#superhusbands-superfan AU idea

[superhusbands-superfan]

Stony/Below Deck AU

This is such a bizarrely specific head cannon so I don’t really know who it’s going to appeal to, but hear me out. Does anyone on here know/watch the show Below Deck? Basically, it’s a reality show about the crew of a yacht that gets chartered out by rich people. So anyway, I just had the idea of a Stony/Below Deck mashup where our favorite cast of characters is working on a yacht (we’ll just pretend Tony isn’t rich and got disowned by Howard or something) and that’s how they meet. 

(this got long, so the full head cannon is below the cut to spare others from my musings lol)

Tbh I think everyone’s positions could be kind of flexible, but I feel like this is probably what I’d go with if I were writing it:

Carol Danvers is the 161 ft. yacht’s Captain (duh). I’m going to refer to the yacht as “The Avenger” in my head unless someone contributes a better name because I find the idea of anyone saying “Hey, it’s the Avenger’s crew” incredibly amusing in this context. From there, her crew is as follows 

Deck crew: 

First mate (this isn’t a show position, but it’s real!): Steve

Lead deckhand: Sam

Deckhand: Clint

Deckhand: Bucky (he’s still kinda green, and Steve dragged him into this)

Interior Crew: 

Chief stewardess: Pepper

2nd stew: Natasha (she’s worked with Pepper before and the two are frighteningly close friends and also scarily efficient together)

3rd stew: Wanda

Galley:

Chef: Bruce (we’re drawing from circa 2012 fanfic where Bruce was a great team chef. Sometimes he gets a little heated about guests not being clear on their preference sheets, but for the most part he’s chill and inventive with the food).

Engineer crew (lmao no, these guys aren’t really on the show often either, but this is the only place I can make Tony fit):

Lead engineer: Rhodey

2nd engineer: Tony (if you’re wondering why he’s not in charge, I had him in charge at first and then I remembered how terrible he is as a manager. He cares about the mechanics, not the politics. And Rhodey is definitely better at the interpersonal workplace interactions, so this works for them)

(Keep in mind, this is just the crew of the Avenger. We’ve also got other yachts. I’m envisioning... The Valkyrie, led by Captain Valkyrie (and yes, she has everyone call her that) and Thor, her first mate. Her lead deckhand is probably Sif. Also there’s a yacht crew with our friends from Wakanda, of course. Captain T’Challa and first mate Okoye are basically running a state-of-the-art yacht everyone else is trying (and failing lol) to beat. Shuri is the lead engineer and Nakia is lead deckhand. Idk how all the crews fit together, but maybe there’s a big yachting conference or something.)

Anyway, now that that’s established, we can get to the reason this popped into my head: Stony. So Steve and Tony meet (beyond just the initial introductions) because there’s some catastrophic engineering failure that Tony and Rhodey are desperately trying to fix, but they need extra hands (and, you know, they’re trying to do all the fixing *without* alerting the oblivious rich charter guests) so Steve jumps in. 

Steve and Tony bicker a bit, but then when the crisis is averted they both start laughing cause, you know, they dodged a huge bullet. Now that the pressure’s off, everything between them is great again. Steve compliments Tony’s work and quick thinking and Tony’s basically immediately smitten. This kicks off Tony spending two or three charters obnoxiously, obviously flirting with Steve. 

Steve tries to keep a somewhat professional distance between the two of them at first, but he’s also secretly into Tony, of course. (Bucky is very aware of this secret crush, which leads to a lot of teasing that Sam & Clint eventually join in on). Meanwhile, Pepper, Natasha, and Rhodey have to deal with being constantly harassed by Tony and his massive crush. 

In the midst of all this, there are some truly *horrible* charter guests (think demanding, ungrateful, perpetually disappointed - even in the face of Pepper’s excellent service) who demand some type of “behind the scenes” tour that includes all the stuff down in Tony and Rhodey’s domain that the guests *never* see. Steve goes down to beg Tony to play nice with these guests who are making the rest of the crew’s lives a living hell (and of course Rhodey’s not around conveniently. Who knows if he’s sleeping or off the boat looking for an important part or something, he’s just definitely Not There). So Tony sees an opportunity to negotiate and he promises to play nice with the guests (“even whichever dumbass is convinced he’s god’s gift to engineering, Steve.”) if Steve will go on one (1) date with him during their next night off at the docks. Begrudgingly (or so he claims) and because “Bucky, I spare the rest of the crew the wrath of the guests,” Steve agrees. 

Naturally, the two hit it off, and they’re together (adorably) for the remainder of the charter season. And after, Steve brings Tony home to Brooklyn to meet his mom because he knows Tony doesn’t really have a relationship with his parents anymore. Sarah Rogers immediately adopts Tony as her son-in-law, and then her boys live happily ever after.

(This is much longer than I expected, but I’m not sorry. If someone wants to write this for real, please, by all means, go for it. Just be sure to tag me (and maybe DM me cause sometimes I’m bad about missing when I’m tagged) because I do NOT want to miss it if this ever becomes a fic. Also, feel free to take as many creative liberties with the idea as you like; I won’t be offended, but I will be entertained.)