Bitter Suite

Chapter 9

Authors note: sorry for the delay, silly season at work. Will update when I can. Glad to see my cliff hanger endings are still interesting people smiles evilly. For all those asking when the smut is coming, coughs *11*is all I'm gonna say.

Tony woke up his head banging, throat dry, he tried to sit up to find some water, but he was too unsteady on his feet. That must have been one hell of a night out he thought absently to leave him like this. He wondered how many bars he had drunk dry, or how many women he'd slept with. For once the thought chilled him to the bone that he couldn't remember what had happened. Normally he wouldn't care less, just drink, fuck and move on. Now though he had to think of the person he was hurting every time he did it. And as soon as he thought of him, he suddenly found his taste for women and wine vanishing into nothingness.

His head in his hands, Tony tried to decide if he needed to throw up now, later or both? He groaned knowing the bile was coming fast, and not sure if he had the strength to crawl up off the bed to deal with it. He groaned no he couldn't stop it, tried to roll onto his side so at least he wasn't puking on the bed sheets. He had done some shit in his life, but laying in his own puke was not something he wanted to do again!

Then warm arms were wrapped around him, comforting him and a bowl shoved in his hands just in time, as he started losing all he ahd eaten for days. Fingers rubbing his back, a soft voice in his ear shhing him. It felt so damn good that he wasn't alone right now, he knew the voice, and it made him feel safe, protected, he just couldn't quite put a name or a face to the voice. His head felt all over the place, he was sure something was wrong with him. His head shouldn't feel like this after a few drinks, this had to be something more.

The bowl taken away when he was finished with it, someone then helped him to the bathroom to let him rinse his mouth out and wash his face. Then they put him back to bed, pulling them onto their chest to sleep some more. Tony realised groggily that the chest he was leaning on was a man's and a very well toned mans chest at that. He should be disturbed at that thought, but it was nothing short of perfect as he snuggled down onto him. The guy smelt so very good, breathing in the soft muskiness of his skin, this was someone very special to him, it had to be and so he trusted them to do what was needed. Then he slipped back down into a deep slumber leaving Steve to take care of him.

When he woke up again it was to hear Steve bustling around on the other side of the room. Tony sat up rubbing is sore head, looking around. The other side of his double bed was made neatly, no sign that the other man had slept there. Tony respected him for that little motion, just a tiny thing to anyone else, but he knew how much it would mean to Tony if he didn't push him. Frankly he was touched that the man even cared enough to look after him after everything that they ahd gone through the night before.

Tony looked down and realised that his clothing had been changed, he was now in nothing but boxer shorts and his favourite black Sabbath tee shirt, almost like someone had known how much it would calm him to be wearing it. He took in his surroundings, two double beds; a storage unit for a few items of clothing, a sofa and an arm chair protecting a small TV and DVD collection next to a small kitchenette were Steve was currently cooking.

A door across from him must lead into a bathroom. The one behind him was clearly the way out, and the on Stark was more interested in right now. Steve noticing he was awake now slammed a tray of bacon, eggs and toast in front of him so hard the liquid in the coffee cup on the tray shook and spilled. "Eat!" he snapped.

"Where are we?" Tony asked, "What the hell hit us?"

"The Hulk did!" Steve said bitterly, "It cracked your skull, you were in the hospital a week before they moved you in here with me." He threw a note at him, "That explains it all."

"Cracked skull?" Tony asked, "Surprised anything could crack my thick skull." He picked up the note, "Where did my clothes go?"

Steve at least ahd the good graces to blush there, "You were sick a few times, I didn't want to leave you dressed like it."

Tony looked a little surprised at his words, "Erm, thank you." he stuttered. He flicked open the note:

Steve/Tony (it started)

You two have both allowed your personal emotional states to compromise the mission. You are a threat to yourselves and to the team. Your fragile emotions are making you too dangerous to allow free reign. Your gifts if you were to go dark side of the moon could be catastrophic to the team and to the Earth as well. I can not allow this to happen.

Henceforth I confine Anthony Stark and Steven Rogers to solitary confinement, until such a time as I feel it is safe to return them to the general population. All your needs can and will be catered for from your new apartment

Nick Fury.

Tony slammed it down on the table and looked the second piece of paper which had messages from the team on:

Get comfortable boys, you aren't going anywhere for a while: Tasha.

You two are stuck there until you talk, punch, scream, shout, kiss or fuck out whatever is wrong with you. Remember I always see better from a distance. Hawk.

Find your inner calm together, it is the only way. Banner.

LET YOURSELF FALL IN LOVE TONY! Steve Rogers, you know you are the man for the job, good luck. Phil.

Tony I swear to god if you fuck this up I'm gonna knock you upside of your head until you see sense. Pepper. PS blows a kiss to Steve.

I will send pop tarts by the crateful, feel better warriors." Thor.

And scribbled on the bottom in green ink was one small line: "Just kill each other already!" Loki.

Tony threw the paper on the table, and strode to the door silently trying to work out how to open it. He was disappointed to be met by a normal Yale lock with no key, and no computer interface that he could hack. He punched his fist into the door in frustration, he was a genius, and he needed something to work with!

"It's reinforced steel Tony, I can't even punch through it. I tried a lot of times, barely made a scratch on it." Steve commented.

Tony examined bloody dents in the door, he certainly had tried hard to get out and by the bandages on his hands had done himself some harm trying to do it as well. Next port of call was the windows, toughened safety glass. He wasn't getting through that either, not with the tools he had here. He crossed to check out the other door, which led to a small corridor with two doors leading off of it. One leading to a small gym, and the other to a lavish bathroom with a massive corner spa bath, and shower you could fit a Hulk in.

Tony checked the windows for any weaknesses in turn, while Steve watched him. "There's no way out Tony, I promise you that I tried everything."

"I can't accept that, not being trapped in here with you." Stark commented.

Steve looked like he'd been slapped in the face, "Yeah cause sharing a house with me would be so fucking terrible!" He slammed into the gym, and started to destroy punching bags.

Tony sighed, "I didn't mean it like that." He wandered back to the main room and grudgingly ate his breakfast and fell back into bed to try and sleep off the pounding headache he still had.

(**********)

Steve punched the hell out of countless punch bags. Each one pulled through the ceiling and replaced as he burst it. He knew that while he slept the sand on the ground would be cleared away. Two weeks now he had been in that small apartment. The first week had been spent pacing the floor away trying to find a way out of it, fretting half to death over Tony's condition. The second week had solely been spent taking care of the half healed Stark, worried if he would get better or not. He would have been devastated if the guy had quit and died on him, when they had been through so much already.

He still did not know how to accept the fact that Tony wanted to die, or how to cope with the fact that Tony still spurned him over and over again. He loved the man so very much, more then he had ever loved anyone before, and more then he thought he would ever love anyone again. Sometimes though, love wasn't enough and right now he didn't think that it ever could be enough. He worked out for hours cursing the playboy's name as he did so. "Selfish, self-centred, spiteful, foul tempered, pig ignorant, childish, thick headed, stupid, immature bastard!" he snapped, "I wish I had never met you, I wish I had never fallen in love with you. I wish I had never woken up here in this hellish life. I wish I could go home!" Punching the bag at every word, it was actually helping him to calm down a little. De stressing everything which had been worrying him lately.

What he didn't know was Tony was stood right behind him listening to every word he said. He'd come to try and make things right, but now having heard that he just turned on his heel and silently left the room, tears in his eyes. He wanted to fix things, but he just didn't know how and after what he had just heard all he wanted was a way out of this place as fast as possible. He couldn't stay here knowing how much the Captain hated him. How much it hurt the other guy for him to be there.

Stark explored the kitchen and found the bar pretty easily, he was surprised at how well stocked it was. Taking a bottle of scotch he retreated to his bed and started drinking. It was about the only thing that was going to make this torment bearable. He felt lost without his computer, phone or Jarvis. A man laid bare, small and alone. Steve still had his powers, Tony had nothing but his mind left now.

Fetching a blank notebook from the desk, he started to write out a list of upgrades for the suit while he drank. Something just to keep his mind active, or try to. It was comforting, almost homely for him to draw the designs out. He dreaded the interconnecting door opening and Rogers walking back inside. There was no way of escaping each other in here, Fury had made sure of that when he designed it. He had to find a way out of here soon, before it drove them both insane. Tony leaned back into the pillows thinking, his eyes growing heavy from the drink and his long illness. The glass slipping through his fingers to the floor as he slumped down onto the bed deeply asleep.

(*****)

Across from them, in an apartment across the street, Hawkeye stood at the window watching what was happening. Coulson and Pepper walked in with a tray of coffee, waking Tasha up gently from where she was sleeping on the sofa. She snapped upright taking the coffee she was offered.

"Anything?" Pepper asked.

"Steve's destroying the gym, Starks passed out cold on whisky." Hawkeye commented.

"Sounds about right for Tony!" Pepper commented dryly.

"Why on earth did you give them whisky?" Coulson asked, "You know what Stark is like drunk?"

"What?" Pepper asked, "Horny as hell? Yeah kinda the idea big guy!"

Natasha pulled the white board out from under the sofa and set it up on the side. "Shall we start the bidding?" she asked, with a faint smile.

As everyone started shouting and bombarding her with dollar bills.