Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Pairing - SteveTony

Word Count - 2331


Every Inch Of You


"What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!" Tony hissed, pushing himself up from the sofa. It hurt, but he wouldn't show weakness, not here, not in front of him.

"Tony—"

"Get out!"

"Tony, please!"

Tony shook his head. The betrayal was still simmering painfully, and he didn't want to face this. He thought he'd have time, space, before he had to deal with this particular reunion and he wasn't ready for it.

Steve stepped forwards until he was within touching distance and then dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "For everything."

"What are you doing? Get up, and get out, you're not supposed to be here."

"Take whatever you need out on me," Steve begged. "Hurt me if you need to Tony, just… please don't make me leave. Please. We need to work this out."

Tony shook his head in disgust.

"That you think I would need to hurt you back to get past this tells me that you don't know me at all," he whispered. He pressed a hand to his still healing chest. "I don't want to do this right now. You need to leave."

A single tear fell onto Steve's cheek. Tony watched it roll down into the scruff around his jawline. From his pocket, Steve pulled a phone and placed it carefully on the coffee table.

"Don't cut me off, Tony. Please."

"Get out."

Steve nodded sadly, slowly climbing to his feet. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Tony turned away, shaking his head. Footsteps sounded, and the soft click of the door closing.

Tony returned to his seat on the sofa, and if he cried, it was because his chest hurt. That was all.

I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I didn't want to hurt you, Tony, I've never wanted that. I just… I made so many bad choices and you paid the price for that.

Tony's thumb hovered over the delete button, hesitating. He didn't know why he was even entertaining the messages sent to the phone Steve had left behind. He didn't know why he was carrying the phone around with him, except he'd tried to put it into a drawer and lasted twenty-eight minutes before he'd taken it back out and slid it into his pocket.

He doesn't reply to the messages, but he reads every single one. A lot of the time, it was apologies, it was promises to make it up to Tony, and words of sorrow and sadness.

Sometimes it was updates on the team that are with him in Wakanda.

Nat is going stir crazy.

Bucky is still in Cryo.

Scott made a deal with the UN, he'll be back in America within the week.

Wanda is being taken to Xavior's for training. She's looking forward to it.

Rarely, it was photos. A sunset, a small lizard, a rippling shadow of a familiar figure over a lake. Tony reads all of them, and he stares at the photo's late into the night.

But he doesn't reply.

"The so called Superhero Civil War was a waste of time, energy and resources, brought about by a mad man with a grudge against Captain America," Tony said, his eyes on the many media liaisons in the crowd. "The Accords were always secondary, and with the necessary changes in place, Captain Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton and Sam Wilson have since signed them. They will be returning to American soil within weeks."

He paused, and raised his eyebrow at the crowd.

"We, as the Avengers, ask that the public support us as a line of defence between you and the threats that other people cannot handle. We ask that you stand united under our banner, as we will be reunited. We ask that the 'Team Cap' and 'Team Iron Man' is put behind us, because together, we are stronger.

"That's all. There will be another press conference once the team is back together, and you'll be welcome to ask questions then. Thank you for your time."

Tony stepped down from the podium and ignored the shouted questions aimed his way as he left the room.

Pepper was waiting for him, and she kissed his cheek. "You did well," she murmured.

Tony slumped under her praise. "I don't know if I'm ready for this, Pep."

"You are," she replied firmly, squeezing his shoulder. "You can do this, I know you can."

"Maybe."

The phone in his pocket vibrated silently and he slipped it out, closing his eyes briefly after reading the words on the screen.

I saw the press conference. You were more gracious than I deserve. Thank you, Tony.

The reunion was as awkward as Tony expected it to be. Nobody seemed to know what to say or do, and the tension was palpable.

Rhodey and Vision stood at Tony's sides, a united front as they waited for the plane to touch down on the tarmac. Steve was the first off the plane, flanked by Sam and Clint, with Natasha and Barnes bringing up the rear.

Tony's eyes locked on their locked hands with something akin to shock, but he shook it off quickly, grateful to the sunglasses that hid his surprise.

"Cap," he greeted, nodding. It wasn't warm, but it wasn't cold either.

Professionalism was Tony's new middle name.

"Tony," Steve replied, simply. He held his hand out to Tony, and Tony shook it, because what else was he supposed to do?

He nodded to the others as they surrounded Steve.

"The cars will take you to the compound," he said, nodding to the cars parked behind him, complete with drivers standing at their sides. "All your stuff is still there, in your rooms. A press conference has been called for two days from now, and we're all expected to be there, and be on our best behaviour. We're calling for the public to unite as we do, so we have to show a united front."

"That won't be a problem, Tony," Steve promised.

Tony nodded once. "Then I'll see you in two days."

"You… you're not staying at the compound?" Natasha asked, a small frown on her face as she took a step towards him.

Tony looked at her, silent for a long moment. "No."

The press conference was a success. Their masks slid on as easily as their uniforms did, and they even managed a few jokes between them, as they played the media like a fiddle. Iron Man and Captain America had always worked well together—It was Steve and Tony that had the problems.

Afterwards, Steve suggested they all eat together, and Rhodey agreed before Tony could walk away.

The meal was stilted, but the barbs were kept to a minimum, and even Barton managed to be polite, so Tony called it a success.

He spent the hours trying and failing to ignore the looks Steve sent his way; the longing and hurt were too familiar. He'd seen them in the mirror too often for them not to be.

"I was thinking that we should start doing team training, as well as the individual training that we already do," Steve said, leaning on the table. "And some team bonding activities. So we can… reconnect."

Tony closed his eyes as the others nodded, and rubbed his temples. When he opened his eyes, they were all looking at him expectantly.

"I… won't have time to come to all of them," he said eventually. "But feel free to confer with Friday about getting things into my schedule. If, or when, I have time, I'll come."

It was the best he could offer, and thankfully, Steve nodded and accepted it. It felt like progress, but it also felt like he was diving back into a pool that had already tried to drown him.

Steve kissed him on a Wednesday. They'd spent the whole day together, the whole team. They'd trained successfully, eaten together, and most of them had even stuck around for a movie night that they hadn't had in the longest time.

Tony was leaving, and Steve walked him to the door, despite Tony's protests of it being unnecessary.

He should have known that Steve had an ulterior motive.

Tony stepped back, and held his hands up in warning. "I can't do this. I can't. I won't be anyone's second choice."

Steve frowned, his lips pouting naturally as he reached out for Tony. "You've never been my second choice, Tony. I've… hoped for this for… a really long time."

Tony shook his head. "If I wasn't your second choice, then why did you try to kill me?"

They hadn't spoken about Siberia, and Tony would have been fine with that remaining to be the status quo, but Steve's actions and words weren't making any sense and Tony hated feeling like he'd been wrong footed.

"Tried to—Tony! I've never tried to kill you!"

"Um. A vibranium shield to the chest says otherwise," Tony replied flatly.

Ashen faced, Steve stepped forward. He looked lost, and younger than he ever had before. "I wasn't trying to kill you," he whispered. "Not ever would I… not ever, Tony. I just… I just wanted to shut the suit down, not… I didn't want to hurt you. I swear, Tony, I didn't."

"Why did you leave me behind then?" Tony asked quietly. "You left me in a frozen abandoned warehouse, Steve. You left me there with a disabled suit that I couldn't use to contact anyone because you knocked out Friday's signal, and you didn't come back for me. What did you think was going to happen?"

Steve was floundering under Tony's words and a small part of Tony felt bad for it, but he deserved answers to these questions. Especially since Steve had thrown yet another complication into the mess that was their relationship.

"Tony… I don't have any justifications for what I did to you," he replied eventually. "I can only apologise and promise that I'll never hurt you again. That… Siberia… it's the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life, and I know that I'll never be able to take that back. I know that, Tony, and I hate that I caused you pain."

"That… that doesn't explain the…" Tony cut himself off, waving a hand between the two of them. "If you're trying to 'make it up to me' by doing that… that's not right, Steve. It's… not right."

"No!" Steve protested. "I… kissing you was probably a misjudgement—not because I don't want you, because I do, but… I haven't given you much reason to trust me, have I? It's not a good time for me to be doing… that. I won't pretend that I don't want to do that but I won't… I won't try it again, Tony. I promise."

Tony nodded slowly. With a last long look at Steve, he had the armour surround him and took off into the sky.

Thanos came, and the team—with the help of others—managed to get the best of him. Thor and Bruce returned, bringing some friends with them, and for a few weeks after the battle, the compound was full to the brim of heroes and aliens and friends.

Steve cornered Tony a few days after the battle was over.

"How are you feeling?"

Tony run a hand through his hair. "Tired."

Steve nodded. "I think we all are. That was… something else."

"It was," Tony agreed. "I think… I've been thinking about retiring. The suit, it takes a lot out of me now, and… I don't know how much more abuse my body can take before it just decides it can't take anymore."

Steve swallowed hard. "If that's what you need to do, then I'll—we'll all—support you in that."

Tony nodded. There was another option in the Extremis that he'd been working on with Helen, but he didn't know if he wanted that. Not now, after everything that had happened. He just… didn't know if he could stop being Iron Man.

Right now, he thought he could, but he'd thought that before and it hadn't stuck. It never did.

"I was so scared the whole time we were out there," Steve admitted quietly. "The way you throw yourself to the front of the pack; you terrify me sometimes. You're so eager to protect, and I just… I was scared."

"You sound like Pep," Tony replied with a soft smile. "She shouted at me after."

Steve grinned.

"Sounds about right," he said, then sobered. "I realised, when we were fighting, that I've told you that I want you, and I've told you that I missed you, but… I never told you that I love you. Watching you fight, seconds from death the way you were… I realised that if we both made it through, I had to tell you. You have to know that I love you. That I've loved you for years."

Tony stared at him for a long moment. "You can't… you can't just throw words like that around, Steve. They… they mean something."

Reaching out, Steve took Tony's hand in his own and squeezed gently. "I know exactly what they mean," he promised. "And I mean them as I say them. Even if… even if we can never be more, you have to know that there is someone in the world that loves every inch of you."

"Steve…"

Steve smiled sadly. "It's okay, Tony. I don't expect… anything. I really don't. That you let me back into your life at all is—"

"I love you too," Tony blurted out. "Of course I do. I just… I don't know if I can handle… us."

"I'll take whatever you can give me," Steve said gently. "And I'll be happy for all of it."

Tony looked down at their still joined hands for a long moment before he looked up to meet Steve's blue eyes.

"Dinner?" he offered. "Just… just the two of us."

"I'd like that."


Written for:

Auction - "I can't do this. I can't. I won't be anyone's second choice."

Gym - Lat Pulldown Machine - Betrayed

365 - 104. Waste

1000 - 240. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!"