Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long! This came as a prompt from Amorra, who wanted to see some Steve scared of thunderstoms action :)

Please review! You are amazing and I love you, mwah :)

Also my netbook doesn't do spell check and I am ill right now there's probably a few but hey, be nice, I updated :)

Tony was asleep when Pepper snuck into their room, pulled on his old Violent Femmes t-shirt, and got under the sheets with him, curling up against his side.

Subconciously, Tony immediately rolled over and latched onto her, wrapping his arms around her waist and breathing into her hair. Pepper smiled and was half asleep when the first bolt of lightening exploded across the sky. Tony frowned in his sleep and mumbled something, then buried his face futher into his girlfriend's hair.

At Pepper's quiet request, JARVIS undimmed the window so she could watch the thunderstorm, she saw no sign of Thor though. She smiled, a dark, stormy night outside, and she was curled up in her nice warm bed with the man she loved, bliss.

'Stark, we need you in the living room, we have a... situation...' Natasha's voice came through the PA system.

Spoke too soon, Pepper realised, sighing and poking her boyfriend awake. She knew from years of working with him that the intercom wasn't going to wake him up.

'Huh? Wassat what's happening,' Tony said sleepily, blinking awake.

'Natasha wants you,' Pepper said, kissing him gently.

Tony returned her kiss with enthusiasm, then frowned. 'Wait, Natasha wants me? What for?'

'Apparently there's a situation in the living room,' Pepper said, playing with his hair.

'And you wake me up then expect me to immediately leave you when you're doing *that* to my ear?' Tony whined, referring to the way Pepper was kissing the outer rim of his ear in just the way she knew he liked.

'Yes,' Pepper said, letting go of him and pushing him of the bed where he landed on the floor with an almighty bang. 'Now go see what Natasha wants, then come back and we can finish what we started.'

Tony grinned at her and pulled sweatpants and a t-shirt on over his boxers, blowing her a kiss and disappearing out the room.

When he reached the living room, he frowned in confusion. Natasha was stood in a vest top and a tiny pair of shorts, and was apparently trying to coax Captain Fucking America out from the ceiling vent where he was currently hiding.

'Why?' Tony asked, pointing at the vent.

'Turns out that armies of Hydra soldiers aren't a problem, but our Cap is scared of thunderstorms,' Clint said, arms crossed and eyebrows raised, clearly finding the whole thing incredibly amusing. Whereas Tony had pulled a shirt on, Clint obviously decided he didn't need one.

'And you need me because...?' Tony asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

'Because he won't come out,' Bruce said from the coach, where he was wearing similar attire to Tony and Clint, except his shirt was included.

'Why is Steve in the air vent?' Pepper asked, coming out of her and Tony's room in just his baggy t-shirt, her long legs on display and red hair perfectly messed up.

'You are so gorgeous,' Tony whispered in her ear.

Pepper grinned then elbowed him in the ribs. 'I repeat my question,' she said. 'Why is Steve in the air vent?'

'He's scared of thunderstorms,' Natasha told her, sighing and going to get a drink, clearly deciding that this was a waste of her time. Her team nodded understandingly, Steve would think the thunder sounded like bullets and explosions, PTSD was a bitch.

'Can't we just get Thor to come sort it out?' Clint asked. 'Because I'm seriously not going to stand here and watch Cap hide in an air vent for the rest of my evening.'

'Thor's in New Mexico with Jane,' Pepper said, sighing. 'We're on our own.'

'Cap! Get your ass out of there!' Tony yelled up to the ceiling.

'Yeah I really don't think that's going to help,' Clint said, sighing.

'I'm fine, guys!' Steve's voice came from the vent. 'Seriously, just go back to bed, I'll be fine when it's over.'

'We're not leaving you up there,' Bruce said, tapping his foot on the ground.

'Seriously, guys! There's no sense in all of us being tired, go back to bed!' Steve said.

Tony looked at Pepper and kissed her cheek, whispering something in her ear. Pepper smiled warmly at him, and nodded, squeezing his hand protectively.

'Okay, fellas, and scary Russian,' Tony said, clapping his hands together. 'Who's feeling strong? I'd like a boost if possible.'

Natasha looked at Pepper and she nodded at her. Clint immediately stepped forward and put his hands together for Tony to nimbly, and with surprising grace, step up onto. Tony climbed onto his teammates shoulders and grabbed the vent panel, tossing it down to Bruce who caught it with such ease the team suspected that Tony spent a lot of his time throwing things at him, probably in an attempt to get him to Hulk-Out. Tony grabbed hold ot the rims of the vent and hauled himself up into it, Clint pushing his foot up to give him a hand.

Steve watched Tony cautiously as he seated himself next to him and calmly adjusted his t-shirt, looking him with an expression that Steve couldn't quite place... was it worry? Understanding? Both?

'So,' Tony said, quietly so the others wouldn't be able to hear. 'Scared of thunderstorms huh? You know, nowadays we have a name for that, it's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.'

Steve nodded at him, he had heard the phrase used by Natasha before, then to Tony's surprise he dropped his head into his hands.

'You must think me such a wuss,' he mumbled. 'Scared of a little thunder.'

To Steve's complete and total surprise, Tony placed a hand gently on his shoulder. 'PTSD is nothing to joke about,' he said, in such a serious tone that Steve glanced up at him to see if the tone matched the face of the speaker.

It did.

Tony removed the hand and twiddled his thumbs, something Steve noticed he did when he was a little uncomfortable. It was a few seconds before Tony spoke again, and in the quiet space Steve had no problem hearing him, even though the words were whispered.

'I can't be under water,' Tony said. 'The first time I had a shower after I got back from Afghanistan, I screamed so loud I think I convinced Pepper someone was murdering me. I've never seen her move so fast in her life.'

Steve frowned at him, he'd wondered why Tony would only sit on the side on the pool when the others were having a pool day. He'd heard Clint's plan to push him in, but Natasha grabbed his arm and hauled him off somewhere, Steve heard hushed voices and when they came back, Clint actually looked worried, and gave Tony a pat on the shoulder as he walked past him. Tony didn't seem to mind, he seemed perfectly happy to play on his phone or chat to Pepper or be the referee to 'Dive-Bomb!', Steve's new favourite game.

'They asked me to build a missile,' Tony said, softly. 'The Jerico missle, the one I went over there to demonstrate, except... I refused.'

Steve tried not to stare, he knew that Tony was brave, he'd worked that out when he'd flown the nuke into space, thinking it was a trip he wouldn't be coming back from but this... this was more than bravery, this was defiance, in the face of enemies who would sooner kill him then look at him, Steve knew this feeling well, and he felt his respect for Tony Stark rocket up by about 40%.

'Do you know what water-boarding is?' Tony asked, finally meeting Steve's eye and giving him a searching look.

Steve nodded, he'd expected that was what had happened.

'Well then you know what happened,' Tony said, looking up at the dark metal wall of the vent. 'Anyway, you know the rest of the story, I build the armour and the terrorists kiss my shiny metal ass and get the hell out of there. But now...' he shrugged. 'Pepper worked it out when I reacted so violently to taking a swim to relax, Natasha knows of course, and I think she told Clint to stop her from pushing me in the pool, so I am now totally her bitch.'

'We're a strange bunch, aren't we?' Steve asked, chuckling darkly.

Tony's lips quirked in a half-assed attempt at a smirk and he nodded at his teammate. 'That we are,' he agreed. 'Now I do believe that the thunders stopped so I call a movie night, you still need to watch Paul, I swear it is the greatest alien film in the world.'

Steve nodded and just as Tony was about to clamber out he put a hand on his shoulder. 'Thank you, Tony,' he said, squeezing the shoulder in a sign of unity.

Tony simply nodded, and dropped down out of sight, closely followed by Steve, who spotted Pepper gently cupping her boyfriend's face in her hands and pressing a light, sweet kiss to his lips.

XxXxXxX

That night, 'Yo Fucknuts! It's probing time,' went up on Steve's newly created 'Phrase of the day' board, because seriously, it's probing time, how is that not awesome?