Second Impressions
Day 1.5
“I’m sorry,” Steve says over the rush of water. The girl’s resting peacefully with a new pacemaker that Tony claims could ‘run her heart for fifty lifetimes’, and after a first-hand look at Tony’s skill, Steve’s thoroughly chastised. “I shouldn’t have assumed.”
Tony just huffs. Looking up from the hands he’s washing, Steve can see the surprise behind Tony’s guarded eyes. Their brown is familiar, like the comfort of Peter’s. It gives Steve a little hope that maybe, just maybe, this could end up better than Pierce. Steve barrels on, as he always does when nervous, “I’ve got a kid of my own, and I’m just… protective. Pierce, the guy before you, was horrible with the children.”
“You’re saying being a father makes you an asshole?” Tony asks, lips curling up to one side, amused at the red flush spreading down the other guy’s neck.
“I was supposed to spend tonight with my son, been a long time since I had the evening off.”
It’s not much of an excuse, Steve knows. Still, Tony seems to have forgiven him, and, drying his hands, Steve passes Tony a tissue.
“Thanks, dear.”
“It’s Steve.”
“What?” Tony isn’t even paying Steve any more attention, he’s busy untangling a mess of wires from his pockets.
“My name. It’s Steve.”
Again, Tony looks up and there’s something unreadable in his gaze, calculating and wary, like he doesn’t know what Steve wants. That’s fair. Steve doesn’t know what Steve wants, except that he knows he made a huge mistake underestimating Tony in the OR, and he wants to know more about the genius behind those steady, skilled hands. God, Steve thinks, Bucky is going to have a blast if he finds out. It’s fortunate for Steve’s sanity that Bucky had rushed out to meet the girl’s mother, or he would have laughed himself silly at the red Steve knows is racing up his cheeks. The longer Tony looks at him without breaking the silence, the hotter it feels. He fiddles with the crumpled, wet tissue in his hands.
“You’re Doctor Rogers,” at last Tony says. There’s a note of heavily disguised awe in his voice. “You’re the Steve that Au – that Peggy keeps talking about.”
Oh god, Steve thinks again. Sometimes, the magazines still cover stories about his days as an army doctor and the explosion that led to him getting a Medal of Honor. He came to SHIELD only because of Peggy, because the doctors here didn’t treat him any different just because he’s seen the desert and the guns. “Depends on what she’s told you.”
“That you’re the sweetest damn soul she’s ever met. Didn’t expect you to have so many muscles.”
Steve laughs, the tension rolling out of him. He finally throws his tissue in the bin as Tony pockets the neatly rolled coils of wire. Opening the door, Steve lets Tony out first.
“A classic gentleman,” Tony quips, “no wonder Peggy loves you.”
“How’d you know Peggy?” Steve asks as they walk down the hallway. It’s one in the morning and there’s just the two of them with the bright white lights overhead.
Tony looks at him with a raised brow. “You don’t know who I am?”
Steve frowns back. “No? Should I?”
The snort that comes out of Tony is genuinely disbelieving, and Steve squints suspiciously.
“You really don’t know me?”
“I know you’re Tony, and you're the next mad scientist Peggy picked after Doctor Banner.”
“Well, darling, if you want to know what to shout in bed – fuck, sorry,” Tony cuts himself off. “Pep says I should tone myself down, but I need coffee, and you’re married with a kid, and – ”
Tony startles at the warm hand on his shoulder. Steve is startled at his own hand on Tony’s shoulder. He quickly snatches it away, letting it settle back awkwardly against his thigh. “Sorry,” Steve says for what he feels is the millionth time today, “it’s alright. No harm. I’m not married.”
“Oh.” Scratching the back of his head, Tony’s eyes dart around nervously for one second before they lock onto Steve’s again, a practiced calm settling across his face. “Well, I’ve got to see the girl before – ”
“We could get coffee,” Steve blurts out. And then, “oh God, sorry, I didn’t – ”
Tony’s practiced smile turns into something more real and they continue their walk, “I’d love some coffee, big guy, but let’s save that for next time. You’ve got a son to get home to. There’s a girl with a plausible weapon of mass destruction in her chest who I need to see.”
“A what?” Steve barely holds back his shout.
All Tony does is give Steve a mad grin, “look me up, Rogers. Then we’ll get that coffee.”
Steve wants to say something more, but, too soon, they’re in front of the little girl’s room. Her mother is sat by the bed, thanking Bucky over and over as she clutches her daughter’s hand. Bucky catches sight of them by the door and waves them in.
“This is Doctor Stark, Mrs. Williams. He invented the device keeping Riri’s heart going. She’s the very first in the world with it,” Bucky says in introduction.
Steve stands back as Mrs. Williams rushes up to hug Tony, Tony’s face is scrunched up as he slowly pats her back. “Thank you, Doctor,” she says again as she pulls away, tucking her curls behind her ear.
“Doctor Rogers helped too, he’s Head of Paediatrics, so he’s really more qualified than me with the children,” Tony smoothly says, mischief mingled with something else in his eyes.
Bucky looks just as shocked as Steve at Tony’s words, and Steve struggles to find his own words as Mrs. Williams decides it’s Steve’s turn to be hugged. He’s still caught up with Doctor Stark because who doesn’t know Tony Stark? Oh God, Steve panics, I just asked Tony Stark out for coffee.
Distantly, Steve notices that Tony’s made a beeline for Riri’s bed. Despite the heart monitor, Tony’s measuring her pulse at her wrist, looking at the IV levels and gently placing her hand back on top of the beige blanket. There’s a softness in Tony’s eyes that make Steve want to gather him in his arms.
Bucky clears his throat and Steve forces himself to snap back. He can feel Mrs. William’s tears soaking through his shirt, so he squeezes her shoulder once before slowly pulling away. “It was a group effort, really, ma’am,” Steve earnestly says. “We’re lucky it’s Doctor Stark’s first day here.”
Across the room, Bucky sends a sharp look at Steve. Steve knows he’s going to have to spill everything to Bucky, but that realisation is flooded out by another, more dangerous thought: fuck.
Of all people, Steve curses his heart, why Tony Stark?