As the next few chapters are a lot of lead-ins, I am going to throw a BUNCH at you ALL AT ONCE!

Chapter 3

The minute the elevators doors opened on the living level of Avenger's Tower, all thoughts of work were banished away. That was the rule of the house, like not going to bed angry, or forgetting to RSVP for Thanksgiving dinner. Pepper kept a tight ship with a few things in life she could have control over, and this was just one such thing.

She met the elevator the minute it arrived on the top floor, and sailed through the opening doors to lock her arms around Steve's neck. The two embraced for a moment while the Captain lifted her up and carried her swinging body out of the metal car before she slid away from him and clung to Clint instead. The archer swung the woman up in a fireman's hold and carried her over his shoulder up the hallway to the living area. Tony was already there, flipping through channels on his widescreen TV. Thor sat under the Christmas tree, staring straight up through the branches with Jane Foster beside him, their fingers intertwined. Natasha sat on one of the island bar stools, with a beer in one hand and her hair in the other. The Black Widow picked out no less than a billion little sparkles that had exploded all over her. Apparently, someone had gotten their hands on a glitter bomb.

"Looks like we missed the pranks! That was a good one, who got you?" Clint asked, allowing Pepper to slip away from him. She planted a kiss in the bristles on his face.

"Guess." Natasha said, eyeing Tony's back.

Clint headed over to the man, and clapped him on the arm appreciatively. "Good one. Did you get Thor's you-know-whats?"

"Done, wrapped, and under the tree." Tony replied. He ended his channel search on a Yule log smoldering with the background of holiday music, then set his digital remote back down.

"My work is done before it's begun." Clint replied, grinning.

"Oh, and I have an extra surprise stuck in that turkey for when the Cap carves it." Tony added, lowly.

"Did you do the baby turkey inside a mother turkey?"

A careful grin began and didn't end until Tony looked like the Grinch himself, pleased over stealing all of Whoville's Christmas. Clint prevented his own commiserating smile. Christmas ranked high on the list of favorite Avenger holidays, despite their failures the last few times around. Tony always attempted to do something, even if it ended up smaller than he liked, for Pepper's sake. After all, she'd spent her entire life as either his secretary, CEO, or fiancé. She'd had her own ups and downs that went in time with his, and more than one occasion kept her wondering whether she'd made the right choice in life sticking with him.

Concerns over their relationship status occurred mostly during the holidays, of which Tony found himself to be considerably deficient at. She'd learned, years ago, to purchase her own gifts, and expect only the most off-the-wall sort of things from his own brain cells. From giant rabbits, to giant dogs, Princess Leia costumes, and even a Tony Stark suit dedicated just for her, Tony never exactly got the hang of proper gift-giving.

Though more Avengers encompassed the current group, like Hank Pym (though technically he retired the Ant-Man name to Scott Lang years prior), T'Challa, Vision, and the newest members, Christmas was something that only a select few attended. In the beginning of their adventures, the team only had Tony, Steve, Thor, Clint, Bruce, Natasha, and their support of Pepper. Rarely were others admitted to this private party.

The morning usually began with breakfast, cooked by whoever might be available first. Others trickled in as the day came along until by eleven or twelve, Christmas began in full swing. Gifts collected under the tree, where Thor could inevitably be found watching over them. Steve, when not working some magic with bacon and turkey, was often uncharacteristically pranking the other Avengers. Clint introduced the Captain to his personal way of celebrating the holiday season. Occasionally, together, Steve and Clint would rob the other Avengers, and re-wrap the stolen goods to be opened later. Tony bothered Pepper in the kitchen, or sat on the couch and drank. Natasha lounged in any spot she could. Sometimes, Clint joined her but more often than not, he headed off to get in trouble with Steve, cook, drink, sit on the roof, or a myriad of other things. Today was no different than all those times in their past where Christmas was allowed to be a priority. Clint leaned a little on Tony, and stole the glass out of his hand. He sniffed the contents, took a sip, and scrunched his nose.

"I thought you gave this up, Tony?" Clint said in private.

Tony thought about reclaiming his glass, but declined. Instead, he turned around in place and dropped into his arm chair. Taking the cue, Clint sat beside him on the end of the sofa. The glow of the fake fire cackled to life in digital high definition and the influence of Bing Crosby's Christmas tunes.

"I added some alcohol to the eggnog. It's Christmas."

"No drinking, means no drinking. No matter what the holiday is. We talked about this."

Tony didn't nod. He hardly acknowledged the comment, but Clint knew that wasn't abnormal. With the advent of war on the horizon, both men had decided a little sobriety could do wonders for their future, as short as that future might prove to be.

"So you didn't have anything when you went out the other night with Tasha?" Tony asked.

"I didn't say that."

They exchanged a knowing look, and both of them smiled.

"We're not very good at this." Tony admitted, taking his spiked eggnog back for another sip. He didn't exactly overindulge often anymore, but the thing that made both of them nervous was his propensity to cross the line when emotions ran high. The war to come would prove difficult for all of them, and if Tony decided to crawl into a bottle every time difficulties came up, he'd turn into a liability. Neither wanted that. Clint agreed to bite the bullet and become a sober partner with him. That thought, while admirable, had yet to actually work.

"She said yes?"

Clint's head tilted a little to the left, allowing his right eye to take in the sight of Natasha perched on the island stool. His focus remained on Tony's features, trying to ascertain just what the man knew, and what he was fishing for.

"About what?" Clint attempted to deflect.

"Come on, Clint, give me a little more credit than that. You stole my card, I found it missing this morning by the way, and I tracked just what you decided to buy with it. A beautiful dress. I have to say, the way it hugged her curves from bust to butt was really a great choice. The restaurant, I picked out, if you remember. Lobster dinner. Jewelry store. If that wasn't the lead-in to a proposal, I don't know what is. And the ring on that finger points enough to it as anything else . . .and!" Tony pulled out the cell phone he had ready and waiting, then displayed the screen for Clint to look at. On it, he watched the days-old version of himself lean over a counter and sign his name to a document a few seconds before convincing Natasha to do the same. All of it was conducted under the watchful eye of a certain former Elven queen.

Clint leaned back against the couch again, and scrutinized Tony's face. "Ok, you know. Who did you tell?"

"Thus far, no one. Card."

Clint took the stolen credit card out of his wallet, and handed it back. "You know, I signed my checks with a picture of a duck, and not a single person questioned if I was you."

"That's very disturbing. You have just as much money as me, why didn't you use your own?"

"Maybe because I couldn't find my cards. And maybe because Fehreh was already on this planet before I called for her to be here, and maybe because I thought you had something to do with that."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Touche`." From his own pocket, Tony retrieved Clint's black card and returned it.

"This means we're both married men, doesn't it?" Clint asked.

"Seems like it. Best man paid for my wedding." Tony took a sip of his eggnog and passed it to Clint.

Clint drank also. "Yeah, all right, I admit I would have asked you to be my best man again. Did you buy a lobster dinner too?"

"You didn't check your card statement?"

"Of course I did. How did both of us end up doing the exact same thing with our girls, Tony?"

"Hey, I went first. You copied."

Clint set the empty glass of their shared drink on the coffee table. "Technically, I went first. Twice. I mean . . . Wow, Tony, that's a big step for you. You never know, Pepper might even ask for kids now. She's younger than you."

"And be sixty when my kid goes into college? No."

"More like seventy."

"She'd enter college at fifteen."

"Undershooting that a little aren't you?"

"I don't want to pressure the wee lass." Tony pushed himself out of the arm chair, and Clint stood up beside him. They clasped hands, and then dragged themselves together for an embrace and mutual pat on the back.

"Congrats, Clint." Tony whispered.

"You're making it weird." Clint whispered back.

They released and turned to the rest of the party. Christmas this year was going just right. The world could add two more male war brides to the list of recruits since M-Day struck the populace like a coming plague. They'd keep each other's secrets, and leave the marriage announcements private for now. After all, Tony understood the reality of his wealth just as he had taught Clint. If he happened to be slaughtered in the events of the campaign, he didn't want Pepper being left in the lurch. She received everything from him on the event of his demise, and he wanted no question in that.

Within days, they were set to leave the atmosphere, and so many loved ones, behind for the considerable future. The change wouldn't be easy on anyone. Clint and Natasha agreed to be separated and increase their own chances of survival. Likewise, Clint was ordered to stay as far away as possible from any evacuation planets in the outer core of the black hole. He had a lot of rules to live by now, and though he accepted their terms without question, he knew in his heart of hearts, none of it would be good enough to save him. He'd become a true believer, like T'Challa. His fate was coming to find him, and no matter what he did, nothing they attempted could stop the chase of the grim reaper after his life.

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