Tony finally escapes after six hours; when Pepper gets her claws into him she doesn't let go.

'Finally,' he groans as the lift starts to rise, 'ok, who's got Pete?'

'Captain Rogers, sir.'

Tony jolts,

'Why?!' he grits out in exasperation.

'That is who Peter chose,' Jarvis replies blandly.

'Steve isn't even speaking to me!'

'Perhaps not, but he is speaking to your son.'

'Right,' Tony squares his shoulders even as he sighs, 'this isn't going to be weird at all...'

He straightens his suit just as the doors open to Steve's floor.

Here goes nothing.

He steps forwards as if he owns the place.

Which is easy enough as he does, in fact, own the place.

He immediately spots Steve sitting on his couch with the TV quietly playing some cartoon. Steve looks up and their eyes meet briefly before Tony concentrates on his son. Pete is fast asleep, hugging his blanky, with his head in Steve's lap.

'Come on, baby,' he crosses the room and carefully lifts his son into his arms while trying to avoid touching Steve's thigh.

'Dada...' Pete doesn't open his eyes but snuggles himself into Tony's chest.

Tony turns and takes a few steps back towards the lift before he's interrupted,

'Are you seriously going to leave without speaking to me?' Steve asks quietly.

Tony stops but doesn't turn around,

'I don't make a habit of speaking to people who aren't speaking to me.'

He hears Steve stand up behind him,

'I am speaking to you,' Steve points out.

'Well, I didn't know that, did I?' Tony retorts as he turns around.

'We need to talk, Tony,' Steve hunches his shoulders a little as he shoves his hands into his pant pockets.

'Yeah,' he pets Pete's hair absently.

They stare at each other for a moment.

'Thank you,' Steve blurts suddenly, 'for the painting. I mean it's insane and far too much and I have no idea what to do with it, but thanks; it's beautiful.'

Tony considers him with no small amount of confusion,

'You're thanking me?'

'Just good manners,' Steve shrugs with a tiny, but noticeable smile, 'I understand why you'd be confused.'

'Right,' Tony stares at him. 'We're not ok though, are we?'

'No, not really,' Steve confirms.

Tony can't think of anything to say.

'Tony,' Steve just looks sad, 'I just need to know what... I'd like to be able to see him?'

What?

'Who?' he asks.

'My... Jim,' Steve stutters.

'Your son,' Tony corrects and tips his head. 'Of course you can see him.'

Steve lets out a strange laugh,

'As his babysitter?'

Tony winces and breaks eye contact.

'I just don't understand why you didn't trust me!' Steve suddenly snaps. 'Why don't you trust me? What do I have to do to make you trust me?!'

'Dada?' Pete's head jolts up and he blinks blearily.

'Shush, I'm here baby,' Tony tells him quietly as he takes a couple of steps backwards. 'I'm taking you to bed now.'

'K...' he settles back against the arc reactor.

'Sorry...' Steve mutters and presses a hand to his face.

'Don't,' Tony dismisses. 'This is all my fault. I assumed things about... It's my fault and nothing you did.'

'Tony,' Steve gazes at him beseechingly, 'I thought we were friends; tell me how I can make you trust me?'

'We are friends...' Tony knows he doesn't exactly sound convinced. 'But this isn't...'

'This is new territory,' Steve understates earnestly, 'but we can do this... I mean, if you want me to help...'

'Do you think I don't want you involved?' he interrupts, confused.

'You haven't exactly included me so far,' Steve retorts.

'I've included you more than anyone else,' he shrugs.

'So that makes this ok?'

Tony hesitates as he looks at his son before meeting Steve's eye,

'It's not my fault that I don't trust you,' he replies quietly and walks the remaining distance to the lift.


He takes Pete to bed and immediately goes to the bar in the main room of the penthouse and pours himself a large drink,

'Jarvis, where're Pepper and Rhodey?'

'Already on their way, sir.'

'Thanks, buddy,' he walks over to the window. He swipes away the alerts that appear on the glass and rests his head against it as he stares out across the city.

'Tony...' Pepper arrives and moves quickly to his side.

'I need to learn to trust him,' Tony tells her. 'Tell me how to do that?'

'You know it doesn't work like that,' she sighs and tucks herself against his side.

'It should do,' he wraps an arm around her without looking away from the view.

'What happened?'

'He had Pete, so I went to get him,' he shrugs. 'Steve asked why I don't trust him; he wanted to know if I'd let him be involved.'

'And did you tell him he could be as involved as he wants?' Pepper asks leadingly.

'Right, that might have helped,' he concedes.

'It's alright,' Pepper tells him as he takes a gulp of his drink. 'He hasn't left; you can still work this out.'

'What will fix this is me trusting him,' he disagrees. 'I don't know that I can.'

'Tony,' Pepper sighs, 'Steve isn't some perfect god of a man that's judging you at every turn; he's upset that you don't trust him but he's capable of understanding why you don't.'

'He doesn't really seem that keen on forgiving me,' Tony sighs and looks up as Rhodey arrives. 'Maybe his next present will help...'

'Yeah, sure it will Tones,' Rhodey rolls his eyes. 'Jarvis, order us some chinese?'

'My pleasure, Colonel Rhodes.'

What ever would he do without these three?


Steve felt heart sick as he watched the doors after Tony left.

He spends that night turning what the other man said over and over in his mind.

The next morning, on his run, he manages to boil the situation down to the very basics.

Tony doesn't trust him, but he hasn't restricted his access to Pete and he seems willing to let him have a role in Jim's life too.

So, what does that mean?

Obviously Steve wants to be a father to Jim, which doesn't seem like it's completely off the cards.

He'd also like to spend time with Pete, which also seems like something Tony will allow.

So the only real problem is that he also wants to be best friends with Tony.

Well, he wants more than to be best friends, but he's shoving that small rebellious thought into the back of his mind.

He jogs up to the front doors of the tower and rolls his shoulders as he crosses the foyer to the lift.

Tony was always willing to trust him with the children, but not with the knowledge that Jim was his, so actually...

He shakes his head,

'Jarvis, Tony doesn't trust me,' he states, somehow without his voice wavering. 'But he'll still let me near his sons...'

'Yes, Captain,' Jarvis confirms as the lift rises.

'So, this isn't quite about trust,' Steve sighs. 'This is about Tony's sense of self-worth...'

'Sir has learned that few choose to stand by him for long,' Jarvis replies quietly.

'He didn't think I'd reject Jim, he thought I'd reject ...' Steve falters as the lift doors open to his floor and he sees a large item covered with a shimmering sheet waiting for him. 'You're kidding me.'

'A gift from sir,' Jarvis sounds amused.

What did he expect?