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The Avengers were gathered together for breakfast, one day a month or so after the Battle of New York, mostly eating in companionable silence. Tony, for instance, gazed into his coffee mug for just long enough that Steve thought he might have fallen back to sleep, before speaking abruptly. “So, Pride Fest’s in a week and a half. It’s not too late for me to wrangle an Avengers float for the parade, if we want one.”
Steve perked up. “A parade? What sort of pride are we talking about here?”
Tony exchanged suddenly-uneasy looks with Clint and Bruce, and wouldn’t meet Steve’s eyes. “Oh, ah… Gay Pride. Um…”
Steve mouthed ‘gay pride’ to himself, sure the confusion he felt must be visible on his face. Fortunately, JARVIS came to his rescue. “In this case, Captain Rogers, ‘gay’ is slang for homosexual.”
Steve’s spine straightened. “Homosexual Pride? It’s legal now? There’s a parade?!”
Everyone else bristled, and Clint stood, staring Steve down. “I thought you knew Phil and I are together. I thought you were ok with that. If you’re not-”
Steve couldn’t help a laugh. “I’d be an awful hypocrite if I had a problem with you two.” He looked down at his hands, almost unable to believe what he was about to do. “I’ve, ah. Never actually told anyone this before, but Bucky and I were an item, before-” He couldn’t say it. “Well, before.”
Clint burst out laughing. “Sorry, sorry, not trying to mock your pain, just, Maria owes Phil ten bucks. He’s been saying for years you two were a thing, and she wouldn’t believe it. Aw, man, this is awesome.”
Tony clapped once, sharply. “Wonderful, fantastic. So that’s four for the float. Nat, Bruce, either of you want in? Also, we’ll have to talk about which flags to fly. I’m thinking at least the rainbow and bi pride, but we’ve got room for more.”
Bruce sighed. “Well, I’m effectively asexual these days, I might as well embrace it. I’ll do the parade, I might bow out of the festival if it’s too crowded.”
Tony snorted. “Marriage was basically just legalized, it’s going to be a madhouse. I’ll have someone standing by at the end of the parade route to bring you back here.”
Clint gasped. “Marriage. Guys, I need to get a ring for Phil!”
Steve’s head was spinning. “Marriage? You and Phil can get married? There are flags? Like, multiple ones? What are they all for?”
JARVIS came to his rescue again. “I will put together a brief overview, Captain. Would you rather look it over here or in your own rooms?”
~A~A~
The parade was a marvel. First, there was their float, with flags for so many things- the rainbow for overall queer pride (Steve genuinely loved that one), the pink-purple-blue of Tony’s (and Steve’s) bisexuality, the black-gray-white-purple of Bruce and Nat’s asexuality (Steve was still surprised and pleased that was even a thing)… Next, there were the sidewalks, lined with people dressed in the most outrageous outfits (if they could even be called that), and teenagers holding signs of solidarity, and families with small children, and everywhere Steve turned there were rainbow flags, and flags of other wild colors, and people smiling, and glitter. So. Much. Glitter. By the end, he suspected that one of the floats ahead of them might be sponsored by a glitter manufacturer, but he found he didn’t even mind the prospect of glitter in… delicate places, when everyone was so happy and excited to be there. When they got to the end of the route, they stayed and watched the rest of the floats come in, and every one of them made Steve happier and happier, until he felt like he might burst from it.
Before he could turn away from the last float and into the festival grounds, Tony caught his sleeve and dragged him away, Phil and Clint trailing after like ducklings. The four of them ended up clustered standing on the edge of a small stage in front of a huge crowd. A person in top hat and tails (and very little else) scooped the microphone from its stand near the team and stepped to the front of the stage. “Ladies, gentlemen… and the rest of us.” They paused for a cheer. “We have a very special, late-breaking surprise for you all! The Avengers are here to celebrate with us!” The entire audience erupted in cheers, hoots, and hollers.
Tony, who had wrangled the bisexual pride flag from their float around his shoulders like a cape, accepted the microphone and bowed with a flourish. “Hello, New York!” The audience, which had barely quieted, cheered again. Steve found himself grinning at their collective enthusiasm. “Yes, ‘tis I, Tony Stark, King of the Bisexuals, here to preside over these festivities. My teammates and I are very proud to be part of all this, and we’re proud of you, for being who you are, right out loud!” He blew kisses right and left, with both hands, and clearly basked in the applause.
And then he was handing the mic to Steve, who stepped up only a little (ok, really incredibly) nervously. “Wow. I, ah. Geeze, you guys. You have no idea how amazing this whole festival is to me. Back in my day, we had to sneak around and hide in the shadows, and now look at you all. I look around, and I see courage. I see hope. I see progress, and it makes me so happy, I don’t even have the words to tell you. Bucky and I dreamed of a day like this, where we could kiss in public, where we wouldn’t have to be afraid to share our love with everyone around us, and now, to be here in front of all of you, it’s such an honor. I know I skipped a lot of hard, scary work, by incredibly brave people, and I know we all have a lot of work still ahead of us, but to be here, in this moment, to be part of this movement, well. It’s everything I could have asked for in the future.” He paused, swallowing down a lump of emotion, and realized he'd missed something important. “My name is Steve Rogers, and I am bisexual!” The wave of noise that the audience let out was so intense he actually had to take a step back, but he grinned and waved as he did.
Clint grabbed the mic from Steve’s hand, and took his turn stepping up to the front of the stage. “Aw, Cap. How’m I supposed to follow that up?” He grinned at the audience. “OK, fine, I maybe have one idea. Hey babe?” He turned to Phil, who was by now sitting primly in a folding chair at the edge of the stage. “You’re, like, my favorite person ever, and I think we work really damn well together. Wanna get married?” He dropped to one knee and held out the ring he had just magically produced. After a beat, he held out the mic with the other hand.
Phil laughed as he took the mic, even as his eyes teared up. “Hawkeye, you maniac. You’re my favorite person, too. Of course I’ll marry you.” He held out his free hand, and Clint slipped the ring on his finger. Their kiss brought a fresh wave of cheering, and Clint waved one hand without prying his lips from Phil’s. Phil, though, pulled away and spoke into the mic. “And now I have to take this man home and do all sorts of filthy things to him. Happy Pride, everyone!” He practically threw the mic at the MC, and it was a contest to see who was dragging who off the stage and into the crowd.
~A~A~
The rest of the day was a happy blur, Steve sticking close to Tony’s side as they roamed from booth to booth. People kept asking to take pictures with them, which they were more than happy to oblige, but also, vendors kept pushing merchandise into their arms, so that before too long they had to re-purpose Tony’s cape as a carry-bag for all the rainbow- and bi-pride-themed tchotchkes they were acquiring. Steve’s favorite, though, came just as they were getting ready to leave at the end of the day.
A young woman with a rainbow of ribbons braided into her hair ran up to them, clutching a sketchbook to her chest. “Mister Captain America, sir, I made this for you! Thank you so much, for, like, everything!” She opened the sketchbook and pulled out a drawing of Steve himself. It looked like the reference had been taken from news footage of the Battle, his uniform torn and dirty, but the artist had recolored the uniform and shield, the blue softer, the red turned to pink, and the white to purple. It was an expertly-done image of him in his newly-claimed flag of choice, and Steve found himself tearing up a little bit.
He turned a slightly watery grin on the girl. “Thank you. This is amazing. I’m going to get it framed and hang it in my living room. This is… God, thank you.”
Tony grinned too. “This is amazing, kid. Tell you what, why don’t I get a couple photos of you two and the picture?” Tony collected the girl’s phone, and Steve put one arm around her, while the other held up the drawing. Tony snapped photos with her phone, then his own, and then insisted on getting a few with Steve’s phone as well. Finally, they sent the girl off with a wave, and headed out of the festival grounds, to where Happy was waiting with a car to take them home.
They stowed their bounty in the trunk, and settled into the back seat, and Steve couldn’t help but turn to Tony with a beaming grin. “This has been incredible. Thank you so much for getting us out here, doing this. I still can’t believe…” He sighed happily.
Tony smiled back at him. “It’s all pretty great, isn’t it?” He paused, then reached out hesitantly and took Steve’s hand. “Look, um. I know you’re still in mourning and all, and I absolutely respect that. And maybe this is crazy, I mean we did fight a lot when we first met, but… Well, can I take you to dinner sometime? It doesn’t have to be soon, if you’re not ready-”
Steve had to blink a couple of times to be sure he’d heard right. “Yes, of course I’ll go on a date with you. I mean, that is what you meant, right? A date?” Tony nodded, his smile growing, and Steve decided he wasn’t going to wait until after the date to do what he already wanted to do. He leaned forward and pressed his grin against Tony’s.
Their first kiss was awkward but oh-so perfect.