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Can't Handle This

Chapter 26

“Steve?” Tony asked the two of them walked into what was now their bedroom.

“What’s up, Tony?”

Tony fidgeted slightly with his tie, feeling as nervous as a teenager. “I was…um….” Steve slowly approached the billionaire and put a hand on his arm. “Never mind,” he said quickly. “It’s…uh, not important.”

“Tony,” Steve said assertively as he blocked his path. “Just tell me, whether it’s important or not. I want to know what you’re thinking.”

Tony sighed and put his forehead on Steve’s shoulder in slight defeat. “Why do you have to be so damn perfect?” he muttered.

Steve scoffed and wrapped his arms around Tony. “Is that all you had to say to me?”

He shook his head and wrapped his arms around Steve in reply. “Of course not. Don’t be silly.”

“Then what?”

Tony pressed himself closer and kissed the soldier’s neck.

****

Toni was working in the lab with Hetalia and Loki watching her intently. “So you’ve been living here for a few weeks and you’re already warmly welcomed?” the spy asked as she sucked on a lollipop.

Toni nodded and back away to look at the reserve thrusters. “Yeah, I suppose so. It’s almost like…” she shook her head in disbelief as she reached down the fuel shaft. “I don’t know. Like…like I’m part of the family.”

Loki couldn’t help but smile softly as he continued to watch the young girl fix her machines.

“You are,” Hetalia said with a grin. “Tony Stark wouldn’t ever doubt you.”

Toni took her hand out, holding a grouping of wires, and stared at Hetalia. “How would you know that?” she asked in more shock than disbelief.

Hetalia shrugged. “It’s who I am. I read people; I study them.” The girl walked around some of the machines, caressing them lightly as if they were living, breathing creatures. She stood on her tip-toes to get a better look at one of the machines, when her sleeve slid up her arm, revealing a few tattooed numbers.

“What are those?” Toni asked.

“Hm?” The Russian asked in reply.

Toni gestured to her arm with the wire couplings. “Those. The numbers tattooed on your arm.”

Hetalia quickly tugged at her sleeve, as if it was as bad as forgetting to put on a pair of pants. “Nothing,” she said quickly. “They’re nothing.”

“Secrets are not safe to be kept to oneself,” Loki said as he slowly stood off his stool.

Toni looked down at the floor, feeling slightly ashamed. Hetalia did the same, only she looked more terrified than ashamed.

“I don’t like to brag about it.”

“It’s not bragging if you’ve been hurt,” the god said soothingly. “I promise that neither one of us will tell anyone.”

Hetalia sighed hesitantly and rolled up her sleeve. “This was my identification number while I was in The Cage.”

“You were in The Cage?” Loki asked quietly, sounding both sympathetic and shocked.

“What’s The Cage?” Toni asked as she looked from the spy to the god.

“The Cage is a place where they train spies, kill threats, and keep prisoners,” the Russian said somberly. “Sometimes, a person receives all three at the same time.”

“Is that why you’re such a good spy?”

Hetalia shook her head. “No. Not just because of The Cage. I also owe my father, my sister, and Marcy Glendayle for my skills.”

“You’re father?” Loki started. “Was he-”

“Yes,” Hetalia answered before the question could be asked. “He was Ivan Romanoff, The King of Spies.”

****

Clint sipped from his bottle of beer and looked at Agent Schaefer. “What’s your first name, Schaef?”

“Nikolai,” the German replied.

“Why does a German boy have a Russian first name?”

Nikolai sighed and rolled his eyes with a hollow smile on his face. “My mother had a sense of humor.”

“So what’s your story, then?” Clint asked after a minute or so of silence. “I mean, you must have my background on file, but I don’t know anything about you.”

Schaefer adjusted himself in his seat and cleared his throat. “Well,” he started. “I vas born und raised in Germany, but I longed for America. I vanted to know how it felt here, so I found my vay into ze German branch of SHIELD and started training almost ten years ago. It vas ze hardest I’ve every vorked in my life, but it vas vorth it, in ze end. I was so happy to be a part of it all.”

“Got a girlfriend?” Clint asked, sounding interested.

The German laughed and shook his head. “No, mein freund. I haven’t found anyone to my liking yet.” Schaefer went to take a drink from his bottle, and froze. “Actually,” he started. “I lied. I have found someone to my liking.”

Clint leaned closer. “Who?”

****

“Tony,” Steve almost moaned. “I…I don’t know if I can….”

Tony wrapped himself closer to Steve, feeling every bit of physical tension the super soldier was holding. “You can.” he said encouragingly. “I know you can.”

Steve shook his head. “I don’t….I don’t think so. I’m so….unpracticed.”

Tony pulled away just enough to kiss him deeply and passionately. When he pulled away, they were both breathing deeply, savoring the moment. “I’ll help you as best as I can,” the billionaire muttered into his ear. “And I promise not to judge.”

Steve moaned and kissed Tony, reaching for his button down shirt.

****

“No wonder you and Natasha were so good with your craft,” Toni said with shock and awe as she put away her tools. “King of Spies? Spy finishing schools? That’s some pretty intense shit.”

Hetalia nodded and turned off the lights as the headed up the stairs. “I actually went through more training than she did. She did not experience The Cage.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Loki said as he wrapped his arms protectively around their shoulders. “That place must have been worse than any kind of torture conjured.”

“It was all torture,” she said quietly. “But that’s why I’m okay with it. If it had been any different, it’d be much harder to accept.”

The group stopped outside of Toni’s door. “Well,” she said quietly. “This is my stop. Good night, guys.”

Hetalia smiled at the teen. “Good night, Antoinette. Sleep well.”

Loki just gave her an encouraging smile and a small wave as she closed the door behind her.

“You want something from her,” the spy said bluntly as the started to walk away.

“I beg your pardon?”

Hetalia gestured to the door behind them. “You want something from her. Whether it’s a secret to be told or an act of passion, I’m not sure. All I know is that you want something, and you want it so badly.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Loki said too quickly as he walked into the kitchen.

“Don’t play games with me,” the Russian said slyly. “I can see right through it. It burns you so, doesn’t it? All the want?”

“You know not of which you speak.”

“But I do know, Loki. You have so much want and desire built up inside you that you feel ready to burst, don’t you?”

Loki banged his hands on the counter. “That’s enough!” he shouted at her.

Hetalia, looking completely unfazed, just looked at Loki like he was some boring high school math teacher. “Only a fool would think that getting angry would erase all suspicions.”

****

Her?” Clint asked Schaefer. “Why her, of all people? I mean, not to be mean or anything, but she’s kind of…out there.”

The agent shrugged his shoulders. “When I first saw her, I couldn’t look away. It vas…she’s just so…” he sighed longingly and took a sip from his bottle. “I can’t explain it, Herr Barton.”

Clint stared off into space. “It was like the world stopped turning, huh?”

“That’s exactly it, Agent,” he said happily. “Ze vorld stopped turning.”

Clint nodded, feeling an overwhelming amount of sadness. “I know how ya feel, buddy. Just don’t be a jackass, okay? That’ll drive her away for sure.”

“Do you know zis from experience?”

Clint sighed and tried to hold back tears. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Yeah, I do.”

****

Cj looked down at her phone and her eyes went wide.

It was the text. The one and only text she did not want to see.

Meet me at the Union Square Café. Tomorrow. Noon. No exceptions.

CJ let out a shaky breath and started to cry. She didn’t want this to be happening. “Oh please, God,” she mumbled through her tears. “Please, don’t let this be happening. Please, God! Oh, please!”

Comments

Chapter 28 is sad because Cj says "Let's just say I've got red in my ledger and I physically cannot wipe it out.". That's sad because Natasha says that in Avengers.

Natasha Barton Natasha Barton
10/17/16

I am going to cry. Natasha is my favorite Avenger and SHIELD agent. I've always looked up to her character. I almost cried during chapter 25 and got some weird looks from my family. Well they don't understand so if they have a problem then they can suck it.

Natasha Barton Natasha Barton
10/17/16

MAJOR SPOILERS! Unless you finished chapter 24

OH MY GOD!!!!!!! NATASHA"S DEAD!!!!!!!! AND SHE HAS A SISTER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Natasha Barton Natasha Barton
10/17/16

CLINT SAID HAWKWARD!!!!!!!!! THAT"S AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! BEST PUN EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Natasha Barton Natasha Barton
10/17/16

Are you planning on continuing in a sequel?

Anonyme_Amour Anonyme_Amour
3/20/14