Talladega - Eric Church.

"Cherish your human connections - your relationship with friends and family." - Barbara Bush.

December 17th, 1991.

Katie sighed as she opened the door to her little apartment in London, England. She closed the door behind her softly before resting against it, lightly banging her head on the wood.

It'd been a hard day at work. Sure, she only worked at a small coffee shop, but people got damn hostile when they didn't get their coffee in time. On top of that, she had to walk home in the middle of a bloody snow storm, and she lived about twenty minutes away from the shop where she worked. And last but not least, she'd had a late shift so it was now after eleven at night.

Thank God she was now off until the New Year.

Katie booked it off. She decided, seeing that it'd been years, she was going to visit her Uncle Howard for Christmas. He didn't know of course. She was going to surprise him, and his wife Maria and little Tony. Though he wasn't little anymore, as he would be about seventeen by now. She also planned on visiting her mother for New Years, since it'd been a year or so since she'd last seen her.

Twelve years. Tony had been five. That was the last time Katie had seen Howard in person. She couldn't keep the smile off her face just thinking about it, she was so excited.

Pushing herself off the door, Katie walked into her small apartment, dropping her keys on the table and pulling her hair out of its pony tail.

She was planning on taking a nice, long bath before packing for the night. She couldn't wait to get out of her uniform and never have to put it back on for a few weeks.

However, just as Katie was halfway down the hall and on her way to the bathroom, her phone rang, catching her off guard.

Narrowing her eyes, Katie looked over at the phone on the counter for a moment before making her way slowly towards it. The only reason she got the phone was so Howard and her mother could call her, but she didn't think she would be hearing from them tonight…

Staring the phone with each step, almost like it would attack her, Katie walked up to it and sighed, her face relaxing as she recognized the number.

"Mum," Katie answered the phone, laughing lightly. "You scared me. Do you know-"

"Katie."

The sound of her mother's voice, scratchy like she hadn't used it in a while, caused Katie to stop, frozen in her spot as her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Mum?" She said slowly after a few moments. "What is it?"

"There's…" Peggy's voice cracked a little before she carried on. "There's, been an accident."

"An accident?" Katie questioned, panic started to settle in. "Mum, are you okay? Are you-"

"No, no. I'm, I'm fine." Peggy assured her daughter. "It's Howard and Maria. And Jarvis."

Katie froze on the spot, her world seeming to freeze as Peggy fell silent. Katie knew, she knew before her mother had even said the words. But she didn't want to believe it. Not when Ches was gone, and most - if not all- of the Howling Commandos, and everyone else Katie grew up with, not when Howard, Jarvis and her mother were the only ones she had left.

She slowly backed up before she hit a wall, her mind racing as she slide down it and sat on the floor in her suddenly cold and dark apartment. And Katie sat there and waited, waited for her mother to say the words she didn't want to believe, the words that made it seem like her world had actually stopped.

"Katie," Peggy took a breath as Katie closed her eyes, tears welling up behind her eyelids. "They're gone, Katie."

The world had felt like it stopped spinning as Tony and Steve followed Katie down the winding hallways and towards the main area of the Helicarrier.

She wouldn't believe it. She would not believe the words Nick had just said over her earpiece. She had to see Nick in person, he had to tell her to her face.

She couldn't lose someone else.

Racing towards the double doors that lead to the main area of the Helicarrier, Katie threw them open, only to be met with an image that looked like how she felt. A total disaster.

Sections were blown up, computers were in pieces, small fires being put under control. Just about everyone was trying to clean up the big mess. Well, everyone besides Nick and Maria, who stood by the meeting table, talking quietly with each other.

Slowly, Katie made her way towards them, Steve and Tony behind her.

The captain tried to talk to her before she took off, but Katie didn't listen to him. She didn't want to listen to him. She didn't want to listen to anyone. Steve seemed to realize that she wasn't in a talking mood and stayed behind her the whole way as she raced to Nick, with Tony right behind them.

Making her way up the few stairs that lead to the table, one step at a time, Katie could feel tears already starting to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Just as they reached the top step Nick turned around to face Katie, Maria stepping back to give them some room.

Katie looked up at Nick with watery eyes, wanting him so badly to tell her it was all a joke. Phil would walk out, smiling at her but also blushing slightly because he was in the same room as Captain America. And then Katie would make a joke, causing him to blush even more…

But the look on Nick's face told it all, and Katie shifted her eyes down, to see some Captain America cards in Nick's hand. Katie instantly recognized them, especially one. The one she personally gave to Phil. It was stained with blood.

"Nick…" Katie basically begged as she shifted her gaze back up to the man in front of her, but Nick just looked down at the cards.

Katie wasn't going to believe it. Not until Nick told her the words in person, and Nick knew that. So, taking a deep breath, Nick looked back up at the blonde woman in front of him, an unreadable look on his face.

"He's gone, Katie."

Katie took in a shaky breath as the words left Nick's mouth, a tear running down her cheek as Tony, Steve and Maria looked down, everyone silent.

One tear fell, then another, and another, and before Katie knew it, she had a river running down her cheeks.

As she took in a shaky breath, only to have it get caught in her throat, Katie turned and ran out of the room, the will to be alone stronger than it ever was before. The last time she'd felt like this was the night her mother called her and said that Howard was gone.

Part of her was award that Steve started to head after her, but as she ran through the main doors, no one was behind her. She didn't stop running.

"No one is leaving you, Katie. I promise."

Katie let out a dry laugh as Phil's words echoed around is his head. He'd said those words to her a month ago, the night she talked to Steve for the first time. It felt like forever ago, and maybe it was. Either way, Phil was now gone. She was never going to be able to joke with him again, or laughing with him. Phil was one of the only - if not the only, besides Natasha and Clint? - S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that she liked, that was her friend.

A tear still fell down Katie's face every now and then as she stood by herself in some unknown part of the Helicarrier. To be fair though, it wasn't like it would be hard to find her. After she'd left the main area, Katie had just run straight down the hall and through the doors at the end of it, which was where she was now.

"You lied to me, Phil." Katie spoke in a raspy voice, looking up at the ceiling as her hands griped a railing in front of her. "You told me no one was going to leave me." Looking down at the floor, Katie closed her eyes tight as she let out a sob. "You promised."

"Sometimes, it's hard to keep promises."

Katie spun around only for her red, wet blue eyes to met Steve. She didn't say anything though, as she spun back around, looking down at her hands that still held onto the rails.

She could hear Steve as he slowly walked over to stand next to her, like he was unsure of himself, which he probably was.

The two stood there is silence for a long while. At least, that was what it felt like to Katie. Until she finally took in a shaky breath, looking straight ahead as she spoke.

"He could have tried harder."

"Maybe," Steve shrugged, also looking straight in front of him, at nothing really. "But sometimes, things just happen."

Katie didn't have a responses to that as she glanced down at her hands, playing with her fingers as if they were the most interesting things in the world.

"I once made a promise," Steve spoke up in a soft voice, still looking ahead while Katie looked down. "To your mother."

At these words, Katie couldn't help but glance up a little, not at Steve, but straight ahead as she continued to listen. The tears had stopped.

"I… I promised her a dance," Steve said as he looked down. "While the plane was going down. I was talking to Peggy. I promised her a dance." Steve passed for a moment, Katie listening on as a warm feeling filled her stomach, before he continued. "We both knew there would be none. But… but I still promised her. And I broke that promise."

Katie stood there in silence as she glanced back down at her hands. She knew that story, she knew it inside and out. Peggy had told it to her when she was old enough to understand the whole situation. But, it was different, having her father's point of view on it.

She liked it when her father told her stories.

Taking a deep breath, Katie closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them and looked straight ahead.

"I'm," Katie cleared her throat. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

Steve sighed as he turned, now facing Katie. "It's fine-"

"No," Katie finally turned so she was looking at her father. "No. It's not." Running a hand through her hair, Katie continued. "I'm not heartless, just so you know. I do have reasons why I wouldn't talk to you."

Confusion took over Steve's face as he pinched his eyebrows together and tilted his head slightly. "I know, and I understand that."

"I told you I'd been on my own for thirty years," Katie said, continuing on as if Steve never spoke. "Well, I've been alone for so long that I don't know how to not be alone. Earlier, earlier I had mum, and Uncle Howard, and Jarvis, and Ches, and the Howling Commandos, and everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D., but, they all grew old while I stayed young." Katie sighed, turning back around so she was gripping the railing again. "They died, and I was left alone. I still have mum, but I can't even see her a lot anymore without people getting suspicious about my aging."

Steve also turned around towards the railing, but his eyes never left Katie as he listened to her, watching her as she stared straight ahead.

Katie suddenly let out a dry laugh.

"This is what happens when I let people in," Katie said suddenly. "They all leave one way or another. Even Phil is gone now, and he's the first one that pushed me to have this talk with you."

Silence fell around the father and daughter as Katie looked down at her hands. Steve was thinking over what she just said. He knew she had problems with letting people in, and it took him a few moments before he could figure out the right thing to say.

"Katie," He finally spoke up, breaking the silence and turning to Katie as she glance up at him. "I don't expect you to let me in right away. I didn't expect us to meet and then become father and daughter. I know this is going to take time, for both of us. But, I do want to get to know you."

"But, I don't want to be a disappointment and cause you to leave." Katie asked softly.

The statement took Steve aback for a moment, before he digested what she was saying and his heart broke a little.

"Hey," Reaching across the railing, Steve gripped Katie's hand with his, seeing her go tense for a moment before she relaxed and glanced up at him. "I know for sure that you are far from a disappointment, and I'm not going to leave you, okay? I… I missed you growing up, some very important parts of you growing up. I'm not about to miss anymore just because you may think you're a disappointment."

Disbelief took over Katie's face as she looked up at Steve with wide eyes, a warm feeling taking over her body after hearing Steve say these words.

However, Katie sighed, and Steve could still see some uncertainty in her eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Katie." He assured her, giving her hand a squeeze. "I want to get to know my daughter. And, I know we aren't just going to jump into being family right away-"

Something then snapped in Katie, and she realized how much she did want to know her father. She almost lost him again today when her fell off the side of the helicarrier. She was given a chance to know him, to have a father, and she suddenly felt like an idiot for pushing him away in the first place.

"I'd like that," Katie gave him a small smile. "Getting to know each other."

"Good, cause I like that too." Steve smiled back. "But, you aren't going to leave now and not talk to me for three weeks, are you?"

Katie couldn't help but let out a laugh. "No," She shook her head. "I won't. Sorry about that."

Steve, however, shook his head. "Let's just forget about all the negative stuff that happened the past few weeks."

"Sounds good."

Katie felt like a weight was just lifted off her shoulders. She felt lighter, lighter than she did the past few days, few years maybe even. She was finally going have a family. Well, not yet, but someday. She was finally making her way to having a family again.

Thank you Phil. Katie thought. You did this, you made this happen.

And he really did. Phil tried to push the need for Katie to talk to her father. And she finally did, and she felt lighter. If only Phil hadn't have to die to make it happen…

Thinking of Phil brought back the reason they were all on the Helicarrier in the first place, causing Katie to turn around, before looking back up at Steve.

"Where is everyone?"

However, just as Steve was about to answer, a voice was heard as footsteps came through the doorway.

"Can I come in now?"

Both Rogers's turned to the doorway to see Tony - out of his Iron Man suit - slowly entering the room.

"Is all the family lovey-dovey stuff over with?"

"Yes, Stark." Steve answered as he rolled his eyes and Katie let out a laugh.

"Good," Tony smirked a little before walking completely into the room, stopping a few feet away from Katie and Steve.

"Listen," Tony said, the smirk falling as her turned to Katie. "About what I said a few hours ago, in the lab-"

"Don't." Katie shook her head. "We all said things we didn't mean, it's fine, Tony."

Giving her a small smile, Tony couldn't help but let the last two words leave his mouth. Maybe, Katie thought, it was because he really did felt bad about what he said.

"I'm sorry."

Katie gave Tony a small smile, which he returned before his face became serious and he looked between both Katie and Steve. "Now, we need to get down to business."

Katie nodded. "Where's everyone else?" She asked, looking between Steve and Tony.

"Natasha is helping Clint recover," Tony informed her. "She smacked him hard over the hard to snap him out of it. Wish I was there to see it…"

"We don't know where Thor and Bruce are," Steve added. "The both fell out of the Helicarrier."

Katie nodded. She was a little worried for them, but she knew it was the Hulk that fall out of the sky, so Bruce would be fine. And Thor was a god, so she kind of guessed he was okay too.

"What do we do now?" Tony asked, a look of concern on his face as he thought out loud and started pacing.

"Loki needs a power source," Steve answer, and Katie was amazed how well these two worked together even though they weren't that fond of one another. "If we can put together a list…"

Tony suddenly froze. "He made it personal."

The moment the words left his mouth, Katie started to understand what Tony was saying as images of Phil and everyone she lost flashing in her mind, while Steve looked confused.

"That's not the point."

"That is the point." Tony argued back. "That's Loki's point."

"He hit us all right where we live," Katie explained, looking up at Steve who nodded slowly.

"Yeah, to tear us apart."

"He had to conquer his greed," Tony continued on, pacing back and forth. "But he knows he had to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it."

"He wants an audience." Katie added, understanding with Tony was getting at as Steve spoke up.

"Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah, but that's just the preview," Tony stopped in front of them. "This is… This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tail diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies-"

"With his name on it." Katie cut Tony off, and all three of them shared a look, realization hitting all three of them at once.

"You are the only name in clean energy right now." Steve said, causing Tony to snap out of his daze.

"Son of a bitch."

Katie and Steve walked down the hallway towards the recovery rooms, trying to find Natasha and Clint, as Tony went off to "treat himself to some TLC", as he said.

As they walked through the halls, Katie suddenly realized that she still hadn't asked Nick what they were fighting.

Guess now was a good a time as any to ask.

"So," Katie clear her throat slightly as she walked side by side with Steve. "What exactly are we up against?"

Steve glanced over at Katie, eyebrow pinched slightly. "You don't know?"

"No," Katie shook her head. "I mean, I know about Loki and the Tesseract, and that he plans on opening a portal with it. But that's all I know. I was going to ask Nick about it, but, we kind of exploded."

"Well, you're right," Steve said as the turned another corner. "He's opening a portal to let his army though. Thor said they are called the Chitauri, and they aren't from Asgard."

"Ah, lovely." Katie sighed just as they reached the recovery rooms. "Okay, you look in the rooms on the right, I'll take the left."

Steve nodded and they both stared walking down the hall, slowing down when they reached a door to look through the window, trying to find Natasha and Clint. Thankfully, it didn't take too long before Steve called over to Katie, saying he found them.

Katie walked over and stood next to Steve as he opened the door, showing Natasha standing straight in her black suit.

"Time to go." Steve nodded at her and Natasha's eyes flicked between father and daughter.

"Go where?"

"We know where Loki is going to be," Katie informed her. "You okay?"

Natasha nodded. "Fine. You?"

Katie gave her nodded just as Steve spoke up again. "Can you fly one of those jets?"

Natasha flicked her eyes back to Steve and, just as she was about to open her mouth, the door to the bathroom opened and Clint Barton walked out.

"I can." He said before he turned to the blonde woman, giving her a nod. "Katie."

"Clint." Katie returned to the nod with a small smile.

"You got a suit?" Steve asked Clint, and when he nodded, Steve continued. "Then suit up. Me and Katie will meet you both on the landing deck."

"Hold up," Natasha spoke up, causing the other three to turn to her. "Katie, you're coming with me."

"What?" Katie titled her head slightly. "Why?"

"You aren't fighting in that."

Katie looked down at her outfit, and it was only then that she remembered when she was wearing. She was in a pair of dirty, dark pants and boots, along with a strained and dirty white tank-top that had half the back ripped out of it.

"Nat," Clint spoke up. "Now is not that time for fashion tips."

"This isn't about fashion," Natasha glanced over at him before looking back at Katie. "This is for her own safety. The Hulk threw you around like a rag doll because of that shirt."

"Natasha's right," Steve spoke up just as Katie opened her mouth, causing her to look up at him. "That guy you were fighting by the engine also through you into the wall because her got a hold of your shirt.

"Okay, you're right." Katie turned back to Natasha. "I take it you have an outfit?"

"I don't, but someone else does." Natasha told her before turning to the two boys. "We'll only be a minute. Head towards the landing deck and we'll meet you there."

Clint and Steve nodded as Natasha walked out of the room, Katie following her as they walked down the hallway.

After just a few minutes of walking, Katie still had no clue where they were going until they reached a hall that had a number of doors on each side.

After walking to the end of the hall, Natasha turned and opened the door to a room. It wasn't very big and looked much like an office. It also didn't take Katie long to see Phil's name written on a gold plaque on the desk.

Katie turned to Natasha with questioning eyes, but the red-head just walked over to the filing cabinet behind the desk and against the back wall.

Katie watched as Natasha bent down and opened the bottom cabinet, only to pull out a nice size suitcase and place it on the desk, looking but at Katie who had a confused look on her face.

"What's this?" Katie questioned as she slowly walked towards the desk.

"Open it."

Narrowing her eyes at Natasha, Katie looked down at the suitcase before pulling it towards her. Slowing, Katie opened it, causing the top of the suitcase to fly open and her eyes went wide as they landed on the suit that was inside.

"Phil designed it. He wanted my input on some of the features, that's how I know about it." Natasha explained. "I guess he believed in you more then you believed in herself."

"Yeah, I guess so." Katie gave a small, sad smile, before she turned to Natasha. "Time to suit up."

And the action starts next chapter!

As always, special thank going out to Tospringe for helping me out with this chapter and just being all around amazing. Also, big thanks to all you for continuing to read and enjoy this story!

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