Caught in the Act
By Wednesday, the entire team knew about Sage’s nouveau partenaire, and everyone knew that everyone knew… Well, everyone except for Sage.
Steve barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he received an email from Tony regarding another team meeting. This was absolutely ridiculous. Honestly. He glanced over at Sage where she was sitting on the couch, doing something on her laptop and humming some song that he didn’t know.
She needed to know. He gave Bucky a kiss as he walked in, and a plan started hatching in his mind.
“Heya, Stevie.” Bucky murmured against his lips before grabbing a bag of pita chips and a bowl of egg salad from the fridge, plopping down on the couch beside Sage. “How was school?” He asked, snatching the remote and setting the bowl between them.
She grinned at him as he sat down, putting the laptop aside and opening the bowl, making grabby hands for the chips. “It went as well as can be expected. It was school. The people in my class are as dumb as ever.”
He frowned, holding out the chips as he opened Netflix. “You really don’t like school, do you?”
Sage shook her head, using one of the chips to scoop up some egg salad. “I love the idea of school. Y’know, leaning and all that; getting to research your passions, et cetera. Thing is, that’s not really what school is, and it’s so frustrating because we have to take classes we don’t care about, the people are stupidest fucking idiots you’ve ever wanted to shoot in the face-”
Bucky barked out a laugh. “Okay, I get it. Where were we?” He asked, selecting Supernatural.
“Season four pilot. I need to get the twins to make their own profile so that they stop messing us up.”
He chuckled. “Okay, so quick recap?”
“Season one: Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days. Season two: we’ve gotta get yellow eyes back and demon kiddos. Season three: Dean’s going to hell.”
“Right. Okay, are we ready?”
“Definitely.”
Steve watched the two with a warm smile on his face. Sage and Bucky had started bonding really well since Sage had insisted on making the two of them watch Supernatural. Steve had graciously tapped out after season one, because it wasn’t his cup of tea, but Bucky loved it. It always made Steve so happy to see them sat on that couch together, snacking and laughing and becoming engrossed in the show.
He decided then and there that he was going to find some way to tell her about Tony’s “emergency Avenger’s meetings”.
---
They were holding the latest conference about Adeline, and to Tony’s relief, Steve hadn’t protested it yet. But the Captain wasn’t demonstrating active listening skills. He seemed to be texting someone, but a glance across the table proved that it wasn’t Bucky. Tony’s eyes narrowed as he watched Steve.
Steve looked up finally, and tucked his phone in his back pocket, offering Tony his most innocent smile. Hell was about to rain down on the team.
Sage strolled into the conference room as bold as could be, completely unaware of what she was walking into.
She pulled up short when she saw the PowerPoint. “What the hell…?” She shot a betrayed look at Wanda and Natasha. “You guys- why- what-” she scowled and turned a glare on Tony and Loki. “What the frick frack paddy whack is going on here?” She crossed her arms over her chest and thunder rumbled through the room.
Everyone looked to Thor, and Sage swore quietly before the thunder cut off suddenly.
“Explanation,” she demanded, sounding vaguely strained, “Now.”
Tony held up his hands placatingly. “Sweetheart, this-”
“If you tell her ‘this isn’t what it looks like,’ Tony, I swear to god.”
The inventor shot Bruce a dirty look. “Sage, we were just trying to make sure that you-” He carefully held back a flinch when the thunder crackled again, and instead approached her slowly. “To make sure that you’re safe and that we approve.”
Sage clenched her hands on her arms and took a deep breath. The thunder rumbled once more and then stopped, and when she looked up again the whole team was watching her warily. “Until further notice, the only Avengers I’m speaking to are Steve and Peter.” She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, leaving the team glaring at Steve.