A Place of Rest For Fallen Sons~
For the friend that followed me through war~
( WARNING: This chapter contains spoilers for Avengers 2)
Chapter One: Captain's Got A Dark Side~
It had started with something as simple as a conversation.
Tony had sauntered up to the bar during the Revel, and leaned over the counter, chatting with Natasha about various things.
"Talking dirty to the kids, Tony?" Steve had jibed coming up behind him, to ask for a drink of his own.
" You know I just don't get what the deal is with you...You're like Joan of Arc or something." Tony quipped.
Steve said nothing in reply, but had laughed hard out of his nose, and taken a whole bottle of whiskey with him.
"Well, that was...not like Steve." Natasha mused, watching him slip off.
"Was it something I said? Get his prissy little panties in a wad?"
"Nah...something's on his mind...Probably something not as happy as finally getting our hands on Loki's scepter."
"Probably the state of our souls. I'm telling you the guy is actually the 95 -year- old virgin."
Natasha smiled showing all her teeth, and stared off into space.
"Aw come on Tony...That's what makes him Captain America..."
"Look, I just can't trust a guy that doesn't have a dark side."
" Everybody has a dark side...Some people..it's harder to see. And the Cap here...he's...deeper than you think. Sunk to the bottom of the ocean, frozen solid for 70 years deep..."
"Ooh..what prompted the lecture? You know something on Cap, ha, come on ,spill to me, I'm dying to get some dirt on Saint Steven."
Natasha whipped out an old leather- bound book.
"What is this?" Tony asked reaching a hand out and touching it gingerly like it was a fossil.
"It's a book, Tony. You read it."
"Yeah, well ,duh, I mean what's the book about?"
Nat smiled. "Ok, so maybe it isn't fair, but I wanted to get in the Cap's head, figure him out. I...care...you know...about all these random bouts of depression? It's not good for the team. And..I thought if I could read him better...I could help him. He's been messed up since we found out about his friend..."
"Friend? Steve actually has those?"
"This is the War Journal of Captain America. I stole it from him. He doesn't know I've got it, and I want us to keep it that way, 'kay?"
"So if it's such a hushy hush secret...why are you giving it me?"
"I'm loaning it to you...I've...uhh...I read it..." she got a really far away look in her eyes, and looked at the floor.
"Why would you blow all Cap's secrets ,huh? I mean... you have, or you had, a lot of stuff to keep close to the vest yourself. Isn't this kind of a betraying trust type thing?"
"Well, yeah, but I'm a spy...laundering people's secrets is what I do best...And I'm loaning this to you in confidence...because I think...if we're going to keep this whole Avenger's thing up...there are some things that you need to know about the Captain. Don't..tell him..that I told you, don't tell him that I gave that...to you...I'm going to sneak it back to his personal stuff when you're done with it...Just...you...guys...need to be on equal footing. But you need to get one thing straight in your head. Steve Rogers most definitely has got a dark side. His name was Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. And he came from the long ,long time ago little fairy land of World War 2, which was worse than your worst nightmares ,Tony."
"Ah, for him to be still so fluffy bunny tail pure, it couldn't have been all that traumatic."
"Well, yeah,...it could. You'd think by now somebody like you would recognize machine parts when you see them. I guess he just got too good at putting on the face, turned on that machine personality. There's a whole lot you don't know about him Tony. And there's stuff about your Dad in there too...There's...stuff in there...Uhh...let's just say the movies were full of candy- coated lies. God bless Captain America..."
Tony stood holding the book for a moment.
"Yeah, sure, whatever, I'll give it a look-see sometime, like possibly never. Thanks Romanov!"
When sometime came it changed Tony's life, as well as the face of the future...