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The small wooden table and quaint mismatched chairs in the corner of their offices set up as a coffee shop are the perfect place for interviews with potential new clients. They chose every detail of the decor, filled with plants and bathed in the afternoon sunshine, to foster a calm and inviting atmosphere. And it works, too, but that's also because Steve and Natasha have perfected how to make often traumatized people talk.
With his strong build, classic handsomeness, and kind blue eyes, Steve radiates trustworthiness. He's their mastermind and draws in clients for guidance just as he did for the team that formed around him. Natasha, their grifter, is a brilliant actress. She's incredibly good at reading people and knows exactly how to use body language to make them tell her everything she wants to know. Together? Nat and Steve are terribly efficient, and that's why they generally handle the first interviews. They have so much history they often seem to read each other's minds, which makes Toni a little jealous. She's a gifted hacker, a wizard with tech, but people? People elude her.
Right now, though? Toni's itching to go sit at the table with her chin propped on her hands to listen with rapt attention. The potential client is Bruce Banner. She has read all of his articles, even if they are in biochemistry, nuclear physics, and gamma radiation, not engineering, because he's that brilliant.
"Stop staring, Stark. It's creepy," Clint whispers in her ear.
Toni yelps in surprise—she hadn't noticed Clint arrive—which draws attention to her. Mortified, Toni lowers her head down behind the screen of her laptop and uses it as a shield to hide and also glare at Clint.
"You asshole." He made her jump on purpose. "And shut up."
Clint grins at her, unrepentant, while Thor shoves his shoulder.
"Be kind, Barton. Toni, do you want to bring them the tea?"
Thor just finished setting up the tray. It holds the perfect tea set with four cups, a teapot full of Earl Grey, and a plate of biscuits with a few lemon slices on the side. There is also milk, honey, and sugar. Behind the brawn—Thor is their hitter, and a redoubtable fighter at that—the man is tactful and sweet.
Toni smiles at Thor, grateful for the support but even more at the occasion it gives her to approach their guest. "And that's why you're my favorite, Thor."
It grants her a playful wink from Thor while Clint scoffs. "Nice try, but we all know who's your favorite."
"Pshh." Fine, Toni's favorite might be Steve, but she's not telling. "It's not you, thief."
It's sadly impossible for Toni to rush to her room and change into something more professional and flattering. The day Natasha has warned Toni about, the one where she'd regret often dressing like a colorblind weirdo, has come. Oh well. Better own it. Toni dusts lint off her orange yoga pants, straightens her pink t-shirt with cat skulls, shoves a few dark curls into her purple beanie, and grabs the tray, tilting her chin up.
"And here I go," she tells herself.
Her dear Platypus is the one who invited Bruce Banner for the interview, and he's sitting at the table too. She did not know that they knew each other, and there will be strong words later. On the other hand, Rhodey brought the man over, so half the fault is forgiven. Toni slides between Rhodey and Natasha to deposit the tea tray on the table, using her most charming smile.
"Tea, anyone?"
Bruce blinks up at her—he's cute, in a wholesome way—and smiles back shyly.
"Oh, yes, thank you."
"My pleasure." Toni knows how to prepare a good cup of tea, at least. She did it every day for her mother before Howard kicked her out, when Toni dropped out of MIT and refused to work for Stark Industries. "How do you like it, Dr Banner?"
"Bruce, please."
Toni does a little internal happy dance.
"Lemon and honey, thank you."
"Coming right up."
Toni does the same combo for Natasha and pours Steve's tea with nothing else, as he prefers. As for Rhodey, she adds lots of honey because he's secretly a hummingbird. She then distributes the cups, receiving thanks, and keeps Rhodey for last because she's obligated by their ten years of friendship to do the same joke every time.
"There you go, honey," she says with a wink.
Rhodey smiles with fondness, which is the expected reward. "Thank you, Toni."
"Toni?" Bruce asks, then does a double take. "Toni Stark? Oh!"
Bruce Banner knows of her? Toni is having a small internal freakout.
"The one and only," Rhodey says.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr- hum, Bruce!"
They shake hands, and Toni hopes her fangirling isn't too visible.
"Thanks for the tea, Toni," Steve interrupts. The skin at the corner of his eyes is slightly pinched, and Toni knows him enough to know he's annoyed. She instantly feels bad about it, smile dropping.
"I'm sorry I interrupted," Toni says. "I'll go—"
"Oh no, it's fine," Bruce hurries to say. "I don't mind."
"Oh, excellent." Since there is no free chair, she sits down on Rodhey's lap.
Steve has graduated to a furrow between his eyebrows. He'll have to deal with his temper, because if it's okay with Bruce, Toni's staying to hear the story. Rhodey, accustomed to being used as furniture by Toni, circles her waist with his arms to secure her in place. At that, Steve twitches, and even Natasha throws him a look. Toni doesn't understand why Steve just can't seem to warm up to Rhodey. Her Care Bear is the best there is! That irrational dislike is, in Toni's opinion, one of Steve's biggest flaws.
"So you said that Culver University made you stop your project," Natasha says, resuming the conversation that stopped when Toni arrived with the tea.
"Yes. I had a stable formula, and we'd just started testing on human volunteers. Recovery time halved, lower blood lactate concentrations, increased VO2 max, maximum weight lifted by 150%, and more. But suddenly the Research Ethics Board recanted their approval, and the university shut down the trial. Rumors were spread that I'd falsified data, which I would never do. "
Ugh, that's the worst. Toni commiserates and cannot believe people are falling for it.
"It must have been upsetting," Steve says.
"Very." Bruce takes off his glasses and cleans them with the hem of his shirt. "There wasn't much I could do, though. I was in the lab, about to destroy the samples of the serum as instructed, when the break-in happened."
Toni gasps. "A break-in!"
"Yes, three men with guns. I recovered the footage from the surveillance cameras in the corridor afterwards," Bruce says, starting a clip on his phone and depositing it on the table.
An old IP Security camera with VGA resolution, so it's not great but still clear enough to catch three guys in all black. They are all wearing jeans, boots, long-sleeve t-shirts, and with ski masks covering their faces. The men move down the corridor in a classic clearing pattern, smooth in a way that speaks of a familiarity with each other or of this type of operation. Their guns have sound suppressors, and one man shoots the camera, ending the clip. They knew exactly what to look out for.
"No camera in the lab itself?" Steve asks.
Bruce shakes his head. "Too sensitive with the research. They barged in, and even though I raised my hands and everything, they came for me and knocked me out."
"Animals." Toni is furious. You don't risk injuring Bruce Banner's precious brain!
"When I came to, a few minutes later, the lab was trashed, including the adjoining office and computers containing all the formula development notes and preliminary reports. I supposed they'd copied the data first. I don't know who they were, and the investigation seems to be going nowhere."
"The few images you have speak of well trained operatives with a clear objective," Steve says.
"Definitely soldiers, or former ones," Rhodey agrees.
Bruce nods. "Which is why I think General Thunderbolt Ross is behind it."
"The Secretary of State himself? That's quite the accusation," Natasha says.
"Oh, I know. He visited Culver University a week before the attack. The Research Ethics Board putting a stop to the experiment right after he toured the place is one thing. What's damning is that I've heard about soldiers out performing themselves in training, just four months after the break-in."
"There is gossip about a sudden improvement in a Special Forces A-Team," Rhodey confirms.
Suspicious indeed.
"When I dared to voice my doubts, HR immediately called me in. The university opened an investigation on me. From what I gathered, an anonymous tip stated that I'm involved in the break-in, in order to steal the data because I was angry they shut down the trials. My life’s work was stolen, my reputation is hanging by a thread, and I tried to get new contracts, but the Army is clearly blacklisting me."
"That's outrageous!" Toni exclaims. "I'm so sorry."
The corner of Bruce's lips tilts up. "Thank you. It's been hard."
Rhodey pats Toni's thigh in comfort, and Steve's jaw is now tightly clenched. It's rare that he's that riled up when a potential client presents a case, and Toni hopes that he's considering taking it. They have to help! It's Bruce Banner!
Nat puts her hands on Bruce's and leans forward, all compassion and understanding. "Thank you for trusting us with your story, Dr Banner."
"Colonel Rhodes told me you cannot take on every injustice that is presented to you, but I appreciate that you took the time to meet me. I realize it's the Army and the Secretary of State, which risks bringing you a lot of attention that you don't want. But thank you all for listening, at the very least."
"We'll be in touch one way or the other," Steve says, shaking Bruce's hand.
--
To clear Bruce's name, they need to steal the Army's version of the serum and compare it to the original formula. Their window of opportunity is the posh party thrown to inaugurate the new top of the line labs-slash-offices linked to the Medical Research and Development Command. It's a perfect occasion, but the place is brand new and filled with a ton of security measures to protect the various secrets it already contains. A challenge, just how Toni likes them.
She spent hours with Clint dissecting the plans and schematics that they got with Rhodey's help. They better not fuck up this mission and get caught, because Rhodey is risking his career and serious jail time if they're discovered. Hell, they all are: they'd be accused of treason, at the very least.
Steve and Natasha decided on a simple con: a basic distraction-and-grab, playing into each of their strengths. Toni forged a Special Ops Captain identity for Steve—now Grant Stevens—back from years abroad on super secret missions. She might have gone overboard on the medals, but he looks the type. And boy oh boy, does he fill that tailored Green Beret uniform just right. The shoulder to waist ratio it emphasizes is insane.
Natasha is his beloved wife Holly, and yeah, she's jaw-droppingly gorgeous too, in her long green dress that matches her eyes perfectly. They look so good together. Toni can't help the pinch of jealousy stemming from her unrequited love for Steve… and maybe the envy-crush she has on Natasha, too. Thor is in a classic tailored suit, hair tucked into a neat ponytail, ready to play the buffest waiter ever. Even Clint is dressed up in a black on black number. He'll rumple the suit in the vents, but it's a necessity to get in. There's a drawback in being pansexual and working with a crew of sexy mofos: it's very distracting.
Funny how Toni used to think that Steve was too much the perfect American golden boy to be her type, too straight-laced and boring even if hot. He was full of self-righteousness on their first con, but over the last year he's been running the team in a more nuanced manner. But it's his determination to keep them safe, to the point where he put himself between Toni and a gun without hesitation, that made her take notice. Thankfully it turned out bloody but not too dangerous, the bullet a through and through in his thigh missing the femoral artery and bone. Toni was so furious—fine, terrified and left feeling helpless—that Steve would do something so stupid that she refused to talk to him for weeks.
"Don't blink." Natasha is holding Toni's chin and applying her mascara with practiced movements. The order makes the urge to blink overwhelming, but Toni holds still. "I don't know why you don't put on mascara more often. Your lashes are insane and it makes your eyes pop."
"I always forget to clean it off, so I don't bother."
A bit of eyeliner and lip-gloss is Toni's usual, and plenty enough in her opinion. Also, she wears tinted glasses more often than not. It's part of her brand with her colorful attire (and a protection layer since she can't lie for shit).
"Maybe you should," Natasha says once finished, as she slides away from between Toni and the vanity's mirror.
Toni's jaw drops at the beautiful and sophisticated woman she sees looking back. Natasha tamed her black curls into an updo with only a few strands framing her face. She also highlighted Toni's cheekbones, painted her lips with a burgundy lipstick, and combined it with smokey eyes. It makes them seem more honey-colored than brown, enormous and luminous.
"Oh."
"You're gorgeous. Not that you aren't au naturel, of course."
"Thanks."
Nat is one to talk, as she's the most beautiful woman Toni's ever known, and she used to hang out with models and actresses.
Toni is dressed up too, in a simple but form-fitting short black silk dress. It shows more cleavage and legs than she's done in the last five years, when she retired from the party scene of her dissolute youth. Toni has more curves now that are normally hidden by her usual leggings paired with overly large sweatshirts (often stolen from Rhodey). Walking in four-inch heels comes back without a problem, though. Toni cannot say she hates it when Clint whistles in open admiration as she walks down the stairs.
"Quiet, you dog," Toni says, her smile widening nonetheless.
"Please, we're all looking," Clint replies.
"Respectfully," Thor adds.
Toni winks at him and can't help but to glance at Steve, hoping he likes it too. Unfortunately, he's not even looking her way, head bowed as Natasha whispers in his ear. It's a bummer, but then again Toni never had a chance with the man. She wonders why she still gets her hopes up sometimes. She tightens her grip on her clutch—so small she could hardly fit her phone hosting JARVIS, fake ID, and the camouflaged equipment she'll need for the heist—and keeps on smiling.
"Everyone has their comms and IDs?" she asks, falling back on professionalism.
There are nods all around—Steve's eyes barely stop on Toni; it's disheartening all over again—and Natasha smiles, slow and dangerous.
"Then let's go steal a super serum."
--
As planned, Toni helped Clint access the ceiling vents from a small storage room next to the main door leading to the research area. She's now following Clint's progress on her phone, which is slower than she'd like because of the security features he has to circumvent. When he makes it to the lab where they are mostly certain the serum is stored, Toni waits with bated breath, nibbling at the skin of her thumb. She hasn't had a pretty manicure in years; she won't ruin it by biting the shellac polish.
Clint speaks up at last. "I put your gizmo on the safe's door, but it's staying red and it's been over a minute."
"Fuck!" She tries but can't remotely link with BUG (for Burglary Unit Gadget, and yes, fine, the name needs work) through JARVIS. Toni based their earbud comms on Digital Mobile Radio standard, and they are working fine. But there seems to be a jammer for the bluetooth that allows Toni to check on BUG, even with her refined Adaptive Frequency-Hopping. "I need to go in too."
"We didn't plan for this," Steve says in her ear.
"We won't get another chance." Toni's taking BUG's failure personally, and she will fix it. Plus, her teammate is at high risk of getting trapped in that room, which she won't let happen. "Don't move, Clint."
"Got it."
There's no time to crawl the long way around through the vents, so Toni will have to risk it all and go through the door. The party is only one bend of the corridor away, and the clear laughter and music make the threat of being discovered any second all too real. Toni forces the cover of the control panel open and connects her phone to the system. She has four minutes before the next patrol.
"Come on, Jay," she murmurs as data on the lock's algorithm pours in. Hopefully, they can find a viable combination in time. "Do your magic."
Toni almost has a heart attack when a man in uniform turns the corner, stalking towards her. Fuck, she was supposed to have over three minutes left! The relief when she recognizes Steve is immense.
A hand on her racing heart doesn't help to slow it any. "Jesus, don't do this to me. What are you doing here?"
"Nat is grilling Ross fine on her own." Toni wired both Steve and Nat, and they wished to record General Ross trying to recruit 'Grant Stevens' for his project or, even better, catch Ross saying something incriminating, as he's known to be overconfident and a braggart.
Steve sure doesn't have the same faith in Toni's abilities as he does for the rest of the team; he's always shadowing her when things go wrong. It's as if he doesn't trust Toni to do her job and it infuriates her.
"What's the problem?" Steve asks.
It's Toni's fault BUG isn't working, and she's flushing with shame. "I need to get in."
Steve stares at her for a second, then nods. "Okay."
It's a relief not to have to fight him on this—they used to butt heads so much—and Toni focuses on the phone. Two minutes and a half. She can do this.
"I can slow the guards down, if needed," Steve says.
"Fine, fine," Toni grumbles.
Steve is in solution mode, adapting their plan on the fly like the brilliant strategist he is. "Thor, go scope our exit route to ensure it's clear. Nat, be ready too."
"Understood," Thor says. They hear a "Champagne, mademoiselle?" before his comm closes again.
There's also a double click where Nat acknowledges the warning but indicates she can't talk right at this moment.
Like it or not, Toni feels more secure at having Steve's forceful presence at her back. Somewhere in the Pentagon there's a file a couple of inches tall—part paper, to her despair—about stuff she did before she learned to cover her tracks. If she gets caught red-handed in a Medical Research and Development Command building, she'll call some prison cell home for a long time.
Unfortunately, the unmistakable sound of boots on the tiled floor reaches them too soon. It's the guard doing the rounds 30 seconds early. They could hurry to slip back into the party, but that would mean unplugging JARVIS and losing all of their progress.
Shit, shit, shit, she needs to think fast. Steve must have a contingency plan, but there's no time to discuss it.
"Sorry, I've got to do this." Toni grabs Steve and pushes his back against the opened control panel, hiding the tampering and her phone. Steve doesn't protest as Toni winds her arms around his neck. She apologizes once more. "Sorry, that's all I can think of."
To save the situation, maybe, but if she's honest, Toni thinks about kissing Steve way more than is healthy in her day-to-day life too. Even with her four-inch heels, Toni needs to go on the tip of her toes to reach Steve's lips. Steve freezes for a moment, but then he's kissing back, hand cupping the side of her face. It's amazing. Steve's a great actor and is kissing her with the urgency you'd expect from a man high on the thrill of possibly getting caught cheating on his wife. It means nothing to Steve, but Toni gets lost in the kiss anyway. She savors every second as her poor heart does loops-de-loops in her rib cage. The palm on her cheek is gentle, and the way Steve's other hand is spanning Toni's lower back and keeping them plastered together is driving her nuts. It bears the question: how can Toni stay on the team now that she knows how good they would fit, and then not have it?
The guards have reached them, and instead of asking what they're doing in this off-limits corridor, there's a snort of amusement. Even though it fits her purpose, it annoys Tony: she hates incompetents. Toni untangles one of her hands from Steve's (very soft) hair and raises her middle finger at the guards. It makes them chuckle, and they continue on their way, soon safely around the bend.
The threat is gone, so they could stop kissing. Toni is too weak, though, enjoying every single swipe of tongue and Steve's embrace before it's over forever. JARVIS letting out a small beep brings her back to reality. There's not a second to waste if they want to save Clint and complete the mission (and not end up in jail).
"Sorry again," Toni whispers as she reluctantly leans away and takes a step back when Steve lets her go.
"It's all right."
Steve sounds breathless, mouth stained with lipstick and hair messed up. He's stunningly gorgeous, even though he looks as if he just got hit over the head, not kissed. Toni can't help but swipe her thumb under his lip to wipe away the makeup. She would joke to cover any awkwardness, but words escape her (she might be dazed, too). Suddenly overwhelmed, Toni swivels towards the control panel and forces herself to focus on her task. Great news: there's a green combination on her screen.
She puts her hands on the door and takes a moment to implore good luck from the universe. "Please open, please open, please open," she says before pushing firmly. The joy as it gives in without resistance is heady. "Yay!"
Toni turns to smile at Steve, and the look on his face, warm and fond, makes her stutter. She must not mistake it for love even though it's affectionate. That kiss was not real, but they are definitely family. It's something precious that she has only found with people of her own choosing, like her Rodhey. It would be stupid to mess it up. Toni nods, rapidly re-affixes the control panel's casing, and they hurry towards the lab where Clint is waiting.
"Oh thank god," he says when Toni unlocks that door too, which takes only a second now that JARVIS knows the right electronic key.
"What have you got?" Steve asks.
"I've retrieved the data from the computer." Clint is holding up the stick with Toni's latest copy software. "But the gizmo for the safe won't work," he adds, gesturing towards it.
The colored indicator on BUG is still infuriatingly red, and Toni frowns as she plugs JARVIS in. "Speak to me, little one. What's the problem?"
He's been working great on multiple complex safes—overwriting the requirement for various biometrics—until today. Toni tunes out Steve and Clint touching base with the others as she focuses on, well, debugging BUG. Because she and JARVIS are a force to reckon with, it takes less than two minutes to circumvent the hurdle. She fixes BUG, who then works his magic to open the safe. Right at eye level, there are two plastic test tubes with the bright blue liquid they are looking for.
"Come to mama," Toni crows, putting the vials in her bra so as not to lose them.
"Did you scramble the computers?" Steve asks Clint before Toni has the chance to.
"Yeah."
Thor speaks up in their ears, "I am on my way to the exit route, and there are more guards than predicted."
"Do your thing," Steve says. "We're coming out hot right now. Nat, meet us at the van!"
"It will be my pleasure," Thor purrs.
He's a sweet man, but he loves fighting. Mainly with his fists, or with anything that falls into his hands—including a hammer more than once—but never firearms. Definitely revels in his job, and is exceptional at it. Toni knows that by the time they get to the delivery docks where Clint parked their van Quinn, all the guards will be KOed.
"Go, go, go!" Steve urges after glancing out of the lab's door.
Toni kicks off her shoes and grabs them by the heels as she runs, followed by Steve and Clint. It's fun to dress up, but she won't risk breaking her neck sprinting in these things. As she thought, Thor took care of the guards, and Toni has to jump over a few unconscious men on her way to the service entrance. Outside, her baby Quinn is lettered as a caterer's van for camouflage, sadly gutted from almost all of Toni's beautiful equipment. Thor and Clint used it to enter the complex, while Steve, Nat, and Toni arrived by limo service.
It's a relief to see Nat at the wheel and Thor standing guard. He beams when Toni makes a thumbs up before jumping in the back of Quinn. When they're all aboard, Nat drives them off to safety.
Toni laughs, thrilled that they pulled off the mission even with BUG's difficulties. She's not the only one in a good mood, as there are smiles on every face. Including Steve, who is sitting right by her side, solid and beautiful. As the adrenaline subsides, Toni worries anew about how she probably messed everything up between them. She's not sure how she'll ever be able to look at Steve without thinking about that kiss. It's guaranteed that she'll make things weird sooner rather than later.
"Again, I'm sorry about what I had to do," she murmurs.
Steve looks at her and blinks. A myriad of micro-expressions pass on his face, too fast to read.
"I'm not," he finally says.
Toni is still processing that when Steve slides his big hand behind her neck and pulls her into another kiss, firm and sure.
Cheering and whistling erupt around them as elation fills Toni's whole being. She has half a thought that it should embarrass her that everyone can see her toes curling in pleasure, but she doesn't care.
"Finally!" Nat says, and there's a lot of laughter in answer.
Both now with smiles too wide to continue kissing, Toni and Steve rest their foreheads together, gazing lovingly at each other. Steve stole her heart a while ago, but it seems that Toni unknowingly had done the same. It's the best feeling in the world.
(Even better than successfully helping Bruce Banner.)