Apple Pie Steve

Steve Rogers was fascinated by the 21st century. Contrary to what Tony Stark liked to divulge, he did, in fact, rather like technology. Perhaps he was not adequate at handling even the most basic forms of technology (he was still apologizing for the burnt toaster), but he marveled at the ingenuity of these foreign machines even if he could not really use them. They were a shock and new and so very different from the appliances (or lack thereof) he had grown up with during the depression.

Technology was not the only new thing that amazed him, however. In fact, it was the women of the 21st century that captivated Steve the most. It was not as if he disliked the liberties women had now, in fact, he thought it fitting of the times and was rather happy to see more Peggy Carter's in the world. It certainly wasn't the manners in which women now dressed, because even if he was dubbed the Virginal Good Boy by Tony Stark, he was also a man and he knew when to appreciate trousers on a woman. No, what captivated him the most was boldness which some of the women he'd met oozed.

Never mind that he's seen women do unspeakable things to a pole thanks to Tony Stark (and it seemed all bad things in Steve's life were authored by Tony Stark), or that he'd had some of them make him feel naked and, dare he admit it, raped by just one stare. But it was the bluntness of some of these women he encountered, asking him on dates, or even casual sexual encounters (he would always forget how to properly speak when this was asked) that amazed him. What was more amazing, Steve marveled, was that these women did not even know he was Captain America, and yet still flocked to him for whatever reason.

Since the New York incident, Steve was happy to know that the public did not know that Captain America and Steve Rogers were one of the same. Since the attacks by Loki and the Chitauri had been so dense and wild and downright chaotic, camera crews were not able to capture his naked face. The only pictures of him were with his mask in place, and so, Steve Rogers was just like any other man. Except, like previously stated, women somehow found him attractive.

Steve supposed that, were he to be more interested in the topic of psychology, he would be able to trace the fact that he still felt like the 90 pound, asthmatic-and-every-other-disease-known-to-man-kind Steve that he was before the serum to his lingering lack of confidence with women. He was insecure, he could admit in the solitude of his thoughts, and it was strange to have women want him when back in the 40's the most he'd get from women were disgusted and pitied looks pre-serum.

And then there was the woman from the coffee shop. She was the one that did not confound, or amaze him. She was tall, curvy in a way that said she did not do diets like Pepper Potts, pale with long brown hair pulled into a tight ponytail and brown eyes that spoke of sincerity. After she'd smiled for the first time, took his coffee order and called him 'Sir' (an oddity in the 21st century, he had already established since she was the only person aside from JARVIS, Tony's AI, that still used the term), she'd gone and done the same for the man and woman at the table next to his. Now, Steve was not vain, but it felt weird to not have her stammering or casually slipping her phone number under his napkin like all the women Steve had met so far.

And he liked that.

So, he became a frequent customer, always arriving at 8:00am on the dot after his morning at the gym and shower, and always ordering a black coffee and piece of apple pie (which, he was painfully aware, if Tony found out would only create a monster made up of bad jokes with the words "America" and "Apple Pie" in every single one of them).

She had been cordial the first few mornings, with her smiles and 'Sir's" until she realized that he might just become a permanent. It was then, when Steve had gone almost every morning for two consecutive weeks, and ordering the same items off the menu, that she'd grinned and commented something along the lines of routines and being glad someone else loved apple pie as much as she did.

That seemed to break the ice, and Steve had soon found out that her name was Charlotte, she worked every morning at the café, and that she was currently a student at NYU on scholarship because, "Zeus' knows I can't afford a school like that to save my life." And he was just Steve, the Army-Guy who liked routine and schedules and liked being polite. He was not Captain America, just Steve, and he was in love.

Of course, Steve should have realized that smiling more than usual and completely zoning out in the middle of Director Fury's debriefing would have attracted attention to himself. But he did not, since his thoughts were only on the way Charlotte's eyes lit up when he'd say something particularly nice or funny, and how she'd stopped calling him Sir and he was now just Steve and she was not Ma'am, but just Charlotte, and the sketchbook he'd just purchased the month prior was already half filled with portraits of her, smiling, or listening intently to someone making an order, lower lip caught between her teeth and forehead scrunched in concentration. And he could not even begin to contemplate the detail he'd put in capturing the scrunch of her nose when she was talking about something particularly scandalizing or maddening.

And like in every other aspect of his life since joining the Avengers, Tony Stark made sure to butt his nose into what he should not have.

Steve arrived at exactly 8:00am at the café and seated himself at the same table he always did, picking up the small menu and reading it more out of habit than anything else. He saw Charlotte taking the orders off a table full of what looked like foreigners, as they were all pointing at menus while her forehead scrunched in concentration, pointing at things in the menu and gesticulating portion size and such. Steve smiled to himself and prepared for the interesting conversation she would bring around once she got to his table.

And then the bell above the café's door announced the arrival of someone and Steve stopped breathing from a combination of mortification and anger. Tony Stark swaggered in, in a plain shirt and jeans with Bruce Banner tailing behind him, shooting Steve an apologetic look, and he knew that the doctor had come for damage control, rather than to cause misery, and wasn't that a small miracle to be thankful for?

"Steve!" Tony waved, a small smirk promising chaos on his face, and a knowing look in his eyes that said he was well aware that he was causing a scene, and, that, yes, that was exactly what he was looking for.

By the time Tony and Bruce walked the few feet between the entrance and Steve's table, the whole café had already realized that The Tony Stark was about to have lunch at this particular café, and didn't phones now have cameras? It took twenty minutes of signing napkins, taking selfies and meeting the manager of the café who promised a free breakfast for Tony and his two friends and the closing of the café so that, "Mr. Stark can have a peaceful and enjoyable breakfast without the fuss," before the excitement became a mild buzz within the now closed café and those lucky enough to have arrived before Tony Stark.

During all of this, Steve's eyes could not leave Charlotte, and the way she hung back from the chaos, nose scrunched at times (and God, was that adorable, Steve couldn't help thing), and whose eyes kept darting to and from Tony Stark, Steve and Bruce, and he knew that she was so bright, bright enough to figure out what Tony Stark's presence meant. At the sudden widening of her eyes when the manger had called her over to take their table's ordering and the nose scrunch when she narrowed her eyes at Steve, he knew she knew.

"Good morning, my name's Charlotte and I'll be taking your orders today. What can I get you?" Was the first thing she said, and, for the first time since he's first met her, her brown eyes were not meeting any other eyes. In fact, they were neutrally placed on her small notepad.

Tony's devious look between Charlotte and Steve, and the following eyebrow waggling had Steve thinking that maybe being Captain America was not all it was cracked up to be as committing murder was looking more and more appealing as the seconds passed in Tony's presence.

"What's good to eat here, Sweetcheeks?" Tony asked with a wide, Cheshire cat grin on his face. Steve heard the distinct sound of Bruce's foot kicking Tony's shin but the mechanic gave no inclination of feeling it.

"Just Charlotte, please. And, I'd personally recommend the apple pie, but the croissants with jam are good as well." Charlotte looked straight at Tony as she said this, and Steve knew the newfound fire in her eyes was there because of the nickname.

"I'll have the croissants and maybe some green tea, if you have any?" Bruce intercepted before Tony could say anything else (much less make a comment on the apple pie, since they all knew that would be what he would latch onto first), and Charlotte smiled wanly at him, asking how he took his tea.

"I want a sandwich. As greasy and meaty as you can make it. No mayo. No vegetables of any kind. And black coffee as strong as you can get it." Tony suddenly spoke, derailing the attention back to himself.

"We don't-" Charlotte began, but was cut off by her manager.

"Of course! We don't usually serve sandwiches until noon, but it wouldn't do to have customers of such caliber unhappy. Right, Charlotte?"

"Yep." Was the crypt reply before she jotted down the order and turned to Steve with a raised eyebrow. "The usual?"

Steve wanted to say a lot of things. He wanted to apologize (although he wasn't entirely sure what for aside from Tony's attitude), and wanted to tell her that he was still just Steve, and well, yes, Captain America too, but that he promised that if she'd just go on one date with him, he'd make sure no one, not even Tony Stark, would get to her.

Instead, Steve swallowed thickly and nodded heavily. Their eyes met and she smiled a small smile, almost sad, and left after saying she would be back with their orders in a few minutes.

"I am so sorry, Steve. We tried to tell him this was stupid-"

"This is not stupid! I'm trying to hook Steve up with our fine Charlotte. And don't give me the kicked puppy look, Cap'n, you should really keep your sketches better hidden, and your navigational system on your phone turned off. You made this too easy. Ow! Bruce, stop it! My shins are already purple!"

Steve sighed and resigned to never seeing Charlotte again over Bruce's admonishing and Tony's excuses, his anger subsiding and just becoming a nauseous feeling at the prospect of unrequited love (which, in retrospect, could have been the title of his life story pre-serum).

And then, because life has never and will never be normal for Steve Rogers, Charlotte came back out of the kitchen door with a platter with two black coffees and a tea on top of it, expertly maneuvering between the tables around her before the man on the table besides Steve's scooted back and Charlotte and the steaming drinks went flying.

And with the same luck that followed him whenever Tony Stark was in the room, the coffees and the tea land all on him, Charlotte gracelessly draped over the man's lap. There was silence for a few pregnant seconds before Steve realized just how hot the liquid running down his face and chest was, Tony realized how amusing the situation was, and Bruce pushed Tony out of the booth onto the floor so that he could asses Steve's burn while Charlotte stared wide eyed at Steve from across the man's lap.

Chaos ensued again as the manager grabbed Charlotte by her arm and dragged her from the stunned man's lap, all the while yelling about firing her and how utterly stupid she was. People began pulling out phones, documenting the whole thing as Tony's laughter subsided altogether, Steve saw red, and Charlotte's eyes filled to the brim with tears as she yanked herself from her manager's grip.

Again, a pregnant pause before Steve walked calmly to the manager, sidestepping Charlotte and her trembling chin, before punching the man in the jaw. Silence again was pierced by Tony's amused snort and the flashing of phone cameras.

"Are you alright, Charlotte?" Steve asked, turning away from the man on the floor.

Her eyes were still wide, a few tears having escaped as she nodded.

Steve nodded in response, a little awkwardly, now having come down from the adrenaline and not knowing how to proceed.

"Your face. It's, um, burnt. I think? I'm sorry." Charlotte said, stepping closer to him and moving as if to touch his face, second guessing herself at the last second and letting her arm fall to her side.

"It's fine. I heal fast. You know, because of the whole…thing." Steve said, hoping that she understood that he knew that she knew that he was Captain America and that he was fine with it if she was.

Her forehead scrunched in confusion, "What thing?"

Bruce intercepted before Steve could respond, "Alright, folks. Nothing to see here. If you'd just follow me outside…" His suggestion was swallowed among the protests of those who wanted to know what was going on until Tony stood up from where he had landed and stayed when Bruce pushed him, and exclaimed, "I got the suit outside. Free pictures, come on, people, nothing to see in here."

Once everyone had rushed outside, Bruce sighed, muttering, "He doesn't have the suit, that stupid man," before leaving the café with shy smile towards Steve and Charlotte as he exited.

"What thing?" Charlotte asked him again once Bruce had closed the door behind him.

"The Cap-wait, no, what do you think I'm talking about?"

"I'm not sure I know. I mean, just because you're Tony Stark's best friend or whatever doesn't make you heal faster, I think. I mean, no matter how much people idolize him, I doubt the man has any divine powers-"

"What? Wait, no, I don't-is that the conclusion you came to when Tony was causing all that commotion when he first came in?"

"What?" She asked, confusion all over her face.

"When your eyes when all wide while you were looking at us. I thought-I thought maybe you had found out who I really am-"

"What do you mean what you really are? And no! I-" Here, Charlotte blushed a pretty pink, lowering her gaze to the floor. "I just thought, that, I don't know. That I kind of liked you and I thought you kind of liked me back, but, well, I wasn't too sure because I have to experience with the opposite sex at all, and that you knew Tony Stark, and quite intimately if he was having breakfast with you and all I could think of was that you were now a hundred more times out of my league than before and that I should probably just not ever be near you again-"

"I like you too." Steve blurted, the tips of his ears bright red, a shy smile on his face.

Charlotte smiled shyly back at him, pulling a piece of stray brown hair behind her ear.

The manager on the floor groaned and the attention was diverted towards his squirming form.

"Wait, you still haven't told me what you thought I thought I knew." Charlotte said suddenly, her attention turned towards Steve again, who had moved closer in case he had to punch the man again.

Steve decided that, for once, he had choices to make. He could very well tell her a small lie, say that he is Tony's partner in business, or son (that one made no sense even to him, but he figured Tony could be old enough to be his father). This option would allow him to court her (he wasn't too sure that was a term used anymore) and maybe create some quasi normal transvestite of a normal life before he laid it out that he was not, in fact, having an affair, but actually saving the earth from maniacs, and, wow, did his train of thought escalate quickly. Or he could tell her the truth, so that when he was injured or late to a date or gone to who-knows-where on SHIELD assignments she knew exactly what he was doing. It gave her the choice of saying that, no, she would very much not like to start a relationship with a superhero before things got too complicated. Before it was so late that her leaving meant devastation.

He steeled himself, and drew out a bit of Captain America into his person so that some form of bravery would help him say what he needed to say. "I'm actually Captain America, ma'am-erm, Charlotte. Sorry, Captain America says ma'am a lot." He smiled nervously down at her.

There was a long silence and Steve would be lying if he did not say that he suddenly hated silences.

Charlotte took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye when she said, "Ok."

Steve was dumbfounded until she smiled brightly at him. "Ok. Fine. So you're Captain America. I'm Charlotte, from Arizona. I love thunderstorms, and dogs and am currently disemployed." She smiled again and extended her hand towards him.

"I'm Capt-"

"No. You're Steve. Captain America is your description."

Steve smiled, with teeth and everything because, wasn't she just fantastic? She knew he was Captain America, and yet she still wanted to know Apple Pie Steve, the man with a routine and a schedule and a sketchpad.

"I'm Steve, from Brooklyn. I love sketching, and apple pie, and am currently living half of my life in disemployment."

"Captain America probably has a lot of work."

"Sometimes."

"But you're not-I mean, that is to say, Steve-is not busy for dinner tonight?" She asked, and Steve decided he liked this kind of bluntness in the women of the 21st century.

"Never for you, ma'am. Sorry, Charlotte." Steve chuckled. "Steve says ma'am a lot too."