A/N: So, college starts again in a few weeks and updates will start to become sporadic, as I get deeper into the semester. I will write as much as I can in my spare time and hopefully I'll be able to get ahead in my writing so that I'll have a ton of new content to post when I start updating regularly again. Now that I think of it, I probably should have typed most of the story before I started posting . . .
Warnings: blood, gore, and mentions of a panic attack and PTSD.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers!
Chapter 8
A loud boom resonates throughout the Helicarrier pulling Tony from his shocked state. He registers Clint's groaning, Fury's swearing, the shouting of reinforcements (whether they're Shield agents or the Skull's minions, is unknown to Tony) heading their way, and the sound of Steve's labored breathing beside him. Tony wonders briefly what the Captain must be thinking at seeing his enemy from seventy years ago not only alive, but causing a shit ton of damage. The billionaire chances a glance at Steve and sees nothing but pure rage twisted on the man's face, which is something that Tony never hopes to be on the wrong end of.
The genius turns back to the Skull and notes that the man is glancing around the room with a triumphant smirk on his face. The villain's gaze is drawn to the door as an array of Shield agents enters the room, fully armed with assault rifles and ray guns. Red Skull's smirk widens and he pulls a large weapon off his back that looks eerily similar to the ones Cap found on the Helicarrier last year. He pulls the trigger and opens fire on the agents, watching with gleaming eyes as their bodies disintegrate before him. One of the body's lands near Tony, splattering blood on the engineer's clothing. The brunet can smell the strong odor of burning flesh coming from the corpse and it makes him want to vomit. The chaos is starting to remind him of Afghanistan and—nope, Tony's not going to think about that right now.
Skull cocks the gun once before strutting with purpose towards the door, not bothering to spare a glance at the Avengers scattered around the room.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tony sees Steve stand and moves to do the same, but another shockwave causes him to lose his balance. He would have face planted if not for the blond quickly catching him by the elbows and pulling the brunet to his chest. Tony would have enjoyed this immensely if not for the fact that the entire Helicarrier is deteriorating around them. He can clearly hear the sounds of panic, gunfire, and triumphant warfare coming from the hallway. Skull's minions must be joining in on the carnage. The genius steadies himself on his feet and Steve's arms unwind from around his form.
"Are you alright?" Cap asks voice tight and quiet.
Tony quickly nods his head. "Yeah, Cap, never been better," he says trying to sound indifferent but instead sounding frightened. Tony would have been embarrassed for slipping and showing his fear, but he's starting to think about things that are better off suppressed and it's Red Skull their facing now. Cap had a difficult time defeating him in the past and who knows how powerful he is now.
Steve gives Tony a tight nod. He picks his shield off the ground and places it on his right arm. He moves away from the brunet and goes to check on the rest of the team. Tony decides to follow his example, quickly helping Coulson and Hill to their feet, and accepting their murmurs of thanks. The three quickly move to help Fury stand upright.
"Cap, I'm coming with you," Tony suddenly announces. The brunet sees the soldier hesitate before ultimately nodding. He moves to go join up with the man when Fury's voice stops him.
"What do think you're doing, Stark? From what I understand, you don't have a suit!" Fury exclaims voice nearly drowned out by the next wave of explosions.
"Do you have any idea who you're dealing with here? I have spares and one of them is on its way!" Tony retorts, vaguely hearing Cap giving the rest of the Avengers orders in the background. Ever since the whole event with the Mandarin in California less than six months ago, Tony has made sure that every suit of armor he's crafted since will come when he calls.
"You're asking for a death wish, Stark."
The brunet feels a hand clasp his shoulder. Steve. "There's more to me than my armor, Fury," he states. "You'd know that if you used me for more than my tech." He gives the patched man once last glance before turning away and following the Captain out of the conference room, pausing only to grab a Glock 26 and some stray ammo that is lying on the floor.
Tony and Steve quickly make their way through Headquarters, running past agents in various states of shock, pain, and terror. The two also run past a number of lifeless bodies (some are Shield agents and the others are people Tony has never seen before so he's assuming they're with Skull—or were). The smell of death looms in the air and the genius gulps. He feels nauseous listening to the sounds of more explosions, screaming, and distant roaring.
Bruce must have transformed. Good. Tony knows that they need all the help they can get. Not long ago, someone came over the PA system and hurriedly announced that dozens of people had invaded the Helicarrier before being abruptly cut off (Tony doesn't think he'll be able to get the sound of wet, choked gurgles out of his head for a while). Thankfully, the pair haven't run into many of Red Skull's leather jumpsuit wearing allies, but whenever they do, Steve quickly takes care of them.
He pointedly looks away from the floor and decides to focus his gaze on the broad shouldered man in front of him. The Captain's posture is tense and alert, his stride long and purposeful and Tony almost has to break into a run to catch up. The genius can't see Steve's face, but he can image that the man's mouth is pulled into a tight line, his eyes alight with rage and nostrils flaring. Tony wonders if Steve was like this during the war. He recalls Cap once saying that he doesn't like bullies no matter where they're from. The engineer briefly wonders if Steve's ever killed a man before—innocent or not. When he was younger, he used to believe that Captain America would never kill another because it's Cap and he wouldn't do something like that . . . but seeing him in the flesh, watching him ruthlessly take down the Skull's minions one after the other (he hasn't said a word since they left the conference room) Tony isn't sure anymore.
The genius continues glancing around, his eyes blown wide. "So, Cap, you never told me what the plan is." He's hoping that a conversation will take his mind off the destruction around him.
Cap is silent for a beat before answering. "Widow and Hawkeye are on evacuation, getting as many of the seriously wounded out of the area as soon as possible. Hulk is going to find the source of the explosions while Thor goes after Loki. I know we all have our issues with him, but in a case like this, we can't afford to have two enemies."
"Coulson?"
"Agents Coulson and Hill are heading for the engine room, which according to them, has taken a significant amount of damage."
A powerful explosion rings out, knocking Tony off balance and jerking him towards a wall on his right. The engineer uses the wall to steady himself, feeling the Helicarrier jerk and slope downwards at a slight angle. Tony's eyes widen when he realizes they're falling out of the sky.
The genius looks up and sees that Steve hasn't paused in his stride and his halfway down the hallway. Tony has to run to catch him. He takes a few deep breaths and says, "And what are we doing?"
"We're going after Skull."
Tony knew this was coming. It doesn't take a genius to know that Steve is planning on taking on Skull alone, which is why Tony wanted to come with him in the first place so the blond doesn't get himself killed. The brunet knows he's not going to be much help without his suit, but there has to be something he can do—right? He gives Steve's back a worried look and chews on his bottom lip. "Cap, promise me that you'll be careful."
Silence.
"Steve . . ." Tony tries again sounding small. He's concerned for the Captain who will no doubt let the Red Skull get to him and cloud his judgment.
"I promise," Steve responds.
Tony could hear the slight hesitation in his voice. He's lying. "Don't you lie to me, Rogers," he says, feeling a spark of anger.
Steve pauses in his stride and whirls around to face Tony placing a firm, but gentle hand on the brunet's shoulders, cerulean eyes looking directly into brown. "Tony, I swear to you, that I will be careful. And I always keep my word." The blond leans forward and places a tight-lipped kiss on Tony's forehead. "Come on," he says moving away from the other and continuing down the hallway.
Tony huffs still feeling the press of Steve's lips against his forehead, before sighing and following the Captain.
Eventually, Cap and Tony find the Skull located on the opposite side of the Helicarrier in a conference room that the Avengers have never used before. The room is spacious, surrounded by floor to ceiling glass windows on three sides through which Tony can see nothing but open sky shadowed by the thick, black smoke coming from the base. The area only has a few pieces of furniture—a small side table with a blue lamp sitting on top of it is set against one of the windows on the left, a medium sized red metal container that stands to Tony's torso is resting a few feet away from them on the right. The villain himself is sitting in a leather chair placed behind a large black desk made of cheap looking material located in the center of the room.
Red Skull looks up when they enter the room and smirks. He's wearing a long-sleeved black leather coat with the HYDRA logo sewn in red thread on both shoulders. He has a black belt wrapped around his waist, with the aforementioned symbol branded on the silver buckle. The villain's leather booted feet are propped on the desk with his ankles crossed. The enormous ray gun the Skull used earlier is leaning against the side of the desk. He spreads his arms in a welcome gesture, gloved fingers curling slightly. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Captain America," The Skull greets, smirking menacingly from is lounged position.
"How'd you do it?" Steve quips.
The villain frowns. "Not even a hello? Why Captain, it's been so long since we've seen each other! I thought you'd be more excited to see me?" He gives Tony a faux offended look. "He's forgotten his manners, hasn't he?"
Tony gives the man a blank glare. The Skull's smirk widens.
"We're not here to play games, Skull," Cap declares, anger seeping into his tone. He straightens his back, rising to his full height.
Red Skull scowls. "You really have forgotten your manners haven't you?" The villain lowers his feet from the desk and rises from his seat. "Fine, I'll humor you," he says as he walks around the desk and stands before Cap and Tony. "After you ruined my plans and I lost the Tesseract, I blacked out and awoke freezing and completely covered in snow. I struggled to survive, walking for hundreds of miles until I came across a village. They fed, housed, and nursed me back to health. I stayed for a grand total of two weeks before some crazy Ruskie, and his test-tube experiment chased me out."
Tony inwardly winces when he sees Steve tense further out of the corner of his eye. The genius remembers using similar words on the Captain when they first met ("You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"). But, Steve is more than the bottle—he's honest, charismatic, hilarious, a damn good artist, and able to put up with Tony for long periods without complaining (well, aloud anyway). He's also sassy as hell and a total car junkie, which is one of the many things they initially bonded over. Steve is literally perfection and somehow he wants to be with the train wreck also known as Antony Edward Stark. The engineer glances at Cap, his jaw clutched so tight that Tony thinks it might break. The brunet looks back the villain and watches him warily, silently willing his armor to arrive faster.
Skull continues his tale with a menacing look. "I escaped, thanks to the cover of a blizzard, and found myself living in a cave and having to hunt and gather to survive. With all this free time, I sat, I struggled, and I planned. I began inventing with whatever materials I could find before I came across some. . . very intriguing technology." He smirks. "I started gathering allies— the soldiers and the homeless, the stranded and forgotten, until I had eventually assembled an army. I'd finally had everything I needed. All I had to do is wait . . . and I've waited for so long. Why, the last time I looked at a calendar it said May 1970."
Cap's grip on his shield tightens and Tony visibly tenses. He remembers his mother telling him that some freaky shit went down in Russia right before he was born. He thinks it was most likely related to the Cold War and unfortunately, he doesn't remember the details and it's not like he can go and ask.
Skull glances between Cap and Tony with a smirk in place and an evil glint in his eye. "Say, wasn't there another fellow you used to run around with?" The villain says casually resting a hand against his chin.
"Don't," Cap warns voice low and pained.
The Red Skull sneers. "How's Bucky?"
Tony can see the exact moment when Cap snaps because one minute he's standing in front of Skull, tense and angered and the next he's flinging his shield and knocking the villain backwards. The genius quickly ducks behind the large metal container next to him, loading and cocking his gun. He holds the item close to his body and takes a deep breath.
Red Skull stumbles for his footing and laughs deep in his throat before reaching for his gun holster and pulling out a forty five-caliber revolver and firing. Cap catches his shield and raises it, blocking each one of the bullets.
Tony rapidly shakes his head, trying to get the image of Cap being shotbleedingdying out of his thoughts. He starts shaking uncontrollably, breathing coming out in labored gasps, and heart pounding against his chest. He listens to the clicking sounds of Skull's gun running out of ammo, Steve's shield clanging against the walls, glass shattering, and the sounds of grunting and shouting. He hears a loud smashing sound and the genius is assuming that one of them used that stupid lamp from before as a weapon—he's hoping it was Steve.
The engineer ducks further behind the metal container and curls in on himself, trying to calm his breathing. He can't stop the feelings of being useless to the team. Even though Tony's decent at hand-to-hand combat, his overall helpfulness in this situation is limited. This is Red Skull after all. Maybe everyone's right and he's only as good as his tech. It's like the Director said a few years back—it's Iron Man they need, not Tony Stark.
Tony hears a loud shattering sound and pokes his head out from behind the container. Both men appear evenly matched, throwing jab after jab at each other and backing down. At some point, Skull must have retrieved and fired his ray gun because the item is now resting on the villain's back once again. Steve blocks Red Skull's punch with his shield before delivering a left hook to the Skull's chest, hearing a sickening shattering sound. The Skull roars with rage and lunges at Cap, knocking the man's shield away and backing him into a corner right beside the door.
"It's over, Captain," the villain sneers wrapping one gloved hand around Steve's throat and lifting the man off the ground. Cap's hands immediately fly to his throat, trying to pry the other man off and gasping for breath.
Tony's eyes widen and he panics. Steve is going to die if he doesn't do something quick! The engineer glances around before looking down and seeing the gun clasped in his hands. He doesn't hesitate. Tony stands from behind his cover and fires several shots into the Skull's back.
The villain tenses and pauses. He slowly turns his eyes alight with fury. The Skull keeps his grip on Steve's throat and uses his free hand to pull the large ray gun off his back. He aims the weapon at Tony and tightens his grip when the Captain beings to struggle harder.
"STARK!" a voice screams desperately.
Tony spares a quick glance to his left and sees Hawkeye pick up Cap's shield and toss it to him. The billionaire drops the gun and catches the shield, right as Skull fires the ray gun. The blast ricochets off the shield and hits Skull square in the chest, freeing the soldier. The momentum from the blast causes the shield to fly from Tony's grasp, throwing the brunet backwards and through the glass window behind him.
The genius can barely hear shouts of his name as he falls, the wind whistling loudly his ears. Tony can see the Helicarrier, slowly descending from the sky with fire and smoke billowing from every direction. The scene looks like something straight from a superhero movie, where an unknown force compromises and obliterates the hero's main base. The only difference is that this is real life and everyone knows who's causing this mass destruction. Tony snorts and closes his eyes. He would be thinking about movies right as he's falling towards his death.
He jerks open his eyes when he feels something clasp his right arm. He looks and sees familiar metal covering the sleeve of his ruined shirt. Tony lets out a relieved, albeit hysterical laugh as the rest of the armor flies towards him and incases his body. When the last piece falls into place, the Iron Man armor comes on line and JARVIS says, "Sorry for the delay, sir, but traffic was brutal."
Tony lets out another borderline hysterical laugh. "JARVIS, you son of a bitch," he says fondly. He loops in a circle and hovers in the open sky, looking up at the Helicarrier through his faceplate. The genius grins and actives his jet boots, flying back to base.
When he arrives, he looks through the broken window seeing Steve and the rest of the team locked into battle with the Skull and his minions, and from what he can tell, the Avengers are losing. Tony doesn't know when the rest of the team and Skull's reinforcements arrived, but he's assuming they came around the same time as Hawkeye.
Speaking of, he watches the archer reach back to his quiver only to discover that he's run out of arrows. One of the minions notice and turn to attack, but Tony doesn't give him the chance. He fires a repulsor beam, blasting the henchman through the opposite window.
"Dude!" Hawkeye exclaims.
The engineer shrugs even though the archer can't see it. He lands next to the man and pokes him the shoulder. "I owed you one," he says simply, noting the small smile crossing Clint's features.
"Ahh, Anthony Stark," The Skull says curiously, drawing Tony's attention. "I should have known that was you. Tell me, why is Howard Stark's brat involved with Shield? Last time I heard, you wanted nothing to do with them."
Tony doesn't give into the bait and instead fires another repulsor beam that takes out several more of the Skull's men. The villain grins evilly at the billionaire's reaction.
The Avengers continue their battle, working together to attempt to take down the Skull and his allies. Tony sees the exact moment when Skull realizes he's outmatched. It's directly after Thor finishes off the last of the henchmen with a lightning strike while Cap and Widow unleash a combo attack consisting of a series of jabs and kicks that finally knock the red villain into a corner.
"It's over, Skull," Cap says confidently, raising his shield.
The Skull grits his teeth. His gaze slides briefly to the right and he smirks before turning his attention back to the Captain. "Not quite," he says before lunging forward and knocking the blond off balance. He runs towards the window that Tony fell from earlier, dodging each one of the Avengers attacks before leaping out the window and landing on the loading ramp jutting out from the back of the Osprey hovering beside the Helicarrier.
Red Skull bows slightly and tips an invisible hat. "Until next time, Captain," he says before the loading ramp closes and the Osprey flies away.
Tony moves to pursue, but is stopped by a gloved hand on his chest plate. He turns and faces Cap, who shakes his head silently.
Tony finds himself lounging on a bed in medical, hours later. The brunet is barely injured (hell, the suit doesn't even have much damage), he just has a few cuts on his arms and back from breaking the glass when he fell from the window. The Doctor informs Tony that he suffered from a minor panic attack and could be experiencing systems of shock. The genius silently agrees with the doctor; he wouldn't be surprised if the gravity of the situation, along with an assault of flashbacks, hit him later tonight. When the doctor finishes up, he gives the engineer a pat on the shoulder with strict orders to rest for the next few days. Without another word, the man leaves the room closing the door behind him and leaving Tony to his thoughts, which immediately stray to the battle . . .
Not long after Skull flew away, Coulson finally arrives with Loki and Hill in tow. He declares that with the God's help, the two agents were able to stabilize and fix the engines before the Helicarrier lost significant altitude. After the first few rounds of explosions, Loki figured he would be of more use with the engines, informing Thor of his plan, and then forcing the man escort him to the engine room. The entire team was surprised minus Thor, who looked extremely proud of his brother and proceeded to tell the man as much. Loki scoffed and called him an oaf, but Tony didn't miss the fond look in the God's eyes.
Hill then ordered everyone to go to medical while Shield worked on cleanup and gathering information on why this attack occurred. When Steve tried to press, Hill said that she would keep him posted of any new information or sightings of the Skull.
Tony disassembled his suit into a suitcase and followed the team to the medical wing. Clint groaned the whole away about how he hates doctors ("Except for you, Doctor Banner, because you're cool and you don't poke me with needles," the archer expressed fondly, gushing over the doctor, who was Bruce sized). Before Tony had the chance to see a doctor, Steve pulled him aside and said in a hushed manner that he wanted to talk with him later. The solider left not to long after speaking those words and Tony assumes that he was going to be evaluated by a doctor.
The engineer sighs. He can hear Clint singing "Ride Wit Me" enthusiastically even though the archer is three doors down. He pulls out his phone and looks at the device trying to decide if he should call Pepper or not. Tony hasn't spoken to her since they argued in the lab and he's not sure how angry she is. Steve said that he should call her and Tony sighs again, flipping open his phone and noticing that he has several missed calls from Pepper.
He dials her number and the phone rings twice before Pepper's clipped "Hello?" flows through the speaker.
Tony smiles to himself. She obviously answered without checking the ID. "Hey Pep."
The brunet hears something shatter in the background and the woman's quiet gasp. "Tony is that you?"
"The one and only."
"Oh, goodness, are you alright? I was going to call you anyway, but JARVIS told me the Helicarrier was under attack! I've tried calling you, but there was no answer!"
The billionaire smiles fondly to himself. "I saw. Sorry, I, uh, was a little busy."
"The main reason I called is because I wanted to apologize—"
"Pepper, don't."
"But, Tony, I—"
"Hey, no worries. It's all water under the bridge now. Are we cool?"
The redhead is silent for a moment before saying fondly, "Yeah, we're cool."
"Neat, because I have something to tell you—it's actually rather hilarious."
"Oh my God, did you make someone cry again? I thought we've been over this!"
"What? No, I didn't make anyone cry! I haven't done that in—Pepper!"
"Sorry, calming down," she responds taking a short breath. "What is it?"
"I, uh," Tony begins with a nervous chuckle. "I kissed Steve."
"You what!"
Pepper's next words escape Tony because his room door opens and the Captain slips inside, shutting the door behind him. He's still clad in his uniform, which is sporting some rips and tears, minus the cowl. The blond's posture is tense, not as much as before but Tony can still see that his shoulders are tight. His mouth is drawn into a line and he looks pissed off. The genius thinks that he may have just come from a debriefing with Fury because that's really the only time when Steve looks unhappy. Either that or Tony is about to get the lecture of his life. The soldier quietly crosses the room and sits in a chair next to the bed Tony is lounging on.
"Pep, I gotta go," Tony says cutting the woman's rant off.
"No, Tony we need to discuss—"
"We can discuss later, bye!"
"Anthony Edward Stark, don't you dare—"
Tony hangs up the phone by flipping it shut, figuring it would be easier to deal with Pepper later—or tomorrow. Tomorrow works too. He sets his phone aside and turns his full attention to Steve, not missing the way the soldier's eyes flick over his form as if he's checking for injuries.
"Like what you see?" Tony begins trying to lighten the mood. He's not very good with tense situations and discussions about feelings and shit.
The blond is silent for a moment before saying, "Tony, what the fuck was that back there?"
Steve's using his Cap tone. The billionaire anticipated this conversation ever since he was blasted out the window. "You mean the part where I saved your ass or the part where the Skull ran away like a wuss?"
"Tony—"
"Oh spare me, Spangles," Tony says interrupting the Captain. "I'm obviously still kicking and, more importantly, you are too. You can lecture me until you're blue in the face, but I won't take back what I did! I wasn't going to sit around and watch while someone I lo—care for get killed in front of me when I know I can do something!" Tony huffs and crosses his arms. At the guarded look on Steve's face, the realization of what Tony admitted dawns on him. He looks away from the blond and starts muttering about how he wants to leave.
"Are you sure?" Steve asks moments later.
"About leaving the hospital? Hell yeah, I'm sure. I'm ready to get the fuck out of this place."
"Not that," Steve says. "I meant . . . about us."
Tony gestures between the two of them. "You mean . . ." Steve nods.
"Steve, I think we've always been here—just teetering over the edge of friendship and romance," Tony snorts. "It would take something like me being hung over and being in a hospital for us to get together."
The blond soldier gives Tony a confused look.
"And I'm babbling—Look, I want to do this. I want to be with you," the genius says taking one of Steve's hands within his own.
"Are you sure," the other asks again.
"I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life," Tony states.
Steve doesn't say anything, which worries Tony until the other man smiles and leans forward, gently placing their mouths together. Tony sighs, content. He closes his eyes and leans into the kiss, feeling the soldier place his free hand at the base of Tony's neck.
The pair part after what seems like ages. Tony searches Steve's eyes finding nothing but adoration. The billionaire smiles, a small laugh escaping his throat. Steve matches Tony's smile with one of his own.
The engineer leans forward and kisses Steve again just because he can. "I want to take you out," he says against the soldier's mouth.
Steve lightly kisses Tony's lips. "Dinner?"
Tony nods before pressing his forehead against the blond's. "Yeah, I know this great place by Central Park that you will love"
"I'm sure I'll love any place you'd take me." Steve pauses. "Say . . . seven tomorrow?"
"It's a date," Tony says kissing the blond once more. "Alright?"
Steve laughs lightly, curling his fingers against Tony's neck. "Alright."
A/N: Huh, so this is what the plot progressing feels like . . . lol. I'm very proud of this chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed it! Your reviews make me smile!