Ten times Steve seemed inhuman (and two times he was all too human)

by PerplexinglyParadoxialPerson

Summary:

Sometimes the changes the super soldier serum brings to a person are beyond mere enhancement of their muscles, healing, and senses. Sometimes it seems to bring them past human, and their behavior can seem a little animalistic at times. But of course, they're only human, just like the rest of their teammates. Sometimes you just need the most extreme of situations (and their closest friend) to see it.

(Not as ominous as the summary may sound, it's mostly fluffy scenarios with some of angst for spice)

Notes:

Hi guys, this one is going to be a doozy. The posting will be a little weird because my poetic mind wants a specific posting order for the vibes. The thing I'm posting is actually four 5+1 fics (that will be posted as three separate fics) that I wrote at the same time so I could keep the timeline straight for myself. I will be posting one chapter of one of the fics each week, usually one fic at a time, so subscribe to the series if you want to see the other fics as well!

Only the two taking place with the Avengers (this one and one other, they will be posted in their proper timeline order, and in their entirety before starting to post the WW2 era fics) are best read in order and have a proper storyline. I have a timeline on the series page to help you with the proper reading order.

All the ones taking place with the Howling Commandos (including the first fic I wrote in this series years ago, Five times a Howling Commando was jealous of super soldier senses (and one time they weren’t)) are just bits and pieces of their missions over the whole war, and can easily be understood out of order, though they will also be on the timeline on the series page if you want to read them in order anyway!

I will try my best to remember to put links to the previous and next section in the timeline in each chapters beginning and end notes for more convenient timeline order reading as each chapter is posted, so let me know if I forgot, or the links aren't working! Happy reading!

Chapter 1: Nesting:Present

Tony had found it odd, having the other “Avengers” in his tower. Where the usual cleaners and shoppers sometimes moved things around or put meals in the fridge, but never hung around. 

 

The Avengers however… they took up space, hung out in the cushy common room sharpening knives, left books or blankets on the stiff white couches, ate meals and left leftovers or dishes in the communal kitchen, things like that. It was just weird. 

 

But even with all this new movement and life in the topmost floors in his tower, he rarely saw Captain America just hanging around, even though he had been the first one to accept the offer to stay in the newly rebuilt upper floors besides Bruce. The spies had only followed after he said he would stay, though even over a few weeks it was clear that this wasn't the only place they stayed. 

 

Cap seemed to have moved in completely, boxes, shield, awful uniform (that he was totally making ten times better ASAP) and all, yet the few times Tony saw him, he was stiffly buttoned up, neat and combed like he was going to a job interview. Even when Tony had wandered out into the common room in hopes there was something to eat in the fridge at nearly midnight. It had been embarrassing to walk into the common room after a day and night of rebuilding the Iron man suit again to avoid the nightmares, grease in his hair, ragged shirt, and jeans rumpled and stained, to see Captain America sitting at the common room dining table in the dark, all buttoned up with a full glass of water in front of him. Tony had turned right back around and headed to the elevator. He didn't need Captain America to judge him on not being perfectly buttoned up at all hours of the day, like some kind of formalness inspector.

 

Luckily, walking into the common room in the middle of the day and seeing Cap sitting on the couch in the sunlight was a bit less embarrassing. He was going through the common room into the kitchen to grab a drink after a long meeting and didn't look like a complete wreck. He did look like he was waiting for him though, doing nothing but sitting stiffly on the very edge of the white couch like he didn't even want to wrinkle it. He was wearing a buttoned up shirt and slacks again, hair nicely combed, and Tony wondered if he slept like that too.

 

“Tony,” he said stiffly, standing up. “Would there happen to be a bigger washer and dryer anywhere in the tower?” 

 

“Of course,” Tony said, a little confused. “There's industrial sized ones of each in the locker rooms by the gym. JARVIS can tell you about anything else you might need. Sometimes he knows this place better than I do! Though I didn't think you'd use modern stuff like a washer, old man.” 

 

“Thank you Mr. Stark,” he said formally. 

 

“Just call me Tony,” he huffed, annoyed all over again. He had hoped his joking might go over well, now that they lived together, but the reminder that he had known his father, all the ways Howard always thought he failed to live up to this legendary friend of his… it just made him mad. “Mr. Stark was my father.” 

 

He stalked into the kitchen to pour himself a drink before he could snap at him for no reason, and quickly gulped it down.

 

Cap was hovering awkwardly at the entry to the kitchen, but stayed silent as Tony led the way to the gym floor, and the locker rooms. There was an industrial sized washer and dryer tucked behind a wall near the tiled showers, big enough to fit enough towels for everyone and two guests each in one load. They were never used of course, because that never happened. But why would Cap need that much space for laundry?

 

“Here it is,” he said roughly, gesturing to the little alcove. “Just ask JARVIS if you need any more help.” 

 

“Thank you Tony,” Captain America said genuinely. “I didn't even notice this was there, even with all the time I spend in the gym.”

 

Tony almost walked out right away, but he was far too curious as to why he needed the big towel washer instead of the perfectly serviceable ones he was sure the designer had put in the suites. He was nosy and he knew it, which was why Pepper made sure JARVIS’ privacy protocols were up to snuff when the other Avengers moved in after the renovations. Which they were! He wouldn't settle for anything less for JARVIS.

 

As Tony was hovering there, feeling a little awkward just standing around, like he was waiting for something to happen, Steve had started looking through the detergents on the shelf above the machines. 

 

He opened one of the many containers and sniffed it, a strong scent of flowers coming from that corner of the room, and his face screwed up and he sneezed like one of those tiny dogs he often saw in purses during fancy events, tiny and oddly adorable. 

 

He couldn’t help a snicker, seeing big buff Captain America sneeze adorably. He even snorted and shook his head after. 

 

“Is the scent really that bad?” Tony asked curiously. 

 

“Enhanced senses,” he said grimly, firmly screwing the lid back on the brightly colored container. “Everything smells very strongly. The first time your people washed my sheets I sneezed half of the night.” 

 

“Wasn't like I was sleeping much anyway,” he muttered, seemingly to himself.

 

Tony winced, knowing that feeling.

 

“That may be my fault,” Tony said a little sheepishly. “With how often I go to bed covered in oil and not showered, they need something strong. I don't want my bed smelling of motor oil and lubricants.” 

 

“Long nights?” Captain America said dryly, like he understood.

 

He sniffed a few more bottles, outright wincing at a few of them, but made his way to the fancy organic ones, which he seemed to like better. 

 

“You like those better?” Tony asked him. 

 

“They’re less strong, and smell… better. Less like plastic and strong chemicals. Except for the containers of course.” 

 

“The others smell chemically?” 

 

“Almost everything does. But even without that, everything smells different now,” he sighed. “Even New York smog. These are at least a little more familiar.” 

 

“Are there any specific perfumes or colognes people around you wore?” Tony asked, mind churning for solutions. Some nights after his capture, all that pulled him through the night was the smell of Rhodey’s cologne reminding him that he wasn’t in that horrible cave anymore. “If you want a familiar scent, you might be able to find one in those, rather than detergent.” 

 

Steve sighed, posture more open than before. “I appreciate the thought, but my Ma mostly smelled of the hospital she worked in, Peggy didn't usually wear scent unless she was on some kind of spy mission, and it wasn’t like the team wore scents in the field. Besides, it…”

 

He paused, looking stiff again, then seemed to make a decision and continued.

 

“It isn’t their perfumes I'm missing. With how strong my sense of smell is, it's their… general scent I miss. Their scent without perfumes or cologne. It wouldn’t last on whatever fabrics the museums kept, not with washing. And even-” his voice cracked slightly, but he continued doggedly, “even the fabric that was preserved in the ice with me, it didn't preserve any scent.” 

 

Then he seemed to realize what he was saying and turned away from him, busying himself with putting the detergent bottles back on the shelves. 

 

Tony slipped away, to leave him to his emotions. He could have made a joke about old fashioned courting, of handkerchiefs with a drop of scent on them… but that almost felt cruel after he had seen Cap actually open up to him, to see him so emotional. 

 

He shook himself like a dog to try to shake himself out of the gloom that tried to stick to him. He took the elevator to his workshop to distract himself with some thought-intensive projects. 

 

After a time, JARVIS shut all his screens and holograms down. “Sir, you need to eat a proper meal. You have not eaten enough today so I am shutting down your project until you have eaten a whole meal, as you did not heed my previous warnings.” 

 

“Really JARVIS?” Tony groaned, losing his train of thought about possible necessities for a proper uniform for Cap. 

 

“Really. Ms. Potts also wants to have dinner with you, so I thought a more clear message might get through to you better.” 

 

Tony grumbled a bit, but… he hadn’t seen Pepper in too long. She had been so focused on company stuff in the wake of the battle and partial destruction of the building, and with himself so focused on the suit and the rebuilding… they hadn’t had a proper dinner date in a long time. 

 

“Alright, you win JARVIS,” he grumbled, so he didn’t seem like he was capitulating too easily. 

 

He headed to the common room first so he could grab a quick snack. That would hopefully prevent him from being only focused on the food because of his forgotten hunger during their dinner. He hadn’t gotten the chance to simply spend time with Pepper alone in a while, he didn't want to be too distracted from her tonight.

 

But as the elevator opened into the dimmed evening lights of the common room, he saw Cap, almost completely buried in a pile of pillowcases and fuzzy blankets taking over the biggest couch, wrapped in a large fluffy sweater. 

 

“Am I hallucinating?” He asked, confused and almost a little unsettled at the sight. 

 

“If you mean Captain Rogers sleeping, then no,” JARVIS said, a little quieter than normal. “He came into the room for a snack, then succumbed to the power of freshly dried laundry.” 

 

Looking closer, Tony did notice the half finished blueberry muffin on the coffee table, from his favorite bakery in New York. And that below the pile of laundry, was a basket on the floor, so overstuffed with laundry that the top of the pile had clearly tipped onto the couch to make a comfortable resting place. Well, he supposed that was one use for super strength, to carry everything in one trip. 

 

He grabbed a muffin from the box on the counter as well and sat on the loveseat by the coffee table, curious. 

 

As he watched, Cap shifted, and he saw a dark scrap of woolen fabric held tightly in the hand now pressed to his cheek. 

 

Maybe that was the fabric that he had implied the existence of, that didn't hold even a trace of scent to remember someone by. It certainly didn't look like a handkerchief, more like a scrap of a blanket or wool coat. Maybe it wasn’t Peggy's, just something from one of his teammates that he kept. Bucky Barnes had died during the war after all, so maybe he had grabbed a keepsake during the war, and it had simply gone down with him. 

 

Cap shifted again, and started rubbing his hands against the top blanket, almost kneading it like a cat. Pepper playfully compared Tony to a cat sometimes, and likened his fidgeting with things to kneading, so he had watched a few videos of cats playing and relaxing. He wouldn't ever get a cat obviously, he was too busy and there were too many places a cat wouldn't be safe and would mess with his stuff in the tower, but he did enjoy watching videos of cats being cute. 

 

Steve even began to hum softly, a sound he could barely hear from here, but almost like a purr. He had never seen him that happy before. Maybe in his sleep he was dreaming of being reunited with his old friends. 

 

Then Pepper sat down next to him on the loveseat, and he startled, almost yelping out loud. She was dressed nice but comfy, not date night out nice, or boardroom nice, and if she had already changed after her late meeting… then he had spent too much time watching Steve sleep. 

 

“Indulging your snooping habits in person this time?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. 

 

“I just like to know what's happening in my tower,” he pouted. And making sure his projects weren't being leaked or used to harm anyone, he didn't say. 

 

Pepper nodded, a bit grimly, but moved on. 

 

“I didn't expect him to be so comfortable in the open common room,” she said quietly. 

 

“The blankets were straight from the dryer,” he whispered. “I guess that kind of draw is universal.” 

 

Steve rolled more, shifting the blankets into an even tighter tangle around him. 

 

“JARVIS, could you order more soft blankets for Steve’s room?” Pepper asked. “I believe that's all the blankets from his room in that pile there.” 

 

“Order him a blanket warmer for his room too,” Tony added. “And don’t get him any artificial fiber blankets, go natural fibers for those.” 

 

Pepper looked at him with a question in her eyes, and he said, “enhanced senses. Said everything smells like plastic and chemicals nowadays.” 

 

She smiled and kissed his cheek, then got up. “Well, I'd rather not stay here and wait for him to wake up, as sweet as he looks. Dinner?” 

 

“Of course,” Tony said, heading out to the takeout that was probably waiting in his room for them. 

 

“JARVIS please engage privacy mode in this room until he wakes up and goes back to his room.” 

 

“Of course sir.”

Notes:

Next part of the story is in the next chapter!

Chapter 2: Comforting Scents:Present

Summary:

Natasha observes some changes in the social dynamics of Avengers Tower.

Notes:

Yes, this chapter is being posted a week later than I planned. In part because I rearranged some chapters in the Avengers Era to make the storyline a little more cohesive.

And partially because I almost completely rewrote this entire chapter over the course of two days, more than doubling it in length. I just... kept finding more and more things and scenes to add!

A good portion of the minor additions were background descriptions, and I'm genuinely not sure if it's now at a good amount, the scenes no longer taking place in empty voids tentatively labeled as a kitchen or living room, or if I went overboard and the scenes are starting to drag from too much description. I'd really appreciate any feedback you guys have, on this, or any other parts of this series as I am really starting to put a lot of effort into making this series the best it can be and improving my writing.

Things had changed in Avengers Tower. And Natasha had done nothing to cause it either. 

 

The common living room and kitchen had gone from empty at most times, (confirmed by JARVIS, who was reluctant to allow her and Clint to view the common areas security recordings despite the fact they weren't private areas) to usually having at least one person, often two, in that set of rooms. 

 

Fury had given her and Clint the assignment to keep an eye on the volatile group of “Avengers” after Steve had made the decision to move in as well as Bruce. They were on a temporary break from covert missions while they were in the public eye due to the battle in New York after all. Clint was also on mandatory leave for a brainwashing and capture situation. 

 

They weren't at the tower all the time of course, Clint had visited Laura and the kids, and they were free to visit their other apartments as well, but Fury did need them to keep an eye on the Avengers. 

 

For the first two weeks, the group had acted as she had expected. Bruce avoided everyone but Tony, and even that was mostly science talk, nothing personal. Tony was very focused on his suit repairs, avoiding everyone but Pepper and occasionally Bruce, with a franticness that showed how affected he was been by the battle. Steve also avoided everyone, and rarely came out of his rooms at all, which had made her wonder why he wanted to move into the tower at all. He didn't get along with Tony, kept everyone else at arms length, and seemed like he would join SHIELD, who wanted him to stay in DC, near the Triskelion. He may as well have taken the apartment they had offered in DC. The mission of observing and bringing the info back to Fury had been so boring that Clint thought (or just hoped) to be put back on active missions again so he could prove himself.

 

But now, only one week later, the common kitchen and living room were regularly full in the evening, as they were now, nearly filling every stiff white couch. The lamps were on dimly, the night lights of the city through the floor to ceiling windows adding to the flashes of light on the pale, modern hotel grey walls. Natasha and Clint had been very worried about the windows that took up most of one wall when Tony had shown off the room after its repair, but he had put a surprising amount of thought into making the danger very minimal. They were both still a little wary of them, but the upper levels of the Triskelion had some big windows, even if there weren't any skyscrapers tall or close enough to snipe from like in New York. 

 

Tony and Pepper were curled up together under a blanket on the loveseat, both doing something important on their respective tablets despite wearing comfortable clothes and looking ready for bed already. 

 

Thor, wearing too small, but more casual clothes than his armor, was listening intently to Clint, both sitting at the stiff, dark painted wood of the kitchen table, easily seen through the large, white painted wood arch between the living room and kitchen. Clint was explaining how to make a batch of the chocolate chip cookies that had been devoured already, the large empty plate with barely a crumb remaining, sitting on the bare glass and metal coffee table. 

 

Bruce seemed to be dozing lightly on one end of the biggest couch, tucked into a large blanket with the book he had been reading on the matching glass and metal side table, placed there by Steve when it had started to threaten to fall to the floor. He was likely exhausted from the large meal he had been in charge of preparing, quadrupled to feed a super soldier and Asgardian as well as the two elite spies and three regular people. 

 

That meal had been the thing to draw them all to the room tonight, even Pepper, who had dragged Tony with her and thanked Bruce profusely for the home cooked meal. 

 

Natasha was carefully sharpening her knives on one of the armchairs, carefully dressed in comfortable but sporty clothing to put the group at ease. She had even removed her light sweater in favor of one of the many throw blankets in the common areas that had rapidly multiplied in number over the last week.

 

The sound of knives being sharpened seemed to be putting Steve to sleep, or at least relaxing him, despite the noise likely being annoying with the enhanced hearing mentioned in his file. He was curled up in a little ball on the other end of the large couch from Bruce, and had accumulated a cozy pile of blankets around him, dozing lightly. He was tightly clutching a small object in his fist, like he was desperate not to lose it, but was otherwise very relaxed. It was a massive change from the beginning of this living experiment, and certainly not what she would have expected given the avoidance that had been so prominent just a week ago. 

 

Natasha knew when the change had started, but not how. The common room had been set to privacy mode for a few hours on an evening two weeks after they had moved in. Then Steve and Tony had started getting along better, Tony being less sharp in his conversation with him, and Steve had slowly been getting less formal in both his outfits and words. If it had been anyone else, she would have assumed they had simply fucked out their animosity, but she saw no signs of that possibility.

 

But Steve seemed more comfortable in the tower now, instead of treating even the common areas as work locations and being perfectly done up the few times he left his room. Even when he went into the common kitchen past midnight to make himself tea, clearly after a nightmare, he had definitely tidied himself up and dressed nicely before he ventured forth. 

 

But now he had started to wear fluffy sweaters he surely wouldn’t have bought for himself, and more casual clothes. He started treating the whole tower as a home, not just his room. (And even that she had to guess, because she hadn't had the chance to subtly investigate his room due to JARVIS’ security protocols. And Steve always slipped away too fast for her to invite herself to his room with him with any possible excuse) He began hanging out in the common rooms more often, and speaking with the others about things that weren't small talk and the occasional mention of SHIELD when talking with her or Clint. 

 

And that increased sociability was leading to more people being comfortable coming into the common areas more often. It lead to meals being cooked or ordered in the kitchen and the scent drawing more people in, eating together, talking for longer, and simply hanging out, doing their own thing in the same room. 

 

It was fascinating to witness the change, to watch these incredibly powerful people who were seen as heroes nearly worldwide to just sit and relax together.

 

Even Thor had arrived back to the tower last night to stay with them for a while. The boom of his landing on the roof of the tower had caused them all to rush to the roof from the kitchen with their ordered pizzas, ready to defend earth from another group of aliens who decided they would be an easy target… only to be greeted by a very jovial Thor. He had told them that he wanted to spend more time with them, to aid in their coordination if they were forced to fight for earth again. He seemed to be settling in nicely, and even seemed to connect well with Steve specifically, though he was very friendly and charming to them all.

 

As Natasha watched, Clint politely extracted himself from his conversation with Thor to go to his room, probably to go call Laura. He had started trusting JARVIS recently, even with the family no one but her and Fury at SHIELD was trusted to know about, and she thought it foolish. She hadn't argued when he had implied that wary trust to her though, as that was his and Laura's decision to trust a very sharp and discerning program that had an unpredictable and paranoid billionaire creator.

 

Then Thor slipped out of the room as well, far quieter than expected for his size and usual loudness. Though, he had been wearing loud armor, yelling, and blasting lightning when he was fighting in the battle, compared to his comfortable, polite manner today. 

 

And that seemed to trigger a mass exodus from the surprisingly cozy atmosphere of the stark white and grey living room. 

 

A quiet ding from JARVIS seemed to be an alarm for Pepper, who checked her watch and left the room, Tony following blearily behind. Bruce grunted a few minutes later, and woke up a little, back probably aching a little from his hunched posture on the stiff couch. He blinked confusedly at his book on the side table, then smiled at Steve, picked it up, and left. 

 

Steve looked asleep, but was just slightly too tense. He had woken up subtly as the others left the room. She nodded at his mostly closed eyes, then left the room without a sound.

 

After a mostly restful two hour nap in her room, Natasha woke up to a soft alarm and began making her way to the common room again. She hadn't had the chance to observe Steve as much as she would have liked, and was curious if he would notice her approach, or what his nightmares were like. And he seemed likely to stay in the common room to sleep, which was a great opportunity. Yes, she could observe him through the recorded footage, but in person was always best for observation beyond simple surveillance.

 

She had casually left her sweater in the living room that evening to have an excuse to go in late at night. She wasn't sure how sensitive he was to sounds, or how alert he was while sleeping, so she needed an excuse just in case. She had witnessed Steve startle harshly occasionally, or show other signs of trauma, though very rarely. Were the signs merely being suppressed because he still didn't feel safe in this century, or was he simply less affected by traumatic experiences than most?

 

She eased slowly into the grey and white room, eerie in the pale light from the floor lights. She saw Steve curled up on the couch in the massive pile of the blankets he had slowly accumulated over the course of the evening, with… was that her sweater tucked under his head? There were plenty of throw pillows nearby that, despite the irritating decorations and fabrics, would be more comfortable a pillow than a thin zippered sweater. 

 

She had been sitting on the armchair that night, far enough away that he would have had to get up to grab her sweater. It couldn't be him reaching for something while half asleep, and accidentally grabbing her sweater instead of a pillow, it had to be a decision he made, to deliberately get up and grab it. 

 

But she could see him getting tenser, sensing her gaze on him in his sleep, and she decided to come back later, and see what he did and said about this odd circumstance.

 

However, when she snuck into the common room early the next morning, Steve had disappeared, along with her sweater, and some of the blankets from the common room. 

 

Now that was even odder. 

 

She had expected him to leave it there, to show no sign of what he did, or maybe even give it back to her, directly or indirectly. She hadn't expected him to keep it. 

 

That kind of behavior was usually reserved for clothes of people a person was very close to, enough to find that person's scent or perfume on the fabric comforting. Not someone he had known for less than two months. If he was deeply attracted to her, and maybe had stalker tendencies it could be the cause, but he didn’t seem to. He was only mildly attracted to her in the most casual of ways, and seemed very unwilling to act on any of the attraction she saw in his body language. 

 

Natasha hadn’t had the stories of Captain America drilled into her head as a child like most Americans, but she had been a part of SHIELD for a long time, and had heard the stories of their founder; Peggy Carter, and her romance of the century with Captain America. She had grieved and moved on of course, but Steve hadn't had much time to move on since he was awoken, so he likely wasn't interested in anyone due to grief.

 

And that left Natasha with no solid answers, which was very interesting. Maybe his loss of everything he knew, or being from the 1940's changed his body language and actions in a way she wasn't used to and couldn't interpret properly. 

 

So she decided to keep observing and see what happened as the team got closer.

 

He was nervous that day, clearly wanting to speak with her about something. Did he notice that she had seen him with her sweater? So she took pity on him and let him follow her to a secluded hallway. But instead of an awkward or embarrassed confession of any type, he gathered himself and asked her, “why did you join SHIELD?”

 

Natasha didn't show her surprise of course, but that certainly wasn’t what she was expecting. Well, Fury did want him in SHIELD, especially after the display of skill in the battle of New York, so she wouldn't complain about his interest in it.

 

That night, when Tony abandoned the giant bright green blanket he and Pepper had been cuddling under that evening as they did their respective work to go to bed, she watched Steve, sitting on the side of the couch closest to the loveseat this time, out of the corner of her eye. He very gradually pulled it towards him, then incorporated it into his pile around him, specifically, under his head. She even noticed him subtly sniffing it out of the corner of her eye. In the act of incorporating the blanket into his pile, he exposed the object held tightly in his fist, a tiny scrap of dark fabric.

 

She very carefully kept her eyes on the new art adorning the walls so he wouldn’t feel her eyes on him, the warmer colors of the framed paintings brightening up the room a little, making it feel just slightly more cozy.

 

Natasha walked into the common room early the next morning to check if that blanket had also disappeared, and it had. She noticed Steve and Pepper talking at the kitchen table, half eaten breakfasts in front of them. They both seemed invested in their quiet conversation, not being secretive, merely polite to the half asleep Bruce nodding off on the other side of the table. 

 

Before she could get closer and hear their conversation properly, Steve looked directly at her and nodded politely, even though she hadn’t made a sound to alert him. Definitely enhanced hearing, and maybe some hypervigilance into the bargain.

 

“Just popping in to see if anyone ordered any baked goods this morning,” she said quietly. 

 

“You heading out?” Steve asked politely.

 

“Me and Clint are going into SHEILD today to get some proper training in and talk with some friends,” she replied.

 

“Well I'm sure if you let Tony know, he'll get whatever equipment you need to train “properly” in the gym,” Pepper said kindly. “He's really enjoying having everyone in the tower so consistently. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to run, I'm slightly behind schedule. Though I have ordered some cushions for the kitchen chairs that are due to arrive today, so if either of you catch the delivery, could you do me a favor and get them put on the chairs?” 

 

She quickly stuffed the rest of her bagel with cream cheese in her mouth and chewed rapidly, fussing her hair back into perfect order. She nodded at Natasha, and waved to Steve before rushing elegantly out of the room, looking as put together as she could be.

 

“Natasha, when you go to SHIELD… could you let Fury know that I'm willing to join you guys?” Steve asked once Pepper had left.

 

“Of course,” she said, deliberately letting her satisfaction show. “Having something to do besides sit in your room and get yourself caught up on the decades will be good for you. I'll let Fury know, and he will likely call you directly and set up a meeting.”

 

“Thank you Natasha,” he said, a little more relaxed now.

 

She nodded and rushed back out of the room, grabbing two of the carrot muffins off the counter to fulfil her breakfast obligations.

 

Clint was going to see his family, not back to SHIELD yet, but they were still heading out together to ensure no one would think anything of it. He gave her a raised eyebrow when she pulled a used shirt of his from his bag before they split off into different cars, but if he was as observant as he was supposed to be, he already would have an idea of what she was doing.

 

When she got back to the tower, late that afternoon with her bag mostly full of clean clothes from one of her other apartments, she asked for JARVIS to guide her to Steve.

 

He was looking vaguely out into the busy city from the common room windows, clearly thinking hard. 

 

“Did Fury contact you?” She asked kindly.

 

“Yes,” he said, not startled at all. “I've got a meeting with him tomorrow morning. Did Clint not come back with you?”

 

She noticed his deflection, and indulged it, saying, “no, he's staying in one of his other apartments at least for the night.”

 

“Hopefully that'll help him,” he said thoughtfully. “He seems to avoid talking about SHIELD much, probably guilt from the battle. I really need to make sure he knows it wasn’t his fault.”

 

So he had noticed. He had even thought to talk about it with him, even if he hadn't done it yet. “You're a good leader,” she said reassuringly. “He might not be back right away, but it shouldn't be more than a few days.”

 

“Thanks,” he said softly. 

 

As she left, she deliberately let a clean shirt of hers, as well as Clint's worn one, drop to the floor from her overstuffed bag and hurried to her room before Steve could call her back. 

 

When she got back to her room after that evening's gathering, the shirt she had dropped had been put through the mail slot of her door. Ah, that's why Steve had left the group to go to bed so early. He wanted to give back her shirt without being noticed. She went into Clint's room, (which JARVIS allowed because they had both let him know the other was always allowed in their room) and found no returned shirt.

 

Odd, but very interesting. As she suspected, he was drawn specifically to clothes that they had worn, presumably by the scent, judging by the sniffing. She had seen in his file that he had enhanced senses, and maybe that made him more instinctively drawn to all their scents despite not knowing each other for very long. Where was he keeping them? Would he return the clothing, or keep it forever? She wondered if he would start actively searching out pieces of clothing with the other’s scents, or if he would purely scavenge what he happened to find.

 

She would test him then. She quickly went back to the dark, empty living room and grabbed the bright red blanket Bruce seemed to prefer and put it in her room for the morning.

 

When Steve was scheduled to get back from his meeting with Fury, she walked to the hall outside his room with the blanket, and leaned casually against the hotel drab walls, filing her nails as she waited. Usually she would sharpen one of her knives when she wanted to look threatening but casual, but Steve seemed to find comfort in the action, while he was awkward around women's grooming rituals. 

 

When he came around the corner, she saw he looked determined, likely from the meeting, ready to do everything he needed to do to get into SHIELD. Good. Fury had wanted him, and she admitted he would be an interesting addition to the highly skilled agents in the field. 

 

But when he saw the recognizable blanket at her feet, he leapt almost straight up when he noticed her, startling wildly. “What-”

 

She raised an eyebrow and said firmly, not asking, “you like to steal away fabrics that smell like us.” 

 

He nodded cautiously, posture loosening a bit.

 

“Good to know,” she smiled, deliberately just a little threatening, and stalked off, leaving the blanket for him to take. 

 

She was curious what he would do about that, if he would keep silent out of embarrassment and hope she forgot it, or try to appease her in hopes she wouldn't tell anyone. 

 

However, Natasha was actually going to help him instead. 

 

It would be an interesting exercise of her skills, to subtly gather worn clothing from the other residents without being able to go into the others rooms without permission. And it would give her ample opportunity to investigate both Steve’s reactions and the others.

 

Unlike she expected though, Steve didn't seem worried about her knowing as she went through her day, purposely meeting him in the hall several times. He would look at her, a little nervous, but with no true fear of being exposed. He looked grateful. He truly didn't seem worried about her reaction or possibly exposing him beyond that first reaction. 

 

She even found him in the kitchen with Bruce that afternoon, who was talking him through a very large, hearty chili recipe that filled the air with a rich scent.

 

He wasn't ashamed of his actions at all.

 

Though judging by the bit of fabric he kept ahold of when cozy and cuddled up, which likely dated from before the ice… maybe that fabric was from his teammates in the past, who had accepted that oddity and biased him towards believing that the rest of the Avengers would accept that oddity. To be frank, she couldn't imagine any of them not accepting him. Unless Tony got confused and dramatic about it, but even then, she had seen them talking politely several times over the past two weeks, so they might even talk that out, especially with Pepper also getting along well with Steve.

 

Maybe this team wasn't quite as much of an explosion risk as she had expected it to be.

 

Early the next morning, Natasha went to the kitchen to see if Steve was there, so maybe she could help him out, get him the last person checked off the list. Pepper rushed gracefully out of the kitchen as she entered, and she saw Steve and Thor inside, making eggs and sausage at the stove, sun streaming in the normal sized windows as they cooked side by side. 

 

“Early breakfast today?” She asked Steve as she poured a glass of orange juice from the fridge. Not her favorite, but perfect for what she would be pulling off. 

 

He nodded and began piling eggs onto two plates. “Do you want any eggs?”

 

“No thanks,” she said. “I've already eaten.” 

 

When Thor turned around and boomed, “well, you are welcome to some of our feast anyway!” She deliberately jumped like she had been startled and spilled some orange juice on Thor's tight white t-shirt.

 

As she suspected he would, he immediately took off the t-shirt he was wearing, tossing it to the floor. He even flexed dramatically to playfully show off his now exposed muscles. “Sorry for startling you, lady Natasha!”

 

She gave him a very deliberate and admiring once over, and carefully kicked the shirt under the table as she went for a cloth to clean up the spill.  “No worries, you're very quiet when you aren't in your armor, I wasn't expecting you to speak so loudly this early in the morning! Sorry about the shirt.”

 

“I will attempt to be quieter in the morning then,” he said a little more quietly as he poured her some more orange juice. “My lady Jane is often quite tired and doesn't notice much before her morning coffee! I visited her yesterday morning, and she did not even notice the sound of the Bifrost despite eating breakfast with a view of me from the window at the time! I did startle Darcy quite handily however, and she threw a mug at me in defence of Jane.” 

 

“You have a girlfriend on earth?” Steve asked curiously. “Is that why you came back to earth?” 

 

“I met my lady Jane and her close friend Darcy in my first adventure to earth in recent times,” he said jovially. “I needed to return to Asgard soon after, and with the Bifrost broken, I did not have the chance to return until the battle. Asgard was in chaos following the power shifts in my absence, as well as the believed death of Loki. When I asked to come to earth more often after the Bifrost was properly repaired, my father insisted that I come back to Asgard regularly for my duties as prince, but allowed me to come back to earth to get closer to such a strong group of Shieldbrothers. I agreed mostly so I could meet with Jane more regularly, but I am very happy to train and build relationships with our team as well while I am here.”

 

“You believed Loki to be dead?” Steve asked sympathetically. 

 

Well, if Thor believed Loki to be dead and truly grieved him, that could explain his extreme defensiveness of his behaviors when he was shown to be alive again. 

 

Thor saddened, looking wistfully away. “It is… quite a complicated story, but suffice it to say, when the Bifrost crumbled, I and Loki were both on it. My father managed to grab me, and Loki hung onto me. Father… was not pleased with Loki and Loki… let go. We thought his death from the fall into Yggdrasil was certain. But he came back. Twisted and newly cruel, but back nonetheless. It is why I fought so hard to bring him home. I can only hope that father can tell him that he is welcomed back once he regrets his recent choices.”

 

Thor hadn’t just been grieving, but had felt deeply guilty for his role in Loki's death, whether it was reasonable or not. His reactions to Loki despite his actions on earth made much more sense with that context.

 

However, she realized that Steve looked almost grey from the story. His hands were trembling slightly, and he looked like he was going to be sick. Even his reaction to running out into the busy streets of New York when he was first woken up was merely blank shock or occasional flashes of anger. This was the most dramatic reaction she had ever seen from him. 

 

And she didn't even know what part of the story he was reacting so strongly to, she had been so focused on Thor's reactions.

 

“I will take my leave now,” Thor said somberly, and left the room with his plate overflowing with food. 

 

When Steve met her gaze, he looked ready to bolt, sharply on edge. Like a cornered animal. She would not get any answers from him now. Natasha quickly left the room to leave him space to escape, and caught a glimpse of him rushing to the elevator, a bright white shirt with an orange stain in his hands. 

 

He stayed in the gym all day, and Natasha stayed in the common room most of the day, watching documentaries on the massive flat screen TV, hoping that he might talk with her about his reaction if she made herself available. Whatever that reaction was, if it was because he was scared to lose anyone else, it might make him more hesitant to join SHIELD. 

 

But when he came out of the elevator, exhausted and sweaty, eyes red with unshed tears, hands beaten badly from the punching bags, all he said, in a raspy, dull voice was, “how can I get onto missions faster.”

 

And Natasha was strangely disappointed.

Notes:

I'm going to try my best to have the next part (starting another story in this same series) posted in one week, but with editing taking much longer than it used to, and with next week's part taking a bit of a darker turn and properly starting the plot of the Avengers Era part of this series, it might not happen. But if it does work out, then see you guys next week, and happy reading!

Notes:

The next chapter in order will be in the other Avengers Era fic in this series, so subscribe to the series if you want to read the full story! I'll link it here next week, when that chapter goes up!

This fic has so many scenes across two eras that I'm certain I will miss a few tags, so if you feel that an important one is missing, please let me know!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Five Odd Things About the Serum, Five Teammates, and Bucky