"JARVIS, any idea where Tony is?" Steve said, half awake. He'd just woken up, the glowing screen on the digital clock said the time was 03:17am, and bed next to him was cold and empty. This wasn't unusual. Tony often had nightmares and decided to get up or was too immersed in his work to notice that he should probably be sleeping by now. More often than not Steve would have to go and find Tony and physically drag him to bed, and stay awake waiting for Tony to fall asleep to make sure he didn't creep away again.
"I believe he's in his workshop, Captain Rogers." JARVIS's smooth british accent spoke throughout the room. The AI still confused Steve a bit, but he was learning to live with it. He sighed, not at all surprised at Tony's whereabouts.
"Thanks Jarvis." Steve mumbled as he threw the covers off and sat up. He didn't particularly want to go and fetch Tony, he wanted to go back to sleep, but he knew he was going to go anyway. If Tony was ever left to his own devices, he would completely forgot to eat and sleep and wash for days on end. He'd be too focused on whatever it was he was building to remember to look after himself.
Steve pushed himself up and made his way towards the bedroom door. He was only wearing pyjama bottoms, sitting low on his waist, so he felt the cold on his bare chest as he crossed the room. They normally slept in Steve's room, which was pretty empty. He'd been hesitant to collect many belongings after defrosting, he'd lost everything and not just physical belongings. Tony's room was hardly ever slept in, instead it was covered in bits and bobs, scraps of metal and small useless inventions. It was one of the main reasons they slept in Steve's room.
It only took him a matter of minutes to get down to Tony's workshop. He could see him through the glass, working away. He took a minute to watch Tony, before he typed the code into the keypad. Tony was bent over a table, dummy next to him, following what he was doing. He had a screwdriver in hand and was working away at something small and fiddly, his face only inches away from his work. He was wearing dark joggers and an old worn band tee. He was covered in oil and sweat, Steve couldn't help thinking how good he looked like that. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind and walked into the room, stopping a few meters away from Tony.
"Tony?" Steve whispered, watching Tony closely. Tony grunted in response, not even looking away from his work for a second. Steve covered the distance between the two of them in a matter of seconds. He went to put his hand on Tony's back but stopped a few centimeters away, unsure whether it would throw Tony of balance, but then decided to do it anyway.
Tony jumped slightly when Steve's palm touched his back, dropping the screwdriver onto the table with a small clang. He stood still for a moment, his empty hand still thinking it was holding the screwdriver, a mildly confused expression on his face. Then, still not registering Steve, he picked up the screwdriver again and began working again, as though Steve wasn't even there.
Steve sighed, taking his hand from Tony's back. He took a minute to look around the workshop. The various work benches scattered around the edge, the expensive cars down at the other end, and, most importantly, his suits all lined up along one of the walls. Steve was amazed by all the suits, they really were amazing. All the different shapes, colours, all designed for a slightly different job, each one even better than the last. Looking from left to right along the wall you could really see how much Tony's designs had improved, from that first suit built in a cave, mark 1, to Tony's newest design, mark 42.
He turned his attention back to Tony, still working away. He tried calling his name a few more times but still he got no reaction. He walked closer to Tony again and, putting his hands on either side of Tony's shoulders, spun him around. For the first time that night, Tony looked up at Steve, a tired, empty expression on his face.
"Tony..?Tony, are you okay?" Tony's hands were still resting on Tony's shoulders as spoke gently, trying to get through to him. Tony didn't say anything, he just shook his head slightly and leaned into Steve, his forehead resting on Steve's shoulder. Steve didn't try and stop him, instead he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, just holding Tony. Steve's bare chest was warming up with Tony's warm form leaning against him.
"C'mon, you need to sleep" Steve whispered in Tony's ear, whilst running his hands up and down Tony's back. At his words, Tony's whole body tensed and he leaned back enough so he could look up at Steve's face, and shake her head quickly, a desperate expression on his face. Steve kept his arms wrapped around Tony, in case he wanted to push Steve away and go back to work.
"Why not?" Steve whispered again, looking concerned. Tony looked away, down to the left, for a moment before answering. While he spoke he kept glancing up at Steve for only a fraction of a second at a time.
"I just - I don't wan - I keep getti - getting these dreams, nightmares really, and they - they're too much…" Tony whispered his answer, ashamed that Steve would judge him for it. When he finished talking he blushed slightly, wanting to lean against Steve and feel his arms around him once again but at the same time to nervous that Steve would reject him for showing weakness.
"I know, but you need to sleep, doll. We all get nightmares sometimes, but I'll be there to look after you…" Steve was still staring at Tony's face, watching for any kind of reaction. Tony didn't reply, he just nodded.
"What's in these nightmares?"
"Mainly stuff from The Incident in New York, seeing all the Chitauri soldiers coming through that portal in the sky, the last thing I saw before my eyes closed, that bright orange light as the nuke went off. Sometimes I see Extremis soldiers, doing everything they can to kill me while I was without my suit. Sometimes I can get away, fight them off, but most of the time I don't. Sometimes I wake up just before they kill me, other times the dream just changes." Tony whispered most of what he said, but Steve was close enough to hear every work clearly. He cared about Tony deeply and wanted to do everything he could to help him, but he wasn't sure what to do.
Steve sighed, and pulled Tony against him again. Tony didn't fight back, instead wrapped his arms around Steve's waist, burying his face against Steve. They stayed silent for a while, neither man moving at all.
"You know, we all get nightmares, we've all been through some tough stuff throughout our lives." Steve whispered. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going with it, but he wanted Tony to know he wasn't alone. Tony looked up at him when he finished talking, still keeping his body pressed against Steve with his arms around his waist.
"You get them too?" Tony asked, in an almost childlike way.
"Of course, I often get nightmares about that day that I crashed into the ice, making plans with Peggy despite knowing I was about to die. But we still have to try and function in everyday life."Steve whispered softly. Tony was looking up at him the whole time, as though he couldn't believe that the big strong Captain America had any weaknesses at all. Tony didn't answer, instead he just put his head back on Steve's chest and closed his eyes.
"C'mon, you need to get some sleep." Steve whispered as he gently began moving Tony towards the door. Tony hesitated and pushed Steve gently away from him so Steve was now only holding onto Tony's hand. He knew then that he was never going to be able to get Tony to go to sleep without gently forcing him, talking him into it would never work, Tony was stubborn and everyone knew it.
So Steve decided the only way to get Tony to go to bed would be to take him to bed. He gave Tony a small smile before walking up to him and putting his arms around his middle. Tony automatically put his arms around Steve's neck before realising what Steve was up to, but it was too late. Steve picked him up. Tony had been picked up by Steve several times before so he knew it was useless to struggle, he wasn't getting away. He had no choice but to admit to defeat. He wrapped his legs around Steve's waist and rested his head on his shoulder.
"C'mon, let's get you to bed" Steve whispered, making sure he had wasn't going to drop Tony. He left the workshop, with some difficulty typing the code into the keypad whilst still carrying Tony. He managed it after a few minutes, and headed towards his own room. It only took them a few minutes to get there. Whilst carrying Tony, he was peppering light kisses on his face and neck to reassure him before laying him down on his bed. He didn't mind that Tony was going to get oil all over his bed sheets, he just wanted to make sure that Tony was okay.
He crawled into bed next to Tony, pulling him close. He checked on Tony, seeing his eyes were closed. He laid his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes. Making sure he didn't fall asleep until he felt Tony's breath even out and was sure he was asleep. Once he did, he smiled to himself before letting himself drift off.
He knew this wouldn't be last night he had to convince Tony to go to bed, and it wasn't the first either, but he didn't mind. He loved Tony, and not just the side of him the world saw, he loved every part of him, even the side that was self-destructive and needed babysitting.