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“Beautiful, aren’t they?”

Tony shuffled his feet as he approached a quiet, captivated visitor studying the Wakandan art. The man was tall and built, with very excellent fashion taste. His dark skin, a stark contrast to the antiseptic white of the museum, played in the faint illumination of the hall as he stood, ramrod straight, back facing the genius. He was a beautiful pensive, admiring the myriad of artifacts presented in front of him. He didn’t turn around at the melodic baritone of Tony’s voice- almost like he hadn’t heard him at all. He just stood there, entranced by the view.

The exhibit was surprisingly empty and Tony’s voice echoed unnervingly around the hall, breaking through the pin drop silence. On the bright side, Tony didn’t have to worry about someone else overhearing. Not that he minded all that much of course- there was no part of his life that wasn’t televised or splashed across the tabloids- just that… since recent events, he’d become more cautious, that was all. Besides, the two of them being alone also saved him from a chunk of embarrassment, seeing as the man didn’t acknowledge his presence at all. His cheeks heated as his eyes dropped to his loafers.

“Yeah, they are,” came a gruff reply a moment later, startling Tony just when he was about to leave the man alone, certain his company wasn’t appreciated. He felt a wave of relief wash over him as the embarrassment ebbed away to curiosity. However, the man still hadn’t taken a single glance at him and Tony didn’t take too kindly to being blatantly ignored. It was a challenge though, and Tony had never been someone who backed down from those.

He waited for the man to continue, eyes darting around the big hall. The high glass setouts stood in a neat order around them, creating a surprisingly clean aesthetic. They seemed to keep good care of this place, for a museum. Not that all museums were dirty, just that… they all seemed to come off a bit dark and gloomy. This was the total opposite, eye-blazing bright, an incandescent white.

“You know, they say these are worth millions,” Tony continued his light banter, hoping to catch the stranger’s attention somehow. He moved around slowly, appreciating the view, and came to a stop at the glass setout at the left wall of the hall, not daring to approach the stranger. The man’s back was still rudely turned on him. Tony tapped a finger against the glass, pain shooting up his left arm as he moved it, “it’s hard to believe, right? Such old things, yet so expensive and desired.” He could feel the tension rising as he bulldozed on, trying to illicit a reaction, however small.

The man still didn’t reply.

Tony could feel his cheeks heating further as he began to panic. The words were flying out of his mouth and he felt phantom pains blooming in the center of his chest under the mess of gauze bandages. Plan B it was. “The one you’re looking at right now, the elongated iron mask with devil’s horns, is to be from the Bobo Ashanti tribe, 19th century, I believe. Present day Ghana,” he blabbered on even though he was no expert and didn’t even know the accuracy of his facts. “And this one,” he turned his head to look at the big metallic mask on the left, not sure if the man followed,  “this one is from the Edo people of Benin, 16th century. It’s a work of art, really.”

Silence.

He sighed, maybe he really had lost his touch. Maybe Rogers had been his last. He felt annoyance and frustration bubble up in his chest. Suddenly all the negative emotions he had experienced in the past couple of days culminated together and rippled out in his next words. “You know, this would be a lot easier if I actually liked museums in the first place,” he huffed. “I arrived in London a couple of days ago and thought, what the hell, might as well go and walk around like a tourist, get to know new places and such. Never in a lifetime could I have imagined I’d end up in a

museum

. I mean, it’s a museum, right? Full of stolen treasures from indigenous people around the world who haven’t gotten a single penny for them as they were taken from their ancestors. I hate it. This is ridiculous! Maybe I should buy the entire place and shut it all down. Return everything to their rightful owners, at least my conscience would feel better,” he finished babbling with a breathy exhale immediately feeling embarrassment welling up within him. The pain in his chest was truly excruciating now and he lifted his hand in an effort to rub it away. “Sorry if I’m no expert in all,” Tony waved his hand around to encompass the museum in it’s glaring entirety, “this. Never was a fan.”

As he was ranting, letting his frustration out, the man in front of him stilled. And a moment later he was looking into the most astonishing dark brown eyes he had ever seen aside from his own.

The man looked surprised to see him standing there, perhaps he was lost in thought and hadn’t noticed Tony at all. Tony guessed daydreaming was better than ignoring. “Oh… man, you’re not- My bad, thought you were another museum curator. Can’t stand those guys. Think they’re better than the rest of us, knowing the supposed

history

of the artifacts and their origins,” the stranger chuckled with a head shake and extended his hand. “Erik.”

Tony had to take a minute to process the sudden about-face in behavior. That was not what he was expecting at all. He shook his confusion off quickly though, eyes lighting up. “Hi, my name’s Tony. I’d shake your hand, but,” he paused to think about his next words, grimacing, eyes darting away, “we’re not supposed to touch the masterpieces.” Great start, Tony.

The man- Erik, choked out a sound that could have been a laugh if he let it all out at once. “Did’ya come all the way to a museum to make that joke? Thought you said you hated ‘em.”

Tony’s eyes were laughing now, the corner of his lips quirked up in a small smirk, “Maybe.” He shrugged cheekily, “Could say the same thing about you, though.”

“I guess you could,” Erik admitted, cocking his head to the side. His smile was bright, just like the golden pair of glasses he wore that glittered in the blazing light of the museum. He didn’t dismiss Tony outright, but he turned back to the artifacts in deep thought. “You’d really buy out the whole museum, though? Jus’ ‘cause you don’t like it? That’s badass,” he muttered, amusement clear in his voice.

“Sure,” Tony replied. “I don’t like watching people profit off of others’ hard work.” His mind wandered back to Stane, anger curling into a tight ball in his throat that he struggled to swallow down. Tony pushed away the phantom burn in his sternum to the back of his mind focusing instead on Erik’s quirky smile. “I just don’t think the government would be very happy about that,” he chuckled.

That earned him a small bubble of laughter from his new friend.

“I guess they wouldn’t,” Erik agreed. He looked like he was ready to say something else but came to a sudden halt, a small movement, barely visible. His attention focused on something else. Erik was still looking at the glass setout so Tony couldn’t make out his expression from the current angle and the glass didn’t reflect the man’s face either. It was a few seconds later when he seemed to come out of his trance, turning his head around.

“So, Mr.

“I hate museums and somehow ended up in one”

, you said you arrived ‘n London a coupl’a days ago? Not a local then… New York, is it? You sound like you could be from Manhattan, yeah?” Erik asked, curiously.

Tony didn’t know if he should be impressed or totally creeped out. “Yeah, Manhattan. You got that right, huh. What about yourself? You don’t sound local either,” Tony muttered quietly to himself, trying to analyze the situation. “Let’s see… Cali? Funny thing, I actually have a house there,” he paused to laugh, “well, I used to before it… got blown up.”

It was Erik’s turn to be impressed, even though it barely showed on his face. “Oakland, to be precise.”

“I think the Maria Stark foundation has an outreach office there,” Tony nodded to himself as he studied the masks behind the glass. He wondered if T’Challa ever thought about fighting for the ownership of the artifacts made by his peoples’ ancestors. After what the media had dubbed the ‘Avengers Civil War,’ he certainly had the pull to make it happen. There was an elegance in the masks, in the sharp points and the round edges.

They stood in a comfortable silence, listening to their own slow breathing. No one seemed to want to speak up again and break the idyllic peace. Tony quietly shuffled around, thinking about the things he had found about the mysteriously appealing man. There was something about him he couldn’t exactly place. He seemed familiar too. Tony was sure it was just his mind playing tricks on him, it wouldn’t be the first time…

He was about to speak up when he happened a glance at his wrist watch. It hit him that he was going to be late to his next meeting if he didn’t hurry and the recently ebbed panic started up in his chest again. He turned sharply around and coughed to gain the man’s attention.

“Sorry to leave you like this, but I have a meeting to be at in half an hour, and if I don’t hurry-” he stretched the last word, pointing his thumb behind him with a grimace.

Erik spun around smoothly. “Of course, man. No biggie. I’m sure it’s’lot more interesting than being in a place you can’t stand anyway,” he chuckled and raised an eyebrow. It shouldn’t have been that appealing.

“You got me there. Though I’m not sure sitting three hours in the same chair, listening to things I have no interest in the entire time classifies as

interesting

... Maybe T’Challa can call in and let me at his vibranium, ease off the boredom a bit, for me, at least.” Tony shrugged and checked his watch again. He had a bit of time.

He looked up again when he didn’t hear an immediate reply. The man had gone still. Tony saw an inscrutable expression cross Erik’s features, but it was quickly brushed off, composed before he could even try to figure out what it was. Seconds later the pearly white smile was back on his face, brighter than before. Strange.

“You know the king of Wakanda, huh?” he asked, sounding genuinely interested.

Tony shook the weird feeling off. “Well, technically he’s not a king yet, but he will be! The poor man is still mourning the loss of his father, I can imagine what he feels like right now,” he sighed and tried not to think about the cold metal arm crushing Howard’s skull and choking the life out of his mother.

“Yeah… I bet he is,” Erik said, his expression turning dark. There was something threatening about it.

“Well” Tony hesitated, “I better be going. Clock’s ticking, time is money, and all that.” He gently tapped on his watch and smiled slightly. “I think I’ll grab a coffee on my way there, should help me concentrate... I think I saw a coffee stand in the nearby hallway as I was passing. Let’s hope they don’t charge a premium for it,” he hummed and started to turn around, ready to say goodbye to the former stranger.

That was, of course, until a hand grabbed his shoulder, “wait.”.

He stopped in his tracks. “Don’t order coffee from there, ’s terrible. I grabbed some earlier and it was  disgusting. You wouldn’t want to get-” Erik grimaced letting his arm fall from Tony’s shoulder as he searched for the right word, “-Poisoned. Would you?”

“God, no,” Tony laughed.

“Tell’ya what, there’s an excellent café in central London. Care to grab’a cup with me after your meeting is finished? I promise they make excellent coffee, much better than here.” Erik raised his eyebrow in challenge, as if he was sure Tony would decline the offer.

Tony gave it a few seconds before agreeing, already turning to leave. “Sounds good, The Central Café, is it? I’ll meet you there at five. Don’t be late!” There was no way he’d miss an opportunity like that to get some coffee,

great

coffee at least.

He heard Erik huff amusedly behind him. “I won’t, promise.”

That was the last thing he heard from the man before hurrying down the hallway. He still had time to get to the meeting place, which was not totally unusual. Oh who was he kidding, he was

always

late. He passed the corner and almost ran into important looking woman who was headed for the hall he had been in earlier. She looked like she owned the place. Had to be a museum curator then. She had a coffee cup in her hand which had most likely been bought from the coffee stand he told Erik about earlier. And she was drinking it, gross.

Tony apologised quickly and took off again in the direction of the exit. It was a relief to breathe a lungful of fresh air again.

***

“Hey Friday, sorry I’m late,” Tony’s footsteps echoed around his London apartment as he padded toward the kitchen. “Reschedule my morning appointments with the lawyers, daddy needs to take a nap before his date and I doubt we’ll make any headway with the accords with the way the press is spinning this.”

He undid the cuff of his shirtsleeve before rolling out his neck with a dark groan. A ball of fur shot out from underneath the kitchen counter to bump against his legs with an excited “mrrp.”

“Hey Eric,” Tony bent down to allow his kitten to rub his scent over his knuckles and then the rough hairs of his chin, “sorry I was gone for so long. Didn’t mean to keep my beloved prince waiting.” He gently scratched his rascal furrball under his chin enjoying the steady purr it elicited.

Yes, he had named the cat after the oh-so-handsome prince from the Little Mermaid. Laugh away, it wasn’t like someone would actually judge the cute fluffy feline by its name. Who could resist the dark azure eyes and jet black fur?

He scooped up the small kitten, heading to his workshop and settling on the worn leather couch to finish up some paperwork. He could feel the lance of abandonment latching on and burying itself in his hips as he tried to get comfortable. The warm fuzzball purred soundly as the genius rubbed his from head to tail, pressing a gentle kiss to his furry forehead. Eric responded by rubbing his tiny face over his human’s cheek and then curling around his neck, seeking warmth.

Tony sighed, signing his name across some amendments paperwork, his eyes skipping over the legal jargon. His hands were still shaking from the recent fight and the signatures came off a messy scrawl. As a united team- Well, they weren't anymore and he best not dwell on the past. He was just a man, on his own, trying to get his shit together and fix the mess that the Sokovia Accords were. He took a couple of deep fortifying breaths, trying to calm himself down. He could feel guilt crawling up his throat, catching on his canines and settling on his tongue like bile.

He put the paperwork aside to flex his fingers. Eric’s demure licks against the back of his neck were a grounding presence against the echoing slam of vibranium reverberating in his chest. He slid his hand up his chest, across the bumps of the mangled mess of scars, and to Eric’s soft furry head on his shoulder. The feline’s constant purring was a steady vibration that drew his mind off the terrible conflict and lulled him into a soft, achy nap.

Tony startled awake what felt like mere moments later to a loud resounding crash echoing from the direction of the kitchen. Tony sat up with a groan, digging his finger into the back of his cold neck to work out the catch there. He pushed himself up, blinking the dark spots out of his vision and stumbling toward the living room.

The kitchen was in ruins. Okay, so maybe he was being dramatic but he really didn’t appreciate being woken up to an explosion of cat food all over his clean linoleum tile floor. He found the culprit curled atop the empty bag of food, blinking up at Tony slowly. Tony scooped up the cat pressing his nose into the soft fur. “You’re supposed to help me relax,” he groaned sleepily, “not stress me out.” His furrball only purred in response and Tony slumped onto the living room couch with a grunt. “Friday, get the roombas up here to clean up the mess and put in a new rush order for Eric’s food.”

“Right away, boss,” came the prompt response. He could hear the telltale whirr of the robots in the kitchen as he set Eric on his chest. His baby was perfect for warming the emptiness where the arc reactor used to faithfully thrum. He could spend forever just watching his rascal blink lovingly at him.

“You must be broken,” He kissed Eric’s furry head again, his lips curling into a soft smile as blue eyes blinked back sleepily at him. “Messy little therapy cat you are. I’m going to return you.” The kitten seemed to frown at him and Tony immediately slid his arms around the small animal for cuddles. He rolled onto his side to bury his face in Eric’s neck. He could feel the rough slide of Eric’s tongue against the hairs of his goatee.

“Boss,” Friday interrupted, “you have a coffee date set for this evening at five. You have an hour to get dressed, leave the premises and arrive in downtown London. The Central Street Cafe.”

Tony scrambled up from the couch, startling Eric under the glass coffee table. Shit, he almost forgot. What did normal people even wear for coffee dates? He hurried to his closet, flipping through the hangars. Did people wear suits on dates? He looked at his cat shirt collection longingly- he had left his best one in the Avengers quinjet that Hulk hijacked. That one would have been perfect. Damn it, maybe next time.

He settled for a dark grey Armani suit and tie, paired with a black shirt. With shaking fingers he looped the slate silk tie around his neck, feeling the ghost of long fingers doing it for him. He dropped his gaze as he tightened the knot before fastening the cuffs. Tony wanted to make a good impression.

He thought about catching a cab to downtown London. It would take a painstaking half hour if he was really lucky but it was better than coming off as a rich snob who had too many fancy cars with an obscene amount of money to blow. Who was he kidding anyway, he looked exactly like one; the suit would give it away. He thought about going in sweats and a pullover but quickly pushed the idea to the back of his mind. He had told Eric that he had been at a meeting after all.

He heard the scattering of tiny paws on the wooden floor somewhere behind him. He turned around to scratch Eric under his chin with a quick peck goodbye. “Fri,” his eyes darted to the ceiling, an annoying habit he’d picked up from Rogers, “make sure E doesn’t make any new messes while I’m gone, the poor bots will think they got a raise.”

“Affirmative Boss,” came the short reply. No sarcastic comment followed and Tony found his heart aching for the British lilt of his childhood butler.

The streets were bustling when Tony stepped foot on the sidewalk, and though the sky was heavy and oppressive with London’s constant threat of rain, bubbling laughter echoed through the streets as a sharp contrast. Hunching in on himself, Tony held up a hand in an effort to catch a cab.

It wasn’t a bad drive all things considered. If only Tony’s anxiety would calm the fuck down, he could stop sweating through his nice clothes. On the bright side, though, he had remembered to wear cologne, so the outcome could have been worse. After asking for a location, the cabbie remained silent, shooting furtive glances at Tony through the rearview mirror. Tony was biding his time before he was asked about the Iron Man armour or his company.

He slid his phone out of his pocket to watch Eric on the apartment camera feed. He hated leaving the small kitten home alone. He briefly considered buying a baby carrier so he could strap the adorable animal to his chest and take him everywhere. It was a good idea except he didn’t want the reason behind the adoption to get out. Not that he was ashamed or anything… Tony sighed rubbing his temples. The cab driver only raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything else as he pulled up to the Central Street Café. Tony handed him the money, telling him to keep the change before stepping out into the sidewalk.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Who was that?” Klaue’s gruff voice startled Erik out of his dazed reverie. He turned away from where he was watching Stark’s pert ass as he left the museum exhibit for his meeting. He exhaled a long suffering sigh and pushed the frame of his glasses up his nose to jostle the camera for his audience. Klaue grunted and he smiled wickedly, he knew the movement gave the old man nausea.

“Tony Stark, the billionaire, superhero,” Erik explained in a deep murmur as a woman holding a steaming cup of coffee, an actual museum curator, entered the exhibit followed by a security guard, “he could be a good in, he knows T’Challa, it was in the news last week.”

“Does he now?” Erik could hear the heavy cynicism dripping off of Klaue’s words. “Is that why you invited him out on a date?” There was a brief pause as Erik took a quick cursory glance around. “I met him not too long ago,” there was disgust laced in Klaue’s drawl and Erik could hear him shifting in anticipation, the heavy clunk of his prosthetic, “he’s the one responsible for the ugly murderbot that blew off my arm.”

Erik tried not to let the surprise show on his face. He was pretty sure the museum curator was watching him like a hawk, and museum security was suddenly here now too- Erik hadn’t even noticed them enter after Stark left. He shook his head to clear it. He couldn’t be getting distracted like this.

He gritted his teeth, annoyed, as he turned back to the multitude of artifacts on display. The treasures of his people, their culture and their history, violently and brutally plundered, gleaming tauntingly in the harsh spotlights. He focused on one axe in particular: a true beauty made of pure vibranium, stolen from the Wakandans. It would be good for selling. He drove a hard bargain, and hopefully the buyer wouldn’t turn it into something useless, like a giant frisbee.

The curator’s heels clicked annoyingly against the laminate floor and Erik tried not to roll his eyes at the staccato sound. That could not be comfortable at all. Who would willingly wear killer heels to a job that required being on your feet all day? He glanced up, catching the edge of her red-painted, plastic smile and shot one back of his own. She was playing a dangerous game and she didn’t even know it. Her navy suit was severely pressed to perfection and her short blonde undercut swooped over steely eyes. Erik decided he could admire her bold appearance if she didn’t work in a dump like this.

Erik gave into the temptation and rolled his eyes as he walked around the exhibit to watch the curator delicately sip her boiling coffee. He didn’t want it to be too obvious that he was rechecking his earlier notes on casing the place. “S’not really a date if I’m not interested in him, all I’m trying to do’s get closer and obtain helpful information ‘bout the king that could be useful for our plans,” Erik responded disguising the words under his hand as he pushed his glasses up his nose again. He dropped his hand to smile at the security guards and ran his fingers across the glass of one of the artifact cases. Still virtually impenetrable bullet proof glass, but Klaue had a solution to everything up his sleeve. He was not even remotely sorry for the oily streaks his fingers left on the spotless glass.

“Sure it’s not,” Klaue sang annoyingly in his ear. Erik was ready to rip out his earpiece if it meant silencing the irritating man. He slowly rounded the display case, and saw that there were a couple of other museums guests who had made their way into the gallery. Erik tried not to groan. This would make minimising the number of witnesses so unbearably difficult. It was a good thing their contingency plans had contingency plans.

“‘S’not a real date,” Erik grumbled under his breath as he circled back around. He drew his denim jacket tighter around him, the movement pulling at the itching scars patterned across his chest. He readjusted the glasses so Klaue could get a better look at the glass and the associated problems.

“I have a beautiful girl working the coffee stand right now who would beg to differ,” Klaue taunted as Erik waved over the museum curator. She was looking a little green as she coughed into her closed fist. Erik almost pitied her as her lungs seized and she choked on thin air, her body lurching forward.

The coffee here

was

downright gross. And Erik figured the cyanide in it sure didn’t help.
 
***
 
Erik entered the coffee shop a couple hours later, bells jingling cheerfully overhead as he scanned the patrons’ faces. His eyes quickly found Stark, hunched in a booth in the back with a clear view of the door. He shot him a quick wave, immediately noticing the older man’s immaculate suit. He had said he was going to a business meeting after all.

Erik recognized the cat fur sticking to his sleeves though, something he probably couldn’t have gotten at a meeting. A brief image of Stark sitting in a high wingback chair petting an expensive cat flashed through Erik’s mind and he shook his head with a grin to clear it. Business meeting his left ass cheek.

“Sorry’m late,” Erik slid into the booth across from him with a dazzling smile that he was positive made up for his tardiness in Stark’s mind. The genius’ eyes were underscored with heavy bags that betrayed long sleepless nights. Erik decided he could probably tire him out.

“Hey,” Erik didn’t even notice that a waiter had appeared at their table with a pen and a notepad accompanied by a manic grin. He dazedly looked away from Stark’s whiskey brown gaze with a startled blink. ”Can I get you guys started on anything?”

“A black coffee please,” Stark responded with a light grimace. Erik studied his face carefully as he rubbed at his left elbow, the motion half covered by the corner of the wooden table. He had noticed a similar action back in the museum.

“I’ll have a dark roast,” Erik tilted his head to the side but didn’t lift his eyes from Stark’s form. He looked so much smaller without his sunglasses and all his TV bravado. Erik was sure that if he wasn’t fresh from his fight earlier this week- what the news  were now calling the Avengers Civil War- he probably wouldn’t be seeing him like this.

Stark cleared his throat, setting his hands on the table with a hopeful smile, Erik tried to ignore his bruised and split knuckles, gauze bandages peeking out from under his shirt sleeve cuff. “I have very high hopes for this coffee.”

Erik smiled, happy to not have Klaue in his ear as he flirted shamelessly, “you sure won’t be disappointed.” He leaned forward conspiratorially, as though sharing a well kept secret with Stark, “S’the best coffee in England.”

Stark shrugged nonchalantly, “I don’t know, you haven’t tried the coffee in my apartment. It’ll be nothing like your taste buds have ever experienced before.”

Erik smirked at him playfully, overdoing the eyelash batting to draw a hearty laugh out of Stark, this was his in. “Is that an option?”

“Maybe,” and there was that coy Tony Stark grin that had earned him his previous playboy reputation. For some reason Erik found himself pleased that he was able to make Stark forget about the pain in his arm. “But you’ll have to get to know me first.”

“Can’t try your coffee without getting to know you beforehand,” Erik shook his head teasingly as the waiter brought them their drinks with a smugly raised eyebrow. Erik could give negative ten fucks about what he thought though. Erik took a slow sip of his coffee to study Stark over the rim. “So what do you do with your free time?”

“You know, the usual by and by,” Stark shrugged as he circled the rim of his mug with his fingertips. “Anything to occupy my time when I’m not out in the world trying to play superhero, ya know?”

“You’re’a superhero?” Erik raised an eyebrow, pretending to be gobsmacked. From his face, Erik could immediately tell that Stark wasn’t buying it. He licked his lips to disguise a frown- he should have known it would take a lot more to fool one of the smartest men on the planet.

The genius smirked, taking a long pull of black coffee, steam still leaking out of the sides, with a suffering sigh, “I put the super in supercalifragilistic-existential-crisis.”

Erik laughed, shaking his head. This was the last thing he expected from the infamous Tony Stark. Perhaps his years with the Avengers made him soft. Erik could vaguely recall a tabloid spread on him settling down with one of his teammates for quite a while, but he couldn’t quite remember which one it was. If he was trading innuendos over coffee than surely he was currently single. Perfect. “Do you always tell dumb dad jokes?”

Stark smiled into his mug, his eyes slowly lifting to meet Erik’s as his cheeks coloured bashfully, “only to people I want a second date with.”

Definitely single, Erik decided as he hooked his foot in Stark’s under the table. Sure, it was very forward but at this point Erik just wanted to get in and get the job done. Stark was famous for his love ‘em and leave ‘em habits, so hopefully Erik could use that to his advantage. The sooner he’d get the job done, the faster he’d obtain the needed information about the

current

Wakandan king and his royal-assed plans. Erik would just have to bear with this for a little bit longer.

There was a loud announcement that echoed from the TV on the wall behind them, startling both men and drawing their attention to the small screen. It was the news and something big had happened, it seemed.

“We have an important update on the brutal events which took place this morning. There are a total of six museum employees dead and several guests who were taken to the hospital with food poisoning from the coffee bar. Anyone who was at the museum this morning is advised to seek medical attention immediately. The police do not currently have anyone in custody. If you know any information on this devastating robbery, please phone the police non emergency line, 101.

Stark raised his eyebrows as he focused on the screen, Erik watching his expression shift carefully. He seemed to be surprised. Must’ve been that he hadn’t heard about the robbery at all. Erik busied his hands nervously shredding a napkin on the table.

“God, that’s awful,” Stark was rubbing at the Center of his chest and frowning into his coffee. “No witnesses, only dead bodies, in the same museum we were at this morning!” Stark shivered and then looked up at Erik, brown eyes clouded in concern, “you weren’t there when it happened, were you?”

Erik’s breath hitched. This was it, his cover was blown, he’d been made. And just because he had to go and invite Tony

fucking

Stark to a coffee date instead of letting him poison himself with the disgusting museum cyanide coffee instead. They’d left one witness after all, him. What was he actually thinking? This man was a goddamn

Avenger

! Now he’d have no other choice but to dump him in a ditch somewhere and come up with a Plan B. Damn it, how did you take down

Iron Man

?

“I-”

“You didn’t get hurt, did you? No… they said there were no witnesses. It seems like you left just in time!” Stark’s worried chocolate eyes stared right into his soul. “Judging by the expression on your face, this is the first time you’re hearing about the robbery as well. Can’t believe your luck, huh?”

“Yeah,” Erik quickly straightened, composing his expression into one of polite concern. “We’re both hella lucky.”

“Damn it, I should’ve been there,” Stark sighed and buried his face in his hands, “what kind of superhero am I?” Stark’s muffled self deprecating chuckle filled the air between them as he dragged his fingers through his chocolate curls.

Erik didn’t know how to respond to that and awkward silence ensued. All things considered, Erik was happy Stark wasn’t there and didn’t suspect a thing.

Stark sat up and took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself down and relax. “So… everything aside, could I possibly have the honor of knowing a little about you and your personal life instead, your majesty?” Stark sipped his coffee quietly, eyes flicking up to meet Erik’s as he switched the conversation topic.

For a moment Erik was startled once again, this time it was the unusual nickname that caught him off guard. Fearing that his real identity could have been compromised somehow for the second time now, Erik scanned his surroundings. This was

Tony Stark

after all, not some random ignorant idiot off the street that he was trying to seduce. He shouldn’t have let his guard down like that. Even Klaue didn’t know his true identity, his noble birthright.

Seeing the innocent smile on Stark’s face, though, he shrugged his worries off fast. Stupid. Humming, he leaned forward, propping his elbow up on the table and dropping his face into his open palm.

“Well, who’s to say no to such pretty request.” He watched Stark fluster again and hide his face behind the coffee cup in a long indulgent sip. “Name’s Erik Stevens. Work at an engineering company not far away from here, I love my job. Originally from Oakland, Cali, but ya already knew that didn’ya?” Erik snorted, his tongue weaving more lies that flowed out of his mouth like poison. Well, not full out  actual lies, some of what he he was saying was actually true. A detail of truth in the mix always made fabricated stories worlds more convincing. “Though it-”

Erik’s eyes shot to Stark when he violently shivered, despite the fact that it was warm in the coffee shop. They were seated far away from the entrance so it was unlikely that he was getting a draft from outside. There was no way his lies could have been

that

bad, even if he came up with them on the spot.

Stark’s breathing was coming in fast short pants and suddenly Erik recognized the beginnings of a panic attack. He threw a twenty on the table, telling the now approaching, concerned server that they’d be right back as he slipped his jacket off his shoulders and wrapped the warm fabric around Stark’s shaking form. He tucked the smaller man under his arm, taking him outside into the cool air and around the back where the prying eyes of the public and the paparazzi wouldn’t find them.

Stark’s eyes were glazed over, miles from here, as he hyperventilated, his fists opening and closing repeatedly. “I’m going to touch your face, I’m sorry” Erik enunciated each word slowly before bringing his hands up and cupping Stark’s cheeks, fingers brushing against sharp cheekbones. He brought their foreheads together feeling the ghost of Stark’s exhales across his parted lips. “Breathe with me,” he slid his fingers around Stark’s shaking left arm and set it own his own chest as he exaggerated his inhales and exhales. It was like being back in the armed forces again, losing comrades to death and their own nightmares. Erik gave himself a mental shake. Not the time to think about that, though.

Stark inhaled a ragged breath, his shoulders shaking as he pressed his free hand to his chest. He blinked a couple times, disoriented as his eyes darted around. Shivers wracked his body every other second and his hand trembled against Erik’s sternum. Erik covered his fingers with his own, rubbing them slowly when he found them to be freezing.

It wasn’t long before Stark’s low whimpers turned into wobbly words. A soft, slurred “Steve, no, god, please, no” on repeat, wide brown eyes blurring with unshed tears.

Shit. His last name had-

Disgust swelled up in Erik’s chest, taking place of the earlier confusion. That goddamn motherfucking Steve Rogers. He’d done something to Stark, hadn’t he? Erik brushed the pads of his thumbs across Stark’s cheeks as he tried to calm the smaller man down.

“I’m gonna hug you, if that’s okay?” Erik slid his arms around Stark’s waist, tucking him under his chin and feeling the smaller man’s breathing slowly regulate against his bare neck. There was a large lump pressing against his chest that felt suspiciously like bandages and Erik paused to wonder just how much the conflict earlier this week had injured Stark. It was freezing without his fur coat on, but Stark needed far it more than him and he needed the genius to trust him. He ran his fingers up and down Stark’s spine in a calming gesture. Little by little he felt Stark slump against him, though he still carried a lot of tension across his shoulder blades.

Maybe a moment later, though to Erik it felt like a lifetime, Stark pulled away, wiping away the salty tracks of his tears with the silk cuff of his shirt. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“It’s not your fault,” Erik told him, not relinquishing the grip on the smaller man’s waist, “you can’t take accountability for something you have absolutely no control over.”

Stark’s shoulders dropped. “God, we literally met this morning and I’m already unloading all my baggage on you.” Erik was very familiar with the self deprecating laugh that passed Stark’s lips. He knew what that was like. “At least it’s designer.”

Change of plans, but Erik was nothing if not adaptable. With a quick pass of his hands across Stark’s shoulders he led them back to the sidewalk. “Let’s get you home.” Erik stepped out of the alley way after a few minutes of comfortable silence between them. His hand rose up to flag down a cab. He tucked his coat tighter around Stark, helping him sit in the cab seat when one pulled up to the curb. He had started to look a little better already, pale cheeks filling with colour. His hands were still shaking and his eyes were cloudy but it was far better than before.

“Don’t you want your coat back?” Stark looked up at him, brown eyes wide and vulnerable as he moved to pull it off his shoulders, shivering even as he held the denim out.

“It’s another reason to see you again,” Erik winked, tucking it back around the smaller man before shutting the cab door with a satisfying slam. He watched the small vehicle drive off, he’d set the foundation. Now he just needed to get rich.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tony pressed his fingers against his temples as he tried to calm his pounding heart. Embarrassment coloured his cheeks a rosy red as he pulled Erik’s coat tighter around his body. He couldn’t believe he had lost it like that in front of someone he just met. A cute someone that would probably never want to see him again. Figures.

He rested his head against the window with a regretful sigh. The worst part of it all was that Erik didn’t even freak out, he remained unruffled even as he pulled Tony around to the back and calmed him down, hands gentle and careful. They had just met, but he hadn’t ditched him when he panicked over something as silly as the guy’s last name. Who did that, anyway? Erik must’ve secretly thought he was crazy, which waswhy he had sent him home so fast.

The taxi pulled up in front of his apartment and Tony hurriedly paid the driver, sprinting the short distance from the curb to his front door. He was exhausted but also excited to be back in the warmth of his house and away from the humiliation of today. Count it as just another one of the more embarrassing days in his life. Not like he didn’t have a lot of those.

“Hey E,” Tony was greeted at the door by ten pounds of kitten flying at him from his perch on the bookshelf. He let out a huff of air as Eric hit him square in the chest, before catching him in his arms. He paused, scratching the cat behind his flicking ears and receiving a low satisfied purr in response. “Hungry again?”

Eric meowed plaintively, looking up at Tony with soft eyes. He toed off his loafers by the door, padding into the kitchen with his arms full of black fur. The cleaning bots had left the floor a little too spotless and Tony slid across the tile in his silk socks as he rounded the corner. Clean was far better than dirty though.

He maneuvered around the island, digging through the cabinets one handed. He refused to put his baby down, nearly clocking himself in the head with the red, ceramic cat food bowl. Eric licked across his knuckles, brushing his whiskers over Tony’s fingers as he wrangled some food into the bowl.

After the furry little monster was finally satisfied, quietly putting away his food, Tony disposed of the mess in the cat’s litter box and let out a relaxed sigh when he realized there were no more clean-ups needed around the apartment. Tony found himself focusing on being able to catch up on some of his current projects. He was behind on redeveloping faster code for the new Stark phone and the Iron Man armour needed an upgrade. He wasn’t even touching the mountain of accords paperwork taunting him from the corner of his desk. Pepper was still on his ass about some legal issue with the latest Stark tablet, and Rhodey’s new leg braces needed to be tuned up to better handle impact resistance. Tony let his shoulders drop. What was he thinking going out to a museum and then a coffee date, he had far too little time to be squandering it.

He got three steps into the lab, the smell of motor oil and home hitting him, before Friday chirped. “Boss, you’ve got an incoming call from Mr. Parker. He says it’s important.” The hologram screen lit up, showing the caller ID with a young smiling face on it.

“Accept it,” Tony took a seat on the threadbare workshop couch to give the teen all his attention. He spared a quick glance at the Accords paperwork- he needed to get them together for Peter. For the future of young superheroes who needed to be kept safe. At all costs.

“Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter’s excited face filled the screen. His eye was still a little mottled from the recent fight, but it looked like it was healing well. Despite the bags underscoring his wide brown eyes he was grinning widely. “You’ll never guess what happened today!”

His enthusiasm was infectious and Tony found himself grinning back even though he wasn’t quite sure what there was to be totally excited about. “What happened, kid?”

“So there’s this girl,” his eyes swung to the floor as a pink blush coloured his cheeks, “Liz,” Tony immediately had Friday running the name through a database, “I’ve been meaning to talk to her all summer and today I was invited into a party planning discord chat with her,” Tony smiled as Peter rambled on about his friends. According to Happy, he received multiple updates from Peter a day, Tony just wished he was available to respond to more of them.

“That’s awesome, Peter,” Tony responded, a grin splitting his lips as he sat at his workbench. Peter was just as much of a hopeless romantic as Tony consistently denied being but secretly was. “I hope it works out with you and the girl.”

“Thanks Mr. Stark,” Tony enjoyed the infectious smile in the teen’s voice as he got ready to hang up the phone. “By the way, I managed to finish my homework just in time as well! Right after we came back from Germany! It was on my mind the whole time we were there. So much pressure, can you believe?”

Dread washed over Tony at the mention of the

event that shall not by named

but he quickly swallowed down his mounting panic, focusing on the young boy’s excited voice instead of the ringing clang of vibranium on titanium. “That’s great, kid.”

There was a small pause before Peter spoke up again. “So, what did you do today?”

“Not much,” Tony contemplated telling Peter about the coffee with Erik, his date? Was it even a date? He tried not to groan audibly, it was like being an insecure teenager again. Kind of a little like the one beaming at him right now on the screen in front of him, he thought with horror. He weighed the age old question of

is it a date or just coffee

before he responded, “just grabbed coffee with a friend.”

“That sounds fun,” Peter sounded distracted and Tony immediately knew he was fidgeting despite the limited view of Peter on screen, “when you get back to stateside, do you think you can come visit?”

“Sure thing,” Tony answered with a sigh. He needed to get back to the States anyway to check up on Rhodey and SI. If he was gone for too long things tended to catch fire and go up in flames. Tony startled out of his thoughts when his phone line blinked. Speak of the devil, it was Rhodey trying to reach him. Tony shot Peter an apologetic smile.

“Rhodey is on the other line so I gotta go, bud, but it was awesome talking with you.” Tony listened to Peter’s tiny voice saying goodbye and him waving hand on screen as he ended the call.

There was a click as the other line connected.

“Sugar plum, berry bunches,” Tony squealed in greeting as Rhodey’s exhausted face filled out the hologram in front of him, “how is my favourite lab rat?”

“I should be your only lab rat,” Rhodey scoffed shaking his head in amusement as he gestured down at his legs, “they’re working just fine Tones, we’re still pleading on the air conditioning but it’s been smooth sailing since you left for London.”

“That’s good to hear care-bear,” Tony pulled up the schematics for the leg braces on a seperate hologram, blowing them up to surround his head in a soft blue glow. “We can probably increase efficiency by working with a different metal, but it might decrease stability.”

Tony frowned. If only Wakanda had more of that Vibranium. It would be perfect for the impact absorption required by Rhodey’s supports. Tony puzzled over it, he could probably call T’Challa after and see if he could buy some. The guy had an entire suit made of Vibranium, surely Wakanda had some to spare. He didn’t want to probe, though. Tony’s mind briefly flitted to Steve’s shield, stored safely away in his lab back home, contemplating melting it down, but even though he was completely through with his ex, he was not that petty. Tony tilted his head to the side. Okay maybe a little.

Tony jerked when he realized he was tapping at the center of his chest nervously, a habitual tick that he’d picked up after Afghanistan. Tony secretly hated that he missed the rhythmic dull thud of skin against glass that accompanied the motion. Maybe he should–

“What about you leave it how it is,” Rhodey suggested with a teasing raised eyebrow.

It was Tony’s turn to scoff as he rolled his eyes at Rhodey’s silly suggestion, “bold of you to assume that I could stop tinkering even if I wanted to.” Tony smirked at his best friend, leaning forward to press a kiss against the hologram. Rhodey’s unamused face made him chuckle.

“I expect to see you here soon to fix my AC,” Rhodey fixed him with a hard, meaningful stare, arms crossed over his broad chest.

“Yes sir,” Tony lazily saluted his best friend as he signed off, swiping a hand through the hologram. It was quiet in his lab again, empty.

He stared at the mechanical supports, contemplating the use of magnetic levitation, like synovial fluid, on the joints for smoother movements. Magnets would be heavy, but a lot more structurally sound if he got the polarities right.

Tony rotated the hologram, cocking his head to the side and letting readouts wash over him. Nanotechnology, connected to Rhodey through a modified version of extremis could provide support where needed while working seamlessly with his movements.

Paws batting against his leg startled him out of his thoughts and he bent down to pick up his kitten and set him in his lap. Eric butted his head into Tony’s stomach with a low, grounding purr as he pet the furrball from collar to tail.

“Friday, please dial up T’Challa,” Tony swiped his hands around the hologram, mocking up a vibranium model of the supports with magnetic joints. It would be smaller and smoother, offering more support, but lighter than the current mark.

“Mr. Stark,” T’Challa answered on the third ring, sounding a tired, resigned. “I have a country to run and you have your company. To whom do I owe you the pleasure of your valuable time?” the future king’s voice echoed around the empty space.

“Please, it’s just Tony,” he responded flatly, running his hand down his face. Looked like they were both exhausted and not in the mood. “How are the preparations for the coronation going? It’s in a few days if I remember correctly. You have a coronation, right? I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with Wakandan culture… or anything, really.” Tony scratched his neck nervously. “You must be very busy right now, I’m sorry for interrupting rudely.”

“It is fine, my friend,” a quiet sigh echoed on the other side of the line. The Wakandan prince looked absolutely drained. Tony supposed that was one thing they had in common. “What is it you wanted to talk about? Is it about the accords again? If so, I’m afraid at this moment I can’t possibly do anything–”

“No, no. Don’t worry about it. I know we’ve all had lots of things to do lately, personal and not.” A pause. “What I meant to say is: this is not about politics. I’m sure we’re both tired of those,” Tony rubbed a hand over his face. God he was tired. Nervous too.

T’Challa seemed to visibly relax in the hologram. Yeah, politics were indeed tiring.

Tony took a deep breath.

“The thing is: I was wondering– well, for a while actually, that… Now how do I put this– I was wondering if you had some Vibranium to spare, I’m working on–“

“Mr. Stark–” T’Challa interrupted impatiently.

Tony stumbled on, nervously tapping at his sternum with jittery fingers as he looked away from the screen. “I’m working on supports for Rhodes’ legs. You know, the second iron guy that fought with us in Germany? Yeah, him. His back was injured pretty bad and–”

“Let me stop you right there,” T’Challa’s loud voice cut him off, sounding mildly annoyed, “what you’re saying is that you need Vibranium from Wakanda for your

personal use

?”

Well, when he put it like that it sounded very selfish. “Yes, but–”

“Mr. Stark, I’m not completely sure if you understand, but you are aware that Wakandan Vibranium is something no ordinary human can possibly get their hands on, right? The people of Wakanda do not and will never help outsiders. It has been this way for thousands of years and will stay so. We are not changing for your friend.”

There was a long stunned pause.

Tony held his breath as he stared at the phone, shocked. His hands trembled from where he had them raised to interact with the hologram. “Oh, I didn’t–”

T’Challa’s smooth baritone cut him off again. “Besides, wasn’t your father the one who stole Wakandan Vibranium to make a useless disc that is now the pathetic shield of Captain America? As far as I’m aware, the aforementioned shield is currently in your possession. Am I correct?”

Tony didn’t answer.

In the hologram, T’Challa nodded. “Why not melt that down and repurpose it instead? I’m sure it would be of much better use to you that way. Please do not call for my help regarding this matter again. The world is not entitled access to Wakandan Vibranium for personal gain.” T’Challa let out a deep sigh, like the whole ordeal had been a major inconvenience.

“Got it, I definitely won’t be bothering you by calling for your aid again,” Tony bit out sickly sweet. He could not believe T’Challa was denying him help when Rhodey had gotten injured in a conflict which he fought side by side with T’Challa in. “Tell Rogers and the kids I say hi.”

He swiped an indignant hand through the hologram before T’Challa could respond reclining back on the workbench and staring up at the ceiling hopelessly. That went well.

He could always try the black market, but Tony would do anything to not have to deal with that dumbass Ulysses Klaue ever again. Not after the embarrassment of Ultron.

Eric delicately stepped up to his stomach, curling into a ball over the mass of scars on his chest. Tony brought his hand up to cuddle the furry creature, sighing as he told Friday to scrap the vibranium mock-up of Rhodey’s supports. His best friend had given him everything, and all Tony had done in return was get him paralysed.

Eric meowed up at him, nipping at his fingers before jumping off him and heading to the door with a plaintive meow.

“Yeah okay,” Tony responded, standing fast enough to make himself dizzy. He blinked to clear the black spots in his eyes before bending down to pick up his fuzzball. He cradled Eric in his arms pausing to gently press a kiss to his soft furry head, “medication and bedtime, I know.”

He headed across the apartment to his bedroom, a dejected slump weighing down on his shoulders as he pushed open the door. Tony liked the bed here over the one in the compound because this one never surprised him with sudden bad memories and reminiscing about happier times. There was no arousal or longing or heartbreak. Just a place to sleep. Tony briefly considered moving out to London permanently as he stripped down to his boxers. New York could never be home for him anymore. Not when half of the people who made it a home were gone.

His breath caught as his eyes found his reflection in the mirror, the mess of bandages wrapped around his chest a startling white against the sickly purple of his bruised skin. His left arm was wrapped in gauze, medical had given in a sling but he had elected to ignore it along with every other suggestion they had made.
He ran his fingers across his chest, feeling a phantom humm as he pressed against where the arc reactor used to be. The doctors had said his shield had cut deep enough that it would leave a nasty scar across his chest, raised tissue slashed across his rib cage forever. He sighed, averting his eyes and heading to the bathroom to grab his cocktail from rattling orange bottles. He tossed Eric a treat before swallowing back his meds with a gulp of water from the sink. They always choked on the way down but Tony forced back to urge to bring them up as he shut the door and headed to bed.
He picked Eric off the floor, giving him one last snuggle before pulling back the blankets and burying himself under the covers. Eric curled into the space between his neck and his shoulders and Tony knew that tomorrow morning he would have a tail in his nose. But for right now, all he could think about was waking up and hoping everything would magically by better.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“You’re late,” were the first words out of Klaue’s mouth when Erik finally made it to their rendezvous point after coffee with Stark. His smile was menacing as he watched Erik take a seat, throwing his feet up onto the table and leaning back in his chair, letting out a drawn sigh.

Erik simply rolled his eyes at the older man, crossing his arms over his chest. The motion pulled at the scars patterned across his upper body, but he was accustomed to the painful tinge. It was a reminder of why he was here now. “Was busy, get over’t.”

“Going on your coffee date with Stark?” Klaue raised a condescending eyebrow before chuckling heartily. “What business do you have with that rat of a billionaire?”

“I think he’s the key t’getting T’Challa,” Erik explained pulling out his phone and unlocking it. He had been listening when Tony had rattled his address off at the cabbie and had saved the location in his cell for future use. He’d need it for later.

The coffee date had gone surprisingly well. He had hoped that they would get close afterwards and Stark having an impromptu panic attack had given him the perfect opportunity to show how much he cared. Giving the smaller man his jacket, clearly made of

boyfriend material

had been a surefire way to make sure they saw each other again. He chuckled at his thoughts, earning a suspicious look from the other man.

“Just focus on the mission,” Klaue growled impatiently, slamming his hands down on the table. His prosthetic hand made a dull thunk that sent shivers down Erik’s spine. Vibranium. “We have a buyer for the axe, I’m going to schedule to meet with them in South Korea later this week.”

“Think we should move our timeline further out,” Erik argued stoically as he fixed Klaue with a hard glare, “if I can get info on the king outta Stark, we’ll be able to pull this off with a higher chance o’success.”

“You think Stark is the key?” Klaue laughed, the strident sound permeating the air as Erik struggled to maintain his composure. He hated being belittled and laughed at. “That man wouldn’t look up from his bottle long enough to do jack shit.”

Erik’s eyebrows furrowed as he thought back to what he had seen of the genius on their coffee date. His eyes had been bright with the glimmer of intelligence, nothing like the bleak dull of inebriation or alcoholism. “I don’ give a shit what ya think,” Erik responded with a careless shrug, “I’m our way into Wakanda and ’m not helpin’ if I don’ know all the variables.”

Klaue rolled his eyes, realizing that Erik was right. Annoyance seeped into his posture as he reassessed his plans. “Fine, we can wait for Stark. Maybe he’ll even take the vibranium off our hands.” Klaue pulled up a calendar, rearranging the dates with a grimace. “I’m giving you a week at most, we can come back and reassess then. If he is not useful, we are not delaying this a moment longer. We need to get the vibranium off our hands before we have interpol on our asses.”

“Yeah, sure,” Erik nodded with a grunt. He could definitely squeeze information out of Tony by then. He would melt down some vibranium from the axe they stole and use it to make an audio transmitter, undetectable by whatever fancy technology Tony kept in his apartment. It wouldn’t take very long but he would have to get it done in his workshop soon.

He briefly wondered if it would be too much to buy Stark flowers. Buttering him up would sure help his case, but at the same time he figured Stark might recognize the gift as the distraction it was. Best to use his educational knowledge to figure out what Stark was working on so he could at least keep up a conversation with the man. Dazzle him with his brain and such, keep him interested. A quick google search on his phone brought up mechanical engineering and a lot of other long winded degrees that managed to raise his brow. He knew the guy was smart, but not

that

smart. It was kind of hilarious that he hadn’t sniffed out Erik for the Wakandan he was. But still, Erik had a few aces up his sleeve as well.

He got to his feet, lazily saluting Klaue before heading out onto the busy sidewalk. The bustle of London reminded him so much of Oakland sometimes, but at the same time it was completely different. Oppressive clouds hung in the sky, painting the horizon a dreary grey that leached into the atmosphere. It was nothing like sunny California, but the people were just as nice and helpful. Which is to say that they weren’t at all. Not even a little. Loud as hell too.

Eric headed down to the Tube, his destination the shop he owned on the outskirts of town. He hadn’t lied to Stark about that. He found that the best lies were the ones so deeply buried in the truth, that discerning them himself was practically impossible. It was a short trip, but Erik enjoyed the bustle of people heading home from work. The tired relief on their faces that only came at a day’s end.

When he finally got off the Tube and headed up the steps of The Underground, he replayed his coffee date with Stark several more times in his head. He would never want to induce a panic attack, he had seen too many to ever want to be the cause of one. But the vulnerability that Stark had demonstrated after coming down was something Erik desperately wanted to use to his advantage. Hopefully the whole experience had brought them closer together. All he had to do was convince himself that he liked Tony Stark.

Erik unlocked his shop, loving the smell of oil and metal that coated the place like a blanket. There was a vault in the back where they were keeping the vibranium before they could hand it off to the highest bidder. Hopefully Klaue wouldn’t notice if he skimmed a little off the side. Then again, Klaue wouldn’t notice if his empty head wasn’t glued to his shoulders.

He brought out the axe, excitement arcing up his spine as he marvelled at the beauty of the artifact. His people had made this. Someone with blood like his running through their veins had painstakingly crafted this beautiful piece.

Someone like his dad, who had been brutally murdered by the royal family.

But no, he wasn’t one of them. He never was. Proof reflected on the transfluent side of the high tech Wakandan jet that had risen to the dark skies and taken off, leaving the young marveling boy completely alone in the dark cruel world.

Erik shut his eyes against his childhood, pushing the memories to the back of his mind. He couldn’t afford to be vulnerable like he once was. So clueless. He couldn’t let more be taken from him just like his father and mother had been.

It didn’t take long to carefully skim a little bit of vibranium off the edge, melting into a glittering liquid and using it to cloak an audio device against interrupting and detecting frequencies. He hoped it would stand up to the genius’ tech. If not, he’d have a lot of explaining to do. That might turn out fatal for his plan, but it was worth the risk.

He ordered takeout as he waited for the metal to cool and set, watching the news footage of that morning’s events. It had felt like a lifetime since they had gotten their hands on the axe. T’Challa would sure be looking for them now and it wouldn’t take long for interpol to come sniffing too.

As he chowed down on sticky rice and orange chicken, he pulled out his laptop and fired up another web search on Tony Stark, more extensive than his earlier one about the man’s degrees. A world of information was at his fingertips. All Erik had to do was find the right buttons to push, research what made him tick and make sure he was the most desirable he could be.

Stark had a long winded dating list filled with both high profile men and women. The most recent, and lasting relationship was one Steven Grant Rogers with whom Stark had seriously dated for five years. Since after the battle of New York to their disagreement over the Sokovia Accords a little over a week ago. Erik read through a press release about an engagement two months ago and a statement released a couple of days ago, saying that they were no longer together and that Stark would not be making a comment on the Avengers turning into fugitives.

So Erik had to compare himself to Steve Rogers. It wouldn’t be that hard one upping a man who wore khakis and coiffed his hair like he was about to break into a song. He looked like the kind of person who had sex in missionary position only and made the bed with military tight corners afterward.

If Stark liked uniformed men, Erik could play up his service in the U.S. Black Ops and wow him with funny war stories that humanised him. He bet his scars would be a selling point for a man like him. Each raised bump a reminder of someone he had killed to keep American citizens safe. It was better than having stage-punched Hitler while dancing to showtunes across the country like a circus monkey.

Erik finished off his dinner, tossing the paper boxes into the recycling bin with a grin. He was still a basketball hotshot, and like the old saying went- you could take the kid out of Oakland, but Oakland never left the kid. His fingers flew across the keyboard, ordering a bouquet of Gladioli for Stark, tall thin flowers representing strength or something. Might as well see how he reacted to small gifts and the idea that Erik wanted to pursue a possible relationship before putting all his effort into it.

He made sure that the flowers would be ready for him to pick up tomorrow on his way to visit Stark before checking on the listening device. He connected the audio feed to his laptop, listening closely as he tried to adjust the settings for the least amount of static. He carefully tested the audio quality and feedback before checking the detectability and the security of the feed address and laptop connection. Even if Tony did find the device- though Erik would make that highly unlikely- it would be untraceable, like a regular old hunk of metal.

Erik turned it over in his fingers as he thought about where to place it. On Stark’s person would be the most beneficial but it would probably be found within the first few days. Leaving it on his phone might be problematic because the new Starkphones were cutting edge thin. He could probably leave it in his bedroom? Or his workshop? All geniuses had one of those right?

He had totally forgotten to trade numbers with Stark yesterday after their coffee date, so he just had to hope that he’d be home when Erik showed up with the flowers and the bug.

He flipped through more press images before settling on one from a couple of days ago. It was leaked footage from Stark’s personal Instagram account that showed him in a hospital bed from the waist down with a black cat sitting in his lap, though Stark had seemed perfectly healthy and fine earlier. Maybe it was the concealer that covered his possible bruises.

He didn’t have access to the caption, just a news story to go along with the image that claimed Stark had gotten a cat to replace his team. It was a beautiful black American shorthair with wide blue eyes and a small pink tongue. What Erik noticed too was Stark’s heavily bandaged hand, settled on the cat’s back.There were a couple of other news articles confirming that cat food and toys had been delivered to Stark’s London apartment.

Erik figured the cat would hang around Stark like a plague until he got bored of it like he did with everything else. If he stuck the audio transmitted to Eric’s collar, it would go everywhere Stark went without him ever noticing.

It took a little bit of hacking to crack into Instagram, but Erik was able to wrangle his way in. The most recent photo was of the cat, the caption saying, “newest addition to the family.”

The one right before that was a picture of Stark at a foundation gala with his CEO at his right. He was making a goofy face at the camera, tongue out and eyes crossed. That was such a sharp contrast to the formality of his clothes that Erik thought he might get whiplash.

The photo before that was a selfie of him and Rogers eating ice cream in what looked like Central Park. The caption was titled “home” and nothing more. Erik tried not to sneer with an annoyed eye roll- only an idiot like Rogers would let go of the billionaire. Things worked out in Erik’s favour though, so he guessed he should be thanking the man.

Further down Stark’s feed Erik found a picture of him in what looked to be like an oversized hoodie with a huge Star Wars logo on it. There seemed to be a huge television screen behind him in the blurry background, along with an edge of something that looked like a big sofa. “Marathoning the classics,” was all the caption said. Erik smiled to himself. Looked like Stark was a fan of popular culture, he could work with that.

There were thousands of others, humanising photos of Stark saying he was okay after an injury. Him making silly faces at babies in hospitals. There were even a couple of him and the rest of the team hanging out. It was so different from the usual professional, slick persona the media always portrayed of him.Though it changed absolutely nothing.

He shrugged as he logged out of Instagram, all traces of him having looked at Stark’s account disappearing. He had a plan of attack for tomorrow that Stark would never suspect.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tony’s heart tried to escape his chest when the doorbell rang the next morning. He had been getting breakfast for Eric and himself. He knew it was ridiculously expensive to keep feeding his baby the best sashimi money could buy when there was perfectly good kitten food in the cupboard, but Eric always looked so pleased chowing down on fish rather than the manufactured garbage that everyone recommended. And really, what was the point in being a billionaire if you couldn’t lavish some of that wealth on your adorable feline friend?

He carefully left Eric on the table where he was batting at the flower Tony had rolled out of some of the fish. He looked up at Tony inquisitively as he stood to go answer the door and Tony assured him with a pat on his head and a soft kiss on his perfect pink nose. “I’ll be right back.”

“There is a man named Erik waiting outside,” Friday informed him as he got to the door.

Tony’s eyes widened and he nearly slipped on the clean tile in his haste to scurry to the entryway. He nervously slicked down his hair and checked his teeth in the mirror by the door before pulling it open. He was being ridiculous, really, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“Erik!” Tony tried to sound surprised as he grinned at the other man, he was probably just here for his jacket and not much else but Tony focused on looking the epitome of pleased and not embarrassed.

He felt a swell of humiliation sink into his hips as his thoughts wandered back to their date. He briefly wondered how Erik had found his apartment. Then again, pretty much everything about him was online for the searching so Tony wasn’t all that surprised. Maybe he would do some online searching of his own when Erik left. He wrung his hands in front of him as he shifted on his feet.

“Hey Tony,” Erik’s voice was soft and he actually looked genuinely concerned as he stepped in and let Tony shut the door behind him. He was holding a large bouquet of pretty smelling orange flowers tied with a red bow that he handed over as he crossed the threshold, “How’re’ya feeling?”

Delighted surprise overcame Tony’s features as he accepted the gift, raising the waxy petals to his nose to catch a wiff. He felt a blush rising to his cheeks as he looked up at Erik through his lashes. No one had ever just bought him flowers for no reason, especially not ones as pretty as these.

“Better now, thank you,” Tony led him to the living room to sit on the couch, cradling the flowers in his arms. He could feel the ridiculously large grin eclipsing his face as he turned back to face a smiling Erik. “Can I get you some coffee while I grab water for these?”

“Oh yeah,” Erik responded with a smirk as he followed Tony in, “you said somethin’ ‘bout havin’ the best coffee, right?” He sat down on the couch, relaxing into the cushions as he looked around the room with a murmured “nice place.”

“The coffee really is the best,” Tony found himself biting his lip to hold back his obscenely large smile as he headed to the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase and find mugs for the coffee. Eric wasn’t sitting at the table, his plate completely licked clean where he had been. Tony stuck it in the sink along with his own plate. He carefully cut the stems of the flowers, pausing a second to take a sniff of them again before setting them on the coffee table in front of Erik. “These are beautiful, thank you.”

“They reminded me of you,” Erik responded with a dazzling smile as he leaned forward to run a fingertip across the petals, “they represent strength an’ you’ve been hella strong lately.”

Tony paused, letting the words wash over him as a shocked expression crossed his features. He quickly rearranged his astonishment into a bashful smile as he headed back to the kitchen. He tried not to think about how no one had been able to render him speechless like that in years.

It was unexpectedly nice of Erik to say those words to him. Not many people really acknowledged his struggles. He could actually count them all on the fingers of his right hand, and even for those people it had taken a while to notice that something was off. But for a stranger he just met to notice he wasn’t that alright straight away? That was something entirely new and strange. Tony found that he simultaneously loved and hated it.

“So, how do you take your coffee?” Tony asked, inwardly chastising himself for not remembering Erik’s order from the day before. He didn’t have an eidetic memory, but he was usually pretty sharp about these things. Then again, he had been too preoccupied with other things to really think about what his date had been drinking.

“Two sugars, please,” Erik responded before making a surprised sound. Tony’s head shot up in alarm, but he couldn’t see Erik from where he was standing in the kitchen. He didn’t hear any screaming though so it was either fine or really bad.

“You have a cat?” Good then, Tony felt his shoulders relax as he finished pouring the coffee. He heard some shuffling behind him before Erik made the most adorable cooing noise and Tony tried not to swoon as his heart swooped in delight. “What’s this li’l guy’s name?” There was a jingling of tags as Tony felt his cheeks burn hotter. “Prince Eric, huh?”

“Yeah,” Tony waved his hand as he brought in both the mugs and set them on the wooden coffee table, “like the prince from Ariel, it was a joke at first but it stuck and it’s too late to go back now.”

“He’s adorable,” Erik scratched him under his chin, seemingly pleased with the deep resounding purr he got in response. Eric meowed up at him before rolling over and presenting his belly which Erik was happy to rub. “Didn’t know you liked cats.”

Tony shrugged, carefully avoiding the reason he had gotten a cat in the first place. Only Pepper and Rhodey knew about the frequent therapy and he sure didn’t want it getting out to the tabloids. “He’s a recent addition to the family but he’s already my favourite.”

“Well, I hope he likes me,” Erik chuckled before looking up at Tony with a warm smile, brown eyes wide and optimistic, “‘cuz’m plannin’ on sticking around, for a second date?”

Tony’s heart flipped in his ribcage, butterflies stirring up a tornado in his stomach as he grinned with a playfully arched brow, “you mean this isn’t already a second date?”

With a hearty laugh that slid over Tony’s skin like molasses, Erik relaxed into the couch with Eric in his lap as he sipped at his coffee. He groaned, the sound setting Tony’s nerves on end and prompting him to blush a darker shade of scarlet as he peered at him from over the rim of his own mug. Erik smacked his lips, pink tongue poking out to wet them, “man this is heav’nly.” He smiled at Tony cheekily with a wink, “probably ‘cuz an angel made it.”

Tony couldn’t fight the blush rising to his cheeks as he looked down at the carpet with a stupidly wide grin on his face. He tried to hide behind his coffee mug, taking a slow, indulgent sip before looking up at Erik from under his lashes, “that was ridiculously cheesy, you know that right?.”

“Only telling the truth.”

Tony huffed and shook his head. “Thank you,” he conceded shyly. He had to admit that Erik was very smooth. He filed away the comment for the analysis he would do on this whole conversation later. For science, he told himself, not at all because he was an insecure teenager at heart. He thought back to Peter getting adorably bashful over Liz. He had officially become an obsessive teenage noob.

They both sat in comfortable silence as Erik finished off his coffee, absentmindedly petting Eric in his lap. Lies aside, Tony was kind of jealous. He wondered if Erik would pet him if he rolled over and presented.

Erik set his mug on the table before picking the kitten up so they were eye level with each other. They were locked in a staring contest with Eric was purring loudly as Erik rubbed his face.

Tony watched amused as he tried to come up with reasons for Erik to stay and hang out. “So did you want to stay a little longer? We can pop in a movie, or I can show you what I’m working on in the lab, if you want?” He figured he could trust Erik that much, after all, what was the worst thing he could do? Tony was goddamn Iron Man, for Christ’s sake. Not that he had a suit on him. But he had two fists and could still throw hands with a civilian.

“Oh wow, your lab of wonders?” Erik grinned excitedly his warm brown eyes lighting up as he handed the kitten to Tony, “I would totally love to see what greatness you’re cookin’ up in that workshop of yours.”

Tony stood, collecting both of their cups to put in the sink before heading down the hall to the lab with Erik trailing behind him, Eric tucked in his arms. He quickly pressed a soothing kiss to Eric’s head as he stepped past the threshold. “This,” he swept his arms out to encompass the whole room, Eric hanging off his hand, “is where the magic happens.”

Erik looked around in awe, his smile stretched wide across his face as his gaze darted from hologram to hologram. It was horribly cluttered, but Tony figured Erik, being a mechanic himself, wouldn’t mind the mess all that much. “Wow, this’s beautiful.”

Tony smiled, bashfully accepting the compliment, “right now I‘m working on the new Stark line in between rephrasing the accords for resigning by the United Nations next month,” he gestured vaguely at the stack of paperwork in the corner. He wasn’t too keen on getting that done, but someone had to do it. Besides, he reminded himself, he needed to do it for Peter.

Tony carefully set Eric down on the workshop couch with a hand brushed down his his back. He immediately darted off the couch, his tail lashing as he dashed across the concrete floor toward the cat tree Tony had put in the corner.

“I’m also working on metal supports for my best friend, he was paralysed from the waist down not that long ago, and I think vibranium is the key to getting them working but of course, his royal pain in the ass, T’Challa, won’t let me purchase any from Wakanda despite my continuous needling,” Tony looked away with a self deprecating laugh.

Erik fixed on that statement brows raised as he ran his fingers across the workshop bench, “he’s not letting you buy Wakandan vibranium?”

“Nope,” Tony popped the p as he frowned. Was the info about Wakandan vibranium even public knowledge yet? He really hoped he hadn’t just leaked state secrets or whatever. “Not even to help my very only best friend.”

“That’s shit, man,” Erik responded as he stepped up to the desk glancing slowly over everything, “show me the vibranium support mockups.”

Tony pulled them up with a puzzled look on his face. The designs weren’t fully fleshed out yet and he wasn’t entirely sure how much Erik could even understand from his minimal notes, but he blew them up all the same, encompassing them both before pointing to the joints. “I was hoping to use maglev to make these more realistic and using vibranium to better the handle support and impact absorption so Rhodey’s bones don’t suffer damage from the lack of feeling.”

Erik nodded along, taking it all in. He pointed at the bottom of the hologram enlarging it. Tony had to stave off the world’s most awkwardly timed science boner as he watched Erik manipulate the hologram without hesitation. He had never seen someone fit into his space so seamlessly. “Why not use nanotech and cushion for each step at the heel?”

Tony’s eyes went wide and he looked up momentarily. It was crazy to see someone actually following along with what he was saying. Erik was so different from Steve, who normally just nodded his head and ignored him when he started speaking techno babble. Not that he blamed him, though. Tony tended to ramble when given the slightest opportunity. He must have bored Steve shitless over the years.

“You look surprised,” Erik smirked at him, pushing his shoulder playfully. The contact rocketed through his chest and he grinned up at Erik. “You know, I went to MIT too.”

“You did?” Tony latched onto the information, the new data tingling in his fingertips. It was so nice to be in the company of someone that didn’t dismiss his ideas, someone who actually matched him intellectually. There was Bruce, but his science bro hadn’t been around in a while. Last Tony had been able to find, Brucie Bear was not even in the realm. Jane had helped him track Bruce to a garbage dump nowhere place, but the trail went dead there. Maybe Eric could help.

He pulled up another schematic, one from his new line of cleaner technology for household use. Erik had fantastic opinions on everything he was working on, challenging him intellectually and opening up counterarguments that Tony hadn’t even thought of before. It was crazy how quickly they fell into a rhythm with Tony presenting ideas and Erik asking thought provoking questions and making suggestions that improved them, their shoulders brushing as they manipulated the holograms together. Tony didn’t think he’d had this much fun with someone since he’d lived in Avengers tower.

It was too soon before Erik was apologizing, saying that he needed to be somewhere and would love to schedule a third date.

“Wow, this has been such a big help,” Tony closed the schematics for the new Starkphone rubbing his hands together. Erik had had a brilliant idea about solar power strips that worked similar to arc reactor tech that could power the phone without overheating the glass of the screen. It could even be applied to power banks for long, clean power.

“Best second date if I ever knew one,” Erik agreed with a smile as they headed back to the living room, “are you free again this Friday? So I can take you out for a real dinner and show you a  good time?”

Tony had actually planned to be stateside by then, but he was sure he could put it off until the weekend. That way he could hang out with Peter without worrying about his school and homework.

With a smile he agreed, ushering Erik out the door. He tilted his chin up, receiving an unexpected yet firm kiss on the cheek, beard brushing against his own. And before he could even form  a coherent reaction to it, the taller man was disappearing down the sidewalk.

The moment the door was closed Tony let out an excited exclamation and turned to Eric, who was perched on the back of the couch, watching him with disinterest. Tony let out a quiet chuckle, humming to himself contentedly before walking towards the tiny culprit.

He scooped the cat up, cradling him in his arms and rubbing his thumb over Eric’s head, dropping a kiss on his furry nose. He gave him a quick scratch before heading back down to the lab.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It was a total success. The transmitter had been successfully placed on the idiot cat’s collar. Erik still couldn’t get over its dumb name, there was nothing more ridiculous than a grown man naming a cat after a Disney prince of all things. He’d expected one named Bolt, or Einstein, or even Steve considering the article he’d read about Stark trying to replace the team, but Eric? What the fresh hell?

And it wasn’t that Ariel was a bad movie, despite the fact that it had come out almost thirty years ago. But it was a musical. A god forsaken Disney musical with talking mermaids in it. Stark was almost fifty, not a pre-teen. Erik briefly wondered if Stark could sing along to all the songs, then laughed at the ridiculousness of the thought.

Erik rolled his eyes, tapping away at his computer with a snort. It was silly and so was Stark. Stark who blushed adorably when kissing his moron cat on its button nose. Stark who smiled softly as he ran delicate fingers over the lame cat’s fur. Stark who seemed attractively unashamed by how much he so clearly loved his heathen cat. Erik just couldn’t handle how pathetic it was. God, what a nuisance.

With another derisive snicker, he pulled up the feed from the collar, listening as Tony gabbed, presumably on the phone. Erik had exchanged numbers with Tony so a couple of keystrokes later, Erik was looking at the call history and trying to trace the location of the caller recipient. The trail led to an apartment in Queens leased to a woman named May Parker. A google search didn’t bring up much, but there was a Parker, Peter on the list of September grant recipients. Erik’s brows furrowed- the kid was too young to even be eligible for the scholarship. A quick bout of digging brought up a small nobody in queens who went to a technical school and was planning on attending MIT. One of his friends had also posted online about his internship with Stark Industries.

It wasn’t long before he was hacking into the school database to find a list of the kid’s classes. The school security feed was on a closed circuit, so Erik couldn’t get in without someone on the inside, but the kid’s classes and his club participation was all there for the searching. He was a photographer and as of late, he had been writing a lot about Spiderman. He even had a couple of pictures of Spiderman waving at the camera, doing backflips, and sitting on a fire escape.

Commendable enough, Erik decided as he stored the information for further use.

He turned a curious ear back to the conversation Stark was having with the kid. Unfortunately for him, Eric was purring loudly into the mic and he could not hear a word of Peter’s half of the conversation. Erik added it to the list of reasons why he hated the cat.

Eric’s fingers flew over the keys trying to clean up the audio input, adjusting for the cat’s baritone and muffling the noise as best he could.

“Something came up on Friday night so I’m delaying my flight a couple of hours, but I’ll be stateside by Saturday morning,” Stark was saying when he finally got rid of the irritating purring. “I’m sorry kiddo, I’ll be there in time to catch your science fair Saturday afternoon, I promise.”

Something flipped in Erik’s chest as the information settled in him. Sure, Stark had his own private jet and moving his flight back was just a couple dollars off the top of a large lump sum, but there was still something exciting about having that kind of power over such a rich man. Maybe he could even get Stark to take him along to the states.

“Okay,” Peter’s dejected voice came through the speakers, and Erik mentally gave himself a high five. Turned out that MIT education was worth something. “I didn’t tell anyone you were coming.”

Stark sighed and Erik could just picture him running a tired hand down his face. “I told you I wanted to go kid, so I’ll be there, I promise,” his words were firm and Erik filed away the warm note in his voice as he continued to talk to Peter. Maybe Peter was an illegitimate son, hidden from the media? That would be rich. Erik could sell that information to the media and be set for life.

The best part of his whole meeting with Stark was his need of vibranium for Rhodes’ leg supports. That gave them similar goals that they could collaborate on in order to ensure that they mutually benefited. If he could get Stark to buy the vibranium from Klaue, they could move the timeline back up and ensure a secure buyer. Erik was pretty sure the client in South Korea was actually a not so secret trap set by the US government- he had worked for the bastards after all- but Klaue only saw the dollar signs and it would be the death of him. Thankfully Erik wouldn’t be at the sale and so it wouldn’t be his ass on the line, but even so, he still stood to lose all the money the vibranium could actually be sold for if the deal went sour.

Erik pulled up his world map. He always had to have a backup plan, and now more than ever he needed to make sure it was in place if Stark ever figured him out. He still had ownership of his dad’s apartment in Oakland, but it wouldn’t be hard for Tony and his merry band of Avengers to find it.

There was always his mechanic shop. Sure, Erik fucking hated the drab weather but it was bought with clean money and the lease wasn’t in his name. He could put his degree to use fixing up cars.

If all else failed, he had an offshore bank account that would payout if he needed to make a quick getaway and wash his hands of this whole mess. And now there was information about the kid called Peter, too. He wondered how much he could get in an NDA with Stark over the information. That could set him for life.

For Rhodes’ leg supports, Stark would probably need a lot more vibranium than what Erik had gotten from the axe. The British museum of Natural History had some that Eric had previously identified, but it was currently on loan to a museum in America and wouldn’t be back for months. And there was no way Erik could convince Klaue to go back to America where the Avengers, or what was left of them, were still keeping an eye out for him.

His fingers tapped a steady rhythm against the gold chain around his neck as he opened up a new tab and rana search on weapons originating from Africa. Museum curators were always careless about where objects came from if they weren’t European or American, and ignorant museum goers often didn’t care enough to fact check.

It had taken him forever to trace the origins of the axe to determine the likelihood of it being both from Wakanda and made of vibranium, but postponing the meeting with theirs buyers gave Erik a lot more time to come up with a solution. It was hard to find Vibranium outside of Wakanda but Erik was sure there was at least a little left for him to dig up.

Erik flipped through his tabs before accidentally settling on the one he had open of Stark’s Instagram page. He had taken the liberty of reporting every single picture that included Rogers and letting Instagram know that Stark needed support. Erik snorted as he scrolled through the pictures again before setting on Stark’s most recent one of Eric. He scowled at the insolent feline, fixing the picture with a glare. Further inspection, and a lot of tedious zooming, showed a reflection of Stark’s face in the cat’s large blue eyes and he looked absolutely wrecked, face bandaged to the nines and heavy black eye not unlike a teen’s first bout with eyeliner. He frowned, trying to zoom in closer on the picture while still preserving the quality, but no dice. Turns out the Starkphone camera quality wasn’t as good as it publicised. Erik clicked off the message with a huff.

It didn’t take long for Erik to get past the hospital firewall and hack into Tony’s medical records from the night the picture was taken. He blanched at the laundry list of injuries he’d sustained. From multiple cracked ribs to severe lacerations on his left arm. It was a wonder he was walking around considering the extensive damage done to his chest. Sick indignation on Stark’s behalf settled in his ribcage, leaching into his bones as he scrolled through the doctor’s notes. Diagrams charted a large cut stretching across his sternum, the force of a blunt object had cut through a couple of his ribs. Harrowing reports described his recovery as a miracle considering the mangled mess of Stark’s lungs when he was brought in.

He opened another file, this one titled Extremis. Erik has heard of it back in his MIT days, just a whisper on campus about a science organization called AIM using biological weapons. It was hard to believe that Stark was working with them but he didn’t know how else to explain the association. According to the file, Stark had used a modified version of the AIM developed Extremis in order to expedite the healing process to get him back on his feet sooner.

Erik saved a copy of the documents, offloading them to a secure server and coding in a data encryption before closing out of the hospital records and wiping any trace that he had ever been there.

It wasn’t long before he found himself circling back in Stark’s Instagram feed, and wow, now he understood why kids these days struggled with getting off their phones. He grinned, loving the power of flipping through pictures of him and Rogers and being able to judge both of them. Stark really thought that ridiculous purple tie looked nice? Poor man needed to lay off the dumb babe juice.  Was Rogers’ hair really coiffed? The forties called, they want their wig back. He continued to scroll absently, searching for potential interests that he could exploit. There were pictures of the two heroes sat a baseball game, and Stark had box seats, but he doubted it would bring happy memories if Erik took him to one. There were also pictures of him at an art gallery in New York, dolled up and looking content as he gazed curiously at what appeared to be a Monet. Erik had to hand it to the man: when he wanted to, he sure could clean up well

His phone started up its shrill tones, startling Erik out of his reverie as he exited out of a picture of Stark he’d been studying. He didn’t check the caller ID, just stuck the phone to his ear and answered.

“Erik, how did your meeting with Stark go?” Erik immediately recognized the voice as Klaue and rolled his eyes. He should have just let it go to voicemail. He frowned, closing out of Instagram and wiping the cache of any of his snooping,

“It went good, I was able to tap him.” His fingers skittered across the keyboard aimlessly, pretending to be busy as he cradled the phone between his head and his shoulder.

“Oh sweet,” Klaue’s voice sounded annoyingly gleeful and Eric could just imagine him rubbing his palms together like the diabolical maniac he was. “Are you monitoring it right now?”

“Yup,” Erik responded as he pulled up the feed on his computer. Stark hadn’t said much in the last couple minutes, just softly singing along with whatever he had playing and speaking to his cat about overloads and relays.

“Good, if anything happens I want to be the first to know.”

Erik nodded before realizing that Klaue couldn’t see the motion over the phone. He resisted the urge to facepalm. “Yeah of course, I’ll keep you updated.

“Good,” Klaue clapped his hands with finality, the dull thud of the plastic prosthetic unnatural to his ears as he hung up the phone.

Erik tossed his phone onto the table beside his laptop with an annoyed grunt. There was nothing that irritated him more than Klaue and his self righteous arrogance. T’challa was the same way, privileged and selfish. There were so many things Erik would change if he were king of Wakanda. Starting with their foreign policy and increasing their aid in liberating black people around the world. The thought sent a warm shiver down his spine as he reopened the tab to Stark’s Instagram page.

Tony Stark could be worse, he supposed. The guy made a lot of humanitarian efforts including the Stark Relief foundation and the Maria Stark foundation. Not to mention the new September foundation. He was still a billionaire though, and he had so much more to give. Erik would love the chance to wring him dry and use his money for something world changing.

The flowers this morning were definitely a good move. He probably couldn’t use the same tricks again, Stark’s lifestyle demanded so much more than a couple of bouquets of flowers, but Eric couldn’t really but the guy a watch or a car as gifts instead, Stark owned enough already.

He flipped back to his Google search tab, quickly typing in ‘

Tony Stark likes?’

Nothing particularly useful came up, however. There was one Buzzfeed interview in which Tony mentioned liking Steve Rogers and another one that said Tony liked the colour red. Erik rolled his eyes, mind’s eye flicking back to the image of the obnoxious colour of the Iron Man suit. Yeah, no shit. Everything else was mostly speculation though, and pathetically inaccurate or useless at that. But about fifteen minutes deep into his search, Erik finally upended an old interview, where Stark looked no more than fifteen or sixteen, and was sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair.

The interviewer was asking him about what he enjoyed doing for fun. A soft fondness slipped down Erik’s collarbones, melting into his chest as he watched a young Stark frown, a small crease between his brows. He was dressed in an immaculate dress shirt and dark grey slacks that hugged his legs. For a teenager, he looked at ease in front of the camera, but the slight tense in his shoulders betrayed his discomfort.

“I like starg-” Stark cut out, his gaze darting to someone off screen. Erik watched fear, quick as a startled rabbit, flash across his face before he was clearing his throat. “In my free time, I like helping my father further develop his ideas. It is as much work as it is play.”

So the stars was what Erik was going with. He figured Stark wouldn’t accept a forty dollar certificate scam claiming that Erik had named a star after him, but he was planning dinner on Friday so maybe he could take Stark stargazing. Get him to spill his guts and then casually drop that he had looked into vibranium for a mechanical part once and knew someone who was selling.

Erik smirked as he pulled up another tab to make dinner reservations. If Erik did his homework, he could have Stark wrapped around him by the end of the night.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tony hated disappointing Peter, but he couldn’t help being excited for his Friday night date. He spent the entire day in his lab pulling up holograms and closing them down to flail his arms around in excitement as a wide grin split across his face. It was a little ridiculous and he wasn’t getting anything done, so Friday suggested he take some time away from the lab to let off a little steam before he ended up doing damage to one of his projects.

He tried to spend some time on Instagram only to find the majority of his pictures had been reported and consequently removed. Tony frowned looking through his account. A certain blond haired, blue eyed ex boyfriend had been completely deleted from his feed. While the nostalgic part of him wanted to keep those memories close to his heart- that had been five years of his life that he didn’t regret for a second - the majority of him was singing praises of good riddance. Maybe the social media gods were looking out for him and he had been #blessed.

To distract himself, he leashed up Eric and took him to the small neighbourhood park around the corner to smell the flowers and play around. It was a small park with just a slide, two swings, and one of those weird spring rockers that creeped Tony out. It did have a grassy area though, barely big enough to kick a ball around, but a huge football field for a smol kitten like Eric. Tony had the time of his life and he was sure Eric had as much fun as he did, rolling around in the grass and pretending the last two weeks hadn’t happened. Tony lay back in the grass looking up at the clouds with Eric settled on his chest, snoring. It was almost perfect. Like there were coffee grounds in the garbage disposal, Vision was invading everyone’s privacy by phasing through walls, and Steve was still sketching on the couch, waiting for him to get back to the compound.

There were paparazzi. There always were when Tony was concerned, but he paid them no heed, zooming down the plastic slide with Eric and pressing kisses to his small, furry head at the bottom. He even went on the god forsaken duck rocker, his knees hitting the handlebars as he cradled Eric to his chest slowing bouncing back and forth.

As the sky darkened and the horizon became painted in brilliant pinks and blues, Tony finally looked at his watch, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head as he realized he only had an hour left until Erik was due to pick him up. He hurried back to his apartment with Eric tucked into his shirt, head sticking out of the collar and buried in Tony’s neck. Before he left the states, Tony had bought him a baby blue hand knit sweater because it matched his eyes and not at all because it reminded him of his ex.

When he finally stepped through his front door and set Eric down on the floor he realized he was disastrously unprepared. Not one bit. He should have stayed home and taken a bubble bath using the soap that made him smell like cinnamon and power. That way he wouldn’t be smelling like he’d gone dumpster diving in a fall compost bin. It was too late to take a shower now though, so he just hoped the crazy cat lady smell appealed to Erik.

Tony ran a hand down his face as he stepped into his closet, running his fingers across the rack of fabrics. Tony spent his whole life dolled up for the cameras, posing and looking pretty. For some reason though, this date felt more important than all his other press events combined. Tony was a master at makeup to hide the bags bruised under his eyes, polish to hide the grease that was perpetually caked under his fingernails, concealer to mask the marks marred on his skin. He could make himself look presentable drunk, high, and everything in between and the media was never the wiser. Showed how much they truly know about image and reputation.

Getting ready for this date was probably the most nerve wracking thing he’d done this week. And he had fought his ex boyfriend and the man that said ex had chosen over Tonyin a bunker in the middle of nowhere.

He assumed Erik wanted him to dress formally, seeing as they were going to dinner after all. Tony couldn’t be sure that there wasn’t a dress code, but Erik hadn’t mentioned anything about it so Tony figured he probably didn’t have to worry about going in a full tux. A suit would probably be fine though. He did have to impress Erik too. They were both mechanics, but they had standards. Erik had bought him flowers last time, was he supposed to have gotten Erik something? Tony was shit at gifts, he always overspent and came off like he was trying to buy love and affection.

Tony shook his head, refocusing on his apparel. He had a closet full of colour coded clothing, but nothing seemed to be the perfect thing to wear. He had tried on a total of seventeen outfits, but each one seemed to look worse than the last and his closet looked kind of like a tornado had gone through it. Tony Stark, a category five gay disaster. That was an even better name for his autobiography.

It didn’t usually take him this long to get ready on normal days. He was lucky if he showed up to an R&D meeting without grease under his fingernails, hair a wild bird’s nest. But this was important. Tony was surprised with how much he genuinely liked Erik. He was a great lab companion and he took Tony’s panic attack in stride without judging him for it. Really, what more could he want?

He picked through the rest of the clothes up on the rack with a sigh. Steve had always said he looked good in red. And while Tony never wanted the opinions of his ex to dictate his life, he had to admit that he

did

look pretty good in the armour, so naturally that should transfer over to real life, right? He flipped through his warm coloured shirts trying to find the one with the colour that most closely matched the most recent mark. He couldn’t go wrong with Iron Man colours, even if it was a little cheesy. Erik’s pick up lines were pretty corny too, so he figured they were a match made in heaven.

He picked a crimson shirt off the rack, holding it up to his eyes and assessing the redness. He shrugged, slipping his arms through the soft fabric with a sigh. Sure he hated them, but there was also a certain comfort in the suits that he had grown to accustomed to wearing. In a way they were almost like the armour, money and fabric keeping the press occupied and away from him. He carefully buttoned up the shirt, ignoring the mess of bandages wrapped around his chest. Extremis was doing its job and he, knock on wood, hadn’t yet bled through them. He would have to get someone to change them though, seeing as Rhodey had already made a point of telling him that Dum-E wouldn’t cut it. He ran his fingers over the gauze wrapped around his wrists, pulling his sleeves down to cover them before looking at his reflection. He did look pretty good and the colour was a stark contrast against his tan skin that brought out the golds in the brown of his eyes. He mustered up a smirk for his reflection but it looked more like a grimace. But whatever, it was close enough.

Grabbing his cologne he spritzed it onto his collarbone and then his wrists. It burned on the healing skin of his knuckles when he made the mistake of trying to rub the liquid around. Tony exhaled through his nose. He hated that every breath brought a twinge of pain and the accompanying clang of vibranium against titanium. He hated that every ache in his sore muscles brought the memory of driving fists into vulnerable flesh. Tony closed his eyes, his breath coming out in harsh pants as he doubled over.

Blinking the black spots out of his vision, Tony braced himself against the wall and forced himself to take deep breaths. If things got really bad, Eric was trained to get him help but Tony really didn’t want to rely on his new friend.

Tony brought shaking hands to his hair. It was still a wave of messy curls falling across his forehead in a frizzy mess. Tony relaxed into the familiar movements of wrangling his hair into some semblance of order. He pushed it off his forehead, refusing to use gel.He wanted to run his fingers through his hair without them getting stuck, goddammit.

Eric stepped into the closet, tail curling happily as he sniffed around the room, pawing at a dark green dress shirt on the floor. He turned, rolling over to rub his scent over the fabric. Tony shook his head with a laugh and bent down to brush his cheek against Eric’s in greeting.

“Do I look good?” Tony raised an eyebrow doing a spin for the cat before shaking his hips with a laugh. Of course he looked good. He always looked good. Eric let out a mrrp as he curled up on one of Tony’s socked feet with a soft chuf. Tony bent down to pick him up, cat fur be damned. He pressed a kiss to his head, loving when Eric nosed against his neck, rolling into Tony’s warm touch.

Tony took Eric with him to the bathroom, setting him on the counter so he could do his makeup. Eric curled up on the marble, looking up at Tony from under his tail. Tony smooched a kiss on his back before digging through his drawers for concealer. There was still a slight bruising around his eye but it didn’t look like it needed any heavy-duty concealer to hide it, which was lucky. That shit was a nightmare to remove.. He swiped his applicator delicately over the discolouration, blending it out before digging through his drawers once more for his contour stick. Pepper had sworn by the brand and Tony found that it wasn’t too bad.

Eyeliner and mascara was hard because Tony’s hands were still a little wobbly. He raised the wand to his eye, drawing out a shaky line across his lid. He backed away from the mirror squinting. He didn’t look like a raccoon so he considered it a success, quickly doing his other eye before his luck ran out.

Wings long enough to fly him away from his problems were probably too ostentatious for his third date with Erik. He still looked longingly at his tube of eyeliner as he coated his lashes in mascara. Pepper was always telling him he didn’t need it, but it made his eyes pop so screw her jealous opinions. Tony dug through his drawer for his sheer lip gloss and then paused. If he wanted to kiss Erik, he didn’t want to get sticky shit all over him. Tony frowned before finding a pink tinted lip balm that wouldn’t make his lips unkissable.

When Tony was finally finished, he picked up Eric, making a kissy face at the mirror and holding Eric up to his chin. He snapped a quick mirror selfie before taking one with a cat filter, making a winky face. He posted them both to Instagram with the caption ‘always land on my feet.’

“Get it?” he turned to Eric with a grin, “because cats always land on their feet and also because I’m getting back on my feet right after a battle.” Eric only tilted his head to the side and Tony pouted. Eric would just never understand the glory of a good pun.

Rhodey was the first to comment on the picture with a cheeky, ‘you’ve got to be kitten me right meow.’ Tony chuckled showing Eric, but the cat just replied with a disinterested chuf. A life without puns must be a very sad one. Pepper followed up with a million heart emojis. She probably loved Eric more than Tony did and she had never met him.

Tony carried Eric to the kitchen. It was almost time for his dinner, and also for Tony to take his meds. He swallowed down two pink antidepressants with a glassful of water, frowning as the pills caught sliding down his throat. He grabbed the ceramic cat dish out of the dishwasher, setting it on the kitchen counter before digging through the cabinets for the wet chicken cat food he’d had delivered.

Pouring kitten food into Eric’s bowl and pressing a kiss to his nose was the easiest thing ever. It was a simple task that he had to do every single day but somehow Tony almost always managed to fuck up. Eric looked up at him, big blue eyes pleading until Tony caved. “You want fish, don’t you baby?”

Tony sighed, putting the cat food back into the cabinet and digging into the fridge for the last of the sashimi. He really shouldn’t spoil his kitten, too much of it was bad for his tiny, baby stomach. But then again, he wanted to make all of Eric’s nine lives amazing. Eric could eat generic cat food in his next life. “FRIDAY, put an order in for more sashimi,” Tony waved over his shoulders as he cut out one piece of fish, rolling it into a delicate heart. Tony would never admit it, but making shapes with the fish was always his favourite part of serving them to Eric.

He had just finished plating the first half of the food when he stopped for a snuggle break. He picked up Eric, scratching under his chin. He felt the gentle press of teeth into his thumb and Tony sighed, running his finger over Eric’s mouth. He figured kitten teething was just as bad as baby teething except Eric couldn’t cry his frustrations. His kitten safe teething ring had made its way under the couch the day Tony had bought it and he had never bothered to go hunting for it. Technically, Eric didn’t need it considering he was almost a year old, but Tony had spoiled him anyway. Now would be a good time to get it, before Tony’s furniture started looking delicious. He got down on his knees, sticking his hand under the couch with Eric clutched close to his chest.

The doorbell rang as Tony finally got hold of the plastic toy. He startled, smacking his head against the coffee table hard enough to see stars. With a groan, he passed Eric his teething ring, loving the happy chirp he got in response.

Tony hurried to the door before realizing that his fingers still had fish juice on them. Probably why Eric had tried to bite his finger off. He paused, contemplating running back to get a napkin before shrugging and wiping his fingers off on Eric’s soft fur. His baby loved fish anyway.

He glanced down at Eric who was glaring up at him venomously, button nose wrinkled in distaste as he angrily gnawed on his teething ring. Tony laughed sheepishly, cuddling him closer to his chest, his fingers tight around the doorknob. “Yeah I know baby, I’m sorry.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Erik picked up Stark at exactly seven, in neatly pressed slacks and a nice, baby blue shirt. He figured Stark would appreciate him looking well dressed and neat, even though the tight collar of his shirt made him want to claw the buttons out of the fabric. He pushed his gold rimmed glasses up his nose while he waited impatiently for Stark to answer the door. He wondered if it was purposeful, to add suspense to his arrival.

Stark finally pulled open the door, looking just a tad breathless and Erik lost hold of his speech at the sight of Stark in black pants and a maroon shirt that brought out the hints of gold in his whisky brown eyes. His hair was adorably styled, falling over his forehead in soft curls, lips a wet red that derailed Erik’s thoughts into more obscene territory. He would make a perfect picture if he wasn’t holding the godforsaken cat to his chest.

“Hey Erik,” Stark grinned up at him, eyes betraying his unadulterated delight, before stepping forward onto the tips of his toes to press a firm kiss to his stubbly cheek. “I’m just giving the little imp some food,” he held up Eric before pulling him back toward his chest with a kiss pressed to his stupid fur. “Do you want to come in for a bit?”

“Yeah of course,” Erik stepped past the threshold, gently shutting the door behind him. He toed off his shoes distractedly, watching Stark’s ass in his slacks as he headed toward the kitchen. Stark’s place smelled like febreeze, with dark hints of spicy cologne and an undertone of cat on everything. Erik had originally found it an odd combination, but now it was relaxing as he followed Stark to the kitchen. There was a cutting board on the counter with fresh sashimi rolled onto it. Eric was set on the counter where he growled at Erik before curling up on the marble. Stupid cat.

“You’re welcome to whatever’s here,” Stark gestured around the kitchen. There was a jar of cookies on the counter, but they looked like they hadn’t been touched in centuries. The only thing that looked like it had ever been used was the red coffeemaker in the corner. “Not sure I have much by way of people food though.”

“That’s fine,” Erik shrugged him off, watching as Stark delicately plated a row of fish rolled into elegant flowers and hearts. It looked not unlike what he’d find at a high end, classy restaurant. In fact, a plate like that would go for Erik’s monthly earnings someplace fancy- and Stark was feeding it to his

cat.

Anger swelled in his belly as he watched Eric hop on to a bar stool and dig in to the food. Tony was literally throwing away money on his cat when there were oppressed people around the world who could have used it far better than he could.

“Okay,” Stark washed his hands in the sink before turning and grinning up at him, dazzling pearly white teeth. Erik’s anger bated just as fast as it had come up, and he was left feeling unsteady as Stark rounded the counter. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Erik caught his hand in the entryway, bringing his knuckles up to his lips. “Tony.” Stark blinked up at him, bambi eyes wide, inky lashes curling up to his dark eyebrows. There was liner on his lids, making his eyes look all the more imploring. Leaning forward to brush a kiss to his cheek, Erik whispered in his ear, “You look beautiful.”

Stark shivered against him, the most dazzling smile splitting his lips as Erik slowly pulled away, opening the door. A small flower of guilt bloomed in his chest as they headed out the door to his car parked out front. Tony was kind, it wasn’t fair to him, what Rogers did, breaking his heart.

His car wasn’t anything to brag about, not in the way he imagined Stark’s were. But it was a respectable Audi that he had bought and fixed up until it was unique enough to be interesting. He watched Stark’s eyes light up as he ran his fingers over the hood and he recognized the itch to roll up his sleeves and get into the inner workings of the engine. Maybe he could show Stark around his workshop one day. It wasn’t as technologically advanced, but he was sure he could show Stark things he had never ever dreamed of before.

Helping Stark into the passenger seat of his car felt like the most natural thing in the world. He gunned the engine, delighting in Stark’s giggle as he peeled out of the parking slot and onto the street. Erik even went the extra mile to hold his hand over the center console, running his thumb over the dark bruises on his knuckles before bringing them up to his mouth to brush them against his lips again. He couldn’t see Stark’s smile, but he had seen it enough times in the last couple of days that he could imagine it.

Sunset was at eight and so Erik stepped on the gas, breezing down the freeway to get to their date location in time to catch day sink into night. The windows were down to let in the cooling air and Stark had a wide smile on his face as the wind ruffled his hair.

“Oh my gosh, I love this song,” Stark’s excited squeal cut through the silence and he reached over with his free hand to turn up the volume on the radio. Erik was surprised to find that it was ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’ probably the whitest song he had ever heard in his entire life. He glanced over to see Stark belting his heart out to the lyrics, Erik honestly didn’t know his smile could get so huge, cute wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes.

“You are such a dork,” Erik grinned shaking his head as he sped up to merge onto the highway. Stark’s voice was actually pretty good, the deep tenor washing over Erik in waves. He had clearly missed his calling as a singer. He was even doing a little shimmy that created desire, a pool in the swell of his hips.

“Come on, I know you know the words,” Stark pressed a kiss to his cheek, his beard rubbing deliciously against Erik’s skin. He batted his eyelashes at him flirtatiously and Erik found himself trying to stifle a smile. “Everyone loves this song. You know you want to sing along.”

Erik indulged him for the next couple of verses, finding it easy to get lost in the words as he drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. He found himself genuinely laughing as Stark strummed out the most passionate air guitar solo Erik had ever seen in the passenger seat beside him. When ‘Livin on a Prayer’ came on next, Erik didn’t hesitate to sing along with Stark, loving the rosy glow on his flushed cheeks and his sparkling eyes as he hit all the notes perfectly.

Most surprising was how well they were able to wordlessly coordinate their rendition of ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls, with sassy fingersnaps and Stark’s hilarious dance moves. Erik found himself fighting to pay attention to the road as Stark had the time of his life beside him. He reclaimed Stark’s hand, squeezing it gently.

When they finally got to Epping Forest there were only a couple of minutes until sundown and Stark’s eyes sparkled in the fading light. Erik rounded the car, opening the passenger door to help Stark out before popping the boot to pull out three thick blankets and a large picnic basket. He figured Stark had been to enough fancy restaurants to last him a lifetime.

They held hands as they walked from the car park into the blooming trees. A chill ran down Erik’s spine and he found himself drawing closer to Stark as they approached the large grassy area by the pond. Erik spread out two thick blankets on the grass by the water, dropping the last folded one for later before setting down the basket.

Stark looked absolutely delighted as he kicked off his shoes and sat down on the fluffy blanket, pulling Erik to sit with him. “I’ve never done a picnic before, thank you.” And he looked like he genuinely meant it, wrinkles creasing the corners of his eyes as he grinned.

“I hope you like grilled cheese,” Erik smiled at Stark from beneath his lashes, playing up the bashful sweetheart as he ran his thumb across his knuckles again. “They’re the only thing I know how to make.”

Tony laughed as Erik dropped his hand to open the picnic basket, pulling out a warm insulated box filled with sandwiches. He passed one to Stark who looked so excited to be seeing it that Erik thought he could have been looking at a fancy five course meal with the same amount of content happiness. “This looks amazing.” He bit into his sandwich, his eyes closing as he let out a low hum of pleasure.

“Thanks, my dad used to make them for me when I was a little kid.” It wasn’t a total lie. Though Erik hadn’t learned the recipe from him. It had always annoyed him that he couldn’t make grilled cheese the same way his dad did, he wished he had learned while he was still alive.

With his mouth full of grilled cheese, Tony could only half smile at Erik, nodding as he tried to swallow around the food. Erik was content to just sit in silence as they both devoured their grilled cheese in the fading light. The sky was painted in brilliant pinks and golds that highlighted the light brown in Stark’s hair as he turned his head into the sinking sun like he was trying to soak up its last dying rays. Their shoulders brushed and Erik found that he didn’t mind the contact and quiet companionship. Stark tilted his head onto Erik’s shoulder, his soft hair brushing his jaw. Erik tilted into it, pressing a kiss to Stark’s head as they watched the sun set, reflecting beautifully off the water.

When they finally finished dinner, brushing the bread crumbs off their pants and the blanket, Erik pulled dessert out of the basket. It was a large bowl of strawberries dipped in chocolate that Erik had spent forever making. His filthy kitchen had the chocolate spills on the marble countertop to prove his hard work and he knew that Stark wouldn’t appreciate it considering what he was used to, but Erik was damn proud.

“Wow, are those strawberries?” Stark was eyeing the bowl hungrily, licking his lips like a predator stalking his prey. Erik was pretty sure he was mentally drooling and he felt his chest swell with pride. “Did you make those?”

“Yeah,” Erik shrugged as he pulled one out. They were the juiciest he could find at the store and he had coated them in dark chocolate.

Stark’s eyes slipped closed and he opened his mouth and like it was the most easy thing in the world, Erik pushed a strawberry past his lips, feeling the brush of his teeth against his fingertips as Tony bit down. Stark’s tongue brushed against his thumb and Erik met his dark gaze head on as he slowly pulled his fingers away.

“You spoil me.” Tony’s eyes were shades darker, voice husky as he swallowed down the strawberry. Erik lifted his finger, rubbing his thumb over Stark’s plump bottom lip to collect the juice wetting his mouth. He sucked the sweet tang off his finger without dropping Stark’s gaze.

Erik simultaneously hated and loved the arousal pooling in the curve of his heart as Stark shifted into his lap, leaning his head against Erik’s broad chest, eyelashes fluttering against his neck. Erik fed him another strawberry, fingertips brushing over his lips as he chewed slowly.

“I really like stargazing,” Erik said when the bowl finally emptied and Stark had licked all the juice off his fingertips. “When I was a lil’ kid the stars reminded me that no matter what, we all see the same ones, we’re all equal in that way.”

Stark nodded, turning to face Erik and tilting his head back to look up at the dark sky. It was natural for Erik to slide his arms around Stark’s waist, pressing them close. “I love them too. Howard-” Stark paused momentarily and swallowed with a frown, his brows furrowing, “-my dad, he would never let me stargaze. They were a distraction and a waste of time, but Jarvis, my butler, used to take me to the backyard when he was away to show me the constellations.”

Leaning back, Erik kept Tony pinned to his chest, grabbing the third blanket and throwing it over their legs. Stark carefully slid off his chest to curl into his side his head pillowed on Erik’s chest where his heart beat steadily. Erik was close enough to count his eyelashes as he looked up at the sky.

“It’s too late to see Gemini, your constellation,” Erik whispered, carding his fingers through Stark’s soft curls. “But mine is Libra. S’right there.” Erik pointed up at the thirteen stars that made up his astrology sign, twinkling in the sky. Stark shifted, eyes scanning the sky before settling back on Erik’s. “We’re astrologically compatible.”

Stark laughed into his shoulder, their legs tangling together under the blanket. “That’s adorable.”

Erik cupped his jaw, brushing the pad of his thumb over the sharp line of Stark’s cheekbones. He slowly tilted his head down, watching as Stark’s eyelashes fluttered closed, and then he was surging up to meet him in the middle, cold fingers sliding up to cup the back of his neck. Tony’s lips were warm against his, a little wet and tasting like coconut chapstick as he kissed his mouth open. And then Tony pushed deeper into his mouth with a light moan, their teeth clacking together as they fell into a rhythm. It was Tony who pulled away, eyes sparkling and lips erotically wet.

A pink tongue darted out to lick them and Erik watched, transfixed as Stark leaned forward again to peck a kiss against his jaw, still breathing heavily as his chest rose and fell against Erik’s. With the most relaxed sigh Erik had ever seen, Stark melted into his chest.

He watched with bated breath as Stark tipped back, settling against the blanket and looking up at the stars with wonder painted across his features. Erik hadn’t realized there was so much tension in the hard lines of his body until he was lying there, looking so fluid and at peace that it was almost like seeing at a different person.

Stark knew a lot about constellations. Even Erik was a bit surprised. He looked so carefree, stretched across the blanket beside him with one hand pillowed under his head, lithe muscles straining against his t-shirt. He was curled into Erik’s side, chin brushing his shoulder as he pointed up at a constellation, babbling off something about its history and the mythology behind it, the ease of his words flowing over Erik like a soothing wave.

Stark’s phone beeped and he sighed, “sorry, Friday wouldn’t put anything through unless it’s an emergency.” Tony pulled the phone up to his face with a groan. “Apparently I turn into a pumpkin at midnight,” Tony responded to Erik’s questioning look. “I gotta be in the states tomorrow morning and I just got a flight reminder.”

“Hey,” Erik sat up, reaching down to gently cup Stark’s cheek pressing their foreheads together, they breathed in sync for a moment before Erik continued “that’s cool, I can take ya home an’ we can schedule another date for when you’re back here.”

Stark’s eyes darted away, as if steeling himself for something before turning back to Erik, “or you could come with me?” Tony slid his fingers around Erik’s wrist, his eyelashes fluttering as he cast his expression downwards. “It’s only for the weekend and I think you’ll like New York.” He dropped his hand, “it’s okay if you think that’s moving too fast,” he backpedaled tilting backwards, “we can reschedule for when I get back.”

Erik paused a second, as though he was debating it in his head, but before he opened his mouth he already knew he would say yes. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, to get to know Stark and maybe dig up some dirt on his possibly secret son, Peter. Maybe he’d finally get laid too, because when in Rome. If he was doing this whole fake relationship deal, he might as well have some fun with it.

“Okay,” Erik responded, rubbing his thumb along Tony’s bottom lip before leaning down and pressing their mouths together, “okay, I’ll come with you.”

As Tony’s face filled with a smile betraying complete and utter joy, Erik almost felt bad for deceiving him. Then he remembered all the things that Stark Industries had done and he didn’t feel so guilty anymore. Stark slid his hands up Erik’s chest. “Drop me off home, and then I’ll meet you at the airport for one thirty, sound good?”

Erik carefully helped him up, gently folding the colourful blankets. He was surprised that Stark helped him. He would have thought the rich boy unable to fold, or help people when the paparazzi wasn’t there to see him. Stark glued himself to his side on the walk back to his car, his steady breathing syncing up with Erik’s own in the dark. Tony was still looking up, as if he couldn’t bear to take his eyes off the stars, even as Erik opened the door for him and helped him into the passenger seat.

Erik had to admit that he could understand why Stark was fascinated with the stars. It was actually kind of adorable how much he loved them.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tony was simultaneously excited and scared to be back in the states. London with Erik had been a dream, from the museum meet-cute to Erik’s gentle hands when he’d ended up having a panic attack. Erik’s knowledge of machines and his capacity to keep up with Tony intellectually was only the icing on the beefcake and Tony just wanted to dive right in.

The night sky was a beautiful blue, the stars shielded by massive clouds as Tony pulled up on the tarmac where the Starkjet was waiting. It was only 1:25 but Erik was already waiting for him, looking up at the jet with a raised brow.

“This is yours?” Erik pointed at the sleek machine in front of the two of them, and Tony’s heart sunk at the note of indignation in Erik’s voice as he turned back to him. “You ever think of flying commercial and donating it?”

“I mean-” Tony frowned, “after I was kidnapped, I figured I’m probably too big of a risk to be flying commercial. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.” Tony passed a hand over the phantom pain in his chest with a grimace and glanced away.

“I’m sorry,” Erik stepped closer, pulling Tony into a hug, “that came out wrong, it’s beautiful, just like you.”

Wow, that was so corny it was practically falling off the cob and Tony smiled up at him. It wasn’t a question he didn’t get often. Why he didn’t live a more simple life and donate the rest of his money. Tony cycled most of it into the Maria Stark, Stark Relief, and the September Foundation and left a majority of the rest to the ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign. He tried his best, but there were some things he really just couldn’t afford to skimp out on.

Erik gently released him with a kiss to his forehead as Tony grabbed Eric’s carrier off the passenger seat and slammed shut the the door to his car. He scratched Eric’s furry head through the bars of the carrier, popping the boot and hauling out his suitcase.

They ascended the stairs together, Tony greeting the flight attendant politely and shot her a winning smile, refusing her help with his bags. Erik was right behind him as they stepped into the plane.

The one thing Tony hadn’t thought about was the fact that the plane only had one bed. Sure it was a king, and big enough for the orgies Tony’d had back in his prime, but he wasn’t sure if Erik was entirely comfortable with sharing and while the airplane seats were ridiculously luxurious, he really wanted to stretch out on a plush mattress after the restless nights he’d been having.

At the same time though, there was so much left to do, he couldn’t really afford to sleep right now. He still hadn’t even looked at the accords, they were tucked into his suitcase and Ross probably wanted to meet with him about the Rogue Avengers. He was convinced that Tony knew where they were hiding out - which, to be fair, he did - it wasn’t hard to figure out that they were holed up with their new sugar daddy in Wakanda, plus he’d built trackers into their suits, but he would die before he gave them up to Ross.

On top of that shitstorm, he needed to prep notes for the R&D meeting Pepper had swindled him into attending since he was popping up Stateside. In the midst of all the drama in his Avengers life, there was the release of a new Starkphone that Tony had been working on for months. He really wanted to blow away those assclowns at Apple with better cutting edge tech that could actually survive a two foot drop.

Rhodey had wanted to meet with him too, for lunch. It wasn’t that Tony had gone to London to escape from him. It was that he couldn’t stand looking at his best friend and knowing that he had failed him so spectacularly. That Rhodey would never be able to walk again and T’Challa wouldn’t even lift a finger to help him make it easier for him. Rhodey had after all, been fighting on the same side as T’Challa in order to help him prevent Barnes from escaping. Tony felt a swell of indignation rise up in him as he thought about the impassive king.

And then there was planning a day with Peter. He liked having an idea of what he wanted to do for when he got there in order to keep the young teen entertained. Lord knows he deserved it more than anything, especially after what Tony did bringing him into the whole mess of his and Cap’s media dubbed ‘Civil War’.

Now there was Erik to think about too, his new boyfriend that he also had to entertain. He wanted to show him the best places in New York, stuff him full of good Italian food and take him to bed and please him. He wanted to take him to the top of Stark tower, and show him what it felt to have an empire at his feet with someone by his side. He wanted to show him the best of the upper class because he had a sneaking suspicion that Erik was mildly uncomfortable with his wealth. He wanted to give his new boyfriend the world.

Tony luged his suitcase behind him along with Eric’s cat carrier as he boarded the plane, stowing his luggage away and once again refusing the hostess’ help. He grabbed a bottle of water, taking a large swig to try and calm himself down. Erik was right behind him, exhaustion pulling at his frame as he pressed a kiss to Tony’s cheek.

He had changed into more comfortable clothes since Tony had last seen him, into a soft grey shirt and black acid washed jeans that fit his legs like a glove. Tony fought off the intense urge to drop to his knees in front of him and find out what those jeans looked like at the foot of his bed. His glasses were perched precariously on his nose and Tony had to resist another urge that told him to push them up for him, if only to feel the smooth skin of his cheeks.

The plane was familiar, at least more familiar than the apartment in London that had too little of his personal belongings to ever feel like home. But Tony also didn’t know what to do with the familiarity of the tower. The workshop where he and Bruce had done their best experiments, working together seamlessly. The common floor where Natasha and Barton had sat him between them as they’d binge-watched TV until their eyes burned.

The penthouse where Steve had laid him out like he was the most precious thing on earth.

Tony ran his fingers over the Stark crest on the side of the panelling. He was thankful that this place, at least, only held memories of Pepper and him pulling all nighters in between pacifying angry board members or of him and Rhodey sharing drinks over funny stories and laughs. He didn’t think he could handle memories of Thor’s joyous laughter, Clint’s witty quips and Natasha’s small smiles right now. Part of him was glad Banner had hijacked his billion dollar aircraft.

“I’m gonna try to sleep,” Erik mumbled, pulling him out of his thoughts. Tony grabbed his bag from him to put away too, shaking off the tension in his shoulders at the less than stellar memories. Erik pressed a lazy kiss against the corner of his mouth in thanks as they headed to their seats. They both strapped in for takeoff, Tony pushing Eric’s carrier under his seat and slotting his teething ring through the bars. Eric had his stuffed animal with him and was playing with an ice cube Tony had stuck in his cage before leaving the house. He knew Eric hated flying, but slowly and with the help of his favourite fuzzy blue blanket, he was getting used to it.

Erik gripped his hand, rubbing his thumb over Tony’s knuckles as the plane rose steadily in the air. Tony had a pilot on board along with the hostess team, but the plane was mostly flown by Friday and Tadashi, a program Tony had wrote specifically to keep his air transports flying smoothly in case one of the pilots tried any funny business.

“There’s a bed in the back if you want it,” Tony looked up at him under his lashes when they finally reached cruising altitude and the seatbelt sign clicked off. He unbuckled the strap and bent down to undo the latch on Eric’s carrier to pull his baby out out. Erik watched, a small smile playing on his lips as Tony cradled Erik to his chest, smoothing down his puffed up fur. He pressed a kiss to his kitten’s head, gently scratching him under his collar.

“Shouldn’t you be taking that,” Erik grinned down at him sleepily, his eyelids fluttering as he clearly fought to stay awake. He hadn’t made a move to unbuckle his seatbelt as Tony stroked his free hand down Erik.

“I don’t mind sharing,” Tony responded with a shy smile, his fingers tangling in Eric’s fur as he waited for Erik’s response. His relationship either moved one night stand fast, or uselessly pining slow. Tony wasn’t quite sure how he was feeling about this middle but he hoped Erik stuck around long enough for him to find out. “We don’t have to do anything.”

“Okay, but I call left side of the bed,” Erik grinned indulgently at him, unbuckling his seatbelt to follow Tony back to the bedroom. It worked out perfectly because Tony liked the right side anyway. Erik was already a perfect match for him.

It was easy, setting Eric down on the mattress, carefully pulling off his shirt to avoid ripping out his stitches, stripping down to his boxers, and sliding into the silk sheets. One of the attendants, Thor bless him, had started up the electric blanket so the sheets were warm as Tony stretched out on the right side of the bed, the muscles in his back burning deliciously. He didn’t even know he was so tense until he relaxed. His bandages were a white mass on his chest, but Tony figured that Erik wouldn’t really mind the ugly scarring that stretched across his skin. He had, after all, served in the military. Eric curled up by his feet, looking up at Tony from under his paws. Tony knew he would be snuggling into the warmth of Tony’s neck soon. It was only a matter of time.

Tony tried to hide his widened eyes as he rolled over back around to see Erik pulling off his shirt because first off,

hot fucking damn,

those abs were nice enough to wash clothes on, and secondly, Erik’s chest could win a cheese grating competition. Like... if titty graters were a thing, that was Erik. There were what looked like a million tiny scars, raised keloids, covering his chest and upper arms in a beautiful pattern. Tony’s hands itched to get Eric’s skin under his fingers.

Erik slipped into bed beside him, setting his glasses on the nightstand before relaxing into the mattress with a sigh. “Can I touch you?” Tony raised his hands, waiting until Erik nodded. He couldn’t resist running his fingers over the patterned bumps in wonder. He felt Erik shiver under his palm as one of his fingers brushed over Erik’s nipple. He filed away the sensitivity for later, fighting back a grin. “Who did this to you?”

“It was me and my team when we were serving,” Erik responded, his hand covering Tony’s over his beating heart. He picked up Tony’s hand, pressing a kiss to his fingertips before turning to meet his gaze. In the low light, his eyes were the most alluring deep brown, lips pulled up in a smirk that Tony just wanted to kiss right off him. “Every time I worked a mission. There’s one for every person I’ve saved.”

Tony felt like he was going to swoon. That was downright panty-incinerating. There must have been hundreds of the little scars patterned down Erik’s chest and he would bet his fortune that they covered his back too. Who would have thought so many people were indebted to the beautiful many lying in front of him? He knew Erik was a hero, but to have served and protected

so many people?

To have given his time and talent to his country, and to bear his successes on his skin? Arousal burned hot and swirling in Tony’s belly as he rubbed his fingers over the raised skin. He smiled, pressing a kiss to Erik’s jaw as he tangled their legs together under the sheets. Tony would make it his mission to kiss every single perfect scar. He would love to ask for the heroic story behind each one, get a million bedtime stories out of his boyfriend, but he was sure Erik wouldn’t remember so many individual marks. That seemed like the best kind of thing to be overflowing with. “They’re beautiful.”

Erik cupped his cheek bringing their lips together in a chaste kiss. Tony found that he adored the rough scratch of Erik’s beard against his, the gentle bump of their teeth against each other as they slowly learned one another. Tony hoped that they would have a hundred more kisses, that with each one, they both compromised until their kisses were seamless, messy with teeth, but slowly losing the hint of unfamiliarity, the breath of a new relationship fading into the habits of an established one free of doubt and insecurity.

“Am I allowed to ask about this?” Erik brushed his fingers across the bandage encompassing Tony’s chest, eyeing the ones banding his arms. He knew his skin was a mottled mess of dark bruises and scars. That years in the workshop and the most recent battle didn’t make for the most attractive sight, but Erik’s fingers were still reverent, running across Tony’s collarbone where the shield had glanced off him and even in the armour he had been unable to avoid a nasty bruise. Erik’s fingers were gentle as they raised to trace the skin around his eye where there was still the faintest mark of a bruise, visible now that Tony had wiped off the concealer. Erik had told him his story, the least Tony could do was offer him the same courtesy.

“I found out that someone I cared about, lied to me.” Tony frowned as he thought back to Steve looming over him. The fury in his eyes as he brought down his shield again and again on Tony’s face. His father had always said Steve was a better man than he ever could be. That Steve was everything America stood for. Tony was always jealous of his father’s love of Captain America. He was jealous of Steve’s loyalty, and he hated that it wasn’t for him. He had raised his arms, repulsors live and ready to fire but he just couldn’t do that. Not to Steve, despite everything. Not to the courageous man he had adored since he was a little kid. Not to the fearless teammate he had always followed in battle. And certainly not to the loving boyfriend he had always thought he was going to marry. “He told me it was to protect me,” Tony continued, wiping away the indignant tears welling in his eyes before they could spill onto his cheeks. “He was really just protecting himself.”

“Oh Tony,” Erik tucked his head into his shoulder, stroking his hair as let out a sob. Tony had never felt so weak. He didn’t want to talk about Steve. He didn’t want to ache, a swirling abyss deep in his stomach. A devastating lead weight on his broken heart. “You deserve so much better than him.”

He didn’t want the memories anymore. Of what it felt like to be loved unconditionally. Well. He had found the condition. Bucky Barnes.

Tony had long since made his peace with Barnes. A part of him had never been angry with Steve’s best friend, he had been angry with Hydra for taking away his parents. For ruining the lives of so many people. Barnes had just been the closest one there, and there wasn’t a day that Tony didn’t regret what he had done to the man.

“These,” Tony’s index finger brushed over the bandages on his chest, teeth biting into his lip as he bit back a wince. “I had three broken ribs.” Tony could still feel the crushing weight of Steve’s betrayal pressing hot and heavy against his chest. The familiar weight on his hips as Steve pinned him down. He could have gotten out of the hold easily. Natasha and Clint had made sure he could escape almost any hold to prevent him from getting kidnapped. But under Steve he was paralyzed. Powerless as his feelings were blown open, rubbed raw at the edges.

Tony felt Erik’s hands slip down to the small of his back, pressing them impossibly closer as he peppered kisses across his hairline. “You’re so much stronger than him for staying. For dealing with the consequences of your actions and striving for a better tomorrow.”

“He sent me a burner phone,” Tony whispered into Erik’s neck, wet lashes leaving streaks of water against his dark skin. “I left it in his desk drawer back in the compound.” Tony took a deep shuddering breath, trying to delay the tears that kept threatening his eyes. “I hate that I can’t bring myself to throw it out.”

“It’s okay,” Erik soothed, shifting so that Tony was lying fully on his chest, ear to his steady heartbeat. He rearranged the covers around them so that Tony was swaddled in the soft blankets. “You will get through this.”

“You think so?” Tony’s brows furrowed as he lifted his head to look at Erik.

“I know so,” Erik whispered rubbing a thumb across his cheeks to wipe away his tears. Tony allowed himself to pulled into another kiss, firm and grounding. Erik gently bit at his bottom lip, eyes warm as he stroked a hand down Tony’s back. He carefully pulled away, encouraging smile in place. “Because never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The smell of grease and leather was what brought Erik to the conclusion that he was in his own house when he blinked awake the next morning. Then he wrinkled his nose in confusion. There were undertones of spicy cologne, and then the foreign smell of cat fur that made Erik pause because that sure did not smell like his bed at home, but it did smell surprisingly familiar, like warmth and safety. Eric shifted closer to the pillow beside him. No, not a pillow-

He squinted, his eyes adjusting to the early morning sun streaming into the room from the small circular window. The private plane, Erik remembered as Stark shifted in his arms, still sound asleep. He looked so much younger, more peaceful, without the tension in his shoulders, the stress pinching the lines in his face. His brown curls flopped adorably over his forehead, brushing over his eyes. Up close Erik could see the light strands of grey at the temples betraying his high stress occupation and his ripening age.

Erik ran his finger down the bridge of Stark’s nose, watching it wrinkle stupidly as Stark murmured in his sleep pressing closer to Erik’s chest. With a soft sigh, Erik buried his nose in Stark’s skin, inhaling the ambrosia that was equal parts sexy mechanic, crazy cat man, and arrogant rich guy. Erik pressed a kiss to his neck, trying to immerse himself in the role of Stark’s boyfriend, loving the flush of the beard burn on his skin. God, what a naive idiot. It wouldn’t be long before Stark was wrapped around his finger and Erik was wringing him dry.

He heard a soft mrrp from somewhere behind Stark and Erik had to resist the urge to groan. Stupid ass cat was probably wearing out his name. There can be only one, Erik wanted to snarl as he pulled Stark closer to him. Someone had to show Eric who was boss. Put the arrogant cat in his place. All hell was about to break lose when Stark’s delicious groan cut through the mounting tension.

“Hey there, handsome,” Stark’s groggy voice drew him out of his thoughts and he gently pulled away to find Stark smiling lazily up at him, his curls falling into his eyes as he slowly bumped his nose against Erik’s. His eyes were a dumb shade of brown in the glimmering morning light, a bright whisky with hints of gold and surprisingly green, swirling out to a warm chocolate hazel that Erik could probably melt in. Even if he despised Stark, he had to admit that he had the most beautiful eyes. But he wouldn’t because Stark was a rich asshole. Erik paused. Okay maybe not an asshole. But he was definitely rich and Erik did not like that. Not one bit.

“Mornin’ hot stuff,” Erik wiggled his eyebrows at Stark, loving the silly melodious laugh it drew out of him. Stark’s breath was hot against his chest as he cuddled closer, their thighs rubbing dangerously under the covers. Erik cupped his chin and carefully pressed a kiss to the corner of Stark’s mouth before running a soft finger up and down his stubbly cheek. “Feeling well rested?”

“Yeah,” Stark murmured peeking up at Erik through his lowered lashes. A faint blush spread across his cheeks in the damp light underneath a smattering of light freckles that Erik had never noticed before. It was a struggle to focus on Stark’s words rather than his wet lips. “Thank you for being a good listener.”

“Anytime Tony.” Erik ran a hand up his back to tangle in the curls at the nape of Stark’s neck as he bent down to brush a kiss across his forehead. He lingered what felt like a moment too long before carefully pulling away, eyes darting around the room. “Where’s the bathroom?”

Stark pointed to a non-descript sliding door in the corner before flopping back down on the bed, spreading out to take up as much room as possible as Erik got up. His idiot cat settled down and curled up cutely in the curve of his neck, tail stretched across Stark’s throat like a furry choker. “There should be extra toothbrushes in the cabinet,” Stark called out after him, his voice still husky and guttural in a way that sent shivers down Erik’s spine.

Sure enough, just as promised there were plastic wrapped toothbrushes in the cabinet with cartoon versions of the Avengers on them. Erik paused to shake his head because apparently Stark was five at heart and grabbed a grey Thor one to brush his teeth as he tried to ignore his morning wood into submission. Despite being with Stark, the rich asshole, that was no doubt one of the best sleeps of Erik’s life. Stark’s mattress had felt like a cloud, confirming all the rumours of orgies he had in it. It was definitely a step up from Erik’s accomodations with special forces, and living on the streets after his father was murdered when he was a kid. Even his memory foam bed at home had nothing on Stark’s flying heaven cloud.

A swell of rage pooled in Erik’s chest as he thought of the deep gouges in his father’s chest, horrible claw marks that betrayed the work of King T’Chaka. What kind of heartless man murdered his own brother? What kind of father left another man’s son without a dad? He did not deserve the crown that he bore on his head all the years Erik suffered. Indignation bubbled hot and sick under his skin as he drove up his kill count like he was playing a video game. He had read all his father’s books on the Wakandans and their traditions. He would challenge King T’Challa for the throne that was rightfully his and turn Wakanda into a better place that helped and liberated poor people everywhere from inequality. Erik felt an involuntary growl rising up his throat as he thought about finally getting his hands around T’Challa’s throat. The man who had grown up eating off the silver spoon while Erik had scrounged for scraps in the slums of California.

There was a knock on the door and Erik blinked away his anger before he slid it open to reveal Stark in a nice, form-fitting black sweatshirt that clung to his torso and deliciously tight dark blue jeans. He smiled moving aside so Stark could enter the bathroom. He couldn’t wait for him to turn around so he could admire his stupidly round ass in tight denim. Just because Erik hated him, doesn’t mean he can’t admire the goods on display. Man must do squats for a living or some shit like that. For a plane bathroom, it was surprisingly big, so Erik had no problem sharing the sink with Stark who picked out a green and purple Hulk toothbrush to brush his teeth with.

Erik gave him privacy, heading out of the bedroom where an attendant had dropped off his suitcase. He pawed through it, pulling out a black henley and dark acid wash jeans. Erik didn’t know if Stark was in to the whole couples dressing like each other thing, but Erik figured it was worth a shot as he pulled the shirt over his head, the fabric pulling at the scars across his chest. He would never get tired of the feeling of the raised bumps on his skin. Each one a testimony to the spoils of his victory.

Someone I cared about lied to me.

Erik shivered as the words raced down his spine. Stark had no right making him feel like this, Erik’s brows pulled low over his eyes as tried to clear the words from his memory. Burn them away any way he knew how. He focused on his anger with T’Challa, the oppression around the world, anti-vaxxers, and that stupid fucking cat that he actually spent the night in the same bed with. Around the roar of his own thoughts, Stark’s broken voice echoed around him. Erik only hates him more.

He shook off the intrusive thoughts, focusing on the here and now. He eyed Eric uncomfortable, the dumbass cat sitting in the warm spot on Stark’s pillow. He hated the thought of the furry animal watching him change. How did Erik know he wasn’t transmitting the information he was learning to the American government. Cats are fucking shady. He pulled his jeans on quickly watching as Eric yawned, casually baring his teeth without dripping eye contact. Erik narrowed his eyes. Was that a challenge? There was no way that small moron had dared to challenge him. He was about to snarl back when Stark stepped out of the bathroom, eyes bright and concealer on his face. He didn’t need it, he was fucking beautiful, but Erik figured it was too soon in their relationship for him to try and get Stark to ditch it. Then again, he wouldn’t want to change Stark at all.

“So what are we doing today?” Erik asked turning away from the cat like he wasn’t just about to challenge it in a duel to the death. By the way, he would have totally won, no doubts about it.

“I have to go to a science fair,” Stark wrung his hands uncertainly, his eyes dancing around the room as Erik tried to look encouraging. He definitely wanted to meet this Peter and make a good impression just in case he turned out to be Stark’s secret son. “You can come with me or I can buy you tickets to go do whatever you want downtown. You wanna do touristy stuff? The empire state building is pretty fun, nice view of Stark tower. Or Coney Island, you might lose a couple of brain cells on the Cyclone, but judging by your intelligence, I think you have a couple to spare.”

Erik paused, pretending to think it over even though there was no contest as to where he wanted to be. “I would love to go with you to the science fair.” Erik grinned reaching out to grab Stark’s hand and pull him in for a sweet minty morning kiss. “I’ve never been to one before and I’d love to see what the future scientists of America are currently dreaming up. I hope it’s better than a baking soda volcano.”

Stark’s eyes lit up as Erik circled his arms around his waist pressing their hips together and leaning down until their lips brushed with every word. Stark looked like he was floating, eyes sparkling as he talked, creasing appearing at the corners as he grinned. “You’re going to love it, it’s great, there are so many bright kids with new ideas that are so much more innovative than anything I could even dream of. They’re so much smarter than I’ll ever be so I want to learn as much as I can.”

Erik looked down at the unadulterated joy in Stark’s eyes and briefly wondered how anyone could hurt someone this open, and vulnerable. How someone could take this light in the dark, and try their damndest to snuff it out and rid the world of its warmth. A cold chill spread through Erik’s chest as he realised that he was doing exactly that. He pressed aside the frigid ice building in his chest to nose into the warmth that was Stark’s skin.

Bringing their lips together, Erik kissed him carefully, tracing his mouth with his tongue. “You’re so beautiful when you talk,” Erik grinned at him, refusing to move away even as Stark blushed a cute pink, ducking his head.

There was a soft knock at the door but Stark made no move to get away from Erik as he called for the attendant to come in over his shoulder. Stark settled his chin on Erik’s shoulder to watch as the door opened behind him.

“We are landing in twenty,” she explained her voice light as if she was afraid to cut into the peace of their moment. Erik glanced over her shoulder to watch a soft smile curl at her lips. “I need you both to strap in.”

Erik kept an arm around Stark as he picked up his cat, following him to the seats at the front of the plane. Stark carefully set Erik in his carrier, stroking a soothing hand down his back, before strapping in. Erik did his own seat belt buckle, grabbing Stark’s small hand in his big one and drawing him in, their shoulders pressing together. He pressed kiss to Stark’s temple, watching New York blink up at them in the rising sun as they pulled closer for a landing.

Like everything that surrounded Stark, the landing was the smoothest one ever. Erik didn’t even feel the wheels touching the ground as Stark rubbed his fingers over his knuckles, shooting him a lazy smile. He heard a plaintive meow from under Stark’s seat and he felt a swell of pride. He had all of Stark’s attention now, finally not having to share it with the dumb cat.

The moment the seatbelt sign clicked off, Stark was up and out of his seat, grabbing the carrier and both of their suitcases, shuffling with all of the equipment to exit the plane. Erik shook his head with a laugh, grabbing a couple of suitcases out of Stark’s hands before following him out the door with well wishes from the queue.

A cuddly looking man dressed in a freshly pressed suit greeted them on the tarmac, laugh lines crinkling as Stark pulled him in for a warm hug. “Happy, this is my boyfriend Erik,” Erik waved at him with the warmest smile he could muster. Stark turned back around an adorably proud look on his face, “Erik, this is my friend, Harold, he’s my driver.”

Erik’s smile turned sour as Happy grinned at him, holding his hand out for a firm shake. Were all of Stark’s friends on his payroll? No wonder he expected everything to be handed to him on a silver platter.

He watched as Happy grabbed Eric’s carrier, carefully sliding it into the back seat of the car before helping Stark load their suitcases in the trunk. Erik took the time to admire the car as they laughed, his fingers skimming over the door handle, circling the lock. It was a beautiful car. Stark probably had a lot of them, wealth that could have been used to help people going into pretty cars to impress people he paid to hang out with him. He wrinkled his nose. Absolutely pathetic.

His disgust rolled into confusion as Happy slipped into the backseat of a beautiful black McLaren, tossing Stark his keys as he cooed at Eric. Stark cocked his head to the side, gesturing at the stunning beauty that was his car before yanking open the door. Erik would give his left arm to take it apart, find out what made it purr that sexy, deep, resonating sound that settled heavily in Erik’s bones. Stark’s eyes were laughing as he slipped into the driver’s seat, rolling down his window and motioning for Erik. “Pick your jaw up off the floor and hop in, your chariot awaits. We can roll our sleeves up under the hood later.”

Erik didn’t need to be told twice. He rounded the car, running his fingers over the pristine hood and thinking about fucking a Stark sized dent into it before pulling open the passenger door and sliding onto the warm leather seats. He met Stark’s eyes over the center console before he was peeling out of the parking lot leaving the smell of burned rubber and tire tracks behind.

Watching Stark drive was absolutely fascinating, the way he concentrated, a small furrow in his brow as he navigated the crowded streets. Erik found himself smiling every time Stark’s eyes met his, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corners of his full lips. It was still really early in the morning, the beginnings of rush hour congesting the streets as Stark breezed through the intersections as the light was turning yellow, screeching to a stop when it was absolutely necessary and starting back up with just as little regard for the fuel he was burning. Though Erik supposed that Stark’s cars probably ran on reactor power to keep the press from dragging his name through the mud. Heat pooled in the bowl of Erik’s hips as Stark revved the engine throwing Erik a flirty wink as he took a turn at higher than the posted speed limit.

Maybe hanging out with Stark in New York wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tony was giddy with excitement as he and Erik stepped out of Happy’s car onto the cracked sidewalk outside of Peter’s school.

Tony smoothed down his shirt and hair hurriedly. The science fair had started a couple of minutes ago, but he was hoping he could get off on being a little fashionably late. Erik stepped out onto the curb beside him, his hand finding the small of Tony’s back as he stepped closer. Tony sunk into the grounding weight as Happy handed him a pair of red tinted sunglasses to slip on.

They climbed the steps together and Tony pulled open the door to usher Erik through. Following with a smile and a wave to Happy. His friend waved back before sliding smoothly back into driver’s seat. He’d probably go to lunch before coming back to pick them up.

Erik’s eyes had taken on a starry glint as they finally made it to the gymnasium where all the projects were laid out on tables. This was no fourth grade science fair, there were no baking soda volcanoes in sight, just a lot of nanotechnology, magnetic levitation, and clean energy solutions. Tony was hoping to find a whole new slew of interns. Clearly the Midtown School of Science and Technology was where it was happening. The SI R&D department could take a couple of pointers from some of the student here.

With a firm grip on Erik’s hand, Tony maneuvered through the tables, looking for the bright red and blue display he had seen pictures of from Happy. Apparently Peter had taken to calling Happy daily with updates about his day, the people he had helped out, and how school was going. Tony had been livid when he found out that they weren’t getting passed along. He was planning on giving Peter his number so he could receive the updates straight from the source.

With a grin, Tony finally found Peter’s table, the teen smiling proudly as he stood beside his science project. His eyes lit up the moment they settled on Tony. “Mr Stark! You made it! I thought you were still in London.”

“I couldn’t miss you winning the science fair,” Tony scoffed, finding himself with an armful of kid as Peter lunged for a hug. He carefully patted Peter’s back, shooting Erik a shy grin. His ribs twinged painfully as Peter squeezed him tighter, employing full use of his spider strength. “Didn’t know we were at the hugging stage yet kiddo.”

“Sorry Mr. Stark,” Peter stepped back with a blush, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I just got really excited.”

“I’m joking bud,” Tony patted a hand on his shoulder, ruffling his hair, as he stepped closer to read the tri-fold board Peter had put together to explain his technology. It was a new take on magnetic levitation that Tony had never thought of before. He had so much to learn from this kid. He turned to look at Peter, finding him staring at Erik curiously. “Oh, and this is my new boyfriend Erik, is it okay if he joins us for lunch?”

“Of course, Mr. Stark.” Tony turned back to the poster, hearing the shuffling of feet behind him before Peter was pushing through the awkwardness to talk to Erik, “so what do you like to do Mr. Erik?”

“I’m a mechanic back in England, I have my own auto body shop.” Erik responded and Tony loved the warm baritone of your voice. He smiled to himself, they seemed to be getting along well. “I think your project is really cool Peter, can you explain it to me?”

Peter launched into an explanation of fossil fuels and the earth’s magnetic polarity, breezing through an exasperated description of the current failure of a transportation system before suggestion something better including vibranium and the magnetic force field of the earth. Tony barely followed most of what the teen was saying, but it sounded like a solid idea. Tony would have to see if he could get Peter a patent for the technology and then build it around the country. Anything that made life easier without sacrificing the environment was good in Tony’s books.

After he finished reading Peter’s poster, he tried out a magnetic hoverboard that Peter had made. It withstood Tony’s weight which was kind of crazy and he was so proud of the pleased smile that stretched across Peter’s face. Erik was happy to laugh at him as he struggled to maintain his balance. It was like flying with unstable repulsors.

“You wanna check out the rest of the fair?” Peter asked, thumb pointing at the other tables of projects lined throughout the gym. Tony nodded, slipping his hand into Erik’s and following the teen through the rest of the tables.

There were plenty of useful ideas and Tony made sure to take down names to endorse because these kids were sure going places. He was hoping to open up the September foundation’s funding to a larger group of students, possibly high school kids.

Tony’s eye caught on a couple of projects, one about his intellicrops and how he could improve them, different ways to assess digital footprints and ways to catch cyber criminals, a solar powered phone battery. There were so many cool things that Tony couldn’t even begin to imagine.

He tilted his head into Erik’s shoulder as he read through a project about what looked like revolutionary data storage using nanotechnology. The project was mostly theoretical, but he figured it was probably something he could help the kid actually get to work.

“Tony?” He turned around to find Aunt May standing behind him, dressed to the nines in a pretty yellow sundress with her arm thrown over Peter’s shoulder. “How are you?”

“Always excited to see how my favourite intern is doing,” Tony smiled cheekily, winking at Peter. “I think he’ll get first place this year, his project is exemplary.”

“I think it can really work, especially with the way the vibranium stabilizes the magnets by helping with shock absorbency,” Erik pipes up, pushing his glasses up his nose adorably. It takes everything in Tony not to lean over and kiss him.

“My name is May Parker,” she sticks out her hand for Erik to shake and he takes it politely, panty incinerating smile in place, “Peter says you’ve been keeping Tony in London. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Erik Stevens,” Tony tried not to beam as Erik shot him an adorable look, “Tony talks about Peter a lot, his project really is fantastic.”

“So are you going to be joining us for celebratory lunch?” May asked shooting Tony a knowing smile as she turned back to Erik, “Tony promised Peter burgers, and hopefully the three of you can talk about ways that Peter can use his project to help people.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Erik grinned warmly as Tony rubbed up against his arm. “I would love to hear more about your project.”

They gathered together to listen as the principal made a speech to outline the school’s mission statement, the strangely familiar to better society through technology. He handed the microphone over to the lead judge, a severe looking woman holding a clipboard that would determine Peter’s standing in the science fair.

Of course it was no surprise to Tony when Peter wins first place, the teen bouncing over to him and Aunt May to pull them into a group hug, dragging Erik into the mess of limbs with him. Congratulations were exchanged as Tony texted Happy to bring the car around so they can head out.

They ended up at a cute diner by the side of the road, ordering a round of pancakes and waffles for the table. Tony cuddled into Erik’s side as he listened to Peter talk about how his classes were going and which schools he had his eye on for college. He had big plans and Tony knew that even without his help, he was going places.

“Have you thought about MIT?” Tony asked as the waiter came by with his coffee. “With your resume and science prowess they’re sure to let you in.”

A blush raced across Peter’s neck at the compliment and he ducked his head, “there’s no way I can go to MIT. It is...” he trailed off glancing at Aunt May, “a lot of money and I don’t want to worry Aunt May, she does enough.”

“Peter,” May rolled her eyes giving Tony a look that said ‘can you believe this kid?’ “I would be happy to support you through MIT.” She slid a hand across his shoulder, “you don’t have to worry about me.”

“I grew up homeless in Oakland, California” Erik piped up taking a sip of water, “and I went to MIT for mechanical engineering.”

Peter’s eyes lit up as if Erik was the answer to every question he had in the universe. “Really? How were you able to afford it?”

“Scholarships, grants and internships.” Erik shrugged before turning to look at Tony, “it’s probably a lot more expensive now -”

“I can always help out,” Tony cut in with a grin at Erik. “Stark Industries has been giving away a lot of scholarships to young individuals across the country as part of the September foundation. I’m sure your application wouldn’t be rejected by the review team.”

Peter nodded, dazed as if he couldn’t believe any of this was really happening.

“So,” May cut in to break the silence, a bashful smiled curved at her lips, “how is Happy? I haven’t seen him around.”

“Around?” Tony’s brows furrowed. As far as he knew Happy hadn’t seen the Parkers since he had brought Peter back stateside after the battle in Germany. He hadn’t sent Happy on any errands. As far as he knew, he was on vacation for all the time that Tony was in London.

“Yeah he came by a couple of times with things for Peter,” May bit her lip, side eyeing her nephew, “he’s been checking in about Peter’s internship.”

“Right,” Tony nodded along. Who was he to cockblock his driver? Tony smiled to himself, changing the subject. “So, tell me more about your science project, I want all the nitty gritty details about how you put everything together.”

Tony sipped at his coffee as he listened to May talk about how proud she was of Peter for winning the science fair. According to her, it was all Peter could think about for the past month and Tony didn’t doubt the importance of it to the kid.

When they finally got their pancakes, a silence fell over the table, the four of them stuffing their faces with amazing breakfast food. Tony drizzled his short stack in maple syrup, whipped cream, and blueberries, catching the amused smile Erik shot him as he hooked their legs together under the table. Tony took care of the bill before May could even reach for it, saying that it was a celebratory gift because Peter won the science fair. Nevermind that he had already ordered Peter a new microscope set that was on its way in the mail.

Erik’s phone rang, interrupting Tony in the middle of a story about the time he and Rhodey saved the president of the United States. Tony frowned when instead of declining the call, Erik excused himself to take it outside with a kiss pressed to his cheek. He shrugged, must be something important. He continued on with his story, watching Peter’s face light up as he talked about Pepper taking on Killian.

Coming back to the table, Erik had an anxious twist to his lips, but didn’t offer Tony more than a shaky smile when he shot him a questioning brow.

The four of them headed out into the sunshine with matching smiles as Peter gave Tony one last hug before he and May headed off toward their apartment.

“Was everything okay with your phone call?” Tony tilted his head, shooting Erik a concerned look.

Erik shot him a wide smile in return, free from any anxiety. It settled his nerves a little. “Nothing, one of my friends from Oakland who ended up in New York just saw us on the news and wanted to know if I was good to meet him tomorrow.”

“The news?” Tony’s brows shot up and he pulled out his phone doing a quick Google search of his name. Headlines popped up, each more outrageous and rude than the last.

‘Stark cheating on Captain America?’

Tony frowned, Stark Industries had already released a statement about him and Steve splitting up. But of course, some assholes didn’t get the memo. Then again, cheating made for much better headlines. He scrolled down some more.

‘Stark is Back in Black’

Tony held back a vicious growl, whoever came up with that headline was getting sued, Tony shot an annoyed text to the lady who ran his legal team, he had her on speed dial.

‘Who is Tony Stark’s New Mystery Man?’

Each article featured the same picture of the two of them at the science fair, one of Erik’s arm slung around Tony’s shoulders, with Tony’s head tilted onto his shoulder.

He had fourteen texts from a very angry Pepper Potts each one more frantic than the last. She would have his head on a platter if the SI PR team didn’t have a statement out in the next twenty minutes. The stocks were apparently going down at the very idea of Tony with anyone that wasn’t God’s Righteous Man. Did they expect him to be single for the rest of his life?

“Tony,” Erik’s hands were on his shoulders and he slowly lowered his phone to meet his boyfriend’s eyes. “Take a deep breath, you’re hyperventilating. Breathe with me.”

With a deep sigh Tony focused on Erik’s chest, matching their inhaled until their breathing had synced up. Erik gathered him into his chest, and he snuggled into his warmth. “I’m so sorry about all of this, I should have mentioned it sooner.”

“There is nothing to worry about Tony,” Erik whispered, pressing a kiss into his hair. “It’s okay.” He stroked a hand down Tony’s back, leaning to support his weight as he led them to the curb where Happy was waiting with the car. “Let’s just go home.”

“Let’s not head back to the tower just yet,” Tony whispered as he clambered into the back of the car with Erik, sagging against his chest as he buckled his seat belt. The tower still held memories of him and the team, of better times when he was Happy with Steve. They used to be best friends. Now all he had was a phone sitting in a desk at the compound and updates from Vision who kept sneaking off to see Wanda.

“Where do you wanna go Tony?” Erik asked sliding an arm around Tony’s shoulders.

“Anywhere with you,” Tony whispered his eyes fluttering shut as he took a deep breath, just like his therapist taught him to do when he was feeling overwhelmed.

“How about a park?” Erik leaned forward over the Center console, “hey Happy, are there any neighbourhood parks in the area that we can go to?”

“Yes sir,” Happy was already putting the car into drive as he spoke, the engine shifting beneath them. “There is is one four blocks over.”

Erik moved against him before tangling their hands together. Tony took deep inhales of his spicy aftershave, leaning towards him like a flower to the sun. He cupped Tony’s cheek with his free hand. “Sweet Happy, thanks.”

Tony blinked a couple of times, the car slowly coming back into focus as Erik soothed a thumb across his cheekbone, brushing the soft hairs of his lower lashes. He sighed leaning in to Erik’s shoulder and looking out the window at the blue sky, like eyes he just wanted to forget.

They were silent for the relatively short drive, Tony watched the houses pass outside the window. There were kids playing outside, families gardening together in the beautiful sunshine. Tony wanted that so badly, at one point he had bought a farm. There was a plot of land in North Carolina just waiting for him. But he couldn’t do that. Couldn’t settle down.

When they finally arrived at the park Tony had his breath back under control. He could call Pepper back after he took a walk around the park.

Of course Erik had other ideas.

“You can’t possibly be serious,” Tony put his hands on his waist, cocking a hip to the side as he watched Erik climb the play structure to stand by the slide.

“Dead serious,” Erik replied sitting down and scooting forward. “Get up here, there’s space on my lap.”

Rolling his eyes, Tony crossed the blacktop, climbing the plastic play structure in a couple of steps. Erik was grinning when Tony finally got to the top, unceremoniously situating himself in his lap.

Going down the slide was actually kind of exhilarating. He didn’t really get to do it as much as a kid because he was always busy in the workshop, but he had clearly been missing out. It was slow getting to the bottom, the slide was obviously designed for smaller kids, but he started laughing halfway down at the hilarity of the situation and didn’t stop until Erik was pressing a kiss to his lips at the bottom.

They went down the slide as many times as it took for Tony to forget all about the media and calling Pepper back.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Thank you for taking me to Peter’s science fair,” Erik pressed a kiss to Stark’s mouth when they were finally in the privacy of the Stark tower elevator. “I really enjoyed meetin’ him ‘nd getting to learn more about the future scientists of America.”

Stark grinned back as he tipped his head against the glass of the elevator, letting out a satisfied sigh. “Peter really is a bright kid. He’s going much further than I could ever dream and all without a golden spoon in his mouth.”

Erik’s heart flipped in his chest, bringing him to a halt. That was new. He didn’t have time to dwell on the feeling because Stark was tilting his head up for another kiss that Erik was happy to give him. He felt Tony melt in his arms, the weight surprisingly familiar as he ran his tongue against the seam of Tony’s chapped lips.

When he pulled away, Stark stayed close, their foreheads pressed together as they shared air. Tony’s eyes fluttered open, pupils blown with lust till the beautiful whisky was reduced to a thin ring of brilliant colour. Eric could probably get lost in his eyes forever.

The elevator doors slid open with a quiet ding and Tony slowly pulled away, leaving Erik no choice but to follow. Eric was in the kitchen, eating wet cat food out of a red dish that had “Iron Meow” written on the side in gold sharpie. He looked up as they passed and Erik shot him a self-satisfied smirk. He would be spending the night in Stark’s bed, not that mangy little asshole cat. Always stealing all of Tony’s cuddles and kisses.

He shook his head, bringing his attention back to Tony. His eyes dropped to the tantalizing sway of Tony’s hips before skating up to his blank neck, just waiting to be marked with Erik’s teeth, a purple painting of beautiful bruises that he wouldn’t be able to hide with a shirt collar. A rush of desire pooled in the dips of his hips, lightning electrifying his fingertips as Tony pushed the door to his bedroom open before turning and finding Erik’s lips with his own.

“Does this count as the third date?” Tony murmured with a chuckle as Erik moved down from his lips to his jaw, rough beard scratching deliciously at his skin. Sliding his hands down Tony’s back, he was pleased to find that he wasn’t the only one into this, Tony’s erection finding a pleasant friction against his own.

Erik let Tony pull him backwards with a mischievous smile, loving the way his knees hit the bed as he allowed himself to fall, trusting Erik not to crush him.Tony giggled, sliding a hand around Erik’s neck before pressing their lips together again. With a firm grip around Tony’s waist, Erik rolled them over, pressing a knee between Tony’s legs.

“So, we’re doin’ this?” Erik tugged on Tony’s hair for a breather, a tingle running down his spine at the soft mewl it elicited. Tony was pliant against him, lips swollen and shirt wrinkled. “Havin’ sex?”

“I needed you in me ages ago,” Tony groaned, his head thrown back as he ground down against Erik’s thigh, “please take me.”

“Well,” Erik let a wide grin spread across his face feeling very much like the cat who got the cream. He ran his fingers up Tony’s flank, enjoying the way he arched into the motion. “When you beg so prettily, who am I to deny you anything?”

Tony’s fingers were already at the hem of Erik’s shirt, tugging up the fabric with a needy whine that sent arousal rocketing through him. Erik sat up, allowing the henley to be pulled over his head and tossed onto the floor. Tony immediately had his hands frantically unbuttoning his own shirt in the next second. Erik closed his fingers over Tony’s, stilling them on the second button.

“What, you wanna tear it off me?” Tony whispered his lashes lowered as he grinned. He arched his back, pressing in to Erik.

“Just wanna take it slow, make it special,” Erik whispered pulling Tony’s hands off his shirt and setting them on his shoulders. His fingers were immediately exploring, running over the sensitive scar tissue of Erik’s chest before pulling his nipples into tiny peaks with a smirk.

Erik unbuttoned his shirt slowly, pressing kisses to each inch of skin as it was revealed. There were still bandages across his chest and Erik was careful as he kissed around the bruises on Tony’s torso. When he finally finished working off the last button, he carefully tugged the shirt off Tony’s shoulders, gathering the fabric to trap Tony’s arms behind him as he peppered kisses over the swirling bruises on Tony’s abdomen. Tony was shivering against him, rocking their erections together as he panted.

With a tug, Erik released Tony’s hands, dropping the fabric to the floor to join his own t-shirt before running his fingers up the corded muscle of Tony’s beautiful thighs. With his hands free, Tony was immediately back to pulling open the zipper of Erik’s jeans, pushing a hand into his boxers to cup his hard length. Erik groaned, turning the top’s of Tony’s shoulders red with his teeth as he sucked hickies into the pale skin.

Tony fell against Erik’s chest, wiggling out of his jeans and boxers in one motion before kicking them off to join the rest of his clothes on the floor. Tony rubbed himself against the tent in Erik’s pants, burying his head into the pillow by Erik’s shoulder as he struggled to control his gasps.

“Where do you keep the lube?” Erik slid his hands down Tony’s back to press against his cheeks, squeezing them gently before pulling them apart to slide a finger against Tony’s entrance.

Pulling open the nightstand, Tony rooted around for lube, tossing Erik a bottle labelled coconut. Erik drizzled some onto his fingers, tongue peeking out of his mouth as he tasted it. Not entirely bad, though he preferred blueberry. He warmed it up between his palms, hands sliding back around Tony’s ass to tease at his entrance.

“Come on, please, just hurry up,” Tony muttered impatiently, ass wiggling back to find Erik’s fingers, catching them on his rim and groaning deliciously.

One finger slipped in easily and Tony groaned at the intrusion, his head falling into the curve of Erik’s neck, breath hot and wet across his skin. He pressed further in, pulling Tony’s thighs open further with his free hand. Tony melted against him, sinking bonelessly as Erik slipped in another finger with a kiss pressed to the side of Tony’s head.

“You open up so beautifully for me,” Erik whispered, scissoring his fingers. He grabbed the lube, pulling open the cap with his teeth and drizzling it over Tony’s entrance. As the cold gel made contact with his skin, Tony let out a broken moan with a shiver. Erik resisted the urge to grin, carefully avoiding Tony’s prostate as he slipped in a third finger.

“I’m ready,” Tony pawed at the tent in Erik’s jeans, tongue sliding over his swollen lips as he looked up at Erik, brown eyes pleading. He already seemed half-delirious. “Come on, no more prep. Need you, now, please. Please, Erik. Fuck me.”

Erik pulled Tony up his chest to kick off his jeans, sighing when his erection was finally free and slapping obscenely against Tony’s pert ass, raising a giggle out of him. He coated his hand in lube, passing it down his cock a couple of times before gently encouraging Tony to sit up. Fascinated, Tony ran a hand down Erik’s length before pressing it against his weeping hole.

With a satisfied sigh, Tony slid down Erik’s cock in one smooth motion, toppling over into his chest. Erik groaned at the satiating feeling of being in Tony’s tight heat, fingers dipping between Tony’s cheeks to find where they were connected. Tony’s asshole was stretched tight, lube dripping between them as his muscles fluttered.

Gasping, Tony clenched around him as he slowly withdrew before pressing back in, harder and faster, circling his hips to grind up into Tony. Erik’s tightened his grip on Tony’s thighs, hiking his leg up higher as he thrust into him, setting an exhilarating pace that punched delicious groans past Tony’s lips each time their skin met.

Tilting his head up, Erik slotted their mouths together, wet as they tried to stay connected to Tony while driving up into him blindly. He carefully sucked Tony’s bottom lip into his mouth, their beards rubbing pleasantly together as he gently bit down.

Tony’s breath came out in hard pants as Erik sucked one of his pinking nipples into his mouth, loving the long, drawn out moan falling past his lips. He slowly circled his hips, grinding up into his tight, wet heat, before pulling out and thrusting back in, skin slapping obscenely.

“Erik,” Tony groaned his blunt fingernails  pressing painfully into the scarred skin of his shoulders. He leaned forward, his nose pushing into the delicate curve of Tony’s neck. “Oh my fucking-”

That’s when Erik heard it. The plaintive answering meow and scratch at the door as he plowed into Tony. He tried to ignore it, he really did, but there was something so irritating about the fucking cat trying to intrude on his time with Tony. Tony was

his,

goddammit, why didn’t Eric just understand that he was just a cat and Erik was very human and could be the perfect companion.

Erik pushed the feline to the back of his mind and reached down to fist Tony’s cock, his rough palm dragging up the sensitive skin. Tony threw his head back, arching against him as Erik squeezed him gently, spreading precome across his tip. He carefully thumbed at the slit before letting go, his fingers sliding past Tony’s balls to his stretched rim.

He carefully rubbed the delicate skin, loving them feel of himself pumping in and out of Tony. He groaned, sliding a hand up Tony’s back to tangle in his hair. He tugged at it roughly, exposing Tony’s neck to bite kisses into the soft, vulnerable skin. Tony moaned out his name in response. There was another scratch at the door that Erik forced aside.

Tony clenched around him and that was it. Erik squeezed his eyes shut, fingers pressing bruises into Tony’s hips as the smaller man collapsed onto his chest. Tony slid down his cock one last time before he groaned his own release, ass tightening almost painfully, making a sticky mess between them.

Erik lost time as they lay together, basking in the post-coital bliss as Erik traced circles up and down Tony’s arm. He was still buried in Tony, his ass a sloppy mess of spend and lube that Erik didn’t want to leave.

“I’m gonna go get water,” Tony gasped, gently sliding out from Erik’s hold and pressing a wet kiss to his mouth.  He pulled his hips up and Erik’s cock slipped out, lube and spend dripping onto his thighs obscenely. Tony laughed as he slipped out of bed and Erik watched him go, a satisfying limp to his step and hickeys making a canvas of his beautiful body. Tony opened the door, making a quiet noise of surprise before continuing down the hall, the soft rhythmic pad of his steps settling warmth in Erik’s chest.

He left without shutting the door.

Eric strut in, his nose held high as he snarled at Erik, tail lashing angrily behind him as he stepped around their discarded clothes. He hopped up on the bed in one big leap with a harsh growl. He paused to glare at Erik before curling up at the foot of the bed, blue eyes blinking, annoyed as his tail curled up and around his paws.

“He’s mine, fleaball.” Erik felt a growl of his own crawl up in the back of his throat as he glared at the cat.

Eric only blinked at him, ocean eyes equally as menacing as he back stood up, crossing the bedsheets in order to step on to Erik’s chest. There was nothing he could do as the cat curled up, tail tickling his nose and tiny paws pressing against the scars on his chest.

“You guys are so adorable,” Tony cooed, walking back in. He was holding two water bottles, fresh out of the fridge and dripping condensation. He set one on the night stand, breaking the seal on the other to take a sip before offering Erik some. “Isn’t he the cutest thing?”

“Of course Tony,” Erik responded with a sickly sweet smile. He tried to flex his pecs to dislodge the cat but the fatass was not moving an inch. He tried not to grumble at Eric as Tony slipped into bed beside him, his fingers running over his furball.

Goddammit, now Erik had to share Tony with this fuzzball. He accepted a chaste peck from Tony as the smaller man curled into his side, stroking a hand down his cat’s side. Erik tried not to stare at the bandages stretched across his chest, he knew Tony was self conscious. Even Erik hated the fact that Tony had gotten hurt, but he would never think he wasn’t beautiful. He would forever love the scars tracing up and down Tony’s hands. He loved the beautiful contrast of the pale scar tissue against the tan olive of his skin.

With a kiss pressed to his jaw line, Erik rolled on to his side, watching as Eric slid off his chest with an indignant yowl. Erik smirked as he pulled Tony into his chest, feeling warm lips against his collarbone as Tony sucked a lazy hickey into his skin. He let his hands wander downwards, skimming over the round globes of Tony’s ass before playfully teasing at his rim.

Tony groaned, lightly slapping at Erik’s pecs before leaning forward to brush their lips together. “You are incorrigible.” He snuggled closer to Erik’s chest, beard scratching pleasantly against the scars patterned across his skin, “I’m not going again. Maybe tomorrow, if you’re lucky.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it.” Erik skimmed a hand down Tony’s back before settling his chin in his messy brown curls. Tony’s fingers slid up and down his skin as his breathing slowly evened out.

Erik smirked reaching down and pulling the covers over them both and allowing Tony to pillow his head on his chest. “Goodnight.”

But Tony was already asleep, breath blowing softly against Erik’s skin, and eyelashes fanning out against high cheekbones. Erik passed a hand through his soft curls loving the silky feel of them in his hands. He was so screwed.

And then to make matters worse, Eric was stepping back over his chest and curling up in the slope of Tony’s neck, tail right in Erik’s nose

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Erik and Tony's Road Trip Playlist
Journey - Don't Stop Believin'Bon Jovi - Livin' on a PrayerSpice Girls - WannabePanic! At The Disco - I Write Sins Not TragediesBeyoncé - Single LadiesTaylor Swift - Shake it OffQueen - Bohemian RhapsodyMiley Cyrus - Party in the USAABBA - Dancing QueenEvanescence - Bring Me To LifeFall Out Boy - Sugar We're Goin' DownKelly Clarkson - Since U Been GoneKatrina & The Waves - Walking on SunshineRick Astley - Never Gonna Give You UpJason Mraz - I'm Yours

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tony woke up the next morning, deliciously achy with his face buried in Erik’s firm pecs. He turned his face into Erik’s neck feeling strong arms tighten around his hips as a low groan left his lips.

“Hey,” Erik’s voice was dark as he skimmed fingers up the divots of Tony’s spine, stopping at the bandages circled around his chest. He gently slid his fingers across Tony’s chin, thumbing through his goatee and tilting his head up to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Good morning,” his hand dropped to the curve of Tony’s ass, their foreheads pressed together, “how you feeling?”

“Like jelly,” Tony chuckled and rolled over, flopping across the covers. Eric, who was settled into the curve of Erik’s neck- and wasn’t that just adorable- got up, crossing his boyfriend’s chest to run his face against Tony’s before hopping off the bed and disappearing under it. Tony turned back to Erik, a satiated smile on his face. “Thank you for yesterday.”

“Anytime,” Erik whispered slowly sitting up and grabbing his glasses off the side table. He put them on, blinking at Tony adorably before leaning over and pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth with a grin. Tony covered his face with his hands as he blushed, his eyes squeezing shut. “Oh wow, who knew you could get even more beautiful?”

Tony laughed, rolling off him and shoving at Erik’s shoulder playfully from where he was lying with his face mashed in the pillows. He groaned, a smile curving at his lips, “that was so corny it was literally falling off the cob.”

With a snort Erik shook his head grabbing Tony’s arm and pulling him toward the edge of the bed, “come on Tony, come take a shower with me.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Gracelessly, Tony slid out of bed, feet slapping on the hardwood floor as he followed Erik to the immaculate ensuite. It was one of the things he missed about the tower: having so many amazing facilities. He had designed this place with luxury and family in mind. He tried not to let thoughts of how empty it was now cloud his mind as Erik got the water heated.

Fog rose in the air around them as Tony stepped into the warm spray. Erik had gotten the temperature just right and Tony relaxed into the water, feeling the tension slip out of his shoulders. Erik had his glasses perched adorably on top of his head as he pulled Tony close, trading lazy kisses in the warm water.

Grabbing a half-empty bottle off the shelf, Erik took a sniff before he lathered the coconut-smelling shampoo in his palms. Tony thought he was going to do his own hair, so he was pleasantly surprised when Erik began carefully working his fingers through Tony’s scalp like he was washing each lock of hair individually. He melted into him, forehead pressed to the scars patterned across his chest. Tony was so grateful for his beautiful boyfriend. Erik was a dream come true.

A soft groan left his lips and his knees turned to jelly once more as Erik scraped his nails against his sensitive scalp, tugging on his hair gently before carefully rinsing the shampoo out with a hand above Tony’s eyes to keep the suds out of his face. He had a small, content smile on his face, like taking care of Tony genuinely brought him joy, for some reason.

Water dripped off Erik’s lashes as he poured sweet mint-smelling body wash onto a loofah and carefully scrubbed at Tony’s body, expertly avoiding getting soap onto the bandages wrapped around Tony’s chest with an ease that gave Tony the feeling that he had done it before. Knowing his history in the military, Tony figured he had. Erik gently scrubbed across his hips, kissing across his neck as he went.

“You wanna do something special today?” Tony whispered, pliant against Erik as he soaped his own body, a lot less carefully than he had done Tony’s. “Take a nice walk together, dinner somewhere nice? Or we could just stay here, in bed, order takeout, and I can have your cock for desert?”

Erik laughed, a beautiful deep melody as he pressed a sweet kiss to Tony’s lips. “You have to go see your best friend today, Colonel Rhodes? And don’t you have a meeting with Secretary Ross over the Accords as well?” Erik pressed another careful kiss to his forehead, “It’s important to you, I can’t let you play hooky- not even for the sake of me and my dick.”

“Ugh- why do you have to be so goddamned reasonable?” Tony rolled his eyes and whined, high pitched in the back of his throat. There was nothing he wanted more than to stay in bed cuddling with Erik, but of course, responsibilities. He pouted, running his fingers through his clean hair.

He tried to tap his fingers against the arc before frowning at the gauze in his place. He’d have to change it now that he’d showered, which was his least favourite thing to do ever. He absolutely hated seeing the mottled skin underneath and would give anything to just go back to the days of the arc reactor’s painful press. Tony sighed. As much as he hated changing the bandages, he would also hate having the sopping wet material pressed against his skin all day. So of course, he had to change it himself and apply the weird ointment that smells like antiseptic and feet that always made him wrinkle his nose because yuck.

“Stop frowning,” Erik gently cupped his chin, passing a finger over his bottom lip before leaning down to kiss him so sweetly. “You look beautiful, bandages and all.” He slowly slid his fingers up Tony’s side, back around to his waist before tilting his head down so their foreheads touched.

Water dripped off Tony’s lashes as he peered into Erik’s deep brown eyes, sinking into the swirling coffee irises. He tipped his chin up to nip at Erik’s plump lower lip, their beards catching against each other.

“I just hate changing them,” Tony frowned, tilting his head back into the shower spray to disguise the water pooling in his eyes. He was just so frustrated with this whole situation. “The scars are so ugly and the injury is even worse.”

Erik studied him a beat, before running a finger across his lashes with a sigh, “they make you stronger, you know? His failure makes you stronger than you ever will be.” Tony allowed Erik to pull him closer, skin slidingly slickly as Erik gently kissed his cheek. “I’m kind of grateful to him,” Erik whispered with a smirk, “might have been a fucking bastard, but he led me to you.”

Tony pulled Erik into a hug, burying his face in his shoulder, holding on tight. Erik was happy to pat his back, sliding soothing fingers up and down his spine and whispering soft words into his ear.

Eventually, Erik shut off the water, grabbing a towel off the rack and draping it around Tony’s shoulders before picking him up and carrying him back to the bedroom. Ignoring the droplets clinging to his own body, he deposited Tony on the bed, carefully wiping all the water off his skin and pressing kisses everywhere he went.

Tony was reduced to giggles as Erik tried to give attention to every inch of his bare skin with a teasing smile. He lay back in bed as Erik gave himself a perfunctory wipe down before disappearing in the bathroom. Tony slid a pair of black boxers up his legs before flopping back down onto his bed. He was warm and dry and for the first time in months, content as he waited for his boyfriend to come back, relaxing in the silky sheets.

When Erik returned to the room, he was holding the ointment, gauze tape, and a pair of scissors, a lovely smile stretched across his lips as he sat down on the bed beside him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder and sending shivers running down his spine. Tony slowly lifted his arms, letting Erik cut away the bandages around his torso.

There was a sharp breath from next to him and Tony squeezed his eyes shut, not even daring to look at the ugly mess Rogers had made of his chest. Nothing was infected, Tony was smarter than letting anything like that happen, but it still wasn’t the most beautiful thing ever. Erik pressed a sweet kiss to his lips, “Tony, look at me.”

Lashes fluttering, Tony looked up at him, ignoring the urge to glance down and look at the wicked injury the crossed his rib cage. He had cracked a couple of ribs and a section of his sternum had been completely shattered by the blunt-force impact. On top of all of that, glass and metal from the reactor had been forced into his chest, splintering through the casing and tearing through skin. It had almost killed him. “I know it’s bad.”

Erik gripped his fingers, brushing a kiss across his knuckles, “it’s not that bad, you’re still beautiful, I knew from the moment I met you that you were a gladiolus, and look at you, proving me right.” Erik smiled kindly, gently releasing Tony’s hand as he picked up the bottle of ointment. It was a weird orange colour that smelled artificial, but Tony only gritted his teeth as Erik carefully rubbed it into the wound with clean fingers.

“Thank you,” Tony murmured as Erik finished tying off the gauze, comfortably tucking it in. His boyfriend simply responded with a kiss before heading to his suitcase to grab clothes to wear.

Tony watched him, the strong sure line of his shoulders, confident, even naked. With his glasses perched on the top of his head, he looked even more adorable, head cocked to the side as he undid the lock. His movements were unhesitant as he pulled open his suitcase, digging in for a set of clothes and settling on a dark acid wash pair of jeans.

“Do you like it when we match?” Erik looked up and Tony blushed as he caught him staring, his eyes immediately dropping to his bare feet as he sat up.

His injury surprisingly didn’t hurt as he crossed the room to his suitcase, pulling out a black pair of ripped jeans. “We can match, what are you feeling like? I have red or white?”

“Red?” Erik pulled a maroon pullover out of his bag, pulling it over his head before turning to Tony with a smile. “You always look good in red.”

“I would hope so,” Tony smiled, as he grabbed a red tee out of his suitcase, slipping it over his head. It had a silly science joke printed across the front and Erik smiled as he read it, standing and helping Tony up from where he was kneeling.

“Where to first?” Erik asked as they headed out to the living room, pressing the button to call the elevator. “I could go for breakfast?”

“Yeah, I told Rhodey I’d treat him to breakfast. You’re coming with me right?” Tony stepped into the elevator, tugging on Erik’s hand before pressing himself up against his side, looking up at him through his lashes.

“Can I drive?”  Erik smiled down at him and Tony nodded as they got to the garage, Tony’s lineup of cars still waiting for him. He tossed Erik the keys before sliding into the passenger seat, settling into the leather.

Erik had a huge grin on his face as he took a moment to skim his hands across the side of the car, taking in the paint job. The orange Audi was one of Tony’s favourite cars. When Erik finally joined him inside, fingers running over the wheel and across the dashboard he had stars in his eyes. Tony couldn’t hide the smile on his face, at least they had the same taste in cars.

“You wanna take a look under the hood when we get back?” Tony offered, delighted when Erik turned to look at him like he had offered him the sun. He was nodding quickly as he dropped the key fob into the cup holder and hit the button to start up the engine, eyes lighting up as the HUD came to life.

“Is your AI uploaded in here?” Erik pulled out of the car park, heading down Park Avenue.

“Good morning Mr. Stevens, my name is FRIDAY,” Tony’s AI spoke up to answer his question. He missed the British lilt of his childhood butler, but it was only a matter of time before Tony got his hands on Vision to duplicate the intelligence and get JARVIS up and running again. He couldn’t wait to introduce Erik.

“She has directions to the restaurant we’re going to loaded up,” Tony said waving at the glass as Erik put on his blinker to change lanes like FRIDAY’s GPS suggested. “We should be there in half an hour.”

“So, when did you meet Rhodey?” Erik had a curious note to his voice as he shot Tony a glance.

“We both went to MIT together, he was in aerospace engineering while I got into mechanical.” Tony leaned back in his seat as he explained, eyes closed as his brain rewinded back to the day they had gotten arrested for ditching class to break into a museum. “He kept my scrawny teenage ass out of trouble and I showed him a good time.”

“He sounds like a great friend, I can’t wait to meet him.” Erik shot him a sweet smile before finding his hands over the center console to give it a squeeze. Tony resisted the urge to grin like a loon as he looked down at the joined fingers.

Today was going to be a good day.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

As far as people went, Colonel James Rhodes was probably one of the most interesting people Erik had the pleasure of meeting. He was dressed in a striped red polo and jeans, thick-framed glasses perched on the end of his nose. He had a firm handshake and a steely gaze but he really was a softie at heart and all it took was watching the way he looked at Tony and absolutely melted.

If Erik didn’t know they were such good friends who had known each other for years, he would have thought they were lovers, watching the way they moved easily together, hugging and bickering and teasing. It was actually kind of refreshing to see how human Tony could be, eyes sparkling and smile genuine. It made Erik hope to reach that kind of unity with someone. That kind of open honesty.

They were all seated at a round table covered in a cliche red and white checkered cloth at what was apparently Tony’s favourite breakfast house. It had a sort of rustic feel to it, exposed wooden beams and a friendly waiter that grinned at all of them, asking after Tony’s friend Peter.

They ordered a stack of blueberry pancakes for the whole table, and Erik decided that he could see the appeal. They were apparently Tony’s favourite and Erik filed the information away for the future. Maybe he would surprise Tony with breakfast in bed. Though, Tony seemed much more likely to be taking it in the workshop after an all-nighter.

It wasn’t long before the stack dwindled and Tony’s blinks were getting longer. Even Erik was content with the full feeling to his belly as he watched Tony adorably lick syrup off his index fingers.

“So how are the supports holding up?” Tony’s gaze dropped to his empty plate and Erik immediately hooked their feet together under the table. He remembered Tony’s guilty expression every time he talked about what had happened in Leipzig. The way Erik saw it, what had happened wasn’t anywhere close to Tony’s fault, but he didn’t quite know how to convince his boyfriend of that.

“I haven’t had any problems with them,” Rhodes had a kind smile and he reached over to set a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Thank you for helping with them. Columbia medical wasn’t able to do much.”

“I’ve been working on a new design for them. Vibranium and magnetic levitation.” Tony explained, hands flying out as he pulled up the blueprints on his phone and showed them to Rhodes. Erik watched Tony’s eyes light up as he went over input and output ratios and stress factors. At first Erik thought Rhodes was just absently nodding along before he remembered that he had studied in a similar major and was probably following along just as fine as Erik was.

“Don’t stress yourself out Tony,” Rhodey shook his head with a smile. “I’m doing fine with these right now, you should just focus on the company and the accords. This wasn’t your fault.”

Tony bit his lip and Erik could tell he wanted to argue but was holding himself back. His heart ached as he tried to come up with something to say to make him smile. Instead, the table lapsed into silence and Erik sighed as he took the chance to study James Rhodes. He wasn’t the kind of friend that he thought Tony would have. He had seen the two of them in passing on the news, recieving a medal in which a senator had called Tony a national treasure. Rhodey had always seemed like the serious stone-faced one, tolerating Tony and his ridiculous antics. Having met them both, Erik had a feeling that Rhodey more than encouraged Tony and his fun ideas.

“Are you gonna get that?” Tony whispered, pointing to his phone buzzing on the table. Erik glanced down frowning as he immediately recognized the number as Klaue’s. He wished he didn’t have to answer to that idiot. As far as criminals went, he was probably the dumbest Erik had ever had the pleasure of working with.

“Sorry, ‘scuse me,” he stood, leaning over the table to press a kiss to Tony’s temple, before heading outside to stand under the red and blue awning of the restaurant. It was no mroe quiet out here than it was in the restaurant, but he couldn’t have Tony or worse, Rhodes, overhearing his conversation. With a sigh, he accepted the call, raising the phone to his ear. “Yeah?”

“Took you long enough,” Klaue’s voice grated over his nerves and Erik resisted the urge to grit his teeth. “Where are you?”

“Not in London,” Erik responded, scratching the back of his neck. There was no way he would be able to meet Klaue in person if that’s what he wanted. Then again, Klaue wasn’t all that cooperative either so he figured he had some bargaining leverage.

“I secured a date and I’m going to sell the Vibranium in Korea tonight,” Klaue sounded gleeful, probably as he thought about all the dollar signs that would come from selling off Erik’s hard work. “Are you coming or not?”

If Klaue went alone and fucked up the sale, then Erik would have to go through the process of finding more Vibranium, casing another museum, and organizing a heist. Exhausting work which he didn’t really want to do a second time. Then again, he wasn’t sure how to get to Korea by tonight without Tony being the wiser. And while he could afford a plane ticket, he didn’t want to waste his time with something that reeked of a setup by the American government.

“I’m in the states...” Erik trailed off trying to come up with an explanation, “I’ve got Stark’s trust. You can put it off, I just need to see if I can get his help with-”

“Forget about Stark already,” Klaue growled cutting Erik off. He seethed, biting his tongue to keep from interrupting Klaue. “He’s nothing more than a selfish asshole.”

Erik felt a swell of indignation roar up in him, anger hot and heavy in his cheeks. He was about to defend Tony, because sure, he was rich, but he was anything but selfish. “Listen, I know-”

“I am selling the Vibranium tonight, with or without your help.” Klaue bit out. The finality in his voice left no room for argument and Erik resisted the urge to facepalm. He had never met someone so stupidly arrogant. And he had met Tony Stark. Klaue was still talking as Erik tuned back in. “You better not back out on your end of the deal or you won’t be getting your sit in with the King.”

“I won’t,” Erik growled, his free hand fisting beside him as vengeance pooled in his belly. There was nothing he wanted more than to make the royal family pay for taking his father from him. He would get his revenge at any and all cost, and he would reap the benefits, helping oppressed people around the world.

The dial tone sounded as Klaue hung up and Erik slipped the phone back into his pocket. He couldn’t keep forgetting his main goal, to bring Vibranium to the rest of the world. Tony Stark was just a stepping stone in a bigger picture and Erik couldn’t lose sight of it. Not now, not when he was so close and he had worked so hard. Years of training and fighting had led up to this one moment and he wasn’t going to waste it.

He stood outside letting the cool spring air wash over him as he took a couple of deep, calming breaths. With a sigh, he forced himself to get back into the headspace of Tony’s loving boyfriend. He closed his eyes, picturing Tony’s smile, the one that was full of teeth that made adorable wrinkles appear by the corners of his eyes. The way he gesticulated wildly when he was passionate about something, the ruffle of his curls in the morning, greying at the temples. His fists slowly loosened as the tension drained out of his shoulders.

The door jingled as Erik re-entered the restaurant, finding Tony’s gaze and grinning at him. He smiled back, soothing something warm in Erik’s chest as he made his way back to his seat. They were all done with breakfast and Tony had a meeting with secretary Ross - the annoying one, as he liked to say - in about an hour.

“Hey, everything good?” Tony’s face was so open and Erik immediately wondered how anyone could look at him and call him selfish. He nodded, slumping in his seat as Rhodey eyed him suspiciously. Tony glanced between the two of them before shrugging, “I’m gonna go take care of the cheque.”

Erik gaze followed his ass as he headed to the counter remembering how it felt under him, how pretty he looked the night before. He slid his tongue across his lips as his gaze wandered up Tony’s back to his strong, lean shoulders, the hair curling at the nape his neck where Erik wanted to suck hickies into his tan skin. He was interrupted as Rhodey cleared his throat, shooting him a withering glare from across the table.

“Listen here,” he leaned forward, palms braced on the table and Erik turned to stare at him lazily. His deep brown eyes flashed as his eyes narrowed. “I know you’re smart and you’re military trained and you probably think you’re the shit for landing Tony Stark. But you should understand me when I say this-”

“Is this a shovel talk?” Erik leaned forward, cutting him off, brow cocked. He could respect Rhodes and his fierce loyalty. He didn’t mess around and he was genuinely devoted to Tony.

“No,” Rhodes leaned back, arms crossed over his chest. “Because if you fuck up and you lose him, you won’t need me to hurt you, because being without him will hurt enough.”

Erik resisted the urge to shiver as the words settled in the pit of his belly. Somehow that seemed worse than Rhodes threatening to hurt him if he screwed things up with Tony.

“I know I don’t deserve him,” Erik picked at the table cloth his gaze darting to where Tony was laughing with the cashier. Knowing Tony, it was probably all genuine and it made his heart clench painfully in his chest. “He’s such an incredible guy and I’m so lucky to have him. I will never intentionally try to hurt him.”

Rhodes studied him for a moment, deep brown eyes assessing as he measured the truth in Erik’s words. “That’s good to hear. I think we’ll get along nicely.”

Score. Erik relaxed back in his seat. If he could get Rhodes’ approval, he was well on his way to getting close enough to convince Tony into helping out with the Vibranium. They could probably come to a mutual agreement.

“You guys ready to go?” Tony grinned at both of them as he stepped up to the table, his eyes bright and sparkling. “Do you want us to take you home, Sourpatch?”

“Nah, I have to swing by base. They want me to talk to some of the younger cadets.” Rhodes pulled Tony into a hug, ruffling his hair affectionately. “When you’re done with your tromp in London, swing by the compound.”

“I couldn’t stay away if I tried.” Tony responded before reaching back and grabbing on to Erik’s free hand.

“It was good meeting you,” Rhodes held out his hand for a shake and Erik took it with an innocent grin back. He had him, hook, line, and sinker. If only all of his negotiations could go this well. “Take care of him.”

Tony groaned but Erik only laughed in response dropping Rhodes’ hand to pull Tony into his side, pressing a kiss to the side of his head and breathing in the dark scent of his aftershave. “I’ll do my best.”

Rhodes grinned with a nod, “I don’t doubt that.” He shot them both a wave before making his way over to his car in the lot.

Erik turned to follow Tony to where they had parked on the other side of the car park. Tony let out a relieved sigh as he settled into the leather of the passenger seat. He slouched down, his fingers finding their way across the center console and into Erik’s hand as they pulled out of the parking lot. It took everything in Erik to focus on the road and not on the adorably satiated smile on Tony’s face.

“We’re heading back to the tower, unless you wanna go somewhere else and I can drop you off?” Erik felt Tony’s thumb skim over his knuckles and he resisted the urge to shiver. “I have to grab a couple papers, Eric, and a mug of coffee.”

“I don’t mind waiting for you at the tower while you take care of your meetings,” Erik whispered back pulling Tony’s hand up to his mouth for a kiss.

“I’ll take my other car and you can have a peek under the hood of this one.”

They were magical words and excitement swelled in Erik’s veins as he thought about getting his hands dirty under the hood of one of Tony’s cars. It was second only to getting Tony dirty on one of his pretty cars. He stepped on the accelerator and Tony let out a delighted giggle.

Maybe he could convince Tony to be late to his meeting.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Of all the ways to wake up, to the steady beep of a heart monitor was Tony’s least favourite. He frowned, wrinkling his nose as the itchy IV tugged at his wrist. His eyes fluttered open, squinting in the bright overhead lights.

“Tony,” his best friend was breathless beside him and his head lolled as he searched for Rhodey’s face. He forced up a grin as he pushed back the rising bile. Moving was off the table for now it seemed.

“Rhod-” his breath hitched as he croaked, a cough crackling out of his chest as he tried to swallow. There was a straw pressing against his lips and Tony closed as his eyes as he sucked in the cool liquid like he was back in Afghanistan.

“Slow down,” the straw was pulled from his lips and Tony whined as he tried to chase it. Rhodey pushed gently against his chest with a sigh, “take it easy, you’ve been out for a couple of days.”

“Wha-?” Tony grumbled, the room blinking in and out of focus as the water settled like a lead weight in his stomach. His gaze flitted around the room until it settled on the mass of bandages wrapped around his chest and his last memories all came rushing back to him. The heart monitor skyrocketed letting out a strident series of beeps as Tony’s hands flew to his chest, pulling against the IV as pain shot through his ribs. “Lemme up.”

With a sigh, Rhodey grabbed the remote for the hospital bed, fingers jabbing at the buttons until he was able to get Tony into a seated position. He pulled an uncomfortable plastic chair over, pulling Tony’s hands away from his chest, to hold them tight between his.

“You are going to have an anxiety attack if you don’t take a deep breath.” Rhodey warned his thumbs absentmindedly running across Tony’s knuckles. Tony opened his mouth to protest but Rhodey simply shook his head. “I know you’ve been having them since New York, don’t lie to me.”

Tony harrumphed, before giving in and relaxing into the flat pillows behind him. There was a dull ache radiating from his left arm and his throat felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton balls. To top it all off, a cold feeling weighed on his whole body as he shifted into the warmth of the blankets, a shiver wracking down his spine.

“You were hypothermic when Vision found you,” Rhodey admitted as he slid his warm hands over Tony’s with a gentle smile, “I’m sure the cold will go away soon.”

He stepped away and the cold rushed back in as fast as it had gone. Rhodey grabbed a couple of blankets off the shelf in the corner, draping them across Tony’s shoulders before pushing him over to join him in bed.

That’s when Tony caught sight of the braces on his legs. Ugly metal contraptions, part of the War Machine suit that Tony had quickly repurposed after the battle in Leipzig. They were bulky and Rhodey grimaced as he shifted, settling beside Tony.

Like a flower to the sun, Tony curled into his warm side tilting his head into his best friend’s shoulder.

There was a knock on the door and Pepper poked her head in, smiling when her gaze settled on Tony. “You’re awake!” She didn’t move out from behind the door, shifting her weight where she stood. “I have a surprise for you.”

Tony perked up, his fingers twitching in his lap as he leaned forward in anticipation. His ribs twinged in protest and Rhodey put a hand on his chest, gently pushing him back into the pillows, again. “What is it?”

Pepper stepped out from behind the door, her hands clutching a black ball of fur. For a second, Tony thought she had bought herself another purse and was here to compliment him on his impeccable taste. Then the ball moved and Tony realized it was a black cat, blue eyes blinking up at Tony adorably. She set it in his lap before retreating to sit at the foot of his bed.

With furrowed brows, he reached down to run a hand across the kitten’s back, delighting in the soft fur as he smoothed his thumb over its small furry head. Rhodey’s fingers joined his own on the cat’s back. His voice was soft as he cooed at the cat and Tony resisted the urge to laugh at how small animals turned his best friend into a total softie.

He looked up at Pepper who was watching them from where she was perched on the end of the bed. Her head was cocked to the side, sadness colouring the edge of her features as she shot them a watery smile. “Hey Pep, does it have a name?”

Pepper rubbed a hand down her face and Tony frowned at the pure exhaustion dragging at her features, blue eyes red rimmed. “It is a he and you get to name him.”

Tony glanced back down at where the small furrball was brushing his face across Tony’s knuckles, tongue darting out across his fingertips. “He’s mine?”

“Yeah, he’s specially trained to tell you to go to bed and take your medications.” Pepper stood to her feet smoothing a hand down her skirt, still pretty even with the bags bruised underneath her eyes. “FRIDAY and the cleaning bots will take most of the responsibilities from you while you recover. After that, I think routine will help.”

Rhodey was still enamoured with the cat when Tony’s gaze fell back down, smoothing his thumb across a furry cheek. Stunning blue eyes blinked up at him and suddenly Tony fell back into the memory of musicals, sitting on the couch in strong arms. Beautiful azure eyes and sunny golden hair. He shivered, blinking the haze of the thought away.

The Little Mermaid was his favourite Disney movie, never mind the person he was watching it with. Tony was going to spoil his cat, he already knew the small furball would be lavished with all the riches Tony could afford.

“His name is Eric.”

A name fit for his little prince.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

All too soon they’re on the plane back to London, and Tony is strapping in for takeoff with Erik leaning against him. The meeting about the Accords went well, or at least Tony hoped it did, though when it came to Ross the older, it was always a little hard to tell. Tony wanted a chance to speak to baby Ross, but apparently he was in Busan, South Korea trying to track down a vibranium arms dealer or something. Maybe he’d be able to cut a deal and get some of it for Rhodey’s supports.

Tony had finalized the prototype in the lab and sent the plans to Rhodey who had been excited about lighter supports. Erik was fun to have in the lab. Instead of quietly sitting on the couch and drawing, he was all up in Tony’s work providing a different perspective and suggestion improvements that Tony genuinely wouldn’t have thought of himself.

With Erik helping, he had gotten most of his to-do list out of the way in barely a fraction of the time. Pepper hadn’t even met him yet and she loved him already, especially since he had gotten Rhodey’s seal of approval. Erik had even conned him into doing paperwork,

paperwork

, with the promise of a blow job. Tony had given Happy a neat stack of signed papers to pass on to Pepper and Erik had given him a piece of engineering paper that said ‘One free blowjob from your boyfriend.’ He had tucked it away in his suitcase.

Tony was tapping away at his phone as the plane taxied down the runway. His personal account had a new follow request from user @ShmaptainShmerica that Tony laughed at before denying. At least the asshole still had a sense of humour.

Rogers had made a couple of miserable attempts at contact over the past couple of weeks, but other than the initial letter, Tony hadn’t opened or read anything else. There had been three letters, a couple of phone calls and now the follow request. It was hard enough to get the Accords together as is, Tony didn’t want to add in the confusion of contacting the rogue Avengers. He needed to get this shit together for Peter and all the other baby superheroes across the country.

Tony toggled back over to his main account looking through the pictures. A fancy shot of the Iron Man armour, some pictures of him looking professional, and a shot of Pepper that he absolutely adored. He’d had to take down all the pictures of him and the team to show that he didn’t support them, but he still had those tucked away somewhere in his archives for safe keeping.

The most recent post was the only picture on his main account that he had taken himself. It was a selfie of him and Erik that he had taken in the back of Happy’s limo on the way to the airport. He had his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, making a kissy face at the camera while Erik grinned down at him. The caption was Pepper-approved, confirming their relationship without all the angry comments Tony had wanted to make about privacy and the paparazzi minding their own fucking business.

Tony scrolled through the comments, most of which were positive. And the few negative ones were quickly bashed down by people happy to support Tony even if he wasn’t with America’s sweetheart. If he had come out with this on social media sooner, the public controlled narrative would have been a lot kinder than the media driven one they received when the pictures of them got out.

Erik knocked their shoulders together tilting into Tony’s space. “Why the frowny face?”

“PR stuff with Pepper,” Tony sighed squeezing his eyes shut as he leaned over the armrest to accept a chaste kiss from Erik. He tasted like coffee and motor oil, a flavour that Tony was all too familiar with. “The media was upset about Captain America and now there’s a whole wave of people who want to share their opinions about us.”

Erik tangled his fingers in the hair at the back of Tony’s neck and he resisted the urge to shiver. His grin was lopsided as he tilted his head playfully. “So that must be where all those new followers came from.”

Tony tried not to groan as he tipped his head back. He didn’t want to lose another boyfriend thanks to the spotlight that came with dating him. He really liked Erik. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner about all the media attention associated with dating me.”

“It’s okay,” Erik replied pressing a kiss to Tony’s forehead before pulling him closer with a mischievous grin. “The more people who know you’re mine, the less you’ll get flirted with. Sounds good to me.”

“Like that will stop them,” Tony snorted. He couldn’t fight the grin that made its way onto his face as he slid his phone back into his pocket to give Erik his full attention. “Been a long day, I’m just about ready to hit the sack and sleep for ten years..”

Just as the words left his mouth, the seatbelt sign dinged off and Tony chuckled, undoing his lapbelt. He reached beneath his seat to grab the cat carrier, unlatching it. Eric was curled in the back of the cage and didn’t eagerly come to lick Tony’s fingers and rub against him in greeting. Tony frowned getting down on his hands and knees to peer into the cage. Eric’s eyes were open, wide and blue and studying Tony as he reached in to gently pull his cat out.

He let out a plaintive meow, immediately curling into Tony’s hand, tail curled around himself protectively. Tony frowned, gently running a hand down his flank. Maybe he was motion sick? Could kittens get motion sickness? It was only Eric’s second time on a plane but there had been no problems the first time around.

“He’s not looking too hot,” Erik’s brows were furrowed as he reached out to pet Eric. The furrball hissed in response and Erik jerked his hands away, holding it up in a placating gesture.

“Sorry about him, he’s probably under the weather” Tony stroked Eric’s fur getting to his feet and reaching back to grab Erik’s hand. “Bed time?”

“I don’t want to go to work tomorrow,” Erik groaned from behind him and Tony nodded because he was right there with him. If everyday could be as nice and lazy as spending time with Erik, he wouldn’t complain, but alas, he had a company to run.

“Thanks for coming with me to New York,” Tony whispered as he flopped back into his bed on the Stark Industries jet. He set Eric on his chest, but the cat immediately moved to the end of the bed, jumping off and on to the floor. Tony shrugged, if Eric wanted to be a touch-me-not for the night, Tony would deal. He watched as Erik moved fluidly around the room, pulling off his shirt to get ready for bed. The scars would never fail to captivate Tony’s attention. He wanted to kiss every single one, run his tongue over the tender skin, feel every time his boyfriend had been a hero, every person he saved, under his fingertips.

“I had a lot of fun meeting Peter and James,” Erik piped up, pulling Tony out of his thoughts. He grinned at him, shucking off his pants until he was sliding under the covers in just his boxers. Erik arched an eyebrow, eyeing Tony who was still fully dressed. “You gonna join me under here?”

Tony nodded eagerly, yanking off his shirt and pants to slide into bed with Erik, pressing himself against the bigger man under the covers. Erik laughed as Tony cuddled up to him and his miles of warm skin, running a soothing hand down his spine. “So,” Tony murmured against Erik’s chest, “were the cars good?”

“Yeah they were,” Erik whispered tangling their legs together under the covers. He was warm and solid and Tony drew close to him like a moth to a flame. “Wish you were there with me though. Would have been fun to take you apart too.”

That startled a laugh out of him and Tony covered his heating face with his hands. Only Erik could make him blush like he was a silly teenager. “I would have liked that too.”

Erik’s smile was warm as he shifted an arm under Tony, curling around him protectively. “How was the Accords meeting?”

Ugh, Tony didn’t even want to think of that mess, he had been through enough press conferences to last a lifetime. The only good thing to come out of the meeting today, was allowing Barton and Lang back into the country. Tony hated that they would be under house arrest and he had argued vehemently against it, but in the end, there was nothing more he could do. Tony groaned into Erik’s skin, “it was a disaster.”

Erik pressed a kiss to Tony’s shoulder, shifting so he was under him before sucking a hickey into the skin of his neck. Tony shivered as Erik’s fingers skated up his back to his tense shoulders, rubbing at the twist of knots and drawing the tension out of his neck. His boyfriend had clearly missed his calling as a masseuse. He had magical hands.

It felt good to not be lying in bed alone. It had been so long since he had a warm body to snuggle up to. His eyes fluttered shut as Erik ran a soothing hand up and down his back, smattering kisses across his face.

The tell-tale sound of retching startled Tony up from where he was tangled up with Erik in the middle of the bed. He rolled off the mattress onto the floor to find Eric, coughing violently into the carpet, looking about ready to puke out his guts. Tony did not want to clean that up. He grabbed Eric around the waist, moving to the bathroom to put him into the shower stall where Tony could clean him off after he tossed his cookies. He must have had a hairball he needed to get out or something.

Eric vomited and Tony wrinkled his nose in disgust. It was probably all that sashimi, too much of it was potentially bad for Eric’s system, though Tony wasn’t sure if it warranted puking. He passed a hand down Eric’s back before turning on the showerhead to gently wash the throw up down the drain, cleaning Eric’s fur carefully and shampooing him for good measure.

His baby looked miserable under the spray, blue eyes sad as he blinked up at Tony. With a careful kiss to his mint-smelling head, Tony towelled him off, cuddling the fur baby to the warmth of his bare chest, right where his heart was beating.

When he got back to the bedroom, Erik was sitting up in bed, waiting for him, concern painted on his face as he watched Tony scratch at Eric’s ears. “Is everything alright?”

“I think so,” Tony pressed a kiss to the cat’s forehead. “He probably just ate something bad, hopefully he’ll feel better tomorrow. If not, I can always take him to the vet” He slipped between the covers, setting Eric on his chest as Erik curled around him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Tony turned his head to give Erik a proper kiss before settling back down into the bed, a smile painted across his face.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Steve sighed, shutting off the television and cutting off the reporter mid-sentence. He squeezed his eyes shut with a wince, the imagine of Tony wrapped in someone else’s embrace burned into his vision.

His brain frantically tried to come up with some alternate explanation. Maybe the picture was photoshopped, sure it looked realistic, but you could never be too sure these days. Maybe Rhodey had undergone and extreme makeover and that was just a friendship kiss. Maybe Tony had gone to kiss the guy’s cheek and accidentally missed, ending up with the guy’s lips instead. His vibranium engagement band clacked painfully against the glass coffee table as he gripped it for support. God, he had fucked up.

The words from every single media mention of him reverberated in his skull, one after the other. Traitor. War criminal. Terrorist.

Cheater.

Tony dutifully defended him every single time without fail. Steve’s heart clenched in his chest every time Tony pursed his lips at a reporter and reminded them that Captain Rogers always fought for the American people now. It was always Captain Rogers, never Steve, not even Cap. Not anymore. Tony worked effortlessly trying to amend relations and paying to clean up their messes all with a smile on his face, thinning at the edges.

If Steve could go back, he still wouldn’t sign the Accords. They were hasty and ill-written, they limited choices and they wouldn’t let them do their jobs. If only he had more time to convince Tony to see his point of view. The man never saw past his own guilt. He always let people walk all over him.

Steve’s thumb worried at the ring. A nervous tick he had picked up since the whole mess of the Accords. Rings were supposed to be eternal, a circle, never ending or beginning. He and Tony were supposed to be forever. That asshole had promised him.

The number he’d given Tony had remained silent. At first he thought Tony had been simply been recovering. Hurt or otherwise, and just hadn’t been able to call. Then he had started to appear in press conferences. At meetings around the world looking right as rain. So Steve had thought he was simply busy. It wouldn’t be the first time he had left Steve hanging for work or Avengers business.

Or maybe he was still angry? Even Steve hates to remember how he had lost control driving his shield into Tony’s chest. The sound of vibranium against titanium is the soundtrack of his nightmares. Tony’s lifeless body beneath him as he gasped. He had gotten Natasha to hack into the hospital medical records, astounded by the chest injury. It made his heart ache something fierce, but it was nothing Tony couldn’t heal from. They could come back from this, they had come back from worse.

Seeing that Tony had moved on, or at least was trying to, cut deep. Whoever this Erik Stevens was, he wouldn’t compare to Steve. No one ever could. There was a reason why Steve was so confident that Tony would never be unfaithful. How could he be after he and Steve had dated for four years. They were engaged for Christ’s sake. And sure, Tony had publicly called off the engagement, but he hadn’t asked for the ring back and that had to count for something. The ring around Steve’s finger still labelled him as Steve’s.

He slid the band up and down his finger, his lip caught between his teeth. He had promised Tony together, he wouldn’t forget that. Just because they were apart, didn’t mean they were broken. They belonged together and Steve would never let Tony forget that. Not even for some fancy pants from London or wherever Tony had picked up Stevens.

Steve still waited by his phone every day. Faithfully holding out hope. He wasn’t allowed to go visit Tony, but Tony could come visit him. Steve was absolutely positive that he would. He just had to show Tony how much better he was than the other guy.

In his free time, he had been painting Tony. His eyes, a beautiful warm coffee, swirling chocolate with the telltale glimmer of intelligence, his genius on perfect display. His lips, pink and wet and sloppy, bitten and red and swollen, quirked into a smirk or one of those carefree, happy grins that Steve didn’t see from him at all anymore. His hands, thin fingers and scarred palms, strong and calloused and steady, always in motion tinkering and improving and protecting.

Steve just finished a piece of him and Tony lying together in the sunshine, twin smiles on their faces, Tony splayed out across his chest, calm and pliant. When all of this blew over, he wanted that for the both of them. Warm and lazy, lounging in the sweet-smelling grass outside the compound, lounging together. He wanted Tony, trusting and steady, carefree and light.

Maybe Tony was just waiting for him to make the first move? Stevens was probably just a rebound. Someone to keep Tony’s bed warm while he waited for Steve to come back to him. His fingers scrambled for his cell pulling it out of his pocket and dialing the number he knew by heart with steady fingers. It was afternoon in the states, Tony wasn’t too keen on naps so he’d probably be up and about, in the workshop creating or chugging down a glass of coffee.

Steve hit the call button, waiting with bated breath. He didn’t even know what he was going to say. Tony would probably be relieved to hear from him. He’d already apologized to Tony in the letter, now Tony just had to apologize for the Accords and they could get back together.

It rang once. Twice. Four times.

Tony didn’t pick up.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

God, Klaue was such a fucking idiot, Erik decided as he kissed Tony goodbye the next morning. He lingered, their lips pressed together as he inhaled the smell of Tony’s cologne, the underlying smell of leather and sweat. He was beautiful.

Tony insisted he say goodbye to Eric too so he got down on his knees, rubbing at the cat through the bars of his carrier, not remotely upset to finally have the furball out of his hair. He ran his fingers under Eric’s collar, pausing when he couldn’t feel the vibranium audio transmitter. Must have fallen off sometime during this trip.

Anyway, Erik shook his head, rattling his engines back into high gear. Back to Klaue and his stupidity. Despite the fact that Erik had warned him that South Korea was a trap set up by the US government, the idiot arms dealer had gone ahead and tried to sell the Vibranium anyway, dollar signs clouding his vision.

Erik really had to get himself out of the deal before they got caught. He was damn good at his job, but trust Klaue to jeopardize that with guns blazing. First he had to bust the asshole out of prison so he didn’t give them away. Erik had to get to Wakanda to face the King and hold him responsible for the actions of his father before him.

It made him angry just thinking about it. Coming back from playing outside to find his father, life spilling out of him and onto the carpet of their home. He remembers vividly the jagged slash of claw marks against his chest, desperately sobbing as he tried to put his father together again.

Linda and Limbani were waiting for him on the air strip when he landed in South Korea, the ring around his neck a heavy testament to what he was fighting for. It felt so good to have the relaxing weight against his chest again. He didn’t want Tony recognizing the ring, he could have seen T’Challa’s matching one at some point, so he had taken to not wearing it when they were together. He had missed the gold chain, cold and unyielding against his throat.

“Did you have fun playing house with Stark?” Limbani teased as they loaded up the van. Linda was uploading their locations on a digital map, plotting out the best points of access and the easiest way to dodge the surveillance equipment.

Erik rolled his eyes with a snort, falling back into place with his team. “He’s clingy as hell, but he definitely puts out.”

They all shared a laugh, Erik staunchly ignoring the guilt swelling in his chest. Stark was just a rich asshole, no need to feel bad about calling him easy. He was probably used to it, having heard it from the media so often.

Linda turned the tablet to Limbani, to show him their route before pulling out her laptop to hack into Ross’ security systems and loop the surveillance footage. She glanced up at Erik before focusing back on her screen. “He has all kinds of cool tech, did you manage to swipe anything?”

It hadn’t even occurred to Erik to try and lift anything of Tony’s to take with him. That could have been useful on the trip, even if the genius didn’t make weapons anymore. He figured Tony would probably give him anything he asked for. He could probably reason Tony into helping with his quest to give people around the world, the means to rise up against oppression. Maybe he’d approach the topic when he got back to London, then he wouldn’t need to worry about Klaue and his stupidity.

“Nah, maybe next time.” Erik unzipped up his tac bag. He pulled out the mask he had swiped from the museum, running his fingers over the cheeks.

“Let’s go,” Limbani pulled open the back door and Erik quickly shoved the mask back in his bag and jumped in, fingers worrying over the ring. He would go back to Wakanda for justice and make his father proud.

Linda started the car, heading into the city as Erik pulled out his phone, he’d set the background to a picture of him and Tony this morning. It was a selfie from their trip to the park, Tony laughing in the fading light as Erik pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Klaue was an asshole. The moment they busted his ass out of prison, they would call it even and Erik was splitting. Tony had the resources to help fight oppression around the world. Erik could convince him to lend a hand, he was reasonable and generous and kind. Tony would do it in a heartbeat.

Limbani passed the tablet back to him. “This has the layout of where they’re holding him.” Erik accepted the glass with blueprints spread out. He zoomed in on the alley where Linda had looped the footage. It was simple, get in, shoot up the place, grab Klaue, get out.

“How many people are we expecting in there?” He passed the tablet back and ran his fingers over his chest. He didn’t want to kill any more people than he needed to. He didn’t need another scar.

Erik’s phone rang in his lap and he scrambled to pick it up, Tony’s face and number flashing on the screen. He shouldn’t answer with Linda and Limbani eavesdropping, they would tease him relentlessly, not to mention it wouldn’t take much to realize that Erik wasn’t totally impartial to Tony.

On the other hand, Erik couldn’t ignore him. He was supposed to be in his shop, working on cars, it’s what he’d told Tony he would be doing when they had kissed goodbye earlier.

“Hey,” he answered shooting a warning glance at Limbani who turned to look at him curiously.

“Hi,” Tony’s voice was warm, a playful edge to it like he was smiling. Immediately, Erik felt a smile spreading across his own face, but he quickly tamped it down. “What are you doing later? Wanna come over?”

Erik pitched his voice lower to answer, regret swelling in his belly. He would give anything to be able to go see Tony tonight but even if he caught the next plane, he wouldn’t be able to get there in time.

“I’m caught up in a car that I need to get fixed by the morning. But maybe we can get lunch together tomorrow? I know this cute Italian place I think you’ll love.” Erik bit his lip hoping Tony wouldn’t push for it.

“A car?” Tony’s voice was excited and Erik immediately recognized his mistake. “I’ll come over, I’m sure an extra set of hands will help it go by faster, then maybe I can have you for dinner.”

“I think I’m good over here,” Erik cut in, trying to resist the urge to facepalm. “But we can definitely do brunch tomorrow morning.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Tony was agreeing, a stilted goodbye passing his lips before hanging up. Erik resisted the urge to groan as he pocketed his phone, ignoring the curious looks Limbani and Linda passed him. He couldn’t believe he was refusing sex with someone as handsome and gorgeous as Tony for Klaue’s ugly ass.

“How far out are we?” Erik peered out the grimy windshield of the van. He didn’t have the best vantage point from his seat in the back, but he could just barely see the passing buildings, a swarm of pedestrians taking over the sidewalk. The faster they finished with this, the sooner he could get back to Tony.

Erik dug into his bag, pulling out the mask again, and running his fingers over the eye slots. He gripped the horns, fingers brushing through the hair on both sides. He would fight for his ancestors who could not. He could be the voice of the oppressed. All he needed was to get to Wakanda. He steeled himself as they passed the building where Klaue was being held. There was a chance that T’Challa could be in there, though Erik couldn’t let himself get distracted. He would get his revenge in good time. He slipped the mask over his head.

The break out went surprisingly well, they were able to bust Klaue out of jail with few casualties, though Erik wasn’t too sure about the short, grey-haired man who jumped in front of another woman. They loaded Klaue, chair and all, up into the back of the truck with minimal fuss. It was a quick in and out, just like he thought it would be.

Limbani pulled out of the alleyway, tires squealing as Erik fired off a couple of shots where T’Challa was trying to chase after him. Sure it wasn’t the revenge he craved with his entire being, but it was enough to satisfy him for now. He pulled the back doors shut, taking a seat on the uncomfortable bench in the back of the truck and digging through his pockets for a pick to undo Klaue’s handcuffs.

“Ya know,” Erik began as he got down on his knees to stick the pick into the lock. “I told you Busan was a trap.”

“And you think your scheme with Tony Stark is going any better,” Klaue sneered, looking down at Erik disdainfully. “I’ll believe that your plan is a good one when Tony Stark comes knocking, looking for vibranium.”

Erik rolled his eyes. Klaue never listened, it was a wonder he’d been able to escape Wakanda with vibranium and stay under the radar for the most part.

Linda was directing Limbani toward the nearest aircraft hanger, the truck jerking across the road to make even Erik’s empty stomach roll over as he tried to steady himself enough to work the pins of the handcuffs free.

With a tinny click, the clasp came open and Klaue pulled it off, with a grating laugh. Erik stepped away from him, bracing himself on the wall of the truck as Limbani lurched to a stop and they all grabbed their gear to unload.

The plan was to steal a small plane and escape. Erik was going to be navigating so he could take them on a detour to Wakanda. He knew they hated Klaue for stealing from them, the mark on his neck is all he really needed to be clued in. He would willingly give the man up for the opportunity to overthrow T’Challa.

“We can’t make any more mistakes like this,” Erik stressed as Klaue led them through the maze of aircrafts in the lot.

“I’ll make sure you get paid,” Klaue waved him off, as they stopped by one small aircraft painted blue and white.

“Yo, I ain’t worried about the money,” Erik dropped the bags in the back of the plane and turned to face him.

Klaue’s laugh was grating as he threw his own bags in the back. “I forgot that you have your own personal sugar daddy now.” Klaue cocked his head to the side. “Tell me, does he know that you’re a thief and a murderer?”

It happened in a heartbeat. Erik roared, drawing his gun and aiming it at Klaue. Linda was quick to shoot at Limbani, but not fast enough to avoid the bullet that Klaue fired at her. And between one blink and the next, they had two motionless bodies on the gravel. He growled at Klaue. “Don’t talk about him.”

“You gonna stop me?” Klaue taunted. Before he could say another word, Erik fired at his chest. Klaue didn’t get up.

With a grimace, Erik loaded his stuff into the plane, taking off for London. It was time to go home for his lunch date with Tony. And then he could see about getting revenge against the Wakandan king.

That’s when it hit Erik. Maybe he was a little bit in love with Tony Stark.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tony rushed Eric to the vet, dark sunglasses in place as he cradled the trembling cat in his arms. He pressed soothing kisses along his head the entire way there, running a hand along his fur and tucking him into the warmth of his coat. He didn’t know when Eric had gotten so sick. It certainly hadn’t been the sashimi or the beauty products he had been using for the past couple weeks so it had to have been something more recent but Tony for the life of him couldn’t figure out what.

The smell of antiseptic and wet dog was oppressive in the waiting room as Tony sat anxiously with Eric cuddled into his lap to wait their turn. He ran a soothing hand up Eric’s flank, he couldn’t remember him ever being so skinny and that terrified him. God, he could barely take care of himself. Why had Pepper trusted him with the life of a small fragile animal?

Thankfully it wasn’t a busy day and Tony was able to get in without graying the rest of his hair, though he did not like the way Eric was whimpering in his hands. He kissed him on the cheek as he followed the vet to the examination room, the sterile smell wrinkling his nose.

He gently set the kitten down on the examination table, passing a soothing hand down his back to calm him down. “It’s okay baby,” Tony bent down to kiss to his nose, “you’re gonna be okay.”

“You said he’s vomiting?” Tony nodded as the vet gently felt around Eric’s abdomen before frowning, “he seems to have swallowed something, but I don’t know what. We can get it extracted and everything should get better when he doesn’t have a rumbly tummy.”

“How soon can we get it taken out?” Tony passed a stressed hand down his face, unable to tear his eyes away from where Eric was huddled on the examination table, big blue eyes wide and sad.

“Considering what you told the receptionist about the vomiting and the fact that he hasn’t passed it on his own, I think it’s safe to say that he may of swallowed something metal.” Tony blanched and the vet steadied him with a firm hand on his shoulder. “We’re going to get it out as soon as possible Mr. Stark. It’ll be okay. You can sit in the waiting area and we’ll call you back as soon as we get it out.”

Tony nodded, heading out to the waiting room with slumped shoulders. He wrung his hands hating the distressed mewls Eric started up when Tony left to let the surgeons do their job.

Something metal. God. Tony had never hated himself more than he did in that moment. How had he been so careless to allow Eric to swallow something in his workshop. He should have kept his kitten out of there in the first place, it had been so stupid of him. And now Eric, tiny, adorable, cuddly Eric was suffering because he was shit at taking care of anything.

He had two missed calls from Erik when he sat down and pulled out his phone for a distraction. He hurried to call his boyfriend back, fingers flying across the keyboard. Tony ran a hand down his face, surprised to find tears as he pulled his fingers away. He held the phone to his ear, fingers shaking as his left arm ached. “Hey,” Tony’s voice cracked, “sorry I missed brunch.”

“Tony?” Erik’s worried voice crackled through the connection as he cleared his throat, “hey baby, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Eric,” tears trickled down his cheeks as he openly sobbed not even caring about the woman in the corner taking pictures of him. God, he could never get a break, his suffering was really going to get plastered on the front page of the tabloids tomorrow morning. He ignored her, focusing on his baby kitten. “Apparently he ate something metal and it’s been poisoning his system, he’s in surgery now to get it taken out but I’m not sure he’ll make it.”

“Take deep breaths Tony,” Erik instructed. There was a screech of metal on his end of the line as Tony tried to heed his advice, pulling air through his seizing lungs. He sat down on the linoleum tile putting his head between his knees. “Eric will be fine, you have the best surgeons in the world. I’ll be there as soon as I can get there baby.”

“Okay,” Tony whispered his eyes fluttering closed as he breathed through his nose. “Okay.”

“Stay on the line with me.” Erik’s voice was warm and commanding, just the right amount of firm that grounded Tony as he tried to steady his breathing. “In and out, listen to my voice.”

It was only a couple of minutes more before Erik got to the animal hospital, his warm palms rubbing up and down Tony’s spine Soothing sounds spilled out of his mouth as he carefully helped Tony up. “You’re going to be okay, Eric is gonna be fine.” Erik led him over to one of the uncomfortable chairs in the corner of the room, shooting a glare at the wide-eyed lady with a camera. “Just take a deep breath.”

“This is all my fault,” Tony mumbled into Erik’s neck as he slumped into the taller man. Erik slid an arm around his shoulders, drawing him closer as he pressed a kiss to his hair. “He probably ate scrap metal in my lab, I should have been more careful.”

“No baby,” Erik rubbed his hand up and down Tony’s arm as he let his eyes flutter closed. “It’s not your fault. Erik is specially trained to help you, okay? He has learned to navigate these types of situations. It was probably an honest mistake. You’ll have him back in no time. He’s a tough cat.”

Tony nodded. Eric could flip the light switches and do his business in the toilet if he needed to. Hell, Eric could bring him his antidepressants and tuck Tony into bed. There was no way he had been so stupid to eat something he had found in Tony’s lab. He tucked his face into Erik’s neck, breathing in the familiar smell of his aftershave as he took greedy gulps of air, his lungs settling in  his chest. “Thank you for being with me.”

“Anytime you need me, I’ll be there.” Erik pressed a kiss to his hair, running a thumb along his arm. Tony tensed at the familiar words, before relaxing into Erik’s arms, it was probably just a poor coincidence. Eric would be fine. “I brought you some food since you missed brunch, do you want it.”

Tony nodded, listening to the rustle of a paper bag until food was pressed to his lips. It took him by surprise, being fed, but Tony opened his mouth to accept the food anyway. The fry was warm and greasy, exactly what he needed as he chewed slowly, his stomach growling in triumph. He swallowed, opening his mouth for another fry, settling in to Erik’s warm side.

When Eric finally got out of surgery, three hours later, Tony’s had finished an entire burger and a side of fries, eyes red rimmed and Erik’s shirt sleeve soaked through. They stood up together, Erik’s hand around his waist supporting him as they headed to the operating room.

Eric’s flank was shaved with painful looking stitches down his side. When Tony entered the room, his head shot up with a pained mrrp. His plastic cone bumped against the table as he swiveled his head to look at Tony.

“He’s still sedated,” the lead vet informed him, running a gentle hand down Eric’s side. “We were able to extract the chunk of metal that he swallowed.” He pointed to a biohazard bag in the corner.

Tony disregarded it, moving to the table to gently stroke Eric’s face before slowly picking him up. He cradled his baby in his arms, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Eric nuzzled his beard and Tony let out a relieved sigh. “Can we take him home?”

“One last thing,” the lead vet held up a bottle of tablets, “do you know how to pill a cat?” Tony shot him a dubious look and he shook his head, settling a hand on Eric’s head. “He has a good temperment because he’s a therapy cat, so you shouldn’t have to worry about him scratching you, just hold him by the cheekbones, encourage him to open his mouth, and slip the tablet in. Tap his nose and he should swallow, then you’re good to go.”

The vet demonstrated and Tony frowned. He didn’t really want to hold Eric’s face like that. It didn’t look particularly comfortable. “Can I hide the medication in his food.”

“Or you could do that, sure.” The vet re-strapped the cone to Eric’s head before holding out the kitten to Tony along with the bottle of painkillers. “Just remember to give him lots of praise.”

“That can’t be too hard.” Tony kissed his furry cheek as he carefully tucked Eric into his jacket, the painkillers going into his pocket. He took a moment to admire his small cat, adorable bean toes sticking out of his pocket as Eric swung his head around to try and get a better look at his surroundings.

“Alright,” the vet nodded with finality, “you guys should be good to go.”

Tony was about to leave when he paused in the doorway. “Can you pass me the bag?” Tony raised an eyebrow, flicking his gaze to the yellow bag on the counter. Whatever project that had done this would be getting scrapped immediately.

“Yeah here,” the surgeon handed over the offending bag with a small metal piece in that looked vaguely like a comm unit, though the metal was different. Tony pulled out his phone, immediately having Friday run a scan.

Tony held the bag closer to his face as he headed back to the waiting room. Friday did consistent sweeps of the lab for audio and video transmitting devices. There was no way that she had missed something on her go around. Tony had programmed her to perfection. Unless. He recognized the glint of the metal and his phone beeped as Friday confirmed his suspicions. It was coated in vibranium, the metal probably gave off enough radiation to disguise the signature of the transmission device.

Who else knew about Vibranium? He had gotten the cat after Rogers left and T’Challa hadn’t been anywhere near them. The only people who had ever been near Eric were Pepper and Rhodey and neither of them would ever hurt a fly. That only left one person. He stopped in his tracks, glaring at Erik. “This is yours.”

“What, no?” Erik’s eyes were wide and confused as he spun around to face Tony. He had his hands held up defensively as Tony turned so Erik couldn’t reach Eric.

“You planted a listening device on my cat.” Tony spat holding up the biohazard bag. Erik’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly and Tony knew he had hit the nail on the head when Erik took a couple of startled steps back. “And he caught on and ate it to protect me.”

“Tony,” Erik shook his head frantically hands flying up as if to ward off the truth. “Look, it’s not like that anymore, I really do lo-”

“Save your bullshit,” Tony roared glad that they were the only ones left in the waiting room as he felt the beginnings of a meltdown. If that lady from earlier snapped pictures of him like this his reputation would be over. He focused back on Erik, tears burning in his eyes. “You jeopardized the life of my cat. Who do you fucking work for?”

“Tony, please,” Erik held his hands up as he stepped closer. “I’m sorry, let me explain.”

“Fuck you. What possible explanation could you have for lying to my face?” Tony sneered as he turned on his heel, “I’m leaving your shit out on the porch. I never want to see your sorry ass near me ever again.”

Tony left Erik calling after him. Now he remembered why he didn’t date. What a fucking disaster. And it had almost cost Eric his life.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Erik loitered outside Tony’s house, foot tapping impatiently as he rehearsed an apology in his head. Guilt twisted down his spine as his heartstrings tugged his gaze in the direction of Tony’s front door. He shifted from foot to foot on the sidewalk, shoulders slumped miserably as self-hatred clung to his heart.

What he had done was downright shitty. Erik should have pulled the listening device off the cat’s collar the moment he decided he was going to give Tony a shot for real. Now everything was ruined and he was in the doghouse. Erik blinked away tears as he glared at his tennis shoes.

Sure he hated Eric, that mangy little shit always got more kisses and snuggles than him, not to mention, better food. But deep down, he had grown fond of the small cat. Who could argue with such a cute face? Besides, Tony loved Eric so that was the selling point for him, anything that made Tony happy was good in Erik’s books. Erik frowned, he used to make him happy too. So much for that.

With a heavy sigh, Erik wrung his hands in front of him. A lot of his things were inside, a sweatshirt, some of his blueprints, and his glasses, but Tony hadn’t left a box of stuff outside like he said he would. Erik was hoping he could catch him on the porch and explain himself.  Hopefully, apology blowjobs were in order and then a long talk about how sorry Erik was, anything to rebuild their relationship.

He brought the bouquet cradled in his arms up to his nose for a sniff. After leaving the vet, Erik had swung by the florist, picking up the biggest bouquet of gladiolus that he could get his hands on. As an afterthought, he had stopped by a nearby grocery store to grab an “I’m sorry” balloon, the words lettered across the latex in striking gold. It wasn’t nearly enough, he had a lot of making up to do, but he hoped this would be a good start.

Impatience finally overcame him, and the idea that Tony was suffering alone in his apartment with only Eric for company. And sure, he was a good therapy cat, kept Tony happy and made sure he took his medication, but he had nothing on human connection.

He crossed the street, adjusting the bouquet in his arms and the balloon trailing behind him. He raised his fist, knocking it against the door and feeling for all the world, like a total piece of shit. First thing’s first, he needed to apologize for showing up when Tony had asked for space. Then he-

Erik’s blood ran cold as the door swung open under his knuckles. He stepped into the quiet apartment, his footsteps silent as he let go of the balloon by the entryway. With his heart in his throat, he set the bouquet on the coffee table, taking care not to let the plastic crinkle. He raised his fists in front of his face turning the corner. Tony was most likely in the workshop, but he had never forgotten to lock the door.

The workshop turned up empty, half strewn projects littered across the floor and tools scattered haphazardly across the tabletop. Erik’s heart sank further in his chest as he spotted the biohazard bag in the workshop trash. Tony had come through, he just hadn’t stayed.

It didn’t take long to clear the entire apartment. Tony wasn’t anywhere to be found. Erik frowned, it was rare that Tony didn’t follow through on something he said. He dropped his fists cocking his head to the side.

An idea hit him and Erik almost face-palmed. Why hadn’t he thought of this first? Head tilted back, he addressed the ceiling. “Friday? Where’s Tony?”

There was no response, and Erik resisted the urge to sit down and cry. Tony was a billionaire, he could have just left back to the states, uncaring about Erik in his hurt. It was entirely likely that they would never see each other again if that was what Tony wished. His head tipped forward, chin to his chest as loss washed over him in a relentless tide.

There was a meow behind him.

Erik screamed, flinching away from the noise, tripping over the coffee table to sprawl on gracelessly on the floor. He pressed a hand to his chest, breath heaving as Eric stepped out from the shadows, fur puffed out to appear intimidating, and snarling for all he was worth. It would have been intimidating if Eric didn’t have a cone strapped around his head.

“Hey,” Erik attempted to project a calm, soothing demeanor even as fear squeezed his heart in a tight grip. There was no way Tony had left to go to the states without his cat. “Hey, I know you’re scared but I’m not going to hurt you.”

He held his hand out, palm up so Eric could delicately snuff at his fingers before rubbing his cheek across his knuckles. Eric pressed closer, rolling into his arm. The cone bumped across the floor and Eric made a saddened mrrp. Erik picked him up, pressing a kiss to his head and sitting him into his coat pocket, furry head sticking out, framed by the plastic cone.

After a quick search of the apartment, Erik decided that Tony hadn’t just up and left back to the states. His bottle of antidepressants and his pain meds were still in the cabinet, his house keys were on the counter by the door. Fear swelled in Erik’s chest as he scratched Eric under his chin in an attempt to soothe the small kitten. He dug through the cabinets finding Tony’s gourmet cat treats and stuffing a couple of handfuls in his pocket. He fed one to Eric stroking a hand across his head.

“Do you know where Tony is?” Erik looked down at him. He was actually kind of cute when he wasn’t interrupting sex. Eric meowed plaintively up at him, tags jingling as he settled in Erik’s pocket.

Erik didn’t know where Tony was or even who took him, but he had a great pretty good idea that it may be one, Captain Asshole, behind his disappearance.

It was finally time for him to go to Wakanda.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Tony’s lashes fluttered as he blinked awake, squinting in the dim lighting. His head was pounding as he struggled to sit up, groggily, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. He raised his hands to wipe at them only to be interrupted by a metal clang, his fingers just barely touching his jaw.With a pained grunt, Tony shook his head to clear it, peering at the metal bands around his wrists chaining him to the floor. He glanced around the room he was in, dirty concrete floor and walls. A bare, yellowed mattress sat in the corner, too far away to comfortably sit or lie down on. The only other thing in the room was a plastic bucket, the handle removed, and Tony winced thinking about his full bladder.He rubbed his wrists, purple bruises already appearing on his tan skin as he tested the give of the shackles. He held his shaking fingers against his chest as he scooted toward the far corner of the room, furthest from the door. A grimy window far above his head let in minimal sunlight, filtered through the dust motes floating in the air as Tony fought off the urge to sneeze.So he’d been abducted. C’est la fucking vie he guessed. It wasn’t like he had been dealing with it his whole life or whatever. Sure, it hadn’t really happened since Afghanistan and the whole Iron Man thing, but of course, now, when his life was falling apart at the seams, some asshole decided that a kidnapping was exactly what he needed to perk him up.A headache had already started up behind his skull, pressing against his temples and biting at his forehead. Tony frowned, pressing his fingers to his eyes and trying not to be concerned by the sparks that appeared behind his eyelids. The pain was bleeding into every breath as his ibuprofen wore off. He was probably due another dose of that along with his antidepressants but alas, whoever had taken him hadn’t stopped for the orange bottles in the medicine cabinet.The stitches across his sternum had mostly healed but the scar itched, pulling his skin taught as he resisted the urge to scratch at the smattering of scabs across his skin. His bandages needed changing hours ago. If his kidnappers didn’t kill him infection probably would within the next week. Tony’s stomach growled helpfully and he nodded in response. Or starvation.Above all else, he missed Eric. His small fur baby was alone, probably scared and cold and in pain because Tony hadn’t been there to give him his follow-up dose of pain medication. At least Eric had the cone on so Tony wouldn’t have to worry about his cat ripping out his stitches. Tony just had to worry about his own.Tony missed his pet more than anything. He would give his company, all his fortune and fame, and his friends, just for one more cuddle with Eric. He wanted to run his fingers through his cat’s fur and press a kiss to his head. Tony would do anything to get to do that again. He was Iron Man and if escaping this situation meant he could get another snuggle from Eric, he would do his hardest to get out.The door squeaked open, drawing Tony out of his thoughts as anticipation crept up his throat. His hands were useless, but if his kidnapper came close enough, he could kick them. It would pull at the scar on his chest, though, and if it tore, he was at a higher risk of infection. He braced himself, eyes wide, but chin held high in feigned nonchalance. “Well, if it isn’t Tony Stark.”Klaue? Tony’s brows furrowed, shock eclipsing his bravery. The man looked pretty worse for wear, a massive bloodstain on his grey shirt. It looked almost like every breath hurt him and Tony could see the bulk of bandages wrapped around his chest. They were injury twins apparently. Where his arm was missing, his shirt sleeve hung from his frame awkwardly, the fabric haphazardly tied in a loose knot.With a long-suffering sigh, Tony bit out, “If you want money you should know that Stark Industries and SHIELD do not negotiate with terrorists and have a strict policy against paying ransom.” He shifted where he was squatting, trying to appear more intimidating. “Not that anyone has been brave enough to kidnap me since things didn’t go so well for the last people who tried.”“Nah, I don’t care about your money.” And wow that was a first. More shock was piling on as Tony squinted through the dim light at Klaue. Had the man hit his head or something? Tony always thought he projected a little bit of sociopathic mad with power. “Your boyfriend took my vibranium and shot me in the chest.”Vibranium? Tony was a little shocked. T’Challa had said Wakanda had a big store of the metal. Tony had even tried to begin negotiating terms of trading BARF for the amount needed to build Rhodey’s magnetic supports. It was such a small amount, and to think that Klaue had some when Tony had come to bat with him during Ultron. If only Tony had been greedier, he could have stolen some for himself. But that wasn't who he was. Not anymore.Then Tony's brain caught up with the rest of what Klaue had said. “Boyfriend?” Tony’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Erik?”Erik wouldn’t run with Klaue’s merry band of idiots. Sure Tony was livid with him for hurting Eric— who messed with a man's therapy cat?— but to go this far? That was impossible. Not when he held Tony so gently as he kissed him. Not when he was so careful changing Tony’s bandages, soothing the hurt. Definitely not when Tony trusted him enough for them to sleep pressed against each other, sharing warmth and comfort.“Yeah Erik,” Klaue nodded earnestly. “Do you know where he is?”“I’m not telling you,” Tony snarled, protectiveness roaring in his chest. He was upset with Erik, but at the end of the day his boyfriend was a civilian and Tony would keep him safe with everything he had. “You’ve got the wrong guy.”“I’m pretty sure it’s the right guy.” Klaue stepped closer, pulling a blade out of its sheath by his hip. “Tall, broad chest covered in tiny scars.” A wicked grin crossed his face as he dug the tip of the knife into Tony’s shoulder. The resulting scar would probably look a lot like the ones Erik had patterned across his chest. Tony blinked, trying to focus on the words coming out of Klaue’s mouth. “How did he explain those away? Did he tell you that each one is for someone he murdered? A kill count in a trophy across his skin?”Tony squeezed his eyes shut willing the words to be false. He tipped his head forward, into his hands, tears pricking at his eyes. “Leave him out of this.”A soft shick sounded and Tony looked up to see Klaue sliding the blade back into its place at his side. From the wide grin on Klaue's face, Tony already knew that whatever Klaue did next would be much worse than the knife. Reaching into his back pocket, Klaue pulled out his phone, tapping at the screen and practically vibrating with glee. “You’re going to love this.”He tapped at the screen a couple of times, grumbling about the slow operating system as he jabbed at the device. Erik’s staticky voice came through, and the words broke Tony’s heart.“S’not really a date if I’m not interested in him”God, the footage was of Eric at the museum. Tony had been so fucking stupid. Suddenly the pieces were falling into place with the speed of a math equation solving itself in Tony's brain. He had left right before Erik had robbed the place. Tony had been concerned later when he had heard that he and Erik had been there right before it happened. He had trusted the man to hold him through a panic attack and bring him flowers. He had been flattered at the attention. Especially so soon after Steve-Tony felt his breath coming out in pants, the sound of the recording playing in his ears as Klaue chuckled knowingly in the background. He couldn’t believe it had all been a lie. All the times Erik had told him he was beautiful. The jokes they’d traded back and forth between holding hands and sleeping together. He had really liked Erik, had thought maybe he could have something special after everything he had done, after all the people who had left him.“All I’m trying to do’s get closer and obtain helpful information ‘bout the king that could be useful for our plans-”It all fell into place in Tony’s mind. The vibranium. The listening device. Erik asking about work. Wanting to go with him to America. His interest in the Accords and T’Challa. For a genius, Tony had never felt so stupid in his life.Klaue hit a button, turning the recording off with a shit-eating grin on his face. Tony met his gaze, unwilling to let the tears brimming in his eyes slide down his face. They stared at each other like that, the silence between them oppressive, weighing on Tony’s lungs like an anvil as he struggled to control his breathing. “So you see Tony, he never really loved you. He was simply using you.”“We just broke up because he almost killed my cat.” Tony was exhausted. So done with all of this. He wanted his happy ending. He didn’t know where Erik was and maybe if he made that clear, he could get home to his cat and never have to think about Erik again. “I don’t know where he is.”“Unlucky,” Klaue whispered, turning to look back at the door he came through. He shrugged as if this was just a minor inconvenience and not Tony's whole world falling apart in his wake. “You distracted him enough that he was reluctant to raid Wakanda with me the way we had planned all those months ago. You are the reason he shot me in the chest and took the Vibranium. So I guess I’ll just have to keep you here as collateral until I find him.”“I’ll pay you the equivalent of the Vibranium if you just let me go.” Tony just needed to get out and send a message to someone. Rhodey would probably help him out again.“I don’t want money, I want power.” Klaue grinned digging into his pocket and producing a mint that he unwrapped with one hand and popped into his mouth. Tony’s stomach growled and Klaue laughed, deep and in his belly, a laugh of true satisfaction that Tony wanted to rip from his throat and choke until he couldn’t breathe. He pulled another green-wrapped mint, holding it out to Tony. “Candy?”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The flight to Wakanda was long and arduous spent mostly with Erik flipping through the few pictures he had of Tony on his phone and continuously checking social media for any mention of the man. The only thing that popped up was a blurry picture of Tony at the veterinary hospital the day before.Worry compounded in his chest like a rolling ball of snow, melting in frigid rivulets down his back as he shivered. Erik tried to focus on the bright side instead of the fact that even if he rescued Tony, there was a chance that the man would still never want to see him again, and rightfully so. Erik had really fucked up this time.Eric was an unhappy passenger in his pocket, the manifestation of Erik’s guilt as he hissed loudly every time Erik’s fingers came close. There was nothing he could do though, settling in an unhappy cat nap in Erik’s pocket, his eyes sliding shut in exhaustion.The cone around his neck couldn’t be comfortable, but the last thing Erik wanted was to be blamed for Tony’s cat ripping his healing stitches out. Sure he didn’t always get along with the annoying furball, but Tony loved him and he loved Tony so he would make do.As Eric slept, Erik found himself gently stroking the cat’s soft ears. He felt a tense ball in his shoulders unwind as he focused on the repetitive motion over the guilt and anxiety lapping at the edges of his brain and threatening to drag him under. It wasn’t so bad to be completely honest. Maybe he’d be able to get along with Eric while the creature was awake.With a sigh, Erik settled into the uncomfortable pilot’s seat for the rest of the flight. It was about ten hours long and there wasn’t much to do to pass the time other than playing his relationship over in his head and thinking about all the ways in which it could have gone better.It had seemed like a good idea to try and mix business with pleasure. At first, he was thinking with his dick but then his heart had gone and gotten involved. He should have never lied to Tony. But then again, hindsight was 20/20. He hated that somewhere, Tony was hurting and it was all his fault.Hours later, the gem of the African continent came into view as the hills that disguised Wakanda appeared in the distance. He remembered his father telling him about the entry points but the memory was fuzzy with age and the last thing he wanted was to accidentally kill Tony’s cat in a plane crash.Touching down before the Wakandan border. Erik gently prodded Eric awake, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. Eric growled, paw coming up to scratch Erik’s neck. He got a shallow cut, but Erik flinched away before he could cut deeper. “I’m so sorry,” Erik whispered, gently rubbing Eric’s cheek and getting a bite for his efforts. “I’m sorry.”Erik walked toward the border, rubbing at Eric through the pocket of his coat, humming to soothe the animal. Carefully, he dug the gold chain out of his shirt so that it was visible, glinting in the midday sun. Eric curiously pawed at it with a confused mrrp, but other than that, he stayed relatively quiet, purring in the warmth of the sunshine.Wakanda was a beautiful country, rolling hills and blue skies that were the exact opposite of Erik’s foul mood. If Steve was truly responsible for Tony’s kidnapping, then he would put aside his own grievances to talk to T’Challa who was offering the rogue Avengers asylum for the time being.He came upon a group of herders tending to goats. One of them yelled for the others as they spotted Erik and before long he was faced with a group of Wakandan’s and their assessing gazes. With his chin raised, Erik faced down the border tribe’s inquisitive stares. They were strong warriors, and while Erik had no doubt that he could take them down without batting an eyelash, he didn’t want to start off his trip with ruffled feathers.It didn’t take much, just pulling down his lower lip to prove he was one of them before he was admitted within the country. He hated every second of it. The towering buildings, the ease with which they lived while people around the world were suffering in poverty and struggling to get by. Wakandan resources had the power to change the world and here they were sitting in the lap of luxury instead of sharing. It was an hour to the inner city where the Dora Milaje met him, expressions guarded as they stopped and surrounded him. They were dressed in bright colours, reds and golds that declared their prestige and glittering weapons that enforced their power. Their hard glares were levelled at him. He understood the lack of trust, he just didn’t expect to be welcomed back with open arms.One of them stepped forward, introducing herself as Okoye. She looked him up and down with a sneer before tipping her head at him. “What is your business in Wakanda.”“I need an audience with the King, immediately.” Erik refused to take no for an answer. Especially not when he didn’t know where Tony was. “Please,” he said firmly, fingers digging for the chain around his neck and pulling out the ring that was his father’s.Okoye took the ring from him, turning it over in her hands with wide eyes as she looked from him to the chain and back. Restrain him, she said to her comrade in Xhosa, We need to take him to T’Challa immediately. And that’s how Erik found himself in the throne room, waiting for the doors to open. He rolled his shoulders back, gaze hard as he forced his thoughts to quiet. He tried to wrest hold of his indignation, refusing to let his hatred for Wakandan selfishness keep him from finding Tony.The doors opened and with his heart in his throat, Erik stepped forward to meet his cousin for the first time.The throne room was huge, large picture windows letting in the late afternoon sunlight and allowing a beautiful view of the city and the forest beyond. Citizens outside were bustling about, vibranium powered trains snaking through the clusters of houses and businesses. Erik had to admit that it was beautiful but he couldn’t ignore the fact that it was built on the selfishness of the Wakandan people. That the same hands that had built each structure in all its magnificence had sat idly by when faced with suffering around the globe.Erik’s steps were loud against the stone floor, King T’Challa looked regal sitting on a throne of suffering and lies. He was wearing a royal shade of blue, his chin in his hand as he studied Erik in the same way. Okoye gestured him forward and Erik forced himself to obey.“ Speak, “ T’Challa commanded in Xhosa, a translator converting the word to English for him. “Your Highness,” Erik addressed him, the words grating against his teeth as he forced them out. “Tony Stark was kidnapped yesterday and Captain Rogers was probably behind it.”T’Challa tips his head in confusion, “did you say Tony Stark?”“Yeah,” Erik set his mouth in a firm line. Eric let out an annoyed his from his pocket, scrabbling to escape. He jumped, landing on his feet like a ninja with his tags jingling.Bending down to pet the cat, T’Challa checked the tags with a frown. “This must be Tony’s therapy cat.” Erik nodded and T’Challa sighed. “So, you think Captain Rogers kidnapped him?”Erik shrugged, “I know he sent Tony a letter and has been trying to contact him. Is it too much of a stretch that he took matters into his own hands to get him back?”“I can assure you that he hasn’t left Wakanda since he got here.” T’Challa stands with Eric cradled in his hands. Carefully, he strokes the cat and Eric purrs like the traitor he is, pushing his face into T’CHalla’s hand. He definitely won’t be getting the treats Erik has tucked away in his pocket anytime soon. “I would like to speak to him anyway,” Erik stresses, setting his shoulders. He’s not sure if T’Challa is lying or not about Rogers, but he’s not leaving without Tony or at least knowledge of his whereabouts.T’Challa nodded, his gaze lingering on the ring around Erik’s neck but not saying anything. “Come with me.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“I need you to build this for me.”

The words sent shivers down Tony’s spine and he glared at Klaue from where he was sitting on the edge of the mattress in the corner of the lovely accomodations Klaue had provided him with. His wrists were rubbed raw dangling in front of his body from the odd angle and he tried not to wince every time he moved his shackled hands.

“I’m not building shit,” Tony replied, turning his head away from Klaue in the doorway. He’d been here for two days already and his aching body was already ready to throw in the towel without his rotation of painkillers and medications. To make matters worse, he’d had to use the bucket in the corner at least twice and he suspected it was definitely way too small for an extended stay at casa de Klaue. The last thing he would do is repeat his nightmare of Afghanistan. He wouldn’t let Klaue haunt his dreams. He was too old for this kidnapping nonsense and he didn’t even want to think about Erik getting him into this.

Klaue laughed from where he was still standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his broad chest as he glared down at Tony. “You don’t really have much of a choice if you ever want to see the light of day again.”

Tony scoffed, eyes narrowed at Klaue. Maybe if he proved to be more trouble than he was worth, Klaue would let him go. It’s not like Tony was a stranger to annoying shenanigans, Pepper could attest that she had gone through a lifetime of them in the ten years they’d known each other.

“I don’t know if you heard what happened to the last people who kidnapped me, but it didn’t exactly go all too well for them.” Tony cocked a brow. Confidence was something he was a master at feigning and maybe he could make Klaue rethink his plan, or maybe slip up enough that Tony could gain the upper hand. “It was a damn mess. You might have seen it on the news.”

Gritting his teeth, Tony ignored the pull of the past, the phantom heat of fire tingling at his fingertips. Clearing his throat, Tony forced the sound of gunfire ringing in his ears to the back of his mind. He was better than letting himself panic now. He could do that once Klaue was out of the room.

“Ah yes, Iron Man,” Klaue rolled his eyes as though Tony’s greatest creation meant absolutely nothing. “I will not be as foolish as your previous captors. I have learned from their errors and from our little scuffle in Africa. Don’t think I forgot about what you and your stupid team did. What you stole.”

Tony stayed quiet. While the Maximoffs hadn’t been a part of their team at the time, it was Tony’s fault. Ultron was his fault and Tony would spend the rest of his life trying to atone for the havoc his creation had wrecked in the lives of so many.

Sensing that Tony wasn’t going to respond, Klaue continued, “I want you to build a vibranium bomb. Like the Jericho, but on a larger scale,” he explained, his hands drawing out exaggeratedly as if to show how big of an explosion he wanted. His eyes glinted in a way that set Tony on edge. He wasn’t sure what Klaue was planning, but he knew that Klaue cared little about consequences in his quest for power.

Tony couldn’t lean back against the wall behind him because of the lack of give from the shackles, so instead, he just braced his elbows on his knees, the movement burning something fierce across his chest. Tony still tried for a relaxed expression despite the way it felt like his body was on fire. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what you need this type of weapon for?”

“Didn’t your dad always say, ‘peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy.’”

Tony cocked a brow trying not to laugh bitterly at words he’d once parroted being thrown back in his face, “I didn’t know you were in the business of solving world peace. ”

Klaue’s grin was somehow even wider, not unlike a shark’s. It made Tony’s stomach turn over. “Not really peace. More like some war profiteering of my own, you should know all about that.”

Tony squeezed his eyes shut willing this to all be a dream, praying that he’d open his eyes and roll over under his sheets of millions of thread counts and be in Erik’s arms, listening to the smooth baritone of his boyfriend telling him that it was just a dream and everything was alright while Eric lay beside them both, his tongue rough in Tony’s beard.

“It’s a good idea right?” Klaue was still saying when Tony tuned back in. “I’ll be rich, you’ll still be rich, America will be rich. Who doesn’t love  the military industrial complex? There’s nothing stopping you from getting back into it.” Klaue got down on his haunches, prodding Tony in the shoulder and sending a lance of pain through his body. “Think about it. You can get back to your glory days, starting with vibranium weapons this world has never seen outside of what is hoarded in Wakanda. Think about the evolution of your beloved technology.

“A little kitty told me that you are trying to get ahold of some vibranium for yourself to help out your mate. How about you do this for me, and I’m sure I can spare a little bit of vibranium for you. Once your weapon is built, we’ll be able to get Wakanda to hand over their access so that vibranium is in abundant supply throughout the whole world. ”

Complying was how Tony was able to escape Afghanistan, so hopefully that would help him out this time. He doesn’t think he can survive any kind of torture if he says no. He’s had enough waterboarding to last him a lifetime and that was when he was a spring chicken. It’s been almost ten years. He could convince himself to put up a good fight, but with his chest pain and his arm trouble. Maybe he has to play the long con.

“I’ve always liked a good challenge,” Tony forced a smirk onto his face. “They don’t call me the golden goose for nothing.”

Klaue’s smile was unnerving and Tony hated it when his words earned him a sturdy clap on the back. “That’s the spirit. We’re going to have you monitored twenty-four seven though. I don’t want an Iron Man part 2 or I will have no qualms about killing both of your ex boyfriends.”

Tony grit his teeth and smiled. And when Klaue finally brought him food and what looked like Advil, he swallowed it down with a thank you and reminded himself that there was always a way out. And once he got his hands on some vibranium, he’d have one foot out the door.

Building filled the space between waking and going back to sleep. Despite his earlier suspicion, Klaue was prompt when it came to delivering Tony materials to build weapons of mass destruction. Every morning Tony put together a list of material he needed for the following day, and they would appear at his doorstep by nightfall, delivered by Klaue like a dog returning with a ball in a sadistic game of fetch.

Having his hands busy allowed Tony to ignore the burning in his chest and the way that his scar had become yellow and tender around the edges, an angry red reaching toward his wound in a sure sign of infection. The less than stellar living quarters and the lack of access to clean bandages only exacerbated the pain. Klaue’s allowance of an Advil with Tony’s meals really wasn’t going to keep Tony from dying of sepsis.

The weapon Tony was building was a thing of beauty though, clean lines  with a beautiful cylindrical body. There was a biometric lock hidden on the inside that would only respond to Tony, the hollow body a perfect fit for Tony’s arm. It looked like a missile, when in reality it was a high powered gauntlet. And thanks to his lack of an arm, Klaue wouldn’t be able to use it.

For the hundredth time, Tony thanked his lucky stars that while Klaue was a big name in under the table weapons dealing, he wouldn’t know the butt of a rifle from the chamber and didn’t question any of the things Tony asked for. Klaue’s flaw would always be that he was blinded by power the same way that Tony let fame and success lead him blindly when he was younger.

“How’s it coming along?” Klaue asked, scaring the devil out of Tony as he came up from behind him.

Tony jumped, turning with a hand raised above his chest. “I have a heart problem you know?”

Klaue only laughed at that. It seemed like the longer Tony joked around and worked willingly and built things that looked promising, the more Klaue seemed to become less concerned with keeping Tony prisoner and more interested in how powerful the weapon was going to be. “Isn’t she a beaut,” Klaue whispered, running his hand over the outside metal of the gauntlet shaft.

“She sure is,” Tony agreed with a wolfish grin that he forced onto his face.

“It’s a bit smaller than the pictures though?”

“Oh, yeah, thanks to the vibranium, it can be ten times smaller than the designs but almost a hundred times more powerful,” Tony grinned. “It’s incredible how this can achieve much bigger results using fewer resources.” Tony patted the weapon. “I can probably do a demonstration for you in the next couple of days? We can go somewhere and do some target practice?”

“Oh, I think I’d rather take the Wakandans by surprise you know? If we do a test run, then they’ll know about the weapon and they’ll know we’re coming. I love a dramatic entrance and I know you do too.”

“Oh for sure, I totally understand. I’m almost done with the controls,” Tony gestured at the dummy control panel he had put on the side of the gauntlet’s body. “I can explain it all to you tomorrow and then you should be good to blast Wakanda into next Tuesday.”

“Perfect!” Klaue gripped his shoulder, squeezing tightly. When he left, it was whistling a jolly tune and Tony let his head hang, the smile dropping off his face as he let out a pained grunt. Tomorrow he would be out of this shithole, and he would blast through Klaue to do it.