Title: Thoughts of Being Greater Have Fallen Short
Pairing: Steve/Tony

Summary: Steve gets into work one morning, and finds that his boss has left him a very urgent voice mail, and not one he expects.
Universe: AU.
Rating: NC-17.
Warnings: The destruction of the Marvel time line, I would say.

Thoughts of Being Greater Have Fallen Short

Part II

Tony's pulse is racing, there is not a object around that hasn't met his wrath. In a second, he has a monitor ripped out and thrown at the adjacent wall of his work shop, shattering to the ground with a heavy thud. It's not enough, he thinks, his rage is not enough. Tony crumbles to the ground out of pure exhaustion, laboring for breath. The door slides open two hours later, he can here it, but doesn't care. He can't care.

"Have you had enough?" Pepper asks, tears in her eyes as she looms over the fallen man.

"Go away, Pep."

"Have you had enough, Tony?" she shouts, cheeks stained red. Tony hated to see her so upset, he hated that he was the cause even more.

Tony wraps his arms around himself, rolling into a half fetal position. Tony's eyes are sealed shut, and he feels bile rise high in his throat. If only his enemies could see him now, so lost and heartbroken, they would have taken everything. Death attempts, decoys, and infiltrations could not take him down, not completely, but losing Steve could. Losing Steve had caused him to collapse entirely within himself.

"I'm so tired," he explains, tears stinging at the edges of his eyes, "of losing everything that matters."

Pepper stares down at him, no sympathy to be found. "Then stop throwing them away," she whispers, and it causes Tony to tense and shudder. No one knows just how pathetic he is.

"He doesn't understand what they've tried to do to me!" he shouts.

"And you don't understand what they've tried to do to him," Pepper says, voice thick. She had grown close to Steve, Tony sees. "You don't get it, do you? Steve just wants to help people, he doesn't care about S.H.I.E.L.D or Fury, he only cares about being able to help them, and he wanted to do that with you."

"Then why didn't we? We could have done it together, just the two of us."

Pepper shakes her head. "He wanted to find a middle ground. He wanted to stay here with you, and work with the Avengers, but then you went and fired him! Without my authorization, might I add."

"I don't need your authorization."

"That's right, isn't it Tony? You don't need anyone or anything, and that's why you're down here wallowing, right? Destroying things. Not every extension of your self is evil, Tony, just like not everyone you chose to allow into your life will betray you."

:::

Tony wants to say more, scream some more, but Pepper doesn't give him the chance as she walks away. She leaves him alone with his thoughts, and he can't take them. Tony decides that walking out of his front door with only one shoe, no jacket, and a disheveled everything at nine o'clock at night for ice cream is a brilliant idea. Never mind the fact he has ice cream in his own fridge, and a considerably long walk to find any outside. People on the street avoid him like the plague, probably thinking him drunk or homeless, or possibly both.

Tony doesn't mind, he doesn't mind at all. The business tycoon only wants ice cream and to sulk in his self induced misery. "I can't reach," he hears a small child say as she struggles on her tip toes to reach for a carton of milk.

Tony watches her for a moment, red pigtails swaying from side to side as she attempts to jump higher. "Here," he says, handing the girl the gallon.

"Thanks," she beams, clutching the jug close to her chest in both arms.

"No problem, would you like ice cream? I'm getting cookie dough," Tony asks, and he hopes idly that he doesn't sound as creepy as he thinks he does.

"I don't have the money for that, Mister."

"I'll pay."

"Really?"

"Yes, of course, I'm a super hero, you know."

"Where's you're costume at, then?" she asks, and Tony decides then that he quite likes the child. No one should trust anyone, especially those claiming to help people.

"At home," he answers, smiling. Children weren't usually his strong point, but nothing made sense as of late.

"I'd probably believe you if you weren't missing a shoe," she says, and Tony laughs.

"Men without shoes are not to be trusted, but I'm serious about the ice cream."

Tony walks home, spotting a man on the street with no shoes and no place to go. "I would give you mine,"he says, "but I've only got one, so take this," Tony chimes, handing the man a wad of cash. The homeless man, Beck as he had called himself, looks astonished. Tony just hoped it didn't go to something damaging, like a addiction of some sort.

Tony wonders then how much money he had thrown away on his addictions.

Tony doesn't understand why he did those things, he doesn't feel any better, but it becomes almost like second nature to him. Tony sees the news often enough, sees how the media welcomes Captain America back. Tony can feel his chest ache as he thinks about the possible Personal Assistants Pepper has lined up for him to interview. None of them, he thinks, is good enough. "Nice work, Cheryl," Tony says, and the woman looks startled. "Are you talking to me, sir?"

"I don't see another Cheryl around here."

"Thank you, Mister Stark," she says jubilantly, and Tony feels a twinge of pain strike through him. How long had she been working here? Years, Tony thinks, and not once had he ever expressed gratitude towards her.

"You do great work around here Cheryl, really. I don't know what we'd do without you here."

It simply wasn't enough, he believes, being unselfish and a better person just wasn't enough to dull Steve's absence. He continues to do it, though, a sort of albatross pulled tightly around his neck. "Tony!" Pepper calls. "Tony, turn on, turn on the news!" she shouts, heels clicking hurriedly as she runs.

Tony does as told, and is instantly greeted with a image of a ruined part of the city, including a barber shop. A building Tony knew to be a landmark of one of S.H.I.E.L.D's hidden facilities. Tony feels his heart stop, and immediately stands to his feet. "What's happened?" he demands. "I thought they were suppose to be aboard one of those helicarrier's? Are they?"

Pepper's hand falls over her mouth. "I don't know," she whispers, "but they're saying its bad, whatever has happened...no one they've found is alive. Who else would know they're there?"

"I've got to go."

"No one knows where they are, Tony! They haven't been seen. Wait, Tony, it's dangerous!"

Three months Tony had kept his hands clean of anything hero related. Three months since he had donned the armor as Iron Man, and all it took was him to think that Steve could even remotely be in trouble. Tony touches down on the churned Earth, ignoring officials as he enters what's left of the barbershop front. The inside is scorched, and Tony has to rip out a bolted in seat and make his own path down. The hidden layers look much more damaged, insides ready to cave in. There are S.H.I.E.L.D agents strewn across the ground, faces shriveled and red. The dust of death. Tony sees Hawkeye trapped under the rubble, he calls out his name, and the man is barely able to answer. Tony goes to aid him, to ask what is happening when everything lights up and just as quickly goes dark.

:::

"Tony's a neat guy, very smart," Steve says happily as he pops a piece of butterscotch candy into his mouth.

They're sitting on a rooftop, staring out over the city. It's eleven o'clock at night, and it's cold outside, but there's no where else Tony would rather be. This has quickly morphed into a routine for the both of them. "He doesn't give you a hard time?" he questions, and Steve looks at him oddly, and for a terrifying moment, he thinks he's been caught.

"Why do you ask so many questions about him? He might have mistreated you, or you two had some falling out, but he treats me well. I'm more concerned with you, I know nothing about you, pal," Steve says, studying his faceplate, seeking something more then the painted on expression.

"There's nothing to know. I'm just a man in a suit."

"I highly doubt that."

"Do you?"

"Yes, I do. There has to be a reason you wear that thing. There has to be a reason you save people. You're Iron Man for a reason, aren't you?"

"Yes," Tony whispers, though it's not portrayed exactly as he says it.

"Then why do you do you do it? Why do you help people under the guise of Iron Man?"

Tony thinks for a long time, trying to pick the right words, but realizes that there aren't any. "The man I am under all of this...is a very weak and harmful person, Steve. I do what I can to redeem myself, even if no one knows it."

"I doubt that."

"Doubt what?"

"That you're not a good man. You say that like it's permanent fact, like a bad man could never possibly be good. I think you're a good man."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"I'm a good judge of character," Steve says, and his eyes look almost shimmering in the way the streetlights reflect in them.

"Are you?"

"Yes," he says,smiling as his fingers trace over Tony's helmet, leaning forward until his lips press against the metallic cheek of Tony's armor. He wishes he could feel it. "I am."

Tony knows that he is dreaming, and struggles to stay in that state. Tony doesn't want to wake up and lose that peaceful memory. The scene his eyes open to is static and cold, and unsurprisingly grim. Tony's arms are confined above his head as he dangles at least two feet above the ground. The concrete floor was spotted in his blood as well as the blood of others.

Among them, Hawkeye appeared to be the most injured, dangling beside him unconscious with a severe laceration to the side of his head, a dislocated right shoulder, and crushed legs. Tony thinks him being unconscious is a small mercy. "He's that way because of me," he hears Natasha whisper beside him. She looked no better, a deep wound to her left side, "he pushed me out of the way when the wall came down."

"He is the most valiant of warriors, and is to be thought of as such," Thor commends, voice low.

"Wolverine, Spiderman, where are they?" Tony questions, head pounding.

"Don't know."

"The Hulk, Spiderwoman?"

"Don't know, they were above ground when this, whatever this is, happened."

"Steve?"

Silence.

"Steve?" Tony asks, again.

"He went after you, and I don't know if he made it, but you're here, so I don't think he did," Natasha finally answers, and Tony's eyes snap shut, tears forming.

"If I had seen him, I would have...I would have..."

"We know."

Tony strives to keep his breathing under control. He tries to keep all of the horrible, plausible, thoughts away because if Steve wasn't okay, wasn't alive, Tony might as well die now. Tony's life meant nothing without Steve, and he understood this—accepted it. Tony shakes his head, letting out a blood curdling scream. I've let you down again, Steve, he thinks.

Tony's screaming must have stirred the Red Skull from wherever he had been stationed, a look of menacing satisfaction as the cosmic cube glows brightly within his hands. Where the hell had he found that? "Where's Captain America?" he questions, disgust in every ounce of his being.

"The Captain should be arriving any minute now," the Red Skull beams.

Tony's stomach churns, he now knows that this is a trap intended for Steve. The Nazi scum was using them as bait, bait they all knew Steve would willingly take. "Even with that cosmic cube, you're nothing," he says, taunting the villain.

"You would think that, wouldn't you?"

"I don't think, I know. It's part of my genius, you know."

Tony is trying to rial him up, distract him. If he is focused on Tony then maybe, just maybe Steve can by some time. Tony knows it is a idiotic plan, he has no clue where Steve is or how long it will take him to infiltrate this place, but pissing all over the Skulls boots sounds appealing.

"I think—" the Red Skull is interrupted as gun fire sounds, and Tony visibly tenses.

Natasha takes a deep breath, and Thor, for the hundredth time it would seem, tries to break free of his restraints. The gunfire is still going on, but slowly the sound starts to trickle, and Tony both appreciates and loathes that knowledge. Steve was closing in. "Which one of you should I kill first?" he hums.

"How about him?" he questions, peering over at the unconscious man.

"I will murder you!" Thor growls.

Natasha's head drops forward, and she visibly trembles. "You're gonna have to kill me before you even think about touching him, he's not yours to kill," and if that isn't a 'I love him' in Natasha speak, Tony doesn't know what is.

"Killing an unconscious man. You really are low on the whole totem pole of life thing, aren't you?"

The Red Skull holds a gun to Tony's head, turning red and shriveling up was a tragedy, but not as much as the thought of losing all of his hair in the process. "Captain America would most be upset by your demise," he says.

"No, not really, but you can give it a shot...literally."

The Red Skull seems ready to take him up on that offer when the doors throw open, and two hunch men are thrown across the room like yesterdays garbage. Steve is breathing hard, eyes full of rage. For the first time, Tony struggles against his restraints, never mind the fact that he knows it won't do him any good. Steve was in danger, Steve was in danger, and Tony couldn't do a thing. Tony calms himself, that was no way to think. "Get ready to have your ass handed to you by Captain America, again," Tony says, and he sees Natasha smirk at the same time he hears Thor laugh.

They believed in him.

Steve throws his shield, knocking the gun out of the Red Skulls hand. The gun goes off, and Tony squirms even though he knows it won't hit him. The cube flies into the air, and Natasha kicks it. The damn thing makes a waning sound, and Tony recommends she not do that again. Thor agrees.

Cap's shield is lodged into the wall as he and the Red Skull battle over the cosmic cube. The cube was responding differently then previous ones had. "Something's not right," Tony says, and his gut is blasting bad vibes.

"You think?" Natasha questions.

The Red Skull is able to get his hands on the cube, but Steve is quick in retrieving his shield, aiming it above Thor's head. Thor drops to his feet, letting out a roar as Mjölnir is reunited by his side. He throws the hammer into the ground, Earth jumping as thunder encased them and lighting crackled. Thor cuts them all lose as henchmen flood the room. Tony's barely able to walk, fingers tracing over the wound to the back of his head.

Tony doesn't know how that happened, but brushes that aside as he lifts Hawkeye into his arms. Natasha had snapped the neck of one of the guards, acquiring his gun and providing cover. Tony couldn't do much without his armor, and that was no where to be seen. Thor waged on, but the Red Skull in possession of that cosmic cube was detrimental. A goon goes to aim for Steve, but Tony's quick at shooting the henchman through the knee cap, Steve wasn't too fond of the whole killing people thing, no matter how evil.

Apparently, the man he had stolen the gun from wasn't too thrilled at having been hit over the head with a piece of concrete. The guy had large hands that wrapped easily around Tony's throat, of course he had run out of bullets. Tony tries to toss the man over and away from him, but he is far too weak, the ache in his chest far prominent now as he struggles. The masked figure drops on top of him, and Tony stares blankly as he shoves him to the side. Hawkeye's eyes are glazed over, small caliber in hand as Tony places himself by his side.

"We're gonna get you out of here, promise, Pasties, don't you worry."

"Clint."

"What? Are you delusional?"

"That's my name, Jackass."

"Oh."

Tony's about to say something completely in the moment when a explosion happens, and A.I.M appears. "Great," he mutters, shielding his body over Clint's.

"They're here." That is the last thing Tony remembers saying before the Earth began to quake. The last thing he remembers hearing is the Red Skull and Steve screaming before a eerie quiet.

::

Tony awakes hours, days, weeks later in a rundown warehouse. Tony sits up, he is in a wrinkled pinstripe blue dress shirt. Tony's chest plate is recharged, and nothing hurts. Tony notices that it is dark outside and he is, for all he knows, alone. Tony stands wobbly onto his legs, panicking as he tries to find his way out.

Tony has to go down two flights of stairs in the dark and through three doors to get out. Tony blinks slowly, recognizing where he's at. At his lowest of lows, when he had lost everything, Tony had stayed here. Tony's disoriented, but he swears he sees Steve through one of the storefront windows, but as quickly as he is there, he is gone. Tony stumbles till he finds a pay phone, calling Pepper who cries hysterically over the line when Tony announces it's him.

Happy picks him up, but Tony lapses into a uncomfortable sleep before any questions can be asked. When he awakes, Pepper is by his side. Nick Fury is not too far away as well as Thor, Natasha, Clint, Spiderman, and Bruce Banner.

"What's with the welcoming committee?" he questions, unsure what else to say.

"You're the last one to be found," Fury says, and he damn near looks relieved.

"The last one found? Was I lost?"

"We all were," Natasha attempts to explain."Sent back to a time in our lives before waking."

Tony stares down at his clothes, it was the same outfit he had wore day after day, and night after night of being in a drunken stupor. Tony had come to in a location he hadn't been to in years, with a headache that had felt a awful lot like a hangover. "You mean to tell me I've been living five years in the past?"

"For the past seven months, yes," Banner announces. "Spiderman, Wolverine, Spiderwoman, and I were frozen in the present," he adds.

"Thor, Natasha, Clint, and yourself were all rocketed back."

"I woke up at the circus," Clint explains, a deep pain in those eyes. "Took me two weeks to get back ,and I had been gone for a little over a month."

"I, myself, was thrown to the realm of Jotunheim where I awoke cold and nearly frost bitten. When I returned to Midgard, I had been amidst for nearly three months of your time."

"I woke up in Russia, got back and realized I had been gone for five months," says Natasha, face guarded.

"And Steve?"

Pepper's hand squeezes hiss own, and Tony knows that whatever is about to be said is not going to be good. "They don't think he made it," she says, and Tony shakes his head in disbelief.

"If we all made it, then he had to have made it, too."

"When I last saw him, he and the Red Skull were fighting over the cube, but..."

"But what?"

"A.I.M crashed in, but the cube lit up, and Cap was...he was..."

"Disintegrated along with the Red Skull and the cosmic cube," Fury says.

Tony can't believe that, he knows that it's not true. "I saw him," he says, and hates that they all look at him so sympathetically.

"I think we all did," says Spiderman, solemnly.

:::

The next few weeks are spent in utter turmoil. Tony feels so out of touch with everything and everyone, nothing makes sense. Tony spends a lot of time by himself, attempting to avoid any and all mirrors. The depression is overwhelming, and he can't think straight. Nick doesn't hassle him, and Clint even attempts to talk to him about what happened, but Tony can't. Tony's determined that nothing can make this right.

Tony sees Steve everywhere, and he has to wonder if he is going insane or not. Tony has a hard time telling what is real and what is imaginary. Tony closes his medicine cabinet one week day morning, and sees Steve in the mirror, he turns around, ready to embrace the other man, but no one is there. Tony drops to his knees, face in his hands as he sobs for Steve's ghost to leave him alone. Tony regrets that decision immediately and begs him to stay, and to never abandon him.

Tony thinks a lot about dying one night, he just wants the madness to stop. Tony hadn't spoken about what had happened to him, not really, not even with the others who had all been through the same ordeal. The Iron Man armor had been retrieved and returned, and that had surprised Tony. "You can't die," he hears Steve say. "You've come too far to die now."

Tony's face flushes, eyes watering as he shouts, "I know you're not here, Steve, you said the same thing when I had a heart attack!"

Tony opens his eyes to see a faint figure to his left, lying down on his bed and staring at him thoughtfully. "Where are you?" he questions, reaching out for him. Tony can't touch him, but Steve doesn't fad away.

"I need to find you."

"I'm lost," Steve says, and his voice sounds like running water.

Tony's lip trembles as he tries once again to feel Steve underneath his finger tips. "How can I find you?" he questions, feeling so helpless.

"Don't give up."

"They all think I'm crazy."

"Don't give up, Tony," Steve says, and then disappears.

Tony clutches his pillow tightly to his chest, god help him. Tony laughs, when had he ever helped him? Tony curls himself into a ball, no one, it would seem, believed him. Tony sits up, he would just have to find someone who did. Who did he know that could deal with something like this?"

What was it exactly he was dealing with? Magic, physics? Tony had been sidelined into the past, and Spiderman and the others had been frozen in time, so why was it so difficult to believe that Steve was caught somewhere in between? Tony thinks about Reed Richards first, and then he thinks about Dr. Strange. They were both viable options, but which one would listen? Who would believe him, and most importantly, who would help?

:::

"I don't know why you're doing this, but I want to go," Clint says, appearing in Tony's kitchen one night.

"How did you even get in here?"

"I have my ways, though you might want to replace your face recognition device...someone put a arrow in it."

"Why are you here?" Tony questions, and Clint stares seriously at him.

"Because I believe you. Spidy wasn't lying when he said that we had all seen him. We did, briefly...he woke us up."

"He woke you up?"

"He told me I had suffered enough. He told Thor that Loki loved him in his own way, and Natasha didn't say much, but it involved Steve being in ballet."

"Then why not say anything?"

Clint looks remorseful. "We all thought we were hallucinating...just thought about how the Skull house had been demolished. No one within ten feet of Cap and the Skull had been left recognizable."

Tony listens to him, and the two discuss possible solutions, deciding that meeting with both Richards and Strange would be their best bet. Tony feels nervous, he could relate to Richards, could understand and follow him. Tony didn't understand Strange or magic, for that matter, and poor Clint, he didn't really follow either, but he was far more brave then Tony was at the moment.

"He's not dead," Tony explains, "just lost."

"Lost where?" Strange questions, expression curious instead of skeptical, and wasn't that a relief.

"In time. I don't know how to explain it, the times I've seen him...he hasn't really been able to tell me, but I think he's stuck."

"You see him?" Reed questions, hand under his chin.

"Yeah. I mean, sometimes."

"What does he look like when he appears?"

"He's almost transparent. Too bright, his voice sounds grainy, like a transmitter on the fritz."

"Do you think he is caught between the present and a streaming time line?"

"It sounds possible, do any of you have memories of being transported into the past?" Strange inquires.

"The only thing I remember is hiding from a large crowd in a tent...and Steve appearing to tell me to wake up. I didn't, I thought it was all a dream until I saw where I was, and what I was dressed in."

"And you?"

"I just remember waking up, like him, I was dressed in the same clothes I had been when I was...when I was at a troubled time in my life. I saw him, though, as I stumbled out of the warehouse, I saw his reflection."

"But he's made contact with you,and you only?"

"I guess."

"Trust me, if you knew the context of their relationship, you would not be surprised," Clint says, and Tony merely glares at the young man.

"A streaming time line is quite...unfortunate. How can we reach him if he's moving about at any given moment?"

Richards looks thoughtful for a moment, which really isn't saying much, Tony thinks, because the man was always in thought. "Tony sees him, is able to interact with him. Steve must be able to hold on to this time period for short bursts."

"But we don't know how long or even when he appears. In order to get a sound hold on him, he would have to stay for at least five minutes or longer."

"What is the longest Steve has been able to communicate with you?"

"Less then three minutes," Tony says with much heartache.

"That won't do," says Strange, face forlorn.

"There's got to be a way to keep him around long enough to bring him back," Clint protests.

Strange remains silent for a moment. "You say you only see him in reflections?"

"Except for that one time, yeah."

"But he is not just lost in time, he is lost in space. Moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space is not simple movement."

"Is this physics or magic, though?" Clint questions, puzzled.

"Do we know how the last cosmic cube came into being?"

"No. I don't know if the Skull made it or stole it...wherever it came from, it wasn't stable."

"What about the cosmic strings?" Richards asks seriously.

"But is he only moving backwards?"

"Okay, so physics doesn't sound promising. You were saying something about reflections, Strange," Tony jumps in, frustrated.

"I might be able to conjure Steve back, but the risk of him returning with a missing limb or two is relatively high."

"A limbless Steve is better then no Steve."

Clint looks horrified. "I don't think Cap would agree!"

"I'll build him new limbs," Tony says, and yeah, that wasn't rational.

The four talk long into the next morning, and it was agreed, Strange would attempt to bring Steve back. Tony tries not to think about the fact he was placing his faith in magic. Tony admits he has a lot of self esteem issues, and standing in the center of a room with over forty mirrors of various sizes wasn't exactly helping. Tony looks up, bright light stinging his eyes.

He hoped this worked.

"Close your eyes, and relax. You need to calm yourself," he hears Strange say.

Tony closes his eyes, but his mind is a jumbled mess. "Think of a time you were most content," Strange says, and Tony laughs, when had he ever been content?

Tony's shoulders slump as he thinks back, finding a moment in time.

:::

"It's like I'm incapable of doing the right thing."

"People make mistakes, Tony, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"Normal people make mistakes, I make...people kill themselves. I make them want to kill me."

Tony felt so bad, and it wasn't often he admitted this to anyone, even himself. Captain America stands beside him as they gaze outside the window, staring out at the city as it lives on through the night. The guilt twists into a ball in his stomach, and he can't rid of that image. "You aren't in charge of other peoples emotions, Tony, and if you feel like you're so bad, why not change?"

"I'm too old to change," Tony bites, but he doesn't mean it.

"You're a lot of things, but too old is not one of them," he says, gaze turning towards Tony. Tony shrugs, feeling uncomfortable by being the center of his idols attention.

"It'll be hard," Tony says.

"Most things are."

Tony smiles, feeling like he's just received a pep talk from a recruiter. This whole thing was odd, standing here, having a full on conversation with a super hero, never mind the fact he secretly was one. Captain America was...well, he was surely something, and no matter how cheesy he could be, he always had the ability to make Tony feel better, and there was a lot that Tony needed to feel better about. "You know, Cap, you're something else," he says, a docile grin to his face.

"You're flattering me," Cap says, smirk to his face.

"Am I? I don't do that too often, even though I should."

"Then why not start?"

"My assistant told me the same thing once."

"Did he?" Cap questions, voice a little off kilter.

"Yeah, and I should listen to him more."

"He's a good guy?"

Tony laughs. "The best. Steve's everything I'm not. Does everything right, treats people well, and he's a god awful liar the two times he's tried. I guess that's what you're raised like when you're Amish. "

Captain America laughs."It sounds like you two balance each other out."

"He balances, I just yell a lot and forget to eat, but Steve...Steve makes everything better," Tony says, realizing how easy it was to talk about the other man when he wasn't around.

Tony looks at his hero with curious blue eyes. "Shouldn't you be out saving the world?"

Steve shrugs. "Shouldn't you be running a business?"

Tony takes a hold of a gloved hand, firm and approving. Tony remembered holding that hand for dear life, hanging off the edge of a building seven stories up. Tony almost doesn't want to let go, wants to remain in the presence of someone who wants him around. The warmth that is left, that curls under his ribs and plays on his nerves is the most content Tony has ever felt. A simple touch of the hand was all it had took.

:::

Tony's eyes snap open, and it feels as though his body is moving through a gel-like substance. Tony gazes into the full length mirror in front of him, and there Steve is, waiting for him. Tony wastes no time in reaching out for him, and Steve doesn't hesitate to follow his lead. Tony pulls, his whole body shaking as he puts his all in to bringing Steve back. Tony falls to the floor, having lost his balance as Steve topples over on top of him.

Tony's hands scramble along Steve's back, and he can feel him. Steve sits up slightly, cowl ripped off as those azure eyes stare down at him, relieved and overwhelmed. Steve's gloved hands trace down Tony's face, and in the back of his mind, Tony's glad to see Steve in possession of all of his limbs. "I'm sorry for putting you through all of this," he cries, leaning down and placing a life taking kiss to Tony's lips.

Tony pulls away, still making sure that Steve is really there. "I'm sorry you've had to know me," he says, laughing through his choked sobs.

The two stand to their feet after a while, but Tony cannot remove his hands from Steve's body, afraid that he might disappear. "Welcome back, Cap," Clint says, Richards and Strange behind him.

"Thank you. Thank you all so much for not giving up on me."

"Wouldn't think about it."

:::

Tony takes Steve back to his home, refusing to share him with anyone. The sun beams in from his window, the weather was unusually hot this time of year, but Tony can't be bothered with that as he runs his fingers through Steve's hair, pulling him in for a kiss. "I want you," he breathes, and Steve groans in approval. "Forever," he adds, and he means it.

Steve pauses, removing Tony's hand from his hip in order to place a kiss to the inside of his palm. "I love you," he says, and Tony feels like his whole world has stopped. Steve was so open and so vulnerable.

"Love you," he says as they resume kissing. Steve is practically undressed, working on Tony's shirt, nearly ripping it. Tony allows himself to be shoved up against the wall, Steve all over him, enveloping him. He couldn't get enough of him.

The smell of him. The way his eyes locked directly on his as he trailed little kisses down his chest towards his abdomen. Tony shudders as he drops to his knees, he had missed this. Tony's fingers lace through Steve's hair as the other man grips his backside, fingers kneading at the flesh there as he moves a teasing tongue over Tony's tip. A unapologetic gasp escapes his lips as Steve takes him into his mouth, quavering in a steady and sound movement.

Tony's heaving for breath, head back against the wall as Steve continues his ministrations, never once breaking eye contact. "Steve," Tony releases, and it's a warning for Steve to stop, that Tony's just about over the edge.

Steve pulls away reluctantly, placing a kiss to Tony's thigh before standing to his feet. Tony is surprised when Steve lifts him, but he wraps his legs around his waist instinctively. Tony doesn't stop kissing and biting at Steve's neck until the other man has them both on the bed. Steve's kissing him, hands roaming along his sides, tracing patterns across the inside of his thighs. Tony reaches for his nightstand, practically shoving the supplies Steve needed at him.

Steve smiles at him, eyes crinkling around the edges as he says, "There's no rush." Tony settles on his back, gazing up at Steve, wondering if the man knew how much he had been tortured through all of this. "I'm not going anywhere," he adds, and Tony can't help but to feel his eyes well up. Steve couldn't promise that, not really.

"Tony," Steve says seriously, and the other man has no choice but to meet his stare. "No matter what happens, or where we end up, I'm not going any where," and as he grabs a hold of his thighs, spreading them apart, Tony can only nod his head, words escaping him.

Steve never teases Tony when he stretches him, he feels a sense of obligation to do it and do it right. That never stops Tony from trembling,though, or thrusting his hips forward when Steve hits that spot dead on, and adds a second and third finger. "Jesus, Steve, get on with it," he murmurs, pulled close to the edge again.

Steve just smiles again, but does as told. Tony lays back, raising his hips slight and twisting his pelvis. The angle would be awkward if he hadn't placed his right leg over Steve's shoulder, placing the other between Steve's legs. Steve gets the hint and positions himself onto his knees, entering at a pace that could be equated to torture; it's so slow. Tony's mouth opens then closes, Steve resting deeply within him.

There was a reason he liked this position so much, and Steve was reminding him with every thrust of his hips. The strength of him holding him down, driving him into the mattress was really all he cared about at the moment, but not more so then just being with him. Steve's kissing him, hasn't really stopped since they started, but they're sloppy, inconsistent with his lack of sufficient oxygen. Tony's not much better, chest heaving as he met Steve's thrust, pre come making things slick as Steve jerks him off. "Fuck, just a little more," he groans, short nails digging into the back of Steve's arms.

Steve makes a guttural sound in the back of his throat, and Tony licks his lips that have become suddenly dry as he nearly whimpers, a number of feelings ringing through out his entire body. "Just a little more," he says again, and Steve pulls almost all the way out before snapping his hips forward, any hesitation completely wiped out as Tony screams his name, coming.

Steve's still fucking him open, giving him everything, and Tony can appreciate that now that he's finished. The fact that Steve is willing to give him his all, and Tony's willing to take it. No one, and he means no one, has ever took him like Steve is taking him now, and it's intense, and almost too much. Tony brings Steve down for a kiss, eager to let him know that he's willing to give it all—too. Tony isn't sure whether or not Steve gets it, but he feels like he does, and that's all that matters.

Three hours later Tony is half awake, dancing his fingers over Steve's features. For a long, horrible expanse of time, Tony thought he would never be able to touch Steve again. Tony had apologized in earnest, and he meant every word that came out of his mouth. "You touch everyone when they're sleeping?" Steve asks, a soft touch of humor to his tired voice.

"Only the pretty ones," he says, and Steve laughs.

"I want to tell you something," Tony says, placing a kiss to the other mans collarbone. "I've been thinking a lot about it."

"What's that?" Steve questions, stretching his arm over his head as he lets out a tired yawn. Apparently, crusading through time and space was pretty taxing.

"I'm going to have a sit down with Fury," he admits, and Steve sits up right, fully awake.

"You are?"

"Yeah, but I can't make any promises."

"I, uh, heard you and Fury had history."

"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago. I should probably move on."

"You aren't doing this because of me, are you?"

"In part, yes, but I agree with you. We can do more as a team than individually."

"I'm glad you think so, but I don't want you doing things you don't want to just for me, Tony."

"I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it to see you in that costume of yours," Tony says with a wink.

"You're incredible."

"Yeah, you said that a lot three hours ago."

Steve shakes his head. "Go to sleep."

:::

The next day, Tony finds himself at S.H.I.E.L.D's temporary new headquarters. Fury sits behind his desk, hands clasped together as he stares skeptically at Tony. Fury wasn't exactly thrilled to have him here, and Tony wasn't exactly thrilled to be here. Tony looks unimpressed, eyebrow quirked. "I don't want to work for you."

Fury takes a deep breath, neck straightening up."Rogers said the same thing."

"I will not stay here."

Fury stares at him with a uncaring expression."Okay."

"The others will not be staying here. The last place was cramped, this is just unlivable."

Fury frowns at him. "What?"

"I have a mansion."

"You plan to stash six super heroes in your mansion?"

"There's room. It's equipped, and I have Jarvis."

"Any other demands?"

"Yes," Tony says with a smirk. "I want the highest level of clearance you've got."

"Absolutely not."

"Then I want Hammer assassinated."

"No way."

"Then I want the clearance."

Three hours later.

"Damn it, Stark, fine!"

"Hammer gets assassinated?"

"No."

"Oh, I get the clearance."

"Not if your don't get out of my line of sight within the next three seconds!"

Tony stands up, a wave of his hand as he moves towards the door. "This was real nice, Fury, we should do it again sometime!" he says, making a run for it down the hall.

In the distance he can hear a loud, "Fuck you, Stark!"

:::

"I can't believe you were able to do all of this," Steve says astounded. He joins Tony in his work shop after a training session out in the field, one Tony had refused to attend. Dressed as Captain America, he sits down atop of Tony's work bench. Tony grins lopsidedly, wondering if Steve knew just how distracting he could be. Steve could make old prudes take off their undergarments and throw them at him in declaration of their love for this country.

The Avengers were settling in nicely now that they had more room to do as they pleased. Clint could practice his archery without being interrupted, or accidentally shooting someone who came in at the wrong time. Thor could study more about how Midgardian's lived on a day to day basis. Bruce could experiment without anyone destroying his data. Natasha could hide wherever she damn well pleased, and Logan didn't have to be within a ten mile radius of where Peter was.

Truly, it was working out for the best.

"Please, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's making people do what I want, one way or another," he says, setting his wrench down as all hope of working flies out the window. He idly wonders how much convincing he would have to do in order to get Steve to move to the cot, or lay down, back flat against the surface of his work bench.

"Pepper looked a little stressed the last time I saw her, she okay?"

"Might have something to do with the fact she set up twenty interviews for my new PA, and I barely spent two seconds with each of them before saying no, and telling them to get out."

"So, whatever happened to that last personal assistant of ours? Steve or something," he questions, voice taking on Captain America as Tony holds back a chuckle.

"I did everything I didn't want to do, but knew I would do, and fired him over something completely ridiculous," Tony says, not making eye contact. That decision still haunted him. "Did you apologize?"

"For everything."

"Then why not just rehire him?"

"He has this other job that takes up a lot of his time," Tony says, and both men laugh.

"I'm sure he can multitask," Cap says, and Tony hums in agreement, reaching for the hero. "Maybe he can. Thanks Cap, you always know how to fix things," he proclaims, faked wonderment in his voice.

"Just doing my job, Mister Stark," Steve admits, never breaking his alter egos character as he tilts his head to the side, leaning forward before kissing the other man.

:::

Steve is on the phone with the latest company interested in merging with Stark Industries when Tony appears in his office, a large cat-like grin to his face. "What are you doing?" Steve questions, and Tony just moves closer towards him. Tony had been a good boy through his nine o'clock meeting today. He hadn't fallen asleep, thrown anything, and had limited his insults to just two.

"Mister Stark," Steve warns as Tony rolls his chair back and away from his desk. "Tony, no," he adds, but his resistance is futile.

Tony has Steve's phone in his hands."Sorry, but I'm having a heart attack at the moment, and Steve needs to get me to the hospital before I die, and all your money goes to waste," he says before hanging up.

"You're just a terrible human being," Steve muses, tilting his head back to look up at him. There's no real malice there, though, so Tony believes he's gotten away with it.

Tony smiles, leaning down to kiss him while he can. "I want to go out tonight," he says, breaking away only to resume lower at Steve's jaw and neck. Tony really likes this suit of his, and the way it highlights the golden hue of his skin.

"Where to?" Steve questions, and Tony's about to tell him when their communicators go off.

"Captain America and Iron Man here, what's the situation?" Steve asks seriously, and Tony's face falls, it figured.

"Yikes, hope I wasn't interrupting," Spiderman calls out over the intercom. "I mean, I can call back..."

"Peter," they warn in unison.

"Fine, Loki's back. Doesn't seem to be causing trouble, but Fury wants us around just in case his love fest with Thor turns into a love, destroy everything on planet Earth, fest."

"We'll be there."

"Can you bring pizza on the way, I'm really hungry."

"What? We're not stopping for pizza," Tony says.

"You promised the last time that you would, but you never did, and you hurt my feelings, and made me look so uncool in front of Deadpool."

"Oh, my God, we'll get you some. Shut up," Tony snaps.

"Tony, don't yell at him. That's not nice."

"Not nice? He's guilt tripping us into getting pizza for him!"

"Thank you," Peter shouts, signing off.

The two arrive later then planned, and Loki is gone by the time they get there with the pizza. The whole group indulges as they stand around, making plans to watch a movie. Steve pauses, "Hey, Tony, when I got you from Vegas you said stripper's had stolen everything. Who was the other one?" he questions, the thought finally returning to him, and Tony coughs loudly as Thor waves happily at him.

"Twas me, Captain!"

"You should have seen him," Hawkeye laughs, "he really knows how to work a leotard."

Steve stares at Tony who only stares up at the ceiling. "You have no shame, do you?"

:::

"Really think it was necessary to send them to that mess? Loki's only looking for Thor's attention, he's no threat," Pepper says, eying Fury out of the corner of her eye as they watch the two men leave. Fury had shown up, something about a business proposal, and she was regretting letting the man in.

"They'll deal with it, they're super heroes," Fury says, smiling self satisfied. The man had more layers to him then first suspected.

"They really give you that much trouble?"

"No, not anymore. Not since they're back together again. You should be happy," Fury says as Pepper turns to head back to her office. She stops, turns back around and looks at him.

"Why's that?" she questions.

"We've won."

"Won? Won what, exactly?"

"Steve's got Tony. Tony's got Steve. You've got peace of mind and a functioning corporation. And I, I think I've won the most of all," he says, meeting her gaze.

"And why's that?" she questions, putting her hand on her hip.

"I've got Captain America and Iron Man working on the same team."

Pepper laughs. "I'll give you that one, but you better not say anything to them about that."

Fury looks out the window again, laughing. "I might be a real hard ass, Miss Potts. I might even be a old fool at times, but I'm not suicidal."

:::

"Tony, wake up," Steve mumbles, kissing along his ear. Tony grumbles something incoherently and attempts to go back to sleep. "Tony, really, we need to be getting ready for work."

Tony rolls over, pinning Steve underneath him as he nips at the skin of Steve's neck and chest. "Tony, stop," Steve says, even though he's rolling his hips forward, half hard.

"I can't," Tony mumbles, coughing into the bend of his arm. "I'm sick."

Steve shakes his head, attempting to kiss Tony but he pulls away from him. "My breath stinks," he says, and Steve laughs before forcing his lips on his.

"You're right, it does," Steve teases him, and Tony punches him in the arm playfully.

"If it's really going to bother you, go brush your teeth," Steve says, and Tony does. They fight over the sink, Steve with his blue tooth brush and Tony with his red.

"Where were we?" Tony murmurs, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist and standing on his tiptoes to nuzzle his neck.

"Getting dressed for work," Steve says, and he can feel Tony scolding him.

"That doesn't sound like sex or even fun, for that matter," Tony protests, hands sliding down Steve's bare stomach, slipping towards the waistband of his slacks.

"We can't be late again," Steve protests, laying flat against the bed as Tony crawls over top of him.

"At least call Pepper, Tony," Steve groans as Tony slides his pants down below his knees.

"She'll figure it out, sooner or later," Tony argues as Steve's boxers meet the fate of his pants on the floor.

"She hates us, you know?"

"No, no. She loves us, she hates that she can't watch."

:::

Before Steve met Tony.

"You think there will ever be a day we won't be needed?" Captain America questions, sitting side by side with Iron Man on a bench in Central Park.

"You've been doing this a lot longer then me, Cap, I think you would be more equipped to answer that question," Iron Man says, throwing bread at the ducks that litter around them.

"I don't think so. I think as long as there are villains, there will be super heroes."

"Is that such a bad thing? If there are villains, there should be heroes to deal with them."

"It's bad if you want a personal life," Cap admits, thinking seriously. Iron Man looks at him, he had only known Captain America a few months now, but he sounded serious.

"You can always retire, or give your name over," he says, meaning to help.

"You really believe that?" Cap questions, laughing.

"No."

"Didn't think so."

"Well, why don't you have a personal life? What's stopping you?"

"A lot of things."

"I have a life outside of all of this. It's not perfect, but it's doable. You've just have to find something to live for outside of all of this," Iron Man says, and his honesty is lifting. "Life's not so black and white, Cap. That would make things easy, but if you feel like you're drowning in this, then you've got to pull yourself out."

"You tellin' me to get a life, Shellhead?"

"Yeah, I'm tellin' you to get a life, Cap."

Captain America stares out at the pond in front of them, thinking about what Iron Man has just said. He smiles. "You know what? I think I just might."

"Good luck, I heard Stark Industries is hiring."