The soldier and the metal man

Together again, again

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A/N: Thanks to Illyric for inspiring this part and the one to follow.

Ch. 19

It wasn't too hard for Steve to find Tony. The inventor was locked away in his lab, concentrating hard on some new prototype. Doing things like this helped to calm him down, and they focused his energy into something positive.

So when Steve barged into the room, out of breath and yelling Tony's name, the billionaire nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Jesus Christ, Steve!" Tony hissed, throwing down the welding torch that he had been using. "What the fuck's your problem?!"

"I talked to Johnny," Steve answered, still breathing heavily. He'd run all the way down from the sixth floor to the basement. "He told me what happened. I'm so sorry, Tony. So sorry. Please forgive me."

Steve's eyes were pleading, and he took a step forward, trying to get closer to Tony.

Tony sighed and put his hands on Steve's shoulders. "First, calm down. You look like you're about to have a heart attack. Here," he reached over and pulled a stool towards them. "Sit."

Steve nodded and took a seat, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry. Not quite used to running like that anymore."

"Yeah. Just keep breathing. In and out... there ya go."

It took a few minutes for Steve to catch his breath. When he did, he spoke again. "I'm sorry, Tony. I should've never doubted you. Johnny told me everything, and I understand if you're angry - you have every right to be - I just hope we can get past it."

To Steve's surprise, a smile crossed Tony's face.

"I'm not angry."

"You're... not? I accused you of cheating on me with Johnny Storm and made all of the other Avengers hate you and-"

"And I knew that eventually you'd figure out that it didn't happen and you'd regret it. What's done is done. I just hope you've learned something from it."

"I'll never doubt you again, I swear," Steve looked at Tony seriously.

"Good." Tony leaned in and kissed Steve on the forehead.

He stepped back when Steve made a strange sound. It was sort of like a groan and a soft cry at the same time.

"Are you okay?" Steve's mouth was hanging open, and he had wrapped his arms around his stomach.

"Hurts..." he choked out.

Alarms started going off in Tony's head. Something was obviously wrong with Steve. He had to keep calm, though. Keep calm and think clearly. Okay. He had to get Steve up to see Bruce, but they were in the basement. There was no way that Steve would be able to make it up the stairs. Tony doubted that he could even walk to the elevator.

With no other options, Tony began to suit up. He'd carry Steve up there.

"Stay calm, Steve. I'm gonna get you upstairs. It's gonna be okay," Tony said, as he stepped onto the platform.

The process was complete within a minute. Tony walked over to Steve, and with great ease, lifted him up. The blonde was still groaning in pain. Tony carried him upstairs, fast as he could.

00

Once they arrived, Tony removed his face plate to talk to Bruce.

"Bruce, Steve needs help. He's in pain."

"Well put him down on the bed, then!" Bruce replied.

Tony nodded and carried Steve over to a bed, then gently laid him down. Steve looked completely panicked. He was breathing fast - too fast - and his hands were shaking.

Bruce came over to help.

"Okay, Steve, you need to calm down and tell me what's hurting you so I can help you."

Steve didn't seem to be listening. He seemed to be caught up in his panic attack.

"Listen to Bruce, baby," Tony said, taking Steve's hand. He couldn't feel his skin through the metal, but he hoped that the act of touching him would help.

It did. Steve snapped out of his trance and looked at Tony.

"I'm scared."

"It's gonna be okay. Don't be scared. You've got me and Bruce here to help. Now tell Bruce what's hurting you."

"My stomach hurts," Steve mumbled.

"Okay. Can you show me where?" Bruce asked.

"Here." Steve pointed to a spot on his upper stomach, near his ribs.

"Scale of 1 to 10?"

"Ten."

"Okay. Does anything else hurt? Or did anything else bother you today?"

"My head hurt earlier, but I always get headaches lately..."

"Hmm."

"What is it?" Tony asked.

"Go take the suit off then come back up. I think I know what's going on. It's gonna be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I just need to run a few tests. There's no reason for you to stand around in the suit for the next hour. You'll be able to move better and hold Steve closer if you take it off."

"Good point." Tony looked at Steve, who still looked scared. "I'll be back in five minutes, max. I promise. Just listen to Bruce, do whatever he says, okay?"

"Okay."

'Good."

Tony went downstairs, hoping that whatever was wrong with Steve wasn't anything too bad.