go. Once people saw her as a teenager she lost all credibility.
Two men that resembled rent-a-cops entered the lobby. Sam sighed and grabbed her things.
"For the record," she called out as she exited the building,"I have the ability to kick your asses. I chose not to." The door shut in her face and she turned around to see an amused looking Bruce Banner holding a cup of Starbucks.
"Exactly how much of that did you see," she asked while pushing the bangs out of her face.
"Enough. Here, walk in with me. And next time, maybe go in from the garage," he said while grabbing the door for her. They were almost to the elevator before the receptionist noticed her.
"Excuse me, miss! You were asked to leave-"
"She's with me," Bruce said with a smile.
"Of course, Dr. Banner," the blonde replied while giving Sam a second look. She narrowed her eyes and the spray-tanned, bottle blonde, room temperature IQ-ed receptionist. Just as the elevator doors were closing Sam stuck her tongue out at the woman. Childish? Probably. Satisfying? Definitely.
Bruce did his best to hold in his laughter as they made their way to the top floor. He studied the ceiling corner as if it were suddenly interesting. However, as soon as he heard Sam mutter "tanning booths are directly related to brain cell damage" under her breath his composure slipped and he let out a chuckle, to which she quickly joined in. They were both laughing as the elevator opened and they stepped out into the penthouse, the Avengers' official headquarters.
"Have a little trouble," Tony asked from where he lounged on the couch, making it apparent that the giant flatscreen gave him a live play-by-play of the whole ordeal.
Sam glared at him. "You could have jumped in any time."
"Yes but there was nothing good on tv. Popcorn," he offered while holding out the bag.
After that the day was pretty much normal. She took a tour of the building (after being given proper access and an ID card) and was introduced to Pepper Potts. Her room was on the same floor as Steve's, and most of the rest of the floor was taken up by the gym. Her room was actually a suite. There was a nice sitting area with a flatscreen and a desk in the corner. One door led into a very nice looking bathroom, another one to a tastefully decorated bedroom.
The tour took a surprising amount of time, even for such a large building. She only saw the main floors she needed. If she didn't get lost at some point in the first week she was going to buy herself a treat.
They got six pizzas for dinner- which was apparently not enough. Sam would have felt like the problem, but she only ate three slices. It got to the point where Tony and Clint argued over the last slice. When the obvious outcome of Clint wrestling Tony to the ground was over the crowd turned their attention to the last box. It was empty. Natasha sat eating the half finished slice of pepperoni pizza, eyebrow raised. All in all, it was an interesting start.
Sam had issues sleeping. Therefore, she wasn't surprised to wake up multiple times. At six she finally gave up and called it. The sun was just beginning to rise. She paused while stretching, sure that she had heard a thump in the other room. Yep, there it was again. She grabbed a throwing knife and a nearby book and threw open her bedroom door.
Steve was just about to head into the gym for a pre-breakfast work out when he heard it. A banging noise followed by a startled yelp from Sam's room. Fully alert, he ran to her suite and pulled the door open.
Sam was under attack, all right. A pigeon swooped low around her head while she tried to bat it away with a book. He grabbed a blanket from a nearby chair and threw it over the bird, making it land in a bundle on the floor. He picked it up and released it out of her window, which had been shut.
"Did you leave your window open," Steve asked as he looked around. There were a few shoes lying around that looked out of place. Sam had probably thrown them at the angry bird.
"No. Little demon. I woke up with it flying around and tried to grab it but it went berserk. It started dive bombing me. I have no clue how that thing got in," she said while pulling her long hair back. Having just woken up her hair was a mess and she hadn't had a chance to get dressed.
"I could hazard a guess," Steve said. Stark. He would bet money on it. Just then he became very aware of the fact that she was still in her pajamas, which consisted of a tank top and short shorts. He quickly decided to focus on her face.
Sam noticed Steve blush slightly as he looked at her, but decided to take the higher route and pretend he didn't just check her out. Of course to a guy from the 40's she probably looked like a slut. In her defense she wasn't exactly expecting company.
"Um, I'm just gonna go to the gym now," Steve stated awkwardly.
"Right. I'm going to get dressed. I might join you, if you don't mind of course," Sam tacked on. She had every intention of heading there when she woke up but it felt awkward after the whole bird incident.
"Of course," Steve said with a smile as he left her room. None of the rest of the team got up this early voluntarily. It was a nice change to have someone else to work out with so early.
Ten minutes later Sam showed up looking slightly more presentable in gym shorts and an old t-shirt. It actually worked out pretty well. Steve helped Sam perfect her boxing skills, and then she kicked his ass mercilessly in one-on-one. To be fair, there were no hits to the crotch on Sam's part and Steve was holding back. The idea of fighting a woman, even in mock combat, put him on edge to make sure he didn't hurt her.
They called it quits around eight so they could shower and eat breakfast. Sam wasn't sure what exactly the dress code was so she settled for black jean capris and a cute baby doll top. She liked it because it was feminine and flirty yet she was still able to drop a few idiots in it. She had done so on several occasions.
Upon entering the kitchen she pointed at Tony and said in a menacing tone, "You."
"Alright, alright," Tony said while thowing up his hands, "Star boy beat you to the punch. I'm sorry. No more hazing the newbie and in the future live animals will not be used."
Sam continued to glare as she stalked towards him. Then she bipassed him completely and grabbed herself a glass of juice while smiling.
"You know, for a midget, you're awfully scary," Tony said as he sighed in relief. "I thought you were a happy folk that sang and were emissaries of Munchkinland for the Lollipop Guild."
"First of all, a short joke from you is a joke in itself. You're, like, three inches taller, if that. Secondly, the lady munchkins represent the Lullaby League. Everyone knows that. Thirdly, I got woken up by a flying rat swooping at my head, so you can go ahead down the yellow brick road and look for a heart, Tin Man."
"I don't even think 'thirdly' is a word," Tony responded. The rest of the team was seated around the kitchen, watching the two as if it were a tennis match.
"You could have stopped that sentence at 'I don't even think'," Sam said.
"My God, it's like having two Tonys," Bruce breathed. Well, that wasn't quite fair, Steve thought. She didn't have a few of Tony's more annoying habits. Instead she had her own that were far nicer.
"I would settle for a passable comparison of calling me a younger, female, nicer, less slutty version of Tony," Sam said.
"Less slutty," Tony exclaimed in mock outrage. "Never once in my life have I worn a miniskirt!" Everyone gave him a blank stare. "Never twice in my life have I worn a miniskirt."
"And breakfast is now a little too weird for me," Clint said as he pushed away from the table.
After everyone finished eating Clint and Natasha disappeared to...who knows where. No one actually recalled them leaving. It was like living with ninjas.
Pepper Potts appeared and had a brief, but warm, conversation with them before she dragged Tony off to some business meeting. Steve was called away to handle a paperwork mishap for SHIELD and Sam had to practically shoo Bruce down to his lab. It was clearly where he wanted to be but chivalry kept him from abandoning her. In fairness he asked if she would join him, but Sam politely declined on the pretense of figuring out her college schedule. It was an enticing offer, but she thought she might need to set up an escape route or else resign herself to hours spent in a college lecture-like setting.
It turned out most of her classes had been transferred to online. She didn't even have to worry about homework this week. With nothing better to do, Sam found herself roaming the halls, occasionally doing a barrel roll while humming the Mission Impossible theme song. Who wouldn't?
In the end she went back to the kitchen. Out of boredom she searched the cabinets and found all of the basic baking ingredients, to her mild surprise. Sam smiled, knowing how she would spend the next few hours. She pulled out everything she needed and set up her favorite playlist on her phone.
"Excuse me, miss," JARVIS interrupted. Sam jumped. It was kind of startling to hear a voice from nowhere. "If you wish, I can sync to your playlist and put it on the sound system."
"That would be wonderful. Thank you, JARVIS," Sam smiled. Her music filled the room as she began making some French bread.
Which is exactly how Steve walked in half an hour later and found Sam with her back to him, kneading dough and singing along to 'Call Me Maybe'. He knew he should probably announce his presence but he couldn't help it. He had originally come up here with the intention of talking to her. As team leader, he felt it was his job to get to know all of his team. For instance, now he knew Sam liked to bake and had a decent singing voice.
Sam's sixth sense was tingling. She turned around and caught Steve full on staring at her. Both turned a similar shade of pink as they broke eye contact.
"How, uh, how long were you standing there," Sam asked while looking at the floor.
"Not long at all," Steve assured her, embarassed at getting caught. Good. He had missed her belting out to One Direction. That was all she cared about.
He looked like a puppy with it's tail between it's legs. She didn't miss him eyeing the exit. "Do you think you could help me knead this dough," Sam asked.
"Of course," Steve automatically responded. Sam inwardly thanked his chivalrous ways. They worked together and talked about random things as JARVIS discreetly lowered the music volume to background noise. In a few minutes all of the awkwardness was gone.
Sam was just starting a pound cake batter when Steve finished kneading the dough and set it to the side to rise. He looked around to see what else he could do.
"If you want I can show you how to use the blender. I make the best pound cake anyone has ever tried," Sam offered. Steve smiled in response and stepped closer so they were both next to the mixer. She showed Steve how much flour to add and turned to the side to measure the baking powder. She turned around just in time to see him add the entire five cups of flour into the still running mixer.
A cloud of flour rose from the mixer. It got all over Steve's shirt, but mostly it got all over Samantha's face since she was shorter and closer. She slowly reached out and shut the mixer off.
"I am so-," Steve started to apologize in earnest. He was cut off by a handful of flour thrown at his face.
"Flour fight," Sam called out as she grabbed another handful and raced around the counter laughing.
Steve hesitated for a second. He was Captain America, team leader. The serious thought was ended by the part of his brain that caught Sam's infectious laughter. He grabbed a fistful of flour and grinned.
For the next three minutes, chaos ensued. Shouts and laughter carried from the kitchen as puffs of flour erupted in the air. Both sides fought valiantly, but as Sam chased after Steve she slipped on a stray pile of flour. She lunged forward and caught on to Steve's leg, right near his waist.
Steve, who had been empty handed and backing away, reached out and caught hold of her at the elbows and dragged her back up. If Steve held on to her for a little too long or Sam's smile was a little too out of breath, neither noticed.
Eventually Steve let go and by mutual consent Sam finished the cake batter while Steve cleaned up the kitchen floors. Once Sam was done she helped wipe down the counters.
Twenty minutes later the cake and bread were in the oven, the kitchen was clean, and Sam and Steve were relatively cleaned up aside from their clothes. They were doing dishes, Steve insisting on washing while Sam rinsed and dried, when Clint and Natasha walked in.
"Something smells good," Clint said.
"Thanks. Steve helped me make French bread and pound cake," Sam replied.
"Uh huh. Did you also get in a fight with the Pillsbury dough boy," Natasha asked. Sam and Steve looked down at their outfits as they put the last mixing bowl away.
"The mixer has issues," Sam shrugged, but both SHIELD agents caught the implied lie. "We better go change." Her and Steve made a quick dash to the elevator, but not so quickly that both assassins didn't notice the distinct, small white handprint curiously close to Steve's butt.
Clint and Natasha exchanged grins as they headed over to the living room. They agreed to do whatever it took to see those two grinning like idiots again.
A/N: I apologize for the lack of foreseeable story plot, but I wanted to establish fluffiness first. Once they start dating there will be problems. Typical, amirite? By the way, if I ever have a really cute flour fight with a dreamy man, you can bet I'm marrying him. No questions asked. Like their cute little budding romance? Mad I cheated them out of the perfect little kiss? Let me know. ;) You guys rock.