Here it is! The start of the sequel to Eagle! For those of you who are here and have not read Eagle, read that first. There are new characters and situations that are conducive to that universe.
Like I said at the end of Eagel, this story will be a fluffy team story. I may have a few missions but for the most part it'll be about the life in the tower with all of these crazy people trying to live under one roof.
I am working on one other story at the same time (If you like Harry Potter go check it out on my profile. It's a Harry Potter/Avengers crossover) so I will probably only post once a week. I like my chapters to average about 2500-3000 words a chapter.
I am going to do an all-inclusive disclaimer because I always forget to post one in the beginning of each chapter. So this covers each of them.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own scatterbrained ideas and plots. Marvel is my master.
Clint's feet pounded against the floor, his breath ragged; sweat pouring into his eyes. He had too much riding on this to give up now.
His legs burned: 30 more seconds. He looked over his shoulder. A little boy was counting on him.
15 seconds. 10 seconds. 5 seconds. He threw his hands up in triumph.
"You're a damn cheater!"
Clint collapsed against the machine, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry, Tony. I can't help it if I'm just the better dancer."
Tony kicked him before stepping off of the Dance, Dance Revolution platform. He picked up the squealing boy.
"You've been against me from the start." He accused.
James kissed his cheek. "Nuh uh, Uncle Tony."
Clint winked at him from behind Tony's back. He checked his watch and got to his feet. "Alright, buddy. It's bed time."
"Oh, Uncle Clint!" James whined. "Please can I stay up for Mommy and Daddy?" He put on his best pouting face.
Tony took one look at his face and also pouted. "Clint, just look at how cute he is."
Clint sighed. Fact of the matter was that neither of them could say no to their little nephew. "Fine, but you are going to bed before your parents get back. They'd kill us if they knew you were still awake. You can stay up for another half an hour."
"Yay!" James wiggled out of Tony's arms and ran to the elevator. "Can we go bug Auntie Pepper?"
"Not if you value your life, kid." Tony followed him. "But I've been told that I don't, so let's go."
Clint followed them, shaking his head.
They found Pepper in her office, on a phone call. James climbed up onto her lap and she hugged him.
"Mr. Banks, this is no longer up for discussion…Well I'm sorry you feel that way… Mr. Stark's Iron Man suit is not for sale nor will it ever be… Good day." She hung up the phone and kissed James on the top of the head.
"It's been 5 years since I created it. If I haven't sold it by now…" Tony said. "They're all a bunch of money hungry vultures."
"Can I help you gentlemen? I am trying to get this presentation done for tomorrow." Pepper asked them.
"What presentation?" Tony asked.
Pepper closed her eyes in exasperation. "The presentation for the Secretary of Defense. War Machine? Rhodey? Does none of this ring a bell?"
"Did you tell me while I was in my lab?" Pepper narrowed her eyes. "Pep, we've been together for ten years. How do you not know this by now?"
James kissed her cheek. "I just wanted to say I love you, Auntie Pepper. I'm sorry we bugged you."
"You could never bug me, James." She kissed his forehead. "Your Uncle Tony though, you should probably get him somewhere safe."
James hopped off her lap. He grabbed an affronted Tony's and led him out of the office.
"Clint," Pepper stopped him. "JARVIS informed me that Lillian left base a few minutes ago. She should be arriving home soon."
"Thanks. I'll head up to the roof." He let Tony and James know where he was headed and rode the elevator up.
He stepped out onto the roof just as she hopped out of the helicopter.
"Welcome home." He nodded to her.
"Thanks," She smiled. "It's good to be home."
He took her bag. "How'd it go?"
"Oh you know, I got all dressed up, brownnosed a few diplomats, prevented World War 3: the usual." The pair walked towards the elevator. "Who knew working as a SHIELD ambassador would actually be enjoyable?"
"Where does Fury have you going next?"
"I'm off for a month and then a gala in Rome to help along a peace deal with the Mafioso." Lillian told him. "Fury wants me to take someone as my date as an added precaution. I'm not sure who I want to ask yet. Maybe James will agree to come with me." She smirked deviously.
There was a wanton sexual tension between the two SHIELD agents since Lillian moved in but their relationship only consisted of teasing and close proximity.
Clint leaned around her to press the floor button on the elevator and his arm brushed her breast. She shuddered. He smirked and the elevator began to move.
The second the door opened, Lillian opened her arms to a flying little boy. She hugged him tight. "My little James; I've missed you the most."
"Auntie Lily, I'm so glad you're home!" James was the only person Lillian allowed to call her Lily.
"I'm glad to be home. Where are your parents?"
"Mommy and Daddy went out on a date." James scrunched up his face. "Uncle Clint and Uncle Tony let me stay up late!"
"Sell out." Clint muttered.
"Come on, James. Let's get you to bed before you parents come home." She glared at the two men as she entered the elevator with James in her arms.
"We're dead men." Tony moaned. "She's gonna tell Steve and then Natasha's going to get involved and…"
"Tony, seriously, shut up." Clint pinched the bridge of his nose.
Tony plopped himself on the couch. He picked up his Xbox controller and held it out to Clint. "Call of Duty?"
"Why they trusted you two to babysit, is beside me." Lillian said ten minutes later.
"We were their only option." Clint told her, his eyes fixated on the screen.
"No, no, no!" Tony shouted as Clint gunned him down. "Fucking snipers."
"Natasha and Bruce have been holed up in the lab for days, Pepper is in the office, and Thor hasn't returned from Asgard with Jane yet." Clint continued.
"Oh good, I've been wanting to meet Jane." Lillian sat next to Tony on the couch. She reached for his controller and paused the game. "I've been gone for two weeks and home for ten minutes. How about a conversation?"
"My birthday is in a few days." Tony said cheerily. Clint groaned audibly behind him.
"Do not get him started on his damn birthday."
But it was too late. Tony launched into an elaborate plan on how he wanted to celebrate his special day. "And then, after the Chinese dragon, I want to fly over…."
"I changed my mind. Go back to playing your game." Lillian stood up.
Amelia and Steve stepped out of the elevator, holding hands. "Oh, Lillian's home!"
Amelia strode forward and gave her best friend a hug. "I'm so happy you're home. Natasha and Pepper have been so busy that Tony has been almost unbearable. Have you heard his birthday plans yet?"
"Unfortunately."
"For people who live in MY tower, you sure are nasty to me." Tony crossed his arms.
Clint clapped him on the back. "Unfortunately Tony, your name may be on the deed, but the women rule this tower."
"Yeah, yeah." He waved him off. "James is sleeping and I am going to drag Pepper out of the office and to bed. Goodnight."
Steve stopped him. "Thanks for watching James, Tony. We appreciate it. You too, Clint."
"And the tower is still standing so that's a good sign." Amelia teased.
Tony nodded but whispered to Clint: "Little do they know I have a suit waiting for when he's a bit older." He grinned and walked off, humming happy birthday.
"We're going to head to bed, as well." Steve said. "I want to forget that movie."
"I told you that seeing a movie on World War 2 was a bad idea." Amelia pointed out.
"They didn't get a single thing correct." Steve shook his head and the couple walked off.
Lillian and Clint were alone in the living room.
"Want some pancakes?" Clint asked after a minute of silence. Lillian's stomach growled. Just the thought of Clint's pancakes made mouth water.
He chuckled and walked into the kitchen to make his batter. Lillian sat at the island and watched him work. Even something as simple as making pancakes had his muscles rippling beneath his t-shirt.
She had been living in the tower for two months and he had yet to make an actual move on her. The signs were definitely there but there was no acting upon them. Natasha told her to just go up to him and kiss him and that he was probably just being stupid because she was Phil's sister. Maybe she was old fashioned but she wanted him to be the initiator.
He caught her eye. "Grab the milk for me?" She walked to the fridge and reached in. As she turned around, Clint was in her face. She gasped lightly as his fingers brushed down her arm and took the milk. "Thanks." He breathed before going back to the skillet.
Lillian stayed at the fridge, breathing heavily. "Tease," She grumbled.
Clint chuckled. Bruce walked into the kitchen with Natasha following close behind.
"Welcome back to the land of the living!" Clint said dramatically. "Did you vampires get your work done?"
"Put some pancakes on a plate and shut up." Natasha growled. They both sat at the island and Lillian joined them.
"No reason to be cranky." Clint said as he flipped a pancake on each plate.
"We're getting closer." Bruce muttered. "I've been able to get through to the other guy and control him for a few minutes but then he goes insane again."
"Doc, you need a break." Clint said seriously. He pointed his spatula at him. "In fact, we all need a vacation. And who better to fund said vacation?"
"Clint, you sure do love spending Tony's money." Lillian said.
"Why spend my own when he has plenty of it to share?" He shrugged.
"As fantastic as a vacation sounds, we really need to finish our research." Bruce said.
"I agree with Clint." Natasha said. "We need a break, Bruce. The research isn't going anywhere."
"I knew I kept you around for something." He flipped another pancake on her plate. "Here's a reward." He dodged the fork that was thrown at his head. "Now that wasn't very nice."
"Fine," Bruce stood. "Thanks for the pancakes, Clint. I'm going to bed."
"He's angry." Lillian said when he walked off.
"He's always angry." Clint said mysteriously. Both women shot deathly glares at him. He put his hands up in surrender.
"He's only frustrated." Natasha clarified. "We've been at it for weeks now and he feels like we aren't getting any closer to the solution."
"You two have been holed up in that lab for hours on end. No one has actually seen your faces in a few days." Clint said.
"He's really determined to find a way to control the Hulk. Every mission one of us ends up getting flung around by it. Bruce is this close to leaving the team." Natasha held her forefinger and thumb a mere centimeter apart.
Lillian yawned. "I'm exhausted. Thank you for dinner, Clint. It was delicious as always." She waved goodbye to Natasha and walked towards the elevator.
As soon as the door closed, Natasha opened her mouth. "Are you going to continue to be a fucking idiot?"
Clint was taken aback. "Excuse me?"
"I may be emotionless and scarred, but I can tell when two people are infatuated with each other."
"We're just friends, Tasha." Clint began to put the ingredients away.
Natasha laughed in his face. "I can cut the sexual tension between you with a knife. Everybody has been feeling it for months. All of the sexually charged arguing? Even James asked if Uncle Clint and Aunt Lily were going to kiss and make up."
Clint rested his forearms on the counter and leaned forward. "She's Phil's sister."
"That's not stopping you from invading her personal space." She accused. "Don't think I miss a thing, Barton. I saw what happened when we walked in. You want her just as bad as she wants you."
"It's not even just that, Natasha. I've wanted you before but never like this. I'm not sure how to even begin to dissect the way I'm feeling." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
Natasha furrowed her brow. "And that is where my good advice ends for the night." She stood. "Actually, one more thing: I would talk to Steve about what you're feeling. He'd be the most likely to know. Goodnight, Clint."
"Goodnight, Tasha." She left him in the kitchen to think over what she had said.
The next morning, Clint was up bright and early and stood on the roof watching the sun rise. Normally, Lillian would join him but she was working out with Natasha to get over her jetlag.
He sipped his coffee when JARVIS alerted him that Tony was awake and on a rampage.
Clint made it back into the kitchen before Tony. He pulled out another mug and filled it with coffee. As soon as Tony stormed in, Clint calmly handed it to him.
He took a sip and nearly spit it out. "What the hell is this sludge?"
"It's black coffee, Tony. Pepper's orders. She needs you to be coherent through the meeting and not on a sugar rush like most days when you pour the entire box in your coffee."
"This is disgusting." Tony said looking down into the cup. "How do you people drink this every day?"
Lillian and Natasha walked in from the gym and headed straight to the coffee pot.
"Yum, coffee." Lillian held it close to her face and smelled it.
Clint barely ignored Tony's revolted face each time he tried to take a sip. He didn't want to laugh in the poor man's face as he continued to stick his tongue out. "Good work out?" He asked the ladies.
"Natasha kicked my ass, as usual." Lillian said. "What's on the agenda today?"
"I can't." Clint couldn't hold back the laughter as he pulled the cup from Tony's hand. "Add as much sugar as you would like. I can't watch this anymore." He turned back to Lillian. "I have to go up to SHIELD and do the devil's homework." She looked at him confused.
"Paperwork," Natasha clarified. "He hates doing paperwork."
"I just don't see the necessity behind it. Can't they just hire someone to do it for me?"
"Pepper does all of mine for me." Tony said, finally able to drink his coffee.
"I heard that Pepper doesn't think you do enough with the company." Clint said. Natasha shot him a look. "Be careful, she may be thinking about making your work more. Maybe taking away your vacation days."
"It's my company!" Tony said, affronted. "She can't take my vacation days!"
"She's the CEO, Tony, and your wife. She can do whatever she likes."
"Well then I declare we are going on vacation. All of us." Tony said. "Thinks she can take away Tony Starks' vacation days…" He grumbled as he stomped off.
Lillian's jaw dropped. "How did that work?"
Clint tipped his mug to her and winked.
Tony is so easy to manipulate. Clint has it down to a science.
Anywho, I hope you all enjooy this story as much as I'm going to enjoy writing it. Clint and Tony are my favortie characters to write, especially when they interact with each other. We'll have some Thor and Jane in the next chapter.
Please Review and go check out my other story!