AN: okay first Avengers story. Just some random crap that popped in my head at 4:30 in the morning.

There was a soft snuffle, not quite a snore but more than a sleeping sigh. Tony smiled. It was nice to know his bed partner wasn't absolutely 100% perfect. He left out a soft chuckle and shook his head. It had been a hell of a fight. None of the team had come away unscathed, not even the Hulk.

Barton's pinky was taped up from a bad slide into a bus schedule pole, Natasha's ribs were wrapped from being thrown into a bus. Thor has a gash that ran the entire length of his left arm. Hulk had a gouge in his right arm the side of Tony's head and had to stay the Hulk until it healed because everyone was sure the transformation would have Banner bleed out in seconds. Steve ended up with three cracked ribs and a black that was almost healed now. Tony didn't want to this about his injury. He looked at his leg wrapped and tried not to remember the blinding pain from being played with like a wish bone.

Steve snuffled again and that was when Tony caught the smell. He couldn't place it, Steve

always smelled like mint and old spice. Tony had gotten him to update to the wolf thorn scent but it was still old spice. Steve shifted and the scent was gone so Tony stopped thinking about it for now and though of ways to upgrade everyone's armor.

Weeks went by and more battles, a few scrapes here and there but over all everyone stayed relatively healthy.

Tony started a notice a pattern as time when by, if one of the others were hurt in battle, Steve would find Tony and drag him to their room and fuck him into the bed, the shower, the sofa, the carpet, or all of the above. The first night I happened tiny had been repairing Barton's quiver, when he was yanked away from his workbench and kissed till he felt like a 90lb asthmatic. Then before he could process what was happening he was on his bed with three of Steve's fingers in his ass making him see Stars and Stripes of a whole different color scheme. Then he felt Steve pause shudder and fuck him senseless for over an hour never letting him come. Finally they came together and Tony fell asleep, if anyone noticed who gingerly he sat down for a day or two or who he might have walked differently, they wisely kept it to themselves.

The next piece he found was if there was a near miss involving Tony, Steve would not let him serve himself at dinner, made his drink for him, even if it is with a scowl. Then that night Steve would make slow carful love to Tony. Though some of those nights were the nights Steve let Tony top him. There were other nights that hadn't included peril that Steve felt the need to be fucked by Tony but most of them were tangled up in a near death scenario for Tony.

Then the last piece fell Into place, Tony got hurt again. A dislocated shoulder, it was rare for Tony to actually get hurt because of the suit and Jarvis, especially since Steve had taken over the planning of missions and ops. But he knew it was always a possibility.

So he's lounging on the bed trying to decide wether to push the pain medication another hour or just to cave in when he catches the sent again from all those months ago. Steve hasn't touched him, and won't until he is healed. He knows this from the whole knee incident. He's grateful tonight, but he's sorry to because had a whole evening of fucking planned, then the creepy thing that looked an awful lot like a spider had to try and rip his arm off.

Steve is on his stomach snuffling, because he still doesn't snore, but he does more than sigh in his sleep. Tony wrinkles his nose and wonders what the that smell is. It's kind of weird. He knows Steve in every intimate way two people can know each other. He shifts and hisses as he moves his shoulder wrong. Steve is instantly up reaching for Tony's bottle, because whiLe Tony's only been hurt the one time so far he knows Tony won't take the pain medication with out being force fed it.

Sighing Steve hands Tony the pills and a bottle of what're. "Why do you always push it?"

Tony is staring at Steve, he cant believe what he's just realized, it can't be he has to be wrong but Tony's nev- rarely wrong.

Steve notices him staring and sighs again, "What?"

"I can't believe this, it better be Luck Strikes, because Seriously those are like the only thing I can't even remotely picture Captian Fucking Steve Rogers America smoking? Since when do you smoke because I think... I don't know what I think. I...I..."

Steve stops... and just stops. He sets the pill bottle back on the table and opens the bottle for

Tony, nudging the hand holding the pills.

How does he explain that it's only when someone he loves is hurt, that even growing up with asthma he knows better but that the smoke filling his lungs is the only thing that makes him warm again.

"You just did," Tony says softy. "You, uh used your um not inside head voice."

Steve looks at Tony like he's the crazy one. " You said all of that out loud, not in your head."

Steve nods, and turns to the night stand drawer and pulls out a small metal case, when he opens it Tony laughs hard enough to pull the muscles in his abused shoulder and ends up cringing.

"God Steve really, roll your own non-filers."

Steve shrugs and puts the case back in the drawer. "I...it started after Falsworth got hurt the first time. We got back to HQ and I couldn't get warm, could feel warm. I you know my body -"

"99.8 all the time, it's why we don't need more than a sheet." Tony offered

"Yeah...I kept checking my temperature because I felt like I was sick again. Only it was still 99.8. I was trying to find one of the open fires hopping just seeing the heat would do something and one of the guys hands me this fa- Uh right Uh hands me a cigarette. He was a new guy didn't know who I was and I decided what the heck I couldn't get drunk maybe this would do something. It didn't really. It I felt warmer. Then a few weeks later Jacques gets he arm caught in barbed wire, almost shreds it, and I couldn't get warm."

"Do I want to know how many you smoked when...Bucky?"

Steve winced and shook his head no, "Probably enough to bring back my asthma or give me lung cancer If it hadn't -"

"Hadn't been for the serum." Tony reached a hand out to Steve and waited after a few seconds

Steve takes it and Tony tugs till Steve moves over closer. "I'm okay. I'm not going to leave you. Can't have an American icon looking like a chimney stack and sounding like a flossy in some jazz Joint."

Steve laughed and kissed Tony on the side of his mouth. Maybe next time I'll try just holding you and seeing if that's enough to warm me up." Dropping his head on Tony's uninjured shoulder.

"You do that. And uh Cap?"

Steve cringes because the only time Tony calls him Cap is in battle or when he's mad at him. "Yes?"

"Go brush your teeth, I want some of those 99.8 snuggles."