ABSENT FRIENDS

Tony was in D.C. when Steve called and suggested they go to Arlington. That actually surprised Tony quite a bit. Visiting a cemetary wasn't the kind of thing he was inclined to do. He almost turned Steve down, but then a thought occurred to Tony.

Why was Steve asking him? He knew Tony. And that meant he knew that Tony was a questionable choice for company when doing something serious and solemn.

And yet, Steve was asking Tony - of all people - to go to Arlington with him.

"Okay," Tony answered, wondering if he was making some kind of mistake.

"Thanks," Steve said quietly. "How about we meet there at 1300 hours? At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?"

Tony found himself wondering if Steve was still able to think in terms other than military time.

"Sure," Tony replied.

Tony told Pepper that he was going to Arlington. She nodded and within moments, his best suit and a pair of freshly shined shoes appeared. A bemused Tony had just finished changing when a barber showed up to give Tony a quick trim. It occurred to Tony that the last time Pepper was this intense about something on his schedule, it had involved a meeting with the President of the United States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and a wizened elderly Asgardian who represented Odin.

Rhodey happened to be around as well - he was going to be briefing some Air Force brass at the Pentagon - and he seemed surprised when Tony told him what was going on. However, he didn't ask to join Tony and Steve, which Tony half-expected. Tony wasn't sure why Rhodey was suddenly being so reticent.

Pepper and Rhodey walked Tony to his car. And then Pepper kissed him goodbye. It was an intense kiss. And was that a glimmer of tears in her eyes when they broke apart?

"What's wrong?" Tony asked her.

"Nothing," Pepper said. Then she kissed him again, turned around, and walked back inside.

Tony watched Pepper's retreating back as he considered what she had said. No man can really understand the female variant of their supposedly mutual language, but Tony was pretty sure that the "nothing" that Pepper had just said to him really meant "everything".

Puzzled, Tony looked at Rhodey and asked, "What was that about?"

Rhodey carefully looked Tony over. Then he adjusted Tony's tie and brushed some non-existant lint from his jacket. That surprised Tony. Rhodey had never done anything like that before. It was as if Rhodey was checking a uniform to make sure it was completely proper.

Rhodey smiled at Tony and shook his head. "Tony, if you'd died in that fight with Loki and the Chitauri, where do you suppose the country would have buried you?"

"Oh," Tony said very slowly.

It was a beautiful September day, with none of the stereotypically dull weather you'd expect when visiting a cemetery. In fact, if you could somehow ignore the acres of tombstones that filled Arlington, it was something like visiting a particularly well-tended park.

As he walked past the many silent graves, Tony found himself wondering which plot of ground would have been his.

Or, perhaps, someday would be.

They were lucky - there wasn't much of a crowd. Steve was standing on the steps of the memorial amphitheater that overlooked the Tomb. Most people didn't realize it, but there was some confusion about the name of the Tomb. Some called it the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Others called it the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Steve saw Tony first and waved. Tony climbed the steps to stand next to him. Tony noticed that Steve was in full uniform. It was a modern uniform of a Captain in the U.S. Army. However, Tony didn't know the details well enough to understand that the ribbons on Steve's left breast - and there were a lot of them - represented awards, battles, and campaigns that had happened over 70 years ago. That incongruity would only have been obvious to another soldier.

"Steve," Tony greeted shortly.

"Glad you could make it," Steve replied. He seemed distracted. And, at least for now, not inclined to talk.

Tony found himself wondering what Steve was thinking. Of course, the Tomb existed before Steve's life was interrupted. In fact, it was built and dedicated when Steve was a boy. At the time, it held the unidentifiable remains of a serviceman who'd died in World War I. Since then, three more bodies had been interred in the Tomb. One each from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

As for the Tomb itself, Tony found himself approving of its subdued architecture. It was by no means large or ornate, but Tony knew that sometimes simplicity was the most elegant choice. In front of the Tomb, a lone guard in full dress uniform was carrying a bayoneted rifle at port arms. He was walking a very precise post, back and forth in front of the Tomb, his heels clicking with each step. Tony felt an instinctive distaste for what the guard was doing. After all, the dead didn't really need guards. And besides, the way the soldier was dressed and comporting himself went against the grain of Tony's somewhat arrogant sense of individuality. It was... was...

Robotic.

Tony forced himself not to smile. Odd that such a thought would occur to someone who was also known as Iron Man.

Minutes passed and Steve still didn't say anything as he stared contemplatively at the Tomb. Tony followed his example. He knew that Steve wanted something, but it seemed to Tony that it would be best to let Steve approach it in his own time.

Eventually, Steve broke his reverie and glanced at Tony.

"Let's go for a walk," he said.

"Tell me about DNA. And how they use it to identify bodies," Steve asked. He and Tony were wandering through the footpaths that circled their way through Arlington National Cemetary.

Tony blinked in surprise. Then, after taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he swung into a non-technical explanation of how DNA sequencing, sampling, and testing worked. It wasn't exactly Tony's area of expertise, but he had a decent grasp of the theory and the technology.

That happened a lot. Steve tended to call on Tony when it came to the scientific and technological details of the 21st century. Tony didn't mind. Steve's questions were usually quite intelligent and, sometimes, the act of explanation resulted in an interesting insight. Besides, despite all of their differences, Tony enjoyed spending time with Steve. There was something to the notion that opposites attract.

When Tony was done, Steve nodded and asked, "And that's why there won't be anymore unidentified soldiers for the Tomb?"

"Yes," Tony replied. "The military now maintains a DNA database of everyone who serves. So all remains are identifiable. However, that didn't happen until fairly recently."

Steve glanced back in the direction of the Tomb. "But they can sometimes make a DNA identification even if someone isn't in a... what did you call it? A database?"

Tony nodded. "You can compare one DNA sample with another and determine if they come from relatives. The closeness of the relationship can also be determined. Police forces do that regularly in cases where they have otherwise unidentifiable bodies."

"Why don't they do that for the unknowns in the Tomb?" Steve asked.

Tony hesitated before answering. "I don't know the details, but as I understand it, they aren't really looking for answers. Up until the 1970s, there were numerous remains that the medical technology of the time couldn't identify, but were definitely U.S. soldiers. One set of remains was chosen - more or less at random - and interred in the Tomb. And, yes, maybe they could sort it out given modern technology. But DNA isn't magic, Steve. For one thing, what if you couldn't find a relative in order to make the comparison? Say, if a soldier didn't have any living family? If you have a big enough population of people, some percentage of them will inevitably have that kind of history. And there are a lot of people in the military during a war."

Then Tony paused thoughtfully as he examined Steve's face.

Then something clicked in Tony's head. Part of the curse of being Tony Stark was that your mind never quite stopped working. It tended to find conclusions even when Tony wasn't looking for one.

"You know," Tony said slowly. "The unknown soldier from World War II. You know who it is."

Steve rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "After I got back, I tried looking up some of the men I served with during the war. They were all gone - none of them had made it that long. But at least I was able to visit their graves. All except for one. He vanished towards the end of the war."

"Steve, there were a lot of men who went missing in the war," Tony pointed out. "Only one of them went into the Tomb."

Steve nodded. "I used some sources in the Pentagon and in SHIELD. There were records that were supposed to have been sealed or destroyed... but the Army likes paperwork. Copies exist that almost nobody knows about. This guy was on a mission that didn't make it into the official histories, but it turns out that the time and place where he vanished are right. I assume that the secrecy was part of the reason his body wasn't identified. And the man I knew - he was adopted. He didn't know anything about his real family."

"Who is he?" Tony asked.

A distant smile appeared on Steve's face. "His name was Dugan. Timothy Aloysius Dugan. But he hated his first name and insisted everyone call him 'Dum-Dum' instead. He was a big guy from Boston who made Corporal real fast because he was the toughest man wherever he was assigned."

"Are you going to tell anyone?" Tony asked hesitantly.

Steve thought about that. Then he shrugged.

"We should let it rest," Steve said. "We should let him rest."

"So what was this Dugan fellow like?" Natasha asked. She and Steve were in one of those expensive and elegant bars that Natasha liked to frequent. Steve wasn't very comfortable in those kinds of places, but being with Natasha made up for that. He always seemed to relax around her.

Steve shrugged. "He was loud and bigger than life. He liked the ladies a little too much, and he liked to drink a little too much, and sometimes he didn't know when to stop talking, but he was definitely a guy you wanted watching your back."

Natasha smiled. She was wearing a long, black, dress and had her hair done up in a style that was decades out of fashion, but still striking. She looked like a woman from a different era. However, the look worked well for her. And it never occurred to Steve that sometimes she dressed that way deliberately - to give him a part of his past.

"When you put it that way, this Dugan fellow sounds a little like Tony," Natasha said mildly.

Steve blinked in surprise - and then laughed. "You're right."

It was dusk and Arlington was mostly empty.

Tony wasn't sure why he was back, but this time Pepper was with him. Her arm was linked with his as they stood together on the amphitheater steps that faced the Tomb.

Pepper was curious, but she didn't say anything as Tony pulled his father's old flask from his jacket pocket and used it to lift a quick salute towards the Tomb.

The whiskey in the flask was rougher and a lot less expensive than the brands that Tony normally favored. He'd deliberated chosen something that was solid, but appropriate to a man with a lot less money than Tony.

The whiskey burned its way down Tony's throat and gave his stomach a volcanic greeting. But it was good.

Then Tony handed the flask to Pepper.

"Why are we here, Tony?" Pepper asked as she eyed the flask.

Tony had to think about that for a moment before he answered, "Just saying goodbye. Goodbye to somebody I never met."

Pepper nodded, held the flask up, and said, "Here's to absent friends."

Then she took a drink.