Getting Caught (Part 3)
As soon as Bruce reached the Movie Room, he sank down on an armchair and set Tony on his lap.Tony, not knowing what to do, stared straight ahead awkwardly.
After ten billion years of waiting, which in reality was just five minutes, Clint and Natasha burst into the room. Well, Clint burst in- Natasha simply walked calmly inside. "Tony! We've been searching or you the whole night! Where have you been?" Clint yelped, sitting down on an armchair. Tony looked away in embarrassment, his eyes roaming the entire room, settling everywhere but on his teammates' faces...
He was so focused on looking elsewhere that he did not notice Natasha coming towards him until she was right beside him. Tilting his head towards her, she said softly, "We were worried for you, Tony. We want to help you."
Bruce fiddled with his hands nervously, before offering, "Is this about what Steve said? Because I just want to tell you-"
"We think he's wrong! You aren't worthless!" Clint blurted out, effectively cutting off a very bemused Bruce. Tony stole a glance at Clint and found that he was looking at Tony earnestly. Tony looked away again and found a tiny seed of hope sprout inside him. Maybe his team really did care about him, they weren't just in it for his money...
"Anyone wants to watch a movie?" In an attempt to lighten the mood, Clint stuck his hand into the cupboard to find some CDs. He pulled out Zootopia and Big Hero 6.
"Let's watch this one! It's like the kiddy version of Iron Man!" Clint exclaimed brightly, waving Big Hero 6 in the air.
Rolling her eyes at Clint's antics, Natasha announced shortly, "I'm going to get popcorn." She left the room.
Tony tentatively stepped off Bruce's lap and curled up on a plush sofa. He was conflicted inside and simply decided to catch a break and relax for the time being.
Natasha came back into the room with a pail of hot buttery popcorn, and Clint turned on the movie. As the view of San FranTokyo came onto the screen, Tony felt himself getting looser and not so coiled up. In fact, he hadn't even noticed that he was as stressed as he actually was. Snuggling into the comfort of the sofa, he lost himself in the movie.
The movie was, he had to admit, very good. He sniffed haughtily at Hiro's home-made robot, causing Clint to erupt in chuckles. He barked in approval of Baymax, though, as Clint accused him of, a little patronizingly. Natasha looked expressionless throughout, but Tony saw a hint of approval at GoGo. Bruce seemed to like Wasabi and enjoyed the entire movie, gasping and laughing at the correct places. Tony, taking a moment to look around him, realized something important.
These people had become more than his friends. They were family.
Clint, of course, ruined this monumental moment for him by throwing a handful of popcorn at Natasha daringly. Natasha froze, and turned around, annoyance and irritation clear in her face. "You said, I recall, 'Let's have a truce for the time being. Truce ends when Tony reverts back to normal.' I give you ten seconds to explain." Bruce groaned at Clint, but nevertheless, joined Tony in watching the much-more-interesting show.
Clint looked sheepishly at Natasha, and, using the last bit of his bravado, shoved some popcorn in his mouth and whispered, "It's called a hustle, sweetheart." Natasha glared at him, vaulted over the sofa and started chasing Clint. Tony bounced up and down on the sofa, enjoying the thrill of the chase- which he was luckily not participating in.
Of course, Clint could never last that long against the infamous Black Widow, and was soon pinned under her steady hand. "C'mon Nat! It was a joke!" Clint whined to no avail. Natasha stared coldly at him and growled, "Apologise. And do it correctly." Struggling out from under her hand, Clint begged for mercy, saying, "I'm sorry Nat! Please try not to kill me! We can have a new truce, I swear, and I won't break it this time! I promise, Nat! You can have my popcorn!"
Finally, after a few dread-filled seconds, Natasha smirked and called out to JARVIS," JARVIS, please save that video and post it on YouTube, under my account. Let the title be: Hawkeye gets his ass kicked by Black Widow." Clint's jaw dropped as Natasha sauntered back to her seat, picking up the popcorn pail for herself.
"Hey! We had a truce!" Clint complained.
Natasha smiled slyly, relishing in Clint's defeat. "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."
Bruce couldn't help but laugh at that. "She got you good, Clint!" Tony barked in agreement, his eyes sparkling.
Clint mumbled something unintelligible, turning to watch the movie again.
As the movie ended, Tony allowed his eyes to slowly slide shut. He was relaxed and satisfied. It had been a great day so far...
His eyes flew back open at the ringing of the Avengers . Steve rushed in, avoiding their eyes. "There are some monsters downtown! We have to go!" Steve mumbled.
Rolling his eyes at the sudden interruption, Clint jogged out, closely followed by Natasha and Bruce, both who gave Steve some dirty looks. Bruce turned back only to shout something at Tony, "You can watch another movie if you want, we'll be back soon!" Tony grinned back at Bruce, his grin fading as he turned his gaze on Steve, who avoided eye contact and shut the door forcefully.
Groaning at the thought of a perfect day wasted, Tony stretched out grumpily on the sofa as JARVIS started playing Wreck-It-Ralph on the screen.
Oh well.