"You see him yet?"

"There he is." Michelle grinned as Natasha drove and the two spotted the man they were looking for. The man in question turned as the window of the passenger door rolled down and Michelle opened the door and got out.

"Hey fella, do either of you know the way to the Smithsonian?" Natasha called from the driver seat of the car. "We're on our way to pick up a fossil."

Steve arches an eyebrow as he approaches the car. "Funny." He said, ignoring Michelle's giggles from the backseat, he gets into the passenger seat and turns to the guy he was talking to. "Can't run everywhere."

Sam Wilson crouched down to look into the car. "No you can't." He said as he admired the two girls in the car. "How you doing?"

"Hey." Natasha nods.

"Hi." Michelle smiles, she reaches over and pats Steve's shoulder. "Seatbelt, seatbelt, seatbelt." She chanted as she gently and rapidly tapped his shoulder

"Yes ma'am, yes ma'am, yes ma'am." He pulls on the seatbelt, buckling himself in as Natasha pulls her car away back into the morning traffic.

XxXxXxXxXx

They got ready for a mission over the Indian Ocean, they were using the cover of night. Michelle stood in between Steve and Natasha as they listened to the intel.

A tall man with short dark brown hair and eyes, stood next to the touch screen. Brock Rumlow. "The target is The Lemurian Star. It's a mobile satellite launch platform." He informs as he taps a few things on the screen, the objects moving as he pushes them elsewhere. "They were sending up their last payload when the pirates took control. That was approximately 93 minutes ago."

"What are their demands?" Steve asked.

"A billion and a half."

"Why so steep?"

"Probably because it's SHIELD's." Rumlow said.

"So it's not off course." Steve's tone is flat. "It's trespassing."

"I'm sure they have a very good reason." Natasha replied.

"I'm getting a little bit tired of being Fury's personal janitor." Steve said in a flat tone of voice.

"Relax." Natasha said. "It's not that complicated. It's easier like this."

"Steve's just suffering from Trista withdraw." Michelle teased with a cheeky smile, when Steve gave her a look she quickly sidestepped to hide behind a smirking Natasha.

Steve sighed, turning his attention back to the task. "How many pirates are we looking at here?" He asks Rumlow.

"25. They're top mercs led by this guy." Rumlow pulls up an image on the screen. "His name is Georges Batroc. He's ex DGSE, Action Division. Guy's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Total of 36 kill missions before the French moved to demobilize him. He's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Yikes." Michelle winced. "The guy's a real charmer, isn't it?" She said sarcastically, still staying close to Natasha as she did not like that Rumlow was now gazing at her.

"What about the hostages he has now?" Steve asked.

"Uh … mostly techs by the look of it." Rumlow answered. "There's one officer - Jasper Sitwell." He pulls the photo of the officer and footage of the other hostages still on screen. "Seems like they're gathered in the gallery."

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Michelle asked, looking at Steve. "He doesn't look the type to be on a ship, let alone stepping on the gang plank."

Steve shook his head. "Don't know. Alright, moving onto the plan." He started as he moved into leadership mode. "I'm gonna sweep the deck, locate Batroc." He looks at Natasha. "Nat, kill the engines and wait for instructions." He moves. "Michelle, I'll need you with Rumlow. Sweep aft, get them to the life pods and get them out safely. Let's go."

"Alright, STRIKE, you heard the Cap's orders." Rumlow said. "Gear up." He looks at Michelle. "You too."

"Stop pushing." She snarked a response as she started to pass him, she felt his gaze on her. "I'm going to pepper spray you if you don't stop looking at me." She threatened.

"Ah, Cap, she threatened me."

"Rumlow, I told you a thousand times to leave her alone, or I'm gonna have Fury put you back on desk duty again, this time it might be permeant."

"Now that's a threat." Natasha smirks.

"Secure channel 7." Steve said, picking up a parachute and helped Michelle into it to help strap herself to it.

"Channel 7's secure." Natasha responded.

"Thanks Steve." Michelle similes up at him.

"You're welcome."

"Cap, doing anything fun Saturday?" Natasha asked.

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead." Steve smiled as he put in an earpiece. "And Trista is still in the Time Space, so … no."

"Coming up on the drop zone, Cap."

Steve places his shield on his back, then jumps out of the jet.

Rumlow decided to bite the bullet. "So." He starts. "Now that your bodyguard is gone." His gaze landed on Michelle. "Are you doing anything on Saturday?"

"Leave me alone, Rumlow." She pulls out a pink bottle of pepper spray to point at him. He held up his hands in surrender.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Steve was fighting the leader of the pirates when Rumlow and Michelle came down with their parachutes, as Rumlow glided towards Steve, Michelle ended up gliding straight into a wall and stumbled as Rumlow shoots the pirate leader and he goes down.

"Thought you could use the help." He said as he gets out of his parachute, then looks towards Michelle who was struggling with her own parachute. "Need some help there?" He asks with amusement.

"NO!" She snaps at him, making him back off.

"Yikes." He mutters. "Must be that time of the month."

Michelle set him with a hard glare, she looks at the harness of her parachute, she shook the harness. "Stevie, help." She whines.

In two strides Steve was in front of her and unbuckling the harness. "Alright. Rumlow, knock it off and leave her alone for the rest of the night."

XxXxXxXx

The mission was successful, mostly. Michelle just walked out of the Avengers facility. Steve came jogging after her.

"Michelle!" He calls and she stops and turns around to wait for him to catch up.

"What's up?"

"Are you hungry?" He asks, an upsetting look on his face.

"You need to talk about something, don't ya?" She asks.

"I." He trails off. "If you don't mind."

Michelle linked her arm through Steve's. "Let's grab some burgers and head home." She offers.

XxXxXxXx

The two sat in Michelle's apartment, talking about the mission over cheeseburgers and fries and Natasha's secret mission for Fury.

"I had no idea Nat had that secret mission." Michelle sighed.

Steve sighs heavily as he leans backwards in his chair, an upsetting look on his face as he studies the table. "Sometimes." He starts, then sighs. "Sometimes I feel like I'm out of place." He folds his arms. "Like I don't belong." He looked to be lost in thought.

"You're a man out of your time, Steve." She said gently. "It's understandable how you feel."

"Sometimes." He starts, turning to her. "No. I know I still feel lost with all this world. No one likes to tell me things, keep me in the dark. How am I suppose to do my job if my teammates don't tell me things?"

Michelle was quiet for a long while. "You're a good leader Steve."

He sighed. "No one tells me anything." He looks at her. "Besides you and Trista of course."