Epilogue

Time flew by and Tony found himself surprised by just how much he missed them. And not just Steve, either. All of the Avengers had somehow managed to carve themselves a place on Tony's short list of friends. He wasn't quite sure it made sense, given that they'd been non-corporeal for about seventy-five percent of the time he'd known them. Relatively speaking, they were practically strangers. But he missed them anyway. The house seemed emptier than ever with only him, Vision and Jarvis living there.

Occasionally he would catch word about a mysterious redhead preventing a bio-droid from killing a family of four in California, or an archer of unknown origin taking down several United World Council-run surveillance beacons in Oklahoma. And then there were rumours about a dark-skinned man with wings flying around Washington, helping with relief efforts and chasing away looters. Unsurprisingly, the least subtle was the Hulk, who showed up in the middle of a loud and violent mob in West Virginia that had been attempting to destroy a large memorial statue dedicated to the creation of the United World Council. His sudden appearance put an immediate stop to the escalating violence. According to the videos posted onto the Network hub, the Hulk's eyes narrowed at the shocked mob, which prompted them to back away, opening up a path for him. At which point the Hulk had stomped up to the monument, flared his nostrils and then brought both fists down, instantly smashing it into many smaller pieces. He'd then turned and looked at crowd with an expression that seemed to say 'And that's how it's done'. Two weeks later, Culver University's student council voted unanimously to become the home of the Mighty Hulks. For some reason, Jarvis had seemed especially amused about that one.

And then there was Steve. Steve, who'd become a Network darling – and the Networks didn't do darlings. In the same way they used to look up to spot the Flying City, people now watched the roads in hopes of catching a glimpse of the blond man and his antique motorcycle. And whenever he stopped somewhere, he immediately drew a crowd eager to hear his stories. Superheroes had been vigilantes, unlawful, their stories buried by people and time. It was as though a dam had burst and now that they could, people craved those stories. The Networks were full of tales telling of the deeds of the Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Daredevil, Ms Marvel, Captain America, and the Avengers thanks to Steve, Shield and collectors who were coming out of the woodwork, bringing with them old comic books and videos that had been hidden away for centuries like the most precious contraband.

The Stark Industries Museum got itself a new wing (otherwise known as a large room) dedicated to Captain America and the Avengers. It even included one of Anthony Stark's old Iron Man suits.

The Avengers themselves remained in the wind. They didn't call, they didn't write, and Tony didn't initiate contact, stubbornly refusing to be the first to cave. He wanted them to miss him as much as he missed them.

Finally, about a year later, they began trickling back. Tony wasn't sure if they'd somehow been in contact with each other, had agreed to it ahead of time, or just knew each other well enough that the decision had been instinctual, like a migrating gaggle of wayward geese. He never asked either. The year had gone by so quickly between rebuilding and containing the chaos that the eradication of several levels of government had inevitably caused, and working with Jan on his own crusade – their crusade. Not everyone was horrified to realize bio-droids were living creatures. Some, predictably, didn't care. The human race was nice like that. It made Jan livid with fury, and Tony all the more determined to be heard.

In other words, he might've been a bit distracted.

All he knew was that one morning he walked into the kitchen to find Natasha calmly sipping coffee as she browsed through the Network's news digests on a Stark holo-bracelet. Vision sat beside her serenely drinking tea (Tony still couldn't believe the bio-droid preferred tea to coffee: by all rights he should have absorbed a love of coffee through osmosis). The scene was so matter-of-fact and unremarkable that he couldn't think of anything to do or say without considerable awkwardness. So he poured himself coffee and sat down to join them.

She seamlessly slotted into his life as his self-appointed shadow. Unsurprisingly, not everyone was happily willing to give bio-droids their freedom of will and corresponding rights. They were created in a lab and designed to serve, they're not actually human but genetic experiments, was their reasoning. Natasha did a good job of making sure their negative opinions remained just words. She was very good at it.

Bruce, he found puttering around in his lab one day. He'd come home exhausted, but desperate to get away from anything resembling people. Vision was out with a group of Shield operatives – and Lieutenant Hunter, who had managed to somehow get adopted by the Shield group for no reason other than persistence and a rather impressive alcohol tolerance – and therefore wasn't around to nag him about eating first. Tony had taken the drawing room elevator down to the Super Secret Stark Lab and peeked into Bruce's lab out of habit as he passed by. Only to stop, blink, and then double-back to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Bruce was wearing his lab coat and carefully measuring metal shavings of some sort on a lab scale. He looked like he'd been there for hours at least. The sad part was, Tony had been so busy that he wasn't sure Bruce hadn't, in fact, arrived days before. He'd grinned and slipped into the lab to take a look at what the other man was working on. Because Bruce didn't count as people, he was a scientist.

The next day, Tony heard sound coming from the entertainment room when he came home and went to investigate. There he found Natasha and Vision, along with Wanda, her brother Pietro, surrounded by popcorn, beer and other snacks settling in for a movie night. And Sam and Clint, who greeted Tony loudly. They were at least willing to acknowledge they'd just arrived and hadn't been here the whole time.

Also, Steve had been right. Batman was awesome.

The manor once again became noisy, full of people. More Avengers also meant more Shield operatives hanging around – they took turns bringing beer and pizza so Tony allowed them to stay. It also started to mean movie nights and games nights, and just lounging around getting drunk and laughing-at-the-world nights. Sometimes Pepper and Rhodey joined them. It was nice. Tony had never had many social events that didn't come loaded with fancy suits, expectations and pressures. Though calling bumming out in the entertainment room in pyjamas a 'social event' was probably stretching the definition a bit.

Yet there was a hole in the manor that wasn't being filled. Every day, Tony woke up, wondering if today was the day Steve would finally come home. And every night – okay, night-ish – he would go to bed disappointed. Natasha, of course, noticed the way his face fell after he looked around the kitchen in the morning and found it still lacking a Steve-shaped presence. As they were leaving for the day, she placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a rare, understanding smile.

"He'll be back, Tony," she said, her eyes just a bit sad. "It's just that, out of all of us, he has the most graves to visit."

Tony had nodded to her. He understood, but understanding didn't make the ache in his chest any smaller. Sometimes, he was ashamed to admit, he felt angry, jealous that all those dead people seemed to mean more to Steve than he did. Which was what, eventually, made him realized he was in love with him. That was a bit unexpected. It didn't help when, a month after Natasha had shown up, Steve suddenly dropped off the radar.

There were no new sightings, no new stories. Speculation was rife on the Network with theories as to what had happened to him. Had someone allied with the United World Council killed him? Had his nearly three hundred years of age suddenly caught up with him? Was he secretly saving the world again? He'd gone as far as England, visiting the grave of a Lord James Falsworth and then spending an evening regaling the local pub with more stories from his World War Two days with the Howling Commandos. It was the last anyone had seen of him.

Thor appeared in the midst of an extremely localized storm with a crash of thunder and a flash of light. Subtle, wasn't apparently a word Asgardians had much use for. He grinned widely at Tony and, after an embrace that felt a bit like an endurance exercise, introduced him to the Lady Sif and three other Asgardians, each of whom was carrying at least one barrel of mead. Tony instantly forgave him for the newly scorched design on his back lawn. He would just have to keep Pepper away from it for a while.

They were somewhere into their second day of celebrations – and Tony wondered if anyone actually knew what they were celebrating – when he returned from a trip to the kitchens to find Director Barnes sitting on the large couch next to a passed-out Clint. He was idly watching Jan and Pirouette as they browsed through the Network's fashion blogs and mercilessly mocked the newest superhero-themed designs. Well, Jan was mercilessly mocking them, Pirouette was a shy, amused presence at her side. Barnes must've felt Tony's eyes on him, because he looked over and then raised a glass in Tony's direction.

And, suddenly, Tony just knew. Without another word, he turned and fled the room, running towards the front hall on legs that should've been clumsy with alcohol. Steve was just coming down the stairs from the bedrooms when he got there. They both froze in their steps and stared at the other.

Steve cleared his throat, his eyes carefully neutral. "You gave Vision my room."

Tony blinked. Of all the things he'd expected Steve to say, that wasn't one of them. "Umm... yes? I mean, he needed a room and to be honest I hadn't actually realized it was your room at the time..." Was Steve angry with him? His face was blank Tony couldn't read.

"So I put my things in your room."

It was a statement, but Tony wasn't so far gone that he couldn't hear the soft, unspoken question in the phrase, the little hint of vulnerability in how Steve was no longer quite looking at him. He swallowed and shrugged. "Eh, probably better in the long run. It'll save us moving it all in later."

Intense blue eyes looked into his, the blankness slowly melting away. "Yeah?" Steve asked, his lips curling into a smile.

Tony grinned back. "Absolutely."

Steve's smile became radiant. Tony decided he would move mountains for that smile. He would launch a thousand Iron Man armours for that smile. Then Steve lowered his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "So, I've been on the road for the past few days. Think I could really use a shower before I'm fit to join any company."

Tony nodded. "Okay, then I'll leave you to do that and I'll tell the others you're here."

"Tony." Steve was giving him a very pointed look. "I've seen your shower. It's huge."

"Yes, it is – oh, right, yes it is, it most certainly is." He stumbled as he hurried up the stairs. "Sorry, it's the Asgaridan mead. Has quite the kick to it. And apparently goes straight to my brain, makes me miss the obvious."

Steve's laughter was just as beautiful as ever.

They were half-way down the hall to his – no, their – room, when Tony suddenly realized something. He paused and turned to Steve. "So, before you left you said that you're good with anniversaries, but the anniversary of the Mandarin's defeat was, like, three weeks ago. You're a bit late."

Steve's eyes became sad. "Yeah, but not that it's not great that we saved the world and all, but that's just sort of what we do. As an anniversary it's not really all that important to us. But tomorrow... tomorrow's the anniversary of Anthony's death."

Tony's eyes widened. "Oh. I didn't know that."

Steve quirked his lips. "Wouldn't have expected you to. Besides, none of us are really much for public displays of grief. I imagine they all know where his grave is and they'll visit it at some point. I'd like it if you went with me, though, if you don't mind."

Tony reached up to caress Steve's cheek and then brought him down for a tender kiss. "Of course I'll go with you," he whispered into his lips. Then he pulled back and made a point of looking back towards the door to the rest of the manor. "So how long do you suppose we have before we're missed?"

Steve shrugged. "Day two of Asgardian mead? We probably won't be missed for hours."

"Hours, huh?"

"Hours."

The next day, the Avengers were a bit subdued, but if anyone other than Tony noticed, they didn't comment. Every once in a while, Tony would look up and notice one of them gone, but he could never be sure how long they'd been gone for.

Except for Thor, who did nothing quietly. "My friends, you must excuse me for a short time," he'd announced, his face more serious than Tony ever remembered seeing it. "I have some important business I must attend to. But have no fear, I shall return."

He was gone for about an hour and then came back with grief shadowed in his eyes, but a jovial grin on his face, and cracked open another barrel of mead.

It was nearly dusk when Steve finally took Tony to the graveyard. They took Steve's motorcycle, Tony hanging on for dear life because the roads really were horrible and Steve was an especially reckless driver when there was no one else around. The gravestone was easy to find, not only for its size, but because it showed evidence of its visitors. Someone had placed a large, translucent dome-shaped security container – of the sort that museums and jewellery stores used for their most precious pieces – just in front of the gravestone. The name 'Anthony Edward Stark' was still visible in bold letters behind the dome, but the dome's contents were what caught his eye.

There were flowers surrounding the grave, of course, but the Avengers weren't really people who said things with flowers. The most prominent item inside the dome was a framed photograph of the Avengers. Iron Man was noticeably missing, but in his place, Anthony Stark beamed proudly at the camera between a fully-suited Captain America and the Hulk. In front of the frame sat a small card with a picture of Iron Man and the red Avenger's logo in the background. Surrounding the frame was an arrow, a sleek, sharp-looking combat knife, a single metal feather, a pitcher of what looked like Asgardian mead and an old, burnt-out Iron Man gauntlet holding a stoppered vial.

Steve took in the dome and its contents and smiled around the tears in his eyes. He reached into his cloth messenger bag and pulled out a bottle of scotch. Tony recognized it instantly. It was one of the bottles Anthony had left down in his workshop. Then Steve pulled out two glasses, handing Tony one. Tony remained silent, somehow sensing that whatever personal ritual Steve was performing, it required silence. He settled down on the grass in front of the grave and watched as Steve unstopped the bottle.

Steve poured them each a glass of the scotch and then poured out half the bottle onto Anthony's grave. Tony smiled softly. Yeah, that was a fitting tribute to a Stark. Somehow, he was sure Anthony would've appreciated it.

"Anthony," he heard Steve say softly, just loud enough for Tony to catch. "You were a good friend, and a great partner even if I didn't know it was you inside the armour. I wish I had. I wish you had trusted us with your secret, but most of all I wish you were still here. When I woke up in a strange new world and discovered that time had gone on without me while I slept, you helped me find my footing. I'm sorry that, in the end, we left you alone, but I'm glad you managed to find the strength to move on, to not let our loss rule your life like it had your father's. I'm also glad that you planned ahead. You called yourself a futurist, were looking ahead even if you couldn't ever entirely forget what had happened before. I'm sure you'd be happy to know it saved our lives and a lot of others. Not that it surprises me. No matter what you thought about yourself, Anthony, you were a good man. I hope you managed to find peace and forgiveness before the end. I also hope that you knew that no matter how much time passes, you will always be an Avenger. And that I'll always miss you. Rest in peace, my friend."

His piece said, Steve stepped back and then sat down on the grass next to Tony, placing the bottle between them. They sat drinking in companionable silence until the bottle was empty. And before they left, Steve placed the empty bottle inside the dome, along with a pastel drawing he pulled out of his messenger bag, securing it behind them. Tony took a few moments to stare at the picture of a laughing Steve in his Captain America suit, cowl pulled off his head and his arm around Iron Man's shoulder. Iron Man had his faceplate up to reveal the laughing face of Anthony Stark. He couldn't help the small smile on his face as he followed Steve out of the graveyard.

Once outside, Steve's movements suddenly became rushed. Tony laughed as he practically threw the motorcycle helmet at him. "Woah, what's the rush Steve?"

Steve raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, we don't wanna miss the party."

Tony's eyebrows rose. "Uh, I hate to break it to you, but we've spent the last three days partying."

"Yeah, but that was to celebrate the lives of the old Avengers, of Anthony and Ms Marvel and the others who aren't with us anymore." He got onto the motorcycle and started the engine. "Tonight we're celebrating our newest team members."

Tony grinned and hopped onto the back of the bike. "Well count me in on that one, Cap."

"Just hang on, Shellhead."

"Shellhead? Seriously, you're going to go there, Spangles?"

"Just hang on."

"No, really, you're actually going to – woah!"

Tony's grin only grew wider as they drove back to Stark Manor. Oh, who was he kidding? Even the Network gossips were calling it the Avengers Manor. Who was he to argue?

Thanks so much for coming along for the ride! I hope you had fun. :) And to those of you waiting for me to update my other stories: so sorry for the delay, but there should be updates soon.