Chapter 2
When Carol knocks on the door to Hope's place, it almost immediately swings open to reveal Jimmy Woo. He's more disheveled than she's ever seen him, with his sleeves rolled up (revealing surprisingly muscular forearms, nicely done, Agent Woo), shirt collar open, and the tail of his spook black tie dangling from his pants pocket.
"Captain, hello." He steps back and waves her inside, running a hand through his hair. "Did Hope know you were coming? We had a little bit of a mishap with the ham, so takeout's on the way from that Ethiopian place near Scott's office."
"Nah, it was a last-minute flyby. Just came off a mission in Seoul." Carol makes a few adjustments on her suit's control panel and breaths a sigh as she's back in jeans and a well-worn tee. "And for the hundredth time, you can call me Carol, Jim."
Carol follows the familiar sound of Hope and Scott bickering. They're standing shoulder to shoulder at the kitchen sink, passing back and forth both dishes and the blame for a ruined ham.
"Carol's here," Jimmy announces as they both enter the kitchen, and Scott and Hope turn in unison with broad grins.
"Hey, good to see you, Carol!" Scott abandons the dishes and darts around the kitchen island to give her a slightly drippy and soapy hug. She returns it with a laugh.
"You too, Scott." Hope watches them with laughter in her eyes, deliberately drying her hands on a towel before hip-checking Scott out of the way to give Carol a hug. "Hey. Tony told me to say hi, unless it was a euphemism, in which case I told him it was, but I'd say hello for him anyway."
Scott snorts and starts digging in the silverware drawer. "Well, if you wanna get laid, you'd better make it quick, because the food should be here any -- "
The doorbell rings.
"I'll get that," Jimmy says, almost running for the door.
Hope squeezes Carol's hand and draws back with a shake of her head. She's gotten a haircut since Carol last saw her and it looks good, a sharp slice that draws attention to her jawline. "That's why he ambushed you at the door. He's very intent on paying for dinner."
"He doesn't know I already gave them my credit card," Scott says, sotto voce, as he starts arranging plates and cutlery on the kitchen table.
"That's sweet, though. It's very sweet that you think they're ever going to let you pay for something," Carol says to Jimmy as he returns with a huge bag of food and a scowl on his face. "That's just a losing battle. It's like when I try to pay for things with Tony and he doesn't even try to hide all the extra money he puts on the table."
Jimmy sighs, like he doesn't understand how his life has led to this, a world where he knows multiple heads of multi-billion dollar tech companies who won't let him pay for his own damn food. It's a very telling noise. Carol made it for the first month or so and then just enjoyed all the food and the cool gizmos her rich, genius friends made for her now that she didn't have easy access to Kree tech.
"Oh, hey," Hope says as they're passing around injera, "did Maria tell you Monica's got a new girlfriend?"
"No!" Carol almost drops the shiro. "This is what happens when I live on the other side of the country. I miss out on all the good gossip."
"I met her last week," Scott interjects. "She helped out with that thing at the wharf."
"No, that was Kate." Hope frowns. "I'm talking about Chavez, who helped with that thing in Balboa Park."
"Oh, I met her." Jimmy is assembling his meal precisely with a knife and fork like the adorable weirdo he is. "She's from an alternate reality. Dimension?" He frowns thoughtfully. "I'm not actually clear on that. She can kick holes in reality."
Everyone stares at Jimmy for a moment.
"Yeah, I'm not touching that one," Hope says.
"Her powers are very similar to yours," Jimmy nods toward Carol, "other than the, you know, kicking thing." Jimmy says this in a tone that implies he thinks that makes it more reasonable. "And she was definitely talking to Monica on the phone when she was filling out an after-action last week."
"Oh my god, my little baby all grown up and embracing polyamory." Carol laughs. "Maria must be losing her mind with all these super-powered teenagers in her kid's business."
"Kate doesn't have superpowers, I don't think," Scott says. "But she's a good kid. Hawkeye."
"I didn't know Barton had any kids, let alone one that old." Hope tucks a stray strand of dark hair behind one ear, shooting Carol a questioning look. Carol shrugs. As far as she knows Clint's only child is his adorable, pizza-eating mutt.
"Nah, she's his protege," Jimmy explains. "Rich society kid with absentee parents and too much time on her hands. Sound like anyone we know?"
"Hey, I resemble that remark." Hope grins, sharp and bright.
"Like half the people we know do," Carol adds.
"True." Scott takes a swig of Hakim Stout. "I'm assuming the thing with the Doombots in Seoul turned out okay since you're here eating with us and not still in Korean airspace."
"Pretty standard." Carol shrugs. "I stuck around after to have a bite with Tony before I came here."
"You're a garbage disposal," Hope says, tone admiring.
"I don't know if super-metabolism is, like, literally a thing, but flying makes me ridiculously hungry."
"That's better than needing to sleep it off." Scott winces. "I was out for like two days the last time I had to go over forty feet tall."
"Nope, not sleepy, just hungry and horny."
Hope snorts, but her smile turns into more of a leer.
"And with that," Jimmy stands, "we will go ahead and take our leave. C'mon, Scott, let's leave the ladies to." Jimmy suddenly realizes the only place that sentence is likely to go and flushes. An honest to goodness youth pastor, Carol has no idea how he puts up with them. "Let's leave the ladies alone. Hope, thank you for hosting." He leans down and kisses her on the cheek before extending a hand to Carol. "Always a pleasure to see you, Captain."
"Always happy to remind you that you can call me Carol, Agent Woo."
Scott stuffs a last heaping bite in his mouth and waves at them both. "Catch you later," he says, spraying crumbs.
"Scott, I can't take you anywhere." Jimmy snags Scott's hand and, though his tone is long-suffering, his small grin is undeniable.
"God, they're fucking adorable," Carol says as the door snaps shut.
"They really are," Hope agrees, hand sliding up to grip Carol firmly by the hair at the nape of her neck. "I took care of the hungry part of your post-mission dilemma," she says, tilting Carol's head to one side so she can nip at the taut tendon right where it always turns Carol's knees to jelly. "Shall I assist with the horny part?"
"Oh," Carol's voice is breathy, but there's a laugh there, "please be my guest, Dr. van Dyne."