Chapter 32
Finding out from his lawyers that Stark had videotapes of all the times they had spoken while in the tower had made Steve feel violated. When he’d spoken up, tried to tell that judge that he’d never agreed to that, it turned out that Stark had hidden it in the paperwork Steve had signed before he moved into the tower. Entire paragraphs detailing the security arrangements of the tower. The only place with no surveillance was in their private apartments, and Stark had never been in there. Steve never would have agreed to that if he’d known!
Now those tapes were being used against Steve. He’d tried to argue that he’d been justifiably upset at being cheated on. But then Stark had made all those interactions available to Steve’s lawyers. His lawyers had hoped that Stark had kept something back, tried to hide their real dates, but every day Steve had listed for them had been included in the index. Pointing to all the times they’d sat and watched movies or listened to music together. His own lawyers had pointed out that Stark almost always had work in front of him and that all he did was answer questions. They never touched or kissed or talked about anything personal. Steve was so frustrated; his own lawyers didn’t believe him. They hadn’t been there, and the angle didn’t show the private smiles and intent gaze Stark had always shown him. He’d talked to Miss Hill about getting new lawyers, lawyers that would believe him, would do a better job. But in the end the videos wouldn’t change; nobody who hadn’t been there would see.
Steve couldn’t explain to them that he didn’t really care about Stark’s personal life. He was Stark; when he wasn’t being useful as Iron Man there wasn’t really much to make someone want to get to know him. There just wasn’t anything beyond the surface with Stark. If that surface hadn’t been so useful and nice to look at, Steve never would have started anything with him. And Steve certainly wasn’t going to tell Stark about what he thought was important. Stark didn’t need to know anything about Bucky; Stark would never understand.
Now that this had happened Steve wished he had listened to his instincts. He’d always known Stark was trouble.