kequzw.com 
"Figured the potential end of the world might call for a little intervention." Tony shrugged. "Your copy-me's off with the military, isn't he? Seemed like you could use the firepower."
As a part of his contract with SHIELD, Rhodey had made it very clear that he, and therefore War Machine, belonged to the US government first and SHIELD second. It was currently causing a bit of frustration, because it meant Rhodey was stuck in a foreign country and unable to respond to Fury's call. Sure, Tony was technically retired now, but he couldn't just leave the Cap Squad high and dry if he could help.
Besides, Steve would've told him that if he could help, he should.
"We could. Is that you saying you'll stick around?"
"Depends, are you going to arrest me if I do?"
"I think that can be postponed until all extraterrestrials are back on their home planets."
"Then you've got yourself some firepower, Cap." Tony gave a sloppy salute. "You'll excuse me if I'm not keen on riding in your jet though."
"We won't arrest you until after Loki and Thor are home, you have my word." Cap leveled him with a look. "I keep my word."
"Message received and appreciated, but I'd still rather fly." Tony shook his head, taking back off into the sky without another word.
Cap couldn't understand. The suit was more than armor, it was a part of him. It was his most precious creation, the second skin he'd created to save himself, to avenge himself, and now to redeem himself. Giving it up, even for Steve, hurt. He'd miss working on it, miss using it, but mostly he'd miss flying it; there was nothing more exhilarating in the world.
He sure as hell wasn't wasting any of the time he had left on a quinjet when he could still fly.
Besides, riding in the quinjet would be awkward. StarkIndustries was still in blackout since Stane wasn't resigning, trying to force Iron Man's hand. StarkIndustries, Stane in particular, was probably putting massive pressure on SHIELD to find and apprehend him, and here they were, working together.
For the sake of humanity, but.
Still.
They didn't get very far before storm clouds began to swirl. If Tony hadn't seen it with his own eyes he might not have believed it, but from the clouds emerged a man. He was using a hammer to fly, and a bright red cape billowed out behind him. Could that be Thor?
"And now there's that guy," he muttered to himself. Then, he patched into the quinjet's intercom. "Widow, you've got incoming—"
Thor landed with a thud, rocking the quinjet with the force of it. The hatch opened, and when Thor went to enter through it, Tony tackled him. Instead of knocking him down, however, Thor just grabbed him by the arm and threw him over his shoulder. He went flying into Cap, sending them both to the ground. By the time they were back on their feet, Thor and Loki were gone.
Tony launched out after him and Cap, unsurprisingly, followed. Tony and Thor nearly leveled the forest before Cap arrived, but Tony felt great; he hadn't gone toe to toe with someone that strong in ages. Once Cap showed up, he used the diversion to jet off, out of sight of both Cap and the quinjet. The offer to not be arrested was great and all, but if Cap got back to the Helicarrier and Tony wasn't there, he was going to notice.
Cap always noticed.
Ever since Tony had ducked out on their little dinner date—later explaining he'd "had a lab emergency, sorry"—the guy seemed to watch his every move. He'd tried to talk to Tony a couple more times, but Tony was pretty good about making an immediate exit. He didn't know if Cap was super friendly or super suspicious or what, but if they were in the same room, Cap was bound to gravitate towards him.
It was kind of a pain in the ass.
Either way, it meant Tony needed to get back to the Helicarrier first. He raised his reflection shields as soon as he got close, sneaking back onboard the same way he'd snuck off, through a maintenance entrance near the engines. He let the suit disassemble and fold back up, then hid it behind one of the panels in the walls and went off to the lab he'd been provided.
While waiting for the return of the Cap Squad, he pulled up his secure laptop and worked on his suit specs; was there a way to get the suit to come to him remotely? That'd be useful. He'd adjusted the suitcase suit to come via a pair of black bracelets, but what about when he wasn't wearing them, or if they got knocked off…
Soon enough, nearly an hour had passed, and the Cap Squad had returned with Loki in custody and Thor's cooperation. Tony would be impressed, but then, this was Captain America, after all. Of course he'd succeeded. Tony left his lab to join the team on the bridge, and watched with them as Nick locked Loki up on one of the screens. They began discussing Loki's next move—according to Thor, the guy had an alien army at his disposal.
"An army." Cap had a look on his face that just screamed 'why is this my life'. "From outer space."
"Would you prefer Nazis?" Tony snorted.
"At least I know how to kill a Nazi." Cap shrugged, but there was a smile tugging at his lips. "Aliens, who knows?"
"Wait, you mentioned a portal?" Bruce pointed out. "That's what he'll be needing Selvig for."
The conversation returned to the threat at hand, but Cap kept looking at him, seeming unreasonably pleased that Tony had acknowledged his existence. What was with this guy? He managed to let it slide to the back of his mind as the topic of iridium came up. He rattled off what he knew, explaining that it'd stabilize the portal and keep it open for Loki's army.
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria eyed him shrewdly.
"He teaches it," Cap piped up, and Tony snorted.
"My brats wouldn't understand thermonuclear astrophysics if it bit them in the ass. I teach regular physics, but good try Capsicle." Tony patted him on the shoulder as he passed. "I know you're still working on that whole future thing."
"I understand physics better than you'd think." Cap had a secretive sort of smile on his face, the kind of smile that said I know something you don't.
That smile irrationally pissed Tony off.
"Better than Point Break over there, maybe." Tony snorted. "Not that you'd get that reference, but—"
"I do, actually." There was that god damn smile again. "The movie about the FBI agent trying to catch bank robbers who might be surfers, wasn't it?"
"Who had the patience to show you how to work a DVD player?"
"A friend." Again with the creepy, overly pleased smile.
"How does that work, with the secret identity thing? Can you only hang out with them in spandex, or do you just lie to their face?" Tony threw out blithely, ready to say anything to get that weird smile off the guy's face. It was too…familiar, somehow, too déjà vu, and Tony didn't like it.
Whatever he'd said clearly hit a hell of a nerve, because from the look on Cap's face he might as well have personally drop-kicked the guy's puppy off an overpass.
"I—" Cap started, then abruptly stood. "I should go."
"Captain—" Widow began, but Cap was already gone, disappearing down the hall. She turned to Tony with a piercing glare, and Tony had the eeriest feeling he'd seen that look before. Pepper maybe? "Stark, you are the stupidest genius I've ever met."
"That's both an oxymoron and entirely untrue." Tony rolled his eyes. "He's the one that's been staring at me like I have a Nazi symbol painted on my forehead."
"That is not even close to how he stares at you." Widow snorted softly.
"But you admit he's been staring." Tony pointed his pen at her in accusation.
She gave a mute shrug.
"I thought you knew him." Bruce seemed surprised.
"Nope." Tony popped the p. "I'm just so devilishly handsome even Captain America can't resist, that's all. Now, I want to get my hands on this staff of Loki's—interested in playing with me, doctor?"
"I'd like a look." Bruce nodded his agreement with a wry smile.
They spent the next two hours taking readings and comparing with Selvig's notes. It was exhilarating to finally have someone around who could speak English, and they kept a steady conversation through it all. Bruce never once asked him to explain what he meant or define terms or anything like that; it was a pure flow of genius, and Tony was practically bouncing with excitement about it.
