Chapter 4

Three months later, Steve was in love.

Tony was…Tony was a genius. So much more brilliant than Steve could have ever imagined. He was also a sarcastic little shit with a dangerously vicious streak, but Steve loved him all the more for it.

The three of them had gotten off to a rocky start, working out the kinks of their new working relationship to the point of countless arguments and balefully rising tensions, but they finally found a groove that worked well for them.

When Tony proved his skills as a mechanic and engineer, Steve and Bucky began stockpiling junk that the Commandos and trusted businesses had tossed aside. Broken cameras, worn down weapons that had lost their luster, and anything else they could get their hands on. Tony ripped everything they gave him apart and built something new and improved with the scraps, including make-shift drones, concealed video cameras, and miniature microphones.

Steve took Tony's idea about gathering information and ran with it, obtaining blackmail material by installing Tony's devices in hotels, restaurants and clubs all around Brooklyn. Businessmen and women from across the state found themselves having a private dinner with a client or ordering a fun night in with one of the men and women of the night under the Commandos' protection, spilling their secrets for a good time, leaving sated and satisfied and none the wiser that they weren't as covert as they believed.

Tony continued staying in the warehouse, much to Steve's dismay. He systematically refused the offers to move into Steve's house or Bucky's apartment. Steve understood why Tony would want to have his own space and stay below the radar, but he was positive that if his father or Bucky's ma ever met Tony, they would adore him as much as Steve did. There was no way they would force Tony go back home. How could they? It was painfully obvious to Steve and Bucky that Tony was terrified of his parents and that if he ever got caught, all hell would break loose.

So he grits his teeth and lets Tony have his way, even though he hates it.

Although, that particular understanding didn't stop the two of them from sniping at each other constantly. He and Tony often argued about anything, everything, and nothing all at once just to be contrary, but Steve didn't mind. In fact, he lived for it. He was perfectly aware that their perpetual back and forth brought his blood bubbling to the surface in the best way. It made him flushed and hot in a way he wasn't ready to give up. They were tumbling towards the edge of something that Steve wouldn't have the strength to pull back from.

Tony's eyes would darken as he pushed himself into Steve's space until their breaths were intermingling because he loved getting underneath people's skin, thrived off it, even. Steve would desperately try to keep his gaze high and respectful, but it would inevitably fall to Tony's lips when the brunet wetted them with a swipe of his tongue. Steve thought about how Tony would taste far too often to be considered healthy.

Bucky called it an obsession.

Steve told him to shut up.

The frightening thing was that Steve wanted to close the distance between the two of them and consume Tony, to wrap his small hands around the back of Tony's neck and bury them in his soft curls, far more than he wanted to take over the Commandos. Yes, he still wanted the power and respect that came with the position. Yes, he still wanted to make his father proud. But lately? All he truly wanted was Tony. Steve needed Tony by his side, where he knew he was safe and protected, where he's loved.

Sometimes, Steve struggled to remember his life before he and Bucky rescued Tony from that alleyway. Everything was different now - his priorities, his passions, his obsessions.

If his father noticed that something was different with Steve, he didn't mention it. Things went on as they always had over those three months, and Steve wondered if it was even possible for him to be this happy.

At least he did until everything went to shit.

The day started like any other. Steve and Bucky brought Tony his coffee with two shots of espresso before hunkering down in the warehouse for a few hours to plan their next move. Once everything's decided, Steve slipped out through the rusted metal doors and found himself leaning against the side entrance of the William Vale, just outside the security cameras' scope. He gave the valet a discreet nod, and not three minutes later, the hotel manager appeared in the doorway. Steve held out his hand for the man, who took it and the wad of cash carefully hidden within his palm.

Bucky and Tony arrived half an hour later with Tony's black backpack slung across his shoulder. Steve led them up to the sixth floor, which was currently under construction due to redesigning the rooms, through the stairwell. The Commandos had an understanding with the Vale. When one of the men or women of the night would catch a big enough score, they would bring them back to the Vale, who would then book them a room for the night on the sixth floor. After additional negotiations with Steve, they also agreed to let him 'investigate' the rooms to ensure they meet his satisfaction.

While Bucky stood watch, Steve and Tony installed video and audio listening devices in all of the rooms. The two of them did what they always did when they were together for longer than ten minutes at a time - argue. Steve honestly didn't even hesitate anymore, more focused on baiting Tony to shove into his space and making the brunet's cheeks flush in excitement. They volleyed quips and snipes back and forth until, during the final install of the day, Bucky finally groaned loud enough to break him and Tony out of their spell.

"You two are killing me," Bucky told them gruffly, throwing his hands up in the air. "Just kiss already!"

Tony's eyes widened comically while Steve gaped in mortification. "Buck-" Steve tried to stop his best friend from ruining everything, because what the actual fuck, but Bucky wasn't having any of it.

"No!" He snapped, pointing a menacing finger at both of them with a scowl. "I've spent the last three months listening to the two of you go at each other's throats. Tony, Stevie's in love with you. Knock-out, drag-out, head-over-heels in love with you."

"Buck! Steve choked.

"Shut up, Stevie!" Bucky growled. "It's fine; I'm telling you it's fine because Tony's in love with you too! You two are the biggest idiots I've ever met, and if you don't shut up and get your shit together, I'm smothering the both of you and knocking your heads together! Don't think I won't!"

Tony made a strangled sound in the back of his throat.

Bucky shot them one final look of pure, unadulterated rage and stomped out of the room.

Steve's mind was still stuttering on Bucky's words. "Tony's in love with you too." Because there was no way, right? Yeah, he thought they had something between them, but Steve didn't actually believe it was possible for Tony to feel the same way as he did. Steve was short, far too thin, and had a whole array of attitude problems, while Tony was beautiful, intelligent, and everything Steve wasn't.

Someone like Tony couldn't truly want someone like Steve, could he?

"Steve?" Tony breathed out shakily when Bucky was gone, turning to face him with trepidation etched onto his handsome face.

Steve swallowed thickly, his hands trembling by his sides, and turned to face the boy who had utterly changed his life over the past three months. "Y-yeah?"

Tony was watching him with eyes the size of saucers. "Was he - do you…was he right? Do you really love me?"

Shit. Fuck. Alarm bells sounded within Steve's head, and he had absolutely no idea what to say. If he agreed, would Tony laugh in his face and hop on a bus out of town? Or would he reciprocate? Shit.

After a few moments of frantic deliberation, Steve sighed and slumped his shoulders, making himself appear even smaller than he already was. "Yeah," he rasped. "Yeah, I am."

Tony watched him for three eternally long heartbeats before he pounced. "Oh, thank god," he managed to get out before his lips collided with Steve's.

Steve made a small note of shock in the back of his throat and then whimpered, hauling Tony close and burying his hands in his hair like he'd always wanted to. Tony's nails clawed at Steve's back, frenzied and furious as if he wanted to feel all of Steve all at once. It wasn't a particularly good kiss, all teeth and tongue, but it was their first - both of their firsts - and it was devastatingly perfect. They were pressed together from lips to shins, trying to get as close as they could while standing up.

A fierce feeling of possessiveness and protectiveness bloomed beneath his sternum as Tony nipped at his lower lip, forcing Steve to slow down and explore the caverns of each other's mouths with the intent of memorization. Tony's arms settled around Steve's waist, locking them in and keeping them close, while Steve cradled Tony's face and caressed his jaw.

When they finally pulled apart, Tony's pupils were dilated, and they were both panting heavily. Steve couldn't help it - his lips melted into a stupid, idiotic grin, though he didn't feel self-conscious because Tony wore a matching smile. They kissed a few more times until they broke apart in a fit of giggles. It was just so utterly ridiculous that they had spent the last three months building up to this, and Bucky was the one to finally get them together.

Steve rested his forehead against Tony's, brushing their noses together softly. "I really do, you know."

"Hmm?" Tony hummed, still caught up in the moment.

"Love you. I really do love you, Tony."

Tony's smile grew even wider as he buried his nose in the crook of Steve's neck. "I love you too, Steve."

Before Steve could do anything else, like kiss Tony again or wrap him up tighter, Bucky burst through the door, eyes frantic and chest heaving.

"What-" Steve began, already on high alert.

Bucky shook his head to cut him off. "I heard voices on the floor. We need to hide, now!"

Shit. The manager had promised that the hotel had halted the construction for the day and nobody would be allowed on the sixth floor besides them. Something was wrong.

Adrenaline and panic boiled within his veins as Bucky scanned the room and pointed to the bed. "Tony, get underneath the bed and stay there." He then grabbed Steve's wrist and forced them apart, dragging Steve towards the closet. "I really hate to break you two up, I do, but we don't have much time."

Steve followed dutifully, letting Bucky crowd him into the closet and close the door behind them to watch from the thin slats while Tony disappeared from sight. The room was still and silent until the door was suddenly thrown open, and a group of men dressed in black filled the threshold.

"Oh Tony," the bigger of the three sang, and Steve stiffened. "Come out, come out, wherever you are. It's time to come home." Bucky's hand clapped over Steve's mouth to muffle the sound of disbelief that almost escaped.

How the hell did they find him? They'd been careful, painstakingly careful, not to let anyone see Tony. He stayed in the warehouse or hid between Steve and Bucky on missions. There was no way -

"A little birdie told us that we could find you here," another one explained sharply, his voice deeper and more menacing than the other. "Or should I say, two little birdies."

Steve's brow furrowed. What?

"Turns out your little friends aren't as loyal as you thought they were." The last one jeered. "I guess it took them three months to get tired of you."

Bucky's grip on him tightened when Steve jolted in incredulity. No. They couldn't possibly be trying to convince Tony that he nor Bucky had turned him in! What the fuck?

"Your father has been searching for you for a long time, Tony," the first, and most likely the leader, said. "Playtime's over."

His words were followed up with a sharp yell from Tony as the man tugged on his feet, yanking him out from underneath the bed.

"No!" Tony cried, fighting and flailing against their strong hold. "Let me go!"

"Don't make this any harder on yourself," the leader growled, shoving Tony towards the other men who secured him between the two of them. "You had your fun, and now it's over. Your friends don't want you anymore."

Bucky's arms and legs encased Steve's as he tried to dislodge his best friend, frantic to scream at Tony that the man was lying, that neither he or Bucky could ever hurt him like that.

Tony continued to fight, but he was losing his energy fast - too fast. "You're lying. They would never do that!" Why did it sound like there was a hint of doubt in his trembling voice?

The man let out a cruel laugh. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? But how else would I have found you, huh? Face it, kid."

Tony's eyes watered, and his shoulders slumped in response as if he was indeed taking the man's words to heart. Steve wanted to rage. "Please," Tony begged, switching tactics. "Let me go. Don't take me back to my father. Anything, anything but that."

Steve's heart shattered at Tony's words. He was terrified, thinking his two best friends had betrayed him, played with his heart, and then sold him out to send him back to his abusive father. Shit. Steve was going to be sick.

"Sorry, kid," the second man said with far too many teeth. "But that's what he's paying us for. Now, where's the cane?"

The cane. Tony's father's cane. The one he used to beat the shit out of Tony time and time again.

"I don't know!" Tony lied. "I ditched it when I realized I couldn't run with it."

The cane was back at the warehouse with the rest of Tony's things, including his robot. Steve would be damned if he ever let Tony's father get his hands on it again.

"The Boss ain't gonna be happy about that." They wrestled him through the door, Tony's cries and shouts echoing down the hallway until the door closed behind them. Steve watched them take him away with bile in his throat as he was powerless to stop it.

Thirty seconds of tense, deafening silence passed until Bucky's grip finally slipped, and Steve threw himself out of the closet and into the bathroom, where he expelled the contents of his stomach. He heaved for a few long minutes until he wiped his mouth with a washcloth hanging above the toilet.

Once he knew he wouldn't lose it again, Steve whirled on Bucky, who was wearing a pinched, broken expression. "Why?"

Why did you keep me locked in there?

Why did you force me to watch them take him away?

Why didn't you help?

"They had guns, Stevie!" Bucky snarled.

"So do we, Buck!"

Bucky closed his eyes, his body practically vibrating from adrenaline. "They were three grown men with at least four different weapons on each of them. These guys are hired, trained killers, Stevie, and so much more dangerous than the two of us put together. If we would have shown ourselves, then they could have killed you, and I'm sorry okay?" His face scrunched up in pain. "I'm so sorry. I love Tony too, but you're my first priority, Stevie. Always have been, always will be. My job is to protect you."

Steve collapsed onto his hands, unable to stop the cascade of tears that escaped from the corner of his eyes. "They took him, Buck."

"I know," his best friend choked out.

"And they made him think that we gave him up. That we didn't want him anymore." Steve's hands tightened into white-knuckled fists. "That I didn't love him anymore."

"I know."

They were quiet for a few minutes; the only sound between them was the harsh sniffles and muffled sobs they both couldn't hold back.

Bucky dropped to his knees and pulled Steve to his chest. "We'll find who did this. I swear."

Steve nodded against his best friend, swallowing past the heartache, fear, and unbridled fury. He understood why Bucky didn't promise that they would get Tony back. They didn't even know his last name or where to begin searching for him, and if they did manage to find him, they could be charged with kidnapping if they were discovered again. "When we do, I want them dead, Buck. Do you understand me?"

Bucky pulled back a few inches to examine Steve's face and must have seen the steel and determination there because he breathed out heavily. "I do."

"Good."

When they finally pushed themselves to their feet, the tears wiped from their face, and a grim understanding passed between them. It was the calm before the storm, the receding tide before a tsunami. Bucky reached beneath the bed to grab Tony's backpack and led them out of the room, checking to ensure that no one else was in the hallway, before heading towards the stairwell.

As they stepped out into the warm August afternoon, both Steve and Bucky stiffened when they realized who was waiting for them.

"Dad," Steve whispered in fear as he took in his father's thunderous expression.

James Rogers scowled, jerking his chin towards the alleyway in a silent demand. The two boys glanced at each other warily before following the furious gang leader. When they were safely hidden from prying eyes, James spun around and crossed his arms over his chest. "What the hell were you two thinking? Harboring a runaway and bringing him into Commandos' business?"

Steve jerked in surprise. "You know about Tony?"

"Of course I know about Tony!" James roared, causing both boys to flinch back. "I know everything that happens in my territory! I can't believe you two could be so stupid as to put the Commandos, your family, in danger!"

A frigid, unrelenting block of ice settled within Steve's stomach as a thought occurred to him. "Dad," he sucked in a sharp intake of breath, praying that he was wrong. "You didn't."

Bucky looked at him then with a furrow between his brow. He didn't understand. And why would he? The idea that Steve's father could have something to do with what happened to Tony was unthinkable.

"I did," James seethed. Both Steve and Bucky took a shocked step backwards as the truth dawned on them. "I wasn't going to allow Anthony Stark to take refuge in my territory any longer, not with Howard out looking for him. That man would do everything in his power to see me destroyed if he found out I was harboring his son, including siding with Hydra in the coming war."

Steve had no idea how to process the revelation of Tony's name. He'd heard about the feud between his father and Howard for years, but knowing of Tony's abuse by the same man the Commandos despised? It made him angry.

"How could you?"

"How could I what, Steve? Protect my family? Like you're supposed to?"

Steve shoved forward, letting out an animalistic growl, only for Bucky to hold him back. "How could you send Tony back to that monster? You know better than anyone what he's like! He hurt Tony, Dad! That's why he left!"

James' expression shifted for only a moment before returning to the cold, hard mask that Steve recognized. It was the same expression his father held right before he killed Zemo. "It's not my problem, and it certainly isn't yours."

Bucky's grip on him tightened.

"I LOVE him!" Steve exploded.

"You're sixteen; you don't even know what love is!" James snapped with a harsh wave of his hand as his voice grew louder. "And I forbid you, either of you, to make contact with Tony Stark ever again. One of the Commandos will be with you, following you, day and night. Every moment of every day until you enlist because I don't trust either of you not to start a goddamned war."

The two of them panted heavily as James' words sunk in.

Steve stands there, floored. Dumbstruck. From the look in his father's eye, he was serious. Dead serious. James honestly believed that if either Steve or Bucky made contact with Tony, then they would have a war with Hydra that they couldn't win on their hands. Howard Stark would back their enemy until James and the Commandos were nothing more than a memory.

And intellectually, Steve understood - he did. His family was important. The Commandos were important.

But Steve was in love with Tony, and that changed everything.

And his father knew it.

Steve wrenched himself out of Bucky's hold and forced himself not to cry. He would do as his father asked. He would be a good little soldier until he became a real one. He would take his father's place one day and rule the Commandos. Steve would take away his father's power, heart, and soul and become a better leader than James ever was.

And then we would find Tony again.

"I will never forgive you for this," Steve swore, looking his father dead in the eye and proving just how serious he was.

And then he walked away, his best friend at his back.

XX