Magic Marvel (Stripper!AU)

Down Time

Every so often, the workers of JARVIS and 'Excelsior!' got together for drinks. Tonight, they were to meet at a bar called Wakanda. Laia entered the building, while Lilly went to park the car. A few minutes later she also walked in, at the same time as Meg and Pietro. Seeing this, Tony couldn't resist making a cheeky comment.

"This is like the beginning of a joke. 'A Brit, a Sokavian and an Australian all walk into a bar...'"

"Really? Sounds like one of my dreams," Pietro smirked. Lilly snorted and Meg rolled her eyes. Wanda walked in a few minutes later. They separated and went off to do their own individual things. Lilly headed towards the pool table.

"Any one up for a game?" she asked, setting it up.

"I'll play," Rhodey offered. Lilly handed him the pool cue.

"Since I set up, I'll let you break." Rhodey placed the cueball on the table and lined up his shot.

...

Meanwhile, Laia sat talking to Clint. Phil spotted Clint and walked up to him.

"Surprised to see you here tonight," he commented. It had been a while since Phil had seen him.

"Yeah, well I'm starting to get a little stir-crazy at home with nothing to do all day," he shrugged. "I heard Sam's doing pretty well in my place." Clint nodded over to where Sam was chatting to Natasha.

"He's doing very well. I overheard Lilly say, she's thinking of putting him on full time." Clint's face fell a little.

"You don't think... she'll fire me, do you?"

"Nah, you're too popular. We're still getting requests for Magic Arrow," Phil said, putting Clint's mind at ease.

"At least I don't have long until I can come back to work. Laia's been taking very good care of me," he winked, causing Laia to blush.

...

After they had finished their game, Lilly headed over to Phil to catch up. They may have worked together night after night, but that didn't mean they got to chat very often.

"So Phil, what's been going on in your life?"

"I've got a new girlfriend," he smiled.

"Oh, good for you. What's her name?"

"Christine."

"Wait a minute. Wasn't that the name of your old girlfriend?" Lilly asked.

"New Christine is different. She's blonde." Lilly only grinned at his comment. They continued to talk until Lilly spotted the owner of the bar. She excused herself and went over to him.

"T'Challa, good to see you," she said, embracing the tall, African man. "Thanks for putting up with my lot tonight. Sometimes I feel like a business owner, other times I feel like the mother of a group of naughty teenage boys." T'Challa laughed at her joke.

"It's not a bother. Miss Friday has always given me good business and you've done well to follow in her footsteps. In fact, she was just telling me this." Lilly's face lit up.

"Is Miss Friday here?" she asked. T'Challa nodded and led her to where Miss Friday was talking with Stan. The older woman looked up and smiled when she saw Lilly.

"Lilly, nice to see you again my dear," she said in her thick Irish accent and hugged her.

"I've been meaning to ask you Friday, why would you choose someone so young to take over?" Stan asked.

"Oh, I have my reasons," she smirked.

"Such as?"

"Well, for starters; Lilly has a good head for business. She knows exactly what the younger crowd likes and she delivers it. Two, she's got this sweet, honest face that makes people trust her," Friday added, taking Lilly's cheeks between her fingers and making Lilly blush.

"And finally, beneath that friendly, innocent exterior, is something fierce. I've seen what she can do in a pinch and believe me; you do not want to be on the receiving end of that."

"You're too kind Miss Friday."

"Ah, and she's polite. All of these are good qualities in a manager." Lilly spent the rest of the night catching up with the previous owner of JARVIS.

...

Brianna and Meg watched as Tony and Pietro played a round of pool.

"So Bri, how do you like working at JARVIS?" Meg asked.

"It's... different from my last job, to say the least. Boy, Lilly wasn't kidding when she said Tony was a flirt," Bri smiled.

"I know you mean; I had the same problem with Pietro when I first started out. The trick is you've got to train them the same way you would a puppy. Reward him when he behaves, smack him with a newspaper when he's naughty, and just hope he doesn't hump your leg."

"I wouldn't mind that," Bri admitted.

"No, me neither," Meg giggled.

...

As the night went on, the drinks continued to flow. Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding out for a Hero' came on through the speakers and Bucky leant in close to Steve.

"I'll bet you someone's drunk enough to start dancing on the bar."

"You think so?" Unlike some of the group, Bucky and Steve had been counting their drinks. Sure enough, Darcy downed the contents of her drink and climbed up on the bar.

"Told you so," he said, nudging Steve's arm. Darcy sang loudly and used 80's type dance moves.

"Please tell me someone's recording this," Sharon said.

"Way ahead of you," Maria replied. Maria was the bar-tender for 'Excelsior!'. During the second verse, she jumped down off the bar.

It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet

With this line, Darcy leant back against the bar. She continued to dance along to the beat, and did a clumsy cartwheel halfway through the song. When she had finished, the on-lookers all clapped and cheered for her. Darcy limped over to where Pepper (Excelsior!'s accountant) and Jane (her roommate) were sitting.

"You okay Darc?" Jane asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just grazed my hip on the corner when I was getting off the bar," she said, rubbing her sore hip. "Hey Jane, can you get me another virgin daiquiri?" Jane left to get Darcy's drink.

"Wait, another? Does that mean you're sober?" Pepper asked.

"Well I'm not drunk," she added proudly. "This party was getting dull, so I thought I'd liven it up."

...

At the end of the night every one left for home. As Lilly was leaving, she noticed Wanda struggling to support her drunk brother. She told Laia to head to the car without her and went to assist Wanda.

"Let me give you a hand. I know for experience that the 'Dead-weight-overhaul' is a two person event." Lilly supported Pietro's other side.

"Thanks. Pietro had a little bit too much tonight."

"I'm 'kay. Im'a nine-year-old man and I've only hand twenty-five shots of tequila," he slurred.

"And what did you have to drink between those shots?" Wanda asked, her voice taking on the tone of a frustrated mother. Pietro mumbled something incoherent in Sokavian.

"That's what I thought." Lilly helped them to the car and made sure they were safely on their way before heading to her own car.