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Steve was on the edge of the city, evacuating civilians with Natasha. Tony was still zooming around in the air, taking out drones and preparing to blow the hunk of rock that was once Sokovia into pieces before Ultron could use it to destroy the world.
Tony scanned his display for any other survivors in the wreckage of the city, and only saw the heat signatures of his friends as everyone piled into the Helicarriers. He adjusted his course and blew his thrusters, sending him soaring down below the crumbling skyline, underneath to the mass of rock that held the city up.
“Alright, Thor, let’s get ready to light this thing up,” Tony said over the comm link.
“Ready when you are, Stark.” Tony saw the streak of crackling thunder and lightning as Thor followed his lead underneath the city, and began diverting his power to his chest unit. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. Until he heard the comm link crackle again.
“Shit.”
Tony knew exactly who it had come from and why. And he almost fell out of the sky in a panic because of it.
Steve had missed his chance. He was running through the rubble, past crashed cars and through the wind and dust in his eyes, over the broken, cracked ground. He swore he saw someone trapped underneath the wreckage. He leaped over a smashed light post and yanked a door off of a crashed car. Instead of a civilian in need of his help, a half crushed ultron drone crawled out from the rubble and shot a repulsor blast at Steve.
He yanked his shield up and blocked it just in time, then whipped around and with a clean downcut, smashed the metal skull of the drone into two pieces, leaving it crumbled on the ground. He shuddered for a second from the shock, then realized he didn’t have much time left. He whipped around and sprinted towards the edge of the city, but the helicarriers were already taking off.
Just a few more feet. He kept running and went to jump, but it was too late. The helicarriers were off. He had missed the jump. And now he was stuck on a rock that was about to blow up in less than three minutes.
A sinking feeling hit him, along with the initial shock of being scared for his life. He panicked, but realized it was no good. He looked down at the dust-filled air as the city drifted higher into the sky. He had always known this was a way to go out, but never had he wanted it. He had just gotten a new family, it couldn’t end like this.
Steve cursed into the comm link.
Tony went on attack mode overdrive. He couldn’t let this happen. He scanned for Steve’s heat signature and pinpointed his location on the other side of the city, right on the edge. He needed to get to him in time, or else… he didn’t know what he was going to do. He looked at Steve’s heat signature again on his display, the little orange glow that meant so much to him. His breathing became rapid.
“Stark, if we do not blow this city immediately, it’s going to drop,” Thor shouted to him.
“Yeah, noticed,” said Tony in his light, sarcastic tone despite his heart pounding out of his chest. He lit his chest unit. He flew in closer to the core. He checked Steve’s proximity again. There had to be enough time. “Steve, hang in there, I’m coming, I just need to-”
“It’s okay, Tony. Blow the core or else the whole world is going to pay for it. I’m not worth it,” said Steve’s stoic voice through the comm link. Tony’s heart twisted.
“Steve-” he choked, then stopped. “Steve, I can’t lose you!”
“Yes you can, Tony.”
“Stark, we need to blow the core, now!” Natasha’s voice came through. Tony’s mind raced.
“FRIDAY, what’s our elevation?”
“1800 feet, sir.”
Tony made a few calculations as he spiraled towards the core and heard Thor’s hammer sparking with electricity. He hoped it would be enough time.
“Steve, I need you to jump,” Tony said over the comm link.
“What?” he heard Steve respond.
“What?” Natasha echoed.
“Everyone shut up, and Steve, do as I say,” Tony directed as power flowed into his chest unit. “Thor, on my mark.”
“We don’t have much time…”
“Five… Four… Three…”
Steve knew he wasn’t going to make it. He could see flashes lighting up the rock under his feet, and knew that the destruction had begun. There was no way he was going to survive this level of explosion, even with his serum.
He stood on the edge of the city, ground crumbling, boots on the very ledge, hearing the literal earth-shattering blasts. He braced himself for the explosion when he heard Tony’s voice cut into the comm link.
“STEVE, JUMP! NOW!” Fear shot through Steve’s body as he neared the ledge, but he had to do what Tony said. Ignoring his blinding fear, he sprinted off the side of the city and kicked off the ledge.
The minute he felt the freefall under him, the city behind him exploded into pieces. Debris and rocks and fire and huge gusts of wind pushed him off as he fell through the air, eyes shut tight, hands over his head to block out any rocks that might come flying his way. The wind whipped the breath out of his lungs and he felt himself losing consciousness.
Steve expected to hit hard rock. But instead he felt gentler wind on his face and strong metal around him and the swoop of flying through the air. He opened his eyes to see the Iron Man helmet looking forward in flight as he held Steve securely and navigated them through the debris.
“T-tony?” Steve gasped, still breathless. The faceplate nodded. Steve could’ve sworn Tony was smirking underneath it. Giddy from the relief of not dying, tingling from the freezing air over him, and dizzy from the fall, Steve let out a sigh of relief. The helmet turned towards Steve.
“What?” said Tony’s voice from within, “Did you really think wasn’t gonna catch you?”
Steve let out a laugh that soon turned tense as he caught a glimpse of how high they really were and felt post-battle shock smack him in the forehead like a baseball bat.
Since the serum, shock hadn’t been as bad for Steve as it would have been for someone without it, but it wasn’t nonexistent and of course the height wasn’t helping. The ground spun below him. He felt his whole body tense up as the shock spread through him as he shivered, nervous and a little bit queasy.
Tony must have felt Steve cling onto him tighter, because he wrapped his arms more securely around Steve.
“Don’t look down, look at me. You’re safe.”
Steve turned away from the dizzying heights and towards Tony’s head. The Iron Man mask lifted revealing Tony’s face, his messy, spiky hair blowing in the wind, face flushed from fighting or the cold, or both. Steve had to catch his breath again for different reasons.
“I’m not gonna drop you, Cap, don’t you worry,” Tony reassured with a little grin on his face.
“I know you won’t,” Steve mumbled with a sigh, but still kept his eyes away from the ground and locked on Tony’s, the wind not the only thing making his cheeks brighten and his chest warm.
They flew higher into the sky, together, winds swirling around them, dust settling, magic hour bathing them in golden light. Still clinging to each other with everything they had, Steve felt the wind whip into his hair and his forehead fell until it touched Tony’s. It was burning hot on his face compared to the freezing air.
“So, how d’you like flying?” Tony asked Steve. Steve huffed a little laugh.
“I still don’t know how you do it,” he said with a grin. Their lips were becoming dangerously close. Steve’s insides quivered as his face burned and his lips twitched and then it was Tony who leaned in.
It was soft, it was warm. It was burning hot and freezing cold all at once. Steve could hear the steady blast of the suit’s thrusters as they floated through the golden sky, lips pressed together. They broke away after a few seconds that felt like minutes and Steve chuckled breathlessly.
“I…” he began, then had to catch his breath. “I could get used to it.” Tony grinned and this time it was Steve’s turn to lean in.
Despite having been flying for years, Tony felt dizzy. He made sure to half concentrate on keeping them on a stable flight path but it was difficult to concentrate on anything with Steve’s mouth on his. He engaged the automatic stabilized landing sequence and touched down on one of the Helicarriers.
He broke away and watched Steve’s confused expression turn embarrassed as he realized they had landed. Tony gently set him down on one of the benches and clunked the suit down next to him as gracefully as he could. He immediately felt Steve lean up against him and Tony felt himself blushing again.
“That can’t be comfortable,” said Tony.
“Hmh?” Steve mumbled, head resting against Tony’s metal shoulder piece. Tony laughed and spoke a command to FRIDAY. The suit folded up into a neat little case on his chestplate and Tony stowed it underneath the seat.
“Convenient, huh?” said Tony.
“You’re a genius,” Steve grinned as he leaned back into Tony’s shoulder, this time without the Iron Man suit in the way.
“You’re in shock,” Tony echoed, face burning, heart racing, refusing to accept the fact that Steve would voluntarily compliment him.
“Can you blame me? I almost got blown up,” said Steve indignantly. Tony huffed a sigh of nerves.
“Don’t you ever do anything like that again, you hear me, Rogers? You scared the devil out of me.”
“So long as you don’t fly into any more wormholes,” Steve responded.
“Touché,” Tony responded, and kissed Steve’s forehead. Steve’s head perked up at this and he offered his lips instead. Their hands intertwined and they were kissing again on the Helicarrier as they flew to safety. Then they turned to look at the light of the fading day as the dust settled.
“So,” said Steve, “You gonna stay with us at the compound? Train the new recruits? Or are you tapped out?” Tony shook his head.
“Why would I leave? You’re gonna need help. Vision’s gonna be a handful, not to mention the Scarlet Witch. All of them can fly and you can't.” Steve chuckled. “Plus,” Tony continued, “I thought you promised. Win or lose. We’ll be-”
“Together,” Steve finished. “I meant it.”
“That’s good. I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.”
“Neither do I, Tony. Neither do I.”