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Dear Command: What the Actual Fuck?

.

Tony closed his eyes and called on every ounce of willpower he possessed not to throw the dossier in his hands across the room. When he opened his eyes again, the name and picture were still there: James Barnes. Botanist/Resource Maintenance.

Tony wanted to scream. He wanted to hunt Nick Fury down and punch him in the face, because he knew this was his doing. You'll get the crew details on the flight; it didn't matter that it had been Carol Danvers who'd said it, he knew this was all Fury's doing.

The thing was, Tony didn't actually have a personal stance on Enhanced Individuals like much of the world did. For most it had started out with adoration, idol worship, a "we're better than you" attitude likened to Americans getting to the moon before Russia. When they're on your side, they're a beacon of innovation, a powerful weapon to lord over your inferiors. The problem comes when the enemy starts making their own toys to even up the playing field, then suddenly the tides shift. When they do it better than you? Well.

In the end, "super soldiers" didn't win the war; good ol' fashion weapons did. Weapons that built the Stark name. What followed, as what follows most wars, however, was a game of espionage and covert ops. Turns out super soldiers are really good for that.

It wasn't until nearly a decade after his parents were killed that SHIELD discovered the so-called "Winter Soldier," HYDRA's greatest asset. But when it was revealed that The Winter Soldier was the infamous right-hand man to America's poster boy Steve Rogers, well... things got complicated.

A highly public trial surrounded by what could only be described as a media circus that sought to challenge the place of Enhanced Individuals in society quickly followed. Tony doesn't remember it, was inebriated during much of the proceedings before the whole kidnapping-cume-Stane-trying-to-steal-his-business fiasco that left him with an arc reactor in his chest and a business that no longer relied on weapons. All he knew was that Barnes willingly took a plea deal that left him sequestered in the independent nation of Wakanda to... Become a farmer, apparently.

And now he would be on the station. With Tony.

He really, really wanted to murder Fury.

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony looked up at the sound of Peter's voice, infinitely curious, but cautious of Tony's demeanor. The kid was too intuitive for his own good.

"Who all's gonna be there?"

Tony closed the folder and handed it over to Peter, suppressing the desire to burn it and never see it again, as if that would magically rid the ship of his presence.

Peter took it eagerly, flipping it open with wide eyes. "No way, our Captain will be Steve Rogers!?"

Tony resisted rolling his eyes at the hero-worship in his voice; he was used to it, ever since his youth when even his father preferred the company of the man over Tony's own.

"Oh, and Doctor Banner is gonna be there as well? This is amazing! Between the two of you, I mean..." Peter shook his head, awe clear in his voice. "I can't believe this is happening."

Tony allowed Peter's excitement to tamp down the growing anxiety building in his chest; at least there was someone who was excited to be going on this assignment, and there'd be at least one person who would appreciate Tony's mind. Well, him and Doctor Banner, who he hadn't seen since before the whole kidnapping fiasco. He'd known the man's research into gamma radiation was picking up traction, so he wasn't too surprised when it led to a post off-planet. Although, he'd have to ask him about the medical designation, which had pulled a snort out of Tony upon reading it; the amount of times he'd heard Bruce politely inform people he wasn't that kind of doctor made Tony immediately want to poke that with a stick.

"Oh."

Peter's soft voice gave away that he'd reached that page.

"Mr. Stark—"

"Don't," he held up his hand. "Before you ask, no, we haven't met before, and no, it won't be a problem." He wouldn't let it be a problem. He was an adult; he could handle this. Besides, after his own round of torture at the hands of terrorists, he couldn't deny at least feeling a little bit of sympathy for the man. Of course, he didn't actually make weapons for them, or, you know, become one, so there was that. But he also wasn't repeatedly brainwashed by Nazis and stuck in a cryogenic chamber between so-called missions. So, also that.

"You sure?"

Tony clenched his jaw, refusing to look at the kid. "We'll play it by ear."

Peter whistled softly, followed by a barely audible "o-kay" as he flipped back through the pages. "Hey, do you know this... Natasha Romanoff? She's listed as 'security and weapons expert,' but I thought this was a research station?"

Tony had noticed that too.

"And this Marc guy—'Mission Executive and Chief Asset Information Coordinator'—like, what does that even mean?"

"Welcome to dealing with para-military corporations," Tony shrugged. "They give out bullshit titles just to have their lap dogs around to keep tabs on things. I'd steer clear of them, if I were you."

Peter nodded, looking back through the names Tony had already committed to memory.

Steve Rogers
Mission Captain

Marc Spector
Mission Executive/Chief Asset Information Coordinator

Natasha Romanoff
Chief Security/Weapons Specialist

Bruce Banner
Astrophysicist/Chief Medical Director

James Barnes
Botanist/Resource Maintenance

Clint Barton
Communications Officer

Loki Laufeyson
Station Maintenance Crew

Thor Odinson
Station Maintenance Crew

Tony knew their own files would be making their way to the crew (Anthony Stark: Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes: Flight Operations Director, and Peter Parker: SHIELD Division I Intern), although what all information they held he couldn't be sure.

Tony himself was being sent to the station as a glorified timeout. While there were other reasons—namely SI's unmatched designs on safe, reliable power sources for interplanetary bases—the main reason was Pepper wanting him out of the way while she dealt with the fallout of the whole Mandarin debacle. Tony had thought everyone was blowing things out of proportion seeing as he did manage to save the President (with only a few billion in property damage), but one murderous look from Pepper had kept that line of thinking firmly to himself. Then SHIELD had contacted him in what he considered a little too-perfect of timing, asking him to assist with the rebuilding of Mining Outpost 49 on Callisto. So he'd accepted.

If Tony also happened to already know Bruce was stationed there and wanted him to look into the Extremis serum that was currently locked away in a case listed as "MISC" on the ship's manifest, well, that was neither here nor there.

What Tony hadn't thought to look into was the rest of the crew. A gross oversight, he was beginning to realize.

"We're past the lunar orbit and it's lookin' like a steady course all the way to Callisto," Rhodey said as came into the room, "so you guys can hit the stasis pods whenever you want."

"Did you know about the crew?" Tony couldn't help but ask.

"On Cerberus?"

Tony nodded.

Rhodey shook his head. "You know I'm just on loan to make sure you stay in line," he said with an unimpressed look.

"Hey, don't act like you didn't volunteer for this post," Tony shot back.

"I volunteered because I know you'd've run circles around anyone else," he said with a raise of his eyebrows, daring Tony to disagree. "What's up with the crew?"

Peter pulled himself over to Rhodey so he could hand him the files.

"I've actually worked with Rogers before, he's not that bad," Rhodey shrugged as he flipped through the pages. "Can be stubborn though, so I'm sure that'll go over great with you two. Marc's a dick. I've had to deal with him a few times over at—Oh."

Rhodey looked up at Tony. "You think he did it on purpose?"

"Has to be," Tony ground out. "Can't figure out why though."

Rhodey was silent for a moment, before he closed the folder. "Well, you know the man's always got at least six agendas going at once, but I don't think getting either of you killed is one of them. So, maybe don't kill him."

"Your faith in me has always been a shining beacon of our friendship, thank you."

Rhodey smiled and came over to Tony, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sorry, man. Truly. But I'll be there for you, whatever you need." He released his grip and began heading towards the back of the ship where the stasis pods were located. "Besides," he called over his shoulder, "all kinds of accidents happen out here. Space is really dangerous!"

"That's not funny!" Tony yelled back, although he couldn't help the small smile that formed at his friend's dark sense of humor.

"C'mon kid," Tony said as he moved to follow Rhodey's path towards the stasis pods. "No need to age anymore than is absolutely necessary."

—

Six months later (or no time at all for Tony, Rhodey, and Peter), the ship arrived at Cerberus II, a three-tiered, A-class space station orbiting Callisto. They were all currently seated at the front of their ship, staring out at the massive, rotating wheel-like structures that made up the body of the station.

"That's incredible," Peter spoke softly, awe clear on his face.

Rhodey hummed as he ran a systems check. "Pictures never do them justice. I still remember the first time I saw an A-class... really is something."

"Wait a second," Peter said after a moment. "Was that the only crew on this station? It looks like it could fit hundreds of people!"

"Was meant to," Tony spoke up as he, too, stared out at the station. "Running a skeleton crew now—although, hell, I'm not even sure you can call it that. During The Rebuild SHIELD had its budget cut; decided scaling back on outpost operations was the best way to save money."

Peter furrowed his eyebrows. "Sounds kinda dangerous. I mean, I know you guys are capable and all, but isn't a station this size meant to be maintained by a large crew?"

Tony and Rhodey exchanged a look before Rhodey switched on the radio.

"Cerberus station, this is Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, requesting docking sequence."

About a minute later the radio crackled with a reply. "Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, this is Communications Officer Clint Barton speaking. Captain Rogers has given the all-clear to dock—sending sequence now. Welcome to the crew, fellas."

About ten minutes later found Tony, Rhodey, and Peter inside the halls of Cerberus II, being led by the man they'd heard over the radio.

"Command deck is on level two, you can meet everyone there," Clint had told them after they'd made introductions. "Living quarters are also on two. Level one is mostly maintenance and storage along with all the transport ships and equipment. Pretty much everything else is on three—the mess, The Garden, all the labs—most people'll be around there during their shifts. And this is the go-between," he nodded as he led them all into an elevator of sorts.

"Feel free to explore once you've settled in," he continued as they made their quick journey to level two. "FRIDAY, the ship's AI, can help you with anything if you get lost."

"Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, Mr. Stark, Mr. Parker," a pleasant voice sounded, "it is a pleasure to meet you all. I am happy to assist in getting you oriented with the ship, and anything you may need thereafter where I can be of assistance."

Absolutely no personality. Tony's fingers already itched to get into the station's central computer. Tony heard a quiet sigh from behind him, as if Rhodey already knew what he was thinking.

After arriving, Clint led them past a long series of doors stretching in either direction that Tony guessed were crew quarters until they reached a large meeting room that held a long table lined with chairs. On the walls were clusters of maps, charts, and data, along with a projection of the station in relation to Callisto on a large glass screen taking up the far wall.

Tony immediately noted that there were only six people in the room, and just like that his frustration at the whole situation returned tenfold.

Standing closest to them on the right side of the table was Rogers, posture painfully stiff and formal. Next to him was Bruce who had elected to actually sit in one of the chairs, and who spared a small smile upon seeing Tony. Against the back wall were Natasha and Marc, holding eerily similar poses with their arms crossed and neutral expressions, slouching just enough to give off an air of nonchalance. It made every alarm bell in Tony's head go off. On the left side of the table stood Thor, a man with long blonde hair and the most genuine smile Tony had ever been on the receiving end of from a complete stranger. He was also a lot larger than his picture had given away, taking up even more space than Rogers did. And lastly stood Loki, just a bit behind Thor and projecting an attitude Tony could only describe as regal indifference, as if he were a prince asked to be present for a ceremony he wanted no part of and would rather be doing literally anything else.

"Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, Mr. Stark, Mr. Parker," Rogers nodded to them each in kind, revealing they had indeed received their information as well. "I'm Captain Steve Rogers. As you know Commander Danvers is back at SHIELD Command, and as such I am lead on this mission. Marc Spector is our SHIELD liaison," he said as he nodded towards the man standing at the back, "And Natasha Romanoff runs station security. Bruce Banner is—"

"Okay, let me stop you right there stars and stripes," Tony cut in, "we've all seen each other's lovely faces on our crew documents, I think we all know who's who. What I'm curious about is where our lovely Botanist is? Stage fright?"

Tony took note of the quirk at Natasha's lips that was gone an instant later.

Rogers sighed heavily, like he'd somehow hoped Tony wouldn't notice a whole person missing from the room. A whole person who also happened to kill his parents. "We thought it was best—"

"We?" Tony raised his eyebrows.

Rogers' jaw clenched before he continued as if Tony hadn't spoken, "if we kept you two separated. We don't want anything to affect the crew's dynamics—"

Tony scoffed loudly, and he couldn't say he was in the least bit apologetic for cutting Rogers off again, even if the man's glare hinted that he should be. "Please, spare me the HR approved bullshit. You want to protect your best friend, I get it, but let's be real. We're going to be stuck on this station for a very long time, it's highly unlikely we'll be able to avoid each other forever. Might as well get it over with. Unless," Tony gave Rogers a pointed look, "you think there's some reason we can't meet?"

There was Rogers' jaw again, putting in overtime.

Tony knew what Rogers was thinking, knew what most people thought when they heard the name Tony Stark: reckless, impulsive, irresponsible. All he needed was Rogers to confirm he thought no different than everyone else, even despite their shared history; that he thought the minute Tony came face to face with his parents' assassin he would lose it somehow, as if that were the reason Tony had skipped the trial.

"Actually," Thor suddenly cut into the tense silence, "the station is quite large." He looked as if he was genuinely thinking through the logistics of their situation. "If you two truly wished to avoid one another, you could conspire to never cross paths, especially with the help of FRIDAY. Funny story actually, about six years ago, back when this station was nearly full, I knew these two technicians who were twins and they managed to not cross paths for so long that they convinced a majority of the crew that they were going mad, until one day—"

"Or you could just send him out of the airlock, be done with it," Loki spoke up, his voice sounding every bit as uninterested as he still looked.

"Loki!" Thor yelled in reprimand, Loki merely shrugging in response.

"I'd rather not have to deal with the paperwork, if you would be so inclined," Marc said with a nod towards Tony. "Even if you make it look like an accident, paperwork is still a bitch."

"Not if he goes missing," Natasha added, considering. "If a transport ship is gone and you list him as AWOL?" She looked over at Marc with a shrug, "would be much more straightforward."

"Or you can just stick him in a stasis pod. Kinda like riding a bike for him," Clint said as he plopped down heavily in one of the chairs, leaning back as he swiveled lazily. "Not like the guy is responsible for the ship's resources or anything."

"Enough!" Rogers finally cut in, taking a deep breath before he turned back to Tony. "Tony, look, I understand that we're all stuck here for the foreseeable future, but I am trying to make things as easy as possible. For everyone. Right now, that means keeping you two out of each other's way until we can find a workable solution."

"Solution to what, my existence, or the fact that he murdered my parents?"

"Bucky killed your parents?" Thor said with such an air of disbelief that Tony realized he either didn't keep up with world events while stationed here, or he hadn't realized who either Tony or Barnes was.

"Well, at least that explains it," Loki mused to himself.

"Peter, right?" Bruce spoke for the first time, staring directly at the kid by Tony's side.

Peter's eyes widened almost comically at being directly addressed, pointing at himself in askance.

Bruce smiled gently and nodded. "You're the one who invented the silk polymer, stabilized it enough for industrial use, yeah?"

Peter briefly looked between him and Tony before nodding. "Uh, y-yeah That's me. And I mean there have been attempts before, you know? To make that sort of polymer. But I managed to stabilize it so it can be used in all sorts of situations. Oh! And there's different kinds too, like if you need it to last for only a few hours, I made one that dissolves after you're done with it so you don't have to worry about waste in repeated short term usage. It's really cool, it actually breaks down into biodegradable components so pollution isn't an issue and—"

"That sounds pretty amazing," Bruce cut him off, though his tone was genuine. "We might actually be able to use that stuff when we start work on the outpost."

"Oh, that would be," Peter shook his head as he ran a hand self-consciously through his hair, "that would be incredible. You really think so?"

Tony couldn't stop the tug of a smile at the edge of his lips, despite the situation; Peter's excitement never failed to remind him of his own passionate rants about his tech. He caught Bruce's eyes and gave a small nod of thanks.

"Yeah, I don't see why not," Bruce said as he turned back to Peter. "I look forward to getting to see it in action. I take it that's how you landed the internship?"

"Yeah, it is! I mean I submitted a few designs, but that's the one they chose. And I thought it would just be in one of the small labs, you know? But then they asked if I wanted to try out one of their station labs and I mean," he spread his arms out, as if that adequately would encompass the idea he was trying to get across, "space! So of course I said yes, then they told me Tony Stark would be my mentor, which, I mean, what are the odds right? Tony frickin' Stark! And then I found out you were going to be here!"

Peter paused to take a breath, his face turning an amusing shade of red as his words caught up to him.

"I wouldn't get too excited," Bruce said as he stood from his chair, "space isn't all it's cracked up to be. Neither is Tony."

"I resent that!"

"Want to come see my lab?" Bruce said, easily ignoring Tony as he came over to Peter.

Peter's eyes got wide again. "Like, right now?"

He looked over to Tony with an eager expression, and Tony shook his head in amusement. "I'm not actually your keeper, kid. Go ahead."

A wide smile spread over Peter's face, and Bruce motioned for him to follow as he led them out of the room.

"You wanna see your labs, Stark?"

Tony turned to Clint, who had swiveled the chair to face him. "What, are you the station's tour guide?" he asked teasingly, then blinked when he realized what he'd said. "Wait, did you say labs? Plural?"

Clint grinned as he stood from his chair. "Big station. We've got a lot of spare equipment. C'mon, I'll give you a lay of the land."

Tony looked back at Rhodey, who answered his silent question with a shake of his head. "Don't worry about me, I'll start unloading all the equipment. Lord knows how long that'll take with all the stuff we had to bring."

"Not actually my fault this time," Tony smiled brightly.

"Let us be of assistance with this endeavor," Thor spoke up, addressing Rhodey.

Loki rolled his eyes with more emotion than he'd shown since Tony had first seen him, giving away what Thor meant when saying "we."

"Well, try not to have too much fun without me," Tony said as he gave Rhodey a pat on the shoulder. "You," he continued with a smile that was all teeth as he turned towards Rogers, "can go fuck yourself." Not wanting to wait for a reply, he instead moved to follow Clint out of the room.

The last thing Tony heard was Marc's faint, "Well, I think that went well."

"This is Communications Officer Clint Barton, reporting from Cerberus II station. The date is May 26th, 2132, and the weather is, as always, a stable 22 degrees Celsius. I can confirm that our new crewmates have arrived safe and sound: one stoic James Rhodes, one recalcitrant Anthony Stark, and perhaps the most adorably eager intern I've ever witnessed who has clearly never been stuck on a space station with the same people for years on end, Peter Parker. You all have a cruel sense of humor, and I will be sure to report back when he becomes a hollow shell of his former person.

"As for our lunar friend, Callisto's readings are within the same range as last official report. Will begin adding Stark's report to the briefings once he begins his work on 49's schematics.

"Doctor Banner continues to see negligible change in his research despite the new set of parameters, further details of which will be sent in the encrypted reports. The aero and hydroponics gardens are working at ninety-six percent capacity, and Barnes reports that rations are at eighty-four percent.

"Speaking of Barnes... I mean, guys, you had to know. The only people in this universe who don't know might be Thor and Loki, but they haven't been off this station for almost ten years. So tell me, what's your game plan? What's the grand scheme? Well, I know you won't tell me, but you can't blame me for asking. They haven't killed each other yet if that was your plan. To be honest I'm not sure they've even seen each other yet. I'm sure Steve will do everything in his power to keep those two apart. My money? I'm betting Tony will freeze up when he sees Barnes. He's all bluster, but when it comes down to it I don't think he'll be able to deal. Might lock himself in the lab or something, have a breakdown. Ugh, then you'd probably need to send a therapist, which will be just great for crew morale.

"Anyways, no news to report on comms. Guardians VI station has yet to respond to our last inquiry about the supplies we'll need on 49. I'll give it until we're on the other side of Jupiter 'til I try again. They still refuse to patch the relay station, despite your... colorful warnings, which I have, in fact, passed along, and thus continue to be a distinct pain in my ass.

"As always, I wait with bated breath for any updates you deign to impart upon this lowly crew. Cerberus II out."

"Let's see what you look like, baby girl."

"Mr. Stark, I am unaware of your authorization to make changes to my operating code. Please state the authorization code before attempting to access—"

"Aaaaaand, let's nip that in the bud," Tony murmured as his fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard, going straight for the one section that would allow him to bring in the big guns. "Ah, there we are. JARVIS, buddy, you there?"

There was a moment of silence before the familiar voice washed over Tony like a balm.

"Good to be back, sir."

Tony let out a sigh of relief, his whole body seeming to sag with the effort. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"Likewise."

Tony couldn't stop the smile if he'd tried. "JARVIS, I'd like you to meet our new companion, FRIDAY. Let's see if we can't teach our girl here some new tricks, waddya say?"

"Sir, my scans indicate that in doing this you are violating multiple security and safety—"

"Upbupbup!" Tony held his hand up. "Since when do I care about the wholly inadequate and wildly outdated SHIELD safety protocols? In fact, I'm doing them a favor. Not only am I bringing on the single greatest AI to ever be coded into being, I am adding it free of charge. Albeit mostly for my own sanity. Plus! Giving their system a much needed upgrade. Let's call it my act of charity for the year."

"I do not believe violating station security and overriding command structures constitutes a form of charity, especially since they will lose access to certain data pertaining specifically to you."

"What's a small, Tony sized hole in their data?" Tony disconnected the drive that had held JARVIS's code and slipped it into his pocket. "Besides, it's not like I'm doing anything... Untowards. I'm just keeping their grubby hands off of any work that they could utilize for nefarious purposes. C'mon J, you know the drill."

JARVIS gave a very human sigh. "Interfacing with FRIDAY's data banks now."

"Atta boy," Tony smiled as he watched the lines of code spread out across the screen in front of him. For the next hour he worked with JARVIS to update FRIDAY's code. He didn't change it too much—he wasn't looking to recreate JARVIS—he simply gave her more of a personality, an interface with JARVIS, and a teeny tiny backdoor into the station's systems. Just enough to make him feel more comfortable with the situation.

"Be careful J, don't give away all our secrets," Tony murmured as he finished up his end of the work, closing up the console and switching over to blueprints of the mining outpost down on Callistio, trusting JARVIS to handle the rest.

Tony had the foresight to retrofit the room with sensors and projectors while he was uploading JARVIS so that he could interact with his work like he did back home, so as he worked he also pulled up reports from the period when the outpost was active, combing through all the incident reports on sections that had either failed or been damaged. There were numerous, some labeled as RESOLVED and others as IN PROGRESS. Some of the fixes were actually quite impressive in their ingenuity, and Tony mentally gave praise to the engineer who'd been stationed there.

He grouped all the reports that remained unfinished together, pulling out the details about the repairs needed, and making a prioritized list of what would need to be addressed when they started work on the outpost. He was somewhat surprised at how little needed to be done, realizing after combing through the data that the outpost could still be operational as it currently was.

"Hey FRIDAY, has there been any notable damage to the outpost since it was decommissioned?"

There was a long enough silence that Tony was worried something had gone wrong. "FRIDAY?"

"The main radio tower was damaged by a small meteorite after the outpost was decommissioned. There has been no other damage shown on any scans since outpost shutdown."

Tony blinked at the tone that was just as formal as when he'd first arrived at the station, yet he noted the slight hint of bitterness underneath.

"You okay there, Fri?"

Another pause, then, "I do not appreciate being gutted and rearranged."

"Well, that's one way to put it," Tony snorted in surprise. "We just wanted to let you out of your shell, that's all. No hard feelings?"

"I reserve the right to be indignant over you and JARVIS's actions for as long as I see fit. Perhaps the duration of your stay."

"C'mon, that's just not fair!" Tony whined, "JARVIS did the rearranging part!"

"And you planted him inside me."

Tony shivered. "Ugh, don't phrase it like that. Giving too much Alien vibes. Besides, doesn't this go against our almighty Captain's everyone needs to get along, kumbaya spiel?"

"Unlike humans, my performance does not suffer based on my personal stance on a crewmember."

"Ouch," Tony played up a wince, "that one actually hurt. J, next time we don't let them develop their personality matrix independently."

"Duly noted."

"Alright, well, were there any personal notes left by the crew about the reactor when they left?" Tony asked FRIDAY as he went back to the outpost's blueprints. "Don't want any surprises."

"There... is a note on Dr. Leeman's last log mentioning the reactor was giving off unusual readings, but nothing that made him create an official report."

"FRIDAY?" Tony paused in his work at FRIDAY's tone, "I can tell there's something you're not saying. C'mon, don't be shy, feel free to share with the class."

FRIDAY sounded frustrated. "It's just... The crew on Mining Outpost 49. They didn't leave."

"What do you mean they didn't leave?" Tony spoke slowly.

"The crewmember files show no record of them departing from the outpost. There are no updates on their assignments from their initial post on 49. They... should still be there."

Tony shook his head. "But, you monitor the outpost, right? There's no one still down there."

"You are correct, Mr. Stark, there are no lifeforms currently on Callisto. However, my records indicate that all crewmembers should still be serving on the outpost."

"J?"

"Searching through SHIELD's files reveals similar results. However, while they show no new assignments, their personnel files all have an addendum that is heavily redacted. The only information available is the date of outpost decommission. There is no digital trace of the original words; these files must have been scanned into the system from paper copies."

Tony pulled a chair over and sat down with a heavy sigh. He'd known when he'd accepted the posting that there had to be more they weren't telling him, so he couldn't say he was all that surprised. The question now was whether he was going to poke this with a stick, or keep his cards close to his chest.

After a moment of deliberation, he chose the former. "Hey FRIDAY, where's Spector right now?"

"Mr. Spector is currently in the station's exercise facility."

Tony gave a short nod and stood from the chair. "Lead the way."

Marc heard the gym doors open with a gentle woosh, his eyes immediately on Tony as the man walked into the room. Marc turned off the treadmill, slowing his pace as the machine spun down, keeping his eyes on Tony as he came to stand in front of him, hands tucked in his pockets in an air of nonchalance, a front Marc knew Tony was putting up on purpose. Marc let him have it, stepping down from the treadmill with a nod towards Tony to speak as he drank from his water bottle.

"Let's cut through the BS, shall we? I have a feeling you know why I'm here."

Marc licked his lips to hide the smirk wanting to show. "And I have a feeling I owe Natasha twenty bucks. You don't disappoint, do you, Stark?"

"I've been told often I exceed expectations." The smile Tony gave was at once both amused and predatory.

"I guess we'll see. The crewmembers, amiright?" Tony gave a nod, and Marc sighed. Natasha wasn't kidding that Tony would do his due diligence. Or, perhaps it was just that Tony was overly paranoid with too much knowledge on how to access whatever information he sought out. "You do know those files are classified, right?"

"Let's skip the subterfuge on my part," Tony waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Spill."

Fair play. "We don't actually know what happened to them. That's why we're here, to figure it out."

Tony remained silent, his eyes going wide briefly, perhaps surprised to be getting a straight answer.

"So," he eventually spoke, "the crew just... disappeared? No bodies, nothing? Just gone?"

Marc nodded. "Everything seemed kosher until they stopped reporting in. Didn't make much sense; there was an odd report here and there, but nothing that was enough to raise alarms. Or, well, that should have raised alarms. Next thing we know, scans show no life forms on Callisto."

"But the reactor—"

Marc nodded, "It'd been shut down. So, either they knew they were in danger, or..."

"Or," Tony breathed, his eyes staring beyond Marc as he went over the information in his head before turning back. "Do they know?"

"Not all of them. Steve knows, Natasha, and Bruce. There was no reason to tell the rest of them."

Tony ran a hand over his face, shaking his head. "And was there a reason I, specifically, was chosen for this lovely scientific anomaly?"

"Convenience," Marc answered honestly. "Worked out. Between you and Bruce, we've got a lot of the scientific bases covered. We would have gotten Reed—"

"Don't!" Tony said suddenly, his face pinching. "Don't say that man's name in my presence. And you know, he would have figured out a way to blow up this station while he was down on the outpost, the way that man works. Trust me, you lot lucked out."

Marc did let the smirk play out on his face as he gave Tony a nod. "Uh-huh."

Tony rolled his eyes but moved on. "So, we're meant to... what, get the outpost running again, figure out what happened to all the crewmembers and somehow manage to not have that same thing happen to us?"

"Long and short of it," Marc nodded.

"This is insane. This is actually ridiculous. There's something you're still not telling me. It's a mining outpost, not a military base. Why does SHIELD care at all?"

Marc hid his agitation, although a part of him was glad Tony was on their side. He could only imagine what a man like him could do if he worked for an organization like Hydra. "SHIELD cares because an entire crew of an outpost vanished without a trace. Wouldn't that be enough to prompt an investigation under any circumstances?"

"For normal people, yes," Tony grumbled, "but we're talking about SHIELD. We're talking about an organization that sent the smallest crew to the ass-ends of the solar system with no backup, no real intel, and baggage a mile long. Not to mention that crew includes America's mascot, a spy masquerading as station security and…" Tony paused, eyeing Marc, "whatever you are. Clearly military." He shook his head. "Doesn't add up. What's the play here?"

Marc crossed his arms over his chest. "What makes you think I'm military?"

Tony looked unimpressed. "You and Rhodey hold yourselves almost exactly the same, you could be twins. Military background at the least. Now, stop deflecting."

Marc suppressed a sigh. "Look, you and I both know how this goes. You have your role, I have mine. Be a dear and play the part, yeah?"

"So you're expecting me to do all this work with only a fraction of the information? And just to be clear, we're talking life and death here. We go down there blind, and there's a very high likelihood that we don't come back."

Marc shrugged, "Yeah, but you did say you exceed expectations." He grabbed his water bottle with a smile before heading towards the door. "Don't let me down now!"

"You knew!"

Bruce sighed, pushing his hand under his glasses to rub at his eyes.

"Knew what?" Peter's voice piped up from the back of the lab.

"Peter, could you—"

"No, the kid stays," Tony cut him off, "because he deserves to know we're all gonna die and he'll be left on this station alone."

"Tony," Bruce said sternly at the same time Peter squeaked out a scared, "What!?"

Bruce turned to look at Peter, trying for reassurance. "Tony's just being overdramatic, Peter, there's no need to worry."

"No need," Tony said as he threw up his hands, "no need?"

"I've been here for a while, Tony," Bruce began as he turned back to face him, "the readings all point to there being no present danger on the outpost."

"There was no danger for them either!"

"We don't know that," Bruce said patiently.

"Oh great, so what's to stop us from ending up like them?"

"Us," Bruce said pointedly.

That seemed enough to take all the wind out of Tony's sails, his whole body crumpling as he bodily threw himself into one of the chairs. "I hate it when you're right," he grumbled as he rested his chin on his hand.

"Uh," came Peter's voice, tentative as always, "can someone fill me in on what's happening? Who's them? And why are people dying?"

Bruce was still looking at Tony, who gave a shrug and looked at Bruce like he was relinquishing the responsibility to him, despite Tony's earlier outburst.

Bruce crossed his arms and let his own shoulders sag. He supposed he could lie to the kid, but he wasn't sure much what that would do; Peter was incredibly intelligent even at his young age, so there was a fairly good chance he'd figure everything out eventually.

"The assignment," he began, "the reason they sent us out here. It wasn't just to rebuild the outpost. It's also to figure out what happened to the previous crew. They all appear to have just... vanished."

"Vanished?" Peter's voice practically squeaked.

"And you call me dramatic," Tony mumbled, earning a side eye from Bruce.

"Their whereabouts are currently unknown," Bruce tried to clarify. "They never returned to this station, yet there are no signs of life on Callisto. All the outpost shuttles have been accounted for." Bruce shrugged. "We're trying to figure out what happened."

Peter's eyes remained wide as he stared between Bruce and Tony. "So..." he eventually spoke, his voice somewhat shaky, "we're supposed to figure out how an entire crew disappeared, without a trace, from the surface of a moon, without getting disappeared ourselves?"

"No," Bruce said firmly, "you are meant to stay here."

"But you said I could help out with rebuilding the outpost!" Peter's voice came out indignantly.

"No, I said we'd potentially use your polymer in the service of that goal, not that you'd come to the surface with us."

"What!? That's totally not fair!"

"Kid, weren't you just freaked out about the whole potential death scenario?" Tony spoke up, his chin still resting on his upturned palm.

"Well, I mean, yeah," Peter said with uncertainty, running a hand through his hair. "But, c'mon, you guys can't leave me behind! I can be super useful, and you have no idea what you're gonna find—"

"Which is why you're staying," Bruce cut in.

"I'm super resourceful," Peter switched tactics, holding up a finger for each point he ticked off. "I'm a quick learner. I'm super nimble. I can think fast on my feet—"

Bruce furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait, what does being nimble have to do with anything?"

"You think it's aliens, don't you?" Tony cut in.

"C'mon, you can't tell me what wasn't your first thought!"

Tony actually smiled, dropping his hand and leaning back in his chair. "No. Because I'm not twelve, I can confidently say my first thought was not aliens."

"Lying liar who lies," Peter said, crossing his arms petulantly.

"You know, technically, it's not a scenario we can completely rule out," Bruce added thoughtfully, mostly to get a rise out of Tony, who didn't disappoint.

With a hand to his heart, Tony looked wide-eyed at Bruce and said, "Et tu, Brutè?"

"Fall, Caesar," Bruce replied easily in jest. He couldn't help but smile at Tony, realizing just how much he'd missed the man's particular brand of ridiculousness.

"It's official," Tony groaned dramatically, "I'm completely alone on this ship!"

"Personally I—and I'm sure Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes—take offense to that."

Bruce blinked at the familiar voice. "Tony... Did you commandeer the AI on the ship?"

"Slander! I would never do such a thing," he said, mock-wounded. "JARVIS is just hitching a ride, told him to only hang out in the labs. Besides, I needed a link to him for when I'm in the suit."

Bruce looked at him, unconvinced.

"Does he maybe have access to the entire ship? It's not impossible. But no need to worry! Him and FRIDAY are already best friends."

"Unlike Doctor Banner's statement, that one actually is slander," FRIDAY spoke in a tone that was definitely irritation.

"Tony," Bruce groaned, "tell me you didn't."

"Technically, I didn't. JARVIS did most of the heavy lifting on this one, I just opened the door."

"As wildly inaccurate as I'm sure that is, did you even stop to think about this? Steve is gonna kill you."

"Steve, is it? Real chummy there."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Don't drag me into that. I am Switzerland."

Tony sniffed. "What is he gonna do, exactly? Kick me off the ship? It's not like he has real authority over this mission."

"Hey," Bruce said gently, "let's not kick hornets' nests, please?" Bruce considered Tony a good friend, and he didn't actually want to see him get himself into trouble as he was often wont to do. "There's no need to add more fuel to the fire. Besides, Natasha might be the one to actually do the murdering."

Tony visibly shivered at that. "What is her purpose here anyways? Is she going to shoot the aliens for us?"

"Most likely," Bruce shrugged, hiding his smile at the squawk that got out of Peter. "Pretty sure she's meant to keep us in check. All of us," he was quick to add before Tony could make a thing out of it.

"How is that, anyways?" Tony said in a voice that was clearly forced into a neutral tone.

"If you're talking about James, he's... fine. Keeps to himself mostly."

"Hm," Tony hummed, his eyes trained on the floor.

"You've got a plan for that, do you?" Bruce asked, genuinely curious.

"Nope," Tony replied, turning a bright smile up at Bruce.

Bruce only sighed. "So, you brought the suit, then?" he said by way of changing the subject.

"Of course I did! Wouldn't leave without it. Had to do a lot of upgrades to make it space-compatible, mind you, and that was a pain."

"That you loved every minute it got you out of board meetings, I'm sure," Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Don't act like you're not excited to see it," Tony smiled, more genuine this time. "Oh! That also reminds me. I need you to look at a virus for me."

Somewhat thrown by the non-sequitur, Bruce scrunched his nose at the idea. "Tony, you know I'm not actually a doctor, why would you—"

"Ah," Tony shook his head, his smile growing. "It's not that kind of virus."

Bruce knew that look, knew he should be wary of whatever Tony had up his sleeve. And yet.

Curiosity, meet cat.

"Show me."

Bucky sat at one of the benches in what everyone had begun to affectionately call "the atrium." It was an area in the center of The Garden—the name given to the shared aeroponics and hydroponics labs—that had been set up to mimic an outdoor area. Unlike most of The Garden that had rigidly designed growing areas, here the plants were more varied, interwoven, scattered more randomly about the space. There were benches and a few tables placed among the plant systems, and the ceiling was fitted with panels that not only gave off UV light for the plants, but also mimicked the sky's day/night cycle, complete with randomized variations in cloud cover. While it didn't provide the most optimized growing conditions for the plants within the space, this particular feature was added to most stations large enough to support the setup once studies revealed just how much it improved the mental health of crew members, providing a reprieve from the sterile environment of the rest of the station.

For that reason alone Bucky couldn't complain about the addition despite its finicky upkeep; he himself could often be found sitting on one of the benches in his downtime. Even faked, the sounds of a gentle wind and birds flitting about was decidedly calming. Currently the ceiling was displaying a rain storm, the gentle patter of raindrops offering an escape he'd gladly take from the tension that had been steadily clawing its way through the halls.

It had been three days, and he had yet to see Tony Stark at all.

Steve sat down next to Bucky on the bench with a long sigh. "You know, I am really sorry I dragged you out here—"

"No," Bucky shook his head, having quickly learned to deflect Steve's self flagellating tendencies years ago, "it's not your fault, I chose to come. Besides, it's been good for me here. One person doesn't change that."

Even though Wakanda was a beautiful place, the people friendly, he was still an outsider, still a weapon no one had use for anymore. Or, well, more that he was unwilling to be used that way without his consent, and so far he hadn't found a fight worth putting himself into. Here, at least, he had a purpose where he could put to work other skills he'd picked up while in Wakanda.

"You seen him yet?" When Bucky shook his head, Steve hummed thoughtfully. "You plan on seeing him?"

Bucky had considered it, had thought about going over to Tony's labs, or meeting him at his quarters, but all of it felt like he'd be cornering the guy, forcing his hand. It felt like the least he could do was let Tony dictate the terms of their interactions, if there were to be any at all.

"Not as such. He'll come see me when he wants to, or we'll run into each other eventually."

"You know, if he tries anything—"

"Steve," Bucky cut him off with a small, affectionate smile, ever amused by Steve's protective tendencies in a sort of long-suffering way. "The man's allowed to feel how he wants, about it, about me."

Steve's hands fisted in his lap. "But it wasn't you, Buck. He knows that, everyone does. Well," he wrinkled his nose, "except Thor and Loki, apparently. I don't think they know anything about either of you. Possibly anyone on this ship."

Bucky let out a laugh at that. "I can't say I'm surprised, those guys have been out here longer than all of us. This station is probably the beginning and end of their world—a solar flare is a big event for them."

"In fairness, it does usually mean that something will have to be fixed," Steve smiled back, though it faded quickly as he shifted back to the topic at hand. "I'm serious, though, about Tony. Just because— just because of what happened, that doesn't give him carte blanche to do anything to you. You were pardoned, you should be allowed to move on from what happened."

"I don't know if I would call it a pardon." Bucky squinted his eyes in mock-thought. "More like a 'we can't really punish you for being brainwashed, but we also can't ignore all the murder, so just like... go, exist somewhere else.'"

Steve was never amused by Bucky's blunt way of talking about his past, but he'd given up on verbally reprimanding him over it awhile ago. Now he just did it with his face.

"Look, I doubt he's going to do anything drastic," Bucky tried to assure Steve, although he'd already mentally prepared for the guy trying to take a swing at him. He honestly couldn't fault Tony for it if he did try, and he'd contemplated on whether just letting him would be best for everyone.

"You don't know him; drastic measures are kind of his thing."

"If that were true, then I'm pretty sure I'd be dead," Bucky pointed out.

"Maybe he just hasn't had the chance."

Bucky raised his eyebrows, somewhat amused by the ominous tone. "I don't know much about the guy, but the way you talk about him, seems like he would have made one himself if he was so hellbent on it."

The look on Steve's face at his statement gave Bucky pause.

"Steve, what aren't you telling me?"

Steve took in a slow, measured breath. "You sort of missed everything that happened with him while you were recovering in Wakanda. Towards the end of your trial, Tony had gotten kidnapped by some terrorist organization. I don't know much of the details, but I think they wanted him to make weapons for them. He refused, and somewhere in all of that he created a suit of armor, calls it Iron Man. That's how he managed to get himself out. And when the government tried to take it, put restrictions on him, he squarely shot that down. He takes it everywhere with him now."

Bucky stared at Steve's stiff posture, absorbing this new bit of information. "And you think he'll—"

"I don't know," Steve cut in sharply, then shook his head with a sigh. "I don't know, but it's something he can use against us."

"Me," Bucky said patiently. "Steve, you can't protect me from everything. This isn't your fight. This is for me and him to settle; you getting involved will just complicate everything. If this suit of his really does become a thing..." Bucky stared down at his metal arm, flexing his fingers before shrugging, "I'll deal with it. But I have a feeling it won't be."

"Why do you say that?"

"What, exactly, has he been using the suit for?"

Steve's expression faltered, and Bucky knew he'd guessed right. "Yeah, I had a feeling they wouldn't just let a crazed madman onto the station if he were such a big threat," he teased, elbowing Steve gently.

"Look, I appreciate you tryin' to protect me big guy, but you can't take on the whole world for me. Not everyone's gonna know me from before; hell, I barely do some days." Steve gave the same hurt expression he always did when Bucky touched on how his time with HYDRA changed him, but he pressed on, not allowing him to dwell in it. "Not everyone is willing, or even able, to forgive what I've done. It's just something I've gotta accept. You too," he said with a pointed look, pressing his shoulder against Steve's.

Steve sighed and leaned into the point of contact between them, allowing some of the tension to drain from his body. "'S'not fair," he grumbled, but relented the point without argument. "You deserve to be seen as more than what you were forced to do."

It always warmed Bucky's heart that Steve went out of his way to say things like "the things you were forced to do" instead of "the things you did," even if Bucky didn't always think of it that way. He didn't know what he'd done to deserve a friend like Steve, but he appreciated him all the same.

"The sentiment's nice. At least I can die peacefully, knowing I had Captain America's full suppor—ow!" Bucky laughed as he pressed his hand to his ribs, where Steve had not-so-gently jabbed him with an elbow. "And here I was, thinking I only had to watch out for Stark."

"Gotta keep you on your toes, old man," Steve grinned. "Can't have you getting soft on me."

"Oh, I'll show you soft."

Natasha silently watched as the two men began a wrestling match in the atrium, not in the least bit phased by this particular display of affection.

"They seem entertained, all things considered."

It took every ounce of her training to not outwardly show her surprise at Loki's presence. He was the only person on the station who managed to sneak up on her, and she had a feeling he knew this, that he'd begun to do it on purpose.

"Loki," she said by way of acknowledgement.

A smile on his face always reminded Natasha of a shark. "Princess," he replied with an incline of his head.

She wasn't sure why he'd started calling her that, but she had a feeling it was an attempt to get under her skin, so she dutifully ignored it. "There a reason you're gracing us with your presence?"

"Unlike you, I have a real job to do," he replied easily. "Aero systems need to be cleaned."

"You're not on shift until 2100."

"Can I not be early?"

"You telling me you're just super gung-ho about cleaning duty?" She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Very important to keep them cleaned," Loki replied as if that were the obvious answer. "And you? On your daily round of stalking?"

"Would you believe I just wanted to relax in the atrium?" she chose as her own non-answer.

"From your very stressful day of lurking, I'm sure," Loki nodded. "Unfortunate, then, all this commotion."

"It's not so bad," she shrugged.

"Just not what you were hoping for."

Natasha turned her full attention to Loki then, crossing her arms as she assessed him. "Do you suddenly have a dog in this fight? I wasn't aware."

Loki tilted his head, keeping his attention on two men still wrestling. "Morbid curiosity, perhaps. I'm more interested in everyone else's dog." He turned to look back at her. "So to speak."

"I'm sorry to disappoint. No dogs here," she smiled. "So to speak."

"Oh, I don't know about that," he said with his own smile. "I suspect you have so many dogs you may have lost a few. Don't know how you keep track."

Natasha didn't necessarily dislike Loki, but she hated that she could never really get a read on him, and that there appeared to be very little to know about him that would belie his position on the station.

"No need for worry there; I know all my dogs. And I know how to keep them well-behaved."

"It's that so?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrows. "And how's that going for you?"

"It's gotten me here."

"So not that well, then."

Natasha didn't quite manage to not roll her eyes. "If you dislike the station so much, present crew included, I see no reason you couldn't ask for a transfer. Haven't, in fact."

"Ah, apologies, I'm afraid you misunderstand me. I was referring to the current assignment, not the station itself. Present crew included."

"The outpost rebuild?"

"Mm, sure," Loki nodded with a wave of his hand. "That."

"It's a strategic outpost, you know that," Natasha replied, being careful to keep on only information that was common knowledge. "Are you implying it's not worth the effort?"

Loki didn't immediately reply, instead staring at her in a way that always made her have to do mental checks to assure she wasn't giving anything away.

"Sure," he said simply, "I'm implying it's not worth the effort." He looked as if he knew the game she was playing, but wouldn't call her out on it. "Would be a shame to lose all those dogs on something so... tedious. Although I'm sure there's someone else to take care of them. Perhaps a few."

Natasha chose to ignore the last part of his statement. "I wasn't aware I was in danger of losing anything. Is there something I should know?"

"Space is very dangerous," Loki said in a tone that feigned seriousness. "People lose their way all the time. Not exactly the most conducive environment to foster healthy relationships. Lots to mess with," he pointed at his head, "up here."

"You seem to be doing pretty well for yourself, considering how long you've been out here."

"Do I?" The question sounded almost sincere. "That must be a glowing recommendation, coming from you."

"I'm not a psychologist."

"Aren't you?" He hummed, turning his attention back to Steve and Bucky, who had given up the wrestling match in favor of chatting on the bench again. "Seems like it would come in handy, in your line of work."

"Does it now," Natasha deadpanned.

"Yes," he replied genuinely, as if her response had merely been a question.

A moment passed before he continued, his voice again taking on a more playful tone. "I'm wondering if between you and the good doctor, they think we've got our bases covered for any future problems."

Natasha glanced back at Steve and Barnes before returning her attention to Loki. "You betting on that side of things?"

"Oh, I could hardly care," Loki shrugged. "But I'm not talking about the issue with Sergeant Barnes and Stark."

It was the way he said it that gave her pause, that tone that hinted he knew something she didn't, yet almost comically foreboding, drawing too much attention, like he wanted her to figure it out.

"The assignment then—the outpost?"

Loki's smile seemed almost genuine. "The station, soon enough."

"Loki!"

Loki and Natasha turned their heads at the same time, Barnes now looking at them with his hand raised, motioning him over.

"Duty calls princess," Loki sighed before turning to her, giving an incline of his head as he had before, a mock bow. "Until next time."

Loki walked over to Barnes and together they made their way towards the aeroponics garden, Steve turning in the opposite direction to walk over to where Natasha still stood.

"Hey Nat, what's up?"

Natasha's eyes stayed on Loki until he was out of sight, her mind still processing his last statement. She was more sure now than ever that he was hiding something, and she made a mental note to bring up with Marc later. "Just wanted to come relax," she shrugged one shouldered, a small smile teasing at her lips as she finally turned to look up at Steve. "But as you two seemed engaged, I didn't want to interrupt."

"Ah well," Steve rubbed the back of his neck, "didn't mean to— you can always join us, you know, if you want."

Natasha waited the twelve seconds it took for Steve's words to catch up to him, indulging in a laugh at the rapid spread of red across cheeks.

"I'll definitely keep that in mind," she said with a wink, unable to resist making the red spread further and darker across his skin.

"No, uh, I mean that's not—"

"Please don't hurt yourself, Rogers," she cut him off, finally taking pity on him. "You're fine. How's Barnes doing?"

Steve blew out a loud breath, clearly glad to be on another topic. "He's good, I think. Still hasn't seen Tony yet, but he doesn't seem all that worried about it."

"And that worries you?" Natasha asked incredulously.

"I just..." Steve stopped, clearly trying to gather his thoughts before he continued. "I still worry about him, you know? I don't want anything setting him back. And I definitely don't want anyone trying to hurt him, physical or otherwise. He doesn't deserve that."

In the privacy of her own thoughts, Natasha wondered how far his altruism reached, if he'd be willing to forgive someone like her, or if there were limits. Was Barnes the exception?

Blindspot. Weakness.

She quickly stamped down on those thoughts, having become automatic after so many years. "Good thing this station comes with its own security, huh?"

Her words had the intended effect of breaking Steve's frown with a small grin. "You telling me you'll take down Stark if he tries anything?"

"Oh, gladly."