Your relationship with Tony Stark was complicated to say the least; there wasn't a strong enough word in any language suitable for the mess that you had created together. Steve thought that he had a flash of brilliance when he introduced the two of you, finally seeing a match of intellect, sarcasm and humor in you that no one had been able to handle from the man for more than a few weeks, leaving a long list of names that were too quickly forgotten.

In many ways, the Captain was right; you and Tony were off and running on the first day when Nick Fury brought you to the tower to meet your new team. Steve had met you on a mission right before the fall of SHIELD, immediately recruiting you before you could be picked up by another agency. It was a move that he was making for himself by getting another strong team member, but also for Tony after watching him live a bachelor's life that Steve knew he wasn't really enjoying no matter what he had said.

But for you and Tony, it wasn't nearly as romantic and meant-to-be as Steve had hoped. You both had told him that you were great as best friends, but anything more would be strange and neither of you had interest in pursuing it. Despite your best effort, your casual manner with each other kept him in disbelief, seeing stolen glances across rooms between you, effortless contact as you passed by in the hall or dancing around each other in the kitchen as you cooked, sitting on his lap on movie night, and laughter that echoed throughout the building with a happiness that neither of you could possibly be faking.

For you and Tony, it was nothing but casual fun; using sex as a fantastic stress reliever and escape from reality when things got a bit too heavy. The first time the relationship shifted, it was after a particularly dangerous mission with high casualties and the weight of blame once again on the Avengers. All it took was one look from Tony as he stepped off the quinjet and an unspoken agreement was made, finding you in his room only minutes later.

The second invitation was yours to give, after Nick pulled you aside to call you a 'distraction' to Tony and threatened to take you off of the team. It took barely a whisper of your hand across the back of his neck as you passed by him in the lab to break his concentration; he followed eagerly behind, barely making it to a small office just across the hall when you couldn't wait any longer.

Now, nearly a year later, after almost twelve successful months of hiding the true nature of your relationship, you found yourself not caring anymore if anyone knew. The decision to let the truth out was almost made for you when Steve accidentally walked in on the two of you in the quinjet, seeing far more of Tony than he would ever admit to, and far more than he ever cared to.

"I knew it! I told you so!" he hollered in shock, slapping his hand over his wide eyes, though not turning to walk away as fast as he maybe should have.

"Great, Cap, you win, a whole year later," Tony replied equally as loudly but with a wide smile at the situation, "congratulations! "Now could you maybe let us finish?"

"Right, sorry...sorry," he mumbled, stumbling back out into the hangar with cautious peeking through his fingers to find his way. "If it helps, Tony, I can tell that you've been working out again."

"Steve!" you hissed. "Why in the hell do you think that would help?!"

~~~

After the incident that would forever be known as "Taking Cap's Innocence", your mind began to spin and question what it was that you and Tony were really doing. It drove you mad to be that person that needed to ask the 'what are we' question, when you had always agreed that you were casual, but that was a year ago now and it didn't feel the same. You had thought everything was great until your mind sabotaged you and now it was all you could think about, and you wondered if Tony was having any of the same questions that you were.

But every time you tried to talk about it, either you were too nervous, the team would get called out, or he was too busy working on some new invention which would keep him tied up in the lab for days on end. It didn't keep you from continuing to meet up at any given time of the day, however, though you were just prolonging the inevitable conversation. Until something happened that couldn't put it off anymore.

"Steve, could you...I need you to..." you asked in a low mumble, "...would you come with me for a sec?"

Natasha gave Bruce a skeptical glance at your stammering and uncomfortable posture as you leaned on the door frame of the kitchen, waiting for Steve to agree with a face full of concern as he quickly followed you away.

"What do you know about that?" she asked quietly.

"Why would I know anything?" Bruce shrugged.

"Well, you're the only one sitting here, so who else am I gonna ask?"

"Valid point," he sighed, returning to the newspaper in his hands, "but still, I've got nothing."

She chewed at the inside of her lower lip as she replayed what she had just seen in her mind, running through scenarios and possibilities. After a moment, she cocked her head to the side and caught the final glance of Steve before you pushed him through a door at the end of the hallway. "They are so doing it," she smirked, pulling a section of paper from his grip. "I'm ashamed of myself for not seeing it sooner."

"Okay, now that you've got me shoved into a closet that I barely fit into, much less being jammed in here with you, what's so important that we have to hide?" Steve groaned, struggling to breathe in the tiny space.

You reached into your pocket and pulled out the long white stick with the bright plus sign at its center, holding it up so that he could get a clear look. "What the hell do I say to him, Steve?"

"Why are you asking me?!"

"Because you're the only one who knows about us, and now you're the only one who knows about this, so welcome to my hell."

~~~

When you finally worked up the courage to try to talk to Tony, the words felt wrong in your mouth and your voice felt as weak as you did. You were already a bundle of nerves with just a hint of nausea, scared of the reaction that he would give you. You wondered if maybe it was too soon, and you should wait a bit and take another test, but then it came to you; maybe you weren't feeling different about the relationship, you were feeling different because you were the one who was changing in so many ways. When it was time to finally tell him, of course you had no words; nothing made sense, and everything was coming out wrong.

"So, what, you're not having fun with this anymore?"

"That's not what I'm saying, Tony."

"Well, I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you're being a bit too cryptic for me. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm gonna need you to dumb it down."

"Maybe I don't know what I'm saying," you gave up, sighing with a defeated drop of your shoulders. "I don't know what's going on. My head is a mess, and just need time to think about everything. It's...it's a lot to deal with right now."

Suddenly, Tony looked like he was just slapped in the face, when this shift in your mood had come out of nowhere from his perspective. He took a precautionary step back, subconsciously already distancing himself from you; he had been through this conversation more times than he cared to admit, but he never thought that he'd hear it from you. "You have to think about me? Did I do something wrong?" he asked almost meekly. "You're breaking up with me, right?"

"No...I'm not...but Tony, I have to ask...were we ever really together?"

~~~

The next day, with no resolution and no other contact with Tony besides that horribly failed conversation, you found yourself sitting in a ridiculously ornate and uncomfortable party dress with Natasha at your side, crammed into a car on the way to a surely dull party. Tony and Steve sat directly across from you, posing as your dates for a quick undercover mission for the evening. Steve worked hard to convince you that it would be fun and that maybe a date night, albeit a fake one, was what you needed with all of the stress you were under.

"So, Cap, it's you and me, right?"

"Um, no, actually Nat's with me on this one."

She stared at him with much the same expression, mixed with confusion and surprise, while Tony sat uncharacteristically silent, looking only at his hands as he wrung them in his lap. "Why aren't you two together?" she asked. "Wouldn't that make more sense?"

"Why would that make more sense?" Steve asked, now equally as confused. "You and I have done this before, and I think (Y/N) and Tony are pretty convincing."

"It's fine," Tony finally added, "we have to pretend for only a few hours."

The car came to a stop and Steve let himself out first on the left, with Tony exiting on the right, each man holding the door for you and Nat, though they were immediately on alert and searching the area as subtly as possible. Tony dropped his hand to his side and turned it towards you to take, gently pulling you out of the vehicle to stand next to him. His arm wrapped around your waist naturally, and he put on his best smile to get past the crowds and into the building to take your positions. "You do look beautiful, if I forgot to mention it."

"Thanks, you look pretty great yourself."

"Right," he smiled weakly. His eyes lingered on you for a moment past comfortable, shaking himself back into the moment, "so, okay, let's get this over with. How about you mingle with that group of snotty looking women over there while I grab us a drink? I'll join you in a minute."

"Just a ginger ale, please."

"Ginger ale?" he scoffed. "Since when?"

"I'm just a little queasy, I read that it would help."

"That's rough, I'm sorry." Tony looked at you with genuine concern for a moment, with his eyes softening for barely a second before returning to his smartass attitude for the night. "Jeez, (Y/N), you get yourself knocked up or something?"

You tried your best to hold your composure, giving him a quick and obligatory smile before turning towards the women that were your target. Tony was extremely intuitive for the most part, and this would be a terrible time for him to read your expression. You had already lost your nerve trying to tell him once, and you would definitely fail if you tried here. "My god, could you imagine?"

"Yeah", he whispered as you left his side, "yeah, I think I could."

He watched you put on your fake smile and try to blend in with the women you were sent in to get information from, remarkably appearing to earn their trust quickly when you turned and pointed to him with a little wave and they all followed suit. It wasn't a common thing for Tony to feel uncomfortable under the attention of a woman, but this felt strange to him, almost as if he were being objectified; he pulled at his collar uncomfortably, feeling suffocated and choking as he quickly downed his drink and hoped for a fast buzz to hit.

"Hey, what's going on with you?" Steve asked in a quiet tone, pushing up next to him at the bar. "You're acting weird. Or is that a part of the role you're playing, like socially awkward science guy or something?

"I'm fine," Tony waved dismissively, "never better."

"You can't lie to me, Tony. (Y/N) looks like something's off too."

"Yeah, well...we're kind of..," he stammered, suddenly feeling like he didn't know what to do with his hands, "...well, not kind of..."

"Pregnant?" Steve smirked, but almost immediately dropped his smile when he realized his error, and that you hadn't told him yet. He cleared his throat and muttered a few awkward groans under his breath, taking down his own drink quickly and pushing his and Tony's glasses to the bartender for a refill.

"No, definitely not. We're taking a break."

When the bartender put their newly filled glasses in front of them, Steve didn't even notice. When the music grew louder and Natasha was trying to get his attention from only a few feet away, he didn't notice that either. The only thing that Steve was focused on was Tony's pain as those words left his lips, and the realization that what the two of you had meant far more to him than he had let on. He wondered if even you knew how Tony really felt.

"Tony, no, I can't accept that."

"What do you mean, you can't accept it? I didn't know that you were so invested."

"Go talk to her right now. The mission can wait a few minutes."

"Cap, she's right in the middle of getting in with the bitch brigade over there," Tony pointed, again, feeling that ache in his chest when he looked at you. "Have you ever gotten in her way when she was working?"

"Tell her I sent you in then, I don't care. Get your butt over there and talk to her." When Tony reached out for his drink to quell his nerves before walking into his guaranteed death by your hand, Steve took it instead, sliding it across the bar and well out of his reach. "Nope, man up. You need your wits about you for this."

"Fine," he sighed, crossing the floor cautiously as he made his way to you. When you looked over your shoulder and saw him approaching, you almost didn't recognize the man. His posture was a bit broken, and his hands were uncomfortably pushed deep into his pockets as he walked, watching his feet and not where he was going. His shuffling feet was reminiscent of a punished child, walking towards their fate, and it broke your heart to see; Tony Stark was not this man, and it was your doing that made him this way.

"Excuse me, ladies, I'll be right back."

He didn't see you when you approached, because he was still sadly looking at his feet. He also didn't see when your primary target approached, the man you were there to find, holding a gun just under the sleeve of his suit coat. By the time you rushed forward and pushed Tony to the ground and out of the way, he still hadn't seen you coming and was in complete shock to suddenly have you slamming him onto his back with a hard crash that knocked the wind from his chest.

"Steve!" you called out, but Natasha was already in action, engaged in the fight amongst both screaming and bewildered partygoers while Steve made his way to the two of you. "Tony, are you okay? Were you hit?" You pushed back and saw blood on his shirt, so you hurried to tear the cloth away, only to find nothing there. "Wait, where's that coming from?"

"Oh, shit, sweetheart, it's from you!" he panicked, pushing himself out from under you and grabbing your arms to lay you gently on the floor that had just held him. "Don't move, okay? Cap, we need an ambulance over here, (Y/N)'s been hit!" His voice and movements were almost frantic, and even though you were the one who had been hurt, you felt the need to protect him and to try and calm him down.

"It's not bad, Tony," you groaned, now finally beginning to feel the pain after he had moved you. "I don't think it hit anything major."

"Yeah, that makes me feel better," he scoffed. "You're still shot, stop downplaying it. You always do that."

"You do the same thing!"

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not-" he stopped with a heavy sigh, taking off his coat to cover you while he tore the part of your dress away that covered your wound. "Fine, we both do it, okay?" He tried to cover the shaking in his hands as he worked, feeling his anxiety building to see you like this, but he finally just decided that if he trusted anyone to see him this way, it was you.

"Hey, medics are on the way," Steve panted as he ran up to you, kneeling on the floor at your side. "(Y/N), you okay? Where were you hit? Is the baby okay?"

Your body immediately froze out of pure terror once the words were out and there was no taking them back. "Oh, fuck...Steve," you hissed, closing your eyes as if that would make the moment go away. Even through your closed lids, you could feel Tony's stare on you and the angry confusion that he must have been projecting. "Steve...why?"

Steve looked at Tony's expression and mimicked yours, slamming his eyes shut and turning away in complete embarrassment and regret at giving your secret away. He knew full well that you hadn't told Tony yet, but his worry for you had gotten the best of him; sometimes the filter between his brain and his mouth just doesn't work, and he cursed that this had to be one of those times.

"What did he just say?" Tony whispered, almost inaudibly through lips that were losing their color as it drained from his face in shock. "(Y/N), answer me."

"You heard right," you finally relented, willing your eyes open to look at him. The only thing that you could imagine that you would see in him was disappointment and fear, but what you actually saw wasn't what you expected; a smile was growing and his eyes were glistening. It was a welcome sight, but nonetheless a complete surprise. "Well that's not what I thought I would see..."

"Wow," he exhaled softly, glancing over to see Steve looking almost as dumbfounded and happy as he was. "Wait, I should probably ask...it's mine, right?"

"Oh my god, you're such an ass!" You reached up to slap his arm but it took your breath away, pulling at your injury and making you wince in pain. "Such an ass..."

"Where the hell is that ambulance, Rogers?" he hissed, growing serious again. "My future wife and child are hurt and I'm about to carry them there myself."

"Excuse me," you broke in, "but I don't recall being asked?"

"Well I didn't think I had to? I kind of assumed..."

"Of course you did. You know that's why people always get so pissed-"

"Um, excuse me," Steve interrupted with a hand raised cautiously, "but I'd like to add something."

"What?!" you and Tony growled in unison, scaring him a bit with your angry glares now directed on him.

"I just wanted to take this moment to say that I call dibs on best man, godfather, and once again that I told you so."

Part 2

"What are you going to do, (Y/N)? Keep her in there forever?" Tony snapped, trying to keep his composure and completely failing. Quickly realizing that he was being out of line when both your doctor and nurse glared at him in disbelief, he took a long breath and began again, trying to keep his own building anxiety at bay. "You have to push, sweetheart."

"But I'm so tired. I can't do it anymore, Tony."

"Listen to me, (Y/N)," the doctor interrupted, "I know that you're exhausted, but you've done so well. I need you to keep going for just a little longer."

When you opened your eyes again and looked up at Tony, his expression shifted. He could see that when you said that you were tired, you meant it. When you said that you couldn't do any more, you were done. You could barely keep your eyes focused on him and your grip on his hand wasn't nearly as strong as it had been in the hours before; but that's what twenty-seven hours in labor will do to a person. Your will to push even one more time was completely gone, and the only thing that you wanted was sleep.

"Hey, doc," he said quietly, worry in his eyes and his gaze staying fixed on you, "I think maybe it's time to go with plan C."

"Mr. Stark, your wife made it very clear that she didn't want a C-section unless there were no other options."

"(Y/N), look at me," Tony urged gently, squeezing your hand and pushing your hair from your sweaty forehead with the other, "say plan C, please. You're scaring me."

It took everything you had just to nod at him in agreement, and the fight to keep your eyes open was proving to be a losing battle. "C", you murmured weakly and breathed a sigh of relief that your endless hours of torture were about to be over. Tony leaned down, pressing his forehead against yours with the same relief as you; smiling at the idea that you were both about to share something that he never though would happen for him. It had never even crossed his mind as so much as a fleeting thought until you.

"Thank you, honey, thank you," he breathed out a sigh of relief, leaving a kiss on your forehead as he pulled back to let them get you ready to move. "Let's go meet her, okay?"

~~~

"Mr. Stark, we told you it was a bad idea to look over the screen."

"Mr. Stark, please, sit down."

"No, Mr. Stark, don't touch that."

"Mr. Stark, are you feeling okay? You look really pale."

"Nurse, please assist Mr. Stark off the floor."

~~~

A few gentle taps on your window woke you from your sleep, turning your head slowly through your fatigue to see Steve trying to get Tony's attention. Tony was sitting in a rocking chair next to your bed, slowly moving back and forth with his focus nowhere other than on you and the tiny little person in his arms. It was a picturesque moment if you had the strength to capture it; when Tony finally noticed Steve and summoned him in, he had his camera in hand and caught the scene as if he had read your mind.

"Look at you, Tony," Steve whispered, "you look like a completely different person."

"What did I ever do to deserve this, Cap?" he replied just as quietly, thinking you were still asleep. "I've been trying to think of something, but nothing that I've ever done even compares to this. I've probably done enough that this should have been kept from me as a punishment, ya know?" He looked at you, with your eyes closed again, and shook his head in continued disbelief. "I don't get it."

"Come on, you absolutely deserve this, Tony. Don't do that to yourself."

With a dark chuckle, Tony brought the little girl up to his lips for a kiss on her head before carefully handing her to his friend. "It's what I do. I've gotten really good at it over the years." Once Steve had a secure hold on the baby and was seated to Tony's satisfaction for her safety, he pushed his own chair closer to your bed so that he could hold your hand while you slept.

"Do you guys have a name yet?"

"Yep."

Steve sat expectantly for a moment, trying to be patient but the anticipation was killing him. If Tony would spit it out, he would be the first one besides the two of you to know her name, and he had to make that happen. "...and?"

"Stephanie Antonia."

"I like it," Steve nodded, unable to take his eyes away from the sight of her, tiny in contrast to his large hands and muscular arms. "I was wondering how you were going to get your name into there for a girl."

"We got your name in there too, genius. Well, as close as we could get, anyway."

"Wait...what?" he gasped, finally looking up with wide eyes full of shock. "Why...why would you do that?"

"Come on, Steve, you know why," Tony laughed, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes when the sting of exhaustion finally began to catch up with him. "You got me to quit moping around and see was I was about to lose. And...we thought it would be cool to have something to share with her godfather. You know, since you called dibs, and all."

"Okay, that's enough. You're gonna make me cry," Steve sniffled slightly, with a quick pass of his sleeve over his eyes. "I can't let her know that I'm really a big softie already, or she'll know that she can get away with everything."

"Please," Tony groaned, "you're just preaching to the choir over here, man."

~~~

Three days later you were both released from the hospital and ready to go home, none of you more eager than Tony. Each member of the team was eager to help, so much so that you had almost nothing to do while they allowed you to heal and adjust. Even Tony had found himself with more free time than any new father should have had. Steve had mastered the diaper change so effectively that he could change the little one without even waking her up. Natasha lived for feedings, spending hours rocking her back and forth long after she was finished, just watching her sleep, completely enthralled in the peacefulness of it.

But of everything that had changed even in just the first week, and everything that had made your days already so much better, there was one thing that completely melted your heart the first time you had seen it.

When you walked into the living room that night, the lights were turned down low, with a hazy glow from the television allowing you to see your way through the room. You could see the top of Tony's head as you approached the back of his chair, and could hear the gentle breaths as he slept. Rounding the corner to see him and wake him so that he could get to bed properly for the night, you stopped at the sight of Stephanie splayed out over his chest, lying on her belly as she slept atop him, his hands holding her securely even in his slumber.

"I couldn't leave," Steve whispered from the couch, curled up with a blanket haphazardly draped over him and nearly asleep as well. "What if his hand slips or she rolls over and falls off?"

"Steve, she's a week old. She can't roll yet, so I think we're safe."

"Says you," he scoffed, reluctantly rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a long yawn, "that's why I take my godfather role very seriously."

His yawn was contagious, leaving you to do the same, your body deciding that you wanted to just join everyone here rather than getting them all upstairs and risking waking the baby on the way. "Scoot," you nudged Steve, pushing him up against the back of the cushions to make room for you. He lifted the blanket, holding his arm up to let you in; once you had settled against him, he dropped his heavy arm over you and was softly snoring almost immediately now that he didn't feel that he had to be on watch for tipping babies.

Just before your eyes drifted shut for sleep, you gave one last look to the man who you had once described as someone that you could never see yourself taking as anything serious, and insisting back then that you two were just having fun with each other. Looking at Tony now, you couldn't imagine how you ever would have felt that way about him; he was one of the two people that you could never live without, and you had your now-snoring-in-your-ear best friend to thank for it. Gently rolling over just enough, you left a quick peck of a kiss on Steve's cheek before letting yourself finally rest.

"Thank you, Steve," you murmured quietly, "you were right all along."

He muttered something under his breath that you weren't sure if you heard correctly or not, but you had a strong suspicion that you had, and it would be just like him to say in this moment.

"I told you so."