#yes am i salty about nat switching sides? yes

[lovelyirony]

i don’t believe a word you say/but i can’t stop listening, where did the party go  .... something with a little salt 👀 mayhaps? (Also I now wanna listen to everything again dammit)

Tony was the biggest idiot on this fucking earth. He knows it as he’s watching Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes run from the bunker in the middle of Siberia. A shield discarded to the side, finished with its job of cutting through the suit’s power source. 

“Friday,” Tony rasps. 

“Vision and Ms. Potts are sent, Boss. I advised them to bring coats and jackets. Reserving power for heat, they should be here in less than an hour based on trajectory.” 

Tony’s lucky that Vision was already in Europe, otherwise he might be feeling more blue than he was. 

But now. Anger fuels warmth. Funny how it works out that he’s so fucking lonely but so fucking angry. 

Keeping the team together. Yeah, sure. That’s why they’re in this fight, that’s why Steve never told him about that. Why Natasha agreed and then decided to let them go because “you need to watch your back.” 

Watch his fucking back. Because she knew that she would be betraying him, knew that he meant nothing, or at least not as much as those two did. The team had been family, he thought. 

But then again, he had grown up with an alcoholic father who would rather be free from a wife and child. He had grown up with a mother who tried her best to shield him, but she wasn’t quite sure how to be a loving mother. 

So what the fuck does he know about family anyways? 

(Enough to know it shouldn’t hurt.) 

He gets carried home, and he makes Pepper a promise: he won’t ever talk to them again if he can help it. 

“No pardons, no feeling bad for them,” Pepper says, voice shaking. He thinks she looks too sad for him. Her eyes burn a bright, searing orange. “Ever.” 

- 

Tony is home. Rhodey is there too, which is nice. Of course it’s not nice to be reminded that it’s Tony’s fault that he’s home. 

“It’s not your fault,” Rhodey says. “I knew what I signed up for. Besides, it’s not like you’re doing any better than I am, are you?” 

So they suffer together and Tony’s eyes stare at the news of the hunt for the rogues. 

“Where is our Captain?” The news anchor asks, eyes wonderfully blank and smile as fake as fake can be. “More coming up next. First: what did Tony Stark do, and why couldn’t he capture his own team?” 

Rhodey shuts it off. 

“You don’t need that shit,” he says with a scowl. “None of it. Come on, let’s fix dinner.” 

Tony goes quiet. Radio silent. This is worrying for a variety of reasons, but mostly because Tony likes to talk about many things. 

He’s listening for any news that the team will be back. He doesn’t want to take them back, it’s too late for that. But he knows that he will need them when the time comes. 

- 

It is late when he hears a noise in his kitchen. Rhodey does not get up to go anywhere but the bathroom, so it’s not him. Pepper has been convinced to go take a vacation for herself. No one else is in-house, currently. 

Natasha. 

Of course it is. 

She’s stealing his blueberries. He stares at her. 

“Long time no see, Tony.” 

“Don’t–” he nearly chokes. “Don’t call me that.” 

It’s weighted, that statement. Because everyone calls Tony “Tony.” It’s his name. He’s never gone by Anthony. Ever. 

(Except. Except Natasha remembers that he said his father used to call him Anthony and he hated his father.) 

“I’m here for an explanation,” Natasha says. 

“I only want to hear an apology,” Tony responds. His voice is shaking. “I don’t want to hear why you abandoned my side because you wanted Steve and his friend to escape. I don’t want to hear about why you couldn’t face the music. I already know why you can’t.” 

“I’m not apologizing for my decisions,” Natasha says, trying to keep her voice even. “You know why I had to do what I had to do.” 

“Because you’re Black Widow,” Tony spits. “Because you were trained to disappear when things got tough, disappear until your next assignment. You couldn’t be Natasha Romanoff, not in front of everyone. Because you know that you are not immune to judgment, what they would say of some of your missions and decisions.” 

“What do you mean by that? I can’t be myself?” Natasha asks, growing bolder. 

“Have you ever been yourself?” Tony shoots back. “You can be Black Widow because you were made for that. But Natasha Romanoff was self-made. You pick and choose what you represent and what you don’t and yeah I get that, but you have to face something that you won’t be able to manipulate. And I think you know that, and that terrifies the living shit out of you.” 

Silence. 

“Listen, Tony–” 

“No.” 

Natasha looks up. 

She notices how tired Tony looks. He’s never looked this tired. 

“I’m fucking done listening. You didn’t listen when over a hundred countries told you they didn’t feel safe with us having almost zero boundaries. 

And as much as you’re the golden girl of SHIELD, they’re not that great at diplomacy. So I wanted to try and make others feel safe. You didn’t get that, Steve didn’t get that. It’s not about a big stick policy, Black Widow. It never was supposed to be.” 

“Tony, no–” 

“Don’t. Get the fuck out of my house before I send it to lockdown and have you arrested for the rest of your life,” Tony hisses. “Now!” 

She disappears. 

Tony goes to the kitchen table and sinks into himself. 

He knows he should have turned her in, he knows he should have. But he can’t. Besides all of his speech, besides the fact that it made his skin crawl that she got into his house, he knows her on a level that’s personal. And he loved her. Maybe he still does. 

But it’s ruined now. It’s all gone to shit. 

[yeeter-parkor]

Training is hard when you don't wanna hit people...

peter is to pure for this world.

read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21610966

summery:  Peter Parker is too strong for his own good, and he holds himself back so much that Natasha and Steve have no idea what he is really capable of. Natasha decides she needs to fix that.

“Peter, come here a moment,” Natasha said, her voice commanding, causing Peter to tense slightly. They had just found out about him being Spiderman after the bridge incident, and they hadn’t seemed to be thrilled about it. To be completely fair, they were perfectly nice to him, but they hadn’t been the most forgiving of Mr. Stark allowing him to join as they might have let on if the dead frogs in the lab were anything to go by.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, scurrying over to where she was standing and looked at her, searching for clues as to what they were about to do.

“Me and Steve have decided that, contrary to popular belief, we will not be killing Stark, yet.”

“But,” Steve interjected, “you are going to have to prove to us first that you can keep yourself safe out there.”

“But sir I-”

“No but’s, your sparring with me first, then Steve, okay. If we don’t beat you to bad then we will consider letting you go out on your own again.”

“Have… Have I not been?”

“No. Go get changed and meet us in the training room.”

He scampered off, socked feet sliding slightly on the tile floors, which he was sure wasn’t helping them take him seriously, but he was honestly so excited he didn’t care. He knew he was stronger than both of them, so he would have to hold back quite a bit, but at least they would have to take him seriously then. He threw on a black tee and shorts with leggings underneath, helpful when you do a lot of flips, and hurried back down, trying to set his face to look as grown-up as possible, he didn’t want them holding back because he was a kid.

Clearly, his attempt at looking mature hadn’t worked as well as he had hoped, because Steve chuckled when he re-appeared.

“What?” He asked, probably sounding majorly winey.

“I like your socks.” Was all the soldier said, reminding him that he was still wearing Spongebob socks. He cleared his throat, trying his hardest to not blush, which he had a feeling wasn’t working, as he slipped on his sparring shoes.

“Peter, are you ready?” Natasha asked impatiently from the mat.

“Yes ma’am,” he said, scrambling over to her, and ignoring Steve’s laughter.

“Good. We’re going to start easy, alright? Just try to block this time, no need to attack, okay? We’ll go for three minutes. ” “Got it!” He exclaimed, resisting the urge to bounce on the balls of his feet. He couldn’t help being excited, he loved sparring. The chance to get moving and work out some pent up energy, without the chance of being shot was great.

“Go!” Steve yelled from the side.

Wasting no time, Natasha took a jab straight at his head with a high roundhouse kick, which he leaped away from with ease. She was holding back, but clearly not my much, and allowed her swings to carry more weight as the fight went on. Not that it affected Peter though, he hadn’t even gotten close to being hit.

“Peter, keep your feet steady!” He heard Steve call, a worried tilt to his voice. Peter just grinned. Because of that, he was going to do everything in his power to stay off his feet. He flipped and spun and dogged for the whole three minutes, and Natasha hadn’t even gotten close to hitting him. He could see a mix of pride and frustration on her face as the bell rang.

“Okay Peter, this time you attack me. Remember, I spar with Steve all the time, I can take a hit.”

He looked at her dubiously. He wasn’t positive he could kill her with one hit, but he was, and he could.

The bell rang again before he had time to protest, and Nat jumped into a defensive stance. Reluctantly, he started the match, being sure to pull his punches as much as possible without them noticing, which wasn’t really working all that well.

“Come on Peter, you need to get a hit in,” Steve called again.

“Hmmph.” He huffed, putting most of his focus on not hurting his friend, but he did speed his swings up enough to startle the assassin, who was having a difficult time blocking all of them. By the end of the round, Peter had albeit unintentionally, gotten almost a dozen hits in.

“Okay Nat, you ready to switch out yet?” Steve called. Peter watched as she seemed to weigh her choices for a moment.

“Peter, if I spare with you again, will you actually try and hit me?” She asked.

“I um, I don’t think I will hit either of you.” He said honestly.

“Yeah, let’s switch.” She called, climbing over the mat rail.

Peter watched silently as Steve took her place, shifting anxiously. He saw Natasha pull Steve’s ear to her lips and whisper something.

“Don’t go easy on him, he’s stronger than he’ll let on. I want to see him really attack.”

Suddenly, Steve was in Natasha’s place, staring at him with icy (Ha) blue eyes, analytical and hard. It was his fighting face, not angry, but by no means soft ether. Peter had only a second to register the ring of the starting bell before Steve was lunging at him. Aiming straight for his head. Peter’s spidey senses screamed as he flipped away, dodging and ducking only slightly faster then Steve was swinging. He had learned it a few months ago, when a petty criminal got wise, after seeing Peter operate at his full speed. He ended up okay but had a massive scar on his side. He almost matched Steve’s pace, making sure that he still didn’t know his real speed.

“Come on Pete, you gotta punch back,” Steve grunted, already sweating.

“I think I’m good, thanks.” He said, trying and failing to sound tired.

Peter ducked, allowing Cap to make contact with his shoulder for a moment, seeing the frustration growing behind his eyes.

“Peter, stop letting him win, we need to see what you can do if you expect us to let you out again,” Natasha said from the sidelines.

“He is not letting me win,” Steve said indignantly, “I’ve barely hit him.”

“Look at him Steve, Pete, you haven't even broken a sweat, I need to see how capable you are or this will be a waste of everyone's time.”

Her words stung a bit, so Peter revised him plane of tiring Steve out. He caught Natasha’s eye, and she nodded approvingly, seeming to understand his silent request for permission. The next time Steve swung at him, he didn’t duck, but instead caught his fist and used to flip himself over Steve’s back and kicked him hard. Not hard enough to kill him, obviously, but hard enough to send him flying across the gym. Everyone was silent for a moment, Peters eyes wide. “I am so sorry!” Peter exclaimed, running to where Steve had landed. He was already picking himself up, wincing.

“Don’t apologize, Peter, that was exactly what I wanted,” Natasha said. Her expression never changes, but Peter swore that he saw pride in her eyes.

“You wanted that?” he asked, pointing to the (rather large) crater that Steve had made where he collided.

“Well, maybe not that specifically, but I wanted to see how hard you could hit, although I am guessing by your appearance you are still holding back.” She amended.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked, indignantly.

“You aren't tired or sore at all, and you seemed way to calm when you kicked him over here, almost bored.” Peter paled at that, he hadn’t wanted to offend them.

“I-I’m not bored, I swear.” He said.

“Yeah, sure. Steve, will you get Thor, and Tony please, I want them here.” Natasha said, directing her words to Steve, who had sense picked himself up from the floor, although looking slightly worse for the wear. Peter winced at the bruise blossoming on his temple.

“Yeah yeah, I’m on it.” He said, turning.

“And get some ice, the kid gave you a good bruise.”

“Sorry!” Peter shouted after the grumpy soldier as Natasha chuckled.

“Don’t apologize, Peter, someone needs to bring his ego down a notch.” The redhead said with a smirk. “Besides, he can take a hit. Tony’s wall, however…”

He was about to apologize when Steve returned with the other two in tow.

“Okay, guys, come here,” Natasha said, walking over to a screen near the far right wall from Peter. “FRIDAY can you play the footage of Peter and Steve from 3 and a half minutes ago?” Natasha asked. FRIDAY obliged, showing the two of them sparring on the screen for about 30 seconds before Peter kicks him. He snuck a glance at Tony, trying to gauge his reaction, he at least didn’t seem mad they were sparing, if anything he looked amused. Onscreen Natasha nods, and screen Peter kicks screen, Steve, causing Tony to laugh in a not-very-professional fashion.

“Look mid-guardian, the child kicked you!” Thor said happily.

“Yes Thor, I am aware,” Steve responded.

“Aw, why so salty Cap? You finally believe me that Pete can kick your ass? Or just past your bedtime?”

“Boys!” Natasha interjected. “The point of this exercise was to get a good idea of Peter’s abilities, but it was made clear that Cap was not as good a match as we had hoped he would be, so I was hoping that Thor would be willing to spar with him.”

“Are you sure that is wise, women of spiders, I do not wish to harm him.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Tony said, “He may not be an even match with Thor, but I think he will be fine.”

“Good enough for me.” Natasha said, “Just try not to kill him, will you Thor.”

“I would never kill a child.”

“Okay, still not a child,” Peter said quietly.

“You’re 15 Peter, that is child aged,” Steve said.

“Weren't you applying to the military when-” Peter started, only to be shoved onto the matt and hear the bell ring.

“Okay go!” Steve said loudly, causing a laugh from Tony and a suspicious glare from Natasha.

Thor swung at Peter with almost twice the force Steve had used, and Peter immediately realized that Thor would beat him if they used pure strength, although not by much. He could tell the Asgardian was holding back still. Of course, Peter still had the advantage of his speed and sticky-ness, which he planned on using to his full potential. They fought for a solid half an hour before he could sense the others getting bored. Peter hadn’t been hit once, but he hadn’t hit his opponent ether. Thor had also grown frustrated, letting more and more of his power fall into each missed blow.

Finally, Peter was starting to actually feel tired, which was nice. He actually enjoyed not having to constantly be monitoring his strength in a fight. Except by now Thor was panting, and clearly fed up, and Peter had a feeling that they were moments away from a hurricane if this fight didn’t end. He glanced at Tony and Natasha again, making eye contact as they both nodded their approval, Natasha looking stern, whereas Tony was downright gleeful. With their approval, Peter aught Thor's next missed punch before he had been given a chance to recover, using in to swing himself over, causing Thor to lose his footing and get launched over Peter’s head. He landed with a residual thud and everyone stood quiet for a moment, the only sound being Peter and Thor's loud breaths. Until they heard a ding coming from FRIDAY

“Footage saved” Which sent all of them into laughter.

“Good job, man of spiders, you fought well. I am glad we are on the same side in battle.” Thor said, rising from the floor which was now definitely dented . Peter looked up at the other three, smiling slightly at their expressions. Natasha was smiling, Steve looked completely dumbfounded, and Tony- Well Tony looked happier then Peter had seen him since Clint accidentally ate a frog head. “So… can I go out on patrols again?” Peter asked them hopefully.

“Yeah kid, I don’t think there’s a criminal in the city that could take you,” Steve said, almost causing Peter to bring up Rooms, but he bit his lip.

“Hey FRIDAY, you saved both those fights to my training file, right?” Tony called to the ceiling.

“Yes, and the first one can also be found in ‘Capsicle Is Melting’”

“Good. good job kid.” Tony said. Peter didn’t think he stopped smiling the rest of the day.