Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Alright, gentlemen, settle down,” Mr. Fury’s voice boomed as he walked into the classroom. “I will be returning your midterm exams.” He moved to the podium at the front of the small classroom, placing his bag beside it and taking off his long, black winter coat. He placed the folder of graded tests on the podium and looked at his class. “I was disappointed with the grades, to say the least. It’s clear that most of you didn’t do any of the readings.”

He took the stack of tests out of the folder and began to walk around the room, sliding his students their tests as he passed them. He nearly smirked as he heard the students' disappointed sighs as they looked at their low scores.

When he reached his least favorite student, he flipped the test upside down and slightly folded it so no one else could see the grade. He looked disappointed at the boy in front of him before moving on.

Tony Stark unfolded his exam and stared at the fat D- written in red on the top of the page. He sighed, folding down the corner to hide the grade before placing the packet on his desk. He leaned back in his seat, waiting for Fury to hand back the last exam.

Fury held the final test packet out to the last student, the hint of a smile on his lips before he turned and headed back to his podium.

Steve Rogers looked at the read B+ on the top of the page and almost let out a sigh of relief. He was certain he’d failed the exam.

“I don’t know why so many of you look shocked by your grades. I can’t exactly say I’m surprised by the poor performance after having to deal with you boys staring at me with dead eyes, clearly not paying attention to a single thing I’ve taught throughout the semester,” Fury said, his voice dripping with annoyance.

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Fury, sir?” A boy in the back of the room—Bruce—asked. “I can’t fail this class.”

Fury stared at the boy. “Then you should have studied more.”

“Can’t we do, like, extra credit or something?” Another student, Clint, asked from across the room. “You can’t just let us all fail. I mean, what does that say about your teaching?”

“Oh, it says more about your studying habits than it does my teaching. The highest score in the class was a B+, so clearly, there’s one student in here who knows how to study. The rest of you, however, need to brush up on your studying skills over the holiday break,” Fury said, earning him a bunch of groans from around the room.

“Sir, my father is going to be pissed if I fail this class. Please, there has to be something you can do,” Bruce begged.

Fury sighed. “Alright, fine. I suppose I can allow a retest after the break, since it is the season of giving, after all.”

Fury could hear the students sigh in relief.

“Of course, it won’t be the same test. Your final grade will be an average of the two exams, so you’ll want to score high to bring your grade up from an F to at least a C average. And you will also be tested on some new material as well. Now, open up to chapter seven in your textbooks, let’s begin reading about Ancient Greece.”

Before Fury could get another sentence out, he saw Tony Stark’s hand rise.

“Yes, Mr. Stark?” He asked, annoyed. After dealing with Stark all semester, Fury knew that whatever Tony was about to say wouldn’t be anything helpful.

“I don’t see the point in starting a new chapter the day winter break begins,” Tony said, hoping to get out of class early. It was the last class before the student body would be dismissed for the break, he didn’t find it fair to have to sit through half a day of classes and was ready for the school day to end. He was already mentally checked out of class.

“Well, that’s just too bad.”

“You see, if you start teaching new material now, we’ll all forget it by the time we come back from the holiday in two weeks. Wouldn’t it make more sense to just wait to start the chapter until we come back from break?”

“I suppose you may be right, Mr. Stark. Let’s table the new chapter for today. Instead, you can read it yourselves over the break and be prepared for a pop quiz on it the day classes resume. Oh, and we’ll scrap the retest idea. Your original exam grades will remain,” Fury said as he slammed his textbook shut.

The entire class groaned again.

“Sir, I don’t think that’s necessary,” Clint called. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we would much rather have the retest after the break. Let’s talk about Ancient Greece.”

“My mind is made up. Make sure you pack those textbooks in your suitcases. And don’t forget to thank Mr. Stark on your way out,” Fury said as he put his coat on and picked up his briefcase once more before heading out the door.

When the students were sure he was gone, they all turned to Tony.

“Thanks a lot, jackass,” Clint muttered as he packed his books up to leave.

“Hey! At least I got us out of class early,” Tony said, trying to defend himself.

Tony remained in his seat as the rest of the class filed out of the room, all grumbling as they passed him. Once they were gone, he sighed, resting his chin in his palm.

“Hey,” a voice near him said.

Tony jumped, not realizing he wasn’t alone. He turned toward the voice, surprised to see that Steve Rogers was standing beside him.

Boy, did he hate Steve Rogers.

“Why did you do that?” Rogers asked. “You know, not all of us have rich parents who can pay our way through our classes for us. Most of us are here on scholarships and must pass all our classes to keep them. Some of those guys who failed the exam are at risk of losing their scholarship money, they’ll get kicked out of the school without the scholarships. They needed that retest.”

“Then they should have studied more,” Tony replied nonchalantly, trying to get Steve to stop talking to him.

“And what grade did you get, then, Stark?”

“Who do you think got the B+? Obviously, it was me,” He lied.

“Oh really?” Steve asked before smugly holding up his test so Tony could see the bright red B+ on it.

“Fuck off, you asshole,” Tony sneered, quickly packing up his backpack and leaving the room, being sure to slam the door shut behind him as he stormed off.

Steve watched him leave, feeling bad for seemingly hurting Tony’s feelings. But the feeling faded quickly when he remembered how much he disliked Tony Stark. He sighed, slid his test into his satchel, and left the classroom, shutting the lights off on his way out.

Meanwhile, on his way back to his quarters after ending class, Fury had been stopped by the dean’s secretary, Miss Griffin. She’d told him that the dean needed to speak with him and escorted him to the main office.

The dean spun around in his chair when he stepped inside the office.

“Ah, Mr. Fury, just the man I needed to see,” He said, a polite smile on his face. “Come in, come in. Please take a seat.”

Fury awkwardly came further into the room and sat down, placing his briefcase beside him.

“As I’m sure you are aware, this year was Mr. Coulson’s year to remain on campus with the students who are staying over the holiday break.”

“Yes, I’m aware, Dr. Hawthorne. What exactly does this have to do with me?” Fury asked, wondering where exactly the conversation would be heading.

“Mr. Coulson’s father was diagnosed with cancer, so he can no longer stay through the break. I did a random draw to select his replacement, and your name came up. I figured it would be alright with you since I know you had planned on staying here anyway. I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t an emergency, and you’ve been working here for a long time, so I have no doubt that you’re the best person for the job,” The dean said.

“Oh, of course. I’d be more than happy to take over for him,” Fury said. “I hope his father is alright. How, uh, how many students will I be babysitting?”

Dr. Hawthorne picked up a slip of paper from the desk and passed it over to Fury. “Only two this year. It was only supposed to be one, but one of the boys’ parents called last night..”

Fury accepted the list and read it. He groaned when he saw the two names written down. Just his luck he would be stuck babysitting Tony Stark and Steve Rogers for two weeks.

“Well, I suppose this will be an interesting holiday,” He said flatly.

“Why is that? Are they friends?”

“Quite the opposite, they hate each other.”

The dean blinked before smiling sheepishly. “Well, who better to keep the two of them in line than you, I suppose. But Nicholas, don’t be too hard on them, alright? Both of them are spending Christmas away from their families, it’s going to be difficult for them.”

“How difficult can it be? They’re snobby, immature brats who are enrolled in the most prestigious boarding school in the country,” Fury said dismissively. “So, are there any extra regulations I should be aware of?”

The dean hesitated, clearly wanting to say more on the previous topic, but sighed, going along with Fury. “Yes, but let me get you the keys first.” He said before opening one of the drawers of his desk and pulling out a ring full of keys. “I doubt you will, but please don’t lose these.”

Fury took the keys from the dean and looked at them. “Which keys are for what buildings?”

While Fury spent the next half hour in the dean’s office getting the rules for the holiday, Steve and Tony were in their dorm building watching everyone else packing up their suitcases to leave the school.

Their dorms were just down the hall from each other, so Steve, who was sitting on his bed quietly reading a novel, could hear Tony arguing with another student. He sighed, placing his bookmark in the book and closing it before standing up.

“Hey, man, don’t get involved, alright?” One of Steve’s roommates, Sam, warned. “Stark’s in a pissy mood because he has to stay over the break, and Barton’s still mad about Fury’s class.”

“I don’t know how they’ve managed to go four months as roommates without killing each other,” Their other roommate, Bucky, said as he zipped his suitcase shut.

“I’m sure that Lang kid hates being stuck in a dorm with them,” Sam said. “I think he’s friendly with Clint, but I don’t necessarily think that means they’re friends, you know? And I don’t know a single person here who actually likes Stark, so there’s that.”

Before Steve or Bucky could respond, their door opened, revealing Obadiah Stane, Justin Hammer, Aldrich Killian, and Ivan Vanko. Stane and Killian were on the soccer team with Steve and his roommates in the fall, and Hammer and Vanko were on the baseball team with them in the spring. Steve didn’t mind hanging around them, but they were more Bucky and Sam’s friends than they were his.

“Who’s ready for vacation?” Hammer shouted excitedly, pumping a fist into the air.

“Man, I’m so ready to get back to New Orleans,” Sam said. “I’m so tired of the snow. It’ll be nice to be able to walk around outside without worrying that my balls will freeze off.”

Stane laughed. “Same here! Can’t wait to get to St. Lucia! Sun, sand, and tons and tons of beach babes!”

“Where’s everyone else heading?” Killian asked.

As the guys continued to talk, Steve zoned out. He didn’t want to hear about how excited everyone else was to be leaving for the break since he was stuck on campus. He liked Mr. Coulson and all, but he wasn’t looking forward to spending Christmas on campus with him. As far as he was aware, there weren’t any other students staying over the break. It would be a little awkward, just him and Mr. Coulson, but hopefully, Coulson would just leave him be most of the time.

Steve snapped back when he heard a commotion from the hallway. All of the guys crowded around the door to see what was happening.

“Shut the fuck up!” Barton shouted at Stark.

“You can’t blame me for history when you’re the one who failed the exam! I had nothing to do with that! You’re just stupid!” Stark shot back.

Barton lifted a fist and pulled it back before punching Stark square in the nose.

“What the hell?!” Tony shouted, holding his now bloody nose.

“You deserved that, you prick! You’re lucky I don’t beat the shit out of you!”

It was clear that Tony was pissed because he didn’t even bother to wipe the blood off of his face before lunging at Clint, tackling him to the ground. All of the boys in the hall crowded around them, chanting and they wrestled on the ground. Tony ended up on top of Clint and pulled his fist back, ready to punch him in the face, when a whistle blew.

The crowd of boys quickly dispersed, leaving Clint and Tony alone in the hall. Of course, the students were nosy, so they all peeked out of their dorm doors to see what would happen.

Steve, Sam, Bucky, Obadiah, Justin, Ivan, and Aldrich all crowded around the door, each trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

One of the building custodians—Mr. Gardner, but he preferred to be called by his first name, David—had caught the two boys fighting. He held a whistle in one hand and a mop in the other.

“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?” He asked, stepping closer to Stark and Barton.

The boys scrambled, frantically standing up and straightening themselves out.

“Nothing.” “Talking.” They said over each other.

David let out a sigh. “Do I even want to know who started it?”

“Stark did,” Clint said quickly.

Tony angrily turned to him. “You’re the one who punched me in the fucking nose!”

“And you’re the one who had it coming!”

“Boys!” David shouted over them, preventing them from pouncing on each other again. “Knock it off! You’re being dismissed for the holiday within the hour, I’m sure you don’t want to get yourselves into detention for the new year. Now, get on out of here. Pack your bags or something. Don’t speak to or even look at each other if you think you’ll start fighting again. Now scram.”

“Yes, sir!” Clint said before heading back into his dorm.

Tony quietly nodded, whispering a quick apology to David before returning to his dorm.

Steve thought the action was odd; he’d never seen Tony seem so resigned. He also almost looked disappointed in himself. It was a far cry from Tony’s usual behavior. Steve didn’t let himself dwell on it, though. He simply headed back into his room and sat on his bed, listening to the other guys talking about what had just happened.

In Tony’s dorm, Clint and their other roommate Scott finished packing their suitcases for the break. Tony sat on his bed and thumbed through a comic. Clint zipped his bag and plopped it on the floor before turning to Tony.

“Where’s your suitcase, brat? Thought you were going to Italy, huh?”

Tony didn’t answer, he didn’t even bother to look up from his comic book.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, Stark!”

Tony let out a frustrated sigh before turning to Scott. “Scott, could you please tell Clint that we were specifically instructed to stop speaking to each other?”

“Don’t bring me into this, man,” Scott said without looking up from the pair of jeans he was folding.

“Oh, this is just hilarious!” Clint laughed as if he suddenly understood something. “You’re not packing because you’re staying here, aren’t you?”

Tony didn’t respond. He kept flipping through his comic book. That annoyed Clint, so he grabbed it from Tony and tossed it across the room.

“Hey!” Tony shouted.

“You are holding over, ha! Fucking loser. I don’t blame your parents for wanting to go on vacation without you, I wouldn’t want your annoying ass around, either!” Clint jeered.

“Shut up! That’s not what happened!”

“Oh? Then what was it? Because you haven’t been able to shut up about Italy all month, so what is it?”

“There was a flight change and my parents didn’t want me to miss any classes, so I had to stay here,” Tony lied quickly.

Clint saw right through it. “Sure, you keep telling yourself. We all know you got left behind because your parents don’t fucking love you, and I don’t blame them. I’d also want to get as far away from you as possible if I were them.”

Clint’s words stung, but Tony didn’t let it show. Scott, however, seemed to be bothered by the conversation.

“Hey, cut the kid some slack,” He said as he zipped his suitcase. “Let’s just go, man. No need to pick a fight on your way out the door.”

Clint huffed but went back to his bed to pick up his suitcase. He carried it out of the dorm, leaving without another word. Scott grabbed his suitcase to follow, but paused in front of Tony.

“Enjoy the two weeks without Clint,” He said lightheartedly.

Tony let out a small laugh. “Believe me, I will.”

“Listen, I know we don’t like each other much, but I’m still sorry about what Clint just said. He went too far. Just—don’t take him seriously.”

“Thanks,” Tony mumbled, giving Scott a small nod.

Scott nodded back before making his way out the door, leaving Tony alone in their dorm.

Tony sighed before standing up and grabbing his comic book from across the room. He sat down on his bed again, placing the comic on the bedside table before leaning back onto his bed and staring at the ceiling.

After another hour, all of the students and teachers had cleared the campus, heading home for the holidays. Steve had sat wistfully by his window and watched as his fellow students and friends were reunited with their families. He caught sight of Bucky hugging the rest of the Barnes’ and sighed before getting up and moving away from the window. He was just about to sit down on his bed when someone knocked on his door. He shifted gears, heading for the door, and pulled it open.

“Oh, hi, Miss Griffin,” He said to the secretary. “I thought you left for the holidays.”

“I’m on my way out now, actually, I just had to make one last stop, which happens to be you!” She said cheerfully. As she spoke, Steve noticed the large duffle bag draped over her shoulder and the thick winter coat she had on.

“What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Fury wants you to meet him in the lounge in an hour.”

Steve was confused. “Mr. Fury? Why?”

“You didn’t hear? There’s been a change in plans, Mr. Coulson couldn’t stay over the break any more so the dean asked Mr. Fury to take his place,” Miss Griffin said.

“Oh, okay, thank you,” Steve said politely, even though he wanted to ask her a million follow-up questions.

“Have a good break, Mr. Rogers!” Miss Griffin said before turning around and heading down the hall.

Steve shut his door and leaned up against it before groaning. It was just his luck that he’d be stuck with Mr. Fury for two weeks. He couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Mr. Coulson to cause the switch, but he didn’t dwell on it for long. Instead, he flopped on his bed and went back to reading his novel.

When Steve arrived at the student lounge an hour later, he wasn’t surprised to find Fury already there, standing by the lit fireplace.

“Ah, Mr. Rogers, take a seat,” He said, gesturing to the couch in front of him.

Steve moved to the couch and sat down, tapping his fingers against his knee. He expected Fury to say something else, but all he did was stand there, checking his watch occasionally. After about 10 minutes, Steve was getting bored.

“Mr. Fury? What are you waiting for?” He asked, trying to keep his impatience from seeping into his voice.

“The other student to arrive.”

Steve was confused. Last he heard, no one else was supposed to be staying. He was the only student remaining on campus over the break, as far as he knew.

“I thought everyone else was leaving for the holidays.”

Fury sighed. “Unfortunately, there was a change in plans.”

Steve sighed, slumping down onto the couch. He was annoyed by the changes, he wished someone had updated him so he wouldn’t have had to be surprised by the presence of another student and the loss of Mr. Coulson.

Fury sighed again before rubbing a hand down his face tiredly. “I suppose I should just get started. Over the break, we will be maintaining—”

The door to the lounge opened, interrupting Fury, and in trudged the one person Steve didn’t want to be stuck with for two weeks.

“Mr. Stark, you’re late,” Fury said, clearly annoyed.

Tony came further into the room and threw himself onto the opposite end of the couch, not even looking at Steve.

“Yeah, because I don’t want to be here,” He said dismissively.

“You know, the least you could do is show some respect to Mr. Fury since he’s going to be stuck babysitting you for the next two weeks,” Steve sneered, already fed up with Tony’s attitude.

Tony turned to face Steve, letting out a long and frustrated groan. “You’re here, too? Great. Merry Christmas to me.”

“Merry Christmas to me! You weren’t supposed to be here! Now I have to deal with you!”

“God, you’re such a fucking asshole.”

“Gentlemen!” Fury shouted. “Knock it off! I will not put up with the bickering the entire break, so you’d better knock it off now, got it?”

The boys both mumbled a quiet ‘yes sir’.

“Good. Now, as I was saying, We will be maintaining a normal schedule over the break. We’ll have breakfast at 8 o’clock as usual, then head to the library for some studying. Afterward, we’ll have lunch, then spend time outside for some fresh air and exercise. After that, we’ll go back to the library for more study time, followed by dinner, and retiring for the night,” Fury explained.

“So, first, we’re left here for Christmas with you, and now we have to spend the entire time studying? This blows,” Tony complained.

“Hold your complaints for a moment, I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet,” Fury said sarcastically. “We’ll have to sleep in the infirmary for the next two weeks. The school shut off the heat in the other buildings over the break since only a few of us are here, so Dr. Hawthorne instructed that we stay in the infirmary.”

“That’s bullshit! You can’t do that to us!”

“Would you rather sleep in your dorm and freeze your ass off, or sleep in the warm infirmary, Mr. Stark? Besides, this wasn’t my decision, it was just what I was told to do.”

Tony crossed his arms grumpily, a scowl on his face.

“Now, I want you two to go back to your dorms and pack a bag to keep in the infirmary. Please also grab your textbooks and notebooks, and head to the library when you’re done. I’ll meet you there, I just have to go to the kitchen quickly. And boys, I don’t care if you despise each other, do not leave each other's sides when I’m not with you. Rogers, I trust you more than I trust Stark, so keep him in line and do not let him wander, got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Steve replied.

Tony simply groaned.

“Alright, then we’ll disperse for now and meet in the library in an hour,” Fury said as he began to walk out the door. Before leaving, he turned to the boys over his shoulder. “Oh, and try to refrain from killing each other, please.” And with that, Fury was gone.

As Steve and Tony walked across campus to the dormitory building, they didn’t make conversation. Neither of them were pleased about being in each other’s company. They couldn’t even stand being in history class with each other, so the next two weeks were going to be awful, they just knew it.

Eventually, Tony got tired of the silence, so he decided to try and get some information out of Steve.

“So what’s the deal? I thought Coulson was supposed to be on holdover duty this year. Why are we stuck with Eyepatch?”

Steve shook his head. “You’re asking the wrong person, Stark. Last I heard, it was supposed to be just me and Coulson here over the break. Now, it’s Fury and you’re here, too.”

“Fury didn’t say anything before I got there?”

“Nope. No mention of Coulson,” Steve confirmed.

“That’s odd,” Tony said. “I hope Coulson’s okay.”

“I thought you didn’t like him,” Steve said, recalling some of their shared English classes last year.

“Nah, Coulson’s cool. He’s also my guidance counselor, so I’ve had time to warm up to him. Plus, he knows I’m always joking. He’s actually a friend of my aunt’s, so I knew him before coming here,” Tony explained as they continued to walk on the snowy sidewalks.

Steve was sort of surprised that Tony had willingly offered him some personal information.

“So since you know him, shouldn’t you know why he switched with Mr. Fury?”

Tony shook his head as he kicked a chunk of snow. “No, I haven’t seen him outside of the school setting in a while. And when we meet in his office, we usually talk about my shit.”

Steve felt like there was more to unpack there, but before his curiosity got the best of him and he could ask, Tony continued.

“I’m so mad we’re stuck with Fury. Of all the teachers here that we could’ve had to babysit us, it had to be the one that hates my guts.”

“Hate is a strong word.”

“You saw him today, hate is the perfect word to use. He absolutely hates me.”

Steve couldn’t disagree.

“Sleeping in the infirmary is going to suck,” He said instead.

“At least there’s heat. I get so cold in the dorms even with the heat on. The heating system in the infirmary is newer than the other ones on campus, so it’s the warmest building here.”

“Yeah, but the beds suck,” Steve said as he shuddered from a cold gust of wind. “I had to stay there overnight when I caught the flu last winter and I could barely sleep.”

“The mattresses are so soft, though! I had to stay in the infirmary after I fainted a few weeks ago—the nurse wanted to keep an eye on me overnight—and I swear I slept better there than I did in my dorm,” Tony chuckled.

“I love my dorm bed. The mattresses in the dorms are firmer, so I sleep much better in my dorm than I did in the infirmary.”

As Steve spoke, he noticed Tony’s eyes shift to behind him. He turned to see what Tony was looking at. Two men were carrying the school’s Christmas tree out of the auditorium.

“Hey!” Tony called. “That’s our tree!”

“Not anymore, kid,” One of the men responded. “The school sold it to us since no one’ll be here for Christmas!”

Tony frowned, his expression looking devastatingly sad. Steve had never seen Tony look so upset before.

“Merry fucking Christmas to us,” Tony mumbled before quickly heading toward the dormitory building. His hands were stuffed into his jacket pockets and his head was down as he walked.

Steve sighed before following behind him at a slower pace.

After sending the boys off to collect their things, Fury made his way to the dining hall. He wanted to make sure that there would be food in the kitchen over the break. He wasn’t sure if any of the kitchen staff would be staying for the holidays.

As he made his way into the kitchen, he was surprised to see a familiar figure standing at one of the counters, writing something down.

“Ah, Miss Hill! I didn’t realize you’d still be here,” He said kindly, sending her a warm smile when she turned to face him.

“Mr. Fury, good afternoon!” She replied cheerfully. “What brings you to my kitchen?”

Maria Hill was the head cook on campus. She’d been hired nearly six years ago and had quickly become popular around the school. The staff and students adored her. She was kind and always made time to talk to everyone. Plus, she made the best Snickerdoodle cookies.

“I was just coming to check out the food situation for the break. I wasn’t sure if anyone would still be here.”

“Oh, well the school doesn’t get any more shipments until we come back from break, so we’ve got whatever’s in the pantries. I’ll be here, though, so don’t worry about it. I’ll have breakfast, lunch, and dinner ready on the normal schedule if that works.”

Fury nodded. “That would be excellent, thank you, Maria. Although, I have to admit that I’m a little surprised you’re staying over the holidays.”

Maria sighed before taking a sip from the mug that was on the counter next to the notebook she’d been writing in. She closed the notebook and put down her pen before fully facing Nick.

“I’m just not ready to go back home. I thought I would be, but I’ll be all alone in his empty house and it’s the first Christmas without him, I just can’t do it yet. I need some more time,” She said sadly.

A few weeks ago, Maria’s father passed away. He was the only person she had in the area, as her mother died when she was young and she was an only child. Her extended family lived across the country, but she wasn’t ready to spend Christmas with them so soon after the loss of her father.

The school held a memorial service for him the day after the funeral, but after that, Maria didn’t mention her father’s passing. She was still coming to terms with it.

“Losing a parent is hard,” Fury said sympathetically. “I can’t imagine how it must feel so close to the holidays.”

Maria gave Nick a sad smile. “Sometimes I wake up and forget he’s gone. Just yesterday, I woke up and started thinking about his favorite cookies to bring home for him before I remembered that he’s gone. It’s just easier on me to stay here so that I don’t have to sit in his house on Christmas without him there.”

“I understand, and if you need anything, just let me know.”

“You know, I don’t know why everyone here dislikes you so much. You’ve been nothing but kind to me,” Maria smiled.

Fury rolled his eyes playfully. “Well, don’t get used to it. I’m not this nice to anyone else.”

“Why are you with me, then?”

“Because unlike everyone else, you treat me with respect,” Nick said, making Maria smile. He quickly changed the subject. “I’ll bring the boys around for dinner at 5:30, then. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”

“Boys? I thought it was just Steve Rogers.”

Fury let out a deprecating chuckle. “Stark is here, too.”

Maria gave him a stern look. “Don’t even think about harping on that boy, Nick. It’s Christmastime, try to be a little more cheerful.”

“Have you met me?” Fury asked jokingly.

Maria laughed before asking Nick if he wanted to help with the meal plan so that they weren’t eating the same things every day for the next two weeks. As they planned, they talked about whatever came to mind, though Maria did most of the talking. When Nick finally paused to look at the time, he realized He was going to be late to the library. He said goodbye to Maria and headed back out into the snow.

Steve and Tony had been sitting in the library for a few minutes waiting when Tony started to get antsy. He began clicking the pen he was holding as he bounced his leg. He didn’t even seem to notice how noisy the pen was or how his knee kept banging against the underside of the table he and Steve were sitting at. Steve, however, did notice and he was not pleased.

“Could you knock it off? I’m trying to read,” He said, looking up from his history textbook.

“I’m not even doing anything.”

“You’re clicking your pen and shaking the entire table.”

Tony furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused as he looked at the pen in his hand. “Oh, I didn’t even realize I was doing that.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that?” Steve asked, leaving no room for any bullshit. “Listen, I know you get off on annoying the crap out of everyone you encounter, but can you just not right now? Unlike you, I actually care about my studies.”

“How can you say that when you don’t actually know anything about me?” Tony inquired.

“I know you don’t want to be here right now.”

“Wow, astute observation, Rogers! Would you like a gold star? No shit I don’t want to be here!”

“Then why are you here? If you’re going to make your presence our problem, why don’t you just leave?” Steve said, glaring at Tony as he crossed his arms.

“If you really must know, my parents went to Italy for Christmas,” Tony sniffed as he leaned back in his chair, trying to act like it didn’t bother him.

Steve saw right through the act.

He felt bad for Tony. The way he spoke made it sound like Tony’s parents didn’t exactly want Tony to be around them.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said. “If it makes you feel any better, I have to stay here because my parents are dead.”

Tony raised his eyebrows as his eyes widened in shock. “Why the hell would that make me feel any better? That’s horrible!”

“Because we’re both in the same boat. Neither of us has a family to go home to. Let’s not make this any more miserable for each other than it already is.”

Tony glared at Steve briefly before sighing. He stood up and walked around the table to stand in front of Steve, holding out a hand. “Fine, truce?”

“Truce,” Steve agreed as he placed his hand in Tony’s and shook it. He couldn’t help but notice how rough Tony’s hand felt. It must’ve been from all of the building Steve knew Tony did in his spare time.

“I also think it would be in our best interest to make the break easy for Fury as well. He clearly doesn’t want to be here, either,” Steve continued.

“I wonder if he volunteered for this or if the dean just picked his name out of a hat,” Tony thought out loud.

“I definitely don’t think he volunteered, the dean probably asked him to and he couldn’t say no. But since he’s stuck with us, the least we can do is behave.”

Tony rounded the table again and sat back in his seat, diagonally from Steve. “It takes two to tango, you know. If he’s not nice to me, I won’t be nice to him.”

“Tony—”

Before Steve could get another word out, the library door opened, and in walked Fury, his long, black coat whipping around behind him. He walked over to the table next to where Steve and Tony were sitting and placed the books he was carrying on it.

“My apologies for being late, I had to stop by the kitchen to speak to Maria,” He said.

“Miss Hill is still here?” Tony asked.

“Her father just died and she has no other family in the area, where else would she be?” Fury responded.

Tony’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he lowered himself in his seat. It was as if he was waiting for the ground to swallow him up.

“I’m pleased to see that you two didn’t kill each other while I was gone,” Fury said, moving on from the prior topic. “Anyway, we’re going to stay here until dinner. Afterward, we’ll head to the infirmary for the night. Any questions?”

“Uh, yeah,” Tony said, his hand raised. “Why do we have to do schoolwork over Christmas break?”

“You should never take a break from learning. And if I remember correctly, you were the one who asked for reading over the break, Mr. Stark.”

“Um, no. All I said was there was no point in starting a new chapter before we all left for two weeks. I never said we should have to read the chapter over the break,” Tony argued.

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘careful what you wish for’?”

“Oh, that’s such bull—”

“Tony!” Steve interrupted. “Just read the damn chapter!”

“Thank you, Mr. Rogers, but I can handle this,” Fury said. “Mr. Stark, if you keep up the complaints, I’ll make you read the next chapter as well.”

Tony rolled his eyes, huffing as he opened up his textbook.

“Now that that’s settled, get to work. I don’t want to hear either of your voices,” Fury ordered before turning his attention to one of his books.

Steve opened his notebook and tore out a piece of paper. He quickly scribbled a note on it before sliding it across the table to Tony. Tony lifted his head from his hands, curiously picking up the note to read it.

I thought we agreed to go easy on Fury.

Tony scowled at Steve before clicking open his pen and writing under Steve’s line. He angrily slid the paper back before pouting and resting his head back in his hands. Steve flipped the paper over and took his time trying to decipher Tony’s sloppy handwriting.

Not my fault he’s a grade-A dick.

Steve gave Tony’s foot a nudge underneath the table to get his attention. When Tony looked up, Steve shot Tony a disapproving look, gesturing to the note.

“It’s true!” Tony whispered.

“Stark! What did I just say?” Fury said, clearly hearing Tony.

“Fuck you,” Tony mumbled under his breath, thinking no one could hear him. He knew he was wrong when he felt Steve kick him under the table again. “Stop fucking kicking me!”

“Then stop being a dick!”

“Boys! If you can’t sit quietly for five minutes together, one of you is going to have to move. I’m not dealing with the fighting for two weeks. So, one of you needs to get up and sit at another table,” Fury said, sick of their attitudes.

Tony stood up, his chair nearly tipping over from the force, and slammed his books shut. “Gladly,” He said, glaring at Steve before walking across the room to the furthest table and plopping himself down in a chair.

The rest of the afternoon was spent quietly studying in the library. Fury was pleased that after the first incident, the boys ignored each other the rest of the time. Steve was making progress on his history reading, and at one point, Fury thought he also might have been working on some math homework (he could hear Steve muttering numbers under his breath), but he was certain that Tony didn’t get any work done. When Tony dropped the book he was holding, Fury saw that it was very clearly a comic book.

At least Tony wasn’t bothering anyone.

At 5 o’clock, they packed up, grabbed their things, and made their way over to the dining hall for dinner. As they walked, Steve couldn’t help but notice how much Tony was shivering. He found himself feeling bad for the boy. Then, he realized how bizarre the thought was because he disliked Tony.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Maria had made chicken, beans, and rice for them. Fury asked her if she wanted to join them, but she politely declined and headed back into the kitchen. After they finished, Maria brought out some Snickerdoodle cookies to try and cheer everyone up. Steve was pleased, but Tony still looked miserable as he slowly chewed on his cookie.

Afterward, they trudged across the snowy campus to the infirmary. There were a few different rooms, so Fury decided that Steve and Tony would bunk together in one of the smaller ones, and he would stay down the hall from them. That way, they would have enough space away from the teacher, but Fury could still keep an ear out for any misbehaving or arguments.

It was only 7 o’clock, but Fury decided that for the rest of the night, they would all stay in the infirmary.

“We have to go to bed at 7? This sucks, we’re not 5 years old!” Tony whined.

“Are you sure? Because you’re certainly acting like one,” Fury replied. “I think it would be nice to have a quiet night in tonight to get settled. And hopefully, you two will use this time to get over whatever issues you have with each other. I know none of us want to be here, but it’s only going to suck more if you guys fight every time you so much as look at each other.”

“What, so you want us to braid each other’s hair and play truth or dare?” Tony scoffed.

“No, but I do want you to settle your differences. I’m not asking you to become best friends, all I’m asking is that you be more civil with each other for the next two weeks. After that, you can go back to hating each other, but just try to keep the peace over the break.”

“Mr. Fury, no offense, but I’m not the problem here,” Tony said. “So if you want the peace to be kept or whatever, talk to Mr. All-American Baseball Player over there.”

Tony didn’t say another word, instead turning and heading into the room he was forced into sharing with Steve. Steve sighed, looking at Fury.

“I’ll sort this out,” He said tiredly.

Fury nodded before walking down the small hallway to his temporary room. Steve took a deep breath before charging into his room to speak to Tony.

“Why do you hate me so much, huh? What did I ever do to deserve to be treated the way you treat me?” Steve asked, fed up with Tony’s hostility.

“Oh, please. Let’s not act like I’m the problem here. You hate me just as much as I hate you, Rogers,” Tony snarked.

“I don’t hate you!” Steve shouted, stomping his foot.

Tony froze, his next words dying on his lips as he looked at Steve in shock.

“I never hated you,” Steve admitted. “I only dislike you because you treat me like absolute shit and I have no idea why. What did I do to you, Tony? Every time I’ve tried to talk to you, you get snappy, hostile, and defensive. After a while, I realized you clearly hated me, so I stopped trying.”

Tony was silent for a few moments before hesitantly coming clean. “It’s because of your friends.”

“My friends?” Steve said, confused. “What does that have to do with me?”

Tony sighed, sitting down on the bed that he’d claimed. “The people you’re associated with are assholes. You guys are popular around here because you play sports. I’m not. The guys on your team have been picking on me since the minute I got here.”

“Who? And picking on you how?” Steve asked, wanting more information.

“Stane, Hammer, Vanko, and Killian. They call me names, shove me around, take my stuff, and break my projects. They beat me up sometimes too if I try to fight back. Do you remember when I broke my nose last year? That was because Vanko and Killian held me still, and while Hammer was laughing at me, Stane socked me in the face.”

“Tony, I’m so sorry they did that to you,” Steve said, feeling horrified by what he was hearing. “I won’t let them keep bothering you. I honestly didn’t know it was happening. I really don’t like hanging around them. They’re more Bucky and Sam’s friends. But is that why you hate me? Because I didn’t stop them?”

“No, I always thought you would try to hurt me like they did, that’s why I try to keep you away from me. If you can’t get to me, you can’t hurt me,” Tony said, suddenly embarrassed.

“Tony, I was never going to hurt you. I only wanted to be your friend.”

Tony lifted his head. “What?”

“All I wanted was to be your friend.”

“Why would you want that?”

“Because you were the new kid two years ago. I knew what it was like being in that position, it was pretty lonely. Everyone else already had their friends, it seemed like no one had any space in their groups for the tiny kid from Brooklyn. Luckily, I had Bucky, and then we met Sam, so I had my people. And when I hit puberty, it was like suddenly everyone wanted to be my friend. They didn’t want me when I was small and new, but once I started bulking up, they all wanted me to hang out with them.

“I know what it’s like being thrown into the deep end here, Tony. I didn’t want you to feel like an outcast like I did, so I wanted to be your friend. I guess the others got to you before I could, though, because the first time I tried to talk to you, you practically ran in the opposite direction after calling me a dick. But I never even thought about hurting you, Tony. I promise all I wanted was to befriend you,” Steve explained.

Steve looked at Tony with big, sad eyes. He almost looked like a golden retriever who had been denied treats.

Tony dropped his head onto his pillow, his entire body sinking into the mattress, and groaned. “God, I feel so fucking stupid.”

Steve stood up and sat down on the edge of Tony’s bed. Tony looked up at him, wondering what he was doing.

“Clearly, there’s been a lot of miscommunication between us. Let’s start over. Hi, I’m Steve Rogers,” Steve said, offering Tony his hand.

Tony stared at it briefly before shaking it. “Tony Stark.”

They stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. Neither of them knew what was so funny, but they couldn’t stop laughing. After a few minutes, their laughter finally died down, leaving the boys catching their breath.

“Now that we’re friends, I have a proposition for you.”

Tony curiously raised an eyebrow, “I’m listening.”

“I’m struggling with the math chapter we’re working on, and I know you’re a math genius. If you help me with my math homework, I’ll help you with the history homework.”

“What makes you think I need help with history?”

“You had the same page of the textbook open the entire time we were in the library this afternoon. Plus, you failed the midterm,” Steve pointed out.

“Actually, I got a D- on the midterm, which is technically not a failing grade.”

“The point is, you clearly need some help, and I need help with math. It would be a win-win for both of us.”

“Oh, alright, fine. But Fury will probably think we’ve been replaced by aliens if we show up at the library tomorrow all buddy-buddy,” Tony chuckled.

“Us getting along could be his early Christmas gift.”

“You know, I don’t actually think he’s that bad,” Tony confessed. “I know I act like an ass to him and pick a lot of arguments, but I don’t hate him.”

“I would’ve never guessed.”

“I mean, he’s uptight and I hate how he teaches. It's really hard for me to follow along with the lessons, but he’s cool. That whole dark and mysterious vibe he’s got going on with the eyepatch and the long coat is pretty sick. Just don’t tell him I said that or I’ll have to kill you.”

Steve laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

A few hours later found Fury creeping down the hallway from his room to the boys’ to make sure they were asleep. He poked his head through the doorway and saw that Steve and Tony were fast asleep in their beds. Fury continued down the hallway and out of the building, making sure the door shut quietly.

He pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on, illuminating the pathway ahead of him. He began to head across the empty campus and to the building that he knew the kitchen staff resided in.

Nick wasn’t sure if Maria would still be awake since it was already after 11. He figured he would go see what she was up to, but he didn’t want to accidentally wake her if she had already retired for the night. If none of the lights were on, he supposed he would just head back to the infirmary.

Luckily, as he approached the building, he saw that there was still a light on through one of the windows, meaning Maria was still up. He quietly went inside and followed the sound of the television down the hallway until he reached the common room.

The common room was a decent size, having enough space for a couple of couches, a chair, a coffee table, and a larger table behind the couches with four chairs at it. It was a cozy space, and perfect for all of the people who worked in the kitchen. Maria, who was sitting on one of the couches in her loungewear, looked up from the television upon hearing Nick’s footsteps.

“Nick, what brings you here?” She asked, slightly surprised to see him. “Can I get you anything? There’s more tea on the stove and beer in the refrigerator. Help yourself.”

“Thought I’d take a break from babysitting duty and come see how you’re doing,” Nick replied as he walked into the kitchen.

“You just left the boys?” Maria asked, slightly alarmed.

Nick came back with a bottle of beer and took a seat on the other couch. “They’re asleep. No reason to stay if they’re both asleep. So, what are you watching?”

“Jeopardy, you’ve never seen it?”

“I can’t say that I have. I don’t watch much television.”

“Newspapers and radio more your speed?” Maria asked.

Fury hummed, taking a swig of beer.

“You’d be good at Jeopardy. It’s a quiz show, seems like it’d be right up your alley,” Maria said before lifting the mug she was holding and taking a sip of her tea. “How were the boys today?”

Nick sighed tiredly. “At each other’s throats. I had to separate them in the library just to get them to stop bickering.”

“I’m sure they’re just frustrated that they have to stay over the break. Especially Tony. He’s been telling me for weeks about how excited he was to go to Italy.”

“Yeah, well, it’s only been a day and he’s already doing everything in his power to make the next two weeks as miserable as possible.”

Maria sighed, taking her eyes off of the television screen to look at her colleague. “Cut him some slack, Nick. He’s a 16-year-old boy who’s been left behind at Christmas. Go easy on him.”

“Please, he’s had it easy his whole life,” Nick scoffed into the mouth of his beer bottle.

“You don’t know that. You don’t know anything about that kid other than what he wants you to see. Let me ask you something; did you have it easy?”

Fury decided it was best not to answer Maria’s question. Instead, he took another sip of beer and turned his attention to the television.

“These are all reruns, by the way,” Maria said after a few minutes.

“Do you remember any of the answers?”

“No, but I do recall the man in the middle winning.”

Nick adjusted himself on the couch, turning to Maria. “Can I ask you something personal?”

When Maria hummed in confirmation, Nick continued.

“Did you still live with your father? I know you didn’t stay here every night. Is that where you went?”

“Yeah, I stayed here half the week and spent the other half at home. Dad and I were like two peas in a pod, you could say,” Maria said, her sad eyes never leaving the television. “I’m still fairly young, I still need my dad, you know. I’m only 30. Hell, Dad was only 58. I should have more time with him. After my mom left when I was a kid, I thought that if I didn’t spend enough time with Dad, he’d end up leaving too, and even after I knew that wouldn’t happen, I still spent as much time with him as I could. That’s why I split my time between here and home.”

“What will you do with the house?” Nick asked, hoping he wasn’t coming off as rude.

Maria tucked her feet under her, curling up comfortably. “I plan on keeping it since it’s where I grew up, but I also don’t make enough money to pay taxes on my salary here. But I don’t plan on working at Shield forever, either, so hopefully I can find a better paying job someday. But even if I leave Shield, I still want to stay in the area. I love this town and its people. Anyway, to answer your question, I plan on keeping it.”

“Well, if you ever want any help sorting through your dad’s things, I’d be happy to drive you there and help out,” Nick said.

Maria looked at him and smiled, her eyes shining slightly with unshed tears. “Thank you, Nick. I’m not ready to go through his stuff yet, but once I’m up for it, I would really appreciate the help.”

“Of course, just say the word and I’ll take you.”

“You’re a good man, Nick. I don’t know why you insist upon hiding who you really are from everyone.”

Nick stayed with Maria for another hour and watched reruns of Jeopardy with her before they both decided to call it a night. They smiled at each other before saying goodnight and heading off in opposite directions—Maria toward the kitchen with her empty mug and Nick to the front door.

Fury walked across the campus, flashlight in hand, enjoying the peace and quiet. He quietly made his way back to his room, put his pajamas on, and settled down in bed, enjoying his time alone before having to start the next day.

The next morning, Fury woke up bright and early, ready to start his day. He got dressed, brushed his teeth, and headed down the hall to take the boys to breakfast. He wasn’t happy to see that they were still asleep. He told them they would be keeping a normal schedule and figured they would set the alarm on the clock in the room. Rolling his eyes, he dug around one of the other rooms, finding two bedpans and heading back to the boys’ room. He stood in the doorway and banged them together loudly.

Steve and Tony practically jumped out of bed, startled at the noise. When they realized it was Fury, they both shot him grumpy looks, not happy with their wake-up call. Fury left them to get changed before they regrouped and crossed the campus for breakfast.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, much to Fury’s surprise. He had expected Steve and Tony to be at each other’s throats, but instead, the boys sat quietly across from each other and ate their breakfast.

Their morning library session passed quickly. Fury was worried when the boys sat down next to each other, thinking he would have to separate them again. Once again, they surprised him by sitting together and quietly studying together.

As promised, Tony helped Steve with his math problems. He demonstrated how to do the work and helped Steve whenever he got stuck or made a mistake. By the time they packed up to leave for lunch, Steve actually understood his math homework. He was surprised that Tony was such a good teacher considering Tony was hardly a people person, but he was grateful for the help anyway.

Lunch was a little awkward for the boys. They kept shooting each other looks, clearly wanting to talk to each other, but with Fury sitting at the head of the table next to them, they felt weird striking up conversation.

After lunch, Fury declared it was time for them to go outside for some exercise, which made the boys groan. Tony didn’t want to have to go out in the cold for an extended period. Fury didn’t let up, though, stating that exercise and sunlight would be good for them.

Fury watched from the side as the boys jogged a dozen laps around the campus courtyard. Steve led, but stayed close to Tony, who was dragging his feet.

“This is ridiculous!” Tony yelled as he passed Fury for the tenth time.

“Quit complaining or I’ll make you run an extra lap!”

“I have a heart condition!”

“It’s only two more laps, just do it,” Fury called back.

Tony groaned, jogging up to Steve.

“This is—”

“Ridiculous, I know,” Steve finished for him. “Do you really have a heart condition?”

“Yeah, that’s why I have to take pills in the morning,” Tony panted.

“You’re not going to die, are you?” Steve asked, slightly alarmed.

Tony shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I just can’t strain myself anymore after this today. One time at my old school, my phys ed teacher made me run the mile even after I told him that I wasn’t allowed to, and I fainted as soon as I finished and ended up in the hospital.”

“Are you sure you should be running now?”

“I’m good. This is a small courtyard; it’s not nearly as big as a track. And besides, I’m not running like I was then, I’m just doing a light jog.”

“You know, I can talk to Fury for you, if you want,” Steve offered kindly.

“Nah, I’ll just keep torturing him. It’s one of my favorite things to do. Maybe I’ll get lucky and faint right in front of him.”

Steve looked at Tony. “That’s horrible!”

Tony simply laughed and kept jogging.

After they finished their laps, Fury took them back to the infirmary so they could freshen up. Since the infirmary had multiple showers, the boys didn’t have to take turns. They were each able to shower in their own stalls at the same time. They were in and out quickly, and before they knew it, they were heading back to the library for their next study session.

Steve and Tony sat together, hunched over a history textbook as Steve helped Tony learn names and dates. Tony had expressed that while he was usually very good with numbers, he struggled with remembering dates and years. When the session ended, Tony had a better grasp of them, thanks to Steve.

Dinner passed quickly, and soon enough, they were back in the infirmary and settling in for the night. Steve sat on his bed in his pajamas as he read a book.

“Steeeeeve,” Tony whined from where he laid upside-down on his bed. “I’m bored.”

“Don’t you have a comic book to read?” Steve asked, not bothering to look up from his book.

“I do, but I don’t want to read right now. I want to actually do something.”

Steve sighed, closing his novel and facing Tony. “I have a deck of cards, do you want to play something?”

Tony scrambled to sit up. “Yes! Let’s play Rummy!”

Steve couldn’t help but smile at Tony’s childlike enthusiasm at something so simply like playing cards. He stood and walked over to his duffle bag, digging through and until he found the card deck. He sat back on his bed and looked at Tony, patting the spot in front of him.Tony got up and quickly plopped himself down in front of Steve. He grabbed the deck from Steve’s hands and began shuffling the cards.

They boys played card games until Fury eventually came in and told them to go to sleep. When he left, the boys packed up the cards and returned to their respective beds, but stayed up for a while longer talking until Tony eventually fell asleep mid-sentence.

The next two days passed in a similar fashion. The boys continued to tutor each other, and Fury continued to wonder how much longer it would take for them to start arguing again. Don’t get him wrong, he loved the peace and quiet, but he couldn’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop.

But Steve and Tony’s friendship was stronger than ever. They stayed up late talking every night, getting to know each other more. They couldn’t even remember what it was like when they hated each other anymore, even though it was only a week ago.

Tony would never admit it, but he found himself blushing and getting butterflies in his stomach every night when he and Steve spoke, even if it was just over a card game. When he slept, he dreamed of Steve’s blue eyes and shining smile. But he knew that Steve didn’t feel the same way, and even if he did, they could never be together. Howard Stark would never allow his son to date anyone of a different class, let alone another boy.

Tony didn’t care about what other people would say if they found out he was gay. But his father? If Howard Stark ever found out that his son was gay, Tony was sure that his father would do something extreme. He’d rather not find out what it would be.

And if it meant only being a friend to Steve Rogers… Well, Tony would rather have that than nothing at all.

Steve was only the second real friend Tony had ever had. At his last school, he became friends with a boy named James Rhodes, or Rhodey, who was a few years older than Tony. After leaving and getting sent to Shield, the boys couldn’t see each other anymore, as their schools were on opposite sides of the country. They wrote often, but it was hard for Tony to not have Rhodey with him. He felt alone.

Now, he had Steve as his friend. If Steve found out that Tony liked him and had a bad reaction, Tony wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle losing Steve’s friendship. If he wanted to keep his friendship with Steve and not have to face the wrath of his father, Tony knew he had to hide his feelings.

It would be difficult to try and not get butterflies whenever Steve was around, but Tony knew he had to do it.

Tony woke up in a foul mood. He’d spent hours tossing and turning in his bed, unable to fall asleep because he couldn’t shut his mind off. When he finally managed to fall asleep, he’d been woken up by Fury banging the bedpans together again. He grumbled and groaned as he forced himself out of bed, clearly not happy.

Steve’s usual morning cheeriness didn’t help either. Tony was still upset by his realization that he could never be with Steve, so seeing his warm smile and bright eyes didn’t help. It was just another reminder that Tony could never have him.

Steve tried to talk to Tony as they got ready for the day, but Tony only grunted in response. On the walk to breakfast, Tony walked way ahead of Steve and Fury. Neither of them were sure why Tony was acting so cold, but they hoped he’d be back to his usual self after breakfast.

During breakfast, instead of eating, Tony sat at the opposite end of the table and grumpily pushed his scrambled eggs around his plate with his fork. Steve watched Tony, counting how many bites he ate, which was only three. Steve figured that maybe Tony was catching a bug and wasn’t feeling well. It would explain the sour mood and nonexistent appetite. Steve decided he would ask him if he was feeling alright while they studied.

However, he quickly realized that his plan wasn’t going to work because instead of sitting at their usual table, Tony went straight to the table furthest from Steve and Fury. Confused, Steve sat by himself and slowly worked on his math homework.

At one point, Fury looked up and saw that Tony wasn’t doing any of his work. He was sitting with his books closed on the table in front of him and his arms folded over his chest as he glared daggers at the wall straight ahead of him.

“Stark, it doesn’t look like you’re getting any work done over there,” Fury called out.

Tony didn’t respond.

“Stark,” Fury tried again a few minutes later, “Open up one of those books and get to work.”

“Why don’t you just mind your own fucking business?” Tony snapped, looking at Fury with rage in his eyes.

Fury leaned back and gave Tony a pointed look. “What did you just say to me, Stark?”

“What, did your old man ears not pick it up? I said mind your own fucking business!” Tony spat vehemently.

“So that’s how you want to do this? Fine! Detention!”

“It’s winter break, there is no detention.”

Steve finally looked up from his textbook, curious to see Fury’s next move. Although, he had to admit that he was more curious about what Tony was going to do next.

“Detention when the break is over, and for that smartass comment, I’ll give you another detention!”

Tony rolled his eyes and stood up with so much force that his chair toppled over behind him. He ignored it, instead sauntering over to the door.

“You pick that chair back up this instant!”

Tony didn’t even look at Fury as he held up his middle finger.

Fury looked appalled as he stood up. “Stark, that’s another detention! I suggest you sit your spoiled ass down right now before it becomes four detentions!”

Tony froze and slowly turned toward Fury, an evil grin plastered across his face.

“You can’t give me detention if I’m not even here.”

Before Fury could even guess what that meant, Tony took off, bolting out of the library.

“Stark! Get your ass back here right now!” Fury shouted as he began to run after Tony. “That’s another detention!”

“Fuck you!” Steve heard Tony yell from down the hall.

Steve sat in the now quiet library by himself, trying to make sense of what the hell just happened.

He thought Tony was doing better over the past few days. But the Tony that just sprinted out of the library wasn’t the Tony that Steve was getting to know. This was the old Tony; the Tony who hated everyone and constantly fought with his teachers.

Steve wished he knew what was going on. Tony seemed fine last night while they were talking. Maybe Steve had accidentally said something that had upset Tony. He’d have to ask Tony about it later… if Tony even wanted to talk to him.

Steve continued to flip through his textbook for a while before the doors opened again. He looked up, surprised to see Fury pushing Tony into the library, a steady hand on his shoulder to make sure the boy wouldn’t make a run for it again. Fury looked pissed, but Tony looked rather pleased with himself if Steve had to guess based on the smirk on Tony’s face.

“You better sit down and do your homework or so help me, Stark—”

“What, huh?” Tony interrupted as Fury pushed him down into a chair. “What are you gonna do? Give me a seventh detention? Wow, I’m so scared.”

“No, I’ll call your father,” Fury said.

Tony froze, and Steve could see the quick flash of fear cross Tony’s face.

“What do you think your father would do if he got a call about how disgraceful you’re behaving?” Fury continued, looming over Tony’s shoulder.

Tony quickly turned to face the teacher, a dangerous look in his eyes. “Call my father, and I’ll have your ass fired, and you’ll have nowhere to live and you’ll be out of a job.”

“Well, then you’d better be on your best behavior so that we don’t have to get your father involved,” Fury said, clearly not scared of Tony’s threat.

Tony huffed, turning around and opening his textbook. Fury smiled smugly to himself as he made his way back to his table to continue grading papers.

Steve watched Tony closely for the next few minutes, noticing the way he was blinking rapidly. It was obvious that Tony was upset and was trying not to cry. Steve separately wished he could go and comfort him. Something was clearly bothering Tony today, and Fury bringing his father up didn’t exactly help.

When the boys went back to their room for the night, Tony quickly changed and climbed into his bed. He faced the wall and pulled the blankets over his head. It was clear that Tony didn’t want to talk.

That wasn’t going to stop Steve, though.

“Hey,” He said quietly, walking over to Tony’s bed. “You want to tell me what that was all about today?”

When Tony didn’t answer, he tried again.

“Talk to me, Tony. What set you off today? Was it something I said last night?”

Tony let out a long sigh. “It’s not you, it’s me,” He said, not bothering to come out from under the blankets.

When Tony didn’t continue, Steve prompted him. “Care to elaborate?”

Tony sighed loudly, sitting up. His blankets pooled at his waist as he ran a hand across his face tiredly, gathering his thoughts.

“I just didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all.”

Steve looked at him skeptically. He knew there was more to it than that. “You know, if you ever want to talk about anything, I’m here. That’s what friends are for.”

Tony looked at Steve, clearly surprised by his words. He’d never had many friends before he and Steve called a truce, other than Rhodey. But Rhodey was across the country, so he couldn’t lean on him anymore. Maybe he could learn to lean on Steve when he needed support.

Steve, as if he could read Tony’s mind, continued. “I’m serious, Tony. If anything is bothering you, you can always come to me. Or even if nothing’s bothering you, you can still talk to me. I’d be happy to hear about those comics you’re always reading.”

For the first time that day, Tony gave Steve a soft smile. Steve was glad to see it.

“Thanks, Steve. I, uh, I was really wrong about you,” Tony admitted, feeling embarrassed.

Steve smiled at him. “It’s okay. I was wrong about you, too. I think this is the first time all year I’ve actually understood my math homework. That’s all thanks to you, you’re great at tutoring.”

“You weren’t that bad, Rogers. Give yourself some credit,” Tony replied, grateful for the subject change.

“Do you want to play some cards, or were you actually going to go to bed?”

“No, I wasn’t going to sleep. I was going to sit here and sulk, really. But I’d rather beat you at another game of Rummy.”

As they played cards on Tony’s bed, Steve could see Tony’s mood slowly improving. He was glad to see Tony laughing and talking again. After spending so much time getting to know Tony, it was weird to not hear his voice all day. Tony was a chatterbox; once he started talking, it was hard to get him to stop. Seeing him be the complete opposite of that was foreign.

And when Tony beat him at a game of cards and a large smile crossed his face, Steve knew he would do anything to keep it on Tony’s face. Steve thought it was the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.

The next few days leading up to Christmas Eve passed in a similar fashion. Breakfast, study, lunch, run laps, study, dinner, play cards, sleep, repeat. Fury could tell that the boys were starting to get bored of the same routine, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. They didn’t have permission to leave campus unless it was necessary, so Fury continued to make the boys study as a way of keeping them busy.

He was a little more lenient with them on Christmas Eve. He decided that after lunch, they didn’t have to run their laps or continue studying. Steve and Tony were thrilled to have the afternoon off, and spent their newfound free time building an army of snowmen in the quad. Eventually, they all got cold and decided to call it a day, heading inside and spending the rest of the afternoon reading in their rooms.

During dinner that night, Maria sat down at the table with Fury and the boys, and together, they dug into their Christmas Eve meals.

“Hey, so I have to go into town and buy some more groceries,” She said, looking at Fury.

“Why? I thought there was still stuff in the pantry,” Tony said.

“Do you enjoy eating the same thing every day? Because I don’t. I want to buy some different things, I’m tired of chicken. The problem is that I don’t have a car, and the taxi service is closed until the 27th,” Maria continued.

“So you want to take my car?” Fury asked.

“No, I’d like you to drive me into town.”

“And what about the boys? I can’t just leave them here unsupervised.”

“They’ll come with us, of course! It’ll be easier to shop if the boys tell me what they do and don’t like to eat. Plus, I think getting them out will do them some good,” Maria said, not leaving any room for Fury to disagree.

“Miss Hill is right,” Tony chimed in. “I’m losing my mind here. If I don’t get out of here soon, I may go feral.”

“Do you think we could also go to the church?” Steve asked. “Every year, I light a candle for my parents. Usually, Bucky and I go to a church near his place, but since I’m here this year, the church in town will have to do.”

“Oh, that’s a lovely idea, Steve. I’d like to light a candle for my dad as well,” Maria agreed.

And how was Fury supposed to say no to them?”

Sighing, he said, “Alright, we’ll go out after dinner. But only to the grocery store and the church.”

Tony cheered before digging into his plate, clearly wanting to eat quickly so they could leave.

“Thank you, Mr. Fury,” Steve said politely, grateful that Fury had agreed to take them out.

“No problem, kid,” Fury responded. “But you and Mr. Stark will be carrying the groceries, got it?”

Steve and Tony both nodded before continuing to devour their meals. Maria mouthed a quick thank you to Nick before turning her attention back to her plate as well.

After dinner, they all put on their coats and piled into Nick’s car. The roads going into town were still wet from the most recent snowstorm, but they didn’t have any problems driving. As they made their way into town, they were all surprised by how empty it was.

Of course, it was Christmas Eve, so everyone was either home with their families or traveling.

The parking lot of the grocery store was nearly empty except for a few cars that must’ve belonged to the employees. They all got out of the car and walked into the store. Maria grabbed a basket on their way inside and led the group through the store.

It was a good thing the boys were there because if they weren’t, Maria would have picked out foods that they couldn’t eat. She wanted to make a salmon dish, but Tony informed her that he was allergic to both fish and shellfish, so she had to scratch any seafood dishes from her meal plans. When Fury suggested banana pudding for dessert, Steve had vetoed it, saying that while he wasn’t allergic to bananas, his stomach simply didn’t agree with them. When Maria suggested a pudding pie instead, everyone seemed happy.

After buying enough food to last them a few days—they could always go shopping again—they loaded the groceries into the trunk of Fury’s car. Once everyone was back in the car and all seatbelts were buckled, Fury began driving down the street to the church.

Like the grocery store, the church was deserted except for a priest and an elderly woman. The priest had been outside sweeping some snow off of the steps leading up to the entrance. He kindly told the group that while they had already missed Christmas Eve mass, they could still go inside to pray for as long as they wanted.

Steve and Maria headed inside while Fury decided he would wait outside and enjoy the crisp, fresh air. He wasn’t religious, so he felt no need to go inside. Tony wasn’t religious either, but he followed Steve and Maria into the church, saying that he didn’t want to wait outside in the cold.

Fury struck up a polite conversation with the priest while he finished sweeping, but once he was done, he went back inside, leaving Fury to his lonesome. It was only about 10 minutes, though, before the door suddenly opened behind him.

Fury turned, surprised to see Tony.

“Mr. Fury?” Tony called, poking his head through the door. “Could you come inside for a second?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Just come in, we have a problem,” Tony replied before opening the door for Fury.

Nick followed him into the church, the sound of crying getting louder and louder the further inside they got. Tony led him to a pew in the front, where Steve was sitting next to a distraught Maria.

Maria had her head in her hands so could not see Nick coming. Steve looked up when he heard Fury’s footsteps coming closer. He looked up at his teacher sadly, feeling bad for Maria, before turning to Tony and mouthing a quick thank you. Tony nodded back at him.

“Maria? What happened?” Fury asked, sitting down next to the distressed woman.

“He’s really gone,” She cried. “And he’s not coming back.”

Nick understood what she was talking about. It seemed that the death of her father had finally sunk into Maria. She’d been trying to stay strong since the funeral two weeks ago, not wanting the entire school to see her grief, but here, on Christmas Eve, she’d reached her breaking point.

Fury should’ve expected it. After all, it was Maria’s first Christmas without her father.

Fury sympathetically placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s head back.”

Maria nodded before allowing Fury and Steve to help her up. They began their walk back outside, Tony trailing behind them with his hands in his pockets. As they headed down the sidewalk and to Fury’s car, Maria’s cries died down.

“Hey, maybe when we get back, we can watch some reruns of that quiz show you like,” Nick suggested, trying to cheer Maria up.

“Or, better idea, we drop Miss Hill back off on campus for a quiet night in and we come back out. Maybe we can go get cheeseburgers,” Tony said.

“We’re not getting cheeseburgers.”

“Why not? I’m bored of being on campus! This was, like, our one chance to go out and do something fun, but all we did was go to the grocery store and church! We didn’t even get to do anything fun!” Tony complained.

“That’s enough!” Fury shouted, stopping abruptly just before they reached the car. “This poor woman is grieving and all you can think about is yourself!”

“Nick, don’t,” Maria said, trying to stop the argument that was about to start.

“I’m not trying to be an asshole, all I’m saying is that this is the one chance I have to get off campus, I don’t want to waste it! It’s bad enough I have to be stuck here with you for two weeks, not being able to leave campus is only making it worse!”

“Allow me to remind you that it is not my fault that you’re stuck here. In fact, I’m just as unhappy about this as you are! Did you honestly think I wanted to spend my holidays babysitting you? I’m practically counting down the days until the break is over so that I don’t have to spend all of my time around you anymore!” Fury said angrily.

Tony recoiled in shock. “Well, I’m sorry for being such an inconvenience to you. God, you sound just like my fucking parents.”

Fury looked sorry, as if just realizing what he had said. “Mr. Stark, that’s not what I—”

“Give me the keys.”

“It’s already unlocked.”

Tony put his head down and got into the back seat without another word.

“I—uh… I’ll talk to him,” Steve said before getting into the car as well.

Fury sighed, running a hand across his face tiredly.

“You shouldn’t have said that to him,” Maria said after a few seconds of silence.

“I know.”

“Telling a boy who’s been left behind at Christmas that you can’t wait to get rid of him is cruel. The kid already feels unwanted by his parents, he doesn’t need to feel unwanted by you, too.”

“I really screwed up,” Fury said, his voice full of regret.

“So fix it,” Maria said simply. “Do something special for the boys to cheer them up. They’re depressed because they don’t have anyone to celebrate Christmas with. Do something to make this special for them.”

“Like what?” Fury asked.

“That’s for you to figure out. Now, let’s go. I’m tired,” Maria said before climbing inside the car. Fury followed her and drove them all back to campus.

After unloading the groceries and putting them away in the kitchen, Maria bid the guys a good night and headed back to her apartment on campus. Fury led Steve and Tony across the dark campus, dimly lit by street lights every few feet, back to the infirmary.

The walk was tense. Tony wouldn’t even look at Fury, let alone speak to him. He was still upset about what Fury had said outside of the church. Tony walked a few steps ahead as if trying to ignore his existence completely. Steve shot Fury a glance and a nod before he joined Tony a few paces ahead. The boys walked close together, nearly shoulder to shoulder, as Steve quietly whispered to Tony. Fury couldn’t quite hear what was being said, but he guessed that Steve was trying to make Tony laugh.

When they reached their rooms in the infirmary, Tony went straight inside as he stripped off his coat and scarf. Steve said good night to Fury before joining Tony. Nick sighed, regretting how he spoke to Tony, before turning down the hall and making his way to his room. As he sat there, a plan hatched in his mind on how he could make Christmas a little more special for his students.

At around 11pm, Fury peeked into the boys’ room to make sure they were asleep before he left the infirmary and went to his car. He drove into town and stopped at a Christmas tree market that was thankfully still open. He quickly purchased a tree before heading into a 24-hour dollar store, searching for some cheap ornaments.

While Fury was out around town, the boys remained asleep in their beds.

Eventually, Steve began tossing and turning, his sleep disturbed. He wasn’t sure what had woken him up at first, but as he regained his bearings, he realized what the noise he was hearing was. He rolled over and turned on the lamp, which was on the bedside table.

He was surprised to find Tony crying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Steve could assume based on how quietly he was crying, that he was trying not to be heard. When the light flicked on, Tony quickly rolled onto his side and shoved his face into his pillow.

“Hey, you okay?” Steve asked quietly, his voice soft to not spook Tony.

Tony sniffled as he shook his head, refusing to look up at Steve.

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

“You’ll make fun of me,” Tony said, his voice shaking as he let out a quiet sob into his pillow.

Steve swung his legs over the side of his temporary bed, sitting up. He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “No, I won’t. I would never make fun of you for being upset, I promise.”

“I had a nightmare,” Tony said after a few seconds, his voice muffled by his pillow. “And when I woke up, I…”

“You what, Tony? It’s okay, you can tell me.”

“I got scared,” He mumbled, beginning to cry harder.

Steve had never seen Tony so vulnerable before. Tony walked around with his head held high and wore his flamboyant, arrogant, and witty attitude like a suit of armor. The Tony in front of him now was stripped bare, with no armor to protect him. This was the real Tony.

“You got scared of your nightmare?” Steve asked. “Tony, that’s normal. I have nightmares sometimes, too, and I always get scared of them.”

“No, I got scared of… of the dark,” Tony cried.

“Oh,” Steve said dumbly. “That’s okay, too, you know. Everyone has fears. I’m afraid of the ocean, actually.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Why?” Tony asked, still not lifting his head from his pillow.

“My mom and I went to the beach once when I was little and I got caught in a wave and almost drowned. I stay away from the ocean now because I’m afraid it’ll try to swallow me up again.”

“The ocean is really scary,” Tony agreed.

“Do you want to tell me why you’re afraid of the dark? The lamp is on, so it’s not dark in here anymore. And you don’t have to hide in your pillow, I won’t make fun of you for crying,” Steve said kindly.

Tony sniffled before slowly revealing his face. His eyes were red and puffy, and he had tears streaking his cheeks as they quickly fell from his eyes. His hair was a mess, and one of his cheeks had the remnants of sleep lines on his face from where his face met his pillow. Steve thought he looked cute.

Wait… what?

Before he could dwell on that thought, Tony began to speak.

“When I was little, my dad locked me in a closet because I accidentally broke one of his projects. I guess he forgot about me because I ended up locked in there for like eight hours. I was completely hysterical the entire time. When one of the maids finally found me, apparently I’d been having such a bad panic attack that I passed out right into her arms. I was five at the time. Ever since then, I’ve been extremely claustrophobic and afraid of the dark,” He explained, his tears slowly coming to a stop.

Steve felt his heart break for Tony. How could a father do that to his own child?

“Tony, I’m so sorry. That’s terrible and it should’ve never happened to you. Is that what your nightmare was about?”

“Actually, no. It was about the third time I got kidnapped,” Tony said too nonchalantly for Steve’s liking. “My dad said some things after I got back home that were similar to what Fury said earlier. It kind of triggered it, I guess.”

“Sorry, did you say third?”

Tony shrugged. “It happens, especially when your father is Howard Stark. People go after me thinking he’ll pay the ransom to get me back, not realizing that he won’t because he doesn’t give a single fuck about me.”

Steve could tell that Tony clearly didn’t want to talk about his childhood anymore because Tony was anxiously chewing on his lip and his shoulders were hunched.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Steve said.

Tony tilted his head, resembling a curious puppy. Again, Steve thought it was cute.

“What’s the idea?” Tony asked, grateful for the change in subject.

“Why don’t we—”

“Let me guess,” Tony interrupted. “Why don’t we push the beds together so that if I get scared of the dark again, I know you’ll be right next to me so I won’t be alone. Is that it?”

“Actually, that wasn’t even close. I was going to suggest we keep the lamp on while we sleep. But we could do what you said if you think that’ll help you sleep better.”

Tony’s face turned pink with embarrassment, making Steve chuckle.

“No need to be embarrassed, Tony,” He said. “I’m okay with that if you think it’ll help.”

Tony shook his head. “No, I like your idea better. But won’t it bother you if we sleep with the light on?”

“Nah, I always fall asleep with a lamp on. Sam likes to stay up late playing sudoku,” Steve explained.

“Oh, okay, then. But if it bothers you, just shut it off, okay?”

“Sure thing. Are you ready to try sleeping again?”

Tony let out a breath before nodding. “Yeah, but, uh, if you hear me having another nightmare, don’t wake me up. I might try to fight you.”

“I understand, Bucky’s like that, too,” Steve said before climbing back under his blankets and lying down. “Get some sleep, Tony. You could use the rest.”

“I’ll try,” Tony said, laying back down.

“Goodnight, Tony.”

“Night, Steve.”

They both slept peacefully the rest of the night, the lamp still illuminating the room.

Fury had arrived back on campus an hour later, and as he passed their room, he saw the lamp was left on. One of them must have fallen asleep before shutting it off. He didn’t bother going in to shut it off, though. He didn’t want to risk waking them up. Instead, Fury simply continued down the hall to his room to catch a few hours of sleep.

Fury woke up before the boys did, and had spent the morning in the dining hall preparing for the small Christmas celebration he had put together for the boys. He set the small Christmas tree up on one of the tables and put the small set of ornaments on it. When he was finished, he stepped back to admire his work, his arms folded across his chest. It wasn’t exactly the nicest tree, and sure, it could use more decorations, but it would have to suffice.

And hopefully, it would cheer the boys up.

Fury checked his watch—it was nearly 8 o’clock, which meant that Maria would be arriving at the kitchen soon. He went to the corner of the dining hall and pushed the door to the kitchen. He figured he’d wait there for her.

Sure enough, Maria walked into the kitchen not even 10 minutes later, taking her coat off and hanging it on the rack by the door. She looked up, surprised to see Nick there.

“Well, good morning,” She said. “What brings you here?”

“I was going to ask if you’d mind doing breakfast a little later,” Nick responded. “I figured I’d let the boys sleep longer today.”

Maria eyed him skeptically. “Is this your way of trying to make up for last night? Letting them sleep in?”

“Not quite, I have something planned. I’d love it if you could join us. It’s not much, but it’ll do.”

“Sure,” Maria replied, “I’d love to. And I’ll hold off on breakfast. I was only going to make pancakes today anyway. I can whip ‘em up quickly once the boys are here. How much longer are you letting them sleep?”

“Probably another hour, unless they get up before that. I don’t want them to sleep the day away.”

“Tony probably could, that boy falls asleep during breakfast nearly every morning. The only reason he hasn’t over the break is probably because you’ve been making them go to bed earlier.”

“Rogers will probably be up when I get over there, he’s the most punctual person I think I’ve ever met. Even more so than I am,” Fury chuckled.

“You won’t make them do homework today, will you? It is Christmas, after all.”

Fury shook his head. “No, I won’t do that to them. I don’t exactly know what we’ll do, but it certainly won’t be studying.”

Maria smiled. “That’s good. Maybe you guys could take a nice walk around campus or something. It really does look beautiful when it’s covered in snow.”

Fury nodded in agreement before switching topics. “How are you doing today?”

Maria sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Obviously, not too great, but so far, it’s not as bad as I thought it’d be. I have a friend who lives in town—apparently her flight to California got canceled, so she’s here for the holidays—and she called me up last night to ask how I was doing. She actually invited me to stay with her through the new year.”

“Are you?”

“I’m not sure, I told her I’d sleep on it.”

“I think you should go, Maria,” Fury said kindly. “If you’d like a ride, I’m sure the boys wouldn’t mind coming with me to drop you off.”

“No, no, it’s alright. I don’t want you to have to go traveling on Christmas.”

“Alright,” Fury said, not wanting to push. “But if you change your mind at any point, let me know and I’ll drive you over.”

“Thank you, Nick. That’s very kind of you,” Maria said, giving him a smile.

The pair hung around the kitchen talking and drinking coffee for the nxt hour before Nick decided it was time to go get the boys. Before departing the dining hall, Nick asked Maria if she would wait at their usual table for them, and after she agreed, he walked across campus.

He wasn’t surprised to find Steve already awake and dressed for the day, sitting on his bed reading a worn novel. Tony was still conked out in bed, curled into a small ball and huddled under the thin blankets.

Fury quietly knocked on the frame of the doorway, causing Steve to look up.

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Fury,” He smiled, his voice hushed so that he didn’t wake Tony.

“Merry Christmas,” Fury replied. “Have you been up long?”

Steve shook his head. “About 20 minutes, maybe? I’ve just been reading.”

“Do you want to wake him or should I?” Fury asked, gesturing to Tony. “Kid looks exhausted, has he been sleeping well?”

“I’ll get him up. He didn’t sleep well last night, he was tossing and turning a lot,” Steve said, not wanting to tell Fury the whole truth. He didn’t want to violate Tony’s trust like that.

“Very well. I’ll be in my room for a minute, just wait in the hall when you’re done,” Fury said before leaving the room.

Steve placed his bookmark before closing the book and placing it on the bedside table next to the lamp. He swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood before sitting down on the edge of Tony’s bed. His eyes raked over the boy’s sleeping form. Tony looked so peaceful and content when he slept. Steve wished Tony was always like that. Seeing him so anxious and upset last night was jarring.

Steve gently placed a hand on Tony’s arm, shaking it. Tony let out a small groan, curling into an even tighter ball. Steve couldn’t help but smile.

“Tony, wake up,” He said softly.

Tony’s nose twitched as he slowly began to wake up. His eyes slowly opened as he took in his surroundings before looking at Steve bleary-eyed.

“Hmm?” He grunted.

“It’s time to get up, it’s Christmas!” Steve said cheerfully, trying to get a reaction out of Tony.

Tony simply groaned again before shutting his eyes and turning his head into his pillow. Steve chuckled, shaking Tony’s arm again.

“Come on, Tony, it’s time for breakfast.”

“Hmmmm… no,” Tony whined, trying to pull his blanket over his head.

Steve stopped the action by grabbing Tony’s hand where it gripped the blanket and lowering it. “I know you’re tired after last night, but it’s Christmas! Don’t you want to get up?”

Tony glared at Steve as best as he could with his eyes only half-opened. “Fuck Christmas.”

Steve frowned. “Tony, you don’t mean that. I know this isn’t how you thought you’d be spending the holidays, but I thought things were getting better.”

“We are, but I want to sleep,” Tony whined again, drawing out the vowel.

Steve couldn’t help but laugh. “You can take a nap later, but it’s time for breakfast now. Mr. Fury is waiting for us.”

Tony groaned loudly before sitting up and tiredly slumping against Steve. Any other day, Steve would have found this action odd since he and Tony had never been this close before, but Steve figured that it was Tony’s way of saying thank you for helping him during the night. Tony was showing Steve that he felt comfortable with him.

“Do we have to go?” Tony said, his voice muffled against Steve’s shoulder.

“You don’t want to go?”

Tony shook his head.

“Why not?” Steve asked.

“Because it’s going to be awkward with Fury.”

Steve knew Tony was referring to the argument last night. He lifted a hand and placed it on Tony’s back hesitantly, waiting to see if Tony would shake him off. He didn’t so Steve gently rubbed his back.

“It won’t be awkward. Maybe a little at first, but it won’t be all day, I promise. He seemed like he was in a pretty good mood this morning.”

“You saw him?”

“Yeah, he stopped in and told me to wake you up for breakfast. He must be in a good mood if he let us sleep past 7:30, though,” Steve said.

“What time is it now?” Tony asked.

“Almost nine.”

“Oh. Well, still. I don’t want breakfast, I’m not even hungry.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Tony’s stomach gave a betraying growl, making Steve laugh and Tony pout.

“Go get dressed,” Steve said, giving Tony’s shoulder a pat before standing up. “Come on, I’m hungry.”

When Tony was ready, he and Steve waited in the hall for Fury, who came out of his room only a couple minutes later. Together, they began the walk across campus. Steve tried to make conversation with Fury and bring Tony into it to show him that Fury wasn’t still mad, but Tony didn’t seem to want to talk. He kept his head down, the lower half of his face buried into the soft, red scarf that was wrapped around his neck.

When they arrived at the dining hall, they quickly got inside and went to the table they usually sat at. Maria was sitting there waiting for them, a large tray of pancakes, syrups, and fruits sat in the center of the table. The boys were surprised to see the small Christmas tree in the room.

“Mr. Fury, where’d this come from?” Steve asked, taking his seat next to Maria. Tony sat down in his usual spot across Steve, leaving the head of the table empty for Fury.

“I’m glad you asked, Mr. Rogers,” Fury said, standing next to it. “Merry Christmas, gentlemen!”

Tony and Steve blinked at him silently.

“I thought getting a new tree would help us get into the holiday spirit,” He continued, not sure if Steve and Tony liked the tree. “I know you were upset that the school sold our tree back to the town, so I went out and bought one and chose some nice red bulbs to put on it.”

“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Fury. Thank you,” Steve said, now smiling at the teacher.

Tony looked from the tree to Fury, his eyes wide in shock. “I have to say, of all the things I expected to happen today, this was not one of them. I never thought I’d see the day where you make a nice gesture.”

“Well, tis the season and all that,” Fury said warmly, glad to see that Tony had moved past their argument from last night.

Maria smiled at Fury. “You big softie.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Fury said, shaking his head. “That’s not at all what this is. This is just me trying to make the holidays more festive than they have been.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Maria said smugly.

“I just want to make the rest of this break a little more bearable for everyone, so if there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know,” Fury said, looking at the three people at the table.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Anything? Then I want to go off campus.”

“Off campus?” Fury asked. “We were off campus last night.”

“No, I mean I want to go somewhere, do something. I’m tired of being here doing the same thing everyday. If I have to look at my history textbook for one more minute, I might explode.”

“Well, alright. What did you have in mind? Maybe we can catch a movie or go bowling? There’s a nice little alley in town.”

“Actually, there’s a big winter carnival in a town about three hours from here. I saw a flyer for it in the grocery store. It starts in three days. I want to go,” Tony explained.

“We aren’t allowed to leave campus unless we’re going into town. I’m sorry, but we cannot go.”

“Nick, you said anything,” Maria pointed out. “Surely, you can take the boys out for the weekend.”

“Please, Mr. Fury?” Tony begged, giving Fury his best puppy eyes,

Fury looked at Steve, who had been quiet. “And how about you? What do you have to say about this?”

Steve looked at Tony, who was now giving him the puppy eyes and mouthing the word please over and over again.

“I’d love to get out of here. It’s starting to get a little stuffy here. I think we could all use a break from being on campus, the carnival is a great idea,” Steve said. When Fury looked away from him, Steve winked at Tony. When Tony beamed back at him, Steve knew he’d said the right thing.

“Alright, then,” Fury said. “I suppose I can try to work something out. I don’t know if it’ll work though, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Tony, which town is the carnival in?” Maria asked as she began to make a plate of pancakes for herself.

“Oh, I think the flyer said Bellville.”

“Oh, yes! Bellville’s annual Christmas carnival! They host it every year. I’ve gone before, it’s so lovely. You boys will have a great time!” Maria said cheerfully.

Fury sat down at the table as Steve and Tony began to take some pancakes and fruit as well.

“Bellville, that’s north, yes?” He said.

Maria nodded in confirmation.

“The flyer also said that they have ice skating! I’ve never skated before but I’ve always wanted to,” Tony smiled.

Steve watched as Tony launched into a ramble, animatedly waving his hands around with excitement as he spoke. He’d never seen Tony look so happy before. He always seemed so miserable, so seeing his smile light up his face was a welcome change.

“I believe Bellville has a museum as well, so perhaps we can tell the dean that we’d like to take a field trip up there for educational purposes,” Fury suggested.

“Would we have to actually go to the museum?” Tony asked, stuffing a piece of cut up pancake into his mouth.

“I suppose we don’t have to, but we probably should just in case anyone asks about it. Just so that no one gets suspicious.”

Tony pouted, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back into his seat. “Boo!”

“Look on the bright side,” Steve began. “We still get to leave campus and go to the carnival.”

“No, no. I just said, do not get your hopes up. I still have to get permission from the dean, if I can reach him. If he says no, we can’t go. I’ll try my best, though,” Fury said before turning to Maria. “What about you? Anywhere you want to go? Or would you like to come to Bellville with us?”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind a ride to my friend's house on your way out of town,” Maria said.

Fury smiled, glad she was taking her friend up on her offer of staying with her over the break. The last thing he wanted was for Maria to be alone, so he was pleased to know that even if she wasn’t coming to Bellville, she would still have company.

“Of course, it’s no problem,” He replied.

“We’ll miss you, Miss Hill,” Tony said, sending her a polite smile from across the table.

“Is there anything we could bring back for you if we go?” Steve asked.

“Why don’t we wait to see if the dean gives us permission to go first,” suggested Fury.

Maria nodded in agreement. “I’ll be okay, but thank you, boys. It’s very sweet to offer.”

The conversation died out as the four began to finish their meals. When they were done, they all brought their dishes back to the kitchen and washed them. Maria was grateful that they offered to help out. Then, the boys and Fury bid her farewell until lunch before heading back to the infirmary building.

The walk back was filled with excited whispered chatter from Steve and Tony. Fury could hear them discussing the carnival as they walked close together. God, he hoped Dr. Hawthorne approved the trip. He would hate to disappoint the boys.

Fury had to admit that he was surprised by the two boys becoming friends. He knew they had despised each other—hell, the entire school seemed to know that—so he was glad to see that they had gotten over their differences at some point.

When they reached the boys’ temporary room, Fury stopped them.

“If you boys wanted, I’m fine with canceling our study sessions today,” He said nonchalantly.

Steve and Tony looked at him suspiciously.

“Really?” Tony asked.

Fury nodded.

“And we wouldn’t have to make up the study time on another day?” Steve followed up.

“Consider this a Christmas gift, boys. You can spend the rest of the day however you wish. That being said, if you’d like to go to a different building on campus, let me know and we’ll go together. Sleep, play cards, read, I don’t care. Just don’t do anything bad, alright? We’ll head back to the dining hall for lunch around one,” Fury said before turning on his heel and heading down the hall to his room.

Steve and Tony stared down the hall in shock.

“Did he just…” Tony asked.

“Yup.”

“I think he’s starting to like us,” Tony said.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Steve replied, now facing Tony.

Tony looked at him. “No?”

“He’s definitely warming up to us, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I never thought that would happen. Although, I never thought he’d warm up to anyone,” Tony said, scratching the back of his neck.

“Come on, let’s play cards,” Steve said, nudging Tony’s shoulder before turning around and entering their room. Tony followed behind him with a big smile on his face.

While the boys hung out in their room, Fury decided to call the dean to get permission for their field trip. He was on the phone with Dr. Hawthorne for nearly 45 minutes, but the call was a success. After asking for permission to take the boys, Dr. Hawthorne explained the rules and regulations to follow while they were off campus. He also told Fury that there was a fund for school trips in his office, and gave him permission to access it so they could pay for a hotel room and anything else they might need on the trip.

Fury was pleased at how the conversation went… until Dr. Hawthorne’s final instruction. He told Fury that he had to call the boys’ families and get their permission to take them off campus.

Fury nearly groaned into the phone when he heard that. Of course, it made sense, but that didn’t mean Fury was happy about it. He wasn’t sure what Steve’s family situation was, but he knew that the hardest task would be getting into contact with Tony’s parents in Italy. Based on the way Tony spoke about his parents, Fury knew that getting their permission was not going to be easy.

After hanging up with Dr. Hawthorne, Fury walked down the hall and to the boys’ room. They were sitting on Steve’s bed playing a card game.

“Go fish!” Tony shouted, leaning forward.

“Tony, there’s no way you don’t have any 3s!” Steve said, picking up another card.

Neither of them seemed to notice Fury standing in the doorway, so he decided to knock on the doorframe. They both looked up.

“Hey, Mr. Fury! Do you want to play? We can restart the game.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re losing!” Tony scoffed.

“Actually, I just got off the phone with Dr. Hawthorne.”

Tony and Steve looked at the teacher anxiously.

“What’d he say?” Tony asked, sitting up straighter.

“We got his permission to go to Bellville.”

Tony and Steve both cheered, looking at each other excitedly. Oh, how Fury hated to burst their bubble.

“There is just one slight problem,” He continued. “I need to contact your parents and get their permission to take you out.”

Tony frowned instantly, as Fury assumed he would. Steve, on the other hand, didn't look too troubled.

“That’s fine, I’m sure Mrs. Barnes will say yes. She felt so bad that I couldn’t come home with them for Christmas this year.”

Fury looked at him curiously. “Barnes, as in James Barnes?”

Steve nodded in confirmation.

“What about your parents?”

“They’re dead. Mrs. Barnes is my guardian. Do you want me to write down her phone number? She’s in Texas right now, but she gave me a whole list of numbers to call in case of an emergency. She worries a lot,” Steve said.

“I’ll take it, yes,” Fury said before looking at Tony. “What’s the deal with your parents? Will they be reachable in Italy?”

“My parents are always reachable, technically. Dad always needs to be reachable for business, so he’s never far from a phone. The problem is that I don’t think they’ll let me go,” Tony said, sounding miserable.

“Well, we’ll try anyway. Do you have a number I can use?”

“Yeah, mom gave me the hotel’s number just in case. She said they’ll take any messages for her and dad. I’ll write it down.”

Once Fury got the phone numbers he needed, he went back to the phone and decided to call Mrs. Barnes first, since it would be easier than reaching the Starks. Mrs. Barnes answered quickly, and happily granted Fury permission to take Steve off campus. She told Fury she felt horrible having to leave Steve behind this year, so she wanted him to be able to have a memorable holiday, and if that meant going to Bellville, then she would absolutely let him go.

Fury took a deep breath before calling the Starks’ hotel. The first time he called, no one picked up. It was a hotel number, so he figured the line was busy. He tried the number again, but still, no answer. It took a few more tires before someone finally picked up the phone. When they asked who he was calling for, Fury said he was looking for the Starks. The person on the phone said that the Starks would be gone all day, not set to return until nearly midnight. When Fury tried to explain the situation, the person on the other end simply sighed and hung up.

He tried to call again, but nobody answered. Sighing, Fury made his way back to the boys, not happy that he would have to break Tony’s already fragile heart.

“Mr. Fury! Did they say yes? Can we go?” Tony asked excitedly, practically bouncing on the bed.

Fury stepped further into the room, standing before the boys.

“Steve, Mrs. Barnes was more than happy to let you go. Tony, unfortunately, I couldn’t reach your parents. I’m sorry.”

Fury watched the smile disappear from Tony’s face and the light fade from his eyes. He looked utterly heartbroken. Fury felt evil for disappointing him like that.

“Are you sure? Maybe the hotel was just busy and they didn’t hear the phone ring.”

Fury shook his head. “I called five times. The hotel answered once, but said your parents are out for the day and won’t be back until tonight.”

“Can you just try one more time, Mr. Fury?” Tony begged. “Maybe my parents lied and they’re still at the hotel, they just don’t want to be bothered, so the receptionist is lying for them. That’s happened before. Please, just try again.”

Fury sighed, but nodded. “I’ll try again. Wait here.”

After Fury left the room, Steve turned to Tony, who was still staring at where Fury had been standing. He looked crushed.

“Tony,” Steve said, placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay. If Mr. Fury can’t reach your parents, we’ll just stay here and make our own fun.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Don’t understand what?” Steve asked, unsure of what Tony was referring to.

“Why do my parents hate me so much?” Tony asked, his voice cold and hollow.

Steve sighed, but didn’t say anything. What could he say? Tony seemed certain that his parents hated him, and Steve honestly couldn’t blame him for thinking that way, given what Tony had told him about his parents. How could he comfort the hurting boy if he, too, didn’t understand how his own parents could hate him?

Instead, Steve wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulders and pulled him close. Tony hugged Steve tightly, stuffing his face against Steve’s shoulder, his cold nose pressed against Steve’s neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around Steve’s midsection, almost sinking into Steve. Steve rubbed Tony’s back as he felt Tony’s breathing getting shaky.

“It’s okay, Tony. It’ll be okay,” He said comfortingly. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying,” Tony said raggedly. “Just trying not to have a panic attack.”

Steve nearly froze, unsure of what to do, but quickly covered it up and began to exaggerate his breathing. He hoped that since his chest was pressed up against Tony’s, the boy would be able to follow along with his breathing. Steve could feel Tony’s heart pounding and was worried he was going to faint if he didn’t calm down. Tony seemed to catch on to Steve’s plan immediately.

“I know what you’re doing,” He breathed out.

“Oh yeah? Is it helping?”

Tony nodded against Steve’s shoulder. Steve didn’t respond, instead focusing on his breathing. Soon enough, Tony began to follow along. As they sat there breathing together, Steve couldn’t help but think back to one of their first conversations they had over the break.

When they were going to their dorms to pack their bags, Steve recalled Tony mentioning that he had fainted a few weeks ago, which was why he’d had to stay in the infirmary overnight. He wondered if Tony had fainted due to an attack that he couldn’t fight off. Steve didn’t know what to do with that information, so he decided that he’d keep a closer eye on Tony.

Tony’s breathing evened out eventually, leaving him slumped against Steve.

“Thanks,” He mumbled.

“You don’t have to thank me, Tony.”

“Fine, then I take it back.”

Steve let out a laugh. “I take it you’re feeling better, then?”

Tony nodded. “My chest hurts now, but I can breathe again.”

“Just take it easy for a while, then. Do you need anything else?”

“No, I’m okay. You’re really warm, by the way. It’s cozy.”

Before Steve could even figure out how to respond to that, the boys heard footsteps coming toward their room. Tony nearly jumped away from Steve, leaving a small distance between them.

Fury walked into the room with a glum look on his face, and Tony knew that he was unable to reach his parents.

“I guess we’re not going to Bellville, then?”

Fury shook his head. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t reach them. The receptionist wouldn’t even let me leave a message for your parents because I wasn’t calling for business purposes.”

“Sounds like something my dad would say. Thanks for trying, anyway,” Tony said, completely defeated. He got off of Steve’s bed and laid down on his own, curling up on his side facing away from the others. “If you need me, I’ll be here.”

Steve looked at him sadly before turning to Fury. “Are you sure there’s nothing else we can do?”

Fury paused to think about it before an idea hatched in his mind. It was a terrible one, one that would get them into a lot of trouble if they ever got caught, but if it would cheer Tony up, then it was a risk Fury was willing to take.

“How good are you boys at lying and keeping secrets?”

Steve looked at Fury curiously, wondering where he was going with this. Tony rolled over and looked bemused.

“What does that have to do with anything?” He asked.

“Mr. Fury, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Steve asked, a smile forming on his lips.

Fury nodded. “Indeed, I am.”

“Stop, wait, slow down. I’m confused,” Tony said.

“Pack your bags, boys,” Fury said. “We’re going to Bellville.”

“But I thought you just said that my parents—”

“Tony,” Steve interrupted. “Think about it. Lying and keeping secrets…”

It took Tony a second, but when he got it, he exclaimed, “We’re still going? Really? Mr. Fury, you’re the best!”

“Just don’t tell your parents. Dr. Hawthorne and Mrs. Barnes know, so as long as you don’t tell them your parents never gave permission, and your parents never find out about this, everything will be just fine,” Fury said.

Tony shot off his bed and ran to the opposite side of the small room, grabbing his suitcase. “Mr. Fury, this is going to be awesome!”

“We’ll leave in the morning, alright? We’ll stay here tonight, have breakfast, and then head over to Bellville so we can arrive by lunch. Does that sound good?”

“Good? It sounds perfect! This is going to be the best Christmas ever!”

“It does sound good, Mr. Fury, but the carnival doesn’t start until the 28th. Tomorrow’s only the 26th,” Steve pointed out.

“We’ll spend the extra time around the town, I’m sure they’ll have other things to do before the carnival opens. And besides, We have to go to the museum so that it counts as a school field trip anyway. If you boys need anything from your dorms, we can head over after lunch, if that’s alright.”

Steve and Tony nodded in agreement before they began to talk to each other excitedly about the trip. Fury shook his head with a slight chuckle before heading back to his own room.

The rest of the day was laid back. The boys hung out in their room for the rest of the morning until Fury went to grab them for lunch. They ate with Maria, and afterward, they went over to the dorm building so the boys could get anything else they might need for the trip. After that, they went back to the infirmary and packed their bags. Once they finished, Steve and Tony decided they wanted to take a walk around campus, so Fury led them to the kitchen, where they asked Maria if she wanted to join in.

The four of them walked a few laps around the campus, Steve and Tony walking a few feet ahead of Fury and Maria, wrapped up in their own conversation. When they decided they’d done enough walking, they headed to the kitchen staff building to watch some game shows on the small TV. Eventually, it was time for dinner, so they all went back to the kitchen to help Maria cook. She’d enjoyed the help as well as spending time with the boys. They were chatterboxes, so talking to them all afternoon helped take her mind off of her father.

When dinner was ready, they each carried a dish over to the table they always sat at and set up plates, utensils, and napkins. They ate and chatted happily until their stomachs were full and their plates were clean.

“That was delicious, Miss Hill,” Steve said, smiling at the woman.

Maria waved a hand. “Thank you, hun. But you all helped, too. You can’t give me all of the credit.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a family Christmas like this before,” Tony smiled, before realizing what he said and tried to backtrack. “I mean, a family Christmas dinner. Like, a dinner served family style… on Christmas. We aren’t usually all together for the holidays. My mom and I usually are, but my dad doesn’t always join us. He’s always busy with work. Mom usually orders dinner from some fancy place a few blocks away from the house.”

Maria chuckled. “Well, she’s got the right idea. Ordering out is much easier than cooking a meal. Maybe I’ll do that next year.”

“And eat off of paper plates so you don’t have to do any dishes,” Steve said. “That’s what Bucky and his family do every year. Mrs. Barnes got tired of everyone arguing over who was on cleanup duty, so she started serving dinner on paper plates so that we’d all stop fighting.”

“Smart woman, I can’t believe I’ve never thought of that.”

“Maria, we were thinking of leaving tomorrow after breakfast for Bellville. On our way, we’ll drop you off in town at your friend’s house. Is that alright?” Fury asked as he placed his fork onto his empty plate.

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll pack my bags tonight and bring them over here when I make breakfast. Any requests, boys?” Maria asked, looking at Steve and Tony.

“Can we have pancakes again?” Tony asked. “They were really good this morning.”

“Steve?”

“Pancakes sound great,” Steve agreed.

“Then it’s settled,” Fury said. “Pancakes for breakfast and then we’ll head out for the day.”

The next morning, the boys woke up bright and early, eager to get a start to the day. When it was time for breakfast, they grabbed their bags for the trip and met Fury in the hallway, who was waiting for them with his small suitcase next to him. They walked across campus and ate a delicious pancake breakfast with Maria before piling into Fury’s car and driving into town.

When they reached Maria’s friend’s house, they all said goodbye to her. Before she left, she asked when they would all return from Bellville.

“I was thinking we’d come back on the 29th,” Fury said. “We’d leave after dinner, get here around eight, depending on traffic. That way, we won’t get stuck in any of the New Year’s travel.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you all on the 29th, have fun in Bellville!” Maria said brightly, waving at the boys in the back seat before she walked up to the front door of the house.

Fury waited until Maria was safely inside with her friend before pulling out of the driveway and beginning the three hour journey to Bellville.

Steve and Tony talked in the backseat the whole time, with Fury occasionally joining in. Fury wasn’t even sure what they were talking about, but he answered when prompted and the boys never questioned his responses. He was mostly focused on making sure they didn’t get lost. He’d never been to Bellville either, so this was a new adventure for all three of them.

They made it to Bellville just after noon and found a hotel. Fury parked the car in the lot behind the hotel and they grabbed their bags before heading inside.

After a quick stop at the front desk so they could book a room, Fury and the boys boarded the elevator and headed to their room, which was located on the third floor. Because the trip was on such short notice, the only rooms left available at the hotel were the standard small rooms that had two beds in them. All of the larger rooms had already been booked for the holidays.

Fury was hesitant to book the room originally because it meant that Steve and Tony would have to share a bed. After telling that to them, the boys quickly reassured him that they were okay with sharing a bed because they had resolved all of their issues with each other. So Steve and Tony would take one bed, and Fury would take the other.

When Fury unlocked the door to their room, they were all surprised by how small it was. It would be a tight squeeze for them, but they boys were so happy to finally be off campus that they didn’t even mind.

Fury placed his bag on the bed closest to the door before turning to the boys.

“What would you boys like to do first?”

“I’m not sure,” Steve said as he claimed the side of the second bed that was closest to the window.

Tony put his suitcase down on the empty side of the bed. He looked around before making a realization.

“Hey! Why do I have to sleep in the middle?” He asked, noticing that Fury was closest to the door, and Steve to the window.

“Because you’re the smallest one here,” Steve said kindly.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that if someone were to break into this room, I could fight back because of my training, and Steve could as well because I know the kid can pack a punch. I’ve seen it before,” Fury explained.

“What, you guys don’t think I could beat a guy up?”

“No,” Fury and Steve said in unison.

“Ouch! Your lack of confidence in me stings! I’m wounded!” Tony cried dramatically before falling back onto the bed.

“If you want, I could give you some self defense lessons. You know, how to fight back,” Steve offered. “I’ve seen you try to fight Clint multiple times. Your attempts were alright, but sloppy. If I teach you to fight, maybe you could actually lay a good one on him.”

Tony smiled up at Steve. “I’d like that, actually. Thanks. And who knows? Maybe it’ll come in handy the next time I get kidnapped, too.”

“Hopefully there won’t be a next time,” Steve replied.

“I’m sorry, kidnapped?” Fury asked, both shocked and confused.

“What about it?” Tony asked.

“How many times has this happened?”

“I don’t know,” Tony said. “Maybe five or six.”

Fury’s eyes widened at the admission. “Do your parents try to stop it?”

“No. My father doesn’t even pay the ransom. It’s like I told Steve last night, my parents don’t give a shit about me. It is what it is. Now, I have a question for you, Mr. Fury. What kind of training do you have?”

“If you really must know, I was a member of the secret service for some time. Had to be able to fight. My army training also helps,” Fury replied.

“Is that how you lost your eye?” Tony asked, sitting up on the bed. “In the secret service?”

Fury shook his head.

“Was it in the army?” Steve asked.

“No, it was after my army and secret service days. And I still have my eye, I just can’t see out of it,” Fury answered.

“So why do you wear the eyepatch, then? I thought it was because you were missing an eye,” Tony said.

“It looks intimidating,” Fury said simply.

Neither Tony nor Steve could disagree with that; Fury did look intimidating.

“Are you going to give us any real answers?”

“I just did.”

“I’ll figure out how you lost your sight. I am a genius, after all.”

“Alright, genius,” Steve said. “How do you feel about lunch?”

“I love lunch, I feel great about lunch. Can we get lunch?” Tony asked, rapidly blinking his eyes as he gave Fury his best puppy eyes.

“Not if you keep looking at me like that,” Fury said, a hint of laughter seeping into his voice.

Tony pouted. “I’ve been told that look works on tons of people!”

“Not on me. What do you kids want for lunch?”

“We’re 16, you know. You don’t have to keep calling us kids.”

“Stark. Lunch.”

“Cheeseburgers.”

“I could go for a burger, too,” Steve chimed in.

“Alright, then, let’s go walk around until we find a diner,” Fury said before making sure his keys and wallet were still in his pocket.

Steve and Tony smiled widely at their teacher, following him out of the door. Fury locked their hotel room behind them, and they were on their way.

They didn’t have to walk too far to find a diner. Just down the road from the hotel was a larger diner packed with people for the lunch rush. The three of them were seated at a booth toward the back of the restaurant, right near the heat source, thank goodness, because Tony had spent the entire walk complaining that he was cold.

Fury sat opposite from the boys, watching as they interacted with each other. He was very pleased by the progress they had been making with each other. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time Steve and Tony had argued. Whatever bonding the boys had been doing in their spare time had been working.

After filling up on cheeseburgers, they continued to walk around town and take in the sights. None of them had been to Bellville, so they enjoyed playing tourist for the day.

The small town was covered in white, fluffy snow. The streets were cleanly plowed, and the sidewalks had been neatly shoveled. All of the store fronts were decked out for the holidays, making the town look like the picture perfect winter wonderland that could be seen on greeting cards.

Some of the shop windows were lined with colorful Christmass lights, while others were decorated with garland. Each door had a large, green wreath on it, complete with a big, red bow on the bottom. Some of the displays had Christmas trees inside of them. One even had a menorah on display for Hanukkah.

People walked all around them. There were parents with their children, couples both young and old, groups of friends, and people walking alone.

Steve caught sight of two men, likely in their 30s, sitting together at a bus stop holding hands. One of the men had his head resting on his partner’s shoulder. Steve watched with a smile as the partner dropped a kiss into the other man’s hair. There were tons of people around them who didn’t even seem to care that the couple was two men. Everyone who passed by them smiled and waved, as if they all knew each other.

It was nice to see that in this small, cozy town, no one seemed to care if you were gay or straight. From what Steve could tell, everyone seemed pretty accepting. He looked over at Tony to try and gauge his reaction. He wasn’t sure if Tony was even into men, but when he saw how hopeful Tony was looking at the couple, Steve knew he might actually have a shot with him.

They passed by a winter market and decided to walk around there for a while. It was crowded, but none of them seemed to mind. Steve thought the market looked like it could have come straight out of a movie. His hands were itching for a pencil and some paper so he could sketch it.

As they walked around, they each found something to buy. Fury found a cheap yet tasteful watch, which was something he’d actually needed since his old watch had broken recently. Steve found a simple leatherbound notebook and pencil set that he immediately put to use as they walked, drawing the different stalls they passed.

It was on their way out of the market that Tony found something. He stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes widened, bright with excitement. He ran over to the stall ahead of them and picked up the goofiest-looking penguin figurine that Steve and Fury had ever seen.

The penguin was small and bean-shaped, painted black and white. It had little orange feet, but no flippers, and a small orange beak on its face. It had massive eyes that took up half its face. The eyes seemed to have an error—one was much larger than the other, and its pupil was off-centered. The seller said that she’d messed up when painting it, which was why it looked all wonky. The penguin also had a pink scarf and hat on it, with a little white pom-pom painted on top.

Tony absolutely needed it.

He purchased the penguin and immediately started calling it Fillmore. As Tony had been paying for his figurine, Steve quickly did a rough sketch of him, wanting to remember the pure joy on Tony’s face forever.

When they finally left the market, they decided to head back to the hotel for a little while. After being out in the cold December weather for a few hours, they had all agreed that it was time to head back and warm up until they were ready to get dinner.

Once back in their hotel room, Tony flopped onto his side of the bed and took his penguin out of his pocket.

“Isn’t he cute, Steve?” Tony asked, holding the figurine up so Steve could see it better.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, he’s pretty cute. What are you going to do with it?”

Tony thought about it for a minute before saying, “I’ll probably keep it hidden somewhere. I don’t want Clint stealing or breaking it.”

Fury turned around from where he’d been hanging up his coat. “Clint? Clint Barton?”

Tony’s face flushed with embarrassment. He’d clearly forgotten Fury was in the room with them. “No, a different Clint,” He said.

“How many other people named Clint are there in your year?” Fury asked skeptically.

“At least, like, four.”

Fury looked at Steve. “Rogers, is it Clint Barton?”

Steve swallowed loudly before answering. “Yes, sir. He and Tony are roommates, but they don’t get along. At all.”

“Steve!” Tony shouted, sitting up.

“Maybe he can help,” Steve said to Tony before turning back to Fury. “Clint picks on him a lot. You should’ve heard the things he was saying to Tony before he left for break.”

“What’d he say?” The teacher asked.

“Tony, tell him,” Steve said encouragingly.

Tony sighed, his eyes fixed on the ground as he fidgeted uncomfortably. “Just some shit about how my parents don’t love me.”

“And he punched you in the nose,” Steve added.

“You saw that, too?”

“Tony, the entire hallway did.”

“He punched you?” Fury asked, surprised.

“Yeah, because of the history exam thing,” Tony quietly admitted. “He didn’t hit me hard, though. My nose wasn't bruised or anything.”

Fury let out a long sigh before sitting on the edge of his bed, right across from Tony. He gestured for Steve to come sit as well. Steve sat close to Tony, their thighs almost touching.

“Why haven’t you told anyone about this? The school can separate you two if you explain what’s been going on. They’ll switch your rooms.”

Tony shook his head. “I’m not going to give him another reason to bother me. If I ask to switch rooms, he’ll know and he’ll probably beat me up again.”

“I could do it for you,” Steve offered. “If I complain about the noise from your constant fighting, they’ll probably switch your rooms, right, Mr. Fury?”

Fury nodded in confirmation. “It’s happened before. A few years ago, there were two boys in one of the younger grades constantly fighting and the boys in the dorm next door complained to the dean, so he had one of them switch rooms with a boy down the hall. If you talk to Dr. Hawthorne, he’ll resolve the issue. He doesn’t like conflict in the dorms.”

“Maybe we could try that, then,” Tony agreed. “I’m tired of rooming with Clint, he’s such an asshole.”

“Yeah, he is.”

Tony and Steve looked at their teacher in shock.

Fury gave them a look. “What? Was I not supposed to agree?”

“You’re our teacher, it’s weird hearing you talk shit on students who aren’t us. It almost feels scandalous,” Tony said.

“Yeah, well, perhaps Mr. Barton deserves it.”

“Oh my God, wait! How do you really feel about Dr. Hawthorne?”

“That, I cannot say. Can’t risk it getting back to him.”

“He’s so wishy-washy,” Steve blurted out. He quickly clapped his hands over his mouth. “I did not mean to say that.”

“No, you’re so right,” Tony agreed. “He’s also an asshole.”

“Hey, your words, not mine,” Fury said, a smirk on his face to show the boys that he agreed with them.

Tony burst into laughter, leaning against Steve. Steve looked at Tony softly before the laughter became infectious. Fury watched the two boys in front of him, both giggling messes, and couldn’t help but chuckle himself.

Eventually, they all settled down and decided to order room service for dinner. As they ate, they planned out some things to do before the winter carnival.

Their carnival didn’t open until the 28th, so that meant that they had the whole day tomorrow to do some fun things around the town.

Tony excitedly asked if they could go to the comic book store that he saw on their way back from the market earlier. Steve didn’t have anywhere specific he wanted to check out, so he asked if they could sit down outside somewhere so he could draw the downtown area in his new notebook.

Fury agreed to both, making them promise in return that they would also go to the museum in town. They also thought it would be fun to check out the bakery that was near the hotel because each time they had walked past it, they could smell all of the delicious sweets and breads.

After a while, they all started to get tired and decided to wind down for the night. They each took turns in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Tony went first, followed by Steve. Fury went last.

While Fury was in the bathroom, the boys got settled in bed. Steve kept the lamp on his bedside table turned on, both for Tony and so he could read before bed. He liked to read for 30 minutes before he went to sleep so he could give his brain some quiet time.

Tony climbed into his side of the bed and laid down, yawning loudly.

“Hey, what do you want me to do if you have a nightmare?” Steve asked in a hushed tone.

“I guess I hadn’t really thought of that,” Tony said. “Are you a light sleeper?”

Steve nodded in confirmation.

“Olay, I guess just, like, gently wake me up the first time you hear me getting restless. I’ll do my best not to punch you.”

“If you do, it’s not a big deal, Tony. I can defend myself, don’t worry about it,” Steve said warmly.

“What do we do about the lamp?” Tony asked. Steve could hear the hint of fear in his voice.

“I’ll read until I’m sure you’re asleep so you don’t have to fall asleep in the dark. Once you start snoring, I’ll shut it off.”

“Snoring? I don’t snore!”

“Yes, you do. Don’t worry, it’s cute,” Steve said, testing the waters.

Tony blushed. “No, it’s not. Snoring can’t be cute if I don’t even do it.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Steve said with a playful smile.

Tony cuddled up under the covers and looked up at Steve. “Sorry in advance for hogging the blankets. I get cold at night. I also sleep like an octopus, so sorry in advance for any limbs that might hit you, too.”

Steve gave a quick chuckle. “Don’t worry about it. I run hot.”

“Yeah, you are,” Tony mumbled to himself… or so he thought.

“What’d you say?” Steve asked, knowing damn well what he had said.

“Nothing! I didn’t say anything!” Tony spoke quickly. “I’m going to sleep now!”

Steve looked at him, a soft smile on his face. “Goodnight, Tony. Sleep well.”

“You, too. Night, Steve.”

Tony curled up on his side facing Steve, giving him one last smile before closing his eyes. Steve opened up his book, took his bookmark out of the page, and began reading.

The bathroom door opened and Fury walked out. He looked at Tony before turning to Steve.

“Is he asleep?” He whispered.

“No,” Tony mumbled, startling Fury.

“Jesus!”

“Nope, just little old me.”

“Get some rest, boys. We’ve got a busy day ahead of ourselves,” Fury said as he grabbed a book from his suitcase and settled into his bed.

After only 10 minutes, Tony began snoring. Fury caught a glimpse of Steve looking down at Tony with the most loving gaze Fury had ever seen. He was starting to wonder if he should have made one of them sleep on the floor. He honestly wasn’t sure if anything was going on between Steve and Tony, but he didn’t think he would be surprised if there was.

Fury wasn’t an idiot; of course, he’d noticed how the boys had been getting along since the first day of the winter break. It seemed that the pair was getting closer and closer every day. They’f practically become inseparable. Fury decided that he really didn’t care if they were friends or dating or what, he was just glad they’d stopped arguing.

Steve closed his book and placed it on the bedside table before shutting off the lamp. He slid down into the bed, pulling the blankets a little higher.

“Goodnight, Mr. Fury,” He said quietly, mindful of Tony sleeping next to him.

“Goodnight, Mr. Rogers,” Fury replied kindly. Fury continued to read for a while longer before finally deciding to call it a night.

When he woke up the next morning, he wasn’t surprised that he was the first one awake. He quietly got out of bed and rummaged through his small suitcase, pulling out a change of clothes for the day.

Before heading into the bathroom to get ready, he cast a quick glance at the boys’ bed. He was shocked to see that Tony had managed to curl up against Steve, and Steve looked so content, even in his sleep.

Nick knew that if the boys found out he saw them cuddled up together, they would feel embarrassed, so he decided it would be best to forget that he ever saw it in the first place. Instead, he went into the bathroom and loudly shut the door behind him, hoping that the noise would wake the boys. Then, they’d have time to untangle themselves and avoid the embarrassment.

Sure enough, the door slamming startled Steve out of the best sleep he’d ever had. He was so warm and he felt a solid weight against his side, so he was disappointed to be pulled out of his slumber.

When he peeled his eyes open, he was surprised to discover that the warmth pressed against him was actually Tony. Tony was curled up on his side, tucked against Steve. His head rested against Steve’s shoulder, his arm flung lazily across Steve’s stomach. Steve’s arm was around Tony’s waist, his hand rested on Tony’s hip. It was like he was holding Tony in place against him.

Steve turned his head and looked at Tony as best as he could given their position. Tony looked so beautiful when he slept. His long eyelashes fanned out against his rosy cheeks. His lips were slightly parted, his puffs of breath tickling Steve’s neck. He looked so incredibly at peace that Steve almost didn’t want to wake him up.

Unfortunately, he knew he had to before Fury saw them—if he hadn’t already. Steve wouldn’t mention that possibility to Tony, though.

Steve gently began rubbing his thumb in soothing circles against Tony’s hip, trying to rouse him. Tony sniffled, scrunching his nose.

“Tony,” Steve said softly.

The boy yawned, tiredly smacking his lips together. He slowly forced his eyes open, and they went wide when he realized how close he and Steve’s faces were, his face turning bright pink. He almost tried to pull away, but Steve’s arm held him in place.

“Good morning,” Steve smiled sweetly at him.

When Tony saw his smile, he didn’t know what to think. Did Steve not mind that they cuddled in their sleep? Was he going to laugh at him? Was Steve secretly crushing on him? Was Steve even into guys?

It was too early for this.

“Sorry about, um…” Tony said, his voice rough from sleep.

“Actually, I slept really well,” Steve said. “So I can’t say that I mind.”

“I told you I get cold easily, I guess I felt your warmth and clung to you like a leech.”

“It’s okay, Tony. I really don’t mind. I promise.”

“You’re sure?” Tony asked, uncertain.

“I’m sure. And I guess you slept pretty well, too. You stayed warm and you didn’t seem to have any nightmares,” Steve pointed out.

Tony smiled at the realization. “You’re right, I didn’t have any nightmares. That’s not something that happens too often.”

“I’m glad you slept well. You always look so tired.”

“That’s because I am always tired. I feel like I could fall back asleep right now,” Tony said, cuddling against Steve’s shoulder and hiding his face.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Steve said. “Fury’s awake.”

Tony practically jumped out of Steve’s arms as he sat up. “Shit, did he see?”

Steve shook his head, sitting up as well. “He’s in the bathroom, I don’t think he noticed.”

Tony let out a sigh of relief, running a hand through his messy curls. “Thank God, that would’ve been so awkward.”

At the exact moment, the bathroom door opened and out walked Fury. He looked at the boys in surprise.

“I forgot you two were here,” He said, trying to make them think he didn’t catch them snuggled up together.

A quick flash of relief crossed their faces and Fury knew he had made the right choice.

“You forgot about us? How dare you!” Tony said dramatically.

Fury shook his head at the boy’s antics, nearly cracking a smile. “Get up and get dressed, I’ll order room service for breakfast. What do you two want?”

After placing their order for breakfast, Tony went to the bathroom to get ready first. When he was done, it was Steve’s turn in the bathroom. Once they were all dressed for the day, their breakfast arrived.

Tony and Steve talked animatedly about how excited they were for the day ahead. Fury occasionally joined the conversation, but mostly let the boys talk. When everyone was done eating, they all took turns in the bathroom one last time to brush their teeth again before heading out for the day.

It was a chilly morning, so they walked down the streets of Bellville at a quick pace. At nine o’clock in the morning, the streets were already bustling with people starting their days. Steve loved to see that the small town was thriving with life.

They started their day at the comic store. Fury knew that Tony would spend the whole day asking when they could go, so he figured it would be best to go first and avoid Tony’s complaints. Neither Fury nor Steve imagined they’d be there for two hours.

Tony took his time sifting through the shelves, displays, and bins. He quickly flipped through the comics that he was unfamiliar with, and if they piqued his interest, he added them to the growing pile he carried around the store. Eventually, he couldn’t carry his comics and flip through more at the same time, so Steve offered to carry them for him so he could keep looking around. Tony found the section dedicated to his favorite series and took his time looking through them all while also giving Steve a breakdown of the entire plot of the series.

Fury stayed near the front of the store and struck up polite conversation with one of the older cashiers. He didn’t really understand comics, he preferred lengthy books.

When they finally left the comic store, Tony had a large, brown paper bag full of new comics in his arms. It was times like this that he really enjoyed coming from a wealthy family. Fury checked his watch, surprised that it was nearly lunch time.

None of them wanted to go to a full restaurant for lunch, so they found a quaint coffee shop and ordered some coffee and sandwiches. As they ate, Steve pulled his new notebook out of the satchel he’d thrown over his shoulder before leaving the hotel and began sketching the view outside of the window they’d sat next to. While he sketched, Tony began reading one of his new comic books and Fury simply enjoyed the ambiance of the cafe while doing some people-watching.

They ended up staying in the shop for a few hours, not even realizing how long they’d been there. They decided to go to the museum next, so they threw out their garbage and left the shop, beginning the walk to the other side of Bellville. It wasn’t a large town by any means, so the walk didn’t take too long, but the whole way, Tony complained about how cold he was.

In a gesture that surprised both Tony and Fury, Steve took off his jacket and placed it around Tony’s shoulders, claiming he was getting warm. Tony accepted the jacket, but blushed profusely the entire rest of the walk.

At the museum, Tony returned Steve’s coat as they entered the lobby.

The museum wasn’t too big, and it was mostly a town history museum, but they had a special exhibit set up for the holidays. They went to go check out the exhibit, surprised by how little people were in the museum.

Tony seemed to enjoy the break from the crowds. Steve noticed that Tony’s eyes always anxiously shot around when they were in large crowds, as if he was looking for someone. It didn’t take an idiot to realize that Tony was on high alert, so to speak. He quickly realized that Tony was probably checking to make sure that nobody recognized him in public. Sometimes, Steve forgot that because Tony had famous parents, people would know him, too. It certainly didn’t help that his face was always plastered in the newspapers and tabloids.

Tony seemed much more relaxed in the museum than he had been throughout the rest of the trip so far. Steve stuck close to his side and together, they cracked jokes about some of the exhibits to make them more interesting.

Fury led them through the museum, taking his time reading each display and explaining them to the boys. They found the Christmas exhibit much more interesting that the history of Bellville, so they spent more time there looking at everything.

After some time, they decided they’d had enough of the museum and left. It had gotten a little warmer outside, so Steve asked if they could sit for a bit so he could do some sketching. Of course, Fury said yes, so they found the perfect bench and sat down so Steve could draw. The street they ended up on was shaped like a ‘T’, so they sat on the bench that gave them the perfect view straight down the entire road. It was perfect for Steve to draw.

He sketched the street, making sure to capture every little detail. Bellville was a charming little town, Steve wanted his art to reflect that.

As he drew, Tony continued to read his comic books, wrapped up in Steve coat again, and occasionally stopped to talk to Fury about them. Fury listened as Tony passionately rambled about the characters in his comics, shocked that this was the same Tony that was in his history class.

Fury enjoyed getting to see a different side to his students. He didn’t know that Tony loved comics or that Steve loved drawing. (Although, the amount of tests Steve submitted with doodles on them should have clued him in). Spending so much time with the two made Fury realize that perhaps he’d judged them too harshly.

When Steve finished drawing, he lifted his notebook for Tony and Fury to see. They were both very impressed by Steve’s talent. His work perfectly captured the bustling street, from the decor on the storefronts to the people walking down the sidewalks, and every detail in between. It was flawless.

Steve was proud of his work, stating that he thought it was one of his best pieces, but still insisted that it wasn’t that good when Tony tried to compliment him. He wasn’t used to people showing an interest in his art, other than Bucky, so he didn’t know how to accept the compliments.

Since it was December, the sun began to set before five o’clock, so it was starting to get dark. Fury asked the boys if they were hungry, to which they said yes, so they began to search for something to eat. They quickly came across an Italian restaurant, which Tony seemed excited about at first.

After they sat down and ordered their drinks, Steve couldn’t help but notice that Tony seemed a bit down as he looked over his menu.

“Hey, you okay, Tony?” He asked quietly.

Tony looked up at Steve, giving him a small smile. “Yeah, I’m good. Just hungry.”

Steve could tell he was lying—his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Are you sure? You seem a little off.”

Tony sighed, placing his menu on the table. “I guess this is just reminding me of what I’m missing.”

Steve wasn’t sure what he meant at first, but quickly realized that Tony could only be referring to one thing.

“You mean your parents?”

Fury looked up from his menu, where he had been pretending not to listen to the boys. “Was coming here a mistake?”

Tony shook his head. “No, don’t worry about it. I wanted to come here, too. I guess it’s just that it reminded me of how I should have been in Italy eating real, authentic Italian food. I was really looking forward to it before my parents left without me and called from the hotel to tell me that.”

“Have you been to Italy before? Or was it supposed to be your first time?” Fury asked curiously.

“No, I’ve been a bunch of times. I’m half Italian—my mom is from Italy—so every summer she and I go visit her family.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “What about your dad?”

“He stays back. He’s always busy with work shit. Sometimes, he stops by for a few days, but not often. Him going on family vacation is sort of a rare occurrence. He’s not a family man,” Tony explained, his voice bitter.

Before anyone could ask any follow-up questions, the waiter returned with their drinks and asked for their dinner orders. By the time he left, Tony seemed to move on from the topic of Italy entirely.

“Are we doing anything after this or are we going back to the hotel?”

Steve and Fury shot each other a look, seeming to agree on dropping the subject of Tony’s parents. It was clear Tony didn’t want to talk about them anymore, so they didn’t want to upset him by bringing them up again.

Fury looked at his watch. “It’s still a little early. Was there anything else you wanted to do tonight? We could walk around, see a movie, or head back to the market. Or we could have a quiet night in, whatever you want.”

Steve looked at Tony. “How about a movie? Isn’t there a new Disney cartoon out now? We should go see that, what do you think?”

Tony shrugged. “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

He still seemed dejected, but Steve hoped that seeing a movie would cheer him up.,

Fury nodded. “Sure, we can do that. We’ll head over to the theater after we eat. I believe we passed it on the way here.”

“Mr. Fury, was there anything specific you wanted to do while we’re here?” Steve asked. “We’ve done everything that we wanted, but we haven’t done anything that you want to do.”

“I’ve quite enjoyed what we’ve been doing,” Fury replied. “People-watching is one of my favorite hobbies, and I’ve gotten to do it multiple times.”

Tony looked at the teacher curiously.

“People-watching? How old are you, anyway? Because people-watching is such an old man hobby.”

“Older than you,” Fury replied simply.

“Why are you so mysterious? You know so much about us now, but we hardly know anything about you,” Tony said. “We don’t know how old you are, why you’re a teacher, or what happened to your eye. I’m dying to know the story behind it!”

“First off, I’m not telling you about my eye. Second, I told you I was in the army and the secret service. Isn’t that enough?”

“Well, you did, but you didn’t elaborate on it.”

“It’s called the secret service, kid. Emphasis on the secret.”

“Actually,” Steve started. “You’re allowed to talk about it. There are plenty of retired secret service agents who have written books about their time on the job.”

“Yeah! And don’t forget all the agents who talked after President Kennedy was assassinated,” Tony said before gasping. “Were you one of his agents? Did you work with President Kennedy? Was his assassination the reason you left the secret service?”

Fury shook his head. “No, I didn’t work for President Kennedy. But I have met him before. If you really must know, I served in the war until it ended in ‘45 and joined the secret service about a year later. I worked with President Truman and then President Eisenhower until 1956.”

“You didn’t stay for his second term?” Steve asked.

“No, I wasn’t able to perform my duties anymore, so I had to retire. Plus, I was starting to get older, they wanted to replace me with someone younger, anyway.”

“You weren’t able to perform your duties? Does your eye have anything to do with it?” Tony asked.

Fury rolled his eyes, but wasn’t annoyed. “The more you ask about it, the less likely I am to tell you. But yes, my eye is the reason I left.”

“What did you do in the war?” Steve asked.

“What is this, an interview?” Fury asked with a laugh. “Are you boys really that interested in my life?”

Just then, the waiter came back with their meals. Throughout the rest of dinner, Fury decided to entertain the boys by answering some of their questions. He also shared some of his less gruesome war stories and a few memories from his time in the secret service. The boys were enthralled.

After dinner, they made their way to the mode theater. During the movie, Steve kept glancing at Tony to make sure he was okay after dinner, and he was pleased to see that Tony was enjoying the movie. It looked like Steve’s plan to get Tony’s mind off of his family worked.

After they left the theater, Tony seemed to be back to his normal, chatty self. The whole walk back to the hotel was filled with him talking about the movie.

When they made it back to their room, they all took turns in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Afterward, Steve and Tony invited Fury to play a few rounds of cards with them. They sat squashed at the small table in the corner of the room and played until nearly one o’clock, when Tony almost fell asleep with his cards in his hand. They put the cards away for the night and went to bed.

Because they had stayed up later, they all slept in the next morning. Fury got up first at nine and decided to let the boys continue to sleep, knowing they would be out late at the carnival. Steve got up next and joined Fury at the table, where they worked on the crossword on the back of the newspaper Fury had bought on their way home from the movie theater. Afterward, they each took turns showering and getting changed. They wanted to wait for Tony to get up before ordering breakfast, but eventually they got too hungry, so they ordered anyway, hoping that Tony would be alright with an omelette when he woke up.

Tony finally woke up around noon, but lazed around in bed for a little while before getting up. He practically inhaled his omelette before heading into the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he was finally dressed and ready to go, it was nearing one o’clock. Neither Steve nor Fury minded the late start to the dat as the carnival didn’t open until four o’clock anyway.

Since they still had a few hours to kill before the carnival, they decided to take a second look through the market. Apparently, it was the last day the market would be set up. One of the vendors told them that the market ran every year from December 23rd to the 28th, and the carnival began on the 28th and lasted until January 2nd. Since it was their last chance to buy things from the market, the boys asked Fury if they could look around to find a gift for Maria, and of course, Fury said yes, so they took their time looking for the perfect gift for her.

None of them were sure what to get her until Tony caught sight of the same stall that he had bought his penguin figurine from the other day. He decided that Fury, Steve, and Maria should all get penguins too so that they each had a little trinket to remember the Christmas break they’d spent together. He seemed so excited about his idea, so Steve and Fury couldn’t say no. Plus, the penguins were cute, and Tony was right; it would be the perfect memento of their Christmas together.

After buying their trinkets, including one for Maria, they walked around until it was time to head over to the carnival. The boys practically bounced with excitement as they walked down the streets.

As they waited in line to enter the carnival, they spoke about whatever came to mind.

“Hey, Mr. Fury,” Steve said. “What did you do in the army? Where’d you serve? You never answered yesterday when I asked at dinner.”

“Oh, yes, I was mostly stationed in England, but I did a few missions. Actually, I was almost sent as backup to Normandy, but we ended up winning before I got there,” Fury replied.

“It must have been surreal to serve during the war.”

“It was. Sometimes it felt like a terrible nightmare, so I’d pinch myself to see if it was real. War changes you,” Fury sighed. “Changes you a lot.”

“Is that why you take a pill every morning? Because of the war?” Tony asked before backtracking. “Sorry, that was insensitive. It’s just—I noticed it after breakfast yesterday. That’s what happens when you share a hotel room.”

Fury nodded. “I suppose I had it coming, I do leave the bottle on the countertop so I don’t forget to take them, after all. But yes, it’s because of the war.”

“My ma said that dad had to take pills, too. Apparently, he had real bad shellshock,” Steve said.

Fury hummed sadly. “Did he serve during the war?”

“Yeah, not the whole war, though,” Steve answered. “He got drafted in 1944, right after he turned 18.”

Fury nodded before turning to Tony. “How about you? Your dad’s a little older, he served too, then?”

Tony grimaced. “Kind of.”

“What do you mean ‘kind of’?” Steve asked.

“Oh, that’s right. Your dad built the bomb, didn’t he?” Fury asked quietly, remembering who Tony’s father was.

“Yeah, he helped with that. He was one of the directors. That’s how he ended up starting Stark Industries. He’s been telling me this for as long as I can remember,” Tony said. “After the war ended, Truman wanted to keep building more weapons to prepare for future wars. Dad’s partner on the project refused, so dad did it himself. Truman wanted dad to supply our troops with guns and shit, and that’s how Stark Industries began.”

“You don’t sound too happy about that,” Steve noted. “Aren’t you supposed to be taking over the business someday? I mean, you’re the only heir.”

“I am, but I really don’t want to. If your dad helped kill hundreds of thousands of people, you wouldn’t be too happy about having to go into the family business, either. I don’t want to make things that hurt people, I want to make things that help people. I want to create things that’ll help make the world a better place,” Tony explained.

“So do that, then. Make things for good.”

“Steve, it’s not that easy. You don’t know my dad. If anything happened to his precious company because of me, he would probably cut me off and make me live on the streets.”

“Would your father actually do that?” Fury asked. He had his suspicions about Howard Stark’s parenting and wanted to know more. He wanted to know if Tony was safe at home when he was there.

“I’d rather not find out,” Tony said darkly. “Hey, you worked with Truman, did you ever meet my dad at the White House? He went a lot after the war for meetings, you’ve probably seen him.”

Fury took a moment to think about it before shaking his head. “I don’t believe I’ve met him. I might have seen him once or twice, but I can’t remember ever meeting him. I joined the secret service in ‘46, so if he was there during ‘45 after the war ended, I would’ve missed him.”

“Consider yourself lucky, then.”

“You know, I used to want to join the army,” Steve said, changing the subject. He could tell that Tony would rather be talking about anything other than his father.

Fury looked at him surprised. “Really? What changed your mind?”

“Everything Ma told me about my dad, if I’m being frank. I don’t want to end up like he did.”

“What do you want to do now?”

“I’d like to be an artist. Maybe open my own gallery some day, if I’m good enough.”

“Well, if that drawing you showed us yesterday is anything to go by, then I’m sure you have a successful future ahead of you,” Fury said genuinely.

Steve looked at Fury, a shy smile on his face. “You really think so?”

“I do,” Fury said with a nod. “Tell you what, when you eventually open your gallery, send me an invite.”

“Me too!” Tony exclaimed. “I’d also like an invite!”

Steve laughed, his smile growing. “Of course, you guys will be the first to be invited. And Miss Hill. I hope she’s having a good time with her friend.”

“You can ask her all about it tomorrow night. We’re going to get dinner in town before we head back to campus,” Fury said.

It was finally their turn to buy wristbands to enter the carnival. The line was long, which was why it had taken so long. Everyone wanted to go to the carnival on its opening night. After paying the entrance fee, Fury and the boys were permitted to enter the carnival. Steve and Tony’s eyes went wide as they looked at the carnival in awe.

Rides were scattered all across the lot, and the space between them was filled with carnival games and snack booths. Everything was covered in bright blinking lights. Laughter filled the air as people of all ages walked around with their friends and family, ready for a night of fun ahead.

Fury trailed the boys, letting them do whatever they wanted. It was a carnival; he wasn’t going to be strict with them. He sat off to the side while they went on the rides and made sure that they had something to eat.

They walked around and took part in the festivities for a couple of hours before they decided to take a break.

“Mr. Fury?” Tony asked. “Do you mind if we run to the bathroom really quickly?”

“Oh, no, I don’t mind at all. You, too, Mr. Rogers?”

Steve nodded.

“Alright, you boys head to the restroom. I’ll wait just over there,” Fury said, pointing to a bench off to the side. “I know you two have been getting along now, but please don’t kill each other while you’re gone.”

“We won’t, Mr. Fury. Don’t worry,” Steve assured him.

“We’ll be back,” Tony said before heading off in the direction of the bathrooms.

When they got there, they saw that the line to use the restroom was so long it went out the door and started weaving through the crowded carnival.

“Oh,” Tony said dumbly.

“Do you want to wait?” Steve asked. “I don’t actually have to go, I just didn’t want you to have to come alone.”

Tony gave a small laugh. “Like what girls do? Go to the bathroom in groups?”

Steve shook his head. “We’re in a town we’ve never been in before, it’s crowded, and you’re famous. It’s much safer if I stay with you.”

Tony was shocked that Steve cared so much about his safety.

“Oh, well, thank you. That’s really sweet of you,” He told Steve, a faint blush dusting his cheeks.

Steve felt heat rise on his face. “It’s no problem. So did you want to wait?”

“If you don’t mind,” Tony said. “I do actually have to use the bathroom, this wasn’t some ploy to escape the iron grip of Fury.”

They stood in line for nearly 20 minutes, but it felt much shorter because they’d passed the time talking about anything and everything. Before winter break had begun, neither of them had ever imagined that they would enjoy each other’s company, but they found themselves not being able to get enough of each other. They stood close together in line, their arms nearly touching the entire time.

When they finished up in the bathroom, Tony pulled Steve in the opposite direction of where Fury was waiting.

“Come on, let’s take a quick walk.”

“Tony, are you sure this is a good idea?” Steve asked.

“All of my ideas are good ideas.”

Steve laughed, which made Tony laugh, too.

“Just last week, your idea to get Fury to end class early ended with him taking away our retest.”

Tony frowned. “I didn’t mean for that to happen, you know.”

Steve saw the change in Tony’s demeanor and immediately apologized. “I’m sorry, Tony. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It only made everyone hate me more than they already do,” Tony said self-deprecatingly.

Steve didn’t respond, he didn’t know what to say. Instead, he grabbed Tony’s hand and held it as they walked. He wasn’t sure if it was the right choice at first, but when he felt Tony grip his hand tightly, his shoulders slumped with relief.

They quietly walked around for a few minutes, taking in the sights of the carnival before Tony spoke up.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“You said you had to stay over break because your parents are dead. When did they pass?”

Steve sighed. “Well, my dad actually died when my mom was five months pregnant. Remember how I said that he changed after he was in the army? His shellshock kept getting worse and he got into drugs to try and make himself feel better. He ended up overdosing.”

“Steve… I’m so sorry,” Tony said somberly. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s okay. That night we went with Fury to visit Maria, you asked me if I wanted to talk about my mom, remember? Well, I’d like to tell you about Ma and my dad.”

Tony felt honored that Steve wanted to talk to him. “Of course, I’d love to hear about them.”

Steve took a deep breath before beginning. “Like I said the other day, dad went to serve when he was 18. When the war ended, he came back to the States and got a job at a factory. One day, he got hurt on the job and had to be taken to the hospital, which is where he met my ma. She was a nurse, and they hit it off. They dated for a while and eventually got married. They didn’t have me until ‘54, though. They wanted to save up enough money to actually be able to afford baby supplies.

“Ma was really happy when she found out she was pregnant, dad was mostly worried that he’d be a bad father. After a few weeks, Ma said he got so excited about it. She said he seemed to be doing much better mentally during her pregnancy. She always told me that she never knew what exactly happened to dad that set him back. It was like one day he was fine, and the next, he was back into drugs. One day, an officer was at the door and told her that dad died on his way home from work, and that was it.”

“Was it hard growing up never knowing him?” Tony asked quietly, giving Steve’s hand a comforting squeeze.

“Honestly, I didn’t think much of it at first. It was just me and Ma, I didn’t really understand why I didn’t have a dad because I was still so young. Once I realized that all the other kids at school had dads, it hit me. There are always those times where you want to go to your dad with a problem, or when you wish you could just play a game of catch with him, but I couldn’t.

“Ma did a really great job, though. She and I were pretty much attached at the hip when she wasn’t working. I was 10 years old when she got sick, though. By the time she got diagnosed with cancer, it was already pretty bad. We were told there wasn’t much they could do in terms of her treatment since it had already progressed too much. Since she knew she didn’t have much time left, she taught me as much as she could. She taught me how to shave, how to tie a tie, how to change a tire, really anything I would need to know how to do in the future. She died after seven months.”

“Steve, I’m really sorry. She sounded like she was a great woman.”

“Yeah, she was the best,” Steve sighed. “Anyway, after she passed, I got her inheritance and went to live with Bucky’s family.”

“He’s one of your roommates, right?”

“Yeah, we’ve been best friends since we were four. He started going to Shield the year before my ma died. He wasn’t the most well-behaved kid on the block, so Mrs. Barnes wanted to send him to a school where he would get a good education as well as discipline. When I moved in with the Barnes’, Buck’s ma told me to apply for a scholarship so that I could go to Shield, too. I ended up getting a full ride, and the rest is history,” Steve explained.

“Do you stay with him over the summer?”

“Yeah, and usually for holidays, too. But this year, one of their relatives is getting married so she flew the whole family out to Texas for the wedding. It’s a distant relative, so she didn’t know I live with the Barnes’, so I wasn’t invited. Mrs. Barnes felt horrible, but I told her I’d be fine by myself. I didn’t want her to worry.”

“That’s kind of a bummer. Weddings are boring, but it’s probably so much warmer in Texas right now,” Tony said with a shiver.

“Yeah, but I don’t mind the snow. It’s very pretty, and so romantic. The snow, the Christmas lights, you know? It feels like we’re in a movie,” Steve said dreamily.

Tony blushed. “So would that make me your love interest or your plucky sidekick best friend?”

The boys stopped walking, ending up under an archway made up of brightly-colored Christmas lights.

“Well, I think it depends. Which would you rather be?” Steve asked, trying to figure out where Tony’s head was at and if he felt the same way that Steve felt about him.

“Well, I think maybe, um, maybe I’d make a better love interest. But that’s just a thought, I could be the best friend, too, you know,” Tony babbled nervously. Steve thought it was cute.

“Hey, Tony,” Steve said, stopping Tony’s rambling. “Look up.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at Steve before following his gaze to see what Steve was pointing at. “Mistletoe.”

“Tony, could I—I mean, do you think maybe I could kiss you?” Steve asked, his cheeks turning pink.

“If you don’t, I might scream,” Tony blurted out.

Steve let out a laugh. “Well, we wouldn’t want that to happen now, would we?”

“Just shut up and kiss me, Rogers,” Tony said impatiently.

Steve placed a hand on Tony’s waist and pulled him close. Before their lips could touch, Steve gave him a hesitant look. Only when Tony nodded did Steve close the distance between them.

Their lips brushed tentatively, both clearly nervous, but they quickly found their footing. They both sighed, deepening the kiss. Steve began to smile against Tony’s lips when he felt Tony wrap his arms around his neck as they settled into the kiss. Steve gave Tony’s waist a squeeze, which made Tony let out a whine in surprise. When they finally separated, they stood there and stared at each other in awe, their arms still wrapped around each other.

Finally, Steve spoke.

“So… Can we do that again or was it just a one-time deal because of the mistletoe?”

Tony smiled widely, a soft laugh escaping him. “We can definitely do that again. In fact, we should do it again. And not just today, we should do it every day, multiple times, and—”

He was cut off by Steve’s lips pressing against his once more. As soon as Tony started to deepen the kiss, Steve pulled away.

“You sure love to ramble, huh?”

“If you do that every time I ramble, then maybe I should do it more often,” Tony said, a smirk on his face.

“Does this mean you’d go on a date with me?”

“Depends, are you asking?”

Steve cleared his throat. “Anthony Edward Stark, will you do me the absolute honor of accompanying me on a date?”

Tony let out a little snort as he chuckled. “You’re such a goof. Yes, I’ll go on a date with you, Steve… uh, middle name Rogers.”

They laughed together as they began walking again, their fingers laced and their shoulders touching.

“It’s Grant, by the way,” Steve said. “My middle name. My first name is actually Steven, but I prefer Steve.”

“Steven Grant Rogers,” Tony said, testing out the name on his tongue. “I like it. Very distinguished.”

“Nah, I think yours sounds more distinguished than mine.”

“Hey, wait. How did you know my full name? Only my parents call me Anthony. Well, just my dad, really. My mom calls me Antonio or just Tonio.”

Steve smiled at Tony. “Did you forget that you’re the son of a famous person? Your name is in the paper all the time, and unlike most people our age, I actually read the papers.”

“You’re such an old man,” Tony teased, bumping Steve’s shoulder with his. “No 16-year-old reads the papers anymore. Next, you’ll tell me you do the crosswords on the back, too.”

“Do you want me to answer that?”

“You do the crosswords, too? Old man!”

“Laugh all you want,” Steve chuckled at Tony’s antics. “You’re lucky you’ve got a real cute laugh.”

Tony traded his laugh for a blush. “You can’t just say things like that!”

“I sure can, and I’ll do it again. You’ve got a real cute laugh,” Steve repeated.

“Alright, alright!” Tony said, his cheeks turning impossibly redder as he smiled up at Steve. Then, it was as if he suddenly remembered where they were. “Do you think we should get back to Fury? I mean, we’ve been gone for like, a half an hour. He probably thinks we died or something.”

“Yeah, I guess we should head back,” Steve agreed. “We can just tell him that the line for the bathroom was really long, which isn’t exactly a lie.”

“Should we tell him… about us?” Tony asked quietly.

Steve shook his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t know how he feels about gay people. And he’d make one of us sleep on the floor, which I doubt you’d want to happen. Plus, we’re still new, you know? We haven’t even gotten to go on a date yet.”

“You’re right,” Tony sighed. “But I don’t want to let go of your hand.”

“We’ll just have to be careful, then. It’ll be okay,” Steve smiled, warm and comforting.

They made their way back across the carnival and located Fury. He’d been sitting on the same bench as before and seemed to be doing some people-watching. Maybe, if they were lucky, he wouldn’t have realized how long they’d been gone.

When Fury’s eyes landed on Steve and Tony, he stood up.

“You two get lost or something?” He asked, eyeing them curiously.

So much for luck.

“Long line for the bathroom,” Tony supplied.

Fury looked at them skeptically, clearly suspicious. He shot a glance in the direction they’d come from before dropping it. “So, what do you boys want to do next?”

“Can we find the ice rink? I want to skate!” Tony said excitedly. He was bouncing on his toes and looking at Fury with wide eyes and a bright smile. Fury would’ve been stupid to say no to the kid, especially since he was finally happy.

“I believe I saw a sign for it earlier,” Fury said. “Follow me.”

Fury led them through the carnival, not really turning around to see if the boys were still following him.

Since they knew Fury wasn’t watching them, Steve and Tony held hands and walked close together, still on a high from their kiss under the mistletoe. Steve also stole a moment to drop a kiss into Tony’s messy hair.

When they reached the ice rink, Steve and Tony dropped their hands.

Fury reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and took out a twenty-dollar bill, handing it to Steve. “Go get your skates, I’ll be waiting over there,” He said, gesturing to a bench off to the side.

The boys thanked him and quickly got online to rent their skates.

“Can I tell you something?” Tony asked as they stood in line.

“Anything,” Steve replied. “What’s up?”

“I’m scared to skate,” Tony quietly confessed. “Like, really scared.”

“Skating’s not scary, I promise. It might be a little difficult at first, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually.”

“Are you sure? What if I fall?”

“Then I’ll be right there to pick you back up,” Steve reassured him.

Tony smiled up at him softly. “You’re really sweet.”

Before Steve could respond, the volunteer at the skate rental booth called for them.

After getting their skates, they made their way over to the bench that Fury was sitting on. Steve put his skates on quickly before crouching down in front of Tony to help him lace up his skates. Fury watched the interaction, clearly picking up on the noticeable shift in the boys’ dynamic. But before he could ask them about it, they were standing up and heading over to the ice.

As Fury stood by the wall of the rink and watched his students skate, he couldn’t help but think of how far they’d come since the first day of the break.

The boys often argued during class. They were practically at each others’ throats wherever they were in the same room. The boys skating in front of Nick now were a far cry from the boys that he once knew.

He watched as Steve helped Tony learn to skate, skating backwards as his hands hovered in front of Tony in case he fell. Both of them were smiling widely at each other, and Nick could see that Steve was saying something to Tony. If he has to guess, he’d assume Steve was saying words of encouragement.

Nick almost felt like he was intruding on a moment between them. As much as he wanted to look away to give them some privacy, he knew he couldn’t because he needed to supervise them just in case of an emergency. He hoped everything would be fine, though.

But of course, luck wasn’t on his side.

It almost happened in slow motion.

Steve and Tony had been peacefully making their way around the ice rink when a child fell and slid right into them. They both fell down with a loud thud and a scream.

Steve panicked. “Mr. Fury!” He shouted.

Tony lay on the ice next to him, his arm held awkwardly against his chest as he tried—and failed—to hold back tears.

“It hurts! It hurts!” Tony yelled through gritted teeth.

Fury carefully made his way across the ice and to his students. He crouched down next to them and placed a hand on Tony’s good arm.

“Tony, I need you to tell me where it hurts,” He said, trying to keep his voice calm.

“My arm is going to fall off,” Tony screamed, tears starting to fall down his rosy cheeks.

Steve inched impossibly closer to Tony, grabbing his good hand and holding it tightly.

“Tony, you need to breathe,” He said, trying to keep his voice calm. He knew that if Tony saw how scared he was, it would only freak the injured boy out more.

But Tony clearly didn’t hear him. Instead, he screamed, “I can’t feel my arm!”

By now, there was a large crowd forming around them. They’d all been murmuring behind them, and it was only then that Fury realized that they’d all been wondering if they should call an ambulance.

“Okay, Steve,” Fury began. “We’ve got to get him back to the car so we can drive to the nearest hospital. No ambulance, I think that will only make things worse for Tony.”

“Alright, what do we do?” Steve asked, ready to help.

“Can you try to get him standing?”

Steve nodded before turning to Tony. “Hey, you with me? I’ve got to move you, so brace yourself.”

Steve managed to get his hands under Tony’s armpits and began to lift him up. He quickly froze when Tony began to scream louder.

“Stop! Stop! My arm is going to fucking fall off!”

Fury quickly grabbed Tony, forcing him to look at him.

“Tony, listen to me,” He said sternly. “I know it hurts, and I know you’re scared, but we need to get you to the hospital. We have to move you, so I need you to try and help us. I promise, you can scream as mucha s you want in the car, but we really need your help right now. Why do you say, are you ready to try moving?”

Tony looked at the teacher with scared, watery eyes. “Not my arm, though?”

Fury shook his head. “You don’t have to move your arm. Just keep it nice and close to your chest. All you have to do is stand up and Steve and I will help you walk to the car, right Steve?”

Steve moved into Tony’s line of sight. “That’s right, Tony. We’ll help you walk, you’ve just got to get onto your feet.”

Tony looked between them hesitantly before taking a deep breath and nodding. Steve and Fury helped him slowly stand up and shuffled him off of the ice rink. It took them longer than they would’ve liked because Tony was shaky on his skates, but they didn’t want to risk him falling again, so they took their time.

When they got off the ice, they sat Tony on a bench so Steve could get their skates off and return them. While Steve was gone, Fury sat with Tony. He was surprised when Tony’s head dropped onto his shoulder.

“Hurts,” Tony whined, his voice small.

“I know, kid,” Fury said, trying to console the boy. “We’re going to get you to the hospital as fast as we can.”

Steve quickly came back and, together, he and Fury helped Tony up and to the car. When they finally got there, Tony carefully got into the back seat and Steve slid in next to him.

Tony cried out in pain the entire 20-minute drive, especially whenever the car hit a bump in the road and it jostled his arm. Fury apologized every time, looking at him through the rearview mirror as he did so. Steve held Tony’s good hand the whole time.

When they finally made it to the hospital, they parked the car and went to check into the emergency room. Receptionist at the front desk handed them a clipboard and told them to fill out the forms.

As they sat in the waiting room, silent tears continued to roll down Tony’s cheeks while he gave Fury the information needed to fill out the forms.

“Mr. Fury,” He said, “My parents can’t find out about this.”

Fury looked up at him. “Why not?”

“They hate me,” Tony quietly admitted, his eyes fixed on the ground.

Steve and Fury looked at each other over Tony’s head.

“Why do you say that?” Fury asked.

“Because it’s true. Why do you think I had to stay over the break? They went on a vacation without me. I was supposed to go with them, and they called this morning to tell me that they left without me because they didn’t want me there. When I tried to get them to change their minds, they said they’d see me for spring break instead, but I know that’s a lie,” Tony explained glumly.

“Don’t say that, Tony,” Steve said, trying to comfort him.

“It’s true, though. They didn’t want me for Thanksgiving, they don’t want more for Christmas, and they won’t want me for spring break. My parents never wanted a kid, and they remind me of that every chance they get.”

“Tony,” Fury said seriously. “Will they harm you in any way if they find out about this?”

Tony looked up at Fury with fear in his eyes. “I don’t– I don’t know.”

“Have your parents ever hurt you before?” Steve asked, although he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Tony chewed on his lip nervously for a few seconds before turning to Fury. “What’s the next question on that form?”

Fury glanced worriedly at him. “Tony–”

“Can we hurry this up? My arm hurts, and if I don’t get it fixed soon, I’m going to start screaming again.”

Fury was reluctant to drop the subject, but Tony’s arm was their top priority. “The next question: any allergies to medicine?”

When they finished the form, Fury left the boys to go return the clipboard to the receptionist.

“Hey,” Steve said as soon as Fury was across the room. “Just hang in there a little longer.”

Tony’s lip quivered. “It hurts.”

Steve took Tony’s good hand in his and laced their fingers together. “I know it does, but the nurses will call you back soon and they’ll see what’s wrong.”

“I can’t believe I ruined everything.”

“What? Tony, you didn’t ruin anything!”

“Yes, I did! We were having so much fun before I fell.”

“It wasn’t your fault, though. A kid slid into you. Accidents happen.”

“This was our one chance to do something over the break other than homework. I ruined it for you, me, and Mr. Fury. Now, we’re stuck at a hospital and my arm is all fucked up and my parents are going to kill me,” Tony said, turning away from Steve.

He didn’t want Steve to see that he had begun to cry again. Steve knew, though. He could hear Tony’s quiet sniffles and noticed the way his shoulders shook. He gently placed a hand on Tony’s back, moving it in soothing circles.

“You didn’t ruin anything, I promise,” He said.

“Alright, boys,” Fury said as he approached them. “We’ll be called back in a few minutes. Hanging in there, Tony?”

“My arm is so numb that I can’t even feel the pain anymore.”

“Just a little longer,” Fury said, taking a seat.

After a few minutes, a nurse finally called Tony’s name, and they were led to a room in the emergency ward. Tony sat down on the bed while Steve took the chair off to the side. Fury stood next to the bed beside Tony.

When the doctor came into the room, he took one look at Tony’s arm and decided to do an x-ray. He told Steve and Fury to wait in the room while he took Tony to get the x-ray done.

Fury looked at Steve, who was leaning forward in his chair. The blonde had his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands. Nick could tell her was worried.

“He’ll be alright.”

Steve didn’t look up or respond. Instead, he tapped his fingers against his head. It remained silent in the hospital room until Steve eventually spoke up.

“We kissed.”

Fury nodded. “Okay,” He said simply.

Steve looked up, confused. “That’s all you have to say?”

“Yeah.”

“I just told you that me and Tony kissed, and all you’re going to say is ‘okay’?”

“Well, what do you want me to say, kid? I knew something happened between you two. You’ve been holding hands every chance you’ve gotten. Don’t think I didn’t notice. You’re not exactly subtle.”

“You knew?”

“I didn’t know you two kissed, but I knew something happened. You came back from the bathroom practically glowing, and I saw how you acted together on the ice.”

Steve’s face turned bright red. “I thought we did well hiding it.”

“Bitch, please. You guys said you were going to the bathroom and came back from the opposite direction of the bathrooms.”

Fury didn’t think it was possible, but Steve’s face turned impossibly redder.

“But you don’t have to hide it from me,” Fury continued. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable around me.”

“So you’re okay with us being together? You know… Two boys?”

“I know I’m a strict teacher, but I’m not an asshole,” Fury said, sending Steve an uncharacteristic smile. He wanted to make sure Steve knew he wouldn’t judge.

“For the record, me and Tony think you’re a great teacher.”

“Well, thank you both. And Steve?”

Steve hummed in response.

“He’ll be okay.”

Steve and Fury stayed quiet until Tony came back. He was silent, and his eyes were red. He sat down on the bed, holding his arm tightly against his chest. Fury sat down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“How’d it go, kid?”

“They made me move my arm,” Tony replied, his voice hollow.

Steve moved to sit on Tony’s other side. “That’s how they do x-rays.”

“Yeah, well, it really fucking hurt.”

“I’m sure it did, Tones.”

“It made me cry. It was either cry or scream. I chose the former.”

“You did scream a lot today already.”

Tony nodded. “I know, my throat is killing me.”

“On the way back to the hotel, we’ll stop somewhere and find you some lozenges,” Fury said kindly.

It was well after midnight by the time they got back to their hotel. Tony had passed out as soon as they got into the car. The adrenaline had finally worn off, leaving him exhausted. That coupled with the heavy medication from the hospital left Tony dead to the world. Steve carried the sleeping boy up to their room, careful not to wake him.

Once Steve placed Tony on their bed, Fury helped him get Tony’s sneakers off. Steve pulled the blankets over Tony before gently propping Tony’s casted arm up on an extra pillow.

“Mr. Fury? Do you really think he’ll be okay?” Steve asked quietly as he stared down at Tony’s sleeping form.

Fury stood next to Steve and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “He’ll be just fine. The kid’s tough; he won’t let a broken arm keep him down for long.”

“Yeah, but he was in a lot of pain. You heard him screaming.”

Fury sighed, dropping his hand. “Yes, he took a pretty bad fall. But he’ll start to feel better in a few days and he’ll be back to his regular, annoying self. Well, at least he will be once he’s off of those meds. He'll probably want to sleep most of the day.”

“Thank you for getting him to the hospital quickly. I’m usually much better at handling emergencies, but as soon as he started screaming, I panicked,” Steve said, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Fury gave Steve a small smile before crossing the room. He took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door.

“We should get some sleep. It’s been one hell of a day, huh?”

Steve let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, you could say that.”

The next day was spent entirely in their hotel room. Tony slept for a while as Steve and Fury read their books quietly, but he’d eventually woken up in pain. Fury gave Tony his next dose of pain relief, and all they could do after that was sit with Tony as he cried until the medication began to work its magic.

Fury ordered them all lunch, but Tony hadn’t been able to eat, stating that he had no appetite and just wanted to go back to sleep. Steve managed to persuade Tony into eating half of a roll before Tony began to doze off. They let him sleep for the rest of the day, not wanting to bother him.

Fury also decided that it would be best to cut the trip short and return to the school the next day. He phoned Maria and told her they would be back a day early. He neglected to mention Tony’s arm, not wanting to worry her.

The next morning, Fury pulled into the driveway of Maria’s friend’s house and parked the car before turning to address Steve.

“Would you go ring the bell and help Miss Hill with her suitcase?”

Steve nodded. “Of course,” He said before looking at Tony, who had his head propped up on Steve’s shoulder. “You want to sit up so I can get out?”

Tony had been having a rough morning, and understandably so. His next dose of medication had worn off in the middle of the night, so he woke up at two o’clock in the morning writhing and groaning in pain. Steve and Fury had woken up in an instant upon hearing him and scrambled to get his medication. After taking it, Tony had to wait for it to take effect, so he spent the next hour sobbing in Steve’s arms. When he finally fell asleep, it was because he’d cried himself into exhaustion.

He slept well into the morning, even as Steve and Fury had started packing their bags for the journey back home. Eventually, they had to wake him up so he could get dressed and they could leave. Tony was groggy and grumpy, clearly not happy about being woken up.

He was quiet in the car for the most part as he sat slumped against Steve. The blonde held him close, being mindful of Tony’s casted arm. Tony whined when his arm was jostled every time they hit a bump in the road, tears stinging his eyes. He refused to let them fall.

Tony had begun dozing off on Steve’s shoulder by the time they reached Maria’s friend’s house.

Tony didn’t verbally respond to Steve, opting to stare at him with a pout on his grumpy face instead.

Steve sighed, feeling bad about having to rouse Tony from his nap. “I know you’re tired, doll, but I promise it’ll only be a few minutes. Mr. Fury will keep an eye on you until I get back.”

Tony let out a long, heavy sigh before lifting his head from Steve’s shoulder. Steve quickly dropped a kiss onto his cheek before getting out of the car and making his way to the front door.

Fury looked at how miserable Tony was and sighed. “I’m sorry you got hurt, kid.”

Tony took his eyes off of Steve to look at the teacher. “It’s not your fault.”

“You were under my supervision, you got hurt on my watch. I should have been paying closer attention.”

“You took me to do everything that I wanted to do. I got to have a fun and memorable Christmas because of you. Me falling wasn’t your fault,” Tony said tiredly, his voice rough from the lack of use all day.

“I could have–”

“If I’m not allowed to blame myself, then you can’t blame yourself either. You did everything right, it was just a shitty situation. But you handled it way better than Steve and I did.”

“I’m going to have to call Dr. Hawthorne about it, you know,” Fury said, dropping the previous topic.

Tony pouted. “Why?”

Fury raised an eyebrow. “Because he’ll see the cast on your arm and ask about it. I thought you were a genius, it’s not that hard to figure out.”

“These meds are making my brain feel like mush, so excuse me if I’m not exactly firing on all cylinders,” Tony said sarcastically, though his voice held no bite.

“We’ll get you to bed as soon as we get to the school so you can rest.”

Tony hummed before turning to look out the car window again. Maria and Steve were making their way to the car, Steve carrying Maria’s suitcase for her. He went to the trunk to put her suitcase with the rest of theirs before opening the passenger door for her.

Maria smiled at his gesture. “Such a gentleman, thank you.”

Once she was in the car, Steve closed the door and got into the back seat.

“Hey, Nick,” Maria smiled at the man. “You guys got here faster than I expected. It’s a good thing I packed last night after you called.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. We had a bit of an issue and had to come early,” Fury grimaced as he tilted his head toward the boys in the back seat.

Maria turned around to look at the boys and gasped when her eyes landed on Tony’s arm.

“Oh my goodness! What happened?”

“Skating accident,” Steve answered for Tony, who had his head resting on Steve’s shoulder and his eyes closed.

“Is it broken?” Maria asked, concern present in her voice.

“Yeah, broken wrist,” Fury said. “He’s on some pretty strong medication for the pain, so he’s a little out of it.”

“He can hear you,” Tony grumbled before scooting impossibly closer to Steve. Steve wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulder and rested his head on top of Tony’s.

Maria watched them closely, clearly noticing the change in their relationship. She shot a look at Fury, who mouthed a quick ‘later’ back. Maria nodded to him before turning her attention back to the boys.

“Did you at least have a good time before you fell?” She asked.

Steve nodded. “It was really fun.”

“We got you a penguin,” Tony mumbled, his voice muffled against Steve’s shoulder. “It’s in the trunk.”

Maria looked slightly alarmed. “What do you mean, sweetie? What penguin in the trunk?”

“He got you a figurine penguin and it’s in his suitcase,” Fury clarified.

“Guess those meds are hitting him harder than he thinks they are,” Maria said quietly, making sure Tony couldn’t hear her.

“He’s due for his next dose when we get back to the school,” Fury said before shifting the subject. “Is everyone’s seat belts buckled?” When everyone confirmed, Nick pulled out of the driveway.

The 10-minute ride back to campus was relatively quiet. Tony fell asleep as Steve and Fury asked Maria about her time at her friend’s house. They kept their voices down, mindful of Tony sleeping.

When they reached the campus, Fury and Maria unloaded their suitcases from the trunk while Steve woke Tony. He wasn’t happy to be woken up, but was relieved to see that they were finally back at the school. Steve helped him out of the car and into the infirmary, while Maria and Fury carried their bags inside. They had decided that it would be best to get Tony straight to bed to rest.

When they reached the boys’ room, Tony sat down on his bed and waited for Fury to get his meds out. Fury gave the pill to Tony and left the room, Maria trailing behind him. After swallowing the medicine, Tony laid down and let silent tears slide down his face. Steve sat down on the edge of the bed and whispered comforting words to him as he wiped away the tears. When Tony finally fell asleep, Steve stood and left the room quietly, going out into the hallway to find Fury and Maria.

“He’s asleep,” Steve said as he approached them.

Fury let out a breath. “That’s good. Tomorrow, we’ll have to try to get him on a better schedule with these meds.”

Steve nodded, worry still present on his face.

“He’ll be alright, honey,” Maria said, picking up on Steve’s unease. “He’s tough.”

Steve exhaled slowly, letting his shoulders slump. “I know, I just hate seeing him like this and not being able to do more to help.”

“Of course you hate it, you care about him,” Maria replied, gently rubbing Steve’s arm.

Steve nodded, his eyes suspiciously shining.

“How about we have a relaxing afternoon here?” Fury suggested, changing the subject when he realized Steve was getting upset. “We can set up a table right outside your door so we can keep an eye on Tony, and we can play that card game you like. How does that sound?”

“Oh! We have a few board games in the lounge,” Maria remembered. “How about I go grab them?”

Steve wasn’t stupid; he knew Fury and Maria were trying to keep his mind off of Tony. The adults knew that Steve would probably spend the whole afternoon reading a book at Tony’s bedside, so they wanted to give him something to do to keep him distracted. Steve wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he gave in.

“Sure, we can do that. I’ll go get my cards.”

The three of them spent the afternoon playing different card and board games in the hallway. They kept an ear on Tony, and Steve got up every half hour to check on him, but Tony remained asleep the entire time.

Eventually, Maria left to go start dinner. She told Fury to bring the boys to the dining hall in an hour to eat. Unfortunately, they would have to wake Tony up for dinner, which they knew he wouldn’t be too happy about.

Steve and Fury played one last round of cards before the teacher sent Steve to wake Tony. Steve quietly entered their room and walked over to Tony’s bed, sitting on the edge.

Tony, even in his sleep, still looked so tired. His eyebrows were pinched together and he seemed to have a frown on his face, both indicating that he must have still been in pain. There were large, dark circles under his eyes, a clear sign that he hadn’t had a good night’s rest in days. Steve felt horrible for having to wake him.

As predicted, Tony was not happy to be awake, and he still complained about not having much of an appetite. Fury and Steve slowly walked him over to the dining hall, where Maria gave him a small plate of lasagna. Tony surprised himself by eating half of the plate, and when he said he was finished, the adults and Steve were glad to see that he’d finally managed to eat something. They hoped it would give him a little bit of energy.

Later found the four of them sprawled out in the common room of the kitchen workers’ building. Steve and Tony were cuddled up on the smaller couch, Tony dozing off against Steve’s chest. Fury had claimed the armchair, and Maria was lounged out on the larger sofa. She made a pot of tea for everyone, so all of their mugs were on the coffee table.

They’d been watching the game show channel for a couple of hours before Fur remembered he had to call Dr. Hawthorne regarding Tony’s injury. He stood up and addressed Maria.

“I have to call Dr. Hawthorne. It shouldn’t take long, but could you–”

“Yes, I’ll watch the boys,” Maria finished for him. “Go make your call, we’ll be here.”

Fury nodded before leaving the room and heading down the hall to where he knew the house phone was. He called the dean and waited for him to answer. Nick would never admit it, but he was nervous to speak to him. After a few rings, the dean finally picked up.

“Hawthorne residence.”

“Dr. Hawthorne, it’s Nick Fury calling.”

“Ah, Mr. Fury, what can I do for you? How are the boys doing?” The dean asked.

“Actually, that’s why I called,” Nick replied, rubbing a hand across his face. “We had a slight mishap over here. I took care of everything, but I figured you should be aware.”

“Oh dear, tell me everything.”

“While we were walking to the dining hall, Mr. Stark slipped on a patch of ice and fell. I took him to the hospital and the doctor said he broke his wrist. He’s alright now, he’s asleep, but he’s got a cast on his arm and a prescription,” Fury explained, lying so that neither he nor the boys would get in trouble.

Dr. Hawthorne sighed through the phone. “Well, that’s not great. I’m glad you took care of it. I just hope his parents don’t sue the school. Howard Stark could bankrupt us and force us to close. Have you spoken to them yet?”

“I called them from the hospital,” Fury said, lying through his teeth. “They can’t come back from their trip any earlier, so they asked me to care for Tony. They assured me they won’t sue.”

“Thank goodness! If you’ve already spoken to them, I suppose there’s nothing else that can be done about it now. I’ll check in with you as soon as I get back on campus after the New Year. For now, just keep an eye on Tony. Thanks for handling it, Mr. Fury.”

“Of course. All part of the job. Have a good evening and we’ll see you in a few days,” Fury said before hanging up the phone.

Nick let out a breath that he didn’t even realize he’d been holding. He was relieved that the dean bought the story he’d made up. Hopefully, he never found out the truth about what happened, otherwise Nick knew he’d be in a boatload of trouble.

Fury headed back into the lounge and sat down. Maria, Steve, and Tony, who was now awake, looked at him.

“So, what’s the verdict? How’d the call go?” Maria asked.

“It went fine. But if anyone asks, Tony slipped on some ice while we were walking to breakfast, got it?”

Maria and Steve nodded.

“Mr. Fury, did you lie to the dean about how I broke my arm?” Tony asked, feeling the most awake he’d been in days.

“I also told him I called your parents to let them know about your arm.”

“You’re so much cooler than I thought you were. I thought you hated lying.”

“Stark, sometimes lying is necessary. Especially if the truth could cause you to lose your job.”

That seemed to sober Tony. “Mr. Fury, I’m really sorry I caused so much trouble.”

Fury held up a hand to stop Tony from speaking. “Kid, if you try to apologize one more time, I’m going to give you two weeks of detention when school is back in session.”

“I don’t want you to lose your job, though.”

“And I won’t, as long as you don’t tell anyone I took you skating. It’ll be fine, Stark. You worry about letting your arm heal, and I’ll take care of everything else,” Fury said before turning back to the television, which signaled that the conversation was over.

Tony leaned back against Steve, closing his eyes. He smiled when he felt Steve press a kiss into his hair.

“Everything will be okay,” The blonde whispered.

Two days later, it was New Year’s Eve.

Steve, Tony, Fury, and Maria all sat in the lounge watching the TV. Maria had been watching the coverage from Times Square when Fury and the boys arrived with a bottle of champagne. When Maria only pulled out two glasses, Tony protested, but Maria and Nick didn’t want to give them alcohol since the boys were only 16 years-old. Instead, Maria made them some hot chocolate and made sure to put some extra marshmallows into each of their mugs.

Steve and Tony sat curled up together on one of the couches, their now empty mugs left on the table. Tony was leaned up against Steve, his eyes barely opened. He’d taken his next dose of pain medication around nine, and now, 10 minutes before midnight, he could barely stay awake. Tony didn’t want to miss the New Year, but between the medication and the way Steve was combing his fingers through his hair, Tony was sure he’d be asleep in a few minutes.

Nick and Maria sat on the other couch sipping their champagne and talking quietly, mindful of Tony. Steve had been listening and occasionally joined the conversation, but his attention was mostly on Tony and making sure he was comfortable.

“Hey, it’s too bad we don’t have any noise-makers or something,” Tony said, exhaustion in his voice. “I’ve never had a quiet New Year’s before.”

“Well, we’ll just have to make the noise ourselves, then,” Steve said before dropping a kiss into Tony’s hair.

Nick let out a deep chuckle. “You think you’ll make it to midnight, kid? You were dozing off there for a minute, we thought you fell asleep on us.”

Tony didn’t verbally respond. Instead, he lifted his hand and gave Fury the finger.

“Ooo! You want a detention for that inappropriate gesture there, Stark?” Fury said, feigning offense.

“Oh, please. You won’t give me detention now. I’m your favorite student,” Tony replied, his half-opened eyes still glued to the TV.

“You are definitely not my favorite student.”

Tony hummed. “You’re right; it’s totally Steve. But you like me now, so you won’t give me detentions anymore.”

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see,” Fury said. When Tony turned to look at the teacher, he saw a smile on Fury’s face. Tony couldn’t help but smile back.

“Alright, boys, it’s almost time for the countdown. Everyone ready?” Maria asked.

When the countdown to 1971 began, they all watched with excitement.

“Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!”

The four of them stood up and cheered as Auld Lang Syne began to play on the TV. Steve and Tony shared a quick kiss as Nick and Maria hugged each other. Nick shook Steve and Tony’s hands, and Maria gave them both a hug.

The four of them celebrated the New Year together, excited to see what it would bring. But they were thankful to the old year for bringing them all together.

Ten days later, a knock on his office door startled Fury, forcing him to look up from his grading.

“Come in,” He called.

He was surprised to see the dean’s secretary step into the room.

“Mr. Fury, the dean needs to see you in his office. He says it’s urgent.”

“Oh,” Fury said, surprised. “Is everything alright?”

“I’m not sure. But Mr. Stark was also just summoned.”

Alarm bells rang throughout Fury’s head at that information. He quickly stood, put on his coat, and followed the secretary out of the room. They started their walk across the campus to the main building, where the dean’s office was located.

Fury had been sitting outside Dr. Hawthorne’s office for a few minutes when Steve arrived, looking frantic.

“Mr. Fury, what’s going on? Are you here to see the dean, too? What does he want from us?” He asked, panicked.

Fury stood up and walked over to Steve. He placed his hands on Steve’s shoulders and guided him to one of the chairs in the waiting area, gently pushing him into it before sitting next to him.

“I’m not sure what he wants, but I have a feeling it might be regarding Tony’s arm. All I do know is that Tony is in there right now,” He said, trying to calm his worried student down.

“They want to talk to me, too. I was already on my way down here because I overheard Clint Barton talking about how Tony got pulled out of last period. Miss Griffin ran into me on the way here saying the dean wanted to see me urgently,” Steve explained.

“Everything will be okay, try not to worry. Whatever’s going on, we’ll sort it out.”

Suddenly, the office door opened and Tony stepped out, looking miserable and scared. Dr. Hawthorne stepped out behind him, looking at Fury.

“Mr. Fury, I’ll be with you in a few minutes,” He said before going back into his office and closing the door behind him.

“My parents are here, they found out about my arm. Apparently, someone at the ice rink recognized me and must've been talking to the press to make a buck from the story. My parents found out and now they want to send me to some military academy,” Tony said frantically as he waved his good arm around.

“Your parents? I thought they were in Italy for the rest of the week,” Steve said.

“I thought so, too, but even all the way in Italy, they still found out and now they’re acting like they actually care about me and my safety. If they really cared about me, I would’ve been in Italy with them for the break, and I wouldn’t have broken my fucking arm.”

It was clear that Tony was starting to get slightly hysterical, so Steve stood up and pulled him into his arms. Tony slumped against him, all of his energy seeming to disappear. He looked exhausted.

“You’re not going to that academy, I won’t let you,” Steve said before pressing a kiss into Tony’s wild curls. He’d clearly been running a hand through his hair, something he did when he was stressed.

“What did you tell them?” Fury asked.

Tony turned his head to look at Fury without leaving the safety of Steve’s arms.

“They asked why we were at an ice rink three hours away and how exactly I got hurt. It wasn’t much else. I think they wanted to talk to you first since you were the adult in charge,” He said quietly. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Fury. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t suggested we—”

“Hey, no. None of this is your fault. You just wanted to have a memorable Christmas. Did you have a good time over the break?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Then that’s all that matters,” Fury said with finality, almost daring Tony to argue back.

Before anyone could respond, the office door opened, revealing the dean.

“We’re ready for you, Mr. Fury,” He said.

Fury nodded, standing up. As he passed the boys, he shot them a reassuring look.

Dr. Hawthorne led Fury inside and gestured to the couple sitting on the sofa.

“Mr. Fury, this is Howard and Maria Stark, Tony’s parents.”

Maria was well put together, dressed as if she were on her way to a public event. She looked like a kind woman, but her eyes seemed hollow. Her face was expressionless as she sat on the couch, unmoving except for the fingers on her left hand, which were combing through her long ponytail anxiously.

Now Fury could see where his habit of running his hands through his hair came from.

Howard sat next to her, straight as a rod, with an angry expression on his face. Fury wasn’t standing close to him, but he could tell that Howard smelled heavily of alcohol. What kind of parent shows up to their child’s school drunk?

What Fury noticed most of all was that it was clear neither of them wanted to be there.

“Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Stark,” Nick said politely, although knowing how they treated their son, he knew they didn’t deserve his kindness.

“We were made aware that you took Anthony off campus over the holiday,” Howard said, cutting right to the chase.

“I was just telling the Starks about the field trip you took to Bellville,” Dr. Hawthorne said. “The one you took for academic purposes.”

“That is correct,” Fury confirmed.

“If it was an academic trip, how do you explain this?” Howard asked, holding up a magazine.

On the front cover was a large photo of Tony on the ground at the ice rink when he had broken his arm. Whoever took the photo snapped it at the exact moment Tony opened his mouth to scream. Steve and Fury sat on either side of him looking panicked.

“My son’s photo is in all of the papers and magazines. Do you know how much of a problem this is causing? My company’s stocks are plummeting, which is causing our partners to want out of their contracts, and it’s smearing our reputation!” Howard said, irately. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Mr. Fury,” Maria said quietly. “Did Anthony trick you into taking him skating? Surely, he must have done something.”

Fury was astonished by what Maria had said. Did she really think so little of her son?

“He must have,” Howard agreed. “It’s just like him to act out like this when he’s mad at us. This is why we should’ve sent him to the military academy, to begin with instead of giving him another chance, Maria.”

Fury couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He understood why Tony hated his parents now. How could they accuse him of acting out to get revenge like that?

“And apparently, the Starks didn’t even know their son had left campus in the first place,” Dr. Hawthorne added. “Mr. Fury, I thought you had their permission to take Tony.”

Howard rolled his eyes. “I assume that was Anthony’s idea as well.”

“It was my idea,” Fury said without hesitation. “He didn’t lie to me or do anything on purpose, it was all me.”

“What?” Dr. Hawthorne asked.

“The boys were disappointed to be stuck here over the break, so I thought it would be nice to have some space from it. We went up to Bellville to see the ‘History of Christmas’ exhibit at the museum,” Fury lied easily. “We had some downtime, so I thought it would be fun to take them skating. Tony slipped and fell on the ice. Accidents happen. I took care of it.”

“Mr. Fury, you had no right to do that! We would have never allowed you to take Anthony off campus!” Howard said, raising his voice.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said I don’t give a shit,” Fury repeated slowly as if he was speaking to a child. “You left Tony here over the holiday so you could go to Italy, and you didn’t even tell him he wouldn’t be going with you until the night before. I’ve heard him talking about how excited he was to go to Italy for weeks, but you changed your mind and told him to stay here at the last minute. He was so miserable on Christmas, so I decided to take the boys out for some fun. All I wanted to do was put a smile on that boy’s face to replace the frown that you put there. Besides, I tried to call you seven times. You never answered.”

Howard looked absolutely pissed at Fury. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to my reputation? People are painting me as a bad parent because I wasn’t there. Now, I have to send Anthony to a military school because clearly, this one isn’t good enough. He’s caused more trouble than he’s worth!”

That was the final straw. Fury was done with Howard Stark.

“Maybe people are painting you as a bad parent because you are a bad parent! How dare you speak that way about your own son, as if he’s some sort of inconvenience. I just spent two weeks with him and I can see how much pain you’ve caused him. He’s kind when it matters and incredibly intelligent. That boy found a home and a family here, which he clearly needed since you aren’t his family. You should be nicer to your son, he’s the only one you’ve got.”

Fury saw something change in Maria’s face. It was almost as if she looked ashamed by his words.

Howard, on the other hand, looked beyond mad.

“Mr. and Mrs. Stark, I am so sorry,” Dr. Hawthorne apologized frantically. “Mr. Fury, you are way out of line.”

“Just one more thing,” Fury said. “It would be an incredible disservice to Tony if you pulled him out of this school. He’s doing well in his classes and he’s so smart. Sending him to a military academy wouldn’t challenge him at all. That boy has so much potential. Don’t waste it.”

Howard thought about it briefly, looking at his wife and Dr. Hawthorne.

“Alright, here’s the deal. My son will not remain at this school as long as Mr. Fury is here. It’s clear that he’s a bad influence, so if he’s here, Anthony is not.”

Outside the office, Steve and Tony sat in the waiting area together. Tony leaned against Steve’s side with his head resting on Steve’s shoulder. Steve held him close, running a hand through Tony’s hair to try and ease his anxiety.

The office door began to open suddenly, startling them.

“You did this to yourself, Fury,” They heard the dean say as he pulled the door the rest of the way open.

Fury stepped out silently, standing in front of his students.

“It was a car accident. That’s how I lost sight in my eye,” He said simply before leaving the room.

Steve and Tony looked at each other with uncertainty before the door opened again and the dean summoned Tony.

Fury had spent the rest of his morning packing all of his belongings into boxes. Dr. Hawthorne wanted him off campus by sunset, so he’d been moving quickly.

He jumped when he heard a knock at the door as he carefully placed his miniature penguin figurine into one of his bags.

“Come in, it’s unlocked,” He called.

The door opened, revealing Maria with a small box in her hands.

“You weren’t at lunch,” She said.

“Astute observation. I was busy,” Fury replied.

“Any idea where you’ll go?”

“I’m not sure, actually. I’m leaving my belongings with a friend and then I think I might do some traveling. Maybe I’ll finally visit all 50 states.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Maria said, holding out the box.

Nick accepted it, opening it up. He pulled out a small, leather bound photo album.

“So you can take photos in each state and hopefully show them to me if you ever care to visit.”

“Thank you, Maria,” He said, touched. “I’ll make great use of this. So, what about you?”

“What about me? I’ll still be here. I never got called to Hawthorne’s office because I didn’t go to Bellville. Besides, someone’s got to stay here to keep an eye on Stark and Rogers,” She responded.

Fury almost sighed in relief. “Please do, I’m worried about them.”

“They grew on you, didn’t they?” Maria teased, a smirk on her face.

“They sure did.”

Later, as Fury loaded the last box into the trunk of his car, he heard footsteps in the snow getting closer. He looked up to see Steve and Tony rushing toward him.

“You ought to be careful running in the snow, you could fall and break your arm.”

“Oh, haha,” Tony said sarcastically as they came to a stop in front of Fury.

“I’m keeping him safe, don’t worry,” Steve chuckled.

“You know,” Tony began. “I’m not sure what you said to the dean and my parents, but considering I didn’t get expelled and you got fired, I think I can make a guess.”

“All I did was tell them the truth,” Fury said nonchalantly before winking.

Before either of the boys could respond, they heard the bell tolling from somewhere on campus.

“I guess we should head to class,” Steve said glumly.

“We don’t have to,” Tony replied. “We could always head into town and get lunch. I’m thinking cheeseburgers.”

Fury let out a deep chuckle. “You really want to risk skipping class after just escaping expulsion? Nice try, Mr. Stark.”

“History won’t be the same without you, Mr. Fury,” Steve said sincerely.

“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “No other teacher is going to put up with me.”

“I’m sure they’ll warm up to you eventually,” Nick said.

“See, I told you we softened him, Steve!” Tony cheered.

Steve laughed. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

Fury looked at them for a brief moment.

“Look out for each other, will you?” He said. “And Tony, don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ve got this.”

Tony nodded, sending him a kind smile. “You, too.”

Steve stepped forward uncertainly, a hand held out in front of him. Fury shook it, smiling at his former student. They nodded to each other, not feeling the need to say anything else—they understood each other. They dropped their hands after a moment and Steve stepped back next to Tony.

Fury held out his hand for Tony, who stared at it as he chewed anxiously on his bottom lip. Then, in an unexpected move, Tony threw his arms around Fury, hugging him briefly. Fury didn’t even have time to process the moment because Tony quickly let go, stepping back and grabbing Steve’s hand.

“See you around,” He called from over his shoulder as he began to pull Steve back toward the campus.

“See you around,” Fury echoed as he watched them leave.

He continued to watch them walk up the sidewalk before shaking his head and turning back to his car. He closed the trunk and walked over to the driver’s side, climbing in.

He took one last look at the school, the place he used to call home, and began driving into the unknown.

When he glanced into his rearview mirror, he caught a glimpse of Steve and Tony kissing under the snow.

As long as they had each other, he knew they’d be okay.