It turned out that Jesse and Fran's husband Luis were fans of broken language contortions. They had a good laugh at Steve while he tried to communicate with Alberto. Steve smiled and persisted in debating season stats with the man of the house. Alberto argued with him strictly in Spanish.
"I can understan you in Ingles," he said at one point when Steve was trying hard to learn a word that his knowledge of Latin, German, French, and English didn't help him with. Alberto's accent was thick and cadenced heavily with his native language.
Steve felt honored that the man met him halfway in his efforts to learn. Jesse and Luis were quietly impressed, too. Alberto almost never spoke English. They quieted for the last half of the game. It was a good one, and before the end Steve was yelling and groaning with the guys. Alberto and Luis yelled in Spanish and Steve and Jesse said pretty much the same things in English.
Steve could hear the women laughing in the kitchen. They would jokingly call Estrella a card cheat when they weren't asking her questions about her life. They were sensitive and caring when Estrella told them some of what had happened to her. Estrella explained some of the card cheats she'd learned from Natasha.
The football game was a long one, and everyone was getting hungry again by the time it was over. Mateo and Isaac eventually came to sit with their father once they figured that Steve was alright.
Steve was in the bathroom when he heard a faint, familiar sound outside and up high. By the time he got to the front door, he heard the distinctive sound of Mjolnir being set down on the concrete porch outside the door.
Alberto looked up from the after game commentary when a brisk knock rattled the door.
"It's my friend with something for Valeria," Steve said.
"That was fast," Alberto commented.
He went with Steve to answer the door.
Thor stepped inside on his best behavior. He was in canvas cargo pants, clunky boots, and a red plaid flannel shirt that made him look like a lumberjack.
"We're being invaded by Vikings," Jesse commented to Luis.
The two large blonde men by the door grinned.
"If that were true, I would be taking gifts, not bearing them," Thor responded.
He handed a choker necklace to Alberto. The man shook his head and quickly handed it over to Steve.
"This is your business, and the women's. Tell me if it works," he said.
Alberto nodded his thanks to Thor and waved him into the house, as if he wasn't already inside it. Thor gave Steve an assessing look, and was apparently satisfied with what he saw.
"I need not linger. This is your time, Steven," he murmured low enough for only Steve to hear.
"You should stay at least for a little while. I think Valeria would like to meet you. She has posters of us," Steve said equally as quiet.
"Eya, Val's necklace is here," Steve called into the kitchen.
Rita, Estrella, and Fran came to take the necklace and go to Val's room. Fran lingered to look at Steve and Thor, and Steve saw the exact moment she figured out who they were. Thor gave her a cheery smile and the goofy wave he enjoyed confusing surprised humans with. Fran shook her head as if she'd seen something impossible, then hurried after her mother.
A moment later, Steve's phone vibrated. Val was eager to see if her necklace worked.
"Come on," Steve said to Thor.
"This is a strange practice, visiting the bedchamber of a maiden child with all the women in attendance. Are you certain we are welcome?" Thor asked.
"I know the necklace will work. She'll want to thank you, and having both of us there will thoroughly prove to the family that it works," Steve said as they went down the small, dim hallway. Jesse joined them.
"Are you sure this thing will work?" he asked.
"I bet my life on Stark tech all the time. We can resist their voices. If it doesn't work, we'll keep you out of trouble," Steve told Jesse.
The bedroom door was open and Valeria was surrounded by her family. At the sight of both Steve and Thor, she was dumbfounded until Estrella nudged her.
"Go on. You should thank Thor for bringing it so quickly."
"Thank you?" Val whispered.
Her eyes looked past them to her brother. Jesse looked as uncertain as his little sister.
"You must speak if we are to know, child," Thor said.
"Okay. Thank you?" Valeria said more bravely this time.
Steve looked to Thor, then they both looked to Jesse. It appeared that no one was affected by the girl's voice now that her customized necklace was in place.
"This is cause for celebration! Tell me what you have missed most during your confinement," Thor said.
"I want to see my family," Valeria said.
The thought that she could brought tears to her eyes. She pushed through Steve and Thor on her way to Jesse.
"You're okay? You don't feel anything?" she asked him.
"Nothing, squirt. It's just like before," Jesse told her.
Valeria hugged him, then ran past to see her father.
They heard raised voices in the living room. Alberto was startled and adamant about Val going back to her room, but then the girl spoke to her father.
"There you are!" Alberto exclaimed happily, and they all walked in to see him patting his youngest fondly on her cheek.
He quickly concealed his happy expression into gruff inspection of the necklace she wore. He nodded once, then sat back down in his chair. He waved a hand at Valeria, which seemed to indicate that she had free run of the house again. She laughed and hugged Mateo and Isaac. Luis got a smile, and then Val ran back to her mother.
She looked to Estrella, then to Steve, then to Thor.
"You've changed my life. Please tell Mister Stark that I'm grateful," she said softly.
"I will tell Doctor Banner also. He awoke to help, and they had the task done in minutes," Thor said.
"Please. You stay and we'll do steaks. Jesse, go to the store and get more charcoal!" Rita said to them.
"Is Buck standing in as backup while you're away?" Steve asked Thor.
"He was unavailable. He is already away on an assignment."
"Get back to the tower. Anything could happen," Steve told him.
Thor nodded.
Before he could turn to go, Estrella hugged him.
"You kept bad things from happening to my cousin," Estrella told him after she let him go.
"There is no worthier cause than the defense of family and the protection of the innocent, and when both can be served it makes for a good day indeed," Thor said warmly.
He smiled at the girl with her new necklace, then at everyone else. Alberto lifted a hand to him, and then Thor was out the door. Steve heard the hammer spin up, then the sound of Thor jetting off to the Northeast.
"Jesse! Take Steve and go get enough meat and charcoal for everyone. By the time we cook, we'll all be starving," Rita said.
"Yes, Ma," the young man said.
Jesse went to his room to get his keys and his wallet. Steve stepped closer to Estrella and the rest of the women went back to the kitchen to give them some space.
"She wants me to go with. Do you want to come? I won't leave you here if you're not happy," he said.
"I'm more worried about you and Jesse. He was always a tomcat. He might corrupt you while you're out," Estrella said.
"Ain't scared," Steve said, and winked at her.
"Ooh. You go! Don't forget that we already have some steaks in the ice chest in the truck," she told him.
"Yes, Ma'am," Steve said.
He couldn't seem to resist wrapping his tongue around a Texas accent when he was feeling playful.
Estrella wrinkled her nose at him and pushed him toward the door just as Jesse came out with his keys, ready to go.
"Don't you stop to get any women! We're getting hungry, and he'll tell on you," Estrella warned her cousin and tilted her nose up at Steve.
Jesse slapped a hand to his chest over his heart and walked backwards out the door. As soon as it closed behind Steve, he dropped his playing around. Steve kept a casual demeanor, but he studied the neighborhood closely. Jesse walked toward his truck.
"We're going in mine. This way," Steve said.
"Whatever, man. What are you doing?" Jesse asked.
"How safe is this neighborhood? Is there any trouble?" Steve asked.
"The police come sometimes, but it's never anything to do with us. All the gang shit stays over around twelfth. Why are you worried? We're just going to the store."
"Have any men around here heard your sister's voice?" Steve persisted in his questions as they got into his truck.
Jesse looked around at the vehicle appreciatively.
"Jesse," Steve prompted him.
"No. Some boys heard her once, but she doesn't go to that school anymore. You think somebody's gonna come to the house in the half hour we're gone, just because you and Eya came to visit?"
"I don't know what to think. It's my job to be cautious when it comes to other people's safety," Steve said as he started the truck.
"But not your own. I saw you with those robots a few months ago. That was some deep shit! You took that green laser thing so your buddy wouldn't get knocked out of the sky. Didn't it cut you or something?" Jesse asked.
"Something. It was clean. Healed fast," Steve said.
He waited with the engine running. He appreciated how laid back the family was being about his job, but he still needed directions to the store. Jesse looked at him, amazed that he was in a vehicle with a super-hero. Steve studied Jesse because he looked so much like Estrella, and because he was waiting for driving directions. Jesse shook his head and laughed nervously.
"What, man?"
"I don't know how to get to the store," Steve told him.
"Oh. Just drive. You turn right when we get to the light at the end of the street," the young man said.
He laughed again. Steve didn't like the nervous edge to it.
"At ease. You're nervous. What do you think is gonna happen?" Steve asked as he stopped the truck for two little kids to cross the street with their bicycles.
"I don't know. You gotta admit, today has been some strange shit since you got here. I'm wondering what's gonna happen next. Do you usually go at people so hard and get all personal and shit?" Jesse wanted to know.
His voice had turned a bit aggressive. Steve liked that. The kid wasn't in awe of him. He had a backbone, like his cousin. He wasn't fawning, despite Steve's role in helping his sister. If this kind of crossfire conversation went on all the way to the store and back, Steve was going to be as aggravated with Jesse as Lewis made him.
A thought niggled at him, but he kept it to himself. Steve kept his eyes on his driving and followed the instructions given to him. After a few minutes Jesse couldn't tolerate the silence.
"What the hell is with you? Is this an interrogation? Did I do something wrong?" he finally cracked under the pressure of prolonged quiet.
"Did you?" Steve asked dryly.
"Fuck you, man! How does Estrella put up with you?"
Steve laughed.
"It's alright, Jesse. I understand. You can relax," he said.
Now it was Jesse's turn to be silent. Under his stony silence, Steve could hear the frightened beat of his heart. He felt bad for him. He hadn't meant to rile the kid up so much. Now he was sitting over there looking like he was thinking about jumping out of a moving vehicle.
"I understand that today has been a lot to take in. Probably what bothers you the most is the slight disconnect from reality that comes when the world shifts and you're not expecting it to. Avengers are people too, and sometimes you see them when they're not on a glowing screen. Then, you're used to being top dog. You walk in and rule the room wherever you go. Other men fear you because you're attractive enough to make them look bad, and you can take their women if you want to. You don't know what to do with a man who isn't a little bit in awe of you. Then, there's the attraction. You're scared spitless that you'll tip your hand and I'll figure out that you're gay or bi, and that I might tattle to your family."
"Fuck you," Jesse said again, but it was weak. Terrified.
Steve pulled into the grocery store parking lot and parked the truck.
Jesse was breathing fast and shallow. Steve had talked down so many scared young men that it was easy as song and dance, but he had to make Jesse face his fears first so he could then show him that there was nothing to be afraid of. Fear of the unknown had always been the biggest bug-bear humanity had ever faced.
"Strange things happen in my life all the time, and I've learned to keep marching. Are you listening, Jesse?" Steve asked.
He nodded a jerky affirmative.
"First, I don't care if you're gay or bi. That's your business, and I'll never tell anyone. I don't know if I'll ever see you again, and I've got bigger things to think about. Your secret's safe with me," Steve assured him.
"I'm not a fag," Jesse said.
Steve didn't like that word, but he ignored it. Jesse was a nice enough guy, and he was under a lot of stress at the moment.
"I'm not worried about you making me look bad or taking my girl," Steve continued with the next point on his list.
Jesse snorted.
"I don't have anything to prove about who's alpha. I see the type all day long. I wipe my boots on them and knock down the next one in line. I'm not trying to sound puffed up. It's what I do. It's boring and repetitive. I could teach you how," Steve told him.
"Would you?" Jesse asked after a moment.
"It would take a lot more time than I have to get you actually knocking guys down, but to make them think twice all you gotta do is be confident and use actions more than words. A lot of noise and cursing is a sure sign of weakness," Steve said.
"I can see that. You're a master," Jesse said.
"Why thank you. I've worked hard," Steve said with a grin.
"Why do you do that?" Jesse asked.
"Do what?"
"That thing where you act all humble and write off what you are," Jesse said.
"I've gotta be humble. The more I see, the more I know how small I am. Anybody who opens their eyes and looks is a fool to be a cocky bastard. As far as writing myself off, I did that in the biggest way possible at the end of the war. I gave myself up to stop the enemy, and when I woke up seventy years later, the enemy was still here. All that they made me, and it still doesn't amount to a hill of beans sometimes. I do what I can, and the rest will have to be good enough," Steve explained.
"You make it sound hopeless," Jesse said.
"It feels that way sometimes, but then something good happens. Estrella is that for me. She's my good thing. Good person, I mean," Steve said.
Jesse nodded. As improbable as it felt that his cousin would be with Captain America, it was plain that Steve was dead serious about Estrella. No joke.
"We're supposed to be getting steak and charcoal. Ma's gonna burn up my phone in a few minutes," Jesse said.
"Blame it on me," Steve said.
"Why are you doing this? Talking to me?"
"Because you needed it," Steve said, "you were about to rattle out of your skin."
Jesse nodded.
Steve was relieved that the kid wasn't scared anymore. He wasn't socially adept enough to know what precisely he'd done to set the kid off, but it was mostly settled now.
"Are we done here?" Steve asked sharply.
Rather than being harsh, his tone was meant to convey comradery and strength. That everything was right and they could move on.
"About the other thing…" Jesse said uneasily.
He looked out the window or at his hand clenched on his knee. Anywhere but at Steve.
"What about it?" Steve asked.
He didn't bother to play dumb. They needed to get this conversation done and get to work.
"Nobody knows. I lie to myself and believe it most of the time. I like girls. Love pussy. But every once in a while, somebody comes along… Are you really gonna keep it to yourself, or should I start packing to get outta town?" Jesse asked, then snapped his teeth shut.
"I'm sorry about that. I don't enjoy making people uncomfortable. I won't tell anyone. Not even Estrella. You have my word on it," Steve said.
"I'm sorry too. It's just that you're a fuckin beast. A lot of guys put on a show, but you're it," Jesse said with a single brave glance at Steve.
"I'm not a beast," Steve denied.
"Yes you are. You can't fake me. I've got a nose for it. Grampi had it too. He told me," Jesse confessed.
The kid wasn't messing with him or trying to bluff. He had that resigned, knowing look that Estrella got sometimes when she spoke about the unusual things she'd been born with. Whatever his nose was telling him, it must be part of the family heritage.
"We've all got things we don't want anybody else to know about. I don't think I'm a beast. I'm trying hard not to be, but if you say so…," Steve said with a shrug, "You keep my secret. I'll keep yours. Good enough?"
Jesse nodded.
"Let's get the meat and get back before Eya thinks you've got us in trouble with women, because apparently you do that," Steve said.
"Why did you buy these ones, Jesse? Were they on sale?" Fran asked her brother with a displeased look on her face.
Fran's job was to prepare the meat for the grill while her mother worked on the side dishes. She'd unwrapped all the steaks they'd brought back until she got to the ones Steve had brought from his ice chest.
"I bought those yesterday," Steve admitted.
"Shut up, man. I could take it. I had it covered, but you had to go being all honest and…stuff," Jesse said.
His eyes flashed to where Val was peeling potatoes at the table. Steve guessed that he'd gotten loose with his language while his little sister was put away and couldn't hear him.
"I don't need you to stand up for me to women. I'll dig my own trenches," Steve said.
He was getting the feel of the culture in this house. There was a subtle, good-natured competition between the genders. The men used it to bond, and the women did likewise. Estrella smiled at them both. She was pleased that Steve was figuring her family out.
"Yeah, but you don't have to jump yourself under the bus like that when I could have saved you. When Ma sees those! Yeesh. Fran, just put them in the marinade and don't say anything," Jesse said hopefully.
"When Ma sees what?" Rita turned around to go see what Fran was handling.
She took a look at the mysteriously deficient steaks and gave Steve a cool, insulting look with just her eyebrows. The fact that she turned away without saying anything at all made Steve feel particularly low.
"See. Keep your mouth shut and let me take the bus," Jesse said quietly.
"Cerveza!" Alberto yelled from the back yard where he was getting the charcoal going.
Valeria hurried to bring her father a beer from the fridge.
Estrella laughed and kept cutting the fresh green beans.
"I'll let you take the bus if you ever deserve it," Steve told him easily, "I'll pile drive you into the ground with it. Have you ever been beat with a bus before? I have. I can't seem to stay away from them. Robots, aliens, misguided friends… I see a lot of buses. Not my idea of fun. I hate buses. So if you ever deserve it, you better believe I'll let you take the bus. But this time, I earned the bus. Bad steak. I need to learn why."
Jesse and Fran stared at Steve. Estrella pressed her wrist to her mouth and tried not to snort laughter onto the food she was preparing.
"Too much?" Steve asked her.
Estrella held her fingers a little bit apart and nodded. There was a twinkle in her eyes that made up for the embarrassment of his over-sharing. Steve grumbled something, got a beer from the fridge, and went out back to learn about steak from Alberto. He was the resident grill master, and he probably wouldn't give him that insulting eyebrow thing that the women did.
Jesse finally laughed and followed him out.
"I think Jesse's in love with your boyfriend," Fran whispered quickly before Val could come back in.
Estrella nodded and went back to her cutting. It was understandable. Steve was lovable.
"None of that talk in this house. Don't break your father's heart," Rita admonished them.
Fran would have replied, but Val hurried back inside.
"Oh my gosh! Captain America is in my back yard!" Val gushed as she lingered by the window.
"You people! I come back after all these years, and all you can talk about is my boyfriend. I bring people to fix Val's voice, and do I get any thanks?" Estrella said.
"We love you too, Eya, but you're so skinny. I could snap you!" Fran teased.
Estrella refrained from commenting about that. In most of the world she knew, you didn't tell people they were too skinny or too fat, but that wasn't the case here. It was hard to get back into old habits when they'd been beat out of you.
"I think you're pretty, Eya. Your hair will grow, and you can eat more. All that matters is that he likes you, and he does," Val said.
"That's not all that matters. I have to like me, too. What if I like to be bald and skinny?" she asked testily.
Rita put down her big spoon and walked to the table. She laid a hand on Estrella's cheek.
"Look at me, niña. I'm like a whale. We do what we have to do. I'm happy to see you alive, so I don't care if you're skinny. Those putas at child services wouldn't tell us a thing about you. I wanted to get a lawyer, but we didn't have the money. You better call us when you go back to New York. Your mami will pray me bald all the way from heaven if I don't look after you," Rita said.
"I don't think she needs any more looking after. She's got the Avengers," Val said dreamily over her pile of peeled potatoes.
Estrella blew a frustrated breath at her hair. They were back to talking about heroes again.
"I don't care who she's got. They're not family," Rita said.
Steve learned what he could from Alberto and Luis while Mateo and Isaac jumped on the trampoline. The boys bonked their heads together at one point, and there was a little blood, but they shook it off with no whining and kept jumping after a thrown fist or two.
Jesse fussed at little Isaac for punching his big brother. When it was time to eat, Steve saw that the table wasn't huge after all. With him and Estrella, it was bordering on crowded. After the meal, it felt right to linger, but Steve wanted to get back to the beach before dark. He wanted some quiet time with Estrella.
"I promise we'll come back before we leave for home," Estrella told her aunt as they lingered near the front door.
"We could go to the beach," Val suggested.
"That could work. Eya, do they have your number? I wouldn't want to miss them if they get a free day. Our schedule is flexible," Steve said.
"Yes, they have my number," she smiled at him.
There were hugs all around, except for Steve. He got handshakes from the men. Rita gave the best hugs. Estrella thought so too, because she cried again.
Steve let her go through her emotions from the day in peace while he drove them back out to the beach. She was quiet and she didn't offer to get out and help him refill their water containers.
They had to take a spot a little farther down the beach, because there were campers near their spot from the night before. It didn't matter. There were miles and miles of beach to choose from. Steve didn't stop driving until they couldn't see anyone else in either direction. Estrella yelped a few times as he maneuvered the truck around or over obstacles. Steve was having fun with his truck and its four wheel drive, so she didn't complain. If he got it stuck, he was probably strong enough to lift it free.
"Are you alright?" Steve finally asked her as they sat out under the stars in their folding chairs.
"I'm wonderful. Thank you, Steve, for everything. You take me down here, and you bring me to my family, and you make an effort to get along with them, even crabby old Alberto. Val's life will be different. You've saved her too."
"Don't talk about Alberto. He's alright. You just have to understand him," Steve said.
He pointedly refused to take credit for all she was trying to praise him for. It made him happy to do all of it, and it was no bother.
"And you understand Alberto?" she asked archly, "I don't even understand Alberto most of the time."
"Sure. You just have to know Latin, German, French, English, and have a good ear. Spanish is easy. I'm picking it up fast," Steve smiled smugly.
Estrella took the foam drink cozy off her soda can and threw it at him.
"Do you really wanna get in a throw down with me, little girl?" he asked.
There were about ten tons of Brooklyn in his tone, and he launched the piece of hollow foam back at her. He managed to make it sting across the bridge of her nose somehow, just a little.
Estrella laughed. She loved how he was starting to let hints of smugness and sarcastic wit show in front of her. It felt more genuine than him being gosh-darn choirboy all the time.
"I'm not getting into any kind of throwing contest against you, Steve. But, 'little girl?'" she questioned him.
She got out of her chair and went the few feet across the sand to stand in front of him. She took his beer and set it in his cup holder. Then she climbed onto his lap.
"You and me together exceed the rated weight capacity of these chairs," he cautioned her.
"You sound like Jarvis. You think I'm a 'little girl?'" Estrella persisted in a dangerously light tone.
"You're small and you're female. I like that. Is there a problem?" Steve replied, sounding like he hoped there was one.
He loved the way Estrella felt against him after a long day of being around a lot of people. The peace they found together fit strangely well along with the thrill he felt at her touch.
"No. I'm only making sure, because Jesse likes you. I thought you should know."
"I'm glad. I like him too. He's fun. He hardly blinked when he found out what I do. They're all good about it. I was afraid it was going to be a problem," he said as smoothly as he could.
Natasha would be proud. He thought he fibbed to Estrella pretty convincingly.
"It's a Latino thing. They don't like to seem too impressed with anything. You missed what I'm saying, Steve. Jesse likes you. As in, he wouldn't mind being locked in a closet with you for a while," she said.
"Oh. How do you know?"
"We're his family. We're not blind," she said.
"Does Jesse know you're not blind?"
"I don't know. We're all trying so hard to keep Alberto in the dark. It wouldn't go well if he knew," Estrella said.
"There's nothing any of us can do about that. Some folks can't get around the idea of same-sex relations. I was one of them for a while when I was young and sheltered. I've been around too many people to condemn anyone. I've seen too much. It's not for me, but it's not my place to dictate to others, either. If any of that's an issue for Jesse, you should all leave him alone to find his own way. I've seen some tragic things happen when somebody thinks they know best and they act on someone else's behalf," Steve warned.
Estrella shuddered mildly at the idea that Jesse's life could end in tragedy, or even that he might suffer if rumors started about him. Then, she noticed that Steve had taken her light comments far more seriously than she'd meant them.
"You know about Jesse? What happened? It had to be when you went for the steaks," Estrella said.
"Nothing happened. I'm good at reading people, that's all. Jesse likes women. No worries there," Steve said.
"You're a rotten liar," Estrella said.
Steve sighed. This meant more lessons with Natasha.
"Honestly, nothing happened. He was acting nervous. We talked. He got over it. Do we have to talk about Jesse?" Steve complained.
"As long as you know that he likes you. We know he loves women, and lots of them. He's been that way since before I left years ago, when he was fifteen. But, sometimes, he notices a man, and off he goes. Don't tease him, Steve. It would be cruel."
"You're talking to me about cruelty and teasing? I wouldn't do that to anyone I liked. I've been through it enough," Steve said.
"Okay. Yes, let's talk about teasing. Somebody had fun this morning without me. I've been left like this all day," Estrella said.
She found the relaxed mound of his genitals and perched just so on him. The heat of her and the slick ease of her sleep shorts and underwear sliding against him told him what 'like this all day' meant. He wasn't relaxed for long.
Estrella was above him in the chair, looking down. Being on top didn't bother her at all. She probably felt safe that way. Steve wasn't going to tell her how quick he could get her under him from this position. If she felt safe, he wanted her to keep feeling that way.
Before he was fully aroused and Estrella had set in her mind exactly what she wanted to do, Steve shifted her hips so that she was riding the hard muscle of his thigh, rather than directly on him. He wasn't ready for that, no matter how she wanted it. He wanted to be ready for it, but he didn't think it meant the same to her as it did to him.
He helped her work herself against him with careful hands. It was incredibly exciting for him to watch the slow build of a woman to orgasm. A woman he cared about. He almost came too from his hot, thrilled empathy for her, and from listening to the little sounds she made.
It was wrong to do the sexual things they had done today according to what his upbringing had been, but Estrella was no blushing virgin to woo with tepid acts. She was a frightened and abused woman, and she needed strong love to overcome her past if they were going to make it.
She fell asleep on him. Steve carried her to bed without waking her. She jerked away when he brushed sand from her feet with is fingers, but she didn't wake. When he closed them in the truck camper for the night, the scent of her was strong. He could almost taste her in the air.
He loved it, but it took him a long time to get to sleep.