30 Day Writing Challenge
Day Fifteen: Lie
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Pairing: Winteriron
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the MCU, characters or otherwise.
Lie
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The first time James hears Tony respond to being asked if he's okay with 'fine', he's almost positive that someone was going to speak up.
The tone, the body language, everything about Tony screamed that he was about as fine as James had been in a decade ago, suffering under Hydra's thumb everyday and killing things because he was told to.
But no-one said a thing. He even turned towards Natasha, waiting for her to call it on him, but instead she just rolled her eyes and let it go.
They all just let it go.
And that did not sit right with James at all.
Tony was the man who'd let James stay in his tower, had given up his personal space despite knowing that the Winter Soldier had killed his parents. He fed them all, gave them a roof over their heads, catered to their needs, and didn't ask for a cent.
He was so many things, generous, loving, caring, so very very kind. But there was one thing that James was sure of.
Tony Stark was Not Fine.
After noting everyone else's considerable inability to see the obvious, James decided that it would just have to be his mission to help Tony become fine. The engineer didn't want anyone to bring light to it? That was okay. James could think of a few different ways to help him out.
Step One was hydration and food.
Tony didn't drink nearly enough water. According to Jarvis (who was 100% in on his plans to help Tony become Fine), Tony drank an average of 400 mls of water everyday, outside of his coffee.
This was unacceptable.
Additionally, the engineer didn't eat nearly enough food. He was better than the team seemed to think – Steve being the worst offender. Tony carried snacks on his person, and he had them everywhere, but they weren't real food. He also tended to substitute real food for smoothies.
This was also, unacceptable.
Packing a tray together, James placed the ham and cheese sandwich on a tray with a bowl of blue berries, a snickers and two 600ml bottles of water.
Picking it up, he ignored the curious looks he got from everyone else in the common room before stepping into the elevator and waiting for Jarvis to bring it down to the next floor.
Stepping out, he walked into the lab, grinning when Tony ran from floating image to floating image, mind racing as he and Jarvis worked on two or three projects at the same time.
"Break Time." He called out.
Blinking in surprise at the sudden additional voice in the room, Tony frowned at the sight of James. "Break time? Darlin' I don't get break time. I go and go and go until I can't go no more. There are no brakes on this train."
James gave him an unimpressed look. "Well that's a real shame, because starting today, there are brakes on this train, and that means you stop and eat. Keep my company doll." He urged, staring at the brunette until he seemed to give up in a huff.
"What do you mean starting today?" He grumbled, picking up a couple blue berries, unable to help the small smile when he realised that James had remembered his favourite fruit.
The ex-assassin gave him an innocent look. "What do you think it means doll? Surely you're smart enough to figure it out." He teased.
Tony narrowed his eyes. "This is not becoming a regular occurrence. Nope. No can do. I have things to do with my time, I can't just let you come in here whenever you want and ruin my vibe." He denied.
And yet despite that, every time James showed up over the next week, he stopped what he was doing and ate whatever he was brought, drinking down the water without issues, before returning back to work.
He was already looking healthier.
Step Two was sleep.
Tony's average sleep cycle according to Jarvis was four hours and thirty seven minutes every two days.
This was unacceptable.
James had been a little unsure as to how to deal with this issue at first, but had asked Jarvis to alert him when Tony made it to the twenty-four hour mark, no matter what he was doing.
Which is how he found himself being awoke at four the next morning, Jarvis apologising but explaining the issue.
Immediately alert, James pushed himself from bed, moving like he hadn't just been asleep, soldiering on to the elevator and waiting as it took him down.
Stepping into the room, he frowned at the slightly sleepy look on Tony's face as the engineer turned the blueprint in front of him, humming a little.
"Doll?" James called out.
Tony didn't seem to notice him.
Sighing, the ex-assassin moved closer, not quite touching Tony, but close enough to (hopefully) grab the engineers attention.
"Doll?" He tried again.
This time Tony jumped, whirling around, suddenly much more awake before it registered who was in his workshop.
"Snowflake? What are you doing down here?"
"Taking you to bed, apparently." James drawled, smirking a little at the way Tony melted into the Brooklyn.
"No bed. Can't. Too much to get done."
"Honey, you've been at it for over twenty-four hours now. I'm calling a mandatory bed time. Like a break time for your eyes." He cajoled.
Blinking a little sleepily, Tony pouted. "No more break times. Not even meant to have normal break time. But I like hanging out with you. Like spending time with my snowflake." He sighed, voice a little wistful.
James knew that he shouldn't listen to the tired ramblings, more out of respect than any denial that they might be true. Tony sounded much too honest for that.
"But doll, I like taking break times. Why can't we have two break times? It'll be nice."
Tony shook his head, hair flopping in front of his face cutely and making James' heart clench.
"No. This wouldn't be a second break time. Break times mean I'm with my snowflake. If snowflake isn't there, then it can't be a break time."
A little taken aback at the twisted logic, James bit his lip. "But what if I were to stay with you. Then would you be willing to take break time for your eyes?"
Tony was thoughtful for a moment. "Snowflake is going to stay with me? Cuddle me and keep me warm? Keep me safe from the nightmares? Snowflake always keeps me so safe." He rambled.
Smiling softly, James moved around and picked Tony up princess style, grinning at the sleepy shock on the engineers face before he snuggled further into James' arms.
"I'll keep you safe doll. Promise."
When they made it to Tony's room, he placed the shorter man onto the mattress, fond smile in place when he realised that Tony had fallen asleep, still clutching onto James' shirt.
Unable to do anything else, James climbed into bed after him, freezing for just a moment when Tony rolled into him and cuddled close, sighing contently.
Running his hands through Tony's hair, he allowed himself to relax, slowly falling back to sleep.
After that first night, it became something of a habit. They didn't not talk about it, but they didn't talk about it either. It was just something that ended up added to their list of 'things' along with their 'break time' for food at one in the afternoon.
As soon as the twenty-four hour mark was reached, Jarvis would alert James, he could come and pick up the engineer, they would cuddle, sleep a full eight hours (and wasn't that the greatest shock?).
It was good, and between the sleep, food and water, Tony was looking so much better. But he still wasn't Fine.
Step Three was self-love.
This was a weird one for James to figure out, but it became pretty apparent that the nightmares that Tony still suffered from weren't the end of the things making Tony Not Fine.
When Tony stepped inside the tower one day, James had watched as he shut down as a stranger got past security to goad him, screaming about how terrible he was, how the weapons that were still left from years ago continued to kill people, how he should never have designed them in the first place.
Tony hadn't done anything to defend himself. He had looked a lot like he agreed.
That was unacceptable.
Following after the engineer, he thanked whatever gods were watching over him that Jarvis liked him enough to bend the rules of 'lock-down' for him.
"Nobody in or out, Jay." Tony demanded.
And well, James was in first, so technically they weren't bending any rules anyway.
"You know it's not true, right?"
Tony swung around, glaring in a way that was so uncharacteristic of him.
"You aren't meant to be in here. Jarvis..."
"Apologies Sir. You said nobody in or out. Since Mr Barnes was already here, I couldn't very well let him out with those orders." The sass in his voice was clear, and for a moment Tony's face was fond, before he shut down again.
"Doll, you didn't answer me."
"Didn't answer what?" Tony side stepped, moving away to try and work on something.
James growled. Tony wasn't even pretending to be subtle with this.
"It wasn't your fault. You've done everything you could. There's nothing else you can do until someone warns you that they exist. You shut the weapons down. You stopped everything from continuing. You did good."
Something in Tony's form seemed to melt at that word for a moment, tense lines in his back fading into something softer for just a second before they returned.
"It's not just the weapons. I've done so much wrong, I've cared so little..."
"You're preaching to the choir, sweetheart. But there's nothing that you can do but keep moving forwards. You've done far more good than anyone else on this forsaken planet. You can't do everything though." His voice was soft but strong.
Tony swallowed thickly. "I'm not worth all that."
"You are worth so much more."
"I'm really not."
James shook his head. "You really are. But it's okay. I'll convince you eventually. Until then though, I can care about you enough for the both of us."
So that's what he did. He reminded Tony of everything good he did, day in and day out, taking his time to show the engineer just how much he was worth.
And if at the end of it all, he ended up with kisses as well as cuddles, and the term 'doll' became a loving endearment of a different kind, well, neither of them were surprised either.