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Marshal Steve Rogers stood tall in the local command center, observing the panels that monitored the stats and visuals of twin pilots Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. He shifted his hands behind his back, watching as the siblings went through pre-Drift protocols.
Sergeant Sam Wilson toggled with the secondary consoles off to the side, pulling up the news feeds of K-Day celebrations in memoriam around the world. “Looks like the other ‘Domes already got half their Jaegers in the air, sir. Just waiting on your go-ahead.”
“Let’s not keep them waiting, then.” Motioning to his Chief Tech Officer, Steve announced, “Prepare for Neural Handshake.”
“Initiating Neural Handshake.” From her seat, Natasha Romanoff flipped switches and adjusted dials on the main LOCCENT console. Almost immediately, the nuclear reactor housed in Scarlet Witch’s chest glowed to life. She reached over to calibrate the projected hologram of the Rangers’ two brain hemispheres, mentioning casually, “Okay, Scarlet’s lining up nicely.”
Just as Steve opened his mouth to continue procedure, the voice of Dr. Bruce Banner came in from the command center doors. “Marshal! Marshal, I need to talk to you!”
Steve glanced at the scientist over his shoulder, and then returned to the data readouts on the screens. “Time and place, Banner. The people of the world are waiting for the Jaeger crews to be out parading for the K-Day anniversary. We’re in the middle of a –”
“Tony created a neural bridge from garbage and Drifted with a kaiju!”
A violent shiver ran up Steve’s spine, and he physically flinched. It was like his ears started ringing. His mind flooded with a thousand thoughts before the words were falling out of his mouth: “Sam, you’re in command. Natasha, proceed without me.”
“Yes, sir,” they both replied, shooting Steve a look of concern before he and Bruce hurried out of the LOCCENT.
The two of them ran through the corridors and down five flights of stairs to avoid the inevitable wait from the elevators, reaching the K-Science laboratory in no time. Out of breath, Bruce led Steve through the doors, trying to explain the situation. “I just – he was on the ground, almost like he was seizing up. I didn’t… I didn’t know what else to do.”
Dr. Anthony Stark was sitting on a stool when they passed the threshold, hands shaking as he lifted a bottle of water to his lips. He looked up when the two others approached, his eyes directly meeting Steve’s. With a wagging finger, Tony said to the Marshal, “I told you it’d work.”
“And I thought I told you not to do it,” Steve shot back, clenching his teeth. Anger and disappointment had been coursing through his veins from the moment the words had left Bruce’s mouth. Seeing Tony now, with dried blood coming from his nose and eyes blown so wide they were black, all Steve felt was apprehension and short-lived relief.
Tony sipped at his water, running his free hand through his tousled hair like he always did when he got anxious. His brown eyes flickered back to Steve as he walked closer. “Quit worrying already, I’m fine.”
“You are decidedly not fine, Tony!” Bruce yelled, throwing his hands up. “You could’ve died.”
“But I didn’t!” Tony replied pointedly.
“Shut up.” Steve was standing in front of him now, a deep frown fixed on his lips. He and Tony stared at each other for a few long moments before he sighed. After finding the handkerchief in his suit pocket, Steve reached out and began rubbing at the blood on Tony’s face. “You’re the dumbest smart person I know, Stark.”
“Marshal, c’mon, the things that I was able to –”
A humorless laugh escaped Steve’s lips, but he only moved to grab Tony’s chin with the other hand to keep him still. “You can tell me about whatever the fuck you saw, but not right now. Right now, you let me take care of you. Capisce?”
Tony opened his mouth again to protest, but one stern look from Steve had him closing it again. His eyes softened significantly as a smile found a way onto his lips. “You sick of me yet?”
“After all these years?” Steve questioned, fighting back a grin. His thumb grazed the side of Tony’s face tenderly. “I’m used to it by now.”
“Touché. You did know what you were getting into when you married me –”
Bruce sputtered from behind them, “Married!?”
Oh, shit. They’d both forgotten that they weren’t alone. Steve’s eyes widened as Tony began to stammer over his words, looking like a fish out of water. As his husband tried finding the words, Steve grinned at Bruce sheepishly. “I’ll approve any of your research funding requests if this doesn’t leave this lab.”
Bruce snorted out a laugh. “Deal! I was just going to say ‘congrats’, but that’s even better.”
Tony wheezed, shaking his head as he cackled. He leaned forward then, pressing his forehead against Steve’s suit jacket.
