Fury had told them it would be good for public relations, seeing the people they protected. They had put out commercials that Tony made a big deal out of whenever they popped up on the screens in the Tower. MEET THE AVENGERS THIS SATURDAY it told them in big yellow letters with footage of the team in action. Everyone had mixed feelings about it, they knew they had fans of a certain caliber, it was obvious by the amount of packages they received in the mail and all those letters on a weekly basis. They were addressed to various people and some even written out to Coulson who would widen his eyes in surprise before tucking the sparse few into his jacket pocket with a tight smile.
Saturday hung over Tony's head like a storm cloud, he had the same level of excitement as he would filling out a mission report. Steve didn't understand it, the most narcissistic one of the all was the least eager to be adored by the masses. "I would think you would've been overjoyed." he had pointed out with a frown from the couch. The Stark had only scowled into his bowl of cereal, taking a seat on the countertop and jabbing the fork at his teammate.
"I have things to do, I don't want to spend my weekend being forced to deal with people that treat us like zoo animals." Tony had snapped in retaliation before stalking downstairs to his work area, much to Steve's bewilderment. Natasha glanced idly up from her magazine, shrugging.
"Must be his time of the month." she commented, flipping a page with subdued interest.
When Saturday finally rolled around it found all of the Avengers busying themselves with suiting up for the meet 'n greet that would be taking place in Central Park. Much to everyone's amusement Thor had been the first to be ready, eagerly perched on the corner of a sofa waiting for the rest of the team. Out of everyone to get fanmail at Stark Tower, Thor was the only one who actively tried to respond. Hello Kitty stationary and shaky drawings would come every other day, brought up by Happy or Coulson and the demigod would smile gleefully as he tried to carefully tear open each envelope with his large fingers. Sometimes he would do it in the living room and would share what a fan had written to him, leaning over to Steve or Clint and pointing, to which the other party would only nod, half paying attention.
On Monday's Thor devoted almost his entire afternoon to responding to these letters, meticulously labeling from the return addresses and snapping photos of a drawing or gift that had found its way onto the wall in his room or around the Tower to send back with his letter. Sometimes the art even made it's way to the fridge where Thor would have Darcy sneakily take pictures of a fellow Avenger admiring it, to be posted either on the SHIELD blog or sent back to a lucky fan. So far she had a half-asleep Steve squinting at a stick figure doodle of Captain America and Iron Man hugging after a successful mission, one confused Clint looking at a kindergartner's rendition of Hawkeye and Black Widow arm-wrestling (and Hawkeye losing, much to Clint's disdain), and a beaming Natasha gazing at a small sketch of the Hulk sitting in a field of flowers with a little girl who was supposedly the artist.
Presently, the team had finally trickled out one by one, last being a nervous Bruce in a purple shirt. He was the one least excited to be meeting the fans, fearing their reaction to him. Tony had clapped him on the back and smiled. "You turn into the jolly green giant, what's not to love? I'm sure you have more fans than all of us combined, minus Point Break over there." he stuck his thumb over his shoulder where Thor was rocking back impatiently on his heels. Natasha looked positively bored with the proceedings and Steve was busy fixing his costume in the reflection of the fridge.
Several agents came up and as a group they all shuffled down into two black cars, Bruce, Steve, Tony and then Clint, Natasha, and Thor. Everyone was in costume except for Tony, who had said he wasn't going to add 'dancing bear' on his list of occupations anytime soon. As the cars went Coulson's voice over the car speakers briefed them on proper conduct and after a few minutes finagling with the wires Tony's car went silent as he tore out the crucial audio component, smirking as he did so.
When the cars finally stopped they all took deep breathes, Natasha giving the anxious Bruce a reassuring smile before stepping out….
….where they were assaulted by the roar or half of New York City.
Even Tony's gruff exterior wilted away slightly as he took in the spectacle that had turned out so many. The groups had divided themselves into factions identified only by their t-shirts that sported each Avengers' specific colors. The most prominent would be those in the front with Thor's winged helmet that had a height limit of four feet. Startling numbers of wide-eyed little girls surged forward, pulling Thor in much to his complete joy, his booming voice attempting to meet each fan as they showed him the letters he had written back to them with their photos.
Steve was about as shy as his following, fourteen to sixteen year old boys that stammered their hellos to which he would stutter back, their cheeks pleasantly red. Tony enjoyed watching this exchange as the Captain signed some autographs and struck up a conversation with a scrawny teenager.
Natasha's was easy to spot, it was almost completely all-girl and they wore the red and black with pride, each one clamoring to shake her hand and tell her what a role model and inspiration she had been to them. The Russian looked a bit overcome with emotion but it was checked quickly as she let herself be surrounded, thanking them and letting them share their stories.
Clint and Tony were tugged away to their respective factions, Tony begrudgingly striking up a conversation with a MIT undergrad about a paper he was working on and Clint stooping down to discuss Lord of the Rings with a younger boy who had a flimsy bow and arrow (Both agreed that Legolas was their role model).
In the end the only one left was Bruce, standing uncomfortably alone by the cars still after getting confused glances and queries as to who he was. Until after about ten minutes of this he debated just sitting in the car again a small girl with long dark hair made her way through the throng, stopping to look up at him with a big smile. Bruce wasn't sure if she knew who he was until she thrust a photo at him.
It was the one of Natasha looking at the fridge, showing the Hulk and a small girl in the meadow together. The girl in the drawing also had long dark hair and Bruce took the picture, looking down at her. "I'm Tammy." she lisped, sticking her little hand out. "I'm your biggest fan." she stated it so matter-of-factually that the Avenger couldn't help but smile, shaking the offered hand.
"Is that right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She nodded, digging into her pocket and pulling out several sheets of paper.
"I wrote you letters but you never responded so I started saving them up to give to you now." Bruce took them and opened one up revealing more pictures, he swallowed thickly and smiled.
"Thank you Tammy." he told her, she nodded once and looked at the ground in embarrassment.
"You're welcome," the little girl replied, glancing up at him from under long lashes. "Can you stay right there for a second?" and before he could reply she was off into the crowd, emerging a few seconds later with several others, an older boy and another smaller girl. Upon seeing him their eyes grew round and they too began showing him their photos Thor and Darcy had snapped showing their appreciation for him.
Bruce didn't know what to say but he caught Natasha's eye as she was showing a fighting move to her group and she nodded approvingly at him, giving him the energy to look back at the three and engage more actively in conversation. "…So what grade are you guys in?"
Across the way Clint had escaped his more pressing fans and had found a taco stand trying to take advantage of the people, purchasing himself a burrito that he was lounging on a bench eating, chatting up an older man. Steve was signing autographs more actively and Thor was sitting crosslegged on the grass in the company of his little female fans, speaking animatedly with bright eyes as they nodded, all watching him completely entranced, two were sitting on his shoulders and braiding his hair as he spoke.
Tony was flirting with a woman wearing a too-tight arc reactor tank top, his eyes wandering back over to Steve ever-so-often who was gazing back with a raised eyebrow and set jaw, making Tony turn a strange color and excuse himself momentarily to go join Clint. Natasha was offering relationship advice to a distraught teenage girl, the fellow girls soaking it all in.
Even Coulson had found some of his own people, a short man walked up to him identifying himself as the one who sent the letters, pushing a photograph at him to be signed much to the Agent's secret enjoyment.
The following week four new photos surfaced on the SHIELD blog, two of them photos of Steve and Tony pointing and yelling at the latest drawings on the fridge, each one depicting the two kissing or engaged in far-from-heterosexual hugs. The last two on the webpage would be the same photos, now ripped as if they'd been torn from the fridge hanging somewhere in both of their rooms.
The fan who received the last two from Thor was beside herself.