"When can we go to Disneyland?" Spencer whined with a soft pout as she crossed her arms over her chest in the back seat of Tony's shiny Rover.
Steve had sneakily called shotgun last night and it left a grumpy Spencer in the backseat. Tony had surprisingly offered to drive them around California. It was different then Spencer imagined. It wasn't as hip and lively as she should-perhaps it was because she had only seen the area surrounding the airport and the freeway but from what she can see, California had a lot of smog. New York had a fair amount of smog but California definitely took the smog cake.
"You can go in a few days, Pikachu," Tony answered somehow managing the patience to calm down the eager assassin, "We have to get you two settled in. I have a few things to catch up on in my office so you two will be hanging out with Happy."
"We're adults, Tony, we can go out and venture on our own. Besides, didn't Pepper bump him up to head of security at the tower?" Spencer asked running her fingers through Cooper's freshly groomed fur. The properly restrained wolf-dog whined excitedly and nudged his head against her hand enjoying the show of affection
"Damn, I forgot," Tony sighed with annoyance, "I just don't want you two running around unsupervised. You two do know that you're both famous, right?" Tony glanced at Steve, who shrugged like it wasn't news to him, and then he glanced over at Spence through the rear view mirror.
Spencer pursued her lips at the sudden reminder, "People refer to us as City Destroyers."
Steve shook his head and Tony groaned, "That was one Korean lady, Spence."
Spencer didn't care about what her fellow Americans had to say about her or her friends. What she did care about was the fact that her face was now well-known around the world. It wasn't good news for her to hear. If random strangers knew her name, those who worked for HYRDA knew she was alive and where she was at all times, and that scared her.
Steve and Tony weren't blind or stupid. Well, Tony was a little bit stupid but he knew Spencer was afraid that with her sudden fame would come those who tortured her in a small cell like some animal. Tony knew how Spencer felt-perhaps not entirely but he understood some of what she went through and her fears. Phil and Fury had demanded that Stark up his security even more than usual. Fury going as far as sending in secret agents to shadow Spencer.
Tony wasn't sure if Spencer knew of the shadows Fury sent with her but she was safe with them. Steve was with her and so was he. He'd be damned if he let some bad assholes try to take her away.
"Besides," Spencer broke out of her quick pause, "Steve and I can handle the fans and the haters. It isn't new to us." Back in New York it was a normal occurrence to have fans rush up and gush over them. Spencer found it extremely odd but played along not wanting to crush any dreams. "Why don't you run your errands and let us off leash for a day?" Spencer fidgeted in her spot eager to get her California Adventure going. She wasn't sure where she and Steve would do first but they'd figure it out.
Tony pursued his lips knowing the two wouldn't fully be alone, "Fine, you got me but I get to keep the dog for the day." He bargained grinning.
Steve scoffed, "Of course."
Spencer wasn't sure if Tony's infatuation with her beloved canine should be a concern but if it would ease Tony's nerves having Cooper around then it was okay with her. She hoped while here that Tony would get the fresh-smog air he needs and rest too. The bags under his eyes were growing more prominent with each sleepless night and no matter how many times Tony jokingly brushed it off, it was obvious to Steve and Spencer what was really going on.
But they decided to play coy for now.
"Fine," Spencer chuckled as Cooper whined happily, "But you gotta go by him his favorite dog food."
"I thought I told you to pack it?" Steve asked turning around to stare at her playfully.
Spencer grinned widely, "I forgot."
Tony groaned, "I am not feeding him that processed poison! I should invest in making real dog food! You know what? I'm gonna research that. I am going to make Cooper the best damn dog food he's ever tasted!" Tony declared looking way too pleased with himself.
"Dude, Cooper licked your nasty ass feet and liked it. He likes everything." Spencer deadpanned making Steve laugh loudly.
Tony glared at Steve and then turned his attention back on the road, "I'm still going to do it. Can you imagine how good it'll sell? Tony Stark Dog Food! I'd make a fortune." Tony said looking like the idea was growing and growing in his head.
"What about pricing? People can't afford expensive ass dog food." Spencer added as she gazed at the cars passing by.
"I won't sell it for a lot of money. I'll sell it relatively cheap. It'll be a good side hobby, maybe I'll invest in cool dog toys and shit." Tony continued on.
"Go for it," Spencer smiled liking how excited Tony was getting. It gave him a break from his suits and whatever worries he was currently stressing over. "I think it'll be cool. It is something different and it isn't expected of you." Spencer began taking sneaky pictures of Tony stuffing his face with pistachios and Steve trying out a new game on his phone.
Tony seemed to beam at her encouragement, "Thanks, Pikachu, watch by the end of tonight I'll have some dog food ready for your dog to try out!" He says proudly.
"What if you accidentally kill Cooper with your dog food?" Steve questioned killing Tony's joy.
Tony glared at Steve, "You know what, old man? I'm tired of your shit!"
Steve rolled his eyes, "I'm just pointing it out."
"I wouldn't feed Cooper something that would kill him!" Tony snapped grumpily.
"Kids, chill out." Spencer drawled as she Googled what fun things to do in California aside from the fun amusement parks. Tony apparently wanted to come along which would be weird since Tony can't go anywhere without getting mobbed.
The drive wasn't that great-Tony's road rage seem to come out more on the freeways of California. It was rather amusing and Spence recorded them for later blackmail use. Tony's home was in famous Malibu and it sat perched on the very edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Spencer found it odd that the City didn't see any safety issues with the house being on the edge of a cliff. She also found the house's architecture weird. What was up with these oddly shaped houses? And the lot was so huge.
Well, it was Tony Stark.
"What if the San Andreas fault hits? Your house would plop right into the ocean." Spencer absentmindedly stated as Steve, being the gentlemen he was, hauled her suitcases into Tony's fancy cliff house. She could feel Tony's glare on her tiny form and she resisted the urge to smirk.
"Your concern for my house is touching, Pikachu." was Tony's only remark.
Spencer let it go knowing the poor man was probably tired from the drive. She let Cooper off and he stuck by her side dutifully while Steve and Tony moved the suitcases inside. Of course the inside was sleek and beautiful. Spencer was a bit awed by the amazing view of the ocean coming in from the living area. The entire place was open and airy and styled beautifully. She pursued her lips, "I see one of the benefits of having your house on the edge of the cliff."
"This house was built by me," Tony cockily stated but had a small frown on his face, "It's completely safe."
Spencer smiled at him as she moved closer to the large windows overlooking the ocean, "I don't doubt you, playboy." She says softly and watches as Tony's tired face eases up some.
Steve was looking around with an impressed look on his face, "This is different than our dark dungeon, Spence." Humor was lacing his comforting voice. It caused Spencer to grin widely and laugh.
"Totally."
Tony showed them their rooms and left them to settle in. Tony would be downstairs in his workshop with Cooper while Spencer and Steve took showers and changed. Spencer felt eager to start her adventure but she felt tired. The flight did take a lot out of her. She took her shower quickly and dressed in denim jeans, a simple white shirt, and some vans before venturing back into the living room and then searching for Tony's playroom.
She followed the winding staircase and found him. He had safety goggles on and Spencer laughed when she saw that Cooper had some on as well. She snapped a quick picture as Jarvis suddenly spoke for the first time, "Sir, I believe you have a guest."
Tony looked up from whatever he was doing and smirked, "Let her in. Grant her permanent access to this room and Steve too, since I'm feeling kind." Tony ordered slipping off his goggles and going to take Cooper's goggles off too.
The glass doors opened and Spencer stepped into Tony's play room. In the back wall proudly stood his Iron Man Suits-to the first one he made to the one used in the battle of New York. Tony was surrounded by random parts and his work stations were on the messy side. Cooper was sitting on a comfy high chair.
Spencer took note of a robotic arm in the corner sweeping with a Dunce cap on the top of his head. Oh, this was the Dummy Stark kept talking about. "You abusive owner." Spencer shook her head and walked over the sweeping robot. It paused and looked in her direction.
Tony frowned, "What? He's been a bad robot!" He defended as Spencer took off the Dunce cap. The robot gave a series of beeps and boops looking like he visibly cheered up. "No, don't encourage him! He's been bad!" Tony groaned watching his robot with disdain.
Spencer shot him a glare, "Stop being a bully. If you wanted, you would fix him already so he wouldn't be bad. Obviously, you like the way he is." She retorted then smirking when Tony remained silent.
He shut his mouth and grumpily turned back to whatever he was working on with Cooper. Cooper jumped down from his perch and greeted his owner happily. Spencer bent down to coo at her favorite dog. "Who's my favorite pup in the world?" Cooper barked indicating that he was her favorite pup in the world and Spencer melted and hugged her furry friend tightly.
"He still loves me more."
Spencer sighed and glared at Tony but smiled, "Don't get your hopes up, Stark."
"Is there a reason why you're invading my personal space?" Tony grumbled even though he liked her soothing presence.
Spencer shrugged going over to stare at his Iron Man suits, "Just wanted to see where the magic happened." She said sounding as innocent as possible.
Tony snorts and muttered lowly, "You're in the wrong room then."
Spencer shot him a disgusted glance and Tony's face turned a soft red color when he remembered that she had advanced hearing, "Gross." Spence mumbled lowly going to ignore his last remark. Tony quickly averted his attention onto his...whatever he was working on. Cooper, being the loyal canine, trotted beside her. It was silent for a few minutes as Tony quickly drown himself in his new thingy and Spencer was content with gazing about with wonder.
It wasn't long until Steve was swiftly making his way downstairs looking squeaky clean in some cargo shorts and a light colored shirt. "Hey, so, I was going through my suitcase-" Steve began as he pushed his way into Tony's lab, "I packed the VCR player." Spencer suddenly gasped with excitement as his words triggered her memory.
"And I packed the movies! I totally forgot we were going to rewatch all the Disney movies before we went to Disneyland." She said with a wide grin showing off her pearly whites.
"You should just order in some food and hang out in the living room." Tony found the courage to speak up after his crude comment earlier.
"I wanted to explore." Spencer pouted.
"We could watch a few movies, eat some junk food, and then go out to explore." Steve gave a compromise knowing she wanted to watch movies and explore California.
Spencer bounded up to Steve with her goofy grin, "Sounds like the perfect plan, Cap!"
"Gross." Tony grumbled sounding envious before questioning, "What exactly did you want to explore so badly? You're staying here for a few weeks."
Spencer sat down in a chair and began to spin herself, "Antique stores. I wanna find cool, vintage things to take back home." Spencer said feeling the room blur right before her eyes and her body growing dizzy.
Steve watched the young assassin with amusement as Tony scoffed, "That's what you're so eager to do?" Tony rolled his eyes finding himself surprised she wanted to do such an odd thing.
Spencer stopped and felt her body sway to the side. Steve was quick to grab her arm and steady her before she fell, "Call me old fashion but there aren't a lot of antique shops in New York. Steve and I also wanna go thrift shopping to see what cool things we can find." Spencer shook her head feeling her head spin.
"Thrift shopping?" Tony was a bit disgusted, "Why would you go thrift shopping when you can just buy from the normal stores? You have money and you have me to buy you whatever you want or need." Tony frowned. Since when the heck did Spencer take up thrift shopping?
"It's a cool way to find cool knick knacks and not pay so much. Steve and I found these really cool tin owl mugs a few weeks ago, remember?" Spencer excitedly looked up at Steve who nodded back to her in agreement.
"It's my favorite cup." Steve admitted sheepishly.
Tony grimaced, "Next you're gonna tell me you dumpster dive." Tony shuddered with disgust.
Spencer and Steve looked at each other-Tony caught this and his face reflected horror, "No, please tell me you're fucking joking." His eyes were wide and his mouth was agape.
Spencer enjoyed his reaction, "We're not. Why do you think we have so much food and stuff in our apartment?" She asked with a Cheshire Cat grin. Steve was chuckling as he, too, was enjoying this. Steve, at first, was a bit taken back when Spencer introduced the idea of Dumpster Diving. He thought who in their right mind would dive into a dumpster willingly? Then Spencer explained to him the concept behind it and he would admit, he was curious about the idea.
Spencer had heard of it from a video on social media. She and Steve ended up watching videos on Dumpster Diving and what people often found. After convincing Steve, since he had been hesitant on taking their infatuation to the next level, they did their first dive at a large name pet store. They didn't find anything but weren't discouraged. They moved onto the next nearby pet store and scored a few bags of dog food that were from a expensive brand, a few dog toys, and even a barely used dog kennel.
Since that first find, they were hooked.
They moved onto food stores since and even dabbled in other stores-mostly for Spencer's sake. It surprised Spencer and Steve how much fresh and perfectly good food stores threw away. Some hauls had day fresh produce that the store threw away because they over ordered.
Seeing Tony's reaction reminded Steve and Spence why they never told the millionaire playboy. Tony almost looked green from the thought of eating food out of a fucking dumpster. "Hell, no, no dumpster fucking diving is happening while under my roof!" Tony bellowed looking perturbed.
"Nat found us at a dumpster once," Spencer mused, "She even joined in."
"Oh my god, I am not hearing this." Tony got up looking like he was seriously considering throwing them out and sending them back to New York.
"Afraid to get your hands dirty, Stark?" Steve snickered.
Tony shot him a glare, "Why don't you two just leave me out of your dumpster diving expeditions, okay? No food, got that?" He ordered strictly with narrowed eyes. He looked ready to have a heart attack, honestly.
"And isn't that considered illegal?" He asked as an afterthought.
Steve and Spencer shook their heads, "Completely legal in most states. Anything thrown out is considered public domain," Spencer explained patiently not finding his horror offensive, "The only way it is considered illegal is if there is a sign that says trespassing."
"What the fuck." Tony muttered under his breath as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Okay," Spencer chortled, "Let's go watch some movies, Steve." Spencer beckoned her best friend to follow. Steve perked up and gave a lazy, charming smile as he nodded. "Wanna start with Lady and the Tramp? You seem to like that one the most." Spencer said as she and Steve descended up the stairs.
As she left she heard Tony grumble, "Gotta look up YouTube videos of that shit."
She snickered knowing despite him being mortified about the concept of diving into a dumpster willingly, he's curiosity had been struck.
"It reminds me of Peggy." Steve said lowly-only for her ears to hear.
She looked up at her friend with soft and understanding eyes, "I know, Steve, I know." She said humbly knowing the subject of Peggy was delicate.