"Pirates of the Caribbean!"
"Rocky!"
"Pirates of the Caribbean!"
"NO, ROCKY IV, DAMN IT!" Tony shouted at me from across our couches.
It was our usual movie night at the tower and no one would decide on a movie, so naturally I gave a suggestion but of course, Tony wanted it to be his way or the highway.
"No! We all know what happens in Rocky; they made at least 10 movies about it by now! He's going to fight someone people don't think he can handle, he runs up some stairs, 'Eye of the Tiger' plays when he gets to the top and then he wins the fight, end of story!" I retaliated and I swore I saw Clint nodding his head slightly.
YES.
1 assassin down, 1 more, a demi-god, a super solider, a nerd, his girlfriend and a Pepper Potts to go.
Pepper doesn't get a nickname because in reality, you can't give THE Pepper Potts a nickname.
Tony rolled his eyes at me, "Whereas, in your crap suggestion, you have a creepy old pirate and his weird young lovers who don't ever admit they love each other, just run around stealing things and basically getting himself killed by a freaky squid from the depths of the sea! I mean, really, what other character does Johnny Depp ever play?! How old is that guy now, 50? At least Sylvester Stallone gives a deep and moving performance about the struggles of the inner boxing world!"
A small snort came from the couch behind me where I heard Clint murmur, "Yes with his acute use of the English language, he sends a powerful message about how easy it is to knock a guy flat on his back for 6 rounds."
Tony must've heard it as well because he turned his head and spat back, "At least he doesn't make nests."
"THAT WAS NEVER PROVEN."
Tony just rolled his eyes and turned back to me, "Are you going to fight your own battles Princess or do you need Big Bird over there to back you up?"
I grit my teeth and if Steve had not been holding onto my arm, I would've leapt across those couches to break his neck. Venomously I hissed, "Johnny Depp is one of the greatest actors of our time and I am pretty sure he's younger than you, old man!" I pointed my finger at him angrily.
Steve just sighed and pulled my hand down. "C'mon, let's all keep cool." He looked at me with his stern, 'I'm the team leader here' look and I rolled my eyes.
"Nu uh, I didn't start this war, he did. But I will damn well finish it." I kept my glare at Tony but I know I heard Natasha snicker from the couch behind me.
Tony gave a small chuckle. "Psh, yeah okay. I would really love to see you try that one."
Instantly Steve snapped his head towards Tony and I knew the look he was giving him, I'd see it many times. That was his 'You need to watch it, Tony' look. And most of the time he would straighten up, seeing as how much respect he had for Steve but not this time; he pointedly kept his glare at me.
I wanted to fly off the couch but kept my cool and smirked at him, "No, but I have been taking lessons from Natasha and she's brought my ways of killing someone up from 57 to 79." I started to see a small amount of color drain from his face but he kept staring.
The smirk grew.
"Still want to test her, Stark?" Natasha smiled softly at Tony from behind us.
Tony crossed his arms and turned his head. "It's called cheating if she learned any of it from you, Spidey. But I still don't want to sit through 2 hours of things you could learn about in a damn history book!"
Pepper sighed softly next to him and reached for him hand. "Why don't you two let someone else pick a movie?"
"We could watch 'Pulp Fiction'?" Darcy suggested from Bruce's lap down on the floor in front of Tony and Pepper.
Clint snorted. "No, John Travolta gives me the creeps." Natasha rolled her eyes, "Says the guy who jumps off 30 story buildings."
Darcy sat up and looked at Clint as though he was insane, "That means you don't like 'Grease' then!"
He nodded and looked disgusted, "Musicals are bad enough but add John Travolta and-"he shuddered at the thought.
"You're crazy, Big Bird." She murmured as she lay back down on Bruce and a small piece of popcorn hit her on the nose. "Hey, it's not my fault you don't like an American classic!" she exclaimed, tossing it away from her.
"Randomly singing around a high school in the 50's, with weirdo greasy gangster kids is not an American classic, Darcy." Clint retaliated.
"And 'The Bourne Identity' is?" Bruce asked softly.
"Hell yeah!" Clint blew back, "Matt Damon is the epitome of American classics!"
I rested my hand over my mouth and giggled, "Matt Damon." Steve looked at me oddly before a piece of popcorn hit the back of my head.
"I heard that." Clint murmured.
"I rather enjoyed that movie of the girl who turned 16 and had many candles." Thor boomed happily from the huge arm chair next to Steve and I.
I smiled brightly over at Thor, being the one who had originally introduced him to the movie, "Yeah! We could watch 16 candles! Not everyone has seen it, plus it gives a quick glance into a decade Steve missed."
Steve just rolled his eyes.
Tony scoffed and shook his head. "We are not watching a movie about a 16 year old girl who suffers from stupid, quote on quote 'embarrassing' teenage situations."
Thor looked somewhat disheartened and Natasha glared at Tony. "Don't be rude, Stark."
Tony sighed, "Sorry, big fella. I'm just not in a 'chick flick' kind of mood."
"We could watch 'The Iron Lady' with Meryl Streep." Pepper suggested in her oh-so-Pepper Potts voice.
Natasha protested this time, "No, I think we should watch a movie that will lighten the mood, not enhance the darkness."
"I know a great documentary on the ways of a new atomic chromosome that could brighten our appearance in other people eyes." Bruce suggested with a smirk in his voice that we could all catch.
I gagged and covered my eyes, "No more documentaries! I've seen way more than I could have never wanted."
"What about 'Kill Bill'?" Natasha threw out, but we all knew she just loved watching a woman kill every man she came in contact with, in more ways than one.
Darcy groaned, "As much as I love Uma Thurman, I'm burnt out on those. That whole series is just weird."
It was quite for a moment, all of us trying to think of some movie we hoped the others would like. At this point, I figured movie night would be cancelled and we would beg Darcy into making breakfast for dinner but suddenly there was one last suggestion.
"How about 'The Princess Bride'?" Steve mumbled quietly, messing with his hands in his lap.
Everyone was quiet for a moment, thinking it over.
I glanced over at him and smiled. He'd had a rough week, we all had. I think it was time for a good old fashioned romantic fairy tale.
I grabbed one of his hands and interlaced his fingers with mine, giving him a big smile. "I'm in."
He smiled back brightly and pulled me closer to him, letting me settle under his arm to rest against his chest.
"Sounds good." Natasha added, which meant Clint was in too.
"I am 'in' as well!" Thor thundered, yet again, happy to be of any sort of help.
Darcy gave a thumbs up from the ground, "It's always a great time for a fairy tale!" "Agreed." Bruce added on as he stroked Darcy's hair.
Pepper smiled, pulling Tony down next to her on their couch, "It is a great movie." Tony looked at her, then around at the rest of us and finally settled on Steve's gaze.
You could tell that he didn't really want to watch this movie, Tony always wanted action or science but when he looked at Steve, you could see that fight in him go out and he gave a small, resigning smile.
He couldn't say no to Steve, nobody could. Not with those puppy dog eyes and his pure smile.
Tony finally nodded and looked up to the ceiling. "JARVIS, play 'The Princess Bride' and make sure that it's the special copy."
We all knew that over time Steve and Tony had nearly become best friends. Everyone could see that they would do small things for each other, hoping the other wouldn't take too much notice because they were men and men didn't talk about their feelings.
But sometimes, I would catch Steve doing things for Tony that no one really knew about, like draw him working at his bench in the late-late hours of the night or re-fill his coffee cup whenever it looked somewhat depleted. They were small things but I know Tony would notice them.
And Tony always returned the favor; making things easier for Steve to understand, like electronics, the new ways of society, women. He would always be working on a way to improve Captain America's shield, or add new things to his suit that Steve would always refuse but thank Tony quietly for when he thought no one was looking.
One thing Tony did that we all took notice of was how much time he spent searching for a high quality, sound and picture version of 'The Princess Bride' when Steve's copy got ruined in a science accident.
Tony had blown up almost half the tower one night experimenting with Bruce and Jane. A lot of the rooms had some damage but the movie room suffered the most. Steve was devastated that his copy got blasted in the explosion. We had spent an entire day looking through a bunch of old vintage movie racks, in at least 20 different stores, trying to find one. I told him that we could just have Tony download one but he wanted a hard copy.
After the explosion, Tony spent almost 2 weeks searching the internet for a decent copy that hadn't been brutally used over time. He found one but decided he wanted to digitally re-master it and make it special. New lights, sound, camera quality, the works; and when Tony presented it to Steve I think it really sealed the deal on their friendship.
As the lights went down and JAVIS played the Digitally Stark-mastered version of 'The Princess Bride', I couldn't help but notice Tony and Steve share a small smile before they slowly turned away from each other.
Tony pulled Pepper in close to him, kissing her forehead and holding her hand before Steve kissed me softly on the lips and put his forehead to mine, whispering "Gotta love fairytales, right?"
I smiled up at him and nodded, "Seeing as our lives aren't one? I think it's safe to say that's a yes, Captain."
