Stark looked up from the Iron Man helmet he had been tinkering with as Steve Rogers stepped into the lab, dressed in civilian clothes, with a duffel bag hanging from one shoulder, a rather notable shield-shaped bump pressing at the side of it. Bruce barely glanced up from the microscope he'd been peering into.
"Going somewhere, Cap?"
"You could say that, yeah." Rogers said awkwardly, adjusting the strap to the duffel bag "I just wanted to thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Stark. But I've been doing a lot of thinking over this past week, and... I don't think I'm ready to carry the shield again, atleast not yet. I need some time to adjust, and I don't think I can do that in New York. So, I'm going to hit the road for a while."
That caught Bruce's attention as well, as he looked up from the blood sample he had been studying with a start. Stark gaped in surprise for a few moments, the screwdriver in his hand forgotten. "I... well, I'm sorry to hear that, Cap. Or... no, I guess it'd just be Rogers now, huh?"
Rogers smiled "Just call me Steve, Mr. Stark. Or Cap, if you prefer it."
"Yeah, I think I'll just stick with Cap, it fits you. So, what brought this on? I mean, why now?"
Rogers shrugged, running a hand through his hair "Well, you might have noticed I haven't been adapting to things very well, so yesterday, Johan was nice enough to take me out to a Mets game, and afterwards we talked for a while, and, well... he just said some things I think I needed to hear."
Stark rolled his eyes, exhaling deeply "Sunshine, of course, that guy has the subtility of a brick to the face! Now he's gotten Captain America to run away from home! That's it, I'm going to start charging him rent for this!"
"Tony..." Bruce said admonishingly "You know as well as I do that this isn't Steve's home, not really. If he needs to go off on his own for a while to figure himself out, I think that's a great idea. Even if you did want him to join the Avengers."
"I got that impression, yes." Steve said with a smile "I don't know when, or even if I'll be back, but as for The Avengers, call me tenatively interested for now."
"Alright, I'll be sure not to rent out your room in that case" Stark said as he offered his hand "It's been a great honor meeting you, Steve Rogers. I hope you find what you're looking for out there."
Steve shook the offered hand "Same to you, Mr. Stark. And you, Bruce. I'll make sure to write!" He gave them a final nod, hoisting the bag back over his shoulder, before he turned and walked out of the lab, leaving Stark and Bruce alone once again.
Stark sighed. "Well, you know what they say about best laid plans and all that. I guess I should still be happy Cap is going out to find himself or whatever, but it would have been great for him to be part of the team. Friggin Sunshine, always trying to make people feel better..."
Bruce just smiled and turned back towards his microscope, before stopping himself "Hey, where IS Johan, anyway? I haven't seen him since yesterday."
"Oh, who knows with him, it's not like he has a job, god knows what he does all day..."
....
Forest Hills, Queens, New York, October 14th 1963
Okay, so these cop cars outside Midtown High seems like a bad sign all around.
I'd decided to spend the day further making myself familiar with New York, and not spend all my time jumping around on rooftops in Manhattan. I figured it might be time to actually check out the other stomping grounds of New York's heroes, and since I don't remember if Daredevil is even active yet, I decided to head over to Queens to see if I could catch Spiderman in action. Despite the enroaching October chill, my powers let me move around in my usual t-shirt and vest outfit, but just to switch it up a bit, I switched out the usual unicolor shirts I've been wearing with a rainbow-patterned t-shirt I found being sold by a street vendor. Rainbows don't have the symbolism they do in my own time yet, I don't think they do anyway, but I think it really works with my flag mask.
It wasn't until I'd spent almost an hour randomly speeding around Forest Hills that I remembered that it's 11 AM on a Monday, and Peter Parker is probably in school like a good boy. Thankfully, I do remember the name of his school from the comics; Midtown High. Finding the school wasn't difficult, it turned out to be a, impressive, early 20th century style school building in a lush area of the Hills, the problem started when I landed on a rooftop across the street, and quickly noticed a few things out of place.
1. The campus was virtually empty.
2. There was a group of nervous looking passersby gathering on the sidewalk.
3. The afforementioned cop cars.
My first thought was "school shooting in progress", but while that DID happen back in the 60's, it wasn't the near bi-monthly disaster it had become in my own time. Didn't make it impossible of course, I do remember Spiderman even dealing with one once, even if that was in a modern comic, but considering the world I'm currently in, there's a far more obvious answer - supervillain attack.
And I happen to remember one very notable attack taking place at Peter Parkers school in 1963.
Sandman.
The police officers gathered by the cars nearly jump out of their skin as I materialize right next to them, one of them pulling his gun from it's holster.
"FUCKING CHRIST!!"
Okay, so startling a bunch of cops who are already jumpy over a supervillain holding a school hostage was probably not my best idea. "Hello officers. Hope I'm not intruding, but this seemed like something you might need help with."
The cop with the gun isn't pacified in the least "Put your hands up, freak!"
"Uh, no? I mean, you can shoot me if you want, but it'll just go right through."
The officer behind me gives me a second look "Hey, you're that beatnik from The Avengers, aren't ya?" There's a murmur from the crowd behind us as the civilians begin to recognize me as well, and I notice more than a few disgusted expressions. Apparently my media appearances haven't endeared me much to some people. Not that I was expecting them to.
"That'd be me, officer. Just call me Mr. Sunshine!"
"The hell do you want, ya beat? We got an emergency here, we don't need any peaceniks mucking it up!" The officer with the gun reluctantly lowers the weapon, looking like he just ate a lemon. "We got another freak in the school, holding the kids hostage, this ain't some boogeyman from outer space like you masked weirdos usually fight!"
Okay, hurtful "So, I'm guessing since you refer to this guy as a freak, he also has superpowers, yes? Well good news, cause that's pretty much my job to deal with things like this! No need to risk lives."
A third officer steps up, pushing past the one with the gun "Oh no, this is our job, we don't need any capes to do it for us, and we DEFINETLY don't need some America-hating creep like you getting in our way. Get the hell out of here, unless you want to join the perp in a jail cell!"
I sigh "Officers, this was a courtesy talk, nothing more. Stopping this guy is more important than your egos, so if you'll excuse me-" Before they can react, I transform back into light and dart through the glass doors, leaving the police offers yelling after me.
"HEY! Damnit, get back he-"
.....
The school hallways are quiet and empty, illuminated by the midday sun streaming in through the windows. A few of the lockers lining the walls still hang open, books and papers laying abandoned on the floor, like everyone had to leave in a hurry. Which I'm guessing is exactly what happened. I peer in through the glass windows on the classroom doors, but as far as I can tell, there's no one out here. I'm guessing the students and faculty is either being held by Sandman, or they've managed to hole up somewhere else in the school. Question is, where do I start? I do remember the original comic, but it was pretty vague about the actual layout of the building, and even if my speed makes searching the whole thing trivial, I'd rather not-
There's a sudden crash, and a pair of double doors at the end of the hall flies open as a blonde teenage boy wearing a lettermans jersey smashes through them, sliding across the floor and barely keeps himself from hitting the wall. Following him through the door is what I can only describe as a moving avalanche with a human torso on top, the huge mass flowing across the floor in an almost hypnotic way, before quickly reshaping itself into a humanoid figure wearing brown jeans and a green shirt with black stripes, revealing a man with a brutish face and a buzzcut.
"Alright punk, I've had it with your damn mouth!" Flint Marko says, towering over the teenager on the floor. "I was going to let all you brats go once I got the cops off my back, but you really got me pissed off now!"
The boy coughs, trying to return to his feet before Marko slams him back down by turning one of his arms into a mass of sand. "AGH!! You wouldn't be such a big man if Spiderman was here, creep! He'd really show you what for!"
Ugh, and that'd be Flash Thompson. Fine, guess I'll have to save him too. If anything, it'll give Peter a bit more time to change into his costume.
I clear my throat, drawing the attention of both of them "Hi, sorry, Spiderman is a bit delayed, I'm sure he'll come along eventually, but in the meantime, maybe I can help? Name's Mr. Sunshine, maybe you've heard of me? Now, Mr Marko, we can't have you interrupt these kids study time, education is important. So how about you pick on someone your own size?"758