Avengers Preferences

Telling Him Big News [Bruce, Bucky, Clint, Tony]

A/N:  Sorry for the wait!  I've been so exhausted lately, so a twenty minute nap turned into 8 hours of sleep.  (I've been sleep-deprived for over two months now, it's ridiculous.)

***

B r u c e   B a n n e r :

It was nearly impossible to keep a straight face as you made your way to the lab. Usually, you never read his mail, but, because most of it was for you, you ending up opening his letter. By the time you had realized it was for him, it was too late.

"Bruce?" you ask, cautiously walking into the lab. For weeks, he had been working on a project so secret that even you and Tony didn't know what it was. But at least twice a week, he would lock himself in, only coming out to use the facilities and to scavenge the kitchen.

His head pops up, covering whatever he was working on. "(Y/N), what are you doing in here?"

"I...got some news for you." You hand him the envelope, only to take it back as he reaches for it.

"News not worth sharing?"

"Just like this project." He sighs. "Bruce, you never keep anything from me, what's going on?"

"I'm trying to reverse the serum." Your husband stands up. "(Y/N), I'm sick and tired of being on both ends of the spectrum, either someone who's too afraid or something that doesn't know what fear or control is. I'm done playing both sides."

Bruce comes over to you, holding your hands lovingly like proposing to you all over again. "I just want to be normal."

Looking into his eyes, you comfort, "I don't need you to be like me to be loveable." You place the letter into his hands and leave the office, only to hear his feet running to you and feel his arms wrap around and spin you in laughter ten seconds later.

Dear Mr. Banner.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is please to invite you to the Nobel Award Ceremony...

Bu c k y   B a r n e s :

"What?"

"Can you tell him for me? Please? I can't do it."

How Natasha thought you could tell Bucky the news was beyond you. How she expected for you to tell him without cracking was unfathomable. She was the one who could maintain her composure, and if she couldn't while tell you over the phone, how in the world could you do it in person to the one person you love most in the world?

"Nat, I—"

"(Y/N), you're going to have to. If he lashes out, you're safe. I'm not."

"But—"

"(Y/N), please...for me? This is the solid you owed me, and I'm calling it in."

You sigh. Even if she didn't have to balance out the favors, she was right. You were the only one Bucky could trust, the only one he wasn't wired harshly to kill on sight nor plan to murder. You were the only hope in making sure no one else got hurt.

You were the only hope he had.

As you hang up the phone, Bucky walks by, seeing the tears that were drowning your face. Worried, he rushes over to you, wrapping you ever so delicately in a hug.

"What's wrong? Who was that? Are you okay?"

You shake your head, not saying a word until your heart stopped pounding against your chest like SWAT at the front door. When you could, you pushed yourself softly off him, trying to look into his eyes; he would see you, and maybe that would be enough to maintain some control.

"Bucky...darling...Steve is dead."

C l i n t   B a r t o n :

"Oh no," Clint says as he sees you slam down the house phone. "I know that look. What's happened?"

Your blood was boiling as you stormed to the car, a confused Clint following behind you. If you weren't a mammal, you would be an angry bird; if you were a movie, you'd be Fast and Furious; but you were a mammal and not a movie, and you were most definitely one livid mama bear ready for the kill.

"Babe, what happened? Who was that?"

"The school."

"Oh boy," Clint said, already knowing what this was all about.

It was your child's first day of kindergarten. You never wanted to send them to public school. Even though your child kept your maiden name, they still had Clint's eyes. And when people ask what your parents do and your child goes on about their dad's archery skills, anyone can figure out that they're related to the acclaimed and defamed Avenger. You knew the kids would tease them, and you knew, with your temper and the overprotectiveness you and Clint both had for each other, your child would fight back.

But Clint wanted your child to do to public school, arguing that they need to have a normal life and not be shut in by you both.

"We never should have sent them."

"Darling, it's just the first day—"

"Exactly, Clint! There's only going to be more of this for ten months, and if we're trying to keep a low profile, yelling at the other parents for their own children's bullying is not the answer!"

"Shhh," he tries to ease, rubbing circle in your back. "They can say the same to us because their kid got squared in the face."

As you pull up to the school, he locks the car door. You give him a confused look.

"What the—"

"We're not going in until we're both get a hold of ourselves."

"I'm fine—"

"You're clutching that wheel tighter than you did my hand the first time you met my parents."

By "met his parents," he meant seeing their grave. But you were still nervous all the same, knowing it was a big step for your relationship.

You stay in the car for ten minutes until he deems that you're ready.

"I'll talk to the principal while you come back to the car?"

"Okay, that's fair."

With a smile and a kiss, he unlocks the door, and, hand in hand, you walk inside the school.

T o n y   S t a r k :

"Tony—"

"What do you mean I'm bankrupt?!"

There was no way to tell him the news without telling him directly. In his latest visit, Loki had messed with all the Avengers, including brainwashing Bucky, increasing the serum in Banner, and wiping out the legendary billionaire clean from his amassed funds.

"Thor's working on it, babe—"

"Don't 'babe' me, I'm serious! Where's Jarvis?"

You shake your head. "When I said 'everything is gone,' I meant even the technology that Jarvis runs under."

"You could have called—"

"I did, and you told me abruptly, 'This can wait, I'm on a mission.'"

"You could have told me it was an emergency!"

"You hung up on me!"

He lets out an aggravated groan, kicking the walls of what used to be his famed building. Now, it was just a memory, an eviction notice on the front door.

You place sturdy hands onto his shoulders. "Look, Thor is doing everything he can, and Fury said to lay low so nothing else happens. I still have my job, still have money stored up in my savings and emergency vault, and still have my apartment downtown. We'll stay there and figure out how to deal one step at a time."

Seeing that he's calmed down a bit, you hold in an embrace, feeling his pulse slow and he hugging you back in a tight trust.

"We're going to be okay."