Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count: 1540
Warning: Some sexual references, nothing graphic.
Natural Reaction
"Did I mention I'm resigning?" Tony said, grimacing against the pain as the suit disassembled around him. "I'm too old to be getting thrown around like a goddamn ragdoll."
Steve snorted. "I don't accept. C'mere, let me see your ankle."
Tony shook his head. "It's fine."
"Actually, I'm pretty sure it's broken," Steve replied softly. "And it's not like we're going anywhere anytime soon, Tones."
Tony winced. He really didn't need the reminder that they were locked in, trapped like rats in an experiment.
"But we could be focusing on trying to get out," he said, looking around the room for the third time. Aside from a bucket in the corner, the room was completely bare. Steve opened his mouth to argue, but Tony shook his head. "The door may not have given way to brute strength, Steve, but it might be wired. I like wires. I can work with wires."
"You've got a likely broken ankle, the door has no wires, and the team will be here to get us eventually," Steve said calmly. "Tony… we're okay. Let me look after you."
"I don't need to be taken care of!" Tony snapped, running his hand along the door frame. He really didn't like being trapped. "What I need is to get out of here."
He put his foot down and cried out as his ankle gave way, the movement knocking him sick. Tony leant against the wall, breathing carefully to try and abolish the wave of nausea that had just risen up in him.
"Are you—"
"Fine," Tony said quietly. "I've been sick from hurt before, Steve, I know how to try and stop it."
A gentle hand caught his wrist, and Tony found himself being tugged back gently, Steve helping him so he didn't put any weight on his ankle. "The team will come and get us out," he murmured. "Come sit here with me and let me help you."
Tony thought about arguing, but he felt sick and his ankle was really hurting and he just… he was tired.
Steve's fingers were gentle as the checked his ankle, only making Tony cringe once when they hit a sensitive spot.
"Yeah, I'd say that's definitely broken. I can wrap it for you, at least until we can get out of here. It'll keep it in one position to stop it from getting worse at least."
Tony nodded, putting his hand over his eyes.
Steve made quick work of wrapping Tony's ankle and then lifted him gently. Tony startled, he hadn't been expecting to be moved, but by the time he'd opened his mouth to protest, Steve was sitting down in the corner of the room with his back to the wall and Tony in his lap.
"What are you—"
"You're unpredictable and I know you don't like being trapped," Steve said, holding Tony tightly and yet still gently. "I don't want you hurting yourself if you get an idea."
Tony snorted. He couldn't even argue with the assessment, because Steve was completely accurate. He shifted though, and Steve let him, until he was lying down on the floor, his head in Steve's lap.
Steve's fingers immediately made their way into Tony's hair, stroking through it and playing with the strands.
If Tony wasn't in so much pain, he'd have melted into a puddle.
He didn't know how long he lay there for—he might have dropped off into an uneasy sleep at some point—but he suddenly became aware of how cold it was getting when beneath his head, Steve started shivering.
He'd always been more affected by the cold than the serum should have allowed; Bruce and Tony had theorised that it was psychosomatic because of the years Steve spent in the ice.
"You doing okay, Cap?"
"Fine," Steve replied, through chattering teeth.
Tony huffed. Pot, meet Kettle; Steve was forever busting Tony's balls about saying he was fine when he was anything but.
"Help me up, please?"
Steve did as Tony asked, letting out a 'hmph' of surprise when Tony shuffled himself fully into Steve's lap, curling up against his chest as best he could while keeping his ankle as still as possible.
"What are you doing?"
"Huddling for warmth," Tony replied promptly. "It's a thing that people do on survivor programmes. Figure it's worth a shot."
Steve snorted, but wrapped his arms around Tony, burying his face against Tony's hair. "Thank you."
"Uh huh."
…
"Um."
Tony startled awake. He hadn't meant to fall back asleep, but Steve was undoubtedly the most comfortable mattress he'd ever had.
"What's—oh. Don't worry about it, Cap, it's a natural reaction to having someone sit in your lap."
"I, but, um, oh jeez, I'm so sorry, Tony," Steve stumbled out, and Tony chuckled, patting Steve's chest.
"Don't freak out, it's natural. I promise, Steve, I don't mind."
Tony shifted to give Steve a little, uh, privacy, and glanced at Steve to see his face practically beaming red in the semi-darkness of the room. Tony really tried not to chuckle, but he didn't quite manage to hold it in.
"Think about something else," Tony suggested lightly. "Tell me what you've been up to lately, I feel like I haven't seen you outside of missions for weeks."
"You haven't really," Steve agreed, and he sounded sad about it. "I… I got used to us hanging out and then you just… disappeared. Did you, uh, not like it?"
Tony frowned. It wasn't that simple. With them being who they were, the media liked to speculate, and Pepper had drawn Tony's attention to the growing online conversations that the two of them were dating.
The last thing Tony wanted was to besmirch Steve's name by having it attached to his own.
"I like hanging out with you," he said eventually. "Just not in public."
Steve's wounded noise hurt Tony's heart, and he shook his head. "I don't mean that the way it sounds, Steve, I promise. It's just… being who we are, especially me being who I am, people were starting to talk, you know?"
"Uh. Talk about what?"
"They were talking about our 'relationship'. Speculating on if we were dating, and… I didn't want you to get caught up in that crazy train. I'm used to it, but you… you're good, Steve. You don't need to be connected to me, especially not like that."
"But… what if I want to be connected to you like that?"
"Bad idea," Tony replied immediately, shaking his head as he tried to pull away from Steve. Steve held onto him, his hands gentle but still holding him on Steve's lap. "Terrible idea."
"Brilliant idea," Steve offered. "I've been trying to find a way to ask you on a date but I kept fudging it, or you'd think I was talking about the team and ask the rest of the team along with us."
"I mean, that's a bad omen in itself, isn't it?"
Steve laughed. "Or it's you being adorably oblivious to how much I want you."
"Steve—"
"Tony. If you don't want this—if you don't see me like that—then it's okay, you know? We'll still be friends, I won't take offence or—"
"It's not… that," Tony admitted. "It's just—"
Tony was cut off when the wall fell through with a huge bang. When the dust cleared, the Hulk in all his green glory stood in the path of the large hole left behind.
"I'm so glad you're here," Tony said to Natasha when she stepped into the room. "I'm desperate for the toilet."
She snorted and nodded to the corner. "They left you a bucket. No leisure time, I'm afraid, we've gotta get out of here."
"Done and done," Tony agreed. He tried to struggle to his feet, but Steve huffed and stood with Tony in his arms.
"Let's get out of here."
…
"You told me it was a natural reaction earlier."
Tony startled. He hadn't realised anyone was still awake. He twisted his neck to see Steve standing in the doorway in his pyjamas.
"It was," Tony replied softly. "Anyone can get a hard-on if they have someone sitting in their lap, Steve."
"It's not just because you were sitting in my lap," Steve said quietly as he padded across the room. He knelt beside Tony, his movements more graceful than they had any right to be. "It's because it was you, Tony. I react to everything you do. You make me feel more emotions than anything else, you make me laugh, make me want to cry and punch things. You make me happy, you exasperate me to no end and you… I love you. I love you, and I miss you and I don't care what people say about us, because honestly; they're not wrong. I'd love for people to see us out and assume we were on a date because then… that would mean you were mine, and that's all I want."
"Steve—"
Tony didn't know what to say. He'd never been great with words, not when they really mattered at any rate.
Actions though; actions he could do.
He reached out with one hand to cup Steve's jaw, and then guiding him forward for a soft, gentle kiss.
"I love you too."
Written for:
Auction: Day 3, Auction 3: Trope: Locked In
Character Appreciation: 4. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"
Record Collection: Back To Black, 10: He Can Only Hold Her: (action) holding someone
Bingo: 2. I just want them to kiss - a first kiss
Time Machine: 16. Broken Ankle
Amber's Attic: 11. "I like hanging out with you. Just not in public."
Elizabeth's Empire: 5. Huddling for Warmth
Scamander's Case: 30. Omen
Film Festival: 14. Bucket
Marvel Appreciation: 16. Teamwork
Lyric Alley: 3. I've been sick from hurt
TV Spree: 19. Unpredictable
Forecast: 14. Lying down on the floor
EnTitled: 2. The One with the Breast Milk - Write about someone freaking out about something natural
Treasure Hunting: Leisure