The Avengers - Tony's Alphabet

A - Alcohol  

Tony felt nothing at this moment. It was just him and silence of his room. His parents were gone. He just finished talking with Obediah who gave him the sad news. Car accident. No survivals. Tony turned a bottle of cola in his hands, the one in which already was rum. Coffee, rum with cola (not the other way around) became his basic drinks while in collage. But now, he needed something stronger. He walked to some cabinet and pulled out a scotch bottle, still not opened with a red ribbon around it and a small note that said "Congratulations on your project! Love, proud parents". Tony was sure that it wasn't sent by his dad as he probably gave this task to one of his assistants. He was even quite sure that it wasn't his dad's idea. Or his handwriting. But now he will never know. He poured himself a half of the glass and gulped it down, nearly choking at its burning taste. He laughed bitterly, as one small tear slid down his cheek. He didn't know how his dad could drink this.


B - Batteries

"Not everyone runs on batteries."

Tony stood in front of the mirror, shirt off, looking at the circle of light in his chest and dark scars networking from it. Palladium concentration 30%. He rubbed his face tiredly. It would have been easier if he did run on batteries.


C - Coffee

When Pepper put a cup from Starbucks in front of Tony, he smiled, taking it.

"Black with sugar?" he made sure.
"Half coffee, half sugar, just the way you like," she smiled, when Tony laughed, sipping the coffee. Then Pepper started to drink on her own.
"What you're drinking?" he asked.
"Double decaf soy latte," she recited in one breath. Tony made a face at that.

"You're fired," he said quickly. Pepper just laughed, tugging on Tony's arm, as they continued their walk.


D - Dessert

Tony loved sweets. And he quickly discovered that sweets and Steve went together very well, even if it was hard to later wash the melted chocolate from their sheets. So what was happening now was totally unfair. The whole Avengers team went on a group walk (oh Lord, group walk! Of course it was Steve's idea with his whole bonding thing, and Tony hated these things,) when they stopped for some ice cream. It was warm and ice creams were melting quickly and Tony tried to hold a needy groan inside his throat, watching as melted vanilla ice cream trickled down Steve's fingers and Steve licked it off. Tony didn't even notice that he dropped his own cone, with salted-caramel ice creams, to the ground. Unfortunately, the rest of the team noticed. So when Tony announced that he will be right back and took Steve by the arm, walking with him away from the rest of the group, Clint yelled "remember about protection!" after them.

"You did that on purpose," Tony growled. Steve just smiled. Who said that Tony was the only one allowed to tease?


E - Ego

"This man has an ego as huge as his wealth." "He thinks that he is better than the rest of us." "He is so full of himself!" those were some common opinions about Tony Stark and Tony was fully aware of them. In reality, Tony had a lot of insecurities, doubts. He just acted like he didn't care and was so great and was always in control of the situation, knowing what he was doing. Because if he won't believe in himself in the first place, who else will?


F - Faster

Life was too slow for Tony. He always wanted everything better, faster - faster cars, quicker computers. He didn't like to stay in place and wait. He was never a patient person. All that mattered to Tony was the future. He wanted to get  there faster. Because what was there for him in the past? Cold bed, cold coffee, empty room.
He learnt to enjoy the moment after Steve came into the picture. And many times, when he was lying with his head in Steve's lap, while the soldier was reading a book, gently playing with Tony's hair, he wished that the time would slow down, so he could stay in this particular moment for a little bit longer.


G - Genius

Tony Stark was a genius. His IQ  was amazingly high. Seeing what the man created and achieved during his life left no doubt that he was a genius. But anyone who saw Tony dragging himself into the kitchen, looking like a zombie after a long night spent in his workshop, barely putting on the coffee pot, turning the machine on and then after taking a first sip of steaming coffee, yelping "dammit, that's hot!" every single morning - immediately had doubts.


H - Holidays

Tony didn't like holidays. They were stupid, pointless, and basically an excuse for people to be lazy, while they could be doing much more productive, useful stuff. Like designing a new circuit board. Making a faster working computer. Or..

A kiss on his ear interrupted Tony's grumpy internal monologue. Steve wrapped the blanket tighter around both of them, moving his hands to Tony's waits, hugging him tight. Tony sighed from his comfortable position on the couch, and leaned his back more into Steve's front as he was sitting in the soldier's lap.

Maybe holidays were not so bad if he had someone to spend them with.


I - I am Iron Man

"I am Iron Man." These four words caused a real uproar around the world and changed the rest of Tony's life.


J - JARVIS

"You need a break."

Tony turned around on his stool, facing for a brief moment his boyfriend who was looking with a stern face at him. Tony had been working for nearly 12 hours straight and Steve was getting irritated.

"Can't," Tony answered shortly, turning around.
"You already finished your project, what are you still doing?" Steve asked walking closer.
Tony didn't answer for a while. When Steve encouragingly carded his hand through brown hair, Tony gave up.

"During the process there was a system failure and the code for JARVIS was misplaced. Need to find it," he said evenly.
Steve looked softly at him. "Maybe you can do it after you rest.." he suggested gently.
"No," Tony answered firmly, resuming his work, his face determined. Steve just sighed and leaned down, kissing his boyfriend's cheek.

"You'll find him," he reassured the other softly and Tony nodded his head. On his way out Steve heard Tony mutter "come on, buddy, talk to me." Steve sighed, but smiled fondly, thinking that he got himself into a threesome.  


K - Knock out

"Tony, you can't keep working for whole days," Pepper concerned voice echoed through the workshop as Tony was half way buried under the mask of a car.
"I'm not. I'm going to a party in 2 hours," he answered.
"Tony.."
"I meant board meeting," he corrected quickly.

"What I meant that you would look better in the rankings if you would find yourself some hobby."
"I have a hobby. This is my hobby," Tony said calmly, as Dummy handed him a wrench.
"I meant something else than getting covered in car grease. Maybe some sport?" she asked hopefully.
"Blah. Sports. Team work. Boring," Tony griped.
"Then maybe some individual sport?" she tried again, as Tony finally turned in her direction, wiping his grease covered hands into a cloth, biceps flexing with the movement. "Maybe boxing?" she suggested, focusing on Tony's muscled arms.

Tony skipped the party. He was busy jumping excitedly in the ring as he again and again nearly knocked out his bodyguard. "Come on, Happy, one more round!"

Turned out that even though boxing had nothing to do with legs, Tony kicked ass at it.


L - Loner

From a public point of view, Tony was a people person. He appeared at many events, knew a lot of people, parties organized by him were bursting in seams. Tony liked to show off, liked to make people admire him. But he didn't have many friends. Friends meant trouble, meant people counting on him, relying on him, trusting him. And how many times he could screw that up? He preferred to talk to his bots. Thank God, Pepper and Rhodey saw right through him and didn't leave him even if he made them go through all sorts of crap. So when he saw Rhodey rushing to him through the dessert, Pepper crying as he got out of the airplane, he was genuinely happy and grateful that they didn't write him off.


M - Money

Tony was in bed, hands tucked under his head as he was looking intensely at the ceiling. Steve looked up from his book, clearly hearing the whirring of his brain, as he was thinking.

"Babe, what is it?" he asked, putting the book aside.
"Steve. Ever heard the phrase 'sleeping on money'?" Tony asked with a frown, turning his face in Steve's direction.
"Yes.."
"I'm rich, right?"
Steve laughed briefly. "It's kinda hard not to notice.." he said, looking around the room.
"What do you think about filling our mattress with one dollar bills?"
"What?!" Steve yelped.
"Think about it," Tony answered excitedly, "now each time someone will ask me 'Mr. Stark, you're so wealthy, that you're literally sleeping on money, aren't you'? And then I could answer that 'yes, yes I am'," he finished with a bright smile which quickly turned into a grimace as Steve batted him on the head.

"I would rather let you buy that monkey," he hissed, glaring. Tony just smiled brighter.
"So can I.."
"No," Steve said quickly, turning the lights off. "Good night, Tony."

Tony let out an irritated breath. "You're no fun, Steve."
"Well, and you're too much fun."


N - Noctambulism

"Tony, where are you going?"

Tony cringed in the middle of the hallway. It was middle of the night, and an hour ago Steve had chased him out from his workshop, claiming that he needed some sleep. But Tony knew better - so he just stayed until his boyfriend fell to sleep and quietly sneaked out of the bed, to finish what he started, unnoticed by Steve. At least that's what he thought.

Tony promptly outstretched his hands and faked some snoring, his head gently tilting to the side.

"Tony.." Steve warned. "I know you're not sleepwalking. Get your butt back in the bed, or I will do it," he ended, turning around, going back to the bedroom.

Tony grumbled something, but, obediently, followed, knowing that Steve wasn't joking.


O - Overwhelming

Many people thought that Tony's life was a constant party. Booze, few highly profitable inventions, more booze, more parties. The truth was that Tony was working his ass off to keep his company high in the rankings. And yes, maybe he did everything he could to not go to the board meetings, as he much more preferred to spend this time working. Then he had duties as Iron Man. His life was busy, overwhelming. Sometimes he just wanted to chug everything aside and go on vacation, pretending that he is someone else. Instead, he just gritted his teeth and kept working, hoping that it would pay off.


P - Pizza

Tony stopped in the doorway. JARVIS just informed him that lunch is ready and Steve wanted him upstairs. Tony came up, expecting a meal cooked by his boyfriend, so now he stood in shock, looking at the food on the table. Take away pizza.

"Come on, sit, babe," Steve smiled, sitting on the couch. "Sorry, didn't feel like cook.."
"Why are we having pizza?" Tony interrupted.
Steve looked surprised at him. "I thought you like pizza."
"I do. But why you ordered it?" Tony frowned.
"Tony, what are you.." Steve started not understanding, just to be now interrupted.
"The day Obi came to tell me that the board wants to take over my company he brought me pizza. When Pepper broke up with me she also ordered pizza," he said quietly, looking at Steve. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Steve couldn't help the way his eyes widened at that. He patted the space on the couch next to him, and Tony slowly came closer, sitting next to him. Soldier smiled and kissed his cheek softly.

"Tony.. I promise to never again order pizza on my own," he smiled softly. Tony smiled back. "Now eat up."
Tony glanced quickly at the pizza. "What, no bacon?" he frowned.


Q - Query

Questions were always buzzing in Tony's head. Why? When? How? What for? How much? He just couldn't shut down his mind. It was always working, always analyzing, calculating, estimating risks..

Usually, alcohol helped.

Later on, he found out that a single kiss from Steve worked much better.


R - Rings

They didn't know how they ended here. They both went on a walk, holding hands, and somehow they got here. And now, Steve and Tony were standing in front of a jewelry shop, looking at the signboard. Steve quickly glanced on a gold ring on Tony's left hand, while Tony did the same with Steve's left hand. Then they looked at each other.

"You think we're ready?" Steve asked quietly.
Tony smiled teasingly. "Let's find out," he chirped, walking with his fiance into the shop.

Maybe it was time to change their engagement rings into wedding rings.

But when after few minutes Tony sprang out of the shop, snapping that he could make prettier rings in a cave with a box of scraps, and Steve followed, red from embarrassment after the argument Tony just had..

Seemed they weren't ready yet.


S - Space

It was.. terrifying. Cold, dark, no movement. A huge alien ship in front of him. He couldn't move. He felt like running out of air. He wanted to scream, but couldn't. Tony watched the ship, the missile hitting it and then bright explosion. Was this his end?

Tony bolted on the bed, sweating, gasping. It was just a dream, a dream. Another nightmare. He hid his face in his hands. It was in the past. But.. but what if it will happen again? What if he will be again left in such situation, no hope, no help..

Tony looked in front of him.

Sub Orbital Suit. Gemini.

He kissed sleeping Pepper's check, apologizing for leaving her alone again for the night, and went to his workshop to prepare the blueprints.


T - True Love

Tony never believed in true love. It was stupid. Souls bonding for whole life, people needing each other like air. Bullshit.

Pepper was his first true love. But she broke his heart. Well, Tony was no saint to her and she probably got out of their relationship with the same scars as he did. Or maybe her scars were even deeper. But miraculously, they remained friends.

First, he didn't want to let Steve into his heart. Steve deserved a nice girl, a girl he could have kids with and live in a small, but cozy home with a white fence and a golden retriever.

But Steve chose him.

He was so lucky.

He loved Steve.

He needed to tell him that more often.


U - Underestimated

Tony was not good at relationships. So when the world found out that Iron Man was dating Captain America, it had caused a real uproar. Many people said, that Tony will just break his heart. Some people pitied Steve and hated Tony. There were bets how long their relationship will last. So, when one day in the newspapers appeared a picture in which you could clearly see that Iron Man and Captain America are wearing gold rings on their fingers it caused another uproar, both positive and negative. Tony, even if he would never admit to it, was terrified by how much his relationship with Steve mattered to other people. He really didn't want to screw it up. But somehow, seeing how brightly Steve was smiling at him, how much his eyes were shining each time he looked at Tony and how gentle his touch was, he felt that what was happening was right. Screw other people.


V - Voice

Tony never considered his voice as particularly sexy. He always thought that his charm lay in his charisma and incredibly handsome face. But when each time he started to sing or hum or doing other melodic things with his voice, and he saw how Steve's eyes were starting to shine and he kept looking at him with love.. He understood that voice was also a weapon. Why not take advantage of it?


W - Weakness

Despite to the title people gave him, Tony wasn't invincible. Iron Man - maybe, Tony Stark - no. Tony had his weaknesses. Like donuts. Just wave a box of donuts in front of his face and he was all yours. The same applied to screws - he was a real hoarder and had a whole array of every type of screws available, from really tiny ones to bigger ones, always ordering more, not because he needed them but because he wanted them. But one of his weaknesses that was probably everyone's favorite, was that Tony was really ticklish. Tony tried to keep it as a secret and he was doing a good job with only Pepper and Rhodey knowing for a long time, but of course Steve found soon enough and then the rest Avengers did too. Tony hated it, claiming that it was embarrassing. But except him, no one thought that. On the contrary, they found it adorable that after all the hardships Tony had in his life, he was still affected by such a simple, fun thing. And Tony needed to laugh more often.


X - X-rated

"Ohhh.. Ohh.."

Steve's face was glowing red. Tony just watched the screen with a normal expression. And no, they were not watching a porn. They were watching "9 1/2 weeks", but still, it was the closest to porn Steve ever saw.

"You know, Steve.." Tony murmured, as he was stretched out on the couch, head resting in the soldier's lap. "We should make our own porn video."

As it was embarrassing, there was nothing wrong with saying that - they were in a committed relationship, loved each other. But it was definitely ill timed, as now Steve could feel burning looks from his team as Tony decided to be honest during one of their movie nights. Steve whimpered embarrassed. But what did he expect from a guy whose naked videos could be found all over YouTube?

"To be honest, I don't know why we didn't film it earlier, I already have some tapes, from when I told JARVIS to record, but we need a proffeMHPP!" Tony jolted as Steve pressed a pillow to brunet's face, shutting him up.

Honestly, Tony had no boundaries.


Y - Yelp

Tony could do all denying he wanted to, but it was true - Tony Stark did squeak. And giggle. And had a whole array of different sounds Steve considered adorable. But Steve's favorite sound was the little yelp, Tony made each time Steve quietly stood behind his back and poked Tony's sides with his index fingers. The way he jumped, combined with an abrupt, startled sound was just priceless.


Z - Zap

Since the first time Tony had zapped Bruce on the hellicarrier, he developed a habit of zapping people each time he didn't like something. Once he had zapped Pepper as she was scolding him for missing a meeting. Once he had zapped Clint as he criticized his tie. Once he even had zapped Nick Fury, but the circumstances remained unknown. But the first person to lose patience with the genius, was Steve. After Tony nearly told him the ending of another book, spoiling the whole plot for him, Steve snapped and snatched the pen from the table, gritting "come here," through his teeth. It was the first time he saw Tony running away so fast. Because Tony liked to zap other people. By no means he wanted to be zapped.