Avengers, Actually

"A fairytale of New York"

(Wherever you will go – The Calling)

Day 12: Tuesday, December 22.

Bruce’s plane was leaving at nine. Natasha’s knee was jumping up and down, she felt on the edge of a nervous breakdown. There was a lot of traffic because of the parade and Bruce’s goddamn plane was leaving at nine. She looked at the clock in the dashboard.

8:27 P. M.

“Can you go any faster?” she asked the taxi driver.

The man huffed, she could see he rolled his eyes in the rear view mirror, “Want do you want me to do, lady?” he asked, “Ran over the other cars with mine?”

Natasha pressed her lips and clenched her fist.

“You know what” she threw a couple of bills to the taxi driver and opened the door, “I’ll run”

“Are you crazy?!” she heard the man say, “The airport is miles away!”

Natasha waved at him and started running. She could hear the man was honking at her but she ignored him. she had somewhat twenty minutes before Bruce boarded that plane and she wasn’t going to let him do it.

Natasha Romanoff was crazy. Crazy about Bruce Banner.

Steve was in his room wrapping the remaining presents he had gotten the avengers. He had spent the last few months finishing the paintings and had managed to do it without the others finding out, his hand was still bothering him, it sting a little everytime he moved it and it slowed him down a bit. Suddenly the stereo from his room started playing a song.

“FRIDAY, turn that off, please” he said, frustrated when the wrapping from one of the paintings ripped off.

It was a familiar song, he had heard it before.

“I’m afraid I can’t, sir” FRIDAY answered.

“What do you mean?” he frowned.

Frank Sinatra’s deep voice filled the room. God, he loved that song.

“I think you might want to look outside of you window”

This time it wasn’t FRIDAY who spoke.

“Tony?” Steve frowned. He stood up from his bed and walked towards his balcony. He opened the sliding glass doors and looked outside.

Tony was standing there. More like, Ironman was flying in front of him. He was holding a big sign.

SORRY I MADE YOU CRY.

Steve almost chuckled. He knew he had heard that song before. He didn’t understand why was Tony there, thought. He walked outside of the balcony and opened his mouth to say something but Tony changed the sign.

PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME.

He threw that sign away too.

OR SHOULD I SAY, READ THE SIGNS?

He then crossed his arms and nodded.

I AM AN IDIOT.

Steve nodded.

I AM A BILLIONAIRE.

I HAVE A LOT OF HOUSES.

I HAVE A FLYING ROBOT SUIT.

Steve chuckled softly.

BUT I HAVE A PROBLEM.

Steve frowned.

WHEN I NOTICE I HAVE REALLY NICE THINGS. I TEND TO RUIN THEM.

Steve blinked and tried to look away. He looked back at Tony.

BECAUSE I DON’T THINK I DESERVE THEM.

AND THEN YOU CAME.

A MADE ME FEEL LIKE I DESERVE TO BE LOVED.

TO BE HAPPY.

AND IT SCARED ME EVEN MORE THAN ANYTHING BEFORE.

BECAUSE ALL THE CARS AND MONEY AND HOUSES.

WEREN’T NOTHING COMPARE TO HAVING YOU AT LEAST LOOK AT ME.

THEN YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE IN LOVE WITH ME AND I COMPLETELY RUIN THINGS WITH YOU.

BUT I STILL NEED TO TELL YOU TWO THINGS.

Tony let the last sign fall and then flew until he was in front of Steve. Steve gave a few steps back and waited until he descended slowly. Steve walked closer to him and Tony stepped outside of the Ironman suit.

“I am sorry” Tony said, Steve looked at him, “And I’m in love with you”

Vision flew over the city for a few minutes. Thor’s words ringing in his ears. He wasn’t a man, but he wasn’t a machine. He was, oddly enough, something in between. He felt.

And from all the feelings he had ever gotten, the anger, the happiness, the sadness, and the cold, or the hunger, from all of those, his favorite was the one that ran through his body whenever he saw Wanda. Whenever she entered the room, when she smiled at him, it was like something inside of him stopped working and started working at the same time, like being under water and taking a huge breath in once you reached the surface.

He spotted Wanda and the rest of the team in the parade, he thought about joining them but he still didn’t feel comfortable around to many people. He sat on the top of a building and then looked up at the sky. It was hard to see stars because of the city lights, so the sky remained dark and calm. A few seconds later and he heard a loud bang followed by sparks in the air.

The sky, before velvety blue and quiet, was now illuminated by what seemed thousand of lights, Fireworks.

If he was the sky. Wanda Maximoff was fireworks.

Natasha arrived minutes later to the airport. She looked around her trying to catch her breath and spotted a clock on the wall.

8:49 P. M.

She took a deep breath and started looking for flights to Seoul. she huffed in frustration and walked towards a woman with an airport tag.

“Is there any flights to Seoul?” Natasha asked.

The woman smiled, “Let me check” she said, typing something in her computer, the woman’s smile fell a little bit, “I’m afraid it’s boarding at this moment”

“Okay, thanks” Natasha once again started running, she had to tell Bruce, she had to tell him she loved him.

“Miss, the gates are closing!”

Natasha ignored the woman and ran towards airport security. She was almost stopped by a guard but instead she slided between the man’s legs. There was a line waiting to be boarded. She walked straight to the man taking the passes ignoring the people complaining.

“I’m not boarding the plane” she explained, “I just need to tell someone something, I-“

“Miss, I’m going to have to see you pass” one of the guards said.

“I just-“

“Miss, if you don’t have a pass, you are not going-“

“I will be quick and-“

“You are holding the line”

“Please” Natasha said.

“I am sorry, ma’am” the man said.

Natasha nodded, jaw pressed hard and her fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white. She then started walking away.

“Next in line please”

“Hello, Merry Christmas” A familiar voice made Natasha turn, “Give me a sec, I always lose my Passport in this part”

The old man from the icerink was behind her, looking for something in his bag. Their eyes connected and he winked at her, nodding towards the entrance. Natasha looked at the guards, who were distracted and after taking a deep breath she ran towards the entrance.

“Miss, you can’t do that!” she heard one of the guards say.

When she entered the plane he looked for Bruce. People just looked at her with a frown. She then thought about how she must have looked. She had been running for more than twenty minutes. She nodded at a woman that passed next to her and put a lock of her hair behind her ear. She then saw a man sitting in first class.

“Bruce” she whispered, she walked faster towards the man, “Bruce!” she put her hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry?” the man, not Bruce, frowned at her.

“Sorry, sorry” she said, shaking her head, “I thought-“

“Ma’am, stay where you are” the guard from before had catch up to her.

Natasha rolled her eyes and sighed, she turned around slowly and faced the man. He walked towards her with his hand on his right hip, probably ready to show his teaser gun. He then grabbed her wrists and handcuffed her.

“Is this really necessary?” she asked looking down at her hands.

“I’m afraid so” the man answered, securing the handcuffs.

She was taken outside of the plane, on her way out she passed by the old man who gave her an apologetic look, she smiled softly at him and gave him a small nod. The guard behind her nudged her shoulder and told her to walk faster. She walked with her head down.

“Walk faster” the man scolded.

“I am”

When she lifted her gaze she saw Bruce passing in front of her, a couple of meters further. Natasha froze. Something inside of her started working again.

She loved him so fucking much.

“Bruce” she said. She started running towards the man. The guard behind her yelled at her but she ignored him. People started looking at her.

“Miss! Stop!”

“Bruce!” The man turned, his eyes going wide when he saw her. The bag on his shoulder fell to the floor as he grabbed his glasses from his pocket and put them on. He frowned at her.

“Natasha?”

“Bruce” she grabbed him by his shirt, like trying to make sure it was him, “I was looking for you in the plane-“

“Wh- what are you doing here?” Bruce asked, “Why are you handcuffed?”

“-And I saw this man, I thought it was you and-“

“Natasha” Bruce ran a hand through her hair and then he cupped her face, “it’s alright”

“I’m sorry” Natasha whispered, “Bruce I-“

Bruce put a hand over her mouth. His eyes were shinning with a mix of annoyance, exhaustion and something Natasha recognize but had never been able to put a name to it. It was the way he looked at her and only her.

“I wasn’t leaving” Bruce said, he then picked his bag from the floor and searched for something inside, “I forgot to leave this” Natasha took the awfully wrapped present from Bruce’s hands.

She looked at Bruce and the man smiled softly at her, almost apologetically. She swallowed and opened it, throwing the rest of the wrapping paper away. She laughed when she realised what was inside.

“I took yours” Bruce explained, “I didn’t want to give them back, so I got you another pair”

Natasha nodded looking at the pair of gloves in her hands.

“Natasha” Bruce said softly.

Natasha swallowed, “I came to-”

“I know” Bruce said.

“I wanted to tell you I love you but-“

“I know”

“I couldn’t tell you-“

“But I know” Bruce said, shaking his head, “Natasha” Natasha looked up at him, “You don’t need to say you love me” Bruce smiled, “You have showed it to me in so many ways, and that means so much more to me than anything else you can say” She stared at him, “That night you… you told me you trusted me, I know how much that means coming from you” he said, and it was true.

“I’m sorry I told you to leave” Natasha whispered, a tear running down her cheek.

“Please, don’t cry” Bruce cupped her face and kissed her cheek.

“I can’t give you a family” She continued, “I just… can’t”

Bruce stared at her for a few seconds.

He remembered the way she looked when he touched Pepper’s belly. And he cursed himself for being so stupid to think that she hadn’t been affected by it. He cupped her face, a frown in his face. She looked at him, something in her eyes that he had never seen before.

She was scared.

“Natasha” She blinked, “You are my family” he whispered, “You are all I need” he kissed her forehead, “and all I want” he kissed her lips.

“Bruce” she said.

“Yes?”

“Will you come home with me?”

“Always”

Natasha smiled and reached to the front pocket of her jacket, she pulled out a small box. She didn’t really know how to start but Wanda had made her watch enough movies to know what to do. She then cleared her throat and kneeled, Bruce looked around noticing there was a small crowd gathering around them.

“I bought this a few days ago” Natasha explained, “It’s not really… I mean… I want to wake up everyday with you” she sighed.

“I-“ “Tell him!” An old man said, Bruce recognised him but didn’t say anything.

“Bruce Banner I want to spend the rest of my life with you” She said, “Will you marry me?”

Bruce took the box and helped Natasha stand up, “Yes to everything, to anything” he kissed her again.

When she heard people starting to clap she smiled against Bruce’s lips. She put her handcuffed arms around his neck and the man hugged her by the waist.

“I can’t believe I only got you gloves” he whispered.

She laughed loudly.

Bruce picked the bag from the floor and then walked with Natasha holding his hand.

Who would have thought Natasha Romanoff did romance.

Wanda was skating in the frozen lake that Clint had told her about. Clint was talking with Pietro, while Fury talked on the phone in a bench near the lake.

She was making patterns on the ice with her skates when her brother’s laugh called her attention. She looked up and stared at him and Clint. Sometimes, when Clint and Pietro where together she liked to observe them. Most of the times they looked tense around each other in public, always too worried to touch or to say something that might give them away.

But there were times that they forgot about everyone else. Right now, it was one of those times. Pietro was sitting close to Clint showing him his hands for some reason, the older man took one and took it to his lips, blowing softly, and Wanda understood he was warming them up. She closed her eyes and let herself wander Pietro’s mind. He was so in love and he was loved back. And she smiled feeling happy for him.

She frowned when she heard a song, the same song she had danced with Vision the day before. She looked around her but the others didn’t seem to hear it. When she turned, Vision was standing in front of her. The man waved at her and she waved back with a frown in her face. He looked to his feet and his boots morphed into a pair of skates. He skated gracefully until he was next to her.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I am skating”

Vision waited a few seconds for Wanda to say something. She let out a shaky breath and shrugged, skating away from him. She turned to see him, standing behind her and then bit her bottom lip. Sometimes she forgot how innocent Vision was. She nodded at him and he smiled softly.

“Why are you really here, Vision?” Wanda asked, circling him.

He followed her movement with his eyes, “I wanted to tell you something”

She nodded, “Go ahead”

“I am sorry” Vision said.

After a few seconds of silence Wanda spoke, “I forgive you, Vision”

He shook his head, “I am sorry for hurting you” Wanda looked up at him, “You said you loved me and I pushed you away”

“I did” Wanda looked at her feet, “It doesn’t mean you must love me back the same way” she said, “I understand-”

“I don’t” Vision cut her off and she looked at him confused, “I don’t understand about these things” he continued, moving closer to her, “And until a few days ago I thought I was because i simply couldn’t feel them, but I do” He said, “I feel sad, happy, scared… I… I feel”

“Of course you do Vision” Wanda smiled sadly, “We all do”

“I am not like you” Vision added, “And I thought that being what I am wasn’t enough for you, that I wasn’t enough to feel what I feel for you”

Wanda let the words sink in for a few seconds, “And what do you feel?”

Instead of answering Vision offered Wanda his hand. She took it hesitantly and stared at her hand in his’. He took her hand to his chest and Wanda closed her eyes, joining their foreheads together. And it suddenly hit her.

Everything that Vision felt for her.

“It’s beautiful” Wanda whispered.

Vision kissed her before she could finish. Her hands on his chest, where his heart was beating fast, playing the most beautiful song Wanda had ever heard, a symphony written and played only for her. He cupped her face, feeling overwhelmed all of sudden. Wanda pulled away when she felt her feet where no longer touching the ground.

“Vision” Wanda blinked, she tilt her head slightly, in a very catlike manner, “You are crying”

“I-”

“It is because you are happy” Wanda said softly.

Vision looked at her, and his hands traveled from her face to her waist and he pulled her close, hiding his face in her hair. He nodded and she hugged him back. Pietro smiled softly as his sister and Vision floated in the middle of the lake. He then looked at Clint who smiled widely, squeezing his shoulder softly. Fury grinned at both of them.

“Tony” Steve’s voice made Tony look up at him.

He expected Steve’s rejection, it was after all what he deserved. Steve was still with his arms crossed and looking at him, but there was no hurt in his eyes.

“I had time to think about it” Steve said, “About us”

“Us“ Tony repeated dumbly, his whole posture changed, preparing for whatever came next.

“While I was wrapping the gifts” he continued, “I thought about you a lot, I actually find myself doing it quite often” he chuckled softly, blushing slightly “You always talk about yourself in a way that I just don’t see you”

Tony looked at him, “I’m merely repeating what others say” Tony half joked, he then swallowed when Steve pressed his lips.

“The thing is… that’s not who you are” Steve said, “I mean, yeah you are an asshole sometimes but… I meant what I wrote in the letter”

Tony nodded looking away.

“I know, Steve” Tony said in a tiresome tone, “And you are always like that” he said, Steve nodded, “Always trying to see the good when it's just not there... Not all of us can be perfect”

“No one is perfect, Tony” Steve said quietly, “Look, I-“

“I know what you are going to say next” the man frowned to him, but Tony knew that what Steve wanted to say is that they just weren’t for each other, Tony was far too broken for someone like Steve, “And I deserve it, I just… I just wanted to tell you what I told you and if that’s not enough I know, because you deserve so much more than an apology and a confession”

Tony’s heart was beating so fast he thought he was having a heart attack, “You… You deserve someone who climb the Everest of whatever the highest mountain is right now for you” Steve was staring at Tony intently, “Someone that stands outside of your window with a boombox over the head, and that fills the whole block with your favorite flowers, which are carnations I know that”

Steve wondered how did he know but he just smiled softly to him, his eyes starting to feel watery. He sniffed soflty and was about to continue but Tony keep talking.

“Hell! Even buy you a goddammed field of those!” He said, “Someone who would pay a whole band to play your favorite song on a football field” Tony swallowed, “You… you deserve someone who is not… damaged” Tony said finally.

In less that a second Steve was infront of Tony again. The man swallowed and licked his lips nervously. Steve kissed him soflty and Tony froze for a few seconds and then relaxed into the kiss but it was already over.

“You are not damaged” Steve said, “Not broken and not damaged” Tony cupped Steve’s face, “I plan on making sure you see yourself the way I see you” Steve said, “For that, I guess I’ll have to stick around for a while” he smiled nervously, like Tony was going to second guess it.

“I would like that very much” Tony said and he pulled him in for another kiss, “I didn’t mean to-“

“I know” Steve nodded, kissing his lips.

“I promise I will never fail you again” Tony kissed him again as they walked into Steve’s room. Steve chuckled kissed his cheek. “And if I ever do-” Steve slapped a hand against his mouth, he nodded and Steve took away his hand, “I better shut up”

Steve snorted a laugh, “Yes”

They kissed until they felt their lungs needed air, “God Steve”

Tony whispered against Steve’s lips, “I love you”

“I love you, too”

They laid in Steve’s bed after a few minutes. Tony had his head in Steve’s chest while the man caressed his back softly, tracing non existing patters with his fingers. It was something Tony couldn’t remember doing before. And being in a bed with someone doing nothing else than… cuddling was strange, but this was Steve he was with, and it honestly couldn’t be better.

“Who would have thought I would actually enjoy cuddling” Tony smiled, the man chuckled.

“Hey, I was thinking, there’s this New Year’s eve party Happy invited me to”

“And” Steve asked.

“We could go” Tony scratched his beard.

Steve had noticed he did that when he was nervous.

“We could” Steve said.

“Steve” Tony said, “You know what I mean”

Steve then moved, he rested his chin in Tony’s chest and looked at him. Tony cupped his cheek and traced the man’s lips with his thumb.

“I want you to come with me” Tony said, “As my boyfriend”

Steve tried to suppress a smile.

“Steve” Tony said, “Would you be my boyfriend and go to this party with me?”

“I thought you’d never asked” Steve smiled.

They kissed again, “But don’t go and steal my spotlight, spotlights are kind of my thing” Tony added quickly and Steve snorted a laugh.

“I know now, just quite how my life and love might still go on in your heart and your mind, I'll stay with you for all of time”