A/N: Wow! I am so sorry this took so long to get up but it was seriously kicking my butt! My muse just did not want to give me ANYTHING to work with on this one for a long time! But here it is. I was going to keep going until the start of the evening…but cut it a little short of it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
CHAPTER 11
The two next week passed rather uneventfully for the Avengers with no new crisis coming up and still no word from Fury about the information they'd brought back about Hydra. They didn't even hear if they had got anything from the prisoner they'd brought back. It was starting to really bother Steve even though he tried not to let it really show. Thursday afternoon, Clint took both Steve and Thor shopping for suits for the Stark fundraiser not that he expected either one of them to actually buy anything but he needed a suit and he'd be damned if he was going to be the only one who was stuck shopping.
As predicted, when they returned a couple of hours later he had been the only one that had ended up buying anything. Still he made a decent dent on Tony's credit card on his designer suit and shoes and he smirked to himself. Of course it wasn't like Tony would miss the money. He had to admit, Steve was probably right; he'd be more comfortable in his dress uniform than he would ever be in a suit if the way he looked in the store trying them on was any indication.
The only thing all of them had agreed on was that they couldn't wait to see what the girls ended up buying the next day. Natasha had decided she had enough formal dresses to choose from, she really didn't need another one, so it was only going to be Kat, Pepper and Darcy. While the girls headed out for their day of shopping; the rest of the Avengers got together to discuss what they were going to do for the kids at the hospital the next afternoon before the big gala.
Bruce sighed and shook his head, "Come on, guys. I really don't think that's the best place for me to show up. Besides they know the Other Guy not Bruce Banner. Do you really want him running loose around Manhattan?"
Tony shook his head, "Come on, Brucie. It'll be fun."
Thor and Steve shared a look and Steve spoke, "I think Bruce has a point. Besides if he's not comfortable with the idea of being there, we really shouldn't push it. He'll be at the gala tomorrow night; we can come up with a reason why he isn't at the hospital."
"Besides, it's not like I have fans like the rest of you guys. No one will miss me," Bruce agreed with a tired sigh, leaning back in his chair.
Tony glared at Steve and Bruce but in the end figured he couldn't really force Banner to go with them to the hospital. It would have to be enough that he managed to get the guy out of the lab for the rest of the events. Then again, he knew none of the others would be able to resist the chance to help sick kids. Gradually they all headed off in their own directions for the remainder of the day.
Kat and Pepper headed out late in the morning, Happy driving them to collect Darcy from her apartment before they hit the high end shopping. Kat shook her head as Pepper led them through store after store, trying on dress after dress. She had yet to find anything that she really liked all that much, even if the other two raved about a few of them.
They ended up having lunch; none of them having bought anything and discussed their next plan of action as far as shopping went. Both Kat and Darcy left the choices of stores to check out up to Pepper since neither of them had ever had the money to even think about shopping at most of the stores they were visiting. Finally they headed back down the street and it was Kat who stopped dead at the sight of a dress in a window they were passing.
"Wow…never thought it would be Kat that would be staring open mouthed at a dress first," Darcy laughed and Pepper smiled.
"It's just too bad that it's red," Kat sighed, turning away from the window to continue down the street with them.
"They probably have it in another color," Pepper suggested, pulling the other two girls into the store with her. "Besides this is one of my favorite stores to spend Tony's money in."
Darcy and Kat chuckled, following her inside. Pepper hadn't been kidding about spending money in that store often; almost as soon as they entered they each had a salesperson next to them, offering to find them anything they wanted. Kat shook her head, asking if they had the dress in the window in another color like a dark green, blue or black.
"Absolutely; we have it in all three. Would you like to try them all?"
Kat nodded and was whisked away to try on the three dresses while Darcy and Pepper chose a few for themselves to try on as well. Over the course of the next couple of hours, they tried on dresses and finally each had one picked out. As their dresses were set aside for them to pay when they were finished, the salespeople headed off to help them choose matching accessories.
"This store has everything. I wish I could afford to shop here all the time," Darcy sighed as they finally made their way to the front to pay for everything. Shoes, jewellery and dresses were carted out to the car where Happy was waiting for them while Pepper paid for it all on one of Tony's cards.
"I'm just hoping the guys approve," Kat muttered under her breath, not even really meaning to speak out loud.
Pepper giggled and shook her head, "You mean you hope Steve approves. Trust me, Kat; he's not going to know what hit him."
Kat sighed, "That's what I'm afraid of."
Darcy looked confused for a second before it dawned on her, "Right, because he's still not really used to the current fashion styles. Don't worry about it, Kat; compared to most of the dresses you see, that's downright conservative."
Pepper nodded as they headed out to the car, "She's right and you pull it off beautifully. That feral grace of yours really adds to the elegance of the dress itself. Don't worry; I'm sure Steve will be thrilled. Now do we want to eat out tonight and avoid the disaster of eating with those guys or do we just take food back and eat there?"
The other two shrugged but they finally decided they'd just pick up pizzas and head back to the tower. They hadn't needed to worry about having to eat with the guys though. Bruce appeared only long enough to snag a couple slices of pizza and a coffee along with Tony before they disappeared back to the labs, apparently in the middle of a great discovery that even Bruce was willing to bring food into the lab to continue. Thor was nowhere to be found which left the three girls to eat with Steve, Clint and Natasha.
The two spies were quiet as per usual, occasionally speaking lightly to one another or even less frequently they'd join in on the conversation of the others. Even with her empathy, Kat still had a hard time reading the two of them; they were so closed off from everything. She was sure if she really tried she'd be able to but she refused to do that to them…or herself. Steve, however, was more talkative than usual as he questioned them about their afternoon of shopping.
Pepper shook her head at him, "It's not going to happen, Steve. You'll find out what we bought with everyone else tomorrow evening when you guys get back and changed for the gala."
Steve sighed and sat back in his chair, "Can't you at least give me some kind of hint?"
Kat shook her head and narrowed her eyes at the soldier, "Why do I think Tony put you up to this?"
Darcy nodded, "Yeah, this really doesn't seem like you at all, Captain. This is more of a Tony line of questioning…"
Clint laughed from his corner, "I told you they'd figure it out, Cap. Yeah, Tony wanted us to try to find out what you girls bought and figured Steve would raise the least amount of suspicion. He kind of forgot that it's Steve though."
"Hey!" Steve glowered at the spy who only smiled apologetically and Steve sighed. "Yeah, I know…I have no idea how to find this kind of stuff out."
Natasha shook her head, "Don't worry though, they've been trying to get me to tell them what I was wearing too. I say we make them suffer and show up late to leave now."
Pepper chuckled and nodded, "Good idea. Let's make them suffer now."
Kat quirked a brow, "Aren't you going to the hospital tomorrow?"
Natasha shook her head, "No, there aren't any really good shots of me and it'd be better for me to keep my cover as intact as I can. Clint's going, but I figured I'd join you three and Jane for the whole spa treatment."
Pepper nodded, "Sounds like a very good plan."
As they finished eating the group wandered off in various directions for the night ready to get in some relaxation before the following day. Steve tried to shake off his apprehension about the next night; he was more than happy to head into the children's hospital as Captain America and give the kids something positive in their situations but the gala…he sighed as he headed into his room and dropped to sit at the desk. He really wished he had Bucky or someone he trusted to talk to about this. Tony would only laugh at him and not really help him out, Clint would try but it all came so easily for the spy it would be hard for him to help Steve. Thor would try to help him out, but he wasn't sure it would be as helpful as Thor thought it would be. He sighed and then a thought occurred to him; he still had one person from his past he could talk to.
Without another thought about it, he picked up the cell phone that Fury had insisted he carry with him for SHIELD purposes. Frantically he searched through the papers on the desk around him before he finally came up with the number for Xavier's, hoping that Logan would be there. He grinned to himself when it was Logan's gruff voice that answered at the other end and he leaned back.
"Hey, Logan; it's Steve. Do you have a few minutes to talk?"
After nearly an hour and a half of talking with the mutant, Steve was feeling marginally better about the whole prospect of taking Kat to the gala. Not that he had any better idea of what to do or say for the evening, but knowing that he didn't have to try to be something he wasn't helped. Finally he turned in for the night, eventually even managing to get some sleep.
The next morning found the Avengers, minus Natasha and Kat, sitting around the table in the main kitchen. Tony was nursing his second cup of coffee and grousing about the early hours. Clint shook his head; most of his injuries were healed for the most part though he still had to watch what he did with his left shoulder. Steve shifted his attention back to Bruce, the same argument from the day before having been brought back up.
"I really don't think you need to worry so much," Tony was muttering at Bruce who only sighed.
"Like I said yesterday; those kids know the Other Guy not me. And I don't know about you guys but I'm pretty sure destroying the children's hospital would be very bad publicity for the team…and for Stark Industries."
"He has a point," Clint agreed with the doctor and even Thor was nodding in agreement.
"Our team is very quickly dwindling away," Tony growled but shrugged turning back to Bruce, "Just don't expect that line to work on Pepper for tonight. Besides Kat will be there to keep you sane…assuming she isn't too distracted by the good Captain here." He chuckled at Steve's embarrassed cough and shrugged at Clint's glare; the spy had seemed to become a little protective of the mutant after she'd pulled the team together to get both he and Natasha out of Germany. "And I'm sure Darcy's really looking forward to spending tonight with you, Banner."
Tony snickered again, this time at the uncomfortable shifting of Bruce before the doctor made a hasty retreat back to his lab. The others finished off their breakfasts, or in Tony's case coffee, and headed out to get dressed as their hero selves before heading to the hospital. Thor frowned as he headed down the hall, nearly colliding with Kat who jerked to the side to avoid it.
"Easy there, Big Guy. Running into you once was enough of an experience for me; I may as well run into a brick wall," she narrowed her eyes as she caught a sense of his mood and frowned. "Thor? Something wrong?"
"I was just pondering over the need for a hospital designed specifically for children."
Kat sighed and shook her head, "Yeah, it would be nice if the need for them no longer existed, but unfortunately it does. Those kids could be suffering from any number of debilitating diseases and this particular hospital is designed to meet their needs, not just as patients, but as kids. I think this one has room set up for family to stay with them as well."
Thor nodded sadly, "It is still hard to fathom."
Kat nodded and patted his arm lightly, "But you guys are going to be one hell of a bright spot in their lives. Just remember, they're still kids."
Thor nodded and smiled, "And today they shall remember that!"
Kat laughed as Thor headed off again, cape billowing around his ankles and she shook her head. Jane was a very lucky woman.
On his way to the rooftop to meet the others and the helicopter that would deliver him and Steve to the hospital, Clint had his doubts about his presence in the day's events as well which was part of the reason why he had so easily backed Bruce with the others. Still, he supposed it made more sense for him to be there than Natasha. There were too many close up shots of him circulating anymore for him to really have deniability with the team. Still he wasn't looking forward to the day without having Natasha watching his back, even if he did trust the others as well.
The four Avengers gathered on the roof in silence as they waited for the helicopter. Tony and Thor, of course, would make their own grand entrances, and Steve suspected would end up racing one other to be the first there. Still they didn't want to be there too far ahead of the others; they were known as a team now after all. Clint couldn't help but shake his head at how quickly Steve could change from his usual awkward self like he'd been when Tony mentioned Kat, to being the far more confident Captain America who could convince even Tony Stark to follow him through hell.
They didn't wait long before the standard SHIELD helicopter appeared and Clint and Steve wasted no time in climbing aboard as the other two took to the skies, jetting off ahead of them. It only took them a few minutes to cross the city and just before Tony descended ahead of Thor, lightning split the suddenly darkened skies and thunder clapped to the cheers of the handful of staff, parents and kids awaiting their arrival. As soon as his booted feet touched the pavement and he lowered his hammer, the thunder and lightning vanished, giving way to a bright sunny morning once again revealing Thor and Tony standing side by side in front of them. Tony thrived on the cheers of the crowd and Thor grinned, standing tall and proud beside his friend and teammate.
"Captain America and Hawkeye will be along shortly!" Tony informed the group quickly, revelling in the attention of the crowd as they surrounded the two Avengers.
The two of them answered a myriad of questions and entertained the small group around them, but Tony frowned behind his helmet, having not yet slid the faceplate back. From what he'd understood, the hospital was near capacity but there were only a handful of kids around him and Thor. He shook it off as Captain America suddenly landed heavily beside him, shield in front of him after he dove from the hovering helicopter above them. Clint took the slightly less drastic entrance as he repelled from the aircraft, though the crowd outside seemed as delighted with his display as they had been with the other's entrances.
The Avengers present were herded into the complex and Tony couldn't have been happier to support the place and help the families trying to keep their lives in order and be there for their children. The majority of the morning they spent signing autographs and taking pictures with a good number of kids as they toured part of the hospital. Parents thanked them for bringing some happiness into a dark situation, some with barely contained teased as they thanked Tony personally for helping them continue to afford treatments.
Clint was pleasantly surprised as he realized he had his own fan base. As often as Tony or Steve or Thor, the kids approached him as well and they'd even gone so far as to set up an archery course so they could see him in action. He smirked to himself as he turned his attention to the awed kids behind him and still hit his target perfectly which was being held by Thor while a group of kids and parents all tried their hand at hefting Thor's hammer from the ground behind him much to his amusement and their own.
"It's too bad Tommy can't come out and see this!" one small girl squealed clutching a picture Clint had just finished signing for her.
He quirked a dark brow at her, kneeling in front of her, "Why can't he?"
"The nurses said he was too weak to leave his bed," she told him frankly. "He's my older brother so he asked me to get your autograph for him, Mr. Hawkeye."
Clint frowned and glanced over at the other three Avengers. He couldn't stomach the thought of a kid that was so sick he couldn't leave his bed missing out on meeting his heroes. On impulse he reached out and gently squeezed the girls arm before he grinned, leaning in by her ear.
"I think we should find a way to sneak into his room, don't you?"
He hadn't even finished the thought before she was nodding vigorously, "Yeah! Then we'd have new ideas for when he's better and we play spies! He's always you and I'm Black Widow! It's too bad she's not here too."
Clint chuckled, "Yeah, it really is but she had a very important mission that she had to go on. I take it you're a fan of Widow's?"
Again the girl nodded, "Yeah! She doesn't let anyone tell her she can't do something just cause she's a girl!"
Clint chuckled and nodded, "Tell you what; you give me your address and I will personally see to it that Widow sends you a letter when she gets back, okay?" At her enthusiastic nod he grinned. "Now, let's get the other Avengers. We have a mission to complete."
To his left the girl's father smiled and as Clint stood he laid a hand on the spies shoulder, "Thank you."
Clint shrugged it off, heading towards Tony first since Thor had at least four kids hanging off his hammer as he picked it up off the ground, much to their amusement. If he had his way, every kid in the place would get to meet them before they left.
Across the room, Steve had his own surrounding of kids, a smile on his face as he crouched among them, gratefully accepting handmade drawings and cards, signing pictures for the group along with taking pictures with them. He didn't miss the small boy hanging at the back of the group, remaining quiet while the others pushed in around him. Gradually he made his way over to him.
The boy shifted nervously as he glanced up at THE Captain America and Steve really noticed how pale and frail he looked and sounded when he quietly muttered hello, clutching a folded piece of construction paper.
"What's your name, soldier?" Steve asked lightly with a grin.
"Jake," the boy answered with a small smile.
"What have you got there, Jake?" he asked again, gesturing to the paper.
"It's for Hulk, but he didn't come," Jake frowned before he sputtered out quickly, not wanting the captain to think he didn't appreciate having them there, "Not that I don't like you too! Or…or the other Avengers! Thank you for coming to visit…and…and…"
Steve chuckled and laid a gloved hand lightly on his shoulder, "Hey, relax. I have to admit…Hulk is very impressive…and hard to miss."
"Why didn't he come too?"
"Well…" Steve frowned trying to figure out what to tell the poor kid, "He was just too worried that he'd hurt someone. He really wanted to come though…" at the boy's fallen expression, Steve added with a grin, "Besides he wouldn't have fit through the door."
That got a smile from the child and he cautiously offered the gift to Steve, "Can you give him that for me?"
"I would be honoured," Steve smiled, taking the paper from the boy who smiled and carefully made his way back to the nurse standing not too far from him.
Tony glanced over at Clint as he approached and not far off to his right, Thor always watched the spy as he appeared once again his emotionless self. Tony quirked a brow at the spy, having slid his faceplate back after they'd entered the complex. Clint slipped up beside him, keeping his voice low as he spoke so the kids around them wouldn't hear him.
"Did you know that we are only getting to see the kids who can leave their rooms? The really sick ones don't get to even see us."
Tony frowned and shook his head, his voice low as well as he replied, "that has to change. We came to give these kids something good in their life right now, to show them that people do actually care, that they have the Avengers on their side…and the ones who really need that aren't going to get it? Screw that; we're changing the plan. You grab the Captain, I'll get Goldilocks."
Clint nodded and they each turned to head over to their teammates only to realize that Thor and Steve were making their way towards them. Their hushed conversation may have been overlooked by the kids but not their teammates. Quickly and quietly Tony and Clint filled in the others with what was going on. Steve clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at the unfairness of the idea while Thor glared at the nurses and hefted his hammer over his shoulder.
"Let's go," Steve growled before smiling at the kids around them. "Hey, kids! I bet you all know at least one other kid that's here for treatment that couldn't come down and see us."
Heads nodded and several kids voiced that they were getting autographs for at least one other kid that was there. Parent's watched silently, touched by the generosity the Avengers were showing for not only their children but for all the children in the place. Tony silenced the protests of the staff as the Avengers headed through the hospital, guided by the kids and parents that had been present all morning. They headed through the hospital, stopping at every room much to the delight of the kids staying in them and the shock of their families. The group that was guiding them around respectfully remained in the halls as the Avengers made their surprise visits, granting the other kids the chance to speak with the heroes. Parents offered cameras to get pictures for the other kids that didn't have one with them. It was two hours past their scheduled pick up time before they finally left the hospital, heading back to the Tower. They all had stacks of cards and letters and several addresses for Natasha and Bruce, as well as themselves. By the time they left the facility, they were all wearing beaming smiles, even Clint, nearly as wide and as bright as the kids.
A/N: Alright and there we have it…the next chapter will be the evening and a little bit of drama and action! Now that the muse has returned, hopefully I can get something done on this one a lot sooner than it took to get this chapter up! Anyway…if you liked…or even if you didn't…let me know by leaving a review… I do loves the reviews! Adios until next time!
