Maybe We Can Work (stony fanfic)

"Capsicle, don't treat me like a baby."

Steve's POV

"Well, I don't think that it's anything bad. I'm pretty sure it's positive. I just need you to keep an eye on him in case there are any changes in his current condition." Bruce stuck his pen behind his ear.

It was 4 in the morning, almost dawn. Bruce's 'simple check-up' had taken an hour and a half. I was exhausted. He was exhausted. If Tony was awake, I'm sure he'd be moaning about how he was exhausted as well.

"Does talking to him help? Has he ever said anything other than your name? Is it always just at random?" Bruce asked, trying to find his pen, which was tucked behind his ear exactly where he'd put it just seconds ago. Eventually he found it, and started noting things down on his clipboard.

"No... Uh, he just says my name sometimes. It's always random. It's always my name. He might say it soon."

Almost as soon as I'd said that, Tony said my name. It wasn't a whisper, like usual.

"Alright. I see. That's important. Very. But, Steve, it's 4 am. Can we just sort this out a bit later? We've both had about 5 hours of sleep between us these past few days. We need to sleep. I'll come back about 9."

He left, looking weary. I threw myself down on the little chair and tried to sleep.

---

"Steve. I'm..."

I woke up straight away.

"Tony? I'm right here. What's wrong? Please try to tell me." I rushed to his bedside.

His eyes fluttered open and he looked right at me.

"I need..."

"You're awake. Okay. I'll get Bruce. I'm not panicking. What? I'm getting Bruce." I was totally panicking. Tony was awake, well and truly. I picked up Tony's phone from the bedside.

I was scrolling through all the s's in Tony's contacts (seriously, how many people does he know whose names start with s?) when Tony spoke up again.

"I need some... Water." Tony said, trying to sit up and getting pulled back by the wires holding him. I tried to hold back a laugh, and seeing the frustrated look on Tony's face, that was the right thing to do. He propped himself up a little

"Okay. Water. Then Bruce." I ran out of the room to the vending machine across the hall, pushed in some coins and grabbed the bottle of water that came out the bottle. I sprinted back to Tony and handed him the bottle. He unscrewed it himself and had a drink.

"Is that okay? I'm gonna call Bruce." I said, picking up the phone and locating Bruce's contact.

"Capsicle, don't treat me like a baby. It's my phone. I'll call him." Tony seemed fine now that he'd had a drink. He reached out his arms for his phone.

"You can't. One, you're still attached to all those wires. Two, you've just woken up. Three, Bruce will have a heart attack." I listed off reasons.

"Okay, okay. Fine. But can you not tell him yet? Just... I want to ask you some questions." Tony tried to move into a more comfortable position but once again, the wires restrained him.

"Fine." I said, putting down his phone and sitting next to him on the edge of his hospital bed. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, there's probably something I should tell you first." He paused, probably just to be dramatic. That's Tony for you. "I heard everything while I was in the coma or whatever that was. I tried to communicate, but it never worked. All I could manage was your name. So, yeah, I heard everything. I heard that you're gay, that you... Um... Well, I just heard everything."

Oh god. That meant he heard me when I was talking to him at night, when I was talking to Natasha, even the first day that I was talking to Nick Fury. When I said that I liked Tony. Damn.

"Oh. Okay. Everything? Wow. Um... Well, you have questions?" I couldn't quite look Tony in the eye.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Oh okay. That's not bad. I can answer that. Totally not what I was expecting.

"I think it's been about 3 days. It feels like longer, though."

"Oh. Wow. It felt like forever. I felt like I was trapped in another dimension. I counted that you were offered coffee 54 times."

"Yeah. Everyone I passed offered me a coffee. Any more questions?"

"Um, yeah. Do you... Do you actually like me? I mean, I heard you talking to Nat and Fury. You said maybe. So, like, do you?" Tony was stuttering, which was completely unusual for him. He was always cocky and confident about everything.

"Um..." I paused, unsure of how to answer. "I think so. Just please don't hate me. I know... You probably don't feel the same way. Just... Sorry. Sorry." I looked down at my hands, which were knotted in my lap.

"Uh well. That's the thing. I... I feel the same way as you do. I like me, Steve." Tony grinned, practically back to his usual self already. "No, I'm just kidding. I like you. Maybe we could work?"

I looked up and met Tony's eyes. I swear, I would've kissed him there and then - if there hadn't been a knock at the door.

Bruce walked in.

"Hey, Steve, d'you want-" He cut short when he saw Tony, lying peacefully on the bed, wide awake. He practically did a double take. "STEVE! Why didn't you call me as soon as he woke up?"

"I... Well, I was going to but... See, Tony wanted to ask me some questions before I got you, because we both knew you'd want to take him for check-ups."

"Fine. You still should have called me. So, Tony, I need you to do some check-ups. I'm just gonna unhook you from almost everything. Apart from your drip and your oxygen." He started carefully removing the wires from Tony.

"Can I help?" I asked. I don't really like standing awkwardly, not being able to help the guy I may possibly love. Bruce just kinda nodded, and continued gently tugging away wires. Luckily, I don't think he heard any of Tony and I's conversation.

While Bruce was pulling out a wire from Tony's chest, I quickly kissed his forehead, then pressed my finger to my lips before he could say anything and distract Bruce. He grinned and pressed his own finger to his lips.

"Hey! Would you please stop moving? And, Steve, if you're going to help, please actually help instead of kissing my patients." Bruce said without looking up. Tony grinned again, his chocolate eyes bright.

"I've got to have a little fun. I've done nothing but drink coffee the past few days. I've not even left the room, other than to get you a coffee." 

"Damn son." Tony laughed, unsettling Bruce, who was unhooking a wire from his left arm.

"Language."

---

Little A/N-

I had to get that in there! PS I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I really enjoy writing each chapter but that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll enjoy reading them. However, I really hope you do!

Added Bit-

I'm rereading the story right now and editing bits so it will hopefully get better. Also, I probably won't remove this bit later, so if you're reading this and it's not been edited out, sorry about that.