A/N: This one has been bouncing in my head for a while. It took me a few days to finally get it down on paper. This i the longest one-shot I've written to date and I'm very proud of it.
Please read, review, and enjoy!
When Peter arrived at the compound Saturday morning, he found the sky overcast and dreary. This concerned him; the weather forecast called for sun all day. He went inside to find Lia and make sure everything was okay. Maybe the weather report was wrong.
When he walked onto the residential floor a few minutes later, he found Lia taking dirty plates and cups off the table and putting them in the sink. She then washed her hands and looked for something else to do.
Peter watched, concerned, as Lia started unloading the dishwasher. She had been known to clean when she was distressed or worried. Her body was here doing the dishes but her mind was worlds away. Her eyes were distant, her hands shaking slightly. She was trying to distract herself from whatever was bothering her. Evidently, it wasn't working as well as she had hoped.
She pulled a bar stool into the kitchen so that she would be able to reach the top shelf. She slid the plates in place, hopping back down and replacing the stool. She retrieved the silverware and began sorting the various utensils into piles to be put away in the drawers.
Peter debated whether or not he should step in and stop her. Avoiding the problem never solved anything; he knew that better than anyone. But at the same time, she was trying to cope on her own, something her therapist had been encouraging her to do. Peter wasn't sure if this particular coping method was healthy, though. Talking to someone about it was healthy; avoiding the world was not.
Decision made, Peter stepped into the kitchen. Lia had finished unloading the dishwasher and was now loading the dirty dishes into it. She dunked dirty cups and bowls into the soap-filled sink, scrubbing them clean, before placing them into the now empty dishwasher. She dunked one of Tony's coffee mugs into the sink. Peter grabbed it from her hand before she could put it in the washer.
"Lia," he said.
She didn't respond. In fact, she barely skipped a beat, reaching into the dirty dish pile to grab a cereal bowl and dunking it in. Peter grabbed the bowl from her as well, placing both dishes into the dishwasher and closing it so she couldn't put anything else in there.
"Lia," he repeated.
But Lia was not about to be stopped. She grabbed a bottle of dish soap and began scrubbing some of the pans that had been leftover from breakfast.
Peter, exasperated, grabbed the bottle of dish soap from her hands and stuck it on the top shelf of one of the cabinets where she wouldn't be able to reach it without a stool. Then, he went one step further and blocked the kitchen exit so she couldn't grab a chair or anything else to help her reach it.
Lia, finally sensing that she had run out of options, dried her hands on a dish towel and began looking for other things to do around the kitchen. Peter grabbed her arm gently and pulled her toward him and into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his middle, laying her head on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. He rested his head on top of hers, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo that he loved so much.
"What's bothering you, Butterfly?" he asked softly.
She didn't answer right away, too caught up in the moment. When she did speak, her answer nearly broke Peter's heart.
"They forgot about me," she said sadly.
"What do you mean they forgot about you?" he asked, confused.
"My birthday was yesterday and nobody remembered."
"Oh." Peter had a present for her at his apartment. He had meant to give it to her yesterday but it wasn't wrapped. He had told her this as well, so she wouldn't think he forgot. Ned gave her a carnation he'd gotten from a street vendor. She was overjoyed that he even remembered. Even Michelle wished her a happy birthday and slipped her a small, handwritten card. But to think that her family had forgotten completely?
He tightened his grip on her, pressing a kiss into her hair.
"I know that they all know when it is. We celebrated it last year, remember? And everybody else gets a birthday celebration. I didn't want a celebration, honestly. I just wanted someone to acknowledge that it was my birthday. I wonder if they'll even realize they missed it if I don't bring it up," Lia said in a heartbroken tone.
"Yeah, that's not very cool. 'It's not everyday your young lady turns seventeen, now is it?'" he said in a Hagrid voice, trying to cheer her up a bit.
It didn't work. Lia just stared forlornly up at Peter.
"What do you suppose we do about it? Do we tell them?" she asked.
He thought for a minute. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. "I have your present ready, though. May bought wrapping paper. I just forgot to stick it in my backpack this morning."
This made her smile a little bit. "I swear Peter, you'd forget your head if it wasn't attached to your neck."
"You know, May said that exact same thing to me this morning before I left," he commented. "Are you two conspiring against me or something?"
"If we are, you'll never know," she answered, the slightest hint of a grin on her face.
Peter grinned at her and pecked her on the lips. "See? I knew there was a smile hiding in there somewhere."
She just shook her head, laying it back on Peter's chest. "I love you."
"I love you too."
ooOOoo
Tony was underneath one of his cars, wrench in hand. AC/DC was playing at full blast. He was concentrating very hard on what he was doing, and yet, there was something bugging him in the back of his head. He couldn't figure out what it was. Was there something he needed to do? Some errand he had to run? He didn't think so. He wasn't the most organized person, but when it came to tools and parts and things like that he knew exactly what he had and what he didn't. And the last time he checked he had everything he needed for this project. So what was bothering him so badly?
Tony was too preoccupied to hear the door to his lab slide open, granting Bruce access.
"Tony!" he shouted.
Tony didn't respond. He couldn't hear Bruce over the loud volume of the music.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y.! Turn the music down!" Bruce called out.
The AI complied, lowering the volume to a significantly less earsplitting level.
Tony slid out from under his car. "Hey, what's the big idea F.R.I.- oh, hey Gandhi."
"Hey, Tony. Listen, I've had this weird feeling all day that there's something that we need to do, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is."
"I've been having that same feeling, funnily enough," Tony commented. "It must be something big if we both forgot it. I mean, me forgetting things isn't abnormal at all cause I have the memory of a goldfish and the attention span of an overexcited chihuahua, but you remember everything."
"I know. Check your calendar. I'll check mine. Let's see if anything correlates."
Bruce pulled up his daily calendar on his phone while Tony went over to one of the various computer screens in his lab to check his.
"Let's see here…" he mumbled to himself. "No missed appointments, no holidays, no scheduled meetings… nothing's really sticking out to me. You find anything, Doctor?"
"Nope. Not a thing."
"Hmm… hey F.R.I.D.A.Y., is there something we're missing here? What did we forget?"
"There are no missed appointments or holidays on your personal calendar, sir. Would you like me to check the team calendar?"
"Yeah, go ahead. Maybe what we're missing is scheduled there instead."
"You have one missed event on the team calendar, sir."
"Put it on the screen, please."
A picture of yesterday's calendar entry popped up on one of the computer monitors. On the day were several meetings and appointments for various team members, all of which had been crossed off. Only one item remained on the list. It said "Lia's Birthday, 17" on it.
Neither Tony or Bruce said anything for several seconds.
"Pepper's gonna kill me," Tony finally said.
"Pepper forgot as well," Bruce countered. "Peter's probably gonna kill you first."
"How do we know Peter didn't forget too?" Tony argued.
Bruce gave Tony a deadpan stare. "Tony."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I can't believe we forgot something this important! What are we gonna do?"
"What did you forget that's so important?" Pepper asked, walking into the room with an eyebrow raised.
"Nothing, dear," he replied nonchalantly.
She gave him a deadpan stare almost identical to the one Bruce had just given him. "Tony."
He threw his hands in the air. "Why do you guys keep doing that? Are you conspiring against me or something?"
"If we are, you'll never know," Bruce replied.
Tony sighed, running a motor oil-covered hand through his hair.
"Tony, tell me the truth. What did you forget?" Pepper asked sternly.
He mumbled something under his breath.
"Louder, please," she requested, tapping her foot.
"We forgot Tesla's birthday!" he said.
Pepper's eyes widened. "How could we have forgotten? I distinctly remember putting it on the calendar last year…"
"Yeah, we did put it on the calendar," Bruce said. "It's still there."
"So why didn't the reminder I set go off a week before?" she wondered.
Tony was looking everywhere but at Pepper. She noticed this immediately.
"Tony-"
"I'm sorry, okay! I had a big meeting yesterday that I didn't wanna go to and I knew that you'd set an alarm to remind me about it a week before so I went in and turned off the reminder and I might have accidentally turned off the reminder for her birthday as well…" He shrunk down a little lower, fearing Pepper's reaction.
His fear was well placed.
"Anthony Edward Stark-"
"As entertaining as it would be to watch you yell at Tony," Bruce interjected, "there are more important things to take care of at the moment. Mainly, how are we gonna make things up to Lia? She's gotta be heartbroken that we all completely forgot her birthday."
"Hmm… let's get the rest of the team together. If two heads are better than one, think how much better eleven would be," Tony suggested.
"Fine. But we are not done talking about this," Pepper said, pointing a finger at Tony. She turned on her high heels and walked back through the door she came from.
Tony covered his face with his hands. "I told you Pepper was gonna kill me."
"Never in my life have I been so thankful that I was wrong," Bruce said with a smile.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y., where is Tesla right now?" Tony asked.
"She's not in the compound right now, sir. She left with Mr. Parker half an hour ago."
"Awesome. Tell the rest of the team to head upstairs to the living room. We're having a family meeting."
ooOOoo
Once everyone had piled into the living room, Tony stood up.
"I hereby call this family meeting to order," he declared.
"What is this about, Tony? It better be important. I was in the middle of kicking Clint's butt," Natasha said.
"You were not kicking my butt!" Clint objected.
"I've shot you so many times already that you've resorted to hiding in the vents," Natasha countered.
Pietro looked horrified. "What have you guys been doing?"
"Nerf war," they said at the same time.
"Nevermind whatever it is you guys are doing, this is very important," Tony interjected. "We all forgot something yesterday that is very, very important."
"Wouldn't F.R.I.D.A.Y. have told us if there was something super important yesterday? She reminds us of everything," Bucky said.
Tony rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes, well, I may have accidentally turned off the reminder for this specific event."
"Tony…" Natasha said in an accusatory voice. "What did you do?"
"Umm… well, you see… I can explain…"
"He turned off the reminder for Lia's birthday," Bruce finally stated. "It was yesterday."
Tony glared at Bruce. "Traitor."
Everyone started talking over each other.
"Tony!" "Really, man?" "Poor Lia…" "What do we do?" "Oh no…"
"Okay, okay, settle down!" Tony said, holding up his hands to quiet them. "I know this looks bad-"
"Looks bad?" Sam interrupted. "Tony, we forgot Lia's birthday! This doesn't look bad, this is bad!"
Tony ran a hand down his face. "Yeah, I know."
"Tony's not the only one at fault here," Steve pointed out. "Reminder or not, we all forgot Lia's birthday."
"That's true," Bucky agreed. "All of us were too focused on our individual activities to remember."
"What can we do to make it up to her?" Wanda asked.
"We could throw her a party," Pietro suggested.
"Everybody gets a party on their birthday around here. We need to do something special," Tony replied.
"Mayhaps we could take Lady Lia to see a show? I have recently discovered a place here in Midgard called Broadway that has many delightful entertainment options," Thor said.
"Lia does love Broadway," Clint added. "What kind of show do you think she'd be interested in?"
"There are a few she's told me about," Natasha said, thinking back. "She really wanted to see this one called Les Miserables."
"Oh, that's a good one!" Pepper said enthusiastically. "Lots of drama and romance set during the French revolution. She'd love that one."
Everyone in the room turned to look at her.
"What?" she said defensively. "I can't like Broadway musicals?"
"Nobody said that, dear," Tony said quickly. "We just wouldn't have pegged you as a theatre enthusiast, is all."
"Well maybe you shouldn't judge a book by its cover," she replied coolly.
"There's a slight problem with this plan," Bucky interrupted, trying to nip the couple's squabble in the bud before it became a full out argument.
"Which is?" Tony said, turning to him.
"There's no way that tickets are gonna be left for tonight's show at such short notice. It's one of the more popular musicals. It's gonna be sold out."
"How do you know it's a popular musical?" Steve questioned.
Bucky rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting anyone's eyes. "I read the book a while back and really enjoyed it. Then I saw the movie and really enjoyed that. I may or may not have researched tickets for the Broadway iteration."
"You're telling me that the king of brooding and dark eyeliner likes musicals too?" Sam asked. "What else don't I know about you?"
"Well there's the fact that I ate the last of your yogurt for breakfast this morning," Bucky replied casually.
Sam's carefree look turned to a scowl. "You did what now?"
"Guys!" Clint said, standing up. "Seriously! Put your petty squabbles on the backburner and focus! Are we taking her to Broadway or aren't we?"
They all looked at each other, murmuring their assent.
"Yeah, I guess. Seems like a good plan," Bruce said.
"Awesome. Pepper, could you book the tickets? They do two shows on Saturday to try and get the later one. Tony and Bruce, you guys are on decorating. Steve, you're on cake. I know Lia really likes chocolate. Nat and Wanda, you guys know what kind of things Lia likes to wear. Go to some fancy department store and get her a dress or something. We'll all dress up, make it really special. Bucky, call Peter and let him in on the plan. Sam and Pietro, keep tabs on where Lia is and whether or not she is coming back. If she says she coming home, make up excuses to keep her away. Have her run errands or something. Thor, you and I are gonna go get takeout from her favorite restaurant in a few hours when it's closer to dinnertime. Any questions?"
"Yeah. Who are you and what have you done to our messy, scatterbrained teammate?" Nat asked.
"He's taking a vacation. He got tired of your arguing," Clint replied.
"I can get tickets for the 8 o'clock showing," Pepper announced, looking up from her tablet.
Clint nodded at her. "Awesome. Nobody let Lia in the compound before six. Got it?"
They all nodded.
"Then what are you all waiting for? Let's make this the best birthday Lia's ever had!"
ooOOoo
Lia sat in Peter's room, watching him and Ned build something out of legos. They'd invited her to help, but she declined, preferring to lay on Peter's top bunk and stare at the ceiling.
Ned noticed Lia's odd behavior. "Is Lia okay?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah. Her family completely forgot her birthday yesterday," Peter answered just as softly.
"Seriously? That sucks."
"I know, right? She was almost in tears this morning because of it."
"You guys know I can hear you, right?" her voice came from the top bunk.
That shut them both up.
Peter phone started to ring. He pulled it from his pocket and made an odd face when he saw the caller ID.
"Who is it?" Ned asked.
Peter held a finger up to his mouth and pointed at his top bunk. Ned understood.
Peter walked out of his room and answered his phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Peter. This is Bucky."
"I know. I have caller ID."
"Right… listen, we need your help with something."
"We?"
"Us, the Avengers, collectively I mean. We're trying to plan a birthday surprise for Lia and we need her to stay out of the house."
"You guys do know her birthday was yesterday, right?"
There was a sigh on the other end. "Yeah, we know. We're planning something special to make up for it, but we need to make sure she doesn't come back until six o'clock. Can you keep her busy until then?"
Peter glanced around to make sure no one was there listening, then lowered his voice. "What's the surprise?"
"Pepper is getting tickets for a musical Lia's been wanting to see on Broadway. We're all gonna get dressed up fancy and go see it tonight. When she leaves to come back here, go with her. And bring a suit."
"She's gonna know something is up if she sees me putting a suit in the backseat."
"Be discreet. I'm sure you can distract her with something. I've got to go. Clint put Tony and Bruce on decorating duty and they just showed up with an entire party stores' worth of supplies."
The line went dead. Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair. He just had to keep Lia occupied for another five hours or so. That shouldn't be too hard, right?
"Who was that, honey?" May asked, poking her head out of the kitchen.
Peter walked over to her. "Can you call Lia out here for a minute and distract her? I need to talk to Ned without her in the room. The Avengers are planning some sort of birthday surprise for Lia and they need us to keep her out of the compound until six. I'm going to let Ned in on the plan."
May nodded. "Yeah, of course. But they do know her birthday was yesterday, right?"
"Yeah, they know. They just didn't figure it out until now."
"Speaking of birthdays, did you give Lia her present yet?" May asked, leaning on the doorframe.
"Not yet," Peter answered. "I've been waiting for the opportune moment. I don't really wanna do it when Ned's around if you catch my drift."
"You want to do it privately," May said, clarifying.
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Okay. Go to your room. I'll wait a few minutes and then I'll call Lia out. That way it won't look too suspicious."
He turned to leave. "Thanks, May."
"Anytime."
Peter reentered his bedroom and shut the door once more. Lia raised her head off the top bunk to look at him.
"What was that about?" she asked.
"That was Tony," he lied smoothly. "He wanted my opinion on something for the Spiderman suit."
"Oh." She laid her head back down.
Ned gave Peter an inquisitive look. Peter held up one finger and mouthed 'one minute'.
Ned nodded, turning back to the pile of legos on the floor.
"You sure you don't want to join us, Lia?" he said once more.
"I'm sure," she reiterated.
A few minutes passed in silence, the only sound the clicking of legos bumping together.
"Lia!" May called. "Can you come here for a minute?"
"Coming May!" she called back, climbing off the top bunk. "I'll be back," she told the two boys.
As soon as the door shut behind her, Peter turned to Ned.
"Bucky was the one who called me, not Tony. He and the other Avengers are planning a birthday surprise for Lia and they need us to keep her occupied and away from the compound until six."
"They do know her birthday was yesterday, right?" Ned asked.
"Yeah, they know. They're trying to make up for it."
"Oh, okay."
Lia reentered the room at the moment, effectively ending their quick conversation.
"What did May need?" Peter asked.
"She just wanted to make sure I was okay. She noticed I was looking a little down," she replied, climbing the ladder back up to the second bunk.
"What did you tell her?"
"That I'm sulking cause my family forgot my birthday," she replied.
"Sulking isn't going to do you any good," Ned said. "We should go out and do something, get your mind off things."
"Like what?" she said, turning onto her side and propping her head up with her hand.
"It's almost lunchtime," he pointed out.
"We can go get pizza," Peter added in a sing-song voice.
The boys could tell she was seriously considering this. Pizza was one of her weaknesses.
"Come on, Lia. You know you want to come with us and get a big slice of warm, gooey cheese pizza," Peter said, trying very hard to convince her.
She groaned and hid her head. "Oh fine."
Peter and Ned high-fived.
ooOOoo
A few hours later, Bucky stood in the living room, not sure how to react to the situation. It looked like a party supply store had thrown up all over the room. There were balloons and streamers everywhere with no rhyme or reason to their placement. He stood, rubbing the bridge of his nose, while Tony looked on proudly. Bruce just looked slightly embarrassed at Tony's antics.
"What do you think?" Tony asked.
"I think you may have gone a bit overboard," Bucky replied.
"Yeah, Tony. I told you we didn't need this many streamers," Bruce agreed, watching where he stepped for fear of popping one of the many balloons that were strewn about on the floor.
"Nonsense," Tony said. "It's perfect. There's no such thing as too many balloons."
"I beg to differ," Clint said as he walked into the room, nerf gun in hand.
Bucky raised an eyebrow. "Clint, Natasha isn't even here right now."
"You don't know her like I do!" he said in a slightly manic tone of voice. "She's here somewhere, I know it!"
"Okay…" Tony said slowly. "I think you might be losing it, Legolas."
"Nevermind!" Clint said, scanning the room once more before deeming it safe. "Move some of the balloons out of the way. We need to be able to actually walk into the living room."
"Clint," Bruce said, putting a hand on the archer's shoulder. "Breathe."
"I'm gonna go check on Steve, see how the cake's going," Bucky said, wanting an excuse to leave the room and the odd scene unfolding within it.
Steve had the cake in the oven already. He was mixing ingredients for the frosting, humming a little tune to himself. Bucky recognized the tune.
"Tell me you're not singing 'Star Spangled Man with a Plan,'" he said, walking into the kitchen.
Steve just grinned. "Old habits die hard, Buck."
Bucky shook his head. "What kind of frosting is that?" he asked, reaching over to dip a finger in the bowl.
Steve slapped his finger away. "Chocolate. And you're not getting a taste until it's on the cake. I want to make sure I have enough, and knowing you, I won't if you get into it."
Bucky grinned. "I'm not even gonna pretend that won't happen."
The oven dinged. Steve turned around and opened the oven to check the cake. After deeming it fully cooked, he slid on some oven mitts and pulled it out, setting it on top of the stove to cool.
Bucky caught a whiff of a familiar scent. "I recognize that smell."
"Ma's chocolate cake," Steve said fondly. "Seventy-five years later and I still haven't found a better recipe."
"Remember the time we tried helping your mom ice the cake and we got more frosting on ourselves than we did on it?" Bucky said.
Steve smiled. "Yeah, I do. Ma couldn't even get mad at us. She thought it was so funny."
"Of course, that was cause you were more interested in eating the frosting than you were in putting it on the cake," Bucky added.
Steve raised an eyebrow. "If I recall, you were the one who ate most of it."
"Punk."
"Jerk."
Bucky could hear the chime of the elevator doors opening and the chime of Clint screaming in the other room. He looked at Steve.
"I think Natasha's back."
The spy in question came running into the kitchen, nerf gun cocked and ready to fire.
"Have either of you seen Clint? He ran in this direction and nobody knows where he went," she said.
Steve and Bucky just looked at each other. They both pointed to the ceiling vent above their heads.
Natasha groaned. "Of course."
"Did you find something for Lia?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, yeah, Wanda has it, she's getting stuff ready," she said distractedly. She ran off in the opposite direction. "Clint! Get out of the vents! I know you're in there…"
Steve and Bucky stared after her, not really sure how to react to what had just transpired.
Wanda came in a few seconds later. She took in their confused faces.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Nothing," Bucky said.
"Okay…" she replied slowly. "Natasha and I got a dress for Lia. How is the cake coming?"
"It's cooling right now," Steve answered. "We should be able to frost it in an hour or so."
"What time was Lia supposed to come home?"
"Six," Bucky told her. He glanced at the oven clock. It read 4:53.
"We have about an hour. Have everybody make sure that they have everything they'll need. See if you can coax Clint out of the vents and send him and Thor to get takeout. I'll text Peter and tell him to start heading here."
"Sounds good," Wanda said. She turned and walked in the direction Natasha had gone.
"Natasha!" she called out. "Come and help me get Clint out of the vents!"
ooOOoo
Peter smiled happily at the sight of his girlfriend laughing and joking with Ned. He didn't like seeing her depressed. After they got pizza, they had all gone back to Peter's apartment (with Lia in significantly better spirits) to watch a movie. Lia picked The Princess Bride. Had she known that watching the movie would spark a never-ending tirade of the phrase 'as you wish' she would probably have chosen a different movie.
Ned and Lia were now repeating Inigo Montoya's famous line and reenacting the sword fight at the end of the show. Peter was watching them when his phone buzzed.
Everything is ready to go. Lia can come back now.
Awesome, he texted back.
"Hey, Lia," he said, putting his phone down.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"It's almost 5:30. Bucky told me earlier before we left that he wanted you home by six."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Some training thing he has planned," he lied.
She seemed to accept the excuse. "Okay." She hugged Ned goodbye and yelled goodbye to May.
Unbeknownst to her, Peter had snuck out during her and Ned's fake swordplay and hid his suit in the trunk of the waiting car.
"You wanna come with?" she asked him. "I don't know what Steve's making, but it's bound to be good."
"Sure," he said, relieved that he didn't need to make up an excuse to go with her.
From behind Lia, Ned winked. Peter winked back when she wasn't looking.
Hopefully, he would be able to keep her from asking too many questions about this so-called 'training thing'.
ooOOoo
Back at the compound, everybody was making the final preparations. They were all getting dressed up in their formal wear. Steve was icing the cake, an apron over his suit. Bucky and Pietro were picking balloons up off the floor and placing them in a separate room. Tony was secretly bringing the balloons back when they weren't looking.
Wanda and Natasha were still trying to get Clint to come out of the vents. They had ended up sending Sam with Thor instead to get takeout. Bruce was in his room, staying away from the stress and chaos.
"Clint!" Natasha yelled. "I swear I will not shoot you if you come out. Lia is going to be here any minute and you are in no way ready!"
"Fine!" his voice echoed. A few seconds later, he dropped out of the vents, already dressed in his suit.
Natasha's mouth dropped open.
"I was getting ready while you were yelling into the vents," he said nonchalantly.
"How are you not covered in dust and cobwebs?" Wanda asked.
"With how often I climb through those things, they're squeaky clean," he replied.
Across the room, Bucky shouted for quiet.
"Peter just texted. They're pulling around front. They'll be here in a few minutes!"
The chaos increased tenfold.
"Hide!" Tony shouted before diving behind the couch.
Bucky ran around to the other side of the kitchen counter and hid behind it next to Steve. Pietro snatched up Wanda and zoomed into the coat closet. Natasha ran and hid around the corner from the elevator, peeking around it to keep a lookout. She grabbed Thor's hand and dragged him around the corner with her before flicking off the light switch. Clint got down on his hands and knees and crawled under the itty bitty coffee table. And Sam buried himself under the massive pile of balloons in the living room.
A couple of minutes passed in silence before the chime of the elevator was heard.
"Why is it so dark in here?" Lia's voice said.
"Dunno," Peter said in mock confusion. "Where's the light switch?"
Lia fumbled around in the dark for a moment before finding the switch and flicking it on.
"What the-"
"SURPRISE!"
Everyone jumped out of their hiding places. Lia shrieked in surprise, instinctively grabbing Peter's arm before realizing that there was no danger. There was a flash of light in the corner; Tony was taking pictures of her reaction.
"What is this?" she asked, the biggest of grins on her face.
"This is your birthday do-over," Clint said, crawling out from under the coffee table. "We wanted to make it special since we kinda missed your actual birthday."
"In other words, we kinda suck," Tony summarized.
"Yeah, you guys do kinda suck. Or you did. Before all this happened." She then noticed what they were all wearing. "What's with all the fancy clothes?"
Natasha handed her an envelope with her name on it. Tony started recording on his phone.
"What is this?" Lia asked.
"Just open it!" Tony encouraged.
She just shook her head, running her finger along the envelope to break the seal. She reached in and pulled out a handful of tickets. She scrutinized the top one, trying to figure out what it was for, and gasped, covering her mouth.
Everybody started laughing.
"What do you think, Lia?" Nat asked with a grin.
Lia was speechless. "I get to go to Broadway?" she said, choking up.
Nat nodded, pulling her daughter in for a hug amidst the cheers coming from the rest of the team.
"Thank Pepper for the tickets. She had to sweet talk the guy in charge of ticket sales to get that many on such short notice," Tony said.
By the time Lia had processed what was happening, Peter had already changed into his suit. He walked out of one of the spare rooms and toward Lia, who had her back turned. He held a finger to his lips at the other team members before creeping up behind her and poking her in the sides.
She shrieked and whirled around to face him. Seeing him in a suit, she quickly realized that he had been in on the whole thing.
"Peter Benjamin Parker-"
He silenced her with a kiss.
She pulled back, glaring. "I hate you."
He laughed, pulling her into a hug. "I love you too, Butterfly."
"You were in on the whole thing?" she asked.
He nodded. "The whole thing."
The door to Bruce's room opened. He stepped out, eyes widening. "Did I miss it?" he asked. "Darn."
"So…" Natasha started, pulling the Peter and Lia out of the little world they were in. "We're all dressed pretty fancy. Maybe you want to go to your room and get dressed up as well?"
Lia nodded. "I'll be back in a bit."
She turned and headed to her room.
"Don't be too long!" Clint called after her. "Thor and Sam are gonna be back with takeout any time now!"
"Okay!" she called back.
"Wait for it," Wanda said with a smile.
A few seconds later, there was yet another shriek heard from Lia's bedroom.
She pokes her head out the door. "Are you guys serious?!"
"You like it?" Wanda asked.
"I love it!"
"Then go put it on!" Natasha urged her.
Lia didn't need to be told twice. She disappeared once more into her room.
"What was that about?" Peter asked.
"Natasha and I went out and got her a new dress," Wanda explained.
The elevator chimed yet again. The doors opened to reveal Sam and Thor, both of whom were laden with pizza boxes.
Peter burst out laughing. Everybody looked at him.
"What so funny, Webs?" Tony asked.
"Lia, Ned, and I went there already for lunch today," he said, pointing to one of the pizza boxes.
"Okay, I get it, it's funny, can someone please grab a couple of these?" Sam asked frustratedly. "I don't have super strength like Mr. God of Thunder over here."
"Oh, right, sorry." Peter grabbed several pizza boxes and moved them to the countertop.
"Thanks, kid," Sam said.
"Knowing Lia, this is pizza is gonna get cold before she comes out to eat it," Nat announced. "Go ahead and eat."
"Who's idea was it to get dressed in our formal wear and then eat one of the messiest foods known to man?" Clint asked.
"I believe it was yours, Katniss," Tony replied, reaching into the box to grab a slice.
"Uh uh uh," Natasha stopped him, handing him a cooking apron. "Put it on."
Tony grumbled but complied.
The rest of the Avengers got their food and something to cover their clothes with. Seeing as there were very few aprons, many of them had to use their creativity.
Bucky rolled up his sleeve and held his metal arm under the pizza slice so that anything that dripped would land on it. He could easily wipe it off later. Tony, Clint, and Pietro were all given aprons to wear. Nat and Wanda were both lying on their stomachs on the floor, eating their pizza off paper plates. Peter was hanging from the ceiling, eating his upside down. Thor was eating his without giving his clothing a second glance. And Bruce, Sam, and Steve were leaning over the table to eat theirs, wondering why nobody else had thought to do it.
A few minutes later, Lia's bedroom door opened and she walked out, wearing her new dress. It was a deep blue knee length dress with short sleeves. It was cinched at the waist and was covered with lacy patterns all over. Her normally pulled back hair was running down her back in waves. On her feet was a pair of black Mary Janes.
When Peter caught sight of her, he was so stunned that he fell off the ceiling, landing on the floor below with a loud thunk. Thank goodness he was hanging over the carpeted living room.
Lia laughed, walking over to him. "You okay, Peter?" she asked teasingly.
He sat up, rubbing his head, and blinked a few times at her. "Yeah…" he said, eyeing her new dress. "You look really pretty."
"Thanks." She held out a hand and pulled him to his feet. "I feel really pretty."
"You should always feel pretty," he said. "You're gorgeous no matter what you're wearing."
She blushed, looking down at her shoes.
"If you two lovebirds are done flirting, why don't you go ahead and eat? We're gonna be late!" Tony admonished, stuffing his face with yet another slice of pizza.
"Why do you care if we're late? You don't even like the theatre," Bruce queried.
"I may not care much for plays and stuff, Gandhi, but Tesla sure does. She's not gonna want to be late," Tony replied.
Lia smiled. "Thank you, Tony."
"Of course. Just remember this when my birthday rolls around."
She rolled her eyes and went to grab a pizza slice.
ooOOoo
Less than an hour later, the Avengers were all piled into three different cars on their way to Broadway.
"How much longer?" Lia kept asking.
"Soon, Lia. We'll be there soon," Bruce reassured her.
"I know, but how soon?"
"Very soon," Natasha said.
Twenty minutes later, three cars pulled up to the Imperial Theatre on 45th Street.
Lia was literally bouncing in her seat, too excited to keep still. It was rather bothersome, but nobody had the heart to tell her to stop. They hadn't seen her look this excited in a long while.
Happy came around and opened the car door.
"Welcome to the Imperial Theatre, milady," he said, bowing slightly as Lia walked past.
She giggled. "Thank you, Happy."
He just smiled at her.
As everyone else piled out of the cars, Clint cleared his throat to get their attention. "Nat and I are going to go in and get the tickets scanned. Everybody stay out here for a few minutes so we don't completely inundate the lobby."
They went inside, leaving everyone to their own devices for a few minutes.
Lia felt Peter slip his hand into hers.
"I would ask you if you're excited but you literally couldn't keep still in the car," he said with a grin.
She grinned back. "I've never been to the theatre before. I've always wanted to go but there was never any time."
He pulled her closer and kissed her temple before whispering in her ear. "Looks like your wish came true, Cinderella."
He pulled her a little further away from the main group before pulling a small box wrapped in yellow paper out of his pocket.
"I was waiting for the right moment to give this to you but this seems as good a time as any," he said, handing it to her.
She smiled, taking the gift from him. She tore through the paper to reveal a small black box and an envelope with her name on it. She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Read it," he said.
She complied, sliding her finger along the envelopes seal to break it. She pulled out a small, handwritten card.
Butterfly,
I saw this in the window of a jewelry store and thought of you. I'll tell you the story that goes along with it afterward.
Love,
Peter
"Peter-" she started.
"Trust me," he interjected. "Just open it."
Slowly, she opened the lid of the black box to find a silver necklace chain. On the chain were two silver charms: a butterfly and a spider.
Her hand flew to her mouth. "Peter..."
"I stopped a jewelry store heist a few weeks ago," he started. "The owners wanted to repay me and wouldn't take no for an answer. They had these charm necklaces and I saw those two charms. They gave me a sizeable discount, so don't freak out and say it's too much."
She fingered the charms for a moment, speechless. She handed the box to him.
"Help me put it on," she requested, pulling her hair away from her neck.
He pulled the necklace from the box and placed it around her neck, clasping it together in the back.
"There," he said.
She turned around almost immediately and quickly pressed her lips to his for a moment before wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He held her tightly. "You're welcome. Happy Birthday, Butterfly."
They stayed like that for a few more seconds before someone cleared their throat, interrupting the moment.
"Hey, lovebirds!" Tony called over to them. "The shows starting soon! We gotta find our seats!"
"Coming!" Lia called.
Peter was grinning. "So does this make up for everyone else missing your birthday?"
She nodded. "It more than makes up for it. I almost hope they forget again next year."
Peter laughed, grabbing her hand once more so he could lead her to the theatre's front door.
"Come on. The show's about to start."