Disclaimer: I don't own any Captain America and co. They belong to Marvel. I own my own OCs.

A/N: This is set a year before Winter Soldier.

"Damn it" she mutters.

The groceries in her hands were slipping. Her baby son crying wasn't helping. It was too early in the morning for anyone else to be up which means she wasn't going to get help any time soon. She was at the base of the stairs that leads to her apartment building when the groceries began to slip. If no one is around, I can use my powers. Her eyes wondered the streets of the early morning. No one was around. The bags slowly began to rise when a voice behind her spoke.

"Ma'am, do you need any help?"

The voice scared her. She screamed a little causing the groceries to fall. Luckily, the eggs didn't fall. Her son's cries became a little louder.

"I'm sorry. Here, let me help" he quickly picks up the groceries from the ground.

She comforts her crying son whispering "Hey, sweetie. Shhhhh. It's ok. Come on who's my little king? Huh?"

His cries turned into sniffles. He looks into his mother's eyes. In her eyes, they shined with happiness and love. A small smile makes its way on his face.

She smiles "That's my little king."

Someone clears their throat. She turns her attention back to the person who scared her.

"I'm sorry for scaring you ma'am. It wasn't my intention."

She smiles "Apology accepted. I wasn't expecting anyone else to be up this early in the morning."

"I could say the same thing" a smile appears on their face.

"Jackie" Jackie holds out a hand.

"Steve" he shakes her hand.

Steve looks at the baby boy in Jackie's arm. He smiles.

"Who's the little guy?"

"This is my son Arthur."

"From Camelot?" I remember reading about that story back in school.

"Exactly. I've always loved the name."

"Well Jackie, would you accept my offer to help you carry your groceries?"

A sigh escapes her lips "I would love that. Thank you so much."

Steve gathers up the groceries and follows Jackie into the apartment building. He realizes that they live in the same building. I wonder if we're neighbors. Guess luck is on his side. Walking up the stairs, they reach the same floor Steve lives on. Coming off the stairs the trio and turned left. The couple reached the door at the end of the hall, opposite end of Steve's door. Jackie fishes out her keys. Arthur began to fuss.

"Hang on Arty. We're almost home."

"Would you like me to hold him?"

Jackie turns her head "Oh, no. I couldn't. You're hands are full and you're doing enough for me already."

He chuckles "I think I'll be fine."

"Just be careful. Arthur doesn't like meeting new people."

Steve places all of the groceries in one hand; super strength, duh. Jackie hands Arthur over to Steve. She places him in his free arm. Arthur instantly became confused. He got this "Who is this strange man holding me?" face. Steve smiles at the little boy in his arm. The little king touches the super soldier's face. His little hands run over the man's face and into his hair.

"What do you think you'll find in there?"

*baby babble*

"Really? Well, tell me when you find it. I want to see it too."

Jackie's flabbergasted. Arty's never interacted with anyone like this before. She watches the interaction between the two of them. A small smile spreads across her face. The keys in her hands unlocked the door to her apartment.

"Door's opened. You two can come in whenever you're ready" she chuckles.

"We're coming. We're coming."

Jackie walks in first. Steve soon follows. His eyes take in the apartment around him. The apartment is opened; the kitchen and living room were only separated by a bar counter. Said living room was littered with baby toys and a giant floor mat that covered half of the hardwood floor. There was a desk filled with cartoon sketches facing the floor mat. Steve spots a small hallway with a bedroom, bathroom and linen closet. I wonder what she draws.

"You can set the groceries down on the counter. I need to grab something for Arty. I'll just be a second."

"Ok."

He watches Jackie disappear into the bedroom. Steve does what Jackie ordered. After setting the groceries down, he shifts Arthur's position in his arm to make the boy more comfortable.

"So Arthur, how old are you?"

*baby babble*

"Really? Wow, that's old. Want to know how old I am?"

Arthur tilts his head.

"I'm close to a hundred. Can you believe that?"

The boy's eyes grew wide with wonder. Steve's not sure if he can understand him but judging by how the eyes widened, he likes to think so. Hearing footsteps approaching them, Steve turns his head in Jackie's attention. In her hand held a small stuffed dragon.

"Come on Arty time for your nap."

She holds out her hands. Her son instantly goes to her. Steve hands the little boy over and watches the mother and son interaction. Jackie hands the dragon over to her son. He smiles and laughs happily. The little boy snuggles the stuffed toy closer to his body. His eyelids turned to lead as they became heavier and heavier. He tries his hardest to stay awake but exhaustion won. In a matter of seconds, he's fast asleep.

"Wow. Didn't think it would take him that fast to sleep" Steve whispers.

She chuckles "Yeah, he's always been like this. Give him Benny and he's out."

"I'm assuming Benny is the dragon?" The name seems familiar. So does Arty.

"Yep."

They fall into a comfortable silence. Steve took the opportunity to get a good look at the young woman in front of him. She's not tall but she's not short either; somewhere in the middle, perhaps 5'5. Jackie's hair color is the color of burnt brown, almost red; some would say auburn but she would deny it and say it's the color of autumn. Then there are her eyes. They're practically black. They're so black that they hold galaxies in them whenever she smiles causing them to shine with glittering stars. Steve looks at the baby in her arms. Arthur's hair was the same shade as his; sandy blond. Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to pay attention to the boy's eyes. I wonder if he has the same eyes as Jackie's.

Jackie also took this opportunity to eye over Steve. She had seen him on the news after the Chitauri invasion. The minute she saw him helping with her bags, she knew who he was instantly. He was more handsome in person. The TV didn't do him justice. The way his eyes glimmered when he smiled caused her knees to turn jelly. Jackie's not going to lie, the man was completely handsome but she knows that there's more to the man than just a pretty face and celebrity status. I wonder if he's constantly being treated as some celebrity instead of a guy who woke up nearly a century later.

"Let me put him down in his crib and I'll make us some hot chocolate. How about it?"

"Throw in some whip cream and we've got a deal" he smirks.

The young woman places her son in the crib then grabs the baby monitor and heads back into the living room/kitchen area. She takes out the mugs, milk, a chocolate bar and a cheese grater. Jackie motions Steve to sit down. He does. The man continues to watch her make hot chocolate from scratch. After a few minutes of silence, they were done. Jackie places everything she used back into its proper places then grabs a can of whip cream from the fridge. She shakes the can then sprays out the whip cream into Steve's mug.

Steve takes his mug. Jackie sprays some of the whip cream into her mouth before putting some in her mug. The man cracks a smile at the woman in front of him. She's got some spirit. When she placed the can back in the fridge, she turned her attention back to the super soldier sitting across from her.

"So, would the great and mighty Captain America mind telling me what he's doing jogging at 6:30 in the morning in 57 degree weather of this marvelous city called D.C. or am I not allowed to?" Jackie raises a brow as she takes a sip of her hot chocolate.

And apparently spunk too. "Running helps clear my mind and some stress." He takes a sip "And here I thought that you didn't know who I was."

"Well, I know who Captain America is and some info about Steve Rogers thanks to the Smithsonian. But what I want to know is who the real Steve Rogers is. Who is the man under the all of this?" she gestures to all of Steve.

He laughs "You're something Jackie."

"Heh. First time someone's said that to me."

"Why? What do people normally say?"

"Oh the usual: being a single mom is a burden. I don't have a stable income to take care of my son. I've been even told once that I should put my son up for adoption."

Steve's blue eyes widened with shock "What did you do?"

"I punched the man in the face. Ended up giving him a black eye and bloody nose. The douchebag even called the cops on me."

"Why?"

"Because I defended myself." She shrugs. "I explained to the cops and they let me off with a warning."

"Wow. And the guy you punched?"

"Hmmm." Jackie taps her chin "Never saw him again."

"Guess I better be careful what I say around you" he jokes.

"Oh I wouldn't dream of hurting you. Now, am I allowed to know anything else or would you have to take me out if I knew?"

I'm starting to like her. So the two of them talk during the whole morning. Jackie learns everything about Steve that not a lot of people knew; like him not liking vanilla (A/N: I don't know if this is true or not. Got a problem? Deal with it.) While Steve learns more about Jackie than she's ever told anyone else, even her parents. The one thing he hasn't learned yet are her powers. She can't risk it, not this early. Steve may seem like a great guy but she can't trust him just yet.

Steve noticed the time "Oh man."

"What?" Jackie asks as she washes the mugs.

"I hope I didn't make you late for work" his eyes reading the clock; 11:45 am.

"Trying to get rid of me Rogers? From my own place? You've got some ovaries" a smirk graces her face.

"No, no, no. I'm…I'm not…I didn't mean to…"

"Easy. I'm just pulling your leg" she chuckles.

A blush tints his cheek. He clears his throat.

"Right. Sorry. But seriously, am I keeping you from work? I can leave."

"No, no, you're fine. I work from home."

"What is it that you do?"

"I'm a cartoonist for the Washington Post. Maybe you've seen my comic strip in the paper. "The Silly Adventures of Arty and Benny" ?"

Steve laughs heartily "I love those comic strips. Someone at my work always has the paper just for the comic. A coworker of mine showed it to me and I've been hooked ever since."

"Glad you like them. It's nice to meet a fan. Want a sneak peek in tomorrows story?"

A natural smile appears on his face "I would love that."