Chapter 8
Eventually, Stephen has to go back to the Sanctum, having to go back to fix the damages caused by the battle that ensued there.
“Do you want me to come with you?” I ask, standing as he slides his shirt over his head.
He looks at me with an easy smile, his blue eyes sparkling.
“You want to come help me clean?” He asks.
I nod, stepping closer and resting my hands on his chest.
“Yeah, I do.” I answer, looking up at him.
He rests his hands on my hips.
“Then yes.” He answers. “I do want you to come.”
He presses a gentle kiss against my cheek before pulling me to the side of his body, reaching one hand out to open his orange portal before us.
The inside of the Sanctum swirls into view in the center, coming into focus as the portal grows.
“Ready?” He asks, and I nod.
We step through the portal, and Stephen sighs as he looks around the big living room.
Splintered wood covers the floors, mixing with broken glass that crunches as we step into the room.
“Stephen.” Someone says from behind us, and we turn to look in the direction of the voice.
Wong steps through the entry way of one of the other rooms, walking up to Stephen and putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Are you okay?” He asks, looking up at Stephen before glancing over at me.
His face has a couple yellowing bruises, and his lip and eyebrow are slightly split still, but he looks okay other than that.
Stephen nods, keeping one of his hands on my waist while he puts the other on Wong’s shoulder.
“Yeah I’m okay.” He says with a smile. “Are you? I didn’t see you before everything happened.”
Wong nods, and both men drop their arms.
“Yes.” He answers. “I was transporting between the dimensions to deal with the situation, but when I came back you were gone.”
Dimensions?
They were fighting something interdimensional?
Alone?
My heart beats faster.
“Tony took me to the hospital.” He says, pulling me closer slightly. “And then I stayed with him for a few days to heal.”
Wong looks at Stephen’s hand around my hip, and mine looped around his waist before smiling softly.
“Thank you for your help Mr. Stark.” He says.
“Tony.” I answer, reaching my hand out to shake his.
He smiles again.
“Tony.” He answers, shaking my hand.
I clap my hands together as he drops my hand, swallowing down the sudden anxiety building in me as I think of how I found Stephen.
“Where do we start?” I ask, gesturing to the wreckage.
Wong leads the way, and Stephen takes my hand as he follows behind him.
He gestures to various parts of the destroyed house, explaining what has to be done.
We get to work soon after, I use my suit to lift heavier pieces of the broken beams as Stephen and Wong use their magic to seal them back together.
The glass and splintered wood are moved by magic as well, and soon enough a fine sheen of sweat is dancing along Stephen’s face.
“And I think it’s time for a break.” I say, landing beside him and pulling the mask of my suit away from my face.
He looks at me, raising one eyebrow.
“I’m fine.” He says, breathing heavily as he raises his hands to work his magic again.
I pull back more of my suit, resting my hands on his and pushing them down gently.
“You need to rest.” I say quietly. “You haven’t used this much magic in a few days.”
He sighs, putting his hands down.
“I guess.” He mutters, his face twisting into a grimace.
I force a smile at him, pushing the worry down again.
“Thank you.” I say, putting my arms around him.
He smiles down at me, leaning down to kiss me gently.
“I don’t know if much of my room is intact, but we can see.” He says quietly.
He leads us up the side of the stairs that isn’t still destroyed, and leads us to a room on the right side of the open loft on the second floor.
He opens the door, leading us into a small bedroom.
The inside is in good condition, somehow having missed the worst of the damage.
The room is fairly basic.
A large window covers one wall, dark blue curtains pulled to the sides to let the light pour in.
His bed sits in the center of the room, unmade, grey sheets exposed and twisted into the black comforter.
Two large bookshelves sit on either side of the bed, covering the remaining space along the walls as books fill the spaces, perfectly organized in their rows.
“It’s no Avenger’s Tower…” He says quietly, shutting the door behind us. “…but here we are.”
I shake my head, turning to face him.
“I like it.” I answer, sliding my hands up his chest, looping them around the back of his neck. “It’s nice.”
His hands fall on my hips as he presses his lips to my forehead.
He leads me towards the bed, laying down and pulling me to lay beside him.
I stay sitting up slightly, wrapping my arms around him as he rests his head against my chest.
“You don’t have to lay there if you don’t want to.” I mumble, shifting slightly. “It can’t be comfortable to have your face against the metal.”
He shakes his head, nuzzling closer as one of his hands slips under my shirt.
“It’s not on the metal.” He murmurs, his fingers tracing around the metal of my Arc Reactor. “My cheek is against your chest. I can feel your heart beating.”
His fingers slide around the scarring, sending a shiver through my body.
He looks up, searching my face.
“That feels nice.” I whisper, looking down at him.
He smiles, his fingers continuing their path as his cheek returns to it’s position on my chest.
I run my hand up and down his back as his fingers slow against my chest, his eyes closing as he falls asleep.
I stay with him for a while longer, letting him fall into a deeper sleep before carefully removing his limbs from my body and sliding away from him.
I stand, stretching as I tap the side of my glasses.
“FRIDAY?” I whisper, looking at Stephen to make sure he’s still asleep as the lenses flicker to life.
“Yes Mr. Stark?” She whispers back.
I pull out my phone, using it to silently navigate the screens before my eyes.
“I need you to order some parts.” I whisper. “Enough for a few prototypes I’m sure.”
She agrees, opening a screen that shows the amount of supplies I would need.
“I’ll need supplies for someone a little taller.” I murmur, glancing at Stephen asleep on the bed. “6’ 3”, 6’ 4” maybe.”
She updates the quantity of the supplies, and I confirm the order before turning my glasses off again.
I switch the screen on my phone to the app where I draw my blueprints, pulling out my stylus and sitting on the floor beside the bed as I start to sketch an outline of a body.
I draw the person in the shape of Stephen before drawing the outline of a suit on top of it.
Where I usually draw the blasters in the palms of my hands, I pause, picturing his shaking fingers as he slides his ring onto them and opens a portal before him.
I turn the drawing, adding armor to the backs of his arms and hands, but leaving his palms open.
He turns in the bed, and I lock my phone, sliding it back into my pocket with the stylus before I stand back up, climbing back onto his bed.
His eyes open as I do, and he smiles at me softly.
“Sorry.” He mumbles, reaching out to me. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
I wrap my arms back around him as his arms fall gently around me.
“No, it’s alright.” I answer, using one of my hands to push his hair away from his face. “You needed the rest.”
He yawns, tightening his grasp on my body.
“What were you doing?” He asks, looking up at me.
I smile lazily.
“Just a little work.” I answer. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
He rolls his eyes.
“Always working.” He mutters with a small smile.
I run my fingers along his shoulder blades.
“Always something to work for.” I murmur, looking down at him.
His eyebrows raise slightly.
“And what’re you working for today?” He asks.
I shake my head before leaning down to kiss his forehead.
“That,” I whisper, kissing his forehead again, “is classified.”
He rolls his eyes again before tilting his chin up to kiss me.
His lips are soft against mine as his hand reaches up to cup my cheek gently.
A quiet knock on the door sends us reluctantly pulling apart, our eyes staying locked as Stephen mumbles something to whoever knocked at the door.
“Um, should I come back?” Wong says, clearing his throat as he walks into the room.
Stephen smiles at me, winking before pulling away to face him.
“No.” He answers. “What’s up?”
Wong awkwardly steps towards the bed.
“I just wanted to see how you were feeling.” He says, shifting his weight. “And… I need your help.”
Stephen laughs, sitting up.
“I’m good, I can help.” He says before kicking his feet over the side of the bed.
He turns to face me, raising his eyebrows in question.
“I should probably head home.” I say, exhaling as I stand up. “Text me?”
He places a shaking hand against my cheek, smiling at me softly.
“Of course.” He says quietly. “Don’t work too hard.”
I turn my head, pressing a kiss against his palm before pulling my suit around my body, leaving my face exposed.
“You don’t work too hard.” I answer.
He rolls his eyes again, shaking his head before taking my hand in his and leading me out to the hall.
“I won’t.” He says quietly. “I love you, Tony.”
He taps my chin with his finger, kissing me again quickly.
“I love you too.” I whisper. “See you soon.”
I pull the rest of my armor around my face before igniting the blasters of my suit, flying through the hole in the ceiling.
The anxiety starts to build again the further I get from the Sanctum, the further I get from Stephen.
The idea of not knowing if he’s okay, if he’s safe, makes my heart race.
I stumble as I touchdown on the landing pad of the Avengers Tower, pulling in my armor and all but running towards the elevator.
I step inside, slamming my hand against the button that leads to my lab.
The doors open again, and I step into my lab.
“FRIDAY, are my supplies in?” I ask, pouring a glass of brandy as the screens of the computers flicker to life.
She says yes, telling me where the boxes are.
I pull up my blueprint on one of the screens as I unpack the boxes, immediately starting on the prototype of the suit.
I fall into my work, cutting and welding the metal together as I eye the measurements carefully.
The elevator doors open, and Steve walks in.
He stands by the elevator doors, only stepping into the room enough for the elevator doors to close again.
“Hey.” He says quietly.
I set down my tools, turning to face him fully.
“Hey.” I answer, minimizing the screen of blueprints.
He takes a deep breath.
“Can I come in?” He asks, gesturing to the space between us.
I nod, crossing my arms over my chest.
He steps forward a few steps, still leaving a large gap between us.
“Making another suit?” He asks, nodding towards the metal scattered across the bench in front of me.
I shrug.
“Looks different.” He says, looking at the rough arm piece I have constructed, sitting up on the side of the table.
“Trying something new.” I answer. “Did you need something?”
He exhales.
“I just wanted to see where we are.” He says quietly.
I nod, taking a deep breath.
“We’re… well, I guess that’s a good question.” I answer, running my hands through my hair.
He nods this time.
“I guess we’re co-workers, Steve.” I say, looking up at him. “I can’t say much more than that.”
He nods again.
“That’s fair.” He replies after a minute.
We sit in silence for a minute, and then he turns to leave, but pauses in front of the elevator.
“Is that for him?” He asks, looking at me through the reflection in the metal.
I meet his gaze.
“Yeah.” I answer, feeling like I should tell him the truth for some reason.
He nods.
“Again, I’m sorry he got hurt like that.” He says. “I didn’t intend for that.”
I stand up now.
“You say that, but you turned off the alerts.” I answer. “What the hell did you think was going to happen?”
He turns around, facing me again.
“I wanted him to get hurt.” He answers, flatly. “I wanted you to hurt. I didn’t want him to almost die.”
He rubs his temple with his fingers.
“And I didn’t want to hurt you like this.” He says, gesturing to the metal in front of me.
My eyebrows furrow.
“What does that mean?” I ask.
He sighs.
“You’re panicking.” He says quietly. “Building a suit so he can’t get hurt, right?”
I don’t answer.
“I know you.” He continues. "Does he know you're doing this?"
I don't answer, picking my tools up again.
“I think you should go.” I tell him, not looking back up at him.
I start the welding machine, hearing the elevator doors open and close a minute later.
I turn the machine back off as I look up, making sure that he’s gone.
“Asshole.” I mutter, pulling the blueprints up again and downing the rest of my brandy.
It’s none of his business what I do.
And it’s not his responsibility to protect Stephen.
I start the welding machine again, turning my music on as loud as it goes as I work.
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(Thank you all for the well wishes on my last post, I'm feeling much better!! 🖤)