Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter.

This chapter takes place about four days after the last one.

Before you read the next conversation, I just want to let you know that this is still Steve's phone, but it's a new phone with a brand-new address book. The in universe explanation is Steve is ready to get a little more personal with Tony. The real reason why is I started to get the red phone and the blue phone tags confused because they were too similar, as seen way back in conversation 16 where I labeled something as Steve's comment when it was really a Tony comment.

Also another reminder Steve doesn't know that Melinda Gardner and Agent Melinda May a.k.a. agent scary are the same person. Tony is kind of afraid to tell him that. I am now accepting guesses on when and how Steve figures this out.

Conversation 22: Congratulations on Your Breakthrough

Anthony: So have you finally had time to try out the new gear?

Nomad: Sam won't let me touch the new suit for a least another week, but I'm using the new phone now. Thank you.

Anthony: I could tell. See, this is so much easier to use than that arcane flip phone and 2000% less likely to get picked up by the ATCU. Although, since they are mostly getting pornographic text messages from me, I think they are starting to back off.

Anthony: Although Agent Scary has found it entertaining and she finds nothing entertaining which is understandable after her recent foray into widowhood.

Nomad: Her husband died also recently?

Anthony: Ex-husband and it's complicated.

Nomad: Love always is.

Anthony: Therapy is going well. I've been approved to put Avengers 3.0 together as long as I follow their 300 draconian regulations.

Nomad: Did they hand you a list of powered people willing to work with the Accords?

Anthony: No. Coulson put this list together. Which means it's made up of good people who he wants to protect from the Accords. I think of it as Coulson's list.

Me: I got that reference and it worries me.

Anthony: Coulson is the asshole who manipulated me into going to New York to keep Ross from putting the abomination in the Avenger initiative. He knows what he's doing. Oh God, I still hope that he is frozen in Alaska. Definitely not someone I want as a teammate.

Nomad: Is his name on the list?

Anthony: No. At least not at this time.

Anthony: New Shield put together a team of enhanced people or at least tried to put a team together, but their leader ran away after getting mind fucked by the big bad and watching her boyfriend die for all of humanity.

Nomad: Agent Daisy right?

Anthony: Yes.

Anthony: So now they're down to a Colombian national codename Yo-Yo with super speed and a pacifist with the ability to melt bullets. He would've been really helpful last year. Too bad he didn't get his powers until after my massive fuck up.

Nomad: Very unfortunate.

Anthony: So now they have half a team and we have half a team.

Nomad: And they want you to put the teams together?

Anthony: Yes, although it's mostly to protect their assets from Ross and from whoever the new director will be. That search is not going well. Plus there was an incident recently that requires immediate action.

Nomad: What type of incident?

Anthony: Joey the bullet proof pacifist wanted to go back to construction after killing a guy on his second mission. Even killing in self-defense makes him feel dirty. Which meant that he wouldn't have to do with the Accords.

Anthony: But then he prevented a mass shooting from having more than three fatalities by melting the assailant's gun on vacation. Now people like conservative WHiH commentator and ani-enhance person activist Jonathan Windom West wants to lock Joey up and the watchdogs tried to burn down his house. The fact that Joey is Hispanic and a member of the LGTB community just makes them even more rabid in their hatred. Again, a terrorist group tried to burn down his house, with him still in it.

Nomad: Jesus. What is wrong with some people?

Anthony: I don't know. People like Windom West and Everhart are just making it worse.

Nomad: That guy's a jerk and a hypocrite. I hope I never run into him again. Otherwise, I may be tempted to break his self-righteous nose.

Anthony: You sound like you're speaking from personal experience.

Nomad: Unfortunately yes. I fucked him a few times before I realized he had levels of internalized homophobia that I haven't seen since the 40s. I wasn't going to deal with that again.

Anthony: I don't know if I'm more shocked to see you use the word 'fuck" or "internalized homophobia" in a sentence. I assume this guy was Jonathan from Freddy's?

Nomad: Well, it definitely wasn't lovemaking. Yes, unfortunately. This all happened during my first month in DC, when the guy was still chief of staff for Senator Christopher Ward before the Senator went crazy and killed his family. I've made better choices since then.

Anthony: BTW Senator Ward's brother was Hydra and he was the one who actually killed his parents and his brother so he could become one of the heads of the organization.

Nomad: I really hate Hydra.

Anthony: Don't we all. Don't worry, he's dead now. Agent Campbell took out the last echoes of him before dying.

Nomad: Do you think that what's left of Agent Campbell's team can be Avengers?

Anthony: I think they could probably be Secret Avengers, but I would like to keep them away from Ross and all the anti-enhanced person politicians by whatever means necessary.

Nomad: That's what scares me about you sometimes.

Anthony: I'm your stubborn reflection. Haven't you figured that out yet?

Nomad: I'm starting to.

Anthony: I had another breakthrough in therapy. I okayed the press break up statement. See the next text message

Anthony: After four years together, Virginia Potts and I have decided that we are more suited to be friends and business partners. Although our romantic relationship has run its course, we are committed to keeping Stark Industries a leader in the areas of green energy, cybernetics, nano tech, and telecommunications. We hope that you will respect our privacy at this difficult time. Thank you.

Anthony: Pepper actually was the one who put the word friend back in there so maybe there's hope that will be able to maybe get back our friendship eventually.

Nomad: Anything is salvageable, if you want to salvage it. It just takes time and effort.

Anthony: I hope you're right.

Nomad: I hope I am too. I'm happy that you sent out the release because this means you're moving forward. I'm proud of you.

Anthony: It was a really big step for me because I really don't feel like telling the world about my failures as a human being, but it would be worse if the Rising Tide hacks the ATCU and finds all the fake dirty text messages that I've been exchanging with Cuddle Bunny. That would be a PR disaster.

Nomad: I think Friday may be forwarding those to Wanda. Considering how much she's giggling, I don't want those to ever be released, even if no one knows that I'm actually your boyfriend.

Anthony: Because I think Friday likes Wanda best, which is weird considering Friday's origins and the fact that Wanda and Vision are doing their best to act like teenagers.

Nomad: What is Friday's origin? I know where the name for Jarvis came from, but what about Friday?

Anthony: Friday stands for… You know what I'm not even going to bullshit you. Friday doesn't actually stand for anything. I can't even remember what I told the R&D team the acronym stood for.

Nomad: I'm not even that surprised. I think I've known you long enough to know that you picked a word and then came up with the acronym.

Anthony: Apparently not a very good one because I can't remember it. Friday is not a true AI because that's now illegal due to my hubris. But she is still based on Ana's personality or more accurately mimics that personality, at least what I can remember from before she died. It probably means Friday is nothing like her since my memories from that young are really sketchy. But Friday is definitely a redhead like her namesake.

Nomad: Where did you get the name from?

Anthony: His Girl Friday was one of her favorite movies. She watched it all the time. One of the nice things about being rich is that we had a home movie theater long before DVDs and even VHS was a thing.

Anthony: One of my favorite things to do growing up was just to hang out with her. No expectations. She just liked spending time with me. I missed it when she was gone, even after I got shipped off to boarding school.

Nomad: What happened to her?

Anthony: Weird home accident when I was nine involving a footstool and trying to change a lightbulb.

Nomad: And that explains why you have the person you pay to change the light bulbs at the tower wear a safety harness.

Anthony: I'm well aware I'm a little screwed up.

I had to spend two hours with a therapist today before I was able to announce to the world that Pepper left my ass.

Nomad: I wasn't going to say anything.

Anthony: I didn't design Friday or even Jarvis to replace Ana and Edward Jarvis. That would be too creepy for even me. They were more like how I'm imagine their children would be like. Although, I'm seriously wondering why I felt like Friday would be so interested in my love life.

Nomad: Because you are lonely and you need someone to worry about you.

Anthony: Not as lonely as I used to be. My tower is now filled with Min Archers and Rhodey has decided that he would rather be in Manhattan for the moment. Also, Lila is currently sleeping on my lap.

Nomad: And you have me.

Anthony: And I have you.

To be continued

In my personal head canon, Sitwell did not go to the Hydra side until New York. He was still a clean agent (yet starting to get bitter) during the events of the Consultant which is referred to in this chapter. Although by Item 47, he was already team Hydra.