My Neighbor, Mr. Rogers

Not #41-What Almost Never Was Going to Not Be. Or: Have We Met Somewhere Before?

A/N: As you might have noticed, this isn't chapter forty-one. I'm being bullied by that jerk, Writer's Block, on a very specific part of what's coming up next and since it's been so long since I've updated, I figured I'd give you guys a sort of bonus chapter as a thank-you for hanging in there.

This is what was going to be chapter thirteen before I gutted it for the sake of  keeping things simple. It doesn't have a whole lot of our boy Steve, but if you like Anne, then...yay, because she's my character, but also because this is mostly her.

Anyway, the beginning italicized bit is the part that I kept and is serving as a sort of reminder here for you guys of the lead up.

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As I walk and sip my drink, I think again about everything that Steve had told me.

'I wonder if Peggy is still alive...Would he go see her if she was? It's obvious that he was in love with her...is he still?...'

The sound of clunking metal disrupts my thoughts. I look up from the pavement to see Iron Man has just landed in front of me. My cup freezes halfway to my lips.

"Anne," Tony's modified voice speaks through his mask. "You need to- what in the name of headgear is that?"

I glance up and remember that I'm wearing my orange knit creation. "It's a hat. I knit it myself. Sits pretty cunning, don't cha think?" I grin, absurdly pleased that I'm finally in this situation.

"Did you mean for it to turn out like that?"

"It looks exactly like I wanted it to! Haven't you seen 'Firefly'?"

"No," he answered flatly. "Anyway, you need to come to the tower. Right now." He sounds rushed now that he remembers why he came.

"What? Why? What's wrong?" My heart starts to pound.

"It's Steve."

≈o≈

"Tony, when you said it was Steve, I assumed that you meant he was hurt or in trouble, not that he didn't want to play with you." I stare flatly at the man before me.

"Hey! This is a bonding experience for the team and he didn't want to do it. The only thing I could think of to make him change his mind is you! He won't even answer his phone anymore when he sees that the call is coming from me or Bruce!" he defends, throwing his hands out in frustration.

Bruce groans from the couch across the room, muttering something about "no one wants to participate. It's just impossible to avoid when you live here."

"I was having a perfectly nice day walking through the park with my hot chocolate. You could've just asked me to call him from there! But no, you had to take me to the tower straight away, we couldn't even wait for a car, noooo, we had to fly!" I crinkle my nose at Stark.

This makes him smile. "It was urgent. I was getting bored."

I make another face. "You made me drop my hot chocolate for a playdate!"

"I'll have JARVIS make you a fresh cup once you call Steve." He tries to make puppy dog eyes but it isn't working very well.

"Fine. But just so we're clear, I'm not rewarding you for your bad behavior, I just want hot chocolate."