Title: When Fondue Changes the World

Author: Little Angel

Pairings: none

Disclaimer: I own nothing! NOTHING!

Summary: There is more to Captain America than most people understand, and a history slightly darker than they can believe. Fondue is the beginning and an end for lives to be changed. (Mentions of dark themes; implied non-con)

Author's Note(s): So, I've never written in the Avengers category before, and this is my first step into that pool. I've had this on my mind for a couple days and finally decided to get it down on paper. It jumps a lot, but that's how I saw it happening in my mind.

I also think there is a lot more to Captain America than the movies give him credit for and there were a couple moments in both Captain America and Avengers that I saw things a little differently then how they were portrayed.

I'm not going to apologize for anything except changing the dates of things and Steve's age when he gets the Serum injected. If that's going to bother you, please don't feel like you have to read this story.

/thoughts/

1940 New York

Steve Rodger's doctor's always told him he wouldn't make it to his twenties, his heart, lungs, and asthma would be the death of him, probably from something like the flu. When they told this to Steve at the rip old age of fifteen he squared his shoulders, put forth a lot of effort and graduated high school at the top of his class in the following years. He read what he could, worked hard, and roomed with Bucky so they could split the costs of everything. Bucky was finally able to enlist in the army and Steve felt he was being left behind despite his best efforts. But he didn't give up. He would never give up.

When Steve first signed up to be a part of the super solider program, he didn't realize just WHAT he was getting himself into. His goal? To serve his country in the best way he knew how. After many failed attempts at getting recruited through slightly forging his paperwork, there was finally someone who thought he would make a difference.

Doctor Erskine thought he was perfect for the super serum program. But the Doctor was vague in his explanations, and Steve was bright eyed and more than willing to accept whatever he could get. When Steve signed the papers allowing those in control of the experiment control over him, he didn't quite realize the far-reaching consequences of that action.

2012- 4 months following Loki's invasion, September 2, 8:00am

For Tony it all started with a conversation with Clint about fondue over breakfast. For Steve, it all ended with the fondue conversation happening between his two teammates.

"I just don't see what the fondue has to do with Thanksgiving! You can totally have it at Valentine's Day, or Christmas... but Thanksgiving?" The pair walked into the kitchen and sat around the table, each grabbing a few of Bruce's pancakes, which they all agreed were possibly the best creation he'd ever made.

Natasha and Bruce were talking quietly together about different books they'd read, trying to get Steve to participate in their conversation. Prior to the entrance of Clint and Tony, the super soldier had been adding some comments to the conversation, but not much. But when his super hearing caught the voices of the entering pair he completely shut down from the rest of the group. Natasha and Bruce shared a look, having noticed Steve start to tense up, the fork in his hand being bent almost completely in half. Their companions though continued their argument oblivious to Steve's reaction.

"It's the gooey cheese and bread on a stick! You can totally have that at any party! Your birdbrain should totally appreciate eating the bread on a stick part to! Come on, I bet even Spangles over here probably had fondue at parties in the 40's… I mean he was a big celebrity back then…" Tony spoke, waving his fork around and almost slicing Bruce with his butter knife. Luckily the doctor was well accustomed to Tony's odd eating habits and was able to duck when needed.

Steve's brain was, as usual going a mile a minute. The conversation bringing back memories that Steve had thought he had buried very deep into his brain.

/Fondue! You know…. Sticky gooey…cheese. Yes cheese. Now sit down. We have some things to do…/ The voice of Howard Stark rang around in the Captain's head like the Norte Dame bells… and just as loud to. Nausea hit him for the first time since waking up in this century and the pancakes he ate felt like lead in his stomach. He knew he wasn't going to make it to the bathroom down the hall, but there was a garbage can was right next to the counter.

Without warning, the super soldier pushed away from the table, knocking over his chair in the process and barely made it to the garbage can before he was emptying everything in his stomach.

There was dead silence behind him when Steve finally managed to get a hold of his nausea. Not even Tony was speaking. The soldier glanced behind him at the others, Bruce looked like he wanted to get up, Tony was sitting with his mouth gaping open- fork and knife frozen in mid wave, and the assassin duo was having a silent conversation with their eyes, while occasionally glancing over at him. Had Thor not been on Asgard still, he probably would've been paused mid-bite on one of his favorite food items- a pop tart, in a similar fashion to Tony.

"There a problem?" Steve knew his voice sounded off, but he was having enough trouble getting his mind back in order, let alone his voice.

"Are you alright Steve?" Bruce, ever the doctor, jumped out of his chair and made his way over to the counter where Steve was hunched over, fingers crushing the counter edge, and his complexion pale. He put his hand up to Steve's head to check for a temperature but the super soldier maneuvered away from him before he could make contact.

Tony, ever the smart ass decided to hide his concern like he usually does, with sarcasm and jokes, "Wow Cap! Getting sick over a little talk of fondue? Isn't that not supposed to happen anymore what with your super serum self being done with these lowly human weaknesses?"

/Human? My boy, you are my best experiment to date!/ Howard's voice layered over Tony's, both ringing through Steve's head. He fought off another wave of nausea and something inside him just snapped, "You know Stark. For as much as you don't like it, you are exactly like your father. You could be fucking twins."

The comment came out of no where- Steve knew better than to mention Howard around his son. But his brain was in complete disarray. He was having trouble getting this thoughts back where they belonged and not completely overwhelming him. Tony's face closed off darkly, and Steve knew he was in trouble. But before Tony could retort the super soldier was gone.

"Jarvis!" Tony's voice was tight with anger.

"Sir, Mr. Rodgers is on his way to his room as we speak." Tony nodded and stood to leave.

"Tony." Natasha stood, but it was Bruce that spoke. Tony glanced at the rest of his teammates before storming out of the room as well, his destination his lab.

The three remaining team members were left trying to figure out what just happened.

"Did Cap just curse?!" Clint's voice held the bewilderment they all felt. What in the world was going on?

And for once, not even Natasha could answer that question.

1940 New York

The first time he met Howard Stark, was at the procedure. The genius had a gleam in his eye that Steve brushed off as a crazy scientist thing. The millionaire thought he was just a stupid little soldier, and like everyone else before him, was completely underestimating his abilities and intelligence. But Steve was all right with that. He didn't know Howard Stark and he wasn't about to try and change the mind of a man that he probably wouldn't see again.

The procedure worked and when Steve got out of the containment pod and back on shaky feet not only was the floor farther away than he remembered, but his whole body was completely different. His senses were tingling in new and exciting ways, his brain was working faster than it had before, there was a strange feeling in his gut that he couldn't place… and suddenly the observatory room was exploding and guns were being fired.

In the chaos Steve's brain, body, and senses…everything was screaming at him- almost louder than the people around him. He saw the doctor, shot and dying on the floor. When Steve rushed over to him, doctor Erskine must have saw something in his expression because in one single move, his very last, he helped Steve stabilize himself, get his body and mind, and senses under control and go after the guy who dared interrupt the project. Everything else would come with time.

2012- 4 months after Loki's invasion, September 2, Noon

The elevator ding and the swoosh of this door closing were the only warning Tony got, before Agent Phil Coulson was making his way into his lab, bypassing the security lock down and walking up to Tony's work table. The same lab that he had Jarvis completely lock down before coming down to work off his anger at what the Captain had said to him. There was no cell phone in hand, and no briefcase either, which was unusual. And there was a glint in his eyes that Tony couldn't place.

"Agent," Tony barely glanced up from what he was working on, "My consulting days are every other Thursday. As you can see I'm rather busy and you are not welcome."

"Mr. Stark, I need to have a word with you now. If you do not turn around I will be forced to hit this button," he pulled a small device out of his pocket, "which will scramble your AI and destroy everything you've been working on in here for the past month."

"Sir, my scans indicate that Agent Coulson's device will do exactly that." Jarvis' voice interrupted whatever Tony was about to say.

The billionaire tensed, but turned around to completely face the other man. Whatever remark he was going to make died on his tongue when he caught sight of the Shield agent. Alarms were going off in his brain, and he wondered if he would need one of his suits by the end of whatever Agent wanted to say to him. "How can I be of service this afternoon Agent?"

Phil didn't say a word; he just reached into his jacket, and pulled out a thin folder. He gently placed the folder on the table next to him and indicated that Stark should pick it up.

Tony glanced between Agent Coulson and the folder. His curiosity got the better of him and he picked it up and began reading what was inside.

He froze, clenching the folder in two hands, posture completely ridged, not quite believing what he was reading. "What the hell is this? Is this a joke?"

"Not at all Mr. Stark." Phil's voice was neutral but there was a tightness to it that had the alarms going off in Tony's head a little louder. "In order to be a part of the super soldier program, Captain Rodgers had to sign a specific contract, that you are now reading. This is the only copy of that sheet of paper in the world. Not even SHIELD is aware of its existence."

Tony's mind was racing. The contract Phil showed him said that Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark, owned the experiment test subject known as Steve Rodgers, or Captain America.

"How…Why would Cap sign something like this?" Tony glanced up at Coulson, his own face unreadable.

"Times were different in the early part of the 1900's. There was also a slight problem with Steve's participation that this contract helped take care of… he was seventeen years old when he underwent the procedure, with no living relatives to sign on the dotted line for him so to speak."

"His recruitment file said he was 20 years old." Tony was having a hard time wrapping his head around this, but at the same time a lot of Steve's behaviors since their meeting started to make a twisted sort of sense.

"The file also said he lived in five different cities, which we know is also not true," was Phil's counter.

"So, why are you showing me this now? Why not when Cap was first found in the ice? Why wait so long past forming the Avengers?" Tony's mind raced, but there was something he was missing. /Why now?/

Phil didn't answer, he just waited for the billionaire genius to figure it out on his own.

"Cap got sick this morning, threw up his breakfast… made a jab at me about Howard…. Wait. Howard was obsessed with finding Captain America…. Up until his death he never stopped looking…" /Cap's behavior towards me…. Dad's crazy obsession with him… the comments…the tension… the way he does stuff if I give him something resembling an order…/

"…What did Howard do to him?" Tony's inner alarm was now like a fire truck whistle in his brain, anger and something else Tony wasn't ready to identify began filling the billionaire genius.

Something flashed through Phil's eyes then, quicker than Tony could identify it. He pulled a small leather bound book out of his pocket and gently laid it on the table, in the same place he had originally put the folder, "Steve didn't want me to tell you about this at first. He was trying to deal with it on his own. He had been doing well up until this morning when you unintentionally triggered him. I told him I would step in if that ever happened, so you might understand. I had hoped you two would be able to get over your differences enough to be friends, outside of working together, but I didn't realize how badly this was still affecting him, friendship at this point would be almost impossible for him- it's really just up to you, now that you know what's holding him back."

Tony's eyes shifted between the folder, the notebook, and Coulson's face, mind still trying to process what was going on. He was still missing something and he wasn't sure if he was quite ready to look at the contents of that little book.

Phil continued before Tony could interrupt, "Yes, your father was obsessed with Captain America, but it wasn't necessarily a good thing. By the time anyone realized what was happening it was to late to help."

Tony was starting to feel nausea of his own. Phil pushed the small book closer to him. "Read it, don't read it. That's up to you. What's important here is that you now know what kind of power you hold over your fellow teammate; now understand why he's having trouble adjusting to your presence… and what you're going to do with that knowledge. You, Steve, and I are the only living beings that are aware of the situation he was in all those years ago- still is really."

Phil turned to leave. When he got to the door he spoke again, not turning around, "Steve was not the one to call me this morning. I just wanted to make that clear before I left. He's not yet aware that I'm even here."

With that he opened the door, and made his exit. Tony was left in silence.

1940 New York

Doctor Erskine was the one who came up with the super soldier serum. He was the one that truly understood the implications of such an undertaking. The one that understood the boundaries, the capabilities, the weaknesses, the strengths, and unfortunately he was dead. Howard Stark was the money and engineering behind the experiment. He was the reason the whole thing was put into action. And Colonial Phillips was the military. He was to provide the soldiers that would be tested, and then selected for the program. With the doctor now gone, all hope of having a whole squadron of super soldiers went out the window with him.

It would be easy, Howard realized, to take full responsibility for the subject- have Colonial Phillips turn over his rights. He had some planning to do.

Steve's options were lab rat test subject, or working with this Senator Brandt to serve his country. Neither would get him on the front lines, but Steve thought he would have more of a chance to prove himself if he wasn't locked in some secret government agency for who knew how long. The strange sense in his gut seemed to agree because it wasn't tingling at him like it was before.

The second time he met Howard Stark was in a small exam room following the chase down of the Hydra operative. The millionaire genius seemed very fascinated with the tale of the chase, and the healing abilities of the subject. Steve was still trying to get used to his new body, mind, and senses… so he missed the warning in his gut that something was a little off. The small conversation that he had with the engineering genius was the first of many that would test Steve in more ways than he thought possible.

It was also the last time the Super Soldier would ignore the strange feeling in his gut that something was wrong.

2012- 4 months after Loki's invasion, September 2, 1:30pm

Tony didn't make it out of his lab for hours following the conversation with Agent, as he was still prone to call him.

Steve, after getting a hold of the thoughts running ramped through his brain was able to come out of his room after only a few hours. He was just in time to see Phil joining Bruce, Natasha and Clint in the rec room, where the three avengers were attempting (and failing) to figure out what was going on between their teammates. Steve came into the room with a small sheepish smile and an apology on his lips for his behavior. The others brushed it off, Clint made a joke, and just like that they were all back to how things were before.

Steve excused himself to make something to eat and Phil quietly followed him into the kitchen. The duo shared a quiet conversation while Steve made some sandwiches, and brought the plate back to the rec room for everyone to share.

Phil didn't stay long past that. When the plate of sandwiches was empty, he chatted for a couple minutes longer, then made his way back towards the elevator with nods at the others. The avengers took that as their cue to leave as well and the four dispersed to do their own things until dinner was either ordered, or made.

Tony didn't make it out of his lab for dinner.

The others didn't comment- that type of behavior was ordinary for the genius. They cleaned up dinner and made their way back to the rec room. Clint started playing some video games, while Natasha and Bruce continued their book conversation from that morning. Steve for the most part just listened, again, and doodled in his sketchbook. He was very careful with it, so the others couldn't see what he was drawing.

Without warning, Steve snapped his book closed, keeping a tight hold on it. The pencil in his drawing hand was broken in half when a shadow made it's way out of the hallway and into the room.

A shadow was probably a good way to describe Tony. He looked horrible: his eyes were pained, hair in disarray, grease all over his clothes, and his arms crossed over his arc reactor. The playboy, genius, philanthropist, billionaire stopped in front of Steve, but far enough away to not crowd him.

When the two finally locked eyes, Tony made a small sound, and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking away. Steve didn't change his facial expression in anyway, but the hand holding the broken pencil pieces began tightening.

"I…." Tony mumbled to himself for a second, having a very hard time expressing what was going through his mind. Natasha, Bruce and Clint all paused what they were doing to stare at their two teammates, again lost about what was going on.

Steve didn't say anything just waiting patiently for Tony to say what he needed to say. "I didn't… this morning… I mean… I…" Again the billionaire paused and tried to gather himself. "This would be so much easier with a drink…"

Tony took another second to gather himself, and squared his shoulders, "Cap, I'm sorry about what I said this morning. I crossed a line, I apologize." /I'm sorry for what my father did to you. /

There was a moment of silence, where Tony fidgeted, Steve seemed to be starring at him, and the others just watched, afraid to even breathe.

The moment stretched.

Tony coughed, "do you… have anything to say to me…? For…something that might've been said back…maybe?"

Steve continued to look at Tony in silence. Tony waited a moment longer, then sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "No…why would you… Mr. Captain…freaking Amer-"

"I'm sorry also. For snapping at you and saying what I said." Steve's voice was quiet, and Tony almost thought he had dreamt it, but Steve continued, "You're not your father and I was out of line to say it."

Tony nodded, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. He turned to walk away when- "Stark…did he-"

Tony cut off Steve's soft question before he could even finish it. "No." The tension was back and Tony shuddered. "No…he never… no."

Steve nodded as well some tension also leaving his shoulders. "I'm glad."

"…me too." And with that Tony was gone. Back down to his lab, with another awkward silence left with those not sure what was happening around them.

"…I really should stop destroying pencils like this." Steve's soft comment broke through the silence and earned a small chuckle from Clint. With that the relaxed atmosphere returned to the room.

Tony spent the next two days holed up in his lab. He was having trouble processing everything that had happened that day.

1941 Italy

By the time he got to Italy, Steve wasn't sure if his gut knew quite what it was doing. Perhaps if he had done the lab thing, they could test his limits and see what he could and couldn't handle? No, he was doing that on his own in between shows…kind of. But that was the problem. He was second-guessing himself, and his abilities; for all that he's had a chance to do anything with them. What was the point anymore?

Steve met Howard Stark again in Italy. Before Steve could get pulled into his first performance Stark cornered him in a tent, in order to have a conversation with him. The meeting strengthened his resolve that he might have made the wrong decision. After all, he was just a science experiment now. And Howard Stark was the only one left on the contract Steve signed binding him to the experiment. Howard Stark made it very clear that he owned Captain America, and Steve Rodgers couldn't do anything about that.

Steve also met Peggy again in Italy. Saw her for the first time in months. She helped him get faith back in himself. Returned him to believing in what he could do. She also helped push him in the direction of becoming who he was meant to be, and do what he was meant to do. She became his rock and he would never be able to repay her for what she was able to do for him.

Italy was both a blessing, in that the military was finally going to start taking him seriously as a leader and soldier. But it was also a curse in that he was now in constant contact with Howard Stark.

2012 4 months after Loki's invasion, September 4th, 7:30pm

"Oh My God! How is he doing this?!" Clint threw his hands up in exasperation as Steve checkmated him for the 10th time in less than twenty minutes.

"I thought you said you never played before Cap?" Natasha's voice held a teasing note to it from her spot by Clint's side of the table.

Steve looked up from the board for a moment and shrugged. "Never had the time to learn."

Bruce walked into the kitchen at that moment and moved to the stove to make some tea.

"One more game Cap?" Clint turned his puppy dog eyes on Steve.

"I don't know Clint… I think you've had enough for one day… maybe tomorrow you can show me how to play those video games you like so much?"

"Well… how about you play Bruce then! He's a genius, with big science words and stuff- so it won't be as easy to beat him!" Clint turned his puppy eyes on said scientist who was chuckling as he sipped his tea and cleaned up the bar.

"How does knowing, 'big science words' equate to being good at chess?"

"Aren't you good at chess Doctor Banner?" Natasha piped up from next to Clint as she reset his side of the board.

"I'm just trying to find the correlation between big science words and chess is all." Bruce brought his tea to the table and sat next to Clint.

"So you'll play?" Clint smiled like the cat that ate the canary, "See if you can beat him Cap!"

"You don't have to play if you don't want to Doctor Banner." Steve said.

"It's Bruce, Steve- and I don't mind playing. Unless you don't want to anymore?" Bruce raised an eyebrow in concern.

"Sorry, Bruce. No that's fine. I'll play one more game… but that's it!" The last bit was aimed at Clint, complete with a pointed finger.

"Bring it." The archer still looked pretty smug about something.

Fifteen minutes later, Clint was happy that Steve didn't just kick Bruce's butt like he had done to him, when Jarvis interrupted the game.

"Sir's and Ma'am I'm sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Stark wishes to see Captain Rodgers in his lab when he is free."

Steve clenched his hands under the table briefly before he forced himself to relax them. He stood to and was about to apologize for leaving when Clint interrupted, "Wait! What about the game? You can't just leave!"

Steve shrugged and waved for Bruce to take his turn, but didn't sit back down. Bruce carefully looked over the board before moving his rook. He could end the game in three moves if need be. Steve looked slightly uncomfortable at the moment.

"Checkmate." Steve moved his queen and knocked over Bruce's king, "But that was a good game Doc- I mean Bruce. I should go see what Tony wants."

The super soldier nodded to the three of them before making his way out of the kitchen to the sounds of Clint's cursing. "How does he do that?!"

Natasha patted Clint on the back patronizingly. "Perhaps you'll do better with your video games."

Bruce chuckled and looked over the board. /He really is good at chess… who knew?/

Steve cautiously made his way down to Tony's lab. He'd been there before, but this seemed different somehow. It was bringing back memories again that he had tried to bury.

/Tony is not his father…/ this thought went through his head over and over as he made his way into the lab.

Two days prior, when Tony had come up to make his apology he had looked like a shadow. Now he looked like death. He was hunched over his worktable, hair a complete mess like he was gripping it with to tight hands, and a small leather book in front of him that he was just starring at. He was wearing his favorite MIT hoodie and sweat pants with socks, but no shoes.

Despite everything running through Steve's head he had to ask, "Are you alright?"

Tony chuckled darkly in answer, but didn't move from his position otherwise.

"Come, have a seat Cap." Tony gestured to the chair next to him vaguely with one hand.

Steve carefully maneuvered himself around the lab and sat at the seat Tony indicated. He glanced at the folder and small book on the table, recognizing both, but not changing his facial features in any way, waiting to see what Tony wanted to talk about.

"You know, I've always hated Howard. He was…not a good father growing up- because he was so obsessed with finding you. Everything was about you… and I… I could never measure up."

Tony paused and looked over at Steve, who had the same neutral look on his face that he usually did when dealing with Tony. "I'm not sure I would want to now that I've had time to think about it."

Tony slid the folder over to Steve, "You…you are more than just an experiment Cap. You're human and no one… no one has the right to own another human- Civil Rights and all that jazz."

Steve waited until Tony retracted his hand before he moved to pick up the folder. He gave a small noise when he saw what was in the folder, and looked back up at Tony to make sure he understood what was happening.

"Agent told me we are the only three living beings who know this contract exists. I don't… I won't keep it, or you. You're free to come and go as you please you know. I think the best thing to do would be to burn this and get rid of the evidence- so SHIELD can continue to not know anything about it. And you know we don't need to ever mention this again. Ever."

Steve gave Tony a small smile then. "I think that's a brilliant idea."

Tony pretended to look offended, "Well I am a genius."

Steve chuckled for the first time around Tony. "Thank you," Steve lifted the folder slightly to indicate what he was talking about, "for doing this."

"I would've done it sooner had I known." Tony sat up straighter, "Maybe we could start over as well?"

He stood up and held out his hand to Steve, "Hi, I'm Tony Stark- Genius, ex-playboy, billionaire, philanthropist."

Steve looked between the folder, Tony's hand and the little book- weighing the consequences- mind going in overtime.

After a few seconds that felt like hours to Tony, Steve stood as well, "Steve Rodgers."

The two shook hands as tension eased out of their shoulders. They shared a look and knew this was the start of something new, something better. Steve also found that he could finally start letting go of the past.

"So, now that you're a free man, so to speak…care to have a bonfire with me? I have a couple old files that I want to get rid of, just because of how much I know it will piss off Shield…"

Steve paused as he gathered up the folder and leather book, "Tony… I know it didn't turn out to good for you…. But I'm glad that I was able to stop his attention from coming to you because I was lost in the ice."

Tony paused from gathering some of his own files and looked over at Steve, "Honestly? I'm glad that you went down in the ice as well… so he could keep his attention on the search and only the search."

As he closed the door Tony said, "Jarvis, erase all evidence of any interactions between Me, Steve, and Agent from the last couple days. Also start a fire in the pent house fire place."

The next morning, when Tony finally graced the others with his presence at breakfast it was a strange turn of events when Steve didn't come down to eat with them.

In fact, when the group asked Jarvis about it they were floored to find that Steve was nowhere in the tower at all. Jarvis also mentioned that Steve had packed a small bag and left on his motorcycle around 3 am.

When Tony went to the garage later that day, he found a Shield tracking device, a Stark Industries tracking device, Steve's cell phone, and the GPS from Steve's motorcycle all laid out on the hood of one of his cars. /That little sneak…/

Tony smirked, saluted the small devices and made his way back to the rec room to share the news with the others, cackling evilly as he realized what had happened.

Captain America…. Mr. Innocent-I-Don't-Know-Anything-About-Technology… had disappeared, probably under the nose of the greatest super hero's and spy organization in the history of the world.

Tony could not wait until he got the call from Fury about this.

2012- NYC SHIELD Facility where Captain America wakes up

Sound was the first of his senses to awake, followed closely by smell and touch. Before opening his eyes he tried to take stock of where he was. There was a …baseball game? And…some traffic? He was on a bed, or what felt like a bed. There were other noises past the sounds of the game and the traffic…soldiers or police officers… It was time to open his eyes.

The room looked like it was from the forties, but it didn't feel like it was from the forties. As Steve pulled his feet to the floor the feeling in his gut started to go off in warning that something was wrong. The game started to make more sense- it was one he had been to with Bucky.

Clicking heels came from the other side of the door, but there was more shuffling of other bodies out of view. The feeling in his gut grew stronger. He tried to get answers, but she was having none of it. She was scared herself… nervous. Soldiers came in and his gut jumped with alarms blaring. He had to get out of there.

The streets were loud, the people different, the sights bright. He knew he was being followed but he couldn't stop moving. Couldn't get caught. When Steve realized he was in a strange version of New York, he came to an abrupt stop. His mind worked overtime to process. The cars caught up to him. A man with authority spoke with him. And just like that the "I'm just an innocent little soldier" mask clicked into place. He made a comment about missing a date, his mind working through everyone being dead.

The feeling in his gut diminished some, but not completely. This man… this organization couldn't be trusted- yet… they would have to pass a few tests first, and Steve would have to figure out this strange new world- enough to disappear if need be.

2012 4 months after Loki's invasion, September 6th, evening

It actually took Fury two days before he admitted defeat (as Tony called it), and called Stark Tower (or Avengers Tower as the team liked to jokingly call it), about their way word captain.

"Where is he Stark?" Fury's angry face and voice overrode the video games on the television causing Thor to startle at the sudden change, and Clint to slip off the back of the couch in surprise. Bruce had almost tipped his tea, but managed to catch it at the last second. These types of things didn't ever faze Natasha, so she didn't even twitch, and Tony? Well, Tony had been expecting this call, so he had made a bet with Jarvis about when it would happen. Tony was just cackling semi evilly.

The cackling just made Fury's good eye twitch and his face tighten with more anger.

"Where is who Nicky boy?" Tony sipped his coffee feigning innocence. He wasn't about to make this easy for Shield. He had a reputation to uphold!

"Captain America. Where. Is. He." If looks could kill, the glare Tony was receiving would've had him dead twice over by now.

"Sorry Nick, my consulting hours are every other Thursday between 8:30 and 3:00pm, you'll have to check back next week." Tony didn't even try to hide the amusement in his voice. "Although, I find it hilarious that you lost Captain America! The man out of time, who's been in the 21st Century for less than a year, and who refuses to learn how to use a microwave for fucks sake! Aren't you supposed to be the best spy agency in the business?"

Clint chuckled at the memory of the last time one of them tried to get Steve to use said kitchen appliance- it hadn't gone down well at all.

"The captain is lost?" Thor's voice piped up from where he was lounging on a beanbag. "This is most troublesome indeed."

"Stark." Fury growled out Tony's last name like he was a wolf about to pounce on a deer.

"Besides, what makes you think I know where he is? Jarvis informed us a couple days ago that Cap took off in the middle of the night. He's not contacted us in any way, and unlike some crazy spy organizations I know, who shall remain nameless, I don't go around actively tracking people just because they leave the tower." Tony raised an eyebrow at Fury and took a deliberate sip of his coffee.

Bruce was the next to chime in, "Come on director, you were able to find me in Calcutta… but Steve isn't even from this time period and you can't locate him?" Disbelief was coloring his tone in waves.

"Someone's slipping…" Tony sang as he drank some more coffee, "And before you ask- no I will not help you locate him. You lost him, so you can find him all on your own. Who do you have leading the search a trainee?"

"Coulson is heading the search for the Captain. But even he hasn't been able to come up with anything." Fury said, "The counsel-"

"The counsel can kiss my ironclad as-"

"Tony, don't be mean." Bruce raised an eyebrow at his science friend.

Tony sighed but refrained from finishing his sentence, "We will not be helping and that's final. Jarvis!"

The TV fuzzed for a moment, and Nick Fury's face disappeared, only to be replaced with the game screen from before.

"All clear sir." Jarvis' amused voice confirmed what the TV was showing them, which is when Tony lost it and fell off the couch in fits of laughter.

"Again, I fail to see the humor in the situation." Natasha's bland voice only added to Tony's hysterics and floor rolling.

"If the Captain is missing shouldn't we make haste to find him?" Thor's confusion helped ground Tony, if only for a moment.

"Nah, that's alright. If Capsicle was in trouble, he knows how to get in touch with us. Besides, with everything that's happened in the last couple months, I think he deserves a little R'N'R, don't you guys? The fact that SHIELD can't find him… well that's just icing on the cake." Tony broke out into chuckles again.

"Jarvis, see if you can hack the search so we can gleefully watch Shield's little meltdown." Tony wiped some tears of joy from his eye; the others started to see the humor as Tony did- although they didn't express it as animatedly as him. "Don't you remember how I found all those things in the garage the other day- that's Cap's way of letting us know he'll be fine and he wants/needs some time alone."

"Hack complete sir. And if my memory serves, which it always does- I've won the bet." Even Jarvis' voice held some amusement at the situation.

"Damn! You're right…. If only they could've waited another two hours… ah well. Good job J. Bring it up on the small TV over by the bar and keep it running."

The group went back to their pre-Fury interrupted activities, while occasionally glancing over at the small TV. They could trust Steve to get a hold of them if need be, and they could trust him to take care of himself. Yes, they would sit this one out and give their Captain some much-needed space.

Although, all of them were thinking that it might be fun to be a fly on the wall (or in the air vents) when Steve finds out about Shield's antics.

2012 pre Loki invasion- post Ice thawing

Shield helped the captain settle into a new apartment and one of the agents- Coulson, stayed, when the others in their little escort group left, to help him get acquainted with all the strange technology. Steve's gut was telling him that Coulson could be trusted, and by the end of the evening the pair were discussing some very important information.

The man had gone from a bubbling fanboy in the face of the other agents, to a down to earth mentor after they left, and a full on friend after the pair shared dinner and Coulson pulled out a small scrambler that he currently had switched on.

With the small device in place, he explained how Shield was monitoring the apartment, and he explained the politics of the current world. He also showed Steve the small leather bound book- and explained how Peggy Carter had passed the information down to him in the case/hope that the Super Soldier was alive.

In turn, Steve's gut feeling of trust for this man lead him to explaining some things about himself that he had only ever shared with Peggy. The pair got into a routine of behavior over the course of three weeks leading up to Loki's invasion, that seemed second nature when they were on the jet flying towards Shield's flying boat (as Steve liked to refer to it).

When they got word that Coulson had died, Steve knew deep down that Fury was lying to them again. But it wasn't the time to call the man on the lie- it was time to get a team together to fight off an alien invasion (even with the serum, Steve was having trouble with that insanity).

A month after Loki's invasion Fury called the Avengers together to their New York building and brought in Coulson- limping slightly and using a cane, but completely alive.

That was the first time Steve punched Fury in the face, much to the morbid amusement of the rest of the Avengers.

2012 4 months after Loki's invasion, September 9th, afternoon

It was three days later that the Avengers got word from Jarvis that Fury was in the elevator, on his way up to the common floors to speak with them about Steve being MIA. They all gathered into the rec room incase they were needed to intervene in anyway. They all agreed to let Tony do most of the talking… because well… it was Tony.

Nick stormed off the elevator looking completely frazzled. It had been five full days and there was no word anywhere about Captain America's ware-abouts. The counsel was ready to declare war, the search was getting them nothing, and no terrorist groups had made any demands in anyway relating to the wayward Avenger.

This shouldn't have been possible- but it was happening.

"STARK!" The volume of his voice rivaled Thor's when he was extremely excited, which caused some of the picture frames to rattle slightly on the walls.

"Nicky boy! What brings you to our humble abode? Please, feel free to storm in here yelling like a banshee having a temper-tantrum, I insist." Tony didn't even glance up from his SI tablet.

"It's been five days. FIVE! He could be dead for all you know, so why aren't you helping us find him?" Fury came fully into the room as he spoke, more agents filling in around the room- Coulson was among them. Bruce started to tense, but a gentle hand- Natasha- on his arm, and the fact that Fury wasn't even acknowledging he was in the room helped relax his body. He kept his eyes glued to his own Stark-pad, but his ears were honed in on the conversation between the head of Shield and their friend.

"I don't see what the big deal is Fury. Cap needed a break. He took a break. He's not back from said break yet. It's done and done, case closed." Tony stood, "I will not help you find him just because you and your stupid counsel are having a hissy fit.

They were interrupted by Jarvis; "Sir, the Captain is back. He is currently-" the elevator dinged again, and opened showing Steve, "in the elevator."

"Jarvis, we need to work on your coding for timing. This is getting to be ridiculous." Tony piped up.

"Of course Sir. I schedule that in for next week," and Tony nodded.

The super soldier stopped right outside the elevator and raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. His small bag was at his side and his signature brown leather jacket was hung over his arm. "Did I miss someone's birthday? What's going on? I heard yelling five floors down!"

Clint's "Cap's back!" was drowned out by Fury storming up to Steve, "What the hell do you think you were doing for the last five days? Where were you?"

Tony finally put his Stark-pad down, "Mom's been worried about you Cap, apparently the worlds finest spy organization… lost you. You were completely off their radar all week. I have to say, that's quite a feat!"

Steve brought his eyebrows down, the picture of confusion, "What do you mean? I went to visit the WWII graves of my teammates in Arlington Cemetery… and walk around the Capital to see how it had changed in the last half century."

Fury's good eye twitched, "The Cemetery."

Steve nodded, "Is that a problem?" His tone had a hint of danger to it, which Fury instantly recognized, but was too upset to heed.

"Then how do you explain the two trackers, the cell phone and GPS from your bike that were magically sitting in the garage after your little road trip started?"

Steve just starred at the director of Shield with a completely blank face. Tony was having trouble hiding his grin, so he grabbed his coffee cup and took a big sip."…oops?..."

Tony then proceeded to spew coffee out of his nose, and mouth in his attempt to not choke on it while laughing. Which lead to a couple Shield agents in front of him making horrified faces as they were in the spew zone, and Clint almost doubling over in laughter.

"And you didn't contact anyone because…."

"…I wasn't aware that I was five and in need of a babysitter." Bruce, and Tony both chuckled this time, at the honestly confused sincerity in his voice, while Natasha twitched her lips into a small smile. Clint was all but rolling on the floor. Natasha was the only thing keeping him upright. Thor was slightly wary of Steve's voice, so he didn't laugh like the others.

Fury intensified his glare, "don't do it again Soldier."

He then turned and stormed back into the elevator, while the rest of the Shield agents scrambled to join him.

Steve didn't give a verbal reply; he just turned and gave Fury another blank look, arms still crossed over his arms over his chest.

It was only after Jarvis informed everyone that the Shield agents had completely left the building- Elvis pun intended- that the others released the collective breath they didn't realize they were holding.

Steve picked his bag back up and put his jacket back over his arm. He turned to his fellow Avengers, "So… what'd I miss?"

His tone was light and teasing, so much different from what it had been a week ago. There was also less tension in his shoulders, and he was grinning at all of them. The air between the resident billionaire and super soldier was also clear, so whatever issue the pair had, was finally resolved.

"Not to much actually, it was a rather quiet week outside of Cyclops' hissy fits every couple of days because they lost you, Mr. Super Actor Extraordinaire." Tony's flippant response gained a chuckle from Steve for the first time ever.

Eyes glinting with innocence, and a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth Steve replied the best way he knew how, "Oops?"

Even Thor and Natasha joined in on the laughter at that point.

"Hey! Cap- you still have to let me teach you how to play video games. Get your stuff put away and get back down here pronto!" Clint's excited voice broke through the chuckles of the others.

Steve gave a small salute and made his way back to his room to put down his bag and jacket. His gut was telling him that he had some really good friends waiting for him in the rec room. And for the first time since all the Avengers moved into the tower, Steve readily agreed with his gut.

-The End-

Author's Note(s) Take 2: There might be one or two more chapters that I add later as sequel type things, but as of now this is my very first ONE SHOT! Wooot! I feel accomplished.