Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I was busy being anti-social at a family party.

LianaDare8; It's weird how he's getting so confident haha.

Lena Sauran: That's good. I was worried about it.

Arrows the Wolf: Haha I'm glad you thought it was funny.

Silvertail of shoreclan: I probably could've actually. But I was happy with how the chapter was.

MysticRyter: Exactly the point.

Itsgoose2u: Whew! I was worried haha. Never fight the feels haha! It never works.

dragonrain618: Haha welcome to Team Natasha then!

Rammerjammer14: Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Definitely makes me feel better.

Justasmalltowngirl2713: Hahaha omg. I love Gwen too. She's becoming awesome. I HAD to include cliff jumping simply because of you. Gwen should be our BFF too.

Ms. Smooth Criminal: Totally, I'll have to get it in there somewhere. I think I have an idea. I think he can get bossy sometimes haha. That is until Pepper steps in. I think Clint needs to like move into the East Coast Tower. He belongs there. Haha what's funny is I've been trying to think of a codename for Gwen and I've decided on Energizer from Energizer bunny. I'm terrible at fluff haha. I'm always worried it's too cheesy.

Chapter Twenty-Five

On the morning of March Thirty-first, Gwen and Steve woke up early. They dressed, Gwen in a nice red cardigan and black jeans and Steve in his button down shirt and khakis. Gwen was dreading this Easter dinner while Steve was actually excited about it. According to him, Gwen should've been happy about being alive, but what he didn't understand was that she was going to be stuck in a kitchen with many other females who had a tendency to gossip like high schoolers while he sat around like slugs with the guys.

Hey drove to the Tower, Steve trying to cheer up Gwen by reminding her over and over again that she was alive. It did nothing.

JARVIS took them up after a greeting and they realized they were actually late. It seemed Steve had followed through with his promise. Gwen was very pleased about this new discovery.

"Gwendolyn, get your butt in here!" called Pepper the moment they stepped out of the elevator as though she could sense their presence. In the living area, Tony sat with Luke, Clint, Thor, Bruce and Hank. Steve kissed Gwen's forehead and gave her a look of sympathy as he made his way over to them, Tony waving his arms obnoxiously to get Gwen's attention and accidently, or perhaps purposefully, hit Thor in his Norse face.

After taking a deep breath, Gwen forced herself into the kitchen. Pepper was working on mashed potatoes, Darcy was filling up wine glasses, Jane was working on deviled eggs, Daisy was cleaning vegetables, Janet was over the stove, Betty was taking some sort of bag out of the microwave and Natasha was cutting a few loaves of bread, a bit violently Gwen noticed. Maybe giving Natasha a knife wasn't the best idea.

"Thank God you're finally here," said Pepper, wiping her hands clean on a nearby towel. "There's a turkey getting ready, but I'll work on that, don't worry. You can get started on the dessert."

"She won't let me do it," muttered Darcy irritably.

"That's because you have a sweet tooth and you'll eat all the frosting," retorted Pepper.

"You can't really blame me."

Gwen saw that there were two choice for dessert; pie and cake. The pie was actually already done and Gwen immediately went to work on the cake. She was happy that it was simply a mixture from a box that one could easily buy from Walmart as she had made those successfully before. Gwen opened the box and took out the package. She used a nearby scissors to open the bag and poured the contents into a plastic bowl.

"So," said Pepper, "how's Steve doing?"

Gwen could almost hear everyone tune into this conversation and sighed.

"That's what you've all been waiting for, isn't it?" asked Gwen as she read the instructions on the back of the box.

"Well, Tony and I haven't gone through what you guys have."

"Yeah, and Thor and I don't see each other that much," added Jane. "Neither do Darcy and Fandral."

"Shut up!" hissed Darcy, earning a chuckle from Jane.

"And I'm going to end up forever alone with a bunch of cats," said Daisy proudly.

Gwen sighed. "Steve's fine."

"What's it like to be married to a super soldier?" asked Darcy curiously. "I mean, is he good in be-"

"Oh God, I'm not having this conversation," interrupted Gwen, her face flushing as her inner awkwardness came out. She could really use that energy and confidence she had before. It was still there, but Gwen was too busy trying to make her face cool down to realize it.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"I think we all know," laughed Betty.

"It's innocent question!"

"Yeah," said Daisy with an eye roll, "as innocent as an NC-17 rated fanfiction story."

Natasha, who was sipping some water, nearly spit out her drink at this and everyone laughed, including the redheaded assassin. Gwen couldn't help but wonder why Natasha wasn't crabby on this day. Maybe Clint's presence was making her happy. Or at least Bobbi's departure. Gwen couldn't help but think everyone was relieved by her absence.

"You know what?" asked Tony, his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. "We should have a drinking competition."

"I'm in," replied Clint instantly.

"Is there a reward for this game of drinking?" asked Thor.

"There shouldn't be a game of drinking," muttered Bruce.

"Oh, come on," whined Tony. "What d'you think, Cap?"

"I think I'd win," said Steve. "So I'm not in."

"Same here," added Luke.

"I won't join," said Hank, "but I'd love to see a drunk Stark."

"You guys are no fun," whined Tony.

There was a pause for a moment.

"So Rogers," said Tony. "How's married life?"

Steve looked at Tony suspiciously. He wasn't sure where the genius was going with this.

"It's...good," he answered.

"You guys have fun together?"

Steve didn't notice how it was painting Tony to say this, so he instead furrowed his brow.

"I...guess?"

"And...everything else is...good?"

"Why are you asking this?"

"I just want to make sure you're...taking care of Gwenie."

"Of course I am!"

"Taking care of...everything?"

"He's basically asking if you're fulfilling her intimate needs," said Hank bluntly as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Steve's face heated up immediately. This was not something he wanted to talk about.

"Thank you, my friend," said Tony, giving Hank a pat on the shoulder. "You are like some amazing awkward to normal translator."

"Why d'you wanna know this?" asked Steve with a furrowed brow, his face still red.

Tony sighed. "Pepper wants to know 'everything' as she put it and she knows Gwenie's not gonna tell so she wanted me to and I said no because it's like asking my son- or brother-in-law how he's doing with my daughter or sister in the bedroom-"

"I think we get it Stark."

"Anyway, she told me she'd have Gwenie lock me out of all my labs if I didn't do it."

"Well, you can tell you tried."

"Thank God. I honestly don't want to know any of that stuff."

Once the women were done, the guys were forced to help bring out the food, Thor having a bit too much fun with it, even though all he did was bring over a turkey and nearly broke the table when he basically threw it down with excitement.

Natasha sat next to Clint, looking very content that Bobbi was not around. Bruce and Betty were next to each other, their hands intertwined. Gwen had never seen the doctor so happy. Pepper and Tony were next to them, Tony already drinking his wine and pouring himself another glass. Then came Gwen and Steve, his arm resting on the back of her chair as they waited for everyone to get situated.

Once everyone was seated, some people like Gwen and Steve immediately folded their hands to say grace while others, like Tony and Thor, eyed the hot food hungrily. Steve cleared his throat loudly and got everyone's attention.

"Should we say grace?" he asked.

"But I'm hungry," whined Tony.

"I think grace is a good idea," said Pepper, jabbing Tony in the ribs with her elbow.

Everyone folded their hands together, Jane showing Thor what to do.

"Thank you, Lord, for the food we are about to receive and for giving us Jesus Christ-" Tony gave a fake snore in hopes that Steve would hurry up making Steve roll his eyes "-and for the many blessings throughout this year. Amen."

"Amen to that," commented Tony as he immediately scooped up some mashed potatoes with a spoon and set it on his plate.

The whole dinner was an interesting event. Whenever someone asked Tony to pass something, he generally threw it unless it would cause a mess. Thor found himself eating as he would on Asgard, which meant he basically stuffed everything in his mouth at once. Jane facepalmed when she saw how her godly boyfriend was behaving. Steve and Luke, both people who eat more than others, were both much more polite about it.

It was fun to watch Natasha and Clint eat as they were very careful with each thing they held. Gwen could've sworn they managed to butter their bread with one quick swipe of a knife. She supposed it was the perks of being assassins.

"So!" exclaimed Tony half-way though, "since there's so many of us together without the presence of Fury, let's discuss theories about the evil guys planning world domination."

Several people groaned at the idea of discussing world threats at this particular moment while some, like Clint and Natasha, seemed indifferent.

"Oh, come on," whined Tony. "Gwenie hasn't even heard one."

"That's true," Gwen agreed.

"Basically we think AIM's working with Amora, the sorceress who hid you from Heimdall's view, and the Green Goblin," stated Hank, getting right to the point as always. "We also think that AIM wishes to find and bring back Red Skull."

"That's Johann Schmidt, right?"

"Yeah," answered Steve grimly. "We can't let them get that bastard."

Tony gave an exaggerated gasp and threw his roll up in the air. "Steve Rogers swearing at Easter dinner? Someone call the nuthouse."

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Gwen as Tony's roll fell on Bruce's head.

"I guess wait," answered Bruce, throwing the roll at Tony's face. "We'll be able to spend more time hunting down these people now that you're better."

"Have you found out who the Goblin is yet?" asked Jane.

"No," replied Hank. "We're hoping Gwendolyn could help us hack into some security footage from different buildings in New York to see if we could figure out where he came from."

Hank then looked at Gwen who nodded in agreement.

"What is it with evil people and the color green?" asked Tony. "Slytherins, Loki, the Goblin, broccoli-"

"Broccoli isn't a person," Darcy pointed out.

"Yes, but it's evil and I don't like it."

After dinner was finished, dessert was brought out for all to enjoy. Gwen though that Thor could've actually inhaled the pie if he had tried to. Many people couldn't finish their tasty treat as they had eaten too much for dinner, like Tony. He therefore began to complain until Pepper jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

Just as Gwen predicted, there was a massive amount of leftovers, some of which Tony claimed possession of immediately. Gwen was slightly reminded of the character Gollum as Tony clutched the extra pie to his chest in a plastic container.

Everyone helped clean, well almost everyone. Jane made Thor leave the kitchen once he got amused by the faucet in the sink and Tony and Darcy began arguing about what should be put on the television, leaving Pepper to come over and make a decision herself to shut them up.

"Ahem," called Tony, successfully getting everyone's attention as they came out of the kitchen. "I would like to make an announcement in the presence of so many people, many not as cool as me but that's beside the point." Tony then turned to Pepper who was in the process of rolling her eyes and took her hands in his. "Virginia Potts. I'm pretty sure that without you, I would've died, like, a crap load of years ago. And that's really as deep as I'm gonna get here because I'm not one to get all mushy. So-" he then got down on one knee, taking a small black box out of his pocket, several female gasps being heard all around "-Pepper, will you do me an honor by marrying me?"

Pepper smiled and laughed. "Only if you can tell me social security number."

"Just say yes and get it over with."

"Yes, Mr. Stark. I will marry you."

Applause erupted as Tony slid the gold diamond ring on Pepper's finger. He then stood up and kissed her. Gwen never thought she'd see something like this happen. It was insane. But then again, that was coming from the girl who married the World War II super-soldier.