Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 872


Lie To Me


"Are you okay?"

Tony opened his mouth to tell Steve he was just fine, but the words wouldn't come out. "My knee is protesting movement," is what he said instead.

And then he blinked.

Nope.

Tony wasn't a big fan of lies, but in the same vein, he wasn't a big fan of the truth when people wanted to know about his personal life. He walked a very fine line of half truths and lies by omission for the most part.

It worked for him.

Especially with the press, who ate up his words without fail.

The one question that he never answered truthfully was, "are you okay?"

He was never okay. That was just a fact of life for him, and he'd long since learnt to live with that. So when Steve Rogers, Captain America for fucks sake, asked him if he was okay after the helicarrier being blown up interrupted their slanging match, he very much did not intend to tell him the truth.

Except… the lie wouldn't come.

Fuck.

There was no rhyme or reason to soulmates, as far as the world could tell. And many had tried to explain the phenomenon over the years.

So many.

None of them had ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for soulmates—they just were.

That Steve Rogers—Captain America again, jesus—was his soulmate was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. And he'd heard a lot of ridiculous things.

Tony wasn't really sure what to do with it, and so, he didn't do anything. He was pretty sure Steve didn't know, the man wouldn't lie about anything, so it was fine. Nobody needed to know about it.

Except then his mouth opened without his brain's consent and he invited the Avengers to live with him.

What the hell was wrong with him?

"You took a beating out there today," Nat said, slumping beside Tony. "You okay?"

"Uh huh," Tony replied with a grin. "Peachy."

"Oh, that is so bullshit and you know it," Clint argued, rolling his eyes. "You can barely move!"

"Tony?" Steve asked, walking into the room to hear Clint's last words. "Do you need me to help you down to medical?"

He meant to say no. He really, really did. And yet. "Yes."

"You've gotta tell him, you know?" Nat said, handing over a coffee.

Tony took the cup like it was made of stardust and sent a quick prayer up to the roof that he had such wonderful teammates. The more of the coffee he drank, the more his brain came on line, and he looked up, frowning at Nat.

"Tell who what?"

"You know exactly what," she replied, narrowing her eyes.

Tony shook his head. "I don't have to tell nobody nothing."

"No but you gotta tell Steve—"

"Tell me what?"

Tony looked at Steve, and then back at Nat, and closed his mouth stubbornly. Nope. Absolutely not a thing.

Except Steve was a stubborn shit. He cornered Tony all over the tower, trying to make him talk. Each time, Tony refused to speak at all and escaped as fast as he could.

He didn't need this kind of stress, dammit, he had a heart condition!

Eventually, when Tony refused to even greet him in the mornings, Steve gave up. It didn't make Tony feel good though; especially not when he caught the sad looks Steve would give him when he thought nobody was watching.

It didn't make Tony feel good at all.

"Are you okay?"

Steve had been in the gym for four hours. On the punching bags. He'd busted three, or so JARVIS had informed him, pointedly. Tony liked to think that his AI had bullied him into going to the gym, but really, Tony was—a little bit—concerned.

"I'm not okay," Steve replied, and then his eyes widened and he stared at Tony. "I didn't mean to say that."

"Uh huh. I figured as much."

"You… you knew. This was what Nat was—"

Tony nodded, cutting Steve off.

"Oh. Okay. I, uh… okay."

Tony frowned, but then he took in the look in Steve's eyes and the way his mouth downturned, and the slump in his shoulders.

"Pretty sure you just came to the wrong conclusions, Champ," he said, because he couldn't let Steve think this was anything bad about him. He wasn't that cruel.

"No, it's fine, I get it," Steve replied, turning away.

"Nope, you really don't. This isn't about you, Steve," Tony said quietly. "You're great, I swear you are. You… you're amazing. And I do not, under any stretch of my wildest imagination, deserve you."

Steve frowned. "You… truly believe that?"

"I can't lie to you," Tony muttered. "It's kinda the point."

"Tony… I've wanted to ask you on a date for weeks. I just… didn't know how. And you're ridiculous if you think you don't deserve me, because you're incredible!"

Tony blinked. "What?"

Steve's cheeks pinked. "You heard me."

"I, uh."

"Can I kiss you now?" Steve asked. "Cause I'd really, really, like to kiss you."

Tony grinned. "I'd like that."

"You two are disgusting," Clint complained.

Tony, from his place on Steve's lap, waved him off.

"Fuck you, Barton, you're only jealous."


Written for;

Auction - Soulmate!au - Impossible to lie to your destined mate.

Gym - Level 1 - Sit Ups - At least 500 words in the genre, Romance.

365 - 97. Prayer

1000 - 251. "Oh, that is so bullshit and you know it."