Kae rolled her eyes at him and finished cooking, setting everything out so that Clint could eat. And then she went to go get Rose so Elaine could get something to eat too.

Once Kae came to get Rose, Elaine picked up Bram and Vanessa and got them situated before she got herself some food. That way, she could keep an eye on them even as she had dinner.

Kae, by that time, was well practiced at eating and keeping Rose fed and entertained. So she was able to look over and see Tony and Steve enter at almost the same time, Steve detouring straight over to Elaine and the two kids while Tony went to get food.

"Hey," Elaine said when she saw Steve. She smiled a bit. "Rough time out there?"

Bruce made his way in a few minutes later, heading over to Kae and Rose.

"A bit. Mostly just long." Steve stretched a bit and leaned down to kiss Bram and Vanessa both on the head before going over to kiss Elaine. "Although I guess you must have had a quiet day for a change."

"Hey," Kae greeted, automatically checking to see if he looked stressed or pissed off. It was just habit by now.

Elaine returned the kiss.

"Quiet enough," she said. "Got some practice in while Kae was watching the kids. Nothing exploded, nothing imploded, so I think it was a good day." She looked him over quickly. "You're still in one piece?"

"Hey," Bruce greeted, giving her a small kiss. He knew she checked him just to make sure, and didn't hold it against her. "How was your day?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Steve smiled and let her check anyway. "It wasn't overly difficult today, just long."

"Pretty routine. Fairly quiet." Kae grinned. "No explosions or anything. I think it's some kind of record."

"Good," Elaine said. She kissed him again. "Settle in, then. I think our little ones missed their dad today."

"I think so, too," Bruce said with a bit of a grin. "Although it might have helped that Tony was preoccupied all day."

Steve grinned. "I can take them after dinner," he offered. "I'm sure you need some rest."

"Probably," Kae agreed easily, looking over when Rose started fussing and making grabby hands at Bruce. "I think she wants you."

"I think that's a good idea," Elaine said, nodding. "I wouldn't mind a few minutes to relax some."

Bruce just smiled and went to pick up Rose, cuddling her a bit.

After dinner, everyone went back to their respective rooms and settled in for the night, which was fine and dandy and normal.

Except that when Kae woke up, she knew she wasn't in the Tower, and that freaked her out just a bit.

Elaine noticed something was different when she woke up, as well, and that immediately made her wake up completely. Turning on her implants, she looked around.

"Oh god where am I?" she murmured. She got up when she saw her friend. "Kae?"

"I'm here," Kae said, looking over at her. "I have no idea where we are." She was looking around a store room, peering at the boxes stacked up.

"Neither do I," Elaine said as she switched over to full-spectrum vision. It was better for the dim light of the little store room. She jumped and froze when she heard the door open and footsteps walk in.

Howard Stark flicked on the lights and then paused and stared when he saw the two in his storeroom. First off, two ladies in his store room. Second, two very oddly dressed ladies in his storeroom. Well. That was a conundrum.

Elaine blinked, staring back. The man looked very familiar, somehow, and she couldn't place how.

"Well, now, isn't this interesting?" Howard said, shifting his weight a bit on his feet. "Now how did two such lovely ladies get into a locked storage space?"

Kae looked at Elaine, very confused for a few moments, before she looked back at Howard. He did look very familiar, and she knew she'd seen him somewhere before.

"Just our luck, I suppose," she said, starting to bullshit her way out. "A practical joke. A couple friends of ours are big jokers."

Howard looked skeptical, but Elaine decided to follow Kae's lead.

"Yeah, Clint would do something like this, wouldn't he?" she mused. She shook her head. "Anyways, we got locked in here mostly by accident."

"By accident." Howard shook his head. "I guess I need to update the locks again. Alright, out with you."

As they were moving, though, he eyed their clothes again. "Although you are dressed rather oddly, so unless that's another part of your friends' joke..." Something still felt off.

Elaine blinked and glanced around. Yeah, compared to everyone else, they were dressed really oddly. Nobody was wearing denim at all (in fact, all of the women were wearing skirts) and many of the men were staring at neckline of hers and Kae's shirts.

"Yeah, probably part of the prank," she said, nodding. "We'll get back at him for it."

"Doesn't sound like a very good friend." Howard eyed them for a few moments. "You two need any help or a ride or anything?"

Elaine glanced at Kae, a little uneasily.

"Think you could tell us where we are, real quick?" she asked after a moment, looking back at him.

Howard rubbed the back of his neck a bit. "My warehouse, of course," he said, flashing them a quick, charming Stark smile. "In New York. Just outside what will soon be Stark Industries. Once it's finished."

Elaine blinked.

"Stark Industries?" she asked. She glanced at Kae. They really needed to get out of there and figure out what was going on.

"Thanks, we'll be fine," Kae said quickly, heading for the nearest exit. Once they were outside, though, she didn't feel any better; everything looked different. And now they were getting even more odd looks.