The Avengers Whump & Bromance Anthology
We're Not Dying Here
Whumptober 2020
PenPatronus
"Did I ever tell you," Tony said to Steve, "about the time my dad put his cigarette out… in my ear?"
"N-No," Steve huffed and puffed, "did I ever tell you about the time my dad spent half our rent money on new writing utensils for me?"
"Mom was at her book club. My nanny had the night off. I couldn't find a screwdriver, so I took one from dad's workshop… and broke it. Turns out it belonged to his old man."
"Dad had to work double shifts for two weeks to make up for that. I think I saw him twice that whole time."
The boys' tried to talk quietly, but their voices still echoed a bit in the cold, silent subway. They'd been ambushed. Steve had never been in a limo, Tony discovered at 2:00 in the morning. So naturally Tony, against Steve's wishes, called for one of his stretch limos to pick them up in front of the Tower for a joyride. Steve relented, and the pair went for a ride through a snowy Manhattan. Twelve and a half blocks later, while they were crossing an icy intersection, a monster of a black truck drove into the intersection and slammed into the driver's door. The truck was so large that its front end stretched wide and hit the seat directly behind the driver, too. It hit Tony. The limo crumpled and aluminum smashed Tony's leg, breaking his right femur.
The driver died on impact. Steve and Tony, leaving their phones in cupholders, got out on the opposite side of the limo while the bad guys popped out of the truck and started firing their guns. Steve tore off an icy manhole, but they didn't go down there. Instead, they ducked into a closed subway station, Tony leaning on Steve as he hopped. They hoped their attackers would assume they escaped into the sewer, and would spend the whole night on a wild goose chase down there.
The pair got down onto the subway tracks where it was somehow even colder than it was on the street. Tony asked what street they were on and when Steve told him, he sighed and said, "This track is shut down three miles in both directions. They've been making repairs all winter."
"Well, we can't stay here," Steve had said. He went from holding Tony's elbow to pulling his friend's arm across his shoulders. "Start hopping."
"Steve…" Tony pointed back up at the station, at the bathrooms nearby. "Just stick me in there. Get out of here, get to the rest of the team and come back for me then."
Steve shook his head. "If they figure out we're down here then they'll tear the place apart. It's too risky."
"Cap, my leg's shattered." Tony's nose was red from the cold and the air turned white when it exited his throat. "I'm just going to slow you down… Get out of here." Steve's response was to wrap his other arm around Tony's waist, and step forward. Now they were hopping along in the darkness, ears on alert for anyone following them, eyes squinting by the barest light coming from blinking lightbulbs that lined the tunnel.
"Bastard perforated my eardrum. I had to have surgery that night," Tony continued. "And did anyone at the hospital call child services when I told them my father stuck a lit cigarette in my ear? Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Not Howard Stark, no, he would never do that…" Tony stumbled for a second, and Steve hefted him up into the air, only putting him back down when he found a smooth spot on the track. "Steve, I… Just need a minute, ok?"
Steve looked at his friend. He was both sweating and shivering. Tony's hand on his elbow trembled. "Ok," he said. "We can sit for a minute – but just one."
"I'll take it."
Steve slowly lowered Tony to the ground and arranged him so that he was sitting back against the cement. Stark clamped his mouth shut and struggled not to scream when Steve accidentally put his arm on Tony's knee. "Sorry," Steve whispered. "Hey Tony, what… What's… Tony, you're bleeding!"
"Am I?" Tony looked down at his broken leg for the first time and saw that his jeans were dark red and wet. "Huh. That explains it."
Steve took his winter coat off and pressed it against a three inch cut in Tony's upper leg. "Explains what?"
"That darkness in the corner of my eyes," Tony mumbled. "The fact that I see a Cap and a half right now… And you're blurry."
Steve looked up into his friend's eyes. "I think we're in trouble here."
"We're always in trouble." Tony laughed at himself, then stopped when the vibrations caused his leg to throb even more. "God, this hurts…"
Steve finished wrapping his coat all around Tony's leg. He used his belt to hold it tight. "All right, Stark, you've got more hopping to do." Steve took his winter gloves off and put them on Tony's, over his, and then helped his friend to his feet. "Here we go."
"Here I go again on my own," Tony sang, "goin' down the only road I've ever known. Have you listened to Whitesnake yet, Cap?"
"Haven't had the pleasure, Tony."
"Ah, the eighties," Tony mused. "I broke my other leg in 1987. Fell off a garage roof."
"What were you doing on a garage roof?"
"What I always did! I was trying to impress a girl."
Steve chuckled. "Hop a little faster, Tony. I think I see a brighter light ahead. Must be the next station."
"Oh, thank God," Tony groaned. "Let's hail a cab." His teeth rattled then – clicking together as he shivered in the cold.
Both of their stomachs sank when they came to the station. Like the first one, it was shut down. Unlike the first one, it was barricaded shut… from the outside. Steve left Tony on the track and tried his best to break through the barricade, with no luck. He did, however, find a vending machine. He put his fist through the glass and got Tony a couple Snickers bars and a bottle of water. He broke into a security station, next, and found a gun hidden under a desk. He pocketed the weapon in the back pocket of his jeans, then jumped back down to Tony. He'd ordered Tony to stay on his feet, but he'd ignored him. Tony sat against the cement again, clutching his knee. Blood had seeped through the winter jacket.
"You know what really impresses girls, Cap?" Tony asked him as Steve unwrapped the candy and unscrewed the bottle cap. "Goatees. You should grow a goatee, Steve. Might look good on you." Tony held his lips open while Cap poured some water down his throat. Stark coughed for a moment, then gestured for more water. "Thanks…" He waved away the candy. "Slight possibility I might puke," he explained.
Steve ate the Snickers in two bites. "We'll be able to get topside at the next station," he assured his friend. "Just a little more hopping to go."
Tony had closed his eyes. "Hmm…" he hummed. "How cold do you think it is?"
"It was ten when we left the Tower… Probably five down here."
Tony opened his eyes. "I made a giant snowman when I was five… Hijacked a bulldozer."
"Get up, Tony."
"You know where my dad put his cigarette out on me that time? Back of the neck. Hurt for weeks."
Steve sighed. He pulled Tony's arm across his shoulders and stood up with him. Tony sagged. He coughed. He rested his head against Steve's shoulder. "Come on, buddy," Steve urged him. "We've got a ways to go."
"You know where it really hurts to get a cigarette put out on you? Back of the knee. Boy, that stings."
The two Avengers hopped along for another half mile. This station was barricaded, too. Steve got another bottle of water and a second gun. More hopping.
Stark had stopped talking. "Tony?"
"Hm?"
"I've never seen you this quiet. It's weirding me out."
"Hm…"
Steve looked at Tony and saw that his eyes were shut. But he kept hopping, kept hopping.
They were about a third of a mile away from the next abandoned station when Tony stopped moving, except for the constant shivering from the abhorrent cold. "Steve, I don't think I…" Tony's left knee buckled, and he collapsed onto the track with his broken leg outstretched. Steve let him fall, but slowed the fall so that Tony wouldn't hurt himself. He maneuvered his friend so that they landed side by side, arm against arm, Tony's head lying on Steve's shoulder. "Steve, it's so cold and I can't… I just can't…"
Normally, Steve would say, "Of course you can! You're Tony Stark! You strolled out of a terrorist camp, flew a missile through a wormhole, saved the President…" But, there was something so sincere, so desperately true in Tony's voice, that he knew now wasn't the time for an inspirational speech. So instead of arguing and insisting and lecturing, Steve gently put his arm around Tony, giving him a sideways hug. Tony collapsed against him, going nearly limp. Steve rubbed his back and arm to try to warm him up, but nothing could beat back the whistling wind in the dark tunnel. Tony was sweating and shivering and shaking. His skin was pale and there was just the tiniest, faintest tinge of blue under his chin. The blood flow hadn't stopped. Steve looked up at the ceiling and made a wish on a lightbulb as if it were a star.
Steve let five minutes go by. Then, he shook Tony's shoulder and said, "Time to go, Tony." He took his arm away but Tony was limp, and he would've smacked the back of his head on the iron track if Steve hadn't grabbed him and maneuvered him into his lap.
Tony groaned and pressed his nose against the inside of Steve's right knee. "I's… dizzy…" he sighed through a mumble. "Think I need to sleep…"
"Tony, no, Tony – you need to stay awake. If you fall asleep you might…" Steve didn't want to think about what might happen. He lifted Tony up half a foot and pulled his friend's face to his chest and held him there, Tony's ear against his breastbone. "Tony, for me – stay awake."
"t's hard."
Steve rubbed Tony's entire upper body, desperate to keep him warm and alert. "Tony – we need go to a little further. Just a little further, all right? Then you can rest again."
"Cap, I can't…"
"Tony, look at me." Steve gently clasped Tony's chin between his bare fingers and forced him to meet his eyes. "Hang on. Just a little bit longer." Tony blinked hazy eyes. He licked his chapped lips and sniffed the freezing air. "Do it for me, Tony, all right? Do it for me."
Tony nodded. "For you," he conceded. He nodded again. "Help me up."
It was then – right then – that both men heard the voices. Men's voices, coming from behind them – from down the tunnel they'd been walking. Steve and Tony shared a brief terrified look, then they scrambled up onto their feet. Tony hopped forward three steps, almost four before his knee collapsed again. Frustrated, scared, desperate, Cap tossed Tony over his shoulder and started to run. He reached the next station and lifted Tony up onto the platform. He scrambled up behind him, then dragged Tony to the bathroom wall. "This is where we make our stand," he told him. Steve got a third gun out of that platform's security station and put it in Tony's gloved hand. "We're not dying here today, you hear me? Not freezing to death and getting shot in some shitty subway."
"Mhmm," Tony muttered. Then he agreed, "Not today."
"That's right."
The voices were getting closer. One of them chuckled.
Steve gently cupped Tony's cold face. "Stay awake," he ordered. "Tony… Stay with me."
Tony looked at his friend. "I'm sorry you didn't get to see your dad." Tony swallowed, his Adam's apple bouncing. "I'll promise I'll stay awake… For you."
"That's my man." Steve patted Tony's shoulder, then took up his post on the edge of the platform, waiting for the men to get closer.
When he saw their shadows, he aimed his gun at the nearest lightbulb and shot it dead. Only two lightbulbs remained along that short stretch of track. Steve was willing to be that he had the upper hand at seeing in the dark thanks to his super soldier eyesight. "Turn around now!" he called to the approaching men. "Unless you want to die!"
"Cap?" a voice called.
Steve lowered his weapon. "BARTON?" He looked around the corner and, sure enough, Clint, Bruce, Natasha, and Thor were jogging down the tunnel towards him. Steve sighed in relief. "Thank God it's you guys."
His teammates climbed up onto the platform. "We've been looking for you for hours!" said Bruce. "We were worried you'd frozen to death."
"Tony is close to that. He's practically hypothermic." Steve turned and jogged back over to his friend. "Tony?" Tony had broken his promise. He was unconscious. Steve shook him, but he didn't wake up.
"TONY!"
Tony was delightfully surprised to find himself in his own warm bed when he woke up. He was surprised, but not particularly delighted, to find Steve Rogers where Pepper was supposed to be – lying right beside him. In Steve's defense, he was lying over the blankets instead of under them with Tony, and he was on the very edge of the bed. Still, Tony couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Abandoned Chinese food sat on his bedside table. Tony plucked out a chopstick, then used it to poke Steve in the nose. Cap flapped his hand in front of his face as if there was a pesky housefly there. His own movement woke him up and he made eye contact with Tony. "Hey."
"We got out of the death tunnel, I see."
"Of course we did. We're us." Steve sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, walked around it and then sat on the edge on Tony's side. "You look better."
"Did I fall asleep?"
"Uh huh." Steve looked down at his hands folded in his lap. "You promised you'd stay awake."
"Sorry…"
Steve raised his eyebrows. "Want to make it up to me?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "My leg is broken, and I have pressure in my chest that tells me I was hypothermic at the end. What can I possibly do for you?"
Steve turned serious. "Don't do that again," he said quietly.
"Don't do what?"
"Almost die."
Neither man made eye contact with the other. "Only if you make the same promise," Tony said.
Steve smiled. "Deal."
The End
