Why Steve Did Not Need To Try the Subtle Approach

Chapter 7

Cayden took a deep breath as he made his way down the corridor towards the administration office, running a hand through his hair before pulling on a warm smile across his lips. Stepping into the office he rolled his eyes slightly at the dreamy expression on the administrator's face – and that of the two receptionists and nurse who were also in the small room.

"Captain Rodgers!" Cayden stepped up to the figure the four woman were swooning over, unable to help the faint smirk at the sheer relief that took over the taller man's face. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Steve offered the doctor a smile and a faint shrug.

"Oh I was in the neighbourhood and I just thought I'd swing in past – see how everyone was doing," the soldier's smile faded slightly into a more solemn expression. "I heard about the… recent mission."

Cayden gave a small nod.

"Yeah it was… busy around here," he commented before pulling the smile back on his face. "But we're getting there. Just two more to discharge and that should be within the next few days all being well."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that," Steve smiled. Cayden suppressed a smirk as the soldier glanced around uneasily at the woman still staring at him.

"I'm sure they'd be delighted to have a visit," the doctor gestured to the door behind him. "I know patients in the past have always appreciated it. I can take you along now if you want?"

"That would be great," Steve nodded, happily following the doctor out of the room, of course offering polite smiles to the woman as he left. "Doctor Poole, right? I believe we met after you treated agents I worked with on that mission in Belize?"

Cayden's eyebrow arched ever so slightly but he maintained a composed expression.

"That's right, yes."

"You're an ex-soldier yourself?"

"Ex-Navy, yeah," Cayden replied calmly.

"Oh, right sorry," Steve chuckled sheepishly. "So were you on duty at all after this mission?"

Cayden scoffed quietly, pausing at a set of double doors and turning to face the super soldier.

"I was on duty for all of it. I'm in charge of the trauma team – I was here day and night for sixteen days."

Steve's eyes widened slightly as Cayden offered a wry smile and continued through the doors.

"That's…" the soldier let out a long breath after a brief silence. "You must have been exhausted."

"Hazard of the job," Cayden shrugged, looking up and seeing one of his colleagues exiting a side room. "Ah, Nate how is Agent Price?"

"Another bad night with the back pain unfortunately," Cayden's colleague replied. "He's just been given another muscle relaxer."

Cayden nodded.

"Best leave him be then – hopefully he'll sleep. Do you know how Agent King is?"

The other doctor laughed.

"Trying to persuade us to let him out of bed," he replied with an arched eyebrow. Cayden chuckled.

"Safe to visit him then," he turned to Steve and nodded his head up the corridor. "I'll just go in and check if he's happy for the visit."

Of course the agent was delighted at the idea of a visit from Captain America and to his credit Steve spoke happily to the injured agent, encouraging him to wait a little longer before trying to get up if that was indeed the doctors' recommendation. Cayden watched from the corner of the room, not having been directly involved in this particular agent's treatment he was happy to stand back and watch.

The soldier had been talking to the injured agent for about ten minutes when another doctor came in to check on his patient. Steve smiled and wished the agent a full recovery, following Cayden out the room to leave the two in peace.

"How are the staff?" Steve asked as Cayden led him down another corridor. "I imagine you weren't the only one working long hours."

"No I was not," Cayden agreed. "Thankfully it's been quiet the last week or so and we've been able to let people have the time off. We have a few who are on call for emergencies of course but on the whole we're getting time off to relax," once again the doctor paused outside another shut door. "So. Do you wanna see more patients or do you wanna go somewhere quiet so you can ask me about Clint?"

Steve blinked.

"Eh… excuse me?"

Cayden rolled his eyes and opened the door, gesturing for the soldier to go inside. Steve inhaled deeply and took a step forward.

"Capsicle!"

Steve blinked again.

"Tony?" he stared at the man sitting on the medical bed. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Apparently he has a sore leg," Cayden's dry voice came from behind the soldier along with the sound of the door clicking shut. Tony crossed his arms sulkily.

"And it is! And you left me here all alone for… ages. I'm telling Fury."

Cayden scoffed.

"You do that," he replied, leaning back against the desk opposite Tony and crossing his arms. He turned his gaze to Steve. "At least you tried to be subtle. He was as obvious as a jackhammer."

Tony opened his mouth to object but shut it with a shrug. Steve looked at Tony and sighed, turning an apologetic smile towards Cayden.

"I'm sorry."

Cayden shrugged although his shoulders remained somewhat tense.

"I'll take it you all know then?" he sighed as both men nodded. "How did you know I was on shift anyway? Or did you just get lucky?"

Tony pursed his lips slightly.

"JARVIS hacked your rota," the billionaire admitted. Cayden rolled his eyes having heard much about JARVIS from Clint.

"Same," Steve admitted. Tony laughed.

"Ooooo… bad Captain!"

Cayden inhaled deeply.

"Does Clint know that you know?"

Tony shook his head fiercely.

"Nope. And don't worry – we have been sworn to secrecy by Natasha."

Cayden studied the other man for a moment before sighing tiredly.

"So what are you even doing here? Natasha's already given me the shovel talk you know."

"Shovel talk?" Steve frowned.

"If he ever hurts Clint we get to kill him and bury him," Tony replied quickly, waving a hand dismissively at the soldier before turning back to Cayden. "And I just want to get to know the guy dating our friend – what's wrong with that?"

Cayden smirked at the innocent expression on Tony's face.

"You mean you want to know what makes me better than the guys you tried to fix him up with?"

Steve laughed as Tony pouted, although the billionaire's eyes sparkled with amusement.

"That too."

Cayden let out a sigh, glancing at his watch.

"Well as much as I would love to stay and chat with you both I do have a patient coming in for physio in about fifteen minutes so…"

"Of course," Steve nodded. "We don't want to get in your way – we should never have bothered you while you were working."

Cayden returned a slight nod, looking between the soldier and Tony.

"Look… please don't let him know that you know," he requested quietly. "He would almost definitely freak out and things have been going so well lately and…"

Tony waved a hand as Cayden's voice trailed off.

"Don't worry – we won't say a word," he tilted his head to the side as he studied the doctor, his amused tone fading as realisation spread over his face. "You really do care about him don't you?"

Cayden scoffed quietly but his lips quirked sheepishly at seeing the earnest expression on Tony's face.

"Yeah I do," Cayden nodded, smile widening slightly. "I love him."

Tony blinked in surprise before breaking out in a grin.

"Really? Have you told him that?"

"Ha, are you kidding?" Cayden shook his head. "I mean I've almost slipped up but he'd run to the hills if I told him that…"

Tony nodded solemnly, hopping off the bed.

"Well don't worry – we won't let him know that we know," Tony assured him. Cayden offered a meek, grateful smile to both as Tony made his way toward the door.

"Thank you for your time Doctor Poole," Steve smiled politely. Cayden rolled his eyes.

"Please, you all may as well just call me Cayden."

"Well thank you Cayden," Steve corrected himself. "We're sorry we wasted your time."

"Hey! Speak for yourself!" Tony screwed up his face at the soldier before turning back to Cayden. "Just one last question."

"Tony…" Steve warned even as Cayden arched an eyebrow in query.

"Who tops?"

"Tony!" Steve spluttered, grabbing the billionaires arm and trying to pull him toward the door. Cayden however let out a short bark of laughter.

"Depends who wants to more," he shrugged, offering Tony a smirk. The other man grinned and turned to Steve.

"Oh I like this guy. Legolas had better keep him."