The Races
One Friday in summer, out of the blue, Tony tells Pepper, "I want to go see some races."
Pepper merely raises an eyebrow. "Okay, get some tickets for the next Nascar event."
Tony shook his head. "Nope. I want to go see these." He holds up a flier advertising stock car races in Escanaba, Michigan.
"Honestly Tony, not that I don't love the idea, but why can't you find stock car races closer to the Tower?"
He shrugs. "I'm calling up my private jet, making sure its ready for tomorrow. And, BTW, this is going to be a team-bonding activity. You can come to supervise if you want, Pep." He grins, sure that she will come along, if only to babysit them.
But he's disappointed when she shakes her head. "I can't go, Tony. I have important meetings tomorrow that can't be rescheduled. I wish I could, but maybe some other time."
He nods in understanding. "Okay. I'm going to go tell the others."
~xXx~
Tony headed out of Pepper's office and into the main living room. "Jarvis, can you tell the others to come to the living room?"
"Of course, sir."
Five minutes later, the others were all sitting in the living room, waiting impatiently for Tony to explain why he'd called them here.
"I have things to do, Tony," Clint complained.
"The targets won't miss you for a few minutes," Tony shot back. "Anyways, I have an announcement to make. We're taking a trip for a team-bonding exercise."
Everyone groaned. "Why do you subject us to this, Stark," Pietro grumbled.
"Hey! Don't worry! It'll be great! This is where we're going!" Tony passed around the flier for the stock car races.
"Tony, they have these in New York," Clint pointed out. "We don't have to go to middle-of-nowhere-Michigan to find some."
"I know! But that makes it all the more fun! If we dress normally, they probably won't even notice we're the Avengers, since who'd think we'd randomly show up there?"
Steve considered this. "Tony has a point. We can barely go get takeout without having our pictures taken. This could be fun."
Tony clapped and grinned. "Even Captain Killjoy's on board! That settles it. We're flying out tomorrow to Escanaba, Michigan, to go to these races."
~xXx~
The next day, the Avengers lounged on the jet while it flew to Michigan.
"I can't believe I agreed to this, Pietro muttered.
"It sounds fun," Wanda said. "We've never experienced anything like this before. Enjoy it."
"See! Witchy has the right attitude!" Stark commented. "It's an adventure! Try new things!"
Clint snorted. "Are you sure you only picked to go tonight because you wanted to 'try new things'?" He pointed to a box on the bottom of the flier.
"Well, the fan-appreciation $1.50 beers are a bonus," Tony admitted.
"I'm going to need a lot of those to get through this," Natasha whispered to herself.
~xXx~
When they arrived, it was 5:00 in the afternoon and they had an hour before the races started. The team had disembarked the jet and were driving to the place the races were being held, the Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds. It only took them five minutes to find it, even with Tony's horrible sense of direction.
"Wow, is this town small," Clint commented. "My hometown in Iowa was bigger."
The vehicles were parked (they couldn't all fit inside one), and they headed inside. Tony paid for their admission at the front door, and everyone received a wristband. The billionaire personally thought it was hilarious to see Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, with a colorful wristband on her arm. Wisely, he kept that thought to himself as they found seats in the grandstands.
As soon as they sat down, Wanda asked, "Can we get snacks? I saw concessions down below."
"Please?" Pietro added. All had flying had made him hungry.
Clint sighed. "I suppose you two didn't bring any money." The twins shook their heads. Clint pulled out his wallet and handed each a ten-dollar bill. "Can you please get me something? I'm starving."
The Maximoffs nodded and scurried off. Tony snorted. "I swear, now that the twins are around, you slip into Dad-mode every day."
Clint shrugged as he put his wallet away. "Someone has to be there for the kids. And they're just that: kids. I get that they're Avengers, but they never had a childhood. Let them have one, to some extent."
Everyone was silent for a moment before Natasha said, "That was very deep."
They all laughed at her comment, and she smiled for the first time in three days. Wanda and Pietro came back with their snacks. Both had a soda, and Pietro also held a cheeseburger. Wanda had nachos and a pretzel. She handed the pretzel to Clint when she sat down. "You said to get you something."
"Thanks, Wanda."
~xXx~
Natasha surprised everyone by turning out to be like that crazy uncle at a kid's sports game. "Come on! You can do it! Step on it! Pass them!"
Clint was the only one unsurprised by this, claiming he'd known ever since Natasha had watched the Superbowl with him and Laura once. Instead, he clapped and added to her shouting, on a less obnoxious scale. "You can do it, go!"
Tony stared at them like they'd grown second heads. "I will never understand you two. Every time I think I have you figured out, you totally surprise me." He stood up and walked away. Steve asked him where he was going, and he merely said, "To get this party started."
~xXx~
A few minutes later, Tony returned carrying two drink holders full of plastic cups. He passed the drinks around, proclaiming, "I love fan appreciation night!"
Clint swapped Pietro's hand away when the speedster reached for a beer. "How old are you?"
Pietro glared at him, but it lacked malice. "Old enough to drink."
Clint passed him a cup. "Then by all means, enjoy. Wanda, you want one?"
She shook her head. "I prefer wine."
"They're here if you want one." Clint turned his attention back to the race. This one was getting good; only one lap to go with the first two cars fighting for the lead.
"Come on, 71!" Natasha yelled. "It's the pedal on the right; step on it!"
Steve chuckled when Thor asked him quietly, "Is it Midgardian custom to cheer for your favorites at events such as this?"
"I believe so."
"BEST THE OTHERS, NUMBER 45!" Thor exclaimed.
Natasha glared at him. "71 will win."
"I believe in car 45."
~xXx~
Turns out, they were both wrong. Car 68 beat both 71 and 45 at the last minute, when the leaders bumped into each other, taking out three other cars in the process. No one was hurt, it was merely a fender-bender. However, it cost them the race.
Next up was the last stock car feature. After each race, the top four cars qualified for the feature race to determine the winner of all. This was the last race of the night, and the fans were excited.
A few rows over from the Avengers, a group of people wore bright orange T-shirts and cheered when car number 32 drove onto the track. "Come on, Nick!"
The race started, and the people in orange loudly cheered for this 'Nick'. One man was particularly loud, his yells rivaling Thor's volume. "Come on, Nick! Step on it! You can do it!"
Pretty soon, their excitement was infectious. "Come on, Nick!" Natasha shouted, and Steve clapped loudly. The whole team was cheering for Nick, even though they didn't have a clue who he was.
Then, a the last minute, he moved from second place and went head-to-head with the car in first going around the last bend. Natasha screamed, "Step on it!" and the driver almost seemed to hear her.
But then the unthinkable happened. Yards from the checkered flag, something happened and the car lost speed drastically, coming in sixth. "Come on! What the heck?!" Natasha yelled, throwing her hands up.
~xXx~
Afterwards, they wandered down to the pits to see the driver of the number 32 car, this Nick. They shook his hand, commenting on how his loss was bad luck. "What happened? You were nearly in first," Natasha commented.
Nick shook his head. "I popped the hood along with my uncle, the mechanic. We think the fuel line popped off, and that's why it slowed down. No fuel, no motion."
Tony winced. "Ah. That's a bummer."
"Yeah, it is. I hoped you enjoyed the races."
"Oh, we did."
Wanda nodded happily and stumbled, nearly tripping over her own feet. After her initial reluctance, she'd downed quite a few drinks.
Clint caught he before she fell. "Let's get you home, Wanda. Tony, she needs to sleep it off."
" 'Kay, Dad," Wanda mumbled, leaning heavily on him, her eyelids drooping shut.
Clint chuckled and picked her up bridal style. "We'll try to make it to the next race," he told Nick. "We enjoyed seeing you race, man."
"Thanks. I'll see you around?"
Steve shook his head. "We're from New York. We'll try to bee back in July."
They all bid the unlucky driver farewell, then drove back to the jet, flying home. Wanda fell asleep in the car, and her brother carried her onto the jet.
Tony chuckled. "We need to train that kid. She's a lightweight."
"Not everyone has your sky-high tolerance, Stark," Clint said, defending her.
Tony shrugged thoughtfully. "True. That's absolutely true, Legolas."
~xXx~
[A/N]: In case you are wondering, the races in Escanaba, Michigan are a real thing. Visit upirtrack .com for more information.