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It hadn’t taken Steve very long really, when he looked back. Some might even call it a pitiful amount of time for him to go from squaring up to Mr Stark on the helicarrier to a full blown crush on Tony - the wonderful man who gave him a home in his tower. That it took some time to move from a crush to something resembling love was probably only a surprise to Steve - but only because his experience with the emotion was fairly limited even for a man in his nineties.
But Steve’s slow descent into love wasn’t really the problem. It was that Tony didn’t love him back…
Rhodey
The first time Rhodey visited, Steve had no idea who this man was. All he knew was that at the first sentence he uttered Tony’s face broke into one of the biggest and brightest smiles Steve had ever seen. The joyful cry of “Honeybear!” would have been enough to set alarm bells ringing for Steve (knowing that whilst Tony used nicknames fairly regularly, they way Tony said this was full of meaning - intimate) but it was the way in which Tony launched himself at this stranger and was grabbed and swung around like the main couples did in RomComs that made him realise that Tony must be in love with this person. Don’t get him wrong, he knew that things had changed a lot since the 1930s but there’s no way this kind of behaviour could be anything but romantic - guys just didn’t get that physically affectionate with each other - right?
That Tony felt comfortable to gabble away at this ‘Rhodey’ as they stood wrapped around each other in the entrance to the common room kitchen was one thing. That it was obviously behaviour the man was used to could only be another point on the scorecard for romantic love interest. It hurt Steve a little, partly that he didn’t know about Rhodey but also that tony was never that physically affectinate with him. Now he knew why. But, he was on his best behaviour when he was introduced, wanting Tony to be pleased to introduce his partner and not worried about what others would think.
When the pair eventually left the common room, Tony clinging to Rhoday’s arm and swearing that “DUM-E has missed you Platypus, whenever you ring he does a little celebration!” Steve let out a big sigh and tried to make sense of the new information he had. The sad look that passed over his face was witnessed only by one other Avenger who had quietly watched the exchange and filed away Steve’s reaction for another day.
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JARVIS
Several months later, when others have asked Tony about his relationship with Rhodey and been treated to a whole host of stories about young Tony at MIT and Rhodey being the person who took up the mantle of looking after him from Human Jarvis, Steve has recalibrated his world view once again. It had felt weird to fuss a bit over Tony when he’d thought Tony was in a romantic relationship but over the last couple of weeks Steve had been slowly doing little things to help Tony. Reminding him about team movie night, playing fetch with DUM-E when Tony was desperate not to be sprayed with the fire extinguisher, and bringing down at least one meal a day to the workshop if no one had seen Tony for 12 hours.
It was on one of his Tony sustenance trips that Steve felt his stomach sink. The door to the workshop opened as usual but he couldn’t see Tony anywhere. About to leave the food on the table and head back upstairs for lunch - Steve heard something. Setting the plate down, Steve stood still trying to work out what he was hearing and where it was coming from.
“...I love you so much. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without you. How can I know someone so brilliant and wonderful?! You are the love of my life, never leave me...”
It had started off fairly faint, the odd word here and there and then suddenly Steve heard the whole declaration of love. Almost too stunned to move it took him a minute to work out what he’d actually overheard. Tony declaring his love for someone. He may have been wrong about Rhodey but there’s no way he could be wrong about this. Those words from Tony’s mouth could only mean that he was once again off the market and deeply in love with someone.
Trying desperately to keep his breathing steady, Steve quietly turned on his heel and headed back out of the workshop and into the elevator.
“My floor please JARVIS”
“Captain, are you well?”
“Thanks JARVIS, Don’t worry about me, just take me to my floor please.”
-------
Back in the workshop, Tony wandered out from the kitchen still singing the praises of this mystery person. Stopping short when he says the plate of food but no super soldier masquerading as a mother hen, Tony tips his head to the side -
“Was Steve here JARVIS?” Tony asked.
“The Captain did enter briefly to bring you lunch but had to leave fairly quickly.” The AI answered not knowing how much more he should say.
Tony shrugged, “Oh well, I’ll make sure to tell him thanks when I see him later. In the meantime can we get back to finalising this most recent breakthrough oh love of my life?”
Holoscreens buzzing and a spring in his step, Tony and JARVIS began working together almost like one person. JARVIS filed away the Captain’s reaction to hearing one of Sir’s frequent declarations of love to his AI and several floors above the previously mentioned super soldier could be found sat on his bed with his head in his hands wondering if there was ever going to be a time that his chest didn’t hurt.
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Bruce
Bruce and Tony’s science bro relationship was something that none of the other Avengers really understood but they could all recognise how special it was. Bruce tempered some of Tony’s more impulsive behaviours, and Tony helped bring Bruce out of his shell and flattered his big science brain. The two of them together were a formidable force, those not well equipped could find themselves lost in techno science babble in under five minutes, but they achieved great results.
They also drove people completely batty when they were on to something.
The team had lost count of the number of times they had seen the two finish each other's sentences, firing on the same wavelength in ways that made them look like the same person in two separate bodies. Whatever energy that was powering their breakthroughs was amplified as they bounced back and forth off each other’s intellect and ideas. Even with Bruce’s calming tendencies, it wasn’t unknown for the two to go on a 72 hour science binge with only coffee and Bruce’s favourite snack to keep them going.
Steve figured it was only a matter of time before they announced what seemed completely obvious to him. Tony and Bruce were obviously in a relationship. The way they worked together and moved around each other could only mean one thing. Once again he’d missed out on a chance to ask Tony out.
I mean, he shouldn’t be surprised. There’s no way that he could keep up with the Genius part of what made Tony Tony. It was perfectly natural that someone who could keep up with his mind would be infinitely more attractive to Tony than anything Steve could hope to offer him. Still, until something happened that proved it conclusively - Steve was trying not to jump to conclusions. He’d done it twice before, once with Rhodey and then again with thinking that Tony’s declarations of love were for his new and mysterious partner rather than for his beloved AI. Something that he’d soon realised after he found his way into the workshop one too many times when Tony was high on a breakthrough and just spouting sonnets at JARVIS… who would have blushed if it was possible!
So, he lived on in hope that maybe soon he’d be able to make his move.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t too long before Steve had conclusive proof that Tony was off the market. Afterall, there aren’t many ways to misinterpret a kiss on the lips between two men, no matter how close their friendship may appear. Steve supposed he should have seen it coming, the two science bros had been melding together more and more, it was only a matter of time before that closeness spilled over into something romantic. Still, it would have been nice not to just stumble on the two of them clinging to each other in the lift. But even that Steve could have brushed off, the way they pulled apart both a little flushed and breathing slightly heavily not so much. Rather than stand in a potential awkward moment, Steve just nodded and turned to take the stairs.
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About 15 minutes earlier
“Is that…?”
“Did we just…?”
“Did that work?!?!”
“Tony, we did it!”
“Science bros always succeed! Even if I can’t remember what day it is or whether I’m drinking coffee or motor oil, it’s a success and that’s all that matters!”
Tony and Bruce finished exclaiming their success and slowly and exhaustedly slumped towards each other, using a nearby table as a support.
“Let’s just double check JARVIS has everything documented and then I vote for a shower and a weeks worth of sleep.” Tony suggested as he wearily rubbed a hand over his face. He could feel a layer of grit and dirt on his face that he’d like to get rid of sometime soon.
“The results of the experiment have been documented, Sir” JARVIS’s voice interrupting Bruce’s nodding head and jolting him awake with a start that caused him to flush ever so slightly green around the edges.
“Ok, thanks JARVIS. Let’s see if we can get to the lift and stop by the common room on route to the showers. I’ve run out of my tea in my kitchen and I might not feel like trekking all the way down when I wake up.” Bruce gathered Tony’s noddle like body and prodded him lightly to get his accent before slowly shuffling them in the direction of the helpfully opened doors.
“I can’t wait to tell people” Tony mumbled sleepily, eyes blinking rapidly as the heavy weight of too manys hours awake finally begun to take their toll. “You’re the best science bro a man could need Brucey-bear” he said whilst clumsily pawing at Bruce’s shoulder with one hand.
“Thanks Tony, I couldn’t have done this without you. You gave me a home and a place where I can be myself and work on wonderful things without fear.”
Tony recognised Bruce’s unusual vulnerability and pulled him into a hug as the lift moved between the floors. Just before the door opened, Tony went to try and straighten up to see if he could hold himself up under his own steam… The speed at which he tipped forward wouldn’t have normally been an issue but with both Tony and Bruce feeling decidedly sluggish it was a moment or two before they both realised one of two things. First, Tony had somehow managed to stop himself toppling over by just pushing his head into whatever part of Bruce was in front of him, and secondly that the lift doors had opened showing a slightly shocked, slightly disappointed looking Steve staring at them.
Before Tony could move or say anything, Steve had muttered something and turned around to head for the stairs. Finally finding some strength to push himself up, Tony forced his head away from Bruce’s and looked up at the ceiling (an unfortunate habit he’d picked up from Steve) and pulled a quizzical face.
“Is Steve ok JARVIS?”
“It would appear so, Sir. Although I haven’t seen that particular look on his face before.”
“Hmm, ok. Well keep an eye on him for me would you? Bruce and I have just done brilliant science but now I need to sleep for a week and it wouldn’t do any good if our resident geriatric was feeling anything other than in tip top shape.”
“As you wish, Sir” JARVIS answered.
Leaving Tony propped in the lift, Bruce walked as quickly as he could to raid the common room kitchen for his tea before getting back in the lift and heading to make showera nd sleep plans into reality.
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Pepper
All this time spent with the Avengers, and the people who cared about and worked with them, was teaching Steve a lot. Not just cultural and social references, but about his teammates and people in general.
He’d learnt that Clint enjoyed having time first thing in the morning to eat his cereal at the common room kitchen counter without any interruptions. One part of his day that was as routine as their lives could be and that helped ground him in normality when the world felt like it was constantly inches from spiraling out of control.
He knew that Thor would occasionally disappear and the first people would know about it would be that someone has taken a picture of the large Asgardian trying to squeeze into a tube seat or helping people carry their shopping, or a thousand other little things that helped make the world a better place but that weren’t particularly difficult for someone with godlike powers to accomplish.
Natasha liked to spend time reading, it was something that she could do for pleasure, that was entirely her own and that didn’t need to have anything to do with her past or her future or anything else. Just a chance to sit and find herself whisked away to other places or times, with characters that lived short but happily lives in her imagination.
Rhodey wasn’t around often but his help had been invaluable, both as War Machine but also as a wrangler for Tony when no one else seemed to get him to see reason. Steve had learnt one sure fire way that Rhodey seemed to need to feel like he was still being a good friend to Tony. Every couple of months he would come by and force Tony onto the common room couch and they would snuggle up with snacks and watch The Princess Bride. They quoted back and forth at each other, sometimes acted out their favourite parts, but always seemed to leave the room looking lighter after it was over. Evidently even Air Force Colonel’s needed decompression time with their best friend.
Bruce looked like he was an enigma wrapped in a mystery but really he was a man of very simple needs. Something that had obviously become a necessity as he spent years of his life moving and trying to stay under the radar. Give Bruce his favourite tea, the time to brew it slowly in his favourite teapot, and a skyline and he was happy. The added bonus was time in his lab and a chance to get away and have solitude if he needed it - especially as that was respected by all his teammates. Space to be himself and to not have to worry about Hulk was the key to Bruce’s happiness.
Steve could wax lyrical about everything he’d learnt about Tony and it would still take a few days to get through. There was so much about the man that just continued to make Steve want to get to know him more. So many facets to his personality that Steve found himself falling more and more in love with as time went on. He knew that it was getting a bit ridiculous. He had sort of been invested from the moment he’d met the man on the helicarrier before everything seemed to go so very wrong, but it had got stronger the more he got to know the man.
It was difficult, especially as he hadn’t said anything, but it honestly felt like the universe was against him! First he thought Tony was taken because of Rhodey, then he’d mistook Tony’s love declarations to JARVIS as proof that he had a lover. Then there was the ‘kiss’ he’d witnessed in the lift between Tony and Bruce that evidently didn’t mean anything judging by Bruce’s fairly firm denial of anything more than bro-mance feelings for Tony after Clint had seen the ‘kiss’ from the vents and so pounced on an opportunity to tease his teammates about it. That had felt like enough obstacles that Steve was starting to wonder if he should just resign himself to his feelings never being given free rein. But then there was Pepper.
Pepper Potts was a wonderful and formidable woman, and she appeared to be the rock that Tony used to keep himself anchored in his crazy world. At first Steve was fairly convinced that they were just extremely good friends. It was clear that their relationship has built on hard earned mutual trust and love. Something that had been forged over years and years together, relying only on each other (and Rhodey when he was available) and a constant that both required as they navigated the new world and steering SI in it’s new direction. However, there were also times when Steve was convinced that there was more there. The way they had whole conversations using just their body language, or the way they were able to just stare into each others eyes and it was like there was nobody else in the room. Surely those things weren’t normal for people who were ‘just friends’.
But, Steve was forgetting one of the fundamental pieces of information about Tony that he’d learnt over all these years. When Tony loves someone (regardless of what kind of love) he loves wholeheartedly, unreservedly, and often without any boundaries or thought for social convention at all! So when it appeared that Tony had wrapped himself around Pepper on the common room couch like a limpet, Steve’s first reaction was that it was proof that something more was going on. But as he tuned into the news playing on the big screen it became obvious that this was actually Tony’s way of trying to make sure one of his most precious people was safe and whole and not nearly kidnapped and hurt and ransomed for obscene amounts of money.
Feeling relieved he turned away and left the two friends in peace together on the couch.
------
Pepper looked up from stroking Tony’s hair when she noticed another presence in the room. Confident that JARVIS would have alerted her if it had been anyone harmful she relaxed and was about to call out a soft greeting when she spotted the changing looks on Steve’s face as he took in the position she and Tony were in and then added in the context from the news. The expression of relief that she saw just before he turned away was unexpected and made her wonder the reason behind it.
Just then her phone let out a quiet text alert, and a quick glimpse let her know that there might be someone who could shed a little bit of light on what she’d just been given a glimpse of.
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Peggy
Not many people knew about Tony’s Aunt Margaret. Those that did knew that she’d been one of little Tony’s constants, a planet he could orbit around whenever she was in reach and whose approval and love were things that motivated little Tony in ways his parents could never quite understand. Between her and the original Jarvis, Tony had his compass points by which he could navigate the world.
Although he didn’t see her as often as he would have liked, Tony’s love for his Aunt Peggy knew no bounds and it was because of that that he had preserved everything she had ever sent him. There were cards for birthdays and christmases, some presents, several telegrams and then nearer the end of her life, quite a few audio recordings. Every so often, Tony got out his momentos and spent a bit of time remembering Peggy. This year was a special anniversary of her death and that meant the audio recordings got played and Tony tried to answer along to the questions she posed and to fill in blanks to tell her how well he was doing and how much he loved and missed her. It was a heart wrenching time for Tony, so he often went down to the workshop and initiated black out until he felt he could cope with seeing people after sobbing for a number of hours.
This year was to be no different but at the last minute a call to assemble came in and Tony’s plans to grieve quietly and alone had to be pushed aside for a while. The battle wasn’t too hard but it took longer than Tony would have liked, the call had come about 3pm and after some travel time, a villain that liked to talk way too much, and way way too many tiny creature-bots to round up it was gone 11pm by the time Tony was back and able to get out of the suit. With scant minutes of Peggy’s anniversary remaining Tony got JARVIS to pull up the first of PEggy’s recordings as he finished getting out of his suit and into a soft space to try and give some attention to this important moment.
The first strains of Peggy’s voice were enough to make Tony’s breath hitch but he was steady enough to respond when she spoke.
“Hello Tony love, I can’t believe how long it’s been since we last spoke.”
“I know C, I’ve missed you so much!”
“I hope you’ve been taking care of yourself and that you got my present.”
“I am, and I did. I try really hard for you C. I don’t want to let you down.”
“I love you and I believe in you. You can do anything you put your mind to!”
“I love you too…”
-----
At the edge of the door way into Tony’s workshop, Steve stilled as he heard Tony on the phone with someone. The voice sounded vaguely familiar but Tony had been known to have JARVIS pipe conversations out of the speakers in all parts of the tower if his hands were full so it wasn’t that surprising. What he was surprised about was the amount of emotion in Tony’s voice as he answered, this was obviously someone he cared about a great deal. Feeling more and more like an unwanted voyeur of such an unguarded moment, Steve quietly stepped away and considered if this was the final piece he had been waiting for. Straight after a battle when the team would normally be together, taking solace in each other and reaffirming their bond and Tony was on the phone with someone. Maybe Steve should finally take a hint that he and Tony weren’t meant to be together.
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“...I miss you so much Aunt Peggy. I wish you were here. You’d love the team, and JARVIS and the bots. and I know you’d love to meet up with Steve again. I have to tell you, he’s grown on me over the years and now I find that I honestly don’t know what I’d do without him. It’s why I’ve decided to do nothing about how I feel about him. Being his friend and having him in my life is much better than blurting out my feelings and having him potentially leave me forever. Not to mention the team dynamics, and the fact that he’s so out of my league it’s almost funny. No, I think you’d be proud of my self control, it was something you always said I could work harder on!”
As Tony continued his conversation with Peggy, and time ticked nearer to midnight, it wasn’t only Steve that had popped down to see Tony. One team member was aware of the significance of the day and had wanted to see how their resident genius was handling having his plans thrown out of the window. The unexpected bonus of hearing something that could finally enable them to do something about an extremely mopey supersoldier was something they couldn’t pass up.
Assured that Tony was doing ok, and contemplating exactly what to do with all the information at their disposal, Natasha went back upstairs and thought about her next steps.
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+1 Natasha
Natasha can’t quite remember the first time she noticed that Steve had a thing for Tony. If she was honest there was some UST from the moment they first met but at that time there were bigger things to worry about and it was filed away for her to think about at another time.
The next time it was presented to her was when Steve first met Colonel James Rhodes, or Rhodey as he was more often known. At first she thought that Steve might have had a problem with the idea of gay men, the faces he was making as he saw Tony and Rhodey launch themselves at each other were extremely interesting. However it quickly became clear that that wasn’t the issue, instead there was a bit of jealousy, a hunk of confusion, and a nice and prominent bit of sadness that coloured the Captain’s actions and words.
It was from there that Natasha started gathering more data. Steve was rarely obvious about his feelings but as time went on there were a number of moments that stood out. Apart from the time with Rhodey, she had noticed that Steve would stop wistfully looking at Tony (and even give him more space than usual) every time he thought he’d found out about Tony being in a relationship. There was the time in the workshop with JARVIS, the time in the lift with Bruce, the time on the sofa with Pepper, and most recently the time in the workshop with Peggy. Each time Steve’s emotional response got stronger and his determination to pull himself away from Tony got stronger. It obviously hadn’t really worked, they were teammates but also good friends and that wasn’t something you could just turn off. That said, the completely resigned face that Steve had pulled on the anniversary of Peggy’s death had made Natasha consider that she might have to do something. Especially in light of what Tony had admitted.
It was all these things combined that found Natasha slowly cornering Steve in the common room at a time she knew the others would be out or occupied. She’d got some of Steve’s favourite snacks and was hoping that she would be able to drop enough hints that he could figure things out himself, but she had a back up plan (and a co-conspirator) if it didn’t work out.
Feeling fairly sure that Steve was comfy and had no clue about what was going to happen, Natasha took a deep breath and said,
“Steve, how long have you been in love with Tony and why haven’t you done anything about it?”
Steve choked as he inhaled a sip of his drink not at all expecting what he’d just heard from Natasha. Ok, so that wasn’t subtle at all but it occured to Natasha as she sat in front of him that this was a man who liked direction and not subterfuge. It was much better to just come out and say it and rip the plaster off.
It took Steve a minute to recover from his tea going down the wrong tube, even super soldiers coughed if they breathed in tea instead of swallowing it. He lent back against the sofa arm and clasped his mug tighter between his hands.
There were two thoughts rolling around in his head. The first, how did Natasha know? The second, how long had he been in love with Tony?!
It was easier to deal with the second thought, it took no time at all for him to think back to the first time he’d found Tony attractive and from there a short hop, skip, and a jump to the moment he’d realised that it wasn’t just lust of some kind but instead love. A desire to comfort and support Tony, to be there for his good and bad days, to make him smile whenever and however he could. A need to make sure he ate and slept and had time away from his beloved, but exhausting, work schedule.
Natasha watched Steve’s thoughts and emotions flit across his face. Maybe her gamble had played off and the man would be open to talking with her about his feelings for their resident genius, billionaire, philanthropist - Tony had left the playboy image behind a number of years ago (if it had ever really been as true as the tabloids made it out to be). Maybe she could finally find a way to do something about the nearly crippling unresolved tension between the two men.
She was fairly certain that both of the men were completely oblivious to the other’s feelings for them. There was no way either of them could actually know and have still done nothing about it. It was, frankly, becoming ridiculous. Steve was doing his level best to be there for Tony in every way he thought he could get away with, and Tony was just brushing it off as Steve being nice.
Whereas Tony had been coming up with ways to make Steve’s life easier for years now, even going so far as to finding old recipe books so he could recreate some of Steve’s childhood favourites, and then making sure that the common rooms were never too cold or that a blanket or two was always in reach of the soldier incase he started to feel a chill. Steve had barely noticed, mostly because Tony had shrugged off the thanks so many times, diverted attention away from the things he had done to make Steve happy and bring a smile to his face.
It was a small wonder the two could actually function around each other, they were so blind to the feelings and motivations of the other.
Steve finally lifted his head up from where he’d been gazing at his slowly growing colder cup of tea. Shyly he smiled at Nat and then sighed and did his patented self conscious little shoulder shuffle. Even Nat could admit it was cute, Tony had been known to walk straight into a door frame if he wasn’t prepared for Steve acting like he wasn’t six foot two of pure muscle, and instead the pre-serum sized man who was used to getting his own way by looking a little perplexed and sorry at the world.
Realising he couldn’t actually hold his mug any tighter for fear of breaking it, Steve guessed he couldn’t keep stalling any longer. He looked Natasha in the eyes and said
“I’m not sure how you know Natasha, and I don’t know if I want to find out but yes, I am in love with Tony.”
Natasha tried exceptionally hard not to smirk as she was proved right.
“I guess it’s been my constant for so long now, I hadn’t really thought about the fact that people may have noticed...” Steve trailed off, a look of horror slowly dawning on his face.
Sitting bolt upright, he reached out a hand towards the woman opposite him. “He doesn’t know, does he?!” Steve half shouted, the very idea that Tony had known making him feel sick with worry. He couldn’t lose his friendship with Tony just because of a little thing like love.
Of all the reactions Natasha was expecting to her question, the rapid paleing of Steve’s face and the genuine fear in his voice was absolutely not one of them. Quickly realising that her plan might very soon be completely ruined, Natasha reached across and grasped Steve’s forearm.
“Steve, look at me, look at me”, Natasha lightly shook Steve’s arm as she tried to get his attention. “It’s all fine, deep breaths. I don’t think anyone else really knows but that’s not the important bit…” “Not the important bit!” Steve interrupted, “What could be more important than whether people know about my feelings?!” It was evident that she probably only had one more chance to salvage this conversation before Steve was so anxious that he wouldn’t listen or believe anything she said.
Calmly, Natasha looked Steve square in the eyes and said, “The important bit is that Tony obviously loves you too.”
For Steve it felt like the whole world had stopped. His body went from the beginnings of a panic attack, that feeling in his chest he last remembered from over 70 years ago in a body so very different to this one, to a sudden and abrupt stop. His entire being froze as his brain tried to make sense of what his ears had just heard. He swallowed thickly as he rebooted with this new information, Natasha’s words bouncing around his head bringing up all sorts of feelings.
Natasha let Steve sit quietly, watching him work through what she’d just said. Despite some people’s thoughts that Captain America could be reckless and would act first and ask questions later, she’d found that Steve Rogers was much more likely to think things over before making a decision. Seeing that process happen right in front of her, when it wasn’t a battlefield situation, was an eye opening and interesting experience for the spy. Eventually, after what had felt like hours but in reality had only been a couple of minutes, Steve looked up, wrinkled his brow and asked, “How could you know that? You rarely say anything without some kind of proof so you’ve got to feel pretty sure. How… how do you know?”
The earnest look in Steve’s eyes would have been enough to make Natasha explain anyway, even if she hadn’t already decided to, but it was the break in Steve’s voice that solidified her resolve. Over the next ten minutes or so, Natasha sat and detailed everything that she, and occasionally Pepper and Rhodey, had noticed about the interactions between the genius and the super soldier. The ways that Tony had worked to make Steve’s life easier, to find ways to comfort him when things had gone wrong or Steve’s own desire to help had got in the way of forgiving himself. Tony was there for the good days and the bad days, used ridiculous nicknames to make Steve smile, gave him new ways to occupy himself that would let Steve fall asleep properly, and made sure there was always enough food and enough warmth to go around.
Hearing Natasha talk through everything she had observed was like a light bulb going off in Steve’s head. Years ago he had begun noticing these acts of kindness and love from Tony, but they’d been brushed off so often that Steve had stopped paying attention. If what Natasha was saying was true, there might be a chance for them. A chance Steve had stopped hoping for around mistaken love interest number three.
It was at this point that Steve thought it was time to ask how obvious he had been, what was it that had given him away? Natasha smiled softly and spent another ten minutes explaining all the ways that Steve had let his love for Tony shine through. She also took a minute or two to carefully rib Steve for the number of times he’d thought that Tony was in love with someone else. Some, she felt, had been understandable, others were just Steve’s insecurities getting in the way of his logic. Steve protested, as far as he was concerned it was weirder to assume that Tony didn’t have a love interest than the other way round.
“He’s just such a wonderful person Nat, how couldn’t someone already have snapped him up? I want him to be happy. Even on the days when it’s so obvious that he hasn’t eaten or slept for 36 hours, has worked himself into the ground, done upgrades for everyone, talked through things with Pepper, played with the bots, and had time to make it to movie night - he’s still one of the most stunning people I have ever seen. Why wouldn’t someone already be loving him?”
A soft gasp, muffled quickly but not quickly enough, gave away the presence of another person. Both Steve and Natasha turned to where they thought the gasp had come from, and were surprised for different reasons when a floofy haired engineer slowly shuffled around the corner from the hallway and into the room.
Steve jolted, his whole body wanting to run away as his fight or flight instincts kicked it. Desperately afraid that this was the moment that Tony rejected him and he lost everything that made this century feel like home.
Natasha was ready and prepared to do anything she could to get these two soft goofballs to talk about their feelings together. Even if that meant sitting on Steve and calling Pepper to keep Tony from locking himself into his lab.
Tony looked cautiously across the room at the spy he knew cared about him, but would also stab him in the neck if it was for his own good, and the man he’d been in love with for longer than he could remember. Meeting the real Steve Rogers was like nothing he had been prepared for. He’d been prepared to hate him or to grudgingly accept him, but never to become best friends with him or to fall in love. Hearing the last ten minutes or so of their conversation had been a happy accident on a scale Tony didn’t even know existed.
Smiling, Tony walked a couple of steps forward, “Did you mean it Steve? Do you really think I’m stunning, even after all the crazy things I do?”.
Steve wanted to run and hide, but he looked closely and saw the uncertainty in the warm brown eyes in front of him. He knew that whatever he answered with, here and now, had the potential to affect every moment of his future going forward. Reaching out a hand, palm face up, the super soldier smiled carefully and sweetly at the man he loved and said “Of course Tony, I meant every word and so many more I haven’t had a chance to say yet.”
All the tension left Tony’s shoulders all at once, resulting in him softly swaying forward and finding himself reaching out to the offered hand to help him balance. Steve carefully curled his hand round the slightly smaller one and used it to gently pull the slightly stunned billionaire towards him.
Seeing that her work was basically done here, Natasha climbed off the sofa and quickly left the room neither of the other occupants taking any notice of her as they sat close together on the sofa and gazed softly at each other.
Just as she started to get out of earshot, she smiled as she heard…
“I’m in love with you Tony,” “I’m in love with you too, Steve”.
She couldn’t wait to tell Pepper.