#expolosion

During the time in between Tony had come up with quite the plan for their evening. Dinner on a private yacht in the early evening, watching the sun set over the water before making their way to the Brooklyn Bridge Park. It was one of their favorite parks, and it would have a beautiful view of the city as night fell. It wouldn’t be completely vacant, but it would be private enough that they could enjoy themselves together as they walked along the paths. And from there, the two would end the night with one of the outdoor movies that played in the park on the weekends. It was supposed to be some old 1930’s comedy that he was sure Steve would like.

And Tony obsessed over it, making sure everything was perfect. From the food they ate to the route the yacht took, to even the kind of blanket they would sit on in the grass while they watched the movie. Everything had to be perfect for Tony’s amazing and wonderful husband.

And the thing was, things were amazing. The dinner on the river was intimate and beautiful and Tony enjoyed not having to worry about anything else except for having a good time with the love of his life. They talked over dinner before going out on the deck to watch the city as they floated by.

“Thank you Tony,” Steve hummed as he took the billionaire's hand. The boat had made it back to shore and the two were stepping off. “I had a great night.”

“Oh just hold on beloved,” Tony chuckled as he squeezed Steve’s hand. “We’re not finished yet,” he said, only to get a confused look in return.

“Of course we’re not,” Steve said as he shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

From there the two made their way to the park and it was better than Tony could have imagined. The weather was beautiful, the lights from the city looked perfect and their wasn’t a tone of people. And if anyone seemed bothered by Captain America and Ironman leisurely walking around in three piece suits, they didn’t say anything.

The final part of the night began when the two approached the movie on the lawn. Steve eyed Tony for a long moment and the smaller man was quick to catch his gaze.

“What? Is something wrong?” he asked, anxiety building in his stomach.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Steve supplied, a smile back on his face. “I just can’t believe how much you had planned for tonight,” the blonde admitted. “I figured dinner would be about it.”

“How dare you underestimate me Mr. Stark-Rogers,” Tony chuckled as he stopped at a vacant blanket near the front of the crowd, only to pull Steve to sit down on the ground with him.

Even though there were a considerable more amount of people in the area, Tony and Steve didn’t mind them as they cuddled next to each other, enjoying each other and the weather as they waited for the movie to start.

Everything was perfect.

The movie was about fifteen minutes deep when Steve’s eyes found themselves wandering. He looked over the cityscape for a long moment before he watched a small flickering light launch itself from the river and high into the sky. He knew exactly what it was, but he couldn’t help but jolt as the light exploded into the sky. The explosion sent brightly colored lights in every direction and a defining rumble ripped through his eardrum. Fireworks.

Steve let out a heavy breath, not aware that he had even been holding it, before letting out a nervous chuckle. More and more fireworks began to go off in the sky over the river, and Steve did his best not to show that he was shaken up. It did help though, that Tony had jumped at the noise too. Though now that Steve thought about it, the inventor was still sitting pretty rigid in his grasp.

“I’m not going to lie, that kind of scared me,” Steve laughed nervously as he looked down at his husband, only to realize that something was wrong. Tony was still rigid, his eyes wide as he stared at the space directly in front of him. As more and more explosions ripped across the sky, Steve began to feel Tony trembling beside him, and if he actually paid attention, he could hear the man’s labored breathing.

“Tony?” Steve asked carefully as he rested his hand on the other side of Tony’s shoulder, only to get no response. “Tony?” Steve tried again, a bit louder this time as he squeezed Tony’s shoulder.

It was like a switch had been flipped because suddenly Tony was shooting up into a standing position, pulling at his tie as he desperately tried to take in more air. His eyes were wide and desperate and he was making loud gasping noises.

“Shit,” Steve hissed under his breath as people watching the movie began to complain about Tony standing up. But Steve didn’t care because Tony was having a panic attack. “Tony,” Steve said, trying to get his husband’s attention but suddenly Tony was bolting through the crowd of seated people and was making his way out of the park.

Everything was perfect, and then suddenly it wasn’t. And Tony had no idea why but suddenly he was panicking. He heard the loud noise from the river and then suddenly he was in the sky, fighting the chitauri as everything exploded around him. Another firework went off and suddenly Tony was back in Afghanistan, alone behind a rock as bullets rained down on him and bombs went off in every direction.

Tony could feel it getting worse and worse, and his eyes flickered up to see more and more colorful explosions across the sky. The rational part of his brain was trying to tell him that he was safe, and everything was fine. He was going to be okay, he just had to wait it out. -- The other part of his brain though, was screaming at him to run. And hearing the concern in his husband's voice was enough to convince him that he needed to get out of there.

Suddenly Tony didn’t care about the perfect anniversary date that he had worked so hard on. He didn’t care about the angry spectators who’s view he was obscuring. Hell, he didn’t even care about Steve who looked so alarmed as he tried to get Tony’s attention. He just needed out.

The inventor found himself stumbling in between people as he tried to get out into the open. And even though he was free from the group of people watching the movie, he could still hear the damn explosions. Each boom speeding his heart rate up more and more. So he ran. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he just had to get somewhere safe. Somewhere where he could be alone and just breathe.

His chest constricted as he ran and Tony felt like he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. His head was spinning and the anxiety that was building in his gut made Tony think he wasn’t going to make it. And suddenly Tony found himself falling to the ground. The hard concrete dug into his knees and ripped his pants, but Tony didn’t care. A strangled cry bubbled from his chest and the man just collapsed to the ground, his chest heaving up and down as he rested his forehead on the cool ground. Oh God. He couldn’t breathe! He couldn’t breathe!

“Tony,” A strong voice sounded from behind him and suddenly the man felt himself being pulled up from off the ground and against a strong chest. “You’re okay. You’re okay,” The voice soothed. “I got you. Just follow my breathing, okay. You got this,” The voice said as a hand came up and rested on Tony’s head. Now Tony could feel the person taking deliberate breaths, and even though he knew he should be trying to match the breathing, he couldn’t.

“We’re in New York, Tony,” The voice said as the fingers of the hand began to run through Tony’s hair. “We’re in Brooklyn, on a side street.It’s June 21st and it’s nine thirty. You’re here with me, you’re husband, and you’re safe,” the voice tried, but Tony just let out another strangled gasp.

God, why couldn’t he breathe?

“It’s okay,” The voice hummed before pausing for a moment. “Okay. Okay. Tell me five things you see babe. Just five,” the voice instructed and all Tony could do was squeeze his eyes closed. “Come on Tony, you can do this. Five things,” The voice said a bit stronger this time. After a long moment Tony was willing his eyes to open and looking at his surroundings.

“Car. I see a car. And-” The man paused, taking in a strangled breath. “A n-no parking sign. And-” Suddenly Tony’s head was tilting up to look at the source of the voice. “I see you, Steve.”

Of course it was Steve, Tony thought. Who else could it be?

“Good, good,” the blonde hummed, a sad smile on his lips as he hugged Tony a bit tighter. “Two more things Tony. Two more.” So Tony tried to focus up and find two more things that he could see.

“A stop light,” he muttered, closing his eyes as he leaned into the larger man. “And steps...that go into a building,” Tony gasped.

“You’re doing great,” Steve hummed. “Now tell me four things that you can feel.”

“Your hand on my head,” Tony stammered almost instantly. “The concrete, my knees, a-and your jacket-” Tony said, realized that he was clutching on to Steve’s suit jacket for dear life.

“Three things you can hear?” the soldier asked, waiting patiently for a response.

“Cars, an air condition unit and... your heart,” Tony admitted as he pressed his head further into Steve’s chest.

“Two things you can smell?” Steve asked.

“Your cologne and....the trash,” Tony muttered as his eyes flickered open to see that they were seated a few feet away from a pile of trash bags waiting to be collected.

“And one thing you can taste,” Steve asked, his free hand now running circles on Tony’s back.

“Wine...we were drinking wine earlier,” Tony muttered, as he pushed his face into Steve’s chest.

“That’s right, we were,” the soldier confirmed and then the two fell into silence. Tony had calmed down considerably, but Steve was going to give him as much time as he needed. The silence was cut off, though, by the sounds of Tony sobbing against his husband’s chest.

“I’m sorry Steve. I’m so sorry,” Tony cried. “I ruined our night. It was supposed to be perfect and I ruined it!”

“No, no. You didn’t Tony. Really. It’s okay I’m just glad that-”

“I’m sorry,” Tony interjected again. “I don’t know what happened. I've never freaked out like that with fireworks. I’ve been fine I just...I heard the noise and didn’t know where it was coming from and suddenly I was back in Afghanistan and fighting and-”