The college appealed to the artist in Steve. He trailed behind his lover with wide eyes, being careful not to trip over his own feet as he admired the arches in the ceiling. The architecture here was amazing, the stone columns carved into the walls just begged to be touched and sketched. Tony and the head of the Developmental Science department were walking briskly ahead of him, talking in a tech language he didn't understand. Students skittered by with their heads ducked into books or over clipboards, somehow managing not to run into the walls or each other. The soldier could imagine Tony as one of them, baby-faced and sharp eyed among these tired bodies.

At the moment Tony was seething. He tried not to get involved with the scholarships and grants Stark Industries supplied but his Vice wasn't up to it today, she'd given him the college name and forced him to make an appearance. These people were years behind him and they knew it when it came to clean energy, but they were trying and that had to count for something.

"Oh, Mr. Stark, we were so happy to hear you chose Empire State University for the Brighter Future Grant" Dr. Polchik gushed, as bright eyed and bushy tailed as when they'd first arrived "We haven't received such a generous offer in years. We're not going without, mind you, but so many of our projects will be finished thanks to this donation."

"I'm always up for helping science progress" Tony stated, wishing Pepper had done this for him instead of interrupting his lazy day with his lover "Your department has some interesting self-sustaining energy ideas going around. Stark Industries is proud to back anything revolutionary."

"We're more in the hypothetical stage, you're very far ahead of us" the scientist sounded like he was just happy to be close to the genius "The fact that you came in person gives us hope that we're on the road to even minor success. It's not everyday ESU gets to have two super heroes walk it's halls."

Polchik glanced over his shoulder, letting his gaze linger on the following blonde.

"Ignore him" Tony gestured "He saw your campus photos and wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Captain America" the scientist whispered reverently, trying to tone down his giddiness "Here's the main lab."

When Steve passed through the doors he couldn't help but gape. The lab was almost as large as Tony's! The room buzzed with electricity and the murmur of discussing grad students. The ceiling was high, lined with windows to let in some natural sunlight. The soldier had no idea what this stuff was for but it looked impressive, eyes catching on dozens of devices that were polished silver and sleek looking. The artist turned into a toddler again, fingers itching to touch and poke.

"Tony?" Steve inquired sweetly "Can I look around?"

The genius shot him a knowing look, "Carefully."

Dr. Polchik suddenly looked nervous, watching the blonde wander off by himself, "Does he know how expensive these machines are? How sensitive they can be?"

"I've got insurance on him" Tony replied smoothly "Why don't you tell me what I'll be paying for?"

"Well, this device over here-"

"I am far from stupid, Doctor" the iron hero snapped "I know what every machine in here does. I've broken toys you couldn't imagine in your dizziest daydreams. I've forgotten things you'll never begin to understand. I've read every paper you've published and though I'm mildly impressed, I still have reservations. I sent a feeler in two weeks ago, I know the work here. What I want from you, Doctor, is to know whether or not you understand what you're doing."

The scientist seemed confused and maybe a little offended, "Mr. Stark?"

"I don't give money to morons" Tony raised an eyebrow at him "Are you a moron, Dr. Polchik?"

The other man caught on, "No, sir."

"Good. So, this focus you're so proud of..."

"Our biggest project revolves around nanotechnology" Polchik took him to one of their screens, bringing up the files they had for the machine they planned to build "We've built a model, we have the hardware down but it's still theoretical at this point."

"Microfabrication" Tony pulled out his clear screen handheld, bringing up his software and JARVIS to start analyzing the work for himself.

"There are solar cells, yes, but if we can make self-sustaining cells that small it would be a miracle" Polchik continued, opening up the blueprints for the machine they would use to create the cells.

Tony sighed loudly through his teeth, these people were even farther than he thought. With the minimum funds they had he wasn't surprised. He examined the plans, JARVIS highlighted all the bits that were wrong. He flipped through more of the Developmental Science department's files, thumbing through project after project. It was all so boring, so normal.

There was a crash behind him.

"It's not broken!" Steve called quickly, peeking out from behind a mass of machinery "At least, I don't think so. I'll fix it."

Tony didn't bother to look up, "I'll write you a check for that."

Polchik nodded, pale.

Stark tried to pull up a file titled Neogenics but it glared red at him. He'd heard the term before but he couldn't remember reading anything on it, that bugged him.

"Access denied, sir" JARVIS informed him through his ear piece "This project is protected."

"How heavily?" Tony inquired, curious.

"Multiple password levels and an above average proxy server grid" JARVIS replied "It will take me two minutes, sir."

"Not yet" Tony looked up from his handheld, Polchik was giving him a strange look "It's my butler. Are any of your students working on neogenics?"

"Neogenics? That's very specific" Dr. Polchik's brow furrowed up as he thought about it "I believe that's a side project for a few of the undergrads. If I remember right, they're all in different areas of science with a variety of majors. It's just a few kids, a small thing. Why?"

"Curious" the genius replied quickly "Who leads it?"

"Harry Osborne" Polchik nodded to himself "Yes, I believe it was his brain child."

Tony was already typing in the name, getting a few results about the rich kid. He was smart, at least smart enough to set up the security defense.

"Is there anyone from that team here?"

"There should be one of them, this is a good think tank" the scientist looked around, nodding toward one of the super computers "That the group's cataloguer. Parker!"

The boy looked up, fingers quick to dissolve whatever he'd been looking at. Polchik waved him over, the boy picked up his digital tablet and obeyed. Tony looked the undergrad over with a critical eye, a pang of sympathy shooting through his usually indifferent heart. This Parker was clearly out of place, different from the other trust fund cases he'd seen coming in. He carried himself like he was waiting to get hit, the clothes beneath his lab coat old and rumpled. He looked uncomfortable when Dr. Polchik put a hand on his back and presented him like a piece of meat, he kept glancing at the ground from behind his glasses as if he found Stark's presence overwhelming.

"Here he is" Polchik pat the boy's back, knocking him forward a little by accident "He'll tell you anything you want to know."

"I have a few questions" Tony crooked his finger at the boy, starting to walk away "Doctor, why don't you go check and make sure Cap hasn't destroyed anything else?"

Polchik nodded eagerly and scurried away, eager to get the blonde away from his expensive toys.

"Walk with me, kid" Tony didn't touch him, leading him only with his steps across the room and out one of the doors. It led into another large hall, doors lining the walls to show classrooms. The younger man was quiet was quiet, arms crossed over his tablet protectively.

Tony stopped suddenly, turning to face the student, "Your project is encrypted on ESU's database."

Parker gave a tense laugh, "Yeah, that's Harry's doing. You don't know him but he's totally selfish. He wants to make sure no one gets a look at it and gets the credit for our work."

Tony raised an eyebrow, "I'd like to see it. I promise not to tell."

Parker's calm was shattering fast, his smile straining so hard it was about to break, "Well you'll have to ask Harry. It's his project, even Dr. Polchik can't gain access without the team leader's permission."

The genius looked him over, wondering if this boy was for real, "I can break into it in two minutes flat if I tried."

Everything in Parker's body language was screaming Please don't, but he had no idea why. The boy was a bad liar, it must've been something very important for his resolve to shatter this quickly. He relented a little, softening up that sharp Stark exterior. He liked to intimidate everyone but this boy seemed pretty frightened, he didn't need him passing out on him. Steve threatened to put him in a headlock if he made a student cry on this trip.

"We got off on the wrong foot" Tony crossed his arms over his chest "Tony Stark."

"I know" the boy's lips curved up in what could pass for a weak smile, head ducked to hide it "You're the leading revolutionary in clean energy and one of the best weapons manufacturers the world has ever seen. I've read about you. How close are you in getting Stark Tower to be self-sufficient?"

Tony was genuinely surprised, "I thought college students stopped reading about me once I stopped blowing people up."

"I didn't" the boy confessed "You're fascinating."

Parker looked up suddenly, brow drawn together, "Your work is fascinating, that is."

"Of course" Tony grinned from ear to ear "You know, neogenics is one of the fields I'm not really familiar with. If you give me a run down I promise not to hack into your project."

Parker looked uncomfortable again, the look Tony remembered getting back in the day when he tried to explain how DUM-E worked.

"Talk to me like a big boy" the older man flicked his fingers through the air "I can take it."

"Neogenics is the application of human genetics for alleviating human sufferings, like improving the gene pool" Parker started on a rant, words coming smoother now that he was in his element "The Nazis kind of knocked the field out of favor with their human experiments but I believe it can apply to a whole range of things. It's considered shady and immoral."

"I know what that's like" Tony interjected "So you're...? What?"

Parker seemed to remember something, "My friends and I are taking human genes and examining them for improvement. That's all. As I'm sure Dr. Polchik has told you, it's only a side project."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Tony rolled his eyes before fixing the boy with a knowing glare "I can sense bullshit from a mile away."

Parker kept his gaze, "I don't know what else to tell you."

The genius flashed his teeth in a grin, "I like you, kid. What's your first name?"

"Peter."

"Peter Parker" Tony stepped closer, pulling size on the kid to get that worried look back "You're not pulling something 'shady', are you kid?"

"It's not even my project" Peter defended himself, backing up "Osborne is in charge. Everything in there is from him, I barely have an input."

Tony let his gaze linger for a moment longer before he put a finger to his earpiece, "Do me a favor, J. Set up a scholarship, call it something simple. Not too much, mind you, just enough for a small grade project."

"Of course, sir."

Peter's fingers tightened on his tablet.

"When will it be done?"

"The money will be finalized in two hours."

"Two hours, gotcha, thanks" Tony lowered his hand "Here's the deal, kid. I'm going to give your group this check and you're not going to mutate anyone into a hamster hybrid."

"Are you serious?" Peter sounded floored.

"Yeah, dead serious" Tony held out his hand "Deal?"

The boy practically seized his hand, a wide smile breaking out onto his face, "You won't regret this."

"I already regret giving money to this place" Tony grumbled, peeking over the boy's shoulder to look at the door "I could get half these projects done in a week with half the resources."

Peter chuckled, loosening up a bit, "We can't all be brilliant, Mr. Stark."

Tony reached in his pocket for his handheld, intent on looking this boy's name up and getting the dirt on him, when something cut through the wall. He grabbed the younger man by the arm and dragged him to the side, narrowly dodging a red beam of light that cut through everything it touched. It disappeared as quickly as it came, both men gaping like they'd just seen an eagle with two heads.

"Rats!" echoed through the hall.

"Steve!" Tony barked, leaving the boy behind to stalk toward the entrance "Was that you?!"

The door opened to reveal the shy blonde, cheeks flushed in shame, "I didn't know it shot a laser, Tony, really."

"That's it, we're going home" Stark grabbed him by the forearm "You're a menace! You can't just touch everything that's shiny!"

"I'm not a child!" Steve countered, eyes drifting over to the student coming up to them "Wait...Peter?"

Tony looked between him, the boy seemed to recognize his lover, "You two know each other?"

"We met at the Expo" Steve remembered that face, though the details were a little fuzzy "Didn't you-?"

"He saved my life, a drone almost smashed me" Peter cut him off "It's good to see you again, Captain."

"So you're a student here?"

"Yeah."

"Mr. Stark!" Dr. Polchik came through the door, looking thoroughly flustered "He needs to leave, I must insist. He just destroyed-"

Tony held up a hand, "Just tell me how much and I'll cut a check."

Steve stepped back, ducking his head toward the teenager, "It's good to see you too. How are you holding up?"

Peter winced at his professor's red face, "Better than you."

That wasn't much of an epilogue but it needed to be done, this kind of just sets up some of the scenes in the Avengers sequel. It will all make sense EVENTUALLY...maybe. Be patient.

What a long, strange trip it's been my dear hearts. Again, I'm so glad most of you stuck around to the end. I'm happy with what I wrote and I'm even happier that you like it. Tonight I start the two/three chapter Black Pepper sequel, and then back to school where I will slowly create an Avengers sequel. I bought a whole new notebook and everything. But everyone knows the back-to-school rules, that means one chapter per week (maybe every week and a half, depends). I do promise to finish everything I've offered.

So if you want to continue reading in the Ever Fallen Verse, I suggest a few things. Following me on is a safe bet, following me on Tumblr will give you updates on how I'm doing with chapters and when I'll be posting, this universe has it's own Tumblr if you want to skip all my other crap and just get all the important updates, or you could just keep checking the Avengers fanfiction tab on this site for Steve/Tony.

All links are up on my profile, both Tumblrs along with a category for the Ever Fallen Verse

Love and Rockets,

Emono