Iron Man seemed oddly distracted this time, fiddling with a computer terminal to the far left instead of focusing on Steve.
"Needed to know you wouldn't interfere; drugs were the best bet."
"You used to kidnap me for the heck of it."
"Times change, darling." Iron Man shrugged. "Even people, every once in a while."
"You considering switching teams?" Steve felt a heady rush of elation for a moment. Had he really managed to—
"It's a little late for that." Iron Man gave a mechanical sounding snort. "Try retirement. When my work's done here, anyway."
"You're…" Steve blinked in surprise. "Quitting?"
Of all the ways he'd seen their cat and mouse game ending, that hadn't been one.
"I know, half the time I can't believe it either." Iron Man finished whatever it was he was doing on the computer and turned to look at him. Steve got the impression he had a rueful sort of smile underneath the faceplate. "I'm gonna miss this suit like you wouldn't believe."
A long silence stretched between them as Steve tried to wrap his head around it.
"What changed your mind?" he asked eventually. When I couldn't?
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Iron Man laughed. It was mechanical, almost hollow sounding, but it was familiar. Steve realized somewhat dully that he'd actually miss that. Miss this.
"Try me. I don't know if you've noticed, but 'strange' is kind of the default setting of my life." Steve offered dryly. Iron Man chuckled again.
"Would you believe that the invincible Iron Man, supervillain extraordinaire, has fallen in love?"
Long silence.
"What?" Steve blinked, not entirely sure if Iron Man was screwing with him or not. It would be just like him, but something about Iron Man's tone, even with the mechanical filter, seemed sincere.
"I know, I know." Iron Man waved a hand at him dismissively. "I'm crazy. I'm a supervillain, supervillains don't get the happy ending, et cetera, et cetera, trust me, everything you're thinking, I've thought it and worse. But, and here's the really crazy part, I might actually have a shot in hell. So, for them, I'm trying to clean up this messy business once and for all. That's sort of noble, right? It's what I've been telling myself, anyway."
"And in ten years, when they find out you were a supervillain once?" Steve couldn't resist the jab. He loved Tony, he did, but…he had to admit he was a little bitter that someone else could change Iron Man when he couldn't.
"Ten years nothing." Iron Man shook his head. "Soon as this is over, I'm telling them the story from start to finish, and if they're still there at the end of it, I'll tell them I love them. I can't keep a secret like that from them, not if I want a functioning, lasting relationship, which, I know, fucking crazy, but, I do. So."
"A supervillain with an honest streak."
"You know me, never could follow the crowd."
"And when they go to the press, the police, and have you arrested?"
"That's their choice." Iron Man shrugged again. "But I trust them."
"Trust doesn't have much to do with it, they're legally obligated—"
"And everything's always that black and white, huh?" Iron Man snorted, but it was more derisive than humorous this time. "Mr. I get kidnapped by a supervillain and I like it?"
"I don't li—"
"You do so," Iron Man accused, "There were plenty of times you could've escaped, but didn't. You liked this…thing, whatever it was. And I did too, but there's no trust here. No future. Right?"
For all Iron Man was hidden behind his armor, his gaze seemed piercing.
"Don't be an ass." Steve just glared at him.
"Supervillain, it comes with the territory—look, for all your talk of legalities, of black and white, you know as well as I do that we live in grey. You and I, Hawkeye and Widow, War Machine, Fury, SHIELD…we drown in grey. There's no trust between us. How could there be? Them…I trust them with this, with Iron Man, hell, with my life, should I ever have to. And if after they hear my story, if they want to turn me in? They're a far better person than I'll ever be; if they think I belong behind bars, I do, and I'll go."
"That easy?"
"That easy."
"You're really finished, then."
"Believe it, Spangles." Iron Man was grinning now, Steve could tell from the inflection in his voice. "Gonna miss me?"
"More than anyone sane should."
"That's the spirit." Iron Man clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I just pinged War Machine your location. Your squad will be here in five."
"Let me guess, approximately sixty seconds before the warehouse blows?" Steve sighed.
"I gave you ninety, actually. Consider it a farewell gift, Cap." Iron Man gave him a sloppy salute, then he was off, looping through the sky.
Considering it was a Monday, Tony was in a startlingly good mood.
He'd finished off the last of his list yesterday, wormed his way back into StarkIndustries' server undetected, and said goodbye to Cap and that part of his life; he'd even gone ahead and set off the final virus this morning. By now, Stane had to be screaming at interns and pulling out his few remaining strands of hair.
"You're in a good mood for a Monday." Steve arched an eyebrow at him. "Whose life did you ruin?"
"Someone's making my former business partner cry into his coffee." Tony grinned, leaning back in his chair. "I'm in a great mood."
"You mean that Stane guy?" Clark asked through a mouthful of sandwich.
"Are you talking about the attack on StarkIndustries?" Steve questioned.
"Who isn't?" Tony pointed out.
It was true; the virus had gone off at seven that morning and it was only noon, but everyone was talking about it. It was a thing of beauty, really, the most malignant virus Tony had ever created. He'd shut down power to every StarkIndustries office in continental US, and when their systems came back online, nothing was usable. They all displayed the same message whenever anyone tried to use them:
You know what I found. Resign or I go public. Tick tock, Obie.
He'd found the video of the Ten Rings offering Stane his head a year ago, when he'd first come back from Afghanistan, he'd just saved it for his big finale, but Stane didn't need to know that. As it was, his essential takeover of StarkIndustries dominated the news on every channel, the topic of every conversation.
Tony was very smug.
"Tony, what Iron Man did was horrible." Steve frowned.
