One cool shower and a couple of hours later (in which Skyler decided she really ought to do something about her lack of clothing, considering her only clothes besides a sweatshirt and sweatpants were soaked in sweat. She ended up hand washing and blow-drying them, only to discover a Stark-ified washer and dryer downstairs.) the tower's youngest resident made her way to the dining room. She tapped her fingertips against her thigh as she walked, subtly (or perhaps not so subtly, when one lives with spyassassins and supersoldiers) releasing nervous energy.

A trip down the stairs and a few paces across the living area, then through the kitchen, and then she was there, 5 minutes early, and the only person in the room. Food was already on the table in multicolored dishes with steam-clouded covers, various aromas wafting into the air. The teen's mouth watered as she walked around the table, and she inhaled deeply, enhanced nose brightening the already tantalizing scents. Steak. Mashed potatoes. Steak. Carrots, peas, corn. Steak. If she had a tail, it would have been wagging right about now.

"Something smell good?"

Skyler whirled around, stance shifting to the defensive, but it was only Rogers standing in the doorway. He wore bright red oven mitts, and held a plate in his hands, upon which rested a golden loaf of bread. A knowing smile curved his lips.

The teen relaxed a fraction and ducked her head slightly as a bit of rose crept up her cheeks. "Yeah." She looked at the bread in the Captain's hands, then at the table, and finally at the man himself. "Did you... Make all this?" Her expression was one of pure disbelief and amazement.

Rogers nodded. "Yep. Someone's gotta make sure Tony doesn't order take out every night." He strode forward and set the bread platter on the table, before removing the oven mitts and checking his watch. "Speaking of which, the others should all be here in a minute. Go ahead and sit wherever."

Sure enough, the rest of the team piled into the dinning area at precisely six o'clock, and wasted no time in getting seated and piling their plates high with food. Once again, Skyler ended up sandwiched between Stark and Rogers. The billionaire had a decent sized piece of meat on his plate, and was currently dumping a hearty helping of mashed potatoes on top. The rest of the Avengers seamed to be doing the same. All, that is, except for Rogers, who was watching Skyler with a slight downward tick at the corner of his mouth.

"Go on, help yourself," he said when she noticed him watching.

"I..." The girl trailed off, looking around at the enormous amount of food, and at everyone chattering and scooping various food items from the dishes. Her stomach rumbled. She really was quite hungry. But she couldn't bring herself to take anything.

Food is a reward. You earn your meal, and you remember your place.

The words of Hydra echoed in her head, and her appetite promptly disappeared.

"You first," she said finally, nodding at the soldier's own empty plate.

The blonde shook his head. "Chef eats last."

Well, she couldn't argue with the Captain, and since everyone else seemed to have taken as much as they desired, they started to take notice of the teen's lack of movement. Slowly, hesitantly, Skyler reached for the dish closest to her. It was filled with steamed vegetables. She spooned some onto her plate, then replaced the dish. Picking up her fork, she took a bite, chewed, and swallowed.

"Don't you want some steak?" Rogers asked.

Skyler paused, fork poised above her veggies, and turned her gaze towards the meat platter. Yes, she'd like some steak. But it was all the way at the other end of the table, near Thor, and she didn't want to be a bother...

"Hey Goldilocks," Stark called out, "care to share that steak with the rest of us?"

"But of course, Man of Iron."

Thor passed the platter around, and Stark set it between Skyler and the Captain.

"Eat up, Balto, can't have you dying of starvation in my tower. Bad for PR."

The girl muttered a quiet thanks before selecting a small piece, cooked rare. Apparently satisfied, Rogers began filling his own plate, and the chatter around the table picked back up.

"And then, I gave a mighty shout, and swung mjonior upon the giant's head-" Thor regaled Dr. Banner with a tale of a prior battle.

"So I was thinking, if we reverse the energy channels-" Stark was also speaking to Banner. The doctor nodded and hummed in appropriate places in response to both chattering men.

Romanoff and Barton muttered quietly in Russian. Skyler wished she could hear above the noise; she was curious about what they might be discussing, and since she spoke Russian, she would've been able to understand them.

The aforementioned archer noticed her watching and paused mid-sentence. He simply stared for a moment, before speaking louder, above the din. "You speak Russian?"

The teen nodded and avoided his gaze, and that of Romanoff, who was by now also looking at Skyler curiously. "Sorry"

"Don't be," he said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face, "This means the three of us can have secret conversations. Watch."

He started speaking to Romanoff again, this time louder so Skyler could hear. Both he and the red-head shot glances and glares Stark's way. "Like this, we can pretend to be talking smack about Tony. "

"But really, we could be talking about anything," Romanoff said, "We could debrief after a mission, without anyone getting curious."

"Or," Barton said, shooting a particularly nasty look towards Stark, "We could just spout nonsense. It's pretty fun."

Skyler couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips. She watched the spy-assassins, then shifted her gaze to Stark. He continued his babbling, but when he turned to get more potatoes, he just about froze from the force of assassin glares, and his face folded into a deep frown.

"What? What did I do?"

Romanoff rolled her eyes. "Pumpkin pie is superior to apple."

"Don't tell Mr. All-American over there, I think he'd launch into a speech about patriotism and tradition."

"I did once. His face was priceless."

"Speech?"

"Speech."

"Ha. Knew it."

Stark frowned harder. "Guys, this is not fair. No talking about people right in front of them if they can't understand you. Now, as the owner of this table, I demand you explain what you are saying about me."

Barton wrinkled his nose in disdain. "If Stark were an animal, I think he'd be a kitten."

"Nah, he's not cute enough to be a kitten."

"He is when he pouts like that."

Skyler choked on her water in sputtering laughter. All eyes turned to the teen as she coughed, face turning red, until she managed to get her breathing under control again. "I'm fine."

Stark stared at her for a moment, gears turning. Once they clicked, his frown morphed into an indignant scowl, and he whirled on the assassins, pointing an accusatory finger at them. "No. You are not corrupting the kid with your spy games."

"Whatever you say, Pumpkin Spice Kaboodle."

A/N: Woohoo! We made it to ten chapters folks! May there be many more.

Skyler has finally eaten two meals with the Avengers without running away. That's a good sign, don't you agree? I wonder if things will start to change now... I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

So, what do you all think? Advise, questions, ideas? I love hearing from my lovely readers, it makes my day that much brighter. So go ahead, leave a review, or shoot me a message.