Captain America: Be Better Off Than You Are
Title: Be Better Off Than You Are
Fandom: Avengers (Movie Verse)
Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers
Summary: Some people are less than pleased when they learn how Captain America spent his May Day.
Notes: Copious politics
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“What are you talking about?”
Tony tried to count to ten. Bruce had gone over that with him very carefully when they talked about confronting Steve. This was important and Fury was going to be… furious. And while Tony drew the short straw, explaining the modern world to Captain America had to be done.
After he hit ten for the third time, Tony made a complex hand gesture and JARVIS obligingly hung the image between Steve and his coffee. “Bruce caught that one in the Village Voice.”
Steve cocked his head. “I can’t really see my features that well.”
“Okay, okay, we can manage this.” Tony briefly wished that Pepper wasn’t in Singapore managing a business deal. She was so much better at damage control.
“Manage?” Steve took a slow sip of coffee and looked as calm as an ad for Zen. Tony wanted to punch him. “I was supporting the American people. I don’t see what’s to manage about that.”
“Do you know who’s below that window ledge you’re standing on? According to SHIELD’s records, we’ve got union strikers, undocumented laborers, anarchists, truant school students, a bunch of criminals and -” Tony squinted to read the blue print of the hologram - “militant protesters and potential terrorists.”
“Americans.” He took another infuriating sip of coffee.
Tony drew a hand over his face. He had wondered why Steve seemed so weirdly serene after the first, but this was really pushing it, even for a supersoldier. “You know, they’re not really. And even if they are, that’s why we’re here. So they don’t -” He gestured at another picture JARVIS conveniently pulled up, this one of a police office surrounded by plumes of red gas.
Steve finally put his mug down. “Did Howard ever talk to you about what it was like before the war?”
Tony bristled, as usual, and just glared at Steve. He didn’t need to give an answer to that question.
“Maybe he wasn’t there, but…” Steve trailed off and gestured the photographs and SHIELD data away. “I grew up in Brooklyn. I was a union kid - the neighborhood was all union folks, who were going to make it, Hell or high water. And I remember those strikes…”
“This is different-” Tony protested.
“And I remember the Bund. I was nineteen and Bucky and I - it doesn’t matter. But I remember them in New York and I remember the unions and I remember men and women on the street corners, shouting about everything.” He paused and didn’t look at Tony. “And I remember other people marching in the streets, before the war, and then during it. And it wasn’t all soldiers, you know.”
Tony didn’t like the pensive look on Steve’s face. It was a sad, distant look he knew all too well on other face and it meant Steve wasn’t really in the kitchen, having a cup of coffee and arguing about teenagers in hoodies. Steve was somewhere else, somewhere where people were shouting “Heil Hitler!” in the streets of Manhattan.
“And it’s not even about that,” Steve said suddenly, standing up and pouring himself another cup of coffee from the frosted carafe. “It felt just a little bit like home. It really felt like America.”
Steve was long gone from the kitchen before he realized that no, that wasn’t the answer he wanted and they still didn’t have a decent story to give Fury (or the American public - oh god, the American public). Bruce really should have sent Natasha instead.
*
What Steve's talking about:
Wikipedia on the Bund
Unions in the Twenties and Thirties
WWII's AntiWar Movement
Fandom: Avengers (Movie Verse)
Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers
Summary: Some people are less than pleased when they learn how Captain America spent his May Day.
Notes: Copious politics
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“What are you talking about?”
Tony tried to count to ten. Bruce had gone over that with him very carefully when they talked about confronting Steve. This was important and Fury was going to be… furious. And while Tony drew the short straw, explaining the modern world to Captain America had to be done.
After he hit ten for the third time, Tony made a complex hand gesture and JARVIS obligingly hung the image between Steve and his coffee. “Bruce caught that one in the Village Voice.”
Steve cocked his head. “I can’t really see my features that well.”
“Okay, okay, we can manage this.” Tony briefly wished that Pepper wasn’t in Singapore managing a business deal. She was so much better at damage control.
“Manage?” Steve took a slow sip of coffee and looked as calm as an ad for Zen. Tony wanted to punch him. “I was supporting the American people. I don’t see what’s to manage about that.”
“Do you know who’s below that window ledge you’re standing on? According to SHIELD’s records, we’ve got union strikers, undocumented laborers, anarchists, truant school students, a bunch of criminals and -” Tony squinted to read the blue print of the hologram - “militant protesters and potential terrorists.”
“Americans.” He took another infuriating sip of coffee.
Tony drew a hand over his face. He had wondered why Steve seemed so weirdly serene after the first, but this was really pushing it, even for a supersoldier. “You know, they’re not really. And even if they are, that’s why we’re here. So they don’t -” He gestured at another picture JARVIS conveniently pulled up, this one of a police office surrounded by plumes of red gas.
Steve finally put his mug down. “Did Howard ever talk to you about what it was like before the war?”
Tony bristled, as usual, and just glared at Steve. He didn’t need to give an answer to that question.
“Maybe he wasn’t there, but…” Steve trailed off and gestured the photographs and SHIELD data away. “I grew up in Brooklyn. I was a union kid - the neighborhood was all union folks, who were going to make it, Hell or high water. And I remember those strikes…”
“This is different-” Tony protested.
“And I remember the Bund. I was nineteen and Bucky and I - it doesn’t matter. But I remember them in New York and I remember the unions and I remember men and women on the street corners, shouting about everything.” He paused and didn’t look at Tony. “And I remember other people marching in the streets, before the war, and then during it. And it wasn’t all soldiers, you know.”
Tony didn’t like the pensive look on Steve’s face. It was a sad, distant look he knew all too well on other face and it meant Steve wasn’t really in the kitchen, having a cup of coffee and arguing about teenagers in hoodies. Steve was somewhere else, somewhere where people were shouting “Heil Hitler!” in the streets of Manhattan.
“And it’s not even about that,” Steve said suddenly, standing up and pouring himself another cup of coffee from the frosted carafe. “It felt just a little bit like home. It really felt like America.”
Steve was long gone from the kitchen before he realized that no, that wasn’t the answer he wanted and they still didn’t have a decent story to give Fury (or the American public - oh god, the American public). Bruce really should have sent Natasha instead.
*
What Steve's talking about:
Wikipedia on the Bund
Unions in the Twenties and Thirties
WWII's AntiWar Movement