For Tony Stark

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[He's been on the run for what feels like decades, but is really only a few months. He knows he's doing a good job at being hidden because ever since the helicarriers fell out of the air there hasn't been a single confirmed sighting of him, and he knows that Steve is looking. Not just Steve, either. He's just not ready to be found yet.

The easiest way to move between countries, he's found, is by stowing away on private chartered flights. They're usually less attended than commercial flights, and if he can get on board then it's fairly easy to avoid the one or two passengers and crew. He has no idea that the flight he's stowed away on is Tony Stark's private jet, and that it's only Tony himself on board.

At least not until he hears a disembodied voice speaking throughout the plane once they're in the air. It's JARVIS, not that he has any idea who that is.]

Sir, scans of the plane show that there's a man crouching in your cargo hold. I wasn't aware you were transporting any men today.

Comments

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[He does catch that irony, thanks to Stark slathering it on thickly, but he hasn't seen anything from the man to prove otherwise yet.]

Oh, yeah? Well, I know you have another two in there.

[He doesn't know, but if Stark does, it might unnerve him. Go Fish clearly warrants mind games.]

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I don't, in fact. Go fish.

[He can't help but look vaguely amused as he watches Barnes. Who knew he'd treat a dumb card game this seriously? Maybe Tony should have gone for something with actual stakes involved.

Well, and there's the fact that he's sitting on his own plane paying childrens games with a legendary assassin. Sometimes even Tony doesn't believe his own life.]

Exactly how closely have you been keeping up with current events? And any tens?

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[He does everything in life with serious attention now, it's just how he's been wired. Maybe a card game doesn't need that, but it's quite nice to be able to turn that focus to something that's essentially harmless.

Though he is aware that this odd sense of camaraderie exists in a bubble, and danger will come flooding back in when they land. Danger of being caught, of Stark betraying him to Steve or what remains of SHIELD, of disappearing in another foreign country. That question is just a needle in the bubble, starting to let real life bleed in again.]

Bits. Not much, I've been tracking what remains of HYDRA more than reading the papers.

[He peels a ten out of his deck and hands it over.]

[buildsomething]

[Tony accepts the card with a solemn nod of his own and makes a show of studying his hand instead of Barnes.]

Don't give me that look, I'm not going to quiz you. Just trying to figure out if I need to redeploy the list of necessary viewing for the sadly pop culture deprived.

[No points for guessing who that list was originally created for. And you'd think Tony might have learned to be slightly less obnoxious about it, but some things take more effort than you'd expect.]

Aces?

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[He made a list of movies for Steve to watch? That's almost funny and almost sad, and he's not sure which side he's coming down on.]

Pop culture is kind of low on my priority list.

[In fact anything that's not hiding and surviving is low on that list. This conversation today is the longest one he's had since before he fell from that train.]

And you can go fish. Now give me back that ten.

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[Tony makes a face but passes the offending card back over, then reaches for one to replace it.]

How come? Easy way to get a feel for the world.

[And begs the question of what exactly Barnes does all the time while he's busy hiding? Just sits around being paranoid? No wonder he looks like a mess.]

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That's not the world I'm looking to get a feel for, not yet.

[He doesn't know if he'll ever be ready to step back out into normal civilisation, but right now he has other things he has to focus on.]

And give me your other ten.

[He knows there has to be one, or Stark wouldn't have asked for that other ten in the first place.]

[buildsomething]

[He flicks the other card over after it, but Tony's attention is all on Barnes now. It's not quite a searching look, but that's only because he doesn't want Barnes to get all twitchy again.]

Fair enough. But you're going to have to start working on it some time. Or were you planning on just hiding for the rest of your life? Seems like kind of a waste.

[advanced]

I'm not hiding, I have a mission.

[Maybe he shouldn't have said that so candidly, but he's examining his cards with rather too much interest now.]

You have any more tens?

[buildsomething]

Nope. Go fish.

[Tony smiles just a little, mostly because he knows Barnes isn't looking at him. Okay, so maybe he's staring a little more intently now.]

Mission, huh?

[advanced]

[He scowls, more at himself than at being told to Go Fish, and peels another card off the deck.]

Forget I said that.

[buildsomething]

[The look Tony shoots him makes it pretty clear how likely that is, but he just hums in response.]

All I'm saying is, that seems like the kind of thing you maybe don't want to do alone. Sixes?

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[He snorts, an almost amused sort of sound.]

What, and you're offering to come along? Go fish.

[Both for the card and the idea.]

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I didn't say me necessarily.

[If there's anything Iron Man is not particularly good at, it's stealth. Most of the time he can bulldoze through anyway, but he's at least cognizant of the fact that he's not likely to be too helpful with whatever Barnes is doing.]

Just that having backup on call can't hurt. [Tony shoots him the briefest glance as he reaches for a card out of the deck.]

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And what other backup are you suggesting?

[It's asked mildly enough but there's an undercurrent of warning in there, because Steve is not an option on the table.]

I don't exactly have a cell phone to call up some convenient assistance.

[buildsomething]

[That just gets a flat look.]

You remember who you're talking to, right? You want a phone, I can get you one. I can even make it untraceable.

[advanced]

Right, and if I call you up, pretty sure any fight I'm in would be done long before you got there.

[It's easier to argue the logistics of it rather than the very complicated snarl of emotion that's someone trying to help him.]

[buildsomething]

You don't know how fast I can move.

[But it is a point and he dips his head to acknowledge it.]

Then just humor me and send a sign that you're alive every so often. Smoke signal. Carrier pigeon. I genuinely do not care. It's your turn, by the way.

[advanced]

[He knows it's his turn, but he's stuck just staring at Stark kind of uncomfortably.]

Why do you care?

[It's not an accusation, just genuinely baffled. They've met for all of a few hours, but he wants regular check ins? It can't be because of Steve, Stark already said he wouldn't tell the other man, so why?]

[buildsomething]

[Tony shrugs, because it's easier than admitting he has no real idea why. Maybe it's just that Barnes deserves something after all the shit he's been through, but that's not quite it.]

If you die, I have to train up a new Go Fish partner.

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[The very corner of his lip twitches upwards into an almost smile for a moment or two.]

Right, because it's such a hard game to teach someone, that'd be a real hassle.

[buildsomething]

Hey, maybe you're just a fast learner.

[He flicks a quick grin of his own at him.]

Seriously. I'm a fusser, it happens. You're stuck with it now.

[advanced]

[He lapses into silence for a few moments, trying to work through whether to accept that sort of offer or not, before eventually he shakes his head.]

Sorry, this is a one time thing. So give me any Queens you've got.

[buildsomething]

[Tony just snorts. That's what he thinks.

But he's not going to argue the point at the moment, instead just handing over the requested card with an amused look.]

You know, some people play long distance chess. Long distance go fish can't be that much harder.

[advanced]

You really don't have many friends, do you?

[That probably comes out harsher than he means it to, but it seems fairly telling that Tony's trying so hard to connect to someone like him.]

I won, do I say Fish or something?

[He puts his cards down face up to prove it.]