As I explained in another one of my stories, I'm still in the quest for making my stories a little more legible by spliting chapters and getting a beta. I don't know how that last one works, so meanwhile, I'll split this story and keep counting on you guys to help me improve my stories.
Enjoy!
Not so Normal Friends After All
Chapter 2
"He said WHAT?!"
"He thinks I'm scum, Jan." Steve confessed the next morning after Tony had ran to his workshop while muttering something about never being enough coffee in the tower. He remarked his words with a resigned sigh. "I tried to talk to him, but he kept making accusations that made me want to kick his ass into a far away universe even more than I had ever wished to do to another villain. Thank God that we were talking over the phone; I'm not so sure I'd had been able to contain myself face to face."
"Steve, what are you saying?! You should've kicked his ass, anyway! He's being a completely unfair asshole!" Jan yelled while pacing on the kitchen's floor with absolute rage. Everyone had already left to mind in their own business after breakfast, so the blond didn't mind the loud talking and the furious pacing. Steve knew she didn't really feel like beating his lover's best friend up was the answer, but her anger was genuine and Steve was glad he had someone like her to support him. "You didn't deserve that! Is he blind or something?! How dare he think that you only like Tony because it makes you look like a Good Samaritan!?"
"Wow, when you put it like that it's even worse." Steve affirmed while trying to suppress a flinch. "But there's nothing I can do. Tony told me to give it up."
Jan stopped her now furious flying around the coffee table in order to look at the blonde with a soft, understanding gaze. She had refused to sit before in favor of scuffing the floor with her heels as she stomped over it with more force than necessary; it was her way of showing how much the situation angered her.
Jan transformed back to her normal size and then let her full weight fall graciously on the seat next to Steve with a dramatic sigh. She took her formerly forgotten cup of cold coffee and took a small sip, grimacing at his now undesirable flavor.
"But you don't want to." It wasn't a question.
"No, I don't," Steve replied anyway with new found determination. "This is very important to Tony, even though he is denying it probably for the sake of not bothering me." He explained, "But is not like I'm easily insulted and I'm far from easily defeated. I'm not that kind of person."
"Maybe he thinks that Rhodey will come around?" she asked hopefully stretching her tiny hand to take the one that Steve wasn't using to hold his cup of coffee. It was then that the super soldier realized that his own cup had turned cold as well, so he put it on the table beside Jan's, using it so that both of his hands covered one of hers in appreciation.
"He may say so, but I can assure you he thinks it's a lost cause." Steve sometimes thought that he would rather fight a whole army of supervillains instead of trying to deal with someone that you can't just make understand, worse if they didn't even listen to you. If Tony ever found out that Steve sometimes thought that way, he would laugh at him before making bad jokes about the honorable Captain America wanting to kick ass rather than talk. And then he would tell Clint, just to have someone to make jokes whenever Tony wasn't around.
Yeah, he'd take those thoughts to the grave. Or at least nowhere near Charles Xavier… nor his creepy magnetic villain of a boyfriend. Just in case.
"He probably does," she agreed, "you should have seen him when Natasha was giving Tony the Shovel Talk; he probably lost hope on being on the good side of everyone. But she came around!"
"The what?" Steve asked, not understanding what the small woman was talking about, "what's a shovel talk?"
"Anyway! That's a story for another moment!" She dismised his cuestion with a wave of her hand. Steve was going to complain, but she continued with a malicious glint in her eyes and the blond decided to leave it for now. "Now, my friend, if you're that determined to talk to Rhodey and try to patch things up (or at least get a little revenge for what he said– just saying! No need to glare at me like that!), then we call in the big cavalry."
"Do we even have a cavalry for these kinds of things?" Steve asked disbelievingly.
"Steven Rogers, I am disapointed in you! I can't believe you're Tony Stark's lover and you can't think about the big, HUGE, cavalry!" she stated with somewhere between excitement and bemusement.
Steve didn't know what to make of that.
But then again, he felt very stupid for not thinking of the Big Cavalry himself.
Pretty huge, indeed.
"Potts." Was the dry reply after just the first ring.
"Um… Hi, Miss Potts, it's-"
"Captain?" she asked right away, the tone changing noticeably from professional to concerned. "What happened to Tony? Is he okay?"
"Why does Tony's friends always think that something's wrong with him?" Steve asked with humor. He figured it would be best not to lead this conversation anywhere near to a repetition of the call with Rhodes, so he has started with a little humor. But this time he wasn't nervous; this was Pepper. Pepper liked Steve, didn't she?
"Oh, so this is because of something he did." She stated confidently with a hint of resignation. "What did he do?"
"Nothing. He hasn't done anything out of normal lately, really." Steve defended his lover a little. It was true that Tony was a troublemaker, but he's always been able to find his own way out of every problem he caused, even when sometimes his solution was to self-destruct and it would cause more harm than good. Now that he thought about it, perhaps Pepper was a big reason why both Tony and his company were still alive and functioning.
"Is that why you're calling me?" Pepper inquired doubtfully. "Are you worried because he's not making any trouble?" a small pause. "Okay, now I'm worried too. Did he lock himself in the workshop, again?"
"No! It's nothing like that, I promise! It's not about Tony." At the disbelieving scoff over the other side of the line, Steve tried to elaborate. "Well, it is about Tony in some way-"
"Consider me shocked."
"But it's more about Colonel Rhodes." He finished trying to ignore her implication. It seemed that out of office's duties Tony was rubbing a little on Pepper, or maybe this sarcasm came with her and was the reason they got along so well.
At her silence, Steve wished he could be face-to-face with Tony's right-hand-woman so he could gauge her expression, which was probably somewhere near astonished. "Miss Potts?" he asked tentatively.
He really should start to call Tony's friends more often if this was the response he was likely to get.
"I certainly wasn't expecting that." She admitted shortly after his cuestion, but she now sounded a little amused. "And it's Pepper for you, Captain."
"If that's the case, please call me Steve." He replied politely.
"Of course," she agreed "what can I do for you then, Steve?"
And here came the hard part "Um, were you– are you aware that the Colonel, well, you know-"
"You're asking me if I'm aware of Rhodey's hateful ways for you?" she guessed easily and it was obvious that she didn't need an answer to her own question that she didn't wait for him to reply, "Of course I'm aware. Do you want to know why he feels that way?"
"No, he stated that clearly enough himself." He murmured a little angrily. "I just want to know what would you suggest to be a good approach with him so he'd stop insulting me for an instant and start to actually listening to what I have to say. And of course I would be willing to listen to what he has to say in return." He added quickly.
"Captain. Steve. Rhodey doesn't like you at all." She clarified without cutting around the bush. "And it may not even be personal, you see. He's been protective of Tony since the day they met, but when the three-month-kidnapping happened, his protectiveness became over-protectiveness. I think he felt responsible because this was the first kidnapping that happened on his own watch."
"Tony had been kidnapped before Afghanistan?" Steve asked tentatively. He didn't know about this, either. He should know about these things! First the mysterious rapist and now this; he was going to have a long, long talk with a probably resisting Tony about this.
"Since he was a little boy, Captain." Pepper confessed in a dark tone. "I suppose it's part of the price he had to pay for being so rich since the moment he was born."
"That's just-" Steve had a hard time imagining Tony being tortured in those caves, but the image of a little Tony Stark being kidnapped as if it were a regular occurrence made him want to be sick. "How many times?"
"Enough times to force Howard and then Tony to make a strict non-ransom policy for SI .However, perhaps that's something that Tony should tell you himself," Pepper decided, "What we should be concerned about right now is the really short possibility of Rhodey quitting insulting you enough for you to be able to talk to him. But!" she added when she probably heard the disillusioned sigh that came from Steve's mouth. "Rhodey's a truly rational man; it would be the only way you can keep up with Tony without wanting to or rather trying to kill him."
"So what you're saying is… that all of us must be rational or Tony would be already dead?" asked Steve honestly confused. It did make sense in some twisted kind of way, but not enough for him to link it to the topic.
"What I'm saying, Steve, is that I'm going to try to help you," She corrected with amusement. "Since I know that you're doing this for Tony, I'll call Rhodey personally and arrange some kind of meeting in a neutral zone. Sounds good?"
"Really? Would you do that for me? I would really appreciate that." Steve thanked relieved that he was going to let this situation on very capable hands. For a moment, he understood plainly Tony's appreciation for the redhead.
"For Tony, anything." She clarified with a chuckle. "But at this point I really don't see the difference. And you really are very helpful to keep him out of trouble."
Steve blushed at the insinuation. "Thank you, anyway."
"He really loves you, Steve." Her tone made a drastic change as she said that; she was serious. Death serious. "He may be a little intense, but you're a very lucky guy for having someone like Tony to love you the way he does. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
A warm feeling filled Steve at those words coming from someone so close to Tony. "I wouldn't."
"I'm probably being unfair in saying this since the possibilities of Tony's idiocy making an appearance are way higher than they should be and most of the times it creates an awful lot of misunderstandings to ignore; however I have to get it off of my chest for the sake of my sanity. I hope you don't mind."
"Um, no, not at all," Steve conceded curiously. "Go ahead."
"If you hurt Tony, you won't live to see another day, Steve Rogers, I'll make sure of that."
And Steve's mind went blank just for the voice alone. When he processed the words and stuttered for a response, Pepper had already hanged up on him.
Noted, when he thought that he had it easy with Tony's lack of parents to impress and apparently normal friends with normal jobs, he wasn't really thinking of how not normal Tony's real friends were, after all.
Steve believed every single word out of Pepper's threat, but couldn't help but smile, anyway. She truly was an amazing woman.
It didn't take long for Pepper to send him a short message with the date, time and place where he was expected to meet the Colonel. She didn't even write him to say if Rhodes was aware of the meeting or not, only to 'be punctual'.
After a few more rounds of Jan's advice and a lot of inner-meditating to increase his already unbelieving patience, Steve thought he was ready to face Rhodes. When he left the tower with intentions of taking a cab, he was surprised to find Happy Hogan waiting for him with Tony's business limo behind him running and ready. Steve was suddenly nervous by the unexpected arrival of the ex-boxer; it could mean that he was about to be threatened by the chauffeur at the first opportunity.
"Happy," he acknowledged the smiling man with a small nod. "What are you doing here? Did Pepper ask you to come for Tony?"
"Captain," He greeted while offering his hand for a shake and Steve shook it gladly. Here was the last friend of Tony's who, the three together, meant a great part of the genius' world and he hadn't even tried to threaten Steve yet, which was always a plus. He was probably the one that he spend the most time with in comparison with the rest of Tony's friend since Pepper was always traveling for bussiness and Rhodes was on duty. Happy usually drove Tony and him to a lot of social events where they would pretend to go as friends.
Steve couldn't wait for the whole world to know about them so they could actually go to those things as a couple and for the dames to stop trying to hit on Tony and himself in front of each other; there was so much that he could handle.
In the other hand, Tony was used to play his part for the whole world to see and didn't care much about the theatrics he had to pull in a social convention. Not that Steve cared much about what unkown people thought of him, hence wanting to come out to the world, but Steve knew that Tony's real 'whole world' was a little restricted; there was his friends, Jarvis, his creations –which included JARVIS, the bots and SI–, the Avengers and himself.
"A pleasure as always," Hogan complimented politely, "And answering your question, Pepper didn't exactly send me for the boss; she told me about your conversation last night over dinner and I thought it would be a good idea to contribute a little to the little assault you three seem to have going on now better than later so you can get this over with, if you don't mind."
And there went Steve's gratefulness for the lack of hostility down the sewer. Apparently Tony knew how to pick friends, because these ones cared enough to threaten Captain America personally one by one. But Hogan was right; he really did want to get this friends-bullying phase over with.
Something must have shown on his face since Happy chuckled and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Nothing like Pepper and Rhodey, Captain, rest assured. It's simply not my style and I'm sure you're doomed to live through Jarvis' polite harassing in the near future, and let me tell you something; British butlers can be quite scary. So my condolences and my most sincere sympathy. "
Jarvis. Steve hadn't thought about Jarvis. Either of them.
The way things were going, he was probably condemned to be threatened by Dummy as well. Now that he thought about it, the robot probably did try in his own way when he first met him. Thank God that he passed that test with flying colors if Dummy's robotic affection was any indication.
But Jarvis and JARVIS were a whole different package.
"Don't sulk, Captain!" Happy asked with clear amusement. "You have to know that I really do like you and that I think that you're great for the boss.
"Captain America does not sulk." He said dryly. "Not now, not ever."
"That's exactly what the boss said you always say when he tells you you're sulking!" the chauffer remarked with an easy laugh full of amazement. "But before we touch the subject, you should probably get in the car first. Rhodey will literally kill you if you are late. And let me tell you, Captain, America's biggest hero is not having a painfully death under my watch."
At first, Steve had been surprised that Tony had a friend like Happy when he first met him. The super soldier had thought that Hogan didn't look like the kind of civilian who would stick with Tony's eccentric ways in the long run. However, Steve could effortlessly see what Tony liked so much about Hogan's easy way after he spend more time with the chauffeur; it was probably a tempting thing to have near when you have people as organized as Pepper and Rhodes around all the time.
"Thanks, Happy", Steve said as he got into the limo and on the copilot seat so Happy could close the door behind him. Steve thought he may have imagined the little pleased smile that flashed on the driver's face as he rounded the car to get on the pilot's seat. For what? Steve would never know.
"So," Happy began with what Steve assumed was going to be an awkward conversation. "I know that Pepper and Rhodey were a little unfair to you. Pepper admitted it herself,"
"Yeah, she said that to me as well." Steve confessed shrugging his shoulders.
"She did? That's so like Pepper." He responded dreamily. Steve saw then one of the things that Pepper possibly liked of Happy; if a simple thing like that could get him such a love-gaze, then he really must adore her. "Yes, I do love her a lot."
Steve didn't even try to stop the blush of utter embarrassment when he realized that he had said that out loud. Tony was rubbing more and more on him if he was starting to talk out loud without his own permission. Not a good sign. "Sorry."
Another good-hearted laugh came from the driver's mouth."Don't worry, Captain, you should see the way the boss looks when he talks about you." And before Steve thought that his blush couldn't get any deeper, Happy continued, "And let me tell you something, if someone knows everything about the boss' conquests, that would be me, don't think Pepper knows everything about the boss; I've drove enough times to his Malibu mansion way too early in the mornings with the specific instructions of going to take boss', let's call them 'party friends', back home.
"To my initial surprise, I found that they were really scarce the girls that complained about the boss' treatment; most of them were already dialing on their mobiles to brag about it the moment they'd get in the car, or they were just happy that they managed to get into boss' drunken pants."
"That's…" Steve searched for the correct adjective. "Not nice."
"It wasn't nice from any of them, including the boss." Happy agreed not taking his eyes from the road. "So imagine my surprise when the boss, out of nowhere, told me how adorable Captain America was when he blushed! Believe me, 'adorable' is not a word within a Stark's vocabulary if it's not accompanied with sarcasm. I was really shocked; I almost missed a red light... that's a funny story for another day, by the way." Happy concluded.
"I don't really need to hear that story…" Steve could die for embarrassment anytime now. "Ever."
"Your loss." Happy assured with a chuckle. "But that's the whole point, Captain, since the moment you two stopped fighting like a divorced couple, the boss've been love sick. You should've felt the aura around him when you both were in your 'its-unrequited-love!' phase; he was a complete mess... more than usual."
Steve knew it should feel weird to hear this kind of stuff from someone other than Tony himself, but he couldn't help the pleasant curling of his stomach at thinking that his genius has loved Steve for as long as he'd loved him.
"Captain, what I'm trying to say is this: yes, I'll hold a grudge on you if you ever hurt the boss' feelings, but I know the boss is a big guy who can take care of himself just fine and I've got more faith in you than anyone that has ever ridden this car with me before.
"I know you only want what's best for the boss and I don't think there's anyone better suited to deal with him and keep him alive at the same time." Happy complimented while pointedly looking at the road. Steve couldn't stop the smile reaching his face at the words. He felt a little guilty for doubting Happy's honest and free spirit. "Pepper does think so too, by the way. She's just holding a grudge for what she calls 'Tony mopping over me for months while I had to deal with everything at the company at the same time!' stage when you were still fighting like five-year-olds. In reality, she'd blamed you for saying stuff that hurt the boss at first, but she's over that, she knows it was a two way street and she can see how good you're for the boss."
"Should you be telling me this?" Steve couldn't stop himself from asking. He did want to know, but these were Pepper's thoughts, nevertheless.
"Ah, don't worry about it," the chauffer dismissed with a pronounced wave of the hand closest to him. "I'll come clean with her today; I don't think she'd care, though. I really am just cutting you some slack, considering the fact that in a few minutes you're entering into a war zone and I'm personally taking you to it. Guilt makes you spill the beans, my friend!"
This time it was Steve who chuckled. He did feel way more at ease by the fact that he now knew that at least two of the list of people Tony care's about what they think just approved him, and he was confident enough to think that Jarvis did too if the satisfied smiles he threw his way everytime he physically forced Tony out of the workshop to make him eat something, sleep or both were any indication.
With JARVIS he had never had a problem before and they have actually teamed up against Tony before. So:
One more to go.
"We're here." Happy announced while he was pulling over in front of what looked like an extremely exclusive coffee shop. "This is Rhodey's favorite coffee place."
"But Pepper told me we were going to meet in a neutral zone." Steve complained at the disadvantage of not knowing the surroundings when there was a big chance that he would need a speedy retreat.
"This was probably the only agreement Pepper managed to force out of Rhodey." replied Happy with simpathy in his eyes. "She did mention that he wasn't exactly… thrilled by the idea of you two meeting."
"I noticed," Steve agreed easily. "But at least he's willing to talk; that's something."
"That's the spirit! Now go on ahead and if you need anything, just call me," Happy offered and Steve knew he was sincere. "I have to go and pick up the boss, you see, but you've got my number."
"Thank you, Happy. Really."
"Anytime, Cap." And before he could step on the gas, he added; "Sorry about the future harassment you have to endure, but I have my money on you, so good luck!"
Steve felt the smirk taking over his face.
At least he was one hundred percent sure that Dummy, You and Butterfingers loved him.
Rhodes had sat on a table by the window. He hadn't waited for Steve to order, since he was already drinking his black coffee as if it was water. It somehow reminded Steve of Tony and not for the first time he questioned himself what those two have exactly lived through together.
"Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes" he politely greeted the moment he was at a decent hearing distance while extending his hand for a shake. He wasn't surprised when his unwilling host didn't take it.
"Captain Rogers," Rhodes said instead while gesturing at the chair opposite to him. "Please take a seat."
"Thank you for seeing me, Colonel." Steve tried for the polite approach. "It means a lot."
"Yeah, about that, I want to know why it means that much to you. You feel good when someone attempts against your ego or something?"
Steve was grateful that he had been preparing himself for this. This time, it was actually pretty easy to ignore him. "It means a lot to Tony, so I thought it was worth at least another try." He answered honestly deciding to ignore the other's question.
"So you're doing this for Tony?"Rhodes asked skeptical.
"Well, it's surely not because of that big smile and kind words of yours,"Steve replied sarcastically, "I just think that we started with the wrong foot and if we talk this out maybe we can find some common ground where at least we can tolerate each other for Tony's sake."
"Captain, let's get something clear," the moment those words left Rhodes lips, Steve knew he was due to long series of calming, just-don't-kill-him breaths. "I really didn't know Howard Stark; I was introduced to him by Tony once and I spotted him in a couple of events from afar. Let me tell you something, I didn't need to know him, or hear the guy out, or read about him on the newspapers or anything to hate his guts; I only needed to know how Tony was doing his best to kill himself over impossible tasks while trying to make a father that wouldn't even bother to give his son the time of the day for something other than complaints and disappointment.
"When he died, I only went to the funeral because Tony was a wreck and he needed a shoulder to cry on. No matter how much he loved his father, I couldn't stop feeling resentment towards him. Even now that he's dead." he stated stubbornly. "Long story short, no matter how much Tony is convinced that he's besotted with you or whatever, nothing's going to change the way I perceive you, Rogers. And I don't need to hear you out either. I'm doing this because Pepper asked me to."
"Colonel, I'm not asking you to change the way you see me," Steve offered trying to approach Rhodes from yet a different angle. "I know that I can't get everyone to like me and it's not my goal in life. I just want you to, not even to approve of us, but to accept our relationship for Tony's sake."
"Don't you dare to imply that I do anything without thinking of what's best for him." Rhodes threatened in a low voice. Steve decided to let him get it out of his system before he tried once more. "I just want to keep Tony safe, mostly from himself; and that includes you, Captain."
"And I don't doubt that, Colonel, not at all," he conceded. "I don't know anyone more capable and willing –besides myself and probably Jarvis, of course–, to look out for him."
At this, Rhodes looked a little startled. For once, Steve noticed he didn't immediately find the words to throw him off, so he grabbed the opportunity and continued;
"I care about Tony," he stated with all the honesty that he could muster. This was something that Steve felt was completely necessary to get across the Colonel's thick skull in order to proceed. "I care about him more than I should considering that I'm the leader of a superhero team whose main job is to keep the world safe and I should care equally for all my people, but I don't, and that's something I've come to terms with."
Steve allowed a short silence to let the Air Force soldier assimilate his words.
"Maybe that's why I'm trying so hard for you to approve us being together," at Rhodes poorly disguised confused expression, Steve elaborated, "Because I know what it means to care for someone to the point of wanting to shield them even from themselves. It's even easier to understand you when it's the same person we're worrying about.
"See, I tried to put myself in your position and I came to the conclusion that it would drive me nuts just to think about giving Tony up to someone I thought wasn't good enough; even if I knew he would still be there for me no matter what."
"Are you, Rogers?" Rhodes asked regaining his sharp tone. "Are you good enough?"
Steve thought about it, about all the flaws and even more qualities that his lover possessed compared to his own. He thought about the good Tony did for the people and never gave himself the credit that he deserved. About the way he struggled when Steve carried him forcefully out of the workshop for a well-deserved (and forced) rest. About the way Steve left food near the equipment Tony was currently using because it was the only way that he would subconsciously eat and how adorable he would look when realizing that some of his tools had been replaced for fruit. He thought about the way he tried to make him smile with his sarcastic humor when Steve had had nightmares or he'd been sad over something. He thought about how he would wake up with a tangled Tony all over him because he wanted Steve to wake him up for a morning kiss before he left for a run.
He thought about everything; every smile and tear, whisper and scream, caress and blow.
"No." he finally answered with sincerity. "I'm not."
The simplicity of it made Rhodes unable to hide his surprise. When he snapped out of it though, he seemed to have an intense internal battle judging by the way that the hand which wasn't holding his coffee was clenching and unclenching. The gesture reminded Steve so much of Tony that he almost couldn't repress a smile.
"Then, why?" Rhodes finally asked with a scowl. Steve understood right away what he meant.
"Because, Colonel, even if I don't think I'm good enough yet, I'm not prepared to let Tony go without giving my best to be able to become what he deserves one day. I'm selfish that way." He stated seriously. "That's why, even if I owe you so much for taking care of him while I wasn't here and therefore made possible for me to meet him, I won't give him up even if you don't approve of me, of us. I promised Tony that I wouldn't let go, anyway." and Steve couldn't help but smile at that memory
At the thick silence that passed between them, Steve stubbornly didn't leave Rhodes eyes for even one second. He tried to read his expression, but the Colonel didn't show more than complete seriousness.
Steve wondered if Tony would be upset if they actually got into a physical fight, because Steve could almost smell the hostility in the air. It's been a while since he wanted to take a defensive stance outside a battlefield.
Maybe Tony wouldn't be that pissed if he just dodged?
"Fine!" Rhodes almost yelled while slamming his cup of coffee rather forcefully on the table. Steve was too worried about the sound and the thinking of how was he going to get out of this without turning his lover's best friend into a bloody pulp, that he was slow to process the simple word coming from the now resigned Colonel. "Fine, Rogers, fine!" he repeated as if to confirm it for Steve's slow brain.
Steve didn't know if he was more grateful that this didn't end with violence, or because the word being repeated again and again in Steve's head led to the possible scenarios of Tony's face and actions when he told him later about it. Overall, he was glad that he'd tried to communicate with the stubborn Air Force Colonel once more.
Naturally, Steve beamed, "Thank you, Colonel. You don't know how much this means t-"
"Hold your horses, Captain." Rhodes interrupted with the biggest scowl yet. "If what you're looking for is my approval of you and Tony as an item, then you're far from it."
'Couldn't have been that easy, could it?' Steve's smile faded a bit when as his mind reproached him. Steve then wondered how it would've turned out if Howard was still alive and the super soldier was looking for his approval instead. Just the thought of it made him wince.
"So let's call this Probation, shall we?" this time, Rhodes sounded more hesitant. Steve didn't mind the tone too much, so he lighted up again; that was more than what he thought he would get out of the meeting, anyway. He'd learned to appreciate the small victories. "Now stop wasting my time and go wherever superheroes-that-are-not-Tony go in their free time, Rogers."
"Thank you, Colonel." Steve repeated while awkwardly standing up; his smile never faded, though. He offered his hand again, still knowing well that it wouldn't be shaken back and the Colonel didn't disappoint as he occupied his right hand to grab his cup of coffee and lead it to his lips instead. "I'd really like it if you'd someday call me Steve." He threw the comment while already turning his back on the table and started to make his way towards the entrance, just in time to hear the answer.
"Don't push your luck, Rogers." Steve turned back to offer a confident smile in response. Rhodes just shook his head as if regretting giving him a chance in the first place. When their eyes met again, the hostility was back on full power. "If you ever break, make unhappy or hurt him in any way, I'd recommend you to stay low for a long while, Captain, 'cause all the Air Force will be tailing your ass to make sure you don't show up your face on the surface of the Earth ever again, do you copy?"
Steve knew that this was somewhat an empty threat considering the competent port that this man carried. He wouldn't use his men for a personal matter, Steve was almost sure of it; if not for the words exchanged, then for Tony's obvious admiration for his 'Rhodey'. Even knowing this, Steve couldn't stop the small shiver that traveled down his back.
Competent, dangerous and alarmingly powerful were just the top three characteristics that came to the top of Steve's head to describe Tony's friends. Not to mention incredibly overprotective.
And Steve had once upon a time wondered who had kept Tony alive before the Avengers.
In conclusion, even Captain America, hero of war, national icon, Boy Scout Magnificent (as Tony would call him), and proud leader of the greatest superhero team in all history could admit:
Tony Stark's friends were scary.
Well, you have to be scary to keep up with Tony's tendency to be troublesome, Steve!
That's it for now! Thank you for reading this far and I hope you liked it. All kinds of constructive criticism are welcome! There is a sequel somewhere in my account if you're interested.
I really hope that the improvement was noticed! If not, please do let me now!
