The Corrupt and the Pure; Chapter 43: The Trial
[INFO]Title: The Corrupt and the Pure
Author: Del Rion (delrion.mail (at) gmail.com)
Fandom: The Avengers & Captain America (MCU)
Timeline: post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Genre: Drama, action, hurt/comfort
Rating: MA / FRAO
Characters: Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man). Also: Bruce Banner (Hulk), James “Bucky” Barnes (Winter Soldier), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), J.A.R.V.I.S., James “Rhodey” Rhodes (War Machine), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Thor, Sam Wilson (Falcon)
Pairing: Steve/Tony
Summary: When the Steve Rogers from an alternate universe appears in the middle of the Avengers Tower, two worlds are about to collide: one where Captain America became the tool of HYDRA and fell into a relationship with the hero Iron Man - and one where Tony and Steve are tentatively getting along. The latter are forced to reconsider their relationship when the Commander kidnaps Tony to replace his dead lover.
Complete.
Written for: A story commissioned by Susanne (ChickenHax @ AO3 / starkred @ Tumblr).
Warnings: Rape/non-con, major character death (alternate universe), graphic canonical violence, M/M sexual content, language.
~ ~ ~
Chapter 43: The Trial
The timing came from hell, no matter how he put it.
Every time he came up with some casual way to gauge Tony’s true feelings, the masochistic part of his mind that liked to torture him reminded Steve that he could count in days - hours, even - how long it had been since the Commander still had Tony captive and raped him in that subway tunnel.
That was enough to make him abandon all his plans of ever broaching the subject with Tony. Perhaps Steve was simply confused, just like Tony was with his feelings towards the Commander; if he gave it enough time, those thoughts would disappear and he would feel stupid for ever having them.
However, he kept coming back to the same facts that originally convinced him to give it a shot. Did he really want to spend a lifetime wondering if he’d walked right past a person who could make him happy? If he had looked in all the wrong places when he already had the answer right there?
Steve wasn’t actively looking for companionship or a relationship, but the Commander’s crazed devotion to Tony, no matter how horribly expressed, had to come from somewhere.
The Commander had said they had fought each other for years - literally. It didn’t sound like they were set up to be soulmates, just like Steve didn’t feel compatible with Tony on most days.
Compatibility wasn’t everything, however, because dysfunctional couples often made it work surprisingly well.
After once again convincing himself that it was worth a shot, that cautious part of his brain decided to pull a card that told Steve he had no right to put Tony in that kind of position, to force him to imagine some kind of a relationship with the double of the man who had abused and violated him.
Back to square one…
There were times when Steve thought he had gone insane to even entertain the possibility, seeing as he had never seen Tony as more than a tentative friend at best. To take that to a level that required people to like each other seemed impossible and impractical, and in the end, he told himself to let it go, no matter how much second-guessing it would create within him.
- - -
Five days after the events in Central Park and the conclusion to their fight against the Commander, Tony declared it was party time. Even the injured members of their team seemed to think that was a good idea, so they all gathered in the newly refurbished common area.
It was just the team, not even bartenders in sight, which made it a lot more intimate - not to mention crazy. There was no need to keep up appearances, so everyone was drinking a bit heavy-handedly. Even Bruce was sipping alcohol, although in significantly smaller amounts than the others.
Perhaps Tony thought he needed to out-drink everyone, or maybe he just felt like getting really drunk. Steve couldn’t blame him, after the experience he’d had, even though alcohol consumption wasn’t going to make it better.
Thor pulled out a flask he shared only between himself and Steve. Bucky had declined to join the party, which was perhaps smart, seeing as Thor’s Asgardian spirits were strong enough to make even Steve feel his brain going for a spin.
The party was getting pretty outrageous with jokes and laughter, drinking games challenging just about everyone’s limits. Those on the team who were still on the mend began to slow down, eventually, even though ‘work hard, party harder’ seemed to be on everyone’s lips.
Tony parted from the crowd at some point, and once Steve noticed, he headed out to find him. He finally located Tony in his workshop, having a drink and staring at the safe where the now-missing Tesseract had been.
Steve decided it was infinitely better than finding Tony in the morgue, keeping the Commander’s body company, which Tony had said would be incinerated sometime soon. The shield would be a bit trickier, and he had implied Steve might want to consider keeping it as a spare. After all, that kind of a chance didn’t come along too often, if ever.
“Hey,” Steve greeted as he entered. The door that had been open until now slid shut behind him, sealing them away from the rest of the party.
“This party was an excellent idea,” Tony mused into his drink, then pushed himself around on the edge of the table where he was seated in order to look at Steve. “Even you’re in party mode.” He saluted Steve with his glass. “Good for you, Cap!”
“Party seems to be slowing down a bit,” Steve observed. “Maybe you should, too,” he added, attempting to make it a subtle hint that Tony was rather drunk.
“Nah,” Tony refused and swung back his drink, swallowing with a grimace.
“It won’t stop you from having fun,” Steve offered gently. “But it will stop you from bending over the toilet sometime in the near future.”
Tony snorted, then suppressed a burb. “Clearly you don’t know me very well. I know my limits. Years of experience.”
That Steve could believe.
They looked at each other for a moment, inexplicably silent. It was as if they were having a conversation, only they weren’t, but it felt like something was happening instead of simple staring.
“I like your shirt,” Tony finally commented, totally at random.
“I think I would like to like you,” Steve replied, his lips completely botching up the sentence he had been working over and over in his mind for days.
“What?” Tony asked, frowning.
Steve felt like kicking himself - or getting some more of that Asgardian liquor until he passed out and had a bout of mini-amnesia to erase this conversation from his mind. Perhaps denial would do the trick, too.
“Nothing,” Steve mumbled when Tony kept looking at him for an explanation.
“Nuh huh,” Tony refused, pointing a finger at him. “You said something about liking me.”
“Wanting to like you,” Steve corrected.
“You don’t like me?” Tony asked, and he sounded hurt, suddenly.
“Uh, no,” Steve mumbled. “I mean, I do like you. Usually. I would just like to…” He wasn’t sure how to explain it. He’d had so many elaborate conversations figured out in his head, most of them going over very smoothly - too smoothly. Some of them had Tony agreeable to his interests, whereas the others ended in refusal and sometimes even with an armored fist to Steve’s face.
Either way, all of those versions had gone over so much smoother than his current attempts at communicating his complex and often contradictory feelings.
“What?” Tony asked, swaying slightly in his seat but not jumping down. “You would like what?” His eyes bore into him, demanding explication.
“I don’t know!” Steve exclaimed, frustrated. He began to pace, restless. “I’m curious, but it’s a horrible idea - horrible timing. There’s no way I can predict how you’d respond, so it’s safer not to act on it. I keep coming back to it, though, and people always say not to live with regrets and I totally get that -”
Tony’s hand shot out, grabbing him by the front of the shirt he had complimented earlier, dragging Steve around and right into a kiss. They both froze for an instant, lips unmoving, and frankly, it was no peck either; Steve felt every square inch of his lips being pressed against Tony’s mouth, and even when Tony’s hand released him and Steve took a step back, he could still recall the pressure of the touch as if he hadn’t lost it just now.
Something crashed in the living room outside, followed by shouting and laughter, and Steve snapped out of it, exiting the lab so fast he almost dislodged the sliding door as he struck his shoulder against it.
Tony didn’t call after him.
to be continued…
Story info
Author: Del Rion (delrion.mail (at) gmail.com)
Fandom: The Avengers & Captain America (MCU)
Timeline: post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Genre: Drama, action, hurt/comfort
Rating: MA / FRAO
Characters: Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man). Also: Bruce Banner (Hulk), James “Bucky” Barnes (Winter Soldier), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), J.A.R.V.I.S., James “Rhodey” Rhodes (War Machine), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Thor, Sam Wilson (Falcon)
Pairing: Steve/Tony
Summary: When the Steve Rogers from an alternate universe appears in the middle of the Avengers Tower, two worlds are about to collide: one where Captain America became the tool of HYDRA and fell into a relationship with the hero Iron Man - and one where Tony and Steve are tentatively getting along. The latter are forced to reconsider their relationship when the Commander kidnaps Tony to replace his dead lover.
Complete.
Written for: A story commissioned by Susanne (ChickenHax @ AO3 / starkred @ Tumblr).
Warnings: Rape/non-con, major character death (alternate universe), graphic canonical violence, M/M sexual content, language.
~ ~ ~
Chapter 43: The Trial
The timing came from hell, no matter how he put it.
Every time he came up with some casual way to gauge Tony’s true feelings, the masochistic part of his mind that liked to torture him reminded Steve that he could count in days - hours, even - how long it had been since the Commander still had Tony captive and raped him in that subway tunnel.
That was enough to make him abandon all his plans of ever broaching the subject with Tony. Perhaps Steve was simply confused, just like Tony was with his feelings towards the Commander; if he gave it enough time, those thoughts would disappear and he would feel stupid for ever having them.
However, he kept coming back to the same facts that originally convinced him to give it a shot. Did he really want to spend a lifetime wondering if he’d walked right past a person who could make him happy? If he had looked in all the wrong places when he already had the answer right there?
Steve wasn’t actively looking for companionship or a relationship, but the Commander’s crazed devotion to Tony, no matter how horribly expressed, had to come from somewhere.
The Commander had said they had fought each other for years - literally. It didn’t sound like they were set up to be soulmates, just like Steve didn’t feel compatible with Tony on most days.
Compatibility wasn’t everything, however, because dysfunctional couples often made it work surprisingly well.
After once again convincing himself that it was worth a shot, that cautious part of his brain decided to pull a card that told Steve he had no right to put Tony in that kind of position, to force him to imagine some kind of a relationship with the double of the man who had abused and violated him.
Back to square one…
There were times when Steve thought he had gone insane to even entertain the possibility, seeing as he had never seen Tony as more than a tentative friend at best. To take that to a level that required people to like each other seemed impossible and impractical, and in the end, he told himself to let it go, no matter how much second-guessing it would create within him.
- - -
Five days after the events in Central Park and the conclusion to their fight against the Commander, Tony declared it was party time. Even the injured members of their team seemed to think that was a good idea, so they all gathered in the newly refurbished common area.
It was just the team, not even bartenders in sight, which made it a lot more intimate - not to mention crazy. There was no need to keep up appearances, so everyone was drinking a bit heavy-handedly. Even Bruce was sipping alcohol, although in significantly smaller amounts than the others.
Perhaps Tony thought he needed to out-drink everyone, or maybe he just felt like getting really drunk. Steve couldn’t blame him, after the experience he’d had, even though alcohol consumption wasn’t going to make it better.
Thor pulled out a flask he shared only between himself and Steve. Bucky had declined to join the party, which was perhaps smart, seeing as Thor’s Asgardian spirits were strong enough to make even Steve feel his brain going for a spin.
The party was getting pretty outrageous with jokes and laughter, drinking games challenging just about everyone’s limits. Those on the team who were still on the mend began to slow down, eventually, even though ‘work hard, party harder’ seemed to be on everyone’s lips.
Tony parted from the crowd at some point, and once Steve noticed, he headed out to find him. He finally located Tony in his workshop, having a drink and staring at the safe where the now-missing Tesseract had been.
Steve decided it was infinitely better than finding Tony in the morgue, keeping the Commander’s body company, which Tony had said would be incinerated sometime soon. The shield would be a bit trickier, and he had implied Steve might want to consider keeping it as a spare. After all, that kind of a chance didn’t come along too often, if ever.
“Hey,” Steve greeted as he entered. The door that had been open until now slid shut behind him, sealing them away from the rest of the party.
“This party was an excellent idea,” Tony mused into his drink, then pushed himself around on the edge of the table where he was seated in order to look at Steve. “Even you’re in party mode.” He saluted Steve with his glass. “Good for you, Cap!”
“Party seems to be slowing down a bit,” Steve observed. “Maybe you should, too,” he added, attempting to make it a subtle hint that Tony was rather drunk.
“Nah,” Tony refused and swung back his drink, swallowing with a grimace.
“It won’t stop you from having fun,” Steve offered gently. “But it will stop you from bending over the toilet sometime in the near future.”
Tony snorted, then suppressed a burb. “Clearly you don’t know me very well. I know my limits. Years of experience.”
That Steve could believe.
They looked at each other for a moment, inexplicably silent. It was as if they were having a conversation, only they weren’t, but it felt like something was happening instead of simple staring.
“I like your shirt,” Tony finally commented, totally at random.
“I think I would like to like you,” Steve replied, his lips completely botching up the sentence he had been working over and over in his mind for days.
“What?” Tony asked, frowning.
Steve felt like kicking himself - or getting some more of that Asgardian liquor until he passed out and had a bout of mini-amnesia to erase this conversation from his mind. Perhaps denial would do the trick, too.
“Nothing,” Steve mumbled when Tony kept looking at him for an explanation.
“Nuh huh,” Tony refused, pointing a finger at him. “You said something about liking me.”
“Wanting to like you,” Steve corrected.
“You don’t like me?” Tony asked, and he sounded hurt, suddenly.
“Uh, no,” Steve mumbled. “I mean, I do like you. Usually. I would just like to…” He wasn’t sure how to explain it. He’d had so many elaborate conversations figured out in his head, most of them going over very smoothly - too smoothly. Some of them had Tony agreeable to his interests, whereas the others ended in refusal and sometimes even with an armored fist to Steve’s face.
Either way, all of those versions had gone over so much smoother than his current attempts at communicating his complex and often contradictory feelings.
“What?” Tony asked, swaying slightly in his seat but not jumping down. “You would like what?” His eyes bore into him, demanding explication.
“I don’t know!” Steve exclaimed, frustrated. He began to pace, restless. “I’m curious, but it’s a horrible idea - horrible timing. There’s no way I can predict how you’d respond, so it’s safer not to act on it. I keep coming back to it, though, and people always say not to live with regrets and I totally get that -”
Tony’s hand shot out, grabbing him by the front of the shirt he had complimented earlier, dragging Steve around and right into a kiss. They both froze for an instant, lips unmoving, and frankly, it was no peck either; Steve felt every square inch of his lips being pressed against Tony’s mouth, and even when Tony’s hand released him and Steve took a step back, he could still recall the pressure of the touch as if he hadn’t lost it just now.
Something crashed in the living room outside, followed by shouting and laughter, and Steve snapped out of it, exiting the lab so fast he almost dislodged the sliding door as he struck his shoulder against it.
Tony didn’t call after him.
to be continued…
Story info