Title: Memorials and Films
Summary: '"I want to be alone today." Tony sighed. When was Steve going to get that they were worried about him?' One-shot for Memorial Day 2012. Tony/Cap friendship.
Rating: K+ for mention of previous character death
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship
Disclaimer: I don't own "Avengers" or anything else.
A/N: R.I.P. to all those who've lost their lives serving our country. We're still praying for all who are still out there to come home safely.
Steve wasn't answering his phone again, and Tony knew exactly why. He didn't necessarily blame him for being upset today. The guy hadn't had a Memorial Day since World War Two. Of course it was hitting him hard. He blamed him for ignoring attempts to get a hold of him, refusing to answer his phone, and making them worry about him all weekend.
"Dumb*ss," Tony muttered, hitting the 'end' button again when he got voicemail. This was getting ridiculous. Probably there moping about all the sh*t from it without thinking once about how many lives he saved. It was time to take matters into his own hands. "Jarvis?"
"What is it, sir?"
"Put on some music. We've got a lot of work to do."
"Might I ask what for?"
"To make our living legend teammate realize his legend."
The door separating them finally opened. Steve kept left of the doorway, but he motioned for Bucky to be ready to catch. He tossed him a gun and ran in, pushing forward one of the crates with his shield. Dodging it was pointless; Bucky shot the gunner in the head, taking him down. "I had him on the ropes," Bucky said.
"I know you did," Steve said, smiling a little. Behind them, the guy he'd been fighting came to the doorway. Hearing the energy weapon charge, Steve pushed Bucky behind him, yelling, "Look out!" and holding up his shield just as he fired. The blast knocked him back, destroying the side of the train at the same time.
"Fire again!" Zola ordered over the train's radio system. "Kill him! Now!" Bucky barely needed to take one look at Steve before grabbing his shield and getting up, firing at the enemy. Another blast was fired, knocking the shield out of Bucky's hands and sending him flying out the wall.
Furious, Steve ran up, grabbing his shield and throwing it. It hit the enemy square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Steve ignored him, pulling his helmet off and running to the side of the train. "Bucky!" He grabbed onto the bar on the side of the wall, climbing out. "Hang on!" Bucky was gripping the second bar for his life—literally—but the bar was starting to come off. He lost his grip with one hand, the bar pulling free even more, but he managed to grab hold again. "Grab my hand!" Steve yelled, reaching for him. Bucky reached for him, trying to hold on at the same time. On its last legs, though, the bar decided to give. "NO!"
Bucky screamed when the bar pulled free from the train wall. There was nothing he could grab, though; Steve's hand was out of his reach. He fell, landing in the icy waters, silenced permanently. Steve stared, stunned. Bucky…! Unable to do anything else, he stared, searching for any sign of his friend. But the train was moving too fast; wherever he'd landed, Steve had no chance of finding him. No! He pressed his face against his hand, forcing himself not to cry. Zola. Would. Pay.
That seemed to be on a constant loop in Steve's mind today. That day, he'd refused to cry before capturing Zola, but he was alone right now. Tears had already come and gone several times. Were anyone else there, he would've made more of an effort to fight them, but it was pretty pointless now. Bucky was dead. He'd be extremely surprised if Dugan and the others were alive. He had no idea about Peggy, and to be honest, he was terrified of finding out. Maybe it was his subconscious focusing on Bucky purposely, so he wouldn't drive himself insane thinking of what could've happened to the others.
"Okay, Cap, you've had your mope time," a familiar voice said from behind him. Steve looked over his shoulder to see Tony standing there, holding something in a bag over his shoulder. Great.
"I want to be alone today."
Tony sighed. When was Steve going to get that they were worried about him? "Too bad. You know, there are ranks higher than captain, so you can't get off bossing everyone around."
"True," Steve said. "But you're not one of them."
"Hilarious. You really should try to start up a comedy routine." Tony walked over, crouching down in front of the television. He pulled something out of the bag he had.
"What are you doing?" Steve asked, watching him. Tony ignored the question, turning on the television and putting the item in the VHS player. "What's that?"
"Old film. I figured it's one you'll recognize." Tony smiled slightly, hitting 'play' on the VHS player and backing away from the TV so Steve could watch. "By the way, you owe me for finding this. I knew my dad kept them, but seriously, these are ancient."
Steve wasn't listening. His eyes went wide as soon as the music started. The quality of the video wasn't the best, but it was still visible. The black-and-white images were distorted, but recognizable. Especially for him. "Where did you…?"
"My dad used to put them in to keep me out of his way," Tony said. "Made me sit through every single one of them. Usually had to be in another room, otherwise he'd get distracted watching them, too, and start telling me all the stories again." He didn't mention that those times when Howard let him watch in the same room he was supposed to be working in were some of his best memories of his father.
"Howard kept these?" Steve was entirely focused on the film, barely listening enough to ask.
"He loved your films," Tony said simply. "Although I distinctly remember him complaining that they were all of your fake work…" Steve couldn't help a small laugh. "And seriously, the war bonds routine? Ridiculously cheesy."
"Kept me out of a lab," Steve said, still watching.
"I'm pretty sure that when you 'hit' that guy,"—and yes, Tony made air quotes around 'hit'—"he fell because he slipped. On liquid mozzarella or something." He set the bag down next to Steve. "There's more of them in there. Took me about three hours to find. Look, after today, I'm taking these back and transferring them to DVD, okay? Seriously, this is terrible."
"Sure." Steve's eyes were locked on the screen, amazed at how long ago this had been filmed. It hadn't felt like that long… "Thanks, Tony."
Tony shrugged. "Thank me by letting me update them. Keep them on VHS much longer, and they'll be impossible to see. Ever."
"Tomorrow."
"Sure thing, Cap." Tony watched him for a moment longer, completely absorbed in the film, before leaving with a smile. He'd done his work. If nothing else, Steve would be focused on how absolutely ridiculous some of this stuff was. Better to focus on the memories of the people than the pain of losing them.