REVAMPED!

Mark XI: Words of Romance

Where the men are, Tony, Rhodey, Clint, Bruce, and Thor are mostly dressed up. They're mostly relaxing and chatting, only wearing their dress shirt and pants. They're lucky that they have so much time to spare. However, the dynamic changes when Tony remembers something important that causes him to panic a little. He instantly springs to his feet and starts muttering to himself as he begins pacing back and forth. The other guys look at him strangely, unsure of when that started because they swear that they just blinked and Tony started doing whatever that is.

Before asking what happened in the span of literally a second, Rhodey gets up and walks over to the hotel room's mini-fridge. He bends over and opens the door, pulling out a chilled beer. He pops the lid off and takes a quick sip, handing the bottle to Bruce who's sitting the closest to him.

"Take a sip and pass it around," Rhodey says.

"It's not even noon," Bruce says, holding the opened bottle by the neck.

"Just do it."

Bruce shrugs as he takes a small sip. He passes the bottle to Clint who does the same and then to Thor. When the god taps Tony on the shoulder, Tony sees the half-full beer bottle and downs the rest in one go, handing Thor the empty bottle. Tony exhales, wiping his mouth as the hit of alcohol relaxes him. He pauses, sitting on the edge of the bed before lying flat on his back.

"Wow," Tony says, exhaling. "I can't believe it's actually today. Today! It's finally here!"

"What were you saying moments ago?" Thor asks.

"Parts of my vows," Tony says with a small smile on his face as he pictures himself saying those words to Pepper. "I scribbled something that I think is heartfelt, meaningful, and sort of sappy on the plane ride here instead of sleeping, because I couldn't sleep, knowing I had nothing. I just - I'm a man who says a lot but, sometimes, it's absolute bullshit. I've built a reputation on bullshit bluffs and now I'm going to be saying wedding vows to the woman I love. I thought they would be simple to write but Pepper leaves me speechless."

"Don't worry," Thor tells him. "Pepper brings out the best in you, including words of romance that sound spontaneous rather than scripted."

Tony scoffs. "If only. Can someone get another beer?"

"This is the worst time to get drunk," Clint tells him.

"Well, I need a distraction for the next few hours!" Tony exclaims.

Clint stands up. "I'll go eat the top layer of your wedding cake so you can panic over that instead."

Tony holds a hand to his heart, almost about to sob joyfully. He whispers, "you're a good friend, Clint Barton."

Clint nods, mouthing how he knows. Before the archer could leave to go complete his mission on ruining Tony's wedding cake, Steve opens the door and peeks his head through. Everyone looks at him with surprise and relief, glad that he finally showed up (and at good timing too because Tony was about to lose his mind).

"Are you all decent?" Steve asks, checking to make sure they all are.

"What kind of question is that?" Tony asks. "Of course I'm not decent, I already drank half a bottle of beer. Why?"

"Well…" Steve's voice trails off.

Before Steve could finish, Tony's eyes bulge out of his head as he catches on. When Steve reads that expression on his face, he almost backs out but the door opens completely and Steve's wedding date enters. She strides in the room, wearing dark heels that match her dark brown hair that's tied up in a high ponytail. Her bangs frame her face around the temples. She wears a dark pinkish-maroon spaghetti-strapped form-fitting dress. All the men are speechless because they did not expect to see her here let alone meet her here. Steve blushes against the doorframe and his date extends a perfectly manicured welcoming hand to the groom-to-be as she smiles at all of them.

"Agent Peggy Carter," she introduces.

"She's a SHIELD agent?" Bruce mutters, looking at Clint.

The archer nods his head. "Nat set them up."

Tony is frozen for a moment before cheering and shaking her hand. "Best wedding gift ever!"

-o-

As the girls continue to ready themselves, their train of motion is paused when they hear the men collectively scream loudly as if they turned into a frat house. All of them stand there confused, wondering if someone should go check up on them just to see what happened. They all look at one another and shrug.

"I bet that Tony drank his cologne," Natasha guesses.

"Anyone want to go over there and prove that?" Pepper asks, knowing what their answers will be.

"I don't know about you but I believe it," Betty says.

"Nah," Jane answers Pepper as she browses through her phone on how to use a hair straightener, "we should only go over if we hear a window break. And even then, probably not."

-o-

After all the men were excited for a moment that Steve brought his girlfriend as his plus one and she is already exceptional based on her first impression. Even when they encouraged and pressured him to bring Peggy to the wedding because they all wanted to meet her, they didn't want it to be the end of his relationship because they were only together for two months. But, he actually brought her and she came. Tony didn't think his wedding could get any better and it hasn't even happened yet.

Then, all the men are crying proudly at Steve, some (Clint and Tony) shedding real tears. Steve is weirded out, a bit embarrassed that Peggy had to see them all like this. She knows them all as The Avengers and this was her first impression of them in real life.

Peggy turns around to face Steve. "Are they always like this?"

"Yes," Steve responds. He walks up slowly and takes Peggy by the arm. "I'll take you where Pepper is getting ready - "

"No," Tony says, taking Peggy's arm again. "We just met."

Steve rolls his eyes, regretting bringing Peggy here first instead of straight to the ladies. Tony introduces her to the rest of the men and she shakes hands and makes lively conversation with all of them. Steve just leans against the wall and slumps down to the ground, sitting there.

"Don't be like that!" Tony scolds. "You brought a girl to my wedding. I am merely getting to know her."

"Yeah," Bruce adds. "Now you know how I felt when I came back from a trip with a wife."

Steve holds up his hands innocently. "I didn't do anything ut congratulate you!"

"I know. I was referring to the others but still."

Peggy laughs. "Alright, I will give my man a break from all this before his old heart exceeds its limit. I'll meet you at the reception or cocktail hour and let you men continue celebrating Mr. Stark's last hours of bachelorhood. Now, Steve, you seem winded just by witnessing all of that so which one of your friends will walk me over to the bride-to-be?"

Steve narrows his eyes at her before breaking into a smile and she smirks at him. The other men in the room are watching them lovingly, already picturing their future kids.

"I'll take you," Rhodey tells Peggy. "I have to talk to Pepper anyways."

"Let's go," Peggy says, crouching down to give Steve a quick kiss on the cheek before she walks out with Rhodey.

When the door clicks shut, Steve looks up at his fellow Avengers and sees them all giving him the same stupid grin. He knows that with the few hours left till the wedding, they'll want all the details on Peggy. Steve sighs, rubbing his face with his hands before sitting up straight.

"I can see why you were late now," Tony says, raising his brows to send a message.

Steve's cheeks redden. "Can you move your wedding up?"