I know, updates twice in one day? I feel like these chapters are too short, though. Plus I won't have really any access to a computer the next 3 days beside tomorrow morning, so I'm giving you this now so you have something to tide over. Anyhoo, once again, thanks so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! :O You guys are awesome.
Dead-Knight-of-Darkness: Oh, yeah. Plenty of Steve angst to go around in this. We've also tried to get a look into the struggles of both Steve and Tony.
I'd like to apologize in advance for any broken hearts.
One of the nurses started asking all sorts of questions, while another began poking at him and taking blood. Tony shook his head at the both of them, wanting them to leave him alone. "Uh, boo, go away," he mumbled, looking around for someone, or something familiar.
"Hey..." Natasha walked up then, followed closely by Clint. "What's going on? Is..." she trailed off. "Oh, he's awake!"
"Finally, a familiar face!" Tony huffed, his voice hoarse. "Natasha!"
Steve's heart dropped his to his stomach at that. He only recognized Natasha? He took note that Tony barely glanced at Clint, who he laughed and pranked with all the time. They were practically best friends.
For a moment Natasha stood there, looking at Tony for a moment. "What?" she glanced to Steve, took in the hurt look on his face, before she realized. He didn't remember, did he? Tony didn't know who Steve was, or Clint, apparently. "Tony..." she slowly approached him.
Tony looked at her. "Who the hell are they?" he motioned to the others. "And what the hell happened?"
Clint stuck close to Steve. "Shit..." he muttered, looking at the floor, "Shit, shit..."
Tony had never been so confused in his life. The last thing he remembered...he was in his workshop not too long after the whole incident with his arc reactor poisoning him and the fight with Vanko. What day was it now? Why was he here, in a hospital, no less? And when had Natasha cut her hair? The looks on everyone's faces, both Natasha and the other two men, were even more worrying. They were looking like someone had shot a puppy.
Steve watched as Natasha walked to the bed and he fidgeted, hoping that maybe this... this was temporary. Tony was going to remember here soon, right? He just had to..
"You were in an accident," he called out to Tony, his breath catching in his throat as he glanced down to his wedding band.
Natasha took a deep breath as she looked to Tony. "How are you feeling?" she asked softly as a start.
Tony averted his gaze from the blonde man and looked at Natasha. "Like elephants have stomped on my head and chest," he smiled a little. "Who are these guys? Friends of yours?"
Steve bit his lip. "He really doesn't remember..." he whispered to Clint, his hands trembling slightly. How could he forget him, his husband? "He doesn't remember," he said again, sounding broken.
Natasha smiled. "I bet you do," she nodded and then glanced to the other two. "You don't remember the other guys here?"
Tony raised his eyebrows as the two men whispered to each other. "Uh, no. I've never seen them in my life," he said. "What...what kind of accident was I in?"
Did he have...? No way. Tony Stark didn't forget anything. Never. He'd never met the two guys, Natasha was just making a mistake about him knowing them.
But Natasha was never wrong.
"You were in a car accident." Natasha said calmly. "Got pretty banged up and you hit your head," she explained to him. She then motioned to the other two, first motioning to the archer. "This is Clint. He's... well, Tony, he's one of your best friends. And this," she paused and motioned to Steve, "Is Steve. He's, well," she seemed to be struggling with what to say about him. "You're sure you don't remember him?"
Steve twisted his wedding band on his finger, chanting the same thing in his head.
Please remember me. Please remember me. Please remember me. Please.
Tony began digging around his jumbled and pounding head, trying to place Clint and Steve's faces. But he couldn't; just nothing clicked. But the blonde guy, Steve, was looking at him with...he couldn't describe it. It just looked so intense.
"No...no, I really don't recognize you, uh...Steve. Or Clint. I'm sorry, I-" Sharp pain pierced his head, and he hissed in a breath. He put both hands to the sides of his head and groaned as a ringing echoed through his ears. "Ah!"
Everything got blurry from there. He closed his eyes as the ringing got louder and louder, and the searing pain ripped through. As he craned his body forward, more pain erupted from his chest. He indistinctly heard the nurses, as they began poking and prodding him. One voice was louder, more panicked than the rest.
No, no, no, this wasn't right. Tony wouldn't... he wouldn't forget him. He wouldn't forget their marriage. Right? He was rapidly blinking back tears and searching for something to say, when suddenly, something seemed to go wrong. With Tony.
"TONY!" He exclaimed and tried to move forward, but was suddenly being ushered out, along with Clint and Natasha, by a nurse. "No..." he begged, tears threatening to spill over as he tried to see into the room. "What's happening? What's going on?"
Dr. Reynolds briskly walked to Tony's room, seeing Steve, Natasha, and another man struggling to push past one of the nurses. "Emily!" he barked. "What's going on?"
"Doctor, the patient is experiencing the aftershock of the trauma to his brain, and..." her eyes went to the trio.
Reynolds put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Tony will be asleep for a few hours again, Mr. Stark-Rogers."
"But he-" Steve's eyes narrowed. The doctor tightened his grip.
"We should talk...about Tony," he said firmly. Steve slumped, defeated, and nodded. "Why don't we take a step into my office?"
The young woman with the red hair stepped beside Steve. "I'm coming with him."
From how that sounded, Reynolds doubted there was any changing her mind, so he nodded as she told Clint they'd meet at the cafeteria later.
Steve shook his head. Tony had to be asleep again? But he had just woken up... He could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks then as he looked to the doctor, praying that he wouldn't be about to hear more bad news. He didn't think he would be able to handle it, really.
Natasha patted his shoulder as that headed to Reynolds's office. "It's okay," she said very softly.
As Reynolds led the two in to his office and offered them to take a seat, he put on the "mask", a mixture of professionalization and sympathy that he'd learn to perfect in his years of doing this job. But his experience didn't make the look on Steve's face any easier to see.
Natasha held Steve's hand in an intone of comfort as Reynolds sat down in the chair behind his desk. She could feel Steve trembling, and she squeezed tighter. He looked over with tearful and red eyes, but nodded to her.
"As I said last night, brain injuries are highly unpredictable in the first round. And as I'm sure you've already noticed, amnesia is now a factor in the side effects," neither Steve nor Natasha cut in, so he continued, "What doesn't he remember, as far as you know?"
"He...he remembers me, and I met him..." she thought about it, "a year and a half ago or so. But..."
"He doesn't remember me," Steve said hoarsely, shaking his head. "How can he...?"
Natasha couldn't meet her friend's eyes. "Dr. Reynolds, is there any chance Tony will get his memory back? Do you know if it's temporary?"
"I'm afraid there's no way to tell right now. You can't force memories into the human mind," their faces fell, but he went on, "however, you can trigger them. Tell him what's happened, use small details, and maybe that will help."
Steve tried to remain calm as the doctor spoke, he really did, but the years just wouldn't stop falling.
No way to tell if Tony would regain his memory.
No way to tell.
What if he didn't...? Oh god. The thought had Steve squeezing his eyes shut and he finally managed to look to Natasha, gasping softly. "We should bring pictures," he managed. Pictures from home might help, right? Perhaps the picture album containing the photos from their wedding? That could help, he figured.
Natasha nodded at that. "Sounds like a good idea, Steve," she said and then looked back to the doctor. "When will Tony be awake again?"
"Later this afternoon. But before anything, I'd like to speak with him first, just to see what I can establish from his condition. If that's okay with you, Steve?"
Steve barely nodded and stood up. "I'm...I'm gonna go sit with him."
Natasha and Reynolds exchanged glances as the man walked out of the office.
"Thank you, Dr. Reynolds," Natasha nodded to the man before she turned, following after Steve with a small sigh. "Hey..." she reached out to gently grab his hand, "Want me to sit with you?"
Bruce suddenly came sprinting over then, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised. "Hey, guys..." he looked between them, "What's...?" he trailed off, clearly wondering why they were looking so upset. "Is Tony- is he okay?"
Aaand here's Bruce! All the Avengers will make an appearance soon, even if its brief here and there, but each one will play a part. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!
