Old Friends Chapter 14
By: Cadet Deming
I don't own the rights to Captain America or The Avengers, Marvel and Disney do, so please don't sue. Rated T for violence, language, drug references, and implied child abuse and adult situations. Please read and review. It's appreciated.
Steve questioned if he felt any different. He certainly felt relaxed, more relaxed than he could remember in ages. Losing one's virginity was supposed to be a major life milestone or passage into manhood.
Natasha rested her head on his chest. He put his arm around her with instinctive protectiveness. He could smell the remains of her perfume, mixed with her natural scent.
He whispered to her, "Was this…good?'
She purred back. "It was very, very good. I can't believe I was really your first."
He grinned. It sounded like a good reaction. He stretched out between the sheets. They were satin, far more luxurious than he was used to. Some nights he slept on his own floor.
Steve said, "If you don't mind me asking, how many men have you…"
She cocked an eyebrow. "How any men have I been with? Those are dangerous waters to swim through."
He cleared his throat. "I was going to ask, how many men have you slept with that you ended up killing?"
She sat up next to him, pulling the bed sheet to cover herself with. It felt like a barrier between them.
Natasha said, "Do you really want to know?"
"In order to have total trust, we have to have honesty with each other."
She dropped the sheet. "Nine."
He processed that. He couldn't imagine having to kill a woman under those circumstances. It was one of the multiple reasons he couldn't be a spy.
"How many men have you been with that you cared about?"
She squeezed his knee. "Five. Including you."
Admitting she cared about him was another good sign. For all of the things she had said over the previous night, she still hadn't uttered, "I love you."
She nestled against him.
He said, "So the spare toothbrush you loaned me, should I take it back, or should I leave it here?"
"You may as well leave it here. In the future when we have dinner together, could you go easy on the garlic?"
He realized he made a dating faux pas. "Of course."
She said, "The top drawer on the right over there is empty, if you want to leave a change of clothes or anything."
Steve would have to check with Sam, but he assumed a woman giving a drawer to a man was a big deal. Then he realized why the drawer was empty.
He asked, "It was Clint's drawer, wasn't it?"
She said, "Yes. I guess I'm giving you permission to mark your territory."
"I'm trying not to make an arrow joke."
She kissed him and they drifted off to sleep. They shared breakfast, and he drove his motorcycle to the address Tony had given him. He didn't like having to separate from Natasha.
He entered the office and gave his name to the receptionist. There was only one other man waiting in the reception area. He wore a black blazer with a black t-shirt underneath. The t-shirt had a red stripe in the shape of a "W" across the chest.
Steve froze when he saw the man's face. He had only seen part of the Grim Reaper's face, but the man in front of him had the exact same jawline.
He tensed for a fight, but he man looked up at Steve with no sign of malice. He flashed him a welcoming smile.
"Are you Captain America?"
Steve said warily. "Yes. Do I know you?"
The man held out his right hand. It was a fully formed human hand, definitely not a metal scythe.
"I'm Simon Williams. You probably heard of me because I was on a season of The Bachelor."
Steve shook his hand. His grip was warm but strong.
He said, "I haven't seen it, but my girlfriend loves that show."
It felt natural to call Nat his girlfriend. He liked the title.
Simon said, "I'd like to thank you for what you did to stop HYDRA."
Steve tried to be modest. "You're welcome. I was just doing my duty as a soldier."
Simon looked serious. "I was one of the people targeted by the Project Insight Helicarriers. You saved my life."
Steve said, "I have to admit, I haven't read through the whole list of 25 million people. Why would HYDRA target a reality show star? I could see them wanting to kill the cast of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but a Bachelor contestant?"
"I'm also the President of Williams Innovations. We're the leading developers of ionic energy. Plus I donate a lot of money to pacifist and anti-war causes."
Steve frowned. He wondered how many innocent men, women and children had been targeted for cold-blooded murder because HYDRA had assumed they "might" be a threat to their totalitarian fascism.
Steve said, "I'm glad I could help. Why are you meeting with Tony Stark?"
Simon glanced away as if in shame. "I'd tell you, but it would be considered insider trading."
Tony poked his head out of his office, "Hey Steve. I'll be with you in 5 minutes. Come on in Simon."
Simon frowned, "I thought we were scheduled for a full hour meeting."
Tony shrugged nonchalantly, "I'll be done in 5 minutes tops."
Simon stood up and said to Steve, "It's been wonderful meeting you."
"It's been nice meeting you, too."
Simon walked to Tony's office as if he was going to his own funeral.
Steve looked through the pile of magazines. The top was a Time Magazine with a picture of Tony and the caption: "Has Iron Man Really Retired?" He picked up a GQ with another cover shot of Tony: "Tony Stark: Our Man of the Year!" The magazine on the bottom was an US Weekly. Angeline Jolie and Brad Pitt were on the cover, but a side caption had a smaller picture of Tony: "Has Tony Stark finally settled down with Pepper Potts?"
Steve checked the dates on the magazines. They were all older. Tony must be keeping them around just for ego.
Steve sighed. He would hate to be on the cover of any magazine, let alone horde them months after they came out.
Muffled shouting came from behind the office door. It sounded like arguing. Steve could make out voices, but not words.
Five minutes after the meeting began, Simon Williams stormed out.
Tony said, "I'll have my lawyers draw up the paperwork for you!"
Simon grumbled, "Don't do me any favors."
After he left, Tony said, "Come on in. Thanks for stopping by on short notice. Do you want a drink?"
"I'll have coffee."
"Coffee isn't a real drink. Unless it's Irish Coffee."
"Fine. Make it Irish."
Steve was curious about what happened with Simon, but didn't want to pry into other people's business. Tony had such a big mouth, if he asked he'd probably tell him.
Tony handed him coffee and poured himself a brandy.
He said, "Can I start by saying I was never a fan of SHIELD? I was anti-SHIELD from the beginning. I know my father helped start it, but I always mistrusted them. I'm always right."
Steve had gotten along very well with Tony's father Howard back in the 1940's. He had helped with the project that made Steve into a Super Soldier. Howard had Tony's intellect and bravery, but far less narcissism and a longer attention span.
Steve said, "Well, no one is always right, except for God. We can say hindsight is 20-20 but what's more important is how we handle the fallout."
"Exactly. It's why I've been privatizing world security. I've been putting a team back together. Bruce Banner joined me first. Clint Barton is working for me. I can't get in touch with Thor, what with the whole alien-God thing. The only ones left are you and Natasha."
Steve swallowed. The thought of working with Clint seemed awkward.
He said, "Clint Barton is back in town?"
"He's leading things on the West Coast. I'm trying to have the Avengers work out of Los Angeles, because New York…it's been done to death. I don't feel safe there."
Steve felt relieved. "I'll think about it. Natasha and I are still both busy chasing after HYDRA leads here in Washington. And I'm trying to keep an eye on Bucky. They're supposed to rule soon on if he's fit to stand trial."
Tony cocked his head. "Yeah. About that. I wanted to ask you about Bucky. You know he killed my parents."
Steve said, "I'm sorry about that. I believe he was forced to. I knew him for decades. He's a good man."
Tony finished his drink and sighed loudly. He pressed his hand to his forehead.
He said, "Trust is a big deal. I get that. That's been the hardest thing of all about HYDRA: learning we can't trust the people we thought we could. Have you ever heard of a man named Obadiah Stane?"
Steve shook his head.
Tony said, "He was like a second father to me. Actually, he was like a first father, since my own dad had questionable parenting skills and died…let me rephrase that…was assassinated when I was so young. I thought he was my friend and mentor. He even brought me pizza from New York. Then he turned around and hired terrorists to kidnap and kill me, stole my ideas out from under me, had me declared too mentally unstable to run my own company, and tried to use an Iron Man rip-off suit to kill me directly. I know betrayal and it f #$%^g hurts. But you have to see the world as it really is. Bucky may not be the great friend you want to think he is."
Steve counted up the times Tony said "me" but didn't comment. He put his coffee down on the desk.
Steve said, "You don't know Bucky like I do. I'm staking my integrity he was forced. It wasn't him, it was HYDRA."
Tony threw his empty glass into a wall and shouted, "It was bad enough he killed my father, but why did he have to kill my mother too?! Did he have to kill women and children?"
Steve thought about all of the men, women and even children on HYDRA's list, people like Simon Williams, teenagers, people who shouldn't be a threat.
Steve said, "It's human nature for people to want to blame one person for things. But Bucky isn't the target, HYDRA is."
Tony said, "Sorry, but I just can't share your dated 1940's naivety."
"Do you not want me on your West Coast Avengers squad then?"
Tony shrugged. "I don't see eye to eye with you, but I'd still want to be able to call on you."
Steve said, "How about, you have Stark Industries create a new flight suit for my friend Sam, and you can call on me in an emergency?"
Tony said, "It sounds like a fair deal."
They shook hands.
Tony said, "For what it's worth, I hope I'm wrong about Bucky. I hope it's the exception to me being right all of the time"
"I hope you're wrong too."
To be continued.
Author's Note: Simon Williams is another Marvel comics character.