A Friendly Warning
“So, did you hear what’s happening?”
Sage turned an uniformed raised brow on Adeline, who laughed.
“That’s a no. Alright, I’ll tell you then. We’re holding some kind of pep rally or something, and Captain America is coming to speak.”
If Sage had been taking a drink, it would be all over the inside of her locker. As it was, she had to be careful not to give everything away in her expression. “He’s doing what?”
“He’s speaking at our assembly on Friday.”
“Hmm. Interesting. That’s really… Interesting.”
Adeline gave her a confused look. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that you didn’t want Captain America to come give us a speech about truth, justice, and the American way.”
Sage broke finally, letting out a snort. “Oh, no I would never not be excited about that. Because the American way does so much for everyone. God, whatever would we do without it?”
Adeline giggled and elbowed her in the side. “Don’t be a wiseass. Or at least, don’t do it at school, because damn, it’s hot.”
“Dork.”
“Cutie.”
Sage flushed. “Addyyyy. We’ve talked about this.” She whined, avoiding eye contact with her girlfriend while she pulled books from her locker.
“Yeah, we have, I’m sorry. You’re just so damn adorable when you blush.”
“Addy! Stooooop!”
The brunette grinned.
---
“Do you have any idea what this assembly is about?” Riesling asked, sitting down beside Sage on the bleachers. “Because all I heard is that Captain America is coming, and he’s not even my type, but have you seen that ass? Just makes a girl stop and think, ‘God bless America’.”
The three girls broke out in giggles.
Steve, who was standing on the other end of the gymnasium, flanked by both Bucky and Tony, immediately located Sage. She was sitting with two other girls, one whom he recognised from Tony’s awful powerpoint, the other who must be Riesling. They were all laughing at something that one of the girls had said, and they looked happy.
Tony was in a stormy mood, scanning the crowd looking for any boy who looked like the ones who were assholes to his daughter and ready to blast them into oblivion. Bucky was just standing there, tensing and untensing his left arm, never quite letting the plates settle into one position.
“Okay, students? S-students? Settle down please. Chance, that means you.” The principal tapped on the microphone a couple times, causing Tony to grimace, and glared down one particularly obstinate senior. “Today, we have special guests, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Winter Soldier here to give us a presentation. Please give them your full attention.”
Sage’s hand shot up, and Tony fought against a smirk. “A question already?”
The principal sighed. “Yes, Miss Ahlers? What is it?”
“So, like, is this an interactive experience? Do we get to ask questions througout? Is there a set run time? How many periods are we missing for this?”
“Miss Ahlers, put down your hand and listen to the presentation.”
Sage scowled and kept her hand halfway raised in protest.
“To answer your question, Miss… Ahlers, was it?” Tony leaned toward the mic. “Your student body is allowed to ask questions throughout the presentation, though we aren’t necessarily expecting them. We don’t have a set run time, but I’ll try to eat up as many of your classes as I can.” He winked at her, grinning.
“Great.” Sage had underestimated how difficult this would be. Most of the students here were star struck. Adeline and Riesling were practically molesting her because holy shit Sage you just basically had a conversation with Tony Motherfucking Stark! Right. Some people don’t see Tony on a daily basis. This is a novel thing for some people. Right.
“What we’re here to talk to you about today, is tolerance.”
Oh god. This was her fault. This was all her goddamn fault. Clint and Natasha. Goddamnit. Sage groaned and buried her face in her hands. She was never going to hear the end of this.
Another hand shot up about halfway through their presentation.
“Yes?”
“Are you and the Winter Soldier dating, Mister Captain America?”
Steve froze, and for a moment he had to remind himself that they weren’t in the forties anymore. He no longer weighed 90 pounds, and if he admitted to this, he wouldn’t be dragged out into the street by a lynch mob. This was a safe thing to do. “We-”
Bucky stepped up behind him with a gentle hand in the small of his back. “We are. Have been for just about a hundred years.”
Tony snorted and a couple of the kids cheered. “In case anyone was wondering-”
Sage bit back a “we weren’t!”
“I’m bi too.”
“Bitch, we already been knew!”
Now it was Bucky’s turn to start laughing, both at Tony’s reaction, and just the response in general.
The principal was starting to look uncomfortable, but they were paying him for this, so he’d better keep his damn mouth shut.
“I think that’s our cue to start wrapping up, so I want to say something quickly before we let you go, and then anyone who wants to stick around to chat can feel free. If I find out any of you, and I mean, any of you is being homophobic or transphobic or racist or sexist, I will personally come back and have a very long disccusion with you and your parents.”
Even Tony felt chastised, even though he wasn’t the one that the threat was directed at. Damn, this man was good. “Alright, you guys are dismissed. Miss Ahlers from the beginning, if you come up here for me, you can have candy for being our first question.”
He grinned as Sage’s face lit up and she began fighting through the hoards that were on their way out. He dug a king sized Whatchamacallit out of his pocket that he had been intending to give her anyway, but now he had an excuse.
“Playing favourites, Stark?”
“Always, Buckaroo.” Tony smirked at him and offered Sage the candy bar. “Miss Ahlers. Your questions were delightful.”
“Hey, thanks. It’s pretty cool that you guys could come talk to the school, what will all of your busy schedules.”
Yikes. Low blow.
“There’s always time for educating the young people.” Steve gave her a broad, fake smile and a wink.
“God bless America.” was whispered from behind them, and Steve tried not to cry laughing.
“Oh, Mister Captain America, Mister Winter Soldier, Mister Iron Man, sirs, these nerds are my friend Riesling, and my girlfriend Addy. We really appreciated your presentation, so thanks.”
“Nice to meet you!” The girls chorused while they shook the guys’ hands.
“Any time. If anyone bothers you ladies, I’ll hear about it. I promise.”
“Hmmm.” Sage shot Steve a knowing look, and then turned to Tony. “Thank you guys again. We should get to class.”
“By all means!” Tony motioned them out, turning to Steve and Bucky. “Do you think we put the fear of God in ‘em?”
“Probably not. But I will if those two little assholes so much as look at Sage wrong again.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Down, boy. Let’s settle down and see how things turn out before we jump at highschoolers, huh?”
“You ruin all my fun, Stevie.”
Tony laughed. “I forgot how fun you two were. We should hang out more often when I’m free sometime.”
“That would be great, Tony.”