A/N: Thank you to all of the people who have favorited or reviewed. Disclaimer: I'm like Marvel's crazy ex girlfriend. I keep calling and calling them but they won't respond. So I still don't own the Avengers.
Sam walked into the kitchen earlier than usual that morning, due to the fact that she had skipped going to the gym that morning again. Steve had skipped it himself, since they both had been up so late. Despite only getting a few hours of sleep Sam tried to look as awake and relaxed as usual while she grabbed herself a cup of coffee. Pepper was currently the only one in the kitchen.
"Where's Amber," Pepper asked her as she flipped pancakes over on the griddle.
Sam rubbed her forehead as she answered, "Amber's not really much of a morning person. I tried to wake her up, but I decided to just let her sleep in." When Sam entered her room to wake Amber up she had thrown her stuffed horse, Mr. Squibbles, right at Sam's head. Sam was not expecting this, and got hit dead center in the forehead. Sam spent the next ten minutes helping Pepper in the kitchen and frying bacon.
"How are you holding up," Pepper asked her with genuine concern.
"I'm fine. Someone trying to kill me isn't exactly a new concept. I was a little worried about how Amber is, but something tells me she'll pull through," She said as she touched her forehead. For being half asleep and not even looking, Amber had a mean throw. "She's a lot tougher than I give her credit for. Knowing her, she'll be skipping around the tower as soon as she wakes up."
"I know, but it's still kind of hard. If you ever need anything," Pepper trailed off.
Sam smiled at her, "trust me, I know. I'm going to be getting the whole 'we are family' speech all day, aren't I?" Pepper just smiled in response as Bruce entered the kitchen and helped himself to some tea. She sensed Sam didn't really feel like making the topic a group discussion.
The rest of the team trickled into the room. First Clint, then Natasha followed by Steve, and finally Tony. Sam was aware of them trying to covertly watch her; it was kind of sad how easily she caught Natasha and Clint. Honestly, they were supposed to be assassin/spy/ninjas. Sam did her best to act natural, which was much easier to do than last night. She didn't know whether it was the time had elapsed making it easier, or whether it was what had happened between now and then. All she knew was that she was even able to put up with Tony's sarcasm.
Natasha was watching Sam carefully, and while it was one of the last things on her mind, she noticed the small smile Sam and Steve exchanged when he walked in. It seemed different than usual. She wondered what exactly had gone on between them.
Sam had given Steve a smile and a polite "good morning" when he walked in the kitchen, which he returned as he got a glass of juice. It almost seemed like everything was normal between the two, except they both remembered the events of last night. Sam might have thought it was a dream but for the fact that she woke up still in the clothes she was wearing last night. Steve must have carried her to bed. Such a gentleman, Sam thought.
Everyone sat down to eat at the table, and Sam took the chair next to Steve. They held hands underneath the table where no one could see. Halfway through breakfast Tony gave Sam, who was sitting across from him, the weirdest look.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not a cradle robber. I'm not going to play footsie with you," he said.
"Um, definitely not me," Sam replied.
"Spangles," Tony said horrified as he looked at Steve, who started to object. Just then a calico blur pounced out from under the table and started batting at the bottom edge of the newspaper Bruce was trying to read. Natasha, who caught the movement, couldn't help but notice Steve and Sam's joined hands beneath the table.
"Pita," Sam laughed as Bruce picked up the cat while wearing a bemused expression. "And now you know how she got her name."
This was followed by Amber stalking into the room and taking the empty chair between Sam and Clint and helping herself to pancakes. "Good morning," she mumbled.
"God, you need coffee," Sam said. Amber stuck her tongue out as she put syrup on her pancakes.
"I could have done without you jumping on my bed and singing this morning."
"Yes, well, you didn't have to throw Mr. Squibbles at me either," Sam said.
"Mr. Squibbles," Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Her stuffed horse. Don't make fun of it, trust me. You'll end up paying for it in the end," Sam said. "She's almost as good at pranks as I am."
"Temporary truce to gang up on Tony," Amber asked her with a mischievous smile.
"Done," Sam replied.
Tony looked around at the other occupants of the table. "Science bros," he asked Bruce. Bruce just chuckled as he shook his head and retreated to his lab. The rest of the table quickly dissolved, leaving Tony to face the oncoming prank war by himself.
The day went a little differently than normal. Natasha and Clint went to SHIELD in order to get a better look at whatever new developments were happening about the break in where Sam couldn't flit about worriedly. Instead she was stuck in the tower with Amber. She had given the other girl a tour all morning, and they ended up flipping channels in the communal living room. Tony followed Bruce down to the lab where he was hacking into SHIELD and looking at security video footage from stop lights and such around Sam's house. Bruce continued running tests on Sam's blood, figuring that it might be able to offer some help.
This left Steve without a job to do. While he was slightly upset that he couldn't do something useful to help, he was also glad because this meant he could stay with Sam all day. It was comforting to be near her, where he could be sure she was safe. He joined the two girls as they sat in the living room.
Amber and Sam were both on the couch, and as much as he would have liked to sit next to Sam, he settled for taking a nearby chair. He figured Sam would want to be close to her friend after what seemed like a near miss the night before, and they had also decided that maybe they should wait a few days before bringing up their relationship. It didn't seem like the right time to announce anything, which was fine by Steve. He would give her all the time she needed.
Natasha, however, was not so considerate. She knew what she had seen at the table. In light of what had happened, she thought Sam really needed a relationship with Steve. They both deserved it. Therefore, she was very annoyed that they apparently had something pass between them that they weren't admitting. She let her frustration be known to Clint.
"Don't worry. I think I know how to take care of it," Clint said with a smile.
Later that day Sam had run down to her room to grab her laptop and was on her way back up to join the others in the living room when she passed Clint in the hallway.
"Hey Sam," he called out to her and she paused.
"Hey Clint," she replied. "Did you learn anything new at SHIELD?"
"Not as much as I would have liked to," Clint said as he took a step closer to her. "Don't worry; we're going to find whoever did this."
"Thanks," she said as she slid a step back towards the wall. Sam had an issue about the whole 'personal space' thing. However, Clint followed.
"Um, Clint," Sam said in an uneasy tone. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing," he asked innocently as he propped one hand against the wall, near Sam's head. Definitely too close, she thought.
"Aren't you and Natasha together," Sam pointed out. Her voice didn't sound as firm as she wanted it too.
"What Tasha doesn't know won't hurt her," Clint said.
"I cannot believe you just said that," Sam said, slightly angry. She didn't know exactly what was going on here, but she wanted it to end. Now.
"What? You're an attractive person; I'm an attractive person. I don't see what's wrong here," he said.
"You mean besides the fact that you're way too old for me, or that I'm not remotely interested," Sam said, trying to get away. Clint just put his other hand on the other side of her head. Someone was about to get kicked in the crotch really soon.
"Unless there's someone else you're interested in," Clint asked. Sam immediately felt her face go red and she realized exactly what this was about. She still kneed him in the crotch though.
"You know, next time you want to know something, you could try asking. Vague sexual harassment is not the answer," Sam said as Clint backed away from her. She hadn't hit him as hard as she was originally going to, but it was enough for him to know to cut the crap.
"Yep. Just realized that," he said. Good, nothing was more subtle than hitting a man in the crotch. "So, you and Captain, huh?"
"Yes, Steve and I are sort of unofficially dating now, if you have to know," Sam said.
"I didn't have to know, not that I'm not happy for you two, but Natasha was going to resort to drastic measures soon," Clint replied. Natasha, of course, Sam thought.
"Let's agree to never speak of this moment again," Sam said.
"Yep. See you later," Clint said as he walked off, probably to go find an ice pack; serves him right.
Sam returned to the living room with her laptop in hand, where she found Steve and Amber had been joined by Natasha. Sam glared at her as she took her spot on the couch back. Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"I think Clint is looking for you," Sam said to Natasha. The words sunk in for a second, and then Natasha left to go in search of Clint. Steve and Amber stared at Sam questioningly as she refused to make eye contact and opened her laptop.
"Is there something I should know about," Steve asked her. He wondered why Sam had been glaring. If there was any tension in the team, it needed to be taken care of.
Sam sighed as she opened a new window in her browser. "Nope," she said while making a popping noise on the 'p'. "Unless you count the fact that Clint and Natasha know we're a couple and that Amber is about to kill me because I didn't tell her first." The words came out in a rush and she stubbornly refused to lift her eyes from the computer screen.
The room was deadly quiet for a second and then Amber burst out, "What! I didn't get to know this first WHY? Oh, and congratulations you two."
"Don't get me wrong, I was going to tell you first. We thought it would be best to wait a few days, but I forgot we live in a house with freaking ninjas," Sam complained as she rolled her eyes.
Steve smiled at her. "I'm alright with it if you are."
"Of course I am," she replied with sincerity. Sure, it was annoying to have everyone butting in on their relationship, but it was theirs. She reached out and grabbed his hand with hers. As soon as their hands met cheesy background music from the soundtrack of a romantic movie started playing throughout the living room, and they broke their hands apart.
"Well it's about time, you two," Tony's voice said through the intercom. Sam rolled her eyes. "I was beginning to think Steve would stay a bachelor forever."
"God, it's like living at Amber's parents' house, but worse," Sam complained. "There is no such thing as privacy here." Amber laughed in response.
"Bruce said, 'Get some!'" Tony announced. They heard Bruce yell at him in the background. Steve had a confused look on his face, not getting what that meant, but Sam turned a light shade of pink as Amber giggled gleefully at her.
"I'm sorry. Apparently he said, 'Congratulations' but I must have misheard," Tony said.
"I can see how you would confuse the two," Steve said, irritated.
"You kids have fun. Amber, you can chaperone," Tony said as he cut off the intercom.
"No," Sam said to Amber, cutting off whatever she was about to say.
Dinner was different. Sam and Steve held hands more openly, seeing as everyone knew. She continued to glare at Clint, who chose very wisely to not make eye contact. The mood at the table was otherwise mostly upbeat, especially with Amber's added enthusiasm. It probably should have been more subdued given the current situation, but it was nice to keep the conversation light and lively. It was exactly what Amber and Sam needed, and what they were used to. Steve was happy to go along with whatever made Sam happy.
After dinner the couple slipped into Sam's room, where they cuddled together and watched old Disney movies. It was nice. She was so used to being strong, but she enjoyed resting her head on Steve's shoulder and forgetting everything for a bit. It was definitely something she could get used to.