Chapter Text
This was not good. Steve crossed his arms and surveyed his thick glass prison again. His strength wasn’t enough to break out; he had the bruises to prove it. So far, any attempts to climb up the smooth sides and dislodge the (secured) lid had been fruitless. As the time went by, a prickle of real unease had grown into very real fear in the back of his mind.
Explosions may or may not be a good sign. It could mean someone had gotten a lead on his whereabouts and was coming to rescue him, or it could mean he was about to get blown up along with the entire Hydra facility. Being small certainly wasn’t doing him any favors, either. At roughly four inches tall, imprisoned in some kind of super-strong glass box, he’d be hard to spot even if someone was coming for him.
That was the idea, he supposed: making sure no one found him. And keeping him under control. Hard to escape when one was smaller than a Barbie doll, super strength or no.
The distant explosions grew less distant, now accompanied by crashing and shouting and the unmistakable whine of Iron Man’s repulsors. So someone WAS coming! Feeling useless, Steve pressed close to the glass, practically holding his breath and praying they would think to check whatever kind of lab this was.
The door burst open, and Tony crashed in. He made a strangely intimidating sight: huge (at the moment, anyway) and armored, gaze scanning efficiently around the room.
Pleased as he was at the prospect of being rescued, Steve groaned. Of course it had to be Tony. He was never going to be allowed to forget this.
Nevertheless, dignity wasn’t something to be overly worried about now, and Steve pounded against the glass and shouted as loud as he could. It worked; Tony turned in his direction and stopped for a full second in apparent shock.
“Thank God,” Steve blurted out, damaging his dignity even further but still not caring.
“Cap?” Tony hurried over to the table that held the small prison, still too startled to start making jokes, it seemed.
Steve tried not to gawk. Over the past days, he had become almost used to giants and to the constant fear of being crushed by huge hands, but it was quite different to see a friend just as capable of crushing or manhandling him, too.
“All right, gotta admit I wasn’t expecting this.”
Tony’s faceplate disappeared, and Steve couldn’t help but smile a little. It was good to see a friendly face again, even if it was still entirely bigger than a face had any business being. “I wasn’t really expecting it either.”
“What’d they do, suck the serum back out of you?”
There were the jokes, but Steve couldn’t find it in him to be annoyed just yet. “Some kind of electronic beam. Looked like something you might have made.”
“Well I certainly didn’t, but I imagine I could make something to zap you back.”
Tony removed the lid of Steve’s container like it was nothing and reached a hand in with him. He startled back slightly, just out of impulse.
Tony saw (dratted genius saw everything), and his expression changed to something Steve could almost describe as gentle. “Easy there, Spangles. Just me.”
“That’s the most humble you’ve ever sounded,” said Steve, climbing gingerly into Tony’s metal palm and wondering if his repulsors had any kind of safety built in.
“Well, you know. Sacrifices for the greater good and all that.”
Tony drew him carefully up out of the container, and it was a strange feeling to be held gently and (somewhat) of his own free will. It wasn’t so strange to be held too close to a giant person’s face and studied, but he had the luxury to lean away this time.
“They hurt you?”
“Not much.” That was a lie.
Feet pounded toward them, Tony’s faceplate shut with a clank, and Steve tried not to gasp when metal fingers clutched him to a metal chest as Tony whirled to face their new attackers. It was only the work of a few seconds before they were all on the floor, and the hallway burst into flame with a whoosh.
“Uh oh.”
Tony leaped to close the doors one-handed, and Steve felt the heat singe his hair before they slammed shut, just before the fire would have consumed the lab. As it was, it effectively trapped them inside.
“What was that for?” he asked as soon as they appeared relatively safe.
“That wasn’t me! Probably some kind of anti-invader system, just cook everyone.”
“Great.” Steve looked back toward the door with the flames roaring behind it. “How do we get out?” A windowless room inside a bunker provided few escape options.
“Well I can just fly through, if I’m fast enough. You might not do so well, though.”
“Are you really a genius, or do you just state the obvious until someone hears you?”
“Did I or did I not just save your tiny ass from Hydra?”
“Last time I checked we were stuck in a lab with a furnace as the only escape route, so no, I don’t think you did.”
“Yeah yeah,” Tony grumbled. “I’ll get you outta here, no worries.”
Steve sighed.
“I do have a plan, though,” said Tony, serious now. “You’re probably gonna hate it, but if it works, I say it’s worth it.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Well.” Tony laughed nervously, and a nervous Tony was never a good sign. “I might have to, ah, swallow you?”
Steve actually felt his heart falter, and he clutched on to Tony’s gauntlet to steady himself. “What?”
“I’d have to make you a little smaller first, obviously, but that’s a plan.”
“Tony, what-“
“I can’t explain it.” Tony held up his free hand, the one that wasn’t holding Steve. “I just can.”
“Can what, exactly?”
“Make someone- you- smaller, not very much in your case, neutralize my stomach acid, and fly us the hell out of here.”
Well that was unexpected. That was all Steve could think at the moment.
“You never told me?”
“You never needed to know.”
“How?”
“No idea.” Tony waved his hand. “Zero. But I can, and I can get you out of here.”
Steve still felt at a loss for words.
“So what do you say, Captain Tiny?”
“Well, I can’t say I’m overly excited.” Steve tried not to grimace. “But if it’s the only way...”
“So we’re agreed?”
Steve wavered. “How many times have you done this, Tony?”
“Once.”
That was a far less reassuring answer than he would have liked, but there was nothing else for it. “And you’re sure there’s no other way?”
“Not that I see at the moment, and this isn’t really an ideal place to linger.”
Steve nodded once, taking a deep breath. “Okay.”
Tony blinked at him in surprise. “You’re agreeing?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Fair point. Dear god this is weird.” Tony looked around the room. “Okay. Smaller, now.”
It was an alarming sensation: pressure all around him, watching Tony’s palm grow closer as he became even smaller, and he let out a breath of relief when it was over. Tony was even more of a giant now, definitely capable of swallowing him whole. Steve fought back a shudder.
“Alright. Now I need you-“ Tony pointed a finger at his chest- “to stay still. Don’t move, just let me handle it.”
It was an awfully benign word for being eaten alive.
“All set?”
Steve squared his shoulders and made himself look his giant of a friend in the face. “I’m trusting you, Tony.”
Something flickered behind Tony’s eyes- he probably didn’t hear those words from him too often, Steve realized- and he smiled slightly. It was a soft kind of smile, usually reserved for Pepper or for Bruce when he was being particularly awkward, and for the tiniest fraction of a second, Steve felt safer than he thought he ever had in his life.
A moment later, the smile was gone, replaced by Tony’s usual businesslike demeanor. “That’s my man. Just keep your arms by your sides, try not to panic, and we’re good.”
Steve clamped his arms against his sides, resisting the desire to fold them over his chest. Tony picked him up, very gently, in his other hand, but it was frightening. Everything about this was frightening, but it was what it was. If he had survived decades in a block of ice, he could survive this.
“You might wanna close your eyes. Probably helps.”
“Good idea.” Steve hadn’t been going to, but now that he had been told, it was a welcome escape.
He held perfectly still, even when he felt Tony’s hot breath around him. He tried not to squirm when he found himself sprawled on the giant man’s tongue- keeping his arms at his sides was a challenge when he also desperately didn’t want his face touching that, but he was given little say in the matter. His head faced forwards, down, and he couldn’t help scrunching up his face slightly. He didn’t think he’d felt this helpless since Howard Stark put him in the machine.
Must be something about Starks.
Correction: he hadn’t felt this helpless since about half a second ago, and now it was much worse because Tony had swallowed him (was swallowing him?) and he was being shoved and kneaded along with terrifying efficiency. Still all he could think about was machines. This was a machine, a human one, but a machine nevertheless, and it was with this thought that he fell straight into Tony’s stomach and landed with a soft squelch.
That was that.
“Alright in there?” Tony’s voice was strangely awe-inspiring from where he was. Powerful, even. Or maybe it just felt like that now that Steve was completely at his mercy.
“A little squished, but doing well, all things considered,” he shouted up to him.
“Glad to hear it. We gotta scoot.”
Steve flailed as he found himself suddenly airborne, colliding with the front of Tony’s stomach a moment later.
“Oof, that was less than pleasant,” said Tony, around him. “I apologize.”
“How do you not throw up in that thing?”
“Well for starters, you’re not usually rattling around.” Tony must have turned a sharp corner, because Steve slid unsettlingly inside him.
“Am I hurting you?” he asked, suddenly guilty.
“Not much. Hell of a stomachache later, though.”
Steve was silent. It was definitely a strange thought, giving someone else a stomachache. Not to mention being a stomachache. That part he hadn’t quite come to terms with, actually being inside the stomach of his friend and teammate. It wasn’t meant for him- it would actually kill him if left to its normal function- but Tony had stopped it. Turned off the machine, as it were, and he was safe.
He felt a bit bad, too; Tony had quite literally offered up his body to protect him, and Steve was hurting him, even if he couldn’t help it.
“Tony?” He spoke quietly, not even sure Tony would be able to hear him.
“Cap?” He did hear.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, maybe don’t get used to it.”