Sorry for the wait guys! I had to get a job, so I got kind of busy. Anyways, thank you to those who are still reading this! You're amazing :)
Warnings: It's not graphic, but mentions of drugs and swears in this chapter.
Tony struggled to keep his eyes shut. The light coming in from the windows reminded him of the pounding in his head and the promise of another long day. His slim hone lay on the floor, vibrating ever so often.
What had happened?
At Noir, he stayed seated at their table, sipping ever so often from the gold liquid in his glass. The taste was familiar, almost as if he had never stopped drinking it in the first place.
Why was Adam coming back? And where was Steve?
Adam sat next to him. "That boy of yours, man! He just ran off without me!"
Tony eyed the crowd. "I'll go find him. Might be time to call it a night for us."
As he stood, Adam latched onto his sleeve. "C'mon Tony, let him have some fun. Remember when we used to enjoy ourselves here?"
"Oh yeah,' Tony said coldly. "All the partying was great. I had a great time dancing and drinking, and finding out that my friend was stealing money from me, from the same account that Howard let me use. Oh, and let's not forget to mention that one night you drugged me, and I had to go to the hospital and get my stomach pumped! Yeah, what a great time!"
Tony's voice had risen as he stared right at the man in front of him. Adam looked unfazed, merely touching the half empty glass of whiskey on the table.
"Yeah, that sucked. You're okay though," Adam sighed, dropping his head. "I'm sorry Tony, for everything."
"What really sucked for me was the fact that you just stopped talking to me after I got clean. I thought we were friends Adam. I guess we weren't that close," Tony said.
"Hey, I was going through some shit too. Don't pin this on me," Adam snarled.
"Who else am I going to blame?" Tony growled, looking away from Adam. "I trusted you for a second, and now, no matter what I do, I'm never going to be anything but a disappointment in Howard's eyes." He grabbed the glass of whiskey on the table and took a long sip.
"Get over yourself Stark. You were always a disappointment to Howard," Adam said, placing his hands on the table. "You tell yourself it's my fault, but you were the one who wanted an escape. All I ever heard from you was Howard this, Howard that. Poor rich daddy's boy, who never got to play with the other kids or play with his toys, you chose to run away and forget. It was your fault as much as it was mine!"
His head was spinning. Tony held his head up with one hand, resting his arm on the table. "Sh… Shut… up…"
"Remember that feeling?" Adam continued, grabbing the open bottle, and placing more of the drink in Tony's glass. "I put a little something in your glass, thought it might help you relax a bit."
"Heh… shut up," Tony slurred. "I wanna fin… Steve…"
"Don't worry; your little boy should be coming soon. Meanwhile, you stay here; I'm going to go get you some water," Adam smirked. "I won't be back. Tell Steve he can have that fugly coat; I was going to toss it anyway. "
"Mkay!" Tony chirped with a huge grin on his face. Adam laughed and turned to walk away.
He remembered bits and pieces after that. Tony groaned; something about a hangover was just not appealing. He rose from the bed, and promptly feel back in pain. His whole back was on fire, and somehow, his chin was throbbing.
"Must've fallen," he muttered. Tony tried to get up again, gingerly leaning forward. Yeah, there wasno way he was bening don anytime soon. He walked over to the bathroom. The ache in his back made it impossible for him to bend down and run a bath, but he could run a long, hot shower. Tony just lay under the water, too tired to deal with anything.
He had fallen for it again. Adam, devious Adam, had struck him down again, this time affecting not only Tony, but Steve. He clenched his hands. If Adam hurt Steve in any way, Tony would kill him.
After showering, Tony looked for something to wear. He dressed slowly, noting the places where he felt bruised and swollen. What had he done? Contemplating the events after the incident, he could only remember seeing a lot of flashing lights, feeling something smooth, and then, falling to the ground and laying there.
There was no way he could lean down and pick his phone up, so he decided to take a few aspirins for the pain. Tony hobbled over to his medicine cabinet, finding a half full bottle of aspirin. He took two, washing them down with water. He felt the pain ebbing away, now just a dull ache.
"Fuck it; I'm crashing on the couch today," Tony muttered, walking towards his den. He laid down slowly, and grabbed the small remote from the coffee table. Flipping through channels, Tony noticed a popular celebrity news channel. It took him a moment to realize they were airing a picture of him hanging over Steve, a shit-faced grin on his face.
"Oh shit."
He watched the show carefully, but apparently, the story had been out for a while; they were merely recounting the story before moving on to the newest celebrity gossip. Even so, Tony felt a cold chill creep into his spine, and with a mad bout for energy, he went to his room, grunting in pain as he bent down and checked his phone.
11 missed calls. New messages.
The battery was dying, and Tony scrambled to find his charger before doing anything else. After plugging it in, he checked his missed calls. There were some from Pepper, Steve, and one from work – but most were from one Howard Stark. Tony gulped; of course Howard had heard by now. He had slept through the entire weekend…
Tony opened up his inbox.
Pepper: Damage control…
Steve: Where are y…
He opened up Pepper's texts first. She had texted him the most, for a very good reason.
Pepper:
-The story just broke out. Hired a publicist for you. Get back to me soon.
-I can't keep this out of the media. Sorry. Call me.
-Damn it, call me! NOW!
-TONY.
He scrolled down, ignoring the texts with swears, cutting to the more pertinent messages.
-I've kept Steve out of this. The Asgard brothers are keeping the gossip mongers stranded for info.
-Howard's on me about you. If you don't call me soon, he'll come after you.
Tony gulped. He needed to remember to thank Pepper, again. With a heavy heart, he opened up Steve's messages.
Steve:
-Hope you're happy.
-Damn it Tony. I thought you were different.
-Can't leave my damn apartment because for you. If I starve to death, stay away from my funeral.
-It's on the news.
-Call me now. I need to talk to you.
-I need you to call me now.
-Tony.
-Tony
-I'm done with this. Screw you.
Many of Steve's recent text messages were filled with excerpts from the tabloids, each of them ending with a question mark. With his heart pumping, Tony pressed the call button, needing to speak to Steve. He had to apologize at least, for the way he acted.
Steve didn't answer.
Tony sighed, placing his phone down. What had he done?
His phone rang. Tony answered the call, hopeful for a bit.
"I see you're still alive," Howard's stiff voice rang.
Tony gulped. "Yeah. Listen, Howard, I need to explain some things…"
"No need. I've seen enough. To think I almost thought you had changed Anthony," Howard sighed. "I wonder if your mother would have approved of you behavior. Goodness knows she was the only one who could understand you."
"Yeah well, she usually made the effort to get to know me, instead of sending fancy gifts and money," Tony said.
Howard sighed. "I run a law firm Anthony. I own stock in several international trading companies, and I provide valuable income to help support your needs. Clearly, I am the one who should be disappointed. I cannot, will not, keep letting you waste years of hard-earned money on your depravities."
"What are you saying?" Tony asked.
"As of now, you are no longer allowed to use the Stark account. You will also lose your privileges at work. No more office, no more assistants," Howard said grimly.
"What?" Tony shouted. "I earned some of that money, you know that!"
"What you earn is essentially mine; I own the firm. Expect no special favors Anthony. From now on, you will be a regular employee. Anything you say or do will be held into account while you work for me," Howard said stiffly.
"Fine," Tony said bitterly. "I guess it doesn't matter to you if I am your son or not; as long as I'm a disgrace to the family, you can just hide me under the table."
"And with that, I leave you be," Howard said. "Oh, and Mr. Rogers will no longer be of need to the firm. I will have one of the receptionists inform him of his dismissal."
"Howard," Tony began to say, but the call ended. He cursed. "Damn it all."
It was Wednesday. Tony had spent the past few days contemplating going to work or not, but it needed t be done.
He had to. There were cases he still had to finish, clients to talk to, and Tony was sure he was going crazy waiting in his dirty condo for Steve's call. The walk to his car was eventful; a few reporters followed him, hounding his car and shouting questions at the top of their lungs.
"You know I can hear you just fine right? No need to yell," He muttered, using a squeegee to lean the frost off the windshield. It was the first and last thing he said to them, as h got in the car and drove off.
It seemed like time sped by, his car making its way down familiar streets to the Stark firm. Tony sat in his car, his eyes focused on the building in front of him. The building had never looked so ominous, the tall structure looming over the crowded streets, casting a dark shadow over everything.
Tony walked towards the building, bracing himself for the small crowd of reporters sitting in front of the building. He ignored their questions, opening the door without too much of a fuss. He made it to the receptionist's area without seeing anyone, and he noted the hushed tones that befell the ladies in the office.
Their eyes darted from their work to stare at him. Tony stood straight, and walked towards his office, noting with regret the empty desk in the corner. He turned the knob, ready for the onslaught of paperwork, but there was none. In fact, the entire office had been emptied, save for the desk and chairs. He searched the drawers, but even his small stash of almonds had been taken.
One of the receptionists walked in silently. "You've been moved downstairs."
"Thanks," He said dully, groaning loudly as he walked out. The walk to the elevator was eerily morbid; the silent women looking at him reproachfully. Tony ignored them; making his way downstairs.
Phones rang loudly amidst the tightly packed cubicles. People rushed by with files stacked under their arms, taking only a glance at him as they headed off to meet their clients. Someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey Stark, your special case Mrs. Rochester is on line 1 for you. She's been waiting since Monday," The man said. "Sure seems eager to meet you."
"Thanks, uh," Tony tried to say.
"James Rhodes. Call me Rhodey," he said, leading Tony to his desk.
"Anthony Stark. Tony for short," Tony answered, taking a seat. The old multi-call phone was sitting at the edge of the light brown desk, and indeed, the small lights on the phone were blinking.
"I'm meeting a client now. The break rooms in the back; avoid the coffee machine at all costs. The cookies on the table have been there since Christmas, so don't get too excited," Rhodey looked at his watch. "I have to go. One last piece of advice: try not to get on people's bad sides here. There are people here who will throw you under the bus for a chance to rise to the top."
"Thanks," Tony said.
"Hey, I'm not sugarcoating this for you; many of the legal associates here are ready to rip your skin off. Don't let them," Rhodey said. With a wave, he walked way.
Tony kept his head down. After spending the entire day apologizing to his clients, he had managed to get some work done. He had to get used to doing things himself; no one was willing to run copies or find case numbers for him here. Back in his condo, he sighed, letting his body sink into the sofa. He pulled out his phone, half-heartedly hoping for some random call from someone. Preferably blonde, with nice eyes and words of encouragement.
He pressed call, hoping Steve would pick up. Actually, he hoped the blond man would answer with a nice tone, play off a few apologies, and hopefully get something straightened out. No matter how oppressing work was, he needed to know Steve was okay.
Obviously, whatever being watching over him was not kind.
"Tony."
"You answered this time," Tony said slowly.
"I have nothing else to do. It seemed fitting that you'd call, especially after losing my job," Steve said grimly.
"Listen, I can't do anything about your job. Hoard has me downstairs now, and I'm swamped. You really did help me out alot y'know," Tony said.
"Shut up Tony," Steve said.
"Hey, that's not -"
"I have no job Tony. No job. I have rent to pay, food to buy, clothes to wash, and I have no money to do so," Steve ranted. "God, you're so spoiled! At least Howard kept you! Now I have to scramble to find some decent job so that I can have a place to stay. You want to make fun of this, call Adam. He's a real joy."
"I'm not making a joke of this Steve, I thought that I could trust you to be there for me," Tony said.
"I trusted you. And you go and get drunk, try to assault me, and then have the decency to call me back, pretend that everything's okay? Where's my apology huh? Where's the joke in that?"
"What are you talking about?" Tony asked.
"You lying sack of shit! You honestly don't remember?" Steve asked.
"I don't, did I do something that night?"
Steve let out a breathy laugh. "And I thought you were different. Fuck you Tony Stark. Don't call me ever again."
It's not much of an update. Actually, it's worse that I chose the week of Valentine's Day for this. Ha, I really am just tired. Anyways, a million apologies for the lateness. I'll see if I can scrape some time out before Thursday to write. If not, I have the weekend off, so definitely expect an update.
Tell me what you think!
Reviews (because you guys are too awesome to ignore):
Mimi Striker: Thank you lovely :) I am sorry to keep you waiting, but I hope I did well for this chapter. (PS: I don't like Adam either :/ )
jack2724: Thank you so much! It was no small feat coming back, but I knew I had to. Thanks for the encouragement :)
