I know, I know, I'm a horrible person. I've kept you all waiting for more than a week, and I'm unbelievably sorry. It's just been a very hectic week. Thank you so much for all of your reviews, favorites and alerts, they really mean a lot to me. So, you know, keep them coming, if you would be so kind. I'm still in the process of getting the ones for chapter 7 responded to.
This chapter's a little on the fluffier side, both in the forms of Clint/Natasha as well as Tony/Pepper. I think it turned out alright though, but don't be afraid to tell me what you think. Current plan for the story involves three or four more chapters, and in the next one we'll be leaving Malibu and heading back to New York, for reasons you'll see when you read the chapter.
From here on out, I'll be using creative license for Pepper's past, seeing as I looked around but couldn't find anything concrete, so if there is something cannon and I'm just not finding it, consider this AU.
I've kept you waiting more than long enough, so here is the next chapter; I hope you enjoy.
As always, I own nothing.
Rhodes stopped by for a short visit the next afternoon, telling them that they still weren't sure how the virus that had set the drones off had gotten into the system. It was clear, however, even during the small amount of time the Colonel had to sit down with them, that nearly the entirety of the tension between him and Bruce was gone. Tony in particular noticed, and was smiling gleefully the entire time.
He had known that Rhodey just needed some time to get to know Bruce, and even the Hulk himself, but it was still good to know that he had been right. That his arguably two best friends in the world could get along with each other.
After Rhodey had left, the sun was just beginning to set and it was actually Steve's idea to find some fire-wood and start a bonfire on the beach. He cited the fact that they hadn't really gotten to finish their day at the beach the day before as their reasoning, and the others were quick to agree.
Together, Clint and Bruce raided the kitchen to find suitable cookout foods, gathering quite a few packs of hotdogs and buns, as well as every single bag of marshmallows they could find.
Clint wasn't quite sure where exactly Steve and Thor had found firewood, but he didn't ask either, sitting down on a towel in the sand between Natasha and Thor. Steve was passing out sticks they could use to cook their food, and Tony was busying himself with getting the fire started. He sincerely hoped he wasn't the only one that doubted the decision to let Stark take that responsibility.
A few minutes later, he was thankfully proved wrong in his doubts, seeing as the bonfire had been started without any unexpected explosions.
Their typical teasing banter started up, even Natasha relaxing enough to lean against Clint's side as she taunted Tony, though it caused nothing more than a sarcastic eye roll and huff from the billionaire, who was currently transferring one of Pepper's hotdogs to a bun.
When his eyes glanced up to her a few moments later, he took in her easy-going position with a grin before he spoke up, tone teasing but holding an air of sincere curiosity.
"So are you two ever going to admit that you're like together together?" he asked simply, smirking when both assassins stiffened ever so slightly and turned their eyes to him, as did the gazes of the rest of the team. When the silence ran on, Tony continued, tone unchanging. "I mean we all know you're sleeping together, you haven't exactly tried to keep that a secret, so what gives?"
"Tony," Steve started, sounding disapproving. They all knew that you never got an outright answer to a personal question directed to either assassin, especially not concerning one another. Both Clint and Natasha would share only what was strictly necessary when they felt the time was right, not before.
To their surprise however, Clint shared one short glance with Natasha, who hadn't moved, before he spoke, eyes flashing with amusement as a smirk formed on his face.
"Just because we're sleeping in the same bed, that doesn't mean we're having sex, Stark." he pointed out, one eyebrow raising when the billionaire frowned, eyes narrowing as it he was genuinely stumped.
"You are the two saddest people in the history of the world." Tony said matter of factly a few moments later, rolling his eyes when an already slightly blushing Steve cleared his throat pointedly. Tony just rolled his eyes. "Yes, gramps, you can pull your fingers out of your ears now. We're done talking about the 's' word."
Clint just about choked as he tried to contain his laughter, unaware of why he found the exchange between Tony and Steve so amusing. The super soldier met his gaze then, a slightly sheepish smile on his face, and Clint couldn't help himself as the laugh bubbled up again, escaping before he tried to control it.
The others joined in with him after a few beats of shocked silence.
"God, I haven't laughed like that in forever." the archer gasped after a few long moments as he calmed, eyes bright as he propped an arm behind his head where he had fallen back into the sand. "And the sad part is, is that it wasn't even that funny."
"I don't know, I thought it was pretty damn hilarious." Tony said modestly, taking the light smack that Pepper directed at his arm good –naturedly.
"Even I have to admit that was funny." Steve pointed out, his smile having grown, leaning back on his arms as he looked over the group.
"Yeah, but not that funny." Clint shook his head before looking up to where Natasha was gazing down at him with a hint of amused exasperation that was invisible to everyone else.
The night continued on in relative peace after that, everyone pitching in to help Thor master the art of marshmallow roasting, without ending up with a charred black mushy fireball.
It was Pepper that was first to refuse Tony's proposal of a drinking game, unwilling to let any drunk Avenger within half a mile of a bonfire. When she said that, it caused another laugh from everyone but Tony, who just pouted.
As time wore on, the fire lowered as it burned itself out, and Pepper was the first to drop off into sleep amid the quiet conversations that surrounded her. Thor was next, promptly followed by Bruce, and then, to everyone's surprise, Natasha drifted off where she was leaning against Clint's side again.
"Has she ever fallen asleep around us unless she was the last one awake?" Tony asked, voice quiet but shocked, and Clint gave a slight shrug with the shoulder that wasn't being used as a pillow.
He alone knew that nightmares had kept the Widow up all last night, hardly allowing her to get any sleep. Even so, he also knew that falling asleep around the others showed a level of trust that she hadn't exhibited before, which made him feel a tingle of relief. He had relaxed around the team almost completely; that was a feat in itself. But however hard it was for him to trust, it was double for her. Sure, she bantered with Tony occasionally, sparred with Thor and gave Steve pointers on his technique, but she hadn't yet shown them her emotions. Granted, it had taken him two years to get to that point.
He was pulled out of his thoughts at Tony quietly calling his name and he raised his gaze to meet the billionaire's, expression questioning.
"Care to share what's going on in that head of yours?" Tony asked, sounding amused, but Clint just snorted.
"No." he said matter of factly, making Tony adopt an insulted expression and chuckling slightly to himself. "You know, I think I'm getting too used to all this normal human interaction."
"It's good for you to come down out of your nest every once in a while, Featherhead." Tony snorted in a condescending tone, and Clint just rolled his eyes before looking to Steve as he spoke.
"I have noticed that you're spending less time above things lately." the Captain pointed out curiously, and Clint gave a slow nod, trying to decide how to respond.
"I don't feel like I need to keep my distance to be safe with you guys anymore." he explained honestly after a few moments, before he frowned. "It's odd, really."
"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment that you trust us, or an insult that it's odd." Tony quipped, and Clint sent him a slight glare as he responded.
"I'm a professional covert assassin, Stark. Trusting anyone is odd." he said dryly with a slight shake of his head, not telling them that he had stopped trusting before he ever became an assassin.
Tony scoffed slightly, before looking at his watch, and then around himself with a sigh.
"We probably shouldn't sleep out here." he pointed out wisely, before looking to Steve. "Will you put out the fire, boy scout?"
Steve rolled his eyes but stood smoothly to do so, as Tony rolled to his feet and began shaking Bruce and Pepper awake. Clint reached over and patted Thor on the arm, grinning slightly when the demi-god's blue eyes blinked open blearily.
"We're going inside." he explained quietly and Thor gave a short nod of acceptance and a yawn before moving to get up. That done, Clint carefully got his arms around Natasha before easily pushing himself to his feet, keeping the other assassin's sleeping form cradled gently in his arms.
Even so, he felt her stiffen into wakefulness at the movement, though he pretended not to notice as her eyes opened to silts and looked up to him and then her position. He half expected her to demand to be put down immediately, but to his slight surprise a small, almost invisible smile formed on her face and her eyes closed again, shifting herself slightly to be more comfortable in his arms. He gave himself a quiet chuckle and a small shake of his head at her actions. She'd only let him carry her once before, and at that point she'd had a broken ankle, a bullet wound in her side and a dislocated shoulder. As such, he counted this as a minor miracle, even though his motivation had been to let her keep sleeping.
"That's great, Barton, just make the rest of us look like assholes." Tony's voice sounded, somewhat annoyed, and Clint looked to him with a smirk as Steve led the way back up to the mansion.
"Sorry, Stark." he said flippantly, not sounding it at all.
Back at the mansion, they all went straight for their bedrooms, though Clint headed to Natasha's easily. Lightly closing the door behind himself, he looked down to see her gazing up at him with a mischievous grin on her face.
"You owe me one for not ratting out that you were awake." he told her matter of factly, setting her lightly on her feet and smirking when she just gave a slight roll of her eyes, heading for the bath room.
"You didn't have to carry me." she pointed out in the same tone through the closed door.
"You didn't have to let me." he retorted before quickly slipping out of the room before she could respond and heading to his own for a quick shower to rinse off the sand and the smell of smoke.
He went back to Natasha's once he was finished, not surprised to see her sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed and waiting for him.
"How long was I asleep out there anyway?" she asked as they both climbed into bed, facing one another easily.
"Maybe half an hour." Clint shrugged. "I knew you needed the sleep, that's why I didn't want to wake you up."
She sighed but didn't comment on that, instead closing her eyes again in an effort to drift back into sleep.
A few days later found Steve, Thor, Clint and Bruce in the training gym. The only reason Bruce was there was to keep an eye on Clint, unconvinced that the archer was just doing some defensive work with Steve and Thor, and not actually sparring with them.
"I'm sort of disappointed you don't trust me, doc." Clint pointed out, ducking fluidly around Steve's upper-cut and dancing away again. "I mean, all I'm going here is giving poor Cap a work out."
"Oh yes, trust you to see to yourself medically. The same man who sneaks out of his infirmary room through the air vents." Bruce said sarcastically, though there was a glint of teasing amusement that had Clint rolling his eyes.
"Natasha was ignoring me, and I wanted some pudding from mess." he said defensively, and Bruce snorted, shaking his head as Clint carried on this conversation while flitting around Steve's punches and kicks with almost insulting ease. "I couldn't exactly walk out. I've been there enough to know that the medics aren't fond of that."
"Right." Bruce said dryly.
Clint tossed him an insulted look with a huff before sliding under and around a spinning kick from Steve, coming up from a roll and scowling when he came face to face with Steve's fist, that had stopped as soon as it was apparent that it was actually going to hit.
"I think I could get used to this not actually getting punched in the ribs thing." Clint quipped as he leapt to his feet when Steve grinned at him and stepped back. "I should get stabbed in the shoulder more often."
"I don't think that's what you should take away from this, Clint." Steve shook his head slowly in exasperation, nodding slightly in acceptance as Thor moved to take Clint's spot in the ring.
"Of course it is." the archer disagreed, smirking at Bruce who had leveled an impassive look at him, which by the doctor's standards was almost a glare. "But I don't think my warden approves."
"Oh, so I'm your warden now?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow, watching with a slight air of amusement as Clint nodded sagely.
"I have been to prison, and can thus make an accurate comparison." he said matter of factly, which just made the doctor roll his eyes in an exasperated fashion that had Clint grinning at him.
Before Bruce could do more than open his mouth to respond, Tony threw the gym door open and walked inside, looking around at them all nervously.
"Oh good, you're all here." he said, closing the door quickly behind himself.
The four other men quickly shared glances before approaching quickly, knowing that it was not at all like Tony Stark to be nervous.
"Tony, what's wrong?" Bruce asked quickly, but the billionaire just came over to stand with them, shaking his head quickly.
"No, no. Nothing's wrong exactly," he started, glancing around the gym quickly, before back to them somewhat sheepishly. "I just have a small… problem."
By then, both Bruce and Steve had arched their eyebrows in confusion, Clint's eyes had narrowed slightly as he looked over the billionaire, and Thor had taken a small step forward.
"Perhaps you should tell us of your dilemma, my friend." the blonde Asgardian suggested, and Tony's gaze snapped to him quickly, staring at him for a few long moments.
"I want to ask Pepper to marry me." he blurted out unexpectedly, shifting his weight from foot to foot in a far from customary show of nerves and causing surprise to blossom on the faces of the four other men. He didn't seem to notice, instead beginning to pace a short path in front of them, running a hand through his hair. "But, I mean, this is me we're talking about. I have absolutely no clue where to even start… Pepper likes romantic-y things. I can't figure out romantic-y things. Every time I want to ask her something important like this, we get into an argument before hand, and I don't even know how. I know I'm going to end up regretting this in about thirty seconds, but I need help."
"Tony, slow down. You're rambling." Bruce said patiently, amusement flashing in his eyes. He gestured the obviously flustered billionaire to one of the chairs around the edges of the gym. Tony all but collapsed into it, staring up at Bruce hopefully. "Now, first things first. Do you have a ring?"
The doctor took easy control of the conversation, much to the relief of Steve, Clint and Thor, all of which had adopted something akin to 'deer in headlights' expressions, though Clint's was far less pronounced. In response to his question, Tony wordlessly nodded and promptly brought forward a small black box, flipping it open to reveal a simple yet elegant diamond engagement ring. It was made of two twined coils of gold, one white and one yellow, while a perfectly sized diamond rested in the center.
"Think she'll like it?" he asked, before giving a quick smirk. "You should have seen me trying to talk to the guy at the jewelry store. It was an… interesting conversation."
"I think she'll love it." Bruce confirmed easily, giving a slight roll of his eyes as Steve and Clint gave uncomfortable nods and Thor tilted his head slightly in confusion.
"I do not yet know of the traditions of Midgard, but on Asgard when a marriage is proposed there is a grand feast. And a ceremony of some sort passed from father to son when the time is right. My father has yet to share it with me, so I am afraid I will be of little help to you." he explained apologetically and Tony gave him a short nod before looking to Steve, who raised his hands and took a small step back.
"I can barely talk to women without spluttering over myself." he said matter of factly, though he too was slightly apologetic.
Tony groaned before turning his eyes speculatively to Clint, who just raised an eyebrow.
"What about you, Legolas? Say you were going to ask-," before he could even finish the sentence before the archer gave an exasperated sigh and cut him off.
"Don't you even think about ending that question the way I think you're going to. Not going to happen." Clint said tonelessly, eyes narrowing slightly when Tony scoffed.
"Oh please. We all know it'll happen eventually." he said, losing some of his nervousness in favor of giving Clint a disbelieving stare. "Come on, Barton, help me out."
"Hey, you're the one that came to the assassin, demi-god from another realm, socially awkward super soldier and guy that turns into a giant green rage monster for relationship advice." Clint deadpanned, causing slight chuckles from everyone, including Tony. There was silence for a few moments before Clint spoke again, this time his tone exasperated. "You've known her longer than any of us, Stark. What does she like?"
"She'd want it to be more private, just the two of us." Tony told them carefully after a few moments of silence, eyes narrowing into thought, before they sparked with excitement and he looked up to the others. "I think I might have an idea. Will you guys help me with something?"
"I thought that was why we were all standing here talking about rings and feelings." Clint remarked lightly, though there was a distinctly teasing smirk on his face, which caused Tony to childishly stick his tongue out at the archer.
The five men managed to come to an agreement on a plan, which was why Tony was able to approach Pepper with more of his usual confidence the next afternoon, just as the sun was starting to set.
"Hey Pep." he said, giving her a bright smile as he plopped down beside where she was reading a book on one of the couches. He waited for her to look up to him curiously before he continued, completely ignoring the fluttering his stomach had taken to doing again. "You wanna go for a walk down the beach?"
"A walk?" she asked, somewhat confused but amused at the same time.
"Yeah." Tony said easily. "You, me, the sunset… A lack of snow. I mean, we do have to go back to New York in a few days… Did I mention the lack of snow?"
She laughed and set her book aside, standing instead and pulling him with her.
"I guess I can fit that into my schedule, Mr. Stark." she said with a slight roll of her eyes, and Tony grinned brightly.
"Fantastic, Ms. Potts." he said easily, discretely feeling for the little box in his pocket as he lead her towards the door.
Tony felt his nerves return full force once they'd gotten down onto the sand and were walking slowly down the beach, hand in hand.
"So what's this about?" Pepper asked good naturedly after maybe ten minutes, turning her curious gaze to him as opposed to the waves she'd been watching before, her gaze now almost shrewd. "There's got to be something you either did or are going to do. You're too quiet."
Smirking, Tony gave a mock gasp, slapping his free hand over his heart for dramatic effect.
"Ms. Potts, I'm offended you think me capable of such things." he teased, watching with glittering eyes as she shot him an all too familiar look of annoyed amusement. "Alright, alright, you've caught me."
He glanced around the beach once, not knowing why he suddenly felt the need to make sure they were completely alone. Even so, once his eyes had turned back to her, he let go of her hand and reached into his pocket instead, stepping around to stand in front of her as he secured the little box in his fingers. Taking a deep breath and giving her a little nervous grin, he lowered himself down onto one knee, flipping the box open with surprising ease.
Before he could even say a word, she had gasped and brought both hands to her mouth, staring down at him in shock.
"I know that I am the hardest person in the world to deal with," he started quickly, trying to keep the nervous shake out of his voice as well as remember what he wanted to say. "And I know you worry yourself sick over me when I'm off saving the world, or doing something stupid, or whatnot. But the fact of the matter is that I'd probably be dead and broke in a ditch somewhere around a decade ago without you." he paused and frowned for a moment before continuing. "I'm also aware that I legitimately suck at being romantic. Never mind." he shook his head as she gave a breathless giggle from behind her hands. "I should probably just get to the point before I screw this up. I love you Pepper. And I can't imagine spending the rest of my life doing anything other than making you happy. You make me a better man than I ever could have dreamed of being before I met you. Will you marry me?"
Having finally gotten the words out, he glanced up to her, smiling softly when he saw the unshed tears and happiness in her eyes.
"Oh, Tony." she murmured, cupping his face in her hands and pulling him up. "Yes, of course."
He felt his face light up in a grin, pulling her closer and kissing her passionately before he even knew what he was doing.
The only reason they pulled apart was for air a few long minutes later, their eyes meeting again instead. Smirking, Tony held up the ring box, all his nerves suddenly gone, taking out the ring itself and carefully slipping it on her left ring finger.
"Do you approve, Ms. Potts?" he asked quietly, watching her with a happy smile as she stared down at the ring in wonder.
"It's beautiful, Mr. Stark." she said reassuringly, wiping the tears out of her eyes with her other hand.
"Good." Tony said, leaning in to kiss her again, this time quickly, before he turned her around and started walking back the way they had come. "It's not far."
Her confusion abated when she saw a tablecloth and picnic basket set up on the sand that had certainly not been there the first time they had passed.
"I'm taking it that the others knew about this then?" she asked as they sat down, Tony popping open a bottle of champagne from the basket for them.
"They did." Tony confirmed, chuckling with a smirk as he poured two glasses, offering one to her. "Funny story about dinner."
"Oh?" Pepper asked with a grin, taking the glass she was offered. "I would have thought that you just bribed Clint into cooking again."
"Well, I originally bribed Clint into helping me so everything came out edible." Tony corrected, rolling his eyes when hers widened, obviously impressed. "But then I may or may not have set it on fire, and he may or may not have kicked me out and told me that I could take full credit. I think he just didn't want to have to explain how the place burned down."
Pepper was torn between laughing and giving an exasperated sigh, though eventually the laughter won out.
After they finished eating they packed up and went back inside, once again hand in hand. Back inside, the rest of the team was waiting with another bottle of champagne, which Clint helpfully popped open in their faces as soon as they walked in the door, also being the first one to congratulate them as they got over the surprise, the others not far behind.
Later that night, once everyone had retreated back into their rooms, Tony caught Pepper staring at her ring again as he climbed into bed and turned off the light, this time lost in thought. His arc reactor still provided a substantial glow as he pulled her closer to him on the bed under the blankets.
"What's on your mind?" he asked curiously, watching as she grinned and looked up to him, excitement in her eyes.
"I just never expected this." she admitted and Tony gave a cocky grin.
"Well yes, that was the general idea."
She gave him an exasperated glance before speaking again, twisting herself in his arms so she could better look at him.
"You know, I've been working with you for more than a decade, and now we're engaged, and my parents have never even met you."
"Huh." Tony said, absentmindedly using the arm she was laying on to lightly mess with her hair. "Do you think that my future-in-laws would be interested in rectifying that?"
"You're lucky I've been able to keep them off you this long." she informed him, only slightly teasing as she met his gaze, one eyebrow arched.
"You say that like I should be afraid, Ms. Potts." he said sarcastically, but she just gave a quiet snort and blinked at him.
"My father's a judge." she informed him tonelessly. "And my mother used to be an English professor."
"Sorry, Pep, but with my track record, not even protective judges and English professors scare me." he said in a teasing tone, waiting as she giggled quietly before he continued, adopting a slightly more serious tone. "Once we get back to New York, why don't you invite them to stay over for a week? There's a couple livable empty apartment floors they could use."
"I thought you didn't like sharing with others?" Pepper asked, though her tone was thoughtful as she considered the idea.
"Hmm, well maybe if I pretend to be hospitable now, maybe they won't show up to the wedding with shot guns and law enforcement." he said brightly, causing her to laugh again as she smacked his arm lightly. "Besides, you never actually take time off to go see them anyway. I'll even tell our motley group of misfits to be their best behavior."
"Oh?" Pepper asked, amused, and Tony nodded.
"I'm gonna hide Stalin's throwing knives, and buy Bruce a Zen garden. And bar Featherhead from the air ducts." he said matter of factly, smiling as Pepper again stifled giggles.
"And Steve and Thor?" she asked and Tony gave a dramatic sigh.
"There's nothing you can really do for Thor except ask him to use an inside voice. And I'm paying Capsicle off as babysitter."
And there we have it, I hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to tell me what you thought, and I swear that the next chapter will not take a week to get written and up.
~Dogstar