Stiles stared at the muscular figure beating ten shades of shit out of the reinforced punch bag. But it wasn't reinforced enough that the flurry of enraged punches didn't send it crashing to the floor and skidding across it until it came to an involuntary stop up against the sides of the retro boxing ring in the centre of the room.
Stiles briefly wondered why Tony had such an old fashioned piece of equipment in his state of the art gym, but then remembered that Happy had taught his step father self-defence for years or at least that was Happy's excuse for punching the bejesus out of Tony on a regular basis.

For a second the huge figure bent over as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, then as if he suddenly knew he was being observed, he straightened up and fell into a military stance. (Stiles wouldn't have put it past Jarvis to tell him. He was sneaky that way. Stiles loved Jarvis, totally but man sometimes his sense of fair play sucked.)

The guy swung round, unwrapping the tape from his hands and smiled the fakest most fake smile that Stiles had ever come across and that was saying something considering the absolute insanity that had been his life BSE (before Sandburg and Ellison!). Stiles could only admire it, it was the same kind of smile he used to give his Dad when he was hiding the existence of the supernatural or more specifically Werewolves from him.

Damn, this dude and his man pain reminded him of Sourwolf. The J man had helpfully whispered in Stiles's shell like that Captain Rogers and Derek were the same age when Stiles had innocently come across the guy's SHIELD file.
Seriously Dad, married to the greatest tech genius in the world and still with the same old passwords? Not that Stiles had been looking, not really, well maybe just because he needed to make sure there was no threat to his Dad and his self-sacrificing idiot Stepfather from those nefarious creeps at SHIELD. Especially since the Tower now housed that freaking dangerous redhead in the breath restricting uniform, and the ex-brainwashed Archer dude who seemed to be allergic both to sleeves and for some reason his Dad if the twitchy fingers and scowls were any indication. PTSD or not, if that Agent tried to hurt his Dad, he would find his arrows inserted with precision into a new flesh quiver, and it wouldn't be feather end first! Courtesy of Stiles and his Sentinel accuracy.

So who could blame him if he did a little research? He ignored the fact that his Dad would actually blame him as an irrelevance. Perhaps irrelevance was the wrong word but better to ask for forgiveness yada yada, even if his Dad grounded him, he would remind him at length that his son still had the moral high ground regarding the naked butts! So much moral high ground Dad!

Stiles became aware that the fake smile had somehow drifted into something like amusement and the sadness had receded from those baby blue eyes while he had essentially ignored the big guy and got lost in his own thoughts.

"Sorry Dude" Stiles grinned back at him and offered his hand. Rogers' smile turned quizzical as he shook the kid's hand. "Did you just call me a City Slicker kid?"

It was Stiles' turn to look confused "Er No?" then even more puzzled as the Captain continued "Well I ain't any type of dandy in these clothes" his grin widened. "Never been accused of either of those before" the big guy actually laughed.

The kid took his hand back, pulled out one of those cell phone things, held up a finger and started typing. For some reason, the kid's reactions amused him and he could feel himself relax. The swirl of despair, loneliness and confusion which seemed to be his normal state when he had too much time to think, had receded to the back of his mind for once.

"Ahha" the kid pronounced as if he had made a great discovery. " I am the google fu master" and he did a little jig of celebration. Steve couldn't help it, he laughed again even if he didn't understand half of what the kid said

The kid turned to face him again, cheeky grin lighting up his face, amber eyes sparkling. "Dude just means a man now, doesn't have the same usage as in the 1940s" and just like that all amusement and interest fled. Steve turned away, his back rigid once more as he uttered coldly "Believe me kid, there ain't nothing that's still the same as the 40s" his Brooklyn accent hard and clear.

Stiles felt his anger rise as he had an eureka moment. "Those bastards haven't helped you at all have they?" Rogers spun round and glared at him. Fuck he was kinda scary when he was angry and looming but Stiles had faced worse without Jarvis monitoring everything. He stuck out his chin "They kept you as much on ice as that damn plane did" he retorted and ignored the shock which hit Rogers face.

"What the hell do you know about it kid? I lost my whole world, everyone I ever loved, knew, and any way to be a working Joe. They gave me a flat, and a way to be useful again. To help People again." He growled at the stupid boy, his fists clenched.

"Did they give you counselling? Did they teach you about this time? How to use a microwave? How to make a call? Did they help you reconnect with people, did they even ask if you were okay?"

Stiles was just as angry. SHIELD had stuck him in a box until he was useful. Fuck he hoped his Dad had a plan because if he didn't Stiles would find a way to get even with those creeps, for Tony, for his Dad and for this poor bastard.

It suddenly struck Steve that the kid was angry for him, not at him. Some of his own anger eased.

"I'm not weak, I don't need a head shrinker" he stated firmly, jaw thrust out. Stubborn denial plain on that handsome face.
"Of course you are not weak, you are human and everyone needs help to deal with pain, external or internal. I learnt that the hard way Dude"

Steve raised his eyebrow at the use of the term, "Just call me Steve kid"
"If you will stop calling me Kid and call me Stiles… Dude" Stiles retorted and his cheek made Steve smile briefly.

"Look, I know you mean well. Everyone means well, but you don't really understand ki.. Stiles" Steve sighed wearily as he moved back towards the one still hanging punch bag.

"Well I kinda do Steve, I have a friend whose family was murdered by a bunch of insane people who thought they were animals. His whole world was destroyed when he was 16 and they used him to do it. He's the same age as you and he has blamed himself ever since. He's made some really stupid life choices and refused to let anyone close to him until my Dad and my Guide Prime helped him. Grief doesn't really go away Steve, you just learn how to live with it."

Stiles paused and then shrugged, what the hell, he just bet no one had even offered the guy friendship without some ulterior motive. He'd made Sourwolf accept him as a friend, after dealing with that surly Alpha, Captain America was going to be a piece of cake.
"Having Friends helps Dude."

Stiles watched as Steve rubbed his face before he turned back to the kid who was staring at him with bright eyes, a hand held out with determination written large on that young face.

"Hi I'm Stiles Stilinski and I am going to be your first proper friend in the 21st Century. Get ready for the ride of your life Dude"

For a second Steve stared at him, then helplessly began to laugh, his Ma had always told him that one day he would meet his match in the stubborn stakes.

"Thanks Jarvis" John muttered. The AI had alerted the Sheriff to the meeting in the gym when Rogers had begun to get angry. John had caught the tail end of the conversation. Trust his kid to leap where Angels feared to tread. But Stiles was right. SHIELD had just left that poor lad to his own devices until they could use him. Another black mark in their damn ledger.

"Alpha Prime Guide Sandburg on the line for you Sheriff" Jarvis informed him just before he heard Blair's voice "Hey John, how are you all? What do you need?"

John directed a stern eyebrow at the ceiling, another one of their kids' deciding to interfere? He was met with a guilty silence.

"Blair, how would you like to counsel a 24 year old kid who had been frozen in ice for 70 years after sacrificing himself to save his county and then dumped in the 21st century with no support?" he asked bluntly.

John could actually hear Blair's spirit animal growling in the background as the Alpha Prime Guide spat with loathing "Fucking SHIELD man, fucking SHIELD"