Hey people! This is one of those longer chapters. :) Sorry I don't upload more often. I have to enjoy my March Break peeps, geez.
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Tony: Wow, desperate much?
Clint: I know, right? Desperate...
Natasha: Um... You may want to see this picture Tony...
Clint: LEMME SEE? *looks at the photo.* AHAHAHAHA!
Tony: What? WHAT?
Steve: *looks over his shoulder and stifles a laugh.* I have to admit, that is kind of funny...
Tony: LET. ME. SEE!
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Tony Stark can find an excuse to throw a party for anything. Whether it be a Yay Pepper's finished half her paperwork or a Steve finally gets a reference #2 party, he will find a way and a theme for that party.
So a the charity party is finished everybody get down and shuffling party was no biggie for Anthony Edward Stark. He had arranged everything-everyone except for him, Bruce and Natasha wore their uniforms underneath their clothing and they agreed that as soon as the Charity ball was finished, they would rip off their suits and party until two in the morning.
In this case, agreed means they spent hours arguing over it. However, in the end, Tony ultimately won his case, and the after-charity party was organized.
Pepper and Tony were the first to arrive to the tower, with the tree. The alter-ego of Iron Man proved to be the genius he was, and rigged up a small tree stand that would water the tree when it needed it, and keep the pine needles from falling all over the place. The tree was propped upright, and everything was at a cruising speed, until Pepper slapped her forehead in realization.
"Crap, we didn't get the ornaments!" She started pacing around, but Tony wasn't in the room with her. "Tony, did you hear-" A wry smile sneaked on her face as she watched her boyfriend enter the room, two full cardboard boxes tucked underneath his arms.
"Family tradition," He explains as he puts them down and opens the dusty boxes, revealing many ornaments inside. "Each ornament has been added by another generation; layers and layers of history."
Pepper holds up a tiny plastic gingerbread man. "Do you know the story behind this one?"
"No idea," Tony said truthfully as he took it from her hand and placed it on one branch of the tree. "One down, a million more to go."
"What about... This one?" Pepper then brings up a small snow globe on a golden string, shaking the styrofoam snow around the little couple sitting on the bench, who seem oblivious to the snow around them.
"Ah, I think that might have been my dad's gift to my mom. Or some romantic crap like that," he waved it off, and pulled out a mini snowflake that lit up when he touched a button. "Now this, this is art."
"Where'd you get that?" Pepper carefully cradled the snowflake in her fingers, turning the small blinking wired ornament over to observe it, face clearly awe-stricken. "This is adorable!"
"I made it," he sounded very proud, with a hint of smug. "With my... Dad.." He trailed off, and Pepper quickly hung it up and took out another ornament.
"Hey, you kept it!"
"What?"
Tony looked up from the tree, which he was currently fixing the branches of, letting his eyes glide to Pepper, who was grinning and fingers were dangling an Iron Man ornament, which was wearing a hat. "You kept it," she repeated, slightly quieter this time.
"Yeah," he agreed as he watched her hang it up on the tree along with the others, "I took it as a compliment; that you really liked the Iron Man side to me."
She turned around, smiled and wrapped her arms around Tony, sharing a sweet embrace. He pulled her face forward and their lips met.
"Gah, get a room, you two."
Pepper's face burned red as she broke apart from Tony's face, but he wouldn't let her leave his arms.
Clint was standing there at the doorway, exaggeratedly sticking his tongue out in disgust. Natasha was rolling her eyes, but nobody knew who she was rolling them at-Clint or Pepper and Tony.
"Nobody needs Pepperony in the middle of the living room." Clint mutters, dropping the plastic bags on the couch. "Wait, that sounded really wrong."
Tony grinned like a fox, while Pepper pressed her lips together really tightly, forming them into one straight line.
"So are we hanging up ornaments or what?" Natasha asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.
The four continued working in silence, stringing up small ornaments on different branches.
At last, a very tired Bruce, a very excited Thor and an extremely cheerful Steve arrived at the tower and they joined the cheerful-but silent Avengers, wrapping lights around and etc. Tony stood back and marveled their work. "Ah, now just for the finishing touch..." He dug into one of the boxes, digging around. "New generation of ornaments."
The alter-ego of Iron Man held up six perfect little ornaments, a small glass and red sand hourglass, a very delicate looking-glass version of Captain America's shield, one detailed bow with an arrow drawn inside it, a plastic figurine of Hulk, an exact miniature replica of Thor's hammer-minus the power, and a very beautifully made arc reactor ornament. "You guys like?"
"Wow," Steve took the small glass shield carefully in his hands. "I'm impressed, Tony, I am very impressed. Did you make these?"
Tony beamed, face lighting up at Pepper smiling at him. "Course I did, Capsicle. Where else would I get them?"
Pepper found herself smirking and marveling at the idea of a Tony sitting very patiently in one spot, patiently melting the colored sand and pouring it into the molds, and them letting the cool. She let out a small laugh as Natasha tried to hide the amazement on her face as well.
"Nice job Starky," the assassin punched him-hard-in the arm. "It looks good."
"And all we're missing now is the star for the top of the tree!" Clint pointed to the very tip of the pine tree, which turned out to be higher than any of them had anticipated. "And... How exactly are we planning on getting the star to the top of the tree?"
"Well Thor flying in the house is out," Tony starts, much to Thor's disagreement, "Getting Bruce to hulk-out is definitely a no. Hang on, I got it! Dummy!"
Clint had an idea, but no one seemed keen on listening. "You know I could just-"
"Shut it Cupid, no one cares." Tony's robot whirred into the room, obediently awaiting its master's instructions. "Okay Pepper, come here."
Pepper stood very still for a moment, almost as if she was frozen in time, signs of her breathing very small, and she only blinked once. "What are you going to make me do?"
"How much do you weigh, Pep? 126?" He seemed completely bent on figuring out a way to put the star on top, even though he basically implied he had already had an idea. "129? Something close to that?" Tony picked up the big star that was supposed to go up the tree.
She didn't answer, and her eyes flew from side to side as her mind reeled for any idea of what Tony had up his sleeve. "What-What are you thinking?"
"Here, just-Pepper don't give me that look-just come over here."
Pepper did not move from her spot, and blinked really quickly instead.
"Do you trust me?" He asked at last, and finally, she forced herself to nod and walk over to him. "So, I need you to sit on Dummy, he'll extend his arm up, and you just put the star on top. Simple."
She kept blinking at him.
"Okay, let's go!" Tony scooped her up bridal-style, oblivious to the Avengers watching them. He dropped her still screaming on Dummy's arm, and handed her the star. "Good luck my love," Tony kissed her forehead and gestured for Dummy to extend his arm.
Pepper tried to dig her nails into the metal, clutching on so tightly for her dear life. "Tony, I am going to kill you when I get down from here!"
"Love you too Ms. Potts!"
Dummy finally reached the top of the tree, and forcing herself to keep from whimpering, a very scared Pepper carefully set the star on top of the tree, hand visibly shaking. She very warily leaned forward, and tried to plug the star in without falling off the robot's arm.
Everything was dizzy to Pepper when she accidentally looked down. It was going to be a looong fall if she slipped off Dummy's arm.
Eventually, she reached the plug, stabbed it into the outlet, and miraculously, the tree lit up, a sight something short of magic. The whole room glowed with the beautiful light radiating off the tree, and everyone, even Pepper, who was still sitting on Dummy's arm grinned. "Now please get me down from here."
The night was beautiful. True, you could say that the weather conditions were horrible and vile, cold and unforgiving, but if you entered Stark Tower, it was as if outside was jut an illusion.
Everyone was dressed in very fancy clothing-women in blue or white dresses reflecting the snow, and men in black suits.
Natasha stood by herself near the punchbowl at the beginning of the party, when everyone was just being introduced. Men were too afraid to approach her, for fear that even though she was beautiful, she could kill them in one second. She wore a red sleeveless gown that had a slit up her right thigh, which only made her eyes pop out and allowed her to stand out more. Her hair was kept down, falling to her shoulders as she drank more punch. Natasha was a glowing beauty.
While Natasha stood out dramatically, Pepper stood out in a more, subtle, beautiful light. Her hair was in a braid wrapped up around her head, out of her face and eyes. Dressed in a ruffled, one-sleeve pink dress the hue of the sunset, Pepper welcomed all the guests to the charity ball, and smiled, feigning interest in some of the more boring conversations. Pepper drank champagne, but when the alcohol became too much, she faked sips. Her cheeks started to hurt from all the fake smiling.
The charity ball started off very lightly and quietly, very formal and to Clint, very boring. So he decided to kick things up a notch. The lights in the living room reflected off the white furniture, pale shades of blue, white and crystal, so Clint switched them to neon greens, neon blues and neon everything. He changed the music to more upbeat songs, grinning as he attached streamers to his arrows and sent them flying across the top of the room, landing and becoming stuck in the drywall as the streamers slowly started to flutter down behind them. When he felt at last he was finished, he smoothed down his crisp black suit, and went to go find Natasha.
Tony watched the lights change and the surprised looks on his guests start to flood the living room. He grinned, and tried to push his way through the crowd to find Pepper for a dance.
Bruce stood very awkwardly in the middle of the crowds, shaking hands and offering odd and shy smiles, and seemed more uncomfortable than enjoying the party. That is, until someone asked him about gamma radiation, and Bruce finally started to unwind. A small crowd had been attracted to him, asking more questions and listening intently. Every person who had asked him was a man, until out of nowhere, he heard a female voice in the very far back ask him, "Why do you like gamma radiation?"
He was kind of taken aback by this. Most people just asked him about what this meant, or what it was, but very nearly had he heard this question.
"I... It's... It's a very long story, and I don't think any of you want to hear it now, do you?" He faked a small nervous chuckle, and all the other men chuckled with him.
Suddenly they parted, and there was a beautiful girl standing at the end of the parted men. She was in a sleeveless dress that reached to her knees. It was a very pale blue at the top and faded into a very dark navy blue at the bottom. Her long brown hair was parted to one side, and her stockings were the same dark blue. She gave him a small smile as Bruce gaped at her, mouth slightly open like a fish.
"I would," she whispered at last, and Bruce had to blink several times. "I would like to hear about it."
He gave a sigh of surprise almost, and walked between the two rows of men to the girl and enveloped her in a hug which she gracefully accepted. "Betty..." Bruce whispered hazily into her hair. He felt her smile into his chest.
Tony stood behind her, pressing his lips together tightly. Pepper still hadn't noticed him, she was too focused in pretending she had any idea what the Mr. Johnson was going on and on about. "Are you busy, Ms. Potts?" He asked her quite incredulously, and if it weren't for Pepper's heels keeping her grounded, she would have leaped at Tony's warm breath suddenly on her neck.
She spun around. "What?" She nipped, as Mr. Johnson waited patiently for their conversation to continue. "Not enough food on the dessert table?" Pepper pointed to the flaunted dessert table, filled with orange slices arranged in the Eiffel tower, a cake in the shape of a bio-sphere that had already been cut into, cookies in every shape imaginable, a chocolate water wheel scooping up more chocolate, an ice sculpture in the shape of Stark Tower-which ingeniously melted slowly so that the layers of candies inside started to peek through, hot chocolate being served with edible peppermint spoons, sparkling Christmas punch, and the main attraction that Pepper and Clint mostly, along with the other Avengers had made, the cupcake tray which was in the shape of the Christmas tree, filled with quickly disappearing cupcakes.
"It's not that," Tony says, looking at the clock idly. "It's that it's almost 10 and we haven't even danced yet."
Pepper stared at the clock, a bored frown on her face. She gave an annoyed sigh while rolling her eyes. "Tony, it's 9:47."
The alter-ego of Iron Man paused, for dramatic effect almost. "Whatever, close enough, alright, Mr... Johnny, thanks for chatting with her, 'kay, toodles!" And with that, he pulled his girlfriend into the midst of the crowd, leaving short and stumpy Mr. Johnson scratching his head.
"Did you just say 'toodles'?" Pepper sounded slightly more relaxed and amused now, as Tony rested a hand on her hip and one on her shoulder. He smiled, and she tried to force her lips closed, but a smile found its place on her face.
"Maybe," he said, hand reaching over to pull her braid loose. "And did I mention you're truly glowing, my dear Pepper?" Finally, Tony gave one last tug, and the braid broke loose, allowing Pepper's now curly strawberry blond hair to fall and tumble-down her shoulders. "Truly, beautifully and wonderfully glowing."
They slowly danced, Pepper now allowing the smile to become a glowing white grin.
"Ahem."
Natasha turned around from her viewing of Tony and Pepper to see Clint step out of the shadows.
"How can you watch them?" Clint asked obnoxiously, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean, like seriously, I thought you hated romance and stuff like that."
She ignored him, rolling her eyes and sipping the pink punch.
"Would you like it better if you got to experience it first hand instead of just watching them?" He asked at last.
"Was that what you were building up for?" Natasha asked, tone impatient. "I waited for so long just for you to ask me to dance? So not worth it."
Clint's face went blank.
"But yes." Despite this, Clint seemed hesitant to take her hand. "What're you waiting for, Legolas? If you don't hurry, I might change my mind."
She held out her hand, and with a flourished grin, Clint eagerly grabbed it and yanked her into the crowd as Natasha very hastily put down her still full glass. He stared into her green eyes as she stared into his blue ones.
Her eyes are so bright.
Meanwhile, across the dance floor, hidden away in a corner, were Thor and Jane making out underneath mistletoe. Eugh, no need to linger on what was happening there.
However, no one seemed to notice Steve missing.
Except for Maria.
She walked up behind Pepper, unafraid to interrupt her moment with Tony. As soon as Tony saw her approaching, he pulled Pepper closer to his chest, and stared straight-wide eyed at Maria.
She mouthed, where's Steve?
He mouthed back a silent, Capsicle? Not sure.
Maria sighed and rolled her eyes. Have you seen him at all?
Tony bit his lip as Pepper started squirming, her face being pressed to uncomfortably into his arc reactor. He released slightly, but kept her face in his chest gently. Haven't seen him since the start of the party.
Finally Maria nodded, and mouthed a thank you before turning to find Steve elsewhere.
Maria smoothed down her long flowing strapless gown-that Fury and Tony both asked her to wear and she had agreed since it was for charity-and went to Steve's room, the one place she hadn't looked for him yet.
The soft echoes and piano sounds of Stay by Rihanna started playing as Maria knocked on Steve's door. "Steve? Are you in there?"
There was no response. "Hello? Steve, it's Maria."
"He's not there."
Maria, using her momentum of spinning around, punched whoever said that and whoever was standing behind her to the ground. Clint sat there, rubbing his noise. "Ow."
"Oh, sorry." She reached down, and helped him up off the ground. "Do you know where he is?"
"Yeah," Clint mutters, voice weird as he pinches his nose. "He left at around eight, storming out the tower."
With that, Maria left Clint alone, rubbing his nose in the hallway. The SHIELD agent grabbed her coat off the coat hanger and rode the elevator down, running through the lobby, still in that ridiculous long white dress and still in high heels.
Steve stared out at the river in front of him. The bridge he was standing on faced the wind and the snow was blowing in his face, making him squint against the blurring frigid hail. He hated the cold, but it was better than just sitting in there.
He heard someone come up to him, and he saw a woman with long brown hair whipping against her face and her dress billowing beside her. "Steve!" She called, and for a second, he lost sense of what just happened.
"Peggy?" Steve ran towards her, but as he got closer, his vision cleared, and saw that it was only Maria. "Oh. Agent Hill."
"It's just Maria," she replied, pulling the collar off her jacket higher to cover her ears. "So what are you doing out here in this miserable weather?"
"I..." He trailed off, and instead gently took Maria by her back and started to lead her down the bridge back to Tower. "I don't want to talk about it."
Maria stopped in mid-step, and turned back to him. "Oh." She said flatly, as if she was upset but she understood. "It's Sunday, and that's why you left at eight, like the day you were supposed to go on that date, wasn't it?"
Steve stayed very silent and stood absolutely still, face trying to mask his sudden painful wince. "Yes and no," he answered bitterly, facing away from her gaze. "Because if it were just that it was Sunday and it was eight o'clock, then I would leave every weekend."
"So... Why did you just storm out?"
The two continued walking again, and Steve let out a painful, very small sigh. "It's that everyone was dancing, and it's just... Very..."
"Painful?" She suggested, sticking her frozen hands in her pockets. Steve nodded grimly, sniffling. "I'm sorry," Maria whispered, "I didn't want to bring it up to hurt you, I was just..."
Without meaning, Steve inhaled and held up a hand, stopping Maria. Afterwards, the two continued their walk back to the tower in silence.
Thor: I FIND THIS MOST AMUSING. AHA. AHA. HAHA.
Darcy: Ain't that true. *smiles.*
Tony: Let me see! *grabs it.*
The photo is a depiction of Tony's face with the words on top "Hey I just banged you, and this is crazy," and at the bottom reads, "Delete my number, but keep the baby."
Pepper: *walks by and looks over his shoulder at the photo.* That's cute.
Tony: Not. Funny.
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