This one is dedicated to the wonderful corkycat as a birthday gift. Enjoy hunny, sorry it's a tiny bit late! You're the best!

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Fantasies

"I'm sorry."

"I don't really want to hear it."

"I'm really sorry."

"I'm not mad."

"Yes, you are."

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because I said that I wanted to have sex outside and you ended up getting bitten by a piosonous snake and having to explain to the EMTs what we were doing out there. And you so are mad."

"Maybe I'm a little annoyed," Steve admitted, shifting his weight slightly on the hospital bed. There wasn't much that could keep Captain America down for long but it looked like rattlesnake venom could do the trick for a couple of days at least.

"I knew it," Tony said triumphantly before his face fell. "I really am sorry," he offered "I never would have suggested it if I thought there was even the tiniest chance that you might get hurt."

"I'm not annoyed about being bitten," Steve sighed "I'm annoyed that you're snake repelling technology, which you assured me was perfect, didn't work. I'm annoyed that you didn't check the location properly to make sure it was safe to start with. That's why I'm annoyed, Tony."

"It was perfect," Tony objected "It worked one hundred percent perfectly."

"Tony," Steve sighed "It didn't repel the damn snake. It didn't work."

"The snake was repelled," the billionare complained "It was just inside the device. So it got repelled in the wrong direction. Towards us. And it was going to bite me but you went all hero and jumped in the way."

"I'm at far less risk than you, you know that," Steve said firmly "I'm out of here in a couple of days but the time it took for EMTs to get to us would probably have killed you."

"Didn't stop me from nearly having a heart attack," Tony complained "And, you know," he gestured at his arc reactor "That's only partly a joke."

"Funny." Steve snarked. Tony felt a surge of pride. He was obviously having an effect on the super soldier if that little piece of sarcasm was anything to go by. "And anyhow," the blond continued "This is still your fault, Tony. Who decides that their ultimate fantasy is to have sex in the middle of the wilderness?"

"Don't poke fun at my fantasies," Tony complained "We did that thing with the chocolate sauce that you were dying to try!"

"That was entirely different! We were on a bed. In a house, Tony. There were no snakes, for goodness sake!" Steve felt a flush riding his cheekbones at the memory of that night.

"I'm sorry, OK," Tony interrupted him. He was looking down at the sheet covering his lover instead of meeting his eyes.

"What?" Steve hadn't expected that. He couldn't remember the last time Tony had apologised like that. There was no joke in his eyes, no sign that Pepper had coerced him into it.

"I'm sorry," Tony said again "Where we went was the closest place I could find that resembled a desert."

"You wanted to have sex in a desert?" Steve asked, confused by the direction the conversation was taking. Tony picked at a loose thread in the sheet.

"I've got a lot of bad memories from the desert," he said quietly "I guess I just figured that I could replace them with something better. With a good memory, you know?" Steve couldn't think of anything to say at first.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked finally.

"I dunno," the billionare shrugged "Felt stupid about the whole thing. Didn't want you to think I was making an uneccessary fuss."

"You know," Steve said gently "For a genius, you can be an absolute idiot sometimes, Tony. I'm not going to judge you for anything. You could have told me."

"Then I'd owe you," Tony murmered "Something like that... how could I ever pay you back?"

"That's not how it works," Steve told him "When you're with someone, that's not how it works. I like to help you, Tony. And if helping you involves sex then I just count myself extra lucky." Tony couldn't help the tiny smile that turned up the corner of his lips.

"You already know that I'd do pretty much anything for you," he offered "Including that thing with the chocolate sauce which, by the way, was one of the hottest things I've ever done. Ever."

"Let's go out together next time," Steve said "We'll pick a spot, check for snakes, carefully, and make some better memories. Sound good?"

"You'd do that?" Tony asked "Even now?"

"You're worth a thousand snake bites," Steve said firmly.

"That's sweet but uneccessary," Tony yold him "I've already figured out what I need to change to make the repellor work." Steve raised an eyebrow.

"I thought it was perfect," he said calmy.

"It was but now it's outdated," Tony smiled smugly "The next model will be even better," he promised hia bedriddden lover.

"Then I guess we should test it as soon as possible," Captain America managed a fairly passable leer that had Tony filled with equal measures of pride and guilt. If only the rest of his country knew what he was doing to their idol whose reputation for purity was one widely broadcast. A wave of possesiveness filled him and he gave into the temptation to brush his mouth over the other man's lips.

"No more snakes for you," he murmered "I don't want anyone except me biting you."

The gleam in Steve's eyes was a sure sign that he was on board with any and all of the plans that were running through Tony's imagination.

"When I'm better," he promised and leaned in for a firmer kiss that left them both equally breathless and content.

Thanks for reading, please R & R! :-)