DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN MARVEL. NONE OF THIS BELONGS TO ME.
Hey everyone. I decided to post this new story. Please R&R. Thanks!
Tony paced around the room anxiously. He couldn't seem to figure it out. Instead of Steve being happy to celebrate his birthday tomorrow, he'd locked himself in his bedroom. He hadn't really been himself all week. A few days earlier, he'd gone to bed early, completely skipping dinner which couldn't be good considering his increased metabolism. But no one on the team could get him to talk. Natasha probably could if she were here, but she was in deep cover right now, so that was a no-go.
The door opened up startling Tony. Steve stood in the doorway, and he looked awful. Huge bags formed under his eyes and he looked as if he could drop dead from exhaustion at any minute. Over one shoulder was a punching bag and the other hand held a bottle of water. Steve politely nodded to Tony before heading down to the gym. Walking down to his lab something occurred to Tony. Steve had been heading into his room early every night, so why was he so tired.
"Jarvis, when was last time Steve slept?" Tony asked.
"Captain Rogers had not slept in six days sir. Before that he averaged around 2.4 hours of rest a night."
Six days. How the hell was Steve walking around on no sleep. The serum had probably increased his endurance but still. That was a long time. Tony thought about this for a little while. He wasn't really sure what to do. On one hand, he was no one to talk to about sleep. He himself avoided it as much as possible. But even Tony had to sleep at least five hours a night to properly function.
"Jarvis it's time for an intervention."
Tony watched the monitor as Steve arrived at the gym and tried to open the door. It would budge. Tony silently congratulated himself. He was about to "accidentally" run into Steve in the hallway to confront him, but just as he turned to leave he saw Steve kicking through the door. That had to hurt.
The door was made out of titanium and reinforced with steel. Judging by Steve's slow movements and warriness to put a whole lot of pressure on his foot, it seemed that Tony was right. Tony watched as Cap hung up a punching bag and started hitting away. Every time he'd seen Steve fight, it had always been thoughtful, coordinated, and smooth. He never just started randomly throwing punches. Which is what made the video in front of his eyes a lot more disturbing. Steve wasn't just hitting the punching bag, he was attacking it.
Anger hid behind every blow and Steve didn't stop, he didn't even seem to notice the blood beginning to cake on his knuckles. When the punching bag flew across the room throwing sand all over the floor, Steve grabbed another one and did the same thing. This couldn't be healthy. Tony walked down to the gym walking past the broken door and over the sand on the tile beneath his feet.
"Hey, Cap," Tony said causing the super soldier to spin around in a defensive action. On seeing Tony, Steve relaxed a little. He turned back to the punching bag delivering more controlled punches for show.
"Hi Tony," Steve responded punching another hole into the bag. Sighing, he took the bag off the hook above and threw it near the one from earlier. He walked over to a supply closet and grabbed another. He continued to beat the bag as Tony watched.
"What are you doing down here?" Tony asked. He already knew the answer but wanted to see what Steve had to say for himself.
"Training,"
"Why?"
Steve paused raising an eyebrow. "Because you never know what's going to happen." Shrugging he returned to his training.
"Ok, let me rephrase. Why are you training instead of sleeping." Steve froze.
"I'm not tired," Steve lied.
"Bull shit. You haven't slept in six days so either you tell me what the hell is going on or I find other solutions." Steve didn't move. He looked at Tony like a child caught stealing cookies.
"I'm fine. I don't need much sleep. The serum…"
"Was not designed for you to skip a week of sleeping," Tony interrupted.
"I'm fine," Steve said grabbing his water and pushing past Tony. "I'll see you tomorrow, I'm going to call it a night."
Tony knew exactly what that meant. Steve was heading back to his room to do whatever it was he did at night instead of sleeping. Tony sighed to himself. He needed to do something about that. But it wouldn't happen today. Tony himself had only gotten about two hours of sleep last night. Maybe Steve will be more open to talking tomorrow Tony thought to himself.
Authors Note: So what'd you think? I will try to update this tomorrow. I love these types of fics where Steve seems kinda out of place and down on the world. Anyways, if you have any ideas for future chapters let me know. Until next time!