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Tony was working on a special project down in his lab. He hadn’t emerged for days other than to refill his coffee mug. He wanted to bring the coffee maker down to the lab, but Bruce was the only one who was okay with the idea.
“Jarvis, order me another coffee maker and have someone bring it down to the lab for me.”
“Right away, sir.”
The other avengers living in Stark Tower took turns bringing him meals so that he wouldn’t accidentally starve himself to death. Tony had other things on his mind and most of the time, he forgot to eat. It was after Tony gouged his arm open while working with some metal for his project that he decided it was final time for a break.
He emerged from the lab, empty coffee mug in hand, and was met by an annoyed Steve Rogers. Steve had his arms folded across his chest and his feet apart. Pretending to not notice, Tony greeted him, “Hey there, my star-spangled-man with a plan!” Natasha shot him a look that told him Steve was not to be messed with right now. “Steve, are you okay?”
“No, Tony. I am not okay. I need to talk to you. Alone.”
Tony followed Steve into the bedroom and closed the door behind them. He had no idea what was going on. He had stopped drinking, and hadn’t done anything to piss Steve off recently.
“Tony,” Steve began with a sad look in his eye, “Do you still love me?”
“Of course I do, Steve. I love you more than anything. Why would you even ask that?” Tony replied, shocked.
“Well, you’ve been spending so much time down in your lab, it feels like you’re avoiding me. Every time I came down to check on you, you ushered me out. I thought that maybe you didn’t love me and didn’t want to be around me anymore.”
“Oh, Steve, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize that I was spending that much time down there. How long has it been since I talked to you?” Tony began to panic. He hated it when he hurt people, Steve most of all.
“You haven’t come up to do anything except to fill your mug in six days.”
“Shit,” thought Tony. “Come down to the lab. I have something to show you.”
Tony glanced down at his arm. He had forgotten to take care of it when he was upstairs. The blood had soaked completely through his black, long-sleeved, AC/DC t-shirt. Tony grabbed the nearest shop rag and tied it around his arm. The rag was stained with grease and sweat. It definitely wasn’t the cleanest thing he could have used to bandage his wound, but giving Steve his full attention was more important right now.
“Come over here, Cap. I have been working on a special type of magnet that will only attract vibranium. It will be injected into your hand. It connects to your nerves and brain waves. When you throw your shield, just reach out for it, like Thor does for his hammer, and it will come back to you.”
“Tony! That’s amazing!” Steve looked at him like a little kid excited for a new toy. “Wait a sec, isn’t the reactor powering Stark Tower made of vibranium?”
“The magnet won’t affect the tower in any way. It’s not that powerful,” Tony chuckled softly. He was beginning to feel a little light headed.
“Oh. Right.” Steve felt stupid for asking a question that Tony would obviously have already figured out. “Oh my god, Tony! Your arm!” Steve grabbed Tony’s arm before he could protest and tore off the bandage. Tony flinched and tried to pull his arm back. “Tony, I need to look at this.”
“ ‘s ‘kay, Cap,” Tony slurred. He was slipping in and out of consciousness. He wasn’t sure if it was because of how much blood he had lost or if it was because going six days without sleep and too much caffeine had just caught up to him, full force.
Steve picked Tony up and carried him over to the elevator. “Jarvis, how did Tony hurt his arm?”
“He was working on the magnet for your shield, Mr. Rogers. I believe his unconsciousness is a result of lack sleep. The amount of blood in his body is still within normal levels.”
Steve felt his heart clench. Steve hated to see Tony hurting. He brought Tony to the bathroom and cleaned out the wound. Steve removed Tony’s shirt and smiled slightly when he saw the dog-tags that he had given him around his neck. Tony hadn’t taken them off since Steve had gifted them to him. Steve wrapped the wound tight in bandages to stop the bleeding. He laid the billionaire down in their bed and pulled the covers over him. Tony needed to rest. He instructed Jarvis to keep the room dark until Tony woke up, and not let anyone other than Steve disturb him.
Steve walked into the living room where Clint and Natasha were talking quietly. When he entered Natasha and Clint both looked up at him.
“Is Stark okay?” Clint inquired.
“He’s fine. Nice gash on his arm though. Lack of sleep finally caught up to him.”
Thor landed on the balcony outside. He had spent the last few weeks on Asgard. The Aesir beamed brightly as he walked through the door. “Glad tidings, my friends! I hope that my absence hasn’t been cause for any harm in battle.”
“We’re good,” Natasha replied, coolly. She was happy to see Thor, she just didn’t show it. “How have things been on Asgard?”
“Excellent, spider. I have made peace with my brother, and I can assure you that he won’t try to inflict harm upon this planet again,” Thor beamed.
“Uhh, that’s great,” Clint said, unsure if what Thor said was entirely true.
“Where is the Man of Iron? He usually comes up from the lab to greet me. Have I angered him in some way?”
“He’s sleeping right now,” Steve remembered thinking something similar not even two hours ago. “Care to join me in the gym for a sparring session? Chicken-eye over here is too scared without his bow,” Steve said half joking, half mocking. Clint glared at him and gave him the bird before turning back to talk to Natasha.
“I would be delighted, Captain,” Thor answered enthusiastically, already heading towards the elevator that would take them down to the gym.
It was Thor who threw the first punch. Steve dodged it easily and quickly knocked Thor’s feet out from under him with a swift kick. Thor mock-glared up at the super soldier. Thor jumped to his feet and punched Steve in the stomach, catching him off guard. Steve took a second to catch his breath before elbowing Thor in the jaw. Thor responded by kicking Steve in the chest, which sent him to the ground. Thor summoned Mjolnir and placed it on Steve’s chest, pinning him down.
“Hey! That’s not fair!”
“Of course it’s fair,” Thor laughed heartily. Thor began to walk towards the elevator.
“Get back here! You can’t just leave me here like this!” Steve yelled, worried.
“Sure I can,” Thor said smugly. He got in the elevator and rode it up to the kitchen. He put four Pop Tarts into the toaster and drank some water straight from the faucet. Thor went back down to the gym to find Steve right where he had left him.
“Thor! You ass hole!” Steve yelled angrily.
Thor summoned Mjolnir back to him with a laugh. “You dare insult the son of Odin?” Thor bellowed joking. “My dear friend, I never intended to leave you there. I have brought you some Popping Tarts for your patience and efforts,” he said, handing Steve one of his four Pop Tarts. Steve smiled and ate it, thankful for a little snack after their short sparring session. “Where is our friend Doctor Banner?” Thor wondered aloud. “The green rage is fun to fight with.”
“He took a trip to India for a week to treat the sick and the injured. He should be back tomorrow around noon.”
Tony woke up in his room to find that he had been neatly tucked into his covers and the gash on his arm had been taken care of. “Jarvis, the time please.”
“It is currently 11:58 in the morning, sir.” Tony had been asleep for nearly 22 hours. “Doctor Banner will be returning from his trip to India shortly.”
The lights turned on and Tony walked into his closet. He picked out a pair of old blue jeans, a Black Sabbath shirt and some boxers. He strode into the bathroom, undressed, and stepped into the shower. He stood there for a while, allowing the hot water to relax his tightened muscles. He scrubbed all of the oil stains from his body and all of the grease caked in his hair washed away. He redressed his bandaged arm and walked out of the bathroom. He didn’t realize Steve would be waiting for him on their bed, sketching in his notebook. Tony wasn’t dressed yet.
Steve looked up, turned bright red and quickly looked back at his drawing. He had seen Tony naked before, but only in a romantic setting. Tony had a shit-eating grin on his face. “Hey Cap, what am I without my suit and without my clothes?” Steve looked at him, confused. “I’m Stark naked!” Jarvis came over the com and played the sound of drums, “Ba dum, tss.” Tony laughed at his own joke. He programmed Jarvis to do that whenever he made a bad pun.
Tony got dressed and started for the door. Steve came up behind him and hugged him around the waist, resting his head on Tony’s shoulder. “I love you,” he whispered into his ear before kissing him softly on the neck. Tony turned around, still in Steve’s embrace.
“I love you too, Cap.” Tony kissed Steve slowly and deeply, enjoying this moment of alone time with him. Steve saw Tony as more than what the rest of the world did. “How about a nice, romantic dinner tonight?”
“I would love that,” replied Steve.
Bruce arrived at Stark Towers just after one. He hauled his bags to his room and proceeded into the living room where he would the rest of the team all watching A-Team. He sat down on the couch next to Thor.
“What’s up, doc?” Tony greeted him.
“I understood that reference,” said Steve happily.
“Just got done unpacking my things. It’s nice to be back where the technology is,” Bruce replied, checking his Stark Phone for the latest news. “After the movie you have to show me what you’ve been working on. You mentioned something about Steve and his shield.”
Tony beamed. He had completed his invention and it was ready to be hooked up to Steve’s hand. “Actually, it’s done. I could use some help setting it up with Steve though. I could use a doctor on standby on the slim chance something goes wrong.”
“Tony, you know I’m not that kind of doctor.”
Bruce, Tony, and Steve all walked down to the lab after the movie. Tony briefly explained what the magnet was to do and how it worked. Bruce stood there impressed, and admired the incredibly small magnet. Tony beckoned Steve over and Steve held out his hand. “This is going to sting for a minute. You need to hold as still as you can while I calibrate the nerve sensors,” the genius instructed. Tony grabbed the injector and placed it in the middle of Captain America’s palm. There was a small click as the magnet was installed underneath of Steve’s skin. Steve winced and Tony wiped away a small bit of blood with a sterile cloth. Tony calibrated the sensors and had Steve test it out. It worked perfectly. Or so they thought. He repeated the process with Steve’s other hand. The shield would only come when Steve wanted it to, and stayed put when he didn’t.
“Tony that’s amazing! This is quite possibly one of the most ingenious things you’ve ever come up with,” praised Bruce.
Tony flashed a charming smile, the same one that he used when the media praised something that he did. The smile fit him perfectly.
Jarvis came over the com suddenly as the alarm began to blare. “Sir, the Doombots are back. They’re about to begin an assault on the tower. I estimate two minutes.”
“Avengers! Suit up!” Steve said, switching roles to be commander of his team. Everyone grabbed their weapons and put on their armor. Tony put the tower on lock-down mode and steel plates shut over all of the windows. They exited the building by the roof.
“Hawkeye, I need you on that rooftop to take down all of the strays, Tony, give him a lift,” Steve ordered.
Natasha always hated being separated from Clint during battle. “Stay safe, valun.” Valun means boulder in Russian. She called him that because Clint was her rock. He affectionately referred to her as rubin which means ruby. She was a precious gem to him.
“I will, rubin.”
“Let’s go, Legolas,” Tony said as he grabbed Hawkeye and flew him over to his assigned rooftop.
Doombots began to come by the hundreds, it was almost overwhelming how many of them there were. Tony shot into the sky, twisting and turning, destroying as many as he could as fast as he could. Hulk was destroying anything that got in his way, save his friends and civilians. Thor, Black Widow and Captain America were on the ground fighting. Soon they were surrounded and there were too many. Steve looked at Thor and nodded. Natasha crouched behind Steve. Thor smashed his hammer onto Steve’s shield. It created a massive explosion which destroyed hundreds of Doombots. They all took a moment to rest. The battle was nearing its end.
Steve threw his shield at one of the larger and more dangerous bots, the shield sliced right through the bot. He used the magnet in his hand to send his shield flying back to him. A moment later he was hit in the head by a small, blue, glowing piece of metal. He picked it up and stared at it for a moment. It was the arc reactor that powered Tony’s suit. Steve looked into the sky and saw Tony plummeting out of the sky.
Tony was blasting Doombots, enjoying himself almost when he saw Steve use his magnet to retrieve his shield. The next thing he knew the vibranium arc reactor that powered his armor was ripped from his suit. “Oh shit.” Tony thought. The magnet wasn’t strong enough to affect the Stark Towers’ reactor, but it was definitely strong enough to rip the reactor out of his armor’s chest piece. He began to fall as his suit lost power. He couldn’t move.
Tony thought for sure that this would be the end. He closed his eyes and waited for the crunch that would be his death. It never came. Seconds before he hit the ground, the Hulk caught him and left him mostly unharmed. Tony knew that he at least had a concussion and a few broken or cracked ribs. He wasn’t worried, he had had worse. It hurt like hell though. Tony manually lifted the faceplate of his scuffed up and now dented armor. Steve ran up to him and held out the tiny, blue, arc reactor.
“Tony! I’m so sorry. Oh my god. You could have died because of me,” Steve was crying. His tears were from fear, and now they were mixed with relief. He wouldn’t have been able to make it through Tony’s death.
“Looks like you stole my heart,” Tony said with a wink. “Well, the heart of my inventions,” chuckled Tony, still shaking from the adrenaline. “Don’t worry about it, Cap. I should have thought of that,” Tony winced in pain. “I can’t believe that I didn’t. I don’t have the reactor in my actual chest anymore, so it didn’t even occur to me that it would be ripped out of my suit. I’m glad it was my suit and not my old reactor though. It being ripped from my chest would have allowed the shrapnel to reach my heart and kill me.”
“Hulk no want puny man of iron dead. Hulk like Tony, even though Tony puny and talk too much,” the Hulk said in his deep voice.
“I like you too, buddy. Nice catch,” Tony chuckled, and then winced in pain. His head hurt.
Steve put the arc reactor back into Tony’s suit and watched the suit as the systems came online once again. Tony stepped out of the armor and fell unconscious in Steve’s arms. Panicking, Steve ran him to the nearest hospital. The nurses gawked when they saw that it was Tony Stark. “This man needs a doctor! Stop staring and help!”
Tony blinked his eyes open and took in the blinding white light. Shit. Tony hated the hospital. Tony turned his head and saw Steve sitting next to his bed, reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
“Hey there, sweet cheeks,” Tony said softly.
Steve grinned widely. “You’re awake. The doctors said that you have a concussion. You’ve only been asleep for a day.” Steve watched as Tony began unhooking the heart monitor and all the medical equipment. He would protest but as long as Tony didn’t need a doctor, there was no reason to make him stay in the place that he despised most of all. Tony looked at his chest and his eyes grew wide. His tags that Steve had given him were gone. Steve knew what he was looking for. “Here. They had to take them off for the MRI.” Steve put the tags back around Tony’s neck.
Tony limped out of the hospital, ribs still sore from the battle yesterday. Happy was outside with a limo to drive him and Steve back to Stark Towers. The drive was a short one and Tony cursed whenever Happy drove over a bump. Steve carried him inside and up to their room. He placed Tony in their bed and carefully climbed in next to him. Tony scooted over to Steve and put his head on Steve’s chest. Steve ran his hand up and down Tony’s arm until he fell asleep. He kissed Tony on the top of the head before drifting off to sleep himself.
Tony woke up to the sunlight shining through his window. He looked over and saw Steve sleeping quietly. He smiled and propped himself up on his elbows. You would be smiling too if you woke up next to a beautiful Captain America. Tony watched Steve sleep for a few minutes before cuddling up next to him. Steve opened his eyes and yawned.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Tony said with a smile.
Tony put his hand on Steve’s neck and pulled him in for a slow, deep kiss. Steve put one hand on Tony’s chest and use the other to run through Tony’s hair. Tony moaned with pleasure. Mornings like this one were rare, and he treasured them while they lasted. As the kiss sped up, Tony lightly bit Steve’s bottom lip earning him a groan of delight. Steve pulled away from the kiss and began to plant little kisses all over Tony. Tony pulled him back in for another, harder kiss. Steve moved his hands down from Tony’s chest and over his ribs. Tony let out a yelp of pain. Steve pulled away and kissed Tony on the forehead.
Tony whined for him to come back. “Tony, we have the rest of our lives to do these things. We should really get up and eat something.” Tony sadly nodded in agreement and followed Steve to the kitchen for some coffee and cereal. Tony poured himself a bowl of Frosted Flakes, and Steve a bowl of Wheaties.
“Good morning Man of Iron and Steve. I am glad to see that you are well again,” Thor walked over to Tony and clapped him on the back, causing him to grunt in pain and nearly fall over. Thor chuckled. “My apologies, friend. You midgardians heal much slower than us Aesir.”
After breakfast, Tony dragged Steve back down to the lab so that him and Bruce could fix the problem with the magnet affecting the arc reactor that powered Tony’s suits. Tony put a tiny, vibranium plated chip on the inside of the shield, and programmed the magnet to attract the object attached to the chip. Their next battle would go much smoother, or so they hoped. Also, Steve and Tony have romantic dinner plans to look forward to.