Mission Launch
Day 29
It’s become habit for Steve to swing by the East Wing in the mornings now. On normal days when SHIELD isn’t packed to the brim, his routine is now: wake Peter up, make breakfast for two, and drive Peter to school. He cuts his morning jog short so he can swing by the coffee shop at the corner, eager to steal a little time of the day in Tony’s lab. Tony doesn’t seem to mind.
Sometimes they just sit in silence, Tony’s hands waving projections around the air and Steve catching up on forms he has to sign. Sometimes Tony needles Steve and they argue until either of their pagers go off and they need to rush away. It’s a bumpy road, two of them from opposite sides of history. Steve tries his hardest, though, because God, Tony’s so full of energy that it’s addictive.
“Earth to Rogers,” a voice snaps Steve back to reality, and Steve finds himself face to face with Clint. “You’re unusually distracted, Doctor Rogers.”
“Need something, Clint?” Steve asks defensively. The coffee in his hand is growing colder by the second, and although he usually enjoys seeing his friends, Steve knows how truly meddlesome they can be.
Clint just smirks and moves out of Steve’s way. If Steve harboured any hope that Clint would let him go, it’s dashed when Clint cheerfully bounds after Steve. “We’re planning a party tomorrow. Think we can steal you away from Peter for an hour or two?”
That’s not the question Steve expects, but he takes what blessings he’s given. “Maybe. He has some group work with Ned. What’s the party for?”
“Well, it’s come to our collective attentions that Stark hasn’t been properly welcomed, and he’s been here nearly a month.” Clint’s smile turns predatory, “and we thought you’d have a personal interest in coming.”
Why did I think I could get away easy? Steve ponders. “There’s nothing going on between us, Clint.”
“Not just a river in Egypt,” Clint mutters. Then, more loudly, “you’ve been through a very long dry spell, Rogers. Heard that Stark’s really good.”
Steve really wishes he didn’t flush that easily. He should be accustomed to Clint’s blatant disregard for propriety by now, but he really can’t control his reaction to those thoughts. “If you’re interested in finding out yourself, I could pass on the message,” Steve quips back.
“Nah,” Clint denies easily. “You’d be too jealous. Does he know about Peter?”
Giving up any pretence, Steve lets Clint follow him all the way to the labs. “He wants to meet Peter, but I’m not sure I’m ready.”
“Take your time, old man,” teases Clint. “You shouldn’t deny Peter the chance to meet his hero just because you’re harbouring a really hard time with the guy, though.”
“Is this Natasha’s plan, now? Using Peter to get me to make a move?”
Clint gives him the most brazen grin. “Nope, that’s just an added bonus.”
Shaking his head, Steve huffs out a laugh. His friends were really in need of a mental check-up. “It’s complicated. He’s a nice person, but Peter’s my son, and Peter will definitely attach himself to Tony. So if they meet, I just want to be sure I want Tony around him.”
“Hmmm,” Clint hums noncommittally. He’s on his phone, typing something rapidly as they round the corner.
Steve’s long given up trying to figure out the quirks of his friends. Speeding up his steps, he hopes to gradually lose Clint. The coffee will really be cold by the time he reaches Tony’s lab, and he’s got early appointments today. Of course, that’s exactly when Clint pockets his phone and jogs to catch up to Steve.
“I need Tony to look at my hearing aids.”
“You could always do that later,” Steve tells Clint, crestfallen and nervous at knowing he won’t be alone with Tony this morning. Sure, there’s usually at least Bruce or Helen already in by the time Tony arrives, but it’s different because they won’t tease. Or, if they do tease, it’s not persistent and it doesn’t lead to rumours spreading like wildfire.
“Also,” Clint goes on as if he didn’t hear Steve (Steve knows better, Tony’s tech is the best of the best), “Natasha says it’s the height of entertainment seeing the both of you squabble, and Thor wants details.”
Sometimes, Thor can curb Clint’s inhuman inhibitions. Other, less fortunate times, Thor’s enthusiasm for… life in general can amplify Clint’s impulses. Lately, Thor, who’s on sabbatical volunteering in the Indonesian mountains, has been hungry for the gossip going on at SHIELD. When his girlfriend, Jane, who came with him to set up a makeshift observatory in the equatorial mountains, is busy gazing at the stars, Thor spends his hours on his phone badgering their group and personal chatrooms. Thor’s especially excited to meet the mysterious Tony Stark, who he believes has persuaded Steve to elope. Clint is more than happy to fuel those rumours.
Thankfully, or not thankfully, they finally reach the double glass doors of the lab complex. Steve can see Tony hunched over a magnifying glass, and he unclips his ID tag to swipe it on the little scanner Tony installed just last week. I need insurance that I won’t be bothered by pests, interns, and clueless attendings, Tony told Steve when he had to spend five minutes dancing in front of the doors trying to catch Tony’s attention. It was Bruce who eventually saw him and let him in.
“Fancy,” Clint says, eyes darting around the lab with childish glee, “Pierce had a dreadful taste in décor.”
Silently, Steve agrees. All the red octopuses swimming in aquariums which used to line the walls had thankfully gone with Pierce.
Slowly, Steve walks over to Tony’s table to place the now only lukewarm coffee cup down just at the corner of Tony’s sightline. He knows better than to surprise the man. The less said about the jacket he’d been forced to burn, the better.
Tony looks up, blinking. “Hey.”
“Hey, To – ”
“Stark, tomorrow, 8 o’clock. You free?” Clint cut in, body leaning on Tony’s table and hands fiddling with one of the forceps lying around.
“I thought I told you I didn’t want any pests in this lab, Rogers,” Tony says, a hint of mischief in his eyes. Steve can’t stop the snort of laughter that bubbles up. “And that depends on what you need me for.”
“Well, we want to try de-fossilise your coffee delivery boy and you,” Clint smirks, pointing an accusing finger at Tony, “haven’t been properly inducted into SHIELD.”
“Oh?” Tony asks, pulling off his safety glasses and reaching for his coffee. The soft moan that Tony lets out as he gulps it down leaves Steve distracted enough that he forgets to protest against Clint’s words.
“You aren’t even in our little group chat yet,” Clint pouts. “You’re only in the boring admin groups and you won’t be getting any juicy stuff there. Here,” he says, shoving his phone into Tony’s face, “give me your real number and I’ll hook you up in the group chats actually worth reading.”
Tony seems truly surprised at the offer, as if he can’t believe that Clint wants to add him to their social circle. Steve can see as Tony quickly covers it up. “Your hearing aids might have been out of date, but at least your phone’s a StarkPhone.”
“Yeah. Now, number.”
Dimly, Steve wonders how Clint could possibly know that Tony has multiple phone numbers. Did Tony give Steve the work number or the real number? Does it even matter which one Steve got?
“How’d you know I have another number?” Tony asks, studying Clint as if trying to see if Clint can be trusted.
“Get ready for a lot of bird memes,” Steve tells Tony to spare him the trouble of trying and failing to figure Clint out. That seems enough for Tony, who starts typing into the hone. It takes a lot of control for Steve to not peek at the number.
Clint hums in a way eerily similar to Natasha. “You rich eccentric types always have more than one number. Plus, the replies from your number are too polite.”
At that, Tony laughs and hands back the phone to Clint who takes it greedily. “I made sure you can’t change my name,” Tony smugly tells him as Clint groans.
This time, Steve does peek. He’s gratified that it’s the same number Tony gave him, and amused because Tony’s saved himself as ‘Your Favorite Genius Billionaire’.
“So,” Clint goes on without missing another beat, “party. Yay or nay?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Tony says.
Steve makes a mental note to find out why Tony sounds so half-hearted. He sees Clint fist pump and hears him say, “I’ll text you the details, I’ll know if you scammed me with a fake number.”
“No, you won’t,” Tony hollers at Clint, who’s now bouncing to the door.
“Wait, Clint!” Steve calls, and that’s enough to make Clint turn on his toes, one eyebrow raised in question. “I thought you wanted to have Tony check on your aids?”
Clint snorted, “I can hear where your blood is rushing to just fine, Stevie.”
The sound of Tony’s laughter warms Steve through the day, and when Tony asks if he’ll see Steve at the party tomorrow, despite all his doubts and fears, Steve finds himself saying yes without another thought.