A/N: Hi lovelies, I don't know how long this story is going to be. I'll be trying to update it at least once every week. -Volpe
The sun starts to set on a stress filled day for Steve. He didn't want to admit that their latest missions could have, or rather, should have gone a lot better. The only reason they didn't was because of Tony. Lately he's been completely ignoring Steve's instructions. Always going off to do his own thing.
This led to a lot of long lectures from Fury, about how they have to learn to work together. Steve wanted to he really did. He put in as much effort as he could but it was always ignored by the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. He always thought he knew better. That he didn't have to listen to Steve.
That's why they're in their current situation. Both chained up, kneeling in front of Loki Odinson of all people. Of all their villains, of everybody in their rogues gallery. Of course it was Loki they fell victim to. Steve wasn't even sure how to feel anymore.
At first he was so pissed off. So enraged by the billionaire he wanted to fight him himself. Then he was a little relieved they were captured by just the god of chaos and not someone truly evil. He knew Loki wouldn't actually hurt them.
If he did, he'd have to answer to Thor. Something Loki feared no matter how much he tried to hide it. No matter how nonchalant he acted by his brothers threats. He swore not only to Thor but also Odin he wouldn't cause harm to anyone on Earth. It's the only reason he's here on Earth. He still found ways to cause chaos without explicit harm to anyone.
It's one of the main reasons he was infiltrated. Loki is just playing a game. Essentially a child's game on a monumental scale. But a game nonetheless and they lost. If they can't beat Loki how will they ever beat a truly world ending villain.
"My,my, today must be a truly glorious day. To have the powerful Captain America and the great Ironman kneeling in front of me? No how did this happen?" Loki chuckled as amusement coated his words.
Steve simply glared at Tony. Who smirked at Loki.
"Well champ, we thought you needed a win to keep your morale high." Tony shrugged.
"How thoughtful, to lose on purpose. You're truly a honorable man to willingly submit to me. I'm sure it had nothing to do with a lack of communication."
"lack of communication? Between us? Never, Mommy and Daddy just fight sometimes but we're always on the same page. Isn't that right my capsicle?" Tony directs his attention to Steve.
Steve simply rolls his eyes and looks to Loki. He mostly just wants to get whatever ridiculous 'punishment' Loki has in mind over with.
"Sure, can we get this over with already? I want to take a bath." Steve makes no effort to participate in their banter.
They did this all the time. They constantly bounced off one another with zinger after zinger. Honestly, in another situation he wouldn't have minded. But the longer he's here the closer he gets to losing his temper.
"Seems I was right, are you alright Captain?" Loki's voice starts to brim with concern.
It was rare for the kind soldier to actually be mad. At least on the surface. His self control was amazing and rivaled only Loki and Natasha. So something had to happen to make him that mad. Loki could admit that he cared for the avengers, all of them.
"Loki. I want. To go. Home." His sharp glare strikes Loki.
On an off day Loki would've been scared. But that's not today, he simply gets off his throne and squats in front of him. He smirks at him, not even trying to hide the bit of joy in his eyes.
"Sounds like you need to relax." Loki runs a hand through his hair.
"No, I need to go home. Will you hurry up?" His growl sends a shiver down Tony's spine.
Unfortunately, Loki notices. He eyes Stark with a bit of mischief in his eyes. He stands up and stocks towards him.
"You must've done something really bad." Loki chuckles bed circling the two. "I'll make you a deal Captain. If you both can tell me what's wrong, both be on the same page. I'll gladly set you free." Loki chuckles, knowing that's not going to happen.
Steve release a frustrated groan. He throws his head back and doesn't even try to stay calm anymore. Not like it mattered, he was doing a piss poor job at hiding it anyway. He glares at the genius knowing he'll say something witty instead of the truth.
"Tony doesn't listen to me. He takes every possible chance to ignore me completely. We're only in this situation because I asked him to check the left wing with Natasha. I knew you were gonna be in here. I wanted to enter as a team after the other rooms were secure. Surprise, surprise, he didn't listen, he flew right in here and of course I had to follow." Steve's hands turn to fist as he recounts the story.
"You didn't have to follow." Tony said under his breath, unfortunately the two still heard them.
"Yes I did. As the leader, it's my job to make sure everyone gets home. Even the idiots who don't listen. As much as I wanted to leave you here, I couldn't." Steve spits venom at Tony.
"You're not my leader. So leave me next time." Tony rolls his eyes.
"All I want is to keep you safe. I'll never understand what you have against that Anthony. All you have to do is listen to me. Follow orders." The man out of time starts to yell.
It was rare, almost impossible to get him to yell. But this has been an ongoing battle. He was getting tired of it, constantly following Tony so someone had his back. Whether he wanted it or not. Steve never wanted to leave him alone.
"Oh will you get over yourself , you're not trying to look out for me. You just don't want to go home a failure. The golden boy Steve losing a teammate. You failed once with James now you think if you fail again it won't be a coincidence. You're doing this for you, for your reputation. So stop pretending it's about me." Tony spits back.
Steve freezes at the mention of Bucky. He constantly remembered that day. He replayed it so much trying to find where he went wrong. He lost his best friend, forced to watch him fall, completely helpless. He desperately wanted to follow after him. But it was him or the world. He knew Bucky would've been pissed if he learned Steve let the world down to save him. That's the only reason he didn't follow after.
He saw so much of Bucky in Tony. The only difference was Bucky understood the consequences of not listening. In war one mess up could mean the death of your hold squad. So now that those consequences aren't here, Steve follows Tony. Even though he hates it, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to Tony.
"See, it was never about me." Tony's voice is softer.
"Captain what are you thinking about?" Loki pipes up.
Steve looks down from the spot he was staring at. He bites his lip as tears start to come to his eyes. That moment constantly replaying. He hears him scream as he falls. He should've made sure that soldier was dead. He wouldn't have been able to shoot Bucky out the train. He wouldn't have caused the hole in the train and Bucky wouldn't have fell.
His greatest failure, something he had constant nightmares of. Here Tony is using it as a weapon. A way to hurt him. Steve regrets telling him, he regrets mentioning it to him at all. He thought he could trust Tony. That he would find comfort and confessing what plagued him. He did in the moment but if he had known it'd be used against him. A way to win an argument cause the genius can't admit he's wrong. He would've just suffered in silence. That's why he does what comes next.
Steve's eyes pop open. He stands up and walks towards Loki.
"Unchain me, now. He wants to be alone, fine. I'll leave him here. At least with Bucky it was my fault, with him. That's all on him. I don't care anymore." Steve has tears in his eyes.
Loki isn't entirely convinced it's all from his memories. There's a look in his eyes that tells him it's something more than that.
"No can do Captain, it's time this rift gets fixed. It's official, something bigger than all of us is coming. You'll need the full force of your team to get remotely close to beating them. So you two fighting will be the downfall of not just the Avengers but the world. So you'll be staying here till you can work together." Loki's eyes hold a new seriousness Steve had never seen before.
He knew there was too much truth in his words. That whatever was coming was something he was actually scared of. The look itself neutralized Steve's anger. He knew it was someone seriously dangerous if the threat scared Loki enough to help them.
Sure he was scared of Thor but scared wasn't the word Steve really wanted to use. It wasn't quite fear rather it was trauma. The worry of disappointing his brother. So this new threat was serious.
"so what do you plan on doing?" Steve huffs.
He slowly backs up and kneels beside the genius.
"I've learned there's only so much outside interference one can do. But one thing that always works, is being forced to share a space. So good luck." Loki snaps his fingers before any one can say anything.
They disappear in a puff of green smoke. Once it clears they notice they're in a living room.
Thanks for reading, please leave a review and I hope you have a good day. - Volpe