Hey guys...please don't kill me. I know I haven't updated any of my stories in forever and I'm really sorry. I don't have any excuse except that I got Netflix and it ruined my life. Well, I won't keep you waiting any longer, here's chapter 5!
Chapter 5
"Where are you going?" Steve asked, hopping off the sofa and starting to follow Clint to the elevator. The archer, who was in full battle gear, stopped and turned around to look at the boy, sighing.
"I'm going to find Tony, go wait over there, Peter will be here any minute to watch you guys." Steve glared at him.
"I want to help too!"
"Sorry, buddy, go sit down." Clint's voice was strained, trying to stay calm. Things were aggravating enough without a little Captain America asking about his every move and refusing to behave.
"No." Steve replied, walking towards the elevator. Clint grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"Steve, I'm going to tell you one last time. Go sit down." Steve looked him right in the eye.
"No." Clint let his arm go and walked away.
"Steve! Go sit down or I swear to god you will never see Tony again!" As he reached the elevator he realised that that had been a little rough. He turned around to see the boy still standing there, seemingly unfazed.
"No." Clint groaned dramatically, trying to relieve the tension. He even smirked a little.
"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" He finally got into the elevator.
"Does that mean I can come?" The elevator closed as Clint smiled.
"No." Steve sighed and walked back over to the sofa where the other kids were waiting impatiently.
"We have to find Tony." He told them.
"But they said not to." Bruce complained. "We'll get in trouble if we leave."
"Our friend is out there, guys! What if he's hurt? What if he's scared and all alone?" Steve argued with them.
"Steve, I think we should stay here." Bucky told him and surprisingly everyone else nodded their heads.
"Fine!" The opposing boy yelled, stomping a foot and turning on his heel. "I'll just go by myself then!" Ignoring the others, who were calling his name, he got into the elevator and pressed the button that took him to the first floor.
He easily snuck out of the tower, with all the SHIELD agents in the lobby you would think they would have noticed a small boy racing out the front door, but they were all so occupied with finding Tony that they didn't even see him.
Once Steve got outside, however, he realised he had no clue where to even start looking. He decided to pick a direction and just keep walking, that way he would easily be able to find his way home and not get lost too.
He walked down the street, ducking into alleys when he saw a SHIELD agent, and eventually made it into a dimly lit street.
To be honest, he was a little bit scared. Okay, more than a little bit. This didn't look anything like it did just last week when he and Bucky were racing home from school. Everything was so different, there were lights everywhere, yelling, it was way dirtier. It almost made him want to back to the tower.
However, he knew Tony was somewhere out there on the streets, too, and he was probably just as scared. So, Steve kept walking. The alley, though, kept getting darker and dirtier. Soon, it was almost too dark to see. He was about to turn around and head back to the tower, he wasn't helping anyway, when he heard a sniffle. It had come from just around the corner and Steve ran forward, abandoning all worry he had before about the dark and focusing on one single thing: finding Tony. A grin spread across his face as he saw the long dark hair of his friend.
"Tony!" Tony looked up from his position on the ground. He had his knees hugged to his chest and his back against a graffitied wall.
"Steve?" The boy replied back, more surprised than anything. "How did you find me?" He stood up, anger now creeping into his voice. "No, I don't care, just leave me alone!" He began to run off, but Steve grabbed his arm.
"Tony, wait." Surprisingly, the younger boy stopped struggling and turned to him with teary eyes.
"What? Are you going to make fun of me again, Captain America." He spat and Steve looked him in the eyes, confused.
"What do you mean? Why would I make fun of you?"
"Well, you did it before! Calling me a nerd, calling me stupid!" The blond haired kid looked back at the moment.
"I wasn't trying to be mean, I'm sorry. That's just...that's how I treat people I want to be friends with. No one has ever wanted to hang out with me before, I'm annoying and all, I know, so the only friend I ever really had was Bucky. Bucky and me always used to tease each other-"
"Bucky and I." Tony interrupted, no emotion in his voice.
"What?"
"You said 'Bucky and me', use proper grammar, it would be 'Bucky and I'." Steve stared at him.
"Um, okay? Bucky and I always tease each other, I thought that's just how friends acted to each other."
"Are we, then?"
"Are we what?"
"Friends?" Steve laughed a little bit.
"I hope so….I mean, I would like to be." It was silent for a moment.
"But you don't like me as much as Bucky." He said this so defeatedly that it made Steve want to pull him into a hug.
"It's not like that! It's not that I like him any more than you, it's just I've known him longer." He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "See, this whole thing is so weird. One minute, I'm in the year 1929. Next minute, I'm here, in 2000 something-"
"2016."
"Yeah, well, things are really strange here-"
"Not strange. Not weird. Just different. I know you said earlier you were scared of change, but there's nothing really to be scared of. Change is really good, I would love a good change from everything, something that shaped my future. I mean, look at you! You become Captain America! I'm sure that included a lot of change, but you turned out pretty amazing. Arthur Rubinstein said "Of course there is no formula for success except, perhaps, an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings." You should just accept that things are going to come and things are going to go, but that doesn't mean it's bad, or scary. It's just change." Steve looked at him in a mixture of awe and surprise.
"Why do you quote so much? And don't just answer with a quote!" He said quickly and Tony shrugged.
"If I quote what someone else says, they can't say it's stupid, or yell at me for saying something wrong, because they aren't my words."
"Do a lot of people do that?" Steve asked. "Tell you that what you say is stupid?" Tony hesitated then nodded. "Well then, they're stupid! You're the smartest kid I've ever met, Tony. Honestly. I don't know many quotes, but what I do know is that there aren't a lot of smart people out there, so the brains you have are really important. You shouldn't let people put you down like that. You can stand up to them. When bullies and adults and the whole world, all of them, are telling you to move, you put your feet down on the ground, look them right in the eyeballs and stuff, and say "No, you move."" He snickered a bit. "I probably could have phrased that a little better, but you get the point." Tony nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, I get it." He scoffed his foot across the ground a bit. "So, we're friends?"
"Of course we are! Captain America and...what was your superhero name again?"
"Iron Man."
"Captain America and Iron Man, best buds forever!"
Alright, I will try to update as soon as possible, but my sophomore year of highschool is going to be starting soon, so no promises...reviews may speed up the progress though, just saying.