-Third Person

Steve Rogers stood on the front porch of 324 Becker Street and exchanged glances with the billionaire to his right. It was an unassuming little house on a quiet little street in a sleepy, cute little town—normal and suburban. Driving through in Tony's flashy, thousand-dollar sports car, Steve had taken note of the family-owned businesses lining the streets, all standing since the town had been built, no doubt.

The house they were visiting, home to one Taylor Jessica Cadence, seemed "quaint" as Tony had put it. Of course, he'd followed this up with a knowing look and made a remark about quaint houses being "the ones you have to watch out for". Steve wasn't quite sure what the genius meant by that. The two story house looked like it was in good health. The long front porch could probably use a new coat of paint, and the shutters needed some repairs, but that wasn't so bad. The light blue paint covering the façade and the joyful flowerbeds of pansies certainly didn't seem sinister to the super soldier. It seemed…normal.

That is, of course, before Steve actually ascended the wooden stairs and stood awkwardly at the door as the sounds of shouting reached his ears. He hesitated to knock for a moment, not quite sure what was making him anxious, but he swallowed it back when he heard something shatter inside. Time to break this up before someone got hurt—if someone wasn't already.

As soon as his knuckles began rapping on the white door, there was an eerie silence from inside the house, followed by faint shuffling, and then the sound of the door unlocking. Steve shot Tony a sideways look. This was not what he'd been expecting when Fury sent them to go recruit a possibly new member of the Avengers team.

"Hello. Is there something we can help you with?"

The slim blonde woman that opened the door offered them a pristine white smile, one that was a little too cheerful. Her cheeks were flushed (like she'd just been screaming) and she was breathing just slightly above average. Most strange was that her features showed no recognition for the super soldier or the billionaire superhero that had saved New York two years ago. Steve fought for a moment to keep his facial expression pleasant, but Tony had no problem BS-ing his was through it.

"Hi, we're with the census," he began before Steve abruptly cut him off.

"We'd like to speak with Taylor Cadence. Is she here?"

The woman looked stunned for a moment before that eerily bubbly expression returned.

"Did she set something else on fire?" the woman's voice was surprisingly venomous.

"Uh, no ma'am," Steve replied, still making a valiant effort to hide his confusion and discomfort.

"We have a business opportunity to talk to her about," Tony filled in vaguely, "Could we come in? I love what you've done with the place."

The woman's smile seemed to plaster itself to her face.

"Sure," she trilled, "please come in."

The woman stepped back, allowed them through the front door and into the hallway. It felt almost claustrophobic to Steve, whose shoulders very nearly brushed both walls. There were pictures lined up on either side. A young girl with extremely dark hair and bright blue eyes was smiling out of the frames next to an older, blond boy with brown eyes. Every once in a while, a man with brown hair would appear, but the woman that had opened the front door was conspicuously missing.

"Taylor," the woman called as Steve and Tony left the entry hall for the living room, "there are two men here for you."

"Is it the cops?" another feminine voice, with just a slight southern accent, returned hopefully from a separate hallway to the right.

"Don't be silly," the blonde replied, "they said they're here to offer you a business opportunity."

A groan followed this new information, and then the sound of footsteps. A young woman appeared from the hallway, pressing a bloodied cloth to her head. It was the girl from the SHIELD file, as well as a grown version of the little girl in photos in the entry hall. Her eyes were the same startling azure and her hair remained so dark it was nearly blue.

"Guys, now is not…" she trailed off when she saw the two superheroes standing in her living room, "a good time…"

"Actually, now seems like a great time," Tony said pointedly.

The cloth had fallen from her head, revealing a cut, about an inch long, on her forehead that almost immediately began oozing blood. Steve suddenly understood what Tony had meant about watching out for "quaint" houses. A sudden swell of anger threatened to choke him, seeing the lazy stream of crimson.

"You should sit down," Steve said quickly, approaching her carefully, always prepared to help, "and put that cloth back."

Taylor swiftly compressed the cloth against her head again and settled on the couch. Steve noticed she seemed a little shaky, but better than he'd expect considering what he knew must have just happened. Did it happen often, or was this an unusual occurrence.

"What happened here?" he demanded of the blond woman while Tony began drifting to their new recruit.

"Hey, short stack, mind telling me where the bathroom is?" he asked Taylor.

"It's the first door on the left, past the stairs," she directed.

"Oh, Taylor? She's so clumsy. She just fell and hit her head is all," the light-haired woman lied.

"Brandy, they're superheroes, stop," Taylor called from the couch, before turning to Steve, "she threw a mug and it shattered near my head. One of the shards cut me up. I'm fine, though."

Taylor's voice was devoid of any emotion, flat, like she was unenthusiastically repeating a well-rehearsed line. Her expression was serious, almost daring him to pity her. Steve felt some pity, yes, but he was mostly just angry. How could they do that to her? What sort of people did that to their own family?

"Clearly," he replied skeptically, making Taylor look away.

At that moment, Tony reappeared, a wad of first aid supplies in one hand. Steve had never felt so relieved to see the genius. He could set anyone at ease with a few well-placed remarks and his cavalier grin.

"I've always liked playing doctor," the billionaire remarked wittily, kneeling down in front of the younger woman in his hundred-dollar suit.

Sometimes, Tony still surprised Steve with how decent he could be. It was a surprisingly kind gesture; Taylor certainly thought so as she blinked uncomprehendingly down at the man while he fiddled with the cap to the Neosporin.

"Miss Cadence," Steve addressed her, moving into her line of sight so that she could see him without turning her head.

She watched him expectantly, brows drawn together slightly in question.

"We're here on behalf of SHIELD," he started.

"SHIELD?" she inquired.

"It's basically just a big secret government organization for spies and stuff," Tony interjected good-naturedly, as explanation.

"Oh, I see," she replied sensibly, "you were saying?"

"Well, SHIELD has been aware of your abilities for quite some time. Now that you're eighteen, we'd like to offer you a position on the Avengers team, ma'am."

Her eyes widened significantly as she looked between the two men in astonishment. Hopefully she didn't go into shock.

"Did your super-secret organization fail to mention that I can't control my condition?" she questioned, "Or that I have no training or anything like that?"

Tony gently pulled her hand from her face to begin patching up the cut, and she allowed him to, if a little hesitantly. Steve breathed a sigh of relief that she was at least willing to accept help. Maybe there was something they could do for her after all.

"That's not a problem. We can train you to use and control your powers and you can attend college too. There are dozens of divisions in SHIELD, I'm sure we can find you an internship somewhere."

She hesitated, opening her mouth to say something before there was suddenly a crashing sound and the blond boy from the pictures in the hall stumbled in, morbidly drunk. Taylor frowned, as he squinted blearily at her for a moment and pointed.

"You…are a freak. You should be…with freaks," he mumbled almost incoherently.

"My brother Kyle, everyone," she sighed, gesturing to the inebriated man.

"Adopted," he corrected, "you…were adopted."

With that, he very nearly crawled his way to the kitchen, likely for another drink. Looking back at Taylor, it was very clear that she'd made a decision.

"I'd like to join the team."

*ONE YEAR LATER*

Taylor was sitting in the living room, a forgotten movie on FX playing in the background while she worked on something for class. She was bent over whatever she was writing, legs crossed as she manically scribbled, referring to her notes every once in a while along the way. Her expression was determined and focused as she nibbled absently on her lip, studiously working as always.

Living with the Avengers had become a blessing. They didn't yell at her, didn't call her names (at least not seriously, they were always joking), and, best of all, they weren't afraid of her. All of them were exceedingly kind—especially in the beginning.

They'd offered her a room in Stark Tower; Pepper had given her the grand tour and introduced her to everyone. Even Natasha Romanoff, who'd initially come off as a little cold, had been extremely patient and easy-going on her. A couple days after joining them, as Taylor had still been adjusting to people actually smiling at her, they'd thrown her a "welcome to the team" party and she'd promptly burst into tears in front of everyone.

About a year later, Taylor had finally settled in and she really felt like part of the team. That "new girl" feeling had finally worn off and she was making encouraging progress in her training with Natasha and Clint. Doctor Banner (Bruce, he insisted she call him) and Tony had also been a huge help in that department. They'd been developing fireproof clothing, armor, and tech for her, as well as helping to explain how her powers worked so that she could get a better handle on them (she didn't just control fire, she could control other forms of energy too).

Really, life with the Avengers was pretty close to perfect. Not everyone was always around, but usually someone was present in the Tower and they were usually willing to hang out with her. Tony and Bruce were around the most, and she often found herself in their lab while she worked on assignments or whenever she wanted company. She spent a lot of time with Clint and Natasha as well, since they were teaching her combat training and whatnot.

Steve didn't have an apartment in Brooklyn, so he too stayed in Stark Tower, but he was exceptionally busier than the others. When he wasn't on missions or searching for his lost friend, Bucky, he was hanging around the tower and they'd spent many a night watching movies together while he got caught up with the times. As for Thor, she'd yet to meet him, as he still remained in Asgard.

This was one of the quieter nights around the Tower. Tony and Bruce were down in the labs as far as she knew, Pepper was at a business meeting in California, Natasha was on a mission with Steve, and Clint was visiting his "girlfriend", leaving her to work in peace. It wasn't that she never got time to herself—she did, the others usually respected her need to homework—but other Avengers easily distracted her with her antics and she had finals coming up.

"Oh Tay," Tony suddenly sang from the other side of the room.

The girl held up a finger, scrawling something down quickly before glancing up at him, not even pausing at his odd appearance. He had a ridiculous number of hairclips in his hair. The gel had obviously worn off and in the middle of equations, he probably hadn't wanted to fix it, so he'd (yet again) stolen Taylor's hairclips and barrettes to pin the dark mess back.

"What's up?"

Judging from his clothes, which he'd yet to change, it had probably been a solid twenty-four hours or so since he'd last slept, which wasn't even close to being a record breaker. He'd been on a roll in the lab and hadn't been able to find a good place to pause for a while. Even so, he had something planned for their youngest team member and he wouldn't miss it for the world.

Despite her youth, Taylor fit in well with the team. The first six months, she'd been quiet and reserved, getting an idea of how the team operated and where she fit in with the close-knit group of heroes. The last eight or nine years she'd spent with her family had really taken its toll on her, leaving her with countless nightmares and a serious skittish streak. It was hard for her to begin trusting the Avengers, even if they were superheroes.

Before too long though, she'd begun opening up—showing up in the labs more often, eating more meals with the group, cracking jokes during training sessions or during casual conversation. Everyone on the team had grown close to her in the past several months and now they couldn't imagine the team without her. She had a naturally kind, vibrant personality—feisty, but not badly tempered.

"Come to the kitchen with me," the billionaire invited, nodding in the direction of food.

"Tony, I've got this review packet to finish," she started, "and I've got a finals—"

"Tay," he interrupted her, "I know for a fact that you've been working your ass off. You're ready. Besides, you're only human—you need to take a break and eat and all that. Come get a snack with me."

Even though she groaned melodramatically, there was a smile on her face as she shoved her work to the side and stood. She stretched, enjoying the feeling of tight muscles pulling and loosening, and then followed the man she'd come to think of as a real older brother (or maybe an awesome uncle) to the kitchen. She was not prepared for all of the Avengers, plus Pepper, to be waiting there for her, a huge cake settled on the counter beside them.

"Happy birthday!" they all chorused together.

She laughed in delight and surprise, blinking away happy tears that threatened to spill yet again. They still sometimes surprised her with how kind they could be. She had made no mention of her birthday—in fact she'd pretty much forgotten about it up until now—but they'd still done something for her anyway.

"You guys are the best," she giggled, looking around at the balloons and cake with a huge grin.

"Before you blow out the candles, we have something to tell you Taylor," Natasha said.

The brunette looked at her curiously.

"It's official. SHIELD has cleared you for missions and everything. You can now start working as an Avenger."

Everyone cheered.