Steve hadn't expected Thor to become so popular at the school. And he really hadn't expected him to become the star of the theatre department. But, that's just how things go. Not as Steve expects.
He did, however, expect that Tony wouldn't stop bothering him about their experience in their teacher's office. It had been almost a month now, which meant that Bruce would be returning shortly, but it didn't mean that Tony was going to give up. Especially not outside of school.
After a relatively normal day, Tony stopped Steve in the parking lot just before the super soldier and his motorcycle left the parking lot. "Hold up, Cap," He said.
Steve rolled his eyes. "What could you possibly need now, Tony?"
"Oh, you know," Tony replied, winking at Steve, "the usual. Bruce is supposed to be getting better at controlling his great rage monster, and said we could pay more visits to him."
Tony drove ahead of Steve in his new shiny red convertible, as Steve followed him closely behind with his motorcycle. Stark may have had the fancy new technology on his side, but having something as sturdy and as well built as Bells made it hard for Tony to compete with Steve.
They finally reached the mansion and, after arguing as to whether Bells was still only qualifiable as a lawn ornament, slowly descended the stairs to the labs. After even less than a month, it seemed like Steve hadn't seen these halls in decades; Coulson had forbid him to return to the Stark mansion until the Hulk had been taken care of. For safety reasons.
But now that Bruce had promised total control over his "big guy," as he called him, it only made sense that Steve and Tony could pay him a visit.
Tony dragged Steve down to Bruce's "room" now. The lab that had once been too torn up to even see that it once had to do with science now resembled a small Indian home: Bruce had taken the liberty of decorating the walls with colourful streams of fabric, adding unique, hand-woven rugs to the ground and putting meditation pillows on the floor. When they opened the door, Steve and Tony were interrupted by a strong waft of sandalwood incense and the sound of a recorded sitar in the distant background.
"Hi guys," Bruce said, pushing his way through a makeshift doorway made by two draped pieces of orange fabric.
"Namaste," Tony said sarcastically, pressing his hands together above his hands and making small circles with his hips.
Steve almost knocked him to the ground, but thought a small shove would be better. "Be nice," he muttered, and then turned to Bruce. "So, what all is this," he grabbed a piece of silk purple fabric and rubbed it between his fingers, "exactly?"
Bruce shrugged. "The environment is perfect for meditating. With that, I've been able to focus on the big guy. I mean, sure, I've probably gone all Hulk a few times while I've meditated, but it's basically perfect. It helps me find my center. Figure out what I need to do to keep him in and keep me in control."
"So," Tony was over by the incense and sitting on a meditation pillow, "Hindu or hippie?"
"More Hindu, jackass," Bruce responded with a smile, "I've adapted several different techniques from the Hindu religion and the ancient art of meditation. Those monks in the Himalayas know how to do this the right way."
"Even I gotta give him something," Steve shrugged, making a point, "I would use this room every day if I could." He took in a deep breath and donned a serene look. "Bruce is right, it's very calming.
"Well," Bruce clasped his hands together, "I promised Mr. Stark that I'd help him with something in a lab quite a ways down the hall. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable-I'm pretty sure there's some chai or something in that teapot there." He pushed his way out of his Indian fortress, and the next sound Steve and Tony heard was the click of the lab door closing.
"This place is pretty cool, you gotta give Bruce some credit," Steve said again, sitting down next to Tony.
"Yep," Tony replied, scooting his cushion closer to Steve so that he could put his arm around him. "It makes quite the romantic environment." He put his head on Steve's shoulder and sighed a long and heavy sigh.
Steve felt his natural defenses shut down, his body relaxing with Tony's sigh. He turned his head and gave Tony a kiss on the cheek.
Not surprisingly to Steve, Tony grabbed Steve's head where it was, and planted one right on Steve's lips. Steve weaved his fingers through Tony's hair, getting a hold as both of them shifted from sitting to lying down next to each other across the cushions.
Tony pulled away for a moment, breathing jagged. "You know," he said, smiling, "I never could get quite used to this, but I love every moment of it."
"Don't we both," Steve said, and kissed him again. He closed his eyes to embrace the smell of Tony-a musky, clean smell-as he felt Tony's hands on his side. This was what Steve hoped heaven would be like. He knew it was cheesy, but Tony Stark provided just that for him- a bit of heaven.
And then the lab door clicked. Steve could care less, and Tony was too busy with his super soldier to hear it, but Bruce's reaction was priceless.
There was no opposition, but he did shout. "What the hell are you doing in my fortress?"
Tony shoved Steve off of him, and Steve pushed himself up from Tony's chest. Both of them, hair messed, their breath lost, sat on top of the meditation cushions, looking like kicked puppies.
Just then, Howard Stark walked into the room, pushing his way through the fabric. "Is there anything I can get you guys? I know it's been quite some time since you saw each other, so if you need me to bring some snacks, or set up the projection screen for a movie..."
"Dad, dad." Tony cut him off, giving him a look that could have killed. "We don't need anything. Really. Just leave us alone."
Steve gave Tony a look that was exasperated for how he just treated his father. "Thank you, Mr. Stark, but I don't really think we're going to need-" he stopped, his eyes flickering to the back of the room. Something in the back of his brain, something in his inner soldier, told him something was wrong.
And then he heard the click of a pin and the sound of a heavy, explosive something hit the floor.
"Everybody, get down!" Steve screamed, trying to grab Bruce and Tony and bring them next to him. The only problem was that, in a high-stress situation, Steve knew Bruce didn't do well, and Tony responded by fleeing.
Directly in the wrong direction.
Howard ran towards Tony, grabbing his son by the wrist, but Tony pushed him off and ran further in the wrong direction.
And then the grenade exploded.
The pieces of fabric near the grenade flew out towards Steve, and he grabbed one of the small nearby tables and shielded himself from the explosion just in time. Bruce, however, wasn't protected.
But Steve wasn't worried about that; even if the Hulk took over, Bruce was nearly indestructible. What he was worried about was the fact that, as the grenade exploded, Tony Stark's body was flung back with such force that he landed closer to the door than Steve. And Howard had been tossed against the side wall directly next to the door.
"Oh my god," Steve muttered to himself, and then started shouting. "Tony! Tony! You've got to wake up, bud. You just have to-"
Steve was cut off by a large amount of grunting coming from Bruce's direction. Bruce was on his knees, his body curled around itself, facing the floor, his body heaving up and down.
"...Bruce..." Steve said cautiously, bringing himself closer to Tony's unconscious body. The good news was that Howard was already waking up. If only Steve could get a little closer to Tony...
Perfect. Steve grabbed the unconscious Tony, hoisted him over his shoulders, and signaled to Howard to come with him. Howard struggled to his feet, casting a frightened look at Bruce's current state, and high-tailed it out of the room, right behind Steve.
Just as they cleared the room, they heard the Hulk smash a few things around. Odd as it may have sounded, the raging Hulk was almost a sign of normalcy. It may not have been for other people, but given the circumstances... it made Steve feel like he was home.
"What's the damage?" Steve asked Howard, streaking up the stairs.
"I'm not sure," Howard replied in staggered breathing as he ran up the stairs, "but we should bring him to the infirmary. Hang a right at the top."
Howard continued to direct Steve around until they reached the infirmary. The room was lined with standard grade hospital beds, each with an empty IV rack and a heart monitor that was plugged into nothing. "You're kidding me," Steve said as he gently laid Tony's unconscious body down on the closest bed. "You have a hospital in your house?"
Howard shrugged his shoulders. "You've seen what the labs can do when we're experimenting. It's good to have one close by."
Steve couldn't argue with that logic. So instead, he directed his attention to Tony, who was barely breathing. "Again, I ask: What's the damage?"
Howard busied himself around the bed, strapping the heart monitor to his son's now bare chest and examining the wounds from the shrapnel. "Oh, god..." He murmured.
"What? What is it?" Steve was trying his hardest to prevent panic from rising in his voice, but his efforts were futile. Seeing Tony like this was something that even years of training in the military could not prepare him for.
"I..." Howard drifted off to a mutter, "I can't quite..."
"Come on, Mr. Stark," Steve said, the panic now much more eminent, "you are a genius. You've got to do something! Please!"
"I'm working on it," Howard snapped back. Steve could see panic behind his eyes. But there was more urgency than anything else. "It looks like there's a lot of shrapnel near his heart. The good news is that the shrapnel is polarized, so if we got some sort of magnet, particularly an electromagnet, to push it away from his heart..."
"Do whatever you need to do," Steve said, "but all we need to focus on is saving Tony."
"There's rubble from the explosion near his heart," Howard started mumbling, his logic running in circles as he ran around Tony to set everything up, "and the only way I can save him from even running the risk of dying because of it is the insertion of a powerful magnet powered by electricity into his body."
"That's not possible though, is it?" Steve was starting to see less hope.
It was almost as though Howard had tuned everything out. He set to work, first running to the garage and then to the labs. Just before Howard returned to the infirmary, Steve gently pushed Tony's hair back and kissed him on the forehead. "Don't you dare leave me, Stark," he whispered.
Once Howard was back in the infirmary, he started working gingerly on his son's body. "I need... no, wait. I need to do this by myself."
So Steve left the room, and sat on the couch, his head in his hands.
And he started to weigh his options.
He had Bruce Banner downstairs, or, well... he had the Hulk downstairs. And now, aside from all of that green madness, he had a dying Tony Stark lying helplessly on an infirmary cot, his own father slaving away over him. Steve could take away from the way Howard reacted that this work was not for his son, but rather it seemed as though he was mostly working for an heir to the company. Stark Industries couldn't just fade out of the Stark family. No, that would be too, well, not Stark.
All Steve could do was hope.
Hope that Tony would pull through. As Tony usually does.
