With the majority of the team drunkenly stumbling around a little too much to be considered safe for a mission, it was decided that it would have to be Steve, Bucky, Peter, and Thor to take the trip on their own.  Tony was incessantly complaining and whining to you that he could go, right up until he made it to the front door of the compound where his soon-to-be-wife stood stoically, waiting to shoot him down.  You couldn't contain your awe as she never even said a single word before he was apologizing for even considering going alone and promising that he would stay put.

It wasn't expected to be a big mission by any means, and you had been assured that the foursome would be home by the next day.  With so much activity buzzing around the wedding with more than enough yet to do, you actually welcomed seeing Steve waving goodbye as the jet took off from the hangar so that you would be free to get it all done.  He was oddly just as anxious as you were about the tasks at hand to make the festivities go off without trouble, and even though you didn't understand it, you appreciated that he cared so much about it and making your dad's day the best that you could.

By the next afternoon you had almost everything on your list done, and you were given a few spare minutes to sit down and have a late lunch with Tony.  You decided on a restaurant down the street from the tower so that you wouldn't be too far from it; the building was filled with caterers and decorators who would likely need you at a moment's notice if you even thought about going more than a few blocks away.

"Okay, so what do we have left?" Tony asked you, eying the plate full of pasta like a man who had been starving for years.  His fork dug deeply into it, leaving him unable to get it all into his mouth and half of it falling back onto the dish.

"Dad, like a human, please."

"Lay off me, I'm starving."

"Right," you sighed, your eyes returning to your list, "I forgot that you eat your feelings.  Please, don't mind me."

"I do not!" he mumbled, though aghast, his mouth again full.  "You do!"

"I do not!"

"Oh okaaaay," he scoffed, swallowing heavily, "hello, kettle, this is (Y/N).  You're black," he mocked, smiling before shoveling in another bite.

"Whatever," you relented, trying to steer the conversation back to business, "listen, all we have left is to make sure that Happy picks up the minister at the airport by 3pm-"

"Oh, shit," Tony choked and coughed, the edges of his lips turning just a hint of blue enough for you to worry that Iron Man might actually die from pasta and not saving the world as he would prefer.  "Oh, pleeeeease don't murder me."

"What did you do?"

"It's more...what didn't I do..."

"Dad..."

"You're okay if I finish my last meal, right?" he nervously smiled, hurrying a large forkful into his mouth before you could object.

"DAD.  What. Didn't. You. Do?"

"The minister...he can't make it."

~~~

"Call Tony," Bucky grunted, pushing the freshly dead assailant off of himself as he tried to push his own fatiguing body from the ground, "we're in over our heads, Steve!" 

"We're okay, Buck..." he argued back with a weary determination, "we're good..."

"No, we're getting our asses handed to us, and at this rate, we'll never make it back to the jet." 

"Captain, Barnes is correct, we are in the midst of a battle in which we cannot be victorious," Thor joined in over the comms.  "Parker concurs."

"Pete?"

"Yeah," Peter struggled, "I'm not about...to argue with...a god..."

"Call Tony, Steve," Bucky repeated.  "Call (Y/N), Banner, Romanoff.  Anyone."

"The wedding is tomorrow.  I can't call them in."

"Don't you think it's more important for you to be there than to be dead?"  Bucky spun and grabbed the shield from Steve's hand and flung it into the air towards an enemy that the Captain hadn't seen, saving him from a strike that could have made his question come true.  "Call someone, Steve, or I will."

~~~

You had been sitting in silence, staring at Tony in full disbelief for so long that he was worried that he had just thrown you into a panic attack or psychotic break or something equally terrifying to him.  His ravenous appetite had left him just as quickly as it had arrived, and as he waited for you to say something, anything, he found his own panic ready to make an unwelcome visit.  "Baby, talk to me...please."

"When...w-when did you know that the minister wasn't coming?" you asked so quietly that he strained to hear you.

"A few days ago.  I forgot to tell you, I'm really sorry."

"You forgot to tell me," you whispered, but it was to yourself and not him.  Your gaze dropped away and down to your plate of untouched food; it didn't look appetizing to you in the least, your stomach now in a tight knot that wasn't about to release any time soon.  Everything had been falling into place far too perfectly and you should have known better.  "How do you expect me to find a new one by tomorrow?"

"I'll do it," he offered readily, leaning across the table to take your hand, but you pulled back, "hey, this is my screw up, so I'll take care of it, okay?  Sweetheart, you've done so much, I wouldn't ask you to fix this for me.  I've got it.  Now come on, eat something."

"Okay, yeah...sure."  You picked up your fork and thoughtlessly pushed the food around, but didn't pick any up to taste; you barely remembered ordering it, your mind so full of things to do and keep track of that it was done on autopilot.  You stared at it as your brain continued to race, a thought or a memory dancing at the edge of it and teasing you with the answer that you needed, but you couldn't quite grasp it.  You were jarred from your stupor at the sound of both yours and Tony's phones alerting you at the same time with the familiar tone that could only mean one thing; after reading your messages together, you pushed away the plate and stood, grabbing your bag and reaching for his hand to lead you both to the tower in a full sprint.

~~~

"I'm surprised that only four of you would be sent to this fight, Captain Rogers.  Given an assault of this magnitude and with our numbers so significantly eclipsing yours, it would seem that the Avengers have made quite the careless mistake." 

"You can't blame us really," Steve sneered at his captor, with his three teammates at his side, "you guys aren't normally hard to beat.  We're just having an off-day."

"Hmm," the man replied with an equal expression, "that may be, but all that matters is that we have the upper hand on this day."

"For now," Bucky growled at him, pulling at restraints that wouldn't break, even with his metal arm's strength against them.

"Down, boy."

"Don't call me that."

"What would you prefer?" the agent leaned in closer to him, feeling safe with his target's immobility despite the history to believe otherwise.  "Soldier?  Is that better?"

Bucky hissed under his breath and did his best to avoid engaging in a fight that he knew was what this asshole wanted, instead looking over to Steve when he heard a quiet snicker from his friend.  "You find that funny?" he whispered harshly.  "What the hell, man?"

"I'm not laughing at you, Buck," Steve whispered back.  His eyes followed the man as he paced back and forth in front of their group, talking to one of his fellow agents.  Steve held back a gasp at the sounds he had just barely made out from beyond the door that contained them within the cold and bare cell that they had found themselves in, smiling wider now at the realization that what he had believed to be happening actually was.

"You know how goddamn lucky you are that I'm your daughter, Stark?"

"Believe me, you remind me every day, I've got it!"

"If I didn't just save your ass, there wouldn't even be a wedding tomorrow!"

"Jesus, you're kidding me, right?" Bucky sighed, hanging his head in disbelief.  "They can't even stop long enough to save us?"

The action picked up quickly after that, the door falling with a resounding crash that left the foursome struggling to hear through the ringing in their ears, each of them shaking their heads to try to clear them and coughing the waft of dust from their lungs as the air settled.  When the haze dissipated, they watched in both joy and a little bit of awe as you and Tony positioned yourself just inside the doorway, back-to-back and covering with weapons drawn in each direction.  Once the guards in the room had been neutralized, your focus was on the hallways around them, but it was a split focus as your argument with Tony continued on between shots.

"You didn't save my ass, you got lucky!"

"If I hadn't have remembered that Rhodey was ordained, I'd have to tell Pepper how big of an idiot you are!"

"She already knows!"

"If I wasn't so entertained, I'd be annoyed by this," Steve chuckled quietly.  "It terrifies me sometimes, how alike they are.  It's like I married Tony."

"I heard that," Tony snapped, but his look to Steve quickly changed to a pleading in his eyes to help him.  "Look, (Y/N)," he returned to focus on you, "Rhodey said he'd do it, so we're good, right?  Let's just get this job done and get the hell outta here."

"Hold on, if Rhodes is officiating, who's your Best Man?" Steve asked the necessary question.

"Happy can do it."

"No, I called him already during the flight here," you answered angrily, "and he insists that he has to be on security.  He won't budge."

"Duck, sweetheart," Tony interrupted, swinging his arm over your head to shoot down an unseen agent headed your way.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime.  Okay, well then we'll just have Steve do it."

"Woah, hold on just a second," Steve snorted, "how about asking Steve instead?  I know that I'm a bit of a captive audience here, but I think that I should have some say in this."  His head snapped to the side at the sound of Bucky's restraints falling away as if on their own, followed by Thor's and then Peter's, but his remained in place.  "Okay, neat trick, but what about mine?"

"Sorry, Cap, but I'm supposed to wait until you agree," Scott said as he returned to full form, taking off his helmet as he watched and waited.  "I suggest that you just play along because I've had to listen to them the whole way here and I'm about to put those restraints on and stay behind."