Six Degrees of Separation
First stage.
Tony Stark sat on the floor of his living room, staring blindly out the window and taking large gulps of scotch. His eyes were red and cheeks blotchy, but he refused to let himself cry. No incredibly sexy, blonde super soldier was going to make the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist break down in an un-manly way.
Nu-uh.
Even if it was kind of his fault that he was in this position in the first place. Flashbacks of the previous night flew through his groggy mind as Tony took another swig straight from the bottle to shake away the images.
The man from the bar.
Steve walking in.
The fight.
The tears in Steve's eyes as he stormed out the door.
The knowledge that the best thing that had ever happened to him had gurgled down the drain and sank away into oblivion, fresh in his inhibited mind.
Fuck.
Second stage.
Natasha and Clint came over the next day and Natasha, well, she showed her anger physically. She had never approved of Tony and Steve's relationship mainly for Steve's sake. Apparently, Steve was too good for Tony and Tony would hurt him as soon as Steve's back was turned.
She was right all along. Tony spitefully thought as he held the bag of ice on his black eye and Dummy helped him bandage up his bruised and broken ribs.
Red clouded his vision and with a thud, he dropped the bag of ice and pushed Dummy away. He stood up and grabbed the first thing he could reach (Which happened to be a picture of him and Steve's first date to the beach) and threw it at one of his machines. Unsatisfied, Tony spent the next three hours throwing and smashing every little piece of electronics he'd been working for over four months, venting his frustration and anger out on everything Steve had encouraged him to do. Everything Steve helped him with (Albeit the help was mainly holding screwdrivers and the sort).
Everything.
Third stage.
One week after that fateful night, Tony was sitting on his bed and staring at a plain white wall. All of his former friends had come throughout the week, each with different yet similar messages of disappointment and anger.
Bruce stopped helping him with his projects.
Thor gave him a shameful nod and muttered "I thought humans were more evolved than this."
Fury ( Not his friend. Never would Fury ever be his friend.) came and shouted at him for compromising the best chance of the Earth's survival.
Even Pepper; the woman who had stuck with him through thick and thin had had enough of his bullshit and resigned from her position.
Everyone had left him and it was all his fault.
"Sir," JARVIS interrupted his self-pitying and Tony mumbled something in response. "There is a Mr. Rodgers here requesting your person." Tony's head jerked up and he practically leapt out of the room and down the stairs.
Fixing his dishevelled appearance up in the hallway mirror, Tony plastered on a professional mask, took a deep breath and entered his living room. Seeing Steve, Tony had to resist the urge to jump up and give the man a hug because, judging by the look of the boxes and grim look on Steve's face, he wasn't here for pleasure.
"Here is your stuff from my apartment, Stark." Steve said through gritted teeth, as if the very sight of Tony made him want to vomit. Tony's demeanour dropped for a second as he frowned and muttered "Oh."
Nothing more was said between the two as Steve stormed out of Tony's house, not looking back. When Tony was sure Steve was gone, he collapsed to his knees and wept.
Fourth stage.
A month had past since Steve officially cut all ties from Tony. He had changed his number (Even changed his phone because Tony gave him his previous phone.), he'd taken a leave of absence from the Avengers and had gone for a long-term vacation to the opposite side of the world leaving Tony broken and furious. Furious not at Steve, but at himself for letting himself get sucked in by the man at the bar's charm and good looks.
Tony had resigned from the Avengers and basically anything to do with Iron Man, knowing that no one would want to be in a group with him; the one who broke Captain America.
But it was at the end of this month-long period of wallowing in self-pity, that Tony decided enough was enough. He had to do something other than drink himself to the point where he'd pass out at midday and wake up at midnight, only to repeat the process over and over again.
So he took a long-needed shower, cleaned himself up, put on some new, un-soiled clothes and marched down to his lab (of which he hadn't stepped foot into since that night where he'd destroyed everything in his sight.). He took a deep breath and started the long process of cleaning and fixing his stuff.
He didn't come out of his lab for four weeks.
Next, he took hold of his forgotten company and got everything running at top notch again and hired a new PA named Gretchen. He hated her nasally voice, but it was a start.
He was slowly picking up the shattered pieces of his life.
Fifth stage.
He didn't want to go to this stupid de-briefing but Gretchen had organised it without his permission. He was starting to think she was a secret agent from SHIELD to watch him.
But here he was, sitting awkwardly at a table, with people he hadn't talked to for over three months. But Tony noted that Steve was mysteriously absent. No one was talking to him, so he didn't even bother asking where he was.
Fury had started his de-briefing on Dr. Doom and the invasion from the previous week.
Tony wasn't going to help the Avengers again, but he could tell from his high vantage point, that they were losing horrifically. So he had put on the suit for the first time in almost half a year and flew down to help them. Sure they were stunned for a little bit, but they knew they were hilariously outmatched so they reluctantly received his help, without a word of thanks afterwards.
A door opened to his left and snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Sorry we're late sir, we got a bit… distracted." None other than Steve himself stepped through the door, followed by a petite woman who was giggling as she tried to smooth her hair down.
"Fine, Cap. Just sit your ass down and shut it." Fury sighed and the girl giggled again.
"See you after the meeting, babe." Steve smiled at the woman and kissed her softly and Tony's heart broke. He'd only seen Steve smile smitten like that at one other person.
Him.
And at that moment, Tony Stark, the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist realised just how much he fucked up.
Sixth stage.