"Let's pick-up Zemo today." Steve said, as a surprise to Tony, as they ate breakfast in the great hall. (A little excessive, I know, why the hell do they need so much room to eat breakfast?)

"You've changed your tune all of a sudden." Tony observed, actually quite happy with the idea.

"I was thinking hard about it, I was quite the asshole, and you reminded me of that." Steve said, placing one of his hands on top of Tony's, the man looked at them smiling tenderly. "Besides, the guy was beat-up pretty bad. He's bound to be in a lot of pain today as well." Steve continued, justifying his actions.

"Oh, that's the sweetest thing I've heard you say all morning," Tony said, incredibly proud of the blonde.

"Don't mention it… or I might change my mind. I'm not quite keen on the guy yet, but I'll give him another chance." Steve said, picking up their plates, but not before Tony brought him down for a kiss.

"Son, you do not have to go out there again, we can have Elizaveta go out there instead. She's young and pretty, plenty of men-

"Stop mother." Zemo snapped, hissing as he did so, he was trying very hard not to show how much pain he was in as it took everything in him not to lay back down on the bed and sleep for three more days.

"But Richie, you'll die out there." His mother begged, her big blue eyes begging him to stay by her side. He was still her baby, after all.

"I'm not going to sacrifice my sister simply because I got a couple of bruises." Zemo clarified, looking over to his little sister who couldn't have been more than thirteen at the time. She gave him the strength to get back up and go to work.

"Richie, please." His mom pleaded, one last time.

"If I come back here tonight, and Elizaveta has even a single scratch on her, I will never forgive you." Zemo threatened, making his 5' 2" mother take a couple of steps back, as his intense stare pierced her eyes. He'd worked too hard and sacrificed too many people to see his own mother turn on them on the first sign of bad-blood.

She nodded then, looking down, ashamed to have even considered that an option. Zemo took a deep breath, regretting it then, but trying hard not to flinch. He got dressed that morning, with some difficulty. He would have killed for some hot water since the cold, freezing spray, felt like bullets against his skin. But he persevered, venturing forward into his clothes, which proved to be just as difficult as getting out of bed. He wondered, for the millionth time that morning, how he was even going to make it to work.

He sat down to eat the breakfast that his sister had made them, smiling as best as he could in her direction.

"This is delicious, Eli." Zemo praised, making his sister blush with the compliment.

"I'm sorry they hate you so," Eli said, practicing her English, it was still quite accented and riddled with mistakes, but Zemo was proud that she was taking an effort to learn it.

"No worries, they don't hate me, they hate that I'm German, but what are you going to do, this war has made a bigot out of all of us." Zemo said, replying in English. He went slowly for Elizaveta, knowing full well that she was not ready for fully-fledged conversations.

"But being German is being you." Eli replied, crossing her fingers over the table trying to make sense of the situation.

"I suppose you're right." Zemo said, finishing his breakfast in record time so he could leave the apartment. "Stay safe my little potato." Zemo said, messing her long brown hair up, as he pets her scalp.

"We will." Eli replied, smiling brightly at him.

ooOOoo

Zemo made his way downstairs as slowly as he could, he hung onto the railing for dear life with each step he took; it was a good thing they lived on the second floor.

As he walked outside, the fresh chilly air of October hit him, not too kindly, and he started walking until he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Tony yelled with a bright smile, he beckoned Zemo to come over to the car, the blonde nodding reluctantly as well.

"I thought you said I couldn't expect you to pick me up today." Zemo said, directing his statement to the brooding blonde.

"I'm an asshole, not heartless, besides, Tony made quite a case for you last night so I couldn't necessarily tell him 'no' after that." Steve said, making the brunette blush, surprisingly red, the reaction not escaping Zemo's watchful eyes, but he decided to ignore that as well. They were showing him a kindness, no need to assume anything substantial.

"I appreciate the thoughtfulness, and I'm glad that he was able to change your mind, with whatever he did." Zemo said, getting comfortable in the back seat.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Tony saves the day again. Let's change the subject, how are the bruises Zemo, I see the eye has only gotten darker." Tony said, turning around in his seat to face the German man.

"Oh, yes, all of them have. But there's nothing I can do about them but give them ice and time." Zemo said, with a hint of regret.

"Well said. But today is an exciting day, you get to formally begin working in assembly, I envy you because I never get to see how the car is made, I have no say-so." Tony said, energetically. He was bouncier than usual today.

"I'll try my best not to disappoint you then." Zemo replied. Giving Tony half a smile since the other side of his pain reacted badly to any sort of movement.

Tony cocked his head and gave him a sad smile, that on anybody else he would have hated, but on Tony, he particularly enjoyed to see.

Steve sat there, reminding himself that his jealousy was completely irrational, that Tony was just being genuinely nice to Zemo, and that nothing out of the ordinary was taking place; but the longer the ride went, the more he wanted to kick the other man out of his car. He didn't though, and they ultimately made it to the factory unscathed.

"You should fix your face, Steve darling, your envy is showing." Tony teased, trying hard to smooth out the wrinkles that had formed on Steve's forehead with his index finger. They were interrupted by a sudden hiss and a long line of expletives which sounded a lot harsher in the German tongue.

"Here, here, let me help you." Tony said, moving to the passenger side of the car.

"No, I can-

"No need to prove anything to me, big man, I know you're fully capable of taking care of yourself, I'm just simply offering my help." Tony said, grabbing one of Zemo's arms and supporting half his weight. Steve stood by the curb like a spoiled child until Tony looked at him expectantly. He sighed and went over to Zemo's other side to help him out of the car.

"There, I think you'll be able to walk now." Tony said, slowly letting go of the brunette until he hung to him for dear life. "Or not. Jesus, how bad is the bruising?" Tony asked. Steve let the man go in favor of locking his car.

"Pretty bad, one of the bruises covers my entire left side." Zemo said, playing up the pain just a little bit so he could hold onto Tony for longer. The man's natural warmth was oddly addicting and his personal nature made him unable to help himself in these sudden situations.

"Oh dear, come let's try to walk. You take it easy today okay, sit down when you have to and Steve would be more than happy to pick up your side of the work." Tony said, volunteering Steve's time (to the ultimate discontent of the blonde).

"No, that's… it's only when I move too roughly that my ribs start to act up, other than that I think I'll be okay today." Zemo replied, still hanging on to Tony as they slowly made their way towards the steps of the building and into the warmth of the factory.

They walked towards the locker-room, where the big-brute waited for them, he looked pleased with himself as he saw how beaten he had left Zemo.

"What's so funny? Do you think bullying him is going to make anything better?" Steve asked, surprising all of them. He wasn't too keen on the guy, sure, but he hated bullies even more.

"What did you say to me?" Jeffrey asked, getting all heated-up all over again. He had a short temper, as if you couldn't have already guessed.

"Oh yes, I forgot that ingrates like you have IQs lower than the temperature outside." Steve commented rolling his eyes. Tony had never seen his beloved so fired up before, it was one thing to see him jealous it was another to see him angry. He snuck Zemo past the crowd that formed and into their locker, glad they had that momentary distraction.

"You want to say that up-close and personal buddy?" Jeffrey said pushing his ugly face into Steve's direction. The blonde had a couple of inches (take that as you will) on him. Towering just enough to be threatening.

"I said you're a bully, the kind that gets dishonorably discharged from the army and doesn't have shit to their name." Steve said, whispering the last part into the man's ear. That took Jeffrey aback, since he was not expecting the blonde to be so blunt with his insults. Steve knew exactly where to trigger the man's anger though, and he drew back to punch Steve in the face but was caught unawares by Steve's quick reflexes and now Jeffrey was suddenly pinned to the locker in front of him, his arm painfully contorted to his back and his face pressed up against a lock.

All the other guys took a step back by Steve's sudden display of masculinity.

"Now see, if you would've spent more time paying attention to your Sargent instead of picking on the little guy, you wouldn't have been so quick to punch me." Steve said, painfully twisting the other guy's arm into his spine.

"Let me go, you traitor!" Jeffrey spat out, actually quite terrified that Steve would snap his arm in two. Tony was truly two parts impressed and one part petrified, he hadn't known the expertise of Steve's training, he realized now that the man was going incredibly easy on him.

"Now, that's not necessary, I'm not a traitor to anyone. You, on the other hand, are picking unnecessary battles. Now I'm going to let you go, but if you decide to swing at me again, you're going to regret it." Steve warned, all this time keeping a calm and almost light-hearted tone as he dealt with the brute.

Steve did as he promised, letting go slowly and taking a couple of steps back, ready to strike at any moment.

Jeffrey spat near Steve's feet, being quite mindful of how much distance he put between himself and the blonde. As soon as Steve turned around Jeffrey lunged for his neck, but Steve had been anticipating the subterfuge and he quickly stepped out of the way, unbalancing the idiot, and taking him by surprise as he took one of his arms and punched Jeffrey's face with his other. He ignored the pain in his crippled arm, as Jeffrey tried to wriggle his way free from his grip. The impact of Steve's fist hitting the other man's face was met with the aftermath of a satisfying crack as Jeffrey's nose broke, making the man even uglier than he was before; no one took a step forward to help the other guy as they all believed that the ensuing beating was well deserved. Hypocrites, Steve thought as he beat the holy mackerel out of the other man.

Steve left the other man bleeding and bruising, he had intentionally avoided areas where his blows could have killed the man, but he had targeted specific targets where he'd feel it tomorrow morning and the days to come, which would make his life a living hell for walking, eating, breathing, etc.

Tony was actually more terrified now than he had been before of the blonde's power, but Zemo was incredibly impressed and charmed, he wasn't under the impression that Steve did that solely for him, but he was flattered nonetheless.

"Please, don't make me have to do this again. If you'd've learned how to stay down, you would've still been in the army." Steve said, picking himself up off the ground, leaving Jeffrey to fend for himself. He walked over to his locker, catching a glance at the look Tony gave him. The man was horrified, it made Steve do a double take and lower his head in shame as he opened his locker. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why had he done that?

"I want to thank you for what you did today, Mr. Rogers." Zemo said halfway through their shift. Steve had noticed the change in the factory immediately, everyone either nodded in approval or moved quickly out of the way. They hadn't expected the handsome blonde to be such a lethal weapon. News had spread to Fury (by none other than Jeffrey) and the man only laughed, the hardest he had in years. That insulted Jeffrey more than anything and soon after that he was gone, taking with him the little morsel of dignity he had left. Steve and he had locked eyes for a second and Jeffrey had looked away like the true coward he was.

"I wasn't necessarily doing it for you, I just can't stand bullies," Steve said, as he placed the engine into the position so he could insert the necessary bolts.

"Whatever the reason, I am still appreciative. My little sister has become disillusioned with the world, says there are no more heroes, only men who crave destruction. I will tell her about you today, you may just restore her faith in the world." Zemo said, giving Steve high praise.

"Why, because I beat another man to a pulp?" Steve said, almost angry with himself for having done such a thing.

"Sometimes, a little bit of violence is necessary to get a point across," Zemo said, all too seriously.

"I wish it didn't have to be that way." Steve said, looking down at his hands, his knuckles were bloody and red from where he had punched the living hell out of Jeffrey. He hadn't meant to lose his top so easily, but with everything that had been going on this past week, he had to release some of the energy, a catharsis if you will.

"I think we all wish that, but deep down inside we crave destruction. It is the human way." Zemo replied, resuming his work. Steve looked at him skeptically, then shook his head. That's not true, it can't be, could it?

"Tony." Steve said as he caught the brunette in the locker room. The place was basically empty since everyone else was either at lunch or back to work.

"Steve," Tony replied, going for his locker.

"I'm sorry," Steve said, getting into Tony's personal space, it had bothered the ever-living-shit out of him to have Tony look at him the way he had, and Zemo's comment had bothered him even more. He had to apologize, even if it would not amend the damage that he'd caused.

"For?" Tony asked, nonplussed.

"For… for, I… I don't want you to see me as a monster, okay? I did what I did because I was angry, I just don't like bullies and he was just asking for it okay… I'm sorry. Please, don't look at me like that again?" Steve begged, caressing the brunette's face, he was really scared of losing Tony's trust by lowering himself to the level of the brute.

"Steve… that's not going to change my opinion of you, I know why you did it, and I don't blame you. If I could've I would've done the same, but I'm not equipped like you are… it just took me by surprise, is all." Tony said, giving Steve an encouraging smile so he'd stop looking like a kicked puppy.

"You mean it?" Steve asked, getting closer to the brunette.

"Wouldn't say it if I didn't." Tony almost said in a whisper as they slowly inched closer to each other. They couldn't close the space, however, as Zemo made his way and stopped halfway through, his eyes bugging out of his head, when he saw the two.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked in an accusatory tone to Steve, thinking fast he tried to come up with the best-case excuse and hopefully Steve would have enough sense to play along.

"I-ah, ah I, er…" Steve said, at a loss for words.

"Get off me god-damn it, what did you want in my locker?" Tony asked, pushing the blonde away from him as if his mere presence offended him.

"I, I wanted my jacket… I let you borrow it the other day-

"Then say that, god-damn it, don't just reach around for it!" Tony said, stepping out of the way so Steve could pretend to rummage through his stuff for his jacket. He was finally playing along, though poorly.

"Hi, Zemo." Tony said, offhandedly, as he put his arms around his hips and turned to face the brunette with an insufferable look on his face as if to say 'can you believe this guy?'

"Hello, Tony." Zemo said, his eyes now narrowed. "I was just trying to get my work gloves; I seem to have forgotten them in there. I have to return them to the proper bin since I no longer work in parts-

"Found them," Steve said, pulling them out and putting them on the bench for the brunette to grab.

"Found your jacket yet, Steve?" Tony asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"It seems that you may have returned it already, because I can't seem to find it." Steve said, awkwardly stepping away to his own locker, under the close scrutiny of the smaller of the three.

"I thought I had." Tony said, almost in a trancelike state as he recalled the moment all those weeks ago back in his apartment. Had it only been weeks? It felt like decades.

"Hmm, well yes, I'll just go back to work. See you two later." Steve said, gracelessly maneuvering through the both of them.

"He's a weird one, ignore him." Tony advised.

"Yes… I will." Zemo said, now more interested than ever to find out just exactly who Tony Stark was.

The days went by and they were finally at the end of October. In his bedroom, Steve walked over to the large window and noticed the harsh rain hitting the glass as he got closer. He touched the cool surface, noticing how it fogged around his fingers. It would snow soon…

He tried to shake off that feeling but couldn't get rid of the last tendrils of his thoughts, they always stayed with him for a couple of hours, reminding him of darker times. He heard the random rustling from the bed, which signaled Tony was waking.

The brunette searched around with his hand for the loss of warmth and noticed the empty space beside him. He opened his eyes, his heart hammering until he realized the blonde was over by the window, looking almost like an apparition the way the moonlight encompassed his frame.

"What time is it?" Tony asked, rubbing his eyes and blinking a couple of times to get rid of the stars. "What the hell are you doing out of bed?"

"It's about four thirty in the morning. And I was just looking at the rain, it's going to be terrible today." Steve said, looking back.

"Well, it's a good thing we don't have to go to work today. Get back in bed, it's getting cold again." Tony begged, wrapping the blanket around himself.

"I can start the fire if you'd like," Steve said, moving towards the fireplace.

"I'd rather have you as my personal heater," Tony said, coquettishly. He didn't know why, but in the early hours of the morning, he would get incredibly amorous with Steve. Maybe it was because they slept together like husband and wife, which gave Tony pause and raised the question, what was he in this relationship?

"Oh? Let me just turn on the fire in case my body is not enough." Steve said, rolling his eyes.

The warm glow of the fire erupted then, giving the room a romantic glow, the warmth was welcoming, but not overbearing, and as Steve made his way back to the bed, Tony snuggled close to him and buried his head in the crook of Steve's neck.

"What am I to you?" Tony asked, suddenly.

"You're my everything," Steve replied without hesitation.

"That's not possibly true," Tony said, slapping Steve's right breast lightly.

"It is, as much as an exaggeration as that may be, I do feel it in my heart that without you, I'd die," Steve said, only half-joking.

"Well, now you've burdened me with the responsibility to keep both you and me alive," Tony said.

"I'll try to help as best as I can," Steve said, bringing Tony closer into a tight squeeze.

"Tell me about Bucky," Tony whispered softly into the nape of Steve's neck, giving him mixed sensations of pleasure from the shivers and pain from the name.

"What is there to say? He was my best friend and the most courageous person I've ever met. He didn't deserve to die the way he did, none of them did." Steve said, shaking his head from the dark memories he's tried so hard to suppress.

"Who was he before the war, who were you?" Tony asked, trying to streamline the conversation in a direction that wouldn't cause sorrow.

"That's a good question. He'd lost both his parents when he was very young and lived with his rich aunt in Romania for a couple of years after that. He moved back to America when he was about ten… and that's how we met." Steve said, omitting a huge part of just how they met.

"Just like that?" Tony asked, skeptical.

"Just like that," Steve assured.

"So how did you become friends?" Tony asked, continuing his train of thought.

"Oh, well, when I was very young I was nothing but sticks and bones and he was just strange, so the other kids would pick fights with the both of us since we didn't know how to keep our mouths shut. It was just a coincidence that we were stuck together in one of the janitor closets at our… um, school and so we had a couple of hours to kill before one of the teachers came to break us out. Needless to say, we bonded and became great friends after that." Steve explained, tiptoeing over the details. He didn't necessarily divulge that part of his past to anyone, only select few people knew about it and one of them was dead.

"So is that the reason you hate bullies so much?" Tony inquired, remembering something Steve had said about a week ago.

"Part of the reason, yes, the other is that bullies are just not pleasant people." Steve said.

"Amen to that." Tony replied.

"Any more impromptu questions?" Steve asked, looking to the top of his beloved's head.

"Hmm, no, I think you've quenched my curiosity a bit… for now anyway," Tony said, snuggling deeper into the warmth that was Steve's embrace.

"For now, he says." Steve repeated, rolling his eyes.

Zemo awoke one morning, two weeks after his beating with the realization that he wanted desperately to be closer to Tony than he currently was. It came so suddenly that he had to take a step back. His sister even looked at him with some form of surprise at his sudden behavior.

He tried to shake off the feeling, but there had been something in Tony's eyes when he had caught both he and Steve in that compromising position, that he hadn't quite gotten out of his head.

So he used his natural affinity to become invisible to anyone and tried his hardest to find out more. He could tell he was a nuisance to the blonde, but the other brunette didn't seem to mind. As he constantly asked for Zemo's condition and how he felt each day as he recuperated. Most of the bruises had faded and the larger ones didn't hurt as much as they had, but he played up the pain each time Tony asked and to his pleasure (and the blonde's disdain) he'd let Tony touch him whenever he asked (he sometimes encouraged it as a means to get the brunette closer).

But as he healed, he was running out of excuses, so he had to resort to being there, constantly. Something that Mr. Rogers had not overlooked. He wondered what their relationship was. He hadn't bought the whole charade they'd played that one time he walked into them doing… well, he didn't have enough evidence to pinpoint if they were going to commit any sort of 'crime' or not.

They'd been a lot more careful since then, keeping a safe distance and being only a little too friendly at times. But nothing completely out of the ordinary.

It was only his luck that he was walking towards the make-shift infirmary to return the bandages that he'd borrowed for the gash he'd created on his hand when he'd grazed it on one of the metallic parts, that he stumbled upon the blonde and the brunette in an intense lip-lock session. It was as if they were almost angry with each other, they were kissing so hard. Zemo pressed himself against the wall in order to spy on them in complete darkness and silence.

"Steve, Steve, stop!" Tony said, pushing the blonde away quickly and looking around for anyone.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just, I can't wait, not for so long. 12 hours is a nightmare for me, not being able to touch or kiss you." Steve said, getting closer once more.

"Steve, this is the riskiest thing we could both do. Can't you just wait some more before we get home?" Tony asked, his big brown eyes pleading with the blonde.

"I will, I guess I have to. But if I must wait any longer than that, I'm gonna' explode." He said, sneaking a final kiss out of Tony's mouth.

Zemo didn't need to stay for the epilogue; he dashed quickly into the nearest room, which turned out to be a supply closet and tried to process what he'd just seen. So they were both… he would've never guessed it from the big blonde, but people can surprise you sometimes.

Oh god, what was he going to do now? There was no way in hell he could get close to Tony if the blonde was his center of attention.

For the last couple of days in October Zemo was running out of ideas as to how he would manage to take Tony's attention away from Steve and point it towards him.

He was desperately pacing the locker room late that night, when Tony walked in, surprising him the most.

"Zemo, are you okay?" Tony asked, removing his gloves and putting them into his locker, he was taking an impromptu break, seeing as the parts that had come in today were mismatched and he'd had it up to here to try and fix them all. He'd done all he could, he'd pick them up later, it was close to the end of his shift anyway.

"I, Tony I just-

"Hey, hey calm down." Tony urged as Zemo collapsed on the bench, his entire body slumped over in defeat. He couldn't compete with the blonde. He could never compete with the blonde!

"I'm sorry Tony." Zemo said, dry heaving into his arms.

"What's wrong? You're scaring me now, did someone hurt you?" Tony asked, looking around for the culprit or any signs of assault.

"You've always been so nice to me, so kind, you've saved me from doing unspeakable things, you've saved my sister as well. I just-

"Hey, don't worry about that, it's all over now, he left and he won't hurt you again. And I'm not quite sure what I did, but I was only trying to help you as best as I could. It was not fair of them to misjudge you so quickly." Tony said, cutting Zemo off before he began to cry.

"Oh Tony, how can you be so kind to a complete stranger?" Zemo asked staring at the brunette's brown eyes, trying to find some of that fire that he'd seen only in glimpses.

"We're not strangers, we're friends. At least I think so." Tony said, saying the most consoling thing at the moment.

"Tony I-

"Listen, whatever is bothering you, you need to let it go. Throw it away, and start fresh. You're a hard worker and you're more than capable of standing up for yourself, I believe that you can, so please don't cry." Tony begged, he didn't know how to deal with tears at the moment, enough tears he'd shed in his opinion.

"Tony," Zemo whispered, taking the man's advice and letting go of his restraints; he pushed himself suddenly on Tony's mouth, kissing him ever-so-clumsily; kind-of like when Steve did it, but without that added passion (on Tony's part).

Tony had to take a second to process just what the hell was happening. Woah, woah, woah, woah, how many people like him existed in this one setting?

He had to gently push Zemo back and away from his mouth. "As flattered as I am by the sentiment, I can't retaliate. I'm not-

"Don't lie to me. I saw you with Mr. Rogers, so you can stop right there." Zemo said, nipping the lie in the bud before Tony even had a chance to formulate it. The brunette wasn't even surprised, he knew someone would step in on them one of these days, it was just a good thing it had been Zemo instead of anyone else that might try to call the police.

"So you know then that I can't continue this with you," Tony said, he knew that as soon as he said that, he broke something within Zemo. It was in the way his eyes suddenly shifted into a darker shade and his composure twitched as if he'd been slapped. "I'm sorry, it's not that you're not attractive-

"Save me the pity talk, I understand," Zemo said, standing up and moving to the back of the room where a small window showed the descending sun in the sky.

"I'm sorry," Tony said, in a bit of shock from what just happened.

"No I am, more than you know," Zemo whispered into the sky-turned-night. His right hand balled into a fist and an idea finally sprung into his previously-empty mind.

Zemo would never be Steve Rogers, that was a fact, but maybe if the blonde weren't in the equation, he'd have a greater chance of replacing him. He wasn't about the kill the blonde, he wasn't a maniac, but he knew that there had to be something that made Steve tick, he'd just have to wait for that moment and figure out what it was.

"Zemo?" Tony asked, a bit frightened by the sudden shift in atmosphere, it was as if something big were coming.

"It will be alright, in the end, Tony, we'll be alright," Zemo promised, not turning around to face the other brunette.

"I hope so," Tony replied, putting his gloves back on and looked at Zemo's back one last time, before retreating to his own job.

"Next time…" Zemo promised, looking at the dying sun for last time before he too returned to his work. With renewed determination in his heart and a plan in mind, nothing would stop him. Nothing at all.

A/N: Well hell, it seems that Tony's quite the infectious agent. First Steve, now Zemo, who else, Bucky Barnes? (Yeah, right, like that could ever happen. [Bitch, it might lol])

Thank you for reading, please leave a review telling me how you're enjoying it so far, we're getting incredibly close to the end of part 1, so yeah…

19th Sep. 2018 Hello from the great beyond! I'm here, about two years later to let you know I haven't forgotten this, but goodness does it need to be rewritten, I'm thinking about the end of 2019 it should be fixed (to the best of my abilities) and finished. If you're still interested or are brand new, thank you for sticking around so long!