Work Text:
Nicholas J. Fury was scared for his pseudo-godson. He didn’t know what was happening, how this could have slipped through the cracks, and now his godson was somewhere in Afghanistan going through god knows what and he can’t help. So, he makes a decision. He pulls out a 20 year old pager, and presses the button that will bring the first modern superhero home.
Its barely six hours before she’s in front of him in all her cosmic glory, face stoic and professional. “What’s the emergency Fury?” Fury takes a deep breath and hands her a newspaper proclaiming Tony Stark, genius extraordinaire kidnapped and possibly dead somewhere in the Afghanistan deserts. “I need you to find him. He’s important.”
“To you or to your plans?” She raises a skeptical eyebrow at him and Fury chuckles. “Would it be bad if it was both?” Carol offers him a half smile and shakes her head. “I’ll start looking then.” She was off like a shot and Fury found himself relaxing just a bit now that Captain Marvel was on the case.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It took another week for Carol to find Tony, and even then it was only because she saw the gleaming metal of his suit as it collapsed around him, leaving him to face plant into the sand below him. Carol would be lying if she said he looked good. He was sickly pale, and barely anything more than skin and bones with cuts and bruises littering his body.
“Tell me your not a hallucination from the dehydration, starvation, and concussion.” Tony’s voice was desperate, shaky and fearful. Carol landed right in front of Tony, offering him her hand. “I promise I’m very real Dr. Stark.” He seemed close to tears as his hand landed in hers and she pulled him up to his feet. “Well thank whatever gods are out there then.”
Tony was definitely not up for flying at mach speed without any sort of protection, so Carol got him some water and light food, walking with him through the desert until an air force jet found them and picked them up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next weeks were hectic, that was for sure. Carol had decided, for everyone’s safety, that she was going to be Tony’s bodyguard for the foreseeable future, as well as his liaison with shield, both turning out to be excellent ideas as she was able to help Tony take down Obadiah, make sure Fury knew how dumb it was to keep life saving information away from a dying man, and keep Tony away from the alcohol.
She watched as this genius, hardworking, self-destructive man beat himself up over the smallest things, and took to treating him gently, showing him how to treat himself gently.
“Why are you sticking around so long Starburst? I know I’m exactly easy to take care of.” Tony had asked one day with eyes so haunted it almost hurt to look him dead on. “I’m sticking around Tony, because I want to and because you need that constant."
Tony just looked at her for a moment, then quietly thanked her before heading down to his lab. From then on, it seemed like Tony was doing everything he could to push her away. He snarked at her, snapped at her and gave her every reason to leave. When that didn’t work, he pulled her into the spotlight with him, taking her as his date to galas and soirees, pulling her in to interviews with him, but Carol took it all in stride, smiled along and answering when necessary, though she would admit that she did like the dancing.
It seemed to come to a head after the whole thing with The Mandarin. Tony looked at her for almost five minutes, and then he sighed. “I don’t get it, most everyone would have given up by now.” His voice was quiet, hesitant, and he looked as if he was expecting Carol to yell at him, but she merely sighed.
“Tony, I’m staying because I want to, and nothing you do will push me away. I knew what I was getting into when I said I would be your body guard. Yes, its been difficult at some points, but it isn’t always difficult, and when you aren’t pushing me away, its some of the best times I’ve had since I woke up with no memories on a Kree ship.” Tony looked at her quizzically for a moment, then seems to make a decision.
He grabs Carol’s hands, looks her in the face one more time, then slowly leans in to kiss her. Carol doesn’t move, just lets Tony move at his own pace. When their lips finally connect, Carol finds he tastes like coffee and oil. It's an intriguing combination, but she doesn’t mind it. She presses just a little closer and kisses back.
Eventually, Tony pulls away, breathing heavily with his cheeks flushed. “I forgot you don’t actually need to breathe.” Carol laughs and shakes her head, squeezing Tony’s hand.
Over the next years, Carol and Tony’s relationship only grows stronger. They continue to fight side by side, and Carol even helps Tony and Fury find some common ground. When Steve rogers starts acting out, Fury tightens his leash, which takes a lot of stress off of Tony.
When the hunt for Bucky ends, Carol is the one to bring him in after talking him down. When he comes in, he is subdued, anxious, and scared. It's immediately obvious that he can't stick around Steve for long periods of time as Steve just stresses him out, trying to turn him back into his best friend from the forties when everyone else knows that that Bucky is dead.
Steve is furious when he is told he can’t hang around Bucky all the time, and he starts blaming Tony. It gets bad enough that Tony and Steve can’t be sent on the same missions anymore because of how much Steve refuses to work with Tony. It doesn’t bother Tony much, he just goes on missions with his girlfriend and grows closer to her all the while.
Carol and Tony help Bucky learn how to cope with all of the trauma he went through, having gone through and still working through a lot of the same things. Tony teaches Bucky about the modern world, how to use technology and recent history, while Carol helps Bucky navigate the current military structures and the government support he’s eligible for.
Its after another day of showing Bucky around modern New York that Tony and Carol flop on their couch and smile at each other. Tony leans forward and starts kissing Carol. They gently kiss each other for a few minutes, but before it can get any further, Tony pulls away, then pulls something out of his pocket.
“I know this probably isn’t the best time to be doing this, but I love you so much Carol. You are an amazing woman that I still don’t entirely believe I deserve, but if you are willing to continue putting up with me, will you marry me?” Tony opens the ring box to show a sleek ring with a ruby imbedded in the center.
Carol’s entire face lights up in excitement, and she nods her head yes. She extends her hand for Tony to put the ring on, and when he slips it on, it fits perfectly. “Tony, its perfect.” She pulls Tony into another kiss, and they don’t make it into their bed that night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they get news of Thanos, its from a guy named Peter on a half broken ship and his crew. Carol scowls, having heard of him before she came to earth. They start planning, gathering other heroes to help them with this fight, finding any and all stones on earth through a complex algorithm Tony made based off of the mind stone.
Thor finally comes back to earth with Loki and what’s left of Asgard in tow, and they further help with the plan, bringing another stone with them.
Steve tries to insert himself in the middle of the whole thing, but he had soured most of his relationships by now, and no one was really willing to trust him anymore.
When Thanos came, he only had one stone, and he was clumsy, making decisions based on anger rather than logic, making his down fall swift and clean when met with well prepared heroes. Carol could feel something in her chest loosen when one of the biggest threats to the universe was eliminated, and she turned to Tony with a smile.
“Think we can actually plan our wedding now?”