The Avengers do a beach day! Next chapter is when things get scary, this is all fun and games. (Mostly)

The quiet click of the opening door was the only warning Steve had before Tony took a flying leap towards the bed. If not for Steve's insane reflexes, he would have landed squarely on Tina. Thankfully for her, Steve's shoulder took the brunt of the flailing genius's force.

"Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!" Tony shouted as he pounded Steve.

Steve only groaned and halfheartedly tried to push him off.

"Mmmphh!" Tina wiggled and attempted to get Steve's forearm out of her mouth.

Eventually succeeding, she started working on getting the rest of the way out from under Steve's heavy body.

"Get up, lovebirds!" Tony sang.

"Why are you even awake?" Tina asked through a yawn as she continued trying to squirm around her sleepy boyfriend, who was intent on staying right where he was.

"Been up since five!" Tony responded joyfully, "Had a good idea for my suit, but then Pepper told me what we're doing today, so here I am! Waking you up! Now get up, Captain Sleepyhead! Come on it's seven, not that early, O king of the five K at five am!"

Tony shook Steve's arm from where he still sat on the soldier's shoulder. He pouted when it became obvious that his efforts were clearly in vain.

"Wake him!" he said to Tina, pointing. "We're gonna leave in an hour!"

Tony hopped down from the bed and practically skipped to the door.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Tina called anxiously.

"BEACH DAYY!" he shouted back from the hallway.

Tina's eyebrows shot up. I guess Pepper wasn't kidding about that…She stared at Steve with determination. Here goes nothing!

"Good morning Steve," she said, rubbing his arm. "It's time to get up. We're all going to the beach! It's going to be really fun. But you have to get up. Come on, baby, it's the moorrningg!"

Steve was motionless, face still buried in the pillow.

"Please Steve. Come on. Steve, get up!" Tina shouted as she started shaking his torso, attempting to roll him over.

Tina growled in annoyance and studied Steve's still form. You wanna make this hard? Fine. Two can play at this game. She started trailing kisses all over his shoulders. She kissed his arms, his neck, his cheek. Steve's eyelids fluttered open, and he rolled over. Tina gently placed a kiss on his lips, pulling back slowly. Steve leaned into her, eventually coming into a sitting position. Tina grabbed the blankets and quickly slid off the bed, bringing them with her.

"Awhh," Steve moaned, leaning backward again.

Tina popped up and pulled on his hands.

"No! Oh no you don't! Not after all that are you laying down again!" she protested.

Steve smirked at her, fully aware that her pull was irrelevant against his own strength.

" 'All that' was pretty swell, if you ask me," he remarked with a rakish grin.

She rolled her eyes and redoubled her efforts, trying to drag him out of bed.

"Much more pleasant than military wake-up calls," he continued, utterly unperturbed by her meager force on his hands. "Your way is how a man likes to be woken up."

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now get up, you lazy bum!"

Steve grinned and jumped over her head, landing on the balls of his feet. Tina spun around so quickly that she lost balance and fell over. She couldn't help thinking that although he carefully helped her up and checked to make sure she wasn't hurt, the fact that he was laughing hysterically detracted from the charm of the gesture.

…

Tina felt quite relaxed once they got to the beach. Tony, of course, owned a "beach cottage" which was a lot more like a mansion. The private island was like paradise. It was a warm and sunny, and the ocean sparkled. She sighed happily and dug her toes in the sand. Few people walked by their spot, and all of them were ridiculously famous. Abby would have died, Tina thought as a famous actor walked by casually. Although you had to be either ridiculously rich or famous to even be on the beach, The Avengers drew a particularly large amount of attention. Clint had threatened to kill several men who had made lewd comments about Natasha. And the girls with Steve! Tina growled a little and wished she was big and strong so she could scare them off. Conveniently, Clint had done the job for her with a wink. She guessed that was his little way of saying 'I'm sorry'. Fine by me! Tina saw more red than she'd like to admit to when those nasty, hoe-y, too-skinny, skanky girls had been touching Steve all over and flirting with him. But, he had reacted fairly well. At first he had no idea what to do, then, blushing and stuttering, loudly pointed out his girlfriend. Yeah! Tina had thought, That's me you buncha toothpicks. Back off! She would have loved to get in their faces and tell them off, but her shyness refused to be put aside. She awkwardly hid behind Clint and contented herself with glaring instead. Tina repositioned her beach chair to watch the boys' new game better. They had already abandoned football and wiffle ball, and it appeared that Thor was in the midst of teaching a new game. Bruce flipped a page in his book from under the umbrella.

"You were right, Pepper," Tina leaned back and sighed, soaking up the sunlight.

"Duh," she responded, putting on sunscreen. "But what about this time?"

"The beach day. It's awesome here."

Bruce laughed and pointed.

"Look at that!" he chuckled.

Tina followed his finger to where the guys and Natasha were creating a human ladder. Thor stood on the ground holding Steve's feet on his shoulders. Steve held Clint's feet on his shoulders. Tony watched incredulously as Natasha climbed up all three men to take her place on the top, where she took a little bow.

"Hey!" Bruce called, "That's unsafe!"

Although his remark was meant as a chastisement, he was grinning ear to ear while he said it, making his argument rather weak. Pepper smiled good-naturedly and wandered off for a swim, wrapping her arm around Tony's waist and bringing him with her.

"Will that fry you if you get it wet?" Tina asked curiously, pointing at the arc reactor.

Tony neglected to respond, only laughing and diving in headfirst. Tina took that as a 'no', and remained where she was, allowing the strong waves to rush over her ankles. Suddenly, she was scooped up from behind and someone was running forward, into the water, booming a deep bass laugh.

"No! Stop!" she screamed in real fear.

Then she was flying. For just a moment, she was launched over the sparkling sea. Then she was under it. Tina flailed and kicked about, beginning to panic milliseconds after she hit the water. Where is the surface? Where's the bottom? There's no air! Tina squeezed her eyes shut in terror.

Steve was chasing the Frisbee when he saw Thor running towards Tina with a grin on his face and arms wide to catch her in. Steve immediately changed directions. Does Thor remember that she can't swim? He thinks he's being funny, that he'll throw her, she'll pop up, giggle and splash him. Oh jeez. Just as Steve was about to reach Thor, the Asgardian threw her, quite a distance. Deep enough that she can't stand, he thought in horror. Steve didn't bother saying anything to Thor. He dove into the waves and swam frantically. In only moments, he found her and lifted her out of the ocean, coughing and sputtering.

Tina clutched at Steve like a small child, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tightly. His body was warm in comparison to the water. Steve held her over his shoulder with one arm and swam to shore until he could stand, about chest-deep. Tina took this time to gather herself. She took deep, even breaths and focused on the water streaming in rivulets down Steve's hair onto the back of his neck. He stood and cradled her like a baby.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

His eyes probed her face, searching. His expression was tender, but still held the ghost of the panic that had recently held him in its grip. His still-unfaded terror was obvious even to Tina, who was still slightly shell-shocked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled weakly in an attempt to reassure him. "I think I was only underwater for thirty seconds. How did you get there so fast?"

He peeled some of her wet hair back from her face, still examining her expression carefully.

"I saw the whole thing. You know Thor was-"

"He was just playing. Don't be mad at him," Tina begged, "He was just kidding around. I don't think he remembered."

"Yeah, I know. That's what I was going to say. I'll remind him," Steve said as he turned slightly, watching Thor slowly wade out towards them.

"No, don't. I'll do it. Don't-don't…I don't know. Don't make him feel bad. I'm okay, and yeah it was kind of stupid of him, but he wasn't paying attention when I said that I can't swim. I've only ever mentioned it once in front of him."

Steve nodded curtly. His bright blue eyes were still full of worry.

"I know."

Tina raised her eyebrows, sensing that he had more to say. He ran one hand through his hair in frustration.

"I never want to lose you," he mumbled. "I need you too much."

He pressed a soft kiss on her hairline. Before Tina could respond, Thor swam up to the pair.

"Tina? Are you well?" Thor asked.

"Fit as a fiddle," she smiled, "Very nice throw, by the way."

He grimaced a little.

"After I threw you…it struck me that you may not have wanted to go into the water. And Tony reminded me that you are unable to swim. I must apologize, Lady Tina."

"It's okay, I'm fine. I bet Natasha would love to get chucked in though," she giggled as Steve rolled his eyes.

Tina let Steve carry her in all the way to the beach. She felt like she deserved it, after having the bajeebers scared out of her. And as long as a shirtless hottie wanted to carry her around, Tina wasn't dumb enough to complain about it.

I'll be on vacation for my winter break, so don't expect an update until January. If there is one, then I am a better person than I thought! ;) I promise I'll try though!

So what did you guys think? Reviews please!