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[starkingenuity]

"Will someone please tell our resident Super Soldier that he's needed on 6th?  Like...yesterday?  Okay, yesterday the Chitauri weren't attacking and Banner and I were having freeze dried blueberries on the hellicarrier, but you know what I mean, stop being so critical and literal with everything I say.  You guys suck."  Stark burst across the sky over Thor's head and the blond turned towards the archer standing next to him.  A smash of the hammer into one foe did not even cause him to look away from Barton.

"I do not understand many of the words that he speaks," the Asgardian confessed.  "He has a conversation with no one but himself."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Clint said, shooting a flying mercenary through the eye while he watched Thor look even more confused.  He found a new pasttime, he decided.  But, like Tony, Clint wasn't exactly sure where Steve was.  He's seen him in one of the buildings but after that--  Clint touched the side of his collar.  "Cap?"

"Earth to Captain American, come in Captain America," Tony said, piping music into the background.  There was a reason Natasha had taken out her earpiece.  "Grandpa, you asleep?"

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[starspangledspandex]

There was blood everywhere. It was like the war all over again. The smell of the Chitauri was less noticeable but there were plenty of injured humans. Steve was never particularly fond of being a vampire. It was something that he came to accept but that didn't mean he had to be gung-ho about it.

This... was too tempting. He rarely drank from humans if he could help it. It was why the war was so nice. It provided the perfect cover. The dead didn't need their blood right? It was a shame to waste it on the ground.

"I need a minute here," he snapped finally into his communicator, wiping a red glove at the blood on his face and he took several deep breaths, trying to clear his head a little. He needed to be in good form and he was putting his team in jeopardy. A team that didn't know. SHIELD knew, because his uniform was specifically made to keep as much sun out as possible. They branded it as a 'redesign' but Steve knew better.

He took the short way off the second floor and out the window. "I'm on my way, Stark."

[starkingenuity]

"Yeah well, take your time, I'm on them." He needed to be leading those Leviathans to their deaths, not mopping up the street level but hey, you do what you have to do. If Steve was being lazy, he had to fill in for him. "I understand that those old bones must not want to move the way they use to."

He cut off the comm before Steve could reply and blasted some Black Sabbath instead, flying circles around grounded Chitauri as they tried to run through one of the police barricades.

"JARVIS, what the hell is shawarma?" he asked suddenly before he was pounded to the ground from above and the HUD inside the helmet turned from blue to red. Tony skidded on the asphalt, flipped over once, and crunched into a parked car before he stabilized himself. A few more Chitauri wanted to have fun. All right, he'd let them play.

[starspangledspandex]

"ETA is under a minute," he responded, doing his best to make up for lost time and move quickly toward sixth. Even nearly full, the smell of blood drew his attention. It was almost ridiculous. He didn't take his time either. If he wasn't in broad daylight, he might use a different method of travel but right now he was on foot.

He saw from a distance when the other man went down and he cursed himself, how could he waste time before they had this under control? Damn curse. There was still blood on his face but he wasn't thinking about it.

"Tony!" he shouted and he hoped he was uninjured. The uniform was thick enough to hide whether or not there was blood. Steve hoped not but he also couldn't tell. He took down two Chitauri and then a third in the same forward motion. "Are you alright?"

[starkingenuity]

"Oh yeah," Tony's voice came out of the helmet instead of through Steve's earpiece. It was more metallic that way, somewhat muffled. Tony pulled himself out of the wreckage of the car, shoving away a wheel well before he righted himself again and blasted a repulsor beam over Steve's right shoulder.

Without asking permission, Tony bullrushed the Captain and grabbed him under his arm to lift him over to a truck just before another Chitauri cruiser dive bombed them.

"They're getting smarter," Tony grunted. "And more numerous. They've entered the tunnels. We have to figure out how buy Widow some more time to close the vortex."

[starspangledspandex]

Good, they needed all hands on deck on this one. He turned to glance over his shoulder at the crumbling Chitauri.

"Any ideas?" He asked, scanning their surroundings. What was their best move? They couldn't blow the tunnels. "We need to get their attention."

He made an 'oof' sound sound as Tony hit him and he prepared himself to maybe run into something else or find himself pretty far into the sky. He was relieved when he found himself back on the ground instead. He reached up to check his mask to make sure that it was solid and undamaged. Sunlight wouldn't necessarily kill him but it wouldn't be fun either.

[starkingenuity]

"Attention?"

Iron Man turned half his body away from the truck and snapped his heels together to send himself up to the third story. He intercepted chatter about a nuke and pressed his lips together.

What was that Captain Fucking America said about laying down on a wire? Dander up, Tony would show him.

"I've got this. You stay here and do your little shield act." He turned to give the Captain a salute and took off again.

Thor took his place, creating a hole in the asphalt beside the truck. "What is a clear weapon?" he asked, shielding his eyes as he watched Tony disappear in a sonic blast.

[starspangledspandex]

"Tony!" he yelled, watching the man shoot off and he turned his attention on the Chitauri. This would be much easier if he could reveal himself. Unfortunately, he was stuck playing soldier.

"Nuclear," Steve corrected and he only knew what he heard in the news or from the history books that he read because he was playing at being a popsicle for a few decades. He knew the cover story was that it was the serum's fault that he survived. The real, and far less comfortable reason, was the fact that he was a vampire. "It's a bomb that would level this part of New York and make the rest of it uninhabitable for decades."

There was nothing they could do from here.

[starkingenuity]

"That is...bad," Thor understated.

They all had to stand by as Tony caught the missile, as he took it up through the vortex, as Natasha used the scepter to close the portal up again. Waiting was the worst. Transmission with Iron Man cut out once he hit the atmosphere and white trails of burned vapor lingered for a few moments before the sky returned to blue.

And then a piece of red metal tumbled out of the sky, end over end. Tony was not flying, he was not responding, he was plummeting. Thor swung Mjolnir but it didn't matter, before he could get off the ground, the Hulk caught their strange hero and helped ease him -- sort of -- to the street.

It didn't matter. Tony wasn't moving. The smell of blood from Loki's toss through the windows and the standard banging around inside the suit would hit Steve as the Captain leaned over him.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve barely glanced at the Asgardian before his attention was on the sky and on what Tony was doing. He disappeared with the nuke and that was a relief. They weren't all going to die but it meant he was wrong about the other man. He apparently was the kind to lay down on the wire. Steve was rarely wrong in his judgments about people but honestly, he was glad that he was wrong this time and he didn't care how much Tony felt the need to rub it in his face.

There was nothing he could do about him crashing back to Earth either but it was covered and he fell to his knees beside the suited man. It didn't keep him from smelling the blood beyond the metal and he ran his tongue over his lips as he knelt there, reaching out unsteadily to feel for a pulse.

It was everything he could do to keep his teeth put away and not rip off the man's suit. He smelled intoxicating. The need for it was worse than anyone else; he didn't understand how that was possible. If he really was dying, Steve could fix it. He would reveal himself but he could fix it. His hand shifted to the reactor--what did they do?

[starkingenuity]

Luckily, once the mask was removed (thanks Thor for ruining Stark Industries property) and the Hulk decided to give a try at his brand of CPR, Tony's eyelids fluttered open. His face was washed in blood along his left side and the servos in his suit wouldn't let him up, but it was Steve he stared at. "Did someone try to kiss me!?" he demanded. Steve Rogers was damned close to a Disney Prince after all.

Disney Princes tended to kiss first, ask questions later.

Oh, and be annoyingly chivalrous.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve inhaled sharply at the sight of blood on the man's face and he nearly didn't hear what Tony said to them. It was likely an odd look, spacey and almost... Hungry. Even freshly dead wasn't the same as feeling a heart pump blood through someone's veins.

With a dazed look, he reached out to smear his gloved hand through the blood on the side of the man's face and abruptly, he realized what he was doing. He jerked his hand back.

He shook his head and took a deep breath, deciding to act like nothing unusual had happened, "No, and we're not finished yet."

[starkingenuity]

Oh. Right. "Loki. Yeah. Help me up." He wasn't thinking too clearly, honestly. Having plate glass embedded in your back will do that. He made nothing of the other man's touch, though it did clear the blood from one eye.

Thor helped pull him to his feet and after a few moments, JARVIS came back online to help him work out the suit's bug so he could actually walk. Flying...flying wasn't an option.

With Thor wanting to arrive at the Tower first to be sure his brother was still on the floor there, Tony was left to cling to poor steve. He had no idea what he might be doing to Captain America's senses...or what interesting scents the reactor gave to his blood.

[starspangledspandex]

The clinging was, in fact, not fun for poor Steve who was moving considerably slower than he was actually capable of doing. The smell of Tony's blood was intoxicating. He could barely stand to be this close and it was obvious the man's suit wasn't working. It was also obvious he was injured.

Halfway there, Steve couldn't stand it anymore. He shoved Tony up against the wall. "Just... don't move," he breathed, trying to get his fill just smelling the man. His teeth stay away. It's just all around weird.

[starkingenuity]

It was hard enough moving with Steve's help. Without it, it was downright impossible. Tony was pinned against whatever this building use to be and Steve's hand, covered in blood. His blood.

The breath against his cheek was the most worrying. In his armor, most of Tony was covered. Yes. There were pieces shorn off and cracks and chinks but the only skin available to Steve was his face.

Tony swallowed. Hard. "Back off, Cap. I don't need a scolding right now, even if you think it's your god damned right as my elder."

There was a lot wrong here. A whole lot.

[starspangledspandex]

His breath was shaky. How did Tony smell this good? It was intoxicating. Steve had never felt need like this before. He was older even than most people realized. Erskine's file included every identity he ever disguised himself with and that was how SHIELD found out vampires were very real.

He was worried when they started that the serum might amplify his need. He didn't have any problems, not until Tony and he didn't know why but he kept him pinned to the wall.

Steve inhaled and shook his head, "I'm not scolding. You just smell... so good. I don't understand." What if he tasted as good as he smelled? He needed to know.

Steve licked up the bloody side of Tony's face--oh god. He nearly groaned.

[starkingenuity]

"That's because my sweat is infused with scotch," Tony said, though it came out a whisper and the joke died on his tongue. He didn't understand why. Steve's presence was undeniably unwanted and though he knew the Super Soldier was crushing and moving against his own body, the suit protected him from any faux pas (such as oh, a boner?) from coming through.

He was most grateful for that. He didn't know how they did it in the 40s but Tony had a girlfriend and he wasn't a Neanderthal, willing to club a would be mate.

The tongue against his cheek, however-- That was electric. He closed his eyes, no longer fighting back through the ruined suit that trapped him as much as Captain America did.

"O-Okay, that was...uh...weird..." he said, swallowing. "You'd better hope that I don't have some weird disease, Rogers."

[starspangledspandex]

"No, not the alcohol," he murmured, lips nearly pressed against Tony's face. This was the closest he's been to a living, breathing and bleeding human in a long time. It was a bad idea. He shouldn't tempt himself.

The lack of struggling bewildered him. Tony could push him away in the suit if he really wanted. Okay, so maybe injured it was a little different. Steve didn't hunt the living. If a bloodbag or two went missing from SHIELD's stores a few times a week they wrote it off because the people that needed to know did.

Another head shake, Steve swallowed and told himself he needed to back off. This was supposed to be a secret. He could still write it off as a kink and adrenaline if he ended it. "I can't catch diseases."

His breathing was quick and shallow. He learned a long time ago that even if he didn't need to breath that he should and now he barely thought about it. He didn't pull away either. Tony was nearly helpless; he could take what he wanted but he couldn't. He couldn't.

It didn't stop him from licking Tony again.

[starkingenuity]

The back of his head was still coated in his iron matrix armor and so when he hit it against the wall, no real damage was done, thankfully. It took all his effort to get his elbow joint to work well enough to get his hand to Steve's chest, and even then, his fingers wouldn't unclench. He needed to come up with a backup system for this on his next suit. Even with the servos fried, he needed to be able to get the suit to move with him.

"Because of what my dad did to you?" This was not the time, place, or context to have a discussion like this and yet, even as Steve licked at the blood on his face again, Tony did little more than exhale.

Again, it tingled.

Tingled like a current was running through him.

"If it's not the alcohol, it's the reactor. Or my palm oil hair products. Didn't peg you for a blood fetish sort of guy."

[starspangledspandex]

His eyes flicked down to the glowing circle. He understood what it did to some extent but not exactly how it worked. His gaze moved to the hand on his chest and then back up again. He was further away now at least.

Steve nodded, "That was mostly his doing." A lot of his ailments before that were due to the quality of blood he could come by and how difficult it was to acquire otherwise. Being sick when he was turned didn't help either. He never got sick with anything he didn't have before. Now he was never sick.

Blood fetishist. Right. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

[starkingenuity]

"Uh, yeah. I'm figuring that out," Tony said, his voice weaker than he'd like it to be. He cleared his throat and tried to push Steve away but the arm joints refused to work and his arm actually seemed perfectly content not to have any fight left in it. Both of those things were...disturbing.

It wasn't like he and Steve needed to be there for Loki's capture, however. Hawkeye and Thor alone could handle the job, and the others...the others might not even be looking for them. Their friendships weren't exactly sold. Or existent.

"As much as I would love to stay here and let you lick me, we still have a job to do. And you have to fill me in on...on whatever this is or I'm not going to ask you around for coffee any more."

[starspangledspandex]

Job to do. Right. One that wasn't sinking his teeth into the man he had pinned against the wall. That would go poorly in so many different ways. He knew that Thor, Hawkeye and Widow could probably manage it but they needed to make sure this was finished.

"Yeah, I might," he muttered. It would depend on a lot of things. Namely SHIELD and whether Tony was allowed to know. He took another deep inhale and forced himself to pull back. It was probably the hardest thing he'd ever done and that was saying something.

[starkingenuity]

Tony still needed Steve's help, he didn't want to just sit out on kicking Loki's ass. Luckily, the Captain was strong enough to half carry him and the suit up to the Tower in time to allow them to see what the Hulk had done to the god. It was nearly enough to make Tony forget the strange encounter. Nearly.

Though it was Bruce that helped him pry off each half crushed and ripped open section of armor plating, Tony's eyes were completely fixated on Steve as the blond hovered nearby.

He didn't trust him. Not when he knew that he was bleeding elsewhere.

What had his father done to create a super soldier? Tony kept questioning Steve with his eyes until Bruce announced he was finished and needed a bathroom break.

"H-Hey-- Doc I have glass embedded in my back--" Bruce waved him off. Evidently he had to shit first. Well that was just great.

[starspangledspandex]

He forced himself not to think about it as he hauled Tony up the floor of the Tower that Loki was on. Just in time for the god to look up and see them all standing there. He didn't put up any more of a fight.

Steve couldn't make himself go too far from the still bleeding billionaire. He hovered, inhaling Tony's sent as Bruce worked on piecing him together. His arms were crossed as he leaned against the wall and avoided Tony's gaze.

He pulled out his phone and texted Fury. After a brief argument, the Director was resigned to let Stark know. Now the question was how? When? He was probably still being weird but the man tasted so good.

"I could remove it," he offered, wondering if the man would even let him.

[starkingenuity]

"So you can suck on all the pieces?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. "If that would even matter. I guess you could probably eat the glass too." But he was curious and Tony Stark and curiosity went as well together as water and lightning.

With a little effort, he turned over.

Each piece of glass removed would make him bleed again and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in feeling the current of pleasure that passed through him just from having Steve lick at his face. His back...well, that would certainly be something to experience.

[starspangledspandex]

He pressed his lips together and glanced away. "I'm not interested in the glass. I'm strong but I can't keep something from cutting me." He wouldn't digest it if he ate it either but he hoped that Tony wasn't being serious about that part.

When Tony rolled over, he straightened from where he was against the wall. The closer he got to the other man the more he wanted another taste. The wounds would heal faster with his saliva. Vampire trick though he had never needed to do it himself.

"Don't tempt me, Tony."