Chapter 4: The Party

Steve was pleasantly surprised. When he decided to conquer his curiosity about Clint and Natasha, he didn't expect them to even let him speak. Let along joke with him and say yes to his invitation. They didn't go into too much detail (as expected), but they opened up somewhat, explaining some of their way of thinking. Steve felt proud knowing that apparently he was one of the few people at Marvel High to pass what he liked to call their Eye Exam. Not proud in the way Tony would be, but happy of the fact that he got them to talk to someone other than themselves. That he convinced them to go to the birthday party of someone he was sure they disliked. That some of their coldness melted because of him. He was also happy Thor had more or less done the same with Bruce. When Clint and Natasha showed up at his doorstep, he couldn't help but smile. Part of him was worried that they may have only agreed to go just to shut him up, but there they were. Costumes ready and everything. While having pie and crackers, Clint watched from the corner and Natasha sat quietly. But soon enough Clint sat down with them. He knew it was risky asking him and Natasha if they were interested in a movie night when he had basically just met him. That was made clear by Clint's reaction, but Steve's confidence was rarely faltered. At first he thought Clint was mad at him for asking, but he could tell he was just confused. He could kind of see why. Clint had quite a reputation at school, what with several fights on his record and rumors surrounding him constantly. Steve was just trying to be nice, but it was obvious Clint and Natasha weren't used to that. But, Clint softened up and said "perhaps", and that was good enough for Steve. It didn't go unnoticed how Clint looked like he wanted to run away when Tony's party bus came into view, but Natasha whispered something in his ear and Clint decided to stay. Then, Steve's real surprise came when Tony introduced himself and despite being...Tony and Clint and Natasha being...them, the two didn't go away. In fact, Clint pole danced for them. He pole danced. And he did it well. He wondered where Clint got those moves from, but the boy said he would only show, not tell. His curiosity about him and his partner was piqued once more, but he decided now wasn't the time to prod. His sweetheart Sharon and good friend Sam joined the party, and Steve couldn't be happier. Now there they all were, exiting the party bus and eying at the scene before them. The bus parked in front of Tony's mansion, a three story marvel that almost resembled a castle. Cars were parked up and down the street. Countless students from their school, all dressed in various costumes, were flowing in to the front doors. Music as clear as day carried from the house to outside. "The Illest" by Far East Movement was bumping, the bass practically vibrating the grass on the lawn. Tony jumped out first, spreading his arms open.

"Happy, park the bus out back. Everyone else, lets partay!" he shouted.

Steve couldn't help feeling anything other excitement. Tony may be more than a handful 99% of the time, but his energy was infectious. Sharon walked arm in arm with him. Sam behind with Clint and Natasha, and Bruce right on Thor's heels. Bruce's shyness was ebbing away little by little, but Steve noticed how he still felt the most comfortable with Thor. They walked in through the front doors, and Steve flinched as the music grew even louder. Tony's downstairs had been transformed into a miniature dance club. The floors were blinking with white lights. Large clusters of people were jumping and dancing around like they didn't have a care in the world. A big line was forming around the massive buffet table in one corner and others were standing, drinking and chatting in another corner. Lines of red and golden lights swung all around from the ceiling. The DJ was at his high perched table, dancing along with everyone else as he worked his magic on the wheels of steel. The crowd near the front door parted like the Red Sea when Tony entered.

"He's here!" Tony announced.

The music paused momentarily and the crowd broke into deafening applause as he strutted forward in a straight line like a model. Steve shook his head. Tony liked to talk in third-person sometimes when he was feeling especially conceited. On a normal day Steve would have said something, but it was the boy's birthday. His eighteenth birthday. Let him enjoy it.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The guest of honor has arrrrriiiiiiived! Mister Toooonnnyyyyy Starrrrrrrrk!" the DJ announced through the speakers, causing another round of applause to ensue.

Tony went straight to the center of the dance floor where the party goers made a clear space for him and shouted,

"Hey DJ! I wanna dance! Play something good for me!"

"You got it, birthday boy!"

The DJ pressed a button, and the song "Rock Off Shake Off" by Rye Rye began coursing through the stereos. The stereos being Stark tech, the bass of the song practically made the floor vibrate. Steve could feel it in his chest. Wasting no time, Tony whipped out his baton and started popping and locking to the song. He rocked his hips, spun around and did the robot like a pro. The crowd went crazy watching Tony do his thing, and Steve had to admit his jealousy. Not over Tony's money or lavish house or sexual prowess, but his dance moves. And not just Tony. He'd seen Sam, Rhodey, and now Clint in action. His girlfriend was captain of the dance squad for crying out loud! Sam joined Tony, doing his own impressive hip-hop dance routine, complete with spins, finger points, leg locks and shoulder rolls. Steve didn't notice how rigid he was standing until he felt Sharon nudge him in his side.

"C'mon, baby! We can't let those two have all the fun, can we?" she asked.

Steve let Sharon drag him into the dance circle, and she began doing her own thing. Sharon, being the outspoken cheery girl she was, wasn't going to take no for an answer. She rolled her hips and her spine, dancing and dropping down low in circles around Steve. Steve felt uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on him, expecting him to dance just as good. He let out a deep breath and decided "what the hell". He was nowhere near as good as Tony or Sam or Clint, but he wasn't completely helpless. Steve bucked his hips forward, swinging his arms back and forth and snapping his fingers along to the beat. The noise of the crowd was going nowhere. Steve smiled and let himself dance harder. He knew the sight of the most popular guy at school grooving with the dance captain and the class president must've been one hell of a sight. It only got louder as Thor came in at one point, holding his elbows outward and doing some sort of tap and river dance that went surprisingly well with the heavily bassed hip-hop song. The song began to fade out, but their dancing continued as the next one played immediately; Kat Deluna's "Drop It Low".

"Oh hell no!" he heard Tony shout angrily all of a sudden.

Steve stopped dancing and spun around, prepared to intervene in the blink of an eye. He hated conflict during times of celebration. He turned to see Tony staring at the other three members of their company. Bruce's head was down but he was bumping his shoulders up and down to the music. Steve guessed that was the best Bruce could do with dancing, but the real sight was "Bonnie and Clyde". In sync with the beat of the song, Natasha had her hands on her knees, popping her rear up and down against Clint's groin while he threw his arms up and rolled his spine like a snake, biting down on his lower lip while doing so. Steve's eyebrows went up. They certainly made quite a pair.

"You two bring that sexiness over here with the rest of us! Now! You too, Brucie Boy!" Tony yelled.

Steve felt himself relax and resumed dancing with Sharon.

It was just Tony being Tony. Clint, Natasha, and Bruce obliged Tony's request, and then the eight of them were a bundle of bodies dancing together. Popping, locking, shaking, grinding, dropping, whining bodies dressed in outrageous costumes. The rest of the crowd screamed at the top of their lungs with applause and claps and shouting "WHOOP WHOOP! WHOOP WHOOP!" Steve let himself get lost in the feeling. He hoped the rest of the night would be this much fun.

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Three songs later, Natasha, Bruce, and Thor had to break away from the bundle and take a breather. The four of them gently shoved their way through the sea of costumed students to get to the buffet table. Stark Industry's catering company kept the table constantly stocked with snacks and drinks. Enough for every single person there to stuff themselves on. Thor grabbed a tray and filled it to the rim with crackers, pepperonis, cheese slices, chips, and jalapeno poppers and dug in voraciously. Bruce and Natasha were content, both with an egg-roll and a cup of punch. A massive ice sculpture of Tony's bust stood in the center of the table, its eyes locked on whoever approached the punch fountain next to it. T-Pain's "Bartender" was playing in the background. Bruce and Natasha were happily eating their egg-rolls while watching the rest of their little group continue to dance. With the song playing being softer than the previous selections, Steve was holding Sharon from behind and swaying back and forth. Sam was dancing with a Hispanic girl dressed like a white tiger. Ava was her name Natasha believed. To Natasha's surprise, Clint didn't seem to notice that she'd left. Her partner was facing Tony and the two boys were bouncing back and forth, snapping their fingers to the song. In fact, they were smiling at each other. Natasha pursed her lips. She didn't let it show, but Clint was surprising her a lot today. He let Steve convince them to attend the party. He pole danced for fun on the bus. He initiated their sexy dance that made Tony bring them into his bundle on the dance floor. Now there he was, dancing like he didn't have a care in the world. With a guy he called a 'class A prick' just a few hours ago. Without her. She would never admit it, but a part of her felt jealous. That smile of his was exclusive to her for years, and now there it was all out in the open. With Tony Stark of all people. The guy wasn't as much of a prick as Natasha thought. Sure he was demanding and egocentric, but he was also unexpectedly generous, infectiously energetic, and dare she say it, funny. However, he was still Tony Stark, and the fact that Clint was being so,...so,...open around him was weird. Good way? Bad way? She wasn't sure. She looked over to Bruce. He was still somewhat clingy to Thor, but she noticed he was opening up as well. She wondered how the rest of the night would go, and how things would be at school the following Monday. Was this night going to be like The Breakfast Club? A group of different teens bonding over one day before going their separate ways? Should she even care? She shook her head. Don't start overthinking things, Natasha. Tonight's been okay so far. she thought to herself.

"Hey you guys." a familiar female voice greeted.

Natasha looked and saw Pepper Potts walking up to Thor who was still stuffing his mouth with jalapeno poppers. With her purple sports bra, ankle length glittery blue skirt and a sea-shell shaped hair clip in her wavy light red locks, Natasha instantly recognized her as Princess Ariel. Natasha was impressed with her firm, taut stomach muscles. Pepper was usually so business like at school that seeing her in a costume that showed this much skin surprised her.

"Greetings!" Thor said after he swallowed his mush.

"Great costumes, you guys." said Pepper, acknowledging Natasha and Bruce.

"Thanks. Virginia, right?" asked Bruce.

Pepper chuckled.

"Please, just call me Pepper. Aren't you Bruce? Betty Ross's boyfriend?"

Bruce nodded and smiled. Natasha raised an eyebrow. Nothing against Bruce but she was surprised he had a sweetheart.

"You've got a girlfriend?" she asked him.

Bruce scoffed playfully.

"Try not to act too shocked, Natasha." he said.

"Betty is lab partners with my lady Jane." said Thor.

Pepper looked at Natasha.

"I saw all of you out there with Tony. Nice moves. I couldn't look away."

Natasha let out a small chuckle.

"Thanks. I'm actually having fun." she let herself admit.

"You're Natasha, right?"

She nodded.

"I see the infamy with Clint and I still hasn't died down." she said.

Pepper shook her head.

"I don't buy into gossip. I will admit I find you two interesting, though. And don't worry, I'm not going to ask that." said Pepper with a chuckle, and Natasha, Bruce and Thor laughed.

The four of them were joined by another costumed party goer. A long faced African American boy dressed in a black leather trench coat, sunglasses and a bald cap.

"What's going on, people? I'm Tony's friend, Rhodey." he greeted.

"Natasha."

"Bruce. Morpheus I take it?"

Rhodey nodded at him then turned to Pepper and Thor.

"The cake's coming out soon. Tony wants you with him when they bring it." he told Pepper.

Pepper nodded back as Rhodey gave his trench coat a swish and melted into the crowd. Pepper turned around and clapped her hands.

"This party is sort of my doing soooo you guys enjoy the food and I'll be right back." she said, joining Rhodey.

Natasha looked at Thor and Bruce. She had caught her breath and her feet weren't cramping anymore. She adjusted the bodice of her dress and asked them,

"I'm going back out there to the dance floor. You guys coming with?"

"After I have finished eating. I am quite famished from all of our dancing." said Thor with a mouth full of cheese.

Bruce smiled but shook his head no.

"First time was fun but, I don't think it's in me to go back out there again. I'm not used to quite so much...attention on me."

Neither was she but if Clint Barton of all people could do it then so could she. Natasha shrugged and made her way back to the dance floor.

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Clint was shocked. He was having a really good time. Clint already knew he was a damn good dancer, but he felt oddly flattered when Tony and the others cheered at his little number on the bus. He initially did it just for shock value, but they actually enjoyed it. Sharon and Sam came along, and Clint liked them just fine. When they got off the bus and saw that Tony's house had become a dance club, Clint hated that he was impressed with the spectacle. If only a little. The roaring of the crowds when Tony showed up made Clint want to puke, though. Tony wasn't as bad as he thought, but that ego of his was still grating his nerves. He was tense when they entered the house, but Natasha was there. She was his safety net and he would never be ashamed of that. All of the silly costumes, the loud music and the ocean of people inside made Clint dizzy at the sight. Then they all parted so Tony could do his ridiculous model walk to the center of the dance floor. Clint came so close to just walking out of there. He shook his head and he almost did, but Natasha glared at him, and he remembered what she said earlier when the party bus arrived. Clint got them into this, so he would just have to tough it out until the night was over. When Tony started dancing by himself in the center of the floor like nobody was watching, Clint was pissed that that had won him over as well. His eyes saw that when Tony was dancing like that, he wasn't trying to impress anybody or flaunt his talent. He was just having fun and being himself. The song that was playing wasn't bad, and he found himself bouncing along to the music before he even realized it. When he saw Sam, Sharon, Thor and Steve join Tony out there, Clint decided "fuck it". He grabbed Natasha by the waist, initiating their own little dance while Bruce awkwardly bumped up and down next to them. By the time the second song was playing, he and Natasha were full on grinding on each other. He was confused when Tony shouted at them, then flattered once more when he demanded them to "bring that sexiness over here". Not wanting to disappoint the birthday boy who let two strangers join his VIP crew, Clint brought his sexiness. The eight of them danced together in a big bundle for three songs straight. Clint's body was starting to grow tired, but he was having so much fun he ignored it. He noticed when Natasha, Bruce, and Thor left the bundle to take a break. He almost followed her, but something kept him on the dance floor. A less high-energy song came on. Steve was swaying with Sharon while Sam danced with a girl name Ava, so Clint turned and faced Tony. The millionaire didn't seem affected by all the activity, so they did simple dance moves while smiling at each other. He was, dare he say, happy. Without Natasha by his side and dancing with a guy he scowled at daily, Clint was fucking happy. When that soft song stopped playing, the energy came back when "Less Talk More Rokk" by Freezepop began. Clint lost himself in the electric beat. Jetting his arms up and down and tossing his head back and forth, he knew how ridiculous it looked with his wig. He saw Tony laughing in amusement as he copied his movements. Then he looked to his right and saw Steve, Sharon, and Sam copying as well. Clint laughed, too. Holy shit I've started a trend. He didn't know when Natasha came back, but during the middle of the song, he felt familiar hands grabbing his arm from behind. He turned around and smiled at her. She smiled back and grabbed him by his waist, closing the space between them in one swift pull. Clint dipped them low, and he was grooving on his heels while she popped her rear again. He brought them back up and bucked his chest against hers, thumping along with the bass. Natasha threw her arms up through her hair, shaking her head and swinging her hips against him. Clint wrapped his arms around her and swung his hips in sync with hers. Clint was loving this. There wasn't quite anything like dancing with your partner. When the song ended, the music died down completely and Clint found himself pleasantly out of breath. Natasha gave him a small peck on the lips and smirked at him.

"Nice to see you letting go like that, Clint." she said to him.

"I'll say." said Sharon.

"Damn, Clyde. You're just full of surprises, aren't ya?" asked Tony, patting him on the shoulder.

Clint wanted to roll his eyes at the nickname, but he couldn't help but grin at it. Like Steve did when Clint called him 'captain'. He took off his cap and fanned his sweaty face with it.

"Sure am. Why'd the music stop though?" he asked.

"Attention, people!" a voiced announced.

Clint, Natasha, Tony and the rest of the party guests turned to face the area by the DJ's booth, where Rhodey stood on a raised platform with a microphone. Pepper was there at his side, smiling politely at everyone.

"Good evening, everybody! We all having a good time, y'all?!"

Tony and everyone else shouted "WHOOOO!" and clapped, answering Rhodey's rhetorical question.

"Today, the guest of honor and one of my very good friends becomes a man! The big one-eight everybody!"

The crowd cheered again, and Tony bowed. Clint rolled his eyes. He just turned eighteen last month and the biggest thing he did was get blackout drunk with Natasha while they binge watched Psych and ate Cheezits. All of this isn't so great.

"Tony, get your ass up here! We have a surprise for you, birthday boy!" Rhodey called.

Tony did what he was told, receiving endless back pats and "congratulations" from random guests as he model walked to the platform. He hopped up and stood between Rhodey and Pepper, his shit eating grin making a comeback. The strawberry-blonde gently grabbed the microphone from Rhodey and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Tony Stark, you are one hell of a guy. You're a lot of fun to be around, and that brain of yours is almost as big as your ego."

The crowd laughed at her joke, including Clint. She got cool points from him for that.

"Tony, we've got two treats. The first one is this." said Pepper.

She snapped her fingers, and from across the room a group of caterers wheeled out a massive refrigerator sized cake. It was circular with neon blue frosting that actually glowed in the dark. On top stood a small circular platform with a lifelike mannequin resembling the guy in a fancy black suit. The guests oohed and ahhed at the thing as they wheeled it from the kitchen to the end of the buffet table, and Clint swore at himself. Dammit he was impressed again. Even Tony looked surprised at the cake. Wow if it didn't look delicious.

"And now, your second surprise. Here to sing happy birthday to Tony, everyone, miss Kaylee Foxx!" Pepper announced.

Clint's eyes bulged and he saw Natasha's jaw drop. He knew that Kaylee Foxx was one of her favorite artists. Despite most of her music being trashy pop, Clint thought she was one of the hottest women in music. Bursting out from the curtains behind the platform was Kaylee. The blonde bombshell was dressed in a magnificent sequined silver gown that was cut off in the middle, revealing her magnificent stomach and showing off her thighs. Tony actually jumped, speechless when he saw there standing right in front of him. Natasha was among the girls in the crowd screaming and squealing. Sharon and Steve were jumping up and down, Sam behind them covering his ears. Tony embraced the starlet who smiled and waved at everyone. Stroking the collar of Tony's uniform with her finger, every single person in the place joined her in singing.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birrrthdayyy dearrrr Tonyyyyyyyyy! Happy birrrrrthdayyyyyy toooooooooo youuuuuuuu!"

The loud cheers from earlier when Tony first entered were nothing compared to the earsplitting screams that came from everyone when Kaylee kissed Tony on the cheek. She posed, blew a few kisses and went back behind the curtains. Clint shook his head and smiled to himself. Okay, maybe this is a little better than Cheezits and Psych.

A/N: More is on the way. Any thoughts about the party?