Light of my Life (STONY)

Preparation (Part 2)

Steve's POV

I ran down to the lab and awaited entrance. Once in, I saw him immediately - his eyes were red, his eyelashes were clumped together and he was shaking. He was rubbing his hands together nervously. He was sat on the bench in front of me so I walked over to him. I crouched down in front of him and held his hands steady.

"Breathe, honey," I whispered. I gave his hands a gentle squeeze and he registered I was there. Tony looked up and tears fell down his cheeks, his breathing still unsteady. I let go of one of his hands and wiped away his tears. I didn't want him to be unhappy.

"Tony, you need to breathe, okay? Hey, look at me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, okay. I just need you to breathe steadily and then we can talk." Although I wasn't joking, he smiled. I didn't know if that was good or bad, but I didn't care. He smiled. Bruce came over and set down a glass of water next to Tony on the bench. He said he would give us a minute, I nodded appreciatively. Once he'd calmed down, I pushed myself up and sat down on the other side of him. I'd let go of his hand - as soon as I sat down I gently took one of his and he rested his head on my shoulder.

"What happened?"

"Panic attack," he mumbled, as if embarrassed.

"What triggered it?"

"No clue." I nodded and he sighed. "Why does this happen to me?"

"You've been through so much, honey, it's a wonder you function." He chuckled. Another good sign. Tony sat up properly and took a sip of water.

"Considering you said you were going to the gym, I'm surprised you're not sweaty."

"It's been like 2 hours since then - I showered and trained Wanda for a bit, then JARVIS called me." I hoped everyone had kept up their stories.

"Did you tell Clint he could go home?"

"Oh, yeah, he spoke to me when I was coming down to the lab last night - he said he needed to call Laura or something and I told him he could just go home. Why, did you see him?"

"Yeah, I was in the elevator with him this morning. Said he'd had hardly any sleep." He laughed bitterly. "I wish I could still get 7 hours." I smiled weakly. Clint, why the hell had you mentioned sleep? Oh well - I don't think Tony suspects anything yet.

"Get ready, we're going out," I said quietly.

"Where?" I got up and left.

"You'll see. We've got a about an hour, take your time."

Tony's POV

Steve walked out of the lab and I frowned. Okay, something was definitely going on. He told me to change and wear something nice, so I put on some nicer trousers and a shirt. I left the top 2 buttons open so I didn't get strangled - I hated that feeling. It was cold outside to I put back on Steve's hoodie.

"You can't wear my hoodie, Tony." I turned to see him in the doorway.

"It's cold."

"We're gonna be inside. C'mon, follow me."

"I can take it off if I get hot."

"Tony-"

"Fine," I replied. I said it in a way that would piss him off and it most certainly did - he wrapped his arms around my waist and sighed.

"Tony, I just wanna take you for a nice date."

"You what?" I pulled away and looked up at him. We never really went on dates because if we did, people would just judge us the entire time. Steve didn't really like it. We stayed in and ordered food in for our dates.

"We haven't been out in such a long time! Also, you deserve a break." I smiled and pulled his sweater over my head. "You can leave it if you want, I was just joking." I shrugged and held it instead.

"Can I bring it?"

"As long as you don't lose it." I smiled and we walked together to the garage. Steve drove (to my disappointment) because he didn't want me to see where we were going. I knew the roads in New York City like the back of my hand, but he didn't care - he drove out toward Brooklyn.

"You grew up here, right? You and Bucky?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "It's changed too much, though. I don't like it, it feels weird." I nodded.

"Yeah, I can see that." He pulled into a space at a restaurant and we walked inside. Steve quoted his name and they put us in a booth upstairs and right in the back corner. We ordered drinks (I wasn't allowed alcohol - what's going on?) and Steve's phone started ringing.

"It's Nat, I'll call her back later," he said. He declined the call and put his phone on the bench next to him (we were sat opposite each other) and it started to ring again.

"It's okay, you can take it. I don't know what I'm gonna eat, I've never been here before." He smiled appreciatively and walked to the balcony. I looked down at the menu - it was a pretty fancy place. I kinda stared blankly at the book in front of me until Steve came back. He looked slightly concerned.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, she just said that Thor was coming to Earth."

"Oh. I swear he wasn't due back for another month or so."

"That's why I'm confused." I looked back down at the menu and saw him smile in the corner of my eye. I didn't question it.

It was fairly late in the evening, around 8-ish. We ordered (Steve got pasta and meatballs and I had a pizza - of course), had an extremely nice meal and got the bill.

"Hey, I got it-" I said, but before I could do anything he placed $150 on the silver dish.

"I thought I'm taking you to dinner?"

"Still," I smiled. "Thank you."

"'Course," he replied. We stood up and he grabbed my hand. Steve thanked everyone and we got in the car to drive back. Then, my phone started ringing. It was Wanda.

"What's up? You never call me," I said as soon as I picked up.

"Nat said you and Steve were on a date, but Thor wants to see you - any idea when you'll be getting back?"

"We're on the way back now, probably a half hour. Hey, have you called Clint? He was meant to go home but he won't wanna miss him."

"Yeah, I think Bruce called him just after Thor got in."

"Okay great. Well, see you in a bit."

"Bye Tony." She hung up. I placed my phone in the pocket of Steve's hoodie (I'd put it on in the restaurant - I'm always cold) and smiled.

"Thor wants to see us," I said, noticing Steve's odd look.

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." I plugged my phone in and started blasting Back in Black by AC/DC through the speakers. Steve hates the music I listen to, and I'm not the biggest fan of what he listens to either. He's getting better, though - he puts up with a few, and this song is one of them. I looked over at him - he looked a little worried and kept checking the time on his watch.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?" He didn't take his eyes off the road.

"What's going on? You look concerned."

"No, no I'm fine."

"Steve Rogers you are the WORST LIAR in history." He laughed a little.

"I'm just thinking - what if Thor's back to tell us that the attack a few months ago was Loki and that he's sending more space shit to come kill us."

"Language, Capsicle!" Steve rolled his eyes and I chuckled. "I'm sure everything's fine, otherwise Fury woulda called a meeting."

"Right." He didn't look convinced. We finally pulled up at the tower at about 10 at night. "Hey, come with me - I wanna show you something."