Look, here's the thing...

All of my issues with Winter Soldier would have been resolved if Tony had been there (the data leak, basically). And WS is probably my favourite Marvel movie of all time. (Guardians or Ragnorok are up there too.) However in the real world, actors have contracts and movies have budgets and Iron Man can't show up in Cap's second movie.

But for continuity's sake, why the fuck not. This is my explanation for why.

Tony kept half an eye on the news and the other half on the gauntlet he was welding, wondering who the hell Steve Rogers had pissed off to rocket Captain America to the top of the most wanted list.

"J, we got eyes on Rogers?"

"Not at this moment, sir," JARVIS replied. "He was last seen taken into custody by a SHIELD STRIKE Team."

Grainy footage played on repeat on a screen in the corner of the room, showing Rogers battling someone that matched him hit for hit, bearing an enhanced weapon in place of an arm. Romanoff was there too, and some guy with mechanised wings, both of them looking worse for wear. Listed next to the footage was a toll of fatalities and injuries. Three dead, twenty four injured, the count slowly rising as emergency services arrived on scene.

After the battle of New York, Tony had seen Rogers around once or twice, brushing shoulders at fundraising events and shaking hands with senators. They'd exchanged small talk, nothing serious, and Tony was beginning to regret not having pushed harder to get to know him, if only so he wasn't blindsided by news headlines like this.

"What's the situation?" Tony said, setting aside the gauntlet and starting on the microprocessors.

"Hard to say, sir. I'll see what I can access—" JARVIS cut himself off for a moment, then resumed, "Director Fury calling for you, sir."

"Is he," Tony murmured, glancing at another headline—DIRECTOR OF SHIELD MURDERED— splashed against the front page of CNN. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but.. put him through."

He swiped his hand through the hologram, minimising schematics, as JARVIS displayed a video call, and set down the electronics to give Fury his full attention.

"It seems reports of your death—"

"Have been greatly exaggerated, I know, I know," Fury grumbled. He was calling from a hospital bed and looked like death warmed over. "Not by much."

Tony eyed him critically. "Hate to see ya, wouldn't want to be ya," he agreed. "So, what can little ol' me do for little ol' you?"

"Who says I want anything?"

Tony let the silence drag for a moment and Fury snorted.

"Yeah, alright. We need a favour, Stark."

It seemed that SHIELD had an infestation and Rogers intended to smoke it out by blowing up the entire anthill. The more Tony pried into Fury's story, the tighter his fingers clenched at the table before him. He blinked and for a moment saw the Ten Rings weapons stockpile in Afghanistan behind his eyes.

"Let's back up a second. Did I hear that right? Oh, please tell me I didn't hear that right, JARVIS. Insight Helicarriers, huh? Built with my repulsors? When I agreed to refit your helicarrier for it's propulsion systems, we did not agree that you'd use it to create three more and turn them into killing machines. Hell no. You've broken so many patent laws I don't even know where to begin."

"Is now really that time for that, Stark?"

"Yes! I swore I was done with building weapons. That includes flying ships with guns on them... I didn't sign up for this shit." Tony took a breath and began to type, communicating with JARVIS even as he spoke to Fury. "I'll suit up and be over there in forty minutes. We can then have a discussion face to face about how the fuck we're going to bring Hydra down without exposing every undercover agent SHIELD's ever fielded, and a hell of a lot of national secrets on top of that."

"No can do, Stark."

Tony didn't stop his typing, directing JARVIS to SHIELD's servers, sending a jet for Pepper, forming a list of people that needed to be vetted…

"Nobody tells me what to do."

"Stark… Tony. Don't come to DC. We need you on the ground and we need you safe. Hydra will be trying to take you off the map, just as much, if not more so than Rogers."

"Really," Tony replied, narrowing his eyes, "is that so, Nick?"

"It's what I'd do," Fury said, brutally honest. "You're our safety net. Their biggest threat. You think if Hydra succeeds, there's anyone else that has the resources and the manpower to stand against them? Thor's off world, Banner's in the wind, Clint's just a man…"

"I'm just a man," Tony said.

"You're Iron Man," Fury said, as if that was an answer, which, in many ways, it was.

"Fuck you," Tony replied. "I wanted to blow some shit up." He took a moment to rub his eyes before settling his gaze back on Fury. There was movement in the background of the picture, Deputy-Director Hill packing up the bare bones of a base.

"You've got to go," Tony concluded. "Fine. DC's not my jam, anyway, too many politicians. Patch me into your comms, I want to keep track of your progress; I'm coming for those helicarriers if they start shooting. Mark 63's got some snazzy upgrades. I'd like it to be made known, however, that I think this is a ludicrous plan."

"You try to control Rogers," Fury said. "When he sets his mind to something, there's no stopping him, stubborn ass."

"Yeah, have fun with that." Tony clicked his fingers, shooting finger guns. "Keep your eyes open."

"Hilarious," Fury said and ended the call.

Tony took a moment to process. After a beat, he threw the screens back up and got to business. Lives to save, agencies to hack, people to contact.

"Did you hear that, J?"

"Obviously, sir."

"Don't sass me, now. You know what, I am Iron Man."

"That you are, sir."

So you're wondering why I wrote this 7 years after WS was released...

I miss him, that's why. You know who.

I love you 3000.