Beneath the Armor, by Nix

[crimsonquills]

TITLE: Beneath the Armor
AUTHOR: Nix (keparker AT shaw DOT ca)
WRITTEN FOR: tmelange
FANDOM/COMIC TITLE: Avengers
CHARACTERS/PAIRING: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark (Captain America/Iron Man)
CATEGORY: Slash
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Tony is forced to reveal his identity after his armor is compromised and Steve finds himself reevaluating his teammate.
DISCLAIMER: Not

Comments

[liliaeth]

wonderfully written, perfectly in character and great to read. What more could one ask for?

[crimsonquills]

*beams* Thank you so much! I was worried that I had rushed the story, since the idea was originally longer. I had to squish it down a bit so that I could make the deadline. But it was fun to write and I think my Steve voice is solidifying!

[fire_tears]

I am a terrible human being for not reviewing your fics before now. D: But they are all amazing, and I adore them.

This one, though, just became my favourite one. I loved Thor so much in this. Well, I love him to death anyway, but this was just awesome. Every 'verily' and 'by Odin' made me grin. Oh, classic Avengers. How I love you. Thor's just so calm and collected, too, and practical, while Steve's on the verge of a panic attack until they get the chest plate in place.

Tony's total inability to keep from slipping into technical jargon while in the suit made me grin, too, because it's so perfect. He's all, 'Blah blah long scientific explanation with lots of detail and large, complicated theories, complete with handwaving and passion' and finishes it off with, '...um, at least, that's what Mr Stark said.' And no one finds this weird. Ever. It's canon, and the most I can figure is that all of the Avengers just think that Iron Man has a damned good memory

[crimsonquills]

This was the most awesome feedback ever! *rereads and rolls around in the feedback happily* *happy sigh* I am such a slut for feedback, and good feedback is ten kinds of awesome. :-) :-)

Ahem. *proceeds to somewhat more coherent reply* (Which, as it turned out, rendered the comment reply over the posting limit! Oh, well. *splits reply into two pieces*

I loved Thor so much in this. Well, I love him to death anyway, but this was just awesome. Every 'verily' and 'by Odin' made me grin. Oh, classic Avengers. How I love you. Thor's just so calm and collected, too, and practical, while Steve's on the verge of a panic attack until they get the chest plate in place.Yay, I got my Thor voice okay! I'd never written him and I was terrified of writing his diction. O.o I wouldn't even have tried it, except I've been immersed in reading the Avengers back canon since I got the DVD for Christmas. Which is why everyone reads so classic in this story. *g* Well, that and the fact that it was set early on in the Avengers, even if I used the

[crimsonquills]

(continued from first comment reply!)

I was giggling to myself during Steve's prowling search for Tony and his entire fumbled conversation with Tony about his date. That was hilarious. 'Where is he? Why is he dating? Who is she? ... Why were you out? What were you doing with her? You shouldn't be doing that!' Even knowing that it was mostly due to concern, the entire time, all I could think was, "Steve, you sound like a jealous ex-boyfriend."

Yes! *grins happily* I was intentionally trying to make him sound jealous there. HE thinks he's just concerned, but really, he's so incredibly jealous underneath the concern. I wasn't sure if it came through on both levels, so this comment makes me :-) :-) :-).

And his realization was just so cute. 'Why in God's name am I acting-oh.'

That may have been my favorite part to write. For once, leading him down the slowly developing pattern of thoughts went smoothly!

And poor Tony. So insecure and worried that now that he's no longer the Invincible Iron Man-now that the team knows that it's just

[axolotl_lan]

Yay! My internet is working and I was able to read this!

I'm now going for a third time through, I love this fic.

Tony/Steve is just so natural here, the interactions and I love how Steve found out.

Melting the chest-plate is so meanly awesome of you, I was thinking of what an awful situation poor Tony was in I'm glad he had an extra suit that would work intuitively for activating the chest-plate.

The kiss was also fantastic. I love how you can write so much emotion into a kiss.

[crimsonquills]

Yay for working internet! And for feedback!

Tony/Steve is just so natural here, the interactions and I love how Steve found out.

I'm so glad it felt natural. I always find it more difficult to write falling in love stories than already in love and just finding out stories.

Melting the chest-plate is so meanly awesome of you

*grins* That scene was where the whole story started in my mind. Tony with armor burning him but he can't take it entirely off and Steve all frantic. :-)

The kiss was also fantastic. I love how you can write so much emotion into a kiss.

Yay! I find kisses really difficult to write, actually. It's very difficult to describe the movements of mouths and tongues in a way that doesn't sound stupid! Especially if you want it to go on for awhile.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

[elspethdixon]

OMG, I love this. I love the unconscious AIM goons pileing up on the floor, and the Thor dialogue, and Tony's offended semi-rant about his his boss's malfunctioning tech, and Tony's armor melting off, with bonus I-need-my-chestplate-to-live drama.

I think Tony's original "I need this to live" breastplate is my all-time favorite incarnation of the armor, even more so than the Extremis, because of the constant potential for him to suddenly keel over after fights.

"Gauntlets. Now," he said sharply. "I can still throw a punch with damaged hands, if it comes to that. You're an inventor. You need better motor control." Steve tried not to think about what it would be like to try to draw with scarred hands.

Steve risks maiming his artist's hands for Tony! *dies of OTP squee*

A strange shadow crept into Tony's eyes. "This is my fight. They're after my technology," he argued.

Nice touch here, given the lengths we know Tony's going to eventually go to to keep his tech out of the wrong hands.

His heart, Steve thought, was the most

[crimsonquills]

OMG, I love this. I love the unconscious AIM goons pileing up on the floor, and the Thor dialogue, and Tony's offended semi-rant about his his boss's malfunctioning tech, and Tony's armor melting off, with bonus I-need-my-chestplate-to-live drama.

*grins, bouncing* I'm so glad you liked it! I admit, I wondered if the AIM goons piling up was over the top, but...little tiny room, lots of goons, I just couldn't resist. *g* It was a surprising amount of fun to write classic-era Avengers. You can get away with so much more, and the entire tone is lighter.

I think Tony's original "I need this to live" breastplate is my all-time favorite incarnation of the armor, even more so than the Extremis, because of the constant potential for him to suddenly keel over after fights.Oh, the hurt/comfort potential was just awesome in the early days. As much as I love the Extremis, I do kind of miss the "OMG, he could die at any moment!" tension. Well, I don't miss reading about it every other panel in the canon, but I miss the potential for woobieness

[runenklinge]

that was great^^

"God knew the man needed taking care of; his reaction to anything that might impair his ability to work seemed to be to push himself twice as hard as he would have if he'd been healthy."
yep, Tony in a nutshell.

That was great^^
I like how Steve is torn between protecting Tony and let him be Ironman (although that is going to get him hurt)

"I worry about the people I care about," he said finally. "Sometimes more than they really need worrying about."
and that´s Steve in a nutshell.

magnificent^^

[crimsonquills]

Thanks so much for the feedback! And I'm glad the guys came through in character. :-) I was immersed in 60's and 70's Avengers when I wrote this and I wasn't sure what that'd do to their voices. *g*