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Steve had a morning routine he followed every day, just like he had when he lived in Washington. He got up before dawn, went for a run, had breakfast, and worked on Avengers business all day, and ended the day reading reports in front of the television. Sometimes he even hung out with Sam at a local bar watching whatever game was on television or visited his girlfriend a couple of hours away in New York City. Not much had changed really between his days working for SHIELD to his days working for the Avengers. Except he was his own boss now.

Breathing in the warm humid air of late summer, he completed one lap around the Avengers facility. He had a map of the whole base laid out in his mind. He had just passed the main building, built like thousands of other modern office buildings, where the offices, labs and training rooms were located. Ahead of him was the partially hidden old bunker built by Howard Stark after the war and stamped with Stark Industries on the doors. His run would be over when he passed the dormitories and apartments for the facility workers and headed to his own apartment.

Not much on the agenda today, he thought, on his way to his weekly Avengers debriefing. He should feel happy about how the new team was coming together. But he had stayed up all night reviewing footage from their last fight with AIM and saw small mistakes that the team could have avoided. He was still re-thinking tweaks to the week’s training plans, but first, he needed coffee.

Natasha had already claimed the coffee machine. “How’s it going, Steve?” She kicked her gym bag to the side to make room for him at the counter.

“Fine.”

“Just fine? Your tone implies things could be better,” she responded as she reached for the coffee.

He flipped through his tablet looking for video of that attack from AIM. “Hmm?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. “If there was a problem, I’d say so.”

“Hmmm,” Natasha echoed. “If it had to do with the team, you would. ” She poured her coffee. “All yours.” She noted the tablet in his hands. “Seriously, did you ever hear that saying ‘all work and no play makes Steve a dull guy’?”

“Sounds like something Tony would say.”

“Or,” Natasha retorted, “sounds like something anyone on the team would say.” She patted his arm as she headed out to the conference room. “Catch you at the debrief.”

The team and support members had already gathered in the conference room by the time Steve showed up exactly at 9 am. Steve liked their weekly meetings. It was a chance for people to catch up, check in and do a little team building.

Today was no different. He kicked off the meeting with a rundown of the agenda. He went over the duty rota and listened to various reports from team members and Maria Hill, the team liaison. Then he got the traditional ribbing for his training schedule.

“Steve, the training plans look like we’re invading Fortress Europe next week. Is this how you trained in the Eisenhower days?” Clint joked.

Without looking away from the schedule projected on the wall, Steve said, “Eisenhower and I never discussed archery drills, Clint.” Clint snorted and settled down in his chair with a grin.

All in all, it was a good meeting. Maria went over a developing situation with black-market SHIELD weapons, as Steve studied the reaction of his team. Sam and Natasha listened intently to Maria, while Rhodey took extensive notes in his tablet. Steve figured that Rhodey would have the most experience of all of them in this area. Vision looked simultaneously puzzled and bemused, and Wanda was scrolling through her tablet. Clint was fiddling with a pencil.

Steve made a note to have a one-on-one with Wanda. It wasn’t the first time he’d caught her playing a game during a meeting.

It was great that Clint was back with the Avengers at least part-time. Steve wished that Tony would consider coming back too, if only part-time. Tony added a certain something, though Steve couldn’t quite put his finger on just what that was. But he felt a Tony-shaped hole every time he met or worked with the team.

Steve had one final agenda item. “Okay, we’re still on schedule for relocating the team to the Tower.”

“That’s the whole team?” Sam asked. Sam was having a hard time adjusting to rural New York, since for the most part he had lived in cities all his life. Steve sympathized -- he missed New York City too.

“Yes.” Steve checked his tablet with the proposed timeline for the move. “Looks good so far. The active team will move to the Tower. Support members will remain on the Avengers base. Tony will be sending me an updated schedule if there are construction delays.”

Steve had been pushing to relocate the team to the Tower. The Avengers facility was an excellent place for training and the support functions for the team. But the team’s response time had taken a hit because of the facility’s remoteness. Steve felt that they should be located where they could immediately respond, like they had when team worked out of the Tower during the HYDRA clean-up missions after the fall of SHIELD.

Tony agreed, to a point, but said he needed to do a significant amount of renovation to the Tower before anyone moved back in. So Steve waited.

Steve dismissed the team. But before he could escape for his mid-morning workout, Maria and Natasha approached him while the team members packed up and talked. Clint lingered, tapping on his tablet.

“What do you know about Helmut Zemo?” Natasha asked, tossing a packet of information towards Steve.

He knew the name, and it had no pleasant memories for him. “I knew a Heinrich Zemo. We ran into each other back in the war.”

Curious, Clint wandered over to them. “Was that the guy with the sock on his face?” he asked as he looked over Natasha’s shoulder at the pictures on her tablet.

Maria had a puzzled look. “Sock?”

“Baron Heinrich Zemo worked with chemical weapons. He experimented with gas masks,” Steve explained. “He wore them a lot. It looked like he had glued a sock to his face.” He studied the pictures closely.

Natasha continued. “I’m talking about the great-grandson. Helmut Zemo’s a German diplomat with the U.N. -- he’s been calling for an investigation of the Avengers.”

“Oh, I see,” Steve replied, a frown settling on his face. “What do you know about him?”

“The standard resume -- he graduated from Technische Universität München with a degree in chemistry in 1998, then took a job in the Federal Foreign Office a year later. Since then he’s been steadily promoted and is considered a mover and shaker in the Office, with a bright future. He became the German UN representative last year,” Natasha said. “There’s a lot more information in the file, including his articles calling for the dismantling of the Avengers. But anything you could add --”

“Unless he’s a HYDRA agent plotting to unleash chemical weapons on the US like the Zemo I knew, I don’t know anything.”

Maria shook her head. Steve could guess what she was thinking. Not that Maria had ever said a single word about the fall of SHIELD. But Steve had long suspected that even though she managed operational support for the Avengers, Maria thought that SHIELD would have handled things much better than Steve’s team.

“Are we keeping an eye on him?” Steve asked.

“Planning on it,” Natasha replied. “HYDRA keeps showing up in the most unexpected places.”

Steve nodded and headed out. Zemo. That took him back a few years. He grimaced, feeling the usual pain of remembering that five years ago for him meant something vastly different for the people he worked with.

He’d have to double his workout time today.

~~~~~

When they pulled him out of the ice, SHIELD had told Steve welcome to the 21st century, handed him a packet of information they thought he should know, and gave him a hard sell on joining their organization. Steve learned the hard way that SHIELD didn’t tell him half of everything and that most of what he had learned was built on sand. What was worse, no one seemed to care what he had lost.

At least he had landed on his feet with the Avengers Initiative. He owed Tony a lot for that -- giving him a place to live and work for his mind and body.

Steve had to live in the future, there was no going back. And if he had to live in a future that his science fiction stories had been terribly wrong about, Steve was going to do the best he could. He packed it all up inside and put on his best face. He looked forward to the good days and tried to tamp down the bad days. And he was muddling through okay.

Today was a good day. His workout cleared his head and he was ready for the rest of the afternoon.

That afternoon, Tony was up from New York for one of his frequent visits to the Avengers facility. Steve could never guess which car Tony would bring. He had about five cars in rotation with a new one thrown in every couple of months. Today Tony was driving a car Steve had not seen before. The Ford Explorer didn’t seem like one of Tony’s type of cars – Steve pegged him for liking well-engineered, high- performance sports cars, not so much the SUVs.

Once he parked the car in front of the main facility building, Tony bounded up the stairs to meet Steve. “It’s a rental,” Tony explained, catching the puzzled look on Steve’s face. “Come on, Cap. Show me the labs.”

Steve tagged along on Tony’s whirlwind tour of the facility, where Tony checked in on the various labs and workshops making sure that everything was up to his high standards and checking in on the latest developments. On the way to inspecting the quinjets, Tony mentioned offhand that he had to return to New York that night. He usually stayed overnight in one of the guest suites when he visited. Steve had counted on having dinner with Tony and maybe watching a movie or a game. He tamped down his vague disappointment at the news.

“Cap, we can still have dinner, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Tony said, as if he could read Steve’s mind.

They sat in a conference room overlooking the surrounding trees and the outdoor training areas and talked Avengers business over cafeteria food. “I’ll be in Washington at the end of the week,” Steve said.

“Another funeral?” Tony asked. “I hear it’s the main social activity for your generation.” He balled up his sandwich wrapper and popped more blueberries into his mouth.

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Steve attended at least one a month. Steve nodded. “I’d tell you if I had to testify before Congress.”

“The lawyers would tell me first,” Tony said with a laugh.

Steve smiled. Then he changed the topic. “Maria has some reports for you.” Tony provided the funding, the equipment, and pretty much all the support for the team. Maria’s staff drafted reports about the Avengers operational needs for Tony’s consideration.

“Great. She writes a mean report.” Tony pulled up the reports on his tablet. His face fell. “I see that she threw in reports about your missions and criminal activity around the world, tracking HYDRA and AIM. And a random jewelry store break-in. That’s, um, really thorough.”

“Jewelry store with thousands of unset, unmarked diamonds. I was wondering if you might want to do some data-mining for us. Maria doesn’t think it means anything, but something seems off about the theft. And you might see something that we don’t.”

Tony sighed and put the tablet back on the table. He shifted in his seat, leaning away from Steve and looked out the window. “That’s pushing it, Steve. I start helping with analysis, then next thing you know I’m back in the suit and I’m out there with the rest of you.” He waved his hands back and forth. “Slippery slope and all that.”

Steve nodded. He didn’t entirely understand why Tony stepped away after the fight with Ultron. They were friends, but Steve wasn’t at the level of what Rhodey and Pepper were to Tony. Tony never confided in Steve what his reasons were for leaving. And Rhodey wouldn’t say anything about it. “Okay. But if you want, there’s always a spot for you here. You’re always welcome.”

A bleak look flitted over Tony’s face. “That’s nice, Steve. But that’s all in the past.” He toyed with the plastic fork on his tray. “The Tower renovations are on track for the most part -- there’s been a delay or two here and there. I’m still rattling around there, but you and the team could move in after the holidays, if you want,” Tony offered.

“So you’re still planning on living in the Tower too?” Steve liked the idea of Tony being a few floors away from the team. “What about Malibu?”

“Complications.” Tony shrugged. “Still caught between two coasts for a while, neither here nor there. Hey -- you could ask that girlfriend of yours to move in with you, assuming the CIA doesn’t have problems with her living with the enemy. You’ve been dating long enough -- maybe you should start thinking about something more permanent.”

Steve didn’t know what to say. He’d been dating Sharon for a few months and guessed it made sense to move in together. That’s what people did now, like Tony and Pepper. He pondered the idea, turning it over in his mind like a puzzle box. “I could do that,” he finally said.

“Good.” Tony clapped him on the shoulder. He checked his phone and tapped in a text. “Got to go. I’m going to borrow Rhodey for the night. Promise I’ll return him in somewhat good shape.”

Steve walked with him back to the entrance to wait for Rhodey.

Tony checked his tablet again. “Hmmm. You’ll keep me in the loop about those arms deals Maria’s tracking? There’s still some Stark tech out there I’d like to take off the market. And you might have a reason to be worried about that jewelry store theft, the one with the unset diamonds. That description of how the thieves blew the doors open -- there might be tech involved,” Tony pointed out.

Steve thumped him on the back. “Thanks. I didn’t like the news account any more than you did.”

“Last thing any of us needs are guys straight off the street using high-tech weaponry to knock over stores.”

Tony waved at Rhodey, who was rapidly approaching. “Say hi to Pepper for me,” Steve said.

“Will do, Cap,” Tony replied with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Come on, honeybunch. It’s a long ride down to New York.”

“No Audi?” Rhodey asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“Eh, I’m on a tight leash right now, sourpatch, you know how it is. I had to take what’s available.” Tony offered as an explanation as they headed out the door.

~~~~~

Steve had a date with Sharon lined up before he headed down to DC. It was a traditional date by modern standards, he guessed, a dinner and a show. Sharon was very keen on seeing a new play on Broadway, so he hoped he wouldn’t be called away for an emergency.

He always had a great time with Sharon. She was interesting and driven and smart. She got what Steve was about, and he didn’t have to explain himself. Tonight she had an involved story about a raid and the new weapons her team found. She was convinced that AIM was behind it all. He lost himself in her flashing eyes and the movement of her hands as she demonstrated how the guns worked.

Still, he had to work himself up to asking the all-important question of the evening. He waited until the waiter dropped off their cheesecake.

Sharon winked at Steve. “He’s cute, isn’t he?” Steve reddened a little. “I checked him out too,” she added conspiratorially. She ran a bare foot up his leg, making him blush harder.

He only nodded and turned his attention to his dessert. In fact, he hadn’t noticed the waiter in that way, because he was with Sharon. But he deeply appreciated that Sharon wasn’t bothered in the least that he had interest in guys as well as girls.

As Sharon dug into her cheesecake, he said, “Tony says the work on refitting the Tower is close to being done.”

Sharon smiled. “That’s great, Steve. Does that mean you’ll be moving back to New York? We’d be able to see each other more often.”

“It looks like it. Um.” He took a deep breath and rubbed his thigh. He’d taken on whole armies of HYDRA soldiers with just his shield and without the fear he now felt at a simple question. He swallowed hard. “Um. So, how about you move in with me? There’s plenty of room and ….”

“Oh, baby. That’s a big step.” Sharon’s eyes darted around the room, not meeting his eyes.

“Things have been going really well between us and it makes sense to take that next step.” He noticed that Sharon had tensed up and nearly knocked over her glass of water. Something wasn’t right here.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Steve, um, don’t take this the wrong way. But I’m not interested in any next step. I’m fine with things the way they are -- you and me just dating.”

“I was thinking -- we’ve been dating a long time -- people think -- ” The thought that now would be a great time to have an emergency flashed across his mind.

“I know. It’s okay, Steve. People always have advice. I’ve never dated anyone as long as I have you -- usually I date a guy for a few months, then move on. But I’m having fun with this. Aren’t you having fun?”

“Sure. I’m having fun.” Sharon was right, they had a good relationship, they were having fun.

“I didn’t take you for the white picket fence, two kids and a dog, kind of life.”

“I’m not really looking for that,” Steve admitted.

“If we’re not heading in that direction, then why not enjoy what we have now? Moving in together is like committing to something pretty heavy and serious. Lifetime commitment.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

Steve sort of smiled back. To be honest, he hadn’t thought about moving in until Tony said something. What Sharon said made sense to him. When she smiled, she was beautiful, her hazel eyes full of life, energy and purpose. She was irresistible and she loved Steve back. He knew that.

“Are you okay?” Sharon prompted, her eyebrow arched questioningly.

“Yeah. Of course.” He managed to broaden his smile. “So tell me about this play.”

Later that night, after the play, the trip back to his hotel room, and an energetic round of sex, Steve stared at the ceiling. All he could think about was how much the world had changed.

Before he went down in the ice, he wanted to get married, build a life, have a family. Now that he was stuck in the future, he wasn't the same man. He didn’t want the same things, nor did his life have room for all that. And it wasn't like anyone was offering him that life either. If Sharon was okay with whatever they were to each other, then he should be fine with it too.

As he caressed Sharon’s arm, he listened to her soft, regular breathing and felt her curl closer to him. She was everything he should want in life, the perfect girlfriend for someone like him. He had so much more than he ever had before in his life, and he should just go with the flow.

He had long ago learned to be satisfied with the good things life gave him and not ask for more. The best thing in the world would be to ignore that nagging feeling of vague disappointment that had lodged in his heart.

A few minutes later he dropped into an uneasy sleep.

~~~~~

Steve opted to take a quinjet down to DC for this trip. He wasn’t looking forward to the funeral the next day -- he didn’t know the man, but he had been invited, and he would do his duty as a soldier saying farewell to another soldier. At least he would have time to visit Peggy before he left town.

At the hotel, Steve reviewed reports and noticed that Tony had sent him a short report and a file of data about the the black-market arms they were tracking. He had thrown in information about an attack on an electronics supply company and black-market sales of specific electronics parts with a note about how the break-in was suspiciously like the the earlier jewelry store theft. He was so deep in reading the analysis that he was startled by the phone ringing.

“Hello,” he said. He immediately recognized Peggy’s daughter’s voice. “Hi, Connie.”

“Steve, I’m sorry, Mom isn’t doing that well. I know you were hoping to see her. But I’m not sure she’s up for a visit.”

“I understand, Connie. I can visit another time.”

“Thanks, Steve. I know she’ll be disappointed she missed you.”

Almost as much as me, Steve thought as he hung up. He looked forward to seeing Peggy every time he could.

Steve still thought of Peggy as that gorgeous woman he’d met back at Camp Lehigh. He could see her striding confidently up to the line of new recruits. He remembered how kind and generous she’d been to him, when he fought hard for the chance to be the test subject for Erskine’s experiment. He’d fallen in love with her long before he knew it and felt in in his bones. He’d always be in love with her.

~~~~~

He showed up as expected at the funeral at Arlington, and expressed his condolences to the veteran’s widow, children and grandchildren. He listened to stories about the man’s service, how he barely missed the cut to join the Howling Commandos, his service in WWII and Korea, and his lifetime job at Honeywell in weapons development. Then they buried the decorated soldier and Steve was free.

As he left Arlington, he pointedly ignored a large memorial for him with his death dates laid out neatly -- ‘In Memoriam, Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America, 1918-1945.’ He’d been asked in interviews about all the memorials across the country and what should happen to them now that he was in fact alive. Steve didn’t want to think about it. For all intents and purposes he did die. He couldn’t forget that.

Maybe he should go to parades instead. He liked those. He could talk to the people at the Avengers PR office who fielded all the requests for Steve’s time about that.

He went through the quinjet checklist for takeoff and half-listened to the news. It was the usual stories of global unrest, the rebuilding of Sokovia, and an intriguing story about smuggling rings on the African continent. It was probably about Wakanda, even though that country was never mentioned by name. He closed the checklist and got ready for takeoff.

“You can taxi to your runway now, Captain Rogers,” the air traffic controller announced.

When he reached over to turn off the radio, he caught the tail end of a news story about turmoil in Stark Industries after the announcement that CEO Pepper Potts and Tony Stark had broken off their relationship. If Steve had been standing up, the shock would have knocked him off his feet. Steve hadn’t seen any sign of a possible breakup. But thinking about it, Tony had been cagey lately about his personal life when Steve asked about California or Pepper.

Flying back to the Avengers facility, Steve thought of what a tough break that was for Tony. When he first met him, Tony had been absolutely heads over heels for Pepper. But something had changed by the time the Avengers came back together. A few months ago during a long flight back from Indonesia, Steve had overheard Rhodey telling Natasha that Tony was in California so that he could spend time with Pepper and that Iron Man had taken a real toll on their relationship. Steve didn’t catch all the details. But he felt bad for Tony, who was going to take this real hard.

No one was having a good time of it, Steve thought.

~~~~~

A couple of weeks after his trip to DC, Steve reviewed his weekly schedule, which was filled with the usual training sessions and meetings. There was an unexpected block of time in the afternoon marked out, but nothing indicated what the meeting was.

“It’s for you and me -- you’re knocking off early and we’re going to a bar,” Sam announced as he walked up to Steve tapping at his tablet trying to figure out what the meeting was.

“But how --”

“I know a guy,” Sam said with a laugh. He thumped Steve on the back. “Come on -- you’re becoming a hermit these days with all the training and analysis work.”

Steve frowned. He’d been down to New York to see Sharon a couple of times since he’d returned from DC. He hung around the facility after his workouts and joined in a few meals with his teammates. He had even watched television with Clint and Wanda. Steve had no idea what Sam was talking about. But a night out shooting pool might not be such a bad idea.

“Don’t kill yourself in training and I’ll catch you later,” Sam said.

As promised, Sam picked up Steve. “Where are we going?” Steve asked as he got into the car.

“Dave’s BBQ,” Sam replied.

Dave’s BBQ was the bar where all the Avengers facility people went in their off hours. No one asked any questions and they were pretty much left alone. The old building had gotten cramped with so many people packed in celebrating the weekend. Steve wondered if Tony was behind the new building the bar moved into a few months ago. Dave, the owner, had put a large mural outside the bathrooms of Iron Man in action.

Steve and Sam had their beers and a mountain of wings while they watched a baseball playoff. They talked about everything that had nothing to do with work. Steve felt himself slowly relaxing as he laughed at Sam’s jokes. Sam might be right about Steve driving himself harder than he usually did.

“So, have you heard from Tony lately? About the move?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know.”

“You were all geared up for it a few weeks ago, and I’m ready to get back to the city permanently. I didn’t mind Alexandria -- but this is too in the sticks for a city guy like me.”

Steve swirled his beer. “I haven’t had the heart to ask Tony if we’re still on schedule for the team relo. He’s got a lot on his hands with the break-up. If he decides to make New York home, he might want to reclaim the tower for Stark Industries.”

“Doesn’t he live at the Tower when he’s in town?” Sam shook his head. “Tony needs people around. He’d die before he’d admit it, though. Does Rhodey have any news?”

“No. He asked for time off to visit Tony, though he didn’t put it that way.”

“You should ask him. Isn’t Sharon pushing for you to be closer?”

Steve didn’t know how to answer that. Sharon hadn’t asked him for a timeline for when he was coming back to New York.

“So it’s that way with her?” Sam observed. “You see each other when you see each other?”

“We’re okay.” Steve drank his beer, and set the mug down carefully. “It’ll be great when we don’t have a two-hour commute for a date.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Do you think that’s the issue?”

Steve frowned. “Three months ago you told me you weren’t the team’s resident counselor.”

“I’m still your friend, Steve. And as your friend, I have to point out that I’ve never met anyone who’s so resistant to actually being happy. It’s like if you’re happy or doing things that make you happy, you’re letting someone down and that’s wrong.”

“I’m happy. I’m happy right now.” Steve would be happier if they had more wings.

“That’s not what I meant.” Sam shook his head. He didn’t say anything for a few minutes while Steve finished off his beer and the last of the wings. “Hey, pool table’s free -- we should grab it. I might not lose by so much this time.”

“You never know,” Steve said encouragingly. “You do alright.”

“Right. You’re very optimistic, aren’t you? Of course you are.”

~~~~~

Ever since they met, Tony remained a mystery to Steve. After all they had been through, Steve still couldn’t get a good read on him. Today, Tony seemed farther away than ever before, and he was only sitting across from Steve at a conference table.

Tony had shown up out of nowhere at the Avengers facility. He watched Steve lead a training exercise of the team and the support units. Steve hadn’t exactly noticed him -- he had sensed more than seen Tony first. Tony stood tapping away on his cell phone on the gym sidelines, a lot like the grey clouds gathering outside. He smiled wanly at Steve when Steve pulled away from the training exercise to say hello.

Rhodey had mentioned offhand to Steve a week ago that Tony was doing okay and was moving on from his breakup with Pepper. What Steve truly wanted to know was whether Tony had moved on from Iron Man too. He remembered how shattered Tony had been after the Ultron devastation. Looking back on it, Steve changed his mind about what had happened during the Ultron, and now wasn’t convinced that Tony was responsible for Ultron. He was responsible for Vision. And Vision was one of the good guys and shaping up nicely as an Avenger.

But no matter what people (including Steve) said, Tony shook his head and said that he was done with Iron Man. He could trust other people, especially Steve, to carry on without him.

So Steve had no idea why, after the training session was over, Tony pulled him into a conference room and sat listlessly at the table. Of course he asked what Tony wanted. Tony tried to say something twice, and ending up staring out the window at the overcast day and trees decked out in muted autumn colors.

“It’s supposed to rain later. That’s why we were using the gym,” Steve said, in an attempt to say something. “It’s not the same. Sam can’t get any real height for training. And Vision, well, sometimes he ends up phasing through the walls and getting lost in the building.” Steve tipped his head to the side, thinking that actually that wasn’t a bad training scenario. There never was a guarantee that Sam would have the right conditions for flight and Vision was still trying to get hang of the human world.

Tony jumped to his feet and walked over to the windows. He fiddled with the blind controls. “Rhodey tell you about my breakup with Pepper?”

“Um, no?” Steve froze in terror. He genuinely liked Tony and liked spending time with him, but he wasn’t ready to hear about Tony’s personal life. He had no idea of what to say to comfort him. All he could offer was silent companionship while drinking at a bar. That had worked with Bucky and Sam.

And they were very, very far away from a bar. Why bring it up now when the break-up happened months ago?

“I thought me being Iron Man was getting in the way -- she was always nervous when I was in a fight.” Tony grimaced. “She never liked the suit from the beginning. But Pepper was a real champ about it. She tried. And then I made it all worse when my answer to the alien invasion of New York was to build all the suits, and I didn’t tell her. Blew up in my face.” Tony shrugged. “I really pushed it when I called the team together to clean up SHIELD and HYDRA’s messes. Pep wanted to know when I was coming home. And I wanted to be home, more than anything.”

“You went back to California. That’s what you told me, you were stepping down from being Iron Man and wouldn’t be on the team.” Steve squirmed in his seat and began to hope for an emergency, any emergency, to get out of this room.

“I did. New York’s not home. But Malibu wasn’t home when I got there.” Tony leaned against the window, hands in his pockets, feet crossed at the ankles. “I thought it was because Pepper wasn’t around. We were interviewing architects to rebuild the mansion, and she told me wasn’t moving back in. It all just unraveled from there.”

Steve caught motion at the corner of his eye. A group of people milling around, looking restless and anxious, giving every sign of needing to be in the conference room. Relief washed over him. “Um -- I think we’re taking up their conference room.” He pointed in the group’s direction.

“Right. Yeah, I should tell you what I came up to report --” Tony stared at the floor.

Steve was awful at this, but he considered himself Tony’s friend. And he had the feeling that Tony needed someone. That someone should be Rhodey, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that Tony came to him.

“Hey -- want to take this to my apartment?”

Tony pushed away from the window. “Sure. Throw in a pizza?”

“I have beer.”

“Something you call beer. We’ll order something better when we get the pizza.”

Steve lived in the apartment building on the base. He liked his small two-bedroom place with the deck that overlooked the landing strip. It sure beat the rusted fire escapes he grew up with. An interior decorator from base facilities had set up the living room with leather couches and wood bookcases. She had also gotten his art from DC framed and hung. His pride and joy was the large screen television where he watched his baseball games. Sam had been working on him to get into football.

They put in an order for pizza and beer from a local pizza joint and grabbed a couple of bottles from the refrigerator as they headed for the deck. Even though the weather wasn’t great and it was colder than Tony prefered, somehow it made sense to hang out there.

“You have a grill?” Tony asked when he got to the deck.

“Gift from Clint and Laura,” Steve explained. Laura apparently worried about him, Clint explained when he helped Steve unbox the grill. She thought Steve needed to eat more, or more precisely, have someone in his life that made him eat more. Although Steve didn’t see how a grill was supposed to help with that.

Tony inspected the grill, twiddling the dials and checking the propane lines and tank. “It’s not a bad grill. I could maybe fix it up.”

“You insult my beer and now my grill?”

“Eh, I could have tried to make you an omelet.” Tony twisted off the cap on his bottle and sat down in a chair.

Tony didn’t bring up his breakup with Pepper again. But they didn’t talk Avengers business either. As the clouds broke up and late afternoon sunlight filled the deck, Tony was full of funny stories about the Tower renovations, fixing his robot helpers Dum-E and U, and his latest engineering projects. Steve laughed hard and long. They ended up talking for hours about everything.

Dusk came, and the moon and stars shone in the rapidly darkening sky. Steve didn’t want Tony to go. He’d had a great afternoon.

“Come on, show me this television that’s large enough to eat your living room,” Tony asked.

“It’s not that big.”

Tony threatened to fix his toaster, his sound system, and the faucet in the guest bathroom, and voiced his suspicions about the microwave. They drank more, watched a movie on the giant television, and talked.

“Where are you planning to stay?” Steve asked.

“Hmm, didn’t think it through. I wanted to get away from New York and had an excuse to come up here.”

“You could stay here. Instead of heading over to the visitor suites.”

Tony smiled brightly. “That’s great of you, Steve. Sure. But I don’t think your pajamas would fit me.”

Steve nodded and glanced around the room. Steve didn’t sleep in pajamas or anything other than boxers. “I can sleep on the couch. And you can have my bedroom. I -- I think we can find you something to sleep in.”

“Or I can sleep in my birthday suit.”

“Or you could do that.” A part of Steve found the idea of Tony sleeping in his bed completely naked intriguing. He couldn’t look Tony in the eye or else he would blush fiercely and give away what he was thinking. Which he wasn’t keen on Tony finding out. Because he shouldn’t be thinking of Tony at all that way.

Even though Tony was a handsome, fit man who would appeal to anyone with a pulse.

In the morning, Steve got up long before Tony did and managed to get into workout clothes before Tony found him in his boxers. Tony emerged while Steve made breakfast. “Please tell me you have coffee.”

“In the pot over there,” Steve said, waving a spatula in the direction of the bubbling coffee maker.

Tony inhaled Steve’s scrambled eggs, toast and coffee. “Oh, before I go, I downloaded the data analysis on those thefts and other incidents to your server.”

“Anything interesting?”

“Yeah, I found an unusual energy pattern. Unusual for us, not for Asgardians.”

Steve perked up. “Do you think it’s Thor?”

Tony snorted. “Thor makes an entrance whenever he comes or goes. This was different. Like whoever it was didn’t want us to know about them. Doesn’t mean they’re Asgardian -- could have been stolen tech.”

“Thanks, Tony.”

“You can thank me by getting a much better coffee maker. That’s a sin against technology as we know it.” Tony pushed away from the table. “Whelp, gotta get going.”

Tony paused as he passed Steve. He said softly, “Thanks for yesterday.”

“I didn’t --”

“More than you know. It’s been a couple months since the break-up and it was bad a long time before we called it quits. Sometimes the feelings flood back. Rhodey’s heard too much --” Tony stopped. He glanced up at Steve. “Time to move on, start dating or something.”

“You’d be a catch for anyone,” Steve said encouragingly.

Tony huffed. “Don’t be surprised if I’m in the gossip pages.”

“Only if you end up dating Zemo.”

That drew a laugh out of Tony. “I’ll be in touch if I find anything more. It’s been fun.” Tony punched Steve’s shoulder and headed out.

Steve missed Tony all day. The rest of the Avengers were left to wonder why Steve was so grouchy during training and yet another debriefing meeting.

~~~~~

The next day, in the middle of his morning run, Steve was summoned with the rest of the team to an incident in Fort Worth, Texas. Clint flew them out there. War Machine sped ahead with Vision to be the first Avengers responders. The rest of the team chatted about various things, with Natasha talking Wanda through some potential scenarios. They left Steve alone in the back.

Steve studied the stream of information the support people were sending. The police had responded to an alarm at a chemical plant, and at first thought it was a simple warehouse break-in, until the shooting started. The police returned fire and discovered they were in a firefight with a group of supervillains. The supervillains holed up in the warehouse and the governor called for the Avengers.

The team landed and immediately swarmed over the chemical plant, moving steadily towards the warehouse. Steve fielded questions and suggestions, directing every team member towards the goal of subduing the supervillains. War Machine and Vision did the heavy lifting, drawing fire away from the police and national guard. Black Widow, Falcon and Hawkeye infiltrated the warehouse.

Steve was holding the perimeter with Wanda to cover possible escape routes. Natasha’s voice crackled over the comms. “We’re in, Steve. But you’re not going to like this.”

He thought of dead civilians and dangerous chemicals flooding the plant. “What is it?”

“They’re gone. Not a single sign of them even being here.”

Back at base, Steve went over the reports with Maria and Natasha. “What’d they take?” Maria asked, getting right to the point.

“According to the plant manager, nothing much of value -- a pallet of lead and zinc. Some tanks of nitrogen,” Natasha said. “He’s still taking inventory so more could turn up missing later.”

Steve frowned. “This feels like a set-up.”

“Could be,” Maria agreed. “I don’t like the evidence that Enhanced were part of the supervillain crew. And it looks like they were teleported out of there. Not even SHIELD knew anyone who could teleport.”

It was times like these that Steve missed Peggy, who had a real talent for pulling together various threads of intelligence reports to figure out what the real plan was. He had enormous respect for Natasha and Maria, but it wasn’t the same thing.

That night he put a basketball game on the television for noise in the background, while he pulled out the reports and reviewed the incident. He set his Gatorade on the bedside table and stared blankly at the television on the opposite wall. He had a bad feeling about all of this. That was what his gut was telling him, but nothing added up to real proof.

Before he knew it, his fingers were punching Tony’s number on the phone. He had no idea why, except that Tony had managed to find a lot of intel on HYDRA’s hiding spots after the fall of SHIELD. Maybe he’d have some ideas about this chemical plant.

“You’ve reached Tony Stark’s phone. Or have you? You never know! Take a gamble and leave a message,” Tony’s voice said.

“Hey, Tony, it’s Steve, give me a call.”

After hanging up, he called Sharon. She had good ideas about the chemical plant incident. Maybe Steve should have called her first.

Chapter Text

Tony was back in New York. Instead of coming up to visit Steve, Tony asked Steve to come down to the Tower. He found Tony sitting in an empty living room in the old Avengers quarters. The last time Steve had stood in this space was after they stopped Ulton in Sokovia and Tony sprang the idea about setting up an operations facility for the Avengers on old Stark Industries property in upstate New York.

“Looks good, Tony,” Steve said as he sat down on a couch. He noticed there was a lot less glass and chrome with the recently completed renovations, and more wood, carpet, painted surfaces and fabric. He couldn’t see the labs and workshops, which were either behind real walls now or relocated to other floors.

The living space felt like a real living room and far more comfortable than the open fishbowl. But Tony had kept the spectacular view of the skyline.

“Hope you don’t mind -- I ordered Thai from the restaurant in the Tower,” Tony said.

“I always liked that place.”

“Good!” Tony sat back on his couch, threw his arm over the back and crossed his legs at the knee. Steve’s attention was caught by the movement and he tore his gaze away from Tony and back to the issue at hand. “So you have a problem?” Tony asked.

“Did you see the reports I sent?”

“Yeah.” Tony nodded. “A chemical plant? Why me, Steve? You’ve got the remnants of the best part of SHIELD’s intelligence departments working for the Avengers now.”

“I’ve got a gut feeling on this one.” Last time Steve had a gut feeling like this he was facing taking down HYDRA in Europe in a war. “Nothing looks purposeful or connected. But I feel like I’ve seen this before.”

“Huh. And I’m your guy, why?”

“Before, when we hunting down HYDRA, you had a way of finding information, pulling together clues that others couldn’t. Maria and her team are great but she’s focused on the obvious crime -- AIM, HYDRA, that stuff. This is different and whatever is going on -- you’ll tell me the truth. I need that. Not someone telling me what they think I want to hear.”

“Hmm.” Tony said nothing more, staring into the distance for a few minutes.

Steve studied Tony as he was lost in thought. Tony had always been an interesting man in Steve’s estimation. But tonight, Steve noticed something compelling in Tony’s quiet thoughtful way, something he hadn’t quite seen before. He wondered about Tony sitting there, all that intelligence, restlessness and energy roiling within him and not a sign on the surface.

Steve nearly jumped off the couch when Friday announced, “Mr. Stark, your food order is here.”

“I’m not used to it either, buddy,” muttered Tony. “I’ll get the food.”

By the time Tony returned with the bags of food, Steve had set up the reports and other intelligence on a series of holoscreens. Tony looked intrigued. “Is this everything you’ve got?”

“For now. I have a couple of people compiling information on warehouse thefts and hijacking.”

Tony read through the screens. He pointed out, “You should include incidents of corporate espionage.” Steve started taking notes. “Wait -- scratch that. People don’t exactly report what I’m thinking of. I can research or dig it up.”

“Sharon has some leads about the missing diamonds,” Steve offered. He opened up the boxes on the coffee table and piled food on his plate.

Tony walked around, pulling up more screens, and tapped his hands together as he talked under his breath. He finally sat down and grabbed a plate Steve had put together for him. “Right now I’m not seeing any particular pattern. Tell me more about that chemical plant.”

The more they talked about Steve’s concerns, the more Tony got excited with the data he reviewed.

Steve had missed this Tony, the person who was intensely curious about what made things and people tick. Tony came up with questions, ideas, wisps of theories, and Steve tagged along as best he could. They talked about the intel for hours. When Steve came up for air, he was shocked to see that it was past midnight.

“We should call it a night.” Steve said.

Tony frowned. “We’ve barely scratched the surface, Steve. Do you have time to go over this in the morning?”

“Sure. I’m not expected back at the facility until the afternoon.”

“I thought you’d be seeing Sharon.”

“I’m just in town to see you,” Steve said. He helped Tony gather the trash and box up the pitiful amount of leftovers.

“I’m flattered.” Tony walked over to the kitchen now located next to the living room. “I’ve got a place set up for you on the floor below. I renovated the suites -- you won’t even recognize your old room.”

“Great.”

Tony decided to show Steve the renovated floor himself. “I changed everything after Ultron. Went back to the old design.” The elevator stopped on a floor that Steve didn’t recognize. “I thought the team might end up here after we fought the Chitauri.”

Steve nodded. Other plans and different choices made for paths away from that first team. He wondered briefly what would have happened had he decided to stay in New York and not take that job with SHIELD in DC. For one thing, Project Insight would have happened. But if the Avengers had become the team that Steve hoped for back then, they could have discovered HYDRA sooner.

“Thanks for everything, Tony,” he said when Tony showed him his suite. There was a small living room with a brand new couch and Steve caught a glimpse of the bedroom furnished with traditional-style furniture. And it had to have been set up for him specifically, with the framed art of motorcycles, New York City landscapes and WWII-era military posters, and the turntable in one corner of the living room.

Tony shrugged it off. “No big.”

Steve hesitated to say goodnight. He liked standing there in the suite with Tony, with his bright smile and shining brown eyes. Suddenly Steve realized that he was rediscovering Tony all over again. Why hadn’t he ever noticed how gorgeous Tony was? He felt himself leaning forward, taking a step closer as he looked at Tony’s lips.

The phone in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out -- it could be an emergency.

It turned out to be a text from Sharon. “Sharon says hi.”

“Hi, back. Catch you for breakfast tomorrow?”

“You bet.”

Steve called Sharon, who was gung-ho about tracking down those missing diamonds. She’d compiled a dossier of information from her informants about where the diamonds likely went and through whose hands. They were all black-market sales and trades with no trace of who stole them first. He smiled at her enthusiasm. But once he hung up the phone after making plans for their next dates, a enticing memory of Tony laughing at his jokes flitted across his mind.

He hung his head. He was immediately uncomfortable that he had even vaguely romantic thoughts about Tony while he was sweet on Sharon. Steve had never been conflicted like this before. To be honest, it wasn’t like he’d ever had the opportunity to be conflicted. He might not have the most committed relationship with Sharon, but they were dating. And Sharon meant something to Steve and deserved to be treated well.

What was he doing thinking that about Tony? Tony had just broken up with his long-term partner. Tony had given him so much since the fall of SHIELD -- a job, a purpose, a team. He missed Tony a lot, as a friend and comrade-in-arms.

As he drifted off to sleep, he remembered planning out an attack on a HYDRA base late at night with Peggy. He could see her pinning up her thick, dark hair as she yawned. He said something silly and she had laughed with him as she patted his arm. She had been brilliant. He knew she would have seen whatever pattern he was looking for in the data. Or not. She had no problem calling things as she saw them.

In the morning he had breakfast with Tony, who steadfastly refused to answer any personal questions. Steve could tell that Tony was working hard to be seen as business as usual, except for the more-subdued jokes and sad edge to his comment.

“Any plans for the holidays?” Steve asked, then cringed, wishing he hadn’t said anything. The holidays were when people most missed their loved ones, after all.

Tony simply shrugged. “The usual -- I’m doing some charity dinner with Stark Industries for Turkey Day and Christmas with Rhodey’s family. Assuming you don’t need him.”

“No, I’m covering for the team for Christmas. Sharon’s invited me to join her friends for Thanksgiving.”

“Well, here’s to everyone being in the Tower after New Year’s.” Tony clinked Steve’s juice glass with his.

“I’ll keep you posted on what I find.”

“Alright. I hope I’m not going to regret this, Spangles. I got out for reasons,” Tony said.

Steve was glad to return to the facility where he could bury himself in work, training, and planning. It would better to not think about Tony for a few days. Or a month or two. But while Christmas shopping, Steve saw a silly pair of Iron Man socks, the perfect gift for Tony. Tony sent back a five-hundred-dollar gift certificate.

Sitting in his empty living room on Avengers base, Steve sat in stunned silence holding the gift certificate. There was a time he couldn’t imagine having five-hundred dollars. And Tony gave him this when all Steve sent were socks and a handmade card.

Steve thought he would never understand Tony.

~~~~~

Clint was back on Avengers rotation after being away for a few weeks over the holidays. Steve passed by, as he was parked in front of the television in the Avengers’ rec room in the main facility building, eating lunch and examining his equipment.

“Hi, Steve,” Clint said, not looking up from the arrow he had in hand.

Steve glanced at the television. “What are you watching?”

Clint looked up. “Oh, I thought Top Sniper was on.” He pushed bow parts around the table looking for the remote. “I haven’t really been watching. Oh, Tasha filled me in about your problem.”

Intrigued, Steve elected to join Clint on the couch instead of heading out to the gym for an afternoon workout. “And?”

“I checked out some leads about gangs that might fit the description. The break-in at that AIM facility -- I swear that looks like the work of the Wrecking Crew.”

“Wrecking Crew?”

Retrieving a tablet from under a pile of arrow, Clint pulled up a dozen images of supervillains dressed like construction workers. “It’s a gang of four guys, led by a guy who calls himself the Wrecker. The others are Thunderball, Bulldozer, and Piledriver. The gang spent time in prison and in SHIELD’s custody. They fell off SHIELD’s radar just before the Chitauri Invasion.”

“SHIELD was tracking these people?” Steve asked.

“In SHIELD, you got to do cool stuff like special ops against terrorist groups and very dangerous criminals. The rest of us were stuck tracking the crazy idiots like the Wrecking Crew. But the rest of these incidents don’t seem to fit their MO. They’re more smash-and-grab opportunists than people with a real plan of any sort.”

“Hmm.” Taking the tablet from Clint, Steve quickly scanned through the information on the Crew.

“Tasha found some references to the Wrecking Crew working with HYDRA and AIM and someone called the Enchantress. I’m still working that lead. Assuming the Enchantress is part of a real criminal gang, and not some poser teenager from the suburbs trying to look tough.” Clint shook his head. “I don’t exactly miss this work. But, you know, Natasha ….”

Steve nodded. Natasha trusted Clint to get jobs done and done well. “You going to write up a report?”

“Maybe -- I might bribe someone on Maria’s team instead. She’s brought in a bunch of ex-SHIELD agents and it feels like old home week when I go to those offices. Anyway, Laura says hi and hopes that things are going well with Sharon. She always liked her.”

“Laura knows Sharon?”

“She used to do contract work for SHIELD -- database design and maintenance, computer stuff. Sharon was her contact for a project Laura worked on for Fury. Before SHIELD fell, Sharon was considered an up-and-coming agent.”

Steve looked again at Clint’s tablet and wondered as he often did about the strange things he ran across in the 21st century. The Wrecking Crew qualified for that list.

Clint muttered as he channel-surfed looking for the Top Sniper marathon. “I swear I saw an ad for it --”

Steve glanced up in time to see a news show. “Wait -- stop, Clint.”

“Huh, that’s Helmut Zemo,” Clint said. “Giving an interview.”

Steve narrowed his eyes as he listened to the young version of the Zemo he knew. The brown-haired and well turned-out Zemo put a lot of effort into his image of the charming politician to be trusted and believed. He even wore a button with the words ‘Remember Sokovia.’ He glibly described the Avengers and the destruction they left in their wake whenever they saved the world.

“We can’t have superhero paramilitary groups who drop in to save the world, yet have no accountability for their actions. We must question and regulate paramilitary groups and mercenaries. Why do they -- particularly Captain America -- feel that they are beyond the scope of our laws? The world deserves peace and order and the enjoyment of our property. Can we say that the Avengers are giving us that?”

The interviewer asked, “But the Avengers have saved us from alien invasions …?”

“Ah -- yes. Under the auspices of SHIELD, which did great work saving the world for many, many years. I know, Mr. Rose, there are reasonable concerns about SHIELD’s involvement with that relic of WWII, HYDRA. However, we cannot ignore the importance of SHIELD, and the role SHIELD played with the support of the world’s governments.”

“Some critics say that you underestimate the alarming growth of HYDRA, considering your great-grandfather’s involvement.”

“HYDRA is a dying organization fueled by the delusions of people whose values are out of step with the modern world. Ignore them and they will fade away. As I have stated and will state again, I do not support at all anyone who supports HYDRA. My great-grandfather may have been one of Johann Schmidt’s trusted generals, but I am not my great-grandfather, nor do I support his ideas or actions. I represent the new generation moving into the future and putting the past behind us.”

Steve listened carefully to the remainder of Zemo’s poisonous speech with rising anger. He had dealt with enough slick politicians to see through Zemo’s orchestrated image. Maybe he wasn’t part of HYDRA, but he sure talked the same way all HYDRA leaders did.

“Zemo’s good. Really good. And he despises you,” Clint helpfully pointed out.

“All we can do is do our jobs the best way we can.” Steve got up from the couch. He was going to spend a long time in the gym in order to forget this.

Soon enough, Steve would have other things to be concerned about than Zemo’s whisper campaign against the Avengers. Like Vision, Wanda and Sam nearly flattening a small strip mall trying to stop a rampage by what appeared to be the Wrecking Crew.

The Avengers PR people handled the news like the champs they were. But it wasn’t the kind of press that the team needed.

~~~~~

The call was inevitable, Steve knew. But he still took the news hard when Peggy’s daughter Connie called to tell him that Peggy had passed away peacefully and quietly in her sleep. He sat up all night thinking of nothing in particular, unable to focus on anything beyond the ache in his heart.

The obnoxiously loud ringtone of his phone jostled him out his fugue. Thinking it was Sharon or even Connie calling, he picked up.

Unexpectedly, it was Tony. "Hey, Cap, I just heard the news," Tony said. "I'm so sorry -- Peggy was the best."

Steve said, "She lived to 96. She had a great life. And her family was with her over the past couple of days."

"Hey, you know, I was just thinking of her. Last week I ran across a couple of letters she sent to Howard in 1964, when he met my mom."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I'm cleaning out some storage units here in California."

"How - how are things, Tony?"

"Okay for now. I'm giving the Malibu house to Pepper. Well, more precisely, giving her the land where the house stood, considering we never got around to rebuilding. Just the way things are when it ends. Uh, have you heard anything yet about the funeral?"

"No, someone will call, I guess, when they figure out the details."

"I'll try to make it if I can get more things settled out here .... I am sorry, Steve. I know she meant a lot to you."

Steve hung up. He wasn't going to cry. He’d cried when his mom died, he cried when Bucky fell. This was different -- Peggy had a long and full life and would come back from the dead to kick his ass if he did. But losing Peggy stung like hell. Only cure for it was work and more work.

He missed Sharon's call while he was working out.

Tony ended up flying both Steve and Sharon over to England where Peggy was to be buried. He insisted. Peggy had worked alongside his father for years, and even though they had only met when Tony was too young to have remembered her, Tony said he had to represent the Stark family. Sharon was there for Steve, and because Peggy had been a personal hero for her.

Steve was expected to speak at the funeral about Peggy’s service with SSR in the war. With trembling hands, he wrote his comments on the flight over, listening to Sharon tell Tony about how she had studied Peggy’s career at the SHIELD Academy. Sharon had initially been interested in Peggy because they shared a last name. But everything that Peggy had accomplished had made Peggy her hero.

The funeral went pretty much as every funeral went. Steve was seated with Peggy’s family, where he perched awkwardly on the hard wooden bench. He tried very hard not to think that if things had gone the way he wanted them to, that he would be here at her funeral as her widower, and that her kids would be their kids. So Steve went through the motions as pallbearer, stuck in an unending grief for a life that never would happen.

Sharon and Tony took Steve out for dinner after the funeral, whisking him away from the crowd. Tony had his suspicions that reporters and paparazzi were lying in wait for Steve. His friends kept up a lively conversation through dinner talking about the latest from the UN regarding the Avengers and Helmut Zemo. Steve barely took part in the conversation as he pushed around the food on his plate. He could only think about the last time he had been in England with Peggy.

Mercifully, Sharon soon dragged Steve off to the hotel while Tony tagged behind. After Sharon disappeared into their room, Steve lingered in the hall to say goodnight to Tony.

“You should take a couple of days off when you get back,” Tony suggested.

Steve stared at the carpet and shook his head. He’d be fine. He’d push through it. He’d lost people before and that didn’t mean that the world stopped turning and the bad guys stopped committing crimes. He was needed.

Wordless, Tony patted Steve on the back when Steve said he had to turn in.

It was inevitable. But that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt like hell when it happened. Steve couldn’t sleep, thinking of a lifetime’s worth of lost opportunities for him and Peggy. Finally, after a couple of hours of tossing and turning, Steve fell into an uneasy doze.

Nothing was right in the world and he couldn’t see it getting any better. Even if Tony had smiled at him.

~~~~~

When they returned stateside and parked the quinjet at the Tower, Tony headed off to his floor. Steve was shocked when Sharon invited Steve back to her apartment. They didn’t usually go back there when Steve was in town, usually ending up wherever Steve was staying. He sat down on her couch while she went to change into something more comfortable.

Sharon didn’t have a television, so he was left sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs. She had done a good job decorating -- the place looked put together and was warm and inviting. The framed pictures on the wall hung just so, the couch and armchair at the perfect angle to each other, her laptop and StarkPad neatly docked in their places on a side table.

But Steve had the strange feeling that he could walk right out of Sharon’s life, and this apartment would look exactly the same, as if he had never been a part of her life. He thought he had a part in her life, had some meaning. But there wasn’t a single picture of him at all in the living room or on the kitchen refrigerator. As if he didn’t exist at all.

It shouldn’t bother him. Sharon apparently wasn’t the type to have personal photos in her home.

She came out in jeans and a green sweater. Hooking her arm around Steve’s neck, she asked, “Want to grab some pizza? I know this great place down the street.”

He put his hand on her arm and leaned into her elbow, enjoying her warmth and the promise of dinner. The weird feeling of doubt about everything dissipated.

Why did he think he needed anything more out of life and a relationship? “Let’s go.”

~~~~~

Tony returned to the base the next week to give an update about the Tower renovations. He joked about how long the renovations were taking.

“I know, I know, I promised you could move in after the new year and here it’s March. But you know contractors don’t always move as fast we want.” He added news about the redesign of the facility’s support offices, which made Maria happy, and the expansion of the training facilities. The team collectively groaned at the announcement since, clearly, a happy Steve was planning whole new training routines and work-outs.

Steve was preoccupied for the rest of the morning, although he looked forward to meeting Tony for lunch to grill him about the plans for a holographic training room. He found Tony joking around with Rhodey, Wanda and Sam.

Sam was needling Tony about a new uniform with flashier colors. “If I’m a superhero, then I should look like one. Some more red on the wings, maybe some white.”

“Steve wouldn’t like that -- makes you too visible,” Rhodey said.

“You can say that with a straight face?” Sam asked. “Isn’t your buddy the guy who flies in a red and gold titanium suit? I think he can make me a set of wings with some red and white. Steve doesn’t have to know.”

“What don’t I need to know?” Steve asked innocently, sending his friends into a fit of laughter. He noticed Tony laughing easily with the rest of them.

Rhodey thumped Tony on the back. “Lunch?”

“No -- my lunch date’s here, platypus. But I’m all yours for dinner.”

Tony patted Steve’s arm. “Pressure’s on -- I hope you have something better planned than Rhodey. You could lose the competition for Tony’s ‘best restaurant date.’ Rhodey’s a strong competitor, you might have to up your game.”

Had Tony just winked at him? Steve froze, tongue-tied. Shaking his head, Steve said, “I was thinking cafeteria.”

“I have no idea where Rhodey’s taking me tonight, but he wins by default. Cafeteria -- not so great.”

“If you don’t like the cafeteria food, you could do something about it,” Steve replied. “You’re king of the facility, after all.”

“Hmph” was all Tony said in response.

Tony had a glint in his eye and a bounce in his step. And found everything that Steve said hilarious over their cafeteria pizza. Steve kind of liked having all of Tony’s attention to himself for once. Until Tony had to end lunch because of an emergency call from R&D at Stark Industries. Tony said he had to take the call somewhere private, something about a classified project, and wandered off to find an office for the call.

Steve ate the rest of his and Tony’s pizza, feeling at sea with conflicting feelings and lost in a room packed with people.

~~~~~

Next week, the call to assemble came in early afternoon while Steve was sparring with Sam. “That’s convenient,” Sam pointed out. “I’m all warmed up and ready to go.”

“You sound almost cheerful about this,” Steve said. He grabbed one of the omnipresent tablets to see what intel Maria had on the incident.

“I’ll take fighting supervillains over getting my ass beat by you anytime.”

“He has a point,” Natasha said, joining them as they hustled to the quinjet. “What are we up against?”

“The Wrecking Crew -- as Clint calls them.” Steve handed her the tablet. “They’re attacking a shopping center in Toronto.” He spoke into the comms, “War Machine and Vision -- get to the scene now and we’ll follow up in the quinjet.”

“Hmm, this is not their usual. I don’t think they’ve worked outside the States before,” Natasha observed.

They arrived on the scene just as War Machine and Vision were trying to get control of the scene. The quinjet landed in the middle of a large parking lot next to the mall. As Steve ran out, Rhodey flew over to him. “They’re living up to their name and wrecking everything they can get their hands on.”

“No traction?” He watched Natasha, Sam and the rest fanned out to tackle the Wrecking Crew, following the the plan he had worked out in transit. “What’s the sitrep?”

“We arrived as local police were setting up barricades and evacuating people --”

A steady stream of information about the situation came over Steve’s comms. “Four individuals inside the mall. Wrecker is tossing cars in the garage -- they call them parkades here.”

“Got it. Find the others. Go on, War Machine.”

“Civilian reports indicate the Wrecking Crew is going through the mall smashing storefronts, destroying property and setting fires -- without any concern for people in the way.”

Clint broke through on the comms. “Cap, remember, these guys are Enhanced.”

Steve nodded. “Guess that’s why we were called in. Anything else, War Machine?”

“I can’t exactly fly through a mall -- I’m best at aerial combat situations. This strikes me more like a riot or kids on a vandalism spree.”

Steve called out over the comms. “Team, locate, disarm if possible, and corner the Crew into one section of the mall.” He looked up at Rhodey. “Mind running interference with the EFT, TPS and National Defence authorities when they show up?”

“Sure. I’ll brush up on my Canadian.” Rhodey looked over at the Toronto police working desperately to get control of the milling, scared crowds. There were shrieks of emergency response vehicles soaring over the crowd noise. “Civilians and law enforcement were injured in the attack.”

“Work with Hill -- she has a good sense how these things work. Or she’ll find someone who does. Bring me in when you need me.”

Steve checked in with the team on comms as they ranged through the building. Clint and Wanda were tracking the wreckage left behind by Bulldozer, who was using a forklift to drive through walls. Natasha caught up to Vision, who had managed to trap Piledriver in a Tim Horton’s.

“Falcon, any sign of Thunderball?””

“Not yet, Cap. I’m near a store called Holt Renfrew that looks like a bomb hit it. Ah, that’s where you were hiding. I’ve found him.”

“Get him to that TIm Horton’s. I’m sending Vision.”

“Copy.”

That left Wrecker in the parkade for Steve. Rhodey sent him what little information Maria had on him. Steve had barely processed the idea of a crowbar made out of an unknown metal when he caught a moving glint out of the corner of his eye. Instinctively he raised the shield. A crowbar bounced high into the air, clanging against the concrete ceiling. Steve whipped around to see a man decked out in a green and purple uniform of sorts bearing down on him.

The Wrecker. He had a second to guess how to defend himself as the man took a swing at him.

Steve landed a right hook. It felt like he hit a wall. The man threw a couple of punches. Steve hit him again, knocking him a bit unsteady. The Wrecker scrambled for his crowbar a few feet away. Steve calculated how far away he was from the Tim Horton’s. He slammed the shield against the Wrecker swinging the crowbar at him.

“Cap, we’ve got Bulldozer,” Natasha announced over the comms.

Good for her. He could absolutely trust Natasha to do her job of nailing down the Crew members they rounded up. “Any news from Falcon on Thunderball?”

“Falcon and Hawkeye have him in their sights. We haven’t found the Wrecker yet.” Steve grunted as he fended off another crowbar attack. “I gather you have. I’m sending Vision.”

Steve drove the Wrecker backwards with repeated shield shoves. Vision materialized behind the Wrecker. The Wrecker barely managed to sidestep around him.

“Go. Get him,” Steve shouted at Vision. Teaming up, they chased the Wrecker down and forced him into the Tim Horton’s.

Natasha had corralled the Crew into a corner of the store, including Thunderball brought in by Clint and Sam. Steve pushed the Wrecker forward to join his teammates. But the Wrecker was uncowed. He smirked at Steve. “Do you think this is going to hold us, asshole?”

Steve turned the crowbar over in his hands. “We only have to hold you until the cops get here.” He overheard Rhodey coordinating with the cops for the custody transfer. They were on their way.

“Hey, woah, stop!” Clint shouted.

With sinking heart, Steve watched as the Wrecking Crew started to fade out of view. The crowbar, solid in his hands a moment before, blinked out of existence leaving him holding nothing but air.

“Later, Assvengers!” the Wrecker shouted as he popped out of view.

“What was that?” Wanda asked. She waved her hands as if trying to find the missing supervillains. “I can’t sense anything,” she said in wonder. “No shield technology, nothing.”

“A kind of teleportation mechanism unknown to us,” Vision said.

Clint did all the cursing Steve couldn’t. “This is bad,” he added. Steve didn’t disagree with that and braced himself for the round of explanations when the police and civil authorities arrived.

Natasha put her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll take care of the police.” He only nodded.

Maria met Steve after the quinjet arrived. “Bad news, boss,” she said. “The news is reporting that the team did as much damage subduing the Wrecking Crew as the Crew did, and that you let them get away.”

“They were teleported,” Steve stated. “We had them and they disappeared before our eyes.”

“Good luck getting anyone to believe you on that,” Maria said grimly. “With War Machine’s help, I captured some of the surveillance footage. I can use that to back us up when I talk with the Canadian and U.S. officials.”

Steve glowered at the news reports Maria showed him. It didn’t get better over the next three days with editorials claiming that the army and special forces could have handled things better than the Avengers. Steve doggedly read through the incident reports, looking for any clue why the Wrecking Crew was there to begin with. But all the reports from the army, police and the media were consistent about very little being stolen from the mall and that the Wrecking Crew did a significant amount of property damage rated at few million Canadian dollars.

The Toronto police chief wrote a thank-you letter to Steve for the Avengers’ help. Steve was grateful for the note. He knew that the incident could have gone badly for the Toronto police if they hadn’t come. But he couldn’t quite shake the image of the smirking Wrecking Crew as they faded from view. It was like they knew exactly what would happen afterwards.

~~~~~

Steve added the information Maria had pulled together from the Toronto incident to the data he had already compiled about the seemingly random crimes. Maria and her team had distilled the reports down to facts, leaving out opinions and unproven assertions. Tony had said he thought there was a real possibility that the crimes were all connected. Steve poured himself a large black coffee and powered up the laptop to review what he had.

He projected the data on the conference room wall and read through the timeline again, starting with the theft at the jewelry store and the untraceable diamonds. Jewelry store … an unexpected memory floated through his mind.

After the turn of 1945, Steve found himself with a free afternoon and ended up wandering through London on a cold, rainy February day. He had plenty of other places to go, he didn’t enjoy shopping, and he was lying to himself about what he was really doing. He’d overheard Falsworth the other day suggesting a jewelry store to one of Phillips’ aides.

Steve had no business going to a jewelry store. But it seemed that the store was his destination since he’d woken up that morning. The shop clerk immediately sized Steve up as an American officer with money in his pocket and likely looking for an engagement ring. There seemed to be a lot of that going around headquarters these days with a feeling that the war would be over soon.

The clerk smiled and showed Steve a tray of rings. And he saw it. The perfect ring for Peggy – three tiny diamonds in a channel setting. She wouldn’t catch the ring on the trigger of a gun or destroy it when she punched a guy. He stared at the ring in his hand, feeling the slight weight, which meant so much more than that.

Steve almost bought the ring. He debated long and hard, but the reality of his situation hit him. He hadn’t even kissed Peggy yet, never even had a date (if you didn’t count their long talks in the war room late at night). They had talked in vague terms about the future. Vanity prompted him to think that Peggy had a place for him in her future. He knew that he had one for her. But it was too much, too soon, and he reluctantly put down the ring with a promise to come back.

He returned to headquarters, full of thoughts. Peggy gave him a smile (he might have imagined the longing glance) and a folder full of information about the last HYDRA base. His hand lingered over hers as he took the folder.

If Steve had survived March 1945, he would have married Peggy by December. That’s how it was in the Big One. Maybe they would have stayed with the SSR – he never would have expected Peggy to give up her career for him. Maybe he would gone back to art school on the GI Bill while Peggy worked for the government doing what she did best. He would have gotten a better apartment in a better neighborhood in Brooklyn where they would raise their kids. Possibly a house with a bit of a yard. The possibilities were endless as long as Peggy was there.

None of that was going to happen now. Peggy was lost to him.

Steve swirled the coffee in his mug again, reading over the analysis and data that Tony sent him. He would just have to power through.

~~~~~

Over the next few weeks, the team had two more run-ins with the Wrecking Crew. It was the same pattern as the Toronto incident. The Crew attacked a public shopping area, caused an immense amount of property damage, and then disappeared into thin air as soon the Avengers cornered them. Combined, they were nearly as strong as the team’s heavy hitters, and had landed some dire blows on various team members. Steve could shake it off, but not so much Wanda, Sam or Clint, even with Dr. Cho’s miraculous cures.

Hoping to give Steve a break from his troubles, Sharon proposed a weekend getaway, a hike through Watkins Glen. “Finally, I’m not on call this weekend and the park is close enough to New York that I can get away if they really need me. It’s easy for you, since it’s a short drive.”

“I can’t, Sharon. The team is on standby --”

“Steve, it’s just a weekend. Natasha and Sam can handle things. Haven’t you been working with Natasha to manage things when you’re away or incapacitated?”

He wrestled a minute over duty versus a weekend with his girl. He could do this, just this once. The team could airlift him out if they needed him. “Okay, sure. Let’s do it.”

Sharon made all the arrangements including a stay at a local bed-and-breakfast. As they put their luggage down in their room, Sharon said, “It was lucky that they had a room with a king-sized bed.”

“What about breakfast?” Steve worried about the other guests.

“That’s covered -- I told the manager that you need a big breakfast.” She kissed his cheek. “I got the beer you like -- come on, let’s sit on the porch and watch the stars.”

What Sharon didn’t tell him was that Watkins Glen was a popular state park and it was a warm sunny weekend in April and families were out in force. They got held up watching a father help his kids over a steep part of the trail. Steve liked it, being around happy people having fun.

At dinner, though, he had nothing to say as Sharon filled up the air with work stories. He glanced at her and saw panic in her eyes. He smiled, hoping to erase what he saw. Sharon relaxed for the rest of the dinner.

As they left the restaurant, they held hands as they walked back to the bed and breakfast. “You want to watch a movie?” he blurted out.

“A movie? Okay, what do you want to watch? Not The Third Man again.”

“Anything -- we could even go see something in the theater.”

They didn’t end up watching anything -- they couldn’t agree at all. She didn’t like that weekend’s new blockbuster and he had already seen the other movie and they couldn’t see eye-to-eye on anything else playing at the theater. Back at the bed and breakfast, Sharon didn’t want to see any of the classics Steve loved, and Steve wasn’t in the mood for a rom-com. They gave up when Sharon nixed the last of Steve’s suggested art films.

She put her head on his shoulder and laughed. “This is why we don’t watch movies together.”

He kissed her cheek. “You want to turn in?”

She yawned. “Yeah. We’ve got another hike tomorrow.”

They went on a ten-mile hike. As he followed Sharon over the trail, Steve thought about the whole movie debate. That was his relationship with Sharon in a nutshell. They weren’t willing to compromise for the other person, even if it was just a movie.

When Tony suggested Transformers, Steve still watched it even though he hated Michael Bay films. He’d been out of the ice long enough to have seen enough movies to develop strong opinions about directors. He had no idea why he said he’d watch that awful film, but he fought Sharon tooth and nails over Ghostbusters, a better movie.

When they got to the Avengers facility where Sharon was going to drop Steve off on her way to New York, Steve asked her in for coffee. Setting the coffee on the table and sitting down, he blurted out. “I don’t think this is working.”

“What?” Sharon said, startled.

“I -- I think we should take a break. Or something,” Steve said. He had no idea where these words were coming from -- it was like someone else was talking for him as he looked on.

“Are you sure, Steve? Things are great -- I thought our weekend was fun -- you were having fun for once.”

“Do you see us doing that for the rest of our lives?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“But that’s all?”

“What are you getting at, Steve?” Sharon sat back, her hands clenched. “Damn it, Steve, what’s going on?”

Steve was running out of words. He rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the table. Finally, he said. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, I don’t want -- I want something -- but I don’t want this, whatever this is. Or was.”

Sharon drew a deep breath. “Steve, I’m going home now. I think we should think it over and talk in a couple of days. You’ve been like a cat on a hot tin roof for a couple of weeks. Get your mind straight, and you’ll see that it’s just Avengers business causing you problems.” She stood up.

Steve walked with her to the door. “Think it over and call me, okay?” Sharon said. He nodded and they hugged goodbye.

Two days later, he still hadn’t figured exactly why he wanted to break up with Sharon. All he knew was that he was unhappy and no number of perfect dates with Sharon was going to make it better. He put off the call as long as he could, but he owed it to Sharon to be honest.

“Sharon, I haven’t changed my mind.”

He heard her choke back a cry. “Sure your mind’s made up?”

Steve had never ever broken up with anyone. He could think of a dozen people who’d call him crazy for breaking up with Sharon. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that the whole situation was wrong and wasn’t going to get better. “Yes. It’s --”

“If you say ‘it’s not you, it’s me,’ I’ll reach through this phone and strangle you, Steve.”

“What?”

“Forget it -- bad flashback -- I wish you the best, Steve. And I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“I want the same for you --”

“Oh -- don’t think I’m not angry at you, Steve. I’m plenty angry -- it’s just that you’re actually being reasonable right now and I’m really trying hard to not yell at you.”

“Um, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Talk to you later. Or see you around. Whatever.”

In the next half-hour, Sam showed up with a thirty-pack of beer. “A couple for me and the rest for you.”

“I can’t get drunk, you know.”

“Yeah, but this is the traditional way to handle a breakup. I guess you talked to Sharon tonight and ended it?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah. It’s over. Really over.”

They settled in for the evening with Sam’s beer and the pizzas Steve had delivered. Sam didn’t ask questions and Steve tried to forget his conversations with Sharon. They played video games for the rest of the night. It was the perfect evening, all things considered.

As he packed up his video games, Sam asked, “Are you okay, Steve?”

Steve took a deep breath. He should probably feel awful for breaking up with someone as amazing as everyone kept telling him Sharon was. But he thought back to what Tony had said about his own breakup.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“You got to look out for yourself, Steve. No one can make you happy but you.”

“Right.”

After Sam had gone, Steve stayed up late into the night going through his training plans and watching baseball reports on the Mets. His thoughts drifted to Sam’s comments about being happy. Steve defined being happy as not being actively shot at or in a warzone. So things were fine. And he definitely wasn’t sure if breaking up with Sharon was a step towards being happy. All he knew was that talking about work and arguing and never quite doing what he or Sharon wanted made him ache and long for something undefined. Even if he couldn’t tell anyone what that something was, even if the safety of the world depended on it.

Baseball season had started and the Mets showed a lot of promise. Now that made Steve happy. Maybe his team might even make it to the World Series this year.

~~~~~

Steve had learned over and over again how fast news traveled at the facility. Today just reinforced the lesson. He had forgotten his second set of gloves in the quinjet after a flight down to New York to consult with Tony. He was rummaging around trying to find them when he overheard Natasha talking to Clint as they entered the hangar.

“Who told you that?” Clint asked.

“Sharon. I had dinner with her when I was in New York last week.”

“Why on earth would Steve break up with Sharon? She’s like the perfect person for him.”

Natasha sighed. “She thinks he’s still hung up on an old girlfriend.”

“Wait, isn’t Sharon the first person he’s ever really dated?”

“Steve would never say anything about that. He’s preoccupied trying to figure out this whole thing with the Wrecking Crew, and I don’t know. He can get beyond intense.”

“It’s a mistake. Breaking up like that.”

“You’re just saying that because Laura wanted you to go on a double-date with them,” Natasha said.

“Okay, sure. Did you find what you’re looking for?”

“Yeah, it’s in this box.”

Steve never doubted himself in the field, but he was unsure about breaking up with Sharon. Overhearing Clint wasn’t at all helpful. If Sharon wasn’t perfect for him -- and he had thought that she was when they started dating -- then who was?

Rattled, he took a deep breath. It had taken a lot of willpower to not call her back, and he had to trust himself that he had done the right thing, regardless if he ever found another person to love.

Chapter Text

The week that Steve broke up with Sharon, Tony announced that the Tower was completely ready for the team to relocate from the facility. (Only a five-month delay from the original plans.) While the team celebrated at Dave’s BBQ back at the facility, Steve met with Tony and Maria at the Tower to talk about a schedule for the move. Steve and Maria had worked through what parts of the Avengers Initiative would be relocated to New York -- they knew the team would go with a small support group.

“You want to stay at the facility, Maria? I’m surprised,” Tony said.

Steve liked how Tony looked, rested, tanned, and buoyant. The edges were still there, but Tony was more all smiles than frowns. That was a good look on anyone.

“I haven’t fully made up my mind. It would be nice to be in New York. But it’s hard to split the operations side of the Initiative. I could move my intelligence people here -- the team’s grown since we set up at the facility. My teams are supposed to give me final reports soon,” Maria said. “We’re not that far away and I like the idea of having more locations. There’s too much risk in one location.”

“How about you, Tony? Are you going to stay in the tower?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be here -- it’s home, after all. I’ll be in a completely different area of the Tower with the workshops.”

Maria looked at her phone. “I have to check back in with the facility. Tony, I have some budget materials to go over with you in the morning. Assuming your date doesn’t go well.”

“Date?” Steve asked, confused. Tony was dating again and he didn’t tell Steve?

“Maria’s been reading the Daily Bugle’s gossip column again. Tsk, tsk.”

Maria snickered. “The Bugle made up this epic romance between Tony and the heir to a technology company. It was all about Tony finding love on the rebound or something like that. It was completely ridiculous.”

“Andrew got a kick out of it. When you go on a date with one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive, you end up in the gossip pages.”

Steve was lost. He never followed gossip. He had no idea what Maria and Tony were talking about. On the other hand, he did pick up that Tony openly dated men. He had sort of guessed Tony might be open to that from stories he had told, but he had dated Pepper for so long, Steve wasn’t sure his guess was right.

“I’ll catch you guys later,” Maria said. “I’m off to meet some old colleagues.” She grabbed her purse and got up.

“I should go too,” Steve said, although he was reluctant to leave. He half-hoped Tony would talk him out of leaving.

“Come on, Steve, we’ve got a lot to talk about,” Tony said slapping Steve on the back. “Stay a bit longer -- hey, I can show you my new workshop.”

“Okay, Tony. Lead on.”

“That’s something I don’t hear very often.”

In the elevator, Tony rattled on about various things. “Hey, don’t feel bad, Steve, about missing out on People’s Hottest Guys list -- it’s all PR -- if you want, we can get you on the list. I have people who’d love to work on that.”

“Thanks, but I’m fine not being on the list.”

“That’s too bad. I had some glam ideas for the photoshoot.”

Steve smiled at that. And he smiled even more as Tony gave him the grand tour of his workshop, which took up an entire floor of the tower. Tony had a wonderful bounce to his step as he showed off fancy machines that Steve didn’t understand. Steve was so swept up in Tony’s enthusiasm that he didn’t care.

“You seem like you’re at home here,” Steve said.

“The best place in the whole world,” Tony agreed. He waved at Dum-E installed in pride of place next to Tony’s main workbench. “U is around here somewhere working on a maintenance program.”

“Do you have a hot date tonight?” Steve ventured.

“Nope. I was planning on spending time doing some analysis for you. Have to admit that I haven’t made much headway there.”

Steve shook his head. “Neither have I.”

“Hey -- you have time for a drink before you turn in?”

“Sure.”

Steve rustled up his courage over their third drink in Tony’s living room. “So, do you -- uh, do you date men?”

Tony stiffened. “Do you have a problem with that?” Tony said.

“No! Not at all, considering, um, I would date guys too, if I had, you know, the chance,” Steve answered. It suddenly occurred to him that mentioning this might be too much personal information. Or the wrong information. Or the right information, but the wrong audience. Why he felt like making sure Tony knew that he too was open to relationships with men was beyond Steve right now. All this might be easier if he could get drunk.

“Never would’ve guessed it,” Tony said, reaching over to clink glasses with Steve. “Here’s to having all the options in the world.”

Steve trusted Tony not to judge him and that was all he needed from his confession. He smiled and clinked his glass against Tony’s.

They never did get around to talking about Tony’s latest theories on the Wrecking Crew crime spree and if they were connected to the other incidents Steve had been tracking. Natasha called Steve up to tell him she was in a quinjet with half the team, heading out to pick him up at the Tower. They had been called up to respond to trouble at a Lockheed Martin plant in California, specifically the Skunk Works complex. They grabbed Maria, too.

“Are we going to get there in time?” Steve asked.

“Fast as we can,” Natasha said. The quinjet flew much faster than commercial aircraft.

From the minute she was in the quinjet, Maria was glued to a phone or a comm line. Steve half listened to her staccato questions and answers as he read through the initial incident reports. Rhodey, Sam and Wanda were quiet, deep in reading or listening to music.

“Okay, here’s what I could find out,” Maria. With a tug on Steve’s sleeve she led him to Natasha so she could tell them both at the same time. “This is a very sensitive mission. A security guard reported an hour ago that he heard movement in one of the labs. He investigated and ran into a guy with a large axe.”

“Large axe?”

“Large, magical axe according to his description,” Maria said. She exchanged a look with Steve. “I worked for SHIELD, I’ve seen it all, nothing is going to surprise me at this point.”

“Yeah -- but why call us, even if there’s a ‘magical axe’ involved?” Natasha asked.

“The guy with the axe turns out to have strength similar to an Asgardian.”

Maria was not wrong, Steve reflected, as he stared down a man so large that his head nearly scraped the hallway ceiling and the axe gouged the corridor walls. Steve and Rhodey had already seen the damage the guy could do with one swing. Steve felt the blows from the axe rattle his bones as it connected with the shield.

“This is going to end now,” Rhodey replied. He powered up his repulsors and aimed at the enemy. The man only laughed as the blasts bounced off the double-bladed axe larger than some of War Machine’s weapons. “What the -- he’s fast, Cap, real fast. I’m going in. Stay back.”

Steve summoned the other Avengers -- but Sam was trapped under some debris in a lab, Natasha was racing around to secure and lockdown the labs and workshops, and Wanda was following a hunch. They really could use another heavy hitter. But the military and Lockheed Martin had nixed bringing in Vision because they didn’t trust the sentient AI.

“I have a missile launcher and all the guns I could want, Cap,” Maria offered. “Call me in.”

“No. You’re not armored,” Steve said. He nearly flinched seeing the blow Rhodey took from the axe. But the War Machine armor was sturdy.

Rhodey knew his stuff, and Steve could tell that he was trying to draw the massive axe-wielding man out to a more advantageous spot for his attacks. Steve stood at the ready -- if he attacked, he risked hitting Rhodey as much as Axe Man. He searched for an opportunity or an opening to create one.

He saw a glint of green and yellow out of the corner of his eyes. Just a blink. But he swore his glint was a woman, giving a wave or something, standing behind the Axe Man.

The Axe Man tripped Rhodey and swung his axe down viciously. The blow cracked Rhodey’s armor and set off the armor’s electric systems, bathing Rhodey in a eerie blue light. Rhodey screamed in pain. Steve ran to protect him in case Axe Man attacked again. Behind Axe Man, a black hole opened up, and he kicked Rhodey as he walked backwards into the hole. Once in, the hole collapsed and blinked out of the existence.

Steve helped Rhodey up. “Are you okay?”

“Winded and singed. Nothing that getting out of the suit and into a long shower won’t cure,” Rhodey replied gamely. “What on earth is going on here?”

“I have no idea,” Steve said.

On the quinjet, Steve sat in the back to write up his report, detailing exactly what he had seen. Rhodey and Sam both needed to get checked out by medical when they got back to the facility. Natasha hadn’t seen anything, but she pointed out to Steve a report that the Wrecking Crew had been seen outside Cleveland during the attack on the Skunk Works.

Wanda came up to Steve. “When I was in one of the labs, I could sense someone with real power there,” she said. “I couldn’t quite see her -- she didn’t want to be seen. She fended off my attacks easily -- like I was just blowing smoke at her. I could feel her project some sort of mind control.”

“Oh, boy.” Steve collapsed against his seat. Mind control and superhuman strength.

“We weren’t meant to see the thieves, I think,” Wanda said. “Not this time. It was supposed to be stealth. I felt that.”

“Can you describe the woman you saw?”

Wanda closed her eyes in thought. “Blonde hair and a green and black outfit. Green tights with a pattern -- like ones I’ve seen online. But I couldn’t say more than that.”

“Please write it up, Wanda, now, before you forget.” He pushed the laptop over to her.

Maria had stayed behind to collect whatever data she would be allowed to. She sent it all directly to Tony, who reported a few days later that the energy signatures that she and Rhodey recorded were definitely Asgardian in nature.

Asgardian. Steve stared at Tony’s message. The mystery was only getting deeper.

~~~~~

A few months after the fall of SHIELD, Steve found himself at loose ends after every lead on Bucky evaporated. Sam helped him pack up his apartment. He’d barely stayed there since Fury had been shot in his living room. The place had too many bad memories, and he couldn’t shake the weird feeling that it was still bugged.

He got the call from Tony while unloading the rental truck outside Goodwill.

“This isn’t a security guard job, is it?” Steve asked warily. He’d gotten offers, and far too many of them were of the mercenary soldier variety.

Tony laughed loudly. “No -- nothing at like that. I’ll be in DC in a couple of days. Let’s talk when I’m in town.”

They ended up meeting in a bar not far from Sam’s apartment, where Steve was staying on the couch. Steve had a beer while Tony explained how he was working to get the Avengers back together again. There were too many weapons and tech from SHIELD on the street now that SHIELD was gone. He wanted to keep stuff out of HYDRA’s hands. Steve was tempted.

Tony got the idea of reforming the Avengers after Tony surprised a small battalion of HYDRA agents trying to liberate a cache of SHIELD weapons stored in a Stark Industries warehouse. He had hired Maria Hill as a security consultant after the fall of SHIELD. On her advice, Tony extended an invite to Clint and Natasha to join his growing security force. Once Thor arrived back on the planet, he contacted Tony because he was worried about Loki’s sceptre falling into the wrong hands. Bruce, who was working in Tony’s R&D department, was recruited to help out.

Tony had wanted Steve from the beginning. “You can be a hard guy to find,” he explained.

Steve snorted and ordered another beer. “I haven’t been in the country all that much the past few months. So how did you find me?”

“Maria had your number when I asked. So, are you in or what?”

Tony returned to the renovated Avengers Tower, with Steve in tow. “I figured the ‘A’ left on the building after the Battle of New York meant something,” he said.

After the reforming of the team and before the Ultron disaster, Steve had a place to live and a mission while they hunted down HYDRA. Everyone else looked forward to the end of the mission, but Steve had been uncertain about dissolving the Avengers. After the carnage unleashed with the fall of SHIELD, he figured there was a need for some sort of peacekeeping force.

Tony agreed to fund an Avengers team after seeing what could have happened if they weren’t around to stop Ultron. Steve now had his home and his purpose.

“Steve, Helmut Zemo wants to meet with you,” Maria said after debriefing him about the latest complaints at the UN about the Avengers. “He’s slated to appear before the UN Security Council and I don’t see him letting this go.”

Steve liked working with Maria. She was a paragon of professionalism. He also suspected that she would have been much happier if SHIELD had been rebuilt after Ultron. She had said enough about the Avengers’ viability and weaknesses as a peacekeeping force over the past year. Fury had faith in Steve’s leadership, and Maria still believed in Fury, so she put up with the team’s “amateur theatrics,” as she put it when she was feeling uncharitable.

If SHIELD were still around, Maria would not have to listen to Helmut Zemo complain about the Avengers crossing borders in pursuit of criminals.

“Let me think about it.” He doubted that Zemo would be showing up on his own without an entourage.

“This might be something for Tony,” Maria suggested. “Zemo’s going to bring lawyers with him if you meet.”

Steve closed his tablet and turned around in his chair, tapping his fingers thoughtfully on the table. “Run it by Tony and see what he thinks.”

Three days later, Steve was sitting across a conference room table from Helmut Zemo. Lawyers had negotiated hard over this meeting, finally agreeing to a neutral office located in neither the Tower nor the UN, and the people accompanying both Zemo and Steve were limited to one person to be approved by the other party. Zemo had no objection to Tony and Steve had no concerns about Zemo’s lawyer.

“Ah, Captain Rogers. Good to finally meet you to discuss the difficulties that the Avengers have caused the world’s governments,” Zemo said by way of opening the meeting.

“Baron Zemo,” Steve replied, offering his hand. Zemo shook it, then sat down immediately.

“My associate, Sandra Jordan,” Zemo said, introducing the woman on his right. She was dressed professionally, with short blonde hair, pearl necklace and earrings, black suit, a light green shirt and matching pumps.

Steve studied her carefully when they were introduced. He’d met her before, he thought. The name meant nothing -- but the green triggered a fleeting memory.

“Problem, Captain?” she asked with a flirtatious smile.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Steve replied. Some of Natasha’s training rubbed off. He quickly caught on that she wanted to upset him, keep him off guard. She knew she could distract men with her beauty and smiles, and she was willing to try anything to test Steve’s reactions. He turned to Helmut Zemo, a brown-haired young man who bore no resemblance to his infamous great-grandfather. And he was studying Steve as intently as Steve did him.

This was not a meeting, this was a scouting mission, a skirmish in preparation for a bigger battle. Steve would have to be careful and watch the opposite team.

“As you know, Captain, you and your associates have caused quite a lot of problems. Many of us remain quite appreciative of you saving the world during the Chitauri Invasion. But the activities of the Avengers since then, well, we have rules for a reason.”

Steve saw Tony’s jaw clench. Zemo had taken the perfect tone to quickly get on Tony’s nerves. “Zemo, we have complied with every request --”

“I know -- I led the UN’s investigation of the Sokovia Incident. While it was quite understandable how events proceeded as they did, still the results were regrettable. It remains very unclear if Sokovia can ever recover from the disaster.”

“We didn’t launch the city -- Ultron was intending to cause a worldwide extinction event,” Tony said.

“As you both reported after the Incident and provided testimony to the many governments investigating the Avengers’ involvement.” Zemo sighed, rather dramatically, Steve thought. “But much depends on whether the world’s leaders believe you. And you both have been involved in quite serious incidents where we are expected to believe your interpretation of events. It was deeply shocking what we found out about SHIELD.”

“Baron, we only wanted to protect people,” Steve said.

“Ah, yes. But these recent incidents in which the Avengers have been involved -- let us say, not what we expect from the Avengers. At best, you are more like SHIELD, which you don’t want us to compare you to. At worst, you are an unregulated paramilitary organization. Such as that would never be tolerated in my country -- such organizations are dangerous, as our distant past teaches us. Perhaps the United States has different concerns and standards about such groups.”

“Not such a distant past for many of us,” Steve replied, deciding to take the bait, considering Tony looked like he was getting hot under the collar.

“Ah, I know, Captain Rogers. I must admit that at first I didn’t believe the reports that you had come back from the dead -- I thought honestly it was SHIELD propaganda. I grew up hearing tales of your work in World War II and nothing seemed to be a true story, more like legends told to explain losses.”

“I’m told you’re the great-grandson of Heinrich Zemo -- who was a high-ranking member of HYDRA.”

“My great-grandfather yearned to be a patriot and only wanted to protect his country from those who sought its ruin. I’m sure you could understand such a desire. HYDRA was not the way he should have taken, but that’s in the past. I represent a new Germany and new thinking, Captain, but I don’t disagree with his desire to protect his country.”

“Then, Baron, you should understand the mission of the Avengers.”

“To protect our country within the laws and treaties we agreed to when we joined the European Union and the UN? Can the Avengers say as much? I don’t see how.”

“What, exactly, do you want from us?”

“A moratorium on all your activities until we can all come to an agreement about the operating parameters for the Avengers, assuming we even need such an organization.”

“Then this meeting is over,” said Tony as he stood up. “Thank you, Baron Zemo, for explaining your position. Anything further should be sent to my lawyers, who handle all Avengers business.”

He started toward the door. “Come on, Steve, we’ve got places to be and lunches to eat.”

As they left the conference room, Steve swore that he saw a slight speculative smile on Zemo’s face. While Tony fumed about Zemo’s requests over lunch, Steve ran through the conversation in his mind. He couldn’t put his finger on what Zemo learned from them -- it should have been obvious what their position would be. He’d have to give this a long, hard look.

“Earth to Steve, earth to Steve.”

Snapping to attention, Steve focused on Tony. “What?”

“It’s only 1 pm and I have a free afternoon. Want to play hooky and see a movie or something?”

Tony’s smile instantly brightened Steve’s day. Steve had a list of things to do, but he found the idea of spending the afternoon with Tony much more appealing than reading reports.

“Sure. We don’t have to see a movie if you don’t want to.”

“Let’s check out this new car I’m interested in -- then we can see what we feel like doing.”

After a leisurely dinner, Tony called for a town car to take them back to the Tower. They spent some quiet moments enjoying the city lights and sidewalks thronged with nightclub and theatregoers.

Tony chuckled and turned toward Steve with a grin. “You know, Steve, it’s been a while since I was followed by the paparazzi. Don’t be surprised if we turn up as the Hot New Couple on the Bugle’s page six.”

Steve tossed his head back and laughed. “Now, I doubt the headline will say that.”

“You’re right, it’ll be more like ‘Spangled Fling - The Trashing Of A National Icon.’”

“How about ‘Captain America’s Lucky Date With Iron Man’?” Steve countered.

“Dullsville,” Tony teased. “It’s gotta be snappy, with just a touch of sleaze. That’s how all the gossip rags grab your attention. But then, I doubt you read TMZ.”

Tony stretched -- like a kitten, Steve thought -- and lolled against the cushioned backseat. “Seriously though, have you thought about getting back in the game?”

Steve hadn’t given much thought to dating with the latest incidents and his team responsibilities taking up his time. “Too much to do,” he said.

“Ah, so you haven’t sworn off dating forever because of one bad relationship,” Tony joked.

Steve shifted to look at Tony. “Have you?”

“Hmm, can’t say I have. I might even have someone in mind. Oh, look, here we are, home again.”

They rode up in the elevator in silence. Tony paused as the doors opened on his floor. “Steve, I’m not one to give relationship advice. But, that saying you have about not waiting until it’s too late -- it applies to you too, you know. Goodnight.”

The doors closed and Steve was left to ponder Tony’s words.

~~~~~

Steve tried not to care about the news stories that the Bugle ran, but reading each issue could be like getting a thousand paper cuts. Today wasn’t any different. The front page touted the latest defeat for the Avengers with a vengeful glee. There had been a tangle with the Wrecking Crew again and someone with a chemical spray that melted things on contact. Clint’s bow and quiver had been shredded, part of War Machine’s armor melted, and a quinjet destroyed. The pictures in the paper and on the internet were emphatically not pretty.

“It’s because we didn’t get them an interview after meeting with Zemo,” Tony pointed out helpfully.

“Are you eating waffles?” Steve asked, suddenly distracted by Tony’s breakfast.

“Gluten-free!” Tony crowed. “Look, I can call up the PR people and set up a nice and easy interview, something like Captain America visits MOMA, or, better yet, Captain America visits an all-you-can-eat buffet. After that, no one would care if you and Zemo had a fist fight in front of the UN.”

Steve sighed. He and Thor had gone to one of those buffets once after a raid outside Chicago. They were tired and hungry and somehow managed to eat half the food in the entire restaurant. Steve had been embarrassed for a week after Tony teased him by showing him picture of Steve on Instagram.

“It’s not just that,” Steve said. He eyed Tony’s waffles again, which looked better than his oatmeal.

“Worried about Zemo convincing people the Avengers are a menace and should be eradicated?” Tony asked. He moved his waffles out of the range of Steve’s fork as a contingency, in case Steve was tempted to waffle thievery.

“I believe in what we are doing. Having to work through a bureaucracy …. it’s complicated. I don’t want to become someone’s political weapon.”

Tony nodded. “We need the cooperation of the world’s governments. For all its faults, SHIELD had that.”

“You sound like Maria.”

“She has her points, you’ve got to admit that, Steve. What else is bothering you?”

“I don’t know yet.” He had changed up the training routines, trying to get the team better prepared for the Wrecking Crew and whoever else showed up. He worried that his friends and teammates were getting too banged up from every incident. Any day now, someone was going to get badly injured. And he was letting them down by not figuring out how to put a permanent stop to them.

That stung like hell, failing his team.

“Ah, Cap, I thought you’d at least try to steal my waffles, considering you’ve been staring at them. Unless it was something else?” Tony flashed a smile at him.

Steve bit his lip. Somehow Tony’s smile brightened everything. “Okay -- you have more waffles?”

“Yes, I do. Let me make up a batch.” Tony hit a button to start the waffle machine on the counter. He noticed Steve’s fascination with the machine. “Eh, I was bored last night, it’s not that special. Anyway, I’m going to make some calls. I know some people in DC who might help. Maybe I’ll unearth Fury and make him lobby on our behalf. He’s good for that.”

“Thanks, Tony.” Tony lived to show off his inventions, which meant Steve could have all the waffles he could ever want and then some.

“Thank me after you taste those waffles.”

~~~~~

Another late night and a tired Steve was still combing through reports in the Avengers kitchen. Deep down in his bones, Steve knew there was a pattern. The attacks weren’t random -- there was thought and planning behind them. He sipped his lukewarm coffee and pulled up more files on his laptop.

But the files, pictures, words and data blurred together in his weary mind. Instead, his wayward thoughts drifted to Tony. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed Tony over the last year. And now that Tony was always around, he didn’t want to go back to the days when Tony wasn’t around. He even wished that Tony was back on the team, instead of just providing financial backing and support. Steve would never admit to anyone how much he missed Tony’s quips in battle.

But Tony resisted putting on the Iron Man suit, no matter how many times Rhodey teased him. Steve liked to tell himself that he wanted Tony back on the team because they desperately needed another heavy hitter. But Steve had to admit that he would still feel this way even if they were facing an army of angry daisies.

Unexpectedly, Tony threw a shopping bag full of Korean BBQ on the table. “Hey, all work and no play makes for a grumpy, hungry Cap.”

Steve looked up from his reports with relief. The scent from the BBQ was heavenly and his stomach growled in agreement. “Only if you join me for dinner.”

“What, like a date?” Tony teased. “Come on, let’s go topside and have dinner with the greatest view of the city.”

Tony’s interior designer hadn’t counted on the Avengers moving the couches around for a better view. Steve easily moved a giant leather couch and an end table in front of the wall of windows. He could tell from the light scratches already in the wood that he wasn’t the first person to do that. Tony looked thoughtfully at the floor. But he said nothing and set the bag down on the table.

Tony wasn’t exaggerating with the comment about the view. Steve loved seeing the Chrysler Building so close and the rest of the city dressed in lights spread out below them. “So what did you think about the training session this afternoon?” Steve asked.

“Looking good, especially Vision.”

“He’s doing better. But I’m worried about Rhodey -- he mentioned that the Air Force might want him back.”

Tony shook his head. “I don’t think that’ll happen -- it’s one way for the military to keep an eye on us.”

“He’d like you to come back,” Steve ventured.

“Rhodey -- yeah.” Tony threw an arm over the back of the couch and said nothing for a few moments. “He knows how much I miss it.”

Steve knew enough to say nothing. He ate more of his BBQ, waiting for Tony to talk. And taking the chance to admire the light on a quiet Tony’s face, highlighting his luminous eyes. Tony was a handsome man, both at rest or in full swing. Steve always enjoyed watching him talk, his whole body animated and moving whenever he talked passionately about robots or AI’s or the suit.

“I wanted to quit after that attack on the President -- I’d done enough and Rhodey can do whatever I could. Suiting up to take on HYDRA -- I could buy into that. But that whole Ultron business, the way I messed it up, I’m part of the problem and not the solution.”

“Tony, we all make mistakes.”

“Not you. You’re doing great with the team.”

“If I’m doing so great, then why haven’t we been able to stop these random attacks?” Steve said, a touch of bitterness seeping in.

Tony didn’t respond. They continued to eat their dinner in silence. “I had to do a lot of work to determine what was going on when Killian was planning to corner the supervillain market. Lots of loose ends leading to the same places. Your problem is harder to sort out. All we really have right now is your gut feeling and some odd coincidences.” Tony set down his plate. “But you wouldn’t make the mistakes I made.”

Steve took a deep breath. “Tony, you take risks. With risks, there are mistakes. Ultron wasn’t your fault -- it was Loki’s sceptre and HYDRA’s corrupted science that caused that problem. And you fought hard against Ultron.”

“Still feels like my fault. And if I hadn’t put everyone at risk, then you wouldn’t be having the problems you’re having right now with Zemo.”

“Zemo is one of many. But Zemo would’ve had a problem with me regardless of Ultron. Natasha found some intel that Zemo wanted investigations made into the response to the Chitauri invasion.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s been good seeing you around the Tower even if you aren’t a member of the team,” Steve said.

“That’s because you and Sam somehow figured out how to get Dum-E and U to play floor hockey. Where would you be if you didn’t have robots to play with? Even if those robots were supposed to be working on projects for me.”

Steve smiled. Tony’s helper bots were fun to play with and he might find Tony’s annoyance cute. “They need the break.”

“They’re robots, Steve. In fact, they are overgrown helper arms to be precise. Not your hockey playmates.”

“I’d bet good money that you want to know exactly how Sam and I did that.”

Tony laughed. “No -- I’m the resident genius here, not the two bored Avengers. If I wanted, I could program my robots to plan any game I wanted them to. Including floor hockey.”

Steve spooned out more of the BBQ and handed the plate to Tony. He side-eyed Tony, who was trying hard to not reach for his phone. He nudged him with a foot. “You’re thinking about the bots playing hockey,” he accused.

“Am not,” Tony retorted. “I’m a busy man with lots of business that I should be busy doing. Not playing ball with my lab equipment.”

“Uh-huh.” Steve collected his and Tony’s trash. He turned to Tony. “Going to the workshop now?”

Tony looked at him with narrowed eyes. “I can beat you at floor hockey with one arm tied behind my back.”

Steve snickered.

“That’s not a good sound, Steve. Captain America snickering at his teammate.”

Steve laughed harder. “Come on, prove it.”

They took an elevator to the floor that Tony claimed for his workshop. The lights flipped on as they walked in and Dum-E and U came whirring to life. Steve found the improvised sticks and pucks he used the other day tossed into a corner. He turned to Tony. “Ready?”

Tony waved him off. “In a second. Could you clear out a space over there and set up the goals?” Tony pushed up his long-sleeved t-shirt and commanded the bots to roll out. “So I’m on Dum-E’s team and you have U.”

Steve grinned as U rolled over to his side. He twirled a stick between his fingers and handed it over to U. Tony frowned. “Showoff,” he said.

The next hour was a flurry of pucks hit back and forth with increasing ferocity between Team Cool, as Tony dubbed his team, and Team Square. Steve should have protested, but he got caught up in Tony laughing and having fun. They ended up tied, with one goal that would win it all.

“Ready to lose, Cap?” Tony said, with all the bravado of a lucky man.

“Are you?”

U was a terrible passer, Steve had to admit, after he stripped the puck off Tony and passed it over to the bot. Then the unfortunate bot stalled out and Steve had to go it alone.

Eager to take advantage, Tony tripped over Dum-E’s base and fell. Steve rushed over to him. “Are you okay, Tony?”

“I’m fine, but it might be tough to sit tomorrow,” said Tony as Steve helped him to his feet. “I’m all in, Cap. Time to call it a night.”

“Sure. Just let me --”

“Nah, I’ll clean up tomorrow.”

Tony slipped again, falling against Steve. Steve smiled fondly down at Tony, who was biting back curses. “Can you walk?”

“If you offer to carry me princess-style to my floor, I’ll make you pay, Rogers.”

Steve had the fleeting thought that he could kiss Tony, if only on the tip of his nose. Tony felt right leaning against him, all Steve had to do was lean over, lift his chin and press his lips to Tony’s.

Tony, who was amazing and funny and full of life. And so totally out of Steve’s league.

“Steve, you can let me go now,” Tony said softly.

“Oh, right.” Steve stepped back, his cheeks warm.

Tony made a production of dusting himself off. “I’ve got to get housekeeping in here with all this dust.”

“See you in the morning?” Steve asked, suddenly invested in Tony’s answer.

“Yeah, I’ll be here. I live here. You live here, too, for the most part. Bagels okay?”

“Sure.” But then, Tony could have suggested moldy bread and rainwater for breakfast and Steve would have been just as happy to share.

~~~~~

Steve had to work out every day -- for one, because his body demanded it, and, for the other, so he could work off stress. He had a lot of stress, and he wanted to forget the overly warm feelings he had for Tony. It wasn’t right the way he had started thinking of Tony when he had any downtime. The last time he had those exact feelings was after meeting a brunette in an army uniform with an excellent right hook.

The week after Tony and the Korean BBQ, Steve spent a lot of time in the gym, to the point that Natasha made other team members find ways to stop him. Then one day she jumped him before he got to the lockers.

“No electricity in the gym -- maintenance is working on it -- let’s go to lunch,” she said.

He could go for a run, Steve mused.

“No. Lunch, now.”

“Where are we going?” They could grab sandwiches at the deli off the lobby of the Tower, and maintenance would have fixed the electrical problem and he could get in his workout.

“It’s a new place I heard about -- steak place.” Natasha set a fast pace to the elevator and lobby.

Steve perked up at that. He liked steak and steakhouses. But, in that case, lunch wouldn’t be in the Tower. “Hopefully not far away?”

“Not far. We’ve got a driver to take us there.”

“We could walk --”

“It’s in Long Island.”

“We could go somewhere closer.”

“Get in the car, Rogers. We’re going to have a great lunch, you’re not going to beat up gym equipment or run a marathon, and you’re going to take it easy for once before you melt down.”

Steve got into the backseat of the car while Natasha gave directions to the driver. Natasha had succeeded in her ambush. It would be rude to try to escape. “I suppose there’s no electrical problem.”

“Maybe. But that’s not important, is it?” she said. “Come on, let’s have some fun, Steve. You’ll love this place, I promise.”

At least he had good clothes on, Steve thought ruefully as they headed off to the wilds of Long Island. He stared out the window.

Natasha checked her phone. Then she said, “Pout and you’re getting chicken.”

“I’m not pouting.”

“It’s hard to tell these days.”

The car dropped them off at a small restaurant where Natasha had even made reservations. They were seated near the windows overlooking the water. He hadn’t noticed that Natasha had a large bag with her, which must have been in the trunk.

Over bread and appetizers, Natasha said, “Steve, the team’s worried about you.”

“I’m fine, Tasha.”

“You’ve had a rough few months with the Tower move, Peggy’s death, and your breakup with Sharon. Zemo’s launching an investigation into the Avengers, and there’s those weird crimes you’ve been researching.”

“All in a day’s work.”

“Steve. You’ve been living in the gym, and we figure you need to get out.”

Steve hoped that the steak here was amazing because he definitely did not like where this conversation was going. “I can work out -”

“Ugh, no. Here.” She shoved the bag at Steve.

He opened the bag. “I already have art supplies.”

“You could use more, right?”

He hadn’t drawn anything for months and was definitely rusty. But he felt something stir deep inside, memories of satisfaction and joy, as he inspected the sketchbooks and package of colored pencils. There was a time when all he wanted was a career in art. He wasn’t sure he had the time to pick it up again. It took time and practice, and he had enough on his plate.

“Thank you, Natasha. That’s very thoughtful.”

“Thank the team.”

He pulled out each of the items one by one and found an envelope at the bottom. Natasha smiled broadly as he opened it. The envelope was filled with certificates for lessons from a variety of different teachers. “Wow.”

“That’s from Tony.”

“It’s a very generous gift.”

“Stop. I can practically read your mind -- you appreciate the gift and like the idea, but you can’t take any classes because of the current crisis.”

Steve packed the art supplies back into the bag. “Tasha --”

“Hah. I was right, wasn’t I? Steve, the team loves you, but you need to take a break every now and then. If only to let us have some private gym time. Give it a try.”

“Did Sam put you up to this?”

“No. He actually said that we were wasting our time. Not that that stopped him from throwing some money towards the gift.”

“Oh. But there’s a serious problem --”

“There’s always going to be a problem or a crisis or an emergency, Steve. We’re the Avengers for a reason. But you need something else besides work.”

“Point taken,” Steve said coolly, hoping to shut the down the conversation.

The server brought their lunches, including Steve’s immense steak. “Tony will be disappointed if you don’t sign up for one of those classes.”

“Well, if Tony would be disappointed, maybe I’ll do it.”

“We’re just asking that you give it a try. Get out of the Tower. Please.”

Steve nodded and tucked into lunch. At least they talked about other things for the rest of lunch and for part of the afternoon while Natasha had the driver take them home the longest possible way.

Two days later, Steve sat in his room and stared at the coupons and art supplies. He could do this, he reminded himself. Doing something for himself once in awhile might not be such a bad idea. He picked up his phone and made arrangements for a landscape class. Once that was done, he checked his schedule -- he had some unexpected free time.

He packed up a messenger bag and headed out to Central Park to draw. On his way there, he thought about Tony. What was the difference between making time for art and Tony? If he spent time on art and the world didn’t stop turning, maybe Tony wasn’t out of his reach either?

Sitting under a tree, he sketched, and all of his sketches turned out to be pictures of Tony.

Okay, you’re really gone on Tony, he thought. But … wasn’t that just borrowing trouble? He didn’t know anymore.

Chapter Text

Someone in the press helpfully coined a name for the team of supervillains driving Steve around the bend -- the Masters of Evil.

“A bit dramatic,” Maria commented.

“Yeah,” Natasha agreed.

Steve was sitting with Maria, Natasha, and Tony in a conference room going through the mounds of data that they had compiled on the newly-dubbed Masters of Evil. There was even a blurry video that Vision had managed to take during the latest attack the day before. During this attack, the Wrecker nearly dropped Sam off a ten-story building after stripping him of his wings. Tony had worked all night cleaning up the video and identifying any people in it.

“What do we know?” Steve asked.

Natasha said, “Based on Tony’s data, I think there’s a pattern that shows the Masters of Evil are likely behind a series of thefts of untraceable goods.”

“We can assume they’re using their ill-gotten gains for supplies and money to fund their operations,” Maria said. “For what exact purpose, we’re not sure. Who are the members? We think there’s an Asgardian -- a woman -- based on a description from a bank hold-up and energy signatures we’ve collected. And wherever she is, there’s also Axe Man.”

“Hang on, look here. Who’s the guy wearing a sock?” Tony said, pointing at the video on a holoscreen.

Steve glanced up. “It’s not a sock -- it’s a gas mask,” he said automatically. He’d had an intense conversation on that exact topic with Falsworth when Zemo had first showed up on the scene.

“Wait -- is that? Could that possibly be Helmut Zemo?” Natasha asked. “Steve mentioned the gas mask when we asked him about Zemo months ago.”

Tony tapped a few screens. “Zemo and the guy wearing the sock have the same height and weight -- it’s a strong possibility. Who else would be wearing a sock just like dear old great-grand-dad? We have legacy heroes, why not legacy supervillains?”

“Researching Baron Zemo, I found out that he provided information about HYDRA and allied groups to Interpol, CIA, FBI and other national police forces after SHIELD fell,” Maria said. “A lot of people we’re at odds with trust him. No one will believe us if we said that he was involved with the Masters of Evil.”

“So we better be sure we can prove it’s Zemo under that mask-thing,” Natasha said. “Let’s go through the evidence.”

“What’s his motive?” Tony asked.

Steve suggested, “HYDRA. After we arrested Strucker --”

“-- who was killed in prison --”

“Yes. That created a leadership vacuum. And HYDRA’s never had a shortage of people wanting the top spot. Look at that report about HYDRA almost buying some significant Pym Tech.”

“Hmm, that makes a lot of sense -- I’ve been tracking a few possibilities. Zemo could be the guy,” Natasha said.

“Wait a minute,” Maria interjected. “We haven’t worked out the proof, and we could make some very powerful enemies if we start randomly accusing people of being involved with HYDRA. Maybe we should do what Zemo suggested, Steve. Have the team back off while we focus on getting the proof we need.”

“People could die while we wait for the perfect proof,” Steve said firmly. “Each time we confront them, the stakes get higher and higher.”

Tony nodded. “Zemo wants to stop the Avengers -- he wants to take us right off the board so he can continue his march to power in peace.”

“Okay, but let’s look at this logically -- why would Zemo be involved with HYDRA to begin with? He’s on record not supporting HYDRA at all.”

“It doesn’t have to be about HYDRA,” said Tony. “He could easily hate them as much as we do. What he could be after is simply money, lots of money to build his own criminal empire -- and the Avengers are in his way, for whatever reason. Or he could be trying to win the HYDRA leadership sweepstakes.”

“The Lockheed Martin incident --” Steve said.

“And I found some references to corporate espionage at Hammer, AIM, and other corporations.” Tony pulled up email, memos and other documents about missing or stolen technology on the holoscreens.

“Nothing at Stark Industries?” Maria asked.

Tony scoffed at that. “We’re a model of corporate security.”

“We still don’t have it all figured out. Whatever and whoever this gang is -- they nearly killed an Avenger during that last fight,” argued Maria. “The attacks have increased in strength and intensity. That puts the team at risk.”

“Until we figure this out,” Steve said.

“Steve -- you know this is bad. Zemo is all over the news calling for the disbanding of the Avengers. According to my contacts, he’s making headway with nearly every government he’s been in contact with. All he has to do is show them the footage from your fights and the damage afterwards.”

“Call Fury -- he knows how to handle that stuff,” Steve suggested. “I know you’ve been in touch with him.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll call him. But I also recommend that the team pull back from responding for a while. Let the anger die down. Everyone take a vacation -- if there’s an alien invasion, we can call everyone up.”

“Maria -- are you suggesting we disband the Avengers?” Steve asked.

“Not exactly. Just step away for the time being. There’s a lot to be said for taking a break. See what stepping away from Iron Man has done for Tony. You see what I’m saying, don’t you, Natasha?”

Steve stole a glance at Tony, who sat frowning at the holoscreens. “SHIELD wouldn’t do that.”

“Respectfully, Steve, SHIELD wouldn’t be smack dab in the middle of this crapfest either. It’s better to retreat and live to fight another day, in my book. Think about how bad it looked when Falcon fell off that building. Or when that supervillain, well, melted off part of War Machine’s armor.”

Steve looked at Natasha. “I don’t know, Steve,” Natasha said. “We’ve done a lot of good work taking out HYDRA. But if we’re right, this is just crime -- there are agencies that deal with that.”

“Every incident we’ve been involved with -- the police and military couldn’t handle,” Steve said.

“Let them see if they can handle it,” Maria said. “I wouldn’t suggest this if I didn’t think we would benefit from a break. Or -- we can continue to bludgeon our way into being disbanded by the world governments. Or until a team member dies. I know we’re on the brink of that. And an army of Stark’s lawyers aren’t going to stop that or the Avengers being hauled off to jail. You know I’m right.”

Steve braced his shoulders and straightened his spine. “Maria and Natasha. Take all of this to your teams, and work on finding the proof we need to unmask the Masters of Evil. You too, Tony. I have to think this through.”

After Maria and Natasha filed out, Steve stared down at the table. He didn’t like any of the suggestions, but found himself caught between a rock and hard place. He was ready to fight it through to the end, but he had to think of the team. He thought of Sam, and how the team was fraying all along the edges. He ran a hand through his hair. An unpleasant echo of another time when he had been at his lowest ran through his mind and heart.

Tony pulled a chair up close to Steve. “Look, Steve, I know you can dig your heels in about anything. But are those really your only two choices, Steve? Disassemble the Avengers or die trying to prove our innocence? Because that strikes me as being overly dramatic. Or just plain stubborn. Or not looking at all the angles.”

It was like a bolt of lightning and Steve snapped up straight in his chair. He’d heard those words before, from someone who loved him. He reached out to Tony and put his hand on his shoulder. Tony didn’t move, just looked steadily at Steve.

“Do you mean that?” Steve said, his voice thick with emotions he’d been trying to tamp down and kill.

“Yeah, of course. I’m the Options Guy, Steve. We have to have options, there can’t be just two answers to this problem. No matter what Maria says.”

Steve could have kissed him right then and there. And he did.

He leaned forward and planted a kiss on Tony’s mouth. It lacked finesse, but Steve’s passion and surprise more than made up for it. And Tony kissed him back.

Steve thrilled at Tony’s touch as Tony cradled Steve’s jaw in his hands, before sliding his fingers into Steve’s hair. Steve tilted his head, aiming for the perfect angle, but only knocked into Tony’s nose.

“Sorry about that,” Steve mumbled. He kissed the tip of Tony’s nose.

“Why the hell didn’t you do that sooner?” Tony asked. “I’ve been waiting and waiting, sending out signals, everything short of renting a billboard in Times Square.”

Dazed, Steve confessed, “I didn’t know how you felt. I didn’t see --”

“Well, you’re stubborn and dense. But I still like you and you clean up nice.” Tony patted his knee.

A dopey smile crossed Steve’s face. “Okay.”

“But now I need to tell you my plan.”

In the end the plan was simple -- Tony needed information about the Masters of Evil and Steve knew exactly how to get that information. They pored over maps and computer models late into the night following Tony’s hunches.

As Steve nudged a hot cup of coffee over to a sleepy but driven Tony, his hand brushed against Tony’s arm. Tony smiled a deep, genuine smile as he grabbed the mug. And something clicked into place in Steve’s heart, like the last piece in a jigsaw puzzle. Sitting next to Tony, arm around his waist, drinking coffee, analyzing data, stealing a kiss or two as they plotted how to take down their enemies was maybe everything Steve needed right now.

All that, and putting Zemo in jail.

~~~~~

Steve called for a team debrief that morning -- all members were expected to attend, including Maria and whoever she wanted to bring along, and Tony. Steve looked around the table at his assembled team. He was asking a lot of them, but he had faith in their ability to rise to the occasion. He had faith in Tony’s plan.

“I’ve called you all here because of what Tony, Natasha, and Maria have uncovered about Helmut Zemo’s investigation and the recent crimewave.”

As he spoke, Maria powered up the holoscreen presentation. “We believe that we are being set up by an unknown group of Enhanced individuals working together. We’re using the name the media gave them -- The Masters of Evil. The recent incidents were specifically designed to smear our reputation and have escalated to the point of taking out an Avenger or two, permanently.”

Steve had had their attention from the start of the meeting, but the idea that someone was targeting Avengers didn’t sit well with most of the team, particularly Wanda, who seemed shaken by Steve’s news.

“We need answers to who’s behind this so we can stop these attacks.”

Tony then jumped up to present his plan. He and Maria needed the team to gather information on the supervillain team the next time they struck. He outlined what was suspected so far -- that Zemo was the leader, and that there were five or six members with enhancements, possibly including an Asgardian or two.

Rhodey spoke up. “I get the mission objective. I’m willing to scout around for trouble, try and smoke them out,” he offered. “No need to put everyone in danger.”

“Thank you, Rhodes,” Steve said. “Vision, what about you?”

“I would gladly assist Colonel Rhodes, Captain.”

Steve listened for the next half-hour as the team discussed various intelligence-gathering missions. He would sort through the ideas later and figure out the assignments.

Then the alarm rang, slicing through his thoughts. Steve jumped to his feet and shouted, “Avengers Assemble!”

As the team scrambled to gear up and head out, Steve tried to tamp down the bad feeling he had. He suited up and nearly bumped right into Sam when he went for the shield.

“Steve, are you sure about this?” Sam asked.

“Yep,” Steve said firmly. “Like we said this morning -- we need proof Zemo’s behind these crimes.”

Sam nodded. “Sending all our heavy hitters on different missions --”

“It’s a risk. But we’ll do the holding action.”

Steve took his team -- Sam, Natasha, Wanda, and Clint -- to the Wrecking Crew incident while Rhodey and Vision split off to follow Tony’s hunch. The report was that the Wrecking Crew on a rampage around oil refineries around Lake Charles, Louisiana.

“I love visiting Louisiana, but not this way,” Clint tried to joke. “Why can’t we go on a mission to New Orleans to investigate supervillains at a seafood or jazz festival or something?”

This mission had bad news written all over it. If anything went the least bit wrong, there could be a devastating fire or environmental disaster, or any number of bad, bad things. Steve knew it. Clint knew it. Sam knew it. Natasha knew it. They all had been through bad missions before. But Wanda sat, nervous and drawn, in the back.

“Natasha,” Steve suggested quietly, with a nod towards Wanda.

“On it,” Natasha replied.

Steve checked in with Maria because he had to rely on her operations experience more than ever. She had already set up communications with the authorities on the ground and was coordinating response efforts. She reported back that War Machine and Vision had landed in Ann Arbor where they had found a report about mysterious break-in at labs on the University of Michigan campus.

“Looks like the MO of axe-man and his friends,” Maria reported. “Could be our break, Cap.”

“Keep me informed. Alright, team, we’re heading in.”

They had tangled with the Wrecking Crew enough times to know that this could be an even match. Steve ran off orders to the team, reminding them to prevent as much damage as they could, and then set the team loose to track down the Crew. Steve went on his own hunt. This had to be quick, while still allowing time for War Machine and Vision to do their work.

Steve listened to the reports coming from the team. Wanda had contained Thunderball, who had been hammering away at some oil tanks. Sam and Natasha had success stopping Piledriver, and Clint had found Wrecker. Which meant that he had Bulldozer. If they wrapped this up soon, Steve would call the mission a smashing success.

“Cap -- watch out -- there’s some guy I’ve never seen before -- he’s spinning like a top through the north end of the facility,” Clint reported. “What the hell --”

Natasha quickly followed. “Cap -- Absorbing Man is on site. Falcon and I are in pursuit.”

“Scarlet Witch -- report in,” Steve said. All he got was static.

He ran in the direction where Wanda was last located. No sign of her except that she had lashed Thunderball to some support beams with steel cable. “Scarlet Witch, report in,” Cap repeated.

“Busy, Cap,” she shouted back.

“Get me Scarlet Witch’s location,” Cap barked into the comms.

“She’s somewhere in the storage tanks,” Maria said. “Cap -- I’m not hearing from War Machine or Vision.”

“Keep working on it. Tell the police where Thunderball is.”

Steve quickly triangulated where Wanda was based on the sounds of her bolts bouncing off the tanks and the concrete. She was yelling at someone to stop. “Cap!” She pointed at a supervillain who was spraying the tanks with some liquid. “I can stop the leaks or him. Not both.” Wanda had covered a weakened tank with a forcefield.

He hated hitting someone from behind. But he grabbed the shield and threw it at the man’s head, and followed up the blow with a swift roundhouse kick. The man bounced against the tank, and slid down to the concrete.

“Maria, get containment out here. We’ve got a situation with the tanks.”

“Good job, Wanda,” he said. “Can you hold the tanks?”

“Yes,” she said with a grateful smile. “But what about the others?”

“This is more important,” he said. “When the containment guys get here, then report in.”

He headed to join Natasha, who was struggling against the Absorbing Man, as Maria reported in. “Cap, War Machine and Vision found nothing in Ann Arbor.”

“Any sign of Zemo and his friend anywhere?”

“Not that I can tell.”

“Send War Machine and Vision here ASAP, Maria. It’s a trap.”

“It’ll be at least an hour, Cap, maybe more.”

It was a trap. Zemo had correctly guessed what the Avengers would do next and doubled down on his attack. Steve rapidly calculated what they were up against, when the rest of the team would get there and what they could possibly do. The main goals now were to make sure this refinery and the others nearby didn’t go up in flames or spill oil into the surrounding water. If that meant that the Masters of Evil escaped, then he would deal with that later.

He rattled off the plan to everyone. Wanda reported in about her protecting the storage tanks. Sam was hounding the rest of the Wrecking Crew. Natasha was holding her own, for the moment, against Absorbing Man. Nothing from Clint.

“Widow!” he called out. Deftly maneuvering just beyond Absorbing Man’s ball and chain, Natasha tried to drive him into a spot where he couldn’t use his weapon. “Could you use some help?”

“I don’t know. Depends on the help being offered.”

The afternoon turned into a four-hour slugfest. Vision and War Machine arrived, and together the team worked on stopping the damage. But they were under constant, harassing attacks from the Masters of Evil as they worked. This day had to end and soon, Steve muttered under his breath as he fended off another series of blows from Absorbing Man.

When the tide finally turned their way in the battle, Steve didn’t know if it was because the team was successful in defending the oil refineries, or if the Masters of Evil accomplished what they had set out to achieve. They must have. Because the supervillain team set the refinery on fire, as Steve had feared from the beginning.

The Avengers, local firefighters and the national guard rushed to put out the fires. And Steve watched the gloating supervillains disappear into thin air. The fire continued to rage until it was finally contained five hours later.

In the aftermath, Steve assessed the damages to the team. The worst was Clint, who had fallen under a barrage of heavy fifty-five-gallon barrels set off by Whirlwind. He was slammed into a concrete wall and battered by barrels. Natasha rescued him before he got killed. But he still ended up in an ambulance, in need of Dr. Cho’s care. Everyone had a collection of the usual scrapes and bruises, a sprained ankle for Wanda, Rhodey’s knee gave out at the end of the day, and Natasha had first-degree burns on her arms.

Steve helped his bruised and battered team load Clint into the quinjet. The fire chief approached him. “Thank you for all that you did. It could have been much worse.” Steve nodded. Then the chief said, “Don’t listen to those politicians, sir. The Avengers are doing great work.”

He shook the man’s hand and headed back home. He watched the news coverage of the fight and the fire. Zemo had set this up. Steve’s heart fell at the thought of what would have happened had the team failed. The fire would have spread to three other refineries, destroying the surrounding towns and leaving thousands without homes or jobs. Ruining all those people, just to take down the Avengers.

If he wasn’t angry before, he now was full of rage like he hadn’t been since the war.

~~~~~

After the quinjet landed, Steve struggled to hold it together. There was no way he was going to show the team how damn angry he was. Zemo was ready to let the world burn to prove his point about the Avengers. And they had barely stopped him.

The team was on the verge of shattering. Steve saw how the repeated battles wore away at them despite their training and dedication to the mission. Clint, Natasha and Rhodey were holding up the best they could, but he could see that even they were close to the breaking point. Sam had gotten out of the Army for a reason, and didn’t like where this was headed. And Wanda and Vision were at their limit, especially Wanda, who slumped out of the quinjet with her head lowered, arms wrapped around herself.

Steve waited until they were gone before he left the quinjet and stomped to the locker room. He made sure he was alone before he threw his gloves on the table and dropped his helmet. He scrubbed his hands down his face and leaned back against his locker, letting his head fall heavily against the cold, hard metal.

He felt a bone-deep weariness that wouldn’t be relieved by sleep. It was all falling apart and nothing was working. He gritted his teeth. He had to figure out Zemo’s plan. He owed it to the team, he owed it to the people that Zemo constantly put into danger as part of his schemes. Hanging his head, he stared at the floor, picking out patterns in the whorls of concrete.

“Steve.”

He looked up to see Tony walking towards him. He didn’t know if he wanted to see anyone right now, even Tony. Tony could always fill up a room with his presence, and Steve loved to watch him strut into a room and own the place. But now, Tony seemed diminished and tired.

“Hey,” Steve said, summoning up some energy.

“Vision told me what happened.”

“Then you know it wasn’t good.”

“Well, good is a relative term,” Tony replied. His lips crooked in a twisted smile.

Steve could hardly bear to look at Tony. He had let the entire team down. Especially Tony, who had given Steve everything.

“Come on, Steve. It really wasn’t that bad. Minimal property damage, no civilian casualties --”

“The Avengers took damage --”

Tony sighed. “We can work on that. We’ve had bad PR before.” He stepped closer to Steve.

Steve loved seeing Tony in his colorful, layered t-shirts and the jeans that hugged his hips. He never quite knew what the pictures or words on the shirts referred to, but they always seemed perfect for Tony. If Tony was his guy ….

But he still couldn’t face Tony. Unsettled, he coughed and shifted from foot to foot.

“C’mon, Steve. We’ll work our way of this,” Tony said. He rested a hand on Steve’s chest. “Do you trust me? Because I trust you.”

Steve focused on the weight and warmth of Tony’s hand on his chest, which he felt even through the stiff uniform fabric. Tony traced a finger over the jacket fasteners.

“I trust you, Tony,” Steve said at last.

“Then you have to trust me that we’ll get this whole mess worked out.”

“I’m responsible for this -- I put the Avengers in danger because I didn’t catch onto Zemo earlier.”

“Steve. Stop it. The only person responsible is Zemo, who wants us out of the way.”

Steve wondered if Tony would let him put his arm around his waist. He reached out and Tony took his arm and put it right where Steve wanted it.

“Tony, you blamed yourself for Ultron.”

“That’s different. After New York, I had no idea what I was doing, and I built suit after suit thinking I was building safety. Technology will save us, blah blah blah. It didn’t work out that way.”

“You’re the most brilliant man I know, and technology has a role in helping make the world safe.” Tony had beautiful eyes, thought Steve, as he looked down at Tony.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Tony leaned up to press a kiss to Steve’s lips. Steve chased after his mouth, wanting it to last longer. “I’m still working my mind around it. But you -- you’re special, Steve.”

“I’m just a soldier.”

Tony thumped his forehead once against Steve’s chest. “Look, Steve, there is seriously no one else in the world who can do what you do. Man, I didn’t get it. I really didn’t get it for the longest time. I’m a cynic and nothing in this whole damn world is as advertised. There’s always a downside, a mistake, a flaw. I grew up being told how perfect you were. No one and nothing could possibly measure up to Captain America. When I finally met you -- I thought it was all hype and legend. No one could possibly be that good.”

He paused to meet Steve’s gaze. “But, Steve. You are.”

Steve cupped the back of Tony’s head, his fingers twisted in the waves of his hair. “Tony, it’s not what you think.”

“I know. That’s what I’m trying to get through your thick skull. But working next to you in the field, I learned how wrong I was about you. Seeing you in action -- you’re amazing. And you’re the right person to keep this team together and lead it. They -- uh, we -- would follow you to hell and back if you asked.”

Steve swallowed hard. He tugged Tony close, running his hand up and down the length of Tony’s back. He touched his forehead to Tony’s, and breathed in cologne and metal, all Tony and only Tony. He drank in Tony’s offer of comfort, letting himself have a moment of pure selfishness.

Nothing mattered right now except the warmth of Tony’s breath on Steve’s skin and his weight against Steve’s body. The world could be ending and all New York falling into ruin around him, but this was where Steve wanted to be.

Tony whispered, "You make me want to believe again, that being Iron Man is what I should be doing, not piloting a desk."

Steve’s eyes widened and the breath caught in his throat. Anything he wanted to say died on his lips as he stared at Tony, who smiled back at him. He kissed Tony fiercely, pouring everything he ever felt about Tony into a clash of lips, noses, teeth and tongue. God, he never thought he would ever feel this way about another person, desperate for Tony and Tony’s hands on his body. And in return, Tony gave as good as he got, biting at Steve’s lips, brushing his mouth along Steve’s jaw, his hand moving down to slide over Steve’s ass.

Then Tony undid the snaps and zipper on Steve’s uniform jacket, difficult work because Steve kept kissing his face. He slid his hand under the jacket to push it off Steve’s shoulder. “Would be nice if you took this off,” Tony said.

“Here? Now?” Steve panicked.

“No.” Tony rested his hand on Steve’s hip, his thumb slipping under the waistband of his uniform pants. “I’m thinking my room. Or yours.”

“Ohhhh.” The idea that Tony wanted him like he wanted Tony flooded over him, making his blood race and his breath short.

Tony stepped back. “I mean, if you’re okay with it -- maybe you’re not. I don’t push people to do things they aren’t ready for.”

Steve pulled him back into his arms, setting his hands in the dip of Tony’s back. He didn’t forget that he missed his chance with Peggy during the way -- he never thought he was going to die and lose whatever future he could have with her. In a new century where he was fighting a different war, he knew that death was around the corner, and he held in his arms a new love, a new opportunity, a person who made his heart sing.

He’d be completely daft to not take Tony up on his offer.

He kissed Tony slowly, savoring each moment, letting his lips linger on Tony’s warm skin. “How about your room? We’d have more privacy.”

Once in Tony’s room and on the largest bed he’d ever seen, Steve let Tony strip off of his remaining clothes. He was overwhelmed with each of Tony’s caresses, by the way Tony looked worshipfully at him from head to toe, and how much love he felt for Tony. This was so perfect -- the way that the calluses on Tony’s fingers caught on his skin as Tony skimmed down his body, Tony’s hot breath on his neck, the press of his lips, and the wonderful moan Tony made as Steve arched against him. Steve flipped Tony over on the bed and swung a leg over to straddle him. He breathed in deep, drawing in the scent of Tony’s musky sweat mixed with cologne. He moved his hips against Tony, pulling more noises out of him. If he never got to do this again, if all this was one night and everything went to hell tomorrow, Steve would never ever forget Tony’s flushed cheeks, the sweat pooled on the dip in his collarbone, and his luminous brown eyes staring into Steve.

Tony encouraged him gently, moved Steve’s hands to the right spots, taught him the first lessons in loving Tony’s body. He wanted to make Tony moan, to fall apart with his caresses and kisses, to scream his name. Faster they arched, rolled and thrust against each other. Steve panted, sweat breaking out along his spine, and all he wanted was to please Tony, to show Tony how much he loved him. He pulled Tony closer, desperate for the friction. Tony stiffened, and Steve panicked.

“No,” Tony gasped, grabbing Steve’s hip. “It’s good. I’m good. You’re fucking amazing.” On the edge himself, Steve couldn’t help but smile as Tony’s orgasm rolled through his body. He followed after.

Clinging to Steve, Tony nuzzled the sweet spot between Steve’s neck and shoulder. “You’re perfect and amazing and everything that is good in the world. We have to do that again.”

Steve kissed Tony’s forehead. “You’re everything in the world too, Tony.” He could feel sleep tugging him down, but he whispered, “You’re the best man I know, Tony.”

~~~~~

When Steve reluctantly woke up, he had a sense that it was much later in the morning than he’d planned. Tony had managed to tangle himself around Steve and in the sheets during the night. Steve already had a fondness for Tony’s little snore while he slept. He carded his fingers through Tony’s thick, wavy hair. He could lay here a while longer -- if he was really truly needed, Natasha or Sam would track him down.

Tony yawned and stretched. “You’re still here,” he murmured sleepily. “It wasn’t a dream.”

“Not a dream, Tony,” Steve replied.

Tony yawned again. “We still have to fight the bad guys.”

“After breakfast.”

“And coffee. A lot of coffee.”

“Then the bad guys?” Steve squeezed Tony. He wanted to remember every second of last night and hold onto this moment as long as he could.

“First coffee, breakfast, a shower, and then, yeah, we take the bastards down.”

“Language, Tony,” Steve said, trying not to laugh.

Tony batted at Steve. “You don’t ever get to say that again, not after last night. You’ve got a mouth on you, Rogers.”

“Wanna hear it again?” Steve blurted out.

Tony laughed. “Flirting now, Steve? Because I can go with that plan.” He levered himself up to kiss Steve. “First sex, then a shower, coffee, breakfast and then --”

“-- we take the bastards out.”

~~~~~

Now that his mind was clear and he had an idea of who they were fighting, Steve threw himself into creating a plan. He debriefed the team that afternoon, gave them a couple of days off for rest, repair and relaxation, and holed up for the rest of the day in a conference room with Maria and Tony to review all the information, data, and intel they had collected since this whole problem started. Tony helpfully dubbed the room ‘The War Room.’

Zemo’s plan was stunning and terrifying in its simplicity -- distract and undermine the Avengers while laying a foundation for taking over a disorganized HYDRA and eventually the world. And the execution was elegant and on the verge of succeeding. If they couldn’t stop him.

Tony wrote down on the whiteboard -- Leader Zemo. “We have him identified -- that sock mask is quite distinctive.”

“Gas mask,” Steve corrected automatically.

“It could be an advanced life support system for all we know -- still looks like a sock glued to his face.”

Steve wondered why Zemo decided to adopt a modern version of his great-grandfather’s outfit from World War II, unless it was some sort of tribute. “Okay. Zemo. Next, the woman --”

“She’s the Asgardian, I’m assuming -- her code name is Enchantress, according to the transmissions we intercepted -- and there appears to be another Asgardian accompanying her. The Executioner.”

“Right,” Maria agreed. She pulled up holoscreens and assembled a number of pictures of the woman with the code name ‘Enchantress.’ “She’s been working with Zemo since that attempted alien invasion at Greenwich Thor stopped. Zemo and Enchantress seem to be the leaders of the operation.”

“Who else is involved?” Steve asked.

Maria said, “My team has to do more checking, but it appears that the Melter is involved.”

“Ugh. Terrible codename,” Tony observed.

“We’ve fought him before,” Steve added.

“He melts things with a chemical spray,” Maria pointed out. “There’s Carl Creel, aka Absorbing Man -- who can take on the physical properties of items he touches. He has a lengthy record and SHIELD had been monitoring him closely.”

“We’re fighting people called The Melter?” Tony said.

“You aren’t -- Steve and the team are. I think there are other supervillains. I think I heard the Whirlwind codename mentioned.”

“We’ve seen Absorbing Man and Whirlwind in action already at the oil refinery. Can you compile a list of their known strengths and weaknesses?” Steve asked.

“We’ll burn the midnight oil,” Maria promised. “I may have to recruit Natasha and Clint -- they might have run into some of these clowns before.”

“Do it.”

~~~~~

Steve knew his team members’ abilities backwards and forwards. The heavy hitters were, of course, War Machine and Vision. But he had no idea how they would stand against Asgardians. He also wondered if Zemo would recruit more HYDRA agents. Or if he would enlist AIM.

First, he had to figure out a way to stop the Enchantress. He’d love to have Thor for this, but no one had heard from him since he departed for Asgard after Ultron. But possibly someone else had been in touch with him since then. A support person located and brought Jane Foster to the Tower along with Eric Selvig and a former SHIELD expert on Asgard. Steve looked up from the maps and reports scattered around the large table in the newly dubbed ‘War Room.’ He reached out to shake Jane’s hand.

“Good to see you again, Ms. Foster.”

“What I can I do for you, Captain?” she asked. “And please call me Jane.”

“We have an Asgardian on the loose. I’m hoping to learn whatever you can tell me about Asgardians. And whether we can contact Thor.”

Selvig and Jane exchanged shrugs. “We’re not exactly sure how to do that, Captain,” Selvig said.

“Whatever you can give me -- I need any intelligence you have.”

After two hours of discussion, the Asgardian experts departed, leaving Steve not much further ahead. Just wisps, suggestions of ideas and possibilities. Asgardian powers were all but unknown on ‘Midgard,’ as Jane and Selvig pointed out.

Steve wondered about finding Bruce. Bruce might have an idea or two about stopping the Masters of Evil. If not, the Avengers could sure use the Hulk. But Tony suggested that even if they did have any leads on where Bruce had disappeared, that they should leave Bruce out of this.

“Bruce is still going to be angry about Sokovia and everything else.”

Steve could understand that.

~~~~~

Steve spent a week on edge since the attack on the oil refinery.

During the day he reviewed scenarios with the team, over and over, playing out every outcome of any possible attack the Masters of Evil might attempt. He didn’t want to lose any of them. And from the intel, he knew that Zemo was not above killing them.

At night, he retreated to the comfort of Tony’s room. He hadn’t left since Tony brought him there after finding him in the locker room, only stopping at his suite to grab clothes. He would lean against Tony in that giant bed, letting Tony caress him and run his fingers through Steve’s hair as Steve went over all the daily scenarios. Maybe it wasn’t wise weaving their lives together so closely when they had never even dated or even talked about their budding relationship. But Tony’s smiles, ready humor, and comforting touches buoyed him up during the strain of the week. It was love in wartime and Steve wasn’t letting his second chance for something meaningful slip out of his fingers.

The worst part was not knowing when the next attack was coming. He had gone over offensive plans about bringing the attack to Zemo’s team with Maria and Rhodey, but he didn’t like it. If he was to stop Zemo, he had to take out Zemo’s team hard and fast, leaving no one standing.

In the end, it was Thor who showed them the way.

On day three, Thor strode into the Tower as if he had never left, shaking hands as he came down from the landing pad. “My Jane said that you needed me, Captain.” He grasped Steve’s arm in greeting.

Steve smiled in relief. “Good to see you, Thor.” After all this was over, he calling Jane Foster to say that she was a miracle worker.

“We’d love to catch up, but first we have to stop the Masters of Evil,” Clint said.

Steve handed the tablet over to Thor. He gave a quick explanation of the Masters of Evil and showed the pictures of the Enchantress. “We think that they have an Asgardian or two working with them.”

“Aye, Amora. I know her well. And she has long caused problems for my family. It’s not surprising that she has come to Earth.”

“The axe-man?”

“Her companion, The Executioner. I now understand why you summoned me. Let us destroy our enemies and then we can celebrate our reunion and the company of good friends!”

~~~~~

Finally the pieces were clicking into place and Steve had his answers. Now he was going to bring the fight to Zemo and his Masters of Evil.

Maria and her team of intelligence analysts and spy contacts found out where Zemo was based. “He’s just outside Trenton, New Jersey,” she proudly announced. “My sources tell me they’re gearing up for another major attack soon.”

“Like the oil refinery,” Steve said.

“Yes. Probably worse.”

“We have to stop him.”

“I’m one step ahead of you -- Fury gave me advice and greased some wheels to boot. I’ve been working with the authorities to get you warrants for a raid on the facility. You are cleared to go ahead.”

“Thank you, Maria.”

“I can still learn new tricks. And one piece of luck -- the oil refinery fight was captured on video and is swaying public opinion your way again, Steve. Zemo’s looking bad, even if we don’t manage to catch him red-handed with the Masters of Evil.”

~~~~~

Clint and Sam were distinctly unimpressed that the Avengers would be taking down a industrial complex outside Trenton. “I thought that Zemo had more style,” Clint commented.

“As does Amora. I doubt that she would have willingly come to such a place,” Thor added.

“Cut the chatter, team,” Steve said over the comms. He studied the complex with warehouses and office buildings, satisfied that Zemo’s team had no idea that Steve’s team had arrived. He put down the binoculars. “Report in, everyone.”

The team was in place. Everything was ready to go. He thought back to Tony. Back at the Tower before leaving for the mission, Tony had shown up as Steve finished suiting up. “A kiss for good luck,” Tony said. As if Steve was leaving his guy behind as he left for the front.

“On my count, attack.” Steve made a quick assessment of the situation -- it was time to strike. “One. Two. Three. Go.”

The team furiously raced into the complex, drawing the Masters of Evil out into the open. Steve grinned, knowing that, for once, they had the element of surprise on their side. He drove his motorcycle straight into the fight, aiming to take out the Wrecker menacing Wanda.

“I need the Scarlet Witch -- I aim to find Amora and her companion lest they make our fight more difficult through her enchantments,” Thor said.

“You have a go, Thor,” Steve agreed. He hit Piledriver with a satisfying thunk of the shield. War Machine gleefully chased down Absorbing Man. And Clint was laying a trap for Whirlwind. “Watch for Hawkeye,” Steve warned.

He drew back from the fight to take an assessment of the team’s progress. He called Tony and Maria on the comms. Tony was following the footage from War Machine and Vision’s cameras. “Tell me what you can see.”

“Can’t see much from where I am.”

“You’re in the Tower, Tony. I can have Vision reposition for a better view.”

“No, I’m not, actually,” Tony replied. “Look up.”

Not up for Tony’s teasing right at that moment, Steve nevertheless raised his head as Iron Man flew by and waved at him.

“Iron Man!” Steve whooped. Suddenly all was right with the world. Iron Man was back in the field.

“Iron Man’s appearing for a limited engagement, so enjoy the view. Hey, leave a supervillain or two or three for me, War Machine.”

This was what they needed, Steve thought as he hefted the shield. It felt right to have both Thor and Iron Man back with the Avengers.

Steve and Natasha teamed up to flush out the remaining Masters of Evil out of the surrounding buildings. They passed Thor taking on Skurge while Wanda dealt with Amora. Pinning down the person doing the teleporting was a good tactical move. Sam was patrolling the perimeter to catch anyone attempting to flee.

All in all, a good fight so far, but no Zemo.

Natasha announced, “I’ve a got a lead on Zemo and Absorbing Man.” She turned to Steve. “Zemo is in that building.” She pointed out an office building to their left. “Absorbing Man is over there somewhere.”

“I’ll go for Zemo. Widow, you grab Iron Man or War Machine and take on Absorbing Man.”

“I might need both, Cap. Catch you later.”

Steve entered the building carefully, checking for any booby traps Zemo might have left. He crept along a darkened hallway. His enhanced hearing picked up on Zemo a few feet ahead. Zemo was directing his team, and swearing at them because they were failing to stop the Avengers.

Steve wrenched the locked door off its hinges. “Zemo, I order you to surrender,” he commanded.

Clearly not expecting Steve, Zemo jumped back from the computer terminal. “You,” he hissed. He threw a chair at Steve to stop him and fled the room.

Annoyed, Steve tossed the chair aside. They didn’t make supervillains like they did back in the war. Old HYDRA would have had this version of Zemo for lunch. “I’ve located Zemo.”

He chased after Zemo, who fled through the hallways trying to shake Steve off his tail. Steve was barely gaining on him. The only way to catch Zemo was to out-think him. Steve paused a second -- Zemo was moving steadily up towards the roof, which likely meant he had a pre-planned escape route.

Steve located another staircase after a quick look around the floor. Zemo hadn’t paid attention to what Steve was doing, he only focused on escaping him. So Zemo wouldn’t expect Steve to take a different route to the roof. Steve raced up the ten flights of stairs praying that his gamble paid off.

He burst through the roof access door just as Zemo came out the other door. Zemo scrambled to open his door again, but the door had slammed locked behind him. Steve heard the buzz of helicopters circling the building -- nearly all of them would be news copters and the national guard, but Zemo just needed a HYDRA one in disguise to make good on his escape.

Steve had to stop him. Pushing forward, he slung the shield and clipped Zemo’s legs. Zemo yelped and fumbled the gun in his hand, dropping it on the roof.

“Give up, Zemo,” Stever roared. “You’ve lost, your team is in police custody. Give up now and no one will be hurt.”

“Never,” Zemo shouted back. He reached into the bag clipped to his uniform.

Gas grenades, Steve guessed. Maybe he was sending a signal. Steve tracked Zemo’s head movements to see if he was looking for any helicopter in particular.

“Cap? Where are you?” Tony’s voice boomed over the comms.

“Roof.”

“Not so helpful.”

“Follow the helicopters -- that’s the one,” Steve replied.

He dodged the first grenade, which exploded behind him. He took a couple of steps forward, moving deliberately but forcefully, not sure if Zemo would lob a grenade at one of the circling helicopters.

Zemo paused as he lifted a grenade. He mimed throwing it at a nearby helicopter, but at the last minute winged it right at Steve. Steve dodged it, barely, and ended up with a face full of gas. He staggered but recovered quickly enough to keep herding Zemo into a corner.

Zemo tossed another grenade, then another. “Why can’t I stop you?” he yelled.

Steve kept up the pressure. The comms crackled with team members reporting in as they rounded up the last of the Masters of Evil. Now it was all down to Steve against Zemo.

A well-placed shield throw would take out Zemo, but now Zemo had set off the grenades to create a billowing curtain of smoke and gas to keep Steve away. Steve choked and coughed on the waves of gas flooding over him. He felt dizzy and fell to his knees.

He heaved the shield desperately at Zemo. He heard the shield bounce off the roof, the door, and the air conditioning unit, but not the sound of the shield hitting Zemo. He had to shake off the gas because he was not going to let Zemo escape.

A repulsor blast buzzed over his head as Tony soared over the roof. “Like Cap said, Zemo. Time to give up.”

Steve wiped his streaming eyes and grinned at Tony hovering over the now-cowering Zemo. “Thanks, Iron Man,” he said.

“All in a day’s work, Cap,” Tony replied. “Let me help you with that.” He quickly dissipated the gas with air blasts.

“Okay, team, let’s wrap this up.”

~~~~~

After assessing the damage and handing over the Masters of Evil to the police, FBI and all the other federal agencies that showed, Natasha sent Steve home. She rolled her eyes at him. “I know all about the super-serum, but you were doused with enough gas to take out a few city blocks. Am I going to have to call Tony to drag you out of here? Maria and I have got this, now shoo.”

Tony was more than glad to take Steve home. He slung an arm around Steve’s waist as Steve carefully put his foot on Tony’s armored boot. “When we get back to Tower, I can tuck you into bed,” he said over the comms.

Steve grinned. “I think Natasha was thinking more that I should get some sleep.”

“Oh, you’ll get sleep alright, after you have dinner and a shower.”

“A shower sounds good.”

They landed on the Tower landing pad. Out of instinct, Steve headed to his floor. Tony snagged his arm. “This way, Steve.” And led him to his own floor. “After all that, I’m not going to let you shower alone.”

“Oh, is that how it is?”

Tony pulled off his helmet. “You bet.”

Steve leaned up to kiss Tony. “Thank you, Tony. Thank you for coming back to the team.”

“Couldn’t let Rhodey have all the fun,” Tony said. “Honestly, Steve, I missed the suit, missed being on the team, missed Iron Man, missed all of it. I’m back where I belong.”

He kissed Steve back. “And if my reward is to have you naked in my shower after a nasty fight, I’ll sign up for the Avengers for the rest of my life.”

Steve could only laugh until Tony kissed him again.

~~~~~

A few months later

The night before, Steve had dreamed about the street he lived on when he was a kid. He walked towards the apartment building, past the grocer and the pharmacy with the soda counter, all the buildings and people like watercolor paintings. He climbed up the three stories to his apartment and opened the door to find Tony tearing apart the radio that his mother had bought from Sears & Roebuck.

The whole apartment was filled with light and flowers and robot parts and his paintings, all the clutter of lives spent together. Steve set down his portfolio and backpack as Tony jumped up and said, “Welcome home.”

When Steve woke up, Tony was still there. Curled up in the sheets and muttering something about coffee. Lots of coffee. The morning was too early for Tony and too late for Steve and just the right time for both of them.

After lunch, Steve sat on a couch with a glass of lemonade and his sketchbook, watching Tony, Rhodey, Vision, and Sam practice landings and take-offs from the Tower. He could watch Tony make loops over again in the air all day. Sam turned and dove, playing on the winds whipping around the tower, flicking his gunmetal-gray wings to catch an updraft.

Steve leafed through the sketchbook filled with drawings of the Tower, his friends at work and at play, and Tony. Picture after picture of Tony.

“Hey, Steve,” Natasha said as she sat down in the armchair next to the couch. She threw a newspaper at him. “More news about the Avengers.”

He glanced at the Bugle proclaiming the Avengers ‘a national treasure’ for taking down the Masters of Evil.

“What happened?” Steve asked, wondering if this was a signal they had entered an alternate dimension.

“People hate Zemo and HYDRA a lot more than people who save their lives,” Natasha said. “What’s with the flying brigade?”

Steve smiled. “Supposedly they’re practicing. But, between you and me, I think that they’re just goofing around.”

Tony sent out smoke rings for Rhodey, Vision and Sam to do agility flying. But now it looked like Sam and Rhodey were egging each other on to launch off the Tower pad and dive through the rings. Vision looked on with a mildly puzzled expression.

Tony buzzed the Tower and waved at Steve. Steve waved back. He was still amazed that he got to wake up every day next to someone as wonderful as Tony.

“Captain Rogers, Mr. Stark wants to know when you’ll be back after your painting class, ” FRIDAY asked.

“I’ll be back by two.”

“He would like to go to the LEGO exhibit when you return, Captain.”

“I’ll be ready,” Steve said. He got up and walked over to the window where Tony was hovering. He put his hand on the window and Tony put his gloved hand against the glass to match Steve’s.

“You chose LEGO’s over the Mixed Martial Arts demonstration?” Steve asked, knowing FRIDAY would transmit to Tony’s suit.

Tony tuned into the Tower’s communication system. “It was too much like work. How about I let you take me out to dinner?”

“Anything for my guy,” Steve said.

Tony laughed -- a slightly odd sound through the helmet vocoder -- and launched back into the air. This time he traced a heart shape in the air with his smoke trail.

Steve didn’t have to listen in on the comms to know that Rhodey and Sam were giving Tony a hard time about being a sap over Steve.

Long ago, some well-meaning person gave Steve a book about finding happiness. Steve thought then, and still thought now, that the book was ridiculous. He had never worried about being happy when he was growing up. You worked hard, made friends, and got on with life. That was happiness.

Now, though, he lived in a Tower with his superhero team, fought supervillains, and was getting on with life. It had been a hard-fought fight to have even this much. And Tony as his best guy? Made the winning even sweeter and special. By every reckoning, Steve was a happy guy, something he knew was precious and fleeting.

“Hey, Steve,” Tony said.

“Yes?” he answered as he gathered up his sketchpad and pencil case.

“I love you.”

Steve’s heart clenched a little. “Love you too, Shellhead.”

He could get used to this, being happy. And he was never, ever letting go.