Faultlines

Cursed Child

Cursed Child

It had been weeks since the fall of SHIELD, weeks since he had gotten out of the hospital and weeks since he had last seen Bucky. But now Steve had finally managed to find the strength to go and see Harry Stark. He was carefully dressed in Bermuda shorts and a simple t-shirt, with sunglasses and a cap on, making his way through the lobby of the Stark Industries Headquarters in London and towards the reception.

"Hi, I am here to see Mr Strider.", he told the man behind the counter, "If he is in."

The receptionist looked down at his screen.

"Certainly. Who should I announce?"

"A friend.", Steve told him simply, if the man hadn't realized who he was yet, than he certainly wouldn't tell him.

A few buttons were pressed.

"Miss Schälchen, we have a visitor for Mr Strider. A personal friend."

Pause.

"You can go up, Sir. Take the elevator right here on the left."

He pressed another button and let Steve through.

"Thank you.", Steve told him walking towards the elevator. The doors opened and Steve stepped in, expecting to find a button to push, but there was none, instead the elevator just moved upwards. When it finally came to a halt, Steve found himself standing in front of a young brown-haired woman with a tablet in hand (the computer thingy, not one for drinks).

"Captain Rogers, welcome to Stark Industries, I am Johanna. Please follow me."

"Thank you.", he hurried to find his manners, following closely behind her, as she made her way towards the end of the hall and lead him through a wooden door.

"Mr Stark is on an important call right now, but he will be with you as soon as possible.", she informed him, indicating towards a group of comfortable looking couches, "May I offer you something in the meantime?"

"Oh no, thank you, I am fine."

Steve sat down and looked around the office. It was a nice, bright room full of plants and with a glass front offering a truly spectacular view over London. The Starks had always known how to project an image. Sadly there were no newspapers or magazines laying around to read. Johanna seemed to notice his searching gaze.

"We don't have print media here, but you can take one of the tablets to read, if you like."

There were four of them, neatly placed on the wooden table. But before Steve could make up his mind, the door behind him opened and Harry stepped through, a warm smile on his face.

"Steve! What an unexpected but welcome surprise. Please, do come in.

Johanna..."

"I will hold your calls. Unless they are your kids.", she finished the sentence.

"The receptionist never said my name. How did she know I was the friend?", Steve asked, as he and Harry sat down on two of the armchairs in front of Harry's glass front view over the city. He was thankful not to have a desk between them right then.

"She checked the cameras, when Nicos called up.", Harry shrugged, "Kudos for remembering the name. It would have been a hustle otherwise. "

"I love how you have a system in place for everything."

"I LOVE your outfit by the way. Very nice."

"Thank you. I thought you'd appreciate it."

"How are you, Steve? With everything that happened?"