Whiskey
Steve wasn’t much of a drinker. Never had been and never would be. Tony however, drank whenever he could get his hands on something. Didn’t matter what, as long as it had alcohol in it. According to Pepper, he had once been much worse, and he had calmed down quite a bit since they got together. It didn’t stop Steve from worrying though.
The first time Captain America had walked into the lab to find Stark passed out face down on the sofa in the corner with bottles of various alcoholic beverages littered around him, he’d nearly had a heart attack. No one could consume that much alcohol and suffer no repercussions. Steve hurried forward to make sure the man was alright.
“Tony,” he barked, shaking the scientist’s shoulder sharply. “Tony, wake up!”
He got a grunt that could have been a belch and a obnoxiously loud snore in reply. Well, at least he was breathing normally.
“He’ll be alright, don’t worry.”
Steve looked up at Pepper as the woman seemed to materialize from the shadows to drape a quilt over her boyfriend. She leaned down to smooth out the brunette’s hair and motioned for Steve to follow her out of the lab.
When they were out in the hall, she sighed, rubbing her eyes warily, “He’s like this every year. Always around the time that hid dad died. They didn’t have the best relationship, but I think that just makes it worse.” She blinked up at the bulky blonde and shook her head. “Sorry, you probably didn’t need to hear that.”
He shrugged, unsure what to say.
“I mean,” Pepper continued to babble. Obviously she was too tired to realize exactly how much her mouth was running away from her. “I mean, I know Howard was your friend, but he wasn’t the best dad, you know? But Tony can’t seem to stop beating himself up over it. He blames himself for a lot of it, I think. I just can’t get him to talk about it. And then he goes on these binges.” She was interrupted by the trill of her cell phone’s text tone. She sighed and excused herself, asking over her shoulder if Steve would mind looking after Tony for her. He waved her away, assuring her he’d keep an eye on the other man as she disappeared around the corner.
The next year, and every year after, Steve made sure to lock up all the alcohol on the anniversary of Howard’s death. Everything except a single bottle of whiskey. The same type that Howard always kept handy in his own lab. That he opened and poured into two glasses. He and Tony would sit, side-by-side and sip at the warming liquid until the bottle was empty. Then Tony would move on to work on whatever project he had for the day and Steve would sit in the corner and watch. He was still a bit of a lightweight, however. So it wasn’t so strange that sometimes, when he looked at Tony, he saw a very old friend, bent over some latest piece of technology for Steve to take into the war.