imafuturist | Apartment Above Stark Industries, Saturday Morning (Reply)

	So, it had been a little jarring to wake up in a different lab this morning. But also a little nostalgic. So, there was that. He made his way up to the kitchen, checking messages along the way in case any of the kids had gotten into trouble in the short time he'd been gone. And only once coffee was started did he take time to marvel a bit over how untouched the place looked.
	Steve had voluntarily dropped off the radar years ago, dumping the shield in Siberia and ducking out of sight after the Sokovia Accords. To find himself back in his old bedroom was a bit of a shock. More than a bit of a shock. He pulled on a t-shirt (a very tight t-shirt, what had he been thinking?), a pair of extremely dated jeans and cautiously made his way out of the room.
	Tony snapped out of his weird little fit of nostalgia, frowning a little. He lived with a team again, one that was painfully young and stupid on occasion. Sue him for being on edge. "If that's any New Avengers, we're having a long talk about boundaries before you get sent home."
	And there was a voice he hadn't heard in person for a long--painfully long, if he was being honest--time. "Stark?" he replied softly.
	"Steve?" Tony asked blinking away surprise. "Wow. Did not peg that one for a likely scenario." The latter being said mostly to himself despite stupid enhanced ears.
	Steve blew out a small breath. "Yeah, me either," he said, coming around the corner.
	"Well, the prodigal son," Tony said, recovering quickly with a smile. "And you still look young. Of course you do." Tony had gone silver at the temples and beard, but Extremis was letting him age gracefully beyond that.
	"Yeah," Steve said, carding his fingers through his hair. "Maybe someday. You look good."
	"Yep." Well, this was the most awkward morning he'd had in a long time. "Coffee?" That was a nice neutral non-Why-The-Actual-Fuck-Did-You-Drop-Off-The-Radar topic.
	"Coffee would be great," Steve said. There was an awkward pause. "This is awkward." That did not make it less awkward.
	"Understatement," Tony assured him kindly. He kept his expression amused over the cup of coffee he had in his hands rather than escalate the situation. Aww, it only took half raising a bunch of teens for him to be a functional adult. "You not expecting to come?"
	"Relive my glory days of having two Tonys in almost daily contact with me?" Steve snorted. "No. No, I didn't want to come."
	"Ouch," Tony said lightly. "Everyone knows I'm the superior Stark across the universes." Ah, deflection. His old friend.
	"I always liked you best," Steve said with a slight smile.
	Tony hummed, looking away before he took another sip of coffee. "So. What have you been up to?"
	"This and that," Steve said evasively. "Seeing a bit of the world, exposing Hydra cells..." Pretending to be dead...
	Damn it, Steve. "And your phone broke," Tony offered. "For ten years." Yes, he'd had that line used on him before. Miles.
	"It seemed easier to have a clean break," Steve said. As opposed to the complete shitshow of his break with his Tony....
	Well, that was just hurtful. "Gee, Steve. I didn't know we were going steady," Tony deadpanned.
	Steve had learned to control his blushing a bit more over the years, so he shrugged instead. "Things got complicated," he vastly understated. "Left my phone behind."
	For ten years, Tony didn't say. But he thought it pretty darn hard. "Complicated's an interesting word," Tony replied calmly instead, setting his coffee cup to the side.
	"I wasn't really in the mood to talk to any Tony," Steve said, staring at the table. "I'm sorry." Not that Tony would have gotten that apology if Steve hadn't randomly showed up here this weekend. Cough.
	Well, it made Tony huff out a laugh and push himself away to get Steve a coffee cup. "Don't apologize because you think someone needs to hear it. Only do it if you're actually sorry."
	"I'm sorry for hurting you," Steve said, meeting Tony's eyes squarely.
	"You're both exactly the same." Tony sighed, turning away to pour him some coffee before pressing it into Steve's hands. "It's good to see you."
	"I'm hoping being the same is a good thing," Steve said, sipping his coffee.
	"You would," Tony replied dryly. "So, is this going to end with you going ghost again?"
	"Probably," Steve said, biting his lower lip. "Things at home are--well, remember when I first arrived and your universe had gone to hell?"
	Tony held onto the edge of the counter tight enough for his knuckles to go white. "Yes."
	"Ours went a little sideways too," Steve massively understated. "Accords to regulate us--people getting pigheaded and stubborn--Buck getting blamed for things he didn't do..." he shook his head. "It was easier to drop out of sight."
	"Easier," Tony echoed, struggling for a moment to keep his expression neutral. Because never had he thought of Steve Rogers taking the easy option.
	This time Steve did blush, dropping his eyes to focus on his coffee mug. "I gave up the shield," he said, which was putting a...fairly positive spin on how that had actually gone. "Tried to figure out who I am without Captain America's legacy." It had been a harder process than he'd prepared for.
	Tony took a breath, easing up on the tension he was positively projecting. It wasn't exactly helping the situation. "And what did you find?"
	"Not much," Steve murmured, hunching up his shoulders.
	Tony manfully fought the urge to hug him like he might one of the kids on his team when they looked that unbearably alone and pathetic. "Running does that," he said not unkindly. "Clouds things even further."
	"The other you wasn't exactly in a rational frame of mind," Steve said.
	Tony just raised his eyebrows at that, leaving the ball in Steve's court. Because seriously now.
	"I wasn't exactly at my best either," Steve muttered, hiding behind his coffee mug, "but the whole mess ended with Sam, Clint, Wanda and Scott Lang in a secret prison, Bucky with his arm blown off, Rhodey unable to walk and the two of us getting far too close to actually killing each other. It was awful."
	Tony sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Christ, Rogers. You can't do anything by half, can you?"
	"Kinda what kept the ball rolling, yeah," Steve said.
	"Christ," he muttered again, having to walk away and pace back. "Suddenly making my arguments with Steve seem minor in comparison."
	"And so now we have this international mess of an accord and it turns out it's a lot easier to pass one than roll it back," Steve said, "a whole lot of countries who are still very interested in prosecuting the Winter Soldier where prosecuting means 'stuff in a box and forget about', and when Bruce found out Ross was the new Secretary of State he turned green, stomped into the jungle and hasn't been seen for a couple years."
	And look at more pacing! Because Steve's truly was the darkest timeline. "Ross? Wow, that's a bad choice all around," he muttered. "Barnes... well, I'm not surprised by that." Saddened, but not surprised.
	He could have been secretly Hydra all along!! Wait, no, that's stupid. "Neither was he," Steve said softly. "Since he can't trust his own mind just yet, he volunteered--insisted, really--to go back into stasis." So Steve's life sucked.
	That was still up for debate, Steve. "So, you cut yourself off from everything in response?"
	"There's only so many punches even I could take," Steve said to his coffee. "I...took a break."
	"Ten years is not a break," Tony snapped before taking another breath to regain some control.
	"I'm sorry," Steve snapped back in a tone that was...not particularly helpful to meaningful apologies. "You blew off Bucky's arm and tried to kill him!" Beat. "Other you did. It was a shitty, shitty time, and then it became too long to call without it being awkward, and this whole thing has just sucked." Language, Cap.
	"You know. I almost prefer when I thought my friend was dead to knowing it was just him being stubborn and awkward." Tony, that was hardly fair. Steve was composed of about 75% righteous stubbornness and you knew that for years already.