Can't Handle This

**WARNING! POSSIBLE SUPERNATURAL SPOILERS AHEAD!!!**

Toni and Pepper entered the house with dozens of bags from dozens of different shops. Each bag was filled to the brim with clothes, shoes, and accessories. The two of them stumbled into the living room to find all the other residents watching the screen intently. All of them looked either shocked, heartbroken, or both with the exception of Brooke who looked mildly amused at everyone.

Pamplemousse sniffled from the other side of Steve. "Don't go, Castiel," she whimpered. "I don't want Dean to be all alone."

"I'm pretty sure he'll come back," Bruce said sympathetically and almost hopefully. "They can't just take him out of the show forever. He's too much of a staple."

"Come on, Bruce," Tony replied, obviously holding back tears. "You know these TV shows. They love to ruin people's lives."

Toni looked over at the screen just to see Castiel disappear under the water. An audible sob was heard from somewhere around the couch as the camera zoomed in on Dean's forlorn face.

"But is he not a god?" Thor questioned all of a sudden. "Wouldn't his powers be greater than those of the Leviathan? I doubt a god could be taken over so easily."

"Remember brother," Loki replied. "This is only a work of fiction. Clearly, this would never happen. Besides, Castiel was not a real god to begin with. He was only a mere angel turned god. Nothing more."

"Mere angel?" CJ exclaimed. "Castiel is nothing mere. He may not have been a true god, but he's damn near close enough."

"Watch your damn language," Brooke shouted from the Lazy Boy.

"Yeah!" Pamplemousse shouted in agreement. "Watch your damn language!"

Toni rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Okay guys, calm down." She looked around the room and noticed that there were missing bodies. "Where's Clint and Natasha?"

"Probably sexing it up in the ceiling next to the pancake ingredients," Tony replied bluntly without taking his eyes off the screen. He looked up at her. "No worries. It's normal routine for them."

Toni felt her heart sink, though she didn't know why. "Oh," she said. "Okay. I'm going to just...bring these to my room. I'll be back later." And with that, she picked up her bags and made her way to the bedroom down the hall.

Pepper followed close behind and once the two of them were alone in her bedroom, she closed the door and spoke up. "Toni, are you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah." she replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Pepper put the bags down next to the closet and walked closer to Toni. "You seemed kind of upset back there when you dad mentioned where Clint and Tasha might be."

Toni shrugged and started taking the tags off items. "It's no big deal. Why would I care? I mean, what those two do in their spare time is of no consequence to me." Toni sniffled and put the lovely yellow dress Pepper initially picked out on a hanger. "I mean, it's not like I have feelings for Clint or anything." Toni couldn't hold it back any longer and just broke down in front of Pepper. She hadn't intended to fall for the archer.

Pepper took her carefully into her arms and whispered to her. "Shh, it's okay Toni. I know how you feel and it's okay. I'm here for you, okay?"

Toni let out a choked sob and hugged her back, nodding into Pepper's chest.

----

Toni wasn't sure how long she had been in bed, but it was long enough for her legs to feel stiff. After her initial breakdown, Pepper had escorted her to bed like a pro. Eventually, Toni fell asleep from the pure exhaustion of crying so heavily. Pepper must have left after that, and Toni didn't blame her. There's not much you can do for a person once they've fallen asleep.

Toni pulled herself out of bed and finished putting her new clothes away. Afterwards, she trudged into the kitchen to find food. As she entered the kitchen, she looked over at the clock which read 3:15 in the morning. Toni chuckled to herself and opened the fridge.

"Go ahead and have the rest of that cake."

Toni spun around to see her dad sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in hand.

"You're still awake?" she asked in disbelief.

Tony just shrugged. "I told you yesterday--or actually, the day before yesterday--that I came up with those plans at three in the morning. Why wouldn't I be awake at this hour?"

"Don't normal people sleep at this hour?"

"Do I even look normal?"

"Normal enough for a regular sleep pattern."

"I have a regular sleep pattern," he retaliated. "I go to bed, wake up at three in the morning, go back to bed, and wake up at 10 in the morning to start my day."

Toni paused for a moment and finally decided to just grab the cake and sit next to her dad. "Fair enough," she said and she reached for a fork. "But isn't that tiring? I mean, what if you don't have any good ideas one day?"

Tony also reached for a fork and took a piece of cake. "Then I sit awake until an idea hits me in the face or I fall back asleep."

Toni nodded as she too took a piece of cake. "I'm only awake because I majorly screwed my own sleeping pattern."

"That's what Pepper said, but she didn't mention why. Exhausting day?"

"You could say that," Toni mumbled.

Tony moved his chair closer to his daughter and put an arm around her, something he hadn't thought he'd ever do. "You can talk to me about it," he said. "I'm always here to listen." Those were two things he never thought he'd say, either.

Toni shrugged. "I...I guess the pun about Clint and Natasha threw me off a bit."

"How come?"

"I think I might have feelings for him."

Tony's mind went completely blank. "Oh." he said simply. "I...I don't...hm." He thought for a moment. "I don't think I'm the right person to talk to about this. What about Brooke or CJ? I could have JARVIS wake them up in the most hilarious way possible, if you'd like."

Toni laughed. "No thanks," she finally said. "But thanks anyway."

The two of them sat in silence for a while until the cake was reduced to nothing but crumbs. "I'm sorry I made that joke," Tony finally said. "About...Clint."

His daughter only shrugged. "It's not a big deal," she said. "I didn't realize it was only a joke."

Her dad nodded and stood. "Want to come down to the lab and help me work on that suit?"

She smiled and nodded, following him down the stairs to someplace that could help bring up her spirits.