It had been a week since the last Avengers Family Game night. The halls that night were silent with anticipation and fear. Bruce and Thor had arrived back from their mission, something to do with Loki stirring up trouble in Asgard and Thor wanting to scare him straight with the threat of Hulk. To be honest, Tony didn't really care what the mission was, he was just glad they were back.
Most newer members of the team had skipped out. Said they had other plans, like family reunions, loved ones dying, your run of the mill excuses. Their loss, Tony supposed.
Tonight, he had something very special in store for the Avengers, which consisted of the original team plus Peter.
"So, what is this 'Family Game Night'?" Bruce asked from his position at the table; one that Tony had set up special for the occasion. He stood in front of his friends, who were seated in a circle.
"Tony picks a game, we play it," Natasha explained.
"And Steve beats a billionaire at Monopoly," Clint said with a chuckle. Tony shot him a look before opening his own mouth to speak.
"Natasha is right. And tonight, I have picked a sacred game that is infamous to all…" Tony whipped the box from behind his back and slammed it on the table. "UNO!"
Peter gasped. "I love this game! It destroys friendships even harder than Monopoly!"
Steve glanced at Bruce, then at Tony. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"I'll be fine, Steve," Bruce said.
"The last time you said that, you brought down a building," Clint sounded from his seat as he placed his heels on the section of table in front of Natasha. She scoffed and pushed them off, giving him a playful scowl.
"Hey, let the guy try, ok?" Tony said as he opened the box.
"I have faith in you, Dr. Banner sir," Peter said with a smile. Bruce returned the smile gratefully.
"Thank you."
Thor slammed his fist on the table. "Enough with idle chit-chat, tell me how to play this… Oo-No…"
After a brief explanation of the rules, Tony began to pass out cards. He gave each person seven of them, then sat down with his own seven. He then looked at Steve with a smirk.
"Your turn, Cap. Color's red."
"Thank you, but I'm not blind, Tony." Steve put down a card, which was followed by Natasha, then Clint, then to Thor.
Upon reaching his turn, Thor leaned over to Bruce and whispered a question. Bruce pointed to a card and nodded. Looking confident, Thor slapped it down.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Tony sounded, pointing at Bruce.
"I was just telling him the rules," Bruce defended, placing down his own card delicately.
Peter said nothing and placed a card. Back to Tony.
Several hours passed. Even if by chance someone would reach Uno, they would forget to say it on time and have to draw two cards, and the supply of draw two cards seemed to be unending. It was almost like the universe was manipulating them, forcing them to keep playing long past midnight.
"Bruce, that's you," a tired Tony grumbled. Bruce was face down on the table. Soft snores rose from his form. "Someone wake him up please."
Bruce sprang to life, lifting his head from the table. He had a light red mark on his forehead. "What? No I-I'm awake. Is it my turn?"
A resounding tired, "Yes," came from everyone at the table. Bruce placed a card and leaned into his hand, fighting to keep his eyes open.
Peter casually dropped a card, a draw two. "Sorry, Mr. Stark."
"Don't be, kid." Tony threw down another draw two. "Your turn, Steve."
Steve sat with his arms crossed and head down, also asleep. Nat nudged him awake and he observed the cards. He placed down his own draw two and went back to his previous position, muttering a half-hearted apology.
Natasha straightened in her chair. This was getting interesting. She placed down another draw two. That was worth eight cards now. She looked at Clint. He stared back and placed down his own. Ten cards worth.
Thor cleared his throat and casually placed down another draw two. Twelve.
Bruce's interest had been peaked as well. He shuffled through his cards, growing anxious for a moment before finding his own. Fourteen.
Peter swallowed. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He glanced at Tony before placing down a draw four. Eighteen.
"You think you got me, Parker? Well think again." Tony slapped down another draw two. Twenty.
Steve woke at the sound of Tony's slap. He gave a competitive chuckle. "Oh, it's on now." He placed down another draw two.
As it turned out, in order to make sure there were enough cards, Tony had combined a couple decks. He also may or may not have put all of the draw cards from four decks into this one, just to keep things interesting.
The cycle went around the table, each person desperately trying to find a draw card. By the time it had circled back to Peter, the card total was in the thirties.
Peter glanced at Tony, a nervous look on his face. He had two cards left.
"Kid. Don't you dare," Tony warned, leaning forward. Peter clutched his card with sweaty hands and a guilty heart.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Stark!" He put down another draw 4. "Uno! I change the color to yellow."
Tony sat in devastated silence. He flipped through his cards desperately. He slammed them on the table. They flew everywhere; everyone jumped.
"...Tony?" Clint sounded. "You okay?"
"SCREW THIS GAME!" Tony cried, violently slapping the deck and scattering cards everywhere. He rose from his seat, the chair legs scraping the tile harshly. "Peter. You're grounded," he stated sharply before turning and briskly walking away. The team sat in silence, covered in multicolored cards.
"And you thought I was gonna lose it," said Bruce.