Kitsune here with the next TIME! Thanks for all you wonderful reviewers. I love you all. As some of you know, things have not been going too great in my family right now, so I've been focusing more on that than writing. Mostly because Family first, and when I'm depressed my writing suffers from extreme bouts of violence and dark scenes. So…. not good for my stories like this. I'm working on it, and with the help of amazing friends like WeRunYonder I'm getting back to the point where I feel like I can write. Which is good because I miss it.

Question of the chapter: Did you see CA: "Civil War? What did you think of THE KISS?" Personally I thought it was tacky and out of place. The woman's favorite aunt just died. She barely knows Steve, he barely knows her. It came off as him replacing Peggy with her in a way on one level. And on another level, what Marvel? Too threatened by the 'possible' homosexual overtones of Steve and Tony's bromance that you had to hetero Steve up? The only redeeming part was the look on Sam and Bucky's faces.

Tony woke with the usual start to Bruce puttering too close to him, his heart beating a mile a minute, thank you very much Ten Rings, despite having worked himself to exhaustion not long before. Only long practice kept him from even abortively twitching as he realized it was just Bruce and not a threat. It wasn't the first time one of his friends had cleaned up after one of his inventing frenzies, and it wouldn't be the last. They all were convinced that when Tony Stark crashed after one of the now famous bouts he crashed hard, and while once upon a time that might have been true, it wasn't any longer. Though Tony knew they wouldn't look at him any differently if they knew the truth, they were all broken on some level after all, it did usually provide a good opportunity for shopping and more often than not it was easy to drift back to sleep after whatever had woken him in the first place moved on.

This time however, the sound of Bruce leaving the apartment had Tony sitting up on the shared bed with a frown. Bruce was way too considerate to do something like that without good reason. So reluctantly the genius got up to see what had caused his friend to abandon him. He naturally disregarded the note as trivial and overly simplistic, assuming he had accidentally invented something that had caused the timid man distress. It wouldn't be the first time, and as much as it may pain Tony to admit it, he highly doubted it was going to be the last time. JARVIS usually stopped him before he made something too dangerous, but stranded in the past as they were right now he had only himself to rely on which wasn't exactly the best of things. Not with years of conditioning telling him to make weapons. Sometimes he really hated himself.

Pushing those thoughts forcefully to the side as counter-productive the genius followed his friend through the streets. Bruce was ridiculously easy to tail for a man who had been on the lam for a number of years and he was once again glad that JARVIS had a subroutine going that had scrambled any news of sightings involving one very weary Bruce Banner. Not that Bruce knew this, and Tony sure as hell wasn't going to tell him he'd been watching the other's back since well before the whole Avengers thing first started. It'd be awkward. There might be hugging, especially if Thor found out.

Anyway, what it meant was Tony was intimately familiar with Bruce-y Boy's habits when it came to navigating a city, and his friend was an easy mark to tail. Not that Tony had practice escaping notice or anything… honestly the first thing he'd learned even before how to attract attention was how not to. Hell, he might not be on Nat or Clint's level, but he was damn good when he wanted to be. Which was usually never. Except when tailing his friend, who was doing a horrible job of being subtle. What was Bruce even thinking? His whole posture screamed 'up to something' from a block away. Damn idiot was going to get mugged and that wouldn't be good for anyone involved.

And he was getting distracted again just thinking about the last time someone had tried that. But no so distracted he missed the Muscled Bound Morons in Suits following Bruce down the street. Jesh, they were worse at the whole Stealth thing then Banner. That's it, when they got back to their New York, he was having Nat show Bruce-y how to do it. It was just painful to watch him try to dodge a tail. Seriously how did he manage to survive all that time on his own? A five year old could do….and he was down. Well that's just great. He wasn't going to let him live this one down after he busted him out of whatever hiding place these goons stashed him away in.

Speaking of, a quick glance down at his own apparel, an ACDC shirt and a well loved pair of grease stained jeans had Tony looking for the nearest place to buy a suit. If that just so happened to take him past one of those slick looking cars he would bet a latte on belonging to the Muscle Bound Morons, well. Just gave him a chance to try out that new tiny tracker he built a few days ago. Wasn't like he was any Steve Rogers to go running down the streets of Manhattan after a car. Which the paparazzi had had a field day with thank you very much, you overgrown golden retriever. That came with his own Frisbee….

The door chimed pleasantly as Tony let himself into the swank looking store, fingering the money clip in his pocket. "Ah, yes, hello." He smiled brightly at the man coming around the counter with a disapproving frown on his face.

"What can I do for you….sir?" He could see the man's lip curl in distaste.

"I need a suit."

"Then might I suggest the store on sixth street? It caters to people of your… means."

Hadn't this fool ever heard of the customer was always right? Gesh. This was why Tony liked giving lots of money to those in need and sending them into posh stores. One, it got them what they needed, and two, the look on those snobs faces was totally worth it. "Only if they have better quality than this. Don't suppose you have anything Italian? No? Didn't think so." He pulled out the money clip and casually waved it before pocketing it again, "You know, I just hate buying off the rack, but since my tailor won't be born for another forty years or so I've been making due. So. Wow me. Or, well, you know. Try."

"Right away, sir! Come this way!" It was so predictable how a little bit of money changed people's tunes. "What are you looking for today in our fine establishment?"

"Well, since I doubt you have anything armani…" He enjoyed the tightening around the man's eyes a little too much. "I'm looking for something in a nice obsidian black. Maybe a midnight black if you have it." He said, allowing the man to measure him.

"Right away, sir." Right away his ass. The man came back with three suits the exact same shade of black. Damn the 1940's anyway. Tony briefly considered asking for something in charcoal instead, but a quick glance around the store showed the suit selection was either a blue he would not be intimidating in, a grey he was look washed out in, or this flat black. "Will this color do, sir?"

Tony bit back a sigh. "Yeah, it'll work just fine." And then he could always burn it after today. He slid on the first jacket, knowing his shoulders tended to be more difficult to fit than his narrow waist. Mechanic's build and all that. "I'll need a shirt and accessories, of course."

"But of course. Any special requests?"

"Red for the tie." Hell if he was giving up his colors. Bruce better appreciate this, because not only was Tony wearing an inferior suit, he was letting a stranger touch him, and then he was going to have to get into a taxi. Tony repressed a shudder at the thought. The things he did for his friends were never appreciated.

Before long he was dressed and ready to take on the fools that thought kidnapping The Hulk was a good idea. Granted they didn't know who The Hulk was in this time, but still it wasn't a good idea to go kidnapping people off the street. Those thoughts got him through the unhappy taxi ride where he used his watch's tracking screen to find where those damn people had taken his friend. When he's shouted "HERE! Stop here!" Had the taxi driver slamming on the breaks so Tony could slip out of the vehicle, Tony was sure to pass the man a five-note on top of the faire, which was less than a dollar. Really, it wasn't much considering what a horrible passenger he knew he was normally, let alone following a tiny screen on a watch, but the man earned it. Public service work sucked. Still, the guy looked grateful enough though he didn't look back as he pulled out. Tony didn't blame him at all.

Instead he looked up at the building those oh-so-inconspicuous cars were parked in front of. "Bell Telephone company and services, Inc.," He read out loud, lips twitching in a small smile. "Like that doesn't scream cliche front. You'd think they'd do better. What with an actual telephone company just a few blocks away. I know we rode past it. Jesh, I know it's a city, but it's the 40's. How many phone companies are there? Two? Three? This is just sad….." He smiled winningly at the woman at the reception desk. "Hi there, darling. Mr. Ironman here. I'm not expected, but, well. I've got a meeting with one of your bosses."

Flushing slightly the woman looked down, undoubtedly glancing at both the public visitor list and the more restricted list while Tony congratulated himself on still having it even in the past. "Um, I don't see you on the list, Mr. Ironman, was it?"

"That's because I don't have an appointment, dear. But trust me, your boss is gonna want to meet with me."

"Listen if you're selling something…."

"No, your other boss."

"..." Her look became frozen.

And Tony smiled brightly, "But I might be able to sell them some stuff, if that'd make you feel better. You're into spy tech, right? How about this nifty watch here? It's a tracking device, and if you look really close at the watch face-" he pressed the two bottom prongs on the watch simultaneously as he held it up to the unsuspecting woman, releasing a small yet potent dose of knock out gas from the vents on the side of the watch face. He managed to prevent her from clocking her head on the desk and gently laid it down on her paperwork. "Not really sorry about that. Now…. if I were a super secret spy-like group that was hiding in a lame place like this, where would I put the entrance to my lair….?"

He spotted the sign that said "Operator's only." and grinned. "Yatzy."

Behind the door was a sight he was pretty sure was only partially staged. A line of women sat at a long wall of phone switchboards, overly large headsets on as they connected calls. Squaring his shoulders, Tony walked to the end of the line like he knew what he was doing, being sure to mutter under his breath. "Honestly, calling me in because of a 'suspicious' guy they found on the streets? Probably some poor paranoid fool having flashbacks to the war- be a doll and buzz me in, eh?" The woman didn't even bother looking up, falling for Tony's act even as the condescending tone he used with her grated on his own nerves. "Thanks, sweetcheeks. The Missus is gonna love this…." he continued to mutter as the door she opened with a hidden switch closed behind him.

And he was in. Now all he had to do was find Bruce. Tony might have gotten this far on subterfuge but he knew better than to try it to weasel out where they were keeping his Science-bro. So, it looked like he was going to be trying every single closed door. As luck, and a growling stomach, would have it the first door he tried seemed to be some sort of break room. Spotting a vending machine holding a variety of snacks he put his search on hold as he fished out a few cents and bought a couple of bags of raisinets. Wasn't as good as blueberries, but it was better than nothing for his grumbling stomach.

So now came the tough part. Trying the first door it was just a simple storage closet. As was the next one. The one after that was an empty office, and beyond that was what looked like a bull pen in a police station. Tony wisely headed the other direction. Trying those doors the first one was an empty room with two chairs facing a window into another room. Tony couldn't keep the grin off his face s he realized he was looking at an empty interrogation room. Clint would have loved it. Figuring he'd find Bruce in one of these rooms he started to open every second door, figuring it was better to find his friend than the lame fools watching him. The next few rooms were predictably empty, and as he heard the clacking of high heels approaching he popped open the next door, expecting it to be empty as well.

Seeing three people the first words out of Tony's mouth were, "Sorry wrong room," as he shut the door. Frowning at his hand he processed what he had just seen before plastering a wide fake smile on his face to hide his anger. "Actually, no, no this is the right room. Hia Brucey!"

"Who the hell are you?!" One of them men asked.

Tony smirked, hopping up to sit on the table next to where Bruce's hands were chained. "Tony Ironman. Raisinet? No? Bruce?" He held out one of the bags and started to eat, legs swinging as no one took him up on his offer.

"How'd you-"

"Get here? Easy really. For a secret base, this place was ridiculously easy to find. Also, your security is lax. Come on, the poor woman at the front desk was a breeze, and those other nice ladies? Really, you need to teach your people to check ID's." He turned to Bruce, "There's a reason Happy is so into ID checks you know. And YOU! You should be ashamed of yourself. Can't even tell when you're being tailed."

Bruce let out a long suffering sigh, "How much sleep did you get, Tony?"

"Before you started puttering around the place and left to get kidnapped? Maybe five minutes?"

"Tony…."

"Nope. You're not living this down. You got kidnapped. Again. Training with Nat. No escape."

By now the two… Tony was going to call them Agents, because they had that agent-y feel, seemed quite put out with him. "What are you-"

"Power play." Tony replied, popping a few more of the candies into his mouth. "This right here, total power play. See, you two, you come in here and try to tag team my buddy Brucey here. That's the most obvious use of power play. Then I come in and, well. Sure you don't want a raisinet?"

There was a knock on the mirrored window.

"Better go boys, someone is yanking your leash." Tony grinned before turning his attention to Bruce. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, Tony."

"Fine my ass. Who are these goons?" He asked, reaching out for Bruce's handcuffed hands.

"No clue. Where'd you get the suit?"

"Little shop somewhere downtown. Horrible place. Now don't change the subject. What had you bustling out of the room so fast?"

"Tony, you really need to stop tinkering when you've gotten no sleep."

"I got sleep three days ago-"

"And you turned the radio into a laser."

"Oh." He finished picking the locks, "Oops."