This is a work of fan fiction. No profit is being made.
Tony wandered around the large room looking at various bits of equipment as Bruce circled around a whiteboard with Dr. Selvig and Dr. Foster. The rest of the team was still in the other room sitting around the dinning table and chatting. They had fought a band of mutated lizards in another part of the state earlier and Thor had insisted on stopping here to introduce everyone to his fair lady. It had been surprisingly fun. They ate pizza and drank beer as Thor regaled his friends with exaggerated tales of the battle. He moved over to the group of scientists but only half listened to their conversation.
His attention was caught by a laptop that obviously belonged to Foster's assistant. The screen saver was set to filter randomly through the picture files. It was very entertaining. God bless college coeds. The picture that was up now was one of a her with a group of girlfriends at Halloween; each of them in a sexy version of the Avenger costumes. He really wished Steve was in here to get a look at how she filled out the red, white and blue.
"Hey, Tony, what do you think about these equations?" Bruce asked. He drug his attention back long enough to look the board over and offer his opinion. While Foster and Selvig conferred, he looked back over at the laptop, eager for the next picture. He froze at the image on the screen. He knew that the music playing was some kind of indie-pop but all he could hear was AC/DC.
A soldier stared at him with wide brown eyes and raised his hand. "Is it cool if I take a picture with you?"
The image changed and he tried to tell himself he was just seeing things. There was no way he saw that, no way it survived but he had to know. He pushed past Bruce and went over to the computer.
"Tony?"
It was password protected but it only took a moment to bypass.
"What are you doing to Darcy's computer?"
He quickly opened the picture folder and scanned the contents. There. A file labeled Jimmy.
"Hey! Stop that."
He pushed away the arms trying to pull him away. He opened the file and found the picture at the bottom of the list. He clicked on it and his vision swam. The desert view through the building's wide windows narrowed and rocked as the Humvee drove along.
"Just click it! Don't change any settings."
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He looked up and met her eyes. The others were standing behind her, glaring and chastising him.
He spun the laptop around, so she could see the picture on the screen. "How did you get this?"
Her eyes widened and the others fell silent. Her chin trembled as she stared at the photo of him and the baby-faced soldier, a peace sign held up between them. "One of his squad recognized his camera, put it with his things to send back to his family. It was damaged but the card was still good. I pulled it off."
"Why you?" he rasped.
She bit her lip before responding. "He was my fiancé. We were gonna get married after he got back from Afghanistan."
She was looking at him through the window, hoisting her gun as she shouted at him. "Stay here!"
"I'm glad." She told him, tears pouring down her face. "He was a really big fan and I'm glad he got to meet you before... I can't, I can't do this. I'm sorry."
and jumped when the flak peppered the door and she fell from view. He stared at her back as she walked from the room, vaguely aware that he was gasping. He stumbled over the where the armor stood.
"Sir, your heart rate is extremely elevated. What do you require?" Jarvis asked as he climbed in.
"Home. Take me home."