Chapter 1: So you ready for a flight?

His phone rang in his pocket, he tried to ignore it while taking a bunch of paperwork from his desk to his hands and back again to the desk, he was bored to death. Running a company wasn't fun. Fun was making all the devices, inventions, experiments and upgrades needed, getting dirty, playing around, forgetting the world, that was fun. But he promised Pepper to have it all clear while she was gone for her honeymoon, so here he was, reading stuff he didn't really cared about, just looking at the end of the page for a blank space he could sign at. His phone rang again, damn those persons didn't give up so easily, he felt a bit curious and grabbed the starkphone, "Nick Fury" was read in the glass screen.

"Shit" he mumbled under his breath. Usually Coulson was the one assigned to call him, but Fury? Well this one was for the record, he tried to remember something he's done recently. Nothing really came into his mind. Lost call. Whatever, he put the phone down and continue reading the papers, now it was harder to concentrate into his work, what did Fury want from him? I mean, after telling him he was not qualified to be in the Avengers initiative, what the fuck did he need from him? It was almost mean to keep calling him. Screw them, he thought and the phone rang again. Ok, this was getting weird, his curiosity bigger than his pride, he sighed and took it, answering.

"Stark why aren't you answering my calls?" It was Fury's voice and he didn't sound happy.

"I'm sorry Ma, I thought I could choose who I wanted to talk with" He could hear a huge sigh from Fury.

"You're truly hard to deal with"

"Well if you can't handle me at my worst you don't deserve me at my best"

"I'm doubting there's a "best" side on you." Stark smiled widely, of course, he even doubted it himself.

"What's up Nick? Why all of the sudden you need me?"

"You need me more than I need you." Fury said, then it was a long pause "We've found him."

"Found who?" Stark asked annoyed, he really hated suspense.

"Captain America."

"Shit" he mumbled and dropped the phone, fuck, the guy his dad dedicated his life to find was there, not a myth anymore, the yearly expeditions he continued paying in memory to his old man weren't such a waste after all, then an idea came to his mind: The real Captain America, the guy his dad never stopped talking about, he was nervous, anxious, desperate almost to meet him, it had been his hero in all his fairy tales, or better say hero tales his mom told him every night, he even had the cards, and those bright memories of his dad being excited and saying how a rightful guy Steve Rogers was, how he always put everyone first, how he said to move on when the serum was causing him unbearable pain. He shook his head getting out of his instant daydream and picked up the phone "Hey, sorry, I'm still here" he said quickly

"Good, I was about to hang up" Fury said, his voice nearly on the edge of frustration.

"Is he, is he alive?" Stark asked

"We think he might be, he is being defrosted. You can come see him, he's in your personal labs, the ones at Seoul"

"All right" Tony said with the clear intention to go see him.

"Really?" Fury sounded more than surprised, speechless by the billionaire reaction, he could swear stark almost sounded excited. Tony understood the tone of admiration in Fury's voice and tried to hide his excitement.

"I mean, if I'm done with this huge paperwork, anyway, if he defrosts before the expected and has nowhere to stay you can tell him I've got a huge tower and multiple houses he can stay in"

"You're being just charming" Fury said impressed, mocking him.

"I don't care 'bout him, it meant a lot to Howard you know" Tony said, incapable of calling him "dad"

"I do. Keep in touch Stark"

"Yeah, right" he said not really paying attention and hung up.

Wow, those were pretty big news, he scratched his brains and lowered his sight at the pile of papers in his glass desk. He really wanted to meet the guy, his dad really made a great deal out of him. At the same time he was feeling a pitch in his chest, and then this awful memory came in, when he was 20 years old and drunk to his ass, crawling the stairs into his room, Howard got out of his lab and gave him a pity look, walked into their kitchen and took out a beer, he clearly remembered how he had screamed at Howard. "Why you just don't give a fuck?!" those had been his exact words, Howard just stood there, watching him, his cold eyes blocking every possible emotion that'd give Tony a hint. "I'm not wasting my time around some drunken spoiled kid" he said dryly and wanted to turn to his lab but Tony somehow stood up and fell at his feet "Why you hate me so much?" he said almost crying, Howard for the first time looked him in the eye with what he thought back then love, now he knew it was just pity. "I don't hate you Tony, you're just not what I thought you'd be" Fuck, he could still hear his voice echoing through his head. The pain in his chest made the arc reactor burn through his skin, "What do you expect me to be?" Tony had answer with his eyes full of tears and his broken voice. "I don't know, Steve Rogers perhaps"

He took a pile of sheets and threw them with anger, thousands of papers flying through his office, "fuck" he said while tears were falling through his face, that conversation had happened 8 months before the car "accident", he never had the chance to get his issues right with Howard, and truth is, Howard didn't even care, he never apologized or tried to take back what he had said that day. He clearly remembers going to his room and burning all those stories, underwear blankets, and toys he had from Captain America.

The sour taste in his mouth, he hated the guy. "Shit" he screamed. No answer, he was alone, as always had been. Why he kept crying about this? He now was a 46 year old grown up adult, he had to put all those issues behind him. He really had to. He cried a bit longer, at least he was alone, no one could really see him, after countless minutes he stood up, watching papers everywhere, he just shook his head, he was a mess, a truly mess, even when he tried to do the right stuff, he always ended fucking it up. He really had to get those issues done, he took a Mont Blanc from his desk and a sheet of paper, he wrote 3 issues he had to solve before he died.

1) Stop hating Captain America, if he could, befriend him.

2) Visit his dad, forgive him.

3) Let Pepper go.

He couldn't believe himself, after all this years of avoiding this, he finally came to the realization he couldn't go on, living behind a whisky bottle, and also he really needed to get out of the united states, the whole country reminded him of Pepper, Pepper and their brief relationship, Pepper in a great white beautiful wedding dress looking stunning, walking through the aisle by his arm, Pepper's hand when he had to take it and place it on the others guy hand, the pain of saying goodbye, the pain of losing her, losing her forever.

He just couldn't handle it anymore. He had to end this now. He knew this sudden braveness wasn't going to last, so he called Jarvis right away.

"Jarvis, I need the Quinjet ready in 15 minutes, I'm driving home"

"Thought you were staying at the company clearing everything Mrs. Pott left you"

"I just can't" His voice broke at the last word, and he could really swear he heard Jarvis sighing.

"I'll be ready for your arrival sir" He simply said and the connection was off.

He had a mix of emotions, he felt broken hearted, empty, alone, frustrated, he drove the fastest he could, he got there in 8 minutes. Fortunately Jarvis had already everything set up. The flight was all right, he turned off the phone and didn't tell anyone where he was heading to. He just wanted to get lost. He arrived at the heliport of the labs building. No one was really expecting him, even Nick Fury was amused.

"Stark" he said as he watched him going down the stairs, entering to the building from the roof.

"Wow, you really did take my word to borrow any building or space from me" He said watching all the changes SHIELD had made in this floor.

"It was necessary" He said

"It always is" Stark replied dryly, he really was a pain in the ass, sarcastic, cold, and hurtful. Fury seemed to understand his attitude, and he didn't really complain a lot about him, that made him angry, he didn't know why really, he just felt exposed. "Where's Mr. National Ice cube?" Stark asked and no one in the room said anything, they even looked offended, then he heard a laugh from another guy who was sitting at the corner and wearing a white coat. He couldn't be…

"Dr. Bruce Banner?" Tony asked marvelled, he read all the files about him, the guy was a genius, a gift to this world, of the few persons that kept his hope up.

"Dr. Stark" Banner said and stood up, walking shyly to his side. He stretched his hand, Tony grabbed it immediately. He really was grateful to those who really remembered he wasn't just a rich spoiled brat, but a genius engineer with 7 PHDS.

"Nice meeting you, I'm a huge fan of your theories and experimentation, also I adore when you turn into an unbreakable green big cool… guy. I just love it" Bruce seemed ashamed, he just nodded and looked away.

"Well that's adorable, now that you found each other, why don't we get into business?" It was Natasha's voice coming from a corner of the room, no one really saw her getting in, she was damn scary, Tony and Bruce took a step back, even Fury looked a bit off.

"That's right Agent" Fury said

"Captain America was successfully defrosted. He's in the recovery room"

"So you're telling me the guy's alive? After 75 years?" Tony asked shocked.

"The serum kept him alive, his body is readapting to this new environment, is going to take him some hours to finally recover, but he'll make it" Bruce said.

"Is like he lost his memory or he will remember everything about…"

"He will" Bruce interrupted him, Tony just nodded.

"We here are trying to get him into the world again, don't know how long will it take but we have to. That's why I called you both"

"I'm not babysitting" Tony said, understanding Fury's intentions faster than everyone, Fury rolled his eyes.

"Is not babysitting Stark, is just showing him the world. He needs someone familiar"

"I'm not familiar. We're complete strangers"

"You know what I mean"

"I'm not doing it, that's final. Tell Natasha"

"She has missions"

"I have a company to run, why everyone just ignores I really have a job?"

"You're impossible" Fury said.

"I could help you, I'm going to need to be near Steve to verify his health" Tony rolled his eyes, Bruce was a genius, he was nice, he really could help him in some research he was doing, taking advantage from him and having him in his place was really tempting. But babysitting some guy he hated wasn't worth the risk. "I can't Bruce, I've got issues"

"You've got issues with life itself" Fury said at the edge of anger and laugher. Tony rolled his eyes.

"He's awake" they all stood frozen at those words that had been pronounced. A knot was tied at his throat, Tony could barely breathe, he lowered his sight and felt terrible anxious, wanted to run away, fly to New York again, get lost, he shouldn't, he wasn't ready.

"Come on Stark" Banner said as he walked out of that room, he didn't want anyone to notice his weakness so he followed the scientist out of that room, he entered another room, he spotted a huge man sitting in a bed, his face buried in his big hands, he could only see blonde hair.

"I'm sorry Captain you had to figure it out the hard way, we wanted to break it slowly" Fury said trying to keep the broken man calm.

"Where am I?"

"Seoul" Fury answered, then Steve turned around, watching the digital machines, the holograms flying around in the room, the huge glass wall and the sight of a terrifying unknown city. "How long has it been?" Steve asked, no one answered."How long have I been out?!" He repeated, his voice hard, rough, almost at breaking into a scream. No one was saying anything and Tony couldn't help himself, it was hell to give the man more suspense.

"75 years Cap" Tony said and Steve for the first time looked up, he buried his blue eyes on Tony's brownish coffee eyes, he felt something inside break, turn, his heart racing, his hands sweating, his breath heavy, fucking amazing blue eyes. On the other hand Steve was speechless, of course those weren't good news, he had missed a date, he had missed a lifetime, everything was lost, he felt like if he'd rather died in war, but this guy, those brown eyes, thick eyebrows, wavy hair, damn, he looked away, he felt so weak, so exposed, intimidated by this stranger.

Tony noticed how Steve lowered his eyes not wanting to see him again, fuck maybe he had been too invasive with his look, maybe he even had blushed, damnit.

"How you feeling?" Bruce asked

"I'm all right, I just, I think I lost a date"

"I am sorry Captain" Fury sincerely apologized. Steve just nodded, uncertain of what to say.

"Where was I? How is this possible?" He asked confused. Bruce kneeled next to him, introduced himself and explained him all the serum effects that had made it possible, explained also how they had found him, mentioning Howard made an annual search for him, and that his son Tony had kept doing it even after Howard had passed away. Steve looked heartbroken when he found Howard was not alive anymore, but somehow felt anxious and happy to see his son was as good as the old man. He explained he had been frozen, and that now he was in perfect health."I'd like to thank Howards son for keeping his hope up, you know him?" Steve asked Bruce, Bruce fell silent, until Tony broke the silence.

"Anthony Stark" he said and offered his hand, Steve looked amazed, grateful, embarrassed to look away from him, stupid for being intimidated by him, but also he felt safe, safe of finally knowing someone that was related to his past. He shook his hand, Anthony was shorter than him, and looked like he was in his elder forties, dressing a black suit, white shirt, his hair messy and no ring.

"Thankyou for all the hope and work, without you I wouldn't be here" Steve said so nicely it hurt Tony, he just nodded.

"Is nothing" he said and took a step backwards, he wanted to run away, to escape, hadn't been this nervous since last week at Peppers wedding.

"I was planning you could stay at Tony's tower while we arrange some paperwork and get you a job in here, he can introduce you into this modern world, and Dr. Banner would be taking care of your health. Is that okay with you?" Fury asked, Tony was about to say it was SO NOT OKAY with him, but Steve interrupted. "No, I don't want to cause any trouble on Mr. Stark's life" Fuck, this guy was beyond limit "I can get into an apartment or a shelter… " Damnit Steve Rogers! Tony was mad at him being this fucking gentle.

"It's all right with me" he said regretting immediately every word. Why he couldn't keep his mouth shut?

"So its set" Fury simply said giving Tony a smirk and Tony just rolled his eyes. Fury left the room and Bruce followed him, leaving Tony and Steve alone in the room, Tony couldn't bare it.

"So… you ready for a flight?" Tony asked. Stupid question, the last thing Steve had experienced was a plane crash. He really was this stupid? What about being a genius? It was like if this guy was killing his nerves by just looking at him. He needed to calm down.

"I just hope this one really lands" Steve said trying to make a lame joke, Tony gave him a wide sincere smile, Steve looked down, his breath edgy, that was a fucking amazing smile! this guy in here, he had something, he didn't know what, but it was like a way of catching his pray, his charisma, his smile, everything about him was gaining his attention. Steve was feeling somehow endangered.

"It will" Tony said and opened the door, Steve followed him.