Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Pairing - SteveTony
Word Count - 3016
AN - Not canon compliant, but does include a few details from Civil War. Very much AU though.
The Start Of Something
Steve loved watching Tony work usually. He got so intensely fixated on whatever he was doing that he often forgot Steve was even there. He'd talk to himself constantly too, little mutters that made little sense to Steve. He'd asked Tony about it once.
"The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answer I accept… especially when it comes to my suit."
Oddly, Steve understood the logic. It was the same as when Tony told him, "Trust me, I'm a genius!"
Anything to do with tech, and Tony certainly knew the ins and outs of every single detail that could possibly matter.
That was why Steve had believed that Tony knew about his growing affections. He'd believed that since Tony was a genius in the one aspect, he probably was in all of them.
It turned out, Tony didn't have a clue. His social awareness wasn't anywhere close to his technical genius.
Steve tried to make himself a bit more obvious. He dedicated more time to the workshop, sitting on the rickety sofa and playing with the bots—his favourite of Tony's creations—while he watched Tony's face as he worked on the red and gold suit.
Tony was adorable when he was working—not that Steve would ever tell him as much, of course. He could only imagine the expression that would earn him, but he didn't want to make Tony pout at him, so he refrained.
Despite what the press said about him constantly, there was a childlike innocence about Tony that drew Steve in. He was so enthusiastic about the things he loved, and Steve could sit for hours just listening to him talk.
Falling in love with Tony was the easiest thing Steve had ever done. He didn't even have to put any effort in to make it happen. It just… did.
And then, slowly, Tony started to look at him a little different. He looked longer too, and he blushed profusely when Steve caught him, his cheeks turning a rose pink which left Steve unable to hide his smile.
Tony started losing concentration on his work because of Steve's proximity, and he'd go from his tech to talking to Steve without even noticing he was doing it.
Steve managed to get him out of the workshop more and more too; convincing Tony to go out of the tower to eat because one of Steve's favourite games. His favourite was when Tony was in a good mood; that was when Steve felt safe to manhandle him, carrying him out of the workshop with ease.
He always got a "Pick on someone your own size!" for his efforts, but Tony would always smile that sweet smile of his and settle into Steve's embrace until they had to leave the tower.
He'd thought it had been the start of something. It should have been the start of something.
Until it all went to shit.
…
"Did you know?"
"He's my friend."
"So was I."
…
"I'm surprised Tony's even letting us all back into New York, never mind the Tower," Clint said, as the jet neared the runway. "So maybe don't fuck it up this time, eh, Cap?"
Steve sighed.
"Nobody forced you to side with him," Nat groused back at Clint, frowning at him.
Clint nodded once before he averted his gaze.
It happened a lot. Whenever Clint made the smallest of comments on how long they'd been away from America, Nat would snap at him. She'd been off with all of them, despite having let them go at the airport, since she'd arrived in Wakanda.
Steve knew she regretted turning against Tony. Hell, Steve regretted having to fight against Tony. He'd never wanted that, not for any of them.
He could only hope that, since Tony had fought for them, had fought for their pardons and their return, that he was as ready to move on from everything as Steve was.
That hope fled when they finally landed and Tony was nowhere to be seen.
…
Steve sat at the breakfast bar, hands wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee. It was late, or early, depending on your point of view, but he'd been unable to sleep. They'd been back at the tower for five days, and he still hadn't see their wayward landlord.
A bang, a "fuck, ow, who put that door there," and a stumble told Steve that that was about to change.
Sure enough, Tony appeared in the doorway seconds later. He froze when he saw Steve, his hand on the door frame.
"Huh. You're… here. Right. I… might have forgotten that that was this week."
Steve frowned. "Are you… drunk?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "I haven't had a drink for five months, four days and three hours, thank you."
"I had to ask. You're—"
"Entirely sleep deprived," Tony replied, before Steve could say anything else. He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "And now I'm going to remedy that. Night, Cap."
Steve watched him walk away with a sinking heart. Just the smallest glimpse of the genius had made his heart race and his palms sweat and he knew without doubt that the time away hadn't changed his feelings.
If anything, they'd only intensified.
He had a feeling that getting closer to him would be a whole lot more difficult this time though. Tony tended to close himself off to anyone who hurt him.
Not that Steve could blame him.
He'd seriously messed up.
…
"Nope, not today, son," Tony said, zapping one of the robots that were attempting to knock him out of the sky. Steve could practically hear the smirk in his tone.
They were fighting in the middle of nowhere, a run of the mill recon mission suddenly turned into a robot attack. It didn't help that it was just the two of them.
Thankfully, the robots were easy to take out, so despite the number of them, they were holding their own. Steve shuddered to think what would have happened if Tony hadn't seriously upgraded his suit into the nanotech miracle it was these days.
If he hadn't had the suit—
It didn't bear thinking about.
Eventually, they managed to fight off the bots and they were left just the two of them, panting and a little worse for wear, but importantly alive.
"Well, that was fun."
"You've got a strange idea of fun," Steve replied fondly. "We should head back to the jet, it's getting late."
Tony nodded, offering out his arm. "I'm not walking, seems like an effort. You remember how this works, right?"
Steve stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around Tony and stepping onto his boot. Tony waited until he was sure Steve had a tight grip and then activated his repulsors. He had them back at the jet in just a few minutes — entirely too soon for Steve's taste.
Just as Tony was about to land, a small missile sailed past them. It was only Tony's quick movements to take off again that got them out of range. Even in his costume, Steve knew he wouldn't have survived the blast.
"Shit, are you okay?" Tony asked. Even the suit voice modulator sounded shaky.
"Fine, I'm fine," Steve promised. "You got us out of the way. The jet… won't be moving anytime soon though."
Tony turned in the air and looked down, shaking his head. "No. No it won't. I can't fly us all the way back to New York but… If you can hold on for a while, I can get us to the nearest town. Hopefully, there will be a hotel or something?"
Steve nodded, tightening his grip on the suit. "Sure, Tony."
They were silent as they flew, and by the time Tony found them a town with a hotel, Steve had to admit he was glad to be landing. The air was cold, and he'd never been great with the cold.
"This way," Tony said, as he retracted his suit into the new reactor on his chest. "It's only a couple of minutes walk."
Steve fell into step, idly wondering if tonight would be the night that they could actually talk. He'd tried a few times, since he'd been back, but Tony always had an excuse to be somewhere else the moment Steve got anywhere close to the subjects he wanted to speak about.
Maybe tonight, when it was just the two of them, with nowhere else for Tony to be, they could actually talk.
…
"We've only got one room left," the woman on the counter said apologetically. "And it's only got one bed."
Tony sighed. "It'll do. Just… tell me that there's a phone and room service?"
"Of course, Mr Stark."
Tony nodded and handed over his card. Moments later, it was handed back along with a key card.
The elevator ride seemed awkward, charged, but Steve didn't know how to make it normal again. Tony stayed silent as they walked along the carpeted corridor to their room and he opened the door.
The little noise of distaste he made when they walked inside made Steve chuckle, and Tony turned to glower at him for a moment.
"It's floral," Tony complained. "Why is it floral?"
"Hey, at least there's power and a phone line, right?" Steve asked, putting the tv on. "I'm sure you can deal with floral for one night."
Tony grumbled quietly, but picked up the phone. Minutes later, and he was complaining heavily to Nat, who seemed to be laughing at him down the phone.
When he finished the call, he closed his eyes for a moment and then looked at Steve. "They'll be here tomorrow to pick us up. Order whatever you want from the menu, I'm going to shower."
Steve nodded and let Tony go without a fight. He could see the man was uncomfortable with the situation and he didn't want to make him feel worse. He ordered a selection from the menu, and made sure to pick a few things he knew Tony wouldn't be able to resist while he was at it, and as Tony got out of the shower, the food arrived.
"Just in time," Steve said quietly, opening the room door to let the porter enter with the trolley.
Steve tipped her silently and she left, leaving behind a slightly awkward silence, broken only by the tv.
"I got you some things too," Steve said, nodding at the trolley. "You didn't say what you wanted so I just got a mixture."
Tony nodded. "Thanks."
They ate in silence, though thankfully it got easier as the minutes ticked passed. Tony seemed to be enjoying the mindless reality show on TV, or at least, it was keeping him occupied enough that he slowly relaxed.
Steve, grateful that he'd been wearing a t-shirt and shorts beneath his uniform, took a quick shower after eating and carefully folded up his uniform. At least he wouldn't have to attempt to sleep in it.
When he returned to the bedroom, Tony was sitting on the bed, waiting for him. "I, uh, didn't know what side you wanted so…" he trailed off, biting his lip.
Steve wanted to sleep closest to the door, just in case there was an attack, but he knew Tony wouldn't appreciate that at all, so he shrugged. "Whichever side you want is fine, I'm not bothered."
Tony nodded and just slipped under the covers. Steve swallowed hard and climbed in the other side. It wasn't a small bed by any means, but Steve wasn't a small guy, and Tony was a grown man too.
Each of them lay on their backs, stiff and uncomfortable.
"I, uh… I hope we might talk," Steve said, his tone quiet and unsure. "There's a lot that we should—"
"I don't want to talk anymore," Tony said. He sounded so tired, and it made Steve want to cry because he'd caused that. "I'm sick of talking. Talking doesn't get us anywhere."
"We haven't actually talked about anything," Steve replied. "Not properly. I just… I just want to apologise properly and… sort things out. I miss you."
"You don't… you don't need to apologise. We both made mistakes. We both fucked up on a pretty magnificent scale. Can't we just… leave it alone?"
Steve hesitated then turned on his side to face Tony. "I miss you," he repeated. "I miss how we were… before."
Tony sighed. "It is what it is, Steve."
"But it doesn't have to be. We can get that back. We can… work on it."
"Get what back?" Tony asked, throwing his hand up. "We weren't anything, not really. We weren't… we weren't anything."
"We were," Steve argued quietly. "We were a lot, and we were working our way to being more. I want that, Tony. I want.. I want more."
"More what? I don't… I don't know what you want from me, Steve."
"I want you, Tony. I always did, and the time away… it didn't change anything. Not for me, not in this. I want you so much that it's hard to breathe sometimes. I want you so much that it hurts. I love you, Tony."
"No," Tony replied firmly. "You don't… that. You don't."
"I do," Steve replied, tone just as firm.
"You can't."
It hurt Steve to hear Tony practically begging him to retract his words, but he couldn't. He wouldn't lie, not about this. He wouldn't tell Tony that he didn't mean it, that he was wrong when he knew he wasn't.
"I can. I do. Tony, I'm not expecting you to… immediately jump into a relationship with me—" Steve was cut off by a 'meep' escaping from Tony. "But… tell me you don't feel anything for me, and I'll back off, I promise. But… but if you do feel… anything similar… then give me a chance. Let me prove to you that we can be good for each other."
"You don't want me, Steve," Tony whispered. "I'm a mess. I work too much, I don't understand people, I'm not good boyfriend material. Ask Pepper. She's known me for years and even she couldn't deal with my shit. I'm not good at this, in fact, I'm practically terrible at it."
"I don't need you to be anything other than who you are, Tony. I don't need you to change, or try and be someone you're not. I just need you to be you."
"Steve—"
"Tell me you don't want me and I'll back off and we can forget all about this."
Tony silence spoke far more than any words he could have said. Steve reached a hand out and rested it lightly on Tony's bicep.
"Just give me a chance. Go on a date with me, when we get home. Let me take you for dinner."
"This… this is a terrible idea, Steve. Like, the worst idea. And I know bad ideas, I've met Reed Richards, he's a walking bad idea, and this is like… a worse idea than the shit he's got in his head."
Steve snorted. He'd met Reed too.
"One date," Steve murmured, shifting slightly closer.
Tony sighed and turned his head to look at Steve. He was chewing on his lower lip, and there was fear obvious in his eyes. "I… You scare me. Because… if we do this, and it goes bad… I've already spent months with you not here, Steve. I don't… I don't want to do that again and this… this is a bad idea because—"
Steve leant closer and covered Tony's lips with his own, pressing gently. Tony froze beneath him for a moment before he made a noise of surrender and kissed back, his hand automatically reaching out to clutch at Steve's shirt.
When Steve pulled back, he ran a gentle finger along Tony's cheek. "I promise you, Tony, even if this doesn't work out, I won't leave you again. I promise you that."
Tony held his gaze for a long moment. "I'm going to hold you to that, you know. You're not allowed to leave me again, Steve. The world needs us to work together. And… I need you. You make me better. I don't want to do it alone again."
Steve, chancing that Tony would be as cuddly as Steve always thought he would be, reached out bother arms and tugged Tony close, holding him against his wide chest. Tony stiffened and then relaxed completely, pressing his face against Steve's neck.
"You won't be alone again," Steve whispered into the dark. "I won't let you be."
…
Steve woke up, warm and comfortable. It took him a moment to remember that the reason he was so warm was because of the body sprawled halfway across his own, but when he did, his heart jumped in his chest.
Tony.
He looked down, smiling when he saw the genius still sleeping, a little wet patch on Steve's shirt from his drool. It should be disgusting really, but it wasn't. It was endearing—like most of what Tony did, if Steve were ever asked his opinion.
Steve tightened his arms slightly and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment for as long as he could. There was a small part of him that wondered if Tony would wake up and decide he didn't want anything to do with Steve, that he didn't want anything to change.
Tony shuffled in his embrace and sighed deeply. "You're thinking too loud, stoppit."
Steve snorted and Tony opened one eye to look up at him. "Nothing changed in the night. You make a comfortable pillow."
Steve rolled his eyes, but splayed his hand possessively over Tony's back. He didn't know what would happen next, or if they'd work through their many issues and make it work, but he was hopeful. It was later than he'd wanted, and had taken too many tears, too much pain and sorrow and guilt, but this…
It was the start of something Steve had always wanted.
He could only be grateful that they'd made it here in the end.
Written for;
Auction - Sharing A Bed
Assorted Appreciation - 3. Write about the start of something
Disney - S3. Write about someone falling in love
Book Club - Artemis Fowl - Gold / Power / "Trust me, I'm a genius."
Showtime - 5. Expression
Attic - 4. "The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answer I accept."
Arcade - 7. Sakura - Intensely fixated / Losing concentration / Rose pink
Basement - Bucky - "Pick on someone your own size."
Film Festival - 20. Adorable
Days - 6. Near Miss Day - Write about a near miss
Spring - 4. Floral
Birthstone - 6. Turquoise - "I just had to ask."
Flower - 10. Allium - Bottle
Elemental - 5. Creation
Hufflepuff - 1. Dedicated
Star Chart - 13. June Solstice - Innocence
365 - 60. Costume
1000 - 241. "I don't want to talk anymore. I'm sick of talking. Talking isn't getting us anywhere."
