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Chapter Text

(Steve Rogers’ POV)

Steve woke up to an alarm blaring in his ears. Groaning, he rolled off the cot that was his bed. Looking around the room, he notices he’s the last one up. Exiting the room, he heads to the kitchen where he finds the three remaining members of his team scattered around the room.

Natasha is sitting on the couch watching the news, Sam is sitting next to her reading some sort of magazine and drinking coffee, and Wanda is in the kitchen making some breakfast. Clint and Scott had both taken plea deals a few months into their stay in Wakanda, and Bucky had gone back into cryo, and the immature princess was withholding where he was being held. Steve joined Wanda in the kitchen and began a fresh pot of coffee. Suddenly Sam gasps from where he’s sitting, eyes glued to the television, Nat has no reaction other than her eyes widening slightly and her grabbing the remote to turn up the volume.

- “Two years after the rogues went into hiding, the accords council has agreed to allow them re-entry into America. The Avengers have agreed to house them at the compound and train them in preparation for an unknown threat: back to you Katherine.” -

”Steve did you hear that?! We’re going home!” Wanda exclaimed

”I told you Tony would see reason,” Steve responded. “He realized that no matter what he did, I will always forgive him and he’s finally getting his act together and calling me home.”

Both Sam and Natasha are silent. But Nat has a small look of annoyance in her eyes. Steve doesn’t notice it. 

————-—-—-—-—-—-———-—-—-——--

Two days later Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda are boarding a jet outside the Wakandan city. Steve looks towards the front of the jet and sees T’Challa, Okoye, and surprisingly, Shuri. He had expected to see Bucky in the jet but he is nowhere to be found.

”Where’s Bucky?” Steve asked in his Captain America voice as the jet began its engines.

”He will be meeting us there,” stated the princess in a voice that had a little too much mischievousness in it to Steve’s liking. 

The jet began its ascent and as it exited the barrier rendering Wakanda invisible, Steve sat down, closed his eyes, and began to daydream how he would tell Tony he was forgiven. -he would probably be insecure about apologizing at first, so Steve would have to show Tony that he forgave him in a more… intimate way. He’d also have to get Tony to stop using the suit due to the fact that he was clearly unfit to pilot it, but that could wait until after they reconnected. 

The biggest thing that Steve was worried about was the fact that Tony hadn’t contacted him with the phone he had given him. He had heard rumors in the news that there were other people who had supposedly been added to the Avengers. This was another thing Steve would talk to Tony about. Now that they were coming home, there was no need for anyone else to join the team. After all, they were a well oiled machine with the exception of Banner: he was a liability. But he was apparently also on the run due to his rampage during the Ultron incident. But he won’t talk about that because Wanda would always get this haunted look in her eyes when he did. She must be scared of the Hulk, and Steve wasn’t going to let the team include such a monster. 

—————————————————————

Three hours later, the jet begins its decent. Both Steve and Sam jump from their sitting positions and look out the window at the steadily approaching compound. Sam is practically bouncing with excitement but Steve can’t help but notice something: the compound is TEEMING with people, and as they get closer he realizes that the compound looks different too. It’s bigger and looks more like an office building than a headquarters. 

The jet touches down on a platform of cement next to the building and Steve sees a group of people approaching. Excited to see Tony, he speeds to the back of the cabin, straightens his posture, and puts on the smile that always made Tony blush as he waits for the door to open. 

Chapter Text

The belly of the Wakandan ship opened for the rogues, and they were greeted by an equally small group of people. The front man was the only one they recognized. Colonel James Rhodes was standing in the War Machine armor, sans helmet, next to a woman who gave off the same militaristic energy as he did, causing Steve to involuntarily stand a little more at attention. Her wavy, blonde hair went just past her shoulders. The most peculiar thing about her was her uniform: blue with red framing her shoulders, forearms, and boots, with gold piping incorporated throughout and culminating in an eight pointed star on her chest. This aspect made Steve internally scoff, 'She's obviously a replacement for me,' he thinks. 

The woman next to the blonde has a stern yet bored expression and her dark brown hair is in a tight ponytail. She is also in another super-suit. Her suit is black, with gold panelling along her chest, arms, and stomach, and the piping around the gold is red. Steve notices that the back of her suit has a pack resembling Sam's Falcon pack, 'Another cheap replacement; this time for Sam.'

The person in the other side of Colonel Rhodes was... a regular looking guy. His dirty-blonde hair was on the shorter side, and he wasn't wearing any suit; just a black T-shirt, jeans, and an old leather jacket. The man did however look a little pale, and had a line of sweat on his brow. Steve inwardly preened for the man's reaction, 'He probably isn't used to being around real heroes,' His expression kept changing as well, as if he were having a silent conversation with an unseen person.

The blonde woman steps up to speak, but before she can get a word out, princess Shuri pushes past his group and beelines for the brunette woman. "Good morning Miss Van Dyne! Guess who's here to stay? ME BEYOTCH!!!" Steve bristles at the immaturity this apparent princess possesses, but the woman just laughs,

"That's great! Peter will be so happy to see you again! He's probably either in one of the labs here, or at the mansion. Tell him I say hi?" 

"Of course!" the princess pauses, glancing at the rogues, "Good luck with them, the bird and the ladies are not that bad, but Mr.Righteous? He's a handful," She runs off towards the compound waving behind her.

"ANYWAYS," the blonde woman starts, "good morning Mr.Rogers and Co., On behalf of the Accords council I will be escorting you to your rooms and introducing you to your liasons, along with a few others. My name is Carol Danvers and I am one of the two leaders of the Avengers," Steve does a double-take and steps forward.

"Excuse me miss, I think you'll find that I'm the leader of the Avengers," he says in his sternest I'm Captain America voice.

"Maybe in your little rag-tag group Mr.Rogers, but here? Not so much," The brunette snaps.

"It's Captain Rogers Ma'am, and you will address me as such."

"It's really not Mr.Rogers, as the title of Captain America was stripped from you the moment you became fugitives. Plus, you never completed military training, so you're barely even a private." Steve glares at the woman and is about to dispute he argument but is interrupted by the woman in blue.

"This spitfire here is miss Hope Van Dyne, or the Wasp. You may have heard of her from Scott Lang. Her powers-"

"She's just a knockoff of Sam! I can see your Falcon pack!" Steve interrupts. He glances towards sam to reassure him but he finds Sam looking at him with eyes that say 'shut the hell up!' The brunette rolls her eyes.

"You're only a third correct, Mr.Rogers. While yes, my suit does give me the ability to fly, much like the Falcon," at this, four thin, streamline wings extend from her back, and she rises into the air and hovers for a moment, before returning to the ground, "but I can also shrink like Ant-Man, as well as fire energy beams, or stings, at enemies... or annoying men. And before you go saying that I'm a rip-off of Scott too, be aware that Scott stole the suit my father built when you somehow convinced him to join your motley crew. So, if anything, Scott Lang ripped me off."

"GET IT GIRL!" A voice eminates from the direction of the man in the leather jacket, making everyone but Carol jump. The voice was a much lower and aggressive tone than should have been possible. 

"Ahem, sorry. V got very into your exclamation," the man states this is a much more normal, if not somewhat gravelly, voice. "Hey, I'm Eddie, Eddie Brock."

"Aren't you that reporter who exposed the LIFE Foundation of doing human experimentation?" Sam exclaimed, impressed.

"Yeah that's me. The LIFE Foundation is actually where I met my paramour-site. I now run the official Avengers website and our social media, alongside Darcy Lewis." Eddie says with a fond smile on his lips.

"Awww, you guys are cute. Also lol, clever; your paramour is also a parasite-" Carol starts.

"I AM NOT A PARASITE!" With this remark, the rogues could clearly see that Eddie's mouth did not move when the words were spoken. At the same time, Eddie is seemingly pulled by an unseen force in-front of and facing Carol. Then, suddenly, an inky black tentacle seeps out of Eddie's shoulder and points towards Carol, before it rears back as if to hit her. This causes the rogues to enter defensive positions but all Carol does is raise an eyebrow.

Eddie simply grabs the tentacle and starts to pet it with his other hand. "Easy, V. It's a term of endearment at this point," The tentacle retreats into Eddie's body and is replaced by another mass that culminates into A FACE WITH GIANT WHITE EYES AND A CHESHIRE GRIN FILLED WITH JAGGED TEETH!

"OH JEEZUS CHRIST WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!" Sam shouts

"Hey, be nice. That thing is my partner!" Eddie retorts.

"YOU SAY THE SWEETEST THINGS," The face says, how it can properly enunciate with all those teeth in the way remaining a mystery.

"How is that monster your partner?!" Steve yells over the nervous looks of his team. Both Eddie and the creature look at him, then back at each other, before Eddie pulls his own grin at the same time the black head pulls itself back into Eddie's body.

"You just made a big mistake," Eddie says. Steve steps forward trying to intimidate the shorter man. "MASK,"

"COPY." All of a sudden, the same black substance that the creature was made of engulfs Eddie's entire form, and two seconds later, in Eddie's place stands the creature; huge and towering over the others. The thing grabs Steve by the throat and lifts him a good two feet off the ground. "WE ARE VENOM. AND WE ARE VERY PROTECTIVE OF OUR BOYFRIEND." They say before throwing Steve to the ground. They then shrink back into Eddie by the time Steve is on his feet again.

"I told you man,” Eddie comments, “And no, Ms.Maximoff, to the question going around in your head; our relationship is asexual, even though we share a body. don't be weird." 

Wanda blushes, "How-"

"Did I know you were thinking that?" Eddie finishes, chuckling "well, when it's been asked at some point by practically everyone you work with, you start to know when someone is about to." At that, T'Challa interrupts, causing the rogues (Except for Natasha,) to jump, having forgotten he was there. 

"Good, we are all introduced. Colonel Danvers, may you escort us to where we will be staying?" he asks with all the poise of a king.

"Of course your majesty. If you will all follow me," Carol says, turning around along with Colonel Rhodes, Hope, and Eddie (plus Venom), and they begin walking towards the compound. Steve and his team quickly make to walk behind them, anticipation bubbling under their skin to see everyone- and in Steve's case: Tony- again, as they make their way inside, through a side door.

Chapter Text

When the rogues entered the side door, they were met with a busy hallway of people in business attire. Steve expected them to all stop and acknowledge them as per their status as 'heroes,' but none of the suits even gave them a second glance, and those that did meet the rogues with contempt in their eyes. After his initial shock, Steve poised himself and looked straight ahead, not willing to admit that he couldn't meet the gazes of the few people watching him pass. When they reached another corridor branching off from the one they were in, Carol, T’Challa, and Eddie gave Colonel Rhodes and Hope respective nods, before leaving down said hall. Rhodes then looked at the rogues with an unprecedented amount of authority behind his eyes, "You will follow me and miss Van Dyne into this meeting room," he stated, gesturing towards a door to their left. He and Hope then entered the room to find a large table with many chairs surrounding it, the rogues following behind.

Though there were many (at least a dozen) chairs in the room, only four were occupied. In the chair closest to them was Clint Barton; who gave a small smile in Natasha's direction before acknowledging Colonel Rhodes and Hope who sat down at the head of the table. The other side of the table had three people Steve didn't recognize. The first was a man with dark brown hair, a business suit, and... dark red sunglasses. He also carried a long white cane with him. 'The guy is blind,' Steve realized. What was odd was that the man seemed to be looking directly at him. It made Steve's skin crawl, but he was too proud to admit it. Next to the blind man sat a, frankly beautiful woman. Her hair was jet black and sat in waves reaching her lower back. Her face was angular and her eyes were a piercing shade of green. Sitting closely next to her was-

"BUCKY?!" Steve exclaimed, confusion laced throughout his voice.

"Heya' Steve," Bucky started with too much nonchalance for the situation. "Listen, man, don't cause a scene today, okay?"

"Bucky what are you doing here? shouldn't you be in the med bay recovering? You just got out of cryo!" Steve cried.

"What are you talking about, man? I've been here for six months." Bucky says, looking at the woman next to him in confusion.

She only smirks at Steve, satisfaction written all across her face. She then puts a hand over Bucky's, whose hand had been resting on the table. Steve bristles at the motion, but gets even more confused when Buck visibly relaxes at the touch, "Darling, they were unaware of the fact that you left them," her voice is smooth and sweet, with a British accent.

Bucky sighs, "I'm gonna have to have a long talk with Shuri," he says. 

At this, the woman looks down with a sheepish smile gracing her face, "I, may have told miss Shuri to omit from telling your former comrades that you were leaving to get treatment,"

Bucky looked at her, confused, "Why?"

"Do you honestly believe Mr.Rogers would have let you come here to be treated by Tony Stark after he almost killed him for simply thinking he'd hurt you?!" She states, incredulously.

"Steve did what?!" both Sam and Wanda exclaim at the same time, Sam continues, "Steve, you told us that Tony was fine when you left Siberia!"

"He was!" Steve sputters. He then snaps his head towards the woman, "She's lying!"

"Three broken ribs, a shattered artificial sternum, a broken arm, multiple lacerations, and internal bleeding. That was the condition Mr.Stark was in when Vision found him," the blind man deadpans. "The only reason he was talking when you left him was due to adrenaline. The only reason he survived was through the combined efforts of Dr.Stephen Strange's medical knowledge, Dr.Helen Cho's cradle, and..." he pauses, then turns to the woman who had scooted even closer to Bucky and now had an arm wrapped around his shoulders, much to Steve's confusion and annoyance, "Sorry, I forgot to ask your pronouns today. I don't want to assume just based on your voice."

The woman(?) smiled at the blind man. "Thank you, Matthew. Currently, I am in my female form, and my pronouns are 'She/They'." Steve wondered what the woman meat by 'form,' but his thoughts were interrupted by the man- Matthew apparently- continuing,

"of course Ms.Odindottir," the woman smiles at this. Steve's thoughts finally catch up with him.

"When he says 'Odindottir,' does he mean it like when Thor is called, 'Odinson'?"

The woman smiles, "Precisely," Steve, being in the front of his group, doesn't notice Natasha's eyes widen and her eyebrows raising into an impressed position, the other woman does, however, "Yes miss Romanova, this is my female form, If you have been researching the accords as I'm sure you have been, you must know that I am genderfluid,"

At the namedrop, Natasha visibly stiffens and her eyes widen, "how do you know that name?"

The woman simply smiles genuinely, "your sister never called you by any other, so I assumed that was the correct one," This makes Natasha smile! 

"Since when do you have a sister, Nat?" Steve questions, "You shouldn't be keeping secrets from your team like this!" 

"Are you kidding me?!" Bucky, Rhodes, Ms.Odindottir, Natasha, and even Sam exclaim.

"WHAT? Sam, why are you saying that? We had a right to know!" Steve shouts.

"Dude, do you hear yourself? You are giving Nat shit for lying when you lied to Tony for years!" Colonel Rhodes of all people shouts, his volume and temper rising as he speaks. "You LIED to him when you were looking for James, you LIED to him when he found out about James on his own, and YOU LIED TO HIM FOR TWO YEARS ABOUT THE WINTER SOLDIER BEING THE ONE WHO MURDERED HIS PARENTS!!!" Natasha whips her head towards Steve, and Steve swallows knowing that she now knows that he never told Tony like he said he would. 

"What?!" Sam exclaimed, "Steve, you didn't tell me this! Wait- Are you seriously giving Natasha grief over the fact that she didn't tell you she had a sister?! Dude, how much of a hypocrite can you be?!" Sam then turns to Natasha, "What's your sister's name?"

"Yelena. I haven't seen her since she and I took down the Red Room together,"

Bucky perks up at her statement, "Well done Natalia! I am very proud of you,"

"Thank you, James, it's also good to see you've found someone," She says, smiling. She then turns to the blind man, "Hi. I'm Natalia. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr..."

"Murdock. Matt Murdock. I'll be your guys' lawyer. I am also a member of Team B; or The Defenders, along with Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand; or 'Iron Fist,'" He says with a smirk.

"OH!" Natalia(?) says, "You must be Daredevil then!"

Matt smiles, "Bingo,"

"Hold on, are we just going to gloss over the fact that we've never met this apparent 'Asgardian,' who is, according to her, Thor and Loki's sister, and is somehow dating Bucky?!!" Steve yells, clearly annoyed. Ms.Odindottir nearly does a spit-take with the tea she had been sipping, and everyone else in the room turns to Steve with utter confusion on their faces, "What?!"

This time, Barton is the one who speaks, "You think she's Thor... and Loki's sister? Okay, Loki is adopted, for one, and two, don't disrespect her as if she can't hear you!"

"What are you talking about? Who else would she be?" Steve exclaims, confused.

"Perhaps this will make it easier," the raven-haired woman starts before her body is quickly enveloped in a very familiar green cloud. When it dissipates, the woman is gone and has been replaced by-

"LOKI!" Steve exclaims, instantly going into a defensive position, "What have you done with Ms.Odindottir?! Are you really that much of a monster that you'd attack your own sister?!" Everyone is staring at Steve at this point, their faces in total disbelief at his outburst. 

Loki only looks at Barnes, "Was he always this dense, love?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you, but it seems to me like he's gotten worse. Oh, are you staying like this for a while, or are you going to change back? You know I love both, but I'd like to get your pronouns right," Bucky states. 

"I think I will stay in this form for the foreseeable future darling, as I had been feeling more masculine as of late. As for pronouns, 'He/Him' if you please," Loki responds, fondly, "As for you Mr.Rogers, I have done no such thing to my sister, as you put it; seeing as I do not have one. The only 'full' females in my family are my late mother, Frigga, and my daughter, Hela. I am what you Midgardians call, 'Genderfluid,' as the way I express myself tends to shift between more masculine or feminine and I change my pronouns to fit my mindset. I, however, am capable of going the extra distance due to my shapeshifting abilities; as I am able to literally change my form to suit my desires. The woman in my seat previously was me in my female form."

"Cool!" Sam says, "That sounds amazing and convenient. One of my cousins is genderfluid, I should tell them about you. They'd be ecstatic to know there is genderqueer representation among the avengers!" Loki smiles at Sam, nodding. Bucky wraps his arm around him and kisses Loki's temple, making him bush.

Steve's face turns red at their contact and steps forward, "What the heck are you doing here you monster?! You should be in prison! Not roaming around and playing with my best friend!"

"Steve!" Wanda hisses. She then turns and waves to Loki, "Hello, I believe I've seen your face before, I just can't remember where. I'm Wanda."

"It is lovely to meet you lady Wanda, You probably recogni-" Loki starts, a small, genuine smile along his lips before he gets cut off.

"Don't talk to him Wanda," Steve says, "You recognize him because Loki is the alien who orchestrated the attack on New York!"  

"He didn't orchestrate anything," Clint mutters.

"What are you talking about Clint? He mind-controlled you during the invasion! How can you even be in the same room with him?!" Steve shouts.

"Pot, meet Kettle," Barton says pointing to Wanda, "No offense hon," Wanda nods dismissively, "Loki had been tortured and imprisoned for two years before coming to Earth, and even then he intentionally botched the invasion. When he arrived with his brother and Dr.Banner," Natalia perked up at this statement, "he had proven himself to both men. He was pardoned by the council after completing a full psychological evaluation and is now serving his sentence for his actions in New Mexico, which he was lucid for, as a consultant in magical/Asgardian-related issues. When he completes his sentence, he will become a reserve Avenger, as per his decision."

"I am actually here for Lady Maximoff," Loki interjects, standing up, "I have seen footage of your powers and have noticed that your magik bears a striking resemblance to my Seiðr. I am offering you an opportunity to come with me to a place where you can hone your powers, and be taught by myself, and a powerful -don't tell him I said that- Midgardian sorcerer."

"I would love that!" Wanda says, nodding frantically and moving to shake Loki's hand. But Steve steps forward and blocks a now annoyed Wanda with an arm.

"You will be doing nothing with this monster, he-" Steve's tirade is interrupted by Barnes slamming his hands on the conference table, standing up as well,

"Call my boyfriend a monster again, Punk. I dare you," he growls, low and with a hint of a Russian lilt in his voice. 

"Bucky-"

"It's James now, Steve. I've told you this, but you refuse to listen!"

Loki takes his flesh hand in his and squeezes, "James, love, it's fine. You know he couldn't hurt me if he tried," Loki says with a smirk aimed at Steve.

James then turns to the Colonel, "Sir, if Wanda is willing, I'd like to leave now to get started on her introductions to the team and her training, is that alright?"

Colonel Rhodes looks at Wanda, who nods again, "Go ahead, then," James smiles, motioning Wanda to come over to them, much to Steve's chagrin. 

"I'll tell Stephen and Tony you say hello when we get to the mansion later," Bucky says. Rhodey gives him a salute.

"What are you talking about Bucky, what mansion? And since when am I 'Steven' to you?" Steve questions. Both Loki and James' brows furrow in confusion before realization dawns on the gods', his smile gaining a wolfish quality and making Steve flinch,

"Oh this is going to be fun," Loki gasps. He then turns to Wanda and puts his free hand on her shoulder. Steve sees this and makes a grab for Loki's hand, but right before he makes contact, the God, his best friend, and Wanda disappear together in a shimmer of green smoke. Steve instantly goes to the door to look for them, (he would have ripped the compound apart to find Bucky) but discovers that the Lawyer-Matt had somehow silently moved in front of the door. Steve walks up to the blind man, who doesn't raise his head to meet Steve's eyes- obviously- and stops inches from his position.

"Move," Steve growls out, "or I will be forced to exercise force," Sam frantically looks at the Colonel, Hope, and Clint, respectively, but they are all watching the scene with shit-eating grins.

"Actually Mr.Rogers, if you don't sit down I have been permitted to use the necessary methods to make you do so," Matt says in a calm voice.

"MOVE!" Steve yells. He goes to push the man out of the way, but in a split-second, Matt grabbed Steve's hand and used his other to strap a power-dampening cuff onto it. he then rips Steve's hand behind his body and grabs his other hand and attaches the other half of the cuffs. Then, holding the cuffs by their connecter, he kicks Steve's legs out from under him and proceeds to pin him on the ground. All within the span of three seconds. Matt then gets up off of Steve and pulls him up along with him, before placing the still befuddled men into a chair, and sitting back in his own, and opening a file with braille lettering.

"Now then, let's get started on your guys' plea deals."

Chapter Text

The Rogues have finished their meeting with Matt, Hope, Clint, and Colonel Rhodes, and are on their way to lunch. Steve's restraints were taken off with his promise not to attack anyone else... let's see if he keeps his promise LOL...

Once the meeting was over, Colonel Rhodes, Hope, Clint, and Matt hand the Rogues off to a returned Carol Danvers, before leaving down the hallway they came through. Carol addresses the Rogues "I will give you the option of either showing you each to your rooms, or to the private lunchroom the supers use. Either choice will have you stay there for an hour to either relax and prepare, or to eat, I will let you decide," She says.

"Take us to our rooms please, miss," Steve says without hesitation. 

"Actually, it's Colonel as well," Carol states with a smirk, "I'm just not as formal as Jim. (Rhodes) Just never call me 'miss' again," Steve glares at her, "Plus, I asked all of you, and I will take you to which location is given the majority vote. Mr.Wilson? Ms.Romanova?" She continues, looking past Steve.

"I'm pretty hungry actually, Sam?" Natalia murmurs,

"Yeah, same. Can we go to the cafeteria?" Sam asks.

Carol smiles, "Of course, follow me," She leads them down the hallway she, Eddie/Venom, and T'Challa went down before their briefing, and enters a set of double doors with a keycard, "This is the Avenger's cafeteria. Each Avenger has a keycard that allows them access to this room," she says, waving ker card in her hand. Steve glares at this, 'why didn't we get keycards?' He thinks, 'We're Avengers!' 

The cafeteria is large and looks more like a kitchen with an adjoining living room: cabinets, stovetops, and ovens line one end of the room, with a refrigerator with a comically large set of handles sits on the edge, the Rogues all do a double take at this.

"Those handles are for when Hulk or Venom get hungry, and want something from the fridge. We couldn't do the same with the cabinets due to weight, but they know to ask," A voice from behind them says. The Rogues all turn to the other side of the room.

This side of the room has a bunch of couches, poufs (beanbag-chairs), and a giant TV with every gaming consol you can think of under it. A few of the couches are occupied: On one couch is a lankey young man with spiked-up brown hair, a tablet in his hands, and a skateboard under his feet on the floor. On another is a man with curly blonde hair. He's playing an eight-bit platformer with characters that weild shovels(?!) along with a frankly huge black man in a hoodie, who's sitting on one of the poufs. The brunette stands from the couch directly onto his board, and fluidly skates over to the Rogues. Steve almost growls at the blatent disrespect this random kid has towards his obvious superiors, 'He's obviously not a hero,' Steve thinks, 'he has no muscle and no respect for the rules!' 

"Hey, I'm Peter. Peter Parker," the boy says.

Natalia's eyes narrow before widening in astonishment, "you're the Spider-Boy from the airport battle!" 

Peter's eyes widen for a second before he breaks into a wide smile, "Wow. You got it even quicker than I thought. And for the record, it's Spider-Man. I'm 22," then his smile quickly fades, and he sighs in annoyance, "Dammit! Now I owe Wade twelve dollars,"

Nat smirks, "That doesn't seem like a lot,"

"It does when you know he wants it exclusively in two dollar bills," Peter says, smirking. Sam's eyes suddenly widen in realization,

"Dude, how strong are you?! You caught James' punch like it was nothing!" he exclaims. 

Peters eyes widen slightly and he blushes, "Well, I have the proportional strenth of a spider. Among all of the Avengers, I'm the third strongest; behind Hulk and Thor, and we did some tests and discovered that I can easily lift 12 tons, but in my personal experience, I have had to lift even more than that," he says, sheepishly, "Carol and I come close to each other in strength, but I usually beat her in arm wrestling,"

"How did you stick to the walls though?" Sam asks, "Does your suit have sticky-powers or something?"

Peter smiles, "Uh, no. That's me," he says. Peter then jumps from where he's still standing on the skateboard and his fingertips touch the ceiling, but instead of coming back down to the ground, he just... stays there. Hanging by his fingertips.

"That's not enough," Sam says.

"What do you mean it's not enough I'm on the ceiling!!" Peter squeaks out.

"Crawl,"

"What?"

"Crawl," Sam emphasizes, Peter looks at him with an amused expression before he twitches, sighs, and lifts himself by his fingertips so that he is flat on the ceiling. He then cralws over to the windows along the wall and opens one. He then crawls back over to them and drops back down onto his board, before stepping off of it and kicking it up into his hands.

"Happy?" Peter asks.

"Yes," Sam says, "But why did you open the window?" 

"Oh, yeah, right," Peter turns to the couches, "Hey Danny? Luke?" The two men by the couches turn to look at him, "Portocol: Fourth-Wall, get over here!" The two men sigh and pause their game, then they get up and walk over to Peter and the Rogues.

"Namaste, I'm Daniel Rand, or Iron Fist," The curly haired man says calmly, pressing his hands together and bowing towards the Rogues, "My large friend here is Lucas Cage, no alias," The other man just grunts in acknowledgment. Steve chooses this time to speak-up,

"What is 'Protocol: Fourth-Wal-'"

"HELLOOOOOOOO BABY BOOOOOOOYYY!!!!!!!!!" Someone screams getting progressively louder before the window right next to the one Peter just opened shatters as something- no- someone comes crashing through it tucked into a ball.

Peter's face turns red and Danny and Luke laugh and smirk, respectively, while all of the Rogues are once again startled into defensive positions. Steve can hear sam whisper, "aren't we on like, the 87th floor?" Steve nods, confused because it doesn't look like he has any way to fly.

The man stands up, dusting off his red and black suit before turning to face the group, revealing his left hand is gone and the stump is still bleeding! He is also wearing a mask that completely covers his face and head, with the only thing even indicating a face being two white eyes enclosed in two black rhombuses. 

"Hon," Peter starts, voice exasperated yet the Rogues notice a touch of fondness to it, "Your hand is gone,"

the man's mask's eyes seem to widen to the surprise of the Rogues, and he looks down at his lacking appendage, "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that."

"You forgot you lost your hand?!" Sam exclaims. Steve notices that he and his team are the only ones seemingly taking this seriously: Peter is looking at the leather-clad man with fond exasperation, Danny and Luke both look as-if they are trying to refrain from laughing, and Carol is just standing there, watching the ordeal as it goes down. Sam continues, "Dude, why aren't you in the infirmary recovering?!" 

The mask the man is wearing stretches into a clear smile, even if the mask itself lacks a mouth, "Didn't actually lose it. I had to chop it off in order to free myself from some handcuffs a big, chrome, cock-gobbler had me in," 

"Language!" Steve admonishes.

"SUCK A COCK!" The man yells back. Peter actually giggles at the comment. He then grabs the man's offending arm and brings it up to his eye-level; not caring that it's blee- wait- 

The Rogues' eyes collectively widen as they can clearly see the stump in the process of knitting itself closed at the end, having already stopped bleeding. Peter is still looking at the stump, "How long do you think it'll take to get through puberty?” He asks with a smile. 

Wade shrugs, "I dunno, maybe four or five episodes of 'The Golden Girls,'" He then straigtens his, what the Rogues only now notice to be, very tall body and seems to look off into the middle-distance, "I am also mourning Betty and you all better be too, or I will squeeze your kneecaps..." Steve stiffens at this comment. He also realizes that this man is very heavily armed. His suit is holstering multiple firearms, knives, and other weapons, and across his back there seem to be two katanas. Now that Steve has really looked at the guy, he really does not seem like the kind of guy someone would want to piss off.

Peter only nods, "I'm sorry for your loss babe,"

"Why are you threatening us?!" Steve interrupts.

"I wasn't. I was threatening them," Wade retorts, nodding to where he had been looking.

"There's no-one there," Steve says, confused. 

"Anyways," Peter interrupts, "when did this happen?" He says, still looking at the stump, "you were still bleeding when you... arrived,"

"I don't know, a couple minutes ago? I called upon the author and was magically here, I guess they wanted a bit more drama to my entrance," The man says, striking a superhero pose.

Steve steps forward, interrupting the man's flaunting, "Sir, who are you?"

"You don't know?!" the man looks at Peter, "did they even read the accords? I'm like... the first rule in the whole file! I should know, I wrote it myself: 'Rule number one- DON'T PISS OFF DEADPOOL'... then again I did write it on the front of my own packet and no one else's so there is that," Peter only laughs. The man then looks back at Steve and does a gaudy bow, which makes Steve grimace due to the stump now being waved in his face, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Wade Winston Wilson, also known as Deadpool, the Merc With a Mouth, the Regeneratin' Degenerate, or Jack!" He then pops back up and at the same time rips the mask off of his face, "BOO," 

Steve recoils in shock; Wade's face is littered with scars, so much so that he has lost his eyebrows and hair. The scars continue down his neck and disappear under the suit, so Steve suspects that they must reach at-least his chest or shoulders. Wade smiles, and gestures to his face in a circular motion, "Oh, this? This is how I always look, no matter what my epic healing factor can do. Say anything about it, and I'll milk your liver. Yes that was a threat," he finishes smiling. Steve pulls a face that's a mix between a scowl and a grimace; due to the disrespect Deadpool is showing, and the discomfort he's obviously causing everyone, respectively. 

"Hey babe," Peter asks, Wade turns to him, "did you get the tacos like you said you would?" 

Wade starts nodding, before abruptly stopping and gasping in shock, "NOOOOOOOOOO, I left it with Dopinder!!!!! FUCKING SHIT-BISQUIT!!!!!!! I'll be back," He yells. He then leans down and gives Peter a quick peck on the cheek- much to Steve's poorly concealed disgust- and then proceeds to run back towards the windows and gracefully leaps out (of the one Peter opened this time)..... and then plummets out of view of the now horrified Rogues.

"Don't worry," Peter says calmly, "He does this all the time. He'll be back," The Rogues are looking at him as if he's lost his mind, "So... you guys hungry?"

Chapter Text

Tony's eyes open to sunlight filtering down onto his face, which is resting on a warm chest. He smiles to himself and looks up at his boyfriend of a year-and-a-half.

He met Stephen about a month after the battle of Siberia. He had fallen into a coma when the Vision found him after FRIDAY broke protocol and sent them Tony's location. The doctors kept him under while trying to rebuild his sternum, but he ended up flatlining four times. Pepper had asked for Dr.Helen Cho to use Extremis to heal Tony but Rhodey refused; as per Tony's request. As a last resort, Helen called up her friend Christine.  

Flashback: (italic Bold is Christine,  italic normal is Helen, italic underlined is Stephen)

"Hello?"

"Christine!" 

"Oh hey, Helen! How have you been?"

"I'm sorry Chris I don't have a lot of time, I can't tell you everything but I've got a medical emergency,"

Christine's voice immediately goes from carefree to serious, "What's the damage?"

"Multiple broken ribs, a shattered artificial sternum, internal bleeding, etcetera. They've already flatlined four times,"

"Jesus, I don't know if you will be able to save them, Helen, I'm sorry."

"NO Chris, I have to save them," she pauses and there are muffled voices, "I've been given permission to tell you... it's Tony Stark."

"...What?"

"It's Tony Stark and I need to save him. The world isn't ready to be without him."

"Shit... um okay. Okay. I know someone who may be able to help, can I let him into the call?"

"I don-"

"I guarantee he knows how to keep a secret."

More muffled voices, "Okay,"

There's a pause, "Hello?"

"Stephen!"

"Hey Christine, need some medical advice? that is the only reason you call me anymore,"

"Stephen this is Dr.Helen Cho..."

"Hello,"

"We have a medical emergency and we need you to come in," 

"With all due respect, Christine... I've kind of left the path of medical science,"

"Sir, the patient is Tony Stark. He's dying and I need to save him."

"Oh, Vishanti."

"Excuse me?"

"Where are you right now? I need you to send me a picture of the room you're in."

"What?!"

"Trust him, Helen, he can help."

More voices, "Okay, the photo is coming in," 

No sooner had Helen finished her sentence that a circle of sparks erupted next to her, Pepper, and Rhodey, and a man in a red cape walked through. The man calmly lowers the phone he's holding from his ear. "Hello Dr.Cho, I am Dr.Stephen Strange. We... well we literally just spoke on the phone," he says in a smooth and deep voice,

"Aren't you that world-renowned neurosurgeon that disappeared off the face of the Earth?!" Rhodey exclaimed, "Tony mentioned you once or twice; said you met at a charity benefit,"

Dr.Strange smiles, "The very same. My career as a surgeon was unfortunately lost along with the use of my hands in a car accident I was in a couple of years back," Stephen holds up his hands to show the trio, and they see that they are heavily scarred and slightly shaking, "I tried to find somewhere that could fix my hands and that ended with me on the streets of Kathmandu, where I was taken in and trained in the art of sorcery,"

"You're a wizard?!" Rhodes exclaims,

"Sorcerer," Stephen clarifies, "or 'Master of the Mystic Arts' if you want to get technical," he says with a smirk.

"Oh god, there's two of them," Pepper whispers. Then her face turns serious, "Can you help him?"

"I need to see him,"

"Of course," Dr.Cho states, "Come with me,"

She takes him into the room where Tony is hooked up to an ECMO machine. Stephen goes up to the side of the bed and his hand hovers over Tony's face, "Vishanti, Tony, what happened to you?" He turns to Dr.Cho, "I can heal him, but I have to ask you to leave the room," he says, completely serious.

Helen hesitates, but when she makes eye contact with the sorcerer she sees something in his eyes that causes her to do a double-take. She's only seen it in one other person: Tony. It's the look of someone who's been through hell and survived. It's the look of someone who is ready to do anything for the people they love, and she knows right then that Stephen counted Tony as one of those people. "Okay..." she starts to leave, but pauses at the door, "You better save him."

"Don't worry, I don't plan on losing him again," Stephen says under his breath as Helen leaves. Then he gets started on healing Tony.

Outside the room, all anyone can see is an emerald-green glow emanating from underneath the door before it fades away. Then the door is opened. Stephen is kneeling next to Tony's bed sans cape, and it takes the trio a moment before they realize it's hovering next to the door! They collectively startle when it silently flies over to rest on Stephen's shoulders and cautiously move to the bed when one of its corners raises and makes a, 'come here' motion. "I was able to turn back time on his physical body in order to heal him," Dr.Strange says, "He still has all his memories though. Would you like me to wake him? I can do it so he wakes up calmly,"

"Yes please!" Pepper exclaims.

Stephen nods before leaning over and pressing two slightly shaking fingers to each side of Tony's head, and whispering something in a language no one else there can understand. A few seconds later Tony's eyes flutter open to the relief of everyone around him. He blinks a couple of times before focusing on Stephen- who was still leaning over him- and smirks, "Well hello there, prince charming."

End of Flashback

Tony shifts to give the still sleeping Stephen a kiss on his cheek, and Stephen's eyes open and he yawns, "Mmmmm, M'rnin," He says, still half-asleep.

"Good morning Prince Charming," Tony says with a smile. Stephen groans.

"Will you ever let that go?" He asks.

"Nope," Tony quips. Stephen sighs, and maneuvers off the bed to go take a shower. (Which Tony joins... to save water obviously)

_____________________Timeskip_______________________

Tony wanders into the kitchen after getting dressed to find Stephen making breakfast and a mug of coffee waiting for him on the counter. He takes it, thanking his boyfriend with a kiss on the cheek, "I've got some lab work today; Peter and I want to add a couple updates to his suit to make it more durable, and James told me his arm was glitching," He notices Stephen in looking at him with a worried gaze, "What?"

"Tony, did you forget? The Rogues arrive at the Compound today, and," he glances at his watch, "considering the time, I'd suspect they've already arrived," Tony's smile turns thin.

"No, I remember. I'm just trying to forget," 

"Alright, hon. You'll let me know if you're anxiety starts to spike though, right?" Stephen asks.

"You know I will," Tony says.

As if he was waiting for the pair to finish their conversation, Loki appears in the adjoining living room, along with James and Wanda Maximoff. He speaks to his two companions, "Well, that could have gone better,"

"Definitely," Barnes states. The three then hear a throat being cleared and turn to see Stephen standing next to a slightly panicked looking Tony.

"Oh, good. I was hoping you'd be here," Loki says. 

"Hello, Mr.Stark," Wanda begins, timidly, "I know you are probably scared of me and my magic, but I want to say that I am truly sorry for what I did to you. I was so full of rage back then that I didn't take the time to realize what I was doing. I know you will probably never forgive me, and I can live with that, but if you do, I will do my best to make up for my actions, including being trained to fully control my powers. Steve had me convinced that I could control them; but I realized that I really can't. So, I've decided to take a break from 'Avenging' until I am completely confident in my abilities." Tony looks stunned at Wanda's confession, but he quickly steels himself to his professional stature,

"Thank you Ms.Maximoff. Let me say that I am proud of your decision to learn from your mistakes, and while I cannot accept your apology just yet, I am willing to work to help you in any way I can,"

"Thank you Sir," Wanda murmurs,

"You can call me Tony,"

"Thank you, Tony," Wanda says, a little louder.

Stephen wraps an arm around Tony's waist, "Good morning Ms.Maximoff. My name is Doctor Stephen Strange. I will be working alongside Loki in helping you learn to control your powers," Tony is smiling up at Stephen, lovingly, and Wanda's eye widen in realization. She turns towards Bucky, 

"Is he the 'Stephen' you were talking about?"

Bucky nods, "Yeah, Tony and Strange have been together for..." he turns to the couple,

"About a year and a half," the pair says in unison. Wanda smiles at their jinx, but then her expression darkens,

"Uh, Tony?" She starts,

"Hm?" 

"I think Steve still thinks you and him are in a relationship," She finishes, 

"...What?" Tony says with a crack in his demeanor,

"Oh, he definitely does. He was so entitled it even put me to shame!" Loki comments, smirking, before he gets a sharp elbow to the side, "Ow!" He turns to James, "What?!"

"Not the time babe," James says under his breath, indicating towards Tony.

Throughout their remarks, Tony's breathing had become heavy and uneven, Stephen noticed and gently manouvered them both to the couch, where he sat next to his boyfriend and began to stroke his back, "Shhhh, honey, it'll be okay," Stephen says quietly,

"What if it isn't Stephen?!" Tony exclaims, "The prick still thinks I love him? After what he did to me?! How am I supposed to work with him if he thinks he's still in a relationship with me? What if he tries to kiss me?!"

"You know I won't let that happen, darling," Stephen says, "If he tries anything, I'll be there to stop him," 

"So will I," Loki points out,

"Me too," James says, "Steve may have been my friend and I may be the guy he did everything for, but even I can see how delusional he's being,"

"Thanks guys," Tony mumbles, "Gods, I just want to smack him. The absolute gall of him to think I'd come crawling back to him after everything!"

Loki chuckles, "How about a little revenge?"

"No, Loki, you can't kill Steve," Tony groans,

"Who said anything about killing him?" Loki asks, "I was thinking of letting him know just how much you've moved on,"

Tony pauses, then, a smile slowly blooms across his face, "I'm listening,"

Chapter Text

"Alright, so I've got a couple of plans already," Loki begins, "The first two require a bit of acting on both Tony and Stephens parts, respectively, and the third is just flirting and confrontation,"

"What's the first plan?" Tony asks from his position on the couch,

"Okay, so, plan A)," Loki moves to sit next to Tony and Stephen, "The Rogues are at the Compound yes?" Tony nods, "So tomorrow we have you in the cafeteria before they wake up, so you'll be there when they come in for breakfast," he gestures to Tony, "Rogers will most likely try to either embrace you or talk to you as if he's done nothing; if what I've heard about him is, in fact, true," Tony bristles at the comment, and Stephen wraps his arms around Tony's torso and gives him a soft kiss on the check, "Of-course before he can do either, or both, we will have Stephen portal into the kitchen looking ragged, as if he's just been in a battle, but still able to stand," Stephen's eyebrow peaks up in interest and Loki continues, "Tony will rush over to him and begin to fuss over him, and in the confusion, you will portal to the med-bay. Angle the portal so that Rogers will clearly see the destination but close it so that he can't follow you through. Then you two just make-out until he gets there they long-way-round so that he catches you!" Barnes is laughing by the time Loki is finished and Wanda is blushing at Loki's no-nonsense tone when he said, 'making-out'.

Stephen nods in slow acceptance, a smirk blooming across his face, "That would be fun,"

Tony gives him a playful shove, "You just want to see Steve's face when he walks in on you!"

"Well," Stephen says, with a tilt to his head.

"Next plan, Mr.Mischief?" Tony asks, turning back to Loki,

"Of course. Plan B) is somewhat similar but your roles are reversed. Tony will have a couple of scratches on his face when he enters the kitchen," Loki pauses, "Do you think the 'Captain' will even pretend to care about the bleeding?" he asks,

"I doubt it," Tony answers, "Although he might try to butter me up so it's a possibility,"

"Well if he doesn't that's great, Stephen will enter the room and instantly, 'notice' the 'wounds' on Tony," He looks at Stephen, "Don't acknowledge the others at all, just immediately go to Tony's side and start looking over him like you normally would. Rogers will probably be like," Loki's voice changes to match the patriot's, "'Who the heck are you?!'" His voice changes back, "And you should answer with something completely serious like, 'he's my boyfriend,' or something along those lines, and then immediately after you two portal to the med-bay without letting Rogers see where you went!" 

Wanda giggles, "I like that one!"

Tony smirks, "Alright. And the third plan?"

Loki waves his hand dismissively, "Plan C) is Steve and the Rogues walk into the cafeteria to find you two aggressively flirting in the kitchen, and then, drama ensues!"

Everyone laughs at that.

"Okay, Loki, I love all three, but I'm going to need some time to think on which one to do. I'll tell you when Stephen and I have discussed it yeah?" Tony says,

"Of course," Loki says with a nod, "If that is all, James and I would like to give Ms.Maximoff a tour of the mansion grounds, if that's alright with you?"

"It's fine, I'll have FRIDAY call you when I've decided on the plan,"  Tony says. Loki gives another nod and then he, James, and Wanda head out to tour the mansion.

Chapter Text

Steve woke up in his much smaller 'Seriously, Tony?!' bed to the sound of music. The song was Italian and the voice was undoubtedly Tony's. For a split second Steve thought Tony was serenading him as his way of apologizing, but, looking around the room it became apparent that the music was emanating from the speakers. When Steve exited the room he found the rest of his team, along with Clint, Bucky, Loki, and Wanda. Loki had one arm wrapped around Bucky in a possessive manner and was whispering something Steve couldn't pick up, even with his advanced hearing. 

"What's going on?" Sam asked. Steve noticed that the singing was coming out of the hallway speakers as well, 'Tony must be playing it everywhere,' he thought,

"Is that Tony?!" Nat questioned. Loki smiled and something sinister behind his eyes made Steve stiffen.

"Yes. He likes to sing while he cooks. I doubt he even realizes he's doing it. FRIDAY likes to broadcast it throughout the Compound when she can because we enjoy his voice, don't we darling?" Loki explains, with a little squeeze of Bucky's hip.

"Damn straight doll," Bucky agrees, "If we're quiet, we can probably catch him in the act,"

Steve brightens and immediately turns to head to the cafeteria, not noticing the matching smirks of Loki, Bucky, and Wanda as they follow behind them. Nat, however, does.

"What's about to happen?" She whispers to Wanda, catching the attention of Sam and Clint; who are standing next to her, but not of Steve; who's too far ahead or not bothered enough to hear them.

"I don't exactly know," Wanda admits, "But what I do know, is that Tony has moved. on. And his new guy? He's way better. Loki and Them hatched a plan to show Rogers just how much Tony has moved on, and as Loki put it, 'drama will ensue," She says with a nod towards Loki, who looks positively devilish with the grin he's sporting. 

"Ohoho, this is gonna be good," Clint whispers, glee written all over his face. Sam looks the same; a mischievous grin on his lips. The group speeds up a little matching Steve's long strides but remaining a couple of feet behind him.

A couple of minutes later, the group arrives at the door to the cafeteria. Steve tries the handle but the doors don't budge. he tries for a few more seconds before huffing and turning to Clint,

"Do you mind?" He says, gesturing to the keycard reader, lint nods, fumbles around in his pockets, and then freezes,

"Aw, man. I forgot it in my room! I'll be right back!" He says and then he turns to run back down the hall. (Clint never goes to his room... as soon as he turns a corner he goes into the vents and back to the group where he watches from above :P) 

All of a sudden, the foggy glass of the cafeteria doors becomes clear, and the group can see multiple people in the room. However; none of the people take notice of the group, 'must be two-way glass.' Steve thinks to himself. (It's not, but the plan is to make Steve think that it is.) 

Inside the room are a whole bunch of people, mainly on the living room side. On one chair there's the kid from yesterday, sitting in the lap of that psychopath that crashed through a window, who's now in a hoodie and sweats. Next to them on a couch is a group that he's never seen, and only one of them is humanoid! The guy has short, strawberry-blonde hair and a goatee, and he's wearing a long, red, leather jacket. His arm is wrapped around a green lady with dark pink hair! She's wearing a black bodysuit that somewhat resembles Nat's old widow suit. Next to them is a guy whose frame matches that Luke guy from yesterday, only this guy has blue-grey skin covered in red hieroglyphic-looking markings! That guy seems to be having a discussion with a woman. The woman looks relatively normal, if a bit pale, other than the fact that her eyes are completely black and she has two antennae! Everyone in the room- other than the bug-lady and the man she's talking to- is looking over towards the kitchen with small smiles on their faces. When Steve looks, he does a double-take.

Tony Stark is leaning over the stove, sprinkling something into a saucepan, while quietly singing something in Italian. There is another man next to him, but Steve doesn't notice him at first. That is until Tony seemingly finishes whatever it was he was singing. As soon as he finishes, the entire living room bursts into applause and cheers, causing Tony to jump and turn around, only for the man next to him to grab his hand and twirl him out and back in so that he's facing the others with his back along the man's chest. Steve's face reddens at their contact, 'Who does this guy think he is?! That's my boyfriend he's touching!' but he's caught off guard when Tony giggles.

"ohmygods STEPHEN!" Tony says with a squeal, "Stop it! Your awesome facial hair is tickling my neck!" He tries to squirm away, but the other man has his arms wrapped around Tony's waist,

"Oh really?" The man questions, rhetorically. He then rubs his goatee up and down Tony's neck, causing him to burst into a fit of giggles.

Steve, meanwhile, is fuming. He turns to Loki, only to find him staring back at him with a way too amused smirk.

"Who the hell is that?!" Steve practically yells, causing the rest of the group, who have been watching Tony and the other man with small smiles to match the others in the cafeteria, to flinch and look back at Steve with confused looks. Loki only smiles wider.

"Language!" Clint whispers with a snicker, before going back to his room to 'get his card.'

"Why, that, is Doctor Stephen Strange. Sorcerer Supreme, guardian of the New York Sanctum, Master of the Mystic Arts, and," Loki pauses, and an evil-looking glint flashes in his eyes, "Tony Stark's boyfriend,"

Steve scoffs, "Please. You need to do your research before you lie. Tony is my boyfriend!"

Loki belts out a cruel laugh. At this moment, Clint comes jogging back, waving his keycard in the air, "I found it! Turns out it was in my pocket the whole time! I must hav- hey!" He's cut off by Steve snatching the keycard out of his hand and swiping it through the door. As soon as they open Steve drops the card and goes barreling towards Tony with every intention of ripping Stephen off of him. He only gets a few feet into the room, however, before there is a blade on his neck and multiple guns trained on him, courtesy of the group of aliens.

"What the hell are you doing?! Let me go!" Steve yells, "Tony! Honey, tell them to stand down!"

"I'm not your honey, Rogers," Tony says before turning to the other man, "I don't actually think I'm ready for this just yet, can we go home?"

"Of course love," The man says with a smile, before detaching himself from Tony's backside, 'finally,' and waving an arm in a circular motion before an orange ring of sparks ignites in front of them. The pair then walk through it and then Tony turns back to the chaos currently happening.

"Thanks for having my back, Gamora, Quill. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

The green woman with a sword to Steve's neck nods and the guy with a pair of sci-fi-looking guns also trained on Steve smiles, "No problem man, Rocket can't wait to show you what he stole from this race called the Sovereign," (No clue if I spelled their race's name correctly... they're the golden people from GOTG2)

Tony smiles, then looks at the Rogues, eyes barely glossing over Steve, "Sorry to cut this short, just can't deal with that," He gestures to Steve, "At the moment,"

"It's alright Tony. It's good to see you happy," Nat says with a smile. Tony gives a two-fingered salute and the ring closes, much to Steve's rage. As soon as it closes, the green woman and the man in the red coat lower their weapons but don't holster them.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Steve yells at the green woman.

"Language!" Is yelled by Cint, Peter, and Wade, with snickers.

"Answer the question!" Steve roars.

The man in red decides to answer, "We're the guardians of the galaxy," he says with a shrug, "I'm Peter Quill, or Star-Lord, my sword-wielding badass of a girlfriend is Gamora, The big guy with hatred for shirts is Drax, and the little one next to him is Mantis. We do have three other members, but they're with Thor on a trip to Nida-something-or-other and won't be back for a few days," The woman- Mantis- gives an awkward wave and Drax mutters something about sensitive nipples, "Now you wanna tell us why you looked ready to murder Tony's boyfriend?!"

"He's my boyfriend!" Steve growls, "If Tony is really in a relationship with that guy, then that means he's cheating on me!"

Dead. Silence. 

And then... The entire room, minus the Rogues, burst out laughing.

"Wait, wait, wait," the other Peter (Parker) says, quickly sobering up from his fit of giggles, "Do you actually think that Tony would even consider being in a relationship with you after what you did?" This gets the others to stop their laughter as well, and look at Steve with looks ranging from confused, to worried, to angry,

"I did nothing wrong! I had to protect Bucky!" Steve yells,

"Jeezus Steve you sound like a broken record!" 

"What? Bucky-" Steve looks angry but confused at his best friends outburst.

"It's James, Steve," Bu-James stresses, "Gods, now I sound like the broken record! And are you serious?! You didn't need to protect me from Tony!"

"He was going to kill you!"

"If I may," Loki interrupts from James' side, "If Anthony wanted to kill you... you wouldn't be standing here," James is nodding along with Loki's statement.

Steve growls at Loki, "You have no right to say anything here!"

"I believe I have quite a bit of right." Loki snaps back, "When I invaded your planet, I was not in control, however; I do remember everything," a little shiver goes through Loki's body and Steve inwardly preens at the man's apparent flashbacks, that is until James went and laced his fingers with Loki's, making the God take a deep breath, "during the little stint in Germany where we had our little scuffle, I knocked you down easily. But when Stark arrived, brandishing his weapon of death, I knew he was on par with even me,"

"What weapon of death? Tony was only in his suit!" Steve scoffs.

"Preciceley," Loki deadpans, before squinting in amused confusion, "Do you even realize what that armor is capable of?!"

Steve is thoroughly confused at this point, "It's a suit of armor that can fly," he shrugs, "Nothing special,"

Several exclamations of shock and outrage - very colourful in Wade's case - are made by everyone in the room. 

"Nothing special?!" Peter breaths, "Nothing special?! That armor is the most advanced piece of weaponry this world has ever seen, and Mr.Stark built the first one in a cave! The second suit he ever built was capable of surviving a tank missile, and then proceeded to blow up said tank!" Peter's voice had been steadily raising and he was no longer on Wade's lap, but standing and stalking closer to Steve with every sentence, "That suit has more weapons than our most advanced armies! If Mr.Stark wanted Mr.Barnes dead, he would be a smear on the ground where he stood," Peter is now toe to toe with Steve, who eyes have widened from this young man's speech, and his suddenly intimidating presence. 

"Now, son-" Steve is cut off by a fist connecting with his stomach and him being hurled back through the cafeteria doors.

"Don't... call me 'son'," Peter growls, "I'm not your son. I'm Tony's,"

And with that, the cafeteria doors close on a pissed, groaning, and confused Steve, and the glass becomes foggy again.

Chapter Text

Steve is pissed. Everyone has been saying that Tony is in a relationship with this 'Dr.Strange' guy! Don't they get it?! Tony is his boyfriend! According to the kid, Peter, Strange is capable of magic. Steve suspects that he's using his magic to hypnotize Tony and the others, he just needs to confirm it. But he hasn't been able to find Tony anywhere! He knows that he must be somewhere in the Compound, but he hasn't seen him since that morning in the cafeteria. And it's been three days!

He sighs, then groans, as he shuffles into the Cafeteria- the Rogues had all been given temporary passes in order to 'get acquainted with your future teammates.'- noticing multiple people: Eddie Brock was there, in a conversation with Matt Murdock who was sitting next to him on a couch. Gamora was also there, talking with a blue-headed person he'd never seen.

"Who're you?" Steve growls,

Gamora and the person she's talking to don't even glance in his direction.

"Hey!" Steve barks, "Answer my question!"

This makes Gamora and the other finally turn to him, and Steve's eyes widen in shock at their appearance; She is female, but she has no hair, and her eyes are completely black. She is also in a black bodysuit, much like Gamora. Around her left eye seems to be some sort of metal plating, and her left arm is completely metal. Both women are looking at him with annoyed expressions,

"This is my sister, Nebula," Gamora states, disdain clear in her voice, "She arrived at the Compound today along with Rocket, Groot, and Thor,"

"YOU CALLED, LADY GAMORA?" Thor bellowed from where he jogged into the kitchen. He looked different than when Steve last saw him, with his hair cut short and a patch over his right eye. He stilled when he made eye contact with Steve, and his smile quickly faded from his face,

"Thor! It's good to-" Steve is cut off when he is pelted to the floor by Thor's fist to his face,

"YOU HAVE NO HONOR, HEATHEN!" Thor roared, lightning flickering down his fingers, "TO ATTACK YOUR COMRADE IN ARMS IN SUCH A WAY IS DESPICABLE! I AM DISGUSTED WITH YOUR BEHAVIOR!"

"Thor, you don't understand!" Steve says from the floor, cupping his jaw, "I had to! He was trying to kill Bucky!"

"No I wasn't," came a voice from behind Thor. Everyone turns to see Tony standing in the doorway, "I was mad, yeah. But I knew it wasn't James' fault. Did you honestly think I'd try to kill your best friend," He walked over to the kitchen, opening the freezer and pulling out an ice-pack, pressing it to his side, 

"It's okay Tony, I forgive you," Steve says, standing up, trying to keep his tone gentle, "We can go back to the way things were!"

Tony looks at him in confusion, "Huh?"

"I accept your apology," Steve states. At this, the room, sans Tony, Nebula, and Gamora, bursts into laughter,

"Tony," Eddie stammers between giggles, "Steve thinks... ohmygod... Steve thinks you're trying to apologize for what you did!" The laughter doubles when Tony gains a look that can only be described as incredulous, with Steve just standing in the middle of the room in total confusion. 

"What are we laughing at?" A deep voice that makes Steve instinctively start glaring asks from the door. The group turns once again to them to find Doctor Stephen Strange standing in the doorway. His clothing is vastly different from the brief moment when Steve first 'met' the man. Back then he was wearing a simple T-shirt and sweats, but now he's decked out in dark blue robes, an unholy amount of belts, and has a deep crimson cape resting on his shoulders. He nods to everyone in the room- besides Steve, duh- and gives Matt a quick greeting, before making eye contact with Tony. Instantly his expression changes from confused amusement to one of concern, "Tony? What happened?!" He starts to head in Tony's direction but Steve steps in front of him, "What are you doing?!" He hisses out,

"No," Steve growls, puffing out his chest, "What are you doing?"

Stephen simply raises an eyebrow, "I don't have to tell you jack," he says with an unimpressed and frankly bored tone, "Now if you'll excuse me," There's a hissing sound and Steve looks down to find sparks circling around Stranges feet. There's more hissing from behind him and when Steve glances back he sees another circle of sparks hovering in the air next to Tony. All of a sudden, Stephen drops through the circle under his feet. Even more baffling is when the cape hanging off of the Doctor's shoulders stays in front of Steve, just hovering where Stephen once was. Steve is so confused by this that he doesn't register the soft thump of feet landing a bit behind him. Until... "Are you alright?" 

Steve whorls around to find Stephen standing in front of Tony, hands holding his face and turning it this way and that, inspecting for damages. He then removes his hands only to grab the hem of Tony's shirt and lift it up, exposing his bruised side, "Hey!" Steve yells, "Get your hands off him!" He moves to once again try to rip the man off of his boyfriend but is stopped by the cape wrapping itself around his body like a snake, "What the? Get this thing off me!" 

"The Cloak of Levitation is a sentient being and is very protective," Stephen explains, his hands hovering- and slightly glowing- over Tony's now slowly healing bruise, "If you want them to stop, then I suggest not acting aggressively towards anything they consider theirs. That includes me and my boyfriend,"

"Stephen," Tony whispers, "Let's just go," 

"Of course, love," Stephen answers, kissing his boyfriend on the temple, much to Steve's annoyance. He waves his hands in the circular motion from before and another ring of sparks opens up into a place Steve doesn't recognize, and both Tony and Stephen walk through it. Once they make it through, Stephen turns back to the room, "we'll see you at training later," he says to the sisters, who are still sitting on the couch and have matching smirks on their faces. They nod in acknowledgment, "Levi, come on!" He beckons towards Steve's person. The cloak instantly unwraps itself from Steve and flies back to Stephen's shoulders, and before Steve can even think about following them, the portal closes.

"............ Wow, man," Eddie mutters from the couch, "You really need to grow up. Tony's not yours anymore,"

"THAT IS CORRECT," Thor agrees, "FRIEND TONY IS HAPPY IN HIS RELATIONSHIP. YOU WOULD DO WELL NOT TO THREATEN IT,"

"Excuse me?!" Steve barks,

"What he means to say," Nebula hisses, "Is that if you ever try to attack Stephen and Tony again, we will not hesitate to stop you," she finishes,

"Is that a threat?!" Steve growls,

"Yes," Nebula says,

"Yes," states Gamora,

"YES," Thor booms,

"Yes," Matt agrees,

"Yep," Eddie quips,

"YES," Venom hisses.

Chapter Text

Tony walks into the training room to find practically everyone there. The mat had Scott and Sam doing some light hand-to-hand sparring, Luke was lifting an insane amount of weight on the barbells, and Jessica, Rocket, Groot, and Danny were sitting on yoga mats; Danny somehow managing to convince them into trying it. The Vision was hovering next to Wanda nearby the four; the two having talked about their relationship and agreeing that they would both work on it together, talking to her in a low voice. Clint, Shuri, Peter P, Peter Q, and Wade were all in the shooting range section having a competition on who can hit the most targets in the quickest amount of time, (Wade was not so surprisingly in the lead). Matt was talking to T'Challa, Rhodes, and Hope about something legal, probably having to do with the Rogues plea-deals. Yelena, Natalia, Gamora, and Nebula were doing tag-team wrestling in the ring, with Thor, Val, Carol, and Drax watching from the sidelines. Loki was sitting next to James and a young woman with scars covering half of her body: This was Hela; Loki's daughter. Loki was in her female form and was braiding Hela's hair, who in turn was braiding James' hair. An all-together adorable scene. Mantis was jumping on the trampolines with both Hulk and Venom, with whom she had somehow formed a cute, but also terrifying, friendship. Tony smiled. He was glad the Rogues were getting along with his new friends and family of a team, even if he wasn't as comfortable around them yet.

Tony waves to everyone and then walks over to Wanda, who seems surprised, but happy that he is now comfortable enough to approach her, "Hey Wanda, Vis, how's training going?"

"Quite well!" Wanda says with a smile, "Vision and I have been working together, and we've both made a bunch of progress in understanding our powers!"

"I'm glad. Do you think you'll be able to re-join soon?" Tony asks,

Wanda shakes her head, "I don't know how soon it'll be, but Doctor Strange says I'm gaining significant control!"

Suddenly, the doors on the opposite side of the room open, and Steve comes storming in. Tony shrinks behind Vision and Wanda notices and quietly steps closer to him, blocking Tony from Steve's view. Tony gives her a grateful nod, which she returns. Steve; not having seen Tony, marches over to Sam and Scott. Unbeknownst to Steve; however, was that the entire room was now secretly watching him, only pretending to continue doing the respective things they were doing.

"Sam, have you seen Tony? I've been looking for him everywhere!" Steve asks, 

Sam, along with Scott, shake their heads, "Uhh, no man. Sorry,"

"I'm getting really tired of his bullshit!" Steve strains, running his hands through his hair, "Why is he doing this?"

"Doing what?" Scott asks,

"Pretending to be in a relationship with this Strange guy! I mean, can't he see how it's affecting me?" Steve yells,

"Dude, just quit it already," says Jessica from her position on the yoga mats, "They've been dating for over a year! And before they even started dating they were already close friends!"

"What are you talking about?!" Steve asks,

"What she means is that Stephen and Tony have known each other since they were in their twenties!" Rhodey chimes in, he chuckles to himself, "In fact, I could've sworn that they had a thing for each other back then, but were too scared to admit it to each other. Then during Tony's time in Afghanistan Stephen had his own accident and disappeared! Nobody knew where he was and when Tony returned he tried to find Stephen after he found out!" 

"Did you really try to find me?" A voice whispers from behind Tony, Wanda, And Vision. Tony jumps slightly and turns around to find Stephen looking at him in awe. Tony only nods. Stephen's eyes get slightly misty and he hauls Tony into a hug, burying his face in Tony's neck, "God, I love you," His voice is muffled. Stephen pulls away only to crash his lips onto Tony's, kissing him with all the love he can muster. Tony kissed him back just as enthusiastically, before pulling away to rest his forehead against Stephen's,

"I love you too," Tony whispered,

Stephen looks at Tony with an unreadable expression on his face, before he closes his eyes, "Fuck it," he whispers under his breath, before letting go of Tony,

"Stephen?" Tony questions, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Tony, I just don't think I can wait anymore," Stephen says, before lowering himself onto one knee, the cloak lifting off his shoulders to wait by the side, "I was going to ask you tonight, but I just can't wait... Tony, I love you more than anyone I've ever met,"  Stephen waves his hands and a small box falls into his palm from a portal. He opens it to show a simple, yet beautiful ring, "Will you-"

"YES!" Shouts Tony before barrelling into Stephen in a crushing hug,

"You didn't even let me finish!" Stephen says in between laughter, "Tony, will you marry me?"

"Of course, I will!" Tony says.

Meanwhile, everyone in the room has gathered closer to Rogers who heard Tony yell, and Vision and Wanda both have huge grins on their faces, having just witnessed the proposal. Rogers stomps over to the woman and synthezoid,

"What's going on here?" Steve demands. Wanda and Vision make eye contact before Wanda smirks,

"If you must know," Vision begins before drifting out of the way to reveal Tony and Stephen still in a giggling pile on the floor.

Hulk walks over and picks both Tony and Stephen up before Steve can do anything, placing them back on the ground in standing positions, "Why is Tin Man and Wizard laughing?"

"Stephen just proposed!" Tony exclaims. The whole room erupts in cheers, drowning out Steve's appalled exclamations, "Wait wait wait," Tony stutters, "Stephen can you portal me to our room real quick?" 

"Uh sure," Stephen opens a portal and Tony quickly hops through it, while he's gone, Steve walks into Stephen's space, grabbing the collar of his robes,

"I don't know who you think you are, but Tony is mine!' Steve whisper shouts before he's pulled back by Jessica and Luke,

Stephen looks at him with expressionless eyes before smirking, "I think Tony is his own person. Not just my fiancé," At this, Steve's face turns beet red, but before he can do anything, Tony comes back through the portal,

"Okay, I was still trying to figure out when to do it, but since you just did it, I guess there's no better time than now," Tony says before getting down on his own knee and taking a box out from behind his back, "Stephen Strange, you lit up the darkness in my life when we met. Would you stay with me as my light and mar-"

"Yes," Stephen whispers before kneeling down to give Tony a kiss,

"You little-" Tony starts before he's cut off again by Stephen's lips,

Steve suddenly rips his arms out of Jess and Luke's grasps; them being slightly distracted by the cuteness of the scene, and starts barreling towards Stephen, "TONY IS MI-AHHHHhhhhhhhh-" Steve's voice gets smaller and smaller through the portal that opened up in the floor before it's cut off by the portal closing. Everyone stares at where the portal was before looking up at Stephen who is still kissing Tony but has his hands outstretched towards where it was. 

Tony reluctantly breaks the kiss and glances at where the portal was before asking, "How long do you plan on letting him fall?"

"As long as it takes for him to realize that you aren't his, or anybody's for that matter," Stephen says with complete seriousness,

"And how long do you think that'll take?" Tony asks,

"I honestly don't care," Stephen breathes, leaning closer to Tony,

"Yeah," Tony sighs, "Me neither,"

Steve is probably still falling...

Chapter Text

Tony is... peaceful? He doesn't know how he'd describe it, but he's happy. Six months ago Stephen and he collectively proposed to the other in front of all the Avengers, and six months ago Steve Rogers was dropped into a void. He was eventually let out, but only after Stephen pressed assault charges against Steve, therein breaking his deal with the Council. Steve tried his damndest to get the Council to overlook it, claiming that he was 'trying to save his boyfriend from the evil wizard!' Needless to say, they also chose to evaluate Steve's mental stability and found him to be suffering from obsession, delusions of grandeur, and a major superiority complex. He was removed from the Avengers and placed in the Raft with a power dampening collar and regular therapy sessions and psych evaluations. Wong had the brilliant idea to put a tracking spell on him so they'd know where he was if he ever managed to escape again. All in all, Tony was finally safe and free from the uneasy feeling he got knowing Rogers could touch him.

Walking arm in arm with Rhodey, Tony makes his way down the aisle, where Stephen is waiting at the altar with Wong, Christine, and, adorably, the cloak in attendance. On Tony's side stand Pepper, Peter, Vision, and Happy. In the rows are everyone on his new team, along with the remaining Rogues, who have since become full-fledged Avengers once again. There's also Helen Cho, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, Eric Selvig, Sharon Carter, Betty Ross, Everett Ross, Queen Mother Ramonda, Shuri, Harley Keener, his Little sister Abby, Christine Everhart who is the only reporter Tony allowed, and a couple of others. There are some new faces as well, including the young couple Shang-Chi and Katy, who met Stephen and Wong a few months after Stephen and Tony got engaged. Both of them are really dorky and get along really well with Peter P.  

Matt is officiating the wedding and is standing next to Stephen in the center of the altar, and Stephen... well he looks like a million buck no matter what he wears. His suit is deep red and his shirt is an equally deep blue, which matches Tony's blue suit with a red shirt. Stephen is wearing a golden bowtie and Tony is wearing a matching necktie. Stephen is busy looking at Tony with an unfathomable amount of love in his eyes and as Tony walks towards him, he reflects on the first time he met Stephen...

'This is so annoying,' Tony thinks. He's attending a charity gala for Metro General Hospital and as soon as he walked through the doors people were swarming him; flaunting around in their fancy clothes and bragging about how they got invitations because of their high standing and money, as if that would impress Tony. It didn't, even though Tony couldn't blame them without being a hypocrite. 'Why are they swarming me?! I'm not a doctor! focus on the-' Tony's mind bluescreens when he sees a man enter the ballroom. He's... ethereal... That's the only word that comes to Tony's beehive of a mind. 

The man is tall, a good head taller than Tony, who had never really cared about his height; he could obviously dominate a room without it. But this guy was tall. He had a lean build and broad shoulders, all covered by his coat. The man's jacket was deep charcoal, and was so long it almost reached the floor. His deep blue scarf covered half of his face and hung down around his neck. All Tony could see of the man's face was the beginnings of a nose, a pair of calculating eyes, and a head of perfectly coiffed hair.  How could this man pull off a trenchcoat like nobody's business?! Tony's mind was still frozen but he swore it gained icicles when the man took off his jacket and left himself in a perfectly fitted suit. But when the man took off his scarf Tony barely saw the bowtie until the man brought his hands up to straighten them. How were this man's hands attractive?! Long and steady fingers expertly straightened the bowtie, and Tony's mind instantly fell into a gutter, 'God I wonder what his fingers would feel like on my- NOPE! NO, Tony, you haven't even met the man!' Tony thinks, shaking himself out of his thoughts. Even so, he turns back to admire the man, only to find him in the same boat he's currently in; being in the middle of a school of people all vying for the man's attention. Tony sighs and turns back to his own school.

~

A few hours later and Tony can no longer take the constant flirting from the attendants around him and the borderline groping touches from some of the sleazier members. He excuses himself from the group he's in and then multiple times again as he makes his way out on a thankfully empty balcony. Once there, he shuts the doors and leans against the railing, hoping to get at least a small moment of privacy. Unfortunately, favor wasn't in his future as not ten minutes later did the doors open and close again. Tony inwardly sighs, waiting for this person to recognize him and begin either flirting, asking rude questions about his weapons business, or showing off. It never came, however; as the figure simply sat on the ground against the railing. Curios, Tony glanced down. 

It was the man from the entrance! He... well now that Tony looked at him, he noticed the man exuded the same overwhelmed demeanour Tony felt on the inside. 'huh,' Tony thinks, 'Him too,' 

"Not enjoying the party?" Tony asks before he can stop himself. The man only breathes out a laugh,

"You know I usually like going to these sort of events," the man says with a chuckle, and Tony has to force himself not to react because hot damn his voice is sexy. It's deep with just the faintest rasp to it, and Tony's mind is once again in the gutter, but he powers through it,

"Oh yeah? What changed? Don't like all the doctor talk?" He asks,

The man lets out a breathy laugh and Tony has to fight back a swoon, "I hope not," the man starts, picking himself up from sitting on the floor to lean back against the railing, facing in where Tony is facing out, "I am one of them," he finishes, turning to fully face Tony and holding out a hand, "Doctor Stephen Strange, at your service,"

Tony finally gets a close look at the man's face, and what he sees is a sculpted jawline, seamlessly running into a pair of deadly cheekbones, and a pair of the most beautiful eyes Tony has ever seen! At first glance he sees blue, but when he looks closer Tony can see that they have a central ring of golden green that fades into a pale blue and ends with a cool grey, 'Central heterochromia,' Tony thinks as he goes to shake Stephen's hand,

"Your name is Central Heterochromia?" Stephen asks with a smirk. Tony blanks for a milisecond before paling,

"Did I say that out loud?" He asks. The man chuckles again and nods, "Shit, I'm sorry. No it's not, I just noticed you have it and it's my favorite genetic mutation so it stood out to me!" He flounders, wondering where his playboy persona ran off to, "I'm Tony, Tony Stark," he finishes, finally and reluctantly letting go of Stephen's hand,

"Yeah, I figured," Stephen quips, "Well Dr.Stark-" Tony has to do a double take, which Stephen apparently notices, "What?"

"Why did you call me doctor?" He asks,

"Aren't you one?" Stephen retorts as if it's the easiest thing in the world,

"I mean, technically, but everyone just calls me Mr.Stark," Tony admits,

"Well I think that if someone did the work to get multiple doctorates in several fields, it's only right to call them 'Doctor,' don't you?" Stephen asks. Tony is astonished. For the first time in his life he is utterly and truly speechless. Stephen looks at him, "What?"

"Nothing," Tony says with a smile...

Tony looks back at Stephen with all the love in the Universe, and as he and Stephen exchange their vows, he realizes that he's truly and unapologetically happy.

~fin~