'Jarvis, where's Pepper?' he leaves Tony to his work and stalks out of the ballroom.
'Ms Potts is in the library in the east wing, Colonel Rhodes.'
'That's the fifth door on the left past the green staircase?'
'The sixth,' Jarvis corrects.
'Thanks,' he sets off.
Down the corridor, turn left and the staircase is up ahead. He counts the doors and the raps on the sixth as he pushes it open,
'Pepper?'
'James,' she smiles at him from where she's seated with a couple of tablets and an open laptop.
'Captain Rogers has a crush on Tony and Tony is rejecting him in case it goes bad.'
Pepper puts her tablet down.
'I got him to tell the Captain about Jim and now I'm tagging you in; it's your turn.'
'Jarvis,' Steve closes the door to his suite behind him and leans against it, 'could you maybe just shoot me before I say anything like that to Tony?'
'Of course, Captain Rogers,' Jarvis deadpans.
'I never meant for him to know,' he sighs. 'I knew he wouldn't want... How did this happen?'
'Captain, I have not known you for long enough to know if you actually wish for a recap of...'
'No,' his laugh sounds strange, 'I don't. And I know that you know I don't.'
He realises he's smiling; that was probably Jarvis' goal.
He pushes his fingers through his hair with a sigh,
'This place is incredible,' he changes the subject. 'Has Tony really never spent time here?'
'Not since he was a boy,' Jarvis confirms.
'He grew up here,' he sighs. 'This is where his mother... This is where they lived?'
'Records would suggest so Captain. I was not yet created and sir does not speak of it.'
'But he has parties here?'
'Not often.'
He looks out the window and across the gardens behind the mansion,
'He hates it here,' he sighs and retrieves his sketch pad from the coffee table and settles himself in the window seat, 'I'm beginning to think Tony does a lot of things that he doesn't like.'
There's no reply.
He didn't really expect one.
'Captain Rogers.'
He jolts and gazes down at the nearly finish portrait of Tony.
He closes the sketch pad,
'Yes, Jarvis?'
'Agent Romanov is attempting to contact you.'
'Oh, my phone is... Where's my phone?'
'At Stark Tower, Captain Rogers. Shall I put her through on this frequency?'
'Thanks Jarvis,' he readjusts his ear bud unnecessarily. 'Natasha?'
'Rogers, you've been in this century for long enough to remember to carry your phone.'
'Hello to you to,' he realises he's smiling.
'You've forgiven Stark then?'
'Of course I have,' he sighs. 'You knew I would.'
'I knew you would,' she agrees. 'You're that sort of man.'
'You always sound like you're insulting me.'
'I'm not insulting you,' he can hear that small smile of hers in her tone.
'What can I do for you?' he asks with a smile of his own.
'Just calling to tell you I'll be out of town for a few days,' she reports. 'I have a lead I need to chase down.'
'Do you need any help?'
'No, Captain,' he thinks he hears a weapon being primed and then disarmed. 'I'll be fine. Jarvis will be able to contact me if you need me.'
'Alright,' he files the information away in his head; two at the Stark Mansion, three at Stark Tower and one away.
'Steve, are you ok?' she's just as good at reading him like this than in person.
'I told him,' he blurts.
'Told him,' she murmurs. 'And what did he say?'
'That we're a terrible match,' he tells her with a glance to his closed sketch book.
'Idiot...' she groans.
'Yeah,' he laughs.
'Дайте силу мне , чтобы справиться с глупыми людьми,' that didn't sound complimentary. 'Try not to do anything stupid until I get back.'
'Be safe,' he smiles.
He hears her laugh before the call is dropped.
'You'll listen out for her, Jarvis?'
'Of course, Captain.'
'Dada?' his son's voice pulls his attention from rechecking his deployment design for the induction chargers.
'Hello, baby,' he looks over to the couch.
Pete blinks open his eyes and looks around,
'Where's Cap?'
'I don't know.'
'Oh,' Pete sits up and looks around. 'Where's my sword?'
'You left it in our room,' his eyes flick back to his tablet and he makes himself put it down.
'Thor said I should always carry it,' his son frets.
'Thor also says that mechanised carriages are no substitute for good horses.'
'What's a mechanised carriage?'
'A car.'
'Oh. Are horses better than cars?'
'No.'
'Oh.'
Pete looks thoughtful as he swings his legs on the couch,
'I've not seen a horse.'
'Sure you have.'
'Nuh uh,' Pete shakes his head. 'I saw pictures though.'
'Pictures,' he thinks back; when was the first time he even left Stark Manor? When would he have seen his first animal?
'Are you sad, Dada? Don't be sad,' Pete comes over and holds up his arms.
'I'm only a little sad, baby boy,' he smiles as Pete pats his face.
'Why?' Pete cocks his head. 'I've seen cars. Cars are better than horses.'
'Very true,' he agrees. 'And I have a lot of cars.'
'Can I have a car?'
'Sure,' he agrees, 'you can't drive until you're bigger though.'
'Oh,' his son pouts. 'But I can ride in it?'
'Of course you can.'
'And you can drive it? Or Cap?'
'I don't know if Cap would be able to drive your car,' he grins, 'but I'm sure you'll be able to convince any of the other Avengers to join you.'
'Does Cap have a car?'
'No, just a couple of bikes I think.'
'Like mine?'
'Motorbikes,' he corrects. 'And you can't ride them until you're much older.'
'Why?'
'Because it's dangerous and I have no intention of loosing you or letting you be hurt.'
'Oh,' Pete smiles at him.
'I have work to do, squirt,' he presses a kiss to his son's forehead before putting him down. 'You play, ok?'
'Jarvis will read to me,' Pete declares.
'If that's alright with Jarvis,' he agrees as he reclaims his tablet.
'Jarvis is the best at telling stories,' Pete tells him as he sits under the table with a tablet of his own. 'He does all the voices and makes the sounds!'
'I created the world's first fully sentient AI and you've become an audiobook?'
'So it would seem, sir.'
'Do I need to give you an allowance for babysitting your brother?'
'Sir, I do not believe even you could afford me if I desired to be paid.'
He laughs,
'Good boy.'
AN~ That should be, as best as I can tell, the Russian for 'Give me the strength to cope with idiots.'
If anyone knows better please tell me :-)
Hope you enjoyed.
