Guess Who’s Back? Back Again!
Tony was pissed. Absolutely, royally pissed.
He had started his day with a 6 am meeting with Ross, a man he hated more than the English language could explain. Especially in this meeting, when he used Tony’s file against him. Tony had been going to meetings every once in a while to confirm with Ross that he wasn’t going to suddenly become a villain just because he has bipolar depression and wasn’t donning the Iron Man suit as much anymore. Seriously, Ross had to start researching things before he talks about them.
.As they had been talking, Ross had said something about Howard. There was simply no reason for it, he had just said it. Told Tony, straight to his face, that he was worth nothing compared to his father. Tony quipped back about the awful state the government was in. Ross brought up the file.
“This may just be the reason for your report. Tony Stark: Not Recommended.”
That was a low blow. Not only had that file marked the new wave of Tony’s trust issues, it had ruined a friendship. Now, whenever around Natasha, he felt strange. As if she didn’t see him as an Avenger. It pained him to know that someone he trusted, someone he confided in, could not only think those things, but believe them enough to put them on his permanent record.
While in the meeting Tony’s mind kept drifting to how he wanted to, ideally, spend his day hanging out with Rhodey or Pepper if she was able to take a break. There was no way she would’ve been. He felt bad having left Stark Industries completely in her power, himself only managing the R&D department, but in his defense he had been dying at the time. Slowly and mostly painlessly. Would’ve been an alright way to go. Killed by the only thing keeping him alive. He was released from his thoughts when he heard Ross say that he was dismissed. Immediately, Tony smiled, stood, shook his hand, and practically ran out of the building.
Even walking through the streets was different after the Avengers version of Civil War, as the New York Times called it. Some citizens were proudly walking up to him, taking their picture with him, asking him what it was like to rise above the Captain America. And others shot him dirty looks, threw garbage at him, and yelled names. It wasn’t hard to separate team Iron Man pedestrians from team Cap ones. Not to Tony, at least. They always made their side clear. If only they knew the whole story.
As he entered Stark Tower the feeling that he had forgotten something important today was eating at him. From the moment he woke up and saw that the day was circled, he felt that he should know what was going on, but no matter what he thought about, it didn’t seem to be the right thing. It’s not Peppers birthday, it isn’t Rhodey’s birthday, it isn’t his birthday, it isn’t an anniversary because he isn’t dating anyone right now. It isn’t even close to December, so that isn’t it. No major holiday coming up. It was a random October day, still three weeks away from Halloween. So what the hell was he forgetting?
When he arrived at the penthouse, he had somewhat expected somebody to be there waiting. Clearly if he had circled it, the date was probably important to people other than him. No one seemed to be in the living quarters, according to FRIDAY. Whom he then muted. It was relaxing, if Tony didn’t think about the why portion of the quarters being empty. And he never did. Never allowed himself the luxury to think of his friends. Everytime their names popped into his head, he pushed them right back out without even dwelling on the thought.
As Tony poured himself his fifth cup of coffee that day, he frowned. There was no one telling him to stop drinking so much caffeine. No one to offer him their creamer. Which he never did. And it didn’t matter to him anyway, he hated those little annoyances, they just pointed out things that were wrong with something he loved. He wouldn’t think of them, wouldn’t let his mind name them.
“FRI, sweetie, any calls?”
FRIDAY announced that there was a voicemail from Miss Pepper Potts herself. Tony happily told her to play it, relaxing into the sofa, staring out the window as her tight, worried voice filled the room.
“Hey, Tony. Listen, I know today isn’t the best day for you, what with the Rogues coming back to the tower-”
Oh hell to the no.
Immediately, the pressure on his chest that he had gotten rid of after leaving Ross in the dust came back. That’s what he had forgotten. Steve, Wanda, Natasha, Clint, Scott, Bucky, and Sam were all moving in today. He didn’t know how he’d forgotten. He’d spent the last month and a half designing different rooms to fit their personalities, trying to make them feel as little like prisoners as possible. Though they were all on probation and house arrest. They were barely even able to walk outside. Farthest they were allowed to go was across the street without supervision. Tony didn’t exactly think that was fair, but it was the best he could do for them, Ross only agreed to letting them across the street because Tony wouldn’t shut up or stop trying to bribe him.
“But I wanted to remind you that there is a meeting with ViaStone today. You don’t have to go if you don’t feel up to it. It’s at 6, so think about it and get back to me.”
And then there was silence. Broken only by Tony’s heavy breathing that he rushedly tried to calm. ViaStone was a company that Tony had grown up going to events for. Howard was always trying to get in business with the billionaire that ran it. No way that old man was still alive, he had been older than Howard. Much like Tony, Tiberius must be in charge of that company now. Once he could find his voice, Tony told FRIDAY to call Pepper back.
“Hey Pep.”
“Tony, hi!”
“So, that ViaStone meeting-”
“You don’t have to-”
“Tiberius is in charge, right?”
“Right. Tiberius Stone.”
“I’ll do it.”
The Rogues, all 7 of them, were dropped off in what looked like a high-tech prisoner transporter. With Rhodey at the front of one, in the passenger seat. Tony scoffed as he sat on the steps of the tower. He’d been waiting for around 30 minutes, took 23 selfies, signed 18 autographs, and got 4 crumpled papers thrown at him.
“Rhodey, really? They aren’t crim-” Tony paused, technically the Rogues were war criminals. “They won’t hurt anyone.” He said instead, figuring that was the safest way to say what he wanted to.
“Not my fault, Ross’ policy. He wanted the citizens to be safe.” Even Rhodey, despite having reason to want the Rogues locked up, sounded annoyed that Ross put them in there.
A police officer went to go unlock the door to let them out, but paused. She looked over at Tony, quietly raising an eyebrow. The look on her face seemed to say ‘Last chance.’ Tony gave her his media smile, nodding quickly, wanting nothing more than to get this over with. She still hesitated, looking to Rhodey for final confirmation. After his nod, she turned the key in the lock and swung the door open. Rhodey’s hand laid on Tony’s shoulder, squeezing it quickly.
Steve was the first to exit and Tony realized, with a sigh of relief, that his hands were not shackled together. He wanted this transition from being on the run to moving in to be as seamless as possible. It wouldn’t be easy, especially now that they’ve fought, and bled on different sides.
The two men locked eyes. Steve looked good still, his hair darker than the last time Tony saw him, a scruffy beard on his face as well. But he didn’t seem tired, a little aggravated by Ross’ choice of transportation but that was a given. He gave Tony a tight smile, turning to the open doors and motioning for the rest of the Rogues to come out.
Natasha jumped out, taking her place beside Steve. She sent Tony a nod and a silent ‘I’ll talk to you later’. To which Tony nodded. Clint followed her out, smiling softly at Tony when he saw him. Wanda stood behind Steve, moving from the car so fast Tony nearly missed her. Scott and Sam left together, talking to each other in amazement as they stared up at the higher floors of the building.
Bucky exited last. He was the one Tony was most terrified to face once more. The last time they had seen each other, Tony had ripped his arm off. He hadn’t meant to but, burdened by white-hot rage, he did. Bucky seemed to have a simple replacement, steel as the Wakandians held their vibranium dear, not anything as advanced as the one currently waiting in his room, an apology letter taped to it.
“Okay, everyone, how’s about you follow me and I’ll show you the rooms that you’ll be staying in?” Tony flashed a smile that would have the media thinking his depression was cured. Once turned, knowing the Rogues couldn’t see his face, he sighed, swallowed, and began to walk towards the tower.
Heavy, pounding footsteps echoed through the empty lobby of Avengers- Stark? - Avengers Tower. Tony had told his workers and interns to take this day off weeks ago, so that he could deal with the Rogues on his own. No one spoke, because no one wanted to, as they all crammed into the private elevator that only Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, and Peter could get access to.
FRIDAY’s voice sounded overhead:
“Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Avengers tower. Boss, what level would you like to go to first?”
“Cap, Bucky, and Sam’s.” Steve winced at the harsh tone that dripped over his name. He hadn’t even called Bucky “Barnes” as he normally did. Wanda raised an eyebrow, glaring into the back of Tony’s head as FRIDAY replied by starting the elevator.
“You separated us?” Her voice cut through the silence like a knife. Tony swallowed, turning his head over his shoulder.
“Not enough rooms for people. I figured you’d want to be with Vision, Cap and Bucky wouldn’t want to leave each other's side, neither would Sam, Natashalie is good, old friends with Clint, and since they are very similar, I figured putting them together would work out. Scott, I don’t really know you, so I’m sorry but you’re gonna be with Wanda and Vis.” Tony explained, “But there will be a common area for all of you to see each other. That will have an even larger kitchen than the living quarters will have, with a living room complete with a couch and a TV. Also a bathroom so you don’t have to use the elevator to go.”
Wanda huffed, now staring at the metallic wall next to her. None of the other Rogues paid her any mind. They weren’t angry about the separation, they’d all gone their separate ways after the Accords anyway. At least Tony had given some thought to their pairings.
The elevator doors opened up to a simple, but elegant looking living space. A small kitchen in the corner, and three doors right next to each other. Tony turned around, and saw that everyone was looking expectantly at him. He had thought that the three men would just leave the elevator, look into their rooms, and Tony could move on. Clearly not. In almost the same order of them exiting the car, all nine Avengers left the elevator, intrigued by the simplicity of the decorations.
“Left, Steve, middle, Bucky, right, Sam.” Tony pointed, assuming that they would immediately each disappear into their rooms and not bother him for the rest of the day. When none of them did, he opened the door to Steve’s room.
It was as if they’d stepped into the 40s, the posters, the radio, the bed, the colors. Movie posters of Citizen Kane, My Man Godfrey, and other popular movies were pinned to the wall. The radio looked exactly like the one so many families crowded around to hear the Dodgers/Yankee game. The colors matched the ones that nearly all of the kids had in their rooms. A few pictures of the Howling Commandos were on the desk, framed all pretty next to two blank sketchbooks. One of Steve, Howard and Peggy too. Steve felt at home here, at peace. It looked almost exactly like his old room in his childhood home. Tony said something to him about being able to listen to any game he wanted on the radio, but Steve wasn’t listening. He was breathing in the scent of thread and hope that he had always felt whenever he was in his room.
“Thank you, Tony.” He whispered, leaning closer to the shorter man. Tony shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal. As if this is completely normal to do for someone who tried to kill you. They then moved on to Bucky’s room, right next door.
This room looked similar to Steve’s but the colors were different, more sophisticated. The photos were mostly of him and Steve, from their childhood. Idly, Bucky wondered how Tony had gotten his hands on those. And how they looked so perfect, as if they were taken yesterday. A stack of books laid on the desk, The Hobbit, and all of the Lord of the Rings books as well. Along with some Harry Potter. Just in case he liked those.
One thing caught Bucky’s eye quicker than anything else. A plain black box, with a letter on top of it. While everyone looked around the room, pointing out different things, Bucky sat on the bed, gently opening the envelope. Tony stood in the doorway, not wanting to intrude while Rhodey stood next to him, leaning on him for support. Bucky read the letter, tears nearly falling from his eyes. Which he effectively stopped as he furiously wiped them away with his flesh hand.
As he got to the end of the letter, his face lit up. He looked up at Tony as if to say Really? When Tony nodded, Bucky reached for the box, yanking it open. Everyone stared at him, thinking that he was going insane. Inside the box sat a beautiful, shiny, vibranium arm.
“I didn’t know if Wakanda would give you one.” Tony mumbled, now shrinking under the gaze of everyone in the room. “I know they don’t like to give up their vibranium.”
Bucky ripped the prosthetic off, frowning as he tried to figure out how to put the new one on. Tony rushed over, hesitantly placing a hand on the arm.
“I can help, if you want.” Bucky nodded, and if anyone saw a tear or heard a sniff, no the fuck they didn’t. Tony gently positioned the arm to align with Bucky’s shoulder, at Bucky’s second nod, he pressed it into the flesh. A groan was ripped out of Bucky’s throat but soon he was silenced by the odd feeling rushing through his veins. Tony tapped a finger to the palm of the hand, and Bucky’s eyes widened.
Steve and Sam advanced, thinking that Tony had done something to the arm to hurt Bucky. However, Natasha held them back. She saw the glazed look in Bucky’s eyes, the smile spreading across his face.
“I can feel.”