Thank you to my wonderful reviewers: Terri'smind, Kae Richa, Garfunkyel, and Pickles. You're the best!
Here we are at the end of the Iron Man 2 storyline, heading into Avengers either next chapter or the one after that. It's been fun but we all know you're looking forward to the whole fab fam moving in.
Disclaimer: I own nothing under copyright.
Chapter 5: Battle of the Bands
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
― Albert Einstein
The day after the disastrous birthday party found Steve waking up wrapped around a source of incredible warmth. To his constantly cold body, it was like snuggling a furnace. The temptation to press his nose into the neck in front of him was too much, he wiggled closer and breathed in.
Cloves and white metal were like a homecoming, like he was sure V-E Day would be like when they got there and he could ask. "Tony…" Steve mumbled. When he felt metal surrounded by skin under his palm, he breathed a contented sigh.
"Um, Steve? What?" Tony's voice was confused. Why was he so confused, they shared a bed more often than not. Even if this was the first time the other man was also bare-chested. Actually, he was naked and it felt like everything Steve had ever wanted.
"I never pegged you for a cuddler," Tony said, and the his back rumbled with laughter.
When Steve opened his eyes, determined to tell off his man for ruining a moment, he froze. The room they were in was spacious and modern, glass serving as one wall and a large black screen against another. A television. The sight yanked him back to the present with an unpleasant jerk and a lump traveled up his throat.
This was 2011 and he was in Tony's wrecked mansion and Tony was dying. Not for the first time, Steve just wanted to go back to sleep and wake up again when things were the slightest bit sane. It wasn't an option right now.
"You're warm, of course I'm going to get closer," Steve grumbled and forced himself to release the man who had been home to him for so long. So that he didn't say, "To hell with the timeline," and stay curled around Tony, he rolled away and sat up on the other side of the bed. When he stretched, every joint he had cracked.
Similar noises, plus a yawn, echoed from the other side of the bed. "I think that's the longest I've slept since I was fifteen," Tony said, surprised contentment in every syllable, "We should cuddle naked more often."
Steve choked. Most of him was completely on board with that idea and thought this new regimen should start immediately. His body was more than happy with that suggestion. "I think I'm going to get my clothes on," he mumbled, and almost sprinted out of the room. Thank everything holy he had found a pair of clean boxers he could borrow after his shower.
Once in his room, he realized that Tony was right and it was wrecked. There was a hole in the middle of the floor, barely missing his bed, that went straight up through the ceiling. Half the windows were cracked.
Luckily the closet was intact, and his clothes as well. It was a little difficult to wrestle himself into his pants. The idea of having cuddled a naked Tony all night was a little too much to handle right now.
Not for the first time, Steve was near tears because he was so close and so far at the same time. Before he had to run he was right where he had wanted to be for years. And yet he was so far away, the Tony in the other room not the same one he had loved so long ago. Not yet, and possibly not ever.
But his memories were still the same, so didn't that mean they would succeed in keeping Tony alive? Or would that just make him a leftover part of an alternate universe? The concepts made Steve's head hurt and he shook them away. They weren't relevant, not yet.
What was, was the thought that he might have to let Tony go. Again. Wasn't once enough?
For the first time since he got here, Steve allowed himself to break down. He slid down the wall and buried his face in his knees. Tears not just of grief but pain and helplessness and gut wrenching despair crowded his eyes and sobs tore at his throat like he had only experienced the once in 1945. That was with Howard, both of them crying their eyes out on each other, before the world forgot about the men out of time.
Now that he was faced with the very real possibility of losing Tony again, he couldn't deal. When that eventually happened, by this or time travel, Steve didn't know what would happen. He remembered the redness and numbness of last time, but not the actual events. Would something similar happen again? This time there would be no enemy to fight, no appropriate channel for the rage and pain.
For the first time, Steve appreciated that there was someone around who made his instincts scream of danger. Whoever Natalie Rushman really was, maybe she'd be able to take him out if he went too far.
The thought shook him out of his melancholy. The tears gradually stopped and while his throat still felt like it had been sandpapered, he resumed normal breathing patterns. There wasn't time for this.
If he had to, he'd jam the smashed arc reactor in Tony's face just to make him see that there was a solution out there.
Steve took a moment to wipe his eyes and scrub his face in the bathroom before he went out to face Tony again. His eyes were still red and puffy, but at least the tear tracks and evidence of his runny nose were gone. It would have to do.
When he got out to the living room, it was just in time to see Rushman jab something into Tony's neck. It was proof of what he had feared all along.
A convenient chunk of rubble was thrown at her head. It was dodged nimbly. "That was lithium dioxide, to counteract the palladium poisoning," Rushman explained, sliding further from Tony.
"Who are you really?" Steve demanded tersely.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Tony rubbing the side of his neck but with an expression of amazement. The color was coming back into the man's face rapidly. Maybe it actually was something to help rather than hurt.
"Natasha Romanoff, agent of SHIELD," the redhead answered promptly, "Fury sent me."
The tough black man with the eyepatch was hard to forget. So was the agency he worked for.
Before Steve could respond, Tony let out a laugh. "Give me a few boxes of this stuff and I'll be right as rain," he crowed. When he jumped up from the chair, the difference was marked. No signs of muscle cramps or backaches or headaches. The constant sweating and flush to otherwise grey skin was reversed to the familiar natural tan.
Romanoff shook her head. "It's only a temporary measure. Too long on that will do just as bad for you," she refuted, "You need a replacement for the palladium. You have Howard Stark's things and SHIELD is of the opinion that he left a message, if you can decipher it."
The look Tony gave her wasn't encouraging. "That man was paranoid as all get out. Everything he ever wrote was in code," he stated condescendingly.
"Then you're the perfect person to crack it," Romanoff replied, "If it weren't for the Captain, Phil would be here to babysit you for the next few days as you do." She took the opportunity to sneak a peek at Steve.
Though it seemed like the woman was telling the truth, he reminded himself of Peggy again. Never underestimate someone because of their genitals. "Why should I do anything for you?" he asked, arms crossed over his chest.
This time Romanoff looked to Tony, who was luxuriating in the lack of pain while he stretched like a cat. "It's not me you'll be helping," she answered simply.
She knew that Steve's weakness was a certain genius. It made him even more wary because that meant that she could effectively manipulate him. And he wouldn't do a thing against her, if it meant keeping Tony safe.
From the look on both the other people's faces in the room, they knew it too. "Whatever you want to happen, good luck, sweetie," Tony told her rudely.
"What do I have to do?" Steve asked. It wasn't smart, but he had done worse for this man.
"Wait wait wait, what, no Steve, you can't-" Tony's babbling was cut off.
"Make sure he doesn't leave and that he's working on what he needs to." Some kind of expression was cleared from Romanoff's face too quickly to be identified. Instead she settled into a neutral stance, not threatening but ready for action if need be.
In return, Steve lowered his hands to his sides. He stood with feet shoulder width apart and ready for anything. "I was going to," he returned. It had to be made obvious that this wasn't for her, because she wanted him to.
The message came across; Romanoff nodded decisively. "I'll leave you gentlemen to it," she said and walked out a side door with a nod to each of them.
Not for the first time, Steve wondered how his world turned upside down.
From the look on Tony's face as he rubbed his neck, he was thinking along the same lines. "Time to get back to work," he said, more cheerful than he had in weeks. He sprang up and swanned past Steve, humming a song that sounded suspiciously like, "As Time Goes By".
The sudden burst of happiness made Steve feel like he was walking on clouds down to the lab.
Finally, they had hope again.
As the inventor himself leafed through his father's journals, written in mirrored script, Steve put together the models that came with all the gadgets. The process was oddly soothing.
A film reel of the many attempts to make the opening video to the '74 Stark Expo was playing, with Howard getting more drunk on each take. At one point Steve caught sight of an unspeakably adorable four year old Tony being lifted out of the frame.
Otherwise, all he could feel was sadness at what his old friend had become. Howard had always been a womanizer and fond of his drink, but this...
Right when Steve was about to cut it off, for Tony's mental stability, the clue came that they needed: "Tony. You're too young to understand this now, so I thought I would put it on film for you." It was obviously meant for the Tony watching.
That caught both of their attention. Steve put down the building model he had been holding in favor of leaning on the back of Tony's armchair.
Howard gestured at the model of the '74 Expo behind him. "I built this for you. And some day you'll realize that this represents a lot more than people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is, and always will be my greatest creation… is you." He looked so sincere that Steve was taken back seventy years to a hand on his shoulder and an offered drink after Bucky's fall in the Alps. There was still some part of his old friend in there.
"He never said he loved me," Tony stated, just this side of robotic, "He never even said he liked me. And now this?" He looked like he didn't know what to think as he scrubbed at his face with a calloused hand.
This time, it was Steve who put a hand on Tony's shoulder for comfort. "I think this is the only way he could say it," the blonde said. He gave a squeeze before going back to the table, determined to do what he could to help.
"Did that look like something to you?" Tony asked suddenly. He must have had some epiphany that would go over anyone's head and not just a man out of time.
"What?" Steve asked, trying to figure out what was happening. On instinct he looked to where he last saw the broken arc reactor. Was now the time for it?
The other man jumped up and stalked over, eyes bright. "We need to finish this. I think I may have something," he said, and began grabbing pieces of the Expo model.
Together they put everything in its place and within half an hour it looked just like it did thirty seven years ago. Steve still didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at. "Tony?" he prompted.
Something about a digital wireframe was muttered, and there was a glowing blue copy of the model right on top of the original. "1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, sir," JARVIS reported, serene as always.
When Tony lifted the hologram and turned it, Steve found himself grinning. Stark tech never ceased to amaze him.
"JARVIS, how many buildings does this model have?" Tony asked, oblivious to everything else.
"Am I to include the Belgian waffle stand?" JARVIS asked sassily.
"That was rhetorical, just show me," Tony replied. His voice said that he was rolling his eyes despite that he wasn't.
The scan started spinning with a snap of Tony's fingers and Steve was mesmerized. He leaned on the table with the model, not willing to get in the way but at the same time he needed to see everything. This was better than any of the pulps he read back in the old days.
When the scan turned on its side, Tony had that look. He was on the verge of something magnificent. "Um, what does that look like to you, JARVIS?" he asked, despite that he knew exactly what it did.
Even if Steve still had no idea. It must be from after his time.
"Not unlike an atom, in which case the nucleus would be here," Tony answered himself, touching the center building, "Highlight the unisphere." The hand gestures he made actually got the globe to turn into a 3-D model and it started spinning between his palms.
Steve wished he had his sketchbook. This would haunt him for weeks, until he got it just perfect.
"Lose the footpaths, get rid of them," Tony ordered, eyes flickering all over the scan. He swatted them out of the way.
"What is it you are trying to achieve, sir?" JARVIS asked politely. Oh, thank God the computer was just as confused.
"I'm discovering, uh, correction, rediscovering, a... new... element," Tony stammered. He actually stammered over the words, not nearly so put together as even the night before.
The idea that there was something to replace the palladium, and the building blocks were right there, was amazing. Creating a new element, one of the most basic things on the planet… It was more than Steve ever dreamed he would witness.
"Lose the landscaping and the shrubbery and the trees," Tony continued, and they all were deleted, "Parking lots, exits, entrances. Construct the protons and neutrons using the pavilions as a framework." He made another gesture and it all gathered into a ball. Upon throwing his arms out, the different components spaced themselves to show more detail.
It was one of the most beautiful things Steve had seen in his life. The whole view in front of him was awe inspiring. The neon blue globes and lines in front of sleek steel and glass, Tony standing in the middle. The inventor's face showed just as much awe as he knew his did, mouth slightly open and eyes wide with wonder.
This was a scene for a canvas, not the sketchbook. It deserved color and space as much as the real thing. Already Steve started planning which paints to order and what size he wanted it.
Because this was proof, irrefutable proof, that Tony would live. Even before it was said out loud, Steve knew in his gut that this was what they were looking for.
"Dead for almost twenty years, and he's still taking me to school," Tony commented once he recovered his faculties. With a grin he slapped it all down to size again. It was another picture for a canvas, a man holding what looked like a whole world in the palm of his hand.
"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium," JARVIS told them.
It was enough to make Steve want to weep. He knew Tony would come through, but actually seeing it was something else. "You did it," he said hoarsely.
"We did it," Tony agreed, literally glowing with both the light from his arc reactor and the molecule he held. Looking at it, he muttered something so low and fast that even Steve was unable to hear.
"Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize," JARVIS told them.
The rain on their parade did nothing to stop the men. If anyone could do the impossible, it was Tony Stark.
"Mhm," the inventor said, unconvinced, before he declared, "Get ready for a remodel! We're back in hardware mode!"
While Steve didn't know what that meant, he was content enough to follow directions. "What do you need me to do?" he asked.
The beeps and excited chittering of the bots seemed to echo similar sentiments.
"We're going to make a particle accelerator," Tony announced. He rubbed his hands together and listed out all the pieces he needed, and what he needed to be done to the lab walls.
With guidance, Steve and the bots were able to do the heavy lifting. While the muscle spasms and aching joints were gone, the last thing they wanted was for Tony to use all his energy doing things they could. Some of the parts were too heavy for a normal human being anyways.
As the main frame was built by the robots and soldier, Tony was doing wiring and setting up a crystal that was for some reason lying around the lab. He was back in his element.
The thought made Steve smile as he held up a section of tubing for Dummy to weld. He knew just what he was going to call one of those paintings.
Within the day the accelerator was built. Tony looked satisfied as he examined it, occasionally rapping on a part or giving it a shake. It had to be absolutely stable or this wouldn't work.
A far section rattled unsteadily and was slightly sunken. Both men grimaced and Tony glanced around for something to hold it up.
Without much thought, Steve grabbed the nearest thing he could find that was both wide and high enough to do the job. When he looked, he realized it was his shield. More deliberately, he shoved it under the section of the accelerator that needed the extra support.
Tony gave him an unreadable look. From the shield to Steve and back again, his eyes darted with thought but his face showed none of it. When he did give any kind of expression, it was a smirk and a nod that didn't look quite right.
A pair of shaded goggles was handed over and Steve pulled them over his eyes. Suddenly the room was plunged into night.
There was just enough light to see Tony's shape moving around the haphazard machinery. Brushing past was more felt and smelled than seen, a whisper of warmth and familiar scents before being snatched away.
"For science," Tony declared and there was a sound of grinding metal as he pulled a lever.
Suddenly Steve could see. Without the shaded plastic he likely would have been blinded by the brightness of the blue racing around the tube they had built. Round and round it went until the entire circular structure glowed.
Then it hit the crystal and suddenly there was a beam of light shooting across the room. It was concentrated enough to gouge a hole in the cement wall.
Grunting, Tony struggled to turn the crystal and focus the beam on the triangle of metal he had set up on a table.
Steve reached over and placed his hands on the outside of the handles, effectively caging the other man in as he helped to refocus the energy. Even for him it was difficult.
The laser moved along until it hit home, and suddenly the triangle was absorbing energy rather than being destroyed by it. Steve sent up a silent prayer.
It looked like the energy was being used up; everything went dark again except for the faint light of the triangle across the room. Cautiously Steve lifted his goggles. He blinked a few times to adjust to the brightly lit room, but a huge grin cracked his face when he saw the familiar glowing blue triangle. Aside of when he pulled it from the crate, the last time he had seen it was-
The thought was expertly derailed.
Tony replaced the current arc reactor with a puff of smoke, and let out a holler. "Tastes like coconut and metal. Oh, wow, yeah!" He laughed as the glow of his chest brightened almost blindingly.
It was a fight to look at him too long. Steve's eyes watered for the few seconds that the extreme brightness lasted before it dissolved.
The Tony that stood in his lab, grinning and carefree, made Steve's heart hammer harder than it had in months. This was the closest to his Tony that he had seen since… Every single cell in his body cried out to leap at the man and kiss the living daylights out of him, but he resisted.
Think of the timeline, Steve told himself firmly. The steel of the table started to give way beneath his fingertips.
"Now to make sure that Hammer doesn't do anything stupid," Tony declared. His lips twisted into an annoyed grimace as he spoke.
The sudden change of topic blindsided Steve. "What?" he squawked.
"Hammer. He's got a demonstration going for some drones at the Expo and I heard there's going to be a bloodbath," Tony answered and without even a moment's pause scrambled to the familiar launch pad.
Steve let out a sigh but jerked his shield out from under the accelerator. If there were people in danger, it was no use to try to get Tony to take a moment for himself. They were too alike in that way.
The few times he had seen the Iron Man armor wrap around someone had been strange and fascinating and this time was no different. But this was the second time he had seen it in a crisis. The differences were on display and yet again, Steve worried about the slowness of the process. In a real emergency that might spell life or death.
So it went that Steve's first battle since getting defrosted was less a battle and more making sure that civilians got out of the line of fire. With Rhodey's suit malfunctioning- and God, it hurt to be so helpless yet again where Tony was concerned- there was little he could do besides reduce casualties wherever possible. It was probably a blessing. He had grown fond of Rhodey, if for no other reason than that the colonel actually cared about Tony.
That didn't mean that Steve saw no action during what the papers would call the Battle at Stark Expo. More than once he had to take on a drone to defend someone wearing one of those plastic Iron Man masks he had found so charming before. The things seemed programmed to eliminate anything that looked like Iron Man.
Steve relished the challenge that the drones provided. It became clear fast that he would have to train more, learn more, to keep up with this century, but that was fine with him. Tonight he was able to hold his own. That was what mattered.
The menace was gone within the hour. Taking a deep breath, Steve allowed himself a smile at the adrenaline still pumping through him. That, at least, was the same.
"Oh my… What- what the- this is going to take so long to clean up, and what about the-" Pepper was babbling as she looked at the destruction. No doubt she was seeing legal notices and paperwork everywhere.
Even Steve had to try to not flinch. This was going to take a while to clean up.
Beeping interrupted his intended offer to help. When he looked, it was coming from all around him, all the drones he had smashed up. And the noises were getting louder and closer together.
From the intensely frightened look Pepper gave him, she knew just as well what that meant. "I think we might want to get out of here," she suggested. The slightness of the tremor in her voice was admirable.
"Do you mind?" Steve asked politely, holding his arms in a sort of bridal carry motion.
"Oh, not at all-" Pepper was barely able to get the words out before she was knocked off her feet by a rushing super soldier. She let out a screech and clung to his neck, tensing up in his arms as she was carried off.
There was only a few seconds before an explosion came from behind them. Then another. More and more things went boom, more and more structures were damaged or destroyed.
Steve launched himself over a low wall and curled up around Pepper, shielding her with his body on one side and vibranium on another. Gritting his teeth, he pressed them closer against the stone wall as the explosions got closer and closer. A last one shook the ground and scattered gravel over their little bit of shelter before there was an eerie silence.
"I think it's over," Pepper whispered against his neck.
Cautiously Steve raised himself up enough to look over the wall. There wasn't a drone or even the remains of one in sight. He helped Pepper to her feet and kept a hand on her back to help support her shaking legs.
"I am going to kill that man," Pepper seethed unexpectedly.
"Huh?" Which man? If she was talking about Justin Hammer, Steve would gladly help. If she meant Tony, he would likely still assist.
"Tony! Why did he even want this expo! This has been nothing but trouble, and now…!" Pepper screeched, gesturing furiously at the smoking wreckage. Her trembling was very obviously enraged now. It was more than a little terrifying.
Seeing that she was perfectly fine, Steve inched away. "I think I'll go check on Iron Man," he muttered and tried to pretend he wasn't fleeing.
It was unnecessary; Tony found them first. "Captain," the genius greeted him with a pat to the broad shoulder.
Steve reached up and gripped the shoulder of the armor in return. "You alright?" he asked, inspecting what he could see. There were some scrapes and gouges, chipped paint and soot, but for the most part looked whole. The man under it was probably fine, but he would feel better once he saw Tony out of the armor.
"Of course. Myself and Colonel Rhodes are unharmed," Iron Man answered in the familiar metalized tones. He looked to Pepper and nodded. "Since you appear unhurt and this seems to be over, Miss Potts, I will return the armor now," he said.
From her blinking, Pepper was blindsided. "Wait, you were looking for me?" she asked.
"Mr Stark would undoubtedly fire if not murder me if something happened to you or the Captain under my watch," Tony answered. The irony was less than hilarious.
With that, Pepper sighed and shook her head. "You tell Tony that there'll be a pile of paperwork on his desk tomorrow," she threatened. She began picking her way through the rubble, still in precariously high stilettos.
Even in the armor Tony seemed to flinch. "He'll undoubtedly argue that you're now CEO," he said, trying to head this off.
The look Pepper shot him was exasperated. As she passed she put a hand on Steve's arm, then the Iron Man armor, in silent thanks. The further away she got, the more she pulled herself together until she was a personification of poise and corporate fury.
"She's going to murder you," Steve stated, arms crossed. He watched Pepper easily coordinate first responders and newspeople alike with admiration.
"I think I'll live," Tony replied, the dryness of the remark showing even through the voice filter.
They both snorted at the idea. After the stress that the past few months had put them through…
"Wanna blow this popsicle stand?" Tony offered suddenly.
The phrasing was unfamiliar, but Steve had an idea of what it meant. "Home?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah," Tony agreed. He offered a hand much like after Monaco.
In an echo, Steve took it and wrapped himself around the armor comfortably.
"This'll be a little longer than the flight I took you on before," Tony warned. The repulsors and back jets warmed up in preparation.
"That's more than fine," Steve replied. He wrapped his arms a little tighter around the shoulders of the Iron Man armor.
Without another word Tony launched them into the sky and began heading west.
Crossing the Ozarks, Steve realized something that made him laugh. He had called the ruined mansion in Malibu, home. That was a word he always reserved for wherever he and those closest to his heart laid their hats that night, on the move too often to be a place.
Without noticing it he had accepted this past-future version of the Tony he knew, for himself. Not for the man he would become.
It was lucky they were flying, or else Steve probably would have given in on the urge to kiss Tony senseless.
