"𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐎𝐊𝐀𝐘?"

Peter's voice was the first welcome thing Charlie heard that day. She burrowed deeper into her blankets, trying to shut out the world, focusing on the white noise coming from Peter's end of the call instead.

"Charlie?"

Charlie blinked, realizing she hadn't responded. "Yeah. yeah, I'm okay." She fiddled with the tag on the blanket, making a mental note to cut it off later. "I'm assuming you saw the news?"

"I called you as soon as I saw it," Peter said worriedly. There was a bit of shuffling around on his end. Then, "Penny, careful!"

Charlie felt herself smile as Peter yelped, before chastising his sister. "Come get me if you can't reach something! Oh my God!"

Penny's voice sounded indignant. "You can't use your powers in the house, Pete, what if May saw?"

"You almost cracked your head open!"

Somehow, their bickering was calming. Charlie found herself grinning in amusement. "Everything okay?"

Peter huffed. There was a bit of moment before the tell-tale sound of a door closing. "Yeah, sorry. Penny climbed on toppa' the counter trying to reach something and almost fell off. I had to catch her before she fucking died."

"Hey!" Penny's voice was faint.

"Love you!" Peter hollered, making Charlie pull the phone away from her ear to avoid the static. "Sorry. What were we- oh my God, the explosion!"

Charlie squirmed uncomfortably. "Yeah."

"Is everybody else okay?" Peter pressed. "The scary Sokovian lady- Wanda Maximoff? What even happened? That was insane."

Charlie shook her head, even though he couldn't see it. "I honestly don't know what happened. My Pops is on debrief and Dad is prepping extra security for a few days. Wanda... I don't know. I'm on house arrest."

"That was insane," Peter repeated. "I'm glad you guys are okay, though."

"Me too," Charlie said. She shifted not her back, feeling like she was going to explode in this room, with her four changing-color walls and soft purple comforter and Iron suit blueprints hung on the walls. She craved her dads' presented more than ever. "Do you ever get annoyed when adults just, like, refuse to tell you things?"

Peter scoffed. "Oh, all the time. Like, I'm fifteen, not six. We hear things and they expect us not to get curious, or try to figure it out."

"Exactly," Charlie smacked her own forehead, feeling incredibly validated. "My parents never tell me anything! My entire house is filled with Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D agents, and they think I'm never gonna pick up on stuff-"

"S.H.I.E.L.D?" Peter repeated, sounding confused. "Didn't S.H.I.E.L.D die last year?"

Charlie's eyes widened. She smacked her head omits her forehead. She silently screamed a curse word into the void, wanting to kick herself. "Yes. Yes, it did. Don't repeat that. You didn't hear anything."

Peter obviously wanted to ask more questions, but he thankfully dropped it. "Holy shit. Okay, Uh... understood."

"Seriously, Peter," Charlie begged. "You can't say anything. Not a word."

"Hey," Peter said more firmly. "I've kept Spider-Man a secret for months. You can trust me, Charlie."

Something about the way he said her name- the Queens accent, maybe, or the slight drag on the "e"- made Charlie feel flustered all of the sudden.

"Okay," Charlie felt herself relax just slightly. "Okay, good."

"Wait," Peter said again, and the way his tone had change implied he'd literally forgotten about it already. Charlie smiled fondly. "Are there really no other kids in the Avengers Tower?"

"Nope," Charlie said. "S'just me. I mean, I love all of them- Sam and Nat do stuff with me all the time- but not a lot of kid stuff. It's mostly training. We did have a movie night recently, though, 'cause Dad and Pops were fighting and everyone wanted me not to notice."

She could hear almost hear the frown in Peter's voice. "I'm sorry."

Charlie's eyebrows dipped. "Why?"

"That just... sounds kinda lonely," Peter said honestly. "And I'm sorry your parents are fighting. That's gotta suck. Especially if you don't have people to talk to about it that are your age. If I didn't have Penny, or Ned..."

Charlie didn't know what to say to that.

Her world was so small that it wasn't like she had anything to complain about. Everything that happened in the Tower was out in the open- everybody knew about it, except for her.

On the grand scale of things, loneliness wasn't exactly Charlie's priority.

Not when the world was ending every other week, and her family was out risking their lives.

It hit her hard, all of the sudden. A numb kind of sadness settled over her, and she could feel her face fall.

"Isn't the Maximoff lady pretty young?" Peter asked.

"She's twenty-five. A solid ten years older than me, but yeah, she's the closest thing."

"Do you ever talk to her about stuff? "

It was Charlie's turn to frown now. "I mean, not really. We just kind of avoid each other, I guess."

"What? Why?"

Because I'm the reason her brother is dead, Charlie thought, but she didn't say it out loud. And the first time we met, she made me relive my rape.

"We're just really different," Charlie muttered.

"Oh," She could hear Peter shrug from the other side of the phone. "Well, it could be helpful. To talk to her, I mean. Or someone else. What about your dads? Captain America seems like he'd have a long line of lectures ready to give. I've had to watch his safety training videos in P.E."

"Safety training videos?" Charlie echoed.

"Yeah," Peter said. "What, you've never had to do the Captain America Fitness Challenge? I've had to do it every year since middle school. Pure torture."

Charlie didn't remember Steve ever making videos for P.E students.

In fact, she didn't remember the last time she and Steve had a real talk. Where he taught her a life lesson like dads were apparently supposed to do, or the last time he gave her a lecture that was yelling at her when the anger got the best of him.

"I don't think I'm at the top of Pop's list right now, to be honest," Charlie forced a laugh. "We don't spend a ton of time together these days. He's busy."

Peter was silent for a moment. His voice was soft when he spoke again. "Maybe you should just reach out to him. I mean, you should always be at the top of your dad's list, right?"

Charlie didn't like the tight feeling forming at the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah," she muttered. "Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna... I'm gonna go talk to him."

"I'm always right," Peter said boldly. "Let me know how it goes, alright? And stay safe. I'm... I'm really glad you're okay, Charlie."

There were those damn butterflies in her stomach again.

Jesus Christ, Peter Parker.

"You too," Charlie tired to keep her voice light. "I mean, if something happens, I hope you'll be okay."

"Why does that sound so ominous?"

"Maybe it was a threat," Charlie said, her heart picking up speed.

"That's reassuring," Peter said dryly. "Thanks. My bedroom window's always open, if you need an easy in."

"You keep your bedroom window unlocked?" Charlie laughed. "In Queens, New York, at night? Great plan, dude."

Peter was laughing too. "Hey, I'm Spider-Man! I can protect myself. Or maybe I wanna die in my sleep. Seems like the best way to go, honestly."

"I'll keep that in mind," Charlie was fully blushing now.

"That was another threat. Maybe I'll actually lock my window this time. You scare me. Goodbye."

Charlie was laughing too much to respond before Peter hung up the call. She could still hear the smile in his voice.

"Hey, Pops?" Charlie knocked gently on the door, fidgeting her the ends of her sleeves.

Steve quickly looked up from his desk. "Oh, hey, Charlie. You need something?"

Charlie shook her head, studying him. He looked tired but alert, dressed in slacks and his old-person brown leather jacket. His desk was littered with papers, his pack of art supplies open on the corner. It was the one Charlie and Tony had given him for Christmas a few years ago, and judging by the short length of the colored pencils, he'd been using it a lot.

"Not really," Charlie said awkwardly. "Just... wanted to spend some time with you. I feel like I haven't seen you much lately."

Steve frowned. "Oh. Well, you're welcome to come sit in here. I'm just doing some S.H.I.E.L.D work."

Charlie nodded, walking forward slowly. She approached the desk, smiling softly when she saw the sketch pad in front of him. "You've been drawing?"

"Yes ma'am," Steve said, leaning back in his chair.

Charlie studied the drawing. It wasn't finished yet, but she could make out the distinct familiar facial features drawn out close together.

"Is that you, me, and Dad?"

"Yep," Steve said, twirling a purple colored pencil across his fingers. "I'm working on the faces as the last bit. It should be easy- photographic memory- but the eyes take a lot of time."

Charlie nodded. She looked at the thin strokes making out her figure, standing between her dads, hilariously smaller than them. She wore her favorite purple sweater, hanging off of one shoulder.

"No scars?" She teased.

Steve's looked up at her.

"The scars," Charlie said, gesturing to her shoulder. "You didn't draw them."

"Oh." Steve frowned at the picture. He seemed to be frowning a lot lately. "I guess I didn't. Do you want me to draw them?"

Charlie looked at him, brows furrowing slightly. She smiled awkwardly. "I mean, I don't care. It's just- I mean, I've had these for two years. Its kinda part of me now. It's up to you, it's not a big deal."

Steve was looking at her strangely. "I didn't realize It had been two years," he said.

"Yep," Charlie said. The tension in the air had risen slightly, putting them both on edge. "You don't have to draw the scars if you don't want to. But I mean, it would be like drawing Dad without the arc reactor."

"You're right," Steve said. Charlie followed his gaze to Tony's figure on the paper, where a slight blue haze shone through his white collared shirt. "I guess I just forgot you've had them for that long. It's still kind of new for me."

He'd forgotten? With his photographic memory?

"Well, I'm glad you were able to forget about it," Charlie smiled tensely. "I don't think Dad is ever gonna be able to get Ultron out of his head."

"Of course I didn't forget about Ultron," Steve said gently, but something in his tone was warning. "That's when we met Wanda. And you told us about Afghanistan. I don't think it was fun for any of us, doll."

The reason I told you about Afghanistan was because of Wanda, Charlie thought. I have that to thank her for, I guess.

"I never asked you," Charlie said, looking away. The way Steve talked about Wanda more highly than he'd ever talked about her was getting under her skin. "What did you see, when she mind controlled you?"

Steve clearly didn't like how she'd phrased that, but he didn't say anything. "I was back in the 40's."

Bucky's name was left unspoken. Charlie didn't like that.

"Did you see Bucky?" She pressed, sitting down on the chair in a gesture she hoped was nonchalant. "Everybody else had a nightmare; the 40's doesn't sound too bad. Dad saw his worst fear, Bruce Hulked out, Thor saw Asgard destroyed, Nat and I relived our worst memories-"

"The war was over and I was dancing with Bucky in a bar," Steve said sharply. "I saw the life I lost when I went down in the ice."

Well, fuck.

His worst fear had been... what? Not being with Bucky in the 40's? Not being able to dance with him, hold him?

There not being a war?

"Steve Rogers doesn't know how to live without a fight," Charlie had a sudden memory of Nick Fury saying.

If that was really what Steve had seen, there was a lot of underlying thoughts in his head.

Then he found out Bucky was alive last year- in Hydras control, then living on the run with Becca, just far enough out of Steve's reach that he couldn't find them

It definitely explained the fixation Steve had with tracking them down.

He didn't just what Bucky to be okay- he wanted his old life back.

But- Bucky? Really? Charlie didn't understand having an ex-boyfriend, or even a childhood best friend, but she didn't really understand why he would take priority.

She loved Bucky and Becca, but...

Steve cared more about them than his husband of sixteen years? Or his daughter?"

"Oh," Charlie said, annoyance quickly finding its way into her heart. "I would have thought it would be me and Dad's kidnapping."

Something flickered in Steve's blue eyes.

"I mean, we were gone for months," Charlie laughed without humor. "Dad got shrapnel lodged in his heart- and I was assaulted multiple times. You were alone that entire time. But it was your old life?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Steve said softly, but his eyes were dark. "You know I didn't. Those was the the worst months of my life, in 2008."

"Clearly, it wasn't," Charlie said, all humor completely gone from her tone. God, she was so tired of not coming first. "Your subconscious obviously thinks losing Bucky was worse."

Steve stared at her, his jaw pulsing. "I loved Bucky for twenty-one years, Charlie. It would make sense why I would miss him."

His Brooklyn accent wasn't nearly as nice as Peter's Queens one when he said her name, Charlie noticed.

"Well, thank Wanda for that," Charlie said dryly.

She could see that dangerous anger rising in Steve's eyes. She wanted to cower back immediately, but she held her ground.

"Wanda didn't mean to hurt anyone," Steve said, his voice low.

"Didn't she, though?" Charlie tilted her head, fury pulsing through her veins as she smiled. "She took all of out, one by one, saw our worst fears and made us relive them not once, but twice. She knew damn well what she was doing."

Steve stared her down. "Language. She wasn't on our side, then. If you were in that position, wouldn't you do whatever you could?"

And holy shit, he was trying to justify it.

"I just told you she made me through go Afghanistan again, intentionally," Charlie leaned forward, "And your first thought is to defend her?"

"She's with us now," Steve insisted. "She's on our side."

Charlie stared at him. "That's great, Fantastic. But we're just going to ignore-"

Steve stood so quickly that Charlie flinched backwards, in that violent way she hadn't since two years of therapy.

Steve saw.

The cold look on his face told her that he didn't care.

"I'm not going to sit here while you talk poorly about one of your own teammates. Wanda is our most valuable asset. She's saved a huge number of people."

Asset.

The name struck a nerve with Charlie, who found a quick anger rising in her. She thought of Rebecca Barnes, and her tendency to not realize she was a human being and deserved to be treated as such, the mask nailed into her face.

Nobody deserved to be an Asset.

"Nice wording," She said, standing too. "Did those couple of days with Becca last year really get into your vocabulary? Wanda the Asset- taking a page of of Hydra's book?"

"So I'm like Hydra now?!" Steve bellowed. "For keeping around a valuable teammate, whose been our ally, who has nowhere else to go? Her only family is dead. Don't you dare act like I don't care about Wanda."

Charlie glared at him. "Oh, trust me, Pops, I know you care about her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve asked, his voice low. His stance was defensive, his chin dipped down, like Captain America staring down his enemies.

"You've paid more attention to Wanda these past two years than you have to me or Dad," Charlie said angrily. Her eyes burned. "Ever since she moved in, it's like she's been a replacement. You've had these deep talks with her, and you watch all those old 40's movies and sitcoms with her, when that's supposed to be our thing. When was the last time we sat and watched something, just me, you, and Dad?"

"I've been helping her adjust, Charlotte," Steve said, and shit, she just got full-named. "Because I know what it's like to find yourself in a place that's nothing like where you came from, with no family and no home."

Charlie, once again, felt a pang of guilt about Pietro.

Steve continued. "I get it. You're fifteen, and you're jealous."

"Jealous?" Charlie echoed in disbelief. "Pops, I'm angry. For the past year its been all about Wanda, and finding Bucky- it's like you have this idea of a family in your head and you're forgetting that you have one right in front of you!"

Steve scrubbed a hand over his face. "You think I don't know that? Everything I've ever done is for you!"

"Pops, I miss you!" Charlie blurted out.

Steve fell silent.

Charlie felt her eyes burn even more at the admission and she turned away for a moment. "I miss you, okay? I feel like I never see you anymore, and you've been so set on finding Bucky and getting your old life back, and you and Dad have been fighting- and I feel like everything's falling apart!"

Her chest seized as her words really set in- what her mind had been thinking on a loop.

"Everything's falling apart," she repeated, her voice cracking.

She angrily swiped at her eyes, wincing when she realized her thumbs were bleeding. Embarrassment crept over her and she turned away, avoiding Steve's eye contact as she scrubbed at her face.

"Charlie," Steve said quietly. "Sit down for a minute, okay?"

Her lip quivered as she sat back down on the armchair she'd stood from, pulling her legs close to her chest.

Steve moved his desk chair so they were sitting face-to-face, only about a foot away from each other. He was quiet for a moment, lacing his hands together and looking at the floor, as if gathering his thoughts.

"Charlie," he said finally. "Look at me, doll."

He wanted until she met his eyes, deep brown into bright blue. He gently put a hand between hers, nudging her fingers away from the bleeding skin of her thumbs.

"I love you." he said firmly. "I love you, Charlie. There's no if's, ands, or buts about that. You know that, right?"

Charlie searched his eyes, trying desperately to believe it.

The desperate warmth in them gave her the answer she needed. He was telling the truth.

"You're thinking too loud," Steve said softly. "Sweetheart. Listen to me real close, okay?"

Charlie nodded.

"I'm sorry I haven't been spending enough time with you," Steve said, "I've been distant, and I know that. That's not on you. That's not on Tony. That's on the circumstances."

Steve shifted on his chair, leaning forward until his elbows rested on his knees. "This job, that we have... it takes everything. Being an Avenger isn't just a part-time gig. As long as people need us, as long as we can save lives, we have to be ready. If we aren't, maybe next time nobody gets saved. It's a matter of life and death. Which means lots of training, and living in the middle of the night if we get a call, and even spending says away from home."

"You didn't used to be this busy," Charlie said lowly. "Not when the Avengers Initiative started, and definitely not before that- not even up until last year, when you were with the original S.H.I.E.L.D. I guess I just don't understand what changed."

Steve nodded slowly, taking a moment to look out the window. The view from this office was closer to the ground- about level with some of the shorter bits of the Manhattan skyline.

"The new S.H.I.E.L.D is different than it was before," Steve said, his eyes trained on the sky outside. "It's a much smaller circle, with much more intense, personal missions. It's still an experimental trail sort of thing, and I'm at the head of it, sweetheart. I've got to be there for everything."

Charlie was quiet for a moment. Then- "Is S.H.I.E.L.D still looking for the Barnes, or is that just you?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Classified," Charlie nodded. "But you are looking for them. That's why you're gone so much."

Steve sighed. "I let them go once, Charlie. I can't do it again."

"It wasn't your fault," Charlie said quietly. "What happened to them wasn't your fault. But spending all this time thinking about Bucky... Pops, it's getting to Dad. You know it is."

The motion of Tony made Steve slowly lean back, pressing his back against the desk chair, closing his eyes briefly.

"You guys have been fighting," Charlie continued. "A lot. You didn't tell either of us about Bucky. That you two were together. Your old boyfriend- or whatever you guys were- came back from the dead, and you're so set on getting him back, and Dad is stuck feeling like the other man. It's not fair."

"You Dad and I's relationship isn't something you need to worry about, doll," Steve said, a tiny but of a harsh tone in his words.

Yes, it is, Charlie wanted to say, but she knew she shouldn't.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, Pops," she said instead. "Whether you like it or not, I grew up pretty damn fast. I grew up in a house of super spies and classified information. You think I don't pick up on stuff? You're not hiding things from me, you're just making me deal with all of it on my own. We're a family. Whatever is happening in our lives, I deserve to know."

Steve ran a hand through his hair. "You're every bit like Tony as you could possibly be, Bubs. You're damn smart, you think I don't know that? It's about protection. What you don't know can't hurt you."

"That's bullshit."

"Language."

"You think lies and misleading information can't hurt?" Charlie gave him a look. "You should know better than anyone that it does."

Steve opened his mouth to retort, when suddenly there was a blur of moment in the corner of the office.

Both Charlie and Steve turned, staring in disbelief as Vision phased his way through the wall, looking completely unbothered.

He stopped when he saw the looks on the father and daughter's faces.

"You good?" Charlie asked, eyebrows raised almost to her hairline.

"I am," Vision said, nodding at her.

Charlie nodded uncertainly. There was an awkward moment of silence before she pressed, "You know there's a door, right?"

"Well, I assumed..." Vision waved his hand as though that explained everything. It did not. "Since I could hear your voices, and Captain Roger's private study-"

"It's alright, Vision," Steve nodded at him. "Did you need something?"

Vision nodded. "Mr. Stark is requesting your company in the living area."

Steve frowned. Charlie sat up, exchanging a concerned look with him. "Why didn't he just use J.A.R.V.I.S? Or come get us himself?"

Vision looked at him. "He's... brought a guest."

Steve stood. Charlie watched as his brows furrowed.

Vision tilted his head, glancing at Charlie as if in warning. Alarm bells went off in her head.

"The Secretary of State," he said coolly.

A/N
Oh man, it's happening.

Peter and Penny.

A bit more of Charlie and Wanda.

Steve and Charlie had a very much needed talk.

A lot of things were brought up that Charlie's just been stewing in alone. i have a feeling some people are going to feel like she's being unreasonable. keep in mind that she's a fifteen year old kid, and she didn't say anything that wasn't true.

let me know your thoughts! about charlie, or wanda, or steve, or any of the other conversations that were had!

love you all, drink some water! ❤️