Chapter One: Call Stark.
Captain Steve G. Rogers stood outside the rundown apartment building waiting for the signal. The FBI were following a lead to the most renown hacker of the time who called himself the Ironman. Steve scoffed at the name thinking it was a ridiculous to give a hacker a name. All it did was stroke the man's ego. It was like a small piece of encouragement and evidence that the government not only saw him as a threat but are also scared of him. Thus defining Ironman as a bully and Steve hated bullies above everyone else. Worse, Ironman was nothing but a cowardly one. He hated his kind the most. Bullies who hid in the shadows.
A small light flashed from the top of the roof top, once, twice and then a third. They had the green light. He was moving in. His heart rate sped up as they climbed the stairs of the old run down building entering every room. He has been searching for Ironman for years now and never have they gotten so close. The more time passes the more it ate away at him. Made him feel like he failed. He was the commander of this search team. Ironman was his catch. And now he finally got him.
Well, he thought he did. He stood in the center of the penthouse on the top floor and no sign of the hacker. He growled in frustration until he turned towards a corner and a camera flash blared through the room before disappearing. Before he could do anything his partner, Bucky, moved forward grabbed the camera into his left hand and crushed it.
Bucky was his best friend, his work partner and his lover. He stood by Steve's side for years. Followed him into this profession claiming that someone had to look after Steve's back as he rushed headfirst into danger. It always made Steve smile and worry at the same time. Every night he would wonder if that maybe during this mission Steve would lose Buck forever. Especially since the agency began sending them both on different missions. The Captain knew that the Director, Nick Fury, was trying to slowly separate them but Steve refused to let the love of his life die while on a mission he is not there for.
"Hey Cap," Clint Barton came out from the shadows holding the broken camera.
"What do we got Hawkeye?" Steve asked the other blonde. Clint looked down at the crushed camera sheepishly before turning to glare at Bucky for ruining the only piece of evidence that could link them to Ironman. Steve was going to have to talk to Bucky about this afterwards. It does no good to embarrass someone in front of their teammates, especially someone as sensitive to social acceptance as Bucky.
"From what little I can gather from the broken camera—thanks Barnes—that it was connected to a small routing machine that sent the picture an unknown and untraceable server," Clint answered with a sigh. Steve watched as Clint tried to salvage the broken pieces that continued to fall apart in his hands.
"Better than nothing," Steve said, "can we track it? Can we get anything if we look into the unknown server?" Steve needed to know if this wall a dead end. Again.
"I don't know," Clint sighed, "it is worth a try. Though I can tell you that there is a big chance that this is a bust. Ironman works fast. He has probably gotten anything he wanted off that server and shut it down. The only person that might outwit him would be Stark but he hates working with the government."
"If its Stark we need," Steve replied, "then I will get us Stark. Just make sure we can do something. I do not want to look like a fool in front of that asshole. He is already a pompous ass. He will rub it in our faces that we still have not caught Ironman let alone got bested by him yet again. He would probably say it was child's play and call us incompetent." Steve heard Bucky punch a wall. They all hated working with Stark but to catch Ironman Steve was willing to bight the bullet.
"For a group of people who make it their mission to tell me off every chance you get, you sure do ask for my help a lot," the smug voice echoed through the conference room. The voice belonged to Tony Stark, who sat at the end of the table farthest away from any of the core Ironman team members. He leaned back into his chair and eyed them all with distrust and a little distain. It was a known fact that the Steve's team did not like Stark and that Stark did not like them back. But he needed him so they were willing to take part in his child's play to get him to cooperate.
"Well maybe if you wore a little less hair jell and sunglasses in shaded room we wouldn't hate you so much," Clint bit back. Stark just turned his head slightly in his direction but did not say anything.
"We did not call you here to point out how much you dislike us and how much we dislike you," Steve began.
"Oh no," Stark spat, "you do not get to decide how this plays out Steven. I set the rules. Your little band of Avengers, as the world like to call you, has nothing on me. I am here on my own vocation. I can decide at any time to withdraw my services if I so please. So let me say this again, I set the rules." Steve just nodded mutely. Stark smirked smug.
"So, tell me the juicy details," Stark sat back again getting himself comfortable. Steve looked at the man holding back a sigh. Making sure none of his team members retorted to their guest, Steve began explaining all they had on the hacker named Ironman. Steve watched Stark's expression change from concentration, to intrigue and dare he say a little fear. He explained the most recent event, how a picture was taken of him at the abandoned apartment complex and how it was sent to some unknown server. He then explained Stark's role in all of this.
"If I help you than I will work from here," Stark answered, "I don't want this coming back to me. I don't need a hacker breathing down my ass. Especially if he has been able to avoid getting caught for so long."
"Why Stark, scared for your money and wealth?" Barnes bit at the man across the room.
"No dumbass," Stark snarled back, "I run a multi-billion company. Imagine how many people I employ and how many people depend on me and my company to succeed for them to be able to put food on their tables? Do not get me wrong I do like my doe but if it was just me fine but if this…this Ironman decides to attach SI due to my involvement it is not just me I am putting on the line it is the lively hood of millions across the globe. So, like I said, you guys will have to deal with the fallout if anything goes wrong."
That shut everyone up. Steve felt a twinge of shame that they all thought the same thing. Turns out that Stark wasn't as selfish as they thought. Or, maybe, Stark was just using his employees as a way to not claim responsibility. That would be something he would do. Suddenly, Steve was not so ashamed anymore. People like Stark don't do nice. They don't do genuine concern for others.
Stark had taken over the whole IT department and some of the lab space in their building that same day. At first it bugged a lot of people due to Stark's demanding persona and him hijacking their daily routine and their space to do what he wanted. To make sure the space and time was not being wasted, Steve always had eyes on Stark, preferably someone from his team. Bruce seemed to have taken that task upon himself since he is the only one who gets most of the gibberish that Stark spews. Though, to Steve's annoyance, the two scientists started to become buddies. Stark only got a long with Bruce and for some reason that irked Steve. He hated that Stark was just going to use Bruce for his own gain and then dump him once he is finished. The man was too trusting for his own good.
"What is wrong Stevie?" Bucky came up behind him as he stood watching Stark move around the room chaotically with a large frown on his face.
"I hate having to depend on Stark for anything," Steve sighed, "I mean this is such a big hit and I cannot help but feel letting the egotist have a go against Ironman is a bad idea. Stark might even provoke Ironman to do something worse and bigger to one up the world's greatest genius."
"Well he an egotistical bastard who basically sleeps with anything that moves but he has the best mind in the world," Bucky responded with a shrug. Steve knew Bucky hated admitting something good about Stark but he was not wrong.
Stark was now taking a break. It was obvious since he took out a StarkTab and began tapping away. He was instructed that he could not use any of his tech for this project or any project connected to the FBI, which surprisingly Stark agreed to it. Though Steve did not feel an ounce of trust towards Stark to keep his word so with a deep sigh, Steve walked into the room.
"Stark," he called for the smaller man's attention.
"Hmm?" Stark did not even bother looking up from his tablet.
"What are you doing?" Steve asked.
"Making dinner plans," Stark replied finally looking up from his tablet, "why want to join me and honeybear?"
"Honeybear?" Bucky inquired his voice was mocking. Stark glared at Bucky.
"Don't ask if you do not like the answer, guard-dog," Stark hummed earning back a glare from Bucky. Steve sighed, today was going to be a long day.
Steve finally got back home to the sound of the television running and a quiet clank of dishes being put away. Steve smiled. Nat was probably putting dishes away while Clint watched his favorite sit-com. Steve was finally home. He no longer had to carry around his shield, which Clint always teases would have a star in the middle of it if it were real. It was a mental shield that allowed him to lead people in tight situations. Steve had tried to explain it to them once but got nowhere real fast.
Letting the keys drop onto the counter next to the door, Steve called into the apartment announcing his arrival. He knew the occupants of the apartment hated being startled and surprised so they all did their best to announce their presence. It was a thing that came to be after their tour in Iraq. They all had this fear of not knowing who was coming in through the door and whether or not they could be trusted.
"Dinner is in the oven," Nat spoke up from the kitchen doorway. She leaned against the door frame waiting for him to approach the kitchen before moving out of the way. Steve passed her patting her on the head in affection before grabbing the food from the oven. It was lasagna, and not just any lasagna, it was Clint's famous recipe. Steve smiled and took his offering to the small table behind the couch in the living room.
Taking a bite of the pasta Steve moaned in delight before shoveling it down rigorously. Clint bent his head and smiled pleased of Steve's reaction to his cooking. Then again Steve loved everything Clint made but lasagna had a special place in his heart.
Bucky came home a little later that day humming quietly a Russian song a foreign friend Steve never got to meet taught him. Steve got up from his place on the table to give Bucky a quick kiss which turned into a make out session on the kitchen counter.
"Hey Buck," Steve panted placing his forehead down onto Bucky's.
"Sup Punk," Bucky replied just out of breath as Steve was. Steve loved that Bucky always gave and took as much as he did. If Steve needed fiery passion than Buck lit the fire, if Steve needed calming touches then buck would always gently roam his hands over his body. God, Buck was perfect.
"You hungry?" Steve asked pulling away from Buck to get him his plate of food. The brunette still sat on the counter watching Steve bend down to get him his food. Steve smirked letting himself stay there for a little while longer since he knew Bucky was enjoying the show.
"I am hungry for something alright," Bucky's voice went deep and husky. Steve smirked getting back up and shoving the food into Bucky's hands.
"Someone is horny," Steve chuckled blushing a bit. He heard Bucky grumbled about him being such a tease. Steve watched as Bucky dragged his plate to the table and began to eat the lasagna. Slowly Bucky's face shifted to pure ecstasy as he enjoyed the food.
"It can be a little creepy being watched while you eat," Bucky smiled up at Steve.
"Someone has to make sure you get food in your stomach, jerk," Steve replied. He turned to sit on the couch next to Clint and mindlessly began to watch the sit-com. Soon Bucky crawled into his lap and began demanding attention from Steve. He was such a needy man.
Steve sighed wrapping his arms around Bucky, stuffing his nose into Bucky's hair. Today was a long day. It always was when working with Stark. Hopefully, he can help bring Ironman to justice. It would finally bring some peace of mind and he could finally move on. But for now, he was going to enjoy being with Bucky.