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I wouldn't be against patrols out there to watch the generator sites. We could set up a schedule if we got some volunteers and clear the area more. I know most people stay within the city or focus on the Abandoned City ruins, but with a route, your work would get done faster.

[See, he does have some ideas. The technical aspects are beyond him, but he can always help.]

Could work. All we'd really need is someone to swing by every so often and make sure nothing's been chewing on the wires. If there was a problem with the reactors, it would probably be pretty apparent.

[And Tony himself can do flyovers to check on that. It'd be good to have an excuse for flying.]

Figure you've been out there more than me, anything you can think of in terms of repulsion?

They don't like fire. I'd say lights and activity will deter a lot of the creatures out there, but some of them aren't so easy to spook. I went on a mission a while ago and ran into some lizard folk. They're smart, but if they can communicate with us, they haven't shown any interest. They could probably disable the electronics and the alarms we put out there.

[He's not sure what to think of them. Are the city's inhabitants the intruders? They haven't tried to disturb anything, but he is still figuring the local relationships out. It's so rare to see any groups.]

And you already saw there are some big ones that tend to push over anything in their way. We could use some heavy equipment. I know that'll take time, but there's not much else that'll keep them out.

Yeah.

[That's all pretty much what he'd figured, but he helps to have it confirmed. Tony leans his head back to stare blindly at the ceiling as he lets out a long breath.]

So, short term fixes, if that. What we really need to do is fix up the walls.

[He's sure no one's ever thought of that one before.]

Yup. That's pretty much the size of it.

[Sorry, Tony. It's the hard way all over again. Steve knows how he feels. The solution to their problem isn't easy. It'll take time.]

In the meantime, we'll just have to keep watch. But we can handle it.

Of course we can.

[It might come out on a sigh, but it's still true.]

And I guess I'll get started working out ideas for that wall thing.

[Like he hasn't already. Just not that seriously. Yet.]

[Steve knows that weary agreement. It's the answer he always has late at night when the battles at home got to be too much. Sometimes things just felt overwhelming and he would find himself considering all the what-ifs he might have had once upon a time. The hero's version of not wanting to get up early for work the next day. He smiles, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder.]

If I can help, let me know. I'm sure I can move things around for the wall when you need them. And I'll ask some other people to help us keep an eye on the generators out there.

[One side of Tony's mouth quirks upward, but the expression is genuine.]

I'd appreciate it. I put too much work into those things to let them get eaten by giant space slugs or whatever.

[He pats the hand on his shoulder almost absently.]

I'll keep you in the loop, much as I can.

I'll keep watch.

[He nods seriously, giving his word like this is a sincere promise. For Steve, it is. He'll be out late to check up on those generators.]

Thank you, Tony. I'm glad you can trust me.

[At least this much. It's more than he's had for a while from any of the new Avengers and he's still trying to manage without it.]

[Tony pauses before his eyebrows draw together in a look of vague confusion.]

Why wouldn't I?

[Trust has never really been the issue. At least not with this Steve.]

Because you don't know me. I don't expect you to trust a stranger so easily.

[Part of that is just the reactions he's gotten from the other slightly familiar faces. Steve is under the impression that other worlds' heroes have a lot of trouble trusting even those that should be heroes and allies to them. He's trying to play by their rules. And, of course, he isn't sure how much he can be trusted.]

I'd like to earn it. To know that it's deserved.

[That just gets an even more puzzled look. Which, considering the issues Tony is currently having with his own Captain America, is a little darkly amusing.]

Sure, but you trust me, right? [Or else they wouldn't be having this conversation.] And same goes.

I trust you.

[It's a more difficult question than he's used to, but the truth is he does trust Tony. All of them, if he's really pressed to say it. There has been damage done thanks to the rift that grew between him and many of the heroes of his world, but even that isn't enough to make Steve give up on the people around him. Heroes are still heroes.]

...Then both of us are on the same page. I guess our worlds aren't that different.

Well that I'm not sure about.

[He gives Steve a wry grin, looking a little more settled now that the conversation has moved to place he understands.]

No offense, but yours sounds a whole lot weirder than mine.

[ Steve nods in acknowledgment, giving Tony a smirk. ]

I haven't heard a lot about your world. Your Avengers seem a little different from ours. Not as used to the world ending.

Just the one attempt, really.

[And the fact that he doesn't wince as he says it probably means he's growing as a person.]

Everything else has been...I don't know, conquest attempts. Money making bullshit.

[It seems so small-scale when put that way.]

[Just one. Steve finds it hard to remember what it was like to just have one great danger. To him, the first great threat was always the war. The first great change was when he woke up in a world with Avengers. He smiles slightly. How things change.]

It's a lot, isn't it? The world is bigger than we dreamed it was when I was a kid.

Your Avengers never saw anything like this?

Like what, being stranded on another planet? Not as far as I know.

[There's always Thor, but he's an outlier.]

Look, the first time we came together it was...not quite an accident, Fury was planning for something, the cagey bastard. But there were aliens, it was a thing, an invasion, so we all stepped up. Then we went back to doing our own thing until they needed to get the band together again.

[Steve frowns as he listens to Tony's story. It doesn't sound like their Avengers first response at all.]

I'm sure you all had other things to do. Other people to protect and lives to live. But you didn't think that working together made defending the world easier? From- what aliens were you attacked by?

[Apparently when other worlds do things, they go big.]

[Tony pauses, one eyebrow lifting.]

What, Loki didn't tell you about that one? [He shakes his head a little. He and Loki are...on slightly better ground these days, but there was really nowhere to go but up. He might still be a little cranky about the whole thing, though.] They were called the Chitauri. I think.

And sure it made it easier. But once the immediate threat was out of the way, there was nothing holding it all together. So.

[He makes a vague gesture with both hands, somehow meaning to indicate the team splitting.]

[Steve's expression, although he usually keeps it firm, wavers slightly when Tony mentions Loki. He knew that they had history, because there's no way Loki and Avengers wouldn't have some history, but talking about it makes the reality harder.]

We... don't talk about it much.

[He'd confronted the god initially, pushed him, threatened him when he first met him. But now that topic seems invasive and judgmental, dealing in sensitive matters he's still not sure how to approach with any of the almost-familiar faces. Every time he touches one of their old scars, it only gets them to lash out.]

I haven't heard of the Chitauri. We've had Kree and Skrull encounters, neither very good ones. There have been some other incidents on a smaller scale, some individuals and technology that have come to Earth before, but generally most of whoever's out there seem to keep a distance.

[There's a brief second where Tony just eyes him before he almost visibly lets that go. Whatever Steve and Loki have going on is none of his business.]

Yeah well, I think they wanted it to be a big thing. We managed to mostly keep it confined to Manhattan at the time.

[The fallout ripped out a lot farther, but that's a different issue. And one he's a lot less interested in talking about.]

Anyway. We did all end up back together and we made sort of a headquarters like thing. And that worked okay, for the most part.

[Steve keeps eye contact while Tony decides what he's going to say, almost daring the man to speak up about the relationship. But then Tony doesn't say it and Steve relaxes. There are other things to worry about.]

You saved everyone. [As the Avengers should.] Sounds like you have a hell of a team. What's the hesitation here about?

[He's noticed. He hasn't said much about it, but he might as well now.]

[Tony's mouth opens and then immediately closes again. Something about the intensity of the look Steve his giving him makes him want to glance away, but he holds the eye contact out of sheer stubbornness. He wants to know that badly? Fine.]

There isn't much of a team anymore. Not together, anyway. [He has his suspicions about what the so-called rogue Avengers have been up to back home, but he's never brought it up here. Kind of seems besides the point.]

[It's not like Steve is about to let the topic rest. He'll just keep coming back like he always does. When Tony tells him about the situation with his Avengers, he frowns.]

What happened?

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