Alright, might do a little of Tony's PoV from the last chapter, but it won't be a full one of that, like I do sometimes, so no worries. Sorry if it's up kind of late and all, but I do put them up as soon as I finish, and this one might be a bit hard on me right now.

"We are lightning straying from the thunder." This Will Be The Day by Jeff Williams

Tony wasn't really aware of the passage of time between his realization that they were trapped, and he felt himself shutting down, and when he felt Steve move against him. He was guessing it wasn't very long... Steve was usually observant enough to notice when something was wrong and he was pretty sure him panicking was pretty damn obvious. It was certainly an unexpected way to be pulled out of it, but he wasn't complaining.

Steve started to pull away, which, thank you, no. He'd been waiting far too long for Steve to make any sort of move to have it be ruined by something as stupid as this. He pushed the terror away much as he had the first time it had overtaken him, back when Yinsen had died for him... he felt none of that same rage, now, of course, but the mechanics were still eerily the same. Despite him having been the one to make the move, he could still feel the surprise go through Steve.

When they pulled away for air, Steve immediately tried to apologize, something Tony shot down immediately. He rolled his eyes at the reaction, something he was sure was lost in the dark of the cave before kissing the man again. He hadn't ever gotten time before to do so, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let that happen again. Ever, if he could help it. The way Steve smiled at him only reinforced that thought.

Tony sighed and leaned himself against the back wall in a daze, not really concentrating on anything Steve was trying to talk about. It wasn't abnormal for him, he supposed... it was how he got through most of his meetings, and his responses were always genuine... actually, that's when he said things he probably shouldn't and it got him into trouble with the media. He was sure Steve would understand.

He was, however, aware enough to realize Steve was standing up, and ran what they were saying back to himself. Shit. He'd just agreed to move some of the rock, hadn't he. Well, this was going to hurt like hell.

He wasn't wrong. Turns out having half a ton of rock falling on top of him was more than the suit could protect him from, and he was positive he at least had a few cracked ribs... Steve didn't need to know that, though. It would only make the man feel bad about it. Tony stopped for a moment to catch his breath from forcing the mostly powerless suit to move around him... damn good thing the joints hadn't locked when it shut down... and looked around their prison.

The shadows around him stood completely still... not that he should have expected any different. In fact, he would have probably been disturbed if they had moved... still, it would have been a relief, in a way. It was far too quiet after the loud, fierce battle above. Eerie, really.

He let out a short laugh that caused the Captains confused eyes to flicker back to him for a moment, but thankfully the man didn't break the silence even further. It really was funny, though, knowing that this was his life now... being suspicious of shadows because they were only shadows, not hiding anything more sinister than that. Absolutely ridiculous.

Right before he decided to say just fuck it, Steve noted he could hear the others working out there... he absolutely had every faith in Steve and his hearing, and trusted he knew what he was talking about... but that didn't mean he couldn't be a bit of a playful ass about the whole thing. Besides, it would take some of his concentration away from being trapped and in pain... that was always a good idea, in him opinion.

He didn't really expect Steve to play along, not being used to that kind of thing in this time, but he was happy that he did, and wasn't outright as insulted as he was pretending to be. It certainly made his life a lot easier. Steve was actually the one to stop the working, and go to the back of the cave to rest, and Tony didn't hesitate in joining him. Caves should be ashamed of themselves for existing. He was starting to feel a little ashamed that he was stuck in auto-pilot mode when the walls containing them went down, and he moved before he could register what he was doing.

He winced... Hopefully Steve wouldn't think that it was somehow his fault Tony had bolted...

The smile the other man gave him, worry filling his eyes, was enough to put his mind to ease about that. He allowed himself to smile back, relishing in the clean air... well, not really clean, it was dusty as fuck still, and burned his lungs a little, but at least it was open air, not stiff and choking. He ignored what ever stupid remark Clint made and felt himself saying something probably equally as biting back, just allowing himself to breath again. Maybe he hadn't been as ok as he'd thought himself to be once he'd gotten control of himself back.

Actually, now that he didn't have to actively concentrate on being ok, he wanted to fall down and twitch a bit and sleep for about a week. Then wake up to Steve, eat as much as he could, then pass out again. He knew he wouldn't of course, but it sounded absolutely fantastic at the moment. The weird thing was, Steve probably would be doing just that, maybe minus the whole twitching part. Admittedly, It had probably been a harder fight on Steve than it had been on himself... sure, it took a stupid amount of energy to move the suit around, but most of the strength in it came from the reactor... plus, he'd been, for the most part, above all of the fighting. Good thing the man had almost an almost endless amount of energy.

He only realized he had zoned out of everything going on around him when there was an arm around him and he was being led to the Quinjet. Clint was giving him and Steve a weird look that just about promised that he'd be talking with Tony about it later, but stayed silent. Thor was oblivious, and Natasha seemed to tired to even pretend to be interested. They weren't a threat to her in her mind, anymore, so it didn't matter much at times like this.

The air in the jet was cool, verging on cold, and felt amazing against the heat of his skin. He didn't even feign wanting to get out and fly off on his own, and just let his head rest against the soft metal as they took off. He couldn't find the energy to join the conversation going on around him. When they got back, he'd have to talk with T'Challa... and arrange a trip to thank the man as well as pick up their things.

Steve's voice was soft, obviously trying to be quiet for his sake. "So, Amora and Skurge...? they get away again?"

Clint snorted at him from the pilots cabin. "Fuck no, they didn't. Nat had to pull Thor off of the witch before he had a chance to murder her, but you know... Shield came by to escort them back to the Raft."

Steve's body radiated confusion. "Sorry, the what now?"

Tony sighed and didn't bother opening his eyes. "One of the prisons designed to hold assholes like those two. If nothing else, Shield is always prepared for the uncontrollable."

"hmm... then why didn't we just keep Loki locked up here..?"

Thor's voice rumbled through the cabin. "My brother is not yours to punish... He might not think it, but he is still my family. And as such, it is my responsibility to deal with him."

Tony gave a quick laugh. "But not these two?" He cracked an eye to watch the god.

Thor shrugged. "They acted against your people, not mine. As such they are yours to deal with as you will."

Tony nodded and let his eyes slide closed again, shifting to lean against Steve. He could not wait to get this metal off of him... he was sure it was stabbing everywhere he was bruised. Which, to be fair, was going to be just about everywhere in general, but it was still uncomfortable. Not uncomfortable enough to stop him from falling asleep, though.

S

It was without a doubt the fastest Steve had ever seen Tony go from having a conversation to just out. Then again, he'd never really seen Tony fall asleep before, so maybe it didn't count. He really wasn't sure the others could tell if he was or not, but the steady rhythm of his breathing against Steve convinced him. It was almost unnatural for the man to be sleeping, especially around this many people, but Steve couldn't blame him. It was all he could do to keep himself awake, after all.

He signed and leaned back against Tony. He doubted any of them would mind if he did sleep as well... Tony and Bruce already were, and it would be better not to show up at Shield exhausted. He frowned and slowly shifted enough to put Tony back against the wall and stood as carefully as he could not to wake the man. He must have really been out, because he didn't so much as stir as Steve made his way over to where Clint was.

"So, Shield already has them in custody, right?"

Clint didn't jump at the sound of his voice, simply nodding while raising an eyebrow in his direction.

"How angry do you think they'd get if we pushed off a debriefing for the day?"

The other mans eyes grew a fraction wider, and he turned his attention away from the controls to look at Steve. "Pretty pissed... but I guess we are all pretty tired... maybe we could convince Coulson that to convince them that this was necessary?"

Steve smiled lightly. "You don't feel like going in right now and dealing with it either, I take it."

Clint snorted and rolled his eyes before turning back to focus on the skies in front of them. "Fuck it, of course I don't. I just want to get something to eat and fall asleep for a bit, man. Those things were total bitches to deal with." Steve nodded sullenly. "Yeah, fuck it, Lets just go home. I'll radio it in, deal with it later. By the way, how the fuck did you guys manage to get yourselves trapped like that? It was so far away from everything, seriously, man."

Steve sighed and blushed before taking the co-pilot seat, careful not to touch anything that could potentially murder them all. " I was chasing Amora... then she just disappeared."

Clint growled a bit. "Stupid fucking magic, dude."

Steve nodded again in agreement. " Then one of those things was after me, and Tony managed to get me out of the way before I noticed it was even there, and, well, we were trapped." Clint shook his head again with another sigh.

"Well, that's shitty. Damn good thing neither of you guys was hurt too badly. If Jarvis hadn't sent a distress signal, we'd never have found you guys."

"At least you did."

Clint nodded and veered off in a different direction, back to the Tower. "So. Going to tell us what's going on?

Steve blushed and looked away with a light cough. "What do you mean?"

Clint turned his eyes slightly again to glare in his direction. "You know damn well. Don't try to play stupid, it doesn't work on Tony and it doesn't work on you."

Steve blushed harder but shrugged in the archers direction. "To be honest, I'm not really sure right now... we didn't exactly talk about it or anything... wait, you guys noticed?"

"What, the two of you clinging all over each other like love-sick teenagers for the past few weeks and making eyes at each other when we finally got you out? Nope, you guys were completely discreet as shit."

Steve coughed again. "ah... well, then."

"Yup, well. When you guys going to talk?"

He shrugged. "Probably after we all sleep and recover from this... and from whatever Fury's going to do with us after that."

Clint nodded. "Well, both of you should be careful. You'll have Fury so far up your ass if he finds out anything is going on...And I just realized that was an awful choice of words for the situation."

Steve had been completely sure that he couldn't have blushed harder... he was wrong. He buried is head in his hands and moaned. Clint laughed at him.

"Come on, You know I'm teasing."

Steve mumbled something back, but even he wasn't sure what he'd been trying to say. Clint didn't ask.

"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go die back in the cabin now..."

Clint laughed harder. "Hey, no funny business in my plane." If he hadn't been the one flying the jet, Steve would have been perfectly ok with punching the man. Instead he ignored the last comment as best he could and hoped to God that the others hadn't heard any of that as he walked back to where Tony was still leaning against the wall, still fast asleep. Natasha didn't so much as glance at him, and Thor seemed to be equally lost in thought, so maybe they hadn't... Natasha, he was sure, had noticed the change in direction, even if she didn't go talk to Clint about it... maybe they were just trying to be polite. If so, he appreciated it.

He groaned in pain as he leaned back into the seat and Tony blinked himself awake next to him.

"You 'k?"

He smiled at the genius and nodded gently. "Get back to sleep. I'm just a little sore." The mans eyes slid back closed and he made an agreeable noise before his breathing evened out again. Steve smiled, allowing his blush to fade slightly. Natasha looked over to him as he sat and met his eyes, clearly asking if he was alright despite not bothering to speak... it was just creepy that most of their group could do that... he wondered how it looked to the outside. As if they were having conversations in their heads, maybe? Maybe it just looked like they were a good team. Ok, maybe he really needed to sleep if that was the sort of thing he was genuinely asking himself.

At any rate, one side of his mouth jerked up momentarily and he nodded just slightly in her direction, raising an eyebrow to ask her the same. She nodded just as gently as he had, and turned to walk to sit by Clint. He shook his head and turned back to Tony as he started to adjust himself to lay back of Steve. Steve just laughed, wondering how, as clearly asleep as he was, Tony always managed to know when he was there and somehow decided he was a good pillow. He wasn't complaining, it was absolutely adorable -not that he'd ever have the guts to tell the man that, not with those words- but it was just so strange that he managed to without missing a beat.

He closed his eyes and reached out to comb his fingers through his friends hair, ignoring whatever looks he could potentially be earning for Thor. It was worth it, if they already knew anyway, to feel the impossibly soft strands between his fingers and feel Tony muttering in his sleep against his shoulder, seeming to lean into the touch. He smiled to himself and just let himself sink into a half sleep like he usually did after a mission, making sure that he kept his fingers moving... if this was the last time he would be allowed to do this, he was certainly going to take full advantage.

He startled awake when they landed on the roof of Stark tower, and a wave of being home settled over him. He loved it. Tony jerked awake at the same time, not managing to cover a wince of pain before Steve saw, but he let it go. The man looked around sleepily.

"Ok, where are we and why?"

Steve smiled lightly. "Stark Tower."

Natasha made her way out into the cabin with a roll of her eyes. "The boys decided that a debriefing could wait while the targets are processed. Get ready to be in trouble with Fury."

Tony grinning manically at her. "Perfect! Really don't want to see his face right now."

Her lips twitched to hide a smile and she gave a nod in agreement before jumping out of the now open doors. Steve moved to help Tony stand, but paused at the raised eyebrow from the man. He took his hand, and pulled himself to his feet, and winked broadly at Steve before disappearing after Natasha. Steve almost followed him... but he did have his own wounds to take care of. It would have to wait.

He made his way through the familiar halls of the Tower, discretely looking around to see if anything was broken... aside from a few dents in the walls, a half-burnt couch and a fractured TV screen, there didn't seem to be too much damage. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know what they had gotten up to in their absence.

He opened the door to his room, holding his breath... nothing was out of place. Well, at least Clint hadn't done anything in his room... well, at least nothing notable. He didn't think he'd be asking Jarvis if he had been up to anything. It had risks, but it would be better not to know in the end. He pulled off his suit quickly, and jumped into the shower... fantastically hot, thankfully, and let the water wash the blood out of his hair and off of his skin. He didn't let himself take too long in the heat of the water, knowing damn well it would just make him even more tired and he still wanted to talk with Tony.

He jumped out as soon as there was no more sign of blood after a good soaping, without washing his hair, and examined the gash in the back of his head through the vaguely foggy mirror. Being him, of course, the serum's effects had it almost closed, so he didn't bother putting anything on it, making a mental note to just take it easy for a few days.

He threw on the first set of clean clothes from his dresser, not bothering to match them up before all but sprinting back downstairs, managing to dance around a sleepy Bruce as he walked down the hallway heading to his room. The exchanged nods, but Steve didn't say a word... the lines around the doctors eyes indicated that he had a headache, and while it was not a good idea to irritate anyone in that mood, it was downright suicidal to do so with Bruce, even if he was nice about it up until the point he was pissed.

Naturally, Clint was completely passed out on the burnt couch with Coulson sitting in the armchair next to him, reading something. He snuck by as quietly as he could... which, while not as good as either of the spies could have done, was good enough not to wake Clint or alert the other agent of his presence. He stopped trying to be sneaky when he hit the kitchen, and immediately came eye to eye with Thor, who paused his raid of the fridge to turn and look at him with a smile.

Steve nodded to him, and tried to sprint by, but Thor clasped his shoulder for a moment as he passed and gave him a blinding smile and a wink. Steve felt that blush again, but nodded to the man again before continuing after Tony anyway. Just be make sure he was alright, obviously... Ok, no reason to lie to himself, here... the others didn't need to know that, though... well, unless they already knew. Which, if his conversation with Clint was anything to go by, they were all perfectly aware.

Oh well, they were his team, they weren't making a big deal out of it, so they obviously didn't mind, who cared if they knew or not... except Fury. And maybe Coulson... Coulson was basically Fury, just more clingy. Not a bad guy, clearly, but still, it would just be a little weird.

And who knew if Tony had even been ok with what had happened... he'd been panicked, tired, injured... for all of it, he might have been delirious or something the whole time. God, Steve hoped that wasn't the case... then, he couldn't really imagine Tony being that out of it... he was too in control of himself, the whole cave thing proved that yet again. He couldn't help but worry about it, non the less.

He snuck the rest of the way through the kitchen, trying to avoid being noticed by anyone else who was there... it was empty, of course, which just made him feel silly for even worrying about it at all in the first place, and stood at the top of the stairs, staring down them half a second before continuing, making his way down to Tony's lab, but paused outside of the door, talking a second to close his eyes and sigh before pressing in his code to have Jarvis open the door... he could have just asked, but he felt this was more appropriate. He was so far out of his depths, and he didn't know what he was going to do or even say... But the second he saw Tony, suit being pulled off, all of the tension just vanished. He managed to ignore the gashes covering the man, visible even through his black under-suit. The man paused what he was doing and turned to look at Steve, eyes soft, smiling.

"Hey."

He felt himself relax, and smile back. "Hey."

Alright, this one is a day late, sorry about that, I just couldn't come up with how to start it and everything. And hopefully there wasn't too much of a rehash of the last chapter for you guys, just had one thing down for months that I would have been pissed if I hadn't gotten to use, Hope you guys enjoy it.

Heads up, might take a break next week, so if I don't post and all, I did warn you guys. Might do one chapter, but we'll see.

This would be a decent ending to this story, I think, but it won't be... just noticed as I wrote it that it wouldn't be too bad... I'm sure it would piss some off, but you know.