#listen we were talking about soldiers in English poetry today and they were all grim as fuck and I was TEMPTED to write a much much sadder

[itsallavengers]

Coming Home

The airport was crowded and the air was stale and Tony Stark was waiting.

He had been doing so for exactly 4 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds- that was when he'd arrived at the airport, anyway. And Steve was supposed to have arrived exactly 17 minutes and 9 seconds ago, which meant that Tony was currently waiting even more than he had been 17 minutes and 9 s-

Okay, maybe that was enough numbers for now.

Tony tapped his foot anxiously, eyes searching the crowds for the zillionth time as various people flooded through arrivals. Unfortunately, not any of the travellers were remotely important to Tony- not right then anyway. He was looking for a very particular individual; one who was currently running 17 minutes and 15 seconds late.

Goddamn it, Steve was always punctual. This was a terrible sign.

He breathed as deeply as he could and swallowed. It was just the nerves; the constant anxiety he’d been holding onto in the nine months Steve had been gone bubbling up to the surface all at once. He never dealt very well with stress. Especially not Steve-related stresses. So, of course, the letter he’d received three weeks ago saying Steve Rogers had been involved in an IED explosion and was currently being held in some backward hospital had certainly not been a good period of time for him. At all.

He can remember seeing the US Army stamp on the front of the letter and immediately feeling his knees just loose all strength. He’d thought the worst, instantly, because God only knew it kept him awake most nights anyway, and then there it was, right in front of his eyes-

The panic was still there, even now that he’d read it and knew what it was really telling him- that they were sending Steve home. He still felt that initial feeling; right in his gut like a twisted up knife, all jagged and rough. Jesus- he hadn’t seen Steve’s face in nearly six months, not even after the accident. Hadn’t had access to a phone, could you goddamn believe that? Steve had been getting treated in a place where there weren’t even fucking phones-

God, nope, there went his breathing again. He needed to focus on the positives. Steve was coming back! Steve had done his tour at the ripe old fucking age of twenty years old, and now he was coming back. Back home to Tony and their shitty flat on the shit end of Brooklyn. It was all going to be fine.

Except Steve was 18 minutes and thirty four seconds, late, and it was making Tony antsy.

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He checked his watch, just to make sure the airport clock wasn’t lying to him. But yep- there were the same numbers. Even his phone read the same. Steve was definitely, unequivocally late.

He knew it was stupid, but his mind had begun working itself into a panic during the first minute Steve had failed to show. Plane crash, another bombing, taken captive, killed on the way and Tony was just waiting for the news-

Fuck. Fuck, it was stupid. Stop shaking. Stupid stupid stupid stupid.

Steve wasn’t dead. They had plans, him and Tony. They were gonna get married, definitely- whether it be in five years or twenty. Tony was putting a ring on that finger if if took him the rest of his life. He was only nineteen, currently- he had bags of time. Bags and bags.

Steve just needed to show up.

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. The past month had been...well, hell, basically. He’d barely slept more than four hours a night. He’d been on edge the entire time; terrified that he’d hear a knock on his door and that would be it, Steve would be dead from whatever injuries he’d received and Tony would be alone. Rhodey had come over during a particularly anxiety-ridden period and when Tony answered the door he’d already started fucking crying, so convinced that he was going to get the KIA notice. 

Yeah, it was a mess.

Looking back up, he once more checked the entrance. Nothing. 19 minutes, 43 seconds and Steve still hadn’t fucking-

Wait.

He felt the familiar lack of strength in his knees overcome him once again, though this time for entirely different reasons. The image hit him like a physical blow- Steve, pretty much running through the gates with his kitbag strung over his shoulder and his eyes wide, searching through the crowds.

Steve.

Steve, looking relatively unscathed. Not dead. Alive.

Tony was sprinting before he’d even fully processed it.

His feet squeaked on the floor and his shoulder bumped roughly up against the milling crowds but he didn’t care, he didn’t fucking care- Steve was there, it had been nine whole months and Steve was there, alive, alive alive alive-

Steve noticed him as he was halfway to his destination, and the way his face changed from slightly concerned to stupidly, joyously happy was almost comical. He made a choked-off sound in the back of his throat, dumping the bag unceremoniously on the floor as he stumbled forward, arms opening. “Tony-”

Tony didn’t let him finish, slamming into him as fast as he could before the rest of the sentence could ever leave his mouth. His heart was going crazy in his chest, and he was making some quite frankly embarrassing sounds against Steve’s neck, but again, he couldn’t really find it in himself to care. Just clutched desperately to the back of Steve’s uniform and wrapped both legs around his waist, effectively clinging to him like a deranged koala. “Steve, Steve, Steve, ohmygod, Steve,” he whispered over and over like a mantra, voice broken and full of more joy than he’d even known he had in him.

Steve’s arms wrapped so tightly around his lower back he found it a little difficult to breathe. Tony could feel Steve’s mouth pressing into his neck, could feel the little shakes of relief radiating off him as he held Tony aloft in the middle of the airport. “Tony, sweetheart, I missed you so so much, I love you, oh God-” his words couldn’t continue, mouth too busy pressing manic little kisses into the side of Tony’s face.

Steve had come home.

Tony’s face was wet and as he pressed it into Steve’s, he realised his was too. “I got the letter and I thought my heart was gonna drop out of my chest and then I couldn’t even see you and I kept thinking this is it, I’m gonna find out you’d died today and I was so worried, Steve, I love you so much-”

“I know,” Steve whispered, and Tony only realised they were dropping when he felt the jolt of Steve’s knees hitting the floor, “I’m so sorry, I’m fine, I swear, just a few sore ribs-”

“What? Oh God, fuck,” Tony stopped pressing in, horrified, but Steve made a keening noise and shook his head wildly, pulling Tony right back.

“I’m not letting you go ever again,” Steve mumbled into Tony’s temple, one hand curling around Tony’s waist and the other pulling over his shoulders, tugging him in close. “I hope you know that.”

“Please don’t,” Tony agreed, so unimaginably happy that he was wrapped up in Steve’s arms once more, protected from the entirety of the world by the embrace. He hadn’t felt Steve in nine months. He was so stupidly desperate for contact- he’d fight the rest of the military to be able to keep Steve within touching distance. And win.

“I’m okay,” Steve whispered, eyes clenched shut as he buried his face in Tony’s neck, “I am, I promise. And I’m home for good, this time. I want- I want to be with you. Properly. No more army, no more nothing- just me and you and our shitty Brooklyn apartment, right?”

Tony laughed a little hysterically. “Let’s get married,” he blurted, and maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe he’d just got the kick up the ass he needed to see that life was too short to waste on planning things, but either way, the words just slipped out of his mouth so easily and now they were out there, there wasn’t a hope in hell he was backing down on it.

He could feel Steve’s smile against his face. “You’re nineteen and the heir to one of the biggest companies in the world,” he laughed wetly, stroking the hair out of Tony’s eyes with a ridiculously reverent hand, “your dad would literally string me up by the balls and leave me for the crows. He hates me enough already.”

“Fuck my fucking dad, he doesn’t have to know,” Tony said fiercely, kissing Steve again and again and again, “we’ll elope- San Fran or Cali or wherever the fuck you wanna go, Steve, we can stay in a motel for the next two years if we have to. I’d do it. I don’t care.”

Steve rocked them both back and forth on the floor, and he was laughing, oh, God, Tony had forgotten quite how amazing that laugh was- “I know you don’t, darling. You’ve been living in a trash-pit for over a year after Howard cut you off just so that you could stay with me. I think you could handle a motel, right?”

Steve was raising his eyebrows, nose to nose with Tony and smiling from one ear to the other. Tony felt his own breath catch in his throat. Was that... was Steve agreeing?

“Tony Stark, I must have survived that explosion for a Goddamn reason. And I don’t know what I could possibly have done to deserve you, but Goddamn it, I want to fucking marry you.”

Tony thought he might black out- the crazy rollercoaster of emotion over the past two minutes sending his head spinning wildly, but he managed to hold on just so that he could kiss Steve again. He loved kissing Steve. He’s missed Steve like a lost limb. 

“We’ll send a picture of us sticking up our ring fingers to the StarkInudstires Server,” Tony said through a laugh, and he was still crying- God only knew the day had been eventful enough- but it didn’t matter, because Steve was crying too and they were seriously going to get married and Steve was back he was back he was back-

“I love you,” Tony sighed elatedly, dropping his head into Steve’s sternum and shutting his eyes again, “I love you so much. I want to marry you more than anything else in the world.”

“Well, it is my job to make you happy,” Steve whispered, linking their fingers together, “we’re young and stupid and broke and this seems like a flawless plan. Why not? Let’s elope.”

Steve was back. Tony couldn’t get his head around it.

He felt a hand cup against his side, pulling him up gently. “I’m not going anywhere any time soon,” Steve murmured, foreheads pressing together, “I promise, Tony. I’m okay. And I’m here for as long as you want me.”

“Forever,” Tony replied, shutting his eyes.

Steve leaned up, pressing soft kisses to each eyelid. “Forever, I can do,” he agreed.

Ao3 / Ko-fi

#stevetony #tony stark #steve rogers #itsallavengers writes #d'awwwwwwwwwwwwww #fluff #listen we were talking about soldiers in English poetry today and they were all grim as fuck and I was TEMPTED to write a much much sadder #ending #but then I was like. nAHHHHH #let them be happy for once #I can chill with the angst. For once #Plus I had like an hour to write this and it would have been too long anyways LOL #but whatever! enjoy