After I wrote this, I thought it sounded like blank verse, so I laid it out that way. I debated whether to make it a chapter of A Very Good Team, though the style is more poem-like. But since new stories seem to show up today and updates don't, that makes my decision for me.
On another note, there's a fun teamfic called "Lessons" by Frost on Maples, which isn't getting nearly enough review love. I recommend it. And I actually got into that update today: s/8934454/5/
Why Shouldn't They Be Friends?
Why shouldn't they be friends,
despite their differences?
He woke up with a hole in his chest
and his heart connected to a car battery.
He woke up two generations into the future
when everyone he'd known had died.
Why shouldn't they be friends
when they both knew the terror of finding out
the world had spun out of control
and everything had changed
irrevocably,
inescapably,
forever —
while they slept.
Self-Sacrificing Idiots
You're both self-sacrificing idiots, Pepper said, teasing but truthful, as she leaned comfortably against Tony's shoulder.
She has a point, Tony said.
Steve crashed a plane in the arctic to save New York.
Tony flew a nuke through a dimensional portal to save New York.
(New York needs a lot of saving.)
They offered their lives to save others, but somehow survived, though only Tony made it back to the woman he loved. It took Steve 70 years to get home.
Steve rubbed a finger across his artwork, a drawing of Peggy Carter, as he remembered her.
You did it better than I did, Steve said sadly.
Tony agreed and hugged Pepper close.
Became Weapons
Both men became weapons.
Breakthrough
Break out
Freedom flight and freedom fighter
Of course, they use weapons — the famous repulsors and even more famous shield — but in the main, the men themselves are the weapons, flinging their bodies into the fray to protect the innocent.
More of that "self-sacrificing idiot" business.
Like Day and Night
Tony is a night owl. Steve is a morning person.
The scientist burns the midnight oil. His best ideas for inventions seem to come at bedtime.
The captain still wakes to reveille, to start his day with healthy exercise and find artistic inspiration in the morning light.
Tony sips a nightcap while Steve munches his morning bagel.
But they meet in the middle to watch the sun rise together.
Why shouldn't they be friends?