My Saving Grace

I glowered up at the rugged Asgardian warrior before me. It didn’t matter to me that he was a demi-God, or that he was easily a foot taller than me.

“Enlighten me. Does this have anything to do with that slimeball you call a brother?” I hissed, clenching my fists. “If it does, then so help me-“

“This has nothing to do with Loki, Lady Barton.” Thor’s deep baritone replied, sounding a bit offended. “We still aren’t sure how the Tesseract was taken from our vaults.”

“Well then you better figure it out, buddy! Thanks to you, our world is in danger. Again!”

“Amanda.” Steve uttered quietly from behind me.

I ignored him and stepped closer to Thor, glaring up at him.

“Fix this, dammit!” I yelled, poking him in the chest.

The blonde looked surprised at my bravery, and to be perfectly honest, I was a bit surprised with myself as well. But the Tesseract had nearly destroyed my brother, I couldn’t let that happen again.

I felt a hand on my arm and I whirled to face whoever was brave enough to interrupt me. It was Steve. I fought the urge to punch him.

“Amanda, c’mon. Let Fury take care of this.” He murmured, pulling me towards the door.

I allowed myself to be led away, deciding it was better for the Director to yell at Thor, as he was much scarier than me anyways. But I threw one last withering glance at the armor-clad man before I was fully out the door.

Steve led me to his sleeping quarters, gently forcing me to sit down on the bed. He sat next to me, but as soon as his hands left my shoulders I was up again, pacing the small room. It took six steps for me to reach the wall.

“Amanda. Sit down.” He implored softly.

Although I didn’t sit, I stopped my pacing to glare at him. I put my hands on my hips and cocked my hip.

“This is not the time to sit down, Steve.”

“It’s also not the time to let your emotions get the better of you.” He reasoned, standing up the meet me. “You need to calm down.”

I hated that I had to look up at him. I hated that I had to look up at anyone, really. It made me feel so weak and inferior.

“Did you have any siblings?” I asked, still glaring at him.

He shook his head and I let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Then how can you tell me to calm down?!” I demanded, stomping my foot. “You have no idea what it’s like to fight against your own brother!” I wailed.

Steve didn’t say anything at first, he simply studied me. His eyes were scouring every inch of my face and I felt a bit self conscious.

“That’s not going to happen again. We’re better prepared for that kind of thing this time.” He assured me, pulling me into his strong chest.

I sighed, allowing myself to relax for the first time since Fury had called our meeting.

-Steve’s POV-

I studied her face, noticing for the first time that her slender nose was slightly crooked. I wondered fleetingly when and how she broke it. The freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks stood out in high contrast against her cheeks, which were red with emotion. Her eyes were glistening and I wondered briefly why she always held back.

I pulled her into my chest, wrapping my arms around her and sighed.

“That’s not going to happen again. We’re better prepared for that kind of thing this time.”

She sighed, a large heave of breath that left her slumped against me. I couldn’t help but notice the way the curve of her chest felt pressed against my torso, or how her hips seemed perfectly shaped to fit my body.

I had never really felt like this about a woman before. Sure, I had had feelings for Peggy, but that had been seventy years ago, and those were nowhere near what I was feeling in the pit of my stomach as I held the petite agent in my arms.

I sighed, not knowing what to do with myself. I had never been brave around women. I had never been charming, or smooth. I always tended to say the wrong thing or stumble over what I wanted to say. Sometimes I wondered if it wasn’t wisest just to not speak in the presence of the opposite sex altogether.

Opting for the not speaking option, I tipped her head up by the chin. Her clear blue eyes met my own and I smiled before touching my lips to hers.

-Amanda’s POV-

I sighed, running a hand through my already messy hair. I paced back and forth in front of Tony’s door, arguing inwardly with myself. I really did want to apologize to him, I couldn’t dive into this whole Tesseract oreal without my best friend beside me.

But I had been, for lack of a better word, a real bitch. Tony had only had my best interests at heart and, because I don’t know how to handle my emotions, I had totally over reacted when he had brought up the subject of Steve at the benefit.

“Can I help you?” Tony drawled from behind me.

I whirled around, hand still raised to knock on his door. I lowered my hand as I studied him. His usually smiling mouth was set into a hard line. It seemed our fight had had just as much a negative affect on him as it had on me. I could just make out the dark circles under his tired eyes.

“If you’re here to yell at me some more, lets just not and say you did.” He continued, opening his door and letting me in ahead of him.

I stood in the middle of his room, feeling small and insignificant. It was obvious his feelings were still hurt. I felt horrible. It took a lot to hurt Tony Stark’s feelings, and yet, I had somehow managed.

I could feel him staring down at me as I studied the carpet beneath my feet. I had just realized there was a good chance he wouldn’t accept my apology and now I felt like a fool for even coming to speak with him.

“Well?” He demanded, crossing his arms over his reactor.

“I-I’m sorry, Tony.” I uttered, barely above a whisper.

My voice broke when I said his name and I felt a sudden prickling behind my eyelids. I looked up in time to see his face soften, the tight set line of his mouth loosened just a bit.

“Can we… Truce?” I added hopefully, offering my hand out to him.

He studied me for a long while before finally knocking my hand aside and pulling me into a tight hug.

I felt myself smile in relief before wrapping my arms around his waist, hiding the few tears that fell from my eyes by hiding my face in his chest.

-Clint’s POV-

I slung my arms over the railing, studying my fellow agents in the training room below.

“You gonna be ok?”

I didn’t have to turn and look to know that it was Natasha beside me. Her voice and familiar perfume were enough for me.

“Gonna have to be, I guess.” I shrugged, turning to offer her a small smile.

She didn’t return the gesture, simply watched me with those hard eyes of hers. I knew what she was thinking about. I had been thinking about the same thing ever since we had found out about the Tesseract. Only Natasha and my sister knew just how deeply the Tesseract had affected me. She had reason to be worried.

“It’s alright to be scared, you know.” She finally replied, her eyes softening as she slid her hand under mine.