imafuturist | Stamford, CT - Monday Afternoon (Reply)

Tony	Tony sat down on the ground a safe enough distance from where the police line kept the news crews back and cracked open the helmet to look at the crater that had been part of a small town with his own eyes for the first time since they got there. His armor was filthy with soot from digging through the rubble, but it'd probably take more than a wash to make it really feel clean after this.
Steve	Steve, similarly filthy, sat down heavily beside him and peeled his cowl back from his face. Then he just exhaled, slow and hard. He'd had worse days, but not a lot of them.
Tony	"Remind me again why we do what we do?" Tony asked, tilting his head toward him.
Steve	Steve sighed again and said, bone weary, "Because someone has to."
Tony	"Yeah," Tony agreed with a sigh. He watched with an annoyed look as news cameras craned in the distance to get a good shot of what happened here. "I guess you're right." Meaning he knew Steve was right.
Steve	"Yeah," Steve echoed, and then he just stared dully at the wreckage for a while before something occurred to him and he asked, "Do we even know who..." he trailed off, gesturing vaguely.
Tony	Tony shook his head, tugging off his helmet to place on the ground next to himself. "Nothing so far. Just some new kid in a costume." Who went after a bad guy in a costume that had been way out of his league.
Steve	"Figures," Steve muttered. Damn kids these days.
Tony	Old man. "Still waiting on the X-Men to confirm it wasn't one of theirs." Which would be even worse news with the shit storm Norman Osborn and his ilk had been whipping up lately.
Steve	"Oh, that's just what we need," Steve said. But hey, if it was maybe the mutants would just get screwed instead of all of them! "Not that it really matters, I guess."
Tony	No, they were all screwed. Because that was what happened in a massive crossover event. "Not anymore," Tony agreed. "Not as much trust since--" He cleared his throat, cutting himself off before mentioning the whole Skrull thing.
Steve	"Yeah," Steve agreed pointedly, because let's not discuss that again and say we did.
Tony	"They'll get there," Tony said, trying to have as much conviction in that as he could manage. "We just have to keep doing what we do."
Steve	"Sometimes it seems like they never get anywhere fast enough," said the really old guy who was not a Skrull, people. "They're scared. And I can't blame them, but..." Scared people did stupid things.
Tony	Tony sighed again, hoping for the best with this situation, but already planning for the worst. He leaned to bump Steve's shoulder with his own. "Maybe we'll get lucky and someone who wants to eat the planet will show up again."
Steve	"Well, we can always dream," Steve said, bumping Tony's shoulder back.
Tony	Tony snorted and flopped back gracelessly to let the exhaustion of the day take hold. "Can't we go back to fighting old Nazis and people from Russia? I miss those days."
Steve	"I'm sure the old Nazis will turn up again eventually," Steve told him. "And who are you calling old?"
Tony	Punching Red Skull and Baron Zemo was cathartic. "Might be the nonagenarian sitting next to me."
Steve	"You ought to respect your elders," Steve said, not really as lightly as he was trying for, and then he sighed and said, "All right, come on, back to work," and did not actually manage to move.
Tony	Which Tony noticed and grinned at to himself. But he did drag himself back upright and onto his feet before offering Steve a hand up. "C'mon, Winghead."
Steve	Steve took his hand and used it to haul himself to his feet. "I'll buy you a coffee later," he promised. With his AARP discount. Because he was so old, clearly.
Tony	"Holding you to it, old man."

[NFB, preplayed with the lovely

yogurtvore]

Stamford, CT - Monday Afternoon

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