Chapter Text
Tony sighed as he picked at the tablecloth. He resolutely ignored the pitying looks the waitress kept sending him from across the restaurant. He knew he shouldn’t have agreed to this again. It wasn’t like it turned out any different than the other half-dozen times Nat had tried to set him up on a blind date. At least when Tony couldn’t make a date he made sure the guy found out about it before he sat there for over an hour nursing a glass of wine all by himself. He almost wished there’d be a supervillain attack or a bank robbery or, hell, he’d take a mugging for an excuse to dash out of there like he wasn’t a miserable loser who’d just been stood up for the sixth time.
He wasn’t even sure why he still agreed to these anymore. Nat’s friend’s friend was clearly never going to show up. This was the, what, the ninth time they’d tried to get together? Tenth? And, to be fair, several of those occasions Tony’d had to cancel last minute because Iron Man was needed, but that wasn’t exactly his fault. He should have taken SHIELD’s call to action earlier in the evening, but it wasn’t like the Winter Soldier couldn’t handle things on his own. Still, at least then Tony would have had some company.
He signaled the waitress so he could ask for the check.
.
James felt exhausted by the time he arrived back at SHIELD. He was bone weary and sore, though he knew his shoulder would heal up in a matter of hours. The super soldier serum was good for something at least, fucking HYDRA and their human experimentation. He supposed he was lucky Stevie had found him and pulled him out of there before any real damage could be done, like the public finding out. He liked working for SHIELD better, too, what with the lack of brainwashing and torture. Still, it definitely came with more paperwork.
He changed into a standard SHIELD agent uniform, tactical cargo pants and a black long-sleeved t-shirt with the agency’s logo over the breast. It was far more comfortable than the leather body armor he wore out in the field. It took several minutes of scrubbing with a washcloth to remove the heavy greasepaint around his eyes. Then all that was left was to sweep his hair up into a messy bun and pull on a pair of gloves to hide his metal hand and he was ready to head out into the masses of SHIELD with none the wiser about his identity. He snagged the tablet he used to submit all his forms and went to see if his favorite scientist was in the labs.
Edwards was only there about half the time when James popped in, but that never stopped James from trying. The mousy brunet was always bubbly and excited over some new invention or gizmo or else fired up and incredulous at the incompetence of his coworkers. He was brimming with energy and life and he was so real in a way that made him almost entirely unbelievable. James loved just being around him. It didn’t hurt that he was adorable and had a killer smile. James wished Steve would set him up on a date with Edwards instead of Mr. Disapearo or whatever his name was.
Steve had been trying to get him to go on a date with a friend’s friend for months now, it seemed, but every time they set something up, either James got called out into the field or else the other guy came up with the most ridiculous excuses James had ever heard for missing their date. Honestly, James would have called the whole thing off ages ago if it weren’t for Steve’s damnable puppy-dog eyes. They were supposed to meet tonight, actually, just one more irritation on top of all the others. James downright needed to see Edwards just to stay sane.
It was his night, apparently, because the scientist was perched on a stool in the nearly deserted lab, hunched over a monitor with a cup of coffee at his elbow. Edwards’ hair was actually styled today, a rare occurrence, and James could see dress slacks protruding beneath his lab coat. The ex-assassin had to squash down a flash of jealousy at the thought that Edwards might have a date later, even though it was already pretty late in the evening. The scientist didn’t even know who James really was. He had no right to be jealous.
“Hey,” he greeted, taking what was probably an inappropriate amount of amusement in the way Edwards jumped. “I wondered if I’d find you here.”
“What have I told you about sneaking up on me, James?” the scientist snapped, but a small smile was creeping across his face.
James could do nothing but grin wildly as he hopped up on the corner of Edwards’ desk.
“That it’s a fantastic idea and I should do it all the time?”
“I have a heart condition, you know.”
“So I hear. Still not sure I believe you. You drink an awful lot of coffee for someone with a heart condition.”
“Maybe it’s decaf. You don’t know.”
James snorted.
“Like Hell.”
Edwards pouted.
“Why are you so mean to me? I’m having a shitty night. You’re supposed to be nice.”
James sobered instantly, reaching out to place a hand on Edwards’ shoulder. The scientist leaned into his touch and James wished he didn’t have to wear his gloves around SHIELD so he could feel Edwards’ skin.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
Edwards sighed. His gaze dropped to the floor and off to the side, avoiding James’ own.
“Nothing,” he hedged. “I’m being ridiculous is all.”
“Hey, hey, none of that,” James chided gently. “What is it? You can tell me.”
The scientist just shrugged half-heartedly, still not looking up at him.
“Just got stood up again, is all. I mean, am I really that awful to be around that people don’t even want to meet with me?”
James frowned. From what he could tell, the other SHIELD scientists admired Edwards’ work a lot, even if they gave him a wide berth most of the time. He didn’t know where this pessimistic self-view was coming from, even if it wasn’t the first time he’d caught a glimpse of it. He slid off the edge of the desk to better pull Edwards into a half-hug, pulling him up and out of his chair.
“C’mon, we’re going to the mess. You need pudding. Pudding makes everything better.”
The mousy brunet wrinkled his nose, as James knew he would.
“The pudding in the mess sucks. I’m pretty sure I saw it move on its own one time.”
James knew from experience the pudding was actually pretty good, but he just grinned.
“Well, then, guess you’ll just have to come out with me and find a better place to get some then. The diner on 5th, maybe?”
Edwards perked right up.
“Oh, James!” he fake-swooned. “You know just the way to a man’s heart!”
Would you look at that? James’ night was looking up already.
.
Tony made hurried excuses as he dashed out of the bored-he-meant-board meeting, probably leaving the executives of Stark Industries thinking he was flaking off again. Too bad he couldn’t tell them he was really running off to save the world. Well, okay, maybe just The Bronx… but still. He was going to give Cap a piece of his mind when he got on-scene. He and his chilly sidekick were supposed to have this situation handled.
It took less than five minutes for him to make it down into his basement workshop, suit up, and fly off into the old subway tunnels he used to navigate away from the tower before heading out into the open air. Life would be so much easier if he could just head out from his penthouse, but that would kind of give away his secret identity. Just a little bit. So instead, he rocketed through the dark, dank wetness of the New York Underground, relying on JARVIS to find him a clear route once he reached the tunnels that were actually still in use. Trains did not feel good when taken to the face, he was fairly certain.
The light was a relief when he burst back into it, up through an access tunnel as opposed to through a station. Then it was only a few sharp turns across several blocks and he had reached the thick of the action. Captain America and the Winter Soldier were back to back, being circled by the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin on matching hoverboards.
Fuck.
That was a team-up nobody needed.
The Green Goblin cackled obnoxiously, juggling his pumpkin bombs and tossing them out to keep Cap and the Winter Soldier from being able to fully form ranks. Hobgoblin was the one actually taking the shots meant to hurt. Guess Tony knew who needed to be taken out first. He pulled up short and fired off his repulsors, grinning with satisfaction as Hobgoblin’s hoverboard took a direct hit and exploded beneath his feet.
“You know, you were annoying when there was just one of you, but making it squared just multiplies the irritation exponentially.”
He was pretty sure Cap didn’t get the magnificence of his multi-layered pun, even if he was glaring heatedly.
“You’re late, Iron Man.”
Tony rolled his eyes as he took off after Green Goblin, letting Cap and the Winter Soldier handle Hobgoblin now that he was grounded.
“I was in the middle of getting my nails done,” he quipped, “had to let the paint dry.”
The Winter Soldier grunted and Tony twisted just enough to see him wrestling Hobgoblin to the ground. Good. That left just one menace for them to deal with.
“This isn’t a game,” Cap snapped. “If you can’t take it seriously, then you shouldn’t be out here at all.”
“Sure thing. I’ll keep that in mind the next time you and your ex-assassin buddy over there need saving.”
He shot Green Goblin in the back with a repulsor and flew away before he’d even hit the ground, leaving Cap to clean up the mess. Who the Hell did Cap think he was? At least having to turn in his after-action report meant that he’d probably get to see James.
.
James winced.
“Look, Stevie, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here. I really do. I just… I dunno. I’m not so sure this guy is gonna pan out. I mean, how many times have we tried to get together now?”
“I know, I know, and I wouldn’t normally keep pressing but my friend Nat makes him sound perfect for you. C’mon, Buck, it’d be good for you to have somebody here, in this time. Somebody who isn’t involved in all this superhero stuff. Our lives are just so crazy. Wouldn’t it be good to just feel… normal?”
James scowled.
“I’m not normal. We’re not normal. Why should we pretend to be?”
Steve sighed.
“Just give it another shot, Bucky? Please? For me?”
“Fine. But if he’s got another dumb excuse for not making it, it better be a damn good one.”
.
Tony groaned.
“This can’t be happening again!”
Natasha just laughed at him.
“You have the worst luck of anyone I’ve ever met, Antoshka, and that includes the ones I killed. Don’t worry. I’ll come up with a reason for you not to be there. You just work on stopping the program from wiping out our system completely.”
“Fury owes me for this. He owes me so fucking much.”
“I will leave making that bargain to you.”
.
“He got caught at work. There’s a huge project going on and the boss made him stay late. He’s really sorry.”
Steve barely managed to bite back a curse. It wasn’t right to curse in front of a lady, or over the phone with one. Bucky was gonna be pissed. Getting stuck at work wasn’t a good excuse. It was understandable, sure, but… Steve would just… come up with something better.
“No, no. I understand. I’ll, uh, pass it on to my friend. Maybe things will work out next time.”
.
“There was, uh, a kitten. In a tree. And, of course, he had to try and help it, but he fell. He fell out of the tree and he, uh, he hit his… arm! Yeah, his arm, and he had to go to the urgent care to get it looked at. Because it was hurt.”
What hurt was watching Stevie try to lie. Breaking an arm would probably be less painful. James just sighed and shook his head.
“It’s fine, Stevie,” he brushed it off. “I wasn’t expecting him to make it anyway.”
Truth be told, James was still lounging around his apartment in ratty jeans and no shoes, even though he was supposed to meet this guy in under ten minutes. He hadn’t bothered prepping. He knew the date wouldn’t happen. Still, it hurt to get the confirmation. He’d have to console himself by listening in to the SHIELD coms. Word was Iron Man was handling some big hacking debacle.