The Bracelet of Bonds ~ An Avengers Soulmate AU

Chapter 16; The Invitation

Pietro's POV

It had been a week ever since the mission where I nearly died. I felt amazing!

I was somehow fully healed at this point, all thanks to Dr Cho, Will Solace and Psyche Delvaux. Honestly, those 3 were some kind of dream team and could truly work wonders. 

I yawned, stretching on the couch as 'How I Met Your Mother' played on the TV in front of me. It was the first show Wanda and I watched when we came to the USA and it was still a favorite of mine. I was alone in the common room for a bit, just enjoying Barney trying to flirt with girls in the most absurd methods. Then the door opened, and Natasha and Tony walked in.

"Speedy!" Tony exclaimed, I rolled my eyes at the nickname but couldn't help the smile creeping onto my face. Natasha chuckled and ruffled my hair as she proceeded to walk over to the small loveseat near the couch I was.

"Oh! I love this show!" she squealed when she saw what was playing. Tony nodded in agreement and sat on the couch near my feet, which I moved up to give him space.

"Robin looks a lot like Agent Hill..." Tony said thoughtfully, and my eyes widened in the realization that she really does.

Natasha gasped, "She does look a lot like Maria! And talks like her too!".

Before we could dwell on it any further, Steve and Bucky walked in laughing. Seeing us, they walked over and distributed hugs. Although I loved super soldier bear hugs, they were sweaty this time, and so not very pleasant.

"Caaaaap, you're all sweaty from training!" Tony whined, even though he reciprocated the hug. Steve chuckled and pulled away, and my billionaire mate proceeded to straighten out his Armani suit.

"Why are you all dressed up Tony?" I asked curiously, noticing his apparel for the first time since he had walked in.

He smirked, "I was waiting for someone to ask! I'm going out to give someone a party invitation! For a party today night".

Everybody groaned and Tony looked confused, scratching his head and wondering what he said to provoke such a reaction.

"Tones, we love you, but your fancy business parties are boring," Bucky informed him.

Natasha nodded, "We do love you, but not your parties".

A look of understanding passed over Tony's face, before he smiled around at all of us, "I hate those business dinners too guys, don't worry!" He affirmed, "This is just a casual party, it's going to be us, Nick, Maria, Phil, some SHIELD agents and one other friend of mine".

Everyone grinned widely, that did sound like fun. It was not often Tony threw a 'chilled' party, and it would be nice to have just a few familiar faces around.

"Oh and Psyche too, that's who I'm going to go give the invitation to", he now added.

"WHAT?!" We all collectively exclaimed, shooting up in our seats.

Tony frowned, worried that he'd screwed up bad. He fidgeted nervously in his seat as Natasha began to speak.

"It's not that we're unhappy with your choice to invite her Tony," Nat said, sensing his discomfort and fear, "It's just that... the party is tonight, it's really short notice".

"We need some time to er- mentally prepare" I added. "It's just that we need to make sure that when we all meet her together for the first time, we don't creep her out" Steve, Bucky and Natasha nodded in agreement.

Tony looked at ease now that we'd gotten it straight that we had nothing against our newest soulmate.

"Can't you hold the party a few days later?" Bucky asked him and Tony shook his head.

"I've already invited everyone else".

There was silence around the group as everyone thought the situation over. Steve stood up from his place on the couch next to Tony and stretched.

"Well, I better notify the others so that they don't get the shock of their lives tonight" He said, giving us all a little wave before walking out the room.

"Tony, it's a Sunday and Psyche will probably be at her apartment, I know where it is so I'll come with you to give the invitation, let's go right now." Nat mentioned and both her and Tony stood up, saying goodbye to Bucky and I before they left too.

"Well speedy, we better prepare for the party with some decorations and shit" Bucky said, turning to me.

I frowned, "Shit? I am not familiar with this English word".

"LANGUAGE!" I heard Steve's voice loudly echo from somewhere else.

"ENGLISH" I responded, genuinely confused.

Bucky laughed loudly and hugged me to his side, "Don't worry about it, let's just get started. We'll ask Pepper and Rhodes for help".

Psyche's POV

Ah yes, Sunday.

Such a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing in Central Park, the sun is shining brighter than ever, and families are frolicking happily on picnics and outings.

What a great day to sit inside and read!

I flopped onto my bed and opened my copy of 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt. Slipping on my reading glasses, I opened to the page I had bookmarked and began reading from where I had left off. I got absorbed into the plot of the story instantly, the words seemed to float off the page and with fascination, I let myself get sucked into this little world.

I was so immersed in my reading, that I almost didn't hear the doorbell ring. When I did though, I shot up and inwardly groaned at being interrupted with my reading. I placed my bookmark back into the book and rose from my bed, making my way to the door.

I opened it, and found a very pleasant surprise.

Tony's POV (Dang, I'm really here switching POV's so fast)

Oh my goodness it was happening. I have to invite her to a party, which she'll probably decline because it's weird even though we're mates. hbfwjfhwrfbwjrhjbfbwjr

And why does she look so good even when dressed so casually?

Natasha pinched my arm lightly, it wasn't painful, but enough to snap me out of this internal ramble. I probably looked like a weirdo.

Psyche smiled brightly, "Hello!", she greeted politely, before stepping forward to give Natasha a hug, which the redhead returned.

Natasha gets a hug? They're on a hugging basis? I want a hug!

Much to my pleasure, Psyche leaned forward and gave me a hug as well. Oh, I guess we're on a hugging basis too. I don't mind, I don't mind AT ALL.

"Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy", I drawled out, trying to casually leaning against the doorway, but my shoulder slipped and I almost fell. So I opted to just stand.

I took a quick glance at Nat. She was obviously trying so hard not to laugh. For one of the world's most highly trained spies, she wasn't doing a great job at hiding her feelings right now.

Psyche didn't bother hiding her giggles though, and although she was laughing at me making an absolute fool of myself, I grinned widely at hearing her adorable laughter.

"This is a lovely surprise! Would you like to come in?" She asked, moving to the side in case we decided to enter.

Nat shook her head, "We're actually in a bit of rush", she stated. "We just wanted to....", she looked at me as she trailed off, and I spoke.

"Invite you! We just wanted to invite you", I said, and Psyche tilted her head curiously.

"I am... throwing a party tonight, a couple of SHIELD agents will be there too, and I was wondering if you'd like to come?".

Psyche continued to look at me and I prepared myself for rejection, Nat looked very nervous too, which was rare.

But then, the young witch beamed and nodded.

"I would love to!"