All in the name of Love (Supernatural x Reader x Avengers)

Chapter 6

When words failed him, Dean reached his hand across the table to rest over yours. The tiny gesture had an infallible work count - it was an encoded way between the two of you to salvage a situation when it had descended well beyond the capacity of words; mostly when the other had been through something rough.

No sooner than you had anticipated the oncoming contact, you drew your hand back, tucking it in your pocket. It was a pure knee-jerk reaction, with almost none of your conscious consent. Upon noticing the dejected look on Dean's face, it took all your strength to put your hand back on the table but this time Dean was the one who pulled away. He knew you were not ready and the last thing he wanted was to force himself on you. Again.

"Dean, I'm sorry." You hadn't the faintest clue why you had apologized. It felt like a moment where someone had to say something and those were the only words that came to mind. "What are you on about? I'm the one who tried to kill you." Dean's voice orchestrated a rumbly quality characteristic of the times when he was trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Not about that." You mentally cursed yourself for the brusque manner, "About leaving Kansas, leaving you, without so much as a goodbye. I just needed some time away after everything that happened. I hope you understand. Well, no, if you did you wouldn't be sitting here in front of me."

"That hurt?" Dean motioned to your neck, efficiently ignoring your sarcasm. 'Turtlenecks. Wear turtlenecks!' You scolded yourself. "Not anymore."

"(Y/N), I...I...Man, I can't even bring myself to apologize. I'm too far gone." Dean leaned back into his chair in disappointment. "You gotta hear me out here. What I did, I would never have done it with a sane mind. The mark's trying to bend me to its will and so far, this is the worst thing it has made me do. Beating Cas to a pulp is a close second."

Dean paused for a moment, thinking over his words. "I have a confession to make. I have been hunting for a long time and the best by far was when you were by my side. When things get dark and nothing seems worth it, you are what keeps me going. You and Sam. I-"

"It's been a long day. How about some refreshing lemonade?" Tony barged into the room, tray of lemonade in hand, like a high schooler's mom afraid to leave her child alone with some guy because they might make out with him. He handed you a glass and before Dean could grab the other one, he took it for himself. "What are we talking about?"

Tony's presence relieved you to an ample extent. Being in a room alone with Dean had made your insides tremble in fear. It was not supposed to happen - you hated it - Dean wasn't supposed to have that effect on you. Yet, here you were, grateful for Tony's complete and utter lack of privacy.

Grateful was not the word Dean would use to describe his reaction. "Need I remind you of the definition of 'private'?" He asked, irked. Tony seemed immune to the negativity. "Need I remind you that this is my building?" He fired back.

Dean openly glared at Tony. His gaze turned soft when it landed on you. "We will continue this later." He said before leaving.

The importance of the conversation with Dean was only realized after he had left, giving birth to simmering anger aimed specifically at Tony. "What is wrong with you, Stark?" You stood up, the furniture loudly screamed beneath you. "The man was trying to hold a conversation!"

The snarky demeanor seemed to have melted off Tony. "Yeah, well, it didn't look like you wanted to." His eyes were glued to the ground as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Your face contorted in several lines. "Since when do you know what I want?"

"Fine. I don't like him! Is that what you are waiting to hear?" Tony relented, mirroring a quarter of the fury stewing within you. You stomped over to him, chests inches away, and jabbed a single finger right above his arc reactor. "What I am waiting for is a perceptive reason as to why you went to such despicable lengths to sabotage the one thing that is intrinsically important to my life."

"It's just...because I...I am-" Tony's face went red as he struggled to get the words out, "Oh, damn it, I'll just show you." You narrowed your eyes. "Show me wha-"

The sentence never achieved completion because Tony's lips connected with yours as one of his hands caressed your lower back and the other tangled itself into your fine hair. His lips were sweet and tasted like blueberry - most definitely from breakfast - and you found yourself tracing his jawline with your fingers which trailed down his neck and rested on his chest.

Tony took his time devouring the closeness and when he pulled away, he was glowing with joy - even a blind person could tell. He pulled you to himself by the waist and ran his thumb over your slightly swollen lips. "I have been waiting so long to do that." He blushed. The Tony Stark blushed. He lifted your chin up when he noticed you would not look at him. "Did I cross a line? When you kissed back I thought it was okay with you. Don't shut down on me."

You hadn't. In fact, you were functioning at twice the normal rate, only mentally. The kiss was wonderful, as it should be; this was Tony's field of expertise, besides building things and destroying his system with coffee. 'Then what the hell am I feeling so guilty about?'

Dean would be the best guess. Turns out, the consistent flirting going on between the two of you over the better part of half a dozen years was not all fun and games. It would explain why Dean had driven all the way to New York just to apologize, or why he looked like he would suffer through hell all over again than hurt you, in any way. If things were different, if you had not just been in a death match with Dean, maybe pulling Tony in for another kiss would not have deserved a second thought. But things were the same.

Instead of going for his lips, you wrapped your arms his torso. His heartbeat was soothing, your eyes fluttered shut. "If we're going to do this, we need to figure some things out." You whispered against his chest.

-

Sam saw his brother exiting the glass doors and rushed up to him. "Dean! What happened?"

"Stark won't let me get through to her." Dean frowned. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Sam had known this trip to New York was in vain and yet a faint glimmer of hope had persisted through, which had shriveled and died at this very moment. "Now what?"

Dean could not let his brother be disappointed, it was his optimism that kept him going. "It's either him or me." He placed a hand on Sam's shoulder, "And if (Y/N) has a say in it, it's going to be me."