"Stark, have you ever fought someone before?"
Tony looked up from the mess of screws and wires that was covering half of the dining room table. The American wonder boy, Steve Rogers himself, was sitting directly across from Tony, eating what had to be the 3rd omelet he'd had that morning and curiously watching Tony tinker with the Iron Man gauntlet.
"Of course I've fought someone," Tony said, irritated that he was interrupted from his work to be asked such a stupid question. He took a long drink of coffee, the bitter and piping hot drink burning his throat a little as it went down. "Maybe you should get your head checked out, Cap. We kind of just had that whole 'Thor's evil and fabulously dressed brother trying to take over the world' thing just a few weeks ago."
Steve coughed awkwardly and took a big bite of omelet. "No, I mean have you fought someone without the Iron Man armor on? I mean someone stronger than your boxing coach. Clint or Natasha, maybe."
"And why the hell would I do that?" Tony picked set down his mug and began screwing. "They'd beat the crap out of me unless I was wearing the suit."
"Actually, that's exactly what I'm trying to get at." Steve cleared his throat again and began fidgeting in his seat. Someone's trying to play nice; Tony thought and chuckled to himself softly under his breath. It was the first real time they had talked since Loki almost destroyed the world other then how to work some kind of electronic or whether or not poking Bruce with things was classified as a sport. "I think you should start training without the suit more. Just think about it; what if your suit ever fails on you? What if someone is able to take it off of you? What would you do then?"
"That would never happen."
"But what if it did?"
"It won't."
Steve got up from his seat and leaned closer to Tony over the table. He spoke slowly and clearly, putting an emphasis on every syllable. "But what if it did?"
Tony put down his screwdriver and looked Steve in the eyes. Tony was aggravated. Not many people had the balls to stand up to him like that, to look him straight in the eye with that much authority. "Stark, I can't have you as weak as you are without your armor. What happens if someone stronger then Loki and his army attack, huh? What happens if they take your armor, or it fails on you, or it breaks? It's a machine, Stark, and even though I haven't been in the 21st century too long I know that even the most complicated machines can break if you know how to break them." Steve paused. "Or if you don't." He laughed softly and awkwardly, trying to break the tension by making fun of himself. He had broken almost every electronic device he touched since he moved into Avengers Tower.
He smiled slightly, an adorable, lop-sided smile that made Tony want to cuddle his face and smash a bottle over his head at the same time."I just think it might help a little of you tried to fight someone that's a little bit stronger than an average person."
The blond super solider picked up his plate. "Cap, I'm telling you, I don't need to. I can fend for myself. I'm not a child."
"I know you're not a child. I'm not doing this because I don't think you can hold your own ground, I'm doing this because I need you to stay alive. Everyone else has experience with hand-to-hand combat without full-body armor, you should have it too. Besides, what would the Avengers be without Iron Man?" Steve said and playfully smiled again, almost as if he was talking to a young fan of his that had asked for his autograph. Tony felt his chest tightened and his heart rate speed up. Damn. He has such a cute smile.
…
Shit.
"I'll meet you in the training room in 20 minutes."
