Washington D.C.

Fourth of July 2009

The fireworks display of Washington D.C. was just visible off of the balcony of penthouse apartment. Six women in varying states of comfortable summer sleep wear were situated on couches and chairs that provided them with a distant view of the impressive and expensive Fourth of July display.

The colors sparkled through the dark sky, shining over the bustling city in spots of red, blue, green, yellow, pink, and orange. The sounds of celebratory explosions were a distant boom. Soft enough not to interrupt conversation or activate anyone's flight or fight response. Today was a day of relaxing, fun, and friendship.

"Your toes are cold, get them off of my leg."

"It's July in D.C., cold toes should be welcome." Agent Natasha Romanoff quipped from where she'd curled up on the couch, but she moved her feet. "You should be thanking me, Bob."

Agent Bobbi Morse gave her a look. "You flew all the way from London to be-."

"Don't finish that sentence. And London was so much better than this, it actually rained while I was there." Natasha sipped from her wine glass, green eyes flitting from the blonde to the fireworks display. "Would have put a damper on fireworks though."

"God, what I wouldn't give for a bit of rain." Agent Maria Hill propped her feet up on the coffee table. "It's been too hot here. I'm roasting. Need a mission that takes me to Alaska or Iceland or some where far away from here."

Agent Shanon Carter grabbed the bag of chips before they fell off said table. "Right? I've been sweating buckets even on my early morning run. Won't be a problem tomorrow, thankfully."

Agent Melinda May didn't so much as twitch, and her words were desert dry, but a smirk ghosted on her features. "If you're going to just talk about the weather, I'm going to leave."

It was time for their annual sleepover. Six schedules had to line up just right so they could take one night to themselves. Sharon was set to head out on a mission the following afternoon, but everyone else had a couple days off. Miraculously, almost. S.H.I.E.L.D was in the midst of a relatively uneventful summer. They were taking advantage of it and the short time they had to be just friends together. Not agents, not trainers or commanding officers. Significant others were ditched, plans were rescheduled. It was just women of different histories and backgrounds enjoying time together. Sharing stories. Eating food. It was a welcome event, a normal event, in the midst of their abnormal lives.

This time their ritual incidentally fell on a holiday. The Fourth of July fireworks were an impressive display in the nation's capitol, and made for a sort of 'cherry on top' of their usual dinner conversation and dessert consumption.

"This cake is divine, by the way." Bobbi was halfway through a piece of layered chocolate cake.

Maria chuckled quietly. "Isn't it? Got the recipe from a friend. She swears by it."

"I would like to meet this friend," Natasha exchanged wine glass for dessert plate. "Bribe her to make it for me."

"I'll see if she can come for this next year."

"Think we'll have time next year?" Sharon asked. "This year wasn't so bad, but you said you had troubles making it work last year."

"We'll make time," Melinda said.

"Besides, every year can't have a global emergency or epidemic," Bobbi said. "There should a limit to those."

"There should, but there isn't. I'm not holding out on too much hope," Natasha deadpanned.

"You're a pessimist," Bobbi teased, winked once at the redhead.

"Realist." Natasha, Melinda, and Maria all said at the same time. A quiet laughter followed and stress dropped even more. The wine and chocolate cake helped immensely.

"Who knows what next year will bring?" Maria commented, leaning back in her seat to admire the firework display.

"Even if it's fire and brimstone, we'll get through it." Bobbi said, shifting away from Natasha's cold toes again. But there was a small smile on her face and a sparkle in her blue eyes. "We always do, we're trained for it."

Sharon Carter spent the night in a thoughtful silence. She was fairly new to S.H.I.E.L.D., and these women had been an incredible inspiration and support. She held them as close. Well as a spy possibly could. She was aware it was the same for the rest of them. Their lives were not ordinary. Even if they wanted them to be.

Sharon didn't.

She'd wanted this life since she first understood what Aunt Peggy did. Who she was. What she had done. Who she'd helped. That was inspiration in and of itself.

This Fourth of July, Sharon Carter's thoughts weren't solely on the wine and food, or even her friend's chatting and light conversation. They were elsewhere.

Aunt Peggy had often talked about Steve Rogers, stories here, memories there. Enough for Sharon to know that the Fourth of July was the famed man's birthday. Peggy always lit a candle for him. For his memory.

Sharon admired that. Aunt Peggy had turned 90 this year, her mind was slipping. But they'd lit the candle together earlier that day. Sharon found herself smiling, but the expression came out a bit sad as the explosions shot colors all over the sky.

"Earth to Sharon."

"Hm?" Sharon blinked once and focused in on Maria's half-amused face. "Sorry got lost in thought."

"Apparently, I just asked where you were off to tomorrow," Bobbie asked. "You said you were catching a flight."

"Oh, Germany. Berlin." Sharon smiled a bit over her wine glass.

"And is there any clue as to what you were smiling about?" Bobbi prompted, cheekily. "Germany is nice, of course, but I get the feeling it's something else."

"None whatsoever. Nothing relevant, at least, don't worry about it." Sharon turned her eyes back to the fireworks and let her thoughts be on someone she thought long dead. Someone she'd never known. Someone she'd also known all her life. And in her mind she thought words she couldn't say out loud right then.

Happy Birthday, Steve.