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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.

Tony took this as an excuse to leave. "Alright, I'm out, you guys can figure this out for yourselves." Neither one of the remaining people watched him go.

"Of course I'm going to learn more about you, Cara," he said softly, "and I'll do it the right way, but not now, not in the middle of the night. It's, what, 2 in the morning? You and I both need to get some sleep, okay? I'll see you in the morning." He made way to retreat back to his bedroom, but Cara stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Why not tonight, right now? I mean, I'm not going to be able to go to sleep again. Won't you stay with me? For a little game of 20 questions?" She gave him her best, kindest smile, and hoped that he'd agree. After a whole life of feeling alone in the world, this was new territory to her. But she liked it, whether or not she was ready to admit it to herself.

Steve's strong shoulders slumped in defeat. "Okay, one game. And then you go to sleep."

"Okay, Grandpa," she smirked, and almost skipped out to the living room. I don't do that type of thing, what the fuck? She thought to herself.

She plopped down on a cushioned seat and waited for Steve to join her. When he did, she said, "okay, I go first."

"Who says so?"

"Um, I do," she said in a duh tone.

He nodded, disbelieving. "Right, o-kay."

Cara ignored his response and instead asked, "Favorite color?"

He raised an eyebrow in her direction, a glimmer of a smirk on his face. "Favorite color? Really? We're not in kindergarten, remember?"

She made a face that implied an idea popping into her head. "Oh, thanks for the reminder!"

He shook his head wearily. "Uh, favorite color. Red, white, and blue," he said proudly.

Cara stifled a snort, her head jerking suddenly. "You realize that those are--"

"The colors of the American flag, I know," he finished, and his shoulders slumped in embarrassment.

"That's...amazing," Cara said with a smirk. "It suits you." She giggled at her on unintended pun. "Get it?"

"Yeah, yeah. My suit is red, white, and blue. Ha-ha." Then he asked her the same question.

"Purple," she shot back, as if defending herself again.

He thought about it for a second, and then nodded. "Alright."

With the second round of questions, things started to get a little more personal.

"Favorite food?"

"Hot dogs. What's yours."

"Pizza. Oh my god, I'm so surprised I'm not overweight yet, I eat that shit almost everyday." Then Cara remembered Steve's comment about them not being in kindergarten. "Ever have a girlfriend?"

"...Not exactly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what, I think it'd be best if we called it a night."

"What? No way. Can you count, Gramps? That wasn't twenty, that was, like, two."

He sighed. "Fine. Her name was Peggy."

"1940s girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Did you two ever...oh, what did Tony tell me...fondue?" Cara wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Steve's face was bright red as he answered, "No, I was too busy being frozen in an iceberg to do that."

Cara brushed this response away. "Oh, excuses, excuses..." She came up with another question.

"You ever have a best friend?"

Steve paused before he answered in a quiet voice. "Isn't this supposed to be about you?"

Cara shrugged. "It took a turn. Now, answer the question."

"I...yeah, his name was, uh, Bucky. He was like a brother to me." The words sounded as if they carried an insurmountable weight to him.

"What happened to him?"

"I...I don't really want to talk about it." He looked up at her. "Now it's time for bed. Come on."

Cara was going to roll her eyes, but then caught his own and realized just the pain that was in his eyes. Whatever happened to Bucky must have been bad, she thought, and proceeded to pat Steve on the back.

"You know, if it makes you feel any better, I never had a best friend. You're lucky to have experienced it."

He let his mouth curl up in a small, sad smile as he answered, "Yeah, I am. So lucky."