See Chapter One for Disclaimer

Excerpts from Charlie's Journal

26 October 2011

I've officially overstayed my welcome. I suppose it was bound to happen, and if I'd been paying attention, I wouldn't be as surprised as I am now, but as it is, the conversation I overheard kind of threw me. I had no idea I was so irritating to them.

But Tony was right. I am an adult. I'm older than they think I am, and definitely old enough to be living alone.

Thing is…. I don't know about the whole alone thing. I got used to Steve, and Tony, and Bruce and everyone. I thought they were doing the same. Guess I'm not as good as reading people as I thought. But….

I don't want to go. I suppose it's time to initiate Plan Interfere: Immediately.

I'm gonna miss everyone though.

Damn it, I got attached.

Now it's gonna hurt.

The Avengers were in a bad mood.

Fury did a good job of leaving them alone, or he had, the past few months, but apparently in order to garner his assistance with Bruce's prank, Bruce had promised the man one mission; and because they'd forfeited, that meant all of the Avengers had to pay up.

The mission had not gone well.

It didn't help that Fury had refused to go lightly on them, gleefully handing over his most burdensome case.

They'd finished the case; but it had been a workout, putting everyone in a bad mood once they finally got home.

Their angry mood was part of the reason they spoke so harshly.

That excuse did not keep them from having to suffer the consequences of their words.

"Hey, anybody seen the squirt?"

"Ugh!"

The team had just arrived home, worn and weary, and the first words out of Clint's mouth had Stark rolling his eyes and reaching for a drink, unable to silence the groan that spilled out of his mouth.

"What's with the attitude?" Bruce asked with a frown.

Stark, who had felt a certain way for awhile now, was more than happy to unload his thoughts.

"It's just that I don't remember signing on to take care of the kid indefinitely, you know? I know we said we'd take her for a while, but c'mon guys, no way was this thing supposed permanent! Nobody's really finding a way to get rid of her." Stark finished his drink in one swallow and moved to refill it.

"It's not like she's a disobedient puppy you can get rid of. She's a kid, and she's our responsibility." Steve rolled his eyes at Stark's flippant words.

Steve knew Tony didn't mean it. Tony adored Kay, that was obvious. He was just stressed out.

"Why, though? Why do we have to take care of her? Why us? That's my question." Tony finished his glass and reached for a third refill. "We've put all of our lives on hold to play pretend; living together for her sake, because we failed to stop the bad guy from messing with her. Which we don't even know what he did! We just saw her flip out and when Fury startled grumbling about not knowing what to do with her, we played the martyr!

"Don't you think it's time we started moving on with the rest of our lives? You know, Thor, heading back up to Asgard, The agents meeting back up with Shield on a permanent basis, and me doing, well, whatever I do. Steve's new, so I dunno what your plans are, but come on guys! Shouldn't we be doing something, instead of playing babysitter?"

No one really knew what to say to that. Tony was just blowing off steam, but some of what he was saying did have merit.

"She's not our responsibility." Tony added. Then he grimaced. "And honestly, she's always around! There's no time for us to be adults because suddenly we're all too busy being parents." Tony looked at his drink, and reached for another refill.

Natasha nodded. "Tony has a point. None of us asked for this, let alone volunteered for it. She was forced onto us."

"She's not a bad kid, though. She's a good kid. She's smart. She's funny." Bruce interjected, a little confused at where all the animosity was coming from.

"I'm not denying that." Tony argued. "All I'm saying is; don't you think she's overstayed her welcome? She's a great kid, sure, but she's clingy, and we're all too busy with our own crap to hang with each other, let alone take care of a kid."

"C'mon Tony, what do you suggest? That we kick her out onto the street? She's got no place else to go!" Clint snapped.

"She's smart. She'll figure it out."

"She's young. She trusts us to have her back, and you just want to what, throw her away?" Steve joined the conversation, arms crossed.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Cap, if you think about it, she's no fragile flower." Tony shrugged. "She's a stray." There was a silence as the room reeled in shock. "And when you lie down with strays, you get up with fleas."

The room went deathly silent in response to that.

Kay stood in the doorway, silent as well. In all honesty, she didn't know what to say.

Everything Tony had said; it was true. And she realized something in that moment that she should've realized weeks ago; she'd overstayed her welcome.

Kay looked down at the phone gripped so tightly in her hand that her knuckles were white. Looks like she had plans to make.

Steve's phone ringing had the near frozen Avengers spurring to action; Fury had been on the other end, he wanted to be debriefed. By the time the team rounded the corner, Kay was gone.

It was hours later when Clint poked Tony harshly in the shoulder.

"You said mean things about Kay earlier." HE accused. "Are you really going to kick her out?"

Tony shook his head. "No. She's welcome here for as long as she wants. She knows that."

Steve frowned. "Does she?"

Life changed for everyone that day. Kay was gone much more; the team hardly ever saw her, and at first no one really realized it. They seemed relieved at the reprieve, and would spend more time out and about as adults. They spent more time out of the tower in three weeks than they had since Kay had moved in. It was a relief for the change of scenery, and Kay's absence wasn't really mentioned or noticed, the team got so busy. It took her missing three movie nights for anyone to even realize that something had changed.

"Hey Kay!" Stark threw over his shoulder when he saw Kay enter the living room. She strode over to the fridge, pulling out an apple and a water bottle. She shot Tony a half hearted grin as she moved to make an exit.

"Hey Tony." She shot out as she passed him by.

"We're going to watch that new thriller that just came out. It looks like crap, but whatever. You in?"

"I'm actually out." Kay smiled, but it wasn't one of her usual cheery grins. It was...strained.

"Literally," Kay shrugged, "I've gotta go. I've got things to do...Maybe next time."

And she was gone. Tony shrugged and plopped down in between Steve and Thor.

Halfway through the movie, Tony frowned. "The squirts been out a lot. What's up with that?"

Seconds later, he was distracted. But Steve's brow stayed furrowed the rest of the film, as well as long into the night.

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~CLC~