AN – I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Ironman and Captain America in the movie from obvious dislike to friendship, but I couldn't help but wonder if Steve didn't feel some sort of guilt at ordering Natasha to close the wormhole on Tony before he fell clear.
Tony Stark glanced up as Captain America wandered into the common room of the Avenger's Tower. It was three weeks after the battle for New York, and with the help of the rest of the Avengers and Tony's AI, Jarvis, the tower had been quickly redesigned and rebuilt.
"Oh, sorry, I'll leave you be," Steve apologized as he noticed Tony sitting on the couch, turning to head back out the door.
"Not so fast, Cap. It's called a common room for a reason," Tony shot back. "Now get back in here an' sit."
Reluctantly, Steve complied, choosing, as Tony noted, the chair farthest from him. Tony was puzzled to note that the Avenger wore a look of something remotely resembling fear on his face. Surely not. Cap wasn't afraid of anything. Or was he?
Never one for subtlety, Tony charged ahead. "Okay, Cap, give! I know we had a rocky start an' all, but jus' what exactly have you got in your craw? You've been avoiding me like the plague ever since you moved in here, an' I want to know why."
"I haven't been avoiding you, honest! This new world is crazy an' I've just been tryin' to adjust," Steve mumbled unconvincingly.
"Oh, cut it out, Cap! You adjusted jus' fine with the rest of the Avengers - it's jus' me you won't talk to, an' you better start explaining."
"I ordered the portal closed," Steve murmured so softly that Tony couldn't hear.
"Speak up, Cap. I know I'm not Hawkeye, but I can't hear you." For once Tony's voice was relatively gentle, sensing some deep-seated pain that would be very tough for the Captain to divulge and realizing for once that brusqueness was not going to get the answers he wanted.
Head hung low, Steve repeated softly, "I ordered Natasha to close the portal before you fell."
Stark sank back into the couch with a grin. "That all that's got you worried, Cap?"
Steve's had snapped up and he glared at the other man. "Is that all? What do you think all this is? Some sort of sick joke? Had you not just happened to fall at the exact right speed, you would have died in that portal because I was too nervous to keep it open. As it was you stopped breathing an' would have died if the Hulk hadn't thought fast enough to catch you. Some leader I am - willing to sacrifice one of my own men `cause I was too afraid," Steve spat out bitterly.
"Excuse me, whose choice was it to fly the bomb - nuclear I might add - up into the unknown gateway to another world? You don't think I thought about the fact I might not come back?"
"You're not a soldier, Stark, as you so eloquently reminded me - it wasn't your duty!" Steve barked, mind flashing back to that conversation on the helicarrier. "`sides, I should have at least given you a chance!"
"You're right: I'm not a soldier - I'll leave that job to you an' Legolas - but I did have a duty to my country an' seeing as I was the only one available, I don't see that you have any right to tell me otherwise! An' tell me, jus' how soon did you order that portal closed?"
"I...I waited until we knew the bomb had exploded," Steve replied softly.
"Then exactly why do you think you didn't give me a chance? I would have done the same - you had no other option, Rogers, an' we both know it. You had no way of knowing for sure that the bomb had destroyed everything, or that I had even survived. You had to do what was best for everyone else - sometimes that means doing something you don't want to do. Understand?"
A flicker of a smile played over Steve's lips. "You sound like your father."
Tony gave a start, forgetting momentarily that Steve and his father had actually been friends seventy years ago. "My father?" he demanded sharply.
This time Steve grinned for real. "Yeah. He was a wise man, Stark. I only wish I'd had more time to get to know him better. But as I told Hawkeye*, your father told me once that I was only responsible for the things I had control over. I hated myself because I wasn't able to save Erskine, or at least get the guy who shot him, an' your father took it upon himself to remind me that I wasn't God and therefore couldn't control everything."
Tony grunted. He hadn't spoken about his father in years, but he had a distinct memory of some similar wisdom passed on to him as well. "Well, he was right. Look, Cap, I appreciate the sentiment an' all, but I would have done the exact same thing. It doesn't make you a bad leader - on the contrary, you did what was best for the greater good, an' all that sappy stuff," Tony dismissed with a wave of his hand. "So, Cap, I pronounce you guilty as charged."
Steve started. He'd been relaxing mentally at last after hearing the other's argument, and Tony's sudden change of mind caught him completely off guard. "Guilty as charged?" he demanded, puzzled.
"Yep. For sealing me to my doom, an' summarily avoiding me for the last three weeks after I miraculously returned to the land of my fellow Avengers, I pronounce you guilty on all counts. The punishment, to be served immediately, is as follows: one batch of chocolate chip cookies, home-cooked, three games of racquetball, and one dinner at the ritziest restaurant I can think of. After that, you are no longer allowed to feel guilt again - and if you do, I will break out my suit, `cause I'm still not afraid to hit an old man," Tony replied with a broad grin.
Steve threw back his head and laughed. "I might be able to handle my sentencing. However, should you ever decide to do something so stupid again, as leader of the Avengers, I reserve the right to impose my own punishment, understood?"
"Aye, aye, Cap," Tony shot back snarkily.
With a grin still creasing his face, Steve reached down and pulled Tony to his feet. "Then come watch an 'old man' whip your tail at racquetball!"
*See Legacy of a Great Man for full story here.