Science And Magic Miracles
Summary: Oneshots about Stephen and Toni's relationship that led to their happy ending in (Not so) Little Miracles, featuring all their friends and family!
Toni was not so surprised as one may think when Stephen led her into his private rooms at Kamar-Taj. This has been a long time in coming and they were both eager to finally do the dirty deed, the sexual tension having been almost unbearable between them the last few days that Rhodey, her overprotective honey-bear, actually snapped at her to just do it already because it was driving him insane. Although Toni had her suspicions it had more to do with his not so little crush on Major Carol Danvers than the tension between her and her boyfriend. Not that the tension really wasn't unbearable. It was driving her nuts as she had never withheld sex this long, and not just in a relationship, but in general. Even after Afghanistan, she'd had the occasional one night stand. The longest she'd went without sex before this was when she was slowly dying of palladium poisoning, and that was only a few months.
She hadn't had sex since a few weeks before the Avengers Civil War, fourteen months ago. She was rather eager for it to start and Stephen had practically been living as a monk since his accident almost two years ago.
They were both eager.
She grunted as he pushed her against the door, their lips all but glued to each others' as they made out, her hands in his hair and his holding her waist, grinding their lower halves against each other, their breathing hard and excited. They were pressed together from ankle to chest with his leg between her thighs, hands holding on to each other, touching everywhere they could reach, chasing pleasure together while their tongues explored each other's mouths. Toni pushed away from the door after a few minutes of this and insistently kept pushing until they reached Strange's bed, the both of them shedding clothes on the way with clever fingers and a not so appropriate use of magic. She shoved him down and climbed in his lap as soon as he was seated, drawing away for a breath before she started nibbling at his jaw. Stephen, in turn, started kneading her ass, something which didn't surprise Toni one bit. Not only had he told her she had a 'pretty ass', but she knew from past experiences that it was practically like a magnet for men if she deigned to invite them into her bed. Or even if she didn't, they all wanted to grope a feel. Pigs. And to think that was how she and Stephen met, him saving her from said pigs.
It took them quite a while to hook up since that first meeting, didn't it? It didn't matter. They were finally together now and they will finally relieve some of that sexual tension. This was the slowest relationship Toni had ever been in, the longest she had waited to have sex with someone. Even the prude, Rogers, had been quick to jump to, when they were starting their relationship. They did it on their first date. You couldn't even blame it on being a life-affirming experience after a horrible, dangerous battle, not that this was that, either. And it wasn't because of some declaration of love, either. They had simply had needs to address to and since they were already kind of dating anyway, why not, right? And sure, Rogers was a long-lasting relationship, yeah, but their's had never been a good or healthy one. Honestly? Toni was glad it was over, even if it had caused her so much heartache, metaphorical and literal.
It gave her the chance to try with Stephen now and she could already tell just how much better she felt around the doctor. And she didn't mean just what he was currently doing with his tongue against her nipples, but in general. With Stephen, Toni felt truly appreciated and loved and welcomed and accepted. Rogers had never really quite accepted who she was and what Toni represented - the future. He'd always been low key resentful to have woken up in the twenty first century and no one blamed him, seeing how much he lost between falling asleep and waking up, but he has been part of the here and now for a few years now. He's had time to adjust, to accept the facts, ugly as they might be. He could have at the very least learned to tolerate his new life instead of always moping about the forties. It seemed like a waste of life to Toni, but she never said it. What bothered her, though, was that Steve had always wanted to push Toni into a mold she just couldn't fit and he would be disappointed and look at her in this certain way that made her skin crawl. It wasn't Toni's fault that she alone was far bigger than Steve's whole world that he was used to. Of course she couldn't fit into the mold of how he perceived women in the past! He never learned to accept that Toni was the future and had no place in the past. Rogers wouldn't even bother to try and meet her half way, in the present, stubbornly burying his head in the sand, the past, instead of looking towards the light of the future. Sure, Toni knew you should never forget about the past nor could you avoid it - it was a shadow and a shackle, be it in a positive or a negative way - but the past must never be allowed to hinder the present, let alone the future. It's what caused many of their arguments.
Stephen didn't try to mold her into something else. Toni had been gob-smacked when Christine once had to put the man under some strong painkillers after a fight that they had all gotten out with quite a few injuries. Toni had Extremis to thank for that her broken arm healed in two days, but not even magic could replace a dislocated shoulder and sprained ankle. While he was under and Christine was aligning the bones, Stephen had all but recited poetics about how perfect Toni was, from her greatest flaws to her caring heart. Rhodey had spent hours teasing her about it until Harley and Peter, bless those kids, rescued her, the blond digging into Rhodey while Peter dragged her into the lab for a few hours. Harley had joined them later, after he managed to work up a visible blush on Rhodey's dark cheeks, and they had never spoken of it again. Still, Toni knew Christine took great pleasure in embarrassing Stephen about it when he came down from his high. But Stephen never took his words back, instead sometimes murmuring them into Toni's ear when they happen to fall asleep while watching a movie or just cuddling on the couch and sometimes saying them outright to her face. If Stark hadn't seen and heard him acting like this several times on completely different occasions already, she would have doubted his sincerity.
But Stephen genuinely wanted her, not just Iron Maiden, not just the rich girl Toni Stark, her. The inventor, the scientist, the hero, the philanthropist, the sarcastic dick, the arrogant ass, the dumb genius, the crazy pseudo mother of two awesome teenagers, the businesswoman, the badass, the jerk, the douchebag, the brat, the workaholic, the Avenger. He wanted Toni Stark and all that that included. It's what made him so easy to lo-
She shook her head, not allowing herself to think those words just yet, lest she say them before she was ready. They had time. They had plenty of time. They can take it as slow as they've been taking the rest of their relationship.
Toni arched as a finger brushed against the lips of her womanhood, startled out of her thoughts, now completely focused on what her soon to be lover was doing. She looked into a wicked green-gray-blue eyed gaze and frowned at the man, even as she let him continue, but not before she brushed a finger against his nipple in revenge. The sharp breath that was the result was all too satisfying, at least until Stephen suddenly flipped them over, now looming over her and in between her legs, both their sex in contact, which drew shivers from them both. Toni was startled to see the doctor's eyes nearly black with lust as he rubbed gently against her entrance, never having seen him out of his steely control. He looked wrecked, what with his flushed cheeks, kiss-bruised lips, slightly labored breathing and tussled hair. Toni imagined she was no better, spread out on the man's sheets in such a lewd display. Maybe they've waited too long, but it only made this moment all the sweater.
Stark reached for her boyfriend, drawing her into her arms and into a toe-curling kiss that had them both moaning even before Stephen moved. They were both great multitaskers, proven by how well their kiss held up even as Stephen slowly entered her, never rushing for fear of hurting her. And Toni was okay with that. It's been quite a while and she enjoyed the care he showed. It made her feel special in a way rare few in her life had ever managed. It was interesting, how different her relationship with Stephen was compared to all the other men in her life. She guessed most of said men had gotten used to her just getting up and fixing things, even after a whole city fell on her head. She never showed weakness, so why should they presume otherwise, right? Even Rhodey had come to rely on her seeming resistance to death and had taken it for granted, until he learned that Toni had been battling with palladium poisoning slowly killing her and then her needing Extremis to survive the aftermath of Siberia.
Stephen didn't exactly treat her like fragile glass, he knew she was made of iron, but he could see the fractures and metal fatigue that Toni's been hiding from everyone for the past two decades of her life. He could see them because his accident had made him as world-weary as she was and his fight with Dormammu had given him years upon years of experience no mortal human should have ever experienced. They fit in a way no one else could. They were compatible. Birds of a feather, two of a kind. If Toni was so inclined to believe in such things, she'd say they were soulmates, if those even existed. All she knew is that they had a deep understanding for each other. So deep that they trusted each other with their most vulnerable spots, with their scars...
With their hearts.
It was easy to lose herself in Stephen, to forget the world outside of this little, old room even existed. It was an experience not even the strongest drug could induce. Toni had always been aware of the world, of the ways how she could make it better. Usually, she didn't feel the weight of it on her shoulders, but the Civil War almost two years ago had left her feeling every milligram of it. It had left her weary and wary, struggling to hold it all up, all on her own, while trying to get Rhodey back on his legs and back in the air again and to help Vision get over his guilt and heartbreak and to find himself in the world. Then came Stephen and then the New Avengers and suddenly she wasn't carrying the weight alone anymore. They, Rhodey, Vision, Peter, Harley, Pepper and Happy were happy to take some weight off of her shoulders and Toni could stand up straight again, not even having realized that she had started buckling and bending and breaking until she started rebuilding herself. The weight was still on her shoulders, she was still the lone Atlas that was its main pillar, but she now had supporting pillars and she knew they'll catch her if she buckled. They didn't take away the awareness of the world or the worries she had to take care of, but they helped make it manageable again.
Stephen, though, now made her, for just this short while, feel like she wanted to forget the world and she could, just for this little short while. Just for a few minutes, she could be selfish and want something good for herself. Oh, she'll be focused on the world again soon enough, but for tonight, she just wanted to feel, she just wanted it to be only Stephen and her. No sorcerers or Avengers or Rogues or villains or soldiers or politicians or civilians or aliens and other dimensions. Just the two of them, in their own little world, perfect in its serenity and yet so fragile a bubble that it can't possibly last. Just for a little while.
This was the best she felt since her parents died.
She finally felt as though she had some peace.
Their orgasms were approaching quickly, Toni could tell, judging by how she was clutching at the member in her and how Stephen's thrusts were getting more and more frantic, less rhythmic, less refined. She dragged him down into a long, wet kiss full of passion and that one emotion she still didn't dare name and it was apparently enough to send them both over the edge. They clung to each other with a cry of their names, whole bodies shaking with tremors as they tried to regain their breaths and come down from their high. After a while, Stephen slowly and carefully pulled out, collapsing beside her onto his back, still panting as hard as she was but hey, at least she has an excuse in her heart and lung condition after all the shit they've been put through! It made her immensely smug that she had managed to so utterly destroy Strange's composure. She turned to him and laid her head on his still having chest, running fingers in feather-like, barely there patterns over his abs, enjoying how the muscles twitched and shivered under her touch.
"That was definitely worth the wait."
"I would hope so," Stephen said with a chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist while using the other to magically pull the covers from underneath them so they can be used as the blanket they were meant to be. Seeing as they didn't stir her one inch, Toni was impressed. She wanted to tease Stephen about him having a good birthday party magician career but just didn't have it in her to ruin the moment. There will be plenty of time to tease him about it later. "By the Vishanti, Toni, you're going to be the death of me."
The exclamation surprised her and she looked up, arching an eyebrow. Her breathing hitched when she saw the look in his eyes and she wanted to hide. Those three words that everyone wanted to hear hung between them and Toni was terrified by how quickly they climbed into her throat and begged to be let out. With Rogers, it had taken nearly two years of dating for her to even entertain the idea that she might feel that way towards him, but with Stephen it was like an express train despite how slowly they'd been taking their relationship. With that wonderful emotion shinning through his eyes, Toni felt her own tearing up as she brought a hand up to cup his face. "Stephen, I-" But her voice gave out on her and she couldn't say another word.
But she apparently didn't need to.
"I know," her boyfriend reassured her, kissing the top of her head. "I know, Toni. You don't have to say it. Your eyes give you away."
And he didn't need to say it, either, and they both knew it. So Toni just nodded and settled for a good night's sleep, pressing as close to Stephen as she could.
They might not be ready just yet to say the words, but that didn't mean they didn't apply.
Sometimes, some things just don't need to be said and that was for the best.
Toni fell asleep knowing, without a doubt, that she was loved.
