14.
Kidnapping the son of the Secretary of Homeland Security seemed like a serious and very important mission, but Tony couldn't help but make fun of it. The mission was codenamed Winnie-the-Pooh - probably because upon returning to the car, the minister found nothing but a toy Winnie the Pooh in the car seat, while his son was already tied up on the floor of a white van - and it made Tony laugh out loud every time he thought about it.
"And you know this one?" he asked, flying over the Captain to get better access to the guy who was about to shoot him in the back. "Winnie the Pooh comes to the butcher's shop and asks if they have ham."
"And then shoots the butcher to get revenge on Piglet, we know," Clint spoiled the whole point, and by the tone of his voice, he was enjoying it. "Don't you have something newer there?"
"Not for you."
"Guys, I got Kevin!" Natasha announced hurriedly, breathing rapidly. She had to run and indeed she was holding the little one in her arms. "Cover us, I'll get him on the jet."
Tony changed the direction of flight and he and the Hulk made an escape route straight to the quinjet. It was going well, if SHIELD hadn't gotten word that one of the kidnappers had a weapon that seemed to fall out of one of the chitauri's hands, it wouldn't have been an Avengers thing at all. The police could handle it themselves.
"Sir, Happy is calling," Jarvis said, and Tony really toyed with the idea of rejecting the call. Everyone on the team had told him many times before that he shouldn't handle personal conversations during missions since it could distract him. "It's about Miss Potts," Jarvis added and the thought of rejecting the call was pushed aside immediately. He took the call.
"Tony, thank God!" Happy shouted. Tony's stomach dropped, it didn't sound good. Happy was talking fast, panting, and anything but calm.
“What's the matter, Happy? Breathe and speak,” he ordered grimly, already thinking of the worst things that could happen to Pepper. A car accident was one of them, and it was immediately confirmed to him.
"Pepper was in a car accident. We are in the hospital and the doctors don't want to tell me anything. I don't know how she is, Tony, I don't know what to do.”
Tony quickly assessed the situation below him. Natasha hid with little Kevin in the quinjet while the Captain, Clint and Hulk tried to neutralize the rest of the attackers. Jarvis found only three men left. They were practically done.
"I'm flying there," he said immediately, turning toward New York. "I have to go! I will send you a suit, it will help you finish here!” he announced to the team as well, then immediately cut off communication so he wouldn't have to deal with their disapproval.
Blood was humming in his ears and his heart was beating dizzyingly fast. Pepper will be fine, she'll be fine, he repeated over and over. He found out from Happy what hospital they were in, ordered Jarvis to put all the energy into the jets and rushed away.
Landing right in front of the hospital entrance, Tony jumped out of his suit and rushed inside. People hurriedly dodged in front of him, stared at him and whispered something to each other, but he didn’t give a shit at that moment. He found Happy in the corridor outside one of the doctor's offices. He was pacing back and forth, his forehead glistening with sweat, his breathing fast and his gaze absent and concerned.
"Hey," Tony tapped his shoulder to make Happy notice him. "Where is she?"
"Tony!" Happy let out a sigh of relief and his knees buckled a little. For a moment Happy looked like he was going to collapse on top of Tony. He helped him sit up, digging his fingers hard into his shoulder just to keep him focused.
"Where's Pepper?"
"They took her in for an examination," Happy informed him. "They don't want to tell me anything! Tony, I… I don't know what happened! She was in a car with that young driver, we had a fight, she didn't want me to drive her,” he blurted out, and Tony later thought he'd never seen him so upset. He let go of his shoulder, patted him, and looked around the hall. It was almost empty except for two patients and a doctor who was walking towards them reading some papers.
Tony walked up to him and took the papers from his hand. "Pepper Potts, where is she?"
The doctor looked up at him with an annoyed expression on his face, opened his mouth to defend himself, and then recognition flashed across his face. He blinked in surprise. "Mr Stark… Please calm down, you're in the hospital here."
"Pepper Potts," he repeated gruffly. "She was brought here a while ago. Where is?" He spoke slowly and coldly, making the doctor take a step back.
"I don't know, Mr Stark. Even if I knew, I wouldn't be able to take you to her, you're not a family member.”
In a different frame of mind, Tony would have admired him for his courage. Nobody just says no to Tony Stark. He looked down at his name tag, threw the papers behind his head and took a step towards him. "You don't want to lose your job, do you, Dr Murphy?"
The doctor's face was white, and he quickly shook his head. "N-no, of course," he stammered.
"So tell me the fuck where Pepper Potts is!" he said angrily. The doctor looked scared, but he was silent and therefore absolutely useless. Tony was furious. He was willing to break through walls just to find Pepper.
“Tony?”
He turned. He saw Pepper at the end of the hall, sitting in a wheelchair, staring at him in shock. He was relieved, incredibly relieved. He walked quickly to her, papers rustling under his feet, Dr Murphy stuttering behind him.
He checked Pepper with a look. Her face was scraped in several places, a bruise was slowly forming on her jaw, and her left arm was in a sling. Otherwise, she looked perfectly fine. And elegant as always.
“Pepper,” he breathed a sigh of relief and bent down to her, gently running his thumb over her blushing face. "God, Pepper, how are you?"
"Good," she smiled. “Tony, you didn't threaten that doctor, did you? Do you realize he can sue us?”
"So be it," he replied dispassionately and hugged her. Carefully, carefully enough not to hurt her in any way. "What happened? What kind of idiot drove you?”
"It wasn't James' fault, really," she defended her driver immediately. James, hmm. Tony had no idea who it was, but he knew he would talk to him sooner or later. “The other driver hit us at the intersection, Tony. James was not to blame.”
"Who bumped into you? Do the police have him?”
Pepper shook her head, and Tony wondered how much murder planning was going to pile up on his calendar again.
"He ran away. But the police are looking for him.”
"I'll find him myself," he snorted. Pepper smiled, tenderly and indulgently. Then her expression turned suspicious. "Didn't you say you had a mission today?"
"I flew away," he shrugged casually. "I had to fly to you, dammit!"
"No, you didn't have to. Don't be silly Tony, they need you more than I do right now. I'll be fine, okay? They'll give me a cast, and some painkillers and I'll be fine.”
"You sure?" he asked. He didn't want to leave now, but he knew she was right. He's already screwed up enough with Fury and the Captain, and the longer he's gone, the worse it's going to be. Not that he was afraid of them, he just wanted to avoid yelling at his person. Fury always sizzled so much…
"Sure, Tony."
He nodded. He was still crouching in front of her, watching her and not wanting to move. But he had to, he knew he had to. He stood up, rested his forehead against hers for a few seconds, and stroked her cheek again. "I'll be back as soon as I can. And you," he stood up and turned to the little nurse, who had been standing behind the wheelchair and waiting patiently. When Tony turned to her, she froze and turned as pale as Dr Murphy. "You make damn sure she's fine."
"Yes, Mister Stark," she stammered.
"Tony…" Pepper whispered warningly. He gave her a big smile and quickly ran out of the hospital again, overjoyed that Pepper was okay. As soon as he was in the air, he connected with the Captain.
"I can't believe you fucking did that, Stark!" Steve shouted immediately, making Tony wince a little. He wasn't used to such anger. And what about the swear word? Steve didn’t swear (usually).
“Whoa, whoa, Captain. Such ugly words, you have no shame!” Tony tried to turn it into a joke. But Steve was not amused, he was quiet, and Tony was sure he was scaring everyone around him just with his appearance. Tony could almost feel the coldness that must have been radiating off of him. And anger. Captain America was really white-hot and not in a good way.
"I'm already flying back. How does it look like there?"
“We're done, we're flying back to base. Clint was shot.”
Tony's stomach clenched painfully and he could clearly feel the sweat on his forehead. He swallowed hard. The relief was overwhelming, but the concern was much stronger. “How… how is he? Is he fine?"
"He'll survive," the captain said simply, his voice razor-sharp. “No thanks to you. We'll talk at the headquarters.”
He hung up and didn't let Tony say anything. Apologize, perhaps! Or explain it to him. If there was anything to explain at all. He frowned, Steve had no right to be mad at him. He did send one of the suits to help them!
He found Steve in the conference room with Fury. They both looked very… well, not very happy. The Captain frowned so much that two deep furrows formed between his eyebrows, his face was pale and his whole body stiff. Fury was pacing back and forth, also scowling, and Tony had an uneasy feeling that he was planning to murder him.
They both turned to him with equal anger in their eyes and Fury launched even before Tony closed the door behind him.
“Really, Stark? Seriously?!" he snapped at him. “You really left the team during the mission?!”
"Looks like it," Tony shrugged casually and put his hands in his pockets. He looked back at them both coldly. He will wait until they let off some steam and see what happens. What's the worst they can do to him?
"You really don't care at all?" continued Fury, noticeably quieter, but even more ominous. “You put them all in danger. Because of your selfishness, Hawkeye got shot it. He could have died, Stark! Do you understand?!”
"But he didn't die," Tony said nonchalantly and smiled. He cared, he cared a lot, but he wasn't going to pull his tail between his legs and start apologizing and repenting in front of Fury or the Captain. “I sent my suit after them to watch their back. It was like I was there.”
"But you weren't there, Stark!" Steve interjected. Tony frowned, his own rage rising at the knowledge. No, that wasn't fair. Steve hadn't called him by his last name in an awfully long time, he had no right to start again now!
“You put us all in danger, we were counting on you! And you just betrayed our trust and flew away."
"It was about Pepper," he whispered angrily. "Can you understand that this was about Pepper?"
He stared at Rogers and had a sudden urge to punch him, knock out his perfect teeth. How he pissed him off with his perfection. Captain Perfect! Always ready to willingly lay down his life for his comrades. Pff, he was nothing but a green brain.
“There was no way you could help her, Stark. You could have helped us, but you turned your back on us. You thought only of yourself and your reasons again!”
"But this was about Pepper!" Tony shouted, taking a few quick steps to cover the distance between him and Captain Perfect. He dug his index finger into Steve’s chest and stared into his eyes. "And Pepper is a hundred times more important to me than anyone in the Avengers!"
The silence that followed was deafening. Tony watched as the Captain's angry mask fell for a moment. Surprise, pain, and betrayal flashed across his face. He had the expression of a kicked puppy. He looked at Tony in disappointment for a moment before his expression hardened into a Captain America mask again.
"Thank you for telling me, Tony."
Tony dropped his hand and took a step back. Well, now he screwed up even more. The tone in which Steve spoke said it all. It was here. The Captain had had enough of him. He was disappointed in him and gave up.
The feeling that washed over Tony was horrible. He wanted to take back his words. He opened his mouth several times to say something, but in the end, he didn't. It was too late, and his own pride wouldn't even allow it.
"I'm withdrawing you from all missions, Stark," Fury said. "Until further notice. You should get your priorities straight.”
He turned sharply on Fury. He didn't think about this one possibility. They needed him after all, they can't just drop him from missions! He was about to start defending himself, but Captain America's serious voice silenced him.
"If you will excuse me, sir, I do not agree with that."
Fury raised his eyebrows, fixed his gaze on Steve, and repeated in disbelief, "You don't agree with that?"
"No sir."
“But I don't really care, Rogers. I have the right to decide about this and I intend to use this right appropriately. Stark is ineligible to participate in missions with the Avengers.”
"Tony lost the trust of all of us today," Steve acknowledged and took a step forward, hiding Tony behind one of his shoulders. Steve stood between him and Fury, shielding him with his own body. In his life, Tony’s provoked many arguments, but none of them ever took such unexpected turns.
“But leaving him sitting at home while we're out there won't change anything. Tony needs to learn from his mistakes and get a chance to prove that he's learned his lesson. And as the commander of the Avengers, I would like to decide that myself.”
Fury looked down at Steve, they looked into each other's eyes, sizing up each other. Tony didn't have the courage to interfere with them at the moment, he just watched in amazement - and admiration - at how big Captain America's balls were. Or was it just Steve talking now? He wasn’t sure.
He only looked at Steve for a moment. His shoulders were tense and his hands clenched into fists, ready to fight if necessary. The blue eyes, always so gentle and friendly, were hard and literally pierced Fury.
"Are you ready to vouch for Stark, Rogers?"
"Yes sir," Steve agreed without hesitation and Tony felt weak in his knees. Did he really…?
“If it happens again… If anyone gets hurt or, god forbid, dies because of Stark, it will be your fault as much as his. I will fire Stark and hand over your post of commander to Romanoff. Are you ready to carry this on your back, Rogers?”
“I am, sir. If a similar incident happens again, I will accept all the consequences.”
"If you say so," Fury finally whispered, narrowing his eye. He eyed Steve for a few more moments before turning on his heel, the tips of his cloak fluttering, and he left the room.
Steve let all the air out of his lungs, lowered his head to his chest, and visibly relaxed. He relaxed his fingers, relaxed his shoulders, and Tony suddenly realized how torn and worried Steve looked. He reached out to put his hand on his shoulder, but Steve strode to the door.
"Cap, wait!" he called out to him. Steve turned around. He might look tired, but his eyes were just as hard, clear, and piercing as before.
"I have work, I'll sleep here tonight. And maybe you could visit Barton, talk to him. And I don't know, maybe even apologize to him, if you can do such a thing."
Tony was left alone. He sat down in one of the chairs and watched the door. He sincerely hoped Steve would come back. He hoped he would scold him for everything he has ever done. Even what he hasn’t done! Anything! Tony could handle arguments well, but what was he supposed to do with silence? He felt helpless and didn't know what to do. This time… this time he screwed up in a really colossal way. And he had no idea how to fix it.
As Barton was supposed to be resting after surgery, Tony was unable to speak to him that day. However, he took advantage of the time, took his quiver, and worked on it all night. He added several improvements of which he was justifiably proud. Modified the explosive arrows, added tear gas arrows that could be useful in missions where they only wanted to capture the bad guy, not kill him; and lots of other things! For example, Skittles arrows. Why? Because simply Skittles. Who doesn't like them?
The work calmed him, and when he thought only of it, he didn't have the sick feeling of vomiting that had come at regular intervals since his conversation with Fury and Steve.
In fact, he didn't care about Fury’s feelings. Steve bothered him more. It was absurd, but just the thought of letting him down made Tony’s insides twist. He didn't want things to be tense between them because then Steve wasn't smiling and Tony actually quite liked his smiles. And he didn't cook him breakfast and Tony definitely liked those! But most of all he loved when Steve spent time with him in the tower.
He paused as he realized this. It was about four in the morning and loud music echoed through the workshop, and despite that, Tony subconsciously perceived the silence and emptiness of the tower. He didn't feel good, he wanted Steve back as soon as possible.
Rogers had a calming effect, and many times Tony had found himself able to relax in his presence and even drop most of his masks. He didn't have to play anything, and Steve always accepted him without a problem. He swallowed loudly.
Most of the time, he clearly recognized how he felt about other people. He knew when he liked someone, when he hated someone, and when he didn't mind someone. It was simple. He liked Bruce, loved his genius brain and loved doing science with him. He hated Hammer because he was a moron. He didn't mind Coulson because he was… well, just Coulson. But what about Rogers? He couldn't fit him into any category and it distracted him.
Consideration for another time, he finally acknowledged and left to enjoy at least an hour of sleep.
He had to persuade the nurse for a while, but she finally let him in. Barton was lying in bed reading a book with a bored expression on his face covered in band-aids. As soon as Tony entered, he looked up at him, and an amused grin settled on his face.
"Well, no way, they've found you! When you disappeared yesterday, Nat and I thought we'd have to go put up some flyers. A billionaire has gone missing, if found, the reward is his entire fortune!” he laughed at his own joke but there was a short wave of pain on his face.
"Well, I'm glad I have found myself on my own, I'd hate to give it all up," Tony grinned and sat down in the chair next to the bed, Clint's quiver resting on his lap. “Look at it! I made a lot of improvements.”
In an excited voice, Tony began to describe everything he had managed to fix and improve that night, telling him all the benefits of the modified parts while sincerely praying that it would be enough to make Clint forgive him for everything. Even if he didn't do anything to him personally… Hey, he wasn't the one who shot him, was he?
"Let me guess," Barton stated as soon as Tony finished. “You did all this to please me, didn't you? To make me forgive you.”
“Hmmm… maybe,” Tony shrugged, placing the quiver at Clint’s feet.
“Stark, I got shot about a minute before you took off,” he informed him, that amused expression on his face once again. "You weren't to blame, trust me."
Tony just stared at him in astonishment, which of course amused Clint even more and he started laughing. So, he came here, stayed up all night because of Barton, was ready to pour ashes on his head, and now Clint was going to confirm what he had thought all along, that it wasn't his fault? He felt offended.
"Then why the hell didn't you tell Captain Grumpy?!"
"Because I wanted to see him and Fury giving you a going-over." Clint stuck his tongue out at Tony like a small child. "Nat and I were watching the feed from the camera."
Tony crossed his arms over his chest and watched him disapprovingly. “That was mean, Clint, even for you.”
"I owed you for the last time," he winked at him and when he finally calmed down and took a deep breath, he asked, "How's Pepper?"
"Okay," Tony nodded. “She broke her arm, that's all. The doctors had to give her a cast, but they have already released her. She called me in the morning and the only thing she complained about was that the cast didn't match her clothes."
They both laughed, Tony glad to see Clint was doing well. Although the feeling in his stomach was certainly not pleasant.
"I'm glad she's okay. What even happened?”
"I don't know," Tony threw up his hands in the air. "Apparently someone just hit their car. It wasn't Pepper's driver's fault. I tried to find the other driver, but it's a dead end.”
Tony sighed. He really got a lot done at night and was still able to function only with coffee, loads of sugar and caffeine pills.
Clint nodded his head in understanding and slowly sat up. He was breathing like an old man who had to climb a flight of stairs. "Well, accidents happen."
"Yeah, more than usual lately," Tony mumbled more to himself. “So, are the two of us OK, Barton? No bad blood? And in the missions will you trust me again that I won't shoot you?"
He had to make sure.
"We're OK, Stark, take it easy," he assured him, his hand resting on his quiver. "And thank you for the upgrades. If I had known that you would do something nice for me only when I got shot, I would have done it earlier."
Tony snorted, a smile still playing on his face. He rubbed his hands in satisfaction and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. Now to figure out what to do with Captain I'm-currently-pissed-at-the-whole-world-and-especially-you-Stark. Clint was obviously reading his mind.
"What are you going to do with the Captain?"
Tony shrugged and frowned. Even after a sleepless night, he really didn't know what to do. He had to talk to him, of course, but what was he supposed to tell him? That he’s sorry? That he knows he made a mistake, and it won't happen again? Steve would appreciate that kind of honesty, Tony knew that. But how he could explain to Steve the things he had said?
"I don't know, I'll give him something," he grinned, trying to turn the whole thing into a joke. “Maybe his personal ice cream machine! Did you know that Captain Perfect's greatest weakness is pecan butter ice cream?” he arched his eyebrows significantly. “He can eat that whole huge bucket without blinking an eye and then add more!”
Clint looked sceptical and Tony wasn't surprised at all. Even he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Steve stuff himself and still look polite and gentlemanly. He should have filmed it, dammit! At least now he would have proof.
"Well, it's not a stupid idea," Clint finally admitted. "Well, anyway, if that doesn't work, you can always kneel in front of him and give him a blow job."
Tony froze and thought for a minute if he heard him correctly. He stared at Clint with a shocked expression.
"What did you say?" he wheezed incomprehensibly, hoping he had just misheard. Yes, he was definitely hearing things that were just trying to scare him.
"That you can always kneel before him."
No, no hearing things. He heard it right the first time. Or he managed to overdose on caffeine, Clint was just his hallucination, just a figment of his genius brain. Anything seemed more acceptable than Clint's suggestion.
“For God's sake, Clint! What are you saying? Congratulations, you managed to freak out Tony Stark.”
"I'll put that on a t-shirt," he chuckled, staring at Tony with a strange expression on his face. It was as if he was telepathically trying to tell Tony that he knew everything. Natasha gave him a similar look when he let Steve draw on his hands. Was it some secret spy weapon?
“You think you're that inconspicuous? You undress each other with a look whenever you can.”
Tony simply couldn't believe his ears. It was definitely a hallucination, it had to be. Or some very vivid dream. He was lying in his workshop now, drooling on the floor, his head forming these crazy ideas.
Sure, he knew that he himself was stripping Captain Perfect with his eyes, but he doubted Steve would do the same. That was simply not possible.
Their Steve? Captain America, the walking 1940s, when weddings and first children at eighteen, even earlier, were in fashion? It was not possible for Captain America to have a different orientation than the regime of the time proclaimed.
He frowned thoughtfully, remembering the two evenings they had spent in close proximity. But the first time Tony just forced him to sleep in his bed and the second time Steve tried to calm him down. Yeah, that was it. There was nothing more to it, there couldn't be... Or could be? That would explain his reaction to a certain newspaper article...
"Oh my god," Clint mumbled - Tony had completely forgotten about him - and his eyes widened in surprise. "Damn it... You both dance around each other and you don't even know that the other person sees it the same way. I'm done with you guys…”
Tony ran his hands over his face and gave Clint an almost desperate look. If he was right, that meant he had hurt Steve a lot more than he thought yesterday. He threw Pepper right in his face and didn't even bat an eye.
"Sometimes I forget that you may be deaf, but your eyes serve you more than well... Are you sure?"
He needed to make sure. He needed evidence, tangible or at least something that could be verified somehow! He honestly prayed that Clint was just messing with him, because if not… If not, he's so deep in shit that he might as well swim in it.
Clint shrugged. "Pretty sure. Look, think about it. Have you ever seen him even look at Natasha while she was changing in the quinjet?”
Tony shook his head slowly. "But he is a well-behaved gentleman, not a perv like us."
“Speak for yourself, Stark. Hey, have you ever seen Natasha?”
Tony nodded.
"So you see. Even if you try very hard, your eyes just shift there for a while. Steve always turns his back and stays that way until she's fully dressed."
“Okay… But that doesn't prove anything. Maybe he just has better self-control.”
"Yeah, he has," Clint hummed in agreement. "As far as women are concerned, he certainly has it. He doesn't do so well with guys. He looks at the asses of just about everyone who walks past him. But lately, he's only been looking at yours."
Tony still couldn't believe it. He felt like his brain had slowed down to the slowest possible speed. He covered his mouth with his hands and watched Clint in disbelief. This was such an absurd situation! He wanted to laugh and curse at the same time.
If Clint was right, their famous Captain America was gay. Or bisexual, doesn’t matter. If it was true, it was great and absolutely horrible at the same time. He heard his own voice in his head again, yelling at Steve how important Pepper was to him. And not gonna lie, she was. But not like this, not anymore. She left him, he somehow got over it and was able to maintain the same relationship with her as before; professional. But Steve didn't know this.
He remembered the emotions that had flooded Steve’s face yesterday. Surprise. Pain. Betrayal. Tony had no doubt that he had hit the most sensitive spot inside Steve. And he had no doubt that what Steve was after wasn't just physical affection. No, when he looked at the events of the past few weeks, he saw that clearly. Steve cared for him, looked after him and seemed content and relaxed almost every time they spent time together. Tony had been enjoying his care all along without knowing…
"When did you notice that?" he muttered.
"That he is watching you? I don't know… I think it was after New York.”
He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He got together with Pepper after New York and Steve had to watch. That was too much for a soft soldier from the 1940s.
"You're totally fucked," Clint remarked in surprise. Tony grunted in agreement.
"Yeah. Totally. Really, I'm going to make you a T-shirt that says 'I broke Tony Stark.'”
“And on the back will be 'And he admitted it'! It just has to be,” he teased, and Tony wanted to punch him. Taking a deep breath, he straightened up and dropped his hands into his lap.
"I'll go. I need to buy a bucket of ice cream and probably an ice cream maker, too. This will be an interesting conversation.”
"I'll keep my fingers crossed," Clint waved and reached for the book again. Tony watched him.
"You don’t mind?"
"What? That you two are going after each other?” he rolled his eyes. "Please. As long as you don't come after me, I'm fine."
Tony smirked. "Don't worry, you're not my type. Too annoying.”
"And that comes from you," Clint mumbled and returned to reading. Tony watched him for a while longer, wondering if he should ask him or not. He imagined the horror on the Captain's face if he found out someone knew his dirty secret. Yeah, he didn't want to experience this.
“Hey, one more thing. This talk… Keep it to yourself. I personally don't care who knows, but Rogers might not be very… pleased.”
"Don't worry, I'm silent as the grave," Barton waved at him and Tony finally left the room, leaning against the door outside and staring shakily at the wall in front of him. Well... He was really fucked.
If someone said Tony Stark was a coward, Tony Stark would find them and kick their ass. He wasn't a coward, of course he wasn't. Hey, he took on a mad Russian and an army of aliens, flew a nuke into space, and almost stayed there! So no, Tony Stark was not a coward.
If someone told Tony Stark that he was afraid of Steve Rogers, Tony Stark would find them, kick their ass, and then shamelessly admit to them that yes, he was afraid of Steve Rogers. And could anyone be surprised? Steve Rogers was the epitome of calm, so if you somehow managed to piss him off, it was bad.
Tony Stark was also afraid of Pepper Potts, and that was no wonder. Pepper Potts was something between a dragon, a Godzilla, a hulk, and a jellyfish when she got angry.
So yes, Tony Stark may not have been a coward, but he was afraid of Steve Rogers and Pepper Potts. If he had to make a list of the things he fears the most, Steve and Pepper would be tied for second place. The first would be the Moomins. It would definitely be the Moomins…
This all sounded like a narrator talking in Tony's head as he stood outside Captain America's office trying to convince himself to go inside. He had already left this place three times, walked around headquarters and talked to a few people, very aware of the slowly but surely melting bucket of ice cream in his left hand. It was time to take courage, he thought with a deep breath.
He walked into the office without knocking, looking at the mountain of muscles behind the desk in a goddamn blue shirt that matched his eyes too perfectly. For a moment Tony was under the impression that he would just brush it off and leave again, but he was Tony Stark and Tony Stark can't just back out of something.
"I'm an irresponsible bastard and an egocentric idiot," he blurted out, and he himself had to admit that it wasn't exactly the best start to an apology speech.
Steve looked up from his computer at him, raised an eyebrow and said in the most nonchalant and calmest voice Tony had ever heard from him.
"Steve Rogers, nice to meet you."
Tony stopped. Neither of them laughed, but Steve's reaction could easily be called joking. Or he was just being sarcastic. Or he didn't feel like listening to Tony's talk. Now just choose!
"I know what you're trying to tell me," Tony raised his hand as if trying to stop him, even though Steve didn't look like he was about to speak. "I let you down and the team too. I left you there, turned my back on you and risked everyone's lives. I am untrustworthy and selfish.”
"You forgot arrogant," Steve reminded him, still ice-cold. He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest, and continued to watch Tony with raised eyebrows.
Tony opened his mouth, then closed it, staring back at him. This was new. So far, he had detected a quiet rage and a growling rage in Steve. The growler was simple, just tell a stupid joke, Steve smiles and disaster is averted! A quiet rage, on the other hand, requires a few hours alone and then a conversation. But sarcastic rage? Tony didn’t know this one yet, and he honestly didn't know how to deal with it.
Finally closing the door, he walked over to Steve's desk and set a bucket of ice cream on it. He saw Steve shoot it a look before looking up at Tony again, waiting for his next words. Tony was waiting for them too, hoping they hadn't been forgotten somewhere by the coffee machine.
“What I mean by this rambling,” he began slowly, sliding into the chair across from Steve, “is that I'm sorry. I am truly sorry, I know I gave you all a hard time when I disappeared and I promise I won't do it again.”
They continued to stare at each other, playing a game of who could last longer. Steve's face finally relaxed, he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. Tony suddenly wondered what it would be like to have Steve's hair in his fist while his full lips were tightly wrapped around his cock. Oh god, Stark! Wrong place and time for such ideas.
"I appreciate and accept your apology, Tony," he said rather stiffly, still not seeming to let go of his anger.
“I talked to Clint,” he continued. "I apologized to him too and improved his quiver and we had a chat and he says he has no problem continuing to work with me."
"I'm glad to hear that," he nodded. Tony frowned. What else was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do to get Steve to smile and joke and relax again? Barton's advice came to mind and he really considered it for a moment, glancing down at Steve's lap. But no, that probably wouldn't work. First, he had never given a blowjob to anyone before and god knows if he could; and two, Steve probably wouldn't let him. Certainly not here, where they could be caught at any moment.
"And I want to thank you," he finally said. Steve only raised one eyebrow in a curious grimace this time and damn Tony loved his eyebrows. “For what you said to Fury. That you stood up for me and… and didn't give up on me.”
"I'll never give up on you, Tony," he assured him firmly, mesmerizing him with his gaze. “Never, do you understand? Whatever Fury says, leaving you out of missions is… stupid.”
Tony swallowed. An incredibly pleasant feeling settled in his chest, which he didn't even know what was supposed to mean. It felt good that Steve was fighting for him like that.
"I won't let you down, Steve," he promised him. “I know if I screw up again, I'll take you down with me. And I really don't want that."
"I'll take your word for it, Tony," he smiled. Finally! He finally smiled! It was only a half-smile and only for a moment, but even that was enough for Tony. Relaxing, he leaned back in his chair and was finally relieved.
Steve glanced at the bucket again and chuckled in amusement. "Were you ready to bribe me with an ice cream, Tony?"
"Sort of," he furrowed his eyebrows and moved the bucket closer to Steve. "Take it. It’s pecan butter…” he enticed.
Steve chuckled quietly but didn't let himself be told twice. He pulled out a spoon from one of the drawers and moved the bucket in front of him. Pecan butter ice cream, Captain America's kryptonite, Tony thought with amusement.
"And I also got an ice cream machine. They should already install it in your apartment."
“Tony…” Steve whispered warningly over the edge of the bucket and Tony couldn't help but laugh.
"I'll go there too, just don't think!" he assured him. "We already have Movie Fridays, so we can still have Ice Cream Wednesdays, don't you think?"
Steve closed his eyes and muttered something desperately. Tony was having fun.
"There's no point in talking to you out of it, right?"
"You're a quick learner, Cap," Tony complimented him, still with a laugh in his voice. It was unbelievable how quickly the atmosphere changed. Tony wasn't complaining, he was glad about it.
"How is Miss Potts?"
"Okay, she's just a little bruised and has a broken arm," he assured him and himself at the same time. "An idiot driver rammed into them and drove away."
Steve nodded in understanding and enjoyed his ice cream undisturbed. Tony watched him, silent, thoughtful. This morning he scared himself with the idea of Steve being so upset that he wanted to move out. He nearly had a panic attack just imagining it. He didn't want Steve to go anywhere. He liked living with him, even if they didn't see each other as often as he would have liked. He was becoming more and more aware of how much he had grown accustomed to it.
"How did it end up?" he muttered. "Is the boy okay?"
Steve nodded. “He's back with his father. We captured the kidnappers and secured the weapons. Everything went well, except for the incident with Clint,” he assured him. “By the way, something sounds...weird in the jet's engine. Such a weird banging, Natasha said it sounded like a dwarf hitting it with a hammer,” he shook his head at that. "Could you take a look at it?"
"Sure!" he responded immediately. "I'll go look at it now. Let's have it ready for the next mission that… at least I hope I can go… too?” he got off quite unsteadily towards the end and watched the Captain expectantly. He did say that leaving Tony at home was stupid, but you never know…
Steve narrowed his eyes in thought and somehow Tony knew he was in trouble. "I'll let you sit in the jet for the first two missions, and you'll just watch our back," he finally decided.
"Hey!" Tony objected. "It is not fair! You know I'm best in action. Come on Steve…”
“Tony…” he said warningly. "We can't act as if nothing happened. You'll sit in a jet for the first few missions, period. Fury was right that you should get your priorities straight.”
"It was about Pepper..." he repeated for the umpteenth time in a few hours, as if it were some magic formula to get him out of trouble. Steve smiled. He looked like he understand, but also… hurt. Tony's heart sank, there was one more topic he had to discuss with him.
“I know, Tony, and I understand, I really do. But you can't just fly away," he said indulgently. “I need you to communicate with me. If you had told me what happened, we would have found some middle ground. You could have helped us finish it and then fly right away, with your help we would have finished much sooner. But you just took off.”
The world won't stop spinning no matter what you do. But you must be prepared for the consequences. Tony repeated that sentence over and over in his head. At that moment when he flew away, he didn’t care about the consequences, he couldn’t deny that.
“So, communication, huh?” he said thoughtfully and nodded. “Okay. I'm not very good at speaking, but I can try.”
"You speak all the time, Tony," he smirked at him in amusement. "It shouldn't be such a big problem for you."
Tony nodded and took a few seconds to collect his thoughts. He must subtly explain Pepper to him somehow. Well, he didn't have to, but he wanted to. Steve's expression flashed before his eyes, betrayed and pained. Pepper was a sore subject for Steve, and it didn't have to be.
“Steve, what I told you. The thing with Pepper,” he began, but the Captain didn't let him finish.
“You don't have to explain anything to me, Tony. I understand how important she is to you.”
"Yeah, she is," he agreed. "Very important. But so are you and the Avengers and what I said made it sound like you weren’t. Which is not true, really. But Pep is just Pep. We've known each other forever, she runs the company, and we dated for a while. And when Happy told me what happened to her, I panicked."
Steve nodded in understanding, but Tony didn't miss the way his eyes widened in surprise and a certain hope appeared on his face when he mentioned that they were dating. Past tense, you all see? In the entire time that Steve had lived in the tower, they hadn't really talked about Pepper once, Tony realized after a while.
"As I said, Tony, I get it," he repeated for perhaps the hundredth time, taking a spoonful of ice cream before continuing. Tony had to grimace at that. "Honestly, I'd probably want to do the same if I were you."
The conversation seemed to be over. There was one last topic on Tony's mind, but he finally decided to keep it quiet because there was no good way to ask the Captain if he preferred pussies or dicks without looking like a lunatic. And something told him that Steve definitely wouldn't appreciate it if they discussed it here.
He stood up, pulled his shirt down over the hem of his pants, and made a vague gesture toward the door. "I'll go see the dwarf with the hammer."
"Thanks," Steve said, now completely preoccupied with the ice cream. A quarter of the bucket was already gone and Tony could only shake his head in disbelief. The super soldier's appetite was endless.
He still stopped at the door, not willing to let slip such an opportunity between his fingers. "By the way, how did you sleep? The beds at SHIELD are soft as a cloud, aren’t they?”
"Hmm, great," Steve nodded his head. "I laid down on the floor at three in the morning and it was much more comfortable."
Tony grinned, amused and mischievous. "Perhaps we should repeat our sleep session. Will you come home tonight?” he asked, sincerely hoping he didn't sound too hopeful. Last night hadn't been one of his best, and one of the reasons he preferred to work through it all was because of Steve's absence. It was illogical, he knew, but simply knowing he was alone in the tower didn't do him any good.
Steve looked up at him, and for a moment Tony felt like he was looking into some kind of strange mirror because that mischievous look in Rogers' eyes was usually his own. "I originally planned to stay here, but the ice cream maker convinced me."
Tony laughed, quietly and briefly, and with an amused mutter, he left the Captain's office. Of course, the ice cream maker helped. Phew, a blowjob? Nothing like that, Clint. A good old ice cream maker works best!
He joined two mechanics in the hangar and helped them find a fault in the engine. Two hours later they were done and Tony texted Steve before going home.
<< The Dwarf's hammer has been successfully confiscated.
He didn't have to wait long for the answer, and when he read it, he genuinely laughed out loud, causing the others to look at him. Normally he would probably be offended by the text, but it was so unexpected that he didn't even think about it.
>> I'm sorry to hear that, how will you work without it?