Steve? Can you hear me?

Deaf?

To say that Tony was already riled up before the famous Steve Rogers had even stepped through the door was an understatement. His hands slapped unnecessarily hard against his equipment as he searched through data whilst trying to ignore Bruce's concerned gaze darting over at him. Everything had been going perfectly well for the Avengers when they suddenly decide to bring in Captain Coldballs from the freezer. He'd got the sense, just from the way he'd heard the crew talking of Captain America, that their personalities wouldn't quite click. Besides, someone had said that Steve thought he was nothing without his armor. He'd been ready to come face to face with the national icon for hours and his hands twitched in preparation to start throwing punches.

The doors hummed as they pulled a part revealing Fury leading the others from the team. Tony puffed his chest and faced them immediately. Bruce stepped further back, less enthusiastic for the genius to release his frustration.

"Mr Rogers," Stark spat as he braced himself against the table, "We were fine without you. Don't you think it's time you retire?"

There was a beat of silence where everyone glanced awkwardly at each other. Tony's brows twitched but he'd committed this far so roared on,

"Hey, look here, Mr high and mighty. I'm talkin' to you." The words were more growled than said, "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle." Silence reigned and after a moment that felt like an hour, Tony began to pick up on the grimaces on the other's faces, "Why do I suddenly feel so out of the loop?"

Fury stepped forward, "Mr Stark, Steve Rogers is deaf."

Not much ever manages to silence Tony Stark but his mouth hanged open and he blinked rapidly as his brain raced to catch up.

Fury continued, "Everyone will be getting a course of ASL sign language to aid communications but maybe for now you try to keep the one sided arguments to a minimum, Stark."

The director left the room with the others following quickly. Steve, the last to leave, turned and gave an unsure wave to the scientists remaining in the room. He signed, Thank you. His right hand touching his chin and moving down. He smiled.

Tony frowned and looked across at Bruce, "Nobody thought to tell me?!"

------1 week later

Tiredness pulled down on Tony's eye lids but he fought to keep them open and blinked rapidly as the floor numbers in the elevator came in and out of focus. They'd only just returned from their mission and everyone was feeling worst for wear. The doors hissed open and a soft 'Ding' echoed throughout the dark living space of the tower.

Stark beelined for the shared kitchen as he knew that Bruce had some herbal tea stashed away somewhere and with all the bruises he had he wasn't about to fuss over whether there were scientific benefits to herbal tea.

He was rummaging around the dimly lit cupboards when he heard a soft groan that made him freeze. If someone had broken in again he'd absolutely flip. Hand holding a packet of tea, he didn't move and a further groan permeated the room. He darted up as quickly as his bruised and aching body would allow and followed the noise.

He had to consider the possibility of this being a hallucination when he spotted Steve Rogers sat on the couch in a vest and gray sweats. The blond head was resting against the back of the couch and his eyes were closed. Tony's eyes noticed that the super solider's arms were clasped around his midsection and would shake when the man groaned. The oversized popsicle was clearly trying to ride out some pain. He was about to turn and leave when he remembered his own remanence of the mission was paining him too and he hadn't noticed Steve in the medical bay with the rest of them afterwards.Fury always ensured that Stark got seen to by medical professionals despite his attempt every time to run back to the lab.