A/N: Forget to take the events of AoU into account, and was too lazy to correct it afterwards. And my apologies also for any OOCness of the characters. My writing is a little out of practice.
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Nicknames are a Funny Thing
Insomniacs decidedly inhabited the Avengers Tower. It was near unavoidable in their line of work, and those who didn't have it, yet, were prone to become susceptible. Nights after a mission were the most serene, adrenaline from the fight giving way to exhaustion, mercifully granting the older Avengers a peaceful sleep that only the younger Avengers tended to experience. When conking out from exhaustion was no longer a possibility, sleep became fickle and irregular, fear striking when they were vulnerable to their terrors. Everyone had demons of one sort or another.
Wind whipped around his body, sharp as a knife as he relived the scene of Bucky's hand slipping away from his as his body plunged into the abyss; images of Bucky falling off the train had haunted Steve's nightmares since before waking in the modern world. Following the descent, his friend metamorphosing into the Winter Soldier, Steve attempted desperately to redeem him, to undo Hydra's programming. But caught up in the vision, he was left with the realization of his failure, of that fact that he couldn't save Bucky.
Waking without conscious shift into awareness, Steve wasted no time in leaving his room. Glimpses of the nightmare replayed through his mind, cold tendrils of fear slow to relinquish their grip, dogging his mind with questions of what he could've done differently. Making his way to the community floor to escape the questions, silence born of slumber coated the Tower, heavy and tangible in the muted darkness that pressed against him, concealing everything in tones of dark and gray, only the periodic nightlight offering its soft, unobtrusive glow as a guide. Keeping the lights dim in the room, his steps automatically carried him to the DVD case. Hand immersed among the titles, he gave a guilty start when Tony suddenly appeared in the room.
"I'm sorry, did I disturb you?" Steve was quick to apologize.
Ambling in without any effort or attempted effort at being quiet, Tony dismissed the apology with an explanation. "Nah, working on an upgrade, have some ideas for how to improve the suit. What're you watching?"
Letting his skeptism pass at the notion of the Iron Man armor needing improvement, Steve didn't miss the dark stains on the engineer's sleeves and face, the other man's shoulders drooping with telltale exhaustion, and hair ruffled as if he had run a hand through it several times. In contrast to his body langue, Tony's expression was far too bright and awake. A sure sign of too much caffeine.
"Not sure yet," Steve replied, hand continuing to rifle through the DVDs.
"Have you seen Star Wars yet? It's a classic," Tony volunteered. "Start with the first one released, Episode IV: A New Hope." Flopping onto the couch, simultaneously giving the command for the system to pull up the movie, he didn't wait for Steve to give his opinion.
Companionable silence came over them as the movie started. Just teammates familiar with trusting the other to have their back in battle, and not commenting on their weaknesses after the fact, watching a movie that one hadn't seen before and that the other was familiar with. Although Steve experienced the most contention with Tony, their moral differences inescapable, there were a few times when he didn't find Tony's acerbic personality irritating beyond all reason, or mind the billionaire's penchant for constant chatter. Tonight chanced to be one of those times.
Surprisingly inanimate, slumped in his seat, energy visibly disintegrating by the second, Tony didn't offer the running stream of commentary that typically came with the territory. Empirical starships chased rebel princesses, music swelling between dark and foreboding, to hopeful courageous. For the first half hour or so of the movie at least. Stirring to life, Tony offered unexpectedly, "Dad's old business partner and friend was this guy named Obadiah Stane."
Not tearing his eyes away from the scene of Luke following R2-D2 in search of Ben Kenobi, Steve gave a noncommittal, mildly interested, "Yeah?"
"He became CEO of Stark Industries, after dad died, until I came of age. He believed he was a mentor figure to me, if you know what I mean, but I had this nickname for him that used to drive him insane."
Uncertain of where this information sharing was coming from, but willing to play the role of listening friend, Steve obliged by asking, "What was it?"
"Well, to close friends, he often went by Obi. So I took a step further and called him something else…" Smirking in wicked glee, eyes lighting up at the memory, Tony divulged eagerly, "I called him Obi-Wan."
Frowning in puzzlement, Steve queried, "Like the movie?" pointing at the screen. The other man nodded smugly, the answer doing nothing to clarify his confusion. "I don't get it," he admitted.
"You'll get it eventually," Tony waved off.
The movie progressed uninterrupted, bringing new developments and characters to the story. Well engrossed in the film, nightmares quieted, Steve's attention was beginning to wander as his mind drowsed when Tony spoke up again.
"I have a new nickname for you Cap. Instead of calling you Capsicle, I shall call you Han Solo," he announced, weariness heavy in his voice, but nonetheless pleased with his cleverness.
"What? Why?" Steve articulated, struggling to comprehend the connection between him and the space the rogue. All in all, Han Solo seemed like an unsavory character with questionable morals, a slippery tongue, and in more trouble than he could handle. Things the good Captain hardly approved of.
"Oh, no reason. Just remembered something that happens in the next film that reminded me of you," Tony replied cryptically, settling for what had become an even longer night.
Later, whenever the topic of Star Wars came up, the first thing Steve recalled was a foggy memory about a conversation of nicknames, and the fact that Han Solo was not a fitting nickname for him. A point he often had to argue over with a certain stubborn genius.
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A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! And any feedback is greatly appreciated.