Steve Rogers was parked in his car with his head lying on the steering wheel and his eyes closed. He practiced his breathing.
In, out.
In, out.
He had not seen Tony Stark in three days.
Seventy two hours.
He breathed in and let it out slowly, then opened his eyes.
Tony hadn't called him or made any effort to contact him at all, which made his coming to see him even more desperate but at the rate he was going Steve didn't think he could wait. So he'd come.
Now he was parked a block from Tony's house, nervous as hell.
This was stupid, he knew. Tony would be happy to see him, surely.
Unless he wasn't.
In, out.
In, out.
He started the car and drove to Tony's gate, pressing the call button and before he could say a word Tony's computerized butler said, "Hello Mister Rogers, Mister Stark will be delighted to see you," and let him in.
Steve drove up and left his car in front of the door, walking quickly to the door and it opened before he could touch it. He stared at the splendor around him again, not having taken it in as well the one other time he'd been here.
There were three paintings on the wall and from what he remembered of them at least two were worth more than ten million dollars. He swallowed, took a breath and asked, "Is Tony busy, Jarvis?"
"Yes, Mister Stark is working downstairs."
Steve sighed. "Maybe I should come back," he said, turning to leave.
The door locks all went into place and Jarvis said firmly, "Miss Potts specifically stated you are not to leave if you enter, Mister Rogers."
"Miss Potts?"
"Mister Stark's assistant."
He didn't remember having ever met anyone with the name but no matter.
"You're keeping me here."
"Until Mister Stark tells me differently, yes. He is downstairs in the workshop."
Steve glared at no one. "Not fair, you know."
Jarvis sounded amused. "Enjoy your stay."
Steve walked down the stairs, hearing the music, smiling as the door in front of him opened without a word. He walked into the workshop and looked around at the cars, the works in progress, and then spotted Tony hard at work with his back to Steve.
"Jarvis," Steve said, and the music turned down.
Tony turned and said, "Music back up, Jarvis, I don't give a shit about my hearing and if you," he stopped when he saw Steve.
Steve smiled, waving. "Hi."
Tony didn't smile but stood, his eyes never leaving Steve. "Hi."
They stared at each other, the silence deafening, and the awkwardness palpable.
"If I'm disturbing you I can," Steve began but Tony shook his head.
"No, you're good. You…you can stay."
Steve let out the breath he'd been holding.
Tony laughed, feeling out of place. "So…"
Neither man moved to get closer to the other and both were finding it hard not to but didn't know what to do. There was a cough and then Tony said, "Fuck it," and ran to Steve, crushing their lips together and wrapping his arms around him.
Steve kissed him back just as eagerly, holding tight and keeping them up with his strength, picking Tony up from the floor and setting him on a nearby counter while never breaking their kiss.
Fingers touching, tearing, kissing, exploring; deep, long sighs, and they broke to breathe, both naked from the waist up and both with pants hanging open. Tony grinned, pressing their foreheads together. "I missed you."
Steve kissed him, "I needed you."
Tony's smile brightened more than Steve though it would have been able and he said, "I'm sorry I didn't call, it's been crazy here. I wanted to but I saw all the stuff you had going with that prison and I didn't…are you okay? I saw Bucky was with you."
Steve nodded. "We're good. Everyone is…good."
Tony laid his head on Steve's shoulder and breathed him in, closing his eyes.
"I even missed your smell. God, I'm pathetic."
"No, you're not," Steve said, his fingers in Tony's hair.
The two of them held each other, then Tony asked, "Wanna see my room?"
Steve laughed. "I thought you'd never ask."
Tony kissed him quick and jumped off the counter. "First one there is a rotten egg!" he called out, running up the stairs.
Steve laughed and chased him, feeling happier than he'd been in days.
How could he have thought this was a bad idea?
Pepper Potts always considered herself a reasonable woman.
She had worked for Tony Stark for a large part of her life; lived through all the long nights, scantily clad women, and drunken benders, sailing right along with Tony without blinking an eye.
Until the moment she realized she was in love with him.
He'd seemed quite interested in her too and she had been confident that there was more to the smiles he gave her than those he gave others.
That was, until she saw the smile he gave Steve Rogers.
It was a Sunday morning and Tony had refused her calls for several days, not bothering to pretend to call her back and mistakenly miss her which was something he did on a regular basis.
So she had decided to go to the house to yell at him. There was a car in the driveway that she didn't even blink at, walking in and smiling at Jarvis's voice.
"Miss Potts, a pleasure to see you."
"Hello Jarvis, is he busy?" she asked, continuing through the house ignoring the clothes thrown on the floor.
"Well he is currently engaged, yes."
She waved her hand. "Downstairs?"
"Yes, Mister Stark is with Mister Rogers."
Pepper froze. "Steve Rogers?" she asked, trying to calm the pounding in her chest.
"Yes, I did as you asked and have kept Mister Rogers here until Mister Stark releases him."
She let out a breath, closing her eyes. "Yes, good."
"Miss Potts?"
Pepper opened her eyes and walked down the steps, stopping at the door and staring through the windows.
Tony was sitting at his workspace, working on some machine part and listening to Steve, who was talking. She gasped at the look on his face.
"Oh Tony," she whispered, pressing her hand to the glass and blinking back tears.
Tony Stark was in love. She could see it in his smile, so full of trust and devotion, and in his eyes. He was lost in staring at Steve, like looking away would hurt.
She ran up the stairs and sat on the couch, putting hands over her face and suddenly crying.
"Miss Potts?" came Jarvis's concerned voice.
Pepper wiped at her eyes, laughing. "It's alright, Jarvis. I'm fine."
"Mister Stark was quite happy to see Mister Rogers arrive."
"How long has he been here?" she asked, standing and walking to the kitchen throwing cold water on her face.
"Since Friday, Miss."
Friday. The day she'd walked out of the house and decided at the last minute to program Jarvis to keep Captain America trapped inside if he decided to come.
She laughed. "I see."
Pepper took a deep breath and walked down the stairs again, into the work room and said loudly, "I see you still refuse to answer your calls."
Tony smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, been busy."
She raised an eyebrow. "I'll bet."
Pepper walked towards the table and before she could get there Steve turned, surprising her. She stopped short, surprised at the sight of him.
He was magnificent, one of the most handsome men she'd ever seen. She found herself blushing when he put out his hand and her hand felt incredibly warm in his when they shook hands.
"My name is Steve Rogers, nice to meet you."
She stammered, "Pepper, Pepper Potts."
Tony coughed and Steve let her go, smiling at Tony, who looked incredibly put out at not being the center of Steve's attention for a few short seconds.
Pepper couldn't help herself and suddenly laughed, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh, sorry," she said, feeling her blush deepen.
Steve leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially, "He hates losing attention, it's one of his top forty bad traits," causing her to laugh again.
"Hey! No whispering!" Tony yelled.
Steve grinned and got up from his chair, coming around to stand in front of Tony. He reached out a hand and touched Tony's cheek, whispering, "Jealous?"
Tony pouted. "No."
Steve leaned in and kissed him softly, making Pepper gasp and both men pulled apart quickly.
"Sorry," Steve said sincerely, blushing.
"I'm not," Tony said, grinning.
Pepper shook her head. "It's alright, you just surprised me," she explained, putting down the papers she'd brought with her, "I will be going though, duty calls."
Steve came over to her again, putting out his hand. She took it and he said, "It was a pleasure meeting you Pepper."
"Likewise," she said, turning to Tony and nodding once before heading to the door.
"Let me walk you out," Tony said, running to catch up with her. The door closed behind them and Tony waited until they were at the top of the stairs to say, "I'm sorry."
Pepper smiled, kissing him on the cheek. "I like him a lot," she whispered, "Don't mess it up, okay?"
He nodded and she left the house, getting into her car.
Once the car was running and the radio was on Pepper finally, truly, cried.
Any chance she thought she had with Tony Stark was dead.
Who could compete with Captain America?
When he walked into the mansion Clint was surprised to find it empty, letting out the breath he'd been holding.
Nick had ordered him back but still the threat of Bruce Banner loomed over his head, wondering just what to do about the other man's feelings.
Clint walked towards the foyer and up the stairs, taking two steps at a time to get to his room. When he got inside he quickly shut the door behind him, leaning against it and catching his breath.
"Well thank god you didn't run into that Bruce Banner. Oh wait," came the voice in front of him, startling Clint enough that he jumped.
Bruce was sitting on his bed with crossed legs and an easy smile.
"A little birdie told me you were coming back today. Thought I'd say hi."
Clint didn't move. "So you broke into my room to do it?"
Bruce grinned. "I am smart remember? It wasn't very hard."
Hawkeye moved from the door and walked past the bed, throwing his bag on the dresser and walking around Bruce to lie down. He closed his eyes.
"I missed you," Bruce whispered in the quiet, startling him.
Clint opened his eyes and turned to look at Bruce Banner, science geek and genius at only 35 and saw just how much he had been missed.
"Sorry," he said, then looked back up at the ceiling again, closing his eyes.
The bed moved and Bruce said, "I'm not finished yet," before closing the door behind him.
Clint opened his eyes again tightly, biting his lip.
He didn't care.
When he opened his eyes again it was morning and there was a buzz that woke him along with Nick's angry, "WAKE THE FUCK UP, HAWKEYE!"
He stretched, pulling on his uniform and practically running towards the situation room, stopping short when he saw Bucky Barnes, Bruce, Thor, and Black Widow standing together along with Nick Fury.
Nick glared at him and he ran to them, catching his breath. "Sorry."
Nick rolled his eyes and turned back to the group, "As I was saying, we've found out the location and we're going in today. Now."
Clint looked around, then ran his hand through his hair before raising his hand, "Um, Nick?"
Nick looked at him.
He sighed. "Who are we going after again?"
Thor smiled then said politely, "We are going after the Triumvirate."
Clint nodded, then asked again, "Who?"
"They are an anti-SHIELD, trying to set up an army to slowly take over the world," Bruce explained, surprising Clint, "But they are small scale, it won't take long to get rid of them."
Bucky laughed. "I'm sure you can handle it, sport," he joked, clapping Hawkeye on the back just as Nick told everyone to go to the helicopters.
Later, he would not have believed it if someone else told him what happened but since it happened to him he could not deny.
The fight had gotten quickly underway on their arrival though they were stealthy, but when Nick ordered Thor to take out their power supply summoning lightning and all the hundreds of men of the Triumvirate came at them simultaneously, the battle was on.
Bucky and Natasha fought alongside each other as a pair, a well-oiled unit and Clint admired their skill.
Bruce hulked out, smashing into twenty guys at once.
Thor needed no help either, attacking with his Hammer and the power of lightning.
Clint attacked several men at once, slinging arrows and attacking with his own brand of skill, killing men left and right. He did well on his own for a while, until someone grabbed him from behind, and several men attacked him at once.
He struggled and tried to grab for his panic button to alert the others, but dropped it, kicking out and when someone branded a knife and stabbed him in the gut he still fought.
Until they shot him.
Suddenly everything happened at once: He heard Natasha yell, "CLINT!" and there was a fury of a scream, followed by the HULK screaming, "HAWKIE!" and rushing towards his attackers, grabbing men and breaking their backs, throwing them, crushing their skulls, until he stopped, breathless and leaned in close to Clint who could barely see.
The last thing he saw was a blur of the Hulk's face as he was lifted in the creature's arms and the whispered, "Hawkie, no," as he lost consciousness.
Clint woke in the hospital wing of SHIELD. He'd been there several times and knew it well. He saw the machines around him and groaned, alerting Natasha who had been sitting at his bedside.
He coughed and she grabbed his hand. "Clint," she whispered, squeezing.
Bucky coughed and she laughed. "My lapochka is a jealous one, though he does not need to worry," she said, not letting go of him.
He heard Bucky mumble, "Shut up," and tried to laugh himself but it came out as a cough.
"I…he…" he tried to talk but it came out as a whisper.
Natasha smiled. "You came very close to death, the knife wound was severe and they shot you very near your throat, but it will heal, you will be good as new."
Clint sighed and winced, feeling it in his throat. "H…ulk."
Natasha and Bucky exchanged glances.
"We…it was amazing, Clint. He carried you to the helicopter; he was devastated but so gentle. No one has ever seen the creature act that way before." Bucky said.
Clint nodded.
The door opened to his left and someone asked, "Can I come in?"
Bruce Banner has his head in the door.
He nodded again.
Bucky and Natasha chose that moment to exit, but not before Natasha leaned in close and kissed his cheek whispering, "Good luck darling Hawkeye."
The door closed and Bruce came to his right and Clint saw him closely. His eyes were bloodshot and there were prominent bags beneath them. He hadn't shaved and looked thinner.
"How..l..ong?" he asked, coughing again.
Bruce looked down at himself, and then smiled. "You've been here nearly a week. Steve and Tony got back two days after you were hurt, Tony's been here daily and…"
"H…ulk." Clint said again, his eyes fixated into Bruce's.
The other man paled, and then looked down. "I…I don't understand it, they've told me what happened. I…it's…unknown why the…why it…"
"He," Clint said, his voice harsh, "He…saved."
Bruce looked at him then, nodding. "Why he saved you. And why he called you by name."
Clint stared intensely at the man in front of him, wishing his throat didn't hurt so damn much or he'd be yelling.
"Well, I just," Bruce started, running a hand through his hair and smiling sheepishly, "I wanted to see how you were. I'll be back tomorrow," he said, leaving Clint to himself.
The Hulk incident was another thing he didn't want and hadn't expected, but it drew him into Bruce Banner more than he wanted to be.
He only hoped it wouldn't take him too far.