Steve relaxed with the other Avengers on the top floor of the Avengers Tower. It was a rare occasion that they were all together without the threat of imminent danger, but their experiences had bonded them as a family of sorts. A family that Steve was happy to have found.
Still, as he took a break from the party atmosphere to step out onto the balcony for a breath of fresh air, he couldn't help feeling that there was one piece of the puzzle missing. Slipping his phone out of his pocket, he dialed Martha's number.
"Cap?"
Steve immediately grinned when he heard her voice on the other end of the line. "You don't have to sound so surprised.
"Sorry," Martha replied with a quiet laugh. "I guess I just assumed that when a bloke is off with his mates it was because he wanted to spent time with them and not skive off to ring up girls."
Steve chuckled softly. "Fair point."
"Aren't you enjoying New York?"
"Of course," Steve insisted. He sighed wistfully as he stared out at the Manhattan skyline. "New York is my home."
"I miss it there," Martha confessed.
"And I miss you," Steve said quickly. "Having you here with me would be perfect." He smiled to himself. "Though I'll just settle for having you period."
Martha let out a breathy chuckle. "If you want me, Cap, then get your arse back to Washington D.C.," she teased. "You still owe me a date."
"I haven't forgotten," Steve assured her.
"Will I see you soon?"
"You can count on it."
"Good. Now off you pop back to your mates."
Steve ended the call and was all smiles when he returned to the group inside the tower.
"Here we go," Tony said upon Steve's return while checking his watch. "Eight minutes and thirty-one seconds."
"Yes!" Clint exclaimed happily as he punched the air then held his hand out. "Pay up suckers!" Tony begrudgingly slammed a wad of cash into Clint's outstretched hand and Clint quickly counted up the bills, slipping a few to Natasha, who unceremoniously pocketed them between sips of her beer.
"What's going on?" Steve asked with a furrowed brow.
"We took bets on how long your love call to the good doctor would last," Clint explained with a smirk. "I won."
"Only because you have an unfair advantage," Tony protested while nodding towards Natasha.
Natasha shrugged indifferently. "Steve's a creature of habit."
Tony rolled his eyes at her before returning his attention to Steve. "So what was the great emergency?" he questioned. "Booty call?"
Steve pursed his lips as he returned to his seat next to Thor. "I just felt like hearing her voice."
"And…" Tony pressed.
"And I wanted to make sure we were still on for our next date."
"Now we're getting somewhere," Tony retorted with a smirk. "So…big date. What's the plan?"
Steve picked up his beer. "None of your business."
"Dinner and a movie," Natasha answered earning a frown from Steve. "What? You've been doing the exact same thing for a couple of months now. Creature of habit," she reminded him.
"Dinner and a movie. Classic option," Tony commented. "Fairly hard to screw up. Not impossible, but…"
"What movie?" Bruce asked.
"I don't know yet," Steve said. "It's my turn to pick one and I'm not sure what to choose."
Clint lowered his beer bottle. "You know what you should watch?"
"Do not suggest Bond films," Natasha cut in quickly.
"She's English! She can appreciate it," Clint insisted.
Natasha fixed her eyes on his and spoke firmly. "No."
Clint met her steely gaze with one of his own. "Mr. & Mrs. Smith?" he suggested after a long pause.
Natasha took a moment to consider that option. She looked at Steve then shook her head and returned her eyes to Clint. "The fight scene in the house? He's not ready for that."
"That's the best part," Clint retorted.
"You know I'm not a kid, right?" Steve asked. "I don't need my film choices screened for me."
"He is technically the oldest one here," Bruce pointed out, but his brow furrowed a bit when he glanced at Thor. "I think…"
"Pick something she likes," Natasha told Steve. "You'll seem thoughtful."
"What is she into?" Bruce asked.
"She mentioned that she likes Disney films," Steve answered.
"How wholesome," Tony quipped into his glass.
"I've got it!" Clint said suddenly. "Spy Kids," he declared with a triumphant smile and Natasha let out an exasperated sigh.
"Disney films," Thor began. "Those are the animated features with musical numbers, yes?"
"Not all, but a fair share of them are Disney," Bruce confirmed.
"Jane's intern Darcy showed me the tales of the brave warrior princesses Mulan and Merida and of the noble lion king called Simba," he informed them. "They were quite enjoyable. You should share them with your lady," he suggested to Steve.
"Maybe something not animated," Natasha insisted.
Steve sighed softly and lifted his drink to his mouth. "Maybe I should just let her pick the movie again."
"You are not a man who neglects his responsibilities," Thor scolded. "Your lady has given you a task. You must see it through to the end."
"You know…if you play your cards right, you won't even make it to the movie," Clint told Steve.
"Cards?" Tony scoffed loudly. "I doubt he's ever even opened the deck."
"My deck is none of your business," Steve retorted.
"There's nothing wrong with being a virgin," Bruce said. "Not everything is about sex."
"No, but a lot of the good parts are," Tony replied.
"You're a virgin?" Clint asked Steve. "Really? Looking like that?" He shook his head. "We clearly have very different priorities. I mean if I was you..." He chuckled softly and took another sip of beer. "I'd get myself into plenty of trouble."
"It hasn't stopped you in the past," Natasha reminded him.
"Ah, the good old days," Clint replied wistfully.
Natasha quirked a brow. "Good old days? Try last week."
Clint mirrored her expression. "Have you been talking to Jessica?" he asked, but Natasha only offered a shrug as her answer.
"Maybe you should Google naked women to prepare yourself," Tony suggested to Steve jokingly. "You don't want to pass out from shock the first time she takes her clothes off."
Steve exhaled sharply. "Not that it's any of your business, but I have seen a naked woman before."
Tony wore a smirk on his face as he swirled his drink in his glass. "Spied on the USO girls, did you?"
Steve rolled his eyes. "No, I went to art school for a year," he said seriously. "Life drawing? You can't exactly learn to draw the human body without actually seeing the human body," he added pointedly. "So no, I won't pass out if I see a naked woman."
"They're just parts," Bruce commented with a shrug. "Basic biology."
"Banner is right," Thor chimed in. "You Migardians are too preoccupied with the naked form. Is it not our natural state?"
"True." Clint lifted his beer to his lips. "But it's different when it's someone you want to see naked," he reasoned. "They're not just parts anymore. They're possibilities."
"The possibility of him getting that far seems pretty slim to me," Tony replied.
"Forget the films," Thor suggested. "You must woo her."
Clint nodded. "The thunderer is right. You need to up the romance, Cap. Candlelight. Roses. The whole nine yards."
"Even you can't screw that up," Tony agreed.
"That's too generic," Natasha retorted. "And FYI, she prefers peonies to roses."
Steve wasn't even sure how she knew that, but Natasha always had a way of getting information. So why would something as simple as Martha's favorite flower be a challenge? "Alright. What do you suggest then?" he asked.
"If you want the night to be memorable, then you need to do something special with her," Natasha answered.
"Kama Sutra?" Clint suggested.
Natasha ignored Clint's sidebar and continued. "You need to incorporate something that's significant to her interests."
"I joked about taking her to the moon," Steve said. "Just my luck that she's already been."
"So take her back there," Bruce insisted.
"How?" Steve questioned with a frown.
Bruce set his drink aside long enough to reach for his wallet and retrieve a business card. "Here," he said as he offered it to Steve.
Steve took the card and scanned it quickly. "What's this?"
"The name and number of a friend," Bruce explained. "She works for the public observatory at Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Just mention my name and she'll help you with whatever you need."
Thor grinned broadly. "Your lady desires the stars and now she shall have them all thanks to Banner."
"Even I have to admit it's pretty romantic," Tony commented.
"Hell yea it is," Clint agreed, nudging Bruce. "Big Green's got game!"
Natasha nodded. "It definitely beats dinner and a movie."
Bruce waved off the praise. "I'm just doing what I can."
"You've done more than you realize," Steve said gratefully. "Thanks to your help, I think I can make sure that Martha and I have a night that she'll never forget."
