So this is another one-shot for CACW, and no, it is NOT related to Closure. Set after CACW. This is based off a tumblr post I saw, so credit goes to the original artist.
Disclaimer: Honestly, if I owned Marvel, everyone would get along, and Tony wouldn't be the scapegoat for everything wrong that has happened, and Ross can go die in a hole.
"When was the last time you slept?"
Tony shrieked and turned, throwing his wrench, the tool missing the intruder by about a mile. The genius held a hand to his heart, eyes as wide as they could open.
"Oh my god," he gasped, pressing a hand to his chest, "Do anyone of you even stay dead?"
"No, we're secretly immortals." Fury deadpanned.
Tony scowled, his fists clenching and unclenching, before exhaling tiredly, slumping against the workshop table. The ex-director took that as his cue to step further into the workshop, concealing his surprise when the other man didn't immediately snark at him. The spy assessed the inventor, noting the deep bruises under his eyes, the worn lines decorating his face.
"See what you like Nick?" Tony smirked, his expression carefully crafted, chestnut eyes wary and cautious.
Fury didn't rise to the barb, instead, he drew closer to the other man until he was three steps away.
"How long have you been wasting away in this place?" the spy demanded.
Tony scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest defensively, "What's it to you?"
Fury growled, catching the way Tony seemed to tense at the sound, his hands flexing slightly as though he was looking for his gauntlet. "I told you before Tony, I care about all of you, and seeing you rot here in the workshop –"
"What, breaks your heart?" Tony sneered, "Oh wait," he broke off thoughtfully, squinting at the spy, "Do you even have one? Or is it like, carved out in order to make more room to learn TM27 Double Cross?"
Fury stared at him impassively, "You're upset about Romanov."
Tony barked a laugh, running a hand through greasy hair, "Upset? What's there to be upset about?" He grinned, all teeth and sharp edges, arms outstretched on either side. "I don't blame her, she was doing her job, just like I was, except hers had a little more – tag teaming than mine did."
Fury sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Stark –" "Oh we're back to 'Stark' now are we?" " – It wasn't your fault what happened to the Avengers." The spy continued, ignoring the interruption.
Tony stared incredulously at him, before throwing his head back, laughter bubbling out of him. "Oh god," he gasped, doubling over with laughter, "Damn Nick, you should really be a stand-up comedian! This is the funniest joke I've heard in months!"
"Of course it isn't my fault!" He snarled, slamming a fist down on the metal table, rattling the gears he had been upgrading. "I chose to keep the team together, I wanted to keep them together. But of course, Tony Stark is and always will be the villain doesn't he? I try to keep the team together, I thought that accountability was what Steve fucking Rogers wanted, but no. He only cared about his Bucky." Tony hissed, his eyes darkening dangerously.
"Never mind the fact that the guy was HYDRA's primary weapon. Never mind the fact that the Winter Soldier has assassinated thousands of people. Never mind the fact that Barnes killed my parents because Bucky can do nothing wrong!"
Tony panted heavily, glaring at Fury, "Rhodey's legs are on me, Ultron was on me, I guess the Accords are my fault too." He grinned, "Funny isn't it? All my life, you, the good Captain, practically everyone has been telling me about my lack of accountability. But the one time I think it's a good idea, suddenly everybody is batting for the other team."
Fury looked on in dismay.
Tony swiped a hand across the table angrily, metal parts flying across the room, "Everything is my fault isn't it? I can't do anything right apparently, not even when I'm following the goddamn law." He spat bitterly, glaring hatefully at the table.
Fury closed his eye, wondering how the hell his team had been torn apart so efficiently by the machinations of a single madman. He reached forward.
Tony flinched when a hand dropped on his neck, striking out instinctively, his heart pounding in his chest. His arm was caught, and the genius flailed desperately, trying to get away from his assailant.
"–Stark. Stark! Tony! Calm down!"
Words filtered through the roar in his ear and Tony sucked in a breath, wrenching his arm away from Fury's strong grip, breathing heavily. He flicked full brown orbs up to Fury, the director's face impassive. Fury raised both hands, approaching him slowly, giving the genius time to turn away. "Tony," the man said gently, something the hero didn't think was possible, "You're fine. You're safe here."
Tony laughed brokenly, shaking slightly, "Am I? Ross will come after me." He stated simply, casting his eyes downwards, "I'm the only one left he can go after."
Fury pursed his lips, frowning slightly. He moved forward, a hand hovering over Tony's shoulder. The genius flinched again, but made no other movement. It was so uncharacteristic of the normally confident man that it threw Fury for a loop. But Fury was nothing if not persistent, and he allowed his hand to drop on Tony's shoulder, feeling the muscle tense beneath his fingers for almost a minute before it slowly relaxed.
Tony just kept his head down, his eyes averted elsewhere. "I should never have become Iron Man." He whispered.
"Tony..." Fury said warningly.
"No, Vision said so himself, even gave us all an equation for that. Ever since I became Iron Man, the number of enhanced individuals have popped up, and the number of world ending incidences has increased, if I never became Iron Man, then all of this wouldn't have happened."
"Or New York could be a radiated wasteland." Fury countered, tightening his grip slightly, not liking where the conversation was heading. "If you hadn't taken up the suit, no one would have stopped the nuke. Not only that, the Avengers wouldn't even be here because they'd be dead from the Helicarrier falling out of the sky."
"Yeah well," Tony huffed, smiling humorlessly, "If I wasn't here, Ultron would never have been created, Sokovia wouldn't have a giant crater, and would you look at that? Natalia was right after all, I really am not recommended for the team."
"Look around you!" he spat, "Do you see anyone here? There are no Avengers anymore because I ruined them. I tore this whole team apart –"
"Enough!" Fury snarled, his grip on Tony's shoulder preventing the genius from stumbling backwards in fear, "This isn't your fault Stark!" The man softened slightly, "I wasn't lying when I said that I cared about all of you, and that means even you Tony. Maybe you especially. I know what pushed you to sign the Accords, and I'm not saying that the Accords are wrong. But the team not agreeing with you? That's not on you Tony. You all made your own decisions, and the blame falls on everyone involved."
Tony slumped, and Fury took the chance presented to him and tugged the shorter man closer. It spoke volumes to how the genius didn't even resist and all but collapsed into Fury's chest. Fury would never have said that Tony Stark was a small man – not when he could fill up the whole room just by walking in, not when he was practically the dictionary definition of confidence. For the first time, Fury realized that Tony Stark was a head shorter than him, the top of his head tucked perfectly under the spy's chin. Something in the man cracked at the sight of the defeated posture, memories of a little boy with a bright grin picking apart SHIELD's computers coming unbidden to Fury's mind. The master spy tightened his arm around the genius, feeling the tremors that wracked the shorter man's frame. He felt Tony's hand tightening in his jacket, but didn't comment, knowing that the inventor was already extending a lot of trust by showing him such a vulnerable side. Fury brought his other arm up around Tony, giving the genius enough time to back away. When he didn't, the master spy enclosed him in his arms, feeling Tony bury further into his jacket.
Tony was tired.
Exhausted might be a better word for how he felt now because if he was in his right mind, he would never have allowed his mask to crumble like that. With his face buried deep into Fury's leather jacket, Tony could pretend that he was alone. He didn't cry – the tears ran out a long time ago, when he limped home from a cold wasteland with hot fire lancing up his side. Tony shuddered, he had a fresh new batch of nightmares now from that day and more often than not, he woke up screaming, images of Captain America bashing his head in, his mother's cries and his father's confused 'Sergeant Barnes?' haunting him. Tony sank into Fury's embrace – and wasn't that a kicker? Fury, the one person who could fight for the world's most heartless man – feeling embarrassedly grateful that the other man had come to him. He knew that no one – except maybe Coulson – knew about the relationship that Fury and Tony shared. They weren't close – not really, but they had a connection, one that was born from the numerous times that Howard brought little Tony into SHIELD and promptly dumped him into a spare room with various electronics. Once Tony found the way out, he could never be kept in the room ever again, and more often than not, Fury was the one who found him – usually on the other end of the base.
They didn't have a close relationship, not like Coulson and Clint, but they had enough.
Fury rested his chin on Tony's head, closing his eyes regretfully. He was more than glad that he'd stopped by the Facility first. Knowing the genius, he wouldn't ever sleep and would probably spiral down into self-destruction. And, Fury thought, he was the one he needed comfort the most. Colonel Rhodes had returned home to his family, and Vision was likely with Wanda and the rest of Rogers' team. Fury grit his teeth slightly. As much of a pain in the ass Tony had been the last decade, a part of Fury couldn't help but remember the little kid that got into buckets of trouble whenever Howard brought him to SHIELD. And that part of him wanted to punch Rogers in the face at least once for what he did to Tony.
After several minutes, Tony pulled back on his own, Fury letting him go. The genius' eyes were red, but he showed no signs of crying. Fury sighed and place a hand on his arm, carefully dragging the inventor to the bedroom. Tony, still somewhat in a daze, complied.
"Get some sleep kid." Fury grunted, pushing Tony through the door.
A half-hearted smirk played at his lips, "If you're calling me a kid, it just means you're admitting that you're an old man."
The one-eyed man glared at Tony, "I've seen you since you were still in your diapers, so unless you want me to recount the time you danced naked in front of SHIELD…"
Tony flushed and walked into the room hurriedly, stopping short at his bed, eyeing it apprehensively.
Fury sighed, "Go the fuck to sleep Stark."
Tony just sat down on the bed heavily, staring at his hands. "You can go, I'm fine."
Fury just snorted, "You'll be fine when I say you're fine. Now sleep." He commanded, shutting the door behind him. The spy heard some grumbling behind the door, but no other words. Squaring his shoulder, Fury narrowed his eyes, it was time to pay Captain America a visit.
So... I know the ending was pretty open, but I'm not sure if I am going to continue this. Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please note, Bucky lovers, that I am NOT bashing Bucky, honestly, I love him too, but this is written from Tony's perspective, and Tony is hurting right now. Please understand that this is not a Bucky hate fic, I'm just exploring Tony's side because it seemed as though he didn't get proper closure in the movie. (And no, that letter doesn't count.)
Please leave a review on your way out! :)