The Cursed One

[chapter 14]

chapter 14: the team

"Guys?" The redhead called as they finally arrived back to New York. The Avengers Tower seemed a little empty. Natasha sighed softly as she looked around the living room. Normally, she expected Clint to be laying on the couch with his coffee mug in hand but the archer was nowhere in sight. Claire stood beside Natasha, shuffling her foot nervously against the floor. She wore a large baby blue sweater that draped over her hips and she wore black leggings with red converse sneakers. She pushed up her glasses slightly and sighed softly.

"Where have you been Na-" a voice said as the sound of someone walking down the steps came to Claire's ears. She turned slightly and looked to the billionaire that came down the steps. He was different than before. There was no glowing arch reactor in his chest. His eyes widened slightly as they landed on the blonde standing next to the Russian assassin. His hand gripped the stair railing and he looked to the girl. She was right there. She hadn't changed much. She was still the short adorable blonde he comes to know.

"Tony..." Claire started but before she could say anything else, the billionaire wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to him. She stuttered a little and let out a noise in protest before she relaxed in the hug, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face in his chest that no longer gave off that faint blue glow that was from the reactor in his chest. Anthony hugged her close and his left hand cupped the back of her head, his fingers tangling with her blonde hair.

"Shh," he said softly as he wrapped his right arm around her waist, holding her firmly against him. Claire's lip quivered slightly and she closed her eyes as a few tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Tony closed his eyes and rested his chin on top of her head. He sighed softly and stroked the back of her head soothingly. Natasha raised her eyebrow slightly and she looked at Tony and Claire. She hadn't seen Tony give someone this kind of affection in a while.

"I'll give you two some time alone while I go find the others," Natasha mumbled softly before she headed up the steps to find the rest of the team. Tony held her for a little longer before he slowly pulled away. He looked into her blue eyes and gently wiped away her tears that had fallen. He was happy that she was okay and now she was safe here with the whole team.

"It's been too long," Tony said softly as he looked to her. Claire looked up at him and she wiped at her eyes with the sleeves of her sweater. She sniffled softly and sighed before nodding in agreement with the billionaire. She huffed and rested her forehead against the place where his arc reactor once was. She had missed him so much. She bit her bottom lip slightly and sighed softly before she looked to the ground, letting her salty tears fall to the floor below.

"I-I missed you," she said softly, surprising the man. He looked back to her and sighed softly as he looked at her. He had missed her. He hugged her close to him and closed his eyes once again.

"I missed you too, Blondie," Tony said softly, making the girl smile a little. He sighed gently and then pulled away before looking to her, "let's go say hello to the rest of the team, hmm?"

"Sure.." Claire replied softly as she looked at him. Tony grinned softly and he took her bag before heading up the steps with her, his hand laying on the small of her back in a protective way. He had missed her so much. So did the whole team. Surprisingly, Steve missed her and they hadn't really talked as much when they had met. Yet Claire was simply a joy to be around. He remembered meeting her when she came to him for that job interview. He remembered his first impressions of her. He had thought she was adorable in many ways. Anthony sighed softly, looking back to that day.