"Chapter Seven"

Savage, large feral cats had been loosed on the population of Long Island. Law enforcement had managed to drive them East, but someone was controlling the fifty-odd felines, someone using magic, and the cats were initially thought indestructible. It took an hour before the Avengers figured out that if they drove the creatures into the water and then electrocuted them, they burst into dust which quickly blew away in the wind. Their creator was being trailed by SHIELD agents, the ones who hadn't been using their tasers to help Iron Man with the electrocution, since Thor was still in London.

After everything, even Tony didn't have the energy to crack pussy jokes.

Steve, Sam, and Natasha had sustained scratches and bites, Tony had been batted around by some of the bigger felines, so he had bumps and bruises, and Bruce was working with the medical crew to make sure that there were no infections. He'd had to stay away, in case any of the cats bit the Hulk and became radioactive. Bucky was wearing his usual body armour, which was nearly impenetrable, and he'd managed to get away with little damage to his arm. But then he'd gone into the fight with guns blazing, and used his arm almost like a shield. Bruce checked him out anyway, but there seemed to be nothing wrong.

By the time they staggered back into the tower, it was too late to be going out somewhere. Steve was already healing, pacing back and forth as he waited to hear from Clint, one of the agents sent after the Cat Controller, as they were calling her.

"Bucky," Tony moaned, throwing himself onto the couch. "You like us, right?"

"You? Not really."

"That hurts, right here," Tony said, tapping his chest. "You like Steve, then, don't you?"

"What do you want, Stark?" Bucky asked.

"Dinner."

"If you think I'm making you something—"

"Nah, I've seen your attempts at cooking. You suck. I want real food. And some of us are too wounded to leave the tower." He pouted, and Bucky crossed his arms.

"And?" he said.

"So… can you go pick up some food?"

"Have it brought here."

"Noooo, they don't do delivery."

"Who?" Natasha asked sharply, though it sounded like she already knew.

"The Everything Diner," Tony said, all innocence. Bucky was getting tired of that expression. And then the words registered.

"What?" he said. "Why?"

"Just…" Tony dug around in his pocket, and pulled out his wallet. "There's cash. We need food. There are drinks here, but… get something, okay? Bruce can drive you, can't you, Bruceykins?"

"God help me," Bruce muttered. Bucky agreed with the sentiment.

"You're the only one who can do it," Tony said, pointing at Bucky. "Since Coulson's in love with you, and he knows what we like, so he'll be nice."

Bucky felt his cheeks grow hot. He accepted the money, tucking the wallet into his back pocket, and allowed Bruce to steer him out of the room.

"You want to do this?" Bruce asked.

"I have no choice," Bucky said.

"I can go in and buy the food, if you want. Cash doesn't need a signature, and Tony will never know."

His shoulders slumped as they rode the elevator down to the garage. "It will be fine. Phil may not be there."

"According to Natasha's text, he should be," Bruce said, holding up his phone. Bucky groaned, and covered his face. "Relax. We can listen to the radio on the way. We'll call at the halfway point and order something, so that it'll be ready by the time we arrive. Get whatever your favourite is."

"And vegetarian for you," Bucky said. Between the gaps in his fingers, he noticed Bruce smiling widely.

"That's right," he said. "We'll spend up big, since Tony's paying for it." Bucky hid a chuckle. "Well, he's sending us out when we could easily have something delivered."

"But The Everything Diner doesn't deliver."

"No… though I'm sure Phil would make an exception for you." Bucky lowered his hands and gave Bruce a death glare. "For us, I mean. Since we're his best customers." He shrugged easily. "Which car should we take? Tony didn't specify. We could choose whichever one we wanted…"

They exchanged a sly grin. This was why Bucky liked Bruce Banner.

Grant looked up first, and coughed pointedly. Skye noticed Bucky walk into the restaurant, and immediately buzzed in to the kitchen.

"He's here," she said.

"Who's here?" Phil asked, looking up from the chilli he was working on. He'd just added the last of his secret herb-and-spice mixture, and was ready to resume stirring. But he gave Skye his partial attention.

"Uh… the guy who's here to pick up the order. The pick-up order. You know?" She smiled sweetly, too sweetly. He had every reason to feel suspicious.

"Since when do we do pick-up orders?" he said slowly. Skye backed up a couple of steps.

"The list is there," she said. "Gotta go. Tables to wait. Barman to flirt with."

Phil sighed after she disappeared. "Trip?"

"Busy," Trip replied, indicated the fry-up he was taking care of.

"Jemma?"

"I have to keep an eye on the oven, Phil. Sorry."

Rolling his eyes, Phil checked out the order slip, and packaged all the food which had been prepared and was waiting for distribution. He stacked the boxes, and carried them out to the register, wondering who the hell got special treat…

Oh. Of course the Avengers would get special treatment from his staff.

"Hi," he said.

"Hello, Phil," Bucky said. "Just here to pick up some food?"

"You've come to the right place," Phil said. Leo cleared his throat as he swiftly rang up the total on the cash register, and handed Bucky his change. Phil couldn't look away from the hero, who seemed just as transfixed. It took Bruce joining them, and picking up the boxes, to break the moment. Bucky apologised quietly, and took half of the boxes from the doctor.

"You enjoy the meal, now," Phil said. "Heard you had some trouble on Long Island?"

"It was nothing," Bucky said.

"'Nothing' sure did a number on your arm."

Bucky looked down at the lines of scratched metal, and raised his shoulders.

"Stark will fix it," he said.

"I can do it!" Leo said. Bruce and Bucky looked at him. "I mean, uh, if you had time, and if we had a welder to melt the slivers of metal…"

"There's always the crème brulee blow torch," Phil said without thinking. Bruce looked at Bucky.

"There are some hungry superheroes back home," Bruce said. "I'll take these. I could come straight back for you?"

"No, no," Bucky said. "I'll go with you. It isn't urgent; it's still functional." He moved his arm to demonstrate. Bruce looked mildly irritated, but nodded.

"Okay," he said. "If you want."

"Or Phil could drop you home afterwards," Skye piped up from nearby. She grabbed the bottles of water she'd ostensibly come to fetch. When Phil stared her down, she hurried off to a table on the other side of the restaurant, which was closer to the other water table, giving away that she'd come over just to snoop.

"That's actually a good idea," Bruce said. "Bucky could stay here and eat – he's still got Tony's wallet – Leo could work his mechanical magic, and then Phil can bring you back to the tower."

"I don't think so," Bucky said.

"I don't mind," Phil murmured.

"You see?" Leo said. "I promise, I know what I'm doing."

"He's very good at crème brulee."

"No," Bucky said insistently. "The food's getting cold, and I'm tired and hungry. Please, Bruce, let's just go. I don't want to bother anyone."

"It wouldn't be a bother," Phil said. "But… all right. No pushing. Enjoy your dinner."

He returned to the kitchen without another word, mentally calling himself a coward, but… but he had work to do. Hungry customers. Hungry, hungry customers who needed to be fed. Yep.

"You knew," he accused Jemma and Trip.

They suddenly found things to do that involved being on the other side of the kitchen.

Clint stumbled in while they were eating. Well, Steve wasn't eating, but he was working his way through Tony's scotch. When he saw his boyfriend, he ran over and caught Clint before he could fall to his knees.

"I'm okay," Clint managed. "Just tired. Haven't been able… to get my breath back. Say." He winked. "Wanna help me with that? Actually." He leaned closer. "Your breath smells like a distillery."

"Was the threat neutralised?" Bucky asked. Clint nodded.

"In secure custody," he said. "I've gotta debrief with Sitwell tomorrow."

"But sleep tonight," Steve said.

"Aw, that's no fun."

"Hey," Natasha said, tapping the table with the end of her fork. "Eat, Clint. You too, Steve. You haven't touched the food Bruce and Bucky went out of their way to get."

"You haven't eaten?" Clint said. Steve shook his head.

"I was worried," he replied.

"And… out of their way?"

"Our favourite place," Tony said. He shoved another forkful of mash into his mouth, and spoke around it. "Eat up, Robin Hood."

Clint sighed, but allowed Steve to lead him to the table. "So, was Phil on?"

"Yes," Bruce said when Bucky stayed silent.

"Did you see him?"

"We both did."

"Did… anything happen?"

"Don't bend the cutlery out of shape, Lindsay Wagner," Tony said. Bucky tilted his head, brows furrowing. "Bionic Woman? The actress who played her?"

"You're calling me a woman?"

"The Six Million Dollar Man was named Steve."

"Who?"

Tony waved his hand. "Never mind. But Pepper likes the silverware."

Bucky relaxed his grip on his knife and fork. "To answer your question, Clint, nothing happened."

"Except that Bucky refused to stay there and let Leo fix the scratches on his prosthetic," Bruce said. "Phil said he'd be willing to bring Bucky home afterwards, but—"

"It wouldn't be right to impose on him," Bucky said.

"Even though you have before, technically?" Tony asked.

Before Bucky could snap out a retort, Sam brought his fist down on the table.

"That's enough," he said quietly. Tony shut his mouth. "Clint, do you need Bruce to look at you after the meal?"

"Yes," Steve said at the same time that Clint said "No".

"You don't have to be brave," Bruce said. "And it would give me peace of mind to make sure you're okay."

"And what gives you peace of mind keeps the Big Guy calm," Clint said. "Fine."

"And you'll eat something," Steve insisted.

"Yes, dear."

"Who are the Blues Brothers?" Bucky asked out of the blue.

"It's a movie," Tony said. "We've got time. Let's watch it after dinner. JARVIS, have we got it?"

"I will purchase it now."

"Where did you hear about it, Barnes?"

"From… someone."

There was no need to mention Phil's name. It was implied.

It was meant to be a surprise, which is why the staff at The Everything Diner were sworn to secrecy when Thor, Jane, and Darcy showed up. They'd left Eric back in the UK, along with Ian. It was just a flying visit for Darcy, mainly to see the others, but Jane and Thor were staying for awhile.

"What's been going on?" Darcy asked Bobbi as she seated them. "I guess Phil isn't on today."

"He is, actually," she said. "Menus. I'll just grab some water."

"No rush," Jane said. They waited for Skye to approach, and Darcy repeated her question.

"What hasn't been going on?" Skye said.

"Not another attempted burglary?" Jane asked.

"Not yet. It's just that your friends are trying to match-make Phil and Sergeant Barnes, and it turns out that Phil knows a guy named Nick Fury, and—"

"Sergeant Barnes?" Jane said.

"Yeah. Phil totally has a crush on him, and I think Bucky feels the same way—"

"Bucky Barnes, as in died-a-long-time-ago, best-friend-of-Captain-America, James Buchanan Barnes?" Darcy said, eyes widening.

"You know this man?" Thor asked.

"He's almost as legendary as Steve!" She huffed, sitting back. "We're away for one month—"

"Closer to four, actually," Jane corrected.

"And look at all the stuff that's gone on! Another ex-soldier back from the dead, crushing on Phil, and Stark – it has to be Stark – match-making them."

"You were here for Clint and Steve getting together, weren't you?" Skye said.

"I told you I saw them kissing when we left," Darcy said, pointing at Thor and Jane, "but you never believed me, and neither did Selvig. Who else has got together, Skye? C'mon, no one else thought that this was stuff we needed to know."

"What battles have been undertaken during our absence?" Thor asked.

"Dude, you guys don't have the internet in England?" Skye said, staring at them. "Okay, you know what? Use the wi-fi here to catch up. There's been some action, but you haven't missed out on much. Having a thunder-god would've been useful yesterday, with the big cats, but the problem was dealt with. It helps having Bucky on their side." She bit her lip, and glanced pointedly at the table. "Drinks?"

"Go on, pick-up boy," Tony said, pointing towards the elevator. "Pick up food. And pick up Phil, while you're at it. We all know you want to."

Bucky made a rude gesture, retracting his hand just as the doors opened, and the travellers returned. Darcy was the first one in, Jane and Thor still holding hands, and she marched over to the others.

"Seriously, you don't know how to email?" she said. "What with people coming back to life? And did someone start spiking food with love potions? Because if you've all hooked up with each other and never thought to tell us—"

"Only Steve and Clint have hooked up," Natasha said.

"Yeah, because no one else is even trying," Clint muttered.

Darcy plonked herself down beside him. "You're telling me everything. Pronto, William Tell."

`Cause imagine if everyone had been so caught up in all the drama that they hadn't told Thor and the others about it? And goodness knows Darcy hates being out of the loop. My head canon is that she and Clint would be good friends, and that Darcy would be slightly in awe of Natasha, and maybe have a girl-crush on her.

Just thoughts. Please review!