AN: Hi! This is my first story in the Avengers fandom, so I hope you all enjoy it and that it's not too far off character-wise. Please enjoy!
Tony Stark was down in his lab in what was now known as Avengers Tower, when he heard a scream rip through the soundproofing job he had done on the lab. Knowing it was his boyfriend Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, Tony dropped what he was doing and ran up the stairs to the first floor. Steve didn't scream like he just had often but when he did, the situation was usually dire. Hence, there was Tony, running toward the ongoing sound and calling Steve's name in a full blown panic.
"Steve, Babe, where are you?!" It was only then that Tony realized Steve was screaming a name, and that it wasn't his.
"Howard! Howard, please, come kill it! Good God, please!"
Okay... Tony followed Steve's voice into the kitchen at a much slower, more cautious pace. If Steve started using blasphemy, the situation was dire, no question about it.
"Babe-" he finally made it to the wide kitchen doorway, although there really was no door and the way in was just an open space where a wall should have been; it led straight into their communal living area.
"Oh, thank God!" when Steve spotted him. He was crouched on the large kitchen island, which groaned under his weight as his arms strained to keep his feet off the floor, so that he was half on it and half off it, "Howard, kill it! It's the size of a baseball! I would get Bucky to do it, but he's not here right now and- Oh my God, it's moving!"
Tony decided to not address the sudden name change or regression for the moment and instead tried to calm his frantic boyfriend while searching the kitchen floor where Steve was pointing dramatically. There were only two things that could cause Steve to act like this, and that was either ice and/or the idea of being cold, or- Tony continued to search until he spotted the culprit.
Spider.
Not even a very big one, but Steve had gotten bitten by one before the serum and it had made him extremely sick. He hadn't forgotten that, and frankly Tony didn't blame him. Spiders were creepy fuckers, with their eight eyes and legs. They were freaks of nature. At least, that was Tony's opinion, and he was sticking to it. Period. He wasn't technically afraid of them however, and so, as Steve's loving and caring boyfriend of almost a year, was the official killer of spiders. Except Natasha, that is. Tony didn't ever want to get on her bad side.
"Easy, Steve, easy. Stay right there and I'll kill the spider in no time, I promise," giving the spider a wide berth, Tony went to the counter opposite the island to grab a paper towel, and then crossed to Steve again. With a chaste, reassuring kiss on the lips, Tony got down on the floor and quickly squashed the spider before standing up and washing his hand at the sink. He then crossed the room to Steve again, whose fear had given way to guilty tears like it always did.
"Come 'ere, Babe, come 'ere. It's okay. The spider's all gone-"
Steve shook his head, cutting off Tony's speech, "It's not that! I called you Howard! Again!"
"Hey, Steve, hey. Look at me, listen to me. I don't care that you call me Howard when you regress back to the forties like you just did. I know that you and him had a relationship way back then. You told me that, remember? And to be honest, while I do still hate the man for what he did to me, I love that he was able to take care of you like he did. So it really doesn't matter to me anymore, okay? Now relax. The spider's gone, and you can go on doing whatever it was you were doing. I'll always be here for you Steve, no matter what. Got that?"
Steve's military training kicked in at the question and he snapped to attention, "Sir, yes Sir!"
Tony chuckled at Steve's reaction and then leaned in close, so that their faces were mere milimeters apart before he whispered, "At ease, oh Captain, my Captain..."
Steve flashed Tony a watery smile at the nickname and accepted it when Tony kissed him again before fully pulling away, "Thank you..."
"Always here for you, Steve, remember that," and then Tony made his way back to the workshop, leaving Steve to stand in the middle of a spiderless kitchen grinning like an idiot. A lovestuck idiot, that is.