Avengers Assemble

[captain_asthmatic]

Not only had Tony taken him out of his cell and out of the building where he'd been trained for his new role as a HYDRA asset, but after the successful completion of his mission, he hadn't even been brought back to his cell.

The blood was dry on his face and uniform and the ice cream was just starting to get drippy by the time Tony piloted his personal quinjet onto the landing pad at the top of Avengers tower. Steve had seen the building going up, but before its completion, he had been captured.

"We...am I staying here?" he asked in awe, stepping out onto the landing pad and looking around the modern-looking building. He lifted the cone in his hand and licked a drip off before it actually could touch his fingers.

Comments

[shwarm_after]

It was a mission accomplished. Everything was squared away, the right people were dead, and the good guys had won again.

Steve was a quick and efficient killer, ready to do pretty much anything Tony (and HYDRA wanted). Besides, it was gonna benefit the world, anyways? Cap would want to be a part of that regardless of whatever HYDRA did to him before hand. He was just now playing for the right team.

"Yeah, sure." Tony had put on the "I've got enough rooms and not enough roommates." He got up as the quintjet finally landed and the doors opened. "Plus, living alone with Rumlow's a pain." The biggest pain in the ass. Just because Tony was technically a new recruit, the organization decided he needed a babysitter. So of course they sent in the world's biggest jackass. Hopefully with Steve staying with them, Rumlow would finally stop riding Tony's dick about stupid shit that didn't matter. You know, like order, and protocol, and other bureaucratic bullshit.

[captain_asthmatic]

"It's you and Rumlow?" Steve asked incredulously. "Is he an Avenger now?" That was fine, just surprising.

He hesitated as he got a good look at the glass and white decor all around. "Maybe I'll just stand. I need a shower."

[shwarm_after]

"Jury's still out on that one. He's just assigned here until the big guys stop being paranoid." At least that's what Tony figured. He hadn't had time to access the files (with or without permission) since he started working on Rogers' little reconditioning project.

Tony took a moment to look over Steve. He was efficient but he needed to work on being cleaner about everything. Yeesh. "Bathroom's down the hall, Cap. But wait a sec. I think big brother wants an mission report before you do that."

[captain_asthmatic]

Steve nodded thoughtfully. He didn't know how long Tony had been a member of HYDRA - or rather, how short a time. All he really knew was that Tony was senior to him, and he hadn't asked just how Tony had come to join up. So he had to assume the 'big guys' were paranoid about Steve, which was understandable.

"Yes, sir," he said, and took another lick of his ice cream, content to wait. "It's just that I don't want to get blood all over your nice stuff," he added wryly. He hadn't meant to get so messy, it was only that he'd basically panicked when the moment had come, and slashed her throat before she could scream.

As he spoke, the face of the woman he'd killed flashed in front of his eyes, bringing up feelings of horror and sadness at what he'd done that he tried to push aside. It was a terrible thing, but obviously he'd had no choice. Her death was necessary for the good of all - Tony wouldn't have asked him to kill her if it weren't true.

Nevertheless, it felt bad, and he looked down at the floor as he waited.

[shwarm_after]

"That's what I have Dum-E for. Sit down, make yourself at home. Eat your ice cream before it melts." Tony said absently as he pulled up one of the holographic monitors and started entering the data from his phone. Rogers had done exactly as he was told and the data didn't show that anything was wrong, except for a strange influx of data that showed up after the mission and... now?

Tony looked from the monitor to Steve standing in the middle of the room looking like someone just drowned a litter of puppies.

Oh shit. Tony frowned and closed the monitor with a flick of his wrist.

"You feeling alright, Steve?"

[captain_asthmatic]

Steve hesitated, but obediently crossed the room towards Tony and settled himself on the sofa, not immediately beside him, but not far, either. Perhaps having a friend nearby was reassuring that he was doing the right thing.

"I'm fine," he said automatically, because that was what he always said. He brightened deliberately and applied himself to his ice cream, trying to do so without looking too closely at the stains of blood on his hands. "We did something good today, huh?"