”I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, honey, but I need— You have to— No! Don’t— Shit!”
Forcing Steve to do something when he didn’t want to was difficult, but trying to forcibly strip a super soldier who had been induced by what-the-fuckever the moronic villain had come up in some dingy underground lab was nearly impossible even with the Iron Man suit on. Tony swore once more under his breath. He was currently sitting on a very delirious Steve who didn’t want to let Tony help him.
”I need to cool you down, damnit!” He snapped as Steve tried to buck him off. He redirected power to his gauntlets, gripped the fabric around the star, and ripped the uniform open. He felt a fleeting moment of regret because this had been the new nanotech uniform’s maiden voyage and now, it was ruined. Then again, it hadn’t protected Steve from the chemical, so…
Oh, well.
”JARVIS, how’s the tub?” He asked as he stripped off the torn pieces of cloth, leaving Steve’s torso naked.
”It’s ready, Sir.”
”About damn time,” Tony growled. He gripped Steve from under his arms and with the considerable help of his leg propulsors, practically threw them both into the giant bathtub. Something cracked under their combined weight but since the structure was actually built for Hulk, it held. Who would’ve thought that the Big Green’s bubble bath habit would someday come in handy?
Freezing water sloshed around them and over the edges of the tub as Tony fought with Steve to keep him in. ”God…DAMN, Steve, calm the fuck down!” he gritted out as Steve punched him straight into the faceplate hard enough to make his ears ring.
This isn’t working, he thought before muttering, ”I’m sorry, hon.”
Then he slammed Steve down with enough force to knock him out.
”Sir, it seems Captain Rogers is unconscious,” JARVIS said dryly.
”Yeah, that was kinda the point,” Tony panted and hung his head. He kept his gauntlets on Steve’s shoulders to support him. He wanted to save him, not actually drown him.
After a short moment of tense silence, when JARVIS said,”His temperature is dropping,” his voice sounded as relieved as Tony felt.
”Thank fuck,” he muttered.
His everything ached and he felt cold seeping through the damaged joints of the suit, but he didn’t care. For the first time since he’d seen the awful pale yellow mist surround Steve, he could actually breathe.
He still had no idea how the pimpled guy calling himself Doctor Obscura (seriously…) had managed to douse Steve. It had taken its sweet time to start working (Tony guessed it had something to do with Steve’s enhanced metabolism), but when it had finally kicked in, it had gotten Steve sweating in fifteen minutes, stumbling in forty, and by the one-hour mark, Steve was delirious.
So, Tony had done the only thing he could think of: he’d grabbed Steve by the uniform and sped home, barking orders at JARVIS at the same time.
And now, he was sitting on top of Steve in Hulk’s bathroom, anxiously waiting for him to wake up.
Cold.
That was the first thing he registered.
Numbing cold with flashes of memories in between—
Someone calling his name, and then flying the Valkyrie into the ocean—
The cold seeping in and covering him—
And then just…nothing.
It was so cold.
He gasped and bucked wildly, dislocating the heavy weight off of him. He heard a startled yell and a loud clang like something big and metallic had dropped on a stone floor. Eyes wide and unseeing, he crouched low with his hands held in front of him, ready for anything.
”—The Avengers Tower, Captain,” a British male said calmly. ”The date is August 7th, 2012. You are safe. You are with friends. You are in the Avengers Tower, Captain. The date is August 7th, 2012—”
”Okay,” he said after a moment and took a couple of deep breaths. ”I’m okay, thank you, JARVIS.”
The AI let out a small sound that reminded a sigh of relief. ”It’s good to have you back, Captain.”
”Yeah.”
Something moved in front of him, a bright splash of red and gold. Tony.
”Steve?” Tony asked carefully.
”What happened?”
Tony cleared his throat and when he started talking again, his voice sounded steadier. ”You got doused with something that skyrocketed your temperature. Bruce’s trying to figure out what it was. I think he got a bit green about the fact that the Doctor Obscura—can you believe that’s the name he goes with? Anyway, Bruce’s all jealous he managed to develop something before him. I mean, not that Bruce’s trying to—”
”So, basically, I got a fever?” Steve interrupted.
”Well…technically yes, but—”
”Your temperature reached 110°F,” JARVIS said bluntly. ”If you were a normal human, you would be dead.”
”Oh,” Steve said.
”I’m sorry, babe.”
Steve frowned at Tony’s tone. He blinked several times and while the red and gold blob in front of him got a bit clearer, he still couldn’t make out Tony’s face. ”For what?”
”Dousing you in freezing water. I mean, it was the easiest and safest way to cool you down but I also knew it would probably send you right back, and I’m sorry but I had to do it. And I had to knock you out because you punched me—”
”What?”
”It’s not a big deal,” Tony said, waving away his concern.
By Steve’s experience, that probably meant Tony had a concussion.
”Tony,” he started, but Tony interrupted him with a sharp noise.
”No, Steve. Just…no. You could’ve died.”
”But I didn’t.”
They both heard the this time that was left unsaid.
Finally, Tony pushed himself up and held out his hand to Steve. ”Come on. Let’s go to bed before you catch a cold.”
”You know I can’t actually get sick,” he pointed out.
”Yeah, whatever,” Tony said and wrapped his arm around Steve’s middle.
If Tony held on just a bit too tight and Steve noticed him shaking even through the armor, neither of them mentioned it.