A/N: As creepy as Steve is, there will be no rape or an attempt to. Apparently, even evil Steve appreciates consent. Tony does not give consent, so no sex whatsoever.
"Tony, keep in sight. Clint's on your tail."
Tony had never been one to rely on others to be rescued. Afghanistan had been the only time where he'd wished that all those times he pushed people away were gone and someone would be looking for him (Rhodey, sweet, sweet Rhodey looked, of course, but Tony at the time avoided thinking about him, in case he was dead), and flying the nuke into the portal had been a welcome to death; closer than being in the caves, than the palladium poisoning. It had been there.
As much as he hated to admit it, he feared death.
"There's a body in corridor B."
Death seemed pretty likely right now, chasing a killer that could turn the corner any moment. Bruce assessed that Steve wanted him alive, because he was possessive over him. Tony wasn't so sure.
He'd only seen the results on Steve's killing so far, hadn't seen him in the action. He really didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.
"What do I do now? It's been twenty minutes and I haven't seen a glimpse." Tony said, to the Avengers listening to the ear piece.
"He's close." Clint murmured. "His trail seems to be leading to you, so."
Tony glanced around. The hallways were dim from only the emergency lights being on, silent except for distant shouts of agents and footsteps. There was no sign of Clint. "Where the hell are you, anyway?"
"Where do you think?"
He looked up. Ventilation chambers, plenty big for a person, but then again, Clint had found ways into smaller spaces. He was a little jealous he got to be in an enclosed area out of sight of a psychopath.
"I can't say I love this plan, and this is me, and I'm not the type to shy away from a little danger."
"Do you think we like it?" Natasha sounded peeved. Whether it was at him or the situation at hand, he couldn't tell. As soon as Natasha said those words, the ear piece went static.
Tony tapped it, wincing at the sound. "Guys? Can you hear me? It's malfunctioning. I can't hear anything."
"Tony."
His hands felt clammy.
"Clint, if you can hear me, he's here." He hissed, and then swallowed. "Steve?"
"Hey, Tony." Steve turned the corner. He was in the white scrubs they'd dressed him in after he'd been sedated. "Have you seen my shield?"
"Uh, no. I haven't. I could find it if you go back to the holding." He said meekly.
Steve smiled, in that terribly creepy way that made it look inhuman.
"No? Yeah, I didn't think so." Tony took a breath. "Steve, you have to stop this."
The super soldier cocked his head. "Why?"
"Because you're killing people."
"You've killed people."
"Not innocent people."
"No one's innocent, Tony. You know that." Steve stalked closer, and Tony watched as he took Tony's hands in his and turned them over. "You don't have any weapons."
"You won't hurt me." Tony wished he felt as confident as he sounded.
"No, I won't." Steve agreed, not letting go of his hands. Tony didn't dare move. "We have to get out of here."
"You put this place on lockdown."
"And I can undo it. But you have to help me. I have to find my shield and uniform without any…distractions. You need to tell the Avengers, the agents to back off. Let you and I leave." Steve wasn't smiling anymore, instead using one hand to stroke Tony's cheek while holding both of his hands in place with the other.
"How do you propose they'll listen to me?"
"Because if they don't, more people will die. Including you."
Tony grimaced and resisted the urge to run as far as he possible could. "What do you mean? I thought you weren't going to hurt me."
"Your death would be painless; it wouldn't hurt. I don't want to kill you, my love. But I need to get out of here no matter what." Steve frowned, looking up. "No one has walked over here. I better go."
Tony said nothing, watched at the corner of his eye Clint stick his head out of the vent, eyes scanning, ready to pounce. Get him, Clint, sedate him now- He didn't realize his breathing had escalated before Steve kissed him and he stopped breathing altogether.
"Get us out of here, love."
And Steve was gone, leaving only a tingling on Tony's lips.
"Quickly, before I forget. Alternate universe where we die. Who would you haunt as a ghost, if you were one?"
"You, of course." Steve grinned, poking his stomach. Tony batted away his hands, shaking his head and smiling.
"Nope, I'm dead too. I'm a ghost. I'm forever envious at living people that get to eat burritos and spend my days haunting Mexican restaurants. Sometimes, I go on a plane and jump out of it and if anyone happens to see Tony Stark flying, they can die happy. Where are you."
"Haunting art stores, probably. And haunting you, dead or alive."
"Dead or alive, huh?"
"I'll be there, either way." Steve promised.
"Absolutely not." Bruce looked a little green after Tony explained his plan. Tony considered just saying that the Hulk should just go after him and pound him to the ground and below, but then that would make finding the actual Steve harder. "We don't even know if there is another Steve, Tony. That could be him."
"He never killed anyone until after we got together. A little while after. I noticed he was different, sometime after what happened with Bucky. I thought he was just grieving, because he acted off, right? And then I started noticing blood here and there, and he said it was from fast healing wounds from missions or whatever Avengers business we were doing." Tony frowned. "It's not him. I know him."
"Tony, he could've just snapped."
Tony was tired of having this same conversation over and over again. "It's not him," he growled, sounding just as dangerous as Steve. His shoulders heaved, shaking, surprised at himself for his sudden angry outburst. The others stared at him. Natasha, as much as he knew she despised his plan, gave no indication to object, and Clint, of course, was fuming. "I will find him. This is how, so let me go."
Bruce closed his eyes and clenched his hands, breathing deeply. "Okay…okay. When?"
"He said he needed to find his shield and uniform."
"If the public sees Captain America hauling Tony Stark around and murdering people…" Clint warned.
"He hasn't killed when Tony's around yet. As long as they don't threaten him or Tony directly, I don't think he'll kill." Natasha mused.
Tony nodded in agreement. It made sense.
"He'll check you for weapons and any communication with us, most likely. So then what? Let Tony go with him with us totally blind?" Clint demanded.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but what about a tracker? The ones that they 'required' us to get when the whole Avengers thing first happened. Bruce and I were the only ones who didn't get one. You said Steve ripped his out."
"Ew." Clint scrunched up his nose. "Uncomfortable image."
"He knows I don't have one because I hate them. It's safe to assume he wouldn't think I have one now, at least internal."
He's not thrilled with this. Because it's possible Steve might be suspicious over a mark on his arm, Natasha injected the tracker in his calf.
"Please tell me you plan to take that out once all this is over." Tony scowled, rubbing his leg that now sported a red mark with a few drops of blood.
Putting the equipment away in a cupboard, Natasha smirked. "I don't know, Tony, you seem to get yourself in precarious positions every other day…"
He stood up, grumbling and choosing to ignore Natasha. "Awesome. I'm going to be a hostage again."
Clint's face darkened. "Except we won't let you get hurt. That tracker also monitors your vitals. If you're hurt/distressed, we'll know, and we'll be there. We're going to follow with the quinjet once you guys get some distance."
"What's he going to use to get out of here?" Bruce asked.
"There's a bunch of armored SUV's outside. He'll figure it out."
Tony glanced at the clock. "Give me half an hour before you start following. Did you warn everyone?"
"Standing down now." Natasha tapped her ear piece. "Director Fury is going to kill us, slowly, with a toothpick. I hope you all know that."
"You're his favorite, you'll be fine. Besides, I think he's half scared of you." The archer nudged her in the side.
Natasha scoffed. "Half? Please."
"Alright, well, I have to go." Tony took out his ear piece and placed it on the table. It made him feel vulnerable. "Don't tell Pepper."
"One does not lie to Pepper," Clint wagged a finger, then turned solemn. "Be careful, you dick."
"I will." If being careful did anything to help him, that is.
After their eighth date and third time having amazing sex, Steve vanishes for 3 days. Tony is a wreck. They do find him naked in an alley in Boston, in the middle of the night. He doesn't remember anything except punching out a few people before being knocked out, but says he was fine. All the tests said he was fine.
No one really mentioned it after the all clear, assuming it was a kidnapping that was aborted when it was realized Steve couldn't be controlled.
One step after another, Tony made his way toward the front entrance doors. Agents scattered, knowing their orders to stay out of the way. Every shadow made him flinch, and he spent the time walking trying to calm himself down.
Do this for Steve, right. Find Steve.
"Steve," he breathed, voice wavering only slightly. He cleared his throat. "Steve!"
"Did you talk to them?" Steve quite literally popped out of nowhere, putting Clint to shame in that skills area. "Are they going to leave us alone?"
Tony nodded faintly. "We can go."
The super soldier hesitated, blue eyes scanning Tony. "No tricks?"
"I'm sure they'll follow us, but who cares. You'll be there." He forced a smile, but he bet it looked more like he swallowed sour candy than sexy. Apparently it was good enough for Steve, because he took his hand and kissed it.
"I love you, Tony."
"I love you, too." He said slowly. At least, I did, when you didn't murder people.
"Then you know why I have to do this."
Before Tony could ask what, blackness filled his vision and he felt pain at the back of his head as he struggled, then nothing.
"Steve, Steve, oh my god, I told them- it couldn't have been…" Tony hyperventilated, looking at all the bloody bodies on the floor, with Steve standing over them, blood on his hands, his chest, his face. "What the fuck, Steve?!"
"It's all for you, Tony."
"What are you talking about?"
"Every heart I've taken, that's one more heart that doesn't equal how much I love you." Steve is smiling, like a puppy looking to please. Tony has never been so utterly confused about anything, ever.
Or so angry at himself that he didn't see it earlier.
"You've got to stop knocking me unconscious." He slurred out when he came back to himself. It was still dark, but the solid surface he was laying on (sitting on? It was hard to tell) felt like it was moving.
"Sorry, love. It was for your safety, and mine. You understand, don't you?" Steve's voice crooned, waiting for an answer.
"Right," Tony said, and blinked rapidly. He must have something over his head, because his breath felt warm and trapped along with the darkness.
"Right what?" Steve sounded more demanding. Tony shifted uncomfortably.
"I understand." He replied, easily, like it was a joke to him. Steve always laughed when he joked.
Steve didn't laugh this time.
Also, his hands were tied together.
"Tony, do you know anything about why we just got footage of Steve ripping someone apart and TAKING THEIR FUCKING HEART?" Clint was looking rattled to say the least.
"What?"
"You sleep in the same bed half the time. You haven't noticed anything…strange?" Natasha asked, poised and furious. At who or what, there was no way to know.
Tony didn't understand how they could think this was actually Steve doing these things. "It's…Steve." He spluttered.
"If I may, sir, there are two life signs that went, as you say, "ka-put" about twenty seconds ago." Jarvis says, and he doesn't sound happy. "Captain Rogers is in the same area."
Tony ran.
After some time of driving, they turned a long corner and stopped altogether.
"Steve?"
"We're stopping for the night." Steve explained as he cut the engine. Tony waited, heart beating a little too fast as one door slammed shut. Silence. 1 minute. 3 minutes. Tony didn't dare move. In his head, he imagined running out of the car and hiding until the quinjet came to find him, and he'd be rescued and would never have to look at this Steve again.
But he didn't, because he needed to find his Steve.
Finally, the car door opened and a hand guided Tony out of the seat and onto ground.
"Keep your head down and close to me, okay?" he murmured through his blindfold. Tony obliged and let himself be led to wherever Steve wanted before being sat down on something cushiony. The bag came off and Tony squinted while his eyes adjusted and was met with Steve's face.
Steve smiled and ruffled Tony's hair, kissing him tenderly on the lips. Tony used all his might not to pull away and instead accept it. "Welcome 'home', right?"
He smiled back wanly. His hands were still tied. "Why a motel room?"
"Easy false name, no check ins until we leave, all those fun runaway things, of course." Steve chuckled. "We'll be on our way again tomorrow."
"To where, exactly?"
"You'll see. It's a surprise."
"Um, you know I'm not a fan of surprises, Steve, so maybe you want to just give me a heads up. I'm sure I'll love it, but-" Tony faltered as Steve stared at him.
"You'll like this one. We've been planning it for a long time." Steve's lips were pursed, eyes dark and unreadable.
"Right. Of course. You'd know." He laughed softly, and tucked up his knees to his chin. We. This was the first thing that suggested there was something more going on than Steve being a cold blooded murderer out of nowhere. He was getting close.
Just a little longer, and he'd find Steve.
A/N: See you next week!