Stony Fluff

Winged AU

This will probably end up being a two-shot.

Speeding bullets whizzed past his ear. The surrounding premises becoming nothing but a mere blur of shapes and colors. The sound of stray gunshots going off could be heard faintly behind the blood rushing to his head. He felt the 'thud' of a bullet lodging itself in his wing, but adrenaline was on his side. Nothing felt safe anymore. Even a routine visit to family had turned into chaos. Ever since these damned wings had appeared, everything had been this way. The Feds were always on his tail, and newspaper columns were anything but courteous.

-

'Devilish Winged Creature: Spotted Again!'
'Local residents have reported yet another sighting of the unknown, possibly new species of winged beasts. Numerous analytical specialists have determined its numbers to be unknown. As far as the general public is concerned, there is only one member of this species in existence. Local sightings are now up to double-digits, resulting in various conspiracy theories and apocalyptic views. We would, however, like to assure the public that this 'Thing' will be dealt with.'

-

Along with these new reported sightings, the tabloids were all over the disappearance of Tony Stark. Soon enough, he reckoned, somebody with an actual brain would find a way to connect the dots. Of course, intelligence, true intelligence, was hard to come across these days.

The sight of a shadow slowly approaching him, jolted the winged man back to the present. He found himself leaning against a tree trunk, though how he got there he wasn't entirely sure. The approaching shadow, or apparition (I mean really, this day was already weird enough, why not add an apparition?), reached his resting place. The silhouette reached towards his face, stopping when the man flinched out of reach. The last thing Tony felt was a rough hand gently touching his wing. The forest him faded, and the only thing left in sight was black. Pure black.

-

When he came to, Tony realized that he was no longer leaning against a rough and uncomfortable tree. His head was resting instead, against a pillow. The floral patterns made him think he had been taken in by a female. A reporter most likely, or he was being held captive by some sadistic psychopath. The faint smell of eggs and bacon permeated the room. Tony sat up abruptly, wincing slightly as he felt his right wing twitch uncomfortably. Now there was absolutely no way to hide his wings, not with an injury like this.

A blond-haired man walked into the room suddenly, stopping at the doorframe. He raised his hands in a sign of peace, before walking forward and sitting next to the plate on a nearby table. 'Damn, when had that gotten there?'

"Where am I?" Tony asked. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' he thought, 'why isn't the first thing you say "Thank You?"'

A sympathetic smile appeared on the stranger's face, "You're in my house, and more specifically, I live in Michigan."

Now that he thought about it, the weather wasn't exactly as warm as it typically was in New York, and Michigan wasn't always cold, contrary to popular belief. Michigan may not have been his first guess but- fuck it, it doesn't matter.

"Oh."

The stranger (he still didn't know his name), began to speak again, "So, what's your story?"

"My story?" Tony asked, momentarily forgetting the two burdens on his back, both literally and figuratively.

"Well yeah, a guy like you must have some kind of story, right?"

"A guy like me?" He asked, rather stupidly in his opinion.

"Yeah, you know, with the wings," the other man said. God bless his soul, he was so patient.

"Oh yeah, right, the uh...the wings."

'Damn, could that have been any stupider?' He thought.

The room fell into an awkward silence, a clock ticking in the background. The couch cushions and throw pillows were strange, but at the same time, oh so welcoming. Nothing around him was familiar but an explanation was the least he owed this stranger who saved his life.

"My name's Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, so on, and so forth."

"Tony Stark huh? I thought you looked at least a little bit familiar, but we don't really pay much attention to celebrities when you live in a forest out in the middle of nowhere."

Middle of nowhere? It was fucking Michigan, and not to get technical, but Michigan wasn't exactly the middle of nowhere.

"Hey," Tony said, "no harm no foul, people don't really know it's me, so unless you need money or something else of mine, would you mind letting me go?"

"Money? That's why you think I took you in?"

With a confused look, Tony turned to look back at the blond-haired, blue-eyes stranger sitting on the beige couch. "Yeah, why else would you've saved me?"

The man stood up and put his hands in his hair. He began to pace back and forth, practically creating a trench in the wooden paneling. "Who did this to you?"

"Did-did what to me?"

"Made you think you're not worth saving?"

Shit. "What makes you the expert on my feelings?" Tony asked.

"I'm studying to be a psychiatrist Mr. Stark, and my diagnosis is an extreme lack of self-esteem."

"Lack of self-esteem?" Tony asked in a loud tone. He rose to his full height, as well as he could, anyway, with one of his wings being damaged. "I'm a world-renowned pain-in-the-ass, what makes you think I have no self-esteem?"

"Tony," and dammit all to hell if that voice didn't sound familiar, "don't pretend, it's my job to be able to recognize when someone is suffering or needs help." The stranger walked towards Tony and put his hand on his shoulder, "I can tell you need help Tony, you don't have to get it from me, but please don't do this alone."

Tony jerked back, leaning against the wall behind him. So what if this stranger knew more about him than most of his friends do? It doesn't have to mean anything. He doesn't have to listen to his stupid ass advice.

"I'm more than capable of taking care of myself thank you," he said. His voice was filled with an authority that not even he knew he had.

"Oh really? Is that why I found you being shot at?"

'Ask his name, ask his name,' Tony thought, 'now is not the time nor place for a panic attack.'

"What's your name oh fearless one? Because I don't know if you know common sense 101, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to take advice from strangers."

The man sighed and sat down on the couch. He held his face in his hands and sat there for a moment. "Tony, you mean you really don't remember me?"

With a startled look, Tony's mind flashed back to a scene that he couldn't help but remember. It was a gala per usual, and there he was sitting at the bar. A man walked over and sat next to him. He couldn't help but think how handsome the other man was. They chatted for a while, telling mostly useless stories about the past or just how plain bored they were. The other man, surprise, had blond-hair. He reached over and cupped the billionaire's face. Everything else just happened in a blur. One minute, they were both sitting there innocently, content with being nothing more than platonic. The next, however, Steve had Tony's lips on his own, in the gentlest and sweetest kiss ever given. Was that even possible? Could he fall in love with a person he only met after one night?

Tony looked back at the man in question, "Steve right?"

The other man looked over at Tony and smiled.

"Yeah."

Well shit.