AN: The 4th inspired me to write a Steve Rogers birthday fic! It starts off slow, and I apologize for that. Eventual slash! This fic is dedicated to Olivia! Her awesome Tumblr name is oliviaisthebomb :D I know some people hate it, but I'm keeping Coulson alive. It's a tiny part of the story, so I hope it won't retract too much. The layout might be confusing. It goes from present to flashback to present. I hope it makes sense. Happy reading! Apologies to those reading my other fic that is not updated. This one wrote itself, while I have writer's block on the other.
It was the Fourth of July in New York. Only two months had passed since Loki's attack on the city, but the New Yorkers were quick to recover. From dawn until, well, dawn (it is called the city that never sleeps), the streets were more crowded than ever, as people were commuting to visit family or see fireworks or do any of the vast multitude of pastimes people participate in on Independence Day.
It was also Steve's birthday. The newspapers were filled with stories about the holiday's festivities and about Captain America's birthday. But Steve didn't feel like this day was the birth of Captain America. He had been Steve long before he became a super soldier.
The last birthday he had celebrated was in 1941, before he entered Project: Rebirth. There was no time or cheer for celebration during the war, when so many innocents were dying fighting while he was acting on a stage or dying next to him in battle. Steve didn't expect to do anything today. Everyone he shared his last birthday with was gone. The only people he knew now were a group of dysfunctional superheroes and a handful of agents.
Besides Bruce, Steve was the first Avenger to move into Stark Towers. But frankly, he didn't have a choice. With the alien invasion, Captain America had burst in on the public scene. Assimilating him into the future was now of utmost importance, and where was a better place with less hassle for Fury than Stark Towers? It would be beneficial for team bonding as well, Fury told him. Fury had already spoken to Stark about it and Fury said the man was surprisingly apathetic about the intrusion into his home. So Steve packed up his few belongings and Happy picked him up.
A voice had greeted him as he arrived, saying Mr. Stark would meet him shortly. The man had shown up a few minutes later in jog pants and a t-shirt and led him to his new room. And by room, Stark meant an entire floor. Even though the two of them hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot, Steve had to admit Stark's rooms were vastly nicer than SHIELD's. The room was elegantly furnished and decorated in the style of the 1930s. His floor contained a well stocked kitchen (the grocery list was definitely written by Pepper), a full gym, a living room, the largest bathroom Steve had ever seen, and his bedroom. The genius made sure to tell him the top floor was open to all. It had the best kitchen and entertainment system, since the floor was meant for team gatherings. Steve had been speechless, except to say thank you. Stark smiled and returned to his lab.
It turned out that each Avenger had a separate floor. Thor had yet to return from Asgard, so his remained unoccupied, but Clint moved in after a couple of weeks. Natasha never officially moved in. Nobody knew how many hidden apartments and safe houses she had hidden around the world. With her history, it was a habit for her to never remain in one place for long. But there would be days where Tony would go to the bar for alcohol and Natasha would be eating in the team kitchen. Sometimes Steve would hear the shower running on her floor. One time Bruce was riding the elevator on his way to pick up some Indian food when the lift stopped on Barton's floor and Natasha entered the elevator as Clint called, "Bye Tasha!"
A day after he moved in, Tony said he needed to show him something.
"I've been working on this. I know there is a lot for you to catch up on, Cap. Elvis, Star Wars, the like." Tony continued leading Rogers to the lab when he stopped short.
"Oh my god." He turned abruptly to face the Captain. "Playboy."
"Umm…excuse me?" Steve was confused. "I don't gamble, I-"
"Oh wow, you have no idea what Playboy is." Stark sounded gleeful. "This is going to be so much fun later!"
Steve just sighed, which prompted Stark to continue walking.
"Anyways, back to more serious matters." Stark halted in front of a large table. "Pop culture is good and all, but you missed a shit ton of history. I hoped this might help. I can have it moved up to your room if you like."
Tony had built a giant holographic table, figuring Captain Rogers would want a localized area in the towers for study. He also thought the Cap might freak out a little if there wasn't a table. Holographic images were enough of a leap for a man who grew up in the thirties. At least with the table, it appeared the images came from somewhere.
"What is it?" Steve asked.
"JARVIS?"
"Uploading, sir. Would you like chronological order?"
"Yes, let's start with the end of World War II." Stark replied.
Before him appeared a holographic map of the world, locating the positions of the troops during the war. The detail was immense. The genius showed him how to zoom in with his hands and manipulate the holographic image in order to see specific information. The module contained every troop movement recorded, every skirmish, the recorded flow of goods, and all the background material for the war.
"This contains all the history recorded since you…were frozen. It also has information from before that in case you are interested. My program contains social issues – integration, Civil Rights Movement, abortion, and so on, but the coolest part is the battle software. You're the leader of our ragtime band, so I thought the more tactical information the better!" Stark said, sounding excited about his invention. But then his voice lost its cheerful quality.
"Unfortunately, the world has made mistakes. In hindsight, the history makes humans look awful…I hope you take into account that we always did what we thought was best…Damn, now I'm thinking this was a bad idea. The world has really made so many mistakes…Me most of all."
Steve could only just hear what Stark mumbled at the end and wondered at its meaning. Was he talking about Stark Industries weapons? Thinking he wasn't meant to hear that, he ignored the last comment.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark. This will be very helpful and infinitely easier than combing through dozens of books."
"Well, I'll leave you to it Cap. Feel free to use it whenever you like." As he walked away, he said over his shoulder, "And don't worry, I'll make sure to catch you up on pop culture too! Movie night on Friday, I think. Ask Pepper." And with that, the elevator doors closed and he was gone.
The weeks passed without incident. The only blip was when Tony locked himself in his lab alone for a week after Pepper broke up with him. Other than that, the scientist Avengers were often in the lab, and Steve spent most of his time in the gym. Each Friday and some random nights, the team would watch movies together. They all seemed to get on fairly well, but Tony and Steve didn't ever need to talk directly with one another.
Tony wasn't good with birthdays. Heck, he wasn't even good with knowing the days of the week, or whether it was night or day. When he locked himself in his lab, time was no longer relevant. After the debacle of forgetting Pepper's birthday again, Tony programmed JARVIS to remind him of upcoming birthdays and to purchase a suitable backup present in case he forgot regardless of JARVIS's many reminders. That was another thing that happened in lab. Tony tuned out JARVIS when there were too many equations and inventions buzzing through his mind.
When the Avengers moved in, JARVIS put their birthdays on the calendar, except for Natasha's. Neither JARVIS nor Tony could find her real date of birth.
So on July 1st, JARVIS interrupted Tony and Bruce working in the lab.
"Sir, I am to remind you that Mr. Rogers' birthday is on July 4th."
Tony and Bruce looked at each other before breaking down into laughter.
"Really?" Tony laughed breathlessly.
"Is that accurate?" Bruce asked.
"Yes, sirs. Steven Rogers was born July 4th, 1918."
"He really is Captain America!" Bruce said. They laughed together for a few moments longer, before sobering up.
"Thanks JARVIS. So I guess we have a party to throw!" Tony said.
"Oh no…" Bruce knew what kind of party Tony usually threw.
Tony surprised everyone by arranging a small gathering of people, with lots of excellent food, a delicious and huge cake, and not as large an amount of alcohol as expected. The only people invited were the Avengers, Phil Coulson, Pepper, and Maria Hill. Unfortunately, Maria was on a mission and Thor was still in Asgard. Pepper wasn't there either, probably because her break up with Tony was too fresh.
No one was more surprised than Steve about the party. Earlier that day he had been called into SHIELD for a mandatory physical, which had been scheduled for that day by Coulson to get Steve out of Stark Towers. When Steve returned, JARVIS prevented him from taking the elevator to his floor and took him to the team floor instead. The doors opened to the five of them standing there smiling, a banner that read "Happy Birthday" hanging above their heads. They decided not to put his age anywhere because thinking about it and looking at Steve was way too confusing.
"Happy birthday!" They said in almost unison.
"Wow, guys! You didn't have to do all this!" He heard replies over one another of "Yes, we did" and "It's your birthday!"
He smiled broadly and thanked them all. They sat down for dinner and ate cake. Instead of his age number of candles, they instead had one large candle shaped as his shield. Ignoring the Captain's protests that they didn't have to buy him presents, the gift giving began.
Clint handed Steve his present with a perfect poker face. The gift was wrapped like a blind one-armed monkey had gotten a hold of tape and wrapping paper. Steve tore through the mess and found three magazines with the word Playboy across the front.
"You didn't!" Natasha spoke, and suddenly everyone was eagerly awaiting Steve's reaction.
Steve asked as he flipped through the first pages, "What is Playboy anyw- OH GOD!" He dropped the magazine like it had burned him while the others fell over laughing. It seems Stark had told Clint that Steve didn't know what Playboy was.
"Nice one, Clint!" Stark said. "I approve." Clint smirked and leaned slightly into Natasha, confidently. She quirked an eyebrow at him before tossing her gift to Steve, who was sitting there gaping at them, cheeks a furious shade of red.
The wrapping on this one was impeccable. Inside was a small object shaped like a hockey puck.
"It's for your belt. It can paralyze your prey in battle," she said with a glint in her eye and a sweet smile on her face. He couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Steve blinked at her and began to thank her before Clint interrupted, taking pity on Steve.
"Don't worry, man. It's shield polish."
"Oh!" Steve smiled. "Thanks Natasha!" She inclined her head in response. The next gift was from Bruce.
"It's not much." Bruce said quietly. Steve carefully pulled apart the green wrapping paper and uncovered a few pouches of what appeared to be tea leaves and herbs.
"I know you've been having trouble sleeping. I have quite a bit of experience with herbal remedies, though none seem to work on The Other Guy, but these should help." Bruce rubbed his neck nervously.
"Wow, thank you. This is great, Dr. Banner." Steve smiled at Bruce, and he returned the smile.
Coulson walked up to Steve hesitantly and gave him his present.
The crisp black and white wrapping paper held a new sketchbook and different types of nice ink pens.
"Oh, Phil. These are beautiful. I can't wait to use them. Thank you!" Phil beamed at him. Steve thought he had never seen the agent look so happy.
Stark was last. He passed the parcel to the Captain. The present was nicely wrapped, which was strange since the genius was quite messy and Pepper wasn't around to wrap it. There was some sort of computer inside.
"It's a laptop – a portable computer. Any one of us can teach you how to use it. It gets easier and a laptop really comes in handy."
"Thank you, Stark."
"No problem, Cap."
They all talked and ate for awhile, watching fireworks and listening to patriotic music coming from the TV. Bruce left first to get his rest, then Coulson had to go after getting a phone call. Clint and Natasha left together. Steve gave them each a hug filled with gratitude for making him feel more at home in this strange world. He thought Coulson might have had a heart attack for a second, which wouldn't be good, seeing as he had just finished recovering from his stab wound.
He was left alone with Stark. Things were starting to loosen up between them, but both still felt guilty for their treatment of the other. Steve awkwardly began to pick up some of the dishes.
"Oh, don't bother to clean up. I have bots for that." The inventor stood. It was as if he waited for everyone to leave. "I've got another present for you. Come on."
"You what? You already got me-"
"Hush, will you?"
Steve reluctantly followed Stark into the elevator. They took the lift to Steve's floor.
"My floor? What?"
Stark ignored him and walked over to a box near the balcony. When they arrived there, he turned to the Captain.
"Happy Birthday Cap."
What was this all about? Steve thought. Well, he may as well open it and find out.
Steve unwrapped the large box and opened it. Stark had given him a record player, a really nice record player, from his time. His mind filled with memories of listening with his mother at home and his mouth quirked up into a smile.
"Thank you, Stark. I…this really has a great deal of meaning for me. It brings back good memories."
"I'm glad you like it. I bought a few records, but I don't really know your taste. Just tell JARVIS what you like and he can order it." Tony was relieved that his present was a success. He didn't want to strain their relationship anymore, for some reason the Captain's respect was important for him to earn. Maybe something to do with my dad, Tony thought, but then scoffed internally. Plus, he felt like it was more than that.
"Mr. Stark, you really are too generous, I can buy my-"
Tony waved him off, "It doesn't even make a dent in my finances, don't worry about it." Rogers' continued usage of his surname bugged him. His father was Mr. Stark. But then he realized hardly anyone called the Captain by his real name. Why would Cap-Steve- call him by his first name when people only referred to him by his last name or title?
"Well, I'll leave you to it. Happy birthday, Steve."
"Thank you for today and the gift. Good night...Tony."
Smiling, Tony left the room and Steve pulled out a record, setting it in the player. He hadn't looked at the title, so he was pleasantly surprised by the music that began to play. Steve loved this song before he went to war, before the fighting and death.
Tony was starting to grow on Steve. The genius was so unexpectedly thoughtful. Maybe the arrogance was just a show? Steve pushed the thoughts aside for later, relaxing on his back on the couch to listen to the singer's beautiful voice.
"Good choice, Tony." He said softly and closed his eyes.
Our love
Is a dream, but in my reverie
I can see that this love was meant for me
Only a poor fool
Never schooled in the whirlpool
Of romance could be so cruel
As you are to me
My dreams are as worthless as tin to me
Without you life will never begin to be
So love me
As I love you in my reverie
Make my dream a reality
Let's dispense with formality
Come to me in my reverie
AN: Please please please review! It helps me write. In the early 1900s, playboy meant musician or gambler. It wasn't until late 1940s or so that it took on the other connotation. I took Steve's birthday from the movie but I've seen conflicting years, so apologies if it's incorrect in the comics or whatnot. The song at the end is called My Reverie with Larry Clinton on trumpet and Bea Wain singing. The shield polish was the lovely Olivia's idea! All props to her :D