She remembered, when she was a real little kid, two of her classmates who would always get into fights. They'd make up, and were great friends when they weren't fighting, but when they were, it was like World War Three between them. She'd asked her father, and he'd simply said "That's how it works with two Alpha dogs." She'd nodded sagely, even if she didn't quite understand it.

She certainly did NOW. Both Peter and Sam trying to volley for team leader, both of them landing the five of them on a plane to Latveria, both of them dragging a load of Doctor Doom robots into the helicarrier. She could've stabbed them both in the face.

At the end of it, they managed to get along, and it seemed like the five of them were really starting to become a team. They'd won the battle, they'd built their bridges, they'd all taken the heat from Fury together, and once Nova was calmed down, they'd chatted and joked a minute or two, then gone their separate ways.

She'd tossed on the loose shirt she slept in, and was nearly asleep before she heard the knocking. She stood up, mumbling something under her breath, and answered the door sleepily. "Yeah?"

"Hey." His gentle voice woke her up quickly, and her hands instantly went to the hem of her shirt, making sure she'd pulled it down enough.

"Oh, hey Danny. What's up?" He was far more comfortable with the situation than was appropriate, still wearing his casual clothes, minus the sweater usually tied around his waist. "Did you catch the English assignment?"

It took her mind a moment to catch up to his words. "Oh-yeah, here, I got it written down." She headed towards her backpack, dropping into a kneel and digging through the contents. He strolled in casually, looking around the room with a curious glance. She handed him the paper, typed neatly with a few of her own scribbled notes at the bottom and around the margins. He took it absentmindedly, still glancing around, offered a quiet thanks, and was off.

She moved past the incident easily enough (minus a bit of frustration that he hadn't been more grateful after nearly waking up his teammate to get homework he should already have), dropping into her bed and falling asleep.

The next day, after training, he caught her arm on the way back to their rooms, putting something into her hand. "This could really help the energy flow in your room-leads to better rest and fighting skills." She accepted it gratefully, a bit surprised he'd thought of it. He responded to her thanks with nothing but a smile and a little wave, and turned around. Luke waved to her, thumped Danny on the back when he reached him, and they were on their way. She glanced down at the item in her hand-a scented candle, a sharp, mottled green and brown colour, without a label to be seen. She almost laughed-a cheesy gift, definitely, but still one she could appreciate.

She dropped it on her nightstand, and didn't think of it until she was just about to fall asleep. After a moment of consideration, she put a folder beneath it to catch the wax, and lit it. Especially compared to the cold, lifeless light that the SHIELD bulbs gave off, it's orange tinted glow cast a warm, homey air to the room, and the scent it gave off wasn't something she could quite identify, but called her mind back to her home.

She slept better that night than she had since before her father died.

.