Pound of Flesh

Steve just needed to get out for a little while. He wasn’t exactly used to the faster, harsher, sexier ways of the world quite yet, and quite honestly, even if he was he would never be the sort of guy to have crazy party-hard nights. But he weighed his options, and he definitely needed to get out.

A few months after the Chitauri fiasco Stark’s beloved tower had been repaired, except this time Tony had had the strangely magnanimous idea to rename it Avengers Tower and open it up to the convenience of the team. Not so surprisingly, they all flocked to him one by one. Those who feel lost often seek company as miserable as their own.

Clint had been first, tired of the way Fury sidestepped important questions and fed him filtered information like he was some amateur. Then it was Natasha, who strolled in without feeling any sense of obligation towards expressing her reasons. No one bothered to push the subject. Steve was skeptical at first, for both petty and understandable reasons. Tony wasn’t exactly his favorite person, and it didn’t seem a wise idea for someone so out of touch with the world to immerse himself in the epicenter of technology. Bruce had finally submitted to the temptation of unity though, so Steve figured that if the big guy could do it, so could he.

But they were always in each other’s faces, always jibing at each other. Sometimes it felt like a family, other times it just felt suffocating. Especially when Tony was in the room shoving all of his twenty-first century ideals down Steve’s throat.

Steve is careful not to venture too far from the tower as he heads out on a walk to get some much needed air. He has no trouble navigating the maze that is Manhattan, but he doesn’t want to be unreachable in case of an emergency. He’s always thinking about his job. His obligation. It’s not like there’s anything else to think about.

By the time he gets to the end of the first block the sky decides to open up and pour down angry buckets of rain. He briefly considers turning back, but then he remembers how thick the tension was in that building from the aftermath of Tony and Pepper’s explosive break-up (Or one of their explosive break-ups. Those seem to happen a lot.). Several members of the team had been dragged into the argument this time, and there were still some hard feelings over that. Not to mention Tony was particularly obnoxious when he was in a bad mood.

Somewhere along the line Steve has taken a turn that cuts through an alleyway, and he’s immediately assaulted with the foul smell of wet garbage. He frowns into the darkness of the alley, glancing over his shoulder at the bright lights of the city before venturing into the pitch black. It’s not like he’s going to get assaulted by a mugger. Well, he might, but it’s not like he’d lose.

Despite his shady surroundings it still surprises him when two metal trash cans crash together violently. His eyes dart over to the commotion as he hears someone curse under their breath. A woman scrambles to her feet, loose blonde curls falling wildly in her face. She wipes blood away from her cracked lip and glances over at an open doorway with acerbic look.

“And you wonder why I broke up with you?” She winces and brings a hand to clutch at her side. “I can’t be the only one who’s noticed your surprising lack of redeeming qualities.”

A man with disheveled dark brown hair steps out of the doorway into the alleyway, slender and just barely looming over her. His hands grip her shoulders, without much force, apparently, judging by the way she looks unfazed. “I told you I’ve changed.”

“Illustrated by the fact that you shoved me out the door into some trash. What a sweetheart you’ve grown into, Max.”

Great. Just one more person in the world that doesn’t know when to quit. The man raises a hand to slap her, but before Steve can intervene the woman has stopped the blow with the back of her arm and thrust her knee up into her ex-boyfriends gut. She smiles smugly as he stumbles back in a mixture of shock and pain.

“I’ve changed a bit too,” she drawled backing casually away from the furious glare on his face.

The disgruntled brunet lunges at her, but his hands are only around her delicate pale throat for a half-second before Steve has hauled him off his feet by the collar of his shirt. Brown eyes widen in terror, but the man still manages a scowl.

“What, are you doing him too?”

The woman peers over Steve’s shoulder audaciously. “Contrary to popular belief, I do not fuck every hot guy I see. Not that it would even be any of your business anymore!”

A blush creeps up on Steve’s cheeks as he grips tighter on to the now thrashing man. “No offense, Ma’am, but I think now would be the time to stop provoking him.”

“Wow. Provoking? Haven’t you ever heard of the whole not blaming the victim thing? You could be unraveling weeks of therapy here.” Steve gives her a disparaging look and she sighs softly. “Fine. I get it. My lips are sealed.”

The now irate ‘Max’ takes a swing at Steve, misses, and topples over, because apparently on top of being hotheaded and pathetic he’s also wasted. It doesn’t take much energy for Steve to drag him back to his feet and land a solid punch on his jaw.

It takes a while for Max to recover from the shock and strength of the blow, but when he does he has enough sense not to keep fighting. “You’re crazy, man!” He scuffles backwards and away from them as Steve raises his fist again in warning. “You can have the bitch.”

His scrawny form disappears out of the alley and Steve frowns. He can’t really imagine himself ever talking to a woman that way. Speaking of women, he should probably make sure she’s okay.

For the first time he really looks at her. She comes up to about his shoulder, and she’s thin without overdoing the way so many women do these days. She has more than generous curves in all the right places, and Steve really has to remind himself to behave and look away. Her face has a smattering of light freckles just over her button nose, and full rosy colored lips that are impossible to ignore. Two hazel eyes stare up at him curiously through thick lashes.

“I’m… I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Steve tells her honestly. Regardless of her big mouth, she seems like a nice girl. And even if she wasn’t, nobody deserves to be treated like that.

She just smiles wryly at him and gives a small shrug. “What can I say? They just don’t make men like they used to.” Steve grins, because her joke is maybe a little more applicable to the situation than she probably intended, and the woman decides on the spot that that is the most adorable grin she’s ever seen. “DJ.”

“What?”

“My name,” she huffs a little laugh. “I figure it’s probably polite to at least introduce myself to my hero.”

Steve’s cheeks heat up again and his hand moves to rub the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Oh, I’m no hero, I’m just… Steve.”

“Nice to meet you Steve.” The way she says his name with her slightly smoky voice sends a chill down his spine.

Which reminds him that it’s freezing and pouring down rain and DJ is shaking like a leaf in a thin cotton sundress. Though he figures maybe some of the trembles aren’t from the cold.

“Let me walk you home,” he offers not entirely selflessly. He’d be lying if he said he’d be able to take his eyes off of her.

DJ waves him off and starts off down the alley with a bit of a limp. “Don’t sweat it. You’re sweet, really, but I don’t live anywhere close. I have to get on the subway, and make a transfer and everything, and I can take care of myself from here. It’s no big deal.”

“But you’re hurt,” he objects as he trails after her. “And you’re clearly shaken. You’re soaked and you’re cold and I’d feel terrible if I swooped in and saved you just to have you get sick on me. Besides, it’s nearly three in the morning. Who knows what sort of people are out this time of night.” Steve hesitates a bit before saying this next part. “My place isn’t very far from here.”

“If I didn’t get the feeling that you’re a total boy scout I’d think you were trying to take advantage of me.”

Steve gently takes her elbow to guide her along as he lets out a laugh. “Never. I saw the way you handled that guy. You’re pretty strong for a g-“ He stops abruptly, because he really needs to stop thinking that way. Natasha would kill him. Probably literally. “Uh, for someone so… Swell.”

“Swell? If that’s what you’re like when you try to flirt, stop trying Honey.”

“I wasn’t- Not that you’re not- I mean-“ Steve stops spluttering when he looks down at her smirking and realizes she’s just teasing him. He was never good on picking up on a woman’s cues. “Right. Anyway, let’s get you somewhere dry.”

_____________________________________________________________________

DJ stares caustically at him as they ascend the elevator in the Avengers tower. “Not a hero, huh? Just Steve.”

“Yeah, well, I’m off the clock. I acted purely as a concerned citizen.” He could feel her gaze boring into the side of his face. He wasn’t really supposed to go around telling people who he was, but it’d be a little hard to keep it to himself if she’d be staying there over night. Then again, if she works it out on her own he can’t really be held accountable.

Her eyes narrow as she scrutinizes him, trying to pinpoint some defining feature and determine just who- “Oh my God,” she groans as the elevator doors open to the living room. “Captain America. I look like hell in front of Captain America.”

“I think you look beautiful.” The words fly from Steve’s mouth before he can help it, and he wants to kick himself in the face. “And, um, I really do prefer Steve.”

“Duly noted,” she smiles warmly as he leads her to his bedroom. His bedroom which is five times the size of hers and leave her gaping. “This is insanely awesome. I guess it pays to be friends with Tony Stark.”

Steve rolls his eyes as he hands a towel to DJ and turns to rummage through his drawers for something for her to wear. “I wouldn’t exactly say we’re buddy-buddy, but yeah, it has its perks.”

When he turns back around she’s a lot closer than he remembered her being, and her pleasant scent hits him in waves. Lavender. “I don’t know what possessed you to walk down that shitty alley, Steve, but I’m really grateful. Those kickboxing lessons my therapist suggested could only have gone so far, you know? Max has put me in really bad shape before and as much bravado as I might have, he still terrifies me. I’m rambling, but I think I’m trying to say thank you. So thank you.”

“There’s no need to-“

Suddenly her shivering body was pressed up against him as she rose to her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. Those long lashes fluttered shut, her face so close to his that he could feel the tickle against his cheeks. And then her lips were easing in at an agonizingly slow pace.

And then Steve was gently pushing her away before they made contact. “You should get changed,” he told her firmly, taking a couple steps back for his own sanity.

DJ worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she shyly accepts the button down shirt. “Okay then… Sorry about, well, that. You know how it goes with the whole vulnerable thing. Me being all upset and you being all nice and you looking.”

“I’ll sleep in the living room,” Steve ignores her as he’s already walking briskly towards the door. “So you can have the bed. Make yourself at home.”

DJ watches a little stunned as the door closes a little too loudly behind Steve. She didn’t think she had been coming on that strong, but she’s always had terrible taste in men, so it just figures that she doesn’t know how to act around the few good ones. With a sigh she heads to Steve’s private bathroom to change and think of a way to make things a little less awkward in the morning.