Chapter 28: Reprise Chapters: Communication Breakdown

The first place Tony took Steve was Santa Monica Pier. It was early enough in the day so the number of people were scarce and it gave Steve the opportunity to see the ocean again.
He had a love-hate relationship with the ocean.

After a short while, Steve no longer wanted to be there so Tony took him to one of his favorite places to shop.
It was a music store in downtown Hollywood. He knew that Steve's musical knowledge was very out of date.

"Ay Yankee. These are cassette tapes! This is considered old school now because of compact discs. But, I don't really like those yet. I have over a hundred cassettes and I still think that they are pretty cool. But of course, GET THIS. Everything I'll be showing you today is going to be completely irrelevant in ten or so years."

Tony looked down at some of the cassettes and then he picked up one in particular. Saaa Tony missed the music contraption that his truck driver friend Charlie had. The iPod? TONY WISHED HE HAD ONE.

Steve laughed to himself as he listened to Tony speak. It amused him. He had to make a point to the brunette beside him so Steve responded.

"So what you're saying is, everything that I knew is considered irrelevant. Or old school like you said?" Steve thumbed over some of the labels on the cassette tapes. There wasn't a single artist that he recognized.

He felt like he was on a different planet. Steve glanced up at all the posters on the walls and all the crazy decorations.
None of it made any sense to him. It just looked like a clashed mess. And it was very loud in the music store he didn't like it.

"NO. The music from when you existed is right over here. Come here look, I'll show you.." Tony pulled Steve by his arm over to the "Oldies" section.

Tony cringed a little when he saw the name of the section.
Steve ignored it. He recognized some names immediately and started to look through.

"SEEEEEEEE? All of your stuff is right here. It gets its own special island all to itself." Tony smiled at Steve and hoped that his words would boost his spirit. Uh, it did the opposite.

"But, my stuff doesn't want to be on an island all to itself." Steve formed the largest fake frown he could. Tony laughed at his baby face.

"Aww hahah well here.." Tony grabbed a bunch of the cassettes and he brought them over to the Rock n' Roll section. He picked his favorite section and put Steve's group of tapes over there.

"There ya go. Now you're part of my island." He grinned and Steve stared at Tony's work.
Then he looked at Tony for a moment. Sure, the staff was probably going to be angry about the tapes being disorganized. None of that mattered at all to Tony because he could tell that Steve was glad to have his music placed with the others.

He thought it was childish, but it made him feel better.

"Thank you." Steve had a small smile as he looked over some of the tapes. Tony noticed the smile that formed and his intense feelings for Steve just about GUSHED out.

Steve's smile was pretty much non-existent. It became really noticeable when something made him happy. Tony tensed up a bit then quickly busied his hands as he hunted through the tapes.

"Uhh, sure no problem." Ackk he felt odd.

Tony knew that his feelings were now OBVIOUS. He made them obvious. His big mouth jumped ahead of the game and ruined everything. It was hard for him to tone it down. He felt what he felt and it was impossible for him to hide it.

Tony's face felt warm. He cleared his throat and went to a different part of the store. He needed to cool off and get farrrrr away from Steve.

Steve stared at a few tapes that he wanted. He decided to purchase one so he put the other two back. He read over the tracklist and then glanced over at Tony. Steve wondered what made Tony take off over toward the other side of the store. He frowned a bit and then headed over to him.

"I am going to buy this." Steve said as he went to hand the tape to Tony. Tony looked a bit startled as he faced Steve. HE HADN'T COOLED OFF AT THAT POINT.

"Lemme see." Tony took the tape and looked it over. It was a mixtape of old classic hits. Tony didn't recognize anyone on it but he was always open for new things.

"Ok cool, we can listen to it in the car if you want. You should get a cassette player too," Tony walked over to the packaged cassette players. He pulled a blue one off the shelf and he handed it to Steve.

Steve accepted the item and he looked it over. Tony chewed on that damn lip and he voiced his thought.

"You can borrow some of my tapes that I have back at home if you want. Then you can let me know what music of mine you like. Or what you don't like? Either works." Tony felt nervous and it showed.

Steve looked up from the cassette player and he nodded his head. Tony saw him nod his head and then he nodded. It got quiet between the two and Tony couldn't handle it.

"You wanna go?" Tony needed to VACATE. He burned up in the record store. Steve shrugged his shoulders because it didn't matter to him. He wasn't under any time frame so he figured if Tony wanted to shop longer for music then that was fine with him.

He just didn't communicate that thought with words.
"I'm buying a few things too so after that we can go now. I wanna show you another place I like.." They paid for the tapes and the player. They left the record store and Tony took him to his favorite

donut place.

It was called Randy's Donut. He drove over to Manchester Boulevard and parked in the lot. They ordered up some donuts and ate in the corvette.

"The President of the United States is George Bush." Tony was in the middle of a history lesson because Steve still had a million questions that he needed answered.

"Oh and more importantly, Ford bought Jaguar," Tony added as Steve chewed on a maple bar. He looked at him with a very confused expression.

"Who bought what?"

"Hahah Ford. It's a vehicle company. They bought out Jaguar. It's big news right now. I don't give a crap about anything else really." Tony wanted to have his dear father get Steve up to date with the historical stuff . Tony wanted to do other things with his Yankee. The thoughts he had in his head made him sit up and clear his throat.

"Oh, ok. I know what Ford is." Steve took a napkin and wiped the sugar from his mouth. Tony just smiled at him and then he chomped on another donut. Tony needed the sugar in his system. He licked at the powdered sugar that was on his fingers.

"You know what Ford is huh? What else do ya know? Did you have a microwave back in the day?" Tony asked as Steve reached in the box for another donut. He had a sweet tooth as well.

A microwave? He had no idea...

"I don't know what that is."

"OOhh I'll show you when we go home. But remember, the technology I'm showing you today is TOTALLY going to suck in a few years. I've been to the future and it's amazing."

Steve chewed on the donut and he looked at Tony. His mouth stretched into a smile and he voiced his thought.

"You sound a bit crazy when you say that you've been to the future, Tony.." Steve almost held that smile and Tony looked up at him.

"That's being said by a guy that's been frozen for how many years? I'm not crazy I've just seen things beyond your wildest dreams!"

Tony sounded so excited about what he said, Steve couldn't help but absorb Tony's energy. He had so much of it so it was hard to not take it in.

"What sort of things have you seen?" Steve was curious and he decided to encourage the conversation. Tony took in a big breath. He thought about his words and then he grabbed another donut.

"I've seen ZEUS. In the flesh, a cape that has a mind of its own, a building that talks and communicates with its inhabitants, AND a music contraption that can fit about fifty million of these cassette tapes into it digitally. It was perfectly categorized according to the artist's name or album. You can look through it by the song title. CRAZY SHIT!"

"Fifty million huh?" Steve relaxed against the seat and just let Tony tell the story. Steve was so entertained.

"YES." Tony smiled and he looked into the box for more sweets.

They ate them all so he frowned a little. Steve looked out the window on the passenger side. He saw a small group of teenagers that looked around Tony's age. They were all engaged in conversation. It occurred to Steve that Tony had nothing like that.

He was obviously raised under a very protective shell. Howard told him that Tony often ran away and he was into some bad habits. A strange sexual affair with an older man being one of them, and doing drugs were another.

Of course, Steve had to have a lesson in order to understand what all the new drugs were because only alcohol, marijuana, and "tonics" were illegal during the time he grew up.

Tonics were apparently the old name for Cocaine? So now Steve was up to date and he didn't see Tony as trouble. He only saw him as TROUBLED. There was a difference.
He just acted out because Howard had him on such a short leash.

"So Tony, what do you really do around here?" Steve asked as the two looked at each other. Steve noticed Tony's face take on a shade of red.

"Ehh? What do I do? I buy cassette tapes and eat donuts." Tony spoke with a devious grin. Steve smiled back at him and then rephrased his question.

"Your father tells me that you run away all the time. What do you do? And don't lie because I know you don't go to a donut shop.."

Steve didn't mind the donuts but he just wanted Tony to answer his question. He watched as Tony chewed on his bottom lip. He saw his discomfort and Steve's eyes went to Tony's hands.

He started to rub them together and he squeezed his fingers. Steve's eyes ventured from his hands back up to Tony's face. He started to study him.

"I go to a local club. Or, I know some people that have house parties. I just go out and uh I dunno I just have to be away. I don't really DO anything." Except for stuff that Steve wouldn't approve of. Tony couldn't tell him the things that he did when he ran away.

Tony wondered, why did Steve ask him that?
Whut the hell? He looked away from him and felt awkward.

"What's at the local club? or at the house party?" Steve couldn't contain his curiosity. Tony began to wonder why the Yankee asked him all the questions.

"Why? Do you wanna go to one with me?" Tony rubbed at the side of his face. ACK he knew that his face was all red. The idea of Steve at one of those parties was such a turn on for him.

It made Tony want to do very bad things. Very kinky/naughty/dangerous things with Steve. He avoided eye contact and he dug through the bag from the music store. HEYY the cassette was a great distraction he started to open one of the cassettes that he bought.

His blush deepened when he realized that Steve still stared at him.

UNFFF Tony wanted to climb on top of his lap. He wanted to bite his lips. GAHH KNOCK IT OFFFFFF... Tony friggen looked the other way.

"I was just curious." Steve's shoulders pulled up into a shrug and he looked back over at the group of people.

Tony's brain was on fire all of a sudden. A thought processed and it traveled to his mouth. No NO NO NOOOOOOO he begged his brain to stop but the words were already at his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Just curious? What else are you getting curious about?" Tony asked with a sly grin.

Steve turned his head to the side and he tried not to smile. Tony was an interesting person to Steve. But, he didn't want his words to translate into something it wasn't supposed to so he chose his words very carefully.

Before he could respond Tony spoke again.

"Ok! So I now have two things that I want from you. A thank you kiss and I want for us to go to a house party." Hahah Tony couldn't contain his grin.

Sure he was being a devil but it was what he wanted! And he had no filter. Steve was stumped on what to say, he gave Tony a passive expression. Eventually, Steve found his voice and he spoke.

"I hope you're kidding about me kissing you. You can't be serious.."

"Aww come on Yankee I'm not kidding! I can tell that you're falling in love with me haha so let's go to a party and actually have some fun." Tony wanted that more than anything.

Steve forced the smile from his face to disappear and he looked away.
Tony couldn't handle the silence. The Yankee said nothing and it drove Tony insane.

"AY You were attracted to me ok? I'm not giving up. Are you attracted to me yet?" Tony laughed a bit and he waited for Steve's response.

Steve did not know how to respond and Tony took his silence to heart. Uhhhh he studied the stupid tape again. He changed the subject yet stayed on the exact same subject.

"You're not really interested in that kind of stuff are you? House parties I mean.." He asked with his eyes glued to the cassette tape.

Tony didn't read one word of the text in front of him. In his mind, he heard Obadiah's words over and over and he couldn't help but feel like it was true.

"He's a bit out of your league kid. Someone that clean-cut wouldn't go for a trashy little brat like you."

Obadiah told him that as he fucking RAPED HIM. Soooo, of course, it nagged in the back of his mind. Tony's face slipped into a frown and Steve took notice. He had to be honest with Tony because Steve's only interest was to show him some companionship.

Tony had absolutely no friends. He was obviously isolated and Steve wanted to show him what an actual friendship was. He couldn't have Tony wanting to kiss him and all of that. Steve's mind refused to go there.

"I'm not the type to really party. So you're right, it doesn't really interest me." Steve answered honestly and Tony cleared his throat. His chest friggen hurt. In Tony's mind, the words translated into Steve not being interested in him. He internalized it too deeply and it made him sad. But Tony was a trooper.

He did his best to look unaffected by his terrible thoughts.

"Right. Well, I just go to stress my dad out or whatever. Do you wanna go see a movie or something? I hear there is an early screening for Indiana Jones. It's the "Last Crusade" and it's supposed to be pretty cool."

The atmosphere in the car was pretty odd and Tony didn't like it. He felt rejected. Steve was not interested in him. He was out of his league just like Obadiah said. Tony wanted to change the subject fast.

Steve noticed that what he said affected Tony and he had that horrible feeling in his stomach again. He stared at the younger man and thought about what to say.
There was a definite elephant in the car. Steve felt like it needed to be addressed.

And what was Indiana Jones? Steve had no idea what Tony meant by that. He tried as best he could to alleviate this issue between them. But Steve thought of nothing to say. He couldn't discuss it any further.

"Sure. I will watch it with you. I have no idea what it is but, I will watch it with you." Steve felt like a horrible person and he wanted to disappear.

- ~~~~ - ~~~ - ~~~~~~"

Back at the mansion, Howard stood in the garage as Obadiah's car pulled up.
He arrived a bit later than scheduled so Howard managed to get a few glasses of scotch in his system.
It did absolutely nothing for his nerves.

His back was turned to Obadiah as the man walked over toward him. Howard had his wife in the house, his butler outside, and a few S.H.I.E.L.D. bodies guard the house.

"I've gathered all the paperwork regarding the Arc Reactor from any Vanko hand. He's been successfully deported so you don't have anything more to worry about.." Obadiah tossed a pretty big sized file on the workbench in front of Howard.

He glanced down at it but didn't focus on a thing.

"I still worry all the time," Howard confessed as he closed his eyes. There was an intense rage that burned within him. He was pretty much traumatized to the core of his bones and out.

"It wasn't your fault he was a defected psychopath. I took care of it so you can just relax. Come on Howard take it easy." Obadiah fixed his suit and he set his briefcase down.

He wanted to go home. Howard clenched his fists and stood perfectly still.

"Is there anything else I should know about? Because now would be a good time.." Howard's voice was a bit cryptic and Obadiah finally noticed that Howard still had his back to him. Something wasn't right. Obadiah studied Howard and thought of a response.

"Just that he was arrested and deported back to Russia. He's not going anywhere and I honestly think he'll be dead in a few years. The guy seems pretty sick." Not that he cared.

Obadiah checked the time on his watch and he looked at Howard again. What was his deal?

"So that's all you have to tell me?" Howard asked again with the same tone. He turned slightly and he smiled at Obadiah.

"Yeah. Is everything ok?" His business partner asked as Howard held his smile. The smile was a mask that covered his inner torment. He stepped toward Obadiah and his fist collided with the side of his face.

He punched him. Howard hit him as hard as he could and he thought the impact broke a bone in his hand.
The force was hard enough to knock Obidiah back into one of the tool cabinets.

Obadiah did not see it coming. It felt like Howard took a baseball bat and slammed it just under his eye socket. He covered his face with his hands and tried to stay on his feet.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" he yelled as Howard glared at him. Obadiah knew immediately what the look on his face was about and he tried to find a solution.

"You've obviously had a discussion with your junkie psychotic son. What kind of bullshit did he feed you to get his way?"

Howard said nothing and he looked over his surroundings. He picked up a black iron pipe and he held it with his good hand. All he wanted to do was beat Obadiah's skull in with it.

He was not fucking around with any of it. He went at him but Obadiah grabbed his arm.

"HOWARD do not make an enemy out of me ok? This can all go away. It doesn't have to go in this direction." Obadiah wanted to avoid the situation if he could. He knew that Howard was a smart man so he tried to reason with him. Howard ignored his plea.

"You're a dead man. This will NEVER just go away. The only solution is for you to die right here in this garage." Howard Stark would not waste his time and take some asshole to court on statutory rape charges.

HE FUCKED HIS SON. So he needed to die.
"YOUR SON if a manipulative liar. Whatever he told you was a lie.."

"I'm not going to listen to your bullshit. What happened between the two of you is YOUR FAULT. You could have stopped it and had the power to say no. You made it happen and for that, I am going to kill you."

Howard shoved him back. He had the gift of being ambidextrous so he used his left arm and cracked the pipe directly across Obadiah's cheekbone. It had a sharp edge on it so his face was cut open.

It gaped open and Obadiah caught some of the blood in his hand.
Ok. He was officially pissed. Once his blood was spilled Obadiah gave up any attempt to handle the situation like before. Obadiah decided to show his true face.

"TONY'S GOT IT COMING HOWARD. I've already arranged and sold your son off to the highest bidder. So you better keep your son close. Maybe you should actually take care of him yourself instead of pawning him off on everyone else."

Howard reached underneath his jacket and he pulled a 48" magnum out from behind his back. He knew it would head in that direction. He readied the weapon and aimed it right at Obadiah's forehead.

"Does that arrangement still apply if I blow your head in two?" Howard had reached the point of no return. He intended to kill Obadiah where he stood.

"Yes. The arrangement still applies. Do you want more information on the highest bidder? You'll get nothing if you kill me." Howard gripped the handle of the gun and began to squeeze the trigger. Suddenly, a very soft gasp was heard behind him and Howard turned in that direction.

"HOWARD? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" His wife couldn't believe her eyes. She saw Obadiah as he held his face in his hand. Blood was everywhere and Howard had a gun in his hand. Maria had been kept in the dark about Howard's move. Her first instinct was to get her husband away from Obadiah.

Maria pulled him away. He aimed his weapon at Obadiah anyway and pulled the trigger. His wife's scream could be heard all the way down the property.

Seconds later, the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel were in the garage and so was Jarvis. Howard was out of it and his wife was an absolute mess.

- ~~~~ - ~~~ - ~~~~~~"

After the movie, Steve and Tony walked to the car. It was surprisingly late. Steve didn't expect to have been out for the entire day. The two walked in silence until they reached the Corvette.

Everything felt awkward. Tony absolutely hated it and he stared at the keys that were in his hand. Tony was so confident before Steve woke up. Now, his mind was consumed with self- doubt and his brain filled with Obadiah's voice.

THAT SHIT WAS ON REPEAT.

"Someone that clean-cut wouldn't go for a trashy little brat like you."

"..wouldn't go for a trashy little brat like you."
"...trashy little brat like you."
"He's a bit out of your league kid."

"He's a bit out of your league kid."
"You wanted to fuck around with your blonde Yankee didn't you?"

"He's a bit out of your league kid."

ERRRR ARRARAG HDAASWW UU#() $*(CNE!

Over and over and over Obadiah's voice and all the shit he said repeated in his head.

Steve just stared at Tony and wondered when he would snap back into reality. Tony was gone mentally and Steve was left alone. Steve felt alone on a California sidewalk as he stood there and waited.

Tony eventually looked up at Steve. ACK he felt like an idiot the moment he did.

"Sorry hahh spacing out. Let's head back ok?" Steve just nodded his head and Tony unlocked the car. They listened to the tapes that they bought on the drive home.

Steve wanted to tell Tony that he liked the time he spent with him. He changed his mind because he was afraid of how Tony would interpret what he said. Tony thought the movie sucked. Sure he liked it but it had way too much "father-son" mushy stuff and he was still bummed out that Steve was uninterested.

Tony stopped at a red light and it remained quiet between the two. Steve looked in Tony's direction and Tony looked in Steve's. When their eyes met they both stared for a moment. Then they both quickly looked at the light as it flashed from red to green.
They said nothing to each other the rest of the way. Tony pulled into the driveway.

Uhhhh...Tony stopped the car when he saw that his home was flooded with cops. The police? WHAT THE FUCK? Tony turned off the engine and Steve sat up straight.

Tony's heart started to race the moment his eyes came upon Obadiah's car. It was in the garage and Tony rushed to unbuckle his seat belt.

"OH SHIT. SHIT SHIT SHIT shit!" Tony yelled in a panic as he jumped out of the car. Tony hurried out and he ran as fast as he could. He ran from the car all the way into the garage.

He blew by a police officer. The man grabbed him immediately.

"WHOA! You can't come in here."
"FUCK YOU MAN. I live here. Where's my dad? What happened?!"

Tony looked everywhere he could for his father. He scanned around for Obadiah as well. Tony saw blood on the floor of the garage and he freaked out.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" He asked the cop but he was too busy. The cop tried to get Tony out of the garage.

Tony ditched the officer and tried to find another way into the house. When he turned around and began to sprint away he ran right into Steve. Tony's face collided with that crisp clean shirt and he felt those warm arms wrap around him.

Steve held onto Tony gently and he looked down at him. Tony gasped and he stared at that shirt. Tony took in a deep breath and it got caught up in his throat. The smell of that shirt filled his lungs. Fuck he became overwhelmed and tears filled his eyes.

"Tony calm down. You'll have answers soon. Just don't freak out." Freaking out wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. Tony just gripped the bottom of Steve's shirt and he tried to behave. He twisted that shirt up in his hands and he cried against him. It took every ounce of willpower for Tony to not freak out.

Chapter end Thanks for reading.