"I'm not gonna launch those ships. Captain's orders."

You watched him take the stand against Rumlow and the STRIKE team that had you all surrounded, and your heart fell. He was terrified and you were terrified for him. Your body nearly gave it away, the tremors in your legs close to dropping you to the ground from their weakness and instability. Cameron hadn't joined SHIELD to become a hero, and he certainly didn't feel like one now, but even blanketed in his own suffocating fear, you could see that he would've made the same decision over and over again. You wanted to help him, to defend him from what was about to happen next, but you were too far away and you would never be able to cross the room alive. Rumlow's gun raised and pressed to his head and your mind screamed out, keeping your voice silent as you watched. Just before he closed his eyes tight and waited for his inevitable end to come, you caught a quick glimpse into his panic when he saw you, and a lifetime of things were silently said to each other in that flash of a second.

But then she stepped forward when you couldn't; when you felt like you were a world away and useless, Sharon rushed forward with her gun in hand, challenging Rumlow like a force to be reckoned with despite his challenge to her loyalties.

"Depends on where you're standing," she answered calmly.

And she was completely right. Looking around the room, seeing people who had been your peers aiming their weapons at each other with eyes full of doubt and skepticism, you couldn't tell whose side anyone was on other than the two who had stood for the right one. When the situation escalated into gunfire and confusion, you held just as firm as they had, making it very clear to everyone exactly where you were standing.

~~~

After SHEILD had fallen, the one of the first things that Steve had done once he had his health back was to find you. When he came out of the ice, Director Fury assigned you to Steve to guide his acclimation into modern times; it was an almost immediate friendship, and was the reason why he had agreed to join SHIELD after the battle of New York. Many of the agents that you had worked with moved on to the CIA or FBI, but he wanted to get to you before either of those could take you in; he had been offered permanent residence at Avenger's tower, and it opened up the perfect opportunity to talk you into working with him again.

It was also the perfect opportunity for everyone to give Steve a hard time about one more thing. Again.

"She's not my girlfriend, Barton," Steve argued, the two men sitting in the brightly lit, brand-new kitchen of the tower. "I told you this, we worked together, that's all. Now drop it."

"I don't know, Cap, it's all pretty suspicious," Clint argued, a lopsided smirk crossing his lips. "Stark invites you to move in, and instead of taking the offer straight away, you begged him to let her come with you, package deal or nothing. Sounds to me like you're hittin' it."

"That's crass. Don't talk about (Y/N) like that."

"Sorry, you're right." Clint stopped his side of the conversation, waiting for Steve to stop staring at him like he was imagining beating him to a pulp before taking a drink of his coffee and trying again. "All I'm saying is that you shouldn't close that door, you know? You guys are practically best friends, so the hard part of getting to know each other is already done. You get to pass by all of that awkward, bumpy stuff at the beginning."

Steve scoffed and made quick work of his own drink, downing the hot liquid with a slight grimace at the burn in his throat, but he was done with this discussion and wanted no question of his intention. "Nah, that door is bolted shut. I don't think that I'm her type anyway."

~~~

After that failed attempt at fixing Steve's dismal love life, Clint decided to let the topic lie for a while, but Tony had made no such promise. A few days later, a mission was called and the battle had left Steve injured. It also left him to fly home lying on a quinjet bench with his head cradled in your lap so that he could sleep as Tony looked on.

"He get the balls to ask you out yet?' he whispered to you from across the cabin. "You're doing all of the work without the title."

"And what title would that be?" you sighed, making it very clear that this annoying topic of conversation had been overdone one too many times.

"Girlfriend."

"Tony..."

"I know, I've already heard, he's not your type-"

"He's not," you shrugged, taking great caution to not jostle your resting friend. "I don't date anyone over 90."

"Pfft, that's your play? Is that all you've got?"

It was amazing that you hadn't lost it with him yet, this not being the first of nearly the exact same conversation on your first day living under his roof. Everyone was so determined to get you and Steve together that they were deaf to your denials and your insistence that you weren't going to be together. Ever. "What do you want me to say, Tony?" you finally snapped. "What could I possibly say that will get you to let this go? How about this...we actually hooked up once. I was teaching him how to use a dishwasher, and the first time that I saw him doing the dishes it was soooo hot. But man, he sucks in bed. Just awful. I get a little nauseated just thinking about it," you shuddered.

Tony sat silently, regarding you and trying to read your expression for truth, but you had a perfect poker face. You heard a tiny chuckle from Steve, but you didn't acknowledge it, still holding your gaze with Tony.

"You lie," he finally challenged. "There's no way that a guy as hot as Steve could be that bad. Even if he just laid there and you did all the work."

You could feel Steve fighting the urge to laugh aloud, his muscles tense and trying to hold still as to not give himself away for eavesdropping; you weren't nearly as in control as he was after that, and once your mind began to wander into the possibilities. "Wow, Stark, I had no idea," you smiled widely, "Maybe I'm not the one who he should be asking out."

~~~

But then the day came when the truth couldn't be avoided any longer; Ultron had trapped the team on a destroyed city as it floated higher into the sky, just waiting to drop it to the Earth for his final act of global destruction. If you weren't standing next to Steve on that damn makeshift meteor, looking over its edge and down to the surface that you could barely see through the clouds, you would think that you were stuck in a dream for how impossible it all felt.

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."

"Steve-"

"(Y/N), I'm sorry that I got you into this," he continued. "If I hadn't called you, pushed you into joining the team..."

"You didn't push me into anything." He was going to reply, but when you smiled back, he was too confused at your reaction to try. "Besides, I have a feeling that things aren't going to turn out the way you're expecting, Cap."

"What do you mean...(Y/N)..." he faded out, his voice shaking, "how did you know?" Steve's eyes widened along with his own smile now, genuinely happy for the first time since this whole situation began. The sight of the helicarrier rising though the haze to begin its rescue mission was nearly enough to bring tears to his eyes. "You always have to one-up me, don't ya?"

"I have friends in the right places. Now come on," you urged, grabbing his arm to lead him back into the city, "let's load 'em up."

~~~

"Lifeboats secure to deploy. Disengage in 3...2...take 'em out."

Nick gave Maria a confident yet cautious glance before fixing his focus to the screen in front of him, the seconds ticking by in his head like a sledgehammer; every strike was one that could have seen the end of the Avengers if that chunk of earth fell, and the sound of his heart began to drown out the pounding in his head. He could feel the stare from just behind him, and he knew that he had made a promise to the man showing the anger kept for only him. They just had to get a few more boats loaded before he could make good on it, and Nick could hear in his voice that fear was becoming a tremendous motivator.

"Number 6 boat is topped and locked...or uh...or stock...top...it's...it's uh, full of people," Cameron stammered, his nerves fueling his incompetence. He groaned and turned away from his glare at Nick long enough to do a quick count of the lifeboats and the number of people on them, finding that in a matter of minutes, you and the team had secured nearly the entire city that had remained. "Sir, can I go now?"

His answer was only a silent nod from Fury, and a call out of 'five minutes' from Maria, sending him into a full sprint to the hangar bay. He took a few stumbling steps as his feet hurried faster than they had ever moved, tripping over each other in a competition to be first. Massive groups of people filled the bay as he entered it, finding himself pushing upstream against a river of humanity just to get to the door on the other side of the room. After saying things to the survivors that he wasn't exactly proud of, he all but fell into the door, pushing it open and running out onto the ground that could drop from beneath his feet at any second.

"Cam!" Steve called out, rushing up to him with a shake of his head. "What are you doing out here? Get back on the ship!"

"Where is she?"

"She's working. You know that I'm not going to let anything happen, now get back in there!"

"Sorry, Cap," he sighed, looking past Steve with fearful eyes and into the smoky city behind him, "I'm done following your orders." Just barely avoiding the Captain's reach for his arm, Cameron ran into the chaos and wasn't about to stop until he found you. It was hard to fight the urge to look at the destruction and lives lost as he passed by, but he remained focused. "(Y/N)," he exhaled with relief as he finally saw you, "come on, I need to get you on the helicarrier. You're done out here, okay?"

"Get back on the ship!" you snapped, rushing towards him. "This thing could go any second!"

"That's why I'm out here, to get you! I'm not leaving until you're on there with me!"

"You're going to get us both killed!"

"Then let's go!" he continued to argue, even as you grabbed his arm with a hard hold, making him wince under your strength. You pushed and spun him around, forcing him to move back towards the lifeboats; he settled and willingly moved as long as he knew that you were still behind him. He avoided Steve's stare as the two of you passed by him, keeping his head down so that his shame in how he spoke to the Captain wasn't quite so obvious.

"Go to the bridge and do your job, Cam," you ordered. "I'll stay right here and load the boats, okay?"

He looked at the spot where you were standing, your feet not quite to the edge of the ramp and still on the dirt of the city grounds. Taking your hand, he pulled you to him quickly, hiding his intentions of getting you on the boat by bringing you in for a kiss of distraction. "Okay, right here," he agreed, "but if you move, I'm coming back."

"Deal-" you began, but a shift in the rock rumbled beneath you, making you stumble back and onto the ground he had just pulled you from. A low and menacing growl grew from the center, shaking the buildings and spilling random cars from the edge and into nothingness. Steve realized what was happening a second before you did, rushing forward and slamming himself into you, knocking you both onto the boat just as the ground fell from beneath your feet.

"There," Steve groaned in pain, grimacing with each movement, "you saved millions of people...I saved your wife. I think we're even."