Chapter 3
He couldn’t help being angry as they rode the elevator back down after saying goodnight to their hosts. Not at Jo, he knew how much she hated the disorder.
…Susan, on the other hand. Still hadn’t returned Steve’s call and had just let her come back early? Without her meds? He was planning on giving her a piece of mind about that.
“Maybe we shouldn’t do this tonight,” Jo said wearily as she followed Steve to his SUV.
He stopped for a moment and turned to her.
“Unless you wanna tell me what happened, my priority is getting your meds back.” She stared at him a moment later before hanging her head in response.
“Alright then, come on kiddo,” he said gently as he turned to walk over and get behind the wheel. She joined him a moment later, considering her options and waiting for them to start driving before voicing it.
“They saw your picture on the internet and…called you by some homophobic slurs…made fun of you. So I told them to go fuck themselves and came back early. That’s what happened, Steve.”
He continued driving in silence, soaking in her words but knowing her well enough to know she wasn’t telling the entire truth. He waited until they pulled up in front of Susan’s house to confront her about it.
“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked without looking at her.
“Just…maybe let me…” she tried to compromise.
He wasn’t having that. It wasn’t anyone else’s job to fight his battles. He didn’t let her finish as he got out of the car and walked up the sidewalk to the front door. Before he knocked, he took a look back and saw she had remained in the car, heart panging a little in his chest. He waited a few moments after knocking and tried ringing the doorbell twice. He heard movement behind the door before someone finally opened it.
It was Trevor, Susan’s husband, whom Steve never really liked from the beginning.
“What are you doing here?” he asked as Susan suddenly appeared by her husband’s side, looking just as angry as Trevor.
“We already told Josephine neither of you are welcome back,” the shrewd woman he once though decent said.
“Right, well I came here cause Jo left her medicine here and had a seizure. Thanks to you incompetent assholes.” The statement infuriated the other man, who literally puffed his chest and stepped directly in front of Steve.
The thing was, this man may have been heavier than Steve, but the blonde had more inches and muscle tone. So Steve stared down at the man until he finally took a step back, still not letting Steve in to the house.
“I’ll get it, just stay here…before your disease spreads to my kids,” she muttered as she walked away from them, Trevor looking like he wanted to punch the blonde.
“You and the dyke better stay away from my family.” Steve felt his blood boil.
“What did you call her?” he snarled out.
“I called that little lesbian bitch, a dyke. What are you going to do about it, faggot?”
Steve didn’t register he’d even swung his fist until he saw and heard the thud as the man collapsed to the ground. A frantic and hysterical Susan made her way back into view, throwing the pill bottle at his chest and sat down by her husband – shouting at him to leave.
Steve opened his mouth for an apology, but then changed his mind as she continued throwing horrible slurs their way. He turned his back to them and made his way back to the car, hand clutching around the bottle.
They drove in silence as Steve thought over what just happened. It wasn’t until they pulled in front of his apartment that he said what he’d been thinking.
“I’m so sorry you went through that, Jo. Those people…don’t listen to anything those shitheads said, okay?” he asked, smiling when she did.
“Okay…so I’m not in trouble?” she asked hesitantly.
“No, none of what happened was your fault. Except maybe not coming out to me –”
“–hey! You didn’t come out to me!” she said with mock offense. He smiled at his girl, shaking his head fondly at her truth.
“Touché,” he said, ruffling her hair to annoy her and laughing when he got the desired results. She quickly unbuckled to exit the vehicle, racing him up the steps with her bottle rattling in her hands. He took a minute outside the steps, glancing up at the clouds and thinking of his big brother.
Normally when he did this, it was filled with sorrow or guilt.
Now…he wonders if he’d be proud of the two of them. Of the amazing young woman his daughter is becoming.
Of Steve finally, finally, getting out of his fucking shell.
When he got to work the next morning, it’s like he could feel like something was wrong. The air around the station felt tense and his gut told him not to go in. He did anyway, cause it’s his freaking job and maybe it was something else.
Inside, Commander Fury was breaking up a fight between Rumlow and…Sam? He quickly made his way forward in the crowd to assist his partner.
“I said, THAT’S ENOUGH!” Fury roared, able to finally separate the two with Sam being held back by Steve.
Rumlow had a few guys behind him and presumably on his side across from Sam, Steve, Clint and Natasha.
“Rumlow, go to my office to be written up and transferred,” Fury growled.
“Commander, why the fuck am I the one –”
“–Rumlow you can either go to my office or I can fire your ass right here and now. What’s it going to be?” The man looked dumbfounded and pissed, pointing a finger at Sam before turning to follow orders.
“Wilson, you go take a fucking walk and cool off,” Sam opened his mouth to protest but Fury was quick to reiterate. “Say one fucking word and I’ll suspend you without pay for the day.”
Steve could see Sam literally swallow his frustration before turning to the exit to also follow orders.
“Rogers,” Fury said a little more calmly. Steve turned to him, confused but fairly aware of what went down. “After I’m done with Rumlow, I’d like to speak with you in my office.” The blonde nodded in response, face burning a little with the humiliation of the situation. He had seen the coffee table at this point, a tabloid with a more recent picture of the two – making it hard to deny it was anyone but Steve Rogers dating Tony Stark.
He was left with Nat and Clint, as the other medics had left, who looked almost as pissed as Sam had seemed. He wondered how much time he had before Fury possibly fired him to find out exactly what happened, when of course their radios went off and they had to leave for a call.
So there Steve sat, alone with his thoughts and speculation.
It was only about seven minutes in all before he heard Fury calling his name, though it felt like an hour. He half-wondered why he hadn’t come across Rumlow as he made his way to Fury’s office. He closed the door behind him as he moved to sit down, doing his best not to clench the armrests.
“Rogers, any idea why I called you in here today?”
“I could make a few guesses, sir,” he said hesitantly. Fury leaned back against his chair, face unreadable as he sighed heavily.
“There was an altercation earlier in regards to your personal life. Let me say right now for the record, I don’t give two shits what you do outside of work as long as it doesn’t negatively reflect our city.” Steve cast his eyes downward, waiting for the other to shoe to drop.
“Rogers,” Fury said quietly, waiting for Steve to look at him before continuing. “You’re one of the best medics out there, being gay doesn’t change that nor does it deserve any judgment from your coworkers. Although off the record, I am judging you for your choice in partners,” he finished with a smile, getting a laugh from the blonde.
“So you didn’t bring me in here to fire me?”
“Hell no, you didn’t do anything wrong. Except, again, choosing Stark…”
“I’m taking it you haven’t had the best run-ins with him, sir?”
“His drunk ass threw up on me,” Fury said straight-faced, and it took everything in Steve’s power to not smile at that.
“Yeah, that’s fair…” Steve trailed off fondly.
“I confess there’s another reason I brought you in here, Rogers.” Steve’s head shot up again at that, gulping before steeling himself for the answer.
“Captain Coulson is retiring in the fall which would give you enough time to take the necessary exams to replace him, if you’re interested.” Steve stared at him dumbfounded, thinking he was coming in here to get fired and Fury was offering him a promotion.
“You’d be a great Captain, Rogers. Think it over, okay?” Fury asked with a smile.
“I will, thank you Commander.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Rogers. If your boyfriend gets anywhere near me I might reconsider my recommendation,” he said with a straight face. Steve’s smile dropped, thinking he was probably being serious. “Right now though, I need you to go find your partner and make sure he’s okay to finish his shift. Send him to me if he isn’t and we’ll find you a replacement partner for the day. Dismissed.”
He nodded before leaving the Commander’s office, going to find Sam. He was on the couch, looking like he was waiting for Steve.
“Hey man,” Steve said as he made his way over to sit next to his friend.
“Hey Steve, was Fury mad?”
“Not at us, but he also didn’t tell me what Rumlow said to piss you off so much.”
“Don’t worry about it, man.” Steve sighed heavily.
“I do worry about it, you shouldn’t have to defend me –”
“–oh I’m sorry are you the pot or the kettle in this scenario?” Sam asked with a brow raised. Steve looked at him confused as the man rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Steve? Like I would ever not defend you?”
“But you shouldn’t have to, that’s my point –”
“–Steve please just shut the fuck up.” Sam said with his eyes closed, Steve looking offended back at him. Sam finally opened one eye, checking to see Steve did what he asked before speaking more – this time in a much kinder tone.
“You remember that patient we had during our second week together? That gross old man that called me a “dirty n*****” and spit on me?” Steve frowned but nodded at the memory. “You defended me and put that ignorant shithead in a legal restraint that broke his thumb…you remember that?”
Steve smiled and couldn’t help chuckle a little at the memory, remembering Sam had bought him coffee after that.
“You’re right,” Sam continued more seriously, “in a perfect world we wouldn’t need to defend each other over shit we don’t have control over. But we don’t live in that world. We live in a world that hates difference. So if anyone, anyone, wants to mock you over who you love, I will happily defend you. Just like you have against racist assholes for me.”
Steve felt his eyes get misty, soaking in his friend’s words and letting them wash over him.
“Thanks Sam,” he said, not caring that his voice choked a little.
“Anytime Steve,” Sam said confidently back. They looked at each a moment longer, smiles on their faces before Steve made a proposition.
“Can I buy you a coffee?” Sam over dramatically brought his hands to his chest.
“I thought you’d never ask!” immediately laughing after, giving Steve an excellent reason to shove his shoulder in reprimand and jest. Sam got off the couch first, offering Steve a hand as the blonde gratefully accepted.
They went to the same coffee shop he and Tony had went to, sharing stories and enjoying their coffee before the inevitable first call of the day.
Five weeks into their relationship and Steve couldn’t even describe the kind of happiness he felt whenever he saw, talked to, or even thought about Tony. He was the one who finally convinced him to try out for Captain, helping him study as Peter provided background music. His Uncle Rhodey apparently sent him a toy guitar that he was in fact rocking while Tony promised swift revenge on his longtime friend.
He took a break from studying to provide applause for the toddler’s performance, encouraging him to take a bow in hopes that there wouldn’t be an encore.
“You know who would love that performance Petey-pie? Joey! Why don’t you go play her some songs so Steve can study?” Tony encouraged with a smile as Steve wondered if the toddler would fall for it.
He did, immediately, squealing in delight and racing off to the game room – guitar in tow.
“Rhodey deserves a plague of locusts on his house for this. I’m serious,” he continued when Steve started laughing, “I should send a mariachi band to follow him for a month, I’m seriously considering murdering my best friend.”
They heard tiny feet pad their way back as they turned to a confused looking toddler.
“Daddy, she isn’t in da game room. Or da movie room…”
“She may be in the potty, buddy,” Tony offered, “or she went to the kitchen for a snack.”
“Okay, I’ll check,” Peter said, leaving his guitar on the ground as he ran off.
“Now’s my chance,” Tony said getting off the couch, confusing Steve.
“Chance for what?” Steve said as Tony went to pick up the guitar, standing on his tippy toes to put it on top of the bookshelf. “Tony,” Steve began to chastise, immediately stopping when the brunette sent a death glare his way.
“He’s three,” Tony hissed as he plopped himself back on the couch next to Steve, “let’s hope his attention span is short enough to forget it.” Steve laughed loudly at the man, shaking his head fondly at the attempt.
Steve had plenty of experience with toddlers. Well, one toddler.
Bucky would call Steve multiple times a week when Joey was a baby, begging his little brother for help in taking care of the tornado that was that sweet girl. Their mom – who they lost when Joey was only 4 – worked as a nurse. She helped when she could…but ultimately Steve was the go-to Joey wrangler. When she was a toddler, ‘terrible twos’ did not do her justice. ‘Tyrannical twos’ was more like it. And god help the poor soul who tried taking a toy from the child when she really wanted to play with it. She was a monster. An incredibly adorable and mostly sweet monster, but still a monster. Or tiny terrorist, as Steve used to refer to her – only ever getting a glare from Buck.
Steve’s mind is brought back to the present when they heard an exasperated toddler join them once again.
“Daddy she isn’t anywhere! I checked da kitchen, da bafrooms, I even checked MY room!” he exclaimed, fatigue affecting his enunciation. Poor kid sounded exhausted physically from running but also emotionally with worthy. Tony immediately picked up on this, beckoning the boy over to him as he tried to reassure the 3 year old.
“It’s a big mansion buddy,” he said as he pulled the boy onto his lap, arms wrapping around his tiny figure. “She’s probably exploring the other floors, okay? If you want we can ask Jarvis to ask her to come see us over the intercom? Would that make you feel better?” Peter nodded before burying his face in Tony’s shirt, the brunette kissing the top of the toddler’s head in reassurance.
“Jarvis, can you tell Joey to come to the living room please?” Tony asked the ceiling – making Steve wonder if he’d ever get fully used to the AI technology.
Sure enough, the British voice spoke over the loudspeakers in every room of the mansion, asking Joey to join them in the living room. They sat there for several minutes as both Tony and Steve’s confidence began to waver.
“Maybe she’s in the shower?” Tony offered as Peter stayed cuddled on his lap. Steve frowned before answering.
“She could’ve told Jarvis to let us know that…” Tony bit his bottom lip at that, not wanting to worry the toddler but becoming increasingly concerned of the situation.
“Jarvis do a full scan of the mansion.”
A moment later the AI spoke, “I do not detect Miss Josephine in the mansion or on the surrounding perimeter.”
“Fff-udge,” Steve gritted out, glad he caught himself with a toddler looking up at him in confusion.
“Where’d Joey go?” the boy asked Steve directly, as if he knew.
“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out,” Steve said as he stood up off the couch.
“Jarvis, review the security tapes, when did she leave?” Tony asked as he cradled a now terrified and crying boy in his arms, standing up to help.
“My apologies sir, it appears she left approximately 70 minutes ago.”
“Don’t fret Steve,” Tony said as he used one hand to pat his shoulder in comfort. “Can you call her? See where she went?” Steve felt his eyes close in anger.
“No, I took her phone away yesterday.”
“Okay,” the brunette said with less confidence. “How about you circle the block while I put someone d-o-w-n for a n-a-p,” he said, spelling out the words. It didn’t work.
“No nap, Daddy! We hafta find Joey!” the boy said, cries intensifying.
“No buddy, you need to nap, Steve will go find Joey.”
“Noooooo,” the boy cried, clutching tighter to his father. Steve noticed Tony smile and shake his head fondly.
“You know, you say this everyday and yet everyday you take a nap and feel so much better after,” he pointed out as he kissed the pouting boy on his cheek.
“She’ll be back by the time you wake up, Peter,” Steve assured the sleepy looking boy.
“You pwomise, Steeb?” he asked. Steve took the opportunity to run his hands through the thick brown locks, smiling as the boy seemed calmer after doing so.
“I promise, Peter.”
“Okay Steeb,” he said, rubbing his eyes adorably and laying his head on his dad’s shoulder. He looked up at Tony, who had a shocked and genuinely offended expression on his face.
“Did you just get him to agree to a nap? God, I love y–” he stopped suddenly, paralyzed with fear as Steve simply smiled back at the man. He leaned down to kiss him, whispering the words back.
“I love you too,” he assured the panic-stricken man, kissing him again and relishing the smile pressed against his lips. He pulled away to look down at Peter, sure he’d have his two cents to add, only to find his eyes closed.
“How long do I have?” Steve whispered to Tony, who looked almost drunk with happiness as he tried to answer him.
“Two hours, give or take,” he mumbled as his eye sight rested on Steve’s lips. The blonde simply smiled back at him, licking his lips in return as the brunette shook his head to bring himself back to the present.
“Hour and a half to be safe,” he said more clearly, smiling brightly at Steve. He returned the smile, gently patting Peter’s head before leaving to find her.
And praying for patience along the way.
It took him an hour to find her, incredibly pissed to find her in a nearby back alley – drinking with some other teens.
“Josephine!” he barked, glad to see the three other teens tremble and scatter. Upset to see his niece just looked annoyed at his presence.
“Steven,” she said dripping with sass, obviously buzzed as she defiantly downed the rest of her drink.
“Get your ass over here and explain to me why you snuck out to get an MIP,” he growled, feeling as though he was beginning to shake with rage.
“I didn’t sneak out, I left a note,” she said accusingly, as if Steve was being the irrational one.
“You left a note,” Steve repeated back.
“Yeah, I said I went to hang out with friends and I’d be back by dinner, jeez why are you freaking out so much?” she said stumbling along up to him, yelping when he grabbed her arm to ‘help’ walk her back.
“And why couldn’t you come tell me, huh?” he asked as he practically dragged her back to the mansion, ignoring her ludicrous question.
“Cause you woulda said no! And then you woulda made me be audience to what can only be described as ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’’’ she grumbled out, finally breaking her arm away when they arrived at the elevators.
“You don’t know that,” he said, totally lying. She scoffed loudly, not believing him for a second as she rubbed her arm pointedly. They got into the doors and Steve felt his anger dangerously close to brimming over.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t have let you drink alcohol in a back alley because you’re sixteen fucking years old!” he yelled as she hung her head in defeat. He made himself take a breath, calming down to continue.
“Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to hop in the shower while I brew you some coffee. Then, when Peter wakes up from his nap, you’re going to apologize to the three year old that cried himself to sleep worried about you. And then, you and I are going home so you can write me a three page essay on the dangers of underage drinking, okay?” he asked, not expecting an answer but did see her nod out of the corner of his eye.
Tony was waiting for them in the living room, looking relieved as he saw Joey trailing behind him. He immediately frowned at the sight of her, sitting up straighter.
“You okay, Joey? Anything I can do to help?”
“Could you help me make some coffee?” Steve asked before she could answer, ignoring the frown Tony gave him. The brunette relented, standing up to walk to the kitchen. Steve followed behind, happy to explain once he made sure she went to do as he’d told her to.
“What happened to her?” Tony asked as he grabbed the coffee maker and roast.
“What happened to her?” he asked incredulously. “She snuck out and drank alcohol in a back alley with some hoodlums!”
“Hoodlums, Steve? Really?” Tony asked unimpressed as he pulled three cups down as the device brewed.
“Ruffians? Thugs? Whatever you call them…”
“I’ll have you know I was a ruffian myself at her age. Actually, I was twice as bad as her, a few drinks in the daytime really isn’t that bad.”
“She could’ve gotten an MIP, not to mention what alcohol does to the brain during adolescence –”
“–okay, I get it. Sorry, I’m not…I’m not trying to overstep. Just saying in the grand scheme of things…”
“I get what you’re saying Tony, but I’m not okay with her drinking. Regardless of the circumstances.” The brunette gave him a disappointed look, but ultimately nodded in response as they heard footsteps approaching. Joey made her way into the kitchen, hair damp from the shower as she accepted the cup Tony handed her, all the while avoiding looking at Steve. She moved to sit at the table and sipped her drink, sending a smile Tony’s way for adding creamer, as they heard more footsteps approach.
Peter padded in to the kitchen with hair sticking up in all places, looking around the room until he saw the person he was looking for.
“Joey!” he said excitedly as he ran over to the teen, who stumbled a little as the toddler climbed onto her lap. She gently pushed the cup away as she got her bearings, wrapping her arms around the boy in comfort.
“I’m sorry I scared you Pete, I just went for a walk. I left a note but I think I left it too high for you to see it,” she explained gracefully, rocking the happy toddler in her arms.
“See Pete? Everything’s fine,” Tony said as he made his way to join them at the kitchen table. Steve remained standing, sipping on his own coffee that Tony pointedly left him to pour himself, staring at the small group and doing his best to calm his anger.
Both Tony and Jo knew how Steve felt about alcohol. Not only was his brother killed by a drunk driver, but both he and Buck had witnessed firsthand what alcoholism looks like. Bucky’s dad was a drunk, and a vicious and abusive one at that. He was technically his half-brother, as Steve’s dad died not long after Steve was born, both sharing the same amazing mom. But they also both got knocked around plenty enough to stay away from it. Or at least Steve did, remembering the few times he’d seen Bucky drink.
Now he stood, taking deep breaths as he willed himself to try not to be so furious with her.
She’s still a kid, he reminded himself.
The ride home was silent as neither opted to turn on the radio, Steve clutching the wheel as he found himself thinking about his brother again.
“You know, you used to be fun,” Joey muttered, though loud enough for Steve to hear.
“You’re right, underage drinking doesn’t exactly bring out the fun in me.”
“I meant before dad died,” she said, causing Steve to glance at her. “You used to be fun.”
Steve turned back around before replying, “yeah? Well back then I got to be your fun uncle. Since your dad…since then I’ve had to be the responsible guardian.”
“Dad was fun,” she countered.
“And you think your dad would’ve let today slide?” he asked. She shrunk in on herself, looking a lot younger than sixteen, eventually shaking her head ‘no’ in response. They sat in silence until Steve pulled up to their home.
“Tony’s fun,” she countered again, this time getting a smile from the blonde.
“Yeah, I’ll give you that. Now come on, you owe me an essay,” he said, smiling as she groaned loudly and followed him out of the car and up the sidewalk.
“Is it at least double-spaced?” she asked as she trudged her way up the steps where Steve was waiting for her.
“I suppose,” he groaned dramatically, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. He kissed the top of her head for good measure, laughing as she over-dramatically voiced her embarrassment.