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A yacht speeds through cerulean waters. Thor stands at the prow, clutching his hammer to his chest. “Jane and I have been together for...a Midgardian year or two, I suppose. I love her, but she doubts my oath. So she has set me this great task of going to an island with many women.” He looks over his shoulder at Jane, standing a few feet behind him, enjoying the scenery. “I will not fail you, Jane.”Jane cocks her head to the side, analyzing him. "I don't doubt you, Thor. Our cultures are so different, we are so different, I think it would be beneficial to see what else Midgard has to offer."Thor laughs, heartily. “Oh, the big words you use. I do love them.” Thor strides over to Jane, puts his arm around her and looks at the camera. “She’s very intelligent for a Midgardian.”"Don't be a dick, Thor, or you're going to be very lonely on the island or off it." Jane steps away from him, ignoring him for the rest of the trip.Thor looks at his groin, confused. He sighs, looking down at Mjolnir. “Sometimes, old friend, you’re my only friend.”...Sharon looks into the camera as Steve leans over the rail of the ship, puking into the water. “Steve and I are both committed. We’re ready for marriage, but...neither of us has played the field much. We just want to be sure, before we take the last step.”Steve stands back up, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “Yeah.” He looks green, but puts his arm around Sharon....Nat purses her lips sardonically for the camera. “Bruce doesn’t trust me anymore. Maybe he just needs to explore his options a little.”Bruce rubs at his eyes.  "I don't--Nat wants this. I said I'd try, and I'm here but I don’t know how exploring my options is going to fix this."Nat sighs, smiling at him. “If you love something, sometimes you have to let it go, right?”Bruce tries to smile back, but it's more of a pained grimace. "I don't have to like it though, do I?"“No.” Nat reaches for his hand, giving Bruce a sexy smirk. “I’m hoping you’ll hate it, and we can start over again. Together.”..."Look, I'm ready for the next step. I'm ready for the rest of my life. I don't need an island of attractive people to get my rocks off. I have Pepper." Tony slings an arm around her shoulder, cavalier. "But who am I to say no to this wonderful opportunity?" He smirks, charming.Pepper crosses her arms. "You notice how he doesn't say the words ‘marriage’ and ‘commitment’. Because he never does. I want that. And I'm not so sure he does."For the remainder of the trip, Steve and Sharon stay by the guardrail so that Steve can occasionally be sick. Otherwise, they talk quietly to one another, with Steve casting occasional glances over at Tony and Pepper.When they pull into the crystal blue harbor, each couple is met by a smiling staff member who welcomes them and points the way up the trail toward the beach house. The sand quickly gives way to dunes and a slightly rocky climb, dotted with tropical vegetation and palm seedlings. Steve and Sharon hold hands and steady each other the whole way. Thor tries to carry Jane. Jane isn't really into being carried, but it's a sweet gesture, so she accepts it and lets him.Nat sticks close to Bruce, but she’s trying not to crowd him. How close they are on the walk, she leaves up to him. Bruce keeps stealing glances at Nat wanting...something, but not asking for it. He ends up sticking his hands in his pockets, feeling confused.Seeing Thor carry Jane, Tony tries the whole romantic princess carry thing but ends up tripping all over himself. Determined, he carries Pepper piggyback the rest of the way.Steve keeps glancing back at Tony struggling to carry Pepper, who’s so much taller, he sometimes drags her feet on the ground behind them. He wants to help, but he doesn’t want to embarrass the little guy.Finally, the sparse jungle opens onto a pristine lawn, and a beautiful geometric pool, complete with hot tubs. Their host, a dashing man wearing an eyepatch, is waiting on the deck. “Welcome! To Temptation Island. Let’s all have a seat so that you can tell me why you’re here, and what you hope to get out of this experience.”They grab seats around a large rectangular table. Thor tries to set mjolnir down and immediately makes a hole in the table. “I meant to do that,” he announces.Nat snickers, taking a seat on his side of the table, forcing Bruce to sit next to Thor. Steve manages to sit at the end of the table, facing Fury. Sharon ends up next to Tony. “Hi.” She smiles at him. Did they tell the producers they were related? Oh well. Too late now.Tony shakes his head at Sharon, glancing at Steve. "What are you even doing here with that? What could you find that's better looking? Er, besides Pepper,” he catches himself. “Nobody’s prettier than Pepper."Sharon keeps her smile sweet, but talks anyway, like a ventriloquist. “Stay out of it, Tony.” Tony snorts.  Like that's going to happen.“Why don’t you go first, Pepper and Tony?” Nick encourages them.Pepper says, "A marriage," at the same time that Tony says, "Maybe some fun?"  He tries to amend it, immediately looking guilty. "An-and then a marriage."Nat smiles like she wishes she had a bucket of popcorn for this. Fury turns to the blondes. “Steve and Sharon?”“Sharon and I really love each other,” Steve says, holding both of Sharon’s hands like he’s afraid she’ll go somewhere. “We’re going to get married after this. Make no mistake.”“But you came here to explore options,” Nick points out.“We just don’t want to regret anything later on,” Sharon says. “If we do this now...if we agree to do this now, we won’t be wondering ‘what if’ in five years.” Steve nods.“Nat and Bruce?”“I’m here to show Bruce he can trust me. And to force him to see what else is out there, if he wants it.” She looks at him. “What am I hoping to get out of this? A family, I guess. But relationships have to be built on mutual trust and understanding.”Bruce looks uncomfortable. "I want things to go back to the way they were. I want--" Finally, finally, he reaches for Nat. "I want to feel like we're a couple again."Nat squeezes his hand, smiling just a little and looking relieved.“And what about you...Thor, is it? Interesting name,” Fury says.“Thank you. I’ve had it for many centuries.”“Okay, then. Jane?” Fury has decided talking to Thor too much will change the tone of the show."Thor hasn't been around, much and I don't want to...stifle his ideas of what a relationship is." Is it an experiment? Yes.“So you’re saying your relationship maybe isn’t as close as it once was?” Fury asks her."Yes and..." Well, what the hell, Jane thinks. "Maybe I'm a little bored."Thor looks at her, frowning. “I’m sorry, Jane. I feel I’ve neglected you. Would you like to see Asgard after we leave here? It’s not boring at all.”"Yeah, that might be nice." Jane smiles back at him.Thor nods. “I will tell Heimdall to expect us.”Fury addresses the table again. “You’re about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Tonight may be the last night some of you are together as a couple. What fears do you have going into this situation?”Steve shrugs, macho. “I’m not really afraid of anything. Except being alone, maybe.”Fury chuckles. “Somehow I don’t think that’ll be a problem here.” When Steve smiles, sheepish, Sharon gives him a sharp look.“I’m afraid I might fall in love with this place.” Sharon brushes her hair back. “And I don’t think we can afford a vacation house here.” There are smiles around the table.“You sure that’s all?” Fury says. “You’re not afraid Steve might go home with someone else at the end of the experience?”“No,” Sharon says, confident. “I’m not afraid of that.”“I’m afraid of bilgesnipes,” Thor says, dead serious. “The mucus they leave behind has a stench that lasts for days.”Jane pats his hand reassuringly.  "I'm not worried about us. Not really." Thor's so loyal, she doesn't feel like she has to be.Thor looks at her intensely. “I would like to kiss you. Perhaps roughly.”Steve’s cheeks turn a little pink.Thor is extremely intense, and that can be off-putting. "Not in front of all these people," Jane tells him. "Okay?"“Of course.” Thor nods, sitting back in his chair. “That is why I gave you advance warning.”Tony clings to Pepper’s hand under the table. What if she finds somebody better-looking? What if she has better sex with somebody else? What if she realizes she's better off without him and falls for someone else??? "I'm not really afraid, but I do have a question. What happens if we seduce one of the other guests?" Tony’s eyes scan the table, satisfied, and then land on Steve. Tony winks at him almost imperceptibly.Steve’s eyes widen and he looks slightly terrified of Tony’s winking. Sharon slams her hands on the table. “Really, Tony?!”Pepper looks almost as frustrated as Sharon. She throws up her hands and looks at the ceiling, her cheeks flushed.Thor leans forward. “Would you seduce me, friend?” He laughs heartily. “I welcome the challenge!”Nat smirks. “You wish, Stark.” Bruce slides back in his chair, curling in on himself. He wants no part of what that guy’s selling. Tony leans back, looking satisfied with the amount of chaos he's caused. Would he really go after Sharon's little boyfriend? Maybe. But he does like getting a rise out of her.Fury fires a gun into the air to get everyone’s attention. Then calmly tucks it back into his jacket like it’s a pack of cigarettes. “To answer your question, Tony, what you do in the boys’ house on your own time is your business. But dates must be arranged with the singles who’ve come here to make a connection with one of you, not the other couples.”"Right right right. So not against the rules but frowned upon. Got it." Pepper looks so mad. Maybe hurt. But she was the one who suggested it. And it's just a game. Can't she see it's just a game?“No, not frowned upon,” Fury says. “This is your experience. You may do with it what you please. Sometimes your free time in the house will be the only time you get to see the person you’re attracted to. But we’ll talk about that more on our next stop.”Fury rises from the table. “Since this is your first night, we prepared something special for all of you. Follow me.” He leads the way to the poolside deck, where eight chairs are set up, four in front and to one side, four in back and to the other side, all facing the pool and the beach house’s open back porch. “I should add, though, Tony, that you won’t be able to see any of the women you arrived with while you’re on the island. So if you want to seduce one of the other guests, it will have to be one of the men sitting next to you.”Thor laughs again. Steve just shakes his head like he doesn’t appreciate the joke. Fury gestures the men to sit in the back row and the women to sit in the front."I like my options." Tony happily sits between Steve and Thor, with Banner there at the end.Steve had sat at the end, hoping to avoid Tony, but no such luck. Thor laughs again. “You amuse me, friend.”Sharon turns around to glare. “Steve, if he gets too close, just kick him in the balls.” Nat blows Bruce a kiss before sitting down next to Sharon.“Don’t get ahead of the game now, Tony,” Fury tells him. “You haven’t even seen your options yet.” The lights around the pool suddenly go out, and a rush of water can be heard. In the twilight, the guests can see a waterfall cascading down into the pool from the roof of the porch. The water obscures the house beyond, until dim lights come up on the other side, casting the shadows of a line of men onto the curtain of water. The lights come up once more, and the waterfall slowly ceases, revealing more than a few attractive men lined up at the edge of the pool. “Congratulations, ladies,” Fury says. “You’ve arrived at your temptation destination. While you’re on the island, you’ll be staying here, at the beach house. Let’s meet your new roommates.”A fit man with a beautiful smile steps forward onto the catwalk that juts out into the pool to introduce himself. “Hey, ladies. I’m Sam. I flew all the way here from Washington D.C. to show you all a good time. I’m a psychologist with the VA by day, crime fighter by night, so I can listen to all the problems you have with your man and keep him away after you kick him to the curb. I also give a mean back rub.”“Are you a veteran?” Sharon calls out.“Yes, ma’am. I served two tours in the Gulf, Air Force Pararescue.” Steve stands and applauds Sam.“Thank you for your service, Airman,” Sharon says. Sam salutes the ladies and spins around to playfully march back into line.The next guy tries to do that sexy walk thing that Sam did and fails, nearly tumbling into the pool.“Whoa!” Steve starts to get up, worrying the guy will fall in.“A jester!” Thor applauds. “I love a good jester.”The so-called jester is boy band-handsome with a sweet, open smile. "Hey, I'm Scott. I'm an entomologist and I have an 8-year-old daughter, Cassey. I like long walks on the beach and women who can kick my a--strong women! I like strong women." He looks nervous as he turns away.Nat smiles. “He seems sweet,” she comments to Sharon.“Kids, though,” Sharon remarks.Pepper doesn't seem disinterested though. Maybe he'll even want more.The next single is a shockingly familiar figure. Bear-like, he lumbers forward with a sheepish expression. “Uh. My name is Happy. I work for...two of the best people, the best bosses you could ever ask for. But the truth is...it gets kind of lonely whenever I get home from work. I’d really like to...find someone I can share my life with--you know. In my off time. I love women who are smart…” Happy looks straight at Pepper as he continues. “...capable, talented, and look as good in a suit as they do in a dress.”Tony tugs at Pepper’s sleeve, excited for his friend. It's good for him to get out there. He's grinning, until he hears what it is Happy's actually saying. His face rapidly falls. Can he just fire him now? Or does he have to wait until they all three get home together? Tony's pissy, but a quiet kind of pissy. It wouldn't do to show Pepper how jealous he actually is.Pepper slinks down in her seat, redder than her hair. She can feel Happy's eyes on her. It's embarrassing, uncomfortable. But nice. And...sincere. Which feels different.Happy ducks his head and shuffles back into line, embarrassed. Nat looks over at Pepper, ready to break out the popcorn. Jane touches Pepper's arm to show support; they're all each other are going to have for a time. Sharon’s expression remains neutral.Ross introduces himself next. He stands straight and as tall as he can. A little nervous, he blows air out of his cheeks. "I'm Everett Ross, just Ross is fine. I'm here because internet dating wasn't working and neither was bar-hopping. And uh, I'm too old for Tinder so a friend suggested this."“How old is he?” Sharon murmurs. Nat just smiles, her thoughts unreadable.A muscular man in a sleeveless leather shirt steps forward. “I am--”“Heimdall!” Thor shouts, jumping out of his seat. “Heimdall, it’s me, Thor!” He..glances around at everyone else. “We know each other from work!” He seems pretty happy about it, moving toward the group of men to attempt a reunion.“Ah, Thor, these introductions are really for the ladies.” Fury steps into his path.“But he’s one of my oldest, dearest friends!” Thor protests.“Please have a seat!” Fury forcefully walks Thor backwards until he sits down again. By then, Heimdall has disappeared back into the crowd.There is a clomp of heavy boots as the next man steps forward. He’s shirtless and covered in scars. Even his muscles have muscles. “I am Drax the Destroyer. I enjoy bathing in the blood of my enemies and eating salty snacks while I practice the art of invisibility. I’m incapable of feeling emotions, but I no longer find companionship repulsive.” He turns and walks away, apparently finished.“I’m starting to feel like this is rigged,” Sharon mutters.“I give him an A for honesty,” Nat says.The scars are unusual, Jane thinks. But everything about him is unusual. Thor's Heimdall is here, could this Drax person be alien, too?After that display with the weird alien dudes, Quill is pumping himself up. Hopping on his tiptoes, really into it, and jogging down the runway. "Hey, I'm Peter. I'm from Missouri, so all this is pretty new to me. Some pretty scenery out here." He throws out a wink, not really aiming for anyone in particular. "I'd love it if I had somebody to look at it with." Yeah. Nailed it.“Country boy,” Sharon says.“Pass,” Nat replies. Steve doesn’t feel threatened one bit by that one. He sits back, smug.“He seems charming.” Pepper whispers to Jane.Jane shakes her head. He seems like a puppy in need of a walk.The next man fills out his t-shirt nicely. He’s painfully Italian-looking, from his olive complexion to his leonine, crooked, broken-but-healed nose. Like Drax, he wears heavy work boots. “Hey, I’m Pete. Former Marine. I can fix just about anything you got needs fixing. I haven’t had much luck in relationships, thought this would be a safe place to explore some options.” He gives the women a nod. “Looks like pretty good options to me.”Finally, someone to get his mind off this Happy situation. Tony leans forward, elbows on his knees. "Hellllloooo nurse!" But is he painfully straight?Pepper shushes him. Does Tony try and embarrass her on purpose?Steve clenches his jaw. He’s not crazy about Marines. “He’s tall,” Nat remarks.For long moments, no other men step forward. Some of the men in line glance around, shift awkwardly. “Where’s Barton?” Fury asks.Drax disappears for a few seconds. “There is a pathetic human asleep on the couch.”“Bring his lazy ass up here, if you don’t mind,” Nick says.A body comes hurtling over the line of men, landing on the platform with a loud thump. “What strength!” Thor exclaims, impressed by Drax.A wiry man with messy blond hair shakes himself and pushes to his feet. He scratches his head. “Well, uh. Name’s Clint.” He spells his name in sign language. “I’m deaf, but don’t worry. My hearing aids take care of that, mostly. I like sleep, pizza, and coffee. Intravenously. I manage an apartment building in Brooklyn. Uh...what else?” He tips his head back, and for a moment it looks like he might fall back to sleep. “I have a dog,” he blurts out suddenly. “So...I hope you like dogs.”“He’s cute, but what a mess!” Sharon whispers to Nat.“Someone needs a mom,” Nat agrees. “Not it.”Phil is mild-mannered in all things: dress and stance and appearance, but his expression is gentle. "My friends call me Phil. I work in public service, which is nice, but it doesn't leave a lot of time for dating or starting a family. Which is why I'm here, I guess."“Public service?” Sharon thinks he looks familiar. Steve likes the look of Phil. Non-threatening and professional.Another dark-haired man appears at the front of the line, apparently without having moved. His long hair obscures his face. He’s wearing black leather pants and motorcycle boots with a white wife beater. His chest is muscular, but no more so than the other men. Where his left arm should be, he wears a prosthetic, little more than welded rebar with a series of blunt hooks on the end to serve as a functional hand. He straightens up and pulls his hair back with his right hand to fix the couples with striking blue eyes and an almost hostile look. “My name is Bucky.” Then his hand brushes through the strands, letting them fall back into his face. He steps back, apparently finished.Tony leans so far forward this time he nearly falls out of his seat. "Holy shit."Nat doesn’t realize her mouth is hanging open for a few seconds. “Um. Wow,” Sharon says softly. Steve is frozen in place. He feels like an arrow has just pierced his heart and pinned him to the folding chair.“Someone needs a hug,” Thor says, loudly.  In the wake of all that shock and awe walks another familiar face down the runway. Rhodey exudes strength and discipline like Clint exudes irresponsibility and disappointment. "I'm Colonel Jim Rhodes--"Tony tugs at Pepper from behind again, bouncing in his seat. "Look, Pep, it's Rhodey!" He waves excitedly. Sharon rolls her eyes. So much for this military man.Rhodey continues his introduction, "I've been all over the world but I still haven't found--"And Tony continues to talk over him. "Hey, talk me up to that guy in the leather pants. And that big Italian stallion!" Options. So many options.Steve is glaring at Tony now.Rhodey ignores him, irritated. "--Found anybody that's made a long lasting connection with me.  I'm hoping to find somebody here. And I don't--" he shakes his head, turning away. "I'm not associated with that guy in any way.""Bye, Platypus! I'll call you and we'll iron out the details!" Tony waves after him.After the last man has introduced himself, Fury steps out of his hiding place. “Now, guys, I imagine you’ve been feeling left out, but not to worry.” The line of men parts and steps to the sides as a line of women begins to file out of the beach house. “You’ll also get to meet the women you’ll be going home with tonight.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Now, guys, I imagine you’ve been feeling left out, but not to worry,” Fury says. The line of men parts and steps to the sides as a line of women begins to file out of the beach villa. “You’ll also get to meet the women you’ll be going home with tonight. 
That’s right, this is the last time you’ll get to see your girlfriends for the rest of this experience.” He steps to the side. “Ladies, take it away.”

A young woman with steps forward, her long, dark hair tied up in a flawless ponytail. She’s dressed in high fashion couture that shows a good deal of leg and is form-fitting enough to show off her athletic build. “I’m Kate.” She picks up a longbow and fires an arrow at the men. It strikes right next to them on the deck. “And I never miss what I aim for.” She flounces off.
“I’m hard,” Nat comments. Sharon gives her a sharp look.“What--what does that mean?” Steve asks, nervous at having been shot at.Bruce shrinks back scared, while Tony leans forward, intrigued.“Warrior women!” Thor declares, excited. “Yes! Bring forth the warrior women!”The next woman is tall and muscular and ...slightly green? Bruce looks confused. "Jenn?"  But oh so grateful to see her. Maybe he'll have some shelter in this storm of women.Nat glances back at Bruce. Should she be worried? No, he just looks relieved. If he’s relieved, she’s relieved for him."Hey cuz." Jenn smirks, looking down the line at the rest of the men. "Boys. I'm not looking for power. Or money. But I am looking for somebody to hold at night."Steve likes the words, but not so much the looks of this one. Thor claps his hands. “We’ve found someone to hug the sad-eyed one. What was his name?” he turns to ask Tony. “Squishy!” His name was definitely Squishy, Thor decides.
Another woman steps forward, dressed in a skin-tight black cat
suit with evening-length leather gloves to match. She wears her long, beautiful hair natural and has a tattoo-
-is it a tattoo?
--over her left eye. “Hey. You can call me Domino.” When she crosses her arms over her chest, it accentuates her bust. “Luck is kind of my superpower. I’m not sure what I’m doing here yet, but I’ll find out soon enough.” She walks away like she doesn’t care if the men noticed her or not.
Nat gives a slow clap for the catsuit alone. Sharon glowers. “Does her mother know she leaves the house dressed like that?” Meow.“Shoot an arrow!” Thor yells, disappointed.The next woman is on the short side, with flat shoulder-length hair and angry blue eyes. Unlike the two women before her, she’s wearing unisex clothing: baggy jeans and a black sweatshirt. “I’m Jess. I’m a P.I., I work out of the East Village. I’m only here because Trish made me come. You so much as look at me funny, and I’ll knock your teeth into next week.” She turns and walks away.The next  woman is a petite brunette wearing couture like Kate, but a bit softer, her outfit more eccentric. "I'm Jan. I have a question for you boys: is there anybody out there who will treat me right?"Steve looks awkward, like he wants to answer but can’t. Thor is still kind of spacing out. She's cute, Tony thinks, but too intense for him.
The next woman looks different. Where Jennifer was a shade or two on the green side, this lady is

green.

She looks fit.  And she looks angry. "I was promised warriors. I feel I have been misled."
Is that a challenge? Tony is intrigued.“Hullo!” Thor waves at her with his innocent boyish smile. More warrior women. Excellent.“Is she green or is it just me?” Steve asks.Another brunette steps forward. Her full lips are in a perpetual smirk, and she has a certain tilt to her hips. Her short strapless sheath dress shows off cleavage for days. “So I’m Darcy.” She waves at the men awkwardly. “I’m what you call a party girl, if your idea of a party is drinking a bottle of wine and passing out on the couch watching Netflix. Honestly, I think Bill Cosby would have loved me. Oh well, life is full of missed opportunities.”Tony points at her. "You. I like you." That is his idea of a good time. Not the rape--fuck--but a night in. But she's like...young. Probably too young for him. But he can’t help feeling a kinship with her. Darcy offers Tony a dimpled smile and a coquettish wave before stepping back into line.Thor looks back and forth from Darcy to Jane. He thinks it’s Jane’s assistant, but many Midgardians look alike to him. Thor's right. And Jane is...concerned. What is Darcy doing here?Steve just looks confused and vaguely disgusted. “Slut,” Sharon whispers.“Aw, I thought she was cute,” Nat replies.When Sharon opens her mouth, it sparks Jane’s temper. "You don't know her. You're on this show, what does that make you?"“What’s your problem?” Sharon asks Jane. The women in line watch with interest."How is it you get to call anyone a slut when you're on this show? You get to sleep with whoever you want, but her boobs are bigger than yours, so she’s the slut? I don't follow. Could you explain it to me?" She's at a simmer, bubbling right above the surface.“I’m not sleeping with anyone,” Sharon informs her. “And you’d better check a mirror before you call someone else flat-chested, sweetheart.” There are gasps and cries of ‘oh damn’ from across the pool.
Oh it's on. Jane stands up, done with this petty bullshit. "What do you think people are going to say about you when they watch this show, Sharon? Do you think they’re going to leave you alone even if you don't sleep with anyone else? None of these women deserve that.  Especially not from other women." She sits back down, trying to take slow, calming breaths.
Sharon presses her lips together. “You know what? You’re right. I let my insecurity get the upper hand. You’re right, Jane.” Steve is watching all this like a tennis match, baffled.“Well. That's...brave of you to say. Are we still?" Jane holds her hand out, offering a hand shake. "Friends?"Sharon takes Jane’s hand and gives it two pumps, curt and professional. “Thanks for calling me out, Jane. We women have to stick together.”
After the tension eases a bit, a red-haired young woman waves to the assembled boys. Her smile is bright and open. "My name's Patsy Walker.

That

Patsy Walker, yeah. There's no use hiding it." She giggles nervously. "I came here for a fresh start with a few of my friends, and I'd like to make the best of it."

Now this girl is cute

, Tony thinks. She seems fun, and she has had her own time in the spotlight. Tony puts her on the options list.

She’s pretty,

Steve thinks. But who is she? “What Patsy Walker?” he whispers to Tony.
"She had a TV show in the 90's, you wouldn't know her." It’s nice to have all the pop culture knowledge in this band of misfit weirdos. Tony can be the king of the misfits.“Oh.” Tony’s got Steve there. He doesn’t watch much TV.Sharon is still trying to put her claws away. “Oh yay,” Nat says. “We can start a ginger club.”A woman with short, curly hair steps forward. She’s dressed in a suit, as if she’s about to conduct a job interview, and her large, dark eyes seem to look into the souls of the men across the way. “My name is Dinah. I work for Homeland Security, so don’t try to bullshit me.”“Go get ‘em, Madani!” Pete Castiglione calls out from the porch, applauding her.Dinah closes her eyes for a moment, distracted. “Thank you...Pete.” Then she’s back on. “It’s hard for me to trust, so I hope one of you can prove himself worthy.”As she walks away in stiletto heels, Steve whispers to Tony behind his hand, “Elevator’s not worthy.”Tony giggles, bumping Steve's shoulder.“I’m worthy!” Thor tells them, defensive."Gentlemen." Tony glances up, then sits up immediately, his eyes getting wider. Some of these girls are girls, but that is a woman up there with her hourglass figure. That's not something he gets at home."Thank you." Satisfied that everyone’s paying attention, she continues. "Peggy Carter.”“That’s...that’s not possible,” Sharon says.“I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you while I'm here, and if it’s not anything serious, I'd like to open myself up to new friends."Steve stares and stares. Is she English? Who is she? Steve isn’t sure, but for some reason he can’t understand, he wants her to spank him. And that’s a weird feeling to have about someone you just met. He squirms in his chair.“Nice rack,” Nat comments. Sharon glares at her, but it doesn’t seem to bother Nat.Peggy walks away in her heels as the next girl walks gracefully forward in her Roman sandals, making hardly a sound.  "Nakia," she says with a wide smile. "I'm from the small country of Wakanda, perhaps you've heard of it?”Nat leans forward. Now she needs to know more.“I'm here same as you, my boyfriend keeps proposing but I'm...not sure. I want to make the right decision." At the word “boyfriend”, Steve is already moving on to constructing the next ‘not worthy’ joke in his head.Thor stares and stares. This is one of the most beautiful women he’s ever seen. There is a quiet radiance in the golden undertones of her flawless umber skin. The delicately knotted rows of her hair speak to him of careful order, but there’s a twinkle in her eye that belies a playful nature. For once, Thor is speechless.With all of the women introduced and some hackles raised, Fury steps forward again, this time holding a box. “Couples, before you separate from your partners perhaps for the last time, you each are going to receive a necklace to remind you of your significant other.” He passes out leather thongs with pendant symbols on them for each couple. “And along with this gift comes a special opportunity. You’ve seen all the people your partner will be spending the next several days with, so think carefully. You now have an opportunity to single out one of those people so that your partner cannot date them while you’re apart. Just one person, and they’ll get a necklace that shows they’re off-limits to your girlfriend or boyfriend. This will be the only time you have this chance. But I should add, it doesn’t limit the time your partner can spend with this person at the house, just their ability to choose them for dates. Take a minute to really think about it.”Steve grips his chair with both hands while Thor stares at the night sky like he’s high. Nat takes a deep breath and smiles, while Sharon’s eyes narrow. “Ladies? Do you want to invoke your power?” Nick asks.“I do.” Sharon stands up and walks over to the box. “I’m going to give this necklace to Peggy.” Behind her, Steve gasps in dismay.Nat shakes her head. “This is for Bruce. I don’t feel threatened by any of these beautiful women.”Peppers bites her lip, unsure. "Can I think about it?" It feels like a cheat.“This will be your only opportunity,” Nick says. “If you pass now, you pass forever.”Jane looks thoughtful. Those warrior women did get Thor awfully excited but-- "Kate? The girl with the bow and arrow. Was that her name?"Kate snorts, stepping forward. “Someone’s feeling defensive.” She whips her ponytail back so that Fury can put the necklace on her that prevents Thor from asking her on a date.“Jane?” Thor’s confused. He loves warrior women because he wants to BE one, not date one. If that were the case, he’d be with Lady Sif.“Alright, gentlemen.” Nick looks at the boys. “That means it’s your turn. Wanna put anyone off-limits to your ladies?”“Bucky!” Steve nearly falls out of his chair in his rush to stand up. “I choose Bucky.” Sharon just looks at him, suspicious. Bucky is not her type at all. What is wrong with Steve?“You heard him, son.” Bucky steps forward and twists his hair into a man bun one-handed, so that Fury can put the shield necklace on him. “Anyone else?” Fury asks.“You can't date Happy!" Tony nearly shouts, pointing at Pepper as soon as soon as the words are out of Fury's mouth. He's been waiting for this. "That can't be legal anyway."Happy is crushed, and he can’t hide it. “At least I get the team necklace, right?” Sam pats him on the back, feeling bad for Happy."Then you can't date the scary mechanic!" That’s just the type of horrible man Tony used to bring home and he fixes things? She didn't have a chance in hell he'd take her back.Tony's mouth drops open. "You can't do that! That’s not fair, I'll never see him!" He points at Fury, indignant. "Tell her she can't do that!"“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Nick waves his hands. “The men will not be hanging out with the men. Pepper, you may choose a WOMAN to be off limits to Tony.” He stares at the camera. This is great television. “And you won’t have to worry about Mr. Castiglione.” At least for now…“Pete” looks really uncomfortable. He’s very close to letting everyone know he’s not gay. But Curtis taught him better than that.
Now Pepper’s really worried. All these women are beautiful.
That brunette with the chic dress. She could be a supermodel. "Jan. You can't date Jan."
Bruce shakes his head. "It's not fair. She didn't pick anyone for me."Nat turns and smiles at Bruce, blowing him a kiss.Thor tries to remember which of the men is the smart one. He wouldn’t have cared, but now that Jane did it to him, he’s feeling petty. “I choose...the tiny one. Insect-man.” When Nick looks confused, Thor points at Scott. “No insect-man for you,” he tells Jane.
Fury puts the requisite necklaces on both Scott and Jan
. “Okay.” He claps his hands. “Singles, please return to your respective villas and prepare for the guests of honor.” He turns back to the eight guests. “Couples, I’ll give you a few minutes to say goodbye before we separate for the continuation. For some of you, this will be your last minutes together as a couple. Use them well.” Fury disappears into the jungle.
Steve looks down at Sharon, apprehensive. “You wanna tell me what that was all about?” They walk off to talk more, Steve looking uncomfortable, and Sharon looking annoyed.Tony looks at the cameras and then back at Pepper. He can forget they're there until he needs to spill his guts. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I don't want to do this anymore we can just get married. "So I guess...I'll see you later." Ugh, this is horrible."I certainly hope so." She looks so mad it hurts.
He leans in and whispers in her ear, "Please, Pep, let me kiss you." Tony can't say the words, but maybe he can still let her know. And maybe she’s not so mad, because she's on him, kissing him. Feels like she

needs

him. So familiar and sweet and--why are they doing this again?
In the distance, Steve bends over to pick up a quarter.“I’m sorry about the insect-man,” Thor tells Jane, chastened. “You can date with him if you wish.”"That's ok, I'll respect your decision." Jane takes his hand. She's going to miss him more than she can admit. "Why did you pick Scott?"“Because he said a science word, and I thought you might lean toward dating someone who can speak your language.” Thor rubs her hand while holding it in his. “I do love you, Jane. I know I’m not the type of being you usually date.”These are the moments she loves the most. When he feels the most real to her. "I don't want you to be anybody else. Just be you. It doesn't matter what kind of being you are."Thor’s not sure what to say to this. “I can’t help it…”“Looks like we’re the most functional couple here,” Nat tells Bruce with a smile."Who'd of figured?" Bruce smiles back, but he can't hide his fear. Nat cuddles up close to him. If Bruce refuses to initiate, she will. "You're really going to leave me alone with all these women?"“It will be good for you,” Nat tells him. “Think of it as getting a lifetime’s worth of dating experience at once.” She looks up. “Like ripping off a band-aid.”He wraps an arm around her. Yeah, that feels better. "Sounds like fun. Really appealing."Nat smiles and kisses him on the cheek. “There’s the sarcastic genius I was looking for.”Their goodbyes said, the couples separate, the girls staying at the beach villa, and the boys going on a late night hike across the island to the mountain villa. “It’s not really safe to do this in the dark,” Steve remarks, as they climb over medium-sized rocks on the so-called trail. *

Talking Head Interview - Steve

“I’m not worried about Sharon in that house with all those guys.” He swallows, thinking of something. “I just hope she has fun. She works so hard, I hope she can let her hair down while we’re here and relax.”
 
*
 
Thor leaps from boulder to boulder, defying gravity. “What’s wrong, friend Steve? Afraid of the dark?”

Talking Head Interview - Thor

“I feel as though Jane and I were just getting somewhere when we had to leave tonight.” He’s quiet for a moment. “I feel...dissatisfied.” Thor smiles. “But I can fly back to the girls’ house after filming and check on her if--” He looks at someone off-camera. “No? What do you mean ‘no?’ I am the Mighty Thor--!” The camera cuts off.
 
*
 
"This is stupid and I hate it." Tony keeps stumbling over the terrain. Not really the outdoorsy type. "I've used a four wheeler before; why do we have to walk around in the dark?"

Talking Head Interview - Tony

"Worried? Puh-lease. I have nothing to worry about." He crosses his arms, smug smile on his face. "Pep loves me."
 
*
 
This isn't great for Bruce either but-- "It could be worse. We could be doing this in the dark." He waits for Tony to climb down before moving ahead. Steve stops and just looks back at Bruce. His expression clearly reads ‘I don’t get it.’

Talking Head Interview - Bruce

"Of what? Leaving my very beautiful girlfriend in a house full of attractive guys? Of course I'm worried. I think if anybody tells you they're not, they're lying to you?”
 
*
 
At the beach villa, the women wander toward the open porch, a little apprehensive. “I’m not gonna lie; I think we got the better house,” Nat says.
 
“I’m kind of curious about the other one, though,” Sharon says.
 
“But that’s the point, right?” Nat looks back at her and smiles. “To get inside our heads.”

Talking Head Interview: Nat

“I do feel a little bad for bringing Bruce here. This is something he’d never do on his own. I just want him to get out of the lab and experience life sometimes, you know? Too much of anything isn’t good for you.”
 
*
 
“Has anyone ever told you you sound kind of paranoid?” Sharon asks Nat.

Talking Head Interview - Sharon

“Am I worried about Steve? No. He’s a total boy scout.”
 
*
 
At long last, the boys reach the top of a ridge and see the lights of an exotic mansion in the distance. Instead of a pool, it boasts a series of hot springs, the water cascading from one to the other. Many of the single women are in the various hot springs, bikinis on display. As the men approach, the women cheer their arrival. “Fuck yeah!” Darcy shouts, jumping out of the water to pump her fist in the air, managing to lose her bikini top in the process.
 
Steve closes his eyes. “Um.”
 
*
 
At the beach villa, Pepper kicks her heels off, sullen. She looks like she could burst into tears at any moment. She lags behind the other girls a bit.

Talking Head Interview- Pepper

“I know what Tony's going to get out of this and that's...fine. I'm not so sure what I'm getting out of it anymore is the problem."
 
*
 
Tony watches Darcy’s top come off in slow motion. That was him, more or less, some indistinguishable number of years ago. He covers his eyes, having flashbacks. Embarrassing, cringey flashbacks.
 
*

Talking Head Interview - Jane

"No I think we'll be okay. This is a way to grow together, not apart."
 
*
 
Thor waves at Darcy enthusiastically. He doesn’t think she meant to do that, but he’s not bothered by nudity, either.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"I don't care what it looks like, at least we don't have to walk across the island to get there." Jane smiles, opening the door to the women’s house.
Heimdall is right at the door, opening it the rest of the way for them with his resting gatekeeper face. “Ladies…” His golden eyes touch on each one of the women. “Welcome to paradise.”The door opens on a common room full of attractive men. Sam is behind the bar, flipping bottles and shaking drinks. He offers a smile full of hidden promises. “Welcome home, ladies! I’m pouring tonight just for you--whatever you want.”Pete stands at the bar, drinking a beer. “We need some music in this place. Anyone know where the stereo is?”Clint is by the ping pong table, pulling darts out of the dartboard. “Okay, who’s up for a challenge? If you can beat me, I’ll take off my shirt.”“Oh, you’re on!” Nat makes a beeline in his direction.“Maybe shower first, Barton,” Sam suggests.Jane makes her way over to Sam and sits down.  He has a nice smile and an outgoing personality. That's what she's attracted to. "What beer do you have back there?"
Sam is in the middle of making a cocktail, but he glances over his shoulder. “Lemme see. I remember Heineken, Bud, Sam Adams, Blue Moon…”
“I got it,” Pete tells him. He grins at Jane. “I’m the beer guy, might as well be the beer guy.” He squats down by the bar fridge and rattles off a couple IPA labels and major brands. “And wine coolers. ‘Cause I guess they figured ladies would be into that.” He snorts a laugh. “What’s your pleasure, professor?”"Can you grab me a Sam Adams please?" Jane grins back. "I can't drink that sweet stuff."“I hear you,” Pete replies.“Maybe something bitter?” Sam asks, handing off a drink that’s on fire to Heimdall. Pete hands the beer to Jane and wanders the room until he finds the stereo cabinet. He tries different satellite radio stations until he finds a good country station, turning it up. 
*
 
At the men’s house, they still have the not-so-small problem of Darcy being topless. "Come here, Thor,” Tony says. “Turn around and I'll give you a cookie."
“Why?” Thor asks. “Is it a game?” What is a cookie?Tony takes hold of Thor's cape and uses his leatherman tool to cut the silly thing off Thor’s shoulders.Thor looks back as Tony walks off with the remainder of his cape. “Hey! I didn’t give permission for that!” He follows Tony, who approaches Darcy as diplomatically as possible."Hi, yeah, Tony Stark, we met briefly. Look, I brought you a towel."“Aw, you cut the big guy’s superman cape,” Darcy says, squirming to pull her bikini top back up. “What if he’s not invincible anymore?” She climbs out of the water to take it, though. Darcy is not one to turn down a cape.Jessica lurks by the edge of the pool, arms crossed over her chest as though standing guard. None of these bozos is gonna take advantage of one of the silly girls on her watch.This is too overwhelming for Bruce. The amount of strangers, the lights, the strange place. It's sensory overload. "I think I better call it a night. This--I'm exhausted."“Are you okay?” Dinah steps forward from the exercise area close by where she’d been doing stretches. She’s wearing yoga pants and an activewear t-shirt. “I can show you the rooms, if you want to choose one.”
Bruce nods, looking grateful. "It's been a really long day."
Steve glances at Bruce. “Yeah--I’m beat, too.” He moves up next to Bruce. “I think we’ll catch you ladies tomorrow.”
“Follow me,” Dinah tells Bruce and Steve.

"Aw, c’mon!” Kate calls out. “Don’t be a spoil sport!”
“Let them go,” Thor says, walking over to the nearest hot tub. “They can choose to be old farts if they wish.” He unbuckles his armor and starts to strip. Who needs a swimsuit? 
*
 
At the women’s house, Bucky is sitting alone on the large seating arrangement in the corner, staring moodily out the glass wall at the ocean. Drax is nowhere to be seen. Nearby, Scott is trying
to set up a karaoke machine behind the TV while Ross and Phil talk together like old friends. "There!" Scott stands triumphant, grabbing the mic. "Anybody wanna try karaoke with me? You guys?" But Ross and Phil decline. "No? What about you?" He turns and looks at Bucky, curious.
Bucky treats Scott to his thousand mile stare. “No.” Seeing trouble coming, he makes himself scarce.“Did you say karaoke?” Sharon makes a beeline for the machine. “Can I see the song list?”Scott happily hand a over the remote looking like an overgrown puppy.“Should we do a duet?” Sharon smiles at him.Peter straightens up off the wall and sticks his nose in the game of darts. "I wanna play! Who wants to help me beat the crap out of these guys?" Pepper and Jane are occupied. "What about you, Ms. Carter? You wanna be on my team?"“Okay, wait a minute,” Clint says. “If we’re doing teams, it’s gotta be girls against guys.” Because he is definitely going to win, and women with less clothes sound better to him than this guy with less clothes. 
*
 
"I think he'll be fine,” Tony reassures Darcy about Thor. “Gee, I sure am thirsty. Do you think we could go inside and get a bottle of water?"
“Water?” Darcy doesn’t look thrilled at this suggestion. “How about a bottle of Merlot?”  Tony hesitates.  "As good as that sounds, I'll take water." Then he sees Thor undressing out of the corner of his eye. "Or--or could you get me one? I'll be over there." In the water. With the beautiful women. And Thor.
“Hold on, hold on!” Darcy grabs Tony’s shoulder as he turns away. “No way am I missing THIS show.” She elbows him out of the way as she runs toward Thor, who has only his pants left to strip off.
“Strip! Strip! Strip!” Darcy chants, as she rushes over with Tony behind her.
Tony shrugs. This girl needs a Jarvis. And that's so out of his range that he should give up now.
Kate isn’t sure if she should be watching this. Domino watches quietly as Thor kicks his pants off and runs toward the pool.
“How do Midgardians say? Kamehamehaaaaa!” he shouts, doing a cannonball into the water. Darcy laughs and applauds, while Kate shakes her head and climbs out of the hot tub, heading for the pool. Jessica rolls her eyes in disgust and sits down to take off her boots in case any morons decide to drown on her watch.

*
 
At the women’s house, Happy sees Pepper walk in and resists the urge to throw himself at her feet. Actually… “What’s wrong, boss?” he asks her, walking over casually. “Feet hurtin’ you again?”
"Yes." She whimpers, her feet are the least of her troubles. She limps close to Rhodey, sitting near the bar, and sinks into the couch. "Could someone get me a martini? Please." Yes, this is a safe place.Happy rushes to put an ottoman under her feet. “One martini, comin’ right up. You like ‘em dirty, right, boss?”"Yes, please,” Pepper replies. “Thank you, Happy."“And after that, I’m giving out free foot rubs.”Drax suddenly appears, eating a bag of corn nuts. “My feet are tired.”“Get out of here, man,” Happy grumbles, lumbering away.Pepper looks at Rhodey, worried, "Are you going to tell, Tony?""I don't know Gina," It doesn't seem to matter all that much. "Stop for a second, look around. Does it seem like everybody knows each other, or is it just me? Look around." Rhodey hitches his thumb in the direction of the old white dudes in the corner, then points at Peter trying to bully Drax into playing darts with him after Sharon ignored him. "And then there's the three of us. Feels like something weird is going on." So Rhodey doesn't really care what she gets up to with Happy. There's some conspiracy bullshit going on.Happy lumbers back with Pepper’s drink and kneels down at her feet, chafing his hands to warm them. 
*
 
Inside the men’s villa, Dinah leads Bruce and Steve through a kitchen big enough to seat 20, and a common room that takes up most of the first floor of the house. “Guest of honor rooms are upstairs,” she explains, leading the way up a set of carpeted stairs. The top floor is split almost evenly into 4 huge bedrooms, each with their own ensuite. Dinah indicates the guys’ luggage. “We weren’t sure which room you wanted, so we put all of your things here.”
“Jee, thanks.” Steve bends down to get his bags, glancing surreptitiously at the bedrooms beyond. “I think I’ll take one with a view of the rainforest.”

*

At the beach villa, the dart players are still arguing about teams when a throwing knife cuts the group in half, flying right into the dartboard’s bullseye.
“Hey!” Clint looks to see who did it. “Way to ruin a perfectly good dartboard, dipshit.” Bucky just stares him down.Nat is no longer looking at Clint. “Not bad,” she tells Bucky.“If you wish for a throwing contest, let us throw axes,” Heimdall suggests. He has Bucky’s attention.“I like you!” Drax bellows. Throwing axes sounds less boring.“Sounds like fun,” Nat says, abandoning Clint and his game (and Quill). 
*
 
Outside at the mountain villa, Tony strips and confidently drifts into the pool. What’s a little skinny dipping between friends?
"Well, he doesn't lack confidence," Domino remarks."Okay, if you're both in, that means we have to play horse," Darcy says. "I'm on the big guy's team." She jumps in and wades over to Thor."Come on, Trish," Jessica tells her best friend, taking off her hoodie. "We can't let the guys win." 
*
 
For the rest of the night, Happy focuses on Pepper while the other men settle into two separate groups: those who are throwing axes for fun (some while drunk) and those who are enjoying the music and eventually end up line-dancing (at Sam’s suggestion). He even gets Rhodey to join them. Sharon and Jane have a pretty great time with the latter group, even after Quill jumps in to show off some dance moves.
 
*
 
Inside the men’s house, it’s blissfully silent.
"Thanks,” Bruce says. “Dinah, right? I really appreciate it." The quiet of the house is already helping.
"That's right." She offers a tight smile. "There's a small library downstairs if you want to keep things more quiet." Dinah turns to go and glances back. "You'll have to choose your date tomorrow in front of everyone. I hope you're able to get some rest." Bruce goes for the room that's the closest. It really doesn't matter as long as he can meditate for a while. Steve is already in the shower, washing away the dirty thoughts of the day.When Dinah comes back out and realizes the boys are naked, she goes back inside to rummage through their luggage until she finds swimsuits (or close enough, in Thor’s case) for both of them. She walks back out and demands they put them on. By then, Darcy has proposed a game of “flaming water polo”, so it’s probably for the best. Jessica and Trish win the game of horse, and only the brave stay in the water as Kate sets the goals on fire. 
*
 
At the women’s house, Clint, Bucky, Heimdall, and Drax get abandoned first. After a near-miss with the axe, Nat judges herself too sweaty to continue, and heads out to choose a room and hit the showers.

Sharon throws in the towel when she feels herself getting too tired to focus on the conversation at the bar. She’s had a fantastic time hanging out with Sam, Rhodey, Scott, Pete and Peter--even Phil had done a rendition of

Super Freak

she would probably never forget. But it’s been a long day, and she’s done. Sharon thanks them and wishes them all good night, heading off to bed.
“I’ll join you,” Jane says, following Sharon’s exit.Clint is already asleep on the couch as Heimdall puts out the flames on the ring of fire and turns in for the night. “Will you share my room?” Drax asks Bucky. “Quill smells.”“Hey!” Peter protests in the background.“I don’t sleep much,” Bucky says, slipping out of the house and disappearing over a sand dune. Intrigued, Drax glances around before discreetly following him into the night.“I’m gonna finish my beer,” Pete announces.“C’mon, Rhodes,” Sam says. “If we hit the hay first, we can be asleep before the snoring starts.”Rhodey says goodnight to Pepper and Happy, and runs after Sam. “I call top bunk!”

*

By 2am, the party's tapered off out on the patio at the men’s house. A lucky few ladies are lounging with Thor poolside on the giant patio set, and Tony is envious. He doesn't want to go to bed alone. Even if it is to sleep. Whatever, he may as well check out his room. Two of the four doors are locked, so he moves to the third, emotionally exhausted. What harm could it do to stare at the ceiling for a while? Maybe he'll even fall asleep.
But he doesn't. Tony doesn't do anything except stare at the ceiling until he's so bored he gets up and starts throwing clothes out of his bag looking for his tablet. It’s forbidden and there isn't any Wi-Fi here but at least he can design something. Maybe after that, he can sleep. Or it'll be time for breakfast.There is a clack against the glass of Tony’s balcony doors. Soft, but loud enough to get his attention. An audible tap not hard enough to crack the glass. Tony’s balcony faces down the mountain, with a beautiful view of the forest and the green valley. But at night, it’s all vague shapes in the darkness. "What the fuck?" Tony jumps, nearly dropping his precious tablet. He turns and slowly walks to the window. He peers out in the darkness but whatever it is seems unknowable.“Tony,” a male voice calls from the darkness beyond. Cameras in Tony’s room track him looking at something outside, but they can’t see beyond the glass either.A visitor? Well then. Tony unlocks his patio door and opens it. Stretching his arms above his head, he turns back to the bed, reaching down to touch his toes. Then he climbs back into bed to await his mystery guest. Who could it be?Down below in the jungle, Bucky swears. What the hell? They have only a few minutes before the crew figures out Tony was looking at something outside and sends cameras to find out what it is. Bucky checks for cameras on this side of the house, but he doesn’t find any. That’s one good thing. Quickly, using his metal arm as a climbing tool, Bucky scales one of the pillars up to the balcony and gets as close to Tony’s door as he dares. “You coming?” he whispers, hoping Tony can hear him. At least Tony's disinterest means the crew probably hasn't clocked Bucky yet."Me?" The word is startled out of Tony, who had inconveniently started to drift off. Why shouldn't he go?Did Tony seriously just ask that? Well, Bucky tried. “I’m going. Come if you want.” He shimmies back down the pillar before one of the cameras can catch him.Tony meanders casually out the door and giggles, nervous and excited to be sneaking out of the house like a teenage boy.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It's not even hard for Tony to climb down, honestly, but then the challenge is looking for the voice in the dark... "I thought you were coming up," Tony says.“They’re watching everything you do up there.” Bucky takes Tony’s hand with his flesh hand, leading him through the forest so Tony doesn’t trip.It's the man of few words. Tony’s surprised. "There's a great shower up there." No one is watching him shower. Right? ...Right???“And at least three cameras between the balcony and the shower,” Bucky informs him."Where are we going, Romeo?"“Where do you want to go?” Bucky asks him, not looking back just yet."I don't really care, but I think if I don't get back before sunrise I'll turn into a pumpkin." Stupid outdoors. It would be easier if Romeo would just carry Tony.“True, but we got a couple hours and change.” Bucky leads Tony to a sheltered space formed by heavy tropical plant growth, with a sideways-growing tree wide enough for two people to sit on. He lets go of Tony’s hand and leans back against the tree trunk."So what did you want to do with all that time?" Tony carefully sits on the edge of the tree, looking up at the stars. It's kinda nice, actually--when the nature isn't on him.“Whatever you wanna do,” Bucky says, pulling himself up to sit on the trunk next to Tony. “You’re the guest of honor.”"Me? You're the one who whisked me away to your jungle paradise."“Do you?” Bucky hops down. “Okay.” And starts to peel his clothes away. The jungle is humid. It’s making his metal shoulder ache.“Do me? That's not--" Tony watches Bucky strip. "Yeah, do me. That's exactly what I meant." Okay, here goes. Bucky tosses his sleeveless shirt to one side and unbuckles his pants. He pushes them down his hips, revealing a large, rapidly-swelling dick. No reason for underwear in a place like this. Bucky moves close to Tony, putting his hand (and hook) on either side of the branch where Tony is sitting. Bucky leans forward to tease for a kiss.But it’s not gonna be that easy. Tony nudges Bucky with his shoulder. "What's your motive?"“This.” Bucky indicates his metal arm with his flesh arm. “I know who you are and what you do.”"Sugar, I'd love to help you but we're in the middle of nowhere." And to do what Bucky's suggesting...it would be a long road.Tony reaches out to caress Bucky's chest with his fingertips and leans close, his lips parted. “Yeah.” Bucky rubs Tony’s lips with his own before pushing his tongue into Tony’s mouth.“I don’t mean right now,” Bucky says. “I can pay in installments.” He teases the small of Tony’s back with his flesh fingers. .But Tony jerks back like he's been burned. "Wait, this isn't a bribe, right? You're not fucking me so I'll be nice to you?" It’s starting to feel that way, and he's getting the urge to run.“Bribe?” Tony’s not a politician. “I wanted your attention. Do I have it?” Bucky takes Tony’s hand and places it back on Bucky’s chest.That's really sweet. It doesn't answer his question really, but the gesture is sweet. "Yeah, okay." Tony says softly, giving in and taking off his pajama pants."Nice." Bucky takes Tony in with his eyes, then drapes his shirt over the tree perch. He backs Tony up against it, running his flesh hand all over Tony's skin. Bucky kisses him again, teasing.Tony giggles. Seems kind of ridiculous to be fucking some stranger in the woods. Bucky even looks like a wild man. But Tony makes sure the silliness doesn't overwhelm them. His hands sneak up Bucky’s back, teasing and tangling his hair as they kiss.“Are you ticklish?” Bucky asks."Maybe a little, but this isn't a little crazy to you?" Tony says."This whole situation is crazy. Why else do you think I'd be here?" Bucky kisses Tony again, hard."You're looking for love in all the wrong places?" Tony asks when he can breath again."Sunshine, you got no idea.” Sunshine. Tony wonders if that's sarcastic.“You’re a good kisser,” Bucky says, when they come up for air. “What else are you good at?” Bucky’s flesh fingers tease Tony’s glory trail while his metal arm rests against Tony’s side.Tony smirks, raising his eyebrows. "Do you want me to show you or tell you?" He nearly gets on his knees then.Bucky smirks back. "We could do a little of both. Show and tell?" He bends forward to nibble Tony's shoulder."Nnnn," he grabs Bucky's ass, enjoying the biting, and slowly sinks down to his knees, nuzzling Bucky’s crotch. Oh boy. Bucky’s knees shake a little. He slides fingers into Tony’s hair, yanking Tony's head back for one more kiss before he straightens up. "God, you make me hard.""That's part of what I'm good at."  The smell of Bucky is driving Tony crazy. He looks up through his lashes. "Can I suck your dick now?"Bucky is breathing hard. This is intense. "If I can eat your ass after." He's painfully hard. What is it about Tony?"Oh absolutely you can." But there are other things to think of first, like how good this is going to feel. He watches Bucky, slowly licking the tip before letting himself devour Bucky whole.Bucky whimpers and swears, head falling back. “Oh Jesus god,” he whispers, sliding fingers into Tony’s hair and cupping the back of his neck. Maybe it’s been too long...has it? His memory is elusive as ever."You taste as good as you look, honey." Tony breathes, coming up for air and quickly going back down.“Oh, fuck! God!” Bucky squeezes his eyes shut, because if he watches Tony do that one more time, he’s going to lose it. “Fuck! Jesus!” He’s trying so hard not to fuck Tony’s mouth, but Bucky’s legs are shaking with the effort. “My god, you’re so...let me fuck you.” Bucky’s eyes open again. He’s getting too close. “Can I fuck you?” Please?In the forest? In the dirt? No way. Never, Tony thinks. It's not an option. "I want you. Let's do this." But he hears himself agree without thinking, pulling himself up by Bucky's bicep. Tony looks up, and it's impossible not to kiss him. Bucky looks undone, so wrapped up in Tony that he's hypnotized. That's a powerful feeling. He can't help throwing himself at Bucky then. Bucky needs...something. Better give it to him.Well, that was easy, Bucky thinks. So much for getting to yes. Kissing Tony, he walks him back toward the tree trunk, pushing Tony up against him for one last hard kiss before letting go and turning him around. Bucky holds Tony against him, letting Tony feel his length, how much he wants him, before sinking down and bending Tony forward over the tree. “I’ll prep you as much as I can, honey.” Gripping Tony’s ass with his flesh hand, Bucky gently spreads him with both metal and flesh, burying his face in Tony’s ass. Once he’s wedged in, Bucky lets go with his flesh hand to stroke Tony while he licks and probes with his tongue. Maybe it’s fucking outside in the rainforest, but this is really doing it for Bucky. He moans, pushing his tongue deeper, excited by Tony’s hard cock in his fist. Condom. He’s gonna need it soon. Where are his pants?There's no lube. This isn't sterile. Reasons Tony should say no.  "I want it. I want it, come on, please, Romeo, gimme that dick. Fuck, you feel so good." There was not a no in there...Romeo? Does Tony even remember his name? “My name is Bucky.” Bucky nips Tony’s buttcheek as a reminder.Tony rolls his eyes.  "I know what your name is, Romeo. Don't you remember the balcony thing?"“Oh.” Now Bucky feels stupid. “Yeah.” Does that mean Tony is Juliet? “I just...wanna make sure you remember me.”"I remember the first time I saw you, I nearly fell out of my chair.  You're fairly memorable." Tony tries to catch his eye. Not the easiest thing to do at this angle.Yeah, he gets that a lot. But Bucky feels like he can’t take credit for it. He doesn’t really want to own it, it’s just like any other weapon in his arsenal. Oh, is Tony trying to look at him? Bucky crouches up and bends forward quickly to kiss Tony. It’s a hard angle, but his lips make contact. Then it’s right back to eating Tony’s ass."Your mouth, sweetheart, just your mouth is driving me crazy. Can't wait to feel you inside me." Tony can't remember the last time he was this turned on, shaky with need. It's gotta be the strange, right? Being with one person (Tony wouldn't dare think of her now and lose it all) for the better part of four years, the truth was you get used to what you have. And if you're Tony, you get bored. This was--the simple answer was it was different.Tony’s kind of dirty talk is definitely a turn-on. Bucky uses his fingers to spread Tony as much as he dares, then he turns to find his pants and fumble out the rubber. “I know this is moving kind of fast.”Is it moving at all? This is just a casual thing right? It doesn't mean anything. No time to panic. Bucky's just talking. It's just talk. Tony tries to quiet his mind. To think of getting fucked instead of the morning after.Bucky tears the wrapper with his teeth and rolls it on one-handed. Just a little trick he’s practiced about a thousand times. “I hope you still respect me in the morning.” He comes back and kisses both of Tony’s ass cheeks before getting to his feet and moving up behind Tony. “You have a sweet ass.” Bucky nudges the tip of his cock against Tony’s entrance, sliding metal fingers down Tony’s back. He grips Tony’s ass and starts to push in, toes curling in the wet moss under the tree. “God, you’re beautiful.” This feels good. Better than it should.Tony whimpers, pushing back. "Fill it."  It's a carnal need now, so far beyond want.“Slow down, honey,” Bucky warns him. “I don’t wanna hurt you.” But he’s gradually easing his way in, slowly rocking his hips, hissing at how good it feels. “There.” Fully-seated, he gives Tony’s ass a gentle nudge of his hips. Bucky takes a minute to breathe Tony in, bite his shoulder. Then he pulls back and slams into him hard. Again. And again, until he’s pistoning in and out, faster and faster. His flesh fingers grip Tony’s hip while his metal fingers draw lines over his skin, leaving white trails behind.Just like Tony needs. He wouldn't have guessed a prosthetic could make him so crazy. Did Bucky make it himself? That's so fucking hot. "Wanna come wanna come wanna come. God, Bucky baby you make me so hot." There. Tony remembers his name.Oh, he’s close? Bucky tries to focus. “What do you need?” He lets go of Tony’s hip to reach forward and stroke Tony’s cock. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.” How can someone so small and compact be so sexy? Maybe it’s Tony’s brain that turns him on. Nope. His ass is doing a great job, too. “Are you gonna come?” Bucky whispers in his ear. “Where do you wanna come?” Bucky has some ideas. "I don't know." Tony whimpers. Bucky’s hand on him makes it hard to breathe. "I wanna..." The hot breath on his ear makes him shiver. "So many impossible places.  I could come on the tree if you want."Wow, Tony really wants it. It feels good to be wanted. Bucky chuckles. “I got a better idea.” He withdraws and manipulates Tony’s body until Bucky is kneeling down in front of him. He slides fingers inside Tony to give that needed pressure while he licks and teases Tony’s dick. “Come on me,” he whispers. “Come on my face, gorgeous.” Bucky sucks the tip of Tony’s cock, pushing all four fingers inside him. By now, Bucky knows he can take it."Mmmf-" Tony's beyond speaking now, and that's a rarity. There's a percentage how rare, but he can't even think of that right now. Tony drags fingers through Bucky's hair, watching those eyes. Like a storm outside his window. God, it feels so intense. He throws his head back, closes his eyes. If he doesn't think about how vulnerable he feels, he can come. "That's right, Romeo. You suck my dick." He chokes the words out, trying to prove to himself that he can.Okay, not the most romantic thing, Bucky thinks, but this isn't romance. He puts his lips and tongue to work, finger fucking Tony and taking him into his mouth. If Tony wants to look at his eyes while Bucky does it, that's fine. Bucky gives him the wolf's come-hither stare.It didn't really matter how much Tony clung to his words or what he looked at, the fact was this was the best sex he'd had in a long time. (A small part of him said maybe ever, but he sat on it so it would shut up.) And with that, Tony was coming all over Bucky’s beautiful face; his perfect lips and sculpted cheekbones and sad, haunted eyes. All of Tony’s nerves were singing.It’s nice to make someone else come. Makes Bucky feel like he has at least the illusion of control.Tony’s guilt is immediate. Not because of what he'd done, no. That was the whole point of this retreat. Something else. Whatever it was weighed on him, and he sank down on the tree beside him. "You should have come first."“Come on.” Bucky smiles, wiping the come away with his hand. He reaches for Tony, sitting back on the ground and lying down. “Come here and sit on this dick, beautiful.”What is it that pulls Tony up out of his own misery? Is it Bucky's smile? Because that's awfully romantic and weird. "Are we--is this wrong? I mean...does it feel wrong?" Should they stop? He feels like maybe they should. He sinks to his knees anyway. No, no. It's Bucky's dick calling him back to it, filling him. Making Tony forget where he is. Forget what he's feeling.“Hell no it doesn’t feel wrong.” Bucky pulls Tony down on him and wiggles his hips, settling in. “Feels right, doesn’t it?” Bucky fucks him, then, hard and deep, tracing Tony’s lips with his thumb while Bucky cups his face, balancing Tony on his hips with his metal fingers. “You feel amazing.” He could literally do this all night.Feels right. Like this is where Tony needs to be. Too good to be true. What the fuck does that mean? Doesn’t matter so much with Bucky’s dick inside him. He kind of wishes Bucky would quit touching him like that, though. Looking at him like that. It makes Tony’s heart burst with joy and then break. "I like riding you. Touch me more." Tony rubs at Bucky’s hand like a happy cat.Bucky slows the pace so he can give Tony what he wants, letting his flesh fingers stroke down Tony’s cheek and jaw to the curve of his neck and shoulder. His fingers ghost the circumference of the arc reactor. “Glowbug,” Bucky murmurs with a smirk. “I’ll never lose you at night.”Tony preens. "You like that?" It's a part of him that he chose to be there. He has a soft spot for it.“Yeah.” But doesn’t everyone? Bucky imagines that they do. It’s special. Different. He smacks Tony’s ass hard, then starts bouncing him on his hips again.Before he can say or do more, Tony squeaks and tries to stay balanced.“Sorry, honey,” Bucky pants, sweating. He’s close. “Just...need…” His hand drifts back up to Tony’s face. Somehow, he gets off on touching Tony’s mouth."What do you need? Hmm?" Maybe Tony needs to suck on those fingers. While he had been enjoying the touching, maybe it was too distracting.Sucking on any of his fingers definitely drives Bucky over the edge. Within moments, Bucky’s back is arching, his eyes closing, and it’s two more thrusts before he comes hard. The movement of his hips stop suddenly, and he lies there, breathing heavily."Are you ok?" Tony really isn't sure. "Did I break you?"Bucky huffs a laugh and rolls Tony over so that they can lie together on the damp leaves. Bucky discreetly removes and disposes of the condom. “Not you,” he smiles. Bucky reaches out to touch Tony’s cheek. “I like you a lot. But don’t let it go to your head.” Gross. Nature. Tony crawls half on Bucky to try and get away from it. "I don't need anything to make it bigger."Bucky waggles his eyebrows. But he knows what Tony means.His hand trails over Buckys chest. "Really, you're ok?"Bucky laughs. His smile is genuine, and his face is open perhaps for the first time in Tony’s acquaintance. “Promise.” Bucky looks up, glancing over at their lovemaking tree. “Hey. You thirsty?”It takes Tony a minute to answer, too distracted by that laugh and beautiful smile. He flutters his eyelashes. "You've got something for me to drink already?"Bucky’s almost too distracted by Tony’s eyelashes to remember. Until the joke. He nudges Tony playfully, then gets up and walks back to the tree. Bucky jumps onto the trunk and climbs the tree, naked as a jaybird. As high as he can climb, he reaches out with his metal hand to snag what he hopes is fruit in the dark.Tony sits up, watching him, waiting for him to come down.Bucky climbs back down quickly, walking over to Tony, cutting the strangely-shaped fruit with a knife--he’s naked, but it had to come from somewhere. Bucky bites into the fruit, the juice running down his chin. “I read about this. It’s pretty good.” He offers the other half to Tony.Tony wrinkles his nose but takes it. The outside reminds him of the inside of a mango. "You read about some weird fruit on a weird island?”“Sure. You think I’m gonna go live on a place for weeks and not read up about it first? Anyway, I like science.”"Sure, if you're staying there for Naked and Afraid, not when you’re staying in a mansion." Tony leans back on his hands. "We could do Naked and Afraid."“We could,” Bucky shrugs. A Depeche Mode song comes to mind. “But people on that show usually end up hating each other. And it’s not much fun.” Mostly people are miserable. He can do that without cameras."I can't imagine it's worse than my worst day. Those people just don't know how to survive." What would it be like to have help? He has Pepper, his partner in all things, but she wouldn't last 24 hours on a desert island.Bucky's not sure if that's hubris talking or not. Honestly Tony would probably build a jet out of coconuts and fly home. “Try it,” Bucky says, sitting down next to Tony to finish his half of the fruit. “It’s this special kind of star fruit that only grows on these islands.” It tastes amazing. Like liquid sunshine. “Indigenous peoples believed that if two people share one, their destinies become intertwined.” He winks at Tony. Did Bucky trick him? No. There’s no science to that story.“Are you sure it isn't poison?" Tony nibbles on it. It's excellent really, and soon Tony's licking the juice from his fingers.Bucky laughs. “Yeah, I’m sure.”That's a cute story and everything but-- "I make my own destiny, thanks." Unconsciously, Tony taps the the arc reactor.Bucky’s about to ask Tony some questions about the arc reactor when a voice speaks up from a nearby tree. “I would know what destiny tastes like.” Drax’s vaguely luminescent eyes blink at them from a couple of yards away. “Is it bitter, like the taste of dead dreams?”“How long have you been standing there?” Bucky asks."Mmm, more importantly what are you doing here?" Tony leans against Bucky, a little disturbed.Drax looks up at the sky. “How long have you been here?” Bucky wraps an arm around Tony reflexively."I asked him to share my bunk. He is a passable warrior. But instead he came here, so I followed. I wasn't expecting to witness human mating rituals." Drax nods. "It is not like what Quill does.""Human mating rituals?" Tony asks. What else is there? Hum. What else is there? Peter Quill? Was that his name? One of the other men. Didn't pique Tony’s interest. "What is it that he does differently?""I do not wish to speak of it," Drax says, looking traumatized. "Are you now married?" he asks. "Is Earth marriage engaged by the sharing of fruit?"Bucky wants to facepalm. "Maybe we should get dressed," he tells Tony.Tony looks for his pants discreetly. So much for a perfect night. "I'm already engaged, so no."Bucky flinches when Tony says it. Not because he didn’t already know. Of course he already knew. Maybe he forgot? No. It was as though they’d existed outside of that reality for at least a few minutes. Now he’s tempted to apologize for what just happened. Bucky hands Tony his pants apologetically and grabs his own, using his metal claws to drag them back up and get them fastened.“What are you doing?” Drax asks, eating his own star fruit. “Please continue the ritual. I will merely observe.”“I think it’s over,” Tony says. Bucky doesn’t like the sound of that. “Here's some advice,” Tony snarks at Drax. “Next time you're observing, keep your mouth shut." Tony pulls on his pants, not looking at Bucky, not looking at anything.“But how will I eat my snacks?” Drax asks."I need a shower," Tony announces. There's dirt everywhere. Ew. “Hey.” Bucky moves close to him, sliding his hand up to Tony’s shoulder, offering Tony his shirt--he noticed Tony hadn’t been wearing one earlier, and it’s getting chilly out here. “It’s okay. I’ll make sure he doesn’t tell anyone.”  Tony's not sure what to do with someone handing him his shirt, but he's so struck by what Romeo is saying that he takes the shirt and puts it on without thinking. It's big and it smells like wild man. Tony blinks at him "Why? Who cares if anybody knows?"Bucky can think of a lot of reasons to keep this between them right now. But the selfish one is easiest to say. "I do. I don't want any of these bozos getting bright ideas." It would be a free for all in days.“This is not celibacy island." Tony wrinkles his nose. It would be easier if he didn't keep it to himself."No, but the houses are far apart for a reason." Bucky leaves it at that. He kisses Tony on the cheek. "I'll wait for you again tomorrow. Will you come?"Why does he have to be so sweet? Tony doesn't want to leave now. "Don't leave me in the dark, Romeo. I'm likely to get lost." Or fall off a cliff and die. Which isn’t the best scenario here."I'll get you back safe. Don't worry," Bucky promises. He takes Tony's hand. "Come on, glowbug."God, what is this feeling? It feels so right, following this strange man through the forest, that it scares Tony. He wants to climb all over Bucky, demand to be carried, to feel it more. Tony's quiet in the dark walk through the forest until the very end. Then he wants to stall. "What happens if they catch us?"Bucky tries to enjoy just holding Tony's hand. It's a new feeling. He keeps an eye out for cameras. No doubt the producers are wondering where Tony went. "If they find out, I'll probably get kicked off the show," Bucky says. "There's not supposed to be contact between the houses.""Then you'd better be careful getting back.""I will. Don't worry." Between Bucky and Drax, they'll figure something out.What was Tony supposed to do if Bucky got kicked off? "If it's too much of a risk, you don't--I'd get it if this was a one time thing."Bucky offers Tony a lopsided smirk. "No way. I'll be back tomorrow night." When they get close to the villa, Bucky scouts ahead. Sure enough, there's a camera on the balcony,  and another one inside pointing toward the forest.He goes back to Tony. "You may as well walk in the front door. They know you came out here." He kisses Tony goodnight. Bucky knows if he doesn’t, they could easily be out here talking until dawn.Tony enjoys the kiss for as long as possible, then slowly pulls away, his fingertips grazing the palm of Bucky's hand. Bucky’s hand twitches, trying to hold onto Tony’s fingers. "See you later, Romeo. Let me know when you come pick me up tomorrow night."Tony could walk through the front door but there's something less real about that. And he doesn't need to stumble into anybody or answer any questions. Back up the balcony, he strips in front of the window, because fuck the cameras, and takes his shower. Really, he should burn the smelly thing, but he leaves Bucky’s shirt on the floor.Bucky watches Tony until he’s safely inside the house. What is he doing climbing the columns? Is he trying to show off or something? Bucky’s question is answered when Tony reaches the deck and strips out in the open. “Not bad,” he murmurs.“He is too small,” Drax comments.Bucky shakes his head, turning back the way they’d come. “Come on. It’ll be dawn soon.”“What happens then?” Drax wants to know.“Good question,” Bucky says. When they reach the beach villa, they find no cameras waiting for them. Drax and Bucky sneak into the last dorm room to find Quill has pushed the bunk beds together and is sprawled across both bottom bunks. Drax observes this situation, thoughtful. “The top bunks...for now. But tomorrow night, we share.”“A bunk bed, maybe,” Bucky tells him, stripping for bed. “But not Tony.”Drax grunts. “Keep your tiny cyborg. Drax is only attracted to real men.”Bucky has no idea what that means, but he decides not to ask.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

In the women’s villa, Sharon wakes at dawn and heads out for her morning run on the beach. Sam appears after the first kilometer, and they run together, chatting amicably. Back at the house, Nat is in the gym working out when the smell of bacon and pancakes drifts in from the kitchen. So much for a healthy breakfast.In the kitchen, Happy is making Pepper her favorite breakfast, arranging everything on a special tray. Some of the boys have an omelette bar going, while Frank makes French toast and Bucky is flipping pancakes. Clint and Drax are still in bed, and Heimdall is swimming laps in the pool.That smell of breakfast wakes Pepper.  She's used to sleeping in foreign beds in one country or the other, but not used to waking up without an alarm. It’s a nice change, but disorienting. She slips downstairs and observes the organized chaos.Jane has her coffee and a book in a deck chair. The view is lovely and it’s so serene outside. If she could do this every morning, she gladly would. * As dawn breaks across the mountain villa, Steve heads downstairs for his morning run, only to find Thor passed out on one of the poolside couches. He’s being used as a pillow by no less than three women. Steve shakes his head and takes off to find a decent jogging path through the jungle. By the time he returns, Nick has arrived and gathered everyone in the house outside on the patio. “About time you showed up,” he tells Steve.“Sorry.” Sweaty and a little embarrassed, Steve takes a seat between Tony and Thor.“All right, gentlemen. Today will be your first date with one of your beautiful housemates. Who do you choose? Tony?”Tony considers picking Nakia because Thor is giving her puppy dog eyes, and she isn't taking this seriously. Who else isn't trying to find their true love or whatever?  (Gross.) He decides on Domino. She won’t be taller than him if she wears normal shoes. "Domino." His laser focus is on her now, and he tugs her out of line. "Tell me more about you."“Well I’m not crazy about being manhandled,” she tells him, taking her arm back. “But I’ll try anything once.” The shortest one. Really?Oh that is too easy. Tony smirks. "You can manhandle me, honey."“No thanks,” Domino says. Just a simple no.Nick turns to Steve. “Steve? Your pick.”Steve has spent way too long agonizing about this. If he chooses one girl, will the others feel bad? Will Sharon get angry? Will he feel disappointed in himself? In the end, he goes for the woman who looks most like Sharon. It feels safer. “Patsy. -tricia. Patricia. Trish. Sorry.” Feeling more than awkward, Steve throws himself out of his chair to walk over and offer her his arm. If she says no, at this point, Steve would understand.Trish's mouth falls open. "You are very handsome up close."“Oh--well I--you’re handsome--beautiful. You’re beautiful up close.” Oh god, Steve, what the hell are you doing? He wants to dig a hole and crawl into it.“Thor.”Thor looks like he’s been trying his best not to bounce up and down with excitement. This could be incredibly fun. But he did swear an oath to Jane. The best way not to break it--there’s only one choice. And, honestly, other women might likely fall in love with him if he tried to date them. “I choose...Darcy.”Darcy lights up, running over to hug Thor. “Aww, big guy. You really care.”Nick doesn’t look like he really approves of this. “Well, that was unexpected.” He glances over at Bruce. “Dr. Banner?”Can the woman say no? They can, right? She'll probably say no. "Dinah. Do you wanna, uh...I'm not sure what we’re doing, but do you wanna go with me?"She smiles, looking relieved. “I’d love to.” Dinah goes over and takes Bruce’s arm. A simple strategy, perhaps, but it paid off. She has no intention of taking a vacation alone here. Dinah has a terrible failed relationship to forget about. And Bruce looks kind. Billy never pretended to be kind.“Your adventure this afternoon will be exploring the island via dune buggy,” Nick tells them.Domino clenches her fist in excitement. “HELL yeah,” Darcy mutters.“So don’t change into evening wear for your dates. I’ll leave you to get ready.” Fury nods and walks into what appears to be a cupboard.When Darcy checks it out of curiosity, it’s empty. “Whoa!”“Is he a witch?” Thor asks."It's gotta be a trick. It has a false bottom or something," Bruce reassures Thor. No magic. No witches."False bottom?" Thor tries to turn around quickly enough to look at his own.Darcy cracks up. "Looks solid to me!" She gives him a playful slap on the rump.Steve gapes at this adult horseplay. Is she going to do this to him as well?Immediately distracted, Tony wonders, where are these dune buggies? Are they in the garage? Do they need a check up? Uninterested in changing out of his jeans, he goes to sniff them out. And if they are hidden away somewhere, maybe he and Romeo can find them.  When Tony asks one of the crew to point him toward the dune buggies, he's informed that they're kept on a remote part of the island. They'll be driven there by limo for their dates. * In the middle of breakfast, Nick appears and asks the ladies to join him outside. He ushers them to the same chairs they occupied the day before. "Good morning, ladies. How are you enjoying your stay so far?" he asks with a smile."It's great," Sharon says with a tight smile. She really started to miss Steve around 2am."The best kind of vacation." Nat smirks, pushing her hair back; the wind is picking up. "I've been pleasantly surprised by some of the guys already." Her body language is flirtatious.“I slept well.” It's nice, Pepper thinks, to have a whole bed to herself without a 200 pound man drooling on her in his sleep.Terribly lonely, Jane thinks. But that isn't the answer Nick wants. Jane smiles sweetly at him, “Oh it was great.” Oops, sarcasm."Good, good! That's the idea," Nick tells them. "Now." He turns back to look at all 12 men who've been lining up as he was making small talk with the women. "As you may recall, today is the day you'll be selecting the man you'd like to take on your first date. Natasha? Why don't you choose first?"Nat pretends to think about it, looking over the row of nervous faces across the swimming pool. "What about...Bucky? Just to start." She walks over and takes Bucky's hand, leading him off to the side."Virginia? Who would you like to choose?" Nick asks Pepper.She mirrors back all the nervous faces, tries not to pick at her cotton dress. Pepper’s eyes plead with Rhodey, who shakes his head. Maybe one of the sweet older gentlemen… Phil. Yes. He seems nice. "Phil. I'd like to go with him.”"Jane? Who would you like to choose?" Nick asks.She considers her options,  calculating. "Sam. I'd like to try Sam."  Sam offers Jane his winning smile as she walks over to choose him. He keeps hold of her hand for as long as she wants to hold his.Sharon is annoyed. She wanted to choose Sam. Fine. Whatever. Should she choose the single who would annoy Steve the most? (Pete) Or should she choose the harmless pretty boy? “Best for last, Sharon,” Fury tells her.Sharon walks over and picks Scott, pulling him over to the other three waiting couples. He looks near ecstatic.“Alright, couples, congratulations. Today’s dates are a choice between yachting and scuba diving. I’ll leave it to the 8 of you to decide who’s going to be doing what.” Nick turns to the remaining men, some looking depressed (Happy) or angry (Quill), others not particularly bothered. “Better luck next time, gentlemen,” Fury tells them.“You have the day to yourselves to enjoy the villa.”Then he turns to the women. “You have a few hours to get ready. The yacht and scuba instructors will be by to pick you up later.” Nick waves casually and disappears into the brush.“Who here can’t swim?” Nat asks, amused by their options.Pepper raises her hand. "I'm not very good." Would it be horrible to be underwater that long, or magical?“Maybe you should be on the yacht, then,” Nat suggests. Pepper nods, relieved. “Anyone else?”Sam is still holding Jane’s hand. This is nice, this hand holding, but all at once Jane wishes she was with Thor. He'd be so delighted with the fish and the reef...if she could convince him to put on the scuba gear.“I have to scuba dive,” Sharon insists. “I like to stay active.” She looks at Scott. Can he handle it?“So it’s up to you, Jane,” Nat tells her. “I’m fine, just so long as I can get you alone,” she tells Bucky. He stares back at her, deadpan."Oh. Um-" Would it be worse or better without Thor? "I'd like to go scuba diving." It might be alright. She glances at Sam, curious.Sam shrugs. “Sounds fun.”“Okay.” Nat throws an arm over Bucky’s shoulders. “So redheads on the boat and brunettes in the water.”Sharon mock-gasps. “You promised you wouldn’t tell!” Nat and Sharon both laugh. Nat kisses Bucky on the cheek goodbye to go get ready. And Sharon gives Scott a small nod before heading to her room. * Domino and Dinah have disappeared into the house to get ready. Many of the women not picked remain in the common area in hopes of getting attention from the men.Steve wanders over to Peggy. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He eyes the other women, nervous. "Alone?""Alone? Somewhere specific?" She looks him squarely in the eye. Peggy can handle him, even if he is tall and attractive. No reason to go soft.Steve glances around. It’s hard to find privacy here with 16 other people. “What about the confession room?” He starts to walk in that direction. It’s a normal-sized room with a camera and tropical wallpaper for a background while vlogging.She walks with him, glancing at Steve, curious. "What's this about?" They don't have to go somewhere private to spend time together. There’s plenty to do.Once they enter the room, Steve shuts the door behind her. “Sorry, I just have a theory.” He glances around the walls for any hidden cameras before turning back to Peggy. “Do I know you?”"I don't--" Thinking back makes everything fuzzy. She has to sit down. Now. "I don't think so." The little metal stool isn't much help but she isn't going to fall on her face now.Steve wants to reach out to steady her, but in an enclosed space like this, it might be mistaken for assault. “But you’re not sure,” he says. “I’m not either. But I feel…” He points at his solar plexus. “Like I know you.”It would be easier to sit on the floor. Lean against the wall.  Nodding, Peggy does just that. "You aren’t the only one. The woman you're with, she seems familiar as well." They're only a few feet apart. It seems wrong.Steve watches Peggy closely. Is she Okay? Sharon had said something when Peggy came out. Why didn't he ask her about it? Why had she banned him from dating Peggy? "I didn't mean to upset you," he says."I'll be alright." Peggy smiles, wanting to make it true. "Although I do feel silly down here by myself. Sit with me while I get myself together."Steve doesn't have to be told twice. He nearly jumps over the confession chair and gets down on the floor next to her, leaning back. "I don't understand this feeling," Steve says. "But it makes me suspicious of what's goin' on here."Peggy raises an eyebrow, "That Fury character doesn't make you suspicious?" she asks sardonically.“Who, Nick? Nah. He’s been on TV for decades.”"It's funny that I don't remember him." Strange. A bit scary.“Well I don’t think he was ever on British television,” Steve says, helpful."Are you and the other men familiar? Some of the other women already know each other."Steve thinks about it. “Not really. Sometimes I think--but that’s probably because we spent so much time together on the trip here.” They already had the elevator joke after all.She looks up sharply. "Is there any chance you might have known each other at all? Maybe a glimpse of this feeling?" Maybe not all of it, but the familiarity.Steve nods. “Maybe.” But no one feels the way Peggy feels to him. Or makes him feel. Something."It might help us work this out later on."“What about this?” Steve suggests. “You keep an eye out, and maybe we can do some snooping after the crew turns in tonight.”Using Steve's shoulder as leverage, Peggy stands, nodding. "You talk to the other men and see what other connections can be made, and I'll do the same here." She should let go of him now.Steve looks up at her. “Wait.” He didn’t want her to go so soon. But now he has trouble remembering why. “Um. What women know each other?”Oh, look at him. Peggy wants to run her fingers through his hair. Did it used to be different? Longer on top? No. How would dhe know that, they've never met. 8"There's a group of women who all know each other. Three or four of them. And there's the young lady who knows Thor."Steve stares at her and stares at her and stares at her. And then remembers he’s supposed to say something. “Right. There do seem to be some people who know each other.” Tony seemed really upset about that one guy. “Why don’t you find out more from the girls, and I’ll see what I can find out--uh. After my date.” His ears turn red. It doesn’t feel like something he should be discussing with Peggy.She offers him a hand up, just to touch him again.Steve’s impressed. She’s stronger than she looks."It might be time to get ready for that." Peggy says, a little bitter. "It's not fair is it?" So much longing. Is that the feeling?“You mean that we can’t date?” It sounds weird to say it. Steve ducks his head, feeling awkward. “Well. We’ll see one another later.” He scuffs his foot. “And stuff.” He hurries from the room before he says something else more stupid. * Bucky has mixed feelings about the date. He’d been hoping that his being stand-offish from the first day might have resulted in none of the women taking an interest. He should have known better. He doesn’t mind the redhead; she’s pretty and all. If he were a normal human, he’d probably be down to bone her any day.But.He’s not. Also there’s a weird thing going on in his brain when he looks at her. A phenomenon not unlike a fly buzzing in your ear. It might make someone else curious, but it just makes Bucky annoyed. Like he doesn’t want to be around her. Good thing he has no choice.He looks for the other chosen men. Scott has rushed off to shower and perfect his 80s boy band look. Phil has run off to production to get together a bouquet of flowers. Sam is just watching him from a couch in the corner. “What?” Bucky asks him, challenging.“I’m just trying to figure you out,” Sam says. “I think I almost got it.”“Mind your own business,” Bucky grunts, starting to head for the stairs.“See, as it so happens, that is my business. Unless you’re trying to tell me you lost that arm in an industrial accident.”His scrutiny is making Bucky ultra-uncomfortable. “Fuck off,” he prickles. “No one asked for your help.”Sam’s eyebrows go up. “That’s an interesting choice of words.”“Jesus Christ,” Bucky swears, and makes good his escape. * The boat is worse. Bucky’s date shows up in a 50’s style black bikini that’s the hottest thing he’s seen since Tony bent over that tree last night. It’s hard to look at her, both sexually and because of that needling at the back of his mind. Bucky manages to avoid talking to her on the way out to sea and while the other couples get their scuba gear together and take their lesson. At least that gets rid of Sam, who won’t stop staring at him.There’s an air of second-hand embarrassment wafting from the direction of Phil and Pepper, who are clearly a total failure as a couple. They have about as much spark as wet cabbage. But maybe Pepper did it that way on purpose, Bucky thinks, so she won’t actually be tempted to cheat on Tony. It’s problematic, but not actually his problem. He knows Tony will still see him as long as they’re here.Finally he’s alone with Nat, and has to focus on her. They’re leaning on the ship’s rail, looking out at the gorgeous view on the horizon. “You look paler in daylight,” she tells him.Bucky glances at Nat. “You look the same.” Gorgeous. But she knows it; she doesn’t need Bucky to tell her that. Maybe it was an insult that he didn’t try, though. Nat goes very quiet for a minute or two.“I know what you’re doing,” she says, casually, looking straight ahead.“What am I doing?” Bucky asks. She has no idea what he’s doing--at least in part because he’s been flying by the seat of his pants since they released him here.“What you always do,” she says, glancing sideways at him. “Whatever they tell you.”Bucky gets his hackles up before he realizes she should not know this. “Who are you?” Does he remember her? Should he remember her? Come on, memory. Cooperate for once.Nat leans her elbow on the rail and offers a lopsided smile. “I knew it.” She reaches up to cup his cheek. “They did it to you again.”Bucky jerks back. He didn’t agree to that contact, and it feels too natural. He should remember her.“This is why I left,” she says, turning back to the view, both elbows on the rail. “You always break my heart.”Is she just fucking with him? What does any of it mean?“Bruce always remembers me,” she tells him. Nat looks down into the water. “Even if it’s not your fault.”“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bucky tells her.“I know.” She looks up, smiling sadly at him. “Let’s try to have some fun anyway.” Nat holds out her hand to him. Bucky just looks at it. “Fine,” she sighs. Nat grabs his metal claws and tows Bucky toward some deck chairs to get some sun. Once they’re settled, she lies back, closing her eyes. “What did you do with it?”“With what?” Bucky asks. He hasn’t sat back, just perched suspiciously on the edge of the tanning chair.  “You know what,” she says, smug, her eyes still closed.“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bucky says. How does she know him? How?She rolls her head in his direction and squints her eyes open at him. “Right.” Nat sighs. “Just come here and kiss me.”Bucky stiffens. “What?”“Come here and kiss me, big boy. If you’re gonna play dumb with me, at least reward my silence.” While Bucky’s thoughts are whirling, Nat grabs his flesh hand and pulls it to her lips, kissing the knuckle of his middle finger. It sends a jolt of electricity through him.“Who are you?” Bucky’s this close to full panic.Nat smiles. “Uh-uh, Misha. If I told you, that wouldn’t be fair. You have to give a little before you take.” She settles and closes her eyes again, still holding onto Bucky’s hand. It forces him to sit there at an awkward angle.“What the hell is going on?” Bucky glances around for signs of danger. Or Hydra.“I was hoping you could tell me,” Nat says, casual. “Come here.” She pats the wide chair next to her. All of the furniture here seems designed to hold two.Bucky’s heart beats faster and faster. “If I do, you can’t touch me.”Nat’s eyes slit open. “Come on now, we have to make it convincing. Eyes are watching.” She points a finger at the cameras on the boat, some watching them from a distance.“Shit.”“You suck as a spy,” she says, relaxing, amused.“Fuck my whole entire life,” Bucky says, walking around the chair to recline next to her.“Yeah.” Nat snuggles up to him, pillowing her head on his chest. He fingers curl against his ribs, fisting in Bucky’s t-shirt, betraying the first sign of tension he’s noticed. “You want to tell me what you remember?”“No.” Bucky doesn’t like this. It feels...terrible. Like his lungs being torn out with someone’s bare hands. They stay in that position for the remainder of the date--even sunset, when Pepper and Phil come up to watch the light show on the horizon. Throughout the day, Nat seesaws between acting like she doesn’t care about anything to stifling ragged sobs against his chest when the cameras are pointed somewhere else. Bucky is at a complete loss. He has no idea what to do. He decides to move forward with his plan.
* Shortly before noon, the limo arrives to pick up the couples for their dates. Everyone is dressed casually for their outdoors adventure--even Steve. On the drive to their destination, Darcy entertains everyone with idle chatter and a game of “I Spy.” Finally, they arrive at an expanse of clearcut plateau with lots of room before the short brush drops off into the ocean. The four dune buggies await the couples.“Which one should we choose?” Thor asks Darcy.“THAT one!” She takes off running for the nearest car.  Tony studies each little car carefully. "Is it alright if I drive?" More comfortable, driving puts him at ease knowing he's in charge of his own destiny. But it's polite to ask."Trust me," Domino says, striding confidently toward the blue dune buggy. "You're gonna want me behind the wheel." Already in their vehicle, Darcy and Thor come screaming at them at top speed. Literally. For a moment, it looks like they're going to T-bone Tony's dune buggy, but at the last minute the wheel hits a rock and jerks in a different direction, missing them by inches. "See?" Domino slides into the driver seat.Tony finds himself plastered against the car. When did that happen? "Yeah, you take it away, honey." How soon can you have a heart attack after a traumatic event?“Thanks, toots,” Domino tells Tony. “Hop in.” She’s watching carefully as Darcy and Thor go flying across the landscape in their dune buggy.Bruce is the least enthused of the bachelors, trudging toward a vehicle at random. "Are you good at this outdoor stuff?" He asks Dinah, trying to initiate small talk. Nat would be good at this. Nat was good at everything. He feels miserable without her and its been 24 hours. When can he go home?Dinah thinks before answering. Bruce is clearly uncomfortable. " Do I enjoy the outdoors? Yes. When I'm not being shot at. But I'm a city person. A space like this is enjoyable aesthetically, but..." She has an idea. "Why don't we hike further up the hill?" She points to a lookout point half a mile away. "It will be easier for us to chat and enjoy the island without destroying the ecosystem.""That sounds great." Bruce smiles and offers his hand to her. It feels weird, but he's trying it.“Oh.” Dinah’s a little surprised. She tucks Bruce’s hand into the crook of her arm and leads him uphill to the overlook. There, she suggests they do some meditation exercises, and they sit in lotus position together, enjoying the view and the sea breeze.Trish had enjoyed the lively conversation in the car where everyone was on equal footing, but this feels more like a first date. Awkward.Steve has the best intention. He walks with Trish to the buggy and goes around to open the door for her. But there is no door. Now what? "Whoops." He tries to smile his way out of it. "You wanna drive or explore on foot?""I don't really want to get in the car."  Gosh, Steve's cute. "How about we just walk and talk? That sounds nice."Steve nods. The buggies look pretty dangerous. “Which way should we go? I’ll let you lead the way.” He walks up next to her but lets Trish decide if she wants to initiate contact or not.“You can fly, right?” Darcy shouts at Thor over the roar of the engine. “Let’s do this!”Thor is confused. “You...wish to go flying? Instead of this?” But then he sees how close the cliff’s edge is, given their speed. “You wish to destroy the vehicle?” That actually could be fun. Thor removes his seatbelt in expectation of flying out of the dune buggy.With her eye on Thor and Darcy, Domino turns the key in the ignition and takes off. “Hold on, baby girl,” she tells Tony, and guns it. They’re so far away, there’s no way they’ll make it before Darcy drives off the cliff. Domino does some quick mental calculations.“Wooooohoooo!” Darcy screams, throwing her hands in the air as they catapult off the cliff’s edge. Thor tries to laugh, but he finds himself a bit nervous. Where is mjolnir? Why is it not at his belt? And when was the last time he held it in his hand? Without it, he can’t fly. It’s like making a dreadful realization in the middle of a dream.“This may be bad,” he tells Darcy, eyeing how far it is to the ground. He might land safely, but Darcy is only Midgardian.All of a sudden, the dune buggy is rocked by a collision. The force of it spins Darcy and Thor around and around, propelling them back toward the cliff, where they land at the edge with a crash. “Are you alright?” Thor asks Darcy.“That was amazing!” she beams, unfastening her seatbelt and climbing out of the wreck as if they just finished riding a roller coaster. Thor thinks maybe choosing her for his date wasn’t the best plan after all.At the top of the mountain, Dinah can hardly believe the chaos below. “What the hell is happening here?” she asks. This can’t be normal for a television show.Domino and Tony aren’t done. Crashing into Thor’s dune buggy mid-air worked out great for Thor and Darcy. But that still leaves Tony and Domino falling toward the ocean strapped into a metal cage. “Can you swim?” she asks him.With no choice left but to abandon the dune buggy, Domino leaps from the vehicle toward the water. Are there rocks below the surface? Who knows?A giant spout of water rushes up to break their fall. Below the surface, giant shapes move; a pod of whales was playing in the lagoon. Their blowhole spray catches Domino, letting her down easy into the water. The pod of whales escorts them safely back to shallow water. On the beach, the crew is waiting for them. “Thanks for the date,” Domino tells Tony, walking away with one of the producers and several PAs fussing over her.Hiking through the jungle, Steve and Trish miss everything. It feels weird for Steve to be alone with a woman who’s not a Carter. This date feels more like leading a march through the bush than a date. As they move, he keeps his eyes peeled for anything suspicious.After less than an hour of hiking, Tony crashes through the brush and passes them, screaming at the top of his lungs, soaking wet. Pretty suspicious. It takes the better part of the day for Steve to catch up with him and wait for Tony to calm down enough to explain what happened. “So much for our first dates,” Steve says.“Too much,” Thor says. “No more for me, I think.”“I don’t know what you guys are complaining about,” Bruce says. “Dinah and I had a great time.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

After a long day of being womanhandled and confused, Bucky is glad to slip away up the mountain. He approaches the men's house carefully, almost missing the camera drone that’s hiding in the branches, waiting for him. Bucky throws his knife at it, then sits down to rewire it a little. He aims the drone at Tony's window and lets go. Bucky has to stay well back this time. No doubt the crew is lying in wait for them.
Tony's waiting, too, watching out his window for some sign of his Romeo. The drone is hard to spot, but it's coming out of the forest towards him and he wonders… If it's not Bucky, Tony can wait for him in the forest. This time, to be contrary, he walks out the front door. Unfortunately, one of the cameramen follows."Where are you going?" the producer asks. Bucky watches them from the brush. He's considering taking out the crew the same way he took out the drone.Tony smiles, charming, his hands behind his back. "I'd tell you, but doesn't that ruin the suspense?" Maybe he should climb out the back next time."Okay," the producer says. "Then lead on."
Tony laughs, loud and long. It's nothing like his real laugh. "I didn't say you could go." He turns from the crew back to the door. There has to be another way to get to Bucky. He certainly can’t give up now.
Bucky watches Tony leading the camera and crew back toward the house, uncertain what to do. He’s just aiming his knife when he sees one of the rooms in the house beyond flare up with orange light. “Fire! Fire!” a man’s voice shouts from the house. Bucky lowers his knife, waiting to see if the crew will go to investigate. Luckily, they do, taking off running at top speed. The producer is on her headset, calling for backup, for help, for emergency services. 
*
 
Is it late enough and quiet enough for Steve to meet Peggy yet? Steve’s not sure, but it’s well past his bed time, and he’s getting drowsy. He’s just resolved to search the women’s dorm until he finds her, come what may, when there’s an explosion from the kitchen. Steve sprints to assist as someone starts yelling “Fire!” He can hear multiple pounding feet behind him, and suddenly Peggy has overtaken him, getting to the scene of the crime first.
“No, not water!” she shouts at Darcy, who’s ready with a pitcher of ice water. “It’s an electrical fire! Grab the extinguisher from the bar!”“I’m on it!” Steve’s impressed she remembers where all of the fire extinguishers are. He only noticed two of them since moving in. While he’s getting it, Thor runs into the room.“Never fear!” Thor raises his hands as if summoning some kind of magic spell. Then he seems to remember something and stares at his right hand, looking betrayed. “Oh. Right. Well. I’ll put the flames out with my body!”“No, you’re flammable!” Darcy shouts. Fortunately, Steve’s already hitting the flames with the fire extinguisher.“We’ll need another one!” Steve calls out as more people gather to help.“Get the baking soda!” Dinah shouts.“Fuck that, get blankets!” Jessica Jones interrupts.“Fire, huh?” Domino produces safety goggles and puts them on. 
*

Should Tony stay and help? Where did the convenient fire come from? Bucky? He debates going upstairs for a moment, staring up at the window. "Fuck it." No. He'll be in the way. Instead he walks back towards the woods, searching for Bucky in the pale light.

For a second, Bucky’s nervous that Tony will fall for it, too, and go back inside. But then he’s walking toward the trees. When he’s close enough, Bucky calls softly. “Over here!” Once Tony passes the line of sight of the last camera on his balcony, they can hustle out of here.
Tony spots him and smiles his real smile for Bucky, utterly delighted and slightly manic. "I made it out alive." Happy. Tony feels happy.“You did,” Bucky smiles. “We both did.” He kneels down with his back to Tony. “Get on. We can move faster this way.”Tony climbs on, sighing in relief.  "Thank Christ. They made me do outdoor activities today and my body isn't happy about it." It's really not that bad, but he enjoys being carried. Especially after the trauma that was nearly being crushed by a dune buggy.
Bucky takes off at a fast clip, hoping to get well ahead of the cameras before they come back looking for Tony. “I think everyone was outdoors today,” Bucky says. “What did they have you do?”
Everyone? What does that mean? Is he jealous? Why? Of what? Wow, Tony's distracted. Bucky didn't say he got picked. Calm the fuck down. "Motocross. Er, well kinda. We had four wheels."“Sounds like fun,” Bucky says. He’s trying to picture it. Mostly he’s trying not to trip in the dark, feeling Tony’s body against his."Why were you outdoors?" Tony asks.“Ah, they made us go on a boat.” Good thing Bucky's new arm doesn’t weigh as much. “How was your date? Was she nice?”"It was fine, I had a nice time." He didn’t die, anyway, but-- who cares about that when Bucky’s out on a boat with someone else?! "Who'd you go on a boat with?"That was a really obvious dodge. Why doesn’t Tony want to talk about his date? “Aw, you know. The girls and a few of the guys. Sam, Phil. Scott.”This was all fine and dandy when Bucky was like some kind of dream, walking him into the forest and fucking him. But he's here for the women, too. And it hurts. "Pepper--" She is definitely not an afterthought or a weapon. "Tell me about Pepper.”Bucky pauses, mid-step. He doesn’t like the sound of Tony’s voice. “What about her? You know her better than me.” Think, Bucky. “She didn’t pick me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”No, she wouldn't want the wild man. Tony does, though. He leans his cheek on Bucky’s shoulder, which makes Bucky feel a little better. "Is she happy? Happier?" Away from him?That makes Bucky feel worse. “I dunno,” Bucky says. “I haven’t really been around her. I’m not here for the girls.”"You're really not? Seriously?" Tony's half surprised, half annoyed with disbelief. Bucky had said--but he’d also said he wanted something from Tony.“Seriously.” But Bucky supposes there’s no way Tony could have known that before now. Well. Except for the sex.Quietly, Tony asks, "Who picked you?”Does he really care? Bucky wonders. “The other one. Nat?” And she’d better not pick him again, either.
Bucky doesn't sound pleased. "What, you didn't have fun?" Jealousy eats at Tony. So uncomfortable.
“Hell no,” Bucky says, starting to walk again. “She was annoying the crap out of me. And when I stopped answering her questions, she started pawing at me and wouldn’t stop.”Tony scrunches up his nose, confused. "She interrogated you? Why?"Bucky huffs, frustrated. “She thinks she knows me or something.” She was acting like they were married almost...“Do you know her?" Jealousy is bleeding away. Bucky doesn't sound happy about it it at all.Bucky clenches his jaw. “Maybe.”"I could help you with your arm. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble. Why didn't you send me an email or something?" That’s all it is. He doesn't want you, Tony. Not like that. It's nothing personal. You've done this before.“Uh…” How to put this? “I can’t exactly just email...where I stay.” There. Tony can derive what he wants from that. Some prison inmates don’t have computer privileges, right?"Where you stay?" That's weird and confusing, and doesn't make much sense.“I can’t really talk about it.” Not yet, for sure."There had to be an easier way than this."Bucky shakes his head. “It’s never easy.” Finally, they’re back at their tree. Bucky kneels down to let Tony climb off.Tony steps down and stretches, stiff from the day. "Emailing somebody is never easy? How old are you? Like a hundred?"“Not everyone has your resources and freedom,” Bucky tells him. “You’re smart. Think about it.”
"I am thinking about it, and things are going from A to C. You wouldn't  be here if you couldn't pass some kind of background check. There's a process.  They wouldn't have pulled you off the street." Would they?
Bucky is regretting bringing this up. It's already more information than is safe for Tony to know. He leans down to kiss Tony because he wants to. But maybe it will change the subject. "The people I work for don't give me a lot of freedom." Maybe that's a more passable explanation?Tony traces a finger along Bucky's jawline, thoughtful. The pile of fishy things may be getting too big to ignore. Tony lets Bucky kiss him, because it feels nice. "So you stay and work at the same place? Interesting." What is he hiding? Not that Tony is angry about it; something like intrigued."A few different places." Wouldn't it be nice if Hydra was just a location? "They keep me where they need me.""What do you do? What do they pay you?" Who is this mysterious employer?What Bucky can remember of the first answer makes him not want to remember the rest. “Stuff. Bad stuff.”Tony touches his face again, surprised. "You? No way." Bucky looks a little like Robin Williams in Jumanji (or Hook!) but he doesn't look dangerous."Way." Though Bucky's not sure exactly what Tony just guessed about his job. He moves his face against Tony's fingers to kiss his hand."No, you're too sweet." Tony says, dismissive, stroking Bucky’s cheek when Bucky kisses his hand.Bucky shakes his head. That will be a painful bubble to burst. Bucky sighs with relief when Tony touches him; it just feels good. There's no guilt or nagging feeling that comes with Tony’s touch.Tony perches on the tree, pulling Bucky to him by his shirt. "You don't want to talk about it."Bucky’s not sure anymore what he doesn’t want to talk about, because it feels good to be close to Tony again. Not to mention it feels good to have someone pressed against him who’s not saying confusing things and crying. Bucky leans against Tony. “It was a rough day.”
Tony rubs his butt comfortingly. "I know, sugar. All those women throwing themselves at you."

You're mine

. The thought is so sudden and vicious it scares him. Bucky isn't anyone's, least of all his.
"Nah." That rubbing is doing more than comfort Bucky. "Just one, and it was...weird. " He puts his arms around Tony and just holds him. It feels nice after the day he's had. "Are you still sore? Want me to rub your shoulders?"Comfortable, Tony leans against him. "I wouldn't say no. We could do more as long as there's no bats in the trees."Bucky smiles against Tony's skin. "You allergic to bats or somethin?" He kisses Tony's neck, then moves around behind Tony to knead his shoulders. He’s only got one hand for the job, so Bucky alternates sides.Tony looks up, eyebrows raised, watching Bucky move, so gracefully. "I'm allergic to crazy roommates who make no noise and watch you fuck.” But whatever, that aside is interrupted because suddenly his brain has turned itself off. "Please don't stop."“Ohhh, okay.” Bucky gets it. But Tony told Drax last night to be quiet if he was going to watch. And Bucky hopes he does. It’s easier to pretend he’s not there. Bucky kisses the back of Tony’s neck, his hand slowly working his way across and down Tony’s shoulders to his neck and back. “Tell me something interesting.”"Does the amount of interest it produces affect the shoulder rubbing?""Nah." A ghost of a smile hovers around Bucky's lips. He kisses between Tony's shoulder blades.“Ok, I could buy this island and the crew if I wanted. I don't know if that's interesting enough.”"Buy the crew? You mean like slavery?"Tony wrinkles his nose. Distasteful.  "No, you pay them off. Make them go away. Everyone has a price, sugar."“Maybe.” Bucky considers this. “But it’s not always money.”Tony wonders what Bucky's price is, but he's tired of feeling shitty and starting arguments.
“You have 28 bones in your hand and only three in your shoulder."
"Huh. I wonder what I have left." Something in Bucky is done with this level of contact. He moves around and straddles Tony's lap, rubbing his shoulders, one at a time, from the front. Bucky kisses Tony slowly, teasing.Tony squirms against him, unprepared, his heart doing flip flops. “What do you want to do now, Romeo?"“I dunno.” Bucky puts his arms around Tony’s shoulders, metal and flesh. “Mostly make out, I guess. And keep talking.” He kisses Tony chastely on the lips."Okay, your turn, tell me something interesting." Tony kisses Bucky’s nose, running fingers through his hair.The nose kiss makes Bucky smile. Thank God Tony stopped asking about his job. "Um..." he kisses Tony's neck, thinking. "Did you know I've been to every Stark Expo since you brought them back in 2010?" Bucky licks Tony's throat just for good measure."Oh, have you? And what were you the most excited to see?" Should he be flattered or alarmed? Flattered is winning.Bucky smiles, hiding his face against Tony's shoulder. "What did I like the best? Shit, which time? Anything but the weapons, honestly." No more weapons. He's sick to death of war machines. "But I always was a sucker for a flying car.""I was hoping you'd just say me but I'd give you a ride in a flying hot rod if you want." Tony grins wide, hands sneaking under Bucky's shirt."That would be pretty great--" Bucky's heart sinks when Tony's hands go up his shirt. "Oh, it was just a euphemism."Implying that their will be some flying car dates in the future means there will be a future. And that can't happen. But Bucky looks sad and Tony can't have that. "You don't want a ride? " he asks, nipping Bucky's neck playfully.Bucky rests his forehead against Tony's shoulder. "I dunno. Can we just talk?"Weird. "Yeah. Can I still flirt with you?" Why is Bucky acting this way?"Yeah," Bucky says softly, wrapping his whole arm more tightly around Tony. "Tell me something else.”“I'm not breakable." This is scary. Something about Bucky holding him like this, it's unsettling. What does he want? What does this mean? All Tony can do is cling back.“Must be nice,” Bucky says. He moves his hand up to Tony’s hair, teasing the nape of Tony’s neck. “Did someone try to break you?”So many times in so many ways. "Yeah." Tony reaches up to finger the arc reactor. It’s comforting and he's freaking out. Has he ever felt more seen? More broken?“Good thing you're not breakable then," Bucky says. He kisses Tony's temple. "You wanna talk about it?"Tony snorts, "What, my entire life? No thanks." This gentleness is pulling him apart. He can hardly bear it.Okay, this talk is getting pretty heavy. Bucky slides back so that he's on his feet again. He spreads Tony's knees so that he's standing between Tony's legs where he's sitting on the tree. "Hey," Bucky says softly, resting his hand on Tony's butt. "Kiss me."Tony sighs in relief, kissing Bucky, hands fisting in his shirt. This is so much easier than talking. This way he doesn't have to think.Bucky takes his time, kissing Tony for what feels like forever. Making out feels good, and Tony's not so sad anymore. Finally it gets to be too much, and Bucky reaches down for Tony's waistband, sliding fingers underneath.“Nnnn, finally."  This is what he's used to. If Bucky was a normal person they wouldn't have to talk at all, or share, or whatever disaster that was. They could just fuck like two normal, healthy adult men. "Can I take this off now?" He tugs at Bucky’s shirt.Bucky withdraws his hand and raises his arm so that Tony can slide his shirt off. Then he’s right back to kissing Tony, gripping his stiff length, teasing and squeezing. “I want you,” Bucky breathes.“So pretty." Bucky feels so good to touch. "Silky. Mmm take me, honey. I want you."Bucky kneels down, using his mouth on Tony’s dick while his fingers get his ass ready. It’s not long before Bucky’s pushing back inside Tony’s tight heat, fucking him hard over the tree. “Feel so good,” Bucky pants. “Wanted this.”"You feel so fucking good, baby. God, it's just like I like it." Mushy. Too mushy. "Your cock pounding me hard."“You can have this cock,” Bucky murmurs, kissing Tony’s chest.“Could have had me earlier." What was with all the talking? Tony reaches up and tugs at Bucky's hair, overwhelmed.“At the Expo?” Bucky asks. “Could I have had you then?”  "Probably." Really it depends on the year. Tony grins, "You are my type. Yeah, I could take you back to my dressing room. You could fuck me, undress me, and fuck me again."Bucky chuckles, slowing the pace so he can reply. “Fuck you with clothes on and then off? What about all your cheerleader girls?”Tony looks near delight. "You'd want company?" He and Pepper had tried that once. In the end he'd felt pretty left out.Bucky snorts. “No. But wouldn’t they get jealous? Would you miss ‘em?”"No, they're just girls." He says it like they're cars or furniture. Why would they be jealous? The other question's harder. It's better to not answer it.“You like me better?” Bucky asks, pushing deep and pulling almost all the way out."Yes!" It’s a long loud howl of a word and Tony tugs at his hips. "I like you better! Quit teasing!"Bucky snickers, pushing all the way back in. He rocks his hips back and forth, staying deep. “So we can do this again? When we leave here?” He grips Tony’s dick, stroking.Tony's not so convinced that they can do it after, and he doesn't like lying. "We can do it again." Tony brushes Bucky’s lips with his fingers. Maybe more than pretty. Maybe.Bucky knows an uncertainty when he hears one. He nibbles Tony’s thumb, speeding up the pace of his thrusts once more. Bucky’s eyes close, enjoying the moment.
Fingers tangle in Bucky's hair. Hard questions don't exist here and Tony wishes things could stay unanswered. It's so hard to not think about it. About everything, always. "Kiss me."

I don't want to think.

Bucky pushes Tony’s legs back so he can kiss him, fucking him more slowly. “I want you in the grass. On a bed. On your living room floor in front of the fire.”Tony tugs at his hair, whining softly. "Shh, kissing." The thought sends shivers down his spine, but he can't imagine Bucky in familiar places. If he starts, he won't stop.   
It’s hard to kiss and fuck like he wants to at the same time. But Bucky does his best. Finally, he’s too distracted. “Ride me?” He pulls Tony’s hand to his mouth, nibbling his fingers.
Tony’s eyes flutter closed. "Yes. Yeah." There’s nothing he wouldn't agree to like this. "Should--do I move or do you?" At least he's not thinking.

Bucky steps back and tugs Tony along with him. He lies down as he did the night before, beckoning Tony to come with him.
Bucky's body is like a siren’s call and Tony willingly follows, needing Bucky to fill him, allowing himself to imagine Bucky in his bed, in his home, in his garage. This isn't real. Tony can pretend.Bucky helps Tony get settled, then rocks him gently, sliding back in deep. “How soft is the carpet in your living room?” he whispers. “Would it give you rug burn?” Bucky reaches for Tony’s left hand, sliding his fingers between Tony’s.Tony shakes his head, eyes shut. "Shouldn't. Shouldn't hurt me. You can fuck me from behind."“Is that how you like it best?” Bucky rests his metal claws on Tony’s hip, holding his hand while he fucks him with short, fast thrusts. “Would we have champagne or coffee in front of the fire?”"Mmhmm..." He tugs Bucky's hand to his chest. "I think it depends, are we celebrating something?"
“Yeah,” Bucky says, thinking,

your divorce

. “It’s my birthday.” He splays his fingers over the arc reactor and starts to fuck Tony faster, feeling the end coming. “Your ass feels so good,” Bucky whispers.

"Champagne then. Only the best for you."  Hard to concentrate on anything now. Tony feels the conversation is over. "You feel good inside it. So good."
Bucky reaches for Tony’s dick, jerking him off with desperate strokes while he fucks Tony harder. “Gonna come,” Bucky whispers. “God, baby. Gonna come, you feel so good.”
"Do it! Fuck!" Tony feels desperate. So desperate. "Come inside me--make me come." He meets Bucky’s thrusts, gripping his shoulders.
Bucky does come, and he makes a lot more noise doing it than he usually does. It’s almost embarrassing. The release is borderline painful, but being hot and sweaty against Tony makes up for it. Bucky slides down to finish Tony with his mouth.Hands desperately snarled in Bucky's soft soft hair, Tony leans back into the grass, arches and squirms until he's released. "Fuck." How is he supposed to move? He untangles his fingers from Bucky’s hair, gently stroking his eyebrows, then down his nose. "Can't get up."Bucky smirks down at him. “You don’t have to.” He lies down next to Tony, pillowing his head on Tony’s chest, wrapping arms around him. “This is nice.” This place… “Being here with you…” Bucky traces the pattern of the arc reactor, his finger barely touching the surface.  "Mmhmm. Don’t let me fall asleep."“I won’t.” Bucky decides to take it as a compliment. Tony’s comfortable with him. Trusts him.When's the last time Tony slept? "Can't remember." Bucky's hair is so soft. He's so warm.“Huh?” That’s jarring. And Bucky can relate to the words. “Can’t remember what?” Do other people here have suspicious gaps in their memories, too? He can’t not think of Nat on the boat this afternoon."When I slept last." Did Bucky tense? "Are you okay?"“Oh.” Right. Just a normal way to say it’s been a while. “Yeah,” Bucky tells him, inhaling a deep breath and relaxing as best he can. “I...feel better when I’m with you.” Did that come out mushy? He didn’t mean it like some big romantic statement, but it’s true. For some reason, it’s true. “Like it was meant to be, somehow.” Okay, that’s definitely mushy. Bucky should quit while he’s ahead."What's meant to be about it?" Some fling on a deserted island is meant to be? Tony giggles.“Just...meeting you. Like we’re connected.” Is Tony laughing at him? Bucky’s happy afterglow bursts like a bubble.Tony swallows, looking down at him. This isn’t like...some romantic encounter. It’s just a hook-up. That’s all it’s ever going to be. He should say that now. Get it over with. Tony tugs Bucky’s hair gently, flirty. "It’s because we ate that fruit, isn’t it?"
Bucky can’t help but kiss Tony. He just looks so beautiful and tousled and sexy. “Legend has it,” he smiles.

"What’s that mean? I have to take you home? I don’t think--I'm not sure if--" He can’t. Tony can't do it. "If you would fit into society, Mr. Wildman."
Bucky’s amused by Tony’s notion of ‘taking him home.’ That’s not what he meant at all. “Don’t worry, Tony Darling,” he murmurs, kissing Tony’s brow. “I’m a lost boy. I’ll never fit into society. But I’m glad we get to spend time together in Neverland.” Bucky rests his cheek against Tony’s.
Tony laughs, relieved. "Nobody's compared me to Wendy before." It’s nice, though, to be thought of as the grown-up. Treated like somebody who knows what they're doing.

Bucky leans back, wrinkling his nose. “She had two brothers. I didn’t ask you to be my mom. Don’t make it weird, Stark.” A movement out of the corner of his eye makes Bucky turn around quickly, only to find Drax standing there, watching them again, eating a star fruit.
“Did I make it weird?” Drax asks. Bucky facepalms."Well look who it is, your fairy godmother telling us it’s almost midnight." Annoying. Tony searches for his pants in the dark. Well at least he didn't fall asleep.“I am not a fairy,” Drax says, dead serious, looking at Bucky like they’ve guessed the wrong planet he’s from.“It’s an Earth joke. I’ll explain later,” Bucky tells him.“Oh.” Drax goes back to eating fruit.Bucky helps Tony find his clothes and hovers, feeling awkward and guilty. “I guess time’s up.” It doesn’t feel long enough.
Tony sighs, taking Bucky’s hand and walking away from their tree.

Bucky feels relief when Tony takes his hand. He’s not angry with Bucky. It starts to feel right again.

"How are you two going to get me out tomorrow night?" There is no way Tony can miss a night. Leaving now even feels painful.
“Earth housing is very flammable,” Drax says, following behind them.
“We’ll figure something out,” Bucky translates. Back at the house, the fire is out, but the drones are waiting. Drax has to shoot two of them down just to give Tony a window to get back. “Tomorrow,” Bucky says, his eyes resting longingly on Tony.
Tony pats Bucky’s cheek, kissing him sweetly. "It's not forever, Romeo, come on. Don't make those eyes at me." He'd better go up and down the balcony only now. Tony throws Bucky a kiss through the window before heading to the shower. Before he heads to bed, Tony grabs Bucky’s shirt and stuffs it under his pillow. He feels stupid but...maybe he'll sleep better. 
*
 
“I don’t think you can set fire to the house again,” Bucky tells Drax, as they trudge home through the jungle once more.

“Why not?” Drax asks.

“I feel like they’ll get suspicious, for one thing,” Bucky says.

“This whole place is suspicious,” Drax says. Bucky thinks he’s not wrong.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The next morning, Pepper, Nat, and Sharon wake to a letter slipped under their doors. It's an invitation to a special party on the island written on gold leaf stationery. The instructions are to tell no one about it. Sharon has a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Nat has an idea of what’s coming. She beats her face accordingly.Downstairs, the men are a little less eager to please today. Several are still in bed. Only Sam and Happy are making breakfast. Maybe the men are getting used to the routine of the villa. Or maybe some of them are feeling bitter about not getting chosen for dates yesterday. 
*
 
At the mountain villa, all four men receive the special invitation with instructions to tell no one. But can they keep it to themselves?
Bruce doesn’t want to talk about it with anyone, except maybe Jen, because he’s not sure what to think of anyone else. Parties...are not really his thing.Can Tony tell someone? He wants to talk to somebody about it, but Thor would outright tell him if he's going, and Tony feels...mean pressuring Bruce to do anything, the guy looks so fragile. But Tony thinks he can needle Rogers into...something. The problem is getting him alone.Steve has a hard time feeling excited about anything after the fire last night. Downstairs, the mood is somber and sober after the disaster. The kitchen and half the common area inside is still boarded up. The crew has to serve catered breakfast as there’s no way for the guests to cook it anymore. “We should make fire on the patio tonight,” Thor suggests. “Cook outside as we did in the old times.” Steve’s still not sure if Thor is insane or not.Just after breakfast, a limo arrives to take all the men away. Where are they going? It doesn't matter. They're all going together.Once the men are gone, a bus pulls into the driveway. The driver calls a list of six names: Domino, Jennifer, Darcy, Jan, Kate, and Peggy. “Girls’ Trip!” Darcy shouts, bouncing aboard the bus first.“Where are we going?” Domino asks, a little less trusting than Darcy.“And what should we wear?” Kate adds.“Bring your swimsuits,” the bus driver tells them gruffly. He gives them a few minutes to pack. The few women left have the house to themselves. * 
At the beach villa, a limo arrives during brunch to take Pepper, Sharon, and Nat away. Once they're in the car and moving, Nat says, "I'm assuming the two of you got the same letter I did?"
Pepper nods, and goes back to staring out the window. This is exciting but nerve-wracking. She thinks she’s worked out what this is all about, and there’d better not be any cameras.Sharon looks awkward. "I got an invitation. But I thought we weren't supposed to talk about it."Nat smirks. "I'm terrible at keeping secrets.""If we're going to the same party, I don't see why it’s a secret. Surely we can talk amongst ourselves." Pepper's put out at having no information on the subject. You can't control and plan what you don't know.“Do you think they’ll be choosing our dates for us this time?” Sharon asks."They better not be," Pepper says, darkly. "It’s hard enough trying to form a solid connection with someone."The limo drives them across the island to a secluded beach made of fine black sand. A dark-haired woman beckons in the distance, standing on the deck of a lifeguard station.Oh, it’s so pretty here, Pepper thinks. When is she going to get a chance to just lay on the beach?The woman calling them closer isn’t just beautiful, she’s also ripped. Is she a bodybuilder? Is this an exercise class? The woman wears a volleyball uniform, her long hair held back in rows of braids that end in a ponytail. She looks ready for a day of play.“Hey.” She nods at the three of them when the women come close. “We thought you might be sick of the guys by now.” She puts two fingers in her mouth and whistles, summoning a group of women in bikinis from behind the lifeguard station. By no coincidence, all six of them are women Nat remembers from their first day on the island.
Kate is wearing a sports uniform somewhat like their host’s, Jennifer looks ready for a workout, Darcy is wearing a 50’s-style retro swimsuit a la

Some Like It Hot

, Jan’s itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikini is yellow and black, Domino’s string bikini is utterly fearless with nowhere to hide, and Peggy looks like a pin-up circa 1949.
“Pick who you want to get to know better.” Their host smirks, invitingly. “Or just get to know me better.” 
*
 
In the men's limo, Steve stares out the window, trying to look stoic.
"What grand adventure will we have today?" Thor smiles. It should be safer than yesterday, at least, without Darcy here to drive them off a cliff. He glances at Bruce."What adventures can we have together without dates?" Tony asks innocently. Oh, gosh, are these roads a little bumpy? Tony can't help leaning into Steve for just a moment. Steve glances at Tony out of the corner of his eye, suspicious.Bruce rolls his eyes at Tony's game. He can just guess what’s going on, and he's sure Steve can, too. They seem to drive forever, the road becoming more and more narrow.Okay, maybe a few times Tony has to hold on to Steve for real. Steve does his best to ignore it. Finally, the limo stops and the doors open. They’re surrounded by tropical vegetation. The gravel road ahead becomes a footpath into the rainforest.“Adventure!” Thor says, leading the way, cheerfully."What fresh hell is this?" Bruce sighs, following Thor into the forest.“She was never what I would call fresh,” Thor says. After a short walk through the forest, the path opens on a large pool fed by a natural waterfall that must be 50 feet high.
On the far side of the pool, a man they’ve never seen before is lounging. He’s bald and cut, but his body is covered in scars. His bare skin is hard to look at, almost like an avocado had angry sex with an older, more disgusting avocado.
“Hi, boys,” he says in a mock-seductive voice, waving one crossed leg at them. “You naughty things each answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘would you give your friend at the gym a handy-j if your girlfriend didn’t have to know about it.’ So welcome...” He gestures grandly behind him. “...to boy paradise.” Men in swimsuits start emerging from the trees behind him, filing toward the pool. There’s Sam in camouflage swim trunks, Heimdalll in a loincloth, Drax in speedos, and Bucky in what look like boxer briefs. They’re joined by Coulson, Rhodey, Ross and Scott. Almost the whole gang’s here.Their host stands up, careful to turn his ass to the guests of honor before he does so, flashing Tony and friends a healthy helping of ass crack. How speedos can sag is anyone’s guess. “It’s time.” He glances back at them over his shoulder. “Gentlemen, start your engines and pick your dates.” He minces over to the line of singles. “Oh, and one more thing: I’m fair game as well.” He shoots them an exaggerated wink. “Call me Wade.”Tony goes for it, striding quickly around the pool to reach for Bucky, pulling him out of line before anyone else can go first and take him away. "Mine." He keeps Bucky’s hand close to his chest.Bucky's just starting to smirk, feeling good about meaning something to Tony when he sees the look on Steve's face: he looks devastated. "Hey! I was gonna choose Bucky!" he scowls at Tony."Well, choose somebody else! This one’s taken." Tony figured everyone would be after Bucky. He holds Bucky’s hand tighter.Bucky squeezes Tony’s hand, but he can’t stop staring at Steve. “Well that’s not fair!” Steve says. “Why don’t we let Bucky choose?”Bucky looks back and forth between them. “I--I--I’m sorry. I want to be with Tony right now.” Steve looks crestfallen. He doesn’t even want another date. What’s the point?“Hi.” Coulson seems to have materialized in front of Steve when he was blind with envy. “I’m a big fan. Always have been.” He extends his hand to Steve for a shake. “I’m Phil.”Steve’s confused. A big fan? It’s not like Steve is a celebrity. Who is this guy? Should he be worried? Well, it would be rude not to shake Phil’s hand, so Steve does. “I’m Steve.”“I know,” Phil says, a little too quickly. “I mean--hi, Steve. It’s a real honor to meet you.”Bruce takes his time. They're all pretty nice-looking guys. But if this is Fantasy Island, he should pick the one that most resembles a sex god, right? He walks over to Heimdall. "Bruce--um, I'm Bruce. Are you--I'm going back over to stand in line. Can you go back over there with me?""I am honored," Heimdall replies with a bow of his head. "I've seen you, Bruce. I am Heimdall, Guardian of Asgard.""Heimdall!" Thor bellows, coming over for a hi-five."Your Majesty." Heimdall nods at the line of men as a reminder.When Thor turns, Drax is standing before him. "Me,” Drax tells him. “You will pick me, manly warrior-god of real men. I must fight with you."Thor's smile widens. "Very well, then! I pick this one."Wade looks disappointed. "Fine. The rest of you can go play in the pool." * 
At all of these new possibilities, Pepper looks stoic, but inside she's jumping up and down and squeeing. "What did you say your name was?" Pepper asks, pointing at the Valkyrie.
"I didn't." The Valkyrie offers Pepper a confident smirk, leaning on the rail. "But you can call me anything you like, love." Pepper does giggle this time. What's this? Is she having FUN? “Come on, pretty lady,” the Valkyrie beckons. “Join me in here.” There’s a whirlpool on the deck of the lifeguard station. Is that normal?Without hesitation, Pepper climbs up to the deck and strips down to her bralette and panties before demurely slipping into the pool. It’s going to be a nice time. Fun with a nice girl, no hang-ups or anxiety attacks. She even lets her hair down.Sharon doesn't know what to make of that. But she wasn't going to choose their host anyway. Her instinct is to choose someone like herself: fit, sporty. But she wants to make an informed decision.Nat is disappointed the Wakandan spy didn't show. But her absence says a lot. She makes a beeline for her mentor, holding a hand out to Peggy. "Will you come with me?""Oh. Yes." Peggy wasn’t expecting to be picked, not really. Its a pleasant surprise. She takes Natasha's hand--a very pleasant surprise. "Where are we going?"“Somewhere out of earshot.” Nat smiles like nothing’s wrong.Sharon feels a little less weird about all of this now, with the Aunt Peggy clone gone, carefully examining the options she has left. Of course Darcy is out of the question. Sharon finds herself standing in front of Domino, staring. "You're...really beautiful." Sharon blinks, self conscious. "Sorry."Domino shrugs. “Doesn’t bother me any.” * 
How did it work out that Steve didn’t get to choose one of the bachelors? He’s still steamed that Tony took Bucky out of turn, but how did Steve end up with Phil? The guy’s talking incessant nonsense. And what was that about watching Steve sleep? This is getting creepy.
Steve keeps walking around the date area, even going in the water, attempting to escape Phil. But he’s stuck to Steve like glue. More and more it seems like the only way to get rid of him is going to be some kind of rude behavior, and Steve’s not sure he can do it. Not when the only payoff is hurting some guy’s feelings--even if he is a weirdo stalker. Steve is so distracted trying to plot a civil way to avoid Phil, he walks right into the Airman he remembers from Day 1.“What are the odds we’d run into each other in a place like this?” Sam smiles, and Steve can’t help but smile back.“You work out?” Steve asks.“You think you can get thighs like this by skipping leg day?”  Sam squats and slaps his thighs for emphasis. His rock-hard quads do not move.Steve whistles in appreciation. “Impressive. You up for a run?”“Did you seriously just ask me ‘you up’?” Sam’s grin widens. Steve is confused as ever. “Just don’t go handing me any eggplants, and we’ll be cool.”“Okaaaay....” Steve knows Sam is teasing him, but he still doesn’t get it.“Come on, soldier.” Sam gives Steve a playful swat on the behind. “Pick up those feet!” He takes off at a swift jog. Steve’s eyes light up. This is more like it!Phil watches them go, feeling left out. He’s kept up with his fitness requirement, he could jog after them if he wanted to, but maybe that would be too much. After watching them go, Phil wanders back to the director’s chairs where Ross is sitting. At least Everett will talk to him. * 
The Valkyrie moves toward Pepper like a shark in the water. “Now that’s more like it,” she says, watching Pepper take her hair down. “Maybe I should get more comfortable, too. What do you think?” She starts to peel off her uniform.
"I think you should be as comfortable as possible," Pepper answers. It doesn't feel like seduction, it just feels like they’re equals.The Valkyrie smiles and pulls her top off, her bare tawny skin quickly hidden by the bubbling water. “Your turn.”Pepper pulls the lacy fabric over her head and tugs off her matching panties, too. It feels like they're the only people on the island and even if there are cameras somewhere, she's going to ignore them.The Valkyrie moves closer, reaching for Pepper beneath the water’s surface. * 
“What do you wanna do?” Domino asks.
There are a few things Sharon wants to do. But this isn’t an all-out orgy, regardless of whatever Pepper’s already doing with their host. Domino sees her looking and glances over. “Oh wow. I guess sex with another woman doesn’t count for them.” She looks back at Sharon. “Are you and your man like that?”Sharon hesitates before replying. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”“I get it,” Domino says, eyeing her up and down. “So what are you? Top or bottom?”Sharon sighs and runs a hand through her hair. “It’s been a long time. I mostly top, but I like to switch.”“That’ll work.” Domino grabs her by the jacket sleeve and pulls Sharon up the beach toward somewhere more private. * 
Bruce is terrible at small talk with anyone but how can he look this man in the eye and talk about the weather? "Can we sit and talk somewhere? What's it like being the gaurdian of Asgard?" Maybe he can just listen.
“I think we can.” Heimdall glances around, sure the crew will accommodate them somehow. A picnic table is brought out. “Please.” He gestures Bruce to sit down. “What’s it like?” he thinks. “It keeps one busy. Let’s say that. Would you like to talk about the work that you do?”Part of Bruce feels like he can’t remember most of what he does. "I research gamma radiation. Its not exciting." But nice of him to ask. Is this it? Is this the end of their conversation?“It’s not?” Heimdall gives Bruce a look that says, ‘are you sure it’s not?’ “Sounds to me like fascinating research. You know more than anyone, don’t you?”"It's a small field of study, and I know the most out of like three other guys at the top of our field, but uh...if you’re really interested, we could discuss it. "Heimdall is, and they do, eventually approaching the topic of light speed space travel, and a few other unexpected subjects along the way. “Do you remember who you are now?” Heimdall asks, gold eyes burning. * 
Nat and Peggy walk down the beach a ways. “I like this sand,” Nat says, bending down to grab a handful. “It reminds me of home.”
"And where would that be?" Finally, someone that knows something! "Or do you remember?" Peggy asks, looking out across the waves.“Not sure,” Nat says. “What about you? Do you remember home?” She watches Peggy without looking at her."Not very well if I'm trying to remember." The last time she tried... "I get very dizzy if I think on it too hard. "“Let’s sit down,” Nat suggests. She helps Peggy get settled in the warm sand. “You don’t remember me, I guess.” Why does that hurt? Is she the only one no one remembers? “What about Bucky? Do you remember him?” * 
Tony tugs at Bucky’s hand, looking smug. "Come on, Romeo. What should we do with ourselves?" There’s an obvious answer here but maybe they should play it more family-friendly.
“C’mon,” Bucky says, leading Tony toward the waterfall. “I wanna show you somethin’.”“I get Bucky next time!” Steve shouts after them."You get Bucky never!" Tony shouts back.“In your dreams!” Steve shouts.  Wait, maybe it’s not actually about either of them. Tony looks up at Bucky, annoyed with himself. "Not that we're an item or anything, you can do what you want. I don’t know why I'm so jealous."Bucky offers Tony a lopsided smile. “You’re not attached to me or anything.”"I like when you smile like that." Oh god, that's an embarrassing thing to say out loud. He can feel the blush spread across his face. Bucky smiles and squeezes Tony’s hand. "Yeah,  I don't usually get this attached." Not to flings. Its freaking Tony out.Bucky hadn’t even realized he was smiling. That’s a new one. He reaches up to feel his face and remembers the claw. Bucky leads Tony into the spray, still smiling. “You gotta trust me, okay?”  Tony follows Bucky under the water, whining and carrying on in the cold. "You know I trust you. Hook-ups in the dead of night require trust." Did he recover from the jealousy? Is this enough?
“Raw-dogging does speak of trust,” Bucky agrees. “Why are you blushing?”
Bucky pulls Tony through the waterfall to the small cave behind.

Okay, let’s change the subject.

"Shut up;

you're

blushing. How did you even know there was a secret cave behind the waterfall anyway? "
Bucky shrugs. “We got here earlier.” And it’s his job to know all of the sniping points from any given location.
The cave doesn’t offer a lot of room, but it has plenty of privacy for making out. Which he proceeds to do.
Tony sighs, happy to be kissed and touched. Happy to be with Bucky even in a musty old cave. Never would he and Pepper do this. She'd never be this adventurous. "You don't get boring." Maybe that's what it is about Bucky.“Not yet, anyway.” Bucky smirks. “So, what do you think? Wanna have a meaningful conversation?” His hand slides down Tony’s back to his ass. * 
"You remind me of someone, but I can't place who," Peggy tells Nat. It’s not the way she remembers Steve. "Bucky? He looks familiar, I suppose." She hadn’t really thought about him and had only seen him the once as they were all gathered on the island.
Nat nods. What about this? “What year is it for you?”"1946. That one's easy." Peggy wraps her arms around her legs, still watching the waves and not Natasha.“You have reality TV shows in 1946? Limousines that look like the one we were just in?” It’s not just a memory wipe, it’s like a whole shift in belief, Nat’s realizing."No." Peggy presses her palms into her eyes. The sun’s too bright; it’s giving her a headache.  "But it's the last thing I remember."“Okay.” Nat moves closer and puts her arm around Peggy. She doesn’t want to cause her pain. “Was all of this pretty easy to accept?”"It's easier to ignore it than to accept it." But this is too much all at once.“Okay.” So the memory wipe is something that works with the way human minds already work. Who could have worked this out? Nat wonders. Not Hydra. AIM? Wasn’t there a woman who could get into their minds at one point? * 
"I remember enough." And he's a monster. It's a hard thing to come to terms with. A sad thing.
Heimdall watches Bruce think about his other self. Will Bruce ever accept it? If so, it won’t be today."Are you--did you die?" Is that a real memory? Is Thor okay? He was so broken and then he'd gone to do-- something. "It’s still really blurry."Heimdall tilts his head. “Is that what you remember?” Heimdall knows he’s not dead, but perhaps he did die at some point in the past. Baldr died, too, and he came back, after all."Yeah, but." Bruce pokes at his bicep. "You're clearly here."“That’s true,” Heimdall nods. “So what’s the truth? And why are we expected to believe something different?” he glances around. As lies go, this is a pleasant one. The lie-smith never makes lies this nice, and this one’s beyond his capacity anyway.Seeing that Bruce is becoming overwhelmed, Heimdall asks that a chess board be brought out. The two men play, idly chatting about topics that are more serious than they seem. * 
"You seem to have some grasp of the situation,” Peggy says. “I assume we know each other after 1946.”
“I was born in 1984,” Nat tells Peggy softly."You are very good, but I think this requires an exchange of information and not just an extraction." It’s obvious what Natasha’s doing. "I'm incapacitated, not stupid."A good spy knows when and how much information to give. "You and the Howling Commandos were the only western force to ever infiltrate the Red Room. You helped me once. Let me help you."The Red Room. It’s nice that they saved one little girl from that same fate as Dottie. She'll just have to be careful in case it’s a trap. "Is there anyone else I should know?"“Sharon,” Nat says. “Your niece?” And Fury and maybe even Coulson…"Oh, she hates me." Which is sad if that’s the case."I doubt that," Nat says. "She's probably in some kind of shock.""Mmm, well it doesn’t look like anything like shock." Peggy takes a deep breath, "What about Steve?" “If you don’t remember Steve…” Nat pauses. “But you’re from 1946...something’s very wrong.”
"I--know him. But I don’t remember him. Trying is what made me nearly faint the first time." And maybe truly faint this time.

Head between your knees.

Nat keeps her hand on Peggy’s back. “Okay, forget about what you don’t remember for now. What about what you do? How did you get here?”
"We had--I had found an apartment in D.C to further my career, and I was sharing a flat with a woman." Peggy looks put out. "I was

happy

." Why was she here at all?
“That sounds pretty nice,” Nat says. “Do you remember her name?”"Angie." She's a pleasant memory. "She let me grieve." For what? For who? Its all unclear.Nat smiles. “She sounds nice. How did they ask you to come on the show?”"They didn’t. I wouldn't have come." There's no reason for Peggy to be here, is there? Sick. She feels sick again. It’s like something is trying to claw back out of her."Maybe if you ask, they'll send you home?" But what would that even mean? Nat’s curious."You honestly think they would let me go? After experimenting with me like this?""I don't know," Nat says. "I guess it depends. Is it better to find out or to keep playing by their rules?"
"I don't think we know enough to confront them. Or

I

don't know enough." Peggy's still unsure if she can trust

Natasha. This may have been too much information already.
“That’s fair,” Nat nods. “We can just play along for a while.” She looks out at the ocean. It seems real. But there are so many things off about this place.   
*
 
"My kind of conversation? Or..." Tony's wearing way more clothes than Bucky is, and quickly undresses down to his shorts.
“Or we can just fuck,” Bucky suggests, going for Tony’s groin as soon as he’s down to his shorts. He knows Tony isn’t one for conversation, in fact, they seem to disturb him.Tony taps his nose, "Ding ding ding!" But there's really no time to be cute with Bucky's hand on him.
By now, their bodies are not strangers to one another. Bucky does what he knows feels good for Tony, satisfying his own thirst for Tony’s body at the same time. It’s not long before their bodies are intimately connected, and Bucky loses all sense of time or space. The rushing of the waterfall behind them is like a white noise, isolating them from everyone else. Bucky’s focus narrows down to one thing: Tony. “I could fuck you forever,” he says, taking Tony up against the rock wall. But he should really start bringing lube.
Tony’s enjoying all of this, but he can’t turn his brain off. Would he get bored of Bucky eventually? Could he really quit his entire life for someone? It hurts him, but they’re going to have to talk about it eventually. "Harder." Not now though.Bucky gives it to him harder, and when they’re done, he holds Tony for a while, until Bucky needs him again. And then they do it again. * 
Nat and Peggy get called back to the beach for a picnic, but Sharon and Pepper are nowhere to be found. They do their best to share an amicable lunch with Darcy, Jennifer, and Jan, but neither of them are very hungry after the “date” they just had. To increase the overall awkwardness, Darcy keeps making bisexual jokes. And Jan keeps laughing at them.
“What do you think?” Nat smiles at Jan. “Is it a love connection?” she indicates Darcy, who’s busy telling a long, raunchy joke to Jennifer."Ooh plot twist. The gruff, scary girl and the funny clever girl fall in love.  Its romantic! Its exciting! It's...totally out of left field but super cute. I ship it." Jan thinks there aren't nearly enough happy smiles at the table. Just fake ones.Peggy finds it hard to concentrate on the chatter. And she's starting to think the two younger ones speak a different language then her entirely.Nat laughs. "Not them! You and Darcy!" She's been the one laughing at all of Darcy's jokes.Ohhh. "Huh. I never really thought about it." To be perfectly honest, she had been looking for someone like Jessica. Or somebody who would take her seriously at all. "So wait. I'm only a side character. The people wanna know if you've found a love connection,  Ms. Romanov. Are you going home with your guy or somebody new."Nat gives Peggy a sly look. "For now, the jury's out. Maybe after the next commercial break." She playfully tosses a French fry at Jan.
Jan giggles, loving the attention. "That leaves hope for the rest of us, i guess. The shows not over yet. No offence, Carter."
Peggy smiles prettily, trying not to grit her teeth. "Oh, no. None taken."  She'd thought she was lucky that Natasha had picked her but that had ended badly.“I’ll keep that in mind.” Nat winks at Jan. 
*
 
On the other side of the waterfall, it’s time for a late lunch, and the crew throws a luau for all of the men. Sam cheers up Steve, and Coulson stops being so creepy. Bruce and Heimdall break their fast together. Thor and Drax eat half a pig each.
By the end, everyone’s full and happy, and the producers tell the boys to say good night to their dates. “If you happen to see a hammer about so big by so wide, too heavy to lift, let me know,” Thor tells his new best friend Drax.“I would be honored to lift your hammer,” Drax says, solemnly. On his home planet, this would be considered a clear innuendo.“Remember,” Heimdall tells Bruce, clasping his arm in farewell. It’s more of a geas than a request.Forced to say goodbye, Steve hugs Sam for too long. He wishes he’d been brave enough to try something. On the walk back to the car, Steve glances around. “Where’s Tony?”  “Tony’s made a decision to move forward in this process,” a producer tells him. “He won’t be coming back to the house with you tonight.”“What?” That doesn’t sound right to Steve somehow.“Good for him!” Thor declares. 
*
 
After the awkward picnic, one of the producers tells Jan, Nat, Peggy, Jessica, and Darcy that it’s time to head back to their respective villas. Darcy hugs Nat goodbye, then, weirdly, Nat hugs anyone who will let her. “Be careful,” she whispers to Peggy.
After her hug from Nat, Jan is glowing.  At least somebody gave her some affection.Peggy squeezes her wrist and pulls away. "I hope we see each other again." Natasha has the potential to be a good allie.“Hope is the thing with feathers,” Nat tells her. She stands and waves goodbye to them as they board the transport van. “Where are the others?” Nat asks the producer.

*
 
On the way to board the singles bus, Drax can’t find Bucky. He realizes something is wrong, and stops eating roast pork long enough to become invisible.
In the cave, Tony's happily curled around Bucky. It’s the most rest he's had all week. He stretches and happily snuggles back into Bucky's neck. "You think we could live in this cave?"Bucky glances around. Too much dampness can be a bad thing. "For a while, anyway." One of his extra senses makes him turn his head. "Drax?""They left without you."Bucky shrugs. "Maybe they figured out we were gonna meet after dark anyway.""The manly man has lost his hammer," Drax says.Bucky stares at him. Is that some kind of code? "You sure he wasn’t trying to let you down easy?" Tony asks.“Let me down where?” Drax asks. “His pants?” Bucky snorts."Didn't want to to let you down his pants? Is this a cultural thing?" Tony asks."I would prefer his sex organ," Drax says.Bucky thinks it's time for a subject change. "Do you have a plan?" Bucky asks Drax. At least he had the forethought to come find them."For what? A Battle Royale? Should we have a plan for that?" Tony asks.“What’s Battle Royale?” Drax asks. The term is unfamiliar to Bucky, but he thinks he has an idea. And he doesn’t like it.Tony sighs, snuggling back down into Bucky's chest. "You're blowing things out of proportion."“I heard them tell the others you were moving on to the next phase of the trials,” Drax says.That gives Tony a bad feeling. "Maybe its code for an all nighter."“Trials?” Bucky echoes. Warning bells are going off inside his head. No, it’s really more of a siren. A Defcon 1 alarm, complete with blinking lights and illuminated evacuation pathways.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Maybe it's code for an all nighter." Tony groans,  frustrated. "I want to stay with you."Bucky takes a break from Defcon 1 to hear what Tony just said, and he’s startled. Bucky wasn't prepared for a confession like that. "I'd love tha---""What does this do?" Drax asks, pushing a rock in the wall that disappears to reveal a secret panel. Bucky puts Tony behind him.Tony sighs. "Why do I bother?" He goes to look for his pants.“Drax don’t--!” But he’s gone before Bucky can finish his warning. Bucky pulls on his shorts and makes sure Tony’s dressed all the way before following Drax. The hidden panel doesn’t lead far. The cement room beyond conceals strange graffiti, and on the floor, a hatch of some kind, camo green, with a small window at the center. “Drax, don’t--” But Drax is already climbing on top of the hatch and looking through the window.“The window won’t let me see through the dark,” Drax complains. He tries the hatch, but it’s sealed shut.Tony sits crossed legged studying the drawings. They’re just little kid drawings. They don't even look that old.  "Hey, babe, what happened to all the people on the island?"Babe? Is he really talking to Bucky? That sends a thrill through him. “I dunno,” Bucky says. “Are they gone?” Some of the art looks post-apocalyptic to Bucky. He doesn’t like it. And this enclosed space--it doesn’t feel safe."I figured you'd know, Mr. Island Expert." And if Bucky doesn't, where are all the children? Tony looks up at Bucky and stands, reaching for his hand. Poor honey looks like he's gonna bolt.“They’re...they’re here,” Bucky says to Tony. “They’re supposed to be here...” But he doesn’t remember seeing anyone but the crew since they got here. Which is weird, right? Bucky grabs Tony’s hand.Drax is still trying to yank the hatch open. “Look, maybe that’s not such a good idea,” Bucky tells him.No, Tony thinks. No, it’s a fucking awful idea, but it’s the only thing that feels right. "And what do you think we should do?” he asks Bucky. “Ask Creepy McEyepatch why he left us here?"“Get somewhere safe,” Bucky says. Button up for the night, wait out...whatever comes next. “But not here.” This concrete tomb doesn’t feel safe at all.“Open up now!” Drax shouts, apparently done with trying to yank the hatch open. A spotlight blinds all three of them, suddenly shooting up through the window like a beacon.“Okay, we need to leave,” Bucky says, backing out into the cave."Can we break it open? Come on, let’s find something to break it open with and come back." Even Tony’s sense of preservation is kicking in.“No way!” Bucky says. “Don’t open it. Do you know what’s down in places like that?” Mostly Hydra scientists. “Trust me. Leave locked hatches closed.”“I don’t want to damage my knives,” Drax says, thinking. “We should find a lever.”As they step out beyond the waterfall, Bucky freezes. “Did you hear that?” It’s subtle, but he can hear more than one voice. Whispers beyond the trees. Voices that sound almost familiar.Tony clings to Bucky from behind. "The fuck is that? I don't want to be out here, Bucky,” Tony says. “Let’s go back."Okay, so one’s natural instinct in a situation like this is to move back. But Bucky's training is telling him this is a trap. That they're being herded back inside. "To battle!" Drax shouts, plunging past them into the bush."Drax, wait!" Bucky shouts after him."Okay, we can’t just leave him," Tony says. He feels so vulnerable. Something is missing. "I need--I need something before we go after him.”Bucky wants to go after Drax, but he's worried about leaving Tony. "Can you shoot with that thing? Like lasers or heat beams or something?" He motions to the arc reactor. Bucky has his knife in his hand, but it's his only weapon, and he's regretting it."I don't know what to shoot or where it is--” But he can't shoot anything anyway. “No I can't shoot it. It doesn't work like that anyway. Its a battery." Wouldn't that be convenient? Something for the arc reactor to power.“Fine.” Bucky bends down and hands Tony a rock."Gee, thanks." It’s better than nothing.“Just stay behind me,” Bucky tells him.The hell Tony's going to stay behind someone and let them get hurt. They start to slowly move toward the deep clicking and growling sound in the jungle. “Drax!” Bucky shouts.There’s a thrashing sound, a motion in the brush, and then Drax comes bursting out, sprinting toward them at top speed. “Better weapons!” he shouts. “Get back inside! We need better weapons!”Confused, Bucky turns back toward the waterfall. He feels like he can see something in the dark, but his brain can’t process it. It just looks like more darkness.Is it a man? Is it a monster? Is it darkness so black you can fall into it? Tony's fascinated; he doesn't want to look away.“Come!” Drax grabs Bucky and Tony and yanks them through the waterfall.It’s better to be in the shelter, Tony's sure.  "So we're all in agreement that whatever’s in here can’t be as bad as whatever the fuck’s out there." Water drips into Tony’s eyes from his hair. Bucky has no words after what he’s just seen.Drax smacks the hatch with the butt of his knife. “What’s in here needs protection. What’s out there...can’t be harmed by these weapons.” He gestures at their communal knives and rock.“Wait.” Bucky listens, bending his head toward the hatch. Is that...music? The light’s off now, but he swears he can hear music. Nothing he recognizes…Tony slides back against the wall of the cave and sits down, rubs his palms into his eyes. "I don't want to play anymore. What the fuck is that?"“It is large,” Drax says. “If only Rocket was here. He would know the right weapons.”Bucky looks at Tony. “Don’t you make weapons for a living?”Tony wrinkles his nose. "Yeah but I wasn’t even allowed to bring my laptop here. They said it could mess with the filming equipment or some bullshit.”“Why do you need a laptop to build a weapon?” Bucky has clearly seen IM3."No, I mean what am I supposed to use? These are all organics," Tony says. In different circumstances, Bucky might say Tony uses organics quite well. But they’re stuck between a rock and a monster. “We don’t need weapons, we need, like, a vacuum to get rid of it. Its smoke."“It’s not smoke,” Drax says. “That’s what it wants you to think it is.”Tony rolls his eyes. You can’t be afraid of smoke, and he'd rather not be afraid of it.Drax holds out his hand to Bucky. “Give me your tools.”“What are you talking about, I don’t have any--” Drax grabs Bucky’s metal arm and starts shaking it around, as if trying to make things fall out of it."Stop--stop it!" That's highly upsetting, and Tony puts himself between them so Drax will stop jostling Bucky. "Leave him alone. If Bucky had anything like that in his arm he would have told us."Before Drax lets go, a screwdriver and set of lock picks fall out of Bucky’s arm. Bucky jerks it away, closing the hidden compartment. “Not like it’s gonna do any good,” Bucky grunts.Drax just gives Tony an I-told-you-so look. “It can’t be more useless than rocks,” Drax says, patting the wall. “What are you afraid of?”Tony looks betrayed and shakes his head. With his ear to the ground, Tony reaches for the lock picks. "Doable."What’s he afraid of? Bucky looks at Drax, thinking that’s a long list, all justified fears. He’s distracted by Tony bending over, though. Ass. “I’m still not sure this is a good idea,” Bucky says."Where's your better one, huh? I'd love to hear it." Tony’s pissy.“Wait until daylight?” Bucky suggests. “Start a fire?” He feels like no one’s listening to him anyway.Once Tony gets the hatch unlocked, he pushes it open, but there isn’t much to see.  He throws one of the rocks in, but it doesn't make a sound. "Where's the music coming from?"“The bottom,” Drax says, helpful. He looks up at Bucky. “Who’s going in, fraidy cat?”Bucky’s tired of being ganged up on. Staring at Drax, he steps up and jumps in. Whatever’s at the bottom is clearly meant for him. It’s not bothering the other two in the least. He lands hard on concrete floor, but Bucky’s used to that. There’s a mirror at the bottom, and down a dark hall, more mirrors, moving to reflect him back at...whoever’s behind that door. “It’s--” but the door opens, blinding him.There’s no more from Bucky. It’s like he just disappeared in that beam of light, which is now also gone. "Did you find the grate perhaps?” Tony calls down. “What’s down there? Hello? Bucky?" There's nothing, only silence for far, far,  too long. "Bucky?" More nothing. Bucky would answer. Even if he was mad or upset that Tony and Drax bullied him into jumping. Tony can feel the panic seeping in. Drax echoes Tony’s shouts, only deeper and louder. "Bucky?!" Tony tries again. Something feels very wrong.“There is something down there,” Drax concludes. “Maybe he cannot answer.”"I'm going down there." There's no rope, no other way down but to jump.Suddenly an alarm starts to blare. It’s almost deafening, though definitely coming from the space below. The noise repeats, like a heartbeat or a timer counting down. “Too loud!” Drax cries, covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut. Under the sound of the blaring alarm, two gunshots are fired. Shortly thereafter, the alarm stops. Gun shots. "Are you coming or not?" Tony's fraying  at the edges now. He feels there's an easier way down but something is keeping the solution from him. Not like a problem to be solved, but a mental block. Its disturbing.Drax peers back down the shaft. “Look.” He points at the first few rungs of a ladder, leading down. But it disappears, broken, after that. “Something shiny at the bottom.” Drax’s eyes are meant to see in the dark. Tony’s are not.Using the first few rungs of the ladder, Tony climbs down into the hole, hoping he can land without breaking anything.“All we have is a screwdriver,” Drax complains. He climbs over Tony. Drax’s arms and legs reach to the edges of the shaft, and he spiders down like a very muscular Santa Claus descending a chimney. “Come, little Earth man. I can carry you.”"I don't want to be fucking carried." Not when Bucky might be bleeding out somewhere. But really it’s better than broken legs, and Tony grudgingly agrees to a lift.At the bottom, they find the mirror looking up, and the series of mirrors that shift to look at them. The urge for Tony to pick up a rock and throw it at his reflection is strong. "Bucky!" Maybe he's too far in. Maybe he really was just mad at Tony and this was all some misunderstanding. "This place is creepy," Tony says to Drax.Drax is poking one of the mirrors when a door opens at the end of the hall, flooding the shaft with blindingly bright light. He has to shield his eyes. A silhouette steps into the doorway. It’s shaped like Bucky, but the light is so bright, it’s hard to say for sure. What’s that cylinder pointed at his head?“It’s okay, it’s just some crazy guy,” Bucky’s voice tells them.“Don’t move!” a thick American accent growls.Tony squints at the Bucky-shaped thing and squeezes the rock in his hand. "Why? Are you gonna shoot me?"“What if I shoot him instead?” the strange voice threatens.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

In the private pool, the Valkyrie has spent the day wearing Pepper out. As Pepper rests on a tanning bench, Valkyrie steps away and pulls on a robe. She walks to the beach bungalow and pulls a velvet rope outside, causing a gong to sound on the inside. “Decision time, ladies,” she calls out. Then she walks back to where Pepper is resting. The robe isn’t tied shut, and when Valkyrie sits down, one of her breasts is exposed. She looks as confident and nonchalant as if she were wearing a three piece suit. “What do you think?” she asks Pepper. “Are you ready to go back to the boys? * Inside the bungalow, Sharon and Domino rush to get dressed. It’s awkward. A shower is really what’s needed, but Sharon doesn’t need anyone else to know what happened in here today. A little discomfort is worth keeping the secret. “Give me your shirt,” Domino tells her.Sharon pauses, wriggling into her pants. “Why?”Domino looks annoyed. “Because all I came in with was a string bikini.” She waves a hand at the visible marks Sharon’s mouth has left behind on her body.“Oh.” Sharon quickly hands over her shirt. Probably no one will comment on Sharon reappearing in just her sports bra. They could have been working out...or something.“Bye, I guess,” Domino calls after her as Sharon practically lunges out the door ahead of her. Ashamed, Sharon comes back and gives Domino a slow kiss.“I’m sorry. You were great. But I’m guessing we have to go back to the house now.”“Whatever.” Domino takes a few extra minutes to clean up the mess they made--or at least throw things into a pile. She’s glad it’s not her job to actually wash up. * "No." Pepper, lying sated in the sun, turns towards the Valkyrie. She is glorious. What a day at the beach. "I don't know if they have anything to offer." Not compared to the day she’s had. But reluctantly, Pepper sits up and looks for her clothes, blinded by the setting sun.Valkyrie gently grips Pepper’s wrist. “Relax. There’s no rush."After fifteen minutes, Sharon joins Pepper and Valkyrie. Sharon stares at the Valkyrie, almost envious. “The two of you made connections today.” Valkyrie looks at Pepper and Sharon. “More than you have back at the house. So you have a choice: stay here and pursue those connections, or return to the beach villa with all the men. It’s up to you.”Pepper should go back to the beach villa. She should . But being here feels so much less terrifying. Pepper glances at Sharon. Nat came with them, too--where did she go? And what will they both say about Pepper if she stays? "I want to stay."Sharon doesn’t blame Pepper. She could lose a few nights with that one, too. As for herself, there’s nothing for Sharon at the villa. Sure, some of the guys are cute, but she’s going home with Steve. Knowing her fate makes this decision easier. She can either suffer through awkward half-dates with the other men at the house, or stay here and have really good sex for probably the last time in her life. “Me, too,” Sharon says. “I’ll stay.”After a few minutes, Domino joins them. “What’d I miss?”“Do you want to return to the mountain villa or stay here with us?” Valkyrie asks her.“Oh, those guys are idiots,” Domino says casually, putting her hand on her hip. “I’m good here.”“You have your choice of the luxury dock houses up the beach,” Valkyrie tells them. “Or you can stay here in the bungalow. I’ll be there.” She points at a tall watchtower overlooking the bay.Pepper turns to Sharon. "Where are you staying?" She doesn’t want to stay here alone. And the Valkyrie's all the way up the watchtower...Sharon glances over at Domino. “Don’t look at me,” she tells Sharon. “We’re not married.” Especially not after that stunt she just pulled.“Let’s go check out the dock houses,” Sharon suggests to Pepper. “I mean--when you’re ready.” Pepper’s still pretty not dressed.Pepper lets out a strangled whimper, searching frantically for at least her shirt.  Domino asks Valkyrie for some pants, and the two dark-haired women leave to find her some more clothes.Mostly covered now, Pepper walks with Sharon to the smaller dock houses. Actually the Valkyrie standing watch makes her feel quite safe.The dock houses are pretty spacious given that they’re little more than luxury huts. They’re not too close together, either, with each one placed on its own dock. “What do you think?” Sharon asks. “Want to share one until we get company?” In a strange environment, Sharon’s not sure how much sleep she’ll get in a house alone."I don't mind sharing." Pepper says, a little too quickly. "I'm going to shower--if um--you don’t mind."“I don’t,” Sharon says. “I’ll use the one in the next house over.” The showers are pretty small in these luxury huts. Not that she would consider showering with Pepper. Probably. * "It was an enlightening experience,” Bruce says, as they ride back in the limo. “Let’s put it that way." He's still processing it all.Steve doesn’t feel good about leaving Tony behind. It doesn’t seem right somehow, but they’re given no choice. “It’ll be nice to see the girls again,” he says to Bruce and Thor. Mostly Steve’s thinking of Peggy.Turning to Thor, Bruce asks,"You doin’ ok buddy?" Bruce resists the urge to shake him. Thor looks happy. Like a golden retriever. It contradicts everything he remembers and it’s starting to freak him out a little.“Most excellent,” Thor replies. He’d enjoyed his time with Drax. They had thrown axes and felled many trees together. “Did you have fun with Heimdall?” Thor asks. “He’s quite a fellow.”"I don't know if fun's the right word, but it was something." Mostly Bruce is ready for this to be over so he can go home. It’s not a vacation, it’s just exhausting."Something...fun?" Thor leans over toward Bruce, grinning."Not--not exactly." Wait, what’s happening? Probably nothing. It's probably Thor just being himself.“So you will not be dating Heimdall the next time we go to the manly waterfall?” Thor misses his friend. More than usual."Um." Bruce wants to talk to Heimdall again, absolutely. But is it in a romantic way? He's not sure. "I think I'm going to have to."Thor’s face breaks out in a huge smile. “See?” He slaps Bruce on the back. “You did have fun!” He’s glad his friends are friends. * Nat rides back to the villa in the limo alone, suspicious as hell. When she gets back, only four men are left with Jane. “I’d ask where everyone went, but I think I know.”Before dinner, a bus pulls up to the villa and the rest of the men come pouring in, many of them smiling until they see Nat looking closely at them. “Where’s Bucky?”“You know, come to think of it,” Sam says, “I don’t remember him getting back on the bus.”“Where’s Drax?” Quill asks.“Who cares?” Clint grumps, pouring alcohol into his coffee. “More for me.”But Nat’s on full alert. She wishes there was a way to contact Peggy.“Where’s Pepper?” Happy asks, managing to look forlorn and ready to fight someone at the same time. * When the boys get back to the house, Nick is waiting for them. "Gentlemen. Tonight will be your first bonfire on the island, where you have the opportunity to see what your partners have been up to and talk about your experience here so far. Get ready. The car will leave in an hour."Steve looks down at his clothes. They’re not in the best shape after running around the falls with Sam all day. He debates using the time before they leave to find Peggy, but he can't go on TV looking like this.Thor, by contrast, is not bothered. He goes to find Darcy and tell her about seeing Heimdal again.But it doesn't really matter what Steve wants, because Peggy is intent on seeing him. She flags him down before he can get to his room. Steve nods at her, then nods toward his room. They can talk while he gets ready. Or at least, that’s what he tells himself.Peggy follows him to his room, and shuts the door behind her. "One of the women--the contestants--she...seemed to know me."Steve’s shirt is already off, but he still has his wife-beater on. “Really?” He looks over at her. “Which one?”Peggy stays near the door, her palms flat against it.  "The redhead. Natasha.”“Nat? You mean Bruce’s girl?” How is that possible? Steve thinks over the day-long date he just had with Sam, and a horrible thought occurs to him. “Did you go to a place with all women today?” Steve’s blood is curdling in his veins.Peggy crosses her arms over her chest. "I did. Is there a problem?"“N-no.” Steve holds his hand out, though, like he still needs time to process the thought of Peggy on an all-girls’ date. “I just. Should’ve thought of it.” At the time, he’d been too pissed at Tony, not to mention busy chasing Sam through the forest.“She said that your--Sharon was my niece. "“What?!” Steve’s scalp feels itchy, like it’s about to crawl off his head. “No, that’s--Sharon doesn’t have an aunt. I mean--I don’t think so.” Steve tries to remember if Sharon’s father has ever mentioned siblings. He has a younger brother, but...that’s all. Steve THINKS."That's what she said. Whether she's trustworthy or not, I’m not certain. But you don't remember me that way, do you?" Peggy looks shaken, though it’s a concept she's had time to get used to.“What? No!” Steve makes a gross-out face. “You weren’t--you’re not related to Sharon. No way.”“This may be a strange question, but what year is it? Natasha and I had differing answers." And Peggy wants to know; is Steve from 1946, too?Steve has to think about it. “It’s…” He checks his watch, like that’s going to help him. “2015, right? 2016? I should really pay better attention…” Did she just say she and Nat had different answers about what the year is? “What year did Nat say?”"Some time after 1986. So you could be right." But the fact that he's guessing feels questionable.“Well, that’s...true.” Why did he watch all of those 80s movies at once? Was it Nat’s suggestion? Wait, did Steve know her before this trip? Then he thinks of something he’s almost afraid to ask. “You don’t have brothers, do you?”"I do. Or I did.”“Oh yeah?” Steve is getting more and more nervous by the second. “What--” Don’t break, voice. “What were their names?” Lots of people have brothers, right? Right.Is this what Peggy was grieving for? "I have two brothers. Michael and Harrison." If it was 2016, the possibility that they were both gone was very high, but Michael's death seemed so fresh.Steve blinks. “What.” Sharon’s dad was named after her grandfather. And they both had the same name: Harrison. And, now that he thinks of it, Sharon’s father is British. “Okay, this is getting weird.” Also he doesn’t want it to be true, because how gross is it to be attracted to your girlfriend’s aunt? At best, that sounds like the plot of a bad porno."Is Harrison a name you recognize?" What does it mean  that her baby brother has an adult daughter?"Uh...yeah." Steve is reluctant to say more."Is it true what she said?"  She's starting to feel sick again."I Don't think so." Just a coincidence. It has to be. "Sharon never mentioned having an aunt. I've met her whole family.""Curtain call!" That's Nick from downstairs."Shit. I gotta get ready." Steve hurriedly changes clothes and refreshes his deodorant.Peggy watches him from the doorway and touches his arm on his way past. "Be careful." Things are definitely not what they seem.Steve's instinct is to lean down to kiss her, and it's scary.  He doesn't, of course, but it's plenty enough to twist his mind up with anxiety for the car ride to god knows where. He glances at his two remaining companions. Thor looks perfectly happy and oblivious. "Where do you think Tony is?" Steve asks. "He's coming back, Right?""He's with that guy right?" Bruce is starting to feel that this is the longest day ever and he's ready for bed. "I didn't think you guys even got along."Steve grits his teeth. "That guy" Tony stole from under his nose. It's not right. "He'd better not be," Steve grunts. "We may not get along, but I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this place. I don't like that they're separating us."