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“Iron Man, status?” Steve shouted through the coms.
“In a serious relationship,” Tony responded. The rest of the team groaned. “Oh, you mean in the battle. I’m down on 4th and heading back. Perimeter clear.”
“Widow? Hawkeye?”
“Boarding Quinjet,” they said in unison.
“Falcon? Winter Solider? Wanda?”
“How come you asked about Wilson first?” Bucky quipped. “I thought I was the best friend.”
“Someone is insecure,” Sam responded. “Quinjet in sight, Cap. Heading there now.”
“Am I ever going to get a superhero name?” Wanda asked.
“Do not feel bad, Ms. Maximoff. I do not have a human name,” Vision reminded.
“You’re not human,” Tony reminded.
“Do not be rude,” Wanda chided.
“Avengers!” Steve shouted. “Cut the chatter.”
“Oh calm down, Stevie. The battle is over. New York is safe once again and none of us are seriously injured. Let us have a little fun,” Bucky said.
Then, as if on cue, the bodies of their slain enemies began to detonate around them, creating a minefield.
“Avengers! Status!” Steve shouted, his voice shaking. He needed to know his team was safe.
“Everyone’s at the Quinjet,” Sam said. “Save for you and Tony.”
“Tony!” Steve shouted. “Status?” When no response came, Steve repeated himself frantically. “Tony, status?” Again, no response. “Falcon, Wanda, Vision, what’s it look like from above?” The three shot into the sky, searching the perimeter Tony had announced clear just a few minutes before. One of the bodies exploded right by Steve, throwing him back ten feet, the back of his head slamming against the pavement.
“Not seeing him, Cap,” Sam said.
Steve cracked his eyes open when he felt a metal arm wrap around him, hoping that Iron Man’s com had just been broken and he was here to assure Steve that he was okay. Never in his life had he been disappointed to see Bucky, but in that moment, he wished it were someone else. He wanted his boyfriend. He wanted his Tony.
“C’mon punk, let’s get you back to the jet.”
“I’ve gotta find Tony!” Steve slurred.
“We’ll find him,” Bucky assured. “He couldn’t have gone too far. He was heading back from 4th, remember? He’ll be fine. You know better than anyone else that that mother fucker refuses to die—”
“You think he could be dead?” Steve started to try to rely on his own legs instead of Bucky’s embrace, but his knees gave out and he fell back into his best friend.
“No. Didn’t you hear what I said? He refuses to die.”
“You think he could be hurt?”
Bucky stayed silent. Steve knew what that meant. They’d just barely made it onto the Quinjet when Steve crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Steve woke up with a headache. The one thing the serum did not combat was headaches. It was inconvenient. The incessant beeping of the heart monitor wasn’t helping. He reached up the hand that wasn’t attached to the IV and ran it through his hair. There was still some blood caked into it.
“That’s gonna be a bitch to wash out,” Tony said.
“You’re alive.” The words were barely audible; Steve’s mouth was dry as cotton. Tony poured him a small glass of water and held it up for Steve to sip at.
“Yeah. A little building fell on me. No big deal. You, on the other hand, hit your head.”
Steve nodded. “I got that yeah. Hey, Tony… what are you wearing?”
Tony looked down at the neatly pressed suit and cleared his throat. “I don’t have a ring. I don’t…” Tony sighed. “I was lying under this building and all I could think was ‘I have to get out of here and see Steve. I have to spend the rest of my life with him.’ And our lives are pretty weird and, hey, we could die tomorrow. You could get another bump on the head and I could get crushed by another building, but I want to know that we have promised each other the rest of our lives.”
“Are you asking me to marry you?”
Tony nodded. “I’d kneel, but this suit is really nice.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“So… is that a…”
Steve smiled. “It’s a yes. I’d kiss you but I think I’m strapped to the bed.”
Tony wiped at the stray tear falling down his face. “Yeah. You kept rolling over and opening up the wound. You should be all better by tonight though and we’ll take a shower and clean the blood off of each other.”
“That sounds so romantic,” Steve pretended to swoon. Tony swatted at Steve’s shoulder with the arm that wasn’t in a sling. Suddenly serious, Steve asked Tony, “how banged up are you?”
“Dislocated shoulder. It popped right back in. The sling is mostly a formality. You, on the other hand…”
“What?” Steve asked. “What happened to me?”
“You will not recover from today. That bump on your head got you to agree to marry me and now you’re stuck with me calling you my fiancé and then my husband for the rest of your life.”
Steve smiled. “I’m okay with that.”