A/N. Greetings, readers! I hope you're all having a wonderful day (or night). Please enjoy the next chapter of Brewing Coffee With Stania! :D
Chapter Twenty
"Welcome… to the newly refurbished Avengers Tower." Tony threw out both arms just as the bay doors of the quinjet descended, revealing the large letter 'A' adorning the Tower they'd come to know so well.
Now that she was staring it in the face, Tania realized just how much she'd missed it. Living in Washington with Steve was great. It had been domestic and sweet and she'd learned so many things about him she'd never have known had the two of them not been living completely on their own.
But being so far from her friends and family had made her feel slightly isolated. Of course they were in constant contact, what with technology nowadays, but it wasn't the same. No more family breakfasts. No more training with Clint. No more spa days with Pepper. No more going to bookstores with Betty. No more watching Netflix with Bruce. All of that was gone (at the time).
Natasha had been in Washington, of course, which helped. The two of them had spent a lot of time together over the course of the past few months. They trained every morning at the local gym while Steve went for his run. They went shopping sometimes. They went on missions together. They got drunk sometimes, complaining about their significant others while both were away.
But Tania missed this. Having her entire family together. Feeling like a single piece to a giant puzzle. Feeling whole. Like she belonged. Like she was part of a team.
The Avengers "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed at the new style of the Tower. The overall layout was the same, but it looked much cleaner and more modern. The walls seemed to be made of glass, the half on the left crystal blue and the half on the right tinted a deep grey. The "A" that had originally been part of "STARK" had been replaced with a bigger, bluer "A" that was slightly to the left, like it was at the beginning of a word as opposed to the middle.
There was an entire section added on top of the helipad with tinted windows. The helipad itself had changed significantly. It no longer seemed to cater to helicopters and Iron Man suits, but to specifically to this quinjet that Tony had designed and built.
The doors began to close.
"JARVIS?" Tony called, returning to his seat in the cock pit. "Mind putting this baby inside?
"Your parallel parking has always needed work," JARVIS quipped, but did as told.
The quinjet itself was completely remodelled. It was at least twice the size as the standard SHIELD-issue ones, with benches along each wall and six metal chairs in a circle in the centre. The cock-pit consisted of one pilot's chair in the middle surrounded by dozens of miniature screens, holo-tables, and switches. Clint was itching to get his butt in the pilot's seat, if his constant "Can I try?"s were any indication.
The jet hummed, the repulsor engines significantly quieter, faster, and better for the environment. The vehicle slowly entered the hangar, guided on autopilot by JARVIS. Even the landing was smooth.
The door hissed as it opened once again, this time to reveal the inside of the Tower. It was like the biggest, most high-tech garage Tania had ever seen. Grabbing her crutches and unhooking the seatbelt, she pushed herself to her feet and followed the others off the ramp and into the hangar.
There was a short walkway about as wide as fifteen feet that led to an open hallway. Everything was dimly lit and accented in deep blues and greys. Using her crutches, Tania made her way to the end of the path, Rocky following just behind her.
"I thought this place was still under construction?" Clint asked, looking around looking slightly impressed.
Tony shrugged, removing his sunglasses and hanging them off the front of his shirt. He stuffed both hands in his pockets. "Surprise?"
Clint grinned. "So far so awesome."
"Glad you like it, bird boy."
"I believe we have two of those now, Stark," piped up Natasha, who brought up the rear of the group with Sam and Steve. She gestured to Sam, who just shrugged in response. He was just here for a few days to wait for Steve and Tania to settle in before the three of them started their search for Bucky.
Clint's eyes narrowed. "I was here first."
Sam chuckled good-naturedly. "Hey, man. I don't mean to walk all over your territory. I'm just the Falcon." He grinned.
Clint grinned back. "And I'm just The Amazing Hawkeye."
"Oh, your name has a adjective now?"
"That was my original name, actually, back when I was in the circus. SHIELD said it was too long so I had to cut it down."
"You were in the circus?"
"Yeah, man. It's a long story."
"I got time."
Clint and Sam walked off, getting along great for two guys who just met.
"Alright, no tour for them," Tony decided. "Come on everyone. I've got lots to show you."
The rest of the Tower was just as amazing as the hangar, equipped with technology beyond everyone's wildest dreams (except Tony's) and yet decorated with furniture that made the place seem homey and designer (thanks to Pepper). Everyone room had a holo-table of some sort somewhere as well as a place to hide weapons, which Natasha deeply appreciated and promptly began to fill them all up, separating from the rest of the group to do so.
With Pepper on his arm, Tony escorted the rest of the Avengers to each of the floors that had been redone. The aquarium floor, which had been severely damaged in the second Loki incident, was completely demolished and transformed into a training area, complete with shooting range (compatible with shields and trick arrows alike), obstacle course, sparring ring (yes, an actual ring), at least twelve punching bags, weights, treadmills, exercise machines, yoga mats, and even a mini dance studio in the far corner of the room. A projector emerged from the ceiling and created holograms in the centre of the room that could be interacted with for training purposes. Pepper, Betty, and Jane elected to stay and do some yoga while the rest continued the tour.
Each of the Avengers' floors had been completely revamped. Instead of a hallway with however many doors, each floor was like a separate apartment with a foyer, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Bruce and Thor opted to check out their own floors by themselves, leaving Tony, Tania, Steve, and Rocky to finish the tour.
Tony took them to what used to be a lab but now seemed to be a workshop filled to the brim with suits and suit parts and wiring and wow it was a mess.
"This is the only floor in the entire building in which Pepper had no input," Tony stated proudly, stepping over a severed mechanical arm that looked like it had been harshly ripped from its body. Actually, it didn't look like an arm that belonged to an Iron Man suit. This arm had wiring all along the inside. There was no room to insert a limb.
"Uh, Tony?" Tania called. "What are you working on?"
"Hm?" He turned to her, seemingly returning from having been lost in space. "Oh! Yes. That. Well, as this whole Hydra debacle has just proven, the Avengers can't be everywhere at once. People all over the world are going to need us and there just aren't enough of us to save them all. So I thought, why not make more?"
Steve looked like he wanted to disapprove, but Tony cut him off before he could say anything.
"I'm basically building little Iron Mans to help control situations before the Avengers can get there or if we can't. Except they're not suits this time. They're robots and they're hooked up to JARVIS, who can pilot them from the Tower."
"Are you sure giving JARVIS that much power is a good idea, Tony?" Steve asked, looking sceptical and disapproving.
"Excuse you," said JARVIS.
"Don't worry, Cap," Tony replied. "JARVIS may be an A.I. but he lacks a lot of programming that would be make him dangerous. Consciousness, for one thing. Emotion, for another. He can make decisions, yes, but he has no thought, no feeling, no personality. He's just my butler who I programmed to sound sarcastic and make witty remarks and be British and make decisions that only computers can make. He's saved my life more times than I count with those decisions. I wouldn't worry too much about it. In fact, I wouldn't worry at all. JARVIS is perfectly capable of operating these bad boys." He patted one of the robots on the face. "And JARVIS drove us here in the quinjet. You didn't seem to mind that."
"You were there monitoring the situation. That's different."
"Whatever. Point is: trust me to trust JARVIS, okay?"
Steve wasn't smiling, but he wasn't scowling either. "Okay."
"Great. Last stop: your place. Just take the elevator. It's the same floor."
"Alright," Tania said, hoping to ease the tension and get moving again. Her leg was getting a little tired. "The place looks fantastic, Tony."
Tony beamed. "Glad you think so, Piggy Bank.
She had never missed him calling her that. Ever.
With Rocky leading the way, Tania and Steve entered the much more spacious elevator. This one had music. Tony had explained that JARVIS chose which song to play based on who entered the elevator. Darcy had created a playlist for every Avenger and given it to Tony, who gave it to JARVIS to choose from whenever that person entered the elevator.
Michael Buble was currently singing softly in the background. Tania couldn't help singing along, swaying with the music. She caught Steve staring, admiring every part of her unabashedly. She smirked at him.
The doors opened and she limped out first. She was still getting used to the crutches. After two steps, she nearly fell over in shock.
The apartment was beautiful. Tania and Steve stood on an elevated wooden step about five feet in diameter that folded into a flawless wooden floors. The living room took up what used to be the entirety of the hallway and more, making good use of the more rounded space. The ceiling was the same height, about eight feet tall, but the popcorn design had been smoothed over with polished white paint.
The room was completely furnished with unfamiliar furniture, more than likely purchased and placed according to Pepper's preferences. There was a black leather sectional in the centre of the room on top of a black and white zebra rug. The throw pillows were teal and orange. Those same colours were accented in various pieces along the walls and tables. There was a floor to ceiling bookshelf to the far left, stuffed full with books, some Tania recognized and others she didn't. There was a desk at the far end with drawers and a trash can and an orange desk lamp. There was a gorgeous white light fixture hanging from the ceiling just behind the couch, surrounded by white branches rounded to make an aesthetically pleasing sphere.
Several feet in front of the couch was a large television that stood on a dresser that matched both the coffee table and bookshelf. The walls were a deep teal blue and the coasters on the coffee table were dark orange.
A large painting hung on the left wall, framed in tarnished gold. It was a landscape created in oil on canvas, portraying a glowing sunset. On the opposite wall, several photos of Steve, Tania, and the rest of the Avengers in various pairs and groups were placed in small frames glued together like a classy collage sat on hooks on either side of the television. The far wall was almost completely taken by windows looking out over New York City.
Steve whistled.
Tania's astonishment prevented words from coming out of her mouth.
The two of them shared a look. They immediately set off for the door furthest to the left, next to the oil painting. It rose out of their way when it detected their presence and revealed a humongous master bedroom with a king-sized bed (though it looked bigger).
The colour scheme in this room was more toned down and serene, a pleasant mix of pastel blue and sandy brown. A walk-in closet (with a spinning rack) hid behind a glass door to the left. There was a nightstand on either side of the bed, each with a lamp, candle, and sketchpad. To the right, there was a window that jutted into the wall so as to create a bench to sit on. This bench was adorned with a thin mattress and pillows as well as a curtain that could be closed in front of it. Tania was going to make very good use of what she now deemed her "reading corner".
Rocky ran over to the doggy bed in the corner of the room, circled it a few times, and then plopped down and closed her eyes.
"Wow," Tania breathed, hobbling forward.
Steve's shield hung on the wall next to the window, gleaming and spotless. Steve's face melted into a smile and he walked over, unhooking it from its perch and sliding it onto his arm. Behind the shield hung a new pair of batons, these ones more high-tech looking than before. Tania pulled them off the wall and inspected them, as Steve did his shield.
"Look," he said, turning the back of the shield to face her.
There was a note taped to the inside.
Found your shield, Cap. Now don't be mad, but I made a few modifications. Well, not to your shield. Figures that the one time I managed to get my hands on it, I didn't have what it takes to change anything. If you work best with it the way it is, then that's the way it should be.
But! I made some adjustments to the uniform. That may have something to do with your shield. Hey, at least this way you'll never lose it again.
You can thank me later.
Tony
Tania rolled her eyes. Oh Tony. She supposed it was only a matter of time before he eventually got his hands on the shield. Frankly it was a miracle Steve had been able to keep it away from him this long. "Are we curious to see the new uniforms?"
Steve shook his head. "Maybe later. Shall we check out the bathroom?"
The bathroom was luxuriously beautiful, equipped with a bathtub on one side and a shower big enough for two on the other. The toilet automatically flushed when used. The sink was automatic as well, turning on when it sensed motion. Seashells decorated the counter and walls.
But the best part of the entire floor was the art studio. It was empty, as all of their things were still on the jet waiting to be unpacked, but the room had floor to ceiling windows taking up one entire wall as well as storage units all along another, waiting to be filled with brushes and utensils of all kinds.
"This place is…" She searched for an adequate word.
"Too much," Steve finished, looking around not with awe, but rather distaste. "Tania, look at all of this. We don't need half this stuff. Heck, more than half this stuff. We still have perfectly good furniture back at our place. Pepper didn't need to buy all of these things."
"But she did."
"Then she should return them."
"Steve." She limped closer to him, leaning the crutches on the wall so that she could wrap her arms around his neck. "It's fine. They can afford it."
"Doesn't mean they should get something just because they can."
"That's the beauty of being rich, Steve. Buying something without guilt or worry or having to overthink it."
"Deciding whether or not you need something is hardly overthinking it."
She sighed, shaking her head. "Let it go. It will hurt Pepper's feelings if you tell her you don't like it."
"It's not that I don't like it," he said. "It's just… all this luxury… it makes me feel uncomfortable."
"I'm sure we can get rid of some of this stuff and replace it with our own. I'm thinking the record player will go in the living room, maybe on that table that we had back at our place. And the mirror can go in the that star Tony and Bruce got me can hover over the coffee table. And that drawing of us in the coffee shop has to go in the bedroom."
His smile grew. "I'm sure we'll figure out a compromise. But one thing does have to go."
"What's that?"
"That." He looked up over her head. She turned and followed his gaze. In the far corner of the room, a tiny security camera flashed red every few seconds. "JARVIS, turn off all cameras on this floor."
"I'm sorry, Captain, but only Mr. Stark has the authority to do that."
Steve looked at Tania as if to say "see what I mean".
"It's just a security measure," she tried to reason, though she had to admit that the cameras did make her squirm. "Remember when you were all mind controlled by Loki? They came in handy then."
"It's an invasion of our privacy and if I'm not mistaken, none of us were in our rooms at the time of the Takeover."
"Tony's just trying to look out for us."
"At the expense of any privacy we have left. There's cameras in the bedroom and the bathroom, Tania."
"It's not like he watches us 24/7. No one watches those tapes unless there's a security breach."
"Do you really want records of us making love somewhere you can't access?"
She shifted uncomfortably.
"I understand Tony's concern, but we can handle ourselves. I don't feel comfortable sleeping here unless he turns them off, like he told us he did last time."
"Go talk to him then," she urged, conceding his point. "I want to look around some more."
He nodded and pecked her on the nose. "I'll see you in a bit."
With Steve gone, Tania began browsing the books on the shelf. Most of them had been on her wish list, which she'd shared with her fellow readers: Bruce, Betty, and Natasha. They must have given that list to Pepper while she was redecorating. In another life, that woman could've easily been an interior designer.
A little while later, Tania pulled out her new phone and searched through the contacts she'd managed to retrieve. She found Drew's number and pressed "Call". It rang continuously for a good two minutes before Tania realized that the automated voice message system wasn't going to come on and Drew wasn't going to pick up. She sighed and slipped the phone back into her purse.
Deciding to make good use of her time, Tania made her way back to the quinjet to get her and Steve's things and found Natasha and Clint bickering on the ramp about who had the shittiest time during the Fall of SHIELD.
"I was stabbed."
"Well I was shot."
"I had to watch my friend get shot."
"I had to find my friends drowned and close to death by the massive destruction of an organization I put my faith in."
"Yeah? Well… well… Hey, Tania!" Clint noticed her first, waving enthusiastically from where he sat perched on top of a very tall suitcase. "How's the leg? And the stomach? And the back?"
"Not as bad as when I first got them," she replied. "How are your injuries?"
"Healing," Natasha answered. She jutted her thumb in Clint's direction. "This guy refuses to take pain meds so he's probably in pain right now."
Clint shrugged. "You know me, Tash. I hate anything that impairs my vision and mind."
"Except alcohol."
He nodded. "I like alcohol, but not to the extent where I pass out puking."
"Ugh." Tania wrinkled her nose. "Well, I just came to pick up my stuff. Don't mind me."
"So did we," said Natasha. "Everyone else seems to have gotten their stuff already." She gestured to the quinjet, which indeed seemed to be lacking in luggage.
Clint hopped off his makeshift bird's nest. "Want any help?"
It took her an extra beat to answer. "Sure." She was past refusing help because of her pride and stubbornness. With her crutches, she would have had to make multiple trips.
Natasha crossed her arms and cocked her hip. "Fine. Leave me with all our luggage then. How romantic."
Clint laughed, grabbing Steve's duffel bag and Tania's significantly larger suitcase and rolling it down the ramp. "Come on, Nat. We both know you can carry both of those downstairs in no time flat. Would it make you feel any better if I said that when I'm done helping Tania, we can 'break in' the new bedroom?" He smirked suggestively.
"No." Despite her quick answer, Natasha smirked back and turned, swaying her hips a little exaggeratedly as she grabbed both suitcases and began pulling them toward the elevator.
Tania couldn't hide her small giggle. "Haven't you guys had you're reunion sex yet?" She teased, grabbing her carry-on and yanking up the handle.
Clint grinned. "Yup." And he left it at that.
With Clint's help, all of Tania and Steve's things were on their floor within fifteen minutes, after which Clint "disappeared" and Tania elected not to bother him (or Nat). Left to her own devices, Tania decided to take Rocky for a walk. She attached the leash to her crutch and made it all the way down to the first floor without any problems. She was really supposed to be staying off her feet, but she wasn't in a lazy mood. She wanted to move around, get things done. Besides: she wasn't going far. Just around the block and back.
She'd nearly forgotten that their coffee shop was on that block.
The streets had long been cleaned after the Hammeroid incident, when Loki had utilized Justine Hammer's influence at Hammer Tech to unleash the giant robots on New York City (again) to lure out the Avengers and try to use Clint's brother as a sniper to kill them off.
Wow their lives were crazy.
But the destruction of properties remained. Anyone who couldn't afford to rebuild what had been destroyed was shit out of luck. Apparently one such person was the man who owned the coffee shop. When she passed it, it was just as destroyed as when Steve had proposed to her inside of it. She stopped walking, looked both ways, and J-walked across the street. Cars honked at her, but that was New York for you.
The shop was in ruins, the wooden frames splintered, the front counter charred, the tables and chairs obliterated. Tania could still picture it so clearly as it had been before. Soft jazz playing in the background. The smell of fresh pastries and delicious coffee. The friendly faces that had become familiar as she and Steve became regulars.
She missed it. She hadn't realized it until that point, but she did. It had once been a fixture in her life; a routine. But while it still stood on shaky legs, there was no telling what would happen to it. Months had passed since it was destroyed. Surely if someone were to attempt to save it, something would have changed by now.
Feeling bold, Tania strode inside, carefully maneuvering around the debris. It was in this very spot, beside the hundred shards of broken glass, that Steve had bent down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She raised her left hand to stare at the ring, turning her palm this way and that.
This coffee shop was worth saving. It meant so much to her and to Steve and to their relationship. It was where they'd had their first meeting, where they'd gotten to know each other, where he had proposed…
What if… she bought the shop? What if she rebuilt it? What if she owned it? This coffee shop… could truly be theirs. She knew barely a second after thinking it that she wanted this. She did some quick calculations. Together, they could afford it.
She wasn't a SHIELD agent anymore. Tony would no doubt re-hire her as Stark Industries' head of Marketing and Advertising if she asked, but she felt that she'd outgrown it. She didn't want to go back, not with Mindy still there and Drew… not. It was time to put her business degree to damn good use.
Feeling inspired, Tania left the coffee shop with a bouncing Rocky, already brainstorming ideas for names, layout, hiring, advertising, budgets, colour schemes, etc.
But something brought her up short.
Steve hadn't been happy with her the last time she'd spent a large sum of their money without telling him, even though it had been to help a friend. Even though he'd been caught up in his problems. She'd kept it from him, however temporarily, and it had not been appreciated.
She would not make the same mistake.
"I want to buy the coffee shop."
Steve looked up from where he appeared to be brooding by the desk in the living room. "What?" He let the curtain fall back into place in front of the window, walking towards Tania instead.
She could probably word that better. Setting the crutches aside, she hopped toward him. He met her halfway, catching her by both elbows. Together, they staggered to the couch and fell into its thick cushions, already cuddled. She snuggled deeper into his chest, both legs tucked behind her and her ear pressed against his heart. She sucked in a breath to get ready to try again. "I would like to buy our coffee shop," she repeated. "I did some research. Everyone thinks it's beyond saving - but I think we could do it."
"But wasn't it destroyed in the second Loki incident?"
"That's why it hasn't been rebuilt. But I was thinking… what if we rebuilt it?" She tilted her head to look up at him, meeting his gaze. "Then it really would be our coffee shop. It could be our business. A way to make money now that SHIELD is gone. I know you feel guilty using up Tony's money for your own expenses, so this will be our own income and we will buy it with our own money."
"You don't want to work at Stark Industries anymore?"
She shook her head. "It was a great job while it lasted, but… I think I'm ready for something new."
"You were only there for like a year."
She slapped his abdomen playfully. "We've only been dating like a year and a bit."
"A year and a half, if you count the three months we spent in 1945."
"Even so, we haven't actually known each other that long."
"Feels like forever."
She raised an eyebrow.
"In a good way," he assured.
"Uh huh. Well. If our relationship survived all those traumatic experiences, I'd say that it can survive anything." She shifted, rolling over so that she lay face down on top of Steve, who'd moved with her and kicked his legs up onto the couch so that they both lay horizontally on the sectional, his head leaning on the arm rest and her on top of him. "Including the test of time."
He smiled. "I think so too."
"So what do you think?"
"About buying a business?" He hummed, reaching both arms to lace his fingers behind his head. "Sounds financially risky."
"I think we could pull it off. I did a bunch of calculations. I have a graph, you wanna see?"
He chuckled, his chest rumbling and shaking her with every breath. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Hey, I had to do something with that degree of mine. I'm still paying off my goddamn student loans." But not for much longer! She was almost done. Just a few more payments to make (thanks in part to Tony). "So? What do you say?"
He glanced to the side, staring at the wall behind Tania. She let him think, resting her head on his chest and enjoying the warmth he always emitted. He was like her own personal ray of sunshine.
"Alright."
Her head shot up. "Really?"
His lips turned upward at the corners. "Really."
Beaming, she hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you agree. I wanted this to be a decision we made together."
"I appreciate that."
"Can I ask what motivated you to say yes?"
He shrugged, lowering one arm to rest lightly at the small of her back as if to make sure she didn't fall. "That coffee shop brought us together in a number of ways. Maybe it can do that for someone else too. But we'll never know unless we rebuild it. I wouldn't want to take that away from someone else."
She placed both hands under her chin and rested it on his ribs, staring down at him happily. "So what did you want to name it? Or, re-name it, rather."
He seemed caught off guard, blinking blankly at her. "Uh, I don't know. Did you have something in mind?"
"Maybe." She smiled sheepishly. "I was thinking… Your Coffee Shop."
He inclined his head. "Simple."
"And it's like you said. That place brought us together… maybe it can bring others together. I want it to be theirs as much as ours. I want it to feel homey and safe. Safe space. I've already drawn out a rough sketch of what I want it to look like."
"Yeah? Can I see?"
"Sure!"
They spent the rest of the night planning their business.
Their future.
Of course, the elephant in the room was Bucky, but they elected to keep him out of their conversation, at least for one night. They would be talking a lot about him tomorrow.