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Steve halted just outside the tech labs, staring at the door in hopes he might get the answers he was looking for from it. Of course, smart as JARVIS was he couldn’t read minds, and Steve suspected he wouldn’t have the answer for any of his questions anyway. Tony had not gotten the chance to upgrade JARVIS since boarding theStars and Stripes, but he hadn’t been on the ship long. Steve suspected the AI would be walking around soon if he was dedicated enough to make it so.
And Steve didn’t doubt he would be. They’d found Tony at the Citadel, working in the Stark offices on one of the few anti-Reaper programs the company had been willing to fund. Stark Industries had reacted mostly favorably to the battles against the chitauri and over the past year had been funding more and more anti-Reaper technology. Tony, even though he had technically given up rights to the company when he’d left for Omega, had been invited back to work on the program and was heading most of the development.
At least until Steve had run into him. It was easy recruitment, much easier than Steve’s usual missions, but then again Steve hadn’t known Tony was in the area. He had been looking for information on the Turian weapons systems somewhere in the Citadel’s core and had really run into Tony on accident. Tony had also been hacking the Citadel core, but for entirely different information. Steve figured acquiring the galaxy’s smartest tech rep was probably just as good as confirming some antiquated Turian weapons system, so he’d called off the mission and dragged the brunette aboard. He could consider his crew satisfactorily complete.
As complete as it could get, anyway. There would never be a replacement for Peggy, and Steve felt a familiar pain every time he thought about her, but it seemed as though everybody else was at least coming together for him. His heart still surged a little when he thought about the e-mails he had received from both Thor and Bruce, who seemed to have found their own sanctuaries in an Asgardian colony and an ex-SHIELD facility respectively. Even Natasha and Clint had appeared alongside the Stars and Stripes as Steve had docked on Mars. Tony had been the last piece of the familial puzzle, and Steve just needed to get the nerve to speak to him beyond the increasingly familiar “galaxy needs saving” speech.
The lights went off on the deck just as Steve worked up the courage to enter the labs, and he looked around suspiciously to see what sort of power failure had happened.
“That might have been me,” Tony called from under one of the consoles, “Been trying to work out how to get JARVIS functioning without so much interference, he was a little jerky getting out of the solar system back there.”
Steve leaned casually against the next console over and smiled gently towards Tony’s midriff, just barely visible peeking out from under the opened hardware. The man had donned his usual comfortable cargos and the hoodie he’d stolen from N7 when they were still flying aboard the America. Steve was surprised to see the hoodie was still intact, but he figured that Tony would wear the thing even if it was in tatters. When he got attached to something he tended to hold onto it, and that tended to explain Tony’s reasoning for everything. This included the oversized VI Tony had affectionately called Dummy as he wheeled it into the tech labs, and the piles upon piles of old tools that probably hadn’t been used since the 21st century. There was a pile of this equipment on the floor, as a matter of fact, even if it looked mostly untouched; the orange glow of the omnitool was just visible mixing with Tony’s familiar blue chest piece within the framework. “I would believe it if I had felt it,” Steve replied, investigating the various piles he definitely hadn’t approved coming aboard. “I think you might just be looking for an excuse to get back into JARVIS’s programming.”
“Why Cap, you know me too well. Besides, I’d rather be getting my hands dirty on JARVIS’s dusty old circuitry than on Citadel business any day. Have you even had an engineer in here since the suicide mission? My baby’s been abused to hell, and there’s no telling what the Alliance did with beyond what I can immediately see.” The lights suddenly came back up in the labs and Tony made a noise of triumph, shuffling some things within the framework and making a fair amount of noise. “That’s how we get my beautiful working again.”
“You’re not going to get yourself buried in this are you?” Steve asked as the banging slowly subsided but Tony did not emerge, “Because we need you for more than just engine repair you know. We can’t have you staying up all night every night under the guise of keeping the ship flying.” He had to admit, there was something comforting about the familiar hum of JARVIS’s presence after the almost overwhelming silence of the reboot, but he was entirely serious about needing Tony for more. Even with Stark Industries investments, the weapons the Alliance was wielding were outdated and in desperate need of an upgrade. Clint had already commented on the slowness of the navigation on the Stars and Stripes, and he wasn’t even piloting it. He was afraid to let Natasha behind the main battery, because Steve had looked at that himself and had found it sorely, embarrassingly lacking. And that wasn’t even to comment on Tony’s skills on the field, where Steve knew he would probably need the man the most. As behind as the old ship felt, they had already encountered colonies that were even farther behind; Tony’s expertise on the field was going to be invaluable everywhere they turned.
“I know, I know, you only hired me for my tech,” Tony sighed, as though reading Steve’s thoughts. “But you’re going to be really impressed with all the plans I have for JARVIS, just so you know, and you’re going to come thanking me when he’s able to take on a battalion of Reapers all on his own.”
“With all due respect, sir – “ JARVIS interrupted almost immediately, “I do think even you aren’t going to be able to run sufficient programming to replace the pilot –“
“Hush, JARVIS, you’re ruining my good mood. Especially if Stevie here puts me on pistol duty and gives me a bedtime. You’re lucky I consider this fun instead of work or I’d be asking for higher pay.” Tony commented nonchalantly, but he was still smirking.
“Tony we’re not the ones paying you,” Steve countered, and Tony pulled himself from the console hardware to give him an amused look.
“I think we could work out something like last time,” he said haltingly, his lips in a smirk but his eyes watching with heavy intent.
Steve flushed at Tony’s words, and didn’t reply immediately. He crossed his arms protectively and looked away, feeling his face burn as Tony stood. Steve wasn’t really sure where the two of them stood after the party had split following the destruction of the chitauri main ship. Steve had been taken into custody by the Alliance and put in detention on Earth, and he had lost contact with most of his crew almost immediately. It had nearly killed him at the time, suspecting that the SHIELD party he had grown to love as family had been torn apart so thoroughly, but it seemed circumstance was slowly bringing them back together.
It didn’t mean Tony’s feelings hadn’t changed. Steve absolutely refused to believe he had any sort of claim on the man in front of him, especially after so much time had passed between them. Tony wasn’t exactly known for his monogamy, anyway, and Steve wasn’t going to hold him to something he himself had failed to protect in the first place. Still, it hurt to hear the familiar flirting coming from Tony so easily.
“Sorry, I’m not very familiar with this second encounter thing,” Tony finally confessed. “Never had to do it before, don’t really know how it works. I mean, that’s if you’re even interested in a second –“
Steve grinned this time, relief flooding him as he realized Tony was in much the same boat as he was. Tony probably didn’t know any more than Steve did when it came to their sudden split at the hands of the Alliance, and it was nice to hear he felt just as conflicted as Steve. He cut Tony off as the man shuffled awkwardly by leaning forward and pressing his lips to Tony’s cheek. He pulled away quickly, rubbing the bridge of his nose where the sentry interface had left a pleasant tingling and smiling broadly.
“I think it goes something like that,” he said, trying to interpret Tony’s dumbstruck expression before it melted into the familiar easy confidence he was used to seeing, “And yes, I’m still interested.”
Tony’s smile was now more genuine than usual, even if he was trying to hide it, and he leaned into Steve. “Of course you are. Can’t resist the implants, I’ll bet,” he replied.
“Can’t resist any of it,” Steve countered, wrapping his arms around Tony’s shoulders. “I thought about you while I was on Earth. I didn’t think I was going to see you again, after we got off the chitauri station.”
Tony snorted. “Yeah, well, you were kind of the Alliance’s most wanted at the time.”
“I’m serious,” Steve admonished, “I thought they’d keep me grounded on Earth with trials. I thought – I don’t know what I thought about us. But it looks like we’ve been given another chance. And I’d like to take it.”
Tony turned a little away from him, but didn’t move fully out of the embrace. “You never know what’s going to happen with this war, Steve. But for what it’s worth, I think I agree with you.” He was frowning, and Steve was overcome with the need to hold Tony a little tighter, protect him a little better than in the past.
“Well, this time it’s going to take more than the Alliance to tear us apart. More than the Reapers, even,” he countered with another small smile, pulling Tony tighter and resting their heads together.
“You’re such a dork,” Tony commented under his breath, but there was no malice behind his voice. Steve dared guess that there might even be something like relief, but he wouldn’t call Tony out on it. If this was what the man needed, he would provide it without question.
“Yeah, but it’s still Commander dork to you,” Steve replied, and pressed another kiss to his temple.