"We're not even sharing a room, Pepper! Steve will be sleeping across the hall; I'll still have my room here, this is just so that Steve's not alone when he has his night terrors. I may actually be doing something good for him."
The redhead shrugged, semi-nodding, "I think you might be, too."
Tony lit up just a little bit, his attention caught just after to the sight of the elevator door opening and Steve trooping in with a small cardboard box and his shield. Tony outright smiled, and Pepper signed off from the video call quickly. Tony felt a stab of guilt at that, but covered it, standing to relieve Steve of the box. The super soldier opened his mouth to protest, but Tony ignored that, "C'mon, this way…" Tony began to trail the supersoldier behind him, letting him take in the apartment level he'd taken for himself and the Captain in Stark Tower, "welcome home."
Steve reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt, pressing him against the wall and kissing him completely breathless. "Thank you." Steve murmured gently, pressing his lips to Tony's cheek chastely, "Tony, you've…"
"Shh," Tony hushed him gently, rubbing the backs of his fingers against the back of Steve's neck, "I'd give you everything, Steve. Whatever you wanted; whatever you needed. Always." Steve pressed back into his chest, kissing him hard and deep.
"Sir, your gynecologist called, she's worried that this may melt your ovaries." Steve flinched against him, pulling away with a confused look. Tony collapsed into helpless laughter, nearly sliding down the wall as his lungs started to protest lack of oxygen.
"Clint-"
"Got Dr. Banner to program me to interrupt you with something every time you and Captain Rogers are close. I'm isolating the reprogramming and disabling it, sir."
Tony wiped his eyes, trying to breathe. "Th-Thank you, JARVIS."
Tony was still laughing, shaking his head and wiping his eyes as he finished leading Steve down the hall. "I'm not sure Bruce would do something like that." Steve muttered, low so that the AI couldn't hear.
"I believe that Agent Barton bribed Dr. Banner, sir." JARVIS replied coolly, "Would you like me to call for reservations, sir?"
"No, thanks, Jarv. I'm gonna cook." Tony replied distractedly, opening Steve's room and looking around, making sure everything was in place.
"I shall inform the fire departments and emergency services." Tony scowled towards the ceiling, frowning.
"I did not program you with lip, JARVIS!"
"I believe it is a learned trait, sir. I may be your Frankenstein's monster in this respect."
Steve snorted a little, trying to fight off the smirk, "I think I'm gonna like it here."
"I like AC/DC, and I like The Queen-"
"Queen. No 'the'."
"I like Queen...and I like most of the other stuff...I'm just saying that Adele has good vocals."
"Yeah, you and Thor." Tony rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a fond smile.
Steve smiled warmly back, reaching over to rub his knuckles against the base of Tony's skull, "I still prefer your shower singing, though…"
Tony laughed, lifting up his welding mask steal a kiss. "I still can't believe JARVIS sent that to all of you."
"I loved it. And Darcy taught me how to download it." Tony's head snapped up, his eyes wide, "And, yes, I know that pirating is illegal, but it was for the greater good. It makes me laugh."
"How come I feel like my influence on you is actually quite...bad?" Tony asked, rubbing the piece he'd been welding until it shone a little clearer.
Steve snickered, leaning forwards to catch Tony's lips, "You're not a bad influence at all." Steve said, pulling Tony into his clutches and smiling at him happily. "Can we have a movie night tonight?"
"More Mel Brooks?" Steve nodded eagerly, smiling, and Tony laughed at that, kissing him.
"You two are disgusting." Clint grumbled, Bruce snickering as Tony and Steve both scowled at him. Steve rolled his eyes at them both, kissing Tony flauntingly, and sliding off the work table, headed for the training room.
"Guys, not for nothing, but last month when you put a virus in JARVIS's coding to make all our cold water hot and all the hot water cold, I walked into Steve's bathroom to find him curled up on the shower floor going through another episode of being trapped in that freezing water. Do anything like that again, and you'll be flossing with your own insides." Clint's smirk faded into a look of horror, and Bruce looked as though he half-wished that Tony had already banded out that fate.
"Jesus fuck…"
"We didn't know, Tony, I'm-"
"I get it, Cap and I are...startling. I'm still wondering what the fuck he's doing with me...but I would rather die than see him that ruined again. Either of you tell him that I told you about this, and I'll put you both on SHIELD's list of 'psychiatric care needed', under 'electroshock therapy'." Tony told them both quietly, reflectively. He got up from his swivel chair with a sigh, grabbing his water bottle and downing half the contents.
"We won't mess with JARVIS again, Tony, I swear." Bruce's voice was strained with regret and guilt, and Tony shrugged it off, shaking his head.
"I know. He's programmed to lock down completely if anyone other than me goes near any code with any real power. The uplinks in all ports are disabled unless allowed by me, fully scanned, and any threat to the integrity of the system is neutralized. True threats to the system's security are traced, and the perpetrators are marked for complete system death: complete wipeout of any and all of the electronic devices this person accesses. So, in short, don't fuck with me, gentleman, because it'll result in an unlubricated reciprocation that'll leave you shaking and scarred." Tony Stark flicked down the mask of his welding helmet, dismissing the conversation and hefted his torch, getting back to fixing up Steve's old motorcycle with no further ado.
"Sir, all signals from the training area are scrambled, but I believe it is a person knocking out the feed." JARVIS informed them all coolly, and Tony was up, running as fast as he could for the elevator to the training room with Clint and Bruce not far behind.
The doors whooshed open as Steve was thrown towards it, and Tony was slammed back by the impact, into the opposite wall, bones crushing under the force of the hit.
Bruce watched his friends slumped down, the side of Steve's face shredded by claws, and the Hulk took over, barrelling into the room, leaving Clint to figure out if their friends would be okay.
Steve was asleep, his top half lying on Tony's bedside, when Tony finally came-to. It felt like there was a gauze over the world; in Tony's mouth, over his limbs...Tony hated it. Passionately.
His leg was bulky with the cast from his hip to his toes, his every bone, broken or not, stiff and aching...but Steve was okay. The half of Steve's face that had been so terribly injured was almost healed now, and Tony found his fingers running carefully over Steve's cheekbone, thankful that Steve healed so damn fast.
Steve flinched, his eyes fluttering open as Tony touched him, and pure relief flooded those baby-blues, "Tony…"
Tony's broken hand rested against Steve's arm, and just that light little touch stopped Steve from any more movement, "D-Don't call them yet…" Tony requested, and Steve put down the call button for the nurses and doctors immediately, "what happened? ...Are you okay?"
Steve's breathing caught, tears running down his cheeks, "Tony, you've been unconscious for almost a week, and you ask if I'm okay?" Tony rubbed Steve's tears away, "I'm fine. I've just...I've been...damnit, Tony, I've been going insane." Tony hushed him, rubbing his cheek idly.
"A week, huh? And it's been a week since you slept, hasn't it?" Steve shot him a look of 'do not go there', but Tony just raised his brows, pressing it. Steve nodded, reaching up to cup his hand over Tony's, careful not to actually touch it.
"Your ribs cracked and broke when I collided into you...and then they punctured a lung when we hit the wall. Your leg broke at your hip and fibula, and your arm was crushed. The only reason why you're not dead is because you were wearing that welding mask, and it cradled the back of your head when you hit the wall-"
"You would have died, then."
"Theoretically…" Steve said after a long moment between them. "But, Tony, you're more breakable than I am…"
"Yeah, and you're more valuable." Tony insisted, wheezing and huffing as he tried to move.
Steve looked like he was about to flatten him all over again if Tony continued to try that, the billionaire slumping down in the bed at that look. "Anthony Stark, if you think for one millisecond that I am better than you-" Steve cut himself off, feeling almost sick with rage, his jaw working.
"Steve...Captain America is a symbol of hope and strength...Iron Man is a symbol of one man trying to undo the damage that he's done to the world that he's not good enough for!" Steve had never looked more enraged at him. Not even when he'd so thoroughly baited him in the helicarrier; not even when he'd done everything he could to.
"Tony...take those goddamn...take those words back NOW."
"Steve-"
"No! Tony, you...you know how much you mean to me, and to everyone! If anything happened to you, Tony, I-I'd be lost…" Steve was on his feet, his breathing ragged, "You know I would be."
Tony felt like it was getting more and more difficult to breathe; like he was being suffocated by a python. Steve's head fell, his shoulders rolling, trying to bring himself into control again.
"Tony, you're not the kind to hear this, but I don't give a damn: I'm in love with you."
Tony felt like he was dying this time. Really, more than any other time that he'd almost died, this time was the one that was going to do him in-"I love you, too."
The look that bloomed over Steve's features took every last pain away. Steve leaned down, ghosting his lips over Tony's, a tear falling from his eye down to Tony's battered face.
"What happens when I fuck this up?" Tony asked through almost-unmoving lips, and Steve pulled back a little.
"I'm a hard-headed bastard, Stark. You're not getting rid of me."
Tears took over Tony Stark, and he let Steve call the doctors at last.
He didn't let Steve's hand leave his, though; snapped at the imbecilic doctors until Bruce herded them all out, shooting an amused look at the supersoldier before he checked out everything he could about Tony's situation. "I think you need to get his head checked out, Banner. He claims to love me." Tony deadpanned, smiling at Steve sweetly.
Steve scowled, and Bruce beamed, "'Bout time you two put your cards on the table. No sex until Tony's chest is healed at the very least, though."
"Not for the approximate date of when I'll be medically permitted to have sex, do you have a date for that, Doc?"
"Well, Fury's calling in a favour with someone he won't really tell us about. Supposedly, this guy has the power to heal you."
Steve looked up to Bruce, a little concerned. "Heal him?"
"Dr. Strange is...well, he's a sorcerer."
"He'll help, though?"
"Yeah, he will."
Steve relaxed, sitting down with Tony's hand between his, gentle and barely-there, "Anything if Tony gets better sooner."
Bruce's breathing stuttered slightly, and he ducked out of the room after giving Tony a dose of pain killers. "Steve, you should go home and get some rest." Steve shook his head before Tony had gotten past his name. "You're dead on your feet, and you need sleep in order to heal."
"And what happens when I have a night terror while you're not there to love it out of me?" Steve asked quietly, one blond eyebrow quirked. "What happens when my dreams are of not getting you here in...in t-time…" Steve swallowed, and Tony took Steve's cheek into his palm, looking into those perfect blue eyes.
For a long, long moment, Tony read Steve's eyes, getting more information from them than Natasha could ever hope to read. "Get Banner back in here, I wanna talk to him about moving me back to the tower." Steve opened his mouth to protest, his eyes saucer-wide, "Hey-you refuse to take care of yourself without me with you; I don't feel like I can rest here, it's a win-win if I come home."
"Tony…"
"I'll stay in bed; I'll even let them set up a sling thingy on the side of the bed for my leg. Just let me come home." Steve nodded quickly, leaning over to kiss an un-bruised section of Tony's forehead, taking his hand quickly and releasing just as fast, a squeeze compared to his touches before, and it made Tony want to laugh at how delicately Steve was treating him.
"You will stay in bed, and you'll heal as fast as you can, or I'll make you." Tony, broken and bruised on the hospital bed, smiled devilishly at him, raising his hand in salute.
"Sir, yes, sir."
A/N: Thank you all again for the awesome reviews, I'm so happy to hear from you guys.