together ⌁ stony oneshots [complete]

𝘈 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 [011]

"This thing on?"
"Hey, 'Cap. If you find this recording, don't feel bad about this. Part of the journey is the end."
"Just for the record, being adrift in space with zero promise of rescue is more fun than it sounds."
"Food and water ran out... four days ago. Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning. That'll be it."
"When I drift off, I will dream about you. It's always you..I love you." 

The recording shut off, leaving Steve in silence as he stared at the blank screen. Tony was alive. The thought brought peace to him. But it replaced with fear, worry, anxiety. All the feelings that tightened his chest and made him feel like he couldn't breathe.
Tony was alive. But not for long. He had no food or water, and his oxygen was running out. Maybe it was already gone. Steve didn't know how new the message was. Tony might already be dead.
No. No, he's not. He's not dead. He's Tony Stark. He'd figure something out.
"Steve?" Natasha's voice snaps him out of his inner turmoil. He turns to look at her. She smiles. It doesn't meet her eyes, "What are you thinking?"
Steve stands up. He pushes all the thoughts out of his mind, except for one. Save Tony. The love of his life is alone in space somewhere, and sitting in an empty room feeling guilty won't help.
"We have to find him. Bring him home." Steve moved past Natasha, running down the hall. She followed.
"How do we do that?" Natasha asked. Steve walked into the lab, where Bruce was right where Steve needed him to be.
"Did you hear the message?" Steve questioned. Bruce nodded, fiddling with some trinket he'd been working on.
"I did. Cap, what are we going to do?" He asked, anxiety riddled all over his face. Steve walked over, setting down the busted Ironman helmet. The only piece he had left of Tony, and the thing that had sent word of his love's trials.
"We have to find him." Steve explained, "Is there any way you can find out where he is?"
"I can try." Banner set down the trinket, grabbing the helmet and moving it back and forth in his hands as if he were weighing it. "We don't know if he sent the helmet off to try to tell someone, or if the ship crashed somewhere and the helmet with it. Maybe there's some way the helmet connects to where Tony last had it. I can run some tests."
Steve nodded. That was the best Bruce could do, given the circumstances, "Okay. What do you need from us?"
"Nothing. Just... if things go our way, be ready for a rescue mission." Bruce was already moving around the lab, turning machines on and tapping things on the screen.
"We'll leave you to it." Steve nodded, a gesture of thanks, and left the room. As he walked down the hall of the compound, a hall Tony had designed, he finally let himself breathe.
Tony could be alive. He could be out there somewhere, fighting to get back home. And maybe, just maybe, Steve would get to see him again. He could get to look into those brown eyes, the ones that almost always lit up with joy when they saw him. He'd see Tony's signature smirk, his silky voice as he spun one of his familiar tales about the grand thing that life was. Steve could see Tony again. And he could finally get the chance to apologize for Germany. For what happened with Bucky, for everything. And he could beg for forgiveness that he didn't deserve.
Before he knew it, he was outside. Steve took a deep breath, inhaling the chilly morning air until it hurt, and then exhaling it all at once.
Three weeks. It had been three weeks since Thanos wiped out half the planet. And each day, as no new leads came, as there was no glimmer of hope, Steve felt himself give up more and more. Each day that passed turn a bit of him to stone as reality set in. And he was scared that not much longer and he would've been completely frozen. No hope, and no chance of changing what had happened.
But now? He had the chance to save Tony. To bring back the only chance this World has. And it made him feel so hopeful that he was sure he would explode. It was like getting a breath of fresh air after breathing in smog for years. And he knew, he could feel it in his very soul.
Thanos was going to lose this time. He didn't stand a chance. Not if Tony and Steve were fighting side by side.

-

"Are you sure this will work?"
Tony looked away from the helmet in his hands, turning his gaze to Nebula, "What other chance do I have? I can't go without telling him goodbye."
This was the only option Tony had. He could feel it in his bones. He was dying, with nothing but an empty spaceship and a girl from space. And he missed Steve. God, more than he ever had. He wouldn't even get to say goodbye, or that he loves him, nothing. He was going to die in space, and he accepted that, but he had to give Steve some sort of peace of mind.
"Okay," Nebula nodded, "Put it in the capsule."