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Fandom Red and Blue (Marvel RP)

Pepper stayed quiet and looked at him as he ranted about the therapist. "I think she seemed nice...," she murmurs quietly. It almost seemed like that woman was on of the very few women Pepper would tolerate around Tony without even having second thoughts about them. Maybe it was due to the fact that Tony clearly couldn't stand her. As bad as it sounded but it somehow made Pepper happy. He desperately tried to erase any signs of their visitor. "Do you think...Romanoff is trying to annoy you by offering you this kind of help?," she asked him trying to figure out what he really thought about that all instead of asking him about that woman. Pepper knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't give her honest answers any other way.

She stayed most of the day to herself and for once divided her time between eating and watching random soap operas. She had to give it to the later. They were extremely addictive especially the Supernanny. All those spoiled brats made her laugh and hope Tony and her wouldn't end up this helpless. Probably not because her own mother would kill her if her children acted like that. Still it was extremely addictive and she caught herself making mental notes of how to properly parent children according to that woman.

Around 10 pm though she was so tired that Pepper walked half asleep into bed and simply slipped one of Tony's old shirts on. The shirt seemed to be too small for her though as her own belly stretched the fabric of one of Tony's band shirts. For once she fell into relaxing sleep and dreamed about a strange mixture of having a film crew at their mention to show them how to parent their twins properly. People were constantly talking to her, placing her hands on her belly to feel the twins kicking and telling her what she did wrong in the pregnancy. With a small sigh she turned to her other side while sleeping and suddenly people called out Miss Potts to her. It quickly changed into laughter and various voices calling out her name to her. She woke up screaming, sitting up quickly. It didn't help that Tony was just a dark figure with two left arms. She threw a pillow after him in her own defense and quickly turned the lights on. "What the fuck!?", she asked as she spotted Tony like that and pressed her hand against her fast hammering heart. Pepper only slowly seemed to relax again as she stared at Tony. "It's in the middle of the night, Tony," she told him accusingly and took deep breaths to calm herself "You almost gave me a heart attack at two in the fucking morning!"
Her gaze went from her wired fiancé to the arm and back. She seemed to frown than awkwardly rose to her feet supporting the extra weight in front of her. "What do you need that thing for? Don't tell me that's a new obsession," she murmured and slowly waddled to the bathroom. She needed to use the facility badly after this shock.


Natasha simply rose her eyebrow as he mentioned that he didn't intend on renting a flat. It was basically her nonverbally telling him how stupid he was for thinking that he could afford a decent flat in New York. Even if he had some cash, it probably wasn't enough to afford a somewhat decent place with a window here in New York. This city was just too expensive for anyone who didn't have a filled wallet like Stark. She had worked long enough as independent assassin to be able to afford a comfortable space in New York. Her accountant knew how to handle her money and fill her trust funds comfortably. Most of her money though went out to the families who had suffered from her. She was still redeeming herself after all.

"Well, newsflash: if it wasn't for his protectiveness, you still would be cuffed to that chair or worse brainwashed. So instead of nagging about his quirks, you should be thankful for him looking out for you," she set him straight and looked serious at Barnes. "Besides if the roles had been reversed that you watched him fall to death. Only to meet him again 70 something years later brainwashed, trying to kill you and work for the one cause you tried stopping your whole life. Wouldn't you keep your eyes on him as well? Yes, you feel like a child but dammit you haven't done one thing to prove you can be treated differently. So suck it up, Soldat," she told him annoyed as she seemed to be having none of his nagging. She didn't know why she felt the need to protect Rogers from his best friend but still she did. She eyed Barnes for a moment and maybe it was because she knew that loving this idiot was a lost case. He had troubles allowing people near him like she did. Or maybe it was just her wish to see Rogers happy. It had been a pet peeve to set him up for years now.

Without another word, she walked the other way to her apartment in New York. It was neat and spacious for New York. Natasha even had her own balcony. She sighed and locked several locks on the door behind herself. Even the Black Widow knew better than to leave her door unlocked in that part of the city. It was a dangerous part of the city but she was able to prove herself easily against any criminal around. Some had tried passing her way and almost instantly regretted their decision to bother her. She wasn't like other girls after all. She walked up to her plants on the window sill of her kitchen to water them. With a grin she noticed the small black cat, Liho, waiting for his daily food. "You should know that you don't have a home hear, Liho," she mentioned and tickled the cat behind his ears. Almost instantly the cat started to purr and rub his head against her hand. "I just feed you once in a while and we can hang out. But that's it. No petting and licking. The moment you make this a thing it's over, Liho," she placed a bowl full of cat food for him to eat. She moved away to get herself some snack as well and her mind lingered with Bucky for a moment, wondering what the man was up to. She decided she didn't care as Liho moved around her legs for a pet. "I told you. I'm not adopting you. Any of you," she told her cat about Bucky and lifted him up for cuddles.
"Do you have any idea what I should do with the two of you? He's just as annoying as you are," she murmured and gave Liho a small peck, moving to the couch as her frozen pizza baked in the oven.


The only reason why Wanda had stuck around the Avengers was that Pietro's body had been brought to SHIELD and she had followed him almost naturally. Eventually Clint seemed to have pulled her away, murmuring that things were going to be okay again. She had thought that he had been crazy for thinking just that. Each day it was a tormenting torture to get up and move on with her life. Wanda didn't have the money to burry her brother properly so she had had SHIELD's promise to burry her brother for her as a hero. For days she had visited the graveyard sitting to herself in front of the grave she had assumed Pietro in. That was until she started to talk with Vision. He made her feel better so daily visits to her brother's grave had been replaced by working to join the Avengers alongside Vision. But still at least once a week she could be found, telling her brother's grave about what she had experienced during their time away and how she had wished that he was there. That she would do literally everything to bring him back but she wasn't strong enough. Even though there was no annoying answer or remark, she felt like Pietro was still with her. Those "talks" and Vision's companionship was what had kept her sane all that time. Slowly she had noticed how her sanity slipped as she had been locked up.

Wanda didn't notice how the atmosphere seemed to change around her as she seemed to be stuck in her own mind and sudden grief. Her hands were shaking just a bit but she seemed to snap out of it again as soon as Pietro spoke. She looked at him with a frown as he mentioned that she was the hero. The young woman shook her head and her voice was uncharacteristically raspy as she answered "I am no hero. I am a searched criminal." It was almost like that it was something that kept on haunting her.
 
"She's not nice, Pepper. She's like a doube triple agent and not to be trusted", Tony stated and looked at Pepper, who seemed a little annoyed, too, "Like Natasha, maybe she's not even a psychologist but a nuclear scientist who wants to study... I don't know, maybe she just wants to annoy us until we drop dead."
Tony shrugged. He really didn't want to think about this anymore.

He heard Pepper scream and his heart dropped. For a few seconds he was paralyzed and just stared at her. Was there something wrong? What had happened?
"What the fuck?!", his fiancée exclaimed and he chuckled quietly. He really found it kinda amusing every time such bad words slipped out of her mouth. It was the proof to him that this perfect Pepper Potts was still a human being, no matter what the others said.
Soon enough, though, he noticed that it had only been his third arm that had scared Pepper. He walked closer, not letting go off that thing, because it was connected to his head. He was just startled and stared for a second, before carefully approaching her.
"Are you okay, Hon?", he asked and frowned. It hadn't looked like a normal reaction to him coming into the room and even in the middle of the night, with a second left arm, he didn't think he could be that scary.
She looked at him with widened eyes and then she started asking him about the arm. Tony smiled.
"It's awesome, isn't it?", he asked and waved around once more, "It's a bionic arm, which responds to brain waves, which actually gives us the opportunity to build... more of those kind of tech. And we can also apply that to exasceletons. Like, instead of preprogrammed movements, Rhodey could use his legs like anyone else... Just by thinking..."
He didn't want to admit who he had built that arm for... But maybe Pepper would figure it out herself.

Pepper went to the pathroom and came back just a few seconds later. In the mean time, Tony had put the wires off and placed the arm next to their bed. He was now getting rid of the dressing gown and cuddled himself in on his side of the bed. When Pepper came back, he held out an arm for her.
"I'm sorry for waking you up...", he whispered once she was next to him, caressing her shoulder, "I didn't know it was that late - or early, whatever... But it works. I just wanted to show you."
He shrugged and snuggled into Pepper's hair, "Good night...."
A few seconds later, the genius was asleep.


It was evening at the Barton farm. The kids had gone to bed and Laura and Clint were sitting in front of the TV, cuddling and making themselves comfortable. It was great to have that two hours in the evening together and it was probably more time to spend than they had been able to before he had retired. It was snowing outside, which only added to their cozy atmosphere. Clint looked at his wife and smiled.
"Was hell of a day today", he whispered and pulled her closer, "But I loved it, you know?"
A smile spread on the archer's lips and he leaned back, completely relaxed and happy.
"I love being home again", he admitted, "It's almost like I've never been gone. Like this whole... SHIELD thing had never happened", he smiled and scratched his nose, which had been itching the whole day. He looked at his wife again. This was something that had been haunting him all the time. He just couldn't get it out of his head.

"Did you notice the way Wanda talked about herself? That self hatred in her eyes?"
He knew that look and he also knew that Laura would understand what he was implying to. There was no need to explain.
"She's beating herself down because she thinks that everyone is afraid of her...", the archer continued, "But she's so much more than this. She saved so many people and she defeated Ultron- almost on her own. She'd be a great team member, but..."
Wanda didn't want to. She would rather die than join the team again. And Clint had no idea how to fix that.
"I mean, can we do anything about it? Once they got to know her better, they'd stop being afraid. She's just a normal girl."

Just as Clint talked to Laura about it, his older son was on his way to Wanda's and Pietro's room. He had noticed Wanda's mood as well and wanted to cheer her up a bit. He really liked the thought of having a big sister with superpowers and the way it looked now, that was what his Dad was intending to do with those two. Like Auntie Nat had just turned up one day and he had introduced her as a good friend of his, now those twins had turned up. And he pretty much liked them, too.
He knocked politely, before opening the door and walking inside.
"Hello...?", he asked into the silence, "Anyone awake up here?"


Screaming, gunshots, sirens... And pain. What had she actually thought, trying to break into the Asylum to see her Puddin? It had been a suicide mission from the beginning. Still, she had tried because she just hadn't been able to live one second without seeing him. It had been a terrible mistake. She had lost a lot of blood, already, forcing herself to keep on walking. Her arm had been hit by a bullet, as well as her torso, where she believed she could slowly feel the bullet move into some of her organs... But that was all just imagination, wasn't it? Her vision was blurry already, which wasn't a good sign either. If she wanted to find safety, she had to be fast. She would pass out soon. Maybe the adrenaline would give her a few minutes more, but not enough.

Panting, the young woman threw the door open and ran inside the apartment complex, hoping that no one had seen her doing so. Fifth floor, she took the elevator. Her legs were about to give in, but she managed to stumble out through the steel doors and open the door to her apartment. She crawled inside, hoping to be alone and not bothered by some intruder who had used her open flat door to their advantage. She dropped to the floor just a second later and the last thing her mind could consciously process was a face over hers and a soft voice. She took a surprised breath, which caused her whole body to shiver with the sudden pain.
"You stayed...", she asked and just a second later, she passed out.
 
The statement about Natasha made Pepper simply roll her eyes. "You know what is actually funny. I think you care about Romanoff or else you wouldn't be so bothered by her trying to help you and always overthinking things. Maybe she just meant well," Pepper pointed out and looked at her fiancé. "Most likely just the last option," she joked and even laughed over the thought of being annoyed so much that she dropped dead on the floor, "Seriously you're the only one I know who would react like that."

"Yeah... I just never considered being woken by a three armed and wired Tony Stark would be an option," she murmured grumpy and looked at him. She seemed to quickly calm down though and eyed the arm curiously. "So that's what you've been working on all this time?", she asked him curious and even stretched her hand out to touch the metal. Even though he seemed to try to hide the fact that Tony had built it for Barnes, she knew it. Who else needed a metal arm on his left side after all? "I'm proud of you," she told him honestly. A year ago nothing like that would've been able to happen. It showed that he healed and maybe even forgave a little about what had happened. Gently she caressed his cheek under all the wires before she left for the bathroom.

Pepper smiled as she moved back into bed with him. She kissed his cheek and snuggled up to him as well. "I know... You just startled me that's all," she stroked his side and gave him another kiss. "I'm so proud of you, Tony... We can help so many people with that," she murmured sleepy. Even though her being proud of him originated from him overcoming his demons. She caressed his hair and smiled to herself. Soon enough she fell into much deserved sleep as well.


She glanced at the watch on her wrist. She hadn't noticed the few stray cat hair on her clothes. To her own annoyance Liho had developed the habit of sleeping in her closet. But this morning had been too much and she ended up throwing the cat out. Perhaps it would teach him a lesson and keep him out of her closet. It was unlikely though. "That damn cat," she grumbled ignoring Bucky as she picked up a few stray hair off her clothes. Once it was exactly 36 hours later, Natasha rang the doorbell. She always had been this precise. Her gaze turned to James and she eyed him. "You look like you need a shower," she told him with a small sigh and added "Just be...on your best behavior."

Eventually her serious face broke and she gave him a rare but warm smile. "Don't worry. I trust Stark on that one. Besides I owe him now. He knows better than to do me wrong. He knows what I'm capable of," she mentioned casual. Natasha wasn't too concerned about this. In all honesty, Stark might not trust her but Natasha trusted him in doing right with his inventions. She smiled gently at Bucky and waited for the door to open automatically. She even had left her weapons at her apartment and she hoped Bucky knew better than bring any gear to this place. They were here on friendly terms after all. Even standing in front of the door and ringing the door bell was her way of showing she really tried to be on good terms with the billionaire. She had already spotted ten easy ways into his property. She even had gotten two extra coffees as peace offering from her part. Heck she was probably even trying too hard. But she knew how Pepper and Tony drank their coffees so it had just come naturally to buy them. Surprisingly enough she felt nervous about the whole ordeal but easily covered things up.


"I know you loved it... You love helping people," she murmured and pecked his cheek. Laura rested her head on his shoulder and sighed a little "Looking back you probably should've taken an extra blanket with you." She smiled at him and wrapped an arm around him. All in all it had been a great day for all of them. She thought about what they needed to do tomorrow but it was nothing too serious. So for once she actually allowed herself to relax. "Well, people slowly get used to having you around all the time," she mentioned and added "Soon enough Lila and Cooper will nag at you the same way they nag at me." She grinned at Clint like she was actually excited to see them back talking to him and how he would handle that kind of stuff and normal fatherhood.

"Give her time, Clint. Splitting up one family to find out that your brother has been alive all along does that kind of things to her. Allow her come to terms on her own about who she wants to be. You can offer her guidance like you do with our kids. But in the end it will be her decision whether she wants to be part of the Avengers again or not," she advices him even though she knows that helping the girl would be important. "We can show her that her talent can be used for more than just...destroying. Perhaps that's our part to show those two some sort of moral compass to act upon. So maybe having them around our children will be good. They don't judge people to quickly." She smiled gently and looked at him for his imput in all of this. "As I see it they have lost a parent figure long time ago and that's where we come in."



Wanda sat at the window while her brother was snoring away. The even breath as well as the wind in the trees was calming to her. Almost mesmerizing and made her forget about all the bad vibes she felt since the dinner. She could feel the bad energy surrounding her, it was like on the day her powers had suddenly showed up. Something consuming her and trying to pull her into the bad mind space. That mind space killed people and it made her wonder if staying on this compound was safe for anyone. She could leave her brother here so at least he would have a good life.

Her hands suddenly glowed red as she heard a voice behind her. Quickly though it subsided and she looked at the boy. "I thought it was your bedtime?", she asked him like she hadn't just attempted to attack them. It almost came naturally now that she watched her brother's back while he was sleeping. She looked at the boy for a moment and rose to her feet, walking over to him. She outstretched her hand and introduced herself properly "I'm Wanda. That snoring dummy is my brother, Pietro." She gave him a friendly smile but it was obvious she felt nervous around strangers. Usually they acted differently around her than this boy. It gave her a sense of calmness surprisingly.


Loki stood almost immediately at attention as soon as the door opened. He looked at the hurt young woman and rushed over. "Doctor Quinzel?", he asked and around as she simply stated the obvious. His magic almost immediately reached out and located the source of her obvious discomfort. He forced it back out the same way it had entered her body. It didn't take him too long to remove the bullet. He sighed and placed it away. Soon enough he was healing the injured flesh and looked down at the woman. He gently moved her hands under her body and lifted her up like she weighed absolutely nothing. He carried her to her bedroom and set her comfortably down on the bed. With another spell her clothes on her body were fresh and clean. They were even missing the spots and wholes that had been inside of them before this incident.
He gave a good natured sigh and looked down at Harley. "You should leave that man be. He's not good for you," he murmurs but respects her privacy as he moves to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. Her body was still regenerating after all and producing lots of blood tended to make people thirsty.
 
Woken up by his doorbell going off, Tony rolled around in the bed for a few minutes, before actually making it out of it. With a sigh, the genius put some clothes on and went to the bathroom to do his hair. After about 10 minutes of letting the potential guest wait outside, he finally told Friday to open up. Because he knew that Barnes was outside, he had set his security system on high alert. Any weapon of any kind would trigger a huge security breach, which would result in a total lockdown.
“Get in”, he mumbled, while a bulletproof glass wall slowly descended in front of them. For any kind of emergency, Tony had his suit waiting in the background. Just in case of any of them doing anything stupid, he just had to raise his arm.
“Put the coffee on the table”, the genius spoke, like this was going to be some kind of interrogation. He wouldn’t be friendly to that man, he wasn’t his friend.
“Sit down”, Tony demanded and pointed at two chairs, which he had placed in the middle of the room, “If any of you moves, they’ll be out in the blink of an eye.”
He didn’t want to take any risks, especially not now that Pepper was around and really pregnant. He should have met them somewhere else, Tony contemplated, but that didn’t change the situation now. A murderer in his kitchen.
The billionaire walked around the two of them and took the coffee from the table. He sipped it carefully and then frowned.

“Okay...”, he spoke and looked at the two spies, “Can he take his shirt off?”
It was more a rhetorical question, he needed to reach the shoulder, after all. While Barnes was getting undressed, Tony went to the bedroom to fetch his work of art.
“I’m sorry, Mom”, he mumbled and picked up the arm. He was very careful when he approached the man and looked at the big plaster, which covered his arm.
“Can you take that thing off? I need to see the wires. There are wires, aren’t there?”

Tony’s hands were a little shivery, when he removed the plaster from Bucky’s shoulder. It was still far from healed, but it did look better. For a moment, he was pretty startled by the fact that they had actually put wires down Barnes’ shoulder, but it was like that. There were a few... and the same amount of them. Just the colours didn’t fit Tony’s construction at all.
“Now, let’s play a game of what goes where, shall we?”, the genius shrugged and looked at the colours of the wires, while looking up at his AI, “Friday, can you help us out?”
“Partly, Tony. I can only scan which area the wires are connected to... But that might not be enough to determine their functions.”

The Iron Man sighed and looked at Natasha first, then at Barnes, who just sat there, not daring to move. For a few brief moments he wondered what that guy might think about now, but that was all gone a second later. He waited for Natasha to say something, but she seemed to rely on him to make that decision. So he just nodded.
“Let’s try”, he mumbled and connected two of the wires. He looked at Barnes again.
“You should, uh, move it.”
Silence. Barnes didn’t say anything, but the arm moved it’s fingers a second later.
“Was that what you intended?”, the genius asked, raising and eyebrow. Barnes only nodded. And Tony suddenly saw the system behind the colours. With a grin, he connected them and then held the arm in place by pressing it against Barnes’ shoulder.
“Try”, he ordered and the man raised the arm and moved it around. Almost soundlessly, the bionic body part followed each and every impulse of the brain. Silence had settled between them, as suddenly the soldier decided to say something. His voice was calm and low, but still very well audible.
“It’s perfect. Thank you”, he spoke and looked up at Tony, “You can attach it.”

With a nod, the Iron Man put the arm into place.
“Yeah, about that...”, he mumbled, as he looked at it diligently, “Might sting a bit...”
He pressed a button and the metal turned into a fluid, which connected with Barnes’ skin immediately. He could see the extremis compound fusing with the skin and heal again. That way, it was nearly impossible to rip the arm off again.
Tony petted the arm a few times, before walking back and making the glass wall ascend again.
“Have fun with it. Don’t lose it. Oh and Natasha, you owe me 20 000.”
With those words, Tony Stark dismissed his unwanted guests again and went to see if Pepper was awake already.


Bucky looked at Natasha next to him and could almost see her insecurity. She was good at hiding her feelings, but there was still that small tick she had when she was nervous. Her eyes went from one point to the other, checking her parameters, as if someone would attack. It was a very reliable signal of hers and he didn’t doubt that he had read it right. She was tugging at her clothes, removing some stray hair from them. He heard her omplain about a cat, but he wasn't sure if he had understood that right... And he better stayed quiet anyways. She seemed to be in a bad mood.

Her smile was something he hadn’t expected, though, and it made him feel better again. He was really nervous about this as well. What if something happened? What if Stark used the opportunity of them being unarmed to kill the man who had murdered his parents? He would even understand his motives, which was- nicely said- a little weird as well. Moreover, guilt was still the most prominent feeling he felt when it came to Howard and his wife Maria. He hadn't even recognized them. But the worst of all was that it didn't seem to bother him whether or not those two had been killed by him. That was the reason why he was feeling so guilty.

Stark was acting weird when they got in. But honsetly, when didn't those men act weird and totally out of reason? To his own saftey, James decided to stay quiet and nice, so he wouldn't give the man a reason to worry or hate him. It seemed all a little unprofessional and the way the genius talked to him reminded him of his time in the military. It seemed like Stark didn't plan to play the friend and he wanted to state that. James knew that, so it didn't surprise him too much.

Having someone fumbling around on what felt like it was the inside of his arm was not really the best feeling ever been, but James could stand it. He had gone through many procedures like this, though he couldn't remeber most of them. Even the sudden pain, which came with the metal burning into his skin didn't make him flinch. Only his muscles flexed a little, a desperate try of his body to esape the pain.

As soon as the piece of metal was attached, he could feel just how light and smooth it was. There was no comparison to the one that he had had before. And the red star had been replaced by a blue sign that looked a little like it had been designed by Tony's father. He looked at the genius, ready to say something, but they were thrown out almost immediately. After getting dressed again, they left the mansion and James was halfway relieved to feel whole again. Though this new model felt very different from his old arm, it was something that he appreciated. He was feeling whole again.

"Is he always that paranoid?", James asked Natasha, after they had left the building again, "I mean, his every word and move is basically Howard Stark... But that fear in his eyes. It's as if something terrible happened to him."
The moment he had said it out loud, James regretted his question. It was none of his business, after all. Still, that thought didn't let him go anymore.


“Cooper”, the boy introduced himself and smiled. He approached the young woman and went to sit on her bed, as if it was the most normal thing that he had ever done. He looked over at the sleeping guy on the other bed and chuckled.
“He looks like Danny Phantom”, Clint’s firstborn stated. And it was true. The white hair, the long and slim figure...
“Does he actually disappear in between being seen?”, he asked Wanda. That was something he had been asking himself for a while. Did that guy beam himself from place to place or did he run?

Downstairs, Clint nodded at his wife’s statement and kissed her.
“What would I do without you?”, he whispered, looking at Laura with admiration in his eyes. Sometimes he got those moments when he realized how much this woman meant to him and how clever she actually was. Not that he didn’t know that in the first place, but those moments were a reminder of how much he actually respected his wife for everything she had done for him and their family. And now it was his turn to be the perfect husband: He would take over the household and the kids, so she could save the world. She had supported him for all this years, so it was only natural for him to do the same thing for her.


Harley woke up a few minutes later. She was on her bed, feeling groggy and tired. With half closed eyes, she looked around the room and noticed a glass of water on the bedside table. She was very thirsty, so she just drank it up and tried to sit up straight after that. It wasn’t really easy, her whole body seemed drained of it’s energy and her arm hurt... What had happened?
Blurry pictures filled her mind. Police, sirens and her being hit. Walking through the streets, trying to find a place... now she was here. But who had brought her here? This flat was still the strongest connection to his past and therefore the strongest connection to a self that she hated. She wouldn’t want to go back, never. Not even if her Puddin died and she had no one else. She was in too deep... and it showed already. Because even without the Joker, she would stay like this. She couldn’t go back to her boring life without perspective.

“Thanks for saving me...”, she mumbled, as a figure appeared in the doorway. First, she didn’t know who it was, but then she blinked a few times and saw Loki. But she wasn’t scared, not this time. She was just relieved to see someone she knew. And she was pretty sure that this man had saved her life. Suddenly she knew that he wasn’t crazy. He really was a god, a god from Asgard. And a magician, just like the guy from the legends. She sent him a soft smile and lay back into the pillows again.
“I’m cold...”, she whispered, “Can you warm me...?”
 
Pepper woke as the door bell rang but she mumbles something about letting it be. They could leave the parcel at the door till she wakes up. It almost seemed like her sleepy mind thought this was the postman. She sighed and turned around to continue cuddle with Tony and sleep. But his space was still warm yet empty and she pulled his pillow close to cuddle with it instead. Heck this was the one time she probably should've gotten up but her mind somewhat seemed to mention that she shouldn't. She heard someone emerging from the bathroom and simply mumbled "Be nice, Tony." She had no idea why her fiancée should be nice to postman but it felt like the right thing to say. So with a small grin on her face she actually dozed off rather quickly until she felt the need to pee. Heck she hated how her daily routine somehow was just taking place in the kitchen, bath- and bedroom. Soon enough she seemed to wake up though and finally realize what was going on in the kitchen. "Oh shoot," she mumbled and told Friday to tell her in case something went down. She really didn't want to leave Tony alone in this one but she highly doubted he would allow her to get anywhere near Romanoff and Barnes.

Soon enough she had showered and was dressed in her clothes. It took her a while and actually got her breathless. She placed her hands on her stomach and mumbled "It's getting time you two get out of there... Honestly you're exhausting mommy..." She sat down on the bed trying to take a moment to relax. That would be how Tony would see her entering the room.


Natasha tried her best to look casual like all of this was planned just to make sure that Bucky felt safe. She turned around though as she heard Tony ordering to place both cups of coffee down. It was against her nature following such orders when they didn't come from her superiors so she gave a displeased grumble but still did as told and sit down on the given chairs. She didn't want to come off impolite as Stark still could call this whole thing off but she didn't seem too pleased either. This was a bit much, wasn't it? "Good morning," she still overplayed all of this and gave Tony one of her warm smiles that didn't reach her eyes. She was observing like an eagle and seemed ready to attack just like Tony was with them. The moment she would realize he pulled something on Bucky was the moment she would drop this facade. Maybe it would also make Tony realize that things weren't as easy as to show them that you cared. Her case was a lost one and Nat knew it.

She stayed quiet and just observed even as Tony turned to her. How the hell was she supposed to know these kind of things. But this almost felt like Russia all over to her just that no-one was touching her and telling her what to do. Still she sat still with a straight back on the stool waiting for things to finish like she had waited for her teacher. In a fluid motion she rose to her feet as they were dismissed just as fast as they were allowed inside. "Thank you, Tony," she told him placing a folder and an invitation for New York's Eve on the counter. It was her way of making things up to him. "You will receive the money asap. Need to talk with someone first though," she murmured knowing that Friday probably still displayed them near Tony, "Be careful with this information. I still owe you though." She patted the folder and moved out. It was Tony and Pepper's SHIELD folder as well as just a piece of paper information about Natasha that would make Tony realize that she was on their side. It was a bit of compromising details about her life but she trusted Tony not to sell that. Tony and Pepper's file mostly contained their dirty laundry and she knew Fury would use it against the parents in case their kids...turned out gifted. She didn't want their children, growing up like she had or the Maximoff twins. They deserved a loving household and a normal childhood. The second Red Room had reminded her just how dangerous things like that actually still were.

Once they were outside she looked at the mansion and sighed. It seemed like Caia hadn't helped at all. Maybe Tony even felt like she had overstepped ehr boundaries but that was none of her business. "He's...broken," she simply replied and knew Bucky should know how that felt. The man had gone through so much in his lifetime that even Natasha felt sorry for him. Steve really should've told him the truth from the beginning. Natasha would've...if she had known to allow Tony to make his own decisions. They were all adults after all. She moved to her car and got inside. "Wanna go grab something to eat?", she asked him and tried to pull herself together to not move his shirt up so she could look at the new scar. There were more important questions needed to be asked like if he was hurt or how he felt about his arm. But still Natasha played it over like nothing had happened and simply asked if he wanted something to eat. Heck by now she would even drag him to her loft so he could get a proper shower.


Wanda looked confused at the boy who introduced himself as Cooper. She cocked her head to the side not really understanding what he meant. "What is a Danny Phantom?", she asked him quietly. The two hadn't grown up to watch TV let alone kid's show. Sokovia hadn't worked that way for them. With a sigh she turned back to the window wondering what the boy wants. She was surprised by his question though. To Wanda it was so normal what Pietro did that she didn't even stop and wonder if other people understood it as well. "He runs really fast," she answers and looks at Cooper "He slows down for the rest of us I think. That's why he keeps on nagging. We're too slow most of the time. So he does a thousand things at once...He doesn't mean bad when he...makes mistakes." She gave Cooper a small smile and looked tenderly at ehr twin brother. The two of them had always been really close making people even ask questions if they were in a relationship. It was odd to say the least. They just had a connection no-one really was able to rival. Most siblings quarreled and so did they. But they always apologized almost instantly as they stuck through everything together. For the lack of words: she had found her significant other in her brother not some stranger who needed to be her lover eventually.

She eyed the boy curiously for a moment and asked "What do you do? Are you able to shoot the bow and arrow as well?" She smiled at him friendly and seemed to slowly relax as she sat down at the window sill again. She looked younger than usual. Most people forgot that the two of them were still teenagers soon to be turning 20. They had gone through so much but still weren't able to drink alcohol legally. It was rather messed up.


"You would live in sheer and utter chaos," she replied almost naturally and kissed him back. In all honesty she didn't know how life would've turned out without Clint. But she knew one thing for sure the man wouldn't be as tidy and neat as he is now if it weren't for her. That man had been one big mess and still was without doubt. "I love you, too, Clinton Francis Barton. And I love you more with each and every passing day," she murmured and kissed him again resting her head against his shoulder. She smiled happy to herself and hugged him close to her from the side. "It's gonna be you and me till the end of the day," she mentioned sounding so sure of herself. Laura could get used to this calmness that had settled in in their home. But she knew better than to get too cozy. Clint had the habit of leaving to go on a mission at the worst times ever.

[divide] Loki observed the woman. She seemed different and it wasn't for the wounds she had gotten during her time away. He simply nodded grim at her thank you and went to the kitchen to cook her something to eat. He heard her request though and didn't know what she wanted from him. So he kept his distance politely and waved the air around her. "Better?," he asked hennaed added "What is it with your Midgardian's choice of weapon and those disgusting guns?" He eventually moved and brewed a soup he knew would strength her again and the liquid should help. "You lost a lot of blood," he explained, "Means you need to drink a lot. I wasn't able to restore all of it without damaging your weakened body." These were the moments he actually looked as caring as Frigga used to be. He always had been more like his Asgardian mother than Odin. Maybe it had been due to the fact that she had never pushed him aside or made him fell less inadequate.
 
"Morning, Pepper", Tony smiled, as he entered the room. He looked serious and a little exhausted, but the two cups of coffee in both of his hands smelt like breakfast. With a frown, he wiped his hands on his shirt, after putting the paper cup down on the bedside table. Then he sighed and dropped onto the bed. He had briefly read through the files that Natasha had left them, but he hadn't really had the time to think about what it meant. He knew that she had risked a lot, giving them the originals and that it showed her good will in all this. He rubbed his face with his hands and buried it inside is palms. He just sat like that for a few seconds, then he looked up at Pepper. He felt like he had just been thrown into the abyss of his childhood all over again. And though he had never gotten to know Barnes properly, he still felt utterly disgusted by that guy. Maybe it was just the fact that that man had killed his mother. He had seen that video and since that day, it was haunting him.

Silence was the worst thing that could happen right now. But it was exactly what did happen. He sat there, nothing around him but silence. Another deep sigh escaped his lips, as his eyes felt like they would soon be flooded with tears. But there was nothing. Just the feeling of total vacuum in his head and his chest. And dry lips, which he wettened with his tongue. He really wanted to say something, but he didn't feel strong enough to do any of this. So he just sat there and stared for a few moments, not saying anything, waiting for... What exactly? Salvation?


"We all are", Bucky replied to her statement and shrugged. It wasn't an excuse for a man to act like that, but maybe he didn't understand the full range of everything that had happened. Maybe it was just his point of view, but even with a backstory that basically consisted of death, torture and pain, he still tried his best to be a reasonable man. He tried everything he could to overcome those issues and fears- and become a new man. It sometimes seemed impossible, but he tried. Unlike Stark, as it seemed. But he didn't want to judge a man who had lost his parents through him. It just wasn't his right to do so.

"Yeah, let's get something to eat", he murmured and nodded. He felt Natasha's eyes on him and it made his whole body tense up in anticipation. Somehow he expected her to lean over and kiss him... But nothing like that happened. She just sat there, on the driver's seat of the car, driving around the city. And James let her. He leaned back in the seat and watched her face, as she tried to appear focused, when it was obvious that she wasn't. He knew all her tricks, he had taught her, after all.

A few minutes later, they both were sitting at a small diner, stuffing sandwiches into their empty stomaches. James enjoyed the late breakfast, he hadn't eaten anything since he had left the hospital. So he really enjoyed the taste of bread from the day before and old lettuce. Almost naturally, he observed everyone around them. It was something he couldn't turn off, even if he tried. They sat in a corner of the diner, so they could both watch the whole room and the door. So when the door opened, they both raised their heads and saw that couple come in. The male part of the two people walking inside was what Bucky would have called a gentleman back then. He was wearing a suit and held the door for the woman, who was walking right next to him. They seemed to be the perfect match, but James could see behind that facade. There was make up on that woman's face, covering up her bruises.

Barnes watched the two of them for a while, until the man suddenly got up and walked towards the toilet.


Cooper chuckled.
"Not a what, Danny Phantom is a who", he explained and a bright smile spread on his face, "He's a guy who fights ghosts. He was genetically modified by his parents and he can walk through walls."
It didn't even occur to Cooper that he should mention that he was talking about a tv series. It was just so obvious to him that he didn't think about it any further.

When Wanda explained that her brother coukd move really fast, Cooper nodded and commented that whole circumstance with a simple "Cool", before continuing to stare at the white haired guy. He was so fascinated by that boy, he really wanted to know more about him and his sister. Cooper wasn't even sure if Wanda did have any powers. She hadn't displayed any, until now and his Dad hadn't told him anything about that either. It took him quite some time to get the courage to actually ask her, but he did, finally. He took a deep breath.
"Do you... actually have those powers, too? Like, can you do something cool?", he asked the girl in front of him and was almost embarassed by the way that question had come out.


He really made her soup and came to serve it. Harley was amazed that she could actually see affection in that crazy god's eyes. She knew it was just the fact that she was a hurt puppy, but it seemed like he really cared. The way he talked, it had probably been him who had healed her wounds. At least her physical wounds. Inside her, she could still feel the pain of being seperated from her Puddin. And hell, she knew that Loki was right. That man wasn't good for her. He wasn't nice to her, he only pulled her deeper into the abyss. Deeper into a hole she had dug herself some time ago. And it was nearly impossible for her to make it out of that insanity. Because she knew it wasn't only her psyche he had messed with.

The thought that J had damaged a part of her brain scared her. But it was the most reasonable explaination to all this. Either that, Stockholm Syndrome or a simple obsession. And maybe she could find a way out, if she found someone to take her the way she was now.
"Thanks for taking care of me...", she whispered again and took Loki's hand, pulled him closer to her, "When I say I'm cold... I just want you to hug me... Please...", she begged him, "I'm so empty..."
And tears started dropping again. She was so damn disoriented, so confused. And the fact that that guy tried to drag her away from her puddin didn't make it better at all. Especially because she knew that he was right.
 
"Good morning," Pepper murmured and smiled at him as she smelled the coffee. Oh that one even smelled delicious. So she grabbed it and took a few sips even moaning in pleasure. She had denied herself from coffee for so long that it almost felt like a high to drink the hot beverage again. It even made her forget about Tony for just a moment. It was just her and the dark liquid. Yes, she did have a problem but as long as her addiction to coffee was all that occupied her mind, she'd be fine. It was after a few sips that she noticed that Tony wasn't here with her anymore.

"Tony?", she asked him loud enough "Friday informed me that I have another appointment with my gynecologist, today. So if you wanna join and have a look at the babies, feel free to do so. But we need to leave in a bit." She smiled at him and took his hand into hers, hoping he was still into the idea of joining her and have a look at them.


Steve had thought that Bucky would at least contact him by now. But apparently their friendship was really over by now. So why should he care? It had taken him the last 48 hours to tidy up his best friend's junk and place it into two cartons so he could take it along. Heck he had even printed out three apartments ready for him to look at so he could finally move on and get down from his freaking couch. Apparently Bucky was too good to sleep on his couch. Stupid unthankful dimwit.

Almost just as long Steve had fidgeted with his notepad and stared at Andy's number. Even before he could stop himself, he finally dialed Andy's number to schedule a coffee. Steve couldn't ask for a date. He still wasn't too sure if being on a date with a man was okay. That god wasn't testing him for his faith by making him feel like this towards men. Things had been so much easier with Peggy. He stumbled over his words at first but eventually managed to get a sentence out. "Hiyouwanttograbcoffeetoday. I mean You want..erm... you know grab a coffee or something, today?," he asked first realizing now that Steve had missed to introduce himself, "I'm Steve that guy from the hospital, remember?" His heart was hammering loud against his chest hoping Andy would remember him.

Soon enough Steve was on his way to Starbucks. He had heard that's what kids did nowadays for a date. Meet at one of those coffeeshops to talk or do whatever. He had even tried on some clothes that Natasha would call modern. He had even tried to dress up but clearly he had ended up trying too hard though. He had tried to look like any other guy these days but somehow ended up looking like some kind of caricature and didn't seem to feel comfortable in his own skin. He just was looking like a dad in his khakis with a shirt that was maybe a size too small for him. Yet he was trying too hard impressing Andy as he sat at the table doodling the skyline ahead of him while he waited for Andy to arrive.


Natasha ate her piece of cake. For once she was treating herself with something sweet. It usually was just for special occasions like birthdays or the end of a successful mission. But the apple pie had just looked delicious to her so she had ordered a piece with some coffee. "How's your arm?", she asked him eventually and made it sound like it didn't really matter to her. Carelessly she took a sip from the dark brew and looked over her shoulder to see who entered. The redhead's body language changed just a bit as she spotted the same bruises Bucky had spotted. Unlike Bucky she didn't keep on glancing over to the young couple. She just stuffed her mouth with her last piece of pie when the man went to the restroom. Relatively quickly Natasha swallowed the piece and placed her napkin on the counter.

"Be right back," she murmured and left Bucky alone going over to the restrooms. Almost like she owned this place she pushed open the door to the male facility instead of the female one and walked inside. Her heels clicked on the tiles and she pushed open all the stalls before she finally turned to the man. Like she expected he wasn't too pleased about a woman following him. Almost like she was nothing more than a bimbo he told her off and taunted her about going into the wrong bathroom. With a sigh though she simply leaned against the wall watching the man pee.
"What are you dumb or something? I said leave," the man said as he tried to cover himself but Natasha casually crossed her arms "Oh no, I'm just waiting for you to get finished down there. We don't want to ruin your manhood, do we? I mean when you accidentally trip and fall." The man stared at her confused and turned to her once he was fully dressed again "Are you trying to threaten me little girl?" Natasha shook her head and looked at the man "No, actually I am threatening you!"

There could be damped sudden noises from the bathroom. People could mistake it for something else but Nat served the man's ass. Just when she was bored with him she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him really close "You will not put your finger on your girlfriend or any girl again. If I hear the slightest noise about you just scratching a girl, I will come for you and kill you. You understand me?" She than harshly pushed the face against the sink so the man was unconscious for just a few seconds. Natasha straightened her hair and walked out like nothing happened. She walked over to the girl and gave her her card with a wink. Afterwards she walked back to Bucky and took her seat. "Sorry took me longer than expected," she simply replied. Natasha clearly was fine except for a few fine cuts and bruises on her knuckles from the fight.

The man walked out of the bathroom holding his ribcage. But his face was almost unrecognizable. He had a black eye and his lips were split open. But Natasha had taken her time recreating each bruise on the pretty girl's face and made it even worse. The man clearly had a fractured jaw and a broken nose as it simply didn't stop bleeding. It looked like he had gotten in trouble with a whole gang instead of just one woman.


Wanda looked confused at Cooper like she was lost but then her eyes went wide like she wondered how someone actually was able to do something like that to a boy or anyone at all. "Why do his parents hurt that man like this?", she asked as she knew how it felt to be experimented on. Her skin turned white and she stared at the young teenager. "Why does no-one help this Danny? He must feel betrayed by his parents and family," she simply stated and didn't seem to understand it was a simple cartoon. The story was too familiar to her own.

He seemed to want to ask her more questions and she noticed how he didn't reply her own question. Yet she didn't seem to mind because she was used to being ignored by most people. Instead she listened to the question he had. With a sigh she turned away, looking at the moon for a bit. It almost seemed like she had finished their conversation on her own accords but eventually answered "I don't know what I am capable of doing. The easiest way of explaining is that I am capable of telepathy and telekinesis. But it's not really what I do... I do not wish to find out what I am capable, I tend to hurt or kill people." She turned quite afterwards and looked at her hands "Maybe it is even witchcraft I am using... My family...we had legends about a female witch, who got her powers from a demon. Those powers were passed down from the mother to their daughter and so on. My mother used to tell us legends about that witch. The Scarlett Witch is the patron of our family and tries to do good with the powers of the demon. But the dark creature keeps on fighting her back, trying to corrupt her."
As a child she had thought that those stories told by the Romani were just goodnight fairytales for their kids. But to Wanda it felt more and more real like there was a truth behind those stories.


He simply placed the bowl alongside a spoon on her bedside table. He looked around in the room observed what he could see. The whole apartment didn't actually look like her home to him. It looked more like one of these houses Midgardians liked to display in magazines or Loki's room at the palace. He always was neat and tidy with everything he touched. Deep down he was a perfectionist.

Loki stared down at her hand with a frown and seemed genuinely surprised that he was touched like this. The only person who had other touched him in a gently manner had been Frigga. The request for a hug seemed to startle him further. Asgardians didn't hug. It was a simple pat on the back that showed affection. He opened his mouth to decline. But something in her voice made him sit down and awkwardly pull her into a simple embrace. "Like this?", he asked knowing the whole ordeal was more awkward than it probably would help anyone.
 
The babies... It was just a small thing that Pepper had said, but it brought a smile to his face. He nodded and got up.
“Shall I take a shower or am I good to go?”, he asked Pepper with a smirk, as he got up from the bed, acting like nothing had happened. He even kissed his girlfriend and pulled her closer. The mention of the kids seemed to take his mind off the situation for a while. But it was far from taking away the feeling it had left. Far from closing the chapter for the Iron Man. He wouldn't make peace with his past, it was all too fresh and the wounds burned every time he saw Barnes.

In the car to the doctor's office, Tony didn't talk. He focused on the traffic and was too lost in a wish that he wanted to avoid at all cost. He didn't want to go back there, he wouldn't rip those scars open and feel horrible again. Once again, he pushed the thought away and sped up. It wasn't long until a police car was behind them and the genius rolled his eyes. He hadn't gone that fast... Just about 20 mph over the speed limit, or so. Really not worth a drama like that. But still, the cop told them to drive over and made a huge fuss, with gun and all, until Tony opened the side window and grinned at the officer with his usual Tony Stark face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I miss something?", he asked and leaned outside, "You see, this is kinda urgent... I'm late for a meeting and..."
With a wink, the billionaire leaned back in his seat.
"Could I just drive on? It's really important. Promise I'll watch the limit now", he promised, big puppy eyes looking at the policeman. And as always, the guy magically nodded and handed Tony an Iron Man postcard and an overhead pen.
"For who?", Tony asked and chuckled.
"Anny, my daughter...", the man mumbled and gave Tony a smile, when he signed the card. After that, he let them drive on and Tony gave Pepper a triumphing grin, as he went over the limit again, as soon as the cop car was out of sight.


The converstaion they had was light hearted and meaningless. She asked him about his arm and he answered that it was fine. Way too light, but fine. He also stated that he missed the old piece of metal, as it had somehow become a part of him. It was all over when they saw the couple enter the diner. It was clear the moment that the man had walked away that she would follow him. And as fast as she had gone, she came back again, just as perfect as ever... Well, with a few more scratches on her.

Even before Natasha had taken her seat, Bucky knew what she had done. And it made him smile a cheeky smile. That woman was still fighting for justice rather than her own survival. He could see that strong girl inside her that he had fallen for so long ago.
Just as she sat down, he nodded.
"Hope you didn't go easy on him", he commented and reached out for her hand. It didn't matter if she would take it or not. The thing was that he had seen that rage and will in her eyes and he knew that deep inside, there was still a part of his Natalia left. He would give her time to recognize it and whatever she chose, love or friendship, it would be them together. He just couldn't imagine it any other way.

Without any further words, the former soldier stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and watched her eat her cake. His arm hurt, but he didn't want to admit it, as he had been trained to ignore the pain most of the time. He just sat, gritting his teeth and ignoring the feeling of his shoulder burning up.


"His parents...?", Cooper asked, now confused himself, "Well they're crazy and obsessed, but it's just made up. Nothing real about it."
He just said it because Wanda looked so shocked all of sudden and he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he might have said something wrong. He felt really sorry for upsetting her like that, so he gave her a calming smile and shrugged, like he did with Lila when she had believed in one of his horror stories a little too much.
"It's actually quite funny. You should watch it some time. And his sister is all weird and sounds like a frickin therapist all the time. Like she understands everything that's going on. But in fact she doesn't."

Wanda didn't seem to be pleased about him asking her about her powers, but still what she told him sounded pretty awesome. Telekinesis, wasn't that moving things with her mind? His Dad had explained it to him some time ago, but he had only been a kid back then. Now he was almost a teenager and he really couldn't remember if he recalled that information right. Also, telepathy sounded cool too. He knew that that meant mind control, because one of his teachers had explaned that word a few weeks ago.
"Why do you act like that's a bad thing?", he asked Wanda, as he didn't really get her attitude towards her powers. That was about the most wanted superpowers when they played superheroes.

"So... When you try to do good with your powers, the Scarlett Witch tries to stop you or what?", Cooper spoke with his head tilted to one side, like his Dad did when he was expecting trouble, "Then I see only one solution to this, you gotta get stronger than her."


Instead of an answer, Harley buried her head inside the man's chest and cried. She was so tired of everything. So tired of being a captive of J, of this world and the laws. She just wanted to be free again and maybe going somewhere else would take her mind off it. He had offered to take her somewhere else before and maybe this was exactly the way this was to be handled. She wanted to get out of that flat as soon as possible and he wanted to take her somewhere where he thought that she would feel at home. So why wait a second longer?
"Let's go somewhere else...", Harleen whispered into his chest, "I'm tired of waiting for something that will never happen. Take me somewhere exciting. I hate this flat. I wanna go somewhere else, please...."
It was the first step away from her Puddin. And the first step into the right direction, so it seemed. Still, she felt like she was betraying him.
 
"Well, you want to leave a good impression on the kids, don't you? So maybe a shower would be sufficient," Pepper smiled at Tony and took his hand. She was glad to see something so simple took his mind off something that was bothering him. In fact it made her heart swell unaware that it was still occupying him. She giggled as he pulled her closer and wrapped her arms around his neck casually. She smiled happy and stood somewhat awkwardly as her baby bump got more and more in the way of various activities for her. Heck she couldn't even reach the top shelf in the kitchen anymore.

Pepper groaned unnerved as they were pulled over. "Seriously you could've at least driven decently or I'll have Happy pick me up from the doctor's," she threatened and stroke her belly annoyed. It was almost like she expected this to go downhill. When Tony promised to stay to the speed limit she gave a snort almost like she was suppressing to start laughing. Instead she rolled her eyes and waited for the whole ordeal to finish. "You've got more luck than anything else, Mister Stark. Goddammit, you should get a ticket just for being so damn cocky all the time," she told him once they were on their way again.
The blonde rolled her eyes but suddenly started groaning in pain "Oh god..." Just to grab for something, she held onto the handrail of the door. She tried to breathe through the pain as it came as quickly as it subsided. "Tony, please... Can you speed to the doctor just for once," she asked him as it sounded like Pepper didn't want to freak out but clearly was on the verge of doing so. She placed her hand underneath her belly as she groaned in pain once more "Oh god, please, no..." Her breathing came labored as she slowly freaked out.


Steve waited for a while for Andy to arrive. Eventually he had given up that the other man would actually come and ordered himself a cup of coffee. He sighed and was entranced in a random building as he started to give more details to his sketch. It was his way of letting out steam or just getting occupied with something else. Heck he felt like a fool scheduling a date with someone else. If the past had taught him anything, Steve was better staying away from people and just enjoy them from afar. Maybe that was why he didn't sketch out people this time but just draw the crowd in a moving blur. That was what he wanted after all, to be just one person amongst many for once. He sighed and looked up to take a sip from his, now, cold coffee. Absentmindedly he watched the New Yorker going for their day.


Natasha smiled and could see that he wasn't telling her everything. But she could work with it. The conversation was light and she preferred keeping it that way. Maybe she could get used to his presence like she had gotten used to Clint's and Laura's. Just with time she would even grow fond of it and find herself hanging out with him more. Even when she thought about it the week before Christmas had been nice until she met Banner. Things had gone downhill, why? Because the dummy next to her didn't want to believe that she might be doing something...that...that wasn't originated in fear. Maybe she had enjoyed her time with him but like all those years ago: they weren't more than star-crossed lovers. Something out of a John Green novel.

At the mention of not going easy on that pig, she simply raised her eyebrow. "I have no idea what you are talking about, James Buchanan Barnes. That man slipped and happened to hit his head really hard on the sink. Accidents like that happen all the time, don't they?", she spoke relaxed and emptied her coffee. Eyeing his hand for a moment, she slowly took it into hers. It was a small gesture of intimacy but all she would bear for now. Just on cue the man walked out looking like he was beaten up like the woman just worse. He really needed a doctor to look at his wounds or else his handsome face would never look the same again. But Natasha didn't have the slightest hint of remorse. Instead she watched the couple and turned around on her stool, abandoning Bucky's hand for now and leaned against the counter as she crosses her arms. Heck she was openly threatening by now. Still the man didn't seem to have learned the lesson as he grabbed the young woman's arm to push her out. Natasha cleared her voice and looked at the man like she was ready to attack him right here and now. Almost on cue the man went pale and let go off his girlfriend before hurrying out.

Natasha turned to Bucky again and read his body language. "Do you want me to have a look at it?", she asked him silently almost like she knew he was hurting. She scoops a little closer to him and gently takes his hand into hers again like she tries to tell him that they're in this together. The small glimpse at her old self also seemed to draw her closer to him. "I'm here you know... Maybe we can get something for the scar," she told him watching his reaction if she had been right. After all she had seen his scar enflamed multiple time before. Each time she wondered why his body refused to heal properly. Somehow a small part of her had hoped it would stop with Tony's invention. But apparently not.


"Made up?", she looked confused now like she had missed out on something but wasn't able to explain that. She listened to him with a frown and seems flabbergasted as it sounds more and more like a story people told their children. She shuddered at the thought. To many it would sound like a nice story but for Pietro and her it was too real. Being experimented on until...the body gave in and you developed abilities. Power they had never asked for. Well, maybe they had asked for it by voluntarily offering themselves to help Hydra. But neither Wanda nor Pietro had thought their way would turn out so complicated.

He seemed to be interested almost fascinated by her power. But she shrugged it off the same way, Cooper had did with his story about this boy, Danny. Wanda looked at him and frowned. She thought about how to tell him without scaring the boy. It took her a brief moment to bring up the courage and murmured "Actually it seems like each time I try to do good, people die. That's why they look for me and try to...to lock me up." She doesn't meet his gaze and looked down to the floor. For a moment she seemed utterly lost. Her gaze was unfocused like she was haunted by something and shuddered "Sometimes...I think I'm seeing ghost. Like your Danny Phantom guy." She wasn't sure if she was talking to Cooper or the old woman who stood behind him and looked unamused at Wanda.

She turned away and shook her head. Now, she even was becoming crazy. God why did they have to get involved all of this? Their life had been simple back in Sokovia but at least she hadn't imagined things and those powers were a curse no matter what people tried to tell her. Her gaze focused on Cooper again and she noticed that the woman had left again. She had seen her a few times before but she had no idea what it actually meant. "I do not know much about her. She...she's nothing more than a story. Something to tell your children at night so they are afraid and don't turn evil," she murmured like she tried to convince herself, "I just...I tried to be better. But killed people, Cooper. I don't think I can be better than her."


Loki looked at the woman who held onto him like it was for dear life. He awkwardly patted her back like he had seen that Midgardian do on TV. "I can take you to Nowhere. But first you need to eat. You'll need your strength, if you want to travel that far," he explained and looked at her. He was very well aware that there was mostly alcohol sold to the patrons of that planet. So he wanted to make sure she at least had eaten her soup before they left. Slowly though he moved out of her embrace and rose to his feet again. "First soup and then I will take you anywhere you want. Traveling will brought your horizon and maybe it will be the first time you realize how insignificant Midgard actually is. My broth...Thor is simply way too fixated on this one realm. He's almost obsessed," Loki replied and striaghtened his clothes with a grin.
 
Andy had known that he would be late the moment when the call had come in. It had been an emergency, a really bad one. Highest priority and all. A shooting in the neighborhood and three people hurt. It would definitely take longer than his shift and he would never make it to their date in time. It was like a curse that once he met a nice man, he had to mess it up again. But there was no time to call Steve and explain it, so he just had to roll with the fact that he might not make it before the FBI agent left again. Hell, it had been a wonder that he had called, after all. Just for him to be late and ruin the first impression.

Then, as he finally had gotten back, covered in blood and tired as hell, it was one hour after their scheduled time already.
“Damn you, stupid gang people”, he grumbled and washed his hands, before getting rid of his uniform and slipping into something way more comfortable. Andy liked wearing camouflage clothes, though for the date he had only chosen to wear his armee green shirt, along with some tight black jeans and a brown leather jacket. He checked himself in the mirror and smiled at the handsome young man he saw in there. This would take some serious reasoning for his date to forgive him. But he knew he could do it. He just had to.

His head down, he rushed inside the Starbucks cafe and spotted the man immediately. And hell, not only was he overdressed, but so deliciously insecure. He sat there, doodling on his notepad, so absentmindedly that he didn’t seem to see Andy enter. The young man took a deep breath and gently touched the other man’s shoulder, to get his attention. In his ice blue eyes, there was sorrow. He couched, before he spoke.
“Damn, I’m really sorry for being late...”, he murmured and sat down on the opposite chair, “There was this crazy accident and I was covered in blood, so I had to take a shower first and the scrubbing took ages as well, so...”
Andy didn’t know what else to say, so he just stopped talking at all.
“Was a crazy day”, he added, more to himself, than to anyone else.


“It’s okay”, James insisted and tried to push the burning into the corner of his mind where the Winter Soldier was kept. He was still pretty close, the spoken words hovering over him like a rock that was about to fall. He took a deep breath and faked a smile. But she could see through it and he knew that.
“Maybe, if I could have some morphine...”, he mumbled and sighed. He wasn’t used to painkillers, as he had never needed any as Bucky and had never gotten any as Winter Soldier, but maybe it was time to try it out. He was planning to be a normal person after all.

“Well, I’ve had worse...”, he stated when she told him that she was here for him. And hell, she knew it was true. Still she acted like he was her hurt little puppy. And the sick thing about it was that he kind of liked it. What had annoyed him to death with Steve seemed to be really nice with her. Maybe because he knew that it was proof that he still meant something to her. That he wasn’t all that unwanted around her.


The sudden pain in Pepper’s voice, as well as the fact that she was apparently freaking out about something, lead Tony to push the car’s engine to it’s limits - and that meant something for a 200 ps Audi. The man had turned extremely pale. He really didn’t want his kids to be born in the car... without any doctors around. There was just too much that could go wrong there. He looked over at his girlfriend, as he it the breaks and the car stopped in front of the doctor’s office.

“Please don’t give birth right now, just let’s go up there and check on the kids first...”, he tried to calm Pepper in his very own way, “You can give birth later, I don’t wanna see them that badly...”
He almost looked scared, but he didn’t let it show. Instead, he appeared calm, though a little shocked by her sudden reaction.
“Let’s go inside...”, he suggested with a suspicious side glance at Pepper, “Can you walk...?”


“My Dad killed people, too”, Cooper told Wanda and had a very serious look on his face. In fact, he thought that every hero had to kill people to protect himself and his family. It was something that no one was proud of, but it was in all the comics. Sometimes the bad guys had to die, in order to save the world. And that was the difference between a hero and a bad guy, after all. The heroes felt guilty about it.
“They also tried to get my Dad”, the boy explained, “but they found out that it was a misunderstanding. Like, Dad was tricked into doing something that he didn’t want to do. And they thought he had conspired with Loki.”
Clint’s son shrugged and didn’t look shocked at all: “Those things happen if you try to save the world...”, he told her and put a hand onto her shoulder, “But that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It just means that you’re human.”
He had heard his Mom say that sentence when his Dad had come home from that mission and it had sounded like a good thing to cheer people up. It seemed to be a clever sentence, though he didn’t fully understand what it meant.
 
Steve was startled as his shoulder was touched. Almost immediately he rose to his feet grabbing his things to leave. Relatively quickly he seemed to settle back into his chair and looked at the man in front of him. Steve shrugged and just murmured "Happens... Well, now you're here, aren't you?" It sounded bitterer than he had intended it to sound. Heck in all honesty he understood. "You could've called though," he eventually mentioned and looked at Andy. It would've been the least bit of politeness "Thought you wouldn't show up anymore. Just...just got lost drawing." He gave him a polite smile and looked at his empty cup. "Hopefully you don't mind but I already ordered my coffee."

The blond took a deep breath and ran a hand distressed a hand through his hair. He looked at Andy and frowned taking in his appearance for a moment Heck he couldn't deny it the other man was extremely handsome. But at the same time he didn't feel...he was confused about everything that was happening lately. "So how has your day been apart from whatever happened?", he asked curious.


The redhead turned to Bucky and looked at him like he was pathetic for wanting morphine. "I'll tell you how it's done: You come with me to my place and take a shower because you smell. Afterwards I'll put a ointment on the scar and give you some normal pain meds. Afterwards you can have my couch but only for one night. Tomorrow you'll go to Rogers and apologize for being so fucking stupid. So you can sleep on his couch again," she nodded to herself as if she was approving her own plan. The earlier this would go back to normal the better for her mood and nerves. Honestly she really didn't want someone bunking on her couch simply because he had been stupid enough to shatter decades of friendship for one overbearing moment.

"Well, you're not so special, sunshine. We all had it worse," she placed her hand supportingly on his right shoulder and rose to her feet. "Let's get you clean, shall we?", she mentioned and moved away after placing money on the counter. Without a second word she moved away from the diner back to her car. She stretched herself with a smile once the sunshine hit her pale skin. It was relaxing her and she almost looked like a cat that warmed her fur. With a sigh she moved to her car slowly. Natasha would never admit it but she lingered in order for Bucky to catch up so they could leave the diner.


She tried to breathe and stay relatively calm. But still she groaned in pain and muttered incoherent thing. Pepper looked at Tony as he told her to keep the children in and tried to blink her tears away. "I...I can't control that," she screeched unnaturally and looked at Tony like he was her anchor for once "Tell them to stop it, Tony... They can't come yet. I'm not...we're not ready." She groaned a bit and tried to breathe through some pain. Eventually it subsided though and she slowly rose to her feet. Her knees felt weak though and she naturally reached for Tony to support her. "Tell them to stay inside," she murmured almost like she was talking to herself but actually maybe she just needed Tony to reassure her.

Slowly they made their way to the doctor and Pepper immediately took a seat on a nearby chair. Almost immediately they signed Pepper in and she lied on one of those uncomfortable cots. The nurse prepared some things and looked over to Tony. She excused herself telling the doctor would be there soon. The pain had subsided by now and she looked worried at Tony "You alright?" Pepper always preferred asking him if he was doing okay instead of wondering if she was alright.


Wanda simply listened and looked away. He didn't understand clearly. She hadn't just...this wasn't that easy, was it? To her at least it wasn't so easy. Heck it was just...she couldn't live with all of that. She didn't want to live with that. All she had wanted was a normal life with her brother instead it had turned into a big mess for the two of them. "We were just like your Danny Phantom. They experimented on us and we developed those experiments," she changed the topic away from the actual problem. It was almost like she was trying to get away from the big pile of guilt. "We should've never joined Hydra... It only brought us misery," she murmurs to herself.

She looked up at him once he placed his hand on her shoulder. She seemed to linger a bit and frown. "What makes you sure that I am not bad? All I've done...it got me locked up in a straight jacket. People fear me," she murmured and turned away lost in her own thoughts.
 
“I’m really damn sorry”, Andy mumbled and ordered himself some coffee, “I hope I didn’t scare you away...”
Staring at his shoes, he wondered if he was actually blushing or just feeling really weird, when he noticed that there was still blood on them.
For Steve quite obvious to see, he didn’t blush, but turn rather pale.
“I really tried to call”, Andy reasoned, “It’s just that I’m a stupid person and I had my phone in the locker at the hospital. So when we got the call, we just kinda... swooshed outta there and I forgot about everything else in that moment. That’s why I left my phone there and I showered and changed right after. Next thing I did was race here.”
He sighed.
“Bad excuse, I know. I’m just still very sorry and... I’ll pay you that coffee. And whatever else you wanna eat or drink now.”
He would have done that anyway, but maybe it would make the other man smile again. He just wanted to see him all awkward and cute again... It was just so adorable how such a handsome man could be so insecure about anything. Like, why the hell had he become an FBI agent if he didn’t know what he was capable of?!

“My day...”, Andy was pulled back to reality by said agent, who seemed genuinely interested, “Well. I got up in the morning”, Andy started, while he tried to put the pieces back together, “I showered, then I did some exercises, no, the other way around. I showered after I exercised.” Silence, Andy smiled. “Then I got really nervous because I was late and I didn’t know what to wear to impress you...” He was too honest, wasn’t he? But maybe that was exactly what he needed to be...?
“Then I went to work and well, I just told you about the rest.”
He shrugged, while his glance got stuck on Steve’s lips. He could stare at them forever... but it would probably be strange to do so. So instead of looking at them, his eyes started wandering over the Agent’s body, secretly checking him out. But that only lasted a few seconds, though.
“And how was your day?”, the young man asked Steve, sipping his coffee.


With a sigh, James followed Natasha to her car and she drove him to her place. It was lunchtime by now and people were flooding the streets to get themselves something to eat. It always amazed him again, how many people actually worked inside the buildings all around them. When they were inside, no one really saw them, but once they started streaming out of the entrances of the buildings and filled the streets, everything was full.

“Why would I go back to sleep on Steve’s couch...?”, he muttered, while watching the crowd outside, “I wanted to move out because I can’t stand it anymore. I need some privacy.”
He felt pushed and forced by her, though she had only suggested moving in with his friend again.
“He’s probably even happy to have me out. It’s his privacy, too. And I’m sick of being treated like a child.” He looked at Natasha with a very serious face. “If he asks me where I am and when I’ll come home one more time, I might just punch him for an answer.”


“Are you alright?”, Tony repeated her question, “Did I just nearly give birth in the car or did you?”
He took Pepper’s hand in his and pecked her cheek.
“The better question is: Are you okay? What happened there?”, he asked and frowned, still worried.
Just as Pepper was about to say something, the doctor came in and gave the couple a friendly smile.
“Miss Potts”, he greeted Pepper and held out a hand for her to shake it, “Good day, how are you feeling?”
“Mister Stark”, he greeted Tony, almost naturally. Sure, everyone knew him. And he didn’t even hold out a hand for him. Clever guy. However, something about this man’s aura made the genius roll his eyes. He was too happy for what he was doing. Maybe he was high or something. Then the doctor turned back to Pepper.
Tony, who was a little jealous of all the attention that guy got all of sudden, just stood there with his mouth shut. Because, what else was he supposed to do?

“Looks like you are going to go into labour soon”, he stated and his face got an expression that reminded Tony of a drunk Disney character, “Is there anything specific that you worry about? Any questions I can answer you?”
Tony still played statue and tried his best to avoid eye contact with that strange man. Well, but he wouldn’t know how he would behave when all he saw all day was pregnant women. Maybe he would act like that, too. Though the genius still thought that that guy was on some kind of drugs.


“Well, Auntie Nat always says that we can’t change what we did. So we have to try to make up for it in the future”, the oldest Barton kid tried his best to be positive about the situation. He just wanted to be friends with Wanda. She seemed like a pretty nice person to be around and maybe he could help her be less sad. His Dad had told him that Natasha had acted that strange, too. But with a lot of trust, they had become friends. It had taken some time, and Cooper was willi to try and do the same with Wanda and Pietro- the speedster had already beaten him in several video games and snatched some sweets for him and Lila. Wanda seemed to be different, though. She always hid in her room, only came downstairs when they called for her and... She was so awfully quiet most of the time.

“I know you’re not one of the bad guys”, Cooper stated and looked at her, as if his eyes were trying to engrave his words into her brain, “I have a sense for that. I’ve never been wrong until now.”
The boy really tried to sound encouraging, because she looked so miserable. Normally he was good at consoling people, but somehow she was different to the others. Maybe he just had to try harder.
“If you were bad, you wouldn’t care about the people”, he argued, “You wouldn’t be afraid of hurting them.”
He looked at her.
“And you wouldn’t be here. Dad wouldn’t bring anyone he doesn’t trust.”
 
Steve listened to him ramble and noticed by the way he was staring on his shoes that something was off. He looked down and noticed some blood. It only raised his eyebrow but he didn't comment on it or was taken aback. This whole situation was just extremely awkward to him. "It's okay...really. I understand. Saving lives more important than...this," he spoke showing he was afraid of calling this what it was. Steve was afraid admitting to himself that this was a date and that he might be gay.

He looked at his empty cup and shook his head "No need to do so. I can pay for it." He waved the offer off not thinking about it or anything. He gave Andy a reassuring smile and just shrugged. With a sigh he listened to Andy's day and nodded a bit. "Were you able to safe the person by the way?", he asked settling into the conversation. Steve seemed to slowly relax a bit and lean back in his chair. He looked at Andy and gave him a smile suddenly feeling a little insecure as Andy's lips seemed to be locked on his lips.
"Me? Well, I spent the morning searching for flats. I've got an unthankful jerk of a friend wants to move out after he gets out of the hospital. So I looked for some in order to throw him out for good. The idiot can stay away from me," he murmured and seemed to get into a bad mood again. He ran his hands distressed through his hair and looked down at his empty cup. "Afterwards I called you and got dressed into these ridiculous clothes," he gestured to his brown outfit. He gave him a crooked grin "I saw some model from a magazine wearing similar clothes so...I thought it would be modern or something. But I feel ridiculous to be honest." He rubbed the back of his neck.


Natasha got inside her car and started the engine again. "Easy: because you have no job and you're a searched criminal," she tells him and adds "What do you think will happen when someone finds you on a bench and calls the cops? You're quicker back in a prison than you believe. It's utterly stupid to put Rogers off. He's the only one offering you a warm place to stay. My couch is currently occupied by a stray cat. So can't sleep there." She looks at him as it was more than obvious. "Besides do you really want to throw out your friendship with him?"

She glanced at him from the side and sighed a little. Eventually she moved and parked at a side alley. "Let's get you showered at least," she murmured and stepped out of her car. Natasha is occupied with grabbing her key for the front door as a black cat appears and starts to move around her legs before he gets interested in Bucky. "Meet Liho...," she murmurs and the cat walks over eyeing James suspiciously. Like the cat is afraid James will take his place. Liho hisses at Bucky and moves into the apartment first before getting comfortable in the middle of the couch. "Not my cat. I just feed him you know," she told James like she still needs to convince herself not to keep Liho. In all honesty the cat had somehow chosen Natasha as his owner. "Bathroom is that way," she points at a door and slips out of her shoes.


Pepper opened her mouth to reply but the doctor got inside. She shook the man's hand and tried to smile as friendly as ever but Pepper was still nervous. "I feel confused..," she murmured to herself and placed her hand on her belly. "I...Why did it feel like I went into labor?", she asked and sounds a little breathy. Her gaze searched for Tony as she somehow feared the answer and grabbed his hand again. For once Pepper was the one who needed Tony to show her that he'd be there.
The doctor smiled reassuringly at Pepper "It is okay. That is total normal and commonly known as false labor. Your body starts preparing itself to give birth. It might happen from time to time but once it really starts you will know." Pepper nodded a little timid and looked at Tony.

"Well, I worry about giving birth to two humans and the pain... What if I'm not ready for that part?", she asks quietly like she doesn't want to admit in front of Tony that she feels just as ready as Tony at this moment. "Is there...Is the pain as bad as everyone says it is?", she asks him and looks at the doctor before adding "And we would love to see our children once more. Check if they are healthy and so on."


Wanda nodded a bit and thought about what he said. "You seem to know Romanoff really well," she mentioned and smiled at the boy gently. "Did you know that your father...he didn't like us at the beginning? I think Pietro was too annoying. He's always a little straight forward," she chuckles and grins at the boy. Wanda had the talent of constantly changing topics into lighter ones than she didn't want to talk about certain things. "I think your dad brought us here because he feels like he owes my brother. Pietro...saved your dad's life," she mentioned unsure if Cooper had known that. Wanda hadn't been around when her twin got shot but she had felt it.

"You're one of the first persons I met who aren't afraid of me. Someone I really liked once explained it to me. Apparently people cannot help but fear me due to how the brain is structured," she shrugged and sighed a little. "Do you have someone you really like?", she asked him curious wondering if Cooper was already into girls or not.
 
"Why didn't you dress the way you usually do?", Andy asked, a little confused by the fact that Steve seemed a little off and out of place. But that was probably just his insecurity and that all, nothing to worry about.
"You don't have to be someone you're not, just to impress me", the man stated and looked at his bloody shoes. Well, maybe that was an advice that he should have given to himself. Blood on his shoes, tired as hell, awkward silence and his red face. That was him and no matter what, he wouldn't change. And whoever got to know him and wanted to keep him better accepted him the way he was... He had changed way too many things about him for way too many guys.

"And yes, I did save that guy's life. He was strange and somehow it felt like he was... leaving his body for a few minutes. Really creepy. But he survived, thanks heavens", the paramedic explained and also started to feel comfortable around his date.
"Sure, saving lives is important, but you are... something else", Andy started a very serious flirting attempt. He even did that very seductive look on his face, which he knew drove most men crazy- either because they felt intimidated or harrassed, "I mean, in the ideal scenario I would have just saved that guy and been here in time", he added and licked his lips, "And because I messed up, I'll pay. That's a law of nature."
He wouldn't let anyone take his right to pay the coffee of that handsome man. He would even pay more just to watch that gorgeous man a little longer.
"And to calm you down, you look adorable. Little overdressed, but damn adorable. An outright 10", Andy stated and drank the last sip of coffee.


James stared at the cat for a few moments, before stepping right over him and moving to the bathroom. Slowly, he put all his clothes off and stared at his own face in the mirror for a while. Not only did he feel naked and vulnerable, but also lost. He was all alone in this, whatever it was that he was facing. The scar, which connected the metal to the skin, was glowing red, like it was on fire. But it had stopped hurting a while ago. The pain had just subsided, as he noticed how a piece of skin had covered a few inches of the metal. He eyed it suspiciously and then went to shower.

The warm water was one of the most comfortable things he had felt since he had been at hospital. He stood there, eyes closed, his wet and freshly cleaned hair stuck on his head. And it felt amazing. His whole body felt clean and warm and even the new arm felt cleaner than it had been before. With very careful movements, he ran his fingers over the new scar. It felt strange, but what was even stranger was the fact that he could actually... He could feel the touch. He could feel his fingers on the metal, like it was skin. Surprised by that sudden change, he tried squeezing the arm with his healthy hand. It felt odd, like skin being squeezed through a huge pillow. But he could actually feel something. It brought a smile to his face and he hurried to wrap a towel around himself. He didn’t want to wear those sweaty and smelly clothes anymore, now that he was feeling fresh again.

The heavy smell of Natasha's very female shampoo followed him, as he entered the living room, only dressed with a small towel.
"Do you have any clothes for me...?", he asked hopefully, though he doubted that she had any male clothes in her flat. It was her safehouse, after all and he felt really honoured to be invited in. So maybe he would have to wait until his clothes were washed.


The doctor nodded and it seemed to Tony, as if he was internally laughing at them. The genius frowned and held Pepper’s hand tightly, because he could see the fear in her eyes. Hell, that woman had been abducted and held captive twice, but still she was afraid of giving birth... Maybe it was a law of nature or something. Maybe women had to be scared of giving birth, so they were even more relieved when it was over. Who knew that for sure?
“So you mean her body is doing test runs on how to shoot the load out the right way?”, he asked the doctor and raised an eyebrow, “That sounds like a bad idea, if you ask me.”
At that thought, a memory of him firing the Jericho back in Afghanistan popped up in his head. He smiled a little, because he knew that that presentation had just been a pretext to get him near the terrorists.

With a smile and a focused look on Pepper, he pushed the panic away, that came with that thought. What had that stupid therapist told him? Describe the room around him? Well, there was a huge ultrasound device, which was shoved towards Pepper now. He looked at his girlfriend’s face and saw her facial expression. Something was off, but what was it? He couldn’t quite place it, so he just held her hand, as the man placed that strange gel on her tummy.
“Looks like lube”, Tony whispered and winked at Pepper. The doctor smiled, too, which Mr Stark found a little inappropriate. But well, whatever. His eyes locked on the screen, Tony watched how an image formed on it. A child... but... only one. The genius looked at Pepper.
“Didn’t you say you were getting twins...?”, he asked, utterly confused.
The doctor looked confused, too. He moved the device around on Pepper’s skin, but there was no second child... only one cute baby, that was suckling on it’s thumb.
“It were two fetuses the last time...”, he mumbled and frowned, “It must have been a mistake... Or the other one was absorbed again...”
“Ab- sorbed? As in conjoined?”, Tony asked and turned pale, “But the one here doesn’t have any extra limbs.”
“They don’t have to, necessarily. Maybe they just merged again, and there’s nothing left of the other one”, the man explained and made Tony even paler.
“That’s sick”, the genius replied and looked at Pepper, “It just ate the other baby...”


“Well, Auntie Nat is our adopted aunt. I know her since I was a baby”, Cooper explained and almost felt a little proud of knowing a woman like that, “She’s really cool. She knows all the secret spy tricks and she said she’d teach me. She even bought me a motorcycle for Christmas.”
The boy frowned.
“But don’t tell Dad. He doesn’t know.”

“Dad doesn’t owe people. He doesn’t like that word”, Cooper stated, “He always says that he doesn’t need debts to do someone a favor. He just likes people to be happy.”
With a shrug, Cooper got up from the bed and went to hug Wanda, because she looked so sad.
“You’re not a bad person, Wanda”, he whispered, “I know that, I’m a good judge of people.”
He let go off her again. It felt kinda awkward to hug a stranger, even though she needed it and he was sure that it would make her happy.
“What brain structure?”, he asked and raised an eyebrow, “So I’m only afraid because my brain is wired a way or another?”
That thought confused the boy and he lost track of what they had actually been talking about. He sat for a moment, trying to wrap his head around that thought. When she asked him if he had someone he liked, he blushed, but tried to play it cool.
“I guess I know a girl. She’s really beautiful and nice...”, he said, his voice as low as possible, “But she doesn’t know I exist. That kinda sucks.”
 
"I umm... I felt like this was more appropriate. People nowadays seem to prefer these kind of clothes," he explained and looked around. He knew his look was rather outdated or how Natasha constantly preferred to say: He looked like a grandpa. Despite of his usual demeanor, it had stuck with him enough to go for something he would call a more youthful look. Besides people didn't expect him to wear such clothes so it was easier for him to go incognito. After all he was still a searched criminal and to be locked down at first sight. So he couldn't do much but change his appearance and walk around like that. Hence the stupid beard. But he had gotten used to his longer and darker hair as well as the beard, he was sporting right now.

"Well, at least the guy's alive. So it was actually successful," he murmured and gave him a short smile. Andy's attempt to flirt with Steve was ill timed. His initial thoughts of having a boyfriend had turned rather dark. Steve clearly had been sitting on his own way too long waiting for something to happen. Instead he gave an awkward laugh and looked down "I really don't think I should be put over someone's life." He looks honestly at Andy and rubs his hands on his own thighs. He's a little confused about what is going on.
"You really don't need to...," he tried once more but sighed "Suppose you can pay... Thank you." He gave Andy a shy smile and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He was trying to settle down again but deep down Steve knew that it wouldn't happen.

He looked surprised over the compliment and looked at Andy. Some bitter thought entered his mind though. "You know what's funny? There probably would've been a time when you wouldn't have looked my way," he said seriously as he knew Andy was simply attracted to his physique. As Stark would call it: People are just interested in what was just an experiment. They didn't care about Steve Rogers but Captain America. "You look good as well though," he stated and gave Andy a short smile.


After a few minutes she heard the water of the shower run and sighed. Natasha looked down at Liho and busied herself with putting some food into the bowl for him. "Why do I always get myself into troubles like that?", she asked the cat and picked it up once he didn'T seem to go near his food. Instead she cuddled it telling herself that she didn't need it at the moment. But her cat slowly started to enjoy the cuddle as he started to purr and get cozy being carried around. She moved around in her flat a bit carrying around the cat. It clearly showed that she had actually adopted a stray cat even though she tried telling herself something different.

Eventually she sneaked into the bathroom as he showered and picked up his clothes. She was quiet enough to not disturb him or even show a sign that he was in the bathroom with him. Natasha brought them into the kitchen, making sure that there were no weapons hidden inside, and put them into her washing machine. Soon enough she had put soap into the machine and switched it on. That's when Bucky finally emerged from the bathroom and she turned around to look at him. Liho seemed happy sitting next to Natasha to watch the clothes tumble around. He meowed though and looked at Bucky like he was disturbed doing something really important by the man.
"I might have some clothes laying around," she answered and went to her bedroom to check the closet. Natasha had the habit of collecting clothes from the boys back when they were still the Avengers. She still had one of Steve's sweaters or a few of Clint sweats and she was sure that Laura had some of her clothes in return. It was just a habit she couldn't shake and to her defense men clothes were by far more comfortable than anything she had in her closet. She returned with one of Tony's shirts, Steve's jacket and one of Clint's sweat pants.
"Some of them might be a little too small for you. But they'll do until your clothes are dry again. Don't have any underwear for you though unless you wanna wear mine," she mentioned, giving him a flirtatious wink just for fun, and walked over to him. A part of her couldn't help but check his half naked form out. She grinned to herself until her gaze landed on the red skin of his arm. It looked like it was enflamed and it brought a frown to her face.
"Does it hurt?", she asked him gently and gave a timid smile.

Once she handed him the clothes, she placed her hand almost naturally on his chest. Without asking she ran her hand up to where the skin connected with the metal. "Do you still need meds?", she asked him absentmindedly before she ran her fingers carefully down his metal arm. It didn't feel too much different to his old one. Just that it was clearly better designed. She was close to him and could even smell her shampoo. Somehow something about this situation felt wrong so she moved away like she hadn't just shared a moment with him.
Turning her back to him, she walked to the kitchen to check her fridge. "Are you hungry, James?," she asked him checking if she had anything inside. With a sigh she noticed that it was notoriously empty. Perhaps she should move back to SHIELD. At least she wouldn't need to worry about empty fridges there. After all Nick made sure that she always had a full fridge and some things lying around. Still after all these years she was struggling with what other people would call normal errands. "I'm afraid I can only offer you pizza or Chinese takeaway. The kiosk around the corner sells decent sushi," she mentioned and finally turned back to him.


"Tony!", she called out and gave an exaggerated sigh over the way her boyfriend made it sound. "My body is not one of your suits... Please don't call it that way. It's gross," she told him and held his hand tighter in hers. There was a smile on her face though like she actually thought the statement was rather suiting.
The doctor looked at the couple and smiled gently. "Actually Braxton Hicks Contractions are rather common. For some women they are painless and for some it is just something some kind of preparation for the big event. But believe me you will know when it is the true labour," he tried to reassure Pepper knowing things like that can be rather strange to pregnant women. Pepper nodded taking in the additional information like it actually helped her. She would need to ask Friday to give her a summarization about labour and pregnancy itself. After all the CEO was someone who needed to know every little detail in order to feel prepared for what was coming. She even had talked to some colleagues of who she had known they had kids before. All of them had told her that those baby guides were a waste of money and time. But by now she felt like she should've read every single one that at least had a four star rating on Amazon.

The cold gel made her jump though as she hadn't even recognized the doctor pushing the device towards Pepper. Tony's comment though made her grin and chuckle. Even a light hint of blush appeared on her lips. "Kind of, right?", she agreed and brought his hand up to her lips giving him a gentle kiss. Slowly she turned to the screen ready to see her children. This was her favorite part of the whole ordeal and the only thing that had her coming back. She hated gynecologists and the feeling of having people examining her downstairs. Still she knew it was important so she let them do it. Her gaze was fixed on...one child. "Where's...?", she began but her voice broke in both confusion and panic. Why was there just one child and why did the doctor look so calm about it? She started to take deep breaths trying to stay clam about the whole ordeal as well but she clearly was on the verge of freaking out. Why was there just one freaking baby. She couldn't even enjoy the sweet picture of her own child because she was too worried about what had happened to the other one. After all she couldn't just lose one baby, could she? Apparently she was the first woman to lose a child in her own womb. She teared up looking at Tony like he could fix the situation.

Pepper was unusually quiet during the man's conversation. "What do you mean merged again? They weren't merged to begin with! Even Loki said there were twins," she insisted even though she had never mentioned to Tony that she had almost lost their children before. Pepper laughed desperately as Tony mentioned that her child was a cannibal. "Don't say that," she said and started to fumble with her shirt to shoo the doctor away from her belly. "There must be a mistake with your device. I know there are two children," she finally concluded harsh like this all wasn't happening and she was in denial.


Wanda listened to the boy talking about Natasha. It even made her feel sorry that she had brainwashed the woman in front of this boy. She frowned and turned away from a moment. "I won't tell your father about your motorbike. Don't worry," she promised and gave the boy a smile. Wanda couldn't do much about making the boy stay away for his own safety so it seemed but she could make sure he wouldn't get in troubles with his parents.

Blinking surprised, she sat still for a moment as Cooper came over to hug her. At first she stilled her movement but eventually she hugged him back. It almost seemed like she was melting into his hug and holding onto it because she needed it. Just someone who didn't know what she was capable of. Perhaps it was smarter for Cooper to run the other way but she was thankful for him to stick around anyways. Once he released her hug, she removed her arms as well and whispered "Thanks..." She even gave him a small but rare smile. Ever since she had broken out of that cursed prison, her smiles were almost non existent - even towards Pietro.

At the question of how it worked, Wanda shrugged. "Vision explained...," she said and looked said as she was quiet for a moment, "He said it has something to do with the Amygdalla or whatever the word was... Apparently people can't help but be afraid of me because I'm different." She shrugged and it almost seemed like she was getting melancholic. Heck she didn't understand it herself properly but she knew that Vision was always correct about things like that.
The mention of a girl made her grin and she looked at Cooper. "Ever considered saying hi to her or to give her a flower or something?", she asked him and added "Pietro always gives girls gifts. It works for him. But as a girl myself I would say that she should like you. You're really nice and giving a flower to someone has never hurt anyone." She smiled gently at Cooper trying to help him with his girl situation.
 
“I don’t think that’s possible”, Andy stated and tilted his head, “Your shiny eyes impressed me. And the way you care about that guy. Like he’s your brother or something.”
Andy blushed, because he just realized that that guy could also have been his boyfriend. And that was kinda embarrassing. Maybe he had woken some demons by saying that.
“I like the way you treat those guys. At least from what I’ve seen”, he stated, “You seem like a nice person to me. And I tend to attract the bad ones. So I’m really scared of messing this up, you know?”

The paramedic looked up and felt terribly uncomfortable all of sudden. It was like a wall had built up between them. Like something had happened and he didn’t even know what it was. But Steve seemed distant and bitter, like Andy had said something wrong.
“I was a small kid, who always came to school with a black eye”, he started trying to tear the walls down, or at least lower them again, “No one liked me either. They thought I was creepy.”
The young man shrugged and sighed.
“You wouldn’t have looked my way either. Especially not when I had dyed my hair black and ran around like an emo.”
Fair play, Andy thought and leaned back in his chair. What he didn’t mention was that his father had given him those black eyes and that his emo phase had nearly cost him his life. But hell, everyone had their secrets.

When Andy left the cafe about an hour later, he didn’t feel too good about his first impression. Somehow it felt like it had gone terribly wrong and he had just scared that cute guy. There was no way that he would see him again, though with every word that Steve had said, Andy had felt more attracted to him. But he doubted that they would ever get together again. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.


James smiled and thanked her for the clothes. Just as he wanted to go put them on, Natasha stepped closer and her hand touched his naked chest. He shuttered and smiled at her, though inside, something told him that this was wrong. This wasn't how it was supposed to be... But it felt right. Her hand moved further, along his shoulder, down his metal arm, which still felt odd and... comfortable, at the same time.
"I can feel it...", he whispered and his glance followed her hand, "I don't know how he did it, but I can feel the metal arm... Like it's an actual part of my body..."
He looked up at her, when she asked him if it was still painful. He shook his head.
"It's more like... It feels like it's merging with my skin. Like that arm is actually becoming a part of my body...", he mumbled and put his own hand onto his shoulder again, "It feels... Just weird..."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment and James was paralyzed. Then, Natasha moved away and what stayed was an empty feeling and a pleasant tingling in his stomach. Butterflies...
"Are you hungry, James?"
The question came so unexpectedly that he didn't answer at first. Natasha moved away and he just wanted to ask her where she was going, as suddenly his brain realized that she had asked him something before. When she came back and told him that she could only offer pizza or takeaway, he shrugged. "Whatever you like", he answered and went to the bathroom, to finally get dressed. The trousers were a little too short, but acceptable. The shirt was more of a problem. Not only was it way too tight, but he also ripped one sleeve off, when he tried to squeeze his metal arm through it. So he walked out of the bathroom, only wearing Clint's throusers and the jacket. It was a rather strange image, because only the jacket seemed to fit. With a guilty look on his face, he held up the ripped shirt.
"I'm sorry", he mumbled and handed it to her, "I destroyed it..."

A few minutes later, they had ordered a pizza, because James had refused to leave the flat, even for such a short period of time, with those clothes. Barnes sat on the couch, the cat watching him like he was some kind of intruder. It was kind of uncomfortable, to be stalked like that.
"I think he dislikes me...", James mumbled, eyeing the cat suspiciously, "Seems like he doesn't want me to be here."


The procedure at the doctor's office hadn't ended very well. Pepper was worried and sad now, Tony was anxious as well. They had lost a child. He had seen it with his own eyes. Only one child... It was enough, but still depressing to think that there could have been one more. And what if Pepper couldn't take it and fell into... how was that called? Postnatal depression? He wouldn't be able to raise a child alone...
She was sitting next to him, staring out the window, while they were on their way home. It had hit her like a misile. She looked devastated.

But maybe Pepper was right. Maybe there were two kids and not only one. Even though he had seen it on the screen, there was still a chance that... The baby had a changed genetic structure? Maybe because of the extremis compound being still in Pepper's body. He wasn't a doctor, but he had seen enough gifted people to know that it was never expected and also never easy to keep them safe- especially not from SHIELD. He would have to keep this a secret, if it was the case. That thought- though it was a mere thought- turned into a certainty pretty fast. He didn't need confirmation from any doctor to know that it was probable. Pretty probable, actually.

So when they got home, the first thing he did was to disappear to his lab.
"I'll be right back, Honey", Tony reassured Pepper with a little anticipation in his voice, "If ultrasound can't detect it", he mumbled, as he came back with his New drone, "Maybe this can."
Tony pressed a button on the drone and it started hovering. Then, it made it's way to Pepper and started scanning her tummy.
"Don't worry, Honey", Mr Stark said, as he saw the anxious expression on her face, "It's not dangerous for the babies, it runs with Starkium."


Harley was ready to leave. She had eaten her soup, she had gotten dressed and she had renewed her make up, which had been wiped and spread all over her face. She looked like a completely new person, wearing clean stuff and having her hair tied into two braids again. She wasn't ready to give that costume up just yet. It wasn't the time to change. She just needed to get away.

"Let’s go", she stated and walked up to Loki, her hips moving in the rythm of the clicks of her high shoes. She smiled at him with new motivation in her eyes. She was still tired, but not as miserable as she had been before. Hell, she needed a change of location if she didn't want to end up on the rooftop, ready to jump off. Harleen gripped the god's hand and pulled him closer, so he could smell her seductive perfume and the shampoo on her freshly washed hair. It was magical what a shower could do. She felt like that whole suicide mission had never happened.

"Let's go to that Nowhere realm, like you said. It sounds exciting", she chimed, "Shall I bring a toothbrush or anything?"
While she was talking, he body leaned against his like she was looking for support, protection... Or was she trying to flirt? She wasn't so sure herself, but it seemed like a step forward. At least that guy didn't hit her every time she got close to him.
 
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Steve was just left confused by what the man had told him. He rubbed his neck and tried not to feel too guilty about meeting another guy for a date even. He liked Andy - he really did but he wasn't too sure if he was ready for a relationship with a guy yet. People nowadays were more open when it came to things like that but he knew of facilities that were still treating things like this. He couldn't help but wonder if it really was right for him to act on such urges. It'd be better to stand with a woman instead. Besides what the heck was an emo? Wasn't there a bird called like that? He made a mental note to ask Natasha about that. She was the only one he at least felt like wouldn't judge him for something like that.


Natasha felt his slight shudder under her touch and she grinned to herself. This felt strangely familiar and had her wondering if some things just never changed. She stopped moving her hand as he mentioned that he could feel it. Surprised she looked up at him "You do?" It was another thing to thank Stark for. Whether he liked it or not, she was indebted to this man. She moved her hand further down his metal arm and something made her move her hand into his. She intertwined their fingers and looked up into his eyes. This felt so intimate that it was odd to her. She just held his hand for a moment knowing he would feel her touch and it was oddly satisfying to her. Natasha locked her gaze with him and couldn't help but notice how beautiful his eye color was. Something she had admired once but forgotten eventually.

She moved away though when the intimacy got too much for her. She looked for food and noticed that maybe she should go and get something to eat once in a while. It was moments like this that she realized she didn't work like most human beings. Natasha had never learned to take care of herself in those ways.
The redhead was lost in her own thoughts when he finally came back more or less dressed. Almost instantly she noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt and she simply raised her eyebrow over how it looked. She started grinning though as he apologized for ripping the shirt and even laughed as she took it from him. "Well, here goes Tony's shirt," she laughed and and placed it away. She wasn't mad or anything. Heck she was pretty sure Tony didn't even miss the piece of fabric so maybe she could make a top of out it or literally anything.

Eventually she got comfortable on her couch and even just draped her legs over Bucky's lap. Like always she simply got comfortable and everyone needed to get comfy around her and just deal with it. The only one who was allowed to top that was Liho. Honestly the cat really had stole Natasha's heart even though she'd deny it vehemently. "Actually you're sitting on his space. So if I were him I would plan your murder as well," she grinned and turned to Liho. "You alright there buddy," she asked and reached her hand out but the black cat just turned around with the back to them. Sighing she spread out on the couch until she comfortably was able to lie on it. "When do you think pizza will arrive?", she asked already getting some sort of hangry. She really should eat more often. Her grumpiness combined with restlessness was never the best idea for her.


Pepper was quiet the whole way home and didn't even listen to Tony. Heck for once she wasn't even sure if he had talked. She was too absorbed in her own life and thoughts to recognize anything around her. Protectively she placed her hand on her bumps swearing to herself she would never allow anyone to get near her babies anymore. Well, maybe Tony but she would need a new doctor for the birth. Pepper didn't intend on letting him near her children. She simply refused to believe there was just one child inside of her. She teared up once again and turned her back to Tony.

Once they were out of the car and home, Tony excused himself. Pepper still stayed quiet and walked to the kitchen looking for ice cream. She needed that right now. Just something for her nerves and the babies were craving strawberry ice cream. So things were fine. She grabbed some chocolate fudge and moved away towards the bedroom until she was suddenly stopped by some sort of flying device. Pepper eyed it suspiciously and stepped away. "Tony! Remove that thing from me," she called out almost desperately. Her gaze went to him as he told her it ran on...Starkium. "What the heck is a Starkium? Wait, I don't want to know that. Move that thing away from me. If it hurts our babies, I will destroy that shit and kill you afterwards," she told him trying to get away. She really didn't want this right now.


Loki got up from the couch as she finally emerged from the bedroom. He eyed her for a moment and suddenly his clothes changed. The suit he had worn seconds ago was gone instead he wore his usual leather gear except for his horns. He looked at her and waited for Harley to say something. He wouldn't force ehr to leave with him but he was surprised to see that she seemed actually eager to live Midgard.

He noticed how she pressed her body against his and tried to use his emotions against him. This was what made him withdraw from her again. All his life he had been used and manipulated so she wouldn't allow her to do the same. "I think we will be fine without a toothbrush, Doctor Quinzel," he mentioned and offered her his hand. Soon enough he murmured something and they travelled in space only to appear in Knowhere. "Welcome to the planet of criminals and everyone who likes to steal. He stayed quiet that it wasn't really a planet but a head of a celestial. It was the home for criminal and hence chaos. He was sure she would like it. "Do you wish to drink something?"
 
“I don’t know...”, James mumbled, as he placed his hand on her legs and his fingers made gentle circles on them, “I don’t have a lot of experience with ordering pizza, you must know. Steve always made sure that there was something edible around me and I just had to walk to the fridge if I felt hungry. He didn’t even let me come with him for groceries. It was like being locked up in his flat.”
Placing his legs on the coffee table, he leaned back and closed his eyes. His hand went on caressing her legs, until he fell asleep right on the couch. He hadn’t even been tired. It was just the feeling of someone close to him. The smell of Natasha’s shampoo, the certainty that he was safe. And suddenly, he felt like he was finally dropping all his fear and worries. He was fine with her and he knew that.

After a few minutes, the man woke up to the doorbell, which was rung furiously. The former soldier opened his eyes and breathed in, as he suddenly noticed the cat, wich had gotten comfy on his neck. The cat’s behind was placed on his cheek, though, so he had a lot of fur in his mouth, as he yawned. He was feeling a little groggy, so he just leaned back again and gently shoved the cat’s butt off his face. With a glance that looked a little like a threat, the black animal got up and walked over to his owner, who was... well. James smiled and gently pushed a stray red curl behind Natasha’s ear. She was lying half on top of him, her head placed on his lap. Some book, which looked like a juicy love novel, lay on top of her chest, where Liho started nesting as soon as Barnes had removed the book.
The next thing that James noticed was that Natasha had wrapped him in a blanket while he had been asleep. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“The door bell...”, James sighed, being reminded of the initial reason for the interruption, “Natasha, the door...”
He really couldn’t get up without throwing both of them, her and the cat, off the couch. So he started trying to wake Natasha. It didn’t take very long for the agent to wake, though. He just had to pull her hair and she jumped up like she had never been asleep. It was the pizza man. Because the smell of food and the growling inside his stomach was stronger than the feeling of exhaustion, Bucky decided to get up and help Natasha. He took the two boxes from the man, who stared at him like he was an alien. The young man looked like he had just seen a ghost, as he took their money and hurried to hand them the change. James assumed that he must have recognized him from the news. What the former soldier hadn't seen was the glowing, which had radiated from the man's hands, as he had turned to run.

"Oh, I'm starving...", Bucky stated and placed the pizza on the kitchen table, "Thank God the Pizza has arrived."
With no further words, the huge man sat down on the chair and waited for Natasha to do the same. Because even though his stomach was growling like a hungry bear, he still kept his good manners, especially around women. So he waited until the agent had started eating before he did so. Silence and the noise of chewing filled the room, as they enjoyed their food.


While Pepper was threatening him, Tony's mouth started forming a smile. It was a 3D picture of their beautiful Babies- their two beautiful Babies. He could turn it and walk around it, it almost looked like two blue fetuses floating in the air in front of them.
"I wouldn't do that. Look what it does", Tony chimed and carefully shoved the two holograms over to Pepper, "Look at those two beautiful little gnomes."
The genius smiled and coughed a little, because he felt tears sneaking up his eyes. He understood now. Man's greatest creation would always be children. The ones who would change the world when they were gone.

"Geez", Tony sniffed and turned, so Pepper wouldn't see his tears, "I think someone's been cutting onions in here..."
Sonn enough, though, he sat down next to her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"They're beautiful....", the billionaire whispered, "Just look at those tiny people... So... I'm... out of words."
Innocent. That was the word that he didn't want to say. Because innocent meant that he wasn't the right guy to look up to. He wanted his children to be better than him. He wanted them to have a good life one day... One they could look back at with pride.


Cooper nodded at Wanda's advice and then got up from the bed. He heard Dad walk upstairs and so he had to be quiet and quick to get in into his room before they noticed.
"I'll try", he whispered and hugged Wanda again, this time it was more of a goodbye hug, "I gotta go to bed, otherwise I'm in big trouble. But I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for being there. You're an awesome person."

With those words, Cooper sprinted out of the guest room and managed to slip into bed before his parents noticed. He made himself comfortable and for a few minutes, his mind worked out all the possibilities he would have if he could move things with his mind. He would be the ultimate champion, even cleaning up his room without getting up from the bed. He would play pranks on his friends, letting creepy things happen or writing their names on walls. Maybe he would get Wanda to dress up as a ghost next Halloween. It would be the creepiest costume that one had ever had. Just imagine a ghost that can actually fly! With a smile on his lips, the boy fell asleep.
 
Natasha simply raised her eyebrow over Steve not allowing him out and Bucky simply agreeing to it. That didn't sound like the man she used to know. "That's rich coming from the man who basically spend a week making out with me in the subway. You sure it wasn't you who was afraid of going out?", she asked him with a smirk. But she could imagine Steve only buying healthy stuff. That guy was so healthy all the time it had gone on hers and Clint's nerves. Especially the archer had suffered from not being able to eat pizza all the time. With a grin she noticed how some of his bad habits had rubbed off of her. It was ridiculous.

Of course she woke up with the first door bell but she was curious what Bucky would do if she just pretended to sleep. Bucky though seemed to be preoccupied instead of getting the damned door. Maybe Rogers had been correct of keeping an eye on him whether James liked it or not. But then again the man could simply be tired as hell, who knew? He just wasn't acting like her Winter Soldier and it threw her off, if she was being honest. She noticed how the small weight was lifted off her chest only to be replaced by Liho's warmth, which brought a small smile to her lips. Whether she liked to admit it or not, Nat unfortunately liked the cat a bit too much.

"You have two healthy feet, Barnes," she murmured and moved to her feet holding Liho against her chest before she gently placed him down on the couch again. Without arguing she went to get some money and walked to the door. Taking the boxes from the boy, she handed him the dollar bills. "There you go...," she murmured. Just as she handed Bucky the boxes she noticed something strange with the other man's hand. "What the...", she murmured and stared after him with a frown. Her instincts told her something was going on. Maybe she needed to change locations again. Natasha stood by the door a while longer before she went to lock each and every lock on it. Afterwards she walked to the kitchen and slumped down on a chair. She thought about the strange encounter a little longer until her gaze locked on him. "How's your arm?", she asked him out of the blue.


Pepper grew speechless as she saw the hologram. Her gaze was watery and she started crying because some weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "They're...they're both here," she murmured and reached out for the hologram hoping to be able to touch it. Even though she knew it wasn't possible. "My...Our beautiful babies...," she whispered happy and wiped some tears off her cheeks. She turned to Tony and frowned as she saw him turning his back to her. Gently she placed her hand on his shoulder "Tony...?" With a grin though she agreed to his earlier statement "Those damned ninjas, huh? Cutting onions around us, how could they?"

She hugged him happy back and refused to go anywhere else but to be in his arms. She smiled happy and whispered "Thank you, Tony..." She thanked him for everything loving her, being with her but most importantly to give her the confirmation that the doctor had been shitty. She kissed him lovingly and murmured "Of course they're beautiful. After all they'll have the best of us: You're talent to annoy everyone around you and my stubbornness. I mean what could go wrong with that?" She chuckled and kissed him once again. She took his hand and placed it where one of their love bundles moved around. It was amazing to almost instantly see that on the hologram as well. "Do you...Are you able to hear their heart beats as well?"


"Good night...," she murmured and watched the boy leave. She frowned over him and then turned to Pietro. Maybe her brother had been right to think the Barton family wasn't as bad. Clearly it was better than freezing to bed underneath a bridge. Eventually she moved and slipped into her bed. For once she even fell asleep without having nightmares for the whole night.
 
It was the 31st of December. Everyone was getting ready for New Years Eve. The shops were full and the most frequently sold products were alcoholic beverages. Crowds formed in front of the checkouts and people were aggressive. But Tony was relaxed. Because he hated those crowds, he had ordered the beverages for Natasha's New Year's party online and had them delivered to his front door at about 7pm. Natasha had done a good job talking the billionaire into hosting that stupid party. It hadn't been that much work, though. What had been difficult, however, had been the warning that all the Avengers would come. All of them. That included Steve and Wilson as well and Tony hadn't been very fond of that. So they had made a deal: He had to let Steve stay at the party for four hours. After that, he could throw him out or whatever he wanted. Four hours, that wasn't all too much. But if Steve was allowed to come, he could invite his friends over as well. And there was only one cute boy he wanted to see at his party. Simply because he knew how happy that teenage boy would be.
"Friday?", he mumbled, while he was trying to stick a Happy New Year's banner to the wall, where the tape just didn't seem to work, "Send Peter a text. Tell him... I've got a situation here and I want him at my mansion. Asap."
The situation was that Mr Stark had run out of tape... And he needed the spider webs to fix the rest of the decorations.
Meanwhile, a huge truck parked in front of his mansion and just a minute later the doorbell rang. Tony was too busy decorating the living room to hear what was going on at the front door, so he didn't open. In his Iron Man suit, he put up a whole lot of banners and garlands, making everything ready.

Meanwhile, one of the men who had delivered the beverages rang again and tried to open the door. Friday reacted, as the security system went off.
"Miss Potts, I believe that there is a delivery for Tony. Would you mind getting the door for him? He seems busy", the AI asked and almost sounded worried. Tony had definitely put a lot of time into making her voice sound like a real human being.
"It might be important. I cannot turn off the security system and I assume that Tony doesn't want any civilians hurt", Friday added, as the mansion went on full lockdown. Even Tony stopped decorating now and got ready to fight whatever was coming.


Fog had gathered around the grass, cold wind was caressing his hair, while the sun slowly disappeared behind some skyscrapers. Thor was standing on a stone in the middle of one of the rare green areas in New York. Around him he had gathered his people: The lost Asgardians, who had been saved from Hela. They were dressed like normal Midgardians, but the one who knew the difference could easily spot them in between the real humans. Their movements, their way of talking, their behavior. They had difficulties to adapt, and Thor could see why. That was why he had gathered them around him to give them confidence, as their king and new father.
"Odin's death was inadvertible....", the ruler of Asgard spoke to his people with a serious expression on his face, "It has left us in big misery, but it has also brought me closer to Loki again. I learned to accept him for what he is and... Appreciate that he never really managed to kill me."

He looked around at confused faces. He had started this the wrong way. No one knew what he was talking about.
"What I wanted to say is that... Difficult times....", he continued and looked very meaningful at that moment, "They bring us closer to the ones we love. They make us even stronger than we already are... Those times are our way to prove that we are Asgardians. We have to start living like them so we won't scare them. Stay close to each other, but try to look and talk like they do. Teach your children everything you know, so our legacy doesn't get lost. But teach them to adapt and send them to the Midgardian schools. That is the challenge that we are facing. We have our home in our hearts and this new realm around us. Let this be our new home."

"Hey there, preacher!", a voice was audible and Thor turned his head. A policeman was standing in front of him, his hand on his gun. Oh no.
"Didn't you know that it's prohibited to talk to such an amout of people in public? Especially not about that kinda topics", the officer said and his eyes wandered towards the Asgardians, waiting for any reaction, "Come on, get lost."
But no one moved. They all waited for Thor to say something. The king of Asgard stepped off the stone and sighed. Maybe he should have worn his cape instead of those more casual clothes. He did look like a- how had Stark called it?- Hippie...?
"I said get lost! Dissolve! Won't you?!", the policeman shouted, slowly starting to panic, as all the people just stared at him. And Thor stared as well. What was he supposed to do now?!


Clint had been preparing the New Year's dinner for about three hours now. Just as he had finally shoved that damn thing into the oven, he recieved a text from Natasha.
Got any plans for tonight?
Wasn't it a little late to set up a date night? Didn't Natasha know that this was way more complicated now, that he was a full time Dad and wanted to take his job seriously?
Little late for the date. Like, about 20 years late, Clint texted back and watched his wife play with the kids, Wanda and Pietro through the open door. He smiled a relaxed smile. This was almost like heaven and he wouldn't want it any other way. This, his family, his kids... They were better than saving the world. a thousand times better.


"And that's the reason why I spend this New Year's with you and not with him", Andy closed his explanation to why he and the FBI agent weren't meant to be, "Anyways", he continued talking to three of his best friends, who had gathered around him, "I gave it a try and I'll move on and find someone just as adorable as him..."
Who was he trying to fool? He was hopelessly in love with that guy. And he had only seen him like twice, which was a miracle itself. Normally, Andy wasn't the person to get intimidated that fast. But it had happened. And there he was, trying to tell his friends that he was so over it when all he wanted was to see that guy again.

"I don't think that's how you really feel", Amy, his best female friend and a colleague as well, stated and shook her head, "Your lips can lie, but your eyes can't!"
They laughed and everything was okay. Sadness forgotten, Steve forgotten... They would have a nice evening together. And then celebrate into the new year. He would kiss one of his friends for New Year instead of that gorgeous, cute and seemingly perfect FBI agent he had met... And he would get over it, eventually. Life back to normal wasn't that bad, was it?
 
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Peter received the text while being on his way to get Alicia for the small party in their high school. He glanced on his phone and texted Tony back "Hello Mister Stark, can I bring a friend of mine as well? Kind of on a date right now," he sighed and rang the doorbell already trying to figure out how to sneak out of the problem without causing too much trouble or hard feeling. He really wanted to spend the time with her but...he also wanted to help Mister Stark. After all he still wanted to be an Avenger. Surely Lizzy would understand, right? Still Peter knew that it wouldn't be that easy. He had promised Alisia to spend the whole night with her until they needed to be back and it was New Year's Eve... So hopefully Mister Stark wouldn't mind him bringing his date along. Well, he wasn't even sure if this was a date but May had told him so. Since she was the expert when it came to girls, he simply trusted her on that one.


Pepper was washing her hands when the door rang. With a sigh she dried her hands and slowly moved towards the door. She was slower than usual due to the fact that she clearly was in her last trimester and the kids were getting heavy. Confused she noticed how the mansion had gone into lock down rather fast. "I'm on my way. Just not as fast as I used to be. You try carrying two children around in your belly and we talk again.," she waddled towards the door and placed her hands on her back. Tony shouldn't tinker around on his suits but get her some sort of back support. Seriously this was getting ridiculous. Her body was able to develop two healthy children but couldn't support the weight. Clearly nature had messed up here or maybe she should work out on her back muscles more often. "Why are we going into lock down that quickly anyways?"

Soon enough she arrived at the front door typing in the code. They needed to change that before the kids arrived. The last thing she needed was their home attacking their two innocent children. The mansion went from lock down to normal in an instant and Pepper opened the door blinking over the mailman. "I'm sorry about that...," she told him too natural like it would happen each and every other day. Confused she looked at the parcel though. Tony hadn't mentioned that he waited for something to arrive. "How can I help you?", she asked him friendly and opened the door further "would you mind placing it inside. I'm not exactly able or allowed to lift heavy things and that thing does look heavy." She smiled apologetic but was as friendly as ever. She stroked her belly lovingly and looked at the man.


Natasha was on her way to where she had heard some Asgardians were gathering. She sent out a text out to both Bucky and Sam. Natasha had gotten Bucky a burner phone just in case he needed help and got himself into trouble once again. "Need help - come in civilian. Meet me at 9pm," she sent out to them and added to Bucky's "Get Rogers as well." Clearly she wouldn't take no from an answer from Bucky so he better just did what he was told. Sighing she glanced at Clint's reply and groaned "Then bring Laura, the kids and those two insufferable twins too. Meet me at Stark's at 9 - no discussion. Live a little, blondie." Natasha stayed quite over the fact that she already knew that the twins lived with Clint. Maybe keeping Clint a little guessing was a smart choice. After all she needed to make sure he knew that she wouldn't let it go so easy.

She looked out of the cab's window until she saw a strange view. Almost immediately she told the driver to stop and tossed some money his way. Without even saying good bye she walked over to the small crowd. With a grin she noticed how her intuition still was right. In front of those people stood Thor talking about some shenanigans. Heck the dude needed some style advice. But she had to give it to him. The short hair looked better on him. Natasha hadn't noticed that one before. They all had been too preoccupied with Loki and the Joker.

That's when she noticed the cop and she raised her eyebrow. With a sigh she pushed her way through the crowd. "I think they are entitled to their rights as everyone else in this country. Last time I checked freedom of expression was part of the constitution of our beautiful country, Mister...?", she gave him a bright smile. One that even managed to crack some of the most dangerous underground bosses. If Natasha wanted to, she could be really charming and enamor most men. "It's just a little talk before New Year's. Just let us finish up and we won't bother you anymore," she told him with a smile. Maybe charming him would work or else she would go with Plan B which meant lighting hell fire under the cop's butt. He probably didn't want to get in trouble with the police department for disrupting an Asgardian gathering.


Steve was in his apartment glancing on his phone wondering if he should've called Andy back. But the date had been so awkward and the feeling of doing something wrong was too strange to her. Heck he wished that he could turn back time and explain himself to Andy. The guy probably didn't even know who he really was to begin with and it was strange enough that no kid had approached him for an autograph. He stared at his phone wondering if he could call anyone. He was feeling strangely alone and just wanted some company. But he had a feeling no-one wanted him around this year. Bucky was cross and hadn't even bothered to show up around him lately. The Avengers, his other family... Well that was a completely different story.
 
"I don't think that is physically possible", Friday commented on Pepper's suggestion and gave her a quick briefing on who the man in front of the door was and what he was doing there, "Seems like we are overreacting due to the loss of a specific line of code, which lets me check the identity of intruding people first. Tony removed it a few days ago, because he thought it was- I quote- more efficient to shoot before asking."

Spider Boy
them
Hello Mister Stark, can I bring a friend of mine as well? Kind of on a date right now.
me
o.o Go for it boy. And be sure you wear protection and all that shit. Whatever. Sure you can bring her. It's a she, isn't it? Oh and does she know about your, you know, little secret? ;) Just come over and stuff. You can help me decorate.

Tony's answer was quickly typed and sent, as he finally noticed that Pepper seemed to have a problem at the door. With his suit still on, he just flew along the floor, until he was standing right next to his fiancée, who seemed to be talking to a postman. Oh, right, the booze.
"Thanks, I'll take it from here", the Iron Man said and ushered the postman back to his car. He took the huge package and carried it inside easily. The paranoia that had hit him seconds ago was gone. He was just ready to party. With a confident smile he put the boxes down and started to- well, unbox them. He had also ordered Coke, Sprite and lemonade for the younger team members. He didn't want to be that kinda spoilsport, but Peter definitely shouldn't drink alcohol.

"Thanks for getting the door, Hon", he smiled and stepped out of his suit, starting to massage his girlfriend's shoulders, because she looked so tense. And he couldn't break the news to her when she was acting like that. He simply needed her to relax a bit, so she would be in a better mood. He kissed her shoulder, he knew that she was worried about the fast lockdown.
"I just want you to be safe....", he argued gently, "I mean, if Natasha got in, any other SHIELD agent can get in, too. And what if it's a not so friendly one next time?" He sighed. "We have to be careful, the kids are vulnerable and I would never forgive myself if something happens to them or to you. I'm just being careful."


Licy was dressed and ready to go. She had her pepper spray, her phone, her emergency alarm and everything her Dad had given her safely stored in her purse. It seemed like she was wearing make up for the first time in forever and her dress felt odd. It was way too cold around her legs for her taste. But she looked pretty in that dress and that was the reason why she wore it. She wanted to show Peter off and for that she had to be just equally as pretty as he was handsome. But just as she wanted to get the door, her Dad got that look on his face and she knew that he wasn’t going to let her go. It was always like that. He said yes and then he hot cold feet at the last moment and she had to explain it to her date somehow. But not now, not this time. It was New Year’s! He had to let her go! And she had drawn herself at a huge party, dancing with Peter, while a little girl was sneaking up behind them. That girl was kinda creepy, though. She looked like she was half starved and cold.
“Dad, no”, she stated, “I’m going. You can’t lock me up forever, Dad. I’m gonna be okay.”
She could tell by his look that her father didn’t believe her. But her decision had been taken ages before. She wouldn’t let her mother’s death ruin her first real date. She wouldn’t let her Dad’s paranoia lock her up in there. So she just hugged him and pecked his cheek.

“Bye, Dad. I’ll text you every full hour. Promise. “
With those words, she walked out of the room, put on her black leather coat and opened the door. She smiled at Peter and went to kiss him, smuggling a piece of paper into his jacket. She was pretty sure he had noticed, though. And she wanted him to. It was the panel of them dancing at the party, with lights all around them and that little girl, sneaking in from behind. Also, there were two men in the background, who were obviously making out.
“Where are we really going?”, she asked him, though he still didn’t know about her strange habit to draw things before they happened. It was her way of telling him... if he was clever enough to understand.


Bucky was sitting on a bench, somewhere in the middle of Central Park. He was cold, but that was better than wanting to kill a man for the simple crime of looking at him. He couldn’t go back to that flat. He couldn’t see Steve again, he just... He couldn’t. There was no explanation to this, it was just his guts telling him to stay away from that guy for a while.

Blowing into his cold hands, he noticed that something underneath his jacked started buzzing. It took him a while to realize that it was the emergency phone that Tasha had given him for, well, emergencies. He checked the text pretty quickly and typed an “okay”, before sending it. This must be some kind of trouble. Maybe Natasha had done something stupid, or she was in danger. This could also be a trick, though. One to hand him over to SHIELD again and Steve with him. Why else would he...?
No, Natasha was on their side. She wouldn’t do anything like that. Bucky knew that and he trusted her. With a sigh, he got up and noticed how frozen his legs were. It wasn’t a long way to Steve’s place, but with the cold creeping into his skin through all his clothes, it somehow felt like eternity until he rang the door bell.

“It’s me”, his raspy voice said through the speaker when the captain asked. He leaned against the door, half frozen already. He hadn’t noticed until now, but he looked like shit. Almost like those frozen german soldiers they had found back in Russia. Almost like... on ice again. Quickly, he shhok that thought off and stumbled up the few pairs of stairs, until he was at Steve’s apartment. He had to look for support on the wall to keep his sore feet from giving in.
“Natasha needs is”, he explained, when he saw his best friend’s face appear in front of him, “9 pm, she’ll send us a location. We should keep low, though.”
He shrugged and made a few steps forward, the icicles on his hair played a strange melody, which only he could hear. He tried a smile, but his skin appeared frozen as well.
“I’m sorry”, the man mumbled and looked to the floor, “I meant what I said, but I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”


Clint sighed and shook his head.
“Have a little fun, Blondie....”, he sighed and walked over to Laura. Was this some sort of try to bring the team back together? If yes, this better worked. Because he didn’t want to know what happened when drunk Tony and drunk Steve started arguing.
“Laura...”, he started and looked at his wife with his most affectionate smile, “Natasha just texted me. She wants me and you all at... yeah, whatever. I think it’s supposed to be a New Year’s party at Tony’s mansion. You don’t have to come, but I’d love to go there with you. Tasha said we can take the kids and I’m sure they’ll like it too. So...”
He sighed.
“I know we had other plans. But this seems like a big deal to me. All the Avengers are invited.”
“A party? Awesome!”, Cooper commented and looked at his mother, “We should go, Mom.”

“And by all the Avengers she meant you, too”, Clint added and looked at Wanda and Pietro.
“A party at Stark’s?”, Pietro asked and raised an eyebrow, “What’s the catch?”
“We just wanna celebate together, Pietro. Nothing else. It’s... Natasha’s way of telling us she needs our team again”, Clint answered, “She’s trying to stop the family disputes.”


When Thor saw Romanoff, he was relieved. At least she would know how to get rid of that policeman. And she really did manage. With an intimidating smile and a few words, she made him walk away. It was her greatest power, charming men out of their minds. He was lucky that she had never used it on him.
“Romanoff, good evening “, Thor smiled, as the crowd parted to let their king pass. He held out a hand to her and she even shook it.
“It has been a long time. What leads you here? Coincidence?”
He pulled her into a gentle hug, like she were his sister. Well, a nicer version of a sister than he had recently encountered.

“Those are my people. Or what’s left of them. I couldn’t save Asgard, but I could save them. Now they are trying to adapt...”
Thor shrugged and stroked his- very short- hair back.
“Maybe you could come by some time and eat with us. It’s always great fun and the food is delicious. And so is the met.”
He chuckled.
 
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"He said what?!", Pepper asked unnerved and rubbed her temples for a second to prevent herself from getting a headache. "And why did you think it wasn't necessary to inform me about it, Friday? Honestly I think everyone's going mad in this house. "Didn't even think that was possible. Next time he gets one of those genius ideas inform me asap," she told the AI annoyed.

The ginger woman knew that the massage was nothing else than a distraction to her. But if she was honest it worked - kind of. She sighed and sank into his touch almost immediately. "I know... But more efficient to just shoot is not the solution! What if that would've been our kids? You cannot just shoot innocent people, Tony. What if they come home to seeing the mailman dead and bloody on our doorstep? That's definitely not healthy as well. This has to stop," she tells him seriously and turns around to look at him concerned "Baby, I know you want to protect us but this isn't the solution. I will code that line in myself, if I have to! And we both know I will mess more up than anything." She went to wrap her arms around his neck. It was getting hard to hug him lately.

"It was just Natasha. She's a friend and won't do anything to any of us. First of all, the other SHIELD agents wouldn't dare to just stumble through our door and second of all you're Tony Stark. You really think they could outsmart you?", she raised her eyebrow at him hoping that it would help him relax. Usually stroking his ego helped.

"Besides what is this all about? You in your suit and...those decorations?," she asked him curiously and walked over to the parcel. "What did you order?," Pepper asked and turned around to look at him "please don't tell me there's another huge ass bunny in there?" She grinned at him hoping to take his attention somewhere else. That bunny was still useless and huge. Somehow it had miraculously survived Killian's attack and she was stuck with it.


Peter stared his text message and blushed embarrassed as he read about protection. He wasn't even sure what the billionaire meant and it took him a moment to even realize that he might mean something else than protection because of an upcoming fight. That made him flush even more.

Mr Stark
me
Hello Mister Stark, can I bring a friend of mine as well? Kind of on a date right now.
them
o.o Go for it boy. And be sure you wear protection and all that shit. Whatever. Sure you can bring her. It's a she, isn't it? Oh and does she know about you, you know, little secret? ;) Just come over and stuff. You can help me decorate
me
Protection, Sir? Yes, her name's Alicia and she does know. Caught me redhanded the other day when you...visited me in school the other way. We will be over soon. But why do I need to decorate? Is this no Avengers thing?

Placing his phone back into his pocket, Peter finally rang the door bell. Clearly he was wearing something his aunt had chosen for him because he looked a lot more smarter than he usually did in his suit. He waited for her father to open the door or for Alicia to appear. He smiled as she appeared and walked out saying her good byes to her father. "You look amazing," he complimented her and kissed her back. Soon enough though Peter looked guilty and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know we wanted to go to the school party... But Mister Stark texted and asked if I could help him with something at his place. Do you wanna join me or...would you prefer to stay away?", he asked as it would be ultimately up to her. Peter had promised to spend New Year's Eve with her so he would put her first no matter what Mister Stark wanted. He simply needed to hope it wouldn't change his chances of joining the Avengers one day.

Peter fumbled with his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper she had placed there seconds ago. "What's this?", he asked her and looked down at it with a smile on his face.


Steve's gaze was hard when he opened the front door. He even held the door so Bucky wouldn't be able to walk in immediately. "What do you want?", he asked him sounding surprising cold as he spoke with Bucky. Relatively quickly though he noted the state in which Bucky was in and opened the door properly. Despite of him breaking Steve's heart, he was still very much concerned about his best friend.

His gaze went to the clock and sighed as soon as he grumbled something about unthankful git. "Yeah, well, and you need some tea but that's none of my business. Your stuff is over there and I expect it to be out by tomorrow," he simply replied demonstratively keeping his gaze away from Bucky. He moved back to the couch and sat back down. "Besides who says I'm free tonight. It's New Year's Eve after all," it was a pathetic try to make Bucky jealous and he knew that. But well...desperate times call for desperate measures after all.


Laura looked up at the mention of a party and frowned. "And where should that party take place?" she asked her husband curious wondering if that really was a party. But before she was even able to decline or accept her son had already voiced the with to go to a party. She sighed knowing that she had no other choice but to go. Besides it would be nice to get out of this farm and the nearest village. Usually she lived very much secluded in order to keep their kids safe. Heck even going to the hospital had been like a field trip to her.

"Well, it's New Year's Eve... So maybe it's time to do something a little adventurous and get out of here," she replied and got to her feet "What about the food though? I mean you spent hours preparing?" Laura looked at her husband not sure what to do about it. She didn't want it to go to waste after all. Her next gaze went to the twins as she made up her mind. "Well, my condition is that we all go together as a family or no-one at all. No-one should be left behind on New Year's," she says and smiles at the twins. She didn't want to put the pressure on them but in the end they would say whether or not they would stay. They wouldn't get left behind as they were family as well.

Wanda listened quietly and sat back not thinking that it would include them as well. That was until Clint spoke up about the Avengers as well. What startled her even more was Laura's mention that they were family and they wouldn't leave without them. It made her strangely nervous and feel loved at the very same time. Besides she was pretty sure that Vision would be there as well and well...it actually made her want to go besides needing to meet Stark. "I...", she said and looked at her brother thinking about what he wanted. No matter how much she wanted to meet Vision, she would never go without her brother. She seemed conflicted and took Pietro's hand, "I'm going if you are," she told him quietly and smiled gently at him. Pietro knew that she wouldn't be mad no matter what decision he made.


Natasha looked at Thor and shook his hand. She was relatively civil about meeting him. They hadn't properly seen each other for years now. But that didn't mean she couldn't#t be friendly and polite. "Well, I was my way to Stark's party so wondered if you wanted to join," she simply replied chuckling over the fact that she would show up somewhere just coincidental. That guy clearly didn't know her well enough. But whatever floated his boat was fine with her.

Her gaze went to the crowd once he introduced them. She stayed quiet and thought about it. "I am sorry to hear about Asgard. Hopefully they somewhat enjoy being on Earth," she replied sincerely "Just a little hint for today. Unless they plan to party really hard, they should stay away from the drunk and well stay at home. People around here will celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of the new one. Can get a little crazy. You wanna join me and some other Avengers... Trying to get the team working again. Stark and Rogers had some kind of dispute." Well, it seemed rather insignificant compared to losing one's home.

She smiled at him and seemed a little awkward after the hug. She definitely wasn't used to people just hugging her without warning. Heck the only person allowed to do so was Clint and maybe Bucky. But that was another story. "I would love to stop by for some food one day," she agreed with a smile. It could be funny.
 
“But that line was exactly what Natasha picked on. Our vulnerable spot... plus, it takes seconds for the security system to run the files of any stranger. It’s more efficient if it just assumes that everyone who is not in the trustworthy file is not allowed in here”, Tony explained, “And it won’t shoot, it will only prevent them from entering the mansion.”
The Iron Man was so tense about the whole situation, that his massage was getting uncomfortably firm. He started to shiver again.

“Oh that”, the Iron mach chuckled at her question what he had ordered, “No bunny, it’s all connected to those garlands and decorations”, Tony smiled and was pretty happy about the fact that Pepper had stopped talking about the security system, “We’re celebrating new year. All of my friends- and not friends- are invited. And you, of course.”
He looked at Pepper with glowing eyes.
“It was Natasha’s idea, though. Not mine. So don’t blame me for not telling you. She planned it all and told me only yesterday.”
It wasn’t the whole truth, but it would take the focus off him, so he could go on decorating and stuff.

Tony's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket. He chuckled, wehn he read the message.

Spider Boy
them
Hello Mister Stark, can I bring a friend of mine as well? Kind of on a date right now.
me
o.o Go for it boy. And be sure you wear protection and all that shit. Whatever. Sure you can bring her. It's a she, isn't it? Oh and does she know about your, you know, little secret? ;) Just come over and stuff. You can help me decorate.
them
Protection, Sir? Yes, her name's Alicia and she does know. Caught me redhanded the other day when you...visited me in school the other way. We will be over soon. But why do I need to decorate? Is this no Avengers thing?
me
Yes, protection. As in covering your tool. Figured I should tell you. Except you want a few small spider kiddies running around. It is an Avengers thing. Kind of. But a nice one. New Year's party for all my friends and enemies. So don't turn up here all Spidey.

"Please don't be pissed, Pepper. It wasn't my intention to come at you like that, I just didn't know how to tell you without... You reacting with anger", he mumbled and sighed, "You know I'm bad at bad news..."
He definitely was, but what mattered now was getting everything done for the big night. He just hoped that Pepper would agree with that and not stop him from preparing that stupid charity event. Because that was what it was. A desperate try to get him and Steve into the same room, so they could talk. Tony had done enough talking on this one. He hated how everyone tried to make him forgive that monster, who had killed his mother. And he wouldn't, not under any circumastance, apologize for what he had done.


Alright, this was Steve with hurt feelings. They had had this before, when he had started dating Dotty. That man was one big emotional mess. And Bucky knew that, it was nothing new to him. So when Steve played that number on him, James simply nodded, gathered his stuff and turned to go again. He didn't want to argue about that. He just wanted to sleep. He was so tired...
"Just be there. This isn't about me, alright? It's about her", he snapped and left the flat again. He didn't turn around, he didn't look back. He wouldn't try to justify for being honest. So he just left and shouldered his now stuffed backpack. It wasn't much that he had, just a few notebooks, clothes and that phone Natasha had given him. He pulled it out and stared at it for a few seconds, before typing a text.
'Rogers will be there', he typed, as he walked down the street, shivering with cold and his glace on the floor. It felt like he had lost a part of him.


Pietro nodded and leaned back on the couch, before dropping his last card.
"Uno", he said and smiled at Cooper, "I won. I get the two bucks."
Cooper sighed and rolled his eyes, alsmost like that young man next to him wasn't any guy, but his overly annoying brother. He handed the two dollars over to Pietro and sighed.
"So are you going now or not?", Cooper asked the speedster with a frown, "If you don't like Tony, we can still avoid him. I don't like him either. He's creepy. And dangerous. He nearly shot me once."
The teenager shrugged and got up: "You gotta come. Or we all can't go. I haven't been anywhere else but home and at school in ages!"

It was clearly visible that Cooper and Pietro had formed some kind of brother relationship already, so instead of even considering to say no, Pierto just nodded and got up as well.
"I don't wanna be a spoilsport", he admitted, "I'll go. But I have to get changed first."
With those words, the speedster was gone and Cooper cheered, while Clint smiled at Laura. He knew that she had seen what he had seen. And that was a very good sign.


"Stark's party?", Thor asked and his face lit up. There wasn't anything more to be said. He was in. He defnintely was.
"Let me get the Met for me and Rogers and I will join you. It will only take a few minutes."
Thor wanted to swing his hammer, as he realized that it wasn't there anymore. Only another reminder that he hated his sister. So he took off running, well aware that this would take a few minutes longer than flying.

When he came back with two huge bottles of Met, he was a little out of breath. But that had been worth it. Asgardian alcohol was mandatory when celebrating with Stark and the other Avengers.
"Took... a little... longer...", he apologized, catching his breath, "But now I am ready to go!"


Lina was cold. Her whole body was numb, she could barely walk. But it sharpened the mind, right? Cold, hunger, thirst...
She had slept in a train station. At least it had been warm in there and she had been able to unfreeze her limbs again. Now she was on the move, on the run. She was looking for somewhere to go, because she knew that it was very unlikely for her to manage on her own. She was stronger than this, but she wasn't fully trained. She would never find anyone to give her work like this. She would never be able to fulfill her purpose, alone now and so cold... She felt like an icicle herself.

The Mistress had told them stories about an incompliant soldier. They had wrapped him in ice and kept him there for centuries. They had done this because he had loved someone. And that woman had been damned to watch. Lina would never love someone. She had sworn that to herself that day. And as it looked, she would die today.
But she had a plan already. That was also the reason why she forced herself to keep on walking. She had seen that man. The man who had been tied up on a chair next to the Mistress. The Winter Soldier. And she followed him. Quietly, she followed him through the darkness. Until he disappeared in a building. Then she waited. Leaning against the corner of a house, she must have fallen asleep and missed him, because when she snapped out of that terrible dream, the street was empty.
Bad girl. You failed.
Her small hand landed on her own cheek with a strange noise. It didn't even hurt. She couldn't feel her face anymore. Luckily for her, another man left the building just at that moment. She knew him, too. He had been with the redhaired woman. Lina took a deep breath and followed the blonde man to the Stark mansion, where she hid behind a car. She was here. And what now?
 
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"I don't care what Natasha picked on. It was her and no-one else. Besides it's the freaking postman. Just think about when our kids are old enough for playdates... Will you lock them up in here all their life? Or are they allowed to bring their friends to our place? Tony, out lives will change and we have to just trust that nothing will happen to us," she tells him and caresses his cheek to calm him down. Pepper stepped away from him once the massage became hurtful. Pepper made a mental note to go and delete that code herself. Even if it would take her far longer and probably mess up the whole house system.

"Do I count as friend or not friend?", she asked him curiously with a grin as he told her that everyone was invited. She took her phone out and sent out texts to both Happy and Rhodey to make sure that they were invited as well. She turned surprise to Tony as he asked her not to be angry. "Oh Tony... I am not angry, honey. Just would've loved to get a little head's up. That's all," she tells him and moves forward caressing his cheek, "Why should I be angry about something that is totally normal for other people on New Year's Eve. Maybe it's gonna be fun." She smiles and kisses him. "Come on. Let me watch you decorate. Not really mobile anymore," she chuckled and grinned at him.


Mr. Stark
me
Hello Mister Stark, can I bring a friend of mine as well? Kind of on a date right now.
them
o.o Go for it boy. And be sure you wear protection and all that shit. Whatever. Sure you can bring her. It's a she, isn't it? Oh and does she know about your, you know, little secret? ;) Just come over and stuff. You can help me decorate.
me
Protection, Sir? Yes, her name's Alicia and she does know. Caught me redhanded the other day when you...visited me in school the other way. We will be over soon. But why do I need to decorate? Is this no Avengers thing?
them
Yes, protection. As in covering your tool. Figured I should tell you. Except you want a few small spider kiddies running around. It is an Avengers thing. Kind of. But a nice one. New Year's party for all my friends and enemies. So don't turn up here all Spidey.
me
we'll be there if she agrees.

Peter blushed furiously as Tony suggested that they might have sex. In all honesty that was embarrassing and he had no real answer to that. Sure he had known Lizy for quite some time now. But he definitely wouldn't...well, not tonight. He wasn't even sure if she... Well, he was nervous about the whole topic. After all he hadn't really done that before and he...wanted it to be special no matter who would end up, having sex with him. He cleared nervously his throat and smiled at Lizzy. "So what do you say?", he asked unsure if she would agree or not.


Steve breathes out heavily as Bucky left again. He didn't even reply murmuring to himself something about not gonna stop him. Whatever Bucky had said hurt him. Heck to him his apology wasn't even a real one. He locked the door behind him wondering if he really should show up. Clearly he wasn't in the mood to watch both Bucky and Natasha suck faces. Steve had really other troubles to watch someone he loved lock lips with someone who he saw as his little sister. Maybe he should have a talk with Bucky to tell him he better not her Romanoff. After all Bucky wasn't the only one who would speak their minds if needed.

Soon enough he was on his way to Stark's place. What the heck had the guy done, now? Hadn't he learned to look after himself. Instead of simply walking in, he rang the door bell. Heck the last thing he needed was one of Tony's suits attacking him.


Natasha nodded and watched Thor jog away. She stepped from foot to foot as once again she wished Russia had injected the same serum into her as they had into Bucky. But unlike the Winter Soldier she was able to feel the cold much faster and well freeze to death. But right now this wasn't even half as bad as Russian winters or the time she had rescued James out of a gulag in the middle of the Russian winter.
Her gaze went to her phone and she opened Bucky's text. With an eye roll she read it and replied:
," she sent out to them and added to Bucky's "Get Rogers as well.
James <3
me
Need help - come in civilian. Meet me at 9pm
me
Get Rogers as well.
them
okay
them
Rogers will be there
me
Good. Arrive with him and make up. I don't want childish behavior from any of you or any of you brooding!
me
9 pm *insert Tony's coordinates*

Her gaze flickered back up as she saw Thor. She gave him a short nod and finally texted the guy she had meant to do all day. It probably was odd to get a message from a stranger like that but hopefully she could convince Steve's almost boyfriend "Hello Andy. This is a friend of Steve. The blond, blue eyed guy you recently. Anyways don't wanna be odd but Steve would really love to party with you tonight. Some of our friends and him will show up at Stark's party, feel free to join if you want to come. It'll take place *Tony's address* Just give me a call when you're at the gates. I'll let you in."

"Follow me," Natasha told Thor and soon enough she arrived with him. "Hopefully you have enough Met for three people. I know another super soldier who would appreciate a bit of alcohol," she chuckled and grinned over the thought of James being here.

 
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