9 Innings In Heaven (July 2002)

The sun was out, the clouds barely visible and the New York Yankees were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ofcourse Steve was for the Dodgers. In 1945, they were called the Brooklyn Dodgers and Steve was a very big fan. He wore a dodgers baseball cap, a light blue t-shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes. The t-shirt showed off his bulked up physique and with his height and his beautiful face heads turned when he stepped by. Today his baseball cap and classic Ray-Ban sunglasses hid something of his face.

Tony let him borrow the Range Rover and Steve stopped at Kate’s apartment to pick her up. He was early but that only gave them more time to talk. He hit the buzzer and when she asked who it was he told her and she buzzed him up.

Kate has two residences, her apartment and her room at SHIELD HQ. When she was on duty she lived at SHIELD. However, during time she had off she stayed at her apartment. Her apartment was fully paid for by SHIELD, but she had to be close to HQ just in case something happened and she was needed. Because she had just completed her overseas mission, she had 10 days off.

She was excited about going to the game with Steve. She buzzed him up and then greeted him at the door. She was wearing a Dodgers t-shirt, a pair of skinny jeans, her tennis shoes, and a baseball cap. Her hair was in a ponytail and pulled through the strap at the back of the cap. She smiled warmly at Steve.

“Well, good thing we’re rooting for the same team.”

Steve smiled then feigned a more serious look. “Oh yes, if that was a Yankees shirt, it would have been a deal breaker,” Steve said but he could not retain his serious tone. It brightened in mirth at the end. He tried not to notice how her body looked in the shirt and jeans but it was difficult to avoid looking.Especially when she filled the space in front of him. Like where she stood to talk to him demanded that he had no choice but to look. Even in his sunglasses he kept his eyes on hers though...mostly.

“You look nice Kate,” Steve complemented. Isabella had told him to do that. Not too much, just say something nice. He kept his eyes on her for a few moments longer to see her smile then forced himself to look away.

“I love your place, SHIELD must treat you well,” Steve said as he stepped away toward the large window that overlooked the street.

Kate smiled at Steve's compliment. Despite his best efforts, she could tell that he was checking out her body. She liked that he kept it discrete and not obvious and she liked that he was looking. "Thank you," she said and stepped out of the way to let him come in. "You look nice too."

She watched him as he stepped away and over to the the large window in the front that overlooked the street. She slowly followed him. "Well, I have been with SHIELD literally my entire life. As you already know, both of my parents were SHIELD agents and I was born at a SHIELD hospital. I split my time between the apartment and living at HQ. I'm off duty for the next 10 days so I'm staying here. Although if something major happens I could be called in."

Steve sighed and turned to face her. “Lets not think about ‘if something happens’ he said. He was going to say more but he figured she didn’t want him to get all sappy on the first ‘real’ date. The ice cream thing...that didn’t count. Here, now, there was expectation and exploration.

“You ready to head out?” Steve asked. He liked to get to the parking lot early. “Today they’re giving small bats to the first 250 through the gate,” He said as he waited for her to get her purse. In the car Steve drove through the New York traffic.

“I want to thank you again for your help with Bucky. He’s...recovering from his captivity,” He said. “I say captivity because I don’t know what else to call it,” He said. “I also wanted to ask you about a woman SSB agent. A Natalya Sokolova. Apparently, James trained with her, on loan from Hydra He fell in love with her and so he asked me to ask you,” Steve said.

Kate smiled and grabbed her purse and then went with Steve down to the Range Rover. He opened her door for her and she smiled and got into the passenger seat. She looked over at Steve when he thanked her for helping him with Bucky. She was glad that Professor Xavier was able to help him. SHIELD was still wary about everything, but she wasn't going to bring that up. However, when Steve mentioned Natalya Sokolova, Kate tensed up a little.

"Natalya Sokolova is very well known to SHIELD. She's killed a number of SHIELD agents. At the moment, she's at the top of SHIELD's most wanted list. We don't know where she is though. She is able to disappear before we can find her."

Steve explained who Natalya was and ‘what’ she was. The rape, the torture, the relentless training. A woman that was turned into a machine for killing. But, she had affected Bucky and so Steve wanted to know where she was.

“The most wanted? Dang,” Steve exclaimed. “I still want to find her, any ideas?” Steve asked as he drove. He knew this wasn’t the greatest subject matter to get into during their date but Bucky weighed heavy on his mind. He wanted to help him in any way he could.

Kate sighed and shook her head. "SHIELD has been trying to locate her for a while now. We have no idea where she is, or where she'll turn up." She became quiet a moment before looking back over at Steve. "Are you so sure that finding this woman is the best thing for him? Isn't he trying to move past that part of his life?"

Steve didn’t talk for a time. He needed to process what Kate had said.
“Kate, we both have lost a great deal of our lives. I know what hanging onto something...anything could mean. It doesn't take a great deal of intelligence to know that, and forgive my french, your balls are in a vice. Like me he woke up from a nightmare of never ever seeing those he cared about and loved. But unlike me, he was used and put through horrific experiments. Controlled to hurt people. “I owe Bucky my life, my friendship and I will do everything I can for him. He’s asked and so I want to help,” Steve said. But then he took hold of and squeezed Kate’s hand for a moment. “But I dont want us to focus on this today, I just wanted you to think about it,” Steve said “Today we’re going to try and have fun,” He said with a smile. “Do you like hot dogs?” He asked her as he turned into the parking lot. He had to show his pass and he paid $10 to park.

There wasn't tension exactly in the car, but there was certainly a high level of seriousness. At first Kate worried that perhaps this conversation was going to ruin their day at the field. However, when he reached over and took her hand and gave it a squeeze she smiled at him. Her smile then grew even bigger when he asked her if she liked hot dogs. "I believe it is a felony to go to a baseball game and not eat a hot dog."

They parked and then walked to the stadium and went inside. They got hot dogs and beers and found their seats. "Wow, these are amazing seats," she told him as they sat down.

“Hey, I got connections!” Steve said with a bright smile. It wasn’t long before the teams took the field. Now they were having fun. The game was in the first inning and the announcer called the game. The beer was cold and hot hot dogs were hot and tasty. They both chided the Yankee batters and booed the bad calls. Steve was having a great time and it appeared, to him anyway, that Kate was too.

“I used to go to games like these with Bucky. Back then it was the Brooklyn Dodgers,” he said. “I didn’t really know my father but Bucky, who was a bit older than I, kinda took me under his wing and showed me the ropes,” He said and then chuckled. “I still got my ass beat more than once. I wasn’t a very big kid,” Steve said.

Kate was having a great time. The sun was shining, the hots dog and beer were tasty, and the company was wonderful. Kate and Steve laughed and smiled as they cheered for the Dodgers and chided the Yankees. Kate looked over at Steve as he began to tell her about when he and Bucky were younger. She smiled over at him when he admitted that he hadn't been a very big kid before the super soldier serum.

"But you had a big heart and that's what they saw in you. You still have a big heart."

Her compliment made him blush, a little. Steve just liked to help people. And fight the good fight. He never gave up on anyone. He told her about his mother and how hard she worked to put food on the table. About the war and defeating Hydra back in 1945. For the most part, going to a baseball game was very much the same. There were seats, people, hot dogs, beer, soft drinks and baseball. He had never gone with a date though. With her hat and shirt, Kate had a very sexy sporty vibe going on too.

At one point though she had a bit of mustard on the corner of her mouth. And each time she wiped it she missed it. Finally Steve used his thumb and got it off. But it was a pretty close moment. And she was looking into his eyes. She had wonderful blue eyes. The dodgers didn't win the game but they still had lots of fun. Afterward he did take her to get some ice cream.

The park they walked to was green and they sat at a bench that was a bit away from the parents and kids who climbed all over a large jungle gym that had saw dust and wood chips on the ground beneath it. Once again, this was another thing that didn't really change much through the years. parents still had children and children still played in the park.

Steve listened as Kate talked about her parents but all in all, they both had very small families. Steve only had himself and Kate had a few relatives but she barely seemed to know them. For Steve there was Bucky and for Kate there was Phil. Though she had other friends within SHIELD. Eventually though Steve had to take her home and he stood with her at the door to the entrance to her apartment building.

"I had a great time Kate...I'd...like to do it again," he said awkwardly. "I mean...go out with you again," He said.

Kate had a wonderful time with Steve. She hadn't been out on a date in a long time and she felt relaxed with Steve. They both talked about their families and their extended families. Kate considered Phil apart of her family, just like Steve considered Bucky apart of his family. Every so often their blue eyes would meet and Kate wondered if Steve was going to kiss her.

Although the Dodgers didn't win, they had a great time and left smiling and laughing. Steve suggested they go get ice cream and so they went back to Morgenstern's. They took their ice cream to go and walked out to a nearby park. They sat on a bench together and talked some more. They just seemed...comfortable with each other. It turned out that they liked a lot of the same kinds of things. They were both outdoorsy types and they made plans to go hiking upstate sometime.

Finally, though, she needed to get home. He drove her back to her apartment and he stood with her at the entrance to her apartment building. She smiled at him when he shyly and awkwardly told her that he would like to go out with her again.

"I'd like that a lot Steve," she told him as her eyes met his.

Finally it came to it. Steve took off his hat and glasses and had wanted to kiss Kate since he had first seen her. He leaned in and decided on the side of caution. Their lips did meet. Though he felt the softness and warmth of her lips, he pulled back fairly quickly as to not seem too eager. He paused to look deeply into her eyes. “Until then,” he said softly and then stepped away to toward his car.

Kate's breath caught in her throat and her heart began to beat faster as she realized that he was going to kiss her. She closed her eyes as she felt his lips touch hers and she kissed him back. He pulled back fairly quickly, but it still left her breathless. As he looked into her eyes again she knew she was in trouble. She was falling head over heels for him. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face as he walked towards the car. She stepped into her apartment building and then paused and leaned back against the door after she closed it. Her smile grew even bigger and she laughed out of giddiness and excitement. She couldn't wait to see him again.

Back at the Tower Steve could not stop smiling. Isabella noticed it first and knew what had happened. Theo and Tony were back and Theo had thoroughly enjoyed his time with his father. He had come home and raved about the new jet and how he had flown it for 2 minutes all by himself. At dinner they were all together, Isabella had made Manicotti and salad. Bucky was there as well and he seemed more himself that evening.

Later that night Steve spoke to Bucky and told him that he had asked Kate to look into finding Natalya. He also asked him to be patient as it might take time to find someone who did not want to be found.