Tony sat outside the hospital, arms clenched so tight he was surprised that nothing snapped. He had never smoked a cigarette in his life, but damn he could go for a smoke right now. Or a shot. Or a whole bottle of vodka.
Or all three.
"Tony."
While Bruce's voice wasn't entirely unexpected, it was certainly unwelcome.
"I'm really not in the mood for a pep talk, Banner."
"But you need to hear it."
"Nope, I don't believe I do. I'm sure it's nothing I haven't heard before."
"This is different—"
"Oh really?" Tony turned to glare at Bruce. "So this isn't me making yet another fucking mess and you showing up to try and talk me off the edge?"
"Tony, this isn't your f—"
"God Damnit why does everyone keep saying that!" Tony was shouting now, his whole body on edge. People were starting to stare but he couldn't care less. "This is my fault. All of this is my fault."
"Tony." Bruce's voice was still calm despite his outburst. It made Tony want to hit him. "This was the Red Room. Not you. You had no way to stop this."
"The only reason they even came after her was because they thought she killed Ivan. But it wasn't her."
Bruce's eyes widened. "What are you talking about, Tony?"
"It was me, okay? I killed him. I killed that son of a bitch for what he did to Natasha and all that accomplished was getting her hurt again. " He raked his fingers through his hair, hysteria threatening to pull him under. "I can't do this to her, Bruce. I've lost everything, I can't lose her."
"Tony, you haven't lost her. All you did was piss her off." Bruce was smiling at him now. "Do you really think a few raised words would actually be able to change anything in that stubborn Russian's head?"
Tony so badly wanted to smile and laugh with Bruce and tell him he was right, to slap him on the back and go back to Nat's room to apologize. But his fear was still there, and he couldn't just laugh it away.
He was going to tell Bruce as much when the hospital door banged open and Clint emerged. Tony knew what he was going to say the minute he saw the look on his face.
"Nat's gone."
Natasha's hands starting shaking about 20 miles from the hospital. She knew there were some side effects from the poison they gave her—bastards just couldn't leave well enough alone—but she hadn't had time to pull over and deal with them. She could taste blood in the back of her throat but she just stepped harder on the gas pedal.
She had to get to them. She had to make this right.
Her radio came on suddenly, almost causing her to jump. When she switched it off it just came back on a few seconds later. There was static for a little while but then the air cleared.
"Honey…watcha doing?"
Natasha had to smile when she heard Tony's voice coming out of her speakers. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"I always thought that if you ever staged a jail break, I'd at least be there to help you get out."
"Well, you weren't exactly all smiles the last time we spoke."
"Neither were you."
Natasha sighed. "Tony, I'm not in the mood for a lecture."
"Fine. Want some company then?"
She didn't even have time to respond before something heavy landed on her car. Next thing she knew Iron Man was sliding into her passenger seat.
"All that and you didn't even swerve." Tony turned to look at her as his armor shifted so she could see his face. "God, I love you."
Natasha's eyes moved back to the road as the rest of his suit came off. "Sure didn't seem that way earlier."
"Nat—"
"No, Tony you don't get to be an ass when I'm lying in the hospital, and then show up making wise cracks 2 hours later."
"Natasha—"
"I almost died today and it was nobody's fault but my own. Do you understand th—"
Tony put his hand over hers on the steering wheel and jerked the car, pulling over onto the side of the road. When Natasha opened her mouth to protest he pressed a finger to her lips.
"Baby, I love you, but you need to stop talking."
Then his mouth was on hers and she felt the fight leave her. She didn't want to fight anymore. Not that she wouldn't give him hell for this later, but right now they were both here, and alive, and she just wanted to focus on that. Just for a minute.
"I'm sorry." He said between kisses, his strong hands gripping her waist. "I'm so sorry, Nat—"
"Now you're the one who needs to stop talking." She said, pressing her lips hard against his. His hands moved up her body to tangle in her hair and she sucked in a breath as his mouth moved to press kisses down her throat.
"I need you too, you know." She whispered a few minutes later, when they were holding each other close.
Tony shifted so he could look at her, eyes widening in surprise.
"I've never needed anyone and I need you, so it would be great if you could not be a dick every once and a while."
Tony laughed for the first time in what felt like days. "I'll do my best."
"Good." She leaned up to kiss him again.
The explosion hit them without warning, sending shards of glass flying in all directions as the car went up in smoke. Tony moved his body over Natasha's and tried to keep them both steady as the vehicle rolled before finally hitting the ditch and stopping. His goddamn suit was useless now, whatever explosive they'd used had all but burnt it to ash. "Natasha…" he lifted himself up to see her looking at him. "Jesus, thank god…."
"Tony." She whispered. But she wasn't looking at him.
Tony shifted around and saw a man standing over them in all black, pointing a gun at his head.
"Natalia Romanova. You always did have a knack for trouble."
The last thing Tony heard was Natasha scream. Then everything went black.
