"A system malfunction, you say." This question was extremely out of place, considering who was supposed to be questioning whom. As if that wasn't enough, a strange flame ignited in Rogers' eyes and Summers leaned back, as if in fear of this strange, completely controlled outburst.

"Yes. It seems that there was some kind of software failure because none of the cameras..."

"You're talking about the street cameras or the cameras in Mr. Stark's house? Because as far as I remember, on the evening of October thirty-first, both worked flawlessly."

Saying this, Rogers simply got up and headed for the exit. Summers picked himself up and ran after the other man, very concerned on the one hand and suspiciously calm on the other, given that the prime suspect had just unabashedly escaped. Moments later, the door to the room from which they were observing the interrogation opened with a bang and Rogers rushed inside. Somewhere along the way, he managed to throw on a black jacket.

A black jacket with the FBI logo.

"Lehnsherr, had someone hacked into the system?" he asked as if he was in complete control of the situation.

"There was no indication of this. My people have checked everything," replied the officer with a shark's grin, now by no means grinning. "I'll have them check it again."

"Thank you." The corners of Steve's lips twitched. They were definitely made for a very different purpose than the angry grimaces he was trying to force upon them. Or rather, it was the despicable situation that forced him to behave in such a way. Slowly, clearly stalling, he shifted his gaze to Tony and almost smiled again. "Mr. Stark, is there a possibility that someone has breached your security system?"

'Oh, yes. In fact, all you had to do was start banging on my door, and all security went to hell,' was trying to force itself through Tony's mouth. But he couldn't say it out loud. Not after witnessing Steve's embarrassment moments earlier caused by a conversation about sex. Which, by the way, was unbelievably adorable.

"No. I wouldn't allow for such a possibility, Mr. Rogers," he replied instead. However, he couldn't stop himself from admiring the view. Steve, in his white shirt and jacket, looked disturbingly fetching, and Tony never coped with overlooking such details.

"Why?" asked the agent, previously named Clint. With a smooth movement, he bounced off the wall, walked around Stark, and stood by Rogers, as if he felt obliged to protect him from Tony. "Do you have that much faith in the reliability of your product?"

"Stark Industries' security features are second to none. Do I really need to remind you that they are used by the White House, the Pentagon, the US military, not to mention the FBI?" - growled Rhodey, apparently taking the silly taunt as an open challenge.

"Colonel Rhodes, please excuse my colleague. If his presence gets on your nerves, I will be more than happy to show him the way out," saying this, Steve grabbed Clint's elbow and, without waiting for a response, opened the door before the confused agent.

Rhodey did not expect this turn of events. He looked pleadingly at Tony and Pepper, but Pepper was equally confused, and Tony was having too much fun with the free show. Clint himself was also at a loss for words, alternately mumbling "I was only joking" and "Come on, Steve, don't be like that," which by no means helped him.

"I'll take care of that," offered unexpectedly Agent Coulson. "I need to get some air anyway. Agent Barton, please, follow me."

And with that, he intercepted Clint and disappeared with him behind the door, which Steve closed, confusion painted on his face.

"I don't think he was—"

"Oh, yes, he was", cut him off Tasha, highly amused by all this.

"He can't hold that against me. I didn't break any rules."

"It has nothing to do with the rules and regulations. Phil just can't bear to see that his golden boy went astray."

Rogers' face could be described as a unique mixture of disgust, embarrassment, and deep sympathy. Combining this with the cool greeting Coulson gave Tony, it was easy to read the story behind the senior agent's behavior. Stark smiled under his breath. All in all, this was not the first time he had managed to snatch a coveted treat from someone else's plate.

"Since for now we're assuming that hacking is out of the question, what if someone just logged in?" suggested Lehnsherr.

"Only board members and the most trusted employees have such access," Pepper countered, clearly agitated by the very suggestion that any of her colleagues had committed such a betrayal.

"I'm sorry, Miss Potts, but we can't rule this out, at least not yet", sighed Steve.

"So the option that you were involved in the theft has already been crossed out?" sneered Tony, letting go of any forced politeness.

To his surprise, Steve blushed slightly and said:

"I didn't intend to imply that."

"Rogers, don't be ridiculous, everyone knows that you're no burglar!" called out some agent.

"Yes, but the real burglar has no idea that you know about it."

Steve's smile blossomed in proportion to the growing horror of everyone in the room. Even Tony couldn't quite believe it. Rogers was evidently suggesting that they should not clear him of suspicion. True, it made sense. If they substituted information to the media that the main theft suspect had already been caught, the real thief could become careless. One minor mistake would be enough, and they'll have him in their grasp.

What kept everyone from putting the plan into action was Rogers' unblemished reputation. It was as if the mere suggestion that he might have been involved in something illegal was the worst possible crime. This also explained, in a way, why some were so outraged by the idea that Rogers might have slept with a random guy. Well, it outraged some, while others were clearly amused. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Tasha smiling superiorly as if she had access to some forbidden knowledge and simply understood more than anyone else.

"Rogers, it's not like we're going to put you in any kind of prison," objected Lenhsherr with a concern that Tony never suspected him of. The guy looked as if bullying the weak made him happy, but apparently, there were exceptions to the rule and Steve was one of them for some reason. "That would be too dangerous."

Stark cursed. Lenhsherr was right. Prison is no place for an FBI agent. Even if Rogers was highly trained and could handle most situations, he shouldn't have to do that. Tony was already about to endorse Lehnsherr, the only thing holding him back was the fear that his affection for Rogers might become overly apparent. Fortunately, Pepper came to his aid.

"Maybe there is no need to arrest anyone right now," she began slowly, and the gazes of everyone in the room focused on her. "Even if I can't accept the thought of that, the probability that someone from Stark Industries is involved in the theft is far too high to completely ignore it. But if we were to follow this lead, there would be no need to give anything to the public or to put on a show for the media. All we need to do is prepare some convincing lie for the board, right?"

"Pepper, your willingness to lie to the board on the one hand fills me with pride, but on the other hand seriously worries me," Stark laughed.

"Unfortunately, these are precisely the skills that being your assistant requires."

"Are you insulting me?"

"I wouldn't dare, Mr. Stark."

"Excellent. In that case, let me leave it to you to come up with tall tales for the board," Tony announced and clapped his hands, thus giving orders even those he didn't employ. "I, meanwhile, will continue to despair over my despairing huntress."

"Cogniet?" slipped out of Rogers' mouth. He furrowed his incorrigibly perfect eyebrows, then looked at Tony with an almost apologetic smile. "Do you mean the painting—"

"What time it is?" Tony hastily cut him off. "Unfortunately, it seems I should be working and not talking about art with FBI agents. Pep, later you'll tell me what you've agreed. Hey, Rhodey, do you want to drive me home?"

Fortunately, Rhodey understood perfectly that his friend needed to evacuate. They left, no longer listening to the discussion that unfolded behind their backs. The last thing Tony noticed was that the conversation was dominated by two female voices: one belonged to Pepper, the other one to Tasha. He preferred not to even think what the two ladies would be capable of if for some reason they came to work together ever again.