Steve headed back to his apartment first to change out of his uniform before going on to see Tony. He didn't need to put on anything fancy. It wasn't an actual date, after all. But he felt it was only polite to show up at someone's home not covered in the blood of idiot henchmen.

For some reason, he felt anxious about the meeting. He didn't know why. He wasn't asking Tony on a date. All he wanted to do was talk, clear the air between them. So there was no reason why he should feel so tense.

Must be leftover tension from the mission, he decided. The fight had been so much easier than he expected and he hadn't used up all his adrenaline. So his body was apparently turning it into nervous energy.

"Don't be pessimistic," he told himself.

The best case scenario was Tony being willing to talk things through. But Steve was going into this fully expecting Tony to either want to curse him out again or just refuse to see him. Still, Tony would know that Steve was trying to work things out and that had to be a step in the right direction.

He arrived at the Tower, his nerves feeling a little more steady and pressed his thumb over the door's security system to trigger the Tower's security system. He's done this so many times when he collects Bruce for their lunch dates that he's no longer afraid Tony has the system set to destroy him on sight. Jarvis just welcomes him warmly as an Avenger and that's that.

"Hello, Captain Rogers," Jarvis greeted him. "This is an unusual time to see you. Dr. Banner is presently in the middle of an experiment, but I'll announce your arrival."

"No, don't bother him," Steve said quickly. "I actually wanted to see Tony."

"I'm afraid Sir is unavailable."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Of course he is. Tell him I'll be waiting to see him as soon as he finishes up whatever he's working on."

"You misunderstand me, Captain. Sir is not in the Tower."

"Oh." Somehow Steve had failed to account for that possibility. From what Bruce had told him, Tony was rarely out of the lab.

"Dr. Banner will see you now," Jarvis said, and the front door swung open.

Bruce was standing in the foyer, dressed in his lab coat. "Hey, Steve," he said. "I, uh, wasn't expecting you." He looked down at the splatters all over his coat.

"It's okay, Bruce. I was just going to have a word with Tony."

Bruce grimaced. "You have terrible timing, Steve. Tony took off this afternoon for his mansion in Malibu."

Steve scrubbed a hand over his face. "Well, this explains everything."

Soulmates were supposed to feel a sense of connection to each other, a subtle tug leading them through life's path until they found each other. Tony suddenly moving half a continent away had to have subconsciously upset his senses.

"It's not you," Bruce assured him. "Tony's apparently been having nightmares ever since the battle. From what he's told me, he usually dreams about going through the black hole again. It really left an impression on him."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Steve felt sick. He had almost closed the portal on Tony. God, what if Tony was having nightmares about that?

Bruce shrugged. "Tony didn't tell me. I had no idea he was leaving until I came out of the lab for breakfast and found all his bags packed. But that's Tony for you. He bottles everything up inside until he hits his breaking point."

Steve heaved a sigh. "Any idea when he's coming back?"

Bruce shook his head. "Sorry, Steve. Pepper went with him. She seemed to think it was a good move getting away from New York."

"Getting away from me."

"She doesn't know you're soulmates. All she wants is for Tony to stop having nightmares."

"But if she knew?"

"She'd probably tell Tony he's being an idiot," Bruce said with a laugh. "And she'd force him to give you a try."

"But the two of them," Steve said with a helpless gesture. "They're so perfect together." They weren't soulmates, but their relationship was a lot stronger than most soulbonds Steve had seen.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Steve. They've been going through a rough patch. Again, not your fault," Bruce said, holding up a hand before Steve could protest. "She's not into the whole superhero thing. She doesn't like sitting at home worrying that Tony's going to get himself killed. But you know Tony's not going to stop. Not even for her."

"Wow," Steve said.

Bruce shrugged and stared off into the distance. "Going to Malibu gets them away from it all for awhile, but I think it's only a matter of time until they break up. Could be months, could be years. But she won't be stay with him forever. She's never going to stop caring about him, but she can only take so much stress. It's hard in our line of work. You'd almost have to be dating another superhero." His eyes flicked back to Steve.

"No," Steve said. "It's not going to work between us."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. Tony went all the way to Malibu to get away from me and any reminder of New York. Believe me, Bruce. He wants nothing to do with me."

Bruce shrugged indifferently. "Something tells me Tony's going to get bored out there. He's not going to stop being a hero just because there's no bad guy to fight. The second anything goes down, he'll be right back here in New York."

"That is if it goes down in New York."

Bruce sighed. "All I'm saying is that you just need to be patient. In time, Tony and Pepper will break up and he'll be back here in New York, needing a friend to keep him company. And if you play your cards right, it could turn into something more."

There was no denying that Tony was attractive. He was an incredible person and anybody would be lucky to have him as their mate. But Steve couldn't see himself romancing Tony when all he could think about was that Bucky wasn't there.

Still, he could give it a try. Tony was going to reject him anyway, but at least he could say he made the effort.