Steve's POV
It had been three hours since Tony's panic attack/nightmare. He was adamant to not go back to sleep even after all the reassurances that Natasha was in fact perfectly fine. So we had decided to go out to the little Italian place across town after all. But on one condition, Natasha was to come. I have never seen tony be so clingy to anyone before. This was new territory for us all and nat didn't dare deny the invitation ,not while tony was feeling this vulnerable. Tony came bounding down the stairs dressed in Jean's and a shirt , while nat and I waited for him in the lobby having taken the elevator. He walked over smirking ,but unable to hide the panting from taking the stairs. He refused to use the elevator needing to prove something to himself. I rolled my eyes at him holding up the jacket he had 'conveniently' forgotten.
"what will I ever do without you?" he asked taking the jacket and putting it on.
"You probably would be a little less child and a little ,just a little more of an adult if steve wasn't there to pamper you as much" nat said walking ahead towards the door.
Tony shrugged "possibly" he said winking at me ,I rolled my eyes again, I doubt anything could make tony be more responsible when it came to taking care of himself.
Tony pushed forward ahead of nat reaching for the car door on the driver's side.
"what do you think you are doing?" nat said in her best intimidating voice. I saw the hair on the back Tony's neck stand up as he froze for a second before turning around and saying "driving" then turned to me "what's her problem?" he said raising as eyebrow. Nat grabbed his shirt by the collar with one hand and reached for the keys with her other. She pushed him into me, pulling the door open and started the engine all the while tony was glaring at her his lips pursed to form a pout. I had to admit that was an adorable look on his face .
"come on" I said manhandling him into the backseat with me, "let's not give natasha a reason to kill us today" she turned back smirking and winked.
Tony settled down after five whole minutes of trying to get comfortable, it took me those five minutes to realize why.
"is your side still hurting?" I asked frowning
"no." he was still glowering in general at not being allowed to drive , I rolled my eyes ,he was so stubborn.
Tony's POV
This place was basically any other average Italian place, I didn't understand why steve liked it but hey whatever keeps my man happy. Steve had already denied the waiters offer to get anything alcoholic. So we were sitting Sipping the fine 'mint flavored cold tea' urgh! So disgusting. And what was worse was that nat was blaming me for the lack of alcohol.
"why am I being denied alcohol, I am not the one who is sick!"
"neither am I" I said frowning at steve. Steve didn't seem to care though, mostly because he loved Italian and was shoving down the pizza like it was paper. Fifteen more minutes of arguing turned into a deep seated argument about pineapples on pizza. Why did I invite nat again? Oh right ,I shuddered at the unforgettable nightmare edging unconsciously closer to her only realizing it when she very subtly placed her hand on my thigh in reassurance.
But I had to admit, it was nice being out after being cooped up in the first for the past three days. A generous tip later, we were already headed out towards the car, apparently small places did not have a valet service. But I really didn't want to leave yet, it was only nine .
"want to take a walk in the park there ?" yess! I knew there was a reason we brought natasha!
"Yes please" I said trying to sound nonchalant but it came out in a slightly higher pitch, giving away the excitement. Steve smiled at me sweetly before wrapping his arm around my shoulder . The park itself was not huge ,but it was nice and secluded. We walked one round around the park before settling down on a bench facing the small pond.
Nat broke the silence five minutes later " so, now that we have established that I am indeed very much in one piece ,wanna talk about what happened in that nightmare of yours?" ever so direct! I felt Steve's arm wrap tighter around me ,encouraging. I sighed taking a deep a breath after ,I could feel both of their eyes watching me .
"Please don't bench me ,steve"
"we talked about this tony , ri-"
"I know, but steve ,nat died! She died in my arms while I sat there unable to do anything all the while knowing if I had been there , been the teams eyes from the sky I could have helped her" I could feel my heart hammering in my chest, the dream was so vivid ,I could practically feel the dream physically and that was a weird feeling. It scared me, because it felt too real.
"tony look at me" nat said in that gentle voice but yet so commanding. Both steve and nat had this quality ,they could probably get the enemy to switch sides just by modulating their tone.
"we signed up for this job, everyone knows the risks . If anything were to happen to any of us, in no way is it anyone's fault. No one is responsible. We are family and we look out for each other when we can and when it's possible. But that doesn't mean anyone is going to take blame ,do you understand?" I was starting to feel like a child who was getting a lecture but I nodded anyway.
"there is one way you can help us though" steve said his hand moving up and down my back
"what's that?" I asked frowning still feeling childish
"you can get better by taking better care of yourself, the sooner that number on your blood test rises the sooner you are back on the team." I opened my mouth to argue – "and I know you are trying ,but I want you to let us help you babe"
"I already agreed to this" I said irritated ,it was getting cold and this was not the conversation I wanted to have. Steve gave a questioning look at me, but nat beat me to it " tony and I had a very quick conversation about this while you were asleep" steve made an "ah" sound nodding his head and kissed me on my cheek.
"well then I guess you have been schooled" he teased
"I am not a child! Stop treating me like one" okay so I was really starting to get annoyed now. And the cold was biting into my fingers but I didn't want to say anything because then steve will make them leave.
"no you are not, but sometimes you act like one" nat said smirking at me as she got up from the bench picked up a stone and skipped it across the pond.
"okay that was lame! I can do better in my sleep!" steve said as he got up to pick up another stone. I shivered at the loss of warmth but perked up at the turn of conversation.I sat and watched them both one up each other throwing stones feeling my eyes drift shut ,maybe I was tired but this was nice.
"-ny" yeah felt good to be out
"tony,you okay babe?" what? Oh yeah I must have dozed off
"yeah fine" I said straightening up on the bench and hugging myself ever so subtly.
Steve shares a look with nat as they both made their way back to me ,steve sat down beside me his hand going to my hair brushing it back from my forehead and I felt myself lean into the warmth
"want to try that again?" he said raising an eyebrow.
"its getting a little cold" I said shrugging defensively.
"time to go then come on" I whined as he pulled me up tucking me by his side. And nat walked close enough to block the wind on the other side.
Steve's POV
"its getting a little cold" yup, it definitely was and I should have probably thought of that earlier . I pulled him with me tucking him into my side hiding him from the wind as nat covered him on the other side. The park was empty now , not a soul in sight and just as we were about to reach the gate I caught a glimpse of the bright headlight that was headed towards us. I didn't have time to think before the three of us ran back on instinct to avoid getting run over . But the car didn't stop infact it sped up and we managed to split up in the nick of time , I felt myself rolling onto the grass , my arms trying to protect tony from the impact of the impromptu Swan dive . But before we had a chance to get back up ,there was loud clang , the driver was waving a gun at us, rather at Tony who was still halfway from getting up brushing his pants.
"tony! Look out!" he shot at tony before tony even had a chance to look up, on instinct I jumped towards him ,colliding into him trusting nat to take care of the shooter . Tony went tumbling over the bricks into the water with a yelp.
"steve secure the scene ,I got him" I nodded at her, my eyes scanning the area for any more shooters .
"all clear, you need help?"
"he's all mine, get tony" she said and I watched for a few seconds just to make sure , she pressed the man's face into the grass grabbing his hair effectively pinning him onto ground before knocking him out with the butt of the gun she confiscated from him.
I heard tony cough behind me, and I quickly turned jogging to him as he pulled himself out of the water soaking wet glaring at me "give a guy some warning next time" he said spitting out water.
"tell that to the bad guys" I said as I ran my hands over him just to make sure he was okay, he was shaking like a leaf his teeth starting to chatter.
He shrugged my hands off running a hand through his hair trying to get the water out. But when he put his hand down again his finger rips came back bloody , he didn't seem to have noticed it just rubbing his hands together to get warm. I could hear natasha talking to someone on the phone ,probably shield.
"you are bleeding" I told him guiding him to sit down on the bench we were sitting on earlier.
"huh?" he said confused , shuffling to see what I was talking about. "sit still for a sec okay" I told him as I stabilized his head with one hand and used the other to sift through his hair to find the injury. It was not too deep, wouldn't need stitches , but it was still bleeding heavily .I pulled a kerchief I always carried out of my jacket putting it over the wound, I grabbed his hand placing it over the cloth "hold this for me" I told him squatting in front of him and lifted his chin up to study his face. He looked pissed but other wise okay
"it's anything else hurting? Are you okay?" I watched his face for any change in emotion to indicate otherwise but he seemed okay "who the fuck was that ?" he said turning to look at the man now laying unconscious on the ground. Natasha was standing over him one leg on his back just in case she turned towards us still on the phone "is he okay? Do I need to call for medical?"
Before tony could vigorously nod his head no and claim his was fine I told her " minor cut on his head, he will survive" she pursed her lips before studying tony"s face herself and nodded her attention back to the person on the phone.
I shrugged off my jacket dropping it next to tony ,before turning towards him "take off your jacket and shirt" he gave me a 'ARE YOU CRAZY' look
"your clothes are soaking wet ,come on , I don't want you to become hypothermic" I said reaching for the zipper on his jacket ,he let me slip it off his shoulders but resisted when I tried to take off his shirt .
"Tony come on, you are trembling " I said as I forcefully pulled the shirt up over his head and he immediately covered up the arc reactor with his hands "Steve!" he growled ,oh that's why he didn't want it off. I helped him quickly put on my jacket ,he was practically swimming inside it but at least it was not wet . I checked his head wound again just to make sure , the bleeding was already reducing.
I grabbed his hand again putting it on his head , before bending over to pull his shoes and socks off. We needed to get him out the cold fast.
Natasha came over putting her phone in her pocket, " are you okay tony?" he nodded curtly lifting his foot up obediently while I pulled his socks off.
"shield will be here in five , take him in for questioning . Looks like he was targeting tony , let's see what he has to say."
"okay, were you injured?" I asked looking up to make sure, " I am good, although we should probably get this one back home ,he's due for his iron shot and Bruce is not going to be happy knowing he's lost more blood" she said pushing Tony's hand aside to get a look at his cut before letting him cover it up again.
" I am right here ,you know!" tony quipped but she ignored him
"why don't you both head back to the tower, I'll wait for shield ,help wrap this up and join you?"
"absolutely not!" tony bellowed "we are not going anywhere" she gave an exasperated look before glaring at him "okay ,you both stay here while I go get the car , so we can put your trembling ass in the car while we wait ,sound good?" tony nodded shuddering some more, I sighed as I angled myself more in front of tony but also to keep the unconscious man in my line of sight. I rubbed my hands around Tony's toes trying to warm him up a little more .
"did nat check for an ID on him?" he asked pointing his jaw towards the attacker.
"I am sure she did" I said noticing the way tony was slightly listing forward "you okay?"
He dropped his hand from holding the cloth to his head and rubbed at his eyes " a little lightheaded" he said .I pushed his knees together before forcing his head down into it. My hand rubbing his back as I checked his head again. It was still bleeding a little so I grabbed the kerchief and pressed it onto his head, he winced "sorry"
"s'fine" he mumbled.
Natasha was back just as shield entered the scene. One of the agents immediately jogged up to us asking us if we were okay and handing us a water bottle. I thanked him reassuring him that we were fine.
Tony was starting to drift off, I shook him a little waking him up, "time to go babe, think you can stand?" he rolled his eyes at me, pushed my hands off his shoulders and walked towards the car. He slipped into the back seat and curled in relishing the heat that natasha had put on full blast.
"will you be okay for a minute?" I asked him but he was already falling back asleep so I let him be asking one of the agents to stand guard by the car while nat and I did a round up briefing with the agents.
It took another half hour to round up everything and another half hour to reach the tower. Jarvis suggested parking the car in the basement so I could just carry tony upstairs to the bedroom.
"Jarvis can you have Bruce meet us upstairs in a few minutes?"
"of course captain "
I lifted him into my arms , he didn't even stir and that was a testament as to how wiped out he must be. He's going to have a massive headache tomorrow.
"nat go brief Clint and thor , Bruce and myself will come join you in a few" she nodded getting off the elevator on the common floor. I adjusted my grip on tony as he shifted a little in my arms. I dropped him gently on the bed pulling off his still damp pants and my jacket. I placed a towel on the pillow before dropping his head onto it to avoid staining it with blood. He sighed in his sleep getting comfortable.
"hey, Jarvis told us what happened. Is he okay? Do we know why he was attacked?" Bruce said coming in sitting on the bed by tony giving him a once over.
"we don't know anything yet, shield has him right now. We just wanted to get him settled first" I said gesturing to Tony . Bruce nodded his hands parting Tony's hair to look at the wound ,tony squirmed still asleep a low whine forming in his throat. " did he lose consciousness?"
"No he seemed mostly fine just cold from the water"
"do you know if he swallowed any of the water? His breathing sounds a little raspy"
Now that Bruce mentioned it, his breathing did seem rough, like it was rattling in his chest "he didn't expect the sudden dunk into the water ,so probably yes" Bruce checked his pulse, nodding to himself.
"he will be okay, just need to keep an eye out for any chest infections. He has not had his iron shot today ,I'll go get it. Hopefully he will sleep right through it"
And surprisingly he did sleep through it , he roused a bit but fell asleep again before realizing what was happening. Bruce left with a promise of checking in on him tomorrow morning . I changed my clothes before snuggling up to him mindful of his burns and asked Jarvis to crank the heat up.
"how is he?" natasha said coming in holding some files in her hand and I realized I had told her I would meet her downstairs but had forgotten.
"worn out" I said lifting my head up to smile at her.
"how did he take the shot?" she sat down on the edge of the bed pulling her legs up "like a champ" I said sitting up and she gave me a 'yeah right' look and I grinned
"slept right through it"
"ah, maybe we can use this next time, you know wear him out a little"
She handed me a picture from the file ,it was labeled "John straddle, age 49, arrested for attempted murder"
"this is all we know for now about the attacker. He's not talking , we will go first thing tomorrow morning,see if he will open up to me and clint." I nodded handing the picture back
"for now we need to have protective detail on tony at all times, probably best if he didn't know about it ,will make it easier on the poor agents." I said smirking ,and she laughed quietly.
"I'll work out the details , make sure you get some rest .Tomorrow is going to be a long day" she said as she left.