Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate those who have followed, favorited, and especially, reviewed. You inspire me. I must confess, when I first saw this list, I had no idea what 'cosplaying' was. I had to look it up. Hopefully, I've got the concept right.


Day 7:Cosplaying

"Stark!"

'Hey, Hill, Looking good."

"I am not going out in public like this," she replied.

"Come on. It's for the kids. Remember?"

Stark Industries had donated a new wing to a local children's hospital with an emphasis on research and treatment of children's cancers. Today was the official ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration. Tony had decided on a 'Super Hero' themed party, since, as he said, the kids, their families, the doctors, nurses, and support staff were the ultimate super heroes.

XXXXXXXXXX

"This is a really big deal for me and I'd really love to have all of you there," he told the team one afternoon they had all gathered to deconstruct an operation.

The group had glanced at each other, shrugging. There were a number of mumbled comments that Tony chose to take as agreement.

"And we can all dress up as super heroes," he enthused.

"NO!" everyone called in unison.

"But we're inviting a whole bunch of kids and their families. They'd be so excited to have a bunch of costumed heroes to see and take pictures with."

"So, hire people," Natasha told him.

"But I want us to dress up," he whined.

Maria snorted. "Go right ahead. Just don't expect the rest of us to."

"I'll pay."

"Not even you have enough money for that," Clint contributed, Steve and Nick nodding agreement.

"A donation," Stark countered. "For each of you that agrees to come in a costume of my choosing, I'll make an additional donation to the hospital."

There was silence for several moments as everyone looked around the table.

Someone finally spoke. "How much of a donation?"

He threw out a figure that made everyone's eyes go wide.

"For each of you."

Not surprisingly, Steve was the first to surrender. "For the kids, right?"

Tony nodded. "Kids with cancer. Heart problems. Diabetes. Asthma."

The super soldier sighed. "I'm in."

"Me, too," Bruce agreed.

Thor nodded solemnly. "In aid of the children."

"Why not?" Clint said with a shrug, nudging Natasha.

She glared at Tony through narrowed eyes. "You choose the costumes?"

He swallowed hard, but nodded. "I choose the costumes."

After several more long moments of Nat glaring and Tony sweating, she finally nodded.

"Pep? You're with me on this, right?"

She nodded somewhat reluctantly. "I suppose I don't have much choice, do I?"

"Not really," her husband replied. "So that just leaves the super spies." He focused his attention on Coulson, Fury, and Hill. "You're all in, right? I mean, you wouldn't ask your team to do something that you're not willing to do, would you?"

"I didn't ask my team to do anything, Stark. You did," Nick shot back,

Tony waved his hand dismissively. "Details. Don't you want to help the kids?"

Phil, Maria, and Nick looked at each other. Tony could almost swear he could sense thoughts bouncing between the trio.

Coulson relented. "I guess I'm in. Just...nothing too wild, please."

"Agent. You'd consider a red tie too wild, wouldn't you?"

He smiled slightly. "When you find a look that works, what's wrong with sticking with it?"

"For some of us, they all work." Tony answered with his own smug smile, then looked to the director and his deputy. "So, now we just need the Pirate and his wench. What do you say?"

"No Pirate," Nick stated firmly.

"And I think you should think very carefully about what I can do to you before you try going through with the 'wench' idea," Maria told him, her glare sending a shiver down his spine.

"Take a note, Pep," Tony commented, looking across the table.

She nodded. "No red ties, no pirates, no wenches."

"So? Two more donations to help the kids?" he asked, brow raised.

"Two more donations," Nick agreed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You said 'no wenches' and you are most definitely not a wench," he told her.

"No, but you're not exactly dressing up," she responded, "And this whole thing was your idea."

"I'm in costume."

"An Iron Man costume. How is that dressing up?"

The shoulders of the suit rose and fell in a shrug. "My marketing people said it's what's expected from me. Tony Stark throws a super hero party, people expect Iron Man. I'd be letting people down if I didn't show up in the suit. I'd be letting the kids down."

"And Steve and Thor?" Natasha asked, adjusting a wig of long, tangled read curls. "Why are they in their normal costumes?"

"More public relations stuff," Tony explained. "Captain America polled quite high in both popularity and recognition factors."

"Tell them how high," Pepper prodded.

"It's not important."

"Yes, it is," his wife insisted.

Maria realized that maybe she was a bit pissed off about her chosen costume as well.

Tony mumbled something quickly and quietly, then continued. "And Thor? Well, there's just not really much else you can do with him. He just IS Thor."

"I'm sorry," Phil interrupted. "What did you say about Cap?"

"First," Stark spit out through clenched teeth. "He polled first as the hero most people would like to meet," he admitted.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" the strawberry blonde in the formfitting Super-girl costume probed.

"Yes, it was." He gave her an annoyed look.

"And Phil?" Clint probed. "He's not in costume."

"Yeah I am," Phil protested. He pointed to his tie. "See? It's black. And I've got these." He quickly slid on a pair of dark sunglasses and pulled a slender silver tube with a red strobe from his jacket pocket. Then, he stepped over next to Nick who was dressed in and identical fashion.

"Men in black!" he declared.

"Really, Stark?" Natasha asked. "That's the best you could come up with?"

Tony shrugged "When you've got a guy with one eye and are told that pirates are out, you're kind of limited," he told her. "The sunglasses were a simple solution."

"I guess it's a little more creative than Bruce's." she conceded. "You're what? A doctor?"

"Let's see...lab coat. Stethoscope. Tongue depressor and penlight in my breast pocket. Name tag that says 'Dr. Bruce.' Yeah, I'm thinking I'm a doctor," Bruce confirmed.

"Doctors are heroes, too," Tony remarked defensively. "And, recognizable as he is, I didn't figure any of us really want the other guy there."

"Definitely not," everyone agreed.

"Look," Tony told them, "I just had these ideas for each of you and I went with it."

"I get Clint as Robin Hood," Bruce said. "You call him that half the time anyway. But who is Natasha supposed to be? I don't recall Maid Marian carrying a bow."

"Not Maid Marian," Tony corrected, "Princess Merida."

"Who?"

"Yeah, I had to do some research. Disney Princess. Fiery. Independent. No interest whatsoever in finding and marrying prince charming."

"I suppose that's okay," the assassin admitted.

"And Maria and I?" Pepper asked with a raised brow.

"You, Pepper, are, quite simply, super. You do it all." He grinned. "And the short skirt and knee boots are awfully sexy."

She glared at him a moment. "And Maria?"

"My costume is seriously lacking in fabric," she told him.

"But you've got the crown and the bracelets and the really cool lasso. Come on," he looked around. "Can you look at her and not think Wonder Woman? Especially after she wore that red, white, and blue bathing suit to our last get together."

Maria growled low in her throat and took a step towards him.

"It was Fury's idea!" he confessed quickly, taking a step back. "He suggested it! Said it was something he fantasized about."

She turned her glare to her lover. "Really?"

"Thanks for that, Stark," the director muttered.

"I wasn't about to take the fall for that," the billionaire answered.

As Maria continued to stare at him, arms crossed at her chest, Nick reached into his breast pocket and extracted the silver tube. He leaned over to Phil

"How does this neuralizer thing work?"


And that wraps up that. I hope you liked. You know I'd love to hear from you.