Wazzup! It's time for a new chapter. This one has some more tears and cuddles. I hope you enjoy it. I'll see you at the end.
Two days after Loki escaped, Tony was finally released from medical with strict instructions to relax and keep up with his medication. The whole team was there to greet him when he got up to the common floor. Tony just sheepishly waved and went to go sit down on the sofa. They decided to take it easy that night and just have a team dinner and watch a movie.
Natasha made dinner that night. It was her turn anyways. She made some Russian dish that everyone really enjoyed. When it came to the movie, they let Tony pick. They were all scared that Tony would try to lie and tell them that he didn't care and that one of them could pick. He didn't. Tony ended up picking Red Dawn and that seemed to be a big hit with everyone in the room. Both Tony and Clint had an affinity for action films so neither ever argued about the movies they picked.
Steve ended up sitting on the sofa right next to Tony. He wanted to make sure that everything was alright and that also had the added bonus of just being close to Tony in general. Steve just knew he was going to fall hard for Tony as he got to know him even better but satisfying that little part of him now was going to be hard. Tony deserved to heal without having to worry about new relationships and Steve's issues on top of his own.
Tony ended up falling asleep halfway through the movie. His head fell onto Steve's lap and he had to repress a smirk when Thor looked over at the scene. He ended up carrying Tony back to his room later that night so as not to wake Tony up.
The next few days followed in a similar pattern. Steve would try to get Tony to socialize a little bit as per his orders and Tony would try to get away for a bit. Most of the time, Tony would try to hide away in his lab. There was a time when Tony tried to lock everyone else out, but because JARVIS was given orders to keep Tony healthy and with other people, Steve was able to get in and get Tony to eat lunch. He didn't force Tony to leave the lab to eat like Tony thought he would. No, Steve just showed up with food and made sure Tony didn't overwork himself. Often, he would bring down his art stuff to work on.
It was oddly domestic and both parties enjoyed the feeling.
One thing that drove everyone crazy was trying to figure out what Tony could and could not do now that he was essentially 18 and devoid of the protective masks he'd made throughout his life. The first thing they tested was if Tony could lie. Back in medical Tony wasn't able to lie about how he was feeling and if he was hurting. They needed to know if Tony could lie at all. He was a businessman after all and that was how he got through gala's and made deals with others. Tony needed to be able to lie so he wasn't spilling secrets.
They tested out whether Tony could lie at all by asking non-invasive and invasive questions.
"Alright Tony, you ready?" asked Bruce once the team had gathered in the kitchen. Tony nodded and Bruce got ready.
"Ok, I'm going to ask you things, hold up objects and whatnot, and all you need to do is lie to us." Tony nodded once more and they got started.
"Ok Tony, what's 4x4?" asked Bruce. They wanted to start easy before ramping it up.
"44." Answered Tony. Alright, so he could lie. Now they just had to figure out what he could lie about.
The questioning went on for an hour and by the end, everyone was frustrated and near tears but the finally had an answer. Tony could lie. He could lie about everything as long as it wasn't about how he was feeling and whether or not he was hurt or uncomfortable. That could prove a bit tricky for press conferences if Tony took a hit or was just not feeling well, but that was what being on a team was for. To watch out for each other.
After another week, Steve found that he was spending almost all of his free time with Tony, and honestly, that really wasn't a problem. Steve found that hanging around in the lab with Tony actually helped him acclimate better to living in the future. Plus, seeing how excited Tony often got about his work while explaining it to Steve was frankly adorable.
Although the peace couldn't last forever.
One night, while Tony was introducing Steve to the wonders of Star Trek, Steve decided to strike up a conversation. He loved talking to Tony. He was so cute when he got excited about things and what everyone had discovered as of late was that Tony loved cuddles but was always scared to ask. So, Steve sat a little bit closer and began talking.
At first, it was innocent. They talked about trivial things such as some new things Tony wanted to make and some of the new pieces of art Steve had created. Everything was going great until Steve brought up… Him.
"You know Tony, how come you never talk about your father? He was a friend of mine during the war you know. I've looked through some of the old footage and SHIELD files but you knew him best." Spoke Steve.
That was when Tony got oddly silent. Steve looked over and saw that Tony had curled in on himself and looked about five seconds away from crying.
"Please don't," whispered Tony and Steve almost didn't hear him. "Please don't mention that monster."
Monster. That had Steve confused. When he'd met Howard Stark back during the war he seemed like a nice person. Sure, there were times when the man seemed like a bit of an asshole. Could Howard have really changed that much since Steve had known him?
"Tony… what happened?" asked Steve. He knew this was a bit invasive. He knew that Tony couldn't lie about something like this. But he needed to know. He needed to know if Tony was ok. He just… needed to know.
And Tony spilled it all.
"He was a monster. He used to beat me and my mom. The public never found out of course. He paid off a lot of doctors to keep all my injuries a secret. He used to force me to drink alcohol when I was just a kid. He's why I have alcohol problems. He would hand me hot and sharp things down in his workshop and now my hands are covered in scars. He shipped me off to boarding school as soon as he could. Never mind that I was five and already halfway through elementary school. He always compared me to you. He wanted another Captain America, not his worthless excuse of a son. He didn't care. Sometimes he wouldn't let me eat if I was bad. I'm so worthless. He was right. I'm so so so worthless."
The whole time Tony was talking, tears were streaming down his face. As Tony told his story, Steve's eyes became dangerous. He knew the words Tony spoke were true and his heart broke for the man next to him. And he was angry, so, so, angry. Tony had been hurt so horribly over the course of his life and all Steve wanted to do was take away the pain. Unfortunately, though, his face only really betrayed his anger.
"I'm sorry." Sobbed Tony. "He was your friend. I shouldn't have told you any of that."
And with that Tony got up and ran. Steve just sat there gobsmacked over what had just happened. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard, but it explained so much about Tony's behaviour.
Steve knew almost instantly what had happened to make Tony run. Steve was angry over Howard, but all Tony saw was the anger. Naturally, in his mind, he thought that Steve was angry at him. Tony had been so broken down over the years, blamed for anything and everything, that, of course, he thought that Steve's anger was his fault. It wasn't his fault and Steve was feeling stupidly guilty over everything. He needed to comfort Tony and make things right. So, he did the only thing he could think of.
He ran after him.
Hey there! I hope you liked this chapter. Now, about Steve. Should he have asked Tony what had happened knowing he can't lie? No. But, Steve isn't some perfect soldier. He's going to make mistakes. It's how he is going to own up to them in this fic that makes him a good man. Mistakes happen and we all know that Steve here would do anything to make things right with our Tony. I'll see you soon. -Shadows
