Chapter Text
There are certain truths Tony Stark knew about the Universe: entropy always increased, light traveled at 299, 792, 458 m/s, and the acceleration due to gravity was 9.8 m/s2.
Other truths, just as immutable, were that Steve Rogers was a hero, yes, but also arrogant, and clueless, with a stick up his ass, and that he himself, Tony Stark, was an asshole. Tony deemed it about as unlikely that any evidence would be forthcoming that would prove either of them otherwise as that the speed of light would suddenly start to be a variable.
They’d parted civilly enough after the battle of New York, but they’d gone their separate ways -- Rogers moving to DC to become SHIELD’s pet super hero. Every conversation he’d had with the man since, was Rogers badgering him about one thing or another on their behalf, and the dislike came oozing back. It wasn’t back up to Loki-augmented levels, but Loki hadn’t had to bake that dish from scratch; the pre-packaged mix was already there, courtesy of one Howard Stark. Tony'd had to listen to hours of drunken ramblings about how great Rogers was. The ramblings weren't aimed at Tony -- Howard hadn't even known Tony was there most of the time.
Barring not seeing Rogers at all, seeing him only at rare, SHIELD mandated intervals was the next best thing. So Tony was a little rattled when he’d arrived back at Stark tower from an evening out with Pepper, to have JARVIS inform him that the clueless loser in question was there, waiting for him. He really didn’t want to face SHIELD’s demands, or censure, or whatever other bullshit they had in mind right now. He didn’t bother to shove down the surge of irritation. A small part of him recognized that the constant anger he nursed toward Rogers wasn’t entirely rational, but only a small part. Sure, it was wrong to blame the messenger if you didn’t like the message, but the messenger chose to deliver it, and probably liked doing it, so...
Jerking at his tie to loosen, then pull it completely off, Tony strode over to room in which Jarvis had sequestered the guy. Pepper clicked along with him, gorgeous and fierce in her form skimming Dolce dress and Jimmy Choos. Tony didn’t bother to suppress the small smile of smug pride that such a woman chose to be with him, and not some blond meatball with shoulders like Atlas, and abs you could break rocks on -- of course, she hadn’t actually met the meatball in question yet. Still, he didn’t bother to wipe the smirk off before he pushed open the door, allowing Pepper to enter before him. He trusted her taste, after all.
It was a conference room, a basic one, not too fancy -- good enough for press conferences, not for management meetings. The carpet had a subdued beige pattern, the walls gleamed white, the furniture wore well, but was strictly utilitarian. Tony hoped Rogers hadn’t been waiting here in this amenity-less room for long. No, scratch that, he didn’t care. The room was dim, the only light coming in from the lobby behind him. Tony frowned and pressed the pad to bring the lights up.
“What’s up, Capsicle? Pretty sure they had electric lights, even in your day.” Tony stopped, finally realized that Captain America -- no, just Steve Rogers; this guy was in jeans, not a spangle to be seen -- had been sitting alone in the dark with his face in his hands. Tony could only stare for the moment, as Rogers lifted his face, at the completely unCap-like expression. He looked...like he’d had a really crappy few days.
Pepper pushed past Tony, not waiting for an introduction, Rogers, ever goody-two-shoes polite, rose as she approached. Pepper stopped in front of him, and reached out to touch his arm. Her voice and face, soft with concern.
“Captain Rogers, are you alright?” There was a small twitch at the corner of Rogers’s face, as he tried to smile, and Tony could practically feel him trying to force the words, “I’m fine”, out of his mouth. He failed. He could only raise those bruised looking eyes to Tony, then drop them back to Pepper, and shake his head, wordlessly.
Tony suddenly found his ability to function, and that meant the talking started up again.
“Okay. Pepper, this is Captain Steve Rogers, elsewise known as Captain America, erstwhile Capsicle…” That last addition earned him a stealthy stiletto heel on the instep -- not stealthy enough to avoid Rogers’s notice though. Tony glared at him as he danced in place, daring Rogers to say anything. All he got was a raised eyebrow.
“Ow, Pep. Watch the shoes. Rogers, this is Ms. Virginia Potts, aka Pepper, aka CEO of Stark Enterprises, aka significant other of the billionaire genius, no longer playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark, aka the most amazing woman on this or any other planet.”
“Well, she’d have to be wouldn’t she?” Rogers muttered, then grasped Pepper’s outstretched hand and gave it a shake, meeting her eyes.
“It’s a pleasure, Ms. Potts. Call me Steve.” He managed to muster up a little smile, though it dropped off his face before it could reach his eyes. Tony was glad someone had handed Captain van Winkle a clue about how modern women were likely to react to either “Miss,” or “Ma’am”. He hoped it was Romanoff, and that she’d done it forcefully, or better yet, surgically.
“Likewise, Steve. And it’s Pepper.” They looked too charmed with each other, time to break it up.
“I suppose you’d better come upstairs, say what you’re here to say.” Tony broke in. Not that he cared if the guy was comfortable, it was just so that Tony could yell if he felt the need to, without alarming the cleaning staff.
“Is there someplace you want me to store these in the meantime?” Rogers gestured at a pair of black duffle bags tucked under the conference table.
“Depends. What’s in ‘em?”
“Everything I own.” Tony snorted, and arched an eyebrow.
“Why, Cap! America’s sweetheart running away from home?”
“Home.” Rogers huffed out a sigh, and shoved his hands in his pockets, as he studied the carpet. He looked to be biting at the inside of his own cheek. Tony was cooking up a sarcastic comment about his tongue-tied state when Rogers suddenly spoke.
“I left SHIELD. I...didn’t...couldn’t think of anywhere else to go.”
Tony just stared at him as he shoehorned new information into his worldview. Rogers looked back, eyes steady, expression neutral, as if it made no difference to him what Tony said.
“Huh. I guess you’d better bring them with, then.” Rogers nodded, and shouldered one, taking the other in his hand.
“Can I help?” He didn’t really want to, he just didn’t want to be a complete dick in front of Pepper.
“Naw. There’s a lotta books and other heavy things.” The Brooklyn accent, usually only noticeable if one knew it was there, laid heavy on his words today, as if he were too tired, or too out of give-a-fucks, to cover it.
“You know, there’re such things as e-readers." Tony pointed out, not bothering to hide his condescension, as he gestured them toward the elevator. "You don’t have to tote around stacks of hide bound paper.”
“I know, I have one." Steve's voice remained equable, his temper not rising to Tony's lure this time. He followed along obediently. "And a lot of the classics are public domain so you can download them free, but e-readers don’t really work for art books.”
“Oh, you like art books?” Pepper asked, perking up, having to look up at him as she walked, even in her heels.
“Yeah, I was studying art at Cooper Union, in a life drawing class actually, when I heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor.”
“Oh, my goodness, I’d love to hear that story ...someday when you’re not so tired,” she added.
“Not much to it, other than my friend Bucky signed up for the class, though he could barely draw a stick figure, to get a look at a naked woman.” Rogers expression suddenly clenched as if he were in ferocious pain, and he turned his face away.
Pepper, cast a concerned look at Tony, who shrugged. Pepper didn’t say anything, just silently led the way to the private elevator, and they filed in.
“May I ask, Captain,” Pepper spoke up once the doors closed, “What led to this rupture with SHIELD?” Rogers sighed.
“Can't trust them anymore. There are so many reasons, it’s hard to pick one to start with.”
“Maybe start with the straw that broke the camel’s back?” Tony suggested looking at his cuticles, as if he really didn’t care.
There was a particularly charged silence, Tony looked up to see Pepper looking at Steve, as he gazed between her and Tony, as if weighing what to say. Rogers took a deep breath.
“Coulson’s alive.”
Pepper’s only verbal reaction was a soft, “Oh, my God,” but she reached out and grabbed his arm in a painful grip.
“Son of a bitch!” Tony spit out, fury with Fury -- hah! See what his brain did there? -- rising up in him. He turned to aim a punch at the elevator wall beside him, only to find his hand blocked by a super soldier palm before he could hurt himself. He looked up into blue eyes that were filled with grim understanding, and lowered his hand.
“Son of a bitch,” he repeated in a soft breath out, looking right into those eyes. Rogers nodded at him, then closed his eyes and slumped back against the elevator wall, as if he’d just lain down a burden at the end of a long trek.
Tony looked at Pepper, seeing the battle of emotions in her face, and gathered her close in his arm.
“You’re staying here.” He offered Rogers, well, more like ordered really. Pepper made a soft approving sound, so he figured he was safe there. He spared a look over at Rogers, and had to look away from the naked gratitude there.
“Are you sure? I mean, I’m not gonna ask if you have the room, because that’d be dumb, but are you sure?”
Tony shrugged elaborately, tried to wave off any gratitude.
“Sure, I’m sure. You think I’m gonna pass up a chance to piss off SHIELD?”
Steve chuckled softly.
“No, I guess not.” A pause, then a softly murmured, “thanks, Stark.”
“ ‘Tony’, people who live here have to call me Tony,” he shrugged again.
“Then it’s Steve,” he huffed out a tired chuckle, “Or whatever. You’ll call me whatever you want, but now you have permission.”
“Way to take all the fun out of it, Steve,” He snarked. He got a sidelong glance and a twist of the lips in return.
“I am a tactical genius, they say.” Tony was almost glad to see a little of the old Captain Righteousness fire back in Steve’s eyes, but it had dimmed by the time the elevator reached the penthouse. Tony absolutely didn’t sigh.
Pepper took charge of getting Capsicle set up in a guest room, where he wanted nothing more than to collapse into unconsciousness for a few hours. She rejoined Tony just in time for a little judicious hacking of SHIELD’s system. She lightly smacked his arm in disapproval, but did not look away when he and Jarvis accessed the little bug he’d placed on SHIELD’s secure server.
One careful search later, and Tony had a clearer picture of the events that led to Rogers leaving SHIELD, and those events revolved around one James Buchanan Barnes, and what SHIELD knew, when they knew it, and things they didn’t bother to tell Rogers . Pepper made a small, distressed sound, and Tony couldn’t imagine what a kick in the head that was to Steve.
“He had so little left, so little to trust, and now…” Pepper’s soft words trailed off. Tony put his arm around her, and chewed his lip. He resolved to be extra gentle in his teasing for a while. Not because he cared, really --Tony made sure to tell himself -- but because this Steve was much edgier. This Steve might not wait for him to put on the suit before going a few rounds.