A tail.

Where he had expected there to be legs was instead a tail.

If it wasn't for the stranger looking up at him with such innocent awe he just might have dropped him back in out of shock.

Shouldn't he drop him back in regardless?

Can they breathe out of water?

"Stark!" Hawkeye's voice broke through on the Comm line. "Is that what I think it is in your arms?"

"I... think... so."

IronMan sounded unsure of himself.

"Man of Iron! The water-woman has been brought to her knees. Our SHIELD brethren have taken her."

"Got it Thor."

"IronMan," Widow's voice broke in. "Mind telling us what you'll do with... the merman?"

She was right but as he flew down to carefully slide the blonde back in the water the merman suddenly anchored muscular arms around him.

"Go with you."

"You can talk?!"

Wide blue eyes blinked.

"Yes."

"Might as well bring him with," Bruce's voice was a bit raspy. It always was after de-Hulking.

Tony tightened his hold and flew carefully.

What else could he do?

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"So, are we keeping him?" Clint couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice.

Tony shrugged aiming for nonchalance but not quite managing it. His expressive eyes were glued to the merman currently swimming happily in his pool.

"He needs a name."

"What?"

"You know, one of those things everyone else is referred to by? A name."

The genius tapped a finger to his chin. Mind made up, he walked over to the edge of the pool, ignoring the jolt of something he felt when the blonde immediately swam to him and raised himself waist up out of the water.

"What's your name?" Tony asked.

Those damn blue eyes just stared at him.

"What's your name?" the blonde parroted back eventually.

"It's rude not to give your own name when asking for another's but considering I didn't do that to begin with, I'm Tony."

"Tony," the blonde repeated. The merman reached out and suddenly cupped the sides of his face, startling him. "Tony."

His heart thudded hard.

"Yeah. That's my name," Tony breathed out. "What's yours?"

He was all too conscious of the impossible blue eyes, the smoothness of those lips, the glow from the pale skin, the richness of his cornflower hair, the solid line of his jaw-

Fuck.

He was doomed.

The merman didn't even have legs for goodness' sake. How would they even-

No. Stop.

Don't go there.

Seriously.

"My name can't be pronounced out of water."

Tony lifted a brow. The blonde hadn't let go of his face.

"Yeah... that's my cue to leave," Clint called out from somewhere behind him.

Tony didn't respond to that.

"Wear a rubber Stark."

That one, he did respond to.

"Legolas!"

"If anyone can figure it out it's you and you know it!"

"I'm taking that as a compliment!"

Clint's laughter followed him out.

"How about a nickname then?"

"Nickname?" the merman questioned.

Tony reached up to place his hands over the merman's. Slowly he slid the hands off of his face.

"Yeah," he whispered. "Anything you want to be called."

The blonde lit up.

"You pick."

Tony Stark bit his lip.

He was not blushing damn it!

"Steve."

The merman's tail gave a happy splash.

"I'm Steve."

"Yeah," the genius reluctantly smiled. "It suits you."

The newly christened Steve pushed off from the edge and spread his arms out.

"Get in water Tony."

The brunette immediately froze.

Steve came back to the edge.

"Tony?" he asked with a frown.

Harried eyes studied the merman. He swallowed thickly.

"I'm good near water... not so good in it."

By the plunging of Steve's eyebrows the blonde obviously didn't understand.

Tony looked away. His hands itched to touch the arc reactor but he crossed them instead.

"Some bad people used water to hurt me once."

Steve looked despaired by that and Tony made sure to keep his eyes everywhere but on him.

"I come to you?"

The genius blinked.

"What?"

The blonde grinned. With a single push he was up and out of the water leaving Tony to gape at him.

Steve was standing tall and proud before him, entire muscular form dripping wet.

Legs.

He had legs.

"I come to you!" the blonde announced merrily.

Tony couldn't stop gaping.

"What the fuck!?"

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Tony Stark was losing his mind.

Thor had immediately taken to Steve, the two blondes bonding in the experience of liking to walk around naked. Something which Pepper Potts put an immediate stop to.

Someone up there both loved and hated him.

"Ow."

He brought a hand up to rub his temple where Clint had been poking him.

Natasha's delicate but fearsome brow rose.

"Damn Stark, are you that far gone over the fish-man? It took you quite awhile to realize I was poking you."

"I am not gone over anyone, thank you."

"I was poking at your head," Clint stressed and gave him another poke.

Tony tried to swat the purple-clad man away but he missed and only got laughed at for all his trouble. He should not be getting laughed at by a man who wore a lot of purple on his downtime as well, seriously.

"Fine, keep poking at the head that just finished making missile-guided arrows."

"Really? They're done?"

Tony smirked at the awe the archer hadn't been able to hide.

"Yes, too bad they'll sit around in my workshop. Unused and all."

Clint clearly had a battle with himself. Clearly he struggled not to rise to the ba-

"I want those."

"Is that so?"

"Ill be good. Promise."

"Pinky promise?" Tony drawled, raising his pinky up with a grin.

Clint locked pinkies with him in surrender, ignoring Natasha's superior smirk.

"I hate you."

"Love you too pumpkin."

"Do you need me to collect this pumpkin for you Man of Iron?"

Tony turned around to face Thor and almost slipped out of the booth as Steve came out from behind his fellow, tall blonde.

"Holy Jarvis! Go put on a shirt!"

Steve blinked down at the white tank top he wore, muscular form straining the several sizes too small piece of clothing.

"I am," the blonde returned uncertainly.

"One that fits!" Tony spluttered, rubbing a hand over his face. "That's too distracting!"

"Speak for yourself Stark. I for one wholly appreciate the view."

Bruce stepped in then, taking a visible pause as his eyes slid the room.

"Should I be worried about Clint's appreciations?"

"Only if your the subject of them," Natasha informed him.

Bruce nodded and accepted the cup of coffee from her while exchanging smiles with Thor as the Norse God reached out above him to take hold of a box of Oreo PopTarts.

"You're fired, all of you," Tony grumbled.

"We are not a lit in flames Man of Iron," Thor sagely pointed out.

The tech genius groaned, body stiffening when a hand fell upon his shoulder.

It was Steve's.

"Do you wish I to leave?"

The raw sincerity could have made vile rise in his throat, or throw his hands up in thanks to whatever grand cosmic force brought this to him. Either or.

"Am I unpleasing to you?" Steve pushed, grip tightening.

Tony's eyes widened imperceptibly.

"Good God no. Stay all you like, up to you really. And you are not unpleasing, at all. You are, in fact, down-right gor-"

"Keep it in your pants Stark!" Clint pleaded.

The billionaire's eyes glimmered.

"Missile-guided-arrows."

Clint might as well have sucked down the essence of sour for what his face looked like then.

Tony burst out laughing which evidentially died a quick death when Steve leaned down onto him, large arms wrapping about him in a hold as the blonde merman pressed his face into the genius' neck.

"Tony," Steve breathed in before tipping his head to press a feather-light kiss against the jawline and around the edge of the vandyke shave.

"That's it," Clint dropped the apple he'd been working his way at. "I'm out, again."

The archer up and left the kitchen with a hurry to his steps. The others quickly followed out, all in varying stages of amusement at the situation.

Natasha, however, made sure to give him a parting glance as she told him, "not to make a mess in the kitchen."

Tony might have given her an indignant comment in return had Steve not suddenly pressed his barely-clothed body against his and kissed him full on the lips without so much as a warning.

Warm.

Steve was a whole lot warmer than any man of the ocean should have the right to be.

Still, the merman wasn't quite the kissing expert Tony was (that was not self-entitled, it was earned dammit!) though his eagerness and sheer sense of pleasure more than made up for it. Pliant mouths slid against each other until the separation left the resident genius in a dizzy tizz.

"Holy damn," Tony concluded, eyes slipping their focus to Steve's reddened lips and stiff pants.

"Tony," Steve smiled, brilliantly. "Like you."

"Like you too," Tony returned. "Like you a whole lot. In fact, let me keep showing you how much I like you."

Steve smiled, stupidly happy as he crushed himself to Tony, burrowing his face into Tony's chest only to pull back abruptly.

The genius froze.

Crap.

He pushed himself up, wondering about the determined glint in the blue eyes only to yelp as the merman slid his shirt up to expose his chest.

Tony swallowed the knot in his throat as Steve's brows furrowed.

"What is?"

Something in those unfathomable light eyes made him talk.

"Oh, that's an arc reactor. Self-sustaining energy that keeps shrapnel from entering my heart-"

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. Steve's fingers were brushing the edge of the reactor.

"I... you shouldn't-"

"Machine keeps you alive," the blonde concluded as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to it, a freaking kiss, causing Tony's heart to beat at an exponential pace. "Beautiful machine."

That... that was...

Too much.

It was way too much.

"I need to go and work and stuff," he stumbled out as he stood up, easing away from Steve's embrace.

"I come?"

Tony shook his head, willing the pout that Steve adopted out of his mind.

"No, I've got a lot of work to do. You just go find one of the others."

Tony is not exactly proud of that particular moment, of what he did then but looking back he would have done the same thing all over again.

He ran.