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It wasn’t often that all the Avengers were in the tower on a Wednesday night, especially Wolverine. When there weren’t on a mission or busy preparing for one, the clone was usually upstate at the Xavier Institute, catching up on any Xmen business she missed or helping on what operations she could. So it seemed only right, in Steve and Natasha’s mind at least, that they have a team movie night. Everyone seemed siked. Now all they had to do was get Iron Man and Wolverine onboard with it.
Their partners had been on a work binge, closed up in Tony’s lab for 4 days, only emerging for food and occasionally, if Nat and Steve were lucky, a fuck. So, it was easy to say that they were excited to spend a whole two hours with them.
The two walked down the hallway, excitement coursing through them. Natasha gave a small knock on the lab’s door before entering. It was always a good idea to give the two a little warning, as Tony tended to startle if you pulled him away from his work immediately, and Laura, she was an ex-assassin. So announcing your presents was a necessity if you didn’t want a claw to the head.
As soon as they walked in, they were biting back adoring smiles. Kneeled next to the Iron Man suit was Laura, focused intently on something in the calf of the armor. Her dark eyes narrowed, and her tongue was bitten, reflexively, between her teeth. A Toronto Maple Leaf’s hoodie draped over her like a cloak, ending just above her knee. Tony sat at one of the metal workbenches, hunched over Wolverine’s suit, working vigorously, all the while muttering something along the lines of, how is this even supposed to protect you, it’s fucking spandex. Both of there hands were oil-stained, along with there faces and clothes for that matter.
“Hey guys,” Steve said, grabbing Laura’s attention first. Her enhanced hearing made it almost impossible to ignore people, “What’re you guys doing?”
Laura looked at Tony, waiting for him to respond, but he was too infused with his task to talk. The clone sighed, setting her tools on the small tray that was by her feet and stood, knees cracking painfully from how long she’d been kneeling. “Well, the short version is Stark’s armor needed repairs,”
That seemed to awaken Tony from his engineer’s trance. He gasped and set down his tools with a loud pang. He swiveled around on the metal stool and approached Laura.
“Correction, the short version is your suit was overdue for upgrades because seriously it’s spandex,” He said pointedly, “My suit didn’t need repairing until you decided it be a good idea to throw the vibranium slip-joint pliers at me,”
Laura shrugged, “You’re the one who said, hey can you toss me those pliers,”
Tony rubbed his temple, spreading more oil onto his face, causing Natasha and Steve to have to stifle chuckles, “It’s an expression, casual slang. Why don’t you go learn some, Wolfey,”
Laura crossed her arms over her chest, causing the hoodie to slide up and expose the shorts she was wearing underneath, “Do you wanna try that again because I’m this close to revoking Cerebro privileges?”
From the outside, it may seem like Laura and Tony disliked each other. They were always bickering and were very stingy with physical contact. But, that was just how their friendship was. Sure, they quarrel like children. But, the insults that passed between them held no true teeth. Laura, whether she would ever admit it or not, would always see Tony as a father. And Tony, although he tried to hide it, would always see Laura as a daughter.
“So,” Steve said, breaking their social bubble and inserting himself and Natasha into it, “We were thinking about having a movie night. Everyone’s in the tower, we don’t have any missions at the moment,”
“We’d think it be fun,” added Natasha, smiling at Laura. Her girlfriend reciprocated the smile, but her eyes showed obvious dislike for the idea. Natasha knew Laura hated watching movies, the volume was always too loud for her sensitive ears, even with headphones. But, there were other things you could during movies, especially if you sat in the very back.
“You guys in?” Steve asked, blue eyes shining with excitement.
As if sent by the gods, Laura’s phone chimed. Natasha sighed as she pulled it out to check. She read the message quickly before looking at them all.
“Hank just sent over a bunch of mission reports and requests that need my approval,” She said, tucking her phone back into the pocket of her hoodie.
Natasha nodded, excitement dampened. Steve looked at Tony, eyes hopeful.
“Steve, I’ve got twice the upgrades to do now, since Laura is going to be filling out reports,” The Captain nodded in response to his husband, joining Nat in sulking.
Laura gave Natasha a quick peck on the cheek, saying that she’d try her best to hurry so they can spend some time together tonight, before disappearing off into another part of the tower. Most likely their bedroom, seeing as that was where her laptop was. Tony smiled at the supersoldier, brown eyes showing that he was sorry. With a swift kiss, Tony turned back to his work, body returning to its hunched position.
--
Steve and Natasha returned to the living room, where the remainder of the team had piled up and the couches and floor. Bucky was the first to take notice of their solemn expressions, “What’s wrong?”
That question seemed to grab everyone’s attention, everyone’s eyes now on the two of them. Steve looked down, kicking his foot uncomfortably.
“They’re busy,” Nat answered, sitting down on the couch in between Clint and Wanda.
Peter gave a reassuring smile, “It’s okay Pops. It can just be us for tonight,”
The soldier smiled at his son’s attempts to cheer him up, “Thanks Pete,”
There was a moment of silence, everyone returning their attention to the television. Wanda looked beside her, at Natasha, “Didn’t she cancel on you last week?”
“Yep,” the spy said, pout deepening, “We made them two weeks in advance to avoid our schedules from overlapping,”
“What can you do?” Clint quipped, snatching the remote from Bucky, who was about to pick some movie from the ’60s for them to watch.
Bucky was about to retaliate with a knock to the head but was quickly soothed by Sam, who pulled closer into his side.
“Well,” The pararescuer answered, “You could always show some initiative in your relationships and force them to watch the damn movie. The problems are just gonna keep coming, no matter how much they try to solve them. There’s always something else that needs fixing,”
Natasha and Steve looked at each other, understanding passing between them, wordlessly. Without speaking they dashed, in unison, to their partner’s work stations; Tony’s being the lab, of course, and Laura’s being her and Natasha’s bedroom.
--
“Tones,” Steve said softly, placing a hand on his husband’s shoulder. Tony grunted in response, picking up one of the tools spread haphazardly around the table.
“Come with me,” The blonde commanded, swiveling the man around on his stool, prying his eyes away from his current task.
He gave a confused look to Steve, who simply raised his eyebrows expectantly in return. “Where to?”
“You’re gonna watch the movie with us,” Steve said excitedly.
“Baby,” Tony sighed, already turning back to the workbench, “I’m kinda busy right now. Tomorrow, I promise,”
Steve planted a firm hand on the seat and forced Tony to face him. His eyes were serious and his expression was no longer to the gentle soldier from Brooklyn. Now he was Captain America, “No,”
The engineer set down his tools, eyes locked with his husbands, “I’m not gonna lie, this is turning me on a bit,”
Steve gave an irritated huff, removing his hand from the stool. This time, Tony didn’t turn around. Steve had his full attention, “You’ve been working for almost a week straight. Peter and I have rarely seen you. You’ve barely spoken to the team since you Wolverine got back from the mission in Ireland. You need to take a break and spend time with us. Staying cooped up in your lab isn’t solving any problems. Frankly, it’s only creating more,”
“Babe, I-” Tony gestured to the pile of parts on the table. He was going to argue that he had to do this, that it was important, and it couldn’t wait. But, Steve had cut him, taking those oil-stained hands in his calloused ones, “Please,”
Steve knew, by the defeated look on his husband’s tan, beautiful face, that he’d won. But, Tony Stark was never one to go down without a proper fight, “Are you guys making Laura do this?”
Steve gave an amused grin, already pulling Tony from his seat, “Natasha is retrieving her as we speak,”
--
They exited the lab, meeting a very pleased Natasha and a somewhat grumpy Laura. While Steve restrained his smile, Tony made no effort to hide his amusement at Laura’s current disposition.
“They’re horrible aren’t they,” The billionaire said, although it had no heat. “A temptress, that’s what I’m dating,” Laura said through a tired smile. Natasha let a light laugh, hugging the clone further into her side. “Hey, you’re lucky. I married him,” Tony joked.
“Guys, come on,” Steve said through a laugh, “The movies waiting,” gesturing towards the end of the hallway that branched out into the living room.
They began down the hallway before Tony stopped them, “Laura aren’t you forgetting something?”
“I don’t think so,” She shrugged.
“Um,” He gestured to her bare legs, “Pants, maybe?’
Laura rolled hers, and continued down the hallway, “God, calm down dad,”
Sure it was a joke and was meant to be taken as a playful tease. But still, it tugged at Tony’s heartstrings, hearing that word come from Laura’s mouth. Even if, it was just a joke.
--
So far, movie night seemed to be a success. Sure, it got off to a rocky start, but everything had pretty much settled now. Steve, Tony, and Peter were snuggled up the couch, Peter already fast asleep and drooling on Cap’s shoulder. Bucky was sat on the floor between Sam’s legs. Vision and Wanda were cuddled close in one of the plush armchairs. Thor and Bruce had left halfway through the movie, apparently, they needed to take care of something. Clint and Rhodey were sat on the other loveseat, very much enjoying the movie. That only left Natasha and Laura.
They were sat in the very back, both for Laura’s sensitive hearing and privacy. PDA, while it wasn’t forbidden in the tower, was not Laura’s favorite thing. She preferred privacy, so that should comfortably express herself around Natasha, without worrying about peeping eyes. So, with everyone’s backs facing them, focused on the movie ahead, Laura deposited herself on top of her girlfriend, who was comfortably laid out on the chaise lounge.
Everyone appeared to be happy and healthy, and thoroughly enjoying movie night and the whole the togetherness of it. That was until Natasha felt a familiar hand creeping up her thigh.
“Natty,” Laura whispered into her ear, hand settling just above the redhead’s hip. Natasha chuckled, just soft enough for it to go unnoticed over the volume of the television, “Hey Laura,”
“It’s been a bit, y’know,” Laura said, planting feather-like kisses down the column of her throat. The spy hummed, pleased with the attention, “And whose fault is that,”
Laura sighed, head resting against her partner’s shoulder, “I’m sorry,”
Natasha was taken aback. Her tone was so unexpectedly genuine, that it crushed the woman’s heart. Sometimes her girlfriend, the clone trained to be an assassin from birth, could be so damn precious.
“It’s fine,” Nat reassured, rubbing a hand soothingly down her back as best she could from where it was trapped beneath her toned mass.
“No, it’s not. I’ve been an asshole and I’m really sorry,” Laura paused a moment, before continuing, “You deserve better,”
Natasha couldn’t believe it. How could Laura think she deserved better? Laura was better. Nat loved her more than anything and would do her best to give the girl anything her heart desired.
Natasha pulled the clone’s head out, from where it’d been resting against her shoulder, so she could look directly into her eyes. Although she spoke barely above a whisper, Natasha was careful to put as much legitimacy into her statement as possible, “Laura, I love you, so, so much. You’re dedicated to your work, to this team, to the X-men. They need you and I get that. If anything, I don’t deserve you,”
A blush crept it’s way up Laura’s neck and onto her sharp cheeks, causing Natasha to smile, “You’re so damn precious,”
Laura rolled her eyes, “Shut up,” although Nat could spy the grin replacing her frown, “And, I love you, too,”
Laura moved to kiss, Natasha, only to be stopped once again by a gentle tug on her hair that, if she was being honest, was having more of an effect on her than she’d care to admit.
“But,” Nat said, lips moving against Lauras’ as she did, “I do think you need to make more time for your personal life; that including me of course,”
“I’ll try,” The clone replied before kissing her.
“You will,” Natasha corrected, reciprocating immediately.