So this took a while. So sorry. On the upside, I get to go to university :D That does mean that updates are going to be sparse for a while whilst I teach myself how to survive :)
When you were stuck in a hospital bed, there isn't all that much to entertain you. Tony had spent a lot of the endless free time poking at the tablet he had been given, trying to get anything from the files the team recovered that he could. There was more to it than simply wanting to get the man who put him here: he needed to be distracted.
One thing he hated about hospitals – medical bays, whatever – was that you weren't allowed alcohol. Tony wasn't a drunkard by any stretch but he knew from experience that if he didn't take the edge of with a glass of scotch now and again his mind was prone to burn itself out and run him into the ground. He was a genius and that came with its own set of faults: his brain was always working. Like a machine racing out of control he would overheat and just collapse. Pepper had found him once after he'd been through such a scenario and the outcome had not been pretty. She'd been furious at him for weeks.
To make matters even worse, he had to deal with seeing Bruce and Steve all the time. Banner was something of a given – to the outside world they were still sciencebros, they were meant to be best friends so it only made sense that he would visit all the time. If the doctor knew that Tony had worked him out, he didn't let on. Steve was more of a mystery. Stark would have expected him to keep well away and yet he had suddenly morphed into the billionaire's shadow. It was understandably irritating.
Pepper was a light in all the darkness. She was glued to his side most of the time except for when Tony demanded that she go and sleep in a proper bed, detesting the thought of her spending the night in the hospital chairs that frankly should be in Fury's torture chambers.
Natasha and Clint were at least able to lighten the mood when the swung by, bringing jokes and smiles and tales of Thor and his arguments with a toaster of all things, but Fury was keeping them pretty busy at the moment while they ferreted for any information they could about Q. Tony wanted more than anything to find him but at the same time he wished he could spend more time with the assassins (that was something he'd never thought he'd say).
The demi god himself had spent little time with Tony, popping in now and again until he went down to New Mexico to see Jane. The billionaire found that he missed Thor's camaraderie in a way he wouldn't have expected, but he couldn't fault him for wanting to be with the woman he loved.
Even with the almost constant visits from his friends, he was almost unbearably lonely. He told himself he was just being paranoid but he was now finding himself seeing enemies at every turn – a glance shared between Nat and Clint would suddenly become a silent conversation about him, if Bruce looked thoughtful it was probably because he was pondering the faults of the billionaire. It was maddening.
He knew that he had to get out of here, as soon as he was physically able to stand – if he didn't he would actually go insane. Tony didn't like thinking himself a coward but that must be what he was – he was running away, wasn't he? Or maybe it was simply a retreat. He would have to be coming back eventually, he wouldn't be gone forever, no matter how much he wished that was the case. At least, that was the plan.
Who said Ironman had to stay? He was free to do as he pleased for the most part, what was it that was keeping him in the team? He worked better solo anyway.
He would spend hours like this, talking himself in circles in the small hours of the night when everyone had left him in the mocking shadow of peace. He wasn't sleeping – couldn't – but no one apart from Pepper seemed to even notice the bags under his eyes.
'How can you just not care?' He thought to himself one day when Bruce settled himself down next to him, idly informing Tony on the goings on of the helicarrier that he had missed. 'We were friends, weren't we? Or was that all a lie? Is it hatred? Do you hate me? Whatever I did to you, I'm sorry. I wish I knew what it was so I could fix it. Or maybe you just hate me because of me. Is that it? Is there something wrong with me?'
It wasn't until Banner called his name and shook one of his shoulders – gently – that Tony realised he had completely zoned out. Without thinking it through he jerked out from under the doctor's hand before gasping in pain, eyes slamming shut as his body punished him for his actions. So caught up in the pain he didn't see the deep hurt flash across Bruce's face.
"Tony, are you ok? I'm sorry, I didn't-" the doctor started but Tony cut him off.
"It's ok. I'm ok," he mumbled, his breathing still erratic. Banner was watching him closely, his hands hovering but not touching him, clearly unsure of what to do. "Really, I'm fine. Just... tired."
"Maybe I should let you get some rest," Bruce said softly, clearly not believing Tony for a second. He stood up somewhat abruptly and even though looking at him was physically painful, the billionaire grabbed his arm before he could leave.
"I'm sorry. It's fine, really." The doctor hesitated for a long moment and then sunk slowly back into his seat.
They stayed like that for a while, forcing awkward conversation and ignoring the giant elephant doing cartwheels around the room. Stark just felt his conviction growing, strengthening into an actual plan.
'You have to get out of here Tony. You're going to fall apart if you don't.'
"Director! Can I talk to you for a moment?" Fury sighed softly to himself; the only time Stark ever called him 'director' was when he needed a favour and that rarely ended well for the master spy. Still, he looked over his shoulder at the slowly approaching billionaire who looked entirely uncoordinated with his crutches, biting his lip in concentration. For a man who could fly so brilliantly, he sucked at walking.
"Shouldn't you be in bed Stark?" He sounded put upon and frustrated but he slowed his walk down so that Tony could catch him up.
"I got bored," was the only response to that and despite himself Fury chuckled. "Besides, I needed to ask you something."
"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this?"
"You have so little faith in me, it's almost offensive," Stark shot back with a mild glare before almost stumbling and focussing on his feet for a moment. Fury grabbed his arm as he listed alarmingly to the side but he was shrugged off with an almost inaudible sigh of frustration.
"You were saying?" Tony looked murderous for a moment before he forced the emotions off his face.
"Anyway, I've been thinking. I haven't been down to Malibu in a while and now that Pepper's back... I was thinking of heading down there." Fury watched him out of the corner of his eye, taking in the way he was staring straight ahead, the way he avoided offering any further explanation.
"Alright... I fail to see the question in there. You can't possibly be coming to me to ask permission to leave, can you?" Stark didn't respond. "You're a civilian Stark, if you want to go there is nothing I can do to stop you, short of placing you under guard."
"What if I asked you to make sure none of the team followed me?" Again, the billionaire didn't explain that statement at all and refused to look at the director. Fury stopped their slow walk and put a hand on Tony's arm to bring him to a halt too while the master spy just watched him, trying to read the answers in his face.
Stark was tense with stress, muscles knotted and bunched and he held himself stiffly upright – though that could be due to the many injuries he had sustained. In the entire conversation he hadn't made eye contact and right now it appeared he was searching for the meaning of life in his shoes. It was completely unlike Stark and despite himself, Fury was worried. He'd ordered one of S.H.I.E.L.D psychiatrists to analyse the billionaire and the poor man had returned to him, visibly shaking, informing him that he could see any overly worrying signs of PTSD but that Stark should have started going to counselling years ago and 'oh god, please do not assign me as his shrink.' The director had actually felt a little bad.
But right now? Fury hadn't the faintest idea what was going on in that genius mind of his. He was intrigued by the enigma that was Tony Stark but that was probably a matter for another time – he was still waiting for an answer.
"I'll see it done. Or at least, I'll try. If Banner threatens to hulk out on the helicarrier I'll personally pay for his plane ticket over there."
"Noted." Stark made to hobble away again but Fury snagged his arm, careful not to unbalance him.
"Are you going to explain your request?"
"I wasn't planning on it." He tried to pull away again and this time the director let him go, watching as he slowly made his way back down the corridor to the infirmary. It wasn't until he was out of sight that Fury sighed and continued towards the command centre.
"Where the hell have you been?" Pepper demanded as soon as Tony reappeared in the doorway of his room. He hadn't actually been given permission to leave the medical bay but he had really wanted to talk to Fury; it wasn't like he'd done any harm. The look on his girlfriend's face told him otherwise.
"I just had something I needed to do. I'm back now," he told her, hobbling to his bed and very gently lowering himself onto the soft surface. The red head looked like she wanted to slap him – probably would have done if it wasn't for the bruises littering her boyfriend.
"You can't just take off like that!" For a long moment she just glared at him angrily while he did his best not to wince in the face of her ire before all the tension bled out of her with a sigh and her face softened into a reproachful smile. "I was worried about you."
"I know Pep," he said, grabbing her hand and squeezing her fingers. If there was one thing he desperately hated himself for, it was his propensity to hurt Pepper at every turn. No matter what he did, until Iron Man was behind him, she would end up hurting and it killed him. She was far too pure to be sullied by his own selfishness but the problem was he couldn't let her go. "I'm sorry," he murmured softly and meant it.
She leant towards him, pressing her forehead against his and closing her eyes.
"I know. Care to tell me what was so important you felt the need to sneak out?" He sighed softly, feeling his muscles relax.
"I was planning a holiday, if you must know." Pepper's eyes flew open in surprise and she blinked at him, confused.
"A holiday?"
"Yep. We're going to Malibu." She took a minute to think that through and then frowned.
"Tony, I have to work. You know I have to work. We can't all abandon the company to flounder." Even though Tony had seen this coming, he still felt put out. He pouted a little, then softened his face and smiled.
"No you don't." He held up a hand to stall the inevitable protest. "I've cleared things with Fury, so S.H.I.E.L.D won't be needing your help. I'm going to ring the board of directors in the morning and tell them that you're taking the vacation time that you've been accumulating for the last decade. Seriously, have you ever taken a paid holiday?" She didn't reply, just wordlessly glared at him. "The company's been doing well, I'm sure they can cope without you for at least a little while."
For a long while, Pepper just looked at him, reading everything she could in the hunch of his shoulders, the tightness around his eyes. She could see the pain and how desperately he was trying to hide it as well as the hurt that lingered in his eyes and the curve of his mouth – she didn't understand it but her heart bled for him all the same. He needed her right now.
"Ok," she breathed softly, squeezing his hand in comfort. "Ok Tony, I'll come with you." The way his face burst into a smile was worth whatever trouble such a situation might cause. But even then when he was practically glowing with happiness, there was still something lingering behind the face, something Pepper couldn't quite grasp so she just smiled at him and hugged him and vowed to herself that she would get to the bottom of whatever it was that was causing such pain to the man she loved.
As Tony had predicted the board offered very little resistance when he said that Pepper would be gone for a little while. Initially they were royally pissed, getting so irate with him that he was forced to remind them that as the owner of the company he had power over their continued involvement with Stark Industries. But eventually, once he pointed out that Pepper was entitled to holiday time and 'she's your CEO, I'd keep her happy if I were you,' they caved without further complaint.
The rest of the team seemed unaware of his imminent departure, for which he was grateful. He had specifically told Pepper not to tell the others and it seemed clear that Fury had more sense.
The main problem had been convincing the doctors in the medical bay to release him despite the fact that anyone could tell he was nowhere near recovered; it had taken Fury and the condition he stayed at home and rested to eventually sway them.
But now everything was ready and Tony couldn't wait. A quinjet was giving him and Pepper a lift to the airport, from which Tony's private jet would take them to Malibu; no mess, no fuss and most importantly no interfering team mates.
When Bruce walked into the room Tony had been staying in he was so tired that he spent a full minute talking to thin air before he realised that the billionaire wasn't even there. As soon as that clicked he had to fight back the other guy in a surge of panic.
'Calm down Banner,' he told himself sternly. 'There's a reasonable explanation here somewhere. There's no way someone could get to him on the helicarrier.'
The reminder of where he was helped a lot, partly due to the fact that he remembered there was nowhere (with the exception of Stark Tower) that had better surveillance than here. If Tony was still on board then the ship's systems could tell him.
With that in mind he strode out of the empty room back down to his lab and immediately started tapping away at the keys. He wasn't a patch on Tony when it came to electronics but he was a genius and picked things up quickly; getting into S.H.I.E.L.D's camera feeds wasn't a problem thanks to the billionaire's help.
It took the doctor all of three minutes to ascertain that Tony wasn't showing up on the cameras – which in itself set off alarm bells – and that Fury was marching towards his lab with a determined stride. When the director marched into the room he took a long look around, nodded to himself and then turned his attentions on the doctor.
"Is there a reason you're looking at classified video feeds?"
"Where the hell is Tony?" Bruce shot back, effectively answering the question, though from the look on Fury's face he had already known exactly what he'd been up to.
"Mr Stark is not currently onboard the helicarrier."
"I'd noticed," he hissed back, glaring venomously at the director. Something was obviously going on and Fury was clearly pulling the strings here; the other guy stirred in irritation at the idea of a human having power over him. "Where the hell is he?"
"I'm not currently tracking his whereabouts, though I can tell you he expressed a desire for a holiday."
"A holiday to where?"
"I didn't ask." Now that was an outright lie and Bruce knew it. Fury always asked. And if he hadn't then it would mean he already knew the answer.
"What are you trying to hide Director?" Fury actually chuckled – it was freaky.
"To quote Tony Stark: 'my secrets have secrets.'" Bruce growled wordlessly at him, tapping some commands into his keyboard quickly. The computer loaded for a moment and then beeped as his attempt at tracing Tony's phone hit a firewall and was shot down; Stark was too damn paranoid for his own good.
Banner sighed softly, massaging his temples with his fingertips softly, mentally warning the other guy to back down while at the same time resisting the urge to punch Fury himself.
"Fine. Just... tell me if he's alright." The director examined him for a long moment, watching the flicker of green in his eyes fade back and the tense line of his shoulders soften slightly before he nodded slowly.
"He needs some time Doctor Banner, it's why I let him go. But knowing him? He's going to be fine."
Thanks to Nighthawk678 for reminding me how long it had been since I updated and therefore encouraging me to produce this. I hope it met expectations :) I'm not too sure about the Bruce bit at the end, but I felt that I had to post something :/
Updates for my other stories are coming, I swear! Greatest apologies to everyone waiting. Tumblr distracted me.
Still can't get over how amazing the response to this story has been; I love you all. You seriously rock and you're what makes me keep writing. Thank you to every single one of you :)
