A/N: Epilogue! Yea! This story was interesting I will say. Lots of twists and turns and feels...lots of feels...I am NOT ready for Civil War. And the trailer hasn't even come out yet! *coughcough Marvel coughcough* Check out the video on YouTube! It's called "OH STONY!" and it's done to one of my favorite songs! Thank-you for the follows, favs and reviews!

There's no such thing as a happy ending, is there? Sure the bad guy was defeated, the damsel in distress was saved, but at what cost?

Tony sat in the living room alone, tapping at his Starkpad mindlessly. Last night was rough. Steve looked terrible, and not just physically. Loki had finally crossed the line then teleported as far as he could away from what was not OK. He excused himself from Steve and hid in the lab all night, allowing Bruce to patch Steve up. Thor had assured everyone that Loki would get severely punished for what he had done, excluding the death sentence. Clint huffed in disapproval, thinking that was what the bastard deserved.

Tony heard none of it. He had just stared at the hallway Steve had disappeared down, wanting to comfort him. But he had to give Steve space. After all, it was his face Steve saw when it happened.

Not to say Tony did not want to comfort Steve. He was hurt, and Tony felt helpless as to what to do to fix it.

Today, Tony was the only one in the Tower besides Steve, who was in his room, not Tony's room where it had happened. Everyone else was on a mission in either Uruguay or Peruguay, Tony missed the details, not that it really mattered. They would be out for a while. Bruce told JARVIS to alert Tony if Steve needed help.

"Sir?"

Tony jumped a little startled in his seat.

"Steve needs you."

Tony slowly got up. Steve needs him. A little bit of his pride came back to him, but Tony snapped out of it, because he was scared. Scared that Steve would reject him again, even though it was not technically his fault, but PTSD has a way with people. He would know.

Tony opened the door quietly, the darkened room showing slits of light from the window. Steve was sitting up in his bed, propped up on a pillow.

"Tony?"

"Yes?" Tony stood in the doorway, not wanting to push Steve.

Steve got up from the bed and stood at the side of it, as if expecting Tony to get in bed with him. But Tony knew better.

The silence was killing Tony. He could not take it, staring at Steve, so fragile looking.

Word vomit took over.

"You should've been gone..." Tony had tears in his eyes. Steve looked at him like he had just shot his puppy. "Knowing how I made you feel."

"Tony, that wasn't you."

"Hell, I should've been gone...after all your-" Tony hissed in a breath. "After what you said to me..."

Steve stepped forward, and it was all Tony could do to not just hold him.

"I keep having these dreams...these nightmares...that it really was me...but that's not me. And then after the fact...we were over."

"Oh Tony..." Tony looked up at Steve, who was now right in front of him. "Our love...well, I know my love for you holds on till the end of the line."

Tony looked away.

"We're not there yet, Tony." Steve closed his eyes for a second.

"We're not?" Tony was hopeful.

"But I wanted to let go...I really wanted to leave...because I thought after-well...you'll go on hurting me."

"I-" Steve shushed Tony silently.

"I thought you'd be better off alone if I'm not who you'd thought I'd be."

"Steve-"

"But you know that there's a...fever, I know...that we'll never find no one else. I can just feel it, you know? Burning just...on and on."

"Yeah...I do, actually." Tony wanted to touch Steve right now. But still, he waited. He wanted Steve to make the first move.

Whenever he was ready.

"I should've been gone a long time ago, and went to the ends of the earth." Tony thought out loud to himself. "I just couldn't stand it, you know, this whole mess. And I can't believe you're still here. You should've been gone..."

"Tony, I'm not leaving you."

"Really?" Tony wanted to believe it, he really did. "After all of the things I said to you? After all...that has happened?"

"Oh, Tony..." Steve could not take it anymore. The stress was getting to him, and his knees buckled.

Tony cursed himself, knowing Steve was a nervous wreck right now, and he had to go off on a tangent because he could not keep his damn mouth shut. He knelt, catching Steve, then slowly lowering them both to the ground.

"Look at me, Steve, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Tony, just a little under the weather..."

"Yeah, you need to go back to bed, c'mon."

"No, wait, Tony." Steve did not want to get back into bed, to be left alone anymore. He knew Tony was nervous being around him after Loki, but Steve just wanted Tony.

Tony sat him on the bed and looked up at Steve from his position on the floor.

"Stay...please..."

Tony's arc reactor was going nuts, like a racing heartbeat. "OK..."

Steve gently pulled him up by the hands and scooted back onto the bed more to give Tony room to get in.

Tony hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure when it comes to you." Steve held out a hand that Tony gingerly took, and he pulled Tony into the bed next to him.

There was still a gap between them, Tony being cautious of triggering something, and Steve just being all-around nervous.

"Steve?"

Steve hummed a "yes" tilting his head a little.

"Do you really love me?"

Steve leaned in and kissed Tony slowly and sweetly on the lips. "Yes." He paused. "I love you, Tony."

Tony waited a little too long to reply, because a seed of doubt started to sprout inside of Steve.

"Don't go thinking, that's my job, I'm just really bad at this kind of stuff." Tony saw that look, realizing his mistake of being stupid when it comes to this kind of stuff.

"I love you, Steve, more than anything." This time Tony initiated the kiss, and it ended when both men realized how tired they were.

The evening found themselves laying peacefully with each other, Steve's head resting next to Tony's chest, next to that beautiful arc reactor, and Tony's arms wrapped around the man he loves.

Our love holds on...holds on...