Third chapter! This story's making me happy, even if the subject matter was totally depressing. Heh. And I'm not really sure how to get Thor in since I already established that he's in Asgard...I guess I'll figure it out (so sorry Kichi).

And remember, I don't remember the comics, so the background won't match up perfectly or anything.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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Steve can't talk to Tony without bickering about one thing or another, and he can't broach the subject of Howard without the other man abruptly walking away. So when he manages to find him sitting out on the now-repaired balcony, he takes the opportunity to do something he should've done in the beginning.

"Hey," he says, and takes a seat next to him, wondering why this deck doesn't have a rail. "Nice weather, right?"

Tony snickers. "Nice weather?" he repeats. "You need to brush up on your small talk skills, Cap. What do you want to lay on me this time?"

He messed up big time when they first met, and he admits it. "Just...no one told me yet," he says, looking out across the damaged landscape of the reconstructed Manhattan streets. "So, I know you don't want to talk about it, but what happened to Howard?"

"Car crash," Tony answers without pause. "He and my mom were driving down from Massachusetts and swerved out of the way to avoid an accident with another driver. Ended up flipping over the guard rail. But don't worry - the doctors said they died at impact, wouldn't have hurt at all."

For a moment he stays silent, letting the information sink it and trying to remember what his file said. It gave no explicit details, but it gave ages and dates and any other number the government could find to make a death seem unimportant. "You were seventeen, right? A junior in college?" he asks, and Tony nods. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Tony says. "They died. Everyone does. I got over it."

"He was a good man," Steve says because Howard really was, whether his son seems to think so or not. He had his flaws, but everyone does.

"Shit father, though." There's pause and he looks away, down. "You know, they were coming down to get me. It was the first day of spring break and dad just got out of a meeting. Two in fucking afternoon and there's some guy driving down the highway high off his ass on heroine on a Thursday. Really bright day too, like no clouds, hadn't rained in days, but there was oil on the road from some leaking car, so when they went to get out of the way, they slid."

"How -"

"And you know what the really fucked up part is?" he continues. "I was originally going to stay Thursday night so they could pick me up on Friday even if my classes ended the day before because for whatever reason they felt like picking me up rather than let someone else do it. But I got sick in the middle of my last final so my dad cancelled the second half of the meeting to come and get me. All because of a damn stomach virus."

This is not how he expected Howard to go - in a twist of bad luck on a warm spring day with his wife, leaving his son to feel his way through adulthood on his own, already exposed to the spotlight of the media. "It's not your fault," he says because he thinks he's starting to understand Tony, a little.

"Never said it was."

But he did, and that's the point. There are a lot of things Steve doesn't understand about this day and age, but he knows that human nature hasn't changed much and people can say one thing and mean another. "What happened after?" he asks.

Tony glances at him. "What's it to you?"

"I guess I just want to know," he answers, running his fingers through his hair. "Your dad was my friend, and probably the only one I can really find out about."

"I don't know how I can help," he says, "You knew him better than I did." He goes to say something, but Tony continues, "He talked about you sometimes. Said half the comic books were made up because you punched Hitler two hundred times, not just once."

Yeah, well there's always that. "They seriously had me punch Hitler in the comic?" he says, and Tony nods. "That's ridiculous. Last issue or something?"

"Second to last page."

"Sounds about right."

They fall silent for a moment, watching the construction below. In the distance he can see Brooklyn and thinks that from here it really doesn't look all that different from the one he knows. Suddenly, Tony says, "I was considered too young to live on my own and I had a legal guardian so I got stuck with him and to be honest I don't really remember all that much between spring break and graduation a year later when I could go get my own place. Haven't thought about it in a while."

So much for dealing with it, Steve thinks. He also thinks that Tony's lying, but he can't be sure one way or the other. "I'm sorry," he answers automatically because there's nothing else to say.

"Don't be."

Suddenly he feels something a little off about this and can't quite place why because Tony lies way too often for it to bother him and this transcends the awkward conversation. He glances over his shoulder, half-expecting to see something attack or get news from Fury that some natural disaster hit off the coast of some heavily inhabited island or something. When he focuses back, he sees Tony looking up at the sky to where the portal was because Steve horribly misjudged him and knows it. The guilt hits much harder than he would've expected.

"I just got an idea for something," Tony says, but it's not with the same rush as usual. "I'll talk to you later, Cap."

"Wait," Steve says, grabbing his arm when he gets up. "Listen, Tony, your - well, give yourself some credit."

"What're you talking about?" he says, looking a him like he's crazy. "What happened to giving myself too much credit?"

He'd clarify, but he isn't sure what he means either.

"Just think about it," he tells him.

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God, I suck at endings. I know I've complained about it before, but it's true. Review please!

Also, I think I'm going to write a crossover with something because those are always fun (or at least to me).