Natasha was a nervous wreck. Of course her face didn't show it, she was too good at hiding her emotions for that, but her stomach was in a knot nonetheless. Phil sat beside her on the couch, holding her hand tightly in his own, while Pepper whispered soothing words and gently stroked her hair. Normally Natasha would have fought off any attempt at this sort of comfort, but today wasn't exactly a normal day. After Steve had hung up on her she'd been tempted to go grab one of SHIELD's planes and fly out to Vegas to find Clint herself. The only thing that had stopped her was Fury intercepting and explaining that Agent Hill had the situation under control. Whatever that meant. Natasha trusted Hill to find Clint, Maria was good, one of the best. If any Agent, other than Natasha, could track down Clint it would be Maria. So, reluctantly, Natasha had given in to sitting on the couch miserably accepting whatever comfort Phil, and Pepper and occasionally Jane (when she wasn't off searching for Darcy) could offer.
So when the four men, accompanied by Maria, Melinda May and Darcy burst into the room, Natasha's natural instinct was to run up and slap Clint. Which she did, promptly. He winced, and she noticed how burnt his face was, but she was too angry to pity him.
"Where the hell were you?" She snarled in Russian. He smiled at her nervously as he gingerly rubbed his cheek where she'd slapped him.
"It's a really long story, Nat, and honestly, I was unconscious for most of it." He said. She glared at him and pulled him into a tight hug, her arms wrapping around his neck.
"Idiot." She growled in his ear.
"I love you too." He replied, gently stroking her hair.
"Alright, come on people, the wedding is starting!" Fury said as he ran in, forcefully taking Natasha's arm and pulling her away from Clint.
"Let's go, we're already running late." Fury said as beckoned for the others to follow.
The wedding proceeded as planned, with Pepper, Jane and Maria as the bridesmaids. Natasha was walked down the isle by Fury, her long gorgeous white dress flowing behind her. Her red hair standing out even more beautifully than normal.
"Where were you." She asked Clint quietly once they were standing side by side at the alter. "And why are you so red."
"Honey, like I said, it's a long story. And you know I have sensitive skin." He said with a very small smirk. She glared at him.
"All I know is that I am so sorry. And I promise for as long as we're married, I will never put you through anything like this again." He looked at her earnestly, staring into the deep green abysses that were her eyes. "Can you forgive me?" He whispered. Her glare slipped slightly turning into a very small smile, as her hand gently slipped into his.
After the ceremony, Tony immediately went to find Pepper, who was cradling a drink at the bar. Once he found her he slipped up behind her and pulled her into a deep kiss. After their lips separated, she punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow." He said, gripping his arm.
"What the hell were you thinking?" She asked. "Do you have any idea how hard this was on Natasha?"
"Look, I'm sorry, it was an accident. But it all turned out okay."
"What the hell happened anyway? Maria said you guys were roofied." She said, the concern evident in her voice.
"Hey, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Tony said with a smile, "but don't worry, we're all fine, and Clint even managed to score 80 grand." Peppers eyebrows went up in surprise, Tony grinned at her reaction. Tony then poured himself a glass of whiskey and leaned against the bar next to Pepper, who was silent. They watched as dancing ensued, Clint taking Natasha's hand and elegantly gliding with her across the floor. Soon they were joined by Coulson and May, Thor and Jane, some of the other guests along with (to Starks amusement) Darcy and an obviously uncomfortable Bruce Banner.
"I was worried sick, you know." Pepper said softly. "You really scared me."
"I'm sorry Pep," Tony's face sobered up as he looked at her, "it was an accident, I swear. I'd never do that to you on purpose." She smiled a bit and nodded.
"Walk with me?" He asked indicating the lovely gardens that wrapped around the back of the SHIELD base. Pepper nodded and slipped her hand into his as they set their drinks down and started walking along the path. Once they were out of sight of the party, Tony stopped and turned to face Pepper, holding both her hands in his. She smiled at him, the sun glinting beautifully off of her hair. He sighed deeply glancing at his feet before looking at her again.
"Look, Pepper…I know I'm not the easiest man to be around, and I can't change that." He started, she furrowed her brow, wondering where he was going with this.
"But I want you to know that I love you more than anything else in this world, which is why…" He let go of her hand and plunged his into his pocket, removing the little black velvet box. He moved down onto one knee, opening the box he looked up at Pepper, who's hand was covering her mouth in shock.
"Virginia Pepper Potts… will you marry me?" Tony asked. Pepper let out something between a laugh and a hiccup.
"Of course." She said tears running down her face while she grinned wildly. Tony grinned and stood up again, he gently took her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. Pepper was laughing through her tears as she admired the ring for a moment, before placing one hand on his cheek and pulling him in for a kiss. Tony pulled her up against his chest, elated. Pepper's hand went up and combed through his hair while he rubbed one hand up her back. When they finally slipped apart, both completely out of breath and grinning wildly, Tony took her hand in his and led her back to the wedding feeling happier than he ever had before.
While Tony was at the bar talking to Pepper, Maria was watching the dancing from the other side of the dance floor. She smiled slightly as she watched Clint take Natasha's hand and guide her up onto floor, the two danced in much the same way that they sparred. Graceful, elegant and in an almost choreographed manner, watching from the sidelines you could never really tell who was leading and who was following. After the newly weds had danced for a while the others began to follow them onto the dance floor. Thor and Jane led the way, the asgardian was clumsy initially, but Jane was helping him to get his footing. To Maria's amusement Coulson and Melinda had started dancing as well, Melinda was glaring at him while he grinned back at her, Maria could tell they were talking but was too far away to hear what they were saying, although May's glare lessened significantly. Darcy was standing next to Bruce, trying to coax him into dancing.
"Oh come on, it'll be fun, and it's not like you're gonna Hulk out anyway. Pretty please." Darcy was saying while holding his hand by the wrist and going through the motions of trying to drag him onto the dance floor. He groaned.
"I really don't dance, Darcy." He said.
"That's ok, I can teach you." She said happily, while Bruce reluctantly followed her.
Maria's gaze was pulled away from the couples as Steve walked over to stand beside her.
"Would you like to dance?" He asked as he offered her his hand. She glanced at him, uncertain, she'd never been big on dancing.
"Sure. Why not." She said. He smiled at her, his blue eyes glinting slightly as she slipped her hand into his. He lead her up into the crowd of other dancers and she felt his hand slide gently around her waist. They danced for a few minutes, neither one venturing to speak.
"You look beautiful." He commented finally. She smiled slightly, her dark red bridesmaids dress flowing gently around her as they danced.
"Thanks." She said quietly. "You clean up pretty nice yourself." She commented, he smiled at her. They continued to dance silently, at some point their stance had changed and she found herself leaning gently against his chest, she closed her eyes, realizing that for the first time in a very very long time, she felt safe.
"Agent Coulson." Clint said as he walked into Coulson's office after the wedding. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, congratulations." Phil said with a smile. "You had us worried there for a second. How was Vegas?"
"It was, uh, crazy." Clint said as he sat down in front of Phil's desk.
"Did you enjoy the car?" Coulson asked.
"Uh huh." Clint said nervously. He's going to kill me, he's going to murder me then set my body on fire and the put me in the car and force me to drive it into the ocean.
"Let me ask you a question. How can a cake cost 1400 dollars?" Coulson asked as he looked over the paperwork for the wedding.
"Huh, highway robbery." Clint said nervously. I've got to come clean, he's pissed anyway, maybe I can at least come across on the high ground it's not like it was my fault the car got wrecked, I was trapped up on a roof. "Phil, about the car…"
"Natasha told you. I told her not to tell you, I wanted to tell you." Phil said angrily.
"Tell me what?" Clint asked, now completely confused.
"My car, she's a wedding gift to you."
"Are you serious?" Clint laughed in relief. "That is awesome. Thank you." Thank God, you dodged a bullet on that one Clint.
Later on, the guys sat out on lawn chairs.
"Clint, I have to say this was a gorgeous wedding." Steve said.
"I give it six months." Tony said with a smirk.
"You're a dick." Steve mumbled into his drink.
"I don't know what to say. Thanks for the bachelor party I guess." Clint said.
"Yeah," Steve chuckled, "I just wish we could remember some of it."
"Oh, by the way, Pepper said yes." Tony said. "We're engaged!"
"Congratulations, that's great man!" Clint exclaimed.
"Even after we went awol? She still married you?" Steve asked, more surprised than anything.
"What can I say, she's my soulmate." Tony said with a shrug, though he was grinning.
"Look what I found." Thor said as he walked over happily, holding a camera in one hand.
"Hey, that's my camera?" Steve said.
"Yes, I found it in the car." Thor said.
"Oh god, are there photos on it?" Tony asked.
"Indeed." Thor returned.
"Gimme it." Tony said taking the camera from Thor.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Steve said, placing a hand on the camera to stop Tony from looking.
"Wait," Clint said as he stood up, taking the camera out of Tony and Steve's hands, "we look at these pictures together, one time, and then we delete the evidence."
"I say we delete it right now." Steve said standing up as well.
"Are you nuts? I want to find out how I ended up in the hospital." Tony said as he jumped out of his chair.
"Guys, one time." Clint said. "Deal?" The others readily agreed and they began looking through the horrifying evidence of the night they couldn't remember.
THE END :D :D
So what did you guys think? I hope I didn't mess this up too bad. It was a lot of fun to write, maybe I'll go on to avengerify the other Hangover movies in the future, I don't know, let me know if that would be something you guys would want to read. Thank you so much for following and reviewing this story, I really appreciate it.