Part 3.

"You have a lot of nerve, showing up here." Steve said, leaning in the doorframe.

"What, at my own house?" I asked, specifically remembering Clint telling me that they had bought the new house with my money (and made a pretty poor decision, going by the looks of it. Only two bathrooms?). Steve rolled his eyes, and by turning my attention to them I immediately noticed the bags under them, too. "Miss me?"

"Tony you are insane. You can't just leave at 11 pm and not return until the morning, not telling me anything? You didn't even throw me an 'I love you' or anything."

"But I love you. I thought it was obvious." I said, moving closer.

"Tony, do you have any idea.. how obvious.. any of your emotions are?" Steve was whispering, lips hovering over mine.

"Right now? Hmm.. I'd say very." I was leaning in to him, and then we were in some sort of weird phase in which we couldn't decide what to do. On the one side we had so many issues to solve, but on the other side, we had just discovered how fantastic we could be together.. and we kind of wanted to try that out again.

"We have stuff to discuss." Steve said half-heartedly, taking a step back and giving us both some space.

"Can't 'stuff' wait?" I asked, following him into the living room and staring in horror at our domesticated team-members (because seeing people who fight aliens for a living sharing toast with bacon and chocolate cake was just a little weird sometimes). At any other day I might just have been disgusted by the sight of both toast with bacon and chocolate cake, but at this moment it could only mean one thing. I grinned, looking at the extrodinary man that the Avengers had seen dying... yet here he was, baking chocolate cake and bickering with Clint like a housewife.

"So tell me, Thor. What were you most excited about. Coming back from the dead, or coming back from that shit-hole that Fury calls a medical base?" I asked as the giant ran up to me and even swept me off my feet to give me one of those Thor hugs that everybody has seen and heard about but is dying to receive one day.

"Tony, brother! I was told that you had drunk too much coke! Devilish stuff it is, isn't. I'll stick with coffee. But look at you, looking as dashing as ever, with your manly facial hair still intact." He was smiling at me, and sue me if I was almost crying because of it. He was probably the only one in this room that wasn't either utterly pissed at or disappointed in me (mainly because he had no idea of the double meaning of coke).

"You scared me." Bruce told me. "Scared us."

"What, can't a man get some space once in a while? I was just .. you know.. taking a break."

"Tony.." Steve mumbled.

"I'm in a house with 5 hyper active adults. 2 of whom are fucking each other, one whose my boyfriend and another who turns into a gigantic green monster. Which I still do really like by the way, Bruce. And then there's Thor… who came back from the dead. I think I'm allowed some free time from that once in a while, aren't I?" Natasha, Bruce, Steve and Clint all had crossed arms and were looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"You have become a problem," Natasha explained. "again."

"If we can't manage to cheer you up soon, we are going to have Fury do it." Clint went on, and they knew sending me to therapy at Fury's was a serious threat. "So we thought of something. We are going to make you read the fan mail that people have been sending you." What even. What is even going on.

I really, really didn't wwant to know what people had been sending me, but my team was extremely persistent. So I ended up on the couch, with a giant box full of letters in it. Steve was sitting next to me, eyeing me as if I was going to run away again any second. We had been sitting like that for the last 10 minutes and I had not made a move to open one yet.

"Do I have t-"

"Yes."

"But Steebee,-"

"No."

I sighed and picked up a letter, dreading whatever was inside.

Fan mail turned out to be something more than just mail. It seemed like the people who sent it were in some sort of cult. The first three I opened were, if I were to summarize, just telling me that they were glad I was saving the world. But things rapidly got creepier when I opened another one, and a very graphic drawing of me and Bruce fell out. Steve quickly snatched it away and threw it in the bin, blushing and all.

I thought it wouldn't get any worse after that, (even though I had to admit that I wouldn't have denied Bruce anything had the situation occurred and had I not had Steve). But as I went on, I discovered more and more of the freakish world of fangirls and fanfiction.

Sometime during the process, the others had joined us just to make fun of us using the horrendous amounts of fanfiction that was piled up in front of me.

"This one is good. Hear this." Clint said menacingly, waving a piece of paper in front of our faces. "After throwing his Iron man, who was hard as iron in more than one sense as the captain of the sparkled banner realized, on the bed, he reached out for his engorged member, which was at least 8 inches long and 4 inches wide.." He was making wild movements while clutching the letter, and we all (except a grumpy and embarrassed Steve) laughed at the amazing literature Clint was reading out.

"Now you're just making things up, Clint. Everyone knows that Steve is more of a 10-"

"Tony!" Steve panicked, clutching at my arm. "There are other people here!" He whispered, trying to come off as demanding, but more likely to achieve an award for adorable puppy eyes.

"Hmmm.. maybe they should leave" I answered, giving him a long and satisfying kiss which effectively shut him up and had my other team-mates leave us alone (alas while making gagging noises, but gone is gone). "Hmm you are looking exceptionally tempting right now, Steve."

"Is my iron man getting 'hard in more senses than one'?" Steve joked, already slipping out of his jacket and pulling me off from the couch.

"Can't wait for you to find out, Captain of the sparkling banner" I teased back, running after Steve and closing the bedroom behind me with a loud bang as a warning to what we were doing for everyone in the house.


I was having fun creating a melody by drumming my fingers on Steve's exposed abs, and he appeared to be drawing something on my back.

"Your abs.. they don't make a comfortable cushion." I stated, rolling my head over them as an experiment.

"Hey, don't move, I'm trying to draw something here." He scolded, pressing his firm, strong hand on the small of my back. His fingers were busy tracing lines over my skin, and it was so relaxing that I was almost starting to fall asleep. I was quite happy, satisfied and I felt thoroughly loved. I was with Steve, relaxing, feeling his bare skin under me and feeling his hand on my back. He was nice and warm and a good change from the cold outside.

This was what my team had been trying to achieve. Me, happy. Me doing good so that we could all concentrate on work might the necessity occur. And it was working. But there was one thing they hadn't taken into account. Maybe stress had been the original source of my developing addiction, but eliminating the stress would not cure an entire addiction.

So even though I had been entirely relaxed only minutes ago, and even though I was feeling better than ever, the urge to take drugs was there. The urge that I was trying really hard to repress by concentrating on Steve's skilled hands. I was trying really hard, but Steve could feel my muscles tense, could feel the stress taking over my body and cramping every sinew in my body.

"Tony? Are you alright?"

"Yes.. there is just something I've got to do." I mumbled, rising onto my hands and knees and leaning over to kiss him. "mm. Your hands are a-ma-zing." I said, giving his outstanding chest a teasing slap before crawling off the bed to put on my clothes, which were literally strewn across the room.

"Where are you going?" Steve threw the blank off of him and followed me through the house with no clothes whatsoever. He grabbed my shoulder, his long legs having reached me within seconds.

"Just going for a walk, OK? I'll be back soon, promise."

"OK.. Love you."

"Hmm." I pressed my lips on his, revelling in the fact that I could just do that. That this man was mine and that he was completely used to it by now. "Me too." And then I was out the door, the guilt that I felt so much, yet not enough to stop me from going.


I'm sorry.. Thor's explanation had to wait. I can't help it.. Steve and Tony had other plans okhey.

Also, don't be mad at Tony. Addictions are very, very hard to get rid of. So no angry feels okay he's trying. I've seen people addicted to drugs do much worse than him.