Wrong! What do you mean stole? This was skill!
Steve shot Tony a smug grin.
"Kid, you've got it all backwards. Those twin sisters? I didn't seduce them—they were the ones who seduced me!"
"I was the one who got seduced!"
Tony: ???
Do you even hear yourself right now???
Seeing Tony's baffled look, Steve walked up, laid a hand on his shoulder, and said in a tone that was almost fatherly:
"Listen, kid. If you're weak, train more. Those twins? With your skinny little frame, you couldn't handle them. Leave that to your uncle—I can."
"You can buy them satisfaction with your money. But me? They spend their money to satisfy me. Now do you see the difference between us?"
Tony's face froze like stone. For the first time in his life, he felt like he had lost completely.
The one time I actually fall for someone, and you make me lose this badly? Damn it!
As Tony's half-uncle, Steve couldn't just stand by. Seeing how crushed his nephew looked, he offered a kind of "comfort":
"Don't be discouraged, nephew. The twins and I already broke up peacefully. If you don't mind being the rebound, you could always try again. Who knows, maybe your wallet powers can win them back~"
"But honestly? I doubt it. Once someone's ridden an elephant, it's hard for them to go back to a pony~"
"…Wow, thanks for the comfort. But sorry—I don't do rebounds."
Tony shoved Steve's hand off his shoulder and flipped him the middle finger as a show of "gratitude."
"You're welcome. I've always been good at cheering people up," Steve replied cheerfully, pretending not to notice the finger, looking every bit the warm-hearted gentleman.
The air grew awkwardly silent…
Tony stared at him for a long time before finally saying, slowly:
"You know, I grew up hearing countless stories from my father about you."
"But now that I've actually met you in person, I realize you're nothing like I imagined. You're certainly nothing like the flawless, godlike figure my father described…"
Seeing Steve alive in front of him stirred complicated feelings.
Who would've thought that when he hit rock bottom, the one who came to save him would be that guy—the one Howard Stark could never stop praising.
The one Tony had always felt a little jealous of. The man his father praised a hundred times more than he ever praised his own son.
Hearing Tony's words, Steve couldn't resist joking:
"Oh? What now? You gonna tell me that my blue eyes actually have a hint of green in them?"
Tony's phrasing reminded him of something. Steve suddenly recalled a line from Civil War—the one that had stuck with him the most.
[I've been studying you, analyzing you. But it wasn't until now, standing so close, that I realized—there's a hint of green in your blue eyes. You're not perfect. You have flaws too…]
Tony's meaning was similar: Captain America wasn't perfect after all.
"…Eyes? No. I meant you. You're not nearly as rigid as I thought. In fact, your thinking is… way too forward."
Tony wasn't sure how Steve's brain worked, but clearly it wasn't about eye color.
Steve chuckled and patted his shoulder again.
"What kind of man I am was never for others to decide. What kind of man I am to you shouldn't come from anyone else's words either. Trust what you see with your own eyes."
Tony thought for a moment, then let out a faint sigh. He extended his hand.
"You're right. I shouldn't judge my savior based on secondhand stories. Let's start fresh. I'm Tony Stark, current head of Stark Industries."
Steve smiled, took his hand, and shook it firmly.
"Steve Rogers. Special forces captain, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."
They released hands. Tony raised a brow.
"Man, that name's a mouthful. Sounds broke, too. How about this, you join my company as head of security. I'll pay you a million dollars a month, starting salary."
On one hand, he genuinely admired Steve's abilities. On the other, this was his way of showing gratitude. Even if Steve slacked off forever, Tony could easily afford to keep him around for life.
But Steve shook his head.
"No thanks. I'm fine where I am. At least my department is part of the U.N. framework. Beats being a glorified security guard at your company~"
The offer didn't tempt him. Sure, a million a month was a lot, but money was just numbers. He already had plenty.
After a year of missions, his accounts had over ten million. Most of that came from Hydra—who, whatever else you could say, had great benefits. A smaller cut came from S.H.I.E.L.D. assignments.
But Hydra covered ninety percent. Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D.? Barely ten.
What could he do? Nick Fury was stingy as hell. Every cent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s funds went into building his precious "safehouses" around the world.
Hearing Steve say his department was U.N.-backed, Tony just nodded, dropping the subject. Instead, he gestured to the man beside him who hadn't had a chance to speak.
"This is Dr. Yinsen. He was captured by the Ten Rings too. Honestly, if I'm alive today, it's because of him. If he hadn't operated on me and rigged that magnet to keep the shrapnel out of my heart—if he hadn't bought me time with the Ten Rings—I'd have died eight hundred times by now."
Steve shook Yinsen's hand warmly, grinning.
"Dr. Yinsen, an honor at last! I've heard about your legendary feat—slaying a bioweapon outbreak with nothing but a bottle of hand sanitizer. Meeting you today proves it wasn't just a myth!"
Yinsen: ???
Hand sanitizer? Bioweapon? I'm a physicist. What the hell is he talking about…?
Tony was speechless too. This Captain America was nothing like the man his father had always described. In fact, personality-wise, he seemed like a completely different person.
Tony couldn't help but wonder: maybe Howard had been such a Captain America fanboy that he had unconsciously polished the man's image every time he told the stories.
And yet… compared to the perfect, inhuman idol his father always painted, Tony realized he actually preferred this Steve Rogers.
At least this one felt like a real person.