Title: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair

Disclaimer: not my characters. Title from Langston Hughes.

Warnings: talk of violence/death/Steve being depressed

Pairings: pre-Steve/Bucky; Pepper/Tony, Jane/Thor, Darcy/OMC, Natasha/Clint

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1040

Point of view: third

Note: Sam's pov was requested. I'm sorry it's so small!

Another note: I think I know how many more parts there are. Here's hoping.

"Hey, has anyone seen Steve?" Sam asks on New Year's Eve, at the communal breakfast. He's pretty sure Steve hasn't left his room since their run yesterday morning, but he didn't answer when Sam knocked.

Clint shrugs. "Not since movie night," he says. "But we're all doing Stark's thing later, right? He'll be there."

"Yeah," Darcy adds. "He's gonna be there; he promised me a portrait of Bucky Barnes, since he missed my birthday."

Sam looks at her, raising an eyebrow. "We all missed your birthday," he says dryly. "You've gotta stop guilting him, Darce."

She smirks, popping a strawberry into her mouth. Sam rolls his eyes.

…

"Jarvis," Jane shouts over the alarm, "is Steve in the tower?"

"No, Dr. Foster," Jarvis answers promptly.

"Shit," she mutters, trying to dial it back but the alarm just keeps clanging. "Shitting fucking hell. Can you get Thor, then? I know he's on that mission –"

"Jane!" Darcy shouts from the door. "What the fuck is that noise?"

"I need someone tall!" Jane tries to explain. "Steve's the closest, but Jarvis said he's not here!"

Darcy gapes at her. Then she sighs heavily and says, "Jarvis, can you get Tony in his armor down here, please?"

"Right away, Ms. Lewis," Jarvis replies while Jane says, "Oh. Right."

Darcy sighs again. "Didn't you promise not to science until the New Year?"

Jane nods. "But I had this idea last night, right, and it could revolutionize everything."

"All of your ideas can revolutionize everything," Darcy says. "That's why you're the genius scientist and I'm the genius scientist wrangler." She grabs Jane's hand and pulls her to the door, muttering, "Thank God," as the noise recedes to a manageable level. For the first time in almost fifteen minutes, Jane can think. "Now, Jane, tell me: is this going to make the tower explode?"

"No," Jane says.

"Well, that's good," Darcy laughs. "I guess we'll wait for Stark to come be tall in the armor." She frowns. "Why do you need someone to be tall?"

Smiling, Jane launches into an explanation she already knows Darcy will regret.

…

Darcy stalks around Stark's New Year's Party Extravaganza, looking for one hot guy amongst the dozens of hot guys, but Steve's nowhere. Jane's over in the corner with Thor, being adorable and explaining about her New Discovery at the same time. Nat and Clint and some other Random Assassins from their Assassin Club are on the dance floor, being both amazingly attractive and horrifically terrifying. Pepper is trying to corral Stark over by the punch bowl, with Colonel Rhodes laughing a few feet away. Darcy even sees Dr. Banner, lurking by the elevator to the private quarters.

But no Captain America, incognito or not. Where is he?

One of the not-super hot guys catches her gaze and smiles, flicking his eyes towards the dance floor. She decides to put the search on hold; she knows where he lives, after all.

…

On New Year's Day, Pepper wakes up to Tony sprawled across her, mumbling notes to Jarvis in his sleep. She maneuvers her way out of bed without waking him, pulls on a robe, and heads to the coffee machine, already brewing thanks to Jarvis.

"Thank you," she murmurs, pulling the mug over so that she can inhale the scent. "God, my head hurts. I'm getting too old for this." She drinks her coffee and looks out over the city, feeling just a bit like a monarch surveying her realm. It helps with the headache.

"Jarvis," she asks, "has Steve sketched any views of the city from the tower?"

"Yes, Ms. Potts, several," Jarvis answers.

Pepper stretches, yawning, before saying, "Ask him, please, if I can schedule a meeting to look over his sketches of New York. I might like to commission larger works for the office."

There is a long silence. "Jarvis?" she asks, glancing up at the ceiling in lieu of a face.

"I regret to inform you, Ms. Potts, that Captain Rogers is not currently in the tower. He has been absent for the past two days."

Pepper furrows her brow. "What do you mean, absent? Is he okay?"

"Yes, Ms. Potts. He has gone to meet Sergeant Barnes."

"What, really?" Pepper demands, unable to stop the smile. "That's wonderful!" She pauses, the reports of DC playing in her mind. "That is wonderful, right?"

"Yes, Ms. Potts," Jarvis says. "They have been communicating for three months."

Pepper settles back into her chair. So that's why Steve has seemed happier, lately. "Well, let's keep this between us, Jarvis, alright? Give them a little time together before the horde descends. What do you say?"

"Of course, Ms. Potts," Jarvis replies. "Captain Rogers requested the same."

She laughs, looking back out over the city. It's a beautiful day. It's going to be a good year.

…

Nana always closes the shop on New Year's Day, but they open bright and early on January 2. Martina's pretty sure no one'll be stopping in but not even half an hour after she unlocks the front door, a man walks in. He looks about Billy's age with blond hair and blue eyes, and while he's damn fine looking, he's not as hot as Billy. He's hot, though.

"Hi," he says, an awkward smile on his face. "Is William Taylor here?"

This is the moment when Martina realizes she is completely alone in the shop with a really big white guy she doesn't know.

"He'll be in soon," she lies, trying to stealthily reach into her pocket for her phone.

The man smiles for real this time; it makes him look younger, less dangerous. "I can wait," he says. It doesn't sound like a threat and she relaxes a hair.

"I'll let him know you're here," she says, pulling her phone out.

"Thank you," he says. "Tell him it's Steve." Steve pauses, and then he says, sounding unsure and just a little small, "If… if he says he doesn't want me to stay, I'll go. Tell him that, please."

Martina stares at him for a moment before typing all that in. When Billy's answer comes, she reads it aloud. "He's on his way."

Steve's smile is so damned bright and wide she can't help smiling back.