Estrella slept deep and hard. Steve was able to get into the running shorts he'd bought for vacation and lock up the truck without waking her. He made sure her phone was right by her head and he kept his in his hand while he ran.
There was absolutely no one on the beach at this early hour. He'd been counting on that, because he was in only the brief nylon shorts. Never would he wear shorts like this in New York, but he'd loved bare skin on the beach so much before that he'd bought them in anticipation of vacation. He didn't even want shoes on his feet.
He pushed himself hard, as if he was running a critical mission behind enemy lines. The reason the Southern part of the beach was restricted to four wheel drive vehicles became obvious. Out of the dark loomed half buried snarls of wooden poles and wreckage from past tropical storms. Occasionally there was a tangled wad of massive steel cable or rope which had washed ashore. Several miles down from their campsite, the beach was washed nearly in half by a deep inlet. Steve's eyes were sharp, but he couldn't see through water in the dark. He took his chances running through the water. In some places, the sand was high and fluffy enough to make him doubt that his truck would have enough traction to pass.
Steve liked the physical challenge of the nearly hidden obstacles. Being in a novel location with occasional palm trees and the deep dark of no nearby urban centers helped his mind to open up to the things he wanted to think about. Only the wan light of the moon helped him along.
His physical urges weren't going away simply because Thor had told him how to direct them. On the contrary, his entire body was surging with energy that he tried his best to run off at a punishing pace. The full ache in his groin felt nearly as antsy and demanding as it had the night Buck had dug up all the trouble he could handle. The difference was that Steve wasn't afraid anymore.
The strength and drive that filled him would find its outlet soon, somehow. He didn't know how that was going to take care of itself, but he had confidence that he wouldn't mess up again. Before, he'd been afraid that he'd embarrass himself in some way, like tipping over into orgasm in public from too much stimulation on the dance floor at the restaurant. With the new understanding he'd gained, that was still possible, but he wasn't ashamed. Tact would be required if he found himself too close to the edge in public, but he wasn't going to panic. There was an eagerness in him, looking forward to however his tension might find a way to resolve itself. And he wasn't going to apologize.
He'd been gone a while, so he turned to make miles back toward Estrella and the truck. The morning was cool, probably around sixty degrees. Hard as he was pushing his body to run, he'd have been sweating even if it was freezing. He estimated that he was still four miles from the truck when his phone buzzed in his hand.
Concern that Estrella might need him made him stop and check his phone immediately, but it wasn't Eya trying to contact him. It was Buck.
Where did ya end up?
Call me, Steve texted in return.
For security reasons, he wanted to hear Buck's voice before he revealed even his approximate location. Steve walked briskly while he waited for his phone to ring. He would have liked to run more, but he already knew-
"Is everything alright?" he asked as soon as Buck's call came in.
"Yeah. Are you on the run?" Buck asked with urgency.
"Yeah, on a beach. Relax, Buck. I'm only jogging," Steve said.
"Bullshit. You're breathing like when we made that ordinance run to-"
"I know, I know. I did it on purpose. Nothing's wrong. Being on leave is nice, but I need the PT," Steve explained.
Buck was silent for a moment on the other end of the call.
"I can't get a lock on your phone. Where'd ya end up?" he asked.
"It's good to know the new security protocol is working. We're near Corpus Christi. At the beach. I think you can figure it out from there without any technology. Why?" Steve asked suspiciously.
Bucky grunted a sound that seemed to combine surprise and disgust.
"And you've got the girl with you," Buck said.
"Her name is Estrella. What's going on? I can tell you're on about something."
Another silence on Buck's end. Steve shook his head. Buck was up to something. It wasn't like him to have to stop and think about things. Quick as he was, there was hardly ever a pause in their conversations.
"Maybe I'm surprised you ran off so far. I don't like you out of reach of backup," Bucky grumbled.
"Yeah, well I spent months chasing your ass, so it's your turn to worry. There's not a war on, Buck. We'll be fine. Just one girl recognized me so far, and she didn't take any pictures."
"Watch your back. I mean it." Buck said.
"I will. I am. I've got my usual gear."
Bucky grumbled something about a shield, a handgun, and a fancy suit not being adequate gear for the sort of trouble Steve was capable of stirring up. Steve smiled and listened to him bitch about running off to bum-fuck Texas until he ran out of things to say. The fact that Steve didn't argue let Buck know that he wasn't changing his mind and that Buck was going to have to put up with it. He eventually changed the subject.
"I quit my job at the construction site. A shifty redhead offered me some contract work," Buck said dryly.
"Is that right? Do I know this broad?" Steve asked.
He didn't try to hide the smile in his voice. If it took him going out of town to get Buck tied in with the Avengers, then he was glad.
"You'd better. She's giving the orders while you're gone."
"That's great, Buck. Are you sure you're ready for that much entanglement? Once we get you hooked in, you're always on call."
"Not this time. It's cash work. I take what I want, and I can tell em to stuff the jobs I don't like. I hope the regular boss man honors the deal when he gets back from leave. I hear he's a real ball buster."
Steve chuckled.
"He is. He's not here right now, but I promise I'll put in a good word for ya when he gets back."
Steve would swear he could hear Bucky smiling on the other end of the line, if he was a swearing man. He walked toward his truck which he could see in the distance and let the quiet stretch out. His respirations were relaxed into their resting state, and it sounded like Buck was moving a little. Getting ready for the day, maybe.
"Buck, why don't you feel anything?"
"What kind of question is that? Is this some new-age philosophical crap?"
"Not at all. I want to know what they did to you. You never chase the girls anymore. Sure, you've got Kenya, but that's not like you used to be. Everything we've done lately, and you're not interested," Steve said.
"It might be something in the hardware. Or my software. Something's scrambled. It doesn't matter. For now, I want it this way."
"Why?" Steve asked evenly.
He could tell that Buck didn't really know why he was the way he was. The fact that it didn't seem to matter to him was troubling.
"I need to focus. I've got loose ends whipping around. Chasing tail could get me killed. When things settle down, I might take the time to figure it out," Bucky said.
He didn't sound concerned about his lack of sexual interest at all.
"What about you? Does the girl need rescuing yet?" Buck asked.
"I'm wound up pretty tight, but Estrella's in no danger. Thor shared some wisdom from the home world. Before, I was bottled up and pressure was building. Now it's…hard to describe. I'll tell you about it sometime," Steve said.
Just the thought of trying to describe how he felt left him at a loss for words. He hoped Buck didn't ask for a better explanation.
The familiar sound of metal gently meeting wood reached Steve over the phone. He'd listened to Buck handle a rifle so many times that there was no doubt what he was hearing.
"Are we using you for the same kind of work, Buck? That's not how I'd have it," Steve said with low disapproval.
"No. Not the same. I'm cleaning it to pack it away. My new boss is starting me out easy. You don't worry about it, anyhow. You're on leave, pal."
"Sure. That's easier said than done," Steve grumbled.
"Look, go do something with your girl and stop thinking about us working schmucks," Buck said in that tone that indicated that he was about to end the call.
"Estrella," Steve emphasized.
"I know her name, punk. Just because you think she hung the moon doesn't mean I gotta get all googly-eyed over her," Buck teased.
"Heaven forbid," Steve said as he approached his truck in the morning twilight.
"Keep a sharp eye, Stevie. I mean it," Buck told him.
"I hear ya. I'm sharp," Steve agreed.
"Good. See ya."
"Later."
It was getting hot. Estrella tried to turn over and throw off the blanket and sheet, but the cozy weight atop her stopped her from turning. The weight shifted. She shoved the covers down, and then she was able to sprawl on her back across the mattress. Her backside, which had started to feel too warm, pressed to sheets cooled by the early morning chill. The weight settled onto her again. The heat of contact began to seep into the skin of her legs, belly, and chest.
She crimped her brow. It felt good, but it was going to make her too hot again soon. She pushed at it half-heartedly where her thighs were pressed down, but it was too heavy. Not blankets.
"Good morning. I wanted to make coffee for you, but we forgot to buy any," Steve said.
She could feel the vibration of his voice on her chest as he spoke, and his quiet words were at her ear. Steve. Of course it was Steve. As she continued the slow climb to consciousness, one of her hands rubbed at her eyes, and the other fumbled until she found his shoulder to touch.
"I shouldn't have been in such a hurry with the shopping yesterday, or I would have thought to get makings for coffee. If you want to visit your family today, we can stop somewhere for breakfast and coffee first," he murmured.
Estrella tried to move her legs again, but then she woke enough to realize that he was lying atop her, gently sharing his heat and some of his weight. Only some of it. She knew he had to be heavier than what she felt against her. Above her. Trapped.
Her eyes opened wide, and she tensed to struggle, but what she saw didn't match her fears. Steve was lying on her, but he looked lazy and almost bored, as if he'd been there for a while, waiting. His face was propped on one fist, the elbow braced into the mattress at her shoulder, and his other arm was out across her. He held his phone with his free hand while he played a puzzle game with his thumb.
He was huge and he looked strong and naked. Remembrance that even Natasha, skilled as she was, couldn't evade or defeat him in the training room started to make her nervous. But then he smiled at her kindly and showed her the little starburst graphics on his game screen as he beat the level and earned a new high score.
Estrella's heart stopped thumping quite so hard and she made an effort to pull her mind away from fears about pain and rape and struggle. If he'd wanted to hurt her, he'd already had plenty of time and ability to do so, she reasoned. From what she could feel against her legs, he wasn't even hard. Steve regarded her with patient understanding. He didn't say anything, but it seemed that his expression was gently coaching her past the panic. She cast around in her mind for something normal and appropriate to say.
"That's a really old game. There's better ones if you want to get an app. I can show you the one I play," she said with a faint tremor in her voice.
"Old is good. I like this one," he said, and started a new game.
She watched him get absorbed in figuring out where to put the numbers with his thumb. It became clear to her that waking up with him on her had been deliberate. He'd seen a way to try to help her, and he'd thought of a strategy to diffuse her fears effectively. Last night in the dark, his aggressive advance and biting at the back of her neck had tripped her over into panic. In the bright light of morning, he'd been sure to wake her gradually and to look uninterested in assaulting her. His dear face and the feel of all his wonderful skin against her lulled her into comfort and calm.
"You're tricksy," she said with the beginnings of an affectionate smile.
Steve stopped playing his game and set his phone aside. He settled onto both his elbows and centered himself over her. He was braced high enough that he wasn't right in her face.
"Tricking you isn't the plan," he told her.
"I know. This is good, but I want my toothbrush and I have to pee," she said.
Steve moved aside and let her up. He looked nearly naked in his gray shorts. Estrella tried not to stare at all the skin and muscle as he rolled onto his side and gave her plenty of room to move. If she didn't need to pee so badly, she would have snuggled against him without the sheet and blanket in the way.
"See, that's the plan. Wake the girl. Go get coffee," Steve told her with a smug little smile.
He watched her slip off the open tailgate and reached for his phone again. Estrella took a few minutes to get fresh and comfortable, then she hopped back up onto the tailgate. He was still there waiting for her. She rinsed her feet free of sand and crawled back onto the mattress with him.
"You want more?" he asked.
Estrella smiled in happy anticipation of enjoying his touch, but when she lay down in front of him, she found herself unable to pull him over onto her as she'd planned to. Too large. Too much skin. Her hand fell from his shoulder and she looked to him. She could feel the disappointment on her face, so surely he could see it. Steve watched her patiently.
"You had a little success, and now you want more. Don't expect everything to get better at once, Eya. Your eyes are wide and your heart rate is up. That's enough for now," he said.
"But it was good, Steve! I was barely afraid. Why am I too scared to do it again?" she asked him.
"Because if I moved over you right now, it would be sudden and you're aware of it. You felt safe while you were waking up partly because you became aware of my voice and my face before you thought about my body," he told her.
"But I like your body," she frowned.
She wanted to feel him over her, but the thought of it…wasn't good. Imagining him over her now made her feel anxious, like she needed to escape. Steve lying on his side next to her was no problem. It was only having an aggressive male above her that made her panic.
If she couldn't be with him exactly how she wanted to yet, she could at least enjoy touching him. She glided her hand up his belly and ribs. It was amazing how his muscles contracted under her touch. Beautiful. She wanted to caress his chest too, but that felt like too much for some reason she couldn't explain. As she rubbed him, she enjoyed the play of muscles under his skin.
"Are you ticklish?" she asked him.
"No. I'm trying not to move. Eya, you should stop. You're making me…" he faltered.
"Hard?" she asked.
It was easy to see what was happening to him. While she was enjoying how he responded to her touch, one of those responses was that he was about to be too large for his shorts.
"Do you really want me to stop, or are you only trying to be polite?" she asked.
She lightly rubbed at his hard belly, just above the waistband of his shorts. His hips twitched toward her hand. The shiny gray nylon did little to hide the details of his shape. Though she didn't want him over her, she couldn't resist smoothing her hand over his erection.
"Feels good," he breathed more than spoke.
Steve held himself mostly still. If this was how things were going to happen, he wasn't going to protest. Estrella's warm hand gliding over him felt tingly, almost electric. If she wanted to do this, he wouldn't stop her. No apologies, he reminded himself.
"This isn't too much?" she whispered.
He surged harder, larger under her stroking hand.
"Not enough. Harder," he told her.
Estrella couldn't believe he was allowing this. She sat up briefly to look out the windows and down the beach both ways. No one was coming. No one would see. She settled down on her side in front of him and wiggled down so that her feet were in the sun like his. He had his eyes closed, one fist propping his head up, and the other hand loose on the blanket in front of him.
He wanted it harder. This wasn't merely exploration between them. He was going to let her finish him? She'd never done that before. Not voluntarily. With Steve, she was eager to try.
It felt naughty to grip him through the shorts and slide her hand around him. She was nervous whether he would like it or not, but his deep breath and the slight buck of his hips showed her that it was good. Her eyes skittered over the hard contours of his legs, his body, and his familiar face. She didn't want to disappoint him, and she only vaguely knew what to do.
"Steve, I don't know… Show me what you like," she said.
Uncertainty and a desire to please was in her voice. It wasn't in his nature to be demanding. Or, it hadn't been, but she'd asked.
"Like this. Harder. Faster. Let it slide," he told her.
Steve showed her with his hand over hers briefly. She did her best for a first time, and it wasn't exactly like he was used to. That was alright. Knowing that it was her and not his own hand added a mental kick that more than made up for any imperfections of sensation. He'd wanted to close his eyes to not make her feel that she was being watched, but he couldn't. He wanted to see her. Had to see her. He had to know she wanted this. If she felt obligated, it was no good.
He made a sound, low and questioning. Estrella looked up at him. Her eyes were darkened with excitement and she breathed through slightly parted lips. She didn't look reluctant. She really, truly wanted this. They got lost looking at each other until Steve huffed a tight laugh. Her hand had fallen still.
"Don't stop," he urged her.
"Oh!" she said.
She stroked him again how he'd showed her. There were two layers of slick fabric that made movement easy. The shape of him was fascinating and new, something intimate to know about him. Estrella bit her lip and tried to control her breathing. Steve, looking like this, like what she was doing was the only thing in the world for him, was heady. The lewd, meaty task at hand made her want to giggle with nerves and writhe with excitement at the same time. It wasn't like him to allow this, but things were different now. He trusted her. He needed this. Thoughts of Captain America almost ruined it for her. She nearly laughed, but then Steve throbbed impossibly harder in her hand.
His body tensed and she looked up to his face.
"Don't stop, don't stop. Pleeease don't stop. Eyaaa…" Steve breathed.
His eyes fluttered shut and he locked his body taut and motionless. Wet heat slicked under her hand while she watched the veins stand out on his neck. Color bloomed across his face and chest, and then he relaxed to breathe deeply. He lay bonelessly back against the sidewall of the truck bed.
She wondered what she'd see when she looked, but Steve moved his hand up to displace hers. Whatever mess was made of his shorts, he covered it with his large hand. The gesture looked protective somehow. His other hand fumbled until he got a grip on her wet hand and wiped her mostly dry on the leg of his shorts.
Steve pulled her up the bed to face him with his hand spread in the middle of her back. He looked at her with a slow smile that made her heart clench and her belly clench harder. His strength in moving her was effortless, but his lazy grin was all satisfied boy. She was glad and proud to make him look that way.
"Thanks. That felt great," he said in a rumble that pushed the meaning of 'great' beyond its normal depth.
Estrella bit her lip and nodded. She didn't know what to say. Instead, she leaned over him and kissed him. Their kiss was nearly chaste, but there was something in the enjoyment of soft lips and sharing the same breath that was anything but bland.
"Daylight's burning. You want coffee?" he asked.
Estrella belatedly noticed how damp and antsy she was. She could barely lie still. As aroused as she was, she was too shy to do anything about it in front of him. Her body had other needs to focus on, anyway. Coffee sounded wonderful, and her belly gurgled.
"Yeah, and we could find a place for breakfast," she said.
"Now you're talkin'. Let's get moving," Steve said.
He hugged her to him for a moment, and she enjoyed being close to him. Then, they scrambled to clean up and dress and load their gear into the back of the truck.
She was nervous. Today was a good day to visit her family, if they still lived where they used to, and if they'd kept to the same habits on Sundays.
The waitress in the diner didn't bat an eye at the large amount of food they ordered, and she kept their coffee mugs filled. Estrella was too addled about the morning's events and the thought of seeing her aunt, uncle, and cousins again to mind that Steve paid the bill and left the tip.
"We should shop. They won't be home until after noon. I need clothes. Can we go to a thrift shop? We need to get things for coffee too. Steve! What if they don't recognize me?" she babbled.
"I'll be there with you. Whatever happens, we'll take it. If it goes poorly, we can leave. If it's good, we can stay for as long as you like. I think they'll know who you are," Steve tried to assure her.
"But I'm still so skinny. And I don't have any hair! What if they don't live in the same place? It's been years. They could have-"
"Eya, try to let it happen. Don't anticipate so much. Be here with me," Steve told her.
On the beach at Rockaway, she'd used the same phrase on him. When she stopped watching her feet flash in front of her in quick steps, she saw a rascally glint in his eyes. He knew that the desire for fairness was a trait they shared. Life was grossly unfair sometimes, and it felt good to keep things even when they were allowed to. She'd made him comply with her request that night, so she felt compelled to pull her head out of her worries and make herself present in the moment with Steve.
"Okay. I'll try. Let's shop. I have to distract myself until noon," she said.
They drove around town and found a kettle to use over the fire, mugs, good coffee, and a French press. She used her own money at the three thrift shops they found and ended up with five more outfits she liked. Two were nice clothes that would be good for an evening out. Two sets were cute tops and shorts. She was pleased to find jeans and a lady's Western shirt that would complement Steve's shirt in the same theme.
She spent some time in a beauty supply store where she bought nail polish and some things for her hair. Steve waited patiently outside, leaned against the front of his ridiculously large truck.
She'd told him to wait in the air conditioned cab, but he refused. He wanted to keep an eye on her and their surroundings. She started to argue, but he got that same look as when she'd asked him if the heavy black gun he concealed was necessary. It was a look she'd hoped he would leave in New York. She didn't bother arguing anymore.
They had hamburgers and fries at Sonic, followed by ice cream. It was slightly after noon, and she was stalling, hoping to stretch time so that he wouldn't notice.
Steve took her empty banana split tub and their lunch trash to the trash can, and she knew time was up. He walked back toward her in a long limbed saunter that momentarily distracted her from her nerves about seeing her family. He joined her in the truck and they waited while her hands dithered at her clothes. She looked for spilled food stains or anything out of place, but she was clean and presentable.
"Put their address in navigation. You've worried long enough. Let's get this done," Steve said gently.
"I don't remember their address. Turn left out of here, and I'll tell you how to get there," she told him.
While Steve drove them and followed her directions to a lower middle class neighborhood, she checked her hair in the mirror behind her visor and smoothed on her new lip gloss. Should she get her ears pierced? Should she have worn makeup?
Her nerves were so bad that she didn't want to get out of the truck when Steve parked curbside at the house she remembered. Her uncle's same old truck was parked in the white crushed shell driveway, along with a smaller truck and two more cars.
"They're here," she gasped.
She tugged on the hem of her burnt orange top and smoothed her brown skirt over her lap. Her hands touched her butterfly necklace until Steve took her fingers in his.
"Eya. Eya. Look at me," he said.
"What?" she asked flatly.
Steve gave up trying to reason with her. He unfastened her seatbelt and moved her closer to him across the seat. He kissed her thoroughly. The taste of vanilla ice cream and root beer shared between them along with their own unique scents. Steve's arms pulled her close and tight. Estrella broke the kiss and giggled.
"You have my cherry lip gloss," she said.
"Mmm," he hummed and smiled.
Her fingers rubbed around his lips to remove the gloss that they'd smeared out of place. His lips were sinfully kissable all the time. With a hint of clear gloss on them, Estrella didn't want to stop kissing him. She nudged some space between them and re-applied what he'd taken. As an afterthought, she used a fast food napkin to blot the excess shine from Steve's lips.
"I'm with you. I'll watch. If it's going well, I'll give you space. If you need me, I'll be there. Let's go," he told her after she was done fixing him to her satisfaction.
They waited for a bunch of kids to rush by on scooters and bicycles, then they got out of the truck.
"Did you spend much time here?" Steve asked as they walked across the side lawn.
"Every Sunday afternoon, and I spent the night when I was little and mami had to work late. My cousins were more like my siblings," she said as they walked up the shell drive to the door.
Tears were already welling in her eyes at being in such a familiar, dear place. When they got to the front porch and the old ratty palm tree beside it, she and Steve could hear the television and men's voices inside. Anxiety swam in her belly, but so did hope.
Steve gripped her hand and laced their fingers together. He used his other one to knock firmly on the door. He had time to give her one last reassuring smile, then the door opened. It was almost as if someone had been standing there, waiting.
An incredibly handsome young man stood in the doorway. He was turned away from them, looking back at the television inside. The men in the house yelled and groaned in disappointment. Steve recognized the sounds of a football game. The young man had two twenty dollar bills in his fist. Finally, he turned to look at them. There was a strong family resemblance between him and Estrella.
"Uh… where's the pizza?" he asked.
He looked behind them to the driveway, obviously confused. Steve wanted to step in and clear up the confusion, but he decided not to get in the way of Estrella's reunion with her family. They would sort it out.
"Jesse," Estrella said with wonder.
Jesse first looked at Steve, then he looked down at Estrella. He had that 'do I know you?' look on his face, but then it changed.
"Eya!" Jesse smiled, then turned away from the door, "Ma! Fran! Estrella is here!"
Steve smiled as Jesse grabbed Estrella up in a hug and spun her around. There were feminine yells of disbelief from the kitchen, and then two large women hurried toward the door. Steve stepped inside and shut the door as Estrella was engulfed by joyful greetings from her family. Two men watched the ruckus from chairs in the living room. Steve smiled politely and stood patiently by the door. He would wait until Estrella was free to introduce him, or until someone approached him.
He watched closely until he got a glimpse of Estrella's face among all the hugging. She was crying, but smiling. As long as she looked happy and not afraid, Steve decided to keep his distance.
Jesse disentangled himself from the group hug and turned to Steve.
"I'm Steve," he said and offered his hand.
Jesse shook it, but he scrutinized Steve in a way that was very nearly unfriendly. Then, he went still and alert, listening. Estrella was speaking tearfully to the women.
"She's talking and I don't feel it," Jesse said.
"Yeah. It's her necklace. We have some friends who were able to help with that," Steve explained quietly.
Steve was forgotten again. Jesse looked to the older man in the room, then to the younger one. Both looked on curiously, but unbothered.
"Ma. Eya's talking and I don't feel anything," Jesse said fervently.
"What did you do, niña?" The older woman asked.
She looked around nervously to the men, then back to Estrella.
"It's this. It fixes my voice," Estrella explained and touched her copper butterfly.
"You didn't have surgery or something?" the younger woman asked.
"No. Oh! Everyone, this is Steve. Steve, this is my aunt Rita, that's Uncle Alberto, and these are my cousins Jesse and Fran. I'm sorry, I don't know you," Estrella said to the other young man in the room.
"He's my husband. Luis," Fran said.
Luis and Alberto got up and Steve went over to greet them. Luis seemed friendly, but Alberto just stared at him as long as it took to shake his hand, then he went back to watching the ballgame.
Steve noticed two little boys in the opposite doorway of the living room.
"And those are Mateo and Isaac, my boys," Fran said proudly.
"Oh, Franny! You got married and had babies and I missed it. Let me see," Estrella said.
Fran called the little boys over and Estrella brushed back their hair with her hands and cooed over them. The older one was a cute kid, but the younger one looked like his grandfather Alberto. Steve noticed that Rita, the aunt, was a strikingly beautiful woman, despite her being quite overweight. Jesse's looks had clearly come from her, while Fran looked plain, an even mix between her beautiful mother and her rough-looking father.
"Where is Val?" Estrella asked.
"In her room," Jesse said, and everyone went quiet and looked away from Estrella.
There was another knock at the door, and it was the pizza delivery this time. Steve got out of the way so that Jesse could pay and take the pizzas. He noted that Jesse was the same height as him, but a little slimmer of build.
The women took Estrella away into the room across the hall and the two children ran off somewhere else in the house. Jesse put one pizza box on the coffee table between Alberto and Luis, then he went to bring the women the other one.
Steve went with him.
Estrella looked to Steve and smiled. The women were seated at the large table of a comfortable eat-in kitchen. Jesse set the pizza box among them. Estrella twiddled her fingers to Steve in a happy wave. He read it as her not needing him, and that he should go with the men. He was going to do just that, but Jesse grabbed his sleeve.
Instead of going back to the living room and the football game, Jesse indicated that he should go down the hall. Steve complied and they ended up in what was obviously Jesse's bedroom. There was a messy bed, muddy work boots, and a guitar on a stand. The room smelled of cologne and dirty socks.
"Why is Eya so skinny? What did you do to her?" Jesse asked in a voice of controlled fury. He spoke plain English, but his Latino accent was stronger than Estrella's and flavored with a slight Texas drawl.
Steve was prepared for this. He'd thought about being questioned by her family last night while he was thinking about everything else in her past.
"She was thinner when I met her. She didn't speak. We became friends, and I eventually learned about her voice. Some associates of mine work in a lab, and they were able to frequency match her voice, then make a device for her to cancel out the effects we feel. She was living alone with no protection, Jesse. She's smart and she's strong, but it's taken months for her to feel safe enough to speak and to eat more," Steve explained.
Jesse watched him with that 'I know you from somewhere' look. He shook it off and focused on their conversation again.
"So her voice is still the same as it was before if she takes off the necklace?" Jesse asked.
Steve nodded. He would have felt disloyal talking about her, but these people already knew her. There was a knock at the door, and then Estrella came in, followed by a worried looking Rita and Fran.
"Steve. My little cousin, Valeria. She's fourteen and she stays in her room. She hasn't been to school in a year and a half. Her voice is like mine," Estrella said.
She looked distressed and expectant. Steve had noticed how everyone had gone quiet and uneasy earlier when Estrella asked where Val was. Anger rolled in him that the child had been suffering in isolation until now, but it was no one's fault. If it was in his power, and it likely was, he'd see that the girl had what she needed.
Steve nodded to Estrella, then to Rita.
"Ma'am, I'd like to speak with you and your husband," he said.
It was clear from the change in Steve's demeanor that he meant something a little more formal and private than a family discussion standing in Jesse's bedroom.
"Go get your father. If he doesn't come away from that game, tell him I'll flip the circuit breaker," Rita said to Fran.
Fran looked daunted by the task, but she went.
Jesse ushered them all out of his room. Steve met a disgruntled looking Alberto in the dim hallway of the house, and Rita pulled him down the hall and into another bedroom that appeared dusty and unused, probably Fran's old room from the feminine look of the decor. Steve and Estrella followed.
Alberto complained to his wife in rapid Spanish, and she replied firmly. Steve understood most of it. Rita gestured to Steve and then to Estrella's necklace, then mentioned their daughter Valeria.
Alberto sat down with Rita on the edge of the guest bed, and Estrella tugged Steve's hand toward the outdated loveseat. They sat.
"We never thought there was any hope. What can you do for our daughter?" Rita asked.
"You need to understand that I can't guarantee anything. There's a good chance we can help, but it's not certain," Steve said.
Rita nodded. Alberto squinted skeptically. Steve got the feeling that the man understood English just fine.
"Eya, show them the back of your necklace," he said.
She took it off and passed it to her aunt. She pointed to the silver soldered to the back of the butterfly.
"That's the part that controls her voice. It's possible that we can have something like that made for Valeria. I'll need to get a recording of her voice to send to the people who made this, so they can customize a necklace for her," Steve told them.
Alberto frowned at Steve.
"Sir, I know you don't like the idea of people listening to your daughter. I wouldn't, either. I've heard Estrella's voice. If I had a daughter with the voice, I'd be concerned, too. My friends are very discreet. Valeria will be in no danger," Steve assured.
Estrella opened her palm and Rita returned her necklace to her. She put it on quickly.
"I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work for Val like it works for me. We can try my necklace on her. Natasha and Bruce made a spare for me. If it works for her, I can give her my spare! Steve, maybe we could help her right now!" Estrella said.
She got more excited as she thought about her spare necklace and the possibility that helping her cousin could be so easy and fast.
"Wait, Eya," Steve held his hand up and spoke calmly, "They made that specifically for you, with Jarvis' help. It had to match you exactly. I don't pretend to understand what they did, but it's probably more complex than it looks. The chances that a necklace made for you would help your cousin are small."
"We have to try. It's in my suitcase in the truck," Estrella said.
She got up and hurried out of the house. Steve followed her. Buck's warning to stay sharp lingered in his mind. Estrella had eyes only for the truck, but Steve looked around.
There were lots of people out in the neighborhood for a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Most of them looked harmless, but there were a few young men on the street corner of the next block. Steve met their curious stares casually, then pretended to pay no more attention to them. There were too many places for concealment. Trees, laundry lines hung with clothes, shrubs, toolsheds, and windows. The place was indefensible. He stayed alert until Estrella dug out her spare necklace and hurried back into the house. Steve turned the deadbolt behind them. It felt odd to lock another man's house, but he did it anyway.
"Where is she?" Estrella asked when she got back to the spare room with Rita.
Alberto had already gone back to watching his ballgame.
Rita got up from where she'd been sitting on the bed. She wiped her eyes. Steve had seen parents of sick children at the hospital he sometimes visited. Rita had that look that was tragically hopeful, but braced for bad news. She led them down to the end of the hall. There was soft music playing behind the door she knocked on. An empty paper plate with spots of pizza grease sat on a little table outside the door.
No one answered the door. Estrella stepped forward and knocked louder.
Rita looked alarmed to see that Steve had followed them to Valeria's room.
"Ma'am, I can resist Estrella's voice. I don't know about the other men in the house, so I'm the safest bet. We'll need to know if Eya's spare necklace works for Valeria, and if it doesn't, I'll need to call my friends so they can sample her voice. Nothing bad will happen," he told the woman.
The door opened and a mopey teenage girl stood there. She looked to her mother, then was startled to see Estrella, and plainly frightened to see Steve. She clapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes spoke volumes to her mother.
"Val, this is your cousin Estrella. Do you remember Eya? You were only six," Rita said.
Valeria continued to hold her hand over her mouth, but she turned smiling eyes to Estrella and nodded. She noticed Estrella's necklace, but then her eyes went back to Steve.
"This is Steve. He had this necklace made that controls Estrella's voice. They want to help you," Rita explained.
"Eya go in with her mother and talk to her. Explain things. I'll be in the living room. Come get me when you need me. Valeria, it's nice to meet you," Steve said.
He moved more into the light spilling from the teenager's bedroom door so that he wouldn't seem like a lurking stranger in the dark. He smiled at the girl.
Valeria's eyes went even wider and she went dead still. Steve knew that look. A quick glance past her into her white and lavender room showed him an Avengers poster on the wall, and one of Captain America.
Steve grinned a little.
A squeak of pressurized sound came out past Valeria's hand.
"Val! Hush! You know better!" Rita hissed.
She looked to Steve with fear and worry.
"I'm alright, Ma'am," Steve said, and he was.
The girl definitely had the voice, but it wasn't as strong as Estrella's and he was mentally prepared to resist it. Her brief squeak barely made a stir in his mind. Steve nodded to Estrella and retreated down the hall toward the living room.
Valeria leaned farther out of her room to watch Steve walk away. Rita looked at her daughter suspiciously, but then the girl pulled her mother and her cousin into her bedroom and shut the door.
She hugged Estrella hard.
"I missed you! Nobody knew where you were. And then I got this voice, and I worried about you even more. How did you live with it? Eya, where were you?" Valeria whispered.
"I was in New York. Val, there are dangerous people looking for me. Things happened because of my voice. I had to leave. Life was hard, but then I met Steve," Estrella said.
She glanced to the posters on the wall. Rita sat quiet in the chair in the corner, unaware of what the girls knew about Steve. Valeria hurried to sit on her floor on her fuzzy yellow rug. Estrella sat with her, their knees almost touching.
"Did you meet his friends?" Valeria asked.
She was wiggling, she was so excited.
"Yes. I moved into their building. Tony made this for me. Well, it was Tony and Bruce," Estrella smiled fondly.
"Stark and Banner?" Valeria whispered so softly that her mother wasn't likely to overhear.
Estrella nodded.
"Am I dreaming? You live with the Avengers? Steve is Captain America? You're dating him?" Valeria asked.
Estrella nodded again.
"The fewer people who know, the better. We're on vacation. If I'd known you had a voice like mine, I would have come months ago. Val, this necklace works. Tony and Bruce can make one for you. It's not fool proof. You can still make bad mistakes if you take it off to sleep or if you forget that you need it. Do you want me to see if we can make one for you?"
"How much does this cost?" Rita asked from her chair in the corner.
"About three hundred dollars," Estrella said.
"If it works, then it's worth it," the woman said.
"Mami, I want to talk to Eya alone. She must know things. It's embarrassing," Val said haltingly.
"Okay, but don't keep her forever. Her man is waiting in a room full of strangers, and that's not polite," Rita said.
She pushed herself up from the chair and left, closing the door behind her.
Val waited a moment, then turned excitedly to Estrella. She hugged her again, and Estrella smiled and hugged her back. She'd never gotten so many hugs!
She looked around her younger cousin's room. The girl had every teenage luxury she could think of. There was a television, a few different game consoles, two shelves of game cases, a triple book case, a stereo system with an iphone jack, and her décor was teen girl chic with lots of fuzzy, sparkly, colorful items. And the posters. Other than the Avengers and the one of the Captain, there were posters of bands and from her favorite TV shows and movies. There was hardly a bare space in the room.
"Eya! Do you kiss him?" Val asked in an eager whisper.
It was strange to hear another girl speak in careful whispers as she had done, but her question bothered Estrella.
"Sometimes, but we only just started dating. We've been friends for a few months. He's a good man. Val, we can help you with your voice. Don't you want to talk about that?" Estrella urged her.
"Yeah, I do, but my voice is all the time. I never thought I'd have Captain America in my house! God, doesn't mom even know? What about Jesse? Why am I the only one who recognizes him?" Val gushed.
"Because you're a fan girl. He tolerates that kind of behavior, but he doesn't like it very much. Val, come on. I know he's amazing, but I need you to act normal around him. He's just a guy. Don't make him feel weird," Estrella told her.
"Just a guy?"
"Yes. He's tired of all the fighting. The news and the internet make it look exciting, but it's not much fun for them. He gets hurt. We're on vacation. He wants to help you, and I know Tony will too, but please don't fangirl him," Estrella said with firm older-cousin authority.
Val nodded solemnly. Estrella studied her. She wasn't as plain looking as Fran, but she wasn't as gorgeous as Jesse, either. Her appeal was a little above average, at least while she was wearing frumpy sweat pants and an old tee. Some effort might make her pretty. With her voice, it wouldn't matter. She could have looked exactly like her father, and it wouldn't make a difference.
"Val, has anything bad happened to you?" Estrella asked gently.
Valeria looked away and shrugged. Her fingers twirled in the yellow polyester fuzz of her rug. The fact that she didn't want to talk about it told her the answer to her question.
"A lot has happened to me. Bad things that I have nightmares about. I wouldn't want that for you. If you need help, we can see that you get it. Right now, I'd like to see if my spare necklace fixes your voice," Estrella told her.
"Okay, thanks," Val said.
Estrella took the opal necklace that Natasha had given her and threaded the flat metal eye with a white strip of fabric. She leaned forward to tie it around Valeria's throat.
"What if it doesn't work? I can't talk to anyone to test it," Val whispered.
"You can try it on Steve," Estrella said.
"But he's a guy!" Val hissed.
"I know," Estrella smiled, "Remember who he is. He's good and he's strong. He won't hurt you. I promise. He doesn't hurt me, and he's heard my voice several times. I want to bring him in here to see if it works for you."
Valeria looked anxious and afraid, but she put her chin up and nodded. Estrella would have called Steve right then, but her cousin was only fourteen. She acted fairly mature for her age, but she was still a girl. Sympathy for what she must have gone through, and empathy for how she was going to feel once she got swept up in Avengers drama tempered Estrella's haste.
"Val, you're going to have to talk to guys. To men," she told her.
"I know, but you said to trust him."
"Sweetie, he won't hurt you, but he will react. If he gives you any orders or instructions, you need to listen to him," Estrella said.
"Well, yeah! He's Captain America. I'd do whatever he says!" Val grinned and wiggled on her carpet with fangirl enthusiasm.
"Valeria! This is serious. If you can't behave, then we'll come back some other time. I love him. I don't want him hurt, and I'll have to hurt him if you don't listen to what he says," Estrella said sternly.
"You can hurt him?" Valeria whispered in awe.
"Yes, with my voice. But it's sad and I don't want to do it," Estrella said.
"I'll do what he says," Val agreed.
Estrella pulled out her phone and texted Steve.
In a moment, he and Rita came to the door. Val's mother sat in the chair, but Steve was hesitant to enter. Val waved to him cheerfully, then motioned for him to come in.
"Did you explain everything to her?" Steve asked.
"As much as I needed to. She's agreed to test the spare. If that doesn't work, will you talk to Tony?" Estrella asked her cousin.
Val nodded.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Rita asked.
She looked skeptical.
"I'll be fine, Ma'am," Steve assured.
Rita got up and made sure the bedroom door was closed and locked. Steve walked to the night stand where Valeria's phone was and turned off her music.
"Whenever you're ready, Valeria," he said.
"No. Wait," Estrella insisted.
She got up from the floor and went to Steve.
He was wearing dark jeans, his leather boots, and his dark green Henley shirt that she liked so much on him. Estrella pulled the shirt longer from where it was bunched at his hips. Once he was better covered at the groin, she gestured to the bed so that he wouldn't be standing facing the teenage girl. Steve understood and sat on the bedside. He thought it was inappropriate for him to sit on Val's bed, but Rita was in the only chair, and this was better than standing.
"Okay. Val, you don't go to school. Do you take classes online? Tell me what you do to study," Estrella asked to give the girl something to say.
Val glanced nervously at Steve, then at her Captain America poster. She took a breath for courage, then she spoke.
"Ma looks up what I should be learning on the school board website, and we get the text books-"
"Stop," Steve said between clenched teeth.
Val's voice sounded normal to the women, but it was clearly doing something to him. His expression looked pained, and his hands clasped either side of his head above his ears.
"What's happening?" Estrella asked.
"Resonance. The necklace sort of works, but it's wrong. A little like nails on a chalkboard, but inside my head. Take it off and we'll get a baseline," Steve said.
He waited for the discordant, unpleasant tones of Valeria's incorrectly moderated voice to fade from his mind. It wasn't exactly painful, but it made him faintly queasy and it set his teeth on edge. Any arousal the girl caused was doused by the freakish harmonics. The spare necklace wouldn't do to help her.
Estrella untied the opal necklace from Val's throat.
Valeria looked worried until Steve took his hands from his head and stopped clenching his jaw. He took a deep, calming breath and smiled reassuringly at the girl.
"I'm fine. Let's try again, with just your voice, to make sure it's the necklace that's wrong," he told her.
"Val, tell me how your school was with you quitting. Was there any trouble?" Estrella asked, again providing something for her to say.
Rita shook her head. She was afraid for Valeria to speak in front of a man.
"I have to do this, Ma," she said, then looked to watch Steve as she continued, "Home schooling is easy in Texas. We submitted a form to the county and I take a test at the end of the school year."
Everyone waited to hear from Steve. He cleared his throat and leaned to sit forward with his elbows on his knees.
"Your voice is much more pleasant when you're not wearing the wrong necklace. Eya, would you switch necklaces so we can be sure the spare isn't defective?" he asked.
Steve carefully composed himself. He wasn't lying to the girl. Her voice was nice. It affected him, but not as intensely as did Estrella's. He was uncomfortable responding to an underage kid, but this was business. It was nothing personal. He could forgive himself because they were here with the purpose of helping the girl.
The spare necklace worked fine on Estrella.
Steve took out his phone. Jarvis answered immediately.
"How may I assist you, Captain? Is everything well?"
"We're fine, J. I've got a project for Tony and Bruce. We're visiting Estrella's family. Her younger cousin, Valeria, has the same voice effect. We've tried Eya's spare necklace, but it's not made for her. Put Tony on, and Bruce if he's available. Will you record for us?"
"Doctor Banner is asleep, but Sir is available. I will be happy to assist," Jarvis said.
Rita, Valeria, and Estrella watched him talk on the phone. Steve disliked speaking without including them. It was rude, but necessary.
"Hey, Spangles. How's the downtime?"
"Fun so far. Did Jarvis explain anything?" Steve asked.
"You've got another pixie vixen. This is a family thing. There's got to be a history of it. Grandparents. Great grandparents. I'd love to put Bruce on that genome. Can you get us some blood? If that's too creepy, then saliva would do,"
"One thing at a time, Tony. She's fourteen, and her mom's here. I'm putting you on speaker."
"Understood, Cap," Tony's voice said to the room from Steve's phone.
Steve winced slightly, but Rita didn't seem to notice. She was too concerned for her child.
"Hey, Kid. Stark, here. Hi, mom. Pixie, you there?" Tony asked.
He sounded busy and distracted.
"I'm here, Tony. Pay attention. This is important," Estrella said.
"Everything I do is important. I'm not distracted. You're ungrateful, you know that? I'm setting up to record from your little tiny phone mic. Phone mic! I make a good phone, but it's not ideal for this application. Jarvis, can we do this? It would be so much easier if you'd fly the kid in," he said.
"I believe I will be able to manage, Sir."
"Fine. Kid, you got a name?"
"Mister Stark?" Valeria said in amazement.
"That's me when I'm feeling really, really old. Every other day when kids don't insist on calling me that, I'm Tony. Come on, you gotta give me more to work with. What's your favorite color? Gimme a name. I like to know who I'm making things for."
"Um.. My favorite color is indigo. My name is Valeria Therez Robles-Castillo. Did I say enough?" Val said in a nervous hurry.
"Is Spangles squirming? Sing an aria," Tony said.
"Stark. Now is not the time," Steve growled at him.
"Heh. Yeah, you said enough, kid. Nice name by the way, Mom. My lab partner isn't here, but we'll get on this sometime today. It should only be a few hours. I can send Point Break with it express mail. Where are you, anyway? Jarvis is being stingy with the details."
"J, go ahead and transmit a location on us. High encryption. Tony, if Point Break brings it, I want Banner and Barnes alert and ready to step in. You'll be too many men down if something happens while he's away," Steve instructed.
"Location captured, and I have reset the location privacy on your phone. I will retain the information personally until Mister Odinsson is in transit."
"Jarvis, you're a dirty rat. The plague kind," Tony said, but Steve could hear the humor in his tone.
Tony was already working on it. Steve could hear the clunk of his coffee mug and the wheels on his chair as he stood up and kicked the chair away. Valeria's voice was a puzzle to him, and Tony was dragging the new digital overlay onto the previous records of their work for Estrella.
"Tony. Thank you." Steve said sincerely.
"Yeah, thanks Mister Stark!"
"Geez, kid, don't yell! It's no problem. We'll get you fixed up," Tony said, and then the call went dead.
Steve put away his phone.
"That's all there is? With a phone call, my daughter's voice can be fixed?" Rita asked.
"Yes, Ma'am. A phone call to the right people," Steve said.
"I could have it today? Who is Mister Stark sending? I don't know who Point Break is. Is it one of you?" Valeria asked Steve.
"Val, that's enough," Estrella said quietly.
Steve was unnaturally still and his face looked a lot more like the one in the poster on the wall. Estrella could tell that he was exerting some effort, at least mentally.
"Sorry," she whispered, "I forgot."
"And that's why you have to be careful. If you have a necklace like mine, it's easy to forget to put it on. Aunt Rita, she could still get hurt. You need to practice with her so she won't take it for granted when she gets used to talking again," Estrella said.
"I'm gonna go," Steve said.
Estrella didn't know whether to be angry with him or proud when he stood and walked out of the room without trying to hide what her cousin's voice had done to him. She looked apologetically to Val and Rita, then hurried after Steve.
Steve found the back door of the house and went into the fenced back yard. He knew Estrella was behind him. There was a trampoline out on the grass, and Steve leaned his hip against its edge.
"Thank you for helping. Are you okay?" Estrella asked him.
She slipped her arms around him, but didn't stand too close. She understood that he might be feeling weird about Val's voice.
"I'm fine. It's good that we came. I hate that she's been in her room for so long. Did you hear what Tony said about family history?" he asked.
Estrella thought about her family for a moment. Was there anyone who could have been a source for her and Valeria's strange voice?
"My great grandfather!" Estrella exclaimed.
For reasons Steve couldn't understand, Estrella hugged him tighter and cried on his shirt. He rubbed her back and waited for her to talk if she felt like it. It took her several minutes to work through her thoughts and feelings before she spoke.
"He was old by the time I met him, nearly a hundred. He was like Jesse when he was young. I saw a photo. He and grandmami were beautiful together. Everyone thought he was deaf and dumb, Steve! They said horrible things about him, and he could hear everything! He must have had the voice, so he refused to speak. I know he could hear, because he would smile at me when I was little. I'd follow him around the garden while he worked. I made up stories about the bumble bees and doodle bugs, and he'd smile. I thought he was only smiling because he could see that I was talking. He could hear, and people were mean to him!" Estrella said.
"He was used to it, Eya. I know how it is. I hear every little comment when folks think I can't. I've come to know human nature pretty well, and nothing surprises me anymore. I know what they're gonna say almost before they say it. Your grandpa was used to it, too. I'm sure he didn't let it bother him much at all by the time he knew you," Steve assured her.
Estrella rubbed her furrowed brow into his shirt and he massaged the back of her neck. What he said made her feel only a little better. Grampi had been happy and at peace when he died, though she'd been too little to understand. She remembered seeing him lying still and waxy looking in the funeral home. She'd wanted him to get up out of the fancy box and go home.
"Tony's right. Your voice. Your looks. It's in your family. Is your Uncle Alberto Jesse's father?" Steve asked.
"No. Aunt Rita had him before, with her first husband, my Uncle Tomas. He died working in a refinery. I don't know why she married Alberto. He's never seemed very nice," Estrella said.
Steve could figure it out. Families tended to have secrets, even from some of their own members. It was probable that as Jesse grew out of infancy, Rita had noticed a resemblance to the photo of her grandfather. Estrella didn't realize it, but the family likely knew about the old man's voice, or had at least heard some rumor of it as a sordid cautionary tale. Rita had gotten scared. When her first husband died, she'd married a rough, ugly man so that the rest of her children wouldn't be like little Jesse, almost too beautiful to be real. Until a year and a half ago, Rita had likely thought her children would escape what was hidden in the family's blood. Jesse had dodged the voice, but Valeria wasn't so lucky, despite Rita trying to carefully select an unlikely mate. Steve had no doubt that Rita, like Estrella, used food to obscure her physical beauty. The woman had curves and was attractive still, even though she probably weighed more than Steve did.
He didn't judge their choices. Nobody had a right to. Living with unexplained phenomena had been a real hardship back before people could understand things like they did now. This family had suffered for their genetic inheritance. Estrella was a pleasant woman in his arms now, but he knew how skeletal she'd been. She'd almost died.
Steve rubbed his lips back and forth against Estrella's forehead. She was an incredible mix of what had come down to her from her ancestors. Only one in every fourth generation or so had the combination of beauty and the voice. It wasn't worth the suffering for her. Her life had been hell since it all manifested. Things would have been a little easier for her great grandfather, being a man, but not by much. He shuddered to think of what could have happened to a young man with Estrella's combination of traits. Poor man. It was a miracle he'd made it to almost a hundred years. Cruel words from his unknowing family had likely been the least of it.
Protectiveness welled up in him for the woman in his arms and for her family as well. For Valeria. Something had happened to Rita, he'd bet. Even without the burden of the voice, beauty like hers would have drawn unwanted attention.
From the way Jesse and Rita looked, he had a better idea of what Estrella would become. He now understood her paranoia of men looking too closely at her in public. She was going to get a lot of looks and some unwelcome advances. As long as she let him, she was his to protect, if only she would stay with him like she said she would. Estrella thinking of staying anywhere long term was new to her, so he kept his thoughts to himself.
"You've got me all this week and next, doll. We shouldn't stay out here to ourselves. Let's go visit with your family. I'm gonna go see if I can charm your Uncle with football stats and gringo Spanglish. I'll make a wreck of it for him to laugh at. You could go teach the ladies some of Natasha's card tricks," Steve suggested.
"Will Natasha kill me for sharing her tricks?" Estrella asked as they walked back to the house.
"Not if we don't tell her," he said.
End Note: Once again, this came out in one long bit, which I then split into Chapter 37 and Chapter 38. I'm editing 38 and will have it out within 24 hours, maybe sooner. Reviews are my bread n butter, with cinnamon and sugar on top!