At the door of Stark Tower

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He doesn't really have a phone anymore, at least not one that isn't a burner on the end of it's life, and that phone never had the number he needed in it, so he didn't call ahead. Instead, he's just there, heading for the front desk to see if perhaps, just maybe, he has a friend here. Or at least an ally.

"Steve Rogers for Tony Stark, please?"

Comments

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Will I be inconveniencing anyone if I do that?" he asks, because it's kind of late.

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Not in the slightest, sir. Shall I pull up a list of menus from twenty-four-hour restaurants for you?"

(Tony, meanwhile, is hard at work breaking down the cybernetic arm plans over leftover pizza and more scotch.)

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Sure," he says after a minute, "though if you know a good place for a couple of burgers, I can save you the trouble."

[actuallyhasaheart]

"I certainly do. Do you have a preference for toppings, or shall I just trust my own judgement on this matter?" He does have access to Steve's file, after all.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"As long as it's got a patty and a bun, I'll probably be just fine," he says, closing his eyes.

There's a few moments before he speaks again.

"Is Tony working on things or did he go to bed?"

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Working, sir." There's a delicate, nuanced shade of disapproval in JARVIS' voice. "He seems to have discovered a number of blueprints in the Winter Soldier file, and I expect he'll be quite distracted for a while."

JARVIS is, of course, right. There's the matter of getting them scanned, translating them, picking them apart and figuring out how they work... Reverse engineering and recreation are on the list too, but not for a while. Maybe even two whole days.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"What's he trying to do? If you're allowed to tell me. Don't get yourself in trouble with Tony on my account."

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Translation and reverse engineering, at this point, sir," JARVIS replies. "I have placed your dinner order; it should be arriving in approximately fifteen minutes."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Where's it coming from, if you don't mind me asking?"

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Allow me to show you." JARVIS doesn't wait, just pulls up a holoscreen, that first shows a map detailing the proximity of the place to the tower, followed by an exterior shot, and then a menu that will take him to the restaurant's website, their Yelp reviews, and a few other similar options.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He's a little overwhelmed, but he knows it's not JARVIS's fault. It gets a laugh out of him.

"Don't think I've ever been there, so this should be interesting."

[actuallyhasaheart]

"It's relatively new sir, only about four years old, but I'm told their burgers are, to quote, 'fucking amazing', endquote."

His imitation of Tony's tone is, of course, perfect.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

That gets another laugh out of him.

"You're a card, JARVIS. I'm sure it'll be great."

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Thank you sir. I'll let you know when it arrives. In the meantime, believe it or not, there is actually a library here, if you'd like something to take your mind off of matters."

It's not much of one, given that Tony prefers to read on his tablet, or have things read to him while he works, but there are others who don't share his taste for all things cutting-edge.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

That has him sitting up.

"Can you tell me how to get there?" He pauses, though, since he doesn't want to be a bad guest.

"Will Tony mind?"

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Turn right out the door, and it will be the second door on the left," JARVIS replies. "And I doubt he'll mind, since he was the one who reminded me to inform you."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He winces a little, since he really hates to be a bother, but he's up and pulling on his socks before JARVIS can say anything else to pad towards the library.

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Enjoy, sir."

If he takes a glance the other way down the hall, he'll see Tony, futzing with a holodisplay, and poring over the spread-out papers of the file. He never even glances up.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He's really curious about the library, but he's also curious about what Tony's working on. He decides to split the difference by keeping his time in the library at a minimum, picking up a familiar volume to tuck under his arm before heading back to Tony. He walks in quietly so as not to disturb him.

[actuallyhasaheart]

Tony rotates a holoscanned piece of the blueprint in the z-axis, and fits it against another piece, before sliding the whole thing into a third bit.

"Try that one."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Is there a reason why you're trying to work out the mechanics of Bucky's arm?" he asks, and it's not exactly upset but it is confused.

[actuallyhasaheart]

Tony looks up, not at all startled thanks to JARVIS.

"Hey, well. It's part of what they did to him," he explains. "It's all connected. And if I can figure out how it works, it'll help. ...and it's really cool. I mean, I am seriously disturbed by how they did this. It shouldn't've been possible."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"The whole thing shouldn't be possible," he says matter-of-factly, "not that I'm complaining."

And nearly dying included, he's really not. He just wants his friend back.

[actuallyhasaheart]

"Well, okay, but there are degrees of impossible here, Steve," Tony says. "There's-- There's normal people impossible, and then there's me saying something should be impossible."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

That actually makes him smile just a little.

"How's that saying go? 'There's more things in heaven and earth, Horatio'?"