A/N Thanks for the reviews: Particular appreciation to Dairi and vampyfreak - you two are genuinely keeping me going :)

Have upped the rating to a T just because I'm a bit paranoid.

Enjoy!

Chapter Nine

Tony was briefly too stunned to talk after what he'd just heard.

"Look Cap…sorry, Steve…I know the 21st Century probably hasn't been as welcoming as it should be but there's no need to pull the whole emotional blackmail crap on me…"

"What's that?" Steve looked genuinely confused – it occurred to Tony that he'd almost certainly not heard the term before and was probably too honest to apply the concept. "I'm not trying to do anything but rationalise the best possible course of action in the circumstances. You said to me you couldn't solve an equation without all the variables, right? I can't form a strategy without weighing up the possible outcomes against the likelihood of success."

Tony regarded Steve and noticed there was a cold sincerity in his eyes that he normally only saw when the Captain was analysing and formulating a plan of action. It crossed his mind that – even without the serum – Steve was the real brains behind the legend: Everything he did that really mattered (his leadership in battle, his desire to protect other people and his ability to make the calls that counted among those qualities) came from the little guy who'd out-thought and outwitted the bullies who tried to grind him down by becoming far more than they could have ever dreamed of.

"At the moment," Steve continued, "the only remaining variable is anything Yustis may discover about the source of the complaint. The only outcome that matters is that the city and, by extension, the Earth is not affected, and for now I can't guarantee that will happen: On this occasion, my feelings actually come into the equation and I'm trying to explain to you that, if Yustis can't offer any additional hope, I'm OK with making the plea first and accepting that outcome rather than wait until they've ruled against me and possibly face the timeline being changed."

"You can't seriously be thinking of sacrificing yourself again…"

"There's no 'again' about it Tony. If nothing changes and I lose the case, everyone and everything's gone anyway. I died in 1945 and have the gravestone to prove it! I don't have a life here worthy of the name, we both know I don't belong; the team don't need me; and the World sees me as a relic of a bygone age. Nothing I've experienced so far will allow me to move on from that….so, seriously, I'm not losing anything and no-one will remember I was ever here. Where's the sacrifice in that?"

"You know, I don't have to listen to this…"

"Then turn off the device and you won't have to. You won't remember a thing."

They sat facing each other in silence for several minutes. Tony seriously considered turning the phase modulator off when he realised he had no good argument at that moment against Steve's plan: Much as he loathed the idea, it was the right call unless the situation changed. He just wished he'd done more to make it a harder decision for the man to have to make – it felt like he was embracing the idea too readily; he should be angry, not resigned.

He found himself desperately hoping Yustis would turn up with something that could turn the case in Steve's favour before wondering how it was all his trust – something he found difficult to do at the best of times – was being placed in an alien from a race of which he had no knowledge.

And, talking of aliens, where the hell was Thor?!

Steve was right, if he turned off the device he'd forget all about this and they'd either all still be there tomorrow or the worst would have happened, in which case none of them would know anything about it: Sweet, quick, painless – possibly better than any of them could hope for if they continued as the Avengers without their leader…their leader?

"It's our fault that you don't feel like you belong – not yours. The team do need you, you know."

His words were soft but directed with emphasis towards the man crouched opposite him with his fingers arched and an oddly calm look on his face.

"It's kind of you to say that Tony, but I know it's not true. You were only caught out the other night because you were a man short with no time to adapt. SHIELD would soon make up the numbers and give you someone with additional tactical knowledge if necessary."

"It wouldn't be the same."

"You wouldn't know any different."

"The fact you've just outflanked me, a bona fide genius, says everything I need to know about what we'd lose."

"You didn't turn the phase modulator off Tony. Why?"

The sudden change of subject caught Tony out briefly and he shook his head, the ghost of a smile played across his lips as he realised Steve had terminated the previous line of discussion as being irrelevant in the circumstances – if only the guy didn't make so much sense – he briefly pondered the answer to the question and realised now, if there was ever going to be one, was one of those rare occasions in his life where only total honesty would do:

"Because you don't leave a friend to face what might be the last 12 hours of his existence on his own."

Tony could have sworn the smile that greeted his statement gave off more wattage than his arc reactor did in a week.

Tony had never really 'made a friend' before: He'd made plenty of truly remarkable things in his life but never something as intangible as a friend.

He'd had paid employees who he'd grown close to mainly because they had the right mentality to withstand his frequently intolerable presence long enough to realise that under the unpredictability, narcissism and arrogance was a genuinely nice, if insecure, guy. He'd had people like Rhodey who'd just been too strong-willed and determined to wilt under the sheer hassle of being around him. He'd kind of developed a working relationship with the rest of the Avengers (maybe not Natasha, he was too scared of her) based on odd common areas of interest. But in all those cases, the friendships had kind of sneaked up on him and they'd just become an integral part of his life almost by default.

This was a unique event for Tony Stark. He'd opened the door, extended the hand – both were inappropriate metaphors but they'd do – whatever you called it, he'd made the first move. Maybe it was a bit of desperation to feel he could do something, maybe he wouldn't even remember it tomorrow – and that thought gave him chills of the most unpleasant variety – but right now Steve needed a friend and Tony wasn't going to let him down…and it felt incredibly good!

He smiled back.

A silence descended between them…initially it was quite comfortable, but then it extended and was beginning to get awkward. Tony knew he had to be the one to break it, it was his responsibility: The barrier that had existed between them ever since their first meeting, or probably since Tony had first found out that they'd retrieved Captain America, was threatening what they'd established. He knew it wasn't fair to make Steve raise the subject, he'd all but bitten the man's head off every time he'd tried before….Howard!

"Tell me about my Dad." He finally blurted out. "The truth", he added.

Steve paused. A look of uncertainty briefly crossed his features before he composed himself and stated:

"He was charismatic, handsome, a genius…he was always the centre of attention wherever he went…." Tony's face fell, he'd heard all this from any number of people, "…I admired him and the work he did contributed greatly to the War effort…but I really didn't know him personally very well at all."

"You're kidding, right? He was forever talking about you…like you were joined at the hip or something…"

"Honestly, I met the man probably no more than a dozen times in total. Our longest conversation was the day I got my shield, and that wasn't the one he wanted me to have," Tony quirked an eyebrow at that, "he wanted me to have one with lots of built in weaponry. I just wanted something simple I could rely on and, to be fair, it's never let me down. I've always been grateful to him for making it."

Tony had to nod at that, Captain America's shield was a truly amazing piece of simple engineering to have withstood a strike from Mjölnir – but not as amazing as the man who wielded it with such skill.

Refusing to be distracted now he'd committed himself to hearing the other side of the story, Tony persisted with the original subject:

"He flew you behind enemy lines when you went to rescue your friend, didn't he?"

"He did. An amazing risk for him to take – you could say brave and reckless, a little like someone else I know."

"Fair point…" Tony hated people comparing him to his father, but even he had to admit they had some behavioural similarities – particularly when it came to the younger Howard. "What about 'fondue'?"

Steve laughed. "Made a fool of myself over that one…having seen how he behaved when he dragged me to parties…well….I got that wrong."

"Parties….?"

A look of discomfort flitted across Steve's features, he looked at Tony as though unsure whether to answer.

"I want to know Steve," Tony urged.

"Well," he started, reluctantly, "it seemed that on any given night when I wasn't on stage with the tour, Howard would turn up and drag me off to some party. He'd tell Senator Brandt that it was promotion for the sale of War Bonds; he'd tell his Board (he tended to forget my enhanced hearing when he was on the phone) that where I was the good, the great and, most importantly, the wealthy would turn up - he was always seeking investment partners…..and, when he'd had a few drinks, he'd forget all of that and tell me I was there because I was 'good bait for fresh meat'"

"Sounds fun" said Tony.

"Only if you're not the bait" growled Steve.

"It can't have been as bad as all that."

"Some of those women were pretty scary….like vultures picking at a carcass and I didn't dare ask them to leave me alone in case it got into print as Captain America being rude to someone. That's pretty much where the blushing when a woman talks to me became a learned reaction, I was already uncomfortable and out of my depth socially so I just gave in to the tendency: It bypassed any need for having to engage in conversation with them other than the very basics and preserved the image I'd been ordered to promote."

"Sounds pretty miserable."

"It got worse on the rare occasions I ran into someone I might stand a chance of getting along with. One night, very late in the evening, Howard was holding court in the centre of the room and I was sitting to one side waiting till we could leave, a young lady – daughter of one of the industrialists there – sat down across the table from me: She was sweet, pretty eyes, quite shy and wanted to be an artist. We were just talking, nothing more. Anyway, Howard spotted us and pretty much dragged me away. I found out later her father had been left with the distinct impression renewal of his Government contracts would not be viewed 'favourably' should allegations of anything I may have said or done get into the press."

"And my father, the biggest letch of them all, was party to that?"

"Stark Industries got a lot of positive publicity from its association with the 'purity and moral rectitude' of Captain America, it deflected attention away from some of the gossip surrounding your father. Senator Brandt may have devised the idea but Howard supported it wholeheartedly – it was good for business. The last thing they wanted was anyone finding out that their pet project was just a normal human being like anyone else."

"Son of a b…"

"The good thing to come out of it was at least he didn't make me go to any more parties after that – couldn't have me stringing sentences together and undoing all their good work." Steve gave a hollow chuckle.

"So have I got this straight…? You were ordered not to have sex?"

Steve smiled slightly, a mischievous glint dancing behind his eyes:

"No Tony. I was ordered not to get caught doing anything that might be…er…'deleterious to the public's perception' of me."

"Doesn't sound like you got a lot of opportunity to do anything, not with my Dad defending your virtue all the time."

Steve smirked slightly before airily replying, "6 months touring the States with some very lovely and warm-hearted dancers who were keen to do their bit for 'troop morale'? Absolutely no opportunities at all." His tone was imbued with a hefty dose of sarcasm. "Mind you, I'm fairly sure some of the lengths I went to so as not to get caught would prove good training for covert operations."

Tony found himself laughing at the mental images this was conjuring up. "And my Dad had no idea?"

"I suspect if he'd known, he'd have engineered me a chastity belt – would have looked good with the costume."

By now they were both laughing, Tony was fairly sure this was probably the most surprising and enlightening conversation he'd ever had. The revelation made perfect sense and he was amazed at how gullible they'd all been, believing what was little more than media spin, especially when they were all so cynical about modern hype and promotion.

"And my Dad thought he knew you…" Tony mused.

"He knew Captain America better than anyone, he basically created him, but he had no time for Steve Rogers. Anyway, it wasn't all bad, the character gave me a standing and reputation among the troops when I did finally get to fight – even if it was just curiosity – it would have taken a lot longer to attain that as just an ordinary soldier. The mental discipline helps in battle too, I'm so used to not letting personal feelings intrude I can be more focussed and single-minded."

"Only you could put a positive spin on being treated like that."

"It was wartime, if you were asked to do something in the service your country, you did it – even if it wasn't exactly what you wanted to be doing. I did think though, once it was all over, I'd be able to have a life again: Seems I was wrong."

"You need to do whatever it takes to win this case of yours Cap….the 21st Century has some making up to do and I'll make it my personal mission to see it does."