The 4th installment of the series. I'm not sure if what follows would be historically accurate, but for the sake of this fic we'll say it is…constructive criticism is appreciated, and I don't own Marvel, nor do I own "Bohemian Rhapsody"

"No Escape from Reality"

September 2012

Tony Stark exited the elevator onto the floor of the common area in the newly dubbed "Avengers' Tower" when he heard the loud laughter echoing off the walls. As he walked further into the room he frowned, wondering who was having the party and didn't invite him.

As he came into view of the couches, he found the Howlett twins sitting on opposite sides of the couch, both doubled over with laughter, while Steve sat between them, looking none too pleased and glaring at the ground with his arms folded across his chest.

With raised eyebrows Tony looked to the screen, and he found a video paused – black and white and grainy with Steve Rogers in a very old Captain America costume with a significantly different shield. In said video, his eyes were locked onto the back of the shield, and his mouth was currently open, frozen mid-word.

"How the hell did they talk you into that, Steve?" Ryder asked, once his laughter had calmed down. "Case I get…any chance to sing and dance she was all for it, but you?"

"Case can sing and dance?"

All three sobered up, and turned their gazes to Tony, shocked he was standing there with them.

"Of course, she can," Ryder said, "It's why we've been calling her the Siren."

"I thought it was because she was pretty," Tony shrugged.

In the past few months since the rest of the Avengers settled into the Tower, he'd never heard the younger Howlett twin so much as voluntarily listen to a song on the radio much less sing or dance.

Ryder pointed to the screen, "See the girl on the end over there?"

Tony squinted at the girl Ryder was pointing at and his eyebrows rose. "Well…I'll be damned. And while we're on the topic, what're we watching?" he asked, hopping over the side of the couch to sit next to Steve.

"Somehow a video of Steve's first performance as Captain America made it onto the YouTube," Case said, grabbing the keyboard and clicking a button.

"From Hoboken to Spokane…the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan!" the girls in the video sang.

"Star Spangled Man with a Plan, huh?" Tony asked with a smirk. He grabbed the keyboard, "What's this? Never before seen footage of Captain America?"

Before any of the others could react, Tony had the keyboard and wireless mouse and clicked on the link.

A grainy video of Steve in the World War Two uniform appeared, and he was giving an interview. Two minutes in, Steve broke out into a wide grin.

"Excuse me, hey guys!" Steve called to someone off camera. "Come over here!"

Three familiar faces entered the shot, and Steve said, "These three are my oldest friends," Steve had said. "Not to mention members of my team."

Ryder with significantly shorter and better kept hair – in comparison to the man sitting next to him with shaggy brown hair brushing his shoulders and a few days of beard growth on his face – along with Case whose wavy hair was flying free and hacked off just below her ears, and a third man entered the shot, who's dark hair cropped similarly to Ryder's, all looking very confused and dressed in similar uniforms and combat boots. One of the reporters had snapped a photo, the trio blinking rapidly for a moment.

"What's this about?" the unknown man had asked.

"News piece regarding America's newest icon," The reporter without the camera explained. "The people want details about this 'Captain America'."

"What do you want to know?" Ryder asked with a grin.

"Who's the new guy?" Tony asked as he paused the video. He looked at his companions, whose gazes had gone toward the direction of the elevator. He looked around, seeing Case's seat was empty, "Where did—"

"Miss Howlett is currently heading to her room, Sir," Jarvis's voice announced. "She seems rather distressed."

"Thank you, Jarvis," Tony frowned, and looked toward Steve and Ryder, "What the hell?"

"Bucky," Ryder said, "That's Bucky with us…"

"I wondered…Lord knows my dad never shut up about you guys…him included," Tony said with a roll of his eyes. He noticed the concerned looks on their faces, and asked, "Something wrong?"

Steve and Ryder exchanged looks, before Ryder asked, "Has…has she talked to you about him?"

Steve shook his head, "No…how 'bout you?"

"Not a word," Ryder sighed.

"Have either of you tried talking to her?" Tony asked.

Both gave nods, and Ryder explained, "She doesn't want to talk about him. She'll deflect the conversation to a new topic as soon as she can. Or she'll just leave the room entirely, saying she has something she has to do or an errand to run."

"But you two can talk about him."

"We weren't head over heels in love with him either," Steve told him. "Not that it made it any easier to deal with when he fell…but since we got out of the ice, she hasn't wanted to talk about him. Not in any real detail, anyway."

"But it's been over a year since you guys were defrosted."

"Hence the problem," Ryder said. "We thought maybe if we pulled up the videos…eased Bucky into the conversation we could thaw the ice a bit."

Steve's eyebrows went up as he looked at Ryder, "Really?"

"Yeah I know," Ryder rolled his eyes. "You're the eloquent one…always have been. I just shoot things."

"Eloquent? Bucky was always the charmer of the group," Steve pointed out.

"To the ladies maybe, I was going for more of a public speaking image," Ryder said, then his face morphed into a cringe, "And let's not focus on that part…"

"What part? The fact that Bucky could charm the pants off anyone?" Tony cut in.

Ryder made a gagging noise, "Please! Knock it off!"

"What's his problem?"

"We're pretty sure Case and Bucky had something going on during the war," Steve said, with a slight smirk on his face.

"And Hypno-Hands didn't approve?"

"Far from it…it's just the thought of his precious little sister doing things of an adult nature makes him physically ill," Steve explained.

"Keep it going Steve, next you'll be walking off the Brooklyn Bridge," Ryder scowled at him.

"Promises, promises," Steve rolled his eyes, "You've been saying that since nineteen thirty-eight."

Tony frowned as he listened to them banter, "Did he know what you could do?"

The two friends fell silent, and Ryder asked, "What are you talking about?"

"My dad," Tony clarified. "Did he know about your mutations?"

Tony wasn't quite sure what prompted the question – Howard had never been Father of the Year, but he'd always held Steve and the Howling Commandos in such high regard…but it finally had dawned on Tony that his father never mentioned that Case or Ryder were mutants. In all the stories he'd told of his friends, that had never come to light.

Ryder gave a sigh, "We eventually told him…and Peggy and Colonel Phillips. The rest of the team found out by accident…I think the only other person that knew was a guard in the Hydra Factory."

Steve frowned at him, "What guard?"

"Long story doesn't matter anymore," Ryder shrugged it off. "But he knew, yeah…we just told him to keep it to himself. Our dad drilled it home that we shouldn't really tell anyone about our mutations. Steve and Bucky were exceptions…and both instances were accidents."

"Accidents?"

"Case inadvertently revealed her claws…and thus, surprise!"

"I see."

"What guard in the Hydra Factory?" Steve asked again.

"Does it really matter now, Steve?" Ryder snapped, "It was seventy years ago!"

"It matters because you were so hung up on keeping your mutations a secret, and then you told a total stranger—"

"I didn't tell anyone anything," Ryder scowled. "And truth be told…he probably didn't remember, anyway."

"Why not?"

"Because I told him not to."

Steve frowned, "Wait…you actually…on a person?"

"Desperate times called for desperate measures," Ryder told him. "I had to…otherwise he was going to take…" He chewed on his lip but didn't finish the sentence, "Never mind…didn't matter at the end of the day but still…"

"Wait…you were trying to stop them from taking—"

"We're not getting into this now, Steve."

"But Ryder—"

"No Steve."

Their voices started to fade into the background as Tony got to his feet and headed for the elevator, heading for Case's apartment.

"Is this the real life, is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide no escape from reality."

The doors hissed open as Tony heard the opening lyrics to 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The elevator doors went into a wide-open living room area, with the kitchen area off to the side separating the spaces with a large island, and Tony headed for the dark blue sofa in the center of the living room, which was mostly empty and scattered with a few cardboard boxes and a few other pieces of furniture – a small dinette set, a few arm chairs and a coffee table.

"Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see…I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy—"

"Hey Jarvis, can you pause Freddie for a moment?" Tony called out as he entered the room.

"Of course, Sir," Jarvis said pleasantly.

Case, who'd been sprawled across her couch with the back of her head to the elevator, shot up into a sitting position and scowled, "Don't you knock? Or announce your presence?"

"Would you like me to do that in the future for you, Miss Howlett?" Jarvis asked.

"Please and thank you," Case said, before flopping back down on the couch. "And if you could resume the song please?"

"Not just yet, Jarvis," Tony said, and plopped down on the opposite end of the couch near Case's feet.

"What do you want, Stark?" Case sighed, throwing an arm over her head to shield her eyes.

"Well…first…never would have struck you as a Queen fan," Tony said, "Thought you'd be sticking with artists that would've been around a while ago…like Judy Garland or Ella Fitzgerald."

Case moved her arm and cast a glare at him with one eye, "What? You think because I'm over ninety years old I can't appreciate anything more modern?"

"Just saying…"

"Not like you know me well enough to make that distinction," Case grumbled before hiding her eyes again. "People think they know me so well…"

"Okay, well…tell me something about yourself, Howlett," Tony said testily. When she moved her arm and looked at him in confusion, he added, "We're a team, right? You don't like being judged? Give me something to work with here."

Case sighed and threw her arms over her face once more, "You're just here because they said I don't like talking about Bucky."

"That's not it!"

"Yeah…because Steve and Ryder have really changed over the years," Case said. "They know I don't wanna talk about him and they continue to try and force the issue."

"Hey if you don't wanna talk about your boyfriend then we won't talk about him."

"He wasn't my…" Case sat up with a sigh and chewed on her lip, "Technically, he wasn't my boyfriend."

Tony waited a moment, then asked, "Do you want to talk about him?"

Case frowned thoughtfully as she considered her answer…and then her face crumpled, and she buried her face in Tony's shoulder, sobbing into the fabric of his shirt.

"Shit!" He breathed as she caught him by surprise, before wrapping his arms around her. Another shock for the billionaire, he'd never seen Case fall apart – Case hadn't really been known to show her emotions during the war, or so Howard had said…and in the brief time they'd known each other, he'd never seen anything like this. He rubbed a hand over her back, and awkwardly said, "Alright uh…just let it all out…that's it…"

"He's all I want to talk about," Case whined into his shirt, before she sat up and gave a loud sniffle. She wiped at her face, taking a deep breath to regain her composure, "Sorry about that…I didn't mean…" a fresh wave of tears started rolling down her cheeks, and her lips trembled as she whimpered, "Give me a minute."

Tony cocked an eyebrow at her, "Say Howlett…how long have you been holding onto this?"

Case braced her elbows on her knees as she shoved her fingers through her hair, dark blue nails poked through the brown waves – another clear difference, the hair that had been cut short in the video now flowed down to the middle of her back. Tony hadn't gotten a good look at her fingernails in the video, but he doubted there was blue nail polish back then for her to wear either.

Finally, Case gave a loud, bone-weary sigh, keeping her face hidden as she said, "Probably…seventy years."

"What did you do when he died?"

Case lowered her arms and cast a glare his way, "I ran…alright?"

"You ran?"

"We found Steve sitting in the train car…when he finally said what had happened…I turned on my heel and booked it as far as I could go."

Tony frowned at that, "How far?"

"Far enough into the woods that if I didn't have my dad's sense of smell I would've been lost for a good long time," Case admitted. "And it's not like I had time to process things…everything sort of snowballed after that mission. And I couldn't break down – especially not in a room full of guys waiting for the women to collapse from the stress. And there was my roommate of course, the WAC robot who had the gall to try to make me feel ashamed for being upset because of…" She gave a sigh, "Sorry…you probably don't want to listen to me whine about all this…"

"I asked, didn't I?" Tony pointed out. "Why don't you want to talk about all this with Steve and Ryder?"

Case gave another sigh before getting to her feet. She turned to face him, "They're…too close, I guess. And they get these weird looks on their faces…I know they're trying to be sympathetic, but it looks like…" She waved a hand in the air, trying to find the right word.

"Pity?" Tony supplied.

Case thought that one over, "Yeah…like pity. But that's not the only reason I don't talk about him…"

"Oh?"

Case scrubbed a hand over her face, and more tears filled her eyes and her shoulders slumped as she said, "He's all I can think about…every night, and every day. God Tony I just want him back so badly…I just wanna wake up and have him be there and tell me that this was all a bad dream…" She sniffled and wiped at a few tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "But…it's two thousand and twelve…the war we were in ended decades ago…and Bucky's gone. And if I keep…there's days it hurts so much I can't get out of bed. And I don't know how to make them understand…"

"You need the space," Tony finished after Case left the sentence hanging. "If you keep dwelling on it, it's going to keep dragging you down."

Case gave a nod, "Now how come you get that, and they don't?"

"Well I am a genius after all," Tony smirked. "I take it you haven't gone into that much detail with them though, have you?"

With a sigh, she answered, "No, I haven't."

"You might want to try that," Tony said, getting to his feet. "Now come with me."

Case cocked her head, falling into step behind him as he headed for the elevator, "And where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there…you sound like you need a good stiff drink."

"I can't get drunk."

"I didn't say we were getting drunk, I said you need a drink," Tony pointed out. As she stepped into the elevator beside him, he frowned, "Really? Not at all?"

"Last time I got drunk Ryder and I raided the basement of the Whip and Fiddle after it had been bombed," Case admitted as the doors closed.

"Why did you do that?"

"No one else was coming for it," Case gave a shrug. "And we had to give Bucky a proper send off, didn't we?"

Tony cracked a smile at that, "I think I'm starting to like you, Howlett."

Case gave a roll of her eyes, "Stranger things have happened."

The next morning Case found Tony at the kitchen counter in the common area of the Avengers' Tower, wearing sunglasses with his chin resting on the granite counter top.

"Hey Tony," Case said quietly.

Tony gave a snort, "Huh? Wazzat?"

Case cocked an eyebrow, "Were you asleep?"

Tony gave a groan, "I may have been…I don't know…what happened last night?"

Case gave a soft chuckle as she sat on the stool next to him, "Well…you proceeded to show me your personal bar of various assorted liquors…then tried to get me drunk but only succeeded in you getting yourself…'shit-faced' is the term now a days I believe?"

"Sounds about right…"

"I asked you to sing 'Radio Ga Ga' for me…you belted out 'Radio Ga Ga I love you'…then nearly went face-first into the floor."

"Oh God…you mean singing that song wasn't some horrible nightmare?"

"'Fraid not, pal," Case said, clapping a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"How are you not as hung over as me?" Tony groaned, gritting his teeth after her touch jostled him.

"I told you…can't get drunk," Case said, getting to her feet. "Metabolism thing I think…similar to Steve's, only without the serum…my genetics just rock."

"Ugh…I don't think I like you anymore."

"Your loss," Case shrugged as she reached the cabinet. She pulled a mug down from the shelf and helped herself to some coffee from the nearby pot.

"Nope…changed my mind, still like you," Tony announced. "Next time we try a different approach…maybe some different drinks."

Case frowned at him, "You're serious?"

"Yep…I'm sure I can get some stuff from overseas, I'll do some research into the subject," Tony gave a nod, then a small groan, "Just not today…my head's going to explode."

"Told you to quit while you were ahead," Case reminded him as she took her coffee to the elevator, "You're the one that didn't listen."

"Yeah, we'll see how you feel when the shoe is on the other foot Howlett," Tony called after her, not bothering to turn his head to face her.

"Guess we will," Case said as she stepped into the elevator, "See you later, Tony."