New Beginnings... (for vintagecaptain)

[legacyofiron]

Murphy's Law states that if it can go wrong it will. When it rains it pours. And you know what? Murhpy was an asshole that needed to die in a fire. Just saying. Tony hated the guy even if he really wasn't all the sure that the guy was a guy or if a guy named Murphy ever existed. Did it matter? Life sucked right now. For just about everyone on the impromptu Avengers team. And being chased back to New York had to be the hardest thing in his life.

Especially when all the shit went down in DC. And he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Sitting in front of the armor he'd built most recently, he started cataloging the pieces. The piece he'd made first when Pepper started asking questions. The piece she started yelling when she realized what he was doing. And staring down at the helmet, he felt his brow furrow as he remembered her saying she needed to leave. Get far away and she'd not called since.

Lifting his head to the rest of the armor, he mused quietly that he'd not painted it yet. Turning the helmet in his hands, he pointedly ignored the hurricane of a mess that was his lab. He ignored the broken pieces all over the floor and the shattered glass... and the bottles of alcohol he'd meant to drink but he used for target practice instead. All that looked perfect was the armor.

Natasha didn't bother coming in anymore, neither did Bruce. Jarvis stopped asking him to leave the lab... and instead had people leave food in the elevator. And right now, the music was loud enough to make his ears bleed. Well.. if he were a lesser person.

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[vintagecaptain]

He had very options after taking down SHIELD. Steve knew what he was doing when he toppled the organization but it did present a few problems. The first being a lack of resources. He went from having one of the best intelligent networks in the world to Google.

The truth of the matter was he couldn't do this alone. He needed backup and as good as Sam was they both had limits that couldn't be overcome with strength and a soldier's skill set. He went back to New York because there was one team he was hoping he could count on.

Stark Tower was still ugly in his opinion but he had never really liked the modernist look. It was better than before with the repairs made he would admit that as he walked into the lobby and approached the front desk.

The woman looked skeptical at first when he asked to speak to Tony Stark and that he was Steve Rogers but she eventually got on her phone and made a call.

[legacyofiron]

In the sea of noise, Tony didn't move or even notice when Jarvis tried to tell him that he had a call. He didn't care. If it was 'important' the call wouldn't have come from the reception desk. What surprised him though, was when the room went silent. Frowning, he looked around the room ready to tell Jarvis off, but the AI beat him to it. "One Captain Steve Rogers to see you, sir. Your receptionist is ready to put him on the street."

Both brows rose at the idea of the tiny receptionist throwing out a super soldier before he let it sink in. "Rogers?" Rogers... the reason he threw it all away again. He couldn't leave the guy on his own again. People did that enough it seemed. Even if he had to go it alone, why should the guy stuck here in a time he didn't belong.

"Let me talk to her." The AI gave a 'hum' of indifference before the sheepish voice patched through. "Hi, Doreen, right?"

"Dorothy, Mr. Stark." She didn't seem too upset he forgot.

"Right, Sorry... be a dear and let the man on the elevator. Not very polite to keep the good Captain waiting." She instantly poured out her apologies and he could hear her eagerly telling someone in the lobby to please get on the elevator and it would take him to the place he needed to be. "Thanks, darlin'."

Jarvis cut the line and he let his eyes go out of focus as he moved to sit heavily on a stool. He didn't think about the mess that Dummy suddenly decided to clean up when he heard they were having guests. "Now you want to clean? Seriously?"

[vintagecaptain]

The receptionist was truly apologetic once she had permission to let him pass. Steve reassured her he understood and that she was just doing her job. He wished her a good day before he stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed without a sound.

He still missed the days when they played music.

The elevator stopped a few minutes later and a polite British voice announced him. Steve stepped out into a lab but one that was chaotic and full of what looked like half built machines, what sort of machines he couldn't tell.

"Stark, are you in here?" he asked to the mess.

[legacyofiron]

Tony might feel a little bad for letting Steve up here when it looked like this... but honestly, he couldn't fix it now. And even if he met Steve somewhere...

His head shook. Steve didn't need the run around after the briefing that Natasha gave him. A briefing she figured he only half heard. But in truth... he heard it all. Why else would he let Maria Hill into his company? She was a shark. He didn't notice the elevator arrive though. Nor Jarvis talking to him. What he did notice was that strong voice filtering through the mess that used to be a lab.

He lifted his helmet to wave at Steve. "Well well... Hey Captain Gorgeous." He rose to his feet and set the helmet down on the lab table. He felt off balance still from the lack of the reactor. It felt like there was a hole in his center... like all the vital things about him were just gone. "What do I owe the pleasure?"

[vintagecaptain]

The nicknames were still a thing. He shook his head a little as he started to cut a path through the debris to Tony. The man looked a little rough around the edges which was unexpected. He was used to the Tony Stark who looked put together and in control.

"Well, I just brought down a corrupt government agency which means I don't have a lot of friends in the world." He shrugged a shoulder, because clearly it was worth it. He had no doubts of that. It made things a little harder but hard work never bothered him before. "I was hoping the Avengers might lend me a hand."

He gave Stark a little half smile. "And can you call me Steve?"

[legacyofiron]

"I heard about that." Tony wanted to point out he warned Steve about them, but something held him back. He tilted his head a little at that, his eyes trailing back to the armor he built in response to the hell that the blonde went through. The life he threw away... but was it throwing away when he was getting back fragments of what put him back together and on the right path?

He shifted a little, somehow finding a screwdriver in his hand, he turned it in his hands. "I'm sorry... I couldn't get there." He felt like a failure just saying it. And it made him want to throw the screwdriver at the nearest thing that wasn't Steve or Dummy.

Instead, he shook with the effort to carefully set it on the lab table as he looked away from Steve. "You'll always have a home here. Sorry about down stairs.... we'll get you a pass so you won't have to talk to any of the receptionists. Or just a code. Code would be easier... you know... less having to carry things."

He was rambling... and he couldn't even look at Steve. "Yeah? Dunno Cap..." Shaking his head, he turned his head to look at Steve with his peripheral. "Anything I've got, you can have it. What do you need?"

[vintagecaptain]

"You had your own problems to deal with." Steve had seen the news reports about Stark's disappearance and possibly being dead. It had been a shock. For some reason he had thought the man invincible or at least untouchable because of the armor and because of his strong personality. "I didn't really have time to call for backup either."

He didn't blame any of the Avengers for not helping with SHIELD. Natasha had been more than enough when he was backed into a corner. Sam had helped too. If Tony was amiable he would ask about getting Sam's wings back.

"I could use the place to stay, thanks." Trying to be out in the open right now didn't feel safe. There was no telling what Bucky did or didn't remember. Steve would be safer here and closer to resources. "I need help tracking someone and possibly getting around if we find him. I need you and your computers basically. If you don't mind."

[legacyofiron]

That seemed like a lame reason. Which was why he chose not to acknowledge it. Appreciate the attempt as he might. "You were quite busy. But I can watch the news." And he had. Being in New York, only a few scant hours away and minutes in the armor... it had been a horrible wake up call for the decision he'd made. Pepper really had no sympathy for the situation. She'd been happen he had nothing to do with it.

"It won't happen again." His eyes moved to the armor and it stayed there steadily.

But the first request was surprisingly easy to fulfill. Finally turning to face Steve, he smiled just a little. "I've got you covered there. Never got a chance to show you before. You actually have your own floor here." Surprisingly, it occurred to him that it was just under his own. "Consider Stark Industries and my personal genius at your service. Who am I hunting down?"

[vintagecaptain]

"My own floor?" Steve had no idea what to do with that sort of space. His apartment in DC had been bigger than anything he had ever lived in before but a whole floor seemed a little excessive. Then again, Stark did excessive really well. He'd figure out what to do with that later.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out Bucky's file. He hadn't let it leave his side since Natasha gave it to him. He looked at it for just a moment and then handed it to Tony.

"HYDRA called him the Winter Soldier. I knew him as Bucky Barnes. I need to find him."

[legacyofiron]

"Yeah... gym with equipment made for you and some other stuff." He'd looked at every Avenger file looking for any detail they might need that they'd want in a house. And he felt a little stupid for it now. Like the art studio that Steve would likely never use. Really... sometimes... oftentimes... Tony made stupid decisions. "If you hate it, you can ask for changes."

Everyone wanted things changed. Or maybe that was his issues with Pepper Pots. He shifted to watch Steve pull the file out. Taking it quietly, he flipped it open and slowly thumbed through it. He remembered James Buchanan Barnes from his dad's files and from things he'd read as a child about Captain America.

It left him a little bereft and cold on the inside knowing that Steve Rogers best friend went Cold War assassin on him. "I'll do what I can." Which amounted to a lot with Anthony Stark. It wasn't like he was planning on leaving his lab any time soon.

Glancing at the room, he turned to Dummy. "Just because I just rebuilt you doesn't mean you can go that slow. You..." He snapped at the other robot, and waved at the room. "Help Dummy out. You know he drops things more than Butterfingers." The robots hummed at him like whining children before he went to the work station that didn't look like a complete disaster.

He stopped and stared at the computer screen. "Right... I can show you to your room first if you don't mind going with a grease monkey in the elevator?"

[vintagecaptain]

"I'm sure it's fine." He didn't need much to be happy. Whatever Tony had provided him, it was probably fine. He couldn't imagine he'd need that much space in the first place.

The robots were interesting. Steve tried not to look like he was watching them interact but he probably wasn't being very subtle. He was fascinated by a lot of modern technology. Back in his day, robots were a dream of the future and science fiction. He wondered how advanced they were and what rules they followed. Stark seemed to treat them more like children or pets than machines.

"No, I don't mind. I've smelled worse in trenches." He honestly hadn't even noticed the smell. Stark was dirty, sure but he was clearly building. You didn't build and stay clean. "But, I'd like to get to work as soon as possible. It's important to me."

[legacyofiron]

His shoulders sank imperceptibly at that. He'd pretty much decided that he couldn't impress Steve Rogers back when they first met. After all, he'd never be his father and Steve clearly preferred his old man. "Sure."

He focused on the robots, as he beckoned Butterfingers over and put the vacuum attachment on. "Keep them in line, Jarvis. I'll be back." He ran a hand affectionately along the swing arm of Dummy's frame getting a little cooing sound from the robot before he headed for the elevator.

He was still looking through the file without looking up. "Jarvis, start the satelite uplink, find any facial recognition starting from the events at the Triskelion. I want every possible sighting. We'll go through it by hand if we have to." He chose to ignore the comment about his smell and stepped into the elevator. "Rogers... I'll do everything I can. I promise."

"Rest assured, Captain Rogers... if a camera caught him, he can be found." Jarvis chimed in reassuringly before drawling at the robots. "You know if you mess with that, sir will be angry." That's about when something crashed and shattered on the floor. Tony just sighed.

[vintagecaptain]

He looked towards the voice which seemed to be coming from above him or maybe from all sides. There are no obvious speakers so he settles for the ceiling as the best bet as to where the sound is. "Thank you... Jarvis."

He glanced at Stark, "Is he a real person or a talking robot? The other ones just beep and I don't want to assume."

After Stark's little display with computers at SHIELD he trusted him when he said that the computers would be running. He certainly couldn't do it as fast and there was no storage room to break into. He had to be patient.

"You want to show me to my room? I'm curious to see what you've done with the place." So far the interior of the building met with his approval. The exterior still needed work.

[vintagecaptain]

The thing about living with Tony was Steve got to know the man and the more he learned the more he understood just how wrong he had been when they first met. He found Tony to be clever, slightly socially awkward and incredibly kind behind his sarcasm. Much of who he was in public was simply an act because that was how people expected him to be.

He got to know the real Tony Stark, who was someone Steve could like and respect. He also sort of like Tony but that was between him and himself. He accepted that part of himself but he wasn't going to make it Tony's problem if he wasn't like that.

Still, when insomnia struck he couldn't resist wandering down to the workshop because he knew where Tony would be. Jarvis opened the door for him when he arrived with his sketchbook under one arm and his markers under another. Art supplies were incredible these days. He loved them.

"Hey, Tony, mind turning the music down for me?"

[legacyofiron]

It was amazing what he could do when he set his mind to it. He managed to get a prototype set of wings in the works for trying out with Steve's friend Sam. He also managed to keep a surveillance going constantly marking any known hit on Barnes. On top of that, he'd successfully wrote an entire operating system just for Steve Rogers to learn and do art on.

The art tablet was stunning. It was light, large for artistry, extremely durable and could emulate any medium Steve wanted. Honestly, he knew he'd out done himself. He could easily make a dumb down version for mass market. But what made it more... unique... was the simple AI code that would grow with Steve. Not to the extreme of Jarvis but still a learning program. It also had access to Jarvis which no other tablet ever would that didn't belong to Tony or Pepper.

The problem was making the perfect stylus. He'd made multiple models but none seemed to give the desired effect of feeling like a brush or a pen or even a pencil. It would take multiple ones to get that feel. But Steve was simple. So Tony wanted it to be equally simple. Because even if both were simple, it simply served as a veneer for something amazing underneath.

He was working on the transforming stylus when Steve walked in. And at Steve's request to lower the music, he looked up and gesture absently to Jarvis who instantly turned it down to almost non-existent. And Tony bay be working on less than 2 hours of sleep average per 48 hour period, but he still grinned from ear to ear at Steve's appearance.

"Hey there, good looking. Come to see what amazing new things I've accomplished?" There was a mix of hope and excitement at the thought of giving Steve the new project. But the real excitement always hit like a flutter in his chest when Steve came to see him. The blonde wanted to see him. It never ceased to send a surge of happiness through him.

[vintagecaptain]

"I could be talked into seeing what you've done this time." He climbed onto his standard stool and reached out to pat the nearest bot who came to say hi. They were as enthusiastic as their creator about seeing him. It was nice to be welcome like this. He felt warmth bloom in his chest, making him honestly happy.

He propped his chin on a hand, smiling at Tony with open honesty. He's always curious to see what Tony's working on. Some of his favorite moments lately were listening to Tony talk about whatever he was doing. He didn't always understand it, not being as technically minded but he got enough to realize how smart Tony is and how passionate.

The passion drew him in, made it hard to look away from Tony when he started talking.

[legacyofiron]

Tony grinned from ear to ear as Steve gave him the go ahead. And honestly, he got slightly more excitable whenever he saw Steve pat one of the bots. It made all the feelings he tried to pretend he didn't have flutter about in his chest like his heart might try to escape.

Luckily, his excitement made him bolder. Inventing things always made him that way. Which was why, he picked up the tablet and bound across the room to hop up on the work table that Steve sat at. Pretty much right in front of the blonde so that they nearly touched with the way that Steve had been leaning on the table. "I made you something."

Lowering it between them, he urged Steve to take it. "Only you or I can turn it on. Figured I'd be the one to fix it if anything happened. But you'll be able to lock me out of things of you want." His foot softly toed Steve in the shin as he urged him to look. "I rewrote and created an operating system strictly for you. Took out the whole Stark logo and it's not either your shield or the Avengers logo." He thought that would make Steve happy. Or he hoped it would. Steve just needed to turn it on.

[vintagecaptain]

Steve straightened up to give Tony enough room to slid on to the table but he was leaning in again seconds later to see the offered piece of technology. He had been eying tablets online for awhile, thinking about trying one out but he hadn't bought one for himself.

It seemed a little ridiculous because he had a sketchbook, he really shouldn't get an electronic one. He was very tempted though. Tony made it easy to give in to temptation, especially when it was a gift and it would be rude to refuse.

"Well, where's the on button?" He turned it over in his hands, looking for the very obvious buttons that a lot of technology had these days. Then again, Tony was a little better at designing technology than most.

Once Steve figured it out he would do fine with it. He needed the time to play around with it first.

[legacyofiron]

It came almost too easy to let his legs sway softly and brush against Steve's leg lightly. A comfortable motion that spoke of trust and ability to be close to someone. Something he'd really only ever had with Pepper. Tony didn't even realize that he felt that at ease with Steve. It seemed to just happen with the visits and talking to the blonde.

Carefully righting the tablet in Steve's hands, he pointed to the center of the screen. "Just tap it twice making sure the finger print touches the screen. It reads your fingerprints and your voice. That's how it makes sure it's you. Only made it secure cause it can also access files and such for the Avengers."

Multi-useful. He knew that Steve liked the real thing as much as he was curious about the technology. "I'm still working on the stylus, but you can use your fingers till I get the stylus right. I think you'll like it when I'm done with it."

He felt like a little kid waiting for his dad's approval... and he had more hope of that approval from Steve than he ever had with Howard.

[vintagecaptain]

"Okay." He tapped the center of the screen twice and then said clearly and calmly. "Steve Rogers."

The screen came to life instantly because Tony made it and it was perfect. He took a moment to look it over, noting the features he could see and then flipped the screen towards Tony.

"Show me how it works?" he asked with another warm smile. He hoped to hear him talk so he could watch and listen and enjoy Tony being animated.

[legacyofiron]

Tony grinned as Steve turned it on. It made him happy that Steve seemed to fall into it so easily. Shifting closer as Steve asked him to help, he didn't pay attention to the nearness or that he was in Steve's space as he started to work.

Flipping through the apps, he talked in quiet and animated tones. He explained the art app in depth, showing how to switch the mediums and types of papers. He also worked through the typical things like internet, accessing his files for the Avengers. Smiling slightly, he ducked his head almost shyly.

"I talk a lot, don't I?" He slid the tablet into Steve's hands so he could try next. If his hands slipped over Steve's, he didn't do more than flush softly. "When I get the stylus done, it will help with the type of tool... like paintbrush or pencil or marker... I want it to cover it all."

Lifting his head, he caught Steve's eyes and felt blown away like he always did then their eyes met. "You know... you have gorgeous eyes." Okay... why did that come out?

[vintagecaptain]

The tablet was amazing. Steve didn't know any of them that were capable as this one. It had everything he could ever imagine and some things he didn't think of.

As soon as Tony pressed it in his hands again he started playing with it. There was so much he wanted to try and it was impossible to resist.

When he looked up and noticed Tony so close he stopped, his hand going still in the middle of the sketch.

"I, uh, well, it's not... they're just blue?" He felt himself blush as he stammered and quickly dropped his eyes again. What did he say to that? He had no idea. Even if Tony had been a dame he wouldn't have known how to respond. He got tongue tied and couldn't help it.

[legacyofiron]

Watching Steve play with the tablet made his heart flutter. He did something right. He gave something to Steve he'd enjoy and love. It made that tight warmth in his chest flutter excitedly when their eyes met.

Instead it made him curious when Steve seemed to get shy and look away. Angling his head slightly, he rested his elbows on his knees. "Just blue? You're kidding me right?"

Smiling slightly, he had to tease first. "I'd say more like sky blue or something like that. I could get into pigments if you like." Giving Steve a teasing smile, he nudged Steve's leg with his foot.

"You look at things with intensity. The eyes of a strategist that thinks things through. You care. Even when you're determined to win, you still look like you are concerned. It's hard to explain. I probably didn't make sense at all. Maybe you should just ignore my attempt to explain it."

[vintagecaptain]

If he did talk pigments Steve might have a heart attack. Tony was already making his heart flutter being so close and so complimentary.

"You don't have to flatter me," he said, unsure of what else he should say. Tony is being so sweet, so kind and flirty and Steve felt tongue tied and clumsy.

"You do so much for me already."

[legacyofiron]

"Is it really flattery when it's honesty?" He asked that sincerely as he searched Steve's face. He rarely put effort into his 'flirting'. Usually people fell for anything, but when he talked to Steve, it was aching honesty and not just flattery.

"I enjoy it." Doing things for Steve Rogers came naturally. Like maybe the rest wasn't quite so worth while when he could be doing something for the blonde. It occurred to him that maybe he was making Steve uncomfortable. And the thought made him feel off and frown. Sitting up straight, he looked at Steve seriously and a little concerned.

"Steve... does it bother you? I can back off if you want?"