alexs_storybook (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alexs_storybook) wrote2018-07-24 09:02 pm
alexs_storybook) wrote2018-07-24 09:02 pm
FIC: The Things We never Knew (Avengers)
Title: The Things We Never Knew
Author: alexcat
Fandom: Avengers (MCU)
Type: FPS
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I profit from the use of these characters.
Warnings: Spoilers for Infinity War
Character(s): Tony/Steve, Natasha, Shuri, Bruce Banner, Thor, Rhodey, Okoye
Archive: Ao3, OEAM, Alex's Story Book
Summary: Tony returns injured and Steve finds out things about himself he never knew.
~~
*
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored, and sorrows end.
Sonnet 30 – William Shakespeare
*
“It’s an alien craft, but Mr. Stark is aboard.” A young communications tech handed the headset to Rhodes.
“This is Tony Stark on the alien ship. We are friendly. I repeat, we are friendly. Do not shoot us. We are friendly.”
Rhodes contacted Shuri on his wrist communicator. “Stark is coming in from space. Can you send an escort to show them the way in?”
She nodded to him and said. “Two ships will escort them in. Tell Stark not to shoot my ships.”
“Will do and thank you,” Rhodes told her. “I’m going to tell Captain Rogers and get to the landing pad.”
*
Steve Rogers was in his quarters. He had gotten out of the shower and was putting an ointment on his burns. He was still sore as hell all over and so damned tired. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and saw a weary face staring back at him.
Someone tapped on his door. “It’s me, Rhodes.”
“Come in.” He hoped no one wanted his company for anything. He simply wanted to be alone.
The door opened and Rhodey stuck his head in. “Steve, we got a ship coming in from space and Stark is on it.”
If he’d been holding anything, he’d have dropped it. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I heard him. Told them an escort was coming to bring them in.”
“I need to be there. I – damn, is he all right?” His mind was racing too fast for him to keep up. Was he hurt? Would Stark speak to him?
“I don’t know anything yet. Come with me.” They hurried out to the landing pad.
*
The ship came in. The Wakandan security force were all watching and ready when the doors opened and a blue woman emerged. She carried Tony Stark in her arms.
Steve’s knees almost buckled when he saw Stark. Tony was in his battered Iron Man suit without a helmet. Steve hesitated only a second then rushed forward to take Tony from the woman. Stark was injured but how badly, he couldn’t tell.
“She’s with me,” Tony said weakly. “Hi, Cap. Fancy meeting you here.” With that effort, he passed out.
Okoye spoke. “Follow me. Summon the queen to meet us at the hospital,” she said over her shoulder as she and Steve headed for the hospital with their burden.
*
Rhodey and Natasha greeted the alien woman. Rocket the Raccoon stepped up and told them who she was. “She’s Quill’s girlfriend’s sister, daughter of Thanos, but I don’t think she loves her daddy much.”
Natasha was relieved. She didn’t think any of them would have been able to subdue this one anyway, from the looks of her.
“I am Nebula. I brought your Iron Man home. I come to kill Thanos. I can see from the destruction that he has done his work and gone. I see Quill’s companion is here.” She nodded at Rocket. “I will not harm you, for now.”
The group escorted Nebula back to the compound.
“She’s trouble,” Rocket told Thor as they walked behind the rest.
*
Tony was going in and out of consciousness on the way to hospital. Steve refused to relinquish him to a gurney.
“Peter, no!” Tony sobbed as they got to the doors and were met by medical personnel.
“Just lead the way,” Steve told them. “I’ll carry him.”
No one wanted to argue with him. He was Captain America, after all and many of them met him on his visits to Wakanda to see Bucky while he lived among them. They respected him and many liked him.
When they reached the trauma room, Steve finally put Tony on the table. Shuri came rushing in, dressed in scrubs.
“Now go away, Captain. I will let you know when he is out of surgery. We have to do some tests first.” She touched Steve’s arm. “I will take good care of him. I promise.”
*
Steve waited.
He thought about how they parted.
Tony was his friend but he couldn’t allow Bucky to be harmed for something he really wasn’t responsible for, even though Bucky was more than ready to take that responsibility for killing the Starks and for all the other things the Winter Soldier had done over the years.
He’d sent Tony the phone because he knew, if needed, he would always be there for Tony. He would always do what was right.
He thought back to the last time they had seen each other. He didn’t even try to stop the tears from falling. There was no one there to see him. Since the battle with Thanos, he had not been exactly sociable. He’d mostly brooded. He felt like he’d let them all down, that he had failed a world that counted on him.
He couldn’t let Tony down, too.
After several hours, Shuri came out to talk to him. “He was injured badly but he somehow stopped the bleeding himself. I was able to repair the damage. He needs rest. We are moving him to a place where he can be monitored and can rest. You can stay with him, if you like.”
Steve followed the gurney transporting Stark to the little room filled with monitors and machines. Someone brought him a chair and he pulled it up beside the bed. After they got all the machinery hooked up and Stark settled in, they left Steve sitting beside the bed.
Steve took the hand that lay nearest him, squeezing it gently.
“I’m so sorry, Tony. I’m sorry for everything.” He put his head down on the bed and fell asleep. Shuri came in a while later to check on the patient and she smiled at the sight of Steve asleep by the bed and left him undisturbed.
Steve woke sometime later. Tony was looking at him.
“Hello, sunshine. Did I live or is this heaven?” Tony asked in a raspy whisper.
“You’re alive. But I might kill you for getting yourself stranded wherever you were!”
“I was on Titan. Did it happen here? Did -”
“Yes, it did but you don’t need to think of that now. Please rest. Shuri glued you back together and I don’t want to lose you, too.”
“Too? Who?”
“It can wait.”
“No, it can’t. Tell me.”
“He killed Vision and hundreds of warriors. Then the others -”
“Turned to dust,” Tony finished for him. “Peter Parker, the Spiderman kid, did that in my arms.”
“Wanda, Sam, T’challa, Bucky…”
“Oh god,” Tony squeezed the hand that still held his. “I’m so sorry.”
“Half the universe just went poof, Stark.”
“How are you, Cap?”
“I’m all right.”
“Have you looked in the mirror, Steve? You look like hell.”
“Just tired.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Feels like it is. Thor and I, neither of us could kill the bastard. We tried.”
Shuri came in, looking more like the teenager she was than like the queen she was. “So how’s Mr. Stark?”
“I’m feeling much better. What did you do to me?”
“I fixed you. You were pretty broken and had a big hole in you. When you’ve had a little rest, I’ll show you some of our tech. I think it’ll knock your socks off!” She grinned wickedly.
“And you, Steve Rogers, you look worse than he does. Maybe we need to get you a bed in here, too.”
“I’m all right, your majesty.”
“I am Shuri to you. I am not your queen and I’m young enough to be a daughter to both of you.”
“Don’t remind me. I feel all of my age today,” Tony said.
“That pain should lessen a lot in the next few hours and then you can get up and around.”
She turned to Steve. “Take your shirt off. I can tell you’re wounded and I can put something on it that will heal it in a few hours rather than days or weeks.”
Steve reluctantly lifted his shirt and she saw the burns and bruises on his side. She made a sound and called for something on her wrist device. A moment later an attendant brought her a jar with some sort of goop in it. She wet a washcloth and washed the side very gently, then spread some of the goop on it. Steve sighed.
“Foolish man. You didn’t have to hurt all these days. It should heal quickly now. If you behave.”
“Thank you, Shuri.” She patted him on the shoulder and left them.
“She’s the new queen? What is she, sixteen?”
“Maybe. Not sure how old she is and yes, she’s T’Challa’s sister. Bruce says she makes you and him look dumb.”
“I’ll look forward to getting to know her then.” He closed his eyes and Steve sat back in his chair to rest a bit.
*
It was several hours later when Tony woke. Steve’s head was on his bed again and Steve held his hand. Oddly enough, he didn’t mind.
“Hey, Rogers, wake up.”
Steve opened his eyes and looked at Tony. “You look a lot better.”
“Yes, he does and it’s time he got out of the bed and walked around,” Shuri said as she walked into the room. “Are you staying here tonight, Capt. Rogers? If so, I can have a comfortable recliner brought in. Or a bed, if you like.”
“Yes, I’m staying.”
“Let’s walk then, Mr. Stark.”
She helped Tony get up and Steve took him for a short walk. He was still attached to some IVs and such so they dragged those along, too. Medicine was ultramodern in Wakanda, but sometimes a patient needed some of the old fashioned things, too.
Tony was tired, but feeling much better after walking for a bit. Shuri had some food sent to them. It was some kind of roasted game and a salad of fresh veggies. Both men ate like they were starving.
Later, it occurred to Steve that he was acting a little like Tony’s relative or spouse. He wondered at his own reasons and really wasn’t sure. There was something about him that needed Tony Stark right now. That was all he was sure about.
Natasha, Rhodey and Bruce came by after dinner. They brought him some clothes and some treats. Natasha kissed his cheek.
“I ain’t kissing you!” Rhodey laughed. “No matter how far away you’ve been.”
Tony laughed. “Not kissing you back!”
Tony walked with Natasha. While they were gone, Bruce asked Steve, “Is he all right? What happened?”
“He’s going to be fine, but we haven’t talked yet.”
“Are you all right?” Bruce asked him.
Steve shook his head. “Not sure I ever will be again.”
Bruce had no words of comfort. He awkwardly squeezed Steve’s shoulder and Steve nodded on acknowledgement.
When the visitors left, a young man brought a recliner in for Steve, complete with a pillow and blanket. Steve thanked him.
“You don’t have to stay. I’m fine.”
“I’d rather be here with you than anywhere else right now.”
Tony nodded. Before bed, a nurse came in and removed all the IVs. Tony was happy for that; it made moving around much simpler. He settled in for the night and Steve did as well. In no time, both men were asleep. Shuri came by to check on them and saw they were both sleeping peacefully. She smiled to herself and left them alone.
Sometime in the night, Steve felt someone’s weight on the recliner. He opened his eyes and saw Tony climb into the big chair beside him. Steve scooted over to give him more room and put an arm around him to make them fit better.
“Just don’t want to be alone,” Tony said and was asleep in seconds.
*
Steve woke with Tony in his arms, still asleep. It had been nice to have a warm body close during the night. He didn’t move, just held the man who’d been one of his best friends and then his enemy. He closed his eyes and rested until Tony woke.
Shuri let Tony move out of the hospital that afternoon and told him it might be a good idea not to be alone for a few days.
“You can bunk with me. We can have another bed moved in,” Steve told him.
“You got a sofa?”
Steve nodded. “Yep.”
“Good deal. I’ll take that.”
Tony was very quiet for Tony. Steve knew it, but still didn’t want to push. He didn’t want anyone pushing him either and so far, no one had. He made up the sofa with some blankets and a pillow.
“You take the bed, Stark. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“Nope. It’s comfortable and I insist.”
“Bossy bastard.” Steve laughed but left him to it.
They went to bed early, both exhausted from the day and their injuries.
Steve woke to Tony sobbing and screaming, “Peter, no!” over and over again. He went to Stark.
“Wake up,” he told him, and not wanting to reinjure him, shook him gently. “You’re having a nightmare.’
Tony opened his eyes and sat up. “I was dreaming about Parker again.” He winced, whether from pain or from the memory of Parker’s loss, Steve couldn’t tell.
“What happened?”
Tony closed his eyes. “He begged me not to let him go. I held him as he turned to dust. His being there was my fucking fault, Cap! He wanted to be a neighborhood hero! What have I done?” He opened his eyes and looked at Steve. “What have I done?”
“Bucky called my name and I knew something was wrong and when I looked, he turned to dust just like Parker did. After all we did, we failed.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. Right now, you have to heal.”
“Do we have data? Numbers of the - gone?”
“Bruce and Shuri are working on that. They are working on other things too, but you’d have to talk to them about it. I’m just the muscle.”
“Rogers, you’ve never been just the muscle.”
Steve shrugged.
*
Bruce sought out Natasha in her quarters.
She let him in and hugged him. Though they weren’t a couple any longer, they remained friends. He had still talked little about his absence and what had transpired. She knew that he was somewhere with Thor part of that time and that he’d been the Other Guy for the whole time, but that was it. She was sure that he’d share with her when he could. Like her, Bruce kept things to himself a lot.
“I don’t know who is in worse shape: Tony or Steve. They are both-”
“Broken,” Natasha finished for him when he searched for the right word.
“Yes, broken works. We need them. Whether we like it or not, Stark and Rogers are our leaders. Stark is the brains and Steve is the heart.”
“And the brain is distracted and the heart is broken?” Natasha asked.
“Exactly. Is there anything we can do for them?”
“I think they have to work it out. Perhaps they need one another, to fix their own broken friendship. I don’t think we can do anything, Bruce.”
*
“You need the rest, Tony. Get in my bed and maybe you’ll sleep without nightmares. I’ll take the sofa.”
Tony nodded, too tired to argue. Steve lay on the sofa but sleep was elusive. He was conflicted about Tony, wanting to smack the crap out of him for forcing both him and Bucky into exile and feeling sympathy for the boy who’d lost his parents so tragically only to find they were murdered.
And there was more, something he had pushed to the back of his mind so many times that it seemed more like a dirty secret than anything else, a secret he was trying to keep from himself.
Steve had known that he was attracted to Tony since they met before the Chitauri attack on New York. The sparks that flew when they met had excited the hell out of Steve. He hadn’t acted on them because there seemed to be no reason to do so.
But seeing that broken, damaged Tony being carried out of the alien ship had done something to him, had made him feel an urgency that he didn’t quite understand. Why now? He hadn’t let his mind wander too far in that direction though his body had already responded to Tony’s closeness a few times.
Like now. He could smell Tony on the blankets and the pillow, and the scent made him want.
He wanted – sex? He wasn’t sure it was just that. He did, despite the fact he’d never been with another man, never considered it before. He wanted to make the world better for Tony or with Tony. He wasn’t even sure which, just that right now, Tony Stark seemed to be important to his own existence.
He closed his eyes and finally dozed for a few hours.
*
Tony woke and felt surprisingly good. His wound didn’t hurt and he was starving. He looked around Steve’s bedroom and smiled at the photo of Peggy Carter on the small desk. He got up and headed to the bathroom. Then out of the bedroom to see Steve sitting on the sofa in the dark.
“You all right, Rogers?”
“Yeah. Didn’t want to bother your rest.”
“I’m not some cripple, you know. I’m okay, I think. Shuri fixed me right up.”
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“If your face is any indication, so have you.” Tony sat beside Steve on the sofa.
“I feel like I died out there. I feel hollow, used up.”
“Let’s go find some food and some caffeine. Maybe that’ll help some.”
“Can’t hurt.”
They opted to go out into the city to find something to eat. It was nearer to noon than they’d realized. The streets were busy and people were friendly, despite recent tragic events. They found a place with bowls of lamb stew so tender and tasty that they forgot their troubles for a few minutes to enjoy all the wonderful spices and flavors.
It reminded Steve of the meal they all ate at the little shawarma place after the battle of New York. The food had been good and plentiful and had restored their exhausted bodies and minds just a little.
After they ate, they walked, speaking to this vendor and that, stopping to chat with people who recognized them and some who didn’t. The people were kind and friendly, making them both feel humbled and ashamed that they’d brought such a horrific war here. Like Shuri herself, the Wakandans seemed to take things in their stride. Life went on. They made the best of it.
They didn’t talk much to one another until they were back in Steve’s quarters.
“These people are amazing,” Tony said. “I understand you spent some time here with Barnes.”
“I came here to visit him a few times. T’Challa welcomed me as a friend.”
“Can we be friends? Can we call a truce?” Tony asked him.
“I think we already have.”
“You seem to have something on your mind still.”
“I don’t. I think since Thanos’ attack, our differences are a moot point.” Steve didn’t want to talk about Bucky. Nor did he want to pick at his feelings about Tony right now.
Tony, on the other hand, picked up that something else was going on with Steve. “Tell me what else is bothering you. Is it something I’ve said or done?”
Steve looked at Tony hard for a moment and stood. “I’m going for a run.”
*
Tony sat there after he’d left. What the hell? He hadn’t said anything to piss Cap off. Hell, Cap had taken care of him like he would have Barnes since he got back. Tony had to admit he’d actually enjoyed being as close to Steve as they’d been the last day or two. Good or bad, Rogers was a link to his father and, well, there was more to it than that, but he wasn’t ready to think about that quite yet.
He went in search of Bruce.
*
Steve ran from Tony, yet Tony was all he thought about as he ran. It was like Stark had invaded his brain. Worse, Stark was beginning to move in below his waist as well. It was like his emptiness was being filled with neediness, a neediness he didn’t want.
He ran until fatigue sent him to the shower. He was hoping his quarters would be empty and they were. He stripped his sweaty clothes off and jumped in the shower, just standing under the spray long after he was clean.
He never heard the door open, nor Tony come in until a hand touched his back. Before thinking at all, he had Tony by the throat as he turned around.
“Whoa, Cap! Don’t kill me!”
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
“Chitauri tech just popped up again in Afghanistan. Bruce and Natasha sent me to find you. Wheels up in 30.”
“You’re not going.” Steve turned the water off and grabbed a towel, but not before Tony looked him over.
“Like hell! I have more suits. I just need to tell FRIDAY to send one here.”
“Are you fucking crazy? Banner can’t turn into the Hulk and you were badly injured. Natasha and I can go with Thor.”
“You expect me, Bruce and Rhodey to sit on our hands?”
“This time, yes.”
“Well, fuck you, Cap!” Tony was angry. He turned away and Steve grabbed him. Tony turned back ready to punch the much bigger man. He didn’t. He dropped his fist, turned, and left the steamy bathroom.
*
The second Quinjet left right after the first one. Tony, Rhodey and Bruce were onboard as well as General Okoye. They were flying in stealth mode, but Tony was pretty damn sure that Steve and Natasha knew they were on their tail.
Tony actually had a suit designed by Shuri, a modified version of her brother’s Black Panther suit. Bruce had the big suit he’d worn in Wakanda available if he needed it. Rhodey had his own suit that enabled him to walk and fight. Okoye had her armor.
“Do you know how pissed Rogers is going to be?” Bruce asked him.
“I don’t give a shit. My money has always paid for all this shit, I am going to have some say so, too.”
Okoye watched and smiled to herself. She had seen the look on Captain Roger’s face when he took Tony Stark from the alien woman. She knew there was much more to all this than either man was ready to see.
*
The Afghans who had the tech were dug into a system of caves than ran back into solid rock. There were few ways in and few ways out and that made it dangerous for both sides. The tech they had was smaller Chitauri stuff, some hand weapons mostly, but the things made a mighty mess if they hit you.
Steve was more worried about normal explosives and guns than the Chitauri stuff as they studied the mouth of the cave.
“If we go in directly, they’re going to blast the hell out of us,” he told his crew: Natasha, Thor and several Dora Milaje warriors who came with them.
“What if we make a new opening?” One of the Wakandans asked. Her staff would cut rock and well as shoot high techs bolts of energy. It had a vibranium rod and Shuri had given it several purposes as a weapon. It shot, shocked, burned and cut.
“Go for it,” Steve told her.
She did and made short work of it. They were in and out in moments, with prisoners and tech. They were making their way back to the Quinjet when a second group of Afghans attacked. These men were more heavily armed than the ones in the cave had been, with more Chitauri and conventional weaponry.
They didn’t see the second group until their own unseen help came to their rescue. When the first shot grazed Natasha, who was in the rear, Tony and Rhodey closed in on the Afghans and took them down, but not before Steve had taken a harder hit than Natasha had. He went down and came back up, not able to walk but still fighting where he stood, and then from where he’d finally fallen until Tony and Okoye took out the last of the opposition.
“Can you move, Captain Rogers?” Okoye asked him as she helped him up.
“I -” and he lost consciousness. Thor and Bruce helped her catch him.
Tony rushed to his side. “Get him back to Wakanda – Fast!!!”
Natasha, Bruce and Okoye took Steve and the other wounded back to Wakanda while Tony, Thor and the rest cleaned up the mess and deposited the prisoners and the tech to a ship awaiting them in the Arabian Sea.
Quinjets move very fast and by the end of the day, all were back in Wakanda.
Tony was frantic as he disembarked from the plane and ran to the hospital. He was filthy and limping from a small injury he’d sustained.
Shuri met him as he entered the ER.
“The Captain is all right. I cleaned him up and repaired his wounds but his serum had already done most of it. Let me look at you.”
“I gotta see him. I’m going to kill him.”
He went around her and saw Steve in a small glass enclosed room. He burst in as a technician was putting a bandage on a wound on Steve’s leg.
Steve jumped out of the bed, despite the Wakandan trying to stop him.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” he spat at Tony.
“We saved your ass, Cap. That ambush might have taken you all out.”
“You could have been hurt again, you idiot! I can’t -” he stopped.
“Can’t what? Thank me enough?” Tony was standing almost against him, looking up into his face.
“Lose you. I can’t lose you,” Steve hissed in an angry whisper.
Tony abruptly closed his mouth, whatever he’d started to say forgotten. “What?” he finally managed.
“Later. I’ll talk to you later, when they’ve finished patching us up,” Steve finally said.
They nurse shooed him back to the bed so he could finish the bandage. Shuri came for Tony and attended his wounds herself.
“You are all foolish,” she admonished him.
“You’re a teenager. What do you know?”
“More than you or Captain Rogers do.” She said no more other than to tell him to go back to Steve’s and get cleaned up. “You smell!”
*
Several hours and a couple of showers and a meal later, they all met in one of the common rooms in the building that housed them.
Natasha was already waiting with Thor when the rest of them came in. Her wound had been not much more than a scratch.
“Ah, our heroes,” she greeted them. “The men with a death wish!”
They talked about the mission, Steve deliberately not gigging Stark and his crew. After all, they’d done what he would have in their place. He was still angry at Stark though, angrier than he’d ever been and would talk to him later.
“We need a fighting force bigger than we have,” Steve said.
“We need to get in touch with some of our old SHIELD agents. They’re still out there,” Rhodey said. “Tony has suits for those who want to train to use them, don’t you?”
Tony nodded. “You were too small a force to go on your own,” he spoke to Natasha, Thor and Steve but they all knew it was Cap he was talking to.
“We were and we got careless,” Steve agreed, as much as it pained him to admit it.
“The question is, are we going to hide here in Wakanda or go back home?” Steve said.
“You’re still a fugitive outside this country, and so am I,” Natasha reminded him.
“Okay, but maybe you guys need to go home,” Steve said to the rest of them.
Instead of arguing about it now, they agreed to talk some more later, tomorrow maybe. Everyone was tired.
*
“I’m not going back to the US,” Tony told Steve.
“Why the hell not?”
“Whatever this thing is, it’s time we talked about it?” Tony said, almost daring Steve to argue.
“What thing?”
“You tell me. I don’t know exactly.”
“What do you want me to tell you? That you are an asshole and to go to New York?” Steve was angry and maybe a little scared.
“Tell me why you’re so moody and why you’re so angry, other than the obvious reasons.”
“Aren’t they enough?” Damn him!
“No. Your friend killed my parents, and you knew it. You didn’t tell me. Those are the old things. What else is there? Only you know.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say to you, Tony!”
Tony knew! Suddenly it was clear. He’d felt the same but had been putting the feelings, the want and need aside because it was inconvenient. That explained Steve’s care after Tony came back, his anger at Tony endangering himself. It explained his own feelings of safety here in this room with Steve!
“I want you to tell me if you want me as much as I want you.” Tony said it in a quiet voice, a voice quite unlike him.
“You – what?” Steve stared at him as if he’d lost his faculties. “Have I said anything that would be make you think that?”
“No, but it’s true, isn’t it, Cap?”
Steve put his face in his hands and said nothing. He finally lowered his hands and looked at Tony. “Yes. God help me, but yes, it’s true. What the hell can we do about it?”
Tony was warming up to the idea. “Well, you can kiss me and if that goes well, sometime in the next hour, we can take off our clothes and find out just exactly what the fuss is about. If that goes well, we do it more often. And we hang out together sometimes, you know, eat dinner, go to the movies.”
“Is that how you got Pepper to be your girl?” Steve couldn’t help himself. He was smiling at Tony’s silly proposal.
“Not quite. If you kiss me, I’m pretty sure that I can convince you to try the rest eventually. I’m a good kisser.”
Steve was still smiling when he pulled Tony into his arms and kissed him.
After the kiss went on for several seconds, Tony pulled away. “Not bad.” Steve kissed him again.
*
Several hours later, they lay naked in Steve’s bed, blankets tangled around limbs and pillows and clothes in the floor.
“This doesn’t make everything happily ever after,” Steve said. “There are still monsters out there to kill and people to save.”
“Hush and show me your battle scars. They turn me on.”
Steve showed him each and every one. And Tony wasn’t lying. They did turn him on.
Author: alexcat
Fandom: Avengers (MCU)
Type: FPS
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I profit from the use of these characters.
Warnings: Spoilers for Infinity War
Character(s): Tony/Steve, Natasha, Shuri, Bruce Banner, Thor, Rhodey, Okoye
Archive: Ao3, OEAM, Alex's Story Book
Summary: Tony returns injured and Steve finds out things about himself he never knew.
~~
*
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored, and sorrows end.
Sonnet 30 – William Shakespeare
*
“It’s an alien craft, but Mr. Stark is aboard.” A young communications tech handed the headset to Rhodes.
“This is Tony Stark on the alien ship. We are friendly. I repeat, we are friendly. Do not shoot us. We are friendly.”
Rhodes contacted Shuri on his wrist communicator. “Stark is coming in from space. Can you send an escort to show them the way in?”
She nodded to him and said. “Two ships will escort them in. Tell Stark not to shoot my ships.”
“Will do and thank you,” Rhodes told her. “I’m going to tell Captain Rogers and get to the landing pad.”
*
Steve Rogers was in his quarters. He had gotten out of the shower and was putting an ointment on his burns. He was still sore as hell all over and so damned tired. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and saw a weary face staring back at him.
Someone tapped on his door. “It’s me, Rhodes.”
“Come in.” He hoped no one wanted his company for anything. He simply wanted to be alone.
The door opened and Rhodey stuck his head in. “Steve, we got a ship coming in from space and Stark is on it.”
If he’d been holding anything, he’d have dropped it. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I heard him. Told them an escort was coming to bring them in.”
“I need to be there. I – damn, is he all right?” His mind was racing too fast for him to keep up. Was he hurt? Would Stark speak to him?
“I don’t know anything yet. Come with me.” They hurried out to the landing pad.
*
The ship came in. The Wakandan security force were all watching and ready when the doors opened and a blue woman emerged. She carried Tony Stark in her arms.
Steve’s knees almost buckled when he saw Stark. Tony was in his battered Iron Man suit without a helmet. Steve hesitated only a second then rushed forward to take Tony from the woman. Stark was injured but how badly, he couldn’t tell.
“She’s with me,” Tony said weakly. “Hi, Cap. Fancy meeting you here.” With that effort, he passed out.
Okoye spoke. “Follow me. Summon the queen to meet us at the hospital,” she said over her shoulder as she and Steve headed for the hospital with their burden.
*
Rhodey and Natasha greeted the alien woman. Rocket the Raccoon stepped up and told them who she was. “She’s Quill’s girlfriend’s sister, daughter of Thanos, but I don’t think she loves her daddy much.”
Natasha was relieved. She didn’t think any of them would have been able to subdue this one anyway, from the looks of her.
“I am Nebula. I brought your Iron Man home. I come to kill Thanos. I can see from the destruction that he has done his work and gone. I see Quill’s companion is here.” She nodded at Rocket. “I will not harm you, for now.”
The group escorted Nebula back to the compound.
“She’s trouble,” Rocket told Thor as they walked behind the rest.
*
Tony was going in and out of consciousness on the way to hospital. Steve refused to relinquish him to a gurney.
“Peter, no!” Tony sobbed as they got to the doors and were met by medical personnel.
“Just lead the way,” Steve told them. “I’ll carry him.”
No one wanted to argue with him. He was Captain America, after all and many of them met him on his visits to Wakanda to see Bucky while he lived among them. They respected him and many liked him.
When they reached the trauma room, Steve finally put Tony on the table. Shuri came rushing in, dressed in scrubs.
“Now go away, Captain. I will let you know when he is out of surgery. We have to do some tests first.” She touched Steve’s arm. “I will take good care of him. I promise.”
*
Steve waited.
He thought about how they parted.
Tony was his friend but he couldn’t allow Bucky to be harmed for something he really wasn’t responsible for, even though Bucky was more than ready to take that responsibility for killing the Starks and for all the other things the Winter Soldier had done over the years.
He’d sent Tony the phone because he knew, if needed, he would always be there for Tony. He would always do what was right.
He thought back to the last time they had seen each other. He didn’t even try to stop the tears from falling. There was no one there to see him. Since the battle with Thanos, he had not been exactly sociable. He’d mostly brooded. He felt like he’d let them all down, that he had failed a world that counted on him.
He couldn’t let Tony down, too.
After several hours, Shuri came out to talk to him. “He was injured badly but he somehow stopped the bleeding himself. I was able to repair the damage. He needs rest. We are moving him to a place where he can be monitored and can rest. You can stay with him, if you like.”
Steve followed the gurney transporting Stark to the little room filled with monitors and machines. Someone brought him a chair and he pulled it up beside the bed. After they got all the machinery hooked up and Stark settled in, they left Steve sitting beside the bed.
Steve took the hand that lay nearest him, squeezing it gently.
“I’m so sorry, Tony. I’m sorry for everything.” He put his head down on the bed and fell asleep. Shuri came in a while later to check on the patient and she smiled at the sight of Steve asleep by the bed and left him undisturbed.
Steve woke sometime later. Tony was looking at him.
“Hello, sunshine. Did I live or is this heaven?” Tony asked in a raspy whisper.
“You’re alive. But I might kill you for getting yourself stranded wherever you were!”
“I was on Titan. Did it happen here? Did -”
“Yes, it did but you don’t need to think of that now. Please rest. Shuri glued you back together and I don’t want to lose you, too.”
“Too? Who?”
“It can wait.”
“No, it can’t. Tell me.”
“He killed Vision and hundreds of warriors. Then the others -”
“Turned to dust,” Tony finished for him. “Peter Parker, the Spiderman kid, did that in my arms.”
“Wanda, Sam, T’challa, Bucky…”
“Oh god,” Tony squeezed the hand that still held his. “I’m so sorry.”
“Half the universe just went poof, Stark.”
“How are you, Cap?”
“I’m all right.”
“Have you looked in the mirror, Steve? You look like hell.”
“Just tired.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Feels like it is. Thor and I, neither of us could kill the bastard. We tried.”
Shuri came in, looking more like the teenager she was than like the queen she was. “So how’s Mr. Stark?”
“I’m feeling much better. What did you do to me?”
“I fixed you. You were pretty broken and had a big hole in you. When you’ve had a little rest, I’ll show you some of our tech. I think it’ll knock your socks off!” She grinned wickedly.
“And you, Steve Rogers, you look worse than he does. Maybe we need to get you a bed in here, too.”
“I’m all right, your majesty.”
“I am Shuri to you. I am not your queen and I’m young enough to be a daughter to both of you.”
“Don’t remind me. I feel all of my age today,” Tony said.
“That pain should lessen a lot in the next few hours and then you can get up and around.”
She turned to Steve. “Take your shirt off. I can tell you’re wounded and I can put something on it that will heal it in a few hours rather than days or weeks.”
Steve reluctantly lifted his shirt and she saw the burns and bruises on his side. She made a sound and called for something on her wrist device. A moment later an attendant brought her a jar with some sort of goop in it. She wet a washcloth and washed the side very gently, then spread some of the goop on it. Steve sighed.
“Foolish man. You didn’t have to hurt all these days. It should heal quickly now. If you behave.”
“Thank you, Shuri.” She patted him on the shoulder and left them.
“She’s the new queen? What is she, sixteen?”
“Maybe. Not sure how old she is and yes, she’s T’Challa’s sister. Bruce says she makes you and him look dumb.”
“I’ll look forward to getting to know her then.” He closed his eyes and Steve sat back in his chair to rest a bit.
*
It was several hours later when Tony woke. Steve’s head was on his bed again and Steve held his hand. Oddly enough, he didn’t mind.
“Hey, Rogers, wake up.”
Steve opened his eyes and looked at Tony. “You look a lot better.”
“Yes, he does and it’s time he got out of the bed and walked around,” Shuri said as she walked into the room. “Are you staying here tonight, Capt. Rogers? If so, I can have a comfortable recliner brought in. Or a bed, if you like.”
“Yes, I’m staying.”
“Let’s walk then, Mr. Stark.”
She helped Tony get up and Steve took him for a short walk. He was still attached to some IVs and such so they dragged those along, too. Medicine was ultramodern in Wakanda, but sometimes a patient needed some of the old fashioned things, too.
Tony was tired, but feeling much better after walking for a bit. Shuri had some food sent to them. It was some kind of roasted game and a salad of fresh veggies. Both men ate like they were starving.
Later, it occurred to Steve that he was acting a little like Tony’s relative or spouse. He wondered at his own reasons and really wasn’t sure. There was something about him that needed Tony Stark right now. That was all he was sure about.
Natasha, Rhodey and Bruce came by after dinner. They brought him some clothes and some treats. Natasha kissed his cheek.
“I ain’t kissing you!” Rhodey laughed. “No matter how far away you’ve been.”
Tony laughed. “Not kissing you back!”
Tony walked with Natasha. While they were gone, Bruce asked Steve, “Is he all right? What happened?”
“He’s going to be fine, but we haven’t talked yet.”
“Are you all right?” Bruce asked him.
Steve shook his head. “Not sure I ever will be again.”
Bruce had no words of comfort. He awkwardly squeezed Steve’s shoulder and Steve nodded on acknowledgement.
When the visitors left, a young man brought a recliner in for Steve, complete with a pillow and blanket. Steve thanked him.
“You don’t have to stay. I’m fine.”
“I’d rather be here with you than anywhere else right now.”
Tony nodded. Before bed, a nurse came in and removed all the IVs. Tony was happy for that; it made moving around much simpler. He settled in for the night and Steve did as well. In no time, both men were asleep. Shuri came by to check on them and saw they were both sleeping peacefully. She smiled to herself and left them alone.
Sometime in the night, Steve felt someone’s weight on the recliner. He opened his eyes and saw Tony climb into the big chair beside him. Steve scooted over to give him more room and put an arm around him to make them fit better.
“Just don’t want to be alone,” Tony said and was asleep in seconds.
*
Steve woke with Tony in his arms, still asleep. It had been nice to have a warm body close during the night. He didn’t move, just held the man who’d been one of his best friends and then his enemy. He closed his eyes and rested until Tony woke.
Shuri let Tony move out of the hospital that afternoon and told him it might be a good idea not to be alone for a few days.
“You can bunk with me. We can have another bed moved in,” Steve told him.
“You got a sofa?”
Steve nodded. “Yep.”
“Good deal. I’ll take that.”
Tony was very quiet for Tony. Steve knew it, but still didn’t want to push. He didn’t want anyone pushing him either and so far, no one had. He made up the sofa with some blankets and a pillow.
“You take the bed, Stark. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“Nope. It’s comfortable and I insist.”
“Bossy bastard.” Steve laughed but left him to it.
They went to bed early, both exhausted from the day and their injuries.
Steve woke to Tony sobbing and screaming, “Peter, no!” over and over again. He went to Stark.
“Wake up,” he told him, and not wanting to reinjure him, shook him gently. “You’re having a nightmare.’
Tony opened his eyes and sat up. “I was dreaming about Parker again.” He winced, whether from pain or from the memory of Parker’s loss, Steve couldn’t tell.
“What happened?”
Tony closed his eyes. “He begged me not to let him go. I held him as he turned to dust. His being there was my fucking fault, Cap! He wanted to be a neighborhood hero! What have I done?” He opened his eyes and looked at Steve. “What have I done?”
“Bucky called my name and I knew something was wrong and when I looked, he turned to dust just like Parker did. After all we did, we failed.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. Right now, you have to heal.”
“Do we have data? Numbers of the - gone?”
“Bruce and Shuri are working on that. They are working on other things too, but you’d have to talk to them about it. I’m just the muscle.”
“Rogers, you’ve never been just the muscle.”
Steve shrugged.
*
Bruce sought out Natasha in her quarters.
She let him in and hugged him. Though they weren’t a couple any longer, they remained friends. He had still talked little about his absence and what had transpired. She knew that he was somewhere with Thor part of that time and that he’d been the Other Guy for the whole time, but that was it. She was sure that he’d share with her when he could. Like her, Bruce kept things to himself a lot.
“I don’t know who is in worse shape: Tony or Steve. They are both-”
“Broken,” Natasha finished for him when he searched for the right word.
“Yes, broken works. We need them. Whether we like it or not, Stark and Rogers are our leaders. Stark is the brains and Steve is the heart.”
“And the brain is distracted and the heart is broken?” Natasha asked.
“Exactly. Is there anything we can do for them?”
“I think they have to work it out. Perhaps they need one another, to fix their own broken friendship. I don’t think we can do anything, Bruce.”
*
“You need the rest, Tony. Get in my bed and maybe you’ll sleep without nightmares. I’ll take the sofa.”
Tony nodded, too tired to argue. Steve lay on the sofa but sleep was elusive. He was conflicted about Tony, wanting to smack the crap out of him for forcing both him and Bucky into exile and feeling sympathy for the boy who’d lost his parents so tragically only to find they were murdered.
And there was more, something he had pushed to the back of his mind so many times that it seemed more like a dirty secret than anything else, a secret he was trying to keep from himself.
Steve had known that he was attracted to Tony since they met before the Chitauri attack on New York. The sparks that flew when they met had excited the hell out of Steve. He hadn’t acted on them because there seemed to be no reason to do so.
But seeing that broken, damaged Tony being carried out of the alien ship had done something to him, had made him feel an urgency that he didn’t quite understand. Why now? He hadn’t let his mind wander too far in that direction though his body had already responded to Tony’s closeness a few times.
Like now. He could smell Tony on the blankets and the pillow, and the scent made him want.
He wanted – sex? He wasn’t sure it was just that. He did, despite the fact he’d never been with another man, never considered it before. He wanted to make the world better for Tony or with Tony. He wasn’t even sure which, just that right now, Tony Stark seemed to be important to his own existence.
He closed his eyes and finally dozed for a few hours.
*
Tony woke and felt surprisingly good. His wound didn’t hurt and he was starving. He looked around Steve’s bedroom and smiled at the photo of Peggy Carter on the small desk. He got up and headed to the bathroom. Then out of the bedroom to see Steve sitting on the sofa in the dark.
“You all right, Rogers?”
“Yeah. Didn’t want to bother your rest.”
“I’m not some cripple, you know. I’m okay, I think. Shuri fixed me right up.”
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“If your face is any indication, so have you.” Tony sat beside Steve on the sofa.
“I feel like I died out there. I feel hollow, used up.”
“Let’s go find some food and some caffeine. Maybe that’ll help some.”
“Can’t hurt.”
They opted to go out into the city to find something to eat. It was nearer to noon than they’d realized. The streets were busy and people were friendly, despite recent tragic events. They found a place with bowls of lamb stew so tender and tasty that they forgot their troubles for a few minutes to enjoy all the wonderful spices and flavors.
It reminded Steve of the meal they all ate at the little shawarma place after the battle of New York. The food had been good and plentiful and had restored their exhausted bodies and minds just a little.
After they ate, they walked, speaking to this vendor and that, stopping to chat with people who recognized them and some who didn’t. The people were kind and friendly, making them both feel humbled and ashamed that they’d brought such a horrific war here. Like Shuri herself, the Wakandans seemed to take things in their stride. Life went on. They made the best of it.
They didn’t talk much to one another until they were back in Steve’s quarters.
“These people are amazing,” Tony said. “I understand you spent some time here with Barnes.”
“I came here to visit him a few times. T’Challa welcomed me as a friend.”
“Can we be friends? Can we call a truce?” Tony asked him.
“I think we already have.”
“You seem to have something on your mind still.”
“I don’t. I think since Thanos’ attack, our differences are a moot point.” Steve didn’t want to talk about Bucky. Nor did he want to pick at his feelings about Tony right now.
Tony, on the other hand, picked up that something else was going on with Steve. “Tell me what else is bothering you. Is it something I’ve said or done?”
Steve looked at Tony hard for a moment and stood. “I’m going for a run.”
*
Tony sat there after he’d left. What the hell? He hadn’t said anything to piss Cap off. Hell, Cap had taken care of him like he would have Barnes since he got back. Tony had to admit he’d actually enjoyed being as close to Steve as they’d been the last day or two. Good or bad, Rogers was a link to his father and, well, there was more to it than that, but he wasn’t ready to think about that quite yet.
He went in search of Bruce.
*
Steve ran from Tony, yet Tony was all he thought about as he ran. It was like Stark had invaded his brain. Worse, Stark was beginning to move in below his waist as well. It was like his emptiness was being filled with neediness, a neediness he didn’t want.
He ran until fatigue sent him to the shower. He was hoping his quarters would be empty and they were. He stripped his sweaty clothes off and jumped in the shower, just standing under the spray long after he was clean.
He never heard the door open, nor Tony come in until a hand touched his back. Before thinking at all, he had Tony by the throat as he turned around.
“Whoa, Cap! Don’t kill me!”
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
“Chitauri tech just popped up again in Afghanistan. Bruce and Natasha sent me to find you. Wheels up in 30.”
“You’re not going.” Steve turned the water off and grabbed a towel, but not before Tony looked him over.
“Like hell! I have more suits. I just need to tell FRIDAY to send one here.”
“Are you fucking crazy? Banner can’t turn into the Hulk and you were badly injured. Natasha and I can go with Thor.”
“You expect me, Bruce and Rhodey to sit on our hands?”
“This time, yes.”
“Well, fuck you, Cap!” Tony was angry. He turned away and Steve grabbed him. Tony turned back ready to punch the much bigger man. He didn’t. He dropped his fist, turned, and left the steamy bathroom.
*
The second Quinjet left right after the first one. Tony, Rhodey and Bruce were onboard as well as General Okoye. They were flying in stealth mode, but Tony was pretty damn sure that Steve and Natasha knew they were on their tail.
Tony actually had a suit designed by Shuri, a modified version of her brother’s Black Panther suit. Bruce had the big suit he’d worn in Wakanda available if he needed it. Rhodey had his own suit that enabled him to walk and fight. Okoye had her armor.
“Do you know how pissed Rogers is going to be?” Bruce asked him.
“I don’t give a shit. My money has always paid for all this shit, I am going to have some say so, too.”
Okoye watched and smiled to herself. She had seen the look on Captain Roger’s face when he took Tony Stark from the alien woman. She knew there was much more to all this than either man was ready to see.
*
The Afghans who had the tech were dug into a system of caves than ran back into solid rock. There were few ways in and few ways out and that made it dangerous for both sides. The tech they had was smaller Chitauri stuff, some hand weapons mostly, but the things made a mighty mess if they hit you.
Steve was more worried about normal explosives and guns than the Chitauri stuff as they studied the mouth of the cave.
“If we go in directly, they’re going to blast the hell out of us,” he told his crew: Natasha, Thor and several Dora Milaje warriors who came with them.
“What if we make a new opening?” One of the Wakandans asked. Her staff would cut rock and well as shoot high techs bolts of energy. It had a vibranium rod and Shuri had given it several purposes as a weapon. It shot, shocked, burned and cut.
“Go for it,” Steve told her.
She did and made short work of it. They were in and out in moments, with prisoners and tech. They were making their way back to the Quinjet when a second group of Afghans attacked. These men were more heavily armed than the ones in the cave had been, with more Chitauri and conventional weaponry.
They didn’t see the second group until their own unseen help came to their rescue. When the first shot grazed Natasha, who was in the rear, Tony and Rhodey closed in on the Afghans and took them down, but not before Steve had taken a harder hit than Natasha had. He went down and came back up, not able to walk but still fighting where he stood, and then from where he’d finally fallen until Tony and Okoye took out the last of the opposition.
“Can you move, Captain Rogers?” Okoye asked him as she helped him up.
“I -” and he lost consciousness. Thor and Bruce helped her catch him.
Tony rushed to his side. “Get him back to Wakanda – Fast!!!”
Natasha, Bruce and Okoye took Steve and the other wounded back to Wakanda while Tony, Thor and the rest cleaned up the mess and deposited the prisoners and the tech to a ship awaiting them in the Arabian Sea.
Quinjets move very fast and by the end of the day, all were back in Wakanda.
Tony was frantic as he disembarked from the plane and ran to the hospital. He was filthy and limping from a small injury he’d sustained.
Shuri met him as he entered the ER.
“The Captain is all right. I cleaned him up and repaired his wounds but his serum had already done most of it. Let me look at you.”
“I gotta see him. I’m going to kill him.”
He went around her and saw Steve in a small glass enclosed room. He burst in as a technician was putting a bandage on a wound on Steve’s leg.
Steve jumped out of the bed, despite the Wakandan trying to stop him.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” he spat at Tony.
“We saved your ass, Cap. That ambush might have taken you all out.”
“You could have been hurt again, you idiot! I can’t -” he stopped.
“Can’t what? Thank me enough?” Tony was standing almost against him, looking up into his face.
“Lose you. I can’t lose you,” Steve hissed in an angry whisper.
Tony abruptly closed his mouth, whatever he’d started to say forgotten. “What?” he finally managed.
“Later. I’ll talk to you later, when they’ve finished patching us up,” Steve finally said.
They nurse shooed him back to the bed so he could finish the bandage. Shuri came for Tony and attended his wounds herself.
“You are all foolish,” she admonished him.
“You’re a teenager. What do you know?”
“More than you or Captain Rogers do.” She said no more other than to tell him to go back to Steve’s and get cleaned up. “You smell!”
*
Several hours and a couple of showers and a meal later, they all met in one of the common rooms in the building that housed them.
Natasha was already waiting with Thor when the rest of them came in. Her wound had been not much more than a scratch.
“Ah, our heroes,” she greeted them. “The men with a death wish!”
They talked about the mission, Steve deliberately not gigging Stark and his crew. After all, they’d done what he would have in their place. He was still angry at Stark though, angrier than he’d ever been and would talk to him later.
“We need a fighting force bigger than we have,” Steve said.
“We need to get in touch with some of our old SHIELD agents. They’re still out there,” Rhodey said. “Tony has suits for those who want to train to use them, don’t you?”
Tony nodded. “You were too small a force to go on your own,” he spoke to Natasha, Thor and Steve but they all knew it was Cap he was talking to.
“We were and we got careless,” Steve agreed, as much as it pained him to admit it.
“The question is, are we going to hide here in Wakanda or go back home?” Steve said.
“You’re still a fugitive outside this country, and so am I,” Natasha reminded him.
“Okay, but maybe you guys need to go home,” Steve said to the rest of them.
Instead of arguing about it now, they agreed to talk some more later, tomorrow maybe. Everyone was tired.
*
“I’m not going back to the US,” Tony told Steve.
“Why the hell not?”
“Whatever this thing is, it’s time we talked about it?” Tony said, almost daring Steve to argue.
“What thing?”
“You tell me. I don’t know exactly.”
“What do you want me to tell you? That you are an asshole and to go to New York?” Steve was angry and maybe a little scared.
“Tell me why you’re so moody and why you’re so angry, other than the obvious reasons.”
“Aren’t they enough?” Damn him!
“No. Your friend killed my parents, and you knew it. You didn’t tell me. Those are the old things. What else is there? Only you know.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say to you, Tony!”
Tony knew! Suddenly it was clear. He’d felt the same but had been putting the feelings, the want and need aside because it was inconvenient. That explained Steve’s care after Tony came back, his anger at Tony endangering himself. It explained his own feelings of safety here in this room with Steve!
“I want you to tell me if you want me as much as I want you.” Tony said it in a quiet voice, a voice quite unlike him.
“You – what?” Steve stared at him as if he’d lost his faculties. “Have I said anything that would be make you think that?”
“No, but it’s true, isn’t it, Cap?”
Steve put his face in his hands and said nothing. He finally lowered his hands and looked at Tony. “Yes. God help me, but yes, it’s true. What the hell can we do about it?”
Tony was warming up to the idea. “Well, you can kiss me and if that goes well, sometime in the next hour, we can take off our clothes and find out just exactly what the fuss is about. If that goes well, we do it more often. And we hang out together sometimes, you know, eat dinner, go to the movies.”
“Is that how you got Pepper to be your girl?” Steve couldn’t help himself. He was smiling at Tony’s silly proposal.
“Not quite. If you kiss me, I’m pretty sure that I can convince you to try the rest eventually. I’m a good kisser.”
Steve was still smiling when he pulled Tony into his arms and kissed him.
After the kiss went on for several seconds, Tony pulled away. “Not bad.” Steve kissed him again.
*
Several hours later, they lay naked in Steve’s bed, blankets tangled around limbs and pillows and clothes in the floor.
“This doesn’t make everything happily ever after,” Steve said. “There are still monsters out there to kill and people to save.”
“Hush and show me your battle scars. They turn me on.”
Steve showed him each and every one. And Tony wasn’t lying. They did turn him on.