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Tony landed on the tower roof, stumbling a little upon impact. It wasn't like him to be clumsy with the armor, but he was still breathing hard, his body rushing with adrenaline. All he could see was red.
“Where is he?” Tony demanded as he let the armor collapse around him, rushing inside on shaky legs. “Is he alive?”
“Yes, he's in his quarters. But Sir, Director Fury is on the line –“
“Fuck him,” Tony bit out, mashing the elevator button even though JARVIS was already moving it. “Faster, J.”
“I'm afraid Director Fury is insistent.”
“Then tell him to wait! Play some fucking elevator music, I don't know.” Tony paced in a tight circle in the limited space, running both hands through his hair. He hadn't seen Steve after he'd gone down in a spray of blood, too busy fending off an army of robots. For all he knew, Steve might be bleeding out on his floor. Tony rubbed his arms, feeling like he was about to crawl out of his skin.
When the elevator dinged, Tony almost tripped in his rush to get out. He stormed into Steve’s living room where the bastard seemed to be patching up a bullet hole in his leg. A quick once-over confirmed that it was his only immediate injury. For a second, Tony felt like he would collapse with relief, but the rage that boiled up inside him a second later made him stand tall.
“There you are, asshole! What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Hello to you too, Tony,” Steve said with the exact kind of long-suffering tone that made Tony’s teeth grind.
“I had him! I fucking had him, you didn’t need to –”
“Yeah, well, that’s not what I saw,” Steve said, way too calmly for Tony’s tastes. “He was in your blind spot with a gun pointed right at you. What was I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe let the guy in a fucking metal suit handle it?”
“We didn’t know what kind of gun it was. It could’ve hurt you.”
Tony threw his hands up. “I killed Thanos, for fuck's sake! You think some third rate goon is going to get lucky after the Mad fucking Titan couldn't?”
He could see Steve's jaw clench as he gritted his teeth. “You're not invincible. None of us are.”
Tony laughed incredulously. “Wow, okay, so you do have some common sense. No, actually, I take that back – you're a fucking idiot.”
“Thank you, that's very mature,” Steve ground out, and Tony glared at him.
“If you know you're not invincible, then maybe stop throwing yourself in front of bullets for no fucking reason –“
“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Steve said with a frown. “Do I need to remind you of the last time you –”
“Oh, come on, this again?”
“You always throw yourself into danger without any backup,” Steve snapped, glaring right at him. “If you don’t want people making the sacrifice play for you, then stop expecting me to let you do the same. I – we can’t lose you. You’re too important to us.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “This from the guy who thought he could stop a bilgesnipe with his bare hands –“
“It worked!”
“Literally not the point,” Tony said with a harsh hand gesture. “I don't know what makes you think you always have to take on everything yourself, which – I admit – is admirable, but it’s also fucking infuriating –”
“And you don’t think I get angry too?” Steve snapped, finally meeting Tony’s aggression with his own. “You could have died, Tony! I can’t –” Tony’s eyes widened when Steve made a choked noise, his face pained. “I can’t lose you, don’t you get it? I need you. You’re my best friend. You’re –” There was a second’s hesitation before Steve’s jaw flexed as he looked up at Tony with a determined look in his eyes. “You’re more than that. So if the choice is you or me, don’t expect me to do anything else. I’ll always choose you.”
Tony shook his head, his mind whirring as Steve’s words echoed in his brain. “More than what?”
Steve averted his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Pretty sure I don’t, actually,” Tony said, his voice a little too high. Steve sighed, looking up at him.
“I care about you, Tony. The thought of you getting hurt or – or worse, just –” Steve grimaced. “I can’t let that happen. Don’t ask it of me.”
“You –” Tony pointed at him, then let his hand sink when he realized how stupid that was. “Are you saying you –”
“Yes,” Steve said, a little exasperatedly. Tony’s heart clenched at the fond undertone in Steve’s voice. “I have feelings for you.”
“Huh.” Tony sat down hard on the couch next to Steve. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Steve asked, and Tony nodded, running a hand through his hair.
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Well, as long as it’s okay,” Steve said, and how the fuck could he be joking right now, Jesus Christ, Tony was – Tony had to –
He turned and surged forward, taking in how Steve’s eyes widened in surprise a split second before Tony’s mouth met his, catching him in a fierce kiss. For a second it was awkward as hell, but then Steve opened his mouth and let Tony in, catching him with an arm around his shoulders, his other hand cupping Tony’s cheek. They kissed for what could’ve been hours or minutes, both of them breathing hard when they finally pulled away.
“Don’t take any more bullets for me,” Tony said, and Steve chuckled, running a hand through Tony’s hair.
“I won't if you wait for backup in the future.”
Tony pondered that for a moment before he nodded. “Deal.”
Steve blinked. “Wait, what?”
“I can’t lose you either,” Tony said, his heart pounding when Steve’s lips pulled up in the softest smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“If I had known it was that easy, I would’ve kissed you ages ago.”
Tony snorted a laugh, reeling Steve in with a hand on his neck.
“Yeah, well,” he mumbled. “We never do things the easy way.”