Authors' Notes: (We do not own the characters from the Avengers. Others that show up though are ours.) This story is based off of notes taken by Clint and Thor. It was then written by Thor and Bruce. More details at the end.
The Idea
It started out as an innocent idea - well, as innocent anything proposed by Tony Stark can be. There had been an explosion in a nuclear power lab-nothing critical, but S.H.I.E.L.D. had called in Dr. Bruce Banner to stay on the safe side. After double and triple checking the ground troops' proceedings, Bruce had settled into the lab he usually occupied aboard the Helicarrier. It didn't take long for Tony Stark to make an appearance; it seems like every time Bruce is at a known location, Tony just happens to be nearby.
"Why don't you ever come by the tower?" the billionaire asked for the umpteenth time.
"Tony, I'm busy."
"Doing what? Rechecking data and pretending you don't exist?"
Bruce stuttered for a bit, trying to come up with an answer for that one: "No, I don't . . .I mean, I'm . . ." Then he just sighed and gave up.
That's how Captain Steve Rogers found them an hour later. He paused for a moment while entering to watch Tony flick one of his blueberries at Bruce, who casually moved to dodge the projectile.
"Mr. Stark, do we need a repeat of last time?" Steve asked. "Dr. Banner, nice to see you again," he added, with a nod at Bruce.
"Nice to see you too, Cap," replied Banner, "and it's all right, I can handle blueberries."
"Um, last time was not my fault, even with all the effort I put into it," Tony put in.
"What are you doing here, Stark?" asked Steve.
"Well I thought I would just come by to see my BFF!" At that, Tony draped his arm over Bruce's shoulder.
"Your what?"
"It stands for best friend forever," Banner said, pinching Tony's hand and taking it off his shoulder.
"Owwww! God, do you people never get out?" Steve and Bruce looked at each other, then back at Tony. "Wait, really? Never?"
"I'm not exactly people-friendly."
"And I've been training."
"Well, you've got to take a break from work sometime!"
"I had a break for seventy years; now it's time to work."
"Oh, don't give me that. You need to experience life outside this bubble you've made for yourself," Tony responded. "You too," he said, pointing a finger at Bruce. "We should have a get-together, a boys' night on the town, or something." Steve looked at Tony skeptically, then started to smile.
"You're right, Mr. Stark, we should. Thanks for volunteering your place."
"What?"
"I've been thinking for a while now to have a get-together...you know, team bonding. But I needed a place to put it on at."
"What?" Tony repeated. Bruce shot a conspiratorial glance at Steve.
"My apartment is too small."
"I don't even have a place."
"Thor's from, well, elsewhere."
"And who knows where Clint and Natasha stay."
"So thanks for the offer, and we'll have to take you up on that."
"Again, what?"
"Tony," Bruce said kindly, "we're coming over to your house this weekend."
And that is how Tony Stark's meetings for the weekend were cancelled, his invitations to parties with Hollywood's most notorious declined, and his house in L.A. prepared for what promised to be one of his most interesting events as of late.
Pepper's going to be thrilled.
It took rather less time than anyone had expected to make the thing official. Recruitment began that afternoon, when Steve stuck his head out the door just as Agent Clint Barton passed by on his way to lunch.
"Clint, we're having a boys' night. 'You in?" the captain asked.
"Who's 'we'?" he replied, immediately suspicious.
"The team."
"Where?"
"One of Tony's places."
"How'd you manage that?"
"Doesn't matter. So?"
Clint imagined everyone over at Tony's house: the billionaire with a knack for ticking people off and destroying his own home; Bruce Banner who is, on occasion, the Hulk; a Norse god who breaks everything he comes in contact with; and a super soldier who, since his sudden arrival in the twenty-first century, had already broken three iPhones, a Blu-ray, and a fridge. Clint smiled.
"Yeah, I'll be there." He continued on to the Helicarrier's mess hall, struggling to hide his amusement.
Of course, it would be somewhat more complicated to contact the Asgardian... or so they had believed. Tony was deep in thought, trying to solve that very problem when he ran into Thor-so deep in thought, actually, that he literally ran into Thor. He had been walking down a street in New York City (late to a meeting, as usual) when they collided.
"Hey, watch where you're going, you little-Oh, it's you, Thor."
"Tony! How art thou?" Thor had a huge smile on his face. It was genuine and it kind of pissed Tony off. He was also in full Asgardian gear, so just about everyone in sight was staring at them. That just pissed Tony off even more. He sighed, feeling none of the relief he ought to have, and explained about the party.
"I shall be attending!"
"Okay, yeah that's great." With that Tony went on his way.
Convincing Natasha proved to be impossible. Clint, Steve, and Bruce all tried to persuade her that it would be fun, but she refused, claiming she had better things to do. From the way she said it, you inevitably got the sense that by "better things" she meant just about anything.
Authors' Notes Con:
THIS IS A TALE WRITTEN BY BOTH THE GOOD DR. BANNER AND MYSELF. IT IS A REAL LIFE ACCOUNT OF OUR ACTIVITIES. CURRENTLY BRUCE IS BUSY WITH WORKING ON THINGS FOR S.H.I.E.L.D. SO HE IS NOT ABLE TO ADD HIS COMMENTS. HOPEFULLY HE IS FREE NEXT TIME.
I WOULD VERY MUCH ENJOY HEARING WHAT THE PEOPLE OF MIDGARD THINK OF OUR TALE.
I need to take a break from my work or I'll go nuts. For anyone who's read this far, well, thanks. Glad you find us that interesting. There'll be more. A lot more. This all happened about a year and a half ago, and a lot's happened since. Hope you enjoy reading about it.
As Thor said, comments are certainly welcome. Um, I can't think of anything else? And I have a meeting to work on a presentation on comparative transpiration rates and stomatal conductance in 45 minutes, so I'd better get back to work.
Also I fixed Thor's spelling on his Author's Notes. I'll try to make sure that's taken care of before publishing next time.
