The Avengers - Stony request - Mano a mano

"You think you're so tough?"

"At least as much as your thick skull, Shell head."

"Oh, that's some big talk coming out from a scrawny kid from Brooklyn!"

"Come on, rich boy. Let's take it a few rounds."

And they did. Tony lounged at Steve, trying to push the soldier out of the wrestling mat. Steve gave him a second, his eyes turning the softest shade of blue, as he looked at the genius trying very hard, but, well, Steve was like a brick wall. He wrapped hands back around Tony, and locked them together, lifting the smaller man in the air to gain some space.

"AH! No tossing!" Tony yelled in protest, feeling his feet leaving the ground. Hey, he was mid air… He took a swing and jammed his heel into Steve's stomach.

"Umph!! We agreed you won't kick!" Steve hissed, feeling a painful sting in his abdomen. In return, he did toss Tony, just less than two feet away, to make a statement.

Tony tried to stop himself, but skidded backwards, luckily, not falling on his ass this time. "AHA!!" he pointed at Steve an accusing finger, contradicting with a bright grin. "You tossed me! Cheater!"

"That's because you kicked me! We agreed on fists!" Steve barked back, massaging his stomach. He was either lucky, or Tony had a really good aim. Two inches lower and Steve wouldn't recover so quickly.

"I knew you were just big talk and nothing more, Cap. Just forfeit already, before I pulverize you, one atomic particle at a time."

"Oh, talk nerdy more to me, you know how I love it."

"I'll splice you like a linked list!"

"OH DEAR GOD!!" Clint suddenly bellowed into the air, one mat away from Steve and Tony. In contrary to them, he was actually sweating and training, paired with Thor in his own sparring exercise and needing to concentrate if he didn't want to get smashed by the thunder god. "You both are making my ears bleed!! I need to focus, I don't want Thor to make my nose look even more like a potato!"  he screamed dramatically.

"Potatoes are a fine dish! Nutritious!" Thor added from his end of the mat, enthusiastic as always about everything Midgardian.

Steve blushed, looking at his feet, while Tony focused his all attention on Clint's face. Yeah, Clint did have a stubby nose… He wasn't the one to talk with his own button, perky nose. You know who had a nice nose? Steve. Steve had nice everything.

And he had a nice squeaky, embarrassed voice. "We are only sparring," he said meekly in his and Tony's defensive.

"No, me and Thor are sparring!" Clint gestured between himself and Thor. "Natasha and Bruce are sparring!" he pointed to Natasha and Bruce on the other mat, where Natasha was effectively choking Bruce between her thighs, Bruce's face turning more pink with every second. "You two are flirting! And so badly, I want to stuff fists into my ears and damage my hearing even further!"

"Why won't you take out your hearing aids if we bother you so much?" Tony asked with a smirk.

"Because you're not bothering only me, but the whole team too!" Clint yelled out, turning to his sparring partner for support. "Right?!"

Thor made a sorry face, looking at his friends. "I am sorry, but Master Archer is right," he said in his mellow, deep voice, "your failed attempts at courting each other are truly painful to watch."

Steve blushed even more, suddenly appearing smaller than he was, Tony gasped in outrage. Failed?!

"Nat?!" seemed that count off didn't end yet, and Clint turned to the mat with Bruce and Natasha on.

Natasha puffed air out, getting the red locks out of her face. She lessened the hold on Bruce, letting the scientist catch his own breath. "Thor, switch with Tony!" she ordered. Maybe if she breaks the not yet official couple (everyone knew that Tony and Steve would take separate showers, but collapse on the same couch to rest after the training, Tony on top of Steve, so predictable) they all could train in peace.

"But --" Steve opened his mouth to protest, but he caved in when Natasha gave him the coldest look ever. He sent Tony a sorry look which Tony quickly returned, before walking to the next mat, passing Thor on his way there, sporting the biggest pout ever.

"We are not kids, you can't boss us around, Romanoff," he mumbled, standing in front of Clint.

Natasha didn't reply, only smiled at Tony in her creepy way nr 4, which always made Tony flinch in panic. It worked beautifully this time too.

The training started and it was so much different this time. He heard Steve and Thor sparring, nearly equal in terms of strength, giving each other a real workout. He and Clint were more or less the same strong, except that Clint was much more flexible, which sometimes made it hard for Tony to escape from his clutches. Frankly speaking, he wasn't really focusing on Clint, his gaze traveling back to Steve all the time. At the way he smiled in triumph every time he dodged a punch from Thor, to the sight of his biceps flexing and the way he shifted hips while changing stance --

"So, you come here often?" came out of his mouth naturally, when he felt a hold around his waist and got pressed into a muscled body. He was let go the following second as if being something disgusting, which really puzzled him for a moment, before he realized that it was Clint who grabbed him, not Steve.

Clint, wide-eyed and with hands splayed in front of him in terror, groaned, before turning back to Natasha. "NAT!! He is still doing it!!" he complained, her plan of taking Steve and Tony apart not working as Tony still kept doing goo goo eyes at the soldier.

"Distract him!" Natasha yelled back, twirling around Bruce, before hitting him with a karate chop between the shoulder blades, making the scientist stumble.

"I am not going to kiss him!" Clint yelled dramatically, making Tony bark out a laugh. A kissy face in Clint's direction was mandatory.

"I am not your type, Barton?" he asked in a flirting voice.

"Naaaaaaat!!"

"Just tire him out!"

Tire him out… It was easier to say than to be done… And there was one good way Clint knew to tire out the snarky brunet.

"Umph!" Tony grunted, when Clint jumped on him, pinning him down. "Woah, so quick to get into my pants, Clint? Eager, aren't youuuuUUAHAAHAA!!" Tony screeched, when Clint's nimble fingers dug into his stomach. "WHAT - THE - FUUCK AHAHAHAA!! GET OFF!!"

"Nope," Clint replied cheerfully, his grin so big it almost split his face in half. "Nat said to tire you out. And maybe next time you will actually train," he ended, not having any troubles with keeping Tony under himself and running his fingers over brunet's ticklish spots.

Steve laughed, considering the sight heartwarming, before Thor knocked him to the ground and had in a side lock. "HEY! Ow!" he complained, his face pressed against the mat.

"That's a great suggestion, friend Clint!" he bellowed enthusiastically. "This is a form of exercise too, isn't it?" he called, the reason why he pinned Steve down becoming clear.

"I like the way you think, Goldilocks!" Clint pointed at Thor, successfully keeping wriggling Tony down. "Nat! Your call!"

Natasha stood up, leaving Bruce a bit mangled on the mat. She wiped her hands off on the material of her leggings and looked around the small group. A big, dangerous smile showed on her face when she saw both Tony and Steve clearly panicking. Those annoying buggers needed to be taught a lesson.

"Let's measure time and see which one of them can last longer," she decided, causing both Tony and Steve double their protests and making the smiles grow on Thor's and Clint's faces. "Dibs on Tony," she added with an evil satisfaction, coming closer.

"No no no!! Wait a second, you can't!!" Tony very clearly panicked, not caring that he was making a show. He knew that Natasha would kill him.

"Bruce, do something!" Steve gasped out, still trying to get out from Thor's grip and going for help to the most reasonable Avenger.

"Don't worry, Steve," Bruce huffed out, standing up, sweaty and tired, but smiling in a mysterious way. "Laughter is actually good for you. Produces serotonin, helps to clear the bronchi of mucus and lowers blood pressure," he said, before walking to Steve and Thor, already knowing what his role would be, and not minding it anyway.

When the 'training' was done, both Steve and Tony ended on the couch, gasping and tired, and, damn Bruce and his scientific ways, happy and clear of mucus, they promised each other to never again train with the rest of the team.