Lauren Grimms was a full-grown adult – albeit a small one, compared to everyone else on this side of the globe – but an adult no less. Her full 155cm (just a bit over 5 feet) frame could pass for a kid, her baby face didn't help either. But still, she was an adult, who was currently away from her family but was unemployed.

At least she wasn't homeless. But then again, her un-homelessness was because, somehow, she was friends with Captain America. She didn't know how she should feel about it but was thankful nonetheless.

So there she was in the two super-soldiers' room. If you could call it that. It looked more like a hotel suite, or maybe a large fancy apartment.

Anyway, she was crashing their place after she unintentionally cried in front of them. The thought of it still made her blush with embarrassment. 'Damn it, Lauren, get yourself together.'

The circumstances that led to her unemployment could have left more to be desired. 'It could probably be countered in court but that shits too troublesome.'

Shit happens all the time in New York. Especially close to the Avengers' Tower so she really shouldn't have been held liable for the damages. But at the time, she couldn't argue. She was bruised and tired, so she just up and left.

On to the present, she was lying on the floor of the guest room that Steve and James had on their assigned floor (a whole fucking floor could you believe it?!).

It felt unnerving for her to be on the upper floors of the Tower. It wasn't her first time in the Tower mind you, (but that's a story for another time) but being in one of the Avengers-only floors was entirely new. Not to mention that she didn't even belong there. She didn't even work for the Avengers, much less was she involved with them in any kind of official capacity.

She was there just because she managed to act like a decent human being the first time she had to serve Steve in the café. Somehow was enough for them to become friends over several months.

She still couldn't comprehend how being Steve's friend was enough to get her a pass to stay with them for a bit, but she was taking it in stride.

So there she was, on the floor, instead of the king-sized bed of the room she was given. A king-sized bed. For a guest room. Things couldn't be any more ridiculous. But she was welcoming the luxury, because really who wouldn't? Enjoy it while it lasts.

The room itself could pass for another apartment, it had its living room, a study corner, and of course its bathroom. Everything was obviously of high quality. She knew that Tony Stark was filthy rich but this just emphasized how rich he was.

Speaking of, she still hasn't even met any of the other Avengers besides Bucky. She expected that she'd meet them before she was brought up but, apparently they were mostly independent outside of emergencies.

Determined to introduce herself to her temporary housemates, she set about to get herself more presentable.

Freshly showered and dressed, Lauren set herself to find the Avengers. Steve and Bucky left her a while ago and was nowhere to be found on their floor. She'd rather not go anywhere alone, but she also didn't want to be a sitting duck. Though she did remember that the building was run on some sort of artificial intelligence system, so she gave it a shot.

"Uh, hello?"

The living room suddenly brightened up.

"Miss Grimms, welcome back. How can I help you?" a female voice with an Irish accent greeted her.

'Huh, so a different one then.' She mused, though was also surprised that the A.I. seemed to recognize her.

"Hi, I was wondering if you could point me to where Steve is?" She replied as she looked up to the ceiling trying to spot where the camera was so she could look at the A.I. It wasn't a human being but it sure helped stave off the weirdness of conversing with something you couldn't see.

"The Captain is currently on the communal floor, would you like me to guide you?"

"Yes please." She replied to the voice who she still didn't know the name of. She remembers that the last one was called Jarvis. So, she was pretty sure that this one would have a name too.

Artificial Intelligence's names aside. She realized that if Steve was on the communal floor, it would mean that he could have company; possibly the rest of the Avengers.

She could feel her shoulders tense and her body trying to stand straighter, trying to look bigger despite her small frame. Oh, she was fully prepared to meet the full team less than an hour ago, but that was then and this is now.

A blue light lit up on the floor in front of her that went on towards the hallway to the elevator. Guess that meant that she should get going, so she took a deep breath and followed the light. Now didn't that sound morbid?

A few steps and an elevator ride later. She found herself on an open floor, which was a large living room and an open kitchen with a loft over it. She spotted Steve on a barstool in the kitchen, talking to someone she couldn't see from the elevator. She didn't see anyone else.

Slowly, she approached Steve, still trying to figure out who he was talking to. It was a man, she figured from the sound of the voice, but most of the Avengers were men so that didn't help. So she resigned herself to face the inevitable.

"Steve?" she called hesitantly once she heard a lull in the conversation. She didn't want to be rude.

The blonde super-soldier perked up in recognition and turned around to face her.

"Hey! Glad you could make it. We were just talking about you." Steve greeted her beckoning her to take a seat next to him.

Finally close enough to see the other person. She found a brunette man with light-colored eyes. She couldn't tell what color they were but they sure weren't brown, like hers were. The other man was standing on the other side of the counter munching on a bowl of what looked like blueberries with a glass of milk at his side.

"Blueberries?" He offered, but she was still a bit uncomfortable so she declined. "Suit yourself. So, you must be the Lauren Cap's been raging on about. You really the one who cooks everything at that café?"

"Uhm, yeah." She replied hesitantly, still not used to the ease that Americans' seemed to have when conversing with random people. "Oh! But not entirely, just whatever involves the oven mostly, and the pasta."

"So basically everything that Cap here's been bringing us to eat. Your stuff is really good. That stuffed bread thing Steve brings always disappears instantly."

She really didn't know what to reply to that. Steve always did order a lot of things whenever he came by. But she just chalked it up to his increased metabolism. It never occurred to her that he'd buy food for the rest of the team too. When Steve mentioned that the team liked her food, she just thought that they had tastes of whatever he'd been buying.

"Thanks, I guess uhm..?"

"Right, introductions." Steve blurted when he realized they haven't been introduced.

She felt like she should have been aware of who the members of the team were, as a resident of the Avengers' backyard that was New York. Though, she was still technically new to the place so they couldn't really fault her.

"Lauren, meet Clint also known as Hawkeye."

Recognizing the archer's alias she took the offered hand to shake and tried her best to have a firm grip on his large hands.

"Oh," Clint cooed, "nice grip there. Nice to meet ya, Lauren. Clint Barton."

She gave him a shy smile for his comment but managed to reply with her own name. "Lauren Grimms."

"Huh," the sound he made was somewhere between confused and surprised, though he was quick to school his expression. "Sorry, your last name wasn't exactly what I expected."

Now she was amused and somewhat smug. There must be only a small amount of people who could surprise any of the Avengers, and so far she's two for two. Steve had the same reaction when she told him her last name.

She smiled, clearly not as shy as she was a few moments earlier. "Oh don't worry, Steve had the same reaction. Guess he didn't warn you when you guys were talking about me before I came in."

Her veiled taunt earned Steve a glare from Clint, who in turn gave her an amused smile.

"So what have you been saying about me, Steve?" She prodded feeling more comfortable now that she knew who she was talking to.

"I was actually just telling him that you'll be staying with us for a while." Steve quickly replied.

"And that your ex-boss was an asshole." Clint helpfully added, though it didn't seem to help, as she shot Steve a look.

She held the look for a few moments before giving a small smile. She didn't appreciate that Steve talked about her personal matters to people she didn't know. But she did realize as his housemate, he had the right to know. So she was thankful that she probably wouldn't have to repeat her situation multiple times.

"Does anyone else that I haven't met know?" She decided to ask.

"Tony will probably find out by the end of the day at the latest. Trust Clint here to let everyone else know." Steve replied, his last statement got a protest.

She nodded in acceptance but fumbled with her phone in worry. She was reminded that Steve didn't really have the consent of the others for having her there. It was their home after all. She sure wouldn't be as accepting as Steve seems to put them if she were in their shoes.

Ok, maybe she would if her house was basically a large building.

"Don't worry about the others. I'm sure they'll be okay with having you here. Especially with what happened. Though I'm sure if they found out you could cook as well as you do, they'd ask you to stay for good. Heck, Tony would probably offer to pay for you to cook for us." Clint offered in comfort when he noticed her fumbling.

Hearing the same statement she heard earlier in the day settled her nerves. Though his last statement surprised her.

"I don't think my cooking is good enough for Tony Stark's taste." She contested in disbelief.

"Really Lauren, your food's that good." Steve dissuaded, knowing her disbelief wasn't from being humble. It was something he, himself, still had, even after the serum.

As much as she trusted Steve, she still didn't believe him. She knew she wasn't that good but he was adamant that she was. Though she did believe that he found her food enjoyable.

"I'll believe you when he makes the offer himself." She decided, ending the debate.

"Oh, now that's just a challenge." Clint declared.

She involuntarily shuddered. There was a glint in his eye that told her she should be worried.