Disclaimer: Characters belong to their respective owners.
The night had been peaceful and warm in the bedroom; surprisingly Tony had slept all 6 hours thinking Steve was next to him but woke up to different. There was no handwritten note on the bedside table, like there have been many before: Went for a run. Will be back soon.
He wandered around Stark Tower in his plain black boxers. Maybe the blond was in the kitchen like almost every day, making some nice breakfast for both. But the billionaire could not smell any coffeemaker doing its magic.
"Jarvis?" the brunet called out when he entered the kitchen. "Where is Steve?"
"Sorry, sir. The Captain left several hours ago."
"When?"
"Two hours after you fell asleep, sir." Tony felt a vein in his temple throbbing; he grabbed his phone like a reflex.
Voicemail.
Tony slammed his phone against the kitchen aisle. "Fuck…" He hurried upstairs to put on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. While he washed his face, the thought of Steve getting sick of him and leaving got stuck on the genius' mind. He permitted the poisonous feeling to drown in the washbasin and sighed rather loudly. Maybe Steve just needed to clear his mind.
The billionaire jumped in his ridiculously expensive car with a silent groan and drove his way to Steve's apartment, immediately discarding every bad thought that crossed his mind every three minutes. But he had learned to breathe in and out to keep himself together.
He had arrived to his destination; he just mindlessly parked his car and took the elevator. The stupid background music made a mess of his nerves. He kept breathing trying not to hyperventilate.
The knocks on the door sounded desperate. "Steve— Open up"
The silence provoked Tony's throat to escape a displeased grunt. "Steve? I'm going in"
He felt grateful Steve had given him the key. He was hoping to find Steve curled up on one side of his bed, his arms tightly wrapped around a pillow, his golden hair dirty and messy, still on his clothes. Hell, he'd be happy to find his boyfriend vomiting on the sink. All he needed was to find him.
But there was no trace of Steve being there whatsoever.
Tony's left hand formed a tight fist that made his knuckles went white. His right hand was still holding angrily the latch
So Steve had left.
So Steve had left him.
Tony bit his lip and slammed the door closed only wanting to exit the building. He was back to Stark Tower in less that it had ever taken him from there. He locked himself in his lab as he used to do every time he couldn't think— or stop thinking about something.
But Steve refused to get out of his messy, genius like mind. The mechanic in Tony worked in some unfinished and failed projects until his vessel's body was sore and shaky. Tony was covered in sweat and dirt, lacking every good thing he could have: hunger, energy, ideas or a partner who could tell him what to do when his mind was going around and around with self-destructive and destructive thoughts only.
He didn't realize when he had fallen asleep until he saw Steve screaming in agony inside his nightmare. He woke up with his heart beating so hard he could hear it; even through the reactor. The genius remembered that one thing he had done almost unintentionally.
"Jarvis! Holy shit! This stupid ankle bracelet I tied to him… it has, it has a fucking GPS tracker..."
He did know how to excuse himself for doing such thing. A month or so ago, Steve had given Tony his dog tags, but the brunet felt like he had given him a piece of his skull or something. He found himself in the mood of returning the favor late that night, when he remembered there was a bracelet somewhere in his room.
He got up, making his memory tell him where— (nah, he called Jarvis). He studied the object for a second; it was a simple black rubber cord with a golden coin as a pendant. Happy told Tony it was a present from Pepper, but Tony disbelieved their intentions when his chauffeur insisted on his boss wearing it. He soon found out what it was.
The genius thought it would suffice. He placed it around Steve's right ankle while he was sleeping. Tony's goal was giving his boyfriend something of his, but he did not think it through.
"Trace him." and Jarvis did.
A chill went down Tony's spine when an abandoned warehouse in south New York showed up on the screen in front of him.
'Not a warehouse…' he muttered to himself. He instantly knew it meant trouble; he hoped he had thought about it earlier. What if it was too late?
"Ready the suit, Jarvis"
The destination was already set and with his mind focused on an unknown target Tony Stark was almost functional this time, and more importantly, he was enraged because someone of his had been taken.
Iron Man flew to the abandoned warehouse and wisely decided to call Natasha Romanoff for backup in the way. When it was about Steve he couldn't risk himself not being enough to save him.
The place was enormous but Tony did not waste a minute to get in, it meant interrupting anything that was happening, he just wanted this nightmare like a storm of endless worries on his heart to end.
Repulsor rays were fired from Tony's palms and one of five or six big windows on top of the warehouse shattered to pieces and fell to the ground, creating more than some noise.
Tony felt an unexplainable kind of pain on his chest as he landed next to his lover.
Steve was being drained, that is what it looked like; he was strapped to a metallic exam table with thick leather belts. His body positioned as if he was crucified, there were pieces of metal working was handcuffs to immobilize Steve's forearms. There were IV lines sucking his blood, connected to the veins on both wrists.
The image was appalling and terrifying for Tony; there were machines all around the exam table, measuring his pulse, temperature and brain waves. 'Who the fuck did this…'
The brunet wondered for how long he had been like that. And a memory came to his mind just as fast and painful as a bullet from a shotgun.
You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle
His own words echoed in his head, his teeth gritted painfully tight as he considered himself (one more time) the biggest asshole on earth.
The soldier was clearly unconscious. A rather great amount of blood had dried on his temple and down to his jawline as a result of a tough impact. Steve's pale skin was stained with dirt, like if he had been taken down face-first.
His breathing seemed arrhythmic; Steve's lungs struggled constantly for a gasp of air to get into them. Tony took a better look at his body; there was an incision on the front side of his neck that opened a direct airway through a tracheostomy tube.
The genius cursed under his breath as his eyes widened in shock.
The Iron Man mask was lifted and Tony's huge brown eyes screamed concern, pain and anger.
"Steve…?" he didn't know if to expect any response from the captain.
So, someone was trying to recreate the super soldier serum, Tony deduced by the lectures on the machines.
"Steve-"
"I wasn't expecting you to join us" said a stranger's voice. Tony turned around to meet eyes with a man around his thirties, messy hair, glasses and a cheap black suit under a blood stained lab coat.
Tony was too preoccupied and distracted to see it; suddenly two humanoid robots were pinning him down, their weights were ponderous, impossible (even for Iron Man) to lift. He tried, he really did but none of the suit's functions worked and he couldn't get rid of them, soon he felt his bones and organs crushed. It was like if a plane had landed on top of him.
"Who are you?! What have you done?!" Tony yelled his lungs out in despair.
"I would expect a genius of your kind to have figured it out by now. The serum is already mine, see? Courtesy of Dr. Douggray, I have done my research; I can separate every component of the captain's blood. He's not going to make it, though. In a couple of hours he'll be in a coma, you know what comes next. You should say goodbye."
Tony felt his heart up in his throat, if he hadn't been so selfish he could have been there before, he could have saved Steve, he could have; that pained him the most.
The soldier's eyes slowly fluttered open, Tony saw their dim light. He was still there.
"I have to admit it" the Dr. Douggray started, "this was easier than I thought. Perhaps, all thanks to you, Sta—..."
Steve's right arm had tensed while the man was talking; the soldier took one struggled but deep breath and focused his superhuman strength on his limb, releasing it from his metallic binding.
Luckily, the insane doctor was standing near to him, for Steve didn't waste a second and punched his sorry skull down to the ground into unconsciousness.
The moment the man fell, the humanoid robots got away from Tony and left.
It took just a blink for Tony to get to Steve's side. The blond still had one arm trapped, a few wires that connected him to the machines fell out, yet he glanced over Tony with a tiny, tiny smile on his pale lips.
"I'm so sorry..." The mechanic disconnected the IV lines from Steve's veins and the last machine connections. Then carefully pointed a precision laser and sliced the metal as if it was butter "I should have... noticed"
Tony's apology sounded more accurate and extent in his mind, but it came out messed up, plain and brief. That made the genius feel terribly frustrated.
"Stop blaming yourself" The brunet didn't expect his boyfriend to be able to talk due to his recent tracheostomy, but then recalled the wonders of the super-soldier serum. Steve's voice sounded exhausted and forced but god— Tony had been so scared to never hear it again. "I went for a walk last night after you fell asleep... Something hit my head. That's all I remember."
That was right; Steve was still wearing the dark gray shirt he went to sleep with. He had put on a pair of not-so-loose sweatpants.
"Are you alright?" Tony examined the blond, now that he was closer; the wound on his head looked worse, the blood had become black on the impact area. Tony could now see the dark purple bruise on Steve's not-blood-stained cheekbone. The tracheostomy appeared to be perfectly executed; there was a white, cotton neckband securely positioning the tracheostomy tube.
"Yes, but we need to get rid of that" while Tony had been apprehensively scrutinizing the other's physical condition, Steve had already figured out the 'serum separating system'. He pointed to a level upstairs, where there was a medium container made of thick glass with the super soldier formula in it: a whitish, soupy substance, falling drop by drop from a complex connection of tubes and machinery with a large amount of Steve's blood in it.
"Right, I'll—...!" Tony was not close to finish the sentence; he was knocked out with a powerful punch of one of the humanoid robots. Iron Man was sent to the furthest wall in the roomless warehouse. Just a second after, Steve had a droid aggressively holding him and Dr. Douggray injecting him the same unknown substance that had gotten him in first place.
The man held the soldier's jaw with his free hand so wrathfully his knuckles went white. When the syringe's content was fully injected the robot let go off Steve. Dr. Douggray walked to the nearest wall and pushed Steve against it as the soldier could feel his energy fading, along with his ability to react. Tony could tell by how he didn't fight back.
Their captor dug his fingernails unto Steve's skin, causing him to bleed slightly while the blond let out an almost inaudible sob of pain.
"Hush. It will be over soon." the captor whispered, and Tony noticed, Steve's eyes remained open but he was paralyzed.
The Iron Man suit was trapped and Tony kept struggling, he was going mad with every second lost, he could do nothing to save the only man who loved him and the only man he loved.
Nobody seemed to notice the arrow pointing at Steve's aggressor until it went through his shoulder. The doctor shrieked in pain and instantaneously released Steve from his claws; the soldier fell to the ground, his chest pressed against the floor.
Tony's eyes encountered Clint Barton. Standing bow and arrowed, on the ceiling, exactly where the broken window was; he effortlessly shot another arrow to the man's thigh to be sure he'd stay down.
Then, the archer proceeded to shoot three of those famous arrow/bombs of his at each of Tony's attacker's heads which exploded instantly.
Tony exited the Iron Man suit and ran next to his lover, turning his paralyzed body around, gently placing him face up.
Natasha appeared apparently from nowhere; she knelt next to Steve and placed two fingers on his right wrist to feel his pulse.
Clint soon joined "The serum is safe. We called SHIELD, they're on their way"
"There's no time" Natasha's words made the genius' brain to begin functioning even faster. "His pulsation is very weak, his heart may stop beating"
Tony's jaw clinched powerfully just before he directed himself to the medical instrumentation. He rapidly found a metallic syringe and handed it to Clint. "Fill it with Steve's blood. The first container over there" He pointed upstairs where the draining system was, Clint nodded and disappeared.
"Are you sure about this?" Natasha used both hands hold Steve's, and check his pulse at the same time.
"Yes, his heartbeat…"
"It's weakening"
Clint shortly returned with the soldier's blood, he handed the syringe to Tony, but the genius froze momentarily as he felt an immense responsibility, an insufferable weight resting on his shoulders. It was his lover's life in danger; now, could he possibly save it?
Tony's breathing became uneven as he took the syringe in his hands. He gulped loudly and started to take deep occasional breaths from time to time that he remembered his lungs still needed air.
"Please, step back" and the agents did. Natasha had already noticed that the billionaire was having an anxiety attack, but she knew this matter was safe in his hands.
Tony knelt next to Steve, tearing his shirt apart almost effortlessly. He started palpating his boyfriend's chest, looking for a good spot to inject.
'Where is your heart, baby?' Tony mumbled unintelligible words in despair, terrified of committing a mistake that would kill the man he loved in two seconds.
He tried to be tender as he stabbed the needle into his lover's heart. The blood entered the body it came from while Tony focused for a few seconds on Steve's eyes, a gorgeous sapphire stared back at him, but the sight was dreadful as they were screaming the excruciating pain they felt. The genius felt part of that pain too when a single tear ran down the soldier's face.
Although Steve was near to completely paralyzed, Tony saw his body have a spasm. He didn't know if it was a seizure but he hoped not. "You're- you're going to be alright, Stevie" Tony tried his best to smile, just a bit and maybe Steve wouldn't be that scared.
Tony held Steve's hand firmly while Clint checked on the soldier's pulse. "It's constant" he announced as he kept feeling his wrist's veins pumping regularly.
"They're here..." Natasha had being supervising everything: from Steve's condition to every suspicious movement that was in the warehouse, and the insane doctor who had passed out, of course. SHIELD agents entered the place taking control of what Natasha had done already.
The medical assistance had Steve in an ambulance, his limbs safely and rather gently strapped to the stretcher.
Tony never left his side; he kept holding his lover's hand in SHIELD's-supposedly-more-efficient medical transport. The genius saw Steve's eyes slowly closing and his jaw gritting probably in pain.
They did arrive to the hospital in no time. The soldier, who had lost consciousness, was separated from Tony and taken to the emergency room where the doctors eliminated the toxins in Steve's system by draining them the same way his boyfriend had done just before.
"Sedative for elephants" Tony heard a distant voice.
"What...?"
"That mixed with other poison like toxins. You did the right thing, Mr. Stark." All the hospital belonged to SHIELD, every doctor, nurse; surgeon had had special training, so dealing with Steve's super-human body was less of a challenge than to any regular doctor. "The Captain suffered a severe concussion-" the doctor could not finish.
"How did he suffer it?" Tony interrupted authoritatively.
"Seemingly, one of the androids hit him; he fell unconscious but his captor administered the sedative anyway." The doctor continued patiently "As to the tracheostomy, we believed that there was an overdose of the tranquilizer injected; it had such effect, it caused the Captain's lungs to decrease their normal functioning to almost none. His imprisoner reacted correctly on that. His breathing became normal very soon and the tracheostomy is now unnecessary but we've kept the tube and the neckband while the incision heals."
"How is he?" the billionaire hurriedly digested all the information given to him and wanted to keep asking, question after question after question.
"Stable. He'll need an oxygen mask to help his cells take charge of the amount of blood lost. The concussion will cause him discomfort; even with his healing abilities. He may present confusion, headaches, blood puking, dizziness, balance problems, etc."
"What about the sedative?"
"His blood is almost clean from any toxins. It is expected that the super-human cells will multiply themselves and recover his body of all damage in a day or two."
Tony massaged his temples persistently although he knew the worst part was over, there was this terrible feeling he could not get rid of; something kept tapping tirelessly on his skull. The brunet rather not focus on it, but he was suffering from a chocking sensation. He slowly put his shaking, sweaty hands down.
"Where is he? I ne- need to-" Tony started mumbling tongue-tied again; luckily (or not) Natasha was nearby and she knew what to do.
"Sedate him." she said calmly, resting her hand on Tony's shoulder.
"NO! Don't you dare!" he slapped the agent's hand away. It really angered him, feeling somebody else's intent of comfort: a little pat on the back was enough to put them in his nerves. The genius thought it was hypocrite.
Even though he was aware that he was about to lose it, he didn't want to be treated like an animal. Natasha had better reflexes: she grabbed Tony's wrists just for a moment to immobilize him. Tony felt a slight pinch on his arm and everything faded to black.
— • • • —
Steve's eyes fluttered open, the cold tone of fluorescent lightning hurting his exhausted blue eyes. Everything around him was blurry and moving in circles. The soldier let out an unpleased grunt as he tried to move; but there was something stopping him.
Clumsily he ripped off the IV needles in his forearm and took off the oxygen mask. He was suddenly on his feet; walking as if those were his first steps, he left the room and looked around for god-knows-what.
Maybe it was his instinct, maybe it was the awaken part of his brain that led him to Tony's hospital room, not before tripping several times and walking into four or five walls. Miraculously he didn't fell.
Just finally there he was. The soldier opened the wood door maladroitly and recognized Tony Stark, lying on the bed looking so damn peaceful and harmless.
"Tony... Tony wake... wake up, Tony" Steve's voice was unclear and faint but fortunately the brunet was oversensitive inside his dreams, he could hear his boyfriend's call inside his head as if Steve had yelled.
The genius' eyes flew open, rapidly focusing in the soldier next to his bed: forehead bandaged, the bruise on his cheekbone gone. "St- Stevie?"
"Tony, are we dead?" the sound emitting was still a struggle. His irritated throat let out a scratchy and sleepy tone.
"Dead? No." Tony's eyesight lowered a bit, looking at the tracheostomy tube coming out of his lover's throat, the small, silicone feeding tube passing through his nostril, down the esophagus; and lower to his chest, which wasn't being covered by the hospital gown. There were dark bruises and red, bloody spots where he had recently been stabbed by syringes. Tony held his breath for a brief moment and redirected his sight to Steve's eyes. His pupils were terribly dilated.
Steven Rogers is high Tony's deduction echoed more than a million times in his head.
"Okay big guy, let's go back to your room" The brunet sat up, looking at his own clothes for a second: the black t-shirt and jeans remained on him. He cautiously placed one of his boyfriend's arms around his shoulders before standing on his feet a bit unsecure of Steve's ability to walk. The blond clung practically needy to his lover and pressed his forehead against Tony's head. "Yeah, I love ya too." Steve's only response was a soft, warmhearted growl that made the brunet smile.
The two walked across the room, somewhat stumbling since Tony didn't expect his boyfriend to lean so much of his weight unto him.
The brunet opened the door and both stood under the door frame. Tony slid his hand down Steve's back for comfort or support, he wasn't sure; but his hand made contact with his boyfriend's bare skin.
The genius made a face and took a look at the other's buttocks. Fortuitously (for Tony) Steve was wearing one of those hospital gowns that leave one's backside vulnerable, but Tony didn't want to show off Steve's fine ass just like that.
He placed a hand on his boyfriend's rear, putting both sides of the patient gown together to cover him.
"There!" he heard Natasha's voice and looked up. Two nurses were running to them.
"How did he find you?" said one nurse trying to find Steve's eyes but the blond kept his face buried on Tony's shoulder.
"I... don't know" the billionaire failed to speculate and muttered in response, not allowing the nurses to lay hands on his boyfriend.
"Let me help you, sir" said the other nurse, grabbing Steve's arm with her tiny hands; the soldier did look huge next to those young ladies.
"Oh no, I got this." Tony alleged with a little of annoyance in his voice.
Natasha noticed how Tony was trying so hard to cover Steve's butt and she couldn't help it but smile. "This way, Stark." she finally clarified, leading them to the captain's room.
Once they were there, the mechanic helped his boyfriend lay down. The blond moaned mutely when his bandaged head was put on the bed. Tony ran his fingers through Steve's golden hair. "There…" he susurrated mildly.
The soldier closed his eyes and sighed. "Thanks for coming… I am sorry… really." Tony shivered in guiltiness, stroking Steve's cheek with his thumb.
"Shh… It's not your fault."
There was a short moment of silence and Tony thought his boyfriend had fallen asleep. The genius exhaled noisily while sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I feel terrible…"
"You don't have to, Steve"
"I can't help it, my head aches."
…
"Oh."
"I'm hungry, Tony…" More than hungry, Steve was starving. It had been more than 24 hours since he was abducted. Captain America sure needed to be fed constantly.
"I'm sorry, sugar. I don't think you can keep a meal down," Tony smiled faintly "that's why you have the feeding tube."
Tony felt somebody's glance on him, he turned his head and saw Clint, leaning on the door frame with a huge question mark on his face. The billionaire rolled his eyes and mouthed at him He is high .
Natasha, who had held the nurses outside the room for Steve and Tony to have a moment of privacy, finally let them in. One nurse prepared a new IV for the soldier while the other placed the oxygen mask on him. "It will help the pain go away" she excused herself.
Tony nodded before looking down at Steve whimpering softly as the nurse inserted the needle in his hand's visible vein.
"His system is seriously messed up right now. He needs to rest and he'll hopefully recover." The lady announced with a tender voice.
"What do you mean hopefully?" That annoyed tone was on Tony's voice once again.
"I mean… he… he'll be fine, sir. We just don't know how much it will take."
The mechanic proceeded to ignore the nurse, nearing a chair to the blond's bed.
Clint entered the room followed by Natasha. "You can leave now" said agent Barton calmly.
Both nurses left quickly. "He'll be fine" Tony heard Natasha's voice behind him. He nodded in response.
Steve's eyes were wide open since he was pawed by the nurses. His eyes looked greyer at that moment, his pupils still dilated. Agent Romanoff looked at him for a moment. "Clint, let's go"
"You are kidding, I'm not losing stoned Captain America"
Tony turned his head promptly and glared at him, his jaw clinched. "Go. Away."
Clint shrugged at Natasha who was also glaring at him. "It was worth a shot" he said and left behind his partner.
Tony sighed and focused on his boyfriend one more time. Steve was looking right into the genius' brown eyes, he felt like if the soldier was admiring and criticizing every goddamn flaw his soul had, his naked soul.
But Tony didn't look away, he was feeling too mortified at this point. The blond babbled some words that sounded muffled because of the oxygen mask that his boyfriend couldn't understand.
"No, try to sleep." The brunet grabbed Steve's forearm to give him comfort, he hoped.
Only that the 'stoned soldier' didn't give up; he kept trying to make himself clear through sounds that weren't fully perceivable.
"Steve, don't" Tony's lips showed a soft, sweet smile. "You need to rest, you heard them, right?"
The soldier blinked repeatedly and tried to remove the oxygen mask but the brunet held his hand strongly and didn't let him. Steve let out an annoyed moan with his throat just like a kid would have.
"That's not nice," Tony answered gently, like a father would have. "you'll feel better when you wake up."
Steve did not give up on trying speaking up, not until he fell asleep, maybe half an hour later. Tony stayed closed the whole time; he observed Steve's resting body the whole time. Connected to so many things, with those tubes violating his anatomy nature, Steve looked vulnerable and defenseless. The genius could have taken off the oxygen mask to let the blond speak, perhaps he was anxious of what his lover wanted to tell him. So he rather never find out.
It was the third time Steve had woke up. His eyes opened little by little and were pleased to find Tony first.
The brunet got a bit closer to him, finally removing the mask from Steve, being really careful about it. "Hey there…"
"H- Hey… What happened?"
"Sedative for elephants, that's what happened."
"Really?"
"You were high, baby" Tony cracked a smile, amused.
"High…?"
"Oh, you were such a wuss"
Steve blinked a few times, adjusting to the slight dizziness before Agent Coulson and Nick Fury nonchalantly entered the room. None of them bothered to greet them, the blond because it seemed such a trouble to focus on that moment, and the brunet just because.
"Captain." Fury called, and the soldier lowered his head a little in response. "Are you aware of the situation?"
Steve rubbed his eyes and sat up. "The serum. It was taken out of me."
"It was." Phil stated with a softer tone. "It is the first successful extraction of the serum"
"You have it?" asked the soldier suddenly feeling nervous.
"Yes, agents Romanoff and Barton got it safe back to SHIELD" Fury's announcement provoked Tony to stand up… and obviously speak up.
"Back to SHIELD? Tell us, when was it of your property?"
"I anticipated you already knew, the super soldier serum was always under SHIELD's care" Fury's voice was louder this time.
"And what exactly are you planning to do with it? You know how many disasters that has caused?" And the genius' got even louder.
"That is not of your concern, Stark."
"It is not mine, obviously you don't give a damn about the trouble it can cause, then nobody gives a shit!"
"Tony…" the blond called out barely audibly, but the billionaire heard it.
The yelling ceased.
"Captain, we will inform you when we decide what to do with it, if you don't agree we will discuss it." Coulson spoke with more authority than Fury.
Steve nodded. "Thank you"
A few seconds passed before the two visitors left the room. Tony sighed stridently as he sat where he was.
"It's my fault. They almost got you killed and now I have got you in trouble, once again! And undoubtedly not for the last time," he stated with one gasp of air and looked down. "I have you, but I can't protect you; I clearly do not deserve you, I am so self-"
Steve had held up his chin, leaning in unhurriedly before his lips touched. The kiss was tender and delicate, their tongues barely made contact but it was enough to feel each other's warmth. Steve had literary stolen Tony's breath. It felt like eternities since they had last kissed.
They pulled back languidly, pressing their foreheads together and looking deeply into each other's eyes.
"We'll be fine." Steve murmured mutely. "I promise."
I hope you enjoyed this little monster :)
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.