Steve didn't wake up again for another few hours, but Tony never left his side. That wasn't to say that he sat there and did nothing though. He was on his phone for almost the entire time, digging into whatever he could find about what was going on. Tony wanted the names and job titles of every single person involved in sending Steve on these missions. He knew all about people in positions of power who bent things to their will while staying safe in their little bubble. It was not going to be that way anymore.

Tony also got one of his private jets set up on the nearest runway. It was going to be on standby until Steve was released, then Tony was going to take him back to New York. There was no way he was going to let him back out for another mission, no matter what he said.

Part of Tony was a little annoyed that Steve had let things go this far. It wasn't always the easiest to stand up for yourself, but he'd seen Steve push back at least a little bit before. This was one of those times that it was completely necessary. But maybe it had to do with Steve's age. Bucking against an older authority figure was probably unheard of in Steve's time and it really hadn't been very long since he'd been living in a different world. But if Steve needed someone to advocate for him, Tony would step up.

"Tony?"

Tony's eyes snapped up from where they'd been staring at his phone, finding Steve blinking sluggishly back into consciousness. He smiled, tucking his phone back into his pocket and standing up so Steve wouldn't have to move his head as much to see him.

"Hey Steve. How are you feeling?" Tony asked, gently nudging Steve's hand back down from where it was trying to fiddle with the nasal cannula in his nose. And maybe he kept his fingers wrapped around Steve's wrist. Just checking vitals.

"Like I got hit by a truck," Steve mumbled, closing his eyes again.

"Is that what happened?" Tony questioned, wanting to keep Steve awake. Maybe it was selfish of him, but he didn't want Steve to go back to sleep. He wanted him awake and talking, so he'd know if he was okay.

"I don't think so," Steve replied, scrunching his face a little in concentration.

"You have experience with that to compare it to?" Steve just hummed a little in what Tony assumed was confirmation. "You mind telling me what really did happen?"

"Wasn't a big deal," Steve murmured. Tony had to turn away and take a couple of deep breaths. Exploding on Steve wasn't going to help anything, but he felt the undeniable urge to.

"Steve, do you have any idea what you look like right now?" Tony asked, unable to keep a slight waver out of his voice. Steve must've heard it, because his eyes finally reopened and they rolled up to meet his. "I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry, but I'm okay."

"I couldn't even hear all of your injuries without wanting to throw up. That's not okay. None of this is okay!" Tony exclaimed, shaking his head. "Any other person wouldn't have made it to the hospital."

"But I am healing, right?"

"That doesn't make this better. Just because you can survive this, doesn't mean you should be put in a position to have to. Especially alone," Tony argued. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't have a choice."

"There is always a choice!" Tony shouted. Steve pulled his hand away and turned his head to stare at the wall on the other side of the room. Tony mentally kicked himself for losing control, but he couldn't help it. These past few days of not knowing if Steve was alive or not were weighing on him. "Steve, I-"

"It's fine," Steve mumbled, trying to curl his body away from Tony, but hissing when it aggravated his injuries. After a few seconds he gave up and just kept his eyes pointed away.

"Steve, when you stopped responding to my messages, I was so scared. Especially after how our last few conversations had gone. Knowing you were out there, most likely hurt, while I could do nothing about it killed me," Tony said sincerely. "And then when I finally got the call that you were in the hospital, it terrified me. You're the guy who takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen."

"But I'm fine," Steve insisted weakly.

"You're not. And while everyone has been treating you as this unbreakable machine, you're not. You're still a person, Steve. I'm sorry that everyone around you seems to forget that," Tony sighed, running a hand down his face. He was guilty of the same at one point, but his eyes had been opened to the truth for a while now. Steve was just a kid trying to do as much as he could to satisfy his sense of purpose. But he hadn't stopped to consider his own well-being while doing all this.

"I didn't mean to worry you. I was just trying to do my job," Steve said, turning his head back to face him. "I never really had to worry about people caring if I made it back. Everyone I was close to was out fighting with me."

"Even if you didn't, that still isn't a good enough reason to discount the importance of your own life," Tony pointed out. "But since you do have someone who cares, and who doesn't appreciate stressing himself into an ulcer, I'm going to need you to be more careful."

"Can't your computer take care of that?" Steve joked, smiling briefly.

"Jarvis can do many things, but he does have some limitations. I could reprogram one of my robots to figure out how to do it," Tony chuckled lightly, before turning serious again. He'd let Steve get away with changing the subject during their conversations before, but he wasn't going to this time. "Will you tell me what happened?"

"Does it really matter? It was a mission and I got injured. That's always a risk," Steve brushed off.

"Fractured skull."

"What?" Steve asked in confusion, looking up at him with a frown.

"Brain bleed."

"Tony."

"Punctured lungs. Plural."

"Tony."

"Broken collarbone. Broken shoulder blade. Broken ribs."

"Tony."

"Should I keep going? Because I can. I've got a whole list of things that are wrong with you. In fact, the list of parts that aren't injured is probably shorter. I think your right pinky made it out unscathed," Tony said, balling up his fists at his sides. "Stop downplaying this. Nothing you say is going to change those facts."

"Telling you about it isn't going to either," Steve replied quietly. Tony shook his head in disappointment and slumped back into his chair. His relief was quickly giving way to frustration. He'd spent less than 24 hours total in Steve's presence, so maybe the friendship that had developed in his head didn't match what it actually was. That was probably just the stress talking, but Steve could be very exasperating. "A building fell on me."

"What?" Tony blurted out, unsure if he heard right.

"A building fell on me."

"A building fell on you."

"Yes," Steve confirmed. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. How Steve could say that so casually was insane.

"Okay. And then what happened?" Tony asked.

"It's kind of fuzzy after that. I think I was unconscious for a while," Steve admitted, staring down at the IV that was stuck in the back of his hand. "Shield picked me up and brought me here."

"That's it?" Tony pressed, staring at him critically. He couldn't help feeling that Steve was still holding something back. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Tony, it's- can't you just leave it?"

"Now I definitely can't, if you're so hesitant to tell me," Tony insisted.

"Tony."

"Steve."

"Fine."

"Thank you."

"When I woke up, I knew I wasn't okay. The serum must've taken care of enough to let me regain consciousness, but there was still a lot wrong," Steve mumbled, clenching his jaw. "I didn't want to, but I had to activate the emergency beacon Shield gave me."

"Steve, that's nothing to be ashamed of. That was the right call."

"No one came."

"What?" Tony asked in confusion. "I thought you said-"

"And I couldn't help but think about being lost in the ocean. I know it wasn't the same, but it felt like it at the time," Steve stammered, sounding more out of sorts than Tony could ever remember. "And then I panicked."

"Oh, Steve."

"I actually think it helped me a bit, since the adrenaline gave me the strength I needed to get free. So I pulled myself out and made my way the few miles to the extraction point."

"Miles? In your condition? Holy shit," Tony mumbled. "Forget what I said about fixing Shield's phone system. That emergency beacon malfunction was unacceptable."

"It wasn't."

"Steve, how can you say that? Just because you made it out, doesn't mean someone else will be as lucky."

"I meant that it didn't malfunction. It worked," Steve whispered, blinking rapidly as Tony saw his eyes looking a bit more shiny. His probably looked the same, but his tears were of the angry variety. "They knew where I was and that I needed help, but they didn't come."

"That's- I don't even know what to say."

"They said they couldn't risk sending other agents. And that if I was able to trigger the alert, that meant I could figure it out. I don't remember anything after that, until I woke up and you were here."

"That's bullshit!" Tony yelled, jumping up from the chair and pacing the length of the room. If he didn't let out some of his frustration, he was going to explode. How dare they? Tony was not going to let them get away with this. Before he might've been satisfied with giving them a piece of his mind, but now he wasn't going to rest until he destroyed them.

"If I'd have been faster, this wouldn't have happened," Steve mumbled. Tony whirled around toward him, giving him a scathing look.

"Don't you dare put any of the blame on your shoulders! Nothing you could've done would justify their actions."

"But-"

"No buts! How about we listen to the one of us who didn't just have their brains spilling out over the pavement?" Tony hissed. Steve's jaw snapped shut and he was glaring a little, but Tony didn't care. If he couldn't physically beat some sense into Steve, he'd do it verbally. "I didn't think it would be this hard to convince you that it's not okay for people to throw you at danger and not give a shit whether or not you come back."

"They do care, it's just-"

"They care enough to fix you when you're broken so they can do this all over again. They don't care about you as a person. I do," Tony argued.

"Why? Is it because of what I told you in my old apartment? Because that doesn't seem like a good enough reason," Steve wondered softly.

"You really think someone has to have some motive for giving a damn about you?" Tony asked incredulously. "Well, let me give you some reasons, if you're so convinced that you need them. I care because you can see the beauty in boring old buildings. I care because you are too polite and helpful for your own good. I care because you being a good person makes me want to be a better person. Because you're selfless and hard-working and I've been enjoying getting to know you, so I'm not going to let you get yourself killed before I really get the chance!" Steve was staring at him like he was crazy and he probably was, but that didn't mean he was wrong.

"Oh."

"Oh? After all that, that's what I get? People pay thousands of dollars to listen to one of my speeches and you just hit me with an, 'oh?'"

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I guess it's just another one of your charms," Tony waved off. "But really, you can't go on like this."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Steve asked. Tony could tell he was asking sincerely and not just being flippant. This was the opening he needed.

"I have a few ideas. Do you trust me?" Tony saw Steve silently considering the question. Everything would be a lot easier if Steve wasn't pushing back every step of the way. One of his biggest complaints about the man was that he didn't stick up for himself enough, but he needed to take advantage of that right now. Only until Tony could trust that Steve wouldn't let his stubbornness send him to an early grave.

"Yes," Steve confirmed with only slight hesitation. That was good enough for Tony. "What's the plan?"