Tony has nicknames for everybody; it's one of his most endearing qualities. The Avengers might claim they hate them, but Steve knows each and every single one of them have learned to love them. Bruce is his science bro, they do science together and totally spaz out when they see some kind of technology they just know they can tinker with and improve. They could spend hours, days; unlimited amounts of time in Tony's lab doing incredible things. Bruce was the only one Tony readily called brother, though, because he'd been his very first friend ever. They'd met when they were six at some fancy party which both their fathers had attended. They'd been paraded around as two of the smartest kids in the room and then had bonded over somehow making the champagne bottles explode. So, yeah, science bros had stayed thick as thieves since then.

For Clint, Tony had the biggest selection of nicknames after Steve, and they were all sort of witty but obnoxious at the same time. At least Barton said they were obnoxious, but Steve could always see the little smile he got on his face whenever Tony let one drop. Clint managed to throw a piece of paper inside a trash can from across the room? Straight in, Kobe. Clint managed to hit obnoxious little Hammer with a spit ball when he shouldn't have? Legolas strikes again! I should get you some pointy ears. Clint managed to form an archery club and even make it popular with some of the jocks? Everybody, Katniss the girl on fire! Which he screamed as they were walking down the hallway the day after Clint won his first archery competition. Everyone could see the unmistakable blush in Barton's face though he still denied it to this day, and would probably deny to the end of his days. Most days, though, Tony called Clint Hawkeye. It was supposed to be annoying, or so Steve had thought until a few weeks after he'd started using it, Tony had spilled everything to Steve.

"You weren't there," Tony says quietly while they sit outside in the lawn of the mansion. Steve has one arm curled around Tony's slighter form. He's intermittently dropping kisses in his soft mop of hair. "When Hammer said… all that stuff. He was the first one there, he was the one to push me back and just… break badass all over him. And then I started thinking, the Avengers and everything and… the same way you're my teenage Captain America. Clint's the same; he's still a superhero in a way. He still… saved me, I guess." Steve doesn't say anything, just closes his eyes and wills the tears away because he knows anything he says will just shut Tony down. And if from then on he trades smiles with Clint whenever the nickname's dropped, well, it's their secret.

For Natasha, Tony had different variations of fucking terrifying. Tony calls her all sorts of things, from Red to Russian Goddess, to Spider. The nickname that sticks with him the most, though, like with Clint, is Black Widow. She's silent, and deadly, and terrifying and yet she's gentle and small and beautiful. Tony's confessed in more than one occasion that he feels safe with Natasha. When Steve's not there, when he feels like he's losing his temper, Nat's always there. Black Widow isn't used often, but Steve can immediately see how her eyes soften and even her voice isn't as crisp. Nobody says anything, of course, but they all know that out of all of them, with the exception of Steve, she's the one that's most protective of their tech genius.

Loki and Thor, those two had many names assigned. The funniest one being Thing 1 and Thing 2 because it absolutely drove Loki up the wall. The glare he aimed at Tony made the older boy double over in laughter. Then there was Cain and Abel, which had only been used once and Steve never wants to see Tony that pissed off at one of their friends again. Then there's Sam and Dean, because Tony says their codependency is as unhealthy as the Winchesters. Tony's favorite, though, is Trickster and Thunder. He says Loki's too damn cunning and sneaky for his own good, and that he sometimes wonders if he isn't really the old demigod himself. Thor's Thunder because Tony has some weird fascination with the boy's voice. He says it just isn't normal for a seventeen year old boy to be that big and have a voice as deep, he even swears he sees thunder when he speaks. Needless to say, Thor loves that one and Loki does nothing more than roll his eyes good naturally and smirks secretly, which just increases Tony's suspicions. Steve's boyfriend is special that way.

What Steve absolutely adores, though, is the many nicknames Tony now has for him. Even before they became a couple, Tony was bound to occasionally drop little pet names for Steve. As he moves around his room in the mornings, with the radio blasting country like there's no tomorrow, Steve finds himself grinning at his reflection. The lyrics make him chuckle to himself.

Some days it's tough just gettin' up
Throwin' on these boots and makin' that climb
Some days I'd rather be a no-show lay-low
Before I go outta my mind.

His phone pings with a message from Tony, and all the weariness of the previous day washes away. He no longer feels the weight on his shoulders of football and school and college choices or anything else. All he can feel is this love he's been harboring for years. The morning text messages have kept the same in the last three months of their relationship. Steve can't help but feel a little flutter in his chest whenever he sees those words from Tony. "Good morning, Oh Captain, My Captain."

But when he says baby,

Oh, no matter what comes ain't goin' nowhere,

He runs his fingers through my hair, saves me.

Yeah, that look in his eyes got me comin' alive

And driving me a good kinda crazy

When he says baby

Yeah, when he says baby.

Middle-of-the-day and pre-game conversations are usually, as Clint calls them, completely nauseating. Steve can't call them that because he partakes in these conversations on a daily basis, but he understands his friends' stance. It's not that they purposely try to be obnoxious or anything, it's more like they just… do it. Tony, for all his machismo and bravado, completely adores the fact that Steve dotes on him. Steve knows it gets his boyfriend all soft and pliant when he brings him lunch, he knows it melts Tony when he drapes his arm around his shoulders and kisses him chastely on the lips before they get separated for class, he knows it in the way Tony calls him "Honey" or "Sweetheart" whenever they're together. Pre-game conversations are what Steve looks forward to the most every Friday because Tony always comes to wish him good luck.

A typical Friday if you're one Steve Rogers includes early good morning text messages from his boyfriend at exactly six thirty in the morning. It does not include said boyfriend texting anything more than that; Tony usually goes back to sleep until Steve calls him back at seven twenty. Then, Steve takes his beat up old Impala and picks up said boyfriend who receives him with a very thorough kiss and a cup of steaming coffee prepared by Tony's butler-slash-surrogate-father. Followed by a "Good morning, insert-pet-name-here." it makes Steve grin goofily out the windshield for the rest of the drive to school as Tony holds his hand. The day progresses with variations of those pet names thrown at Steve, one after or before every kiss, sometimes whispered against his lips. His favorite one on Fridays, though, comes right as he's about to get into the locker rooms to change for his game.

It's the ones where Tony loops his arms around his waist and holds him close. It's the ones where Steve's body is vibrating with excitement and nervousness at yet another game he has to call, at another victory or loss that seems to depend all on him, another game where he has to prove himself to so many others. It's the one endearment that makes all his hard work seem worth, it's the endearment he knows will lift him out of anything, it's the one thing Tony says that makes him think he'd walk through hell for the other man. It's the whispered "Go kick some ass, love," just before Tony starts walking away to go sit on the bleachers. And just before he goes, he turns around and winks at Steve with a look that promises the world and more.

Sometimes I come home fightin' mad

Feel like runnin' my fist through the wall

Is it even worth what I'm fighting for, any more

Feelin' torn all the hell with it all

Then there's the ones that drive Steve crazy, the ones that make him wish he was a stronger man, someone who isn't so in love with his boyfriend that it physically hurts. Because for all that Tony's wonderful he can be stubborn as fuck, and he closes in on himself often. There's the names that make Steve want to punch and hug Tony at the same time, the ones that make him want to fist his hair and curl in a ball, the ones that sometimes make him feel like scum. It's the ones that aren't pet names at all, it's the ones where Tony's standing in front of him shaking with rage and fear and pain. It's the ones where there are tears on both their eyes and yet neither wants to give an inch. It's the ones that have happened only twice in their short relationship and which Steve doesn't want to see again because Tony just isn't like that.

It's the ones that have Tony screaming at him "You can't control me, Steven!" it's the ones where Tony spits his name like it's the biggest of blasphemies, it's the ones where Tony lets himself wide open and Steve finally sees what he's been missing and then everything dawns on his boyfriend's face and he feels like whatever he does he will never deserve Anthony Stark because he forgets that his boyfriend needs reassurances most people don't. It's the ones where Tony lashes out because he thinks Steve will leave him, the ones where Tony tells him "Then fucking leave like everyone else, Rogers!" and Steve can't do anything but shake his head in disbelief at how broken Tony really is.

Those are the ones Steve dreads the most, the ones he counts each day as a victory because they don't get used. Those are the ones he knows Tony hates the most.

Everything gonna be alright

Just lay down by my side

Let me love you through this life

Yeah, he's the perfect shot of faith

When every bit of mine is gone

Somethin' I can believe in a best friend

A heaven sent love to lean on

Then there's the ones they both adore to say, the ones that they don't share with anyone else. It's the ones Tony whispers in his ear as they both fall asleep. The one's that Tony reserves for when they're alone, or chooses to whisper in his ear when they're with their friends. It's the ones that Tony says with his eyes when their gazes meet across a room. It's the ones that Steve knows he'll be getting for the rest of his life and he has to stop himself from giggling at like a love sick girl. Because those pet names are the ones that Tony says with so much reverence in his voice that he can't hide it no matter how hard he tries.

It's in the way Tony says, "I love you, babe," just before he falls asleep. When Steve's curled under his blankets and they're both whispering even when they don't have to. When Tony's finally, finally, sleeping at three in the morning.

It's in the way they have sleepovers at Tony's on the weekends, and they get to sleep out on the lawn during late spring and the summer. It's in the way Tony turns around in his arms, noses along his jaw, mouths at his neck, and Steve can feel his skin go up in goose bumps. It's when Tony tells him "Thank you."

And Steve can't help the way his heart beats faster and then stops. When he questions "For what?" and he can feel Tony smiling against his neck. And he tightens his hold because he knows what's coming, but he still loves the way Tony says it. "For being my hero. For saving me. You're my lifeline, baby."

It's the ones Steve is about ninety-seven-percent (and he has to give percentages because Tony loves numbers, needs them to believe, to hope,) that they'll whisper to each other as one or both of them lies dying. It's the "You were the best part of my life, baby," that he can hear in his voice, in both their voices, sometime down the line.

But for now, in those instances when the endearment passes Tony's lips, he knows there's nothing better than that. He takes them in, holds them the same way he holds his boyfriend to his chest; commits them to memory. Because the best ones of all are the ones where love shines in both their eyes, and Steve can see the words forming in the other's lips. He can see the way they roll around on his tongue; he can hear the pride and love in the other's voice as they're uttered. The best ones of all are the ones where Tony says "Baby."

Oh no, no matter what comes ain't goin' nowhere

She runs her fingers through my hair, saves me

Yeah, that look in her eyes got me comin' alive

And driving me a good kinda crazy

When he says baby

Oh, when he says baby.