"You're nothing more than a weak man in a metal suit." Steve Rogers bit out viciously. His blue eyes scanned the billionaire stood in front of him.
Tony had to admit that it had stung but he wasn't about to show that to this idiot wrapped in a skin tight version of the American flag. He braced himself and continued on.
"Let's take this outside and see who is the weak one after all." He growled, taking a large step towards the muscled super soldier. He tried to ignore the fact his brain was telling him that Steve Rogers was a trained soldier with advanced abilities.
"Get in the suit, Stark." The blond snarled back.
"With pleasure." He marched out the lab in the direction of the suit. He was going to show this patronizing, goodie two shoes exactly where he belonged. He may be a Captain but he had no right to talk down to Iron Man.
"This is not going to be good." Natasha sighed to Bruce as they watched their two teammates storm out.
Less than 10 minutes later, the red boots of his suit landed on the deck. It was practically deserted. It only took him a few seconds to spot Steve standing near the other side with his shield strapped to his back. The all-American boy turned upon hearing the thrusters.
"Maybe this'll teach you that you're no better than the rest of us." Tony hollered over the wind as he ran toward the other man. He held out his iron fist, prepared to strike Steve in the stomach but the super soldier reacted quickly; pulling his shield out in front of him.
The fist hit it, softening the blow. It protected him so much that Steve only had to step back to accommodate for the force. Cap returned the aggression by swinging his shield until it hit the side of Tony's helmet. The serum made Steve strong, this much was clear, Tony reflected as the force threw him off balance making him stumble to the left.
The genius caught a sight of the smirk that decorated Steve's face and it re-ignited years of hate towards his father's object of constant praise. He aimed a blaster at the hero's head and fired. The shield was once again there to protect it's user. Stark gritted his teeth and determination settled deep into his bones. He was known for getting his way.
As Steve was swinging out a leg to try and trip Tony, the older man swung out and hit the shield out of the blond's grasp. In the time it took for Steve to retrieve it from the deck, Tony had landed some solid punches to his stomach and chest. He beat the man until that goddamnned shield was lifted again. Victory was within his grasp.
The soldier defended himself again and knocked the playboy off his footing. The suit landed with an almighty crash. Steve began to move but Iron Man grabbed his ankle and tugged the man onto the floor with force. There was an uncomfortable cracking sound as he went down, the speed he'd been pulled back had generated significant force.
Captain America spun and smashed the shield down and the sound of metal fracturing echoed throughout the suit. Tony was impressed with the guy's brute strength although it was all due to the serum.
"Sir, the suit is beginning to suffer damages." JARVIS spoke calmly into his master's ear.
Steve about to bring the shield, his only weapon, down onto Tony again when the iron hand sprang out and caught the edge. Immediately, he took off. Thrusters blasting up to send the heavy metal suit into the air. He maintained a steady grip but so did Steve.
The higher they got, the more the super soldier struggled to hold on. Panic began to weaken the look of determination on his face. His features began to wither in and his brow furrowed.
A wave of guilt smacked into Tony harder than any blow he'd been dealt over the last 10 minutes. He began to quickly descend back toward the deck when Steve's grip faltered and he fell. Steve descended the whole distance to the deck without his shield to protect him. A fall less than half the distance would undoubtedly kill a normal human.
Tony was too far away to hear the crack that permeated from Steve's, definitely human, body. He landed beside the lying man expecting the fight to be over but the soldier showed his stubbornness by flipping up then kicking Tony right in the chest. He fell back, his suit doing nothing now but weighing him down. He landed with a thump.
Starving for revenge, he threw the shield like a frisbee at Cap's head. The man, clearly injured and unfocused, didn't notice until the heavy metal had made contact with his skull. Everything went black and he collapsed.
He must have only blacked out for a few moments as when he opened his eyes Tony had only just reached him and his helmet was only just opening.
"Crap. I'm so sorry." He panted, to distracted to hide the fact he was worn out by their duel and the flow of adrenaline. He watched as Steve's blue eyes went from the fog of confusion to the distaste that Tony had learnt to associate with recognition. "Here, let me help you."
"I can manage fine on my own. Thank you, Mr Stark." Steve replied stiffly. He pulled himself up and managed to school most of his pained expressions except those that would have challenged even a master poker player.
He tried to walk normally to the doors but he could feel there had been some serious damage done to his body. It was not supposed to feel this way. He was relieved when the doors closed behind him and he made his way to his room.
Tony stood shocked on the deck. People began to once again emerge and continue with their daily tasks upon the ship. It confirmed his suspicion that Fury had commanded everyone to just get out the way to allow them to battle out their differences. They'd all undoubtedly been watching on their little screens.
He sighed and ran a hand over his face. He'd taken it too far, even an idiot could see that. A metal suit against a human being who had only recently been brought back to the land of the living. Nobody payed any attention to Iron Man as he stood in the middle of the deck. He briefly wondered if they agreed.
Steve closed the door behind him and fell against it instantly whilst letting out the groans and panting he'd been holding in for the entire 2 minutes and 48 seconds it had taken him to get all the way down here. He had to walk at half his usual speed and stop more than once and pretend to be gazing out a window instead of catching his breath. He was pretty beaten up.
He pressed a hand against his side and his ribs complained with a bolt of pain almost like being stabbed. Definitely broken.
He stripped out of his uniform. Why had he even started a fight anyway? Over what? Pride? Ego? He pulled on some sweatpants and a tee. He was more than intent with spending the day doing nothing but tending to his wounds.
Speaking of which his head was beginning to throb with a steady beat. Hesitant fingers touched the developing bruise and he winced. A thin cut there had been bleeding on his walk back but it was mostly the bruise that worried him. That was going to be nasty.
He raised his top and peered into the mirror. Deep black bruising was forming along the ribs on his right side. It was slightly painful to breathe. He knew he healed fast thanks to the serum so he prayed he wouldn't have to drag himself to hospital to fix them.
When he pulled his T-shirt down he felt a pull in his wrist. He felt it and knew there wasn't a break but most definitely a sprain. Steve sighed as he tried to continue on without moving his wrist too much.
Nowhere else was broken but the longer he searched, the more bruises he found. He undoubtedly fractured some other bits but it was impossible to find out from the outside. He looked like hell; the bruise on his head had blossomed and the corner of his bottom lip had swollen up.
He groaned, took some pills and climbed into his bed even though it was only 4:30pm. His body was in pain and he needed a rest. He was unconscious within a few minutes.
The door was shut and Tony was staring at it as though it held the secret to eternal life. Steve was on the other side of that door which was the exact reason why he hadn't already manned up and knocked. What if he didn't want to hear his apology?
He raised his arm and hesitated. He needed to apologize. Even Natasha had told him to buck up his act and apologize. He knocked and the sound echoed in the small room behind the door. He waited because he knew the man was there. There was minor noises coming from inside the room since he'd knocked. He did it again.
"Come in." The voice, raspy with sleep, called out.
Tony pushed open the door to see Steve pulling the covers back over on his bed and taking a seat. He didn't look capable of standing for long periods of time. His wrist was resting limply on his lap and the weeping cut above his eyebrow had a dark bruise surrounding it.
Tony steeled himself and began to talk. Unexpectedly, Steve also began to speak.
"Look, I just came to-"
"I think I really need to-"
They looked at each other, embarrassed as their words collided. There was silence as neither man knew who was going to continue speaking and who was going to wait. Eventually it was Stark.
"I just came to apologize. I was a dick... More of a dick than usual. I took it too far." He admitted. Completely uncomfortable with apologies.
The super soldier peered up at the other man in shock, "Wait, you came to apologize? I wanted to say sorry too. It was my fault it all started since I challenged you. I let my pride and ego get in the way of the team."
"You can't be serious!" Tony scoffed, inviting himself to sit on the bed beside the man. "I was purposely being a dick to wind you up. I wanted to see if I could make you snap! I don't really see how it was your fault."
Steve gave him a weird, unconvinced look, "Yeah? Well, I need to have better control over my emotions anyway. I could jeopardise everything like this."
"I can't really blame you though." He justified, "You wake up and suddenly it's 70 years later. You have been coping with it better than I could have. Soon enough you'll come into your own again." Tony could remember all the stories his father would tell him about the Great Captain America. Those stories that had made Tony fall in love with this hero decades ago. He knew that Steve would become himself again once he found his place in the modern world.
"It's- it's quite a change." Steve agreed, comforted by Tony's words. He smiled gently at his new friend.
Tony nodded and sighed, "Now, let me get a first aid kit. I'm not letting you go about with an open wound on your head. Imagine how bad that'd make me look." He smirked.
Perhaps he wasn't such an awful guy after all...