New York was a beautiful place around the end of fall and the beginning on winter. The leaves in Central Park were changing colors, fluttering off trees, and being dusted in frost promising more then a few inches of snow. The cars moved slowly and noisily down the road, honking constantly at those not abiding by the traffic laws. Children were off to school, taking subways, trains, or walking none wanting to risk taking the bus in early morning traffic. The sun was just hitting the top of the newly built Stark tower just as Tony Stark's head hit his desk. Tony, hit by another brilliant idea three days earlier, had done nothing but digital blueprint and build. Tony's dark blue eyes fixed themselves hazily on his newest digital blueprint as he reached out for his glass of brandy and a can of Monster. Without looking away from his blueprints he poured half of the can into his glass and tossed the glass back, swallowing it all in on gulp before he placed the glass down heavily.
Tony pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the wobbliness of his legs, and walked to the other side of the table were his brilliant idea lay. What was laying in front of Tony was, what he had intended to create, a new and updated tracking device. They were the size and shape of human blood cells. Tony had put them into a small jar and was watching them slowly move and shift inside. The idea had come to him when Fury had given him a call four days ago with some upsetting news. At the time Tony hadn't known what that idea had been but the night Fury had called Tony woke up in a cold sweat at midnight and had been working ever since.
If Tony was being completely honest with himself he would have to admit that he had finished working on Project L a day and half ago, he just wasn't very keen on going to his room to hear Pepper complain about Steve. Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, was a friend of not only Tony Stark but Howard Stark, Tony's father, and in the Avengers Insinuative. Pepper Potts was Tony's secretary and most resent girlfriend. For some odd reason after the Avengers had defeated Loki and his army and Tony had invited Steve, who had no true place to go and who was all alone in the world, to live in Stark tower, Pepper took an instant dislike towards Steve.
Tony couldn't help but resent Pepper for the way she was acting towards a fellow Avenger. He had thought he had known her better than that. The Pepper he had known, the Pepper that was the only constant and safe coordinate in his life, would've ushered Steve in with a warm smile and a cup of coffee instead of a cold grimace and the slamming of their bedroom door. Tony had laughed it off and kept a continues one sided conversation as he led Steve to his room, which Tony had selected so that Steve could easily find his way around. Tony's sleep deprived, intoxicated, and energized brain was whirring as he continued to ponder over all of the newest developments, he was so deep in thought that the sound of the glass door sliding open caused him to jolt and nearly knock over the small jar.
"Tony." Tony winced at the sound of Pepper's high pitched voice and fought the urge to cover his ears childishly to muffle the sound so it wouldn't make him want to rip them off. The sound of Pepper's five inch heels clicking against the floor was in sync with the pounding of his head. It took all the strength Tony had at that moment not to start another argument about heels in his, as she had put it so plainly in a fight several days earlier, 'man cave' when she knew he had been drinking. And Tony had to face it, he was always drinking, even more frequently as of late.
"Yes," Tony took a deep breath, praying that she hadn't prepared to come into his sanctuary and morph in to the evil Pepper, ranting and raving about him, Steve, and the entire world being more important than her. "What is it Pepper?"
"I know it's last minute, but I'm going to visit my sister in Colorado."
"Pepper not-" Tony stopped short, his head turning to to the side so he could look at her. "Your what now?"
"It's just, Jay is away and Paula has her baby on the way. I would hate for her-"
"How long will you be gone?" Tony asked, his voice lower than usual, taking in the new information.
"It could be anywhere from three months to six." Pepper had a strange look on her face as she tried to ketch Tony's sleepy eye. "Is that alright? Do you need me here?"
"No. It's alright, your sister needs you there more than I need you here." Tony pushed away from the table and started to toy with his digital, 3D blueprints. "When are you leaving?"
"In-in an hour." Tony froze, his back to her, unsure of how he should respond. "I thought it be easier to leave easier in the morning so you know, I wouldn't bother you or your work."
Tony, even in the state he was in, could detect a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"You are coming back, aren't you, Pepper?" Tony kept his back to her still frozen.
"I'll be back, Tony." Pepper's voice was unnaturally light and carefree. "Don't worry."
"You don't bother me." Tony couldn't stop his brain from tagging on 'much'. "And besides I'm finished here."
"It's alright, Tony. I'm capable of getting myself to the AFK." Tony winced again as he heard the click of her heels again and felt her arms wrap around his waist. Pepper kissed Tony on the cheek, her fake cupcake scented perfume of hers wafted up his nostrils almost making him cough. "I love you Tony. I'll see you in several months."
"Bye, Pepper." Tony stood completely still as she unwrapped her arms and her heels clicked against the floor faster than before causing Tony to have a migraine. Tony slowly turned away from the table, his blueprints, and Project L a few moments after the glass door had slid shut. He leaned against the his work table and pulled is phone out of his pocket, knowing that at some point in the early hours it had gone off, though at the time he had refused to answer it. Looking at his slim, transparent, 3D interfaced phone finding that he had missed two phone calls from Steve, who had apparently finally watched those videos Tony had created for him to learn how to work cell phones, though apparently he still hasn't watched How to Text.. Tony immediately hit return call and turned off speaker, unusual behavior for his usual calls. Instead of ringing Tony heard jazz music issuing from the phone, causing him to draw his head back looking at his phone with raised eyebrows. "No 'Stars and Stripes', Cap? Very... Interesting."
"Hello can you call me back later?" Tony moved the phone back to his head at the sound of Steve's voice, ignoring the sudden and strange movement in his chest. "I'm a little-ugh-busy."
"Too busy for me? No one is that busy, Steve." Tony's voice naturally slipped back to normal. "I was just returning your call...Both of them."
"Oh, yeah. Well, I-I can't really talk right now." Tony finally noticed how out of breath Steve sounded. "I-I'm a little busy ri-right now."
"Really?" Tony couldn't help himself. "Who's the girl hotshot?"
"America."
"Her name is American. Like America Ferrera?" Tony tilted his head to the side. "Interesting, but I could never see you with some one less than a foot shorter than you."
"Tony, what the hell are you talking about?"
"That our thawed out Captain is losing his v-card. The only strange this is," Tony smirked. "Is that you answered your phone while doing so."
"I, I don't follow." Tony could hear that Steve was slowly becoming irritated. "But I could use some help."
"I'm not sure I can do that. My specialty is two girls not two guys."
"Tony!"
"Now, now. Don't let America here you screaming my name, it wont end well." Tony ran his fingers through his dirty black hair thoroughly enjoying himself.
"Are you almost done?" The sound of a woman screaming sobered Tony up pretty quickly.
"What was that?" Tony was suddenly alert and was moving quickly towards his Iron Man suits. "Where are you? What are you doing? And fire the answers off quickly. I don't have time to waste."
"Bridgeport. Trying to save people. As far as know, that was a woman that S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't want any harm to come to."
"I'll be there in less than three minutes." Tony ended the call and looked pointedly at the glass case. "Jarvis?"
"Yes sir?"
"Time to suit up."
/~/~/~/
The sound of bullets whizzing through the air and explosions were second nature to Steve Rogers, but the sounds of woman and children screaming disturbed him deeply as a machine gun went off. Steve lifted his shield and dove in front of a mother and her two children. The bullets hit the shield and rebounded right into the shooter. Mercenaries. Steve couldn't figure out why they had chosen to attack here and why they chose now. All he knew at that moment was that his mission was to take them all down and save as many people as he can. Including S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest interest. Steve rushed forward, barreling two of the remaining ten mercenaries to the ground.
"Come on Tony." Steve muttered on his breath as he kicked a third one in the head, watching him crumple to the ground. "Hurry up."
Steve looked up in time to see a woman dressed in a pair of ripped jeans, a tight tank top, cropped black jacket, and a pair of combat boots back flip off of a building. Steve's heart stopped beating as he watched her dive almost like she intended to land in a pool or a lake. Before he could move to attempt to help her, the woman grabbed a hold of a pole jutting out of the building, it was right next to the fire escape. As Steve watched, his heart slowly restarting, as she casually threw her leg around it and pulled herself on top of it, her long blindingly blond hair whipped in the air causing the pale strawberry colored locks in her hair to pop.
"So your the one S.H.I.E.L.D wants." Steve's blue eyes narrowed as he took her in from a distance. "Why the he-?"
"Ahoy Captain!" Steve's head snapped up in time to see Tony Stark flying by him. "These men trying to rob ye of ye booty?"
"Are you ever serious?" Steve asked torn between amusement and slight annoyance. Tony reminded Steve of a cartoon character from one of those movies he used to watch. Eccentric and all over the place, those movies had always been Steve's favorites.
"Always." Tony dove down, blasting at a mercenary just inches away from Steve. Steve flinched away from the blast, lifting his arm up to shield his eyes. "Now go save-eth yonder damsel in distress."
Steve's eyebrow arched as Tony switched from swashbuckling sailor to knight in shining armor. Before he could point out the abrupt switch Tony blasted at a mercenary behind him.
"On it." Steve hurtled forward and started up the fire escape. Tony on the other hand had finished with the mercenaries by the time Steve was half way up and was working on rescuing anyone who was in danger due to the mercenary situation. Steve glanced above him to see the young woman watching him her pale blue eyes had a strange form of emotion in her eyes that blurred as he grew closer.
"Who are you?" The young woman finally asked when he had gotten closer. Steve looked up is surprise, his gray eyes wide. He knew it had been a stupid assumption, he hadn't expected her to talk to him.
"Captain America, Ma'am." Steve smiled hesitantly at her as he pulled himself on to the ledge just below her. "I'm here to help you."
The woman smiled warmly at him as her hands gripped the flag pole and she allowed herself to slide off. Steve nearly had a heart attack and started to climb faster thinking that if he could just get closer to her he could grab her and pull her to safety.. She picked up speed as she revolved faster and faster around the pole, she let go and landed gracefully above him, just as he started to climb up. Steve paused, finding their faces barely three inches away from each other, before taking a deep breath a relaxing a little.
'Show off.' Steve thought, fighting a smile. 'Though I have to admit, she is good.'
"So," The woman looked like she was amused and, against her will, curious. "Don't you wanna know my name? Or is Captain America just here to whisk away the damsel in distress?"
"No, Ma'am." Steve was a little flustered at her forwardness. "I mean yes, Ma'am. I mean-I-"
"Shhh." The woman smiled and but her finger to Steve's lips to stop him. "My name is Riley."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Riley." Steve managed to say around her finger. Riley laughed, a sweet and innocent yet infectious sound, as she removed her finger.
"So it's true."
"What?"
"That your the super solider from World War Two." Riley stood up and took a step back, giving Steve room to climb up next to her.
"How would you know that?"
"Not important." Riley looked down judging how far up they were. "It's amazing that the was a pole there. I wouldn't want to know what would've happened if it hadn't been."
Steve didn't know how to respond to Riley, she talked easily and treated him as if she had known him for a long time. So Steve merely nodded and watched her for a few moments before looking away and offering her his hand. Riley smiled again, grabbing his hand , her soft palm brushing against his glove, and shook it before sliding down the stairs not giving him a fair chance to stop her. Steve hurried after, not entirely keen on the idea of letting her getting away. Riley glanced up from the level below him with a hint of a smile on her lips and sparkling in her eyes.
"Don't worry, Mr. Rogers. I won't slip away, you fought and won me fair and square."
"How did you know my name?" Steve asked startled to find he wasn't as freaked out as he should have been, watching her shimmy down to the fourth level. "I didn't tell you it."
"All in good time, Mr. Rogers." Riley paused on the third level, noting that Steve was still on the fifth level, watching intently. "If you don't trust me, Mr. Rogers, I can't say I blame you. I wouldn't trust a mercenary that other mercenaries wanted to kill. It's not like I turned over all information about them to the US government or anything. But of course that's not why your here, is it Captain?"
Steve smiled briefly before he climbed the last few flights down until he was standing right next to her, his ribcage expanding as he took a few deep breathes to settle himself from the fight earlier. If Steve hadn't known any better he would've sworn that Riley's eyes had lingered over his chest not just to view his suit.
"And what," Steve asked over come by a strange urge, his voice low and husky, taking a step towards her, nearly boxing her into a corner. "Makes you think that I'm here for you?"
"Your shield." It could have just been Steve's imagination but Riley looked revealed to have something to look at. Steve glanced at the shield that Howard Stark had created for him. "You were the first Avenger."
"And what does that have to do with my shield?" Steve asked softly, even more confused than ever. For a moment he thought of forcing her to answer his questions but the memory of his mother always telling him to be a gentlemen caused him to hold back. Or at least that's what he thought was holding him back.
"It's-nothing, just nothing." Riley turned away from from Steve but not fast enough for him to miss the single tear that gleamed in the rising sun and rested on her cheek. "Can we just get out of here please?"
"Of course. But do you mind if I ask you something?" Steve took a step forward, reaching his hand out to brush her hair off of her shoulder revealing a small, black, dart like object sticking out. "What is this?"
"Wh-wha-what?" Riley looked over her shoulder trying to see what Steve was pointing out before she collapsed.
Steve threw his arms out and caught her before she hit the floor. Steve held her bridal style for a few moments, holding close to his chest as he pulled the object out of her shoulder. Without giving it a second glance he slipped it into the pocket of Riley's jeans before throwing her, gently, over his shoulder. It took Steve a few moments to climb down the rest of the flights without any harm coming to the young woman draped over his shoulder. When his feet had hit the ground Steve finally noticed the sound of Tony's suit hovering in the air several feet above him. Steve sighed and pulled Riley off his shoulders and into his arms. Something about this woman was special, they just had to figure out what before S.H.I.E.L.D could get their hands on her.