Ghost in the Wires 4/10 (Tony/Steve--PG-13)
He’s only in the gym for about an hour when he hears the steady shuffling that is familiar to him, and yet still isn’t.
He halts in lifting weights, sets the dumbbell in its hold before turning to meet Thor, who is in the doorway and watching him with worried blue eyes.
“You sleep less and less in these times, my friend,” he says and his voice is actually something close to a normal human being’s. “It causes me worry.”
Steve doesn’t try to coddle him. He says, “There’s a lot on my mind, Thor. Stane is becoming…”
“Quite nefarious, I agree,” Thor picks up without hesitation as he comes into the gym. Steve is thankful as he sits on a weight bench and feels even better as he hears the metal groan beneath the god. He’s thankfully wearing clothing. There have been some nights when Thor felt the need for a heart to heart while he was completely naked. He has sleep pants on and what looks to be a robe, but on him, sort of looks like a jacket. He leaves enough space for Steve to sit next to him, as he says, “But this is not what keeps you up at night. You have secrets in your eyes and I would know them, if you would let me.”
Steve looks at Thor, and he sees a greater friend than anyone else on his team could ever be. Yet, still, Anthony is also close to him. Despite knowing that Thor could never judge him, he won’t tell the god about the program. It’s still just his and he likes it like that. It may be selfish, but he’s his.
He stares into Thor’s eyes, says quietly. “Let me keep my secrets for a few more weeks, Thor. I promise, you’ll be the first person I tell them to.”
Thor nods. “I find this to be an acceptable agreement.” He sits for a few seconds in what to humans would be awkward, but he only takes a deep breath and says, “I shall practice with you, my honorable Steve. We shall become mightier at hand combat.”
And even though Thor is a god, there’s no way Steve could deny that.
IMCA
Steve and Thor are still awake in the morning. They’ve nearly thrown each other through the wall a few times and Thor eventually proclaimed he was starving and that’s how they got there. Two coffee pots are working now, and Steve is actually starting the third and fourth one. Thor has his Pop Tarts and is munching on a package of wildberry happily as Steve makes himself an omelette.
Natasha is, without surprise, the first one up, and she steals Steve’s breakfast without hesitation. She grabs a cup of coffee and eats her breakfast daintily despite the fact that Steve knows she isn’t awake.
It’s also not a surprise that Agent Coulson is the next one awake. He comes down and takes Steve’s second omelette. He’s wearing, Steve has to stop his smile, he’s wearing a pair of Superman pajama bottoms. And those are sooo Clint’s because Clint loves Superman.
He makes a third omelette but Thor is so hungry he’s staring at Steve’s eggs like he could eat them raw so Steve hands it to him. And then Bruce comes down the stairs and Steve has to cook three times a normal human’s amount for him. Next is Clint, and he actually just wants scrambled eggs so Steve makes them for him real quick. Ms. Potts is last down the stairs and she doesn’t want eggs. She pulls out a parfait from the fridge and this time she does sit on Natasha’s lap, actually.
And before he knows it he’s making one for Anthony. He gives it to Thor, because he actually doesn’t like onions in his omelettes and he’s running out of ham pieces, but it seems like a fair trade as he settles another plate in front of Thor, seeing the knowing in his eyes.
When Steve finally has his breakfast, he takes the last seat between Clint and Bruce and Bruce is telling everyone that he has a working treatment for palladium poison.
And it’s not a moment too soon.
IMCA
Ms. Potts is actually in Los Angeles when the first strike hits less than a month later and every super hero team in current existence is gearing up with Bruce’s serum and getting ready to help with the poisoning, but then it hits in Chicago and in Dallas and Miami and finally two New York City.
There’s just, there’s not enough.
No one could stop Natasha from going to L.A. and Steve sends Clint with her, because if she’s going to do damage the least he can do is send her with someone who can do some amount of damage control. The Fantastic Four head to Chicago with a copy of Bruce’s treatment. Storm leads a team of mutants to Dallas and Cyclops leads a team to Miami. There’re rumors that Magneto is even springing to action to see if he can find the next target before it strikes.
The rest of the Avengers stay in New York and try to keep down the panic.
They head to the sights where the missile had exploded over and even though really only Bruce has to wear gas mask Thor and Steve don them as well. Finding all the pieces of metal that had to be surrounding the poison is a difficult thing but with a few SHIELD members and themselves they make due.
Over his comm. Steve can hear Fury cussing up a storm alternating between barking orders at agents in the field with them and agents in Headquarters with him.
“I want the best fucking doctor’s in the world working on this! Spare nothing to get them in these cities.”
And Steve listens and feels respect for him and Coulson, because he’s on the phone in a heartbeat, talking to probably the same agent Fury is yelling at, and giving off a list of names that has Steve’s head spinning and makes Bruce lean closer to him and ask, “Does he seriously have the best doctors in the world memorized?”
Steve wouldn’t be surprised if he does.
And he’s definitely not surprised when Anthony breaks into the comm. and says, “No, no. Those won’t work, agent.”
Steve can practically hear all the air in Fury’s office being sucked into his lungs. “Who the hell is this and how the fuck did you get this comm. link?”
“Just a friendly hacker. I’m here to help. Look, I’ve already got this sorted. Doctors House and Wilson are in Chicago taking care of the problem there so no need to send someone to trip them up,” Anthony says all business and only a little cheek. “A Doctor Hank McCoy is being sent to the biggest hospital in New York along with a Doctor Jean Grey. I’ve contacted Starfleet Enterprises and they’re sending out their best scientists and doctors. A Doctors Leonard McCoy and Philip Boyce are headed to L.A. from San Francisco as we speak. Don’t get the two McCoy’s confused. One is blue and fuzzy; the other is loud and grumpy. I’ve also sent an email to a Doctor Watson over in England. I’ve heard news from his partner that they’re already on their way to Miami. And in Dallas I have a Doctor Samantha Grimm heading to the major hospital there. Everyone will be getting in contact with you within the hour.”
And within the next five seconds, Steve hears Fury’s phone ring.
“Nick Fury,” is dragged out of the man’s lips. It sounds like they’re wrapped in barbed wire. “Director of SHIELD. With whom am I speaking?”
He hears Coulson trying to get a focus on where Anthony is located, but SHIELD’s backhackers are about as lucky as Clint was at backhacking the email Bruce had received which, golly, looking back at it, that had to be Anthony as well.
He looks around the scene. There isn’t much debris other than the missile particles. An agent had earlier given an estimation that the missiles were set to deploy the poison about 2500 feet in the air, letting the poison rain down in a green mist over a ten mile radius. Currently, Steve, Thor, Bruce and three suburban loads of SHIELD agents are just outside the red zone.
He’s about to ask an agent how the other site is looking and if they’ve evacuated everyone out of the premise when he feels something he hasn’t felt in years. His tongue is swelling like he’s having an allergic reaction. He swallows, takes a breath, but it’s getting hard to do. He’s actually having an allergic reaction and his windpipe is closing up.
He wastes no time in turning to Thor and rasping out, “Take me to the hospital, Thor. Now!”
Thor doesn’t hesitate. He grabs Steve by the shoulders and crushes him to his chest. Without another breath wasted he jets them both into the air and heads to the closest hospital as Steve feels oxygen expire in his lungs. He’s beginning to see spots in front of his eyes. The world goes tilty even in the air. When they land what is probably only a minute later but feels like a lifetime, Steve nearly collapses and he’s so glad Thor is there with him, because the god just hefts him over his shoulder, and his cape is really soft, how did Steve never notice that? He carries him in the doors and even through the haze that is taking over him, Steve can hear that this place is in chaos.
Thor doesn’t give one good god damn, and that’s his favorite cuss phrase. He’d heard his mom use it a few times to his uncle before she had died. He misses him mom.
Thor bellows, “Captain America is in need of assistance!”
The world fades to black but there are a few seconds where Steve can still hear everything around him. Especially Thor’s matter-of-fact, “I will be with him while he is in your care! I refuse to let you strap him down!”
And Steve thinks that Thor is his best friend.
IMCA
Steve wakes on a hospital bed and he’s alone, but he remembers pretty much every single time he was in the hospital as a kid and buzzes a nurse so that they can check vitals and whatnot. Less than two minutes later he hears Thor, who is apparently waiting just outside his door, yell, “What business have you with my companion!?”
He takes a deep breath and feels better when the air goes all the way to the bottom of his lungs, and shouts out, “I called the nurse, Thor! Let ‘em in!”
Thor peeks his head inside the door like a child and grins. “My wonderful Steve! You’ve recovered from your ailment!” He then opens the door fully and ducks through, holding the door open long enough to glare at a nurse mistrustfully.
The nurse is a young man about half the size of Thor, but he doesn’t look intimidated in the least. In fact, he looks downright peeved. He glares right back at Thor as he stalks past. He checks all Steve’s vitals and says the doctor will be in to see him soon, but with the palladium poisoning it may be a while. Steve nods and gestures at Thor. “I’ll have company.”
The nurse leaves with one more glare directed at Thor, but Thor seems to be so happy that Steve is awake that he doesn’t notice. When the door is shut Thor literally just plops himself down at the end of his bed and sits Indian style. He bounces a little. “Steve! I am so glad to hear that you are well. You suffered from an allergic reaction.” He mispronounces ‘allergic’ so bad Steve can’t even try to copy it, but he understands anyway. “The doctor informed me that it was the poisoning in the air. You had inhaled it, but with a pen of epicness they were able to save you!”
Steve smiles, leans back against his pillows. He’s comfortable with Thor watching him from the end of the bed. He looks at the god and he’s stared at in return and physically feels the affection in the other man’s eyes. He wonders how the rest of the team is. He wants to know if Ms. Potts is okay and how the civilians are. He glances around the room for his phone, but doesn’t see it. “Thor, where’s my phone?”
He looks a little abashed as he looks around the room. “I believe it may have taken escape from your pocket on the way to the hospital.”
He lets his head thump back against the bed and sighs. “Do you have your phone?”
It’s always a fifty-fifty chance for Thor to have his phone on him. As an Asguardian, he doesn’t see the need for a phone and electronics pretty much escape him, but Steve is happy to note that he does have his phone and produces it with flourish.
He dials Bruce first to make sure he’s okay. “Bruce?”
“Yes?” the man replies like he’s not sure who the voice on the other end of Thor’s phone is.
“It’s Steve. Are you okay?”
Bruce is audibly smiling when he answers. “Steve! Oh, wonderful! You’re okay!” He sounds relieved. “I’m fine. I’m helping Dr. McCoy at St. Anthony’s Hospital.”
“Have you talked to anyone else?”
“No,” Bruce says. “I’ve been busy in the lab and running around New York.”
“Okay. I’ll call them. Do you need any help? I can arrange for it.”
“No. McCoy brought a team of his own and I’m just giving them the instructions for the treatment.”
“Okay. I’m going to call Natasha and Clint. Make sure everyone in L.A. is doing alright.”
He can practically feel Bruce nodding. “Update me,” he says before he hangs up.
Steve gives Thor a brief update on Bruce as he scrolls through to find Clint’s number. Thor says that its ‘magnificent,’ and then Steve is pressing the phone to his ear. It is so not Clint who answers and it isn’t Natasha or Ms. Potts or even Anthony.
“This is Jim Kirk. I can give you my number and hopefully it will redirect you to a superhero.”
Steve takes the phone away from his ear to stare at it in shock. When he presses his ear to the phone again he says, “You have Hawkeye’s phone?”
“Yeah. Apparently people with too much money have the same phone. You’re Thor?” The fellow on the other side of the line asks.
“No. I’m…” He looks at the phone again because he can’t help it. “I’m Captain America.”
“Oh!” The phone is apparently taken away from his ear as he yells, “Hey, Bones! I’m on the phone with Captain America!”
Far away from the phone is the response, “Whoopee for you, Jim. Come back to bed!”
“Good idea!” The voice comes closer to the phone. “Whatcha need, sir?”
“Do you know how my agents are?”
Jim is quick to respond to his urgent tone. “Uh yeah. And Pepper Potts. She was actually talking to me when the missile burst. Oh, by the way, if you wanna tell Director Fury that Starfleet Enterprises is willing to sponsor them or whatever, that’s a go.”
“Um…good?” Steve responds.
“Yeah, so Hawkeye and Black Widow are fine and I feel that I should tell you that no one has mysteriously gone missing.” Steve bites back a sigh of relief. “Pepper is good. Happy got a good whiff of the poison but he’s doing well thanks to certain doctors.”
Again Steve hears a man in the background saying, “Damn straight. Now hang up that stupid phone.”
“Gotta go, Super Flag.”
“Hey! Hey!” Steve calls really quick. “What’s your number?”
Kirk is quick with his response. “Oh, yeah!” He rattles of a number and hangs up quickly.
He calls Kirk’s number and it’s Ms. Potts who answers, sounding frustrated and wrung out. Steve can’t say he blames her and thinks he might understand why she’s taking it the worst. But before he can even say hello, she’s speaking, “Thor? Thor, how’s Steve? We just heard he went to the hospital over the news. As soon as Doctor Boyce releases Happy we’ll be on our way back okay? Thor?”
He’s not surprised that she has Thor’s number memorized. “I’m fine, Ms. Potts. It was just an allergic reaction. How’s Happy?” he asks.
She takes a deep breath, releases it slowly. “He’s fine,” and even though Steve doesn’t think Ms. Potts can lie, she sounds like he’s a step away from death and it’s taking all her will power not to breakdown. “Doctor Boyce says he didn’t get too much into his lungs and we got him in pretty fast. Boyce says he can leave at the end of the night, but I think he really just wants the bed space. This place is flooded. Mr. Kirk called his boss and had them send out more help and I think Starfleet Enterprises is actually calling a few other companies they work with to send out their doctors.”
She takes another breath and Steve jumps in quickly before she starts outlining just what that will entail and gets it into her mind that she should organize the entire setup. “Where are Black Widow and Hawkeye?”
“They’re in the hospital at the moment. Natasha’s keeping an eye on the newsfeeds and keeping up with the media and Hawkeye is playing Fruit Slicer on my phone.” She huffs a laugh. “He’s trying to beat my high score.”
Well that explains why Ms. Potts has Kirk’s phone instead of her own. He laughs with her. “It’ll never happen.”
“Yeah,” she say, and she sounds a little better. “I’m going to head back inside. When will you be out? I’ll have someone come by for you and Thor.”
He shrugs. “I haven’t spoken to the doctor yet, but I’ll send you a message when I’m out.”
“Okay. That’s good.”
He pulls the phone away from his ear and hands it back to Thor. He’s updating him when the speaker in his bed springs to life and its Anthony again. How he keeps hacking into everything is a mystery, but he’s kind of used to it by now. Steve can’t stop himself, he smiles.
“Cap?” Anthony asks. “You okay?”
Thor doesn’t even hesitate. He gets close up to the speaker and nearly covers Steve completely. “Who are you and what business do you have with my friend!?”
There’s a long pause after Thor speaks and Anthony says, “Uh…who are you?”
Steve thinks about this and how he had been promising to let Thor in on the fact Anthony had integrated his personality into an AI system, so today was as good a time as any. He says, “Anthony, this is Thor. Be nice.”
Thor turns his head, because he’s still halfway covering Steve, stares at him for a moment and his eyes light up, because he must know that this is Steve’s secret.
“Anthony?” he asks softly. And then he smiles. “Anthony, it is good to make your acquaintance!”
The speaker sighs. “You had to get him in on that too?”
“Where do you hail from, great Anthony?” Thor demands.
“Uh…the wires?”
“Anthony of the Wires! It is a great thing to make your friendship!” the god’s voice is booming again, which right next to Steve’s ear is really loud.
He jerks away and Thor immediately sits back on the end of the bed, looking a little apologetic. Ms. Potts has had very lengthy conversations with him about proper speaking levels when next to someone’s ear.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Thor.” He doesn’t completely sound convinced. Like he’s totally unsure how to deal with this situation. He sounds panicked. “Look, I was just calling to make sure you were okay.”
A strange click and then there’s silence in the room. Thor stares at the speaker with a frown creasing his forehead. “Most strange.”
Steve, also staring at the speakers, nods. That is completely unlike Anthony. He wonders if its part of the glitch Anthony had mentioned a few weeks ago.
But then the doctor comes in.
IMCA
Thor makes the car taking them home stop at a homey looking restaurant after having been texting furiously on his phone. He flings the door open and Steve, who had been halfway dozing in the back, comes back to himself as the door slams shut behind his friend.
He looks at their driver for clarification on what just happened, but she looks absolutely as confused as he is and actually stares after Thor as he nearly yanks the door off the restaurant.
They wait twenty minutes in the car and Steve suddenly finds himself wishing he hadn’t lost his phone so he could play Fruit Ninja, or Sudoku or that weird gloppy game that Clint just loves and downloaded onto everyone’s phone! He considers getting out and following the god to make sure that he didn’t succumb to playing a game with a child, but knows if that’s what happened he will likely be joining in the game.
So he stares out the window at the door, silently urging Thor to come back so they can get back to the mansion.
The agent behind the wheel is actually unbuckling her seatbelt and muttering ominously when Thor comes out with five bags full in one of his massive hands and he looks to be on his way back to the car when he looks down.
And though Steve can’t see what he’s looking at, he knows that look. Steve has seen it all the time when they go to the zoo, or the park, or once for some reason the pound. He’s found a small animal. Steve is scrambling out the door, because he’s still having problems with the entire concept of seatbelts. It’s too late though. Thor has bent down and scooped something into his mighty palm and runs towards the suburban.
He gets in the car and he’s grinning wildly.
“Thor,” Steve says as Thor shoves the bags into the back.
Thor apparently knows what’s coming because he shoves his free hand into one of the bag and comes back with the bucket and forces it into Steve’s hands, proclaiming, “My lovely Jane has imparted the wisdom that chicken soup is in fact a magical cure for all ailments!”
Steve thinks that Thor’s family in New Mexico just likes to mess with him.
He looks down at the bucket and through the clear lid he can actually see yellow broth. He’s torn between thanking Thor for his thoughtfulness and demanding to know what Thor is holding.
The agent fixes his problem. “Is that a puppy?!” and everyone has weaknesses. Hers is apparently puppies.
Thor smiles, but quickly switches his gaze to Steve and curls his hand closer to his chest
“A puppy?” Steve asks. “Thor, we’re superheroes. We don’t have…”
This time Thor refuses his attempt at logic by dropping a puddle of multicolored fur on top of Steve’s bucket, which is kind of unsanitary, but not the worst thing he’s ever had to deal with. “He doth look at me with loving eyes! My good Steve, he is a loyal canine. His eyes tell me that easily.”
“I wanna see him!” the agent says, turning in her seat to grab the puppy up from Steve’s soup.
Fury would probably be having a fit if he could see one of his agents act as anything other than terrifying.
She holds him up in the light given off by the streetlight and smiles at it, scratching one ear lovingly. “Oh, he is just the cutest!”
Steve sighs. “Thor, remember what we talked about? When you brought the bunny to the mansion?”
A sad look comes over his face and Steve wishes Natasha or Ms. Potts were around. They can actually stand up to the wide-eyed look of sorrow Thor is giving him. “But he will be a better companion and I will train him to be mighty!”
He has never respected parents all over the world more than he has now; trying to convince a demi-god that he can’t have something fluffy.
He sighs again. “You can have him,” Thor perks up immediately, “if you can get the team to agree.”
But he’s said the words and Natasha and Bruce are probably going to glare so hard at him for this.
IMCA
Steve is going over the events of the day while he eats from his giant bucket of chicken noodle soup. Even though it’s not homemade, he can tell that someone had prepared the soup today and that it isn’t from a can. It isn’t as good as him mom’s or Agent Coulson’s but it helps with his hunger and lets him focus.
He isn’t sure what to do about Stane. There are arms dealers all over the world and sometimes certain things get into the wrong hands. He knows that to be the case, but with Stane, and Hammer as well in a sense, he can’t help but think that some of these things weren’t necessarily accidents.
Even now, the U.S. president is meeting with congress and everyone is trying to find out who had sent the missiles. No foreign country is springing up. All major suspects are collectively raising their hands screaming, ‘not me!’ Stane has given the first press conference saying that as soon as the culprits double-dealing Stark weapons have been uncovered they will be handed over to police. Steve wonders who’ll be the patsy for this crime.
In the meantime, there is already a public frenzy to keep in mind. Several people have been affected today and fear of what will happen if there are more poison missiles in the future. SHIELD is mass producing Bruce’s treatment, but it’s not a cure and already there is panic of what will happen if the poison becomes immune to the treatment, or how the poison will affect the lives of those infected. There’s fear of what the next hit could be, if it will even be the same poison or something worse.
The press is having a field day and many of the superheroes and political leaders are being watched. Pepper gives an update that the hotel she, Natasha, and Clint are staying at is a madhouse. The security around the Fantastic Four’s premises is almost breaking under the craze. Steve can only shudder when he remembers the SHIELD suburban navigating through the crowd in front of Avenger Mansion.
Steve takes another sip of his soup, but it’s getting chilled, just like Steve himself is in response to this entire situation.
He needs to get his team back to the mansion so they can speak together and after that Director Fury is probably going to call them in for a meeting. With the chaos going on, other villains are likely to emerge to spiral the world into a worse state of fear. Dr. Doom has recently escaped jail again. Magneto is still free and although rumors were he was trying to help them earlier, now who knows what his mind is thinking. Not to mention petty villains who have dreams of being the next super-villain.
He suddenly wishes there were a lot more superheroes to go around. There’s talk in SHIELD of bringing up an Avengers team on the west coast, and more vigilante’s are springing up around the U.S. and quite a few in Europe and Asia, but the world is constantly back and forth about what qualifies as a hero and what constitutes as a citizen taking the law into their own hand.
Spider-Man, himself, is being targeted as a menace in Queens even now.
There are whispers that a Registration Act is being considered in the government, so that there can be more government influence over superhumans. It wouldn’t truly affect the Avengers or The Fantastic Four, as the entire world knows their identities, but there are some lone heroes who would prefer their anonymity. Steve can’t say he blames them.
He dips his spoon back into his bucket of soup, but now it’s completely cold and he doesn’t want anymore anyway. He snaps the lid back onto it and takes it to the fridge.
His mind is whirring with too much and he needs his team around to talk to. Natasha and Clint won’t be back until early in the morning hours. Pepper estimates about three or four. He knows he’s not going to be able to sleep much until then.
He goes out to the living area and finds Thor on the floor with the puppy. Bruce hadn’t seen it when he came in earlier, and Steve is glad for that. Thor currently seems to be telling the little fuzzball that he will grow mighty on Asgardian meats and become the fiercest of all Midgardian hounds.
Steve just smirks and turns away. He does a course of the house, ends up in the gym again. His punching bag sways lightly, but it holds no appeal for him.
He knows what he wants to do.
He wants to talk to Anthony. Talking to Anthony always makes him feel better, gives him a brief escape from the reality building up around him, the unease that permeates through the house and beyond in the city he loves.
But the conversation from earlier spirals into his mind like a whirlwind. He sits down on the weight bench, and wonders about the glitch. JARVIS was supposed to be working on it…
"Hey, JARVIS?" he calls out, leaning his elbows on his knees.
"Yes, Captain Rogers?” come his bland, yet somehow affectionate tones.
"Did you fix the glitch…” he pauses to make sure that was the word he actually wanted. The internet was getting simple. The jargon used in the computer-world was still a little iffy in his mind, “in Anthony's system? I think there may still be one."
JARVIS doesn’t answer immediately, and Steve thinks that this would be the perfect time to get the terminology wrong. "I'm not sure I follow, Captain."
"A few weeks ago, he mentioned a glitch that you were fixing with his voice program,” he expounds, trying to think of exactly what Anthony had said to him. He thinks it was ‘glitch’. “And today, he talked to Thor and me at the hospital. But he didn't sound the same. I'm not sure you got the glitch-thing."
"I am afraid I was not aware of a glitch in any system in the house, sir."
"Are you sure? Anthony seemed to know what he was talking about." He looks up at the ceiling as if JARVIS’s face will become visible to see his confused stare.
There is no face, but a palpable silence. "Yes,” JARVIS intones just a fraction slower than he normally would, “he usually does. One can always count on him to know his way around the circuits.”
Steve isn’t sure what to make of that. "What was he talking about then? Did he...did he lie?" He had that thought when Anthony had brought up that it was only something wrong with the computer system. He had cast it away though, because Clint had made him watch enough AI movies, shortly after the never-ending robot infestation and before it became such a hated topic, to know that AI’s were programmed. And more importantly, if Anthony had been lying, and if Steve is honest with himself, which he mostly is, it had brought with it a certain hope.
A hope he is trying to keep at bay even now.
"I am merely stating that if there were a glitch in the system, I was not made aware of it. That would be an odd thing for me not to be aware of, would it not, sir?"
"So there wasn't a glitch in the sys--" The hope isn’t being held at bay anymore. It slams into him painfully and near angrily. He takes a deep breath, breathes through it, the hope, the pain, and the growing rage in his chest. He flies to the closest office, one with a computer and demands, "JARVIS, list the systems available in the house."
"Right away, sir.” JARVIS activates the computer and a list springs to life before his eyes. But it’s not in anything Steve has ever seen so he just stares at it for long moments, hoping it will soon make sense before his eyes.
"Where's Anthony's program?” he sighs in frustration.
"Mr. Stark's program is held on a remote server, sir."
That doesn’t make any sense to him. He’s heard the words before exchanged between Bruce, Natasha, and Clint, but it’s always flown right over his head. "What does that mean, JARVIS?"
"It means that, while I have access to it and connections from it, I am not the primary means of control for his program, sir."
The hope is nearly crushing him, as is the fury. "Do you know who does control his program?"
"Yes, sir." Steve has the thought through all the emotions rolling through him that JARVIS would have coughed uncomfortably if he had been programmed with the ability to do so.
He takes a deep, breath, feels weak and so confused for the first time since he woke up in this strange world, and collapses into the seat behind the desk. "Who is it? JARVIS, tell me."
"Captain Rogers, please know that I hold you in the highest respect. But I have been forbidden to divulge that information. What I can tell you is this..." JARVIS says comfortingly. "Mister Stark's programming is of such a nature that there are precious few who would understand it enough to operate it, let alone remotely."
He takes in the information. Anthony had been brilliant; it was obvious even before Steve had been down in his lab. The articles over him had been varying on whether he was a good person in life, but what they all agreed on was that he had been probably one of the top three minds in the world. Hope overtakes the rage completely, and he swallows. "Okay,” he says, feeling himself fall back into his problem-solving mode. “Can you answer things about the operator? Or is all of that strictly forbidden information?"
There is a moment’s pause and Steve thinks the computer must be checking the parameters of his orders. "It is not strictly forbidden, as such."
"Okay,” he says eagerly, casting about for the proper wording for his question. “Is the operator of Anthony’s program the creator? Just yes or no. Not looking for names JARVIS. Can you answer that?"
"The operator and the creator are one and the same."
JARVIS is saying, he’s all but telling Steve Anthony is alive. Everything he had said to Anthony over these brief two months, everything Anthony had done for him and the team, what they had admitted to each other under the pretenses of a man talking to an artificial intelligence…So many things roll over Steve in crushing waves, but he keeps one central part of him focused.
He ignores all the angry emotions, the sad ones, the betrayed ones, and focuses on the fact that this man that he has been falling in love with is alive, and he wants to know where!
“What about the server’s location? Can you give me that?” he asks, and his voice is so hoarse.
“I am aware of the server’s location, Captain, but am unable to disclose where it is being operated from.”
“But you know where it is?”
“Yes, sir. But I am unable to disclose this information to you,” JARVIS repeats.
Steve feels a bit of him deflate but most of him flare up to the challenge just as he had when Colonel Philips had told him about men from the 107th being captured. He’s preparing all sorts of plans in his head, thinking of the possible outcomes of them when the computer screen changes to a press conference and Obadiah Stane is proclaiming his promise to the world that Stark Industries will tighten down security and that those employees who had sold the weapons were being escorted into police custody even now. Steve watches the spectacle, and feels anger push at his chest and curl his hands into fists.
“Understood, JARVIS.”
He really needs his team back now. And he needs to talk to Anthony.
Back to Part 3 or on to Part 5