Party (part -1)

May 10, 2014

Still, now it was party time. I shut off the lights of my apartment and headed out. On the way, Clint showed up wearing a leather jacket and a plaid shirt. He grinned at the sight of my shirt displaying his purple arrow symbol. "Nice choice."

"Thanks," I said with a chuckle. The two of us got into the elevator. "So, what do you think it's going to look like?"

"Probably pretty crazy," Clint said eagerly. "I mean, have you seen how much time Tony put into this?"

"I wouldn't know," I shrugged. "Seriously, I'm a nerd. I never really got into parties."

"Kid, this would be the biggest party of your life even if you had been into parties," Clint patted me on the back. "So, you bringing a date?"

"I'm bringing you," I joked.

"As sweet as that is, I don't swing that way," the doors opened. Clint and I stared out the doors. "Holy shit."

"Whoa."

In the massive section of floors that Tony had set up as recreation, was the party. There were people roaming around talking to each other. A massive screen took up the middle of the floor, with a group of people gathered around it while a light shone on the white space.

The heavenly smell of food came from an upper level set up in buffet style. Italian, Chinese, American, those crazy ass fusion foods that were becoming a thing. The bar was chock-full of alcohol, but there was also a section that was full of ice cream where some guy was making a milkshake for… was that Beyonce?

There was a lot going on really. People were hanging out in the pool outside (wait, did Tony have a pool installed, or had I just missed it?), music was pumping from… was that a small stage? Damn, Tony had gone all out.

"Fanboy, Legolas!" Tony walked up to us with Pepper on his arm. "Guys, I'm a lover of late entrances, but this is a bit much."

"Late?" I asked, still turning my head to look at the everything. "Dude, the party wasn't supposed to start for thirty minutes!"

"Nah, that's the actual party, this is the pre-party," Tony said jokingly. The billionaire was wearing a suit that was, of course, perfectly tailored to fit him.

"Tony," Pepper said chidingly. When he returned with a grin she rolled her eyes before turning back to us. "Clint, Mahmoud, we're glad you came."

"Well, if I decide to leave early I do live nearby," I said with a grin.

Tony laughed. "Well, come on guys! Let's party!"

Moments later I was sitting next to Sammy, Lauren, Creel, Jen, and Skye. We clinked together our glasses with a cheer.

"Good to have you here!" I said to Lauren and Sammy.

Lauren was an older white woman with black hair going grey. She was a little overweight and had one of the warmest smiles I'd ever seen. She wore a simple purple dress and looked a little overwhelmed. "This is incredible, Mahmoud. Seriously," she chuckled. "I thought we'd get turned away at the door, to be honest."

"She's not kidding," Sammy said, holding his wife tighter to him. He was wearing a brown Air Force jacket with some patches on it from his time in the service and had a mug of beer in the hand that wasn't holding his wife. "Kid, thanks again for this."

"Hey, I'm just sorry I didn't invite you sooner," I said happily.

"So how did you meet?" Skye asked, taking a dainty sip of her martini. She sat next to me in a pink dress with a simple bangle on one arm.

"Well, that's a boring story," Sammy grunted. "I was working with Union Allied, breaking bricks for cash, and he got put on the same building as me. Kid had a mean swing with a sledgehammer."

"And I met him through my Sammy," Lauren said. The man in question gave her a kiss on the cheek, getting a blush from her.

"Like I said, boring," Sammy chuckled. "We didn't find out he was a superhero until there was footage of him on the news."

"Not boring," I said. "Dude, you had my back from the first day. I'm never going to forget that."

Sammy didn't seem to know how to feel about that. "A-Anyway, how about you guys? How'd you meet the kid?"

Jen chuckled. She was dressed to impress with a black dress, black gloves, and very high heels. "Well, I met him when he woke me up out of cryo-sleep after he saved my well-formed ass from HYDRA."

"I met him on a helicarrier while our bosses were turning SHIELD into BRIDGE," Skye added.

"See, mine's boring," Sammy joked. "How about you?"

The last was said to Creel. He was taking a swig of scotch and stopped for a moment. He cussed when his sudden stop poured a bit of the scotch on his black t-shirt.

"Ohhh, now that's a nice reaction," Jen teased, crossing one leg over the other.

"Yeah, what happened?" Skye asked with a nudge on my arm.

"Well, we met in a Best Buy," I said with a shrug.

"...And I was under HYDRA's control so," Creel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We kinda got into a fight."

"And I kicked his ass," I said with a grin.

"Whoa, I won the second time!" Creel complained.

"Dude, check your facts, I beat you with Goop!"

"Yay, testosterone!" Skye said, waving her hands around in a fake cheer.

"Yeah, you two want to take this outside?" Jen teased.

"Anyway, that's how we met," Creel finished. "By destroying a small Best Buy."

"Lot more interesting than how anyone of us met him," Sammy toasted Creel. "So you win!"

"In his defense, I think most of my meetings were pretty calm affairs," I shrugged.

"Hey," Isabelle appeared, grabbing Creel by the shoulders. The brunette warrior was wearing a black tank-top and jeans. She pulled up at Creel. "Come on. I need a dance partner."

Creel chuckled as he was dragged away 'unwillingly'.

"Hey, you wanna…" Lauren asked Sammy.

"Yep," Sammy and Lauren rose up and headed to the dance floor as well.

"Have fun guys!" I said with a laugh. Then I turned to look at Jen and Skye.

Who were both looking at me for some reason? "Uh… everything okay?"

Jen raised an eyebrow. Skye cocked her head to the side, looking between me and the dance floor for some reason.

Then Nat swooped in. "Come on!" she laughed, pulling at me and Skye. "Let's go dance! Jen, you too!"

"Whoa, I don't know how to-" I yelped, just in time to get pulled into a four-way dance-off. Which I absolutely lost.

Betty Ross/Scientist

Betty sat arm in arm with Bruce at a couch set aside for them, Jane and Darcy sitting across from them. Bruce raised an eyebrow when a laughing Dial got dragged past them onto the dance floor by Jen, Skye, and Nat.

"She seems happy," Betty noted, watching as Jen laughed while shaking her hips to the music.

"Yeah, she does," Bruce sounded thoughtful. When Betty looked at him, Bruce had a small smile on his face.

"Well yeah, look at her," Darcy said in awe. "She's got such big-"

"Darcy!" Jane interrupted.

"What, they're bigger than mine, and have you seen my-"

"Okay!" Jane said very loudly, blushing. "My shameless intern aside, we were talking about your work in genetics?"

"We were?" Betty said.

"Yes, about the uh, the gamma gene?" Jane said. "I mean, I know I'm not a geneticist, but that sounds very interesting."

"Oh, it is," Bruce said, excited. "You see, all this time, we assumed that my version of the super-soldier serum, in combination with gamma radiation, was what caused my powers-"

"But we didn't take into account Bruce himself!" Betty cut him off excitedly.

"You see, Bruce, Jen, and maybe more people have a gene that reacts to gamma radiation by integrating it into his DNA."

"Is that why she's all… that?" Darcy waved at Jen, then made an hourglass shape with her hands. "Cause I could use that!"

"It's probably not that common," Jane said thoughtfully. "Otherwise there would be a lot of people who had the gene, or some variant of it."

Betty sneezed, despite no irritation coming to her nose. "A-Anyway, I've decided to join the team studying the gene."

"Which we'll both head," Bruce said proudly. Then he blushed. "Well, Betty will head it. I kind of have to play catch-up on the research."

"Still," she held Bruce's hand, relishing in having its warmth against her skin again. "This is going to be exciting! If we can find out more about the gene, maybe… we'll have to be careful. But we can do a lot of good in medicine with this."

"Man, you guys are doing a lot of different stuff around here," Darcy mused. She bumped Jane's arm. "Hey, you should take Tony's offer! Maybe he'll let you join this gene-thingy."

Jane eyed Darcy skeptically. "You realize I'm an astrophysicist? Right?"

Darcy frowned. "...Yeah?"

Jane sighed. "That means I have a specialty. I'm not exactly an expert in all forms of science."

Darcy frowned deeper. "Oh come on, all you geniuses say that, and then you guys start, like, hacking the Pentagon with a biology degree, or cure diseases with an engineering Ph.D.!"

"Tony has done stuff like that before," Bruce said weakly. "Figure out things, he doesn't have a specialty with a brief read.

Betty hid her laughter at the confused looks on Bruce and Jane's faces.

Mahmoud Schahed

After Natasha, Jen, and Skye kicked my ass at dancing, I was drinking another milkshake, caramel this time, with Rhodey, Steve, and Maria.

"Wait, wait," Rhodey was saying while waving his arms, wearing a white suit jacket. "You're telling me you stole the suit from the Smithsonian? Why didn't I know about that?"

"Where did you think he got it from?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know, I thought he had an extra!" Rhodey asked.

"I returned it," Steve protested. The First Avenger was wearing a leather jacket, which was apparently part of the dress code tonight. "And the curator said the suit is actually worth more now!"

"You still kinda stole it, Boy Scout," Maria teased. The Director of BRIDGE had really let her hair down, wearing a long black dress and a hell of a nice gold necklace.

"It was mine in the first place," Steve grumbled while taking a drink.

"Wait, you can't get drunk, right?" I asked Steve. "So why…"

"Oh, this is one of those sweet ones," Steve said, gesturing at his peach-colored drink. "I like the taste."

"Huh, did not expect that," I admitted. Guess it made sense that if alcohol didn't affect you, you'd go for the delicious ones. Though that could have been my lack of experience talking.

"Hey," Sam came up to us in another leather jacket (seriously?) and grinned at us. "Gotta say, Tony really knows how to throw a party.

"Hell yeah he does," I agreed with another sip at my drink.

Sam smiled, but clearly had something else on his mind. He looked over at Maria, holding his hand out to her. "Hey… wanna dance?"

Maria smiled, handing Steve her drink as he stared between Sam and her with surprise. "Absolutely."

The pair walked away arm in arm while Rhodey, Steve, and I watched in surprise.

"I… did anyone see that coming?" I asked.

"I mean, I get why you missed it, you're blinder than a bat when it comes to romance, but I did not see that coming," Rhodey said.

"Dude, what?" I asked Rhodey, surprised.

"I knew he'd been having lunch with her a lot," Steve had a wide and proud smile on his face as he watched them start to dance.

"No, we aren't rolling over this," I glared at Rhodey. "I'm blind as a bat to romance? Where did that-"

"My friends!" Thor came out of nowhere and rested an arm on Steve and I, almost sending me stumbling. "Come! They are about to arrive!"

"Thor, I don't have super strength!" I grunted under the weight of my Asgardian friend. He was wearing a brown suit jacket.

"Ah, my apologies," he rose up and pulled us along, Rhodey following. "But come, come!"

He pulled us through the crowd of people, ignoring the celebrities and political leaders trying to grab his attention.

Soon we were outside. Thor pulled us over to a section outside where if the stories he'd told us were true, he'd once done battle with Loki. Also, it was where Jane and Darcy were waiting.

"Hey guys!" Darcy said, eyeing Steve while wearing a black dress. "Oh wow."

"Hello," Steve said kindly.

"Helloooo," she said with a grin.

"Thor, why are we here?" Jane, who was dressed in a blue dress with a strange piece of armor, seemed as confused as we were.

"With the days of preparation, I was able to get in contact with them and let them know to come!" Thor said cheerily. "They will arrive so-"

A massive burst of light came down from the sky and slammed into the ground in front of us with immense force. I yelped, reaching for the Omnitrix, only for Thor to stop me with a grin. "They are here!"

The rainbow of colors stopped. And we all stared at the four people who appeared.

"My friends!" Thor stepped forward with his arms wide. "It is so good to see you all!"

As we watched him clasp hands with a massive guy with a giant beard, I shared a look with Steve. Apparently, Thor had invited Asgardians. And once again, some of them were played by celebrities I recognized.

"Everyone, come!" Thor brought us together and started introducing us.

First, was Sif, who gave us all a large smile. The beautiful Asgardian warrior wore a green dress and carried a sword on her hip.

The second was Volstagg, a massive and bearded man with bright red hair, a big belly, and a bigger laugh.

Then there was Fandral, who looked like the guy from Chuck if he'd had a blonde beard and hair. The guy was giving Darcy a very interested look, which she didn't seem to notice.

Hogun was next, a dour-faced Asian man with black hair in a top knot and a beard.

"It is most welcome to meet you all!" Volstagg cheered when the introductions were done. "Now, where is the beer?!"

"Over there," I said, pointing at the bar.

"Hello, milady," Fandral said to Darcy with a flirtatious smile.

"Sup, goatee!" Darcy replied cheerfully.

"Oh, you like it?" he asked cockily.

"Nah, it's kinda ugly," she ignored the way he seemed to gape at her for that.

Hogun seemed to teleport over to a corner of the party while Sif walked up to us.

"It is most welcome to meet you, heroes of Midgard," she said to Steve and me.

"And it is a real honor to meet you, Lady Sif," I said with an Asgardian salute that Thor had taught me.

Steve did the same salute. "Thor has told us a lot about your battles."

"As he has yours, Lord Rogers, Lord Schahed," Sif said, returning the salutes with a benevolent smile.

"Come, friends," Thor laughed. He was generally a happy guy, but I could somehow tell he was even more excited than usual.

"No, the Allfather actually insisted we be allowed to come," Sif explained later as Steve and I grabbed some food with her. "I believed he would have yet another mission to send us on," she almost seemed annoyed at that. "But he seemed happy to let us go."

"You've been on a lot of missions, lately?" Steve asked, piling a small mountain of meat on his plate. Apparently, his decision to swear off meat after watching the Thing had ended real fast.

"Indeed," Sif walked up to the Italian table and stared at the spaghetti.

"...Midgard's cuisine seems to have changed in many ways. I remember it being simpler."

"Be a bit boring if we didn't change it up," I pointed out to the closest thing to Wonder Woman I'd met since Jen stepped out of a cryotube. "I recommend the pizza," I pointed to the culprit in question. "It probably doesn't compare to that… boar, that you guys eat-"

"Sæhrímnir?" Sif asked.

"But it's great!"

"I will take your advice," Sif took a couple of slices. As she did, I looked around at everyone else having a good time. Suddenly, an Iron Man suit walked into the room, carrying a massive Wii controller.

"What the hell?" I said, quirking my head to the side as I watched.

Bruce Banner/Hulk

Bruce watched Tony walk up to him with the massive metal controller in his hands, the gamma expert feeling like he was somewhere between laughing and crying. "Tony-"

"Hey, no need to thank me!" Tony said from within the Iron Man armor. "I mean, Nintendo is partially owned by me, so this was easy…"

"Bruce, what is this?" Betty asked. He looked over at her. Betty was wearing a white dress that made her look absolutely gorgeous. But then, what didn't?

"Hey, I didn't put this screen up for no reason!" Tony teased. "Come on Bruce, bring him out!"

"I-is that safe?" Betty asked, shocked.

Deep inside, the Hulk stirred. Not in anger. He seemed… saddened.

Bruce felt firm. "Of course it is," he smiled at Betty. "Hulk is good."

With that, he began to grow. The shift from Bruce to Hulk felt almost gentle. He rose up, his armor beneath his clothes shifting to grow with him even as his cheap clothes ripped away. People pointed in awe and surprise while it happened. Betty did something amazing. She walked forward, holding his hands as he grew.

Standing at his full height, at last, he smiled down at Tony. "Hulk is ready."

"Nice!" Tony coughed into his hand. "Thor!"

"Yes!" Thor joined them happily, Volstagg following with two mugs of beer in his hands. "Volstagg my friend, you must play this game with us!"

"Of course, my liege!" Volstagg looked up at the Hulk. "My, you're a big one."

"Bruce?" Betty asked, worried.

"Hulk," Hulk corrected gently, leaning down to smile as gently as he could at her. "Betty… play?"

She was silent for a moment. Then she put a hand on his cheek. "O-Okay."

Hulk and Bruce wanted to kiss her. She beat them with a little peck to his much larger lips. Hulk blushed bright green.

"How come you don't act like that around me anymore?" Tony asked in the background as Pepper joined them.

"Maybe if you beat me in a game, I will," Pepper joked.

"Ah, finally this game has value," Tony replied, handing the massive controller to Hulk, who sat in the heavy-duty chair made for his enormous bulk, ignoring the people taking pictures of him. "All right folks, let's do this! I call Samus!"

"Pikachu!" Thor cheered.

"Bowser!" Hulk added, giving Betty a smile. She seemed hesitant to smile back for a moment, but it reached her eyes when it did.

"Hmm," Volstagg to the controller handed to him. "I don't seem to understand how to… oh, I see, the little stick moves this around. Who are these-Oh now that is a mustache!" He cried happily. "I will take this, Wario, person!"

"Jane!" Thor called out as the fight began. "Come watch me in honorable battle!"

Jane, like many of those watching Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Volstagg sit down for a game of Smash Bros, seemed in shock, but she walked up to join the group. "I uh, got next?"

"You play?" Thor asked, delighted.

"Well, I did in college," she said happily.

"Me too," Betty replied.

With that, the game was on.

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

At that moment, I noticed two others walk in. I grinned. "Hey, Steve, hold this for me?"

He took my plate, letting me run along the upper floor toward the door on the lower floor. I leaped down from the upper level by hopping over the railing, landing in front of the two newest partiers to enter. "Matt, Foggy!"

"Jesus!" Foggy yelled in surprise when I landed.

"Hey, Mahmoud," Matt said laughing. "How are you?"

"Having a blast!" I chuckled, walking up to clasp Foggy's hand. "You guys are late!"

"Actually, we aren't," Foggy said while looking around. "I think you gave us the wrong time?"

"Yeah, probably Tony's idea of a joke," I said with a shrug.

"Matt, Foggy!" Jen leaped down from the upper level as well in a flutter of black cloth, her eyes alight with happiness. Foggy screeched in surprise again.

"W-Will you guys just take the stairs from now on?!" he shouted, panting. "For Matt's sake, I mean."

"I'm fine, actually," Matt said with a grin. "I can't get scared by people suddenly showing up, remember."

"Lucky bastard," Foggy mumbled.

Jen laughed, walking over to tower over us. "I'm glad you guys came. Come on, let's get drinks!"

"Is that the Hulk playing video games?" Foggy asked, dumbfounded.

"You get used to it," I said with a shrug.

We introduced Foggy and Matt to everyone, which took for freaking ever since there were SO many people here now. Then I had a bite to eat and walked away to see if I could enjoy the party without hanging out with people I actually knew.

That was a mistake, an amateur one as Tony would call it later. Soon I almost started to feel tapped out on so many people being around me. And it didn't help when some of them decided to corner me.

"Now son," the guy in a way too nice suit said with a slimy and charming smile.

"I know, from your records, that you're an American."

"Born and raised," I said wearily.

"And as an American, I'm sure you want to help your country," he put a hand on my shoulder. "I just feel that you could do that much easier from within the government."

"Dude, really not the time," I pushed his hand off.

"Oh, and when is it a good time to save your country Mr… Khan?"

"Yeah, we're done here," I said immediately, rolling my eyes.

Schahed. Schahed. And yet, once again someone said Khan? This was like the fifth time...

Sam Wilson/Falcon

"So we're surrounded, right?" Rhodey said, the pilot trying to seem nonchalant.

"And HYDRA had been annoying as hell all day. Dial is somewhere inside the school as a giant wrestling tiger while Nat is fighting HYDRA guys on the ground. I'm up in the air, flying over the whole battlefield when two guys in that crap Chitauri armor try to sneak up on me. Problem is, four of their Centipede guys are rushing the quinjets, and no one noticed except me."

Sammy and Lauren made a suitably scared noise, while Sam and Maria tried not to act as though they hadn't heard the story a thousand times.

"I know, right?" Rhodey said. "Now, I'm trapped. Gotta choose someone to stop or we're in a whole new mess of trouble. Luckily, the suit is equipped with enough weapons to take on a whole country. So," Rhodey stopped to grab a drink from a passing waiter. "I turn off the repulsors right as the two Chitauri armored guys fly at me."

Lauren gasped. Sam shared a fond look with Maria, both hiding their good-natured exasperation with Rhodey.

"While they're floating over me, I shoot my repulsors above me, take them both out, one hand each!" Rhodey grinned. "Now, the repulsors send me falling even faster toward the ground, but," Rhodey raised a hand dramatically. "I knew the suit could take the landing. I slam into the ground right in the middle of the four Centipede guys and I say, 'need any help fellas?' They barely had time to run before I took them out."

Sammy guffawed while Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. Rhodey nodded in satisfaction, pleased with their reaction.

"'Need any help'..." Sammy mumbled with a chuckle, wiping a tear away. "Ah, man, Air Force sure has changed since my days."

"Well, the suit was only really a thing for me," Rhodey pointed out. "Air Force is still pretty much the same, just faster."

"Ha!" Sammy scoffed. "And what about the thief here?"

Sam blinked at Sammy pointed at him. "Me?"

"You see anyone else here stealing my name?" Sammy joked. Sam had enough time to be amused before Sammy continued. "Seriously, weren't you running around with those wings for a while?"

"Yeah. But it was mostly just Riley and me. The wings were experimental as hell."

"Seem to work just fine," Sammy grumbled. "Could have used them."

"Oh, you'd break your fool neck," Lauren said. Sammy grinned, hugging Lauren closer.

"Gotta say, you have a pretty good record from your time in the service," Maria said, sipping at her drink, moving the pineapple resting on the rim aside.

"You read my record?" Sammy asked, surprised.

"She does that to everyone," Rhodey rolled his eyes. "You superspies ever turn off that whole 'need to know' thing?"

"I'd be a pretty bad spy if I did," Maria teased. "But now, I had to look up everyone for this party. There's a couple of people I had to let in for political reasons, and some that just…" she eyed a group of giggling and already extremely drunk young men and women who looked as though they had just come out of their teens. "Seem to grow out of the floor at parties with any sort of alcohol."

"Ah, to be young again," Lauren sighed.

"Young again?" Sammy scoffed. "The second you did that, you'd finally leave me for a younger man. Surprised you don't go get one of these supermodels around here already, leave my broken old ass on the curb."

"Ah!" Lauren, scandalized, smacked Sammy on the chest, getting a peck on her blushing cheek for her trouble.

-

Hogun of Vanaheim, Warrior of Asgard

Hogun watched the men and women of Midgard revel happily with a sense of satisfaction. In truth, this was comparable to the tamer of Asgardian parties. Which was to Hogun's benefit. He loved his friends but they were far too boisterous for his liking at times.

He turned back to his drink, then looked up when someone walked up to join him.

"May I sit here?" the one-eyed man said.

Hogun thought about that for a long while. The man didn't seem to mind the wait. A good sign he was a man of patience. Finally, Hogun nodded. The man sat.

"You are Fury," Hogun said.

"And you are Hogun," Fury returned. "Thor speaks highly of you."

"He has… mixed, words about you," Hogun said honestly.

Fury smiled. "I don't blame him. My job and his don't exactly mix."

"Hm," Hogun took a sip of the beer. It was rather weak. Apparently, it was from somewhere called Germany, which had had a different name when he was last on Midgard. Of course, many Midgardian drinks were rather weak, more meant for children to sip. "I cannot blame you for your methods, as I do not know what you face."

"Rather understanding, as it goes," Fury leaned forward in his seat, swirling his alcohol. "Not going to join your friends?"

"I will. But I prefer quieter gatherings," Hogun gestured to those partying as Volstagg and Thor shouted at a screen full of colorful creatures, the Hulk cheering on Betty, who was biting her bottom lip in concentration while she played.

"I can understand that," Fury shrugged. "But for someone in my line of work, gatherings like this are a boon."

Hogun gave Fury a neutral look. In response, Fury pointed at a Midgardian in a suit. "You see him? He's gone to Steve and Mahmoud, spoken to them for a brief amount of time, then walked away. He's now going to Rhodey."

As the pair watched, the man, who rather reminded Hogun of a very slimy Loki, walked up to this, "Rhodey" apparently, with a smile. He spoke for a moment to Rhodey as Fury and Hogun watched. Rhodey seemed accommodating at first. Then he frowned. The slimy man seemed displeased with Rhodey's response and said something else. Rhodey, in response, turned and walked away.

"And if I know Rhodey," Fury said. "He's going to go to Stark, who will have the man removed."

As they watched, Rhodey did indeed walk up to Tony Stark, who was dancing with a red-haired woman. After a brief conversation, Tony scowled, and the red-headed woman seemed displeased as well.

Moments after that, several guards were escorting the man out.

"Who was he?" Hogun asked.

"A politician on the up and up who was invited on someone else's goodwill," Fury explained, turning back to Hogun. "Or so I thought. His aggressive attempt at recruitment makes me think there is more to this."

Hogun eyed Fury. "So you sat here to have a good view without being noticed yourself."

It wasn't a question.

"Two birds with one stone," Fury admitted. "I actually had a question. One that my boss wanted me to ask."

"A question?" Hogun asked.

Fury leaned in and spoke quietly.

-

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

After that guy was driven off by Tony's bodyguards, Steve, Bucky, and Thor pulled me aside to introduce me to Steve's old war buddies. And I do mean old.

These guys were all WW2 vets, all in military dress, and all friendly badasses. They took me in immediately as one of their own, and Thor as well.

"So you helped our boy take the fight to HYDRA?" one of the guys asked. "Yeesh. Gotta say, Cap, I never expected those idiots to pop up again."

"Sure you don't have any more of whatever magic potion you three took to keep fighting?" one of them asked, nudging Bucky, who grinned happily. "I'd jump in to help you guys if you shared."

"Oh please!" another of the guys guffawed. "Your wife would kick your ass if you did that!"

"Not if I looked like when I was young again."

"You were uglier when you were younger, you stupid bastard!"

"Ah, fuck you!"

I found myself laughing helplessly while the old soldiers joked around.

"These guys are awesome," I said to Steve, who looked both happy and sad all at once.

"Yeah," he sighed. "There were a lot more of us… And a few guys I wish I could have met," when I gave him a confused look, he explained further. "It was a big war. And there were a lot of heroes on the front. Many are men and women I'd have wanted to meet."

"Anyone in particular," Thor asked.

Steve blinked, suddenly noticing that we all had our eyes on him, old and new alike. Sam, Rhodey, and Sammy came over right then. Sammy had apparently hit it off with his fellow Air Force recruits, getting a kick out of a young man named Sam becoming a superhero after being in the Air Force. They joined us quietly, however, looking over at Steve.

"...There's a lot of us who really deserve to stand here," Steve said slowly. "Men and women who fought alongside us. In the millennia before," Thor lowered his head. "The war I fought," Bucky nodded, while the old timers murmured. "And the wars of today," Sam, Sammy, Rhodey, and I straightened. "The list of names is long, with men like Audie Murphy, Desmond Doss, and Dum Dum Dugan, women like Nancy Wake, Aleda Lutz, Madeline Joyce. An innumerable list of names in a fight for all that we get to enjoy today," Steve gestured around himself. "I can never thank them, or you, enough. But I will always try."

"To old comrades," Thor said, holding out his tankard of beer. We all held up our various drinks and took a drink.

As I did, Sammy leaned over to me, my old coworker already a little drunk. "Does he always manage to-"

"Pull an inspiring speech out of his ass while being so sincere you can't really make fun of him for it?" I asked. When he nodded I grinned.

"Yes," Sam, Bucky, one of the old-timers, and I said in unison.

Sammy guffawed with laughter at that.

Then I once again made the mistake of separating from my group of friends, thus getting cornered.

"And that's what we can do," the blonde woman clutching tightly to my… parts, after she'd been whispering something out of a penthouse letter into my ear.

"...Weren't you just talking to Tony?" I asked, trying not to seem as… everything, as I was.

She pouted. "Oh, he's with that redhead."

AKA Pepper Potts, one of the richest and most powerful women on Earth. Who this person rubbing very closely against me didn't recognize.

"So… I'm your fourth choice," when she gave me a confused look I explained. "I saw you talking to Steve and Thor."

She winced.

"Is this because I'm worth millions?" I asked without thinking, reaching for any semblance of logic for this sudden affection from a pretty woman I didn't know. When her eyes lit up, I sighed. "Okay, I'm done."

-

Volstagg/The Valiant, Voluminous, Invincible, Fat

"So! Volstagg, the greatest warrior of Asgard, had to defend his prince!" Volstagg barked, making sure to put the right amount of gravitas in this truly magnificent tale! "Now, I don't mind telling you, I feared for Thor's life. But with steely courage, intrepid spirit, and an ax, victory was ours!"

"Good story," Hulk, one of Thor's heroic Midgardian allies, said, clearly quite impressed, as he should have been!

"Thank you, my gigantic green friend!" Volstagg laughed. Then his character on the screen in front of them fell to his doom. "Damn you, Lady Ross!" he paled once he realized what he'd said. "I mean-"

Betty laughed, the image of her character, a Princess of some kind, danced in victory. "It's okay! We've all ragequit before, I'm not going to get mad."

Volstagg gulped, feeling harsh eyes on him as the Hulk growled. The Hulk stopped when Betty turned to look at him. "Hulk? I-I'd like to hear about your adventures."

Hulk froze. Volstagg took the opening immediately. "Yes! You must have been in many battles alongside the Avengers!"

"...Hulk good at fighting."

"I know," Betty said nothing else, just looking at him.

"H-Hulk, fight HYDRA," Hulk looked as though he was trying to find the words. "Hulk fight Aber-Abera-Ab, gruagh!"

"It's okay," Betty was a brave woman. She was clearly afraid, but she still reached out to put a hand on Hulk's knee. He calmed down, breathing in deep and harsh gulps of air. "Take it slow, Bruce."

For a moment, Volstagg was sure she'd made a mistake. Hulk's soft look at her became pure rage. Betty flinched.

Then Hulk hesitated. Calmed down, and gently moved his hand to clutch hers. He shook his head and huffed. "Hulk fought HYDRA. Fought Blonsky and Girl Blonsky. Got stabbed."

Volstagg laughed while Betty looked horrified. "Ah, truly the sign of a great battle!"

"It hurt."

"As well it should, hahaha!"

-

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

"Dude!" I whispered to Creel, rushing over to him as he danced with Isabelle. They both turned to look at me. "Are you also getting weird people coming up to you out of nowhere?"

Creel grinned. "You too?"

When I looked at Isabelle she shrugged. "Hey, we're celebrities now. People are going to want something from all of us."

"Well it's freaking me out," I admitted freely.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Isabelle chuckled. "Carl, you mind if I go hang with Bobbi?" she nodded towards her tall blonde friend, who was laughing with Clint, the archer looking embarrassed.

"Sure," he got a smile and a kiss on the cheek from Isabelle. He gave her a smile back, then turned to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Come on man, I need a beer."

We sat outside on the railing a little later, both of us looking out at New York. I clinked my milkshake glass to his beer bottle.

"Cheers mate," I said, getting a grin in return. Looking out into the city, I sighed. "Man… I never saw myself here. Partying with the Avengers."

"...I always kinda hoped for something like this," he didn't look away from the city. "It's why I became a boxer. I mean… after I was in and out of prison, I figured being a boxer was a fast way to this shit," he gestured with his beer bottle at the party behind us.

"I guess that's pretty common for boxers," I mused.

He laughed sourly. "Yeah, that's me. Just a giant cliche."

"Dude, that's not what I-"

"I know," he cut me off. I looked over at him.

Creel. My massively ripped, bald, and superhuman ally. He looked so thoughtful. I was about to say something when he continued. "It's crazy, the places life takes you… I mean, with everything that happened… I thought my life was over. And now, I'm here man. I've got the city, the team, Isabelle has me."

"...I'm jealous, man," I admitted. "Sounds like everything is finally going your way."

"It's probably not," he chuckled. "But it's good man."

Damn. That was what had changed about Creel. He looked… at peace. Like someone who knew he was doing everything he could in life and was actually seeing good things come out of it. That was a far cry from his comic version. Or at least, the most common one I knew about.

I grinned, looking back out the city.

"...How about you, man? How you doing?" Creel asked me.

"Me? Oh, I'm great," I said. "I'm at a party of the world's greatest superheroes. I mean, I've got some things I'm personally worried about," the thought of Uru knuckles filled my mind. I carefully didn't clench my fists. "But that can wait for later. Right now, I just want to have a good time."

"I hear that," he took another swig of his beer, then spun around to hop off the railing. "Speaking of which, let's go have some more fun. There's a hell of a party to get to."

"Now you're talking," I hopped down and followed him inside.