So, I realised that I'd been focussing on Clintasha and Bruce a lot (maybe on Bruce waaay too much, but come on! He's so freaking CUTE!) and I sort of felt like I'd been neglecting the others. So I present to you, for your reading pleasure, a massive chapter of Steve!whump. Enjoy and please review :)
For three days after Bruce's birthday, no one sees hide nor hair of Steve; on the first day, Tony and Clint joke about 'good riddance to bad rubbish.' The second day, they start to feel uneasy, and on the third day no amount of hugs from Pepper can cheer Bruce up. Halfway through the third day, Tony shoves himself to his feet.
"Okay, enough of this- I'm going to find him. Thor, you're coming with me."
"Me, Friend Stark?" Tony can't say he blames the prince for looking confused- though they get on well enough, Tony has always been much closer to Loki.
"Yes, you; if Ross and his gang are there I need someone to stand up to him." At the mention of Ross, Bruce goes white as a sheet and looks like he's going to faint. The others also look worried, Clintasha to a lesser degree- they've never had the pleasure of meeting Ross.
Bruce ends up coming too- Tony and Thor don't actually know where Steve lives- and within about half an hour they are standing on the sagging porch of a rotting old house. Tony glances at Bruce, unsure- surely nobody actually lives here- but Bruce just purses his lips and rings the bell. A lady- she looks old, but to Tony, all adults look old- with watery red eyes and a tight, forced smile opens the door a crack and peers down at them.
"Can I help you?" Her voice is rough- it sounds like she has been crying.
"We're friends of Steve and we haven't seen him in a few days- we were wondering if he's alright?" Tony flashes her his best smile, but she doesn't even seem to notice, nodding absently as she glances over her shoulder.
"He's not, really- neither of us are. But maybe you boys can help some." That said, she opens the door fully and shows them to Steve's room.
He's lying on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling, a pillow tightly clutched to his chest. His eyes flick over to them, but immediately return to the cracks in the plaster, his face showing no recognition. Normally, Tony would tease him for the large American flag hanging up on one wall and a poster of that woman with the red bandana like we can do it! on the other. However, somehow even he can tell that now really isn't a good time for it. Instead, he shuts the door and sits on the end of the bed. Bruce curls up on the floor next to Steve's head and Thor stands on the other side, looking for all the world like he is keeping vigil. For a few minutes, silence reigns. Tony is itching to say something, but forces himself to remain silent.
"My dad is dead," Steve says finally. His voice sounds cold, distant, dead, and Tony's heart plummets- whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't that. No one is quite sure what to say, but Bruce snuggles his head against Steve in what the prodigy supposes is meant to be a comforting gesture. Absently, Steve's hand comes out and pets his curls, before he continues. "He was a drunk- he would go out drinking with Bruce's dad and come back absolutely wasted. And then, night of Bruce's birthday, he didn't come back; they found him face down in the river next morning. Think he fell in and was too drunk to get back out."
"I'm sorry, Friend Steve," says Thor quietly, but Steve ignores him, ploughing on.
"But do you want to know the worst part? The very worst part, worse than the fact that my dad is dead?" Tony isn't sure if he's meant to reply in the affirmative or not, so instead he makes himself look curious. It seems to work. "The worst part is that I don't care- no, not even that: I'm relieved. I'm so relieved; he... he didn't have a job, and he'd drink all our money, and I was so scared that one night he would get angry and he would... he would end up like Bruce's dad, and Tasha would be patching me up again, and I just... he's dead, and I'm not scared anymore, and I'm going to hell." Tony scoffs.
"Like hell you-"
"No, Tony!" snaps Steve, sitting up ramrod straight and glaring at his amicable rival (as Tony has taken to calling him in his head- an amicable rivals Or a disagreeable friend. They both have a nice ring). "You don't get it! He's my father, I'm supposed to love him, respect him; instead, I'm glad he's dead!" Tears begin to spill down his cheeks. "I'm glad he's dead," he repeats in a whisper. Thor is frozen with a look of panic on his face, clearly unsure of how to deal with the situation, while Bruce is making some sort of distressed whimper, patting Steve on the knee as though this will somehow comfort him. Then again, Tony's plan is hardly much better.
"If you're going to hell, then I'm going too," he murmurs quietly, and Steve hesitates. Tony continues. "I know how you feel- or at least, how you felt. My dad drinks a lot too; I heard the maid call him an alcoholic. And he doesn't hit me, but he shouts a lot, if he even bothers to look at me, and I... I don't love him. I don't think I ever have. And he may be a genius, and he may have 'hauled himself up by his bootstraps'" Tony says this in his best impression of Howard, "but I don't think I respect him any more either. But it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, when he looks at me like I'm... like I'm nothing." Tony can feel tears pricking at his eyes, but he desperately blinks them away- he is not going to cry. Thor and Bruce seem to have decided to give them their privacy, and slipped out as Tony was talking- though Tony's not sure when, because if Thor can be silent then this is the first that he's heard of it.
Steve is staring at him, and Tony isn't sure what the expression on his face is- gratitude, perhaps, or concern. All he knows is that somehow, he got through.
"At least I have my mom," admits Steve quietly. Tony nods, and on an impulse grabs Steve's shoulder. He's not sure why- he isn't too fond of physical contact, and tries to avoid initiating it if possible- but the other boy smiles slightly. "Thanks, Tony- who'd have thought that you could be comforting." And just like that, the moment has passed, but it is with good nature that Tony laughs and then pretends to look upset.
"What, me? I'll have you know that ladies flock to me in their thousands, just to cry onto my shoulder!"
"And the president is a monkey," replied Steve wryly. Tony's eyebrows shot up.
"Of course- he is a politician after all. They're all monkeys, except for that one senator- can't remember his name, met him at a dinner, complete jackass- who must have had at least one gorilla for a grandparent."
"Aren't gorillas monkeys?"
"They're apes, you ignoramus."
"I don't know what you just called me, but I know it was insulting."
"Just get your lazy ass in gear- the others are waiting by the lake, and Pepper has been missing her favourite superhero."
"Yeah, right- na na na na na na na na na BEATUPBYEVERYONEGUY!" Tony snorts.
"Sounds about right."
That afternoon, while Thor and Steve are talking about something chivalrous or whatever, Tony quietly tells Loki, Pepper and Clintasha that Steve's dad has died and that he doesn't want to talk about it. They nod in complete understanding, and the subject is never raised again, but arguments between Tony and Steve seem to lack the venom that was once there.
Reviewers get a virtual hug from their kid!avenger of choice :)