Disclaimer is in chapter one

A/N last one for today - please enjoy :)

10. The Graveyard Shenanigans

Tony Stark was a pretty mellow dude, if one asked him.

He could roll with most punches, and had in fact done just that over the years. There were only four people in the world that could unapologetically bring forth the part of Tony that he used a lot of charm and distractions to hide.

Rhodey 'cause he was his best friend and had had to put up with a lot of crap from him over the years. Pepper 'cause she was his beloved, his life-coach; hell, she was the main reason he still managed to get out of bed in the morning. Susanna, 'cause she was his one and only wife, the one he truly deemed as his soulmate. Lastly, there was Darcy, 'cause she was everything.

Now, two of those four people were being touched in a way that did just not fly with Tony.

When he first read the news – had them read to him by JARVIS, whatever – that a group were running around and vandalizing graveyards, Tony had frowned and snarked a little about people not being raised right 'cause didn't those punks realize that they were ruining places that were left by the living to mourn, love and remember?

A few days later, not more than a few days after his little 'spat' with his fellow Avengers, JARVIS announced to Tony through text that a very specific graveyard was now being targeted by the punks. Tony had been in the middle of a debriefing that was both excruciatingly boring and extremely important. After reading the text, the billionaire simply got up and left without comment.

Some hours later found Tony lying casually on the ground, his head resting on a gravestone while his empty Iron Man suit was carefully placed in a seated position over by the nearest tree. There was a small group of five individuals, no more than seventeen at the eldest, lying not too far away from him. They were hogtied and placed in the middle of the most unshaded area, enjoying the scorching hot California sun.

"Gotta say, they don't seem to be enjoying the nice weather at all. Too bad kids these days don't know how to chillax, right?" Tony said to seemingly no one and grinned evilly. He was eyeing said kids with a much more amused look in his eyes than when he'd first spotted them finishing up a massive spray-painting extravaganza as he flew in and landed right in front of them.

A familiar sound drew Tony's attention, and he glanced to the side and exhaled loudly in an annoyed sigh. "What took you so long, Cap? I'm afraid I've hogged all the fun today." The bad joke didn't get the best reaction, Tony resented that 'cause his jokes, bad or not, were ten times better than other people's.

Recognizing the disappointed expression on his teammate's face, Tony shrugged defensively. "They were defacing this place, and according to JARVIS they've done it four times before in other places. I'm just teaching the youth of today to act more responsible, I mean, you don't wanna condone their actions by helping them, do you, Cap?"

Steve rolled his eyes and placed his iconic shield back on his back. "Stark, it's things like this that make it very hard to honestly like you. What they are doing is obviously wrong and they will be punished accordingly by the police that I'll call in a minute. What you're doing is even worse, acting all righteous. Storming out of our meeting and worrying everyone enough that we even followed you to lend a hand is not the proper way to act. We were in the middle of a very important… For God's sake, Tony, sit up, it's someone's gravesite you're disrespecting!"

Tony sent Steve a smile that he vividly recalled as being similar to the one he'd sent earlier in the week when Clint and the rest of them had ignited his temper. For one second, Steve wanted to use some of his own temper to beat some sense in to Howard's unruly boy, but then Tony actually spoke and the urge was replaced by a sudden desire to smack himself silly for yet again jumping to conclusions.

"Yeah, it's my gravesite. It's my wife's and the one you're almost standing on is my kid's." Steve immediately jumped backwards a step. Tony's smile vanished as he continued coldly, "No one touches my family, I don't give a flying fuck that they're dead, they're still under my protection, Steve and no meeting about evildoers and their shenanigans will ever stop me from making the same choice again."

There was a long moment of silence, full of growing tension and –from Steve's side – awkwardness as he stood there in his uniform and stared at the eccentric man on the ground with the sounds of whimpering teenagers in the background.

"Don't bother calling the cops;" Tony broke the silence with one of the fakest smiles that the first Avenger had ever laid his eyes on, "I've already informed them. They'll be here in a half an hour tops. I told them not to rush if they were busy, 'cause I'm nice like that. Now," Tony clapped his hands together with another false showing of amusement, "I was talking to my wife, so do you mind leaving? Now."

"Err…" Steve had no idea on how to solve the matter that his preconceived notions about Howard Stark's irresponsible son had landed him into, but fortunately for him, there was a sudden ringing sound coming from Stark's pocket and the billionaire's attention was directed toward what seemed to be a call from Pepper.

"Hold on a sec, Babe," Tony muttered and gestured for Steve to leave. "I'll be home before curfew, Capsicle, tell Daddy Fury not to ground me if he wants me to look at the newest designs for the new Helicarrier." And with that, Steve knew he would gain nothing by staying so he did as asked and left to go back to the jet where Natasha and Clint were waiting for news.

As he walked away, Steve heard the tail end of Tony's conversation with his girlfriend. "…get JARVIS to order things that'll spruce the room up. It's dull. Don't worry it's fine, give it a few days and we'll call social services to take her someplace better. I'll fly home as soon as I can to meet her…"

0o0o0

TBC…

A/N Contrary to what it seems like, I don't hate Steve. I know I'm portraying him a little harshly, but in this timeline, it hasn't been that long since NY and Loki, so their friendship/whatever it was in the movie, hasn't fully developed yet and there's still some getting to know you's here, same with the rest of the gang :)