Saying that Steve had been home was a stretch. The Avengers were home for about a week at a time and had basically been working every second of that time. They all happened to be staying in "Avengers" tower so if I wanted to see either Steve or Natasha I had to deal with Tony pestering me with questions about whether I have boinked Steve lately.
I was currently sitting on the patio portion of a café looking up at their tower. Trying to get into that tower required battling through a billion fan boys trying to get an autograph, a background check and fingerprinting. I wouldn't even have been admitted if Steve hadn't come down and cleared me the first time I was there. The receptionist kept asking about why I had disappeared for four days two years ago. I mean, it's not like I could say "I went back to 1944 to hang with the Howling Commandos".
"Are you waiting for the flyby?" My waitress asked. I blinked to focus on her; she had a nice smile with long curly blond hair.
"What flyby?" I asked, glancing down at my phone. Steve was supposed to text me when they landed.
"The Avengers. Their plane lands every once in a while at the tower."
"Of course they have a plane. Why should they come home inconspicuously?" I uttered. Maybe Natasha would text me first. She said she needed to talk and while Clint was her best friend, she needed a woman. Whatever that meant.
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed. Now I had been on edge ever since they left. Well, every time they left. I hated watching my friends go out and risk their lives. The text was Nat. "Be at Tower in 5." I always hated it when they were very cryptic in their text messages.
"I actually have to go." I said, quickly digging out cash and handing it to her. I was pretty sure I over tipped a stupid amount but I had five minutes to get through those stupid fan boys and up twenty floors.
My name is Crista Fraiser, and I am stupid enough to have Captain America and Black Widow as two of my closest friends. Let me tell you, the stress really outweighs the benefits sometimes. As per usual, the crowd of tourists and nerds were gathered outside Stark Tower, because most of the time I refused to call it the Avengers Tower, and I battled through them to the door man. I smiled slightly, brushing my curls off my face as I shoved through the double glass doors.
"Hello Crista." Janet said. I smiled to the women behind the desk as I dashed toward the elevators. "I take it they are home."
"According to Natasha." The women's brown eyes widened. While everyone in Stark Tower realized they were working for the Avengers, Natasha and Bruce had a tendency to scare them. Which I really didn't understand; Natasha barely spoke to anyone and Bruce was totally chill when he wasn't on a "code green". The elevator dinged and I smiled ruefully to myself at the term the team had created for "we are getting our asses kicked and need the angry one pronto."
"Hello Ms. Fraser." I breathed in, forcing myself to relax a little.
"Hello Jarvis. As fast as you can to the living room please."
"Of course Ms. Fraser." It had taken me a grand total of six seconds to fall head over heels in love with Tony's AI and want one. I was still trying to find a way to get Jarvis in my apartment. The doors dinged and I heard the hubbub going on.
"Maria?" I asked, searching the room for the skinny agent. Yes I still insisted on calling her Agent. She had introduced herself the day after mine and Steve's stress release in DC last year and I always felt better when I reminded myself that Maria Hill was at headquarters looking out for my friends. She was standing at the door to the run way and as she glanced at me, and then behind her. I followed her sight line up to Bruce's lab to see the number of doctors rushing around and my stomach froze. Something was wrong. "Oh my god." I said and felt my entire body tense; if Steve was hurt I was tying him up in my closet and never letting him go.
"It's Clint." She said. And just like that I could breath. And then not breath.
"Is Clint ok?" I asked moving over to her.
"He'll be fine." She said. I looked at Maria, the same question in my eyes she was probably tired of me asking.
"Just Clint. Took a hit to the side I think." She said. Natasha was probably a mess. I caught the sight of her red hair sitting in the corner of Bruces lab watching the procedure.
"Hill." And with that voice my tension melted as I turned around the door to see him coming out of the elevator. He was tired, and upset at having an injured team mate, I could see that instantly. But also stressed about something else. It was the same look he had when I got to DC. But he standing and walking and talking all on his own. "Crista?" He asked and that brilliant smile spread over his face.
"Hey Steve." I said, before running at my best friend and latching my arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around my back in exchange, pulling me closer as I felt his body relax. "You ok?" I whispered. I knew Hill would tell me, and I knew she knew I always asked Steve but I always had to hear it from the horse's mouth. He squeezed my waist and chuckled against my neck.
"Fine. Took a couple of punches, but that was it." I pulled back, watching that easy crooked smile settle on his oh so perfect features as I scanned his face. All signs of his fight with Bucky were gone, like the next day and the face that looked back at me was fully Steve.
"Maria, Tony wants you."
"Oh my god Nat." I said, forcing Steve to put me down. Somehow, and I'm never sure how, Steve gets me off the ground without my noticing every time. The red head turned around having not noticed me eyes only for her partner for the time. Next I was wrapped around Nat.
Black Widow didn't show a lot of emotion, ever, but I knew when her fists latched onto the back of my shirt that she was upset. The only thing I could think to do I learned in equestrian school and made small "shhshing" noises while smoothing down Nat's hair.
"What happened?" I asked.
"There were enhanced in the field." Steve said behind us. I pulled back and looked to him, the stern look back on his face; that explained it. New, stressful information.
"Enhanced like you?" I asked. "Like…?" I couldn't even get the name out but Steve saw of whom I was thinking on my face. He shook his head slightly. I couldn't think about what would have happened if Bucky had been the one to shoot Clint.
"Wanda and Pietro Maximov." Maria said coming back into the room. Maria and Steve glanced at each other and the two took off further into the tower discussing the two.
"Hey." I said, watching Nat's green eyes refocus on me. "Are you ok?" I asked. She nodded briefly. "Hi Bruce." I said was the quiet doctor walked by.
"Hi Crista." He said in that quiet way that he had. I felt Natasha tense next to me and looked over at her with an arched eye brow. Bruce moved through the tower toward his lab that was currently being used to heal whatever happened to Clint.
"Did he do a lot of damage?" I asked tentatively as the lab door closed behind him. I knew that the amount of damage that Bruce did when he was the Hulk was something that didn't necessarily sit well with him. He hated being reminded that the thought the Hulk was a monster.
"No. He saved our asses like usual." She said, with that stoniness that I had come to know was just her way.
"I really hate that you have to have your asses saved. And that it's usual." I said, my turquois eyes rolling in dismissing the thought that two of my closest friends put their lives on the line every day.
"He'll always be there." Nat said, in a completely different tone than I had ever heard her use; like I didn't even know she was capable of that wistful tone.
"Natasha Romanoff, do you have a crush?" I asked, watching her out of the corner of my eye. When she didn't come back with some snarky remark but simply looked at her toes my teasing disappeared. "Oh my god Nat. Is that what you wanted to talk about?" I asked, moving in front of her and forcing her to look at me.
"Yeah." I almost laughed. Ok I did laugh. She sounded so defeated and like one of my students it was kind of funny. "Never mind." She said, rolling her eyes and moving to follow Steve.
"No, no, no. I'm sorry, it was just funny to think of you in high school for a second." She quirked an eyebrow at me and I shook my head, it was too long to describe and probably only funny to me. "Let's talk. Somewhere private. Ooh! Steve's room." I said grabbing the spy's hand and heading toward the elevator.
"Captain Rogers is in his room." Maria said as she walked passed us.
"Oh great, maybe we will catch him with his pants down." I said, sticking my tongue out at the SHIELD agent. Natasha laughed next to me as we got in the elevator and I saw Maria roll her eyes with a small smile on her face.
"Captain Rogers' pants are currently up." JARVIS informed me.
"Creepy!" I couldn't imagine having a computer system know every little thing that I was doing. Maybe I didn't want JARVIS in my apartment. "Don't tell him we are coming up." I said, eyes focused on the ceiling of the elevator as if that was going to scare the AI into follow my instructions.
Steve was leaning against the sliding door to his balcony, causally looking out over the city. When we walked in he turned at the sound of our voices.
"No knock?" He asked, arms crossed over his chest.
"No. Get out." I said smiling sweetly at him. He was still in his uniform pants and boots but had removed the bullet proof upper half with the star on it. He laughed slightly at my tone, my arms dropping briefly to give me a glance at how tight his under shirt was; God I loved having a hot best friend.
"How is Barton?" He asked, focusing on Natasha but shoving away from the wall.
"He'll be fine." She said. They shared a relieved look that I couldn't understand. I didn't have a team. I didn't need a team. No body needed to have my back at all times or I would die.
"Don't go through my draws." He said with a slightly pained expression as he moved toward the door behind us.
"Once!" I said. "I did that once! I was looking or Advil." The first week Steve had moved into the tower he had caught me in his pants drawer. It wasn't even his underwear drawer, I mean come on Cap, letitgo! As he passed by us, he dropped a kiss onto the top of my head and squeezed Nat's arm. He was really shaken. They both were. Once the door closed I turned to the spy. "Spill."
By the time Natasha was done, we were sitting on Steve's bed, curled into ourselves. It was interesting and I could tell she was being completely sincere. Natasha Romanoff had a massive crush on the Hulk. Like a hulk sized crush. There also seemed to be some reciprocal feelings if everything she told me about the lullaby was true; she was the only one who could get Bruce back to not green.
"But I've never really had this problem." She said, leaning her head against her knees. "The whole, actually caring about someone predicament." Now I didn't really know what to say because I had never had the problem Natasha did. "He is too good for me." She said quietly.
"What? Wrong." I said. I had interacted with Dr. Banner enough to be on a first name basis with him, but he wasn't a god. That would be Thor. And Steve. "Bruce is great Nat, but he isn't too good for you. Where did that come from?"
"He has this anger problem. He thinks that he is a monster. But he isn't. The other guy isn't either, he is just angry. Me? I kill because I am told to. I don't even think twice about it, or feel about it." I reached over, touching her hand to make her stop. I was under no misunderstanding of Natasha's past. It was all over the internet since D.C. Her past, the one from which Clint saved her, it was unpleasant to say the least.
"You aren't that person anymore Natasha. You don't kill for no reason." She shook her head, her red curls bouncing. "You don't. You kill people yes. So does Steve. So does Tony. But you guys do it to protect others. Not just because they pissed you off, or it was fun. You aren't a monster Natasha." I said, seeing in her eyes that she didn't believe me. "I know, 'cause I don't like monsters." She laughed slightly, but seemed to relax a little. "Have you talked to Bruce?"
"No. I wanted to see what you thought first." Now no one would ever say that they felt warm and fuzzy around Black Widow, but knowing she trusted me was pretty damn close. "Are you going to come to the party?" She asked before I had a chance to let the mushy feeling get too close.
"What party?" I asked.
"Tony is throwing a victory party for finally getting the scepter back." My eyes rolled.
"Like Tony needs an excuse to throw a party." Natasha laughed.
"You should come. Steve would like it. And Sam is coming." I perked up at that. I hadn't seen Sam in almost a year.
"Yeah? Ok. I miss Sam." I said. I liked the snarky Pilot and he had been kind of MIA since D.C.
"Miss him like I miss Bruce." I gave her a look. Natasha should have known that Sam was just Sam.
"Really?" Natasha shrugged in response to my unimpressed question.
"When was the last time you… you know?" She asked, a smile pulling at her face. "Tell me it wasn't Steve in D.C?" I sighed, ridiculously frustrated.
"What about me?" Steve asked, coming back through the door. Perfect awkward timing as usual.
"Did Tony tell everyone about his visit to D.C?" I asked. Natasha giggled slightly beside me, causing Steve's blush to rise to his cheeks. "Or was it you!" I said, eyes narrowed as I stood up.
"What?" Steve stuttered. I took a step forward, focusing on the slightly panicked look in his eyes.
"You did! You bragged didn't you Rogers." The look on his face almost made me laugh.
"Crista I would never…" He said, backing up slightly as he hit the wall. "I didn't… damn it."
"Language Steve." Natasha said, making me frown over my shoulder at her in confusion. Her eyebrow quirked, classic clue that she was teasing. Steve sighed, drawing my attention back to him.
"Don't lie to me Steve." He was almost actually offended at my comment as he looked down at me.
"I don't lie to you Crista." The sincerity with which that was said almost broke my facade, and my heart but I kept going.
"You are right now! Admit, you told Natasha." I was up next to him, my finger pointing in his face. His eyes crossed looking down at it and before he could move it, I pressed onto my toes and kissed him. As always, he tensed slightly before pushing on my waist. The smile that greeted him was obviously enough to explain that the whole thing was sarcastic. "So tell me about this party." I said, moving and flopping back onto the bed.