home ; 𝐬. 𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 , 𝟏

11 | can you even count?

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can you even count?

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The floor of Avengers Tower felt ridiculously good underneath Cara's feet as she regained her ability to stand up on her own after being carried and flown out by Tony.

"You're crazy," she said, catching her breath.

"Hm, I don't remember 'crazy' being put into my biography, do you?" He peered at the teenager, a cocky smirk growing on his face.

Cara just rolled her eyes, though, and placed her freshly made sub sandwich on the nearest counter. She unwrapped it and took the first bite, flavor exploding in her mouth. A small moan of delight escaped her lips, and she blushed furiously.

That sound was so...sexual, she cringed inwardly.

Tony came to stand next to her, opening and starting eat his own creation. "It's good, right?"

"Good?" She scoffed. "It's heavenly."

And then the lights were on in the kitchen, illuminating the scene. Cara blinked away the dots that appeared in her vision, mumbling, "What the hell--"

"I could say the same to you," she heard a deep voice, and looked up to see Steve leaning against the doorframe, frowning at her.

She swallowed the nervous lump that materialized in her throat and tried at a light-hearted response. "Hey, Pops. Couldn't sleep?"

"Actually, I was, until someone--" he glares at Tony-- "decided to make enough noise that'd wake up the whole world." He shook his head disapprovingly, making Cara feel partially bad for her midnight extravaganza. But only partially.

"It was fun! You should've come along," she said cheerfully, sounding nothing like herself.

"I told you no stealing," he insisted, coming to stand across from the teenager.

"This one wasn't my fault," she defended herself, feeling as if she was talking to her parent. Which was silly; she didn't have any parents. Her mom was dead, and her dad was never there for her. So why did it feel like Steve was always filling the quota?

"You know, she's actually right," Tony agreed, pulling Cara from her parental thoughts. "This one's on me." He stood with his chest puffed out a little, and Cara rolled her eyes. Men, she thought knowingly, they think they're all that.

"You're damn right," Steve said sharply, and Cara put a hand to her mouth in mock surprise, still trying to make light of the situation.

"Steve--you--you just...swore," she emphasized the final word, making it sound as if it were taboo.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled, interrupting his macho mood. "Yeah yeah, whatever." He pointed at Tony and accused, "you're a bad influence."

"And you're a good one? Swearing in front of kids, Steve, really..." Tony wasn't done being the arrogant, self-assured ass he was.

"I ain't no kid," Cara spat in disgust, "I'm practically an adult."

"Practically an adult that we're babysitting," Steve pointed out, crossing his arms again.

"Yeah, because you were the ones that volunteered to. Do you even know what my life was like before this? Are you going to even bother getting to know me?" Cara was only just coming to terms with her emotions regarding her stay at the Avengers Tower, and even surprised herself a little bit.