The Joys of Spring
Lucy kept her eyes closed and just let the feeling of pleasure curse through her. When Quentin slowed, she ran her hands through his hair and took a hold of his curls before leaning in again and opening her lips slightly, letting them feel the passionate touch of his. She felt Quentin's body shudder slightly before he grabbed her arms tighter and pushed her until she felt the glass wall of the tower against her back.
When they broke apart, Lucy grinned happily and Quentin looked at her, slightly breathless.
"How was that?" He focused on her eyes, but Lucy just grinned up at him.
"How would I know? I did all the work."
"Oh, there you are, running that mouth again," Quentin smiled and softly ghosted his lips over hers. "But thankfully, I know how to shut it up." With that, he pressed his mouth on hers and Lucy just let him press her up against the wall, moving her body slowly with his.
As he pulled back, Lucy was still smiling.
"Thanks for dinner," she said, slightly out of breath herself now.
Quentin grinned wide. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."
"I was thinking," Lucy started and Quentin's ears almost perked up at her tone. She laughed softly and continued. "I guess I could convince Nat to let you stay over at some point – if you wanted to?"
They were standing so close, Lucy could distinctly feel Quentin's pulse beat faster.
"I'd love that," he said quietly and before he could say anything else, Lucy quickly interjected before he could get too emotional.
"You know, you'll probably be grilled by the guys over breakfast," she quipped but Quentin only shrugged.
"If that's what it takes to date you, then I'll get through it."
Lucy grinned wickedly. "That's so sweet! I always wanted to hear a guy say that." With a quick glance at her watch, she realized just how late it had gotten.
"I better get back upstairs or that plan's a goner."
"Mhmm, that'd be shame," Quentin whispered softly, pulling her into another deep kiss.
After a moment enjoying the feel of him, Lucy softly shoved him off and laughed. "Alright, go away, I need to get in."
Before Quentin completely turned to leave, he pressed a quick kiss on her cheek and then took off, walking back up Park Avenue. Lucy watched him leave until he disappeared in the masses of people somewhere around Central Park.
Humming softly, she entered the elevator and went right up to her floor. Lucy couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so happy in a relationship – granted, most of her relationships had been pretty short and solely based on the fact that she was bored. The level of emotion that seemed to be involved with a normal one was overwhelming.
Thankfully, when she entered her living room, Nat was sitting on the couch in her Mulan sweatshirt with the TV on. She turned her head and smiled at Lucy who walked in and with a sigh, sank down on the couch next to the older woman.
"How did it go?" Nat grinned and cocked her head slightly.
Lucy grinned. "Really well. He's great." She paused and when she continued, her tone had become quieter, more sober. "Could I talk to you?"
Nat immediately sat up straighter and reached for the remote, turning the TV off. "Always!"
"And you promise you won't get mad?"
Lucy had to smile as Nat gave her an incredulous look and shuffled closer. Her mentor placed an arm around her shoulder and cozied up like this, Lucy began.
"You know I had a few relationships, but honestly, they've never really involved feelings. It was just nice to have someone to make out with when I was bored and lonely." She stocked and risked a look up at Nat. "Or more – you know." She carefully examined Nat's face but it was an open book and the only emotion she could find was understanding, so she continued.
"I haven't really been dating since I've been here and I thought it was because I didn't have time, which is partly true, but it's also because I felt safe." Lucy paused and sighed but Nat just waited quietly for her to continue.
"None of the relationships I had were really relationships – I was always drunk and those were one offs at parties… even with Harry I was never official or anything."
Nat rubbed her shoulder and pressed Lucy closer to her. "You're feeling different with Quentin?"
Lucy twisted her head and looked up at her mom, a small smile forming on her lips. "Yeah – I do. He's so different from all the other guys from the Upper East Side. And I finally feel safe here and I don't know if I'm developing feelings for him." She sighed and looked down. "It's so confusing."
She felt Nat placing a hand on her head and stroking her hair softly.
"I know it is, ptichka." She sighed heavily. "And I'm afraid it doesn't get easier with time."
Lucy pulled a face. "I don't like not being in control and right now I feel like my feelings are slipping out of it right now."
That elicited a small chuckle from Nat. "I completely understand."
"I know you would," Lucy grinned, turning her head to watch Nat's face.
"The best advice I can give you is to just go for it. You can always decide when it gets too much but there's no harm in letting go for a bit." She smiled down at Lucy. "Have fun."
"Thanks," Lucy sighed and snuggled even closer. "I was actually gonna ask you something."
Nat knew from the tone of her voice that Lucy was getting serious.
Looking up into her mentor's eyes, Lucy took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you if it was ok for Quentin to stay over at some point." Before Nat could respond, she quickly continued. "I know the handbook says we can't but I'm sixteen now and it's not like I've never done it before."
She swallowed and looked down but when no response came from Nat, she glanced up again. Surprisingly, her mentor's face wasn't enraged but instead calm and even showed a hint of a smile.
"I trust you, ptichka, and I know you wouldn't do anything stupid or anything you're not comfortable with," she said and smiled softly. "So, yes, it's okay."
Lucy's eyes grew and something inside of her started to flutter. "Seriously?"
Natasha nodded. "You would've found a way in any case and I'd rather you be somewhere you know."
The younger woman turned and threw her arms around Nat's neck, squeezing her tight.
"Thank you! You know you're the best, right?"
"Oh, you bet," Nat grinned and pressed her protégé closer.
Lucy pulled back and looked up at the redhead. "Are you gonna tell Steve? Because I don't know how he'll react."
"I'll handle it, don't worry," she nodded, and Lucy felt another bit of unease lifting from her chest.
She sunk back down next to Nat who reached for the remote and turned the TV back on, both of them content to just sit and enjoy each other's company.
###
Lucy leaned forward on the blanket to grab the neon highlighter and returned to coloring her text. The birds were tweeting excitedly and the sun wasn't yet strong enough to make sitting outside unbearably hot. Memorial Day had passed in the usual fashion, ceremonies in the city and meetings with various commanders, so the Avengers spent a deserved week off at the base upstate. The kids had relocated outside after brunch and made themselves at home on a blanket with lots of Snapple and Oreos, surrounded by books and papers. The end of the year was coming up and that meant SATs for all of them and various AP exams for Peter and Lucy. She was determined to take all of them this year to make room for college level courses in her senior year. She didn't want to spend four years in college – to her that was just a waste of time. Groaning loudly, she bent back over her papers and leaned towards Wanda.
"I'll trade you two sets of notes on Anna Karenina if you give me what you got on Crime and Punishment," she gave the witch her most convincing smile but only got a huff in return.
"Two sets of notes for the entirety of Crime and Punishment? Be trippin'," the witch grinned. "But I'll tell you what. If you finish offAnna Karenina, we can trade."
Lucy nodded in concession. "Alright, fair enough. Give me two hours."
The two were disturbed by a pen suddenly flying between them.
"I need your help for a sec," Peter caught Lucy's glance and he looked quite desperate. "Can we go over the stupid magnetism chapter? I just don't get it and I absolutely cannot fail the AP exam. I need to do college physics with you next year!"
"Relax, you won't fail," Lucy moved over to his side. "I'll explain it, watch."
After she finished and Peter promised her he'd understood, Wanda grabbed hold of the spider and the two started to go over their English exam. Lucy grinned. She'd never been happier that the exam in December had been the last English exam she'd ever have to do. After the A+ there was nothing more to do to improve her grades.
The trio kept working in harmonious silence until Peter's phone suddenly pinged. His expression changed as he read the text and he jumped out, spilling the cookies and messing up the papers.
"What happened?" Lucy tried unsuccessfully to keep some of the loose papers from spreading across the grass.
Peter looked up at the two hurriedly. "I think May's in trouble."
"What?" Wanda jumped up and threw a look on Peter's phone.
Lucy scrambled to her feet and glanced at the text too.
"Little spiders should be careful to leave momma spiders all alone.
Never know what could happen to 'em when the crime-fighting baby is hundreds of miles away.
Stop your little charade and leave Queens be – and nothing is gonna happen to your aunt.
You've been warned. If you don't comply, things aren't endin' pretty for either one of you."
"I always thought Nat was the momma spider," Lucy mused, scrambling her forehead but shut up as Wanda's elbow landed in her ribs.
"You gotta show this to Tony immediately."
When Peter didn't respond to her, Wanda turned to Lucy and then back to him.
"Hey, do you hear me?"
Peter looked up now, but not at the redhead. "Can you figure out where this came from? Trace the IP address?" he asked Lucy with so much desperation in his voice that she just sighed and took the phone.
"I don't think that they'd be stupid enough not to use a VPN. Probably dark net stuff," she murmured as she tapped furiously on the phone.
Wanda furrowed her brows and shook her head. "If you think you can do this on your own, you're crazy. I'm telling Tony."
Lucy sighed and looked up at the witch. "Of course not. I just wanted to see what I can get from this. We're not stupid enough to do this on our own." She looked up at Peter who had a determined look on his face and furrowed her own brows. "At least I'm not – Peter, please be sensible."
"Yeah of course, you find anything?" he asked impatiently.
Lucy shook her head. "I can't get past the firewall." She handed him the phone back. "You gotta give this to Tony, this is nothing I could crack."
Peter nodded slowly and took the phone. Without another word, he turned towards their quarters and took off. Wanda and Lucy shared a quick look and then ran after him.
###
"They've used some form of triple security, no wonder you couldn't crack it. Nice try with the Trojan though," Tony grinned at Lucy and she returned the smile.
"So what about May?" The worry in Peter's voice was still clear and Pep placed a calming arm around his shoulder.
"We'll decode where this message came from and then we'll pay them a little visit. An unpleasant visit, I guess," Tony said grimly. Anyone messing with his loved ones would feel his anger, Lucy knew nothing better.
"And in the meantime?" Peter sounded pretty rude at this point but no one could hold it against him. May was the only biological family he had left.
Steve stepped forward. "We've notified May –"
"-and did you get a response yet?" Peter interrupted him, now earning a look from Pepper.
"Not yet, but she's still at work so the earliest we'll hear back from her is in a few hours," Natasha now spoke up, leaning against the wall behind Tony, arms crossed and with a frown on her face.
"You need to calm down, Peter," she continued rationally but Lucy saw the sympathy in her eyes. "There is likely no actual threat behind those words and we have an undercover Shield detail with her anyway."
"But somehow they still figured everything out. Someone got close to her and that protection squad didn't prevent it, did they?" Peter's voice was raised and Lucy watched worriedly as Nat raised her eyebrows. Peter was getting dangerously close to being insolent.
"They can't control everyone she gets into contact with, whether at work or in her free time. I understand that you're upset and worried but losing your temper and acting rashly is of absolutely no use." Nat was sporting a full-on frown now, but Peter apparently didn't take the hint.
"That's easy for you to say! They're obviously targeting the three of us! First Lucy's parents, now May-"
"Great, let's bring that up again!" Lucy mumbled darkly. "It's been about five minutes."
Peter spun around to her. "You're the first person who should understand how I feel!"
"Yeah, like no one else here has experienced their loved ones being threatened!" Lucy retorted snippily.
"Oh, you think you're so smart-"
Lucy threw her hands up. "Wait, how is this now about me?"
"Both of you, stop it." Pepper stepped in between the two and, after giving Lucy a look, turned to Peter and took him by the shoulder. "You need to take a few deep breaths. Lashing out at the people here that are trying to help isn't useful in the least."
While Peter didn't look happy or, god forbid, apologized, he did stay silent for the rest of the discussion.
Lucy let her gaze wander across the room. Nat had leaned back against the counter with Steve waiting next to her, knowing this wasn't his area of expertise. Tony and Bruce were still bent over the computer and decoding the message and IP address. Peter's dark look remained on his face and Wanda sported a deep frown.
"I think this is as far as we'll get," Tony said straightening up and before Peter could jump in angrily, he continued. "We need to let the program do its job and check back in a couple of hours to see whether it yields any results."
Peter was ready to throw a fit again it seemed, but Nat stepped forward immediately.
"If anything comes up in the meantime, the security detail will handle it. We've just got to wait and use this time productively."
While she gave Peter a serious look, the younger spider looked away, probably on purpose. Lucy definitely understood his predicament. It was highly unnerving to have threats stand against family members but at the same time, she knew exactly there was nothing they could do. May was safe – there was nothing safer than a protective Shield squad – and as soon as they'd figured out where the threat came from, Tony might even let Peter do some retribution. Or at the least see what happened to whoever dared to threaten May.
Lucy took Peter's arm and firmly led the spider out of the room. Wanda followed immediately and the two were determined to take Peter's mind off the worry about May, at least until there was news.
It didn't work. Peter was not interested in any of their help and after being brushed off for the umpteenth time, they gave up. Retreating to their blanket and the abandoned books outside, they continued studying. Lucy was of course worried, but she also knew that the protection detail Shield had placed with May was perfectly capable of taking care of any threats. Until they knew who was behind it, they didn't know where to strike anyway and going up to Syracuse would only alarm any bad guys. Lucy knew when a situation wasn't going anywhere, so she concentrated on the Russian text in front of her and decided to use the time productively. An agent's time was only wasted if it was filled with worrying. On a mission, she'd be in danger constantly but still had to plan and think tactically.
The two girls worked quietly together until it was time to get back inside for dinner. They gathered their things and Lucy threw her schoolwork on her desk before hurrying downstairs to the big common area. Most of the others were already helping with dinner, and Lucy slipped into the kitchen to carry out some of the salads. The table was set and almost everyone assembled, when Pepper came into the room, out of breath and visibly shaken.
"I can't find Peter anywhere," she said, her voice quivering and Lucy was sure there were already tears forming in her eyes. It wasn't surprising – all of them had a clear idea of where the spider was.
Tony only furrowed his brows and with a dark expression he asked, "Is Peter still in the building, Jarvis?"
"No, Sir, he is not on the premises anymore," the A.I.'s response came immediately and there was a collective sigh around the table.
"Not again," Steve mumbled and Nat gave an ominous look back.
"Major déjà vu," Lucy commented into the quiet room. "Seems like I'm the only one who hasn't run away yet… maybe I should get on that," she added dryly.
With the severe look she got from Nat that clearly said, "don't you dare" and between Wanda's annoyed glance and Pepper's unbelieving eyes, she swallowed.
"Just a joke guys, I wouldn't actually do that – so what are we gonna do about Peter?" she quickly tried to redirect the topic again.
"We'll get him back, of course." Steve pushed his chair back as he leaned his elbows on the table. "I'm assuming we all think he's in Syracuse?" he added slightly insecure, but Tony agreed with a nod.
"And once we get him, he'll wish he never left this building."
Lucy and Wanda exchanged a look - they knew this tone very well. Before either of them could get a word in, Nat turned and spoke up.
"No matter what happens, you're both staying here," she said firmly and, anticipating resistance, continued immediately. "Don't even think about leaving the compound, understood?"
Lucy had to swallow as she saw her mentor's eyes and girls knew better than to argue with that tone, so they nodded decisively.
Meanwhile, Rhodey and Clint had gotten up, sighing and probably very annoyed with the spider for initiating a chase during their week off. They definitely envied Sam who had, with great foresight, booked a trip down to Mexico with some old airmen friends.
"We'll be ready in ten," Clint said, already halfway out the door when Tony's voice stopped him.
"Wait a minute. If Peter did go to Syracuse, like we all assume," he paused and nods around the room confirmed his words, "then whoever sent that threat must've been alerted to his presence."
Rhodey groaned loudly and leaned on the back of his chair, Clint turned around and plopped down again and Nat focused her gaze on Tony.
"The program should've yielded some results by now," Bruce said rationally. "Why don't we check those first and then decide where we need to focus."
The calm, direct manner of the scientist seemed to refocus Tony as well.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., pull up the results." He opened up the holographic disk and some numbers ran across the screen.
"Interesting," Tony mumbled, the sequences apparently making sense to him.
Wanda threw Lucy a look, but not even the little genius could understand what those figures meant.
"The IP address isn't from Syracuse." Tony broke the silence suddenly. He turned to the rest of the table. "It came from Queens."
Lucy furrowed her brows. That meant someone from Queens had to have found out about Peter being Spiderman, had to have found out that May moved to Syracuse and had to go through the trouble to establish a dark server to text Peter. That was a lot of work for an empty threat.
Tony and Steve seemed to share her thoughts as they exchanged a long look and apparently came to an understanding.
"We'll split up," Steve spoke up, but paused when he realized that Nat was looking at him expectantly, waiting to speak up. He nodded towards her, "Natasha?"
"The report from the protective squad just came in and it corroborates the analysis." She pointed towards the StarkPad in front of her. "No unusual activity around May and no threatening behavior by anyone. They've even performed background checks on her known acquaintances, but nothing came up."
Steve gave an approving smile and continued. "Then it all seems to add up. One team goes up to Syracuse and catches up with Peter before he does something rash. The other deals with the origin of the threat before they have a chance to act and any repercussions from that."
"We assume that it's some small criminal gang or unit that deals in Queens and that Spiderman had a few run-ins with. They probably won't have the guts to go as far as targeting May on the other side of the state, but we'll pay them a visit and make sure." Tony's voice had gotten pretty serious and Lucy had to muster all her self-discipline to not beg to be let on this mission. Nat would never let her out - after all, it had been barely over two months since she'd destroyed an entire yacht and Lucy knew it took more than a few months on good behavior to rectify a mistake like that. But it didn't mean that she would be at all calm until they brought Peter back and dealt with the threat itself.
"Tony, Natasha and I will go to Queens," Steve said in his distinct mission voice and Lucy could feel the usual tension rising, whenever they started to plan. "Clint and Rhodey go up to Syracuse to get Peter."
Nat looked up from her Pad again. "He left in the early afternoon, and considering it took him at least ninety minutes to get into the city, the earliest bus he would catch is the 4:45pm. That means he is somewhere between Scranton and Birmingham now and will arrive in Syracuse at 10:50pm."
Rhodey and Clint exchanged a look.
"We'll take the small jet up anyway and explain the entire situation to May before he gets there," Clint decided. "Much less fuss from him if he's got three adults opposing him."
After Steve had given his ok, the two got up and left towards the prep room, chatting and pretty relaxed all-in-all.
"That leaves the three of us – since the situation will probably not escalate so far that we'll need the green guy," Tony nodded towards Bruce who seemed quite pleased with that decision.
Nat nodded curtly and got up, squeezing Lucy's shoulder as she passed her chair and walked towards the Shield quarters with Tony. Steve followed them after giving the girls a small smile.
"We'll be back soon. This shouldn't be too difficult." With that he also walked out and Lucy, Wanda and Pepper were left at the dinner table.
###
After helping to clean the kitchen and leaving Pepper to some SI stuff, the two girls had tried to get some more studying done, but with Peter gone it was impossible to concentrate. Instead, they turned on Netflix and attempted to keep their minds off any troubling topics. It wasn't a complete success. Lucy kept her eye on the clock almost constantly, trying to figure out where each party was at currently.
9pm. Nat, Tony and Steve should be in Queens by now, probably preparing to enter the place where the IP address owner lived.
9:30. There was probably a fight going on. A small crime syndicate in Queens, that was a warmup for Nat, Lucy told herself, in a vain attempt to calm her nerves.
10pm. Most likely still fighting. Depending on how big the opponent force was. Maybe on their way back? Maybe clearing out? Maybe damage control? Maybe follow up? A look to Wanda confirmed that the other girl's thoughts were quite similar to her own, so Lucy just turned up the volume, drowning her thoughts in the voices of Full House.
10:45. Peter should be close to Syracuse now. Rhodey and Clint were already waiting at May's, having explained the situation to her. The others still hadn't returned, but Lucy was still hoping that they're fight was over and they were now on the way back.
At 11:30 Pepper came in to check on the two of them. She tried to mask it, but Lucy could definitely recognize the worry in her eyes – for both Peter and Tony.
"I haven't heard anything from either of them yet, but Hill just called and said we should come over."
Lucy swallowed hard. That could both mean that the squad was on their way back or that something had gone wrong. Not wanting to waste any time though, the girls scrambled up and followed Pepper downstairs to the common area and then out to the hallway but instead of walking out the main door, they walked straight ahead towards the big sliding doors. Pepper entered the first code and they opened, revealing a second set a few feet behind it, this time made from glass. Pepper pressed her hand on the reader and the doors revealed the main floor of the Shield quarters.
Hill was waiting at the foot of the first set of stairs with an unreadable expression. Damn Shield agents. Without a single word, she led them upstairs and to the left towards the bridge.
"Steve, Natasha and Tony finished down in Queens," she started and the way she said it conveyed to Lucy that nothing had gone wrong and there were no injuries. "It was a little more complicated than expected though. The IP address came from a college kid who had found out Spiderman's true identity and worked anonymously for a syndicate based in Queens. He was intelligent enough to not give away anything and I think we intimated him enough to stop doing any of that. In any case, we put a Shield unit onto him." Any concerns Lucy might've had were squashed at that. College kids were easy to deal with.
"After that they went to take down that Queens syndicate which was pretty quick."
Lucy felt Pepper relax next to her and just a moment later, the doors slid open and revealed the squad walking in.
Nat made her way directly towards Lucy to engulf her in her arms, while Steve hugged Wanda and Tony pressed a kiss on Pepper's mouth.
"I'll have the report on your desk by tomorrow night," Steve, still with Wanda in his arms, turned towards Hill who nodded in response.
Tony turned towards the agent as well, an expectant look on his face. "So what's the status on Rhodey, Clint and the little spider?"
Hill smiled. "They're on their way back, all three of them and they should be here in about thirty minutes. Nothing happened but apparently Peter was slightly shocked to have such a welcome committee. I think I'll let them tell the rest of the story."
Relief spread across the group but Lucy also noticed Tony and Pepper's facial expressions darken. This wasn't going to over for Peter once he set foot on the compound.
The next half hour passed pretty quickly, Nat and Steve retelling the events of the night, with Steve already starting on the report. They were interrupted when the door opened once again, this time revealing Clint and Rhodey and in their midst a very contrite looking Peter.
Tony and Pepper wasted no time in walking over to him, throwing thankful glances towards the two adults that brought him back, but considering the spider with a stern glance.
Peter did his best not to look up at the tow of them and Lucy definitely felt for him. On the other hand, he had acted so incredibly stupid, she couldn't really blame Pepper and Tony for being mad at him. Tony said something so quiet Lucy couldn't make out what it was, but Peter turned on his heel and made his way towards the family quarters. Pepper followed suit and Tony too, after one last thankful smile to the others.
Rhodey and Clint collapsed on the seats around the table while everyone else waited for them to start.
"Come on, guys!" Lucy called out impatiently when they stayed silent for minutes. "Hill said you should tell the story yourselves."
Clint grinned and reached out to squeeze her shoulder, while Rhodey sighed with a smile.
"Alright then, but there really isn't much to the story. It's mostly hilarious when you think how Peter overreacted."
When everyone still had the same expectant look on his face, he finally explained. "We got to Syracuse pretty quickly and May had just come home from work. She was a little shocked to see us but once we explained she told us that there hadn't been anything unusual going on the past week." He grinned. "Then she got really upset when she realized that Peter was coming all the way up on his own without telling anyone but she also seemed quite happy to let Tony deal with that."
Clint nodded. "She refused to let us wait at the bus stop, saying that if Peter wanted to come all the way up here, he might as well make the trip completely to her house." He paused. "And then she made us sit down and have dinner. It was so good." He seemed to remember the food as a dreamy expression came across his face.
"Well, I guess that question 'Are you hungry?' has been settled then," Natasha commented dryly, but with a little sparkle in her eye.
Before anyone could respond, Wanda yawned so loudly, that all eyes redirected themselves on her.
"And I think that's the call to bed right there," Steve said, standing up and steading the girl at the same time.
Lucy agreed wholeheartedly – it had been an exhausting day and especially a mentally exhausting evening.
Hill wished them all a goodnight before they made their way back to the family quarters. Wanda and Steve trailed off to their own floor and so did Rhodey and Clint.
Before she disappeared into her room, Lucy gave Nat a tight hug which the redhead gladly returned. Sometimes it was just good to appreciate what you had in life, Lucy thought, just before she fell into a deep slumber.
###
"And you've cleared this with everyone?" Quentin's voice was definitely slightly nervous, Lucy thought with a grin. "I don't think I'd like Captain America just randomly seeing me strip. That would definitely mess up my childhood memories."
"Oh, god," Lucy turned to face him with a pained expression. "Please tell me you didn't idolize Cap as a kid? Because if that's the case, then I'd have to ask you to leave."
Quentin gave her a wicked grin. "Don't worry, I've never really been one for heroes. I've always liked the villains more." With that he easily picked her up and gently threw her on the couch. Somehow Lucy hoped that he wouldn't be as gentle after dinner.
"You wanna have first pick with the pizza?"
"What a gentleman you are!" Lucy replied sarcastically before grabbing a piece of pepperoni.
It had been a week since Peter's stunt and obviously he was still grounded. They hadn't gone upstate as it was one of those rare weekends when almost all the Avengers had time off and no meeting scheduled. Quentin had come over in the early evening and they ordered food to have at least a little bit of privacy. He'd met Nat and passed that test (which was the one Lucy had been most worried about) but he still had to meet the other guys in the morning at breakfast. Though that could wait. Right now, there were other things on Lucy's mind.
The movie they'd chosen wasn't anything deep or really worth watching but a comedy still seemed the best choice for setting the mood. Nothing worse than a tear-jerking drama to start off a sexy night. Especially since Lucy wouldn't be the one crying.
It went as she'd expected (and planned). After about half an hour, Lucy started cuddling closer to Quentin who seemed to take the hint as he turned towards her and without much pretence pressed a passionate kiss on her. As that was exactly what Lucy had been playing at, she returned the kiss just as forcefully and moved up a little higher. Quentin easily turned her around so that she was lying on the couch and him right on top of her. She could feel his breath on her skin as he kissed his way up her neck and she just closed her eyes to give herself completely to the feeling.
When he got back up to her face, she propped herself up a little and went in for another kiss, this time opening her mouth slightly to invite Quentin's tongue in. It seemed that was the sign he'd been waiting for and the kiss this time was even heightened in passion than the one before. Lucy sighed. He tasted like sweet mint. Just so, so good. Not wanting to let go, she wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed him closer, distinctly feeling his crotch. With a grin she thanked her training for making her flexible enough. It was excited to feel that Quentin was as ready for this as she was.
Deciding that the couch was too small and realizing that Lucy apparently couldn't wait, Quentin picked her up again – Lucy almost hated herself for loving how easily he could do it – and carried her to her bed. This time, he was gently though. He dropped her onto the mattress, revealing his desire to get on with it, and Lucy really couldn't blame him for it. While much of their relationship had been cute and courteous, though not so much as to make Lucy barf, they'd always been crazy about each other physically. And now that it was finally happening and Lucy was sober for the first time in years, she just wanted to get him inside of her.
With a quick motion, she threw off her shirt, while Quentin took of his. Lucy just stared at him hungrily. She hadn't realized just how muscular he was, but there was definitely a six-pack. Which only drove her crazier. He crawled onto the bed slowly, this time kissing his way down her neck, over her stomach, further and further down. He played with the buttons of her jeans, before he stripped them off of her, leaving her in her bra and panties. Lucy got on her knees, opening his zipper and tucked down his jeans, revealing that he was quite excited to get going. She grinned up at him and he returned a wicked one, crawling over her.
"So, you seem ready to go, huh?" he asked in a low voice that had Lucy melting, but she kept her grin.
"Well, it's pretty obvious with you, isn't it?" she responded in a sassy voice and Quentin shook his head.
"Oh, you're running your mouth again. Seems like we need to do something about that."
Lucy couldn't explain it but his words stirred something deep inside of her and threw her closer to the edge. She decided to push him further.
"Yeah, you're really bad at hiding it… and who knows if it'll be taken care of tonight?"
Quentin's eyes sparkled with lust and a kind of darkness. "So that's how you wanna play? Alright."
He gripped her arms, pinning them both above her head and Lucy felt a surge of excitement surging to her core. She always knew she had a thing for dominant guys but who knew Quentin could be so adventurous in bed?
She had to swallow as he looked down on her sternly. "We'll see if you get to find relief tonight."
Lucy was both taken aback and incredibly turned on by that.
"So what do I have to do to convince you that I deserve it?" Her voice had gotten low and husky and she could see that it did things to Quentin although he still kept his facial expression straight.
He smiled down wickedly at her. "If you're a good girl, maybe I'll let you have some fun."
With a few determined moves, both got rid of the rest of their clothes and Quentin dove down. Lucy gasped for air – his mouth felt amazing. Quentin definitely knew what he was doing. Her entire body was filled with heat that crept from her center all the way to her toes and fingertips. She was close, so close but apparently Quentin had noticed had too as he abruptly stopped. He only responded with a grin and a shake of his head to her frustrated moan.
"Told you, you had to do more work than that. Everything comes so easy to you… well tonight won't."
Lucy couldn't believe how he managed to turn her insides with just the tone of his voice. But she would gladly return the favor and earn some good girl points, so she lowered herself in front of him. She was good at it and within a few minutes Quentin seemed very caught up. His hand went to her hair pressed her closer to him, massaging her head at the same time. Again, the dominant gesture only spurred Lucy on and made her body tingle with anticipation. She had planned on letting him end in the same way he had, but his hands around her head didn't allow her to move and so he was able to finish. It didn't bother her – in fact, him asserting strength like that made it even hotter.
When she looked back into his eyes he smiled at her approvingly. "See, I knew you could be a good girl if you want to. Now let's show you a good time."
He pressed her down roughly and towered above. Lucy breath quickened and she could feel him entering her impatiently. He didn't give her any time to adjust before starting to thrust and ecstasy filled her entire body. The fact that he'd driven her to the edge but not let her come only heightened the sensation now. He kept thrusting hard and long into her and Lucy had to grasp the edges of her duvet, her fingers and toes curling. The ball of light and heat was building in her center, creeping out into her limps and finally it exploded, with an energy she'd never felt before.
Panting deeply, Quentin rolled off her and started kissing her neck again. Lucy just hummed happily.
"That was very nice. You're really good, I gotta admit."
"I'll take that as a massive compliment," Quentin murmured. "And I'm surprised you can do as you're told. I guess you just have to find the right incentives."
Lucy gave a small laugh and gave him a slight push that he easily absorbed and responded by cradling her in his arms. It felt good, snuggling next to him, her head pressed against his chest and listening to his heartbeat. With that thought in mind, Lucy drifted off.
###
A tickle on her nose woke her softly. As she opened her eyes, she looked up into Quentin's warm brown eyes. He had been trailing her nose with his finger and was now smiling down at her.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty, finally awake?"
Lucy stretched her arms. "Mhhh, what time is it?"
"Nine thirty, but you said brunch is at ten?"
He remembered – god, Steve would love him. Lucy made a mental note to mention that.
"You're correct. Bathroom's right through that door there." She pointed straight ahead, and Quentin disappeared, wearing only his boxers, with a smile to her.
Lucy couldn't stop the giddy feeling in her stomach. It wasn't exactly butterflies, just the feeling she had when she'd had sex sober – and it had been good. Humming softly, she grabbed Quentin's shirt and pulled it on. She wouldn't be able to go down to brunch with that, but there was no chance he was getting it back.
When Quentin came out of the shower, dressed all properly again, but the sleeves of his fresh shirt rolled up to reveal his lower arms, Lucy felt another surge of pride that she'd landed that. Well, not surprising, but whatever.
With two steps she was by him and grinned up at him, smiling happily and giving her to another long kiss. Not long though, as she pushed him back and hopped into the shower herself.
Quentin had packed his stuff together but looked slightly worried when she got out.
"Oh, it's gonna be fine. Steve is gonna love you," Lucy said with a grin. "They all might just be a little protective. Nat likes you, that's already a major step."
"She likes me?" Quentin turned to her doubtfully. "I'm not sure. She's scary as hell," he murmured.
"Relax," Lucy said as she pushed him towards the door. "I'm hungry, so let's go."
With an incredulous look, Quentin looked back at her but she just grinned and made her way to the elevator.
When they got to the kitchen, everyone was already assembled and scattered around the table. Of course, they all looked up as Lucy and Quentin walked in, so she decided to get it over with immediately.
"Good morning guys. This is Quentin. Quentin, this is – everyone."
"Good morning, it's great to meet you all."
Lucy thought Quentin sounded pretty sure of himself but she definitely felt a slight tremor in him next to her. She also hadn't missed Clint, Tony, Rhodey, Bruce, Sam and Steve's skeptical looks. They better not embarrass her.
Steve was the first one to walk up and give Quentin a measured but not unfriendly smile.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Quentin." He reached out his hand and Quentin shook it politely.
"It's an honor to meet you, sir," he responded. Lucy grinned. So that whole childhood thing was true.
After they sat down and started to distribute the food, Wanda threw Lucy a look and Lucy just responded with a grin that had Wanda smile knowingly and Peter almost choke at their inference. Quentin thankfully didn't realize as he was caught up in an interrogation by the guys.
"So you went to school in Connecticut the past few years?" Clint asked politely but Lucy felt a certain undertone to his question. "How come you've transferred to the city now?"
Quentin swallowed. "There's just more opportunity in the city, sir. Internships, career-wise, all of these things have become quite important from Junior year onwards?"
"It's just, usually people don't change schools so late unless something happened at school. You wouldn't be the first one." Tony took over and his tone was seemingly lax and laid-back, but he couldn't hide the sense of threat.
Quentin replied hastily. "Oh no, sir, nothing happened, definitely."
"Quentin's going to Stanford next year," Lucy felt like she had to intervene.
"California, huh?" Sam said with definite judgement in his voice, turning to the young man. "You wanna experience the party scene down there?" A dubiously understanding tone laced the next sentence. "The east coast is quite serious sometimes, right?"
Quentin swallowed hard and Lucy winced inside. It was cute that they were trying to protect her, but Quentin was really one of the least harmful guys in her entire school – god forbid, had she brought Harry home!
Nevertheless, Quentin mustered his bravery and answered without a quiver in his voice. "I just spent my entire life so far on the east coast, sir, I really wanted to see something different. Also, it's an amazing college for pre-law and there's some big companies out there that hire a lot of college leavers."
A grumpy 'hm' was the only response from Sam and before anyone could say anything else, Lucy jumped in again.
"Wanda, how's your musical prep going? All those one-on-one lessons?"
Thankfully, the witch picked up on Lucy's hint and started talking about every detail of her past lesson, engulfing everyone and finally getting the guys to leave Quentin alone.
Brunch was finished not long after and Lucy shoved Quentin out the door quickly, by emphasizing how much studying he had to get done. Before she followed him out to the elevator though, she threw the guys and exasperated look that they hopefully understood.
When they were finally alone in the elevator, Quentin let out a long breath that Lucy was sure he had held in since leaving the table.
"That… wasn't too bad," he lied, but Lucy just gave a short laugh and put an arm around his waist, pressing her head against his chest.
"It's okay, they can be scary. They really didn't have to grill you like that though," she said with a frown.
Now it was Quentin's turn to chuckle. "It's alright, they just wanna protect you. And you warned me, so it's fair and square."
"But now that you've gone through the baptism of fire, you'll hopefully come over a few more times." She grinned up at him and his only response was trailing his fingers softly down her hair to her cheek and finally her neck.
It was pretty warm outside, even for a morning in May and Lucy took a deep breath. Quentin had turned towards her and eyed her with a serious look.
"I had an amazing time last night"
"So did I," Lucy mumbled and Quentin grinned knowingly.
"And there is something else I wanted to ask you." He stocked but Lucy waited patiently to let him continue. "I was wondering if you wanted to be my date to prom?"
An involuntary smile spread on Lucy's face and she nodded. "I would love to!"
Quentin pressed a passionate kiss on her and Lucy just let go for a minute, letting him be in complete control, even though she responded with the same intensity. After he let go of her again, he had a huge grin on his face.
"Let me know what color your dress will be." With that he turned and made his way up Park Avenue.
Lucy didn't move for a minute, just standing there, soaking in the moment and trying to keep his taste in her mouth for just a moment longer. When she finally made her way upstairs again, she couldn't keep her face from smiling stupidly. Apparently, that's what feelings did – and maybe it wasn't so bad giving up control sometimes.