The Fixer

Uncomfortable truths

Closing her door in Steve's face she leaned her back against it for a long moment. What the hell just happened? He had kissed her and she had kissed him back. That couldn't happen again no matter how much she wanted it to. Although his being a complete dick will certainly help her stay away. Joanna knows that her coming in like she did wouldn't help her form bonds with the team easily. It never did. She was an outsider whose sole job was to determine who stayed and who went. So he would probably get over his mild infatuation with her quickly.

She had hoped from what she had heard about Steve that he would be able to take the criticism she had to give and want to help her make this team into what it was supposed to be. Shaking her head to get herself back to what she was doing before Steve and her unexpected makeout session. She looks around to assess the stacks of boxes in her apartment-like room.

Joanna didn't have a ton of stuff so it wouldn't take her long to unpack, but it is enough that she'll be busy for a couple of hours. She was never really anywhere long enough to collect anything; it was more the particular way she liked things set up. Besides Italy, the longest she'd spent in one place in the last three years has been no more than five months. Doesn't really give you time to collect stuff when you're always on the move.

She only ever has the basics of home like comforts. Some pictures of her family, a few of her friends from back home and the few agents she'd gotten close to. A lot are from places she's traveled to for work. One of the perks of this job was the never ending travel to beautiful countries. The rest are her preferred sheets and blankets, basic bathroom and personal hygiene stuff. Then there was the basic kitchen stuff and her movie and music collection and a very small fraction of her books. No matter where she goes those three things were a must to come with her.

Joanna made quick work of the small kitchenette and bathroom before moving onto her bedroom. One thing about staying here she liked was that Stark has each apartment fully furnished and was surprisingly done tastefully. A little too modern for her tastes with the plain white and grey walls and silver touches of chrome not to mention all of the glass. Hopefully she wouldn't be here long enough to complain or remodel.

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Just as she was about to finish hanging up the last of her clothes Joanna heard a knock on her door. Placing the shirt she was putting on a hanger up on the rack she walked over to the front door. Opening it to see Peter. "Hey, Agent Coleson. We were wondering if you'd like to come have lunch with us?" He asks with an adorable blush on his face.

Giving him a warm smile she tells him, "Sure and Peter, you can call me Jo."

Peter was a few months younger than her baby brother and seemed to be just as sweet. He was a little more shy than Matty was, but she thought once he finally opened up he became a lot more easy going. He seemed like such a sweetheart and it made her want to take him under her wing. Peter gives Joanna a huge smile. "Okay. Jo, it is."

They quickly cover the short distance from her apartment to the kitchen to find everyone sitting around the large table already dishing themselves up. She glances around the table and sees that there were three open spots to sit at. Peter sits down between Clint and Bucky. Ignoring the empty seat next to Steve she goes over to sit between Thor and Loki. Joanna would rather sit across from him than next to him.

She said her hellos to the group and looked around the table. None of the teams she had set up are sitting together, except for Peter and Bucky. Joanna didn't think they would, it was more like she had hoped they would. Baby steps.

Tony looks over at her as Loki holds a large bowl of pasta for her so she can dish it onto her plate. "Settling in alright?" He asks with a kind smile.