Tony didn't hear much from his brothers after they left. Radio silence all around made him antsy, but no news was good news, and he would know if they were truly dead.

Still, he threw himself into whatever Howard would give him, anything to stave off the utter loneliness he felt, the emptiness that clawed at the back of his mind. He ate when told, hardly then, and he worked.

It was to the point where Howard and the others had set aside a constant pile of scraps in the corner that were there specifically for him to mess with. If someone brought back a strange gun or a fancy piece of tech that they had no clue about, it was immediately dubbed his project. His to break down, inventory, and build back up as he saw fit.

This new phase of his served the SSR well, but others started to worry for the genius.

"Stark, take your boy and get the hell off my base." Colonel Phillips ordered gruffly. "Put the rest of those assistants of yours to some use and have him take a nap or something."

The lead engineer was more than happy to follow those orders, but his right-hand man was dragged away from his work with avid protest.

"What the hell, Stark? Can't you see I'm workin' here?!" Tony spat as his mentor plucked the tools from his hands and pushed him toward the door.

"Yeah well we've been working nonstop for almost half the year. Phillips is demanding that we use our days off."

"Since when do we get days off in war?" Tony sneered.

"Since the higher-ups said so, now get dressed. We're goin' out."

"Goin' out" was always a good thing in Howard's books.

Sure he never minded staying in his lab at odd hours if he was working a lot, but workaholic he may be, he knew there had to be time set aside to let loose and have fun.

Apparently his apprentice didn't get the message, because while Tony wasn't a complete stick-in-the-mud, he was constantly annoyed by Howard's choice in fun.

Case in point: They went to a bar where the drinks were pretty good and the company was even better. He'd gotten several requests to dance, and Tony had gotten even more.

Dames were into the whole "tall, dark and handsome" vibe he gave off, but he wasn't having it. That just made them flock to him all the more, and eventually he excused himself and walked out of the bar.

The girl (woman, his love-addled mind would supply later on.) Howard danced with nodded to the forlorn young man near the exit.

"Your friend looks like he's lost half his world out there." She offered softly. "I know you're probably trying to help, but maybe it's too soon for him to get back into the swing of things."

"You're right." Howard muttered bitterly. "Thing is, he's all set to work himself to death and I can't let that happen."

"There are other ways to have fun, Mr. Stark."

"Well yeah, he still needs to be around people-. I'm sorry…"

"Maria."

"I'm sorry, Maria, I need to find my friend. Have a good evening." He insisted, pressing his lips to the back of her hand before racing out of the bar.

"Good luck, Mr. Stark." The woman chuckled as she watched her partner bolt after his friend. The man was interesting, she'd give him that.

Time off didn't last long, but Tony and Howard struck a deal. They would watch each other's backs, eat regularly, socialize to Howard's minimum satisfaction, whatever they did, and Tony would let his mentor know when exactly he felt the need to passively destroy himself.

This lasted for longer than anyone thought it would, because the boys were back by the year's end.

If Tony hadn't been so despondent, Peggy would have long-since told him exactly what she thought of his misgivings. He would have informed her that the war wasn't over yet.