This is set on the morning after the ball/event of the last chapter. And I've waited for years for this one, too. (Because he just had to use that video for something, don't you agree?)
I claim to own absolutely no one but Claire. She's mine.
TapTap
Claire went down relatively late to eat breakfast the day after the party. Not because she was hungover or had slept in, but because she had been busy in a video call with Captain America, discussing the finer points of sketching. But then again, her life was usually like that.
She came down to find several long tables set up, most people eating in various degrees of silence, while shamelessly watching Bruce and Tony have a very heated but amicable discussion about some subject even she couldn't even identify.
They didn't really stop when she joined them, but they both greeted her in between argumenting, Tony waving and Wayne tenderly kissing her temple as she sat down next to him.
Most of the room watched them, but it was soon evident that at least one person had clearly missed the differences in the gestures, or at least the implications of that. He came over a minute later, jumping to conclusions and meddling in things he should definitely have left alone.
"Seriously?" This man Claire had never seen before interrupted the geniuses to throw what very much sounded like an accusation at Tony. Why he'd care, no one had any idea. "You go around naming her as a daughter or something. You think we're stupid? Look at her, clearly wearing your shirt! Like we don't all know what you did last night!"
Both Claire and Tony just blinked, a little blindsided at this, but Wayne made a sound somewhere between a snort and a scoff. "And you should consider more carefully before you make allegations... or enemies." And almost casually reaching out a hand towards Claire, who was right next to him, he folded down a corner of the clearly exquisitely expensive shirt she was wearing, and which was obviously originally made for a man.
Half the room could see the label stamped with Wayne Incorporated, not Stark industries. The man quickly made himself disappear, unable to cope with the double glares aimed at him, perhaps realising he'd created a vendetta with two of the world's most powerful men. If he had any sense at all, though as much was highly doubtful at that point, he must have been able to feel the end of his career looming. Claire didn't join them in their glaring after him - she couldn't help but giggle. First Wayne, and then Tony, joined her in laughing.
Maybe in a sensible world, that would have been the only incident over breakfast, but to only Claire's surprise both Tony and Wayne had to field ridiculous questions and pleas for she was not sure what over the course of their meal. There was apparently a reason why they stuck to either anonymous places, or strictly managed ones.
It was towards the end of their reakfast, when Claire at least had abandoned her yoghurt and fruits in favour of chocolate croissants, that a man sat down only two seats away, while most of the other guests kept a slightly intimidated distance.
He proceeded to, unasked, confront Tony about, "Letting the Hulk roam free in New York." Tony outright ignored him, knowing full well the hotel personnel would remove him soon enough, when the man added one more thing, even more confrontationally.
"You call that girl," he gestured towards Claire, "your daughter, right? And you have a baby girl, too, the papers say. Would you let either of them anywhere near him?" There were plenty of eavesdroppers now, though it was hard to tell what they thought about the conversation they listened to.
Tony looked back at him calmly, raised an eyebrow, and merely stated, ever so evenly, "Yes, as a matter of fact." He pulled out his phone, in a moment setting it up to project the holographic image of a short video clip. It was Claire, cradling her goddaughter while in the careful grip of the Hulk. And the whole room saw it.
The concierge showed the man out the next moment, and they finished up their breakfast, more than ready to go home.
Claire thought for herself, as the two men walked on each side of her - both seemingly equally as concerned she'd get overwhelmed with the attention the pair of them faced - that this was why she'd decided to split the rights to her new patents of green energy solutions. She loved them differently, but she'd never be able to choose between them.
The gym was about as large as you'd expect it to be, belonging toTony Stark and being used by the Avengers, with plenty of space for sparring and obstacle training, as well as Natasha's own ballet studio, and the cardio room Pepper and Claire liked to frequent.
Natasha, her little treasure in her arms, was sitting in one of the comfy and highly stylish sofas that seemed to appear anywhere and everywhere in the Tower where people liked to sit, nevermind how weird the placement seemed. She was giving feedback to Steve, Rhodey, Clint and Sam, who together were taking on a pair of "terrorists," played by Bucky and Wayne, who did not only do a good job, but were enjoying themselves almost too much.
As she called out for a break, Wayne pulled off the cowl he'd been wearing over his head as a pretended disguise, running a hand through his sweaty hair.
"Tiring, trying to impress a lady by getting along with her family, isn't it?" Sam teased him.
Wayne chuckled. "Not really what I'm trying to do, to be honest. Between having Bucky for a brother and Tony for a dad, bad boys doesn't really impress Claire all that much.
"Well, Tony has certainly gone through a lot of the different definitions through the years," Rhodey sounded like he knew that better than anybody, and he probably did, too.
"And those he hasn't, I have well and truly covered," Bucky agreed. "Are you saying that all this effort is wasted, then, Wayne?"
"Oh, I shouldn't think so - there's a reason I always remove my shirt when she's around," the billionaire with a penchant for street fighting suddenly smiled much more warmly, spotting Claire heading through the space to collect Natalia from her mother, just in time to hear him.
"See, that works for me!" She winked at Wayne, tenderly picking up the little girl, who was just starting to grow tired of cuddling with her spy parent and clearly wanted to toddle around instead. "He understands me." And she kissed her man on her way back out, toddler firmly cradled against her hip.
