I saw Game of Shadows for the first time this weekend and I couldn't help but be inspired by all the BLATANT DISPLAYS OF HOMOSEXUAL TENSION. Good god, they were really pandering to the fandom weren't they? And I have absolutely no problem with that XD So you might notice a slight similarity between part of this chapter and a particular train scene from the film.

Oh, and happy belated Canada Day! I wanted to post this yesterday as a treat, but I was out enjoying the fireworks and festivities instead. It may be well over a week before the next update, as I have a massive term paper due in my difficult political science class. Then again, knowing me, I'll probably procrastinate writing the paper to such an extent that I'll have pumped out three more chapters instead of doing my homework. In fact, this very chapter and the one before it were both written in a document titled "Nutrition essay 2" LOLLL. Suffice it to say, approximately 900 of the 4500 words in that document were the actual essay.

They stood facing each other in the boxing ring.

"C'mon, I want to see what you've got," Steve grinned at Tony, his arms in position.

"We've already established that I'm weak. What's the point of this?" Tony was having a difficult time keeping his eyes away from Steve's bulging arms. Not only were they the sexiest arms Tony had ever seen, he was also afraid that he would break his hand trying to punch one.

Steve had started him out with some easy cardio work that had Tony huffing and puffing more than he would ever like to admit. Since his operation, Tony had been in complete denial about his condition, and instead of confronting it head on, he had simply avoided his regular jogs with Pepper and focused instead on things that hopefully wouldn't have his heart beating a mile an hour. But Steve had seen right through his suggestion of starting out with some weights, and made him face the dreaded treadmill.

Steve replied, "I need to see where you excel and where you need work, even in your current condition." Tony didn't look convinced, so Steve folded his arms over his chest, leaning slightly against the wires, "I also want to make sure I push you just the right amount, and to do that I need to know what level you're at."

Tony took that opportunity to make his move. He ran, yelling, towards Steve and he saw the other man's eyes widen in surprise. The fleeting moment of haha, I've got you now Steve turned into what the fuck am I doing! and before Tony knew it, he was pinned to the ground with just one of those amazing, strong arms holding him down. Steve looked down at him, smirking, "No playing dirty, now."

Tony wanted to make an exceedingly lecherous comment, but he found the wind was knocked out of him. He shook his head and blinked a few times, grabbing Steve's arm and kicking with his legs.

Steve pinned both of Tony's hands to his chest and hovered over him, "This isn't supposed to be a wrestling match, Tony, I just wanted to assess your strength."

But Tony's pride would have none of it: "Assess THIS!" And he knee'd Steve right in the kidney's.

"Ooph," Steve moved forward with the impact, just enough to give Tony leverage with his legs. But once again, Steve was one step ahead of him, "It's gonna be like that, huh?"

Suddenly, Steve's strength was over him, and he was pressed down against Tony, with one of Tony's legs over his shoulder and pushing into Tony's ribcage. Tony attempted to alleviate the uncomfortable pressure, and somehow got his other leg hooked around Steve's shoulder in much the same fashion. Steve's breath was steady, while Tony was panting, but his body clued in faster than his brain when he realized their position. Steve's warm breath against his neck was just too much stimulation at once and he realized if he didn't get out of his hold quickly, he's have an embarrassing matter on his hands.

Tony's voice was much more panicked than he intended it to be when he spoke, "Off! Get off!"

Steve quickly let go of him and stood back, with concern written over his features. Thinking the other man was winded, Steve helped him into a sitting position.

Tony hunched over himself, turning away from Steve to hide the evidence of his reaction.

Well then, he thought.

Tony had no idea that getting held down by Steve and being turned into a human pretzel would do that to him (though he should have, really). He couldn't stop the massive blush quickly covering his whole body. Yeah, it was embarrassing, but Tony would usually make some sort of perverted joke and get over it pretty quickly. But this? It was like some deep, hidden desire had finally surfaced, and he hadn't felt this aroused this quickly since...god he couldn't even think of the last time. The thought of Steve holding him down like that, with Tony completely at his mercy, was more than his poor brain could handle today.

He must have looked as strange as he felt because Steve knelt down behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, offering a water bottle with the other. The proximity of the other man sent buzzers off in Tony's brain and the hair on his neck stood on end. He felt butterflies in his stomach, and his heart beat even faster.

Steve spoke, but Tony could hardly pay attention to the words, "I think I pushed you too hard. I thought you could handle it, but I must have gone too quickly, huh?"

You can imagine what Tony heard. His mind quickly supplied three possible actions:

Flee

Make shit up and then flee

Jump Steve and have your way with him

His mouth chose unlisted option number four and he made a sort of groaning noise that didn't sound at all like words. He grabbed the water and chugged it down, hoping to prevent more stupid from coming out of his mouth.

"Do you need me to call medical, Tony?"

Tony spat out some of the water, "No! No. I'm just...not used to the adrenaline rush anymore and I felt strange for a moment, but I'm fine, really." The last thing he wanted right now was Banner poking and prodding him and telling Tony "I told you so."

Steve took him at his word, nodding, "Okay, well how about, when you're ready, we try this again? For real this time, no horsing around. And then we're going to upstairs for the rest of your training."

Tony had no idea 'training upstairs' meant and his mind flitted briefly to the bedroom before he mentally slapped himself and focused on the task at hand, not wanting to have an embarrassing adolescent moment all over again.

Steve had him punch and kick into small bag of sand that he held steady, to measure Tony's strength, resistance and recoil, and had him working at it for well over 40 minutes before he let Tony rest.

Steve refilled Tony's water and handed it to him, "drink up and have a shower. I'll meet you in the kitchen, okay?"

Tony just nodded, unable to say anything through his panting, and he practically worshipped the icy water that rained down on him during his shower several minutes later. Fortunately for him, he was too exhausted to even think about Steve's glorious arms while he was washing up. After relaxing in the sauna for twenty minutes, he felt a satisfying sense of tired contentment and he lazily made his way into the kitchen and sat on a stool by the island. Steve set down two plates on the counter and sat across from Tony, who looked down blearily at the strange-looking (and massive) sandwich sitting in front of him.

"Eat up," said Steve, who was already digging into his own.

Tony poked at the bread and peered underneath it to see what things Steve was trying to get him to eat. He saw what looked like at least half an avocado, tomatoes, turkey, greens and about half a dozen other ingredients packed in there. "Yeesh, I'll have to actually pick out the menu for the chef next month. This ain't cutting it."

Steve looked up at him, his mouth completely filled with sandwich, of which half was already eaten, "I ade id."

Tony lifted an eyebrow and grinned at Steve's lack of decorum, "Wanna try that again?"

The blond gave a massive swallow and said again, "I made it."

Tony's other eyebrow was now raised and he looked down at the sandwich in a new light, "Hey, maybe I'll like it?" He picked it up (with some difficulty).

"You really don't have to, Tony. Your chef has leftover lasagna in the fridge; I just wanted to make something better for you."

Tony didn't know if Steve meant "healthier" or "tastier" but he was touched either way. He took a big bite out of the sandwich, and found it surprisingly tasty and satisfying. He suddenly found that he was ravenous and he gobbled down the rest of the sandwich with probably less decorum than Steve, and his stomach gurgled in appreciation.

Steve just grinned at Tony and the almost childish look of pleasure on his face as he ate, before he remembered the other half of his sandwich waiting in front of him. He ate it much more slowly, taking in the peaceful moment and feeling just as content as Tony looked.

MORE CHEESE. Just because I can.