~18~
"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it." Sam told Steve as they walked up the stairs, away from some of the guests.
"If I had known it was going to be a firefight I absolutely would have called you." Steve added and smiled at his friend.
"No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy." Sam smiled.
"Be it ever so humble." Steve chuckled. They stood on the second floor, watching the party from below. His eyes landed on Clara as she was trying to teach Thor how to play pool. She laughed as Thor missed the cue ball and the pool stick hit the air. Her laugh echoed through the room, a laugh the could make anyone who heard it do the same thing.
"So you and Stark huh?" Sam asked, making Steve come back to reality.
"No, no..." Steve started, but Sam laughed.
"No?" Sam said, not believing the answer.
"Yes. No, I mean...we haven't really...you know..." Steve couldn't find the words.
"You haven't discussed it, have you?" Sam asked, taking a sip of his drink.
"Not really," Steve admitted.
"Well, I think you'd know from experience that you shouldn't wait." Sam said. He noticed Steve staring at Clara with a sad look in his eyes when he noticed what he said wasn't the best thing to say. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."
"No," Steve stopped him. "You're right. Excuse me." Steve patted Sam's shoulder as he left and met back up with Clara and Thor. Clara was still laughing as Thor tossed the pool stick down on the table and gave up. The two of them followed Thor to the bar where he pulled out a a weird looking flask from his pocket. Clara laced her arm through Steve's, making him look at her quickly before blushing softly. They watched together as Thor poured his strange looking liquor in a glass and handed it to Steve before pouring himself one.
"I gotta have some of that!" An old man said, seeing Thor lift his glass up. The man seemed familiar to Clara, but she couldn't place him.
"Oh, no, no, no. See this, this was aged for a thousand years, in the barrels built from the wreck of Brunhilde's fleet, it is not meant for mortal men." Thor said. That caused Steve to look in his glass and smell it, scrunching his nose at the strong scent. Clara furrowed her eyebrows as she looked from Thor to Steve, wondering if Thor thought of Steve as a more than just a mortal man.
"Neither was Omaha Beach, blondie." The old man said. "Stop trying to scare us. Come on."
Thor looked at Steve and Clara. They shrugged, laughing quietly. "Alright," Thor sighed. The poor old man ended up being helped out the door, too drunk to stand up by himself. Steve and Clara sat down across from each other, chatting up a storm while the others partied around them.
"So, I have to admit, once you left and I had some free time, I rewatched those movies you like." Steve said.
"Oh." Clara took a sip of her drink. "Which ones?"
"I can't remember the name. They were in space and some guy named Lee...no Luke." Steve corrected.
"Star Wars." Clara said, taking another sip.
"Yes Star Wars." Steve smiled. "So you've watched these, I'm guessing several times, right?"
"Of course." She nodded. "What's your point?"
"This has been bothering me." He sighed. "In the bar, who shot first?"
"Oh no, we're not going there." Clara laughed as she took a sip of her drink.
"Why not? I think it's a valid question." Steve put his arms up in defense. The two looked at each other, not caring that there were still some guests that hadn't decided to go home yet. She smiled when she heard a slow song start playing from the speakers. Steve tensed at the familiarity of it. He had heard the song when he saw Peggy at the club and when Fury was 'killed' in his apartment. The tension left Steve's body when he turned to see Clara smiling softly at the song.
Clara looked at Steve before getting up and taking his hand. "What are you doing?" He asked. Clara didn't answer as she wrapped her arms around his neck and swayed back and forth to the song. Steve looked at the girl in awe as he placed his hands around her waist and started to do the same. Clara laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes and listening to the tune of The Way you Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra and humming it softly. "I always loved this song." She mumbled. "My mom and dad would dance to it all the time when they thought nobody was watching." Clara chuckled, remembering when Howard got embarrassed when her and Tony caught them. Howard never was one for showing affection.
They swayed together for what seemed like forever until the song finally ended. When they were pulling apart, Clara looked up as Steve looked down, their lips only inches away. She could feel herself leaning in before she heard Tony call out her name. He wanted her to meet a few colleagues. Clara rolled her eyes and left to see what Tony wanted, leaving Steve to watch her as she left. It's going to happen some day Steve. Just wait.
***
"But, it's a trick!" A half drunk Clint said. The Avengers, Maria Hill and Doctor Cho were all that were left of the party guests. Clara sat in a small chair with Steve sitting on the armrest.
"Oh, no. It's much more than that." Thor replied, making Clint laugh out loud.
"Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!' Whatever man! It's a trick."
"Well please, be my guest." Thor gestured to the hammer that sat on the table they surrounded.
"Come on." Tony said.
"Really?" Clint looked shocked.
"Yeah!"
"Oh this is gonna be fun." Clara smirked.
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony said, causing the rest of them to chuckle.
"You know I've seen this before, right?" Barton grabbed Thor's hammer and couldn't life it. "I still don't know how you do it."
"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony said.
"Please, Stark, by all means." Clint teased.
"Oh, here we go." Natasha said, glancing at Clara who let out a soft laugh.
"For once in his life the great Tony Stark is going to fail." Clara teased, gaining a small chuckle from Steve and an annoyed glare from Tony.
"Cheers to that," Natasha said as she held her bottle up like she was going to give a toast.
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony admitted. "It's physics."
"Physics!" Banner chimed in as Tony gripped the hammer.
"Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?" Tony asked, looking at Thor for conformation.
"Yes, of course."
"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta." Tony said as he acting like he already lifted the hammer.
"That's disgusting." Clara mumbled as she scrunched her nose while everyone watched Tony as he tried to lift it. He looked around before sighing.
"I'll be right back." He came back wearing his iron glove and still failed. He got Rhodey to join him, but again, they couldn't lift it.
Banner was next to lift the hammer, and it didn't budge. When he failed, he threw his arms up in the air roared, making everyone look at him in confusion. Steve took a sip of his beer before setting it back down on the table. "My turn," Steve said, getting up from his spot and going over to the hammer.
"Let's go, Steve, no pressure." Clara said, leaning forward in her chair.
"If you lift it Cap, you have my blessing to sleep with Clara." Tony said, knowing it wouldn't happen. Instead of being chastised, he felt a pillow hit his face. Clara sat proudly as her thrown object hit its target.
"Come on, Cap." Rhodey said, trying to ignore the two sibling's bickering. Steve started to pull on the hammer with all his strength. Clara watched as it budged, leaving Thor and Tony in shock. Clara smirked, though she had a slight feeling that Steve was only trying to not damage Thor's pride.
"Nothing." He sighed in defeat.
"And?" Tony asked.
"Widow?" Someone asked. Natasha politely declined. "Young Stark?" Thor asked, motioning to the hammer. Clara and Natasha met eyes before shaking their heads.
"Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered." Natasha said as she took a sip from her beer. Clara did the same and repeated what Natasha said earlier.
"Cheers to that," she took a sip of her drink once again. Steve sat back down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. Clara placed her hand over his and took another sip of her drink with the other.
"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony rolled his eyes at Thor.
"You bet your ass." Clint agreed.
"Steve, he said a bad language word." Maria smiled.
"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve asked Clara. Her smile and laugh answered his question.
"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints, is, I think, the literal translation?" Tony said.
"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one." Thor picked up his weapon of choice. "You're all not worthy." A loud screeching noise caused everyone to cover their ears. They let their hands down as it faded. A robot stood, looking at the heroes.
"Worthy...No...How could you be worthy? You're all killers." It said.
"Stark?" Steve said, standing from his seat, his back stiffening and fists clenching together as he was unaware of what to expected. Still in her chair, Clara tapped her bracelet, making it form into her blaster. She stood, keeping the robot in her sight as she joined Tony and Natasha. Tony glanced at her, seeing her blaster already ready.
"Jarvis," Tony asked. There was no answer, making Clara wonder for a split second.
"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or...I was a-dream?" The robot said.
Tony started tapping his device. "Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit."
"There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in...in...strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." The robot said.
"You killed someone?" Steve asked.
"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."
"Who sent you?" Thor asked.
The robot replayed Tony's voice. "I see a suit of armor around the world".
"Ultron." Clara whispered under her breath.
"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet." The robot continued to move his arms like he was trying to prove a point. "Not this...chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."
"What mission?" Natasha asked.
"Peace in our time." Ultron used a recording that he took from Tony a few days ago. Suddenly the Iron Legion bots broke through the walls and began their attack on the team. Steve kicked up the table to block Clara and himself from a flying bot. It broke through it causing the two to be thrown back.
"Stark!" Steve called out while Clara shot another robot.
"We are here to help." The Iron Legion said, continuing to attack them.
"One sec, one sec!" Tony said, tampering with the robot.
"We are here to help. We are here to help... We are here to help. It's unsafe. It's unsafe. It's unsafe." She dodged a blast from one of the robots and shot back at it. She jumped out of the way of a blast, ripping her dress in the process.
Clara's eyes caught something in the corner of the room before she ran to get it. "Steve!" She yelled. He looked her way as she threw his shield at him. He caught it and immediately threw it back at another Iron Legion, dismantling the last robot.
"That was dramatic!" The first Iron Legion bot sighed. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve? With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction." Ultron said. Thor threw his hammer at Ultron and smashed him to pieces. After Thor destroyed the body, it started to sing softly, "I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me."