i'll swap you time, for a chance
three.
"And that," he pauses for dramatic effect, "is a gingerbread house, my friends."
Thor beams to a silent audience of Steve (who's looking mildly impressed), Sam (who's looking wary but hungry), Maria (who's looking slightly bored), and Bruce (who can't seem to stop blinking).
"You cook?" Bruce manages to get his blinking under control. "You bake?"
"Of course. It is a skill learnt at a very young age."
"That, and Dr. Foster probably doesn't have time," Maria cuts in, frowning as she checks her phone.
"Okay, it could just be me," Sam says, confusion etching his face, "but how is this different from a normal gingerbread house, aside from the fact that a god made it?"
"You should have come earlier; he brought his own ingredients and he made it from scratch in fifteen minutes," Steve says. "Also, you know… it's more of a palace than a house."
"Yeah, how did you do it in fifteen minutes?" Bruce asks curiously, leaning forward to inspect the gingerbread. "It has to bake and cool completely, so the ingredients must have more catalytic elements, or completely different thermodynamic properties."
"I will not reveal the secrets of my people," Thor laughs. "But please, break it and try some."
"It's even architecturally sound," Steve mutters.
"Gentlemen, just break the damn thing, eat it, and stop analysing it," Maria says, amused and looking up from her phone.
"Are you not interested, Lieutenant?" Thor asks, taking mock offense.
"Thor, it's a fine piece of art, but it's also a gingerbread house, and I can hear Wilson's stomach from here."
"Hey, it's not my fault I got excited when Steve told me to come to lunch at Tony Stark's tower," Sam says indignantly. "Cap, can you break the house, now?"
(And at the prospect of dismantling said house, Maria has to hide her smile at the forlorn look on Steve's face and the utter glee on Banner's.)
"Maria, do you want to do it? Seeing as you're the least attached to it?" She looks up at Steve, surprised at the intensity in his eyes.
Wordlessly, she peels back a piece of the roof, leaving a neat hole in its place. She breaks the rectangle into pieces and distributes it, rolling her eyes when Wilson reaches for the one with the most jellybeans.
"Damn, what's in these? I can literally feel the sugar in my blood," Sam says, reaching for more with the enthusiasm of a five year old on a sugar high.
"Special candy from Asgard," Thor says proudly. "Most likely too strong for human mass consumption."
"No kidding," Steve remarks. "Thor, are these stairs inside the house?"
"Yes, of course. We pride ourselves on our attention to detail, especially with our food preparations."
Maria watches as Steve continues to peer inside and explore the house, fingers probing and eyes raking over every detail; as Bruce mouths fifteen minutes over and over, scribbling down possible theories and chemical reactions; as Sam attacks his gingerbread with the gusto of a kid deprived of sugar for a year; as Thor stands tall and fields any cooking related questions from Steve.
"Maria?"
She jerks out of her reverie at the quiet insistence in his voice. "Yeah?"
"Have you had any?" He asks, offering her a piece.
"Yeah, I have, thanks." Making up her mind, she turns to the rest of them and says, "Boys, it's been a pleasure; Thor, thanks for the demonstration."
"You should stay," Steve blurts.
She shakes her head minutely, tries to avoid his gaze, and holds up her phone. "Places to be, I'm afraid. I'll see you all later."
She steps gracefully off her stool and makes her way towards the door, unaware of neither Bruce's frown nor Thor's confusion.
Sam watches his friend's face fall, and in a valiant effort to cheer him up, waves the plate of freshly dismantled biscuits in front of his nose.
"Gingerbread?"
...
"I want in," Natasha says without preamble.
Pepper looks up from her computer, trying to hide her surprise at the sudden entrance. "I'm sorry?"
"Don't act stupid, it's not working. I want to add a bet to the pool you're overseeing between Hill and Stark. Except we're leaving Hill out of it."
"JARVIS, could you lock the door please?" She sighs resignedly, "So how did you figure it out? And am I going to have a riot on my hands?"
"No, you're clear," Natasha says. "Whenever Maria's out, Tony's been trying to install another layer of glass to the windows on the common floor – half the time, that's her first bet since a bunch of Level 3s got hold of a stash of vodka from a raid in Russia two years ago. She usually wins those."
"So…?"
"So I don't care about those. I want to add my own." At Pepper's gesture, she continues, "Steve will finally kiss Maria at the party – mistletoe-induced because he is such a traditionalist."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Pepper frowns, but she can't quite keep the smile off her face. "I don't think she'd appreciate it if we did this behind her back."
"She already knows I'm up to something. And yes, it's a very good idea. A friend helping a friend."
And before Pepper can respond, JARVIS' voice interrupts, "Ms. Potts, I'm sorry, but Mr Stark has overridden the door."
"Ah, Pep, did you miss me? Rhodey says hi, but he's probably still sleeping off the hell of the after-after-party this morning," Tony grins and struts into the room. "I love the smell of L.A. in the morning."
"Stark."
"Romanoff," he greets, turning to the other woman in the room. "Nice of you to show your ninja face around here."
"Actually, there's something we want to talk to you about," Nat says slyly. "I'm modifying the betting pool slightly."
"You know about it? Wait, of course you do. Okay, I'm listening."
"A hundred says Steve will kiss Maria under mistletoe at your party."
"I'm in," Tony says immediately. "Except, of course he won't, because he's chicken and Hill is an iron maiden bitch."
"Cruel, but not an unreasonable assessment. And I'd love to see what you'd look like if you said that to her face."
Pepper winces, before jumping in unexpectedly, "I'm going to go a hundred that Maria kisses Steve."
(Pepper swears she could have heard a pin drop. One of those tiny tiny nano-pins that's being developed on the fifteenth floor.)
"Not bad," Tony drawls. "Romanoff?"
"That works," she shrugs. "JARVIS will check, right?"
"I knew there was a reason for my AI," Tony mutters. "Speaking of, how's Elvis and Michael?"
"Oh, I was using Elvis as a paperweight earlier today," Pepper says with a touch of malice. "It's what I do with things without productive value."
"See, Pepper, that's a lie. He's a flying elf; there's no way you could have kept him there," Tony counters smugly.
"Okay, fine," Pepper rolls her eyes. "I may have just locked them away somewhere for the afternoon. You should be glad I was at the SI building this morning."
"Hang on, where's Hill? Did she do anything to Michael?" Tony asks with a hint of fear.
"She flew to D.C. after lunch," Natasha says. "And didn't you design them to annoy her?"
"Yup, and whatever, as long as they're still alive," he waves a hand dismissively. "So, Romanoff. Why the interest in Cap and Hill?"
She raises an eyebrow. "I like winning. I like Maria. I like Steve. And they're idiots when it comes to the other. Really not that complicated, Stark."
"There's more you're not telling us," he says, eyes narrowed.
"Of course. And I'm not going to."
"Tut tut, you can't expect us to play fairly if you don't."
"Stark, you have eyes and a brain. Use them," she smirks, walking towards the door. "Nice playing with you two."
"Huh. Okay, is there something I don't know about here?" Tony asks, turning to Pepper.
"Yeah," she says, with a thoughtful look. "Yeah, there is."
...
"Dr. Banner."
Bruce looks up from the vat of bubbling yellow and orange liquid, glasses slightly askew, to see her in front of him, urgently tapping away at her tablet.
"Agent Hill, is there anything I can help you with?"
"I'm not an agent anymore," she says with the smallest of smiles. "And yes, I need to you to go with Romanoff and Barton to Mexico three-thirty tomorrow morning."
"You mean, in five hours?"
"Yes," she says. "There's going to be a situation and I need your expertise."
"You mean, the Other Guy," he says bitterly. "You can say it, Lieutenant."
"Not what I said and not what I meant," she says, staring him straight in the eye. "It involves alien tech, and I need someone who knows the science and has a modicum of cultural sensitivity."
He relaxes a fraction, the doubt still playing on his face. "And if the Other Guy does show up?"
"Then I trust you to know what to do," she says, still unblinking. "It shouldn't be hard; Natasha and Clint will be there as well."
"Your faith is astounding," he says dryly. "Though, I suppose you'll use anyone now that your agency's gone?"
"Dr. Banner-"
"-No, I get it. I'm useful, except now it's also okay for me to be angry and-"
"-Dr. Banner. This is not the same as two years ago. You live in this tower, which Tony happens to call Avengers Tower. No one gives a damn about the Hulk, not when we've had alien invasions and the like, and when there are more shady and dubious things happening with equally serious consequences," she says impatiently. "You're a part of this team, and this is not the only operation I'm dealing with right now, so I need you to just get on the jet in five hours and go to Mexico. Are we clear?"
Her question resonates around the pristine lab, and for a moment, neither of them speaks.
"Yes," he says finally. "Yes, we are."
"Good," she says, handing him a manila folder and turning to leave. "Everything you need to know is in here. I'll see you on the helipad at 0300."
"Maria," he calls out after her.
She pauses and looks back, tipping her head expectantly, waiting.
"Same goes for you; you're a part of this team, too. Not the deputy director of an intelligence agency. You don't get to send us to Mexico or wherever, and not let us in," he says lightly. "Or, if not all of us, at least some."
She nods once in acknowledgement and manages to give him a tight smile, before walking out and letting the glass doors shut quietly behind her.