This is not my bed, was the first thought that surfaced through the mist of unconsciousness. He was swarmed by a musky, warm smell that made the genius fell utterly content for some incomprehensible reason. He turned his head slightly to bury his nose in the pillow. It then dawned on him that he had absolutely no idea where the hell he was or how the hell he got there.
He cracked open his eyes and peered around. It was dark inside as the small window faced the neighboring apartment block so the light couldn't filter in. The dated blinds and bulky wardrobe gave the small bedroom a sort of tired and aged look. Tony had definitely never been here before; his usual overnight stops tended to be of a higher class than this. He wrinkled his nose in a manner of superiority. At least his black vest was still on so nobody could poke at the Arc reactor.
The bed beside him was empty and still made. So obviously he hasn't slept with the homeowner. He silently thanked the Gods. He glanced around the room and his spotted his Iron Man armour piled on the floor in all states of disrepair. He groaned at the thought of having to sit and painstakingly repair each individual piece.
If he'd been kidnapped by some crazy fan, which he assumed he had, then he needed to get out before they came back and continued their obsessive fantasies about him. His clothes were folded into perfect A4 sized piles on a small stool that appeared to act as a bedside table. He hauled himself up, groaning as his muscles and various bruises protested. The bed creaked as he perched on the edge and held his breath expecting his host to march back in and restrain him or something.
He slipped on his clothes and crept over to the door. He peaked through the gap and could see the sparsely furnished living/kitchen space. It was small, cramped and dull. Similarly decorated in old fashioned, bulky furniture like in the bedroom. Only a couch, coffee table and bookshelf in the lounge and basic cooking utensils in the kitchenette.
It was only after a couple moments of inspection did he realise that there was the huge frame of a man sprawled across the small love seat. His body was too long meaning his neck was bent at a painfully bizarre angle and feet were hanging free. But what made him freeze was that the man was practically an Adonis and stunningly good looking. If Tony wasn't versed in this area he would have been blushing at the mere thoughts surging through his head.
He opened the door carefully but it betrayed him in a squeaked. The homeowner suddenly snapped awake with his light eyes immediately on his guest. Some snap fast reflexes.
"You're awake! Are you okay?" He pulled himself up from the couch and took a couple of steps towards the man but stopped upon noticing Tony's uncertain expression, "You need to eat something." He hurried over to the kitchen area where he began rummaging around in his off white refrigerator.
Tony, feeling his aching body get weaker, leant against the back of the love seat so he could keep an eye on his bizarre host.
"You've been unconscious for nearly 12 hours and I was really starting to get concerned." He said over his shoulder as he pulled together the buildings of a sandwich. "But you're up now. I put some ointment stuff on a few of your scraps and bruises... I hope you don't mind. I'm Steve, by the way." He rambled.
He encouraged Stark to rest down on the seat and handed him the food.
"How are you feeling?" He asked again.
"I've been better." He mumbled gruffly as he took a bite of the sandwich.
Only then did he release how truly hungry he actually was and devoured it in a matter of moments. Steve rose wordlessly and prepared another sandwich. He added it to Tony's plate, who murmured an appreciative noise around another mouthful. He didn't mention anything but he could see that the only things in the fridge was the materials required for a sandwich. Aside from that, empty.
"What's your name? Do you remember what happened?"
He swallowed, "Tony and kinda. It's a bit fuzzy."
He remembered everything up until the team had separated and gone off in different directions to fight the aliens across the city. Everything after that was either fuzzy or nonexistent.
He asked, "Where did you find me?"
"I heard a loud thump on the roof so I went up to check it out. You were up there surrounded by bits of that robot thing." Steve gestured back to the bedroom where the suit was lying broken. "I didn't know what to do so I brought you back down here and hoped you'd wake up soon."
"Thanks for picking me up though." Literally, he thought chuckling.
"No need to thank me. Anyone would do the same." He answered, humbly. "Do you have anyone we need to call? A wife? Family?" He suggested.
"Oh, shit. They're gonna think I went on a bender or died... Probably a bender. Seems more like me." He rummaged in his pocket before realising he didn't take his StarkPhone on missions as he usually had Jarvis communicating for him. "Do you have a phone I can borrow?"
"Um, sure." He began to rummage around in an old satchel before he found an old, beaten up cell phone. "Here."
"Made a stop at the Stone Age to pick this up?" He chuckled as he picked up the cell.
Steve's face when red and he rubbed the back of his neck, "It's all I've been able to afford since coming out of the army."
Guilt washed through Tony, "I'm sorry, I was only joking. It's good." He breathed out through his mouth, "You were in the military?"
Steve smiled, "Yeah, joined on my 18th birthday and had been in until this year. Got injured and set home but I'm on the mend. Come on, you've got family worrying about you."
He dialled Pepper's number but her phone appeared to be off then he remembered she was on a flight back from Tokyo. He groaned as he instead rang Clint, knowing he'd be on base.
He picked up in only a couple of rings, "How the fuck did you get this number and who the fuck are you? Don't think I won't hunt you down."
"Clint, Clint. Calm down it's me."
"Stark? Where are you? You'd better say a bender because I have some serious money on that." The archer commented.
"I'm not on a bender. I'm at Steve's apartment. I must-" He got cut off half way through his sentence.
"You got laid? Crap, now I owe Nat." He moaned, sounding distracted as though this conversation was not living up to his expectations.
"I didn't get laid!" He snapped, for some reason it felt like an attack on Steve's morals even though it definitely wasn't. "After the battle I must have got knocked out or something because I woke up in this guy's apartment. He said he found me on the roof. Anyway, just tell Fury that unfortunately for him I'm still kicking around and I'll be back to base soon."
"Sure, sure." Clint muttered.
Tony hung up with an eye roll. Trust Clint to be disinterested when his colleague phones to report his continued existence. He passed the phone back to his friend with a smile.
"You might want to delete that number. He won't be a fan of a stranger keeping his number."
"Is Clint your..." He hesitated, "Boyfriend?"
Tony barked out a laugh, "Clint?! No! Honestly he'd be the last person on Earth I'd pick."
Steve smiled slightly. There was a beat of silence. Despite how cliché everything was turning out to be, Steve stared into Stark's eyes for a while as he tried to decide whether it'd be reasonable to think anything could ever happened between them. Tony would leave soon and probably never see him ever again. The ex-soldier sighed, glancing away.
"Let's get your stuff ready for you." He stood quickly to gather the parts of the Iron Man suit. It was in such a state of disrepair that it was basically unrecognisable. "What is this anyway?"
Tony's eyebrows rose. He'd assumed that Steve had automatically known who he was when he first laid eyes on him. It wasn't like he didn't have a world famous face.
"You don't know who I am?"
The blond paused slightly looking rather put on the spot, "I... ah, am I supposed to?" He flashed a guilty smile.
"No! Just most people do so I was surprised." He didn't want Steve to feel he was abnormal or something.
Rogers blushed like a tomato as his eyes glanced around the room in a desperate attempt to avoid his eye contact. He knew he'd been a bit distant from society since joining the army but never expected it to become an issue, "Don't I look just stupid... I don't really watch tv and I only read a couple of headlines when something big has happened. I guess I've just been out of the loop so long and it feels weird to have-" He began to ramble on.
"Steve, you don't need to explain yourself. I didn't expect anything from you." The genius reassured him easily, "And besides, when I first woke up I was paranoid that I'd been kidnapped by some crazy stalker fan so this is a much better outcome." He grinned.
Blushing again, Steve bucked up the courage to mutter, "I get why people want to kidnap you." Immediately he threw his hands up to hide his face, "Oh gosh, I just realised how bad that sounds! I'm so sorry."
"No, I liked it." He chuckled looking warmly at his host.
They talked for several more hours about Steve and his life with Tony talking lengths about his life without giving away his identity as a billionaire genius. By the time it was time for him to get back to the tower, Tony really felt a connection with his rescuer.
"I might come and visit you again." He suggested.
"I'd like that." Steve smiled, desperately trying not to blush.