Chapter 2
It was Natasha who first noticed how oddly Tony was acting after a battle with Doctor Doom and his Doom bots.
Normally the genius moved with all the grace in the world, wings puffed up with pride and head held high. Now though, he walked hunched over, just the slightest bit but Natasha could see it, she would be a terrible super spy otherwise. She also noticed that he seemed to be favoring one hand over the other. She knew he'd skipped out on going to medical with the rest of them after the battle so it didn't take long for her to come to a conclusion. And once she did, she went directly to Steve.
"Jarvis, do a full body scan of Stark," Steve scowled at Tony once he managed to find the other man down in the labs.
"J, don't listen to him," Tony tried to call it off but Jarvis was already running the scan.
"Scan complete. Would you like know the results, Captain Rogers?"
"Yes." Steve's eyes never left Tony, knowing that if he looked away, the omega would try to get out.
"Sir has three broken ribs and a fractured wrist."
Steve's wings flared out as his eyes widened, barely noticing how Tony flinched at the sudden change in the alpha's scent.
"You're going to medical right now and getting those injuries treated, Stark." Steve used his alpha voice, which in hindsight, wasn't the greatest idea. He knew he'd made a mistake when Tony's wings snapped up and puffed out with anger, his scent becoming bitter.
"Screw you, Rogers, I don't need you telling me what to do. All Alpha's are the same, wanting to order us Omega's around. I'm not some weak little Omega that needs to be taken care of, I do just fine on my own."
"Tony-"
"Get out of my lab, Rogers, I don't want to hear another word from you." The underlying scent of fear was what really had Steve stumbling over his feet and nearly his wings as they sank so low they dragged on the floor as he retreated from the lab.
"I'll get him to medical," Natasha brushed her wings against Steve's as she passed by, a calming gesture that did little to actually calm him. The distressed pheromones that he let off must have alerted the rest of the team because soon he was surrounded by them, all of them silent but giving him the support he was silently requesting.
"Friend Steven, do not fret," Thor rumbled, settling a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Anthony will see that you mean well."
"I keep saying the wrong things at the wrong times," Steve felt helpless as the others soothed him, stroking his wings, touching him, letting their scents mix.
"Tony has trust issues, especially when it comes to Alpha's," Clint said gently.
Steve didn't understand why Tony couldn't trust him. He'd done nothing to threaten the Omega, nor had he ever tried to assert himself over Tony outside of battle; the man needed to be told when they were in a fight else wise their plans would never work. As the lead Alpha, it was Steve's job to ensure the safety of his team as well as their happiness and if one of them wasn't happy then Steve blamed himself. He should have confronted Tony when he first noticed the way the Omega would skirt around him, always fighting him at every turn. The fact that Steve was the one making Tony unhappy made the situation ten times worse.
Natasha returned to find the group settled in the common room, stretched out on the floor and couches. Bucky was with Steve on the couch, grooming his best friends wings while Thor, Clint, and Bruce were spread out on the floor, their wings all overlapping.
"After throwing a massive fit, he submitted for treatment," Natasha slid onto the couch smoothly, adding her hands to the mix as she helped groom Steve's wings. "Doctors said he'll be fine in a few weeks and that he should take it easy while his ribs heal."
"He won't though, he's too stubborn," Bruce mumbled from the floor. "He's Tony Stark, he'll do whatever the hell he wants when he wants."
This got a slight chuckle from the rest of the team sans Natasha who only quirked an eyebrow.
"The good news is, movie night is still on for tonight." Clint announced cheerfully, earning noises of approval from Bucky and Thor.
Steve had to admit, that was good news even to him despite all that had transpired that morning.
~~~~
"Jarvis, pull up the calendar," Tony was finally back in the lab after having gotten quite a lecture from the doctors about watching out for his well being and not letting injuries go untreated.
"Certainly, Sir." As he moved around the lab, a personal calendar was pulled up for him to view. As he looked at it, he made note of the meetings he needed to attend with Pepper and made note of the ones he could easily weasel himself out of. With a small huff he noticed that his heat would be starting in exactly a month.
"Well that's just fantastic," he grumbled to himself. He should have stayed on his suppressants, but being who he was, he'd decided to stop taking them. He tended to do that every few months or so, to let his body do its thing and level out, it was apparently healthy according to his primary doctors. This time made him nervous though as he wouldn't be alone in the tower while he was in heat; the Avengers would be there. He felt bad but also kind of not that he would be stinking the place up with his heat scent, it would probably drive all the Alpha's insane and even the Beta's if the scent was strong enough though he doubted it would be that strong. The thought of any of the Alpha's reacting to his scent made him uneasy, though he wouldn't worry about Natasha, she could at least control herself. And Thor since he was bonded happily to Jane Foster. The ones he worried about were Bucky and Steve.
"Tony?"
Right, now was not the time to think about that.
"Jarvis, why did you let the walking Capsicle in here? I thought I told you to lock the lab down?" The Omega huffed and fluffed out his wings defensively as he stared Steve down.
"You didn't, Sir."
"I didn't? Well I should have." Tony frowned to himself, cursing to himself for not remembering to lock down the lab.
"Look, Tony, I just want to apology for earlier," Steve didn't move from where he was standing, trying to make himself as non-threatening as possible to the other man. "I'm sorry for upsetting you but to be fair, I had no idea you would react that way."
"Really? Because here I thought you were all caught up on the 21st century." Tony replied dryly, working on some schematics. "Plus we have three master assassins living in this tower, I'm sure by now they've told you what they know."
"They haven't told me anything personal," and they really hadn't. "Just that Alpha's tend to not be in your good graces."
"That's personal to a certain extent." Tony knew that Natasha probably knew a lot more but he trusted her not to say anything to Steve. If Tony wanted the good Captain to know about his past, he'd tell the man himself but Tony didn't see that happening anytime soon.
"Look, I'm sorry I offended you, Stark," Steve pinched between his eyes. "I can't promise I won't slip up again but I'll make an effort."
"I don't need you to do anything but if it makes you feel better and strokes your stupid Alpha ego, then do what you want. This conversation is over, goodbye."
Steve figured that was the best he was going to get out of Tony and shook his head as he left the lab.
This was going to be harder than he first thought.