The One, an avengers fanfic

A/N: Ah yes, the second fic I've posted this Christmas Eve Day...well technically it's just Christmas Eve, now. Ah, who cares. Anyway, in case you couldn't tell from the description, this is a Stony oneshot set after Civil War...which means heartache, but it will be worth it. And I would solidify that with a promise, except I've been watching too many shows where they promise thigns and I hate the phrase now, so yeah no. Anyway, onto the fic before I spoil everything in the A/N...

Disclaimer: The fact that any of you may even THINK that any of this belongs to me is laughable. Don't you think Civil War would never have happened if I owned Marvel? Also, Jeremy Renner owns the song lyrics.

The One

"He-ey!
He-ey!

Fifty thousand feet above the clouds
Holding on
Praying I don't ever come down...
He-ey!
Oh-oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh...
Thinking 'bout what we've become
And who we are
Doesn't even matter now...
He-ey!
Oh-oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh..."

It was, Tony reflected, too quiet.

Without him. Without Steve. It was too quiet. Nothing made much sense anymore - not since the end of the Civil War, when Steve had disappeared and left Tony alone and heartbroken.

Not that he'd have ever admitted that aloud. Of course not. Because he was still mad at Steve for keeping the truth about Bucky and the death of Tony's parents from him. Right?

Yes. Of course. That was why he hadn't picked up the phone Steve had sent him. No matter how tempted he was just to hear Steve's voice.

Which he wasn't. Obviously.

Tony had become a master of facades over the years, but this was one he didn't know how long he was going to be able to fool himself into keeping up. As it was, Pepper and Peter both saw through the holes in the facade to the broken man underneath. Though they never said anything, Pepper knowing how Tony was and knowing that he needed to get through this on his own, and Peter worried but obeying Pepper, whom he'd taken to calling "Aunt Pepper" ever since Tony had officially adopted the kid.

That, Tony thought, had probably been the only bright spot in his life since the Civil War.

He knew they were different. They'd always been almost complete opposites. Steve was usually rule-abiding and by-the-book, patriotic to the core and loyal to a fault. Tony, on the other hand, was the wild card, the one who hated rules and always had five backup plans and a way out if he didn't like a situation. When their roles had basically reversed during the Civil War, Tony had been surprised, sure, but never had he expected that some of Steve's best qualities were also the ones that would break Tony's heart.

So why did he still have Steve's shield? And why couldn't he stop thinking about the man who'd taken everything from him?

"Why do I keep doing this to me?
(He-ey!)
It should be you sitting next to me!
(Oh-oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh...)
If these are the last words you hear from me,
(He-ey!)

He-ey,
I meant every word!"

Steve didn't understand why he kept torturing himself like this.

He missed Tony, with every fiber of his being. Thought about him constantly, no matter how hard he tried to keep himself focused.

Natasha and Sam were supportive in their silence; not talking about it was probably the kindest thing they could have done for him at the moment. And though Steve put on a brave face, both Natasha and Sam had found him sitting awake at night, drawing Tony or staring at the phone, waiting and hoping for a call that would probably never come.

Steve knew it was probably pointless. Tony was stubborn. And he didn't forgive easily, not after all the betrayals he'd suffered. Including Steve's.

That didn't stop him from hoping.

Hoping, and regretting the Civil War with every breath, because it had ripped Tony away from him - and now Steve might never get him back.

"Goodbye don't come easy
When you find the One...!
Heartbreak comes too easy!
Living life on the run...
Some people spend lifetimes
Searching for someone...!
Goodbye don't come easy
When you find the One...

He-ey!"

Christmas was the next day. Steve wasn't feeling the holiday cheer this year. Not without Tony.

Natasha and Sam both must have picked up on it, because they finally confronted him.

"Steve, you have to go talk to him," Sam said.

"He's not going to listen," Steve replied. "You know that. Besides, last time we 'talked,' he ended up with my shield in his Arc reactor. I highly doubt he wants to see me."

"Yeah, he probably doesn't," Natasha agreed. "But you have to talk to him anyway."

"Tasha, what's the point?" Steve sighed. "He's not going to listen, and I don't want to fight him again."

"Dude, you have to get this off your chest," Sam urged. "I've seen you drawing him at night, staring at your phone waiting for a call that might never come. I don't like seeing you like this, Cap, it's painful."

"You miss him, Steve, anyone can see that," Natasha murmured. "So just go. Try to talk some sense into him. If he closes the door in your face, knock again. Keep trying until he gives in, and if by the time you're done he still doesn't want anything to do with you, then that's on him. And you can finally know for certain what he thinks of you now. Just go, please, before you drive yourself insane."

Steve hesitated, but realized his friends were right and nodded. "Okay. You know where he is?"

"He's in New York," Sam said. "Now go!"

So Steve did.

"You deserve the world though,
I hope you know
I think about you all the time...
He-ey!
Oh-oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh...
I should have let you in though,
Not let go
I don't know how to apologize...

He-ey!
I meant every word!"

It was Christmas Eve. Tony had never felt less in the holiday spirit, not even when he'd given a terrorist organization his home address and almost died, nearly losing Pepper to Killian in the process as well.

He was home alone - Pepper was in DC doing something for the company, and Peter was visiting his Aunt May. It was busy snowing, and Tony had shut himself inside, preparing to spend his Christmas alone, something he hadn't done since...

Since he met Steve.

Oh, gods. Not again. Tony tried to mentally scold himself for thinking of Steve again, but sighed when he realized it was futile. He was never going to stop.

Not when Steve had captured his heart so completely, and shattered it just as fast.

Tony was startled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

That's weird, Tony thought, rising to his feet. Peter has a key, Pepper's not supposed to be back until next week, and since the Avengers are pretty much disbanded, there's no one else who could be at my door.

...Was there?

The knock came again, Tony rolled his eyes and made his way to the door. Whoever it was was probably freezing -

"Alright, what the he-" Tony stopped short when he saw who stood outside his door, snow in his blond hair and the most nervous expression Tony had ever seen in his blue eyes.

Steve Rogers stood in the snow, his hand rasied to knock again.

He-ey!
When you find the One...
He-ey!
When you find the One..."

"Before you say anything," Steve said, "please let me in. I have to talk to you."

Tony didn't know what to think. Steve was here, on his doorstep, on Christmas Eve...this didn't seem like it could be real.

"Please, Tony, I'm cold and this is important," Steve said.

It was the way Steve said his name that made Tony relent, cursing himself as he did so. "Alright, come in," he grumbled.

Steve brushed past him, and Tony refused to admit that no, his heart had most definitely not jumped when they touched. Not at all.

Steve looked rather uncomfortable, standing in Tony's living room after the Civil War, unsure what to say or do. He felt uncomfortable too - maybe this had been a bad idea. But it was too late to turn back now - he was already inside.

Tony didn't offer a seat. Steve wouldn't have taken it anyway. He was too nervous.

Instead, Tony surveyed him. "If you're expecting me to forgive you, you're going to have to do a lot of talking," he said.

"Tony, I already apologized," Steve said. "The letter that I'm guessing you either didn't read or immediately burnt? Yeah, that was my apology."

"Yeah, 'sorry' doesn't cut it," Tony shot back. "Not when you knew that your friend had killed my parents and you didn't tell me. And you still sided with him. I was your boyfriend, Steve, I thought we were past the keeping-secrets thing!"

Steve noticed the past tense and felt his heart sink. This wan't going to work.

"I shouldn't've come," Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair distractedly. "This was a bad idea. We're just going to fight again. I don't want to hurt you anymore, Tony. I'll just leave."

Steve started to go, but now that Tony had him back - did he have Steve back? - he wasn't ready to let him just walk away. Not again. So Tony caught his wrist, despite the strange tension that it caused in both of them, and said, "Wait."

Steve halted, looking at him though not meeting his eyes.

"Don't leave," Tony said. "Don't walk away from me. Not again."

Steve looked up and met his eyes now, and the pain in their expressions mirrored each other.

"Not again," Tony repeated.

"Why?" Steve asked.

Funny how one word could be so hard to find an answer to.

"Falling free, falling free now
Falling free, falling free now
Falling free, falling free now
Gravity can't keep me down...

Falling free, falling free now
Falling free, falling free now
Falling free, falling free now
Gravity can't keep me down..."

"I didn't burn it," Tony said into the silence that had fallen over them when Tony failed to answer Steve's original question.

"What?" Steve asked.

"The letter. I didn't burn it. I kept it, and I have reread it every day since it came, and I have spent countless hours staring at that phone trying to make myself pick it up and either call you or throw the fucking thing away." Tony's gaze was level. "I have never touched that phone since I took it out of the box. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away because no matter how angry I am at you, I couldn't throw away the lifeline you left me in case I needed to call. In case I needed you. And I do need you - but I don't know how I can forgive you after you shattered my heart so completely. Literally, since you broke the Arc reactor."

"Tony, if you think for a second that I don't regret hurting you, then you clearly don't know me at all," Steve said. "But I couldn't stand by and watch you and the others persecute Bucky for a crime he didn't commit. And I know I should have told you about your parents - believe me, not a day goes by that I don't regret how the decision not to ended - but believe it or not, Tony, I was trying to protect you. You knew your parents had died on their way to the Pentagon; I didn't want you to have to bear the pain of knowing the details. And yes, I was protecting Bucky."

"You chose him over me," Tony said, and they'd finally reached the core of his heartbreak. "You chose a man who you thought was dead over me."

"He's my oldest friend, Tony," Steve sighed. "Having him back from the dead was one of the best things that ever happened to me - and I don't say that lightly. Of course I defended him. But the true best thing that ever happened to me, Tony? It was meeting you."

Tony swallowed at that. He couldn't mean that. There was no way he could mean that.

Cautiously, Steve brought his hand up to cup Tony's face. Tony let him, though both men were a little hesitant.

"He's my friend, Tony. But you are my love," Steve said.

"You are the one, the only, person to ever steal my heart so completely. Peggy was my first love and my first kiss, but it was nothing like what I feel when I'm with you. Tony, I hated hurting you, and the distance between us because of it hurts even worse. I don't know where we'll go from here or what will happen, but I do know..." Steve's voice broke, but he kept going anyway. "I do know I want you by my side."

And Tony could stay mad at him no longer. He'd missed Steve so much...and it was hard not to love someoe who was as pure as Steve was. He didn't know if he could ever completely forgive Steve for the betrayal about Bucky, but he could sure as hell try if it meant getting his boyfriend back.

"He-ey!
When you find the One...
He-ey!
When you find the One...
He-ey!
When you find the One...
He-ey!
When you find the One..."

Their hearts collided as their lips did, and both men came out of the kiss a little surprised by what had just happened.

"Christmas mircale?" Steve suggested breathlessly.

"Shut up," Tony grumbled, smiling for the first time in weeks.

"I should go...it's not wise to be carrying on, much as we might like to," Steve sighed.

Tony caught his hand again as he made to leave.

"Stay," he said.

So Steve stayed.

Kinda short-ish, but considering the shit-ton of Christmas oneshots you're getting tomorrow, be glad it's short. Anyway, hope you liked, please review!