Lunch plans the next few days were interrupted by evil villain attacks. Tony threw himself into the fights with a little more ruthlessness than usual. How dare they interrupt his lunch time with Steve. Couldn't they have waited a few hours later? Because no matter how fast they dispatched the idiot, everyone would still insist on going out to eat as a team.

And Tony didn't want to eat with the team. He wanted to eat with Steve.

"My friends, it has been an honor to share a meal as a team these past days," Thor announced as he polished off a sixth hot dog. "In the spirit of continued friendship and camaraderie as a team, I move that we have these feasts more often."

Tony glowered at him.

"Perhaps a weekly team dinner," Steve said. "We can take turns cooking."

"An excellent idea," Thor said. "You shall all be feasting like Asgardians on my scheduled day. I'm not quite sure how I will go about procuring traditional ingredients, but I'm sure I can manage somehow."

Tony and Steve shared a look as Clint and Thor got into a heated argument over whether or not someone should be disqualified from cooking duties because of an incident involving putting a spoon in the blender to see if the blender was strong enough.

Tony sighed. "He's going to blow up my kitchen, isn't he?"

"Probably."

Tony lightly swatted Steve's shoulder. "You're going first, then. I'm going to murder him if he destroys my kitchen before I get to eat those scallops."

Steve smiled. "He won't. I promised you scallops and that's exactly what you're going to get."

On Tuesday, Steve appeared down in the lab with nothing but a piece of paper in his hand. He looked uncharacteristically solemn and Tony immediately feared the worst. Steve had to be sick of him.

He put on a brave face and tried to play it off with a joke. "So, what's this? Finally suing me for harassment?"

Steve shook his head. "I would never sue you, Tony. It's just-" His shoulders slumped. "Fury's given me orders. I leave in an hour."

Tony's spirits sank. "Well, it is what it is, I guess. All good things must come to an end."

Steve put a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't the end, Tony. Trust me. When I get back, we'll have a picnic in Central Park. But to tide you over until I come back, I made this for you. " He held out the piece of paper.

It was a sketch of the two of them eating burgers in the lab. Tony was gesturing with a half-eaten burger in one hand and Steve was grinning as he sipped his soda. Steve had even included Dummy, not-so-stealthily trying to steal a french fry off Tony's plate. It was disgustingly domestic and Tony was going to frame it and hang it up on the wall in the workshop as soon as possible.

"This is amazing," Tony said. "It looks exactly like me."

Steve snorted.

"No, really. I can't draw like this. Everyone looks only vaguely people-shaped. But you're actually good at this. Thanks, Steve. It's the coolest thing anyone's ever gotten me."

Steve pulled him into a hug. "I left you a container of scallops with your name on it. If anyone tries to steal them, Jarvis will let me know."

"And you'll kick their asses when you get back."

"You got it."

"When will you be back?"

"In a month, probably. Try not to miss me too much, okay?"

"I miss you already. Who's going to feed me when you're gone?"

Steve sighed and shook his head. "Look after yourself, Tony. For me. I want to come home and find you healthy and well-rested."

"Okay," Tony agreed readily.

Steve glanced upwards. "Jarvis, make sure you hold him to it."

"Of course, Captain. I wish you an easy mission and a safe return."

"A fast return," Tony mumbled against Steve's shirt.

Steve chucked and stroked his back. "I'll call when I can. And maybe e-mail if I can figure that out."

Tony threw himself back into his work. It was easier that way. If he was focused on his projects, he would have less time to think about Steve, or more accurately, Steve's absence. And it seemed to be working. In no time at all, Jarvis said "I think you should retire for the night, sir."

"Oh, I'm sure you think that. But it's not going to happen." He usually ignored Jarvis' suggestion that he get to sleep. Some nights he stayed awake for another five hours, some nights he didn't sleep at all.

"Captain Rogers will be most displeased if he hears you're not sleeping."

"You suck," Tony said. "Introducing the two of you was probably the biggest mistake of my life." He shook a wrench at the ceiling. "You weaselly little blackmailer."

"Thank you, sir."

"That wasn't a compliment. I ought to turn you into scrap metal."

"Are you certain that's what you want to do, sir? I'd think you'd prefer me to hack into SHIELD's files and track Captain Rogers' mission status."

Tony sat up with a start. "Fuck. Why didn't I think of that? Do it, Jarvis."

"After you've had some rest."

Tony huffed and slumped back into his chair. "Fine. You win. I'll go to bed for a few hours. But when I wake up, you better get to work."

"After you've had breakfast."

Tony glared. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"I will never quit looking after your health and well-being, sir. It would be nice if you would listen to me or your own body, but if Captain Rogers' influence works, I will accept that."

Armed with Steve's request, Jarvis proved to be an evil taskmaster. He refused to start up any of Tony's projects until he had at least four hours of sleep, he dimmed the screens three times a day until Tony went and got himself something to eat, and started shutting off his projects at 3 a.m. and refused to let him back until he had slept.

Tony hated having to leave his lab in the middle of an inventing spree.

"You seem to be a little listless these days," Natasha said, as Tony made the obligatory trek into the kitchen to raid the fridge for lunch.

"I'm just lazy," Tony said. "I hate having to cook for myself. Got a little too used to Steve bringing me treats. But making them myself is too much work. Just thinking about it drains all my energy." He looked at her hopefully.

She tossed a box of crackers at him. "You'll survive."

Tony frowned at the box. "Well, snack food at least. That'll tide me over for, oh, a few hours. So, I think I'm confiscating this in the name of-"

"You miss him, don't you?"

Tony blinked. "Uhh. Did you miss the part where he feeds me so I don't have to? Because, yeah, I really miss that. I love you all, really. But watching Thor try to put maple syrup and soy sauce on a hot dog is enough to make me hurl."

"You like him, don't you?"

"I have no idea what you're-"

Barton dropped down from the ceiling vent and snagged the box of crackers out of Tony's hand. "Okay, what the hell are you two on about?"

"Tony has a little crush on Steve."

"Yeah?" Clint raised an eyebrow and took a handful of crackers.

Tony avoided his eyes. "When I was a little kid, yeah. I was totally a Captain America fan. I could out-Coulson the man himself."

Natasha leaned in closer to Clint. "He's been moping around the Tower for the last five days."

"I have not been moping," Tony insisted. "I'm just bored."

Natasha grinned wickedly. "Great. A nice sparring match should take care of that."

"Pardon me, sir, but you have an incoming phone call from Captain Rogers."

Tony scrambled out of Natasha's clutches. "Oh, bless you, Cap. You have the best timing." He snatched the crackers back from Clint and made a beeline down to the lab. "Jarvis, bring up the screens."

And then the workshop was filled with a wide-screen image of Steve's face. He looked a little tired, a little worse for the wear. But god was he gorgeous.

"Hey, Tony," Steve said. "You staying out of trouble?"

"Well, you know me," Tony said. "The lab is probably the safest place for me."

Steve grinned. "Probably. Have you been eating?"

Tony shook the box of crackers at him. "Food. Right here."

"I'm talking about actual meals."

"Natasha refused to make me anything. And knowing Barton, he'll probably spit in my food. Hmmn, maybe I can go bug Bruce."

"You really need to learn to take care of yourself, Tony. I love looking after you, but if there's ever a time when I can't be there for you any-"

"Nope," Tony said firmly. "You're always going to be there for me. You've always got my back, Cap."

Steve's expression softened. "Always."

Tony sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the arm rest. "So, how's the mission going? You must have been busy the last few days."

Steve nodded. "I've been working as hard as I can. Anything I can do to get home to you sooner."

Tony's mouth felt dry. "Just be careful," he said.

Steve chuckled. "You're telling me to be careful?"

"I want you back in one piece, you know. If you end up getting killed or captured because-"

"I'll be fine, Tony. It's not really dangerous work, just tedious. And yes, I'll be careful. I don't want to ever leave you alone."

"Good," Tony said. "Hydra are sneaky little bastards. Probably just waiting to lull you into a false sense of security."

"I don't think it's Hydra this time. We haven't seen anything besides a few local kids with electrical powers. Doesn't really seem big enough to be Hydra."

"Oh, it's always Hydra," Tony said. He looked down at the print-out Jarvis had made of Steve's mission details. The kids were only going to be the beginning.

"We'll see," Steve said. "But in the meantime, I've had a lot of downtime. I've filled up a whole sketchbook already."

"Those kids really look that interesting?"

Steve smiled. "Of course not. Nobody could ever be as interesting as you." He held up the sketchbook and Tony swallowed hard as he got a good look at a picture of him hard at work at his computer.

"Damn," Tony said. "I didn't know you missed me that badly."

"Every day," Steve said. "I put a few sketches in the mail already. They'll probably take a week or so to get to you since-"

"SHIELD is going to want to fuck with them just to make sure I'm not getting any secret information." As if they could really stop him from getting information.

"Yeah," Steve said. "They had me address the letters from Stefan Roberts, New Hampshire."

"Like I'd really believe you're in New Hampshire. Nothing exciting ever happens in New Hampshire."

"I can't tell you where I am," Steve said. "But I am overseas. So, I'm sorry if I call at weird times. The time difference is a little hard to get used to. It's already evening here."

"It's lunch time here," Tony said.

"Good. I was hoping for that. Sorry about not being able to be there in person."

"It's fine," Tony said. "You just owe me when you get back. I'm going to make you a giant list of things you need to cook and then lock you into the kitchen until It gets done."

Steve snorted. "You're ridiculous, Tony. Never change."

"I don't think I could, even if I tried."

Steve smiled. "I mean it, Tony. I like you just the way you are."

"I like you, too," Tony said. "I mean, you shouldn't change either. Well, changing into Cap was a good change. But other than that, don't change. The muscles are great and you need to keep them. Not that you weren't awesome as skinny Steve. Because you're totally still the same person inside where it counts and uh, I'm going to shut up now."

Steve grinned. "And on that note, I think I'm going to hit the hay. Better quit while I'm ahead."

"Night, Steve."

"Good-night, Tony. Don't forget to check the mail."

As if Tony was going to forget. Nope. Now that he knew Steve was sending him stuff, he was going to camp out at the mailbox every day. Several times a day, probably. Because the super secret spy twins probably snooped in everyone's mail and hell no were Steve's precious artworks falling into their evil clutches.

The only problem was that he wasn't sure where the mailbox actually was. When Pepper was there, she had always checked the mail for him. And after the Avengers moved into the Tower, well, Tony hadn't exactly paid attention to who got the mail. But he would bet money on the spies.

So, Tony just had to be a spy, too. Watch them for a day or so, see where the mail came from. He could totally figure this-

"The mailboxes are located on the first floor, sir. Behind the door labeled "mail room."

"Right," Tony said. "I knew that."

"And your box will be labeled-"

"With my name on it, yes. Jesus, Jarvis. I'm not that helpless."

"And there is also a communal Avengers box that you could also check."

"Yeah, no," Tony said. "Steve's addressing this stuff to me and only me."

But he checked the communal box, too, just in case. There was no telling if the spies had gotten to the mail first and simply hidden Steve's letter.

"Sir, the mail comes once a day," Jarvis reminded him after the fourth trip of the day down to the mail room. "No matter how many times you visit the mail room, this will not change. Give it a few more days, sir. Captain Rogers did say it will take some time for the mail to arrive."

"It's been a week already," Tony whined. "I want mail. And not the boring crap Pepper tries to send me."

"Captain Rogers' exact words were 'a week or so'. I wouldn't worry until another few days have passed."

"Worrying? Who's worrying?"

"Captain Rogers' letter will arrive, sir. Now, please stop pacing."

Tony huffed and reluctantly wandered back to the lab. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when the mail gets here. But only if it's Steve's stuff. I'm not getting out of bed for advertisements or any lame party invitations."

"As you wish, sir."

That night, Tony dreamed that Steve was sitting at his desk sketching when the drawing came to life and tried to choke him. He woke up in a cold sweat.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"Yeah, fine." Tony reached for the water on his night stand with shaking hands. "Did the mail come yet?"

"Not yet, sir. It is only 5 a.m."

"Fuck."

"Perhaps you will feel better after a cup of coffee."

"And then will you let me back in the lab?"

"Of course, sir. You've been asleep for almost seven hours. It's a new record for you."

"Oh, yes. I can hear the pride in your voice. But don't get used to it."

"I never do," Jarvis said sorrowfully.

"And don't even try with the guilt trip right now. I'm not in the mood." He stormed into the kitchen and went straight for the coffee pot.

"You're up early," Natasha said.

Tony was too used to the sneaky spy shit to jump at the sound of her voice, but he did look around the kitchen carefully until he spotted her rummaging in the bottom cabinet for a box of granola bars.

"Any word from Steve?" she asked.

Tony's jaw tightened. "No. Not since the phone call."

She straightened up and offered him a sympathetic smile. "You have to remember that SHIELD missions are different. They require a lot of secrecy. I'm sure he would contact you if he could. It's not like him to leave his boyfriend in the dark."

"He's not my boyfriend," Tony said stiffly. "Steve and I...well, I'm not exactly sure what to call it, but he's not my boyfriend."

Natasha grinned. "Keep telling yourself that. I can't wait until he comes home. The tearful reunion will be priceless."

"And you keep telling yourself that," Tony said. "There will be no tears, no dramatics. Nothing of the sort. I'll be happy to have him home and that's it."

Natasha snorted. "Clint and I have a running bet on how you'll react. Don't let me down, okay?"

He returned to the lab with his cup of coffee and brought up the list of weapons upgrades he planned on making. Clint and Natasha's were going right to the bottom of the list because he could be petty and childish in revenge and there was nothing they could do about it. So there.

He drafted a new prototype for the armor and then brought up the Quinjet schematics so he could make a few tweaks here and there to optimize efficiency.

"Sir, the mail has arrived. And I noted a New Hampshire address on one of the envelopes."

Tony was out of his seat and rocketing towards the elevators before Jarvis had finished speaking.

"There's no rush, sir," Jarvis said, sounding slightly amused. "The mail will still be there in a few minutes."

"You might think that," Tony said. "But I know our spies. I have to get there first."

Tony raced out of the elevator and triumphantly snatched the letter out of his mailbox. There it was, Steve's neat, precise handwriting. It was probably a little weird to save an envelope just because Steve had written his name on it, but Tony was still debating that.

He opened the envelope carefully and slid out the two sheets of paper. One was a page of Steve's careful writing and yes, this one Tony was definitely saving. The other was a brightly colored drawing of the two of them in their Captain America and Iron Man uniforms with the words "We work as a team" underneath.

It was beautiful and perfect it was going to go on the wall right next to the picture of them eating lunch together. Who needed wallpaper when he could just plaster the walls with Steve's art?

"Jarvis, order some more picture frames," Tony said. "This is too good not to be framed."

He reached for the letter and read it a few times, basking in how much Steve said he missed him, how he couldn't wait to get back home, how he was picking up new recipes he wanted to try.

Tony couldn't wait to see him again.