Chapter Ten: Minutes Before Midnight

"A falling star fell from your heart." -Florence and the Machine

October 31, 2012 - Avengers Tower West Ballroom - New York, NY

"Who are you supposed to be?"

Bruce shot a scowl in Darcy's direction. He wasn't supposed to be anyone—he'd just put on one of his nicer suits and called it a day. Darcy herself was dressed in a leather jacket and high-heeled boots, while Jane was wearing a toga.

("I told her Grease," Darcy had explained to him earlier, "and she misunderstood.")

The three were huddled around the bar in the Avengers Tower's largest ballroom, which had been completely transformed to look like the cavern in the center of a clocktower. Bruce had to admit that Tony had successfully pulled off his plan—major celebrities and slightly-less-major politicians milled around, flaunting the size of their donations over caviar.

"Who are you looking for?" Darcy asked him.

Bruce refocused. "Nobody," he replied coolly. "Just trying to see who's here."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I can tell when you're lying."

In all honesty, Bruce was waiting for somebody—Audrey. He'd been looking forward to seeing her at this thing since the afternoon they'd spent together in the labs. Their paths hadn't crossed much since then—he was working, she was training, but tonight he'd been counting on seeing her again.

"Bruce!" Tony bellowed. He approached, wearing an elaborate silver astronaut costume.

"What period's this supposed to be a reference to?"

"2023," Tony returned easily. "And you?"

"2010."

"Lame."

"Yeah, well. I'm here, aren't I?"

He shrugged. "There's someone I want to introduce you to. Come here." He put his hand on Bruce's back and guided him into the crowd of people. As he went, Bruce sent a desperate look to Darcy over his shoulder. She held up her glass in response, as if toasting to his imminent demise. Tony steered him towards a pretty Asian woman in a pair of bell bottoms and tinted round glasses. "Helen! Meet Bruce. Bruce, meet Dr. Helen Cho. Helen is a renowned bioengineer whose work I'm going to be sponsoring. Bruce is often outshined by his alter-ego but is impressive nonetheless. He has six PhDs."

"Seven," Bruce corrected, before he could stop himself.

"Well, he's also single, if that didn't tip you off." Tony smiled as his eyes darted between the two of them, looking extremely pleased with himself. He clapped Bruce, who was feeling very exhausted by the direction Tony seemed to be pushing him in, on the back. "Have fun, you crazy kids."

Helen watched Tony go, looking unimpressed. "I'm single too," she said, "but unfortunately for you, also gay."

Bruce shook his head. "Yeah, Tony likes to play matchmaker when he really has no skill for it. I'm not so good with dating, myself. It's an honor to meet you, though, I read your most recent dissertation a few weeks ago. You've really found a way to fabricate tissue?"

Helen nodded. "Sure did. The key is to build a machine small enough to be capable of mimicking what takes place during the DNA replication process, while also being powerful enough to run however many millions of times." She took stock of his outfit. "Isn't this a Halloween party?"

"It is."

"So where's your costume?"

"Call it early 2010s."

"You've got seven PhDs and that's the best idea you could come up with?" Helen asked, looking incredulous. "Just tell people you're from 2073, when 2012 fashion has become retro and hip again."

Before Bruce's brain could formulate a response for him, he noticed a familiar blonde entering through the doors, dressed in a white dress and boots, with her hair twisted up into two buns atop her head. And then, Bruce noticed that she wasn't alone: a tall, Black man dressed as Han Solo had his arm linked with hers.

He wasn't the only one to notice their entry. "Jesus," Helen commented. "That man has the finest pair of cheekbones I've ever seen on anyone."

Bruce hated that she was right. The man was beautiful, extraordinarily so, and Audrey's head was thrown back in laughter as they swept into the room. He wanted to be the one to make her laugh like that. He wanted to be the one to make her happy.

The realization jarred him as he watched them go. Why was he acting so possessive? And crazy? He and Audrey had talked a handful of times, there was no reason for him to act out if she went to a Halloween party with a date.

Bruce prided himself on his self-control—tightly drawn, sharply twined. He kept himself in check, he kept himself closed because the other guy inside of him was reaching out always, trying always to break free. Nobody had ever been able to reach Bruce, or break through that barrier before, except for the Hulk. But when he was with Audrey, he worried that that wouldn't hold true much longer.

So Bruce knew he had no right to be jealous of whoever Audrey was showing up to a party with, but even more than that, it wasn't wise. She poked holes in the shield he'd spent years constructing. Audrey was the last person on the team he'd expected to be dangerous; she hadn't defected from an enemy intelligence organization like Natasha, she wasn't the god of anything like Thor, she lacked the experience that Steve had. Audrey wasn't supposed to be dangerous, but she was. And for those reasons, Bruce knew logically that it was best to stay away from her.

And yet—he couldn't shake the feeling.

Audrey and Antoine Triplett had been good friends for as long as she could remember. Triplett was the grandson of Gabe Jones, and Peggy had kept in touch with all of the Howling Commandos as the decades passed. Antoine had been the only one of them besides Audrey to join S.H.I.E.L.D.—Morita's kids both worked for the ACLU, Dugan and his wife remained "happily child-free." The rest had settled down to live normal lives and their kids had done the same, meaning that Audrey and Trip were the only members in their club of two.

"I still think Star Trek is better," he announced.

Audrey rolled her eyes. Trip was wrong, objectively, and they'd had this conversation about a hundred times before.

"Hello, fellow legacies," Tony greeted them. In his space suit, he looked like he'd walked straight out of the future. "Audrey, I thought I specified that this was a time traveler's ball, not comic-con."

Audrey had prepared for this one, and so she looked up at Tony, challengingly. "I know. I'm not Princess Leia, I'm me, dressed as Princess Leia for Halloween in 1984."

Tony pursed his lips, but didn't argue. Audrey smiled at the win. "What's your excuse?" he asked Triplett.

"I've been told that the answer to that question is that I'm you dressed up as Han Solo for Halloween in 1984."

His gaze flickered between Audrey and Trip for a moment before he yielded. "Touche." Audrey knew how much Tony hated to be outwitted, which was why she'd put so much thought into making sure he was. "Well, open bar, obviously. Appetizers are floating around, and dinner's coming up soon."

"Thank you," Audrey said.

"You're at the nerd table," Tony announced. "With Jolly Green Giant, Foster, Lewis, Point Break, and Helen Cho. Also your dad, who I guess is more jock than nerd, but all his friends are nerds."

"Helen Cho?" Audrey asked, focusing on the one unfamiliar name on the list.

Tony pointed across the ballroom at an Asian woman at a table talking to Bruce. "I'm gonna be sponsoring her work here. She's a biotech genius from Seoul who figured out how to print tissue." He stopped his drooling to look back over at Audrey and say, "Basically, she could be god if she wanted."

Audrey wasn't paying much attention to what Tony was saying as he hashed out the details with Trip; instead, she felt something sour creep up in her stomach. Was that—was she jealous? Audrey wanted to kick herself for being so ridiculous. She had no claim on Bruce, and even if she had (which she did not), it's not like he wasn't allowed to talk to other people.

"You want a drink?" Trip asked. Audrey tuned back in to see that Tony had gone and Trip was now holding out his arm for her to take. "I could go for a martini."

"I want an appletini."

He wrinkled his nose at her. "Goddamn. That's gross." Still, he ordered the drink and handed it to her.

"Oh, come here." She tugged his arm when she noticed Darcy and Jane at the end of the bar, Jane with a red wine and Darcy with a beer. "Triplett, this is Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster. Dr. Foster works in the labs and Darcy's one of her assistants. We're friends from work."

"Oh please, that makes it sound like we talk about our weekends around the coffee machine," Darcy interjected. "I am Audrey's friend, who also happens to work at the same place as her." She stuck her hand out for Trip to shake. "And who are you?"

"Antoine Triplett, ma'am," he replied, throwing her a charming smile.

"Oh my god," Darcy exclaimed. "How have I met two men this year who insist on calling me ma'am?"

"If I'm the second, then who's the first?"

Audrey laughed, thinking about Steve's persistent manners. He still called Pepper "Miss Potts" when he saw her, and he showed no signs of stopping. "That would be my dad," she explained.

Trip put a hand in front of his mouth. "Oh, shit. Is he here?"

"Somewhere," Audrey said. "Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why'? I wanna meet Captain America," Trip said, as if that should have been obvious to her. Audrey had gotten so used to her dad—his dorky habits, his idiosyncrasies—that she forgot other people were still as fascinated with him as she had been originally. Now, she just knew him as the guy who lived alone but insisted on pouring his orange juice into a glass instead of drinking from the carton, and who hand washed his dishes because he didn't completely trust the dishwasher.

"Speak of the devil," Darcy said, pointing with the hand that held her drink at the door. Audrey pivoted to find Steve dressed in a standard World War 2 uniform, his hair neatly combed back.

When her gaze slid back to Trip, she found his jaw all but on the floor as he gaped at Steve.

"Hey, Aud-ball," he greeted, pulling her into a quick hug.

"Hey, dad. I like the uniform." She grinned broadly, glad that he had also chosen to dress up. It was good to see him having fun from time to time. He could be so serious.

"It's a good look," Darcy added from behind Audrey.

Steve nodded at her, a smirk pulling up the corner of his lips. "Thank you, ma'am."

At that, a slight, high-pitched noise left Trip's open mouth. Audrey elbowed him, resisting the urge to laugh at his expression. "Dad, this is Antoine Triplett. Gabe Jones' grandson."

"Son of a gun," Steve said, looking baffled. "I thought you looked familiar. How's it going, son?"

"Going well, Sir," Trip replied, slowly regaining enough of his cool to shake Steve's hand. "My grandfather loved you."

"And I loved him. Jones had the biggest heart. How is he?"

"He's good, Sir. Tenured at Empire State's Law school, teaches a class a semester."

"Please make sure to tell him I say hello," Steve asked. "And tell him I still wonder about whatever happened with the worm and the slug. He'll understand."

It was bizarre to watch Steve act so young. He had always felt so out of place in the present that Audrey hadn't had trouble reconciling his young appearance with his antiquated mannerisms and severe lack of technological ability. Not until now. But she remembered, watching him talk about his friends, that she'd technically lived more life than he had, strictly in terms of years.

"Will do, Sir."

"Please," Steve insisted, shooking his head. "Call me Steve."

"Now you know how it feels," Darcy called, wagging an accusatory finger in his direction. Steve headed over to talk to her, while Jane stood up and approached them.

"Do you know Helen?" Jane asked Audrey.

Audrey shook her head. "Never met her."

"Damn." Jane stared over at her, looking wistful. "She's so smart. I wanna meet her. Do you think it's weird if I just walk over? Does that look desperate? Maybe I should just play it cool. Send her signals and wait for her to come to me."

"Jane," said Audrey. "I don't think it's weird to talk to someone you admire."

"But I want her to like me. So bad. Did you know she's up for a Nobel Prize?"

"Aren't you also up for a Nobel Prize?"

Jane shook her head. "Not this year. I'm still working on my project. Hopefully 2015, though."

The casual tone she employed jarred Audrey just as much as it had when the two first met, even though she should've gotten used to it by now. Jane was always tossing things around like No, Darcy, Fields Medal was 2011, not 2010 and it's not that hard to get nominated for a Nobel Prize, I want to win.

"Trip," Steve called. "Does Gabe have a phone these days? Darcy says she'll help me edit my address book."

"Contacts app," Darcy corrected.

"Sure thing," Trip said. To Audrey, he said, "I'll be right back."

Jane laced her fingers together and stared up at Audrey with big eyes. "Will you come with me to talk to her?" she pleaded. "I don't want to look stupid."

"I—" Audrey didn't want to look crazy, like she was purposefully interrupting Bruce's conversation, but...she could just pretend to greet him like a friend, and then ask who Helen was, and then play it cool. Then Jane and Helen could talk shop, Audrey could catch up with Bruce for a little bit, and it would all be fine before dinner began. So reluctantly, she told Jane, "Okay."

"Yay!" Jane squealed, bouncing up and down on her knees before she remembered that her goal was to look cool, and she pushed the grin down. Her lips twitched as she tried to keep a neutral face, and she took a deep breath. "Okay, Foster, be cool."

Jane and Audrey had never spent too much time together outside of the labs, and whenever they were there, Jane was laser-focused in her work and not too interested in Audrey's presence—not that Audrey minded. Jane deserved as much credit, if not more, for saving the world in May, and Audrey wasn't going to stand in the way of her and her research. But seeing her like this—freaking out over another scientist and being deeply admiring of her, felt like the most honest interaction the two had ever had.

Okay. They just needed to both be cool, and then it would be fine. As Audrey and Jane approached, Bruce looked up and offered Audrey a small smile. "Hi, Bruce," she greeted.

Though he opened his mouth to reply, he was cut off by Jane's squeal. "You're Doctor Cho!" she exclaimed. So much for cool.

Helen removed her glasses and placed them on the high-rise table where she was sitting. "You're Jane Foster!" she replied, the excitement in her voice matching Jane's. Then, as if racing to befriend the other, they began to sing each other's praises in unison.

"I am such a big fan—"

"You're incredible, I admire you—"

"—your work, you have no idea—"

"—so much, I have never read such thoroughly researched—"

"—seriously revolutionary, I remember the first time—"

"—astrophysics in my life!"

"—in college and it blew my mind."

Helen let out a small laugh. "I cannot tell you how excited I am to have Mr. Stark sponsoring my research. The funding, it's incredible, but also—working in the tower with yourself and Doctor Banner. It's the honor of a lifetime."

"No, no, no," Jane insisted, shaking her head. "The honor is mine. Our work—well, I won't speak for Doctor Banner, but my work is nothing compared to you."

"I'd like to speak for myself," Bruce interrupted, "but only to agree with Jane. Doctor Cho, your work is fantastic. You're gonna save countless lives."

Audrey felt extraordinarily out of her depth in this conversation. Bruce had seven PhDs, Jane three, and when she'd pulled out her phone to pretend to check for texts while actually googling Helen, she found that she'd just finished her eighth. Audrey was well educated, yes, and that, she knew, was a privilege. But she'd never discovered how to print tissue, or made a machine that opens portals, or cured three life-threatening diseases. She'd never even cured one. She was surrounded by geniuses, and they were all speaking a language she couldn't comprehend.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats for dinner." Audrey had never been so grateful for JARVIS than when the AI's voice cut through their conversation. She left Jane with Bruce and Doctor Cho, figuring they'd make their way over whenever they were ready.

Taking a seat between her dad and Trip, Audrey plastered on a smile. "You having fun?" she asked Trip.

"So much fun," Trip said. "I'm getting reassigned soon to a team based in Thailand, and this is the best way to spend my last few nights in New York. Plus, always great to see you."

She pushed away the bitterness she felt at being left out of Helen, Jane, and Bruce's conversation, in favor of remembering that she and Trip had been friends for his entire life, and she was grateful to be spending time with him before he left. Wrapping her arm around him, she pulled him into a hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're always welcome to stop by, Trip. You're like family."

At that moment, Bruce pulled out the chair opposite Audrey. Jane took the seat at his side, with Thor to her right. Helen sat on the other side.

Be cool. Audrey just needed to be normal, and not look like she was upset that Bruce was matching so well with somebody that wasn't her. She didn't even know why she felt so bothered by it. Helen was impressive, and she was saving lives! And more than that—she was kind. She listened patiently through the dinnertime discussions, occasionally chiming in with her own anecdotes.

As dinner was served, the conversation shifted back and forth at random between Steve's war stories, which Triplett's presence seemed to bring to the surface, Trip and Audrey's recollections of their childhoods, and tales of scientific mishaps.

"You guys are such a cute couple," Helen said, pointing to Jane and Thor. "How did you meet?"

"She hit me with her vehicle," Thor replied, sounding jolly as ever, and taking a bite of his food before realizing the table had gone dead silent. Audrey knew this story well, but that didn't make Thor's tone any less bizarre. "The pain was mild!" he assured Helen "Darcy's lightning hurt worse."

"I tased him," Darcy explained, as Helen nodded, looking a strange mix of horrified, confused, and entertained. "But we're good now." She nudged Thor's massive bicep, exposed by his own toga, with her elbow.

"Indeed we are. Darcy is the best friend I could ask for. She is clever as a fox and takes great care of all of us."

"That's me," Darcy said, beaming proudly. "I babysit the Earth's Mightiest Heroes."

"God, you're all so cool," Helen sighed. "I can't wait to start here."

"When's move-in?" Jane asked.

"The third, actually," Helen answered, before taking a sip of her water. "I can't believe I get free housing."

"You more than deserve it," said Jane. "We should do something! To celebrate. A welcoming party. I'll talk to Pepper. Darcy?"

"I will remind you to talk to Pepper."

"Thank you."

Just then, Tony stopped by their table. He'd abandoned the astronaut helmet, and now just looked like he was on his way to go compete in an intense paintball game. "How's it going here? Is the salmon good? Did anyone try the salmon? Bruce. Salmon?"

Bruce nodded slowly, giving Tony a glance that looked more warning than anything. "Salmon was good."

"Great to hear." Tony jostled Bruce's shoulder a bit more. "I'm giving my spiel. If anyone wants to donate to fix New York, please feel free to drop a check into the fishbowl."

Audrey, along with the rest of the Avengers, had been quietly donating most of their salaries since New York. The raise S.H.I.E.L.D. had offered them in the wake of Loki's attack had been mind-boggling and unacceptable, for a group of people who had their entire living expenses and more taken care of and rarely needed anything beyond that. Even if she was still paying her own rent and buying her own groceries, Audrey would've been insane to hoard that much money, and there was physically no way she could spend all of it on herself.

"Aye-aye, Stark," Triplett said, giving him a small salute.

"Don't be cheeky with me, Antoine. You're dressed as me."

"Doesn't that mean I'm supposed to be extra snarky?"

Tony stopped, again, and rolled his eyes. "I'm sick of this," he announced dramatically. "I'll be heading to another table to go talk to my real friends."

Dancing followed quickly after dinner, accompanied by a playlist so diverse in its tastes it nearly gave Audrey whiplash. "I Put a Spell on You" and the Ghostbusterstheme were both explainable enough, but they were followed by an Adele song and then an AC/DC single.

Still, Audrey was having fun. She'd decided that being normal would just look like shutting out anything making her worried in favor of the things that made her happy. So she ignored just about everyone else as she and Triplett danced, with opposite levels of talent. Audrey was used to being bullied by Tony for her inability to keep a rhythm, while Trip was smooth and graceful as the music shifted to Lenny Kravitz. Audrey, despite having lived through the disco era, could only make sorry attempts at any of the moves.

"This one goes out to a certain blondie named Audrey," came Tony's voice as "It Ain't Over Til It's Over" faded out. She looked up to find him holding the DJs microphone, pointing at her in the crowd. "Since you wanted to throw it back to 1984."

The opening notes of "Time After Time" began to resonate throughout the ballroom and Audrey, like Jane had earlier, began to jump up and down in excitement. Cyndi Lauper had been her everything for most of the eighties. And the nineties. And now.

"My god, Carter," Trip said, shaking his head at her in mock disdain. "This song is so cheesy."

She paused her jumping to point a finger at him. "Do not insult Cyndi Lauper, Triplett."

As she proceeded to dance dramatically and horribly to the song, Tony appeared at her side, taking her hands in his and spinning her around. "Audrey," he said. "You know what to do."

Audrey, for once in her life, did know exactly what to do. She and Tony had, in 1984, choreographed a terrible interpretive dance routine to this song. When they'd demonstrated for Peggy, even she couldn't mask her horrified expression. But Audrey was having too much fun to feel insecure over the fact that she was embarrassing herself in front of a guestlist that included Rihanna. Everyone else had split up into pairs for slow dancing, hardly anyone cared what she and Tony were doing.

When the chorus hit, they both began to bellow out the lyrics, off-key and out of breath. Audrey dipped Tony as the song ended, and he held out his other arm, as if waiting for applause. Audrey laughed so hard at his antics that she lost her grip on the fabric of his spacesuit, and he fell to the floor. She knelt down at his side soon after, her sides aching as she roared with laughter. She collected herself enough to raise both arms over her head, as if celebrating a victory, as Tony assumed a pose on his side.

Darcy offered them a cheer, dropping her arms from Steve's shoulders. "Encore!" she demanded.

An Eminem song immediately started playing, which Audrey took as a sign from god that an encore should not be a part of her journey forward.

"Do you think Pep hated that as much as Peggy did?" Tony asked her as she pulled him up from the marble floor.

Audrey nodded without hesitating. "For sure."

"Better go find her then," he said, perking back up.

As Tony left, Triplett returned from the sidelines, where he'd been watching them in bewilderment. "Starting to doubt if I'm worthy of donning this costume," he confessed, sounding morose. If not for the grin splitting his face, Audrey would have taken him seriously. "Hey, I got called into an emergency while you were Footloose-ing it. I'm sorry to bail, but I think I have to go."

Audrey shook her head. "Don't even worry about it. Let me walk you out."

She brought him back to the coat check, where he'd ditched his jacket. As he shrugged off the vest and replaced it with a sharp, black overcoat, he said, "This was so much fun. I'm glad you invited me."

"Of course! We never see each other. I didn't even know you'd moved to the Hub until recently. If I had known sooner, we could've hung out more."

"Technically, you weren't even supposed to know about it today," Trip corrected her. "That sort of thing is supposed to be classified." She socked him in the shoulder and he hissed playfully. "Ouch. You're breaking my heart."

Audrey threw her arms around Trip's neck and squeezed him into a tight hug. "I'll see you around?" she asked.

"You know it," he replied. When he finished buttoning up his coat, he nodded at her. "Later, Aud-ball."

"Bye, Trip."

It was cold in New York that Halloween, but not yet snowing, so Trip's silhouette was clear as she watched him go.

When most of the guests had deserted in favor of an afterparty at Sandra Bullock's penthouse, the Avengers moved upstairs in shifts. Audrey had stopped on her floor to change her shoes, since the thigh-high white boots were less than comfortable, and when she caught the elevator on the way up, she was surprised to also find Bruce there. His tie was loosened around his neck and his jacket was draped over his arm, revealing how he'd rolled the sleeves of his dark gray shirt up.

"Hey," she greeted, feeling awkward.

"Hello," he returned stiffly.

Audrey had not considered what act normal would mean if she was left alone with him; before, in the lab that one afternoon, it had felt so natural for it to be just the two of them. Now, it felt like there was something unsaid between the two of them, but Audrey wasn't sure what.

"Do you think we should talk?" she asked. She was never quite sure when she was inventing something to be anxious about and when she was right to be reacting.

"What? Uh," Bruce stumbled. "No, I don't. Think so. What about?"

Audrey shrugged. "We just didn't really...spend time together. I thought we'd have some time to talk."

Bruce swallowed. "Did you...want to? Spend time together, I mean."

Before Audrey could answer, the elevator doors swept open and Thor greeted her with a large pint of mead. "For you, my Lady."

"Oh!" Audrey exclaimed. She hadn't been expecting to have a glass shoved into her hands, and she fumbled to hold onto it. "Thank you, Thor."

"Banner, my friend," Thor said. "Are you busy? I need your medical advice."

"Wait, what—" Bruce began, but Thor was already dragging him towards the couch. Audrey sighed and took a sip of the mead as she stood by the elevator doors, bitter as all hell but giving her a warm, pleasant feeling in her stomach.

She found Steve sitting at the bar, talking to Natasha, who quietly dismissed herself when Audrey arrived.

"Hey there, kiddo," Steve greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," Audrey said. "This stuff always gives me the worst headache, though." She gestured to the drink. "Want some? This is too much."

Steve put his hand out almost immediately, as if to physically stop her from offering it to him. "I've tried it. Not my thing." The wince he gave made it clear to Audrey that his words were a severe understatement. He cleared his throat. "So, uh, that Trip gentleman is very nice."

"He is. He's very kind. And funny."

He nodded. "And he treats you well?"

Audrey's brow furrowed in confusion at that. Trip was her friend. Why wouldn't he treat her well? "Yes? Of course he does."

"Good." Steve nodded some more, and Audrey could feel the tension between the two of them, though she wasn't exactly sure where it was coming from. "And...if things get serious, you'll tell me?"

"Serious with what?"

"Just...if you start spending more time with each other."

"Uh. Sure, I'll tell you. But Trip's moving to Thailand next week, so I doubt I'll see him for a few years."

"He is?" Now it was Steve's turn to be confused. "Are you planning on...staying with him?"

"In Thailand? No. Why would I go to Thailand?"

"No, staying with him...emotionally."

Audrey narrowed her eyes, trying to decode what, exactly, Steve was talking about. How was she going to stay with Trip emotionally? Astral project into his dreams? "I'm lost."

"You two are together, aren't you?"

"What?" Audrey exclaimed. "No! I've known Tripp his whole life. I used to babysit him. We aren't dating." She didn't know whether to laugh or gag at the idea of being romantically involved with Trip. If he saw her as anything other than a friend, it was probably as an aunt who embarrassed herself at weddings. "I don't think romance is for me, after what happened with Josh."

When Audrey thought back to Josh and their breakup, she felt gross about herself. She'd lied to him. And put him in danger. And if she dated anyone else, she would be putting them in danger, too. Even Delphine had gotten hurt because of Audrey and the trouble that always seemed to follow her, and Audrey wasn't going to risk anyone else's safety. She was already 2 for 2 with ending up on bad terms with anyone she was romantically interested in.

"He didn't deserve you," Steve remarked of Josh. "You could do much better."

"Thank you. I'm just not really interested in that, right now. Everything else is so chaotic, I don't think I need to introduce a love-life-component to it all."

"Okay. Just promise me you won't shut the entire possibility out," Steve said quietly. "You don't wanna miss out on something and not realize until it's too late."

His voice always took on such a somber tone when it came to Peggy. Audrey swallowed, and nodded. "Okay. If I somehow fall in love with someone, I'll go for it."

"Good." He ruffled her hair. "Man, parenting is a lot easier than everyone always says."

Audrey rolled her eyes. "It took, like, six people to raise me. I don't know if you get to take the credit there."

"No, I know I can't," said Steve. "But it's not too late to start, is it?"

She smiled to herself, staring down at her hands and shaking her head. "Of course not."

A/N: bruce and audrey have one brain cell and they take turns using it. i hope you guys enjoyed helen's introduction, more jane, father-daughter bonding, and audrey and tony's ridiculousness. audrey and helen will become great friends moving forward, because helen rocks! audrey is just being very blind to everything right now.

next chapter, we have audrey, pepper, nat, jane, and darcy rolling out the official welcoming committee carpet for helen, plus, whatever actually happened in budapest.

thank you so much for reading and please leave a review if you can!