Fandom The Avengers (2012)
Character(s)/Pairing(s) Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark; no pairings intended so take it as you will
Genre Drama/Deleted Scene/Friendship
Rating PG
Word Count 1,571
Disclaimer The Avengers c. Marvel, Paramount
Summary Part character study, part deleted scene. Steve owes Tony an apology.
Warning(s) spoilers for the movie
Notes I know that Steve's birth year changes depending on which comic you consult. For these purposes, I'm going to go with 1920, because that was the first birth year I ran into growing up, so it stuck in my head. I admit to shipping Steve/Tony, but I think they're not there yet in the movie verse.
Apology
Steve Rogers was twenty-one when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. It ignited something within him. He wanted to prove himself. He wanted to protect Red Hook and everyone he knew. Yet, it was a struggle to be accepted by the army before the serum and after the serum. Steve saw so many things on his tour of Europe once he finally made it there. He was barely twenty-five when he crashed into the Arctic and began his deep freeze. When Steve woke, his memories and the present were seventy years apart and anything cold brought instant agitation. Steve could remember a time when only people with money could afford air conditioning. Now it was everywhere and it made his mind go to dark places that felt sluggish and foggy. The frozen fog haunted him as did the memories of his mistakes as a soldier. Even after helping save the world from the Hydra threat, Steve silently questioned if he really was a soldier because he was the right person to make decisions or because of the serum. He never dared voice this, lest those around him begin to doubt his skills as well. In this world, he found that his only place seemed to be on a battlefield. He was not certain where he would go if he lost that.
Nick Fury's flying fortress was cold. Not so cold that people shivered if they forgot their coats, but cold enough that it set Steve's teeth on edge. It caused flashes of Bucky slipping off into the snowy mountains through his mind. It made Steve look at people like Tony Stark and ask himself really why was a person like Tony there. Yes, he was Howard Stark's son and probably some kind of great mental asset, but Tony's mannerisms were all wrong for battle. Steve wondered if there would come a time when Tony would get himself into a large problem in the middle of an inevitable battle that Steve could not solve. Steve wanted everyone to realize he was still a man, serum or not. Instead of saying this, Steve did something that he never would have unprovoked growing up in Red Hook, he verbally bit Tony. Hard.
Tony Stark was a genius by genetics and by choice. Growing up, his father became increasingly busy with work and the only people at home Tony could hang with were the staff, who typically were too busy doing their jobs to entertain him. So, Tony began to make robots. The inspiration for the robots came from his father's stories about Captain America. These stories always had one of two purposes, either to teach the young Tony something about life or to entertain him, sometimes both. In the stories, Captain America was always standing alongside his most loyal friend, Bucky. Tony wanted to create a sidekick for himself via robotics. When Howard first related the tales, he told Tony that Bucky was a child since it made Tony more excited to hear the story, but when Tony outgrew the stories, Howard admitted that Bucky was an adult just like Captain America and Howard at the time.
Tony could still remember his Captain America Halloween costume from when he was seven. He wore it to a Halloween party the families' in his tax bracket in the area put together so the children could have fun without being in danger of kidnapping. He wore it proudly, but none of the other children knew who he was, though most of the adults knew immediately. Back in the forest, when he had to try and stop Thor as Iron Man, Tony noticed that Captain America sounded a lot like he did on the old news reels he found in storage and watched once. It was as though Steve was Steve and he was acting as Captain America. It was strange. Tony thought soon after they got Thor to cooperate that maybe Steve Rogers was shy or introverted and that he worked hard to make Captain America seem out going and confident. What Tony did not anticipate was Steve was a bitter jerk, who saw Tony as nothing but a prancing peacock that was far, far away from his jungle.
Tony, of course, made a joke in response to Steve's attitude. Tony was at least good at that, if maybe his Iron Man skills were lacking. Tony did not think he was lacking, but he did feel like the amateur in the room with stars. He was not super strong like Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk. He also lacked the years of training and experience of the Black Widow and Hawkeye. There was a part of Tony that almost wanted to believe he could be more than his Iron Man suit. He had wit and intelligence he could use. Besides the fact he needed a new suit, Tony approached Loki without armor just to see what he could do for his own personal affirmation. When Loki threw Tony out the window, it only showed Tony how much he needed his suits. Without a suit, he would need rescuing like any other human in any other building in New York City in that moment. If he did not have his suit, he would not be an Avenger, and he would be dead.
After Iron Man returned from the portal, New York was safe again and Loki was in proper containment, Tony opened up the Stark Tower to the Avengers so they could change clothes if they wanted to and make arrangements before the Avengers showed the world that Thor would take Loki home as a prisoner. Tony was generous. He anticipated that everyone might have to crash at the Stark Tower when he reviewed the files on everyone. He provided new clothes and transportation so that they could all go their separate ways without looking like people lost on the way to Comic Con.
Tony now stood in the ruins of a room on the fifth floor of Stark Tower with Bruce Banner. "So what do you say?" Tony asked Bruce. There were some windows missing and the wind moving through the building send some papers flying up against their legs. "Needs new windows, but it could be a proper lab. You could work from here."
Bruce looked around the room that looked like a wild unsupervised teen party happened without the food. "You need help with clean up, don't you?"
"Yeah, but I could also use a research facility on this floor, don't you think? And you could use a place to research." Tony was about to hype up what all they could do with a fifth floor laboratory when both men looked up at the doorway. Steve stood there in his new clothes looking admittedly sheepish.
"I can come back," Steve said. He started to step back into the hallway.
"No," Bruce said, "I was going to go see how Thor and Loki are getting on." He looked at Tony. "I'll take you up on it. We'll see how it goes."
Steve moved into the room so Bruce could exit. Steve's eyes fixed on Tony. Tony moved as close to the window to look out it. Tony shook his head.
"You don't have to say anything." Tony kept watching the cleanup he could see going on throughout the city from his vantage point.
"Yes, I do," Steve said. His eyebrows furrowed. "What you did, was good."
"Only I could have done it," Tony said. "But, yeah, it was good."
Steve walked up to the gaping hole across from him where three narrow floor to ceiling windows once stood. He peered out to the city below, keeping a distance from Tony. "I'm sorry." He paused. "I shouldn't have belittled you like that. Nobody should treat anyone like that."
"I see your conscience finally defrosted," Tony snorted. "But, really, you don't have to say anything." He was ready to move on from it. They just all saved the world from a Norse god having a tantrum. Tony figured if he and Steve had not moved on from getting off on the wrong foot earlier after that battle, then they never would.
Steve looked at Tony then. He could remember the momentary hurt and disappointment in Tony's expression before Tony's comeback about being a billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist. "I grew up fighting bullies, Tony. Don't let me bully you."
"You're not bullying me," Tony said. He walked along the debris field until they were close enough that maybe they would not broadcast the conversation to everyone who could hear them on the balconies below.
"Well," Steve replied, not completely sold he had been in any form of right during that verbal exchange, "you did do really well. It was an honor to serve alongside you." He offered his hand to Tony. It was another peace offering.
Tony took the hand and grasped it tightly. "There's that jargon again. 'Serve.'" Tony shook his head. "I'm not a soldier. You don't have to be a soldier to save the world." He let go of Steve's hand and patted Steve shoulder twice casually. Then he made a "follow me" motion with his hand and turned towards the door. "Come on, I've got something to show you before everyone heads to the teleportation location." Tony led Steve down to one of the Stark Tower's garages where everyone soon gathered to secure transportation for their journeys.
The End