Archive of Our Own ^beta

The sunrise was beautiful. Tony let his gaze wander over the horizon. A new morning was dawning and he was standing at the beach, the warm wind tousling his hair. The sand underneath his feet was still cool, but he knew the higher the sun would rise the warmer it would become.

The ocean foam danced on the gentle waves. Tony was alone. Behind him the jungle was slowly waking up, and he could hear birds singing. A year had passed since the last time he’d been here.

With his hands in his pockets he sauntered along the beach, the water of the ocean licking at his naked feet from time to time since he had the legs of his pants rolled up to his knees. The engineer let his thoughts stray, a faint smile on his lips and mirth sparkling in his chocolate colored eyes. A deep serenity settled in his core that he didn’t experience all that often.

Tony only stopped when he stepped onto something hard that dug into the sole of his left foot. He bent down and picked the object up. It was a seashell, white and beautiful. Wet sand was clinging to its surface and Tony waded further into the waves to wash it off. The cool water reached up to his calves and with the shell in hand he lost himself in his memories… 

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

“Hello?! Can somebody hear me? Hello?! I need help! Please! I even said please!”

“Sir, you are multiple nautical miles away from the nearest village. It is highly unlikely that someone will be able to hear you.”

“Shut up, JARVIS. Just get me down from that tree! Oh god, I never knew I was afraid of heights… Why didn’t you warn me, J?! Fucking shit, I’m gonna die up here, and no one will know except for my sassy AI.”

“Sir, I would like to remind you that I advised against climbing that tree without proper gear-”

“Don’t you dare say ‘I told you so’!”

“I’m sorry, sir. But I told you so.”

“If I survive this, I’m gonna sell you off to the next best community college!”

“Of course you will, sir.”

Tony continued to curse his know-it-all AI, whose voice sounded a bit tinny from the small speakers of his phone in his back pocket, and adjusted his grip on the thick branch of the kapok tree that he was currently hanging from. He was sweaty, dirty, exhausted and frustrated. The bag which held his self made surveillance camera that he’d planned to attach to the tree was dangling uselessly from his shoulders. He’d been too impatient and too self-assured to put on his climbing gear for the presumably easy task. After all it was ‘just a stupid tree, how hard can it be to climb a stupid tree, J, don’t make such a fuss’. Now, almost five meters up in the air, he learned to respect the threat that a rotten tree branch posed.

Tony was embarrassed of himself and incredibly glad that no one was around to judge him for his stupidity except for JARVIS and DUM-E who was happily chirping and rolling around in Tony’s tents at the base of the tree. Unfortunately that also meant that no one was around to help him out his misery and rescue him like a damsel in distress.

.oOo.

It was his forty sixth day living in the jungle on an uninhabited island near the South American coast, and so far he’d managed to scrape his knees, get bitten by various mosquitos, accidentally sit on a frog, and step barefoot into animal excrements.

Not often had Tony been so glad that he had the money to have someone else put up his camp for him. He could draw blueprints and design rockets, but give him a construction kit for a tent and a camping stove and he was going to sleep under a palm leaf and die from food poisoning. The group of workers he’d hired to put up his camp had done a great job in building a research camp that would make even the National Geographic team jealous. He had three large tents full of lab gear, computers and machines for his studies of the local flora and occasional engineering, one tent for his supplies, his cooking area and a table and a few chairs, and one tent where he kept his clothes along with a few personal items in trunks, and of course his bed and bathroom corner.

Every tent had wooden flooring, perfect lighting, insulation, air conditioning, flowing water and screens against insects, perfectly working wifi and television. Tony might be in the middle of nowhere but he refused to forgo modern luxury that he had the money and the means for. All in all it was a giant camping place.

Five years ago he would have laughed at the idea to take one year off from Stark Industries, his duties as CEO, and the buzzing city life. He was a man made for the nightlife of New York City; he loved the spotlight, the clubs, the crowds of people and leading his company. But three months of captivity in the Afghan desert that resulted in a heart condition from his attempted assassination, and the exposure of Stark Industries’ black market dealings, together with Tony’s business partner Obadiah Stane’s betrayal, had him reconsider what various doctors had advised him to do for quite some time.

Six months ago he'd started planning his sabbatical, leaving his former life and all its baggage behind him. Tony was a new man.

Tony had left the company in the hands of his capable and scary PA Pepper Potts and his long-time friend James Rhodes after shutting down the weapons division of Stark Industries. Stane was rotting in prison, and Tony decided it was high time to give his company and his life a new direction. The weapons division was being remodeled to a medical technology sector, focusing on prostheses, working with disabled veterans, and new methods of treatment for soldiers with PTSD. It was the least Tony could do for those his weapons had endangered, even if he’d been unaware of the black market dealings at that time.

Here, in the South American jungle, on a small island surrounded by nothing but the sea, Tony hoped to find new ingredients for medications and vaccines. He was no biologist, but he had three PhDs and an IQ to prove that he was more than capable of the task. Also, he wouldn’t be Tony Stark if he didn’t love the challenge. And he desperately needed the change.

In the weeks that he’d already spent here, he’d realized that the quiet of the island had its own charm. Sure, not everything was rainbows and sunshine. He’d had to learn to use a machete, how to catch small snakes without being bitten, and how to dive, among other things. But all in all he’d managed to choose a beautiful place to set up his camp, if he’d say so himself. The sea was only fifteen minutes away by foot, no big predatory animals lived on the island, and the flora was beautiful. Small waterfalls and freshwater lagoons could be found at the foot of the mountain range in the middle of the island. Tony loved to bathe there and watch the parrots. One of them had taken a liking to DUM-E and followed Tony’s bot around constantly. He’d named the bird Butterfingers.

Tony had already established some kind of routine: get up somewhere around 10 am, make coffee, wake up DUM-E, check the water tanks, pick bananas, and start working. He would make a mountain of pancakes or a big pot of mac n cheese for dinner, continue working, fall asleep on one of the lab tables, and wake up around midnight to eat leftovers from dinner. Every night before he went to bed he would pet his bot and the parrot, it was their little ritual. This new routine was refreshing and it grounded him in a way. 

Sometimes he’d take the afternoon off from working and wander around or look for an adventure. Mostly he spent those days at the beach swimming, snorkelling or sunbathing. Comfortable with the knowledge that he was the only one on the beach, he often went there without swimming trunks, enjoying the warm sun on his butt. He had an all-over tan now.

Tony’s camp had started to feel like a second home to him. He personalized the space by putting up a hammock, collecting flotsam and jetsam, and he owned one blue feather of Butterfingers. He’d taped it to the mirror next to his bed and his small shower, together with a large snow-white seashell.

Weirdly enough Tony hadn’t found it on the beach like one would expect. The beautiful shell had been innocently waiting for him on the small steps that led to his sleeping tent, together with some edible berries and nuts. Which was why Tony suspected an animal had forgotten it there.

Tony had indeed noticed some weird things during the time he had already spent here. Sometimes he couldn’t get rid of the feeling that he was being watched by something or someone. Furthermore, things occasionally vanished, just to reappear a few days later at different spots, like one of his shoes, tweezers, a book, and a toothbrush. Everything returned after some time, even if it was a little dirty afterwards. Also, more seashells, dried corals, coconuts and even small dead animals had suddenly started to appear. Tony found them on his steps, in his hammock and in his shoes, often with some berries and nuts.

He really wanted to believe it was just a group of monkeys that liked to play around but he’d found a pile of flower petals wrapped in a big leaf on his doorstep just this morning. That was not the work of a monkey, that was for sure.

Last week he’d facetimed Rhodey to tell him that he was being haunted by the island’s deity or something like that. But his friend had simply laughed and told him to calm down. Apparently Tony was ‘a sleepwalker, don’t you remember the story from MIT when you tried to eat laundry detergent powder at night’ and had simply misplaced his stuff in one of his caffeine-fueled work binges. He’d grudgingly admitted that maybe Rhodey was right and tried to ignore his knowing grin. Tony knew that he tended to lose track of his stuff when his mind was otherwise occupied.

Still, Tony decided that things had gone too far and built himself an additional surveillance camera that he’d wanted to bolt to the largest tree next to his camp. Assuming cameras outside of his camp that weren’t meant for Jarvis weren’t necessary, he’d not had them installed beforehand. Actually, that was the story of why he was currently hanging from said tree without climbing gear, wondering how he was supposed to get down without breaking his neck.

.oOo.

“Hello? Is somebody here? Hellooo?” Tony tried again, but it was no use. He knew that nobody was around, the island was uninhabited. But it couldn’t hurt to try.

Surely enough, nobody answered him. Tony cursed under his breath, kicked and floundered until he finally managed to hook one of his legs over the branch he was hanging from. The relief it brought his tired arms was incredible. In the vain attempt to climb the tree he’d lost one of his shoes and the bark of the tree scraped painfully over his ankle. He really should have worked out more before he decided to live one year as a modern Robinson Crusoe.

He felt stupid, looking around and seeing everything bottom up. Tony wasn’t a gradschooler, he should be able to climb a fucking tree and get back down in one piece. He wracked his exhausted brain for possible scenarios of how he’d survive this stunt without broken bones or ending his stay on the island in a coffin, when he saw movement out of the corner of this eye. Expecting a monkey or maybe even a sloth, he turned around as much as his current position allowed and did a double take.

Well, okay, he hadn’t slept in over three days. But he hadn’t touched any drugs since he’d returned from Afghanistan. And yet he was sure he was hallucinating, because…

Because, there was a human .

A tall and muscular man with long dirty blonde hair and a bushy beard. His skin was surprisingly pale, and he was outright dirty. His eyes on the other hand were a piercing blue. The man was crouching on a thick branch of another kapok tree, only a few meters away, and stared at Tony without blinking.

Oh, and did he mention that the guy was bare ass naked ?!

"Jesus Christ…" Tony breathed gobsmacked.

Holy hell, Tony wanted to fucking freak out because there was a naked man staring at him and he looked like he walked right out of a Tarzan movie ! Inwardly panicking, Tony tried to not look into his eyes - he remembered someone saying that direct eye contact was dangerous and provoking. But staring at the man’s lumbar region wasn’t any better, when the guy was hung like a horse!

Tony had been quiet, staring wordlessly, until the feral looking man suddenly started to move towards him.

“Whoa, who the fuck are you? Don’t you dare come near me, do you hear me? Go away, shoo! No! Nononono! Don’t come any closer, I warn you! Stay the fuck away! I’ve got a dangerous robot and I’m not afraid to use him! DUM-E! DUM-E, come over here!” Tony tried to chase the guy away, not knowing if he understood English and purely hoping that his tone of voice was enough to get the message across. He scrambled, trying to find a better purchase on the branch to get away from the approaching figure.

But the guy simply grabbed a handful of the vines that were hanging from the trees around them, and swung on them until he reached the tree that Tony was dangling from like a ripe fruit, waiting to be picked off. He continued to curse and yell, trying his hardest to get away from the man who was still coming closer in a weird squatting posture that did absolutely nothing to hide his crotch. The tree croaked under their combined weight and, scared of falling off, Tony stilled with his heart hammering loudly in his chest. The ragged man had almost reached him now and Tony scrunched up his nose. He could smell dirt and sweat on the guy.

“Nononono! Who the fuck are you? Go away! No! Don’t touch me! What are you doing?! Let go of me! Gah!” Tony’s panic spiked again when the guy reached out for him and grabbed him by his belt. Scrambling, he tried to hold onto the tree branch but one forceful tug was all it needed, until he was hanging from the man’s hand like a kitten from its mother's mouth. And, holy shit, the guy’s muscles were not only for show. He held Tony up with only one arm until they were face to face.

Intuitively Tony made himself small, he pulled his faintly trembling knees up against his chest and clutched the bag with the surveillance camera to his chest. He held his breath while the man studied him with a frown like he was some kind of weird animal. His eyes were indeed a piercing blue, bluer than the sky or the sea. They almost seemed out of place with his dirty hair and skin. Up close, Tony could see that beneath the long hair and beard he had sharp cheekbones, a strong nose, thick eyelashes and full lips.

Involuntarily he imagined what the guy would look like after a trip to a barber shop.

He swallowed.

“Sir?” JARVIS suddenly piped up. Tony startled, as well as the wannabe Tarzan. The grip that the man had on Tony came loose for a fraction of a second and Tony saw himself falling to his death. A choked off scream escaped him and he could feel the seams of his shirt protest under his weight when the blonde guy caught him again, this time by the back of his shirt.

“Holy fucking shit, let go of me! Can you understand me? Just, let go of me! Ugh, I mean, not exactly right here, I don’t want to fall down from this height, just, uh…” Tony tried to talk to him again.

He was not scared of dying, he was simply scared of dying where nobody would see it. If he needed to bite the dust involuntarily, he wanted to do so with a spectacle. A car chase would be okay, or Godzilla eating him. Being shot by a stormtrooper was also a great option. 'Fell off a tree at the age of thirty five' was not what he wanted to have engraved on his tombstone.

Tarzan continued to ignore him. The man simply heaved him up and threw Tony over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. The engineer struggled and tried to get away from the guy as fast as possible. Usually he’d be elated to be manhandled like this by a buff blonde, but he preferred his men clean, shaven, and capable of understanding American English ! A strong hand landed on his ass, squeezing until he stopped struggling. It was not painful in the least but decisive, and it reminded Tony who called the shots at the moment. He flushed at the touch and couldn’t help but admire the way the muscles of the hunk of a man moved underneath his skin, when the guy grabbed another handful of vines with his free hand.

Together they slid down to the ground and the ape man kneeled down. Surprisingly gentle, he lowered Tony from his shoulder until he was sitting on his butt before the blonde. Their faces were close and Tony didn’t dare to look away from those eyes. They seemed to hold him captive and he was strangely mesmerized. The spell broke when the silent man inched closer and closer and Tony crawled backwards until he hit another tree.

“Okay, that’s it! I'm thankful for your help, but that's it! Don’t come any closer! Nononono! Stay back!” Tony raised one leg and pressed his naked foot to the chest of the man to push him back. His heart was hammering in his chest; this was the most unreal thing that had ever happened to him and he’d seen a lot of weird shit in his life. He tried to look over the guy’s shoulder for DUM-E and his fire extinguisher.

“DUM-E! DUM-E, help! J, send DUM-E over! I need help, I need he- Gah! What are you doing? Stop! Stop it! It tickles!” Tony's voice broke off into laughter and he slid down the bark of the tree until he was almost laying on his back. The weird guy had grabbed his leg from his chest and closely inspected it, pressing his thumb to the sole of his foot and wiggling his toes with his fingers. Tony was laughing and giggling, trying to free his leg from the firm grip and get away from those curious fingers. He thrashed around until the guy’s grip loosened up and he pulled his leg back, accidently kicking the guy in the face while doing so.

“Oh my God! Sorry, I swear that wasn’t on purpose! Are you okay?” Tony asked wide-eyed once he’d caught his breath again. The ape man backed away and was looking down at him with an unreadable look in his blue eyes. He didn’t make a move to come any closer again. Tony took the opportunity and carefully stood up. Raising his hands in a placating gesture, he kept his head down so he wouldn’t accidentally pose a threat to him and get attacked.

Tony was not sure if the man in front of him was more of a human than an animal at the moment.

“Hey… Can you understand me?” Tony took a nervous step forward and the man flinched hard.

Without further warning he darted off into the thick green foliage. Tony stared at the empty spot where he’d just been and started to run after him. He vainly tried to catch up with the guy, who was damned fast.

“Hey! No! Wait! Come back! I’m not gonna attack you! DUM-E won’t hurt you! I was just joking! Hey!” Tony yelled and ducked unter a tree branch.

The man threw one last glance over his shoulder before he grabbed another handful of vines that were hanging from the trees around them and with lightning speed he was gone. He’d vanished as fast as he’d appeared. Tony stopped, panting hard, when he reached the spot where he’d seen him last and turned around, looking into every direction, trying to spot the guy. But he was gone. Finding him in this jungle without technical support was impossible, and even then it would probably be easier to find the needle in the haystack.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” Tony ran his hands through his dirty hair with a hysterical laugh and seriously questioned his sanity for a short moment. His heart was beating loudly in his chest. Was this real? Was there a fucking Tarzan living on his island?

“What kind of shit is going on here?! Fuck!”

.oOo.

Back at the camp, Tony deposited the bag with his surveillance camera in his research tent. He’d just have to install it another time.

He took off the single shoe he was still wearing and fell backwards into his hammock. The last five minutes were on an endless loop in his head. He shared this island with Tarzan. An actual Tarzan. A man who seemed to have no idea what a human even was.

How did the guy end up on this island with no civilization? Was he lost at sea? Maybe he even thought he was a gorilla? Chances were the guy was a cannibal?!

Rationally Tony knew he was being ridiculous, there was no such thing as Tarzan. Tarzan The Ape Man was a book and a Disney movie and yet… He rubbed his hand over his foot where the man had touched him and felt it tingle. This was surreal. Did he just imagine things again? Did he drink too much coffee? Did he not drink enough coffee? Was he hallucinating because of lack of sleep?

He laid in his hammock for a long while until he found the answer to all of his questions. Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of this before?

Tony fished his phone from his back pocket and only paused when his thumb already hovered over the ‘call’ button. He looked at the time. He had no idea if Pepper was awake at the moment or if she even was in the States and not abroad on a business trip. And she’d threatened to ‘forget to send you your next supply of ground coffee if you ever dare to call me again in the middle of the night because of trifles, I’m holding your company together at the moment, learn to do the dishes yourself, you should be old enough, oh wait, I forgot, you are not’.

Tony pouted at the memory. Deciding not to risk the coffee, he thought about calling Rhodey, but remembered at the last second that his best friend had told him the week prior that he was being deployed again. Tony wouldn't be able to reach him while he was away. Something super secret for the air force that he hadn't been allowed to tell Tony about. Knowing that Rhodey was maybe possibly risking his life somewhere on this planet made Tony uneasy.

He considered hacking the USAF to figure out where he was being sent to and how long he'd be away, but the glare he'd receive from his oldest friend was lethal. He held himself back, not wanting to receive another lecture about duty and honor and all that jazz. He trusted Rhodey.

Tapping his chin with the corner of his phone while thinking, Tony came to the conclusion that it would be the safest way to just text Pepper.

>>>Call me. Asap. Please. I’m not wearing a dress. Tarzan’s hung like a horse, holy shit. I said please.<<<

Deciding this was all he could do for now, he leaned back and stared at the cloudless sky above him. What did it say about his life, that he only had two people who he considered as friends and close enough to call them?

Maybe his own interpretation of a sabbatical would be more exciting than what he’d imagined at first.

.oOo.

Pepper did in fact phone him the next day. It was good to hear her voice again and the call finally managed to get Tony to leave his workspace and take a much needed break. Haltingly he told her about what had happened yesterday. At first she was exasperated, like always. Then she was frowning, Tony could hear it in her voice. Until she started laughing at him. Tony pouted and almost hung up on her. He grudgingly had to admit that his story did sound completely absurd. In the end they strayed from the subject and talked about other things that didn’t involve his possible caffeine hallucinations, because of the lack of sex in his life right now. Those were Pepper’s words, not his. It was still better than the possibility that he’d accidentally eaten something intoxicating. Tony usually didn’t believe in ghosts, but maybe he’d really hallucinated the whole thing. The fact that he hadn’t slept in nearly seventy hours before his run-in with the hypothetical Tarzan did not exactly help to support his story.

When they said their goodbyes hours later with the promise that Pepper and Rhodey would visit Tony on his island in the near future, it was already dark and he was finally getting drowsy. The lack of sleep was eventually getting to him. He was smiling happily when he looked up to the stars above him from where he was laying on the beach. Talking to Pepper always calmed him and helped him to think clearly again when he was lost in his own mind.

Sadly, their past attempt at a relationship hadn’t worked out, but he was glad that they were still friends. Though he simply didn’t want to believe that whatever had happened yesterday was only a figment of his imagination, no matter how plausible Pepper’s attempted explanations sounded.

Still brooding, and unsure what he was supposed to think he went back to his camp and decided to finally call it a day and catch up on some sleep.

He didn’t notice the blue eyes that followed him through the darkness.

.oOo.

For the next six days nothing happened, except for the occasional shell that appeared on his porch. Tony was starting to really believe that whatever he’d thought he’d seen was only his imagination playing tricks on him. Maybe Pepper had been right. He checked the footage of JARVIS’ cameras a few times, but none of them showed the ape man. With the help of DUM-E he attached the new surveillance camera to another tree. This time though with proper climbing gear.

Tony continued his research on new ingredients for vaccines, studied an interesting frog species, and collected new samples from various plants. In between he built himself a toaster and a sandwich maker, because he couldn’t wait for his next foodstuff supply. After two weeks of no ape man sighting, he was bored out of his mind and decided he needed an adventure that was bigger than watching dolphins and reaping coconuts. Maybe this would take his mind off the matter of the nonexistent Tarzan. The boat that was supposed to deliver his groceries wouldn’t arrive for another week, so he had more than enough time.

He packed his backpack, changed, put on some proper shoes and started off into the direction of the middle of the island, where the small waterfalls were. He left DUM-E and his camp in JARVIS’ capable disembodied hands. Cheerfully he started off, excited for what mysteries he might find. This would be fun!

.oOo.

This was no fun!

Tony cursed under his breath and nearly fell over a tree root that was sticking up. The sun was up in the sky and he was sweaty and tired. He’d been looking for an adventure, and he’d found an adventure. But not the kind he’d hoped for.

On his second day in the jungle he’d been attacked by a swarm of underground wasps when he’d accidentally stepped on their nest. Running from the damned beasts, he’d fallen down a small crevice near the foot of the mountain and had to jump into a pond to escape their wrath. What he hadn’t known at the time was that the pond was inhabited by leeches as big as his hand. The disgusting critters had been hell to get rid of. The icing on the cake had been the gigantic caracara that had shit on his shoulder. In the rush of his misadventures he’d also lost his phone, his only connection to JARVIS.

Let it be said, that Tony Stark had never been a boy scout. Defeated, he tried to get back to his camp by using an old-fashioned compass and following the paths that seemed familiar. Which was not as easy as it might sound. Tony had found the thing in his backpack with a note from Pepper and Rhodey. Who would have thought the gag present from his friends would end up being useful?

The engineer spent half a day wandering around in the jungle trying to find his way back. His feet hurt, his arms were pulsating from the wasp stings and he desperately wanted a shower to get rid of the gross feeling of the leeches on his skin. The only things keeping him sane were his hightech watch with an integrated GPS map of the island and his superb gear.

It was late afternoon when he fucking finally reached familiar paths and then his camp was only a stone’s throw away. He’d wasted almost two days with this stupid idea and all he wanted was to shower, eat and sleep in a proper bed that wasn’t made of moss and leaves. And coffee, he needed coffee. Oh, and to track his lost phone, he needed to get it back somehow.

Tony was still a few meters away from his camp but he noticed instantly that something was off. Carefully he stepped closer. The weird noises he’d heard from farther away increased. When he reached the clearing where his camp was he was finally able to see what was going on.

Tony’s mouth hung open and he stared unbelieving at the scene in front of him. He saw what was happening but somehow he couldn’t process it.

In the middle of his camp, surrounded by the tents, sat the Tarzan wannabe.

The man had a cooking pot on his head and a bunch of Tony’s stuff was scattered around him. His hammock was filled with coconuts, more bananas than he could ever eat were on his table, and an army of parrots with Butterfingers as their leader was nesting on every available surface. DUM-E was nowhere to be seen, but Tony noticed a heavy looking log of wood blocking the door to one of his research tents.

The man looked up from where he was closely inspecting a piece of metal, which looked suspiciously like one of JARVIS’ cameras, when Tony’s backpack slid from his shoulders and hit the ground with a dull thump. He laid eyes upon Tony and instantly jumped up, scaring the parrots away. The pot fell from his head with a clank and he made a beeline for the edge of the jungle, away from Tony and the havoc he’d caused.

Tony jumped into action without thinking. This was his chance to prove to himself that he wasn’t going insane! Furthermore this guy was still a human, even though he clearly didn’t think of himself as one.

By sheer luck he managed to corner the buck naked guy between two of his tents. The Tarzan was crouching on the ground, but the moment Tony came closer he rose to his feet. It made Tony stop dead in his tracks. Swallowing around the lump he suddenly had in his throat, Tony noticed that the man was taller than him by almost a head.

Tony instantly stepped back. Nervously he watched what the man would do next. On a whim he slowly bent down until he was kneeling on the ground, a few meters away.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m not gonna harm you. See? I’m not gonna attack you. Calm down, big guy. I’m over here and you’re over there. It’s as easy as that. Shhh, it’s okay, everything’s okay. I want to help you. Please don’t run away okay? Let me help you.” He started in a low voice, trying to soothe the guy and simultaneously calm himself. He kept his stance open and deliberately vulnerable. He’d learnt his lesson the last time.

It took him a few minutes to get the man to calm down enough to lower himself to the ground once again. He continued to talk to him until the glances the guy shot him were no longer wary. Huffing, he finally sat down as well.

Tony’s knees started to protest after a while, but he stayed where he was until the scepticism in the blue eyes of the man was replaced by careful curiosity once again. They remained like that for almost twenty minutes. Tony kept on talking to him to keep him interested and it somehow, miraculously, worked.

Tony didn’t know who the man was, where he came from, if he had a name, or if he even understood what he was saying at all, but the guy had helped him, so he could at least try to return the favor. Even if the engineer didn’t know how to, yet. Also, now that he wasn’t fearing for his life like the last time they’d met, he had to admit that this whole situation was weirdly exciting. He felt a buzz under his skin, and rationally he knew it was from the adrenaline, but he couldn’t shake it off. This was the most thrilling thing that had happened to him in a long while.

“Can you, I don’t know, can you stand up? Can you walk? You can, uh, follow me? Back to the table?” Tony tried to explain after a while of staring silently at each other, and motioned with his hands in the direction where the aforementioned piece of furniture was. The man looked at him and carefully moved closer. He was still on all fours, like he didn’t know how to walk properly. But he followed Tony nonetheless when the engineer carefully stood up to guide the way.

It took them almost four minutes to make it back to the middle of the havoc, even though it was barely ten meters. DUM-E was still rolling around in one of Tony’s lab tents, indignantly chirping and beeping at being locked in. The bot hadn’t even noticed that Tony was back. The ape man watched the tent for a moment before he followed Tony further into the camp.

Reaching the table with the bananas, it took Tony a few tries until he managed to get the concept of a chair across, but then finally the ape man seemed to get it and sat down awkwardly, where Tony usually had his breakfast. He didn’t sit down like any human would though, he had one leg drawn up onto the chair in an awkward half-crouch. All this time, he closely watched Tony. He could see the man’s muscles flexing under his skin, like he was prepared to run away again any minute. To be quite honest Tony was surprised that they had managed to make it this far.

“Okay, okay, this is really happening, oh my God... Can you maybe, I don’t know, sit down properly? That looks really uncomfortable and I mean, you’re not wearing anything, so...You know what, forget it. Just sit there and be a good boy, okay? Everything’s okay, no one’s going to harm you. It’s just me and you, JARVIS and DUM-E. But he can’t talk, just ignore him for now.” Tony babbled and the Tarzan wannabe just blinked in response. He sighed quietly, looking around for another chair.

No matter how much he’d missed the British sass he usually got from his AI over the last two days, Tony was incredibly relieved that J seemed to hold in what he wanted to say, in order to not scare the buck-naked guy away again. Tony was proud of his oldest child.

By now the engineer was almost sure that the man who he'd found was mostly peaceful and probably -hopefully- not a cannibal. He didn’t attack Tony, didn’t try to hurt him. Instead he was being assessed intently enough that he had to force himself not to start squirming. Haltingly the blonde accepted the banana that Tony offered him but didn’t eat it. He watched every step that the engineer took, skittish, and Tony expected him to bolt any minute. But there was still that curious glint in the depths of those blue eyes and that was most probably what made him stay for now.

Tony, for his part, also never let the man out of his sight. He kept on chattering and talking, filling the awkward silence with meaningless words that the other didn’t seem to understand anyway. But Tony needed this, he couldn’t bear this tension without some kind of distraction.

“Just ignore this stuff, okay? That’s not... It’s usually not that messy, but usually I also don’t have a guest like you, who likes to wreak havoc, so this mess is on you, capiche? Okay, no, that was a lie, it’s always messy, but that’s why I have DUM-E, right buddy? I know you can hear me! Okay, sure, just ignore your old man. I got it.”

They were now sitting at the wooden table in the middle of the camp. The engineer hadn’t managed to convince the guy to come inside one of his tents, so they were sitting outside. The bananas, a few papers, sketches, and various other items cluttered the table, and he pushed them aside so they had some space. Secretly he hoped that at least one of JARVIS' cameras was still intact and had a good angle, so he could take a picture of the guy’s face.

“Okay, now let me just put this stuff away and then we can start, though honestly I have no idea what I’m even supposed to do with you, now that you’re finally sitting there. Damn, I need a tutorial on how to interact with Tarzan. We could start a youtube channel, I’m sure the people would give us a thumbs up. Oh, but you’d need to put on pants for that, can’t upload a video where you’re flashing the whole internet. Pepper would have my head if I do something like that again. Phew, should have kept the magazines, those headlines were so funny, let me tell you that.” Tony huffed a laugh and rambled on. He’d picked up the remnants of J's camera and turned it around in his hands, assessing the damage done to it.

He looked back up again when he’d made sure that the camera was salvageable, and suddenly found himself face to face with the ape man. He was crouching on top of the table, his face only centimeters from Tony’s. How the blonde had managed to come that close without making any noise was beyond him. Tony shut up abruptly, held his breath and waited. He had so many questions, but it was obvious that the guy couldn’t answer them. Being on the receiving end of such an intense stare was quite unsettling and he squirmed nervously on his chair.

Something caught Tony’s eye. He blinked and dared to look down, just to be dazzled by the sunlight. He squinted a few times and saw something shiny dangling from the neck of the ape man. Tony carefully reached out and when the other didn’t make a move to stop his hand he took the shining pendant on a ball chain in his hand. It was tangled in the dirty blonde hair and beard.

He put the camera away because he needed both hands to detangle it. In turn the other dropped his banana and reached out to awkwardly pet his short brown hair with his strong, calloused hand as if he was a cat. The inventor flinched under the touch but forced himself to hold still.

“What on earth is that…?” breathed Tony. He frowned and rubbed over the metal to get some of the dirt and rust off it, until he was finally able to decipher some of the letters that were stamped into it. Finally it clicked. It was a military dog tag necklace. The guy was a soldier! “You’re a soldier! Oh, my god. You’re a soldier!” he repeated and tried to read the name on the dog tag. “S… Ste- Steve?”

Suddenly the guy’s hand tightened in his hair and he forced Tony’s head upwards until they were looking into each other’s eyes again. Abruptly Tony realized what kind of situation he was really in. The man was strong, obviously, and if the dog tag necklace wasn’t just fashion jewelry then that meant that the guy was a trained soldier and more than capable of breaking Tony’s neck with one swift motion.

But then the guy opened his mouth.

“Steve. Steve.”

The deep voice was hoarse, as if he hadn’t used it in a long time. There was a pleading look in his eyes, like he was searching for something in Tony’s face and didn’t find it.

“Steve.” He repeated his own name again and again.

“T-Tony.” Tony offered in return. Forcing himself to keep his cool, he lifted one nervously trembling hand and pointed at himself. “Tony.” Then he shifted and touched Steve’s chest with one finger. “Steve.”

“Tony.” Steve repeated with awe clear in his voice. By now he was cupping Tony’s face in his dirty hands, and rubbed his thumbs over Tony’s cheekbones. It was a strangely gentle motion. “Tony. Tony... Steve... Tony. Steve.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s my name. Tony.” He repeatedly pointed at himself. “And you are Steve. Can you, uh, can you let go, please? I mean, it’s getting uncomfortable and to be honest you really need a long shower…”

Tony let go of the necklace and tried to pry the hands off his face, but the ape man - Steve - didn’t budge. Their staring battle lasted another few heartbeats until something behind them crashed. DUM-E had thrown his beloved fire extinguisher through the window of the tent he was locked up in.

Steve suddenly let go off his face and jumped off the table in surprise. Tony’s papers and pens fell to the ground but he didn’t care at the moment. Steve was jumping, leaping, nearing the forest and the thick undergrowth.

“No! DUM-E, don’t! Stop it, you’re scaring him!” Tony jumped up and motioned for his bot to stay inside the tent. But Steve was already vanishing in the lush green foliage. Tony started running towards him, but once he reached the spot where Steve had disappeared, the man was already gone. Nothing was moving in the shadows except for a few birds that Steve had scared off with his hasty escape.

“Steve? Steve? Hey, come back, it’s just DUM-E! Steve? Damn it! Not again!”

Tony walked around his camp a few times, looking for the guy. He heaved a sigh. After a few more minutes of calling out Steve’s name and looking for him, he gave up. If the ragged man had lived in the jungle for a few years - and it definitely looked like that - then he knew how to hide so Tony wouldn’t find him.

Defeated, he returned to his camp. DUM-E was waiting for him, looking through the hole in the window, and emitting sad chirping noises. Tony removed the log from the door, freeing his bot. DUM-E came out and Tony sat down on the porch next to him, patting his base.

“It’s okay, buddy. No need to cry. Somehow Steve has been here longer than us and he didn’t die. If he comes back you can apologize and I can try to look him up. Maybe we can find out who he really is, okay?”

The bot beeped an answer and laid his claw on top of Tony’s head. The inventor turned adventurer looked at the holoscreen with the blurry pictures of Steve that JARVIS had been able to take with his cameras. “J, be a sweetheart and run a few scans, okay? Let’s see if he’s listed somewhere in some database. Who knows if the guy is American. We need to look everywhere.”

“Certainly, sir.” JARVIS complied immediately. “And welcome back. We hope you had an interesting journey. I apologize for the mess. I was unable to reach you, while you were away, and DUM-E was incapacitated.”

DUM-E chirped indignantly at his older brother's words and Tony chuckled.

“It’s okay, J. I lost my phone somewhere, but it’s good to be back. Let’s clean this mess up and see if we can dig something up about our nudie.”

Hacking most international servers shouldn’t be that difficult for the AI, so Tony left him to it. He let his eyes wander over the forest. The afternoon sun was warm on his skin and the soft breeze that rustled through the leaves let the scene seem quiet and peaceful. Usually it was enough to calm Tony down when he was puzzling his brain over a problem. But now the forest didn’t seem as placid as before.

For half a second he wanted to instantly call Pepper and Rhodey and tell them that he wasn’t insane or hallucinating, but he decided against it. This was new, this was exciting, and Tony was selfish. He had his proof that he’d been right from the beginning and he wanted to keep this adventure to himself for the time being. He’d tell his friends when the time was right.

Tony knew now with certainty that there was a human without memories, without a home, and probably without a family to return to, who lived on this island. Alone, away from other humans, abandoned. What must have happened to him? Tony didn’t like to ponder over what the guy had had to endure to survive. Maybe… maybe helping him was the new challenge and the new purpose that Tony really needed.

He leaned back against his bot. Some dried leaves laid on the porch where he was sitting. The wind picked up and blew them away. Tony watched, mesmerized as they danced in the air before vanishing in the distance.

Yeah, he’d definitely watched too many Disney movies in his life…

.oOo.

The following days passed in a blur.

Tony tidied up the mess that his camp had become while he had been away, repaired the window DUM-E had smashed and tried to come up with what he was supposed to do with the giant pile of bananas. He could only drink so many banana smoothies.

Tony caught glimpses of Steve here and there. Mostly of the guy sitting in a tree, hiding behind some leaves and watching him work. Sometimes he turned up two or three times a day and sometimes Tony didn't see him for a few days. Until one time when he saw him place a white seashell on his porch together with a few flowers. Tony's heart skipped a beat at the way the man gently arranged the flowers around the seashell. In turn Steve 'borrowed' one of Tony's shoes. At least the mystery of who left him presents and stole his things was now solved.

Two weeks after Tony’s return to his camp he gave up trying to talk to Steve, and let him be, giving him some space. He was in the middle of a sensitive experiment and before he even managed to pull off his sterile latex gloves, Steve was already gone again. He’d curiously poked DUM-E and placed six dead mice on Tony’s research papers which were on the table where they’d ‘talked’. The engineer fed the mice to a fox pup when he thought nobody was looking.

Three days later he found a pile of white pebbles and snail shells in his shoes that he had forgotten outside, when he woke up in the morning. It took him an hour to clean them from the snail slime. Steve was nowhere to be seen.

On the next day Tony was ready to kill the ape man. He’d found another palm leaf bundle on his porch, and expecting flower petals again, he’d opened it just to find the bloody head of a viper in it. He’d deny until his dying day that he screamed like a girl at the sight. Butterfingers refused to let him pet him for two days after that incident.

Things continued like this for a while. Steve would turn up out of nowhere, leave some weird gift for Tony and vanish again. Every time they stumbled into each other, the man would just cock his head, look at him like a deer caught in the headlights with an unreadable expression in his blue eyes and swiftly run away again.

Meanwhile Tony continued his search for Steve's true identity. Based on his name and appearance he supposed he could be from North America or even Europe, but in the end everything was possible. To keep it simple Tony had started with what was most likely: the US military.

But up until now, JARVIS hadn’t been able to find a soldier with the name Steve in the US army's database. Or more precisely, he’d been able to find a few thousand Steves, but without further information like the guy’s last name or social security number from his necklace, it was impossible to identify him. The pictures J had managed to take of him were extremely blurry and the long unkempt hair and beard that Steve sported also didn’t exactly help with a facial recognition scan.

Furthermore, a lot of the data about the special forces and other shady military programs was heavily encrypted and Tony would need more time to make heads or tails of that clutter of information, though he already had more than enough work with his own research. On top of that, he hadn’t been able to locate his phone in the mountains. So his next project was building a new cell.

More often than not, Tony found himself wondering how he could interact with Steve. If he wanted to make contact, he needed the guy to stay longer than five seconds. He racked his brain until an idea hit the engineer.

The next morning he left a palm leaf bundle with a coconut, a turkey sandwich and one of his spare sweatpants on the spot where Steve would usually leave his own gifts for Tony. (Though sometimes he wasn’t sure if these things really were gifts or if Steve wanted to poison him.) Satisfied with his plan, he turned around and left to get some work done while he waited for Steve to show up.

Tony wasn't sure if the other liked sandwiches or even knew how to eat one, but he could at least try to return the favor of offering food. Also, the pants were a necessity, because the guy was still walking around buck-naked and it was fucking distracting! How was Tony supposed to function when at any given time of the day a man with the build of a young Schwarzenegger could turn up, with his crown jewels on broad display! Tony was only human. He noticed things. Certain things. And no matter how often he told himself that the guy was practically a monkey, he couldn't not picture how he'd look freshly showered and shaved, in an Armani suit, lounging at a bar with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand.

Today was a sunny late afternoon, and Tony roughly shook his head to clear it from the images of Steve. He was mumbling to himself, and DUM-E and Butterfingers curiously observed him from their spot in one of his research tents. He didn’t notice the approaching figure of Steve, where he was hanging his laundry to air-dry. The hand which closed around his ankle from behind was the only warning he got before a certain someone tackled him to the ground. Tony landed on his belly in the soft moss and got squished under the bulk of the man. Instinctively he tried to get away until he realized that Steve wasn’t attacking him. He was hugging Tony.

This was not the reaction he’d expected but a nice surprise.

“Hey, Steve. It’s nice to see you too. Uh, could you maybe, uh, get up? You’re kind of heavy. And honestly, you really should take a bath, holy hell.” Tony chuckled weakly and patted the upper arm of the man that was slung around his waist, deeming it safe to touch him.

“Tony. Tony.” Steve was pressing his face into the back of Tony’s shirt. “Tony. Steve. Tony.” He repeated a few more times.

Then he sat up cross legged and pulled Tony up until they were sitting facing each other. He raised one hand and Tony saw that, yep, those were the pants he’d left outside for Steve, which meant that he was still not wearing them. “Tony.”

“Yeah, we’ve been over that. I’m Tony. You’re Steve.” He took the pants from Steve and held them properly towards him. “These are pants. They might be a bit too short for you but it’s better than nothing. Here. It’s a present. Present. Pre-sent. For you. You can keep them.”

Steve looked a little lost, like he didn’t know what he was supposed to do with the piece of clothing, but took the pants from Tony nonetheless. He opened his mouth a few times until finally… “Pre… sent. Present. Present. For you.”

Tony smiled broadly. He didn’t know why, but the simple words that Steve had just said felt like the world. Maybe he really could help Steve get back on his feet. “That’s right. Present. Good, Steve. Really good. Try again. Present. Present for you.”

“Present. Present for you. Tony.” Steve repeated and promptly pulled the pants over his head to wear them like a woolen hat.

Tony couldn’t help it, he snorted at the picture Steve posed and carefully reached forward to pull the pants from the other’s head.

“That’s not how you wear them, Steve. You put your feet through the holes, see?” Tony slowly rose from where he was sitting until he was kneeling in front of Steve. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his own sweatpants for demonstrating purposes. He grinned at the confused look in the blonde’s eyes.

“Tony present!” exclaimed Steve with a broad smile. Without further warning he grabbed Tony's pants legs and pulled.

"What the fuck, Steve?!" Spluttering, the engineer tried to hold onto his pants while Steve tried to clumsily undress him. The tussle over the pants only ended when the ape man conquered them, and pulled the flailing adventurer tightly against his naked chest. Tony hurriedly tried to get away without accidentally touching anywhere inappropriate.

“Nonono! Steeb! Leggo o’ me! Steeb!” Tony’s face was squished against the bulging muscles of the man and in need of air he tried to wriggle out of Steve’s grasp somehow. But the savage only held him a little tighter and Tony yelped when he felt a hand suddenly land on his shorts-clad ass. Okay, enough was enough! He wouldn’t let a man without memory who acted like a gorilla molest him!

He flailed and managed to accidentally hit Steve square on the nose. The other let go of him in surprise and Tony pulled his pants out of his fist. He gasped for air and threw the spare sweatpants at Steve’s head. Needing some safety distance, he crawled backwards but Steve once again grabbed his ankle, wanting to pull him back into his arms. Tony held him back with one hand on his shoulder and the other on his chin.

“Okay. What the fuck. That's enough! Steve, no! Stop!” He yelled. And Steve stopped. He looked at him with his big blue eyes that were so pure and unaware. Tony wasn’t really scared of Steve, but enough was enough. Steve was naked, dirty and didn’t know shit about human interaction. He was like a curious monkey in a zoo that didn’t know what was beyond its cage. The longer those blue eyes watched him so helplessly the more Tony felt his resolve to push him away crumble. He wanted to help this man. He needed to help this man. Slowly he let go of Steve and waited. The other stayed perfectly still, watching him.

“Steve.” Tony started anew and gestured to the hand that was still around his ankle. The blonde blinked in response that he recognized his name. “Steve. Let go of me.”

It took him a few moments to process what the brunette wanted from him but then Steve reluctantly let go of Tony. The smile dropped from his face. He slowly stood up and Steve watched it happen with sadness in his eyes while remaining sitting on the ground. Tony stood next to him, still only wearing his undies, bent down and carefully offered him his hand with a tentative smile. “Don't look at me like that… Oh, great. Fuck this shit. Come with me. Steve. Come. I’m going to help you.”

The hand that haltingly took his was strong, calloused and dirty, but it was also warm and gentle. Slowly pulling Steve up, he rose from where he was still crouching on the ground and awkwardly stood next to Tony. The tall man looked a little lost, like he’d forgotten how to properly walk upright. Tony took the first steps and Steve clumsily mimicked his motions. Together they slowly walked toward the tents. The shy smile that grazed the blonde’s lips lit up his whole face.

Yeah, this was a new start for both of them.

Again. Too many Disney movies...

.oOo.

The following weeks were a whirlwind of funny, weird and challenging events. The two of them started to meet each other frequently. At first Steve would stop by every other day, but soon he was at Tony’s side almost every day, spending more and more time with him. He followed him around like an overgrown puppy, curious and eager, but also incredibly shy in the beginning.

Nevertheless, Steve proved to be a fast learner, passionate and stubborn, and also a real handful. He refused to wear pants for a long time and it took Tony several attempts to convince him to even enter one of his tents. But the more time they spent together the more human Steve seemed to become. As the time passed, he started to walk upright more often when Tony was around and proudly strutted around the camp. He smiled at him broadly when the engineer applauded appropriately when he succeeded in another task. Simplest activities like washing his hands or brushing his teeth were big achievements for him.

Slowly but surely, Tony tried teaching Steve how to talk again. He started to remember single words and phrases, but pouted when his pronunciation was off. Then Steve would go back to sitting on the ground, brooding silently over what he’d done wrong. It was strangely endearing to watch how hard he tried to impress Tony.

JARVIS introduced Steve to DUM-E. Tony's mechanical child had forgiven Steve for locking him up in the tent and they became fast friends. The bot and the ape man played happily, and Butterfingers and his brothers chirped and tagged along, flying over their heads. It was like watching two clumsy dogs. The memory card of Tony's new phone was slowly filling with videos of the unlikely group.

Next, Tony showed the blonde how to properly sit at a table and eat without making a mess. They shared spartan meals together, with Steve enthusiastically gesticulating and telling stories from his adventures on the island with the few words he already knew. From what Tony learned about his new companion, it seemed that Steve had been on the island for many years. He knew nothing about how he’d ended up here or if there were people waiting for him back at home, if the sad and faraway look in his eyes every time Tony asked about his background was any indication. Sometimes when the man didn’t pay enough attention to his words, Tony thought he could hear a faint accent. At how naturally the words fell from his tongue though, he was pretty sure that Steve was indeed a native-born US citizen.

In turn, Steve showed Tony the most fascinating places on the island; the secret hiding spot of a rare butterfly species, a big reef near the beach inhabited by beautiful fish species, the part of the beach where turtles laid their eggs at night, the most beautiful flowers in the crowns of the highest trees… Steve also warned him of the area where sharks lived and told him again and again to keep his distance from the mountain range in the middle of the island.

It was peaceful. It was adventurous at times. It was fascinating. Tony probably enjoyed the time with Steve more than he wanted to admit.

They shared meals, explored the island, and spent more and more time together. Bit by bit Steve became a constant in his new life.

The only downside was that Steve refused to let himself be seen by Rhodey or Pepper. Whenever Tony would facetime his friends, Steve vanished with an unreadable look in his eyes. Respecting the man's wishes, Tony held back from sending them photos of Steve, no matter how badly he wanted to share these moments with his friends. Steve also regularly hid himself when Tony’s supply of foodstuff was delivered by a small ship once a month.

He understood Steve’s need to hide, seeing as he hadn’t had any human interaction in probably longer than what Tony would survive. Still, he hoped that he could get Steve used to other humans over time.

Though he should probably get him used to pants first.

It took Tony weeks to get the man to finally try the sweatpants he’d offered him in the beginning. Steve refused to wear them at first, claiming that they were in his way when he was climbing, swimming or hunting. Instead he’d snatched one of Tony’s swimming trunks and the engineer was glad that he was now at least occasionally saved from being flashed by Steve and his enormous dick.

Honestly, he couldn’t work like this.

All the while the weird gifts increased, though. Tony had a box full of shells on his nightstand, a rainbow of parrot feathers, and regularly found fresh fruits and small dead animals on his doorstep in the morning. He secretly fed those to the fox family that was living and growing up in the neighborhood. Seeing the treasures that Steve had collected for him, a small smile grazed his lips whenever he looked at them. His stomach did a weird flip when he would show up with a new gift. Sometimes with an uneasy gut feeling, but most of the time in joyful anticipation.

Steve also didn’t 'borrow' his things anymore, now that he had free access to look at and examine them with Tony’s guidance. He took a special liking to paper, though he couldn’t write or read yet. Tony ended up giving him a pencil case with colored pencils and a lined notebook one day. He didn’t see Steve use them, but knew that the other was happy. After all, this was the first time that Steve thanked him with words. His voice was rough with emotions when he mumbled the words into his short dark hair, tightly embracing Tony, and the engineer happily hugged him back.

His stomach did the weird flip thingy again.

This was getting out of hand…

.oOo.

It was a cloudy but still surprisingly warm day for the season and Tony had slept in. The air was humid and stifling and not even the top-notch aircon in the tents was helping today, even though they were entering the rainy season. Tony hadn't even noticed how much time had passed.

Tony kept his trunks on unlike Steve, who happily ran around buck-naked again. The sight of the blonde hunk of a man swimming in the turquoise water and playing around like a little kid made something warm in Tony's belly flutter that he vainly tried to ignore. The bright smile that was directed his way didn’t help to calm his pounding heart. Steve called out for him and his blue eyes twinkled with mirth. He pulled Tony into the waves and they splashed water into each other’s faces, swam, dove, scared an octopus, and bathed in the sun. They laughed themselves hoarse and Tony’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Steve showed him how to catch fish without a fishing rod and which clams were edible. They even explored the reefs and underwater caves.

They only went back to Tony’s camp when the sun set. It was only late afternoon but the days were getting shorter. The clouds in the sky were painted pink, orange, red, purple and yellow. It was beautiful.

Steve looked at Tony with an unreadable expression in his eyes, when he turned to retreat to his tent. Later none of them knew why, but Steve followed Tony into his tent. He sat Steve down onto the floor of the shower stall, knelt behind him and started to wash his hair and his back. He kept his trunks on, not exactly knowing why, but anxious what would happen if he undressed. The knots and the dirt in Steve’s hair proved to be a difficult case and Tony was about to give up, when the blonde turned around to look at him.

“Tony? Can you… cut hair? And cut beard?” His voice was quiet and he shyly motioned for the sink where Tony’s razor and barber scissors laid.

He blinked at Steve in surprise but dutifully fetched the items to show them to Steve. He’d watched Tony shave and cut his hair a few times by now.

There was a determined glint in his blue eyes. Nevertheless Tony needed to make sure he understood correctly. “Do you want me to cut your hair? And shave? If you start shaving you need to do it almost every day. Almost every day, you hear me? Are you prepared for that?”

Steve hummed and gently brushed his fingers over his clean shaven cheek and his goatee. “I want too. Like Tony.”

He swallowed the lump in his throat and gestured for Steve to turn back around so he could start with cutting his hair. “Okay, okay… I need you to hold still for me. Can you do that, Steve?” He laid his hand on Steve’s shoulder and waited for him to nod in affirmation.

Tony cut off the water from the shower head and started with his task. The sounds of the scissors were calming. With every cut a strand of blonde hair fell down to the ground. When Tony was done he took another handful of shampoo and started to wash Steve’s hair again. He gently carded his fingers through the short hair. He’d left it a bit longer than his own hair and he had to admit to himself that he’d done a really good job. Steve looked much more civil now, and without the dirt and after a proper wash, his hair looked almost golden. Absentmindedly, he massaged Steve’s scalp and the hunk of a man almost melted under his fingers. He only stopped when he suddenly felt a raised spot on the left side of Steve’s head. He paused and brushed the hair aside to take a look at what he’d found.

It was a scar, and it was not small. It was big, at least 10cm long and looked ugly, like it hadn’t been treated properly. He felt Steve shudder under his fingertips when he let his fingers wander over it.

Tony knew some things about consequential damages after head injuries. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle that Steve was, started to fit together. The scar on his head probably was responsible for the amnesia that he suffered from. Memory loss was not uncommon after certain injuries.

Steve’s hand that took hold of his own pulled him from his thoughts. He questioningly peeked over his shoulder at Tony and he looked ridiculous with the short hair and the lumberjack beard. Grabbing the razor and the shaving foam, Tony awkwardly came around to face the other man.

This was admittingly a bit embarrassing. He knelt between Steve’s legs and put the tools on the ground next to him. Then he angled Steve’s face properly, so that he could work without accidentally hurting him. Tony jerked when Steve’s hands landed on his hips. He felt his face heat up and it was not because of the outside temperature.

Wordless, he grabbed the hands and pulled them off his butt to place them on Steve’s knees, but as soon as he let go of them they were back at his waist. Tony pointedly arched an eyebrow at him and pulled them off again, but it was no use. Steve’s hands just kept returning.

Tony sighed, closed his eyes for a moment and counted to ten before he opened them again to a broadly grinning Steve, who preened at winning the silent battle. So Tony picked up his tools again and carefully started to shave Steve.

The minutes passed quietly. Somewhere in the middle Tony started to quietly hum a tune, and Steve closed his eyes. It was a sign of trust that made Tony’s heart skip a beat. The old-fashioned blade revealed more of the blonde’s sharp cheekbones and strong jawline with every drag. Tony let his fingers wander over Steve’s face when he was finally done and his eyes were practically glued to his mouth. A man with such beautifully shaped lips was almost unfair, every girl would kill for a look like that.

Noticing that he’d spent the last minute staring at Steve’s face, Tony jerked away in surprise at his own thoughts. Steve’s hands on his butt twitched and inwardly panicking, Tony hastily tried to put the razor away. But his hands were wet and the blade slipped through his fingers. Pain shot through him. The long diagonal cut in his palm instantly started bleeding.

He cursed loudly when the blood ran down his wrist to his elbow. Trembling he reached for the towel next to the shower stall, but Steve was faster. He grabbed Tony’s wrist and unceremoniously brought it to his mouth, pressing his lips to the throbbing flesh. The engineer gasped at the pain and instantly wanted to pull back, but Steve held onto him tightly. Tony tried not to think about all the communicable diseases that were out there.

A shiver ran down his spine when he felt Steve’s tongue lick over the wound and he’d be lying to himself pretending it was only because of the pain. Tony was able to count Steve’s ridiculously long lashes from where he was looking down at his hand, which he still held firmly but gently to his lips.

The removal of long hair and the lumberjack beard had revealed an incredibly handsome man. There was no denying that Tony found him attractive. Blonde hair, blue eyes, prominent cheekbones, combined with a physique that could compete with Chris Hemsworth’s. Somewhere along the line he’d started dubbing him Mr Dorito in his head.

The more time the two of them had spent together, the clearer it became that Steve was a kind soul under all the bark and moss and dirt. Call Tony overly sentimental, but he was sure it was safe to refer to Steve as a rough diamond, no matter how often he played harmless pranks on him together with DUM-E. His character showed itself when he played with his mechanical children, or showed Tony something new that he'd relearned.

Gentle were his hands when he picked up an injured animal and brought it to Tony for medical treatment.

Sadness filled his gaze when he looked over the ocean like he tried to remember his former life that had been ripped from him.

Bright was his laughter and carefree his demeanor when he spent time with Tony and taught him something that only he knew.

Back in the present, Tony's stomach did that weird little flip again. Steve was still holding onto his hand and, lost in his own mind, Tony let the fingers of his uninjured hand wander over the little scars that littered Steve’s body that most probably came from his life on the island. He felt the muscles of his broad shoulder shift under his fingers and the heat that radiated from his skin. He reached the ball chain of the necklace that Steve still wore. Tony hadn’t seen him take it off until now. He took the dog tags in his hand. They were still as rusty as the first time he’d seen them, and still as indecipherable.

As frustrating as it was, JARVIS hadn’t been able to find anything about Steve in any database, not even on facebook. There were some army files that were especially heavily encrypted which still posed a bit of difficulty. Tony would need to hack those himself. But… he hadn’t done so until now. Tony was a coward.

Getting access to those files would probably be doable in a few hours of work, but Tony… On the one hand he was afraid of what he might find. Was Steve a rogue executioner? Dishonourably discharged? On the run from the government?

And on the other hand he was afraid of what he might not find. Maybe the dog tags were only a fashion accessory and Steve was no soldier? Maybe Steve wasn’t even his real name? For all Tony knew he could be a smuggler or a human trafficker, left by his comrades to die here on this island. Tony didn’t like that thought and hoped sincerely that what he’d seen of Steve’s character wasn’t just a farce.

“Tony?”

Steve’s voice pulled Tony abruptly from his thoughts. Startled, he noticed that Steve was no longer licking his wound. Internally panicking, Tony grabbed the towel and pressed it to his hand, in a vain attempt to do something, so he didn’t look like he’d been spacing out for almost five minutes.

“Sorry, sorry, Steve. Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I mean, I wasn’t… Fuck! Sorry. I was… Thanks for, uh, you know… I’ll just go and clean the wound. Sorry.” Without waiting for Steve to catch up with his tumbling words Tony stood up and stepped out of the shower and Steve’s reach. The heat in his cheeks had nothing to do with the humidity of the jungle.

He could feel Steve staring at him and stubbornly refused to turn around. Clumsily he bandaged his hand, his right hand to boot, until the gauze was taken from him by Steve. The man was standing next to him at the sink, still dripping wet and naked. Reluctantly he handed the bandage over and let the other take care of it. Steve’s hands were gentle, just like that time when he’d patched up an injured agouti.

“You… you have some- there’s blood on your chin.” Tony took the towel he’d used before and rubbed one corner over Steve’s chin where a small bloodstain sat. It was Tony’s blood.

Steve finished bandaging his wound, but held his hand for another few heartbeats. The air between them was almost charged. Somehow, Tony didn’t want to move. He knew how cliché this was, it literally screamed cheap high school yaoi manga. The moment passed and neither of them did anything. Tony searched Steve’s face, but he didn’t even know what he was looking for.

The spell broke when Tony realized that he'd been slowly leaning in towards Steve. Blinking, he stepped back, out of Steve's personal space. He immediately missed the warmth from the other when he let go of his hand. With red cheeks, Tony turned around and grabbed the first towel without bloodstains that he could find and tossed it to Steve, who caught it in mid-air.

"You can- you can stay the night, if you want. I have a spare cot you can use. It's late…" It wasn't, the rainy season was responsible for the early nightfall but whatever. Tony busied himself to set up the bed for Steve in another corner of his sleeping tent. What was he doing, offering Steve to stay? The man had lived in the jungle for years. He probably had a nest or a camp or something like that and was more than used to the darkness of the night. What Tony was doing here was embarrassingly obvious for any normal human being. He was stalling, hoping to have him around some more, no matter how pathetic his attempt was.

Steve stepped closer when he was dry. He passed by the mirror on the wall where the parrot feathers and the white shells were and looked at his own reflection. Out of the corner of his eye Tony watched him carefully.

Steve was handsome, there was no denying it, and Tony knew it. He'd known so from the first time they'd met. The long mane and beard, the dirt and the weird crouching position had done nothing to hide the fact that Steve was indeed blessed with good looks. The short hair and the clean shaven face accentuated his sharp facial features and let the blue of his eyes shine even brighter. Like this, he could model for Armani, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford, anyone would take him, make him famous and show him the world. Steve would discover his new freedom and then he wouldn't need Tony anymore.

Suddenly, jealousy raised its ugly head like a viper inside Tony's belly. Didn't Steve belong to him? They'd met here in the middle of nowhere and Steve knew nothing about the world except for what Tony showed him. He didn't want to share the bright smiles, the laughter, the gentle and innocent touches, the secrets and the stories they'd shared. He didn't want to lose this whatever they had, the careful friendship built on curiosity, innocence, coincidence and weirdness. And secretly Tony wished it would not only be friendship.

With a pang of guilt he realized that his selfishness put stones in Steve's way back to civilization and a normal life among other humans. Steve did not belong to him. He was his own person. Tony promised him he'd help him get back on his feet. He had no right to keep the man all to himself no matter how hard he was falling for him. Tony was his friend and Steve trusted him. He was his friend who dreamed of being kissed by those beautiful lips, who wanted to feel that body shift above him, who wanted to be held in those arms.

He longed for the gentleness of his strong fingers, the warmth of his skin that was littered with scars, the intimacy they shared on this little island away from other people. For Steve he was only Tony, not Anthony Stark, genius, billionaire, CEO, celebrity. Here he was just Tony, the guy who fell asleep on his workbench, who was scared of spiders, who danced around the campfire in an improvised hula skirt after too many beers, and couldn't climb a fucking tree even if his life depended on it.

But it was unfair to Steve to project these feelings on him when he was still as clueless as a baby deer around Tony. He didn't know any other humans, he was basically at Tony's mercy. And in that moment he swore to himself that Tony would not take advantage of Steve. Steve who was a genuinely kindhearted man under his rough exterior, who deserved the world, and who Tony was already half in love with without even realizing it, until it was too late.

Who was he shitting, Tony was more than half in love with him. He'd fallen for him head over heels, they were like Jane and Tarzan. But this was life and not a fucking Disney movie.

Steve's hand on his shoulder woke him from his daydreams where he was standing a little lost in front of the cot he'd prepared for Steve. He knew his face was bright red when he turned around to meet those curious blue eyes. Warmth pooled in his stomach. Suddenly he became overly aware of the fact that Steve was buck naked and he was only wearing swimming trunks. It was the worst fucking moment to have an epiphany, but the brunet was a pro at timing things like that.

Tony forced a tentative smile on his lips and stepped back to offer Steve the cot. "Here ya go. I'm just gonna change and then we're gonna go to bed. It's late already, haha, not as late as I usually go to bed but sometimes it's good to catch a good night's rest."

"Tony?"

Tony paused where he was squirming like a teenage girl. "Yeah?"

Steve leaned in and brought his nose to Tony's unruly hair. It was sticking up in all directions from the saltwater and he could feel the sand on his skin. He was itchy, sweaty and thought he might have sunburn on his shoulders. He desperately wanted to shower but didn't trust himself not to do something stupid with Steve surely watching his every move.

The flowery note of the shampoo mixed with Steve's natural scent was a heady mixture and Tony held his breath. Embarrassingly enough he felt heat rush through his body and, fucking shit, his dick had a conscience of his own, because little-Tony was on his  way to an impressive inappropriate boner.

Don't look down, please don't make me explain the birds and bees to you! Tony chanted in his head and waited with bated breath for what would come now.

"You stink."

"What?!" Tony had never before gone soft that fast. He stared at Steve, who cocked his head at him.

"Tony need shower. I shower, so I smell good." Steve smiled and pointed with one finger at himself, like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Now Tony shower."

Tony stood there and honestly didn't know how to respond. His jaw dropped and his brain was on ‘Tony.exe has stopped working’ mode.

Usually he’d start arguing that it was impossible for him to stink, but honestly, Tony was not lucid enough to start this discussion with Steve now, who wouldn’t even understand half of what he’d say. Therefore Tony simply closed his mouth and grinned a bit wryly up at Steve.

“You’re probably right, I should shower. It’s just… you know, could you maybe go outside for a moment? Because, well, because I’d rather not- I mean I can’t… I- It’s embarrassing when you’re watching me shower. When I’m naked. In the shower.”

“Why? I am naked too. I shower naked and Tony is here.” Steve deadpanned. He clearly didn’t get the problem. Why did he have to be so fucking precious?

Tony sighed, and started to gesticulate with his hands to maybe get his point across. “Tha- That’s different! I mean, you’re almost always naked, but I’m… not. People- People only undress in front of others when it means- no, wait, forget it! People don’t undress where other people watch. That’s, that’s just a rule. I didn’t make it, and I’m not a prime example of following the rules, but that one’s important.”

“This is stupid rule.” Steve pouted at Tony, but dutifully turned around to leave the tent, probably to look for something to eat. By the way he held himself it was obvious that Steve was moping, but Tony didn’t quite understand why. It surely couldn’t be because he’d wanted to see Tony naked? Right?

Overly self-conscious Tony let his hand wander over the mass of scars on his chest, remnants of his captivity and attempted assassination. He’d been reluctant enough to let Steve see him without a shirt at first, but it was soon obvious that Steve wasn’t bothered by it. The ape man had acknowledged the messy scar tissue with a long look, but hadn’t asked one single question about it. And Tony was thankful. He didn’t want to relive the memories again. Still, undressing completely was a totally different topic.

Hurriedly he hopped under the shower and threw his dirty trunks in the hamper. He scrubbed his hands through his hair to get rid of the sand and washed the sweat and the salt off. Tony was done in record time. Dressed in fresh sweatpants and a tank top, he snuggled under the covers of his cot. Objectively seen, his bed would’ve been more than big enough for Steve to sleep here with him, but Tony forbade himself to think about that. That way laid madness.

His thoughts were running around in circles. The epiphany he’d had was throwing him for a loop. Tony knew that what he now needed was a bit of distance, to get his head straight and to focus on the real challenge at hand. He would help Steve back to civilization, even if it meant ignoring the feelings in his heart. The minutes passed excruciatingly slow and as nervous as he was, Tony was sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all tonight. But he fell asleep before Steve even returned to the tent.

.oOo.

Tony didn’t realize Steve came back, nor how he placed another white shell on the pillow next to his head. JARVIS was the only witness who saw how Steve sat by Tony’s bedside for a long time, gently carding his fingers through his brown strands. The AI refrained from interrupting the peaceful scene and simply dimmed the lights in the tent a bit. 

The cot that Tony had prepared for Steve remained untouched. Hours passed and the blonde sat in the darkness, watching Tony’s sleeping face with a soft look in his blue eyes. JARVIS didn’t know what exactly was happening in Steve’s head, but as long as his creator was in no danger, he didn’t deem it necessary to wake him. The night was just beginning.

.oOo.

Come morning Steve was gone and Tony woke up to an empty tent. He yawned. An uneasy feeling settled in his gut. He couldn’t describe it but it felt weird to wake up alone. Tony should be used to this, he came to this island to be alone.

A seashell fell into his lap. It was beautiful, just like all the others he’d received. Tony looked at it for a long while - he just knew it was a gift from Steve - before he clapped his hands on his cheeks to wake himself up properly. He had a lot of stuff to do today. Steve would turn up sooner or later and then they could have a talk about the next steps of his rehabilitation.

JARVIS had already started the coffee machine when he was lucid enough to walk. The hot beverage was black and perfect, just the way he liked it. Tony stood in the doorway of his tent, stretched for a moment until he heard his spine pop. Satisfied, he let his gaze wander over his camp. Grabbing a mango for a late breakfast, he sat at the table on his porch and waited for Steve, who usually turned up around noon to spend time with him and learn new things, or to play with DUM-E and Butterfingers.

But Steve didn’t come.

Tony emptied his mug three times and Steve was still not here. He'd read the latest news from the outside world on his phone until he could no longer pretend to be unaffected by Steve's absence. After a while he stood up and went to one of his research tents to get some of the work done that he’d postponed the last few days. Turning up the volume of his music he got to work, needing the distraction.

Hours passed without Tony noticing and suddenly it was growing dark outside. Steve hadn’t shown up the whole day and a weight seemed to settle in his gut. He wasn’t hurt or injured, was he? He’d seen him almost every day these last few weeks, even if only briefly sometimes. This was more than suspicious, especially after yesterday evening.

Yesterday evening… He flushed. Absentmindedly Tony rubbed over the bandage on his hand. It hurt and distracted him from the thought of what might’ve happened yesterday if he hadn’t sent Steve out of the tent. He’d sent Steve out of the tent… Oh god, he’d sent Steve away! Steve’s knowledge of the English language should have been broad enough to understand that Tony hadn’t sent him away to get rid of him, shouldn’t it?!

Tony jumped in surprise when he heard something rattle outside of his tent and he nearly knocked some petri dishes over. Steve's name already on the tip of his tongue, he hurried outside and ran face first into a wall. Well, it could have definitely been a wall, but the arms that caught him were unmistakingly human.

"Tony! Hey, man, it's so good to see you again! Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

A deep male voice greeted him. Tony was pulled into a crushing embrace that left him reeling to catch up with what was happening. It took him embarrassingly long to recognize the voice, but once he did, there was no stopping himself from grinning from ear to ear.

"Rhodey? Rhodey, what are you doing here? Fucking shit, I missed you, platypus!" He fiercely returned the hug. It had been so long since the last time he'd hugged his best friend.

"Hey, what about me? Where’s my hug?" Another voice behind Rhodey asked.

Tony reluctantly let go of his best friend to look over his shoulder at Pepper who already awaited him with open arms. Tony didn't waste any time and hugged her joyfully.

"Pepper! Wonderful Pepper-pot, I missed you too! You look beautiful as always!" Tony laughed and lifted her petite figure up in the air. She laughed and returned the hug.

"Oh, let me down, you maniac! Let me look at your face, I haven't seen you in so long, I think I already forgot what you look like." Pepper chuckled and slid down. She held his shoulders at arm's length and both of them looked at him with twin grins.

They were all standing in the dim light of the lamp just outside Tony's research tent, right where he'd bumped into them. Tony used the opportunity to look his friends over as well. Rhodey was wearing cargo pants, Nikes and a simple tee, whereas Pepper was sporting a light boho summer dress with floral print, sandals and a cardigan wrapped around her shoulders against the night chill. Their suitcases were waiting behind them, Rhodey's black and Pepper's bright pink.

He smiled a bit broader at the sight of his two best friends in front of him. Their presence was like a warm embrace, metaphorically and literally. He realized his eyes were wet and tried to blink the tears away, but of course the two of them saw right through him. They pulled him into another hug and Tony was eternally grateful to have them in his life. He felt content and warm, and right this moment did he realize that he’d missed them more than he had thought. Pepper's soft hair, Rhodey's bear hugs, their scents and the familiarity that came with it. 

"I missed you both so much… thank you, thank you for coming over uninvited." Tony chuckled wetly in their shoulders and buried his face in their clothes.

"We missed you too, Tones… it's been almost seven months since you left. New York ain't the same without you." The Air Force colonel patted his back and Pepper carded her hand gently through his unruly dark hair.

"Yeah, James is right. Everything is calm and going smoothly at home. We're not used to that peaceful setting without you causing chaos somewhere." Pepper laughed brightly, but Tony knew that was just her way of saying that she'd missed him just as much as he'd missed her.

They all laughed harder and reluctantly Tony let go of them after another minute. He gestured around his camp and pointed towards the tent that held his cooking area and supplies. “Come on in, let’s not stand here all dressed up with nowhere to go. Are you hungry? I bet you are! I learned a few recipes with bananas. I can make something, while you tell me which deity I have to make a virgin sacrifice to as thanks that you’re here.”

His friends laughed and followed him to the kitchenette. Animatedly they told him about how they were doing, what was happening in New York and Malibu, about Rhodey’s last mission, and their spontaneous decision to visit him here in the South American jungle. They laughed a lot, Tony’s cheeks hurt soon enough. Pepper surprised him with the news that she was now engaged to Happy, Tony’s driver. Grumbling, Tony handed fifty bucks over to Rhodey who preened at winning the bet. In turn Pepper accepted the money from the colonel when they managed to stupefy Tony with the news that Rhodey and Carol -his long time love interest from the USAF academy-  were now finally a thing.

Tony was happy for his friends, he really was. Pepper and Happy were perfect for each other, just like Rhodey and Carol. But he couldn’t not take notice of the fact that he was now the only single of their group. Before he’d survived the attempted assassination and the betrayal of Obadiah he would’ve simply shrugged it off and hopped into bed with the next best chick or dude he’d find at one of the many parties he’d loved to attend when he’d been younger. But he was no longer that kind of person. Tony found himself drifting off mentally. A man with blonde hair and blue eyes appeared before his inner eye. Absentmindedly Tony picked at the bandage around his hand.

“What happened? Are you injured?” Pepper’s voice pulled Tony from his thoughts. She was finished with her helping of banana pancakes that Tony had made for them and held his hand in hers. With gentle fingers she traced the edges of the bandage.

“Oh, no, I mean, yeah. Not really, though. I didn’t pay attention and cut myself with the razor last night.” Tony answered her and pulled his hand back. He loved Pepper like the sister he’d never had, but her fingers on the bandage that Steve had applied felt kind of wrong.

“Last night? Don’t take that the wrong way, Tones, but it looks like you haven’t shaved in at least two days.” Rhodey peeled another banana and pointed at his stubbly cheeks with raised eyebrows.

Self-conscious he scratched at his chin. How was he supposed to explain this? His friends knew him, they wouldn't believe him when he said he was shaving his legs, a lie that would come crashing back at him the moment Pepper or Rhodey would look under the table and see his manly hairy legs.

"I- It's a bit complicated, to be honest. I can't really explain it and you wouldn't believe me anyway. I can try to show you what I'm talking about tomorrow." Tony laughed nervously. He hadn't seen Steve all day and the man was skittish at best whenever the topic of other humans came up. After all he’d always refused to let Tony’s friends see him whenever Tony facetimed them. Tony just prayed to Tesla that he'd turn up tomorrow so he could explain the situation to Steve and carefully introduce him to his friends.

Weirdly enough, he wanted them to get along, and was almost anxious about what his friends would think about Steve, when, or rather if, they’d meet. It was as if his teenage-self was introducing his first boyfriend to his parents all over again. And fucking shit, he wanted them to like Steve! He liked Steve! He liked…

Yeah, Tony liked Steve. That much was true.

“Don’t tell me you were drunk and tried to shave an orangutan!” Rhodey cackled and took a big gulp of the bottle of beer that he’d snitched from Tony’s fridge. Pepper almost choked on her banana smoothie and the two of them started laughing. The grin on the engineer’s face was more of a grimace than a real smile and he awkwardly joined in. If only they knew…

The three friends spent the rest of the evening talking and joking together until they were dead tired. Tony offered Rhodey and Pepper his own bed and he took the cot that he’d originally prepared for Steve the night prior.

How ironic, he thought as he listened to his friends’ quiet breathing as he laid in the dark and waited for sleep to come.

.oOo.

The next day found him exhausted and bleary-eyed. Tony hadn't slept much. The nervousness of what his friends would think when they eventually met Steve had kept him awake the whole night. When it was close to dawn he decided to screw trying to fall asleep again and stood up. It was already late in the morning, but the rainy season brought short days and long nights.

Tony quietly stood up, grabbed a towel and left the tent. He wrote his friends a note, informing them that he was at the beach, swimming. The leaves and the ground were a bit wet, like it had rained the night before.

The waves that licked at his feet were gentle and almost tickling. Tony stared at the horizon, where the approaching day painted rainbows in the sky. The island behind him was quiet, everything was still sleeping. In about an hour the first insects and birds would wake up, followed by the mammals. Somewhere amongst the animals there was a man sleeping under bushes and leaves. Maybe he had a cave or a nest, a hiding spot where he could feel safe. Tony had not seen Steve's sleeping place. Maybe it was still off limits for the man.

He took a deep breath of the salty air and shed his clothes and left them with the small towel he’d brought on a big rock. He had successfully forgotten to bring swimming trunks. Naked as the day he was born, Tony waded into the sea. The water wasn't exactly hot this early, but it was refreshing and woke him further. He swam for a while, always cautious of the tides, so he wouldn't drift off into the open sea. On his way back to the shore he saw the dark clouds that were looming behind his island. In the dim light of dawn they looked like mountains, massive and dangerous. The tingling in the back of his neck told him he should hurry and get back to shore. The storm JARVIS had warned him of was approaching.

Back at the beach he went to the rock where he'd left his things, but froze when there was nothing. His clothes were gone! A lonely sock, his towel and one shoe were lying in the sand a few meters away, but other than that, nothing!

"What the fuck?! Where are my things?" Gobsmacked, he turned around and spotted a monkey family in the palm trees near him. The little pests happily munched on his clothes, ripped the seams and left the shreds hanging in the treetops. “Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me! Do you expect me to walk back naked? That’s my favorite shirt! Give it back right now, you little shit!”

Tony ran towards them and picked up pebbles to throw at the primates. But the monkeys only made some angry noises and vanished in a blur in the thick foliage, his clothes in their greedy little hands. Tony didn’t even try to catch up with them, these animals were much faster than him. After all, the jungle was their territory.

Unable and kind of unwilling to believe what just happened Tony stood in the fresh morning breeze, dripping wet, without clothes or shoes. A fresh gust of wind made him shudder. Goosebumps rose on his skin and he hugged himself against the breeze. Grumpily he snatched the towel, dried himself off and started to trudge back to the trail that led back to his camp, the towel tied around his hips as a makeshift loincloth. He was incredibly glad that Rhodey wasn't here to witness his shit luck, but on the other hand that also meant that he had to explain to him why he was naked. Not that Rhodey hadn’t seen him naked before, they’d had some adventurous years together at MIT. Maybe he was lucky and no one would notice him when he came back.

He’d almost reached the camp when suddenly a voice piped up behind him.

“Tony? Why are you naked?”

Tony shrieked - very manly - and jumped a foot in the air. His hands flew to his towel and he suppressed a groan. What a way to start the day!

“Steve? Steve, hi, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Are you okay? You’re not hurt right? You didn’t turn up yesterday, so I was worried. Pa-pants? Are you wearing pants at the moment?” Tony started rambling. He heard some shifting behind him and waited for Steve to come around to face him. He closed his eyes tightly, counting to ten and trying to think of something other than ‘cheap porn set’. He opened his eyes again and yep. He sighed. “Steve… Why aren’t you wearing pants?”

The ape man was standing upright, but he held himself as if he was unsure if he was doing it right. And of course, he was stark naked. Pun absolutely intended. 

“Why do Tony not wear pant?” He shot back at him and pointedly let his eyes wander over Tony’s body. 

“Pants. It’s pants. Why does Tony not wear pants?” Tony corrected Steve and wanted to facepalm, but didn’t want to let go of the flimsy fabric around his hips because of obvious reasons. This was not the right moment to give English lessons. 

“Why does Tony not wear pants?” Steve repeated dutifully and came closer.

Call it a panic reaction, but Tony crossed his arms over his chest in defiance after tightening the knot on his loincloth. He felt absolutely ridiculous. The towel wasn’t especially big and only covered his middle, from his hips to his knees. Tony was comfortable with his body, but the way Steve’s blue eyes watched his every move made him squirm. He could feel the blush high on his cheeks.

“Tony does not wear pants because a fucking monkey family stole my things and I need to go back to my camp to-” Tony started ranting but paused when a thought hit him. He was on his way back to his camp. Steve was here. This was the perfect opportunity to introduce him to Rhodey and Pepper! Well, maybe not 100% perfect, Tony was still naked, and Steve was naked (as usual), and his friends would definitely laugh at them, and Tony was scared that Steve would run away the moment he laid eyes upon the strangers... but Steve was here .

If he decided to vanish again, then there was no way Tony would find him in the jungle to introduce him to his visitors. After all, it wasn’t like he could just call the man to grab a six pack and come over for a movie. And he had to introduce them sooner or later. The island was big, okay, but it wasn’t big enough that they wouldn’t meet by chance some day, and Steve was by no means stupid. He’d figure out that something was different soon enough.

He looked at Steve who was still waiting for him to finish his sentence. The blonde raised an eyebrow. He’d learned that from watching Tony for long hours. It looked good on him. Most things looked good on him. He also looked good without things on him.

Concentration, Tony!

“Steve. Come and accompany me back to the camp. Please.” Tony said, determined. “I have to show you something important.”

“Okay Tony.” Steve complied instantly and started to follow Tony back to his camp with a smile on his lips. This was surprisingly easy. Tony didn’t trust things that seemed too easy.

Tony could already see the tents through the branches of the trees. Roughly eighty meters separated them from the camp and Tony counted the prime number in his head. It wasn’t a very good distraction from the fact that Steve had a perfect view of his ass. He could feel how his blood pooled in his middle and tried his hardest to think of something different than the surely mind-blowing sex he could’ve had with Steve, if they’d met somewhere in the streets of Manhattan and not in the jungle.

A curious finger jolted him out of his daydreams.

“Steve! Wha-!” He hastily turned around and almost fell over his own feet, blushing like crazy. “Steve! Did you just poke me? Did you just poke me in the ass?”

“Baby bug.” Steve grinned brightly at him. The Tarzan was crouching on the ground, his finger still in the air where he’d just poked Tony. "Peter."

The engineer opened his mouth to give him a piece of his mind when his eyes landed on the alleged baby bug that was perched on Steve’s fingers. He was not proud of it, but Tony screamed at the sight of the full grown Avicularia avicularia, better known as Guyana pinktoe tarantula. Which was nearly as big as Steve’s hand!

“Holy fucking shit, what the goddamn fuck, Steve! That’s not a fucking ‘baby bug’, that’s a fully-grown abomination! Kill it! Kill it, Steve, before it lays eggs! Oh my fucking God, that thing was on my ass? Shit, shit, shitshitshit! Fuck, that’s so gross, I can feel it everywhere!”

Tony stumbled and landed on his butt as he tried to get away from Steve as fast as possible, bringing as much distance between himself and the horrific eight-legged monster. He almost lost his loincloth in the process, but that was the lesser of the two evils at the moment. Panicking he rubbed over every inch of his body. He could feel the imaginary legs of the spider all over himself, and it gave him goosebumps.

Steve however, looked at the tarantula on his hand and gently stroked the hairy body of the creature with a smile. The spider lazily lifted one leg and seemed to enjoy the ministrations. Tony was busy shaking off non-existent spiders and didn’t notice how the big blonde slowly came over to where he was sitting until it was too late and he was squatting down in front of him.

“Steve. I’m not joking here. Kill that monster right now. Oh God- Oh God, it’s moving!” Tony hissed at him.

The tarantula lazily crawled over Steve’s hand until it was sitting in his palm. It’s legs were so long that it had to fold them in so it wouldn’t fall off. Steve brought the spider close to Tony who tried to shuffle backwards until Steve’s other hand took a hold of his ankle to pull him back in.

“Not scary, Tony. Look. Beautiful animal. Peter.” Steve lowered his hand until the spider was the same level as Tony’s belly button so he could look down onto the animal and see everything, from the eight eyes, over the hairy body to the long and scary legs.

“I’m not fucking joking, Steve. Put that thing away or you’re gonna regret it! Jesus fucking Christ!” Tony whispered. Tony liked to believe he’d survived more dangerous situations, but a spider was a spider. Most people were scared of spiders! It was okay to be scared of spiders.

Steve let go of his ankle and Tony was ready to escape when he grabbed his wrist instead. Gently but firmly, Steve took his index finger and brought it to the body of the spider.

“Steve. I swear to every motherboard, if you don’t kill that monster within the next ten seconds then you’re a dead man.”

Steve continued to ignore him and then Tony’s finger was touching the body of the tarantula. It was black and brown, with hairs everywhere and pinkish legs. Tony closed his eyes, ready to faint, and opened them again in surprise. He’d expected the tarantula to feel coarse and hard. But it was surprisingly soft. Curled in on itself, it almost looked frightened in Steve’s large hand. The blonde looked at the animal with a contemplative look in his blue eyes, as if he tried to figure something out.

“Spider is my friend. Peter is my friend. Why are you scared, Tony?”

“I-I don’t know.” Tony stuttered and watched Steve closely. He’d not often seen Steve like this. He looked sad, almost devastated, it was unfamiliar on his usually cheery face. Deep shadows were etched into his skin, where the rising sun was shining on it. “Humans are scared of spiders. That’s just the way it is, I think.”

“Other animals scared of Peter too. Spider always alone. Like me.” Steve looked up and there was a deep hurt in his eyes. Tony had seen glimpses of it in those moments when Steve would look out over the sea as if he was mourning something he’d lost and forgotten about. Something ached inside of Tony’s chest and it was not the scar from his accident. In this moment he realized that he could never truly understand the loneliness Steve must have endured here on this island all by himself.

“Spider is always alone. Not understood. But is friendly. Peter does not hurt you. He does not want to be alone. I am friend. You understand me, Tony? I not want to be alone…” Steve averted his eyes again and looked at the spider once again. It wasn’t moving in his palm, seemingly enjoying being petted. He let go of Tony’s finger.

Just a minute ago he would’ve used this chance to crush the tarantula beneath a stone. But now…?

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat and hesitatingly petted the spider’s body with the tip of his index finger. From a different point of view, he could admit that the animal looked almost fluffy. Until it moved one of its long legs. Tony hastily pulled his hand back and tried to shake off the sickening feeling that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Steve, look at me. Please." Tony waited until Steve was looking at him with expectant eyes. This was certainly not what he’d expected to experience this morning. Well. Was there anything happening on this island that he had expected beforehand?

"You are not alone. Maybe you were alone in the past, but now you're not. You have me, and JARVIS, DUM-E and Butterfingers. We are your friends. We're not scared of you, we- we like you. And we want to, no, I want to understand you. And when you’re ready then you can accompany us. We can leave the island and I’ll show you the world. Maybe we can even find your family. And you’re free to stay with us or... explore the world on your own.”

Tony stared at Steve. The last sentence had hurt. He knew he didn’t want Steve to leave him, but it was an option he would give him if that’s what he wanted. That's what he'd once again promised himself just the other day. The tarantula once again lifted one leg and Tony awkwardly shifted where he was sitting.

Steve wordless took his hand and brought it to the tarantula. Tony watched in horror as the animal slowly crawled into his palm. He prayed to everything that was running on electricity that the spider wasn’t poisonous. Steve held onto his hand, offering silent support. Tony wanted to shake it off so badly, but he didn’t dare to hurt Steve’s friend , so he quietly endured it. The tarantula was surprisingly heavy, and it looked more fragile than it probably was with its long and thin legs.

“Peter Tony’s friend. I Tony’s friend. I want stay with you, Tony. I want Tony understand me. And I want see Tony. Tony Steve’s friend. I trust you. Stay with you. Please.” Steve’s voice was heavy with emotion, the golden sun was glistening in his expressive blue eyes. There was such a trusting and happy look on his face that it almost hurt. His smile was nearly blinding.

“Jesus fucking Christ on a Cracker, Steve! You can’t just say something like that! Of course you can stay!” It was a spur or the moment decision that made Tony lean forward, and he pulled his friend into a one-armed embrace, careful not to jostle the tarantula too much.

Taken by surprise, Steve lost his balance and fell forward, right on top of Tony.

They landed in the soft moss and leaves. The unlikely pair looked at each other for one stunned moment before they both started to laugh. Steve reached out to pick up Peter, who was a scarily quiet spider and hadn’t moved at all when they’d fallen over. With Peter securely on a leaf and seemingly watching the two of them, they stared at each other and started to laugh again.

Tony didn’t even know what he was laughing at. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the ridiculous situation, maybe it was the lack of caffeine in his bloodstream, he didn’t know. He was hugging Steve, who was lying on top of him and who was warm and safe and sturdy. How long had he dreamed of holding Steve in his arms like this?

Steve, who was laughing as well and it was the best sound in the world. Steve, whose arms somehow found their way around his waist, who held him close without crushing him beneath his bulk and keeping him warm against the fresh morning breeze.

They laughed and laughed while the wind from the sea let the leaves around them rustle. Peter, the tarantula and most unlikely friend Tony had ever expected to make, was still watching them, rubbing his legs against each other. Lazily and seemingly satisfied he started to scuttle back into the foliage at a job well done.

The engineer laughed until his cheeks and his belly hurt and tears were streaming down his face to vanish in his hairline. Beneath the skin of Steve’s shoulders he could feel the blonde’s muscles shift from his laughter. The dog tags he still wore were only inches away from Tony’s face.

It took them a long while to calm down again. When they were finally able to catch their breath again Peter was gone. People say the scariest spider was the spider that magically vanished after you spotted it, but Tony wasn’t concerned with Peter’s disappearance somehow.

Either way, he didn’t have the time to think about the damn animal, because the moment he was able to think straight again, he realized that he was still pretty much naked except for the towel around his hips. In the hubbub from earlier he’d nearly lost his loincloth and oh-

Steve was laying atop of him, one of his arms around his waist, the other he used to hold himself upright so he wouldn’t crush him, and Tony had his hands on his shoulders. The position they were in was pretty explicit. Trying to sit up Tony accidentally moved his leg. Nearly choking on nothing he realized that Steve’s crotch was pressed to his thigh. Steve must have noticed it as well because he looked down to where their bodies were pressed together.The engineer could feel how his blood colored his cheeks bright red. He bit the inside of his cheek. After a long minute Steve looked back up.

“Tony?”

Tony’s never heard Steve use that kind of voice before. It was more of a rumble, coming from deep within his throat and it reverberated through his whole body. It jolted through him like a bolt of lightning and he wanted to hear it again. Swallowing down the butterflies that threatened to break free, he tried to get his voice to work. But Tony struggled to find the correct words to defuse the situation. The air between them was charged, just like two days ago, and he could feel a shiver run down his arms and spine. A tingly warmth pooled in the small of his back, right where Steve had his hand.

“Ahaha, I’m sorry, Steve! I wasn’t- I mean, I didn’t- I, ah… Sorry, could you, could you, uh, let me sit up? I feel like I’m co starring in a cheap 80’s porn movie and honestly this is not what I’d ever planned on doing, you know, I mean, uh, not that I’d never do that with you! No! Wrong! I mean, I’d definitely do that with you, I mean, look at you, just, look at you, you’re like a walking playmate model, I mean… Oh, fucking shit, someone shut me up right now, Jesus Christ!”

Steve listened to his rambling with one eyebrow raised. The silence started to get heavy and was almost uncomfortable when he finally moved. Tony was prepared to elbow Steve if he decided to do something funny, when his face was suddenly embarrassingly close to his. Expecting a kiss he held his breath and closed his eyes. But Steve put his forehead to Tony’s, in a gesture that was maybe even more intimate than any kiss could be. Their noses touched. Tony took a breath and smelled the jungle on Steve.

He smelled like plants, flowers, wet soil and Tony’s shampoo that he’d used the day before yesterday, mixed with the man’s unique scent. It was calming and he found himself inhaling it deeply. Right in this moment, Tony didn’t even think about his friends that were still sleeping back at the camp.

“Tony? I want stay with you. Trust you. Please.”

“I thought we already established this? But… Y-yeah, okay. Okay. You can stay, Steve. I’d be happy if you stayed.” Tony kept his eyes closed and felt Steve hug him fiercely. Another moment passed and Steve tightened his hold around his waist. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of Tony’s flank and Tony jerked involuntarily.

“Tony?” Steve leaned back so he could look into Tony’s face. "What was that?"

He averted his eyes and bit his bottom lip. “Steve… That was nothing?" He tried.

A curious finger prodded his side. Tony expected it, but that didn’t mean that he was any less ticklish. He flinched and tried to get away from those fingers.

Steve grinned from ear to ear. “Tick-tickish? Tony is tickish?”

“Ticklish, Steve, and no I’m not tickli- gah! No poking people when they’re talking! Steve! Stop it!” Tony started squirming when Steve continued to prod and poke him. He roared with laughter and tried to shove Steve off, but his legs were caught beneath him and his curious fingers seemed to be everywhere.

“Always tell truth. Tony said friends do not lie! You are tickish!” Steve grinned and continued to attack his soft belly mercilessly. He was laughing in delight and his eyes were sparkling as if he was the one who was being tickled. “This is fun!”

“Stop it! Steve, Ohmagawd, stop! I can’t-! Stop, ple-please! Stop!” Tony gasped for air and managed to catch one of Steve’s hands but the other poked his belly button and he started giggling like a lunatic. He squirmed beneath him, trying to get away, but also enjoying it immensely.

"Stop! Don't you dare! Gah, Steeeeeve!"

Steve’s bright laughter rang in the fresh morning air and the sound was beautiful. If Tony hadn’t been preoccupied with dying he would have gladly listened to his voice all day long. But reality was cruel and suddenly the fun and peaceful moment was destroyed by approaching footsteps.

The thundering sounds drew closer.

“Hey! Hey, let go of our friend! Fuck off, asshole!”

Tony didn’t have time to register what was about to happen, when Steve was suddenly forcefully pulled off him. He gasped for air, still a bit dazed from laughing so hard. He heard grunting and shuffling noises and frantic hands were all over him. He sat up, yanked on the hands to get free and jumped when Steve suddenly fell to the ground next to him. His eyes were scrunched shut and blood was dripping from his nose.

“Steve! Oh my god- What the fuck?!” Tony gasped in shock. He wanted to get to him as fast as possible, but two petite arms held him back. “What-?”

“Tony!” Dazed and obviously ready to start a fight, Steve jumped up and reached for Tony.

“I said let him go!” A fist collided with Steve’s jaw before their hands could touch and Tony heard a sickening noise.

Rhodey was standing between Tony and Steve, his fists in the air, ready to punch the blonde again if he dared to move. He was in full soldier mode.

Steve wiped his nose with the back of his hand. Blood was still dripping from his nose and the left side of his jaw was slowly becoming red, blue and purple. He panted and threw a glance at Tony who was being held back by Pepper’s surprisingly strong grip. There was a feral glint in his blue eyes and without further warning he stormed forward and tackled Rhodey.

“Rhodey! Stop it! Let him go, that’s Steve! Steve! Steve, don’t- Pepper! What the fuck! Let me go! Oh my God! Steve! Rhodey, stop it!” Tony ignored Pepper’s pleas to get away and shook her off.

The two men were lying in the moss, fighting, throwing punches. Both had bloody knuckles and Rhodey’s left eye was bloodshot. Neither of them seemed to notice Tony, who was still wearing only his towel loincloth that was surprisingly still on his hips. He ran over to the pair and grabbed Steve’s bicep, trying to pull him away from Rhodey who was obviously no match for Steve.

“Steve! Steve, stop! Stop! Steve, hey, stop it! Look at me!” Tony managed to make the blonde stand up and pushed him back, away from his panting friend. Behind Tony’s back Pepper hurried over to the soldier to help him stand up. “Steve! It’s me! Calm down, Steve!”

“Tony! Get away from him! That maniac could kill you! Tony!” Rhodey leaned into Pepper’s side. Distrust was written over their faces.

Steve shoved Tony behind him as if to shield him, and faced the two foreigners head-on. He threw a glance over his shoulder at the smaller man. “Tony.”

The single word from Steve’s mouth sent a shiver down Tony’s spine. His voice was grave, almost threatening. But he wasn’t scared of Steve. He would never do something foolhardy.

“What-! Tony! Hey! Let him go, asshole!”

Fuck. He would.

“What the fucking shit! Again?! Steve!”

Tony looked at his friends that watched with gobsmacked expressions how Steve carried him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes to the nearest tree. Within seconds Steve had grabbed a handful of vines, and before he could do more than stare at his friends and wonder why they were upside down, the Tarzan and his Tony-sized backpack were in the air.

“Steve! Hey! What are you doing! Let me down! I thought we were past this?!” Tony tried to reason with his friend, but his words fell on deaf ears.

The wind ruffled his hair and through the whooshing in his ears, Tony tried to understand what Steve was mumbling. His stomach swooped and a shout escaped him when some of the vines ripped and they fell a few meters before Steve managed to grab another handful. They weren’t as fast as Tony had seen Steve go before, the man carried Tony’s extra weight after all.

The engineer wanted nothing more than to clear up the horrible misunderstanding, talk to Rhodey and Pepper, explain, introduce them to each other, and make Steve understand that those foreigners were not his enemies. This was definitely not how he’d imagined their first meeting! Tight knots in his belly that weren’t from the height, curled in his insides like snakes, making him sick. The weight of the more than just unfortunate incident less than three minutes ago came crashing down on him.

Disaster Beyond All Expectations was quite fitting. Capital letters absolutely needed.

“Steve! Hey!” He thumped his fist on Steve’s back to get his attention. But he was ignored again. Tony craned his neck and tried to catch the other’s gaze. But Steve didn’t turn to look at him or pause in getting them away from the camp as fast and far as possible.

Here, up in the air, they were in Steve’s territory. The thick foliage and tree tops were his space. He knew every nook and cranny, every tree and every branch like the back of his hand. Tony didn’t dare to move around too much, afraid of falling down. Steve was fast, but he was also just human. And Tony especially was a very soft and squishy human. He was not ready to risk his life, doing something rash.

The strong hand that held onto his thighs twitched and tightened until it bordered on painful, before loosening up again.

He tried poking Steve again, hoping to get him to pause for a moment. The image of Steve and Rhodey fighting wasn’t leaving Tony. The scene was playing in a loop in his head.

His buddy since MIT punching Steve in the face until blood was dripping from his nose… The man he was secretly in love with tackling Rhodey to the ground, while Tony could do nothing but watch the two of them…

The horrified looks on his friends' faces…

The protective stance, how Steve had wanted to shield him…

The feral glint in his blue eyes…

For half a second Tony had thought what he’d seen was jealousy. And it made the knots in his belly tighten again and this time they almost felt like butterflies.

But he didn’t have time to ponder over the thought any longer because Steve slowed down. Tony looked up. They were in a part of the jungle that he didn’t recognize. Admittedly, the trees looked all the same to him, and he didn’t exactly have any sense of direction. He searched for the tip of the mountain and found it to his left. They were close to the middle-sized rock mass. The sun that peeked through the dark clouds threw dim shadows on everything. The golden glow from before was gone.

From the look of it they were in the one part of the island that Tony hadn’t explored yet, meaning he had no idea how he was supposed to get back to his camp on his own, if Steve refused to help him. For half a second he considered trying to get back by orienting himself by the sun, but the heavens were not on his side today. A thick cloud obscured the sun in exactly that moment and the colors of the jungle around them became dull. Not that it would've helped a lot.

Again. Tony did not possess the qualities of a pathfinder.

Tony felt stupid being manhandled like a child by Steve, when the blonde sat him down on a thick branch, at least seven meters above the ground. Tony looked at the tree. He looked at Steve. He looked at the tree again.

It was a kapok tree. Of course it was a fucking kapok tree again.

“Are you fucking insane?!” Tony started his rant. He was sitting on the branch, his legs hanging down from it left and right, giving him a secure seat. He wanted to stand up and pace to give Steve a piece of his mind. Admittedly, he didn’t dare to because of the height and the rough bark that scraped over his thighs and naked ass and… other things .

Fortunately the magic towel was still tied around his waist.

“You can’t just go around and punch someone! Rhodey’s my friend and now he probably has a broken nose! Punching people is bad, Steve! Really bad! No punching, you hear me? Steve! Are you even listening to me? Friends don’t punch other friends’ friends! Bad Steve! We don’t do this, got it? And now get me off this tree and show me the way back! You can’t just kidnap me like that! I thought we were making progress? What’s with the whole ape man behavior again? I thought you wanted to be human! Hey! Steve! Steve! Get back here! What the fuck are you doing?”

Tony stopped gesturing around and watched in confusion when Steve observed their surroundings, not even paying him any attention. He climbed up to the higher branches of the kapok tree and after a minute of not doing anything he came back to Tony. The situation made him uncomfortable. Tony had never seen Steve like this. He seemed restless, almost uneasy. He came back to Tony with a haunted look in his eyes.

“Steve? What the fuck are you doinnnmm-!” Tony spluttered and tried to shove Steve off who was pressing him to his washboard abs without warning. He was kneeling before Tony.

“Tony stay. Is not safe. I find safe place for you.” Steve insisted with a frown. He held his head in his large hands and Tony had his fingers wrapped around the wrists that gently but insistently forced him to look up into Steve’s face and his serious expression. “Wait. Tony wait for me. Stay. Don’t go to the mountain. Is not safe. Not safe.”

Tony opened his mouth to ask what the fucking hell Steve was talking about when the other bent down. Steve brought their faces close and the engineer’s breath hitched. For half a second he expected to be kissed but instead Steve licked a long stripe up his cheek.

“Gah! Steve! Oh my God! Ugh, that’s disgusting! Stop it! You’re not a dog!” Tony grimaced and rubbed the back of his hand over his cheek where Steve had licked him.

Grinning broadly, Steve leaned in again and this time it was a weird mixture of a lick and a kiss that he planted on his other cheek.

Tony shuddered involuntarily and rubbed both hands over his face. From the corner of his eyes he saw Steve smile like a loon, a tiny blush high on his cheeks. Then, without further warning, the blonde jumped from the tree branch, grabbed some of the vines around them and vanished into the thick green foliage.

“Steve! Steve! Hey! Get the fuck back here! Steve! Idiot Tarzan! What the fucking shit!?” Tony yelled and threw some dried bark at where he’d seen Steve vanish. A swarm of parrots emerged, startled by Tony. The engineer continued cursing and yelling, but Steve was long gone. If this was supposed to be a joke then he didn’t like it! He hated it!

Stay here, stay here, as if Tony would just stay here and wait uselessly! He wasn't a damsel in distress and if Steve thought he could act like a caveman then he was barking up the wrong tree, so to speak. He was going to get back to his camp, come hell or high water!

Muttering and grumbling he tried to stand up enough that he could at least kneel on the kapok branch and get closer to the trunk of the tree. How he was supposed to get back to his camp he didn’t know. The wind was slowly getting stronger and the leaves rustled loud enough that they could rival the sea. Tony suppressed a shudder. He needed to get back as soon as possible.

If there wasn’t the problem of the tree.

He was an engineer, a citizen of New York City, he was simply not suited for climbing trees. Steve had shown him a few helpful hints and tricks, and after roughly half an hour he’d made it to the ground without breaking a leg. Sure, his ankles were bloody, his fingernails broken and he had bark and leaves in his hair, but he still wore his towel toga and was alive. So he counted it as a win.

Tony turned around and tried to see something that could help him find his way back, but the only thing he could make out was the tip of the mountain range that Steve had warned him of. Throwing caution to the wind he stubbornly started to trudge in the direction of it. He'd been near there before, he'd survived and it was his only chance to get any clue of where he was. From a higher vantage point he could maybe find his camp from above. He had no idea what Steve was so afraid of, but honestly, Steve was scared of a plastic spork and was sure that Tony's blow dryer wanted to eat his brain.

It wasn't a long walk to the foot of the mountain, he was there in just under an hour, Tony supposed. All the while he'd been walking, the pieces of the clouds above him that he'd been able to make out had darkened further. Tony had not forgotten about the approaching storm and was well aware that the days were shorter in the rainy season. He simply hadn't expected them to be that short, now that he had the time to really take notice of it. He needed to find his way home as soon as possible if he didn't want to sleep under a palm leaf.

Tony threw a long look up the side of the mountain and swallowed. For a moment he pondered if it would have been easier to try and get to the shore instead. The paths formed by goats and other mammals didn't exactly look appealing. But then he pulled himself together and started walking. Never let it be said that Tony wasn't as stubborn as a mule.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

.oOo.

The rocky mountain was just as unwelcoming and horrible as it looked from below…!

Oh, great mother of Tesla, how he wished for shoes!

His feet hurt like hell from walking for so long and he had nearly fallen a few times. But the effort was worth it. Tony was sweaty and exhausted but his anger gave him a boost of strength and sooner than expected he was standing on a small plateau that overlooked one side of the island he called home at the moment. This spot of the mountain wasn't exactly an amicable one. The bushes around him were small, sickly, and looked like only their stubbornness stopped them from rotting away, dying and falling down the side of the rocks around them. There were no flowers and no animals, Tony didn't even see one of those damned wasps that had been out to kill him the last time he'd ventured this far.

In the distance he could see the shore but none of what he could make out looked familiar enough to be used as a landmark. And the sky above him was gray and the higher he'd ventured the stronger the wind had gotten.

"You can't be serious?! I want to go back! Steve! Idiot Tarzan! Where the fuck am I? Where the fuck are you? Steeeve!? Get your stupid ass back here, you dumb idiot, and bring me home right this fucking instant, Jesus fucking Christ!" Frustrated, hungry, exhausted and angry Tony threw his hands in the air and cursed a blue streak.

Not that it did him any good. Nothing happened. His voice was drowned out by the whooshing noise of the wind.

Steve didn't appear out of thin air and all he managed to achieve was that angry tears pricked his eyes. They ran down his face to disappear in his goatee. Tony wasn't a crybaby usually, but right now it was just too much. Angrily he rubbed with the back of his hand over his eyes and hissed when he touched the bloody spot near his temple from where he'd stumbled and fallen earlier.

His mind was a whirlwind of emotions. Tony didn't know where he was, how he was supposed to get back home, he didn't know where Steve was. The cherry on top was that he was still only wearing a towel loincloth. And he hadn’t had breakfast or coffee.

Also, he didn't allow hinself to think about the huge fucking problem the size of Manhattan that Rhodey and Steve's fistfight posed. He didn't, no Sir, he didn't. He had more pressing matters at hand, like the fact that he didn't know where he was, the approaching storm in his back and the advancing night on the horizon.

"There's no way this can get any worse…" Tony sighed and put his hands on his hips, trying to get a grip of the rollercoaster of emotions inside him.

Reality was a bitch.

Thunder was audible above him. The first raindrop landed on the tip of his nose, the second on his shoulder and within seconds it was raining cats and dogs.

"Of course it can…"

Defeated Tony ran as fast as possible to the next small group of trees on another surprisingly big plateau to find a shelter. The sky was darkening by the minute and the ground beneath his feet was wet and slippery and Tony nearly slipped and fell down the side of the mountain. Up this high there were no paths formed by goats or other animals, no shelter except for the puny trees around him that barely protected him from the wind that came with the rain.

He was shivering when he finally stopped to take a breather. Sitting down on a small patch of moss, Tony looked at his feet. His soles were bloody, dirty and calloused. He had a cut across his calf that was crusted with blood. Quite honestly he probably looked like he’d been in the jungle on his own for a few weeks and not a few hours. Not for the first time Tony wondered how Steve had managed to survive so long.

Steve…

Tony was so pissed at the blonde there were no words for it. The moment he saw him again he’d punch him in his annoyingly handsome face. And kiss him. Maybe first the kissing and then the punching, he wasn’t into bloodplay. While Tony tried to remove a splinter from his aching toe and cursed Steve to high heaven, a thunderbolt lit up the sky. His head whipped around so fast he was almost dizzy from it. Carefully he started to get up as the storm around him seemed to intensify by the minute. Dark clouds hung low in the gray sky and from the other side of the mountain came fog as thick as soup. He tried his hardest to make out the shore in the distance but the white and gray obscured everything.

Tony stepped back from the trees until his back hit the wall of the mountain. He tightened the knot on his damp towel. How that piece of fabric still kept up was beyond him. Pressing close to the rock in his back Tony walked sideways along the side of the mountain, away from the trees and keeping his distance from the gaping chasm.

Wary of the storm and wind around him he didn’t pay enough attention to where exactly he was walking and the moment his fingers realized there was no rock beneath them anymore was the exact same time the uneven ground beneath his feet caved in.

“Fucking shit! Gah-!” Tony’s voice died in his throat when he suddenly fell backwards into darkness. Luckily he didn’t fall far, and sooner than expected he hit the ground again. Well, it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt like hell to land on hard and unyielding gravel that was only covered with a thin layer of moss.

Tony, the engineer gone astray, laid in the dimness and held onto his throbbing shoulder. His mouth was filled with blood from where he’d accidentally bitten the inside of his cheek. Reciting prime numbers in his head he waited for the pain to subside until he was ready to sit up again. The gravel under his hands and butt was cold and damp, just like the air around him. With the last daylight shining inside the big hole in the side of the mountain he could see that he was inside a surprisingly large cave.

Batcave , his mind supplied unhelpfully. At least it was dry.

But there were no bats, luckily. A bit wobbly Tony stood up and turned around. He held onto his shoulder and could practically feel a bruise forming there. Cursing under his breath he was about to turn around to get back to the entrance of the cave when another thunderbolt enlightened the scenery. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something reflect the white light. Tony turned around while the storm outside raged on.

What he saw made him gasp.

“Holy fucking shit!” Tony stumbled back and fell over his own feet. Grunting he landed on his ass again. He stared at the huge thing in front of him. His voice was still echoing in the cave.

Alien and threatening loomed the skeleton of a small plane. It was almost completely destroyed, smashed to bits and rusty. The front of the jet fighter was shredded to pieces and in the dimness around him Tony couldn't make out a cockpit, if it was still there. The scrap metal that had caught his eyes was lying to his left and carefully he reached out to pull it towards him. It was scorched and dirty, withered as if it had been lying here for a long time. He rubbed over the surface and slowly he could make out the stars and stripes of the flag of the United States.

“What on earth…?” Tony looked at the jet again, a dreading feeling in his gut. Could it be? Was this the answer to the question of how Steve had ended up on this godforsaken island? Tony had supposed that Steve had been a soldier before he’d lost his memory, and here in front of him was a jet fighter from the Air Force to prove his theory. If only Rhodey could see this, the colonel was a walking encyclopedia when it came to USAF mission reports.

Pulling himself together, the engineer stood up on shaking legs and carefully stepped closer to the wreckage of metal and wires. Another thunderbolt provided enough light that he could see more. Up close the jet fighter was bigger than he had guessed at first. The wings were no longer attached to the belly of the airplane, instead he could see scratches along the walls of the cave where they must have collided with the rock when the plane had crashed. The small door to the belly of it was ripped off its hinges and Tony came closer to carefully peek inside.

With every passing second, more puzzle pieces that he couldn't name seemed to pop up in his head.

Tony only noticed how hard he was shivering when his fingers touched the ice cold metal. His nerves were high strung and his whole stance tense enough that it physically hurt. The surfaces inside that weren't covered with dust and debris were still shiny and smelled like a sickening mixture of metal, fire and moss… and something that he could only describe as death .

A gust of wind swept through the cave and the metal sung in the breeze. It was a hollow sound, as if the skeleton in front of him was mourning and crying. Cold sweat was on his forehead and a shudder ran down his spine as he involuntarily imagined what must have happened here. This time Tony did not shiver from the cold.

The towel around his hips was still wet and he had goose bumps on his arms and legs. Outside it had simply been cool but this far inside the mountain and with the approaching night  Tony was freezing. His warm breath was visible in the cold air. Wary and ready to bolt if something moved, he poked his head further inside the plane and looked around some more. Maybe if he was lucky he'd find an army blanket or something that he could use against the cold.

Tony hissed when his bruised and battered feet touched the icy metal of the belly of the plane. Subconsciously he knew what a stupid idea it was to climb into a possibly unstable wreckage, but his morbid curiosity got the upper hand. It was even darker in here than in the cave but for the first time this day luck was on his side. Tony's gaze fell upon a flashlight that was dusty and a bit rusty but he hoped that it was still working and wasn't disappointed.

Ten seconds later he suppressed a cry of joy when the flashlight illuminated the scenery. The small cone of light threw shaky shadows on the walls that weren’t destroyed. Tony tried to not lose any time and ventured further into the airplane. Within minutes he'd indeed found a musty blanket that he happily draped across his shoulders. The change was immediate but also made him realize how cold his toes were by now. Next were a few MREs but unfortunately no water, as well as some tools and other small things like band aids and things he might need. Tony heaved a sigh and observed the destroyed and burnt electronic parts, hoping to get his hands on something that he could use to contact Rhodey and Pepper if he found another gadget with a working battery.

The brunette had the flashlight between his teeth and was elbow deep in a clutter of cables when the airplane around him creaked ominously and he stopped dead in his tracks. His heart was beating hard in his chest, hard enough that it almost physically hurt. Tony didn't have a good relationship with caves in general, born from his captivity in the desert, but now he wasn't only in a cave but also in an unstable wreckage. He carefully retracted his hands and scooped up the old army backpack that he'd filled with his findings.

"Fuck, fuck, fucking shit..." Tony cursed with his heart in his throat. He kept his voice down, but didn't even know why.

The moment he took a careful step backwards the already smashed cockpit crumbled further. Flashlight in hand, Tony jumped back and hit the unforgiving surface of a crushed panel behind him. He grunted in pain. A big chunk of the siding came down with a loud noise and Tony raised his arms, hoping to shield his face. After fifteen tense seconds the crunching and creaking stopped.

The engineer breathed a sigh of relief and was on his way out of the wreckage, away from this death trap with everything he'd managed to get his hands on, when something in the smashed cockpit reflected the light of his flashlight.

Hoping for another piece of working technology he turned and took a careful glance.

The clanking sound of the flashlight that fell from Tony's lax fingers echoed in the eerie silence of the cave. Only the faint sounds of the rain and thunderbolts were audible next to Tony's ragged breathing. There, in the mostly destroyed cockpit of the fighter jet, was a shield. Tony saw the round metal disk that was partly covered by debris and thought his mind was stopping. He knew this shield. Red, white and blue, with a star in the center… 

"Jesus… This can't be true..."

There had been rumors, of course there had been rumors. But now...

For a few years before Tony's fateful incident with a certain terrorist group, there had been rumors about a captain of the US army. Tony had heard the stories, the modern fairytales that the internet liked to spread about one man.

According to those gossip sites and magazines a soldier - or a superhuman - as they liked to portray him, had been the leader of a task force that only took on the hardest and most dangerous missions. He was a ghost and a myth, no agency had ever confirmed his existence, but neither had they denied it. Blurry photos of bystanders had popped up, of a man in a dark combat suit with a cowl and a telltale silver shield on his back. Furthermore, the closer one tried to look into the cases he was told to have been involved in, the more one had to realize that this man seemed to be everywhere: North America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, … and South America.

There had been nothing known about his true identity and origin, if he was even real to begin with. Gossip magazines and late night talk shows had filled their program with speculations about him. The gossips had reached their climax when one photo went viral. It was a blurry photograph, taken by a young girl in the region of Delhi. It showed the mysterious soldier and his team while they rescued hostages from a burning skyscraper. Lots of pictures like that had appeared over the years but this one was an exception because the shield the soldier had carried was no longer silver, but red, blue and white, like the American flag, and the people had started to call the man Captain America after that. The name became a legend overnight, just like the man.

Tony remembered the days those gossips had started to die down. No new footage had leaked, the news of his sightings had been old or fake and wannabes and imposters had appeared like mushrooms after a rain. He'd not paid them much attention, Tony had been too preoccupied with other things back then.

Cringing he remembered this time of his life before his stunt in Afghanistan, that he'd filled with women, alcohol and parties. Back then he hadn't investigated the case of the rumored super soldier, and now he wished he'd paid more attention.

Back in the present Tony picked up his flashlight and carefully came closer to the remnants of the cockpit. The shield was cold and a bit dusty, but still in perfect shape. Feeling bold he took hold of it and pulled. It was sheer luck that none of the plane panels came loose to strike him dead. Jolting and jerking he managed to free the metal disk after a short while.

It was surprisingly light. Tony heaved it up to strap it to his forearm, when a pile of clothes fell from where he’d just pulled the shield from. Muttering under his breath he deposited the shield on the ground next to his backpack and went to investigate the fabrics that soon proved to be a uniform of sorts.

If he'd been skeptical about the shield, questioning himself if it was the real thing, then all of his doubts were blown away the moment he realized what exactly he was holding. It was a combat suit made from dark blue leather and kevlar, silver lines on the shoulders that led to a star in the middle of the chest. Tony pulled everything he could grasp out of the plane. He needed room to think and most importantly room to pace. This was beyond everything he'd expected to happen!

Outside of the plane, near the entrance of the cave, Tony laid everything he'd found on the ground. The partly destroyed uniform consisted of pants and a top with a zipper from the neckline to the side of the chest. Furthermore he'd found one boot, one glove and a belt with numerous pouches, which were unfortunately empty. The flashlight he'd found was perched on a large rock to his left, brightening the items as much as possible from this angle.

Tony had spent the last twenty minutes pacing and muttering and cursing. Now he was sitting on the ground, defeated and exhausted, with the blanket around his shoulders like a toga. And in his hands he held what must have one day been a cowl. His fingers traced the ragged edges of the destroyed thing.

"Jesus fucking Christ…" Tony breathed again and again, and briefly glanced at the shield. Next to it was a small gadget that he'd found while trying to pull as much of the uniform from the destroyed jet fighter as possible. It had only taken him two seconds to realize what he was holding. It was the blackbox of the plane, albeit almost completely smashed. Tony was sure he would be able to hack this baby within five minutes, but without a computer or a way to contact JARVIS, it was useless.

His brown gaze found the cowl again and he swallowed. There was blood on it. A lot of dried blood, just like on the uniform. Tony wasn't stupid. The final puzzle piece clicked into place the moment he had found the name stitched to the inside of the uniform top.

Steven G. Rogers

Beneath the name was a long number that Tony suspected to be some kind of identification number.

With a shudder he remembered the long and ugly scar on the back of Steve’s head and the dog tags he was still wearing. The storm raged on outside of the cave and Tony pulled the blanket a bit tighter around himself.

Yeah, it was true.

Captain America, or rather the soldier the world had started calling Captain America, was real and alive and didn’t know who he truly was. The living myth was roaming an uninhabited island in the South American jungle. He was forgotten by the world, just like he’d forgotten about the world. And Tony had found him by chance.

The engineer had found him, feral and more animal than human. A man that had saved so many, if he was to believe the rumors about his missions. And seeing that he held the proof of his existence in his hands, there was a good chance most of the stories were true as well. But now he needed to be saved and Tony would be damned if he left him behind.

Tony knew he wasn’t a soldier or an honorable man to begin with, he was probably the most inappropriate choice to save a man like Captain America. But, to be quite honest with himself -and Tony didn’t do that all that often- he didn’t care much about the Captain. That soldier was a foreigner to him. But Tony cared about the Tarzan, the wild man with the bluest eyes he’d ever seen and a heart of gold. Yeah, he cared about the man who refused to wear pants and talked to spiders. That was who he wanted to save.

While Tony pondered over what he was supposed to do now with this new information, another lightning bolt struck. The trees in front of the opening of the cave creaked ominously and the wind was getting colder by the minute.

Call it a rash decision, but Tony was freezing and therefore he stood up and stepped into the tattered uniform pants. The leather and kevlar were a bit stiff, but it was immensely better than the wet towel around his hips. He didn’t need cystitis and pyelitis. Going commando was also not his favorite thing, but frankly, his dick was freezing as well and appreciated the pants.

They were obviously too long. Tony had to roll the hem up until he didn’t trip anymore. Feeling bold he also put on the uniform top. It was too large, just like the pants. Furthermore the top had more holes in it than not and the zipper on the side of the chest wasn’t working perfectly, but for the first time in what felt like ages, he was clothed. The uniform smelled faintly like wetness and musk, but underneath it Tony imagined he could smell Steve.

“This is the most unreal thing that has ever happened to me, Jesus fucking Christ, and JARVIS isn’t here to see this.” His words were lost in the howling sounds of the storm, but Tony didn’t care. Nobody was here to hear him anyway. Though, he was a bit disappointed that his bots couldn’t take a photo of him.

He plopped down again and started to munch one of the MREs. Frankly, they tasted horrible. How in God’s name soldiers were supposed to stay alive with those things was beyond him. Tony swore that if he ever made it back home he’d start inventing a four course MRE.

As he sat and ate, the realization hit him once again that he had no idea how he was supposed to get back to his camp, where Steve was, and if Rhodey or Pepper were looking for him. He hadn't found anything in the plane that he could've used to contact J. Tony pulled the blanket he had around his shoulder closer to wrap it around himself to become an especially beautiful specimen of a blanket burrito. The MRE had at least managed to appease his hunger for the time being, and the damp towel was meanwhile draped over one rock to dry. At least he wasn't going to starve.

Tony was well aware that it was getting later and later. Technically it was already late enough that every normal human being would have probably gone to bed by now. But Tony was a night owl, had always been one. After having decided that he'd spent enough time thinking over his options, he stood up. He stuffed the blanket, the remaining MREs and the Blackbox into the big army backpack that he’d found, strapped the shield to his forearm and took the flashlight with his free hand.

Stubbornness was his middle name. No, actually it was Edward, but it could easily have been stubbornness.

With the shield above his head as an umbrella, the backpack on his back and the flashlight in hand, he stepped out of the cave. The storm was heavier than what he’d expected and he considered his options for a moment. His bangs were already wet and plastered to his forehead, but the wish to get back was stronger than his exhaustion.

“I’ll come back for you, Steve, just you wait. Just like the old man said… I’ll be back.” Quoting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous line from Terminator he turned around and started to make his way back to the other side of the mountain with a new hope in his heart.

.oOo.

“Steve! Idiot Tarzan! Can you hear me? Steve! Steve!” Tony yelled into the night, fighting against the wind. His voice was hoarse by now and exhaustion crept inexorably into his bones with every wobbly step he took. No matter how lightweight the shield on his arm was, he was tired, so tired and it felt like he was carrying a hundred pounds on one arm.

It was past midnight, Tony guessed. Hours must have passed. All the while the storm hadn’t ceased much. Luckily for him it had stopped thundering and it had been a while since he’d seen the last thunderbolt. But the wind was still as strong as before. At least it was only raining faintly now, and no longer as intense as when he’d left the cavern.

Slowly he was getting desperate and considered trying to get back to the cave with the plane wreckage in it. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so overly confident in his survival skills just because he was now wearing clothes.

From the spot where was standing he thought he could see the shore through the darkness. The fog had dissolved a while ago due to the continuous rain. Nature around him was no longer as hostile as before; there were a few trees and bushes, moss, and even some spots with grass. Those few patches of green were balm for his maltreated feet. Tony could no longer feel his toes or his soles in general. No matter how good the combat suit was sheltering him from the wind, he was still shuddering. Curling into a ball under the nearest tree sounded more appealing by the minute.

“Steve! Steve, are you there? Rhodey? Can anybody hear me? Steve! Steve!” Tony tried to yell into the wind, but nothing changed. He was still alone and freezing and lost. Tony pocketed the flashlight. Its battery was almost dead and this way he would at least not lose the thing.

Angrily he rubbed one hand over his eyes. A single tear rolled down his cheek born from his distress, but no one was around to see it before it vanished, washed away by the rain on Tony’s face. He pushed his wet hair from his forehead. The ground before him was stony. He’d followed a small path, probably created by goats or other mammals, hoping that it would take him to a more friendly area of the island that had started to look more and more like a trap than a paradise with every futile step Tony took. To his right was the side of the mountain, gray and wet, and to his left was the yawning chasm. On the foot of the mountain, at least five meters beneath him, was the thick foliage of the first trees of the jungle. He'd made it farther than what he'd expected, considering that he was climbing unknown paths in the darkness of the night.

Another gust of wind had him hold onto the roots of a plant that stubbornly defied gravity and grew on the side of a large rock. Suddenly a single ray of moonlight enlightened the path in front of Tony. He looked up. The rain was getting fainter and the rocks and plants around him were glowing ominously in the silver light. The dense blanket of clouds above his head was breaking up and through the tiny hole Tony could see the full moon and a few stars. It was a small comfort.

The involuntary adventurer took a deep breath of the cold air that smelled of rain, moss, salt and wind. The night was quiet again but the drizzling rain was still making him shiver. Tony wanted nothing more than to find Steve and get back to his camp.

“Steve! Steve, are you there? Rhodey! Pepper! … Steve! If you’re here then, please, for fucks sake stop hiding, you ass! Steve! Idiot Tarzan!”

Tony’s voice went unheard. For a long moment he stood there, the shield on his arm, the tattered suit on his body, the backpack on his shoulders, while water droplets fell from his bangs and the tip of his nose. His feet were bleeding and hurt like a bitch just like his shoulders and all he wanted to do was close his eyes, fall asleep and be in his tent when he opened them again.

Where was Steve?

Where were Rhodey and Pepper?

Where was his camp with DUM-E and JARVIS and Butterfingers?

If only the sun would rise sooner so he could find a dry spot to rest and try to build something that could help him get back home with the scraps from the plane wreckage.

Tony contemplated his options, what possibilities were left, when a loud noise made him turn around abruptly. In the dim light of the partially revealed moon he saw a few large rocks fall down the side of the mountain, just a few meters behind him. Tony stumbled backwards a few steps before he turned around to get away from the falling rocks. The foot of the mountain wasn’t that far, if he could make it there without being killed then that could-

“Tony!”

Tony’s heart very nearly stopped in his chest. Careening he came to a halt where he was stumbling down the beaten path and turned around. The moon was shining down on him, the light painted tiny silver specks on his surroundings. For a moment he was almost convinced the howling wind and his tired mind were playing tricks on him. Tony’s gaze followed the path he’d come down until he saw… There, within a stone’s throw of him was…

“Steve!”

Steve was half standing half crouching on one of the big rocks that edged the path he'd come from. His face was contorted with worry. He was just as soaked as Tony was and his blue eyes looked haunted. Through the darkness Tony saw that he was holding a flashlight and to his big surprise he was wearing not only the pants he’d gifted Steve all those months ago, but also one of Tony’s sweaters. His feet were bare, just like the engineer’s, and Tony saw that they were dirty and bruised from the stony path.

“Steve!” Tony was broken from his state of shock by another crashing sound.

One of the puny trees behind him had been hit by another falling rock and the small tree trunk hadn’t been able to hold up with the force of the stone. Both were falling down the side of the mountain, and that was the moment Tony took to his heels and started to scramble towards where Steve was.

Exhaustion forgotten, all he could focus on was the figure of the man he’d been looking for and how he was also running towards Tony as fast as the uneven ground allowed. The storm had picked up strength again and the rocks beneath his feet were slippery, but Tony paid them no mind. Steve’s blue eyes seemed to glow through the darkness, and that was all he was able to concentrate on.

A dire mistake.

Tony had almost reached Steve, was already reaching out for the hand of the blonde, when the ground beneath his feet caved in. Tony heard the crunching sound, felt gravity shift around him and saw the panic in Steve’s eyes when he lost his footing and fell.

Books and movies liked to portray the moment before you died as if your life flashed before your eyes and you remembered things from your childhood or adulthood that left an impression on you. Tony had always thought the idea of seeing your life was stupid and chliché. All he could see was the darkness of the night around him and the moon in the sky above which was still half-hidden by rain clouds.

And Tony screamed. Pain shot through his body when he hit the side of the mountain. For a split second he thought he was a goner for good when his fall was abruptly stopped by a hand that held tightly onto his wrist. Tony hadn’t noticed he’d closed his eyes when the pain had started until he opened them again to find Steve hovering above him.

Adrenaline was thrumming though his body and made his nerves sing. Tony didn’t dare to breath. Steve knelt on the last rock before there was nothing. His knuckles were white as he gripped Tony’s shield-less arm tightly enough to leave a hand shaped bruise. With his other hand he held onto the roots of a puny bush. The flashlight laid forgotten on the ground and rolled towards the chasm until nothing held it anymore and it fell into the darkness of the jungle.

“Tony! I got you, Tony! I am here!” Steve’s gaze was hard and desperate.

“Steve! Steve, don’t let go! Oh, God, please don’t let go of me!” Tony was unable to use his other hand to hold more tightly onto Steve because of the shield. He was entirely dependent on the other’s strength. His heart was hammering in his chest, hard enough that it hurt and honest-to-goodness fear shook his frame. He concentrated on Steve’s blue eyes, big, bright and beautiful, and didn't dare to look down.

Afterwards Tony would have been happy if he could tell the story of how Steve had pulled him up again and that they’d made their way safely back to the camp. But of course his life was one big shit-show and liked to punish him for hoping for good things.

More stones crumbled underneath their combined weight where Steve was kneeling and all the two of them could do before the inevitable happened was to look at each other for one long second.

Then the ground caved in and they fell. Tony closed his eyes tightly and felt Steve wrap his arms around him in a tight embrace.

The wind was whooshing in his ears and he was almost deaf from the way his blood was rushing through his body. The seconds until they hit the first branches of the trees beneath them felt like eternity. He pressed his face against Steve’s chest and felt his large hands come up to protect his head.

Tony wished Steve would never let go of him. What would he give to keep that feeling all to himself. If this was the last adventure of his life then he was happy.

Tony lost consciousness.

.oOo.

A pained groan cut through the eerie silence of the jungle.

Slowly he opened his eyes. The first thing Tony realized was that it was no longer dark. Everything around him was green. He wasn’t sure if there was one part of his body that didn’t hurt like hell and he hadn’t even moved yet. Blinking was exhausting and he closed his eyes again in defeat. He drifted on the edge of consciousness for a while before he was ready to try and open his eyes again.

This time he noticed that he was lying on his side on the ground. There was something soft underneath his cheek. Moss, his sluggish mind supplied. Carefully he tried to move his fingers. Those at least worked. Next were his arms. He rolled his shoulders experimentally and those seemed to be okay as well.

Gently and carefully he lifted his head to take a look at his surroundings. The soft thing underneath his head was indeed a patch of moss. He was lying somewhere in the jungle. All around him was nothing but trees, plants and a few meters away was a small river. That would explain why the blue uniform he was still wearing was wet and why he was so cold.

The uniform!

The plane wreckage! The cave in the mountain! Captain America! The storm! Steve!

Everything came rushing back to him at once and his head felt like it wanted to explode. Tony gripped his forehead. Grimacing he turned his head around until his eyes found the still figure of Steve lying just behind him. How he hadn’t noticed this earlier was beyond him, but Tony supposed he could blame the concussion he surely had. 

“Steve!” Tony tried and turned around to where he was. The shield, he noticed, was lying only a few meters away, just like their backpacks. “Steve! Come on, wake up! Hey, Steve? Steve?”

Dread settled in his gut when Steve didn’t move. His face was turned away from Tony. The clothes he was wearing were torn and he had countless little scratches and bruises all over every exposed patch of skin. Hot and burning pain shot through Tony when he tried to stand up to get to Steve as fast as possible. Only then did he look down on himself and noticed that the angle of his leg was not what it was supposed to look like. He clenched his teeth as the pain threatened to knock him out again. Thankfully he couldn’t feel any blood, but a broken leg was the last thing he needed now. There was no way he would make it any further if he couldn’t walk!

Stubbornly he crawled over to Steve, needing to make sure he was okay. Tears streamed down his face from the almost overwhelming pain. Shaking like a leaf, Tony pressed his fingers to Steve’s neck and almost screamed in relief when he felt a pulse. It was faint, but it was there.

“Steve… Come on, don’t do this to me. Wake up you big lug! Steve, I swear if you die on me now then I’ll resurrect you just so I can kill you myself!” Tony grabbed Steve’s shoulder and tugged until the hunk of a man was lying on his back. His eyes were closed and his lips parted. His breathing was shallow. Tony felt his own pulse spike and panic, blind hot panic, shot through him. 

“Steve, Steve, Steve, come on! Don’t you dare...! Wake up! Open your eyes, Steve!” Tony pleaded and awkwardly pulled Steve’s upper body into his lap. He framed his face with his hands and suddenly felt something wet and sticky. Tony retracted his hands. Underneath a layer of muck and dirt was blood seeping from an open wound on the back of Steve’s head.

Tony’s heart almost stopped. The wound was on the same side as the scar from his first head injury. Tony’s silent tears fell onto Steve’s unmoving face. He was so still, like Sleeping Beauty. Like he was…

Tony forbade himself to end that thought!

Steve had risked his life to save him! Tony was not allowed to give up on him now! Steve had never stopped looking for Tony. Sure, that Tony had been lost had been partly the blonde’s fault, but still… He’d even gone back to the camp to fetch everything he’d deemed necessary. Steve had risked another fight with Rhodey to bring Tony what he needed.

The panic in his gut was replaced by fear for Steve’s life. Suddenly his broken leg was his smallest problem. Who knew what kind of internal injuries Steve had from the fall, that he couldn’t see. Tony laid one hand on the side of Steve’s face. Gently he brushed his thumb over Steve’s cheek. The warmth of his skin was the only thing that kept Tony sane at the moment.

He searched for the backpack that Steve had been carrying but it was out of his reach. Instead he caught sight of something else.

Of all the things the Tarzan could’ve fetched from his camp, Steve had taken the one thing that he had no use for but which could maybe save his life now. Shaking from fear and pain, Tony pulled his phone from Steve’s breast pocket. He pressed his finger to the sensor on the screen and surely the display lit up.

"Sir?" JARVIS' worried sounding voice filled the silence. Tony wanted to scream in relief.

"J! We need help! An emergency team to the coordinates of the phone! Immediately! It's a life or death situation and I'm not joking!" he ordered. He had no time for pleasantries, and JARVIS understood. He always understood.

"Help is on its way, sir! I have informed Colonel Rhodes and Ms Potts that you are alive and they are on their way as well. A helicopter was sent to collect you. Please stay calm. We are coming for you!" JARVIS' voice was the only thing keeping him grounded now.

Tony pressed the tiny SOS button on the right side of the cell just to make sure. An encrypted message flashed over the dark screen. Convincing himself that his emergency signal was reaching JARVIS, he placed the phone on Steve’s chest. He sniveled. A lump was in his throat that he couldn’t swallow down. It hurt like coldness in his core.

“Steve… Come on… Wake up. Don’t do this to me, Steve…” Tony chanted relentlessly.

Through his wet lashes he saw the dog tags around Steve's neck shine in the dim light. Tony didn't know why, but carefully he reached out and on the spur of the moment, he carefully took them off. There was blood on the rusty metal.

Tony put the necklace on and shoved them beneath the collar of the Captain America uniform. The cold pendants rested over the scar on his chest.

The gray morning around them was like a blanket, but instead of comforting it was now stifling and overwhelming. Every sound of the jungle around them made Tony flinch. Gently he carded his fingers through Steve’s blood crusted hair. He grabbed Steve’s hand and pressed his bloody knuckles to his lips. His tears were never stopping.

“Wake up, Steve… Please… Please wake up. I need you to remember me! Please don’t forget me. I couldn’t bear it if you forgot me… Open your eyes! I need you to remember me when I tell you that I love you!” Tony cried silently. He leaned over Steve’s unmoving body and sobs shook his frame.

He cried.

.oOo.

It was a long time before Tony heard the blades of the chopper approach. The dull sky above them was the last thing he saw before there were hands all over Steve and him. They placed a mask over his face and he felt a needle prick his arm. He was barely conscious at the time the rescue team reached them.

Tony held tightly onto Steve’s hand.

He never let go.

.oOo.oOo.oOo.

“Taking a trip down memory lane, sweetheart?” Asked a warm voice behind Tony.

The brunet had been standing in the shallow water for a long time, thinking about everything that had happened a year ago. He turned around to his fiancé who was walking towards him.

Steve was wearing blue shorts and a white muscle shirt. His short blonde hair was still ruffled from sleep and shone in the colorful morning light. Those mesmerizing blue eyes sparkled with mirth. There was a small smile on his lips.

He wrapped his strong arm around Tony’s waist when he reached him, to pull him flush against his body. His skin was warm and they clicked together perfectly, like puzzle pieces that were made for each other. The smaller man looked up into his beloved’s face who returned the gesture.

The two of them looked into each other's eyes for a few long moments while the gentle waves of the ocean licked at their feet. Then Steve bent down a little to place a tender kiss on Tony’s lips. They smiled when they separated again.

“Have I told you today that I love you?” Steve asked quietly.

“Yes. But I’d love to hear it again.” Tony joked just as quietly.

“I love you, Tony.” Steve complied happily. He radiated such bliss that it was impossible not to be affected by it.

“I love you too, Steve Rogers.”

“Stark-Rogers soon.” Steve replied. The bright morning sun let their golden engagement rings glisten. Tony’s was on the ball chain that still held Steve’s old dog tags and his fiancé had his on his ring finger.

“You’re right. Stark-Rogers… Hey, do you remember those?” Tony placed the white seashell that he’d found earlier in his beloved's palm.

Steve looked at the shell and smiled a bit melancholic. A lot of emotions were connected with this small object. Tony himself only remembered snippets from what had happened when the two of them had been rescued by the chopper a year ago. He'd had a concussion and Steve had been out cold.

Back in the United States, long weeks of recovery had followed for both of them. Two emergency surgeries had been necessary to save Steve’s life. They had to put Steve in an artificial coma for almost a month. The neurologists hadn’t exactly raised Tony’s hopes that Steve would remember him at all after everything he'd been through after he woke up again. But against all odds and to the doctors’ big surprise he had woken up and remembered everything that had happened.

And with everything he meant everything.

It was a medical miracle. No doctor had been able to explain what had happened, but Steve had not only regained his memories from before the fall but also those from his life before he’d crashed the plane in the mountain cave. Steve remembered who he was, where he was from, his friends, his team, his missions, his life as Captain America, he even remembered what ice cream he liked to eat. Of course there were still some gaps in his memory, but as time passed everything came back to him.

And most importantly he remembered Tony.

After a few long months of rehab and mountains of paperwork Steve had once again been integrated into the civilized world. And he'd resigned from active duty at his own request. The first thing he’d done after he was his own person once again was to ask Tony on a date. And of course he’d said yes.

Now, a year after they had left the island where they had met for the first time, they had come back here to celebrate their engagement. Tony was the happiest man in the world. He looked into Steve’s blue eyes and wanted to get lost in them.

Steve pocketed the shell and leaned in to kiss Tony lovingly.

“Of course I remember those. How could I forget?”