Chapter Text
“Avengers, this’ll be a long ride, so get comfortable.” Steve said to his team as he settled in his chair next to Tony.
“I should have said that, not you.” Tony remarked, no heat in his voice as he smiled softly at Steve. “That’s my job as team leader, y’know.”
“And here I thought I was the co-leader.” Steve pretended to be disappointed, but he rolled his eyes fondly at the genius.
“Well, you’re not wrong.” Tony held out his right hand, turning it palm side up as a display of his…armor schematics, if Steve had to guess, was hovering above his palm.
“What are you up to, Shellhead?” Steve asked, tilting his head slightly as he glanced at the holograms.
“Just checking the armor, making sure everything is good after...” Tony’s voice trailed off as Steve noticed Tony’s right hand hovering over his arc reactor for a few seconds before lowering back to his side. “...y’know. And planning, obviously.”
Steve internally winced, knowing Tony was thinking about how MODOK quite literally ripped out Tony’s arc reactor from his chest. It reminded Steve how close he was close to losing Tony, how it felt to hold Tony close, desperately wishing for Tony to live—
“Word of advice, newbie. Don’t hype yourself for one of Tony’s “plans.” They’re just a mess of what a plan is.”
Steve snapped his head to his left. Clint and Sam were at the other end of the Avenjet, where the words were faint, but not faint enough to be picked up by Steve’s superhearing. Clint caught Steve’s gaze, stiffening as he muttered a soft, “Oh shit.”
“I’ll be back, Tony. Need to chat with Clint and Sam.” Steve said as he stood up, not breaking eye contact with Clint as Steve forced his voice to stay calm.
Tony gave a nod as his faceplate slid down to cover his face. “I’ll be working on the armor, Steve. Let me know when you’re able to talk.” His faceplate went up again, his eyes shining. “Actually, I think I might research who we’re going up against. Meet you in the library?”
“Sure, Tony. Of course. See you then.” Steve gave a soft chuckle, smiling as the holograms disappeared when Tony rushed towards the library, shutting the door.
The smile left his face as Steve stormed over to Clint and Sam, where the former was attempting to look normal while the latter raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Clint.”
“Heeey, Cap. You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” Clint said with a wince.
“Why would I do that? Would it be because I caught you bad-mouthing your leader?” Sam’s eyes widened as he glanced between Steve and Clint. “Would it be because it is wrong to bad-mouth said leader who is trying his absolute best?” Clint crossed his arms, though his face was full of embarrassment. “Would it be because you have no idea how much your bad-mouthing would shatter the little self-confidence Tony has in himself regarding planning?” Steve held his tongue, not wanting to scream, as that would make Tony aware of this conversation. “Tony cares so, so much about the team, Clint. You should know this. You don’t know how much Tony is terrified of losing us from his decisions.”
“It would be our decision to follow him, wouldn’t it? He can’t blame us for that.” Sam said softly, frowning.
“Correct, Sam. But Tony can blame himself, which is so much worse.” Before the Avengers split up, Tony relied on Steve’s plans. Tony was—and still does—second-guessing himself, not wanting to march the Avengers to their deaths. Tony criticized himself on how he took too much time to organize a plan, then rewrite it due to overthinking every single detail. Meanwhile—Tony always said with a mixture of awe and envy—Steve’s plans came automatically, as Steve was a naturally born leader. It was just a skill Steve developed when he was in the army, Steve would argue. But the two leaders worked with each other’s strengths. Tony had looked to Steve for plans, offering his own input that Steve was happy to include.
Now, with the Avengers newly reformed, Tony seemed hesitant to rely on Steve’s plans again. Not because he didn’t trust Steve, that is what Steve knew for certain. More because Tony felt like he had to do everything alone. Steve wanted to shake Tony senseless until he could get it stuck in his genius head that the two were co-leaders, and Steve wouldn’t change it for the world.
Steve snapped himself from his thoughts, his gaze landing on a guilty Clint’s face. “Don’t bad-mouth your leader, Clint. You should know this.”
“Sorry. I, um, really didn’t know that is what Tony felt.” Clint’s face turned from sincere to amused. “And I especially didn’t know that Tony has such a passionate defender. I seriously thought you were going to kill me for a second there.”
All of Steve’s anger disappeared as he, embarrassingly, found himself becoming flustered. “I just…Clint! Just be kind to Tony, that’s all—”
An armored red-and-gold arm wrapped around one of Steve’s shoulders. “Steve! You’re taking so long, geez.” Steve turned his head to stare at Tony’s face—thanks to the lifted faceplate—where Tony was unaware of Clint and Sam. “I managed to gather research all about China folklore, then about the Great Wall of China. Then dragon behavior—though, is Fin Fang Foom a dragon? Anyways, I began listing the pros and cons of my pla—” Tony paused, finally noticing the small audience he had.
“My book! My book pick. For our…weekly book club meeting for tonight. It’s my turn to pick the book and present it to you. Can’t believe you forgot.” Tony saved himself as he squeezed Steve’s shoulder before letting go.
“We’re about to face our first mission as Avengers again, and all you can think about are books?” Clint exclaimed, though Steve could tell he was not buying it.
“We read books, then kick butt with our awesome team. It’s what we do.” Tony smoothly replied as he linked his arm with Steve’s. “And we need to figure it out now before we land.”
Steve gave a sigh, for Tony’s stubbornness was definitely reaching a new high. “We’ll talk later, Sam. Clint.” Steve stared pointedly at the archer, who shrunk back slightly. He gently removed his arm from Tony’s hold, to an amused Tony. “I’ll meet you inside, Tony. Just need to gather my things.”
“Fineee. Don’t be too late.” Tony gave a wink as he spun around, marching back into the library.
“The Avengejet has a library? A library?” Sam shrieked in surprise, his eyes shining in pure joy.
“I’m sure Steve and Tony will let you in after their little meeting. What’s this about a weekly book club meeting, by the way?” Oh, Clint sounded so smug.
“I can neither confirm or deny that statement. I should be going.” Steve deadpanned as he turned away from the two, ignoring Clint as he entered the library, closing the door.
“What’s this about a weekly book club meeting?” Steve casually asked as he sat down on the couch Tony was on.
“Planning time. This is planning time, and you’re ruining it, Steve. Shush!” Tony pushed Steve, his face reddening. “But if you want it to be a real thing…”
“Oh gosh yes, Tony. Please. You can choose the first book. It can be anything, literally anything.”
Tony’s eyes lit up in pure joy. “If you insist!” He paused, all seriousness. “But the plan, Steve.”
“Lay it on me, Shellhead.”
“Fin Fang Foom is currently attacking a city, so first is getting civilians to safety. We would have to split up the team so we can focus on saving lives while fighting Foom. Falcon is the most agile, so he would be good to bother Fin Fang, but not enough of a distraction. Thor is both agile and strong, where he would be too much of a distraction. What we need is a way to bother Fin Fang enough to the point of distraction, leading him away from the city. Who better than moi, where I am both agile and a good enough distraction?”
Steve wanted to immediately scream no. Tony’s near death experience was still fresh on his mind. He didn’t want to lose Tony. But he had to trust his fellow leader, no? “That sounds good.”
But please don’t die.
The Avengejet landed a few feet away from the town. Steve hefted his shield as the door opened, where he walked side by side with Tony.
Be safe. Steve wanted to desperately say. Come back to me. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. Tony’s whole shtick was impulsiveness, to Steve’s disappointment, so not taking risks wasn’t realistic.
“See you, Cap.” Tony said softly as his faceplate lowered. And then he was gone, flying towards the dragon-like creature attacking the city a few feet away.
“Hey, you!” Tony’s voice echoed through the air, no doubt due to his armor. Fing Fang Foom paused in his destruction to turn sharply to glare at Tony’s direction. “Yeah, you! Stop stomping your filthy stompers all around. That’s not nice, you know.”
“What is a puny human doing, talking to me like that!” Foom snarled as he stalked towards Tony.
Steve forced himself to stay where he was. This was the plan. This was the plan. This was the plan. This was the plan.
Repeating that sentence did not ease his worry.
“I have a proposition for you, Foom. You and me, a one versus one. I win, you leave the city alone. You win, well, you get to keep destroying.”
Foom was considering, a terrifying smile lighting his face. “Fine. But it’ll be best as a fight to the death, no?”
Tony dropped a few inches before rightening himself. “Right. Higher stakes.”
Foom cackled. “You live, Iron Man, and I’ll leave this city alone. You die, and I get to tell everyone I killed Iron Man all by myself. I’ll even leave this city alone too. That’s how confident I am.”
A heavy silence filled the air as Tony was genuinely considering the offer.
Steve wanted to run up to Foom, distract him, then run away with Tony safely in his arms. He almost, almost leaned into his temptation. He had to believe in Tony. He had to trust his fellow leader.
“Fine. I accept these terms.”
Steve wanted to scream.
“We start…now!” Foom declared, launching himself at Tony, who gracefully flew backwards to avoid a clawed attack.
“You’ll have to do better than that!” Tony replied as he began firing repulsor blast after repulsor blast.
Steve wanted to stay and watch the battle, feeling as though his eyes on Tony alone would protect the genius. Yet, there was the mission. He took a deep breath before turning around to face his team. “Our focus is on saving civilians. Tony will do everything he can to distract Fing Fang Foom. Stick to the plan. Thor, Falcon, you’re air support. Check from above for any trapped or hurt civilians. Hawkeye and Widow with me, we’ll cover via ground.”
The team nodded, exchanging worried glances, but knew the plan had to be set. They began spanning out, covering parts of the city.
He lost himself in the mission, climbing up stairs, saving civilians from crumpling buildings until all civilians were accounted for. He ended up traveling by rooftop, leaping from building to building. It was less suffocating, and allowed Steve to sneak glances at the battle happening. Despite the battle being many feet away, he swore he could hear the faint sound of a mockingful Tony and an enraged Foom.
Flashes of red and gold twisted and turned to avoid the sharp jabs of flashes of green. He tried not to linger, but he was beyond terrified for Tony. At least being high up meant he didn’t have to mask his face to be anything but glum.
A click, signifying that someone entered Steve’s private comms. “Don’t look too upset, Cap, I’ll be fine.”
Steve paused in his pacing, glancing up.
Tony was staring right at him, at least for a quick second.
“Focus, Iron Man.” Was all Steve could offer, as he was holding back both anger at how dangerous this plan was and tears, for Steve wanted Tony to just be safe.
“Fine. Please don’t worry about me, Cap. I got this. I could use the company, though. Verbally, not physically. You know the rules.”
“Tony—fine. I’ll pretend that this mission isn’t totally freaking me out.” Oh, Steve didn’t mean to say that. “Well, I mean, the plan is working, of course. All civilians are cleared.”
A snort. “For the third time, Steve, I’ll be alright. Just fighting. The usual. Excuse me.” A grunt as Tony released an arc reactor beam, hitting Foom in the chest, causing the supervillain to stumble back. “Hell yeah, I did some damage!”
“Congrats, Shellhead.” Steve said genuinely, proud for the small victory.
“Don’t celebrate yet, Winghead. I’m definitely getting my exercise with this fight.” Tony grunted as he flew backwards, relentlessly firing repulsors that Steve was worried that the armor would drain quickly. Foom was trading blows, with some attacks landing, yet bounced off Tony.
“You got this, Tony.” Steve replied softly, his heart aching to help him.
Silence was his response as Foom’s attacks became more relentless and intense, forcing Tony to focus. Focus that was slowing down, as Tony’s movements became more sluggish, to Steve’s dismay.
Foom raised his left arm, though his real attack was his right hand by the way he was leaning. Surely, Tony wouldn’t be fooled by this feigned attack, Steve reasoned. Tony was tiring, but he was still alert.
But he didn’t move away.
“Tony!” Steve screamed as Foom changed direction last minute, his claws slashing Tony’s right armored leg. Oh gosh, please let it be surface level damage, not deep. Please. Please.
“Shit. I’m okay Steve, ‘tis a scratch.” Tony joked, comforting Steve despite being the one who got attacked. Who was possibly bleeding. “I’m perfectly fine–”
The momentum of Foom’s body allowed for his tail to slam into Tony’s chest, sending the armored Avenger flying backwards, right through a building. Tony then hit the base of Steve’s building hard, where he collapsed face first.
Silence.
Deafening silence.
Silence that was broken by the chaos of the team’s jumbled voices that Steve could neither discern nor understand.
“Avengers.” Foom’s voice sliced through the air, ending the anxious chatter. “Who would like to check on the body before I can declare victory?”
The body. As if Tony was just another body…as if Tony was…was…
Steve ended that thought. No, he would prove both Foom and himself wrong. He connected to the main comms, uttering a quick, “I’ll do it” as he ran like hell down the stairs, approaching the base of the building. Approaching Tony.
“How delightful, a volunteer. Get it over with, then.” Foom purred.
Steve didn’t dignify the supervillain with a response. Instead, he held onto the faint hope that Tony was alive and well. He refused to panic as he knelt down to gently turn the armor so that Tony was now laying on his back. He refused to panic as the arc reactor had lost its vibrant glow, fluttering dully, shaking away the memory of a hole where the arc reactor used to be before it got violently ripped out.
“Winghead?” That voice. That voice was laced with so much pain.
“Tony. Tony, it's okay. You’re okay.” Steve pleaded, more with Tony or himself, he didn’t know as he leaned forwards. Maybe Tony needed fresh air, Steve decided, as he gently grasped Tony’s helmet to take it off.
Armored hands gently grabbed at Steve’s wrists, moving his arms away from the helmet. “I look pretty ugly under here, Steve. Please, don't. Don’t look.”
“Okay, Tony. Okay.” Steve replied softly, lowering his arms, moving his hands to slip into Tony’s armored ones, giving a squeeze. He earned a light squeeze back. It was going to be alright. Tony was alive, so Foom lost. A smile broke across Steve’s face, excited to break the news.
But it went all so, very wrong.
“Don’t avenge me, Steve.” Tony says, his hands dropped from Steve’s grip, the arc reactor dimming until it became a dull, lifeless gray.
No.
No, no, no.
Not now, not him.
Steve gathered Tony in his arms, slowly standing up. He masked his face to be emotionless. He wouldn’t show weakness, not now. But his legs refused to listen as he felt himself fall to his knees, a scream escaping his throat that turned into a sob.
Please, no. Please.
“I would usually eat the loser’s corpse,” Foom began, pausing as Steve glared into Foom’s eyes, everything be damned. “But I’ll make an exception. After all, the body is needed to prove that Iron Man is dead. I’ll leave you to it.” Foom flashed a toothy grin, flying away to leave Steve with the aftermath.
“The Avengejet. Now.” Steve stood up on shaky legs, tears still streaming down his face, but he kept his face otherwise emotionless as he barked the order to his team.
One minute, Steve was walking to the Avengejet. The next, he was collapsing on a seat, Tony still in his arms. He was vaguely aware of the jet moving, heading back to the Tower, he hoped. Thor, eyes full of grief yet with a kind smile, told Steve to let him take Tony.
Steve’s grip on Tony tightened as he gave a single, silent shake of his head. He didn’t know if he said any words, but he refused to let go of Tony. Not now.
Because letting go of Tony meant that he had to acknowledge the truth. But…it wasn’t the truth, right? Tony was still alive, right?
Right?
His teammates were a blur as they walked around. Oh, they made it back to the tower. Steve kept shaking his head as the team glanced at him, not knowing what they were saying, but knowing what they wanted him to do.
Finally, he spoke, his voice hoarse from…misuse. Not from anything else. “Jarvis.”
“Yes, Mr. Rogers?”
“Did Tony…does Tony…his room? Do I take him to his room? What’s…the procedure for this?” Steve was stumbling through his words as the reality set in. Tony was dead. He was dead, and there was nothing Steve could do. He held back a sob as the team stared at him.
“Mr. Stark would have liked you to take him to his room. He has a plan for…this.”
“Great. I’ll go then.” It was anything but great, as Steve finally released a sob, carrying Tony to his room. The Avengers let him, lost in their own grief.
It was a blur as Steve made it to Tony’s room, oh so gently placing Tony on his couch. He sat down on the other end of the couch.
“Oh, Tony. Why did you do it?” Steve was talking to Tony, no, himself, his emotions finally breaking through. “I. I don’t know. I can’t even fathom preparing your funeral. I really can’t. You’re supposed to be…invincible. My fellow Avenger. My fellow leader. My best friend. Always by my side. Some part of me wants to believe you’re alive. But…who am I kidding?” Steve released a sad, desperate laugh. “I don’t know if I can do this without you.”
“Steve.” A small clink reverberated in the room as the armor perked up, the faceplate lifting to reveal…Tony’s very much alive face, full of concern. Smiling at him.
But the arc reactor was still a dull, lifeless gray.
Steve merely stared and stared. He released a strained laugh that turned into a sob that racked his body, his gaze blurry before he covered his face with his hands. Oh, he really, really lost it. This was a hallucination, because he finally accepted that Tony is dead.
“Steve. I’m alive. I’m okay.” An armored hand was rubbing circles on Steve’s back, which made Steve sob harder to the point he was gasping for air. “Wait, shit, oh gosh, do you think I’m real?”
He refused to look into the ghost’s eyes. Absolutely refused. Because Steve would have hope, and that was a dangerous thing to have right now.
Armored hands grabbed at his wrists, forcefully dragging his hands away from his face. Without his control, Steve’s eyes stared into Tony’s.
Holding a breath, Steve’s gaze trailed down and stopped at the still gray arc reactor. He released a broken sound.
“Oh, hell, I can see why you’re...like this. I took the Opossum Protocol too far.” Tony’s gaze followed Steve’s, where Tony sounded…embarrased?...as the arc reactor flickered back to its normal, vibrant blue glow.
Steve refused to believe it. No, nope. He couldn’t. But his eyes betrayed him as he stared at Tony, who gave a nod, saying softly, “I’m alive, Steve. All part of the plan.”
The plan? The plan? Steve gave a broken laugh. “What do you mean, the plan? Wait, don’t tell me. You. You can’t be alive. But how? How?”
Tony frowned before perking up, releasing his grip from Steve’s wrists to shuck the armor off until he was in his undersuit. Oh so gently, one hand grabbed Steve’s wrist, guiding it to rest on Tony’s wrist, where Steve could feel the very alive pulse of Tony.
“I really didn’t tell you about the Opossum Protocol? I swear it would’ve been on my files, apart from the Ava—y’know, yeah, I didn’t put it in my files.” Tony sounded regretful as he continued, his grip on Steve allowing Steve to keep feeling the pulse of life of his best friend. “I, um. You’re going to hate me for this, but my plan changed last minute when Foom declared a battle to the death. So I, y’know, decided to activate the Opossum Protocol.”
“Pray tell, what is the Opossum Protocol?” Steve surprised himself when he asked, his voice level. Tony stared back, just as surprised.
“Well, do you know what opossums do when threatened?” A simple eyebrow raise from Steve didn’t deter Tony as he continued, eyes shining. “They first bare their teeth, to act aggressive. When that doesn’t work, they pretend to act sick. They can have mucus falling down their nose, like how? When that fails, they just play dead.”
Steve blinked. Blinked again. Opened his mouth, let it close. Why was he getting a science lesson now? This somehow, endearingly, allowed him to believe that Tony truly is alive.
Tony’s excitement died out once he noticed Steve’s silence. “Oh, um. Well, that is why I call this specific plan the Opossum Protocol.”
“…because you faked your death?” Steve finally responded, disbelief clear in his voice.
Tony gave a soft smile. “Yes! I challenged Foom—so, the teeth part—then acted as if I was slowing down—though, it was easy to fake that since it was kind of real—and then just changed my arc reactor’s color.”
Steve jerked his hand away from Tony before hugging him tightly. “Never do that again, Stark. I hate you so, so much.”
Tony released a laugh, hugging Steve back. “You don’t sound like you hate me, Rogers.”
“I’m absolutely livid, Shellhead. Why didn’t you tell me that this was all part of your plan?”
Tony hummed softly. “I couldn’t give myself away. Plus, I told you to not avenge me.”
Steve broke free from the hug to glare into Tony’s eyes. “That was meant to reassure me?”
Tony gave a shrug, a shy smile flashing across his face. “Yes?”
Steve should really yell at Tony, tell him that it was the worst plan ever. He should force Tony to rest for the rest of the day and fix his armor. He should tell the rest of the team that Tony is alive. He should do a lot of things right now, instead of staring with so much love at his best friend.
But he didn’t. He felt himself sag with all the unkept emotions, leaning into Tony as he hugged Tony again. Tony leaned in to meet him, hugging him back.
“I’m not going anywhere, Winghead.” Tony said ever so softly.
“Good. Because I’m not letting you go, Shellhead.” Steve responded, his voice going soft.
The Avengers were, understandably, upset.
“Hulk is going to break every bone in your body.” Hulk warned as he hugged Tony so tightly that Steve was afraid that Hulk was going through with his threat.
“Trickery doesn’t suit you, Man of Iron.” Thor said with a frown as he hit Tony on the shoulder, though his eyes shined with relief.
“Don’t do that again, ever.” Sam said stiffly before breaking into tears, shaking Tony.
“I’ll haunt you from the vents, Stark, don’t test me.” Clint threatened as he lightly punched Tony in the shoulder.
“I will kill you if you die.” Natasha said calmly, glaring into Tony’s eyes as she smiled.
“Seriously, never do that again.” Steve warned before he went to hug Tony again, who gave a laugh.
“Geez, geez, calm down already, everyone! I’m alive, big whoop, now let's move on!” As six pairs of eyes glared at Tony, he faltered. “Um. I mean, let's celebrate.”
The shrill sound of the Avengers’ alarm pierced through the air, breaking the moment.
“Avengers,” Jarvis began, hesitance in his voice. “There is a distress call coming from the Savage Lands. I recommend checking it out.”
Steve wanted to scream out his frustration. He just witnessed Tony’s brush to death twice in one day, and Tony still didn’t have an hour, not even a minute’s rest. He opened his mouth to make this clear, but he immediately shut his mouth when Tony stared at him with such a fierce expression and gave a slight shake of his head.
Of course Tony wouldn’t back down from a mission, even if he was injured or, gods forbid, dying.
“Avengers Assemble.” Steve said rather grumpily as the team got into motion.