A/N: Deleted scene. Can't fit it into the actual storyline, but still a fun little blurb to read. Every once in a while I'll post deleted scenes of things I wanted to add in but couldn't actually fit in!


Deleted Scene #01:

Billy Bones' Broken Bar


"You treat an outside wound with rubbing alcohol, and an inside wound with drinking alcohol. It's science." –Nick Miller (New Girl)


"You're kidding me, right?" Tony exclaimed in disbelief. I grinned at his shocked features as he stared at the sketchy ass building in front of us. Admittedly, Billy's didn't look so great from the outside. It also didn't look so great on the inside, but it was my home for five years. I probably spent more time in this bar than I did my own apartment.

It was technically the bottom floor of an apartment complex, half of the bottom floor at least, and the front was made of red, crumbling brick with weeds littering the area where brick met concrete sidewalk. The windows were too dirty to look through, but there were thick, iron bars set in front of them.

Tony turned away from the building to look at me, "We are not going in there."

"You lost the bet!" I complained.

"First of all, you caught me in a damn loophole." Tony argued, then he motioned back to the building with the sunglasses he tore from his face, "Secondly, if we go in there, we are definitely getting our kidneys stolen."

I rolled my eyes, "God, you're dramatic."

"I feel like I'm getting tetanus just standing here." Tony groaned glancing around. The few people on the street who did pass us stared at Tony like he was an alien. For all intents and purposes, he kind of was. The look on his face told me he at least felt like one.

I looped my arm through his and began to pull us forward, "Billy's looks like shit, but this place has the best drinks in the city."

"Oh, I seriously doubt that."

"When we get in here, don't embarrass me." I said. We pushed into the door and the air went from sharp, cold, and crisp to moldy, dusty, and stale. Ah, home sweet home. It was 8 AM on a Monday so you'd think we'd be the only people out and about, but a few tables were taken up by other patrons. Billy's was a 24/7 kind of place. "Honey, I'm home!"

A familiar face popped up from under the bar, and I barely had time to react before they grabbed a glass off the counter and chucked it at me. I grabbed Tony by the front of his band shirt and yanked him down with me. The glass hit the wall behind us and shattered into pieces.

"What the fuck—" Tony began to yell, but his voice was overshadowed by another.

"Aj fucking Bradshaw!"

"Hey, Alex. You miss me?" I gave them a lopsided grin and slight wave. My nonchalant greeting did nothing but make the frown on their face deepen. Like always, they looked the same as they always did. Alex's short, blonde hair was longer on one side, shaved on the other, but right now it was hidden under a backwards, tan baseball cap. Their hazel eyes sat behind a pair of large wire-frame glasses that I knew they only wore for the aesthetic.

Alex scoffed, "Where the fuck have you been?" Their eyes drifted past me to the bewildered Tony, "Holy shit, did you bring Tony fucking Stark here?"

"Don't you read tabloids, Alex? I'm fucking him." I joked, and I heard Tony choke on his spit behind me.

Alex smirked with a laugh, "Oh, yeah right. I know your type and pretty boy doesn't do it for ya."

"Excuse me?" Tony snapped. "I'm a catch."

I chuckled and dragged Tony over to the bar where Alex was standing. They had a white button up shirt with birds decorating it. Their already short sleeves rolled up even further. Tony sat down onto the barstool beside me and shook his head with a low whistle.

"Tony this is Alex. Alex this is Tony." I introduced them.

"So, you're not the infamous Billy, then?" Tony joked.

Alex nodded to the corner of the bar, "Nah, he is." I followed Tony's gaze over our shoulder where Billy sat in the corner passed out drunk. Apparently, he hadn't moved since last I was here. "What can I get you guys?"

"What do you have that won't give me dysentery?" Tony asked.

I rolled my eyes, "This place is shit, I told you, but Alex is the best bartender in the city."

Alex nodded their head, "Aj's dumb as shit, but she's right on that."

"I'll take my morning usual. He'll take an old fashioned." I ordered.

Tony shrugged and laced his fingers against the bar table. His eyes took in the bar around him again while Alex made our drinks. Tony finally looked back to me, "So this was your watering hole?"

"Yupp." I replied fondly.

"It's just as dreary and depressing as I imagined it would be." Tony mumbled.

I chuckled and shook my head. Sure, this place had some real shitty memories, but it had some good ones associated with it too. Alex wasn't a friend. I had no friends back then, but if I was open to having friends, I would've picked them as one. Alex listened to me vent when I needed to vent, they told me to shut the hell up when I needed to shut the hell up, and they never seemed to mind when I ended up in a bar fight with some other patron.

"Old fashioned for Iron Man." Alex set the drink in front of him, then handed me my own, "Earl Gray Bourbon for the idiot."

Tony gave my drink a questioning look, "What the hell is that?"

"Earl gray tea with our buddy Jim Beam." Alex answered.

I lifted my drink to him. Tony rolled his eyes, picked up his own drink, clinked it with mind, and we both drank. I forgot how much I missed Alex's drinks until just now. Nothing better to start your morning with. I watched Tony as his eyes widened with pleasant surprise.

"How'd I do, Mr. Stark?" Alex asked.

Tony hummed then chuckled, "That's a damn good drink, Alex."

"Told you so." I said softly and continued to sip on my own drink. Alex went into the details of how they made it for Tony, and Tony commented that it was the same as any other person. Logically it made no sense why Alex was so much better at making drinks than any other person in New York, but hey the world was weird like that.

"How much do I have to pay you to come work closer to the Tower?" Tony questioned. "The money you make here can't be more than minimum wage."

"Oh, it's less." Alex replied. "Nobody tips here."

"Then why work here?" Tony pressed.

Alex shrugged their shoulders, "Billy's is mine. Sure, it technically belongs to Billy Bones—"

"There is no way that's his real name." Tony mumbled.

"—but I take care of this place." Alex finished. "I've made it my own." Tony nodded in respect and Alex's eyes rolled back over to me with a small glare, "Now, back to you."

I raised my hands in surrender, "I meant to call. My bad."

"I lost half my clientele because the ring closed, which fuck that place anyways, but I find out you're the reason why?" Alex shook their head. Tony began to speak up, but I raised a hand to stop him. Alex continued, "You dumb idiot. There isn't a criminal in this city that wouldn't shank you if given the opportunity."

I nodded, "Fair point."

"Boss is out for your head." Alex grabbed a glass to clean it with the rag on their shoulder, "You need to watch your back."

With a smirk, I clapped Tony on his shoulder, "That's what Iron Man is for." Tony raised his glass with a lopsided grin of his own in agreement. "I'm being looked after, Alex. To a maddening point almost."

"Black Widow too?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"She actually picked out this entire outfit." I motioned to myself, "Minus the jacket."

Alex nodded, "I knew you were too well dressed to have picked your own clothes." I shot them a glare, but it didn't deter them at all, "Get me her phone number and I'll stop bitching at you about tempting fate."

"Sorry, she's currently dating a mentally unstable archer." Tony cut in.

Alex cursed with a shake of their head, "You fuck the soldier yet?" I choked on my drink and Tony raised an eyebrow at the statement, glancing back and forth between us. Alex shook their head, "He's got the shoulders. She goes weak in the knees for that shit."

"Oh, does she?" Tony turned in his seat to grin at me.

I shook my head and mumbled into the ring of my drink, "I am not drunk enough for this conversation."

"Alright, she's a sucker for broad shoulders." Tony motioned to Alex. "What else you got for me? The more embarrassing the better."

I pointed at them, "Don't you dare."

Alex smirked, "Don't worry. Patient-Bartender confidentiality."

"That's no fun." Tony countered. He continued to banter with them while I watched on in amusement. There was something entirely odd about watching Alex and Tony interact. It was like my past was colliding with my future. It sounded like nothing good could come from that, yet here they were joking around like they were old friends themselves. It helped that Tony was a charming bastard and Alex tended to get along with anyone and everyone with their calming personality.

The two of us ordered another round of drinks that Alex made with their typical ease and swagger. Tony took one sip of the original concoction Alex whipped up for him and cursed, "Fuck, you have to come work for me. I'll hire you for every party I throw."

"Hmm." Alex shrugged. "I'll think about it. Everyone needs a hobby. You rich people order some boring ass drinks though."

"You'll get to see Aj make a fool out of herself in from of the rich people."

"Hey!"

Alex nodded, "Deal. Call me when you need me."

I rolled my eyes, "You'd hate bartending for the fancy events."

"I'll just hire her for the fun Avenger parties then."

They pointed at Tony, "Problem solved. Besides, how else am I gonna get to see your dumb as shit face."

"Aw, I didn't realize you missed me so much, Alex." I leaned against the bar with a grin.

"Your brand of chaotic dumbass doesn't come around very often." Alex retaliated. "I miss watching you accidentally get into bar fights."

Tony turned to me with a raised eyebrow, "How do you accidentally get into a bar fight?"

"That bar fight with Kyle was accidental." I shrugged and Tony rolled his eyes at the memory.

Alex slammed the metal shaker in their hand down onto the bar hard, "Kyle? Kyle fucking Osborne?"

"Is everyone's middle name 'fucking' to you?" Tony questioned.

"Yes." I pointed at Tony then pointed to Alex, "Also, yes."

Alex turned a glare to their new friend, "You let the idiot get into a fight with Osborne? That piece of shit, motherfuckin—"

"First off, I didn't let her do anything." Tony held up his hands in surrender, "The idiot wandered off and did that shit herself."

"That's like the fourth time I've been called idiot in the past thirty minutes—"

"Secondly", Tony cut me off, "She absolutely destroyed him. I mean, she wiped the floor with his ass."

Alex rolled their eyes, "I know the idiot can beat him up—"

"Again, with the idiot talk—"

"Osborne is a yellow-bellied asshole." Alex scoffed and looked back to me, "If he's crawling out from whatever rock he lived under to try and get at you, you know worse is yet to come."

I shrugged and finished the last of my drink, "I'll probably be fine."

Tony, I noticed, looked a little more concerned by Alex's words than I was. I knew Alex was a worry wart though. Despite their arguments, they were protective of their favorite regulars here at Billy's. Tony finished the last of his drink while our conversation drifted to something not me related.

As we rose to leave, Alex reached across the bar to grab Tony's shirt, "Listen up, Iron Man, if my idiot gets hurt I'm coming for you. I got a box under the bar filled with shanks and knives I've confiscated here in the bar."

"Don't worry. I got her." Tony replied sincerely. He then smirked, "You really got a box of knives?" Alex let go of him and then reached under the bar for something. They dropped a plastic bin onto the counter and just like they said it was filled to the brim with makeshift shanks and knives of all shapes and sizes. Tony hummed, "Cool."

"I'll swing around more, Alex. Promise." I called out. I had gotten their number put in my phone too since I had lost it with my old phone. Tony pulled a couple hundred dollar bills out of his wallet and threw it onto the counter. Alex stared at it with wide eyes, but Tony just nodded at them.

They picked up the cash and replied, "You better, idiot."

I shot them a wink before dragging Tony out of the dusty bar. He hummed in amusement and gave me a slight bob of his head, "Not bad. I still gave both kidneys so that's a win."