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When Tony stumbled into the space shuttle, he had to take a moment to catch his breath. He didn’t think he was going to make it out of that one, honestly. Oxygen was so nice. He wheezed and coughed as he tried to adjust to his ability to breathe again.
After a few long painful breaths, he was able to stand up and glance around him. As he took a few steps forward, his repulsors buzzed in a show of dying energy. He waved his hand as he watched them spark. “Damn it. Not much juice left in these repulsors.”
It looked so run down and almost abandoned. He ducked under a hanging tarp and muttered to himself, “Hopefully, this place isn’t crawling with guards.”
He ran past a computer that he hoped worked and quickly started to tap at the screen, trying to start it up. AIM lit up the screen as he hacked into it, quite easily. “Alright, let’s see what we got…”
The screen showed him a diagram of a regenerative formula they had been experimenting with. But it didn’t make sense with the blood samples and the abnormal growth patterns. The only thing it really explained was why Tarleton had such a huge head. The pictures on the screen looked like his. He was injecting himself with a formula they were trying to copy...but who’s?
He did some digging and found a link to the source. It gave him stats and vitals listed under the monitor host. They were here, as nothing but a source for Tarleton’s experiments. “Probably some unfortunate inhuman,” he said, still scrolling through the computer. He clicked on the security tab and unlocked the door keeping him from whoever was being kept in the small pod currently being monitored.
The doors slid open and Tony hesitated before he came forward, holding up both of his repulsors, just in case. They didn’t have much energy left, but he needed something. He wasn’t sure how the source would react when disturbed.
There was a loud clang and whirr as he watched the panels sliding up. He held his breath, waiting for something to come out. But nothing did except for fog, probably from the freezing temperature of inside the pod colliding with the air in the room. As it disappeared, he could barely make out a figure of a man being suspended by his wrists. They looked unconscious, making it safe for Tony to take a few steps forward.
And when he did, the steam all settled and even if Tony couldn’t see the man’s face, he knew who that was. “Oh, my God...Cap.”
Then he hurried forward to where Steve was lowered to the ground and looked over his body. He looked the exact same that he did on A-Day. He was covered in wires and electrodes. His chest was strapped into something to hold him in place, it looked like. His neck was still craned down as his chin rested on his chest though.
He looked unharmed, physically.
Tony shook him a few times, unsure if he’d even be able to wake him. Was interrupting his crystosis good or bad? “Please be alive,” he whispered as his hands ghosted over his skin. If he wasn’t wearing this suit, he knew he’d feel how freezing he was.
He patted his cheek gently, careful not to hurt him unintentionally with the metal gloves. “Steve,” his voice was gentle. “Steve, buddy, wake up.”
His eyelids fluttered open and Tony felt his heart skip a beat. “Holy shit, you’re actually alive.” He hurried to undo the buckles around his wrists. Steve’s eyes sluggishly tracked Tony’s movements and his voice was slurred. “T’ny...wh’t’s goin’ on?”
“What is all this stuff?” Tony muttered as he started to pull the wires off of Steve.
“Where am I?” Steve mumbled, still struggling to adjust to everything around him.
Tony was too busy trying to get Steve out of there to focus on his questions. He managed to unbuckle the holder around his chest and Steve immediately fell forward. Steve let out a small grunt when he landed in Tony’s arms, but didn’t move. Tony felt like he was holding deadweight.
“I’ve got you, buddy,” Tony promised, trying to hide his tears as Steve’s head rested on his shoulder. He couldn’t believe that Steve was alive...after 5 years of thinking he was dead-- he was alive. He patted his back once, careful of the wires still attached.
“Tony,” Steve said, uncertainly.
Tony could only manage a quiet hum to avoid his voice breaking.
“Are you hugging me?”
Tony cleared his throat before he spoke, “What? No. I just didn’t want you to fall.” He couldn’t help but smile as he held Steve close and heard him breathing. He was okay. He was alive.
“Then why aren’t you letting go?”
Because what if I let go and you’re gone again?
“I thought I’d just...we thought...I mean I thought-- it’s good to have you back, Cap.” Tony finally pulled away after struggling to form any kind of coherent thought. He tried to change the position so he was holding most of Steve’s weight with one arm holding him around the waist. Steve was keeping almost all of his weight on Tony. “Come on, let’s get you outta here.”
Steve’s hand shook as he held onto Tony’s chest. Tony grabbed it to hold as he took slow, careful steps with Steve. Each step he took was a process with his trembling legs.
“Easy, easy,” Tony said as they took two steps before Steve fell to the ground.
“I’m sorry,” Steve immediately apologized. “I can’t hold myself up.”
Tony hated that he sounded embarrassed when he said this. “You can get up,” Tony said, trying not to rush him too much, despite the alarm going off.
“I can’t,” Steve said as he shook even more, trying to stand up. “I can’t--.” Steve was panicked, and that wasn’t something Tony was used to. He wasn’t ready to stand up and walk-- or run out of here yet.
“Alright, come here, big guy.” He scooped Steve up in a bridal carry and sood back up, thankful his suit made it easy for him.
“Tony, I don’t need any help,” Steve said even though he was already leaning his head against Tony’s shoulder.
“You don’t need to lie,” Tony told him. “It’s just us in here.”
Steve went quiet as Tony started carrying him out of there, trying to find a way out. Once Tony was running down the hall he came in, Steve suddenly said, “Wait, Tony!”
Tony froze. “What?”
“Is Tarleton okay?”
Tarleton? The name coming Steve’s mouth with such concern made him nauseous. “Tarleton? Who cares?”
“The explosion,” Steve’s voice was desperate as he stared up at Tony. “He was too close.”
Steve was genuinely getting upset about this, and Tony didn’t think getting his heartrate up was good for his condition-- whatever his condition was exactly. “Tarleton survived. All thanks to you. So did Monica, if you believe the news.”
Steve didn’t seem relieved by those words like Tony thought he would. “The evacuation. All of those people.”
“We’ll get to that,” Tony said. “You missed a lot. Let’s just focus on getting outta here first.”
Steve had enough energy to move his head around. “How do you plan on doing that?”
Tony shrugged his shoulders as he continued his fast pace. “Uh, find an escape pod, and uh, escape?”
Steve let out a soft chuckle and it sounded like the most beautiful sound in the world. “You’re winging this, aren’t you?”
“Honestly, yeah. I didn’t think I’d make it this far,” Tony admitted.
“Where is everyone?” Steve asked as Tony continued to search for a way out. “Where’s here?”
“Oh, well, space,” Tony said, trying not to sound too worried. Just as he said that, he walked past a window that showed thousands of stars around them.
“Wow,” Steve said and despite the danger, he sounded like he was in awe. “You weren’t kidding.”
Tony wished he could have stopped to give Steve a chance to take in the view. But not with the alarms blaring and then, the sound of robots coming after them. He quickened his pace when he saw another computer outside of a locked door. That had to be hiding something.
Steve heard the robots too and tried glancing behind them. “What’s happening?”
“It’s a long story,” Tony said as he hacked into this computer to get the door open. When it opened, Tony rushed forward, seeing an escape pod, but a projection suddenly lit up and Monica’s face came on the screen.
“Captain Rogers, don’t leave. Not just yet.”
Steve struggled in Tony’s hold, like he was embarrassed of being held while she was watching. Tony could understand his shame and let him stand up, trying to discreetly handle most of his weight. Tony tried to take the attention off of Steve as he grunted in slight pain. “Monica! Long time no see! Can’t imagine you pal Tarleton is too happy about you using superhero blood to replace superheroes.”
Monica tried to seem nonchalant, even though Tony knew she was upset about him finding Steve. “Tarleton leaves the details to me.”
“Wait,” Tony said. “George doesn’t know about any of this? Did you really think he wouldn’t find out.”
“Well, it took you 5 years to find Captain Rogers, didn’t it? You didn’t have a damn clue he was right here, in our hold. For 5 years.”
Tony knew she was right. He should have looked harder. He was alive, and waiting for someone to rescue him when Tony was grilling hot dogs in his trailer. “He’s not going to be happy when he hears about this.”
“He’ll never find out,” she said before her face flickered and the wall went black.
Then an AI voice came over the PA system. “Self-destruct sequence initiated.”
“Well, shit. I think we made her mad.” Tony started to practically drag Steve to the escape pod that was only a few feet away.
He made sure Steve was shoved in first before he jumped in himself, with only a few seconds left on the countdown. Once inside, he pushed Steve to his seat and buckled him in. Steve tried pushing him away. “Tony, please--.”
“Just let me make sure you’re--.”
“Tony.”
“Alright,” Tony said, sitting in his own seat and buckling up, hitting the launch button just as the ship exploded. Then the ship was going so fast, he was thrown against the seat and he couldn’t move.
Steve shouted Tony’s name, hoping he could fix something. Tony didn’t want to let him down again. He fought against the forces of acceleration and lifted his hand to reach the button above him.
“Come on,” Tony urged himself as he tried so hard. “Shit, we get it! Come one, come on-- yes!” He finally reached the button, clicked it, and immediately, they settled.
Steve fell forward, but the seatbelt kept him sitting up. His shoulders deflated when he let out a large sigh.
“You okay?” Tony asked him in a quiet voice, his attention on Steve, even as the pod went dark as the power shut down.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Steve said and almost sounded exasperated by Tony asking so much.
Tony turned back to the controls and tried to figure out why it was all dark, and if he could fix it. “Shit, nononono--.” He started to panic as he flipped through buttons and panels. Nothing was changing the power supply. “Damn it!” He shouted before leaning back on his seat when he realized there was nothing he could do to change this.
He glanced to see Steve giving him a soft look, looking so exhausted just from sitting up.
“Well, the good news is that we won’t die in a fiery ball of fire.”
Steve’s chest was falling and rising in long breaths. “And the bad news?”
“We’ll most likely suffocate first.”
“Right…” Steve said, turning back to look out there window at the sky of stars around them. “At least we have a beautiful view.”
Tony wasn’t staring at the stars because he was too busy staring at Steve. His blonde hair looked almost fluffy, now that it was gelled back. His face was cleanly shaved like a day didn’t pass, showing off his chiseled jaw. His bright blue eyes were tired but excited as he looked around at space.
But what was better than all of that...was the fact that he was alive. If only for a few more hours. Steve Rogers was alive, and that was truly beautiful.
“Yeah, it is…”
Steve stared out at space silently for a moment before he asked in a quiet voice, “How long was I asleep this time?”
“Five years. Compared to your usual, that’s just a power nap, huh?”
Steve didn’t look his way. His voice was so soft, Tony wondered if he was supposed to hear it. “I’m starting to think people prefer me on ice.”
“That’s not true,” Tony said. “Nearly drove myself crazy when we lost you.”
Steve scoffed as if he didn’t believe it. How couldn’t he believe Tony’s world crashed to a halt when Steve died. “It’s true. My...I lost everything, Steve. My money, my company, my tower, my team, my best friend…”
“Yeah,” Steve said, but didn’t really seem to believe how severe his words were.
“You know how many nights I stared at a gun loaded with one bullet?” Tony refused to looked over at Steve when he admitted that. “Some nights the gun got as close to my head or in my mouth.”
Steve was staring at him. He knew that. “Tony…”
“It was a hard 5 years, Steve.”
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
“No,” Tony said. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t mean to die.” Tony hated that he was alive after 5 years, only to die within a few hours of Tony rescuing him. “Damn it. We were so close.”
“This isn’t your fault, either,” Steve told him.
“Well, now that this is it, any last words? Death bed confessions?” Tony held his breath, waiting for something to come up. Anything.
“We’re gonna die?” Steve asked, sounding almost terrified. He had a right to be scared.
“Yeah. Guess so.”
They were quiet for a few moments, and Tony thought maybe he wasn’t going to say anything else. But then, there was his voice, low but strong. “I love you.”
Tony blinked. “What?”
“I love you,” he said again.
“You love me.”
“Yes. If we’re going to die here, I don’t want to die again without you knowing how I feel.”
Tony could barely wrap his head around the fact that Steve loved him.
“It’s alright if you don’t, of course. But I just--.”
“No,” Tony wasn’t going to waste their last moments together denying what he knew was true ever since he lost Steve. “I love you too.”
Steve reached his hand out and Tony took it. He squeezed his hand, interlocking their fingers together. “At least we have now.”
“Yeah, there’s no better time for us to get together. Our deathbed in the middle of the final frontier.” Tony turned his head to stare at Steve again. He was allowed to stare now that they shared their love confessions, right?
Steve stared back, his eyes soft and almost sad. “Your jokes...I just don’t get them.”
“I know,” Tony said. “I read your diary.”
Despite his previous comment about his jokes, that startled a laugh out of Steve. “You must have skipped the pages where I doddle your name in a heart then.”
Tony smiled back at his quick wit. “Must have. I’ll have to go back and check.”
“You kept it after 5 years?” Steve joked again, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, I kept your jacket.”
Steve tensed. “You kept...my jacket?”
“Yeah. Your leather one. The one you wear on your bike. I didn’t have the heart to throw it out.” Tony shrugged his shoulders, wishing he had it with him so he could see Steve wear it one more time.
“Is this...still part of the joke?” Steve asked, uncertainly.
“No.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah…” Tony watched as Steve leaned back and turned his head, resting it on the chair so he could stare at Tony without wasting too much energy. “You know, we’re dying here, Cap. You might not wanna waste your last moments alive staring at this mug. Not when you’ve got this view in front of you.”
“You’re more gorgeous than all of the stars combined,” Steve replied so easily.
Tony felt his cheeks flush. “Really, Steve? You gotta be a sap?”
“Sure do, babydoll.”
“Say that again,” Tony said quickly.
Steve chuckled and opened his mouth to say that beautiful word, but there was a flash in front of them and they both stopped to look at what stopped outside their pod. It was Thor.
Thor glanced at their hands and asked, with amusement in his voice “Am I interrupting anything?”
“Kinda,” Tony admitted, his heart racing when he realized Thor was here. Thor was going to bring them home. They didn’t have to die here. He didn’t have to die before he got to hear Steve call him babydoll again, before he even got to know what it felt like to press his lips against Steve’s.
Thor laughed loudly and turned to Steve. “It’s good to see you, Captain.”
“You too, Thor.”
“We coulda used a few more seconds of alone time,” Tony said, not wanting to let go of Steve’s hand.
“Don’t you worry, babydoll. We’ve got plenty of alone time in our future.”
Tony felt his mouth go dry. God, Steve-- he was--ugh. “I changed my mind. I’m not dying from suffocation. You are definitely going to kill me one day.”
Steve grinned. “As long as you’re the view I see, I don’t care what kills me.”