Loving the Alien, Part Two
Previous
~~~~~~
Tony took a quick shower to wash off the lingering hospital scents and machine grease, taking care to move gently. His whole body still ached but he was miles better then when he first came back home. Truly, he healed far better here than any sterile environment. After a quick touch up shave and some product sifted into his hair, Tony stood in front of his huge, walk in closet.
What to wear?
Not his casual work clothes, that was for sure. But not a high end suit, either. Maybe one of his more comfortable suit sets? The kind with the nice fabric as opposed to the stuffy linen of the high society functions. Yeah, that would work. For posterity’s sake he grabbed a purple tie to offset the deep black and took a long look at himself. That was good, casual but fashionable. He’d look like just one of the many businessmen who hit the bars after a long day at the office.
Satisfied, Tony left his room and headed down for the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee to go. He didn’t run into Steve along the way, which probably meant the man was waiting for him at the front door like an eager puppy going for a walk, but Clint was camped out at the kitchen table.
The sharpshooter took one look at Tony’s dress and lifted a brow, “They got you on a press jump already?”
“Thank God, no.” Tony muttered, pressing a button on the sleek and huge coffee maker before grabbing a travel mug from the cupboards.
“Then where are you going?”
Clint Barton, nosy agent of SHIELD at your service, Tony thought in exasperated amusement but said nothing.
“You know, Steve went through here not too long ago looking pretty upbeat about something. You two got something going on?”
The curiosity had to be killing him, so Tony turned around, leaning a hip against the counter. “You’re the super spy, Barton. You tell me.”
Clint peered at him for a long moment, eyes narrowed before he gave a one-shouldered, uncaring shrug that Tony didn’t believe for a moment. “Whatever man, just don’t get Steve in trouble or Fury’ll have your ass on a platter.”
“The only thing about Fury that intimidates me is his eye patch.”
“Right.” Clint said with a snort, but he was echoing Tony’s smirk.
The coffee maker beeped and Tony shoved his mug under it, hitting a button. As the mug filled he was aware of Clint watching him but ignored it. By the time the cup was full and Tony snapped on the lip before turning around, Clint was gone.
Typical. Damned super spies anyway, can’t make noise when they move like normal people did.
---
Steve was, in fact, waiting at the front door for Tony. He didn’t dare consider the curious thing that did to the integrity of his stomach.
---
In light of where they were heading, Tony didn’t take any of his newer cars or the ‘32 Flathead (though he was sorely tempted considering the looks he’d seen Steve throw the beast). They’d be suspicious considering the cost behind them and he didn’t want this outing to draw attention. Instead, he grabbed the keys to the Audi R8, which was a better alternative to the others and really, he did miss his Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Steve was suitably impressed by the car, though impressed was maybe too mild of a term. In attempts to not be an ass, Tony actually followed the traffic laws and regulations on the way to his bar of choice for the night.
They hadn’t actually said much to each other yet but strangely it wasn’t an uncomfortable air between them. Usually Tony couldn’t stand silences and would babble about whatever crossed his mind in order to break them but for once his mind was actually kind of quiet. He was busy concentrating on driving and watching Steve look out the window with blatant curiosity.
Tony tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, thoughtful. “Hey, Cap. Can I ask you something?”
Steve looked away from the window to turn more towards him, “sure.”
“How are you settling in? I mean, really adjusting.”
Steve’s shoulders tighten automatically but Tony genuinely wanted to know and so pointedly didn’t look away from the road. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Steve run a hand through his hair before relaxing again. “Honestly? It’s hard sometimes. I still have dreams of course, and sometimes when I wake up it’s hard to remember. I can’t even begin to explain how different everything is but...I’m getting better. I still miss...” he trailed off but Tony’s heard enough.
He understood, to some degree anyway, and had no intention of pushing. Instead, he debated for a moment before grudgingly opening his mouth. “This is different for me too, you know. Not the ‘man out of time’ thing of course, that is all you but this. This teamwork thing and having other people to worry about is new. I wasn’t just being an ass when I told you I don’t play well with others. I’ve never had to before so I don’t expect to be very good at it.”
“Seems to me you’ve done just fine.” Steve said, looking over at him again and Tony shook his head.
“I’m not talking about the fighting together.”
“Neither am I.”
And Tony didn’t know what to say to that.
Seriously, how is this guy real?
---
Tony was the one to lead them into the bar, which was a slightly swanky place of course. Steve followed close behind him with the black cloth portfolio that housed his shield.
The bar was spacious but not big enough to feel too open. It was actually rather homey and the first thing Tony did was to go up to the counter and order several different foods. While waiting for it he sent Steve to pick them out a table and reflected on how they’d yet to get into a fight. Granted it was early yet but this was the longest they’ve gone without yelling at each other. He was actually rather pleased with himself.
After being handed a tray loaded with chicken wings, fries, two double cheeseburgers, two sodas and cheese sticks, Tony retreated to the table where Steve sat eying the pool game already going on. It was painfully obvious the man was looking forward to their game and Tony had to grin.
“Relax slugger, let’s eat before issuing the challenge, yeah?”
Steve looked at him sheepishly but nodded and fell on the food with a vengeance Tony was amused to watch. He figured that the Super Soldier serum had to have cursed him with an advanced metabolism and made a mental note to have them eat again before leaving tonight. Tony himself only picked through the selection and finished off his burger then left the rest to Steve.
They talked a little while they ate. Mostly about the team. About Clint, Natasha and Bruce. About Thor and his issues with Loki. About SI and Pepper’s terrifying fury. Not once did Steve even look like he was thinking to bring up Howard and Tony was so relieved by that because they were talking. They were completely civilized with each other right now, even a bit friendly, and Tony wanted to hang onto that. Any mention of Howard would be sure to ruin it, just like it soured their first conversation.
“Hey, Tony.” Steve said somewhat timidly, finally slowing down on the inhaling of their food. “I wanted to ask you something. You can say no, of course.”
Curious, Tony shrugged a shoulder. “Shoot.”
“Can you tell me about the reactor?”
That certainly wasn’t the question he was expecting. “It’s all in my file.”
Steve nodded slightly, “I know but I wanted to hear it from you. You were the one there dealing with it all, not whoever wrote the reports.”
“Which in my case was Natasha.” Tony said, mostly to gain himself an extra minute of composure. “So what is it that you want to know. The reactor itself or how I got it?”
“Whatever you’re comfortable telling me.” Steve said with a shrug.
“Well, I might as well skip telling you the mechanics of it, you won’t understand. I guess all you need to know is that taking it out or having the light,” he tapped his chest, “go out equals a very bad thing.”
Steve nodded again, staring at Tony’s chest like if he just looked hard enough he could see the light through his clothes. Tony considered leaving it at that, Steve was the considerate kind of person who would let it go if he asked but that was kind of the reason why he found himself going on.
“As for what happened...”
Steve wouldn’t use this against him, not any of it. He was Captain America, he was good and just and everything that inspired loyalty and trust. The fact of the matter was, Steve was a good person and if Tony couldn’t talk to him then there was no one he could talk to.
“I was overseas for a hands on demonstration of my newest invention, the Jericho missile. Only the whole thing went sideways and upside down. The soldiers I was traveling with were killed and I was hit by one of my own bombs because apparently a trusted SI advisor was selling my stuff under the table to them. And I was too blind to see it. Anyway, so, the attack lodged these metal shrapnel pieces all around my heart and I should have died. But, the Afghanistans put me under the care of a man, Yinsen, and he saved my life. Granted, his version of that involved a car battery hooked up to my chest but it worked and then he helped me make the first prototype of an arc reactor this small.”
“Wait, you’d never made one of those before?” Steve asked, eyes wide.
“Well, I’d made arc reactors but those were all the size of a full room. This was a first for me.”
“Wow. That’s incredible, Tony.”
Tony just shrugged, not entirely comfortable with praise about something he wasn’t even sure he was proud of.
“Really. This is why I wanted to get the story from you, not from some formal write up.”
“You mean besides how you have to decrypt them before you can even understand the lingo?” Tony said teasingly. He’d hacked S.H.I.E.L.D ages ago and looked at quite a few things. The operation was terribly fond of military lingo and complicated sentence structure. Also, it was ridiculously formal.
Steve smiled back at him, “yeah. It just didn’t seem right, reading about something like that. It was your experience. It wouldn’t mean anything if I just read about it.”
“What does hearing it from me change? The facts don’t change just because of the person telling the story.”
“Maybe not,” Steve said thoughtfully. “But it’s not about just the facts. This happened to you, Tony. You survived a horrible thing and that’s not something that should be brushed off like it was a trip to the grocery.”
Tony stared at him over the table, mind whirling and chest tight. Steve Rogers, ladies and gentlemen. He thought, fighting the urge to smile. He was done talking though, not willing to face anything more so he took a sip from his soda before putting it down with a thump. “Ready for that game, Cap?”
Steve nodded, willing to let the conversation die, just like Tony had suspected. They got up and headed over to one of the free tables, Steve snagging two cues as they passed the wall lined with them. Tony tested the length of his but Steve must have a good eye because it was perfectly passable.
Tony placed the balls, lifted the triangle and looked at Steve, “be my guest.”
Steve grinned and cracked the set.
---
As it turned out, Steve was unfairly good. In response to Tony’s pout, Steve shrugged and said, “the strategy isn’t all that different from using my shield.”
Looking down at the black wrapped and hidden shield, Tony figured he was right and that he really should have thought of that. “I call unfair advantage then.”
“You’re a genius, Tony. Let’s call it even, yeah?”
Tony laughed, leaning on his cue stick. “Yeah, yeah. Alright.” He watched Steve lean over the table, matching cue to ball and blinked. He looked away, frowned at himself and looked back. Nope, the thought didn’t leave.
Steve had a very nice ass.
Scowling to himself, Tony shook his head, forcing his eyes on the balls. Pool balls, for that matter. Seriously, it was not happening. Sure, Steve was attractive, fine. He could live with that, it was fine. Ogling the man though, little less fine. Things Tony ogled he had a tendency to touch and no, just no. It was miracle enough that he’d gotten this far into a non-hostile, tentative friendship, he was not about to fuck that up by coming onto the man.
No way, no how, keep your eyes to yourself, Stark.
Tony cleared his throat and watched three balls sink into various pockets as Steve stepped back. The blond smiled and Tony faked one in return, still slightly thrown off his stride. Steve didn’t look fooled though, which was odd because Tony knew how to fake smiles; he’d done it all his life for the cameras. He was good at pretending, really good.
“Tony?”
Apparently Steve just had a better bullshit detector. Go figure.
“I’m fine, Steve.”
The Captain didn’t seem to believe him but didn’t press either and Tony stepped up to the table to take his shot. He wasn’t focused though and only pocketed one ball, scattering two others in difficult positions.
Damnit. He’s already awkward and Steve won’t let it lie too long unless Tony can pull himself together. What he needed was a distraction, something to give him a minute or two to recollect. Maybe he should go order more food while it’s Steve’s turn. Or maybe they could be attacked by the villain of the day, that would work too.
Tony really needed to learn to stop tempting fate.
---
It happened too fast for Tony to really do much more then blink up at the ceiling from his place sprawled on the floor. There was a ringing in his ears and dust in the air and he coughed, pain punching through his still bruised chest. Rolling onto his side, Tony finally got a look at what happened, at it wasn’t pretty.
The bar was missing an entire wall since the one that had been there was now in mangled pieces across the floor. Tony spared a thought to reflect that he was probably going to have to pay to fix that. A flash of red, white and blue caught Tony’s eyes and he squirmed to his feet, heart starting to race. Steve hadn’t been knocked down by the explosion the way Tony had and he’d reacted much faster, retrieving his shield and going after the creature with zero hesitation.
Tony hesitated right now though because...God. Whatever that thing was, it was huge, twice the size of Steve easy. And it looked, Jesus, it looked like something out of a horrifying sci-fi movie.
It stood like a human and had skin that was the blue-green color of scales but for the bright orange patches of tougher hide at the shoulders, elbows and knees like protection. It had a long thick tail, sleek and with a tough ridge along the top. There were two curious spikes protruding from the creature’s back that were like thin, pointy rods but honestly, the head of the creature was the most unsettling.
Mostly because it had no face or if it did it was hidden beneath the black, reflective glass-like portion of its head. Though, the strange gray tubular things sticking out from its neck were rather unusual too.
Tony winced when the beast roared, smacking away Steve’s shield like it was just a frisbee and whipping its tail into a bar stool. Not good. This is so not good.
“Tony!” Steve called over to him, jumping to scoop his shield up from the floor. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good, Cap. But where the hell did this thing come from!”
Okay, so maybe calling it a thing wasn’t exactly the smartest move. Tony ducked behind the bar counter to avoid a swipe from its huge hands. Thankfully the bar had cleared out almost immediately after the collapse of the wall, since most people actually possessed a sense of self-preservation that heroes seemed to lack. Still, creepy creature from wherever, not good.
The shield rebounded off the back of the creature’s head again and successfully distracted it back to attacking Steve. Tony took the chance to scramble for his communicator, they’d probably need the whole team assembled to take this thing down and he really needed someone to bring him a back-up armor.
Steve yelped then, a sharp sudden sound and Tony froze, heart hammering in his chest with fear. Steve. He mouthed before getting up quickly to look over the counter. The sight about made his heart stop and Tony dropped the communicator to leap over the counter. There were pool cues and balls scattered across the floor and he scooped up one now. It was a pitiful weapon but better then his bare hands.
The creature paused to regard him, head tilted slightly as Tony stood there, back stiff but facing it and ready for whatever move it would make. Steve was sprawled on the floor beneath one of its feet, unconscious and shield on his arm.
The thing tensed, shoulders hunching as if bracing for attack and Tony grit his teeth, ready, when something whizzed through the air to impact with the creature’s head and explode. A sharp squeal of sound and the alien recoiled, stumbling back enough for Tony to drop the cue stick and hit his knees next to Steve.
“Steve!” Quick fingers checked for a pulse then slapped his cheek lightly after getting one. “C’mon Steve, now is not nap time.” Tony muttered.
“If you two were going alien hunting you really should have told the rest of us.”
Clint. Of course it was Hawkeye. Who else would bother to follow them?
“Yes, that’s exactly what we were up too, good deduction.” Tony snapped and Clint lifted one shoulder, eyes and bow still pointed at the momentarily cowering creature.
“Hey man, I’m sure some people would find that to be perfect date material, Steve just didn’t really strike me as one of ‘em.”
“Oh, but I did?” Then his words soaked in and Tony cursed. “And this isn’t a date!”
“Right.” Clint drawled. “It just looks like one.”
“Shut up and call the others! I don’t think we can take this thing on our own.” Tony grabbed hold of Steve best he could and gestured for Clint to help him drag the super soldier behind the bar.
“Already did.” Clint grunted at Steve’s dead weight and they pulled him safely out of the way. “I take it you don’t know what this is?”
“Well, I certainly don’t have a handy list of aliens to check off.” Tony muttered, sorting through bottles of alcohol and checking labels.
Clint snorted and held up his hands, “hey, I wouldn’t put it passed you.”
The creature, recovered somewhat, roared again and Clint jumped up onto the counter, bow at the ready as he whipped out another arrow. “Hey, Stark. Check out your new work.”
Tony made a triumphant noise and seized a bottle before turning in time to see Clint launch his arrow. It hit dead center of the alien’s chest and sank into the body a few inches but didn’t appear to do anything but quiver slightly. Then the whole alien gave one huge body spanning shiver and collapsed.
Clint whistled, “I don’t know how you got vibranium to work with adamantium in those things but damn do they pack a punch.”
“Right now just be glad I finished them days ago instead of taking my time.” Tony said smugly and popped the cork plugging the bottle in his hand.
Clint looked over his shoulder and frowned, “What are you doing? Little early for a victory drink, don’t you think?”
“Hah, that’s funny.” Tony crouched down by Steve and waved the bottle under his nose. After a few moments, Steve sneezed and woke up at the same time. He wrinkled his nose and gave Tony an unimpressed glare.
“Eww.”
Tony snorted and capped it again, “hey, it woke you up didn’t it?”
Steve’s eyes widened, “Tony!” The Captain jumped to his feet, looking ready to do war but paused after taking a look around. “Clint?”
“Hey, Cap.”
“Where are the others? What happened to the enemy?”
“Yeah, Clint, where are the others? How did you get here so fast and just in the nick of time?” Tony asked with faked innocence.
Clint glared at him and pointedly stared at the body of the unconscious alien. “I was already nearby, if you must know. And I knocked out Mr. Ugly-In-Orange over there.”
“He was following us.” Tony informed Steve, smirking. “Don’t lie, Clint, it’s unbecoming.”
“In that case it’s a wonder you get dates at all.” Clint snapped back.
Steve looked hopelessly lost and after a moment seemed to give up on following them. Instead he grabbed his shield and went around the counter to peer carefully at the alien.
“And yet I do anyway, fancy that!”
“Wait a minute.” Steve said, turning to them after making sure the creature was out. “Why were you following us?”
“He thought we were on a secret date.” Tony said before Clint could and smirked at the archer. He was sure Steve wouldn’t take too kindly to be stalked and he really would love to see that disappointed look directed at someone else for a change.
“What’s secret about it?” Steve asked instead and Tony took a moment to stare at him, not sure if he’d heard that right or was just misunderstanding. There was an awkward moment where Steve stared at both Tony and Clint for an answer, Clint stared steadfastly at the alien and Tony internally freaked out. “Tony?”
“I’m confused,” Tony blurted. “Are you implying this was a date?”
Steve frowned, getting that wrinkle on his forehead that suggested a mix of hurt and frustration. “Yes. I mean, you said yes when I asked so I just assumed...” The super soldier trailed off as if suddenly uncertain and Tony blinked.
“I thought this was just a trial thing to see if we really could put up with each other for any length of time.”
“That’s what dates are, unless that’s changed? I didn’t think so, I mean, no one’s mentioned that if it has.”
Steve looked worried now and unhappy and damn it but Tony didn’t like that look on him. “No, no, you’re right, I guess. I just didn’t, uh, realize you actually meant it.”
“Tony, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t mean it.”
“Wow.” Clint said suddenly. “You two are just precious, you know that? I feel like I’m gonna puke rainbows over here.”
“Shut up, Barton.” Tony snapped as Steve blushed and shuffled his feet like a shy boy. Regaining his equilibrium now, Tony’s mind worked quickly as he looked around them and at Steve’s hopeful face. “This date sucked.” He said bluntly and Steve winced.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t...”
“I demand another. A proper one this time where we both acknowledge that it is infact a date and doesn’t come included with alien interlopers or super spy stalkers.”
Steve looked at him, surprised, then laughed and Tony couldn’t help but smile.
“Hey, this stalker saved your ass, Stark.” Clint snapped and rolled his eyes.
“I will bribe Coulson into tying you down to watch Supernanny with him.” Tony threatened. “You know you can’t get out of his knots.”
“Whatever.” Clint muttered as he hopped off the counter to go inspect the damaged wall.
Tony nodded to himself with satisfaction and turned to Steve with a grin. “You’re too good for me, you know.” He said, mostly joking but meaning it more than he’d ever admit out loud.
“How would you know?” Steve said with a shake of his head. “We haven’t even had a complete date yet.”
“About that. How many do we have to have before I can kiss you?”
Steve reddened magnificently but looked at Tony steadily. “At least one.”
“Ah, figures.” Tony sighed and cast a mostly fake glare at the crumpled form of the alien. “Damn aliens always ruin things.”
“Usually one.” Steve said as he advanced and Tony leaned against the counter behind him, anticipation sparking. “I think I can give you a preview though.”
“A preview, how kind of you.”
Steve swallowed those last few words straight from Tony’s mouth as he planted his hands on the counter at either side of Tony and kissed him. It was gentle at first, testing the waters before Steve pressed it and Tony gave him everything then opened his mouth to give more. A slight touch of tongue to tongue was all he got before Steve pulled away though and Tony just stopped himself from following.
“Preview.” Steve reminded him lowly and Tony smirked.
“If that’s your preview I can’t wait for the actual first date kiss.”
“Jesus Christ, you two! Can’t you wait until you’re in a room alone before doing that?” Clint yelled over to them and Steve laughed.
“What? You jealous, Barton?” Tony hollered back before Steve took a step away.
“Tomorrow, Tony.” Steve said, drawing his attention away from Clint’s acidic ‘Fuck you, Stark!’.
“Tomorrow what?”
“I’ll pick you up at six and take care of everything, just be ready.”
Tony blinked, suddenly apprehensive. “You’re sure?”
“Again, I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t sure.” Steve said soothingly, that knowing look in his eyes as reassuring as it was unsettling.
“Okay. Yeah. Sure, I’ll see you then. Well, probably before then because we live in the same place in all but definitely then too. Six o’clock, I got it.” He nodded a few times and grinned at the look on Steve’s face. Fond amusement was so much better then the disappointment of those first two meetings they had.
Well, whatever, forget those. Bad impressions all around. It was better now, they were better now.
Thor’s booming voice heralded the arrival of the rest of the team and Steve gave Tony one last lingering look before going to deal with the alien. Tony just stayed leaning against the counter and smiling at nothing. Well, not nothing. He had a date with Captain America, after all.
That was pretty much everything.
~~~~~~
Tony took a quick shower to wash off the lingering hospital scents and machine grease, taking care to move gently. His whole body still ached but he was miles better then when he first came back home. Truly, he healed far better here than any sterile environment. After a quick touch up shave and some product sifted into his hair, Tony stood in front of his huge, walk in closet.
What to wear?
Not his casual work clothes, that was for sure. But not a high end suit, either. Maybe one of his more comfortable suit sets? The kind with the nice fabric as opposed to the stuffy linen of the high society functions. Yeah, that would work. For posterity’s sake he grabbed a purple tie to offset the deep black and took a long look at himself. That was good, casual but fashionable. He’d look like just one of the many businessmen who hit the bars after a long day at the office.
Satisfied, Tony left his room and headed down for the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee to go. He didn’t run into Steve along the way, which probably meant the man was waiting for him at the front door like an eager puppy going for a walk, but Clint was camped out at the kitchen table.
The sharpshooter took one look at Tony’s dress and lifted a brow, “They got you on a press jump already?”
“Thank God, no.” Tony muttered, pressing a button on the sleek and huge coffee maker before grabbing a travel mug from the cupboards.
“Then where are you going?”
Clint Barton, nosy agent of SHIELD at your service, Tony thought in exasperated amusement but said nothing.
“You know, Steve went through here not too long ago looking pretty upbeat about something. You two got something going on?”
The curiosity had to be killing him, so Tony turned around, leaning a hip against the counter. “You’re the super spy, Barton. You tell me.”
Clint peered at him for a long moment, eyes narrowed before he gave a one-shouldered, uncaring shrug that Tony didn’t believe for a moment. “Whatever man, just don’t get Steve in trouble or Fury’ll have your ass on a platter.”
“The only thing about Fury that intimidates me is his eye patch.”
“Right.” Clint said with a snort, but he was echoing Tony’s smirk.
The coffee maker beeped and Tony shoved his mug under it, hitting a button. As the mug filled he was aware of Clint watching him but ignored it. By the time the cup was full and Tony snapped on the lip before turning around, Clint was gone.
Typical. Damned super spies anyway, can’t make noise when they move like normal people did.
---
Steve was, in fact, waiting at the front door for Tony. He didn’t dare consider the curious thing that did to the integrity of his stomach.
---
In light of where they were heading, Tony didn’t take any of his newer cars or the ‘32 Flathead (though he was sorely tempted considering the looks he’d seen Steve throw the beast). They’d be suspicious considering the cost behind them and he didn’t want this outing to draw attention. Instead, he grabbed the keys to the Audi R8, which was a better alternative to the others and really, he did miss his Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Steve was suitably impressed by the car, though impressed was maybe too mild of a term. In attempts to not be an ass, Tony actually followed the traffic laws and regulations on the way to his bar of choice for the night.
They hadn’t actually said much to each other yet but strangely it wasn’t an uncomfortable air between them. Usually Tony couldn’t stand silences and would babble about whatever crossed his mind in order to break them but for once his mind was actually kind of quiet. He was busy concentrating on driving and watching Steve look out the window with blatant curiosity.
Tony tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, thoughtful. “Hey, Cap. Can I ask you something?”
Steve looked away from the window to turn more towards him, “sure.”
“How are you settling in? I mean, really adjusting.”
Steve’s shoulders tighten automatically but Tony genuinely wanted to know and so pointedly didn’t look away from the road. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Steve run a hand through his hair before relaxing again. “Honestly? It’s hard sometimes. I still have dreams of course, and sometimes when I wake up it’s hard to remember. I can’t even begin to explain how different everything is but...I’m getting better. I still miss...” he trailed off but Tony’s heard enough.
He understood, to some degree anyway, and had no intention of pushing. Instead, he debated for a moment before grudgingly opening his mouth. “This is different for me too, you know. Not the ‘man out of time’ thing of course, that is all you but this. This teamwork thing and having other people to worry about is new. I wasn’t just being an ass when I told you I don’t play well with others. I’ve never had to before so I don’t expect to be very good at it.”
“Seems to me you’ve done just fine.” Steve said, looking over at him again and Tony shook his head.
“I’m not talking about the fighting together.”
“Neither am I.”
And Tony didn’t know what to say to that.
Seriously, how is this guy real?
---
Tony was the one to lead them into the bar, which was a slightly swanky place of course. Steve followed close behind him with the black cloth portfolio that housed his shield.
The bar was spacious but not big enough to feel too open. It was actually rather homey and the first thing Tony did was to go up to the counter and order several different foods. While waiting for it he sent Steve to pick them out a table and reflected on how they’d yet to get into a fight. Granted it was early yet but this was the longest they’ve gone without yelling at each other. He was actually rather pleased with himself.
After being handed a tray loaded with chicken wings, fries, two double cheeseburgers, two sodas and cheese sticks, Tony retreated to the table where Steve sat eying the pool game already going on. It was painfully obvious the man was looking forward to their game and Tony had to grin.
“Relax slugger, let’s eat before issuing the challenge, yeah?”
Steve looked at him sheepishly but nodded and fell on the food with a vengeance Tony was amused to watch. He figured that the Super Soldier serum had to have cursed him with an advanced metabolism and made a mental note to have them eat again before leaving tonight. Tony himself only picked through the selection and finished off his burger then left the rest to Steve.
They talked a little while they ate. Mostly about the team. About Clint, Natasha and Bruce. About Thor and his issues with Loki. About SI and Pepper’s terrifying fury. Not once did Steve even look like he was thinking to bring up Howard and Tony was so relieved by that because they were talking. They were completely civilized with each other right now, even a bit friendly, and Tony wanted to hang onto that. Any mention of Howard would be sure to ruin it, just like it soured their first conversation.
“Hey, Tony.” Steve said somewhat timidly, finally slowing down on the inhaling of their food. “I wanted to ask you something. You can say no, of course.”
Curious, Tony shrugged a shoulder. “Shoot.”
“Can you tell me about the reactor?”
That certainly wasn’t the question he was expecting. “It’s all in my file.”
Steve nodded slightly, “I know but I wanted to hear it from you. You were the one there dealing with it all, not whoever wrote the reports.”
“Which in my case was Natasha.” Tony said, mostly to gain himself an extra minute of composure. “So what is it that you want to know. The reactor itself or how I got it?”
“Whatever you’re comfortable telling me.” Steve said with a shrug.
“Well, I might as well skip telling you the mechanics of it, you won’t understand. I guess all you need to know is that taking it out or having the light,” he tapped his chest, “go out equals a very bad thing.”
Steve nodded again, staring at Tony’s chest like if he just looked hard enough he could see the light through his clothes. Tony considered leaving it at that, Steve was the considerate kind of person who would let it go if he asked but that was kind of the reason why he found himself going on.
“As for what happened...”
Steve wouldn’t use this against him, not any of it. He was Captain America, he was good and just and everything that inspired loyalty and trust. The fact of the matter was, Steve was a good person and if Tony couldn’t talk to him then there was no one he could talk to.
“I was overseas for a hands on demonstration of my newest invention, the Jericho missile. Only the whole thing went sideways and upside down. The soldiers I was traveling with were killed and I was hit by one of my own bombs because apparently a trusted SI advisor was selling my stuff under the table to them. And I was too blind to see it. Anyway, so, the attack lodged these metal shrapnel pieces all around my heart and I should have died. But, the Afghanistans put me under the care of a man, Yinsen, and he saved my life. Granted, his version of that involved a car battery hooked up to my chest but it worked and then he helped me make the first prototype of an arc reactor this small.”
“Wait, you’d never made one of those before?” Steve asked, eyes wide.
“Well, I’d made arc reactors but those were all the size of a full room. This was a first for me.”
“Wow. That’s incredible, Tony.”
Tony just shrugged, not entirely comfortable with praise about something he wasn’t even sure he was proud of.
“Really. This is why I wanted to get the story from you, not from some formal write up.”
“You mean besides how you have to decrypt them before you can even understand the lingo?” Tony said teasingly. He’d hacked S.H.I.E.L.D ages ago and looked at quite a few things. The operation was terribly fond of military lingo and complicated sentence structure. Also, it was ridiculously formal.
Steve smiled back at him, “yeah. It just didn’t seem right, reading about something like that. It was your experience. It wouldn’t mean anything if I just read about it.”
“What does hearing it from me change? The facts don’t change just because of the person telling the story.”
“Maybe not,” Steve said thoughtfully. “But it’s not about just the facts. This happened to you, Tony. You survived a horrible thing and that’s not something that should be brushed off like it was a trip to the grocery.”
Tony stared at him over the table, mind whirling and chest tight. Steve Rogers, ladies and gentlemen. He thought, fighting the urge to smile. He was done talking though, not willing to face anything more so he took a sip from his soda before putting it down with a thump. “Ready for that game, Cap?”
Steve nodded, willing to let the conversation die, just like Tony had suspected. They got up and headed over to one of the free tables, Steve snagging two cues as they passed the wall lined with them. Tony tested the length of his but Steve must have a good eye because it was perfectly passable.
Tony placed the balls, lifted the triangle and looked at Steve, “be my guest.”
Steve grinned and cracked the set.
---
As it turned out, Steve was unfairly good. In response to Tony’s pout, Steve shrugged and said, “the strategy isn’t all that different from using my shield.”
Looking down at the black wrapped and hidden shield, Tony figured he was right and that he really should have thought of that. “I call unfair advantage then.”
“You’re a genius, Tony. Let’s call it even, yeah?”
Tony laughed, leaning on his cue stick. “Yeah, yeah. Alright.” He watched Steve lean over the table, matching cue to ball and blinked. He looked away, frowned at himself and looked back. Nope, the thought didn’t leave.
Steve had a very nice ass.
Scowling to himself, Tony shook his head, forcing his eyes on the balls. Pool balls, for that matter. Seriously, it was not happening. Sure, Steve was attractive, fine. He could live with that, it was fine. Ogling the man though, little less fine. Things Tony ogled he had a tendency to touch and no, just no. It was miracle enough that he’d gotten this far into a non-hostile, tentative friendship, he was not about to fuck that up by coming onto the man.
No way, no how, keep your eyes to yourself, Stark.
Tony cleared his throat and watched three balls sink into various pockets as Steve stepped back. The blond smiled and Tony faked one in return, still slightly thrown off his stride. Steve didn’t look fooled though, which was odd because Tony knew how to fake smiles; he’d done it all his life for the cameras. He was good at pretending, really good.
“Tony?”
Apparently Steve just had a better bullshit detector. Go figure.
“I’m fine, Steve.”
The Captain didn’t seem to believe him but didn’t press either and Tony stepped up to the table to take his shot. He wasn’t focused though and only pocketed one ball, scattering two others in difficult positions.
Damnit. He’s already awkward and Steve won’t let it lie too long unless Tony can pull himself together. What he needed was a distraction, something to give him a minute or two to recollect. Maybe he should go order more food while it’s Steve’s turn. Or maybe they could be attacked by the villain of the day, that would work too.
Tony really needed to learn to stop tempting fate.
---
It happened too fast for Tony to really do much more then blink up at the ceiling from his place sprawled on the floor. There was a ringing in his ears and dust in the air and he coughed, pain punching through his still bruised chest. Rolling onto his side, Tony finally got a look at what happened, at it wasn’t pretty.
The bar was missing an entire wall since the one that had been there was now in mangled pieces across the floor. Tony spared a thought to reflect that he was probably going to have to pay to fix that. A flash of red, white and blue caught Tony’s eyes and he squirmed to his feet, heart starting to race. Steve hadn’t been knocked down by the explosion the way Tony had and he’d reacted much faster, retrieving his shield and going after the creature with zero hesitation.
Tony hesitated right now though because...God. Whatever that thing was, it was huge, twice the size of Steve easy. And it looked, Jesus, it looked like something out of a horrifying sci-fi movie.
It stood like a human and had skin that was the blue-green color of scales but for the bright orange patches of tougher hide at the shoulders, elbows and knees like protection. It had a long thick tail, sleek and with a tough ridge along the top. There were two curious spikes protruding from the creature’s back that were like thin, pointy rods but honestly, the head of the creature was the most unsettling.
Mostly because it had no face or if it did it was hidden beneath the black, reflective glass-like portion of its head. Though, the strange gray tubular things sticking out from its neck were rather unusual too.
Tony winced when the beast roared, smacking away Steve’s shield like it was just a frisbee and whipping its tail into a bar stool. Not good. This is so not good.
“Tony!” Steve called over to him, jumping to scoop his shield up from the floor. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good, Cap. But where the hell did this thing come from!”
Okay, so maybe calling it a thing wasn’t exactly the smartest move. Tony ducked behind the bar counter to avoid a swipe from its huge hands. Thankfully the bar had cleared out almost immediately after the collapse of the wall, since most people actually possessed a sense of self-preservation that heroes seemed to lack. Still, creepy creature from wherever, not good.
The shield rebounded off the back of the creature’s head again and successfully distracted it back to attacking Steve. Tony took the chance to scramble for his communicator, they’d probably need the whole team assembled to take this thing down and he really needed someone to bring him a back-up armor.
Steve yelped then, a sharp sudden sound and Tony froze, heart hammering in his chest with fear. Steve. He mouthed before getting up quickly to look over the counter. The sight about made his heart stop and Tony dropped the communicator to leap over the counter. There were pool cues and balls scattered across the floor and he scooped up one now. It was a pitiful weapon but better then his bare hands.
The creature paused to regard him, head tilted slightly as Tony stood there, back stiff but facing it and ready for whatever move it would make. Steve was sprawled on the floor beneath one of its feet, unconscious and shield on his arm.
The thing tensed, shoulders hunching as if bracing for attack and Tony grit his teeth, ready, when something whizzed through the air to impact with the creature’s head and explode. A sharp squeal of sound and the alien recoiled, stumbling back enough for Tony to drop the cue stick and hit his knees next to Steve.
“Steve!” Quick fingers checked for a pulse then slapped his cheek lightly after getting one. “C’mon Steve, now is not nap time.” Tony muttered.
“If you two were going alien hunting you really should have told the rest of us.”
Clint. Of course it was Hawkeye. Who else would bother to follow them?
“Yes, that’s exactly what we were up too, good deduction.” Tony snapped and Clint lifted one shoulder, eyes and bow still pointed at the momentarily cowering creature.
“Hey man, I’m sure some people would find that to be perfect date material, Steve just didn’t really strike me as one of ‘em.”
“Oh, but I did?” Then his words soaked in and Tony cursed. “And this isn’t a date!”
“Right.” Clint drawled. “It just looks like one.”
“Shut up and call the others! I don’t think we can take this thing on our own.” Tony grabbed hold of Steve best he could and gestured for Clint to help him drag the super soldier behind the bar.
“Already did.” Clint grunted at Steve’s dead weight and they pulled him safely out of the way. “I take it you don’t know what this is?”
“Well, I certainly don’t have a handy list of aliens to check off.” Tony muttered, sorting through bottles of alcohol and checking labels.
Clint snorted and held up his hands, “hey, I wouldn’t put it passed you.”
The creature, recovered somewhat, roared again and Clint jumped up onto the counter, bow at the ready as he whipped out another arrow. “Hey, Stark. Check out your new work.”
Tony made a triumphant noise and seized a bottle before turning in time to see Clint launch his arrow. It hit dead center of the alien’s chest and sank into the body a few inches but didn’t appear to do anything but quiver slightly. Then the whole alien gave one huge body spanning shiver and collapsed.
Clint whistled, “I don’t know how you got vibranium to work with adamantium in those things but damn do they pack a punch.”
“Right now just be glad I finished them days ago instead of taking my time.” Tony said smugly and popped the cork plugging the bottle in his hand.
Clint looked over his shoulder and frowned, “What are you doing? Little early for a victory drink, don’t you think?”
“Hah, that’s funny.” Tony crouched down by Steve and waved the bottle under his nose. After a few moments, Steve sneezed and woke up at the same time. He wrinkled his nose and gave Tony an unimpressed glare.
“Eww.”
Tony snorted and capped it again, “hey, it woke you up didn’t it?”
Steve’s eyes widened, “Tony!” The Captain jumped to his feet, looking ready to do war but paused after taking a look around. “Clint?”
“Hey, Cap.”
“Where are the others? What happened to the enemy?”
“Yeah, Clint, where are the others? How did you get here so fast and just in the nick of time?” Tony asked with faked innocence.
Clint glared at him and pointedly stared at the body of the unconscious alien. “I was already nearby, if you must know. And I knocked out Mr. Ugly-In-Orange over there.”
“He was following us.” Tony informed Steve, smirking. “Don’t lie, Clint, it’s unbecoming.”
“In that case it’s a wonder you get dates at all.” Clint snapped back.
Steve looked hopelessly lost and after a moment seemed to give up on following them. Instead he grabbed his shield and went around the counter to peer carefully at the alien.
“And yet I do anyway, fancy that!”
“Wait a minute.” Steve said, turning to them after making sure the creature was out. “Why were you following us?”
“He thought we were on a secret date.” Tony said before Clint could and smirked at the archer. He was sure Steve wouldn’t take too kindly to be stalked and he really would love to see that disappointed look directed at someone else for a change.
“What’s secret about it?” Steve asked instead and Tony took a moment to stare at him, not sure if he’d heard that right or was just misunderstanding. There was an awkward moment where Steve stared at both Tony and Clint for an answer, Clint stared steadfastly at the alien and Tony internally freaked out. “Tony?”
“I’m confused,” Tony blurted. “Are you implying this was a date?”
Steve frowned, getting that wrinkle on his forehead that suggested a mix of hurt and frustration. “Yes. I mean, you said yes when I asked so I just assumed...” The super soldier trailed off as if suddenly uncertain and Tony blinked.
“I thought this was just a trial thing to see if we really could put up with each other for any length of time.”
“That’s what dates are, unless that’s changed? I didn’t think so, I mean, no one’s mentioned that if it has.”
Steve looked worried now and unhappy and damn it but Tony didn’t like that look on him. “No, no, you’re right, I guess. I just didn’t, uh, realize you actually meant it.”
“Tony, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t mean it.”
“Wow.” Clint said suddenly. “You two are just precious, you know that? I feel like I’m gonna puke rainbows over here.”
“Shut up, Barton.” Tony snapped as Steve blushed and shuffled his feet like a shy boy. Regaining his equilibrium now, Tony’s mind worked quickly as he looked around them and at Steve’s hopeful face. “This date sucked.” He said bluntly and Steve winced.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t...”
“I demand another. A proper one this time where we both acknowledge that it is infact a date and doesn’t come included with alien interlopers or super spy stalkers.”
Steve looked at him, surprised, then laughed and Tony couldn’t help but smile.
“Hey, this stalker saved your ass, Stark.” Clint snapped and rolled his eyes.
“I will bribe Coulson into tying you down to watch Supernanny with him.” Tony threatened. “You know you can’t get out of his knots.”
“Whatever.” Clint muttered as he hopped off the counter to go inspect the damaged wall.
Tony nodded to himself with satisfaction and turned to Steve with a grin. “You’re too good for me, you know.” He said, mostly joking but meaning it more than he’d ever admit out loud.
“How would you know?” Steve said with a shake of his head. “We haven’t even had a complete date yet.”
“About that. How many do we have to have before I can kiss you?”
Steve reddened magnificently but looked at Tony steadily. “At least one.”
“Ah, figures.” Tony sighed and cast a mostly fake glare at the crumpled form of the alien. “Damn aliens always ruin things.”
“Usually one.” Steve said as he advanced and Tony leaned against the counter behind him, anticipation sparking. “I think I can give you a preview though.”
“A preview, how kind of you.”
Steve swallowed those last few words straight from Tony’s mouth as he planted his hands on the counter at either side of Tony and kissed him. It was gentle at first, testing the waters before Steve pressed it and Tony gave him everything then opened his mouth to give more. A slight touch of tongue to tongue was all he got before Steve pulled away though and Tony just stopped himself from following.
“Preview.” Steve reminded him lowly and Tony smirked.
“If that’s your preview I can’t wait for the actual first date kiss.”
“Jesus Christ, you two! Can’t you wait until you’re in a room alone before doing that?” Clint yelled over to them and Steve laughed.
“What? You jealous, Barton?” Tony hollered back before Steve took a step away.
“Tomorrow, Tony.” Steve said, drawing his attention away from Clint’s acidic ‘Fuck you, Stark!’.
“Tomorrow what?”
“I’ll pick you up at six and take care of everything, just be ready.”
Tony blinked, suddenly apprehensive. “You’re sure?”
“Again, I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t sure.” Steve said soothingly, that knowing look in his eyes as reassuring as it was unsettling.
“Okay. Yeah. Sure, I’ll see you then. Well, probably before then because we live in the same place in all but definitely then too. Six o’clock, I got it.” He nodded a few times and grinned at the look on Steve’s face. Fond amusement was so much better then the disappointment of those first two meetings they had.
Well, whatever, forget those. Bad impressions all around. It was better now, they were better now.
Thor’s booming voice heralded the arrival of the rest of the team and Steve gave Tony one last lingering look before going to deal with the alien. Tony just stayed leaning against the counter and smiling at nothing. Well, not nothing. He had a date with Captain America, after all.
That was pretty much everything.