Chapter Text
In April of 2014 SHIELD fell. Now jobless and at loose ends, long time lovers Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov join Tony Stark in New York to found his privately funded Avengers team. Though bedmates for years, the trauma of recent events prompted them to admit their feelings for each other. Still cautious, they begin this new phase of their lives - both personal and public. Their first mission, to extract Thor and Jane from a Hydra attack in London. Soon, the Asgardian, the scientist, and her assistant extrodinaire Darcy Lewis are safe in the Tower as well.
In the fall of ’14 they are joined by Steve Rogers, back from his successful quest for his childhood friend turned brainwashed assassin, Bucky Barnes. Traumatized, but with hints of memory returning, Bucky agrees to stay in the Tower as Steve’s guest. He strikes up an odd relationship with the team doctor Amanda Newbury. Formerly of SHIELD, Newbury is an experienced emergency medic and field surgeon, with theories on how to use the super solider serum to help those with chronic illness.
As Bucky is slowly accepted into the team, his relationship with the doctor continues to grow. After saving her life in a mission gone wrong he is given his own apartment and after a near-fatal shooting in the summer of ’15 he finally crosses the line and kisses Amanda, beginning their romantic relationship.
In September of that year, Darcy Lewis, single and still working and living in the Tower, meets Cal Bennet, an IT tech also brought over from SHIELD and the only person Maria Hill will let touch her computer. Cal was at the Triskelion when it fell and helped make sure the data dump begun by Fury and Romanov got out. Trapped in the building after the collapse, he lay in the rubble for two days before being found. Bonding over snark, video games and amazing sex, the two embark on a relationship that quickly becomes serious.
That Christmas, the ladies of the building get together to do some shopping, forming the Tower’s unofficial “Wives Club” to the chagrin of their menfolk.
The first months of 2016 see Barton and Romanov moving in together, after long keeping up the pretense of separate but adjoining apartments. The move marks another shift in the relationship and the beginning of better communication between the two. The move also allows Amanda and Bucky to move in together, as well as Cal Bennet to move into the Tower, making his relationship with Darcy easier to maintain.
In July, while attending her sister’s wedding, Amanda is kidnapped by Hydra in an attempt to get her to give up her serum research. The team rescues her and she continues to pursue FDA approval of her drug trial. At a meeting in Maryland, she and her guards are attacked by Hydra snipers, hitting Steve. Heart and lung damage means his brain is oxygen deprived for several minutes. Amanda is able to give him immediate medical attention and he survives, but remains in a coma despite his serum healing abilities.
While struggling to find an answer to Steve’s condition Amanda discovers that she’s pregnant. She also finds that Steve has been secretly seeing Sharon Carter. A platonic relationship that had began in July ’14 after the death of her great-aunt Peggy, it had become romantic after Amanda’s kidnapping drove home to Steve how fragile life is. Sharon is immediately welcomed by the Tower residents and the Wives Club.
After an epiphany contemplating her new roll as pediatrician to Tony and Pepper’s daughter Ruby, Amanda wakes Steve from his coma. Now outed to the team, he and Sharon continue their relationship, taking a vacation in Italy and living in her apartment in DC. Despite disapproval from her family and excessive media interest they manage to maintain a fairly normal life, attending Amanda and Bucky’s wedding and baby shower as well as Clint and Natasha’s “elopement” to Las Vegas.
In June of 2017 Sharon is attacked in their apartment by Rumlow, now working as a mercenary fulfilling a hit taken out on her by enemies unknown. Sharon defends herself in a manner worthy of a Carter, but it is now obvious that she and Steve need the safety of the Tower. She quits her CIA position and moves in with him, taking a job with Stark as a liaison between the Avengers and various governments and agencies.
Meanwhile, surrounded by happy couples and growing families, Bruce Banner had been struggling to come to terms with his apparently permanent role as Uncle Bruce. On a walk in November of 2016 he meets Violet Marsh, a kind, gentle woman with a sadness that speaks to Bruce’s. Widowed and a mother of two young children, she has no idea that Bruce is the Hulk or even an Avenger. The two strike up a hesitant friendship.
Bruce manages to keep his secret until February of 2017 when emergency babysitting duty for Tony’s daughter Ruby forces Bruce to invite Violet to the Tower for help. After meeting Tony Stark, Violet demands answers and Bruce tells her who he really is. Cautious, but unwilling to give up a friendship that has become dear to her, she agrees to continue having lunch with him. Impressed with her reaction to Bruce and her history as a teacher and mother of precocious, special needs children, Tony and Pepper hire Violet to be Ruby’s in-house, on call babysitter (because Tony Stark’s daughter will not be raised by a nanny). Violet and her children move into the building.
Initially hesitant to move to the next step in their relationship, Bruce attempts to keep her at arm’s length. However, a meeting with the Hulk sways him when Violet is not only not afraid, but is recognized by and able to communicate with the big green guy. Now confident that the Hulk will not harm her or the children, Bruce gives into his feelings and pursues a romantic, physical relationship with Violet.
The romance progresses happily throughout the summer of 2017, with Violet and Bruce agreeing to move in together after joining the Stark-Pottses on a vacation in Hawaii. While in Hawaii, they get notification that Loki’s scepter, lost after the fall of SHIELD has been found. Tony and Bruce leave early to join the team in retrieving it. Violet, Pepper and the kids return to New York a day later.
OC Cheat Sheet:
Dr. Amanda Newbury-Barnes - Wife of Bucky Barnes. Amanda is a medical doctor specializing in surgery and emergency response as well as biomedical research. She started her career in Doctors Without Borders but after an attack that left her face scarred she joined SHIELD as a medic, doctor, and researcher. After the fall of SHIELD she was recruited by Maria Hill to join Stark Enterprises as the Avenger team doctor and continue her grad school research into medical benefits of the super soldier serum. First appeared in My Scars, They Are Your Scars
Cal Bennet - Live-in boy friend of Darcy Lewis. Cal was a tech guy at the Triskelion famous for being the only person Maria Hill would let touch her laptop. When Steve Rogers brought the helicarriers and building down Cal stayed in the data center, ensuring the files dumped by Natasha Romanov would go through. He was trapped in the rubble for two days, expecting to die, but was eventually rescued. He suffered severe injuries to his back and legs and while mobile, has chronic pain after physical exertion. First appeared in Heart of Steel
Violet Marsh - Live-in girlfriend of Bruce Banner. Violet is a widow with two children and a former high school English teacher. She met Bruce outside of the Tower with no idea he was an Avenger and struck up an immediate friendship. After finding out about the Hulk and his ties to the team, she was hired by Tony Stark and Pepper Potts to serve as a nanny to their daughter. First appeared in Live Makes Love Look Hard
Ruby Stark-Potts - Infant daughter of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. 11 months old at time of story. First appeared in Welcome to the New Age
Edith Barnes - Infant daughter of Bucky Barnes and Amanda Newbury-Barnes. 5 months old at time of story. First appeared in Welcome to the New Age
Ada Marsh - Daughter of Violet Marsh. Genius level intellect, idolizes Jane Foster. Precocious and curious she tends to ask JARVIS frequent questions and considers him a friend. 7 years old at time of story. First appeared in Life Makes Love Look Hard
Neil Marsh - Son of Violet Marsh. Bright and mischievous he has cognitive delays that effect his speech. Love Iron Man and all the Avengers. 4 at time of story. First appeared in Life Makes Love Look Hard
Sameen Shaih - Former Mossad agent and bodyguard for Ruby Stark-Potts. First appeared in Life Makes Love Look Hard