When morning came, Tina packed up their bags in a hurry, whirling around the tiny room like a dervish.
"Where's the fire?" Steve asked, laughing.
"Stark Tower. That's where the fireworks are gonna be," she said, evading his question with a grin.
She kissed her mother and father goodbye and had a big group hug with all the little cousins.
"Come back soon," Jeff smiled as he shook Steve's hand.
Debi laughed lightly and gave him a big hug.
"Yes, please do."
"I will," Steve said, winking at Carter and co. "Ricky still needs to have his turn pitching."
The curly-haired child squirmed with enthusiasm, and they all waved goodbye as Steve and Tina pulled away in the shiny silver car.
Tina couldn't help it, she bounced on the seat with uncontained excitement the whole way home.
"Seriously," Steve began, "You're giving me the heebie-jeebies. What's eating ya?"
Tina smiled mysteriously and said nothing, continuing to bounce in time to the music, which, after a fierce rock-paper-scissors tournament (won by Steve), was jazz. She pulled out her phone and checked it. Everything's ready, Pepper had texted her. Tina resisted the urge to squeal with joy, instead leaning over and kissing Steve on the cheek. He shook his head in utter confusion, but couldn't stop a small smile from appearing on his face. Her happiness and enthusiasm were contagious.
…
She ran into the elevator, leaving a befuddled soldier behind as she slammed the 'shut door' button. Suddenly, the cab surged upward with a huge burst of speed, and Tina got squished to the floor. When the doors opened, Pepper handed her a Yankees jersey and a pair of denim shorts.
"Get dressed! Let's go! The game starts in 20 minutes." she instructed.
Tina stood woozily.
"I know I said speed was of the essence, but the elevator did NOT need to go that fast."
Tony fidgeted uncomfortably and Bruce elbowed him in the side.
"Told you that was overkill," Bruce said smugly.
"Sir, Captain Rogers is now in the elevator," JARVIS informed Tony.
"Slow it down!" Tina said frantically, hopping into the shorts behind the bar.
Tony laughed manically as he played with his computer.
"Oh it's slowed down alright."
Tina took one last look in the mirror and adjusted her ponytail.
"Okay, I'm ready. Everyone else good?"
She looked around the room at the rest of the Avengers. Bruce, Clint, and Natasha wore Dodgers jerseys, while Pepper, Tony, Thor, and herself wore Yankees colors. Clint held a vintage Dodgers jersey that Tony had acquired for Steve and a Yankees cap to go with it. Perfect. Steve's two teams playing each other. On his birthday! The elevator doors opened.
"There is something seriously wrong with that elevator," Steve stuttered as he stumbled out.
"SURPRISE!" the Avengers shouted.
Steve stood completely still, eyes wide in shock. Tina grinned.
"Happy 24th birthday, Steve!" Tony called.
Steve laughed and sat on the floor, completely bowled over in surprise.
"What-I…I didn't even…"
"Tell me? Nope. You didn't," Tina said, pulling him up. "But with two master assassins, a god, two geniuses, and Pepper on the case, how did you really expect to keep it a secret?"
Steve hugged Tina.
"And you," he added, "You have a knack for getting into things you shouldn't."
Tina smiled proudly.
"Now put on your jersey," Clint instructed him. "It's time for Thor and my present to you."
"Which is…?" Steve asked as he buttoned the Dodgers gear up and pulled on the Yankees hat.
Thor handed him a glove in answer and Clint whistled "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".
…
The seats Clint and Thor had picked out for the baseball game were really, really good. So good that Tina fervently hoped she wasn't going to get hit in the head, but with so many heroes around, it didn't seem likely. Steve was hilarious. Every time anything happened, he wanted to cheer and boo. He usually just ended up cheering, being the glass-half-full kind of guy he was. If you love both teams, anything is good! The game was close, but the Yankees pulled it out in the end with, as Steve said 'one helluva slugger'. He even caught a foul ball. After they returned home, each Avenger signed the ball, and Tina wrote 'Happy 24th' on it. Steve placed it on top of his dresser, right in the middle.
"That was unreal!" he enthused as everyone gathered in the living room. "Thanks Clint! Thanks Thor! Those seats were ritzy."
Thor looked a bit confused by the jazz-age slang Steve sometimes slipped into, but he understood the point.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the game. I did as well. Perhaps you could teach me how to play sometime?"
"Sure thing!"
"I got a kick out of watching try to root for both teams," Clint chuckled.
Steve grinned and reached out for Tina's arm as she walked past.
"Where you headed off to, doll?"
"Me?" she asked innocently, "Oh, I'm going to go get ready."
She shook off his grip, kissed him on the nose and flounced off with Pepper and Natasha.
"Ready?" Steve asked the guys around him.
Tony chuckled.
"This is Natasha's and my present," he said with a grin.
"Oh boy…" Steve muttered.
"It's about five," Bruce commented, "We probably have another two hours before we need to get ready."
"Can you teach me the sport of baseball in the meanwhile?" Thor asked eagerly.
"Okay," Steve agreed, but he still wondered what on earth he'd be getting ready for.
…
Tina did a little spin in front of the floor-length mirror in Pepper's bathroom.
"Natasha, this is beautiful. Good pick!"
"Yeah she's good," another voice added.
Tina's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Oh, yeah," Pepper smiled, "Surprise! Meet Jane Foster, Thor's leading lady."
A pretty woman with chestnut-brown hair peeked out of the bathroom.
"Nice to meet you, Tina!" she waved. "Thor tells me a lot about you."
"I've heard a lot about you, too," Tina smiled. "How lovely you are…how smart, how wonderful, how kind..."
"Oh, boy," Jane laughed, "I hope I can live up to all that!"
Jane walked into the center of the room, and the shimmery, midnight-blue fabric reflected the light. The floor-length dress was cinched at the waist and cut to show off her curves.
"You look great," Tina complimented her quietly.
Jane smiled and twirled her finger, asking that Tina spin for her.
Tina wore a silky, green, tea-length dress that accented her eyes just right. Cap sleeves plunged into a V-neckline and an empire waist emphasized her small stature. She opted for black pumps with tiny green bows on the toe, and a small black bow adorned her curled hair. Tina spun around and watched the skirt flare out. This is going to be fun.
"I did so well for you three," Natasha cooed, watching Pepper come out of the closet, with her hair curled as well.
Pepper wore a black dress with a scoop neckline and thick straps. The dress itself was quite simple, except for the corset-esque top. She also wore black pumps, but they weren't as high as Tina's, so the two women stood a bit closer to the same height. Natasha wore a cream dress with black accents. The skirt was free-flowing, but the top was fitted, showing off her figure. A thin, black patent-leather belt was cinched on her waist. Her pumps were cream-colored like the dress. All four women wore simple makeup, save for the red lipstick and black mascara.
"I'm a pretty good dancer," Pepper said as she fussed with her pearl necklace, "The slang is what's going to kill me."
Tina giggled.
"Steve slips into it so often that I think I'll be fine. The dancing is going to be awful though…I can be such a klutz. Especially in heels," she said.
"I'm a klutz all the time," Jane sighed, "Consider yourself lucky."
Natasha rolled her eyes.
"I'm a spy. We're good at getting into character," she laughed.
"Speaking of character," Pepper began, "I hope that everyone in the ballroom holds to it. It'd be really annoying if they all decide to freak out when they see the Avengers."
"No they won't," Natasha reassured her, "Tony and I had…ah…a little talk with them. They already got signed pictures and death threats, so I think it'll be okay."
Tina sighed at the gung-ho assassin and grabbed her girlfriends by the arms.
"Let's go ladies!"
…
Steve raised his eyebrows when he saw the suit Tony had picked out for him. It was a medium gray with pinstripes, and cut in the fashion of the time. But that was the thing. It was cut for the fashion of a time about seventy-five years ago. Sighing, he put on the white shirt with emerald green accents and tied the charcoal-colored tie. Checking his reflection, he felt like he had fallen back into another time. He heard a knock at the door, and as he went to answer it, he found that Tony had already stormed in.
"Don't touch your hair or I'll beat the crap outta you," he threatened, shoving the Captain into a chair.
Tony wore a suit very similar to Steve's but a much lighter shade of gray. Bruce, Clint and Thor filed in as Tony combed Steve's hair to the side, exactly the way he used to wear it. All four men had neatly parted their hair to the side and smoothed it down. Thor had even straightened his long locks. Bruce wore a light shade of brown with his signature purple shirt, and Clint wore an almost-black suit. Thor's was a dark navy with a white shirt under it.
"Are we going into a time machine?" Steve asked sardonically.
"Nope," Bruce answered cheerily, "How do your shoes fit?"
Steve glanced down at his shiny black shoes.
"Fine. Why?"
"Because you're gonna be dancing in 'em," Tony responded.
Steve frowned at Tony, still not entirely sure what was going on. Thor laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, effectively steering him out of the room.
The men waited in the living room for the girls to come down.
"You girls all dolled up yet?" Clint called up the spiral stairs.
"Sure, baby, I'm ready," Natasha responded, flowing down them and taking Clint's arm.
"Wow, Nat," Bruce smiled.
Pepper and Jane walked down the steps together, each taking their man's arm.
"Jane, you look stunning," Thor said softly, smiling at her, and obviously forgetting which 30's words would be appropriate.
"Aw, applesauce," she grinned up at him.
Tony reached out for Pepper's hand.
"Well don't you look like the cat's meow," he grinned rakishly.
"Nice getup, sugardaddy," she winked back.
Steve was starting to put the pieces together, but before he could form a coherent sentence, Tina was standing in front of him, smiling sweetly. Then, the words just wouldn't form. She was beyond gorgeous…she….gah.
"Well aren't you a handsome fella."
Steve was still past words, his eyes tracing the contours of the dress, each curl, and the shape of her lips.
"T-tina, gee whiz," he muttered in shock. "You look beautiful, you-you, wow."
"Oh, baloney. You don't look half bad yourself," Tina smiled as she took his arm.
"Let's get a wiggle on, we've got somewhere to be."
Steve didn't bother asking, he just let a gorgeous woman guide him down to Tony's ballroom.
But it didn't look like it normally did. Steve stopped dead in the doorway, almost like he didn't dare enter for fear that it would disappear if he did. It was a perfect revival of the old jazz clubs Steve used to know. The people dancing, the music playing, the décor, the lighting. Everything was exactly the way he remembered. He turned and stared at the billionaire and a certain assassin, pointing inside rather than asking if it was their doing. The pair smiled.
"Happy birthday, Steve," Natasha said softly.
"Hot socks," he whispered.
Tina laughed and tugged on his arm impatiently.
"Let's go!"
The group wandered inside and found a table, Steve still grinning and looking around.
"This is swanky," he remarked.
"Isn't it just?" Tina replied, seeing the place for the first time herself.
"No, really, this is the real McCoy. It's exactly the way I remember."
Tina smoothed Steve's tie out.
"That's how I hoped it'd be."
Steve grinned.
"Wanna dance, bunny?"
"Sounds swell."
Steve laughed hearing her use his words.
"You know," he said, leading her out onto the dance floor, "I don't really know that much about dancing."
"Why not? This is your decade, you should know!"
Steve put a hand on her waist, twining his other fingers with hers.
"Nobody wants to dance with someone they could step on," he reminded her of the man he used to be.
"And after you were a hero? Nobody wanted to dance with you then?" she teased.
He shrugged.
"I was waiting."
"For?"
Steve leaned in close and whispered in her ear.
"The right partner."
…
Bruce's present was amazing as well. The fireworks were beautiful. The night was starting to cool off, and the city was glowing. As Steve sat on top of the Stark Tower with his friends and the girl he loved, he thought that he'd never had a better birthday. Everyone went inside, but Tina stayed up with him, staring at the city from this bird's-eye-view.
"Hey, birthday boy."
Steve pulled her closer to his side.
"Mmm?"
Tina handed him a tiny box with a bow on the top. Steve took it, but analyzed her expression.
"Haven't you given me enough today?"
"No, those were everyone else's presents," Tina protested.
"I know they were all your ideas," Steve said.
"Well, yeah. But Pepper organized all of it."
Steve sighed.
"I already got it, so you might as well open it up," Tina said stubbornly.
Rolling his eyes, Steve lifted the lid and tipped the box over into his hand.
In his hand lay a silver dog tag, much like the ones he already wore. Engraved on the back, it said, "Love, your Tina". On the front, where his ID would go were four simple words.
This is my hero.
Ahhh this chapter got out-of-control long. But oh well. Next chapter is when things get real...seriously this time.
This week I have midterms and my audition for my school's show, so don't expect and update until the weekend. Sorry bout that, but it's gotta be that way :/
Review, pretty pretty please!