"Honey?" Steve's voice whispered into his sleeping girlfriend's ear. He had tenderly brushed her newly blonde locks away from the side of her face, wanting to gaze upon her beautiful face for as long as he possibly could. "Nel?" He tried again, gently shaking her shoulder to wake her from her deep sleep.

Nellie's eyelids fluttered open, darkness flooding in as she tried to make sense of what was happening. "Hmm?" She hummed as she closed her eyes again, turning from her side and onto her back, a need to stretch rolling through her body. Her first thought was there was a new mission that required attention, but Steve's actions were not urgent enough for that.

Their room was still cloaked in the darkness of the night, through the gap in their venetian blinds the sky in the distance was starting to lighten from an inky spill into a blanket of royal blue. Steve had dressed into his running gear, wanting to start the day with a work out after having gone without one for over a week. Nellie liked to lay in, preferring to exercise in the evenings instead.

"I'm on my way out." Steve said quietly as her leant over her, admiring the innocent beauty of her half conscious face as she tried her best to listen to him. He watched as her eyebrows became pushed together in a soft and confused frown, her lips in a swollen pout. "I'm just going for a run." The muscular blonde added, answering the question he knew she was likely to ask.

Nellie, who had been quite out of it until that moment, groaned heavily, her right hand reaching out for the pillow that Steve should have been resting his head upon. Steve watched her curiously, a little confused by her movements until suddenly realisation dawned upon him, his reflexes a little too slow.

She had grasped the pillow tightly in her hand and swung it with outstanding precision right at Steve's face, her eyes having remained closed throughout the whole assault. "You woke me for that!" She moaned quietly, rolling onto her side again to face the middle of the bed and away from Steve's body, the pillow dropping to their carpeted floor with a light thud.

"Hey!" Steve complained lightheartedly, leaning further across the bed to roll her back towards him, his cool hand shooting under the covers to take hold of her exposed hip, her body bare under the duvet.

Nellie smiled as his fingers grazed over her body, his action requiring very little strength as she rested upon her back again, her eyes flickering open to playfully glare at Steve. "You didn't have to wake me to tell me you were going out." She grumbled, blinking quickly as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, her heart quickening at the sight of Steve leaning over her, a breathtaking toothy smile on his face.

"If you woke up and I wasn't here, tell me that you wouldn't panic and call me at least five times." Steve countered, a pointed look on his face as he eyed Nellie, his eyes helplessly darting from her face and down to her exposed breasts now that the duvet had slipped to her waist.

Nellie narrowed her eyes again, a smirk playing on her lips. "I would do no such thing." She protested, folding her arms across her chest with fake defensiveness. In reality he was utterly and completely correct, but she wouldn't tell him that.

Steve knew he was right and he knew she would not admit it. "Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow at her teasingly, slyly kicking his sneakers off of his feet.

"Yes!" Nellie nodded her head sassily, her bangs twitching around her forehead with the jerking movement. "I don't need you. I can look after myself." She clarified defiantly watching as Steve slowly began to turn his body towards her fully, shifting himself further onto the bed.

"Uh huh!" He teased as he began to leisurely crawl towards her, a certain glint in his eyes that had Nellie almost folding under his gaze.

Nellie raised an eyebrow at his movements as he manoeuvred himself over her body, his thighs now on either side of her hips. "I can!" Slightly distracted by his movements, Nellie's response was delayed as share stared up at him, her arms that were folded over her chest had loosened.

Steve chuckled, his laugh a little throaty due to the early morning start. He leant his upper body down towards Nellie, his hands now resting on either side of her ribs as he moved his face closer to hers. Nellie followed his every move, her cheeks began to blush a brilliant pink as her heart rate began to increase. He still made her nervous, after all this time, and she loved it.

"Liar!" Steve whispered, his movements sudden and unexpected as he placed his hands against Nellie's exposed ribs and began to tickle.

Nellie gasped for air and she began to uncontrollably laugh, the sound like music to Steve's ears as he continued his attack. Nellie was expecting a kiss from him, not this! "Stop! Please stop!" Nellie begged as she tried to grab onto his wrists to stop him, bursts of laughter shaking through her body.

Steve's laughs were lighting up the room too, his smile stretching across his entire face as Nellie squirmed beneath him, his body rocking back and forth as she tried to throw him off. "Confess your lie!" He dared, teasing her.

Nellie shook her head boldly. "Never!" The word began strong but finished in an uncontainable giggle. Steve's hands moved over to Nellie's stomach, and that was the last straw for Nellie, her complete weakness when it came to someone tickling her. Steve knew this too.

In an attempt to free herself, Nellie used all of the power in her legs to suddenly roll the two of them. The speed and finesse sent Steve whirling into the mattress of his side of the bed, his head hit the pillows with a heavy thudding sound as Nellie caught a hold of his wrists and pinned them above his head.

The surprise was painted across Steve's face as a naked Nellie settled herself over his clothed hips, a triumphant smile on her own face. The tickling had ceased and she had won - even though they both knew that Steve could flip them both again with outstanding ease but instead he settled into the bed smirking.

"Oh you don't have to confess now, I'm happy with this." He said with a flirtatious grin on his face, his eyes flickering from Nellie's gorgeous green eyes, to her plump lips, and then to her breasts that were brushing against his clothed chest with every panting breath she took.

Nellie tried to hide her smile, pressing her lips together as she followed Steve's gaze, the pit of her stomach filling with butterflies as she felt him beginning to grow hard between her legs. "Oh you are?" She smirked, looking directly into his eyes as she began to slowly, teasingly rock her hips back and forth over him.

Steve let his head fall back into the pillows, his eyes fluttering closed as a deep groan escaped his throat, his arms pushing against the restraints of Nellie's strength. Nellie leant even further forward, fully pressing her chest against his as she drew her face closer to him, her nose brushing against his own.

As their noses touched, Steve opened his eyes again and Nellie pulled back, biting her lower lip as her movements were starting to begin the fuzzy, wonderous feeling that stemmed from between her legs. He watched her every movement with hooded, lust filled eyes, his expression setting Nellie on fire. "Thought you wanted to go running?" She said breathlessly, trying to stop herself from moaning.

"That can wait." Steve's movements were fluid. He broke out of Nellie's hold (not that she was putting up much of a fight now) and wrapped his arms around her waist and back, flipping them completely. Her head hit the pillow, her blonde curls splayed out around her and Steve settled himself between her legs. Nellie had only a second to catch her breath before Steve's lips crashed against hers, his idea of an early morning run expelled from his head.

* * *

By the time Steve finally made it out of their apartment the early morning sun was beginning to crown over the horizon. Fiery orange met cloudy purple in a dramatic display of colour, its appearance making no effort to warm the air, though, the temperature was at a brisk 37.4 degrees Fahrenheit as Steve began his run.

His breath billowed out ahead of him in puffs of white steam, the soldier trying his best to ignore the chill as he powered down Connecticut Avenue towards Dupont Circle, noticing that fewer cars than usual were passing him by. No doubt the icy weather on this early Saturday morning was making people reluctant to leave their warm homes.

Steve listened to his surroundings, the early morning birds, distant sirens and car horns, rolling traffic and the beating of his footfalls against the tarmac became his soundtrack, not yet used to the idea of running with music blasting in his ears. He liked to be aware of his surroundings instead, it helped him process his thoughts... and if he was being completely honest, he still got a little lost when trying to set his Bluetooth earphones up. Nellie was always teasing him about that.

The couple had moved to Washington DC a little under a year ago, the need to be closer to Shield Headquarters had influenced the move when they were hired to lead the Strike Team, completing the missions that were a little more risqué than that of those completed by regular agents. Natasha had joined them on the missions too, becoming more than just a work college after all that they had endured together.

Steve hit West Basin Drive, the traffic and sounds of the main city escaping him as he ran deeper into the Memorial Parks, the air getting colder and the breeze picking up as the Potomac River came into view. He thought about Nellie wrapped up in bed, most likely asleep again, all warm and toasty.

They had returned home from their last mission two days ago; a four day trek in the Amazonian Rainforest trying to uncover an underground bunker full of hackers, terrorists and assassins. Shield had intel that they were using classified information from different governments around the world to track their leaders' movements, using this data to slowly pick off the government officials.

Up to that point there had been seven assassination attempts, six were successful, the final one stopped by Steve, Nellie and their team in Paris, the crumb trail leading them to South America. It was only when they were successful in their mission that Steve and Nellie were told that the set up had once been a Shield operation gone rogue, an old high level agent hellbent on controlling the world's governments.

Nick Fury declined to comment on how it had gotten away from Shield. It had set Nellie and Steve's teeth on edge.

As Steve approached the Ohio Drive Bridge the sky had begun to turn multiple shades of pink, the spectacular display almost enough to rival that of the cherry blossoms that bloomed every spring, the event was a few weeks away still, and he couldn't wait to see it again with Nellie.

Just ahead of Steve he saw another man jogging, he didn't want to make him jump as he ran at his leisurely pace. He called out to him first so as not to startle him as he raced past. "On your left." The man glanced at Steve as he passed, his eyes almost falling out of his head as he tried to understand Steve's pace. The soldier smiled at the gesture but pressed on.

Steve's mind then drifted to the thought of he and Nellie taking another break from it all. The frequency of the missions was increasing, the strenuous activity never ending... maybe a little vacation was what they needed. It suited them well the last time before it had been cut short.

After New York, the couple had to leave their apartment, security being a problem due to the high volume of well wishers and fans always wanting to see them. Tony offered them a floor in his newly remodeled Avengers Tower, and the month of Nellie, Steve, Tony, Pepper and Bruce all living in the same building together was great until Tony and Pepper left for California, sparking the idea of travel for Nellie and Steve.

For the next six months they traveled across Europe, Asia, and Australia experiencing as much history and culture as their brains would allow them to. They wanted to discover what they had missed, see what they had never dreamed of seeing, it was a second chance at life and it was amazing.

The plan was to return home for their first Christmas - even if they were a little late with available flight times -  with family again, their last Christmas at home being in 1942. Their world expedition was due to start again in January in Africa and then onto South America, but they didn't quite get the chance.

Their original flight plan had them flying from Brisbane to Singapore, and then from Singapore to New York where they were to meet with their family and Tony and Pepper... but it seemed Tony had other plans.

Just before boarding their flight to Singapore they had learnt about a Mandarin bombing at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, that had Nellie and Steve gearing up for a fight upon their return home, their discussion consisted of asking Nick Fury what they could do to help. Upon landing in Singapore, however, and much to their appalment, they arrived to newsreels discussing the fact Tony had given the world his home address.

Tony had earnt a very loud and very emotional telling off from Nellie, Steve remembered the fear on her face as he ran, shaking his head at the memory and Tony's defensive response. It also didn't help that whilst they were waiting for their connecting flight, Tony's house had been attacked.

Nellie almost became a ticking time bomb herself as she called and called and called but was met with no response. Headlines read that Tony was presumed dead and with Pepper's lack of response Nellie began to believe it as well. It wasn't until they were about to board their flight to New York that Nellie received a very brief message from Tony, he had somehow hacked into her phone using Jarvis to let her know he was alive and very much needed both her own and Steve's help. He let her know there would be a jet waiting in New York to take her to wherever he had ended up.

Their plane landed at JFK Airport at 10:00pm on Christmas Eve, and just as Tony had said a jet was waiting, but it got them to Florida too late, the fight had already been won. Tony did receive another earful, if Steve remembered correctly Nellie hit him in the arm a little too hard, but then she hugged him for quite a while after with non-stop crying.

Pepper was fixed up shortly after that. Their Christmas celebrations with Arty and his family did eventually happen in New York... they just happened to be in mid-February.

Thor returned as well in November of last year, again Nellie, Steve and now Tony were a little late to the party, arriving just as the Convergence ended. They remained in London to help restore order and even got to meet Jane. Thor had spoken so highly of her before and she exceeded their expectations greatly.

Steve shook his head in disbelief; aliens, other worlds, superhumans that could regenerate... a lot had gone in just shy of two years. These regular missions battling assassins and terrorists brought a little normalcy to Nellie and Steve's lives despite how often they were needed.

He pushed on, running around the edge of the entire Tidal Basin until the Jefferson Memorial became visible again, and so did the same man he had passed a few minutes ago. "On your left." Steve commented, sailing past the man, a heavy exhale of breath coming from behind him.

"Uh-huh. On my left. Got it." The man sighed, speaking through gritted teeth.

Steve carried on with his run, racing around the Memorial Parks with little effort, enjoying the quiet of the morning still, the day brightening as thin clouds began to roll in. He had already lapped the Basin again, sailed down Constitution Avenue, run the length of 23rd Street towards the Lincoln Memorial Circle, back to Independence Avenue, around the Basin again, he crossed through the Korean War Memorial Gardens, and then, by pure chance he saw his running companion again jogging around the Reflecting Pool.

The man heard him approaching, his head turning back to look over his shoulder to see Steve approaching at lightening speed. "Don't say it!" He warned, pushing to increase his speed to stay ahead of Steve. "Don't you say it!" He demanded.

"On your left!" Steve gibed nonchalantly, racing past him.

"Come on!" The stranger bellowed, trying to keep up, only to give in as Steve disappeared into the distance.

* * *

The beeping was insistent, just when she thought the person on the other end of the phone had given in, the call started up again. Reluctantly Nellie opened her eyes, the light bright and white as she tried to adjust her vision. She rolled over to her side of the bed, shielding her eyes from the early morning sun as her gaze fixated on the tiny red numbers blinking at her from the alarm clock on her bedside table. The time read 07:02. Wonderful.

Rather unenthusiastically Nellie sat up from her cocooned position in bed, groaning as she stretched and tried to locate the device that had been blaring out a warning alarm at her for the last three minutes. She found her communicator on the side table across the other side of the room, the alert light flashing incessantly.

Without removing herself from the bed she let her power flow from her right palm effortlessly, the blue mist honed in on its mark and delicately lifted the device into the air before Nellie retracted the energy, the device falling lightly onto the duvet in front of her. MISSION ALERT was flashing at her in the centre of the screen. "I've just got home!" She whispered yelled at the small source of technology, wanting to crush it in the palm of her hand.

A week off. That was all that she wanted.

She sat back against the pillows, giving into the noise as she accepted the mission with a sharp tap of her finger on the screen. She gathered up the device and scanned over the mission brief: Indian Ocean, Pirates, Shield Agents, Hostages... seemed easy enough.

The blonde reached across to her bedside table again and snatched up her phone, finding Steve's name before she began typing out a quick message: Mission alert has come in, need to be at HQ by 8am. See you soon x.

* * *

Steve's heart was pumping fast but he did not feel out of breath, his cardio for the morning was well and truly finished. As he slowed to a stop he had felt the vibration of a message arriving on his phone that was secured safely in his pocket. When he saw the words from Nellie his heart sank a little bit, a Saturday of doing nothing was just what they had hoped for. The plans were now ruined.

He placed his phone back in his pocket, knowing he should stay put for now, Nellie was likely to track and collect him. He surveyed his surroundings and smiled when he saw the man he had been irritating all morning resting against the base of a nearby tree. He was panting heavily, his hand to his chest and his forehead was glazed with sweat. "Need a medic?" Steve quipped, strolling over to him through the grass, a cheeky smile on his face.

The man laughed, shaking his head at Steve disbelievingly. "I need a new set of lungs." He exclaimed as Steve placed his hands on his hips. "Dude, you just ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes." He panted, noticing the onlookers that were beginning to recognise Steve and therefore himself.

Steve grinned at him. "I guess I got a late start." He taunted. "And it was 16 miles actually."

The man chuckled again. "Really?" He ridiculed, staring up at Steve. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." He said gesturing to the parks laid out before them. Steve remained quiet, having in fact taken another lap due to his late start. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it." He added on sarcastically, still smiling up at one of the heroes who has saved New York, still amazed he was actually talking to him.

Steve smiled at him again, feeling like it was time for the lighthearted mocking to stop. He noticed the Air National Guard logo on his sweater. "What unit you with?" Steve asked, pointing at the logo, remembering the few men he had come into contact with from the Air National Guard all those years ago.

"58, Pararescue." He said between panting breaths. "But now I'm working down at the VA." Steve nodded in understanding, knowing the building he was talking about, the temptation to go in a little too much sometimes. The man reached out to Steve, his hand hanging in the air as half a hand shake, half of a helping to his feet. "Sam Wilson." He introduced himself as Steve willingly took his hand.

"Steve Rogers." Steve grinned, hauling Sam to his feet with ease.

Sam groaned as he straightened out, an uneasy smile on his face. "Yeah, I kind of put that together." He was panting again, his hands resting on his knees as she continued to catch his breath. "Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing." Sam wondered, still finding it incredulous that Captain America was standing before him.

Steve sighed, a small smile on his face. "It takes some getting used to." He nodded at him. "It's good to meet you, Sam." He continued, feeling bad about cutting the conversation short but Nellie was most likely to arrive at any moment. He turned his back but Sam called out to him.

"It's your bed, right?" He asked earnestly, following after Steve by a few footsteps.

Steve turned on his heel, a little surprised by the question. "What's that?" He asked back, afraid he misheard.

"Your bed, it's too soft." Sam began again, the two men stopping in front of one another. "When I was over there I'd sleep on the ground, and use rock for pillows, like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..." He drawled off, remembering a harder time in his life.

"Lying on a marshmallow." Steve finished for him in complete understanding. "Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor." He nodded with a smile building on his face again. He of course had Nellie to talk about this stuff to, and he appreciated that completely, but having another person almost understand you in the world of spies he was now in was uplifting. "How long?" Steve asked naturally, Sam's tone had Steve wondering if he had been out there for a long time.

"Two tours." He intoned with a light shrug. "You must miss the good old days, huh?" He guessed, folding his arms across his chest.

Steve hesitated for a brief moment, thinking back to the lifetime he had said goodbye to. Flashes of Nellie in her red dress at the Stark Expo spilled into his mind, missing how she used to do her hair and the red lipstick she always wore. He shook his head subtly and turned back to Sam. "Well, things aren't so bad." He puffed out a large breath of air. "Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot trying to catch up. Nel, she has us listening, watching, reading or even learning something new each night."

Sam looked thoughtful for a moment, and then grinned, pointing a finger at Steve. "Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack." Steve began to nod enthusiastically, his mind instantly thinking about the list in his little red book. From his pocket he fished out the notebook and flipped to the right page. "Everything you've missed jammed into one album. I think your girl would like it too."

Steve smiled at him. "I'll put it on the list."

The current list consisted of things Steve had picked up and hadn't gotten around to researching, watching or listening to yet. His intention for that weekend had been to cross the Rocky franchise off of his list with it being his weekend to choose, but with the alert that had arrived that morning it was looking more like a next weekend thing. He scrawled down the soundtrack Sam had given him and then closed the book. He opened his mouth to thank him but the buzzing alert of his phone filled the silence.

He pulled the phone from his other pocket and read the message from Nellie: I'll meet you at the curb. I think you're going to be regretting that early morning run x.

"Alright, Sam, duty calls." Steve said after a reading over the message. "Thanks for the run." He offered his hand to the man, wondering if he was ever going to see him again. "If that's what you want to call running." Steve joked, a teasing smile on his face as Sam took his hand.

Sam's eyes widened, not expecting the jeer. "Oh, that's how it is?" He challenged with an uncertain chuckle.

Steve's smile widened. "Oh, that's how it is." He mimicked, finishing with a laugh.

"Okay." Sam drawled off, laughing with a shake of his head. "Any time you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know." Sam said with determination just as the rumbling of Nellie's Corvette Stingray thundered down the mildly quiet street. Steve thought it was too flashy but it had been a Christmas gift from Tony, and he wouldn't let Nellie say no.

Steve began to walk backwards towards the curb, not surprised to see the bewilderment in Sam's eyes of the blacked out car heading up the street. "I'll keep it in mind."

Sam nodded with appreciation just as Nellie pulled up alongside the duo, her interest piqued. Steve very rarely seemed to enjoy conversations on the street, they normally ended in the other person asking for a photo or an autograph, they never really wanted to hear what he had to say. This time, however, Steve was smiling, laughing even.

Nellie rolled the window down, her eyes raking over Steve's chest and arms unapologetically. Steve caught her eyes, a smirk pulling at his lips as he knew exactly what she was looking at. She mirrored his smile, trying not to blush at being caught out. "Hey, fellas." She greeted a little bashful but then decided to seek a little revenge. "Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil." She tried to stop herself from laughing, as Steve walked towards her, shaking his head.

"That's hilarious." Steve mused, narrowing his eyes at her playfully. "You know she's only four years younger than me." He said over his shoulder to Sam who was watching them appreciatively. He crouched to meet their eye level as Steve ducked to get into the low car. Once in his seat he leant across the centre console, reaching out with his right hand to gently caress the side of Nellie's face before grasping her chin to pull her in for a kiss. "Hi, honey." He whispered against her lips after pressing his lips to hers.

"Hi." Nellie smiled at him endearingly before he sat back again, giving her a view of Steve's new companion.

"How you doing?" Sam nodded in greeting.

"Hey." Nellie smirked at him, still peering around Steve.

He turned to look back at Sam, his seatbelt now buckled. "Can't run everywhere." Steve said with a confident shrug, now noticing the onlookers beginning to stare and take pictures.

Sam shook his head subtly. "No, you can't." He agreed earnestly. "I like the hair!" He called to Nellie, the compliment lighting up her face.

"Thanks!" Nellie called out to him as Steve gave him a final nod. She turned her eyes back to the road, checked for traffic, and then pushed her foot down onto the accelerator, the engine roaring to life as they took off down the street and towards HQ. "So..." Nellie began as she darted in and out the traffic. "Who's your new friend?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome back my lovelies!

I know its only been a short break but I am literally so excited to get the ball rolling with this next book! Sexually active Nellie and Steve literally hold a place in my heart, I absolutely love writing them being all flirty and dirty.

What did you guys think of the first chapter? Was there anything you feel needs to be mentioned in upcoming chapters?

I'd also like to tell you guys to buckle up for Part 1 because its going to be a bumpy ride as you all know what's coming. Poor Nellie and Steve won't know what hit them.

Anyway, as always comments and votes are appreciated. See you next Friday!

Love
Talia
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