More story! Yay! (Who doesn't love double updates?)
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It had been six weeks since the much-discussed kidnapping and Claire Thomas was finally spotted publicly for the first time. So many journalists had tried - and failed - to spot her around Stark Tower that the rumours about Tony Stark keeping her locked up somewhere had resurfaced, but they were low-level and Pepper had decided just to ignore them, so they had all pretended like they hadn't noticed.
Much like that auction where she had first been spotted, Tony Stark, Claire Thomas and James Barnes attended together. However, this time James Rhodes had been replaced by Bruce Wayne, making the whispers instantly double and the journalists flock in large numbers, hoping to gain publishable insights.
Wayne had a reputation almost as distinctive as Tony's, though his fame and infamy was on somewhat different grounds. Not to mention that after that fight between the two billionaires, their relationship had been excessively questioned and everyone who loved gossip were excited to see them apparently just hanging out together.
The two men - two of the most influential men in America - were walking on either side of the younger woman, who was saying something apparently riveting, as she talked excitedly with much gesturing, and had every bit of the attention of her companions.
All four took a seat together for the first auction of the car event, seemingly laughing hysterically because the first lot was a three-wheeler, though another kind than the Isetta Tony Stark had purchased for his whatever-she-was last time. Reporters afterwards noted how it looked as if Bruce Wayne thought about bidding, and was restrained by his company, all still giggling in various degrees.
The present photographers were even more excited than even the journalists as Bruce Wayne suddenly leaned over towards Claire Thomas, who was sitting next to him, and tenderly kissed her temple. Tony Stark, seemingly jealous or possessive (or maybe simply protective, as someone more intuitive might note) promptly leaned in and kissed her other temple, but the gesture was still of entirely another sort.
As camera shutters clicked in the distance, Claire smiled at Tony Stark, leaning her head against his in a gesture of warm, but clearly platonic - maybe even filial - affection, before she turned slowly and softly pressed her lips against those of the man on her other side. Wayne smiled, kissing her back just as softly, startling much of the room at his sudden laugh when Tony Stark hit him in the back of his head with his palm.
"Dad!" Miss Thomas called out, highly disapproving, in the silence around the benches near them as everyone eagerly listened out for gossip.
"All this violence. And people are worried about me!" Bucky Barnes commented with a snort. "You really have to stop assaulting fellow billionaires, Shellhead - it's not good for the economy, Pepper said so!"
"I didn't see it coming this time. I should know better when he's so close," Wayne chuckled softly, clearly not in the least concerned. "I better tell Edward, before it causes a stir. At least the contracts are already signed this time."
Claire Thomas, meanwhile, glared at her adoptive dad. "Really, Tony? This is why the Hulk makes a much better chaperone than you do!"
"As long as Hulk doesn't try hitting me, I suspect we'll all live..." Wayne was typing on his phone, presumably texting his second-in-command a warning, while Claire did much the same next to him, still leaning against his chest.
Several auctions later, the little company in the WIP section was quiet, but people were still watching them. The two men next to him expressed some visible surprise as Wayne bid on a box of old mechanical parts, but the former Winter Soldier seemed to figure out why quite quickly.
Tony Stark, however, was still shaking his head about it when Bruce Wayne accepted the case at the close of the auction. No one had even bothered to bid against him. "You'll never clean those up enough to salvage a single part," Ironman complained, "and they're all obsolete designs anyway."
"Obviously," the other billionaire agreed, but he still kept a casual hold of the box, clearly satisfied about something.
Bucky rolled his eyes. "Really Tony? For a mechanical genius you're super blind right now. Claire wears gears in her hair when she's not working, if she doesn't need to be formally dressed up. She even tosses the wingnuts at Steve and Clint when they're being silly, sometimes."
Wayne laughed. "Really? I'd pay to see that. But yes, she does. I can't say I haven't noticed. Obviously, as I got her these. I won't make her carry them, though."
Claire peeked into the box with new interest, noticing only now what Bruce had been able to spot through the room. There were several old and beautiful pieces amongst the junk in the small crate, mechanical bits and bobs she'd love to weld together to hair clips or combs. "At least as inventive as giving me a car," she complimented him. Tony only just held back an impulse to smack him again at the other billionaire genius' gratified smirk.
