Chapter 20-Discussions and Such

Third Person:

Steve raised an eyebrow when there was a knock on his door. He hadn't been expecting any visitors. Not from Sam, not from Beni, not from Natasha. But nonetheless he opened his front door, guard up.

But it dropped in less than half a second when he saw who it was.

"Stevie!"

Steve sighed, but he had expected a nickname sooner or later from the great, extremely egotistical Tony Stark. Tony waltzed right in, pushing Steve out of the way after giving him a tiny box.

"What's this?" he asked. "Better yet, how did you find out where I live?"

"Uh, open it and you'll find out and satellites. Duh," Stark replied smoothly. Instead of opening the small box for fear of it blowing up in his face, he set it down on his coffee table and shut the door.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked as he went to the kitchen to grab the coffee mug he had left behind. Tony followed him, the big cheesy grin on his face never wavering.

"To talk. We never do that, and I heard from a certain itsy-bitsy spider that you have a new boy toy. So what's his name?"

"Boy toy? You mean Sam?"

"Ooh, he sounds interesting already."

"He's not whatever a boy toy is. We're just good friends."

"Uh-huh," Stark said with the tone of voice that told Steve he didn't believe him. "Tell me more."

"Uh...He was in the army. He can fly with these metal bird wings. He's currently helping me with something classified-"

"-Oh! I know a person other than you who was in the army. I hired her myself not to long ago. She's got amazing style. Her name is Beni Arlet, and she was a colonel in the Marines. Now what is this about classified mission that-"

"-You know Beni?"

"Are we talking about the same Beni?"

"I think so. Blonde hair with-"

"-Green and blue stripes, and only has one leg."

"Small world," Steve chuckled, internally feeling sorry for Beni for having a boss as extravagant as Tony.

"No kididng," Tony said, propping his elbows on the counter and putting his chin in his hands. "So tell me more about this classified thing you mentioned."

"What? It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"If it was just nothing you would tell me," Stark batted his eyelashes and grinned, going back into the living room. Steve sighed, and Stark came back in a second later with the file Natasha had given him. His grip on his mug tightened to the point where he thought it would break. He didn't want Stark to know about Bucky. Not yet, anyways. He had figured that once he found Bucky he could take him to Avengers Tower so he could get better. Maybe being surrounded by obnoxious people like Stark without being allowed to kill any could help Bucky. Though Stark, as far as Steve knew, was the only obnoxious person so far.

He watched as Tony's face went from 'excited little kid on Christmas' to 'my dog just got kicked in the face.' Stark finished reading and gently set the file down.

"That's rough, buddy," he said. Steve almost didn't recognize Tony's voice. It was sincere and kind instead of loud and sarcastic like he had gotten used to. Steve looked away, his grip on his mug loosening slightly.

"Yeah. A little bit."

Tony saw the sadness and guilt in Steve's eyes, and felt guilty for bringing it up. He pushed the file away. Out of sight, out of mind. He put a comforting hand on Steve's shoulder and gave him a soft look.

"Well, if you ever need any help you know who you can call," he said.

"The Ghostbusters?" Steve said, turning to Tony with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Tony's eyes widened slightly, but then relaxed his face into something similar to Steve's.

"So the stiff, stick-in-the-mud Captain America has a sense of humor? Wait till Brucie hears about this. But anyway, let's get down to business. I'm working on prototype prosthetics. Seeing Beni gave me the idea, and I was thinking about making her one. And since you know her I actually have a decent reason."

"You mean other than the goodness of your heart and soul?" Steve said with a fake surprised tone.

"Yes."

"Alright. I don't have her number, but Sam knows where she lives. I can ask him."

"How does Sam know her?"

"They did two tours together, and then Sam's partner, Riley, was shot down. She stayed for a third while Sam came here. He works down at the VA now," Steve explained as he dialed Sam's number and brought the phone up to his ear.

Since when does he know how to work a cell phone? Tony thought. Better yet, how the hell does he know who the Ghostbusters are?

"Hey, Steve, what's up," Sam said when he picked up the phone.

"Hey, Sam. I have a friend here who wants to give Beni one hell of a gift. I don't have her number, and you know where she lives. So can I have her address?"

"What kind of friend and what kind of present?" Sam asked, getting slightly defensive.

"Tony Stark and a new leg."

Sam was silent for a couple of minutes in either awe or shock, he wasn't sure, but he ended up getting Beni's address and number from Sam, and then they scheduled a time for next week on when they should have lunch. Tony raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment on it.

"So?" he asked, an expectant tone in his voice and on his face.

"She lives maybe twenty minutes by foot, less than ten if we take my Harley. Did you bring a car?"

"I walked here from the hotel I'm staying at," Tony said shaking his head.

"Then, uh, I'm sure I have an extra helmet and some sunglasses somewhere. Meet me outside in five minutes."

"Wait, we're actually taking your motorcycle?"

"Yes."

"Why can't we just walk?"

"Because you've never been on a motorcycle and I haven't been on it all day. And it got a new paint job last week."

"What color?"

"Dark blue with a black trim."

"Good enough. Let's go."

"You're driving."

"What?!"

"It's a joke."

"Thank God. You're driving. Let's go."