Sometimes, Virginia actually spent her time off at the Avenger's Mansion. Sure, she preferred staying at her own home, it was just more convenient from time to time. And, honestly, she knew that she needed to get to know her team just a bit better. And who better to start that with than the one male on the team that didn't get under her skin with his incessant flirting during a fight.

Ginnie had been hanging around in the lounge waiting for him, a drink in one hand and a book in the other. Her book wasn't anything that would push her thinking, no. It was actually one for enjoyment. And the bit of alcohol lacing her glass of soda was certainly making it more enjoyable. Slowing her cognitive abilities, just enough to not come off as pompous, that was her idea here. But she wasn't entirely sure just how long she would be waiting around.

As she cane to the halfway point in her book though, she started to wonder if any of the Avenger's were going to show. It was just so quiet in there. That had to be odd, right? Just had to be. But as she was starting to truly wonder, she heard someone's footsteps near the front. She sat up, finishing her drink before setting it down and called out, "Hello?"

((TAG: James Barnes Jr
OOC: Okay... this sucks, i know... i am so sorry. They won't all be this suckish though i promise))

There was a bright light followed by searing pain. James jerked awake and looked around. He was in the room he occasionally used at Avengers' Mansion. There was a momentary struggle while he freed himself from the tangle of sheets and blankets. His hand traced the scars on his chest, slowly, while he examined them in the mirror. Remnants of his last mission as Winter Soldier. Those and the nightmares, of course. James pulled on a shirt from the floor and some loose pants, before consulting his watch. 

It was roughly four in the afternoon. He'd passed out after last night's excitement tracking an AIM cell. He had a lot to think about now that he'd confronted, Batman and Roxy. There was a small gurgle. Well, even super soldiers needed a full stomach to think on. James stumbled down the stairs. He decided to raid the fridge, before heading back to his room and drawing out plans. He caught a whiff of something as he passed the lounge. His enhanced senses at work again. It was some sort of body spray. Slightly feminine. The scent of something else caught his nose too. A mixed drink. A book. James wasn't alone. He looked at his watch again and a lightbulb clicked. 

James inwardly sighed. He was supposed to meet Virginia in the lounge and he'd overslept. He heard her call out and James wandered in to the room. "Sorry. I fell asleep upstairs after an OP last night. I just got up. Apologies." The apology was there. He didn't really care if she took it or not, but he made the effort. "You know how those AIM cells can be." He poured himself a glass of water and sat down in a chair opposite Ginnie.

At this point, she would have been pretty much happy to see anyone here. She knew she heard someone and, honestly, she almost thought it might have been Aileen or something. It wouldn't have been a surprise to her, not really. Although, from the sounds of it, it was someone just passing by. She let out a soft sigh. "Oh well," she muttered as she settled back into the couch to go back to reading. She should probably go mix herself another drink, make sure she was nice and mellow for this.

However, before she got barely a few sentences back into her novel, let alone the will to even get up to get anything to drink, she heard James' voice. Oh there he was. She bent the corner of the page in her book before properly shutting it and setting it down in her lap. "Oh, it's fine. You don't really need to apologize. You were bound to come through here eventually. Personally, i assumed you were just off doing something."

Ginnie shifted a bit uncomfortably on the couch, trying to find a position that didn't have her feeling so odd. "If this is a bad time, you can always go and get yourself, umm, readier. I can always keep reading. So long as you promise not to forget I'm here to see you." That didn't really sound right, not when she said it out loud. But she couldn't quite be bothered to correct herself. "But yes, I do know very well. I do hope it went well by the end at least." Way to go, Ginnie. Already so stellar at small talk. Maybe she did need another drink.

The lounge was quiet. The whole mansion was today. That was sort of strange for a place that housed so many superhumans usually. James sipped his water and offered her a smile. "Just doing my best impression of a man in a coma. That was about it." He leaned back in the chair and listened to her. James looked down at his sleep shorts and t-shirt. "I'm alright. I'm probably not going to be any readier. There might be more sleep in my future, honestly." Ginnie sounded nervous or at least uncomfortable. That might explain the alcohol in her drink.

"Well, that depends on which side you're asking about. It went well for me. Them? Not so much." James said with a shrug. Iron Maiden was trying to make small talk with him. He didn't mind it. She was a looker, but James was always wary of someone who could hit him with a repulsor weapon to the face. That was probably a good way to go through life. He noticed the slight confession that Ginnie was here to see him. James wouldn't call her on it just yet.

His voice softened slightly. "Relax. I'm not going to bite your head off, Stark. Maybe, take a deep breath and tell me what you wanted to meet with me. If you want to take me to dinner and a movie, just ask. I like food." That second part was a bit teasing, just to break the ice and help her calm down.

"And I'm sure you were doing a wonderful impression of one. It's not exactly that hard to do. Sightless eyes, steady yet almost unnoticeable breathing, slowed heartbeat, and I'm taking this far too literally now." her words had went from almost confident to slowly fading away as the realization had dawned on her. She glanced towards her empty glass for a moment before looking back at him. Well, she didn't want to be rude, didn't want to get up to make a drink, so she left it for now. Her fingers drummed on her book lightly.

"Considering the fact that you seem to be here fine and well, we can assume it didn't go well for them," she said with a soft, albeit nervous, chuckle. What did she really have to be nervous about? It wasn't like she didn't know this person. What, because he had the title of Captain America, that made him someone to be nervous about? In a fair fight, she was sure she could take him. Then again, that was also the pride talking, not her actual skill. There were more important things here. Much more important things. Like...

Ginnie heard him tell her to relax and that prompted her to take a deep breathe before she rolled her eyes. "Please, if i was asking you out on a date, i would have. Besides, even if that were the reason i wanted to see you, it wouldn't be proper. We are teammates, after all, and that would be like inter-office fratenization." Her voice finally gained the confidence she had been looking for and she decided to keep it rolling. "First off, you can feel free to call me Ginnie. I never really liked being called by my last name. And i had just thought it would be nice to get to know some of my team, you in particular. Perhaps get some leadership advice. I assume you must be something of a leader if you're so stubborn to listen to a small order," she said, trying to sound somewhat teasing.

"Well, I did get shot at a few times. But you make a valid point." They had only fired at him a few times and honestly, the guys he fought were more scientists than thugs. It was a rather quick match. James was still hot on the trail of that technology that those thugs in Gotham were using. Not that he had found anything or that Batman was being very helpful. Ginnie's case of nerves around him was acutely noticeable, but he said nothing. He was used to that. Hawkeye didn't really even give him the time of day unless she had to.

James let out a chuckle at that statement. "Hah. Like I'd take you up on it. You're not even my type." Was that true? It was probably true. James had never really had a type, he thought. But then again, when they didn't tend to stay for more than a night, how did you really know? "And second of all, this isn't a company. Though if you want, we can hire an HR director to file the harassment complaints with." She seemed to have found her confidence and James kept his mouth shut. It would be easier to just let her talk instead of interrupting with jokes.

There was a brief silence as he contemplated what Ginnie was asking. "Well, Ginnie, I don't really like taking orders. I'm here as a favor to SHIELD mostly. I owe the Director a favor or six." It was mostly true. Even if the Director was his guardian. "You have the right idea, but you try to manage the Avengers like a company. I've lead teams on occasion. I know enough about it to tell you that you need more practice. Your people are powerful, but undisciplined. There's no focus in the field and it's going to get someone killed." There was no malice in his voice. It was just a simple assessment of her command style. He liked Ginnie well enough, but the Avengers needed to work on becoming a unit as a whole. Himself included. "We need to start training together. All of us. We need to figure out everyone's strengths and weaknesses, so we can fill in the gaps in everyone's offensive and defensive capabilities." He paused to sip his water and let her speak.

"James, you're Captain America. You were going to get shot at eventually in your career. You can't possibly be genuinely surprised that it happened," she joked. Yeah, that was a good one. For petes sake, Ginnie. Get it together! It was good that he had been the one on top, thought. Not that she would expect any less of someone with the cajones to take up the role of Captain America. Still, she made a note to ask him more about the operation later. She didn't really care to know all the details at the moment. No, because, to her, there were more pressing matters at hand.

Ginnie gave a small derisive chortle, a look of 'oh really' crossing her features. "Do you even have a type, Barnes. Aside from has two legs and two developed breasts?" Okay, maybe that was a little harsher than she had meant it to come out but this turned into a small matter of pride. She couldn't help the small sensation of annoyance at his words. Although it was unnecessary, she understood that. "However, i do understand that this isn't a company. But, from a sort of 'office-y' persepctive, imagine the undeniable awkwardness should one 'date' or sleep with a member of one's team and things ended badly. Not my cup of tea. Especially since you don't seem like that bad of a guy and, personally, i would rather not have to blast you with my repulsors." She said all of this with a smile. It actually felt somewhat good to say. However, how much of it she honestly meant as opposed to it just being an excuse to avoid such things with team members wasn't quite clear even to her.

"Like it or not, this is a team, James, and while you might be used to it, occasionally, you'll need to listen to an order. But that all can be figured out later... the point of the matter is... you're right, and i know that." She sighed. "I am just simply used to dealing out orders from a professional stand point but i need help. And, honestly, i would very much like it if i could get help from you. At least you've done this before. I've never led anything but the Avenger's and, let's face it, I'm stuggling a bit."

She didn't quite admitting that. Especially since it was a bit of a shot at her pride. And to think, she was the one holding the gun. But she knew that she could be a great leader, she just needed to get her rhythm, so to speak. And stop seeing her team as if she was still up at Stark Tower keeping a company running. But his suggestion, it wasn't a bad one. "I agree, we need to do more training together. Not just training. We need an evaluation of everyone, see who fits where, how we can work better as a team so that we're not just some failed attempt at what our father's started."

"Wait, really? I just figured they'd see the flag and throw themselves on the ground in surrender." He deadpanned back. James gave her a grin. Iron Maiden was feeling a little flirty today. He could work with that. James didn't really understand what was happening. He and Ginnie had an interesting bit of tension between them, that he had never noticed before. She seemed slightly insulted by his comment about her not being her type. That was interesting. The commentary that came back made him chuckle. It was harsh. A little of James mask slipped.

He gave a little snort and looked Ginnie up and down. "If that was my type, I'm not sure you'd count." That came out harsher than he meant it. Why was that offensive to him? He didn't really have a type. He just tended to do one night stands. He listened to her words and rolled his eyes. She was right, of course, but that didn't stop it from offending him. He brushed it off. "You're right, Iron Lass. It makes perfect sense from a logistics standpoint. But also, I've been hit with worse than your repulsors."

The statement was accurate. He needed to be better about the team thing. James nodded. "You're right. I'm used to playing it solo and I have to get used to being on a team. Otherwise, I'm a liability to this team. I will work on it. Because you were honest with me." There was a momentary pause. "I will help you. You'll be able to lead any team when I'm done with you. It takes a lot of character to be able to admit something like that. I respect it."

"That's a very accurate suggestion. Training and evaluations are good ideas. It's a good start. I don't feel like I want to fail our fathers either. But, I look forward to evaluating you..." James smirked at her.

"No, because had they done that, then that would mean they had real brains. And you know damn well if they are working for AIM, they are certainly lacking in that respect. Silly Captain, your expectations for them are set far too high." Now this was starting to get a little easier, the banter, and keeping both her expression and voice serious was far too easy. She almost found it amusing, imaging them seeing Cap and just surrendering right off the bat. But no, that would mean they had to be at least somewhat smart. But usually those types weren't intelligent at all. Well, either unintelligent or suicidal it seemed.

However, that seriousness slowly slipped away again as he seemingly unintentionally took another hit at her pride. Oh wow, that was harsh. She had to force herself to keep her eyes up because suddenly all she wanted to do was look down at her chest and readjust her breasts to see if her bra was just making her look ill-equipped. "Oh Cap, if I'm not your type, it has nothing to do with how I look, it's because you know you can't handle something like me, even with those enhancements of yours," she countered, a bit agitated but she didn't show it. She gestured to herself with a bit of a smirk, letting her hands move slowly down her sides, almost lingering a moment by her chest. What actually irked her more, though, was the use of the name Iron Lass. "Never call me Iron Lass again," she warned, her playfulness momentarily gone. That name was a name that had died with her brother. She didn't much care for it anymore. Besides, she was so much more than just a sidekick now. She didn't need to be treated like she was one. "Because if you do, I suppose I'll have my new target test subject for a good bit of those pretty lasers and beams in my suit." Her playful tone came back, sort of, trying to keep it seemingly sweet, even though the venom wanted to seep through.

Ginnie was somewhat happy that James seemed to be understanding of what she said, though. He seemed to understand his need to adjust his attitude towards team work. That was just the first step. Next he would actually need to work on it, not just understand the need for it. But she would be happy to help with that. After all, it was her orders that he was needing to listen to. "Well, there was no point trying to skirt around the obvious issue, James, and if I am anything, it is honest. I might be a genius but that doesn't mean I know everything. Besides, who better to teach me than you? I do appreciate this, you have no idea. Though it does make me wonder just what it will entail. The work you'll be doing on- i mean with me to help make me the best leader I can be." That seemingly Freudian slip she thought was clever. What, just because she came off as the serious and uptight type didn't mean she had to be? Besides, it's not like the rest of her team thought she had it in her. The drink had helped a bit, though she wanted another glass. She just still didn't want to be rude, even if it would be a perfect opportunity to try and make him regret saying she wasn't his type. She seriously didn't know why that bothered her so much.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that we already do our fathers proud, Barnes." She genuinely believed that, too. Well, she at the very least knew that she was doing her father proud, and she was sure that James was holding up the mantle of Captain America wonderfully. She rolled her eyes at his evaluation comment, though, chuckling lightly at it. "Am I honestly to believe that you mean you actually look forward to evaluating my combative and teamwork skills? Because something is telling me that those aren't the things you're wanting to evaluate."

It was true. Usually, AIM members were smart, but lacked common sense. Maybe James' expectations were just a little too high. "Well, I'm trying out this optimist thing. Wanted to see how it felt." The look on Ginnie's face changed slightly too. It looked like she noticed he was being harsh back. James watched her readjust her bra, his eyes locking on to her breasts and his tongue flicked across his suddenly dry lips. He watched her hands move slowly and realized that it was less that he couldn't handle her, more that he wanted to handle her, currently. "Oh, I don't know, Ginnie. I'd certainly be willing to try. You look like you'd be fun to handle, honestly."

The sharpness of her reply to the Iron Lass name was noticed. James hadn't really thought about it when he said it. "Slip of the tongue. But you're more than welcome to test your weapons on me as long as you kiss it better when you're done." He'd been hit by Lydia's beams and god only knew what else. He was fairly sure that repulsors would just feel like anything else he'd been hit with on that list. James knew he crossed a line and he was trying to recover from it. "Let me freshen your drink for you. What are you drinking?" He stood and extended his hand for her glass.

He listened to her pitch and smirked at the obvious slip. "Sweetheart, when I'm done working on you, you'll be ready for anything. Various team building exercises. Chances to get to know one another, you know? Come to rely on one another. Trust one another. Need one another. That sort of thing." He gave her a wicked little grin, then took her glass and made her a drink. He poured himself one too. "Oh, I certainly do want to evaluate those things. And if I happen to evaluate other things along the way, well, that's just some incidental fun."

"Ah optimism, it's some people's best friend. You should tell me how that works out for you, James. Meanwhile, I will be seated on the side of realism awaiting your return," she teased. She could see that his eyes were now staring down towards what a moment ago he had seemingly denied existed. Hmm, for something that made her 'not his type', he surely couldn't keep his eyes off of them now. That was actually quite amusing, if she did say so herself. It was probably those lingering eyes that made her slowly smooth her hands down her front as if she was trying to get any wrinkles out of her shirt, but she knew that wasn't the case. And at this point, if James didn't realize that then, well, he was either extraordinarily slow or just too distracted to even care. "Let's not forget that my eyes are not down here but up here," she said with an almost snicker as she indicated her chest before moving her hands up to her eyes, tapping just beside the left one once. His little handling comment did leave her in a bit of a fluster, however, though she hid it well, rolling her eyes as if it was nothing more than a joke. The joke more so being that she'd ever allow for such a thing to begin with. Whether the Avengers were a business or not, that did not change the fact that it would also make her seem like a hypocrite if she condoned the behavior between them that so bothered her about T'Shan and Aileen.

She did have to turn her head away from him for a second to try and get the heat in her face under control. There were days that she wished she actually wore make up so that little slip ups like this weren't as noticeable. She would need to fix that problem at a later time, though. Maybe. She took a few small breathes for composure before looking back at him. "If it hurts you that bad, I think I'd much rather take you to a hospital than kiss them better. You'd have to be extraordinarily special to make me do that. But I'll certainly take your request into consideration." She picked up her glass and handed it to him, trying to remember just what it was that she'd been drinking before. She had honestly gotten so caught up in her book before this that what had been in the glass hadn't really mattered to her. Though she did remember it being juice and... was it vodka or a splash of rum? Oh it didn't really matter to her what filled that glass. "What I was drinking priorly doesn't quite matter. Why don't you surprise me with something new?"

"I'm quite looking forward to you working on my then," she replied with a wink. After the words had left her, though, she immediately wanted to draw them back. She couldn't quite believe she'd said that. But, considering what else she's said, it shouldn't have been the least bit surprising to her. She was just being a horrible... could one even consider this flirting? She was pretty sure it had far surpassed that by now. Whether she was trying to just keep up on her own personal game of chicken or not, she also couldn't figure out. But it wouldn't quite matter. After all, words were one thing. It was the actions that actually meant something and she wasn't about to actually follow through with any of what she was saying. She pushed a bit of her hair out of her face and behind her ear so she could be doing something with her hands. Something other than the incessant tap tap tapping on her thigh. "Incidental fun?" She had to laugh at that. "If you evaluated anything else, I assure you, there would be nothing incidental about it."

There was a moment where James offered her a smirk. "Yes, your eyes are up there. However, mine are exactly where you wanted to direct them." He could see where this was heading. Ginnie wanted to play chicken with him. The problem was that James was never the kind of person to back down. That was probably why no played real chicken with him since he was younger. Well, that and Coulson got tired of his insurance going up. This was going to end with either no one winning or everyone winning. James was an all or nothing kind of guy.

The sudden turn of her head was a tell. She needed a few moments to get herself under control. James inwardly grinned. He was making note of this, trying to see how far he could push it. Too far and she'd pull herself inward and get awkward. Not far enough and she'd dismiss him completely. He needed to find that sweet spot in the center to get Ginnie to drop her guard and open up. Then she'd be able to trust James enough to let him help her lead the Avengers. "Your armor's pretty fast. No reason you couldn't do both. Gotta solve all your problems at once."

He nodded and took her glass, mixing her up a rum and coke, while he made himself a screwdriver. Orange juice seemed to lend itself to just waking up. It was probably okay to drink it now. Right? He walked over and handed her the rum and coke. "I keep trying to surprise you with new things. Let me know when it starts working."

"Well, I agree with that statement. Nothing incidental about it." He waited for a pause and then smirked. "You look like you could stand to be worked on a bit right now, Ms. Stark."

Virginia honestly wished that she could argue that point but boy was it right on the money. They were right where she had been trying to get him to look, if only to prove something. Was she trying to prove something to herself, though? Or him? She honestly hadn't a clue. More likely, it was a little from column a and a little from column b. That was usually how that worked, wasn't it? What was the real amusement, was the fact that it seemed that people were so easily manipulated to change their outlook on someone with the simplest of gestures to draw their attentions to something else. She wasn't the manipulative type by far but using it from time to time to defend what she liked to consider her pride was a different matter entirely. "And how easy it was to direct them to somewhere you denied existed but moments ago," she pointed out with a smirk. She could do this, she knew she could. It was far easier than she had expected though.

Yes, that was true, her armor was pretty fast. But the real important part of that little fact was not how fast her armor was, but how little she would care to actually kiss any part of him. Now that wasn't to say anything about his appearance. Aesthetically, he was quite appealing. Some might think he was a charmer. His intelligence was something she appreciated, his inner strength, there was a lot there for her to appreciate. And while there were some people, even on her team, that seemed to find him intimidating (and that wasn't to say that there weren't times that even she thought that), she knew that wasn't all there was to him. But this lack of knowledge, this lack of understanding of what was underneath, that was probably what made her want to do anything with him so low. One night stands among those who you work with rarely ended well. And yet here she was, playing this little game. A game she knew she could win, knew that she had to win because she never started a game she thought there was even a possibility of her losing. A foolish mistake on her part, for sure.

"Oh, I will let you know when I'm actually surprised by these little attempts at, well, surprising me." There was almost a sweetness in her tone that was underlying that teasing tone as she took her glass. "Thank you for this, though," she added as she lifted the glass to him before taking a sip. Oh yes, this was much better. More to drink, that's what she needed. She almost sounded like an alcoholic thinking like that. She wasn't an alcoholic, though. She liked to think of alcohol as a self-prescribed medication to theoretically dumb herself down a little. It was a better depressant than most depressants were and that was what she liked the most about it. She rested the cup lightly on her knee as she slowly licked her lips.

On the inside, she was almost certain that she could win their little game. Call it stubbornness or stupidity, it was a thought she had. Up until that last little comment he made, with that almost wicked little smirk. She could almost feel the blood racing to her cheeks as they started to burn. It was like there was a white hot fire crackling under her skin and, for a long moment, she was silent. No words could come to her. Just a stream of jumbled up fragments filled her head. She hadn't had enough to drink for this yet. Nope, that was obvious. As if to try and use it as an excuse to keep her mouth from producing the sounds that words were made up of, she brought the glass to her lips to drink. One sip, two... three for good measure. She didn't want to drain the entire close, but she had almost considered it. Her nose scrunched up a second as the actual taste of the rum made it's way through the soda. When words finally came to her mind, she had to bite down on them. After all, they seemed almost as if she was inviting him to try. 'Words are one thing, actions are another' was what kept playing in her mind. Those would be such foolish words, wouldn't they? Especially given the little game she was trying to play. "All these words, James, but that's all they are. Besides, do you really think it's smart to test you luck, big guy?" Yeah... that probably wasn't much better than what she had been thinking. Stupid, stupid Ginnie.

A little smirk played across James' face. He hadn't decided if this was part of her training or if they were just having fun now. "And how easy it was to convince you to direct my attention to them. Pride is something of a weakness. It will get you in trouble." He was still trying to figure this little dance of theirs out. Part of him just wanted to throw her on the couch and have her right there, which seemed to be something that both of them would enjoy, but James had a feeling that his profile of her was correct and she'd regret it later. Though even was starting to wonder.

There was just enough mystery about James and he'd been leaving psychological cues for her to follow. James wanted to see what she was made of now. They'd started playing chicken and neither wanted to swerve. There could only be a collision now and James was fairly sure both of them wanted to win. Well, he would be content to play with her. She took the glass, keeping her teasing tone about her. "You're welcome." He said, ignoring the comments about his surprising her for now. He use that for fodder later.

"I plan everything out carefully, Ginnie." James set the glass on the table and turned back to Ginnie. He leaned down, brushing his lips against her cheek as he passed it and whispered softly in her ear. "I don't believe in luck, Iron Princess. Words are just that. You look like someone who appreciates actions more anyway. The better question is: Do you want to test your luck? Because I'm inclined to let you at this point." His lips grazed her earlobe softly as he smiled at her. "Surprise."

Damned pride, at that moment, she felt a hatred for her own personality traits. She wasn't about to change them as they were ever much apart of what made her who she was and she quite adored who she was, however that didn't mean that she couldn't momentarily hate the blasted thing that was leading her down this little road. Where she had thought she might have been leading this game, she quickly learned she was just the follower. Her, the follower! No, that wasn't how this worked! She hated to think that he had gotten the upper hand all because of a bit of petty pride. No, that wasn't right. That wasn't how this worked. And yet the signs were there, they were obvious. "Quite a risque way to teach a lesson, don't you think?" she asked. Her eyes held a bit of mischief in them that would just as quickly soon vanish due to his actions.

"Oh, I'm sure every one of your actions are meticulously planned out. Likely one of the delightful traits that makes you a marvelous leader and even a better person to help in teaching me what I need to know about such an art." She leaned forward to put her glass down on the table only to find herself moving to try and put as much space between herself and James. He was leaning down, almost like he was hovering over her. The glint in her eyes dissipated, as did her smirk. She wasn't sure if it was discomfort or nervousness she suddenly felt but it made her stomach turn as she stared up at him. The soft touch of his lips on her cheek seemed to turn her own body into an oxymoron as a shiver rushed through her while the heat in her cheeks grew ever more. Hot and cold. An odd mix. She didn't have nearly enough in her system to be able to deal with this. So why did she think she needed to keep pushing back, keep trying to win. But even then, while she knew that she wanted to try and win, she couldn't. The only thing she could think of that could even give her a slight advantage was to turn his face to hers and kiss him. At least then she would have one upped him. But then, doing that would just further show his point. That her pride was a weakness and it had been used so easily to manipulate her actions. It wasn't necessarily a bad idea, still, she was frozen, unable to do even that.

The heat from her cheeks spread throughout the rest of her body. Dammit, she lost. She lost and she didn't want to admit. But not only did she not want to admit it, she couldn't seem to gain much control over her own actions in order to push back, push further. But pushing more, she knew, would end in only trouble. How could she have let this happen? Initial, a small squeak passed through her lips, not even a discernible word able to escape. After clearing her throat, though, she was able to speak. "Tricky little Captain, aren't you?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly as she said it. She wasn't answering his question, though. Wasn't saying no, but she didn't say yes either. Surprise indeed, James. Very well played.