Fic: many names in history, none of them are ours (Avengers/MCU, 8/8)

[aubkae]

Title: many names in history, none of them are ours (8/8)
Author: aubkae
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, post-Avengers 2012
Rating: NC-17
Wordcount: 5400, overall ~42k
Characters: All of the Avengers, Pepper Potts, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, James Rhodes, JARVIS
Pairing(s): Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, references to canon pairings
Disclaimer: Marvel's. Not mine, I make no profit.
Warnings: Overall - PTSD issues, canon-typical violence, explicit sex, societal homophobia. This chapter - explicit sex, societal/media homophobia, brief mention of past suicidal ideation.
Notes: This would not be what it is without Nyssa, Sammy, and Courtni cheering me on, believing in this story, holding my hand, and catching my screw-ups. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

Steve's not sure if he'll ever understand Tony Stark, but it's good, living here. If he still wakes up sometimes convinced this was all a dream, well, it's better than it was before, and that's something, isn't it?

The Avengers live in a world that both glorifies and fears them, but they know each other now behind the scenes.

AO3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8



Steve finds Tony lying on the rooftop instead of in bed where he should be, but he just comes over and lies down beside him without comment. It's a cloudy night, so they can't see the stars, not that the middle of New York is prime stargazing location anyway. The view isn't the point.

Tony refuses to get freaked out by the sky, and he'll lie on the roof in the middle of the night for hours if that's what it takes.

Steve breathes beside him, not waiting or hovering, just there.

Tony speaks after a long moment. "I remember thinking, well, at least the last thing I see is the stars in another world. Pretty fantastic last sight."

Steve takes his hand, leaves the kind of silence that Tony can fill if he wants, or not.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Tony says, pushing aside the memory.

Steve squeezes his hand. "As ready as I can be. I've never really been ready for anything important in my life, even when I thought I was. The serum, war, death, the future… getting kissed mid-motivating-speech…"

"One of my finer moments." Tony lets out a breath of almost laughter. "Ever just sit and think about how weird our lives are?"

"I could spend all my time doing that." He can hear Steve's smile in his voice. "But what would we do with normal lives?"

Tony turns a bit to look at him out of the corner of his eye, Steve's profile outlined in city lights. "Didn't you ever want - you know, wife and kids and house in the suburbs?"

Steve glances at him and shrugs. "Sure I did, once. Although I was thinking house in a neighborhood with a bit more personality."

Tony can still imagine it, Steve meeting some nice girl and settling down. It hurts like fresh metal in his chest, but he can picture it so clearly, Steve being happy with that: the American Dream, complete with white picket fence and golden retriever and someone kind and caring and supportive, someone who does things like remember birthdays and doesn't do things like fly missiles into space.

"Once?" he says. Steve tightens his fingers around Tony's again.

"I didn't know it consciously then, but I turned away from that future the day I took the serum. Before, even. I'm Captain America, and I'm always going to be Captain America first." He holds his arm out, flexes his muscles. "It's a part of me - I can't go back. More importantly, I wouldn't if I could."

"Yeah," Tony says. He swallows and taps the arc reactor. "I get it."

"We pay a price for what we are," Steve says. "I wouldn't push that on someone who didn't choose it. And - and I don't want that either. To be with someone who doesn't understand me. All of me."

Steve turns to look at Tony, and for the first time in his life, Tony thinks forever.

"Ugly tower in Manhattan," Tony says after too long a pause, "not quite a house in Brooklyn. Group of unbalanced superheroes, not exactly fresh-faced little blond kids. And I don't have the chest for a wedding gown."

Steve rolls over and kisses him. "I like you best in work jeans, friends are the family you choose, and the tower's kind of… grown on me."

"You still think it's ugly," Tony says, trying and failing to keep from grinning like an idiot.

"I still think it's ugly." Steve grins back. "It's a good thing we are just so damn pretty."

"Did you just sort-of quote Firefly to me?" Tony says incredulously. "Take off your pants."

Steve laughs, and blushes, but he also takes off his pants.

---

It's standing room only out there, just white noise of babbling voices and rustling movements.

The six of them cluster behind the door, which is rather a tight fit, mostly because of Thor's battle armor and full cape. He's even wearing the helmet with the wings on it. Steve feels small next to him.

"If you're going to hurl, don't do it on me," Tony whispers in Steve's ear. "You don't even want to know how much this suit cost, not to mention the shoes."

Steve covers his mouth with his hand to muffle his laugh. He's in modern military dress himself, though it was such a close call that he now has a ridiculously expensive suit of his own hanging in his closet, pressed and ready to go.

"I'm not going to hurl," he says. "Though this does feel disturbingly like I might have to make a speech about war bonds."

"I could make the intercom play Star-Spangled Man if that would make you feel better." Tony nudges him with his elbow.

"Don't even joke."

"How about a mash-up-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Steve makes a face.

"Showtime," Natasha says, looking at her watch. Clint pats both Tony and Steve on the shoulder and gives them a thumbs up.

Natasha and Clint step out first, both of them in suits hiding a small arsenal of weapons. Natasha just sighed at Steve when he'd tried to ask her if she was really going armed.

He supposes he can't talk. His shield and Tony's suitcase armor are already in place under the table. This isn't going into battle, but the adrenaline rush and the focused nervousness feels the same.

The noise increases for a second and then dies back as Natasha and Clint presumably take their seats, one on each end of the row. Thor and Bruce go out a moment later, Thor striding out like he owns the place and Bruce lurking behind him.

A hush falls.

"Last chance to back out," Tony says. There's a thread of seriousness in there with the flippancy.

"If you're going to hurl, don't do it on me," Steve says, deadpan. "I just polished my boots."

Tony chokes back a laugh, smoothes his suit jacket, squares his shoulders. They push the doors open together.

There are so many cameras that it's like walking into a wall of white light. Steve can barely see anything. He's just trying not to trip over his own feet when Tony grabs a mike and calls out, "How's this for a picture?"

Steve has time for a split second of confusion before Tony spins him towards himself by his elbow and kisses him hard. He has a split second of shock before he decides to hell with it and dips Tony while kissing back.

The crowd gasps, and some people cheer, and that's how they come out to the world.

---

The internet explodes.

People swarm Stark Tower with protest signs and support signs and cameras, always cameras. Tony gets to go to a Board meeting in the armor because trying to get a car out would be a major undertaking. Everyone else just stays inside for a couple days; none of them have anywhere essential to go.

A helicopter goes by once, someone leaning out with a camera. Tony's halfway through a rant about airspace while scrambling for his phone when Thor goes outside and bellows at the pilot. It gets kind of dark out. There aren't any helicopters after that.

"Don't watch the news, after," Pepper had told Steve before the press conference. "We'll wait for the first shockwave to end before we assess the situation."

"But what if-" he'd said.

She shook her head at him. "Leave it to the people with expertise in this. You're good at a lot of things, Steve, but there's nothing you can do in the first wave that other people can't do better. We'll keep you updated and let you know when we have reliable information and it's time for strategy."

She was right, of course, but it's still strange to try and go about his daily life while everyone's talking about him and he's doing practically nothing in response. He hopes that things calm down a bit soon, even if it means he has to do more interviews and press conferences. He's not good at sitting around.

Tony isn't either, though he's more accepting about being told to stay out of it. He buries himself in his workshop, emerging with surprisingly minimal complaint when Pepper or Carolina need him for something. He alternates between focusing so much on work that he forgets to eat, much less spend time with Steve, and being affectionate almost to the point of smothering.

Steve works out a lot, reads a lot, and holds Tony just as tightly.

---

Four days after The Announcement, Steve wanders into the living room in the middle of the night to find Darcy, Clint, and Natasha sitting on the floor completely surrounded by paper.

"Is that all mail for us?" Steve looks at the piles, slightly appalled.

Natasha raises an eyebrow. "This is the paper mail for you and Tony that made it through SHIELD's scans. The Avengers currently employ several people full time to go through email. Two more were hired in anticipation of recent events."

Steve sits on the couch.

"That's the no pile, aka the 'Steve and Tony are not reading' pile." Darcy points at one pile, then another. "That's the yes pile, the ones you should read. And that's the 'so no it's hilarious' pile. I don't think you'll appreciate the hilariously no pile, but Tony will."

"Shouldn't we read it all?" Steve says weakly.

Clint rolls his eyes. "Here, this one combines 'burn in hell,' 'betraying America,' and 'give me one night and I'll scare him straight.' You wanna read it?"

Steve swallows, feeling ill, then looks up as Tony walks in with one of his green goop drinks.

"Ooh, hatemail!" Tony says.

Darcy points at the 'hilariously no' pile. "For maximum entertainment value."

Tony grabs some of the letters and flops onto the couch beside Steve, his feet in Steve's lap, sipping goop as he reads. Tony's nonchalance makes Steve feel oddly better.

"Wow, purple pen on pink stationary," Clint says, opening one of the letters and skimming it. "Long plea to Tony that he can't be gay because of their nights of blissful union. Um, this one might be questionable. She seems… intense."

Tony looks up. "What's her name?"

"Signed K.D."

"Ah, shit," Tony says. Natasha grabs the letter and puts it in a small pile by her knee.

"Stalker?" Clint asks. Steve wraps his hand around Tony's ankle.

"I haven't always had such impeccable taste." Tony shrugs, not looking at Steve. "Usually they just mail me their panties or something. But Kathy's actually scary."

"It will be dealt with," Natasha says flatly.

"Terrifying," Tony mutters. Natasha looks at him blank-faced until he squirms, then she laughs.

Steve hides a smile. He doesn't really understand how Tony and Natasha's friendship works, but he's in full support. He's choosing to focus on that and not on the fact that some woman is stalking Tony - there's probably no one better to make sure that gets handled than Natasha.

"If this is going to be a proper insomnia club hangout, it should have more snacks," Tony says. "Darcy?"

Darcy looks up. "Why am I snack girl?"

"You're Avengers support," Clint says. "Snack girl is an important role."

Darcy grumbles, but she heads into the kitchen. "Coffee, anyone?" she calls back. Steve wiggles out from under Tony's legs to help her carry things, and also because he wants a milkshake and he's not going to ask her to make it.

They all read letters and munch on snacks and sip drinks. Clint, Natasha, and Darcy keep sorting. Tony laughs to himself occasionally, but doesn't show Steve what he's reading, which is probably for the best. Steve doesn't think he'd find it as funny.

Steve reads letters from the 'yes' pile. They range from general support and gratitude to the Avengers as a group, to children's drawings of Captain America and Iron Man, to heartfelt confessions from teenagers who gained the courage to come out because Steve and Tony did.

He's always been sure they were doing the right thing, but reading that he's given people courage and helped them accept who they are… well, that makes a lot of things easier to deal with.

"What do we do with the no pile?" Darcy says.

Clint clears his throat. "I vote flaming arrows."

Steve makes a noise of protest. Tony looks at him in some alarm. "Steve, don't tell me that you want to read them, because let me tell you from some experience, that way lies madness."

"No, it's not that. I don't want to read them," Steve hastens to explain. "It's just… we'd have to do it outside, and it's always windy up here. We can't shower New York in burning pieces of hatemail."

They all look at him for a moment.

"I promise I'll remember your birthday," Tony says out of nowhere. Steve blinks.

"Uh, good? It's the Fourth of July, Tony. If you couldn't remember something that ridiculously cliché, I might worry that you were losing your mind."

Tony laughs. "Okay, okay. I suppose that's true. I have no idea when our anniversary is though, just to warn you."

"Me neither," Steve says. "It would probably be the day with the frogs, right? We could look it up, or just ask Jarvis." He suddenly gets it. "Oh! No, don't worry, I'm sure we'll end up fighting slime monsters or something that day anyway and we'll both forget. I've always figured it's better to appreciate the people you love all the time than make a big deal over any particular day. "

"I may swoon," Darcy says. Tony glares at her; she flaps her hand at him dismissively. "Don't worry, I'm not moving in on your man. I wouldn't go for Cap anyway, no offence. It'd be like disrespecting the flag. I like them a bit less clean-cut."

Steve's not sure if he should be insulted or not, but then Tony says, "Oh, Steve is surprisingly-" and he's too busy putting a hand over Tony's mouth to pay attention to anything else.

---

Tony has a solid day of meetings, which is annoying because he's in the middle of designing a shiny new communication system for the Avengers - it doubles as ID, an access pass, and a tracking method. He might add more stuff too. Steve had to drag him out of the workshop and hover over him while he got changed to make sure he didn't miss the first meeting or try and go out without pants on - which only happened one time, honestly; Pepper just made a big deal and told everyone and now they all think it's a real concern.

He does not want to mediate between Stark Industries and the Maria Stark Foundation, but he gets to watch Carolina neatly and politely eviscerate people, and that always brightens his day. She has Steve's knack for making people feel really, really guilty for even thinking bad things, and then she hits them with logic until they play nice. Pepper backs Carolina up using Reasonable Face to devastating effect.

The Board is soon agreeing that wholeheartedly backing America's new most powerful couple is a really good idea. The Foundation doesn't even try to argue, probably accepting that they're going to get dragged into this whether they like it or not.

Rhodey's dealing with the military and Natasha and Clint are dealing with SHIELD, so that's mostly out of Tony's hands. He and Steve are going to have to do some interviews and joint photoshoots - he hasn't told Steve yet because he's pretty sure that the idea of talking about their relationship and taking professional couple photos is going to make him freak out. Tony wants to spring that conversation on him when he's nice and relaxed.

Tony smiles to himself thinking of relaxed Steve, then has to stop his thoughts from taking a detour. He's got at least two hours of meetings to go. He takes notes for the Identicard designs under the table to distract himself until Pepper glares him into rejoining the boring financial discussion.

It could all be going a lot worse.

---

The sheer fervor dies down a little bit, but some people still shout obscenities at them in the streets and other people mob them for autographs anytime they go outside. It's weird and irritating and sometimes upsetting, but mostly it's exhausting.

Not being able to go for his usual run is getting to Steve a bit. A treadmill has appeared in the gym - it's not the same as running with the wind in his face, but he supposes that if having to run on a treadmill is the worst consequence of this, then he's getting off lightly.

It'll be temporary anyway. Soon there will be new gossip, or everyone will just get bored. That's people for you.

Steve's just glad that Tony relaxed a bit after the first time someone insulted Steve to his face and Steve didn't instantly change his mind about being with Tony and break up with him, or whatever else was going through Tony's head.

Tony frustrates him sometimes. But if Steve's anything, it's stubborn - he'll just have to stay to prove to Tony that he's staying.

He increases the speed on the treadmill - it's nowhere near his top speed, but he didn't want to somehow mess up the controls and send himself flying across the room. Nobody would ever let him live that down.

They dealt with an inept wanna-be villain this morning - it didn't take long, but they drew quite the crowd. Steve hopes that everyone's a bit calmer by the time the Avengers get a major call to assemble, so they don't have to worry about bystanders getting killed trying to take pictures of them in the middle of a fight.

Steve thinks about that for a while, then sighs and speeds up the treadmill again. They'll just have to plan for extra crowd control. The Hulk is a good deterrent, but he's one of their heaviest hitters and he's not precisely composed when someone threatens a teammate. His ability to control himself with civilians is not something Steve would like to test in the middle of a battle if someone is dumb enough to say something inflammatory.

Steve's just walking into the kitchen for a glass of juice after his workout and contemplating calling a meeting when Thor gets up from the kitchen table and hugs him.

Steve's rather taken aback, but he returns the hug. "Uh, hi."

Thor lets him go, smacking him on the back. "We are watching video messages of gratitude. They are most moving."

"There's a Youtube channel devoted to it," Bruce says from the table. He's got something paused on the screen on the wall. "You know, people recording messages for you two. Well, all of us, but mostly you two lately. I'm just going to replay this one for you guys. Where's Tony? He should watch it with you."

They summon a confused Tony from the workshop, and then Bruce and Thor leave in a hurry.

Steve and Tony look at each other. Tony presses play.

The speaker is an old man, probably nearly as old as Steve's actual age.

"I met Captain America during the war," the man says, looking just off camera, Steve assumes at the person holding it. "He came by to visit the hospital I was in, made some kind of speech to wounded soldiers. Honestly, I wasn’t exactly enthused to meet him. I'd seen one of his films and thought it was terrible."

Tony and Steve both laugh, and then the man says, "But more importantly, I'd just gotten wounded in action and I had spent the day planning to put a bullet in my head as soon as I could manage it."

They go still.

"The doctors were worried I was going to lose my arm, I was getting sent home even though I didn't have a home to go to, and I had a lover who was so afraid of what he was that he wouldn't talk to me in public, even in the hospital."

He pauses. "Captain America came to my bedside, making his rounds, and I was a jackass to him, I'll admit it. I cussed him out, and he just asked me if I was doing okay."

Tony makes a little noise. The man shakes his head and chuckles.

"He came back later, snuck back in wearing a regular uniform. I don't remember everything he said to me, but he got most of the story out of me. He just listened, you know? Then he told me that I didn't have very good taste in men and I could do better." He smiles. "He listened to a bitter eighteen-year-old for hours, didn't judge or dismiss me, and by the end of it I felt like life was maybe worth living after all, that I could maybe make something of myself even if I was no use as a soldier. That I was worth something as a person."

He looks right at the camera. "Steve Rogers, I don't know if you ever knew it, but you got a boy through the darkest time in his life, and you're still an inspiration to me today. I've been with the man I love for fifty-eight wonderful years, and I thank God that we've both lived to see you give this country an honest kick in the pants like you gave me. I wish you every happiness, both of you. Thank you."

The picture shakes as the man holding the camera comes out from behind it and kisses the speaker, two men in their eighties off-center on the screen before the video ends.

Tony and Steve sit in the kitchen and stare at the Youtube page.

"I remember him," Steve says, swallowing hard. "I thought that he thought I was nuts, but I couldn't not say something. And actually, I told him that his taste in men was shit, and he was shocked that I swore."

He starts laughing, and only realizes that he's got tears running down his face when Tony pulls him close and just holds him, not saying anything at all.

---

In some ways, Steve's average day is like any regular person's. He wakes up beside his lover, he works out, he has breakfast with his family, he goes to work.

Of course, in some ways, Steve's average day is not average at all.

He wakes to the sound of a billionaire muttering math to the sentient computer built into the house. He gets thoroughly trounced by the god of thunder and an infamous assassin. Breakfast involves enough food to feed a small army and an argument about proper procedures in the event of a zombie apocalypse, which Steve breaks up before someone gets stabbed with a fork. Going to work means sitting through an interrogation on the topic of his personal life, interrupted by his phone buzzing repeatedly because someone likes to send him filthy messages to try and make him blush on TV (he doesn't check them during the interview - that would be impolite - but they're always the same kind of messages and just the thought of reading them makes his ears burn). He gets literally picked up outside the building because they have to go save the world from oversized sea creatures, again.

He used to think that after the war all the craziness would be over and he'd live an unremarkable life. He used to think he'd be content with that.

The Hulk throws Steve towards something with a lot of tentacles. He somersaults and lets the shield fly midair, bounces off Iron Man's shoulders and flips to catch it when it ricochets back. The tentacley thing cringes and flails, then heads straight into the net the Coast Guard has set up.

"Nice moves, Cap!" Clint calls over the comm. "Thor, one more sea-slug to your left."

Tony catches Steve. "Damn, that was hot."

"Thanks," Steve says, grinning at him.

"Don't flirt on the public channel," Natasha says, dryly amused. "Hawkeye, get that purple thing before it escapes."

"Consider it gotten. Purple thing? Very technical, Widow."

"Thor, did you get all the sea-slugs?" Steve says.

"Yes," Thor answers. "However, I require a cleaning crew. I can also report that the spiny creatures have been vanquished." He laughs like he has a secret joke; Steve's looking forward to hearing the details of the vanquishing.

"So we're done here?" Tony adjusts his grip on Steve's waist, fingers curling over his hip. "The world is once again safe from tentacles? Because let me tell you, I've seen-"

"Man, I have been trying not to comment on that since we got the call," Clint says. "I hate tentacles. Okay, purple thing contained. We are done."

"Good work, team," Steve says, then cuts the connection and laughs as Tony's jet-boots fire up and they go horizontal.

They land in some building under construction, bare concrete walls and no people, thankfully no people. Tony's faceplate snaps up and he shoves Steve up against the wall and kisses him hard. Steve gives as good as he gets, biting Tony's lip and yanking him forward so they're pressed up against each other full length. Tony is taller than him in the armor, and broader too, metal hard and warm and heavy and holding him against the wall.

"Oh, this feels a bit sacrilegious, Cap," Tony breaks the kiss to say, one hand on the star on Steve's chest, and the other on his hip, metal fingers tight and then stroking. "You're not going to be weird about being in uniform are you? Because do you even know how hot you are when you fight - taking off from my shoulders, fuck-"

"Um," Steve stammers. "It's, uh… fine."

Tony pulls back and gapes at him for a second, then takes a deep breath."You have a costume thing, of course you have a costume thing. I must have done something right in my life, okay, I have to just change some settings because if I take the groin piece off and it doesn't go back on and I need to fly home with my crotch hanging out you might actually die of embarrassment-"

Steve makes a token protest, since this is definitely indecent. "We are just off the street, Tony, you could get us home in a couple minutes-"

Tony's armored thigh presses up between Steve's legs and Steve makes a sound like he's been hit in the stomach. Tony leans in and murmurs, "I could get you off in a couple minutes."

"Oh my God," Steve manages to say. "Uh, okay." He fits his gloved fingers in the join of Iron Man's neck and helmet, and pulls Tony down to kiss him.

"What do you want, Captain?" Tony says between kisses, rocking their bodies together. "Do you think about it, when I'm being an ass and not following orders in the field, just pushing me down and making me take it? Me on my knees and you fucking my mouth? I know you want me to just shut up sometimes, and baby, that's the best way to do it."

Steve can't breathe, torn between arousal and adrenaline and a bit of guilt because, yes, he does just want to make Tony shut up sometimes, not, you know, permanently, just for a minute so he can hear himself think-

"I like it like that. You get the command voice going on and I get all distracted. One day we'll do that, and I'll be so good for you, so good. But for now… you know, sometimes I just want… I'm stronger than you in the armor, aren't I?" Tony grabs Steve's roaming hands and holds them still. "Sometimes I just want to pin you down and take you apart."

Steve stares at him, hears his own voice say, "Oh God."

Tony licks his lips and smiles and moves faster, every movement sparking white heat through Steve. "Mmm yes, I knew you'd like that idea. Bit of a control freak, aren't you, Captain America? Carrying the weight of the world, want somebody else take control for a while. You trust me, don't you?"

"Yes," Steve gasps. He tries to kiss Tony, ends up pressing his open mouth along Tony's cheekbone, the edge of the armor, the taste of metal sharp in his mouth. It somehow makes this even better, but he's not analyzing that right now, not when Tony's moving against him just perfectly, heat coalescing as Steve moans and pushes back.

"Yes, fuck," Tony mutters against his shoulder, bites down hard enough that Steve can feel it through the body armor. "Come for me, love-"

Tony pins Steve's wrists to the wall and kisses him, muffling the noises Steve makes as he comes in his pants.

"Fuck, that was so fucking hot," Tony says in a rush, Steve leaning into him and trying to recover. "Touch me, I need - Jarvis get this groin piece off right this second or I'm just going to rip it off, I don't even care-"

Steve spins them, metal hitting concrete and showering them with dust. Tony stares at him, his eyes wide and dark. "Yes?" Steve says, still breathless.

"Uh yes, shit yes-" Tony stammers and Steve drops to his knees. "Oh fucking hell you're going to-"

The groin piece comes off, and Steve suppresses the urge to thank Jarvis - that would be just too weird even for him. They both fumble with Tony's pants until Steve smacks Tony's hand away, and then he's got Tony in his mouth. Tony makes a desperate noise, thrusting in deeper and then apologizing.

Steve pulls off long enough to say, "You like this? Captain America on his knees?"

There's a strangled shouted string of obscenities, Steve pinning Tony's hips against the wall and swallowing, and then a cloud of dust and a clatter as Tony's knees give out.

"Well," Steve says after a moment. He feels like his brain is no longer connected to his body.

"I've never done that before," Tony says. He sounds as stunned as Steve feels.

Steve looks at him. "Really?"

Tony shakes his head. "Wouldn't with just anyone, and Pepper never liked Iron Man, not really. She accepted me being Iron Man, but…"

"I like Iron Man," Steve says. Tony starts laughing.

"Yeah, I could tell." Tony leans forwards and kisses him, gentle and slow.

"I'm glad," Steve says, running his thumb along the seam of the armor at Tony's jaw. "I'm glad it's just me."

"It's definitely just you." Tony kisses him again, then pulls back and does up his pants. "Okay, let's try to salvage my tattered dignity here." He gets to his knees, picking up the armor piece. "Oh, good, goes right back on. Not even messy. Unlike you."

Steve looks down at himself in dismay. "Dammit, I can't be seen like this. You'll have to fly me home."

"We'll go in through the window. Team, there will be no post-mission speech from Captain America today," Tony says, grinning at Steve.

Steve has a moment of sheer panic. "How long was that on? Tony!"

Clint laughs over the comm. "Radio silence, Cap, not that it wasn't blindingly obvious what you were doing while the rest of us were so helpfully helping with cleanup. Only one way to shut Stark up."

Steve covers his face with his hands and groans as Tony laughs.

"I'm back and I have no idea where I am," Bruce says. "Did I miss anything?"

"Bruce!" Tony says. "Did your Identicard stay in your stretchy pants?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot. Okay, transmitting location."

"I will retrieve Bruce," Thor announces. "I just follow the path of light on my card, correct?"

"Yeah," Tony says. "Follow the yellow brick road."

Thor starts humming the song, and there's a burst of laughter from all of them over the comm.

"Clint and I will take the quinjet," Natasha says. "Assuming it's not too slimy."

"Looks slime-free from here. We'll pick up pizza on the way unless anyone objects to pizza - and if you do, don't say anything," Clint adds. There are various noises of agreement. "Good. Over and out."

Tony pulls Steve to his feet; Steve wraps his arm around Tony's waist and smiles at him.

"Let's go home," Steve says, and they take off into the sky.

---

the end