Author's notes due to iron man's model prime armor, his appearance could be the reader's choice,(including the mark 1) including his other modes (hulkbuster, stealth, space, radiation, arctic, underwater, electric, subterranean, samurai, kid-sized, etc.) including Captain America's as well.

A hundred miles away from beach city, Maryland, at new york city at the top of a building to nearly rival the empire state building landmark called stark tower, had the CEO of stark industries, tony stark himself, standing atop the mile-high balcony overlooking the scenery down below. He was deep in thought about how beautiful the sky looked during the day. He enjoyed being iron man, but even he needs rest every once in a while, but then, a computer-like voice broke tony out of his thoughts.

"Sir, pardon me for interrupting," chimed J.A.R.V.I.S, "but we have something in the mail."

"We got mail?" asked Tony, turning around from the balcony, "is it digital?"

"no sir, a mailman is waiting for you downstairs with a letter for you," explained Jarvis

"Tell him I'll be right down immediately," said Tony, walking towards the elevator

"very good, sir," said Jarvis as the elevator rolled downwards to the bottom level of the tower

once tony had arrived at the main office, he greeted the mailman with the letter in his hand

"excuse me, sir! are you tony stark?" asked the mailman who had been waiting

"that would be me," answered Tony.

"This letter is for you, sir," said the mailman, handing tony the letter

"thank you," said Tony, waving bye the mail as he entered a private room and opened the letter

Dear Tony Stark

Me and my dad have heard so much about your bodyguard, iron man, including captain America. We would like to meet you and see if your bodyguard could join the crystal gems. They are protectors of the earth like iron man Captain America are. Could we come over and talk to you in person about it?

--Sincerely Steven Universe and Greg

"it seems this steven universe and his father seem to be big fans of you, sir," said Jarvis

"It sure sounds like it, Jarvis," said Tony, "and these crystal gems seem interesting. We might as well grant their wish"

"shall I inform the post office of your arrival, sir?" said Jarvis, anticipating tony's plan

"Please do, Jarvis," said Tony, "and have my armor ready as well to give them a warm welcome."

"yes, sir," said Jarvis, "and what of captain rogers?"

"please get him on the line too when I get back," said tony

"will do, sir," said Jarvis as tony left the room and went back to the post office to write a letter of his own

later, at beach city, steven was at the crystal temple with garnet, in his bedroom, waiting for the other crystal gems to come back,

"is something wrong, steven?" asked garnet

"oh, garnet!" said steven, snapping out of his thoughts "it's just, i hope he gets the message i really wanna meet iron man and ask him to join us..."

"well, something tells me you won't have long to wait," smiled garnet, adjusting her visor having looked into her future vision

just when steven was about to ask why he heard a knock on the door, the young boy went down the stairs and opened the door to find Jamie once again, holding a letter in his hand

"Hi, Jamie! what are you doing here!?" asked steven

"hi steven!" said Jamie, excited, holding the letter in his hands and handing it to steven "you are NOT going to believe this."

"let me see!" cried steven as he took the letter and opened it.

Dear Steven Universe

I've read your letter, and my curiosity is aroused. I would like for you and your father to come to stark tower in new york city. Here is the address

Times Square Manhattan

I'll also talk to iron man about meeting you and Greg. I want to learn more about the crystal gems you talk about. I'll be waiting.

--Sincerely Tony Stark

"oh my gosh! oh my gosh!!" cheered steven, already exploding with joy and stars in his eyes. "I've gotta tell dad!!"

"have fun, steven," smiled garnet as she watched steven leave the house entirely at top speed.

"dad! dad!!" called steven as he rushed to his dad's personal carwash.

"whoa, slow down, hot rod" said Greg as he was finishing washing his van "what's going on?"

"dad! dad! we got a message!!" said steven, showing Greg the letter

"let's see what we got," said Greg, looking over the letter, and he too was amazed "steven, this is tony stark's personal address!!"

"yeah! and he says we can meet iron man in new york!" said steven

"you know what this means, scthu-ball?" asked Greg

"ROAD TRIP!" cheered Greg and steven.

And so for the rest of the day, steven and Greg were gearing up for the trip to new york. Steven had told Connie about his upcoming trip to new york earlier, and he and Greg were going to be away from beach city for a few days. Now, steven and Greg were all set to leave in the van, but not before calling the crystal gems over before they go.

"Steven, where are you and Greg going?" asked pearl.

"oh, we're going to new york to meet iron man!" cheered steven

"new york!?" said amethyst "heck yeah!"

"yeah! we're going to meet iron man!" said steven

"Steven, I don't think you will actually meet him," said pearl

"but pearl!" said Steven, "I'd really like to."

"steven, i-" said pearl, but before she could finish, garnet placed a hand on her shoulder.

"pearl, let him go," said garnet firmly yet softly

"oh, alright..." sighed pearl, "but please come back safely!"

"don't worry, it will just be for a few days!" said steven

"bring back some souvenirs while you're gone, ste-man!" cheered amethyst.

"we will, amethyst! Take care of beach city, by the way!"

"we will, steven," smiled garnet "take care of yourselves."

"thank you, garnet!" cheered steven.

"alright, the van's ready to go!" said Greg, coming out from the van "let's hit the road sthu-ball!"

"I'm coming, dad!" said steven, entering the van with his father "see you guys!!"

"bye, steven!!" waved pearl alongside her fellow crystal gems.

Greg started up the van and was soon enough off to new york with steven to meet tony stark, hoping to get help from his bodyguard, iron man.

For the next few days, Greg and steven had been driving outside of beach city to reach new york manhattan. Having typed in the address into the GPS, They had to stop one day at a hotel outside of beach city. Steven and his father had shared a conversation about stark industries and the advanced technology developed there, and how they once developed weapons, but one day, tony stark shut it all down, eventually the next day, they were back on the road again to new york they were just entering the city itself.

"wow!!" said steven with stars in his eyes as he saw the tall buildings "new york city!!"

"yep, the city that never sleeps," said Greg. "I could go on about reasons why though..."

"well, I'm so excited to be here!!" cheered steven "we get to meet tony stark himself!"

"I'm just as excited as you are stchu-ball!!" chuckled Greg as he focused on the road,

soon enough, they had arrived at stark tower. There was a bustling crowd, but the front entrance surprisingly was open, and not many people were over there. Greg eventually found a place to park his van, and then he and his son exited the vehicle,

"well, here we are, son," said Greg stepping off the van, "stark tower."

"wow...it's so tall!!" awed steven as he looked at how tall, stark tower is

"and it's packed!" said Greg, "but hey! the front entrance doesn't seem as lively as I thought it would be!"

"well, that means we get to go in sooner! right?" asked steven

"you bet stchu ball!" said Greg "let's go!"

"I'm coming!" said steven, following Greg to the front entrance to stark tower

in his personal office, tony was thinking about the mysterious crystal gems and how to let his good friend steve rogers meet steven and Greg

"Sir," chimed Jarvis, "our guests have arrived."

"then let's not keep them waiting," smirked tony as he went to meet steven and Greg in the meeting room.

"oh my gosh! tony stark!!" gasped steven as he saw the CEO himself walk into the room

"Hi everyone, and welcome to stark tower!" waved tony.

"whoa...the tony stark himself!" awed Greg. "I must be dreaming..."

"I don't think you are my friend," said Tony as he sat down in front of steven and Greg "it's always nice to have visitors here at stark tower."

"we're happy to be here, Mr stark," said steven

"that's great to hear," said Tony "tell me, can I have your names please?"

"I'm steven! steven universe" introduced steven, "and this is my dad!"

"Mr. Greg universe, at your service," chuckled Greg

"wait, Mr universe?" asked Tony, having felt like he heard that name before

"wait, you heard of me?" asked Greg

"I sometimes listen to your music, man!" said Tony. "I believe I heard...what was its name again?"

"I believe it's called space train to the cosmos by Mr universe, sir," chimed Jarvis, making himself known to his creator's guests

"whoa! did the room just talk!?" gasped steven, looking around for the sound of the voice

"that would be J.A.R.V.I.S actually," chuckled tony.

"Indeed, sir, a pleasure to meet you, Mr and Mr universe," answered Jarvis.

"Nice to meet you too, Jarvis!" waved steven, amazed that he was talking to a highly advanced AI

"whoa, is he like an AI or something?" asked Greg

"one of the most sophisticated AI fluxnets ever conceived, Mr universe," answered Jarvis.

"wow..." awed steven, "your technology is awesome, Mr stark!"

"thank you, steven," said Tony "now then, what did you want to talk to me in person about?"

"oh! I actually wanted to ask you if your bodyguard iron man could help out with something at beach city," explained steven, "something that would be benefiting for earth's safety."

"something that would benefit earth's safety? how?" asked Tony, raising an eyebrow "is there any trouble going on over there?"

"yeah, there are these gem monsters over at beach city attacking people and a lot of other stuff going on over there," said Steven, explaining the current situation at beach city

"are these gems hostile?' asked tony "these monsters sound like they could cause a lot of trouble."

"not all of them," said Steven, "my friends, the crystal gems are not hostile, though. They go out on missions to take care of them."

"so, where does iron man come in?" asked Tony.

"I honestly think iron man could be a big help in their missions for these gem monsters, known as the corrupted gems." said steven (even including the evil forces of the diamonds!)

"corrupted?" said Tony "wait, are you a gem as well?"

"I'm half of one actually," said Steven, lifting up his shirt to reveal his pink gem on his belly, "but I'm still human in the end."

"a hybrid?" asked Tony, getting a good look at steven's gem. Jarvis secretly tuned security footage to zoom in on steven's gem and get a picture for later analysis.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," said Steven. "I mean, I have powers from my gem half."

"really?' said tony "what kind of powers?"

"I have healing spit," said Steven as he spat his healing spit on his hand "when I spit, I think it can heal sickness, injuries, maybe just anything really."

"does it really work?" asked Tony.

"here, let me show you. Can I see your arm?" asked steven, tony complied by raising his arm,

"as they say in new york, lay it on me, man!" said Tony. Steven then put his healing spit on tony's arm, miraculously healed any of his injuries and sicknesses he might have had during the last few days fighting as iron man "wow! I feel like a new man!"

"wow, steven, that healing spit seemed to have really helped out!" said Greg

"thank you, dad!" smiled steven

"now that was interesting!" said Tony "what else can you do?"

"I can also summon something like this," said Steven, summoning his pink circular shield on his arm

"nice shield!" said Tony as he looked at steven's shield and had his thoughts reminds me of a good friend of mine.

"you look it?" said steven "it almost looks like captain america's"

"did you say, Captain America?" asked tony

"Yeah, why do you ask?" asked steven

"he and iron man are good friends, actually," said Tony "they would often visit stark industries when I'm working."

"I've heard about him a lot on the news," said Steven "do you think dad and I will get to meet him?"

"I think he can make it," said a voice coming from a corner in the room, and then his body revealed itself to be the red, white, and blue figure of Captain America himself.

"hi, cap!" said tony

"Hello, Mr stark!" waved steve rogers "now, who do we have here?"

"oh my gosh!" awed steven, his father sharing his surprise, "Captain America!! I've heard so much about you!!"

"Why thank you," said Captain America, "but you can call me steve rogers if you like,"

"if you'd like to be called that, steve," said Steven, and then turned to tony, "how did you manage to get him here?"

"while you were coming over after I sent that message to you, I've made a few arrangements," said Tony. "I'm glad they paid off too!"

"thank you, Mr. Stark," nodded Captain America, "so you're steven universe?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" asked steven

"I've been listening in on the conversation as a matter of fact," said Steve "sorry if I was eavesdropping."

"it's alright," said Greg. "I just can't believe I'm seeing him, captain America, the war hero of world war II."

"it's a pleasure to meet you too, Mr universe," smiled steve rogers "nice shield, by the way!"

"thank you!" said steven. "I can throw it too like yours!"

"It seems we're like kindred spirits, huh?" said Captain America, showcasing his own shield to steven "by the way, is there really trouble at beach city?"

"yeah! and we would really appreciate it if you and iron man could help with the crystal gems back home!" said steven "speaking of which, where is iron man, Mr stark?"

Tony and steve then looked at each other and nodded. Steven really aroused their curiosity about the situation at beach city. It was time to reveal their secrets as tony stark stood up from his chair.

"The truth is," said Tony as he pressed a button on his bracelet, and his armor materialized around him as steven and Greg watched in awe, "I am iron man."

"wow!" gasped steven "you and iron man, both the same!"

"We sure are," said iron man, "and now you share our secret, that tony stark and iron man are the same"

"I still think you're awesome!" awed steven "both of you."

"whoa...that armor's amazing!" said Greg as he stood up from his chair "wait, nobody's listening in, are they?"

"do not worry, Mr universe," chimed Jarvis, "security cameras are already cut off and are being edited as if nothing happened."

"whew, close one." sighed Greg in relief

"Sure is," said iron man "thanks again, Jarvis."

"anytime, sir," said Jarvis.

"so tony, would you and captain America like to join the crystal gems?" said steven "i-it's okay if you guys don't want to, I'll understand"

Iron man and Captain America looked at each other in thought. Steven seemed to honest with himself and demonstrated his abilities, and if what he's saying is true about the crystal gems and their troubles with the corrupted gems, this could be more than meets the eye.

"steven," said iron man, bending down to knee level to meet his eyes, placing a metal hand on his shoulder. "we'd like to join, but if you don't mind, could we come back with you to beach city?"

"s-sure!" said steven "does this mean we're working together?"

"certainly," said Captain America.

"and if you don't mind," said iron man, "could you also provide some of your healing spit for us to keep whenever we need healing?"

"Why sure!" said steven. "I'm more than happy to help!"

"thank you," smiled iron man underneath the helmet "now then, shall we get going?"

"of course!" said steven "let's go meet the crystal gems!"

"you got it!" said iron man "hold down the fort, Jarvis!"

"very good, sir," said Jarvis, as everyone exited the room, Jarvis filling in for tony's management, saying he'll be out for a while

After gathering everything, steven and Greg were on their way back to beach city with their two honored guests. After a few days of driving back, they all made it back to beach city. Greg packed his van right in front of the crystal temple, iron man and captain America rode in the back of the van.

"Okay, guys, we're here!" said steven "let me go in first. I'll let the others know I'm here."

"thank you, steven," said steve rogers, "we'll be here."

"Thanks, cap!" said Steven as he exited the van and ran towards the temple

"your son's such a bundle of joy, isn't he?" chuckled iron man, already enjoying steven's enthusiasm

"he sure is," chuckled Greg

A little while later, steven came back with pearl, garnet, and amethyst. Iron man looked out from the van's front window to see them and listened in on their conversation.

"guys! guys!!" said steven "dad, and I brought back iron man and Captain America, and they're considering joining us!!"

"whoa, really!?" said amethyst "they're here!?"

"yeah! and they'll want to help us!!" said steven

"but steven! we were so worried about you!" said pearl "where have you even been?"

"oh! we were at new york," said Steven, "getting iron man and captain America's help!"

"but steven, I told you before, iron man and Captain America are not real." said pearl

Iron man then turned to look at Steve rogers and nodded to each other. Suddenly, iron man cloaked himself turning himself completely invisible, and silently exited the van through the back door without Greg noticing. His attention was focused on his son.

"but they are real pearl!!" said steven

"for the last time, they're not-" retorted pearl before she felt a metal finger tap her shoulder, making her eyes go wide as she then turned around to see iron man himself, uncloaked and the bright sun reflecting off of his armor "oh my stars!!"

"whoa...." awed amethyst looking at iron man and then chuckled to herself that iron man snuck up on pearl.

"who said I wasn't real?" said iron man, tony smirking underneath the faceplate

"w-we-well...you're not!" stuttered pearl in surprise "you're not supposed to be real!!"

"well, I am real," chuckled iron man, amethyst sharing his amusement

"yep, he's iron man!" cheered steven "he's here to help us!"

"I sure am," said iron man "are you guys the crystal gems?"

"yes, we are," replied garnet calmly "is there anything you would like to know?"

"yeah, about gems in general and about these monsters your little buddy steven has been telling us about." said iron man

"oh yeah, they're called corrupted gems!" said amethyst "they're these monsters we fight every day!"

"monsters, huh?" said iron man "wait a second, are these corrupted gems like you guys?"

"they used to be like us, actually!" said amethyst "crazy, right?"

"What happened to them?" asked iron man.

"it's a really long story," said garnet

"well, we've got all day to hear it," said iron man, "but in the meantime, let's start with introductions."

"sure!" said steven "this is amethyst!"

"yo," waved amethyst, "I can shapeshift and use my whip."

"your whip?" asked iron man.

"yeah! We can summon our weapons from our gems! watch!" said amethyst as she reached into her gem and pulled out her whip

"nice whip!" said iron man, "but wait, can you really shapeshift?"

"sure!" said amethyst as her gem and her whole body began to glow with power as she shapeshifted to look like iron man, only colored purple.

"whoa, you look just like me!" said iron man

"I know, right?" said amethyst, reverting back into her original form. "I've been practicing, you know."

"well, it's really paid off," said iron man

"I'm pearl," she said, pulling out her spear from her gem on her forehead. "I have a spear, and I'm quite a dancer."

"that's a nice skill to have," said iron man

"I'm called garnet," she said. "I can summon my gauntlets. I can even foresee the future with my future vision."

"wait, see the future?" said iron man in surprise "can you really do that?"

"only multiple possibilities of the future," said garnet

"interesting," said iron man "nice visor, by the way!"

"thank you," said garnet, adjusting her visor

"oh! we also have another guest, right?"

"you bet," said iron man turning to the van behind him, "hey cap! come on out!!"

the back of the universe van opened, and Captain America himself stepped out with his helmet off, showing his blond hair, and walked towards the crystal gems

"Steve?" muttered pearl in disbelief, amethyst's mouth was wide open, and garnet remained calm, having foreseen this in her future vision prior.

"pearl?" said steve but then wrapped the crystal gems in a hug around him as they rushed to him.

"wait a second," said iron man, turning to look at steven "they know each other?"

"yeah, garnet told me a whole story about meeting cap in the past during world war II," said steven

"wow..." awed iron man as he focused his attention on the heartwarming scene in front of him.

"I can't believe it!" sobbed pearl "it's really you!!"

"We thought you were dead!!" sobbed amethyst wrapping her arms around steve rogers

"I thought I was too, amethyst," said Steve "it turns out I was frozen in the arctic."

"frozen?" said pearl "but, how were you still alive?"

"it turns out that I was frozen but remained alive and trapped for decades until five years ago," said Steve. "I've been fighting the good fight since."

"wow...frozen for that long?" said amethyst "well, in any case, we're so glad your still alive and kicking!"

"it's great to see you guys too!" said Steve, "by the way, how have things been since then? still fighting those corrupted gems?"

"yes, and there's still much work to be done," said garnet

"I understand," said Steve as the others then break their embrace, and then cap notices someone missing "also, where's rose?"

the crystal gems immediately frowned, including steven

"Guys, what's wrong?" asked steve

"rose is..." sniffed pearl "rose is gone..."

"gone?" asked steve rogers "what happened?"

"mom and dad...well, they had me," said Steven, "and she gave up her physical form to have me."

"rose got married?" asked steve rogers

"Yeah, I have my mom's gem, but I'm still human-like my dad..." said steven. "I just wish I knew my mom..."

iron man looked at steven with sorrowful eyes as he bent down and wrapped an arm around steven, who looked at him as iron man's helmet retracted, revealing tony's face with emotion in his eyes

"I never got to say goodbye to my father either..." said tony softy before hugging steven fully.

captain America meanwhile, walked towards steven and bent down as well and looked at Greg before turning to steven

"we're sorry for your loss..." said Steve as he joined in on the hug, steven returning the hug

The crystal gems looked down on the ground, including Greg. Pearl had noticed iron man's true face as tony stark but decided not to point it out yet, allowing steven, tony, and cap a moment of silence.

a few minutes later, after they mourned the loss of rose quartz, steven's mother, the crystal gems explained the rest of the situation of the corrupted gems to captain America and iron man

"so these corrupted gems are like monsters you fought before cap?" asked tony

"yep," said Captain America, "I still remember fighting a few of them too."

"Yeah, you should've seen him!" said amethyst "he was a one-man army!"

"yeah, cap is known for being like that," chuckled tony "he's one of the best people I know."

"by the way, I meant to ask," said Pearl, "who are you underneath that armor, iron man?"

"I'm tony stark, CEO of stark industries," said Tony "a pleasure to meet you."

"a pleasure to meet you too, tony," said pearl. "did you create that armor?"

"I sure did," said Tony "well, I didn't really start out like this, though"

"Really?" asked steven "how did it start out?"

"well, it turned out I was able to build this armor in a cave." said tony stark, "with a box of scraps."

"whoa! hold on!" gasped Greg "only a box of scraps, that's awesome!"

"thank you, Greg," said Tony, as he held out a hand, which showed a hologram of his first iron man suit ever (reader's choice on what It looks like) "but to be fair, I had to go through trial and error to get the suit where it is now."

"that's awesome!" said steven "that suit's amazing!"

"thank you, steven," smiled Tony, "maybe I'll even give you and your father a tour of stark industries some time."

"we'd like that!" said steven "oh! can we invite Connie?"

"who?" asked tony

"oh! she's a friend of mine, Connie Marheswaran." said steven "can she come?"

"I think she would have to let her mother know," said Tony, "but I'm sure we can arrange something."

"thank you, Mr stark!" said steven "by the way, now that you know everything, does this mean you're joining the crystal gems?"

"yep, my curiosity is aroused," smiled tony "we'll be there!"

"that's great!" cheered steven

"I'm joining in too!" said captain America "it's been ages since I fought alongside you guys!"

"that'll be great!" said Greg

"thank you guys!" said steven "but does this mean you're heading back to new york?"

"yeah," said Tony, "we have our own problems at home as well, but rest assured, if you ever need us, we'll be there."

"the same goes for me," said Steve, "but remember, son, we have our homes to protect as well, but we'll come whenever you need us."

"thank you, cap!" said steven "but wait, how will we contact you?"

"you can use this to contact us," said Tony, bending down to hand steven a stark communications device the looked like an i-pod/radio device, "call us anytime you need us, steven. Also, press the middle button. There's more."

'okay," said Steven as he pressed the middle button

"greetings, Mr and Mr universe," chimed Jarvis.

"oh! hi Jarvis!" said steven

"whoa! that thing talks?" asked amethyst.

"yep," said Tony, "crystal gems, meet Jarvis."

"a pleasure to meet you ms amethyst, ms pearl, and ms garnet," said Jarvis

"Nice to meet you too, Jarvis," said pearl

"so we can talk to Jarvis too on this?" asked steven

"of course, Mr universe." said Jarvis "if you wish to speak with me, just press the button."

"thank you, Jarvis!" said steven

"of course, sir," chimed Jarvis.

"well, cap and I better get going," said iron man, his helmet extending, covering tony's face, and he walked towards Captain America.

"see you soon, guys!" waved Captain America as iron man held on to him.

"bye, captain America! Bye, iron man!!" waved steven.

"bye!!" said iron man as he flew off into the skies with captain America as his passenger and flew back home to new york,

"We got iron man and captain America on our team now! I can't believe it!" cheered steven. "I'm so excited!"

"congratulations, steven," smiled garnet, "we've reunited with an old friend and have gained a new one."

"will they come back garnet?" asked steven

"they will, someday," smiled garnet as she adjusted her visor "for now, let us rest and celebrate."

"you got it, garnet!" said steven. "Connie's not gonna believe this!"

"well, let's head back inside and talk more about this sthcu-ball," said Greg

"Okay, dad!" said steven "let's go!"

Steven and the crystal gems then went back inside the crystal temple to rest for the rest of the day. Steven was already feeling excited about what will happen when he meets his two heroes again