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“Hey Capsicle, how is it looking on the ground there? I hope it’s better than up here ‘cause honestly, I am getting a little tired of just smashing through these things!” Tony huffed as he used his repulsor to take out another doom-bot, allowing himself a small grin as he watched the thing fall while he sped through the sky.
There came an exasperated sigh from over the comm-line. “Are you ever going to get tired of calling me that, Stark?” Steve’s voice had that ‘captain’s’ edge to it, though it was starting to wear down so that more Steve came out and less of the man in stars and stripes.
Tony gave out a pleased laugh, and god that voice, yeah, Tony may have had a thing for that voice, but he wasn’t going to tell anyone that. “Nope! I think it’s one of my more brilliant moments, you know aside from making the armor really. So, my patriotic cupcake, what’s it looking like down there?” Tony was pretty sure he heard a mumbled ‘how does he even come up with this stuff?’ He would do a loop just up over a line of trees, then down, and was rewarded with the sound of explosions and seeing more little red dots on his readout disappear. “Not getting any younger, Cap!” Tony said as he was already heading toward the ground and there would come the loud hum of the shield singing past him and oh! another explosion.
“Keep your head in the game, Stark!” Steve huffed as he caught his shield on the return just as the ground would shake a little as Tony landed. Tony really loved the suit sometimes, cause no one knew he was really ogling Steve, and when he was catching the shield, or hell doing anything, Tony was always ogling.
The other was worked up from the fight, panting just a bit, and those blue eyes were oh so bright. Tony thought that exerted and messed up look was real good on Steve, even more when he lost that stupid helmet and all that blond hair was just as messy. God it was the thing of wet dreams, and well Tony had more than a bit of experience with that.
“But why should I when I have a big guy like you at my back?” Tony said as he would look about the area. He could hear the sounds of battle everywhere, but it looked like they were winning as red dot after red dot disappeared from his readout.
“Tony, we’ve been over this before. You can’t let your guard down and take on the fight like a cowboy.” He sighed, looking somewhere between tired and exasperated, while there might have been some fondness in that blue gaze. Tony was hoping it was fondness.
“Uh guys…I dunno if you’re seeing the crazy things I am seeing…but there is a doom-bot coming in hot and fast. I shit you not the damn thing is glowing green,” would come Clint’s disbelieving voice over the comms.
“Hawkeye, where are you?! If it’s unknown get out of there!” Steve called over the line and was looking about, those baby blues then back on Tony. “Stark, tell me you have eyes on this already?”
Tony could see it on his readout inside the helmet and he’d turn to look over at Steve. “Don’t worry, Cap! I’ve got a handle on it.” He said; the repulsors already heating up and sending him off like a shot.
“Stark! Stop! We don’t know what it is or what it will do!” Steve yelled over the comms and cursed by pretty much everyone else on the team.
Tony just laughed and was moving through the trees to get an actual visual on whatever this ‘glowing’ robot was. He was Iron Man and Tony Stark, and this thing was just a stupid doom-bot, so he’d take care of it and then he could get back and sure Steve would be mad, but he’d have Steve’s singular attention for a while. Sure he and Steve still had their battles, but Tony liked to entertain the idea that they were friends now, and hell they did pretty good in this whole hero and fighting together thing. But the captain was still that and Tony was well, himself, so there had been some head butting still, but it wasn’t all that bad and sure, many things Tony did was just to see Steve a little ruffled.
“Hey, I got it on visual. Wow, glowing didn’t even do this justice, Clint. It looks like the glow and light is coming from the metal itself. Jarvis, get me a read on this thing.” He said, even as the green glowing doom-bot seemed to lock onto him. So soon enough Tony was rocketing up out of the trees. Ok…this might be bad, but he could handle it.
“Sir, I am trying to analyze the composition of the robots surface, but there is a lot of interference…and I hate to inform you of this, sir, but it seems the energy readings on the surface are increasing”
“Yeah, got it, Jarvis.” Tony growled a bit as he tried to push the suit and do a loop in hopes of getting behind the doom-bot. But the damned thing was keeping up.
“Stark! What’s going on up there!?” Steve called, Tony was pretty sure he heard a shake in the captain's tone.
“A..Ah, I am just a little busy here at the moment!” Tony growled as he tried to do another maneuver. And the doom-bot stuck like glue. “Oh fuck it…I am just going to blow the damned thing up” He ground out.
“Tony! Wait…what are you…” Came a voice that was all Steve and worry. But it was like everything was going too fast and in slow-motion at the same time. Tony spun about, hands at the ready to blast the glow-bug doom-bot head on. Repulsors whined and shot off just as the doom-bot seemed to glow brighter and fired. Green and blue-white energy would meet and it was like everything just exploded.
“Oh fuck…” was all Tony got out before the explosion wave hit him.
Tony started and his head hit something hard…and shit, had that been wood? He was sitting?
“Fuck!” He hissed and brought a hand to his forehead. Wait... hand? Where? Where was his armor? Hadn’t he just been...? Senses were coming back to him one at a time. Sound returning as if someone was slowly turning the volume up on a stereo. Steel blue eyes blinked rapidly and the world was slowly coming back into focus, slogging through consciousness to get to the surface. The sounds of multiple voices, people moving and glass clinking, the din of music and conversations were all coming over him like a dull wave. The smells of cigarettes, wood, and alcohol were thick in the air.
Through the simmering sensory overload Tony’s ears caught the sound of a…piano? But then it was all of a sudden in sharp focus as a chorus of voices, loud and rowdy, were merrily breaking out into song.
“There'll be a hot time in the town of Berlin
When the Brooklyn boys begin
To take the joint apart and tear it down
When they take old Berlin…!”
The voices rang out amid cheers and a few other voices joining in the song, none of the singing was very good, but it was enthusiastic and since it was a group of voices it kept things from being truly bad, the piano belting out the melody for those to follow along.
“They're gonna start a row and show them how
We paint the town back in Kokomo
They're gonna take a hike through Hitler's Reich,
And change the "Heil" to "Whatcha-know-Joe!”
The song was something that sat just on the edge of his mind; similar, but not. Tony really looked around then, the swinging melody and song was taking a back seat as his mind raced to process everything. He felt his heart rate start to race. Drab olive uniforms. Women with curled and high styled hair, flashing smiles painted in bright lipstick, and talking and dancing. Men in button up shirts, jackets and slacks, holding glasses filled with beer or liquor.
“O..Oh shit…This…oh god...” he muttered more to himself than anything. This couldn’t be real, he couldn’t…he must have hit his head. The explosion probably dropped the suit like a stone and he was knocked out, and this was a dream or maybe some fucked up coma-induced hallucination. “Can’t be real,” he muttered and he was getting that fight or flight shiver through him.
Tony heard footsteps behind him and he spun around, his body tense. Seemed like fight was the reaction his body was going for, though it died the second a hand came to his shoulder; warm, strong, and oh so familiar.
“Is everything alright, Tony? Been taking a while to get those drinks and the guys are gonna’ get restless if you take much longer.” Blue eyes that were as bright and warm as the summer looked down at him. Blond hair perfectly combed and, god, Tony had a sudden want to reach up and make a mess of it all.
“S…Steve?” Tony croaked out, wide eyed as he looked Steve over. Oh man he was in his uniform. His army one, not the stars and stripes. He’d only seen pictures of Steve in his uniform and they were a pale comparison to seeing it in the flesh, or dream, or crazy green doom-bot explosion induced hallucination.
Tony watched as those blond brows would pinch together in concern, a look he was very familiar with.
“Yeah? Are you ok, Tony? Something happen?” Steve asked with concern, but then in a moment the concern seemed to drift away and Steve was giving Tony a kind look.
“Wasn’t another dame giving you the slip was it?” Steve laughed and got a cocky but well meaning little half smirk. “Don’t worry I am sure she’ll come ‘round.” Tony had never experienced Steve like this, sure there had been glimmers here and there, but this was the kid from Brooklyn who never gave up a fight. This was the ‘Captain’ his father had spoken of when he’d been a kid. The man, and not the title or patriotic suit. Tony was jarred from his thoughts as that cocky look started to slip back to concern and Tony was sent scrambling.
“Y..Yeah..uh, dame that was it…you know how it is?” Tony said and tried to give one of his, admittedly brilliant, grins. Tony relaxed a bit when Steve seemed to accept it and was smiling again.
“Can’t really say that I do, Tony. Come on, we better bring the drinks back.” Steve said taking that warm hand away. It was then that Tony really noticed he’d been standing at the side of a long bar, a few large mugs of beer lined up seemingly for him.
“Why don’t you grab some and I’ll get the rest.” Tony was doing his best to act casual, though inside he was having a small breakdown. Trying to figure out what had happened, why was he here? Was he even really here? It all felt pretty damned real!
Tony was suddenly struck with a thought and his hand flew to his chest, he was both relieved and somewhat disappointed as he could feel the reactor under layers of cloth. Tony allowed himself to look down and well things could have been worse. At least HE wasn’t in a uniform. Slacks; cut in a way that were far from modern and in Tony’s view a travesty, down to leather shoes that actually were kind of nice. No belt, but suspenders and he grimaced to himself at the notion of them, and a dress shirt and tie that was characteristically loose. Ok, those last two things were kind of normal. He could handle this. At least that was what he kept telling himself.
Steve had started to move away, carefully holding a glass in each hand and Tony moved to follow. Weaving through the bar and from the looks and sounds of the people they must be in England. And as that bit of information was processed, Tony was figuring out this part of the puzzle. They had to be in London, and this place was in good shape and so were the people so it was before the blitz. Tony’s mind was buzzing with information from reports, from stories he’d heard from his father and others.
Tony almost fell over as a loud cheer came up that would jerk him out of his thoughts, somehow he kept himself from spilling the beer, mostly.
“It’s ‘bout time you got back here! Was starting to think you two got lost!” came a chuckling voice with a rather familiar accent.
“We didn’t get lost Buck, just had to help Tony with some lady troubles.” Steve said as he came to the table.
“You’ve gotta be shitting me...” Tony mumbled to himself as he got a good look at the rather crowded table. It was all of the Howling Commandos, even the infamous Bucky Barnes, so this was before the train or Zola’s capture. God the man looked…just like the kid Steve looked. Tony would shakily come forward and set his own glasses on the table quickly, afraid he might drop them. As steel blue looked around the table he realized really just how young they all were. Some he’d meet as a kid when they’d become worn, older and a bit jaded with it all. Some had just been names and photos.
The beers disappeared from the table, snapped up by eager hands. Tony realized then there was a blank seat next to Steve and if this whole fucked up trip down memory lane, memories that weren’t even his own, was going where he thought it might…that seat was for him.
“Last I checked the Starks didn’t have ‘lady troubles’ unless those troubles are broken hearts. An’ Steve you’re the last guy to be helping with that.” Bucky said and he’d grin at Steve though he’d eye Tony. Tony blinked a bit at that, Starks? Oh right his dad. Tony was hoping in whatever this was he was stuck in he didn’t run into Howard, cause if having to face that, he might totally lose it.
“Yeah, well you can’t win them all right?” Tony said giving a smirk of his own Bucky and he leaned back in his chair.
“You just keep telling ya’self that.” That thick Brooklyn accent drifted over all the sound around them. Bucky had a bottle in front of him and a few glasses. He filled a glass and slid it over to Tony.
Tony would take the glass cause he was sure if he didn’t he might raise too many questions. Steve had been quiet during the exchange and when Tony looked over he found Steve watching him.
“Something wrong?” Tony asked, because that gaze just, it was that ‘I am trying to find the answer without asking you anything’ look.
The question seemed to snap Steve out of it and he was looking away.
“No nothing, was just thinking is all. Sorry about the lady though.” Steve said and would pat Tony’s shoulder.
“Yeah, no sweat, Steve.” Tony looked to the drink in his hand. He’d not really had a drink in a while. A side effect he’d said of having Steve around in the Tower that was only partially a lie. Tony would drink the dark amber liquid in one go and hissed as it burned in a way that helped focus him for a moment. Yeah that felt all too…real.
Tony watched as Bucky reached over and refilled his glass and Tony knew this was probably a bad idea, but he would accept the second drink.
For a long while and a few drinks he just sat and let everything wash over him. Bucky joking and poking a bit at Steve about taking his dame out while they had some time. It had taken a few minutes to realize that they were talking about Aunt Peggy or the infamous Agent Carter. He caught the conversation of Gabe and Jacques debating the better and worse parts of English and French beer in French. Dum Dum was just as loud and as big of a character as Tony had always heard, listening to him tell stories of the Commandos latest raids, punctuated by Falsworths smooth English demeanor and constant correcting of Dum Dum on the details had Tony smiling and even laughing a bit. Morita and Bucky were often having quiet conversations and by the hand gestures Tony figured it had to do with firearms.
Tony had felt himself finally relaxing, the warm alcohol dulling his worries and calming the nervous energy that usually ran through him. Listening to men seated around him trying to one up each other with who had shot faster or gotten into the most trouble. They drank, laughed and sang. Even Steve joined into a song or two as the melody was belted out on the piano or someone just started in with the words.
Steve got up after a while and would tap Tony. Tony blinked a moment and gave a lazy smile.
“What’s up, Cap?” Tony said slipping a bit into the usual comfortable reply.
“Hey…I need you to help me with something, Tony.” Tony wondered just what Steve could possibly need from him, but he’d get up to his feet. Tony groaned as he got that heavy tingle in them; the first sign to stop Bucky Barns from pouring him any more drinks. Tony followed Steve from the table, back through the bar, and towards the door.
“Cap? You’re not going to escort me home are you?” Tony needled and teased, sure whatever it was that got him here, even if this wasn’t real, Tony just he couldn’t stop himself. Tony swore as they got outside the bar, the air was bracingly cold, an almost physical smack in the face. There was a quick way to sober up!
“So when did I become Captain?” Steve asked with an arched brow and in the dull light from the windows Tony could see Steve’s gaze was trained on him.
“Umm, like since forever?” Tony answered because it was true, or at least to him it was. This Steve seemed to just make a sad kind of face at that.
“Then should I just start calling you Iron Man from now on then?” Steve asked in a tone that had Tony tensing up. Tony knew that tone and it was one that usually came before an argument and really Tony wanted none of that.
“No! Steve sorry, it’s just…what did you need help with?” Tony asking hoping to quickly diffuse whatever it was he’s just walked into. So it seemed crazy dream ‘40s Steve knew him as Iron Man too, fancy that!
Steve stepped a little closer blocking out some of the light from the windows and Tony gulped as he found his eyes going a little wide and his broken heart started to beat faster. Steve just stood there as if he didn’t know what to do. Thankfully he started to talk because Tony had felt that need to fill the silence and tense air starting to over take him.
“Nothing you can help with. But I wanted to talk to you, Tony, just you and me.” Steve said in a quiet and earnest tone. Setting Tony’s body tingling from something had nothing to do with the alcohol. “Just, we got word about a hydra supply train that’s going through the Alps in a few days and we got a mission to take it out. Some important cargo that it’s best we intercept.” Tony would listen and his mind was again back to work filling in gaps of what this all meant. Hydra train, important cargo, it all seemed really familiar.
“We are going to be gone again for probably a week or two and I just…I know how you get when I am gone so long, or maybe it’s just me thinking it.” Steve looked nervous and his words where quiet. Tony swallowed and holy shit he was pretty sure he might pass out from how fast his heart was going. Did Steve think they were together? What about Peggy?
“S..Steve what are you saying?” Tony got out, he had shoved his hands in his pockets when they had stepped outside and was glad he had, because he might have just grabbed for Steve had they been free.
“I’m just sayin’ is…” Steve murmured before leaning in. Tony felt a large warm hand on his cheek and soon lips that were just as warm, if not more so, pressed against his own and every coherent thought rushed from his mind and Tony was pretty sure he’d made a rather embarrassing sound. He didn’t care if this was some warped dream, alternate doom-bot reality, or shit this could be heaven for all he knew, but here in that moment Steve was kissing him and obviously wanting him.
Tony whined as those warm lips pulled away and his hands would clench tighter into warm wool and he and to wonder a moment when he’d taken his hands out of his pocket.
“I…I shouldn’t have.” Steve had started to sputter. Tony was going to have none of that and he would yank on that olive drab to keep Steve from pulling away.
“No Steve, you should. Really, really you should.” Tony murmured and he got that grin of his and he’d look up at Steve hoping he was just as enticing as he hoped he was. “So you tell me this just before leaving, Steve?” Tony chided. “You’d better give me another kiss to make up for it.” Tony murmured and he leaned up trying to get up at those warm lips again.
“Tony.” Steve laughed quietly and had started to lean in for another kiss. The door to the bar burst open and Steve pulled suddenly away.
“Fuck!” Tony growled when Steve pulled away.
“God, are you trying to leave us behind or something?” Morita called as he was first out the door. Tony’s heart started to sink as the rest of the Commandos would file out of the bar.
“Come on, Steve, early morning. We gotta’ get back,” Bucky said as he’d give Steve’s shoulder a small shove.
“Yeah, Buck, just a second alright?” Steve said, though each reminder to leave came in seeing each of the Commandos start to head out and down the street and made Tony’s heart sink more and more.
“Hey, Tony,” Steve said and it was all Tony could focus on and hear, as if everything around them had disappeared. “I’ll see you when I get back ok? We’ll um, continue this then.” Tony wanted to cry as Steve gave him the most hopeful and warm smile. In all the time he’d known Steve he had never seen such a look on his face.
“Yeah, it’s a promise” Tony got out and was pretty proud that he even forced a smile to his lips. “Now go get ‘em and all that.” Tony said and watched as Steve would pull away to follow the rest of the commandos.
Tony watched and it was then it all clicked into place; a hydra train in the Alps with ‘important cargo.’ During this raid was when Bucky Barnes fell from the train and was left to the ice to be found much later by the soviets. Then, just a few days after the incident with the train Steve would drive a plane into artic to sleep in the ice himself. The weight of what was happening right before him made him almost fall to his knees. He tried to speak, but he couldn’t get his voice out.
“S…Steve!” Tony finally choked out a he watched as Steve turned about and fuck did that look make his chest hurt, really hurt. “God… damn it.” Tony was finding it hard to breath and his chest was burning he brought a hand up just over the reactor. Was the reactor failing? How the fuck was this his life? Even in his damned dreams he couldn’t get a break. But he was still trying to call out. He had to warn Steve about what was going to happen.
“Tony?!” Steve was yelling. His own name ringing in his ears as Tony felt himself start to fall and his vision started to black out. Everything was hurting.
“Tony!! Tony, come on!” Tony could hear Steve still calling out for him. Shit, he still hurt everywhere, he must have fallen over and his chest was still hurting like a bitch. “Tony! Wake you bastard!” Steve sounded anguished and angry and that wasn’t going to do.
“L…Language, Cap” Tony choked out. He sounded like shit and his throat felt like it had been burned by acid.
“Thank fucking god.” Steve would breath. Tony blinked a few times and he saw Steve. That blond hair messy, just the way Tony loved to see it. He had dirt smudged on his cheek and a good bloody scuff on his brow.
“You’re a god damned idiot, Tony, you do this to me again and I am gonna’ make sure you never get up again got it?” Steve was smiling and there was no venom to his words.
“You do that ‘cause I don’t want to feel like this.” Tony wheezed and he tried to move and he felt like he weighed a ton. He looked down and he saw the armor. It was banged up and a few areas looked a little scorched but it was all in one seeming piece. He was, home, it seemed. He must have been knocked out and had some kind of weird ass dream.
“Can we go home now? Cause I feel like shit” Tony said trying to grin and he just hissed as it made his cheek hurt and he could hear Steve chuckling at him.
“Shut up, Spangles, unless you’re going to kiss and make it better.” Tony sighed and let his eyes close a moment. Missing Steve blushing down at him.
They had all made it back to the Tower. Tony had received the report about the glow-stick doom-bot and what information Jarvis had retrieved from the explosion before Tony had fallen from the sky in the suit. Steve had said if it wasn’t for the trees breaking his fall Tony might not have survived and that the armor had been glowing when he first found him.
Tony was going to look at all the data. He really wanted to look at all of it, he honestly did. But instead he sat at his work bench in his workshop tinkering with one of the gauntlets almost absently as music played around him, his foot tapping in time with the beat.
“There'll be a hot time in the town of Berlin
When the Brooklyn boys begin
To take the joint apart and tear it down
When they take old Berlin
They're gonna start a row and show them how
We paint the town back in Michigan
They're gonna take a hike through Hitler's Reich,
And change the "Heil" to "Gimme some skin"
There'll be a hot time in the town of Berlin
When the Yanks go marching in
You could never keep `em happy down on the farm
After they take Berlin.”
Tony didn’t even notice when he’d started whistling along nor did he notice when the door to the shop had opened.
“Didn’t know you liked Bing Crosby….or the Andrew Sisters.” Came Steve’s sudden voice after the trumpets and drums ended.
“Holy...!!” Tony swore and winced as he tried to whip his head around. He was still aching pretty much everywhere. “Warn a guy, will you?” Tony sighed and he gulped a little as he looked to Steve who was now leaning against the workbench. Steve was wearing just a plain white shirt that stretched across his chest, the white expanse broken by his well worn dog tags, and a pair of far too comfortable sweat pants.
“So, what can I do for you Cap?” Tony asked trying for nonchalance.
“I was actually coming down here to check on you. Didn’t expect to hear you listening to that song. I think the last time you mentioned it, what did you call it? ‘That old man music with those sisters that Steve dances in his underwear to,” Steve chuckled a little, but it was quiet.
Tony was soon swallowing past the lump in his throat and trying to not look at Steve’s lips, memories of a kiss that never happened still messing with his head. “Yeah well, I must have heard it one of the times you were playing music in the kitchen and sometimes when I get a song stuck in my head I gotta’ listen to it.” Tony shrugged and hoped that would be the end of it.
“Tony…” Steve said and he got that wistful and sad look he sometimes got. That look always made Tony want to do just about anything to make it go away. “I’ve never listened to that song in the kitchen. Honestly the last time I heard it, I was out drinking with the guys before we went on the raid that I…” Steve stopped talking and looked away. Tony knew the story.
“Y…Yeah the night before you went on the mission were Barnes fell.” Tony finished for Steve. Even though Buck was back and no longer a tool for ‘the enemy’, Steve still blamed himself.
Tony blinked a bit as Steve was looking at him as if he’d grown a second head. “What? Did I say something wrong?” Tony sputtered, and shit if he’d made Steve feel even worse he’d kick himself.
“N..No, just I’ve never… Tony, I’ve never told anyone about that night.” Steve said looking worried and so very confused.
“Oh really? Uh…you know I must have read it somewhere or something?” Tony said and oh man what the hell was going on. “Well I am sorry if, you know, we had to have this little trip down memory lane, but I got a lot of stuff to fix on the suit.” Tony said and he had to turn away from Steve or he was going to do something stupid. Things had gone quiet and Tony had figured Steve must have gone.
But Tony gave a rather unmanly squeak when a warm hand came gently over his shoulder and spun him around in his chair. Tony was soon eye to eye with Steve, his eyes blue and bright.
“I wanted to talk to you about a few things, Tony. Real important things. And today I just… I can’t wait any more.” Steve said and all over again Tony felt those warm lips over his own and Tony whimpered. All too soon Steve was pulling away.
“No!” Tony gasped and he tried to lean back in and capture that kiss again. He wasn’t going to be denied this again. Not when it was real. But Steve’s firm hold kept him in place. But Steve was smiling.
“I felt like I owed you that first.” Steve chuckled and Tony couldn’t keep the grin off his lips.
“Yeah…Yeah you did.” Tony breathed and would pull Steve into a deep kiss. He finally had Steve and he wasn’t going to let him go.
-Fin-