the breakfast club [ avengers ]

novem

Tony rose from the corner he had sat himself down in, away from the desks- the epicentre of confrontation- and back into the little alcove he had fashioned himself earlier in the physics section of the library. Checking the watch on his wrist, the one Bruce had built him for his birthday, red and gold plated, he strolled back down the steps into the main square of the library. He ignored Clint, who was lying on his back under the back desk, smoking a cigarette and James, sitting cross legged on another tabletop and reading some German book. Natasha had skulked off somewhere after their argument and Steve was still missing from the foyer.

He thought he had been undetected by the two until he reached the library door. As he opened it slightly, looking into the hallway and office opposite to make sure the coast was free of Fury, he heard James call out, "Where are you going?"

It was the first time he had heard the dark haired boy address him with his quasi-American-Eastern-European accent. It sounded not like Mrs Maximoff- with her flowing consonants and nasal vowels, nor Natasha with her more Americanised Rs. Somewhere in between.

He spun on his heel and caught the eye of Clint, who had sat up to watch the interaction. "I need to go to my locker to get something," he answered.

The boy swung his legs over the table and stood up, "I need to go to, I'll come with you."

Tony sighed but didn't say anything, it didn't appear as though James was asking a question. Clint pulled himself up, cigarette hanging between his lips, his hands on the table in front and a sound of effort as he stood.

"I love a team bonding holiday, I'll come too. Shall I call for the others to join us? Then we can have a real gang bang!"

"I don't think you could handle it, Barton," James quipped.

Clint's eyes widened, "well look at you, suddenly you're a comedian. Nice to meet you Robin Williams. I'm a big fan of Mork and Mindy."

Walking down the empty hallway, they all kept an eye and an ear out for the professor. The three of them walked in a triangle, each looking around as though Fury would pop out of a cheerleader's locker or from a storage cupboard at any time.

"Wait, which block are your lockers in?" Tony asked suddenly, realising that although his was in the library block, it might not be the case for the others.

Clint said that his was by the gym, only a block over, but James's was in the humanities block- he'd have to go through both the gym block and labs before he got there, or he could go across the courtyard, which offered little protection from being hidden from Fury, or any other wandering member of staff.

"How are you going to get there without being caught?" Tony asked.

"Oh, he'll figure something out, won't you Barnes?" Clint joked. Bucky just shrugged.

When Tony opened his locker, he braced himself to be teased. The inside was plastered with scraps from magazines about the newest tech and competitions that he and Bruce had entered. At the back was the blueprints of an idea that the pair had been working on regarding renewable energy. The two had been inspired by the work of the previous president Jimmy Carter in installing solar panels to the White House roof, and they had both seen the chaos that the fuel shortage had done. They were still just working on the designs for now.

He reached into the green first aid pouch he had left at the back, his emergency stash, and pulled out a strip of tables. He popped one and took it without any water, he was used to taking them. He heard Barnes stir behind him, "What are you taking?"

Tony debate his answer for a moment before settling on the truth, "I have a heart condition and have to take these pills three times a day and I forgot to bring my afternoon one with me."