Title: By Your Side
Author: CharmingPromise
Rating: M (for safety's sake… might drop if it never gets there)
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters and am simply borrowing them a brief period of time. Thank you Marvel for inspiring my imagination. I use lyrics for chapter titles (and story title and penname) so for this story credit is due to OneRepublic. (further song aknowledgments will be required as the story progresses)
Part: Prologue/?
Summary: Tony Stark schemes with his fellow Avengers to help Natasha and Clint see their potential. Or…. Captain America makes Hawkeye jealous. Clintasha multi-chapter fluff (while still hopefully mostly in character)
Authors Note: I'm dipping my toe back into FF having not written anything since I was a teenager (under a different name) so be gentle with me. Reviews are much appreciated. I'm excited to have The Avengers causing me to fan-girl all over again.
AN2: The prologue is very short but I should have the much longer second chapter up soon!
Prologue
I woke up with the sun
Thought of all of the people, places, and things I've loved
I woke up just to see
With all of the faces, you were the one next to me
OneRepublic- If I Lose Myself
"For a supposedly brilliant man you certainly have more than your share of terrible, destructive ideas."
"Thank you." Tony quipped, clasping his hands behind his back and rocking from heel to toe as he regarded Steve solemnly. "So you're in?"
"Meddling, unnecessary, potentially relationship ruining ideas," Steve expanded. "No," he finished as he tugged on his second shoe and rose from where he had been seated on his bed, dressing for the day, prior to Tony Stark's intrusion.
"So you don't see it?" Tony demanded, trailing behind him as they left Steve's apartment in the newly christened Avengers Tower. "The longing looks, the heated stares, the pining sighs?"
"Natasha does not pine," Steve snorted.
"Fine. But they are our teammates. Our friends! And we could be doing them the favor of their lives."
"You just want to get involved in something that has nothing to do with you," Steve accused. "Your personal life is secure and content, much to your demented chagrin, so you have to go throw someone else's into turmoil.
Tony held the door and followed Steve into the tower's expansive shared kitchen. "Or I just want everyone to know the blissful happiness I have been so lucky to find."
Steve shot him a dubious look over the top of a box of cereal.
"Fine, maybe I haven't reached that level of enlightenment yet. But you know how those two get when they're in formal wear!" Tony reminded him, simulating an explosion with widely sweeping arms. "I don't need to feel inadequate at my own wedding. It's four days Stars-n-Stripes; you can do anything for four days. I'm asking you to escort a beautiful woman to a fabulous party. If it offends your gentlemanly sensibilities so much, you can think of it as nothing more than that." He could see Steve's resolve faltering and allowed him to contemplate the plan over his all-American bowl of Wheaties.
"Why do you think this will even work?" he finally asked, "They aren't exactly emotionally motivated people. They may have evolved past all that petty jealousy that you want to exploit here."
"They're human Cap. None of us are immune to that." Tony replied bluntly. "What they have is comfortable, it works. They aren't going to willingly take a chance on something uncertain that might destroy that."
"Exactly!" Steve exclaimed, pointing at Tony with his spoon for emphasis. "They are content! What right do we have to mess with whatever happiness they found? It isn't our place."
"Because they could be so much more. Comfortable is such a cop out for those two. They could be legends." Tony winced thinking that might have been a little over the top but he could see Steve's face soften. He really was a softie.
"He loves her," Tony continued. "So much that he would go forever without really having her if that's the only way to avoid the risk of losing her. He just needs a push. Show him that there are other ways she could be lost without ever seeing what could've been. They both deserve this, they deserve each other."
Steve sighed, "Why me?"
Tony executed a victorious fist punch into the air, knowing he had won, "Because you're Captain America. You're about truth, justice, and the American way."
"I didn't know the American way was manipulating your friends into potential heartbreak," Steve drawled, shooting Tony a look that said his compliance was still not guaranteed.
"Of course it is. Red cups, the second amendment, and manipulation of those nearest and dearest to you…. American as you get. Cap, you are a sensitive, idealistic soul who believes in love and will see that the ends justify the means." Tony clapped him on the back and headed for the door. "Also in the event that our dear friend Clint decides to take a richly deserved swing at you once all this plays out, I needed someone who could defend himself without destroying half my island in the process."
Steve rubbed a weary hand over his face as Tony disappeared from the kitchen, having correctly assumed his participation in this scheme. "To the American way," he said, using his spoon to cheers the now empty room.