Was Steve in pain? Most definitely. Was he going to admit that? If it was going to earn him more unwanted recovery time off then most certainly not! He was a stubborn man and had been labelled more than once as a workaholic. It was a quality he wasn't exactly ashamed off and proudly worked hard in order to maintain his dream of becoming the Captain of his own precinct one day.

He fell back against his couch and winced as the stitches berated him for his sudden movement and so carelessly too. He breathed through the sudden stab of pain and instead grabbed for an old case file that he'd managed to wrangle from Captain Fury's reluctant hands. He flicked through the folded and rumpled pages, many marked with dark brown rings, and sighed at his state of utter inactivity. He was a giant blob of useless energy; he couldn't work, get out or head to the gym. Even the slight movement he could achieve was scolded by the bite of his healing wound. He dropped his head against the back of the couch and permitted himself to waste some of his overly-abundant time by peering up at the smooth white of his ceiling.

It was the sudden ringing of the doorbell that snapped him from his trance and forced him to manoeuvre off the soft cushions to see who had decided to make his day unendingly more interesting. At this point, a single letter, even a bill, would brighten his gray day: at least he'd be able to spend a few minutes reading over what was written there.

The face that was revealed behind the heavy door was unexpected and Steve was sure his surprise reflected on his features, "Tony?"

The smaller man couldn't help but be surprise that his colleague addressed him by his first name. Their relationship had always been formal and stiff no matter how much Tony teased his fellow detective.

"I thought you might be missing this face." He smirked.

"I've only been on bed rest for a week and a half but by this point, any face would do." Despite his sarcastic comment a slight smile was beginning to spread across his face. Company was company, "Please, come on in."

He stepped back to allow Tony entrance and followed the man through to the small apartment living room. While Steve apologised for the mess and began to shuffle together the papers, Tony was trying to put into a percentage just how much tidier Steve's apartment was than his. He tried to figure out what their age gap was because his apartment looked more like a college student's den than an actual adult's home like Steve's; there was even a real plant on the window ledge.

They both perched on the couch together after Steve had provided coffee for them both. The fact Steve was still injured hadn't occurred to Tony, in his moments of awkward social interaction, until Steve winced before lowering himself gently onto the cushions.

"Does it still hurt?" Tony asked, dumbly in a hope it seemed somewhat sympathetic.

Steve raised his eyebrows, "Have you ever been shot?" On Tony's head shake he continued, "Then you have no idea how bad it hurts… but it is definitely getting better."

Detective Stark picked up on the sudden change of attitude half way through the sentence and suddenly realised that Steve, as a social workaholic, definitely didn't benefit from been cooped up all day with nothing to do. He was a man of action and do-gooding not a couch potato.

"Anyway, is there a reason you're visiting?" His blond bangs fell over his forehead as he leant his head in a puppy-dog way, concern making him frown.

Being defensive definitely wouldn't help the conversation but he went there anyway, "What? No, why should there be a reason?"

"As much as I enjoy your company, I've always got the impression you only talk to me when you have to."

He knew it was right but he'd actually begun to actually like Steve Rogers over the last few months so was going to do anything possible to convince the other man he was wrong. His instinct was to crack a joke and laugh it off but he knew that after this long with Steve feeling forced upon Tony's friendship then it wouldn't just go away. He wanted to start again with a blank slate.

"I like you, Steve… It may not have always been this way but now I've gotten to know you I really like you."

"Really?" He squinted his eyes suspiciously, "This isn't a bet or prank?"

"Really really. I'm done messing with you Steve and I realise now that when I have in the past was a huge mistake." His cell started ringing, breaking the well cultivated atmosphere between them. He glanced at it, assessing the urgency of the call before apologising and picking it up.

The precinct was calling so he pretty much had no choice but to respond. He ascertained the details quickly before hanging up and standing to leave but Steve caught his arm and used his famous puppy-dog eyes against him.

"Please, let me come." Begging, he needed out of his small apartment. Tony couldn't exactly refuse an invalid, could he?

"I don't know, Steve… It's a pretty dangerous call out."

"I'll be so good. I won't even leave the car, I promise." His grip around Tony's arm was getting tighter as his desperation flowed through him. In the few seconds Tony hesitated Steve added, "I'll tie you up and won't let you leave unless you let me come."

Tony raised an eyebrow and had to wonder whether it could be considered normal to get slightly turned on by such an image. There was no denying Steve was a good-looking man but his body had never had such an instinctual response to something the other man had said before. The detective sighed and realised he didn't have time for any of this, especially contemplating his sudden attraction to his colleague.

"Fine, get in the car but if you die it's your ass on the line." He was still halfway through the sentence when Steve was hobbling down the stairs full speed, suddenly beaming.

Tony rolled his eyes and pulled the apartment door shut behind him.


With his lights blaring, Tony darted through traffic to try and make up for the time he'd wasted contemplating Steve and the man's physically ability to just sit in a cop car. Detective Rogers was a very competent and intelligent officer so Tony rolled his eyes at the protective moment he just experienced. Steve was definitely hiding the fact he was gripping the side of his chair as Tony's vigorous driving was knocking with his wound. He, however, had begged to come so as a man of honor he would not complain to Tony. The ten minutes it took for them to get from Steve's apartment to the crime scene was a decade in Steve's mind. Their brakes screeched to a halt, smoke emanating from the rubber.

"Wait here!" Tony shouted as he leapt out of the car and slammed the door.

Outside the car, on the street, things were turning to chaos with people running and shouting in all directions. It was hard to distinguish the victims of the bank hostage situation from those criminals simply fleeing the scene now that several police units had arrived at the same time. Steve immediately lost sight of Tony amongst the crowd but he continued scanning the people rapidly; he may be off duty but that didn't mean his detective instincts had just gone dormant. His blue eyes snapped across the road to see Tony getting in a struggle with an apparent perp. Without thinking, he moved to dart out the vehicle but the stab of his wound stopped him moving. He watched with baited breath with a hand pressed against his side.

Suddenly,as Steve watched on, the criminal threw a heavy punch at the other detective then ran towards an alley with Stark on his heels.

That was it. Steve wasn't about to let this guy get away. He leapt from the passenger side to run to drive the vehicle, ignoring the stinging pain.