A/N: This is based off a meme that a friend sent to me, reminding me that it was a thing. -i. imgur dotcom/ pX5oG9C. jpg
I own one character, the rest belongs to Marvel, and people more creative than me. Also, unbeta'd.
I only own one character in this, the rest belongs to more creative people than me, I only take inspiration. This comes from the mind of a crazy person, and it was totally fun. The rest belongs to Marvel.
Also, this is unbeta'd.
Work Text:
Thor had left to go see Jane, she was apparently coming back from Europe, and he didn't want to miss out on some sorely missed personal time with his lady. As he left it was Clint that sparked the conversation of past loves, conquests, and current relationships. Maybe it was because he has been spending more time with Tony and Bucky, he was becoming used to the modern times, his sass was on new levels.
"I don't know if you're aware of the fact that a bald eagle is born every time I have sex." Everyone except for Natasha stopped and looked over at Steve. Steve and Tony looked at each other, and Steve knew that he had set himself up half a second before Tony opened his mouth. Mistakes were made.
"No wonder they're endangered." The smirk said it all. The reply had been easy, but Tony was proud of it either way. Clint cackled with laughter from his perch on the back of the chair until Natasha had pushed him off, a little smirk on her face, finding Tony's reply amusing. Bruce was studiously looking down at his tablet, trying, and failing, to hide his smile. Bucky was giving Steve a pointed look; 'Really? You walked right into that one, Punk.'
Steve's phone choose that moment to ring and he couldn't have grabbed it fast enough. "Rogers," he answered as he studiously tried not to look at Tony. He nodded at the voice on the other end, looking serious for a second. "Right, of course, I'm on my way now." Bucky raised an eyebrow, and the others looked ready to grab their gear. "Gotta go, duty calls," he said as he got up, letting them know that it wasn't an Avengers call.
The next afternoon, Tony scrolled through some news articles as he waited for the fabrication of the newest modification of his suit to finish. His eyes briefly caught the title of an article claiming that a couple of hikers had found the nest of a bald eagle, before he kept scrolling.
Tony walked off the elevator of the communal floor of the Tower three days later, looking for Bruce, and saw Bucky standing in front of Steve, messing with something, as they spoke in hushed tones. Steve was wearing jeans, not khakis, a dark red shirt, and when Tony got closer he saw that Bucky had been straightening a black tie.
"-sure that it doesn't need more?" Tony heard Steve say to Bucky as he had tried to move silently closer. He saw Bucky's eyes flick over to Tony briefly.
"Don't think it really matters," the brunette answer. "Not with how these things usually end." Tony swore that the tips of Steve's ears turned a little pink.
"What things?" Tony spoke up when he knew that he was close enough that Steve's Super Soldier hearing would have definitely picked up his footsteps.
"Volunteer stuff," Steve answered automatically and Bucky was suddenly coughing, turning away. Tony raised an eyebrow as Steve turned to face him, Bucky turning away now. "With the VA."
"Meeting up with Wilson?" Tony questioned.
"I am allowed to do Army stuff without Sam," Steve tried to defend, smoothing out his tie from a nervous habit. He grabbed his phone and wallet from the coffee table, and Jarvis spoke up.
"Captain, your guest has arrived and is awaiting downstairs," the accented voice sounded overhead.
"Guest?" But Steve was already moving for the elevator, Bucky giving him a thumbs up, and Tony's curiosity was not satisfied. Barnes would never give up Steve secret, not unless it would make for a good laugh later.
Tony actually woke up for a late breakfast the next day, and he swore he overheard Natasha telling Clint that a recently hatched bald eagle had been photographed.
Tony ran his hands over his beanie, thick glasses on, and turned the page of the book that he wasn't reading, sitting on the bench in the park. Steve had left the Tower nearly everyday for the past week, never telling anyone but Barnes and Wilson where he was going, and Tony couldn't get a word out of them. Military solidarity and all that, that's what Tony was calling it.
Tony was not above spying, as was obvious as he tried to blend in int he park, having Jarvis track Steve's phone on the sly. That was how he found himself trying to hide his face behind a book as he watched Steve standing by the pond, throwing some food out to the ducks. The blonde was wearing jeans again, a white button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a three button vest on. Tony wondered when the Old Man had gained a fashion sense.
Until he saw a blonde woman walking over to him. She rose up to her tiptoes and Steve leaned down, giving her a quick peck on the lips, and Tony's eyebrows went up into his hairline. They took each others hands and started walking down the path, away from Tony and the pond.
Once back at the Tower, Jarvis informed him that Bucky and Sam were both out of the building. He grabbed his tablet instead, search engine opened, and paused. Was he really about to web search this? It was ridiculous.
"Jarvis, I want to know who that woman is," Tony said as he closed the search engine.
"Who is she?" Tony had cornered Sam Wilson nearly three weeks later. Steve had managed to keep his secret girl just that, a secret. Tony never saw her again, never able to catch Steve as he left to find his mystery girl. Almost like he was being conspired against.
"Gonna have to be more specific," Sam said, trying to edge away from Tony.
"The blonde, that Rogers is seeing." Tony needed to know. There was no way that Captain Spangles would be able to keep a secret for this long. Tony had to know who she was, he had to know what was going on.
"Steve sees a lot of people." Same tried to slip away, and Tony put an arm out against the wall, trapping him. "He's very active outside of the Avengers."
"Yeah, I've noticed," Tony deadpanned. "And he's very active with one person in particular."
"Not true, I see him all the time at work," Sam corrected.
"So she works with you at the VA?" Tony leaned in and Sam leaned his head back until it was also against the wall.
"Are you okay?" He asked the engineer.
"A non-answer is an answer!" Tony exclaimed and sprinted off down to his workshop, leaving a startled Sam still against the wall. He quickly shot off a text to Steve as soon as Tony had disappeared in the elevator.
"Tony, what are you doing?" Tony didn't look up from the computer screen when he heard Steve's voice from the doorway of the workshop. He had tracked down the building that Steve volunteered most of his time with, and had started going through employee records, pulling up pictures, before moving on to other volunteers.
"You can't keep secrets from me, Spangles," Tony announced. He suddenly grinned, pulling up a picture of a familiar blonde woman. "Ah-ha!" It was a couple years old, but it was. She had a broad smile, grey eyes, long blond hair that fell over her shoulders, and seemed very to be approachable, just through a picture. "Miss Audrey Grove."
"Yes?" Tony's head shot up at the female voice that answered, he swiveled around in his chair so fast that he almost toppled over in it. There she was! The same woman, her hair braided behind her this time, standing just in front of Steve in the doorway, the same broad smile. Tony could that there was a mischievous soul hiding underneath that smile though, a kindred spirit.
"Patience is not your virtue, Tony," Steve said, smiling at him, a hand resting on the small of the woman's back. "I would have introduced her sooner, but you started stalking me in the park."
"Who Is she, exactly?" Tony questioned, standing up, arms crossed over his chest.
"Why don't you tell me," she smirked at Tony, eyes pointedly looking at his computer screen, her picture still up on it. Did she not know who she was talking to? He was Tony Stark, he was Iron Man.
"Come on up to the communal floor in fifteen," Steve said to Tony, leading Audrey out of the workshop, towards the elevator. "You'll find out there."
Tony watched them disappear into the elevator, licking his lips. He didn't like how at ease Rogers was, like he was, comfortable, happy, stress free. What the hell?
All the Avengers were there, at the least the ones that were in the area; Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Bucky, Sam, Rhodey, and even Thor had returned. He was leaning over, kissing the top of Steve''s mystery girls hand as he introduced himself. Bruce glanced over at Tony, holding out a glass of scotch for him. Tony took it and watched the easy way that Steve smiled as he watched the newly introduced Audrey. It seemed that Tony had arrived only seconds after they did.
Same nodded, greeting Audrey with familiarity, and Tony was surprised when she gave Bucky a one armed hug. Bucky had known about her before he did? That's also when he noticed a table had been set up with a buffet of home cooked food.
"Did you forget?" Tony looked over at Bruce when he spoke up. "Steve wanted to change up Team night a little."
"I must have missed that,..." Tony murmured. He had been a little preoccupied lately.
"I hope everyone doesn't mind, but I did bring someone," Steve said getting everyone's attention just then. "This is Audrey," he smiled at her, taking her hand and holding it out a little. She chuckled and gave a little curtsy. On a whim Tony pulled out his phone, opening a search engine again, this time typing what he wanted.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet everyone," the blonde said, smiling at the gathered Avengers. "I've heard so much about everyone."
"And for some reason, you still came here," Sam said, a smirk on his face.
Tony frowned a little, scrolling through the search results, checking dates with headlines.
"If she hadn't, you wouldn't be about to eat some amazing food," Bucky told him.
"I made your favorite, Bucky," she said to the Winter Soldier with a smile. He grinned at her. "I know it makes you happy." Bucky and Sam, and everyone other than Tony, suddenly looked behind her and she raised an eyebrow.
Tony looked up when he heard the hushed gasp, the room suddenly silent. His eyes widened nearly as big as Audrey's. Steve Rogers was down on one knee, a ring in his hand, looking up at Audrey.
In the morning, Tony refreshed his search results. Local wildlife experts were calling it some kind of miracle. Over the past year, the known bald eagle population had almost doubled from 500 to nearly 800 birds.