Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable in any of these chapters so this will be my disclaimer for the whole thing.

This is movie-verse (there may be a nod or two to the comic-verse) and AU. I've made some changes with ages (they will be obvious, but not impact the character's personality). For this first chapter I took dialogue and some scenes from the movies Captain America: the First Avenger and The Avengers. I do not claim anything that is recognizable. So if you recognize it then it isn't mine.

There will be both slash and het couples. Nothing explicit. There will be warnings for slash scenes and links on my profile for extended scenes (there will be notes about this).

Steve/Tony, Clint/Natasha, Thor/Jane, Bruce/?

Everything was so cold. The crushing type of cold that stole the breath out of even a supersoldier; that settled deep within a person's very soul. It was everywhere and if Steve Rogers had been asked in that moment he would have sworn that his heart was also encased in ice along with his body, his shield and the steel prison that was composed of a plane. But no one could ask him and he didn't have the ability to answer. His last conscious moments while buried in the ice, the aircraft sinking deeper as it became hidden, was of Peggy's voice talking about dancing with his own worried about stepping on her feet. The pain in that voice that had meant so much to him and belonged to one of the toughest women he knew had caused his breath to catch in his throat. And then his vision had been filled with white, unforgiving white that covered everything as far as the eye could see in those last moments and now instead of that horrible white his vision was being taken over by blackness. He was alone, lost. And with that last thought he allowed the darkness to embrace him and drag him deep into unconsciousness. To take him away from the world that he loved so much, that he had fought so hard to protect. The inside of the aircraft was silent, still and unspeakably cold.

Blue eyes blinked open and Steve Rogers idly took in the sound of a game he'd watched in 1941. The room looked like a recovery room and the woman who entered shortly upon his waking looked like she might be a nurse. But everything was wrong, everything felt wrong because the last thing he remembered was crushing darkness and the warmth being leeched from his very soul.

"Where am I?" because he needed confirmation or at least a hint to what was going on. Everything was wrong. His mind was screaming.

"You're in a recovery room in New York City." Came the prompt response from the woman who smiled at him, but it was fake. The words sounded reasonable, but he knew it to be a lie. At least on some level. He stared at her with his eyebrows drawn together and looked around the room before returning to staring at the 'nurse'.

"Where am I really?" there was no way Steve Rogers was going to allow this charade to go on any longer. He was getting answers and he was getting them now. His voice held the force of command because he needed answers. And he would be damned if he didn't pry them out one way or another.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." The nervousness of her laughter only increased his frustration and a building anger. Steve did not have time for this. The screaming in his mind increased, consumed him and fueled the vehement need for answers. He would not acknowledge the horrible feeling in his heart, the one that told him that maybe ignorance was much better and he didn't want the truth. That the answers he sought might only bring him pain. But he had never been good at giving up, at accepting defeat and the woman before him knew something. She had answers.

"The game. It's from May 1941. I know because I was there." The smile fell from her face and panic was noticeable in her eyes as she scrambled to recover. Steve could see her mind working furiously. He rose from the bed, "Now I'm going to ask you again. Where am I?" he approached, not holding back on his emotions. It was past time for being polite.

"Captain Rogers." Her voice was panicked and he idly noted that her hand squeezed around something. That probably wasn't a good sign.

"Who are you?" the anger he'd kept at bay lashed out and her mouth dropped open slightly as the door opened behind her with two armed men entering. The threat was real and he would not be holding back. As they approached Steve attacked and the wall of the small room gave way as they smashed through to reveal a huge room that his little 'recovery room' had been located in. Steve could hear the woman yelling behind him, trying to get his attention, but his heart was pounding and his mind was screaming at him and he needed fresh air. He needed to escape because nothing about this was right and everything was wrong. So very very wrong. Where was Peggy? Where were the others? Was he even in New York City or was this some foreign land that had captured him? What about the War? His men?

Steve Rogers burst through the doors of the huge room, tore off down the hallways shoving people out of the way as a voice came over an intercom calling out All agents code 13. Which did not sound good in this foreign building; he looked around wildly and made for the exit. He just needed to get out of here. To escape and find answers. To find his team and Peggy because then everything would be alright. Then he was outside and there were cars everywhere. But these were not any types of cars he'd seen before and the buildings were huge, elaborate and while things looked somewhat familiar they all looked so different. Alien almost. He raced down the street trying to escape that horrible building he'd been in. Heart pounding Steve ran down the road and then slowed down before nothing was familiar. Spinning around he looked at the people dressed differently, the huge signs, the lights, the noise and now there were cars with people surrounding him from all sides. He couldn't breathe. It was wrong. It was all so very wrong.

"At ease soldier." The only familiar thing was that phrase. He'd heard it so many times before and turned to the source. Maybe this might be an answer. Hopefully a truthful one. Before him stood a man dressed in all black with an equally black eye patch. The man approached at a confident and steady clip. "Look I'm sorry about that little show back there but we thought it best to break it to you slowly."

"Break what?" he demanded as he continued to breathe harshly. There was a pounding in his ears because this couldn't be good. Nothing like this could lead to anything good.

"You've been asleep, Cap. For almost seventy years." The man responded. Steve didn't know that it would only take two little sentences to rip his heart out and shred it to pieces. It had to be a joke. Almost seventy years? Almost seven decades of his life just…gone? Just like that? Everything he'd known and fought for and loved and hated and all those things that pushed him into action, which drove him to succeed and to do the right thing had been ripped from him just like that? No warning or explanation? Why? Why hadn't that crash just killed him? It wasn't right and it wasn't fair and nothing made any sense. His eyes burned.

Steve couldn't breathe. The world was spinning, was crashing down upon him and nothing looked familiar! Why couldn't anything look familiar? Steve looked around and turned. How was it possible to feel all this pain and not die from it? Why didn't anyone look half as effected as he felt inside? Were people so robotic in their feelings 70 years into the future?

"You going to be ok?" the same man was still speaking so calmly as though he hadn't just destroyed Steve Rogers' entire world. As if he hadn't killed a small part of Steve's soul. As though he hadn't taken any hope that Steve had still harbored and turned it to ash.

"Yeah. Yeah. I just. I had a date." It was a lie. He wasn't ok. Nothing was ok and everything was still so very wrong. Captain Steve Rogers had come up with a plan that had started with ending the War and continued on to settling down so he could raise a family because that was something his mother had always wanted for him. He had believed, honestly believed that he could be happy following that course of action. Maybe not as happy as he could be in a perfect world, but happy and content. Peggy had been the best choice, he'd cared for her so much and Steve was sure he'd been getting close to true, honest love. How could you not love one of your best friends? Because that was what Peggy had rapidly become. That date would have been the first real stepping stone after that good luck kiss she'd given him. Now he'd never know if it would have worked out. If they would developed their friendship into something more. He couldn't get his mind off of it. All of it. Everything was just gone. No chance to see if he could have been happy with Peggy as his wife, with that type of future.

The man led him over to a car and took him back to the building he'd escaped from. Down into a lower level with the man who he would find out was Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD, Steve Rogers would find a gym clearly built from him. He stared at the punching bag and wordlessly walked towards it. With all the anger and the pain and the hurt and the certainty that nothing would ever be right he threw his fist at the bag. It tore itself free of the hook and soared across the room. Sand covered the ground. That one punch had not even released a fraction of his pain and anguish. Breathing was still very much a difficulty.

"Looks like we might need more punching bags." It was said lightly as the other man left him alone. After all they didn't have a need for him right now and why on Earth would anyone think he might need someone or something to talk to? Eventually SHIELD set him up in an apartment with folders full of information about those he'd left behind. About all of his deceased friends and the retired Peggy Carter. With a computer that provided him with footage from the War. Images of his men and himself fighting for his country. Steve Rogers looked down at Howard Stark's information that marked him as deceased before moving to the next paper. Howard Stark had been a father. His mind actually froze as it was so hard to imagine that wild man settling down long enough to marry and have a child. A son who looked close to the young Howard that Steve remembered so very vividly, but quite different at the same time. Maybe he could find some kind of comfort or confidant with Anthony "Tony" Stark. Possibly some answers that SHIELD was not giving him. Steve needed to leave. Wanted to visit the gym. Not the one from SHIELD, but another closer to his new home.

The walk didn't help. Nothing was comforting, nothing familiar. The people were different. The buildings were changed. And there was so much noise. So much chaos. No one appeared to be focused on the world outside of their own individual lives. He could vaguely recall the waitress that had been friendly to him, the old man who had joked about him asking for her number. Once he arrived at the gym Steve changed and headed towards the punching bags. The owner already knew about the damage they would sustain and Steve had used the money that he'd accrued while frozen in the ice to pay for the damage he knew he was about to cause.

His mind kept flashing back to the past. To all the things he'd seen and left behind as he kept punching at the bag. His hits increased in speed and strength. All he could think about was the loss of Dr. Erskine, Bucky, the Howling Commandos, Howard and Peggy. Of everything he'd known. The gym lights were dim and the only sounds he could hear were the hits to the bag, a slight creaking from the chain and his own breathing. His hits increased until he was throwing far too much power into the bag until it broke and smashed into the ground. Just another destroyed punching bag. Sand everywhere. Steve Rogers stood there breathing heavily as his mind fought to return to the present. Away from the demons from his past. Then he was hanging another. He managed to throw a few more punches before a voice cut in.

"Trouble sleeping?" Nick Fury's voice came from his right and Steve Rogers couldn't stop the sarcastic thought of what sleep?

"I slept for 70 years, sir. I think I've had my fill." He continued to punch the bag, throwing his frustration and anger into each punch. Trying to escape the ever present pain that continued to consume his mind.

Part of him hoped that the Director of SHIELD would leave, that he would just walk away and leave him to his horrible thoughts. He figured it should be obvious he'd wanted away from SHIELD when he refused to use the gym they had first taken him to in their building. That hope was crushed as the voice spoke once more, "Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world."

A voice in Steve's head screamed out his frustration and pain. What was there to celebrate? Everyone he cared about was dead or lost to him. Nothing was familiar. All those things that he held close were gone. The world was so chaotic, fast, disconnected and changed. There was nothing to celebrate. He tried to focus away from those thoughts, even if it was just a short distance, but his mind circled back to the War.

He moved from the bag and began to unwrap his hands as he turned his back to Nick Fury. "When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost." No one had said much of anything to him actually. Just some file folders and a few short bits of information.

Of course Fury had a comeback to the comment. Steve Rogers still didn't have much information on what had happened between the time he went into the ice to the current moment. No one had supplied him with information or really answered his questions. Those files were the most he'd acquired at this time. There were little pieces of information he'd gained, but nothing of true value.

"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some, very recently." Steve continued to look down. That doesn't sound good came the sardonic thought as he tried not to physically react to Fury's words about mistakes.

Instead of going into any of his scornful thoughts he moved in a different direction, "You here with a mission, sir?" Captain Rogers needed to get out of this place, out of the gym and away from the nightmares that wouldn't let him sleep. Because darkness creeping up on his vision had been the last thing he'd seen before his world had ended. He wasn't really ready to embrace unconsciousness lest he wake up another seventy years in the future or somewhere worse.

"I am." Lovely…what are they going to do to me now?

He decided to not voice that slightly dark thought and instead, "Trying to get me back in the world?" it would be a surprise if that was actually what the man was trying to do because so far they'd only kept him from the world. Their first action had been to create something fake to fool him and then once he'd discovered the truth they'd locked him away as though he was a bad secret that needed to be buried. A dangerous secret because he'd noticed the slight flinches a few agents had when they had to interact with him; though he was sure it was due to how he'd escaped their custody in the first place and not because of him as a person. The apartment was SHIELD monitored just like all of his communications and interactions. He knew that if he said or did something off that an agent would be quickly at his side.

"Trying to save it." Well…that didn't sound good. Why were his thoughts so derisive? Probably because he had nothing left. The only thing that he still had from his past was his shield and for that he'd had to actually threaten them once he'd discovered they were keeping it from him.

Steve Rogers took the folder held out to him and flipped it open. There staring back at him was something very familiar and suddenly he found himself wishing for the unfamiliar. That horrible glowing cube that caused only death and destruction. "HYDRA's secret weapon."

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you." Steve turned the page and wished that Howard had focused on his machines instead of searching for him. "He thought what we think. The Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

Does it really? The world looked like it had more than enough energy. Far too much. That cube was better off lost in the ocean. Lost to the world. "Who took it from you?"

"He's called Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll need to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

Steve got to his feet, "At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."

"Ten bucks says you're wrong." Steve picked up a punching bag and collected his things as he began towards the exit, "There's a debriefing packet waiting for you back at your apartment. Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"

"You should have left it in the ocean." And me in the ice. He wanted to be left alone. Wanted to curl up and cry and scream and rage against the world. Captain Steve Rogers just wanted to give in. To give up. But he couldn't. It wasn't in him. His heart and soul fought against those feelings of loss, loneliness and despair. However, Steve Rogers would not give up. Could not do that. He was a fighter. He'd been given a second chance. Now a third chance in the future. He would not fail Dr. Erskine. Steve Rogers was just a boy from Brooklyn who had been given a chance that he would not squander. Those feelings simmered below the surface, trying to surge up and choke him. But like the fighter he was Steve beat them back and soldiered onward.

Next thing he knew he'd showered, changed clothes and grabbed what he thought he might need. Meeting Agent Phil Coulson was both amusing and slightly scary; especially when the man admitted to watching him sleep. It was hard not to like the other man even though at times Coulson seemed to be barely restraining himself from hugging him. The information about the others in the Avengers' Initiative was fascinating and he'd felt his heart leap into his throat when he'd read the familiar name once more. Stark. There was a great chance he would be meeting Howard's son. Someone who might be a slightly familiar face and have answers that no one was giving him. It was all his mind could focus on when he'd seen the other man's name. More information about the future was such a welcome change. He had been starved for information, but continued to keep a neutral and somewhat obedient façade. Sometimes keeping up such a mask was both necessary and beneficial. At least until he honestly knew what he was dealing with and who he was working alongside.

Then they were talking about his suit, his uniform. Weren't the stars and stripes a little old fashioned? He thought it idly before voicing a more comprehensive thought out loud. Coulson's response caused a slightly light feeling in his chest and the joy in the other man's face when he had told him that he'd had a hand in designing the suit was slightly entertaining. He wondered if it would be close to what Howard and he had designed originally.

Iron Man rocketed towards the open portal in the sky and Captain America tried his hardest not to be sick. His harsh words from earlier playing a horrible mantra in his mind even as he ran over what he'd said to Iron Man over the comm. Stark, you know that's a one-way trip. He'd never been more wrong in his entire life.

You're not the kind of guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.

No. Tony Stark would cut the wire. He'd cut it and use himself as a human shield to protect everyone else. At the cost of his own life. Without second guessing it. Tony Stark was a hero. He wasn't pretending. Maybe Steve was the pretender. The boy from Brooklyn had been willing to throw himself onto a grenade. Where was he now? While Captain America was stuck on the ground, helpless and unable to protect his teammate.

Steve watched as Iron Man disappeared along with the nuke into another dimension. Everything collapsed around them. Eyes turned back toward the sky before he released a sigh. He forced the order out for Black Widow to shut the portal as he looked away. Even from the ground he could sense her hesitation before she complied. Iron Man was lost. Tony Stark was gone. He'd let Howard's only son sacrifice himself for everyone and had done nothing to stop it.

Captain Rogers' mind flashed back to the words they exchanged on the helicarrier.

Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?

Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you fight for is yourself.

Always a way out…You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.

A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything that you are came out of a bottle!

Then his mind flashed over to the effects that the Tesseract had on all of them. The feelings that weren't quite his own, but at the same time wasn't very far from what he'd been thinking. Just a little blunter and harsher then what he typically would have. A more corrupt thinking than Steve had ever entertained before.

Bruce being shocked, "Captain America is on a potential threat watch list?"

And Tony Stark's smartass reply, "You're on that list? Are you above or below angry bees?"

He could remember the anger surging through him, "I swear to God, Stark, one more crack…"

"Threatening! I feel threatened!"

It was all gone in an instant. All of that time wasted and he didn't spend any of it getting to know Howard's son. Tony Stark. To give the other man, his teammate, an honest chance. He'd hoped to see more of Howard in Tony, but instead of getting some connection to his past everything had gone downhill so rapidly. Tony had managed to dig in and bring out some of the worst in Steve. Managed to get under his skin in a way that very few ever had and at the same time had managed to pull at his heart, make him think and push him in a direction he might not have normally gone. To seek out answers instead of being passive and accepting SHIELD at face value.

Just as the portal in the sky was closing something fell through. "Son of a gun." Relief rushed up through his whole body as a grin fought its way onto his face.

"He's not slowing down." Thor began to swing his hammer and Steve stared at his falling teammate. Then there was no need for Thor's rescue as the Hulk flung himself through the air and grabbed Tony from the sky, grasping onto the building as they slid down. He sprung off and hit a car before sliding across the ground on his back, cushioning Tony before pushing him off onto the ground. Steve found himself running towards his fallen teammate.

Thor gripped Iron Man's face plate before ripping it off and tossing it aside. Steve put his ear over Tony's face to listen for breathing. His hand touched the dead arc reactor as he crouched over Tony Stark's body. The Hulk roared and Tony jerked awake

"What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me." His breathing was harsh and slightly erratic. But Tony Stark was breathing. He was alive, animated, looking around, talking and he wasn't dead. Steve Rogers had never felt more relieved. He had a second chance. The second chance he never got with Bucky who he watched die. With Agent Coulson who had given his life fighting against Loki.

Relief was so strong it nearly stole his breath. "We won."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it." it was humorous and something Steve desperately needed. It was so far away from the death and pain surrounding them that he was more than willing to embrace that kind of response.

Thor looked down at Tony who was still lying in the middle of the destroyed road, face exposed and showing off a few cuts. "We're not finished yet."

Steve turned from looking down at Tony, relief still coursing through his veins, as he glanced back at Thor over his shoulder wondering what they still needed to do. Because quite honestly Tony Stark had just voiced the greatest idea ever. The best one since he had woken up.

"And then shawarma after." Tony's voice cut through the air once more. It appeared as though Tony's mind was stuck on food. On something other than the fact that he had almost died. Had almost sacrificed his life for Earth. At this point they were all probably better off sleeping because Steve was actually having trouble remembering the last time he'd slept and if Tony's comments on the helicarrier were anything to go by the same could be said for him.

Steve began to check on the other two teammates who were not accounted for. Natasha still on the top of Stark Tower and Clint was slowly making his way towards them. The archer was injured, but moving steadily through the debris with his bow. Steve got to his feet before reaching down a hand to haul Tony to his feet. Caught the other man as he swayed before righting himself. Carefully they began moving through the destroyed streets littered with broken cars, fires, bodies and rubble. The whole time he remained close to Tony Stark in case the other man had difficulties remaining upright. His other teammates looked more or less like they could walk on their own.

Eventually they made it to Stark Tower. To the building he'd referred to as ugly. To the top where Natasha was waiting for them with the scepter that Steve wanted nothing more than to snap in half before setting on fire. That thing had destroyed lives today. Had destroyed New York. His city even though it had changed so very much from when he'd been there decades before.

Loki was crawling across the wreckage on the floor, towards the steps as they assembled behind him. Prepared for the possibility of another attack. Clint looked far too ready to shoot the god of mischief with his bow while Natasha had a firm grip on the scepter. Steve felt his own hand grip onto his shield as he fought down the anger that was brewing in his stomach. He could the Hulk breathing near him and saw Thor holding onto his hammer tightly.

A groan escaped as Loki finally looked at them, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Steve did not get the reference even though it appeared as though Tony might.

Steve watched as Tony stepped towards the injured god, could practically feel the tension in every inch of Tony's body. "That offer has expired." There was an underlying anger to each of his words. "Throwing someone out of their own window isn't the best way to make friends." There was no real joking manner in either comment that had been present in most of Tony Stark's interactions that Steve had witnessed. Instead there was wariness and anger.

Thor stepped forward, still clutching his hammer as he hauled his brother to his feet. Steve was unaware of where exactly they found restraints while Tony removed his damaged armor, but eventually they were moving through the streets towards Tony's newest point of interest. Thor secured Loki out of the way before the group settled itself around the table while Tony spoke with what appeared to be the owners. The woman in the restaurant was sweeping as a delicious smell filled the place and Steve allowed himself to relax. To let the exhaustion take over his body, steal the tension from his muscles even as food began to fill the table with Tony taking a seat near Bruce.

His teammates, his new allies were in equal states of exhaustion as they relied heavily on their chairs keeping them upright as each began to try the food. Steve made it through two before he found himself leaning forward with his face against his fist. Thor had already eaten three and was on his fourth while Bruce and Tony were on their second. Both Natasha and Clint were slowly working through their first. He'd seen the way Natasha would keep an eye on Clint when she believed no one was aware. Had seen the fond expression on her face and the relief. Steve had seen the love there as well.

Steve wasn't sure if he'd ever be grateful for how quickly he recovered after being prevented from getting drunk the one time he'd honestly needed it, but feeling the strength begin to surge back through his body was a welcome relief. It helped to stave off the exhaustion until he could actually give into it. Carefully they got to their feet as Tony stumbled towards the owners with a check. He watched as the woman stared at it, shaking her head and trying to push it back. But Tony Stark gave her a tired smile as he stepped away from her. His footsteps faltered slightly as he swayed with exhaustion, but he regained his footing rapidly. Ever stubborn.

"I insist. That should cover our bill and assist with repairs."

"This is too much. I cannot possibly—"

Tony waved a hand and offered a shrug, "How about you keep the money and we get free shawarma whenever we come in?"

Tears filled the woman's eyes as her husband walked over before staring in shock at the check. "You are welcome anytime." There was an honest grateful note to her voice and Steve found a grin sliding across his features. Before either could blink the woman had wrapped Tony Stark up into a hug. Steve could see the stiffening of Tony's shoulders before the other man carefully relaxed into her hold. "Thank you for saving us. Thank all of you." She whispered, but each Avenger heard her in the silence that had descended upon the restaurant.

"You're very welcome, Ma'am." Steve walked closer as she released Tony and he saw the sway before it became too much of a problem. His hand moved out to support the smaller man as the others murmured replies before filing out the door. Thor already having collected his brother who was glaring off into the distance waited for them. Loki's mouth was thankfully covered. Steve felt Tony leaning heavily into his side as they moved back onto the streets.

"I guess we need to find a way to contact SHIELD." Natasha muttered as Clint kept an arm around her as they supported each other. "Find somewhere to crash."

Tony's eyes were drooping as he leaned heavily into Steve's side and the supersoldier tightened his grip on the billionaire. "My place. Plenty of rooms…" his words were slightly slurred with exhaustion as the group turned in the direction of Stark Tower. "Someone can lock him up somewhere." They eventually made it, leaning heavily into each other and laughing at very inappropriate things. Tony waved a hand in the direction of where they could bunk down for the night as Natasha and Clint stumbled into the nearest room with the door not even shutting behind them. Thor secured Loki as had been decided before he left with Bruce Banner slowly heading in the direction of a room for himself.

Steve stepped away from Tony who swayed slightly before shaking his head. "Let's go. Which one is yours?" he could feel mild affection taking hold for the drowsy man using him as support once again. Tony pointed even as he allowed Steve to take more of his weight before they began the slow process of finding Tony's room. Steve glanced sideways at his teammate and could not stop himself any longer, "I'm sorry for my words on the helicarrier."

The clouds that had been trying to move into Tony's head rapidly disappeared as he stopped moving and stared at Steve in complete surprise. "What?" thoughts were still trying to catch up it was obvious to Steve who could see the confusion in those brown eyes.

"When we were fighting. I'm sorry for what I said. You're a hero."

A rueful expression stole over Tony's face, "No I'm not." Steve opened his mouth to argue, but Tony moved forward, "I just wanted to make everything right. To clean up my mistakes and atone for them. I never sought this out, never thought to myself that I could be a hero."

Steve stared at him and didn't see Howard Stark's son. He saw Tony Stark the thirty four year old engineer whose brilliance could not be rivaled. Saw the self-doubt behind the arrogant mask and felt a sense of kinship. "You're a hero, Tony. Maybe not to yourself, but to others. Today you saved millions of lives without a thought. So I'm sorry for my words. I haven't been myself since SHIELD woke me up."

Tony looked off to the side, struggled internally before sighing, "Apology accepted. I'm sorry for what I said as well. I have read the reports and seen the footage; I know that everything special about you came before you were Captain America."

They began moving forward once more, "Oh? Was it Howard's?"

It was obvious in the slight flinch at Howard's name that something was off there, but Steve ignored it for Tony's sake. "Yeah." Steve pushed the door open, helped Tony further into the room before the man fell face first into the sheets clutching at a pillow. "There is a room to the right of this one that should work." It was muffled by the fact that Tony's face was buried into the pillow.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

Steve stared at the Tesseract with barely contained fury, but it was leaving Earth. No one here would get their hands on it again. Thor would make sure of that. He was also taking his brother back to Asgard. He stood there with his teammates as they watched Thor and Loki disappear along with that glowing cube. Steve watched as Bruce received some of his things even as he shook hands with Tony Stark. The other man had given him a Starkphone so he could keep in contact. Tony had explained the basics of how to call and answer so Steve figured he was good for now. Bruce was going back with Tony to Stark Tower where renovations were already being set in place while the two SHIELD agents were taking an extended leave of absence. Or at least that is what Steve had gathered. Glancing over at the bike Tony had lent him Steve slowly moved toward it as Stark drove away. There were a few places he needed to visit. The first being his parents' graves. Then he'd begin seeking out answers on his own. There was already a promise of help from Tony Stark when he was ready.

With this story I was quite nervous as I have decided not to rely on humor so much as to fuel the story, but I want to go deeper into the characters (there will be humor...I can't not have humor in one of my stories so never fear). But I want to look at them as people, as individuals being thrust into the role of The Avengers. Especially Steve Rogers who was not given much time between being woken from the ice and fighting against Loki.