the things we invent when we are scared by nanasekai
Steve is trapped in a dream machine, programmed to make him believe he's living his happiest fantasy.
Tony goes inside to wake him up, but what he finds is a lot more complicated than he expected.
I Wanted It To Be You by complicationstoo
After Civil War, Tony and Steve are both a bit of a mess. Guilt and loneliness threaten to break them both, but each find comfort in the emails of strangers they meet online. Tony writes to Sal, and Steve writes to Thomas, and neither of them have a clue who's actually on the other side.
almeno tu nell'universo by @silkspectred
Steve Rogers is in front of his car.
Steve fucking Rogers. Is in front of Tony’s fucking car.
you are the sweetest melody i never sung by @soliloquent-stark
“A soft tune cuts through his thoughts and seeps right in between the cracks of his broken mind. It sounds like a slow, gentle piano song, and it soothes his senses, numbs his tension, and lulls him to the smooth edge of sleep.”
—⎊—
or: Bucky struggles with insomnia, Tony plays the piano, and Steve just wants the two most important men in his life to get along. 🎶
my pain fits in the palm of your hand by @meidui
Steve is ready to be caught and turned in, ready for Tony’s sad mouth and angry eyes, but he isn’t ready to find Tony motionless and smelling like vomit and sweating through the undershirt and boxers his captors had stripped him down to, his ankles shackled to the concrete and his hands—
Or: Six months after the events of Civil War, Tony is kidnapped and his hands are broken. Steve takes a plea deal to go back to the Compound and be his hands.
Bucky, Steve, and Tony have settled into domestic bliss. Things aren't perfect, but they're happy.
Until, that is, someone decides that Tony is missing crucial information involving his parents, the Winter Soldier, and a fateful night in December 1991.
One Thing I Can't Erase by @finduilasclln
The events of Civil War are behind them, and the team has made up. There's still one thing on Tony's mind though.
Conversations in the Void by @apfelhalm
He keeps doing it: reaching for the flip phone late at night or in the early morning hours, not even looking but blindly fumbling his way to its only contact and pressing dial. It's not talking, not technically. Tony doesn't know what it is they're doing and he can't allow himself to stop and think about it.
Tony and Steve are not on speaking terms, but that doesn't stop Tony from calling him.
Of Books and Memories and Snow by @the-vorkosigan
Even if Steve and Tony are sort of talking again, the unease between them is still palpable. Steve wants to talk things over again. The last thing Tony wants right now is to ruminate over the past. He finally has a weekend off (or as near as), and he decides to go skiing in his old family cabin he hasn't visited in many years. Inviting Steve along seems like a good idea at the tim... No. No, it doesn't, it really doesn't, but it's beginning to look like the only option. Also, catching a cold really wasn't a plan at all...
Lesser Demons by @sabrecmc
Peggy leaves Steve something in her will.
Sequel to Better Angels, but can be read alone.
Aftermath by @potrix-the-queerschlaeger
One moment they’re fighting, yelling scathing insults and ugly accusations at each other, and the next they’re kissing, all teeth and anger-fuelled desperation. Steve backs him up until Tony’s shoulders hit the closest wall, and hoists him up, giving Tony no choice but to wrap his legs around Steve’s waist for support. Tony bites Steve’s bottom lip, hard enough to draw blood, and Steve growls, and grips both of Tony’s wrists in one big hand, his hold bruisingly tight.
