Steve carefully lifts the rock in front of him, only raising it a few inches off the pile before removing completely, he didn't want to risk another cave in. He works as fast as he can. They needed to get out of here. While he hasn't noticed anything with the oxygen in the cave, he can't rule out the other possible dangers.

And Iron Man was hurt.

He hears Iron Man shift behind him and groan. A flare of anxiety pools hotly in his stomach. "You alright over there, Shellhead?" Steve calls out, keeping his voice calm and level. He doesn't feel it.

"I'm fine. Are you okay? You have been at this for a while now, Winghead, and I saw you take that hit."

Steve grips the rock in his hands tightly, biting down hard on his lip. He wasn't the one as risk here. The serum will help him heal. "I heal fast, no need to worry about me." he says, turning to face Iron Man where he was propped up against the wall. "I'd feel better if I knew the others received our distress signal. I'm not sure how much good I'm doing here trying to dig us out. It all feels very unstable and I don't want to cause another cave in." They had tried the Avengers ID cards, they had tried the emergency radio in Iron Man's armour, but they hadn't received anything back. He fears that the cave may have blocked the signal. He can't think like that, he couldn't. Captain America doesn't think like that. No, things were going to be okay.

"I'm sure you are doing fine, Cap."

He hopes he was. Iron Man hadn't confided in him the extent of his injuries. But if the man was too hurt to help, well, it couldn't be good.

Steve returned to his work moving the rocks. He had been at it for a little less than half an hour. He was working as fast as he could, he didn't like how quiet Iron Man was right now, and he couldn't shake the bad feeling in his gut. They would be fine, he knew. No one likes being caved in. But they will be alright. They always were.

He lifts a rock and immediately feels he shouldn't have. The other rocks shift alarmingly around it. He tries to return it, hoping that he could put it back and all will be alright.

It doesn't work. All the rocks shift and he loses his footing as the rocks beneath his feet roll out from underneath him.

He lands hard on the rocky, uneven ground of the cave and the breath leaves his lungs in a jarring wheeze. A broken rib shifts painfully and his leg wound burns hotly as he feels the deep cut reopen, his blood crawling uncomfortably down his thigh.

Despite the pain, Steve rolls over and pushes himself on to his knees. He looks at the renewed wall of rock and he is filled with desperate frustration. "FUCK!" he shouts in anger. He takes a few calming breaths and rests his forehead down on the cold cave floor.

"It's okay Steve. I am sure the others are already on their way to rescue us."

Steve bites back a scream of frustration. Iron Man shouldn't be consoling him. It's his own fault he can't get them out of here, not Iron Man's. The man was hurt. All he had to do was clear a bunch of rocks. It was all he had to do.

Looking at Iron Man through the darkness Steve tries to work out what injuries the man might have. How much time they might have. But it was hard to tell with the man encased in armour. He bites the bullet and asks the question he had been debating asking for a while now, unsure if he really wants to know the answer. "Are you sure you can wait that long for medical attention?" he asks, trying desperately to sound calm.

Steve hears Iron Man sigh. It's heavy, he can almost fell the man weighting what he wants to say and how to say it. It makes him sick to his stomach.

"No." Iron Man says, and his stomach drops to the floor. Oh god. "Though it's not the injuries that are the problem."Iron Man pauses, he doesn't want to say what it coming next, he can sense it.

"The armour has lost too much power. I've got about 15 minutes left." His ears ring and his world tilts sideways.

No.

Please. He can't.

"What?! Why?" Steve says, he can't even begin to try to keep the desperation out of his voice. This can't be happening. He doesn't want to lose anyone else. He wants this all to one great big joke. To just get out of this cave and Iron Man be fine.

"Because the armour, or more specifically the chestplate, keeps my heart beating. Think of it as a very large, very fancy pacemaker. I'm sorry Steve, I should have told you earlier." Iron Man raps his fist against his metal chest.

Steve picks himself of the floor, ignoring the burning pain of his wounds and the tightness in his chest. "Yes, you damn well should have!" He shouts. "What were you thinking?" The leather of his gloves creak as he fists his hands tightly.

Iron Man pushes himself further up the wall. "I didn't want to worry you, okay? It's not like there is anything you can do. And don't tell me you wouldn't have benched me if you knew about my heart." The man looks away and Steve's heart aches deeper than any of his wounds.

"That's... I wouldn't, Iron Man, you should know that. You are the best of us." He says softly, taking a small step forward. The man was wonderful, a real hero of old, but he didn't see it. "But you still should have told me! We could've taken precautions for a situation exactly like this! How am I supposed to help you when I don't even know what's wrong?"

"I have managed to survive thus far" Iron Man replied, still not meeting his eyes.

Steve stares at him, unsure of what to say to that. That wasn't the point.

"Fine. You win. I should have told you. Happy?" Iron Man says, throwing his hands in the air.

"No, of course not! My best friend just told me he is going to die in less than 15 minutes!" He shouts, frustrated "Are you sure there is nothing I can do?"

The man looks at him and shrugs, "Not unless you're carrying a car battery with you."

Steve take a deep breath and tries to calm down. "That's not part of my usual gear, no. I'm sorry. I just … I don't know what to do." He doesn't know whether he was going to laugh historically or cry. Both maybe. All the anger from earlier seemed to have drained out of him.

What if there was nothing to do? What if he had to sit by his best friend's side as he died, knowing there was nothing he could do to help him. For all the good the serum did him, he still wasn't enough. Not strong enough. Not fast enough. Not smart enough. Was never enough to save those he cares about. Not Bucky. Not his Ma. Not Erskine. Not Iron Man.

Steve swallows against the roughness of his thought, his eyes stinging.

"Just sit with me? I'd like your company." Iron Man pats the space beside him, beckoning him near. He wants to protest. To run over to the rocks and start tossing them down the cave, until all the rocks are all gone and they can escape this place. But that was more than likely folly. There wasn't enough time left, and there was no chance he wouldn't cause another cave-in.

"That's the one thing I can always give you, Shellhead." Iron Man didn't have much time left. And he's rather spend it by his side that shifting the rocks. Steve bites back a groan of pain as he sits down on Iron Man's right, his heart heavy. All those nights, dreaming of what it would be like to love the man, all wasted time now wasn't it?

After a while, Iron Man breaks the silence, "Can I ask you for something? Since I'm already dying anyway?"

"Sure, anything. But we will get out of here. Both of us. Alive." He didn't believe that… but he had too. All he could do was hope that the Avengers would get to them in time. He tried to sound as confident in the fact as he wished he was. For Iron Man, and for himself.

"I love your optimism, Cap. I really do.' Iron Man chocked out. The pain in the man's voice feels like hot acid in this stomach. 'I love you, too. Did you know that?"

And for a second time today his whole world stops.

Steve turns to Iron Man. How he had dreamed of those words. Countless hours he imagined those words, and how it all would go, what he would say... and he couldn't say anything. He stared at Iron Man helplessly. Opening and closing his mouth unable to say anything.

Iron Man laughs beside him, it's not a nice laugh. Not bright and full of the joy he was used to from the man. It was hurt and forced. "Guess I made this awkward. Good thing I won't be around for much longer." The man says.

"Don't speak like that", Steve replied immediately, feeling like he swallowed a thousand shards of glass at the man's words. There were no right words for this. No wonderful riding off into the sunset moment for them. This was it. This was all they got. "Just...give me a second." This was all they got and he wanted it to be perfect. Wanted to make the most of what they had. But it was hard and none of the words felt right anymore.

"It's okay, you don't need to say anything." Iron Man turned away. "It's fine." It was not fine. God. He wanted to turn Iron Man around and shake him. Cry. Tell him he loves him too.

"No. I mean, I want to say something." Steve says desperately. Iron Man turns back to him, slowly. Steve takes a deep breath in and swallows down his nerves. "I'm also in love with you." The words spill from his lips in a rush. "I think I've always loved you. You were the first person I saw in this century, you made this place feel like home. You made me feel like I belong, Shellhead. And I don't think I can just sit here and watch you die."

He did it. He told him he loves him.

"Wait." Iron Man says. "Hold on. You love me?"

"Yes." He says.

"Even though you don't know who I am?" Iron Man questions.

"Yes," Steve tries to put as much as he could into his eyes. Hoping with all his heart for Iron Man to believe him. That he would know he is loved.

Iron Man lets out a short, sad laugh. "You might regret saying that." The man says. Never. He'll never regret that, he will only regret not telling him sooner.

Iron Man takes a deep breath and takes off the helmet.

And Tony Stark stares back at him.

He won't lie and say he isn't shocked, he is. But it makes sense. He pushes this all away to think about later. They don't have time now. The have a few minutes left on the clock. And if that is all he has left with the man beside him, he'd rather not spend the time debating secrets and having pointless arguments.

"I don't." he says.

Iro-Tony frowns at him "You don't what?"

"I don't regret saying I love you." His words are slow and soft. Everything he is is willing Tony to believe him. He wants- he needs him to know.

Steve reaches out for him. Carefully cradling Tony's face in his hands and gazed deep into the man's deep blue eyes.

"I love you." He says, putting everything he has into it. Steve was quickly losing the battle against his tears

"I love you, too", Tony says.

Steve couldn't take it anymore. He launches himself forward and pressing their lips together. He wraps his arms tight around Tony and doesn't plan to let go. Ever.

Tony kisses him back. And in that moment, everything was beautiful and nothing else mattered. The universe could wait as they had this. Tony threads his fingers into his hair and pulls him in closer, the gauntlet makes the grip somewhat painful, but he wouldn't trade this for anything. He's crying, he knows he is. But it doesn't matter, he won't let it stop him even as he can taste the salt of their tears in their kiss.

Steve hears something go crunch, not to far above them. Steve froze and withdrew.

"Did I do something wrong?" Tony asks him, sounding hurt and concerned.

Steve quickly puts a finger to his lips "No. Shush." The man's eyes go alert and he sits up straighter, catching on fast.

He quickly gets up off the cave floor, ignoring the pain, and quietly walks over to the rockslide. He listens for the noise.

It the team. Steve wobbles on his feet. Things were going to be okay. They would get out of here. He quickly turns to Tony "I hear Jan! They are digging us out." He says.

Everything was going to be fine.

The End

Notes: Inspired by 'Caving In' by Cathalinaheart as part of the 2020 Captain America/Iron Man Remix Exchange