Vicissitude

Chapter Six

"You're making a puddle on the floor, you know" Carol said gently.

"I know" Steve said with a sigh. He was so bone-weary that when he'd gotten back to Stark Tower he'd walked into his apartment and promptly dropped down onto the hallway floor to rest. He'd lost track of how long he'd been there, but it was long enough that the cold of the tiled floor was seeping into his body. He wanted to move, knew he should get up, but he just couldn't muster himself.

He heard Carol's footsteps retreating, and a moment later she approached again. He felt the gentle weight of something being draped over his legs, and then over his chest and arms. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to watch as Carol tucked the towels closer to his body.

He laughed lightly. "Thanks" he murmured. "Turns out Kevlar is only waterproof to a certain point. I'm considering asking Tony to make me a star-spangled wetsuit next time."

Carol gave a hum of acknowledgement, but stayed hunkered down next to Steve. "Things go okay?" she asked eventually.

"Well... we did the best we could" he told her. She nodded gently. "It was pretty fierce out there. I think even the weather has gotten worse in the past seventy years."

"Global warming just might do that" Carol agreed.

"How did you and Pepper go?" Steve asked.

"We got done everything we set out to do. She's amazing. Seriously. We're lucky she's on our side, because if someone like the Hellfire Club decided to recruit her, she'd whip them into shape so fast we'd have our asses handed to us before we knew what the hell was happening."

Steve smiled at the thought.

"C'mon, Cap, up off the floor. It must be cold."

Steve frowned. "It is"

"So... why are you still down there? Get up, have a nice hot shower, put on some sweats and I'll fix you some soup. I smuggled up a container for you from the makeshift kitchen we set up."

Steve opened his eyes again and looked up at Carol's worried face. "You don't have to take care of me, Carol. You've been working for days without a break, too. You should be resting."

"Helping Pepper turn the bottom few floors of the Tower into a refuge and meal centre for storm victims wasn't exactly what I'd call hard work. At least I got to be warm and dry and indoors."

"Well, it wasn't exactly Quinjet weather outside" Steve reasoned.

"True, but I wasn't out in it, knee-deep in freezing cold storm water..."

"Knee-deep? Try hip deep. And chest-deep at one stage" Steve grumbled, shuddering at the memory.

"Chest deep? Holy crap" Carol muttered.

"Thor and Nat were on the ground with me, too. They got every bit as soaked" Steve said modestly. "And it was no picnic for Tony or Rhodey either."

"Yes, and I bet none of them are drip-drying on floor tiles. They're all sensible enough to go get dry." Carol looked puzzled for a moment. "So, how come Thor couldn't... you know," she frowned thoughtfully and mimicked the way the Asgardian swung Mjolnir above his head. Steve chuckled at her impersonation of the god. "Why couldn't he do something about the weather? Settle the storm or whatever?"

Steve nodded. "I mentioned that to him. He gripped my shoulder and looked at me very seriously and said: "Friend Steven, I am simply the God of Thunder."

Carol chuckled. "Amateur!"

Steve smiled.

"I wish there was more I could have done out there. Everything this city has been through lately- a natural disaster was probably the last thing they needed. I just felt so useless every time Tony or Rhodey gave me an update though the comms. Hardly fitting for an Avenger."

"Hey" Steve chided gently, reaching up and grabbing Carol's hand. "I stopped in downstairs and saw the bedding you and Pepper arranged, and all the food you help prepare. There are a lot of people who are safe and out of the weather and with a full stomach because you lent a hand. Being an Avenger is not about always being in the thick of things, getting your uniform dirty... it's about doing your best, doing whatever you can to make things right."

Carol smiled lightly, and gave Steve's hand a reassuring squeeze. Then she tensed her arm and started to stand, trying to pull Steve up with here.

"C'mon soldier, on your feet!" Steve smiled and allowed Carol to haul him to his feet. He sighed wearily.

"Now, away to the shower with you, and then it's soup o'clock. You'll feel so much better once you've eaten."

Steve wasn't in a hurry to let go of Carol's hand; and Carol didn't seem eager to let go of him, either.

And then his stomach growled loudly. Carol laughed openly, and Steve grinned shyly.

"The experts have spoken!" Carol declared.

Steve nodded and grudgingly and let go of Carol's hand. He shuffled off to the bathroom, and Carol headed for the kitchen.

"Stupid stomach" he muttered.

… … ...

Steve was hunched over the biggest bowl of soup he'd ever eaten in his life. It also happened to be the best soup he'd ever tasted. He'd initially felt slightly guilty that Carol had given him such a large bowl, but had only taken a small serve for herself; but the soup was so hot and hearty and filling and delicious that he was secretly glad to be greedy for once. There was also a rapidly-diminishing stack of hot, buttered toast in front of him. He was clean and dry, having soaked the cold from his bones in a warm shower, and he was dressed in cosy sweatpants and a pullover type of top Tony called a 'hoodie'. The day, which had been so exhausting and cold up until thirty minutes ago, was rapidly looking up.

"You really made this?" Steve asked.

Carol nodded. "About five vats of it. Had an army of university students doing the peeling." she winked at him and he smiled.

"But it's your recipe?"

"My Mom's, actually, but it's a well-established favourite in my cooking arsenal. Guaranteed to warm you up from the inside, head to toe."

"I'm so used to eating soup from a can, home-made is so much better." Steve mumbled through a mouthful of vegetables and lentils.

Carol shuddered at the thought of canned soup. "Well, once you start in with home-made, you can't go back to canned. Same with pizza- can't stand the chain store stuff now I make my own."

Steve looked up at her, intrigued. "You make your own pizza?" he asked in an awed tone.

"Crust and all" Carol said smugly. "I'll make it for you sometime."

Steve nodded enthusiastically. "I'd like that."

They fell into comfortable silence again as they turned their focus back to their food.

"So, what's the secret ingredient?" Steve asked eventually. Carol looked questioningly at him.

"Isn't there always supposed to be some kind of secret ingredient in all good food- something unexpected that makes it a cut above?"

Carol gave him a cunning look "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" she quoted, deadpan.

Steve frowned. "Wow. That's a pretty serious caveat."

Carol looked at him askance, and then it dawned on her. "You haven't seen Top Gun?!" she asked.

Steve shook his head, puzzled.

"Oh my god! It's an 80's classic, about these hotshot pilots... Why hasn't Tony made you watch it? Why haven't I made you watch it?!"

"I... don't know?" Steve said slowly.

"Ha! We're watching it. For sure. If you don't have to go back out tonight, I'll make us pizza, and we'll watch Top Gun on the big screen TV, and drink some beers."

"Sounds ideal" Steve said casually, smiling warmly. Carol suddenly looked very pleased with herself.

The moment was ruined as Rhodey and Tony entered the room. Tony stopped short in the doorway and started at Carol and Steve, appalled.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded.

"Tony-" Rhodey muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Where's my soup?" Tony demanded. Carol smiled and shook her head.

"Out in the rain and winds, three nights in a row, rescuing people from cars and flooded buildings, pushed to the brink of exhaustion, and what do I get?"

"Not soup" Steve answered back.

Tony pointed at Steve. "You're getting smart-alecky. I blame me." He sauntered over to the table and stole a piece of Steve's toast, and then peered into Steve's almost-empty soup bowl. "Jeez, Cap, did you save any soup for the homeless people we're sheltering?"

Steve frowned.

"If it's soup you're after, there's plenty in the kitchen I set up downstairs" Carol said lightly. She fixed Rhodey with a why are you here? look. Rhodey shrugged apologetically.

"Came to tell you what a great job you did, Carol, helping Pep arrange the emergency shelter... and to check on oh Captain, my captain, here, but I can see that he's doing just fine... eating you out... of house and home" Tony said, pausing just enough to make Carol narrow her eyes at him. The almost-double-entendre was lost on Steve. He hunched protectively over his food.

Tony munched thoughtfully on his purloined toast. "When are you going back out?" he asked Steve.

"Fury says the worst of the weather is over, so unless something else happens, I'm off watch until we can help with clean-up."

"That won't be for a few days, until the water recedes" Rhodey said.

"Thought I'd take a few shifts downstairs in the shelter, help with cleaning, talk to people, that sort of thing. But I'm going to try to get some rest first" Steve said.

"I hear you" Tony agreed. "Feel like I could sleep for a week." He stretched. "Well, if you kiddies are up for it later, I've managed to find once decent pizza joint on the island of Manhattan that is somehow still open for business; they're sending over a bunch of pies for the shelter, and quite a few for us, so... pizza party in my digs later."

Steve and Carol looked both shifty and awkward.

"I've got plans" Carol said casually.

Tony looked suspiciously at her. "How can you have plans? There's a hurricane outside- the only plan anyone has at the moment is to live through it."

Carol shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna... rest" Steve mumbled.

Tony looked piercingly at Steve. "I'm offering you pizza, Cap. No one sleeps through pizza. Unless you're too full of soup" he said slyly.

Steve began to blush and looked down, fascinated by his empty soup bowl. "I have plans, too."

"I have pizza, your argument is invalid" Tony said, clearly not liking being brushed off.

"Yeah, well... we're having home made pizza. I'm making it. And then, because you've failed in your friend duty to Steve, I'll be showing him the film Top Gun" Carol said testily.

"Wait- you haven't seen Top Gun?!" Rhodey exclaimed. He looked accusatorially at Tony, but Tony was too busy smirking at Steve.

"You're not invited!" Steve and Carol said in unison, seeing the mischievous glint in the billionaire playboy's eye.

"Oh, I don't know... I'd be happy to stop by and play chaperone for you two sweet kids. And I do love the movie. The sex scene, from memory, is especially sensual..."

"Sex scene?" Steve asked in a worried tone. His eyes flicked self-consciously to Carol.

Carol sighed.

"Tony" Rhodey muttered warningly, trying sincerely not to smile.

Tony nodded sagely. "It'll take your breath away" he punned. Steve didn't get the reference, but Carol and Rhodey rolled their eyes.

"Thank you so much for your concern, but we don't need a chaperone" Carol said lightly.

"I really don't mind" Tony said brightly.

"It's fine, thanks" Steve said tightly.

"Okay, Tony... let's go get some soup... from downstairs" Rhodey said knowingly.

"He wants to gossip about you" Tony said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at Rhodey. "So we're going to go gossip. And eat soup." Tony began to exit the room with Rhodey, but he walked backwards in order to fix Steve and Carol with a canary-eating grin for just that little bit longer. Carol frowned and glared; Steve looked defiant.

He left them in awkward silence for several minutes.

"We're never going to hear the end of this, are we?" Steve asked wearily.

"Not on your life" Carol sighed.

… … … …

Author's notes- I had this one in my head for a long time, it just took itself a while to be ready. I know this isn't quite in keeping with the increasingly darker tone of its sister-story "Notes From a Royal Screw-up" but I've pretty much already decided that Steve and Carol are getting their own series, so I'm starting to lead in to that from here. This is probably the second last chapter of this series, and there are quite a few loose ends to tie up. Still putting the next chapter of Notes together, and that's going to be a while as it's very action-packed! Follow me on Twitter Bombshell1701 and I'll keep you informed of how its' going.

Obligatory disclaimer: I own none of these characters or anything the reference, and I make no money writing these stories.