Battle Scars

Chapter 5

The next morning you shuffled out to the kitchen, your nose leading the way as it followed the scent of bacon. You stopped in surprise when you caught sight of everyone else sitting around the large table. After blinking a couple of times, you headed into the kitchen to pour yourself a cup of coffee. Once you had it the way you liked it and had taken a large sip you felt like you could carry on at least a partial conversation. "Good Morning, everyone."

They all gave some variation of a greeting and Tony pushed the empty chair beside him away from the table with his foot. "Come. Sit. Eat."

You gave him a small smile and nodded once. "Yes, boss."

He arched a brow at your sass. "What did I say about that?"

You shrugged one shoulder. "You said I couldn't call you Mr. Stark and I didn't."

Almost before you could blink the others had piled pancakes, bacon and eggs onto your plate. "Thank you." As you ate, you noticed that the others were rather quiet. It was odd. You took another sip of your coffee as you leaned back in your chair. "What's up, guys?"

Steve's cheeks flushed a rather pretty shade of pink and he rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "I-uh..." He trailed off.

"What Capsicle is trying to say is thank you," Tony finally said, taking pity on the old man.

"Could you give us a more detailed tour today?" Natasha asked.

You smiled before you could think better of it. "Of course. I'd be happy to."

Steve pushed a piece of paper in your direction. "I made a list. Hope that's okay."

Your eyes ran over the list of art supplies. "This seriously is the best thank you. Knowing you guys are enjoying the spaces we made for you is enough."

"We?"

You turned to find Tony studying you with a furrow in his brow. "Jarvis was a considerable help."

He leaned forward and tapped his finger on the table. After a moment, his tongue darted out to moisten his lips. "My AI seems abnormally fond of you."

"Must be my charming personality."

"Yeah. Must be."

The two of you just looked at each other for a moment before the rest of the team started talking about other things they wanted in their spaces, drawing your attention away from him.

***

It was late afternoon and the others were scattered throughout the living spaces while you sat on the couch with your legs tucked underneath you. You were clearing out emails and prioritizing appointments that needed to be made.

"Excuse me, Miss but Ms. Potts is requesting permission to enter the premises."

You jerked your head up with a frown. "She was on the list of approved visitors, was she not?"

"She was. Mr. Stark removed all approvals for anyone save yourself and the rest of the team this morning."

Why the hell had he done that, and why hadn't he told you? Shaking your head, you cleared your throat. "Talk to Tony about it then, J. Not my circus, not my monkeys."

"Very well, Miss."

A moment later the AI was back. "My apologies, but Mr. Stark said, and I quote 'All the monkeys are your monkeys'."

You sighed and sat the tablet in your lap. "Where is Pepper wanting to go?"

"She wishes to see, Mr. Stark."