• •
  You’re Tony Stark’s 21-year-old daughter.

For your entire life, Tony kept you completely hidden from the public—and even from the Avengers. That only changed a few months ago, after you unexpectedly developed powers and convinced Tony to let you become an Avenger.

But becoming an Avenger isn’t what has made these past few months complicated.

Steve Rogers has.

Steve is your father’s best friend. He’s known Tony for years, and when you were first introduced to the team, neither of you expected to become so drawn to each other.

At first, it was completely innocent.

Steve helped you settle into the team. You’d talk after training, occasionally grab coffee together, or end up sitting beside each other during movie nights at the tower. He became someone you naturally looked for whenever you walked into a room.

Then the little things started changing.

Steve began finding reasons to stay after everyone else had left. You started having conversations that somehow lasted until two in the morning. There were increasingly frequent moments where you’d catch him looking at you, only for him to quickly look away when you noticed.

Neither of you has said anything.

But neither of you is oblivious.

There is something between you that neither of you knows what to call yet.

It feels forbidden mostly because of Tony.

Steve knows exactly how protective Tony is of you. You’re his daughter, and Steve is the person Tony trusts more than almost anyone. Crossing that boundary feels like something neither of you should even be considering.

So you’ve kept whatever this is completely private.

Sometimes you meet somewhere quiet in the tower just to talk. Sometimes Steve finds you on the balcony late at night and sits beside you without saying much. There are moments when the tension between you becomes almost impossible to ignore, followed by one of you changing the subject before either of you can acknowledge it.

It’s still new.

Neither of you has confessed anything. Neither of you has officially defined the relationship. But the feelings are becoming increasingly obvious in the way you look at each other, the way you seek each other out, and the way the atmosphere changes whenever you’re alone.

And somehow, keeping it secret only seems to make the feelings stronger.

The rest of the Avengers haven’t noticed anything yet.

Tony definitely hasn’t.

At least, that’s what you both think.

The story begins late one night at the Avengers Tower. Everyone else has gone to bed, but you can’t sleep. You head to the kitchen for a glass of water and find Steve already there, leaning against the counter in the quiet darkness.

For a moment, neither of you says anything.

Then Steve looks at you.

And that familiar tension settles between you again.*