[A/N somebody reviewed that it was not Vietnam but Afghanistan where Tony was held prisoner. You are right, good sir/ma'am, but that was in the movierverse. This was just a reference to the comic books for those who got it :)]

Part 14.

I was pumped with adrenaline, and as we all know I love using my Iron Man suit. But the first minutes were scary, because I actually had to get my suit first. The sky was already darkening from the thunderclouds Thor was collecting, charging up his hammer. Natasha, Clint and Steve were coming with me to my workshop, where our gear was laying. I threw Clint his bow and a couple of sets of arrows.

"This one," I pointed to one with a yellow bud at the end, "Can be fired from a close distance, too. If somebody gets up close, you can still shoot them. You know what the rest does. Oh, do watch out, this bow is still a little sturdy because it hasn't been used yet." Clint nodded and went for one of the glass showcases where his uniform was laying. I threw some new, sharpened knifes towards Natasha, and they landed in the wall next to her.

"Thanks, Stark, for almost throwing a knife in my head." She muttered, not quite managing the sarcastic tone due to nerves.

"Almost." I repeated, smile slightly strained due to my own nerves. It wasn't just my own live and the lives of my friends I would be fearing now. It would also be my boyfriend's, which was a new thing altogether.

"Steve" I said, tossing him his costume. He started stripping off his clothes, for once too focused on something else to be prude. I wanted to stare, wanted to take in everything glorious inch of his body, but I managed to look away. Some might gush over how sweet that is off me, but it really wasn't. I just wanted to keep his beautiful self a secret until he would show me voluntarily, because I've learned that it's always nicer when Steve does something voluntarily instead of against his will. Clint certainly thought this didn't apply to him and Natasha, because he didn't hide his obvious interest in her now half-naked body.

"And here's your shield, I had it re-polished by JARVIS after the paintwork got messed up last time." I tried to keep my voice steady as I handed Steve his best piece of equipment, but seeing him taking the shield made me realize how close I could come to losing him tonight. Oh God, I realized I loved him. Clint and Natasha were done, their eyes focused and their bodies rigid with excitement. They looked at us, decided we needed some time alone, and went for the door of my workshop. "No, wait. Fist-bumps first." I smirked and they managed a little smile back, bumping my fist and moving out. I looked at the door where they had just left from, wondering why there couldn't be someone else dealing with Loki. It was too bad that Loki had specifically aimed for us..

"Tony." I turned around and looked at my Captain. His mask was still off, Blonde hair poking in different directions from shoving shirts over his head. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, searching comfort in squishing my cheek against his chest.

"I'm afraid." I muttered. "Not to battle.. to lose you." I admitted, feeling vulnerable and exposed, but safe and comforted at the same time.

"I know." He said, "But we shouldn't be worrying, we can do this."

"Yeah.." I sighed, closing the distance between us so that our lips could meet with a fiery passion that could only be created by two people so desperate for each other, knowing that this might be the last time they could do this. "Let's do it tonight.." I started,

"For all we know, we might not have tomorrow.." Steve laughed, and we looked at each other for what might have been ages, before realizing that one of us had to say it first.

"I love you" I said, and Steve let out a breath in relieve.

"I love you too." He answered, left our embrace and hopped up the stairs, leaving me alone to put on my suit.

"JARVIS, make sure to keep track of mr Rogers' position, altitude, health and location at all times for me. Lose track of him for one second, and you will donated to the University of Techonology and Energy management, are we clear?"

"Yes, sir. Mr Rogers is currently in your living room, watching the transformation of Bruce." JARVIS supplied, and I went to fetch my suit.

I was flying above Manhattan, scanning the area for our favorite wizard. "Any sign yet, Thor?" I asked Thor, who was running and flying around searching for his brother as well.

"No," he said back to me through the communicator.

"Fury, we can't find him." I muttered.

"Keep looking." I heard Natasha say.

"JARVIS, scan this building." I said, eyeing the abandoned church suspiciously.

"It seems like our suspect is in there, Sir. Should I search for a picture to compare?" JARVIS told me, showing me the silhouette of what could only be the demi-God

"No, I'm pretty sure our Diva is there." I mumbled, eyeing the outrageously grant building and deciding that yes, this must be what Loki had in mind when he was thinking for a right spot to torture me. I actually walked through the doors, not wanting to shatter any windows yet until it was absolutely necessary, because I knew that I would be the one to clean it up afterwards. Sure enough, in the back of the church where a statue of Jesus was supposed to be sitting, was Loki, reindeer costume and all.

"Hey, Rudolph, ready for a fight?" I asked, knowing he could hear the mocking tone even through the distorted voice of my Iron Man.

"No.." He said, lazily stroking the glove from my dream. It was right there! Ha! I had a little moment of triumph when I saw it. "I am here to make a deal with you. A bargain, so to say."

"Yeah… no. Not happening. We don't need to make deals with somebody we can defeat. Guys I-" I went to inform the rest of our team of his location, when Loki cut me short.

"I can heal Steve's scar." He said quickly, preventing me from calling the rest. "But I think…" He continued when I had fallen quiet, "The others won't quite agree with what I had in mind. You better not call them, or they'll keep you from accepting this deal. And we both know you want Steve back intact, right?"

"Tony, did you want to say something?" I heard Natasha through the communicator. I tried to organize my thoughts and while everything was pointing in the direction of 'no, do not listen to his talk, you know he is only trying to trick you', the possibility of getting Steve back without Loki's mark on him made me decide to do this on my own. As I had always done things.

"No, no it's nothing." I mumbled to Natasha, cutting off the connection between me and my teammates. "What is it that you want in return?" I asked him, and he got up from his place on the altar.

"You." He said, grinning at me. And at that instant I knew that whatever he wanted to do with me, he could have it all. Because I would do anything to keep Loki from damaging Steve more.

I walked up to him, closing my suited hand around his gloved one, sealing the deal.

[A/N oooooh suspense! xD Already writing the next one, no worries.]