Kintsugi

Beyond their bruises, both Steve and Tony were in good conditions and got quickly discharged, being able to attend the meeting with the rest of the team. Once there, they were informed that while Bucky and Stephen were out on their rescue mission, there were no major incidents in the city and that they concluded that those areas were never really in danger or, at least, not greater than the usual. But then, the autopsies results arrived and Stephen’s suspicious were confirmed, which left everyone feeling uneasy.

“Well, they managed to kidnap the former leaders of the Avengers, maybe they were trying to make some kind of statement,” reflected Sam.

“Wait, you’re telling me these two were your leaders?” murmured Brunnhilde to Bruce and Thor.

“They are not as powerful as we are, we had to leave them something to make them feel special,” Thor explained while his brother covered a laugh.

“That doesn’t justify the use of cyanide pills,” marked Natasha, ignoring their conversation.

“Maybe they wanted to question them but didn’t have enough time,” offered Wanda, who seemed to be quite restless about the situation.

“You sure, they didn’t say anything to you?” questioned Natasha, only to get the same answer as before.

“They weren’t exactly talkative,” shrugged Tony. “Although maybe they did say something when they took him,” he added looking towards Steve, “but Captain Amnesia over here doesn’t remember anything.”

“Maybe he was… brainwashed?” suggested Scott. They all turned towards Steve, questioning looks on their faces.

“I… don’t feel brainwashed?” he answered sounding fairly unsure.

“You never do,” Bucky said patting him on the shoulder. Was that supposed to be comforting? “They were held in that jail for three hours at most, I really doubt that gave them enough time for brainwashing,” he added upon noticing the worried expressions.

“Maybe we should rest and resume this discussion tomorrow,” offered Bruce after a tired silence.

“Good idea, I’m still trying to get over the jetlag,” Sam contributed stretching.

“Right! Oh, we should also talk to Miss Mydma tomorrow,” added Steve.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Shouldn’t we postpone the wedding until we know what’s going on…?” Bucky asked him under his breath, but there was so much silence that everyone was able to hear him.

“Of course! If anything, we shouldn’t waste any more time,” answered Steve smiling at him. “Things are fairly peaceful and I don’t want to miss our chance before things turn ugly.”

“Okay, we will talk about this later…” Bucky sighed. “So, does anyone have anything else to say?” he asked upon noticing that all eyes were on them.

Stephen looked towards Tony, waiting to see what he would decide, and was surprised to discover that he was also looking in his direction. He quickly turned his face away. If he had not done it, he would have noticed Tony’s determined expression.

“Okay, meeting dismissed,” he announced and nobody complained, although he did earn some curious glances as they left the room.

***

Brunnhilde was one of the last ones to leave the meeting room, only because she was curious about what was going on in Tony’s mind. Turns out it had something to do with Stephen, which, if she was being honest, didn’t surprise her that much. Guess she would lose that bet.

“Hey, hold that door!” she called hurrying towards the elevator. Usually, she wouldn’t mind waiting for the next one or taking the stairs, but when she saw the blonde alone she knew that this was her opportunity to get some answers, “Black Widow, was it?”

“You can call me Natasha,” clarified the woman in what she supposed was her friendly tone. It was hard to tell.

“What are your intentions with Bruce?”

“You don’t beat around the bush,” she said unamused.

“Do you?” This time, Natasha smiled.

“No,” she admitted. “You might be aware of the fact that Bruce and I have history, but when he disappeared, I had more than enough time to think about it and once we talked it out we both agree that we were better off as friends.” Brunnhilde inspected her for a moment, she didn’t seem to be lying.

“Good,” Brunnhilde smiled satisfied.

“You still might need some help to get them together,” Natasha added.

“Nah, I’ll let them figure it out,” she said raising her shoulders.

“Then why did you ask?” She sounded somewhat surprised.

“I have bet going on with Loki about who is going to confess first. According to them, Bruce is going to do it because Thor is oblivious and believes that Bruce still has feelings for you,” Natasha thought it for a moment but then nodded in understanding. “In my opinion, unless he turns into the Hulk, he won’t gather enough courage to tell him and it will be Thor who spits it out, maybe at the wedding if he gets drunk enough,” she smiled, and Natasha returned the gesture.

“I can help with that,” she said.

“I’ll be counting on that.”

The doors opened to reveal Loki already waiting for her. They watched as she said goodbye to Natasha, who retired towards her assigned room.

“Looks like Spider Woman and you have gotten pretty chummy in there,” Loki commented.

“You have no idea,” she smiled conspirationally, winking an eye towards Natasha as she turned and winked, apparently she was still close enough to hear their conversation.

“Oh, and it’s Black Widow for you,” Natasha added.

“Same thing,” Loki shrugged sounding somewhat annoyed.

***

Tony stopped Stephen at the door. “Are you angry or something?”

“What? No, of course not. Why would you say that?” Stephen couldn’t help but wonder if he knew that he had overheard his conversation with Rogers, but that would be ridiculous, especially considering he hadn’t said anything about it.

“You kind of kicked me out when we were in that jail…” Right. That.

“I was just…” What? Annoyed with his and Rogers’ newfound friendship? He sighed. “I’m sorry.” Tony raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting an apology,” he admitted. “In fact, I was really prepared for a scolding for today's failure.”

“I don’t see how any of this could have been your fault.”

“I made the teams,” he offered helpfully.

“As if there were much options given our current circumstances.”

“Exactly! That was the answer I had planned” Tony exclaimed dramatically, “but then you had to ruin it by saying it was not my fault! So unfair,” he added crossing his arms.

“Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t know you needed an excuse to defend your ego.”

“A little motivation from time to time never hurts.”

“Of course,” Stephen finally chuckled, earning a smile from Tony.

“Are you spending the night?” as far as he knew, most of them were, with the exception of the Ant-team who had their own homes to which to return. However, Stephen couldn’t help but notice Tony’s hopeful expression. He reminded himself that although Tony had made peace with Steve, while also confessing his feelings towards him, Steve was still engaged with Bucky. It only made sense that he wanted some companionship, especially for what was probably going to be an awkward morning the next day. He also wasn’t exactly reconciled with the rest of the rogues. And sure, he had the Revengers to keep him company, but they were also Steve's friends, in Thor and Bruce’s case, or weren’t that close to Tony.

Most importantly, he wanted to stay.

Apparently, his answer was taking too long, as Tony’s relaxed expression turned into a slightly mortified one: “I mean, if you want to… that is.”

“Guess, I could,” smiled Stephen.

“Great!” he smiled, and looked at his wrist for a moment. “So, it’s still quite early, wanna drink something?”

“Sure,” the answer came easily, and he realized that Tony could ask him anything and he would be more than happy to oblige. Well, almost anything. Pepper made quite sure of making him aware of some of Tony’s most destructive habits, not that a couple of nights at the compound wouldn’t give him an idea, and they both agreed on the importance of reducing them as much as possible. However, before he could remind him of the effects of alcoholism on the skin, Tony took a turn towards the kitchen’s direction and put some water to boil while looking at the cabinet with the collection of coffee capsules.

“Thank you,” he said. Stephen must have seem confused because Tony clarified: “For rescuing me earlier today, and… this.”

“Ruining your carefully planned apology?” Tony laughed.

“You know that’s not it,” he said, smile never leaving his face and Stephen could only return the smile before Tony turned back to his preparations.

“Same as always, Endora?”

“Excuse you?” Tony laughed, taking that answer as affirmative and finishing preparing his tea as well as a coffee for himself. “Are you planning to stay up?”

“It’s decaf, I think I will be just fine,” he winked.

Well, it was better than his usual caffeine overdose and it was definitely better than alcohol. However, instead of thinking about this little victory, Stephen found himself thinking a little too much about that wink and how it made him feel when it was directed to him. He decided to focus on his tea and started drinking it despite the fact that it was still hot. The problem was that the tea also made him think about Tony, and thinking of Tony made him remember how he felt after his kidnapping and what Bucky told him and how maybe, just maybe, he was right.

His conclusion: he was screwed.

***

“Hey, are you okay?” Stephen blinked, realizing this probably wasn’t the first time that Tony called him.

“Um… yes?” Tony raised an eyebrow.

“You actually want coffee?”

Although they went to bed considerably early the night before, the fact that they were awakened by the chattering of the wedding organizer known as Miss Mydma–because, of course, Steve had to decide to invite her at that unholy hour–was enough to make him want to overdose with caffeine, even if it was the last thing he would do. Yet, he wasn’t expecting Stephen to actually join him on that particular plan. And if Stephen was being honest with himself, neither did he. But instead, he answered: “Yes,” that’s right, like a liar. Fortunately, his phone decided to ring at that moment, saving him from whatever comment Tony was going to make. As soon as he heard Wong’s words, he made a gesture for Tony to stop with the coffee preparations.

“What’s wrong?” asked Tony as soon as the called ended, but then his worried expression turned into a confused one when he noticed Stephen was smiling.

“An old friend has come to visit,” he answered.

“You have other friends besides Wong?” Tony mocked.

“Very funny,” he answered, without letting him deviate from his explanation. “If I remember correctly, I've already told you about Mordo, correct?” Tony only needed a couple of seconds before nodding.

“Your ex-Hogwarts professor, wasn’t it?”

“It's useless to ask you to stop doing that, right?” He sighed, earning a smile that made each and every one of those terrible jokes worth it.

Stephen cleared his throat, hurrying to his feet.

“I will stop when it stops being funny… maybe,” Tony started saying, but stopped. “Where are you going?” He asked the exact moment they both heard Miss Mydma’s “Sergeant Barnes, please stand there. Perfect! From this angle your arm does not reflect on Captain Rogers’ face.” They both grimaced.

“I’m afraid I cannot stay, we agreed to meet in a nearby coffee shop,” Stephen explained, feeling even more grateful than before for the excuse to leave. Not only would it give him some space to finish processing his revelation from the night before, but it would also save him from a terrible headache.

“I’ll accompany you,” offered Tony, apparently joining his later line of though.

“Oh, no, it’s okay,” he responded quickly, hoping to sound less nervous than he felt.

“It’s no problem, really,” Tony insisted with a wink, because he had to decide that now was a good time to act all gallant and chivalrous, “I’d actually like to meet a professor of yours,” he added with a funny face, making it impossible to say no.

“Okay,” he sighed defeated.

Tony looked at him curious for a moment, but didn’t comment on it.

It was far from being the first time they walked alone with only each other as company, but having the thoughts from the last night lurking around his head–along with the memory of a dream he might have had afterwards, because now was also the best moment to remember that–he couldn’t make much conversation.

“Seriously, is everything alright?” Tony asked once they arrived to their destination.

“Yeah, sure, I mean…” he said avoiding his worried look. He was happy to find Mordo with his eyes. “Mordo!” he called, sounding maybe a little bit too overenthusiastic. Subtle.

“It’s been long, Strange,” said Mordo, ever so serious.

“Too long, if you ask me,” Stephen responded, imitating his tone while shaking his hand. Then, they both smiled and turned that handshake into an actual hug. They separated when they heard someone clearing their throat. Stephen noticed that Tony was watching them with his arms crossed and an unamused expression, clearly not used to being ignored. “Oh, right. Mordo, this is Tony; Tony, this is Mordo.”

“Tony Stark, I presume?” said Mordo shaking his hand.

“That’s right. And you must be the infamous Dolores Umbridge?” He replied with a smile that Stephen recognized as far from friendly.

“Excuse me?”

Stephen decided that this was a good time to intervene and set them apart: “Anyway… Thanks for joining me here, see you later.”

“Wasn’t Wong also supposed to be here?” Tony asked quietly.

“He must be late…”

“Wong, ‘late’?” Tony repeated incredulously. He looked once more towards Mordo and then Stephen.

“It can happen,” Stephen responded defensively. Why did the universe have to turn against him?

“Right,” said Tony finally, far from looking convinced. “Guess, I’ll see you later.”

“Sure thing,” he noticed that Wong had already arrived and was looking at them while drinking the tea that he had probably gone to order. The knowing look on his face was enough to make Stephen panic. So he did what any normal person would do in his situation: “Bye!” He exclaimed, practically pushing Tony to the exit.

As soon as he took a seat at the table where Mordo and Wong were waiting, the latter said: “So… Stark?” Even though he asked without a hint of laughter in his expression, Stephen knew he was rejoicing inside.

“Please, don’t start,” he practically begged. His friend began to laugh while Mordo watched them with a grimace, probably judging him silently. Great.