"I know you guys already think I'm horribly un-cool," Mrs. Stark said to the teenagers once everything in the room had settled down. "But you guys look exhausted, and it is late."
Ryan had no problem with taking orders, and quite frankly he agreed with Mrs. Stark. He was exhausted. Funny how hiding out on the seventh floor all day trying to stay away from Pepper and the Avengers could wear him out when in his pre-ice state he had been used to rigorous days of endless training with his mother.
"Actually, we do need to be holing up to ourselves," Andy said to the JID kids as a group.
Hayne looked up over the edge of the book he had been reading, asking, "Why?"
Andy cocked his head to the side, glaring wordlessly at the other boy to show his displeasure at being questioned in front of the adults.
Scarlet sighed testily, getting to her feet and pulling Hayne to his as she said, "Because he's large and in charge and he says so, same as always."
"Hey," Dakota spoke up, letting her tone take on an edge of rebuke.
"Are we a team?" Ryan asked, looking sharply between Andy and Hayne. "We know how to deal with stress, so let's not lose that ability now, okay? You want to keep our united front?"
"Jawohl," Andy drawled.
Ryan took in a calming breath before saying, "Then let's act like it."
"Yes, mother," Andy replied sarcastically, ignoring the fact that Blaine, Scarlet, Eif, and the twins were already filing into the elevator without the rest of them.
"Okay," Dakota snapped, laying her hands on her brother's shoulders to guide him towards the elevator. "That's it; it's bedtime for you, Mr. Stark."
"I don't need a Miss Potts right now," Andy objected.
"I beg to differ," Dakota replied as Ryan followed them mutely into the elevator.
"Was all that really necessary?" Hazel asked the moment the elevator started to move upwards with them inside.
Hayne bit his lip, apologizing, "Sorry."
"Me too," Ryan added, although he wasn't sure it was necessary.
"Same here. Do you still love me?" Andy asked of his girlfriend, pulling her close to him.
"Yes, against all my better judgment," she answered with a smile and chaste kiss to his lips.
"Really, though," Ryan asked Andy as the kids poured out of the elevator. "What did you want us up here for?"
"How much of our crap got spilled to the Avengers today?" Andy asked, guiding the group into his bedroom. "Because it seemed to me like you, my dear Demi, did in fact take up with Barton at some point today."
"I am not your dear anything, and he found me, if you must know, and, yes, we did talk about my life with Loki. Why?"
"I just think we need to know what pages they're on with how much they know about us until we know whether or not they're trustworthy," Andy answered, making a horrible attempt at appeasing her. "I know that after breakfast, you were the only one not holed up here all day, so I was curious. Speaking of breakfast," he turned to Dakota. "What happened that the Avengers showed up for it?"
"Pepper asked me if it was okay for them to eat with us," Dakota answered.
Andy's eyebrows rose along with everyone else's as he verified, "Mrs. Stark was here before we were awake? With you alone?"
"For a little while," Dakota said, flushing painfully.
"What's wrong, Koty?" Blaine asked, laying a hand on her arm.
She flinched away from her boyfriend's touch, and Ryan frowned, mentally guessing what was going on.
Blaine did too, murmuring only, "Oh," as he withdrew the physical contact.
"I kind of had a meltdown," Dakota confessed, sighing deeply before she added, "And then Agents Barton and Romanoff came in." She snorted. "The former actually has some very good points on how to deal with my…" she took a deep breath before finishing, "Arrow issues."
"What is he?" Andy asked, "Our new self-appointed shrink?"
"No," Dakota said. "I don't think so."
"He just wants to help," Eif said. "I think they all do."
"Maybe it's just that he's as broken as they are," Hayne suggested. "No offense, you two."
Dakota rolled her eyes, saying frankly, "Truth hurts… but what happened this morning really helped. I think… I think I'm going to be okay… and okay with being here."
They'd all seen the change in Dakota since that day when Blaine had been sent to kill her, but until now, until she had actually addressed it and apparently healed from it, those changes had been something subtle. It seemed that being here with the Avengers was going to start bringing up those things that the teenagers had fought long and hard within themselves to keep buried. Ryan didn't know if he was ready for that, and his stomach was churning with the thought of it when he went to bed.
"Knock, knock."
Ryan heard someone coming, but he jumped anyway when the voice that floated in from his bedroom doorway was that of his least favorite person in this tower, his father, Steve Rogers.
"Can I come in?" the captain asked softly.
Ryan shrugged, not looking up from the work he was doing at the desk in his room.
"Whatcha up to?" Steve asked curiously, looking over his shoulder at the computer screen. "What is that, school work?"
Ryan nodded. "It's something to do."
"Not that I'm not fully in favor of you doing your homework, but there's plenty of things to do in the tower. Tony has more toys here than anyone ought to be allowed to."
"No, thanks," Ryan replied, still not looking at Captain America.
"Then let's talk," Steve said, sitting on the edge of Ryan's bed and turning his son's chair so that they were facing one another. "You promised that you would explain to me how you got here… and how you still look to be only, what, sixteen?"
"Seventeen," Ryan corrected with a sigh.
"I would really like to know how that happened." Steve's eyebrows drew together as he said, "You mentioned being in the ice beside me?"
"It's a really long story, sir," Ryan said, dreading telling Steve how the love of his life had gone a little crazy after the super soldier's disappearance.
"I've got all the time in the world for you, Ryan," Steve said carefully.
Ryan sighed again, and just like that the story of life with Lieutenant Margaret Carter began to pour out of him. He was quick to discover that his father was a surprisingly good listener, and it was relieving to tell someone what he had been through, both before and after being in the ice. Though neither one of them would've even dreamed of admitting it, both father and son had tears in their eyes by the time Ryan was finished with his story. It was healing for Ryan, and there may have even been a hug exchanged between father and son… just so long as they weren't asked about it.
