Title: Timelines
Author: Quietshade
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Eventual Steve/Tony, Tony/Pepper, past Steve/Peggy, Howard/Maria, Clint/Natasha, Thor/Jane.
Universe: Movieverse (Earth-199999)
Warning: Slash, M/M, Strong Language, World War II topics.
Disclaimer: All Marvel characters and reference belong to them not to me.
Summary: Tony is a man of the future who can't manage to accept his past and Steve is a man of the past who have a hard time accepting his future because of this they understand each other and help one another come in terms with their times.
AN: I finished this chapter ages ago but I didn't want to publish it before it was check by the Beta. Sadly due to some mishaps, I hadn't been able to put the story up to date with the beta and I decided to publish it now because of public pressure. ¬¬ So this chapter will go unbetaed for now. Also Thanks to everyone who reviewed and supported the story. you're great guys.
Timelines
Chapter eight
He had meet Lt. Colonel James Rhodes once before, it was a few weeks after they stopped Loki. The man had come to N.Y. to pay Tony a visit and stayed at the city for a few days. It was on the second day that Steve met him when Stark brought him to S.H.I.E.L.D. to meet his new team.
Just as it was to expect the Lt. Colonel behaved like a soldier of his rank, too polite, too concise. Steve couldn't help but find this disappointing. Ever since waking up everyone had been far too polite to him, even those who out ranked him. They all behaved as if he was a legend that they ought to admire and respect no matter what outrageous thing he might say. Sometimes this frustrated him to the point he wanted to hit something until he couldn't think of anything at all. He would never have thought that he would find himself missing the rude manners of his fellow soldiers.
Something that did struck Steve as remarkable was Rhodes's ability to keep up with Tony. He was one of the few persons Steve knew that could stand Stark for more than ten minutes. They bickered like an old married couple but the affection underneath the harsh words was present. Also he was one of the few persons Tony listened to, at least to some extent.
They reminded him a lot of Bucky and himself. That was probably why even if he told himself that he was being stupid; he couldn't help the rush of jealously that invaded him the moment they opened the door to Tony's Malibu house and the engineer rushed to his friend for an affective awkward hug. What he couldn't tell for sure was if the feeling came from seeing something that he had lost and would never have back. Or if it came from the fear that like he had liked Bucky, Tony might be carrying a secret torch for Rhodes too. It probably didn't help that they both were named James.
"Jim." The engineer said as he tightened his bone crushing hug when the soldier tried to push him away. "I missed you buddy."
The Lt. Colonel sighed and patted the dark haired man's head. "There, I missed you too. Now get off me so I can greet the Captain."
Tony looked back at him with his eyes. As if he was secretly accusing Steve of stealing his best friend's attention from him. The blond soldier swallowed trying to keep how awkward he was feeling from showing on his face.
James saluted him as soon as Tony got off him and Steve answered with a salute of his own. "It is a pleasure to see you again Captain Rogers."
"The pleasure is mine Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes." The darker man smiled and waved a hand at him.
"Drop the honorary. I grew up reading your comics. You don't know the honor it is to be able to meet Captain America." Being treated as a national icon was one of the things that he was yet to adjust to. Back in his days he had been more of a popular stunt than a national hero. He supposed it all started after he was frozen. Thanks to his last battle and sacrifice.
Still he wasn't feeling any more special than what he felt while he still was scrawny and sickly Rogers.
"I-" He stopped midsentence not knowing how to answer to the soldier's flattery. To his relief he didn't need to continue when the engineer decided to butt in.
"Come on you can befriend each other later." He walked around Rhodes and pushed him towards the stairs. "Now you need to show me the suit. I hope your good for nothing mechanics hadn't been messing too much with it. Last time I upgraded it I had a hard time undoing their work."
Rhodes looked back at him with an apologetic look but he didn't do anything to stop the shorter man from pushing him. Steve smiled lightly and followed them downstairs into a workshop that was a lot like the one back at the mansion.
The War Machine armor was already there waiting patiently for its master and creator.
The blond soldier walked toward it to inspect it closely. He learned the story behind the armor when he read Tony's file. It was unquestionably the same design behind the Iron Man armor, but at the same time it looked so different from the powerful and elegant suit Tony used. The name suited it as it resembled more a weapon than its red and gold counterpart.
"You like it?" He looked to his side to find James looking proudly at the armor.
"It is…" He frowned and struggled to find a fitting word. "Bulky."
"It is powerful." Rhodes countered not looking pleased by the Captain choose of word.
"Larger doesn't always mean stronger." A chuckle exploded from behind them and they both turned around to look at Tony.
"A point for the captain. I have to give you more credit. I underestimated your sense of taste, you know with the wings and all that." He tried not to be offended by Tony's comment, knowing that the engineer was trying to annoy him.
"They are a metaphor. They represent liberty." Tony gave him a mocking smile as an answer.
"I thought as much, but that doesn't make them any less silly."
"Hey, hey big boy, play nice will ya?" Rhodey scolded and Tony shrugged nonchalantly.
"What I mean is that Steve is right. Putting more weapons on the armor won't make it stronger. You have to take into account a bunch of other features, but sadly you guys seem to think along the line of the more the merrier." Rhodes frowned at that and Steve tried hard to hide his smile because he knew Tony was right.
"Oh come on, you know my armor could beat yours anytime." Tony grinned and sniffed the air.
"Do I smell a challenge? Are you sure it's wise to bet on that? Even knowing that I created them?" This time it was the lieutenant colonel who shrugged.
"Of course I'm sure. As if you could beat me with those horrible fighting skills of yours. You should try doing something about them." At that point Steve wasn't even trying to hide his smile.
"What? There's nothing wrong with my fighting skills." Rhodey snorted, clearly not agreeing with the engineer. "I'm a capable fighter. Tell him Steve."
The blond blinked slowly at his teammate. He wasn't sure if Tony was serious about the matter. "Actually I've been considering asking you to train your hand to hand skills. You seem to be lacking on close combat." Tony gave him a blank look and Rhodes laughed hard.
"Oh, I get it." The engineer narrowed his eyes and looked from Steve to Rhodey. "That's not fair. Soldiers teaming up to beat the engineer is not fair at all." Rhodey chuckled and patted Tony's shoulder lightly.
"Now you're just coming up with conspiracies." Tony smiled up at him and the look the Lieutenant Colonel gave him in return made Steve's chest hurt.
The earnest look in the older soldier's eyes was one Steve was really familiar with. He had seen it countless of times on Bucky's owns eyes. It was a look that was meant only for the one person you could thrust your soul to.
For a moment time stopped for him and a cold tremor ran his body. Thanks to the serum, he could remember every single moment in which he had seen that look on Bucky's eye. Those joyfully bitter moments that would never come back. Moments of a time that was no longer his and of people he would never see again.
He felt his hands tremble on his side and he closed them tightly, trying to push aside the unwelcomed memories.
Something on his face must have given him away, because the next thing he felt was the light touch of Tony's hand on his shoulder. He met the engineer's gaze and was surprised by the softness in his eyes. There was some kind of thoughtful loneliness in them that remind him so much of the engineer. Even so it was the wearied sad smile that the shorter man gave him which made his hands twitch with the urge to touch him.
"Why don't you two go out and see the city? It'll take me some hours to upgrade the armor." Tony's tone was hesitant and low as if he feared that Steve would break if he was to speak any louder.
James cleared his throat and the blond looked at him. He had a strange look on his face, something between recognition and worry which Steve failed to place. "I would be glad to show the Captain around but first…" He directed his look from Steve to Tony. "I want to know why you called me."
Tony grimaced slightly, obviously not wanting to have that conversation yet.
The dark haired engineer sighed heavily not even bothering to hide his discontent. "Sit down. This is going to be long." The darker soldier put a face that leaved no doubt that he was already having a bad feeling about the conversation. "Do you remember that I was kidnapped… five, six…"
Tony looked at Steve and after a few second the soldier understood what Tony meant. "Twelve days ago." He answered while shaking his head in disbelieve at his teammate's memory.
"Yeah, twelve days ago."
"As if I could forget it, you on the other hand, completely forgot to inform your best friend that you were kidnapped. I had to learn it from Pepper seven days ago." The engineer chuckled sheepishly.
"Well I was kind of busy, dealing with the aftermath." That didn't take the impassive face from Rhodes and Tony sighed in defeat. "To the point. It seems that this kidnapping wasn't done for the ransom or to get the Iron man suit. In fact it seems this time it has more to do about the government and my dad."
That seemed to get the darker soldier's attention. His face turned from slightly annoyed to plainly curious. "So tell me. What do the government and your dad have to do with your kidnapping?"
Tony sighed again and started explaining their short but eventful journey to the truth. He went from everything that happened from the moment he was kidnapped to the moment they formulated the plan to get information from HYDRA.
"Ok, let's see if I get this right." Rhodes started after a moment of silence. "You believe that you were kidnapped by HYDRA, the same Nazi organization that almost seized the world on WWII. Organization which is supposedly not only still running but is the responsible for your father's death, a man who happened to be one of the most important and secured men of his time. You also believe that they kidnapped you because they want your knowledge of a cube which your father found and researched for over forty years. Cube which is now in possession of an crazy Nordic god and of which you didn't know of its existence until twelve days ago but still believe has the power to change the world. Overall, the government know of all this and is for some reason trying to hide the truth."
It might have been the tone in which he said it or how he said it but hearing it coming from the other soldier's mouth made it sound unreal, silly even.
"You got that right." Tony answered, seemingly unfazed by his friend's sardonic tone.
"You are insane." answered the older soldier with the most stunned tone he could muster.
"Look Rhodey I know this is bizarre. We are missing a lot of details here and we are for most part just guessing but I can swear you that we aren't joking. Something happened and whether you help us or not we are going to find the truth."
The darker soldier looked at his childhood friend for a while. His eyes roamed over his friend's face as if searching for any reason to doubt him. "You are being serious." he said at least, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. "How come every time you are kidnapped you get in some serious shit?" Tony shrugged apologetically.
"We should go over the plan." Steve intervened after a long while of just watching them interact.
"I'll hardly call that a plan. It is more a -let Stark get kidnapped and let's see what we get of it- thing." Tony grunted at that and Steve couldn't help but silently agreed with the fellow soldier. "Did you really agree to it?"
The blond sighed not looking very pleased. "I tried to talk him out of it but he can be quite obstinate."
Rhodes nodded in agreement. "I know how he can get."
"Stop talking about him as if he wasn't here." Tony said his tone torn between playful and annoyed. Rhodey looked at him pointedly, eyes narrowed slightly.
"Do you truly believe this is a good plan Tony?" The engineer looked aside, eyes wandering on the War Machine armor. "You have no information of the enemy and you are willing to walk right into their trap. If your theories are right, you are the most important piece of this game and you know better than handing the king to the enemy."
"You are not going to win me over with Chess metaphors. Sometimes you have to expose the king in order to beat the enemy." He answered calmly with a monotonic voice.
"That assuming that you know the enemies movements and pieces, neither of which you know. This is plainly suicide."
Tony sighed looking slightly annoyed. "I now the risks Rhodey, you don't have to do the math for me. This is the best we have."
The older soldier closed his eyes for a moment, either trying to relax or thinking. "If you want this to work we'll have to come up with a better strategy. How many men do we count with?"
"Just, the three of us." Rhodes frowned at the Captain's answer.
"And JARVIS the A.I. and Happy." Tony added but his companions didn't spare him a glance.
"What about the others Avengers?" Steve was expecting that question soon or later.
"Natasha and Clint are part of S.H.I.E.L.D, organization which we are trying to avoid. We could ask Bruce but The Hulk isn't exactly good for when you are trying to go unnoticed and we are trying not to involve Thor or any of Asgard in this."
"This is worse than suicide. Is there any advantage on our side at all?"
"If we work this right we will have the surprise factor." Steve answered sullenly.
"And there's the fact that they want me alive." Neither soldiers acknowledged Tony's statement.
"That's not quite enough." Rhodes said to the Captain's answer.
"By experience I know it can make the difference. That's how we beat HYDRA last time."
"Of course, just ignore the genius." Steve saw Tony poking the War machine armor from the corner of his eyes. He was pretty sure the shorter man was close to pouting.
"That it worked once doesn't mean it will work again. This is not the same HYDRA as before. We will need a card under our sleeves."Rhodey looked at Tony with a small frown. "I wish the suits were compact enough to wear them under the clothes."
"It's funny that you mention it. I might have been working on a way to absorb the metal into the bones." Both soldiers now looked surprised at that.
"How is that coming?" Rhodey asked at the same time Steve asked "Is that even possible?"
The genius returned to poking the armor and muttered something along the line of "Problems with the software." and "Now you hear the genius."
The Lt. Colonel shook his head. "Do we even know where we will be operating?"
"Not yet, I'm going over those details with Pepper tonight."
"Does Pepper know she is helping get you kidnapped?" Tony's lack of answer was all his friend needed. "She will kill us, you know."
"Hardly." Tony walked over his working table and picked up his goggles. "Look, I'll check the armor now. You two go have fun. We can go over the details tomorrow."
Rhodey nodded reluctantly, knowing better than trying to convince him otherwise. "Try not to blow yourself." Steve frowned at that and was about to ask if that had happened before but the darker soldier grabbed his arm and started dragging him out of the workshop before he could speak. "Come on Captain. Let's leave doctor Frankenbot with his creations." From behind them the engineer echoed an evil laugh as an answer to his friend's mocking.
Steve looked back with an impassive face. How smart was to leave him alone? What if he was kidnapped when they were gone?
"Don't worry, he'll be alright. JARVIS is keeping an eye on him. Beside he has the suit and an emergency button if anything happens." Steve frowned and Rhodey chuckled. How did he know what he was thinking? "You wear your emotions on your sleeve Captain and I'm used to dealing with -Stark level- poker faces."
"Oh." He looked back for the last time. He felt more reassured knowing that they wouldn't be leaving Tony defenseless. "Where are we going?"
The darker man smiled at him. "I know a nice Jazz club nearby. I'm sure you will like it."
"A Jazz club?" He let a smile slip, remembering one time when he had gone with Bucky on a double date to a Jazz club. "I thought people didn't hear Jazz anymore."
Rhodey grimaced. "I bet that's what Tony said. Don't let Tony give you music advices. You won't enjoy them." Rhodey turned around walking for the closet. "Come on. We can talk about music on the way."
The Jazz club had been a great option. Steve loved it the moment they got there. It wasn't exactly like the Jazz Clubs he had gone to before. But it still got the same rich relaxing aura that made him want to never leave and the familiar tune of music that made him recall some precious moments of his life. To make it better, it was filled with an exquisite collection of art which the soldier promised to observe later. Beside the futuristic add on wasn't unwelcomed.
He was delighted when not so long after they arrived, a song he was familiar with started. He hummed on time with the music and found his head following the rhythm. James noticed it and smiled at him.
"Nice to see you are enjoy it."
"It makes me feel at home." He admitted, because in a sense he felt as if he was back at the past and yet still on the future, like a place out of time. It was a place proper of him, of a man as misplaced as him.
"I'm glad to hear that. I thought you would like the place." Rhodes smiled at him and he returned the gesture with a smile of his own.
The darker soldier ordered a drink, one of those with strange names of which Steve had never heard of and was sure that cost more than any alcohol he had ever have before. His companion asked him if he wanted a drink of his own and Steve politely declined. He instead asked for a bottle of water.
For a long while no more words were exchanged, instead they let the music fills the space. However there were many questions roaming in the captain's mind. There were so many things he wanted to ask the soldier and he recognized an opportunity when it knocked his door.
"You have known Tony for a while, don't you?" The addressed man looked at him and nodded with a sober face.
"My father was Howard Stark's private pilot. I've been seeing Tony since he was teething."
Steve hesitated before asking his next question. "How was he when he was a child?"
James smiled became somewhat bitter and nostalgic after Steve's question. "In front or behind of the cameras?" Before Steve could answer the man waved a hand at him. "As strange as it sound, I'm not used to being asked about Tony's childhood."
The physically older soldier looked away into the distance, eyes narrowing as if trying to recall a distant memory.
"Not many people ask about his childhood. Not because they are not interested but because they believe they know all about it. After all he grew up under the camera, for him there had never been such a thing as private life." The soldier stopped and drank the liquid from his glass in a long and single gulp. "I heard you used to be Howard Stark's friend?"
Steve nodded silently, for some reason not finding in him the courage to interrupt his companion's speech.
"I understand that you were friends and I'm going to make this clear. Not even in the battlefield fighting against men that were ready to take my life or in the cells being tortured have I ever feel hatred as strong as the one I feel for Howard Stark." Suddenly the room didn't felt as warm and welcome as before. "Don't get me wrong. I respect him for every accomplishment and good he ever brought to this country, but he was a horrible person." He stopped to ask the waitress for another glass and as soon as it was in front of him he swallowed it. Although this time he did it slower than before.
A silence fell over them for a while. To Steve it felt as the silence before a storm and the look on Rhodes face, one on deeply thought and unease, told him that he probably wasn't far from the truth.
"I remember one winter when I was around eight and Tony around five. It was one of the coldest winter I have ever seen and the coldest I had lived at the time. I don't remember why my father took me to the Stark manor that day, but I remember the bored expression on Tony's face as he looked outside at the falling snow. They wouldn't let him out he told me." James cracked a smiled at that moment. "Tony has always been one for adventures regardless of consequence and he somehow convinced me to escape and go out to play with him. I must say that Howard wasn't happy when he found us all wet and shivering. I didn't see Tony for a week after that and when I saw him again it was for the Christmas party that Howard Stark held for his staff and their family. I don't remember much about that night, but I'm sure I won't ever forget Tony's pale yet flushed face as he tried to talk to me past his coughing. Or the moment he blanked out and fell face first over the floor because of a high fever. Or the moment Howard Stark appeared in front of us and yanked his son upright with one of the coldest eyes I have ever seen. Tony had been sick since the day we go out and all Howard told him was –Stop embarrassing me –. I think that was the day I started hating that man."
Steve winced at the image, not really being able to place the man his companion was describing with the man he used to know, or even the man Peggy had told him about. It was as if the Howard Stark, Rhodes was speaking of was a totally different person from the one he had so far heard about.
"Howard wasn't a bad person. I might not have been around to see how he turned out but the Howard I was friend with was a good man. He might have been eccentric but he was always trying to do the right thing." The smile James gave him was probably too pitiful and sad to be called a smile.
"People change Captain." Steve looked at the bottle of water in front of him feeling sick.
They let the silence reign once more. Steve kept his gaze down, watching as the colorful lights reflected on the surface of his water and thinking about all the time he had spent with his old rich genius friend. He couldn't find a way to explain to himself how someone he had admired so much could turn into such a cold and heartless person.
"Back in the war I saw how far humans could go in the name of petty things like religion, politics, and race. People change I know, but I don't believe that people can hide their nature and I have seen the eyes of many awful men. Believe me when I say that Howard Stark was a man to respect and admire." because deep in his dreams when they weren't plagued by death and cold, he could still see the eyes of his friends and the softness around the harshness they have acquired during the war. "His eyes were those of a good man."
"I wish I could believe you Captain." Steve knew he was being sincere because of the honesty on his face and Steve for a moment seriously hoped that he was right.
Rhodes looked ready to drop the conversation and was about to be drown by the music. But there was still one more question he needed to ask before the conversation ended.
"Has he changed?" James looked at him confused. "Tony, has he changed too?"
Finally the soldier smiled openly again. "He still is, for the most part, the child that was too stupid to be a genius and couldn't take no for an answer. But time takes a toll on us all Captain and Tony hasn't been the exception to that rule." His smile began to twist until it turned into a frown. "If anything has changed… is how often he lies."
That was something Steve had not been expecting. He was pretty sure that his companion meant more than the obvious with that last sentences, but he was most likely lacking the context to make something out of it. He stared at Rhodes searching for an answer on his face to find none. After a moment in which the darker man didn't continue, Steve assumed he wasn't going to spill anything else.
"Thanks, for answering." he said earnestly.
"Let's get one more thing clear Rogers." He was a little bit startled when his companion addressed him, because it was the first time he hadn't used the rank tittle. "The only reason I'm telling you this is because I believe that consciously or not Tony considers you worthy enough of his trust. God knows he needs more people to take care of him. Nevertheless I will hunt you down to hell if he ever gets hurt because of you."
"Don't worry. I don't plan on hurting him." he answered hurriedly, startled by the accusation.
The other soldier clasped a hand on his shoulder. "You better keep that word."
He knew he should have been working on the War Machine armor like he said he was going to. He should had call Pepper and go over the expo details too. There were so many things he should had done instead of lying on the workshop's floor looking at the uninteresting ceiling, but he had too much in mind to work.
Despite his confidence over his plan, he was having a bad feeling about the situation. He felt as if he was missing a piece. Something so obvious that it made him want to scream. He grunted in annoyance and rubbed his forehead tiredly. If there was something he wasn't seeing in the picture, the plan could go horribly wrong and he couldn't allow himself to send Rhodey and Steve to a suicide mission.
He heard the door to the workshop open and he let his head fall to his side, so he could look at the intruder. He saw Rhodey making his way toward him, with a pace of a mildly drunk man. He smiled when his childhood friend sat beside him on the floor.
"You look like you had fun." The soldier shook his head clumsily and lay down next to Tony.
"I thought you were going to work on the armor." His speech was a little bit slurred, confirming the engineer's suspect.
"Had something else on mind." He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the problem in hand. "Where's Steve?"
"Up in his room Sleeping." He nodded and then remembered that Rhodey wasn't looking at him either.
"Alright." He heard Rhodey moving for a moment.
"What's up between you and Rogers?" His eyes snapped open and a cold tremor ran his body. For a few seconds he couldn't move as panic started to build in his guts.
"What's up with Steve and me?" He said as casually as he could, hoping that playing the dumb would get him out.
"Are you really going to play that game with me Tony?" He looked at his side slowly, meeting the soldier's gaze. He had moved to lie on his side and was looking at Tony with a sobriety he hadn't show some moments before. "Have you forgotten I was the one to endure your whining over Tiberius Stone and Sunset Bain?"
Tony grimaced. His panic was starting to grow out of control, to the point he was sure of being at the verge of a panic attack. "It wasn't like that with Ty."
"That's what you say, but I'm pretty sure I saw him with his tongue deep down your throat once." Rhodey expression changed to one of disgust and the engineer felt his blood freezing. "He also had his hand somewhere I don't want to think about."
He swallowed hard and he looked down at anything but his childhood friend. He had never told Rhodey that he liked men and he had been sure he had made a good job hiding it from the soldier. He slightly remembered some embarrassing moments on his life in which he had been mocked because of his sexuality and he remembered Ty threatening of telling Rhodey of his humiliating secret more than once.
"I'm sorry." He answered almost ashamed.
"Oh no, don't you dare do this on me." Rough fingers grabbed his face a little too strong and he was forced to look directly at his friend's eyes. "I don't fucking care if you like men. If I had cared we wouldn't still be friends. Do you get that?" He nodded slowly, some of the panic leaving him. "Now, what's up between you and Rogers?"
He tried to look away but Rhodey hand held him firmly. "Is just a crush…" he whispered quickly, word stuttering as if he had been the drunken one. "Leave me alone Rhodes."
He tried to force himself free but that only made the soldier tightened his grip. He was really drunk because he was grabbing Tony hard enough to hurt and Rhodey had always been cautious about using his strength to force people. "Is this a childhood hero worship thing?"
"Yes." he said too quickly and Rhodey frowned not believing him. "No… " He admitted and then gulped trying to ease the knot in his throat. "It is not Captain America, it is Steve Rogers." He closed his eyes feeling purely embarrassed for the first time in a long while. The soldier finally let go of his face.
"What will you do about it?" He opened his eyes to see Rhodey worried gaze instead of the disappointed one he had expected to find.
"There's nothing to do about it. As much as I like pretending I can't exactly erase emotions." his voice sounded more broken and anxious that he wanted to admit. He looked away trying to escape his friend's piercing gaze.
"What about Pepper?"
"What about Pepper? You know I love her." he answered distressed.
"So you're choosing her?" there was a hint of doubt in the soldier voice and Tony looked at him perplexed.
"Choose? There's nothing to choose Rhodey. Pepper and I are dating, and Steve is hopelessly in love with a woman who is 70 years older than him. Tell me Jim, what's there to choose?"
To the engineer's surprise his friend's answer was a fit of laugh. The soldier was laughing so hard that he was clutching his stomach and his eyes were watering. All he could think about was that his friend had lost it for good.
"What's so funny?" he asked annoyed.
"You of course." The soldier answered when he managed to stop laughing. "God I can't believe you. And here they say I'm the oblivious one." He frowned at his friend's comment but before he could ask, the Lt. Colonel was clumsily standing from the floor. "Just promise me you won't do anything stupid or rush on things." More than a request it was a command, and to make his point the soldier walked toward the exit without waiting for an answer. "By the way, I never liked Stone. He was an asshole." After that he leaved without another word.
Tony sighed at the Lieutenant Coronel's antics. He knew better than trying to make sense of his friend's drunken rambling. He stood from the floor and walked toward the armor, wanting badly to take his head off that last conversation.
Instead of the big expo he had planned, they ended doing a small conference, because Steve insisted on involving as less civilians as possible. Organizing everything had been fairly easy and Pepper didn't suspect a thing. She had immediately agreed to the conference, saying it was a great idea to introduce clean sustainable energy to the world.
That's how he found himself standing in front of fifty-five persons. Most of them were world leading scientists, some of them were engineers and a few other were reporters. The plan didn't change much from Tony's original idea but they took some extra precautions. Many of the members of Stark Industries security team were spread along the conference room, some of them dressed as civilians to dissimulate, in case things got out of hand.
Rhodey and Steve were already suited up waiting for the signal on a building nearby. He on the other hand was there standing in front of all those people, bored to dead and wishing to be kidnapped. He tried to hide his displease as he explained a chart about the energy output and useful life of the Arc Reactor.
When the conference ended without incidents, the engineer didn't know if to be relieved or disappointed. He sighed and waited for the room to be slightly unoccupied to make his way to the exit. On his way out many people congratulated him and tried to talk him into contracts, but he dismissed them as soon as he could. until a smooth looking blond caught his gaze.
The man was a few inches taller than him, around 5'10" tall. He got a charming smile and piercing cold blue eyes. He was build up, not like Steve or Thor but enough for him to know that the man engaged in exercise regularly. There was something unusual on the man, apart from the fact that he wasn't American, most likely from north or central Europe.
Tony shrugged off his uneasiness when the man started walking toward him, with a smile that only seemed to get wider.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Stark." The blond said with a heavy German accent. The blond extended his hand to him and Tony eyed him for a moment before accepting the hand. "Helmut Schneider, a great admirer of both your work as a hero and as an engineer."
Tony stood there staring at the man's strikingly blue eyes. They weren't as amazing as Steve's, but there was something appealing, with a hint of smut and dark on them. He cleared his throat, feeling slightly embarrassed for staring at the guy so openly. "Thanks, I'm always glad to be of service."
The man smile brightened a little more. "I must congratulate you for your demonstration today. It was quite fascinating, a few years ago no one believed that effective sustainable energy could be so near."
"A few years ago not even I believed it." Nor did he believe the fact that he would become a super hero someday. Or that he would meet a god or a man who had been frozen for 70 years, but life had shown him better.
"That is what makes it so fascinating. Not to mention the mind behind it." Tony smiled lightly at the compliment. "I myself am part of the energy industry. Not anything as fancy as your work, mind me."
He didn't know why the way the man kept complimenting him suddenly made him feel self-conscious and small. He blamed it on the cold piercing eyes, he somehow felt as if he was being judge by someone whom could see right through him and his lies. He felt as if the man was mocking him, telling him that he knew Tony's true worth.
"You give me too much credit." He said slowly, not knowing why he was being so honest. "I wasn't the only one who made this possible. My father worked on it years before I was born."
"Oh, but not even him managed to accomplish what you did. Your intellect surpasses him, or so they say." The man's smile turned somehow warmer and sweet. "Give yourself a little more credit."
For some reason he started to sweat and his heart speed up. He felt overwhelmed by the man, he felt petite. Only two people had ever managed to make him feel so small and helpless, his father and Ty. While the German resembled the later slightly, there was no reason for him to feel threatened. Not when it have been so long since he had felt like that.
"I might have something that will interest you." The blond said suddenly and he handed Tony a folder he hadn't noticed before. "I did say I was involved in the energy industry."
Tony nodded slowly and took the folder from the blond man's hands. He tried not to think too much about the fact that that in another occasion he would have commented about his dislike to being handed things.
It cost him more than it should have to take his gaze away from the German. He studied the folder's content slowly. For a moment he managed to block everything around him and the overwhelming feelings he had some moments before left him. When he finished he closed the folder and handed it back to the foreigner.
The moment he looked back at the man, the suffocating feeling he was dealing with some moments before came back with much more intensity. He gulped trying to ease the ticklish sensation on his skin. "It's not exactly my area of expertise, nuclear energy that's it. But you are right when you say it interest me, particularly the part that talks about gamma radiation."
The man looked pleased at Tony's answer. "I'm glad that it's of your like. Perhaps…" He looked around before leaning close to Tony. Close enough for him to be able to smell the faint essence of the man's odd smelling cologne. The nauseatingly sweet smell only helped making him feel worse. "We should continue this conversation somewhere else on another time. Perhaps somewhere more private." The last sentence was a whisper only meant for Tony's ears and it sent a cold shiver through his body that made his knees goes weak. The man grabbed his slightly shaking hand at the same time he took a pen from his shirt's pocket. He wrote his phone number on the engineer's hand with a precise and clear letter, before he finally stepped away. "Feel free to contact me at any time. I assure you that I'll have things far more interesting than this next time." The blond made a small reverence. "Have a nice day Mr. Stark."
Tony watched stunned the man's back as he retreated from the room. He stood there for a moment, wondering what the hell had happened and letting the overwhelming feelings wash away.
Somehow he knew that he would be seeing the guy again.
When he left the building and finally reunited with Steve and Rhodey again, the later was looking annoyed, but the engineer could see the relief in his body. His friend had never been reserved about his opinion and he immediately started complaining about the waste of time, telling Tony that he should try to spend more time sleeping and less time formulating conspiracies. He shrugged off Rhodey's comment and tried to keep his mind away from the strange German from before.
Steve in contraposition to Rhodey, was being far too quiet. He seemed lost in thoughts looking at the distance, with a small frown.
"You ok, Captain?" He asked interrupting Rhodey endless speech. The question seemed to get the attention of both soldiers. Rhodey finally stopped talking and looked at Steve with a frown of his own, while Steve looked at him surprised as if he had just noticed Tony's presence.
"Yes, just thinking." He smiled at Tony shyly, apparently trying to reassure him. "Come on, let's go home."
The blond Captain put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him slightly toward where Happy was waiting. He looked at the hand on his shoulder briefly. He could almost feel Rhodey gaze on him, the conversation from some nights before came rushing to him and he tried hard to not blush on the spot. He really didn't need to give Rhodey any more things to talk about.
Once again he found himself lying sprawled on his back on the floor of the workshop, trying really hard to solve the new puzzle he had in hands. He had miscalculated something. He had underestimated HYDRA just like Rhodey had told him and he had allowed himself to fall into a mental game, in which the number on his hand and the appearance of the blond German played a vital role.
He looked to his side to the hand with the number written on it and frowned at it. He had too many options in hands, too many possible routes and nothing to be sure of.
First of all there was the possibility that he had been wrong all along just like Rhodey said. Perhaps there was no HYDRA, no conspiracy and he had just made one of the biggest miscalculations of his life. This he considered highly unlikely.
Then there was the probability that HYDRA had seen right through his plan and decided to take another route. That's how he came to face his current predicament: The German guy from the conference.
That single person was the key to decipher HYDRA's plan. The man could be just like he had said, no more than an admirer who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still the particularities of the guy and the way he had made the engineer felt told him otherwise. He could also be a blatant attempt from HYDRA to mislead him into concentrating on something unimportant while they executed their major plan, or well the German blond could be the major plan itself.
The thing is that if the man was part of HYDRA plan, they knew that Tony was searching for them and they had shamelessly thrown the bait, which he could either take or let pass. The problem is that he didn't know what they expected him to do and he couldn't corroborate that the man was working for HYDRA. All he knew was that he still needed the information.
He sighed in exasperation and rubbed his forehead feeling the start of a massive headache. Even having Jarvis hadn't helped much, the man was clean and everything was in order.
He heard the door opening and he looked to his side to find Rhodey standing by the door. When the soldier smiled at him he felt an odd sense of Déjà vu, and he pushed it to the back of his mind, not wanting to think about that at the moment.
"I'm going back to D.C." He nodded softly in acknowledgement, concentrating on a spot in the ceiling instead of on his friend.
"Have a safe trip." He saw the soldier shifting uncomfortably apparently not liking the answer.
"Are you going to continue with the HYDRA conspiracy?" He nodded again and Rhodey frowned in displease. "Don't cause Captain Rogers too much trouble."
"I don't promise. He is an easy target for pranks." That got a smile from Rhodey.
"Just so you know. You have some good eighteen hours down here." He nodded lazily, not really caring about the statement. Rhodey sighed knowing he was a lost cause. "If I were you I would go upstairs before your team leader decides to manhandle you into eating and sleeping." Tony smiled at that knowing Steve was perfectly capable of that. "Actually the only thing keeping him from doing it now is your girlfriend."
He looked up at that last sentence. He finally paid attention to Rhodey, who was smirking openly.
"Is Pepper here?" The soldier nodded, seemingly amused.
"For a while now. She has been keeping the Captain busy and has been complaining about your lack of manners for leaving your guest bored and unattended." He frowned because Steve wasn't exactly a guest and he was always invited to come down to the workshop.
Tony would have enjoyed the company, a lot.
Nevertheless he stood quickly from the floor and walked toward the door happily, wanting no more than to enjoy his girlfriend company for the night. He walked past Rhodey feeling his mood improving. Relaxing for a while might be just what he needed.
"Hey, Tony." He looked back at his friend who was looking more serious than before. "Be careful, ok?"
He smiled at Rhodey, feeling guiltily happy because of his friend's worry. He probably believed Tony even now but was too stubborn to admit it.
"Don't worry I'll be fine."
All he could think about at that moment was that Ms. Potts was an extremely cheerful person. He hadn't had the pleasure of talking to her before. Usually one of them was running either to the next appointment or to save the world, but now that he could finally speak to her, he realized that she was one of the most cheerful persons he had ever met.
He blinked at her, slightly confused by her fast speech. She was joyfully explaining something about a movie, or so Steve thought, because he had lost track of the conversation a long time ago. She didn't seem to mind his lack of participation and instead kept choosing topics which she thought might interest him. He was partially grateful for that because he wasn't used to talking to the ladies just yet, even less the women of this time. Hearing her ramble was way better than an awkward silence after he had said something silly.
"Pepper!" They both looked to their side to see Tony and Rhodes emerging from the workshop.
Tony looked like a mess, he was sweating, hair sticking everywhere and his clothes were crumpled and dirty, even so he didn't seem to mind it. He walked toward Pepper and gave her a brief kiss on the lips. Steve looked aside, blushing lightly at the open display of affection and trying to ignore the painful tug his heart made at the display.
"You are a terrible host." she said frowning at him and hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "Also you smell."
Tony chuckled and looked at him. "If you were bored you could have come down to the workshop."
He was about to comment that he didn't want to interrupt but Ms. Potts spoke before he could.
"So he could be ignored by you while you played with your toys?" She glared lightly at him and pushed him away from her. "Go bath, we are watching Titanic with Steve." Tony grimaced seemingly disgusted by the idea.
"Well I'll be leaving then, have fun with the movie." They all looked at the Lt. Coronel, who until to that point had been deliberately ignored.
The older soldier was grinning openly, looking quite amused, which was something the blond had grown familiar with. For some reason, since their conversation at the Jazz club, the other soldier had been giving him a strange look and Steve got the feeling that he knew something that he wasn't letting on. Whatever it was seemed to amuse him greatly.
He watched the Lt. Colonel wave at then and walks toward the exit, without even looking back.
"Traitor!" Tony shouted at him before he leaved the house, somehow Steve just knew that the soldier had grinned even more at that. When finally the Lt. Colonel leaved, Tony turned to Pepper with a small frown. "We aren't watching any chick films in this house."
Pepper smiled at him with a gentle face and pushed him again. "Go wash Tony." As gentle as her voice was, there was something in her tone that leaved no place to argument. Tony grunted but otherwise didn't resist to her petition.
Watching the movie with Pepper and Tony had been awkward. They cuddled together, laughed and kissed, both of them barely paying attention to the movie. Steve spent most of the time blushing, with his gaze fixed on the screen, trying really hard to ignore the couple to his side. Somewhere along the movie Tony had sprawled on the sofa and his feet ended up in Steve thighs. At first he tensed not knowing what to do about it, but after a while he relaxed and settled his hands on them, noticing that neither Pepper nor Tony seemed to mind. He enjoyed the rest of the movie feeling Tony's warmth under his hands.
He liked the movie quite a lot. He didn't understand why Tony complained so much about it and he felt a little embarrassed when his friend teased him after he cried. Ms. Potts was a lot gentler and reassured him that even Tony had cried the first time he saw it, fact the engineer denied fervently.
After the movie he thought of going to his room, wanting to leave the pairing on their own. He didn't need to intrude more than necessary in his teammate's life, nor did he have the courage to face more of their flirting. Instead he ended in the gym too awake to sleep, not that he thought he could sleep even if he was tired and even if he could he was too afraid of sleeping lately.
Under his nonchalant charade he was feeling quite restless. Things were finally catching up on him. He was a soldier. As long as he had a purpose he could postpone thinking about certain things. The days after he woke up had probably been the worse in his life. He had too much time to think, too much time to grief. His call to duty had been more welcomed than he had let on. It had given him an excuse to keep his mind away from the past.
He prepared the punching bag and put on his gloves ready to discharge some of his frustration.
After Bucky died, he would sometimes dream of that day. He would see Bucky falling again and again. Sometimes it was him falling in Bucky's place, those had been worse because he could feel the fear of falling. He could feel Bucky's despair as he tried to grab Steve's hand. He would wake up shaking and sweating, wishing that it really had been him on Bucky's place.
He launched a punch that marked the beginning of many to follow, each punch unleashed a bit of the many emotions he was feeling.
After he woke up on the future the nightmares plagued his dreams. Nightmares of those he cared about dying in his arms. Nightmares in which he saw the world dying in front of his faces as he did nothing to save it. Nightmares of Bucky dying, nightmares of the ice, nightmares of Peggy disappointed eyes, nightmares and nightmares one after another, one louder than the other.
His rhythm grew more frantic after each hit, each blow taking his mind a little more away from his distress, until all in his mind was his target.
Now he was as scared of his dreams as he was of his nightmares, because he would dream of things he couldn't have. He would see the Hollowing commandos singing and drinking after a successful mission. He would see Howard talking excitedly about the new upgrade he had done to his bike. He would dream of kissing Peggy in ways he couldn't talk of. He would dream of Bucky mocking him and laughing, but the worse where not the dreams of his past. The worst were the ones where he would watch a stubborn black haired engineer smiling at him in a manner that made his chest ache with longing. Those would always make it harder for him to face the next day, because it was the one thing that belonged to this time.
He wanted the silence, he wanted dreamless nights, he wanted the longing to stop, the fear to cease, the pain to go away.
He charged his punch ready to give the final blow but then he stopped midway. He looked at his clenched fist for a moment. Slowly he unclenched it and rested his palm on the punching bag, letting his forehead hits its surface.
He was astonished by how much he desired silence and how much it scared him of having it. He knew that those loud dreams were the nearest thing to happiness he would ever have.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Tony stopped fixing his tie for a moment in order to look at him.
"Yes, I'm sure." Steve nodded not too happy and looked back at his newspaper. "Come on. Don't put that face, is just a business meeting, you would get bored anyway."
He was about to protest about it but when he looked up at the engineer's smile he dropped it knowing he had lost the argument. It had been two weeks since Tony started meeting that client and every time he would insist on Steve staying behind. It made the soldier wonder why, but when he asked he had just received a shrug as an answer.
It frustrated him, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
He closed the newspaper and stood from the sofa, dropping the paper on the coffee table. "I'm going out for a walk." The engineer nodded at him, back to fixing his tie.
"Hey, Steve." He had been about to exit the house when his teammate called him. For a moment he thought that maybe the engineer had changed his mind and decided that he could accompany him, but when he turned around to be tossed his cellphone, he had to do a great effort to stop the disappointment from showing on his face.
"Thanks." He gave Tony a curt nod before leaving the house.
He wandered around the city for a while, admiring the view of the coast and thinking about the difference between Malibu and New York. He got lost a few times and ended up eating in a small Italian restaurant, which he found by mistake. He stopped many times to look at the art displayed on many corners of the city. He was amazed by some of them and managed to establish a conversation with some of the artists. It was fun and it served to distract him, even if at the end he was a little homesick and wanted to go back to New York.
By the time he returned to the house the sky was slightly dark and he was carrying a bag full of groceries. He knew that despite Tony's genius, he couldn't cook at all and Ms. Potts, while apparently more gifted in the culinary art than her boyfriend, wasn't exactly fond of it. That often led them to buying food and after a week of that situation Steve decided that enough was enough. He was tired of the fancy food and he was longing for one of his mother's recipe.
He opened the door with a slightly smile, imagining Tony's face when he saw him cooking. He was sure he would be teased for it but he couldn't bring himself to care.
"I'm back." he closed the door with his foot and made his way to the living room. There he found a really distressed Pepper sitting on the sofa with bloodshot red eyes and Happy apparently trying to calm her. "What's wrong?"
They both looked up at him surprised and Pepper was instantly up. "Thanks god you are here."
He was startled when Pepper hugged him and burrowed her face in his chest. "What's wrong?" He repeated, this time addressing Happy.
"The boss is missing." The chauffer answered with a somber face.
That wasn't how he expected the night to go.