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"Seriously Clint! Will you stop killing people? We were supposed to bring him in for interrogation."
"Sorry, I got excited. I just upgraded my weapon."
Natasha sighed and put down her gun, deciding to take a break from the wii game.
"I'm so bored. Where is everyone?" Clint asked.
"You know where they are." She rolled her eyes turning to lay her head in his lap.
Pepper and Bruce had gone on a yoga retreat for the weekend. Sam was spending the day at the local VA now that he was off bed rest. Tony went with Jane and Darcy to a science conference in California. Jane had been asked to speak, and no one doubted that Tony would have something to say too. Thor was speaking diplomatically with Loki in some neutral realm.
"Right. Did you think Steve and Bucky were acting weird this morning? When everyone was getting ready to leave, they were whispering to each other." Natasha didn't really want to think about it. It was just the four of them in the tower and she didn't want the mental image of what her two best friends were possibly up to. Although, she was glad the sexual tension was gone.
Clint was in the process of saving the progress they had made when the power went out. Both of them immediately went on defense until the hard knocks came from the elevator. When it opened, there was only a glow in the dark box.
"Do you think it's a bomb?" Clint whispered.
"I can confirm it is not a bomb, sir." Jarvis answered.
"If Jarvis and the elevator are working, I don't think we're under attack." Natasha said as she approached the box. There was a letter on top of it.
Open the box. Put them on.
Elevator will take you to the common room.
You have 15 minutes to hide the flag -
at least partially visible. Green vs. Orange.
P.S We got a fog machine.
Inside the box was a lime green bandana and two laser tag vests with earpieces that looked like they were out of the 90's movie. It was on.
"But, I don't understand." Clint said as they quickly hid their flag. "How do they even know about laser tag? Or a fog machine?"
"Babe. We have one minute. How 'bout we discuss this after we win, okay? Now go hide."
When they had gotten to the floor it was obvious the fog machine had had some time to run and there was glow in the dark tape everywhere - the colors marked each zone. There was also another letter waiting for them. It clearly stated that the green zone was in the living room, and that in the stairwell off the kitchen, Steve and Bucky were waiting for the game to begin. They were to hide their flag and then get into a starting position. It also warned that when shot the vest would send out an electric pulse that would stop the player and the gun for five seconds. According to the letter Steve hadn't been lucky enough to get that warning before getting shot. The rules were also given. They were typical for capture the flag - once the opposing team's player captured the flag they had to make it back to their own zone to win the game. However if they were shot the teammate of the shooter had the five seconds created by the vest to reclaim their flag. Then a time out would be called and the flags would be re hidden and the game would start. Another P.S in Bucky's handwriting made clear that the air vents were off limits.
The only change Natasha made was requesting that Jarvis played music while the game was in play to help counter the orange team's super hearing.
"Okay, Rogers. This is your last chance. Put up or shut up."
"Excuse me?" Steve was waiting for Jarvis to start the count down.
"You either shoot me back or you stop making me feel guilty." Bucky stood in front of him with his arms spread. He was decked out in all black, which wasn't much different from his uniform, but he opted to pull his hair back into a bun and had tied a black bandana around his head. It was ridiculously attractive.
"I haven't said anything?" Steve knew exactly what Bucky was talking about though. He wasn't mad, it was just funny to watch Bucky squirm a bit, so he hadn't been looking at him for the past twenty minutes.
"Steve." Bucky whined and he couldn't stop himself from laughing. Steve caved and looked up at Bucky's pitiful pout and decided to give in - he shot him. "You son of bitch. You shot me!" Though he couldn't stay mad when he saw Steve's proud little smirk. "Alright, we're even. No more friendly fire." Jarvis informed them Natasha had requested music before he began his count down at the five second mark. "Good luck and see you later." Bucky grinned before giving Steve a quick peck on the lips.
"Technically, since I'm covering your backside, I think I'm the one whose suppose to say that." Steve whispered at they opened the door.
"Nah, that'd break tradition. Bad luck." And then Bucky disappeared into the shadows and the fog, like the ghost he had been for so long.
Steve wasn't an idiot. Both teams were made up of a sharp shooter and point man. He knew Natasha would come for their flag and Clint would hide and cover their own. However, Steve decided to mix things up. Bucky had stealth, and he had a better chance at figuring out were Clint might be hiding. Steve could guard the flag. It wasn't so much about winning, as using Bucky's skill set for fun instead of life or death. He wanted him to feel the adrenaline of anticipation and have a memory that connected it to joy and friends. He was more than happy to sit in the dark and wait while his boyfriend was having fun.
Each zone was over four hundred square feet. The fog was thick. If Bucky hadn't memorized the layout of the common room when he first arrived at the tower, he would easily be running into the furniture. However, it was clear that Jarvis had cut the machine off before the fog could become a choking hazard. He felt his blood come alive as he crept toward the glow of green. The music was a clever idea, it made it harder to detect the enemy, but it also helped him move. He matched his footsteps to the beat of the songs. His breath syncing with the singers. He became a silent threat and he was unstoppable.
The comm was bothering him. It had been years since he had the spiral cord running down his neck, and he always hated when they hooked over his ear. Clint was hiding on top of the bookshelf behind the decorative plants Pepper had thought they needed. He had a clear view to where the flag was hidden. They had placed it inside the VCR that Tony had for 'old school' purposes. Only a small corner was poking out, the green corner blending into the blinking lights of the digital clock - however, it was still considered visible. The comm was silent except for Natasha softly humming to the music. It was a mixed playlist between their different tastes. There was oldies like Sinatra and Crosby, all the way to newer songs they played on the radio. It was distracting only in that it went from Clint jamming to Bastille to a musical number from Singing in the Rain. He liked the movie, it was a classic, it just wasn't ideal for the mission impossible situation.
He was just getting ready to take out his ear plug so he didn't have to listen to Katy Perry when he heard Russian through the ear piece, and it wasn't Natasha's voice. The deep voice clearly said 'I'm coming for you my pretty'. Clint managed to bite back a squeak. Steve had just recently made the whole team re watch Wizard of Oz. Somehow picturing the Winter Soldier quoting a movie starring Judy Garland did not diminish how terrifying he was.
"Clint?" Natasha was back. "Sweetheart." I've been shot. Return the favor. She let out a breath and he realized the five seconds from the last shot must've just ended. "Repeatedly."
"Can do."
The elevator opened up to the huge space that was divided into the two rooms. The bar from the kitchen opened up to the living room with the complete far wall covered in windows. Jarvis had to close all the blinds for the game. They had picked the kitchen for home base because it had fewer places to hide than the living room did. It had one wall covered with a huge entertainment center, the opposite wall was covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves, it held a large leather couch, two lazy boy recliners that were extra wide, a love seat, a coffee table, throw in a end table, a floor lamp, and a couple of large planters Pepper had felt they needed, and the living room was the perfect advantage to not getting shot.
Steve was exactly the opposite of well hidden. The way the vest glowed in the dark made him obvious to anyone; he was sitting on top of the refrigerator. They had decided to play it obvious instead of sneaky when it came to hiding the flag and had stuffed it into a cup sitting in the sink. It was technically visible because the cup wasn't covered. They had soaked both 'flags' in glow in the dark paint for five minutes before washing them in the bathroom sink so that they glowed but weren't super bright. If he looked down into the sink beside him, he could just barely see the faint glow.
Where it lacked in hiding spots, because really there was just the counter and appliances, the giant island counter, and the giant table that sat sixteen people, the kitchen made up for in hiding places for the flag. However, the living room provided more places for the flag to be hidden and the fog had gotten more out of hand then Steve had initially intended. Although, in his own defense he hadn't really known how the machine worked. He just had to stall long enough for Bucky to find the flag. Steve wasn't sure if Natasha would be the type to rush and rescue her flag or not. He was leaning more on the probably not side, but he knew how much she hated to lose.
The kitchen had two entrances. There was one near the elevator and another on the opposite side of the room, by the windows, that lead to the dinning room. Natasha had headed straight for the kitchen entrance near the elevator after the count down had ended, because the stair well was closer to the other side. The only way she could account for Bucky finding her was if he sought her out before he headed to the living room. Which completely sounded like something he would do - he enjoyed tormenting Clint. She had been tempted to find him, but decided that winning would feel better.
She was moving extremely slow, army crawling through the fog. It was a heavy fog, so it tended to be thicker closer to the ground. She had managed to make it to behind the island without being seen, but she hadn't located Steve either.
"Nat, Kitten?" Life or death situation? She couldn't give away her location, though she was slightly concerned with him giving away his. She hummed softly to Carry on My Wayward Son - I really can't talk right now, but I'm fine. "Good, well still no sign of Barnes, but I wanted to point out our song is playing." She couldn't help huffing out a laugh when she heard George Strait's I Got A Car being played. It wasn't really their song. They had heard it on the radio on one of their first missions together, and it had been the first song to come to mind when a target questioned their fake relationship. Ever since it had become a natural part for their cover stories. They would have to come up with a legit one now that they were a real couple.
Bucky had located Clint the moment he entered the living room. He kept his back against the bookshelves Clint was camped out on top of and focused on trying to locate the glow in the rest of the room. The fog made it nearly impossible, but he always enjoyed a challenge. He was ruling out the flag being on the bookshelves because Clint was trying to hard to be hidden for them to hid the flag under him. Which meant the rest of the room was fair game. He moved along the windows until he could just make out Clint's vest glowing through the plants. He fired off two quick shots before diving in front of the couch for cover. He could hear Clint cursing softly in in the second of silence between songs. He chuckled softly and heard Steve's breath hitch at the sound.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed since they started playing, he was only aware of Steve checking in on him what seemed like every ten minutes - covertly. This was a group of soldiers and spies they knew how to take their time for results. Most people would have rushed in or would've been bored by now with how slowly things were going. However, to Bucky, the plotting and the out smarting your opponent was part of the thrill. The best part about was that as long as the vest was shielded he could sit up and look around all he wanted. It seemed to really piss off Clint that he could see him but couldn't shoot him.
Bucky was in the process of checking the planters and the tables when he heard Steve start to hum to a song he didn't recognize right a way. He stopped and listened to the song and realized it was one of Natasha's workout songs. He had spotted her. Considering Steve was barely coming in above a whisper, Natasha hadn't spotted him yet, which meant she wasn't near their flag either. A crashing sound drowned out the music and Bucky barely got behind a recliner before Clint could shoot him. From the looks of it, one of Pepper's plants didn't survive Clint climbing down from his hiding spot, but Clint had ducked down almost as quickly as he had appeared. Now the emphasis of tag was out weighing finding the flag.
There was no way Bucky would be able to search and dodge at the same time.
"Steve, I've got a plan, but I'm going to need you when I give the word." He got a mumbled 'hell yea' in response. "Okay, wait and when I yell for you come running in guns blazing." Bucky took a deep breath and jumped onto the coffee table in the middle of the room.
He had his back to where Clint was hiding, making sure he was facing the entertainment center. He felt the sting as soon as Clint shot him. It was a constant onslaught, but he didn't bother trying to fight back. He searched the nooks and crannies as best he could. His eyes were immediately drawn to the glow of the clocks on the different systems. One clock was different from the others.
"Rogers, I have eyes on the flag. I repeat, I have eyes on the flag."
"On my way."
Steve hoped down from his post, shot Natasha, and from the moment he rounded the corner, he was firing on Clint. With his gun stalled, Bucky was able to grab the flag before Clint called for back up. Natasha could either try to win the game and find the unguarded flag, or come to the rescue of her boyfriend causing a stand off. It didn't really matter either way. Steve and Bucky had been fighting battles together since elementary school. Back to back, they moved until Bucky was a foot away from the orange zone when Natasha appeared, blocking the way. Stand off it was then. If Natasha got her hand on the flag they would have to reset and probably turn the lights on and wait for a few minutes so the tape could recharge. However, Steve had the upper hand on Clint keeping him frozen in his spot across the room.
"On the count of three, tuck and roll." Steve murmured. If it hadn't been for the comm, Bucky would've never heard him over the music, even as close as they were. Steve counted in the same low voice. He rolled in front of the still frozen Bucky, after firing off one last shot at Clint, and as soon as Bucky was released he ducked behind the love seat effectively keeping him out of Clint's line of sight. "Roll. Roll. Roll." Steve said more loudly now as he stopped Natasha in her tracks. And with far more grace than it really called for, Bucky rolled into their home base.
Jarvis immediately turned on the lights, blinding all of them momentarily before declaring Orange team the winners.
The fog was finally starting to disperse. Steve let out a low whistle when Bucky told him where he had found the flag - they had played for close to two hours. Natasha adamantly demanded to know the location of their flag, stating that it was clearly not visible. Clint had to calm her down after it was revealed.
"Rematch?" Bucky asked her with a quirked brow that could rival her own.
"It's on."