Hi all! Sorry it's been such a long time since my last update, hope you're all safe and healthy during this uncertain time.

~O~O~O~

"Do we have to go shopping?" Erin asked Tony as she took the train into the city centre.

The billionaire had insisted on her taking the bikes instead of public transport, but had been immediately vetoed. The main reason behind this was because she was travelling with Clint- who enjoyed being Erin's protective detail while she was out and about but blatantly refused to act as a glorified babysitter for Tony. That and he was an assassin and he didn't like attention, which would no doubt come with the appearance of Tony Stark's trademarked hoverbikes.

"Absolutely," Tony said from where he leant against the bar on the common floor. "This function tonight is important- Clint has the specifications, so he's the ultimate authority on this. And don't forget that you have to get clothes for work, for when you're at home, and for school."

"Bruce, tell him he's being mean," Erin pouted.

Bruce looked up from where he was sitting at the breakfast bar eating his lunch. He grinned at the large holoscreen that was projecting Erin's face as she talked to her adoptive parent via a video link from where she had been crammed onto a train. Clint was leaning over her, his body shielding her from the sight of most of the passengers.

"I'm not getting into this," Bruce responded, going back to his lunch.

"But…" Erin protested, seeing Clint smirk and glaring at him.

"No buts. You will choose the clothes and I will buy them. If you don't, I will choose them for you," Tony said,

"We're about to get off, Tony. We'll let you know when we're on our way back," Clint said.

The train slowed, and the doors opened as a garbled voice informed them of their station. It was so indistinct that if Erin hadn't seen the sign for the station through the windows in the door, she wouldn't have known where she was. A small number of people got out of the train, the most notable among them was a young girl- about seven or eight years old- alone.

It was as if Erin was transported back to how it had been when she lived at the orphanage. It wasn't abnormal for children in New York to walk around by themselves, but it was the normality of Erin being constantly alone, usually doing things that children didn't- like parenting the younger children, and going on late night shopping errands for Miss Hannah- that made it so hard-hitting. She took note of the bedraggled appearance of the girl- the short-cropped hair that was dirty and slightly matted, the stained red coat and the worn-out brown leather shoes- and felt like she was looking at a younger version of herself.

Erin was right behind her as she slipped down the crack between the train and the platform, her surprised shout for help making Erin's reflexes kicked in almost immediately.

"Press the button!" she yelled at Clint, gesturing for the emergency intercom button installed next to the doors on the train. He did so, as Erin worked on lowering herself so she was lying on her stomach on the platform, her arms reaching under the train. She could see the young girl from where she was underneath the fifteen-tonne train carriage, fully aware that the train could start moving at any given time and potentially run over the small child trapped underneath.

"Hey sweetheart, can you reach my hands at all?" she called, hearing sniffles as the girl came into sight. Tears were running down her cheeks and she was shaking with deep sobs that Erin could tell she was stifling to look brave.

"Am I going to die?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Erin shook her head. "No, sweetie. But I need you to see if you can reach my hands so I can pull you out."

She felt cold small hands touch hers.

"Okay, this might hurt a little bit okay? But you need to be brave for me."

Wrapping her hands around the wrists of the girl, she pulled hard, thankful for the weight training that Steve had been waking her up to do each morning as she lifted the child onto the platform beside her.

The moment she touched the platform, the girl began sobbing uncontrollably as Erin pulled her into her arms and held her close. Several passers-by had stopped and begun filming as Erin had pulled the girl out while others simply just stared.

Clint came running over, seeing the girl calming down rapidly as Erin continued to soothe the girl and extract an address and phone number.

She then handed the small and very courageous girl over to the police officers who had seen the commotion and were currently sprinting down the escalators. With one final hug, the girl went off with the police and the crowd dispersed as the train pulled away.

"You have a way with kids," Clint commented.

"All those years at the orphanage paid off," Erin replied, not looking at him as she shook out her hands. Clint noticed this and frowned.

"You healed her?" he asked, knowing that was usually what Erin did to disperse the buzzing sensation she describe that came with her healing.

"Yeah, I accidentally dislocated her shoulder when I was pulling," Erin responded nonchalantly. "I think she was too shocked to realise it, and I think my healing power just zipped in and healed it immediately."

Clint just looked at her, puzzled as he realised she had closed herself off but filed it away for later. He'd mention it to Steve- who he knew would try and get it out of her the next time they had a heart-to-heart.

Which happened surprisingly often- seeing as the two were constantly hanging out on the common floor, with Steve either cooking for them or Erin educating him on pop culture references by having movie sessions in the home theatre. She had bullied the team into Wednesday night movie nights. Even Tony had reluctantly come along.

"So, where are we heading to shop?" Erin asked as they stepped out of the station and onto the main street.

Clint looked at his phone, which he had called his Maps app onto and was squinting at it as he rotated the map. "Well, it says that the store is about three hundred metres that way," he said, pointing down the street. "I think." He glanced up, frowning as he noticed Erin's sceptical expression.

"What?" he asked, seeing her arch an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Let me look," she replied in frustration, reaching for the phone.

"No." Clint pouted and snatched the phone away. "Tony said I was the navigator."

Erin sighed. "Fine, show the way, Fearless Leader."

~O~O~O~

After almost thirty minutes of wandering around lost and going down several dead-end streets, they finally found the store. Erin had been taken aback by the stores they had passed, their expensive tailored suits displayed in the shop fronts, the Gucci bags that were being touted by everybody she passed, the extravagant dresses in store windows, and paparazzi camped outside of several stores of recognisable designers. The cars parked out the front of the storefronts were highly expensive and as clean as the street they were parked on.

"It's right here," Clint said, glancing up from his phone at the non-descript green door in front of them. It could have easily been mistaken for an entryway to one of the many apartments above the boutiques.

Erin looked at the assassin who was still staring at his phone in confusion. "Well yes, as it looks like a store," she deadpanned, earning a glare from him as he pushed the door open.

They entered a shop through the winding hallway that lead to an expansive room opening out at the back of the other storefronts. The retail assistants at the back of the store seemed surprised at Erin's appearance in their large store. An entire wall was dedicated to elegant evening wear, and the other to more casual- yet equally as stylish and elegant- everyday clothing.

"Do you have an appointment?" An older lady wearing a shiny black cardigan, her hair styled back in a sharp bun and bright red lipstick approached them, her eyes disdainfully taking in Erin's somewhat haphazard outfit made up of her jeans and old patchwork jacket from when she was at the orphanage. Erin generally used it as a way of blending into crowds when she travelled and was almost certain she now saw it as for comfort, where she could be herself.

Clint nodded. "We're the eleven o'clock made by Tony Stark."

The woman instantly relaxed- as if having an appointment made it acceptable for them to be there- and smiled genuinely at the pair.

"Excellent. We've made the arrangements for the dress, so we'll check that there are no adjustments needing to be made- we made it exactly to the measurements he sent through last week- so we'll just get you to try this on now." She bustled off to find the dress on the rack, leaving the pair standing in the middle of the room.

Erin looked at Clint in surprise. "Why did we come here? And why do I need a dress?"

"Well, for starters, you need a new look," Clint replied, Erin frowning at him. "But you also need to go with Steve tonight to do some protection work for SHIELD, so you'll also need to be dressed for the occasion."

"So why am I doing protection, not you or Natasha?"

Clint smirked. "It's their annual youth ball. You and Steve qualify as 'youth', therefore you're attending."

Erin opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by the return of the sales assistant who held a garment bag in her arms.

"Alright darling, did you want to head on over to the changing rooms so we can try this on?"

The woman banished Clint from the changing room as she unzipped the garment bag and showed Erin the deep navy blue form-fitting dress that had been made for her. Lace fully covered the bodice, the thin straps at the top crisscrossing over the open back and attaching to the long chiffon skirt.

"Wow," Erin said, as the woman helped her get into it.

"Yes, I think it will bring out your eyes and your hair," the woman said, adjusting the skirt so that it flowed out around Erin, creating a nearly ethereal look about her.

"Hey, Erin, once you've finished with the dress, I have some clothes for you to try on… whoa," Clint said as he rounded the corner and looked at Erin in the dress. "You look great."

She looked down at the dress and back up at her teammate. "Thanks. What's this about clothes for me to try on?"

Clint held up a pair of blue jeans, a t-shirt and leather jacket. "You need a wardrobe upgrade, Tony's orders. Something about being in dire need of clothes without holes in them."

Erin sighed. "Okay, fine."

The next hour slid past in a flurry of clothes and shoes as the number of retail assistants seemed to multiply exponentially. Erin was made to try on multiple pairs of pants- from business trousers to casual jeans- many shirts and skirts of varying lengths. Her feet were measured and had assorted styles placed on them, from towering heels to plain leather boots, canvas shoes and sneakers. Clint stood over them as they tried various outfits on her, either nodding his approval or shaking his head, which would lead to another flurry of shoes or clothes as they tried to find more things in Erin's style.

Finally, Erin stood in the middle of the store in the same clothing she had got to the store in, bags of clothes and shoes sitting beside the counter as the assistant rang them up.

"The things I approved will be sent to Stark Tower?" Clint asked, as the lady smiled and ran Tony's card through the machine.

"Of course. The dress needs no alterations so we will send it with the clothes. They should be there before three."

Clint nodded. "Thank you."

The lady nodded back. "Have a good day, both of you."

Erin shuddered as she left the store. "Okay, at least we can go home now and I can internally scream at how much that made me uncomfortable."

"Not so far, we have booked you in for the beauty salon down the road," Clint replied, closing the door behind them.

"Why do I need that?" Erin asked.

Clint just gave her a look and gestured to her hair- which was in desperate need of a trim- and her chipped nails from her weeks of weapons training with him and Natasha.

"Okay, you make a valid point," she grumbled, following him further down the street.

~O~O~O~

Erin felt very self-conscious as she advanced the stairs to the operations booth that SHIELD had set up outside of the convention centre they were using for the ball that night.

They were slightly late- the briefing had begun thirty minutes prior, but Tony's overzealous head of security had turned away the hair and makeup artist Tony had asked to come to the tower. Clint and Natasha had stepped up, Natasha helping to expertly pin back and style Erin's hair and do her makeup to the point that she barely recognised herself in the mirror when Natasha revealed the full look. Clint force-fed Erin dinner while giving unhelpful makeup tips to Natasha. He had then handed her a pair of gold strappy heels and custom-made holster as well as a Glock, just in case she needed it. And then she had been bundled into the car with Tony to go to the ball.

She looked down at her right hand that had her fresh French manicure. It had a small scar trailing from her pinkie finger to her wrist, from where it had been sliced open at some point. The healing process after she had been taken by HYDRA had been slowed down, and the cuts and bruises had taken weeks to heal. Steve had been entrusted by Tony to look after Erin and make sure she didn't cause any extra damage to herself, but even that had proved to be difficult after she had pushed Tony to let her start training with the team. She could heal those bruises and cuts- the scarring from her HYDRA abduction was permanent, and she knew these marks would be with her for life.

"Are you sure I look okay?" she asked Tony for the tenth time since he had taken pictures and pushed her into the car earlier that night.

"Positive," Tony assured her, opening the door and ushering Erin into a board room full of agents.

"Nice of you to join us, Miss Harper," Agent Hill said from where she stood at the head of the table. "Please, take a seat."

Tony pushed her to the far side of the table, where a familiar figure was drawing and focusing intently on what he was sketching onto his notepad instead of the briefing. Upon sensing movement beside him, Steve looked up.

His jaw dropped when his eyes lay on Erin.

"Anyone would have thought you'd never seen a woman before," Erin whispered, closing his mouth for him.

"You look nice," Steve managed to get out eventually.

"You too," Erin replied, with a smile.

And he did. He was wearing a black suit and tie, and his hair was combed neatly, not like the bed hair that was his everyday look. He looked really good, and Erin blushed when she realised he knew she was staring at him.

"Thanks," Steve managed to get out eventually. "Look, I was thinking…"

"Yes?"

"I was thinking that maybe tomorrow, we could like to go for a coffee or something?"

"You mean you're trying to ask me out on a date?"

"Maybe," Steve admitted. "But I haven't had time for relationships since well… ages, and it might be nice to well…"

"Try it out?"

"I guess so."

"Well, when you put it that way… I'd love to."

A huge smile crossed Steve's face and he went back to drawing a new sketch. Tony leaned over so that his mouth was level with Erin's ear.

"If you and Capsicle are going on a date, I am going to be having words with him," he murmured, seeing his charge roll her eyes.

"Miss Harper? Are you listening to a word I'm saying?" Agent Hill asked in frustration, drawing the room's attention to the trio of superheroes sitting in the back of the room.

Erin shook her head, feeling like a young child being admonished by the teacher for not listening in class.

Agent Hill sighed and muttered something under her breath before straightening up. "As I was saying, you and Captain Rogers will be fitted with a tracking device that will allow us to talk to you and to track your moves. You have unlimited access to the house and its surrounds. As for the matter of your identities, Erin is a youth advocate for the New York Young At Heart Initiative, and Steve, you run the centre she works at."

Steve raised his hand. "Any additional information, such as covers or agents that will be there?" he asked.

"The information you'll need will be received through your earpiece. The jewellery in front of you is for your tracker and your earpiece. In the rings are trackers and a microphone for you to respond to our network. Erin, your earrings have an in-built camera, and Captain Rogers, your tie clip contains your camera and microphone."

"Cool," Erin said, smiling and toying with the gold jewellery in front of her. She had wondered why Clint hadn't given her any kind of accessories, but he must have known what they were going to use for her communications.

The agent who had passed it to her slapped her hand. "That's a very high-tech piece of equipment, don't mess around with it."

"It's a bit of metal that is a basic camera and a microphone. It can't be that high tech," Erin scoffed.

"Oh yeah? I designed the earpiece, and I created it."

"And I designed your gun and your handcuffs, as well as your dampeners in 42," Tony snapped, leaning forward so the agent would see him sitting beside her.

The agent looked stumped. "I don't think I can beat that," he said slowly.

"No, you wouldn't be able to," Erin retorted.

"I'm pretty special," Tony added.

"Right. Are we ready to go?" Agent Hill asked, keen to get the childish billionaire out of the room before he started a fight.

Erin and Steve nodded, Erin bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement. Steve grinned at her demeanour, while Tony glared at the supersoldier.

"Let's do this thing," Erin said.

~O~O~O~

Hey all, hope you liked this chapter- leave a review if you like it? Until next time, sending you all my love.