Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Mr. Stark, be advised if you get injured following Detective Rogers to reasearch your next novel, you cannot sue the city. If you get shot, you cannot sue the city. If you get killed…"

"My lifeless remains cannot sue the city?" Tony jokes. Steve rolls his eyes from his spot leaning against the wall. "Your estate, Mr. Stark." The nameless police lawyer tells him. "Do I have to wait for him to sign or can I shoot him now?" Steve asks. Tony smiles at him, he can't tell if he's joking or not, and Tony is okay with that. It's probably part of why he likes Steve so much, the mystery to him.

"Mr. Stark, these waivers are a serious business. Perhaps you'd feel more comfortable by referring the matter to your attorney?" Tony laughs. "Are you kidding? Matt'd never let me sign these. But fortunately it's his job to get me out of trouble, and not prevent me from getting into it."

Tony is momentairly distracted by Rogers' phone ringing, he picks up quickly and says he'll be on his way. "Wait, where are you going?" Tony asks. "I've got work to do."

"What, we have case?" Tony cheers mentally at his first offical case. "No, I have a case. You have paperwork." He smiles and leaves Tony all by himself.

"I believe you have just been burned." The lawyer tells him. "Thanks."

"What've we got?" Steve asks, entering the apartment and is greeted by Nat. "Mrs. Rosenberg over there, 9E," She gestures to an old lady currently being treated by EMT's, "She comes down here to put her clothes in the dryer only to find it's occupied. When she came back half an hour later she decided she had enough and took matters into her own hands."

"Your trying to tell me an old lady killed someone over a busy dryer?" He asks her seriously. "No, but it's funny you think that. She got tired of waiting and opened the dryer to take out the other person's clothes. And this is what she finds." She brings him over to where Sam and Bucky are looking. He looks inside to find a body in the dryer. Well, that's new. "If that's not a cautionary tale about poking around someone's laundry I don't know what is." Sam says. "I can think of a few others." Nat counters. "I'm sorry, but if the clothes were dry, Mrs. Rosenberg had every right to put them in the basket. There's an etiquette involved, Wilson."

"That's creepy, Barnes. Are you telling me you would go pulling someone elses underwear out and fold them."

"Not fold them. That's ridiculous. Who does that. That's fucked up, Sam." Steve ignores their bickering/flirting and looks around the scene. There's bottle of bleach dented in on the floor as well as a spot of blood less than a foot away.

"Alright, let's get her out of there with some dignity. I'm gonna need CSU to come down here, take the bleach bottle down to the lab. Have them print and take photots but I don't know how much good that's gonna do us in a public area. I'm guessing she lived here?"

"She worked in 12F as the nanny." Nat tells him.

Steve sighs to himself when steps off the elevator to find Tony waiting there and smiling at him. He turns to Nat and she shakes her head to say 'He's your problem, not mine, leave me out of this'. "Thought you ditched me back at the precint, didn't you. Come on, Nanny McDead is found in the spin dryer, you don't think the captain's going to let me in on that story."

"You're right, Stark. That's my bad." He gives a half apology and they all move towards the apartment. Stark hangs back however, and makes a sound like he's clearing his throat. Nat and Tony both point in the opposite direction of the one he was heading. "Exaclty how much longer do I have to expect you to shadow me on cases like this?" Steve asks. "It's hard to say. When I'm writing a new character it's hard to tell when inspriation might strike."

"I thought I was your inspriation." Nat sighs at them. "Oh, you are, Detective, and in so many ways."

"Yeah, well, you inspiration might strike you sooner than you think." Steve threatens as he knocks. "By the way, the nanny's name was Sara Manning, she worked for the Petersons for about 2 years." Stark smiles as Steve glares at him. "The doorman is apprently a huge fan of my work. Nice guy too."

The door opens and they all turn. "Mrs. Peterson?" The woman nods, she's burnette with blue eyes and comes to around Nat's height, but a little shorter. "I'm Detective Steve Rogers, this is Detective Natasha Romanoff with the NYPD. We were wondering if we could ask you some questions about Sara Manning?"

"Of course, please, come in." She gestures to allow them to come in. "And I'm Tony Stark, just NY." He shrugs. Steve does not find this amusing.

The group of three sit on the Peterson's couch and chair as Mr. Peterson talks to her son in his room. She closes the door and sits down next to her husband. "We still haven't told him what happened, we just don't know how." She explains to the detectives (and Tony). "Sara was very close with him. She… she just has a gift with kids, you know." Mr. Peterson adds. "She was such a lovely girl." Mrs. Peterson laments.

Tony takes in Mr. Peterson. His hair is burnette too, by greying at the edges and his hairline seems to be receding slightly. Tony doesn't miss the smile he has while he talks about Sara. Or how the two parents seem to sit on opposite sides of the couch they're currenlty sharing.

"The school called me at my office when Sara didn't come to pick up Justin." Mrs. Peterson tells Rogers, "I tried her cell but it went straight to her voicemail. Then I tried here but the machine picked up so I hopped in a cab and went to the school. When we got home the police were already here."

"When was the last time you saw Sara?" Natasha asks from the chair she has currently taken up residence in, leaving Tony and Steve the other couch.

"My husband… saw her last night when he got home." The husband jumps in, "We take Justin to school every morning, so we're usually gone by the time she gets here." He explains. "And what time is that?" Steve asks.

"Today it would have been eleven. Sara straigtens up, does Justin's laundry and then picks him up from school about two." Tony watches as the husband scoots closer to his wife during the explanation, interesting, "One of us is then home for dinner. Last night it was my husband''s turn."

"So then you were the last one to see Sara?" Steve asks. "I… I guess so?

"Did she mention any problems she was having, maybe a boyfriend?" Tony jumps in. "Sara's boyfriend?" Mrs. Peterson asks. "The, the doorman said the police told them that it was a break in, which usually means a stranger did it." Mr. Peterson looks back and forth between all of them frantically, as if looking for assurance. "We can't be sure what happened." Steve tells him. "Well maybe not," Tony starts, "but statisically speaking it's a much greater likelihood that she was killed by someone she knew."

"Oh my gosh." Mrs. Peterson shakes her head, but doesn't act surprised. Steve looks directly at Tony when he says, "Again, we can't be certain who was involved."

"But she had a boyfriend." Tony says to both Steve and the family, but looks at Steve while he says it. "Right, Brent, but broke up." Mr. Peterson tells them. "And when was that?" Tony asks.

"About a motn ago," Mrs. Peterson explains, "but Sara never said that there was any trouble or anything like that."

"Brent? That was his name?" Steve clarifies. "Yes." Mrs. Peterson sounds annoyed now. "Do you know his last name?"

"I don't think Sara ever mentioned it."

"Not to me either." Mr. Peterson agrees. "Thank you both so much for your time." Steve says standing. Steve says and stands. "That's it?" Tony asks as they go to exit. "That's it." Steve agrees. "I'm sorry," Natasha turns to the Petersons before they leave, "Do either of you know of any way we can reach Sara's parents?"

"I hadn't thought of that." Mrs. Peterson sighs, but answers, "I'm sorry we don't have their number."

"They live in Atlanta, she was with them over Christmas." Mr. Peterson says. "What about her things?" Steve asks. "There's her bag and her jacket." Mrs. Peterson directs them to the items sitting on the chair. "Would it be alright if we take it and check her cell phone?"

"Yeah, of course. Go ahead."

Steve makes Tony hold the bag while he rummages through it. "Why couldn't we stick around? I had a lot more questions." He complains. "Because I actually like to investigate things myself first. Besides neither of them is going anywhere. Shit, no cellphone." Steve sighs.

"Maybe it's in the laundry room, or the dryer?"

"Well, if it is, CSU will find it." Steve does find Sara's wallet and pulls it out. "She's still got her Georgia license." Steve shows it to Nat. "So who calls her parents?"

"Steve does." Nat tells Tony. "Really?" He seems genuinely surprised. "Easier to write about than live through, huh, Stark."

Once they reach the car, Nat grabs the back of Steve's jacket and yanks him before he gets in. Closing the door. He's guessing so they can talk without Stark listening. "I don't know who's worse. You and Stark or Wilson and Barnes."

"Nat…" He tries. "I don't want to hear it. I know why your doing this and it's fine. But please do not make me come with you again. That is the last time. And next time, remember to ask all the questions before walking away. Don't let Stark's eyes distract you."

"I was not looking at his eyes." Steve hisses at her. "Uh huh. And Barnes doesn't have a thing for Wilson."

Once they step into the bullpen, Tony spots the Captain, Barnes, and Wilson huddled around one computer. "Three men around a computer? That better not be porn. And if it is, I want in." Detective Wilson seems to hold back a laugh, even Barnes seems to have a slightly amused smile. "Barnes and Wilson pulled security tape from the elevator in the rear entrance."

"Front door has a twenty four hour doorman." Sam adds. Steve, Natasha, and Tony gather around the computer to watch and Barnes shows them his computer. "This is the elevator's cam. Our victim gets on the elevator with her laundry basket. Takes it down to the basement to put the kid's laundry into the washer. A few minutes later, gets back on and goes all the way back up to the apartment. Then about forty minutes later, ride the elevator back down to the basement again."

"We figure probably to take the kids clothes out of the washer and move them into the dryer." Sam explains. "Cam never picks her up again." Coulson adds. "Only other person who rides the elevtor all the way down to the basement during the next hour is the old lady who found the body." Barnes shows them the footage.

"So whoever attacked her must have used the stairwell. Otherwise the cam would have caught them." Natasha speculates. "Three maintence workers on duty that day; we'll run their names tonight." Sam tells Steve. "Why only run the worker's names? Why not run all the neighbors names?" Tony asks. "And your basing that on?" Steve asks. "The neighbor makes a better story." Wilson and Barnes snicker. "Oh come on, what do any of us know about our neighbors in this city? Or any city? Do you think the guy living next door to the 'Son of Sam' knew he was living next door to the 'Son of Sam'?" Tony explains.

"He's right." Coulson agrees. "Neighors in Berkowtiz's building had no idea he was Son of Sam killer."

"Thank you. What about the guy in 8B?"

"Who?" Steve asks. "8B." Tony repeats, "Quiet guy, you see him everyday, only you would never notice him. He noticed Sara, she's young, beautiful. the kind of girl a guy like him would never have a chance with. We've all known someone like that. At first it's just a game, figure out her schedule. when does she do her laundry? When is she alone? Then it becomes something more, something that he can't control. He uses the stairs, obviously, to avoid the elevator's cameras, and then he just waits." Tony can tells he's got them hooked, so he keeps going, running with it. He circles the group, voice barely above a whisper, pausing in places and emphasizing words for dramatic effect. "Concealed in the shadows - and when she comes into that laundry room, he poucnes. And when he looked into her vacant lifeless eyes, he wanted to tell her, he never meant to kill her. All he ever wanted was to be noticed. That's when he felt the heat of that dyer on his skin. So, he picks up her limp body in his arms and gently places it inside. He almost smiled at his good fortune when he found a quarter in his pocket, slipping it in to the slot, buying him time to do what he does best… disappear." He smiles at his audience, returning to his normal voice. "Just saying, better story. Anyone want a blueberry?" He asks, popping a few into his mouth.

"See what you can find out about those neighbors. And someone had better tell me who the hell lives in 8B." Coulson tells them.

"Let me guess," Tony says as he sees the mess in the kitchen that Rhodey and Peter are cleaning up, "Thor cooked."

"Yeah, and we told him we would clean up so he could take a call. It's Jane." Peter explains. "Ah." Tony says and joins them in the cleanup. "If your hungry, there's lots of leftovers. Waffles."

"How did he make such a mess making waffles?" Tony asks. There's stuff everywhere. How did it get on the microwave? And the fridge? "Dad, food." Peter tries to remind him to eat. "Well thank you, but I grabbed a slice on the way home." He assures Peter. "You really are turning into a cop."

"Now all he needs is a donut." Rhodey adds. "Yeah? You think?"

"So who got killed today?" Peter asks. "The nanny." Tony tells him, loading the dishwasher.

"Do you know who did it yet?" Rhodey asks. "Well, unlike books, the don't know until after the guy gets caught."

"How come we never had a nanny?" Peter asks. "Well, I decided if someone was going to screw you up, it would be me or your mother. Only you managed to turn out fine anyway."

"Surprisingly." Rhodey jokes. "It's probably your fault he's so well adjusted." Tony accuses, like theres something actually wrong with it. "Tony! How was work? Did you catch any 'perps'?" Thor asks. "Not today."

"I was just asking why I never had a nanny." Peter explains. "I'm assuming you spared him any stories of your childhood?"

"You had a nanny?" Tony did not want this conversation but he guesses their having it now. Thanks a lot Thor. "Yeah, only we didn't call them nannies then."

"What were they called?"

"Alcoholics? Raving lunatics? Or completely irresponsible middle-aged women who, instead of looking after me watched daytime television."

"And look at him. He didn't turn out half bad." Rhodey adds. "Thank you. And it wasn't all bad. I got the plot of my first novel from One Life to Live."

Tony's phone starts to ring and he picks it up. "Detective Rogers did you miss me already?"

Peter watches his dad pick up the phone and can't help but give Thor and Rhodey a side eye to silently ask "Are you hearing what I'm hearing?" They both nod at him.

"Really? Do they do those at night?" Pause. "No, for sure, I'm just, I'm just touched that you thought of me." Pause. "Oh, ordered to call me, I see." His dad actually sounds slightly disappointed, even if he hides it well. Like he actually wants Detective Rogers to like him as much as Tony clearly does. "Well, either way, I can leave right away." He hands up. "I gotta go. I would say don't wait up, but you'll be asleep by eleven." Tony jokes and gives Peter a kiss on the forehead. "10:30, it's a school night." He reminds his dad. Tony turns to Rhodey, "This is one of those moments I'm not sure he's my kid."

"I promise he's your's. Just with a slightly better sleep schedule." Rhodey jokes. Peter laughs, he almost adds an aversion to swearing. "Thor, help clean up." Tony adds. "I swear to do so."

Steve hands him a paper gown and a pair of goggles. "Really? I thought cops just stood around the body eating sandwiches, cracking jokes. You know, hardcore gallows humor." He jokes, putting them on. "Not always. Sometimes it's a hotdog." Clint jokes. Steve gives them both a look. "C.O.D.?" The detective chooses to try and ignore them. "The head trauma definitely contributed to the death. The force of the blows resulted in significant cerbral haemorrhaging." Bruce explains while the rest of them step up to the body.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Stark." Bruce adds. "Well, I wish I could say the same, but my glasses are all scratchy. How often do they let you replace these?" He asks, messing with them, trying to see a little better. "Not everybody has your budget, Stark. So what killed her?" Steve steers them back on track.

"It appears she was struck in the head with a bleach bottle, then fell forward and hit her temple on the edge of the table." Clint explains. "Causing temporal bleeding." Bruce adds. "Without medical attention she didn't stand a chance." Clint tells them, "But what's really interesting is the fact that she had sex within the hours before her death."

"Sex?" Steve asks. "I can show you how that works later." Tony gets a glare from Steve from the comment but his ears turning a little pink make it totally worth it. "Might even have been within a few minutes of the murder. The heat from the dryer makes it hard to pinpoint." Bruce ignores their bickering. "So you're saying she was raped?"

"It's hard to say. There were no vaginal lacerations of presence of any semen." Clint explains. "So what evidence was there?" Steve asks. "Spermicide." When neither Tony or Steve show any signs of recognition Clint sighs, "The guy wore a condom."

"A condom?"

"Boy, it really has been a long time for you, hasn't it?" Tony earns another glare.

"It could have been rape, but my best guess would be…" Bruce is interrupted by Steve. "She knew him." Clint and Bruce nod to confirm.

"Without evidence of trauma, I'm not ready to buy our attacker as a sexual predator, expecially with him using a condom." Steve explains to his group of detectives as he pours himself a cup of coffee. "He could be trying to hide DNA." Sam says. "Someone smart enough to try to hide DNA would have been smart enough not to have sex in the laundry room." Bucky deadpans. "And only in about 15% of rape cases does the attacker use a condom." Nat adds. "You're all missing the point. The laundry room afforded opportunity. It wasn't an accident she was killed there." Stark tels them.

"Barnes, where are we on her cell phone?" Coulson comes over to their desks and asks. "I've pulled her records. Had her service provider ping it. Triangulation puts it at or near the building."

"Maybe he took it so she couldn't call for help, then dumped it somewhere close by. What about the ex-boyfriend?" He asks. "With just the first name we don't have enough to go off of to find him in a reasonable amount of time. But if we had her cell phone, he might be in her contacts list." Nat explains to the Captain.

"What about these calls?" Steve points to some on the list. "What calls?" Tony asks, trying to get a good look. Steve finds it a little funny but he won't say anything about it. "Last two months there are dozens of incoming calls from the same number." Steve explains, and takes pity on Stark, moving the paper enough that he can see it but not be obvious about it. He doesn't need Stark to think he likes him or anything. "We're still running that down, but the number's a prepay. Besides, they stopped coming a couple of weeks before she was killed." Sam explains. "Yeah, but the outgoing calls to that number stopped before that. Whoever it was, she didn't want to talk to them." Steve points out. "So she was letting it go to voicemail." Tony thinks outloud. Steve has noticed he has a tendency to do that.

"Find this kid and bring him in for questioning." Coulson tells them before going back to his office.

Steve stops on his way in to the interregation room with his hand on the doorhandle, he turns back. He points at Tony, who finds himself staring briefly at where Steve's finger is poking him in the chest before looking back up at the detective as he speaks, "You're here by invitation only, got it?"

"Got it." He confirms. "Good."

Steve opens the door and lets them both in. "Brent Johnson?" He asks as they step in. "Yeah." He confirms. He's a young kid, probably early twenties. Tony's not even sure this guy can legally drink yet, serious baby face. With light brown hair and bangs falling in front of his face. Until they walked in he was fidgeting with his thumbs. "I'm Detective Steve Rogers and this is Mr. Stark." He explains and takes a seat across from Brent, Tony sits down at the end of the table.

"Um, the cops who picked me up at my job said you had some questions about what happened to Sara." He's fidgeting again, Tony notices. "I understand that the two of you were dating?" Steve begins asking questions. "Yeah, 'til about a month ago."

"What happened then?"

"Nothing. We broke up."

"Whose idea was that?" Tony asks. "It was a mutual thing, I guess." He shrugs. "A mutual thing?" Steve asks. He nods. Steve then grabs the recording device he brought in and starts playing an old voicemail. "Hey Sara, it's me, just call me back, okay?" There's a beep. "You can just call me back Sara. Don't be a bitch." Another beep. "Come on, Sara, I just want to talk to you, I don't know why you can't tell me who this other guy is? Do you know, you're just a little slut…"

"Really sounds mutual to me." Steve says as he stops it, "And theres plenty more of them too."

"They all make Alec Baldwin's messages sound like rainbows and unicorns." Tony smirks at the kid who looks increasingly back into a corner. "How did you get those?" He asks. "From your service provider." Steve tells him. "A little advice: when you buy a prepaid phone, don't use your credit card, it's totally traceable." Tony tells the kid. "I wasn't trying to hide anything." Brent defends. "Then why did you just lie to me?" Steve asks him. Brent pauses.

Tony's mouth starts to work before he really thinks about what he's saying, "No man likes getting dumped. Am I right? Our egos can't handle it. This one time I had an ex-girlfriend, she dumped me. I drank nothing but coffee for a week, and I barely liked her. If I'd loved her…" He stops when Steve gives a stare that would send him to the grave if a stare had to power to do so, holy shit.

"No, no, no way, it wasn't like that." Brent stays mostly calm, even if a little mad at being subtley accused of doing something to his ex. "Then how did you find out about Sara if you two broke up a month ago?"

"From a friend. Chloe, Chloe Richardson, all right? We all went to college together. Chloe was the one who got Sara the job."

"And how did this friend find out?" Steve asks. "Chloe nannies for another family in the buildling, the two of them are pretty close."

"So then where were you the day that Sara got killed?"

"I was where those other cops found me, at my job. We have video cameras there and a sign in sheet. Look, I didn't have anything to do with this. Am I under arrest or something?"

"No, you can go. But just don't leave town until we speak again. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. Yes, sir." He says and leaves. Once he's gone Tony turns to the detective. "I thought you needed probable cause to tell them not to leave town."

"He doesn't know that, does he?" Steve gives a small smile. Tony grabs his notebook, "You can lie like that? That is so cool."

"Stark."

"The doorman told Nat that this is the playground where all the nannies in the building go, so hopefully we'll find Chloe here." They start walking from his parking spot towards the park, dodging some of the people littering the sidewalks. "This brings me back a bit." Tony sighs. "A bit? I'm thinking it's a little bit more than that, Stark. How old are you again?"

"First of all, I'm only 38. Second, I was talking about when I used to bring Peter to the park?" Huh, that's interesting, "Peter, that's your son right? You used to bring him to the park?"

"Spring, summer, and fall we were here every day. His mom was always coming in and out so I had custody." Steve's face must give away his shock because Tony asks, "What?"

"I just never figured you for the type."

"Some of the best days of my life. I love that kid." That's sweeter than he expected actually. "That's actually kind of nice."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Do you know how many lonely single mothers there are in a Manhattan playground too? And there I was between marriages." There it is. "Exactly how many times have you been married?"

"Twice."

"That's it?" Steve was honestly expecting a higher number. "Isn't that enough? How about you?"

"Never."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"But you'd be so good at it. You're so disapproving. You should try it." Steve shakes his head, what goes through this man's head sometimes? "I'm not an 'if at first you don't succed' kind of person, Stark. When it comes to marriage I'm more of a 'one and done' type. I'm just waiting for the right partner."

"Any serious candidates?" Steve decides to seriously consider whether or not he should answer (the answer being no because dating sucks, romance is dead, women are scary, and men are the worst) when he notices something in the corner of his eye. "Doorman said she'd have a red vest on, that might be our girl." Steve points to a girl calling for a 'becca', running through the jungle gym.

They enter the playground Steve calls out to her from the ground while she follows the kids up the jungle gym. She turns at the sound of her name. "I'm Detective Steve Rogers, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about Sara Manning."

"Um, right-- right now?" She asks. Steve goes to assure her, "It shouldn't take long."

"Yeah, ah, Maggie, can you watch Becca for a sec?" She turns to another young nanny who agrees to watch the kid long enough for a few questions.

The three of them sit on a bench so she can still keep an eye even if it's from a small distance. "Sara's ex-boyfriend told us that you helped her get her job?"

"Ah, you talked to Brent?"

She lets out a sigh before she explains, "When we got out of school, Sara couldn't find work. She was temping all over town. I nannied for a family in the same building, and heard that the Petersons were looking for someone."

"When was the last time you saw Sara?" Tony asks and she hesitates, opening and closing her mouth like she's trying to find the words. "I know what it feels like to lose somebody, Chloe, but we need to ask you these questions." Steve tells her.

"Yeah. Um. Sometimes we'd meet up before work, get a coffee in Columbus and walk over to work together."

"Did you get coffee that day?"

"Yeah."

"Did she say anything to you? Did she seem upset?" Stark asks. "Upset? Upset about what?"

"Brent gave us the impression that Sara was seeing someone else." She freezes like a deer in headlights. "You know who it was, don't you." Tony asks, gentle, it occurs to Steve it may sound like he was talking to his own kid. "Sometimes Sara would stay late?"

"Stay late at the Petersons?" Steve asks, trying to follow the train of thought. "Yeah. We'd get off work at the same times so we'd take the train home together. I live with a roommate a couple of blocks from Sara. Only the last few months she'd been staying late. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson kind take turns coming home for dinner, you know?"

"Yeah, Mrs. Peterson told us." Steve tells her. "I don't want to say something and then… I mean, he's married."

"Wait a minute, Sara told you about him?" Steve asks. "No, not exactly. It's just the nights Mrs. Peterson didn't come home for dinner? Those were the only nights Sara stayed late."

"I told you we should have asked the husband more questions that day." Tony tells Steve as they walk into the building that they were told Mr. Peterson is currently in. "And I told you I like to question my most likely suspects after I know more about them. That way they're tied to more specific answers." Steve snaps. "You suspected him too?"

"Obviously!"

"You would really clean up at my poker game. Strange wouldn't stand a chance."

"Right, you, Stephen Strange, and the rest of the best seller list? No thank you. A little too rich for my blood."

"We could always make it strip poker." Steve feels the heat rising to his face but responds anyway, "Sorry, but I prefer mystery to horror."

"No, yeah, I'm in the space right now, but like I told you guys, I'm going to need at least twenty thousand square feet." Mr. Peterson says to someone on the phone. He notices Steve and Stark and freezes. Steve makes a gesture telling him to wrap it up. "Listen, I'm going to five you guys a call back to let you know if the client is interested, OK? Thank you."

"Hi, remember us?" Steve asks.

"When was the last time you saw Sara, Mr. Peterson?" Steve asks as they walk the streets of New York City. "The night before she was killed, I told you that."

"Which was your night to be home for dinner, right?" Tony trys to catch him in a lie. "Right. What are you asking?"

"Well, Mr. Peterson…" Tony goes, Steve makes a gesture for him to stop and he decides to, for once in his life, listen. "We have information that suggests that Sara was having a relationship." Steve tells him. "Right, she had a boyfriend."

"Someone else."

"Someone else who?" Tony makes a sound to get Mr. Peterson's attention, then makes a face that says, 'really?'. "Me? You think I was having an affair with Sara."

"Got it spot on there."

"That's is, that's crazy."

"Is it? We know that she stayed late some nights." Steve tells him. "Right, she helped us make dinner."

"Us? Well, what we heard was she helped on the nights you wife wasn't home." Steve tells him and he stops walking. "First of all, it's not what you think. "When is it ever?" Tony asks, more rhetorical than anything. The husband sighs, "Yes, I was having an affair."

"So what happened?" Steve asks. "What do you mean what happened? I cheated, strayed, whatever you want to call it."

"In the laundry room."

"What?"

"You just said that you…"

"Yes, I was having an affair," He interupts, "but it wasn't with Sara. It was with another woman at my office. Look, every night that I was supposed to be home having dinner I wasn't. You can check the land lines from the apartment. I called to make sure that Sara was okay every night. You can check cell phone records, right?" Steve and Tony share a look during his confession. Steve looks almost as shocked as Tony has ever seen him. But too be fair they haven't known each other for that long.

Peterson looks back and forth between them as they both contemplate what to say. Tony finally settles on, "Don't leave town." Even if he sounds unsure. Mr. Peterson looks confused, and Steve looks more than a little annoyed.

"What happened with the husband?" Romanoff asks once they enter the bullpen. Barnes and Wilson look up from their argument as well. "He was cheating, just not with our victim. Here, I need you to run it down. This is her name." Steve hands Barnes a piece of paper. "I'm telling you, true commitment is a thing of the past. I mean, name one happily married couple." Wilson complains. "Richards and Storm." Tony tells him. "He's got you there, Wilson."

"Shut up, James."

"What is this, The View?" Natasha asks them. "Where are we on the ex?" Steve asks. "Story checks out, video and a sign in sheet." Natasha tells him. "Great, so all we have is a cheating husband with a possible alibi and no cell phone to run the perp's finger prints." Steve sighs.

"I got something better." Barnes tells him. "Please tell me it's that the mayor wants him out of here." Steve gestures to Tony. Tony turns to Wilson, "Have you ever noticed that he gets grumpy when he doesn't have a suspect."

"All the time." Steve shakes his head at them. "We got one now. Guess who wasn't where they say they were when Sara was killed." Barnes asks, holding up a sticky note. "Who?" Steve reaches for it, only for Barnes to hold it out of reach.

"Come on, Stevie, you gotta guess."

"I'm not guessing. And I told you not to call me that at work."

"So grumpy. One guess."

"Buck." The brunette sighs, handing it over. "Killjoy." He mutters. "That's what I've been saying." Tony chimes in. Barnes laughs. He looks at the note and looks back at Barnes. "No way?"

"Who is it?" Tony asks. "Told you, you should have guessed." Sam takes the note from Steve and shows it Natasha. "Well damn, good work Barnes."

Steve knocks on the apartment door. When Mrs. Peterson answers, he gets straight to the point. "You weren't at the office the day that Sara Manning was killed, were you? You lied to me, Mrs. Peterson." She lets them in and heads over to her sitting area. Steve knows Tony is following right behind him. "Detective Barnes checked with your son's school, the day they called about Sara not showing up. Your assistant said that you were unreachable."

"What are you talking about?" She asks. "I'm talking about Sara Manning, Mrs. Peterson. Your son's nanny. We're talking about why you lied about where you were the day she was killed. And we know you weren't at your office."

"It would have been easy to sneak into the building. Doorman could have been outside hailing a cab, taking a delivery." Tony adds. She sputters for a second before speaking. "My husband is having an affair, did you know that?" She asks. "Actually we did." Tony tells her and she scoffs. "All these months I had no idea."

"Then you found out?" Steve prompts her to continue. "Yes. Sara told me a few weeks ago."

"Sara told you about the affair?"

"Yes, and she'd been an absolue wreck about keeping it from me."

"I bet she was." Tony sounds more than a little skeptical. "Did you know he was paying her extra?" She asks. "No, he didn't mention that." Steve tells her. "Can you imagine putting Sara in the middle of something like that?"

"Something like what?" Steve asks. "He used Sara to cover for himself. I mean, it's disgusting."

"I don't understand, Mrs. Peterson. If you had nothing to do with Sara's death, then why did you lie?"

"Because my cheating husand has no idea I'm about to serve him with divorce papers. I lied because I was at my lawyer's that afternoon. Howard's not the only one who can keep a secret."

Tony watches the video again in his office, trying to figure out what he's missing about this case. "What are you up to Tony?" Rhodey asks from the door of his office. "Nothing." He replies. "Not webcamming again, are you."

"I'll have you know I've never webcammed in my life. I burned a DVD from secutiry cameras that the police are looking at."

"That's your story and you're sticking too it?" He asks. "Absolutely." Rhodey steps inside. "The police just let you burn the DVD. You do realize you have to stop stealing evidence, right? I thought the whole purpose of following the detective around was to help you write? Or are you just checking out his ass."

"It's called research, sugarplum." He scoffs, "Better hope your last novel sells because research isn't going to pay the bills."

"Of course, that's what I have you for." Rhodey looks over at the security footage. Tony looks at the two elevator rides side by side. The one to go to the laundry the first time and then the one right before her death. "Is that the nanny?" He asks. "Yup."

"What are you two watching?" Peter asks and joins them by the computer. "An exciting movie?" Thor asks and joins. "I'm watching, the rest of you are butting in. The police can't find the nanny's cell phone. They were hoping to lift some fingerprints from it. I thought I could see if she had it with her when she went down to the laundry room."

"And?" Thor asks. "It's in her hand the first time she brings her clothes down to the washer, then she doesn't have it when she goes down to use the dryer."

"Then she probably left it in the apartment where she worked." Peter tells him. "They say they can't find it." He watches her go back down the second time. "Wait a second." He notices something.

"What?" Rhodey asks. "There's a five second time difference." Tony tells them. "A five second difference it what?" Thor asks. "She rides the elevator twice to the basement. The first time to put the clothes in the washer, the second time to put them in the dryer." He starts the two video sections over. "Only the second time the trip takes five seconds longer." He explains. "But if she was coming from the same floor why would there be a time difference?" Thor asks. "There wouldn't." Tony says. He's got it.

Steve sighs as they stand in the elevator. "Where are you going with this, Stark?"

"Up." Tony jokes. "All right, 32 seconds. It takes 32 seconds to get from the basement to the twelfth floor."

"Great, I'll alert the media. The case is solved." He deadpans. "Sara rode the elevator twice. The first time it took 32 seconds. The second time, it took her 37 seconds." He replies, smuggly. But Steve is ignoring that right now. "Why would it take her five extra seconds?"

"Because the second time she wasn't coming from the twelfth floor, she was coming from the…" he pauses for a semi-dramatic reveal of the fifteenth floor. "Why would she be coming from the fifteenth flor. The Peterson's live on twelve." Steve argues. "Yeah, but I bet the guy who wears that condom lives of fifteen. By the way, that whole elevator thing, I just did that because you smelled nice." Steve ignores him and any way that makes him feel. Because right now he mostly feels annoyed. Mostly. Especially when the author knocks on someones door.

"You can't just knock on random people's doors." Steve lectured. "Why not?" Tony asks while someone from inside asks, "Who is it?"

"Because you're going to freak them out. Police." He replies. An old man answers. He looks them both up and down before asking, "You're the police."

"He is." Steve shows the man his badge while Tony continues the coverstaion. "I'm sorry, do you live here alone?"

"Yeah, why do you want to know?"

"Don't worry about it, you're not young enough." Tony assures him. "Young enough for what?" Steve wants out of this conversation and he wants out of every decision he's ever made that lead him to this moment in time. "To have sex."

"What kind of cops did you say you were?"

"He's not a cop, I'm a cop. And I'm very sorry for distrubing you." He explains as another apartment door opens. Out walks Becca and who he would guess is her mom.

"77 ain't out of the realm of possibility you know." The old man calls after them as they make their way over. "Excuse me." Steve gets the woman's attention. "Detective Rogers. Is this little girl Becca?"

Tony and Steve stand in the apartment of who they've now learned are the Harris's. Tony looks around while Mrs. Marris picks up a few of Becca's things. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm following."

"Prior to her murder, we believe Sara Manning was coming from this floor." Steve explains. "Well, I don't know anyting about that. I was at work. Maybe she came up to see Chloe?"

"Chloe Richards?"

"She and Sara were friends and our kids would get together sometimes for play dates." Mr. Harris decides to take that moment to walk out of what Tony assumes is the bedroom, looking rumpled and like he just rolled out of bed. "Hey babe, what's going on? I thought you were going out?"

"It's the police." She explains to her husband, gesturing to Steve and then Tony. "Police?"

"They think Chloe's friend Sara might have been up here the day she was killed. You were home that day, right?"

"Umm, what day was that?"

"Tuesday." Steve interjects. "Yeah, yeah, I was here."

"So did you see Sara?"

"I don't think so, no."

"You don't think so?" Steve questions. "No." Tony decides to interupt. "Mind if I use your bathroom?" Steve gives him a look that says 'what the hell are you doing' but Tony ignores that. "People never think about that, when do cops use the bathroom?"

"It's right here." Mrs. Harris points him in the direction. He also notices on his way a picture of the family that has Chloe in the middle, between Mrs. Harris and Mr. Harris, with Chloe holding Becca. Interesting, a weird interesting, but interesting.

"So, Tuesday?" Tony hears Steve asks. But then he gets to work. He opens the mirror cabniet and starts looking through everything. Then he finds what he's looking for. A box of condoms. Once he's found it he puts it back, making sure it doesn't look like anything has been disturbed. He flushs the toilet and turns on the sink to make it seem like he washed his hands. He takes a moment to fix his hair.

"So you're saying that you can't say one way or the other?" Steve clarified. "After Chloe got here to take care of Becca I went inside to take a nap. I work most nights." Mr. Harris explains. While he does Stark comes back over and past him, whispering in his ear as he does, "Condoms."

"And what is it that you do, Mr. Harris?"

"I'm a musician." Steve nods along. And Tony walks behind him again, whispering, "Condoms in the bathroom."

"So, anyway, it's possible that Sara was here. I couldn't really say for sure." Mr. Harris doubles down. "You know, maybe you should talk to Chloe about this." Mrs. Harris tries to tell him. "I already have." He tells her. "And what did she tell you?"

"She said that she saw Sara earlier in the day but she didn't say anything about Sara being in your apartment."

Tony uses his phone, hiding it behind Steve's back, to dial Sara's number.

"What else would she be doing up here?" Mrs. Harris asks. Just then, everyone can hear P!nk;s 'So What' from the bedroom. "What's that?" Mrs. Harris asks. Mr. Harris seems to freeze. "That sounds like somebody's cell phone." Tony replies, feeling smug. That man is so busted. He smiles at Steve who looks only a little bit annoyed with him right now.

Mrs. Harris walks into the bedroom and walks back out with a phone she found under the bed. "Ian, who the hell's phone is this?" She asks as the phone sings 'I wanna start a fight.'

"Maybe she dropped it. I don't know." Mr. Harris frantically tries to defend himself sitting at the interregation table. "You told me you went into the bedroom to take a nap. How could she got into the room, drop the phone, and you not see her?" Steve asks, fed up entirely with this man and the other one in here taking notes.

"He's right, it's doesn't make sense when you think about it." At least one of the other men in this room is agreeing with him. "We're running a test on the condoms we found in your medicine cabinet."

"Now there's something you never want to hear." Tony laughs but stops when Steve sends him another death glare. A look he's quickly mastering more than he already had. "If the spermicides match you're facing a murder charge."

"I didn't kill Sara." He tells them. "But you were sleeping with her?" Tony asks. He pauses and rubs his forehead like this is physically paining him to do, sighing before replying. "Look, we had sex, okay. But when Sara left my place she was fine."

"I think you followed her down to the basement, didn't you? You followed her in to the basement and then you killed her."

"No. I wouldn't hurt Sara!"

"You wouldn't hurt her? You're a married man sleeping with her in your own bed."

"What time did she leave your apartment." Tony asks. Steve wants to get mad at him for interupting the interegration but it probably wouldn't matter anyway. "A little before one."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because Chloe gets home from the park with Becca every day around one to give her her lunch. Sara left maybe ten minutes before Chloe got back. Look, you can ask Chloe. She will tell you there was no way that I could have killed Sara."

Someone enters the room. "Detective Rogers, Frank Garrison. I've been retained to represent Mr. Harris and I'm directing him not to answer any more of your questions." The lawyer introduces himself. "Your client can answer them here or he can answer them in front of a grand jury." Steve tells the lawyer, already annoyed and fed up with Mr. Harris and everyone else in this room. "If you've got enough to charge him, do it. Otherwise he's coming with me. Let's go." He directs his client out of the room and Steve leans back, letting out a sigh he's been holding all day. "It guess it's a lot tougher when they actually know the rules, huh?"

He let's out a humorless laugh, "You've got no idea."

Tony watches as Wilson thanks whoever is on the other end of the phone and sets it down. "Lab says condoms are a match."

"Which proves that they had sex. But not that he killed her." Romanoff sighs. "If Chloe got home at one then there's no way he had time to get down to the basement, kill Sara and make it back upstairs." Barnes tells the group. "You could pick up Chloe and see if she backs the story." Coulson tells them. "We don't have to." Tony tells him. "Why not?"

"Because the elveator cam had a timestamp." Steve realizes.

"Our suspect says that Sarah left his apartment at about 12:45 and the camera in the elevator has her headed towards the basement at 12:48." Steve tells his team as they watch the video again. "We think she was murdered maybe ten minutes later." Sam adds.

"So what are we looking for?" The video tech, who Tony has been informed is named Gwen Stacy, asks them. "The nanny who worked for Ian Harris. We're just trying to check out both stories." Barnes tells her. "He claims she got home at one and he never left the aprtment again." Sam elaborates.

"There she is. 12:54." Sam points at the time. 'Okay, so that's six minutes after Sara took the elevator." Tony does the math outloud. "I guess Harris was telling the truth." Coulson says, clearly in disbelief. "Wait." Steve says. "What?" Tony asks. "Where's the kid?"

"Where's what kid?" Coulson asks. "Becca. The little girl that Chloe takes care of."

"She must have left the kid in the playground with one of the other nannies." Barnes guesses. "Harris said that she came back with his daughter at the same time every day." Steve adds. "So?" Coulson asks. "There are no coincidences when it comes to murder." Tony tells him. "Chloe would have known Sara's schedule. Chloe would have known that Sara was in the basement at that time."

"Pick her up." Coulson tells them.

Who Steve assumes is Chloe's roomate answers the door. "Can I help you?" She asks. "Detective Rogers." He holds up his badge for her to see. "Does Chloe Richardson live here?"

"Yes, but she's not here right now."

"Where did she go?"

"Into the city."

"Do you mind if I take a look around?"

"No. But I'm telling you she's not here. She left about an hour ago." She let's them in. The first thing that catches Tony's eye is the copy of the picture of the Harris family. The only difference is it's been cropped so Mrs. Harris isn't in there. "Detective." He calls him over. "That's just the family Chloe works for." The roommate tells them. He shows Rogers the picture. "Not exactly the whole family. She cut the mom out of the picture."

"Can you tells us where Chloe went?" Steve asks. "To their apartment. She said that they needed her to babysit tonight."

"She must have found out that I took Harris in for questioning." Steve speculates. "If she talked to his wife, she'd know he'd been released. And we both know what she does to people she doesn't like."

"She's going after Ian Harris. We'd better find her before she finds him."

Steve pulls up to the building and his team of Detectives walk towards the car. "No answer from the apartment when the doorman called upstairs." Bucky informs him. "But he's sure Chloe is there. Says Ian Harris is up there too, came home about an hour ago." Sam adds. "Which means Chloe would have been there waiting for him." Tony realizes outloud. "Alright, we don't have time to wait for emergency services. We're going to have to go in on our own." Steve tells the group. "What about him?" Nat asks. "He stays here."

"I signed the waivers! What more do you want from me?" He asks. "Fine, but it's an 'accompany and observe' not 'participate and annoy'. Got it?"

"'Participate and annoy' is much more fun but all right." Tony sighs. "Stay behind us in the hallway and don't move unless I tell you."

"Hope to die." He promises and Steve shoots him a look that says 'you aren't funny or clever'. "You know what I mean."

Once they exit the elevator and head towards the apartment, Steve sees that the door is open. He pulls out his gun and knows his team does the same. Then he notices the feets of a prone body. "I've got a victim down, guys, stack 'em up. NYPD!" He shouts into the apartment as he bursts the door open. Each Detective takes a direction and he can feel Tony right behind him. "We're here! We're here!" Someone calls from the bathroom, clearly frightened. "Mrs. Harris?"

"In here, I've locked us in the bathroom."

"Room's clear." Sam says, emerging from the bedroom. Bucky checks Mr. Harris's pulse. "Harris is still alive but he needs medical aid."

"Mrs. Harris, are you okay? Is your duaghter with you?"

"We're okay."

"Is Chloe there with you?"

"No, no, it's just me and Becca."

"Apartment's all clear. Chloe's not here." Nat tells him. "You can come out now. Mrs. Harris." Once she's exited he pockets his gun. "Do you know where Chloe is?"

"I don't know, she must have used her key. I was giving Becca a bath. I didn't even know she was here." She's clearly panicked and Becca looks terrified. Then there's a buzzing sound. "That's the doorman from downstairs." Mrs. Harris tells them. "Answer it." Steve tells Tony.

"Hello." Tony picks up the phone and listens. "Thank you, I'll tell him." Once he hangs up he turns back to Steve. "The doorman says a tenant called, there's a girl in the laundry room and she's got a knife."

"Okay, Sam, you stay here, wait for Emergency Services and get Mrs. Harris's statment. The rest of you with me."

"Where's the girl?" Bucky asks once they get to the basement floor and see a bunch of bystanders. "Buck, Nat, get these people out of there." Steve directs them. "You got it."

"Let's go everybody. Up the stairs." Nat tells them.

Steve stops by the hall entrance and looks in, making sure she's not around the corner waiting to attack the moment he appears. He holds his gun out in front of him, hoping to not have to use it on this young girl, even if she's a murderer. "What's the plan?" Tony asks. "To get everyone out of this alive." He replies, moving over to the laundry room door.

"I like that plan."

"You don't go in, do you understand?"

"Yes." Tony confirms and he opens the door slowly to see Chloe sitting there with a knife in hand. She looks mostly dispondant. "Chloe. It's Detective Rogers. Do you remember me?" He asks as calmy as possible. "Please just go away." She cries from her spot on top of the table in the middle of the room. "I'm sorry, Chloe, but I can't do that." He steps in to the room, holding his gun out low enough he can raise it quickly but not look like a threat. As he gets closer she moves the knife, a kitchen knife, to her leg, ready to stab. "Look, I know you're hurt. Why don't you put the knife away and let me help you?"

"Why don't you just shoot me?"

"Hey, Look at me, look." He gets her attention and holds his hands up in surrender. Shows her he doesn't want to hurt her. He kneels down slowly to set down his gun, making no sudden moves. "No one's going to shoot anyone, Okay?" Then hears the door shut completely and knows Stark disobeyed, again. "Unless it's you if you take another step inside, Stark." Steve glares at Tony from the corner of his eye.

Chloe looks back and forth between the two of them, looking frantic, an animal that has been back into a corner. "He was sleeping with Sara." She whispers, looking at Steve.

"I know." He tells her. "Only the whole time he was sleeping with me. He was telling me that he loved me and that he was going to leave his wife for me." She emphasizes 'me' a little bit more each time, stabbing her leg so that both Steve and Tony can see spots of blood forming on her pants every time she says it. "Guys can be like that sometimes, Chloe. They can lie, and I know when you find out, how much it can break your heart."

"I'm pregnant." She cries. "That's even more reason for us to get you some help. Right?" He tires to reason with her.

"I just wanted to talk to her, that's all. I just wanted to tell her that Ian and I were in love."

"I know what happened to Sara was an accident, Chloe. I know that." He assures her. "I left Becca in the park and I went up to the apartment just to see if it was true. Cause I'd seen the way he was looking at her. As soon as I saw Ian's bed, I knew. He went to take a shower so I came down here, just to talk to Sara."

"I know you didn't mean to kill her Chloe." He assures her again. She's holding back more tears as she speaks again. "Sara was my freind, you know? But she didn't get it. She didn't get how we felt about each other. So when she turned around I just grabbed the bleach and I hit her with it and she fell and I was so scared, I didn't know what to do so I put her in the dryer. I was so angry. You know, so mad." She's holding up the knife like she's ready to strike at any second.

"Chloe, put the knife down, okay, and let me help you." Her hand shakes, like she wants to to but she can't. "Just put the knife down, Come on." He tells her softly. She drops it and in clatters to the ground. He gently walks over to her and he kicks it away. "I'm so stupid." She whispers. "It's okay." He assures her.

Tony watches with Steve as officers take away Chloe and EMTs take Ian to the hospital. "Well, looks like I made it through the case without getting injured, shot, or killed." Tony jokes. "Yeah, well, maybe tomorrow?" Steve smiles at him. "By the way what you said back that, to her, I liked that. What was that? Some kind of angle?"

"I wasn't running any kind of angle. What that guy did was wrong and it should have consequences but he'll just get to walk away." Tony looks at Rogers. He looks genuinely pissed and upset. As he looks at Chloe driven away in the car he sees the sadness there.

"Well, not entirely scot-free. He is pretty injured and I see a pretty big divorce in his future."

"Whatever it is it won't be enough." Steve walks towards the other detectives and this time, Tony doesn't follow him.

Tony likes writing when it rains. It adds a calm to the atmosphere. And tonight he writes about something he hadn't expected to appear in the story. A broken heart.

… and he understood. Spencer Heat had been in love. That much was clear. What he didn't know until that very moment was… his heart had once been broken.

Before he could continue, Peter entered the room, wearing his favorite fuzzy pajama bottoms and one of his math joke t-shirts (it says 'sometimes I go off on a' and then shows a graph with a tangent). "Did you guys get them?"

"On the way up the river as we speak."

"Was it who you thought?"

"Actually it wasn't." He admits. "Wow, must have been a pretty good story to surprise you." He jokes. He agrees and continues to type. "You know you better be careful, or you'll turn into one of your readers."

"Oh, okay, you just ruined it." Peter chuckles, "You know it's okay to be surprised sometimes. That's the fun."

"You surprise me all the time." Tony tells his kid who smiles brightly. "I try. I'll see you in the morning dad."

"Night kid." Peter stops in the doorway before turning back. "Hey dad."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being my nanny." He smiles. He loves being Peter's dad. It's the best thing he's ever done in his life. And hearing that made him feel warm inside. Like he'd really succeeded in life. "No sweat, kiddo." He heads back to bed and Tony decides to put away his laptop. He digs out an old picture he keeps in his desk of when Peter was little and taking him to the park. They truly were some of the best days of his life. He sets the picture back on his desk and heads to bed.