Chapter 3
Tony watched the others as they sat in the media room, grouped off it seemed, as they groomed each other's wings. It made the Omega very aware of how badly his own wings needed to be groomed but he wouldn't ask any of them to help; he could do it all on his own thank you very much. But it didn't stop him from wanting the closeness that the rest of them seemed to share, grooming could be quite intimate after all. Heck, even Coulson was here, grooming with Clint and Natasha which was still pretty weird to Tony.
Tearing his eyes away, he turned back to the movie, just barely catching the way Bucky leaned down to whisper to Steve.
"Tony, you want some help grooming?" Steve spoke up, keeping his voice level, making sure there was no room for Tony to think he was insinuating anything.
The room seemed to freeze, all eyes on the Omega as if expecting him to have an outburst. No one missed how his scent spiked before it was squashed down, an unreadable expression coming over the geniuses face.
"Do anything funny and you'll be out of this tower before you can say swell," Tony warned, moving towards Steve stiffly. It was horribly obvious to the others how nervous he was about this but they figured his pride kept him from turning tail to run and hide.
Bucky gave Steve a pleased little noise as he continued to groom his friends wings, watching as the flighty Omega sat down between Steve's spread legs. He was glad to see that Tony was at least giving Steve a chance.
Steve made a little noise in the back of his throat as well, fluffing out his wings with joy though it caused Bucky to smack the back of his head, the other Alpha huffing that he had to start over.
The others all seemed to be watching as Steve took his time in grooming Tony's wings, the Alpha allowing himself to seem submissive in order to relax Tony as much as possible as his hands moved through red and gold feathers expertly. At some point during it all, Tony's breathing slowed and evened out, shocking everyone when they realized the Omega had fallen asleep.
"You must have magic fingers if you managed to put Tony Stark to sleep," Clint whistled, finally breaking the silence.
Bucky moved without being told to, allowing Steve to lift Tony and lay him out on the couch, putting one of the plush pillows under the Omega's head. They all watched as Tony snuffled softly and cuddled the pillow under his head, letting out a deep sigh as he fell into a deeper sleep,
"... That's disgustingly adorable," both Phil and Natasha smacked Clint.
"Should we actually leave him here?" Steve wondered aloud. He wasn't too sure of how Tony would react to waking up in the media room surrounded by all of their scents. It wasn't like they couldn't clean the scent while he slept, he just wasn't sure if it would ease Tony's nerves.
"He'll be fine, he's a big boy. Though maybe someone should stay and make sure he remains asleep." Natasha wasn't about to admit she'd lost track of the last time Tony had actually gotten a full night of sleep.
"I'll stay," Steve offered when no one else stepped up. It was his job as the flocks top Alpha to watch over the rest of the flock, especially when it came to their health. Tony was still recovering from his injuries after all.
No one had any objections as they went back to their grooming.
Within minutes of laying down beside the couch, Steve was asleep, a pillow between his arm and head. Bucky covered him and Tony with blankets, not wanting either of them to get cold even though he knew Jarvis wouldn't let the rooms temperature get to that point.
One by one the team dispersed, heading to their own floors to get some rest, some (read Clint and Natasha) taking pictures on their way out. Blackmail was always needed.
When Steve came to later that night, it was to the sound of whimpering and thrashing above him. Disoriented still, he sat up only to be smacked in the face by a wing that woke him up almost instantly while also allowing him to pinpoint the source of the sounds.
It was coming from Tony and it seemed as though he was having a nightmare.
If the mumbled pleas and cries falling from his lips were anything to go by anyway. Steve was unsure of how to proceed, he had no idea if he should wake Tony up or let the Omega wake on his own. He couldn't stand hearing the distressed sounds or smelling the fear off of Tony, it was driving his protective instincts into overdrive. So he grasped Tony's hand.
"Get away!" Tony screeched as his eyes popped open, scrambling on the couch, trying to yank his hand away from his apparent attacker.
"Tony! Tony, listen to my voice," Steve kept his scent as neutral as possible, lowering his wings into a submissive state even though his hindbrain screamed at him to pull Tony into his arms and hold him close. "Wherever you think you are, you aren't there. You're in the Tower, you're safe." Tony continued to mutter nonsense and struggle though it was slowly weakening as Steve continued to speak, beginning to break through the fog that seemed to have Tony ensnared.
Slowly, Steve worked Tony off the couch and down onto the floor, hands smoothing over Tony's arms as the gloss over his eyes started to fade. Steve kept up the soothing talk, wings slowly curving forward to very loosely encase Tony, creating a barrier between them and the outside world. The Omega finally let out a shuddering breath, muttering Steve's name as he finally came back to the present, and slumped forward, face buried against the Alpha's shoulder.
"Want to talk about it?" Tony shook his head vehemently in response and Steve immediately dropped the subject. If Tony wanted to talk, he would talk, Steve wasn't going to pester him as it obviously was a sore subject. When Steve tried to pull away, to give Tony some space, Tony's grip tightened on him, a sound of protest falling from his lips. So Steve obliged, holding Tony closer, wings shifting and shuffling behind him. He forced himself to not feel so damn pleased about Tony leaning on him for support, a part of him wanting to puff up and crow about it. "If you're going to get comfortable, let's at least lie back down, yeah?" The minute nod he got in response was more than enough for Steve. He grabbed the extra pillow from the couch and set it down, moving so he and Tony could lay side by side. It came as a surprise to the Alpha when Tony instead rested his head on Steve's chest, curling himself around him.
"You make a nice pillow," Tony mumbled in his defense. "For a fossil."
"Hilarious," Steve snorted curling an arm around the Omega's waist, fingers briefly brushing through red and gold feathers.
"Shh pillows don't speak," Tony whispered, his breathing already beginning to even out.
Steve only smiled and rubbed his hand up and down Tony's back and side, keeping his touch comforting and as far from intimate as possible. It wasn't long before Tony was fast asleep again, Steve staying awake long enough to ensure the Omega wasn't disturbed by anymore night terrors. Once he was sure Tony would remain asleep, the Alpha allowed himself to drift into the peaceful oblivion of sleep.
~~~~
"If you wake him up, I will personally see to it that training becomes the least of your worries." Steve growled as he woke to the sounds of the team whispering all around him.
"Good morning to you too, sunshine," Bucky snorted, watching Steve crack an eye open.
"Since Stark is probably going to sleep in and not let go of his teddy bear anytime soon, we'll make sure to save some breakfast." Steve made a sound in response to Natasha's words, choosing to ignore the muttered 'maybe' that came from Clint.
Steve let himself sleep a little more after that, as any attempts at dislodging Tony were met with angry snuffles and a face full of feathers.
"We speak of this to no one," Tony muttered when he finally roused himself two hours later. Steve didn't have the heart to tell him that the others had seen them passed out on the floor and probably had pictures on all their phones. "I need coffee." Tony untangled himself and stood, stretching his arms and wings before doing a sort of shuffle out of the room and to the kitchen.
Steve allowed himself to smile, a surge of joy causing his chest and wings to puff out. Tony hadn't reacted violently, that had to count for something...
Right?