ericadawn16 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ericadawn16) wrote2014-02-23 02:07 am
ericadawn16) wrote2014-02-23 02:07 am
Friends to the End: The One Where Everybody Finds Out
Title: Friends to the End: The One Where Everybody Finds Out
Author: Ericadawn16
Prompt: The wonderful mash-up of Friends and Avengers
Character/Pairing(s): Phil/Clint, Previous Jessica Drew/Clint, Bobbi Morse/Steve Rogers, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane, Peter Parker/Mary Jane, Clint/Wanda, Maria Hill/Bruce Banner, Kurt Wagner/Amanda,
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Nah, nothing worse than the films.
Spoilers: Post-Movie AU
Summary: Bobbi, Darcy and Sam decide to mess with Tony and Steve. Clint and Natasha talk. There's a huge change in Loki's condition.
Beta: BIG Thanks to lavendergaia, valoscope and i_llbedammned.
Author's Note: Phil's supposed super power comes from someone else' theory but I'm sorry, I can't remember who proposed it.
The One Where Everybody Finds Out
February 23, 2018
"Thor seems in better spirits lately. Is there anything I should know about?" Phil asked Bruce over the phone. He was in his office on the bus. Folders demanded his attention, including one on Peter's friend, Harry. However, he had called Bruce instead.
"Yeah, Loki is off all the machines and breathing on his own. By all appearances, he seems to be in perfect health and ready to wake up at any time," the other replied but Phil knew him too well for that.
"But?"
"Hank and I are concerned about his brain activity. It's not reacting the way we imagined it would. There are areas not lighting up," Bruce uttered.
"You don't think he's going to wake up?"
"I just don't know but if he does, he'll be altered and we might have to accept..."
"You think he came back wrong," Phil interrupted. He didn't mean for the tone to be in his voice yet it was there. The subject matter was still raw after all this time. Bruce paused for a bit before explaining, "I thought you would know best."
"Yeah," Phil uttered. All his emotions started to creep back in. His right hand was on his chest and he knew he'd been tracing part of the scar without thinking. "When he wakes up, let him go as soon as possible whether that's Asgard or his penthouse. I don't want anyone taking advantage of his condition and you know that Thor wouldn't either. His appearance alone would be very distressing and we've been more lax about security than we should have."
"I'll make it happen," he promised. Phil realized he'd said Loki waking up as a certainty instead of just a possibility. Perhaps it was just because he'd learned the hard way not to under-estimate Loki.
*****************************************************
"Did I ever tell you about that time in Miami when..." Tony Stark started.
"Only about a million times," Darcy Lewis complained. She pulled on her shoulder length brunette locks and was pleased that it was looking halfway decent again as opposed to something she'd be pulling out of the drain.
"Fine," Tony said. She half expected him to stick his tongue out. Instead, he straightened and announced, "I have some things to look at down in R&D."
Then, he turned to Steve Rogers, saying, "Weren't you going to look into that thing for your shield?"
"Right, we can share the elevator," Steve agreed and they left. Darcy sunk back in her chair and tried to avoid eye contact with the two others that remained on the lounge floor. However, Bobbi Barton had other ideas. She kept looking from Darcy to Sam Wilson and back again.
"Really? We aren't going to talk about this?" she asked. "If that wasn't code for having sex, then I should go resign to Fury right now that my spy skills are ruined."
Darcy let herself glance at Sam and found he had a huge grin.
"FINALLY!" Sam exclaimed. "I thought I was the only one who'd figured it out. It's been going for months but I didn't want to say anything if no one else knew."
"Ooh, we could tell them that we know," Darcy suggested. It would be one less secret she'd have to keep because despite working for SHIELD, she found that having secrets was really stressful and confusing.
"Or, we could not tell them we know and have a little fun of our own," Bobbi suggested with an expression that Darcy had never seen before. It was a little scary.
She kind of- liked it.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Sam asked.
"We catch them in the act so they can't talk their way out of it or make excuses. We work for SHIELD dammit, this should be a piece of cake," Bobbi explained.
"I'm in," Sam said before Darcy could so she had to add, "me too."
"Great, this is going to be fun," Bobbi said. Nope, she was definitely scary when she was being devious.
******************************************************
Clint spun and stomped, matching the movements to those on the screen. Then, the figure did jazz hands. When he was unable to do so, the game reprimanded him.
"Bitch," Clint complained with a glare at Tasha. She smirked.
"Just because you broke your arm doesn't mean I can let you get out of shape," she explained. He continued to glare. Then, he sighed and flopped onto her couch.
"I'm old," he declared. She chuckled at him with that knowing smile. He chose to ignore it. Old was what he felt.
"And how did you come to this conclusion?" she asked.
"My son can write his name and tie his own shoes. He doesn't need me anymore."
Tasha guffawed.
"Well, that's what it feels like. Ben's going to school and being productive and I'm here, sucking at video games and trying to be a good boy," Clint complained.
"You could have let SHIELD go. After all this time, you had an escape plan," she spoke. "No one was forcing you to kill anymore."
He wanted to sink into the couch and disappear. They had talked before about leaving SHIELD. There was blood on top of blood and growing more all the time.
"I can't," he admitted aloud for the first time. "For one thing, now I know the true cost of how I got in here in the first place. They kept me in the dark about everything."
"You weren't the only one," she spoke, sitting down beside him and he needed that reminder that he wasn't the only one that SHIELD had lied to. There was so much wrong in the world; so much wrong that he was surrounded with that he was grateful about how Ben proved that there was still good in the world, too.
"I wish I could be an Avenger without SHIELD. In this tower and out there, we have a different code than SHIELD. Just being around Steve makes me want to be a better person and we don't kill unless it's the last resort. I like being the good guy. You remember that benefit concert we did in December?" he asked. She nodded although Clint knew she hadn't made much of an appearance at it.
"Pepper told me that we raised a million dollars. A million dollars and all for charity! Can you believe that? Do you know how many kids that could help?" Clint asked although it was rhetorical. "She's going to help me use their resources through their Maria Stark Foundation to help kids without a home...kids like I was."
"That's great," Tasha told him. "Taking out some of the red."
Clint decided not to comment on that. He didn't want to encourage Natasha if she was going to be in a mood. He took his soda from the table and guzzled it down.
"You can't tell me that with your newfound antiquity that you haven't been thinking about it," she spoke and none of the possibilities in his head for what she meant was pleasant.
"Tash?"
"About death. It could be any one of us," Tasha uttered.
"Now who's being morbid," Clint complained.
"Loki was considered a God and everyone thought he was dead. He might still be. If that could happen to him, then anything seems possible. Even those with Super Soldier Serum," she spoke and hugged herself.
"I didn't realize how much you cared for Steve and Bruce," he chided; trying to break the heaviness with the humor that was second nature to him. In return, she gave him a look but it wasn't the one he wanted. He wanted the look she gave when she found him exasperating. Instead, it was that lost look she wore when thinking about Russia.
The game droned on and Clint shut it off. The spell of her past seemed to break and she stood up, walking towards the bar.
"What are you and Bobbi doing tonight?" she asked.
"I'm in charge of dinner. I'd prefer cereal but I think she's expecting omelets," he explained.
"Once you've had a Barton omelet, it's hard to settle for cereal," Tasha said, making herself a drink. "Bobbi's with Phil?"
"No, she's got a project with Sam and Darcy."
Clint felt her stare before he looked at her.
"Bobbi and Darcy together could be dangerous," she commented. This was true, however...
"I think Sam will keep them from anything that could threaten national security. They're probably just fucking with Tony," he explained.
"If it's good, I want a copy."
"If it's good, everyone will want a copy," he replied. "And what will you be doing?"
"Katya," she said with a smirk.
Clint knew that dressing up as Katya meant that Tasha just wanted to get laid and playing up to Russian stereotypes usually made that easier.
"Tomorrow, they want me to start spying on Cybertek for a while so Natalie will return," she said and took a swallow.
"Maybe you'll find a new guy or girl," he suggested. "Especially since you have a type between Winter, Yelena, 'Puck', me..."
She was quiet but it wasn't because he'd been out of line. He realized she wasn't including him in that list. Her expression was the one she wore when thinking about her imaginary ledger.
"I'm not still on that list, am I?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Of course you are," she uttered, just as soft. Clint closed his eyes for a moment.
"Then, take me off. If it's about me, I can tell you to drop it," he said.
"It doesn't work that way-"
"Tash."
"It doesn't work that way and you know it. Only I can decide that. When was the last time you've been to Bed-Stuy?" she asked.
He shook his head. Bed-Stuy was painful, but...
"You were the first person who really gave me a choice in what I wanted to do. You saved me," he argued.
"I saved you, but I also did my best to damn you. I took you under my wing and made you mine," she uttered. He refused to believe that as he stood up from the couch. Disbelief was mixed with anger that she felt this way.
"No," Clint argued.
"Clint, you've always been different," she said. "You always cared more than the rest of us."
'You have heart.'
It'd been years and the memory came unbidden. His heart started to pound.
"Tash, no..."
"Clint..."
Her blue eyes were resolute.
"We're bad people but we don't have to let that define us anymore," he pleaded. They stared at each other for a moment that felt like an eternity.
"I can't. I've done so much more than you ever did, Clint," she uttered. Her voice slipped into a heavier Russian that told him how upset she was as well. He stepped closer and held her arm.
"Tasha..." he started but there was nothing more to be said. He let go and put that hand through his hair instead. The silence was suffocating. Clint left her. He waited for an elevator and tried to get his composure back but memories flashed through his head; his dad beating his mom, Natasha finding him half-dead like an angel, what happened in Bed-Stuy, Loki with his crazed look...
He closed his eyes and knew there was one voice he wanted to hear so he took out his cellphone. As he rode up, Vange answered and he asked, "Can I talk to Ben?"
*****************************************************************
"Thanks, Fitz," Bobbi said and hung up. Then, she turned to the others. "Fitz tracked their cellphone movements. They went up to Steve's floor and Tony didn't leave until fifteen seconds ago. Sam, how about you and I go talk to him about his research projects? Darcy can go flirt with Steve."
"Why me?" Darcy asked.
"I agree that being the ex-girlfriend, I'd be more logical but I wouldn't do that to Clint and Steve would never do that to Clint either. I'm not sure Sam is his type despite this Tony thing-"
"I agree, I don't think he's ever been with a man before. Maybe Bucky-"
"Fine, I'll do it. I'll seduce Captain America," Darcy conceded.
"Good, he's still up in his floor. Let's get this plan into action!" Bobbi declared and clapped her hands. It reminded her of the stuff they used to do at the SHIELD academy.
************************************************************************
Darcy frowned at the email reminder from Jemma that her physical was over-due. She hated them. While it was better that Jemma did it instead of some stranger, she still hated them.
"Okay Darcy, you can do this. Try to think of his hot body and not how he treats you like a little sister," she whispered to herself. She knocked on his door even though JARVIS would have announced her presence.
"Darcy, hi," Steve said. "Sorry, I was in the shower."
She tried not to smile at his wearing only a towel. Steve did have a very impressive chest; almost as impressive as her own.
"We were thinking of upgrading your security clearance but you'd need another Psychiatrist appointment," she explained. This wasn't actually a lie either.
"You could have just called me about that," Steve suggested.
"I know, but we never have any time just for the two of us. You've been a little distant lately," she said. Natasha taught her the best lies were based in truth. A frown almost formed at Steve's lips.
"You are right about that and considering I'm supposed to be the leader and you're our PR leader and Phil's right hand woman, we really should be closer," Steve agreed.
"Yes, closer," she repeated and placed her hand on his arm. For a second, he paused at that. Had she pushed her luck? Or should be more forward?
"Are your muscles even more...muscley?" she asked. Then, she made a mental note not to be sent on undercover missions ever.
"I don't think so, but I haven't really paid attention. Excuse me while I change clothes," Steve said and went into his bedroom.
Once the door was closed, Darcy did a literal face-palm.
***************************************************************
"How's R&D?" Bobbi asked Tony. They were riding down the elevator with Sam.
"The usual; some internal spats, problems with the technology not catching up with what we want to do, experiments ruined by human error," he said with a shrug.
He was such a master of bullshit. Bobbi had to be impressed. How much could he devise for his own lie?
"What about Steve's shield? What are they doing to that?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure why we didn't think of it before, but we're going to add a small tracker with a range capability of almost the whole universe. The goal is to be on Asgard and still be tracked from here because you never know what might happen," he answered.
"Vibranium again?" she asked.
"Yeah, SHIELD has an even better stockpile than we do," Tony responded. She could tell from his brown eyes that he found that suspicious. All she knew was that information about their Vibranium supply was Level Eight and above. "And there are also final tweaks to the new Avengers Tower in L.A."
"West Coast Avengers?" Sam asked.
"Kind of catchy," Tony replied.
He was going to be harder than she thought. Bobbi hoped that Darcy had made better progress.
*******************************************************************************
Steve put on boxers and picked up his phone from the bedside table. After the other picked up, he asked, "Tony, how do you know if a person is actually a shape-shifter?"
"Who are we talking about and what did they do?"
"Darcy is in my living room and flirting with me," Steve explained.
"Bobbi and Sam have just been grilling me with questions," Tony explained. This meant there were three possible imposters in their midst?
"Wait, I know what this is," Tony added. "They know, they know about us."
"What?"
Still, it all made sense and it was bound to happen eventually. For almost a year, Steve and Tony had been sleeping together. It was more of a compulsion than anything. Tony thought Loki was behind it and Steve believed that now.
"What do we do?" Steve asked.
"Two can play that game and we can win, right?" Tony asked but Steve knew better than to respond. Tony didn't want an answer.
"What do we do?"
***************************************************************************
Phil Coulson sat back in his chair on the Bus. They were due at LaGuardia in about twenty-one minutes and he was on the phone with May Parker.
"Did you need something, May?" he asked. He thought he recognized that tone and her round-about way of asking. Usually, she was direct but this must be serious.
"I need you to pick up the party recipes from Susan Richards. The Baxter is right across from you so I thought it'd be easiest," she explained.
"Too busy?" he asked.
"The rabbits are in the garden again," May told him.
"Of course, I'll bring it over to you later," he agreed.
"Thanks," she said and hung up. Phil gripped the edge of the desk. May barely had enough backyard for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones to get married in last month. She never had a garden. This was her code for saying they had moles. If she had moles and SHIELD had moles, they had real problems.
*********************************************************************************
Per Tony's instructions, Steve only put a pair of pants with a belt and a white tank top. Then, he rejoined Darcy in the main area.
"You've been hitting the gym, haven't you?" he asked.
"I have; maybe I'll even be a Lara Croft one of these days," she said with a laugh. She flexed her biceps and Steve forced himself to touch them. Even clothed, it still felt invasive. She took his hand and led them to the couch.
*******************************************************************************
Tony had last left Bobbi and Sam on the cafeteria floor. He was a little surprised that they were still there but maybe it was an easy base of operations for their plan. If he was being honest, Tony had hoped to be caught earlier. He hated lying to Pepper and thought of Pepper finding that out, but he also wanted this to be over. With Loki in a coma and Wanda not his favorite person, he wasn't sure how that could happen.
However, this was about winning because he hated to lose at anything.
He walked over to their table and sat down before putting a newspaper to his face so no one else could read his lips. Tony wanted to really sell it.
"I'm worried about Darcy, that she's a HYDRA agent or something. Has she been acting odd to you?" he asked. They knew why she was acting weird but that would incriminate themselves.
"She has been a little weird lately," Sam agreed. "What were you thinking?"
"I think we round up everyone possible and confront her. It's not like she's alone with anyone right now, is she?"
"Well...she's with Steve-"
"Then, we should do this immediately. He could be in danger," Tony declared. Bobbi looked to Sam and they hesitated. Then, she nodded.
"You're right."
Suddenly, there was a sound that reminded him of a cat screeching. The other two looked around as well but most didn't seem to have heard it.
"What the hell was that? Did someone bring in a cat without letting me know first?" he asked. Obviously, he and Pepper wanted everyone to feel welcome but pets were messy.
"Sir?" JARVIS chimed from his pocket. He took out his phone and asked, "Yes?"
"Mister Loki has woken up. Are there any specific protocols you want me to follow?"
Loki was awake? Tony could still remember when all that was left of him was a burnt corpse after the battle between Dvorak and Allerdyce. Those Asgardians were harder to kill than he thought. His curiosity wanted to visit his room on medical and see for himself. He was going to resist this though. A stray thought entered his mind that the scream could mean someone had given him a mirror. He frowned.
"I believe Agent has left instructions so follow those," he stated.
"Very good, sir."
**********************************************************************
Jemma carried the package to Bruce.
"I think I was interrupting something. Rogers and Darcy did not seem pleased," she commented. It felt like they had just landed when Bruce summoned her here.
"I don't care," Bruce spat. "He's the only one with the right measurements. It'll be loose but he shouldn't be tripping over it or falling out of it."
He knocked on the door, opened it and set the package inside.
"But why would he even need a suit? Can't he just form the illusion of one with his 'magic'?" she asked and couldn't help scoffing. It was all science somehow.
"Not now, I need you to go down and have a car and driver ready to take him to his penthouse," Bruce told her. This was getting stranger. She knew Loki had teleported before. Maybe he was still weak from his coma. As she walked into the elevator, Thor came out of it.
******************************************************************************
Phil walked onto the Richards' living quarters of the Baxter Building. Only certain people had this privilege.
"Phil!" Susan called. "I didn't know you were coming."
Phil knew he shouldn't have trusted Reed to tell her something when he sounded like he was in the middle of an experiment.
"May sent me on SWORD business. I think you have a package for me to deliver?" he suggested.
"Yes, I do. I think it's upstairs. Get some tea or coffee if you like," she offered before leaving his sight.
"Thanks," he said after her although he had no intentions of having anything. It was easier and more polite this way. He wondered around the main room when two blurs appeared beside him.
"Uncle Phil!" Franklin and Valeria cried.
They were getting so big. He did some quick calculations. Franklin was almost eight and Valeria was almost five.
"Come on, Uncle Phil. We have something to show you in the play room," Valeria cried before grabbing his arm and pulling him towards their rooms.
********************************************************************************
Natasha sat on Phil's couch. Technically, it was Loki's couch since it was his penthouse, but Phil had taken one of the extra bedrooms over four years ago and had lived alone for the past three months while Loki lay in his coma.
With a frown, she re-crossed her legs.
She had never felt so...mortal. The thought was alien to her and she realized that it was a large part of what had been bothering her all these months. She was supposed to be indestructible, or almost indestructible. Now, things appeared to be different. There were gods, beings from other planets and weapons they hadn't even imagined when she was a little girl.
Yet the six of them still remained.
When the door knob twisted, she didn't jump. She'd heard him in the small doorway after the elevator stopped. The lights were off and sunlight was dim in the early evening. Still, she saw when he first noticed her.
"Katya."
She smirked at his memory appearing intact. The good mood was sure to change soon.
"I am not sure how well my stamina would cope with our usual games," he rasped and made his way beside her on the couch. The exertion of talking and his throat still being sore from the tubes provoked a coughing fit. She handed him the smoothie she'd picked up on the way over.
"Orgasmic."
She smirked again.
"What now?" she whispered. She knew how she would prefer this encounter to end, but either way, they needed to know his mental state and whether his threat status had changed.
"I suppose I could try to finish the job but the end result would be the same and I can't bear three more months under Stark's charge," he spat. She held her surprise. Loki had been a lot of things but suicidal had never been one of them.
"Why are you in such a hurry to die?"
"Why are you so eager for me to live?" he retorted. "I have no purpose. My utter failure is complete. I'm hollow with my insides gutted and my outsides painted anew, like those eggs your people enjoy making in the spring."
Natasha studied him in a way that she had never allowed herself before. She had only visited his bedside once to leave a trinket that the two of them would only know the significance of. Even in the dim light, she could make out thin, blond curls encircling his head and bright blue eyes.
"What good am I to anyone?" he rasped. "I'm Thor's pale shadow." He coughed again and drank his smoothie. Loki hadn't appeared with his usual click. She hadn't expected it in his weakened state but Loki was also wearing one of Steve's suits. Loki would never be caught dead in anything tailored to someone else's measurements.
Loki in his normal state couldn't go five minutes without using magic of some sort and she had seen him weaker than this but still able to use his tricks.
Loki had proved it was possible to remove a mutant's abilities and now it seemed he had proved it was possible to lose magic. It was killing him and it made all his remarks make sense.
How should she proceed? If she encouraged his current state, he could prove more suicidal after all. If she pushed him away from it too much, it could drive him to proving himself against them. His knowledge could overcome previous grudges with Doctor Doom and others.
There was only one real option.
She grabbed the back of his head, pressed her lips to his and kissed him. As it deepened, she was very pleased with her choice of smoothie flavor. She let go.
"You may not have your magic but you're still you. Your kiss was just as cold as always," she told him. He didn't bother to hide his disbelief.
"I know you felt my warmth so you know it's the truth."
He looked away from her before reaching under the lamp on the table to turn it on. His fingers pulled at his blond curls.
"What now?" he asked just as she did before.
"Whatever you'd like."
"But it can't, can it? I'm still Loki. They have expect-" Loki started and drank more of his smoothie. "Expectations that I'm evil and nothing can change that."
"You can change how you view yourself," she said without thinking and cursed the universe for its sense of humor.
"You don't have to let your past define who you are now. You could even change your name."
"Puck?"
"Whatever you'd like," she spoke. He'd never use Puck in public. It was their joke. "With your changed looks, they might never recognize you."
"Is that why you only Anglicized your name?" Loki asked. "You didn't want the fresh start. You felt you didn't deserve it."
"There's been a lot of blood on my account," she uttered and hated how she glanced at her right hand. "But we were discussing you."
"I am bored and you are dressed as Katya, there is better use of our time," Loki suggested as his fingers caressed her wrist. Her other hand touched his face. Unlike a normal burn victim, it held no scarring and was smooth without a wrinkle anywhere.
Then, he kissed her.
************************************************************************
Phil had been concerned about what the two children might be showing him. Franklin was proving to be one of the most powerful beings he had ever met.
However, it proved to be a little more mundane. They had wanted a puppy. Their parents refused them so they created one themselves. The puppy felt real in every way and licked Phil's face. He set it back down and the puppy chased the children around the room. Phil backed away so he wouldn't get run over. Naturally, he backed right into the glass windows. He turned to look at the view and saw his apartment building. Curiosity made him look for his own windows on top and there were lights on. Loki was awake and back home. The edges of his mouth made a frown at being left out of that loop. He was kissing a woman with black hair and boots with stiletto heels; Natasha in her Katya disguise. His eyes adjusted to the dimness in the apartment across from where he was and he noticed other details like the wig and boots were all that Natasha was wearing. Loki was also naked. He should look away yet he couldn't-
"Mr. Phil, what are you looking at?" Valeria asked.
"Nothing," he said way too quickly as he turned around. He resisted the urge to cover the window behind him.
"Your face is all red like when Franklin likes a girl," she continued.
"Val!" Franklin complained.
"Children, what is it now?" asked a new voice. He looked to see an older woman with white hair done up in braids and her style of dress was ancient; more akin to a Victorian nanny.
Phil strode over and held his hand out.
"You must be Agatha Harkness. I've heard of you but have never had the pleasure," he said.
"And you're Phil Coulson, I've heard wonderful things," she said, shaking his hand in a firm manner. She was taller than he'd expected. With her sturdy heels, she was just about his height. A thought struck him and before he could think better of it, he'd said, "Aggy."
"Yes," she agreed.
"Aggy? I've known her for six years and can only call her, Ms. Harkness. You've known her for six seconds and she's
'Aggy'," Susan complained while walking towards them. "I'd love to know your secret. I think that's your superpower,
Phil. You make everyone feel like you've known them all their lives."
Phil wondered if his face was flush again. Ms. Harkness smiled and her blue eyes twinkled.
"I don't mind you calling me Aggy, it's been a long time since I've heard that," she said.
"Here's May's findings," Susan spoke, handing him a manila envelope. He nodded and took his leave.
***************************************************************************
Natasha and Loki had moved to his bed. It was amazing how much of his belonging had been nothing more than an illusion.
"Someone will have to take you shopping," she remarked of his now empty closet. He sighed, turning away from her.
"I suppose that Tony and Steve will be stuck forever in lust," she said, thinking about leaving. Unlike in the past, she could tell he was tired.
He began to laugh.
"As if I would keep their only means of respite, where's the fun in that?" he asked. "Tony had the power himself all along. The problem is that he has to admit something aloud that he'd rather not even admit to himself."
"That's brilliant," she admitted. "And impossible."
"We'll see," he rasped. She made a mental note to text Phil to make sure he had a full fridge of fruits and a professional blender. Then again, they were pretending that Phil didn't know about the two of them. She could text Darcy and claim Bruce had told her but Darcy's recent behavior seemed to suggest that she also knew.
****************************************************************************
Darcy wasn't sure what she was doing anymore. She was supposed to seduce Steve but she didn't want to seduce Steve. It felt weird. He was going along with it yet he also seemed to feel timid and forced. Frank Sinatra sang in the background.
She was sitting on his lap when her phone chirped. Natasha texted that Loki should have lots of fruits and a professional blender. It was an odd request until she saw that Phil had texted that he'd caught the live show from the texts they'd discussed.
"Oh shit," she uttered without thinking.
"What?"
"Nothing," Darcy uttered and he reached for the phone.
"I want to see it," Steve requested, almost on the point of whining and definitely not hot. Then, there was pounding on the door.
"Cap! Open up!" Tony screamed.
When Steve opened the door, it felt like half the Avengers strode in: Tony, Bobbi, Sam, Clint, Bruce, Thor and Jennifer Walters.
Bobbi walked over to her and unbuttoned the top two buttons so her bra showed.
"That's better," she said. Darcy resisted the temptation to cross her arms. Normally, she loved a little cleavage but this was weird. She didn't know how the other females could do it for mission after mission. Maybe this was how Jane felt when she tried to dress her.
"Darcy, are you really Darcy or are you an agent of AIM?" Tony asked.
"Smooth Tony, really smooth," Sam commented.
"And how do we know you're not some alien bounty hunter like on that old tv show?" Darcy asked. "You've been sneaking around with Steve."
"I have not been 'sneaking around' with Steve," Tony argued.
"Then, prove it. Kiss him and prove that it's all awkward and shit and you haven't been practicing all these months," Darcy spoke.
"What? That's stupid, this was supposed to be about you," Tony retorted. She looked at Bobbi for support.
"If it's so stupid, then you should be able to do it without a fuss," Bobbi argued and looked at Clint. Darcy knew he would have preferred not being involved.
"Tony man, you should just do it because when those two are determined about something-"
"I don't want to," Tony spat. He was getting angry. Tony was one of the mellowest people Darcy knew. This was getting interesting.
"Tony, it's not a big deal. We can just do blood tests on you and Darcy, double-check that you're both really you," Bruce suggested.
"I am me!" Tony cried.
"Tony-" Thor started and clasped his shoulder. Tony twisted out of it. He was breathing heavily.
"I-"
His brown eyes darted around at everyone in the room.
"I have been with Steve all this time, but I-"
There were some gasps from the room. Steve was looking at the floor.
"I don't want to be. I don't want to kiss you," Tony admitted.
"Why?" Darcy asked.
Because...because I love Pepper," Tony declared. Everyone knew that already. Some nodded. Tony looked like he was going to throw up.
"I love her and...and I want to marry her," he confessed. He clapped a hand to his mouth. His expression was as shocked as everyone else.
"Way to go!" Darcy cried and threw her arms around him.
"Please don't hug me!" he cried.
"Absolutely," she agreed and let go. Other settled for handshakes or pats on the back. A few minutes passed and Darcy announced, "Oh, I'm not a traitor or anything. I just wanted Tony and Steve to admit it out in the open, but this is totally better...sorry, Steve."
"No, I'm fine. It feels like a weight has been lifted off me," he said with a smile.
*********************************************************************
Bobbi found Steve in his kitchen. The other were still milling about in the main area.
"We never really had that talk," she said. It stopped Steve in his tracks.
"Do we have to have that talk?" he asked.
"I think we do."
"Fine, I ask you to marry me and you said 'no'. Nine months later you marry Barton, why?" Steve asked.
"I could never love you the way you wanted or deserved. Clint doesn't have those expectations," she explained.
"Do you love him?" Steve asked in his simple blunt fashion. Bobbi caught a glimpse of Clint smiling with Thor.
"Not yet, but I will. He doesn't love me either, but I know he's trying and that's what matters," she admitted.
Steve shook his head.
"I don't understand it but I guess," he started. "I guess as long as you two are happy, that's what counts."
***********************************************************************
Author: Ericadawn16
Prompt: The wonderful mash-up of Friends and Avengers
Character/Pairing(s): Phil/Clint, Previous Jessica Drew/Clint, Bobbi Morse/Steve Rogers, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane, Peter Parker/Mary Jane, Clint/Wanda, Maria Hill/Bruce Banner, Kurt Wagner/Amanda,
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Nah, nothing worse than the films.
Spoilers: Post-Movie AU
Summary: Bobbi, Darcy and Sam decide to mess with Tony and Steve. Clint and Natasha talk. There's a huge change in Loki's condition.
Beta: BIG Thanks to lavendergaia, valoscope and i_llbedammned.
Author's Note: Phil's supposed super power comes from someone else' theory but I'm sorry, I can't remember who proposed it.
The One Where Everybody Finds Out
February 23, 2018
"Thor seems in better spirits lately. Is there anything I should know about?" Phil asked Bruce over the phone. He was in his office on the bus. Folders demanded his attention, including one on Peter's friend, Harry. However, he had called Bruce instead.
"Yeah, Loki is off all the machines and breathing on his own. By all appearances, he seems to be in perfect health and ready to wake up at any time," the other replied but Phil knew him too well for that.
"But?"
"Hank and I are concerned about his brain activity. It's not reacting the way we imagined it would. There are areas not lighting up," Bruce uttered.
"You don't think he's going to wake up?"
"I just don't know but if he does, he'll be altered and we might have to accept..."
"You think he came back wrong," Phil interrupted. He didn't mean for the tone to be in his voice yet it was there. The subject matter was still raw after all this time. Bruce paused for a bit before explaining, "I thought you would know best."
"Yeah," Phil uttered. All his emotions started to creep back in. His right hand was on his chest and he knew he'd been tracing part of the scar without thinking. "When he wakes up, let him go as soon as possible whether that's Asgard or his penthouse. I don't want anyone taking advantage of his condition and you know that Thor wouldn't either. His appearance alone would be very distressing and we've been more lax about security than we should have."
"I'll make it happen," he promised. Phil realized he'd said Loki waking up as a certainty instead of just a possibility. Perhaps it was just because he'd learned the hard way not to under-estimate Loki.
*****************************************************
"Did I ever tell you about that time in Miami when..." Tony Stark started.
"Only about a million times," Darcy Lewis complained. She pulled on her shoulder length brunette locks and was pleased that it was looking halfway decent again as opposed to something she'd be pulling out of the drain.
"Fine," Tony said. She half expected him to stick his tongue out. Instead, he straightened and announced, "I have some things to look at down in R&D."
Then, he turned to Steve Rogers, saying, "Weren't you going to look into that thing for your shield?"
"Right, we can share the elevator," Steve agreed and they left. Darcy sunk back in her chair and tried to avoid eye contact with the two others that remained on the lounge floor. However, Bobbi Barton had other ideas. She kept looking from Darcy to Sam Wilson and back again.
"Really? We aren't going to talk about this?" she asked. "If that wasn't code for having sex, then I should go resign to Fury right now that my spy skills are ruined."
Darcy let herself glance at Sam and found he had a huge grin.
"FINALLY!" Sam exclaimed. "I thought I was the only one who'd figured it out. It's been going for months but I didn't want to say anything if no one else knew."
"Ooh, we could tell them that we know," Darcy suggested. It would be one less secret she'd have to keep because despite working for SHIELD, she found that having secrets was really stressful and confusing.
"Or, we could not tell them we know and have a little fun of our own," Bobbi suggested with an expression that Darcy had never seen before. It was a little scary.
She kind of- liked it.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Sam asked.
"We catch them in the act so they can't talk their way out of it or make excuses. We work for SHIELD dammit, this should be a piece of cake," Bobbi explained.
"I'm in," Sam said before Darcy could so she had to add, "me too."
"Great, this is going to be fun," Bobbi said. Nope, she was definitely scary when she was being devious.
******************************************************
Clint spun and stomped, matching the movements to those on the screen. Then, the figure did jazz hands. When he was unable to do so, the game reprimanded him.
"Bitch," Clint complained with a glare at Tasha. She smirked.
"Just because you broke your arm doesn't mean I can let you get out of shape," she explained. He continued to glare. Then, he sighed and flopped onto her couch.
"I'm old," he declared. She chuckled at him with that knowing smile. He chose to ignore it. Old was what he felt.
"And how did you come to this conclusion?" she asked.
"My son can write his name and tie his own shoes. He doesn't need me anymore."
Tasha guffawed.
"Well, that's what it feels like. Ben's going to school and being productive and I'm here, sucking at video games and trying to be a good boy," Clint complained.
"You could have let SHIELD go. After all this time, you had an escape plan," she spoke. "No one was forcing you to kill anymore."
He wanted to sink into the couch and disappear. They had talked before about leaving SHIELD. There was blood on top of blood and growing more all the time.
"I can't," he admitted aloud for the first time. "For one thing, now I know the true cost of how I got in here in the first place. They kept me in the dark about everything."
"You weren't the only one," she spoke, sitting down beside him and he needed that reminder that he wasn't the only one that SHIELD had lied to. There was so much wrong in the world; so much wrong that he was surrounded with that he was grateful about how Ben proved that there was still good in the world, too.
"I wish I could be an Avenger without SHIELD. In this tower and out there, we have a different code than SHIELD. Just being around Steve makes me want to be a better person and we don't kill unless it's the last resort. I like being the good guy. You remember that benefit concert we did in December?" he asked. She nodded although Clint knew she hadn't made much of an appearance at it.
"Pepper told me that we raised a million dollars. A million dollars and all for charity! Can you believe that? Do you know how many kids that could help?" Clint asked although it was rhetorical. "She's going to help me use their resources through their Maria Stark Foundation to help kids without a home...kids like I was."
"That's great," Tasha told him. "Taking out some of the red."
Clint decided not to comment on that. He didn't want to encourage Natasha if she was going to be in a mood. He took his soda from the table and guzzled it down.
"You can't tell me that with your newfound antiquity that you haven't been thinking about it," she spoke and none of the possibilities in his head for what she meant was pleasant.
"Tash?"
"About death. It could be any one of us," Tasha uttered.
"Now who's being morbid," Clint complained.
"Loki was considered a God and everyone thought he was dead. He might still be. If that could happen to him, then anything seems possible. Even those with Super Soldier Serum," she spoke and hugged herself.
"I didn't realize how much you cared for Steve and Bruce," he chided; trying to break the heaviness with the humor that was second nature to him. In return, she gave him a look but it wasn't the one he wanted. He wanted the look she gave when she found him exasperating. Instead, it was that lost look she wore when thinking about Russia.
The game droned on and Clint shut it off. The spell of her past seemed to break and she stood up, walking towards the bar.
"What are you and Bobbi doing tonight?" she asked.
"I'm in charge of dinner. I'd prefer cereal but I think she's expecting omelets," he explained.
"Once you've had a Barton omelet, it's hard to settle for cereal," Tasha said, making herself a drink. "Bobbi's with Phil?"
"No, she's got a project with Sam and Darcy."
Clint felt her stare before he looked at her.
"Bobbi and Darcy together could be dangerous," she commented. This was true, however...
"I think Sam will keep them from anything that could threaten national security. They're probably just fucking with Tony," he explained.
"If it's good, I want a copy."
"If it's good, everyone will want a copy," he replied. "And what will you be doing?"
"Katya," she said with a smirk.
Clint knew that dressing up as Katya meant that Tasha just wanted to get laid and playing up to Russian stereotypes usually made that easier.
"Tomorrow, they want me to start spying on Cybertek for a while so Natalie will return," she said and took a swallow.
"Maybe you'll find a new guy or girl," he suggested. "Especially since you have a type between Winter, Yelena, 'Puck', me..."
She was quiet but it wasn't because he'd been out of line. He realized she wasn't including him in that list. Her expression was the one she wore when thinking about her imaginary ledger.
"I'm not still on that list, am I?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Of course you are," she uttered, just as soft. Clint closed his eyes for a moment.
"Then, take me off. If it's about me, I can tell you to drop it," he said.
"It doesn't work that way-"
"Tash."
"It doesn't work that way and you know it. Only I can decide that. When was the last time you've been to Bed-Stuy?" she asked.
He shook his head. Bed-Stuy was painful, but...
"You were the first person who really gave me a choice in what I wanted to do. You saved me," he argued.
"I saved you, but I also did my best to damn you. I took you under my wing and made you mine," she uttered. He refused to believe that as he stood up from the couch. Disbelief was mixed with anger that she felt this way.
"No," Clint argued.
"Clint, you've always been different," she said. "You always cared more than the rest of us."
'You have heart.'
It'd been years and the memory came unbidden. His heart started to pound.
"Tash, no..."
"Clint..."
Her blue eyes were resolute.
"We're bad people but we don't have to let that define us anymore," he pleaded. They stared at each other for a moment that felt like an eternity.
"I can't. I've done so much more than you ever did, Clint," she uttered. Her voice slipped into a heavier Russian that told him how upset she was as well. He stepped closer and held her arm.
"Tasha..." he started but there was nothing more to be said. He let go and put that hand through his hair instead. The silence was suffocating. Clint left her. He waited for an elevator and tried to get his composure back but memories flashed through his head; his dad beating his mom, Natasha finding him half-dead like an angel, what happened in Bed-Stuy, Loki with his crazed look...
He closed his eyes and knew there was one voice he wanted to hear so he took out his cellphone. As he rode up, Vange answered and he asked, "Can I talk to Ben?"
*****************************************************************
"Thanks, Fitz," Bobbi said and hung up. Then, she turned to the others. "Fitz tracked their cellphone movements. They went up to Steve's floor and Tony didn't leave until fifteen seconds ago. Sam, how about you and I go talk to him about his research projects? Darcy can go flirt with Steve."
"Why me?" Darcy asked.
"I agree that being the ex-girlfriend, I'd be more logical but I wouldn't do that to Clint and Steve would never do that to Clint either. I'm not sure Sam is his type despite this Tony thing-"
"I agree, I don't think he's ever been with a man before. Maybe Bucky-"
"Fine, I'll do it. I'll seduce Captain America," Darcy conceded.
"Good, he's still up in his floor. Let's get this plan into action!" Bobbi declared and clapped her hands. It reminded her of the stuff they used to do at the SHIELD academy.
************************************************************************
Darcy frowned at the email reminder from Jemma that her physical was over-due. She hated them. While it was better that Jemma did it instead of some stranger, she still hated them.
"Okay Darcy, you can do this. Try to think of his hot body and not how he treats you like a little sister," she whispered to herself. She knocked on his door even though JARVIS would have announced her presence.
"Darcy, hi," Steve said. "Sorry, I was in the shower."
She tried not to smile at his wearing only a towel. Steve did have a very impressive chest; almost as impressive as her own.
"We were thinking of upgrading your security clearance but you'd need another Psychiatrist appointment," she explained. This wasn't actually a lie either.
"You could have just called me about that," Steve suggested.
"I know, but we never have any time just for the two of us. You've been a little distant lately," she said. Natasha taught her the best lies were based in truth. A frown almost formed at Steve's lips.
"You are right about that and considering I'm supposed to be the leader and you're our PR leader and Phil's right hand woman, we really should be closer," Steve agreed.
"Yes, closer," she repeated and placed her hand on his arm. For a second, he paused at that. Had she pushed her luck? Or should be more forward?
"Are your muscles even more...muscley?" she asked. Then, she made a mental note not to be sent on undercover missions ever.
"I don't think so, but I haven't really paid attention. Excuse me while I change clothes," Steve said and went into his bedroom.
Once the door was closed, Darcy did a literal face-palm.
***************************************************************
"How's R&D?" Bobbi asked Tony. They were riding down the elevator with Sam.
"The usual; some internal spats, problems with the technology not catching up with what we want to do, experiments ruined by human error," he said with a shrug.
He was such a master of bullshit. Bobbi had to be impressed. How much could he devise for his own lie?
"What about Steve's shield? What are they doing to that?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure why we didn't think of it before, but we're going to add a small tracker with a range capability of almost the whole universe. The goal is to be on Asgard and still be tracked from here because you never know what might happen," he answered.
"Vibranium again?" she asked.
"Yeah, SHIELD has an even better stockpile than we do," Tony responded. She could tell from his brown eyes that he found that suspicious. All she knew was that information about their Vibranium supply was Level Eight and above. "And there are also final tweaks to the new Avengers Tower in L.A."
"West Coast Avengers?" Sam asked.
"Kind of catchy," Tony replied.
He was going to be harder than she thought. Bobbi hoped that Darcy had made better progress.
*******************************************************************************
Steve put on boxers and picked up his phone from the bedside table. After the other picked up, he asked, "Tony, how do you know if a person is actually a shape-shifter?"
"Who are we talking about and what did they do?"
"Darcy is in my living room and flirting with me," Steve explained.
"Bobbi and Sam have just been grilling me with questions," Tony explained. This meant there were three possible imposters in their midst?
"Wait, I know what this is," Tony added. "They know, they know about us."
"What?"
Still, it all made sense and it was bound to happen eventually. For almost a year, Steve and Tony had been sleeping together. It was more of a compulsion than anything. Tony thought Loki was behind it and Steve believed that now.
"What do we do?" Steve asked.
"Two can play that game and we can win, right?" Tony asked but Steve knew better than to respond. Tony didn't want an answer.
"What do we do?"
***************************************************************************
Phil Coulson sat back in his chair on the Bus. They were due at LaGuardia in about twenty-one minutes and he was on the phone with May Parker.
"Did you need something, May?" he asked. He thought he recognized that tone and her round-about way of asking. Usually, she was direct but this must be serious.
"I need you to pick up the party recipes from Susan Richards. The Baxter is right across from you so I thought it'd be easiest," she explained.
"Too busy?" he asked.
"The rabbits are in the garden again," May told him.
"Of course, I'll bring it over to you later," he agreed.
"Thanks," she said and hung up. Phil gripped the edge of the desk. May barely had enough backyard for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones to get married in last month. She never had a garden. This was her code for saying they had moles. If she had moles and SHIELD had moles, they had real problems.
*********************************************************************************
Per Tony's instructions, Steve only put a pair of pants with a belt and a white tank top. Then, he rejoined Darcy in the main area.
"You've been hitting the gym, haven't you?" he asked.
"I have; maybe I'll even be a Lara Croft one of these days," she said with a laugh. She flexed her biceps and Steve forced himself to touch them. Even clothed, it still felt invasive. She took his hand and led them to the couch.
*******************************************************************************
Tony had last left Bobbi and Sam on the cafeteria floor. He was a little surprised that they were still there but maybe it was an easy base of operations for their plan. If he was being honest, Tony had hoped to be caught earlier. He hated lying to Pepper and thought of Pepper finding that out, but he also wanted this to be over. With Loki in a coma and Wanda not his favorite person, he wasn't sure how that could happen.
However, this was about winning because he hated to lose at anything.
He walked over to their table and sat down before putting a newspaper to his face so no one else could read his lips. Tony wanted to really sell it.
"I'm worried about Darcy, that she's a HYDRA agent or something. Has she been acting odd to you?" he asked. They knew why she was acting weird but that would incriminate themselves.
"She has been a little weird lately," Sam agreed. "What were you thinking?"
"I think we round up everyone possible and confront her. It's not like she's alone with anyone right now, is she?"
"Well...she's with Steve-"
"Then, we should do this immediately. He could be in danger," Tony declared. Bobbi looked to Sam and they hesitated. Then, she nodded.
"You're right."
Suddenly, there was a sound that reminded him of a cat screeching. The other two looked around as well but most didn't seem to have heard it.
"What the hell was that? Did someone bring in a cat without letting me know first?" he asked. Obviously, he and Pepper wanted everyone to feel welcome but pets were messy.
"Sir?" JARVIS chimed from his pocket. He took out his phone and asked, "Yes?"
"Mister Loki has woken up. Are there any specific protocols you want me to follow?"
Loki was awake? Tony could still remember when all that was left of him was a burnt corpse after the battle between Dvorak and Allerdyce. Those Asgardians were harder to kill than he thought. His curiosity wanted to visit his room on medical and see for himself. He was going to resist this though. A stray thought entered his mind that the scream could mean someone had given him a mirror. He frowned.
"I believe Agent has left instructions so follow those," he stated.
"Very good, sir."
**********************************************************************
Jemma carried the package to Bruce.
"I think I was interrupting something. Rogers and Darcy did not seem pleased," she commented. It felt like they had just landed when Bruce summoned her here.
"I don't care," Bruce spat. "He's the only one with the right measurements. It'll be loose but he shouldn't be tripping over it or falling out of it."
He knocked on the door, opened it and set the package inside.
"But why would he even need a suit? Can't he just form the illusion of one with his 'magic'?" she asked and couldn't help scoffing. It was all science somehow.
"Not now, I need you to go down and have a car and driver ready to take him to his penthouse," Bruce told her. This was getting stranger. She knew Loki had teleported before. Maybe he was still weak from his coma. As she walked into the elevator, Thor came out of it.
******************************************************************************
Phil walked onto the Richards' living quarters of the Baxter Building. Only certain people had this privilege.
"Phil!" Susan called. "I didn't know you were coming."
Phil knew he shouldn't have trusted Reed to tell her something when he sounded like he was in the middle of an experiment.
"May sent me on SWORD business. I think you have a package for me to deliver?" he suggested.
"Yes, I do. I think it's upstairs. Get some tea or coffee if you like," she offered before leaving his sight.
"Thanks," he said after her although he had no intentions of having anything. It was easier and more polite this way. He wondered around the main room when two blurs appeared beside him.
"Uncle Phil!" Franklin and Valeria cried.
They were getting so big. He did some quick calculations. Franklin was almost eight and Valeria was almost five.
"Come on, Uncle Phil. We have something to show you in the play room," Valeria cried before grabbing his arm and pulling him towards their rooms.
********************************************************************************
Natasha sat on Phil's couch. Technically, it was Loki's couch since it was his penthouse, but Phil had taken one of the extra bedrooms over four years ago and had lived alone for the past three months while Loki lay in his coma.
With a frown, she re-crossed her legs.
She had never felt so...mortal. The thought was alien to her and she realized that it was a large part of what had been bothering her all these months. She was supposed to be indestructible, or almost indestructible. Now, things appeared to be different. There were gods, beings from other planets and weapons they hadn't even imagined when she was a little girl.
Yet the six of them still remained.
When the door knob twisted, she didn't jump. She'd heard him in the small doorway after the elevator stopped. The lights were off and sunlight was dim in the early evening. Still, she saw when he first noticed her.
"Katya."
She smirked at his memory appearing intact. The good mood was sure to change soon.
"I am not sure how well my stamina would cope with our usual games," he rasped and made his way beside her on the couch. The exertion of talking and his throat still being sore from the tubes provoked a coughing fit. She handed him the smoothie she'd picked up on the way over.
"Orgasmic."
She smirked again.
"What now?" she whispered. She knew how she would prefer this encounter to end, but either way, they needed to know his mental state and whether his threat status had changed.
"I suppose I could try to finish the job but the end result would be the same and I can't bear three more months under Stark's charge," he spat. She held her surprise. Loki had been a lot of things but suicidal had never been one of them.
"Why are you in such a hurry to die?"
"Why are you so eager for me to live?" he retorted. "I have no purpose. My utter failure is complete. I'm hollow with my insides gutted and my outsides painted anew, like those eggs your people enjoy making in the spring."
Natasha studied him in a way that she had never allowed herself before. She had only visited his bedside once to leave a trinket that the two of them would only know the significance of. Even in the dim light, she could make out thin, blond curls encircling his head and bright blue eyes.
"What good am I to anyone?" he rasped. "I'm Thor's pale shadow." He coughed again and drank his smoothie. Loki hadn't appeared with his usual click. She hadn't expected it in his weakened state but Loki was also wearing one of Steve's suits. Loki would never be caught dead in anything tailored to someone else's measurements.
Loki in his normal state couldn't go five minutes without using magic of some sort and she had seen him weaker than this but still able to use his tricks.
Loki had proved it was possible to remove a mutant's abilities and now it seemed he had proved it was possible to lose magic. It was killing him and it made all his remarks make sense.
How should she proceed? If she encouraged his current state, he could prove more suicidal after all. If she pushed him away from it too much, it could drive him to proving himself against them. His knowledge could overcome previous grudges with Doctor Doom and others.
There was only one real option.
She grabbed the back of his head, pressed her lips to his and kissed him. As it deepened, she was very pleased with her choice of smoothie flavor. She let go.
"You may not have your magic but you're still you. Your kiss was just as cold as always," she told him. He didn't bother to hide his disbelief.
"I know you felt my warmth so you know it's the truth."
He looked away from her before reaching under the lamp on the table to turn it on. His fingers pulled at his blond curls.
"What now?" he asked just as she did before.
"Whatever you'd like."
"But it can't, can it? I'm still Loki. They have expect-" Loki started and drank more of his smoothie. "Expectations that I'm evil and nothing can change that."
"You can change how you view yourself," she said without thinking and cursed the universe for its sense of humor.
"You don't have to let your past define who you are now. You could even change your name."
"Puck?"
"Whatever you'd like," she spoke. He'd never use Puck in public. It was their joke. "With your changed looks, they might never recognize you."
"Is that why you only Anglicized your name?" Loki asked. "You didn't want the fresh start. You felt you didn't deserve it."
"There's been a lot of blood on my account," she uttered and hated how she glanced at her right hand. "But we were discussing you."
"I am bored and you are dressed as Katya, there is better use of our time," Loki suggested as his fingers caressed her wrist. Her other hand touched his face. Unlike a normal burn victim, it held no scarring and was smooth without a wrinkle anywhere.
Then, he kissed her.
************************************************************************
Phil had been concerned about what the two children might be showing him. Franklin was proving to be one of the most powerful beings he had ever met.
However, it proved to be a little more mundane. They had wanted a puppy. Their parents refused them so they created one themselves. The puppy felt real in every way and licked Phil's face. He set it back down and the puppy chased the children around the room. Phil backed away so he wouldn't get run over. Naturally, he backed right into the glass windows. He turned to look at the view and saw his apartment building. Curiosity made him look for his own windows on top and there were lights on. Loki was awake and back home. The edges of his mouth made a frown at being left out of that loop. He was kissing a woman with black hair and boots with stiletto heels; Natasha in her Katya disguise. His eyes adjusted to the dimness in the apartment across from where he was and he noticed other details like the wig and boots were all that Natasha was wearing. Loki was also naked. He should look away yet he couldn't-
"Mr. Phil, what are you looking at?" Valeria asked.
"Nothing," he said way too quickly as he turned around. He resisted the urge to cover the window behind him.
"Your face is all red like when Franklin likes a girl," she continued.
"Val!" Franklin complained.
"Children, what is it now?" asked a new voice. He looked to see an older woman with white hair done up in braids and her style of dress was ancient; more akin to a Victorian nanny.
Phil strode over and held his hand out.
"You must be Agatha Harkness. I've heard of you but have never had the pleasure," he said.
"And you're Phil Coulson, I've heard wonderful things," she said, shaking his hand in a firm manner. She was taller than he'd expected. With her sturdy heels, she was just about his height. A thought struck him and before he could think better of it, he'd said, "Aggy."
"Yes," she agreed.
"Aggy? I've known her for six years and can only call her, Ms. Harkness. You've known her for six seconds and she's
'Aggy'," Susan complained while walking towards them. "I'd love to know your secret. I think that's your superpower,
Phil. You make everyone feel like you've known them all their lives."
Phil wondered if his face was flush again. Ms. Harkness smiled and her blue eyes twinkled.
"I don't mind you calling me Aggy, it's been a long time since I've heard that," she said.
"Here's May's findings," Susan spoke, handing him a manila envelope. He nodded and took his leave.
***************************************************************************
Natasha and Loki had moved to his bed. It was amazing how much of his belonging had been nothing more than an illusion.
"Someone will have to take you shopping," she remarked of his now empty closet. He sighed, turning away from her.
"I suppose that Tony and Steve will be stuck forever in lust," she said, thinking about leaving. Unlike in the past, she could tell he was tired.
He began to laugh.
"As if I would keep their only means of respite, where's the fun in that?" he asked. "Tony had the power himself all along. The problem is that he has to admit something aloud that he'd rather not even admit to himself."
"That's brilliant," she admitted. "And impossible."
"We'll see," he rasped. She made a mental note to text Phil to make sure he had a full fridge of fruits and a professional blender. Then again, they were pretending that Phil didn't know about the two of them. She could text Darcy and claim Bruce had told her but Darcy's recent behavior seemed to suggest that she also knew.
****************************************************************************
Darcy wasn't sure what she was doing anymore. She was supposed to seduce Steve but she didn't want to seduce Steve. It felt weird. He was going along with it yet he also seemed to feel timid and forced. Frank Sinatra sang in the background.
She was sitting on his lap when her phone chirped. Natasha texted that Loki should have lots of fruits and a professional blender. It was an odd request until she saw that Phil had texted that he'd caught the live show from the texts they'd discussed.
"Oh shit," she uttered without thinking.
"What?"
"Nothing," Darcy uttered and he reached for the phone.
"I want to see it," Steve requested, almost on the point of whining and definitely not hot. Then, there was pounding on the door.
"Cap! Open up!" Tony screamed.
When Steve opened the door, it felt like half the Avengers strode in: Tony, Bobbi, Sam, Clint, Bruce, Thor and Jennifer Walters.
Bobbi walked over to her and unbuttoned the top two buttons so her bra showed.
"That's better," she said. Darcy resisted the temptation to cross her arms. Normally, she loved a little cleavage but this was weird. She didn't know how the other females could do it for mission after mission. Maybe this was how Jane felt when she tried to dress her.
"Darcy, are you really Darcy or are you an agent of AIM?" Tony asked.
"Smooth Tony, really smooth," Sam commented.
"And how do we know you're not some alien bounty hunter like on that old tv show?" Darcy asked. "You've been sneaking around with Steve."
"I have not been 'sneaking around' with Steve," Tony argued.
"Then, prove it. Kiss him and prove that it's all awkward and shit and you haven't been practicing all these months," Darcy spoke.
"What? That's stupid, this was supposed to be about you," Tony retorted. She looked at Bobbi for support.
"If it's so stupid, then you should be able to do it without a fuss," Bobbi argued and looked at Clint. Darcy knew he would have preferred not being involved.
"Tony man, you should just do it because when those two are determined about something-"
"I don't want to," Tony spat. He was getting angry. Tony was one of the mellowest people Darcy knew. This was getting interesting.
"Tony, it's not a big deal. We can just do blood tests on you and Darcy, double-check that you're both really you," Bruce suggested.
"I am me!" Tony cried.
"Tony-" Thor started and clasped his shoulder. Tony twisted out of it. He was breathing heavily.
"I-"
His brown eyes darted around at everyone in the room.
"I have been with Steve all this time, but I-"
There were some gasps from the room. Steve was looking at the floor.
"I don't want to be. I don't want to kiss you," Tony admitted.
"Why?" Darcy asked.
Because...because I love Pepper," Tony declared. Everyone knew that already. Some nodded. Tony looked like he was going to throw up.
"I love her and...and I want to marry her," he confessed. He clapped a hand to his mouth. His expression was as shocked as everyone else.
"Way to go!" Darcy cried and threw her arms around him.
"Please don't hug me!" he cried.
"Absolutely," she agreed and let go. Other settled for handshakes or pats on the back. A few minutes passed and Darcy announced, "Oh, I'm not a traitor or anything. I just wanted Tony and Steve to admit it out in the open, but this is totally better...sorry, Steve."
"No, I'm fine. It feels like a weight has been lifted off me," he said with a smile.
*********************************************************************
Bobbi found Steve in his kitchen. The other were still milling about in the main area.
"We never really had that talk," she said. It stopped Steve in his tracks.
"Do we have to have that talk?" he asked.
"I think we do."
"Fine, I ask you to marry me and you said 'no'. Nine months later you marry Barton, why?" Steve asked.
"I could never love you the way you wanted or deserved. Clint doesn't have those expectations," she explained.
"Do you love him?" Steve asked in his simple blunt fashion. Bobbi caught a glimpse of Clint smiling with Thor.
"Not yet, but I will. He doesn't love me either, but I know he's trying and that's what matters," she admitted.
Steve shook his head.
"I don't understand it but I guess," he started. "I guess as long as you two are happy, that's what counts."
***********************************************************************
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It's odd that the person that Loki ruined the most, Phil, is now the one arguing on his behalf for kindness when he wakes up.
The moment when they all realize that Tony and Steve are sleeping together is kind of wonderful.
The fact that Natasha has a specific look for when she is thinking about Russia is very telling.
I appreciate the fact that the person Clint calls when all the memories come back is Ben.
The fact that Steve's first response to Darcy flirting with him is she must bea Skrull amuses me.
Why does Steve go along with Tony's crazy plan?
Seeing Loki fall into a depression after being crippled seems very likely. He would be full of rage and futility if he couldn't do simple things. I would like to think his rage would spur him on, but I doubt he would even remember what it was like to be without magic.
I'm a bit surprised that Loki and Natasha immediately jumped to sex when he still has all the scarring on the inside of his throat from the tubes.
Why does Tony jump to marrying Pepper when he already deeply involved with Steve and knows it will be complicated?
The admission that Bobbi and Clint don't love each other is a bit sobering.
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Here's what I added to Phil's scene:
"You think he came back wrong," Phil interrupted. He didn't mean for the tone to be in his voice yet it was there. The subject matter was still raw after all this time. Bruce paused for a bit before explaining, "I thought you would know best."
"Yeah," Phil uttered. All his emotions started to creep back in. His right hand was on his chest and he knew he'd been tracing part of the scar without thinking. He remembered what it was like to come back. Everyone seemed to be staring at him. There were whispers once his back was turned. Everything made it harder for him to get back to the normal that he wanted; to feel normal. Then, he had begun to realize how he would never have that normal again.
It was excruciating and he'd never wish that on his worst enemy, even the one responsible for his situation in the first place.
"When he wakes up, let him go as soon as possible whether that's Asgard or his penthouse. I don't want anyone taking advantage of his condition and you know that Thor wouldn't either. His appearance alone would be very distressing and we've been more lax about security than we should have."
This is me trying to explain why Steve would go along with it:
"What do we do?" Steve asked. He expected some plan as crazy as the man who came up with it. However, that's one of the things he liked about Tony. Tony was Howard's son, but in a lot of ways, he reminded Steve of Bucky more. Bucky was always coming up with schemes that didn't have a chance in Hell of working, like that time they pretended to be rookies just drafted to the Dodgers. Bucky could pass as one but Steve when he barely weighed ninety pounds?
Not so much.
He stilled missed his best friend. However, he tried to force away the memories as Tony explained everything.
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Tony doesn't jump to marry Pepper. I tried to show it was the opposite, like describing Tony as looking like he might throw up. He never wanted to admit that. The key is the conversation with Tasha and Loki beforehand:
"I suppose that Tony and Steve will be stuck forever in lust," she said, thinking about leaving. Unlike in the past, she could tell he was tired.
He began to laugh.
"As if I would keep their only means of respite, where's the fun in that?" he asked. "Tony had the power himself all along. The problem is that he has to admit something aloud that he'd rather not even admit to himself."
"That's brilliant," she admitted. "And impossible."
"We'll see," he rasped.
However, I am definitely going to make it more obvious in the next chapter that the spell was broken by Tony's admission.
Thank you again...it is a struggle between the light-hearted source material and the angst the plots tend to turn into.
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I like the parallel between Tony and Bucky that he draws. Part of me wonders if this will make him latch on to Tony even with the spell broken.
I get that he was struggling with it and that his own admission was what broke the spell. You conveyed that well. I was just puzzled why he blurted it out to everybody. I can get having a mental revelation, but it seems like a large jump from just sleeping with another guy within the hour to saying you want to marry someone, even if it is your heart's desire. *shrug* Maybe that's jsut me though.