Steve snorted. "Good to know." He looked over at Bruce with a raised eyebrow. "So, what's got you down here at this time of day? I thought you didn't come down here much?"

"I decided it was best to abandon ship when Tony announced that the new ragefish were ready to join the tank," Bruce replied. "I think there are ten of those things now."

"I would be surprised if we were talking about anyone else," Steve said mildly. "But this is Tony. As long as there's no risk of them eating us, I suppose it's not so bad."

"Tony thinks that setting one fish off will chain the others," Bruce said dryly. "It may never actually stop."

"It'll keep him amused for a while," Steve said dryly. "We won't have to worry about what he's up to for that long, at least."

"True," Bruce conceded. He sighed. "I don't understand his fascination with the Other Guy."

Steve shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he's just trying to prove he doesn't mind."

"Maybe he should mind a bit more," Bruce said quietly. "There's a reason I exiled myself, after all."

Steve shrugged and leaned back in his seat. "With Tony, who knows. But if you really have an issue, talk to him. You're the one he's least likely to brush off."

"Tony's also stubborn as a mule," Bruce pointed out. He shook his head a bit, but didn't add any further comment.

Steve was quiet for a bit, just looking out the window at the rest of the city. The silence was comfortable, at least.

It took two and a half days before Elaine even turned her cell phone back on. She still didn't want to venture out of the house, but at least she was back on the grid, so to speak.

Kae took even longer, although her cell phone stayed on the whole time. She just ignored it. She ignored the 134 texts from Tony and the few calls. She didn't really want to be disturbed at the moment.

Steve got fed up with the non communication at the end of the third day. He'd had more than enough time to think things over, and he'd made his decision.

So he showed up at the house and knocked.

Elaine almost didn't want to answer the door. After the second and third knock, though, she couldn't ignore it anymore and opened it. She was a little surprised to see Steve there.

"Steve?" she said uncertainly.

Bruce was willing to be a bit more patient than Tony. But only a bit. If Kae wasn't back in another day or so, he would go after her.

Steve smiled a little at her, though he was clearly nervous, fidgeting where he stood.

"Hey. I was, uh, wondering if you maybe wanted to go dancing?" He looked at her hopefully.

Elaine couldn't help but smile at him. She almost accepted immediately, but managed to stop herself.

"Are... are we really going to go this time?" she asked just as hopefully.

Steve nodded. "Yeah. For as long as you want." He smiled a little, still looking like a giant hopeful puppy.

Elaine smiled more and hugged him tightly.

"I'd love to," she said.

Steve grinned and held her there for a few minutes, pulling back only a little.

"I can't promise this will never happen again, but I'll try," he said quietly, looking at her. "Just tell me if something bothers you, okay? I can't do anything to fix something if I don't know what's wrong."

Elaine nodded.

"I'll try," she replied softly. "I guess I'm still not all that good at communication, but I'll try."

Steve nodded and released her. "Well, you should probably go get dressed. I mean, something not quite house lounging clothes. Not that you don't look fine, you do, you always look good, but..." Steve trailed off, flustered.

Elaine smiled a bit and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Just give me a few minutes," she said. She opened the door for him. "Come on inside. And be careful of Smudge, she's into climbing people lately."

Steve blinked but nodded, moving inside to wait for her. He was going to ask where Kae was, but he could hear her music faintly coming from her room. So he wisely decided not to ask and instead stood there waiting for Elaine.

Elaine went back upstairs to change quickly. As soon as the door to her room opened, a little kitten streaked out and down the stairs. As soon as Smudge saw Steve, she got it in her little feline brain that he was something to climb and promptly made her way all the way up to his hips.

Steve plucked her off, looking at the kitten and putting her in his hand. She was so tiny she fit in one hand. "Well, someone's a little trouble maker," he muttered, holding her up to eye level.