Title: If Anyone Would Know

Summary: "You were my hero growing up, you know. He kept a lot of things secret from me, but you were the one thing he never shut up about." One-shot. Tony/Cap friendship. No pairing. Please read & review.

Rating: K

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: I saw "Avengers" last night, and it was so cool! I felt so bad for Loki, again…but I also got a real soft spot for Tony. And of course, I love Cap. And Hawkeye. And the whole team. XP Anyway, I was surprised at how apprehensive Tony was toward Cap, because I figured Howard would've told stories about him, and thus Cap would've been Tony's hero growing up. I was glad when Cap and Tony finally started getting along. :) So I decided to write this. It's set after the movie, after everybody goes their separate ways. On with the story~

Tony was working on Project Carcer with Bruce. After a lot of prompting from S.H.I.E.L.D., they'd finally agreed to do it. According to Romanov, it was a prototype design for a container for Loki in case he ever reappeared. If it worked. Not that Tony had any doubt, since he and Bruce were working on it, but just in case, they were working on backup plans, too.

At the moment, Tony was on the top floor, designing the outside of the container. "How the h*ll are we gonna do this…?" he muttered to himself. They'd noticed how Loki's staff couldn't penetrate the element keeping Tony alive. Now S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted him to try and create a whole cage out of it. That was a lot harder than anyone believed, no matter how many times Tony and Bruce tried telling them. Steve had teased a little about it, but in the end, he'd wished them luck and, although not aloud, admitted he had even less idea of how it could be applied to the cage than anyone.

"Captain Rogers is here to see you," Jarvis said, getting Tony's attention. "Shall I let him in?"

Tony glanced up, surprised. Sure, he and Steve got along much better now than they had at the start, but Steve was still the second-to-last person he expected to show up, only after Thor since Goldilocks was on Asgard. It went unsaid, but Tony knew that being around Howard's son only added to the culture shock. "Sure, let him in. Nobody's playing Galaga in here, though. Might want to warn him about that," he said, waving a hand over the screen and pushing the Carcer designs off-screen.

The door opened, and Steve walked in. He looked a little surprised at all the equipment, but overall, he seemed casual enough. "Director Fury is pushing for the team to get back together," he said in a quick explanation. "I figured I'd come and check on how things are going with you and Banner."

"Mm-hm. Getting Fury off your back, huh?" Tony walked around to the bar stand, grabbing two glasses and pouring them full. Steve shrugged, accepting the glass with a grin. "You know, I get that they want us to have the whole 'team bonding time' or whatever, but they're trying too hard to babysit us," Tony said, walking over to the couch and motioning that Steve could join him. "I mean, come on. We're all adults. We don't need to have someone holding our hand and walking us across the street, trying to get us to the park to play with others."

"That tired of being stuck in here, huh?" Steve said, grinning at him as he took a seat, leaning back on the couch. "I thought you'd be in a good mood, with your private playground and all." Tony half-glared at him, sitting on the other side of the couch and pulling up the footrest. "After all, you said yourself that you don't play well with others."

"Very funny. You should be a comedian or something. Side job when we're not out saving the world," Tony said sarcastically. He took a sip of his drink and made a face. "This tastes terrible. I think Pepper added something to it after I fell asleep."

"And when was that?" Steve's tone was teasing.

"I think around four in the morning." Tony could see it in Steve's eyes. He was being a little too casual, a bit too lighthearted. "Seriously, Steve. What are you here for?" Steve faked a surprised look well enough, but Tony wouldn't have that. "Come on. I'm not an idiot."

Hesitating, Steve looked down at the glass in his hand. He didn't want to admit the truth to Tony, that he wanted to see if Tony was the same way about his work that Howard had been. As much as he wanted to pretend he had adjusted, too much still left his head spinning. A lot of things confused him in this time. Seventy years left plenty to get used to. At the moment, he just wanted something familiar, which was almost an impossible wish. "…You can't believe I'm just here for a drink, huh?"

"Nope," Tony answered without missing a beat, taking another sip.

"…I was wondering," Steve started finally.

"Here we go," Tony said. "What is it now? Pay-per-view's ridiculous pricing? Nintendo?"

"About Howard."

That was the last thing Tony was expecting. He stiffened a little, his slightly-widened eyes darting over to Steve's face. "Oh," he said shortly, setting the glass down. "I'm not the best person to ask about him."

"He was your father," Steve said, watching him.

"That doesn't mean—" Tony closed his eyes, shaking his head to try and get his head cleared. "I told you, he and I weren't exactly—"

"Close, yeah." Steve nodded. "But either way, you're the only one I know now who knew him."

"Fury did," Tony said, surprising Steve. "Apparently Dad was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founding members. One more thing I didn't know back then."

Steve shook his head, smiling a little. "That sounds like Howard." He bit his tongue, realizing a second too late what he'd said. "I mean founding S.H.I.E.L.D., not…"

"Yeah. I know." Tony shrugged emotionlessly. He set his drink on the table, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees. "That's how Dad was. Never told me anything except on video that I wouldn't find until way later." He glanced at Steve. "…Never shut up about you, though."

Steve looked surprised. "Howard talked about me?"

"All the time," Tony said. He could still remember perfectly how his father would sit on the edge of his bed sometimes, late at night when Tony was too young to know not to go to Howard when he couldn't sleep. Howard would tell the tall tales of Captain America's transformation from a skinny little thing into the hero of World War 2, Captain America's trips into Nazi Germany to rescue the Allies' soldiers, Captain America's brave sacrifice to end Hydra and hide the cube, Captain America this, Captain America that. It was no wonder that Tony had idolized and hated him at the same time. When he had grown out of the idolization, even he didn't know. "Telling me stories about you was the only way to get me off his back. No offense."

"No, no, it's just…" Steve's eyes were still wide. "Did Howard really talk about me that much?"

"Most of the times he talked to me," Tony said honestly, drumming his fingers against his palm. "What, are you seriously that surprised?"

"Well…yeah," Steve admitted. "I mean, I guess I hoped that Peggy would talk about me, but I didn't think much about if Howard would."

"I'm sure Dad would understand. After all, you were frozen for the past seventy years; you really didn't have time to think about if he'd talk about you," Tony said matter-of-factly. Steve laughed a little. Tony grinned, but the grin slipped off his face to be replaced with a more serious expression. "You were my hero growing up, you know. He kept a lot of things secret from me, but you were the one thing he never shut up about."

That really made Steve's eyes go wide. "…Thanks," he said after a moment of shock. "You know, you aren't half-bad yourself, Tony. Knowing Howard, he'd be extremely proud of you."

Tony shrugged, but now he was smiling for real. "If anyone would know, you would."

Captain America and Iron Man are both so cool~ I'm going to see this movie again tomorrow, and believe me, I'll be getting more quotes and such. ;) Also, don't worry, I've got chapter 2 of Not Quite Eye to Eye up, too, and I'm working on that, if anyone cares to check out my "Thor" fanfictions. *hint hint wink wink* *laugh* Please review!