Steve was wringing his hands nervously as they rode the elevator back up to where everyone else was waiting. Tony had the urge to scrap the whole idea and whisk him away for a while, until the revelation wasn't so fresh. But he had assured Steve that everyone would be cool, so he had to give them a chance to prove it.

"What sounds good for dinner? A little Tex-Mex? Maybe some sushi?" Tony asked, trying to get Steve out of his own head.

"Yeah, sure," Steve mumbled, staring at the elevator doors like he expected them to open up to a monster waiting on the other side. He doubted that would be the case, even with Bruce around.

"Actually, I was thinking of importing something off the endangered species list. There's something about near extinction that brings out the flavor. What do you think?"

"Sounds great." Steve either wasn't listening, didn't know what Tony was talking about, or was surprisingly callous about animals in need. No matter the case, Tony needed to give Steve a little pep talk before they encountered their friends.

"Jarvis, could you slow the elevator down a bit?" Tony requested. He felt the car slow to a crawl and the shift in speed snapped Steve out of his daze.

"What's going on?" Steve asked, pushing at the side of the elevator as if there was a mechanical error he could fix.

"Just giving you a bit more time to fret over what's about to happen."

"Tony."

"I'm kidding. But you really do need to relax. You look like you're about to step in front of a firing squad."

"I've done that once. It wasn't so bad," Steve mumbled offhandedly.

"Excuse me, what?"

"It was fine. I didn't get shot…much."

"Excuse me, what?!"

"It's a long story," Steve waved off.

"I'm both intrigued and horrified. Make sure to only tell me that story when I'm sufficiently drunk."

"Right."

"But that proves my point. If you can handle that, you can handle this."

"I know, it's just… I guess fighting for my life is easier than dealing with personal issues. I can't throw my shield at my birth certificate and change it."

"We could try throwing your shield at everyone's heads and giving them amnesia," Tony suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea. It would probably just piss off Hulk."

"True. And I just got my tower fixed. Best face this head on like the grown men we are," Tony declared, nudging Steve with his elbow.

"Funny," Steve grumbled.

"I hear that a lot," Tony agreed, feeling the elevator come to a stop as they reached their destination. It was the moment of truth. "What the hell?"

"Hey," a sheepish Clint greeted from just outside the elevator.

"What are you wearing?"

"I put this on as sort of a peace offering. An apology for not being mature earlier," Clint shrugged. Tony glanced up at Steve to get his reaction. He was staring at Clint with a blank expression on his face. Tony couldn't tell if he didn't know what to think or if he was a few seconds from blowing up. Did Steve blow up? If he did, would it be too soon to make a tantrum joke?

"Steve?" Tony questioned warily.

"Did I look that ridiculous?" Steve asked.

"Ridiculous? I don't think I look ridiculous," Clint spluttered.

"Actually Steve, I think you made the onesie look regal and statuesque. And the ducks really brought out the color of your eyes," Tony said seriously.

"Right," Steve huffed, sagging a little in resignation. "I guess we should all sit down and talk about this."

"Bruce and Natasha are in the living room. Or we could take this to the dining room? Or somewhere else? Anywhere that you're comfortable with. It's your call," Clint stammered, looking just as nervous as Steve. They'd fought space gods, but the idea of having a conversation had them shaking in their boots.

"The living room is fine," Steve sighed, gesturing for Clint to lead the way. Tony gave Steve a reassuring nod as they walked to where the others were waiting. All he had to do was say the word and Jarvis would have a few Iron Man suits up and running, ready to whisk them away if necessary. Hulk was fast, but he couldn't fly.

"Rogers," Natasha greeted casually, as if she wasn't affected by the news at all. It probably ranked very low on the list of revelations she'd heard in her lifetime.

"Romanoff," Steve replied, standing as stiff as the Captain America from all the posters they'd seen.

"Glad you're back, but I think I may have overstepped," Bruce said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"How so?" Steve asked in confusion. Tony thought about all of the science experiments Bruce could've done in the time they were gone. You could find out a lot from a spec of DNA, especially with the kind of equipment they had in their labs.

"I picked up the pieces of your puzzle and couldn't help separating them into different sections. Just the edge pieces from the center. I stopped myself from going further," Bruce chuckled, shaking his head. "I like to keep busy."

"Did you have Jarvis scan the pieces?" Steve asked suspiciously.

"Scan the pieces? That would be cheating," Bruce replied, looking at him like that was a ridiculous thing to do. Tony thought it was smart. Steve shot him the barest hint of a smile, the smug jerk. There was nothing wrong with using what you had available to make things easier.

"Shall we sit?" Tony suggested, waving toward where he'd shoved the furniture to the side to make room for the puzzle. They all went over and Tony nudged Steve into one of the love seats, before sitting down next to him. He didn't want Steve to feel crowded or alone.

"I'm not really sure where to start," Steve sighed, looking everywhere but directly at the team. "It's kind of a long story."

"We'll listen to whatever you want to tell us," Bruce said kindly. Steve gave Tony one last reluctant look, before recounting the story he'd told in his old apartment. He went with a bare bones version, explaining that he was too young and sick to go to war, but told people the wrong age to get around that. Steve didn't bring up anything about his childhood and didn't mention Bucky's name once. Tony wasn't quite sure what that meant, but he wasn't going to question it in front of everyone.

"Wow. And I thought I had a rough life," Clint mumbled, raising his eyebrows.

"It wasn't all bad. And a lot of people were struggling back then. I was no different than anyone else."

"Still. It was a big choice to make for someone so young."

"There was never really a choice for me. It was only a matter of time before I got too sick and didn't have the money to deal with it."

"So dying at war was a better alternative?"

"Better than languishing in a hospital bed and taking up resources that other people could use," Steve replied a bit testily. Tony felt sick hearing Steve talk about himself in a way that made it seem like he was okay with being seen as less deserving than others, but it was nothing new.

"I'm not saying you did anything wrong," Clint said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. "I just wish you weren't in the position to have to choose between the two."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so defensive," Steve sighed, running a hand down his face. "All these years I've wondered what I would do if anyone found out my secret. I always expected anger or people trying to stop me from living my life how I want. I shouldn't take that out on any of you."

"Believe me, I don't take offense," Clint assured him. "Discussions never seem to work out the same way as they do when you imagine them in your shower. I always come up with my best arguments a few weeks after the fact, between shampooing and conditioning."

"What?"

"Ignore Clint," Natasha said, rolling her eyes. "What he's trying to say, in a somewhat nonsensical way, is that we aren't going to judge you. We all have skeletons and your secret doesn't even come close to one."

"Some more than others," Tony smirked, because he couldn't help but needle at Natasha a bit.

"And we know how to keep things quiet," Natasha continued, as if Tony hadn't even spoken.

"I appreciate that. I do," Steve said sincerely, but Tony could tell there was more still troubling him. He was about to gently press Steve, but Bruce beat him to the punch.

"Something else on your mind, Steve?" Bruce asked kindly.

"I know it doesn't really matter at this point, since being a team was a one time thing. But I was wondering if this changed your opinion on working with me again?" Steve asked hesitantly. "I mean, I wouldn't even have to be the leader or anything. Even if Shield wanted to present me as one, because of the suit or the shield. I could always be the symbol and let you all make the decisions, if that's what it took."

"Cap, you gave me a chance when all you'd seen of me was someone mind controlled and working for the enemy," Clint said seriously. "I would follow you into battle any day."

"And you never held my past against me. Or that unfortunate incident on the helicarrier," Bruce added. "You've never given me any reason why you shouldn't be afforded that same trust."

"I'm a perfect person to have on your team. Don't really have any flaws," Natasha bragged. Tony sent her a scathing look, which she ignored. But he saw Clint give her a nudge, which he would probably pay for later, and she begrudgingly kept talking. "But you did trust my judgment when it came to Clint. It takes a mature leader to listen to the people they are working with, instead of thinking they always know best."

"Thank you," Steve said softly, looking around at everyone. "I guess it's kind of nice not feeling so alone anymore." Tony set a hand on his shoulder and Steve leaned into it just a tiny bit, but it still made him want to grin in delight.

"Enough of this serious talk. I for one would like to get back to the fun I had planned," Tony declared, pulling Steve into a side hug. Why not go for it?

"And your idea of fun is puzzles and dressing up like a giant baby?" Natasha questioned.

"My idea of fun is getting plastered as I blow things up in my lab, but I had to adjust," Tony shrugged. "Are you too cool for a puzzle?"

"I'm used to puzzles that have higher stakes. Is anyone's life on the line?"

"You can kill Clint if you want to."

"Hey!"

"There will be no killing. And if we can't handle the responsibility of putting a puzzle together peacefully, we won't do it at all," Steve said sternly. Tony only held it together for a few seconds before he burst out laughing.

"There's the Steve I know," Tony said, squeezing him a little. "Never change, kid."

"Tony," Steve groaned, mumbling under his breath about being able to take advantage of the fact that the secret was out to reference his age even more. He wasn't wrong about that, but Tony knew they were both relieved. They had a solid group of people here. Maybe it would be enough to convince Steve to stick around for good.