Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The Down’n Out Motel was just as glamorous as its name implied; there were prostitutes standing around on the corner nearby looking for their next customer, panhandlers on the other side of the street waving cups for change and johns slinking around looking to pick up someone cheap for the night. It wasn’t a part of the city Tony would normally travel in, even when he had been young and dumb and drunk. Steve didn’t look like he was at home here either; neither of them fit in with the regular clientele, even though Tony had taken the time to wear low key clothing. He blamed Steve for all the stares they were getting. Steve looked fabulous in anything he wore, and even the baggy hoodie and sweat pants he was now sporting couldn’t make him look any less gorgeous. Although apparently some people were immune to Steve’s charms. The greasy looking man working the counter at the Down’n Out Motel didn’t even look up when they approached. “It’s ten dollars an hour, money up front,” he said.

Steve cast Tony an amused look. “Uh, we’re not here for a room. We’re looking for someone.”

“Everyone’s looking for someone,” the man at the counter snorted, finally looking up from his notebook. He froze, his eyes widening, when he recognized the two men standing in front of him. “Look, this is a legitimate business, fellas. I’m not looking for any trouble Cap,” he said, pushing the notebook under the counter and out of sight.

“Well trouble’s found you,” Steve said, looming over the counter. “We’re here to see one of your patrons. Her name is Luzia Stone. She’s been here two weeks already – she pays by credit card.”

“Oh, yeah. Luzia. Sure – she’s in 35A.” The man looked around the office, as if suspecting that someone else was lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce. “She’s, uh… a handful. We get a lot of bloody towels back from her room. She’s probably a cutter.”

“Anything else we should know about?” Steve asked with a growl.

The man shook his head. “No sir. Everything else is above board. She doesn’t do any drugs to my knowledge – housekeeping hasn’t noticed anything, and they usually report that shit. They don’t like running into needles any more than I do.”

“Thanks for your time,” Steve said, giving the man a stern look. “And don’t phone ahead to tell her we’re here.”

“I won’t,” the man said, flinching under Steve’s stern gaze. “Scout’s honor.”

“Very funny,” Tony said, peering at the man through his sunglasses.

The man shrugged, smiling weakly. “Just go through the door back there. It’s in the back on your left. You can’t miss it.”

 

“You think he’ll tell her we’re coming for her?” Tony asked, checking room numbers as they passed closed doors; everything was hopelessly outdated here, and there weren’t even any cameras to peek through. It didn’t surprise him in the least; cameras were probably bad for business.

Steve shrugged. Even in his hoodie he looked like he could bench press a Sherman tank. “I don’t think he’s going to do anything other than cover his own ass. He doesn’t seem to want to get in the way unless someone doesn’t pay their bill. That book he had behind the counter was probably filled with credit card information.”

“You think he’s scamming people?”

“I’d be surprised if he wasn’t. SHIELD finds targets here all the time. Natasha tipped me off when I phoned in to tell her what was happening. The team says they’ll be on standby if we need them.”

“That’s good. At least they’re keeping busy. That’s what retirees are supposed to do, right?”

Steve nudged Tony in the side with an elbow, a smile spreading across his face.

 

Room 35A was at the end of the hall; its door was made out of solid wood that had been painted forest green, and like all of the doors connected to the hallway, it had a peep hole in the centre of it. It was a good thing they hadn’t been trying for stealth, because Room 35A had a direct view of the entire hallway leading up to it; that was probably why Luzia had picked it. Steve raised his hand to knock and jerked back in surprise when the door swung open all on its own.

Luzia Stone was a tall woman with sharp cheekbones and pencil-thin eyebrows. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a loose bun, her bangs hanging loosely over her forehead; she was wearing a thick layer of make-up to try and mask her deathly pale complexion. The make-up was noticeable, but it looked good; it would be hard to tell that she was a vampire just by looking at her. She must have been wearing contacts too, because her eyes were a lovely shade of light blue instead of the deep ruby red they should have been. Somehow Tony had been expecting something different. He had thought she might be dressed in gothic clothing, maybe wearing something older in style; instead she was dressed in a long navy blue dress with white heart-shaped polka dots all over it; it wasn’t the most flattering of dresses, but it did keep her bony frame from standing out, turning her from drug-addict-thin to runway-model-chic. She smiled at them and held the door open, looking almost friendly.

“Come in, come in. I’ve been waiting for you.” She padded softly over to her bed and sat down, not waiting to see if they were going to follow her. The coverlet hadn’t been disturbed; it seemed as if she was simply hovering over top it.

Tony looked around, gauging the danger. The room itself was sparsely furnished; the curtains were taped shut with duct tape, and if the lights weren’t on it would have been pitch black inside her room. All in all there was nothing here to worry about – aside from Luzia, of course.

“I assume you know why we’re here,” Steve said, stepping inside. Tony followed, refusing to take his eyes off of her on the off chance that she tried something.

“Of course,” she murmured, looking bored. “You’ve come because I took something from you at the behest of others. It’s not that hard to understand.”

“So you admit you did take something,” Tony grumbled, closing the door behind him. He leaned up against it, knowing full well it wouldn’t stop her from leaving if she wanted to take off. If she was Walter Stone’s daughter, she was likely just as strong, and by the looks of her she had eaten, and recently. This wouldn’t be a dried out, emaciated corpse they were fighting; this fight would be on a completely different level.

“Of course I robbed you,” Luzia said, quirking a smile. “You have to know what I took, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. I’m assuming you are searching for something important, yes?” Her original accent was gone for the most part, smoothed over by years of practice; it sounded a little like she was from Brooklyn instead of an ancient German town lost to time. “You want your drive, but it isn’t here.”

“Then where is it?” Tony asked, smiling at her instead of glaring. He had dealt with more than a few thieves in his time, and they never appreciated outright attacks; it was better to be smooth and casual, smiling instead of scowling. She would tell him what he needed to know – or at least he would try to charm it out of her, assuming of course that she decided to play along. He needed to work fast. He knew exactly which files had been stolen; if he hadn’t taken precautions when backing up the Extremis blueprints, someone might be walking around with a working recipe for the virus right about now, but she didn’t know that. She probably thought she had the finished product. “What you took is extremely dangerous in the wrong hands,” he said, starting with something simple.

“And vampirism isn’t?” She laughed, her eyes still locked on his. “You got the worst of the deal, sweet heart. Or is it sweetling? My father so loved that word.” She spat on the floor, her smile darkening until it was more of a grimace than anything else. “The man is a monster, but what can you do?”

“I don’t think you need to worry about him anymore.” Steve crossed his arms over his chest; he seemed much bigger than usual, like he had somehow figured out how to double in size. If Tony had been a stranger, he might have been scared of the look on Steve’s face.

Luzia didn’t seem even remotely impressed, but she did seem amused. “Truly? You’ve killed my father?”

“You didn’t feel it?” Tony tucked his sunglasses in his pocket.

“No, darling, I did not feel it. I was not made by my father, so I do not share his blood-bond as you do. Or did, I suppose. That virus of yours is powerful if it stopped father’s death from killing you. You’re lucky,” she said with a chuckle, “you could have ended up nothing more than a pitiful handful of ashes. I’m sure that would have displeased your little friend here.” She smirked at Steve. “Look how pale he is now! Perhaps he didn’t understand the agony you felt at the time, but he understands now what was done.” She shrugged, clasping her hands over top her knees. “It matters not. You have survived, and the one I work for wishes that you had not.”

“Who do you work for?” Steve growled, moving into Luzia’s space. He stood over her, his hands held at his sides, ready to attack while still passive in appearance.

“Who do you think I work for?” She smiled sweetly up at him, completely unconcerned by the fact that Steve was three times her size.

“I think you work for Tiberius Stone,” Steve said, narrowing his eyes.

“Excellent guess,” Luzia said, clapping her hands. “You got it in one. I was worried I had not been clear enough.”

“You put his picture in that box you left us,” Steve snorted. “You wanted us to know who he was. The question is why.”

“I suppose you are correct. I did want you to know,” Luzia chortled, covering her mouth with her hand. She wasn’t quick enough; Tony caught sight of her fangs and tensed, ready to spring forward if she tried to attack. She waved him off, rolling her eyes when she saw the look in his eyes. “Come now. Do you seriously think I would attack your dear Captain? I brought you two here because I want to propose a trade, not because I was hungry.”

“A trade? What could you possibly have to trade?” Tony asked, forcing himself to remain where he was, leaning casually against the door. He would have liked to rip her limb from limb, but he was fairly certain that wouldn’t help the situation much.

Luzia smiled sadly. She lifted her arm and delicately wiped her sleeve over her face, smearing her make-up until it was gone from the right hand corner of her face. She looked younger almost immediately, much less like a woman and more like a child. “Do you know how old I am?”

“The report you delivered said you were turned in 1605,” Tony said, eyeing the beige smear on her dress. “Assuming we can believe it, of course.”

“But it did not tell you how old I was when I turned, did it?” She sighed, wiping at the rest of her face until her dress was a mishmash of colours. “Father was turned by another, one who in turn decided to turn my mother, who in turn, made me when I was seventeen.”

“And where’s she?”

“As far as I know, my mother remains sleeping in our castle, locked away where no time passes within the Black Forest’s Twin. It is not a place you would like to visit. Hellish is too pleasant a word to describe it.”

“So what do you want us to do? You want us to free her? Because I’m telling you right now we’re not going to release that kind of creature into this world.”

Luzia’s eyes narrowed. “What makes you think I care about my mother?”

“You don’t?” Steve asked, sounding surprised.

“I am here because I wish to broker a deal regarding my own life. My mother was a maid, sold to my father to repay a debt her father incurred. I am not a Stone, although I bear his name now – I was a bastard child, unfit for marriage. They did not want me. I was a living reminder of my mother’s shame. I do not know why she bothered to change me, in truth. Perhaps it was out of guilt or maybe,” she smiled thinly, “maybe she just wanted to devour me as my life had devoured hers. Whatever the case, I am not here to barter for her life or her wishes. I am here on my own behalf. I want absolution.”

“And you think we can give it to you? Look, lady,” Steve said, his hands moving to his hips, “You stole from my friend and trashed his house. What makes you think we should even be listening to you?”

“You will listen, dear, because I will tell you exactly where to find your precious drive.” She stood up, prodding Steve in the chest so hard he had to take a step backwards. “I do not care for the Stone name – I do not care for your Tiberius or Walter or any of them. I was bound to the castle in Black Forest’s Twin by blood magic cast by my mother’s master and I cannot die until I am slain by one of clean blood – untainted by their strain. At first I thought I could be free when our human cousins returned to claim our land and wealth. I waited generation after generation, watching from our prison, but it was not to be. I was deceived, and our master was tricked into selling us to the humans in exchange for food and comfort. He hated the thought of us leaving him, yet couldn’t do enough to make us stay.” Luzia’s lips curled into a snarl. “To make matters worse, our human cousins do not have the right blood to break the curse. Eating them does nothing – when I can catch them of course – and believe me, I’ve tried so frequently they took protective measures against me.”

“You’ve tried to eat your own family members?” Tony curled his lips in disgust. “I’m sure they appreciated that.”

Luzia smirked. “You eat what you can when you are starving, Mr. Stark. You know that as well as I do. If your mother walked through that door and you were hungry, you’d drain her in a second.”

“If she walked through the door I’d be chopping her head off because she would be a zombie,” Tony said dryly. “But nice try. I’m sure you’ll get it right if you keep picking people at random.”

“Darling, you got the point. I don’t need to pick another. None of us can die by our own hand – it is a curse all of us bear. Some of us are lucky,” she said, peering at Steve, cocking her head to the side. Her smile turned sour and a little angry. “You’ve found someone you can keep with you – someone you can’t kill. It’s sweet.” She scowled, staring down at her make-up smeared hands, clenching and unclenching her fingers, baring her teeth. “I wish I had something like that. I tried looking once, but after the fifth died, there wasn’t much hope in trying again.” She walked over to the plain white dresser beside her bed and tugged open the top drawer, yanking out an electronic keycard. She held it like it was something precious, pursing her lips as she decided what to do next. “This,” she said with a slow sigh, “this will get you into the floors Tiberius has allocated for his Extremis project. You will need it to get through security to retrieve your drive. The gates are locked with a lot more than just technology, I’m afraid. This is the only thing that will keep the blood magic from killing your friend and crippling you.”

“And what do you want in exchange for it?” Tony snorted, “You want a place to live by yourself? Some people to eat?”

“I want to die.”

Tony stared at her, sure that he had heard wrong. “Sorry, what?”

“I want to die,” Luzia repeated. “I have wanted to die for years, and I have tried everything – even starvation does nothing. It only makes the hunger harder to control once you recover. You are the first with clean blood to have survived both your creation and your master’s destruction; you will be able to end things – at least for me. I will give you this card in exchange for my death – that is all I want.”

Tony could understand why she didn’t want to continue living; the ache of hunger was already starting to act up in his belly again and it felt like it had only been minutes since his last feeding. Could he survive over four hundred years living like this? Would he want to live that long? Four hundred years was a long time and Steve – well, Steve wasn’t going to last four hundred years; there was no way to tell how long Steve would live, and while he aged, Tony would have to watch him grey and wrinkle and eventually die. Had she done the same? Had she watched her friends wither and die around her?

“I was sent to plant my father in your garden,” Luzia murmured. “Does that help you make your decision?”

It did. Anger surged through Tony so fast he barely had time to realize what he was doing; he grabbed Luzia by the throat, his fingers digging into the cold porcelain skin he found there. He opened his mouth, ready to let loose a snarl and found himself yanked backwards by the scruff of his neck, his arms pinned to his sides by Steve’s strong arms.

“Tony – no!”

Tony couldn’t help sinking his teeth into Steve’s shoulder; the anger throbbing through his body made it impossible not to snap and strike. He panted, Steve’s blood dribbling from his sharp fangs and came back to himself, mortified by what he had just done. He squirmed, trying to get as far away from Steve as possible, wishing that he had never been born.

“Tony, it’s alright,” Steve said, soothingly. He held tight until Tony had calmed enough to fall still in his grasp. “I know you’re mad, but we need her for information, remember?”

Tony felt awful for doing it, but he still licked Steve’s blood off his lips. “I’m sorry.”

“I know,” Steve said, “You were angry. I guess we’re going to have to work on that.”

“You shouldn’t have to put up with it,” Tony muttered, trying desperately not to stare at Steve’s bleeding shoulder. It was bad enough he had bitten Steve in an uncontrollable rage. Did he have to leer at the damage he had done too? He licked his lips again, wishing they still tasted like Steve.

Luzia cleared her throat.

Tony nearly jumped out of his skin. He went stiff as a board, slipping in front of Steve to shield him from the attack he knew was coming. It was his fault after all. There was blood in the air now and judging by the way she was licking her lips, she was just as ready to eat as he was.

But she didn’t move. She held out the keycard instead, giving the air a tentative sniff. “Do it,” she said, licking her lips again. She dropped to her knees in front of them, pressing her forehead to the carpet. “Please. End me. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t stand the hunger.”

“We’ll do it, but only if you do us favor first,” Steve said, pulling Tony back when he took a step towards Luzia again.

“What?” Luzia refused to look up. She dug her fingers into the carpet so hard she gouged marks into it. “You want me to give you more?”

“Make a history for us. Put everything you think a new vampire would need to know in it and don’t leave anything out. Please, we need the information.”

“You want a manual?” She lifted her head, surprised into action. “That’s what you want from me?”

“We don’t know enough about what’s happening to Tony, and if he can’t be changed back, we want to know every last detail about his condition. That’s fair, isn’t it?” Steve kneeled down in front of Luzia; Tony tensed at the sight, startled by the amount of trust Steve was putting in a stranger, let alone in a strange vampire.

“I doubt he will be able to become human again, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter.” Luzia rolled her shoulders, her eyes locked on Steve’s. “Alright. I will do this for you. I will give you everything I know in exchange for you ending my life once we are done. I will need time – it is not so easy to write down over four hundred years’ worth of information and tradition.”

“That’s fine with me,” Steve said. He plucked the keycard from the carpet, tucking it into his pocket. “We’ll go deal with Tiberius and Extremis while you work, if you don’t mind.”

“Feel free,” Luzia said, rising and sitting back on her heels. “I do not like Extremis. It feels… evil. It should not be in this world.”

“Look who’s talking,” Tony grumbled, bristling from the comment. Everyone was a critic these days.

“No, you do not understand,” Luzia sighed, “I can smell Extremis in you, Mr. Stark, and it does not smell the same as it does in Tiberius’ lab. What you have is different – less brutal and dark. What he has been creating is worse than anything I have seen in my four hundred years. The ones he gives it to become mindless drones, creatures capable of tearing and rending flesh without thought. They move swiftly, like any vampire, but there is something in them that does not belong – something broken.”

“Broken?”

“They are imperfect. He has tried substituting ingredients to bolster the strength of the doses he gives them, but it will not do what it wants.”

“He took your blood,” Tony murmured, startled by the revelation. “That’s why the guy at the front desk thinks you’re a cutter.”

Luzia nodded. “He does not allow me into the building without an escort, so he came here directly to retrieve his sample. He is afraid the creatures might react… negatively… to my presence. His subjects are not well. Imagine that you are walking through an asylum of old. They scream and shout and beg for mercy but there is nothing left inside them except fear and anger. They live off of stolen and borrowed hope, Mr. Stark, and those kinds of men do not answer well to masters who cannot fulfil their promises.”

“Right,” Tony sighed. He used Extremis to pull up the network of security cameras in Viastone’s Headquarters, making use of Stark International’s satellites. He scanned the many viewpoints the cameras provided, looking for anything they might be up against; it seemed like a waste of time. There was nothing blocked out with code, no special rooms or empty floors devoid of cameras; everything was labeled clearly, every camera running at peak efficiency. He watched some employees chat around a vending machine as they took their evening break; there didn’t seem to be much in the way of scientific discovery going on from what he could see, even if a few of them were wearing lab coats. It was kind of boring, to be honest. “You’re sure this is happening in Viastone’s headquarters?”

“The cameras tell nothing but lies. They have stock footage that lasts a week which they keep on repeat so that no one can find out what they are doing.” Luzia stood up, turning towards the window. “You should hurry. He spoke of testing batch eighty seven tonight. I would not want to be there after he finishes that dark work.”

“Alright.” Steve turned for the door. “Meet us back at Tony’s mansion when you’re done and we’ll finish this. You know where it is.”

“And remember to bring the information with you. I’m expecting quality workmanship here,” Tony grunted, following Steve out. “If you stiff me, you’re going to spend the rest of your life in a SHIELD cell.” He called Happy in his head and arranged for a pickup, hoping that they weren’t going to be too late.

 

 

Viastone was deserted when they arrived; they left Happy in the car and told him to go for the Avengers if they didn’t come back out within an hour. They weren’t happy about going in without backup, but at least they had been able to get Tony’s spare suitcase armor from the trunk of the car so they weren’t entirely outmatched; it was the last one he had ever built, saved from destruction only because it hadn’t been within range at the time he had been busy implementing the house party protocol. It had sensors and repulsors – the only two things they really needed – and if they were lucky, it would be enough.

Steve had his shield strapped to his forearm, ready for battle. He was clad in his Captain America armor, but hadn’t been able to find his helmet in the wreckage of the mansion, so he had gone on without it. They walking through the lobby, checking corners as they moved. Steve swiped the keycard behind the front desk, watching the floor number display as the elevator started moving towards the lobby. “I don’t like it. This place is too empty. It should be busy – it’s not even six p.m. yet.”

Tony scanned the building using the armor’s sensors; he managed to spot his stolen drive, but couldn’t catch anything else before his view as blocked, blurred out by a strange electrical field. It wasn’t something he had ever seen before, but if he had to put down money, he was certain he was looking at what had fried the mansion’s systems. There was a secondary power system embedded within the first, guiding electricity up through the elevator shaft at an alarming rate; it didn’t seem to be effected by the magic, at least not from what Tony could see. He wondered what the building engineers had done to keep it separated from the rest of the grid, considering it was using the same generators. “I guess he really is using a lot more than just tech here,” he grumbled, trying to recalibrate the sensors to pick up signal again. “There’s a lot of interference, and it’s definitely not electrical.”

“EMP?”

“Nope – but it’s similar in structure. The energy level fluctuates too frequently for it to be anything other than magic. This is definitely what Luzia used to short out my security system. That’s some powerful shit up there, Cap.”

“Sounds messy,” Steve said, leading them towards the elevator. “You sure we should go this way? Won’t they just shut it down from upstairs?”

Tony scanned the elevator shaft for the fifth time; there was nothing around to cause damage – at least from what the armor could see. His sensors adjusted to lock on to the strange magical field, adapting slowly; he cursed not being able to use Extremis more efficiently. The armor around him felt like it was made out of feathers and moved like a dream with Extremis at the helm, but the synapses and response time were still nightmarish compared to his newer armor. He was going to have to build something better once he had more time on his hands. It was going to be beautiful once there was more than just the under-sheath stored within his bones; calling the armor would be as simple as blinking. “There’s some kind of bubble-shaped force field up there that’s absorbing energy – the elevator shaft is basically the only ‘doorway’ through it from what I can see. We wouldn’t be able to get past it by flying around the building – not without tripping their sensors, frying my systems and dropping through the air like a rock. We’re definitely going to have to take the elevator like normal folks. I’ve got the rest of their security system on locked down though, so they’re not going to lock us out. No one’s getting in or out without me knowing – the tech is weak. The magic not so much.”

“Which floors have the highest concentration of power? They’ve got to be using a lot of it if they’re running the kind of experiments Luiza was talking about,” Steve said, slipping the keycard back into his front pocket.

“Floor seventy to seventy seven are running hot – and by hot I mean smoking hot. They’re either growing the world’s best weed up there, or they’re creating something big.” Tony stepped into the elevator, holding the door open. He gave Steve a mock bow. “Going up, Captain?”

“I guess so,” Steve chuckled. “Which floor are we hitting first?”

“Let’s try floor seventy. May as well work our way up. I’ve got to make a pit stop on floor seventy one, too. Someone has my drive plugged in and it’s still running.”

 

 

The elevator opened with a soft swoosh. At that moment, Tony was very glad that he was wearing the suit; there was blood splashed all over the white metal walls, smeared in long streaks in some places as if someone had leaned on the walls with an injury. Tony identified two bloody handprints before the sight of it overwhelmed him and he had to cut the feed on the suit’s cameras. “It’s as bad as I think it is, isn’t it?” he gasped, struggling to catch his breath as the air filters in the suit tried to scrub the coppery scent of blood from the air; it didn’t work fast enough. He could taste blood in the air, and he was more than ready to feed. The suit creaked unhappily as he flexed his muscles in time with each breath in. He wasn’t sure what kept him from tearing at his suit to get free of its self-imposed control, but he managed it, at least partially. “God I wish I’d put in an air freshener,” he tried to joke, hoping that Steve couldn’t hear the desperation in his voice.

“It’s bad,” Steve said from somewhere in the darkness outside. “I don’t see any bodies, but there’s enough blood here to paint the walls. It looks fresh.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Tony gritted out, taking in a sharp breath through his nose. He almost lost it right then and there. He could almost feel the blood on his tongue, could smell it so strongly it felt like he was feeding. He jerked back into control when Steve grabbed him by the shoulder, giving him a brutal shake; he rocked back and forth on his heels, praying that the armor would hold.

“Tony? Are you alright?” Steve sounded concerned.

“I’m fine.” Tony shook his head, forcing himself to turn the cameras back on. His stomach growled angrily when he caught sight of the blood everywhere and he took an involuntary step forwards, hands reaching towards the largest puddle.

“Tony!” Steve gave Tony another shake. “Shit – I knew we should have fed you before we came in here.”

“It’s fine, Steve,” Tony wheezed. “Just let me – I can still do this.”

“Tony! Please. Open the helmet.”

“No.”

“Open the helmet, Tony. Open it and feed. I need you here with me, and you’re not going to be able to help if you’re still starving,” Steve commanded, tapping the helmet on the cheek. “Jarvis – open the helmet.”

“I’m sorry Sir,” Jarvis said, sounding sad, “I cannot comply without Sir’s permission.”

“Please – Jarvis, open the helmet.”

“Do it,” Tony grunted, running his tongue over his teeth. “Open the helmet.”

“Are you sure sir?” Jarvis asked.

“I’m sure.”

The helmet sprang open; Tony was on Steve in an instant despite the weight of the armor, sinking his teeth into Steve’s neck, suckling there as a haze of red clouded his vision. He could smell Steve’s sweat and his shampoo and it was infuriating that he couldn’t get it to go away. It just seemed to be getting stronger for some reason, although his hunger-addled brain couldn’t process why that was exactly. He moaned aloud as drops of blood hit his tongue and wrapped his gauntleted hands around Steve’s shoulders, pinning him to the nearest metal-clad wall so hard the metal buckled; unfortunately for them, that wall was the one that housed the main power control grid for the upper floors.

The lights above them flickered and struggled to stay on.

Tony panted against Steve’s throat, desperate for more blood, feeding relentlessly until he felt Steve slump against him. He frantically licked the wounds clean, shoving his hands under Steve’s armpits to keep him upright. He could hear electricity thrumming in his ears, and was all too aware that they could be electrocuted by the wall if they didn’t move quickly. “Steve?”

Steve groaned softly, trying to push himself upright. “It’s… I’ll be fine.”

“You’re not fucking fine!” Tony roared in despair, pressing his forehead against Steve’s. He eased Steve away from the wall, afraid to press their luck further, dimly aware that he was holding on so tight his gauntlets were going to leave bruises on Steve’s sides. “Goddamn it Steve!”

“It was my fault,” Steve said with a feeble shrug, trying to stand up straighter. He staggered, and nearly fell out of Tony’s grasp; if Tony hadn’t seen the muscles in Steve’s legs spasm, Steve would have crashed to the floor on his knees.

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine.” Tony lifted Steve up, wrapping an arm around Steve’s middle to steady him when Steve swayed in his grasp. “We need to call for reinforcements – no. We need to go back downstairs and get Happy to drive you to a hospital.”

“We can’t leave. There are people here, Tony, and they’re in danger. Something took the people who work here upstairs,” Steve said grimly, holding on tightly to Tony’s armor-clad shoulder. He forced himself to stand, refusing to let his weakened state take him out of the fight. “We need to help them.”

Tony looked around for a place to sit Steve down, praying that someone had left a chair out somewhere. What he found wasn’t pleasant in the least. There were scraps of clothing littering the floor, mingling with puddles of blood and another unidentified fluids; nametags had been torn free and thrown across the hall, left lying where they had landed. The rooms around them were open, their doors torn off and smashed. A lab coat hung off one of the lights, bloody and torn, its buttons missing. A disembodied sleeve was trapped between the electronic sliding glass doors nearby, hanging limply, torn in the front and stained with blood, its wearer long gone.

“You need to get your drive, and we need to keep going,” Steve said, lifting his shield higher up his arm as he tried to keep his balance.

“Steve, you’re hurt,” Tony whispered. He felt sick to his stomach. His belly was bloated and warm, but it was far from pleasant. He might have thrown up if Steve hadn’t taken him by the face and gently kissed him, pressing their foreheads together.

“Tony, honey, we need to do this now. There are people dying up there, and we need to move. Have Jarvis call in the rest of the Avengers, but we can’t wait. If we wait, people will die,” Steve said.

“The Avengers are on their way, sir. They estimate they will be on site in approximately ten minutes,” Jarvis said, his voice slightly distorted.

Tony nodded slowly, giving Steve another kiss. If Steve thought they could do this, then they could do this. He couldn’t let anyone else die because of Extremis; this was his job, his fight. “Alright. Here we go.” He leaned back and closed the helmet, pulling up the HUD with a blink, praying he would have time to get everything he needed from Viastone’s system. “I’ve got seventeen heat signatures in the upper floors, but they’re dimming – shit – they’re gone. Floor seventy five seems to have the most life signs. Something cold is up there and it’s moving fast. I’ve got – nothing…” He banged his fist against the wall beside him as the magical barrier around them crippled the suit in one move, draining every last bit of energy from his hotwired arc reactor. “So much for the scans. The goddamned magic’s eaten through the rest of my reserves. Whatever that was, I don’t think it appreciated me spying on it.” He grabbed the faceplate on the helmet, firmly locked in place, and ripped it off, tossing it onto the floor. “I guess I’m walking this baby the rest of the way.”

“Where are we headed?” Steve asked, shuffling into the elevator.

“They’re on floor seventy six,” Tony said, helping Steve inside. “I need you to sit here. Wait for me. I’ll take the stairs and get the drive. When I come back, we’ll go up together, alright?”

Steve leaned heavily against the safety railing, slumping against it. “Alright. Go. I’ll be fine.”

“You’d better be,” Tony said, stroking the side of Steve’s face. He turned and sprinted down the hall, moving as fast as he could with the armor’s limbs locked up. The nearest corner seemed to come out of nowhere, and he nearly crashed headfirst into it.

The lights above him flickered three times and then died with a dull roar. He had known it had only been a matter of time after he had mashed the wall paneling, but it would have been nice if they had stuck around a little longer. Without the lights the hallways felt like a tomb; there was nothing here that was warm, or even office-like. Every lab that hadn’t been open to him before was now locked in place, frozen by the lack of electricity.

He stumbled, crushing a plastic recycling bin as he rounded the corner and headed toward the stairwell at the end of the hall. This floor was empty, but the ones above had shown some signs of life; the electricity probably wasn’t running up there either, judging by the scans he had seen earlier, but hopefully that wouldn’t hinder them. Someone had been busy trying to hide the massive amount of electricity Viastone was drawing from the main grid, and they had done a fairly good job of separating the floors so that the entire building wouldn’t lose power at the same time. The only problem Tony could see with that delightfully structural system was that the entire top half of the building would go down if the power was severed at the main grid – the one Tony had accidentally crushed in his rush to get at Steve’s blood; the elevators, thankfully, were on a separate grid, being fed by the generator in the basement instead of the upper level power room. Well, Tony thought with a sigh, at least he already knew where he needed to go; he wasn’t exactly going into this blind. He threw open the door and stepped into the stairwell, praying that the concrete could hold the suit’s weight.

 

 

The stairs were harder to navigate than he had expected, considering it was pitch black in the stairwell; the suit’s joints weren’t being cooperative, but after a little sweet-talking they warmed up to him again and he could make it up the stairs two at a time without them locking up. The suit was still felt lighter than it had when he was human, but just because it was lighter didn’t mean it was any easier to move around in; he was going to have to build something into the suit to give it better maneuverability when the power was out. He didn’t want to do this again anytime soon.

The lights flickered overhead again, bathing Tony in yellow light before plunging him into darkness. “Fan-fucking-tastic,” Tony muttered. He moved to take another step, wiggling his fingers to test the dexterity in his gauntleted hands. He reached for the hand rail and froze when a shrill scraping noise tore through the relative silence of the stairwell. The hairs on the back of his neck went upright so fast he was surprised they didn’t go clean through the neck plate on the armor. He turned slowly, trying to locate where the sound had come from, swallowing hard, but even with his enhanced hearing he couldn’t pinpoint an exact location – there were just too many echoes to filter through now that he had moved, too many thuds and crashes from the upper levels to block out. He went completely still and waited, hoping that it had been a one-off.

The scraping noise echoed and drifted up from directly below him.

It was louder this time, and getting louder by the second.

Something was moving.

Tony looked down, peering over the edge of the stairwell; he couldn’t see anything even with his Extremis-enhanced vision. He swallowed down his fear, wishing his armor had enough juice left in it for a full environmental scan.

Even if he couldn’t see it, he knew there was something down there.

He took another step up the stairs.

Something grunted.

He froze in mid-step, his leg still raised. Should he speak? Was whatever it was down there human? Maybe it was an injured worker – someone who had escaped the creatures the first time by ducking into the stairwell. He gave the air a sniff, tentatively turning his head from side to side, trying to track movement and smell at the same time. Something scraped across the concrete on the floor below him, thudding against the handrail.

That was definitely getting closer. And unless his nose was deceiving him, and it rarely did after he had fed, the thing down there was not human. He had two options – one, he could turn around and wait for whatever it was to drag itself up the stairs, or he could continue on to the upper floor and grab his drive.

The lights flickered, turning on; electricity sparked around the fluorescent tubing as it struggled to stay lit. Tony caught sight of something massive with two large, lopsided eyes looking up at him from the bottom of the stairs before the lights went off again; whatever it hadn’t appreciated the flash. It hissed in annoyance, slapping at the stairs as it resumed its ascent. He could hear it breathing, despite the distance between them; it sounded like it was having trouble drawing in a breath, but he couldn’t be sure and he had no intention of sticking around long enough to find out. That thing was definitely not human – nope – not even close – and while he was fairly certain he could take it down if it came to that, he didn’t want to fight anything in such a narrow space.

Tony started up the stairs again, using the handrail to haul himself up the next step when the armor’s legs seized in protest at the sudden increase in speed. He staggered, swearing when the handrail bent sideways under his added weight; he teetered, almost going over the edge as the railing swung out. He dragged himself backwards, digging the tip of his armored boots into the concrete step, wedging himself in place. The handrail squealed in protest but held – barely.

The thing in the stairwell cried out, its voice a low, whistling growl.

“Sorry buddy – not sticking around for the show,” Tony muttered, dragging himself up the last step.

He made it to the next floor in time to hear something slap wetly at the top of the stairs behind him. He lunged for the door intending to yank it open, barely able to make out where it was despite the dim light coming from an overhead exit sign. This was going to hurt, he thought, as he sailed forwards, preparing to hit the door head on.

Someone pulled the door open for him. He hit the ground on his knees.

“Are you alright?” Steve asked, leaning against the doorframe. He was drenched in sweat, but he looked much more alert than before, when Tony had left him in the elevator; the red light from the exit sign hanging above him made his pale skin glow eerily.

Tony wasn’t sure whether he should be furious or extremely happy that Steve was here. He decided to settle on feeling mildly annoyed. “I thought I told you to wait for me to call the elevator?” he panted, dragging himself upright with Steve’s help.

“Someone called it up by accident,” Steve said with a grimace, shaking his head. “By the time I got up here, the guy was dead already.”

Tony gingerly removed Steve from the door, backing them both up. “You’re sure there’s nothing on this floor?”

“Not that I’ve seen. All the doors are open – it’s mostly cubicles up here,” Steve said, tensing. “Why? What did you find?”

“It’s not what I found,” Tony growled, taking another step backwards, crushing an empty soda can underneath his heel, “It’s what found me.”

Steve and Tony jumped back as a garbage can lid sized hand reached around the doorframe, grasping it so hard the wall cracked. The creature roared, struggling up the last of the stairs, wedging its lumpy head into the door. It snapped at them, its teeth the size of dinner plates and razor sharp.

“What the hell is that?” Steve gasped.

“If I had to guess, I’d say that’s an early batch of Extremis gone wrong,” Tony grimaced. “Shit – there’s not enough room here.” The armor was too bulky for a regular hallway, and with Steve beside him they were too close to the walls to be able to swing anything freely.

“Do you know how big it is?”

“No – aside from freaking huge? I’m pretty sure it moves slowly though. Either that or it was checking me out while we were climbing the stairs,” Tony said. He looked around for something to throw. There wasn’t much here that was detachable; he debated on ripping the counter off the sink beside him, but decided against it.

“We can’t leave this here,” Steve said, turning to look behind them at the creature.

“That’s what I thought. I guess we’re going to have to play tag. We’ll take it to the cubicle farm back near the elevator,” Tony grunted, grabbing a coffee machine off of the counter beside him, hurling it at the creature’s head. It bounced away harmlessly, but did its job, distracting the creature enough to keep it from slipping completely through the doorway.

Steve felt his way along the walls, looking for something. “Tony – run!”

“Running!” Tony shouted, ducking under the water cooler Steve hurled at the creature’s head. They sprinted around the corner, dodging scattered office supplies and kitchenware, skidding their way towards the cubicle farm; some were already tipped over, their grey carpeting shredded down to their metal frames while others were merely bent and smeared with blood. Steve drop kicked the first row of cubicles, clearing space, taking out the only desk still standing with a sharp chop from his shield. Tony followed his lead, punching and kicking things out of his way, building a ring of broken cubicles to fight in; it might be hard for them to avoid stepping on things, but this way the creature wasn’t going to be moving around so easily.

“Do we have a plan?” Tony asked, shoving a table towards the hallway. He could see the creature watching him as it struggled to break free from the doorway; it would be loose in approximately two point seven seconds if his math was right, and it always was.

“Lure it in – smash it?” Steve asked, wryly.

“Sounds good to me,” Tony grinned.

The creature tore through the doorway with a shriek, falling forwards as its weight once more started obeying gravity; the floor shook as it lumbered towards them on its hands and knees, its gait uneven and hobbled.

Tony picked up the first computer tower he could find and used it to smash the beast in the side of the head as Steve swung his shield at it from the other side. They moved in a circle, avoiding the flailing arms, claws and teeth as they continued to strike, hitting it again and again until Tony was fairly certain his arms would be sore forever.

The creature roared, lowering its head. It ground its heels in and charged at them, trying to hit Steve in the chest, but Steve was too quick, too experienced to be caught in such a meager trap. The creature ended up crashing head first into the pile of broken cubicles; it struggled to break free, tangled in computer cords and printer cables, its legs and arms pulled tight against its body. It roared in frustration, pawing at the cables. Drool started slopping down the sides of its jaw; it turned its head towards Steve and snapped its teeth, sniffing at him.

“Oh no you don’t,” Tony grunted. The creature squawked in surprise when Tony smashed it in the head with half a desk and then went still, sagging onto the ground in a puddle of drool, blood and sticky black ooze.

“Lovely,” Steve said, hopping down from the table he had been standing on, avoiding the puddle.

Tony shrugged. “Could be worse. I think it wanted to lick you.”

“I got that feeling too,” Steve sighed. “Let’s get your drive before another one of those things gets up here.”

“You think they’ve got more?” Tony asked, surveying the damage they had done. The hallways were mostly intact; his drive should have been two doors to the left of Steve if the GPS marker had been right. He pushed his way past a mangled filing cabinet and unblocked the doorway, tearing the sliding glass door off its track in one move.

A woman peeked up at him from underneath her desk. She was wearing safety goggles over her long black hair, the kind Tony usually used when he was messing around with volatile chemicals in his workshop. She smiled sheepishly and held up a drive, the exact one Tony was looking for. “Uh, Luzia said you would be looking for this?”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “She called you?”

The woman stood up, tugging her lab coat out from under a pile of binders; she had stacked them around the underside of the desk as a temporary wall. How well that might have worked out, Tony didn’t know, but the mini-fortress she had built had kept her safe somehow.

“She’s a friend of mine – well,” the woman sighed, “She probably doesn’t consider me a friend. I used to take all her blood samples.” She rubbed at a patch of gauze taped over the side of her neck, shuffling her feet. “She didn’t seem to care about that part, really.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “You fed her?”

The woman bit her lower lip. “Maybe,” she muttered, handing Tony the drive.

“What’s your name?” Tony asked, looking the drive over. He was surprised to see that it was still functional.

“I’m Millie Stone. She’s my cousin,” the woman said with a huff, as if they should have already known all about her.

“You’ve got a pretty impressive set up here,” Tony said, turning the drive over in his hands. He could see that something was drawn all over the drive’s outer casing in what appeared to be a mixture of ink and blood; the symbols were all perfectly formed, each line straight and clean. He wrinkled his nose, displeased by the smell. “I take it you’re either a necromancer or some other kind of blood magic user.”

Millie scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. “So what if I am.”

“You bypassed my security with blood magic – I don’t like that,” Tony said, tucking the drive into a hidden compartment in his suit, one he normally hid tools in. “Where did you learn how to do it? I mean, you can find anything on the internet these days, but I’m assuming you had some help.”

“My aunt taught me. One of her sisters is the dayguard for the family castle. She’s the one with the books on necromancy, not me,” Millie grumbled. “I only learned because my mother needed to pay off her mortgage and this was the quickest way to do it.”

“Is this hooked up to anything?” Tony asked, frowning. The last thing he needed now was an open network powered by blood magic. How the hell was he supposed to block that?

“It doesn’t work outside the main circle,” Millie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “They’ve got what they want already though. The rest of it’s garbage – well, except for maybe the programming on the nanites.”

“Hey! That’s my work you’re talking about!”

“Well it’s the truth,” Millie said. She winced, rubbing her thumb under her nose. “Shit,” she muttered, wiping away a trickle of blood. “Look, I need to get out of here. The magic’s becoming unstable, and if it goes down while I’m still here it’ll take me out with it.”

“And we’re supposed to care?” Tony snorted.

“Yes, well,” Steve sighed. He grabbed Millie by the shoulder, marching her out of the room. “You’re going to turn yourself in when you get downstairs,” he said in his sternest Captain America voice.

“Yeah, yeah,” Millie grumbled. “Look, can you tell Luzia I’m sorry I couldn’t help more?”

“What makes you think we’ll be seeing her again?” Steve growled, pushing the down elevator button. He leaned his shoulder against the wall, letting his eyes droop closed for a moment, his face contorting with pain.

“She’ll find you. You’re going to kill her, right?” Millie looked sad. She wrapped her arms around her middle, swaying where she stood. “She’s a good person, alright?”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Tony said.

The elevator doors snapped open. Millie hesitated, putting a foot inside. “Look – I’m not saying you shouldn’t do what she wants you to do – I’m just saying, be nice to her, alright? She took care of me when I was little, you know? She used to read to me all the time.”

Tony sighed. He didn’t want to hear this sort of thing; he didn’t want to know how nice Luzia could be – how sweet or kind she was to her cousin. This was the woman who had told them she had tried to catch and eat her living relatives; this was the woman who had buried her murderous father in his petunias. Millie’s fond memories were probably all some elaborate ruse on Luzia’s part to get Millie to help her break her curse.

“When you get to the lobby, you need to turn yourself in to Agent Coulson,” Steve said, putting a hand on Millie’s shoulder. “He’ll be looking for you.”

Millie snorted. “No, he won’t. But fine, I’ll turn myself in if that’s what you really want.” She stepped into the elevator and leaned back against the nearest wall. “At least this way I don’t need to pay off my mother’s stupid mortgage.”

“I’m sure they’ll find you something to do that’ll be just as tedious,” Tony chuckled.

“Sure,” Millie said, rolling her eyes. “Just think about what I said, ok?”

“I’ll think about it,” Tony promised.

“Oh,” Millie said, snapping her fingers. “I should probably tell you. There’s more of them upstairs. They came from the lower lab, but they were definitely looking for something to eat. Just a word to the wise – don’t let them bite you. They’re pretty nasty, and this batch of Extremis kind of…” Millie grinned sheepishly. “It kind of replicates and moves from person to person. Seriously, we only had like ten test subjects and now there are way more of them.”

“And you waited until now to tell us this?” Steve growled, unimpressed with Millie’s candor.

“I’m telling you now,” she muttered. “I could have kept my mouth shut.”

“Get moving,” Tony sighed, reaching inside the elevator to press the lobby button. “And don’t try any funny business, or I’ll know.”

“No you won’t,” Millie chuckled.

Tony stepped back as the doors closed, his hands on his hips as the elevator left. “You think she’s going to turn herself in?”

“I think so,” Steve said. “Even if she doesn’t, she’s not going to get far. I’m pretty sure Coulson’s been keeping an eye on this place ever since I asked him about Tiberius. The minute she walks out that front door with blood on her, they’ll grab her. Besides, I doubt Doctor Strange would let someone like her walk off. A necromancer is a magic user. He’s not going to let that go unnoticed, even if she seems to be mostly harmless.”

“Good point.” Tony chuckled. “Although if he’s watching, it would be nice if he, oh, I don’t know – stepped in?”

Steve sighed. He called the elevator, still leaning against the wall. “Well, we’d better get going.”

“I just hope there’s someone still alive up there,” Tony muttered.

 

 

The elevator chimed as they arrived at floor seventy five; Tony and Steve staggered out, greeted by a trail of blood droplets on the floor leading away. The trail was marred from perfection by handprints and footprints; they followed it, worried about what they might find. Tony shuddered at the sight of so much blood. He needed to do this, he chanted to himself, he needed to make it up to Steve. He couldn’t fail now – he wouldn’t!

They moved through destroyed workshops and labs, shoving broken glass and equipment out of their way as they ran towards the last spot Tony had been able to pick up heat signatures; with the armor’s sensors gone, they could only guess how far they needed to go, but thankfully – and unfortunately – the blood trail seemed to be pointing them in the right direction.

When they reached the end of the trail, they found bodies waiting for them, or at least, what had once been bodies. The creatures milling about in the cafeteria had clearly been human at one point in their lives, but they were far from it now. Their human features had warped, leaving their jaws elongated and rounded, like their skin was made of wax; some of them were missing chunks of flesh and limbs. Those with hands had clawed ones that were the size of dinner plates, with webbing between their long spindly fingers. Most of them wore the remains of hospital scrubs and lab coats, but some were completely naked, having grown too large to remain clothed.

The first creature hissed, pushing its snout into the air, sniffing at them. It licked its lips and roared as it charged at Steve.

Tony smashed his fist into the creature’s disgusting face; its head exploded with a wet pop, leaving its body to crash to the floor in an unsightly pile of peach coloured limbs and mint green scrubs. It was clear that Extremis had failed to activate properly, doing far more harm than good to those who had ‘survived’ the injections. Tony shook his hand, curling his lip in disgust. The creature might have been strong, but their bones were weak, bordering on downright pudding-like.

Steve and Tony moved in unison, attacking every creature that came their way. They blocked, kicked, punched and sliced as best they could, mowing down every foe that wandered into their path. It still felt like they were moving in slow motion. Creatures hit tables, knocking them over; they struck the walls and ceiling again and again, collapsing drywall and splintering wood, but they wouldn’t stay down. They clawed their way to freedom from the wreckage of the room, limbs dangling at their sides, jaws open, teeth bared, blindly attacking again and again. Any creature that fell from an inadequate blow to the head staggered upright again seconds later; their bodies worked to repair the damage done to them almost as quickly as the damage could be done in the first place. Thankfully the repairs were sluggish to start if the blow was hard enough; it was all too familiar to Tony. Their bodies weren’t on fire, but their eyes had the same vicious glint to them.

“The heads – hit the heads,” Tony shouted. He smashed the creature attacking him in the head with his elbow, shattering its skull like it was nothing more than a rotten peach. Steve followed Tony’s lead, slashing and chopping at anything that came into range with the edge of his shield. Soon the creature were down for good, sprawled across the floor in a pile amidst blood and blackish ooze; Tony didn’t even want to see the cleanup report SHIELD was going to be making for this mess.

They only found one survivor amidst the carnage. She must have been manning the cash register, because she was still wearing her apron from work; it was splattered with blood and gore. She didn’t even seem to notice the mess; she sobbed in terror beside an overturned serving cart stacked high with dirty dishes, clutching a handful of bloody change. Steve swept food off of the young woman’s shoulders and escorted her towards the elevator as Tony stood guard, watching for more enemies.

“Do you remember how many creatures there were?” Steve asked.

The woman shook her head, trembling as she stepped into the elevator. “They came up from the lower floors – everyone was here celebrating the success of batch eighty seven. We had cake,” she cried, smearing blood across her cheeks when she wiped her eyes. “We were waiting for the CEO to come before we cut it. He’s still upstairs.”

“Take the elevator to the lobby and head outside. The Avengers and SHIELD will get you to safety – you’ll be alright. Trust me.”

“Thank you,” the woman said, stabbing the lobby button, her fingers slick with blood. “Thank you.”

Tony looked around the room, double checking to see if there was anything left that had escaped their attention; SHIELD was going to have to comb through the rest of the place on their own, but he didn’t want to take the chance of leaving behind something for them to deal with – not after Millie’s comments about their Extremis-attempt being infectious. The last thing they needed now was this thing getting out into the public – finding its way into a crowd. When he was satisfied that there was nothing else around, undead or alive, they got into the next elevator and headed up to the penthouse. Tiberius was going to have a lot of questions to answer – assuming he was still alive, of course.

 

 

The penthouse was pitch black when they stepped out into the living room; the windows were tinted to block out the sun. Tony gagged and took a step back, covering his mouth with his gauntleted hand. The stench of blood was even stronger here than it had been down below, and it was much richer, much stronger due to age.

Had this happened before or after the disaster downstairs?

Without the suit’s sensors, he couldn’t be sure. Even Extremis couldn’t do anything to help him.

Tony felt something in the air; the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, feeling more like steel wool than hair. Whatever it was passed quickly. All at once he could hear the room’s electricity flowing again, the hum loud and vicious; it was like someone had broken a dam, flooding the room with sound. His suit still wouldn’t draw power or turn on, but he could sense the security systems for the building turning on one sleepy camera at a time. Millie had been right; the spell keeping the place locked down had failed. He wondered idly if she had made it outside alive.

“Welcome,” Tiberius called out from the darkness. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

“Hiding in the shadows, Ty?” Tony coughed, lowering his hand. He dove into Viastone’s network and turned the lights on with Extremis, blinking back splotches of green and blue as the fluorescents took their sweet time turning on.

He almost wished that he hadn’t bothered with the lights.

Tiberius was seated regally in a puffy white-leather chair, surrounded by the corpses of his interns and maids. Their bodies were spotted with bite marks; every last drop of blood had been drained from their bodies, aside from what had splashed onto the carpet, turning their savaged skin a mottled pale grey. There were twenty people up here, and from what Tony could see, none of them had willingly allowed Tiberius to feed on them. Their fingernails were ragged and torn. Their faces were contorted in terror.

Tony gnashed his teeth, wanting nothing more than to bury his fist in Tiberius Stone’s face; he ignored the voice in his head screaming for him to feed again, concentrating on the scene at hand. “What the hell did you do?”

Tiberius flashed them a gory smile, his fanged teeth stained pinkish-red; his grey suit was spotted with dark splotches, torn in places where his victims had tried to rip their way free from his grasp. He sighed in contentment, kicking a corpse away from his foot when it sagged towards the floor. “Come now, Tony. You didn’t think I was going to sit around while you had all the fun.”

“Fun?” Tony felt like he had been hit upside the head. He looked around again, thinking at first that he might be hallucinating. Ty couldn’t be this crazy, could he? He hadn’t – he hadn’t been like this in school! Hell, Ty hadn’t even squashed bugs back then. Had he really changed this much? Was this the man he had been in love with all those years ago? “You think this is fun? You’ve killed at least a hundred people in this place – in the name of fun? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Tiberius laughed, standing up. He dusted himself off, smearing his bloody hands over the remains of his once pristine dress shirt; his movements were jerky and awkward, as if he couldn’t quite keep up with them. “I did exactly what I wanted, just like you did, although I must say, I thought the transition would be a little smoother than this.”

“So, what? Was the whole ‘oh Tony’, thing an act? That’s pretty pathetic, even for you,” Tony muttered, trying to squash down his disgust with himself for having liked someone like Ty. He gagged again; the only thing that kept him from throwing up was Steve’s scent, sneaking through the smell of blood and urine.

“I did what I had to, and you, my dear boy ate it up. How do you think the press found out about your unfortunate little change? Someone had to feed it to them in time for the evening news. I had my people arrange everything. It had to be perfect – your defeat had to be perfect.”

“My defeat? What the fuck does that mean?”

“Did you honestly think I was so in love with you all those years ago?”

Tony was surprised that the words could still hurt; as children he had thought that they were going to be friends, if not lovers, until the day they died. It had been a stupid, childish wish, one Ty had always laughed at; he had never been cruel about it though – it had been more like he had thought Tony was being too sentimental, too mushy for his own good. He should have never have trusted Ty and his stupid charming smile and warm hands, but if he hadn’t there wouldn’t have been anyone keeping him company at boarding school, nothing keeping him motivated aside from his irregular visits home to see Jarvis and his mother.

“We were in competition, Tony. You never did seem to notice though. That’s what made it so infuriating. Everything I did,” Tiberius sneered in disdain, “every accolade I earned, you usurped from me within a matter of days. There was nothing I could do – you were always there. Well, you’re the one in the back now, Tony. You’re the one not good enough this time.”

“You’ve got some serious problems, pal,” Steve growled, aiming his shield at Tiberius’ head. He loosed it and grunted when it struck Tiberius in the forehead rebounding and returning to his hand without causing any damage.

“Oh please,” Tiberius snorted, rubbing his forehead where the shield had struck him, fixing his hair with blood stained fingers. “Do continue standing up for your little boy-toy. It’s nice to see such a strapping man in action. It’s a pity you weren’t defrosted when I was around. We would have had so much fun together.” He cracked his wrists and careened forwards as he rose; his thighs splayed beneath him, twisting gracelessly as his legs tried to support his weight. He grimaced, hunching over, slapping at his knee as if the abuse would fix the problem. “The nanites aren’t working,” he muttered, glaring at Tony. “Why the hell aren’t they working?”

Tony chuckled darkly, swallowing down a mouthful of bile. “I hate to break it to you Ty, but I didn’t use any nanites when I implemented Extremis – those came after I was already booted up. Someone got their information wrong – and I’m betting you built your little virus wrong too. You never were any good at following instructions.”

“You’re a liar,” Tiberius snapped, dragging his leg forwards, pounding on it until the muscle softened enough to allow it to bend properly. His eyes narrowed for a split second when he noticed Tony’s armor; he laughed shrilly as a smirk spread across his face, pointing at Tony with a trembling finger. “Why are you even wearing that outdated piece of trash? You’re a goddamned vampire! You don’t need it anymore.”

Tony shrugged, glad that Tiberius was focusing on him instead of Steve; he flashed Tiberius a cocky grin, forcing himself to relax. If they were lucky the Avengers would be getting into position soon and with them around there was nothing Tiberius could do to escape. Tiberius might have been a vampire, but even a vampire couldn’t out-smash the Hulk. “I like what I like. What can I say? I always was into suits.”

“Oh that’s just silly,” Tiberius scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You and your precious suits. What a waste of time. What’s this one? Number five? It looks like a piece of garbage compared to the ones you oh-so-unwisely destroyed while fighting that idiot Killian. Really, Tony, you make rich people look low class.”

“Look who’s talking – Your suit’s tackier now than it was last night,” Tony snorted.

Tiberius lunged, headed straight for Tony. He stumbled, barely keeping himself from toppling over like a windup toy running out of energy when his muscles locked up again. “Fix it,” he shrieked, yanking at his other leg when it refused to take another step. “Fix what you did!”

“What I did?” Tony snorted in disbelief. “You stole my files, you asshat. I didn’t do anything.”

“You messed up the work – I can see it now,” Tiberius hissed, looking around the room, his eyes wild and wide. “I knew you were protective of your projects, but I didn’t think you would be stupid enough to break up the instructions. Even you have to know that what you’ve done will have consequences.”

“Not for me, Ty. I told you not to screw around with Extremis. I specifically warned you about doing anything with it – and yet here we are. This is like our sixth grade science project all over again. You never listen.”

“Oh yes – here it comes. Sixth grade again – do you have anything in your head aside from that?” Tiberius grumbled. He tugged at his leg and grinned when it began to bend on its own.

“Oh, oh,” Tony mocked, looking over at Steve, “we’re in trouble now. He can bend his legs.”

“You’re not that wonderful, Tony,” Tiberius spat, baring his teeth. “You think you’re so special, but I can do everything you can – and I do it better. You got turned by a pathetic, old man – and I? I was turned by the youthful young woman I brought over from my family’s estate. Lilia is going to be so happy when she sees what’s happened. She’s been waiting a long time for this.”

“Come on Ty, you’re not going senile on me, are you? The vampire you sent to rob my house is Luzia - not Lilia,” Tony said.

“Darling,” Tiberius chuckled, “Luzia is old news. Her mother Lilia on the other hand – is far more powerful – far more blessed with her genetics. Speaking of genetics… my, my – is that super soldier I’m smelling? Because that smells divine.” He sprang into action, moving far faster than should have been possible with his rigid muscles. Steve fended off the first blow but staggered under the weight of the second, dropping to his knee in order to keep his shield in hand. Tiberius slashed at Steve’s face, snarling when Steve rolled nimbly out of the way. “Stand still, you little bastard!” Tiberius snapped, striking at Steve again.

Tony threw himself onto Tiberius, putting all of his power into his first punch; it was a risky move, one Steve would have chided him for using, but he knew it was the only thing that would get Tiberius’ undivided attention. It worked – barely. Tiberius grunted when the blow connected with his chest but he didn’t so much as stagger in response. He slapped Tony away as if he was a bug, laughing hysterically to himself when Tony smashed into the plate glass windows behind him. Tony flew through it, the weight of the armor pulling him down as gravity fought to have its way. Safety glass hit the carpet in a shower of square lumps, bouncing off Tony’s back with a clatter, falling off the ledge and vanishing from sight. Tony caught himself on the windowsill at the last second. He pulled himself up one-handed, trying to ignore the panic attack threatening to overtake him as the metal he latched onto started twisting around and groaning in protest.

“You’re pathetic, Tony. Why don’t you just give up and fix what you did like a good little boy, and maybe I’ll leave enough of your boyfriend to eat when I’m done,” Tiberius said with a sneer.

“Screw you, Ty,” Tony panted, struggling upright.

“Suit yourself.” Tiberius swivelled in place, smiling sweetly at Steve. “I bet you’re going to be a real treat, aren’t you, Captain,” he purred. He threw himself through the air again, landing with a dull thud beside Steve. He kicked over the chair he had been using as his throne, slashing at Steve with his clawed hands.

Tiberius missed; Steve nimbly ducked out of the way, shield in hand, smashing the edge into Tiberius’ arm. Vibranium was strong – it didn’t dent, but it also didn’t do much damage either. Tiberius laughed in Steve’s face, flexing his arm, amused by the way the shield had torn his shirt and jacket but not his flesh. He wrestled the shield away from Steve despite taking several solid blows to the head from Steve’s fists and then held the shield up above his head, grinning triumphantly; he tossed the shield across the room, lodging it in his television. “I’ve always wanted to try that.” He stopped his rampage to watch the sparks fly from the screen, laughing throatily when Steve backed away from him, trying to get out of his range. “I’m going to eat your little boyfriend up, Tony. I’m sure he’ll be good for healing, hm? You’ve been using him so extensively, I hope he isn’t diseased.”

Tony charged across the room at Tiberius, digging his heels into the carpet when Tiberius started shoving him backwards towards the window again; Tony had thought he was strong – but Tiberius was stronger even though he was maimed. There was nothing he could do to keep Tiberius from ripping the suit off of him piece by piece, his claws digging into the gold titanium alloy as easily as they would sink into butter. Tony heard the armor’s breastplate hit the ground behind him but didn’t dare take the time to assess the damage. He slammed his fist into the side of Tiberius’ head, trying to stun him enough to get away.

Tiberius sank his teeth into Tony’s armored shoulder; metal screamed and tore, splitting down the sides. It hadn’t been designed with vampires in mind, but it held long enough for Tony to kick Tiberius’ knees out from under him.

Tiberius went down in a blur of arms and legs, sprawling amongst the corpses of his former employees. He struck at them, disgusted that they were touching him, righting himself stiffly as Tony circled around him. “Very funny,” he said as he leapt at Tony. He changed direction in mid-air, throwing himself at Steve instead.

Tony rolled and pushed himself in the way, knocking Steve into a chair and out of harm’s way.

It hurt.

Tony coughed up a mouthful of blood, all too aware that Tiberius’ hand was now buried deep in his gut like a rusty knife. He was surprised by how little it hurt; he wondered if that was adrenaline at work, or merely his body refusing to die a second time. Whichever it was, he took advantage of it and pressed on.

With Tiberius’ hand trapped inside Tony’s chest, there was nothing he could do to block Tony’s next three blows. Tony struck again and again, until his arm was tired and his gut was burning fiercely.

Tiberius’ hand slipped free. He dropped to his knees and fell limp onto the floor, flopping backwards amongst the dead.

Tony panted, hearing nothing but a dull roar. He felt Steve’s hand on his bare shoulder and came back to himself with a jolt; he could feel his golden under-sheath struggling to pull itself over the hole in his chest. His gauntlets were covered with bits of blood and hair. They looked ghastly in the fluorescent light; he ripped them off and threw them onto the ground.

He glared down at Tiberius’ unconscious form.

What was he supposed to do now? Should he kill the man who had destroyed his life or let him live? Tiberius had been his friend once. Had that man died years ago? Or had Tiberius always been this way – twisted and warped beyond reason?

“Natasha says they’re on their way,” Steve said softly, tugging Tony towards the last upright chair. “I’ll get something to wrap you up – you’ll be alright.”

Tony laughed so hard he started crying. He put his head in his hands and sat there weeping as Steve wound a sheet around his torso, trying to stop him from bleeding out. It was absurd, really, Tony thought, his vision going blurry. A vampire – bleeding out.

 

 

Tony woke to Steve snoring loudly in his ear. He rolled over to get some peace and groaned in agony, clutching his ribs when pain tore through him. He wondered idly if hell looked like a hospital room and then slowly rolled himself onto his back again, staring up at the ceiling through watery eyes. He could hear machines working all around him, but the sound was muffled, like he was hearing it from a distance.

Why hadn’t he died?

Hadn’t he been bleeding out?

“Tony?” Bruce murmured, leaning over him. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Did we get him?” Tony gasped as pain tore through his gut again. He needed to know the truth. If Ty was still out there –

“Yes, we got him. Calm down. Tiberius Stone has been taken in by SHIELD and put in their best lockdown facility. He’s not getting out of there any time soon; I’m pretty sure they rented out my old room,” Bruce said, sitting down in an orange plastic chair beside Tony’s bed.

“Oh yeah?”

“He was pretty out of it when they brought him in. He was making a bunch of crazy claims about how he was working for SHIELD and the Council. I think Fury’s planning on personally interrogating him every day for the rest of his life,” Bruce said. He smiled fondly at Steve, crossing his legs so that he could balance his Styrofoam cup of tea on his knee. “You scared the shit out of us, you know. I think this is the first time I’ve seen Steve sleeping since he brought you in.”

“How am I still alive?” Tony croaked.

“Extremis and the super soldier serum in Steve’s blood pushed you through the worst of it even before the vampire regeneration could kick in. According to Doctor Strange, it wouldn’t be that big of a problem as long as you got enough blood to drink as you healed. Apparently, vampires are a lot harder to kill than that – especially Extremis-vampires.”

Doctor Strange had been here?

Tony scrambled to sit up, belatedly remembering the hole in his chest. He let out a shaky breath, praying that Steve would stay asleep, and slid back down onto the bed, trying to make himself comfortable despite the throbbing pain radiating from his gut. “Can he do anything?” The words sounded funny in his ears, and for a split second he wished he could have taken them back. Maybe it would be better to never know.

Bruce hung his head.

That was all Tony needed to see to know the truth.

“No?” Tony whispered, tears streaming uncontrolled down his cheeks. “No? He can’t do anything?”

“He says he could have changed you back if you hadn’t used Extremis.”

Tony stared up at the ceiling, not wanting to look at Bruce’s face, ashamed of the sadness and pity he knew he would find there. “I brought it on myself then,” he murmured, closing his eyes. “Shit. I always jump the gun.”

“When you used Extremis, your genome was re-written. Strange says that the change overwrote your original human code because it was rebuilding you with the vampire template in mind,” Bruce said softly, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. “I’m sorry. If it’s any consolation, he says you probably would have gone insane if you hadn’t used Extremis. The guy who turned you would have made you kill everyone you cared about. He’s apparently done that before.”

“It saved over?” Tony choked out, stuck on the coding error, ignoring everything else. He tried to not outright sob, but couldn’t quite manage it. “Oh god – I overwrote myself.”

“Tony, it’s alright.” Bruce took Tony’s hand in his, holding on tightly. “There’s nothing you can do now, but it doesn’t mean your life can’t go on. Believe me. It’ll get better.”

“I know,” Tony said miserably, giving Bruce’s hand a squeeze. Bruce was right after all. His life wasn’t over; his human life was, but his vampire one was just beginning. “Steve and I sort of talked about this already – what we would do if we found out I couldn’t be changed back. I… I guess I was just hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”

“That’s… good,” Bruce said, patting Tony’s hand. “Steve’s been nervous ever since Strange showed up to give you the bad news.” His smile turned sorrowful. “I kind of hulked out on him – Strange, not Steve. I didn’t destroy anything, but I don’t think Strange appreciated having the Hulk scream in his face.”

“Well, at least someone got to yell at him. How long was I out?”

“You’ve been asleep a little over fourteen hours,” Bruce said, glancing at Steve, who was still peacefully sleeping on Tony’s other side. “Steve carried you all the way to the tower, you know. He refused to take a car because he was afraid of what you would do if you were in an enclosed space while unconscious. Natasha and Clint made sure everyone got out of the way – don’t worry. Nothing happened that can’t be repaired with a little old fashioned elbow grease.”

“What did I do?”

“You kicked a mail box over and thrashed against Steve’s shoulder for most of the trip. On the bright side, you didn’t let go of him and you never even made a move to run for the crowd. He got you up here into medical and stood guard while I stitched you up. He refused to let anyone else in while you were out of it because you looked like you were going to try and attack someone in your state. Thankfully you seem to be very good at measuring how much blood to drink from him even when you were semi-conscious.”

“That’s good,” Tony sighed. “At least I didn’t hurt anybody.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that exactly. I mean, you did bite my hand,” Bruce chuckled, lifting up his tea so Tony could see the bandage wrapped round his palm, “but you let go almost immediately after you sunk your teeth in. Honestly,” he smiled, sipping his tea, “I think you were terrified the Hulk was going to step on you. You were as meek as a kitten after that – you didn’t even try to bite Steve unless he shoved his neck in your face on purpose.”

“I’m sorry about your hand, Brucie-bear,” Tony grumbled, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing that the dull throb in his chest would just go away and leave him be.

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t hurt all that much – and it gets me out of filling in the paperwork for this, so we’ll call it even.” Bruce finished his tea and tossed the cup into the garbage can beside the door. “The press found out about Tiberius’ work by the way. I wish I could say they took it well and are singing your praises, but it’s… a little more complicated than that.”

“Complicated? I’m used to the press Bruce,” Tony said, settling a hand on Steve’s head. He tangled his fingers in Steve’s greasy hair, contented by the way Steve started snoring louder, still sleeping nightmare free in spite of all they had been through in the last few days. “What did they do this time?”

“They stormed your mansion.”

“What?” Tony turned sharply, ignoring the pain in his neck as he did so. “Define stormed?”

“Stormed – as in they forced their way past the security guards you hired and broke into your house. They ran around pillaging, destroying and eventually setting fire to everything they didn’t like the look of. The mansion’s gone,” Bruce said with a grimace. The skin around his eyes started to turn green; he frowned, seeming to catch himself. He took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out, sighing until the green went away, closing his eyes. “SHIELD has been confiscating everything they find, but some of it’s probably gotten into Justin Hammer’s hands by now. He isn’t outright bragging about it yet, but Pepper’s pretty sure he’s planning something. She’s working on getting the stolen tech seized and his labs searched.”

“Well, thankfully there wasn’t anything in the mansion that wasn’t already backed up forty or fifty times over,” Tony sighed. “I’m suddenly glad I wasn’t really working on the armor in that workshop. There’s nothing Hammer can use at any rate, aside from maybe the mop. He’s going to be so disappointed.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think he walked off with a bunch of your clothes and a box of Captain America memorabilia you were stashing in one of your locked rooms.”

“Aw man! That fucker got my cards, didn’t he?”

“Thankfully, Coulson’s had his eye on your collection for years, so he when he saw the entire thing go down he jumped into action. He managed to get most of them back – except for the ones Hammer made off with. He saved your phone too. You owe him a new one by the way. He clubbed a looter in the head with his and broke it.” Bruce pulled Tony’s phone out of his pocket, tossing it to him.

“I guess SHIELD’s standard issue phone isn’t that bad. I’ll make sure he gets a new one from Pepper – Stark Tech this time, no more of that SHIELD discount crap. He can have his pick from my collection too – whatever he wants. Seriously,” Tony chuckled, turning his phone over in his hands. “Does he need me to call in?”

“No,” Bruce said, standing up. “He says he’s got all the information he needs out of Jarvis and Steve. He told me to pass on his condolences for everything. I think he feels pretty bad about not being able to get you any information on Stone’s work.”

“When do you think they’ll let me out of here?” Tony asked, setting his phone down in his lap. He wondered just how much of his house was left for him to pick through; he didn’t like the idea of being in the Tower with so many people around, but if the mansion was burned to the ground, there wasn’t anywhere he could go unless he found himself some new property, and fast. Why the hell had people looted and pillaged the mansion? The building was expendable, a tax write off; Steve’s things, however, weren’t. Tony mourned that loss even more than he did the loss of the mansion. The mansion could be rebuilt – Steve’s art, his personal property and reclaimed memories, could not. Steve had tried so damned hard to recover his things after the initial break in; he couldn’t imagine how much it had hurt Steve to still lose them after all that hard work. Tony vowed to do whatever he had to do to get Steve’s property back. He’d offer a King’s ransom for those sketchbooks if they were still around. If they were lucky, someone had wandered off with some of Steve’s things and they could be recovered – if not, well, they would have to build Steve new memories – better ones.

“Don’t worry about rushing out to get your stuff back,” Bruce said, pushing his chair back against the wall. “We’ll take care of it, alright? Pepper’s on the case – and we’ve got Jarvis monitoring every auction site we know about. Believe me. Steve would rather see you get better than get his stolen t-shirts back.”

Tony looked guiltily at his phone. “I know. I just… I feel like I need to do something.”

“Well, if you have to do something, think about what you’re going to do with the mansion and the Avengers. We’d all rather have you planning that sort of stuff than out on the street hunting thieves down one by one. Believe me, Clint and Natasha are having a good time doing it in your place. They’ll make sure the bastards are chased down and properly terrorized.”

“Do they know who started the fire?”

“They have three suspects in custody but Natasha thinks that Hammer is involved somehow,” Bruce said. “I’m going to go get something to eat. I’ll bring Steve in something when you two are done talking.”

“You’re so cruel,” Tony grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He winced. “Also, ow.”

“That’s what I thought,” Bruce chuckled. He patted Tony on the shoulder and left, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Steve practically jumped up, stiff as a board, looking around frantically for the source of the noise. So much for his nap, Tony thought to himself with a sigh. He had been hoping for a few more minutes of lethargic procrastination; stupid Bruce and his stupid door.

“It’s fine, Steve. Bruce just went to go grab something to eat,” Tony said, reaching for his phone. Steve plucked it deftly from Tony’s hands, setting it on the bedside table, out of reach; Tony wiggled his fingers at his phone, willing it to fly back to him. Sadly, it didn’t.

“Did he talk with you about Doctor Strange?” Steve asked, settling himself back into the chair he had been using as a bed.

Tony scowled petulantly. “Yes.” Part of him wanted to break down crying again, but he wasn’t ready to do that to Steve; it didn’t seem fair to burden him with this anymore than he already had. He could cry when he was alone, where no one could see him.

Steve looked down at his hands, his shoulders slumping.

“We knew it was coming,” Tony said, wishing he could be more nonchalant about it. He could hear the bitterness in his voice, and hated it for being there. “It’s not as if we weren’t expecting it.”

“I should have been there,” Steve said, refusing to look up. “It’s my fault – if I had gotten there earlier…”

“Steve,” Tony slowly sat up, shocked by Steve’s words, “Honey, it’s not your fault. It was my fault. I’m the idiot who decided to use Extremis in the first place. You couldn’t have controlled that – not in a million years.”

“Tony,” Steve looked up sharply. His eyes were solemn, slightly red around the edges. “It’s ok. You don’t have to blame yourself.”

“And I don’t have to blame you either,” Tony growled, heaving the ridiculously heavy hospital blanket off of his legs. He grimaced when his stitches pulled but refused to let the pain slow him down as he scooted across the bed towards Steve.

Steve opened his mouth to say something smart, probably about how Tony was supposed to sit still and rest. Tony clamped a hand over Steve’s mouth, settling himself on the edge of the bed so that Steve’s knees were nestled carefully between his own. “Steve, I know you think you’re doing the right thing by telling me it’s your fault, but you’re not.” He let his hand drop, resting it on Steve’s knee. “We promised we’d do this together, right?”

“Of course,” Steve said immediately.

Tony smiled. Steve never had been one for hesitating. “Sure, I’m disappointed that I can’t be turned back – I’ll probably always be disappointed, but I’ve got you with me, and I know what I want to do with my life. I’m not letting this take me down – not now, and not ever.” He squeezed Steve’s knee, thankful that he was still able to touch Steve, even if it was just to do something simple, like this; it was easy to not be afraid of what the future might hold with Steve sitting there beside him. “You’re making it better by being here, I promise. I promised you that I would at least try to see the good in this, and I am – I’m trying.”

“I know you are,” Steve said. He sounded tired, as if he had come back from running around Central Park a few thousand times. He put his hands over Tony’s, holding on as if he expected Tony to pull away. “I just wish I could have done something.”

“Me too Steve,” Tony said with a grunt, lifting his hands up as he stood. Steve looked confused by the movement and then caught on, draping an arm around Tony’s middle as he shifted forwards. Tony slid across Steve’s jean-clad legs, moving lazily, mindful of his stitches. He could feel Steve’s warmth leeching into his thighs and was glad for it. If there was a heaven, he thought with a smile, this was it; heaven was a warm Steve. Tony kissed Steve, planting one then two then three kisses on Steve’s lips in rapid succession before he could lose his courage. “I love you,” he said, giving Steve another kiss for good measure. “I will always love you, even if you think you’ve screwed up somehow, I will always, always love you.”

“Yeah?” Steve’s smile was tentative, his return kisses feather soft.

“Well, I mean you’re not perfectly sweet,” Tony said, smirking. “You ruined me for everybody who’s not you.”

“Jerk,” Steve grumbled warmheartedly, kissing Tony again.

“Don’t I know it,” Tony chuckled, rubbing his hands up and down Steve’s back. It was nice to just sit like this, even if his stomach was trying to inch its way out of his body; he felt at peace, but then again, being around Steve had always made him feel calm and in control. He loved the way Steve melted against him, like he was something special. He deepened the next kiss, letting his tongue slide between Steve’s parted lips. He pulled away when Steve moaned, feeling warm all over.

“Tony,”

“I know,” Tony said, shifting his hips closer, wishing he could bend well enough to do something more than just sit on Steve’s lap.

“Bruce is standing in the doorway,” Steve whispered into Tony’s ear, burying his face in Tony’s throat.

Tony laughed. He pressed a kiss to Steve’s forehead. “He’s seen me doing so, so much worse. Believe me, babe,”

“Do I want to know?”

“Probably not. Although to be fair, that was in my younger days, when I was still partying and drunk seventy percent of the time.”

“Tony,”

“Steve,”

Bruce cleared his throat, leaning against the door frame; how they had missed the sound of the door opening was a mystery, but Tony wasn’t exactly bothered by Bruce’s arrival. He could smell breakfast sausage in the air, and if he had still been able to eat actual food he might have thrown himself off Steve’s lap to get at it.

“Should I come back later?” Bruce asked dryly, looking around the room at everything other than them.

“I would say yes, but I think Steve, here, needs to eat,” Tony chuckled, feeling Steve’s stomach rumbling against his own. He gave Steve’s hip a pinch and then started sliding backwards, trying to make a valiant attempt at standing up.

Steve, of course, didn’t seem to have gotten the memo that Tony didn’t want to be helped up; he lifted Tony as if he was picking up a teddy bear and carefully deposited him on the bed, even going so far as to rearrange and fluff Tony’s pillows as if they were somehow going to get fluffier than they already were. Tony pretended to pout and then gave up on being irritable, leaning back into the comfort of his newly fluffed pillows. Steve diligently continued rearranged Tony’s blankets, tucking them around Tony’s hips, smoothing them out when he spotted an errant wrinkle.

“You know,” Bruce said, tapping Steve on the shoulder so that he could hand him the tray of sausage and eggs, “I think Clint owes me fifty bucks.”

“Oh?” Steve said, gratefully accepting the food. He looked around for his chair and settled back onto it, borrowing the overbed table beside Tony so that he could eat without getting everything all over the floor.

“Oh yeah.” Bruce nodded, “In fact, I think Natasha and Thor owe me fifty bucks too.”

“They bet we weren’t going to get together?” Tony asked, genuinely amused by the look on Bruce’s face. If he had to guess what the expression was, he would have to say it was smug satisfaction, something he rarely saw on Bruce.

“Oh no,” Bruce said. “No, the bets were about whether or not you were going to show up one day with one of you wearing the other’s clothing.”

Steve raised an eyebrow, his fork held halfway to his mouth. “We’re not wearing each other’s clothing.”

“Oh, you’re not,” Bruce said, adjusting his glasses. “But Tony sure is.”

Steve turned to Tony, looking him over. “I don’t get your meaning. He’s not wearing anything of mine.”

“He’s wearing your underwear,” Bruce said, ducking out the door.

Tony threw a pillow at him; it hit the doorframe. “Traitor!”

Bruce peeked back into the room, “I’m not the one stealing my boyfriend’s underwear.”

“Hey!” Tony grumbled, shaking his fist in Bruce’s direction. “I did not steal them. I claimed them. That’s totally different.”

“Liar,” Bruce sang, disappearing down the hall.

Steve gave Tony a look that said he was both unimpressed and amused by what had just happened; he stuffed his mouth with eggs instead of saying anything.

Tony smiled sheepishly. “I’m not sorry.”

Steve smiled back. “I didn’t say you had to be. Although to be fair,” Steve said, lifting up another forkful of eggs, “I was kind of hoping that was where those had wandered off too.”

Tony sighed, settling back onto his pile of pillows. He closed his eyes. The room smelled like sausage, eggs and Steve; if he could have bottled that scent he would have turned it into a cologne that he could wear whenever he was feeling down. He let himself drift off to sleep to the sound of Steve chewing, knowing that no matter what, Steve would still be there when he woke up.

 

 

Extremis and his Vampire regeneration made healing easy; usually Tony was laid up in bed for days before his doctors even considered letting him take the bandages off, but this time the bandages were off in two days, and that was only because Bruce was being careful about things. Tony was out of the Tower’s medical bay a whole day after the bandages were gone, which wasn’t too bad, considering he had had Tiberius Stone’s hand through his chest a few days earlier.

Luzia must have been watching them, because not even three minutes after they stepped out the front door, destined for the burned out wreck of Stark Mansion, Tony received a text message telling him that she was ready to meet.

Steve wasn’t happy about having to see her again, but they both knew that the information she had would be what would get them through the next few years unscathed. They arranged to meet once night fell.

 

Luzia was there early, lurking amongst the charred remains of the petunias; fire had reached even the garden, and what hadn’t burned down had been tossed around by the fire department who had torn through everything in order to stomp the blaze out for good. Luzia seemed at home where she was, resting on the marble bench that had once been beside his now blackened fountain. She had brought a heavy duffle bag and a wooden box as tall as she was with her; it was surprising she had gotten everything past the security guards standing outside the front gate.

She was clad in the same blue and white spotted dress she had been wearing when they had first met her, but she wasn’t wearing any makeup this time. She looked up, hearing them approach, her eyes glinting red in the starlight. “You’re late,” she drawled, turning her attention back to the blackened petunias beside her.

“We decided to stop for dinner,” Tony said, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. “You know how it is.” He eyed the wooden box beside her, curious. “What’s all this? My birthday’s not for another few months.”

Luzia smiled knowingly. “I brought you a gift,” she said, stretching out like a cat. She tapped the bag beside her with her foot, nodding to the box. “You’ll like it.” She stood and stooping to deftly pluck one of the flowers from amidst the charred vegetation and wood in the flowerbed. She stared at the flower, marveling at the way it crumbled when she ran her fingers over the petals. “Humans so love their fire. It’s a pity they don’t really understand that it burns as well as cleanses.”

Tony bent down and hoisted the duffle bag up, setting it on the bench. He unzipped it slowly, watching Luzia, baffled by her behavior. She continued to admire her flower, ignoring him, staring at the veins within what was left of the leaves.

Tony’s heart clenched; he hadn’t thought he would ever see anything in this bag again. He grinned wildly, setting Steve’s sketchbooks down on the bench. He plucked his favourite coffee cup from inside, surprised to see it still intact. “How did you …”

Luzia shrugged. “They smelled strongly of you and your Captain,” she said, throwing the flower away. “There’s more. They were stealing, and it didn’t seem fair for you to lose so much because of Walter.”

Tony dove back into the bag, no longer nervous. He lifted out Steve’s leather jacket and photo album. He reached in again and came up with his favourite cookbook, the one Jarvis had helped him write when he was a child. Tony felt like he was drowning; he swallowed down tears, running his fingers over the worn cover. He had thought it had burned up with the rest of his things. This cookbook had followed him from house to house ever since his parent’s and Jarvis’ had died, keeping him company wherever he went. He had it scanned into the computer, its text digitized, but the hard copy had always meant more to him; maybe it was because Jarvis’ handwriting was there, nestled within its pages.

“Your manual is in there as well,” Luzia said, eyeing Tony, suddenly curious. “I assumed I got everything you cherished. Was I wrong?”

“No,” Tony said, smiling down at the book, “you got pretty much all of it.” After a minute fumbling around, his eyes blinded by unshed tears, Tony came up with a thick book, bound in leather; every page was written in beautiful, neatly printed script. There were even drawings on some pages, painstakingly etched out, likely from memory. “You wrote it by hand?”

“I prefer the old ways,” Luzia said with a shrug, turning her back on him so that she could stare at the moon. “Your robot was quite the handful. I had to drag it most of the way, but thankfully its wheels were still functional.”

Tony dropped the book he was holding in shock. He whirled, staring at the wooden box with wide, hopeful eyes. “You…” He swept forward, prying at the wooden lid with his fingers, trying to get it open.

Steve pushed Tony’s hands away, gently rubbing Tony’s reddened fingers. “It’s fine. Let me do it.” He pulled his shield’s case off of his back and took out his shield, using it to pry open the lid.

Tony went up on his tip toes to peer over the edge; even in the dim light he could tell what lay within. “Hey buddy…” Dummy was covered in soot, and a little scratched up, but he was whole, safe from the worst of the damage. Tony ran his fingers over Dummy’s hand, stroking his way down Dummy’s immobile arm. He swallowed hard when he noticed that Dummy’s tennis ball was tucked neatly into his hand; it was the ugly one that hadn’t like the bleach, too, one he had been meaning to chuck out. “You even got his ball…”

Luzia smiled and stepped around the bench. She put a gentle hand on Tony’s back. “It smelled like him, and who was I to keep them apart?”

“I don’t know what to say,” Tony sighed, leaning heavily against the box. Did he have to do this? Could he do this? She had brought him back Dummy – she had brought him back Steve’s things.

“You don’t have to say anything.” She stalked forwards graceful as a dancer, her feet not quite touching the ground, and kneeled in the flowers, resting her hands on her thighs. “I trust it’s everything you were hoping for? If so, I would like to get this over with.”

Steve rested a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I can do it,” he said. “You don’t need to be the one.”

“No,” Tony said, shaking his head. He put everything back into the duffle bag, wishing it would buy him time, knowing that it wouldn’t. He knew she wasn’t going to change her mind; the look on her face had been enough to let him know that bitter truth. “No. It should be me.”

“Are you sure?” Steve pulled Tony’s gauntlet from his backpack, reluctantly handing it over. They had decided this would be the fairest way – the gentlest of all the deaths they could give her. Tony had tuned this gauntlet up special, just for her. When they were done, he was going to melt it down – end it like it had ended her.

“It’s only fair,” Tony said, pulling the gauntlet on, watching it unfold and wrap around him. The metal warmed under his touch, fitting perfectly around his hand and arm. Blue light flowed from the arc reactor as he tucked it into his pocket; in the olden days it had been simpler. All he had had to do was hook his gauntlets up to his arc reactor, but those days were long gone. Now he had to carry around an arc reactor with him all the time if he wanted to use one of the gauntlets, and he didn’t entirely feel comfortable with it in his hand; part of him still panicked when he saw it, thinking that he had accidentally torn it from his chest somehow.

He handed Steve the duffle bag, moving slowly towards Luzia, making himself to take each step even though each one made his heart sore. “How do you want to do this?” he asked, digging his gauntleted fingers into the fabric of his jacket, suddenly unsure. “We don’t have to do this. If you changed your mind…”

“I have not,” Luzia murmured. She clasped her hands in front of her as if in prayer, but held her head high, staring up at the moon. “You know,” she said, as he powered the gauntlet up, “sometimes I used to dream about a place like this. My mother thought I was nothing more than a foolish child, but I know that what I saw was my end – my gateway to peace. I’m grateful – and I’m sorry. I wish I could have kept Walter from turning you, but there is nothing I can do now to repent for that.”

“You saved Steve’s sketchbooks,” Tony said, aiming his gauntlet at the back of her head. “That’s enough.”

“Truly?”

“Yeah. I’m not going to forgive you for burying your asshole of a father under my petunias, but you did right by me in the end. I wish there was another way – I wish I could do more to help you.”

“Thank you, but you’ve done all you need to do for me. In truth, you’ve probably done more than my father ever did,” Luzia sighed, closing her eyes. “This curse will haunt you too, youngling. You will need to find someone to kill you in the end, just like me. If you are lucky,” she said with a smile, “you will find someone as kind as you who will fulfil your wish. Good luck Mr. Stark. Keep your Captain safe – and watch out for my mother. She may come looking for you one day. She does not forgive easily.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks… and I hope it’s better, wherever you’re going.” Tony fired; energy tore through the darkness, lighting up Luzia’s face as the blast connected. Her head was enveloped in blue and then it was gone. Her body turned to ash, tumbling to the ground, leaving behind her clothing and nothing else. Tony looked down at the pile, awed and terrified by the way she had become so small so quickly. “I guess it’s over,” he said, powering the gauntlet down. He could still see Luzia’s face, smiling softly up at the moon; he would remember that smile until his dying day.

Steve put his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “You did the right thing.”

“Did I?”

“She wanted to die,” Steve said sombrely, bowing his head. “You gave her peace. I don’t think she had a lot of it when she was alive.”

“You’re probably right,” Tony sighed, wiping stray tears from his eyes. “What do we do now?”

“Now?” Steve wrapped his arm around Tony’s middle, pulling him close. He pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “I guess we give her a proper resting place.”

 

 

Doctor Strange looked up from the twin wooden boxes sitting on his coffee table. Steve and Tony had brought them over as soon as they were done digging the last of Luzia out of the flowerbed; everything else, including Dummy, was sitting outside on a flatbed truck, waiting to be taken back to the Tower.

“I can’t say I’m surprised to see you,” Strange said, leaning back in his chair. “Although I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“Well,” Steve said, “we figured they would be safest here with you.”

“That’s very true,” Strange murmured, clasping his hands in front of his face. “You have brought me every last bit of ash, yes?”

“Of course we did,” Tony grunted, hovering beside Steve as if tethered there. Strange didn’t smell even remotely appetizing, but a part of him was tempted to take a leap at him just for the hell of it.

“If you have succeeded, she will remain sleeping for all eternity.” Strange smiled. “I’m sure she appreciated your kindness. Vampires rarely get the solace they yearn for, but sometimes they find someone to keep them company and they remain sane.” He rose from his chair, sweeping towards Tony. He took Tony’s chin in his hands, peering into his eyes. Tony tried not to flinch away from the sudden contact; Strange’s hands were icy cold, very different from Steve’s.

“What?” Tony growled, wanting nothing more than to squirm away. Strange’s eyes felt like they were boring into him, seeing every secret he had ever kept.

“I am sorry I couldn’t help you,” Strange said finally, letting Tony pull free. “It saddens me that you will have to suffer for the rest of your days.”

“Yeah, well,” Tony muttered, looking away, “what can you do?”

“You can do nothing,” Strange said, flatly. He gestured to the boxes sitting on his coffee table with a magnanimous wave. “When your time comes, I will gladly accept your remains into my home. I trust that you won’t object.”

“I’ll object,” Steve said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“My mistake. Well, perhaps we shall amend things then. If the dear Captain remains alive, and you come to pass, Mr. Stark, then I will allow him to safeguard your remains until he passes. Does that sound amiable to you?”

“Sounds good to me,” Tony said, turning to stare at the bookshelves behind him. The last thing he wanted to think about now was Steve carrying ashes around with him if he died; it was weird enough imagining himself living in a tiny box for the rest of his days. He wondered if there was consciousness there, or if it was a dreamless sleep. He hoped it was the latter; if he was conscious in that box, he would go insane.

Strange patted Tony on the back, unconcerned by the tension in Tony’s shoulders. “The road you travel will be long and dark, I’m afraid,” he said, turning to stare intently into Steve’s eyes. “But I know that you will have someone to safeguard you. I would advise heading away from the city for a while – at least until you can control your bloodlust. The hunters do not appreciate untrained vampires, after all. Perhaps it would be a good idea to find yourself a cabin somewhere in the countryside. I’ve heard they can be quite nice for couples.”

Tony snorted. “Yeah, I’ve heard that too.”

“Good. Then you have my blessing and protection. I will inform the hunters that they will not need to seek you out for any reason.” Strange drew a symbol on Tony’s forehead with his thumb and then walked over to his bookshelf; Luzia and Walter’s wooden urns levitated, floating beside him as he made a place for them amidst his ancient books. He settled them in, laying a round river stone on top of each box, murmuring something Tony couldn’t understand. When he was finished, seemingly satisfied with the results, he turned around and faced them again. “I’ve placed an enchantment on each of them and on the two of you. It will keep you from being sought out by the other vampires of the Stone family line and by the hunters. The Stone family may well choose to seek vengence – be aware of your surroundings and keep watch. They are far older and stronger than the creatures you have faced. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to return to my dimension gazing.”

“He’s probably watching some other dimension like its his own personal soap opera,” Tony muttered as they turned to leave.

“It’s not my personal soap opera,” Strange chuckled, waving goodbye, “but it’s certainly entertaining. Have fun, you two. Keep safe and enjoy your freedom.”

 

 

Tony was quiet on the way back to Stark Tower. He leaned his cheek against the window, looking out at traffic, aware that Happy was busy trying to start up a conversation with Steve, who was definitely not in the mood to talk.

Tony would have given anything to get out of the car; every noise inside was amplified, every word cutting into his hard-won calm. He had wanted Strange to say something more than just a cursory ‘I’m sorry’. He wasn’t sure what he had expected entirely. Maybe he was just too tired to think straight anymore. There was dirt under his fingernails he wanted to scrub away and bits of burned grass in his hair; he wanted to go home, but somehow the Tower didn’t feel like home anymore.

He wondered what Steve would think about buying a new place and moving in without telling anyone where they were going. Steve would enjoy small town life, he was sure, and he probably wouldn’t mind being able to hide away from the public eye for a while; after all, Tony wasn’t the only one the press was following around, especially after all the Captain America Is No More story had started to spread.

The city was too busy; Tony had never though he would think about civilization that way. When he had been younger, he had loved being in the city because it had been the best way to be swallowed up by the crowd – to be one of them instead of the child-genius everyone kept harping on about. He had grown used to the stares after a while, but there had always been a part of him that liked losing himself in crowds. Now the thought of walking through a crowd made him cringe; the smell of so many humans around made him itchy all over, like he had been rolling around in stinging nettle. He didn’t trust himself to be close enough to touch anyone. Touching would lead to biting, and he couldn’t do that – not to them, and certainly not to Steve. He sighed, slumping against the door. This was going to be his life; he was going to spend it running and hiding.

“Tony?” Steve sounded worried. He leaned closer, whispering in Tony’s ear, “Hey, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Tony said, keeping his eyes closed to drown out the sights blurring outside his window. It would be better to get the hell out of New York altogether. The mansion had been built with heavy, thick walls to keep the explosions and noise inside from getting out but that was only true for the lower levels. The car felt like it was paper thin by comparison. Hell, he could practically hear the man standing outside by the bus stop breathing even with the car running and the windows rolled up. He shuddered. Sure, he could rebuild everything and make it all better, but did he want to? Did he really want to be here, so close to temptation? “Just get me back to the tower, alright?”

“Alright, boss,” Happy said. “We’ll be home before you know it.”

Sure, Tony thought, breathing in sharply through his nose, we’ll be home. It wasn’t going to be a home – at least not until they were away from all these goddamned smells.

 

 

Tony started packing the minute he got into the penthouse; he grabbed things even if they smelled like Pepper’s perfume, wanting to keep the last of his favourites with him. With any luck they would smell like Steve soon enough.

He used Extremis to methodically write up a list of what he wanted to take with him and what should stay, working to keep his hands busy so that he wouldn’t crack. He could feel the exhaustion and tears building up again. He would have given anything to push them away, but they wouldn’t leave him alone.

He choked up, pitching forward onto his knees, pressing his face into the carpet beside what had once been his bed; tears started streaming their way down his face, unbidden. He sobbed so loud he was sure someone was going to hear it through the floor; he tried to muffle the sound, but it just kept getting louder. Wrapping his arms around his head, he floundered, trying to find something to cling to so that he could keep working – anything to keep working.

Steve’s hand was broad and perfect, pressing against his back like there was nowhere he would rather be. “Tony,” Steve murmured, kneeling beside Tony.

Tony continued to sob, curling into a ball. Oh great – just his luck – Steve had to be the one to find him like this. He wanted a drink – it just got worse and worse. He couldn’t even get drunk – he couldn’t even take a sip.

“Tony?” Steve sat down, leaning casually against the bed frame as if he sat there on the floor in Tony’s bedroom all the time. He gathered Tony up, lifting him into his lap and tucked Tony against his chest, resting his chin on the top of Tony’s head. “I know it’s hard,” Steve murmured, rubbing circles on Tony’s back, “but it’s going to be alright.”

“No it’s not,” Tony sobbed, burying his face in Steve’s shirt. “It’ll never be alright.”

“Someday it will,” Steve said, firmly. “It will. We’ll stick together and it’ll be alright. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but I promise you it will get better.”

Tony sniffled, wiping his nose on his arm. “I can’t stay here. It’s too much.”

“Then we’ll move,” Steve said, carding his fingers through Tony’s grimy hair. “We’ll go somewhere where we don’t have so many neighbors – where no one will know who we are.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, “we’ll find a cabin or something – somewhere far away, and we’ll be safe.”

“I don’t want to steal you away,” Tony said after a minute of quiet contemplation. “If you don’t want to go, I’ll find a way to reinforce the Tower. I’ll build a room here where no one can come in or out and I’ll… I’ll do whatever needs to be done.”

“I want to go away,” Steve whispered into Tony’s ear. “I want to be able to sleep in bed with you without worrying that someone’s going to sneak in and try to kill us both. They burned down our home Tony,”

“Our home,” Tony mumbled, lifting his head to look Steve in the eye, “I like the sound of that.”

“Me too,” Steve said with a soft smile. “So we’ll go. It doesn’t have to be forever – a year or two maybe, until we’re ready to come back. We can decide when we get there. The important thing is that we choose what happens next.” He stroked Tony’s cheek, tracing along the lines of Tony’s jaw.

“That sounds good,” Tony said, sniffling. He hoisted himself up, wincing, and straddled Steve’s lap, kissing him. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Steve said, kissing him back. “When do you want to leave?”

“In the morning maybe?” Tony kissed his way across Steve’s face towards his neck. He stopped when he reached the spot he normally bit into, caressing it with his thumb; Steve shivered against him, very obviously aroused by the touch.

“Morning sounds fine,” Steve said, swallowing thickly. “Did you have any place in mind?”

Tony hummed, tracing the bite marks on Steve’s neck. They were faint, but still there, two little red bumps marking Steve as his; it shouldn’t have warmed his heart to see them, but it did. “As a matter of fact, I do. It’s a little place I bought years ago – untraceable, by the way – it’s in Northern British Columbia.”

“You want to move to Canada?” Steve asked, sounding amused.

“Not just to Canada – to our own town,” Tony said, kissing Steve’s neck.

Steve laughed, fingers tangling in Tony’s shirt. “You bought yourself a town? Why does that not surprise me?”

Tony chuckled, giving Steve’s neck another careful kiss. “I bought it because it was an old mining town and I was debating on reopening the mine. The original company who owned the place built themselves a town there for their employees, but then ended up abandoning it when the ore prices turned to shit. It’s beautiful up there. It’s got lots of forest and grass and all the nature crap you could ever want. It’s got acres and acres of space too. All the buildings are fully furnished still, although I’m sure most of its hideously outdated by now and musty as hell – the point being though is that it’s got everything you could want.”

“I’m sure,” Steve nodded, settling a hand on Tony’s hip. “If it’s got you in it, then you don’t need to change a thing.”

“Really… so you don’t mind that the movie theatre is probably falling apart, and the swimming pool is going to be all grubby?” Tony wrapped his arms around Steve’s middle, his stomach clenching in nervousness. “I mean, I’m going to take care of a few things before we move in. I’ll have the caretaker go up and pick a house for us. They’ll renovate and swap out all the furniture and bedding and stuff. It’s not like I’m going to force you to move into a house that smells like mothballs or something.”

“It’ll be lovely,” Steve said, stroking the back of Tony’s neck. “I’m going to need to pack if we’re going in the morning.”

“Oh,” Tony murmured. “Right. Well, uh…” he moved to get off of Steve’s lap and found himself held there, anchored in place by Steve’s hands perched so delicately on his hips. He couldn’t help growling in pleasure at the feeling.

“Did you want to tell anyone about where we’re going? Or are we going to just, well, leave?”

Tony shrugged, resting his chin on Steve’s shoulder. “I guess we can tell Natasha and the others. Jarvis, you’ll tell Pepper and Happy, right? I mean, Pep knows all about the place already. She was there when I bought it, so she’ll be fine. SHIELD probably doesn’t know about it though.”

“Should we tell them?”

“I don’t know,” Tony grumbled. “Should we? Do we want Nick Fury butting in on our honeymoon?”

Steve kissed Tony’s cheek. “I don’t think he’ll butt in unless he’s got a good reason.”

“Oh, I dunno,” Tony sighed, fiddling with Steve’s t-shirt. “He’ll probably visit to make sure I’m not teaching you to be a depraved hobo.”

“Since when have you been a depraved hobo?”

“Since forever?” Tony chuckled. “But what about Bucky?” He wasn’t sure why he said it; the moment Bucky’s name left his mouth he felt cold all over. He knew why, and knew at once that he was being selfish.

Steve leaned back against the side of the bed, his eyes closed. “I don’t know.”

“You should be here for him,” Tony said, sitting lightly on Steve’s thighs. “I can fix the Tower – I’ll fix the Tower. We’ll say.”

“We’ll go,” Steve said, opening his eyes. He took Tony’s hands in his, kissing Tony’s knuckles one at a time. “We’ll arrange to have a way to get back to civilization when we need it, and we’ll figure something out when he’s ready. Right now, I want to give him space. Natasha will watch him – He likes her better anyway.”

“Steve,”

“I’m serious, Tony. I can always come back and visit – or if he gets his memory back, he can come visit me. We’ll work things out when he gets better,” Steve murmured. He took Tony by the chin and kissed him firmly. “You can still make a room in the Tower if you want – for when he’s ready – but we’re going.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Alright,” Tony murmured, kissing Steve’s on the tip of his nose, “If that’s what you want to do, then we’ll do it. We should start now I guess. I’ve got a list of stuff to have shipped out and a bunch of business to take care of if we’re going to disappear into the wild for a few years. You, my lovely Captain, have packing to do.” Tony sighed. He gave Steve another kiss, taking his time, drawing the breath from both their lungs until they were panting.

“I’ll go stock up on art supplies,” Steve said, clearing his throat. His face was flushed by the time Tony was done nibbling his way along his collar bone. He reluctantly pried Tony off his lap, setting him on the bed when Tony refused to release his grip on Steve’s hips. “Go,” Steve chuckled, ruffling Tony’s hair. “Take a shower, and go pack. Do what you need to do. I’ll come back in and feed you in a bit, ok?”

“Fine,” Tony grumbled, flopping backwards on the bed. “Go do your shopping.”

“Go do yours,” Steve said, giving Tony’s leg a squeeze. “We leave bright and early tomorrow morning.”

 

 

Dawn hadn’t quite broken when they left; they said their goodbyes quickly, leaving Jarvis in charge of the tower under Natasha’s control in case she needed to do anything important like avert a crisis or stop Justin Hammer from trying to rob them blind. Neither Clint nor Natasha had been surprised by Tony and Steve’s decision to leave the city. They were solemn about it, but happy for the couple, knowing that privacy was what the pair needed. Natasha told Steve that she would check in with them as often as possible; she pinched Tony’s cheek and told him that if he didn’t answer their calls, she was going to personally fly up to his town and beat him to death with his own arm. Tony assured her that she didn’t have to worry – he knew how much Steve needed to keep an eye on Bucky, and would have plucked the sun from the sky in order to keep him happy. Natasha pinched his cheek a little softer after that. She even kissed him on the forehead.

Tony arranged for their new house to be upgraded, going so far as to fly workers in to have everything ready when they got there. He gave them a week to get the work done and made sure Jarvis supervised and instructed the workers, knowing that with Jarvis in command, things would be perfect when they arrived.

Tony fabricated a version of his last prototype armor, taking it with him in case he needed to get Steve out of the country or into the city in case of emergencies. He was going to build himself a new suit when he got settled again, but for now he would keep the old one on standby just in case; Dummy and the other bots were coming too, and there was a whole box of tennis balls waiting for him in the new house. He wasn’t worried; there would be plenty of supplies flown in to work with when he got there, and anything else he needed was only a phone call away. He decided to leave most of the lab equipment in case Bruce needed it for Avengers business; he had duplicates of everything he needed shipped to his new home. It would be different being away from the city, but hopefully different would be a good thing this time.

There wouldn’t be a way to track them once they were gone – at least not through conventional means. Tony had been squirreling away cash for a rainy day, hiding it in different accounts and names, stuffing it in folders and depositing it in safety deposit boxes in case he ever needed to get out of the country in a hurry. Pepper had called him obsessive; Tony had preferred to think of it as being pragmatic. Being rich meant someone always had an eye on you, and he had no intention of living in the limelight forever; he had set up accounts for her and Happy too, and but they didn’t about them yet. Hopefully they would never need them. The Avengers had their own special accounts as well, ones he told Coulson and Natasha all about in case the worst happened while they were out of reach.

All in all, Tony was ready to go; Steve was just as ready, although he had far less stuff to pack.

It surprised Tony how easy it was to pick up and leave.

 

Coulson showed up to see them off, bearing belated gifts; he handed Tony a file with information on the Stone family line, apologizing for having gotten it to them so late. Tony smiled and shook Coulson’s hand, telling him to go pick out whatever he wanted from his Captain America collection for saving the day – as usual.

Pepper called Tony as he got into the car; he told Steve to drive, and listened to her ranting about how he had ruined a perfectly good mansion by irritating the ‘idiots outside’. She sounded sad when she wished him the best; he told her to woman the fort while he was gone, and gave her his private number in case she needed to get a hold of him or Steve, instructing her to call whenever she needed, even if it was just to talk. He told her to give Rhodey the number when he came back from his latest tour of duty with instructions to bother him as much as was humanly possible. He told her that they would make plans for a get together in the future – when it was safe for everyone. After that, she gave him shit for sending her a hundred different pairs of Louboutins, and told him that she would miss him. She ordered him to keep out of trouble or she would drive up to his new house and personally stick those new shoes up his ass. He wondered idly if she had been taking lessons from Natasha, but didn’t comment.

Steve had looked at him strangely after he had hung up; it was probably because he was trying not to cry, but he choose to ignore that little detail, and ordered Steve to drive on, watching the road instead of focusing on what he was going to miss about the city.

They were already out of the city by the time the sun was bright on the horizon. Steve drove them to the airport where they boarded Tony’s private plane, hopscotching their way over the country under the watchful eyes of Jarvis and Nick Fury, who broke over the comms only once in order to tell them to keep their asses out of the fire.

 

 

It took them a full week to get to their new home; they took the last leg of the journey by helicopter, landing in a small field a few feet from the first broken patch of town. There was a car waiting for them down below with a photocopied map of the city sitting on the driver’s seat; the pilot handed them the keys and then flew off once they had their luggage. He didn’t even wait to make sure they got into the car alright.

Steve wasn’t entirely impressed with that. He packed their bags into the trunk, eyeing the sky as if expecting to see someone at any moment.

It was quiet here, almost too quiet. Tony had never been this far outside of a city before, at least while not on a mission. Even when he had been held hostage in Afghanistan, there had always been someone around, lurking out of sight. Here there was nothing but crickets, birds and other assorted wildlife wandering about in the bushes and trees. It made him uneasy, but at the same time he felt giddy that he couldn’t smell another human around for miles.

“So the rest of our stuff is already in the house?” Steve asked, climbing into the driver’s seat. He waited for Tony to finish giving the area a hearty sniff before reaching over and throwing open the passenger’s door, beckoning for Tony to get in the car.

“Everything is here, yeah – got here almost two days ago, actually,” Tony said, arranging himself in the passenger seat. He didn’t bother doing up his seatbelt. It was so empty here, Steve would have to go blind in order to actually hit something. The roads weren’t the best, but they were empty aside from a few weeds. They were wide enough to support two cars driving side by side, so it wasn’t like they would run out of space. The roads hadn’t been used all that frequently after the city had been built; the mining facility had been shut down only four years after opening, so the wear and tear was minimal at best. If he needed to he could call a company in and have the entire place repaved, but he didn’t think it would come to that – at least not for another few years, and by then who knew what would happen?

Steve frowned at Tony’s decision to go seatbelt-less, but didn’t say anything. He started the car, glancing down at the dashboard where he had spread out their city map, running his finger along the main route to a house that was circled in red ink. It was located dead centre in the city, the perfect point where it would blend in with the rest of the homes and vanish from sight. “I still can’t believe you own an entire city,” Steve murmured, starting the car.

“Technically,” Tony said, kicking his feet up on the dashboard, “we own a city.”

“We?” Steve said, smiling crookedly.

“Yep,” Tony said, pulling his shades off, tucking them in his pocket. He wouldn’t need them out here, at least not for cosmetic purposes; there was no one here to scare. He grimaced. It was a hell of a lot brighter outside than he had expected, considering all the trees around, but it was a nice kind of bright – the warm kind, where sitting out in it wasn’t too much of a burden.

They drove in silence; there was no reception up here, at least not in a car this old, and even if there had been a radio to listen to it wouldn’t have been all that interesting considering they were in the middle of nowhere and nothing had probably happened here in the last fifty years – well, aside from the whole town-springing-up-and-then-going-bankrupt thing. That had probably been pretty interesting when it had happened.

Tony took stock of the buildings as they passed by, listing out buildings that would need their siding and flashing replacing in the coming years. He wasn’t the best with carpentry, but he would have plenty of time to learn.

It was a little creepy staring into windows as the passed; the curtains were still drawn, as if someone had gotten tired of the noonday sun and simply pulled them to get some relief from the heat. It almost looked like the residents had simply gone off to work one day, and never come back. There were still some toys sitting in the driveways they passed, dropped and abandoned after their owners had packed up and left.

They pulled up in front of their new house. Like all the others it was large, square and sided with faded brown boards on the outside; it had been three houses at one point in its life, but now it was just one massive house. The workers Tony had hired to check the structural integrity had knocked down walls inside, creating a custom workshop in the lower levels. They had lifted the top half of the building up off the foundation and rebuilt it piece by piece until it only looked old; inside was probably just as spacious and modern as Stark Mansion had been once Tony had renovated it, although it wasn’t nearly that big.

Tony rolled up his window and pulled out his keys, clicking them into the garage despite the fact that there was no one here to steal from them; he wasn’t going to ignore security just because he was in the middle of nowhere. He knew better than to leave any openings for an attack. They had enough space here in the garage for three different cars, but right now all it was housing was Steve’s motorcycle; Tony had shipped it in secretly, knowing just how much Steve loved it. The look on Steve’s face made it worth all the trouble of getting it through customs; Steve was so happy to see his bike he nearly took the door off the car in his rush to get at it.

While Steve fawned over his motorcycle, Tony wandered to the trunk and popped it open, lifting out their bags. They hadn’t brought much with them except for a few sets of clothing for the trip. Their things were inside sitting in boxes, ready to be unpacked, having been flown in beforehand. There was nothing to wait for, nothing left behind; everything they needed, they had at their fingertips. Sure, he still needed to finalize Jarvis’ hookup, but aside from that the place was pretty much as good as it was going to get; they were finally home.

“You done making muumuu eyes at your bike?” Tony drawled, tucking the first of his bags under his arm.

Steve gave his bike a reverent pat. “When did you find the time to get her shipped up here?”

“Oh,” Tony said, shrugging, “you know. I had lots of time on the plane. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Tony,” Steve said, taking Tony’s bag from his hands. He smiled widely. “This means a lot to me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, pulling Tony closer by the collar of his shirt. He kissed Tony, soft and sweet, and then pulled away, grabbing the rest of their bags with an excited grin. “Let’s get settled in.”

“Sure,” Tony chuckled, feeling a little lightheaded. “Someone’s excited.” He lugged his bags towards the door and led Steve into their new living room, kicking his shoes off into the plastic tray lying beside the door; Steve did the same, following along slowly, taking in the scenery with wide eyes.

The room looked fantastic, considering how much time the team had been given to work their magic. The carpet in the living room was soft and fluffy, cream coloured and gorgeous; there were leather couches settled around the room in a u shape, everything custom made to withstand an elephant sitting on it; they were the soft kind that were easy to sink into, perfect for late night movies and snuggling.

The kitchen and dining room were floored with dark hardwood laminate, easy to clean and quick to repair in case of scratches. The interior designers had set everything out ahead of time, just like Tony had expected; everything was unpacked, clean and ready for use. The kitchen was furnished with top of the line appliances made of stainless steel. Sitting on the counters were blenders and waffle irons and everything else Steve might want or need to cook with. Looking at it now, Tony was fairly certain he had gone a wee bit overboard. He knew for a fact that Steve didn’t need a quesadilla maker, but there one was, sitting beside the fridge. At least they could still see the counters; he would have been more worried if they had been completely buried. He reminded himself to tell Pepper to give the decorators and renovators a surprise bonus. The kitchen looked better than he had expected considering it had been first constructed in the late seventies. They had clearly taken his ‘clean lines and no funny business’ notes to heart.

All of the rooms had their own crisp crown moldings, and while there wasn’t anything fancy on the walls, there was lots of space. He had a feeling the walls wouldn’t remain plain for long; Steve would make sure of that.

Tony set his bag down on the chestnut coloured coffee table, giving the matching dining set an appreciative nod before going to peek into the fridge; as expected it was packed with food. He had spared no expense on this, and intended to keep the place stuffed with food. There were three freezers downstairs filled with meat and other perishables, ready and waiting to be cooked up. He whistled, picking up a cold bottle of beer from the side rack. “I think we’re set.”

“I see that,” Steve laughed, leaning his chest against Tony’s back, peering over his shoulder to get a better look at the contents of the fridge. “Looks like they brought a whole supermarket.”

“We’ll be getting shipments once every two weeks,” Tony said, offering Steve the beer. “We pick them up at the helicopter pad at nine a.m. every Monday.” He wiggled the bottle back and forth, trying to make it look enticing. He hadn’t smelled beer in a long time; it would be great to smell it on Steve’s breath. If he was lucky, he might even get to taste it on those lovely lips.

Steve took the beer and put it back in the fridge. “I think I’ll leave that for after dinner,” he said, wrapping his arms around Tony’s middle, pulling him backwards into a hug. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“Yeah,” Tony hummed, leaning back into Steve’s embrace. “But it’ll be worth it.”

“Give me the tour,” Steve murmured into Tony’s ear. “You know your way around already, I bet.”

“You bet your sweet ass I do,” Tony grinned. He tried to squash a rather undignified squeal when Steve pinched his ass in retaliation. “Hey! You’re supposed to be sweet and cuddly!”

“Am I?” Steve purred, giving Tony’s ass another pinch, one that had Tony’s knees going weak and his cock getting as hard as iron. “I don’t remember that being in my file.”

“You’re cruel,” Tony grumbled, taking Steve by the hand. There was one room he wanted to show Steve, one he had been thinking a lot about. “In that case, the tour it is,” he announced, leading Steve through the living room, towards the grand staircase that lead up to the second floor. He took the stairs two at a time, tugging Steve along after him, trying not to grin like a crazy person.

There were six bedrooms on the upper floor, and another three rooms down in the lower level of the house, just enough space for everyone on the team when they came to visit. He had a few other rooms built specially on the second floor, designed with Steve in mind. One was a library, if Steve wanted it. There were plenty of shelves installed already, just waiting for new books to be brought in. Tony had taken the liberty of shipping in two replica couches, ones that looked exactly like the ones he had kept in the mansion’s library, on the off chance Steve wanted someplace quiet to read. Of course, it wasn’t entirely for Steve; Tony had a few books of his own stashed there, waiting to be cracked open again. His first edition Assimov collection had gone up in flames, but he had managed to get his hands on a few less expensive copies – ones he could actually open and read. He was looking forward to getting at them again.

The next room was an art studio – one Tony hoped Steve would like; he had raided three art supply stores in order to get everything just right, and it was the most spacious of all the rooms in the house, aside for maybe the workout room, which was filled with custom-made Avengers-strength work out equipment. Tony knew just how much Steve loved working out and art; sure, the wilderness had lots of place to hike and run in, but nothing beat hitting the weights or treadmill in the evening before bed. There was an actual gym in the city, but it hadn’t been updated since its original installation. The structural engineers had checked the entire town out at Tony’s expense and request, so if Steve wanted to wander and find himself somewhere to play in private, he would have plenty of different spaces to enjoy. This way, Steve had the best of city and country life.

“So this,” Tony said, leading Steve towards the master bedroom, “is our bedroom. If you want, I mean. You can pick any of them – you don’t need to be with me all the time.”

Steve looked around, his mouth dropping open. The bed was gigantic, big enough for four people to sleep comfortably on it; there were two dressers, two wardrobes and two massive closets, all done up in oak. The walls were a deep navy blue. Steve gaped at the granite fireplace and its leather couches, seemingly amazed by their presence.

“You ok?” Tony asked, pulling at his fingers. He hadn’t felt his nervous in years – not since his first presentation at MIT. Steve hadn’t said a word; he hadn’t even made a sound. Was this good or bad? He really couldn’t tell, and the wait was making him crazy.

Steve turned around sluggishly, looking from the bed to Tony, confusion in his eyes. “Tony? You said you weren’t ready for something like this,” he murmured. “We can wait if you want. I can sleep in one of the other rooms while you decide what you want to do. That would be fine with me.”

“I don’t want you to sleep somewhere else,” Tony blurted. He moved into Steve’s space and wrapped his arms around him. “I want you here.”

“You’re sure?” Steve asked, resting his hands gently on Tony’s hip.

“Of course I’m sure. Look,” Tony grumbled, “I’m ready. I know I wasn’t sure about it earlier, but I know what I want now.” He moved close but not too close, worried that Steve might be uncomfortable if he did anything more. He wasn’t sure what he would do if Steve had changed his mind; maybe he would live outside in the woods, or something. He tried not to think about what being alone had been like.

“Are you sure?” Steve smiled softly. He didn’t look skeptical, or concerned, to Tony’s immense relief.

“Believe me,” Tony said, cupping Steve’s face in his hands, “I love you, and I intend to spend the rest of your life and mine here with you. That’s not a burden – it’s not a difficulty or suffering or settling or anything else – it’s the truth. I love you, Steve. Now shut up and kiss me before I start regurgitating sappy lines from romance novels until you cave in and kiss me anyway.”

“Alright,” Steve chuckled, pulling Tony closer. “I think I can do that.”

Tony laughed into the kiss at first but soon turned it dirty, biting Steve’s lower lip until Steve was busy moaning in that shy little way he did when he was trying not to show just how turned on he was.

“Take me to our bed?” Tony asked, batting his eyelashes.

“Are you sure? I mean, yes. Yes, please.” Steve kissed Tony again, no longer giving chaste kisses. He sucked on Tony’s tongue as he ran his hands down Tony’s jacket, tracing his fingers along the ridges of Tony’s jeans. “Can I?”

“You can do whatever you want, honey,” Tony murmured, rubbing his thumb over Steve’s shiny lower lip. “Do whatever you want. I’m yours, remember?”

Steve flushed, grinning from ear to ear. He fumbled with Tony’s jacket’s zipper, trying to get it open. “I uh…” He fought with it until he looked like he was going to cry in frustration. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a lot of – I’m not so good at this.”

Tony took the zipper out of his hands and pulled it down, slipping out the jacket. He tossed it onto the floor in a pile and reached out, taking Steve’s hand in his. “Come here,” he commanded, walking backwards until the backs of his legs hit the edge of the bed. He sat down, pulling Steve closer until he could comfortably run his hands up Steve’s broad chest, finger skimming over Steve’s nipples, finding them easily even through Steve’s thick shirt. “Before we do this, is there anything you don’t understand?”

“I understand the mechanics,” Steve said, looking mildly flustered, “if that’s what you mean. I was in the army, not charm school.”

“But you’ve never had sex before?” Tony asked with a smile, trying to make the question less awkward. He tugged at the front of Steve’s jeans, rubbing his thumb over the button, feeling the warmth radiating from the smooth metal.

“No, I’ve never had sex before,” Steve admitted, capturing Tony’s wrist in his hand. “But you don’t need to baby me.”

“Who said I want to baby you?” Tony teased, popping the button open. He drew Steve’s zipper down, unsurprised when he found himself eye to eye with Steve’s straining underwear; they were plain old white briefs, nothing fancy, but to Tony they seemed more like the Holy Grail of underwear. He had always known what Steve wore; they had changed together after Avengers meetings frequently enough for it to be less than mysterious. Hell, he had thought about it while he was in the shower, jerking off, but he had never through he would get to see them like this. It made him feel hot all over. Maybe it was because he had permission to touch this time – maybe that was what was different.

Steve’s cock had definitely taken an interest in what was going on, if the wet spot there had anything to say about it. Tony stroked Steve through his briefs, leaning forward to breathe in the scent of Steve’s arousal; as a human it had never been this intense before. He could smell Steve’s every feeling, could have tasted it if he had decided to lean in to tongue his way up Steve’s lower belly. It was exhilarating, like he was going skydiving without a parachute.

Steve groaned, his fingers tangling in Tony’s hair as if he needed something to hold on to. “Tony,”

In the olden days Tony might have yanked Steve’s briefs down to the floor and started in on him right then and there, but he wanted to savor this; he wanted Steve to remember this as something good – not as just a desperate, rushed fuck. He slipped his fingers up the leg holes of Steve’s briefs, playing with the soft skin of Steve’s groin, dragging his thumb over the root of Steve’s cock. Steve shuddered, gasping and pitched forward, nearly knocking Tony over, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

“You ok?” Tony asked, slipping his hands free.

Steve was breathing hard, practically panting. He panted, his face going from faint pink to glaring burgundy as he tried to stand up straight. “Oh god. I’m… I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, no worries,” Tony said, squeezing Steve’s hips when Steve made to take a step backwards. He traced the growing wet spot on Steve’s underwear with his thumb, mesmerized by what had just happened. It wasn’t every day he made Captain America come in his pants like a teenager after all; he had figured it would be him making the mess, not Steve. He helped Steve out of his briefs, careful not to rush the movements, stroking his palms reverently over every last sticky inch of Steve’s cock and thighs. “It’s fine Steve. Don’t worry about it. It happens to everyone.”

“It’s not fine,” Steve muttered, hanging his head, biting his lower lip.

Tony gave the briefs a tug when he got them down to Steve’s ankles. “Lift,” he murmured, stroking Steve’s calf.

Steve obliged, kicking his briefs across the room as if he couldn’t wait to get away from them. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Hey, I’m not judging. I know how hot I am,” Tony said with a smirk, winking at Steve. “I can’t say I blame you.”

Steve scowled, but his smile came back when Tony stood up, taking the hem of Steve’s shirt in his hands. “I’m glad it’s you.”

Tony rolled Steve’s shirt up, managing to get it off without smacking Steve in the nose; he tossed the shirt away, running his fingers over Steve’s hardened nipples, stroking through the fine feather-soft blonde hair he found there. “Honey, this is probably the hottest thing I’ve ever done. The pleasure’s all mine.”

Steve clucked his tongue in disbelief, giving Tony a shy smile. “You don’t have to say that.”

“Lean down, baby,”

“Like this?” Steve leaned forward, putting his knee up on the edge of the bed.

Tony pulled Steve closer. “Just like that.” He ran his tongue over Steve’s clavicle, nibbling his way up Steve’s shoulder, biting down but not biting hard enough to pierce Steve’s skin. “Do me a favor,” he said as he came up for air, his voice raspy, saliva dribbling down his chin, “Get me out of these pants, huh?”

Steve’s hands were gentle and slow, not quite shaking but certainly tentative. He started with Tony’s shirt instead of his pants, as if needing to work up the courage to head lower, popping each button, smoothing down the fabric as he went. He slipped the shirt off Tony’s shoulders, and let it fall to the floor. He moved his hands lower, letting them hover over Tony’s hips as if he didn’t quite know what to do with them.

Tony took Steve’s hands in his, pressing them against his jeans. He let Steve’s hands go and sprawled across the mattress his back. “You can touch me, you know,” he murmured, pushing up into Steve’s hands. “You feel really good.”

“Yeah?” Steve asked tentatively, threading his fingers through the loops on Tony’s belt, feeling his way along the leather towards the clasp at the front.

“Oh yeah,” Tony purred, stroking Steve’s shoulder. “Take me out of my pants, Steve. I want to feel you all over.”

Steve’s hands were much steadier than before; he had Tony’s belt undone and pulled free from his pants before Tony could even take another breath in. He hesitated only briefly when he popped the button on Tony’s pants and unzipped him. Tony wiggled helpfully, tangling his fingers in Steve’s hair as Steve slid down the bed so that he could pull Tony’s pants off one leg a time. Tony’s underwear, however, proved to be a bit more of a challenge. In hindsight, he really shouldn’t have chosen the red silk briefs that morning; they weren’t quite a thong, but they had been pulled close enough to be distracting. Steve stared at them, flabbergasted, his cheeks going even pinker than they already were.

Tony chuckled, taking Steve by the hand again. “Never seen fancy undies before?” He pulled Steve’s hands back into position on his hip and then let them go, wanting to see what Steve would do.

“They’re… soft,” Steve said, thickly. He ran his hand over Tony’s groin so slowly Tony was fairly certain he was going to have an embarrassing accident of his own; his cock was throbbing painfully, begging for attention. Steve, the kind man that he was, took Tony in hand, feeling his cock through the silk. “I… It… it feels…” Steve seemed lost for words.

“Feels good, right?” Tony murmured into Steve’s ear, pushing his hips forward, making Steve squeeze his cock harder. He groaned. “You can take them off you know. They’re detachable for a reason.”

“Are they now,” Steve said, rubbing Tony’s thigh through the silk.

“Oh yeah,” Tony nodded, kissing Steve again, licking his way between Steve’s lips. “I mean, if you’d prefer to fuck with them still on I think I can arrange something…”

Steve made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. He pulled Tony’s underwear down with a deft tug; they flew off the side of the bed and hit the floor, becoming a puddle of red silk on the soft grey carpet, immediately forgotten.

Tony sat up, making space beside him, motioning for Steve to follow his lead. “Lie down.”

Steve complied, slipping gracefully onto his back. He parted his legs bashfully, as if not sure what Tony wanted from him and then spread them wide when he saw the look of pure unadulterated lust on Tony’s face.

Tony stripped Steve of his socks while throwing his own across the room. He kneeled between Steve’s legs, admiring the way Steve’s cock was flushed and hard again, standing to attention. If he hadn’t seen it, he would have never have known that Steve had come a few minutes ago. He let out a soft moan, mesmerized by the sound and smell of the blood pulsing in Steve’s groin; it wasn’t quite overwhelming, but he couldn’t help leaning in to investigate further. He pressed his ear against Steve’s leg, scraping his beard against Steve’s inner thigh as he leaned in. Steve’s cock was solid against his cheek, smelling of soap and musky sweat.

Steve moaned; his cock twitched as Tony kissed his way up his inner thigh. “Oh,” he murmured again and again, fingers digging into the sheets below him. “Tony,”

Tony bit down, his teeth piercing Steve’s soft skin. The blood was rich here, heady and full bodied on his tongue. He took a suck and braced Steve’s hips as they came up off the bed, curses streaming from Steve’s lips. Tony looked up, licking his lips. Steve’s eyes were wide, his pupils blown. “That felt good, right?”

“Yes,” Steve said hoarsely, spreading his legs wider. “You can do that again if you want.”

Tony smirked, tonguing his way up Steve’s leg until he had found the same spot he had bitten into earlier. He bit again, sinking his teeth in a little bit deeper when he heard Steve’s next moan, knowing that he had found a good spot. Steve’s erection wavered, trying to stay despite the sudden change in of blood flow; Tony wrapped his hand around it, jerking slowly each time he took a mouthful of blood, pleased by the way Steve started thrusting lazily into his hand. He licked again and again, cleaning the wound up, and then moved to pull Steve’s cock into his mouth sucking at it just as fiercely as he had the wound.

Steve wailed, his thigh muscles rippling as he tried not to thrust up into Tony’s mouth; his cock was hot and thick against Tony’s tongue, just a little bitter with pre-cum.

Tony pulled off, licking the saliva off of his lips. He looked up at Steve, running his tongue over his lower lip, drawing the movement out.

Steve was a wreck; his hair was tousled, his face flushed, slick with sweat. He sat up on his elbows, looking down at Tony questioningly, seemingly surprised by the sudden stop.

“I want to fuck you,” Tony purred, feeling warm and content now that his stomach full. He crawled his way up Steve’s body, pressing his cock against Steve’s to make his point, enjoying the friction of cock against skin; he bit down on Steve’s throat but didn’t sink his teeth in, sucking a mark there.

Steve gasped, hips thrusting up to meet Tony’s. “Oh god. Please, oh god,” he grunted, grabbing a hold of Tony’s hips. “Please? You want to?”

“Of course I want to,” Tony said, planting a kiss on Steve’s lips.

Steve murmured something soft, his eyelids fluttering.

“What was that?” Tony asked, lowering his head so that he could tease Steve’s left nipple with his teeth.

Steve arched underneath him, gasping in pain and pleasure. “Oh shit – I’ve never,”

“I know you’ve never,” Tony said, letting Steve’s poor abused nipple go. He rested his chin on Steve’s chest. “You said that already, remember? If you aren’t ready, we don’t have to go that far. I can suck you, or we can jerk each other off.”

“I want you inside me,” Steve said, going up on his elbows. “I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to have you inside me for months.”

Tony stared at Steve, surprised by the sudden admission. Steve had been lusting after him for months? He supposed that he shouldn’t have been surprised; Steve had admitted to loving him after all, so it wasn’t like this was some big secret. He’d wanted to fuck Steve for months too after all.

“Tony?” Steve looked ready to clamp his knees together. “Should I have not – oh. I’m – yeah I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, no,” Tony said, stroking Steve’s thighs. “No. I like it. I want to do that for you. I do. Have you ever tried before?”

“Tried?” Steve looked confused. “What do you mean tried?”

“With a finger?”

Steve flushed, turning to look at his knee. “Uh… I tried once. It didn’t really do much for me.”

“Did you use lube?” Tony asked, sitting up. He leaned over and pulled open the top drawer of the nightstand; as expected there was a box of condoms and three different hand pumps of flavored and unflavored lube. He tried not to be too gleeful about the amount at his disposal. There was enough there for a month – if they went slow.

“I read the pamphlets Coulson gave me,” Steve said, shrugging. “It said lube was for condoms. I know some guys used hand lotion when they… do that sort of stuff.”

“It’s for anything you want to make slippery, and its way better than hand lotion. Trust me,” Tony said, lifting up one of the bottles. He set it on Steve’s belly, turning it around so Steve could see it better. “It’ll make things much smoother.”

“Smoother?”

“I’m assuming it didn’t do anything for you when you fingered yourself dry, right?” Tony said, smiling softly when he saw Steve’s embarrassed scowl. “So, alright. Here’s the deal. We’re going to go slow,” he said, setting the pump bottle on the bed beside Steve’s hip. “You can’t rush this – more importantly, I’m not going to rush this.”

“Slow is good,” Steve said, nodding quickly. He parted his legs when Tony slid back down between them, peering down to watch what Tony was doing.

Tony rubbed at Steve’s thighs, gently massaging his way around Steve’s balls towards his perineum. He paused there, rubbing his thumb back and forth until Steve started squirming at the newfound sensation. “You like that?”

“Yes,” Steve grunted. He looked like he was ready to throw his head back and start moaning again, but he seemed unwilling to look away from what Tony was doing, as if not looking would make the pleasure stop.

“If it hurts, you’re going to tell me,” Tony ordered, giving Steve’s inner thigh a nip. He planted a kiss on Steve’s cock when Steve started nodding feverishly and then pumped a handful of lube into his palm, slicking up his fingers. Strictly speaking Tony had been with enough virgins in his lifetime to know how much lube to use, but somehow he found himself putting more than was absolutely necessary. The thought of seeing Steve open and sloppy made his cock twitch in anticipation. He slicked up his index finger, pushing it in up until the first knuckle had vanished inside Steve’s body.

Steve’s reaction was immediate; he tensed, startled by the intrusion and took in a deep breath, biting his lower lip. Tony rubbed Steve’s thigh, withdrawing his finger slowly. “Hey! I said if it hurt, you need to tell me.”

“It doesn’t hurt,” Steve said, letting out the breath he had been unconsciously holding. “It’s just… funny.”

“Sexy funny or ha ha funny?” Tony asked, smearing lube over his finger again. He twisted his finger as he slowly moved it in and out, watching Steve’s face to make sure he wasn’t hurting him; the last thing he wanted to do was hurt Steve.

“Good funny,” Steve insisted. He spread his legs wider, lifting himself up. “Can you – can you do more? Harder?”

“More?” Tony grinned. “Sure. I can do more. Harder will have to wait until you’re more relaxed though.” He worked deliberately, teasing and stroking until Steve was loose and slippery, his muscles relaxed and pliable. Steve writhed under Tony’s touch; he lifted his legs, muttering for Tony to do more than just fuck him with his fingers, begging for more.

Tony patted Steve’s inner thigh. “Do you want to do this from behind? Or from the front?”

“Front,” Steve murmured, grabbing a hold of his knees and lifting until his legs were held up high, offering himself up. “Please. I want to see you.”

“I want to see you too,” Tony whispered. He reached for the condom he had left on Steve’s pillow and was surprised when Steve pushed his hand away. “You don’t want me to use one?”

“No,” Steve said firmly. “I want to feel you. All of it – I want to feel all of it.”

“Are you sure?” Tony gave Steve’s cock a gentle tug, squeezing the head until Steve groaned and wriggled in protest. “It’ll be messy.”

“I don’t mind if it’s messy,” Steve insisted, trying to stop himself from rutting against Tony’s hand. “Go ahead.”

Tony smirked, liking the sound of that. He didn’t need to be told twice. He positioned Steve the way he wanted him, tucking a pillow underneath Steve’s lower back, and then lined himself up, pushing in slowly as Steve breathed out, working himself inside one delicious inch at a time. He hadn’t done this with a man in years; he and Pepper had enjoyed anal sex while they were together, but it had usually been him on the receiving end. This was something special – something he wouldn’t take for granted. He stretched out over top of Steve, balancing with Steve’s calves on his shoulders. “Tell me when.”

“When?” Steve let out a shaky breath. He clenched around Tony and then seemed startled by the sensation, staring at where they were connected. “That’s…” he clenched again, his eyes widening. “Oh god. You’d better start. I’m not going to last.”

Tony rolled his hips. It felt good; Steve was hot around him, wet and slick and open – oh so open to Tony’s cock, welcoming it in, practically pulling it back inside. Tony set a slow pace, dragging his cock in and out, relishing the slide. He kept going, thrusting again and again until Steve’s knees were bouncing up and down on his shoulders.

Steve’s grunts got louder and louder; he pushed down in time with Tony’s thrusts, gasping when they started moving together.

Neither of them lasted.

It had been months since Tony had been with anyone, and the combined sensation of Steve’s body heat and the slickness of the lube had him coming before he could even warn Steve about what was happening. As it turned out, Steve could have cared less. He lay underneath Tony, blissed out, his body loose from his orgasm, having come far before Tony had with his cock trapped and rubbing between the two of them.

Tony pulled out, easing himself free. He arranged Steve, wrapping his arms around him from behind and buried his nose in Steve’s throat, letting out a contented sigh. “I think that’s the best welcome home I’ve ever had,” he said once he had his breath back.

Steve patted Tony’s arm weakly, his eyes already closed, half asleep, practically dreaming already. “S’good.”

“Yep,” Tony said, kissing Steve’s earlobe. “S’good, works for me.”

 

 

Tony woke up, dragged into consciousness by the sheer quiet of the room. He got up, careful not to disturb Steve, and walked out onto the balcony, letting the door close behind him. The night air was cold, but it wasn’t unpleasant; he didn’t have to worry about mosquitoes anymore, he thought to himself with a smile as he leaned against the wooden railing. They didn’t even try to bother him.

It was strange to see stars again. It had been a long time since he had seen them without having a panic attack; today they didn’t seem so menacing. They didn’t look like a thousand eyes turned in his direction. Tonight, they were just stars, white dots on black velvet. He sighed, listening as the crickets and forest life wandered about in the empty city below. Tomorrow he would make Steve breakfast and then get Jarvis up and running. It wouldn’t be too hard to work, now that he was far away from the scent of foreign blood; no strangers would come up here – not without his permission or knowledge. He had security cameras set up all over the town; there would be no getting in without him knowing about it.

He caught a moth as it flew past him and held it cupped in his hand. He could have crushed it easily if he had wanted to. There were a thousand different insects clambering for the best spot against the windowpanes as they tried to get at the light burning quietly in the living room down below; they were shadflies – they were irritating little fuckers, but harmless enough despite their large numbers. They had forgotten to turn it off in their haste to tour the bedroom, Tony realized with a laugh; no wonder there were so many around. He let the moth go and watched it fly off into the night, knowing that in a few minutes he would see it smacking helplessly against the window just like all the other insects. That was just its nature. His, on the other hand, was to build.

Tony turned away from the stars and went back inside, closing the door behind him.

“Hey,” Steve mumbled sleepily, still tangled in the blankets and pillows. “Why are you up?”

“Light’s on the in living room,” Tony said, bending over Steve to give him a kiss. “I’ll be back in a second, alright? I just want to turn it off.”

“Sure,” Steve said, giving Tony a quick peck before he could move away. “Hurry back, ok? It’s cold without you here.”

Tony ruffled Steve’s hair. “I’ll be back in a sec, babe,” he murmured. He walked downstairs and turned the light off, chuckling when he spotted the moth among the shadflies. “Better luck next time guys,” he said, heading back upstairs; Steve was waiting for him, and there was nothing in the world that was going to keep him from slipping back into bed.

He looked around the room and spotted Steve’s bag sitting beside the couch. It could probably wait till morning, but he didn’t mind carrying it up. Tomorrow he was going to sit on his bed and watch Steve unpack it. He took the stairs three at a time, grinning.