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ericadawn16Title: Friends to the End: The One With Clint's Wedding
Author: Ericadawn16
Prompt: The wonderful mash-up of Friends and Avengers
Character/Pairing(s): Clint/Jessica Drew, Jessica Drew/Vange Whedon, Tony/Pepper, Phil/Clint, Clint/Natasha, Clint/?, Natasha/?
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Slash, lots of slash, mild language
Spoilers: a few references here and there, nothing big
Summary: Clint Barton and Wanda Frank are getting married in London, but first, Darcy needs to get everyone up. Steve and Tony still have problems because of Loki although Loki is preoccupied with Natasha. Phil and Steve talk about love, but does the wedding go smoothly?
Beta: HUGE Thanks to lavendergaia and Valoscope
************************************************************
The One with Clint's Wedding
March 30, 2017
Darcy ignored the pounding headache that was the bulk of her hangover. This weekend was her first real vacation in months and she was going to enjoy it.
This didn't mean shirking her duties to Clint and there was the bonus of seeing who was hung-over the most. She started knocking on the doors. It was eleven in the morning and the wedding was only four hours away. To her annoyance, she wasn't getting a response so she stepped up her game.
"If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends, make it last forever, friendship never ends!" Darcy sang as loudly as she could.
"Shut the fuck up!" Tony yelled from a closed door. Russian was being shouted at her from another. She recognized Natasha's voice.
"Barton is being married in FOUR HOURS! If anyone is late, there will be consequences and I will tell Agent!" Darcy yelled in what she hoped was her best authoritarian voice. Then, she went down to the next floor. By the lobby, she was feeling pretty dejected. Coulson had told her to have fun but she didn't want to let him down either.
"I wonder if it's too early for a drink," she muttered to herself. Then, she happened to glance towards the entrance.
"Phil!" she yelled and ran to him. Before she realized what she was doing, she had jumped on him.
"Oof," he said and she could tell he was trying not to wince as she slid off.
"Sorry," she apologized. Phil was Coulson but he was still nearly 53 years old and not meant for being jumped on.
"Things that bad?" he asked.
"Four hours to go and I think everyone is still asleep," Darcy complained. He nodded.
"Okay, we're not going to panic. We're going to give them until it's one hour beforehand, then we'll get everyone up," Coulson told her. It was a good plan.
"I didn't think you were coming."
"I didn't think I was coming either but Pepper is pretty persuasive and I have news especially since it was on the way to the airport," he explained while messing with his phone. He held it up to show a newborn with cocoa skin and a thick mass of hair. "Danielle Luca Cage, mom and baby are doing fine. It appears that Cage is capable of smiling more than I've ever seen him do before and Daniel is taking his new Godfather status very seriously."
Darcy squealed and clapped her hands. Danielle was cute and she was glad everything was going so well.
Coulson pushed more buttons and gave her the phone. It was set up on a slideshow; Jessica holding the baby, Luke holding the baby, Danny holding the baby, Sam holding the baby, Ava holding the baby, Peter holding the baby and even May holding the baby.
"May and Peter were both there?" she asked, handing it back.
"Yes, so I pretended to be Luke's supportive former principal," he answered.
"How stupid does he think she is?" Darcy asked.
"Let's not answer that. Jessica's decided on People. They'll have an online exclusive at any moment and the cover photo next week. Peter's taking them," Coulson explained.
"Good, are you going to talk to Clint?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Good," she repeated. Then, she noticed Ororo walking to the restaurant. Maybe she had panicked over nothing.
******************************************************************
"You didn't have to yell," Steve chastised him after they couldn't hear Darcy's footsteps or singing. Tony was in the kind of mood where he responded by sticking his tongue out. To his horror, he was still filled with the impulse to then use it on Steve on some way. He bounded off the bed.
"This isn't right, not that you're not..." Tony hesitated in his wording, and then gave up because he'd never had to give this speech before. "You're a beautiful man but I think we must be under some spell."
"I agree," said Steve. "I keep wanting to do things to you."
He had a confused look on his face, and then continued, "Stuff I haven't even done to a woman yet."
"Now there's a variety of suspects but I think we can agree that it's probably Loki," he said at the same time that Steve did. "However, I'm not about to beg him to change it or something. We'll find someone else."
"Wanda's skilled in magic," Steve pointed out.
"Excellent!" Tony exclaimed. Things were looking up.
"But it is her wedding day, we probably shouldn't ask her about it today," Steve said.
"Damn," Tony spat. "We'll just have to keep our hands to ourselves for the time being."
This was not an acceptable state of affairs.
***************************************************************
"Is that physically possible?" Loki asked after Natasha had cursed in Russian at Darcy. She knew he wanted credit for knowing Russian so she ignored him and took a shower. The room they had teleported to was Natasha's own hotel room. When she came out, he was still naked on the bed. She put on her shoes.
"I'm Barton's best man. I can't be late. You can let yourself out the same way you came in," Natasha told him. In a flash, he had an acoustic guitar. He strummed a few hesitant notes before commencing with enthusiasm.
"When all the world was very young
And mountain magic heavy hung
The supermen would walk in file
Guardians of a loveless isle
And gloomy browed with superfear their tragic endless lives," Loki sang, proving he did know it. Natasha knew why he did it. When you were raised in a constant fit of noise and people, then being cut off from that was the ultimate feeling of alone. It was the worst loneliness imaginable and could drive a person to desperate measures to make people join them. They'd pull people into their life even if they knew it wasn't good for that other person.
Natasha knew it all too well so she wasn't about to become a victim herself.
Still, last night had been the best sex she'd had in quite some time. She supposed he might have an advantage from having sex as a woman before. There was also the icy, hot element that she really liked.
"Nightmare dreams no mortal mind could hold
A man would tear his brother's flesh, a chance to die
To turn to mold.
Far out in the red-sky
Far out from the sad eyes
Strange, mad celebration
So softly a supergod cries
Far out in the red-sky
Far out from the sad eyes
Strange, mad celebration
So softly a supergod dies," Loki finished singing and made the guitar disappear. "Am I a supergod, Romanov?"
"You have already proved your love of Bowie," she replied. "But you have torn your brother's flesh before."
Loki stood up from the bed and crossed to her.
"Don't tell me he never gives you the urge to do the same?" he asked. Natasha smirked because Thor did have his moments. "Stay. The wedding will be a futile exercise."
His placed his hand on her ass. She grabbed his wrist and twisted. He fought her grasp, twisting back until her back was against his chest. It was a half-hearted tussle on both accounts. However, she could feel how excited it had made him due to the lack of clothing.
She shrugged inwardly. The wedding was still a few hours away. Then, she kissed him.
*****************************************************************************
There was a knock on Clint's door.
"They say it's bad luck to see me before the wedding," he said in a loud voice before opening the door. "Phil."
"This seemed like a good idea until about thirty seconds ago," Phil admitted.
"Come in," he said and Phil came in.
"I...uh...I" Phil stumbled. It was a sight rarely seen. "If I had asked, would I be there instead of Wanda?"
"Yes," Clint said without thinking. Then, he looked at the floor. He shook his head and took a minute. When he was able to look at Phil's shaken face, he started again, "But that's not the case, is it? In this place, at this time, you can't offer that, can you?"
He could see the controlled anguish as Phil admitted, "No."
Clint stepped closer to him. Words failed him. He didn't know what to think. His body almost seemed to move of its own accord before kissing Phil on the lips. He recoiled almost as it begun. Phil leaned away from him.
"No, no, I asked Wanda and I do love her. It's too late for us, I think," Clint spoke. Phil nodded. They shared one more look and Phil left him.
"Fuck," Clint whispered to himself.
*********************************************************************************
"Maybe we should stay on opposite side of the rooms for the time being," Tony suggested. "Like a ten foot rule."
"Like at school dances," Steve agreed with a nod.
"They had those back in your time, too?" Tony asked.
"Yes, we held them in our caves by torchlight," Steve retorted back. Tony grinned.
*******************************************************************
Natasha managed to make her way to the room where the wedding would be held. Then, she had explored the back areas to find Clint. Loki found her first.
"There's no point in attending," he told her. "We could find other ways to occupy our time."
"Is this about all weddings?" Natasha asked.
"You mean having a ceremony to prove to everyone in existence how much you claim to love each other instead of just knowing it between the two of you?" he retorted.
"I thought you didn't believe in love," she said.
"I knew from Barton that you didn't. It's why I found it so intriguing that you were giving the very believable impression of loving Barton. Then again, you were also having to deceive those listening about your past with him so they would believe that making 'a different call' was all there was to it," Loki spoke. "What is that word that Coulson likes to use? 'Redacted'. Yes, Barton's file was redacted so that none know the full extent of your shared past or that you even crossed paths with Coulson as well before Barton's call."
Natasha wouldn't make any response to that.
"I was a bit surprised that he even had to tell you about Elizabeth or do you believe your own lies now?" he asked.
She didn't like his knowing about Elizabeth so she wasn't about to confirm it. Her spying at the time hadn't included finding out about Elizabeth though. She had been more concerned about what Coulson had known about her and how to fix that.
"You're starting to crush on Barton?" Natasha teased as a way of changing the subject.
"No, but they aren't suited to one another," he answered.
"And how do you know that?" she asked.
"You aren't raised by the Goddess of Marriage and Motherhood without learning a thing or two," he answered. "At some point, she would end up killing him."
Between being a God, his powers of illusion and not being that bad to look at, Loki could have his pick of partners. She decided to look at it as a compliment that he kept coming back to her.
"Fine, I have some spare minutes. There's a small closet over there or you're on your own," she offered.
"Only minutes?" he teased. "That does cut down on foreplay considerably."
"There was foreplay?" she teased back. "I don't recall from last night."
They both knew that was a lie.
"Very well," he agreed and started walking to the closet. "Your dress is pleasing."
It was dark purple with her breasts nearly falling out. Natasha rolled her eyes
*****************************************************************
There was still a little time before the wedding. Steve wished he could have something stronger but it would never be enough to numb the situation. Even Wanda fighting alongside him in battle had never made magic as real as this moment when he was still fighting an impossible urge to find Tony and an available bed. He settled for a fizzy drink instead. Then, he saw a familiar face at the bar.
"Phil," he greeted with a smile. "I hadn't expected to see you."
Phil nodded. Then, he swirled the ice in his amber drink with a stirrer, half-hearted. It was definitely stronger than Steve's drink. They sat in silence. Steve looked up at the television. Phil must have told them what he wanted to watch since a person lecturing on Geometric Representation and Invariant Theory: Algebraic Quantization and Deformations didn't seem like the typical bar viewing. Then, he realized that the lecturer, Jazmin Gonzales, looked familiar.
"I know her," he said.
"Probably from the photo of the wife and kids on Sitwell's desk," Phil suggested.
"She's Sitwell's wife?" Steve asked. She wasn't how he had expected her at all.
"Yes, he usually takes time off when she has a conference. He takes care of the kids while she's busy lecturing. Linda and Gaby are old enough to watch Darwin themselves but they get tired of signing everything for him," Phil explained.
"Signing? Like sign language?" Steve asked.
"Yes, Darwin was born deaf. He's four. Gaby is twelve and Linda is going to be seventeen in a few months," he told him.
Steve wondered if he still remembered how to do it. The army had him learn how to hold a conversation in a variety of languages for the press opportunities. Later, it came in handy for spying. He thought about mentioning when he met Helen Keller but sometimes, it felt like Phil knew Steve's life better than Steve did.
"At least they have each other, that's nice," Steve commented. After a few minutes, he asked, "Do you believe a person only has one true love?"
"I hope not," Phil replied. "What if you don't realize who your true love was? Or they die young?"
He gulped down half the drink and added, "I've had two loves myself."
Steve guessed one was Clint. He wasn't sure who the other one was.
"Seems like we all have at least one; Peggy and I, Tony and Pepper, Thor and Jane, Bruce and Betty..." Steve said before thinking of something. "We never see Natasha with anyone, just casual things or when she was with you and Clint."
"Is there a question there?" Phil asked. Was he being allowed to ask that? Steve knew it really wasn't any of his business but he did wonder about her. He knew that Phil, especially drunk Phil, was bad at refusing him. It would be taking advantage of this to ask anything.
Then again, Loki's trick was taking his toll on him.
"Who would be the closest thing to Natasha's one true love?" Steve asked.
He watched Phil watch Jazmin speak for another minute or so.
"There is a legend about a man who comes to those with a bounty on their head especially if the Russians put it there. It's a legend because very few are left alive. He's disguised. His face is hidden. He leaves no fingerprints behind or evidence he was there except for the deaths. I have yet to find any proof he exists but there are those who claim some of the murders weren't done alone, that the Black Widow was with him," Phil explained.
"And you don't believe them," Steve commented. "Why?"
"Some of these accounts date back fifty or sixty years," the other replied. He agreed that this didn't make sense.
"Maybe they have a different guy dress the same and different Black Widows," Steve suggested.
"Could be," Phil agreed. "Actually, I'm kind of curious about Loki."
"In the stories, he was married to Sigyn," Steve said. Sigyn stood by Loki no matter what, had two children with him and helped alleviate his punishments.
"But I asked Thor and he said there is no one by that name on Asgard," Phil explained. "What if that would have made a difference?"
Steve wasn't sure if Sigyn would have been enough or not.
***************************************************************************
Phil sat towards the back. He could still see everything but not everybody could see him. The important thing was for Clint to be happy.
"And now the rings," the priest spoke. Ben stepped forward and held out his hand. Clint took one of the rings from him.
"Repeat after me," the priest continued. "With this ring, I, Clinton Francis Barton wed thee, Wanda Frank."
"With this ring, I, Clinton Francis Barton wed thee, Phil-"
Had he really just said that? Time seemed to stop.
Then, Phil realized time had stopped. Franklin and Valeria looked around in confusion as well a few others but most were still as statues. Wanda was holding Clint's hand and running towards him. Was she going to kill him?
She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.
"We haven't much time," she said and he felt the odd sensation of being teleported. When they stopped again, they were at Phil's apartment in New York City. His face must have shown his confusion.
"Stark records everything in Avengers Tower. I'm not about to let him have this. This is just between us," Wanda stated. She was dangerously calm.
"Wanda, I-" Clint started.
"Don't. I knew. I asked you just last night and I was stupid enough to believe you. I thought maybe I could be enough, but-" she paused and shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't want you to die. My father and brother will want to kill you. Actually, they would want to hurt you more than that. They'd kill Phil."
Being told that Magneto would now be gunning for him was a little panic inducing to Phil. Clint's face was riddled by anxiety, too.
"What about Ben?" Clint asked.
"My father's a villain but he isn't evil. The thought of him willfully murdering a three year old is absurd," Wanda argued. "But you need to take care, Phil. Next time I might not be there."
He nodded and she disappeared.
**********************************************************************
Author: Ericadawn16
Prompt: The wonderful mash-up of Friends and Avengers
Character/Pairing(s): Clint/Jessica Drew, Jessica Drew/Vange Whedon, Tony/Pepper, Phil/Clint, Clint/Natasha, Clint/?, Natasha/?
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Slash, lots of slash, mild language
Spoilers: a few references here and there, nothing big
Summary: Clint Barton and Wanda Frank are getting married in London, but first, Darcy needs to get everyone up. Steve and Tony still have problems because of Loki although Loki is preoccupied with Natasha. Phil and Steve talk about love, but does the wedding go smoothly?
Beta: HUGE Thanks to lavendergaia and Valoscope
************************************************************
The One with Clint's Wedding
March 30, 2017
Darcy ignored the pounding headache that was the bulk of her hangover. This weekend was her first real vacation in months and she was going to enjoy it.
This didn't mean shirking her duties to Clint and there was the bonus of seeing who was hung-over the most. She started knocking on the doors. It was eleven in the morning and the wedding was only four hours away. To her annoyance, she wasn't getting a response so she stepped up her game.
"If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends, make it last forever, friendship never ends!" Darcy sang as loudly as she could.
"Shut the fuck up!" Tony yelled from a closed door. Russian was being shouted at her from another. She recognized Natasha's voice.
"Barton is being married in FOUR HOURS! If anyone is late, there will be consequences and I will tell Agent!" Darcy yelled in what she hoped was her best authoritarian voice. Then, she went down to the next floor. By the lobby, she was feeling pretty dejected. Coulson had told her to have fun but she didn't want to let him down either.
"I wonder if it's too early for a drink," she muttered to herself. Then, she happened to glance towards the entrance.
"Phil!" she yelled and ran to him. Before she realized what she was doing, she had jumped on him.
"Oof," he said and she could tell he was trying not to wince as she slid off.
"Sorry," she apologized. Phil was Coulson but he was still nearly 53 years old and not meant for being jumped on.
"Things that bad?" he asked.
"Four hours to go and I think everyone is still asleep," Darcy complained. He nodded.
"Okay, we're not going to panic. We're going to give them until it's one hour beforehand, then we'll get everyone up," Coulson told her. It was a good plan.
"I didn't think you were coming."
"I didn't think I was coming either but Pepper is pretty persuasive and I have news especially since it was on the way to the airport," he explained while messing with his phone. He held it up to show a newborn with cocoa skin and a thick mass of hair. "Danielle Luca Cage, mom and baby are doing fine. It appears that Cage is capable of smiling more than I've ever seen him do before and Daniel is taking his new Godfather status very seriously."
Darcy squealed and clapped her hands. Danielle was cute and she was glad everything was going so well.
Coulson pushed more buttons and gave her the phone. It was set up on a slideshow; Jessica holding the baby, Luke holding the baby, Danny holding the baby, Sam holding the baby, Ava holding the baby, Peter holding the baby and even May holding the baby.
"May and Peter were both there?" she asked, handing it back.
"Yes, so I pretended to be Luke's supportive former principal," he answered.
"How stupid does he think she is?" Darcy asked.
"Let's not answer that. Jessica's decided on People. They'll have an online exclusive at any moment and the cover photo next week. Peter's taking them," Coulson explained.
"Good, are you going to talk to Clint?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Good," she repeated. Then, she noticed Ororo walking to the restaurant. Maybe she had panicked over nothing.
******************************************************************
"You didn't have to yell," Steve chastised him after they couldn't hear Darcy's footsteps or singing. Tony was in the kind of mood where he responded by sticking his tongue out. To his horror, he was still filled with the impulse to then use it on Steve on some way. He bounded off the bed.
"This isn't right, not that you're not..." Tony hesitated in his wording, and then gave up because he'd never had to give this speech before. "You're a beautiful man but I think we must be under some spell."
"I agree," said Steve. "I keep wanting to do things to you."
He had a confused look on his face, and then continued, "Stuff I haven't even done to a woman yet."
"Now there's a variety of suspects but I think we can agree that it's probably Loki," he said at the same time that Steve did. "However, I'm not about to beg him to change it or something. We'll find someone else."
"Wanda's skilled in magic," Steve pointed out.
"Excellent!" Tony exclaimed. Things were looking up.
"But it is her wedding day, we probably shouldn't ask her about it today," Steve said.
"Damn," Tony spat. "We'll just have to keep our hands to ourselves for the time being."
This was not an acceptable state of affairs.
***************************************************************
"Is that physically possible?" Loki asked after Natasha had cursed in Russian at Darcy. She knew he wanted credit for knowing Russian so she ignored him and took a shower. The room they had teleported to was Natasha's own hotel room. When she came out, he was still naked on the bed. She put on her shoes.
"I'm Barton's best man. I can't be late. You can let yourself out the same way you came in," Natasha told him. In a flash, he had an acoustic guitar. He strummed a few hesitant notes before commencing with enthusiasm.
"When all the world was very young
And mountain magic heavy hung
The supermen would walk in file
Guardians of a loveless isle
And gloomy browed with superfear their tragic endless lives," Loki sang, proving he did know it. Natasha knew why he did it. When you were raised in a constant fit of noise and people, then being cut off from that was the ultimate feeling of alone. It was the worst loneliness imaginable and could drive a person to desperate measures to make people join them. They'd pull people into their life even if they knew it wasn't good for that other person.
Natasha knew it all too well so she wasn't about to become a victim herself.
Still, last night had been the best sex she'd had in quite some time. She supposed he might have an advantage from having sex as a woman before. There was also the icy, hot element that she really liked.
"Nightmare dreams no mortal mind could hold
A man would tear his brother's flesh, a chance to die
To turn to mold.
Far out in the red-sky
Far out from the sad eyes
Strange, mad celebration
So softly a supergod cries
Far out in the red-sky
Far out from the sad eyes
Strange, mad celebration
So softly a supergod dies," Loki finished singing and made the guitar disappear. "Am I a supergod, Romanov?"
"You have already proved your love of Bowie," she replied. "But you have torn your brother's flesh before."
Loki stood up from the bed and crossed to her.
"Don't tell me he never gives you the urge to do the same?" he asked. Natasha smirked because Thor did have his moments. "Stay. The wedding will be a futile exercise."
His placed his hand on her ass. She grabbed his wrist and twisted. He fought her grasp, twisting back until her back was against his chest. It was a half-hearted tussle on both accounts. However, she could feel how excited it had made him due to the lack of clothing.
She shrugged inwardly. The wedding was still a few hours away. Then, she kissed him.
*****************************************************************************
There was a knock on Clint's door.
"They say it's bad luck to see me before the wedding," he said in a loud voice before opening the door. "Phil."
"This seemed like a good idea until about thirty seconds ago," Phil admitted.
"Come in," he said and Phil came in.
"I...uh...I" Phil stumbled. It was a sight rarely seen. "If I had asked, would I be there instead of Wanda?"
"Yes," Clint said without thinking. Then, he looked at the floor. He shook his head and took a minute. When he was able to look at Phil's shaken face, he started again, "But that's not the case, is it? In this place, at this time, you can't offer that, can you?"
He could see the controlled anguish as Phil admitted, "No."
Clint stepped closer to him. Words failed him. He didn't know what to think. His body almost seemed to move of its own accord before kissing Phil on the lips. He recoiled almost as it begun. Phil leaned away from him.
"No, no, I asked Wanda and I do love her. It's too late for us, I think," Clint spoke. Phil nodded. They shared one more look and Phil left him.
"Fuck," Clint whispered to himself.
*********************************************************************************
"Maybe we should stay on opposite side of the rooms for the time being," Tony suggested. "Like a ten foot rule."
"Like at school dances," Steve agreed with a nod.
"They had those back in your time, too?" Tony asked.
"Yes, we held them in our caves by torchlight," Steve retorted back. Tony grinned.
*******************************************************************
Natasha managed to make her way to the room where the wedding would be held. Then, she had explored the back areas to find Clint. Loki found her first.
"There's no point in attending," he told her. "We could find other ways to occupy our time."
"Is this about all weddings?" Natasha asked.
"You mean having a ceremony to prove to everyone in existence how much you claim to love each other instead of just knowing it between the two of you?" he retorted.
"I thought you didn't believe in love," she said.
"I knew from Barton that you didn't. It's why I found it so intriguing that you were giving the very believable impression of loving Barton. Then again, you were also having to deceive those listening about your past with him so they would believe that making 'a different call' was all there was to it," Loki spoke. "What is that word that Coulson likes to use? 'Redacted'. Yes, Barton's file was redacted so that none know the full extent of your shared past or that you even crossed paths with Coulson as well before Barton's call."
Natasha wouldn't make any response to that.
"I was a bit surprised that he even had to tell you about Elizabeth or do you believe your own lies now?" he asked.
She didn't like his knowing about Elizabeth so she wasn't about to confirm it. Her spying at the time hadn't included finding out about Elizabeth though. She had been more concerned about what Coulson had known about her and how to fix that.
"You're starting to crush on Barton?" Natasha teased as a way of changing the subject.
"No, but they aren't suited to one another," he answered.
"And how do you know that?" she asked.
"You aren't raised by the Goddess of Marriage and Motherhood without learning a thing or two," he answered. "At some point, she would end up killing him."
Between being a God, his powers of illusion and not being that bad to look at, Loki could have his pick of partners. She decided to look at it as a compliment that he kept coming back to her.
"Fine, I have some spare minutes. There's a small closet over there or you're on your own," she offered.
"Only minutes?" he teased. "That does cut down on foreplay considerably."
"There was foreplay?" she teased back. "I don't recall from last night."
They both knew that was a lie.
"Very well," he agreed and started walking to the closet. "Your dress is pleasing."
It was dark purple with her breasts nearly falling out. Natasha rolled her eyes
*****************************************************************
There was still a little time before the wedding. Steve wished he could have something stronger but it would never be enough to numb the situation. Even Wanda fighting alongside him in battle had never made magic as real as this moment when he was still fighting an impossible urge to find Tony and an available bed. He settled for a fizzy drink instead. Then, he saw a familiar face at the bar.
"Phil," he greeted with a smile. "I hadn't expected to see you."
Phil nodded. Then, he swirled the ice in his amber drink with a stirrer, half-hearted. It was definitely stronger than Steve's drink. They sat in silence. Steve looked up at the television. Phil must have told them what he wanted to watch since a person lecturing on Geometric Representation and Invariant Theory: Algebraic Quantization and Deformations didn't seem like the typical bar viewing. Then, he realized that the lecturer, Jazmin Gonzales, looked familiar.
"I know her," he said.
"Probably from the photo of the wife and kids on Sitwell's desk," Phil suggested.
"She's Sitwell's wife?" Steve asked. She wasn't how he had expected her at all.
"Yes, he usually takes time off when she has a conference. He takes care of the kids while she's busy lecturing. Linda and Gaby are old enough to watch Darwin themselves but they get tired of signing everything for him," Phil explained.
"Signing? Like sign language?" Steve asked.
"Yes, Darwin was born deaf. He's four. Gaby is twelve and Linda is going to be seventeen in a few months," he told him.
Steve wondered if he still remembered how to do it. The army had him learn how to hold a conversation in a variety of languages for the press opportunities. Later, it came in handy for spying. He thought about mentioning when he met Helen Keller but sometimes, it felt like Phil knew Steve's life better than Steve did.
"At least they have each other, that's nice," Steve commented. After a few minutes, he asked, "Do you believe a person only has one true love?"
"I hope not," Phil replied. "What if you don't realize who your true love was? Or they die young?"
He gulped down half the drink and added, "I've had two loves myself."
Steve guessed one was Clint. He wasn't sure who the other one was.
"Seems like we all have at least one; Peggy and I, Tony and Pepper, Thor and Jane, Bruce and Betty..." Steve said before thinking of something. "We never see Natasha with anyone, just casual things or when she was with you and Clint."
"Is there a question there?" Phil asked. Was he being allowed to ask that? Steve knew it really wasn't any of his business but he did wonder about her. He knew that Phil, especially drunk Phil, was bad at refusing him. It would be taking advantage of this to ask anything.
Then again, Loki's trick was taking his toll on him.
"Who would be the closest thing to Natasha's one true love?" Steve asked.
He watched Phil watch Jazmin speak for another minute or so.
"There is a legend about a man who comes to those with a bounty on their head especially if the Russians put it there. It's a legend because very few are left alive. He's disguised. His face is hidden. He leaves no fingerprints behind or evidence he was there except for the deaths. I have yet to find any proof he exists but there are those who claim some of the murders weren't done alone, that the Black Widow was with him," Phil explained.
"And you don't believe them," Steve commented. "Why?"
"Some of these accounts date back fifty or sixty years," the other replied. He agreed that this didn't make sense.
"Maybe they have a different guy dress the same and different Black Widows," Steve suggested.
"Could be," Phil agreed. "Actually, I'm kind of curious about Loki."
"In the stories, he was married to Sigyn," Steve said. Sigyn stood by Loki no matter what, had two children with him and helped alleviate his punishments.
"But I asked Thor and he said there is no one by that name on Asgard," Phil explained. "What if that would have made a difference?"
Steve wasn't sure if Sigyn would have been enough or not.
***************************************************************************
Phil sat towards the back. He could still see everything but not everybody could see him. The important thing was for Clint to be happy.
"And now the rings," the priest spoke. Ben stepped forward and held out his hand. Clint took one of the rings from him.
"Repeat after me," the priest continued. "With this ring, I, Clinton Francis Barton wed thee, Wanda Frank."
"With this ring, I, Clinton Francis Barton wed thee, Phil-"
Had he really just said that? Time seemed to stop.
Then, Phil realized time had stopped. Franklin and Valeria looked around in confusion as well a few others but most were still as statues. Wanda was holding Clint's hand and running towards him. Was she going to kill him?
She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.
"We haven't much time," she said and he felt the odd sensation of being teleported. When they stopped again, they were at Phil's apartment in New York City. His face must have shown his confusion.
"Stark records everything in Avengers Tower. I'm not about to let him have this. This is just between us," Wanda stated. She was dangerously calm.
"Wanda, I-" Clint started.
"Don't. I knew. I asked you just last night and I was stupid enough to believe you. I thought maybe I could be enough, but-" she paused and shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't want you to die. My father and brother will want to kill you. Actually, they would want to hurt you more than that. They'd kill Phil."
Being told that Magneto would now be gunning for him was a little panic inducing to Phil. Clint's face was riddled by anxiety, too.
"What about Ben?" Clint asked.
"My father's a villain but he isn't evil. The thought of him willfully murdering a three year old is absurd," Wanda argued. "But you need to take care, Phil. Next time I might not be there."
He nodded and she disappeared.
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no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 06:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-28 04:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-05 06:36 pm (UTC)It's kind of neat to see Aunt May being at the birth, it gives a touch of normalcy to the scene.
I'm surprised Steve and Tony accept the answer of magic so easily since both of them usually seem so resistant to using magic to explain things away, even when it is the real answer. I could see them jumping to the Loki conclusion though, he does tend to do odd things with magic.
I love Loki singing with the guitar. I can picture him singing in a sweet voice.
There is something very tragic about Coulson and Clint.
I'm surprised by how calm Wanda is about her marriage being ruined.
no subject
Date: 2013-06-11 03:30 am (UTC)Thank you so much for the notes. I do love Aunt May a lot, I would love to do a one-off story where it is May/Phil as the endgame.
Definitely, Asgard seems like the type of place where the princes are expected to excel at a number of talents but Loki was much better at it. I kind of love the tragedy of how he's been hurt so much that now only certain people are privy to these things now, like Loki's musical abilities. He's still trying to trust people again but burdened by how people don't trust him which then justifies his further distrust of people.
I know, I sometimes wonder whether people compare Ross and Rachel to what I'm doing with Clint and Phil and just go...what in the world? Because it was a sitcom but then I write it and it keeps getting all these tragic elements, partly from the sitcom's darker parts and partly from the comics.
Thank you so much for the criticism. I tried to rewrite it to your concerns.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9002234/17/Friends-to-the-End
no subject
Date: 2013-06-12 05:03 am (UTC)