A very tiny americaniron ficlet. Hope you enjoy!

Grenade

"You did what?" Tony Stark was horrified. He'd thought himself just about unshockable by now but the idea of Steve doing that was like a punch in the gut. "Jesus Christ, Steve," he gasped. If they hadn't already been lying in bed he would have had to sit down.

"It's no big deal," the super soldier shrugged. The tinge of red in his cheeks showed his embarrasment at Tony's reaction.

"No big deal- ?" the billionare began before he bit his own tongue. "I think it's a big deal," he offered in the slightly awkward silence "You wrapped yourself around a grenade, for God's sake. You knew it was certain death."

"I didn't die," Steve pointed out calmly. Far too calmly, in Tony's opinion. "It was a fake."

"You didn't know that!"

"It didn't really matter," Steve shrugged awkwardly "Back then I wasn't really that important anyway. It just made sense, you know? I was the most expendable guy there and about the only thing I was useful for was to stop a grenade."

"Listen to me," Tony's expression was deadly serious "You are not expendable. You're not." he insisted when Steve shook his head slightly in denial. "Tell me," Tony said firmly "I'm not letting you out until I'm certain that you won't do anything like that again." He wrapped his fingers around his lover's jaw until they made eye contact. "Tell me," he said again.

"Tell you what?" Steve asked "That I won't step in front of the bullets? That I won't protect the innocent when they end up in the middle of battles with things that they shouldn't even know exsist? That I won't do my job? I can't do that Tony. I can't."

"I don't want you sacrificing yourself," Tony whispered. He hated how vulnerable he sounded, hated the way he couldn't keep his voice completely steady.

"You did." Steve pointed out gently.

"That's different," Tony said hopelessly but they both knew it wasn't.

"I'm sorry," Steve offered beause he didn't know what else to say. He was struck dumb by the sight of a glimmer of tears.

"Don't be sorry," Tony muttered as he pulled Steve against him "Just come back to me. Always come back to me."

"I will," Steve promised before Tony ground their lips together. If both of them clung a little tightly during their lovemaking that night then it was something neither would comment on the next day. Sometimes the only solution was to hold on as tightly as you could for as long as you could.

Please R & R! :-)