Steve was back in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee and keeping his head tilted a little as he listened to everything going on around the house.

"Is the coffee any good?" Athena asked as she made her way over to the counter.

Steve nodded. "A bit stronger than usual," he warned her.

"A bit stronger as in some extra grounds, or a bit stronger as in it ate a spoon?" Athena asked, pausing as she reached for a mug.

Steve paused to consider that. "No spoons were harmed in the making of this coffee," he decided with a little grin.

"Safe for human consumption, then, good to know," Athena replied, grinning a bit as she poured herself some of the coffee. She added a bit extra milk and sugar to it, and sat down at the table.

Steve was slowly relaxing again as the atmosphere in the house calmed down back to normal again. Or mostly normal, anyway.

Athena just sat there quietly, enjoying the quasi-peace.

"We'll figure out how to make this work," she said finally. "I'm sure we'll get through all of this alright, somehow."

Steve nodded. "We have a few days to figure things out," he agreed.

Athena nodded and sighed.

"I wish it hadn't happened, though," she said. "Everything was going so well, until someone couldn't keep their mouth shut."

Steve nodded. "Unfortunately that is the risk we take when we let other people in." He sighed and refilled his coffee cup.

"Yeah," Athena agreed with a sigh. "I still think we're doing a good thing here, though."

"We are, but the government doesn't always agree with our idea of good," Steve said, his voice quiet.

"Which is bullshit," Athena said vehemently. "We're doing good things here. We're helping people who need help and giving them a safe place. We're not hurting anyone or anything."

Steve shrugged. "We know that," he said. "But at the moment there's nothing we can do to convince other people of that. We're different, and different is bad." He frowned down at his coffee.

Athena sighed in frustration.

"If I ever find out who decided being different is bad, I'm punching him in the throat," she muttered.

Steve snorted and didn't disagree, instead just shaking his head a bit and taking another sip of his coffee.

Athena sipped her coffee as well. It was definitely stronger than usual; Tony must have gotten at it before Steve could, it was definitely more of a Tony-strength coffee than a more mortal-friendly coffee.

"So what do you think of Chloe?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

Steve shrugged. "Quiet. Shy. In desperate need of proper socialization." He smiled a bit. "I think she'll fit right in once she's had some time to calm down and get to know us."

Athena nodded.

"Good, that's the impression I got," she said. She sighed. "Hopefully she'll get the chance to settle in properly once this whole thing is overwith."

"I hope so," Steve agreed. "I hope this all blows over sooner rather than later." He was eager to get back to normal too.

"You and me both," Athena replied. She finished her coffee and sighed.

Steve smiled a bit. "Want to help with dinner tonight?" he asked.

Athena blinked, then grinned.

"Sure," she said. "You know I'm nowhere near as good as Bruce and Clint, though, right?"

Steve shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he said. "I'm not as good as they are either." He did glance up when he heard Natasha approaching, though.