Chapter Text
She blinked once, twice, three times, and then promptly flushed the approximate colour of a goddamntomato as she came face to face with one Steven Grant Rogers; otherwise known as Captain fucking America. And yes, she thought the curse was well deserved. She reached up to knock her headphones from her ears and let them fall around her neck, still rather stunned and definitely feeling all kinds of awkward as she shifted to give him more space to join her inside the elevator. He really was bigger than she pictured and she wasn’t positive she hadn’t started drooling with the sheer amount of muscles the guy had underneath that obscenely tight t-shirt.
He ducked his head almost shyly in greeting as he stepped inside and stood pretty well towering over-well, next to her-and she couldn’t help the word vomit from escaping her any longer. “Doughnut?” She blurted, her eyes still wider than she thought was probably endearing and thrust the small box of baked goods settled atop of the two cups of coffee towards him in offering.
Captain fucking America smiled sheepishly at her, giving the box an admiring glance and noting that it was from one of the Team’s favourite bakeries a couple blocks away and met her wide-eyed stare once again. “Uh, thank you. But I’m pretty sure those aren’t meant for me and I’d hate to steal your breakfast,” He admitted, a soft chuckle escaping him.
“Oh, these aren’t for me,” She rushed to assure him. “Well, one of the coffees is, but the doughnuts aren’t. I love sweets, but you know how it is, ‘a minute on the lips, forever on the hips’,” She laughed and inwardly grimaced when it came out sounding a tad more manic than she would have liked and then cut her laughter short when Captain fucking America gave her a quick once-over.
And now she was pretty sure her face was positively on fire and she forced another laugh-hoping it was slightly less manic sounding this time-to clear the air, maybe try and make the situation somehow less awkward…for her. But he was still smiling at her, albeit looking at her like she maybe had two heads, but now his head was tipped to the right and he really did look like the golden retriever puppy all the girls in her classes claimed he resembled. She blinked again and realized that she was still in fact staring and her embarrassment only intensified as he let out a chuckle and murmured, “I really don’t think you need to worry about that, Miss.”
She was going to die of embarrassment, she was sure of it, because she was pretty sure that had been a compliment. That Captain fucking America had just complimented her and was he flirting? No, that can’t be right.Right? Her brain laughed hysterically. But what did she do? She could only continue to stare at him in open-mouthed shock and she knew her entire body was flushed, right down to her toes that were curled in her ratty black converse and she oh so desperately wished she had actually put some effort into her appearance today. Maybe if she had known that she was going to meet the epitome of human perfection first thing on a Monday morning, she’d have put some makeup on or maybe actually brushed her hair and not worn her grubbies.
Oh well, hindsight would have been a wonderful thing.
She swallowed past the lump that had lodged itself in her throat and he seemed to realize that her brain had most likely short-circuited somewhere in the interim and spared her any more embarrassment as he turned to glance towards the floor numbers on the wall-panel. His eyebrows furrowed, however, when he saw which floor she was destined for and before he could open his mouth to ask her about it, the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid smoothly open in front of them.
And there stood Tony Stark with a tired smile on his face that was quickly morphing into one of surprise as he got a proper look at the pair. “Uh, good morning,” He greeted cheerily, his voice a tad rough first thing as he took quick note of the young woman’s rather flustered appearance, absolutely glorious blush and all.
“Morning, Mr. Stark,” The young woman practically heaved, obviously feeling a touch panicked as she thrust the tray of coffee and box of doughnuts into his personal space.
Tony glanced down at the outstretched offering and grimaced only a little bit…and then verytentatively took them from her outstretched-patiently waiting-hands. Steve’s eyebrows shot up so fast, practically disappearing into his hairline at that and Tony tried his damned hardest to ignore the startled look his friend was giving him as the young woman breezed past him and into his workshop and Steve wondered if she did this all the time. Maybe she did? He really had no idea who she was at this point, but he sure as hell wanted to find out more about her.
The genius motioned as best he could with his hands full of coffee and treats for Steve to come on in as well and the blonde had to do his absolute best to pick his jaw up off the floor as he followed the pair into Tony’s private workshop.
Tony cleared his throat, glancing towards Steve and then to the woman as she dropped her book bag on one of the work benches. “I see you’ve met the Captain,” He said, raising an eyebrow as he caught first her eye and then Steve’s.
She smiled nervously, glancing towards the aforementioned Captain and nodded. “I did,” She agreed, swallowing hard as she tried to think of something else more appropriate to say.
“And?” Tony inquired after a beat, a hint of teasing colouring his voice as he fought down a wicked grin.
Her cheeks flushed, her blush returning nearly full-force after it had finally managed to calm some. “H-he’s very nice. You know, very Captainy,” She practically spluttered, and wow, could she be any more pathetic? [And yes the Chandler voice is necessary.]
Tony let the shit-eating-grin take over then and Steve burst out laughing. “Tony-“ He admonished, fighting his own beautiful smile as his cheeks pinked and he glanced between his friend and the young woman.
Tony laughed, shaking his head as he set down the coffee and doughnuts on his desk, looking pointedly at the woman as she turned to walk back towards him. “Are you done fan-girling or do you need a minute to continue to bask in his Captainy-goodness?” He said teasingly.
The woman rolled her eyes, huffing out a breath as she glanced towards the Captain. “Just for that, you should definitely eat one of his doughnuts. He likes the chocolate dippy one with the slivered almonds the best,” She mumbled before picking up one of the coffee cups from beside Tony and making her way back to her workstation.
Steve smirked, casting a quick look Tony’s way when the genius chuckled and turned to snatch up his own cup of coffee. “Well, aren’t you just a bundle of sunshine this morning, my dear,” He teased, taking a sip of the liquid gold, barely able to suppress a moan as he did so.
She scoffed, her back now to the both of them as she took a seat on one of the rolling-stools. But then she spun around to face them, obviously annoyed by the comment. “Maybe if someone didn’t feel the need to have his personal A.I. relay all of his midnight ramblings to me about this bloody project at two o-clock in the fucking morning, I’d be in a better mood!” She snapped, glowering at the genius in annoyance.
She quickly seemed to change gears, however, and glanced up at the ceiling. “Speaking of which, J-dawg…baby-“ She sighed. “Texts, buddy. Remember? Any time Mr. Stark decides he thinks it’s a good idea to wake me up with his nonsensical science mutterings, you’re to paraphrase and send it via text.”
There was a very put upon sigh from around them then and Steve wondered when Jarvis had started doing that. It was a little disconcerting to say the least. “You’re right, Miss. I am terribly sorry, but you know how Sir can be and he did insist I wake you,” Jarvis said, sounding for all the world as if he were sincerely sorry and very put out by the whole ordeal.
The young woman sighed deeply and nodded. “No, no, you’re right. I do know what he’s like,” She agreed, glancing over at the genius in question pointedly before turning back around on her stool.
Tony blinked at her over the lid of his coffee cup. “Oh my God-“ Steve said under his breath; his only thought being, who is this woman and how do I get her involved in our every day lives to help teach the rest of the Team how to deal with Tony and maybe somehow get Jarvis on our side, if at all possible. He wasn’t even aware that Jarvis could be on anyone else’s side but Tony’s.
Tony’s eyes narrowed as he looked to the woman suspiciously. “Okay, first off-J-dawg?” He sassed. “You are like, the whitest white girl that ever there lived and secondly-Jarvis, mybaby-don’t make me reprogram you. You’re supposed to be on my side,” He whined petulantly, fighting back an awful pout.
The woman rolled her eyes, spinning around on her stool to fix the genius with a very annoyed expression. Steve thought it was fucking adorably hilarious. He really wished someone else was there to witness this sass with him because he wasn’t sure this was actually real. “My apologies, Sir,” Jarvis intoned, somehow managing not to sound sorry in the slightest.
Tony chose to ignore him instead, fighting back the urge to roll his eyes at the ceiling. Steve shook his head incredulously at the pair. He considered looking around to see if he’d somehow walked through a portal and into another dimension, because, what the hell was happening?
“The whitest white girl?Really, Stark? That the best you got?” She sighed, reaching up and pinching the bridge of her nose in obvious annoyance, but there was a bit of a smile tugging at the edges of her lips so Steve assumed Tony wasn’t that far off the mark.
Tony scowled at her, shaking his head as he sat down on the edge of his workbench. “You know what, Pips? It’s too early for this,” He said in feigned annoyance, glancing over at Steve who was subtly reaching for the box of treats by his side.
He quickly smacked the blonde’s hand away and Steve rolled his eyes in fond exasperation, folding his arms across the front of his chest. “Also, you totally just swore in front of Captain America,” Tony pointed out nonchalantly, flicking open the bakery box and pulling out the aforementioned chocolate and almond doughnut.
And it was comical, really, the way the young woman’s eyes widened and all the colour seemed to drain from her face as she looked from Tony to Steve. “Holy hell-I mean-godda-“ She babbled in an awful attempt to apologize, but was obviously failing miserably at keeping her potty-mouth under any sort of control.
She smacked a hand to her suddenly burning face and covered her mouth to keep herself from saying anything more incriminating. Tony cackled gleefully from his spot and Steve couldn’t help grinning as he raised a hand to dismiss whatever she was attempting to say. “Really, it’s fine, Miss,” He assured, a chuckle escaping him as he glanced towards Tony. “Tony’s just teasing you, he knows I’ve got a potty-mouth of my own.”
The woman’s eyes widened and she lowered her hand, as if hearing Captain America admit to that was just preposterous. She laughed weakly. “Yeah, right. Captain fucking America has a potty mouth,” She said incredulously and then promptly slapped a hand over her mouth once again.
Apparently her word vomit was still a thing. Now Steve was giving her a lopsided grin and arching an eyebrow at her curiously. His expression quickly turned challenging, however, and then he muttered, “Shit, fuck, goddamn, Jesus Christ.”
The silence that followed was positively deafening and then Tony was suddenly doubled over with laughter, practically wheezing with it. Steve grinned when he got a look at the woman’s scandalized expression, seemingly only capable of blinking dazedly at him. “Jesus Christ, Steve. I think you broke her,” Tony managed to get out between bouts of his gleeful laughter.
Steve smirked as he watched the colour slowly settle in the woman’s cheeks and he shrugged, his smirk morphing into a bashful smile. “I was in the army, I don't know why everyone assumes I’m a patron saint.”
The young woman managed to push out a surprised laugh as she shook her head in disbelief. “Sorry for the assumption,” She apologized. “I should know better than to assume anything-I just-“
“He’s Captain America,” Tony interrupted. “We get it.”
Steve shrugged, rolling his eyes a bit. “Not wearing the suit at the moment, so I’m just Steve Rogers right now. But please feel free to call me, Captain fucking America, any time,” He said with a wink in her direction, his nose scrunching up adorably as he looked to her.
She blinked in surprise and there her brain went again in the short-circuiting department. “Oh dear God-“ Tony muttered. “Would you stop it? I actually need her to be productive today, you’re going to be a huge distraction if you keep it up. I’m pretty sure you’ve just destroyed all of her childhood notions of you.”
Steve laughed, like, really laughed and gave her what she would later coin as the Steve Rogers sunshine-rainbows-butterflies-and-all-other-amazingly-wonderful-worldly-and-other-worldly-things, smile. She smiled back, almost shyly, before she jerked her thumb over her shoulder towards her workstation. “Uh yeah, I should actually get to work,” She blurted, quickly spinning around on her stool and picking up the book bag she’d dropped.
Steve laughed lightly, shaking his head as he glanced back towards Tony who was still smirking at the woman as she pulled her headphones on over her ears. “I’ll just be over here, working and not questioning my childhood notions of Captain America at all or anything and instead listening to music on my iPod,” She went on a moment later.
Tony groaned loudly, running a hand through his already wildly mussed up hair. “For the billionth time! Get rid of that god-awful Apple product and let me give you one of mine!”
She grinned, shaking her head as she pulled her iPod out of her grubby jeans pocket and started to slide her thumb around the wheel to increase the volume. “Sorry!? What was that?! I can’t hear you over all this incredible music coming out of this amazing iPod Classic that I just love ever so much!”
Steve grinned, gesturing towards her as her music clearly drowned them both out. It was obvious they’d had this particular conversation before and she knew just how to push Tony’s buttons. “She’s fun. She your new assistant?” He asked curiously, reaching to pick up one of the doughnuts that looked like it was smothered in vanilla frosting with a fresh strawberry sitting atop it.
Tony batted his hand away from it, scowling all the while and instead gestured towards one of the other doughnuts in the box that was covered in chocolate and hazelnut bits. “Eat that one, Julie likes the strawberry vanilla one and no, she’s not my assistant and don’t ever let her hear you call her that. She’ll probably eat your face. She’s my intern,” Tony said casually, giving him a shrug as he pushed himself from his desk to flop down onto a proper stool.
Steve blinked, shaking his head as he picked up the hazelnut doughnut. “Your intern,” He said flatly, casting her a curious glance as she started pulling out books and papers and a tablet from her bag and soon she was talking to Jarvis and asking him to pull up specs for something.
“Mhm,” Tony mumbled through a bite of his treat.
“But don’t interns typically work in the R&D department and not in your private lab?” Steve asked with a raised eyebrow, daring Tony to try and tell him otherwise.
If Tony had an intern in his private workspace, she was definitely special. He wasn’t going to get out of this one easy. Tony licked a spot of chocolate off his thumb and glanced over at her again before swallowing. “Well, she’s special,” He admitted after a long moment.
Steve’s lips twitched, the fact that he’d been able to get this far in his interrogation surprising him. “That so?”
Tony rolled his eyes as he picked up his coffee again and took another sip. “She’s an engineer, specializes in biomechanics and a slew of other stuff too. She’s helping me work on a few projects. I sort of took her on as a personal intern when she showed some serious promise in R&D with prosthetic development. We’re working on a few things together and-“ He cleared his throat. “You know, it’s just easier with her living at home base and sharing lab space with me instead of always having to relay ideas through inter-departmental mail or something as equally banal,” He sighed, waving a hand dismissively and burying his face in his coffee cup once again.
Steve’s smirk was gone and was replaced with open-mouthed surprise as he looked towards the young woman. “Huh.”
Tony glanced up at him over the rim of his cup, quirking a brow curiously. “Definitely special,” Steve agreed in a quiet murmur.
Tony blinked, tilting his head at his friend as he nodded slowly in agreement. “I’ve not seen her here before. How long has she been interning for you?” Steve prompted gently.
Tony shrugged. “She was brought on to SI about five months ago and I took over with her a little over four. She’s scary intelligent, like, I’m actually not entirely sure she’s human. It’s sort of disgusting how fast she is with her calculations and shit,” He muttered in what Steve thought might be jealousy, but he knew better; it was admiration.
He chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement. “What? Didn’t believe that there were any others out there that could rival the great Tony Stark?” He teased playfully.
Tony scoffed, trying and failing to hide his grin behind his cup of coffee. “Didn’t say she was that smart.”
Steve smiled, letting out a sigh. “So, her name’s Julie? Why’d you call her Pips?”
Tony grinned wryly as he glanced over at the woman in question. “She’s tiny and you know how much I like to tease. It’s short for Pipsqueak.”
Steve was suddenly all serious as he scowled dangerously at his friend. “Tony-“
“Hang on-hang on-“ Tony rushed to assure, holding up a hand to him. “She’s petite, I’m not calling her weak or anything like that. It was a joke, I was only teasing her and she knows that. I swear, she’s plenty fine with the nickname and it’s sort of become a thing. We just, I dunno, tease each other. She’s got a list of names a mile long for me, I just know it. Can’t damn well get her to call me anything but a curse or Mr. Stark though,” He muttered in annoyance. “But you know how it is. Name calling happens amongst friends, Spangles,” He said pointedly.
Steve relaxed some, glancing back towards the young woman who was now humming along to whatever music she’d been listening to as she manipulated holograms on the floating screens before her. Tony was right, she was very petite. She couldn’t be more than 5”6 and she looked rather slim. She was wearing a pair of ratty dark blue jeans and a baggy sweatshirt though, so he couldn’t be too sure.
Steve cleared his throat, conceding the point for the moment. “You said she lives here at the Compound?”
Tony nodded, a half-yawn escaping him as he set his now empty cup of coffee down on the desk beside him. “Yeah, she was living in student housing not far from SI and when we moved here last month, she came along too. The commute would have been just ridiculous, so I had her moved in and now she spends three or four days a week working with me here in the lab.”
Steve calmly looked at his friend, head tilted as he observed him just a bit closer. He looked tired, sure, but when didn’t Tony look tired? He was notorious for late night creative binges and rarely remembered to eat let alone sleep half the time. Hence Steve feeling the need to check up on him whenever he could remember to do so. But he looked different somehow and Steve wondered why he hadn’t noticed it sooner. He looked calmer, more relaxed. Dare he think it? Happy?
He blinked, still watching his friend with a calculated intensity that Tony seemed to cotton on to almost instantly. And there it was, that careful mask the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist had worked on for years, sliding into place once again. Steve forced himself to look away at the last two doughnuts in the box. There was still the vanilla strawberry one for Julie, but there was also another one of the chocolate almond ones; the one she had told him Tony liked best.
He smiled, trying not to let on to where his mind had taken him, aware he’d probably failed and simply shrugged instead. “She seems really nice, Tony. She also seems like she can hold her own against you, which pretty well makes her someone I’d like to get to know better,” He admitted. “Maybe you should invite her to one of our movie nights? You know, that way we can all get some pointers on how to achieve her level of sass.”
Tony laughed, but it sounded off, almost guarded and Steve knew he’d read this right. His smile turned a tad feral as he fixed the genius with a very pointed look as his friend clearly tried to formulate a come back. “Y-you know what? I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides, she’s always busy, like, super busy. If she isn't here in the lab, she’s sleeping or outside the Compound. Pretty sure she has one of those things called a life, you know, where she actually goes and does stuff that involves people and I’m sure she wouldn’t have time for that,” Tony rushed to explain.
Steve quirked a brow at his friend and smiled knowingly. “Have you asked her?”
“No,” Tony blurted, a little too quickly as he glanced towards the woman in question.
She suddenly spun herself over towards one of the other workstations and picked up a tablet and stylus, muttering to Jarvis under her breath as she went. Steve bit his lower lip before glancing over at the young woman as well. She seemed to realize that she had eyes on her though and as she spun back around, she managed to catch Steve’s gaze. She tipped her head curiously as she reached up and knocked her headphones down.
“I hope you’ve not been trying to talk to me this whole time. I’d feel really shitty if you’ve both been trying to get my attention or something,” She admitted, a huff of laughter escaping her.
Steve shook his head. “No, no, you’re fine. I was just actually talking to Tony about our weekly movie night plans. See, the Team likes to get together for a bonding night. Mostly we just eat junk food and watch two or three movies or play video games together and Tony was just suggesting that he might like to invite you to our next one,” He said casually, smiling so wonderfully sweet as he then followed Julie’s steadily widening gaze towards Tony who looked like a deer caught in the world’s brightest set of headlights.
“Really?” She asked timidly, but the hopefulness was most definitely there, along with a shit-ton of surprise and incredulity.
Tony nearly jerked forwards out of his stool with the sudden twitchy nod he gave her. “Yeah!” He blurted. “I mean, why not? It’d be fun, I’m sure you’d have a great time and the Team would love you. You’re just like me and let’s face it, everybody loves me,” He rambled.
Julie’s lips tipped up in a very shy smile that Steve thought was so endearing and he fought to stifle the stupid grin that wanted to spread as he clapped his hands and nodded. “Perfect! We’re getting together this Friday night at 7. Think you can make it?”
She blinked, smiling more surely, but then it faltered. “Oh, I actually have class until 7:30. Would it be okay if I got there a bit late? I’d be able to make it for 8, it’s not far from here.”
Steve smiled, nodding. “Of course that’d be okay. We’ll see you at 8.”
She nodded, glancing between the two men as she bit her lower lip nervously, but then Steve was reaching out and squeezing Tony’s shoulder, fixing him with a look. And Tony was so, so screwed. “Great, I’ll see you both later,” He announced, hand slipping from Tony’s shoulder as he headed off towards the elevator.
Tony’s eyes narrowed as he looked after his friend. “Hey, Steve? What did you come down here for anyway?”
Steve smiled, glancing over his shoulder at the genius. “Just wanted to make sure you ate breakfast, Shellhead,” He said with a wink, casting the young woman one last lingering look. “It was nice to meet you, Julie. See you Friday.”
She bit her lower lip, her cheeks heating wonderfully. “It was nice to meet you too, Captain.”
The blonde chuckled, shaking his head at her as he ducked into the elevator. “Just Steve is fine. Bye for now.”
As soon as the elevator doors slid shut and the car started its ascent, the silence began to weigh heavily on the two of them…until Tony couldn’t take it any longer and cleared his throat. “So, you going to keep daydreaming about Captain America or are you going to actually do some work sometime today?”
And just like that, they were back to normal. “Oh, would you knock it off. Yeah, okay, fine. He’s gorgeous and flawless and looks like a goddamn golden retriever puppy, but I’m pretty sure he’s spoken for. So yes, I’ll get back to work, as soon as you go and get some sleep. Because you look like shit and you and I both know that one cup of coffee isn’t going to keep you going for very long after your weekend creating bender. So why don’t you head up, crash and then have a bloody shower because you stink.”
Tony grinned, shaking his head at her. But really, she was right, he was tired and she’d be fine working away on her own down here if he disappeared for a few hours to catch some shuteye. And he did stink. He agreed with her one-hundred and twelve percent on that one. “Why do ya’ gotta be so mean?” He groaned, pouting adorably as he picked up his personal tablet and poked at it a few times. “I’ll head up and be back by lunch. Don’t burn down the lab or nothin’,” He warned.
She laughed, shaking her head at him. “Don’t worry, Dum-E’s on standby with the fire-extinguisher, aren’t you, buddy?”
And sure enough, the bot beeped happily and rolled towards her from its charging station in the corner of the room, fire-extinguisher in…claw. Tony scowled, pointing at him and then back to his charging cradle. The bot rolled back into place, albeit, somewhat reluctantly. “Traitors, the lot of you, I swear,” He lamented, shaking his head.
Julie pursed her lips, fighting back a way too fond smile. “See you later, Mr. Stark.”
“Yeah, yeah,” He sighed, heading towards the elevator as he waved her off.
Just as he got there, he suddenly remembered something and turned to look at her curiously. “Oh, question.”
“Hmm?” She asked absently, already having turned back to her work.
“What class do you have on Friday? I thought you’d finished up all your courses and you were just working here? I mean, I know we haven’t really talked about it yet, but I’d like to hire you on full-time when this portfolio is finished,” He confessed.
Julie stilled, her hand cradling the tablet while her other held the stylus, poised above the screen. “That’s…we can definitely talk about that another time, Mr. Stark. I’m plenty happy being your intern…and the class isn’t exactly work related. I teach dance classes at a nearby studio.”
Tony’s brows furrowed curiously. “A dance class?” He asked in surprise.
She seemed to stiffen slightly in her seat, but then she was turning to look at him and he realized that he’d never seen her give him a look quite like this one before. She looked on the verge of snapping at him or bolting from her seat. She looked nervous and uncomfortable and almost standoffish. He blinked, taking a slow breath when he realized he’d have to tread carefully from here on out.
“Yes,” She said, her voice careful, measured. “I teach and practice ballet.”
Tony’s head spun for a moment and he swallowed thickly as he forced himself to nod and give her a reassuring smile. “Wow, that’s…impressive,” He said honestly. “I-I used to go to the ballet with my mum when I was younger a lot. She loved the ballet, we always thought it was a beautiful art form.”
She stared at him, her expression unwavering for a moment as she tried to get a read on him, but then her gaze softened and her entire body seemed to visibly relax. She gave him a reassuring smile in return, one that turned the pit of his stomach to mush. “Thank you,” She said quietly. “I always thought so as well.”
Tony nodded, glancing back towards the elevator. “I’ll uh, see you after lunch then.”
She nodded, watching as he stepped into the elevator. “Don’t forget to shower!” She called after him, the doors sliding shut and the sound of his light laughter reaching her ears for only a moment before he disappeared from sight.