Cookies for Everybody


Everyone was hanging out on the party floor after dinner, which now included Sam, since he had arrived from D.C. He had also been talked into being included in the gauntlet, since he was already invited to Thanksgiving at Clint's tomorrow. Sam greeted Steve with a couple of manly hugs, which he always thought was funny when they did it, but as usual Sam just gave him a nod. During a mission, they interacted like a team, but privately, Sam still seemed to not trust him.

Not that he could blame him, since he had tried to kill him...twice.

Vic was on the other side of the room, talking with Tony and Pepper, about what he was not sure, but they looked to be getting along. He couldn't describe how grateful he was to Tony for helping Vic out by giving her a job, not that she couldn't find one herself, but now, she would be close by, where he and Steve could protect her.

As Pepper moved over to the couch to sit near Bruce, he watched suspiciously as Vic then walked with Tony a little bit further away to have a private discussion. Both one of them had a different body language than last night, and each of them had smiles on their faces, so he was not worried about Vic trying to get herself into trouble again. What were they discussing? Both Vic and Tony pointed towards where Steve, Nat, and Sam were sitting, while not being obvious about their movements. When they were done talking, Vic headed straight for him, while Tony went towards the rest of the group on the couches and chairs.

"Alright, so what's the deal between you and Sam?" Vic asked coming over to take a hold of his arm as he sat at the bar alone, nursing a drink.

When she had been introduced to Sam, she had greeted him, but he noticed she had found something about him funny. She had too much of a smile on her face for just saying hello to someone.

"I may have tried to kill him, also, in D.C.," he admitted waiting for the hit on the arm like she had given him for Natasha, but it never came.

Instead, he heard her give a loud sigh.

"Is there anyone here you haven't tried to kill?" Vic asked nudging him with her shoulder instead.

"Tony, Bruce, and Pepper," he joked, defending himself as she smiled at him.

"Cute. Is he as bad as Tony was? Do I need to have a talk with him?" Vic asked starting to move towards where the three of them were sitting on the couches. He grabbed a hold of her arm to keep her in place.

"Oh, no. You promised last night," he reminded her, pulling her into an embrace, putting his arms around her waist, so that it did not look suspicious to anyone else that he was trapping her.

"I only promised about the hitting part, not talking," she pointed out, leaning in close to his ear, her breath warm as it slid over his skin. She understood the ruse, so they just looked to be being cozy. "During the time you have been here, have you not tried to talk with Tony, or Sam, about what happened?"

"Not really. I figured giving them their space would be best," he answered, running his fingers over the back of her hand which was sitting on the bar top.

"That seems to have worked out great for you, so far," she responded sarcastically, looking over at the group of three laughing at something. It was easy to tell that the three of them had a special connection. Because of D.C., when he had tried to kill all of them. "Maybe you just need some sugar encouragement."

With that, Vic leaned over to the boxes she had sat on the edge of the bar when they had arrived earlier that night, pulling them towards her. Picking them up, she told him, "Come on."

Letting her waist go, she walked over to where everyone was now gathered on the couches, placing a box on each of the coffee tables in the center, where everyone could get to them. The two of them sat on the couch, with Vic sitting the closest to Sam on her right. Both Steve and Nat sat on the chairs further to their right.

"Alright, I got these earlier for everyone to try," she said opening up both boxes.

Inside was a large number of cookies, all of them decorated in the different symbols that all of the Avengers had taken to represent themselves. Everyone leaned in to get a better look at the sweets inside. Tony and Pepper, of course, each grabbed an arch reactor. Natasha took her own widow symbol, while Bruce took one of the green radiation decorated ones. Sam laughed as he grabbed one covered in a set of red wings. Steve picked up his shield, while he actually found one representing himself. It had a silver icing background with a red star in the center.

"There's also a Thor and Hawkeye cookies, so we can take them to him tomorrow," Vic said picking up one of Thor's hammer cookies. He gave her a quizzical look at her choice, which she noticed.

"I am not going to listen to the two of you bicker about playing favorites," she informed him, taking a bite.

"Oh, which of Tony's toys did you decide on?" Natasha asked taking a bite of her cookie. "Please tell me you chose the Bugatti. He's hidden the keys and refuses to let me drive it."

"No, I didn't chose the Bugatti," Vic said taking a bite, acting a bit hesitant with her answer.

He and Steve had been so shocked at finding her in the garage shirtless, that they hadn't even thought about asking her about the cars.

"Wait, Vic won the competition?" Sam asked almost choking on the bite he had just taken.

"Yes, but I totally cannot believe her choices," Tony said leaning back on the couch and putting his arm around Pepper.

"What, did she get the Aston Martin Vulcan and Zenvo?" Bruce asked knowing that they were two of Tony's favorites.

"She," Sam said pointing at Vic, his voice not hiding his surprise, "completed a song perfectly on expert?"

"Yes, Sam she did, and no, she did not choose either one of those, Bruce," Tony said shaking his head. "Vic, please tell them which you chose."

"Fine," Vic answered then took a deep breath before stating, "The modified Jeep Wrangler Dragon."

"What?" the unanimous cry went out from everyone, including himself.

"What made you chose that car, Victoria?" Steve asked sitting a bit forward in his chair.

"It's got an upgraded engine and suspension, as well as all the other modifications, like a cold-air intake. The sound system is top of the line. It will be perfect to take off-road, as well as camping, with the military-grade airless tires. And, of course, it will seat all three of us," Vic finished saying giving her shoulders a shrug, as if it should have been obvious.

"You chose a car so that we could all be together?" he had to ask, not believing that Vic wouldn't choose from all of the expensive cars that Tony had lying around.

"Yeah, there's no point in having a two seater," she said grinning at him and Steve.

The rest of the group was still trying to understand how someone could turn down the million dollar cars Tony had offered for the competition.

"What about the second car?" Natasha asked still looking slightly shocked.

"Nope, that's a surprise," Vic said shaking her head.

"So you did choose one of his expensive toys?" Bruce asked.

"Again, no," Tony said looking slightly disappointed. "I'll just say that I was shocked with the choice, but only until she explained her reasoning."

"Why can't we know?" Natasha asked sitting back after grabbing a Hulk cookie.

"I'll let everyone know at a later time, once I work out some things," was all that Vic said picking up another cookie, this time a widow one, nodding it towards Nat.

With that, the group seemed to drop the topic, knowing that if Vic wanted them to know, that she would tell them. He and Steve would ask her later in private and see what she said then. The fact that she had chosen such a practical car over the outrageously expensive ones that most would kill for, still shocked him a bit.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, I want the full story of what happened in D.C. I've only gotten bits and pieces from people," Vic said looking at all of them. They had told her about their fight on the Helicarrier, but not what all had led up to it. Bruce, Tony and Pepper joined them, wanting to hear the story in a bit more detail, it seemed.

So, Steve began telling about how he had literally run laps around Sam. Nat took over to tell about how they had found Zola in the hidden area of the bunker. He tensed up at that point, his memories flashing over his own dealings with Zola after he had been experimented on by him both times. How that mad scientist had put himself into a computer, he couldn't understand, but he was so glad that he was dead now. He felt Vic's hand squeeze his reassuringly, knowing she felt the change in him.

When they started with their first encounter on the highway, he started to worry again. Vic found the part where he ripped the steering wheel out of the car amusing. But he felt her hand squeeze his hard when Nat told how she had shot him in the goggles, barely missing a kill shot on him. Further on, they finally reached the part where he had attacked Sam, ripping his wing off before kicking him off the Helicarrier. He heard the slight anger in Sam's voice as he told how he was barely able to get his parachute deployed before hitting the Triskelion's roof. Vic's hand quickly began to squeeze his in rapid succession, indicating that she wanted him to speak up at this point. Taking a deep breath, he looked directly at Sam.

"Sam, I'm sorry for going after you like that. I just wasn't strong enough to break through the programming," he said not sure what more to say, but having Vic next to him made it easier to admit to. It took a few moments before Sam finally spoke to him.

"I'm definitely glad that you are on our side now," Sam admitted giving his head a nod of approval towards him. "And I should thank you for going after that automated mini-gun on the roof during our last mission. Before you took it out, a few more seconds and their targeting system would have had me."

Sam then took over the story, telling about how he was ambushed by Rumlow, that he was a double agent for HYDRA, as he was making his way through the Triskelion. He remember him all too well.

"If it wasn't for the Helicarrier coming through the building, I don't know what the outcome of that fight may have been," Sam said taking a sip of his beer.

"Rumlow had years of training from SHIELD. You were lucky he didn't just pull and gun and shoot you," Steve added. "But he likes to get his hands dirty when it comes to things like that. Just like in the elevator."

"What elevator?" Vic asking the same question he was about to.

"After Pierce confronted me in his office, I was leaving by the elevator. At every floor on the way down, more agents would get on. I realized they were about to ambush me. I was able to take them all out, Rumlow included, but not get out of the elevator itself due to the tactical teams set up on every floor," Steve said recounting a fight he had not mentioned before. "I had to smash through the glass wall of the elevator, and fall into the building's entrance lobby to escape."

"How far of a fall was that?" Pepper asked.

"At least ten stories, I think. Luckily, my shield took the impact for me," Steve admitted.

"Punk, you just have to throw yourself out of high places without a parachute, don't you?" Bucky asked just glad that it had all worked out in the end.

"Oh, so he told you about the plane," Natasha added to the conversation.

"Yes. It seems like a nasty habit he needs to get out of," Vic informed him with a smile.

"Well, I'll be happy once we get Rumlow into a cell," Sam said. "That is one evil dude."

"He wasn't captured?" Vic asked.

"No. The Helicarrier the two of them were in crashed into the building, collapsing it on top of him, but rescuers were able to pull him from the wreckage. After being treated for a short time at a local D.C. hospital, he disappeared without a trace. His entire face and head was messed up pretty bad from burning, so that he's nothing but scar tissue," Steve told her. "Every once in a while, we receive a report of him causing trouble somewhere around the globe, but we are always one step behind him."

Sam finished up with his part telling about how he was the next one to jump from a window without a parachute, into a helicopter a few floors lower than it needed to be. Nat said that he was welcome for her catching him.

"So, taking after Steve already?" Vic teased him, getting a chuckle of him.

"Alight then, since we are swapping stories, I want to know how I can go home for a week, and come back to you two finding your soulmate," Sam said taking another sip of his drink.

He started at the beginning of the story, telling them about how he had spotted Vic in the lobby two weeks before. Then Steve told about how their group had gone into the burlesque club, where he had spotted her mark after taking the shot.

"That was why you started coughing?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I was shocked by what I saw. Remember how I took Bucky aside to talk with him right after? That was me telling him what I had seen," Steve told them.

Hearing that, Sam then loudly cleared his throat, looking directly at Tony. Lifting his hand as if he expected something to be put into it, Tony then sighed, reached into his pockets, pulling out a wad of cash. Finding a single dollar bill, he handed it over to Sam.

"Hey, you're leaving out the beginning part of that story," Vic then added as Sam put his dollar away.

"What part is that?" he asked, sure they had not forgotten anything.

"The part when ya'll first got inside, before you even made it to a table," Vic said with a devious grin. He looked over at Steve, who shrugged his shoulders not sure where she was going with this. "When Sam here came over to me, and in a smooth, sexy voice asked, 'how you doing, my sweet cotton candy?'"

Looking over at Sam, he watched as his mouth fell open as he remembered the event, but obviously not having realized that Vic was the same waitress that he had initially tried to hit on when they walked in. His expression was priceless. Bucky knew that he had to take advantage of this opportunity.

"So, you were hitting on our soulmate?" he asked in a deep voice, leaning forward a bit menacingly while trying to not laugh. None of them, but Steve, were used to him jesting.

"Woah, man," Sam quickly defended himself, lifting his hands in front of him, with more than just a slightly panicked look on his face. "I had no idea that's who Vic was."

"Don't do that to Sam, he may take you seriously," Vic jabbed her elbow into his chest, pushing him to sit back where he had been. At that point he had to smile. "He's just messing with you, Sam."

"Messing with me? Since when does he do 'messing with'?" Sam asked, pointing right at him while looking around the gathered group for an answer. Had he really been so shut-out for the past few months?

"Is that why you looked amused when you were introduced to Sam?" Steve asked.

"Of course," Vic answered, patting Sam amusingly on the leg. "I've been holding in that revelation in all night."


"What do you mean you are not going to tell us?" Steve questioned as Victoria refused to let them know what had happened in the garage.

"It's a surprise, so I'm not saying," was all that she said pouring herself a large glass of milk. They had gathered all of his shield and Bucky's star cookies and brought them home for themselves. The rest of the group had done the same with their own symbols, with Natasha saying she would make sure that Clint's got to him tomorrow. Since they had no idea when Thor would be back, the remainder of his had been eaten.

"So, you are going to keep a secret, from us?" Bucky asked sitting down on one of the stools.

"There's difference between a secret and a surprise," Victoria pointed out to him.

"Alright, if you want to keep it a surprise, then we will wait for you to tell us," he said giving Bucky's arm a nudge, hoping that he would drop the topic.

"So, I didn't catch all of the conversation about what was supposed to happen in the morning," Victoria asked leaning forward onto the counter.

The group had stayed together much later than they usually did, talking and snacking on the cookies. Sam and Victoria had gotten into a discussion about jazz players, which ended up with the two of them sitting at the piano while she pointed out the difference in styles versus technical difficulties of the songs, Sam sitting closest to the window. They had left the two of the alone, as they sat on the couch and just listened as she played. Most of the others had done the same, until Pepper pointed out that it was getting late considering they all needed to get up early tomorrow.

"We have to get up early so that we can change into our outfits. We will be heading to where the float is off of Central Park just about an hour before the parade starts, so that we can get a final look at what Tony set up on the float. You, Bruce, and Pepper will be sitting on the main bleachers in the reserved seats for Stark Industries," he informed her, not sure if she knew about that. "When the float reaches the stage area in front of the television cameras, where you'll be, that's when we will put on the show."

"After we get to the parade's end, we'll head back here, change and then head off to Clint's for the rest of the day," Bucky supplied.

"I've only seen the parade a couple of times, and now I'll basically have a front row seat," Victoria said finishing off her milk. "I want to see the two of you in your outfits before you leave, alright?"

"That we can do," he said looking at the time on the stove clock and seeing that it was closing in on midnight. "Ready for bed?"

Both Bucky and Victoria nodded in agreement, as they headed to their rooms to get ready. When he got to Victoria's room, he went ahead and laid in the bed, getting as comfortable as he could while being alone. Victoria left her bathroom, already changed into shorts and a tank top set of pajamas. Glancing towards the door, she seemed to be looking for Bucky. Not seeing him, she quickly ran and jumped onto the bed, landing hard right next to him.

"I can't believe that you beat Bucky here," she grinned at him while she literally hopped down the bed to her spot.

"Why?" he could barely ask as his voice tried to crack, while hoping his eyes weren't as wide as he thought they may be while being pulled downward to two very bouncy items before him.

"Well, he does make more innuendoes than you do," she said, raising an eyebrow as she grinned, kneeling next to him. "But maybe he likes me better…"

Pulling her into an embrace, he rolled them down so that he was slightly on top of her, giving her a deep kiss. Her hands found the back of his head, holding him in place. As their tongues met, he could taste the flavor of bubblegum from the toothpaste Victoria had just used, making him hum a bit with enjoyment at it. He may be a bit more reserved about showing his feelings towards her, but that didn't mean that being with her didn't give him a warm feeling inside. Hearing a moan escape from her brought a smile to his face.

"How was that?" he asked

"Too short," she said, pulling him back down for a bit longer. After a minute, he pulled away as he heard footsteps approaching.

He knew that Bucky was making them on purpose since there had been numerous times after he came to the Tower when he would scare Steve without even trying. He nodded his head towards to door to indicate to Victoria that he was on the way, not sure if she would pick up on the noise. She had a large grin on her own face as she lay still for a few moments, probably surprised at his forwardness, but definitely not upset at it.

When Bucky entered the room, he had already moved back into his spot, while Victoria was still getting herself situated in the bed under the covers.

Bucky stopped and looked at the two of them for a moment.

"You look guilty of something," Bucky accused, pointing right at him.

"Just giving Victoria a good night kiss," he casually smiled, slipping further under the covers to get comfortable. Bucky stared at him for a moment, but he seemed to take him at his word. It's not like he was lying.

And he would definitely be having good dreams after that kiss.