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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?

[That stubborn look is familiar. And part of him wants to fight back against it just out of contrariness, but isn't that what got him in trouble in the first place?

Tony still has to let out a long breath as he puts his thoughts together.]

There was a philosophical disagreement. Big one. The kind that means half the team are now considered international fugitives. So. You know.

[Even though Tony doesn't really describe the argument or what fallout the Avengers had, the words he does use get a visible reaction out of Steve. His posture straightens and his eyes narrow.]

Which half is that?

[It's a loaded question and not very subtle, but Steve demands the truth.]

[Well that's not intimidating at all. He flicks Steve a hard, unimpressed look just to make a point, but it doesn't last long. He does deserve to know just how badly they fucked everything up, probably.]

Cap. Falcon. The Witch, Hawkeye. Whatshisname, Lang? Something like that. Widow is...complicated. [There's a brief pause before:] Barnes.

[His serious, even stare turns into a darker, sharper look as Tony lists off names. They're familiar ones, names that belong to people he considers his friends. They aren't his friends, but Steve's eyes still widen with a flash of contained anger. The concept hits too close to home.]

Why?

[There's a level of accusation in the word, although Steve keeps his voice low. That might be worse. It's not yelling he's doing yet.]

[That tone, the implicit not-quite-threat is sparking something in Tony's head that he's been trying to fight down. God knows he's had this conversation often enough, but things are still on slightly shaky ground with his own people. They may have hashed things out, but part of him still feels like he has to be cautious.

Tony likes this Steve. Respects him, even. But he feels no need to be careful with him, and it might be evident by the way his spine straightens almost imperceptibly.]

Because something came down the political pipe and it was shitty, but it turns out that blatantly ignoring the government doesn't go well even if Captain America says so.

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