Not That Lucky

#14: All The Kings' Horses and All The Kings' Men

"Some of the kindest souls I know have lived in a world that was not so kind to them. Some of the best human beings I know, have been through so much at the hands of others, and they still love deeply, they still care. Sometimes, it's the people who have been hurt the most, who refuse to be hardened in this world, because they would never want to make another person feel the same way they themselves have felt. If that isn't something to be in awe of, I don't know what is." –Bianca Sparacino

__________

"Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots!" Darcy cheered as Tony began to pour tequila into six shot glasses. I glanced at Darcy on my left who was already tipsy enough to think this was a good idea and Sam who was nodding and mentally trying to hype himself up. On my right, Rhodey had a hand over his mouth, hiding a smirk, and Clint stood beside him looking way, way too excited about this.

On one hand, the logical part of my brain was telling me that this drinking contest was probably a poor idea. On the other hand, I had been challenged and it wasn't in my nature to ever turn down a competition of any kind.

"Shot every 15 minutes. Last man standing—"

"Woman!" Darcy and I barked.

Tony rolled his eyes, "Last person standing is the winner and everyone else should hide their faces in shame until Christmas."

"You really think you'll be able to keep out of the public eye until Christmas?" Rhodey teased, taking a shot glass that Tony was beginning to pass out.

Sam scoffed, "Stop flirting. Where's my damn lime?"

Clint threw him a slice from the pile we had collected and did the same for the rest of us. I chuckled and held the saltshaker up. In response, everyone licked the back of their hand, by their thumb, and I shook out enough salt for everyone. The crystals sticking to the line of saliva on my hand.

"Enjoy this. Next round is vodka." Darcy grinned.

"Jesus, we're mixing liquors?" I asked.

"Why? Scared, Aimee Jane?" Tony asked with mock concern.

I flipped him off and grabbed my shot glass. We all glanced around at each other, checking out the competition. With a nod, the contest began. We lifted our hands, "Arriba!", tapped the shot glasses against the bar, "Abajo!", then clacked the glasses together in the middle, "Al centro!"

I licked the salt off my hand, threw the shot back, and then stuck the lime into my mouth. The tequila Tony poured was smooth. Compared to the liquor I usually had this stuff was the liquor of kings and queens.

"See you bitches in 15 minutes!" Darcy slammed her hands on the bar table with a grin before slinking off. Tony had picked the tequila, apparently Darcy was going with Vodka, and I had thirty minutes to figure out what I was going to pick for my round. I glanced around the room, looking for Granny, and finally spotted her sitting on the couch talking to Pepper, May, and Hannah.

Someone slung their arm around my shoulders, and I glanced over to see Clint hanging off me. Like Darcy, he had been tipsy before even starting. Even sober he had a penchant for draping himself over the closet person around him, but with alcohol it only doubled.

"Hiya, Clint." I chirped.

"After we teach you to fight multiple people successfully", Clint began, "Then we are gonna both get drunk and I'll teach you how to fight someone while plastered."

"Who says I don't know how to do that already?"

"Spoken like a true Barton." Clint grinned and leaned back far enough to high five me.