Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count: 1642
AN - Timelines are all over the place, so take them with a pinch of salt. Ambiguous relationship between Bruce, Thor and Tony. Read it as whatever you wish.
Dangerous Promises
Tony stared at the people he'd once called family and shook his head. "Fuck this. I'm leaving and getting drunk. You can find your own way around the new facility."
"Tony, you need—"
"Nope. I need alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. That is all."
Steve tried to call him back, but Tony ignored him, not stopping until he was in his car with the doors locked tight. He pressed his palms into his eyes for a long moment before he started the engine, peeling from the compound.
He'd done his part, he was finished.
…
"We need help," Bucky said into the comms, breathless as he spun to shoot the next line of bots heading his way.
Lightning filled the air, and Thor arrived, followed closely, and… somewhat unexpectedly, by Bruce.
"What the—"
"Explanations later," Steve cut in. "Battle first. Thor, Bruce, it's damn good to see you."
…
When Thor didn't step onto the Quinjet when the battle was finally won, when Bruce stayed a step behind him, glaring at the team, Natasha tilted her head.
Could they—
"You're mistaken, Captain. We're not here for you, rather for the Man of Iron. It was pure luck that you were mid-battle when we arrived."
"But—"
Thor turned away, offering his arm to Bruce. "Shall we?"
…
Tony looked down at the old photograph, frowning. He tried to push away the nostalgia, but he couldn't, because they'd been so goddamn happy then. How had everything gone to hell so quickly?
Or maybe it hadn't been quick at all, he couldn't quite grasp it these days.
With a huff, he ripped it in half and then fourths, and then threw them in the bin.
He had no place for nostalgia; it would only hurt him.
…
"Pepper—"
"You've got some nerve, thinking you can show up here and that I'll just allow you to see Tony," she said, arching her eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Bruce swallowed hard. "You've got every right to be angry, I should have—we both should have been here. I'm sorry, Pepper."
She scoffed. "I'm surprised either of you care," she said, looking between Bruce and Thor with narrowed eyes. "Tony isn't Iron Man these days. He's not a hero now, he's got nothing to give you."
"Tony has always been more than a hero, Miss Potts," Thor said, strong in the face of her anger. "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Tony is a legend."
"Pretty words," she replied quietly. "Unfortunately, words don't fix the damage done to him by a shield slammed into his chest, and 12 hours stuck in a freezing bunker in Siberia."
"Miss Potts—"
"You can see yourselves out."
…
Tony blinked, rubbed his eyes, and then blinked again. "Is there a reason you two are sitting on the hood of my car in the middle of a shopping centre car park?"
"We couldn't get to you anywhere else," Bruce pointed out with a sad smile. "Didn't you always tell me to be creative?"
"This is creative?" Tony asked, loading the trunk with his bags.
He didn't think he'd ever been shopping for Christmas presents before, but he'd thoroughly enjoyed himself. There really was something in retail therapy—not that he'd ever tell Pepper that he thought she was onto something.
"As creative as I'm about to get," Bruce admitted. "I wasn't sure if you even wanted to see us. Thought you should have the option to tell us to piss off."
…
Thor sat in the armchair, while Bruce sat on the sofa. On the floor was Tony, concentrating on the presents he was painstakingly wrapping. The whole area was a mess, with wrapping paper, ribbon, bows, sellotape and scissors, and in the corner, a large box of gift bags.
"Stop staring at me like that," Tony said, glancing up at Thor.
"Like what?"
"Just… stop staring at me. Unless you want to explain why you're here, of course."
"We're here because you're here."
Tony snorted. "Right."
…
"Sir, the Avengers are requesting back up."
Tony rolled his eyes but glanced over at Bruce and Thor, who still hadn't left despite the way Tony had been keeping his distance.
He hated patient people.
"You two should go," he pointed out. "Sounds like they could use a hand or four."
"We didn't come back for the team," Thor said with a small smile. "We're here for you, not them."
"And if I tell you I don't want you here?" Tony asked, because it had been bugging him since their arrival. "Then what?"
"Then there's nothing left here for me," Thor replied simply. "I shall return to Asgard."
Tony glanced Bruce's way. "And you?"
Bruce shrugged. "I'll go with Thor. I can be… me, on Asgard, Tony. I'll never have that here."
"And yet you came back?"
"For you."
…
"Will he come with us, do you think?" Bruce asked quietly.
Thor sighed, eyes never leaving the sleeping man nearby. "I hope so, though I think perhaps we need pray for a miracle to make it happen."
"I'm not sure that I believe in miracles," Bruce said quietly.
"You believe in Tony, don't you? What is he, if not a miracle?"
…
"You know what happened?" Tony asked, late one night. He'd been unable to sleep, and when he'd gotten up, it was to find his guests still awake in the living room, a movie playing softly on TV.
"We do," Thor replied. "We wanted to come back immediately, but Asgard was in trouble. I couldn't leave, my whole planet would have been destroyed, Tony. We came as soon as we were able."
Tony nodded, biting his lip. "I… guess I wished you'd been here, but I was also scared of you coming back."
"Why would you fear our return?" Thor asked, brow furrowing with confusion.
Tony smiled sadly. "Because I wasn't sure whose side you'd be on."
Bruce reached out slowly and squeezed Tony's hand. "No matter what, Tony. We'll always be on your side."
"That's a dangerous promise to make, Brucie," Tony replied softly.
"And yet, we'll still make it," Thor said. "There's something I'd like to suggest, if you're amenable to at least hearing me out."
Tony eyed him for a moment. "I'm listening."
...
"They want you to go to space?" Pepper asked again, for the third time.
Rhodey snorted, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "Sure sounds like that's what he said, Pep."
Tony smiled at the show of affection. The two of them had been so worried about his reaction to their relationship, but he was genuinely happy for them. Who better to look after his best friends than them taking care of each other.
"Are you considering it?" Pepper asked.
Tony shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe? It's not like earth has been the kindest to me, right? Maybe another planet will do me some good. And… it doesn't have to be forever. Thor will fetch me home if I want to come back."
Rhodey raised his eyebrows. "I think you've already made your mind up, Tones. What's holding you back?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "You know what."
Realising the problem, Pepper sighed and walked around the table, pulling him into a hug. "You'll always have a home with us, and we'll always love you. Distance, even between planets, will never change that, you hear me?"
Tears filled Tony's eyes as he nodded against her shoulder. "I hear you."
…
Nick cursed softly, shaking his head. "Are you being serious?"
Tony nodded. "I thought it would be the, ah, courteous thing to do to let you know I won't be around for the Avengers to call me in, but Colonel Rhodes is consenting to be 'on call' as it were, in my place."
"You're fucking off to a different planet because of a tiff? Tony—"
"A tiff?" Tony asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Is that what you want to call that clusterfuck? A tiff?"
"Tony—"
"I could have left them to rot in Wakanda, and I didn't. I could have said no to them moving back into the compound, and I didn't. I could have ended them where they all stood, Nick, and I didn't. I've done my level best to not take any sort of revenge on them because that's not who I am now, but don't stand there and tell me that what happened was a fucking tiff."
"Okay, that was a bad choice of word, I apologise. But still… Tony, you're needed here."
Tony stepped back towards the door and smiled. "But I don't need to be here. And that's the difference now."
…
If they'd thought they'd be able to leave without the Avengers finding out, they'd been sorely disappointed. Not that any of them were under the delusion that they could.
Tony just wasn't that lucky.
His suitcases were packed and by the door, the shiny black surface of them reflecting prettily in the winter sun. His coat was on, and everything had been covered. Pepper and Rhodey were fully briefed on taking care of his estate and Tony was ready to go.
"You can't just leave," Steve said, reaching out a hand towards Tony. "I know, okay? I know I fucked up, I know I did, but… you can't go. Don't go, Tony."
Tony stared back at him, and he realised that any love he'd had for the soldier… that love had been lost. Gone was the happy bubble that had once surrounded them, and gone was the belief that 'together' was enough.
"Goodbye, Steve."
…
"Come, Tony. Let us be one with the stars, where we once came from," Thor murmured, offering his arms to his two friends. Bruce took one, and without hesitation, Tony took the others. "The cosmos is within us. Let us become one with it."
Written for:
Record Collection: 17. Wrapping presents
Time Machine: 7. Quote: "The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself."
Amber's Attic: 25. Wrap presents
Film Festival: 30. (dialogue) "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."
Marvel Appreciation: Captain America: Old Photograph / Nostalgic
Lyric Alley: 16. Love has been lost
Forecast: 20. "There's nothing left here for me."
Naughty Or Nice: Naughty: 6. "Fuck this. I'm leaving and getting drunk."
Hot Chocolate Station: 16. Red Velvet Hot Chocolate: (dialogue) "I'm not sure that I believe in miracles."
Big Dinner Bash: Mashed: Sleeping
Toy Making: Toy Train: [Dialogue] "I need alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol."
Pop Figures: TV: 422. Eleven Underwater: Bubble
Hogwarts Talent Show: Raising The Dead: Dialogue: "Stop staring at me like that." / Colour: Black / Item: Scissors / Word: Revenge