𝔸𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕤 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦

Chapter 9

Tw: Past injury, DID, strong language

Poking her head out from the doorway, behind Bucky, Nat huffed quietly and raised a hand to call after Tony. "I take my eyes off you for what, five minutes, and it all goes to shit."

"Hey, you're the babysitter, remember?" Tony grinned cheekily back at her, brushing himself off.

Beside him, Bruce smacked his arm gently and fixed his shirt cuffs, smiling apologetically back at Nat. She exhaled with her hands on her hips but ignored Tony altogether and ducked back indoors, leaving Bucky to follow after her like a lost puppy and Tony to drag Bruce inside by the wrist, glancing resentfully up at the sky where the beginnings of rain was starting to fall.

"Thor better not be causing this or I'll kick him in the groin later." Tony scowled as he heaved the doors to the Combat hall shut with a loud bang.

"All your problems are solved with violence, Tones," Bruce shook his head, giving him a lopsided smile.

Clint, who was leaning against the wall, eavesdropping on their conversation, shook his head cheerfully while Bruce merely looked mildly alarmed at his presence. "Bruce isn't gonna thank you for that later," he shared a wicked grin with Tony as Bruce flushed a bright pink and hit Tony on the arm a second time, turning his head sharply away from the pair.

Eyes sparkling devilishly, Tony opened his mouth, in all probability, to say something else about Thor, but the doors to the combat all swinging open again startled him into silence.

It didn't last long, however.

"Do you know how hard these things are to shut?" Tony asked, paying no notice to the way Steve was practically drenched in rainwater, a pretty but just as wet brunette girl giving him a curious look from behind her eyelashes.

Steve tried to explain himself, but Tony interrupted him, waving a finger in his direction. "No, you don't get to reply. That was rhetorical."

Rolling his eyes at Steve's vexed expression, Tony moved to close the doors again, his jacket sleeves and hands already soaked with water. Barely a second after he'd gotten them shut, they flew open a third time, revealing a perfectly dry Thor, Loki, Stephen, Wanda and Pietro.

Tony threw his arms up in surrender, flipping the group off as he stalked back to the other side of the gym.

Loki arched an eyebrow at Tony's retreating figure, glancing at Steve. "Did you put him in that mood, or was it Barton?" Looking as if he didn't look in the least bit inclined to reply, Steve sighed and ran a hand through his dripping blond hair. "Who says Tony can't get into one of his moods by himself?"

"Hey! I heard that!" Tony protested from the other side of the hall, Sam whacking the back of his head none too gently in return. His eyes slid shut the moment Tony shut up.

"For the love of god, Steve, are you going to introduce me or am I going to have to do it myself?" Peggy interrupted Steve before he could get another word out, a hard sparkle in her eye. Steve's cheeks coloured to the point of which he looked badly sunburnt, and he bit his lip.

"Sorry. I guess this isn't the type of first impression you were expecting."

"I have no idea exactly what you were expecting with this group," Stephen murmured under his breath, lowering his grey-blue eyes to glance at the floor.

Wanda turned to him, exasperated, but Peggy only grinned. "Better than England anyday," she stated, crossing her arms.

Half-hidden behind the blond she knew as Thor, a boy with dark curly hair and glasses that seemed to always be slipping down his nose bent a curious look at her.