A/N: This originally started off as just a oneshot about a birthday party for Tony, but I think I'll extend this as a place for me to post all the oneshots I come up with before I go to bed. So, let this mark the first of many oneshots to come!
Summary
Today (5/29) is Tony Stark's birthday! To honor the occasion, both FanQueen on Fire and I decided to write little oneshots centered around our favorite Avenger (angst was a requirement, of course). Only I was able to get mine uploaded on time, so here it is!
All of his terrible experiences with birthday parties (or lack thereof) have led Tony Stark to believe that his birthday is meaningless. Upon waking up on his birthday and finding himself totally alone, those feelings only run deeper and he decides to breaks out the scotch. However, he might find out that there are people that care about him after all. ((Rated T mainly for language))
Warnings
Series: N/A
Timeframe: Pre-CA:TWS, Post-IM3
Ships: Clintasha, Pepperony
AUish Aspects: Deaf!Clint, Tony doesn't have his arc reactor removed
Main: Angst and bromance for days.
Disclaimer
I do not own Marvel, Disney, or the Avengers. If I owned any of those things, I probably wouldn't be sitting here writing this xD.
-You're Not Alone-
Author: Shadow Wolf Artist
Editor: FanQueen on Fire
Tony made something that resembled a groan as he opened his bleary eyes to the sunlight that was pouring into his room through his giant, oversized windows. He fumbled around for Pepper, only to remember that the beautiful redhead was halfway across the world on a business trip, and would be for another two weeks. No longer having a reason to smile, the grumpy billionaire shoved his head back into his pillow and made a noise that sounded similar to the snort an angry pig. "J.A.R.V.I.S., why the hell are the blinds open? I wanna sleep."
"Yes, well it's not my fault you stayed up until 12:36 A.M., Sir."
"I don't have any decent comebacks this morning, so can the sass, would you?"
"Only if you get out of bed."
"Okay, fine, continue sassing me. I'm gonna go back to sleep." It was one of those rare times when Tony was so exhausted that his sleep was dreamless (or, in his case, nightmareless), and he would be damned if he didn't take advantage of it.
"Actually, no you aren't. You have a meeting in 49 minutes."
"Why the hell do I have a meeting so early in the morning?" the genius groaned, still not moving from his position on the bed.
"Sir, it's 9:41 A.M. I would hardly call that early."
"Considering my abnormal sleeping schedule, I would. I'm finally getting some decent sleep; what are the consequences of me skipping this meeting?" The tired genius elongated the word 'meeting' in a way that quite obviously displayed his intentions of skipping the damn thing.
"While I do hate to interrupt your peaceful sleep, Sir, I recall you promising both Ms. Potts and Colonel Rhodes that you wouldn't miss any more meetings. I would rather you not face their wrath."
Tony let out another loud, angry groan before finally staggering to his feet and tossing his blankets to the floor. He was going to stumble to the bathroom to take a shower, but before he could, his phone buzzed. He would've completely disregarded it had the call not been from a certain redhead whom he happened to love dearly.
"Hey Pep," he mumbled tiredly into the phone, a small smile playing at his lips.
"Oh good. J.A.R.V.I.S. woke you up. Just calling to make sure you're off to that meeting."
"I'd rather be doing anything else, but yes, sadly, I'm off to go meet with a bunch of money-loving assholes. Is that really the only reason you're calling? Why must you torture me so?"
"Tony Stark kept a promise for once! This moment will go down in history."
"You are the worst."
"If it makes you feel any better, I also called to tell you I love you, and that my trip is going to be over sooner than expected."
"Love you too, Pep. I miss you."
"Miss you too." The call ended then, and Tony tossed his phone onto his bed before turning back to the task at hand.
"Damn meetings," he mumbled under his breath as he got into the shower.
The absence of life as Tony stumbled into the kitchen to eat breakfast was unnerving.
Steve would usually already have some coffee made for him, along with some eggs and a note saying, "You better eat these or Pepper is going to be livid with me. Apparently, it's now my job to make sure you eat three meals a day, seeing as J.A.R.V.I.S. can only do so much without a body. And, no, I did not just give you permission to make him a body." Clint was also usually perched somewhere, eating breakfast while fiddling with an arrow or planning his next 'aerial assault' (which usually consisted of launching various objects at whatever unlucky Avenger happened to walk under where he rested in the vents). When Thor was in town, he was almost always in the kitchen and living room space (eating poptarts), seeing as that was where most of the gathering happened and the big blond god sure did love to be included. It was rare to see Natasha or Bruce at this point in the morning, because Bruce was usually sciencing the shit out of stuff and Natasha was almost always either training or on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. (she liked to keep busy). Despite this, the odds of Tony being completely alone on this floor (or even just in the kitchen, for that matter) at 9:56 in the morning were almost zero.
Shrugging (now was not a good time to be concerned about his loneliness, seeing as he had a meeting in half an hour), he made himself some coffee and grabbed a donut before heading out the metaphorical door (he technically had to take an elevator down to the garage and pick out what car he wanted to drive before he could head out the actual door, and even then it wasn't really that kind of door as much as it was a giant garage door) to his god awful meeting.
Something...I'm missing something, aren't I? Today is important for some reason. Some stupid reason that obviously isn't worth remembering.
Two hours in, and genius billionaire philanthropist Tony Stark was not impressed.
While he had never been one for meetings, the philanthropist certainly enjoyed them more when he was meeting with people that actually cared about developing tech to help the world and weren't just in it for the money.
These people?
They were money people.
To keep from losing his mind, the genius had secretly begun working on a new arrow design for Clint. Something that appeared subtle on the outside, but harbored a ton of garish secrets on the inside. Probably an assortment of colorful explosives; the billionaire really hadn't worked out where he was going with the design quite yet. Subconsciously, he was still listening to the entire meeting (sadly), so when one of the stuck up assholes asked him for his input he was able to give a valid and well thought out response. Because of this, while everyone at the table knew they didn't quite have Tony's full attention, they also couldn't prove he was distracted. This fact agitated them, to say the least, which made the meeting that much more miserable for the philanthropist.
Three hours in, and Tony was seriously considering funding their project just so he could go home.
He had moved on from designing another arrow for Clint to designing a new suit fabric for Steve. Making it bulletproof was proving to be impossible, and it pissed the genius off more than the people he was in a meeting with. The project they were proposing was doomed to failure, and no matter what they said it wasn't an endeavor to 'help those in need.' If it ever got off the ground, the goal was to be as lucrative as possible, so despite the fact that he knew it would probably extended the already overly long meeting, Tony let what morals he had win and he stood his ground.
"...wouldn't you agree, Mr. Stark?" It was a wrinkly old man talking, one that the billionaire had come to assume was the spokesperson for whatever company he was talking to. Tony wouldn't know; he hadn't been paying attention to the introductions.
"No, I wouldn't agree. This idea you're proposing is, to put it bluntly, stupid and outlandish. This project isn't about helping anyone, unless you count yourselves. In short, no, I will not fund your damn project, because I doubt the money will help anyone who actually needs it. Consider this meeting over. I've humored you all long enough." With that, he stood up and turned to leave.
"Mr. Stark, please just sit down so we can talk about this." A blond haired woman was talking now. She was much younger than the apparent spokesman, and much prettier. She was wearing something that Tony considered a little scandalous for a business meeting, and to be honest it made him slightly uncomfortable. Her voice was smooth like velvet, and Tony was 99% sure she was playing to his old playboy tendencies, which was funny because anyone who was anyone knew he cared about one woman and one woman only and that gorgeous woman was Ms. Pepper Potts.
"No. I have things to do that are much more important than sitting here pretending that I actually care about this. Also, I'd recommend wearing something much less showy for your next business meeting. It's just unprofessional, really."
With that, the billionaire marched from the room, already forgetting what he had been talking to them about for three unholy hours.
After all, it had occurred to him about halfway through the meeting that it was his birthday, and he could be doing much better things than sitting in a room with a bunch of idiots.
The genius stretched, relaxing his hands (which had been cramped for god knows how long as he worked on small bits within his suit) and taking a swig of scotch. He rested against the leg of a nearby workbench, pausing to have J.A.R.V.I.S. read him his to-do list.
"Alright J. What's on my list?" His words had the slightest slur, suggesting he was on the brink of getting drunk.
"Sir, please stop drinking."
"Why? It's my birthday."
"Yes, Sir, I know, but I'd rather not have you deal with the aftermath of your excessive drinking. It only worsens your anxiety-"
"Oh stop being so negative, J. To-do list, please."
"Sir-"
"To-do list, J.A.R.V.I.S.," the billionaire commanded sternly.
"Answering all the angry calls from the people you had a meeting with earlier."
"Block them and give me my damn to-do list."
If A.I.s could sigh, J.A.R.V.I.S. did then and there. "The prototype for Mr. Barton's new arrow."
"Check."
"The fabric for Captain Rogers's new suit."
"Check. I guess. I mean, it's not bullet proof yet. Make note of that."
"Yes, Sir. Natasha's new stingers."
"Incomplete. I can't find her anywhere, and I need her input on a ton of the design process. Apparently she wants them to attach to Cap's shield now. She's so demanding sometimes," the philanthropist said with faux exasperation. He actually rather liked all the demands his team made toward him; they gave him something to do, and kept his mind off of other, more depressing things. The billionaire stood up, stretching his back. "Hell, now that I mention it, I can't find anyone anywhere. Nat, I suppose I get. Steve's probably off learning about the 21st century, Bruce isn't in his lab sciencing the shit out of things so he's probably out and about, Thor is in Asgard, and I have no clue where Clint could be..." The genius trailed off at the end, as it suddenly hit him full force that him that he was completely and utterly was alone. It had just now occurred to him that all of his teammates had lives outside of entertaining him. Their company had started to become something he took for granted, and the fact that they weren't there was hurting him more than he liked to think. He had had his fair share of loneliness, and despite the fact that he acted like an asshole toward everyone, he enjoyed having his teammates around, even if they were just nagging him. He didn't like to think about how they had things to do outside of annoying him.
At the moment, he really didn't like thinking at all.
It was at times like these when he needed more scotch.
"Sir, I would recommend fixing the circuitry in your suit before you forget," the A.I. suggested. "And do please stop drinking. It's concerning."
"I don't forget," Tony responded, ignoring the part about his alcoholism. "And, even when I do, I have you to keep track of this stuff for me."
"Sir, if the Tower was attacked in an hour, there would be a possibility of you blowing up mid-fight because you didn't fix those wires. There would also be a possibility of you being too drunk to do anything anyway." Despite the fact that J.A.R.V.I.S. was driving it home that he needed to stop drinking, Tony continued to ignore everything he said regarding the subject. It was mostly out of pure guilt, because if he stopped taking swigs of scotch now he would feel bad about worrying J.A.R.V.I.S. so much. It's better to be completely drunk than aware that I'm worrying him- right?
"Fine. I'll fix it. Then I'm off to find Clint, because I wan' him to test this prototype." Even though he's probably off living his own life.
His hands grew stiff again as he worked, pausing every now and then to take a swig of scotch. It was how he had always 'celebrated' his birthday; in fact, it was probably a miracle that he wasn't totally drunk already. As a kid, he had never had a birthday party, because despite the fact that Howard was fucking loaded he was always talking about how 'you shouldn't waste money on such trivial things' (and buying a shitload of scotch and whiskey isn't 'trivial,' Dad?). Acknowledging and having even the smallest of a celebration on his birthday at all had been rare, and only then it was when his mother was able to convince Howard to spend a small amount on their child's happiness (not like it meant anything to him; ol' Dad was all about numbers, and the only thing he cared about was that those numbers were decreasing because of me). Due to this, the genius had never really batted an eye when his birthday rolled around. The only real time he had acknowledged it with any kind of celebration was that one time he had thrown a rather bombastic birthday party because he thought he was going to die anyway (and everyone knows that that didn't end well). If it weren't for J.A.R.V.I.S. wishing him a happy birthday every time the date came, the event would've been forgotten by Tony entirely. After all, it was just a painful reminder that time constantly passing, and that there would never be enough of it for him to make right all his wrongs. But, because he had J.A.R.V.I.S., the billionaire remembered to break out the scotch and work until he passed out on May 29th every year. Not exactly a healthy habit, but he saw no reason not to do it. No one cared to stop him.
"Sir, you have a visitor," J.A.R.V.I.S. announced, his voice full of robotic disdain at the fact that Tony was continuing to down scotch. 'Sir's' vision was blurring from both exhaustion and alcohol when the A.I. made the announcement, and he glanced up just in time to see someone punch in the code to get into his lab. Dropping his wrench and making a move to put on his suit, he looked up again and paused when he saw Steve making his way between the various projects toward him. He took note of the billionaire's bedraggled condition and raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, you don't look too great."
"It's been a long day. I had a meeting with a bunch of money-loving bastards. One of them was a slut."
"It also appears you've had a lot of scotch," the super soldier murmured to himself, taking note of both Tony's excessive language and the one and a half empty bottles of alcohol that were sitting on a nearby workbench.
"Hey, have you seen Clint? I've got a new arrow prototype I wanna show him," Tony said with something that resembled drunken excitement. "Oh, I made something for you! It's not totally done yet, and it's really just a concept at this point, but anyway. Here." He held up what looked to be a simple piece of fabric. "It's more durable than the fabric your other suit was made of. It's also waterproof. Not bulletproof yet, but I'm working on it. It also absorbs stabs to the back much nicer, so that's a plus. I really don't like watching people jab knives into your back. For a super soldier, you bleed a lot." In all honesty, Steve was a little taken aback. Tony Stark, the most egotistical man on the planet, hadn't once mentioned it was his birthday today. In fact, he had been working on stuff for other people. "O' course, I made myself some stuff too. My suit's more energy efficient now. Well, it will be, once I move this wire over here..." Smoothly, he transitioned back into his work, half hoping that Steve would stay in his lab so that he wouldn't be alone.
"How about you stop drinking and come with me," Steve suggested. It wasn't really a question as much as it was a command.
"M'kay, hold on-" Tony muttered something about blowing up and circuits and tweaked a few things before turning back to the captain. "Okay, whaddya wanna show me that's so damn important it couldn't wait?"
Steve helped the slightly drunk (and incredibly exhausted) genius to his feet before gesturing for him to follow. "I'm showing you something that's much more exciting than just sitting down here and moping all day."
"First of all, that could sound really gay. Second of all, I'm not moping, I'm working."
"Uh huh. Just shut up and follow me." The two men stepped into the elevator and rode up to the main floor.
Yes, the one that had been 110% silent that morning and that Tony had been avoiding like the plague because the silence was like several stabs to his permanently wounded chest.
The billionaire followed Steve out of the elevator, too delirious to notice the various additions to the usual interior decor. He also nearly had a heart attack when everyone who had been absent that morning leaped out from various places around the room, yelling "Happy Birthday!" (including J.A.R.V.I.S.) and throwing confetti everywhere.
It took about a minute for Tony's sluggish mind to fully comprehend what was happening.
They were throwing him a birthday party.
"What?" was all he could manage around his shock.
"We're throwing you a surprise birthday party, you doofus," Natasha remarked from the couch. She had a party hat on, and the sight of her wearing something so childish made Tony pray J.A.R.V.I.S. was recording this whole thing (he knew he was; oh, the philanthropist was going to relish in this forever).
"Well, yeah, I suppose I got that. But, why?"
"What do you mean why?" a familiar voice scoffed from behind him. The genius turned around just in time for Pepper to kiss him lightly on the cheek, causing him to smile involuntarily. "God, Steve wasn't I kidding when he said you had something to drink."
"Birthday celebrations aren't my thing," Tony grumbled, smile disappearing.
"Oh come on. That was one time," Rhodey laughed, coming out of nowhere. He's supposed to be on a military mission, isn't he? And Pepper's supposed to be halfway around the world. Why did they come home for my birthday?
Not realizing Rhodey was referring to the one time they had fought at Tony's rather bombastic celebration (his forgetfulness of the event was probably due to the fact that he was still hovering on the fine line between drunk and not), the billionaire muttered, "No kidding it was one time. Howard was so goddamn stingy."
That shut everyone up real fast.
It suddenly dawned on everyone that Tony had never had a real birthday party.
"Speaking of, why the hell are you all here? You have better things to do than buy me cake-"
"I'll have you know I spent a long ass time baking that cake for you!" Clint interrupted.
"-and set up decorations. You-" he pointed at Rhodey, "are supposed to be on an undercover military operation, you-" he pointed at Pepper, "are supposed to be halfway around the world, you-" he pointed at Natasha, "should probably be on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D., you-"
"They are here because I believe they are what you would call 'your friends,' Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted.
"I still do not understand this 'birthday party' you speak of, but it seems to be a mighty celebration thrown by close comrades, and thus I wish to help throw one for the great Man of Iron!" Thor boomed.
"He's right, Stark. As much as it pains me to say it, you're worth my time," Clint chuckled.
"Mine too," Bruce added, throwing a streamer at Tony. "Science Bros and all that. I think you'll like my gift."
"You can be a real pain in the ass, but even you deserve a birthday party," Natasha said with a small smirk. "How old are you now?"
"Not as old as me," Steve laughed, resting a hand on the philanthropist's shoulder. "For a genius, you're a real idiot, you know that?"
He didn't know who started it (it was probably Pepper, or Rhodey, or maybe even Steve), but Tony found all of his teammates and friends embracing him, a giant group hug that crushed him between a super soldier and a god.
But he was okay with that.
He wasn't alone anymore.
-The End-
A/N: I think this is pretty good considering I wrote it all today.
~Shadow Wolf Artist