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When he woke screaming, Steve was there, holding him, reassuring him, and bringing him back from his panic.
“I’ve got you, darlin’,” hushed Steve, carefully rocking Tony back and forth, the lamp resting on the bedside table illuminated, giving the bedroom a soft glow, pushing back the shadows. “It’s okay, you’re safe now. I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”
Slowly but surely, Tony came back to reality, the dream of his torture filtering away as Steve’s words penetrated the hazy fog in his brain. For several minutes he sat, leaning back against Steve’s chest, blinking at the unfamiliar room, taking in the details. Eventually, when his heart rate had calmed, he spoke.
“So that sucked,” said Tony, his voice shaking though he aimed for nonchalant.
“I’m so sorry,” whispered Steve, hugging Tony impossibly closer. “I never meant for you to get hurt.”
“Hey, hey,” said Tony, turning slightly to get a better look at Steve’s face. “This isn’t your fault. Yes, it would have been nice to know that you’re a mob boss or whatever you call yourself, but this would have happened even if I knew. This is only on the people who hurt me, not you.”
Steve shook his head, clearly still in denial. Tony changed his tactic, unwilling to let his boyfriend wallow in self pity.
“You think we can go sit in the common area, have something warm to drink, and talk for a bit?” asked Tony softly. “I don’t think I can go back to sleep after that nightmare.”
“Of course. Anything you want.”
Steve lifted Tony easily and carried the injured man out of the spacious bedroom and into the even more spacious living. Clint and Bruce were in the open kitchen and nodded at Steve and Tony when they saw the pair. Steve sat on the couch with Tony while Bruce made them tea.
“So how did you get into the mob business?” asked Tony after three minutes of fidgeting to find a comfortable position for his aching body. “Like, is there a school or recruitment convention? Do you have newsletters? I think there should be newsletters all the different mobs send each other so you guys can keep up with things. Like who is feuding who. And who has what territory.”
“We don’t have newsletters,” said Clint with a chuckle, throwing himself on an armchair near the window. “Though that would make things easier. We should look into that.”
“We’re a family,” explained Steve. “This wouldn’t work if we didn’t care for each other. It’s too easy to betray people.”
“Everyone has a price,” muttered Tony darkly. Clint and Steve both raised their eyebrows; there was clearly a story behind that.
“It’s a bit like a company,” said Steve, deciding to find out who betrayed Tony later. “We are the core – executives I guess. We have others who work for us on varying levels. Sometimes yes, we have to work outside the law, but it’s always for the greater good. We combat the less moral crime groups who are more willing to kill and maim innocents.”
“How do you make money if you’re always fighting other people?”
“Clint and Natasha run a few restaurants and Bruce is actually a doctor,” said Steve. “I own several gyms. We have legitimate business you know. We’re not bad people. We’re just…not the type to wait for the legal system to do a job we can do more efficiently.”
Tony nodded, mulling it over in his mind. He loved Steve and knowing that he didn’t exactly follow the law didn’t change that. It was oddly reassuring, knowing that should anything happen Steve and his friends would be capable and willing to take care of themselves. Plus, this whole thing was a bit of an adventure and Tony loved adventures.
“Okay,” said Tony. “Well, let’s be real here. Steve, honey, I love you but you suck are paperwork. So who takes care of that for you? Is it Phil Coulson? He looks like he gets off on paperwork. If he does, I need him to show me all your businesses and costs and I can fix them, make them better.”
“Who says they need fixing?” demanded Natasha, wandering in and perching on the arm of the chair Clint was occupying.
Tony looked at her skeptically.
“If you guys run as many things as you claim and you’re still using the shitty security system I saw in this apartment then you clearly short on money. Either that or you just suck at security. Doesn’t matter, I can fix both those issues.”
“You’re really okay with this?” said Steve.
“Yeah,” said Tony, shrugged one shoulder, tipping his head back to rest on Steve’s chest and look up at his boyfriends face. “I mean, you’re not going to kill me now that I know or anything, right?”
“No!” insisted Steve, looking appalled at the very idea.
“Then I don’t see a problem,” said Tony with a grin.
“Marry him,” said Clint, looking right at Steve. “Seriously. You’re never going to find anyone this relaxed who can get kidnapped, tortured, and told their boyfriend is in a shady business and not flip their shit.”
Everyone laughed.
The conversation drifted to lighter topics, mainly the friends sharing humorous stories with Tony from their past. They could tell that while Tony wasn’t bothered by their jobs, he was not used to the amount of violence – like kidnapping – that sometimes accompanied their line of work. Tony needed a distraction after his first dabble into the darker side of the world – they had known it would happen which was why they had been awake and waiting. Tony was theirs now, they would protect him from everything, including his own mind.
As he began drifting off to sleep, Tony couldn’t help marveling at how safe he felt, how he felt like he belonged with these people. Never would he have predicted such an outcome when he had started dating the seemingly shy but stubborn Steve Rogers but he also wouldn’t change it if he could. He would just have to come up with a cool code name for himself to match The Captain.