The trees, houses, crosswalks, and monuments out the window aren't new to Kate anymore. After an uneventful six months of being in New York, Fury transferred Steve, Kate, and Nat to the Triskelion in D.C. for some bigger projects and missions. It's smaller and cleaner, especially on certain streets. At the monuments, history seems to be sewn into the air — but maybe that's just Kate. She doesn't go around there often, anyhow, not having the time and already having the memories.

They've been here a year and a half, Nat and Kate mostly calling Clint while he's sent on small missions in between being with his family. They visited them six months ago, and luckily Steve didn't ask any questions Kate couldn't answer truthfully. She's pretty sure Nat lied up a storm, though.

Kate glances over at her now, in the driver's seat, and she's disappointed to see her with her phone in her right hand, texting as she glances back and forth from her screen to the road.

"Natasha Romanoff, don't you dare text and drive."

Nat rolls her eyes, holding the phone out to Kate. "At least I can drive."

"If I could, I wouldn't text while I was doing it." Kate takes the phone, unsurprised to see she's texting Steve; they're going to pick him up from his morning run near the Washington Monument.

"Press send, you big baby."

Kate reads the text first. 'Mission alert. Extraction imminent. Meet at the curb. :)'

"A smiley face?" she says.

"What, what's wrong with a smiley face?"

"Nothing, Nat." She presses send. "But you never send me smiley faces."

"You aren't a smiley face person."

"And Steve is?"

"More so than you." A few moments later, they spot him talking to a random guy on the sidewalk, and Nat pulls over smoothly, putting the car in park and rolling down Kate's window. She leans forward. "Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? We're here to pick up a fossil."

"That's hilarious," Steve deadpans.

Kate gestures to the back. "In the backseat, relic. I called shotgun."

"Hey, I'm an antique, thank you," he protests, walking over to the car.

The guy he was talking to shrugs. "More like a mummy, if you ask me."

Steve sighs, getting in the car. "That's Sam, by the way."

"Natasha," she says. "That's all you get."

Kate plasters on a smile. "Dr. Kate Carson, at your service." She holds her hand out to sell the joke.

Sam chuckles, shaking her hand, glancing at it before his eyes return to hers. "I know."

"You a science man?"

"No, military. I just saw a lot of footage from that alien invasion thing in NYC."

"Huh," Kate says, squinting at him. "You know, I've seen that footage, too, and I wasn't in a lot of it." She was mostly keeping away from civilians, and people focused more on Cap, Iron Man, or Thor rather than her. Not to mention, she wasn't even on the ground at the end of the fight. "So it's almost like... you'd have to be looking to even find me."

He shrugs, an easy smile on his face. "Maybe I was."

Kate tries to figure it out, that smile. If it means something. It worries her, forms a tightness in her chest. "What for?"

"I think it's really cool — what you can do," he replies, easing her worries a bit.

"Yeah... I get that a lot."

"Just think of all the possibilities," he continues, and Kate resists the urge to sigh, expecting the usual. "You could roast s'mores from literally anywhere."

She pauses, eyes him a moment. He's smiling, joking easily, but somehow also genuine. She chuckles. "Well, that I don't get a lot."

"I've always said she'd be great in a blizzard," Nat pipes up.

"That, too," Sam agrees. "And you could make a killer creme brûlée."

Kate snorts. "Yeah, I don't cook."

"Well, I do," he says. "I like to think I'm pretty good, too, but you don't have to take my word for it." That smile returns and the tightness follows, making Kate shift in her seat. She can't quite meet his eyes, doesn't even know what to say.

"I don't know, you seem trustworthy," Nat chimes in. "And I happen to think I'm a great judge of character."

Sam chuckles. "I'm sure you are." He steps back from the car. "It was nice meeting you. I'll see you around."

"See you around," Steve echoes.

Nat drives off, pulling onto the street without looking out for other cars. Kate's still too uncomfortable to comment on it, jokingly or otherwise. She shifts in her seat again, staring out the window, and then Nat clears her throat. "Well... he was cute."

Kate grimaces. He was attractive, there's no doubt about it — nice smile, buff, facial hair that doesn't look like a train wreck. But Kate does not want to have this conversation. "You date him, then."

Nat laughs. "Yeah, I don't date."

"Neither do I."

"You could."

"You could."

"Well, he wasn't flirting with me, was he?"

"For the record, I think he's a pretty cool guy," Steve pipes up.

Kate turns around in her seat. "You beat everything, you know that?"

He shrugs innocently. "What?"

Kate turns back around, crossing her arms. "It's like having parents desperate for their child to get into a relationship. Like two Mrs. Bennets with less nerves and no horses to send me off on in the rain so I'll get sick and have to stay at my suitor's house."

"I..." Steve starts. "I think I understand that reference."

Kate opts to look at him in the rear view mirror. "You've read Austen?"

"Once upon a time, yeah."

"Wow," Nat says. "I was bored and it was in the house. What's your excuse?"

"English teacher talked about it, I liked reading. Kate?"

"She was my mom's favorite author, and we kept her old copies." Kate sighs. "And I have officially reached my sharing quota for the day."

"What, did Fury set a number?" Nat quips.

"He'd be one to talk about sharing."

~_~_~_~_~

They arrive back at base, quickly getting ready to head to a Quinjet with the STRIKE team. Steve looks at Kate, surprised to see that she's suited up. "You're coming?"

"It's been a while since I've been out of the lab," Kate replies. "Fury figured I'd better spread my wings a bit so I don't get rusty. Oh, and I'm also going because I've got a jar of dirt."

"What?"

"You'll understand in a minute — if it was on your list."

Nat just chuckles as they head to the Quinjet.

After taking off, Rumlow, the STRIKE leader, gives Steve the run-down, messing with displays on a screen. "Target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them ninety three minutes ago." Kate laughs to herself.

"Any demands?" Steve asks.

"A billion and a half."

"Why so steep?"

"Because it SHIELD's."

Steve pauses, realizes something. "So it's not off-course, it's trespassing."

Kate shrugs. "I'm sure they have a good reason."

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor."

"Relax, it's not that complicated," Nat replies.

"How many pirates?"

"Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy." Rumlow pulls up his picture. "Georges Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?"

"Uh... mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley."

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve mutters before giving orders. "Alright, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat and Kate, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get 'em out. Let's move."

"STRIKE, you heard the Cap. Gear up."

The circle breaks, chattering coming from the STRIKE team. Steve speaks into his comm. "Secure channel seven."

"Seven secure," Nat replies. "Did you do anything fun Saturday night?"

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so no, not really," Steve replies. Kate laughs, and he smiles a bit. "And you guys? How was your Saturday night?"

Kate sighs. "Nat forced me out of the lab, but we watched reruns of Frasier. So not an awful night."

"Haven't heard of it."

"Another favorite sitcom of hers. Maybe start with Cheers," Nat replies.

Kate leans over and whispers, "But Frasier is way better."

"Coming up by the drop zone, Cap," the pilot informs.

He starts putting on his helmet as Nat says, "You know, if you ask out Kristen from Statistics, she'd probably say yes." The back of the jet opens.

"That's why I don't ask," Steve answers, grabbing his shield.

"Too shy or too scared?"

"Too busy!" With that, he leaps out of the plane.

"Was he wearing a parachute?" an agent asks.

"No," Rumlow replies. "No, he wasn't."

Kate turns to Nat, ignoring them. "And yet he's perfectly content to try and set me up. Though, I guess that was more you than him. What do you think you are, a professional matchmaker?"

Nat rolls her eyes, then nudges her. "Come on, Kate. When was the last time you went out on a date?"

Kate looks down, biting her lip, memories coming back. One of them stands out — it wasn't the last date she'd been on, technically. It was the last one before he asked her to be his girlfriend — their second.

~_~_~_~_~

"So," he started, a glint in his green eyes. They were at the movies, sitting in the middle of a nearly empty theatre, considering the movie they'd chosen had been out for at least three weeks. Two people were sitting at the top, and a group of three was a couple rows down from them.

Kate turned to him, a box of Snow Caps in her right hand. One was already dissolving in her mouth, despite the fact that the movie hadn't started yet. "So?"

He acted like he'd caught her in the midst of committing some petty crime. "When were you going to tell me you're a fire chief's daughter? The Glen Oaks fire chief's daughter, I might add."

She just laughed and put another Snow Cap in her mouth.

He laughed, too, but he said, "I'm serious, Kate. You know, your dad could've been my boss for a year if I hadn't flunked the fourth grade."

At this, she laughed even harder. "You flunked the fourth grade?!"

He seemed embarrassed, but he was still laughing. "That's not the point. You lied."

"I did not," she argued. "I thought you already knew."

"Why would I already know?"

She looked at him with a mix of disappointment and incredulity. "Ryan. His picture is hanging up in the station, isn't it? Right over the plaque that says, 'Chief Daniel Carson'? You know, that wall they put all the past Chiefs' pictures on?"

"First of all, I didn't see the resemblance because I wasn't looking for it, and secondly, Carson is a pretty common last name."

Kate looked at him with a sardonic expression. "Is it though?"

"It sounds like one."

"And there are people still there who were working before my dad retired," she added. "Nobody ever said anything at all?"

"Nothing that I heard."

She laughed again, then continued eating her Snow Caps. "So how did you find out, anyway?"

"Well, evidently I never heard the others being amazed at how a fire chief's daughter could start so many fires, but I mentioned that I went out with you after our first date, and everyone really started talking then."

"What did they say?"

"That I was running the risk of upsetting both you and your father, and if I did, it wouldn't be pretty."

Kate laughed again. "Who said that?"

"Plenty of them. Jones seemed actually serious, though."

"Oh, I remember him. He and Dad were big buddies. I used to play with his daughter at the get togethers. Wonder where she is now."

"Not setting her own science lab on fire, that's for sure."

"Well, if she was, I'd have to get jealous."

He just laughed; the movie was about to start.

At some point during the movie, after the Snow Caps were gone and Kate realized just how cold that theatre was, his arm ended up around her, and she put her head on his shoulder. The screen looked a bit sideways, but she didn't care. He was warm, and that warmth spread right to her heart, which beat faster than normal in her chest.

~_~_~_~_~

"You know the answer to that," Kate mumbles.

Nat sounds apologetic. "I'm sorry, Kate. I just..."

"I know." She doesn't look at her, fiddling with her clothes and her comm and anything else. "It's fine."

"I just don't want you missing out on something that could be really good for you."

"I know." She finally stops, looking at Nat's face, which matches her tone perfectly. Kate can't stand being looked at like a kicked puppy. She's had her fill of it, and half the time it's not even deserved or necessary. She offers Nat a weak smile, trying to convey that it's fine, but it doesn't help. She frowns instead. "Nat, it's okay. I'm fine. I've committed to my existence of saving a tremendous amount of money on utilities at the cost of dealing with no snoring or loud chewing in my humble, fireproofed place of residence."

Nat shakes her head, chuckling. "But you don't have to."

"I've heard too many complaints from Laura to make the wrong decision."

They soon put on parachutes, jumping with the others. It's only slightly less worse than the first time Kate did it, and that's mostly because she knows what to do this time. Once she's pulled the cord, floating down next to Nat, she spots Steve standing there with a gun to his head. Rumlow takes the pirate out.

Her feet hit the deck of the Lemurian Star, and she unhooks the parachute, casting it off. "Why is it that whenever I'm on a mission and you're around, I end up jumping out of a jet at some point?" she says to Steve.

"Bad luck?"

"Hey, what about the nurse that lives across the hall from you?" Nat asks him. "She seems kind of nice."

"Secure the engine room, then find me a date."

"I'm multitasking," Nat replies. Kate chuckles as she follows her, looking around for anybody Steve happened to miss. Her hands are at the ready, though she's still a bit apprehensive about lighting up below decks. But Fury said this mission would be best, seeing as they're literally on water. He was mostly joking, though.

They climb down a ladder, and there's a man speaking French below them. Kate, unfortunately, only knows one language aside from what she retained from high school Spanish and the few words in Russian Nat has taught her, but she deduces the guy on the phone by the pauses in his speech. She finds she's right when they get lower; his back is to them as he speaks into a phone in the wall.

When he turns around, he's face to face with Nat, who says, "Hey, sailor."

He pauses, and she kicks his knee in the side, causing him to cry out and hit the ground. She pulls her grappling hook from her belt, wraps the cord around his neck, then backflips over the railing, dropping and shooting at the pirates on every level as she passes. Kate sighs, getting off the ladder and running down, fighting the pirates Nat missed. She doesn't light up much, using small flames and blasts when needed. Her training's been a bit more extensive these last two years.

By the time she meets Nat again, she's out of breath. Nat gives her a pointed look. "Thanks for all the help."

"Hey, your way down here was much easier than mine. And you were handling that pretty well, I thought."

"Yeah, yeah."

They continue moving, becoming extremely quiet when they get closer to a new area.

"Targets acquired," comes through on comms.

"STRIKE in position," Rumlow says.

"Natasha, Kate, what's your status?" Steve asks. Two men are walking ahead of them. Kate creeps forward, Nat behind her, both still silent. "Status, Kate and Natasha?"

"Will you just hang on?!" Kate shouts into comms, causing the men to turn around.

She roundhouse kicks the first as Nat runs ahead and takes care of the second. The one in front of Kate tries to raise his gun, but she heats up one hand, grabbing the barrel. She punches him with the other. While he's stumbling back, she grabs the barrel with her other hand, jerking him forward and hitting him with the butt before bending the barrel and hitting him again, right in the face. He goes down like a sack of potatoes. A third guy approaches, and Kate wacks him in the face with the gun, knocking him out.

Nat presses her comm. "Engine room secure."

"On my mark," Steve says. "Three... Two... One."