It must have been the loud flash of thunder that caused Steve to bolt upright in bed with his heart racing at 10 times it's usual pace. The darkness surrounded him closely making his panic intensify and the loud crashing of the storm outside didn't help the situation. The pitch black drew him unwillingly back to the war zone where the silence of night always felt ominous and foreboding as though they were merely waiting for attack. Blinking rapidly, the ex-soldier frantically attempted to fight the draw of a flashback.
His clammy hands scrambled for the switch of his bedside lamp which he usually left on overnight to ward off midnight memory attacks. This time, however, as he flicked the switch rapidly, the room remained void of light with the low grumble of the weather outside. Steve could feel his chest tighten at the prospect of being isolated in a power cut with no hope of light for hours. Almost on cue the memories of terror began to seep into his awareness.
Deciding he needed a distraction, Steve ripped the blanket from himself and, without consciously thinking of it, found himself padding down the stairs and into the shared floor of the tower in hopes of finding something to keep his mind off the dark.
A voice suddenly called out to him, causing his heart to race even faster than Steve thought was possible. The voice had to speak again before the first avenger managed to switch his focus to its source.
"Steve?" Tony's voice broke through the noise of the storm.
Steve's ears followed the sound until his eyes adjusted to the room and he noticed Tony huddled at the table with a small flickering candle and some sort of science text spread open. The genius was squinting against the low light to read his paper but his eyes were currently looking concerned in Roger's direction.
Tony spoke again when his friend didn't respond, "What are you doing awake?"
He wasn't focused enough to try and not look pathetic when he scurried over to the low light of the candle and get as close as he could. Once he was situated by the light source he could feel the nightmares of the war drift further away and he could try to respond to Stark as a normal person.
"The storm has caused a power cut." The soldier provided but had to confine in Tony further when the engineer frowned and leant his head in confusion, "I... I have a lamp I keep on by my bed but there's no power..." He recognised that he sounded pathetic but he'd only just avoided a panic attack so had no energy to maintain a macho exterior. He'd never been so personal with Stark.
Blanching, Tony struggled to answer, "You, Captain America, are scared of the dark?"
Steve shrugged it off slightly, "It gives me flashbacks to the war. It would be night and pitch black but you'd be trying to sleep whilst knowing danger was only a few hundred yards away and that tomorrow could be the last. It was almost worse at night than any other time."
Stark nodded at this sudden revelation. He often forgot that the other man had lived a whole different life before he'd been brought to the Avengers that impacted him on a daily basis.
"Did you want to take this candle back to your room? The back up generator should be running soon but the storm is tampering with it." Stark offered.
"Thank you for the offer but I'd rather not be on my own right now." He mumbled.
"Here," Stark insisted, picking up the candle and his documents. Gently, he encouraged Steve to stand and follow him as he led them up to the floor a couple above.
Unsure of what was happening, Steve stood blankly in his bedroom as Tony hurried around the room whilst he assembled extra blankets and pillows until the bed looked not too dissimilar from a nest. Finally he placed the candle on Steve's bedside table and instructed the man to climb back into bed which the soldier did obediently. Moments later, the genius sat down on the other side of the bed; he was sat up leaning against the headboard and his science journal on his lap but he peered down at the other man.
"Good night, Steve." He said.
"Good night, Tony." The tired man murmured back as sleep began calling to him again.
Absent mindedly, Tony's fingers stroked through the light hairs on Steve's head, using his fingertips like a gentle comb. His lips twitched up slightly when he heard a hum of contentment radiate out from the reassured man. Smiling, Tony peered down at his companion and felt his heart squeeze. Fighting this feeling would be hard but he didn't want to pursue any kind of relationship with the man before he figured out if Steve liked him back.
—
-The next morning-
The fresh post-storm morning light woke Steve early but he still felt completely rested. Suddenly remembering, he span around to see if Tony was still sat on his bed but the man was gone leaving only wrinkles in the sheets he'd been sat on. The soldier sighed in slight disappointment but he didn't want to start analysing why he was upset when he hadn't even had a chance to wake up completely.
Suddenly, a box with a note taped to it caught Steve's eye and he lifted it carefully.
Thought this might help you next time
-T
Smiling at the note and unbelievably curious to what was inside the box, Steve opened it quickly. The box was full of wires which caused him to frown but upon closer inspection he could see tiny lightbulbs were hanging from the wires. After a moment, he recognised them as a string of fairy lights with a large battery box at the end.
Slowly Steve allowed his grin to grow comically large as he flicked the switch and the long row of string lights lit up immediately. Even in the morning sun he could see the little bulbs were powerful enough to keep the flashbacks at bay.
Steve jumped up with as much excitement as a kid on Christmas and began hanging the lights across his bed's headboard. Once it was complete he nodded at it in satisfaction and tried to ignore the warmth spreading through his chest at the thought of Tony buying them especially for him.
—
-One year later-
The power shut off with a dull winding down tone. Tony, who's chest Steve was currently laying on, tightened his grip on his partner aware that it could trigger a bad reaction.
Steve, on the other hand, wiggled out of his lover's grasp to instead reach up and switch on the row of lights that still adorned his large kingsize bed. The bulbs released a warm yellow glow that chased away the darkness.
Tony made a sound of surprise, "I didn't know you still had them."
Steve smiled to himself and snuggled back down against his partner, "I haven't needed them since you've been sharing a bed with me but they'll always be handy for situations like this." He swallowed before adding, "Thank you for saving me that night."
Tony knew he didn't need to reply. Instead he dropped a soft kiss on the other man's blond hair and could feel the familiar squeeze around his heart as Steve began to drift off unheeded.