Hello. I have once again embarked on a journey of angst and woe, but luckily for you not in this story. Seen as I've been having mental blocks regarding my other one I have decided to do this instead. Stony isn't my OTP, per se, but this is a birthday present to my amazing friend who will hopefully love me forever for doing this :D
It had started as a pretty normal day, no villains taking vengeance on New York, no fights in the tower and no Fury. But of course that wasn't going to last, it never does. If there was one thing you could guarantee about Stark Tower was that at roughly 8:10am you would hear a resounding,
"STAAAARK!"
This more often than not what followed by a,
"You called dear Captain?"
Every morning they would have a confrontation. The other inhabitants had stopped even trying to placate it now. It would always be over something stupid as well. The coffee beans have changed, his mug is missing, there was oil on the counter or Tony was passed out on the sofa after his usual Friday binge drink.
But this morning had been different. It was 9:00am and not a sound from Steve or Tony. In fact, the latter of the two hadn't been seen since the previous morning. The silence was actually rather unnerving. Clint awkwardly coughed,
"So, erm, Steve. Have you seen Tony lately?"
"Not since yesterday morning...why?"
The whole team awkwardly shifted under Steve's calculating gaze.
"Why?" He said slightly more menacingly.
After an exchange of glances the duty fell to Bruce to explain the predicament.
"Well you see Steve, every morning for the past, erm..."
"3 months"
"Thank you Natasha. Every morning for the past 3 months you and Tony would have your little exchange and rile each other up and then part ways. Yet today, you have not called him, nor has he been seen since yesterday, so we were just wondering, you know, if everything is okay?"
Steve looked at them all. They did look genuinely concerned. He didn't realize that his and Starks arguing had become the norm for this little makeshift family they had. Now he thought about it, there had been nothing wrong this morning. Almost as if Starks presence, and annoyances, had been completely eradicated.
"I see your point. There's no need for you to look so nervous guys! I'll go check Stark hasn't drowned himself in alcohol and we can all go back to normal, okay?"
Multiple frantic nods were displayed. Steve finished his breakfast and headed on over to clean up his stuff. Normally at this point he would still be fuming from whatever argument him and Stark had had, so it was quite relaxing to be carefree.
"JARVIS, where is Tony?"
Silence.
"JARVIS?"
He looked to the team and back to the ceiling. They all tried calling the AI, even Thor, who still called it the magical voice from above. Something was seriously wrong. Jarvis was always online and no matter how mad Tony was he'd always let them know if he needed to upgrade Jarvis or something.
They begun a search of the tower. Starting in Starks room, they found that the bed hadn't been touched, nor had Starks usual nightcap been drunk. They headed back to the main area.
"Where on earth can he be? And why wouldn't he tell us where he was going?" Clint asked.
"Man of Irons actions are strange but-"
Thor was cut off by the slightly alarming sight of the elevator doors opening of their own accord.
"So JARVIS is still online," Bruce mused "That would explain why we could still eat this morning, but why would Tony tell him not to respond to us? ... wait. Did anyone check the lab?"
No-one responded. They al sprinted for the elevator doors, who knew that you could actually fit all of them in there. Steve was rapidly trying to figure out what could have sent one of his most reckless soldiers into this decline. Its not as if yesterday was a particularly bad...oh...well shit.
****FLASHBACK TO YESTERDAY MORNING****
"STAAAARK!"
"Yes my dear Captain?"
"What have you done to the coffee machine this morning?!"
"I merely changed it so you could have the latte milk and hot chocolate come out of the same nozzle. Its not rocket science."
"It is when you completely change the whole machine so now I can't even get as normal cup of coffee! Why can't you just leave things be?!"
"And why do you insist on living in the stone age?! This is the 21st Century Cap. Wake up!"
"I did wake up and I'm still adjusting alright?!"
"Well you could always just ask for help!"
"Who from? YOU?! HA! You'd just laugh at me and spend the whole time finding how stupid I was hilarious!"
"NO I WOULDN'T. You know, I actually like to help people sometimes!"
"When was the last time you 'helped' somebody? Hm?!"
"Oh I don't know, WHEN I FLEW A NUKE THREW A FUCKING INTERGALACTIC PORTAL TO SAVE NEW YORK?!"
"That's IT! You do ONE good deed and you think it entitles you to free spaces in everyone's good books! WELL YOU'RE WRONG. It takes a lot more than that to prove you're a good person Stark!"
"Oh yeh because there is nothing wrong with the GREAT Captain America. He can do no wrong. He is the most perfect man out there. And of course I am a scumbag. I can't do anything right. I am worth nothing."
"YOU'RE RIGHT. YOU ARE WORTH NOTHING!"
****BACK TO PRESENT DAY, THE ELEVATOR****
He really shouldn't of said that. It was pushing it slightly too far. Despite the aura he gave off, he does actually respect Stark quite a lot. Its not everyday a man can fly through a portal knowing he isn't coming back. And its had an effect on his personal life too. Pepper had left him due to the stress of being more than his CEO being too much, he knew Stark was having nightmares and spent most nights in the lab avoiding sleep and that Stark depended on his dysfunctional avenger family more than ever before.
And to think he said Stark was worth nothing. He'll tell him that he doesn't actually think that next time.
They reached the lab floor. The doors to his lab slid open, the resulting stench was unbearable. And that's where they saw it. A sight that would stay with them all until the day they died.
Stark lying almost dead in a pool of his own blood.
Ooooo tension. I wonder what'll happen next. I think Steve was very mean. After the whole 'take away the suit and what are you' thing I never really liked him as much.
ANYWAY, tune in next time for the reveal of what happened to our favourite billionaire.
TonysBiggestFan xx