Authors note: Fem!Tony again. This one can still be considered a one shot, but I've switched the story from 'complete' to 'in progress'. I had wanted to keep it to one shots originally because I'm the worst at finishing things, but I keep wanting to reference what has already happened so I'm gonna try it out. I don't have anyone proof reading for me so any constructive criticism is welcome. All rights belong to Marvel.
It was weeks after the battle of New York and only Natasha, Bruce, and himself were left at Stark Tower. He knew he had only known Toni since the Avengers assembled but it seemed to him that she had been acting different lately. She was usually boisterous, loud, and charming. When she wasn't being that she was working, or making fun of someone. She assured him she was just teasing and that her taunts were all in good fun, but he wasn't always so sure.
That's not to say there weren't other sides to her. He had seen her angry and hurt during their fight shortly after they met. He had regretted everything as he said it, and he had regretted it every day since but he hadn't apologized yet...he wasn't really sure why not. He had seen her solemn once, and for a moment thought that would be the time to do it, but he had seen something in her eyes then that he hadn't before. Something sad and hidden deep where she thought no one would notice it. But he had. He had noticed a lot of things about her…
He couldn't deny that Toni Stark was a beautiful woman. He had known that the first time he saw her. She had chestnut brown hair, olive skin, high cheek bones and the most expressive eyes he had ever seen. He still wasn't entirely used to the body types of women in this era but he would be lying if he said Toni wasn't damn near perfect. She was fairly short, slightly taller than he had been before the serum and nicely toned. She wasn't as curvy as Natasha, but what she had fit her frame perfectly. At first he found the rectangular light in the center of her chest odd, but as he got used to it he found it endearing. It was a sign to the world that she was a fighter. She had been through the wringer and come out better for it. He admired that about her.
So when he noticed her distancing herself from them more and more he was torn between voicing his concerns and keeping them hidden. He didn't want anyone find out that he could be potentially developing feelings for a team member and risk division in the ranks. On the other hand they only saw her about once every two or three days, and who's to say whatever she was doing wasn't as harmful as a fractured team? After a particularly long absence he finally brought it up with the others.
"Have you notice Toni acting different? She hasn't been around much lately," he said. They both looked up from their game of Chinese checkers.
"I dunno Cap, this isn't exactly unprecedented with her, although it's the longest I've seen her secluded for. Not that she and I go way back," Natasha said with a shrug. "She's got a list of vices a mile long. This is just one of them. She'll come around sooner or later," she assured him with a slow smile.
"I can head to the lab today and check on her if you like," Bruce offered. "It wouldn't be that unusual, I've brainstormed with her a few times since I got here. I can just ask if she wants help on anything." Steve nodded.
"Thanks," he told both of them before getting up to take a stroll around the city. It wasn't exactly what he was hoping for, but he felt better with a game plan. Even a tenuous one like that. Now if only he could sort out his feelings toward her...
He was glad he was back in New York. Even though it was drastically different from what he had known growing up there were hints of his old home here and there. Sometimes he would go to the older areas, find historic buildings and draw them. Other times he would pick a more modern monstrosity and try to wrap his head around the way things had changed. He hadn't told Toni yet but he was seriously considering her offer to move into the tower. She extended it to each of them nearly every time she saw them. It was nice knowing she enjoyed having them there. 'Maybe she had been lonely before?' he wondered. He had only heard her talk about three people outside of the Avengers (and herself – Toni loved talking about herself) and while that was more people then he had in his life he had expected that with her lifestyle she would have more admirers.
Still, he had enjoyed his time since beating Loki and his army. She, and the other Avengers, he become his favorite subjects to capture on paper. He didn't think they knew about his hobby, at least he had never told them, but when they would sit around and play a game, or just talk, he would grab his notebook and start sketching. In the beginning Toni had been around more often and she had ended up dominating some of the earlier pages. As she became more and more reclusive there were more of Natasha and Bruce, more buildings, more strangers he had seen in the park or on the street. He missed drawing her. Most of the time her emotions were so loud she was the perfect model. There had only been one time so far he had caught her when she was peaceful and it had been a challenge to try and get the subtle side of her down correctly. He was itching for another chance at it.
He stopped at a coffee shop and ended up going back and forth between making quick sketches of his fellow patrons and the surrounding architecture. He had been there a few hours when he decided to head back to the Tower. When he got there Toni was standing in the kitchen looking formidable.
"You sent them to check on me?" she asked as she leveled him with a glare. He sighed.
"I just asked if they had noticed that you've been absent lately. We're worried about you," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't want to fight with her, but it seemed like that's what she was looking for.
"Worried?" she sneered. "This is what I do. The only thing that keeps me relevant, that will keep us all relevant and safe is innovation. I keep us ahead of the curve, I keep us alive. Plus even though Pepper is running the day to day of Stark Industries I still handle everything regarding the Arc Reactor project. I can't exactly hand that information a division of scientists and give out the key not only to green energy but to me. So next time you're worried just come bother me yourself so I don't have to waste time coming up here to tell you off," she snapped as she brushed past him on her way to the elevator. "Don't bother trying to play the hero with me, Steve," she said as the doors slid shut, sealing her off from him. He sighed.
"Well that went well," he told himself. He poured a glass of water and headed for his room. 'I'll get through to her someday,' he promised.