By the tenth hour Tony has had enough. He gets it, he really does. The guy doesn't like him. But this? This was too far.
Tony huffs irately, his breath foggy in the frigid air. "You know what, Cap? If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you actually wanted to get frozen again" he bites out bitterly. It was harsh, he knew, but he was too cold to care.
Rogers doesn't respond, he keeps pressing himself further into the Icy wall of the cave they sought cover in after the Avenjet went down.
"Ignoring me now, Rogers? Very mature" he says, "I thought you always had to be better than me, guess you dropped the ball on this one."
"Fuck you" Rogers grits out from the other side of the cave, curling tighter in on himself.
"Atta boy!" he shouts jokingly.
Okay, so he does feel kind of bad. Logically, he knew this had to be tough for the guy. And he knew that they didn't always see eye to eye. But it was like he was infectious or something. Ten hours and the man hadn't even looked at him, had pointedly made sure that there was the largest possible amount of space between them.
"Look, Rogers, It's not like we can't be men about this, right?" he says, "We don't know how long it's going to be until the rest of the team finds us, so we need to work together."
Rogers doesn't respond. The blizzard outside the cave howls loudly through the silence.
"You need to work with me here, Cap. This is me, expending an olive branch." He tries. "I've done my part, I salvaged what I could from the jet and sent out the distress signal. This is your territory, Cap. We could probably use some of that Army survival training, just saying." Tony pulls one the pieces of tech he pulled from the crash. "I mean, maybe I could figure out some of it myself, I'm pretty sure I could make a fire. I mean, I make plenty of them in my lab. Can't be too hard. Food may be a little difficult."
Rogers remains silent.
Tony tosses the part he was inspecting back onto the pile. "Throw me a bone, Cap. C'mon" he groans. "Please? Look, I'm asking nicely. At least say something, I'm going to throw my back out carrying this conversation."
Nothing.
He sighs.
"We should at least huddle for warmth, yeah?" Tony says, standing up.
"NO!" Rogers shouts, and Tony takes a few started steps back.
Rogers presses himself flat against the cave wall. His eyes wide and frightened.
Putting his hands up in peace, Tony carefully lowers himself down as to make himself less threatening. "Woah, okay big guy." He says. "It's okay, everything's fine."
It's already been a rough day, he doesn't need to add to it by provoking 6'2 feet of American Alpha muscle to come down on him. Crashing the jet was enough.
He shifts himself to the back of his side of the cave. "Look. Staying on my side, okay?"
Rogers drops down with a pained whine and curls back in on himself again. And once again the only sound between them is that of the harsh, biting wind.
"Hey, Rogers?" he calls out after a few minutes, "You're okay, right?" he asks, his heart beating in his throat. "You're not badly injured, are you?"
"Please…" Rogers says weakly, the sound of the wind outside nearly eating his words.
"Please… what?" Tony says anxiously, "I'm going to need a bit more than that." Rogers has gone quiet again. "Cap, I can't help you if I don't know what you need."
Rogers says nothing more.
Tony falls asleep, watching Rogers anxiously from his side of the cave.
Tony wakes feeling comfortable and calm, the smell of warm baking and spices hanging in the air around him. His stomach rumbles hungrily at the inviting smell. He takes in a long, deep breath savouring it.
How long has it been since he has had a good, freshly, home baked pie? Way too long apparently. Tony groans happily and takes in another deep whiff…
Then frowns.
The undertones of the scent was distinctly Omegan. It has been years since he last brought home an Omega. Something wasn't right.
Tony quickly opens his eyes and takes in the frozen, dark cave around him. The warmth from earlier disappears, leaving in its place the biting cold.
Siting up quickly from where he had slid down the wall in his sleep, Tony scents the cave. No, he wasn't wrong. There was an Omega. An Omega going into heat no less.
Alarmed, Tony stands up quickly. Maybe someone else had crashed near here and found their cave, and needed help.
"Rogers!" he calls out trying to get the other Alpha's attention, rushing to the middle of the cave. "C'mon, Cap" he tries when he doesn't get a response.
He gets down onto his knees next to Rogers, intending to check to see if he was still breathing.
As Tony gets in close to Steve's chest he freezes. The scent was coming from Rogers himself. He was an Omega?
Tony pulls back shocked and horrified. "You never said you were an Omega"
"Nev'r said I was anything'," Steve mutters, his words slurring, his Brooklyn accent becoming more pronounced. Apparently he wasn't as asleep as he looked. Rogers shifts away from him.
"Yeah, maybe you should have. This is kind of serious." Tony says, his frustration and anxiety building "Why didn't you?"
Steve shrugs, soil crunching under his shoulders "Nev'r seemed like the right time, ya know?" the soldier says, not looking at him.
Tony bites back shouting a few choice words. Instead, as clam as he could manage, he says "You could have made it the right time. Called a team meeting."
Steve moans, stitching out his long limbs. "'s rude ta talk 'bout ya designation in mixed company" Steve mumbles.
Tony takes a few calming breathes and looks to the ceiling of the cave. "I think you could have made an exception, for safety's sake" he grumbles
Steve goes quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Was scared." He admits looking back to him.
"You were scared, why? Rog- Steve, things are better than they were back in the 40s"
"I'd nothing else. The team's all I 'ave. Couldn' loose it ov'r this. Evr'yone thought I was an Alpha. S'what people need'd me t'be. Couldn' let anyone down"
"Damn it, Rogers." He shouts "You're only a man, not a god. You don't have to be so fucking perfect all the damn time, you know!" Tony feels bad for shouting, but he honestly doesn't think he has ever been this frustrated before either.
Steve looked away and laughed wetly. "When they injected me with the serum, they were hoppin' I'd come out 'n Alpha. But I didn' n' so they built everthin' up aroun' me to make sure I look'd like one. All'the new reals and posters." Steve sniffles, and fuck, was he crying? It was hard to make out in the light of the cave. "Made me promise' ta keep silent 'bout it. I couldn't do shit 'bout it with the contract I sign'd for project rebirth. Was their perfect Alpha, ev'ryone was happy"
"It doesn't sound like you were very happy, Steve" Tony reached out and squeezed Steve's shoulder
Steve shrugs. "I helped people, 's all that really matt'ed. Did my duty. When I woke, I didn' see any good in changing anythin'. People were happy"
Tony's heart feels like it was breaking for Steve. "People were, yes. But not you." He says "Steve, you deserve to be happy too. People will still be happy if you were an Omega. If not? Fuck 'em"
Steve laughs beside him.
"Or maybe don't fuck them." Tony amends. "Where have you been hiding that dirty mind of yours? I'm wounded, Steven." He says clutching his chest.
"You know, you can be yourself around us, Steve. We're a team, you're one of us. It's not going to change how we treat you. We care about you, we like seeing you happy, but we don't get to see that much… and that's…" He says, rubbing Steve's side comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Steve, that you couldn't come to us about this. That you had to hide yourself away from the world to make everyone else happy. You don't have to anymore, though. We've got your back, understood?"
Steve nods sadly.
"Can I hug you? Is that okay?" he asks.
Another nod.
Tony pulls Steve against his side and holds him close. The man buries his head into his shoulder.
They curl around each other for warmth and comfort. They lay there about an hour before Steve started to squirm against him, trying to get comfortable, the heat making that a challenge.
"Not to get too personal, but how are you with your heat?" He asked concerned
Steve shrugs against him.
His stomach takes an anxious swoop. "You don't know?"
Steve nods.
"Is this your first heat?" he asks anxiously.
Steve shakes his head. "No."
"Your fist since the serum?"
The soldier shakes his head again. "No"
"Okay" he says, blowing out a relieved breath.
"Had two heats durin' the war" Steve explains.
"What about…?"
Steve shakes his head. "Not since the ice. I don' know, I've nev'r had'a regular schedule. Docs at SHIELD said it's been so long that they don' think I would have another heat. Said they didn' think my body was capable of it anymore. 'm dormant or whatever, the ice messed me up"
If he thought his heart couldn't break any more for Steve, well he was wrong, there was a lot more hurt to feel for the man by his side. "You're not messed up, Steve. This doesn't make you-"
Steve shrugs and grumbles something he can't understand into his shoulder. Tony sighs.
"I mean it, Steve" he says. "I-… I actually think you are wonderful just the way you are"
"You do?"
"Yeah, I have felt that way for a long time" He says, "You know, you really are something special, Steve. I guess we never got past the stage of pulling each other's pigtails."
Steve shifts himself into a sitting position from the floor with a groan, and press his lips to Tony's. Steve's lips are dry, cold and cracked from the biting cold. The soft, wetness from their tongues stick their dry lips together uncomfortably as their lips try to absorb what little moisture they could. But it's their moment, hopefully the first of many, and it means the world to them.
Tony pulls back, he shifts his hands from Steve's shoulders to caress his cold face.
Steve shifts himself into Tony's lap and presses himself close.
"Tony" Steve whispers against Tony's lips, "Please, fuck me"
"So you're sure?" Tony asks.
Steve laughs, tangling his fingers into Tony's hair "Wanted you for a while too."
"Oh really?" Tony says, grinning.
"Yeah. Ya wouldn' believe all'the fantasies I'v had 'bout ya. A lot of spur of the moment sex. Up agains' the wall. Most of the time after an argument. And you were trying to put me in my place. Oh, you know, the usual." Steve admits.
'Oh, you know, the usual', Tony repeats in his head, disbelieving. As if none of what Steve just said was world changing for him. As if none of that was enough for his arousal to go from 0-100 in seconds. As if you was just discussing his last run around the park.
But something else gets Tony's attention. "I'm sorry, what? Trying to put you in your place? I think I could put you in your place, Rogers."
Steve smirks at him, "They all think that."
Tony laughs. "You're getting cheeky with me, huh?"
Steve moans beside him "Whatcha gonna do 'bout it?"
"I guess I better put you in your place then."
The End
Notes: For the MHEA Harlequin Hoopla, Suspense Prompt - Feb 1st: A/B/O