Tony and Steve had been together for about three years now. They had watched Clint and Natasha raise their daughter, Sarah. They had always thought about having a child of their own, but they had never found the time to really think and talk about how they would even get around to it.
It was early morning and the sun hit the Manhattan skyline, illuminating the Stark Tower. The sun rays bleeding through the gaps in the curtains, hitting Steve in the face waking him from his slumber. His eyes blinked open and he rolled over to Tony's side of the bed which was still amerced in darkness. He smiled as he watched Tony sleep, when he did of course, Steve had gotten used to the weird sleeping pattern of Tony now. He knew that he stayed up all night but occasionally he would crawl into bed and they would cuddle up and enjoy each others warmth.
Steve ran a gentle finger down Tony's cheek and watched him awaken softly. A small smile appearing on Tony's face as he looked upon Steve's.
"Morning." He breathed, snuggling back into the covers and closing his eyes again. Steve smirked and kept his eyes fixed on Tony. "We've got to get up, you know that Fury-"
"Come on, one more hour…" Tony grumbled, cutting off Steve mid sentence. "Forget Fury, we haven't slept properly in over six months." he added before pulling Steve closer to him. Steve smiled, pulling himself away.
"Tony…" he said lifting his eyebrow. Tony sighed and opened his eyes. "Fine." He grumbled. Just at that moment his phone buzzed on the bed side table. He brushed Steve's nose with his finger and sat up, flicking his phone open.
"Stark." He mumbled into it, yawning broadly.
"Stark, we need you, and Steve, here pronto, there's a situation." Fury's voice came over the phone, in a tone that they both had never really heard from him. Tony sighed.
"Alright, be there in ten." he closed his phone, turning back to Steve. "Guess what? We'll have to skip coffee, suit up, there's a situation." he threw the covers off of him and ran a hand through his hair. He moved over to his closet, throwing on a t-shirt and jeans, he ruffled his hair again. He left the room leaving Steve alone to get changed.
Steve moved quickly and changed into his Captain America suit, he picked up his new shield from Tony's workshop on his way to the lounge. It had been upgraded, not anything fancy just a quicker reaction rate and a higher force that it hit things with. He found Tony slumped on the couch nearly asleep. He smiled planting a soft kiss on Tony's lips.
"Come on Mr Sleepy. If it's as urgent as you say, we better get moving." Tony grinned and jumped up.
"Yes Cap!" he winked and moved into position so that he could suit up. "Thank you JARVIS!" he sang waving a hand. "come on sweetie, I'll give you a lift." he chuckled slightly as his face plate slid into place and he stood ready for Steve to get on.
Steve hooked his hands into the small slots in the back of the armour. He strapped his shield to his back and smiled. JARVIS opened the roof and they soared into the air. The early spring air ran through Steve's hair and made his cheeks a light pink colour. By the time they landed he looked like a blushing bride. Steve dismounted Tony and ruffled his hair, in an attempt to make it slightly more ordered. Natasha met them on the roof.
"Hey." Steve smiled when he saw her giving her a warm hug. "How's Sarah?" He asked letting her go. She smiled.
"She's good, I dropped her off with Pepper earlier, this is going to get dangerous and want her in town."
"How dangerous?" Tony asked now only in his t-shirt and jeans, having dismantled his suit. Her face dropped.
"very." she turned "Fury will tell you the rest. I don't know everything exactly, all I know is, Fury's scared, everyone is." She swallowed and beckoned them to come with her as she moved indoors to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters.
Clint and Bruce were already at the table and, according to Nat, Thor had been contacted… somehow. Tony patted Clint on the back as a way of saying hello and he gave a great grin at Bruce who smirked back. Steve nodded at them both and sat. Tony had moved to the coffee machine when Fury walked in.
"Stark, sit." He ordered, Tony gave him a small huff but obliged. Fury took a small breath and looked around the small room that they were gathered in. He sat at the head of the table and looked at the individuals.
"Its-" he started but stopped. None of them had ever seen him like this. "The problem is-" He started again "Agent Hill and Colson have been compromised, by, by Loki." He closed his eyes. "Most of S.H.I.E.L.D are either dead, or with them."
Tony gave a small chuckle.
"We've taken Loki before, what makes it harder now? And its not like we don't know how to get Hill and Phil back, we just hit them on the head, hard… So what's the HUGE emergency?" he shifted in his seat and waited for Fury to answer. Fury shot him an evil look.
"The problem Stark, is that Loki hasn't taken over Colson and Hill, they are working with him. By choice." He stopped and sighed. "Loki also has the tessaract and-" he turned to Steve "Hydra is back…" Steve froze, his face dropped and he started to shake slightly. Tony moved over to him and draped his arm around Steve's shoulders, he rubbed Steve's arm and gently kissed his cheek.
After the momentary shock passed from Steve he sat up. The room had been in complete silence.
"So we have to face him again, I took him down by myself before, as a team we'll be able to do it quicker." Steve took a breath. "and as for Loki, he won't be that difficult, we know how to take him." He stopped, remembering the other difficulties. He stood. "Colson and Hill have made their decision, they know what and who they are facing and if they want to fight us then let them. It is our duty to this country to protect it with all the force we have." He swallowed and looked around at the faces of his team. They looked down trodden, like they couldn't do anything.
"Tony." Tony looked up, thinning his lips. "you built a machine that is keeping you alive in a cave, you built a suit that you use to protect people because you care. The last time we fought Loki you flew a nuclear bomb into outer space to protect the people of Manhattan. You're one of the strongest men I know." Tony smiled.
"Nat." she gazed up at him. "Your past is your past, there is nothing you can do to change it. It only really matters what you do now. You're the strongest, quickest and best women on the planet, you have skills that Hill and the others would only be able to dream about. Believe in yourself and you will be able to achieve anything." She nodded and furrowed her brow giving him a light smile.
"Clint." Clint's eyes tore away from Nat and fixed on Steve. "You can do anything, you've had first hand experience what it's like on the other side of this, that makes you motivated to help those that you love, and those that just need your help. You can hit anything and everything with your arrows, you shall never miss, you're very skilled and a very big player in this team." Clint took a breath and gripped Nat's hand, squeezing it slightly.
"Bruce." Bruce looked up, pushing his glasses up his nose. "The way you control yourself is inspirational, you moved away to a far away country just so you could protect millions, but even there you managed to save more lives, with your knowledge and expertises. Sometimes bad things happen and we can't change that, it's what makes us, us." Bruce had a strange glint in his eye. He flashed a smile at Steve. Steve nodded at him, then turned to Fury.
"Director Fury." Fury kept his head down but listened.
"You were the man that believed in us the first time round." He swallowed "We maybe fighting more enemies this time but who says we can't take them?" he stopped and looked around the room, all eyes were fixed on him, all except Fury's.
"Because I certainly don't, I believe if we stick together, if we do this as a team, then we can do anything, even though we maybe fighting some of our own, if we do it together, we'll pull through, like we always do! Now, who's with me?" he asked taking a breath.
Tony stood.
"I'm with you Steve, all the way!" He nodded.
Bruce stood.
"I've got nothing better to do." He chuckled.
Clint stood, eyes sparkling, determined look on his face.
"We've gone through worse." he grinned
Nat stood.
"Always." She smirked.
They all turned to face Fury.
"We need you Nick." Tony lifted an eyebrow.
Fury looked up at them all standing, united, together as a team." A small smile slipped on his face. "Lets do this shit!" he stood, slamming his hand down onto the table. They all grinned and nodded.
This was going to be hard but they would get through it. Together. As a team.
"Avengers Assemble!" Tony yelled thrusting his hands into the air, making the table erupt with laughter.