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"What about a jet pack? I have some great jet packs around here. Some are even good for the environment."
"No." Sam sighs. He knew that Steve's promise of Stark's engineering skills was probably too optimistic, but he'd allowed himself to hope anyway.
"Anti-gravity boots? They could definitely be a thing."
"Steve said you were interested in helping me."
"I am. Helping you to fly again."
"He said you had some ideas. To get my wings back. That is what will help me." Sam can't tell if Stark is stalling or deliberately winding him up. Either way, he doesn't like it.
"Fine. Here." Tony Stark finally reaches into the chaotic pile on the workbench behind him and hands Sam a sleek metal backpack. It's about 10 pounds lighter than his old one and the straps are both wider and softer.
"If you had this ready all along, why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Sam's starting to see what Natasha meant about Stark.
"I just wanted to make sure that's what you really wanted. I can't just go giving out wings to anyone with a bird nickname, can I? Although maybe Hawkeye needs a set, what with the way he tends to throw himself off buildings without backup."
"Huh. Steve does that, too. Who catches him?"
"Who, Steve? When I'm not around to do it, I thought you did."
"I do. I meant Hawkeye."
"Oh, usually me. Sometimes Hulk. Very occasionally Thor. Whoever's closest, really. I'm also considering designing air bags for his uniform."
"Is everybody here an insane adrenaline junky?"
"Pretty much. Except Bruce. Which pretty much goes without saying."
Sam's starting to get both confused and impatient. Were he not as self-disciplined as he is, he would be shifting from foot to foot and staring longingly out the window like he used to do in school during French class. Tony Stark, for all his batshit insanity, is so very clearly not an idiot, though. He notices and grins.
"The important thing, though, Sam, I can call you Sam, right? The important thing, Sam, is that we test those babies out as soon as possible so I can see what needs tweaking before I send you out into the world with them."
"OK. Where? When?" Sam can't keep the excitement from his voice, no matter how still he manages to hold himself.
"Now. Here. I've got a great rooftop. Just give me a sec to suit up."
"You're coming with me?" Sam asks.
Stark gives him a look. "Of course I am. Do you think that I'd let you go up and out with a piece of untested Stark tech that I reverse engineered in a week from a very damaged prototype and incidentally substantially improved upon alone? Steve would kill me if I let you plummet to your death by accident because I forgot to replace the emergency 'chute or something."
"You didn't put in an emergency parachute? Are you insane?"
Stark grins at him. "Of course I did. But, I'm still not irresponsible enough to let you test it alone. Besides, I have to explain some of the improvements to you and I want to see how it flies. I've been watching videos of birds and flying squirrels. I've got ideas on gliding that should make you 23% faster, but I need to see how maneuverable you are with it."
"Let's go, then!" Sam's already shrugging into the wings and Stark comes over to tighten a few straps and point out where the major differences are. Sam goes over them verbally with Stark two more times (old habits) and then they're in the elevator to the top of the Stark (Avengers) tower.
Forty-five minutes later, Sam laughs out loud as he swoops low and buzzes Steve and Natasha having breakfast on the kitchen balcony. Ironman laughs with him and swipes a Danish from Steve's hand. Neither is brave or stupid enough to try that with Natasha.
Stark breaks the Danish in half and tosses the bigger piece in Sam's general direction. Sam dives after it and comes back to land gracefully on the balcony just in time to hear, ". . . just like feeding the pigeons in Central Park." He takes a bite and decides that he doesn't care that Stark's just compared him to the rats of the sky because Stark's just given him something huge and he can fly again and nothing is going to make that any less awesome than it is at this moment.