"I'm not selling my suits to the military."

Tony's words were on repeat at this point as he irately engaged in this flimsy "negotiation."

"Sir, if it is any consolidation," began the undeterred requester, William Stryker, who thought he had been negotiating a surefire way to get a hold of Tony's stash of high-tech armor. "I'm willing to pay you a very hefty compensation for your..."

"I don't care if you sell me a ticket for the fast lane to Neverland." Tony snapped. "Iron Man is my creation. It belongs to me and no one else."

"I understand you are apprehensive, but I assure you, Mr. Stark, as a military official, my only intention is to serve America's interests. Now you were willing to allow Colonel Rhodey to attain possession of the War Machine. Why won't you allow us to do the same."

Tony buried his face in his hands as his frustration began to tip over.

"Okay, first off, I didn't give Rhodey the War Machine. He kind of barged in one night during a birthday party and stole it. However, I allow him to borrow it sometimes because he's my friend and I trust him. I don't know who YOU are and honestly, I don't give a shit."

"Secondly, save me the 'America's interest' pseudo-patriotic bullshit. I've seen how my own weapons have been used to 'serve our country' and I will not wash my hands in that blood again. I have a proven record of serving this country. Who was it that rescued the president when everyone else was too busy getting high on a system of war profiteering? Who was it that single handedly saved New York from nuclear detonation after the military's misinformed call that we couldn't handle the situation.

"I've spent years cleaning up after your fuck ups," the irate Avenger hissed, "and if you think I'm gonna let you get a hold of Iron Man so you can fuck that up too, then here's my answer to you again in case you missed it before."

Tony sprang from his seat, leaning in dangerously close to Stryker until he was only inches away from his face.

"Fuck off."

Tony, leaving no more words to be said, turned on his heal and made a beeline for the door.

"You'll thank me for this later. Trust me on that."

Tony let the door slam behind him to pound in the finality of his words. He knew this wouldn't be the last time he heard from Stryker, but the Colonel was in for a rude awakening once he realized his answer was never going to change.

Alone in the interrogation room, the Colonel whispered "I'm sure I will, Mr. Stark."

On the other side of the door, a certain spangly boy-scout stood, greeting Tony with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah I know. 'Language' right?"

Steve shook his head in a subdued showing of pity. "No comment." He laughed.

"Let's go, before I start choking on all of this second-hand idiocy."

"Good idea," the captain promptly agreed.

Tony piloted the aircraft as he approached the Helicarrier's location, watching in numbing silence as a sea of clouds rushed past the windshield. Behind him, Steve was sitting at a passenger bench, hunched over with his hands clasped together anxiously.

He shifted his view to the sticker above the controls of the co-pilot seat. "Jarvis is my co-pilot" were the words printed on it, but the word "Jarvis" was crossed out with "Friday" crudely written above it in red marker.

"Friday, take the wheel."

"Yes sir," the feminine voice of the AI complied.

"Hey," Tony approached the unsuspecting captain and sat down next to him. "You alright?"

Steve flinched when the silence was broken suddenly, but he responded with an uneasy nod.

"I'm wondering why Stryker wanted those suits."

"It's the same reason they have stockpiles of nuclear weapons we can't use. They have to find some way to spend a bloated military budget."

"You know if it weren't for military funding, I wouldn't be here."

"Military funding and nature's best freezer."

Steve chuckled, but his contagious smile quickly vanished. "I thought after Ultron, the world would've have learned the dangers of building a robot army."

The engineer fliched away from him, pained. He could practically feel the disapproval in Steve's words stinging in his gut, even though it wasn't exactly directed at him.

"I think something else is going on here," Steve continued that thought, unaware of his companion's distress.

Tony had long mastered the art of holding down his emotions, but even he knew that strong ones could only be suppressed for so long.

"Why'd you come with me?" Tony asked.

Steve's response was delayed. "It doesn't do me any good sitting around the base wondering if my teammate is gonna get caught in a firefight."

"You know I can handle myself."

"I know," Steve sighed. "That's why I worry."

"You still think I need to be kept in check."

"Am I wrong?"

"I didn't say you were."

Guilt swelled in his pit hearing the solemness in Tony words.

"We've been working together for four years now. Why can't you trust me?" Steve asked.

"I told you I don't trust anyone without a dark side," he turned away from the Captain "...and...I don't think trusting someone without a good side would work out very well for you."

"I think you're being too hard on yourself."

Tony chuckled bitterly. "And here I thought it was your job to be hard on us."

"Not everyone's a soldier."

"Yeah...but that's never stopped the bad guys."

"I guess not," Steve whispered, his voice laced with the faintest edge.

The captain swallowed a lump in his throat, knowing how Tony's statement related to his scarred past. Silence fell back over the both of them, neither knowing how to proceed with that conversation.

"How long do you think it will be before Stryker gets back to us with another offer?" Steve spoke up, changing the subject.

"Tomorrow. At the latest. I'm probably going have to put up with it for a week, give or take."

"On the bright side, they can only pester someone with your stature before it turns into a scandal. They'd have to back off then."

Always looking for the silver lining, Steve was. Tony had to admit that was one of his many admirable traits.

"Wouldn't be he first time. People love their scandals."

"You're saying you care what other people think of you?"

"No!" Tony asserted a little too quickly, "I'm just saying, I'm not a circus act on display for everybody's amusement."

"I know what that feels like." Steve remembered his earliest days as Captain America, "But I think you're being a little too cynical. People do care about you, Tony."

"They care about this image I've built with my money and persona. No one cares what happens to me."

"Not no one," Steve objected, "I care."

Tony was almost too eager to challenge him on that, but he only needed to see the sincerity in the captain's eye to know how foolish that would have been. Steve couldn't lie to save his life. His badge of honor was putting the lives of others before his own. Tony wasn't good at showing it, but he always liked that about him.

His comrade didn't respond, but Steve could sense his gratitude, and flashed him a grin.

"Don't mention it."

Tony rolled his eyes. Then he smiled, finding some comfort in the fact that Steve knew him so well.