Teach Me How to Read These Broken Lines

Though Jess and Bruce both tried, it took quite a few minutes to break Steve out of his trance-like state. "G-Granddaughter?" Steve finally stuttered out, eyes shifting from where they had darted to while he was out of it to the brunette in front of him. It was then he started to notice some resemblances: Peggy's curly locks and his very own blue eyes.

"I really don't like repeating myself," Charlie mumbled under her breath, but did it none the less with a nod of her head. "Yes, granddaughter."

"If you knew about him," Bruce Banner, ('The Hulk' Charlie dully noted in her head), spoke the question he was sure was bugging Steve and the rest of the Avengers. "Then why didn't you come forward before? He was unfrozen from the ice nearly two years ago."

" After my first involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D., I wasn't particularly looking forward to coming back..still not actually." She rolled her eyes, directing at the highly unamused Nick Fury. "And other than Grandma Peggy, family has meant absolutely nothing to me. But I suppose that's a story for another time."

The mention of Peggy tugged a few strings in Steve's heart and he instantly felt sadness..but the same time a small mixture of joy. This girl... Their granddaughter was his only living connection to her. "Wha-"

"The others have arrived, Director Fury." J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice interrupted Steve's question.

"There will be plenty of time for questions later, Captain. We don't want to keep the others waiting, they're in the conference room." Fury turned on his heel and headed off down a hallway, expecting the others to follow completely. Natasha was the first to get up to leave, followed by Thor and Bruce.

"Since when did JARVIS answer to Fury? Someone's getting reprogrammed. " Tony mumbled, glaring at the ceiling and causing Charlie to chuckle to herself.

"You okay, Steve?" Jess questioned, noting the color hadn't fully returned to Captain America's face.

He nodded. "I'm just....It's a lot to take in right now.."

Jess nodded her head, as the two of them, along with Clint headed after the rest of the group. "It seems like she got the best of both of you." She offered gently as they walked, her voice quiet enough so it wouldn't be heard by Charlie. "I'm sure she'll answer all your questions later too..."

"How does it feel to be the center of attention sweetheart?" Tony asked, breaking the silence that fell over the living room.

"It's lovely."

Chuckling at her sarcasm, he made his way over to the bar and poured himself a glass of scotch. "Care for a drink?"

"If I think it'd help the situation at all, I'd say yes. But I think I'll pass."

"Suit yourself." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Come on, kid. We better hurry or Fury will have our heads."

Charlie chose to ignore the kid comment and followed him as he lead the way to the conference room. "I'm already on Fury's bad side." She shrugged her shoulders, at this point not really caring how much she made the director mad. It wasn't like she wanted to be here anyway. She was doing him a favor, something he should be thankful for in of itself.

"You and me both."

"Stark, Rogers, you're late." Fury glared at them as they stepped in the door.

Tony simply shrugged his shoulders, making his way to an empty chair and sitting down. Charlie started to follow him when someone caught her attention, making her stop dead in her tracks. The man sitting next to Bruce to be exact. To someone who didn't know him, they would've thought he was some sort of monster due to his rock-like form but she knew better. "Benny?"

The man, 'Benny', or simply Ben as most people called him, looked up smiling brightly. "Hey Charlie!" He got up, scooping the woman up into his large arms and hugging her tightly. "I was worried about you, kiddo." He placed a kiss on top of her forehead.

"Me? Come on you know I never cause any trouble." She teased, smiling as she removed herself from the man's grip.

"Well when you disappear out of the blue.."

The mentioning of that snapped her into reality. If he was here, then so was the other three. Her eyes scanned the room and sure enough, she was right. There was Reid and Sue, sitting over by Natasha. Reid looked a little happy to see her, while Sue just glared. There was a person in the chair next to Sue, but she didn't dare look to see who though she knew exactly who it was.

"...Char?" Of course, he noticed her despite her wishing she could steal Sue's powers of going invisible if only for that moment.

Bringing her eyes to meet his face, she nodded coldly in acknowledgement. A mix of emotions formed on his face: hurt, sadness, and guilt.

"Hey Tony," She sat down beside the billionaire, tearing her eyes from Johnny's face. "I think I'll take that drink now."

"Sw-" Tony went to start to say that he didn't have anything to make her at the moment but she reached out and took his glass from his hand, downing it in one gulp. "...well that works too, I suppose."