Sorry for the delay my lovelies, I've been out of action for a little while. Here we are with the next instalment of Mending What Was Broken.
As always, nothing belonging to the MCU has anything to do with me, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter Twelve- Aftermath (Tony)
Bright lights greeted Tony when he woke, his skull fifty sizes too small for his brain and threatening to squeeze it out of his ears. A blond head sat next to him, indicating Steve had stayed to watch over him, but the head was laid on his hospital bed, soft snores giving away he was asleep.
Tony knew he could be a calloused bastard and jerk him awake, but there was something infinitely vulnerable about Steve sleeping at his side, that even after the way he'd been treating Cap, he was willing to stay at his side until he woke. Probably to give him a roasting for being so careless, but Tony was happy to take that right now.
For the first time Steve had returned, Tony found himself grateful to have the super soldier there. He let him sleep a while longer, but when the pain in his throat became too much, he had to reach for his buzzer to get someone in to help, and that meant jostling the sleeping man.
He threw Steve an apologetic look when he suddenly shot awake and looked around like a wild animal searching for danger. "Sorry," Tony rasped. "Throat hurts."
Steve gave him a pained look and nodded, his hand coming up to press the buzzer for him and Bruce entered moments later a dark look on his normally smiling face. "Hey, glad to see you're awake, both of you."
Tony smiled awkwardly. "Water?" He managed to croak before going into a coughing fit, his throat so bruised from being throttled by Barnes.
Bruce left and quickly returned with a bucket of ice chips and fed Tony a couple. "Take them slowly, down try to eat loads of them. Your throat has taken a lot of damage, and any further strain could do irreparable damage, so just take it easy."
He left then, letting Tony eat his ice chips, and Steve to sit and fret with the hem of his shirt. Tony could only take it for so long before he flapped his hands at him, made a writing motion and glared meaningfully at the blond.
Luckily for him, Steve was quick to understand the gestures and fetched him his Stark Pad. Tony wrote out a stream of questions but Steve shook his head. "One at a time, Tony, please."
Tony sighed and deleted everything before he wrote one question. 'How much trouble am I in?'
Steve raised a brow and laughed, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep and making the laugh twice as sinister as it needed to be. "A lot, Tony. A hell of a lot. Bruce almost Hulked out, Thor created a thunder storm so big that several trees are destroyed around the tower, Vision was ready to put a hole in Bucky and Wanda wanted to beat you up further."
He flinched a little, actual guilt wormed through his stomach. 'I'm sorry…'
Cap shrugged. "No one can really say they're surprised. When you get onto something there's no stopping you. But for the love of God why didn't you keep the briefcase in your hand?"
Tony shrugged and flapped his hands about in frustration before he resigned himself to using the Pad. 'Because it's heavy, and I wanted my hands free in case something went wrong. Not that I can put up a fight against him, apparently.'
Steve tugged on his short hair, leaving Tony to wince as strands were pulled out. "Christ almighty, Tony! You could have been killed! Do you know how much tranquiliser was in that arrow? Enough to take down an elephant! If we hadn't been ready you would have died!"
The guilt multiplied ten-fold, he could see tears in Steve's eyes and Tony had to look away. 'I'm sorry,' he wrote. 'Is he alright?'
That seemed to make the super soldier deflate. "Yeah, he's alright. Beating himself up about hurting you. He hasn't been seen by anyone other than the bots and FRIDAY since you were brought here two days ago."
Shock crossed Tony's face. 'TWO DAYS?' he scribbled.
Steve nodded. "Yeah, we couldn't wake you after you fell unconscious. Bruce had you hooked up to a brain activity monitor for the first twelve hours, afraid the oxygen starvation to your brain would do damage. Luckily, there was none. The red eye thing will go down after a bit, nothing anyone can do about that, but the bruising is severe. Bruce is concerned that you might not get full use of your voice back."
And wasn't that just a kick in the old twins? His stomach dropped through the floor, the gravity of the situation hitting home. Everything had led to this, to his body damaged to a point where it might not fully recover. He'd gone into space for crying out loud and come back from that with a few scratches and some pretty paralysing panic attacks but he always got through them just fine.
This, though, this was the point of no return. He could continue as he had been, provoking and jibing, making everyone's lives hard, or maybe, just maybe, he could behave like an adult and actually try to work his shit out. Maybe, he thought.
'Can you bust me outta here?' He wrote quickly before Bruce entered and he quickly locked the Pad before he could see.
"Now then, time to check you over now that you're awake."
Tony shuddered and looked pleadingly at Steve, hating anyone doing his medicals, even Bruce. Steve smiled softly and held his hand, never making fun, and nor had he ever done so, and squeezed to comfort him through the tests.
Bruce took some photographs of the bruising to compare to the ones taken when first showing, he asked Tony to try and talk but all that was produced was a scratching rasp. He did reflexes, in case Tony' reaction time had slowed down.
"Well, apart from your voice, you're not doing too bad. Your motor skills have taken a minor decrease, but that could just be from everything that happened, so we'll test them again soon. There's no decrease in brain activity, so I'm not concerned about brain damage. I am, however, worried about the amount of bruising and how much your throat has swelled." Bruce paused, a pained look crossing his face before he continued, his watch beeping dangerously. "There is a strong possibility you might never get your normal voice back. The bruising is putting strain on your vocal chords, the damage could be irreparable. The swelling could worsen further, which has the chance of closing off your airway, suffocating you. I'm going to have to confine you to the medical ward where you can be monitored."
Not on your life, Tony thought but nodded for Bruce, the watch beeping starting to slow down. No use in causing a Hulk out right now, Tony would definitely not withstand that.
His mind turned over the words of Barnes, the mission he had been programmed with before he had lost his Winter Soldier persona. Most of HYDRA were gone, so was that an old mission, or something added before he went rogue?
The questions buzzed in his mind but he couldn't concentrate with the harsh lighting and beeping of machinery, which Tony found highly ironic since he did his best thinking in the workshop, surrounded by noise. He looked to Cap again and made with the puppy eyes.
Steve cursed a blue streak, sending Tony's eyebrows skyward and his brown eyes wide. "Fine, I'll get you out of here, but you better be ready for the storm that will hit when Bruce finds out."
Tony nodded vigorously and smiled brightly, the smile dimming when he saw the pain in Steve's eyes. He realised he hadn't once smiled at him since his return, and despite all the anger he'd been feeling towards him, Tony found that he was angrier at himself, and he didn't know why.
He nodded as Steve promised to come back when Bruce went for a break and get him back to his penthouse under the promise that he would allow Clint to stay there too, just in case he got worse. Tony readily agreed and squeezed Steve's hand in gratitude.
In the time that Cap was gone, Tony had a lot of time to reflect on how the exercise had gone. He was absolutely certain that he was right in that the trigger was tied to emotions. The stress Barnes had been under combined with all the harsh words he had been throwing at him had made him crack, if he became too emotional, the Asset would slip into place giving Barnes a chance to calm down, but at the same time, left everyone around him in danger.
It didn't seem to be something Barnes could control, there had been no sign of panic in his eyes as it had happened. One-minute Barnes was upset and backing away, the next he had been cold and stoic. It was creepy to watch and worse when his mind replayed it back to him, worse still when FRIDAY produced the footage on his Stark Pad.
The speed at which Barnes had become the Asset was terrifying and Tony had a real gauge for just how much danger they were in, especially those of them who were not enhanced, like himself and Clint. He was certain Tasha was in some way enhanced, no woman of her tiny stature should have that amount of strength naturally.
Now he had a dilemma, did he continue trying to work out the problem and fix it, putting everyone at risk. Or did he let it lie for the time being? Whichever one he did, neither was preferable, and he realised that he was going to have to try and actually make nice with him.
Damn. He did not look forward to that, he had been set on making sure Barnes knew just how much he hated him. Talks with Clint had forced him to come to terms with how Barnes had absolutely no control over his actions on the night his parents had died. He didn't like it, but it was true and Tony couldn't deny it any longer, no matter how much he wanted to.
He looked up when he saw Bruce rubbing his eyes and going away from the medical room. He only had to wait a few minutes until Steve came in and quickly ushered him from the room and up to the penthouse. DUM-E was already in the suite ready to lend a helping hand, or arm, rather.
His sheets had been changed and were turned down, his holo-desk had been moved into his bedroom and there was his wood desk with a steaming bowl of soup on it. "You can't have any solids right now, you're on a liquid only diet until some of bruising and swelling has gone down," Steve informed him.
Tony huffed but nodded, gently touching his throat and wincing in pain. Steve pushed his hand away and shook his head. "Leave it alone, don't aggravate it further."
He scowled but nodded again, grumpy at his loss of voice and having to be babied. His eyes felt gritty and he had to admit he was tired, and didn't protest when Steve put him to bed with a stern glare and firm hand. He saw the soft look in Steve's eyes at his vulnerability and felt his eyes tear up, looking away to avoid them being seen.
Steve ruffled his hair affectionately. "I've moved to the floor below, just for now. If Clint isn't around, please get FRIDAY to wake me up, Tony. I'm still your friend, nothing has changed, no matter how angry you get with me, or how many times you punch me. You are my friend."
He never got an answer though, Tony had already fallen asleep, his chest rising and falling softly. He didn't see Steve brush a kiss against his temple, nor did he see the way his breath hitched when he held back a sob. He didn't wake at the click of the door as Steve left, or the creak of the hinges when Clint came in. He dreamt of his mom, of seeing her again, her warm body against his as she hugged him tightly.
-oo0oo-
When Tony woke the next morning, he found his throat was on fire, he reached for glass of ice water that had been left on his bedside table, clearly recently since the glass was filled with chips that didn't seem have melted much and the condensation on the glass was still forming.
As he laid back down he noticed there was someone sleeping beside him, he turned over carefully and found a shock of red hair fanned across the pillow, Tasha's lashes brushing her pale cheeks, face relaxed and peaceful in sleep. Tony had honestly never found her more beautiful than in that moment where she was untouched by the Red Room or the horrors of HYDRA.
He didn't have to wait long before she stirred and smiled sheepishly at him. "I'm sorry, I wanted to stay with you and Clint wanted to shoot some stuff."
Tony didn't have the heart to still be angry with her for keeping the truth about his parents from him. He was hurting, and he didn't know how to fix it. It wasn't a broken piece of machinery that needed a little solder and some screws. He was a living person with feelings that he didn't know how to process.
Her hand reached out slowly and cupped his cheek, her skin soft against his stubbled cheek. "I am so sorry, Tony. I hate that we haven't been talking, that you've been hurt because of me. Because of mine and Steve's actions."
The words broke the dam and Tony felt the wall slipping, the ironclad grasp he'd had over his anger melted away and he sobbed brokenly, his fists beating weakly against her and he cried almost silently from his ravaged throat, begged for it all to go away and raged at her for lying to him.
She took it all, didn't try to defend herself, only tried to stop his words so he wouldn't injure himself further. She let him stab at his Pad so tell her how he felt, she read it, nodded, and let him continue. But she did wrap her arms around him and hold him close, crooning in Russian softly, her own tears splashing his head.
"I'm sorry, Tony. I would never intentionally hurt you, I thought it best that old scar didn't get reopened. I hoped to spare you from ever finding out they were taken from you, that it was just a wet road and a bad accident that no one was to blame for," she said quietly when he'd calmed somewhat. "I wanted to bury the secret away and wished I'd never seen it. I dumped the files of SHIELD and HYDRA all over the internet, but I wiped the file of Howard and Maria Stark, I didn't want you to have to face that."
Tony's tears hadn't stopped, but the sobbing had, as hoarse as it had been. He was laid with his head tucked in the hollow between her bent knees and stomach, her hand repeatedly threading through his hair. "Why them?" He rasped.
Tasha shushed him gently and nudged the Pad close but she knew what he meant. "Because your father was carrying the serum that made Steve and Bucky, he was the primary target for HYDRA to get their hands on more of it, to create the other super soldiers that Zemo executed in Siberia."
He once again saw the way that Barnes' hand slid over his mother's mouth and nose, cutting off her air supply, slowly killing her. He didn't blink, barely moved until he knew her heart had stopped beating. Tony screwed his eyes shut and shook his head, clearing the images.
He grabbed the Pad and scribbled madly. 'My dad was taking her away, they had to stop somewhere, more than likely the Pentagon, but he was taking her to the Bahamas for a holiday. She kissed me goodbye and promised to be back early so I could spend the end of Christmas Break with her before going back to university. My dad barely acknowledged me, but he squeezed my shoulder and that was a lot since he rarely even came out of his office when I was home.'
Tasha read and smiled sadly. "My mother and father are people I don't even remember. The Red Room wiped everything. My first memory is of being nine and learning how to load and shoot a gun."
He sniffled and deleted his words to replace them with more. 'But you're you now, and the Red Room won't ever happen again. You're safe here.'
She chuckled and kissed his head, her lips lingering for a few seconds. "I know that, and I thank my lucky stars every day I have people who will go to any lengths to help me, as we will you. We love you, Tony, and pushing us away won't stop us. I can't, however, stall Bruce any longer than I have been. I'll stay with you though, okay?"
Tony nodded and huddled closer, wincing as Bruce bellowed through the suite that Tony better be awake and with answers. He peered over the covers and gave a quick wave, using the puppy eyes. Bruce raised his brows and threw his hands in the air in exasperation.
"What am I going to do with you?" He asked rhetorically. "I swear if it weren't for you being already injured I'd be beating you to a pulp myself. I know you hate the medical room, Tony, but it's the best place I can monitor…"
"Actually, Dr. Banner, the best place for Mr. Stark to be monitored is everywhere. My sensors are programmed to pick up even the slightest elevation in heart rate, and I have been monitoring the swelling in his sleep. Would you like the statistics?" FRIDAY piped up, cutting Bruce off.
The doctor spluttered for a moment, growled darkly, and sighed. "Out-manoeuvred by a bloody AI."
Tony's eyes crinkled in silent laughter and Bruce plonked on the edge of the bed. He saw how Tasha was holding him protectively and smiled, her own smile forming. Tony patted the bed a few times to get his attention and held out the Pad: 'if you two want to make kissy face please get out and send Barton or something, I don't need to see that. I'm delicate.'
Bruce laughed and shoved him lightly, Tony clutching his chest in mock hurt. He shooed them off with a grin, going back to his Pad and tapping away for a while to pass some time. He heard the door to his suite go and peered up to see Clint flop on the sofa to watch a film. He put the Pad down and wandered out to watch it with him.
Clint said nothing when half-way through the movie Tony laid down with his head in Clint's lap. He didn't move him when Tony fell asleep and didn't wake up for two hours. Tony was pliable as a doll when Clint took him to bed and laid beside him for comfort until he fell back asleep, and when Clint knew Tony was out for the count, he climbed into the ventilation and watched over him.
