TM 256: What do you hope for?

[iron_tony]

Tony hopes this will go well. A year ago, he wouldn't have had any expectations, but a year ago, he wouldn't have expected any of this to work out as well as it has. He and Steve are married, they're working on rebuilding a United Avengers team, and. . .he doesn't have to lie about anything. He doesn't have to hide

Comments

[starspangledcap]

As they stepped out of the train station into what could only be described as a crisp New England afternoon, Steve reached down to squeeze Tony's hand. The train had been Steve's idea. They could easily have taken a quinjet, or other private transportation, but Steve insisted on doing this the way any other parents meeting up with their child at college might. In reality, the situation was anything but normal--most parents weren't visiting to tell the child she was their daughter from an alternate universe--but there was a thrilling normalcy to the idea of taking a train ride as a proudly, openly married couple, in a car full of other normal, married couples

[iron_tony]

Tony didn't care what anybody thought of them. Really. But he did notice people watching them on the train. Most of the reactions, he thought, were the typical awestruck-civilian stuff. But of course there was an undercurrent of gossip, and with it the possibility of deeper-seated ill-will. They'd made themselves heroes to some people in the past weeks -- more people than he had guessed; the outpouring of supportive messages from unexpected quarters took him aback. But it would be naive not to realize they'd made themselves targets for some of the worst kinds of people.

Riding the train with all these people made him nervous.

He wasn't worried, of course. Steve had his shield fastened snugly under his jacket; Tony could call up his armor with a thought. They were equipped to handle anything up to and including supervillain attack. Which, Tony thought, as they got off the train in Boston, was maybe not the worst idea in the world. Not that he wished any ill on these(mostly) innocent bystanders, or any property damage on

[starspangledcap]

Steve hailed a cab to take them to the library. He almost wished they could walk--it wasn't that cold, and Steve had always enjoyed walking, and the wind was blowing through Tony's hair in a way that was, well... sexy. (Not a word that had ever been at the top of Steve's vocabulary, but damn it, he was married now; he was allowed to think those thoughts.)

But the train had been a bit late, and Steve wasn't looking to be tardy for their meeting. It was bad enough that they'd had to lie to even arrange it.

"I hope to God that's the last lie we ever have to tell her," Steve said, gravely, as they climbed into the taxi. At the thought, a niggling seed of doubt began to burrow into his brain, but he tried his best to ignore it.

Surely Sally would forgive the lies when they finally revealed the truth.

[sal_starkrogers]

It was possible to rent a study room at the library. After a soul-searching scrutiny, Sally Stetins had determined that making coffee in her room and bringing it in a thermos rather than buying from Starbucks would cover the cost. She needed the space to spread out, to leave her things arranged over the course of a day. It was practically like having an office. The door even locked. Which was why, without thinking it all the way through, Sally had told Tony Stark to meet her here.

Sally didn't completely understand or trust the interest Mr. Stark had taken in her life. But despite all her misgivings and dislikes of Mr. Stark she'd come to respect him. Not trust; never trust. But respect. She'd cried in the student union at the news footage of his marriage to Steve Rogers. Hadn't even been embarrassed.

Sally checked her computer for the time. Mr. Stark should be here soon.