Author's Note:

Well, this is the final chapter of the story! I just wanna thank everyone who has read this story, added it to their favorites list, and those who have followed all the way till the end. I appreciate you so much!

He didn't dare move, in fear if he did the heart monitor would stop beeping again. He wanted to get something to eat from the cafeteria, but as soon as he took those first few steps the machine emitted an eerie single note beep continuously. He panicked and started screaming for help, alerting every doctor who passed by the hall to his room. After that, he stayed glued to his seat, next to the bed that held his genius. Everybody tried to tell him he needed sleep, that he needed to eat and drink, but he refused all of their requests. They soon started to bring him food and water, but he didn't touch it right away. He let the necessities sit there, his blue eyes unable to look at anything other than the sleeping form on the brunette.

He held his hand, thumb brushing over the back of it, silently hoping and praying that he was alright, that he was going to wake up any minute now. The doctors didn't have hope, but he did. They told him that there is a chance that Tony might not make it due to the severity of internal damage he suffered from the scepter, and he was scared that he might end up like Coulson did.

For days, and weeks, he sat there and rested his head on the silky soft white bed sheets, never once leaving Tony's side. When Natasha brought over his sketchbook and art supplies, he spent his time drawing images from his memory. Each image brought him closer and closer to tears as he drew and stared at his finished work. He just wanted him to wake up so he could see those beautiful brown eyes he loved so much, he wanted to physically see that Tony was ok. He couldn't handle listening to this insistent as well as persistent beating. He swears he was losing it, listening to the annoying beep beep beep of that fucking heart monitor.

He swears he's not going insane. It's not due to the lack of nutrition and water, no matter what anybody says, and it's not due to the lack of sleep for several days. Ok he can't keep lying to himself, it was due to the lack of sleep because he was a lot more irritable than usual.

His shoulders slumped and he could feel how sore his eyes were. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, trying to dissipate the sleep from within them. There was this weird squish sound once he opened his eyes, and he frowned in disgust. He looked back at Tony and sighed heavily, slumping in his seat.

He couldn't do this anymore, he was losing it. He needed Tony to get better, he can't handle the pain of not having him here. He was the only one, despite them having a rough start in the beginning, as well as that one night they argued, who made Steve feel like he was so much more than just a superhero persona. Tony made him feel like an actual person, and he wanted to tell the genius how much he truly meant to him.

"Please wake up… I can't do this." He whispered. He crumbled up the sheets in his hands, squeezing them until his knuckles turned white. The first wave of tears dripped onto the sheets, a sob escaping past his lips shortly after. He whipped them away as fast as they came, but soon enough more replaced the first wave. He released the bed sheets and placed his head in his hands, letting his sobs wrack his body as the noise coming from his mouth was muffled behind his hands. He didn't even acknowledge when the door to the room opened and a hand was placed on his shoulder, causing him to jump and flinch in response. He turned around and noticed Natasha, a deep scowl etched into her face as she looked at him.

She saw how disheveled he looked; from his messy unkempt hair, to the dark bags under his eyes, followed by his red and puffy eyes and pale skin. He looked worse for wear, and it was absolutely bad.

"You need to step out of this room for a bit." He looked at her with disbelief in his eyes, not really believing what she had just said to him. He shook his head and looked back at Tony, biting his lip.

"I… I can't Nat."

"Steve," she said softly, "I'm not asking you to stay away for the whole day, but you need to do anything except sit here. I don't care if it's for an hour, thirty minutes, or even thirty seconds, but you can't stay locked up in this room expecting him to wake up any second."

"You can't expect me to suddenly just leave him after this long of staying here!" He yelled. She stayed silent, an emotionless expression on her face as she let him speak. "You don't know what it's like when the person who gave you everything: a home, a life, love, everything he's given me and I can't leave this room until he wakes up. I want to be here when he wakes up." She sighed and nodded her head solemnly. She turned on her heels and started to exit the room, leaving Steve to his thoughts.

"I know exactly what it's like, in case you were wondering." She said suddenly, catching Steve's attention as she kept her back to him. "I know what it's like to watch the person you care about fight for their life, I've even been in a situation where I've had to listen to someone plead for their life. Don't end up like me Steve, it's a cold and dangerous path. For what it's worth, Tony will wake up." With that, she left the room.

He sighed to himself and reached forward, holding Tony's hand in his like he always did. He leaned forward and pulled Tony's hand closer to his lips, kissing the back of it. He didn't say anything, he didn't beg or plead, didn't cry or scream, but instead he simply rested his head on the bed sheets, cheek pressed firmly down as his eyes fluttered closed. He was worried, absolutely worried that Tony might not wake up, but just for tonight he was going to forget about all his worries, forget about the "what if's" and the nagging negativity in the back of his mind, for now he was just going to close his eyes and sleep next to Tony, just like he's always done since he was taken to the hospital.

He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, considering he's been more or less sleep deprived this week, but he could feel the ghostly touch of fingers carding themselves through his hair. It couldn't have been from anybody next to him, it was at a weird angle, so it had to be from someone in front of him, or at the very least sitting on Tony's bed. His eyes fluttered open and he slowly lifted his head, eyes partially open and the world blurry. He rubbed his eyes, correcting his vision as everything came into focus.

"Did you sleep well?" Someone asked. He froze. This couldn't be real, right? His mind had to be playing tricks on him, he's just sleep deprived, yeah that's it! But it sounded so real… He turned his head slowly, and his eyes went wide. He could feel how fast his eyes filled with tears as he saw Tony, sitting there awake with the biggest smile on his face. A sob escaped past his lips once more and the tears stained his cheeks, but he didn't care. He surged forward and captured the brunette's lips with his, needy and passionate, drawing a moan from the genius until shortly after a small groan of pain caused Steve to pull away and look at him with concern.

"Sorry," Tony chuckled, "still trying to heal over here." Steve chuckled in response as well, sniffling and letting Tony wipe the tears from his eyes. He leaned forward and placed a more gentle kiss on his lips, pulling back not a moment too soon as he heard a content sigh coming from the genius.

"I missed you." He whispered, smiling brightly. "I was so scared, that I was going to be all alone again. I didn't want to lose you, I just couldn't."

"I'm right here baby, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"I love you, Anthony." The special nickname that only Steve was allowed to call him just made his heart metaphorically flutter, widening his smile just enough that if he kept this facial expression for too long, his cheeks would start to hurt.

"I love you, too, Steven." They stayed there for a few minutes, and after awhile Steve got up from his chair, telling the genius that he was going to go get a doctor and see when he could be out of here. As Tony watched Steve walk out, he could see the small pep in his step, and for the first time since Steve decided he didn't want to leave Tony's room, he wore the biggest and brightest smile upon finally leaving the room.

When Tony returned home later that day after a few agonizing hours of doctors taking his vitals, he was allowed to go back home to the Avengers Tower. He was, however, under strict instructions from the doctors to take it easy, and that very well included fighting crime, and staying in his lab for excessive hours. Normally he would complain about it, but this time around he was ok with it. The reason for this being that he would have more time to spend with Steve after all the shit they've had to deal with.

The door to Steve's room opened and he gently placed Tony on it.

"Home sweet home." Tony said with a smile on his face. Steve shook his head and chuckled, a warm, loving smile on his face as he laid down next to Tony.

"Your room is more home for me, but we still need to get that fixed after the… Incident." Steve spoke, blushing.

"I meant the Tower in general, but you're right. We'll fix that later, right now I have other important things to worry about."

"And what exactly is that?" Steve raised his eyebrow, a smirk on his face.

"You." Tony said, mirroring his smirk. The soldier blushed more and pulled the genius closer to him, Tony's head resting on his chest. He was careful to not hold his side since he was healing, but that didn't stop him from gently rubbing it up and down, kissing the top of his head as he did so.

"I wanted to say thank you." This caused Tony to raise an eyebrow and look at Steve with an amused expression.

"Thank me for what?"

"For everything, really." He rolled over onto his side, keeping the geniuses head on his chest and his body close to him as he continued. "Thank you for giving me a home when I never had one, you could've left me at the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. after the whole Loki incident, but you invited me over and gave me a place to stay. Thank you for treating me like an actual person and not an American Icon of Patriotism. It's nice to know someone realizes that I am an actual human being, realizes who I am instead of what I am. And finally, thank you for loving me. When I was broken and scared, you continued to love me through it all and took your time with me, and I would never give up what we have for anything in this world. Thank you for everything you've given me. I love you, so much, Anthony Edward Stark." By the end of his speech, Tony instantly leaned in, ignoring the slight pain in his abdomen area as he gently kissed the soldier, pulling back with a huge smile on his face.

"That has got to be the most sappiest, and romantic thing I have ever heard. And I'm so lucky that it came from you and not someone else. I love you so much, too, Steven Grant Rogers."

There were no more words needed between the two as they held onto each other. The day carried on and everything was peaceful. Somewhere along the way, when the rays of the setting sun turned from an orangish hue to pure white of the rising moon, the two closed their eyes, bodies pressed gently together, smiles on their face as they slept. And while the rays of the rising sun slipped through the cracks of Steve's bedroom window, waking up both occupants, they continued to lay there, smiles on their face and just thankful that after all of the dangerous things they've gone through, they were finally back in each other's arms, and they couldn't be more happy.

Author's Note:

I am not sure if I will be writing a sequel to this, but I will say I have other stories in the making! If I do plan on writing a sequel it won't be for awhile, but if you have any ideas feel free to tell me! Love you all, and hope you enjoyed "I'll do whatever to make you happy."