Jennifer sat on the counter of the large kitchen island eating ice cream in the Avenger tower. It had been a few months since she first moved into the building. The room was lit only by the small lamp next to the coffee maker. She had a long day, and ice cream was her weakness. She usually wouldn't eat another Avenger's food without asking, but that went out the window at the sight of Chocolate Chip ice cream. She looked down at her ankle adjusting the ice pack. It wasn't doing much since it had melted, but she didn't have the energy to get another one. She had landed hard in one of the training exercises that day. She had done her best to hide it, and a few hours later she was regretting it. Looking over at the clock she shook her head. It was 2 AM she should be in bed. Usually, when she couldn't sleep, she would run, but that wasn't an option tonight. Granted the ice cream probably wasn't helping. The main kitchen light turned on causing her to squint. Jennifer glanced up seeing Steve standing in the doorway. He had on PJs and his hair disheveled. Steve seemed surprised to see her.
"Jennifer, what are you doing up?" He asked Jennifer gestured to the ice cream.
"What about you?" She asked around a mouthful of ice cream causing him to laugh.
"I thought I heard a noise. Must have been the refrigerator Ghost" Jennifer moved to get off the counter. However, the movement sent pain up her leg. She closed her eyes letting out a slow breath. Steve walked over to the freezer pulling out a fresh ice pack. She reached over to take it, but he held up his hand.
"Jen, let me help you." Jennifer clamped her mouth shut. Steve hadn't used the nickname since the bunker. She watched as he delicately removed the ice pack revealing the large bruise. He looked up at her. "Jen, did you do this today?" She nodded not knowing what to say. "Why didn't you say something?" Jennifer swallowed the large mouth full of ice cream causing a slight brain freeze.
"It's not broken just a small sprain. So, I figured I would ice it and take the day off tomorrow." Steve shook his head placing the new ice pack gently on her ankle.
"The thing about being a team is that you need to be able to let us help you." He reached into a drawer and pulled out a spoon. "Now are you going to share some of my ice cream with me." Jennifer smiled handing the container over.
"Fine." She said in mocked annoyance causing him to laugh. The movement, however, caused the sleeve of her shirt to pull up revealing a scar on her wrist. Steve tried not to stare, but he had no idea she had an injury like that. Jennifer was often rubbing her wrists, but he didn't expect this. Noticing his gaze, she quickly pulled the sleeve down and wrapped her arms around her body closing herself off. Steve took a spoon full of ice cream and handed it back to her.
"Don't feel like you have to hide from me, Jen." He said pointing at her arms. She slowly took the ice cream back grabbing a spoon full. "Like I said we're a team." She looked at him for a moment before taking a bite.
"Sorry, I'm just not ready to share that reminder." She said her cheeks growing red.
"Don't worry about it Jen you have all the time in the world. Just know that I'm…the teams here if you need someone."