Did that take way too long?
...yes...
and I'm so sorry guys, I've been really busy with work and work at home on the farm, and trying to graduate. Which btw I am. I got held back last year senior year, but I have aced it this time so good for me! but I've been super busy and I'm so sorry guys, I really am, as soon as the year is over, I promise i'll be better. I've also been dealing with writers block and a serious lack of motivation and interest for writing lately, and I don't know what to do about it, but hopefully it will pass.
so just a warning, this Chapter is very repetitive and I apologize for that, it will eventually get semi interesting, like I said its been tough for me to write lately so hopefully this is ok until I get back on my writing feet again.
Again, I'm so sorry, and I hope you guys enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing mentioned in this that is copyrighted or coined or whatever.
Chapter 4
The day after the interview madness, the crew asked for a tour of the facility and everyone's room. The Avengers would have protested, but Fury said to do anything that doesn't break confidentiality. So the tour of the bedrooms began, much to the Avengers dismay.
Steve and the Avenger's led the T.V. crew to the back of the Avengers facility, where what Stark called "The hallway of homes" was located. It was a long hallway white and grey like the rest of the facility, names on each door, as well as card scanners, so only the owner of the room could enter. The Crew followed and Brenda looked around, "So here we are, in the hallway of homes, about to explore the Avengers' bedrooms," She narrated as they walked.
They stopped at the first door with the name 'Colonel James Rhodes – War Machine.' Stark did the talking, "I had an interior designer hired to make all these rooms perfect for each occupant. I spent about $2 million on the tech and design of the rooms, not including construction." Stark said and Steve rolled his eyes.
Rhodey took his key card and swiped it on the scanner outside his door. The door unlocked and Friday uttered a greeting.
The room was wide open with a kitchen to the left, straight ahead a living area, and a door on the right led to a bedroom. The walls where white, and floors white marble; the kitchen had brown marble countertops and above the island hung the pots and pans and a next generation Sub Zero refrigerator sat at the end of the counter. Rhodes stood awkwardly, "Uh, this is my kitchen…"
"Mr. Stark, you must have spared no expense on the decorations. And the building – its stunning in here," Brenda said as they moved into Rhodey's living area.
The living area had brown leather furniture, a recliner/massage chair, a chase, and a long sofa in front of a massive Stark Tech TV. Rhodey's medals were hung on the wall over the TV and the magazines on the coffee table were piled neatly.
Everything was impeccably clean. Nothing out of order; nothing messy. "Can you tell us what those medals are for?" Brenda asked and the camera's pointed at Rhodes.
He nodded affirmatively, "That one," he pointed to his Purple Heart, "Is a Purple Heart, the other one is for bravery in battle. This one …" He pointed to another medal, "This one is for rescue, and these are just for my growing in ranks," He explained.
"Let's see the bedroom," Brenda said and they headed towards the door on the right.
Rhodey opened the door, the sheets were "AirForce" sheets, and they were expertly tucked into the bed. The walls and floors were the same as outside his bedroom, white. In here there were a few pictures of Colonel Rhodes and his family as well as photos of the Colonel with Tony. An American Flag hung over the head of his bed.
It was awkwardly quiet, none of the Avenger's were truly speaking to one another, their privacy was being invaded and after the incident yesterday, they were frustrated with one another. "How about we move on," Brenda suggested, breaking the palpable silence.
They all walked out of the room and Rhodey locked the door behind them. The group proceeded to cross the hall and up to the door across from Colonel Rhode's room. The name plate read, 'Sam Wilson – Falcon.' Sam smiled and opened the door with his key card, "Excuse the mess man; I didn't get a chance to clean up. When they all stepped into the room, it was also impeccably clean. It had the same layout as Rhodey's room, but the color scheme and decorations were different. The walls were cream colored with an odd orange marble flooring and countertop. The furniture was black leather. They stepped into the kitchen, it was fully stocked. The group moved to the living area and in the corner, facing the wall, next to the TV was a treadmill and on the other side of the TV was a trophy case, full of trophies. The walls were peppered with pictures of Sam and his family, Sam with Steve and Nat, laughing and smiling. An American flag was hung over his TV. "My room's the same, just an American flag, pictures, and books." He smiled charmingly.
Natasha groaned, "We really aren't doing anything productive, can I please leave now?"
Steve sighed, "No, you know what Fury said," Steve deadpanned and they left Falcon's room.
The next room in the hallway read, "Wanda Maximoff – Scarlett Witch." Steve sighed, this was getting ridiculous. It was an invasion of privacy and the tension was so thick, you could cut with a knife. Cap was getting tired of this.
When they walked in Wanda's room, it was less clean than the last two; it was an organized chaos. The walls were cream color and the floors and counters were a purple marble. Magazines and books, and other things scattered everywhere. Pictures of Wanda and her brother, as well as her with her new Avenger friends were everywhere – wall, shelves, and on top of various pieces of furniture. The furniture was black leather.
Brenda eyed the pictures of Wanda and Pietro, "Who is this young man?" Brenda asked.
Wanda gulped hard, "He's my b-," Steve's jaw clenched and his eyes were hard. It was a touchy subject and Wanda could not in any way fully control her powers. He wasn't sure she would ever be able to.
The air got thick and heavy and Wanda's red gem ring glowed. "Hey Vision. Your room is pretty cool, why not check it out now?" Natasha redirected and Brenda happily went along. Steve held Wanda back and looked at her, "You okay?" He asked.
She nodded and cast her eyes down, "It's hard sometimes."
"I know…," he gave her a quick hug and they rejoined the group.
As they walked into Vision's room, he apologized for the mess, and when he said mess, he meant it. It was far more of an organized chaos than Wanda's room. Vision's room had the same layout as the others, the walls were white with green marble floors and countertops, white cabinets, and dark green leather furniture.
The walls were covered with pictures of Vision and the Avengers. They were the only people he knew and trusted. They were his friends and family. All the tech was Stark tech, including the computer at his computer desk.
On the kitchen island were freshly drawn blue prints with pencils and eraser pieces, "I've picked up a new hobby, I find architecture quite invigorating, and informative."
Tony looked at him. "Buddy… nothing about architecture is invigorating… if you were a kid in school, you'd get beaten up."
"Well that's rather cruel," Vision replied.
They continued to look around, the walls were covered with book cases and book shelves, each filled to the brim with books in different languages from different years, from all over the world. Brenda looked around, "I see you like reading as well."
"Oh yes, I love to read. Currently, my favorite series is A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, or as most call it, A Game of Thrones. It's a very exciting series."
"Nothing about books is exciting," Tony muttered and Wanda pinched him so he yelped.
As they walked in the living room, the coffee table had playing cards set for solitaire, a half played game, with magazines of every kind under the table. In the corner next to the TV stand was a pile of puzzle boxes, mahjong, and cross word books. "So you enjoy enrichment, basically?" Brenda asked.
"Oh yes, very much so. I love to learn very much; there's always something new to learn, I believe. That's what makes life so interesting," He smiled passionately.
Steve looked at Wanda, who was staring at him with a smile. He grinned back at her. He would have to talk to Clint about meddling with that.
"How about we move on," Brenda smiled. And they walked a bit further down the hallway to a room that said, 'Natasha Romanoff – Black Widow.'
She threatened the camera men to blur out her name, so they did, "Do we have to explore my room?" She asked frustrated.
"Oh yes, your room is the one I'm most interested in," Brenda smiled.
"And why is that?" Natasha scowled.
"Because your home shows who you are, and I haven't gotten much from you. Hopefully this will reveal something."
Natasha rolled her eyes and opened the door and they all walked in. The layout was the same as the others, except this room had a bar, fully stock with all sorts of vodka. The walls were a red color and the marble floors and counters were black, with black leather furniture. Natasha never said anything to Tony, but her favorite color was actually gold, not black. But she didn't want to overstep her bounds.
The room was barren, very little to show about her personality other that the plentiful supply of old Russian books and comedy movies. And there were very few pictures, and what few she had were only of her and Clint, her and Steve, her and the newer Avengers, and a few of her with Thor. Tony, Bruce, or Rhodey were nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures. The pictures were the only things telling of Black Widow's personality. And most of them were of Steve or Clint with her.
"Let's see your room," Brenda smiled and Natasha led them there.
"I apologize, it's a bit messy," Natasha said quietly.
When they all walked in, it was immaculate. Her black silk bed sheets were perfectly made on the bed. A picture of her with Clint and Steve together was sitting atop her dresser, and a book with a book mark poking out the top was placed on her nightstand. Steve couldn't help but notice the suit case (which he assumed was packed) in her closet, and the shotgun in the corner.
"Nat, this ain't even messy," Clint said, somehow noticeably tracking mud into every room where he walked.
Natasha rolled her eyes and walked out, shutting the door behind all of them. This was getting tiresome and the awkward tension between the Avengers was frustrating. Tony had pissed off Steve and Natasha and by provoking those two, it made Sam and Wanda angry. Tony had also kidnapped Clint, which irritated Clint. And, all of them yelling at Tony made Rhodey and Vision mad. It was a stressful situation. None of the Avengers had truly healed after the Ultron incident, and old wounds were opening up again with Tony's arrival at The Tower.
As they walked out of Natasha's room the group stood in the hallway, where Steve once more looked at Brenda, "Now uh, all the new and old Avengers have rooms. My room is at the end of the hallway. Would you like to visit Stark's and Hawkeye's rooms? Not the Hulk's or Thor's though, they aren't here so I'm counting those two as 'off limits'." He said.
(Song Suggestion: It's Not OK – Zac Brown Band)
"Of course. Mr. Stark, lead the way to your room please." Brenda smiled and Tony smiled back. He strutted to his room. At the door, he spoke to Friday over the intercom and the door opened and he walked into his room, waving the group to step inside.
The first thing Steve noticed was that Tony's room was an organized mess. He must have been building something over night because there were already scrap parts on the counter, and he had returned to the Tower only yesterday.
The walls of Tony's room were painted white and he had installed a red marble floor and counter tops. The walls were lined with large glass cases, each containing a different Iron Man suit.
Tony had selected black leather furniture for his living area. He had placed an extra iron man suit sitting on the sofa with one leg over its knee and its right arm across the back of the sofa. "Mr. Stark, why is that Iron Man suit positioned like that?" Brenda asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well he has to be comfortable … duh." He smiled and walked to his fully stocked bar. "Anyone want something?" He paused then continued "No? Okay." He poured some scotch into a glass and took a sip. On the walls had hung pictures of him with his mother; him and his old childhood butler, Jarvis; him and Pepper; and him and the other Avengers. The walls were also peppered with iron man posters.
"Mr. Stark, would you say having posters of yourself is a bit narcissistic?" Brenda asked.
"Uh, no. If I'm awesome, why wouldn't I remind myself."
Steve scoffed in disbelief and shook his head. One camera focusing on his frustration as Natasha rolled her eyes. "What?" Tony asked disbelieving.
"Nothing." Steve rolled his eyes.
"No, what?" Tony asked in frustration.
"It's just that you're such a narcissist you can't even admit you're a narcissist. And you see no issue with that." There were three camera men, one focusing on Steve, one of Tony, and one on the group.
"At least I'm not some stuck up, angry old man," Tony shot back and frowned.
"Whatever Stark," Steve walked out of Tony's room, not wanting to start too much of a fight on camera; the rest of the group followed, except Tony and Rhodey, who stayed behind to talk to him.
"Alright then, whose room is next?" Brenda asked with a weary smile.
"That would be me, Brenda," Clint grinned and walked up to his door. "Oh wait, before I open the door, did you guys know the Under Armor symbol makes a U and an A?"
"Everybody knew that Clint," Natasha said with a raised eyebrow.
"Wait seriously?"
"Yeah…," Steve chuckled.
"Woah… where have I been?" He fixed the butterfly band aid on his nose and opened the door.
Steve couldn't help but feel horrified when he walked in.
There were clothes everywhere, and they all seemed to be ripped for some odd reason. The bathroom door was wide open with the light on and he could see bandage wrappers all over the floor and blood in the sink. In the kitchen, on the island and the floor around it, were woodchips and saw dust. There was a remote on the floor across the room, and all the lights were on and so was the TV. The balcony door was wide open, with muddy footprints leading from the balcony into the living space. A bottle of beer spilled over in the living room and another, open half empty bottle was next to a tub of ice-cream on the kitchen island. The island was decorated with a taxidermy fox – quite odd for a kitchen.
High on the wall above the TV in the living area was another taxidermy piece – a moose head. On the floor was a bear pelt rug under the coffee table. The room was painted a cream color. Hawkeye had chosen black marble counter tops and purple marble floors. However, you could barely see any of the purple marble through all the trash, clothes, and woodchips.
The kitchen looked like something exploded. There was filth on the kitchens walls as well as the, once clean, cherry cabinets. There was gritty, spilled coffee on the counter, next to the pot. The lid to the coffee maker was open and you could see that the wet coffee grinds hadn't been thrown away yet. A pizza box was on the counter next to the coffee pot. Steve wondered if Clint had cold pizza and coffee for breakfast. That was doubtful, though, because the pizza box was covered with wood shavings.
On the walls were photographs of Clint and his family, him and Natasha, him and Steve, and all of them together. He warned the camera to blur his 'friends' out.
"Anybody want a beer?" Clint asked and went to the fridge and pulled one out and looked at all his wide eyed friends, and the reporters he didn't even know.
Natasha's mouth was wide opened, "You've been here one night…"
"So, what's wrong?" He asked.
Steve looked at Clint like he had two heads, "Clint, this is disgusting."
"It's not that bad!" he said defensively and opened the pizza box sending wood shavings scattering over the countertop. He pulled out a slice of pizza and began to eat it quietly, not bothering to close the box.
The cameras looked around the room, and Brenda walked to the bathroom, "There's blood everywhere…" She announced, horrified.
"Clint, what happened?" Wanda asked and looked around wide eyed.
"Agent Barton, it smells like mold in here…" Vision informed him.
"Oh yeah, I got a bloody nose after walking into that door yesterday. Plus one of the scabs opened up from my arm so, I just haven't cleaned it up yet."
"Clint you're a train wreck…," Natasha stated bluntly.
"Thank you?" He said back.
"Not a good thing."
"I'm honestly afraid to see your bedroom…" Steve announced.
Brenda didn't seem up to the task. "Let's just skip that…"
(Stop that song if it's still on)
Once they walked out of Clint's room, they passed two other rooms across the hall from one another "Those are Thor's and the Hulk's rooms. But, in the interest of their privacy, I would like to make them off limits." Steve quietly reminded the TV crew. Brenda smiled and nodded and looked at the door at the end of the hallway that read 'Steve Rogers – Captain America'.
Steve nodded and opened the door. When they walked in, Natasha looked around. Steve's room told so much about him; he was very open about it. The walls were white and the kitchen counter tops were red marble while the floors and cabinets were red cherry, with blue leather furniture. The kitchen was clean but unlike the other rooms, it was well used. The living area had two bookshelves filled to the brim with books. In front of the balcony was an area set up especially for art. There was a comfortable blue leather chair where Steve could sketch. There was also an easel for paining and a desk for writing, with all the art supplies he needed. The walls were decorated with pictures of Steve with Peggy, Bucky, the Howling Commandos, Sam, Natasha, Clint and the other Avengers. He had only one photo from his childhood, a photo of a young Steve with his mother. Many of the pictures were of just him and Natasha smiling and laughing.
Brenda looked around, "You like art?" She asked.
"Oh yeah; its very relaxing for me," Steve gave a shy small, but empty smile.
"May I see some of your art?" She asked.
"Uh yeah, over there on the wall is a framed drawing of me and the Black Widow."
Brenda walked over and examined it, "It's so lifelike." She looked at it in wonder, "You're an amazing artist.
"Well thank you…," he said modestly.
"And you also like to read, I can see." Brenda commented walking over the bookshelves looking at the various books.
"Yeah I'm just trying to catch up," he nodded, "You know, 50 years of missed books leaves me plenty to read."
"Now let's see Captain America's bedroom," Brenda smiled a little too eagerly.
That made Steve and Sam look at one another and Sam had to hold down a chuckle as he turned to Natasha and pointed at Brenda. His was trying to mouth the words, "Oh My God," to her without actually making a sound. He continued to grin, holding in his laughter.
They walked into Steve's room and Natasha's eyes widened at what she saw. Above his bed on the ceiling was a poster she had given him. She couldn't help but grin, showing emotion in front of the camera for the first time. This sudden appearance of emotion gave the camera crew ample time to snap a few photographs.
The poster was an oversized image of a giant, George Washington wearing an American flag cape flapping behind him while he was riding on the back of a dinosaur during a battle with some zombies. Natasha couldn't help but chuckle out loud. Neither Wanda nor Sam could contain their laughter and they both chuckled aloud as well. "And that is…?" Brenda asked.
"That is fucking ridiculous; that's what that is!" Clint blurted out.
Steve chuckled and responded, "Before the battle with Ultron, when Agent Romanoff and I were partners, she gave that to me as a joke. And I just kept it because it made me smile. Obviously I'm not the only one!" He stated as he looked around at all the smiling and laughing faces.
Natasha grinned, "I can't believe you kept that."
"Yeah, of course I did…" Steve's smile was contagious and Sam, Clint, Wanda, and Vision all smiled back at him. It was the first time in a long time that he and Natasha had smiled at one another.
The cameras went around the room as Brenda asked Steve questions. But Natasha tuned out all of the voices and began to look around Steve's room. His bed was made perfectly, in the customary Army fashion. The sheets were navy blue and there were extra blankets folded neatly at the foot of the bed. Natasha frowned, remembering how Steve got cold when he slept; he often had nightmares about the ice. In place of a headboard, an American flag hung on the wall at the head of his bed.
Natasha looked at his nightstand, made of old cedar, with a lamp perched on the right back corner, and two framed pictures tilted towards the bed so that Steve would be able to view the photos while laying down. One was an old back and white photograph of Peggy while the second was a photo of him and Natasha taking a selfie in front of a woman in booty shorts, cowboy boots, and a bikini top. Natasha remembered how long they had laughed about that woman and her unenviable sense of "fashion."
It made her sad to see he still hadn't been able to let go of Peggy. But, Natasha had already known that, even before seeing the photo; she knew he visited her ever Sunday.
She looked at his dresser and on it was a picture of Steve as a young boy, together with his mother and Bucky. Natasha smiled at that picture. Steve looked so innocent back then. Now, his eyes had seen pain, war, and death; he could never go back and unsee all those horrific events.
She looked over at his closet and saw something that made her grin again. There, hanging neatly in the front of his closet, was the shirt she had given him upon her return from her journey after the fall of SHEILD. It was a black shirt, with big white letters that said 'Specimen.' Once again, Natasha chuckled out loud and everyone turned to look at her. "You still have the shirt," she announced as her grin got even larger. She walked over to the closet and pulled out the shirt and showed it to the group.
Steve laughed hard, "Oh man, I should where that more often."
Natasha let out a laugh and it felt really good. She hadn't laughed with him in such a long time. It felt better than good. It felt great to be Steve's friend again, even if it was for only a few minutes.
"Specimen," Brenda read, "What's all this about?"
Steve chuckled, "Its uh, an inside joke."
"The hippy Apple guy," Natasha gave him a sweet smile and the camera men began to click away, getting picture of all this friendly humor.
"Yeah he was…," Steve chuckled.
"Weird." Natasha finished for him.
Clint looked at Wanda, Sam, and Vision and they were all also smiling. They hadn't seen their two friends smile at one another like this for what seemed like years. Wanda and Vision had never seen it, but they've always wanted to…
….
(Song Suggestion: Promise – Ben Howard)
They all ate dinner together that night. The room was still filled with tension, but some of that tension had subsided since the afternoon's tours. Steve had cooked a good dinner in the main living area where everyone used to hang out together. Dinnertime was when the cameras stopped recording for day. So after dinner was finished, the entire group lingered for about a half an hour before everyone (except for two of the Avengers) retired to bed.
Finally away from the cameras, Steve and Natasha cleaned up dinner in comfortable silence. The tension between them had melted away today in Steve's room because of a very American poster and a t-shirt. As Natasha cleaned the table and brought the dishes to the sink, she looked at Steve and asked "Why did you keep all those things I gave you?" She began drying the dishes he had washed.
"Because I like them, and you're a friend, and they're gifts you gave me," he responded quietly.
He handed her a dish and she sighed in frustration and put it and the towel down. She then reached over Steve and turned off the water in the sink. Steve's shoulders slumped and he turned to look at her, not wanting to participate in the conversation that he knew was coming. "But I don't understand Steve, I really don't. Because I've been ignoring and avoiding you ever since…"
"Bruce." He finished for her.
She looked away for a moment, "Yeah … but, even with me ignoring and avoiding you, you've kept everything I've given you. You've kept pictures of me. You're still nice to me, and you have made attempts to be my friend again. I just don't understand. I treat you so poorly and yet you continue to remember me, and to care about me," she said with an exasperated sigh.
Steve sighed in return and walked over the sofa, taking a seat on the right end. Natasha sat down next to him. "You know, despite what everyone thinks, Sam isn't my best friend … you are. And I miss you talking to me; I miss the real Natasha that isn't brooding and upset over something that happened months ago. I want you; I want us back to normal. I want to be your best friend again; I want the strong, powerful, and confident Natasha – not the woman who is upset over some asshole who abandoned her…"
She smiled and nodded, "Well I think your little speech is a step in the right direction."
He grinned, "I missed this … just us hanging out late at night."
She nodded with a soft smile, "I did to." Natasha stood and walked to the fridge, pulling out a tub of ice cream from the freezer. She turned and grabbed two spoons out of the drawer and she returned to sit back down next to Steve, handing him a spoon.
They grinned at one another and ate directly out of the ice cream carton. They sat close to one another, talking about whether George Washington could ride a dinosaur efficiently, and if he could shoot an assault rifle accurately.
After they had grown silent, they sat together smiling. Natasha laid her head on his shoulder and he laid his head atop hers and intertwined his fingers between hers. "I missed this…"
"So did I…"