"Come to bed, Tony."

Tony finished washing his face in the bathroom and felt around for the towel. After drying is face, he walked slowly to the dresser until his hand touched the top drawer, and reached in for his pajamas.

"I'm coming, don't rush me," Tony smiled softly.

Steve watched as his lover slowly went through the motions of their nightly routine. "You've gotten really used to this, you know. I'm really proud of you."

"Yes, well," Tony grimaced as he pulled on his wife-beater. "Been blind for nearly two years with no chance of recovery. Gotta get used to it eventually."

Not long after the Battle of New York, the Avengers had been called out again, a few short weeks later. There was a new threat, another alien invasion from a race called the Kree. They got what help they could from their new ally, Captain Marvel, and Carol Danvers, Agent of SWORD, who was now a fully functional member of the Avengers.

There had been an attack on the Avengers Mansion, and Tony, Bruce, and Clint had been the only ones home at the time. The Kree managed to take down all mansion defenses and power-grids, leaving Tony suit-less and vulnerable. He had never stood a chance.

By the time the rest of the Avengers and Mar-Vell had arrived, it was too late. Hawkeye was down with nearly lethal injuries, the Hulk was running angrily around destroying an already crumbling house in anger, and trying to protect an unconscious Tony lying in a pool of blood on the floor. It had been too hard a blow to the head, some severe optic nerve damage, and he was left completely without sight. That had been nearly two and a half years ago.

In the end, Tony's injuries had been what caused him and Steve to grow so close together. Surprisingly, after his injury, Tony had become more dependent upon Steve than anyone else, which Steve was perfectly fine with. He would help him learn to adjust, learn to read Braille, how to use a walking stick when in public, learn where everything was in the mansion and use it to his advantage. He had even helped Tony to figure out how to keep up his engineering without sight. Steve also helped him to learn to use his senses to his advantage in a fight without seeing. This way, using Jarvis and the suit, he could still be an Avenger.

Tony figured if Matt Murdock could do it, why not him?

After helping Steve get over his guilt of not being at the mansion when the team had needed him so badly, and Tony's readjustment, they were together, and have been ever since.

"That's not true," Steve said quietly. "You know that Bruce, Hank, and Reed are all trying to find a way to-"

"Exactly, Steve, trying." Tony finished dressing with a grunt and padded over to sit on the edge of the bed. "Bruce is a gamma radiation specialist, as he keeps reminding us; he's not 'that kind of doctor.'" Tony fluffed his pillow a little violently. "Pym is a damn bio-something- I don't know, he plays with bugs. And Reed… with Sue and Franklin, he just doesn't have much time."

"Tony, I-"

"Look, Cap, we've done this before," Tony turned his eyes towards Steve's voice. "You heard what the doctors said. Permanent. And it's been pretty permanent for the last two and a half years, so I think this is here to stay."

"I know, I just… I don't know. I know it still bothers you sometimes and I can't help, but I want to help you…."

Tony held is gaze slightly to the left of Steve's face, frowning slightly.

"Steve," he smiled suddenly. "I can feel your depression from over here. Stop it. Come here," Tony patted the bed space next to him. "I wanna look at you."

Steve looked up and smiled at Tony from the other side of the bed. He crawled over and knelt directly in front of him, grabbed his hands and pulled them to his face.

Steve had always marveled at how Tony could use his hands to see things so vividly. Not that it was any surprise really, he was a genius engineer after all, he had gifted hands. But on days when Tony was sad or frustrated, he would always go to Steve and 'look' at him, see his face, and feel better.

Tony ran his hands over Steve's handsome, chiseled face. The slightly pointed nose, the full, soft lips, gently around his jaw line, and back up to his eyes. When he did this, he could still see Steve's face perfectly in his mind, the only image he could still see clearly without dreaming.

Tony placed his hands on either side of Steve's face and looked him dead in the eye.

"I love you."

It was amazing that Tony could do that, too. Like it was second nature. Like there was a bond between himself and Tony that they connected through, that Tony could somehow see through, to always be able to look Steve in the eye and say, 'I love you.' Without even knowing where Steve was at in the room. It made him feel very happy inside.

"I love you, too." Tony smiled, the corners of his cloudy brown eyes crinkling.

"Get some sleep," Tony said as he rolled over. "I'll see you in the morning."

And every morning after that.