Flightless Bird ( Steve Rogers Romance)

Part 3

" I suppose we will be working together on this uh.... whole ordeal?" Steve asked as the Quinjet began to whir to life. We would be taking off soon. " Yes I believe we will be" I replied politely as we went to sit down. I took the seat beside him as I figured it would come across as rude if I sat in the seats on the other side of the Quinjet. I forced myself to relax. This wasn't some sort of intense interrogation, it was just two people meeting. Thankfully, after being a bartender for roughly 2 years I had grown more accustomed to being around new people again. I can remember when I had first been brought to S.H.I.E.L.D., that I had almost been overwhelmed from all the new human contact.

I placed my duffel bag in the the third seat beside me as Steve sat down beside me. I still had the files about Loki in hand and planned on reading through them thoroughly during the trip. Steve pulled out a thin touch screen tablet that he gingerly turned on as if scared of breaking it. I could only imagine how strange it must be for him to go from the 1940s when computers were barely anything all the way to the 21st century where people had laptops, phones, and even touch screen watches all on their person at times.

I flicked through my files until I found one specifically about the Tesseract. Steve reopened what looked to be a video of the Hulk tearing apart the Army Culver University. I knew quite a bit about the Hulk including the fact that he was currently hiding out somewhere in India. The poor bloke was the result of a serious experiment gone wrong scenario that resulted in him becoming a giant green monster if he became angry. I vacantly wondered why exactly he would be researching about him. Unless Bruce Banner was another recruit for Fury. Although it could be beneficial to have Banner, he was absolutely brilliant when he wasn't..... green.

Phil walked over with his hands in his pockets with his eyes looking curiously at the tablet screen. "So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked curiously as the Hulk on the tablet screen flung a car as if it was merely a hot wheel right into a nearby building.

" A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula" Phil replied with a small nod. Steve chuffed softly " I guess it didn't quite go his way" Steve noted as the the Hulk leaped onto the roof of the building with a monstrous roar.

" Yea but Bruce Banner is like a Stephen Hawking when he isn't.... Green" I told Steve who gave me a confused look. It was almost kind of cute but then I remembered that he had been frozen for 70 bloody years. He had no idea who Stephen hawking was. " Stephen Hawking is really smart guy" I added and Steve nodded in understanding.

"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you. Officially anyway" Phil claimed and I had to hold in a smirk of amusement. Steve nodded with a light grin as Phil awkwardly spoke. "I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean I was present while you were unconscious in the ice" Phile stumbled and I snorted faintly at the uncomfortable look that appeared on Steve's face. I didn't blame him though, it's not everyday you learn another full grown man was watching you sleep.

"You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board" Phil continued and I was just waiting for him to show Steve his trading cards that I'm sure he had on his person. Steve nodded politely " I just hope I am the man for the job" He replied looking up at Phil from his seat.

" Oh, you are. Absolutely. Uh... we will be arriving at the helicarrier within 40 minutes" Phil informed us as he tried to retain at least some of his dignity. He then walked back to the cockpit where the pilot was. Steve still looked a tad uncomfortable from the recent exchange. I leaned over casually with a small smirk " I think he has a crush on you" I said and this caused Steve to chuckled a little bit. For a second it almost felt like I was just talking and joking around with Clint or even Natasha. It felt natural.

" It would seem so" He replied looking back at his tablet with a flicker of humor in his blue eyes. He flicked through the screen before coming across a picture of the Tesseract where it sat in all its glowing glory upon a research table. " So what do you know about the cube?" He asked seriously with his eyes glancing down at the files I already had.

" I know that Fury was supposedly using it to create some sort of new, permanent energy source for the world. I also know that it is incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands" I explained but it seemed he was already aware of this. " But there is one thing that bothers me a little bit here" I claimed lowering my voice a bit as my eyes flickered over to Phil in the cockpit.

Steve furrowed his brows with a new interest. " What do you mean?" He asked.

" Well since when was S.H.I.E.L.D. been interested in the clean energy business. They are more of protect the world sort of agency" I explained to him and the Captain mused on the thought. Honestly, I wasn't normally the kind of person to question such things since I used to be an ex secret agent. The majority of the time I just did what I was told like a good agent. No questions asked. It was normally better that I didn't know anyway.

" Uh if you don't mind me asking, um what exactly is it that you do here at S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Steve asked and emphasised the word you in his question. " Like what do you do for a uh... living?" He asked almost uncertainly.

I arched a curious brow " Actually I'm just a bartender" I told him and his forehead wrinkled in bemusement.

" Just a bartender?" He asked and I sighed a little bit.

" Technically I am. That's what I have been doing for the past 2 years after I left S.H.I.E.L.D. But for S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm still more of a temporary agent on leave. If they ever need me, I would be there sort of thing " I explained and Steve looked a little bit surprised. He ran a quick hand through his already perfect blonde hair before speaking again. " Why did you leave?" He asked with interest. To be honest I normally don't share this much with random new people I had just met. But for whatever reason, I actually explained to him why I had left.

" I have been a secret agent since I was 18. I never really had a chance at an average American life and the moment I finally did have a chance, I took it" I told him with my eyes trained on the opposite wall of the quinjet. I didn't plan on getting into the details and almost didn't want to outrightly tell him I was a mutant. It was still something I was ashamed off even after all these years of being one.

" Hold on, you've been a secret agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. since you were 18?!" He asked with wide eyes as if it was the craziest thing he'd ever heard. 18 really wasn't even the youngest age, I had been training since I was 15 and I knew that Natasha had been a part of The Hand since she was 12. " I only came to S.H.I.E.L.D. when I was about 25, before that I was with...... its uh..... complicated" I claimed with a dismissive wave of my hand. I had said too much.

Steve seemed to take the hint and stopped pressing the matter. He nodded understandingly and left it at that. I had told him a bit more than I'd initially intended. I rolled my shoulder blades back to relax as I felt the familiar feeling of little pin needles within my upper back from where my wings were hidden. My fingers were absently fiddling with the stack of papers on my lap before I looked down at them again.

We were left in a comfortable silence with the only other sound's being the familiar whirr coming from the engine of the Quinjet. And also the sound of Phil talking with the pilot. After a few more quiet minutes I gave the super soldier a quick side glance. I may have just met him but I liked his refined aura and respectful attitude. I could imagine we would most likely work well together. At least for the time being since I really only planned to help S.H.I.E.L.D to get Clint back. I wanted to to return to my quiet life as a bartender after.

We arrived at the helicarrier witch is designed to look like a normal aircraft carrier but was in fact an aircraft all on its on. It was S.H.I.E.L.D.S. flying fortress. We landed easily and got off soon after and quess who was waiting for me?

A certain Russian redhead who sported her famous black bodysuit.

As well as an awkward looking man in a purple shirt with a mob of brown hair and glasses.