"I heard everything," Steve said in reply and Bucky started at that, "I know I can be an idiot sometimes – I just wanted to make sure that I, that she…" he trailed off. Bucky nodded though, he understood. He knew that Steve was worried that Carter was scared of him, hated him, and who knew what else the super soldier's brain had cooked up while he walked up to the room. "I was jealous and I apologize," Steve stated, "Please Buck, help me help my daughter." Bucky looked at his best friend and hugged him tightly in response, "I'm with you till the end of the line Stevie, that includes your family too." Steve nodded and looking less distraught than before asked Jarvis to continue their journey downstairs.
Tony met them at the elevator doors. His smile was tired, fake, but his eyes were alert. Upon seeing both Bucky and Steve he relaxed marginally and clapped Bucky into a one armed hug before going to kiss Steve good morning. Steve clung to Tony in their embrace keeping the man close to him for several heartbeats longer than usual but Tony did not protest, "Jarvis says that she's on her way down," murmured the billionaire as he broke apart from his husband but kept their hands entwined.
When the trio walked into the kitchen the first thing Tony noticed was Bruce fiddling with a laptop that was clearly not Stark Industries property. "Banner my man," exclaimed the billionaire, glad of a distraction, "How often do I have to tell you if something breaks you don't have to buy from the competition – just charge it to the company."
Bruce turned to face his science bro and fixed him with a half-hearted glare, "It's not my laptop Tony, it's Carter's." The scientist blushed when everyone else in the room fixed him with surprised looks, "A bag travelled through with her and I just wanted to make sure nothing in it was dangerous," he said defensively.
"Sure you did Bruce," remarked Clint, winking at the man, "You know curiosity isn't a bad thing…stealing and hacking can be justified too I suppose," he continued thoughtfully, "Although I'm sure that Jean Valjean would have something to say about that particular assumption."
"Well, it doesn't matter what any fictional character would have to say about me because I can't log in," replied Bruce huffily. Tony went over to him along with Natasha who was intrigued by the new tech. Tentatively Nat typed something into the password bar and for a moment her entry appeared to be accepted until the opening bars of AC/DC's Back in Black began to sound from the laptop. The words, 'Well that worked out well,' were emblazoned on the screen.
"Good job Nat," sighed Bruce whose tolerance for AC/DC was only being cultivated at the moment by Tony and hearing it so early in the morning was not his idea of a good start to the day.
"And unless you plan on cutting off my left thumb you won't ever be able to log in," remarked Carter from behind the kitchen island, raising her voice slightly to be heard above the song. She smirked lightly at the entire crew in kitchen and then made her way towards the fridge. Dressed in a pair of comfortable looking sweatpants and a light hoodie emblazoned with a crest none of them were familiar with she looked relaxed. Her hair hung loosely about her face as if she just could not be bothered with it but Nat noticed that she had pinned it so that the bruise on her cheek was mostly hidden. The rest of the evidence she had taken away with some simple make up, Nat was proud of how easily Carter had adapted. But it also caused her gut to twist a little, "How often has she covered up important things in future so that we won't worry?" she wondered.
She opened her mouth to ask the young woman something, anything to defuse the tension she felt mounting in the large kitchen area as everyone else chose that moment to stare at the young Stark. Except her fathers Nat noticed, Tony wouldn't even acknowledge her presence and Steve, he was marginally better but he still wasn't looking at Carter straight on. His gaze seemed fixed on an area right above his daughter's left shoulder.
Carter let out a quiet sigh and turned away from the fridge to take a seat at the table where Bruce, Tony, and Nat were located. She selected a chair straight across from her father and fixed him with a piercing gaze. Clasping her hands together and placing them on the table she waited a moment before speaking. In that instance the music coming from her laptop changed, "Show me how to lie, you're getting better all the time," exclaimed the singer of a band the rest of the group seemed to be unfamiliar with, except Tony. His eyes snapped up to his daughter's face and she returned his gaze steadily. Turning the laptop towards her Carter swiped her left thumb over the touch pad and the music turned off. "You're Gonna Go Far Kid," she said, "It's by 'The Offspring'."
Tony nodded, "I know," and then made a motion as if to duck his head. From the moment they had started looking at each other he had been searching her face and seeing her cheek mostly obscured by a hairstyle he had no doubt was intentional Tony tried to break eye contact with her.
"Look at me," said Carter, her tone neutral and slowly he complied, "It's okay to look at me. I'm okay," she emphasized the last two words. Tony didn't seem to know how to respond to her so she took his silence as an invitation to add something, "I've never seen you drink you know," she whispered, "And I have certainly never seen you drunk," she spoke so quietly that the team strained to catch her words. They were only clear to Tony, and considering that was who they were meant for it was alright by Carter if he was the only one who ever heard her.
"This isn't your fault," she declared, louder this time, "No matter happens while I'm here and no matter what any of you hear if I go into a fit – none of it is your fault." At this she fixed each member of the team with a hard stare, her hazel eyes meeting Steve's blue ones last, "I don't blame anyone so I would appreciate it if you wouldn't treat me as fragile or anything, okay?" Carter huffed out a puff of air, she obviously hadn't intended on getting into such a touchy subject so early in the morning but it was done.
It was Tony who spoke first surprisingly, "Okay," he said simply, fixing his daughter with a tired but determined gaze. She nodded and that action seemed to pop the balloon of tension that had caused the rest of the team to stay away from the interaction. The tension didn't exactly evaporate it still hung over group like a wary and scary cloud but that reaction was better than nothing. With that Sam padded over to the refrigerator and pulled out Greek yogurt, strawberries, and blueberries, she turned around to survey the room. People were still sitting rather stiffly although Bruce and Thor were valiantly trying to start conversations. She seemed on the verge of rolling her eyes but repressed it at the last moment. Nat snorted at the young woman who met her eyes and the two of them shared a small smirk. "Looking for something?" asked Nat.
"Bowls?" queried Carter but before Nat could reply Jarvis jumped in with an answer and as he pointed out other ingredients to the younger Stark it became clear that she was making pancakes. As the semi-awkward silence continued Sam pursed her lips and stole over to the laptop that had been playing music earlier and double tapped the touchpad. A series of playlists popped up on the screen, satisfied with her work she slip the piece of tech over to Bruce, "I'm assuming you still love music now as much as you do in my time, feel free to browse, and no, I'm not giving you access to anything popular past this year."