True to his word, Eddie refused to leave Steve alone with any of the government people for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Even when the surprisingly nice nurse had come in to remove the various tubes Steve was attached to, including the catheter, and hadn't that been a delight, Eddie had hovered just outside the door like a skittish cat.

They'd kept him hooked up for one more night, just in case, but that morning the doctor had given him a clean bill of health.

"Thank you," Steve said as the nurse left.

She gave him a smile as she walked out as Eddie shot back in.

"All good?" Eddie asked.

"All good," he replied, even if he very definitely never wanted to repeat the experience. "But now I really want to be clean and to put on some real clothes."

He felt grimy, even though someone had given him a cursory wash since his imprisonment.

"That I can help with," Eddie said with a smile and opened the door to the left with a flourish. "Your shower awaits, Sir Stephan."

Steve swung his legs off the bed and Eddie was back by his side in a second.

"I'm fine," Steve tried to protest as Eddie hovered.

"You were unconscious for three days and fall asleep at the drop of a hat," Eddie replied, "let me worry. I am not allowing you to crack your skull open because you decided to take a nap under soothing hot water." He leaned in close. "And I thought you might like someone to wash your back," Eddie whispered, eyes flicking up to the security camera in the main room.

"Oh," Steve said, "yes, you might have a point."

"Good," Eddie said. "And once you're wrapped in a towel, I'll come back and get the clothes Robin brought in for you."

"You let Robin choose my clothes?" Steve asked in a panicked tone.

"It was her or Henderson," Eddie told him, ushering him into the small bathroom, "and it's not like either of them could be any worse than you at choosing."

"Just because you see in blue and black," Steve protested.

Eddie handed him a toothbrush and closed the door behind them.

"Stop complaining, brush your teeth, and I'll get the shower going," Eddie told him in his commanding DM voice.

The way Steve's stomach fluttered at the no-nonsense tone made his face heat up. Luckily for his dignity, Eddie was already turning away. Pushing that new bit of knowledge to the back of his brain he got on and did as he was instructed, but made sure to complain about it. He really did feel more human once his mouth didn't taste like something had died in it.

"You're not attached to the gown are you?" Eddie asked as Steve turned round from the sink.

"No," he replied, not sure where Eddie's thoughts were going.

"Good," his boyfriend said, "because, although I love the way your ass peeks out, it doesn't do the rest of you justice."

Steve tried to look over his shoulder, which was really dumb, but any view there might have been was quickly moot. Eddie took hold of the neck of the paper thin hospital wear and ripped it in two.

"You could have just undone the ties," Steve pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

"Where's the fun in that?" Eddie asked with a grin, giving him a very salacious up and down.

Steve could feel the blush rising up his chest and face. The way Eddie's eyes ate him up heated his skin.

"God, if I touch you now, we'll never get to the shower," Eddie said, apparently wrenching his gaze away. "I'll get the water going."

"I can do that," Steve said, "you get naked."

"But I want to look after you," Eddie complained.

"And you can, once you have no clothes on," he replied, leaning into the shower, and turning the dial.

Water shot out and hit the clear end of the cubicle. Putting his hand under it he waited for it to begin to heat up. Luckily it didn't take long.

"Warm yet?" Eddie asked from behind him, and he turned.

For a moment he forgot the question because Eddie was a vision. All pale skin, wiry muscle, and lithe lines. The scars that littered his body were like decoration, not flaws, and Steve couldn't figure out how he got so lucky to call this man his. The fact that Eddie had his hair piled into a messy bun, revealing the long line of elegant neck that was usually covered, made Steve want to kiss up it.

"Earth to Steve," Eddie said with a small, delighted smile.

"It's warm," he answered as he indulged in just looking.

"Then in we get, Big Boy," Eddie said. "Let's get wet."

And that went straight to Steve's cock. He let himself forget about everything else as he stepped under the spray at Eddie's insistence. All that mattered was Eddie and that moment, everything else he put away for later.

"Where did you get the hair tie?" he asked, which was probably a really dumb question, but it was the easiest one in his brain.

"Pocket," Eddie replied, sliding into the cubicle beside him. "I always carry one, because long hair is very metal, but it's really bad for painting miniatures and shop class."

"I like it up," Steve said, eyes still roving over Eddie's neck.

"Going all Dracula on me, Stevie?" Eddie asked, voice low and sexy.

"Don't tempt me," he replied as the memory of Eddie's blood raced through his thoughts.

Eddie leaned in and claimed his lips in a searing kiss.

"I'd let you bite me if you wanted," Eddie whispered as they parted.

The room brightened for a second and Steve's gums ached.

"You're going to kill me," he moaned, but he wasn't complaining.

"Only la petite mort, Lover," Eddie told him.

"La what?" he asked.

"La petite mort, it means the little death," Eddie told him, kissing him again as the water beat down on his back. "It's a fancy French way of saying orgasm. I read it in a book once."

"Sounds sexy," Steve admitted.

The way Eddie was happy to explain made him warm inside.

"That's the general idea," Eddie said, smiling again. "Now, before I get completely distracted, let's get that magnificent mane of yours wet, so I can get my hands on the first part of you."

Steve laughed and tipped his head back. For a few moments he lost himself in the wonderful feeling of hot water on his scalp.

"You should be illegal," he heard Eddie mutter. "Okay, about face," Eddie said louder, "I really want to be able to get my fingers in your hair."

"Only for you," he agreed and did as he was asked.

It was as Eddie reached for one of the bottles on the little shelf that Steve realised he recognised it.

"Is that my shampoo?" he asked.

"Yep," Eddie replied. "Figured you'd want to be clean so had Robin pick it up when she picked up your clothes."

"You're both angels," he said.

"We know," Eddie said with a laugh, before reaching out and touching his wet hair.

Steve was not used to someone taking care of him. He'd been doing everything for himself for a long time and he had Robin now, but they still had some boundaries. The way Eddie lathered shampoo into his hair made Steve want to melt. He had to hang on to the rail designed to help those less mobile get in and out of the shower to keep his balance.

"Okay, Stevie?" Eddie asked, standing so close Steve would have sworn he could feel Eddie's body heat, even with the shower running.

"Nice," he mumbled back, enjoying the sensations too much to form much of a coherent thought.

"You deserve nice and more," Eddie said, kissing the back of his shoulder. "If I had my way, I'd take you away and pamper you until you couldn't take it anymore."

"Where would we go?" he asked, letting himself enjoy the fantasy.

"Somewhere quiet," Eddie replied, massaging his scalp with those clever fingers, "and beautiful. All the mod cons though, I'm done with roughing it. Maybe a mountain cabin like you see on TV, with a deck looking out over a lake so we can sit in the sun and watch the water, maybe take a swim when we get too hot."

"Sounds good," Steve murmured, able to conjure the imaginary place into being in his mind from Eddie's words. "Do you think we have to worry about sunburn anymore?"

"Of course not," Eddie replied, "well at least not in fantasy land anyway. We could lie in the sun all day and not have to worry about anything."

"Warm and relaxed," Steve agreed, humming as Eddie's fingers worked his scalp.

"Just like you right now?" Eddie asked.

"Hmmmm," was all Steve could work up the will to reply.

Eddie's touch was firm but gentle and he had to remind himself not to drift off. If they weren't careful, he was going to need to use the seat that was strapped to the wall. He could think of some interesting things to use it for, but having to sit down because his legs gave out would be more embarrassing than sexy.

"Right, rinse off number one," Eddie said, and Steve did his best to make himself move.

Once his hair was clean, Eddie added conditioner and made him melt some more, before reaching for the washcloth and a bar of soap sitting beside the bottles.

"Hang on, Lover," Eddie told him, "let's get you clean."

Steve had plain run out of even remote resistance to anything Eddie was doing. He didn't even try to stop the ridiculously turned-on noises he made as soap was added to the proceedings. With anyone else he might have been embarrassed, after all he was perfectly capable of cleaning himself, but with Eddie he let go. His boyfriend washed him with gentle efficiency, making sure every trace of his ordeal was gone from his body.

Only once Steve was completely clean, did Eddie put down the washcloth and move on to touching him in a different way. Eddie was once again behind him as the warm water cascaded off his chest, washing off the last of the soap. He leaned back, using the handle on the wall to keep himself steady, even as he closed his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to feel as Eddie chose to start with his neck.

Each little kiss sent a shiver through Steve. He couldn't help it as each time Eddie's lips touched his skin, tiny rivulets of lightning tickled his nerves.

"You're so beautiful, sweetheart," Eddie told him between kisses. "Big and strong, scarred like a legendary hero. Each mark," Eddie kissed his shoulder blade where he knew there was a particularly noticeable silver reminder of the road-rash from the Upside Down, "a testament to your bravery. A reminder of each sacrifice."

Eddie's fingers danced over his side and his back, searing each scar as if it was a blessing.

"I want to kiss every...single...one," Eddie told him, "and I will, but I don't think we have time right now."

Steve moaned quietly at the promise.

"Right now, I will have to settle for making you feel good," Eddie continued. "Do you want to feel good, Stevie?"

He hummed in response, nodding as Eddie leaned in close so they were finally skin to skin. Clever guitar player's fingers dance around his side and up over his chest. Eddie ran his hands through the hair there, then down over Steve's abs and into his happy trail. He could feel Eddie's erection pressed up against the cleft of his ass and he suddenly wanted more. Only the distant knowledge of where they were and that their time was limited stopped him begging Eddie to take him there and then.

They hadn't gone that far yet, hadn't even discussed it in anything more than an abstract idea, but Steve was very sure he wanted Eddie in him at some point in the not-too-distant future. Or he wanted to be in Eddie, he was happy with either now that he thought about it. The idea made him tremble.

"Okay, Steve?" Eddie asked and the use of his real name snapped him back to the present.

"Yes," he replied, recognising the genuine question for what it was. "Want you."

"I want you too, Stevie," his boyfriend replied, kissing along the back of his neck.

Eddie's clever fingers also delved lower, curling around his cock.

"Fuck," Steve moaned as Eddie gave him a firm stroke.

He wasn't going to last long, he could already tell. It was like every touch had already telegraphed straight to his cock and they had all mounted on top of each other making him ridiculously responsive. His white-knuckle grip on the handle on the wall was the only thing grounding him.

"Like that, sweetheart?" Eddie asked, stroking him in a firm rhythm.

All he could manage was a deep moan. Eddie's dick twitched against his ass.

"So good for me," Eddie whispered into the back of his neck.

And that did it for Steve.

"Holy shit," he hissed, bucking into Eddie's hand as white-hot pleasure radiated all over his body and he shot his load against the shower wall.

"Oh, oh fuck," Eddie moaned, burying his face in Steve's shoulder, shuddering against him.

For a while Steve's brain was simply white noise, so it took him some time to realise Eddie was breathing hard against his back.

"Eds?" he asked as he came down.

It was hard to miss Eddie's hand still on his cock.

"Sorry," Eddie said, voice still muffled against the crook of his neck.

"What for?" he asked. "That was amazing."

"Supposed to be about you," Eddie replied, finally releasing him. "Not about me."

Testing out legs that felt like they were only slightly more stable than jello, Steve turned in his boyfriend's embrace.

"You think I would mind that you were into it too?" he asked, before diving in and stealing a quick kiss. "That just makes it better. We're connected, when it's good for you it's even better for me, so I'm being purely selfish here."

That made Eddie smile.

"Says the man who stepped between a semi-automatic weapon and a teenage girl four days ago," Eddie said and rolled his eyes.

"That was also purely selfish," he said. "El was getting us out of there."

"You keep telling yourself that, Big Boy," Eddie replied, clearly completely unconvinced. "Now, let's finish washing you off before they send a nurse in here thinking we both need rescuing."

Steve stole another kiss before acquiescing to Eddie's demands. They did get a little distracted on the way to finally stepping out of the shower, but they made it in the end. Steve gave his boyfriend a look when Eddie wrapped him in a towel, then hurriedly dried himself off and disappeared back into the other room.

"I did promise," was all Eddie said, so Steve dried himself.

On balance it was probably better than getting distracted yet again. Steve only had so much self-control and he wasn't overly inclined to engage it at the moment. He found Eddie intoxicating at the best of times, but the pure comfort in every touch made his resistance very low.

"Okay," Eddie said pulling out the vowels as he stepped back into the room, "I'm sorry, really I am."

Steve had a sinking feeling. Then he saw the white t-shirt in Eddie's hand.

"Oh, tell me she didn't," he said.

"She did," Eddie said and held up the t-shirt. "You really have to give me the story behind this one."

The shirt was a perfectly ordinary white affair from the back, but the front had a very disgruntled looking cartoon bear, with terrible bedhead on it, with the immortal words 'Bad Bear Day'. It was ridiculously cute and so not in keeping with Steve's image. In fact, it was nothing short of mortifying.

"Robin went on a trip with her parents and came back with that monstrosity," Steve said, and he knew he was whining. "She made me wear it for two shifts and promised she would never make me wear it again."

"And I think the moral of the story is 'don't frighten your platonic soulmate like that ever again'," Eddie said, hiding his grin very badly. "At least she brought you a jacket as well."

Steve sighed and accepted his fate.