stardustly | au scenarios open post

Clearly displeased by the idea, Steve still gave a nod of his head in the end because what other choice did they actually have at the moment? The snow prevented Tony from wandering out in human form and there could be other dangers lurking around too. "Okay, we should probably go now." Completely no nonsense but he needed to focus his mind on the task at hand and away from the weakness still tugging at him.

"You can keep an eye on the skies and I'll have a lookout on the ground." Not bothering to wait for a reply, Steve made his way out of the cave and towards the many blankets of white.

What could hydra be up to? They needed to discover it quickly.

With a gust of breath heavy enough to blow smoke, Tony slowly climbed to his feet. He took one moment to glance back at his pile of discarded armor, then quickly shoved it as far out of sight as possible. Nothing for it but to come back later, unfortunately. Strapping it to his back would just make things even more obvious.

That more or less accomplished, he ducked out of the cave to trail after Steve. It didn't take much to catch up with him, given four legs and a whole lot of extra height. He seemed placidly content to just keep pace with him at the moment, though those reptilian blue eyes were a lot more focused on Steve himself than anything else.

"And what exactly are we planning to do if we find something?"

"We'll take care of it," Steve responded, giving the dragon a significant look. Couldn't a dragon handle most things they might run into before they found safer ground? They needed to find such a place before nightfall. If they found a vehicle they could make it to the town easier. They really should have prepared better for being in the middle of no where.

"I'm more worried about the elements right now. It stormed harder overnight and we don't have any supplies that made it through the attack." Not any food or water.

He kept moving forward, limbs so heavy and tired. "Do you remember how far that town is? It has a base there."

"I don't think me going into town right now is a great idea." Steve could probably go alone, though. Tony was a lot more prepared to just hunker down and wait it out on his own, even if he didn't love the idea of letting Steve wander off by himself.

Especially given the way he was looking now. Tony watched him for another moment or so, then stepped out in front of him and dropped down as low as he could get. "Hey. Want a lift?"

Pausing in his trek, Steve gazed at the dragon silently for a moment. "I just need to get to the base to call for help. We can find you somewhere safe along the way and when help is coming you can shift back." Simpler than what would probably end up happening but he wanted to be optimistic. This also led on the assumption Tony would let him out of his sights for an extended period of time.

As for the lift, he considered it and almost shook in his head but in the end he accepted. "Just to be quicker. Not because I feel bad." With the serum in place, he should ever feel badly and it worried him more than he wanted to let onto. What did the water do to him? What did those odd hydra agents do to him?

"Of course," Tony agreed dryly, but as long as it got Steve moving than he wasn't going to complain. He kept carefully still as Steve climbed on, then slowly got to his feet and flexed his wings as he adjusted to the new weight. He'd never had a passenger in this shape before. Here was hoping he didn't manage to drop him.

Once Steve was settled he took off walking again, at a much brisker pace now that he didn't have to worry about anyone else keeping up. "That seems reasonable," he said finally, eyes narrowing as he tried to make out where the base was. "I mean, Natasha's going to laugh at us forever for calling in backup, but I can probably live with that." As long as it got Steve out of the cold, anyway.

Typically, Steve never asked for help our backup, which would clue Natasha in to the seriousness of their situation. She might even have some insight with what hydra wanted because shield sure never explained anything they didn't have to. It frustrated Steve because how could they properly do their jobs without as much information as possible?

Settled into place, Steve tried to not move much and topple to the ground. "She'll laugh but the worry will overtake it. We'll need someone to get the suit as quickly as possible." Yes, he cared more about that then whatever happened to him. It just didn't concern him much because he always anticipated the serum could handle anything. Eventually, he would be fine.

When they reached the hideout area for Tony, Steve looked around for things to bundle him up in. "You'll have to shift back before our reinforcements come."

"You let me worry about that," Tony said as he hunkered back down to let Steve slide of his back. Really, it hadn't been that bad. Steve made a model passenger. Something to keep in mind, maybe. Now that his biggest secret was slightly less secretive. He dropped his head low, fixing those reptilian blue eyes on Steve.

"Sure you're up for this?" He was still moving slower than he usually did, and Tony did not like it. And getting Steve to actually admit that he was less than one hundred percent before he just keeled over was nigh-on impossible. It wasn't going to stop Tony from asking, but he also didn't really expect honesty.

"We can be okay here for just a little longer, I promise."

"I'm fine," Steve responded almost automatically, nearly a reflex developed over the past few years because he knew he needed to be fine for the others, whether true or not. Being the vision of strength inspired the rest of the team to carry on against their overwhelming odds they tended to face. If he faltered, everything fell apart.

Moving around the area, Steve spotted a dingy looking blanket for Tony. Not the best but would preserve his modesty in the very least. "This will have to do." He tried to ignore the way his hands trembled as he set down the blanket next to Tony.

What did the hydra agent do to him before Tony rescued him from the water?

"How are you feeling? Must be weird being in dragon form after so long. I'm not sure how the others would take the news."

"I'm fine," Tony echoed with a rumble of amusement. "It's warmer this way." And if he did occasionally get just a little confused by how many legs he was walking on, it hadn't tripped him up so far. He slid down farther until he was stretched out, the better to go nose to nose with Steve. Maybe the man wasn't willing to admit to any weakness, but that didn't mean Tony was just going to let him go and get killed.

"And I'm not letting you go in that base by yourself, incidentally. Just in case you were considering it." He was still shaking, for god's sake. "I don't care what story we have to spin. We'll find Thor and get him to admit it's some kind of weird Asgardian thing."

Frustration boiled underneath his skin, a familiarity when dealing with Tony in any way but not any less grating to his currently fragile nerves. He just wanted to complete the mission and go home, away from all the questions and any prying eyes. No one just pretended to accept his comments anymore and he never knew how to handle it. "You just want to stay like that because you're finally bigger than me," Steve remarked, leaning against one of the nearby crates.

Did Tony really want to try and stop him? Thor? All of this would give even him a headache soon. "Sure, great plan and how does that account for why it is influencing you?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "I'd love to hear how your plan is better than mine. Really."

Not letting him. Honestly, what the hell.

Reptilian eyes glared down the long length of his nose at Steve as he resisted the urge to let out a long sigh. He didn't actually want to blow smoke in Steve's face, as much as the idea was vaguely tempting. And despite all of that, his tone was still slightly gentle. "Steve, you're still shaking." As if the man hadn't noticed. Maybe he hadn't.

And clearly this was getting both of them nowhere. Tony closed his eyes for just a moment. "Please just let me help you. We can deal with everything else later." As long as Steve ended this whole thing in one piece, Tony could handle pretty much anything else.

The shaking he noticed but didn't particularly care about at the moment because there were more important things to care about. They needed to head off hydra and figure out they were up to in the middle of no where. What they stole seemed so insignificant too and they just needed to slide back to the base as soon as possible. It had to be apart of a greater plan, especially considering Tony claimed he took care of it. Couldn't the man understand nothing else mattered?

Breathing out slowly, Steve looked off into the distance. "It's just cold," he eventually offered, fully aware the cold shouldn't impact him as much. The serum always kept him really warm. "What would you even do? We don't know what they did." To him, to whatever they were after. "We can't just stay here, Tony."

"I'm not suggesting we stay here," Tony said, sounding almost patient. "I'm suggesting that a massive firebreathing lizard might do a lot better against Hydra than one un-armored engineer." And before he could stop himself, he gave in to the urge to nudge his nose against Steve's chest. Just checking to make sure that Steve wasn't shivering more than he could see. Sure.

"We've got a chance to do some real damage here, Steve. We should take advantage of it."

A slight change in tune but he decided to not comment on it for the time being. Maybe later after they made it through everything and had more of a chance to consider it all. Could he let it go completely? Yes, but he never managed to when it came to Tony for some reason. "Are you suggesting we get out of here and go after Hydra like this?" He gestured his hand over Tony to finish off the sentence. He didn't know how to feel there about the suggestion.

The nudging he huffed out a breath towards. "Watch it, lizard." Not the best come back but he had a lot running through his mind. He couldn't extend too much extra energy towards witty quips.

"You watch it," he snorted back, nudging hm again. And then just stayed there, taking advantage of that slight contact, even if it made Steve harder to see.

"Look, you seem to be determined to go in there. All I'm saying is that I want to be watching your back. If it means I have to go in like this, then that's what we're going to do."

Usually, Steve never had any issues of just storming into a situation to properly resolve it and move along but things were more complicated this time around. He needed to think of Tony and his situation, protecting him from view.

The public forgave a lot but wouldn't with the dragon status.

"We are going for help and you're going to get somewhere safe and not shifted," Steve explained. "I'm going to call for help and you'll wait here." He paused for a moment. "Hydra can wait."

There was a long, quiet pause. "Who are you and what have you done with Steve Rogers?" Tony huffed out a long, smoke-filled breath that might have been a rough laugh. "Steve. I can handle this. Trust me."

He nudged him with his nose again, giant blue eyes fixed on him. "We can do this. Together. We can take them all out."

There were a lot of things he would risk with his own life and comfort but this state did not translate to those around him. To those he cared about most, he wanted to protect them. Who knew the vast protective attitude extended to Tony Stark. Apparently, a dragon Tony Sark.

Huffing out a breath, he considered things for a moment. "Okay, let's go after them but if anything weird happens, I want you out of sight. No one is getting wind of this to -" He trailed off with a stern look, marching out of the area but moving a little slower to give Tony time to catch up.

"Can you catch their scent?"

It was on the tip of Tony's tongue to point out that he wasn't a dog, but considering he'd actually managed to win an argument with Steve for once, he was a lot more willing to just let it go. And he could, probably. Maybe. It had been a long time since he'd spent this much time in this shape.

Which might have been why it took a moment for him to stretch himself back upright as Steve started moving, but with his much longer gait he caught up quickly enough. And because Steve had asked, he pointed his head up, trying to get a sense of what exactly he could smell. Mostly storm, though it had passed through already. But.

"Not people," he said after a moment. "But...engines, I think. Smoke, gasoline. Things like that."

Engines actually sounded promising and he gave a nod of his head. "That might be a lead," he offered, rubbing at the back of his neck without really noticing. Any off feeling would have to wait to be dealt with at another time. Likely, never, but Steve could lie to himself about his conditions as well as he pushed it aside with everyone else.

"They would have to be using something to get out of here. We just need to catch them before that happens..." He waved a hand off in front of them. "Lead the way."

Tony rumbled an agreement as he changed course towards what little he could make out. It was quiet for a moment or so, just the two of them trudging through the snow, before Tony glanced down at the man next to him. And wasn't in strange to be looking down at him from some place other than mid air.

"You could hop on, you know," he said almost absently, twitching one shoulder in a kind of invitation. "I know you're massive, but I'm pretty sure I can handle your weight." Would it make him feel better if he knew exactly where Steve was at all times? Possibly. But if shit severely hit the fan, Tony had a much better chance of getting them both out of there.

Being so focused on trying to track in his own right, Steve nearly missed the comment from Tony. Hop on. HOP ON. His eyes slid over quickly and he narrowed them as he regarded the dragon beside him. The offer shouldn't have surprised him but he still never enjoyed having to rely on someone else. It made him difficult to be in a group with because he often went his own way regardless of if he should or not.

"I'm fine with walking," Steve responded without really missing a beat. "You need to focus on tracking. If we can head them off, we can end this now and not have to track them all over the world like last time." The tiredness from whatever they did to him continued to cling to his bones and added to his mood issues at the moment. "Are you picking up on anything else?"

He didn't quite sigh in response, but he did let out a loud, pointed breath. Steve's stubbornness was great and all, but there were times when you just wanted to knock some sense into him. Tony only barely managed to restrain himself from just picking the idiot up anyway, and that was because an argument wasn't going to help the situation any.

"I'll tell you if I do," Tony said instead, voice almost mild. He did want to take care of this just as much as Steve, if perhaps not as laser-focused on it. But what did they think was going to happen when you put Steve and Hydra together?

Still, he couldn't quite stop himself from adding, "I'm just saying. If we want to put up a good fight when we get there, we need to think about all our options."

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