Author: Black Dragon on the Rocks/animealam

Rating: T

Pairing: None so far, mentions of one sided Steve/Peggy

Summary: The Universe stared at the boy for what seemed an eternity to him, only to change into a decrepit, dirty alley, and that was the last thing Steve saw before loosing consciousness. The small frail boy banished in a flash of blue flames. Be warned VERY AU Young Time Travelling genius tech savvy Steve.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, I'm just borrowing them. I'm using a good number of the movie dialogs, even if I added bits and pieces so some of them. So if something looks familiar they are obviously not mine, and belong to their respective owners.

Warnings: NOT SLASH, AU, Completely totally AU, Time Travel, Younger Steve, Violence, Adoption, Smart Steve, Technopaths, Technopath Tony, Technopath Steve, Canon Character Deaths, Minor Character Deaths, OOC-ness, there are quite a lot of movie dialogs which I decided not to change but I did add my own twists and turns to make them a bit more interesting.

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Thor, Nick Fury, Phil Coulson, Maria Hill, Sarah Rogers, mentions of Bucky, mentions of Peggy Carter, mentions of Howard Stark, mentions of Colonel Phillips, mentions of the Howling Commandos, Jarvis, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey

Timeline: Pre Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Avengers, Post Avengers

Author's Note:

Sorry about the cliffhanger, even if it was not truly one, but it was still the perfect time to end the chapter. We all know what happened in the movie, but I admit the scene still gets to me whenever I see it (and to write all past chapter I saw it several times).

Another long chapter guys, but I'm probably not going to be updating quite as often once I run out of pre-written chapters, I'm up to chapter 18, which is not yet finished, and it already is over 6,000 words.

I'm a bit of a mix between a binge writer and a perfectionist. So I usually get these bouts of writing where I can churn up over 6,000 words in a sitting (usually when insomnia takes hold, Tony and I have soo much in common with this).

Then I spend at least a couple of weeks making sense of what I wrote (at times it's more shorthand than a tweet), and fleshing out the story (with any luck at least a couple of chapters come out of these binges).

I still have many ideas for scenes, so I think the story is going to keep going for long, just not a chapter once a week as I had been doing.

On other notes, the second part of the chapter might look rather out of character, and probably is, but this is one of the scenes I wrote in the original draft of the story (fleshed out and revised for at least six months), so I decided to keep it and hope you like what I did with it.

This chapter is also the official end of the Avenger's movie. I should be entering Iron Man 3 territory in chapter 19, or 20. I wanted to end the story here, and perhaps go for a sequel… But I decided not to.

Total size without notes: 6,833

Keys:

"Speaking aloud."

'Thoughts'

'Name: /Mental interfacing between technopaths and/or tech\'


Son of a gun

The moment the nuke hit the mothership all the Chitauri, including the large flying whale things died. It was like an off switch, a self destruct mechanism, or they might have actually been part of a hive type mentality. Steve would not put it past them. So the moment they lost contact with their mothership, they died.

Whatever the reason, it was over. The portal was shrinking, and Steve's mind idly supplied the fact he had been right in his calculations about the size. It had not been an overly big portal. Then he saw it, Stark made it out before it closed completely.

"Son of a gun!" Steve exclaimed surprised and glad.

He tried to contact him through the com, but got nothing, then mentally, but it seemed Tony was unconscious. Steve tried contacting the suit, but there was silence. He then tried JARVIS, and the AI answered, but he was responding from the tower. He too was unable to contact the suit. JARVIS was very concerned for his creator. The power of the suit was down, and Steve began fearing Tony had not made it.

"He's not slowing down," Thor said concerned and began twirling that hammer of his ready to take off and catch Iron Man.

To their surprise it was the Hulk who got to Tony. He appeared out of nowhere, before Thor could take off, caught him, and broke the fall. They had too much momentum, and it was hard even for the Hulk to stop. They ended crash landing, with the green giant taking the brunt of the fall.

They went to him, and Thor removed the face plate, but Tony was not breathing. The Arc Reactor of the suit was dark, and when Steve placed a hand on it to try to re-start it, the reactor only gave the barest of responses. Steve pushed his will into it to force it to restart. Then Hulk roared, and Tony took a breath. The Arc Reactor finally coming back on line.

"What the hell?" Tony gasped. "What just happened?" He looked at Thor, then at Steve. "Please tell me nobody kissed me!"

Steve smiled at the older tecnopath's babble, relieved he was alive and well enough to speak. "We won," he told Tony once his mind began to catch up with what happened. He was exhausted and injured, but alive, and the six of them won, as unbelievable as it sounded.

Tony looked relieved, and closed his eyes for a moment. "All right, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." He was babbling, but who cared? They were alive, and they won! "Have you ever had shawarma?" Steve just smiled at him. "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor reminded them sounding a bit somber. Loki was at the tower. They had to make sure he was secured.

"And then shawarma after," Tony insisted.

Tony was exhausted as well as famished, he could not remember when was the last time he ate something decent. Much as he tried to deny it, Tony knew he was not that young, and neither was he in excellent physical shape. So there was very little doubt he would be unable to get out of bed tomorrow.

"Yes, shawarma after," Steve agreed. "I'm feeling hungry, how about you Thor? Hulk, will you allow Bruce back?" He was not sure there would be a place where they had enough food for the green giant, or where they wanted to serve him.

"I would not mind feasting with my brothers and sister in arms after this victorious battle," Thor responded with a small smile. It was a good way to celebrate their triumph.

"After Puny God is away," Hulk told Steve. "No more risk to Bruce and little Cap."

"All right, I can agree to that, and thanks for your help Big Guy. You did great," Steve said patting the green rage monster on the arm affectionately. He was probably the only one in the world who could get away with it.


They walked to the tower helping to rescue civilians as they went. Hawkeye found them on their way, the team was nearly complete. Only Natasha was missing in their tired group, but she was already at the tower.

They were at Stark tower in little time, and found Loki was barely getting himself out of a hole on the floor in his shape. It was obviously Hulk made, if the smug grin on the green giant was any indication.

Loki asked for the drink Tony had offered him when everything began, but no one was inclined to give him one. So Thor took care of placing some special handcuffs he brought from Asgard, as well as some sort of muzzle on Loki. They would supposedly keep him from using magic.

Steve idly wondered where the hell Thor had stored those because there did not seem to be any pockets in his body armor. Not long later some agents from SHIELD New York made it to the tower, and they took Loki off their hands. Thor reassured them his brother would not be able to escape. So Tony removed his suit, and loaned some clothes to Bruce once the Hulk let him out.

He was injured—and beginning to feel it, now the adrenaline rush was over—but Steve was sure he could deal with his wounds later, once he was alone. Kraft might be gone, but he still did not trust SHIELD's people.

The uniform Coulson 'helped' designed had not been easy to put on, and it did not seem to be going to be easy to get all of it off. Steve was probably going to have to cut the thing to remove it, and he was not willing to let anyone holding a sharp instrument close to him.


Shawarma

The shawarma joint suffered damage from the battle, but they were more than willing to serve the ones who protected New York City from the aliens when Tony asked. They tiredly collapsed on the chairs around the only table in good condition, and listened to the proprietor's suggestions. Shawarma had a lot of protein, and was served on bread, much like a sandwich, or on a wrap.

Despite how exhausted he was, Steve was surprised to notice his pre-ice appetite was back. He was starving. The food was surprisingly okay, and just what his body was demanding after such a battle. He really needed to recover the calories he burned since he had nearly no fat stores.

Steve began like a normal person would, by ordering one of the sandwich like meals plus a large order of french fries. Then he ordered a second, and a third, to the astonished looks from Barton and Romanoff. Bruce looked mildly interested, but was matching his intake of food much to his surprise. Thor was clearly an eating machine, he was already on a fourth with no signs of slowing down.

Tony was the only one besides Thor who did not seem surprised at the amount of food he could eat. Steve suspected Howard might have mentioned to his son Captain America could probably eat a whole cow after a fight, if it was served cooked, and normally he tended to eat enough to feed four soldiers.

He ended demolishing five and a half of the sandwich looking things, plus an equal number of fries orders, three large Cokes (for the sugar and caffeine), and lost count of the water bottles at around six.

After that much food and liquids, Steve had had to discretely loosen up his utility belt a couple of notches, and open up the top button of his pants. Even his metabolism was not fast enough to process such a large amount of food in that short amount of time.

By the last order the exhaustion not only of the past two weeks but the battle as well, began catching up with him, and not even the large Cokes were helping. Despite what he had appeared to be, he was not in top condition. He could not be with as little sleep as he got, the lack of appetite, and the amount of stress he had been subjected to.

Steve had not allowed himself to truly rest, because when he did he either remembered the past, those he lost, or what Kraft—and his minions—had done to him. The two hours he slept in the lab had not been enough to replenish all the lost energy. So Steve placed one of his elbows on the table, and rested his head on his hand.

He had no intention of sleeping, but his body had other plans, and he ended falling into a very deep slumber while the rest of his team mates were still eating. He had simply pushed himself too far. His body needed to rest, and he was getting it one way or another. Steve was so deeply asleep that nothing short of an explosion would be able to wake him up, an even that was debatable.

He was now aware Kraft, Wilkins, and Frampton were dead, so he could relax because he was safe from them thanks to the Hulk. Steve also knew his team would have his back, at least Tony and Bruce would, but he thought he had done well with both Thor and Clint. Natasha he was not able to read despite how exhausted she looked, but then he suspected Barton was the only one who could.

"I thought his file said the Cap could remain awake for a week of constant fighting," Clint broke the silence keeping his voice low.

The Captain looked exhausted, and so much younger than the twenty-six years old he was. Perhaps that was why the Hulk called him little Cap. The soldier was actually the youngest of them all, if one took in account the years actually lived, even Natasha was a year older(1).

Clint was also curious as to what that strange conversation between the Captain and the Hulk had been about. It was something about the Hulk killing someone, or someones, who had hurt Rogers.

The others had looked initially perplexed at the green rage monster's words, but then it was like something downed on them, and they had looked sadistically satisfied. All of them, which he found strange. Clint knew that particular expression well, even if Natasha very rarely let it show.

For his part Rogers had looked like he was about to start hyperventilating, shocked, then just plain relieved, and so very grateful. He was very curious but decided he would ask Natasha about the conversation with the Hulk later. Clint was not sure the others would trust him with whatever it was after being controlled by Loki, and then leading an attack on the helicarrier.

"He can," Tony confirmed speaking in a soft voice not wanting to wake the kid. He knew Steve sorely needed the rest.

Tony opened the link he clearly shared with Steve's mind. It had been there from the moment he regained consciousness, but he had kept it closed. Tony could tell Steve was out for the count, and would not be waking anytime soon. He would know when the boy began to stir though, so he would be able to redirect the conversation if needed.

"But?" Clint asked sensing there was one, and barely hiding his surprise at the affectionate and concerned look the billionaire directed at the Captain, which was mirrored in doctor Banner's face.

'What the hell?' He could not help but think. He had read Stark's file, and from Nat's assessment that expression was very out of character for Stark. 'What the fuck did I miss being under that motherfucker's control?'

"SHIELD has had one clusterfuck after another in regard to him." His tone of voice left no doubt that he was angry on the Captain's behalf, as well as the fact he considered SHIELD to be a bunch of idiots. Yet he kept his tone low. "Steve doesn't trust them at all.

"Not that I blame him, they have given him more than enough reasons not to. On top of all the baggage someone in his rather unique situation has to deal with, Steve hasn't slept much since that maniac got his hands on him."

Tony practically snarled the word maniac, and his voice was filled with utter loathing. Besides him Bruce actually growled, eyes and skin turning greenish. Tony placed a hand on the scientist's shoulder to calm him. They did not need the Hulk coming out again, although the Other Guy had been quite careful with the kid.

The Hulk had also refrained from smashing the other Avengers, with the probable exception of Thor. From what little he had been able to see, those two had had a go at each other on the helicarrier, and continued it on and off through the battle against the Chitauri.

"I don't know what the Big Guy did to the bastard and his fucking minions, but I sure hope they suffered," Tony went on surprising the rest by the venom in his voice. "Probably the only regret I have about them being dead is the fact I did not get the chance to repulsor them into orbit."

Natasha eyed the billionaire unable to hide her surprise at his protectiveness. She did know he could be protective when it came to Potts, Rhodes, and Hogan, but they had been close to him for years. Stark had met Rogers less than two days ago. Natasha believed this protectiveness was quite out of character from the man she had assessed back when Stark was dying of palladium poisoning.

Tony had changed since Romanoff worked undercover as his assistant, and he hoped those changes were for the better. So he could understand the brief surprised look the ex-Russian assassin gave him. He had still been a selfish bastard back then.

Besides, he really could not help being protective of Steve it was practically in his nature. Tony always protected what was his, and Steve would be his son once the adoption went through.

The fact no one but Bruce, Sarah, and his lawyers knew about it did not make him any less protective, and well a bit possessive as well. Deciding not to explain himself at her surprise, Tony simply raised an eyebrow daring her to say something.

"They did," Bruce stated with certainty, and not a hint of regret. "This was the first time we have ever been in accord, and surprisingly I can remember what the Other Guy did this time." At their puzzled looks he added. "Once he takes over, I usually don't remember what happened." He paused for a second to let that sink in, then he went on. "Smashing the three of them was not going to be enough to appease us.

"I wanted them to pay, and the Other Guy wanted to that, as well as to leave a message. No one messes with Steve, because he's under our protection," Bruce said it in a rather placid tone of voice, which only made the threat more ominous. Specially when his eyes turned slightly green, then went back to brown.

"Good God Banner! What did you both do to those animals?" Natasha could not help but exclaim a bit shocked at the sadistic look on the usually very mild mannered scientist.

She chose to treat both the Hulk and Banner as two… persons because, well… They practically were two different people from what she had been able to see. Natasha did not have to ask whether Banner suspected those men had raped the Captain, and not just… molested him to obtain the samples they wanted.

It was very clear by their words, and the still barely contained fury towards Kraft and his minions, both he and Stark knew something. But their anger and protectiveness went beyond simple suspicion, like the rest of them originally had.

Until Frampton began talking, and Wilkins decided it was a good idea to taunt Coulson about harming his childhood hero, they had had no proof Rogers had been raped by the three of them. Natasha spared a hard look at Stark.

She knew, well everyone at SHIELD did, no computer system resisted that man when he wanted to find out something, and it drove their I.T. people insane trying to find ways to stop him. Did he find evidence of what Kraft did to Rogers? Hard evidence, like… documents… Or perhaps even video? Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the billionaire.

Stark returned her stare, those eyes were hard, unforgiving, and full of loathing. Natasha knew that look was not for her, it was just a reflection of what he felt towards those three. But then he looked away, and the gaze softened when his eyes settled on the sleeping Captain. Then became concerned, and perhaps even slightly tender.

There probably was a security video of it, of what those three did to the Cap. Stark and Banner must have seen it… But if there was, and they found it, why had no one else found it before? Why hadn't the personnel in charge of internal security come forth with what was there? The footage from all security cameras was supposed to be monitored at all times!

"Nat?" Clint could not help but ask. "What the fuck happened? Did someone at SHIELD hurt the Cap?"

Clint kept his voice low, while sparing a look at the sleeping man at the head of the table. Whatever it was that happened, Clint was sure he would not like people speaking about it if he was him.

"Doctor Albert Kraft got his hands on Captain Rogers…" she began only to be interrupted.

"That obsessive psycho who believes the rest of the human population is no better than lab rats for his use, and is quite put out because he isn't allowed to do as he pleases?" He asked unable to completely hide a slight shudder.

Unfortunately Clint had met the guy… more than once. Coulson usually sent him to make surprise visits to the man's labs through the vents just to be sure he had no poor souls locked in cages. He had rescued fourteen new recruits from his clutches so far.

No one had died yet, at least he hoped no one had, because if that maniac had killed people with his experiments Clint doubted they would find any bodies. Kraft was smart enough, and creative enough, to find ways to get rid of them without no one the wiser.

In fact, before he was sent to the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. installation to watch the Tesseract, he had rescued five young women, three were new recruits, but the other two had been minors Kraft, or his people, had picked off the streets. Coulson had not been happy at all.

"Yes, that's the one. Fury forbid him to test, or experiment on the Captain, but somehow he had the two senior agents chosen to debrief him in his pocket," she told him what Frampton had said when he was detained. He had refused to say how they ended working for Kraft, though. "Agents Wilkins and Frampton led him to one of the bunkers in the basement, and used a… paralyzing pen to incapacitate the Captain…"

"That motherfucker!" Clint snarled, and barely managed to keep his tone low, then spared a look at the young man on Natasha's left, he still looked pretty out of it. "He used that fucking thing on the Cap too?

"I knew I should have put an arrow through that bastard's neck before I left for the Mohave Desert installation." He spared a look at the Captain, he was clearly still asleep, but they really should not be talking about it there. Specially not with him in the room. "Should we be speaking about this here, and with the Cap present?"

Tony took a look around, the owners of the joint were keeping their distance. They were alone, and nothing short of a bomb going off in the room would wake Steve, he was completely exhausted. The way he was breathing, slowly and deeply, were signs of a deep slumber. Just to be on the safe side, he pinged the kid, and Steve did not even stir.

"He's completely out Barton, even Super Soldiers have limits, and Steve's just reached his. He's not going to wake until he's replenished at least some of his usual energy," Tony told him. He would sense Steve waking before he actually did, so there would be time to redirect the conversation to safer topics. "What do you know about that weapon Barton?" Tony asked not liking the implication.

"David Wilkins is a sexual predator—or well he was since the Hulk took care of him—with a predilection for handsome, and strong new recruits. He uses that weapon to subdue his victims without a fight," Clint explained. "The bastard likes blonds in particular.

"By accident I came across one of his victims nearly two months ago. The poor guy had been left in one of the unused storage rooms, and he was not in a good shape at all. Martin Frampton is his on and off partner in crime.

"The newbies are unfortunately too scared to talk to the supervisors. Those beasts, but Wilkins in particular, have threatened them with harming their loved ones if they talked. Thankfully the newbies have been willing to talk to me.

"So I've been investigating on my own and building a case against them. If those two were involved in whatever Kraft did to the Cap, you don't need to tell me more." He knew what they had done, and could understand everyone's anger. "So Banner what did the Hulk do to the bastards?"

"Let's just say the Other Guy agreed with me the punishment should fit the crime…" Everyone stared at him eyes wide, he returned their looks calmly. "He found a very convenient metal table bolted to the floor, and it was no problem to remove the top. There were only three of them but he did not much mind leaving one leg free…

"As a warning for anyone who tries to hurt Steve like that again," he said in a very calm, matter of fact tone while everyone stared at him in utter shock as their minds processed his words. "There were enough of Kraft's co-workers and minions in the other cells to pass the warnings to any other… So called scientist at SHIELD."

Natasha actually stared at Banner in utter disbelief. That was completely unexpected coming from him. The man was not one for aggressive behavior, despite the Hulk, but she did not blame him. She too had wanted to kill them, specially after Wilkins began taunting Coulson, and would have made them suffer even more so once she was allowed to properly 'question' them.

"Holy fuck Bruce!" Tony exclaimed managing not to raise his voice. Steve was still completely out, and it was for the best. He would not appreciate them discussing him. "And I thought the way Romanoff castrated Wilkins was creative!"

"Impalement," Thor said gravely keeping his usually booming voice low. He did not want to wake the young one. "A very fitting punishment for such cowardly beings who dare defile children."

"How is it that you two know what happened to the Cap, and what I did to the Ублюдок(2) Stark?" Natasha asked wanting to get some answers from the man.

"I too want to know how you found out about it, and who else knows," Tony too was curious. But he also wanted to make sure it was not public knowledge. "As well as why would you think the Cap's a child Thor?

"Everyone knows he's twenty-six, younger than us certainly, but not a kid." Tony did not like the fact SHIELD might already be suspecting Steve's real age. They stared at each other, until to his surprise she gave in.

"Fury, Hill, and… Coulson,"—there was only a barely there pause at the mention of her handler and friend, not many would have noticed, but the group she was with was not as oblivious as they pretended to be—"besides Thor and myself know," she told them. "Fury did not like the way the Cap reacted to the proximity of…"— she gestured at the men in the room—"So he invaded his personal space as a test. We got the answer.

"The Cap moved out of reach faster than anyone thought he was capable of. The Director was murderous, Coulson and I were instructed to detain the three of them for questioning," she informed them impassively. "We got free rein to use as much force as we felt was required.

"I was to question them after we had dealt with Loki, but Hulk just got to them before I did. Your turn Stark, how did you both find out?" Natasha spared an assessing look at the young man, and found he was still deeply asleep.

"Steve looked tired, and actually had a migraine, which was probably due to lack of proper sleep. Bruce suggested he take a nap, but he did not want to rest on the helicarrier with the mad doctor still on the loose, but he truly needed it," Tony began as he could reveal that much. "We told him we'd make sure he was not bothered if he kipped for a few minutes in the lab.

"Bruce and I were worried. Captain America was afraid, and from what my father told me, he's not a man who scares easily."

The look of understanding in is eyes probably gave too much of his own history as well, but he was not ashamed to admit he understood Steve better than they might have thought. Besides he was sure SHIELD at least suspected it even if there were no official records of those assaults to his person ever happening.

The kid was incredibly brave, and not one to back off from things, or situations, which scared him. But despite everything he had been through, before and after the war, Steve was still a child, and what those animals put him through was simply more than anyone could handle, much less a sixteen year old boy.

"But well, his reactions were quite revealing," Tony told them. "He admitted fearing going to sleep while on the helicarrier, and then waking up on an operating table while the man took samples out of him without anesthetics; or locked in a room without food and water just to see how long he can hold without them."

"When Tony asked him if he was kidding, Steve actually told him those were the milder experiments in the testing schedule Kraft actually had the gall to present to Fury for approval," Bruce went on and the others were incensed as well.

"Needless to say, I hacked the mainframe to see what that man could have done to him. There were several documents with Kraft's plans, as well as a security video, with sound, of the room.

"They did not know it was there, hidden in the ceiling light, and it offered a perfect view of what they did to him," Tony growled. "So yes, we know. We know EXACTLY what those motherfuckers did to him."

His expression became one of complete an utter loathing. If those bastards were not dead already, Tony left no doubt in their minds he would kill them himself, slowly, painfully, and with no regrets. Besides him Bruce's eyes and skin got a green tinge again.

"I deleted the video and audio from the mainframe and any backups SHIELD had of it. But I kept a copy in case Steve needed it to press charges. Not that either of us," and he signalled Bruce, "were planning on letting those three live long enough to go to trial.

"With Kraft gone, the video is no longer necessary, and I believe Steve will want it destroyed. Your turn again Romanoff, why does Thor believe Steve's a kid?"

Natasha studied Stark and Banner before she chose to answer. Both men—as well as the Hulk, and was that not a shock to everyone who considered him a mindless beast governed only by his rage and need for destruction?— were clearly in protective mode and the focus of that protection was Captain Rogers.

She also noticed Stark tried to misdirect her with his question. He clearly wanted them to believe he knew nothing about Rogers' real age; but that was it. The billionaire was trying to hide the fact he actually did know Thor was not wrong.

Fury had had access to old documents to fuel his suspicions, but how the hell did those two know? Or had Stark always known because his father knew as well, and Howard Stark told him? Then he had chosen to share with Banner? It actually was not that farfetched.

They saw the security video, which from their grim, enraged, and sickened expressions, she could tell had been even worse than Wilkins taunting made it seem. If Stark had known the Cap was actually a kid then… Well she knew he was not completely the uncaring bastard he pretended to be, and it would explain his protectiveness.

"Fury found there had been some reports accusing Rogers of being a minor. All were hearsay, based on the fact everyone called him kid, including his superior officer at times. All reports were quieted down by Colonel Chester Phillips," she told them.

"That's not enough to suspect he's actually a minor," Bruce pointed out.

"No, it isn't," Tony agreed.

He sensed Steve was waking up when Romanoff began explaining Fury's findings. But the kid managed to keep pretending to be asleep. He said nothing since they were on a 'safer' topic, and this was something Steve needed to know.

"He found Rogers' Birth Certificate, and it was not the original issued in 1918, but one re-issued in 1941." Natasha then proceeded to explain what Fury found out, and why he concluded Rogers was actually much younger than he admitted in his enlistment form. "Hill thinks he might be eighteen, or even seventeen. But Fury believes he's even younger, sixteen. The Director knows he doesn't trust SHIELD, and will probably never admit it."

Steve: /Damn right I won't!\ He projected to Tony.

"What does the pirate plan on doing about it?" He asked knowing Steve would want to hear the answer as much as he did.

"There's not much he can do, unless it becomes public knowledge. Even if he is indeed a teenager, I agree Rogers is never going to admit it."


Thor had been paying close attention to the conversation, and while he did not understand some things, he did understand enough to draw his own conclusions. The young Midgardian had earned his respect as a brother in arms, and a good leader; specially since Director Fury believed him to be much younger than he looked, a child who got involved in war and proved his worth as a warrior.

The Son of Coul had told him a bit about the young Captain's history. Thor learned the young midgardian had made a brave sacrifice in order to save his people from certain death, and had expected his own. Yet he had not died, instead he had been in a deep sleep for many years. When he was found and awakened, it had been to discover he had lost everyone he called friend and family long ago.

The Son of Rogers should have been honored by his people for his bravery, instead he had been kept a secret, isolated, and had been tortured as well as defiled by members of the very group of people who had offered him protection.

The Captain had no one, when he was nothing but a child. He had been gravely injured, and while the body healed, the soul had not. It was still too soon. To pull through the young one would need the support of others. But Thor was not sure the new brothers and sister in arms would be willing to provide the support and care the Son of Rogers needed.

As he observed those he had shared a meal with, Thor realized the Man of Iron was clearly invested in protecting the young one, as was the man who became the green beast. The archer and Lady Natasha were wild cards, but they might be willing to provide the necessary assistance for a brother in arms.

Thor had to go back to Asgard to deliver Loki, even when he felt he should remain longer on Midgard. There was not much he could do about it, but he would at least ask Heimdall to keep an eye on the Captain, and keep him informed of his condition.

He would ask his mother for the secret path ways of the Yggdrasil leading to Midgard. Loki had travelled them before, and Thor was willing to take the risk because he wanted to be back sooner rather than later. He suspected he would be needed.

The Captain had clearly not dealt with the results of such a horrible attack to his person, and then he was thrust into battle. It was admirable the way he had pushed everything aside because he was needed, but sooner or later it would catch up on him. The young one would need people who cared, whom he could trust close, and at the moment he only had those who fought by his side.

"So, if he doesn't trust SHIELD, then I suspect the Cap is not going back to Headquarters with us," Clint said.

Not that he wanted to go back there either. Clint actually feared some agents would try to get revenge on him even if he had not been himself when he led the attack on the helicarrier.

"No, he's going to the tower with me whether he agrees or not." There was steely determination in Tony's voice. Like hell he was leaving the kid alone, much less where SHIELD could get their paws on him. Kraft, and those perverts, were not their only psychos. "You're all welcomed to stay at the tower as well.

"You in particular Legolas," he told the archer, "tempers need to calm before you go back there." A good number of SHIELD agents were going to be after Barton's blood until things were explained to them, and probably even afterward. "Steve'll be safe enough at the tower, and I think I've gained enough of his trust that he can allow himself to rest. His apartment is bugged, his neighbours are all SHIELD, and he knows it."

Steve: /Thanks for the offer Tony, and I think I'm going to take you on it. I'm dog tired, and I know I won't be able to sleep at the apartment.\

Tony: /You're welcome kid. You'll also be able to call your Mom safely if you want to check on her. JARVIS will make sure the call is not traced, and later I might be able to have her at the tower so you two can finally have a reunion.\

Steve: /Thanks Tony, you don't know how much that means to me.\ He said trying his best not to show how moved he was by the offer. He really wanted to see his mother, to make sure nothing happened to her. /I really want to make sure she's fine, although with as much damage as there was, she's probably going to be very busy.\ While they talked, the conversation went on.

"Fuck! No wonder he hasn't slept much, besides what's already been said," Clint exclaimed. "Are they really that stupid? Didn't those idiots read the files on him? The Cap has enhanced senses, he probably heard the assholes reporting, or commenting about the job thinking he was like any other mark.

"How could they be so stupid to underestimate Captain America? Didn't they ever heard Coulson"—and his voice broke a little knowing his handler and friend was dead—"in fanboy mode?"

"That's not the only thing they underestimated Clint," Natasha said. "No one knew, but he was the one who designed the weapons for phase two." The archer's eyes widened in shock. "He was the one studying the Tesseract powered weapons back then."

"He's not going to work for SHIELD as an agent if I can help it," Tony told them, and felt Steve's surprise. "He's got a place in Stark Industries R&D department, or as my personal assistant, if he wants it." Oh yeah, Steve wanted the job all right, he could feel the kid's elation at the idea. "We're going to test his IQ, although I suspect he's either up par with Bruce and I, or close to it. It's a waste of his abilities for him to just be an agent."

"But Captain America is needed," Natasha protested. "He's a symbol."

"Steve Rogers has a brain and knows how to use it," Tony quoted the kid. "He can be Captain America in his spare time if he so chooses, but tell me you don't agree he'd be wasting those brains of his as an agent? Besides, Steve can be rather deviously evil as well." At this Bruce began chuckling, and Tony could not help the shit eating grin on his face.

"Quite right," Steve mumbled. He decided it was high time to let everyone know he had been awake for a few minutes, even if he would have rather kept on sleeping.

"How long have you been awake?" Natasha asked frowning, and everyone sort of froze. Had he heard them discuss those animals? "And what do you mean?" This she directed at Stark.

"Not long, I heard Tony inviting us to stay at the tower tonight, and I accept. As to the other, whose playlist do you think the agents monitoring the lab were hearing? It wasn't Tony's," Steve said with a tired grin, still not bothering to open his eyes, or remove his face from his hand.

"You hacked into SHIELD Rogers?" Natasha asked shocked.

Tony: /Better not admit to that. Their security might seem easy for us, but it's not. Bruce made me see that. There's no way to justify you knowing how to break into their mainframe in two weeks.\

"No, not yet." He opened his eyes, and saw Romanoff look at him sharply. "But I'm working on learning," he admitted following the older man's advice. "Tony did the hacking, but I do claim the idea and playlist as mine. I was thinking of using it on the neighbors though."

"What playlist?" Clint asked curious.

"Ear-worms," Tony responded. The shit eating grin back on his face, "from catchy commercial jingles to those pesky songs you can't get rid off. It was playing on their monitors for a few hours. I think that's why Fury was so close to murdering me. I wonder what song was torturing him?"

Clint laughed and so did the others, well Thor was confused but the Cap promised to explain later and even let him hear a few tunes. "Dude, that was deviously evil. But they probably lowered the volume."

"Nah," Tony told them. "I made sure it wouldn't work. They could not turn it off either."

"You need to pass me a copy of that playlist. There are some guys I know who need a bit of torturing," Clint asked Steve.

"I'm not sure the tablet survived the fire in the lab." He liked Thelma, and would be sorry if she was damaged. For that matter Steve needed to find if the blue gem was still on the helicarrier, he rather not lose it.

Tony: /Don't worry about the blue gem. I went back to the lab before leaving, and have it on the Mark 6. I did not think it was a good idea to leave it where anyone from SHIELD could get their paws on it.\

Steve: /Thanks, in the commotion I actually forgot about it. Should we give it to Thor? Much as I would like to properly study it, I think it's way too dangerous to keep on Earth.\

Tony: /We'll show it to him later, and see what he thinks about it. He'll probably know if it is safe to keep it with us to study the magic and the portals, or if he's taking it back.\

"Don't worry, I made a copy of it. It's in my personal server. I'll give you a copy of it later Barton."

"Call me Clint, and thanks Stark."

"No need to thank me, and call me Tony then," he offered.


1) In the MCU on Wikia Natasha's date of birth is November 22, 1984. I believe some comics say she was born in the 40s, or the 50s, but for this story I'm taking the MCU as the canon timeline.

2) Ублюдок (Ublyudok) = Bastard according to Google translate.