Two years ago Joanna Merlyn had stopped running from SHIELD and faced what had been chasing her for so long. It may have had to do with the fact she was captured, but we won't talk about that. Two years ago, Jo earned a friend among one of the richest men in the world, an assassin, and a slightly less withering stare from a secret organization's leader. She had only ever been acquainted with the others of the new super group. Two years ago aliens attacked New York and were defeated by the group known as the Avengers. Two years ago Jo started a new life away from her difficult past, but now it's time to return.

Jo hummed along with the radio as she waited for the light to turn green, absentmindedly tapping her fingers to the beat of the song. She hadn't been to this part of the city since the attack, in fact, she actively avoided this part of the city. But now she lived there and was running late for her job. The light turned green and she continued on past the park where Thor had been teleported away with Loki and the Tesseract.

In the time that had passed since that moment, Jo ventured to the X-Men mansion (or the X-Mansion as the kids called it) for help. She had also been able to thank the Professor for his deal with SHIELD, as it was the only reason she had been standing there that day and not locked away somewhere. Through several tests, she and Hank McCoy - who she called Big Blue at times - found her eyes would turn amber when angered, but only if the anger was pure hatred for whoever was on the receiving end of her ire. At the time it had been Bobby who froze her to her seat on a particularly bad day.

They had found out, rather by accident, that she was allergic to cotton. Kitty still regrets gifting her that scarf to this day. Overall, the Professor and Hank agreed that her mutation was very much like the werewolf legends and myths. Not including the full moon transformations, blood lust, and weakness of silver; the last being proven by Bobby when she went after him and he held out a silver cross in his defense. It'd been hilarious at the time and she left him be, exiting the kitchen while laughing her ass off.

After her time in the school, Joanna spent a year hiding away in a small town near the Rocky Mountains attending a community college's online classes and learning in fields where she lacked a lot of knowledge. Engineering and science she was a natural in, but Jo needed a lot of help with history and alike. She graduated with a minor in every field she was invested in, which surprised those around her with how fast she had done it. Her teachers called her a prodigy and a history maker (a reference to a show's theme she'd been obsessed with at the time).

As the final step in the beginning of her new life, she rented a small apartment in New York, a fair distance away from the Avengers Tower, but close enough that if there was an emergency, she could haul ass and get help. Jo set herself up a job in a cafe not too far from her apartment and she had been working there for the past five months, and only now did she want to take time off. Ten hours later she was off work and headed home to pack.

Three weeks, she thought mildly, I hear Washington DC is nice this time of year.

Four hours of driving and three hours spent finding a house left Jo exhausted. She was renting the house from a nice old man who said he didn't need it anymore. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a laundry room. The neighborhood was nice and the neighbors were too. Another plus being they mostly left one to their business and didn't snoop here or there. According to the old man, a man from the army lived next door. He cared for the old man's cat when the old man was away but since the old man was moving the cat was either going with him to the old folks home, to his daughter that had too many animals already, or to the shelter. When it seemed like the last option was the most likely Jo immediately volunteered to take in the cat. It was the least she could do for the man who was letting her rent at half price in such a good neighborhood.

So with her sleeping arrangements made and a new companion at her side, Jo fell asleep on one of the couches the old man had left behind. He also left a few appliances like a fridge, microwave, and a brand new bed for whoever bought the house from him. Yes, he was a very nice old man.

One thing she did hear from the neighbors was that the old man didn't rent to just anybody. He told her that he knew there was something strange about her and that he knew she'd take care of his home.

"I can see you're different from all the other renters," he said. "I know you'll do great here, even if I've never seen you before."

Jo had given him a strange look at the time and shook her head. "Thank you, Mr. Lee, for letting me rent when you turned down everyone else." She held out a hand for him to shake.

The old man shook his head and grabbed her hand. "No thanks needed miss Merlyn. And just Stan, please."

In the days following, Jo spent a lot of her free time buying cookware, utensils, and food. Then she spent whatever time she had left rearranging what was left of the furniture. The couch sat under the window facing the street, a chair sat opposite it and a coffee table settled itself in the middle. As soon as she finished putting her clothes into the master bedroom's closet she considered herself done.

With those details out of the way, Jo needed to find something to do. So she did the one thing everyone did when vacationing in Washington DC, she went to the Smithsonian. She gave Lily, a beautiful tortoiseshell cat Stan had gifted her, her food for the day and left for the museum.

Jo's eyes wandered over the spaceships and airplanes above her head, she used to like space when she was little. She had wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up, but then life happened.

She stepped off the escalator and took note of where she was. A Captain America exhibit, she mused. The fact that the living legend had an exhibit didn't surprise her in the least. The moment Jo stepped into the room she was greeted with a large group of people, not too big to be considered crowded, but there were enough people to say she couldn't walk six feet in one direction without having to dodge someone.

There were pictures of the Captain before and after his transformation with the serum, information boards telling whoever read them what happened, when, and why. Display cases stood on either side of the room with objects from the war, and the Howling Commandos too, she assumed. The end of the room held a small stage of mannequins, each dressed in the way the Howling Commandos would have. Behind them was a mural depicting what each man would have looked like if they were still in their prime and not seventy years older.

Jo catalogued the room, no one besides the security guards proved to be dangerous, but even they were low on the scale. One man, however, stood out, and she grinned. The man made his way to the screening room and she followed, casually glancing at where he had been moments earlier. It was the small tribute to Bucky Barnes; the best friend of Steve Rogers.

The man sat down and Jo sat behind him, taking in his attire. Blue ball cap, white shirt, blue jacket, and jeans. Inconspicuous and it made him easy to overlook, she had to give him that.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Jo whispered, careful not to let the woman and little girl near the pair overhear.

Steve tensed and slowly turned his head to look at Jo. He was surprised, he didn't think he'd ever see her again. Jo grinned and stepped from her seat, trading it for one next to Steve.

"Jo?" Steve asked.

"The one and only." She didn't turn from the screen, obviously interested in what was being said by Dum Dum Dougan.

"What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. This is your life, you already know what happened in it."

He too looked at the screen. "That doesn't mean I know what happened after I went in the ice. Anyway, I see you've changed."

She ignored the obvious change in subject and considered herself. Where her brown hair once fell to her midsection it now stood up and pointy, almost like Steve's hair cut but slightly longer around the sides. Jo had been underweight when she first arrived in SHIELD, but the two years she spent not running and hiding had let her fill out, and she was rather happy with this. Her height hadn't changed, she was still 5'8", a whole inches shorter than the Captain himself. Jo's stormy grey eyes showed more life in them, and a mischievous glint shined through where depression and sadness had once been.

"I took a couple of years to myself," she said. "A good few months at a special school to help me with my problems, a year for college, and time in our world to make myself an actual life. Right now I'm on vacation from work in New York. What about you? Why are you here?"

"I missed everything after the war, and I needed a reminder."

"A reminder of what?"

Steve didn't answer, he just kept on watching the screen. Peggy Carter was the one being interviewed now. Jo glanced between the screen and Steve before settling in and watching. For Steve, the interview was over all too soon.

The two left the screening room and headed away from the exhibit, opting for a small cafe only a block from the Smithsonian. They shared a table outside under the shade of a tree.

Jo smiled and bumped his shoulder with hers, her voice light at teasing. "You know, next time you're trying to go undercover you should wear glasses. People with glasses easily get looked over because in a scuffle they may get broken, and glasses are expensive."

"I'll keep that in mind," Steve laughed lightly.

"So, what else have you been doing?" Jo asked.

"If I'm not on missions, I'm catching up on the world I missed while I was asleep."

Steve held up a small notebook open to a page of names. Jo realised that this was a list and quickly ran over the items, humming in thought. "Alright, I got one for you. I know a lot of bands but for now, we'll start you off with Led Zeppelin or at the very least their Stairway to Heaven song. Follow up that with AC/DC and their song Highway to Hell. Classic rock is honestly amazing regardless of how loud and obnoxiously Tony blares it."

Steve smiled and nodded, pulling out a pen and writing it down. Then they were left to comfortable silence, both enjoying the others company and the scenery around them. All too soon they had to leave the cafe and needed to head their separate ways. Jo, to the house she rented, and Steve to wherever he chose, but she assumed it was an apartment in the city. Before they could part Jo spoke up.

"You should go see her," Jo said.

"Who?"

"Peggy Carter, the woman you giving heartbroken eyes to in the screening room. Last I heard she lived near here." Steve stared at the woman in shock. "You didn't know, did you?" When he didn't answer she continued. "Ask Fury where she is, he'll know."

Jo held out her hand and Steve took it, then they both made their way to where they wanted. Steve presumably to see Peggy, and Jo really wanted to see the rest of the Captain America exhibit before she went home... Instead she chose to go home, after all, she did have a little over two weeks to visit again, and it was close to six at night. No need to rush things. There would be plenty of time.

It was later on in the week when she couldn't take it anymore. She was bored out of her mind without anything to stimulate her brain aside from the occasional talks with Lily. Even the cat's meowing every time she spoke to her got old after a while. So, in order to fix her boredom, she went to the local mall for the last item on the list pertaining to the house; electronics. All she really needed was a laptop, tv, and DVD player, then she was all set. Imagine her surprise when two very familiar faces walked in. Maybe she should've gone to Walmart instead.

Steve, wearing something like he was in the museum, except this time he was wearing glasses and a hoodie between his shirt and jacket. Natasha was different since Jo had last seen her. Her red hair had lengthened to her shoulders and was straight. Instead of the tight SHIELD suit, she wore skinny jeans, a blue shirt, a striped hoodie with the hood on her head instead of down like Steve's, and a light jacket of the hoodie and shirt.

That's three different types of shirts and both are looking around cautiously, Jo thought. Something's up.

So despite her better judgment, she snuck up on the very dangerous, secret assassin and super-soldier. Jo sidled up next to Steve and stared at him until he noticed her, it only took a second.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in alarm, Natasha only glancing up from what she was doing before continuing.

Jo crossed her arms looking affronted. "One, I was here first. Two, I needed electronics for the house because I'm incredibly bored without them. And three, what's going on? You look suspicious."

Steve yet again didn't answer and chose to look over what Natasha was doing. Natasha however answered her honestly, which surprised her. "I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware," Natasha said. "So if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

An employee suddenly showed up and was staring at the three of them. Jo immediately looked away from them and to another laptop, seemingly interested in it. "Can I help you guys with anything?" he asked.

Natasha gave a smile and wrapped her arms around Steve in a small hug. "Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations."

"Right! We're getting married." The look on Steve's face and how awkwardly he said it was enough to make Jo snort. Steve didn't appreciate this and shot her a frown when the employee looked to Natasha. It didn't stop her from grinning.

"Congratulations!" said the employee. "Where do you guys thinking about going?"

Steve changed his stare from Jo to the monitor below him before answering blandly, "New Jersey."

It was Jo's turn to frown. What was in New Jersey? She knew the camp Steve had trained at was there, it said so in the one information board she read at the Smithsonian. Natasha was tracing something from SHIELD, both were disguised, so what was going on? Then add in that neither of them looked like they didn't want to be seen or talk to anyone.

"You owe me one guys," Jo whispered to Natasha - who acknowledged her only by raising an eyebrow - before turning her attention to the employee. "Actually, I could use some help."

The man quickly excused himself from Steve and joined Jo's side. Not even one minute later Steve and Natasha made their way out of the store, Steve glancing over long enough for Jo to whisper a "be careful", then they were out of sight.

When very noticeable agents walked in the store she ducked into the bathroom and stayed there for a good half hour before walking out. The salesman asked when she went and she pretended that she had to take a call from her mother who had called to ask her how to connect to the WiFi. He nodded in understanding and they continued looking at laptops.

Jo woke early the next morning. She spent her time showering and browsing through the news on her new laptop when a post came up about how an old military training facility in New Jersey had been destroyed. There had been no official statement from the government.

"Holy shit, Steve," Jo whispered, eyes wide.

A pang of nervousness and worry shot through her. Were Steve and Natasha okay? Hell, were they even still alive? Why did the bunker blow up? Did this have to do with SHIELD? Was it someone targeting those who worked for SHIELD?

A sound from the kitchen signaled her waffles had popped up. She rushed to the kitchen and grabbed them. Jo went to butter the delicious breakfast but stopped when she noticed something rather odd. Two people were climbing over her neighbor's fence. The oddness turned to surprise when she recognized the two as Steve and Natasha, both covered in dirt and missing an article of clothing. While there wasn't any blood as far as she could see, Jo still couldn't help but whisper her words again.

"Holy shit, Steve."

**********

Edited 11/15/19