Steve walked into the old cafe, glancing down at the business Ironman gave him several times.
He was honestly expecting the man to jump out from a booth and scream 'Boo!'.
But it was a very normal old fashioned dinner, it even had a record play in the corner that had seen better days.
He seated himself in a booth near the back of the restaurant, picking up a menu and trying to focus on that.
He was right there, a man he saw fall off the train, someone he promised to stay with until he grew old...Bucky.
Flashbacks of seeing both him and Ironman together, near that old warehouse were fresh in his mind, seeing Ironman touch Bucky, hold his face-
Bucky knew who the Ironman was outside of the suit, and if anything it gave probable suspicion that he was part of something corrupt.
Something has kept Bucky alive all these years, and with a metal arm no less.
Something twanged in Steve's chest, he must have lost it when he-he failed to grab him from falling.
He was supposed to keep him safe and he failed...look where that got him.
He looked around at the dinner again, a steady sense of unease in his gut.
Why would Ironman give him this?
This slice of his past that seems untainted besides the passing by consumer with a cellphone. What was the point?
A waiter came by and got his order and brought back a simple black coffee.
He sipped at it idily, zoning out and staring at the grooves of wood in the table.
So much so that he didn't notice someone approaching.
He felt the presence there but figured it was the waiter again...until he spoke.
"Penny for your thoughts, Steve?", a calm, almost gentle voice resounded next to him with a metallic edge to it.
He looked up confused and there was the man of the hour, the one that plagued his thoughts-Ironman.
He sat across from him in the booth, but unlike every single encounter before, he wasn't wearing his suit-only his mask.
His body was defined in ways only a gym or hard labor would do, a strange almost alien blue glow coming from his chest and his hands were folded on the table.
He could pick out several scars on his hands and arms, and there were two metal bracelets on both wrists.
Steve stared silently at him for a long moment, blinking like an owl.
"Why are you here?"
Ironman shrugged, "I wanted to talk with you".
"About Bucky", Steve said softly, carefully setting his coffee cup down.
"About anything", Ironman corrected him, leaning back in the booth, crossing his legs from under the table.
The waiter came by with a plate of food, setting it in front of Steve, but he wasn't paying attention anymore.
"Why do you have him, he doesn't belong to you", Steve said firmly, trying to go with a string approach.
"I don't own James", Ironman responded softly, "I rescued him, and he hasn't expressed any desire to leave, but he knows that door is open for him"
"Why was he with you the other day then? Did you force him?"
"Nope, he wanted to come with me, because he knew I needed help"
"Help with what? What is it exactly your doing?"
"I can't tell you", he said softly.
Steve scoffed, "Right, okay, we're done here", he started to get up and mentally prepared himself to go toe to toe with him.
"I'm telling you the truth, I can't tell you", he said again, not moving from his spot.
"I wish I could, but I have too many people depending on me keeping my big mouth shut Steve, so please for the love of god, sit down and eat. You might be a super soldier but your looking more like skin and bones..."
Steve faltered, looking at him with a questioning look.
"You do", Ironman looked him up and down,
"No one's getting hurt Steve, not the innocent ones"
"And who says you are to judge whose innocent?" Steve challenged.
"By going off who serves what should have stayed dead when you went into the water", Ironman then stood, standing chest to chest with him.
The entire dinner went quiet and people were watching curiously.
"What do you mean by that?" Steve asked in a whisper.
"Ask Natasha", he replied and turned to go.
"Ironman", Steve called to him hesitantly, looking a little hopeful as he stopped and turned.
"Can...can you tell Bucky I said I miss him? Please?"
Ironman didn't respond at first, seeming to mull it over.
"Ill pass your message to him, have a good day Steve".
YOU ARE READING
I am....Ironman
FanfictionWhat if?........Tony never revealed himself to be Ironman, and what was his reason? How does he know the things he does? What happened to the Great Tony Stark, and who is this flying man in a can? #I wrote this while I was obsessed with Time Travel...
