"Rhodey!"
"Tony, what the hell happened to you?!" shouted Rhodey as he took in his friends ragged and bleeding appearance. "Sit down before you fall down." He grasped him by the arms and dragged Tony go and sit on the couch.
"Rhodey - I can't … I can't deal with this. What the hell?"
"Tony, I have no idea what you're talking about. First of all, let's get you cleaned up and get you hydrated." Tony grabbed onto Rhodey arms, trying to burrow into his arms. He was visibly shaking and his skin was clammy and cold. "Okay, and a blanket."
"Tones, let me help you first then we can talk," steadily said Rhodey, trying to keep his voice strong. He shrugged off his coat, hat and gloves onto the nearby armchair.
After cleaning up Tony up he texted their mutual friend to come by. Unfortunately he had gone home for the weekend and could only show up in a few hours. Rhodey managed to get Tony warmed up with a cup of coffee and several blankets. He seemed to have gotten a cold from being out in the February weather too long but Tony still wasn't saying anything substantial.
"Can you believe he did that?" yelled Tony as he paced around the room. "I can never trust him after this. This is never going to go away."
"Calm down, Tones. You need to tell me what he did. All I got is a bunch of nonsensical ramblings about Steve and some guy named Bucky?" said Rhodey as he took another sip of his own coffee. He got the call from Tony to come over to his apartment out of the blue. They had finally upgraded from dorm life and each got their own space once Tony started bringing more and more work back home.
"Bucky. Fucking James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes!" shouted Tony as he paced around once more, heading to his cabinet and taking out a bottle of scotch. He shakily poured himself a drink. It wasn't that he wanted to drink, but he really felt like he needed something stronger than coffee at the moment. Besides, scotch can warm him up just as well as coffee could.
"Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Because you heard it in the news. He was a POW that recently made it back to US soil. He's been back for over a year but probably suffers from PTSD." Tony frowned, finally calming down and pressing his palms into his eyes in order to hold in the tears that threaten to escape.
"Okay, so what does he have to do with this?" asked Rhodey beyond confused but he knew that Tony would eventually reach his point.
"Because I just punched him tonight."
Rhodey jumped up and roared, "You did what?! Tony, what the hell? I love you man, but you really gotta have a good reason you hit a former POW!"
Tony looked at Rhodey with heartbroken eyes but a strange simmer of anger was still visible.
"To be fair it was only after I punched Steve."
"Tony, I swear to god, and no, don't even make a Loki-joke right now," cut in Rhodey when he noticed Tony opening his mouth to say something witty and inappropriate.
"Okay okay," he took a shuddering, deep breath. "This is what happened. Don't interrupt until I'm done. I may not have a very good reason, but I do have one." Rhodey calmed as best as he could, sitting back down and crossing his arms over his chest. Thankfully he had finished his coffee before it sloshed everywhere.
And so Tony did. It took around an hour to tell the whole thing since it was ridiculously convoluted.
Essentially it started around a year ago when Bucky made it back home. Steve was never one for television and hadn't been around to pick up the recently released POW from the hospital since he hadn't even known Bucky was back. He had always assumed that Bucky was KIA even if they never recovered his body. It was a few weeks later that Steve found out about Bucky through Sam, a mutual friend of theirs. When he went to go visit the housing complex that Bucky was set up in the other man was no longer there. There was no way to track him down by conventional means nor through Sam's connections. That was when he had gotten Tony involved. Apparently Bucky was an old friend of Steve's. They had grown up together from babies all through high school. Their mothers had been neighbors and really great friends.
Unfortunately since Tony was still at school there was not much he could do except by providing Steve with money and travel accommodations. It took Steve almost 10 months to find Bucky even with all of Tony's substantial resources and Sam's help. Bucky was an elusive, highly trained soldier and sniper and his skills had only sharpened in time due to his escape.
In the beginning Steve had texted or called Tony at least twice a day. As the months progressed their communication shortened until they only spoke once every two weeks. Tony constantly worried but Steve was adamant at finding his friend. Sam came back after the first month, unable to take too much time off work. Tony wanted to go and help but it was his last year at MIT and he had a thesis and final project to finish and DUM-E needed a lot of work still - there was just no way for him to leave.
"I thought you and Steve were doing well. You would always tell me about your dates and how you saw each other during our breaks," stated Rhodey, trying to piece all the information Tony had given him together with his own observations from the past year.
"I lied. I made it up. Steve didn't want anyone to know what happened - didn't want the news to know about Bucky's problems. He figured going at it alone would keep it all hushed up."
"But Tony, where did you spend all our vacations? All those weekends away from campus? You told me about your wonderful valentine's day and how ridiculously romantic Steve was…." at that Rhodey trailed off, seeing the haunted, hurt look on his friends face.
"Yeah, I made that all up. Stayed here sometimes to work. Hung out with Loki a few times when I wasn't with you. I knew you would want to get it out of me but Loki just let me be even if he knew something was going on."
Rhodey winced. The idea of Tony making up all those happy memories with nothing but his imagination was sad.
Tony continued to tell his story.
A few hours earlier today Tony had received an envelope. It was sent anonymously but it contained a picture of Steve entering a hotel along with a dark haired male. It was timestamped 3 days ago. The hotel wasn't too far away so Tony took the bus. His car was not meant for the snow and he was shaking so badly after receiving that package that he was in no condition to drive.
After bribing the night manager to get the location of Steve's room he made his way there. He was surprised that the blond was still checked in. The last time Steve had contacted Tony was over a week ago and in no way had he mentioned being back in Massachusetts. Considering that Steve was still using his money to fund his little expedition Tony had expected to at least be informed that Steve was back, if not immediately at least the day after.
Tony had no idea what to expect, but Bucky opening the door wearing nothing but boxers was not it. Tony had looked at him in confusion and after he bullied his way into the room he noticed that there was only one bed. Steve had immediately stood up from the bed once he noticed who was at the door and scrambled to put his clothes back on, but not fast enough to hide the finger-like bruises on his waist, nor the hickeys littering his neck.
"Steve… what? What's going on here?" asked Tony, his voice cracking as his eyes began to water. He held back the tears by sheer will alone.
Steve took a step forward but before he could say something the television turned on by itself. All three men turned toward it as a video began to play. The video was time stamped 8 months ago.
"Wait, I know that room," whispered Tony as his eyes stared at the television intently. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Steve stiffen.
The video continued to play and it showed Bucky and Steve coming out of the shower together, laughing and kissing. Their naked bodies fumbled together as they made their way to the bed. On the wall Tony could see the Pollock painting he had gifted Steve for their one year anniversary.
The two men in the video made love in a frenzy, their playful kissing turning amorous. The video ended once it was obvious the two men had started to have sex. Another video played immediately after and it was timestamped 6 months ago. Around the same kind of scene played. The next video played immediately that, but this time before the 2 men started messing around with one another Bucky was in the bathroom and Steve sat on the bed with a phone.
Tony then heard a one-sided conversation and his mind flashbacked to the last conversation Steve and he had. Once Steve hung up the phone he turned it off and placed it in the nightstand. Bucky came out of the bathroom in just his boxers and immediately started kissing Steve and Steve had let him. They had sex that night too, immediately after Steve had talked to Tony. The video ended and a red symbol, a combination of a skull and tentacles, was displayed - it was HYDRA, the gang that Steve had helped bring down along with his partner Natasha.
Tony was shaking in rage and hurt, his nails biting so hard into his palms that they were probably bleeding. Tony whipped his head and looked at Steve with utter betrayal.
"Tony, I'm sorry," implored Steve, his baby blue eyes dark with regret. Tony couldn't stand to look at him and so did the first thing that came to mind.
He punched Steve.
The blond staggered back and knocked into a chair, falling to the floor. Tony then turned around and received a punch right to his eye. He briefly saw stars but once he regained his equilibrium Tony swung a fist, landing a hit on Bucky's nose that started bleeding immediately. The soldier barely flinched as his eyes became dark and dangerous.
"Tony, no!" shouted Steve once he righted himself as he launched himself at Tony. It was hard to tell if he did it for Tony's protection or Bucky's. Since Tony was being held and Bucky had been triggered it just became a whole bloody mess. Bucky landed a solid punch into Tony's solar plexus which then forced Steve to let Tony go. The genius slouched to the ground but quickly swiped Steve's legs from under him, forcing the blond to join the floor.
With reflexes he didn't even know he had Tony staggered back to his feet and landed another right hook to Bucky's surprised face. Before the soldier could recover, Tony struck again. His rage and hurt was blinding him and was ready to strike again. Before he could Steve recovered and tackled him to the ground. Tony landed on his back and Steve quickly straddled him. Steve then punched him hard across the face. Steve was so enraged that Tony actually started fearing for his life.
Steve got another hit in before Tony covered his bloodied face with his arms, trying to block the hits. Once he realized another hit was not coming he peeked out behind his arms and saw that the only reason Steve had not punched him again was because Bucky was holding Steve's arm back.
Tony could feel his heart break as he scrambled from out under Steve.
"He's my friend," said Steve as he glared at Tony, whatever love they once shared was completely extinguished from his gaze.
"And I was your boyfriend," said Tony before he staggered out of the room. Before he left he could see Bucky stiffen in surprise as his arms slacked and fell to his sides.
Tony gingerly made it outside through the back entrance of the hotel and onto the street, deciding to walk home instead. The bus was probably not running any more and in his haste to leave his home he had forgotten to grab his cell phone, not that any of his friends were nearby or had cars.
It was a long, cold walk back to his home.
"And that's when I called you," finished off Tony.
Rhodey could only gape at his friend before placing his mug on the table and rushed to Tony's side.
"Oh shit Tone, damn. I am so sorry, man," said Rhodey as he led Tony to the couch and wrapped the smaller teen in his arms. Rhodey had to protect Tony right now, had to care for his friend, because if he did not he knew he would be rushing to Steve just to beat the shit out of him. It didn't matter to Rhodey that Steve was a cop, the darling boy that helped take down HYDRA - he will gut the man the next time he saw him.
Tony just let himself cry, the physical, emotional, and mental pain all coming together at once. They held onto each other like that for a long while before they heard a knock on the door. Rhodey could feel Tony stiffen in his arms, but forced Tony to let go of him so he could get the door.
"You told me to come over and that it was an emergency?" asked Loki as soon as the door swung open. Tony peeked out from his blankets then whined.
"You called Loki?" he shouted indignatly. He was secretly happy to see his friend.
He and Loki had met through Rhodey's friend Thor. Thor and Rhodey were on the football team in high school. They had all gone out drinking one night and had hit it off. Loki had seen Tony get hit on while at the bar and the woman was not taking 'no' for an answer. Without ever having met before, Loki sidled up to Tony, slipped an arm around his waist and purred, "there you are," as he placed a gentle kiss on Tony's cheek. The woman ran away in embarrassment as Tony laughed and laughed. He ordered Loki a beer in thanks and that was how Thor and Rhodey found them. The rest, as they say, was history.
Loki had a grin on his face but once he spotted Tony's swollen, black eye and other little lacerations on his face the grin fell away immediately. Loki's eyes flashed green as they simmered with rage. He stalked into the room and roughly grabbed Tony's chin, tilting it upward to better assess the damage.
"Who did this to you?" he hissed out, gently rubbing his thumb across a bandage.
Tony tried to drag his face away from Loki but the taller man just held on tighter.
"It's over and done with, Loki," replied Tony the same time Rhodey answered, "Steve did."
Loki turned to look at Rhodey incredulously. "What!?" At Loki's distraction, Tony drew himself away and huddled back into his blanket cocoon.
"What do you mean Rogers did this? Where is he? What happened?" Loki was having a hard time controlling his absolute rage. No one hurt Anthony and got away with it.
"Why did you not call me sooner?" asked Loki gently once he noticed that neither man was willing to answer all his other questions.
"I forgot my phone and you were back home anyway," muttered Tony.
"I texted you as soon as I found out. I got the whole thing from Tony - and it's a fucking doozy, let me tell you. Can you look after him though? I need to make a few phone calls and other arrangements.
"What? Rhodey, you're leaving?" cried out Tony as he jumped from the couch, the blanket pooling onto the floor. He rushed over to Rhodey and gripped onto his arms, unwilling to let the other man go.
"Look Tones, we can't let Rogers get away with this. This was assault at best."
"No, Rhodey, just leave it. It's done now."
"I don't think so. I promise not to do anything hasty, I just need to contact a few people. Loki will look after you, won't you?" asked Rhodey again as he looked at Loki.
"Of course. No harm shall come to Anthony and I promise to not leave his side."
"It'll be alright, Tony. And I'll be back before you know it."
Tony hugged Rhodey tightly. "Promise?" Rhodey held out his pinky finger.
"Promise."
As soon as Rhodey left he pulled out his phone and dialed another one of Tony's friends. She had interned at their school last year but was currently working as a legal assistant to Matt Murdock, head lawyer at the firm Nelson & Murdock.
"Hey Pepper, I need a favor…."
"Anthony, can you tell me what happened?" asked Loki once they were both sitting on the couch. Tony was close to Loki but he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the other everything that had happened. It was one thing to break down in front of Rhodey who was his brother in all but blood, but Loki was different. He cared about Loki in a different way and didn't want him to think Tony was weak or a fool.
"Not right now, Loki. Can you just… I don't know, hold me?" asked Tony. He didn't want to seem pathetic but he really needed someone and Rhodey had left.
Normally Loki loathed touching others but Anthony was special. He knew the other teen had been seeing someone and so tampered down the feelings he held. Now it seemed that Anthony was no longer in that committed relationship and although Loki did not like the way it had ended he wasn't above using the break-up as a way to insert himself more firmly at Anthony's side.
"Come here," said Loki as laid on the couch, forcing Tony to crawl atop of him and snuggle into his chest. Loki then wrapped his arms around Tony's smaller frame and tucked the genius' head under his chin.
He could feel Anthony shake slightly, trying to contain his tears. Loki vowed to get to the truth one way or another. There were two sides to every story after all.
Morning came sooner than he expected and Loki awoke to someone knocking on the door. He hadn't realized how long they had curled up, but at some point Tony fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. Loki himself dozed off, Tony's steadily beating heart singing him to sleep.
Someone knocked again and Loki forced himself up. He gently rolled Tony onto the couch, careful not to wake him before making his way to the door.
"Yes?" he asked, forcing himself to not snarl at the old man.
"Package for," the old man squinted at the wet box, "Tony Stank?"
Loki just leveled an unimpressed glare at the older man. "Give it here." He signed for the package and closed the door with more force than necessary.
The package was sent from a Steve Rogers and suddenly Loki knew that inside were some answers to this whole debacle. Without remorse he opened it up. Inside was a damp letter and a blocky flip phone. He placed the horrendously outdated phone on the table and opened the letter.
Tony,
I hope you made it back home okay. I don't like the idea of you wandering around in this weather by yourself. We all need family. Bucky is mine, and I am his, maybe more so than I am yours. I've been on my own since I was 18, aside from Bucky. I never really fit in anywhere - even in the Force. I know I hurt you Tony. I guess I thought - by not telling you about Bucky that I was sparing you but… I can see now that I was really sparing myself. I'm sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand. I wish things could have gone differently last night, I really do. I know you were only hurt and doing what you believed in, and that's all any of us can do, it's all any of us should. So no matter what, I promise if you - if you need me, I'll be there.
Steve
Loki just stared at the letter in disgust, his mounting rage shaking his hands so badly he feared he would rip the letter in half. He quickly took a photo of it with his phone, needing it in order to feed his anger if he ever found himself forgiving Rogers for any reason. Nothing explicit was actually confessed in the letter but Loki knew how to read between the lines. He may not have the details but it seemed that Rogers cared more for this Bucky (and why did that name sound familiar?) than he did about Anthony.
"Loki?" asked Tony sleepily as he stood from the couch and made his way to the coffee maker, filling it up with new coffee grounds and water. "What do you have there?"
Before Loki could stop him Tony had snatched the letter away and read it in mere seconds. His previously tanned face paled immediately. Before Tony could think too deeply about it he turned and saw the blocky phone on the table. "What the hell is that?"
"It was in the box along with the letter. I assume it has a new number Rogers set up, possibly a burner phone," answered Loki as grabbed the letter from Tony's slack hand. He moved to the stove and immediately set the paper on fire, dropping it into the sink to burn away safely.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Tony, a mixture of dread and anger in his voice.
"You don't need to keep something like that, Anthony. I know you and I know that you would wallow over those words and that letter for a long time. Forget about Rogers and focus on recovering."
"So you know what he did then?" hissed out Tony in anger and shame. He never wanted Loki to find out, especially not like that.
"I don't," replied Loki calmly as he walked slowly over to Tony, "but I have a broad idea."
Tony couldn't contain his words any more. Maybe he shouted them to scare Loki away, to push away the other man because he didn't think he deserved the comfort for being so weak, for being an idiot.
"Steve took thousands of dollars from me and used them to fund a little expedition to find his lifelong friend, former POW Bucky Barnes. I personally funded him because Bucky was an important person in his life and it was the only way I could help. Steve was gone for 10 months. He left the force under pretense of a sabbatical and I funded all his living expenses. But you know what I found out? He fucking found Barnes 2 months in. Two months! And what was he doing for the past 8 months while I have been waiting for him, worrying day after day as I sat by the phone like an idiot?! He and Barnes were fucking! They were fucking having sex in Steve's room back in New York, right next to that damn Pollack painting I gave Steve. And then I find out that Steve is still using my money to rent fucking hotel rooms here in Massachusetts. I just lost it. I lost it, Loki. I punched Steve, then Barnes then they both punched me and then I thought Steve was going to kill me. Oh my god, Loki. I thought he really was going to do it, he was so mad!" cried out Tony as Loki took him into his arms. Tony started to sob again as he clutched the taller man closer.
"Shush...there darling, let it out," cooed Loki softly. He hated seeing Anthony like this. The last time Tony was this upset was when his parents had passed away in that car accident. Loki could feel his own throat well up with emotion but forcefully bit it back down. Now was not the time to break down - he had to be strong for Anthony.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm such a fucking mess," coughed out Tony. His yelling had aggravated his throat and caused him to cough repeatedly.
"It's fine, Anthony. You'll be okay. Let's get you some water. Come on, go sit down and I'll bring you something to drink." Loki led Tony back to the couch, following soon after with two water bottles and a cup of coffee. "Drink this first," advised Loki as he handed the water over.
Tony forced himself to chug as much water as he could without choking then placed the bottle back on the coffee table.
"Why did he do that to me? Am I such a worthless person that doesn't deserve love?" brokenly asked Tony. "First dad, now Steve…"
Before he could say much else Loki gripped his shoulders and shook Tony lightly.
"No, never think that Anthony. What happened was not your fault. Rogers is the one who wronged you and he is the one that needs to take responsibility. You are very much loved, please never think otherwise," said Loki imploringly, hoping Tony could read the sincerity in his eyes and voice.
"Who could ever love me, Loki? I thought Steve did. We were so good together," trailed off Tony.
"First of all, I always wondered why you and Rogers were together. You were still underage when he got together with you. I'm not sure what you all did before you turned 18 but he had to know he was straddling the fence there. Secondly," sharply cut in Loki when he realized Tony was trying to say something in Rogers' defense.
"Secondly, there are many people that love you and many people who would want to love you."
"Oh yeah, like who?" asked Tony petulantly.
Loki closed his eyes and took in a shuddering breath. This situation was less than ideal to be confessing anything but he had to prove to Tony that someone out there cared for him.
"Someone like me," answered Loki as he took Tony's face between his hands, framing the soft, wet cheeks in his palms before leaning over and gently kissing Tony's lips.
Tony's eyes widened in surprise. "What? You?" he asked disbelievingly. He knew that Loki liked to play tricks on people but even this was too cruel of him. "Don't mess with me, Loki. Not right now, not with this," implored Tony.
"I would never lie about this Anthony. I care for you too much to jeopardize our relationship on a mere trick or joke. I really do love you Anthony and I know that if you give me time I'm sure that you could grow to care for me the same in return." Loki could feel his heart rapidly beating in his chest in trepidation.
Tony looked at him, gauging his sincerity. Whatever he found seemed to be enough as the first genuine smile made it's way onto his face.
"I'd like to give you that time then, Loki," he answered.
He wasn't sure if this was the break-up talking, if Loki was just a rebound, but Tony knew he wanted to give it a shot. He and Steve had drifted apart in the last year and Loki seemed to have slotted himself into his life and into all the spaces Steve used to occupy. Whenever Tony found himself lonely or upset that Steve hadn't contacted him he would turn to Loki to get him though it. Tony knew he was physically attracted to Loki - that went without question - and he also cared for him very much. Maybe romance would come soon too. It wasn't hard to imagine falling in love with Loki and the more Tony thought about it the more his heart healed.
Loki happily grinned, a large smile making it's way onto his face as he leaned forward and kissed Tony again.
"Sergeant Steven Grant Rogers is being sued in the civil court of law for five-thousand dollars by Anthony Edward Stark, heir of Stark Industries. Charges are being led by Prosecutor Matt Murdock and his assistant Virginia "Pepper" Potts. Charges are as follow: …"
…
"Former POW, Captain James Buchanan Barnes has made his way to Washington D.C after being declared missing by his therapist Dr. Helen Cho. Barnes is court-mandated to start therapy with Veterans Affairs therapist, Samuel Wilson. Barnes has been moved from his previous safe-house and is staying with Wilson until such a time new accommodations can be found."
…
"A new line of StarkPhones have just been announced and already folks are lining up to purchase them. Stark Industry stocks have also hit an all-time high in the past month as Anthony "Tony" Stark completed his third doctorate and finally took the mantle as CEO."
…
"Former-Sergeant Steven Grant Rogers is being charged with having sexual relations with a minor as well as aggravated assault. Captain Carol Danvers is leading the investigation after receiving an anonymous tip." ["You're not the only one with connections, Tony" - Rhodey]
…
"Stark Industries is expanding into the Medical Field with their new line of neurological enhanced prosthetics. Trials are already underway with former POW James Buchanan Barnes leading the charge."
…
"Tony Stark off the market?
With rising stock prices in Stark Industries another kind of market has been shut down. Tony Stark has been seen with Mr. Loki Laufeyson at the Maria Stark Foundation Annual Ball three years running. Are we going to see a ring on that finger soon?"
END.