Nat and I draw the eyes of everyone in the room when we walk in, so just Steve, Tony, and Clint. Their eyes all widen, and Nat slips away from me and heads towards Clint.

"Did you shower together? Because I wouldn't be against seeing that." Tony teases. I roll my eyes at him.

"Well, no one else was joining her, so..." Nat says playfully, bringing a blush to my cheeks once again. Tony laughs and Clint smirks, but Cap's face just turns even more surprised as he looks at me. I head over to Tony and Steve sitting on the couch. I put a hand on Tony's shoulder and kiss Steve's cheek, noticing the space left between them.

"She was kidding." I tell Steve. He makes an oh sound but it sounds fake and teasing.

"Hey, Queen. We saved you a spot." Tony says proudly. I pat his shoulder with a giggle and nod thankfully.

"Thanks, Tony, but I wouldn't want to come between you and Steve." I wink at both of them. "I'm going to grab some food." I tell them and walk over to the kitchen. As soon as I open the fridge and see eggs, I grab them and put them on the counter. I jump a little when I hear a sharp metal clang behind me. I whirl around and find Steve setting a pan on the stove. He smiles sheepishly at being caught helping, but I think it's sweet. I go over and put my hands on his newly shaved face. He grins and puts his hands gently on my wrists.

"I didn't know that if I didn't take you up on your offer you'd find someone else." He teases. I sigh with playful exaggeration.

"We didn't shower together. She brought me some clothes and braided my hair and we just talked. Really." I explain. Steve chuckles and runs his fingers down my braid.

"Uh-huh. I like the braid by the way. And the sweatshirt." He tells me. He leans down and his breath tickles the hairs by my ear. I giggle as he whispers, and I can hear the smile in his voice when he does. "It looks much better on you than on me." Then he lets me go and grabs the eggs from the other counter. "Now, let me make you some eggs." I laugh and nod.

"Deal. Bacon?" I ask, already spinning and grabbing it from the fridge. He hums in confirmation and grabs a pan for me. I get a fork from a drawer as he sprays the pan. I turn the stove on and smile when the bacon sizzles when it touches the hot pan. As the bacon cooks, I grab a clean plate and put paper towels on it to absorb the grease. I remember seeing Steve doing the same thing before. I glance at him as he cooks and take note of the little things he does. His eyebrows furrow just a tiny bit with concentration as he stirs the eggs in his pan, making sure he's not too rough so it spills. Every once and a while when it gets close to spilling I see his shoulders stiffen and his lips get white from pressure before the tension fades and he releases a breath, as if he just avoided a crisis. It's incredibly cute. I reach up on my toes and kiss his cheek, unable to resist him. "You know, you're really cute and sexy when you cook." I tell him quietly, moving pieces of bacon to the prepared plate. I look back at him and find his cheeks brushed with pink. I purse my lips to stop my ear to ear smile and ask him a question instead, "So who taught you how to cook?"

"Well, my mom was a fantastic cook. We didn't have much money for a lot of ingredients, so she learned to get really creative with the things we could afford." He chuckles lightly, "I remember almost every week we'd have a stew made up of whatever was leftover and it was almost always delicious. No idea how she managed it. But she always let me help with something, so I guess that's where I get my love for cooking from. Actual experience probably came after my mom passed away. I lived with my best friend...Bucky." He hesitates slightly before saying his roommates name, but when he does it's as if someone pinched my heart.

"Bucky?" I say the name and it sounds familiar and affectionate coming out of my mouth. Steve doesn't notice, too caught up in his memories.

"Yeah. It was one of our first few days of living together and I was trying to do something nice for him. He was letting a skinny punk with asthma live with him, so I figured the least I could do was make him a good breakfast. Relatively, anyways." I focus back on Steve as he tells this story, although Bucky's name keeps echoing inside my head. I keep my eyes on the task in front of me, listening to Steve intently. I don't have to look at him to know he's smiling softly as he speaks. "I failed miserably. I burnt the toast and the spam to hell, even catching the toast on fire." He chuckles and shakes his head. "I was seconds away from setting our apartment on fire when Bucky came crashing over, throwing the pan and the toaster in the sink. He put water on everything then gave me this look, it was a sort of mix between admiration for messing up so bad and anger for almost killing us both. But Bucky, he just shook his head and put his arm around me, squeezed my narrow shoulders and said, 'I've got to teach you how to cook before you singe off your eyebrows and burn this place to the ground.'" He smiles wildly at the memory, but when he's finished his eyes are a little shiny. "So, Buck taught me how to cook after that so I didn't murder the both of us and burn all our food." He ends and so does our cooking, everything is done. I move the pan off the heat and turn towards him, pushing the annoying itch that Bucky's name brought up.

"That sounds really nice, Steve. Thank you for telling me." I thank him quietly. I love hearing about his family. I have never had any experience with stuff like that, until now. He looks at me and smiles sadly.

"Thanks for listening, Ria." He says and I smile at him. I grab the bacon and take it to the table and Steve takes the bowl of scrambled eggs. We sit down next to each other and start eating in silence. The others hear our plates hit the glass table and come over too. But Tony just makes a sandwich with the bacon and doesn't eat any eggs, while Nat and Clint take both.

"Your turn to cook tonight, Rogers." Tony reminds Steve. I perk up a bit and glance at Steve with thinly veiled hope. He feels my gaze and nods, saying yes to my silent question.

"We'll cook together." I say and Tony glances from me to Steve.

"Oh. Well, better eat before." Tony teases and Clint grins from across the table with Nat. I chuck a bit of egg at Tony and it hits his crotch, causing him to look at me with mock betrayal. I see Steve's smirk and that just makes it even better.

"Honestly, I'm not sure if we'll be home for dinner tonight, guys." Nat says seriously. "We've got to get Victoria's parents off the streets." She looks at me, gauging my reaction. I purse my lips in indecision. I put my fork down and absentmindedly feel my wrists, still able to feel the restraints.

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea." I say, staring at my knees through the glass table.

"Victoria. They're dangerous. We've got to put them away before they start to hurt other people, or worse, succeed with their experiments." Clint tells me. I look up at him and nod.

"I understand and agree with you, but I don't think any of you understand how dangerous this actually is." I say cautiously. All eyes are on me, waiting for me to really explain. I sigh, resigned. "The mission wasn't to kill any of you." I tell them, watching Steve out of the corner of my eyes. "It was to bring you to them." Silence settles over the room uncharacteristically. I continue to fill the silence. "They're scientists, inventors at heart. Imagine the kind of person they could create if they combined me with Wanda, or Natasha with Vision."

"A monster." Nat whispers and I nod reluctantly.

"Exactly. Someone who wouldn't be able to be stopped, not even by us. So, understand that I can't take you to them. That's exactly what they want. I will not have any of you ripped apart and remade. I just won't." I end, my eyes landing on Steve's. I see that he understands, but I also know he can't stand doing nothing. I watch the war in his eyes. It's between protecting the team, and justice. Those things are high up in the heart of Steve Rogers, but I know which will win. I start shaking my head at him, telling him no.

"Come on. There has to be some way we can do this." Tony says, looking between Cap and me. I shrug, almost sure that there isn't. Clint and Nat stare at the table with furrowed brows, trying to come up with a plan. Steve, meanwhile, continues staring at me.

"If we all go in, they can't catch all of us. We'll take care of them, then make sure the rest of the team is okay." Steve says directly to me. I hesitate before answering, weighing our options. I press my lips together absolutely hating the thought of going back and putting the team, my real family, in danger. I look from Tony to Steve and feel my eyes go steely.

"Okay. Okay fine. But look me in the eyes Steven Rogers, look me in the eyes and tell me you would be okay with having what has happened to me happen to any other member of the team. However brief, it would be intense because they'd be rushing. Tell me that Steve, and I'll go." I tell him with a calm voice, anger and fear bubbling inside of me. His lips part a little, but he doesn't answer. Everyone at this table knows his answer. I jump a little when I feel Clint's hand on my shoulder. I look at him and find his face firm, resolute.

"We're all willing to risk that, Victoria." He says. Slowly, my eyes travel around the table to the faces staring back at me. Each face reflects Clint's and I know they all think the same thing as him. I press my lips together when I finally land on Steve's face last. I nod at his puppy eyes and he nods back once.

"Alright. Suit up. We leave in ten. I'll go find Wanda and Vision and update them. Make sure they're on board." Steve says and everyone disperses. Nat and Clint are out the door in a second, nearly skipping out arm and arm. Tony watches me, but walks out too, slowly, coolly. Steve and I remain. I stand and he does too. We both stand there for a moment, just breathing. Then, I turn towards him and kiss him full on the lips. His lips are pouty and taste like breakfast, I'm sure mine do too. I'm on the tips of my toes and his hands are immediately at my waist, steadying me. One of my arms is wrapped around his neck and the other has my hand in his blond hair. My hand makes a fist in his hair and the other in his shirt, unwilling to let go of this ever again. While Steve seemed surprised at first, he seems to be getting used to being randomly attacked by me. His lips respond under mine with the same tenacity as mine, although I suspect if he could taste an emotion on my lips it would be fear, while his would be confidence. We separate and lay our foreheads on the other's. My eyes are closed, breathing him in.

"If I lose you Steve Rogers, I'll kill you. You hear me?" He laughs and that brings a smile to my face, albeit a small one.

"I love you too, Ria." He tells me and my eyes snap open in shock. His are already open and looking into mine, sure and deep as always. I laugh and give him another quick kiss for knowing me better than myself. I step away from him reluctantly, feeling more alive than ever.

"Okay. Go, you have to tell Wanda and Vision. I'll borrow one of Nat's suits." His mouth turns up a bit at the side as he pulls me back to him.

"You aren't going to say it back?" He teases, whispering in my ear the way he knows drives me crazy. I shove him away, shaking my head.

"You're such a little shit. You know I love you." I tell him and he laughs, nodding. He gives me one last look before jogging out of the room to find Wanda and Vision. I shake my head and start jogging too. I head to my room, I think I have one of Nat's suits there. I burst into my room, face still red and a stupid grin still on my face to find a suit laying out on my bed. I walk over to inspect it and find that it definitely isn't one of Natasha's. It is a dark color, but it's definitely more navy than black. A little tag rests on the middle of it. I take it and read it, grinning. "Tell me if you need help putting it on. Tony." I put the card down to the side and pick up the suit. The material is smooth like leather but stretchy like spandex. I'm out of my clothes in a second and putting it on in the next. Despite Tony's teasing about needing help, it goes on like a glove and feels like a second skin; breathing and moving with me. I run to the bathroom and balance precariously on the edge of the bathtub to see myself in the mirror. As suspected, the suit fits me tightly, but comfortably. A dark red stripe wraps around my hips and another two go up then veer, going around my shoulders to mirror the back. A thin white stripe goes with them. The colors make me think of Cap's suit, but much darker. Long sleeves reach out to my hands, but leave my fingers bare. The suit ends at my ankles, but Tony left me some dark red combat boots that I put on. There's a silver star in the middle of my upper back as well as seven between the lines of red and white stripes on both my shoulders. Finally, just under the scoop neck that shows off my collar bone, is an animal paw print. Silver, just like the stars. I trace it with my finger, loving that Tony thought to make this my symbol.

"It's the pawprint of a Bengal tiger you know." I jump when I hear his voice just outside the door of the bathroom. I hop down and slap his now incased in metal arm.

"Scared me half to death!" I scold him. After my heart slows and his smirk fades a bit, I turn for him to admire his suit. "It's beautiful, Tony. I absolutely love it." Tony just nods.

"Of course. You needed one as part of the team. The suit will change with you and meld with any part of you that comes outside it. Like if you suddenly wanted a third arm. Plus, consider it a birthday present." I shake my head at his extravagant gift. He smiles, tapping the stars on my shoulders with glee. That's when I realize what they represent.

"The stars are the team." I say. He nods, almost laughing. "And the one in the middle of my back is-"

"Cap, of course." Tony teases, winking at me. I shake my head.

"Don't think I didn't notice that I'm wearing his colors too. Subtle, Tony." I call him out and he shrugs, admitting it.

"Whatever. I just can't wait until you two get married and have super babies. Then I'll make them suits." He laughs as I hit him, blushing red.

"Come on. It's time to go." I tell him and head to the balcony. Tony puts his helmet on over his grinning face and hands me a com before flying up and off the balcony. I insert it with a frown before jumping off the edge, letting myself fall for a little bit before choosing what to shift. Instead of doing an animal like usual, I do a complicated shift as I fall. Just before I hit the ground, black fluffy wings pop out of my back and halt my descent. I wobble as I fly back up to Tony, but by the time I get there I can fly pretty well.

"Damn." I hear his voice in my ear and I grin.

"Alright. Ria? Tony? Where are you?" Steve's voice comes over the com and I look down at the ground for him. Upon sharpening my eyes, I do, as well as Wanda, Vision, Sam, Rhodes, Nat, and Clint. Rhodes, who I haven't met yet, and Vision fly up to meet Tony and I. Everyone else is on motorcycles and ready to go. We all swoop down until we're hovering just above them.

"Ha, it's a bird!" Clint teases and I stick my tongue out at him childishly.

"Seriously, I thought I had dibs on the bird thing." Sam says saucily. I find him on his motorcycle with his hands on his hips. I giggle at the sight. Rhodes comes over to me in his shining silver suit and holds out a hand.

"Hey, I'm Colonel Rhodes." He introduces himself nicely and I shake his hand.

"Uh, Victoria. Nice to meet you." I greet him back, but my eyes are on the civilians staring at us from the ground.

"Do you always have, uh, wings?" Rhodes asks me and earns back my attention.

"No, no. I can shift into whatever I like." I explain as well as I can in the circumstances. He moves back over beside Tony, but I can hear him talking through the com.

"Oh, well that clears up everything." He says and I smirk. Once again, my eyes look down at the growing amount of people. We draw some serious eyes and looks from people around us, and it makes me fidgety and nervous. Hopefully, I'll be seen as an Avenger and not a monster. Flashes go off around us and I know we have to hurry before we draw too big of a crowd. I look at Steve and calm down when I see him looking at me in awe.

"I'll guide everyone there. When we go in, I think we should split off into groups, but not too small to make us unsafe. Cap, you call it as I take the lead." He nods to me with a proud smile. I turn and start flying, hearing the motorcycles behind me rev as the team follows me. Here we go.

* * * * *

We reach a part of the city that's mostly broken down. The buildings are stained with unknown substances and whatever isn't covered in cracked concrete is covered in brown, dying plants. If anyone here were to see anything, they wouldn't say a word. I land in front of the team as they all dismount their bikes. I hope they aren't particularly attached to them because when we come back they'll probably be gone. Tony lands next to me as I stare at the old building in front of us.

"You've got to be kidding me." I hear him say and somehow I find it in me to laugh dryly.

"No one would ever dare to walk into an asylum. Especially if they heard screaming coming from inside. Besides, even if they did, everything is underground. That's where the old scientists would do illegal lobotomies. Fitting, right?" I joke, but there's no humor in my voice.

"Damn. You know, you may be even more metal than I thought you were." Sam says on my left and gets a real laugh from me. He walks behind me, looking at my wings. I retract them and hear his quiet gasp. "Damn." Sam says again before walking over to the rest of the group.

"Hey, Queen. You okay?" Tony asks kindly. I laugh again, humorlessly, before turning to him.

"No. Not even a little bit." I respond. Tony pulls back his helmet so I can see his face.

"It'll be okay, kiddo. We'll watch each other's backs. That's what this team is." He assures me. I nod, not confident at all. The team forms a circle and everyone's eyes go to Steve.

"Alright. Time to split. Tony, Nat, Wanda, and Clint, you go around back and head in. Sam, Colonel Rhodes, Victoria, and I will meet you in the middle. Vision, stay outside and make sure no one gets out." Everyone nods as Steve doles out orders, all except Tony.

"No. I'm sticking with you and Victoria. Send Rhodey with Natasha and Legolas." He objects and offers a new plan. Steve looks at Tony, examines his expression, then nods. Tony shuts his helmet, but not before I see him grin.

"Gee, thanks man." Rhodes complains and Tony shrugs.

"Alright, just remember, these people want to catch us not kill us. Use that to your advantage." Steve ends and we all head towards the abandoned building. Dread fills my heart as we approach the doors and it takes every ounce of strength in me to not turn back. Just before we enter, Steve grabs my hand and nods at me. We go in, the doors close, he releases my hand, and then we begin.

A/N

HOLY FRICKITY FRACK SHE HAS A SUIT. Yessssssss.