New story. Couldn't find the inspiration to update my other stories so I wrote this instead.

The first time it happened, she was watching television after a long day at work. She'd been curled up on her couch, wrapped up in a blanket when a loud noise took her attention from the screen. She looked out the door towards her veranda to find a shadow of a person having difficulty standing up. She ran out to the balcony to help and gaped at the sight of the man who had saved the world more times than was required of him. The blue-and-red-striped uniform was singed on the right side, the Captain's body covered in severe burns. His helmet was gone, his shield held limply by his left hand.

"Cap?" she called out to him but he was unable to answer as he finally collapsed and lost consciousness. There was nothing more in her mind than trying to help, and so she did. She carried the man to her couch with the adrenaline of a woman on a mission. Captain America was always helping people, it was time someone helped him.

XoxoxoX

When he awoke, he was lying almost naked on a couch. The right side of his body was stiff and covered in bandages. He was under a blanket, his right foot also wrapped up but he seemed to be wearing boxers though he did not recognize them. He looked around the room to find his shield by the foot of the couch he was lying on but his uniform was nowhere to be found. Looking down, he saw a pile of clothes. He inspected it and found a shirt and a pair of sweat pants that looked to be big enough to fit him. There was also a note on placed on top of it.

Hey Cap,

In case you wake up and I'm not there, these clothes are for you. Sorry about the uniform but I couldn't save it. It was just too damaged. It's in the bag though, if you need it. There's leftovers in the microwave if you're hungry. You should be healed by the time you wake up but in case you're not, you're welcome to stay.

Janna

When she got home, the Captain was gone but the food she'd left for him was finished and the dishes had been washed. There was a note stuck on the fridge that said,

Thank you for taking care of me. The food was delicious.

Cap

XoxoxoX

The second time it happened, she was just getting home from work. She'd been in the process of putting her keys through the lock when she heard a noise from inside the apartment. She hurriedly opened the door in time to see Captain America stumbling through the veranda door which she'd never closed since she was on the 34th floor of the building.

"Cap! What happened?"

"Got into a fight," he gasped as she moved forward the help him onto the couch.

"I have to get your uniform off." she grimaced at the sight of the bloody clothes. There was a long, diagonal slash that went from his left shoulder to just below his right rib but she couldn't see all the damage through the clothes. Quickly grabbing her first aid kit from under the coffee table, she took out her scissors and began snipping the cloth around the wound. "Help me get this off of you." he groaned as he raised his arms to let her remove the sleeves then sighed as he was replaced into a more comfortable position. "I'm not gonna lie Cap, this is going to hurt and I don't have anything to help numb the area. You want me to knock you out?" as she spoke, she removed a long needle from her kit and showed it to him. Before he could answer, another voice spoke up.

"So this is where you ran off to." in her surprise, she threw the needle at the newcomer. Thankfully, the man was wearing a steel-plated mask and the needle bounced off of it otherwise it would have been very painful for him.

"Am I gonna have every one of the Avengers over today?" she muttered then turned her back on Iron Man. "Cap, you want me to knock you out?" she asked him again as she removed another needle from her kit. He shook her head in answer and she sighed. "Alright, but I need to make sure you're relaxed." she brought out a candle and lit it. "I'll just put a few of these on your pressure points so you don't move accidentally." he nodded as he gritted his teeth in pain. He could only watch as she ran the needle through the fire then began to insert it into one of his pressure points. He could feel his muscles relax almost immediately and Captain America sighed in comfort. She continued to do so until he was limp as a noodle then she spoke again. "Okay Cap. I'll try to be as gentle as possible." she tied a handkerchief around her forehead and donned some gloves. "But it will still hurt." he nodded and tensed up in preparation for the incoming pain. "Try to relax Cap. Let me take care of you."

XoxoxoX

He watched her work with morbid fascination and somehow understood why Steve came here instead of going to the medical bay at the Avengers Tower. The woman was taking care of Steve with no questions asked. She just seemed sincere in wanting to help the good captain. Though he knew there must be some pain as she stitched the wound closed, Steve seemed to become even more relaxed as the procedure continued. His eyes were drooping, and now that Tony listened more carefully, he could hear her talk softly to Captain America. Her voice was melodious, almost like a lullaby and Tony found himself mesmerized. About an hour and a half later and she was bandaging the stitches on the captain's wound. She removed the needles on his body then sat back as she removed the handkerchief she'd tied on her brow. Steve had fallen asleep during the procedure and he continued to sleep peacefully afterwards.

"Is he going to be alright?" her head whipped towards Tony in surprise. She'd apparently forgotten that he was there and sometime during the procedure, he'd removed his suit as he waited for her to finish taking care of Steve.

"Yeah, he's gonna be fine. Though, I don't know when he'll wake up." she shrugged. "Are you going to stay?"

"Please," she raised an eyebrow at the suddenly polite tone.

"Alright," she nodded. "Let me just freshen up then I'll give you some blankets and pillows." Tony nodded without looking at her and she left him watching over the captain.

XoxoxoX

Janna came back into the living room in time to see Tony pull back from pressing a kiss to Steve's forehead. He then placed a blanket he'd found on the couch, onto his partner's exposed chest.

"Uh, Mr. Stark?" she called out startling him. "Here are the blankets and pillows." she made it seem as if she hadn't seen the tender moment as she walked into the living room. "I'm sorry I don't have another spare couch for you to sleep on."

"It's fine..." he trailed off suddenly realizing he did not know her name.

"Janna..." she introduced herself while she handed him the sleeping paraphernalia.

"Sorry we barged in like this."

"It's not the first time." she shrugged. "If there's nothing else, I'd like to turn in."

"Oh I think we'll be fine." he nodded.

"Good night Mr. Stark."

"It's just Tony," he offered. "Sorry for the trouble." she just smiled at him.

"It's no trouble," she told him. "I just thought, maybe it was time someone else helped you." Tony looked at her in surprise. "Good night Mister... Tony."

"Good night Janna."

XoxoxoX

"Good morning Tony." Janna greeted as she went to her living room to see that the billionaire was already up and tinkering with a tablet. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Uh..." Tony stared at the woman who was wearing a plain white shirt large enough to hide her frame, and a pair of sleep shorts.

"Tony?" she called out and he cleared his throat before he answered.

"Right, coffee." her brow furrowed in confusion at his reply. "Yes please."

"How do you like your coffee?"

"Black is fine."

"I'll be right back with your coffee and to check on Cap." she turned away from him with a nod and Tony sighed. He'd never been distracted that way before and he really didn't know what it was about her that made him act so politely. He shook his head then turned his attention to his partner. He and Steve had just admitted their feelings for each other some months back. They'd been trying to keep their relationship to themselves but seeing as they were living in a tower with experienced fighters and two spies he was sure that their team at least thought something was going on even if they weren't sure what. Their relationship had made it very difficult during missions especially when one or both of them would get into a fight that would result into getting them injured. It led to incredible arguments once the trouble had been dealt with but the make-up sex was always great. The last mission when Steve had disappeared for two days without communication had really worried Tony. Especially when the Captain had returned already patched up and being very secretive of where he had been. Tony had been so terrified of losing the Captain that he'd implanted tracking chips on Steve's uniform. They'd been strategically placed so that he had multiple back ups in case some were destroyed or lost during a battle.

"Here you go Tony." said man looked up once again startled at their host's arrival. "Let me just take a look at Cap's wound then I'll leave you two to rest." he moved aside to let her work.

"You don't have to leave on our account." Tony replied as he took a sip of the coffee she'd made for him. "We should be the ones leaving you to your privacy."

"It's my day off." she tugged the blanket covering Captain Rogers' chest down. "but I do have some errands to run..." she trailed off when her hand was suddenly gripped tightly by her supposedly sleeping patient. "It's alright Captain. It's just me, Janna. I just need to take a look at your wound." she winced as the hand around her wrist tightened, sure that it would bruise. "Cap," she called out again. "You came into my home last night remember? You had a wound on your chest and I helped patch you up."

"Steve," Tony finally realized what was happening and also tried to wake his confused partner who seemed to be running on instincts. "Let her go Steve. She's just trying to help." it seemed as if he recognized Tony's voice because the grip on Janna's wrist slacked and his eyes opened.

"Tony?"

"I'm right here Steve." Janna moved away so that Tony could take her place while she rubbed her bruised wrist.

"What happened?"

"We had a mission yesterday and you got hurt pretty bad. When the fight was over, you left and came straight here. I followed you." as Tony spoke, Steve's memories slowly returned. Then he noticed Janna who was kneeling near the end of the couch looking at her already bruising wrist.

"Janna?"

"Hey Cap!" she smiled a little awkwardly at him and waved but she winced when she strained her already hurt wrist.

"What's wrong with your hand?" he asked. "Did I do that?"

"I'm fine Cap." she smiled. "It was an accident."

"I'm sorry."

"I'll forgive you if you let me check on your wound." Tony smirked at her backhanded tactic and moved away to let Janna take his place again. She took a quick look at Steve's wounds and then deemed him almost completely healed. "Right, I have some errands to run so I'll leave you two to rest."

"You don't have to go."

"It's fine. I really do need to pay my bills."

"Janna." Tony called out to her as she left. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." and then she was gone, presumably to her room to change before leaving.

"Hey Steve."

"Yeah?"

"I've never seen you so still as you're being examined."

"There's just something about her." Steve blushed and looked away.

"Yeah, there is."

XoxoxoX

The next time they came, they interrupted her while she was in the shower. The frantic knocks on her front door had her rushing to put her robe on her still wet body. She hurriedly peeked through the peephole and gasped at the sight of Iron Man with his arm slung across Captain America's shoulders.

"Tony? Cap?" she stepped aside to let them in, worry overtaking her as the two men limped their way to the couch with Captain America bearing both their weights by himself. "What happened?"

"We had a mission." Steve answered as Janna knelt in front of Tony who Steve had assisted on sitting on the couch.

"Of course you had a mission." she rolled her eyes at the man who was still decked out in his uniform. "I meant how did Tony get hurt?" she asked. Both men were quiet as she stared at them expectantly waiting for their answer.

"A building collapsed on top of me and my foot got stuck." Tony finally answered. She shook her head - whether it was because of their prolonged silence or the fact that they got themselves injured again, neither man knew.

"Okay, well you've got to take the suit off otherwise I won't be able to help." Tony nodded.

"Could you step back a bit?" she stood up, unaware that her robe had fallen open in the process revealing her smooth chest and giving both men a teasing view of her bare breasts. Captain America groaned at the sight while Tony swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Are you alright Cap?" Janna was suddenly on him, inspecting him for wounds with both her hands and her eyes. Tony smirked inwardly at his partner who he could see was getting very tempted to do inappropriate things to the woman looming over him. "Where does it hurt?" she asked when he didn't reply. Tony decided to help Steve out of his current predicament by releasing his armor. He sighed as he was freed from the constricting metal but also groaned from the pain.

"I'm fine." Steve finally pulled himself together, Tony's groan of pain helping him to pull away from the distracting sight. "Tony needs your help." she gave him a long, hard look before turning her attention towards the playboy billionaire. He was wearing a plain white shirt and a loose pair of pants underneath his suit.

"Fine, but I will check on you after I take care of Tony." she said sternly. She pulled the coffee table closer to the couch and instructed Tony to put both feet up. He did so and hissed as his right foot made contact with the cold wood. "I'm gonna need to cut your pants off." she told them as she reached for her kit. Tony just nodded his assent. "Your ankle is swollen but I think it's just a sprain. You should get an x-ray just to be sure."

"Jarvis, full body scan on Tony please." Steve said while Janna was cutting through Tony's right pant leg.

"Yes Captain," came the AI's voice."Initiating scan," a small tablet flew from Tony's hand to hover over his body. "Minor lacerations on your back Sir, a couple of abrasions on your arms and abdomen but there are no broken bones. Your right foot has a sprained ankle and the muscles on both your legs are constricted."

"Right," Janna nodded at the assessment. "I'll wrap your foot up then we'll place hot compresses on your legs to help ease the pain. After that I'll clean your wounds." as she set about working, both Tony and Steve watched her movements. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing but she didn't look like a doctor.

"Janna?"

"Yes Cap?" she answered without looking up from bandaging Tony's right foot.

"Are you a doctor?"

"I wish," she smiled at him. "I'd like to be but I don't have the money for it."

"How come you know how to stitch up wounds and care for our injuries then?"

"I'm an Emergency Room nurse," she informed them both. "Sometimes when there are no patients I ask some of the doctors to teach me the things that they don't teach in nursing school."

"Don't you have any family?" she chuckled rather bitterly at the question.

"My parents gave me up for adoption when I was just a baby. I tried looking them up when I got older but they still didn't want me." she shook her head. "Apparently I was a product of an illicit affair."

"Who are your parents?" Tony asked, now curious because of her words.

"It doesn't matter." she began wiping tears of frustration from her eyes. "Let me just put on the kettle." she stood up, done with Tony's foot. Steve and Tony exchanged glances as she left. They had no idea how a woman like her could be so open towards virtual strangers like them.

"Tony?" said man looked up, warm brown meeting deep chocolate.

"I don't think I'll have any protests on that." Tony answered, already knowing what Steve was going to ask. Steve nodded then stood up from the couch intent on apologizing for bringing up bad memories.

"Janna?" he knocked on the door to her bedroom, inwardly wincing at the sniffles he could hear from inside.

"I'll be right there Cap," he was no expert on women but he was pretty sure she was trying to pull herself together before she stepped outside her room. He waited patiently for her to open the door and when she did, it was to meet his understanding gaze with her puffy eyes. Steve couldn't stop himself from pulling her into his arms and letting her sob onto his still uniformed chest.

"I'm sorry we asked." he murmured into hair. "It doesn't matter who they are, they're the ones missing out on what a wonderful woman you've turned out to be."

"Thanks Cap." she whispered, taking the comfort as it was being given.

"It's Steve." he replied.

XoxoxoX

It started with small things. She found a bouquet of sunflowers in her locker at work one day with a note attached to it.

J,

Hope this makes your day brighter.

S & T

She briefly wondered how they found out where she worked then reminded herself that they were part of the Avengers and they had all the resources they needed to find out anything they wanted.

"Wow!" she looked up from her musings to see her co-worker staring at the flowers. "Who are those from?" Janna just smiled at Chrissy without giving her an answer. She left the hospital that day with a dreamy smile on her face.

On another day, as she was about to get home from a night shift, she found Steve leaning on his motorcycle just outside of the ER. He was parked on the spot just under a streetlight, enough away so that he was still in the shadows. Despite not being able to see his face, she knew that it was him especially when he flashed his keys at her - the miniature shield key chain glinting under the dim light.

"Bye guys!" she broke away from the group of her colleagues then bee-lined towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking you up," he handed her a helmet then took his place on the bike. He held out his hand to assist her onto it then guided her arms around his waist once she was settled. "Hold on tight." he instructed her as he backed out of his spot and then they were speeding away. Steve blew his horn in goodbye to the group of people gaping at them by the hospital doors. Janna didn't even care about them or the questions they were sure to ask the next day, she was too busy relishing in the feel of the hard body she had her arms around.

The next time she saw either of them was when Tony came into the hospital during her lunch break carrying bags of food with him. He was wearing a sweater, sweat pants and running shoes. His entrance made people stop and stare, especially since he was walking around in gym clothes. He walked right up the information counter and asked for her by name.

"Tony?" she asked in wonder as she saw him leaning against the reception desk, fingers drumming impatiently against the tiled surface while he waited. Tony's lips broke out into a wide grin as soon as he saw her. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought lunch." he raised the bags of food he brought." Where can we eat?" she shook her head at his antics but smiled.

"We can eat at the rooftop."

XoxoxoX

"Honey, I'm home!" Janna looked up from the book she'd been reading to find Tony once again landing on her balcony. His suit was already folding back into its portable form while Tony stepped into the apartment.

"Hi Tony!" she returned his greeting with a smile. "What brings you here?" she sat up on the couch and he took a seat next to her.

"I need a check up." Tony said then proceeded to remove his shirt and present his back to her. Janna gasped at the reddened skin - small patches were blistering, others were flaring red while some parts of his back was unharmed.

"What happened?" she asked while she ran to the kitchen to grab some ice and water.

"I was sparring with Barton," at her confused look, he clarified. "Hawkeye." she nodded in understanding as she placed the bowl of ice-filled water on the coffee table. "And he used an exploding arrow."

"Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't spars supposed to be physical fights?"

"We both agreed we could use weapons..." Tony trailed off with a hiss as she placed a wet gauze on the blisters.

"It would be so much better if I had some saline." just as she said it, Steve appeared on the balcony carrying an ice chest.

"I have no idea how you manage to get up there." Janna shook her head at the man who came into the apartment looking Tony over worriedly.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked his partner.

"I'm fine." Janna was already opening the ice chest and taking out the saline bags inside.

"Tony, this is going to sting a lot more than the cold water." she informed him and Steve offered Tony his arms to brace himself with.

"Fuck! That hurts." his grip on Steve's arms tightened as Janna slowly pressed the gauze wet with saline on the burnt areas of his back.

"Sorry." she whispered as she worked as quickly and as gently as she could. Then she was putting an antibiotic spray over his wounds. "Tony?" she called out to him and he grunted his answer to her call - the procedure taking more out of him that he first thought it would. "I'll just put some bandages on it then you can rest, okay?" he nodded wearily and she set about bandaging his back as quickly as she could. Then she directed Steve to help Tony lay down on his stomach so he could rest without putting pressure on his wounds. Once everything had been cleaned up, Steve pulled Janna to sit on his lap and they both sat quietly watching Tony while he slept.

"Steve?" he looked down at the woman in his arms who was blushing softly at their intimate position. "What are you and Tony doing here? Why do you keep coming back to my apartment?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she just looked up at him in confusion. "We're courting you Janna."

"Why?" she blushed furiously beneath his intense gaze.

"Because you helped us without expecting or asking for anything in return. Because you're a strong woman who's lived alone for too long and because we both really like you."

"And also because you have better bedside manners than the doctors at the tower." Tony spoke up startling both Steve and Janna. She just laughed at his words as she met Tony's gaze then snuggled closer to Steve. She didn't really understand why they chose her of all people but she wouldn't complain.

Tell me what you think, ne?

aLy0:)