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There were many things one worried about when seeing their fiancé for the first time in eight months; whether they'd grown apart, whether their relationship was doomed, whether their bedroom looked the same as it had when they left.
For Steve, many more problems could arise when he reunited with his fiancé, given the fact that a) last time he saw Tony, Steve was slamming a vibranium shield into his chest and leaving him alone with nothing but a broken suit in a bunker in Siberia, and b) he didn't know if they were even still engaged.
He would completely understand if Tony didn't want to marry him anymore -- in fact, it would probably make more sense for Tony to break up with him than marry him, given what he had done. He had lied about knowing that Bucky killed Howard and Maria Stark after hiding the fact that he knew that their death wasn't an accident at all for months. He had fought Tony rather than trying to calm him down so that they could talk through everything that happened, and then he had just up and left, leaving Tony injured and unable to move in that bunker.
Thinking logically, Steve didn't understand why Tony had worked so hard over the last eight months to sort out the Accords and to get Steve and his team pardons from what they had done. Tony had no reason to forgive Steve for what he had done to him -- the rest of the team, he could understand. Tony had been a firm believer in the fact that the world needed the Avengers since their beginning, and so getting everyone back together would be very important to him.
Getting Steve in particular back into the States didn't quite make sense, though. He wasn't as essential to the team as everyone made him out to be -- anyone could replace him as the team leader -- and even if he were to rejoin the Avengers, he couldn't trust himself to be in charge anymore.
He would probably pass down the mantle soon. He'd been serving the country for well over seventy years, so retirement was definitely on the table. His original plan had been to do just that -- make Sam Captain America, pass down the shield, and go on to live his life in a nice cabin somewhere with Tony.
He had thrown that option away when he chose Bucky, his best friend, his brother, over Tony, the man he loved and intended to spend the rest of his life alongside.
His palms had become sweaty on the way to the compound -- both thanks to nerves and the existential fear of not knowing how Tony would react to seeing him again. His leg was bouncing, and he couldn't get it to stop.
It would be the first time Steve saw Tony in eight months, and he was going to make a complete and utter fool of himself.
"Hey, man," A comforting hand on his shoulder -- Sam's -- distracted him from his musings. He glanced up at his friend as the other man spoke. "You don't need to stress, Cap. It'll all be fine."
"Except for the fact that Tony's going to hate me for everything I did to him last year, sure," He rubbed his temples, trying to calm himself, and sighed when it did nothing to help. "It's going to be a disaster."
"I don't think that Tony's capable of hating you," Natasha chimed in from the other side of Sam. "I've seen him -- quite recently -- and he doesn't seem mad. He seems... lonely. He seems sad and lonely."
"Oh, well that fixes everything," Steve leaned back in his chair and sighed, barely bothering to hide the sarcasm in his voice. "I lied to my fiancé, kept secrets from him, left him, and now he's sad and lonely. Thanks for your help, Nat."
"Vis says that he's been doing better recently," Wanda said from where she sat, across from Steve, Sam and Natasha. Her Sokovian accent wasn't as thick as it used to be, having left barely any traces after Natasha's training. "Rhodes' recovery has been going well, so that seems to be helping, too."
Sam looked down at his feet at the mention of Rhodes, his lips pressing into a thin line.
"It wasn't your fault, Sam," Steve said gently. "You didn't mean for it to hit him, and neither did Vision. It was an accident -- and he's recovering."
"It's a pretty goddamn messed up accident to have," Sam muttered. He looked back up. "Can he walk?"
Wanda nodded. "Stark made leg braces for him so he can walk. And his physiotherapy is going well, from what Vis told me."
"I'm just glad that Clint and Scott got to go home," Steve said. They'd been pardoned months before -- the jury had been much more lenient, as they both had families to get back to and hadn't been anywhere near as involved in the fight as everyone else. "They shouldn't have got messed up in that."
"No, they shouldn't have. None of us should have, because it was supposed to be more of a peaceful negotiation than a full-blown war, but... oh well."
Tony.
Part of Steve couldn't believe what was happening. It had been so long -- so long -- since he'd seen Tony; and even longer since he'd seen Tony in a situation where they weren't actively fighting.
Tony looked great, too. He was wearing one of his three-piece-suit, so he definitely meant business, but even more than that, he looked surprisingly relaxed. For the first time since as long ago as Ultron , Tony looked like he'd had more than four hours of sleep.
"Okay," Tony clapped his hands together, looking around the small group. His eyes never quite met Steve's. "It's probably unnecessary for us to go to the conference room, 'cause there's not all that much for me to tell you. Your rooms are all just as you left them -- Rogers, you have a bedframe now, because, despite popular belief, I'm not heartless -- and the fridge has everything that you lot used to order so that you won't go hungry."
"Tony, thank you so much -- for all of this," Steve said, standing up from his seat. He had to ignore how Tony had called him Rogers -- thinking about it would hurt too much. "If there is anything we can do --"
"That's unnecessary, Rogers," Tony waved him off. "Actually -- Wilson, Romanoff, Maximoff, you can all go off and do whatever you want. It's nice to see you all again."
"You too, Tony," Natasha answered first. She hugged Tony and gave Steve a pointed look over his shoulder. "Thank you -- for everything."
"No problem, Nat," Tony smiled at her, then turned to Steve. "We should... go upstairs. We have a lot to discuss, Cap."
Steve relaxed slightly as the use of Cap. It was still far from Steve -- and even further from anything even resembling honey or sweetheart -- but it was progress, no matter how little.
"Of course," He smiled slightly and fell into step beside Tony as they made their way to the elevator and up to the suite. "How've you been, Tony?"
"Fine," An odd expression crossed Tony's face, but it didn't remain long enough for Steve to decipher.
Tony had always been good at hiding his emotions -- growing up in the spotlight with Howard Stark as a father had given him the ability to easily slip a 'press facade' over his face whenever necessary. Steve had always been good at seeing through it, but there were still times when it was too hard. Like now.
"I've been sleeping more," Tony continued quickly. His glance flickered to Steve for a moment before it moved away again. "I thought you'd want to know. And I forgive you, as well. I -- want you to know that. What happened in Siberia was shit, but I understand that I lashed out when I really shouldn't have, and that Barnes didn't choose to kill my mom."
"I should've tried to talk to you -- instead of fighting."
"We both should have talked it through instead of fighting," Tony sighed. "Look, Steve, this isn't going to be easy -- we both know that. I've been thinking about everything for a long time -- and I know that I don't want us to go on like this."
"I don't want to live without you," Steve spoke up, surprising himself with the confidence in his voice. "I -- I understand if forgiving me isn't something that you can do, but I'll do anything to make this work. I promise you, Tony -- anything."
"Woah, no need to get all intense on me, Cap," Tony smiled at him. "I think... we need to try. Maybe we should go to therapy. Together. Couples therapy."
"I'm happy to do that if it's what you want to do," Steve said sincerely. He and Tony stopped walking, finding themselves standing in the living room of their -- Tony's -- suite.
Tony leant up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
Steve stood for a moment, frozen like an idiot. His mouth opened a little in shock, and Tony laughed at him.
"Calm down, Steve," He said, patting Steve on the shoulder. "It's just a kiss."
They both knew that it wasn't just a kiss, though; it was something hopeful -- for them both.
While there are things one worries about when seeing their fiancé for the first time in eight months, there are other things that one does not even imagine they need to worry about; death of a pet, destruction of their favourite garden bed, their kitchen getting redone --
-- Random adoption of a kid from Queens with Spider-Powers and a 4.0 GPA.
As nothing in his life ever followed the norms, Steve probably should have expected something like Peter, in hindsight. The kid had been newly recruited when they first met in Leipzig -- and with the kid being fifteen, he had to have been fourteen during the airport battle.
The kid had been around a few times since Steve arrived back at the compound, and he seemed to have no idea that Steve and Tony were beginning to become a thing again -- if he'd even known that they had been together before. They had kept their relationship a secret from the press before the Accords, so only their close friends had known they were engaged.
Steve assumed that Tony hadn't said anything about them to Peter -- the kid seemed oblivious to the fact that they were together. He was also glad that the kid didn't seem to know about Siberia, which made it much easier for him to try and befriend Tony's kid.
He learned a lot about Peter Parker before he even met him, thanks to Tony's near-constant talk of how great the kid was; Peter was fifteen, went to Midtown Tech in the city and got a 4.0 GPA there, was more intelligent than most adults that Tony knew, and was a pain in Tony's ass.
Steve also found out that Peter was Spider-Man the first time that they met.
The kid arrived with Happy Hogan the first Friday after Steve returned, bounding through the doors at quarter past four and immediately rambling on to Tony about everything that happened to him at school that day.
"And Ned was all like 'nooo, don't kill me, I'm too young to die', but MJ -- well, MJ is MJ, so she just rolled her eyes and ignored him... but she still let him play the next round because I begged her to let him -- and so maybe she doesn't actively hate me!"
Steve stared at the kid for a moment, realising that Peter was Queens -- he was Spider-Man. He was going to speak up but thought better of it. Maybe it wasn't something they were supposed to discuss. It was probably just meant to go unsaid.
Tony laughed and patted the kid on the shoulder, not noticing Steve's hesitation. "That's good, kiddo. That's very uh -- noice, I believe the kids are calling it these days."
"No disrespect to you, sir, but I think you shouldn't speak -- ever," The kid paused, then seemed to realise what he had said. "Oh -- shit, I mean -- please stop trying to be --"
"Hip?" Tony said before the kid could finish.
Peter groaned, before he finally acknowledged Steve. "Captain Rogers Mister America, sir, please save me. Mister Stark is torturing me."
So, the kid didn't know about Siberia... that was definitely for the best.
"Uh," Steve looked between the kid and Tony, then smiled awkwardly. "I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm --"
"He just said hip. He called himself hip. It's a major injustice -- it's unconstitutional and it's wrong!"
"Calm down, kid," Tony rolled his eyes. "Geez, your vibes are so off."
"Okay, I'm leaving now!" The kid exclaimed, covering his ears and walking toward the elevator. "Mister Rogers, if this kills me, please tell my aunt that I love her! And that it was me who broke the iron!"
The elevator doors closed with a ding, and Steve turned to Tony.
"Nice kid," He said, reaching out and grabbing Tony's hand gently. "You've become a father, congratulations."
Tony scoffed. "I'm not a father, I'm a mentor."
"Sure."
"There's a difference, Steven."
"Uh huh," Steve nodded. "Definitely. You definitely didn't obtain a child. Son of a bitch, I was gone longer than I thought."
"You were gone for exactly as long as you thought and I did not obtain a child!" Tony exclaimed. He kissed Steve quickly, then walked over to the elevator, following the kid. "Goodbye, one that doesn't know what he's talking about!"
The door closed, and Happy nodded to Steve in greeting.
"He's lying to himself. He's becoming a total mother hen," The other man told Steve before he wandered off.
Things settled into a new kind of normal.
Tony didn't have to work all that much anymore because with Pepper leading the company, all he had to do was approve things here and there, and Steve was technically on probation -- even though he was really in the process of retiring. They spent as much time together as they could -- going to dinner and eating breakfast together and watching movies together and going to their therapy (which was going surprisingly well).
Tony worked in the lab, Steve ran and painted, and after a couple of months, he moved back into Tony's suite -- with the murmured promise that he would never leave again.
The kid would come around and work with Tony -- sometimes Tony and May Parker would even agree that Steve could train him during his compound visit.
Things were good.
"Oh, shit," Steve exclaimed as the Iron Man suit landed in medical, cradling Spider-Man in arms. "Shit, Tony, what happened?"
Doctor Helen Cho rushed past him with a medical team, immediately helping Tony lay the kid out on a gurney. The suit disengaged around Tony, and he fell into Steve's arms as the doctors rushed away.
Steve held Tony up, running a hand through his fiancé's hair and murmuring to him comfortingly.
"There was so much blood," Tony whispered, his voice hoarse and fearful. "So much blood."
"What happened, honey?" Steve asked, helping Tony stand up on his own legs. "What -- what happened?"
"Guns," The other man said, voice still extremely quiet. "They had guns and -- usually Pete's fine with bullets, 'cause he can dodge hem with his weird sixth sense thingy, but -- there were too many of them, and he got hit, and --"
"He got shot?"
Tony nodded. "I need to call his aunt. Otherwise, she'll murder me."
"Tony, you seem like you're --" Steve frowned. "Not great, at the moment. Why don't you go upstairs and have a nice warm shower and change clothes, and I'll call Peter's aunt?"
"And you say I'm the mother hen," Tony rolled his eyes.
"Please?"
"Come on, babe, really? She doesn't know you -- I'll call."
"Tony," Steve stressed the word. "You're not okay. You're clearly in shock, you smell like garbage -- and you really need to shower. Go, and I'll sort out the aunt."
"Fine," Tony glared at him but started making his way down the hallway of the medical bay anyway. "But I'm getting you back for this," He called over his shoulder. "I swear, Rogers. I will remember this betrayal."
"Sure you will, babe," Steve rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone from his pocket. "FRIDAY, can you please send me May Parker's number?"
When Steve entered Peter's room in the medbay -- because apparently the kid got injured enough the justify him having one -- later that day, he wasn't surprised to see Tony sitting on the bed next to the kid, smiling down at him lovingly and carding his fingers through his hair.
"He okay?" He asked immediately, sitting quietly in the chair next to the bed. "Did they get the bullet out alright?"
"He's all good -- just tired," Tony replied softly.
"It looks good on you," Steve blurted out suddenly. Tony looked up at him, confused. "Uh -- being a dad. Dad-ing Peter. It looks good. You look good. I love you."
Tony laughed. "I love you too, Stevie."
Steve couldn't help himself when he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Tony's -- but it probably would've been better if the kid hadn't chosen to wake up just as he and Tony kissed.
"Wha --" Peter yawned, then looked up at Steve and Tony, who were both staring at him like deer stuck in headlights. "Uh -- I'm -- were you two just kissing?"
"Well, uh -- we were kinda just," Steve looked to Tony for help, and the other man shrugged. "Uh -- yes. We're uh --"
"Cap and I are engaged, Pete," Tony cut off his nervous speech, and ran his fingers through Peter's hair comfortingly. "Speaking of which, when we finally decide on a date, you and May are invited to the wedding."
"Woah, that's awesome!" Peter said, his voice still laced with tiredness and his eyes barely open "Iron Man and Captain America are getting married, that is so cool. Also, I'm going back to sleep. Night."
"Night kid," Steve murmured in reply. He watched as Tony pressed a fatherly kiss on the top of Peter's head and smiled. "You're a really great dad -- mentor -- Tony."
Tony laughed softly, and smiled up at him, absent-mindedly playing with the kid's curls. "Guess that makes you the awkward stepdad -- step mentor -- huh?"
"I'm not awkward," Steve crossed his arms over his chest.
"Sure, hon," Tony replied. "Whatever you say."
He woke up when May Parker burst into the room, making sure that she closed the door quietly when she realised that Tony and Peter were sleeping.
"Hi," She smiled at him, and shook his hand. "I'm May -- Peter's aunt. It's nice to meet you, Captain Rogers."
"Just Steve is fine," He answered quietly. "Lovely to meet you too, May."
May paused as she went to sit in the chair on the opposite side of the bed, clearly noticing that Steve was still holding onto the hand that Tony didn't have wrapped around the kid. "So... is this a new development?"
"What?"
"You and Tony," May laughed quietly. "It must be you that cervellone missed so much."
"It's not new, no," Steve admitted. "We -- we're engaged, actually. We have been for a year and a half."
"Wow, you stayed together through the Accords and everything -- that's impressive," She paused. "Congratulations on the engagement, too. Iron Man and Captain America, that's really something."
"We haven't decided on a date yet, but Tony really wants you and Peter to come to the wedding," He said. "He's a great kid. Tony really loves him."
"Yeah," May said softly, her great love for the kid obvious as she looked down at him. "Yeah, he does. We all do."
Sometimes, a family was a hundred-year-old war hero, a genius billionaire, a kid with freaky powers, a brain too big for his own good and no preservation skills, a nurse from Queens with a knack for burning things, and a handful of Avengers -- and Steve Rogers wasn't complaining one bit.