Disclaimer: I own squat.
Chapter Eight: Kill Joys and Clean Slates
Tony stepped off of the Quinjet, not at all surprised to see who the man waiting for him was. He had been home for all of a week before Fury had demanded he came and gave his statement on the events in Afghanistan. Something had always seemed pretty sketchy to Tony about the Agent's death, and lo and behold, he was right. Tony walked calmly to the undead man, staring him straight in the eyes as he shook his hand.
"Glad to have you back, Phil," Tony said quietly, making sure to use the man's real name instead of just agent.
"Not sure I am considering I'm your official handler now, Stark," Coulson smirked. He turned and walked towards the door, throwing an "Oh, and just so you know, I will still keep my taser on me at all times" over his shoulder as he left. Tony shivered dramatically, though he made a mental note to remember that for further references.
* STONY FOREVER *
Currently, however, Coulson was holding a relatively normal looking gun besides the bright orange design on the side. Tony remembered Fury telling him that he wasn't allowed to touch anything with an bright marking on the side of it because they were warnings for beyond dangerous weapons.
Just like Tony though, Coulson couldn't figure why this average sized gun had a higher warning color than the one he had used on Loki. "Seems harmless enough. Hard to see what all the fuss is about," he murmured, taking aim.
Coulson pulled the trigger. A bright, colorful light shot out of the barrel of the gun, wiping out every single target on the back wall while simultaneously pushing Coulson backwards against the padded wall. "Write that down," Coulson commands a nearby low ranking agent.
Tony chuckled at the man just as Fury walked in. He glared at Tony until the man put the tablet away with a roll of his eyes. 'Kill joy.'
* STONY FOREVER *
"Mr. Stark?"
Tony turned to look at Steve from his seat on the couch. It had been about two days since the big alien attack. Tony had announced during Shawarma that his tower was open to anyone who wanted a place to stay. Bruce and Steve had hesitantly agreed to move in, though Tony hadn't seen much of either of the two since then. Clint and Natasha had headed back to SHIELD headquarters for some kind of secret spy mission things that Tony hadn't bothered to try to figure out and no one had seen Thor since his return back to Asgard.
"Mr. Stark was my father. Please, call me Tony," Tony reached out and shook Steve's hand.
"Mr. S- Tony. I- I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Tony gave a half assed version of a confused face.
Steve sighed. "For what I said on the Helicarrier, for the way I've acted towards you... for everything, really."
Tony looked at the man, not expecting what he was hearing. "Well, you're forgiven." Tony looked around the room, a bit uncomfortable.
Steve looked like he was about to protest, so Tony interjected. "Look, why don't we just start over. Clean slate?" Steve nodded.
Tony grinned and held out his hand once more. "Hey, I'm Tony."
"Steve," he shook the Tony's hand. Tony moved his hand so it was wrapped around the man's wrist, promptly dragging them away.
"Come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying. Well, you've been here for two days, so I guess you kind of know that. Well, I'll give you a full tour of the tower, then."
* STONY FOREVER *
"And this is my lab," Tony concluded, gesturing largely to emphasize that this was obviously the coolest room in the tower. Maybe it was, but Tony didn't have to know that.
Steve took his time looking at everything in the room. He looked at each sports car, each little trinket on almost every visible surface, and each suit. He jumped when one of the things he believed to be an unfinished trinket moved. A metal arm rose towards him, metal claw moving as if to shake his hand.
"That's Dummy," Steve looked over his shoulder at the amused genius. "That one over there is You," Steve looked across the room where Tony pointed. His head whipped back around at the sound of a metallic clang, taking note of a wrench lying on the floor in front of another robot. "And that one's Butterfingers."
Steve nodded, looking back to Dummy as he gently prodded his hand with it's claw. Steve tentatively took hold, a small grin forming on his face when the smart little bot shook his hand. Steve looked to Tony; almost unable to believe the man had made something so amazing. Tony stood a few feet away, looking proudly at his oldest bot.
The two men glanced to the far wall as the sound of approaching footsteps were heard. Bruce punched in his key code before opening the door and walking into the lab. He glanced at Steve before shifting his gaze to Tony, "Just wanted to make sure you haven't already broken your new friend yet," he said.
Tony gave him an exasperated look. "Oh come on. I purposefully make things explode. I'm not going to make my new friend explode," Tony replied. "Yet," he murmured quietly a moment later.
Steve looked between the other men, unsure just what he was missing. Bruce's gaze slowly shifted to Tony, and as soon as the other man made eye contact, the pair erupted into laughter.
* STONY FOREVER *
A week later, Steve dragged his feet up the stairs late at night. As he had worked out vigorously for the past few hours, his thought had not strayed from his favorite genius. He had gone through about twice as many punching bags as usual, and he was physically exhausted for once.
Even before Tony had completely opened up to him, Steve's feelings had been getting confusing when regarding Tony. Steve had started to really like spending time with the man, and it hurt Steve more and more each time he saw Tony in any sort of pain.
Steve had only just admitted to himself that he liked Tony just before his kidnapping. Admitting to himself that he liked Tony had been hard for Steve considering the time Steve had grown up in. Suddenly, Steve also had to deal with the pain that hit him hard each time he thought of Tony off in some Hellhole with God knows what being done to him.
When Tony had finally been found and brought home, Steve had been overjoyed. Though his heart had broken upon seeing the way Tony had reacted to his fellow Avengers, Steve had sworn to himself that from then on, he would always help Tony, even if he had to give him his life in order to help the man he's been falling for.
* STONY FOREVER *
Two weeks later, Steve, Bruce, and Clint were sitting together in the living room as they watched a random movie currently playing on the television. Clint was sitting across the coffee table from Steve, and Bruce was sitting across the table from the TV.
"Doctor Banner, sir, there is a call for you" JARVIS muted the TV before speaking.
"Um, alright," Bruce answered.
"Bruce, uh, how big are your hands" Tony's voice came over the speaker.
"What?" Bruce looked at the other two men in the room confused, the slightest bit of blush coloring his cheeks.
"How big are your hands?" Tony repeated himself.
"I don't understand why..." Bruce trailed off.
"Get down here, I need you."
The line cut out, and Bruce continued to sit for a moment, staring at the ceiling in the general direction of the speaker. Bruce shook his head slightly before standing and walking towards the elevator.
A/N: Any thoughts? Please send me a review or any suggestions you may have. Thanks! -A
