Thank you so much everyone for the lovely support! Here's the new chapter, dedicated especially for those how droped me a review! Thank you!

OoOoO

Chapter II: The Meeting.

Pepper was waiting for him by the time he reached Tony's mansion. The gesture, though appreciated was not exactly necessary since Tony had added him to the short list of people with access to the premises right after he came back from the death. He wouldn't have gotten past the front gate otherwise.

The Gothamite took the wine bottle he had brought with him and exited the red Aston Martin One-77. Alfred's ingrained etiquette to always bring a gift anywhere he was invited was the only reason he even brought it. He didn't feel the need to bring something for Tony, less of all alcohol, but they weren't going to be alone, so he was forced to bring the only gift he could think of.

There was a warm smile in Pepper's face as she welcomed him at the top of the stairs that led to the doorway of the mansion. She was wearing a plain yet elegant black dress just above the knee, her hair held down and wavy. Bruce smiled back.

"Bruce! Thank god you're here. I've done everything I can to stop Tony from suiting up and flying out to drag you here."

The billionaire snorted. "I was afraid that could happen, but I had the utmost confidence you would be able to keep him on a tight leash."

"It was a close call, but it's a good thing I have JARVIS on my side."

"Oh, you need to give yourself a bit more credit. No one else has the power to handle Tony like you do, Pepper. It's nice to see you," he added, leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the cheek. "You look beautiful, as always."

"Thank you. It's good to see you too. I trust you have been well?" Bruce arched an eyebrow. "Tony told me Alfred is away."

"What is it with everyone thinking I can't take care of myself. It's not very flattering."

Pepper chuckled softly. "Well, I've learned a thing or two taking care of a reckless billionaire myself, so I think I have valid reasons for concern."

"Now I feel insulted to be compared to the train wreck that is an unsupervised Tony Stark," Bruce replied, an affronted look on his face.

"Now, now, now, Mr. Wayne, Miss Potts. It's not nice to be hiding out here gossiping about your host, is it?"

Bruce turned to see Tony standing at the open glass door, dressed in an unfastened dark blue shirt with the top buttons undone, dark jeans and tennis shoes. It was a sight to behold.

"I'm overdressed, aren't I?" Bruce asked, ignoring the other billionaire and instead turning to the redhead at his side.

"Just a bit, yes," Pepper replied with an amused smile, taking on his three-piece charcoal gray suit, coat, silk tie, and shiny dark shoes. "But nothing that can't be arranged."

Pepper closed the short distance between them, waiting for a nod of consent as she stood before him. She reached toward him after receiving it, unfastening the tie and pulling it over his head. Bruce stayed still as she adjusted the collar before pulling open the top buttons of his white shirt.

"You know, it's a good thing I love and trust both of you deeply or this would be very, very awkward," Tony called from where he stood, watching the scene.

"Awkward like seeing photos of your boyfriend with some woman's tongue down his throat all over the tabloids?"

"Kind of like that, yes. Though I should remind you that was not my fault." Bruce arched a dark eyebrow, prompting Tony to explain further as he walked toward them. "She kissed me! What was I supposed to do? Push her away and then proceed to tell her and anyone that could hear that I'm off the market and the lucky lady isn't actually a lady, but the equally rich and hot Prince of Gotham, Brucie Wayne.

"And stop stalling," Tony added, coming to stand before him. "Everyone is here already and they're drying to meet you, darling."

"I'm sure they are," Bruce said dryly.

"Oh, shut up and come here already. We haven't greeted properly."

Bruce rolled his eyes but crossed the short distance that still separated them, touching his lips to Tony's for a long and steamy deep kiss, enjoying every second of the intimate contact as he reached to wrap his arm around his neck while Tony's hands slid down to rest on his lower back.

"Hey, sugar," Tony whispered as they parted for breath, their foreheads touching. "Nice of you to come by."

"Yes, well, I didn't get a choice in the matter, pumpkin." The corner of Bruce's lips was curled upward.

Pepper gave them a moment, but when it became clear they weren't going to pull away anytime soon, she cleared her throat, making Bruce pull back-since he was the only one with a bit of common courtesy-ignoring Tony's protests.

"You have guests to attend to, Mr. Stark."

"Yeah, I do. Oh! Is that for me?" Tony added, reaching for the bottle still on Bruce's hand. "You shouldn't have bothered, really. I have boxes and boxes of booze all ready to be consumed tonight."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "You're welcome."

"Come on, Brucie-bear. Time to meet the gang." Tony winked, turning toward the door and stepping back inside, disappearing as fast as he had come, leaving Bruce and Pepper to look after him for a moment.

"They're not that bad, you know," Pepper offered sympathetically, patting his arm. "Relax."

She handed him his tie back and he shoved it in the inner pocket of his jacket as they walked together the short distance to the door. He let her enter first, taking a deep breath before following her just a second later. He busied himself removing his coat and jacket and hanging them on the coat rack.

Rather than admiring the bright and beautifully decorated majestic tree (Pepper's doing, he had no doubt) his eyes went straight to the small group sitting in the living room as each of them turned to look in his direction. He knew who each of them were and more, and not just thanks to Tony.

Rogers was sitting on the left end of the couch with Dr. Banner at his side. At the other end where Romanoff and Barton, sitting a bit too close for mere teammates, with the archer's arms resting on the back of the couch behind her. They all looked at him with curiosity and apprehension, even if the redhead was better at concealing it than the rest.

"Here," Tony called, breaking the staring contest and walking toward Bruce, thrusting a glass of wine into his hands. "This is for you."

Bruce took the glass without a word, narrowing his eyes when he saw the look in Tony's face.

"Come on, Pep. There's something I need your help with."

"Tony-"

"It would only take a minute, I promise." Tony grinned at the redhead before turning back to the other billionaire. "We can let you guys to take care of the introductions while we're gone, right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Great! Come on, Pep."

Pepper lingered a moment longer, shooting him an apologetic look before following after Tony.

Bruce allowed himself a couple of seconds to keep glaring after him-cursing and counting all the ways he was going to make him pay for this little stunt-before forcing himself to take a deep breath, sliding into the role of the billionaire playboy and plastering Bruce Wayne's patented dazzling smile on his face before turning around to face Tony's friends.

He took a small sip of his glass as he started walking toward them. And he was definitely overdressed, Bruce thought as he took notice of the simple blue button-down and khakis, the gray Henley t-shirt and jeans, and the pullover sweater and cargo pants. Even the redhead was wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt.

"I would apologize for Tony's lack of manners, but sadly I'm sure you must have seen worst things by now," The remark earned him a snort from the archer and some small, polite smiles from the rest. "But I do want to apologize for intruding. Tony found out I didn't have plans for tonight and threatened to drag me here whether I agreed to or not."

"It's fine, Mr. Wayne. You don't have to apologize." Of course Captain America would be the first to speak up. Not that he was complaining. It was nice to have something other than four pairs of eyes watching him guardedly.

"Oh, it's just Bruce, please."

"Steve Rogers," The blond said, holding out his hand for him to shake. Bruce moved the glass to his left hand and took the offered hand with a smile.

"Captain Rogers. It is an honor to meet you."

"Thank you. You too." Blue eyes shifted to the side. Rogers was clearly wary about the possibility of having a flaky billionaire with hero worship hanging on his every word the whole night. Not that Bruce blamed him. If he had come here with the intention of fully playing that role, he may have done just that. As it was, he wasn't going to be fawning over anyone tonight.

"Let me introduce you to the others," Rogers said politely, turning to his teammates. "These are Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, and Natalie Rushman."

He walked past the super-soldier with a smile to shake hands with them in turn. Rather than using a loose grip (as he usually did when meeting someone) he made sure to match the strength behind the grip on the other person's hand. When he reached the redhead's side, he brought her hand to his lips with a smile instead and kissed it, meeting her green eyes. He was still Bruce Wayne, after all.

It was cute, really that they were trying to protect her identity from him when he probably knew more about her than they did. Except maybe Barton. They clearly had a history together. Still, Bruce could respect that.

"Wait. Didn't you work as Tony's assistant for a while when Pepper took over as CEO of the company?"

"I did."

Bruce didn't say anything for a moment, brow furrowed in thought. Romanoff showed no reaction at the question, clearly too skilled to break her cover so easily, but he didn't miss the glances exchanged by the rest out of the corner of his eye. He let them sweat for a moment, even if he had no real intention to probe further about it.

"It's good to know you were watching Tony's back even then too. Especially with that madman who attacked him in Monaco on the loss."

"Of course."

Bruce turned to the others, beaming. "Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet the people Tony holds in such a high esteem."

"Really? We're talking about Stark?" Barton said.

"I know how it sounds, trust me. But with time you learn to filter anything he says and understand the real meaning behind the words. It is a complex process, but it has its advantages."

"You have known him for a long time, then?" It was Banner this time, breaking the silence with his quiet question.

Bruce sat down in the free space in the middle of the large sofa, grateful for the prompting. "Yes. Our parents ran in the same circles, so we met when we were kids. Of course, it took us a few more years and several other meetings to stop disliking each other." Bruce smiled lopsidedly. "Tony isn't very good at first impressions, and I have to admit neither was I.

"Anyway, I know Tony, so believe me when I tell you he would not have invited you into his home without dozens of people to stand between you and him if he didn't respect and admire you."

Tony's teammates exchanged looks but said nothing.

He could see them relax somewhat after that, even if they were still alert. It made Bruce relax a bit too.

"Hey! We're back," Tony announced loudly, walking toward them with Pepper at his heels. "You guys got a good little chat?"

"We sure did," Clint replied with a smirk, mirrored in Natasha's face.

Tony furrowed his brow, turning to look in Bruce's direction. The corner of the Gothamite's mouth curled up coyly before he lifted the glass to his lips to take a sip of his wine.

"Great!" He said, recovering quickly.

Bruce met Pepper's curious eyes as she and Tony walked toward the sofa. He shrugged with a twitch of his lips as Tony sat down at his right side while Pepper occupied the empty space between her employer and Barton.

"I know I promised you'll get to meet the demigod," Tony started, head turned in Bruce's direction. "But there was some minor scheduling conflict. How would have thought Asgard's prince would be too busy to come mingle, right? But hey, I got you four out of five so that's something, right?"

He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Really? That was the way he wanted to steer the conversation?

"And I probably shouldn't complain about it if I were you, sweet cheeks. 'Cause you know, those guys-and lady-can kick your ass if they feel offended." Tony warned him in a whisper loud enough for the others to hear him.

Bruce met Tony's brown eyes briefly, letting him see the gleam in them, as well as the minute twitch of his lips before turning to meet the eyes of every one of the other occupants of the room in turn as he spoke.

"See? That's what I was talking about. Right now Tony is, in fact, expressing his regret because your friend- Thor, was it? Couldn't be here tonight. As well as a poorly worded appraise of your abilities."

"What? No! What are you talking about?"

Laughs and chuckles were heard from everyone in the room at Tony's reaction, and even Bruce allowed himself a smug smile.

"Is there a way we might be able to persuade you to attend team meetings, Mr. Wayne?" Romanoff asked casually, drawing the attention of everyone in her direction.

"Excuse me?!"

Bruce ignored Tony's interruption. He had wanted him to get along with his teammates, right? Well, he was just delivering. "It's just Bruce, please. And, I don't know. Isn't your organization or whatever supposed to be super-secret?"

"With your unique skills, I'm sure Director Fury would make an exception." The archer countered. "What would be your response to-hypothetically, of course-being drugged and transported to an unknown location, where you would then proceed to act as Stark's interpreter during meetings?" Barton asked, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Tony was still watching him as if he was seeing him for the first time while Pepper was barely containing her laugh. Bruce pretended to think for a moment.

"It could be beneficial," Rogers added with a small twitch of lips.

"Ah, well, I'm not exactly a fan of the idea of being drugged, to be honest, but I cannot outrightly refuse to comply with such an important duty. Of course, I would rather if you informed me about it before giving me any kind of drug," Bruce added almost as an afterthought.

"Okay, okay!" Tony interrupted the exchange before turning to him. "You're forbidden from speaking for the rest of the night, got it?"

"I can leave if you want me to," Bruce offered innocently.

"Nice try, cupcake, but you're not going anywhere."

Bruce shrugged his shoulders in a smooth movement. He had to admit this meeting wasn't going as bad as he had thought it would, so he was actually okay with staying for a while. And, in spite of the melodramatic reaction, Bruce could tell Tony was pleased too.

"Nice catch, Stark. I like him."

He had told Tony before that he didn't care what the Avengers thought of him-both in or out of the suit-And it was the truth. So why did he feel the urge to smile at the compliment? Even as he hid his mouth behind his glass, Bruce couldn't help but wonder what their reaction would if they knew just who exactly was sitting among them.

OoOoO

a/n: So, what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Please let me know! This was my very first attempt at writing the Avengers, so any comment or critique would be very welcome. Also, thank you so much for the comments, kudos and bookmarks! I was very glad to see the lovely response the first chapter got, so I hope you enjoyed the second part too!

Happy Holidays everyone! And, I hope you have a great New Year too!