Avengers fic: Forging Friendship
Title: Forging Friendship
Characters/Pairing: Steve, Tony, Hulk, Natasha
Rating: PG-13 (some language)
Word Count: 1580
Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, though I'd love a Tony!
Warnings: Pre-slash, hurt/comfort (heavy on comfort)
Summary: Steve and Tony get stuck in a collapsed building and have to overcome their differences. Will be followed by a sequel.
Iron Man and Captain America were working together to clear the rest of the building when they felt it shudder and heard a crashing noise. Tony instinctively threw himself over his team mate to protect him as the building began to collapse around them. He heard Steve shout as the floor gave out from under them.
Tony jerked awake to find himself in the dark. He tried to contact JARVIS to no avail, his suit was dead. He pulled his helmet off to try and get some air, but all it did was allow the burning taste of dust and smoke to fill his mouth. He coughed and looked around. He was stuck in a small, dark space. The were jagged pieces of concrete and metal sticking out of every wall, and over in the other corner a couple of meters away he saw a figure lying skewed on the floor. Swallowing his rising panic he winced as he moved, his body aching all over, crawling over to the still body. He held his breath as he rolled it over, to see Steve unconscious in the torn remains of his uniform. One side of his face was covered in blood from what looked like a nasty head wound, though the serum's healing already seemed to be working on it. He grimaced as he shook Steve's shoulder, please don't be dead, please don't be dead.
Steve sat up suddenly with a gasp, and clutched his head.
“Fucking hell Steve, you scared me!” Tony exclaimed as Steve jumped from the loud noise and turned to look at him.
“What happened?” he asked, wiping some of the blood from his face.
“The building went down,” Tony lowered himself gently to lean against one of the pieces of concrete surrounding them. “My suit's dead so I can't get a message out.”
Steve got onto his knees and braced himself against the roof, pushing with all his strength. All it achieved was a new showering of dust. Steve sat down, exhausted.
“Looks like we're well and truly stuck,” he sighed. “We'll just have to wait it out.”
Tony swallowed, determined not to break down in front of a man who already held him in contempt.
Black Widow spoke calmly into her comm, only those who knew her well could detect the fear in her voice.
“No, we need agents here now. Get everyone you can. Steve and Tony are in there... Yes sir... We're on it, Hulk is... Yes sir.”
Clint was on the rooftops, working on spotting any movement that might signal Tony and Steve had found some way out. He desperately wanted to be down there digging, but he knew he was doing an important job, and with the Hulk so involved it would only be dangerous for him to get down there right now.
Hulk roared as he flung another piece of concrete out of the way. He knew his friends were trapped, and he was going to get them out. Hulk could save them. Hulk was strong, and Hulk knew he needed to help them.
Tony kept his eyes closed, breathing deeply, trying to block out the panic in the back of his mind.
Steve tried to keep the mood light, “Hey, it could be worse!” he smiled.
Tony cracked an eye open to look at him, covered in dust and blood, his uniform ripped.
“Well it could be better. You're stuck in here with some guy you can't stand and you don't know when you're going to get out.”
Steve sat up a little straighter, “When did I say I couldn't stand you?” he asked defensively.
Tony let out a slight chuckle followed by a cough, “Oh come on Steve, you've not exactly been subtle about the fact I offend you merely by being in your presence.”
“Well it's not like you're any better to me.”
Silence stretched out between them again.
The cranes rolled up to the collapsed high rise, though it was still a little unsafe to attempt interference as the Hulk was still trying to dig himself down to Steve and Tony, wherever they were, whether or not they were still alive.
Natasha was talking to Coulson. “We haven't heard a thing since the building went down. Last known location was the sixth floor, they were looking for any last civilians to evacuate. We know they were still in the building when it collapsed, but we didn't have any pinpoint location.”
Tony was losing track of time. At least in Afghanistan he'd been able to tell whether it was day or night based on the coming and goings of the insurgents. Here there was nothing.
Steve broke the oppressive silence gently, “I don't hate you, you know.”
Tony turned his stiff neck slightly to look at him. Steve's head was lowered and he was idly moving a piece of debris through his fingers.
“It's just... you remind me of your dad. It's difficult.”
Tony tried not to react to the mention of his father, but Steve's head rose as he noticed Tony twitch.
“I know you didn't get along with him, I get that. It's just, he was my friend and now he's... gone.”
“Well it's not exactly easy for me to meet this guy my dad never stopped looking for,” replied Tony, this time looking down at the ground, “He never cared about me, he was just too busy trying to find you. So it's difficult for me too, Cap.” He smiled, “Were you two an item or something? No wait, don't answer that, I don't want to know.” He flicked his eyes towards Steve who smiled and let out a quiet laugh and shook his head.
“God no, Tony.”
The cranes moved into position as Hulk directed them. It seemed less like anger and more like boiling determination which was keeping him going now. The sun began to go down as the hours passed.
Tony felt like his chest was going to explode, his heart was hammering and he couldn't catch a breath. He was covered in his own sweat and struggling to keep control of the nausea which had gripped his stomach. Images flashed before his eyes from Afghanistan. As he felt the panic attack strengthen it's hold, he heard Steve's voice and felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Tony, it's ok. It's Steve, you're in New York and you're fine. The rest of the team are nearly here.” Steve continued to talk to him as he gained control of his breathing and his heart rate slowed. Tony angrily brushed away the silent tears which had left streaks in the dust on his skin.
He looked at the floor and mumbled, “You must think I'm pathetic.”
Steve settled himself back against the wall, “How do you think I feel when I wake up cold in bed?”
They met each other's eyes for a moment and understanding passed between them.
Thirty six hours had passed and there was still no sign of Tony or Steve. The other Avengers were purposely ignoring the fact that time was running out, and Hulk was still working with the cranes to move as much of the building as possible in the shortest space of time.
Tony shivered as he saw his breath hang in the air.
“It's really cold under here,” he muttered, mostly to himself.
Steve sighed, “Well at least it's not something I feel quite so badly any more. I can deal with cold pretty well since my stint in the ice.” He glanced at Tony, “You definitely need to get warm though.”
Tony tried to stop his teeth chattering, “My arc reactor conducts the cold, you're resistant, I'm vulnerable. I hate the cold.”
Steve moved towards him, “Let's get you out of your dead suit, I'm sure the metal isn't helping and I can help you warm up.”
Steve helped Tony helped him remove the plates of metal, though it was a long process. Eventually Tony was left in his pants and his black flight top, shivering. Steve moved closer towards him and wrapped his arms around his shivering team mate to try and keep him warm.
“It won't be long now,” he said, hoping it was true.
“Hulk's found something!” Natasha shouted into her comm as she began to run towards him.
Hulk roared as he lifted a huge slab of concrete. He uncovered a small hole, letting a shaft of light shine into the small space he had found. He pulled away more pieces of debris to find the figures of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers curled up together unconscious. As a bright beam of light hit their faces, Tony began to stir, sitting up slowly and shielding his eyes. He shook Steve's shoulder, causing him to sit up abruptly before groaning and trying to block out the beam shining directly into his eyes. They saw the face of Hulk smile, and then his figure begin to shrink. A few seconds later Natasha appeared over as a silhouette in the sunlight. Tony and Steve smiled.
After being rehydrated at the hospital the team were relieved to be back at the Stark Tower. Everyone could tell something had changed in the rubble of the building, two colleagues had gone in, two friends had come out.