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Steve knew that once their house arrest had run its course and they’d officially be allowed to be assigned to missions, that there would be a few bumps in the road.
Besides Thanos, it had been years since the Avengers worked professionally together as a team and along with there being new members on the team, Steve expected there to be a few hiccups while everyone got used to each other.
“You said there would be a few hiccups,” Bucky glares venomously at him.
Steve grimaces, running his hands down his face tiredly, “I know, I know, Buck,” He grumbles, “We just have to give it some time, and eventually-”
“How much longer, Steve?” Bucky snarls, “Because I can only get struck by lightning once before I try and wring Thor’s throat.”
Sam snorts, causing Bucky to whip his head around.
“Something funny, butterfly?” Bucky asks, a threat in his eyes.
Sam smiles fearlessly, “Your hair looks good like that.”
Steve can’t help the smile of mirth that stretches across his face when he takes another good look at Bucky; his long brown hair stuck up in odd angles, the ends slightly singed and black. He coughs into his fist to hide his laughter and ducks when Bucky reaches over to throw a piece of a broken building at him, the concrete smashing onto the floor behind him.
~
The day had started off pretty simple; After their house arrest had come to an end, Fury decided that the team needed to practice fighting together as a team once again, and thanks to a few upgrades to B.A.R.F, they were able to create physical 3D simulations of mission scenarios, allowing them to practice without the risk of anyone getting hurt or anything getting destroyed.
These holographic simulations were set up within the outskirts of New York City in a replica of a city block, constructed using Stark funds. And after a few days of practice, it turns out the few bumps in the road Steve had expected turned out to be six foot deep pot holes.
Their first simulation had been a villain called Sandman, a man who was able to transform his entire body into sand and control sand particles within a large radius. It started off civil, everyone choosing to stick close to those they were already close to, which created two teams to fight alongside one another. However, with two teams fighting in their own separate ways, it had given enough time for the Sandman to gather all the sand surrounding him and grow rapidly in size, towering over the buildings in seconds.
The much larger threat seemed to break the stability of the teams.
Steve, too used to being in charge, unintentionally kept trying to give out orders over the comms, only to be brutally reminded by Tony and Harley, that he was not the captain of the team anymore.
Tony, who had attempted to get close to Sandman to use his repulsors, hadn’t seen Sam flying around the head, causing them to crash into one another midair, Sam almost crashing atop of Natasha, if she hadn’t been able to roll out of the way.
Peter, who was swinging around, had accidentally knocked into Clint atop of a roof, sending him falling into Thor, who had been summoning a lightning strike above Sandman's head, and had stumbled forward, sending the lightning strike above Bucky. Bucky’s arm, acting as a conductor, took the force of the lightning that came down from the grey clouds, the energy sending him flying into a building.
Scott, who had become giant to attempt to wrestle Sandman, almost stepped on the Hulk, causing the Hulk to redirect his anger and fight Scott instead.
Loki kept teleporting, which threw just about everyone off, having to be wary with their attacks in case the god of mischief got in the way.
Rhodey had almost got crushed by Scott, who had been uppercut by the Hulk, sending him falling backwards, only managing to turn himself back to his regular size before he hit the ground.
And Steve doesn’t know if he’s being paranoid, but he’s pretty sure that Harley tried to throw a truck at him at one point. The only people on the team who didn’t seem to have any issues was Wanda and Vision, who were awkwardly dancing around each other as they fought simultaneously.
So, the Avengers weren’t looking too great at the moment, and Steve dreaded the moment when another threat made themselves known when the team's coordination was in rocky conditions.
“Tony,” Steve calls out as he approaches Tony after the simulation has been cleared up, “Could we talk?”
Tony turns to him, standing with Peter, who gives Steve a wary look.
“Sure, Capsicle,” Tony folds his arms, his iron suit gone, “What’s up?”
Steve frowns, unable to help the sadness that etches its way into his heart at Tony’s refusal to call him anything but his name, “I’m trying to be positive about all of this, but I have to be honest; today was a disaster.”
Tony lets out a snort of amusement, adjusting his sunglasses, “Understatement of the century,” He smiles wryly.
Steve nods grimly, “It’s clear to me that the team is too hostile towards one another, and that’s not gonna change if our team can’t act civil towards one another outside of missions,” He states and suggests, “I think we should bring back team bonding nights.”
Team bonding nights was one of Steve’s favourite early memories of the Avengers. Tony had been the one to come up with the idea, mostly because he wanted to show them all a horror movie. Steve still feels squeamish at the memory of that movie.
After that first movie night, the team gathered together once a week for team bonding nights. Sometimes it was a movie, or board games or just a simple dinner. His favourite night had been when Steve and Tony had first started dating, and they held hands for the first time under the table, too shy to really do anything else at the time.
That memory felt like a million years ago.
“But we already have team bonding nights,” Peter pipes up.
Steve frowns, glum, “I was thinking the whole team, Peter,” He amends gently and looks at Tony with hope, “Well? What do you think?”
Tony stares at him apprehensively, tension sitting obviously on his shoulders. It’s not until Rhodey walks up that the tension washes off of Tony, much to Steve’s chagrin. Steve tries not to take it too personally.
“As much as I hate to agree with him,” Rhodey gives Steve a sharp look, causing Steve to unintentionally stand taller, “He does make a good point - one night can’t hurt.”
Tony stares at him before he sighs and looks at Steve, “Rhodey’s pulled my arm, so fine,” He huffs, “We’ll have a team dinner tonight.”
Steve smiles, relieved, “Thank you Tony, one night is all I’m asking.”
Tony waves him off, “Yeah, yeah, see ya tonight,” He takes his leave, throwing an arm around Peter’s shoulders to lead him over to Harley.
Who Steve just now realises has been glaring daggers at him the entire time he had approached Tony. Maybe he hadn’t been so paranoid.
~
Steve is the one to announce to the ‘Rogue’ Avengers of tonight's change of plans.
“This is a terrible idea, Steve,” Natasha tells him, brutally honest as per usual.
Steve sighs heavily. It feels like the entire team, minus Scott and Wanda, all shared that opinion. And honestly? Steve wasn’t too far behind.
“Look, it’s just one night, and I think it’s necessary for us all to try and get along,” Steve reasons, “We’re not going to be able to work together if we can’t at least tolerate each other - someone might get hurt one day.”
“I think it’s going to take more than a dinner to smooth over what happened, Steve,” Natasha says candidly, her expression neutral.
“Well we have to at least try,” Steve insists.
“What are we having for dinner?” Clint asks curiously from where he’s lounging lazily on the couch.
Steve pauses, “I’m actually not sure,” He says, uncertain, “Tony mentioned that Vision had volunteered to cook tonight.”
“That is correct, Mr Rogers,” FRIDAY pipes up, startling Scott, “Ms Maximoff, Vision has requested your assistance in preparing tonight's meal.”
Wanda’s eyes widened, looking at the ceiling, “Really?” She asks, surprised.
“Yes, if you step into the elevator,” The elevator doors slide open, “I’ll transport you to the floor he’s on.”
Wanda sits there for a moment, seemingly gobsmacked before Clint leans forward to nudge her with a knowing smile.
“Well what are you waiting for?” Clint teases, “Go!”
Wanda, fighting back a grin, hops to her feet and moves as fast as she can towards the elevator without running, practically beaming when the doors close behind her.
Sam watches her leave, amused, “Well, at least one of us is gonna enjoy themselves tonight.”
“Yippee,” Bucky remarks sarcastically.
Natasha gives him an analysing look, green eyes eyeing the fried ends of his hair, “You really need to cut those ends off,” She states, “I’d be happy to give you a haircut.”
Bucky glares at her stonily, “No one is touching my hair.”
“We’ll see,” Natasha hums as she wanders over to the kitchen to grab a snack before dinner, “Can’t stay awake forever.”
“Watch me.”
~
“This is a terrible idea,” Harley complains as he steps into the elevator with Peter and Tony.
“I told you you didn’t have to come,” Tony reminds him as the elevator doors close and begin moving, “Happy offered to take you to get something to eat, remember?”
“And miss out on Vision’s cooking?” Harley scoffs at the mere idea, “You’d have to cut out my tongue.”
Peter cringes, “Urgh, that’s sick, dude.”
The elevator comes to a stop and the doors open, revealing the common floor. The common floor was mostly unused and was repurposed, now acting as a middleground for the dividing teams, with the ‘Rogues’ two floors below and the rest of the Avengers three floors above.
“Best behaviour, alright?” Tony tells the boys as they step out of the elevator, “I’m looking at you Harley.”
“I’m a delight,” Harley grins innocently.
Tony rolls his eyes and points at him sternly, “I’m sitting you as far away from Rogers as possible.”
Harley shrugs, “Fine by me,” He says and sniffs the air, “Man that smells so good.”
“Mr Banner, hi!” Peter greets Bruce, who is already sitting at the long dining table.
Bruce raises his head from his Starkpad and smiles, fixing his square glasses, “Hello, Peter,” He greets him kindly, “How are you?”
“I’m good,” Peter chirps, pulling out a chair beside him, “Oh man, I gotta tell you what happened in class today, so Mr Harrington-”
“Sit,” Tony tells Harley as he nudges him towards the table, “I’m gonna go check on Vision.”
Harley wanders over to Peter and Bruce and Tony makes his way into the kitchen, following the appetising aroma of fresh hot food and pauses in the doorway, taken aback when he finds that Vision’s not alone.
Vision has his back to him while digging through the fridge while Wanda is standing at the kitchen island, sprinkling what looks to be paprika across some raw beef. She raises her head and blinks at him, giving him a polite, but hesitant smile.
“Stark, hello,” She greets him politely.
Tony blinks, “Maximoff, hello,” He greets carefully, stepping further into the room.
“Hello, Tony,” Vision turns to him with a smile, closing the fridge behind him as he sets a carton of eggs onto the island, “How are you this evening?”
“Good, good, real good,” Tony says casually, hands in the pockets of his slacks, “Just wanted to check in, find out when the food will be ready.”
“Dinner should be ready in approximately half an hour,” Vision states calmly.
Wanda reaches over to grab a basket of garlic bread and approaches Tony, “We made garlic bread for people to eat while waiting for dinner,” She smiles bashfully.
Tony smiles politely and steps forward to take the basket from her hands, “Thankyou, Wanda,” He says genuinely, “It’ll be good for Harley and Peter to have something in their stomachs while they wait - they can be a pain in the ass when it comes to waiting for food.”
Wanda chuckles softly, and though there’s an underlying sadness in her eyes, her smile is warm, “I understand that, my brother was the same way.”
Tony smiles sadly, “Guess greed is contagious.”
Wanda lets out a startled laugh, “I suppose it is,” She says sincerely.
Maybe this dinner wouldn’t be so bad after all.
~
On second thought; scratch that.
Dinner had started off alright. Everyone had arrived and said their polite greetings as they sat down, just as Vision and Wanda had stepped out of the kitchen with the dishes and announced that dinner was served. Almost as soon as everyone had finished filling up their plates, an awkward silence had fallen over the table, the only sounds heard were cutlery scratching against the plates and quiet chewing.
Thor frowns, taking a good look around before he leans over to ‘whisper’ to Loki seated beside him, “This is incredibly tense, brother.”
Loki takes a look around the table, taking note of everyone avoiding eye contact as they silently consume their food, “Midgards and their feelings will always disgust me,” He rolls his eyes, annoyed and continues to cut into his bleeding steak.
A moment passes before the silence is broken.
“How is everyone enjoying the food?” Vision speaks up, watching everyone closely, a smile of content present on his face.
“It’s amazing, Vis,” Harley praises as he shovels more mashed potatoes onto his plate, “Dad could learn a thing or two from you.”
Tony reaches behind Peter’s back to flick him in the arm with a playful glare, “Kept you fed for 20 years, didn’t I?”
“Barely.”
“Harley’s right, you’ve really out done yourself, Vision,” Steve praises Vision with a smile.
Harley’s smile drops, shooting a harsh glare his way, which Steve barely catches before his attention is drawn to Vision.
“I’m flattered, but I can’t take all the credit,” Vision smiles and looks at Wanda seated across from him, “Wanda is an excellent cook.”
Wanda smiles bashfully, her pale complexion flushing a soft pink, “Vision did most of the work.”
“I’m merely a helping hand, compared to your skills.”
“Oh god, are they flirting?” Harley whispers to Peter with a gag.
Peter pulls a face of disgust, “Seriously? In front of my salad?”
“So,” Rhodey clears his throat loudly and looks at Harley and Peter across from him, “How’s school going for you two? Harley, you hear back from MIT yet?”
“Not yet,” Harley shakes his head.
“Schools fine,” Peter says with an unbothered shrug.
Tony says, “I’ve got FRIDAY set to alert us as soon as his letter arrives,” He smiles, “He’s gonna open it as soon as it shows up.”
“MIT, that’s pretty exciting,” Steve speaks up with a smile and turns his gaze towards Tony, “Tony, you used to go to MIT too, didn’t you?”
Harley’s face twists into anger at his voice and Tony takes a moment to breathe quietly, Rhodey giving him an encouraging look from across the table.
“Yeah, I did,” Tony says amicably and smiles, reaching over to ruffle Harley’s hair, speaking fondly, “My boy is following in my footsteps.”
“Dad, stop,” Harley groans, ducking out of his hand, “You’re gonna make me drop my croissant.”
“There’s croissants?” Scott asks curiously, looking along the dishes lined up on the table.
Peter snorts out a laugh, Harley snickering with him.
“What about you, Peter?” Natasha asks Peter, seated across from him, “Are you planning to go to MIT as well?”
Peter stares at her, lips pulled into a tight frown as he stares at her, uncertainty and apprehension dancing across his face. Harley doesn’t look pleased either at her, glaring silently before Tony nudges Peter gently, encouragingly so.
Peter nods slowly, “Um, yeah, dad says I can start applying near the end of the school year before graduation,” He explains and cracks a smile, “I’m really excited.”
“You two gonna be roommates?” Natasha glances between Harley and Peter, a pleasant smile on her face.
Tony eyes her closely. No matter how long they’ve known each other, Tony has always had difficulty being able to read Natasha. With time, he thought he was at least close to being able to tell what her angle was, but after what happened in Berlin…
Tony reaches for his water, allowing the cold to wash out that memory. At this moment, she seems genuinely interested in what his sons have to say.
“Hell no,” Harley scoffs, “I’m not having this dweeb cramp my style.”
Peter rolls his eyes, “What style?” He snarks, glaring at him.
“Okay, Mr Hello Kitty pyjamas,” Harley rolls his eyes, “You’re the last person I’ll take fashion tips from.”
Natasha chuckles softly, catching Tony’s eye, who rolls his eyes playfully, the two exchanging a smile.
Maybe this was a good idea after all.
~
As Clint, Natasha and Bruce help Wanda and Vision clean up after dinner, Steve approaches Tony.
“I wanted to say thank you, for giving this a shot,” He says appreciatively, “It really means a lot to me.”
Tony shrugs nonchalantly, “Well it was touch and go for a while, but I’d call this a success,” He says truthly, smiling.
Steve smiles brightly, “Maybe we could do this again?” He suggests hopefully, “Make this a regular thing, maybe even try for a game or a movie next time.”
Tony opens his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by his phone ringing, AC/DC blasting from the device as he fishes it out of his coat pocket to answer the incoming call.
“Heya, Stranger,” Tony greets the caller teasingly as he walks off with a wide smile, “You find a movie for tonight? The boys loved what you picked last time.”
Steve watches him leave silently, a melancholy smile on his lips.