Steve could tell someone was in his apartment when he arrived home. He opened the door silently and breathed quietly as he could hear movement from deep within the building. He'd never had anyone break in before but he had heard of other police officers who'd experienced criminals breaking in for revenge. The detective snuck in further and could see a figure in the lit kitchen rummaging through his refrigerator.
He got in closer before leaping on the invader with all his weight. The man fell down with a screech before fighting back wholeheartedly. They scuffled for a few moments before the invader moved around enough to get a view of his attacker's face.
"Woah, woah, woah!" The man called out. His voice immediately registered as familiar to the detective making him slow down, "Steve!"
He stopped and peered down at the intruder, "Sam? What?!"
"I came round like two hours ago but the house was all locked up. It waited for a while but got pretty soaked through in the rain so used the spare key you gave me. I was starting to worry about you since I know you were supposed to finish three hours ago." Sam Wilson rushed out to explain.
"I am so sorry." Steve rushed out to say, "I'm not thinking straight."
"What is up with you? I haven't heard from you in weeks, you didn't even notice my bike outside and you jump me?" He demands, crossing his arms.
"I've been distracted…" He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
The movement drew Sam's attention to the man's neck and his eyes widened the second he clocked the dark bruises growing across the side. He frowned before his eyes lightened with realisation, "Who is it? You didn't say you're seeing someone! You usually tell me everything… Too much really."
"I'm not… We're not... Anything." The detective stuttered, uselessly. He'd known Sam since back in his army days and never once had he ever been able to slip a lie past him.
"Not anything?" He blanched, "Stevie you're not the type to stop off somewhere after work for a quickie." The disgusted look on Steve's face at the word alone was conformation but his cheeks flushed even darker and Sam instantly knew, "Oh man, don't tell me you didn't leave work? Oh god, you did it in the precinct."
"We didn't do 'it'." He argued back weakly but by this point Sam had already deduced the sequence of events that had occurred at the office.
Steve slunk through to his lounge and dumped himself down on the couch. Wilson perched nearby to continue prying like a good friend should. The detective rubbed his hands over his face wearily.
"So, what are you two?"
Steve sighed and rested his head against the back of the couch before rolling it to the side so he could look his friend in the eye, "Genuinely, I don't know. I've been ignoring my feelings for this guy for so long that I don't really want to ask him what this is in case I scare him off. It feels too good to be true."
"If he is worth you, Steve, then he should be willing to talk this out with you. You know that talking and stuff hasn't always been my forte but it might be the best solution here."
Steve blinked at the man for a moment, "Are you using your 'Living with PTSD Seminar' knowledge about my relationship?"
"Hey!" Sam cried defensively, "That shit works! Communication is key for most things."
Steve could only smile as Sam had forced him to come along to most of the events at the veteran's centre after he got employed there and he couldn't deny that they definitely helped him more than he had been expecting. Not to mention that communication was definitely key in his transition back to civilian-hood.
Sam took Steve's smile as a sign of agreement so circled back to the main issue, "Who is it?"
"Uh, Tony Stark?"
Sam's jaw dropped, "The asshole you've been complaining about for years?"
The detective sighed and prepared himself for what he knew would be a huge series of questions.
The next morning, Steve and Tony kept making sneaking glances in the other's direction. Their work came second to instead shooting looks across at each other when they felt they had waited enough time since they last looked. The rest of the team could only roll their eyes and pretend they didn't notice.
Everyone was pushing out cases at a rapid pace as a report on their monthly arrest figures was due at the end of the working day and they needed every arrest they could to ensure their precinct remained above the average standard. If they fell below too often cuts would be made inside the office meaning colleagues would be lost. Fury was watching them like a hawk from inside his office; on a day with such a deadline he wasn't about to allow them to slack off by gazing at each other.
After a few hours, Tony marched over with an unfamiliar case and slapped it down on Steve's desk. Before Steve could claim that they weren't partnered on this case Stark was saying, "I need you to sign off on this." He was gone before he had even finished the sentence, having instead to call over his shoulder as he marched away.
Steve shook his head at Stark's antics and rolled his eyes at the fact that the man would be so rude to him even after they had taken their relationship to the next level. He understood that it was vital to maintain a level of professionalism within the workplace but at least a please wouldn't go amiss.
Sighing, Steve flipped open the file and blinked at the bright yellow post-it note that glared up at him. It was tacked directly on the first page so there was no chance of it being over looked. Written in Stark's cramped scrawl it stated:
Drinks 8. The Bellvue. –T
Steve had to duck his head to hide the grin that was blossoming across his lips. He didn't want Fury to notice and get suspicious but he just couldn't control his happiness. Finding out that Stark also wanted to take their relationship seriously was hugely gratifying. He'd always pegged Stark, as most people did, as a 'love 'em and leave 'em' type and he recognised that Tony often played into the reputation he had developed.
He looked up to give a nod of the head to Tony but the man had vanished. Steve chuckled to himself as he shook his head and closed the file. Typical for Tony to be so cocky and self-assured; what if Steve was secretly a 'love 'em and leave 'em' type with no interest in pursuing their relationship further. Despite ranting this to himself, detective Rogers knew he was too much of an open book and everyone knew he was looking for a committed relationship.
Steve returned the file to the other man's desk but didn't place a response. He wanted to see how confident Stark was about Steve definitely turning up. Would the man still go without a definite answer or skip the event?
Once the smaller detective returned from where ever he was hiding, Steve purposefully kept his eyes solely on his own computer screen despite being able to sense Tony's gaze frequently drifting across the precinct. Steve was going to teach the man a lesson in humility if it kills him.