Chapter 4 is here! I'm sorry it's a bit late; I was busy with school work. Enjoy!
Trigger warnings: Suicidal thoughts, bad language, child abuse, self-harm and alcoholism
A heavily armored van approached the black vehicle parked at the side of the street as people around the street gathered from afar to see what was going on. Shield agents surrounded the black van in a split second, their weapons towards it. An agent opened the door, and three of them entered inside.
"I need medical backup here, right now!" Maria Hill shouted into her comm device. Agents slowly lifted and carried the unconscious people in the van outside.
"Is that Tony Stark?" screamed someone from the crowd. "Oh my god, those are the Avengers!"
People started shouting and getting out their cameras and phones to record what was going on as agents tried to block the crowd from running towards the team. Members of the team got carried to the choppers that had landed near the site about 30 seconds ago. The choppers took off right after the members of the Avengers were carried inside. The medical team rushed to the Avengers' sides.
"Eyes unresponsive to light!"
"Heartbeat is 30 per minute."
"Stark is worse. 20 beats per minute."
"I think we are losing them."
Tony had gone pale and although he tried very hard to hide it, he was struggling to breathe more and more. He was taking very deep breaths that were clearly audible to the other room. The rest of the team wasn't in good condition either. They were all going a bit fuzzy.
"Shall we continue? I don't want all of you to die before I finish showing you all of Mr. Stark's memories."
Nobody made a single sound. Physical torture, all of them could handle. But something like this, they didn't even know how to react.
They didn't even have time to gather their thoughts as they were pulled into another memory.
Tony was in his room, looking at the mirror blankly.
Voices were coming down the stairs, it sounded like two men were shouting at each other. The sound of glass breaking disrupted Tony from his thoughts. He got up in a rush. He had had enough of this.
He stepped out to the corridor, trying to make as little sound as possible. He got into a room, and closed the door behind him slowly. The room consisted of only alcohol. They were neatly sorted into shelves. Tony stood there for one moment, thinking about what he was about to do. He wasn't allowed to go in here. He had accidently entered once and it had made Howard very angry. He looked at the shelves and made up his mind at an instant.
"Fuck it." he muttered under his breath, and grabbed the first bottle on the shelf. He secretly walked back to his room and locked the door.
He opened the bottle and drank some from it, hardly swallowing it. He didn't think it would be this strong. He had tasted alcohol before, Obie had insisted he should drink some because he was a grownup man now. He drank more and more from the bottle and when he looked, he realized he had drunk half of it. He felt a little lightheaded now. He actually regretted drinking. Howard would be very angry he finished a bottle of his drinks rather than getting sad that Tony was drinking in the first place.
Tony got up and hid the bottle in his closet. For the next four days, he had the same routine. With Jarvis gone abroad, nobody suspected him because nobody ever saw him. Tony wondered if anyone would actually notice him if he was gone. On the fifth day, he got up and went down for breakfast. The maids prepared a table for them with all kinds of food. Howard usually didn't even come to the table, and Maria usually ate a little and went back upstairs, never speaking.
Tony loved his mother, he really did. For the first time in his life, he noticed that he actually missed her. Missed the way she used to read him stories when he was little. Missed her lovely lullabies. Missed her smile. But now, she just looked sad. After five minutes, Tony was the only person left on the table. He didn't eat anything; he just went up to his room, opened his bottle of alcohol and drank.
He didn't have a bad life. He had people that loved him, he had Jarvis, he had Aunt Peggy, and he had Rhodey. He could buy everything he wanted, Howard didn't even care when he spent too much money. He was very intelligent. All he wanted was to be happy, but he felt like he was never going to be. He didn't feel like he could go on any longer, he felt desperate.
With a scream of agony Tony threw the bottle across the room, glass shattering everywhere. He collapsed on the floor, feeling like just lying there forever and never getting up. Would anyone actually care if I died right here, he thought.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and someone called for Tony.
"Tony, are you alright sweetheart?"
It didn't take long for Tony to identify the British accent. "Aunt Peggy." he whispered to himself and felt a little smile forming on his lips. "She would care."
"Tony?" she called from outside the room, trying to open the door but finding it locked. She was sure there was something wrong, she had heard a scream and glass breaking. She picked the lock and found Tony lying in the middle of the room, a strong stench of alcohol and pieces of glass everywhere.
"You came for me." Tony whispered.
Peggy quickly kneeled beside Tony and checked his pulse. "Oh, Tony. I'm taking you to the hospital, alright sweetheart?"
"I want you to stay with me, Tony. Stay with me, okay?"
"You would care if I died, right?" Tony whispered. The expression on Peggy's face changed. She hugged Tony tighter as tears streamed down her face.
"Of course I would miss you. Everyone would miss you. There are so many people that care about you. You've got to hold on, Tony."
Tony barely heard her, but even the tone of her voice was enough to help Tony hold on a second longer. He tried to focus on his surroundings. Peggy had kneeled on the floor next to Tony, not even caring about the little shards of glass that were tearing her dress and cutting her legs. She was holding Tony safely wrapped in her arms. Tony looked up and focused on Peggy's face. If Peggy was the last thing he saw, he was happy. He slowly drifted away, not hearing Peggy's cries.
The first thing Tony noticed was the sounds coming from the machine connected to him. It gave a constant beeping sound that helped Tony calm down. He wanted to open his eyes and apologize. He heard loud footsteps across the hall, his eyes still closed.
"Where is he?" a man shouted. Tony quickly recognized the voice. Who else would want to shout at him for nearly dying?
"Calm down, Howard." Peggy said, trying not to get too angry.
"I'm not going to calm down! Where's that little bastard?" roared Howard, and the persom holding Tony's hand squeezed him a little tighter after Howard shouted.
There were a lot of footsteps in the corridor now; Tony suspected the nurses were trying to pull Howard away.
"Don't you dare touch me! Do you even know who I am?"
"Mr. Stark, your son isn't in the right condition-"
"Get out of my way, Peggy!" shouted Howard, ignoring the nurse.
"For God's sake, Howard! He's just a boy! Maybe he wouldn't have done anything like this if you had been a proper father!" Peggy shouted in a tone Tony has never heard from her before. She was downright furious; Tony suspected she could actually kill Howard if he said another word.
Howard must have felt the same thing, because everywhere suddenly got quiet and the sound of footsteps going away filled the room.
Tony slowly lifted his eyelids and the white light above him blinded him instantly. He waited for a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the light. He slowly turned his head and saw Rhodey staring at the corridor in shock, still squeezing his hand.
"You know, Rhodey, if you wanted to propose you could have just said so."
Rhodey turned his head around and gave a little sigh out of relief. "Tony, you idiot. I'm going to kill you myself when we get out of here."
Tony was about to give a quick retort but he couldn't speak with his throat so dry. Rhodey quickly took the cup next to Tony's bed and helped him drink the water inside.
"What were you thinking?" Rhodey asked. He wasn't furious with him, he wasn't disappointed that he made such a big mistake. He had the same kind of worry in his eyes that were in Peggy's when he was dying in her arms.
"I'm sorry." Tony said quietly and turned his head away.
"Tony, look at me. Hey, look at me." He touched Tony's chin and turned his head around. Tony tried to look strong and his eyes betrayed him, just like they always did.
"It's okay." said Rhodey and put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'm glad you're alive." His lips formed into a smile that sent Tony a wave of reassurance. It was like finding out the world was safe and happy again. Tony smiled back and they stared at each other for a moment. Peggy entered the room at the exact same time.
"I can leave you two alone if you want."
Rhodey let out a laugh and Tony's smile widened.
"I was about to propose, but it's fine. You can come in." Rhodey said, smiling. Peggy smiled back and walked towards Tony, sitting on the empty chair on the other side of the bed.
"You alright, sweetheart?" she said, touching Tony's forehead and making sure he didn't have a fever.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
The sound of quick footsteps filled the room and two little kids burst in, shouting "Tony!". The little girl was about seven, and the boy was about four. The little girl jumped on the bed and the boy jumped on Peggy's lap.
"Are you okay?" the little girl that jumped on the bed said with a worried look in her eyes.
"Yes. An accident happened but I'm fine now."
The little girl smiled and hugged Tony. Tony's body hurt a little but he didn't say anything. Peggy was next to the bed, smiling at the sight in front of her. Tony was trying to convince the little girl to let go of him but she was still tightly hugging him.
A man entered the room, out of breath. "Why do little kids have to run so fast?" he said approaching the bed and picking the little girl up.
"It's fine. Sarah and I were planning our next tea party." Tony said, still smiling.
"Only Tony's invited, sorry." Sarah said and Tony laughed.
Jarvis entered the room in a hurry, giving a sigh of relief when he saw Tony awake and smiling.
"I came as soon as possible. You aren't doing anything like this ever again, okay? Promise me."
"I promise. I'm sorry that I worried you."
The day passed with everyone sitting around Tony's bed and Sarah telling everyone stories about Tony's tea parties. She had promised that she would come again tomorrow and they would have a tea party with Mr. Scrabbers the Bear and Clara the Mouse. Peggy's husband had taken the kids home when it was late. Rhodey wanted to stay, but Peggy and Jarvis reassured him that they would be here all night, telling him to go back home before it got dark. Peggy and Jarvis fell asleep on chairs next to Tony's bed and at the end of the day Tony realized he was wrong. He was happy.
The memory morphed into another one. Tony was leaving the hospital, leaning on Peggy while Jarvis made the arrangements. Howard must have paid the nurses and the doctors to keep their mouths shut, because nothing leaked to the media.
He was getting worried, he hadn't heard from his father since that day in the hospital and he was sure Howard wasn't going to be happy with him. They entered the house. Tony could feel the tension even though Howard was nowhere to be seen. Jarvis and Peggy were just as worried as Tony was.
The sound of a door closing came to Tony's ears and he tensed up immediately. Peggy instinctively stepped in front of Tony and Jarvis stepped forward, ready to protect Tony from anything that was coming.
Howard appeared and started walking slowly towards them. Tony had known this moment was going to come eventually. "Step out of the way." he said calmly.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid we're not going to." Jarvis said, blocking Howard's view.
"Don't you dare defend him! He stole from my collection and-"
"He nearly died, and all you care about is your collection?" Peggy said calmly. He felt worse now. He had put Jarvis and Peggy in a position he never wanted to. What he did was wrong and this was his fault.
"I want this little shit out of my house by morning!"
Tony got out from his chair, rushing upstairs. "Don't worry, I'm not going to stay here."
Jarvis had followed him but Tony ran and quickly locked the door after him, throwing his clothes to the first bag he could find. Jarvis was trying to reason with him from outside the door but it wasn't working. Tony was so angry he wasn't even listening to what Jarvis was saying.
He opened his door and ran downstairs before Jarvis could catch him, passed Peggy and Howard, who were still arguing, and stormed out of the house. He ran where his feet took him, and after running in the rain for about 30 minutes, he realized he was standing in the middle of the street where Rhodey lived. He was out of breath and he could feel every muscle in his body aching.
He stopped at Rhodey's door, regretting coming here. He hated being a burden and he hadn't exactly met Rhodey's parents. He wanted to go somewhere else, but he had no money. He couldn't exactly go back home, and he felt like he wasn't ready to confront Jarvis or Peggy. So after a moment of hesitation, he knocked on the door. A tall woman opened it and Rhodey shouted from inside the house. "Who is it, mom?"
Rhodey's footsteps followed and he gasped when he saw Tony standing in the rain with a backpack on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know where to go."
Rhodey immediately welcomed Tony inside, gave him dry clothes to change to and showed him the bathroom in case he wanted to get a shower, asking no questions just yet. Tony entered the living room with the new clothes Rhodey had given him and was invited to the dinner table immediately.
"So, what happened?" asked Rhodey after realizing that Tony wouldn't tell him unless he was asked. He hadn't spoken a word since he entered the house.
"He said, and I quote here 'I want this little shit out of my house by the morning.' So I got my backpack and came here." He looked at Rhodey's parents. I'm so sorry if I'm being a burden, I didn't want to-"
Rhodey's mother put her on Tony's shoulder and smiled, which shut Tony up. "It's fine, sweetie. You are welcome here anytime you want."
Tony smiled. Now he knew where Rhodey got his behavior from. He had a lovely family. A little girl came running to the table cheerfully and stopped looking at her mom quickly when she saw a stranger on the table.
Her mother smiled. "Say hello to James' friend Tony, dear."
The girl uncomfortably walked towards Tony and said hi, looking at the floor. Tony leaned towards her to be at the same eye level and took out his hand. The girl shacked his hand and looked at Tony. "Hey Jasmine. Your brother has told me all about you." He smiled. "That's a lovely teddy bear you got there. What's the name?"
The girl went back to her usual cheerful self and handed Tony the teddy bear. "I named her Raven."
"That's such a beautiful name. Well done!"
Jasmine's eyes lit up and she refused when Tony tried to hand the teddy bear back to her. "Do you want to keep her for tonight? You can place her next to your bed and she would look out for you, protect you from the monsters." she told Tony with expectant eyes.
Tony knew he had to say yes. "It would be an honor." he said, making Jasmine smile shyly as she went to her seat on the table.
Tony had slept on the bed that usually belonged to Jasmine, accidentally leaving the teddy bear in the living room. Jasmine was sleeping with her parents as the house was very small and they didn't have any spare beds.
It was about 3 AM and everyone was fast asleep when Tony had the worst nightmare in his life. The dream had started with Peggy and Jarvis, it all seemed normal to Tony until they started turning to dust and disappearing, leaving Tony alone in the middle of the dark. He shouted for help but nobody had answered him. Howard suddenly appeared out of nowhere; with such an angry look that Tony was afraid Howard might hurt him. "You always screw up!" he shouted and the whole world suddenly started crumbling around Tony. He suddenly found himself standing around a pile of bodies. There was a little girl lying on the floor with a teddy bear. Tony turned her around to see if she needed help, finding Jasmine's lifeless eyes staring at him coldly. All of the bodies started getting up and walking towards Tony with a dead look in their eyes.
"Why do you always fail Tony?" the corpse of Rhodey walking towards him asked.
"You always screw up."
"You will never be happy."
"Nobody will ever love you."
Tony was walking backwards, tears streaming down his face until he arrived at the corner of the empty house, and the corpses got closer to him.
"You'll die alone."
"Why don't you just kill yourself, Tony?"
The corpses attacked him at once and Tony screamed until he felt like his throat was being ripped out.
He was woken up by Rhodey shaking him. Tony immediately hit Rhodey once he saw him, screaming "Let go of me!" with tears on his face.
"Hey hey hey, Tony, it's me, you had a nightmare, calm down." Rhodey held Tony's arms and Tony stopped after he realized that what he saw was a dream, and sat down on the bed, Rhodey's hands still resting on his arms reassuringly. Rhodey's parents had come to see what was wrong, they were standing in front of the open door. Rhodey nodded to them, letting them know everything was okay. They disappeared at once, not wanting to invade Tony's privacy.
Tony buried his head in his hands and Rhodey sat down on the bed next to him.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, it's fine." He stopped to take a deep breath and then whispered. "I just thought these nightmares had stopped." He let his tears escape and felt Rhodey's arms wrapped around him.
"I'm sorry." he sobbed and Rhodey stopped him immediately.
"You don't need to apologize for anything, Tony. It's fine."
Rhodey let Tony go after a few minutes and asked "Are you going to be able to sleep?"
Tony nodded as he got up. "There is just something I need to get from the living room." He got the teddy bear and made sure he placed her next to the bed before he went back to sleep.
The team was placed in special rooms, still in dream state. The medical teams couldn't do anything as they weren't dealing with anything scientific or medical here. This was straight up sorcery.
Pepper watched Tony from the glass that kept them separate.
"What are we going to do?" she asked Maria.
"We have no way of waking them up from this dream state. We have connected them to monitors. Their heart rate has gone up after that, they're starting to look a little better. But we don't know how long they have." Maria answered, looking at the team one by one.
Pepper turned her head towards Maria and asked again. "What are we going to do?"
"We are going to find the bastard who did this to them."
Thank you all so much for reading my story! I love every single one of you and hope you have a great day! You guys are truly amazing!
Until next time!
