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It wasn't like he'd always been like this. He knew that at one point in time, he was just as alive as everyone else. But now... he just wasn't, and while he couldn't exactly remember why he wasn't alive anymore, he did know that he wasn't. Remembering a lot about who he used to be wasn't that easy, but he did remember some things, like his name. He was Steve, he knew that.
"You know, I could try to figure something out so that you could have your own body full-time." The brunet was reclined on the couch, feet up on a pillow, a tablet abandoned beside him. An easy smile was plastered on his face. "It won't be easy, but I bet I could figure it out. I am a genius, you know."
"I know," Steve said, leaning against the back of the couch, looking down at the brunet. "I know you're smart enough, Tony, but really... that's unnecessary. I already ask enough of you, I don't need you putting any time and effort into something impossible like that."
The only good thing that came out of this was the fact that he met Tony. He wasn't exactly sure why Tony was able to see him while everyone else wasn't, but that didn't really matter. Having one friend was enough for Steve. And anyway, he wasn't sure if he'd ever had many friends before. He couldn't remember much, but Tony didn't have a problem with that.
Tony had been terrified at first, since Steve had just been wandering around before. No one had been able to see the 'mysterious blond guy', as Tony put it, who was wandering around the tower. Eventually he started talking with Tony, explaining to him what had happened, and it wasn't much longer before they became friends.
"It wouldn't be an issue Steve," Tony argued. "You know I'd do anything for you, right?"
"You already do enough... I can't tell you how long it's been since I've had a friend," Steve murmured, dropping down onto the couch.
"I can only imagine... since most people can't see you, it would be difficult to make friends," Tony shrugged. He sat up and slid closer to Steve. "So, are we gonna do this or what?"
By 'this' he meant letting Steve take control of his body. A faint smile played across Steve's lips as he slid a little closer to Tony. "I really can never pay you back for everything you've done for me."
"Hey, I'm pretty glad to have a friend, too," Tony said, smirking as he slid over so that they were both in the same space.
Steve closed his eyes and focused for a moment so that he was able to take control of Tony's body. He wouldn't be able to take control of most people, usually only when people were relaxed enough was he ever able to possess them. The feeling of 'being alive', even for just a short amount of time, was the best feeling in the world when you were a ghost. It was like getting stuck on cloud nine and just staying there for a while.
When Steve opened his eyes, he carefully moved a hand across the couch, just wanting to see if it worked or not. The fabric was rough beneath his fingers, and a wide smile crossed his face.
"Thank you Tony," Steve murmured, standing up and stretching. It felt so good to be able to move and feel the air and the floor and the couch and such...
No problem. You know you can use my body whenever you want to, as long as you return it in one piece, Tony said from the back of his mind. When possessing his body, Steve never took full control, because he didn't want to kick Tony out and cause him to get lost in the nothingness... plus it was nice, being able to hear his voice. Steve couldn't deny that he loved hearing Tony's voice.
One of the things that Steve loved most about having a body was being able to eat. As a ghost, he wasn't able to (and didn't need to) eat food. He couldn't feel anything, or taste anything... but when he had a body, everything seemed to taste so much better than he could ever remember. Tony never cared if Steve ate a bunch of food while possessing his body because another thing that Steve loved to do was work out.
"Muscle memory," Steve had pointed out once when Tony had been surprised about his defensive training. He had been shocked when he'd gotten something correct the first time he'd ever tried it, but it was something that Steve had done before when he took control of Tony's body. There were times when Tony trained with his friend Happy, and there were times when Tony trained 'solo', with Steve.
I really think that I'd be able to create something... I mean, creating a human body might be difficult, but I really think I could do it, Tony continued. I might not be able to get the body to look exactly like you, but I'm sure I could get it close.
"Tony, seriously, I'm fine being a ghost," Steve said, heading over to the kitchen. "I'd still be fine being a ghost if you never let me do this again." Hearing Tony's voice when he was talking was something that Steve had never gotten used to, even though this wasn't the first time he'd taken control of the brunet's body. "I'm just glad to be here."
I'm just glad to know you, was what Steve really wanted to say. He wondered if Tony knew that or not.
"Have you ever thought about leaving?" Tony was always one to ask the tough questions in the bluntest way possible.
"I've thought about it," Steve replied. He couldn't lie to Tony, he never could. Leaving was something that he'd thought about since he first 'woke up' as a ghost. But he hadn't left, because he felt like there was still something that he needed to do. It was a strong feeling, one that he trusted. Then he met Tony.
"Would you ever... just decide to leave?" He sounded fearful. Weak. Scared.
"No Tony... not unless you wanted me to. You're my friend, I couldn't just leave you alone," Steve murmured, offering a friendly smile.
Tony's face lit up with a grin. You'll never have to be alone again, I promise.
"I think you'd work pretty well with a team," Steve said, reading through the papers as Tony looked through the packet he'd been given.
Tony was standing in the kitchen with Steve beside him. Agent Coulson, a man who worked with an organization called S.H.I.E.L.D., had delivered the packet, promising more to come. He said that there was a chance that they might've found the leader for the wayward team, but he didn't give any more details than that.
"I don't know, Steve. I don't know if I'm quite the 'team player' they're looking for," Tony said. "Though if they do get Dr. Banner on the team, I definitely need to show him the lab and see if he'll work with me. That man speaks my language."
"Making friends will be good for you," Steve agreed. "I think you should say yes. It seems to only be a backup, though—in case anything bad happens, then you guys will work as a team, but if nothing happens... then it'll remain on paper."
"Yeah... they still haven't even found Dr. Banner yet. And I'm still curious on who they want to be the leader. I mean, I've already suggested that I could be the leader—while I'm not good at receiving orders, I'm very good at giving orders. I think I could do it," Tony said, grinning. When he glanced over at Steve, he could feel his heart flutter. If he could blush right now, Steve would be. But the good thing about being a ghost is that he didn't blush.
"I think you'd be a great leader," Steve replied. He believed in Tony, and while he might have to help him out—Tony had never led a team before, but there was something inside Steve that told himself that he had—Tony would still do fine on his own. "I wish I could get to know your team, too."
"Yeah," Tony said ruefully. "I doubt that they'll all be able to see you... I could tell them about you, though. It might freak them out, or they might think I'm crazy, but I could. Maybe they'll let you possess them, too."
Tony knew that Steve wanted to be able to touch him. He wanted to properly introduce himself—a proper handshake—and hug Tony to thank him. And while Tony didn't know about it, Steve also wanted to kiss him. But he couldn't—he especially couldn't, if he possessed someone, it would just be wrong to do that.
Steve opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly there was this pain that coursed through him, almost like electricity. Steve watched as his body faded for a moment—he couldn't hear anything as he faded, but he could see Tony shouting at him, eyes wide and fearful.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Tony asked when he stopped fading and was back to his normal ghosty self.
"I don't know," Steve whispered, looking at his hands. They were trembling. Steve's eyes met Tony's. "Something's wrong—it hurts—I don't know what's happening—"
Electricity coursed through him again, and Steve tried to reach out for Tony. His hand... it was almost gone, it was so faded. Fear pulsed through him as everything faded to black.
Steve opened his eyes. He wasn't in the tower anymore. There was a radio playing, but he didn't pay attention to that. What he paid attention to was the fact that he had a memory again. He could remember his childhood, his team, his best friend. He could remember what had happened to him—the plane crash, being a soldier, taking down the Red Skull. He could remember everything—wandering around, lost, meeting Tony...
Tony! Steve sat up quickly, hissing in pain as his joints didn't want to agree with him. He looked around at the blank walls, noticing a window. It appeared to be open, but he could tell that it was fake. There was something wrong here. Where was he?
This couldn't have been the 'after-life' that he'd always avoided going to. It just didn't feel like it at all. He could just feel pain that he shouldn't have been feeling.
And the blankets beneath his hands. He could feel the blankets beneath his hands! Steve jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain, and was shocked to find that he could feel the cold of the hardwood floor. He wasn't a ghost... he was human again.
Steve stared at his hands in amazement. He couldn't see through them. They looked real.
He was instantly on alert when the door opened to his left. Steve raised his fists, prepared to defend himself. There was a woman standing there, though Steve knew that she could be dangerous. He'd seen many women while he was staying with Tony that reminded him of Peggy.
"Where am I and how'd I get here?" Steve asked. He could tell that he appeared quite threatening. The woman had a little button in her hand that she pressed, and Steve instantly knew that he'd be facing some more people.
He wasn't surprised when two men in black suits and sunglasses came into the room, letting the woman leave.
"Stand down, Captain Rogers," one of the men said.
"Where the hell am I?" Steve growled. One of the men came towards him, too quickly, and on instinct he ended up throwing the man against the wall. What was surprising was the fact that the walls were so thin that the guy went right threw it. Steve hopped over the man, shocked to find himself in some sort of larger building, very different from the time he left, but not that different from what he'd learned with Tony.
There were more people in black suits who started pointing at him, shouting at him and following him. This place reminded Steve too much of Hydra, so he decided that the best plan of action was to leave. Luckily no one really wanted to try to fight Captain America, because he was able to run right out of the building and into the street.
Steve looked around, startled by the sudden loud noises, people everywhere, cars honking their horns, everything. It only took moments to figure out where he was. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the Hydra-like people flooding out of the building. Steve frowned. He wasn't going to get captured again. Steve turned around and ran, as fast as he could, in the direction of the tower.
Glad to find that he was just as fast as he had been before he took the plane down, Steve was easily able to outrun the men and women that had locked him up.
It took only minutes to reach the tower. Now, lucky for Steve, he knew the access codes for the personal elevator at the back of the tower, so he just headed straight over there. He had no idea of how long it had actually been since he'd seen Tony—things didn't look different, so hopefully it hadn't been that long—but to him it felt like it had only been minutes. Rationally, Steve knew it was longer than that.
Steve punched in the penthouse code and leaned back against the elevator when the doors shut behind him. Steve breathed a sigh of relief, letting his legs collapse underneath him as the elevator moved up.
He needed to see Tony... he promised that he'd never leave Tony alone. Steve knew about Tony's insecurities towards people that he cared about abandoning him, after everything that had happened in his past to betray his trust and break him down. It was only recently that Steve had seen Tony being to trust people again, so he didn't want to be the one that caused him to go back to not trusting people again.
He didn't want to be the one that hurt Tony. He didn't want to be the one who caused him to be in pain. Tony meant more to him than that.
The elevator stopped, and Steve pulled himself to his feet. He had to go find Tony... he had to make sure that Tony was safe.
When the doors opened, Steve could hear the whine of the Iron Man gauntlet powering up, ready to defend against intruders. He could see the fear on Tony's face, the instant the door was opening.
Fear became confusion, surprise, then joy. Steve took a step forward, extending a hand to Tony, who carefully took it, like he didn't believe that Steve was actually standing there. The moment their hands met, Steve pulled the shorter man into his arms, hugging him close, letting them drop down to their knees as Tony cried on his shoulder.
"I told you I'd never leave," Steve whispered, keeping Tony held close.