The avengers were, for the most part, successfully managing to stay out of the lime light after the battle of New York - apart from other occasions when they had saved the world. There was still a lot of controversy surrounding their actions no matter how much money Tony Stark, Stark Industries and SHIELD put towards the clean up of any battles. They had managed successfully, that is, until the day that Agent Coulson stormed into Avengers Tower, brandishing a tabloid paper before throwing it down on the table in front of Steve Rogers.
"What on earth did you do?" He hissed as his (possibly former) hero.
Captain America just blinked, confused, before looking down at the headline in front of him.
CAPTAIN AMERICA BREAKS UP RELATIONSHIP OF FOUR YEARS.
"What?!" It was Steve's turn to be infuriated and confused. He hurriedly turned to the article page to find a picture of him kissing another man. He remembered that all right, they had had a sweet night before mutually deciding it couldn't go any further. That was one thing he really loved about these new times he was living in - he could be who he wanted with significantly less fear of being reviled by people around him. John had been sweet and funny and whenever he had made a reference Steve hadn't understood he had been patient with his explanations. At no point in the night had John mentioned the fact that he was engaged to another person.
The article read, 'Young Hollywood star Jennifer Smith must be heartbroken as these pictures of her recent fiancé are revealed. Though she has been made unavailable to comment sources close to her cheating partner, John Scott, say that the night went significantly further than these pictures show. Now the real question is: will the relationship survive this turmoil? Or will a memeber of the controversial group of vigilantes, the self-styled Avengers be responsible for breaking up Americas hottest couple?
Captain America has also been unavailable to comment but sources close to both the star and the hero have indicated that there may be a television interview on the cards to show both sides of the story.'
Steve was shaking, he felt terrible and used. He was happy with the more open attitude the twenty-first century had but being complicit in cheating? Breaking up a relationship? That was very bad. The picture of the girl, Miss Smith, that the magazine had provided made him feel worse. Her eyes were guileless and she didn't deserve to be treated that way. No one deserved to be treated that way.
When he looked back up at Coulson, the self disgust and turmoil in Steve's eyes was apparent and Steve watched his anger drain away a little. They had all worked so hard to keep up a good image and had done well with Tony Stark (flanked as always by his CEO Pepper Potts) as their front PR man - his charming smile and ready quips had deflected a lot of near misses and had protected information that SHIELD needed safe.
Tony walking into the room, felt the tension immediately. "Ah, so we know then?"
"Of course we do." Agent replied in his neutral voice once more. "It's everywhere."
"It's a disaster." Steve added quietly.
"What is?" Bruce asked from the doorway as he, Natasha and Clint came into the room. Wordlessly Steve pushed the magazine towards them, it wasn't like they wouldn't find out what a horrible person he was soon anyway.
To his surprise, however, the looks he received from the rest of his team mates - as Thor had not yet returned from Asgard - were not of disgust but more of pity. Steve didn't particularly want their pity when it was his own fault but it was better than them hating him. While he was thinking Tony was keeping up is normal stream of verbal vomiting and Steve looked up when he heard the words, "easily salvageable."
"How?" He was quick to ask.
"The chick, Jennifer was it? Anyway, she called up Pep, apparently they met up at a gala of some kind or other and hit it off. Yeah, she called up citing Pep's link with the Avengers to help make it all go away. Apparently she would love some peace for a little while but she's just being hounded so she's agreed to do a press conference and would like a representative from the Avengers to go on it with her." Tony's ability to talk so much without taking a breath really impressed Steve but, probably not in a good way.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Natasha put in before anyone else could respond. "She may just tear into the Avengers if she gets the chance."
Clint and Phil were nodding their head in agreement while Bruce twisted his glasses between his fingers, his brow furrowed. "Pepper vouched for her." Is Tony's only reply.
"Oh gee," Clint said sarcastically, starting to make pancakes as the rest of the team sat down. "You don't think you ex-girlfriend might want to do some tearing of her own?"
Tony's face darkened perceptibly, his brown eyes hardening. Steve didn't know why Clint consistently took digs about Tony's old relationship. The genius had been distraught when it ended even though he had conceded that it wasn't the same between them anymore, and he was overjoyed that Pepper had agreed to remain friends and colleagues as CEO of his company. "Pepper wouldn't do that."
"We know, Tony." Bruce put in hurriedly, clearly feeling the tension radiating off his science partner. "It's not Pepper we doubt, it's her knowledge of the girl. If they only met at a charity event, well, everyone has a public face."
The atmosphere lightened up only a little. "Fine. I still think we should try it." Tony said stiffly. "Not Spangles though, I'll go on and we'll treat this like a normal interview, like the ones we've done before."
Agent Coulson sighed, clearly recognising the 'I'm right and will remain so no matter what you say' tone in Tony's voice. "Fine, when is this carnage due to occur?"
Tony smirked and Steve winced pre-emptively. "Why Agent, it's funny you should ask. It's tomorrow night."
Well hell.
'This is going to be carnage' Jennifer thought as she drove into the Stark Industries basement car park. She really hadn't seen herself becoming an actress never mind America's current sweetheart. When she left school she had trained to be a joiner, mechanic, and electrician and had been planning on going into a trade when an old friend had called her up telling her she'd be perfect for a part in a play. Here she was, four years later making films in hollywood and making headlines in tabloid newspapers.
She smiled at the security guard who directed her to a back corner of the car park where she could see someone waiting for her - the famous Tony Stark himself. He was sharply dressed as always, looking comfortable in what was clearly a designer suit in dark blue. Wow she was underdressed. Her only concession for the occasion was that she was wearing a dark green day dress but it was still coupled with black converse and a black leather jacket. Going from college straight into acting had clearly forced her to miss out key lessons in what 'smart casual' meant.
"Miss Smith, I presume?" the billionaire asked as he reached out to shake her hand.
"Please, call me Jen." replied with a shaky smile.
"Tony then. Don't you have any security? I expected you to have a driver at least." He said gesturing at the car.
Jennifer laughed and replied, "I like driving. It's very liberating and security teams take away all the adventure from my day."
Tony snorted a laugh at that and directed her towards the elevator. "I hear good things about you from Pepper. What line are you playing at the conference?"
"That's funny, I hear good things from Pepper about you too. More than I expected to, to be honest." Jen said with a grin and a shrug, "As for the press, well, since I can't tell them to back the fuck off, I'll answer their questions with the truth." Tony looked at her a little askance then so she ammended, "At least until it gets too personal - then I'll tell them to piss off."
Tony was still looking a little puzzled when they arrive at the right floor and he directs her into an office that leads into the conference room. The office is nicely furnished, Jen notes absently, her eyes lingering a little on the floor to ceiling bookshelves that line one wall. 'I'd love to spend a week in here.' When she looks back at the millionaire he's still staring at her with a furrowed brow. "For america's sweetheart you have a bit of a potty mouth."
Jen laughs at that. "Yeah the country's really been thrown to the dogs when i'm the sweetest girl they could come up with."
He smirks at that and glances at his watch. "It's showtime. Before we go in, tell me, am I going to have my work cut out for me salvaging my teams reputation?"
His tone is serious so she gives Tony's question proper consideration. "I shouldn't think so." She replies after a moment, "I have nothing but respect for the avengers including it's living, breathing national monument. I'll do my best to convey that."
He smiles then, a sweet, genuine smile that she doesn't think the public ever gets to see and leads the way into the conference room.
Miss Smith - Jen - is nothing like he imagined. Of course Tony's seen the pictures and even one of the movies so he knows what she looks like and has heard her british accent but he's still surprised upon meeting her. For starters she turns up, by herself, in a slightly worse-for-wear Volkswagen Golf. Secondly she's wearing trainers. The final surprising thing about her is her laugh, or rather, how easily and genuinely she laughs. Oscar nominated actresses are supposed to be driven in sedan's or limo's or at least drive themselves in ferraris or porsches. They are supposed to be chic, not slightly geeky with glasses and alternative ear piercings. They are also supposed to be practised and smooth. He's met enough actresses to know how they're meant to be on every stage of the scale but she doesn't fit in to any of these categories.
She's as nice as Pepper made her sound even saying that she'd heard good things about him which, as she met Pepper after the break up, he kind of doubts. Not that Pepper has awful things to say about him, just that it wouldn't be as complimentary as it once could have been. The press conference goes well.
"First question please."
"Miss Smith, have you broken up with John Scott?"
"I have."
"What was the reasoning behind that decision?"
The look Jen gives the reporter makes several people titter, it's like that man is the stupidest person she'd ever seen. "Well gee," she said her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don't know. It could be because there seems to have been a large chunk of respect missing from our relationship."
"What did he say when you broke up with him?" A different reporter.
"I wouldn't know since the day the story broke he sent his mother round to discuss matters with me."
A collective 'ooo' from the audience. John Scott is losing ground with this crowd.
"Mr Stark, why has Captain America elected not to attend?"
"Well there are a few reasons but mainly to avoid making Miss Smith feel uncomfortable with the situation."
"What is your opinion on that Miss Smith?"
"It was very kind of Mr Stark and the Captain to think of me."
"What is your opinion of Captain America and the vigilante group known as the Avengers in light of this new information?"
Jen pauses and hums thoughtfully. Tony is a little worried about what she'll say, the press can twist anything and they really want to get a bad review of the Avengers out of this. "Did you know I was here in New York the first time the Avengers saved the world? What are they calling it now - the battle of New York? I don't suppose you would, but I was here. I was, in fact, in the bakery next to Stark Tower when the portal - wormhole? - opened and things started coming through. Getting out of harms way is difficult when there are hundreds and thousands of people around you attempting the same thing - badly, I might add. At some point in all the crazy my leg was pinned underneath an over turned car. I was defenceless. An alien - maybe inter-dimensional-lizard-fish-creature is a better descriptor - approached me and shot it's weapon. The blast hit me in the shoulder. Before it could fire again a saviour in red, white and blue was standing infront of me, destroyed the creature and lifted the car off of my leg allowing me to find shelter. So no, Captain America still saved my life no matter who he kissed - and I'm reliably informed that he was unaware that John was in a relationship at the time. John, on the other hand, was well aware what he was doing was wrong and has since been too cowardly to talk to me. I know where my bad opinion lies."
There was a few beats of silence from the stunned reporters and the equally stunned iron man before a reporter from the front row asked, "That all sounds very far fetched. Can you prove any of that occured?"
Jen rolled her eyes and grumbled, "fucking aliens are real and you think i'm lying about being in the city that I live in," before sitting down on the edge of the podium right in front of the reporter. She shrugged off her jacket and pulled the sleeve of her dress off of her shoulder. It revealed a knot of pink scar tissue that centred just below her collar bone and spread out a few inches. "I even have a mark on my back as well. Do you need further clarification?"
It turns out they didn't.
AN: So, new story idea. What do you guys think? Should I continue it?