Chapter Thirty-Seven
It wasn't even eight in the morning yet, and Tony was already pouring himself a fourth cup of coffee. Black coffee, mind you, and this was very wrong for two reasons. Reason one: Tony didn't drink black coffee. He liked his coffee sweet, with cream and sugar, but Natasha had stolen most of it for her coffee and Tony really didn't feel like going up against her this early in the morning. Which brings us to reason two: it was seven eighteen in the morning. I repeat: it was only seven. Eighteen.
Tony refused to get up and out of bed any time before nine, but today was much different. He'd spent most of the night tossing and turning, his mind plagued with thoughts of Rosie and her… Condition. He still didn't want to accept the fact that this darkness that was inside his daughter was basically threatening to destroy the world. It somewhat comforted him to know that it wouldn't kill her anymore, but he had seen Rosie's face fall when Thor said the word immortality. She clearly didn't want to be immortal. And why should she be? Her mother was dead, her step-father was dead, and to be quite blunt, immortality was overrated, anyway. Why wander the world for eternity when you can leave a kick-ass legend behind?
Either way, thoughts of Rosie had kept him up all night long. He would admit it, he had grown to care for his daughter. A lot. Over the past few months, Rosie had quickly become his everything. He saw himself in her. How could he not? She had his wit, his charm, his sarcastic nature. And he used to have his eyes.
Used to. He felt a dark pang hit his heart. It was killing him to watch the darkness, something he couldn't control, slowly take his daughter. It nearly killed him when he came back inside from defending her from those stupid gangsters and saw her sprawled out on the couch. Pepper had been stroking her hair, which was darkening into an inky black. He held her hand as we watched her skin pale, and only left Rosie's side to look out the window, to try and clear his thoughts.
Tony shook his head, taking a gulp of his coffee. He had already promised himself that he wouldn't allow Rosie to slip through his fingers like Estelle had. He would hold her close, protect her, keep her safe, and find a cure for this wretched darkness. And even if there wasn't a cure, he'd find something to slow it down, to keep it from consuming her entirely. He would help her survive, no matter what the cost.
He could've gone on thinking for the rest of the day, but the voice of his science bro pulled him out of his pondering. "Lost in thought again?" Bruce asked, clothed in old pajamas, as he sat down next to his friend. Tony nodded into his mug.
"Didn't get much sleep," he explained, his voice muffled as he drained his coffee mug of the last of its contents. Bruce nodded.
"I don't think any of us did, really," Bruce said. "It's a lot to take in, for all of us, knowing that Rosie's some sort of weapon of mass destruction. But Rosie seems to be holding up pretty well, though," he said, trying to brighten the mood a bit. "She's still sleeping, which is good. The poor girl hardly ever sleeps."
"Can you blame her?" Clint chimed, slowly making his way into the room. "She hasn't exactly been living the life these past couple months. I mean, first her mom dies, then she's seen as some sort of weapon, then—"
"I really don't think we need a recap right now, Legolas," Tony said dryly. The sleepless night was clearly getting to him. "Speaking of caps," Tony said, glancing around. "Where's Spangles? He's usually up by now."
The two other men shrugged. "His door was still closed last time I saw," Clint said. That set off immediate alarms inside Tony's head. Steve never slept late. Ever. It just wasn't in his nature.
"I'll go see what he's up to," Tony said, rising from his chair. No one protested. Steve was always the first one up in the mornings. He liked to sneak in an early morning workout, or something like that. It was more than odd for the super solider to not be running around at this time.
Tony rapped his knuckled twice on the door. "Hey, Capsicle," Tony called. "Rise and shine, early bird." He expected the soldier to open the door, or even give a muffled, "Get lost, Tony," to prove that he was awake. But there was nothing. The only thing that answered Tony was silence.
"Spangles," Tony tried again, knocking a little harder this time. "You alive in there?" Again, there was no response. Tony's brows furrowed. "Listen, Cap, I'm coming in," he announced, and turned the knob.
He didn't even get to take a step into the room before every muscle in his body froze. Then his blood began to boil, his face no doubt turning a brilliant shade of red. It wasn't the fact that Steve was still asleep that enraged him. It was the fact that Rosie, his daughter, was laying in his arms, still sound asleep on the soldier. He thought about staying calm, and waking both of them up, and having a serious talk with them like a civilized human being. But that thought vanished from his mind when he saw a still sleeping Rosie curl further into Steve. That was about when he burst.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Rosie:
"What the hell is going on?!" someone bellowed, clearly enraged. Not the best wake-up call. I was immediately yanked out of the comfort of sleep, a short gasp flying from my throat. I sat up in the bed instantly, eyes wide with concern. Steve sprang up, too, eyes flashing protectively, both of us locking gazes with the intruder.
Shit.
It was Tony. I repeat: it was Tony, and this was not going to end well. He wasn't clothed in his bathrobe anymore, or his ridiculous bunny slippers, which made me even more aware of the fact that his eyes were flashing with rage. His face was growing red, and I could almost see the steam coming out of his ears.
"Tony," I managed, swallowing hard. "I-It's not what you think, I swear—"
"Bullshit it's not what I think!" Tony shouted. His infuriated eyes locked on Steve, and that was when I realized Steve's arm was still wrapped securely around my waist. "You…" was all he was able to manage in a very angry growl. He was across the room in a matter of seconds, the anger in his eyes growing. His fists latched onto Steve's shirt before either of us could register it, and he threw the soldier to the ground.
"Tony!" I cried, utterly shocked.
"I trusted you! I trusted you with my daughter!" Tony shouted, standing menacingly over Steve. "Your head is officially target practice," Tony growled, and I saw his hands balling into fists. I leapt from the bed, grabbing Tony's black shirt, forcing him to face me.
"It's not what you think!" I cried. "I swear, it's not what you think! Nothing—Nothing happened. We didn't do anything. I swear," I said, and I saw the realization slowly flicker through Tony's eyes. "I swear," I repeated. "We didn't do anything. I swear. We didn't. Nothing happened."
For a moment, he looked like he believed me. Then, his eyes flickered over to Steve, then back to me. "Living room. Now," he said, voice stern and strict. My brows furrowed.
"What? Why?"
Tony didn't even look over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. "Pepper's home in five minutes," he said. "We're having a family meeting."
Rosie:
However this was going to end, it wasn't going to end well. Not even five minutes later, Steve and I were sitting on the couch next to each other, Tony pacing around the room, occasionally shooting a glare at Steve. My arms were folded across my chest, my legs crossed. This was ridiculous. Tony was blowing this completely out of proportion. It wasn't like he had walked in on us naked and having sex. I understood what it must have looked like, but both of us were fully clothed, and there was no way Steve would have tried anything. He was from the forties, for crying out loud. I knew there had to be a ring and vows before he would even consider trying anything like that.
The front door opened, and a clearly frazzled Pepper came into the room. Her eyes were searching around in her too-large burgundy bag, so she hadn't seen the scene displayed for her yet.
"Sorry, I ran out for a couple of minutes," she explained. "We needed a few things from the store and—" her eyes shot up. "What happened?" she asked, her eyes flickering from me, to Steve, then finally to the pacing Tony.
"I found princess over here sharing a bed with Spangles," he said. Pepper's eyes immediately went wide.
"What?!" she said, her mouth dropping open.
Well, when you say it like that, Tony, it paints a completely different picture.
"It's not like that," I said. "Tony's exaggerating only a little bit."
"I call it like I see it."
"And you still have no idea what you saw," I retorted, not missing a beat. "You saw me laying next to Steve. That was it."
"And what the hell were you doing in his bedroom in the first place, Rosie?" Tony said with narrowed eyes, his voice low and suspicious. "And don't give me some bullshit excuse. I know what happens in bedrooms with closed doors."
I rolled my eyes. "Nothing even came close to that," I said honestly. "I couldn't sleep last night. I had a really bad nightmare, and Steve comforted me and told me that I could stay here for the night. I couldn't bear to spend the rest of the night alone, so I stayed."
Despite that my explanation had been nothing but the truth, Tony still didn't look convinced. "And that's all?" he said, an eyebrow raised. "He didn't try to touch you or…"
"Tony, no, of course not!" I said, clearly disgusted by the fact that Tony thought Steve was some sort of creep. "He comforted me. I cried. We slept. That was it. Nothing sexual of the sort."
Tony's eyes flickered from me to the super solider. "Is that the truth?" he said.
"One hundred percent," Steve said honestly.
"So you two slept together, but you didn't sleep together," Pepper said, adding emphasis on the word sleep so we knew the difference between the two. I nodded.
"Yup," I said, popping the 'p.' Pepper nodded, clearly believing us, turning her eyes to Tony.
"I believe them," Pepper said. "And, quite frankly, I don't see anything wrong with it. I trust Steve."
"Thank you, Pepper," Steve said respectfully, complete with a small smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tony tense.
"I don't," Tony said bluntly. "You're grounded," he said, pointing a stern finger at me. "And we need to talk," he said, pointing his finger at Steve. "Right now."
I rolled my eyes. I'd accept being grounded, but the fact that he now wanted to intimidate Steve was ridiculous. "Tony…" I started.
"It's okay, Rose," Steve said, reaching out and giving my hand a small squeeze. "We're just talking, alright?"
"You'll be talking," I corrected. "He'll be plotting of ways to kill you and hide your body."
He flashed me that crooked smile, shaking his head. "I'll be fine, Rosie," he assured me again. I sighed. I really didn't have much of a choice.
"Alright," I said reluctantly, rising from the chair. "But if I hear any loud noises or sudden crashes, I'm coming back into this room, and someone's getting their ass kicked."
"Calm down, fireball," Pepper laughed. "By the way, I need some extra hands. Come and help me bring in some of the groceries. Leave the men to their talking business."
Without a second thought, I agreed, and followed Pepper out to the car. Once I left, the two men were glaring daggers at each other. If looks could kill, they would have both been dead.
"You're lucky she trusts you, Capsicle," Tony growled.
"She trusts all of us," Steve said, trying not to glare at the other man, but finding out that he just couldn't help himself. Tony irritated him to no end. "Why do you only hate just me? You don't have a problem with her talking to Clint, or Bruce, or Thor."
"Because it's different," Tony said. "I see the way she looks at you, and I see the way you look at her. I'm not blind, Cap. I pick up on those kind of things. So let me tell you this—if you hurt her, in any way, shape, or form, I'll kill you. She's far too young to end up like her mother, and if I find out that you hurt or take advantage of her, you're done for. I don't care that you're an Avenger, and I don't care that you're a super soldier. If she gets hurt by your hand, it'll be the last thing you ever do."
Tony didn't even give Steve an opportunity to respond. With that, their chat (which was more of a threat) was over, and he turned on his heel and stalked down into his workshop, leaving a very stunned Steve behind.
And for those of you who love overprotective Tony, I hope you're satisfied! This one took a long time to write because it was really hard to get that tension between Stark and Steve, but I did my best so I get an A for effort! Anyway, thank you to all those who favorited/followed/reviewed, and please continue to do so because I love hearing from all of you! I should have the next chapter up soon, but thanks for reading, until next time!
-Charlotte
In response to reviews…
n-narcisstic—I know, so much feels! Lol such a fluffy chapter!
Acompletenerd—YAY! I'm glad you like the fluffy, there's so much more fluff on the way! (cough, chapter 39—41, cough)
ReadPaxJoy—Lol I love Despicable Me!:D And YAY! I'm so happy you loved/enjoyed/adored the fluffy! And yes, definetley break out the tissue box, because it's gonna go from happy and fluffy to really, REALLY dark in a matter of seconds! And you're welcome for the warning!:)
Sheadarlin—I hope this chapter was everything you thought it would be! Lol, I just couldn't resist having Tony walk in on them. And I'm SO glad to hear you say that, because I was nervous that I wasn't writing Cap well enough, so thank you! Glad you liked the training, and thank you SO much for saying it's amazing!:)