Chapter Text
Steve and Tony were walking out of the compound when Stark spotted you sweeping the floor and changed course to meet you, making Cap follow him.
"I need something positive today, Socks, show them to me," Tony said as a greeting, and Steve sputtered, evidently torn between chastising him for the nickname, or the seemingly crass demand.
You beamed at Tony, resting the broom against your side and lifting your pant legs so that he could get a look at your socks: pink with a corgi-butt pattern.
He placed a hand over his heart and sighed, contently.
"I knew you could turn my day around."
"Happy to be of service, boss," you beamed again. "Captain," you greeted him smiling, and grabbed your broom to continue sweeping. Both men walked away, Steve a little shell-shocked from the exchange. He realized after they were on their way, that he didn't even think about introducing himself.
It'd started a while ago; you were in the break room having lunch, shoes discarded on the floor and sitting cross-legged on the couch, when Mr. Stark walked in and commented on your socks: bright turquoise with dinosaur-like tacos on them. "Taco-saurs" you've called them, making him laugh, and that was that.
Now, every time he saw you, Tony stopped to enquire about the 'sock of the day', and exchanged a few words.
You were part of the cleaning crew in charge of the new Avengers Compound in upstate New York, and as such, not remarkable. Especially in that boring grey uniform. That was part of why you loved socks. They allowed you to keep some of your style, and gave you some sort of comfort. Sure, nobody saw them, but you knew they were there.
Except now Tony asked to see them every time he walked by. His favourites were the Iron Man ones, of course, but laughed particularly hard at the ones with sassy comments or outright curse words. It was like this that you met most of the Avengers: Mr. Stark stopped to see your socks, and gradually introduced you to the team.
Eventually Captain America stopped by to formally introduce himself, and he was all proper and business-like. That same day you ran into Natasha, who laughed at the socks you were wearing, that said 'I'm a delicate fucking flower'. She actually laughed, making your belly do somersaults, and your legs turn to jelly. So when you next saw her, you gifted her a pair that said 'motherfucking girl power', blubbering and blushing throughout the exchange.
You had a light crush on her, I mean who wouldn't? She was powerful and confident, and that side smirk that she sometimes flashed, made your brain short-circuit. Every time.
So sue you, you decided to give your favorite red-headed killing machine a pair of socks.
Except, you've never given any of them socks before. At least no one in the Hero Team; all your friends in the janitorial staff had received brightly colored socks on Christmas, most with rude language on them.
Tony walked into the tower to find Natasha lounging on a sofa, scrolling through her tablet. It would've been a regular occurrence, but her feet dangling over the armrest caught his eyes.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
"Are those... Did Socks give you socks?"
Natasha didn't even try to hide her smirk, gloating to Tony. "So what if she did?"
He started muttering under his breath, but at his "does she even value her job?", Nat dropped the smile, face serious.
"Stark, don't you dare even joke about that with her."
"What? Oh no, of course not. But how could she?! Breaks my heart!"
Seeing it was just a tantrum, she messaged you to give you a heads up, and continued with her reading.
So that was new, getting a text from the Black Widow. And telling you Mr. Stark was upset you didn't give him socks, too. You wondered for a second how she got your number, but then remembered the whole international-spy thing.
You had barely time to save her number, when an incoming call from (another) unknown number lit up your screen.
Picking up, Mr. Stark's voice came in a constant stream of whining about how betrayed he felt that he'd never gotten a pair of socks from you, and did you even care about him?
"Boss, you can get access to my locker," you said once he stopped complaining to take a breath, "bright red paper package is for you. I didn't see you today, so I didn't have a chance to give it to you personally."
"I'll call you back," he said, and disconnected the call.
He didn't, but instead texted you 'you little shit'.
You were a bit worried, he had the power to sack you after all, but the next day he was waiting outside the employees entrance at the compound before your shift, a shit-eating grin on his face. Once you were close enough, he lifted his pants to show you the rocket on his socks, set against a bright pink background. You knew in the rocket's contrail, hidden by the shoe, was written 'heading to my next mistake'.
"Love that colour on you, boss" you smiled, relieved, but didn't break your stride, so he followed you inside.
"I thought you'd get me Iron Man socks"
"That would've been boring. And predictable. And you probably already own a thousand of those."
He just laughed, and said goodbye to you outside the changing rooms.
Of course that meant that every Avenger now expected socks. At least those on talking terms with you, made themselves clear about it.
So you got Clint some that had a pattern of hawks saying 'hackward' over a light blue background. For Wanda you found ones that had a 'witchy' pattern (hats, brooms, candles, moons, cauldrons) over a scarlet background, which couldn't have been better if you designed them yourself. Vision got a black pair with green 0s and 1s in a binary-code-like pattern. "I hope it doesn't say anything rude," you said when you gave them to him. "I don't know how to read binary code." He just smiled and said not to worry, it was all gibberish. You were almost sure he didn't use socks at all, but you didn't dwell on the fact.
For Sam you got a lavender coloured pair with a Millenium Falcon flying through white clouds. You really hoped he was a fan of Star Wars, but you needn't worry, his smile and accompanying hug at receiving your gift was worth the strain. And Thor got a pair that had an allover black lightning pattern over a pale pink background. You doubted he wore 'regular' kind of socks under those boots, but he seemed delighted with your gift. You even got Pepper some, a black pair with little red peppers embroidered on the ankles. Very subtle, but you thought they fitted her.
Steve got two pairs, but only because you wanted to tease him. He was always so proper and correct around you, that you wanted to see if you could shake that exterior. You first gave him ones that said 'it's ok to fart', and he was so shocked and didn't know how to react, that you couldn't contain your laughter, and you took pity on him.
"Sorry man, I'm pulling your leg, you can throw those away. These are really for you," you said, handing him the other pair hidden behind your back. They had an inscription saying 'hahaha "free time" hahaha' over a pink, red and white background.
"I don't know if the colour is to your liking, but, well... I saw these and thought of you. I know how much you work, how much of your life is dedicated to the Avengers, and, well, I thought these might make you smile sometimes." You were rambling now, staring at the floor.
Steve's always been nice to you, but in a professional way, so perhaps these socks weren't the best idea. "You can throw them away too, it was a stupid-" you tried backtracking, but he interrupted your babble calling your name, and when you looked up, he was smiling. A warm, genuine, bright smile.
"Thanks. I really like them."
You smiled back at him, gave him a nod, and walked away, tongue tied. That smile almost blinded you, he was so cute!
That reminded you, you had Dr. Banner's socks too, but he barely left the lab before your shift was over. You decided to wait for him after work, since you wanted to give them in person, and he was the last one of the team left to receive socks from you.
Two and a half hours later, there was no sign of Dr. Banner anywhere. All your coworkers were done for the day, and the compound was mostly empty, at least on the entrance level.
After some hesitation, you got in the elevator to try and reach the labs. You weren't sure you had the clearance to go there, but you figured you'd be stopped before getting wherever you weren't supposed to go. Except there weren't any buttons or interface to make the elevator move. You were wondering what to do, when a voice spoke out of nowhere, startling you.
"Where do you need to go, miss?"
"Oh, uhm... I wanted to give a present to Dr. Banner, but he hasn't left yet, and I've been waiting for a few hours already," when the voice didn't answer, you continued, introducing yourself by saying your name. "I work here, I'm part of the janitorial staff. I can leave the present at the lab's front desk, if that's ok."
Did labs even have front desks? You had no idea, you only worked at the entrance and outside areas, and in six months never once got in an elevator here.
"I know who you are, miss," the voice said, all politeness, while the doors closed and the elevator started moving. "Mr. Stark says it's ok for you to head to the lab, that Dr. Banner probably needs a break."
"Oh, alright. Thank you, miss...?"
"I'm FRIDAY, miss. Mr. Stark's A.I."
"Oh yes! I've heard about you! Nice to meet you, FRIDAY," you said, excited to be talking with the A.I.
"Nice to meet you too," FRIDAY answered. It sounded like the A.I. was smiling, which was amazing.
By then the elevator had reached what you assumed was the lab floor, and the doors opened. "All the way to your right, last door on your left," said Friday.
The labs were easy enough to find, but when you walked through the doors, no one was there. You knocked on the open doors, calling out, "Doctor Banner?"
He emerged from a desk deep into the lab, hair mused and eyes tired. "Yes?"
You smiled at him, walking slowly, and introduced yourself with your name. "We met a few weeks ago, I work as a janitorial staff."
"Oh, yeah yeah I remember you," he said, confusion in his eyes. "What can I do for you?"
You stopped a few steps away from him, and motioned with the package in your hand. "I've been waiting downstairs to give you this, but since you never came down, I decided to get it to you before going home. FRIDAY showed me the way, and Tony said something about a break?"
He seemed to have some reservations, so you put down the parcel on the desk next to you, and took a step back.
"I was planning to grab a bite in the cafeteria downstairs before heading back. I'd love it if you want to join me, but there's no obligation."
When you turned around and started walking, you heard him get up to pick up the gift and unwrap it. It was when you were almost to the elevator that you heard him scramble to catch you, and call your name. He was smiling when you turned around, even if it was a bit shy.
"Cute? Really?" he asked. The socks in his hands were green and pink, and said 'cute, but psycho' on the ankle, and then 'but cute' near the toes.
"Really, Dr. Banner," you smirked.
He ran a hand over his face, but he was still smiling.
"Just Bruce, please. Do you want to stay and eat here? I mean the common area upstairs. I'm not really comfortable eating in the public cafeteria."
And that is how you found yourself eating at the complex with Bruce, and while you were waiting for dinner to arrive chatting about inconsequential things, you were joined by Nat (she actually asked you to call her that!), Wanda and Vision. Both women proudly showed you they were wearing the socks you've given them, and you showed them the pair you were wearing today: light blue with a bunny pattern, and they said 'I'm a fluffing delight'.
You were starting on dessert when Steve trudged in, looking exhausted, even if he was freshly showered. What you weren't expecting were the socks he was wearing: grey with yellow toe-caps were definitely the socks you've given him that read 'it's ok to fart' around the ankles, hidden by his sweat pants.
You snorted into your chocolate mousse, and tried to cover it feigning a cough, and Steve spotted you, a faint blush spreading on his face.
"Hey Cap," you greeted him, and continued eating. He nodded, and went to help himself to the dinner leftovers. Nat was of course sharp enough to figure something was afoot, but didn't say anything.
After dinner, you got up and started thanking everyone before heading out, but Wanda stopped you. "It's late already, why don't you stay?"
Your brain crashed and you stood there for a few moments, blinking and waiting to reboot. Thankfully, Wanda wasn't in any rush, and everyone else wasn't really paying attention.
"Oh no, that's fine. I can splurge in a taxi once in a while, don't worry."
"Your shift is early tomorrow, you'll avoid the morning commute," Tony said, evidently listening in on the conversation. "We have extra rooms, extra clean," he smirked.
You were flattered they wanted to include you like that, but this somehow felt weird to you.
"Thank you, for real, but I'd rather go back home."
After some back and forth, they finally let you go, but Tony insisted that you took one of the company's cars, and Nat walked you down to it. They were all very kind, even if they were reluctant to let you leave.