Tony felt his head explode with lightning, black spots clouding his vision. With his lack of concentration, he lost his balance and attempted to stand from his hunched position. He slipped and toppled to the floor flat on his stomach, causing his broken ribs to explode in intense pain. "Ah!"
Once in the hallway, Steve leaned against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Good grief," he whispered softly and took a deep breath.
Natasha opened her mouth and started. "Are you-"
"Don't ask me if I'm okay. I think you know the answer to that." he cut her off, his voice flat.
"Right."
Steve let out a short sigh and pushed him away from the wall. "I just can't-" The sound of a pained noise stopped him then and he whirled around, ready to rush back into the room; however, a hand on his wrist stopped him.
"You know he probably won't like it if you just go bursting in there."
"But did you hear that? It sounded like..." He shook his head at her protest and pulled away from her to open the door and hurry inside.
"Because I want to,"
"They're too big for you,"
"I don't care,"
Voices pounded through his head like a stampede. Flashes of pictures drifted through like a strobe light. Groaning, he huddled in on himself, trying to find some relief from the pain of his ribs and the dizziness.
"Tony!"
A clearer voice, much sharper than the others, cut through his daze. Steve. He didn't resist as Steve's strong hands lifted him under the arms and dragged him to his feet and sat him down on the bed. Natasha gently lifted his legs and Tony simply laid back, squeezing his eyes shut. He felt awful.
Helpless because he could barely do anything, scared because everything was different. Had he just...remembered something? It seemed like it. He couldn't remember that ever happening, since he'd never been back at Stark Tower with Steve before to his knowledge. Oh, God. Should he tell them? He didn't want to, not yet, so when he opened his eyes and saw Steve's concerned face, he turned away guiltily.
Out of pure habit, Steve reached over to smooth Tony's hair back, something he did quite often. It wasn't until after he pulled his hand back that he realized what he'd done. Oh well. Blushing very slightly, he tried to meet the other man's gaze. "Tony, are you okay?"
The billionaire shrugged, though he immediately winced at the action. Probably wasn't a smart thing to do with broken ribs. "Fine," he muttered.
"Tony..."
"I said I was fine!"
Steve took a step back then, the same worried frown still etched on his features. "What happened? Did you fall?" he asked, obviously not caring if the other man snapped at him again. He was going to get an answer.
"Yes," Tony hissed through his teeth. His ribs continued to throb and creak.
"I guess that proves our point on you staying here." Natasha said, a little smugness in her voice. She tossed the shirt to him. "You probably want to put that on unless you want to show all upper body glory. Do you want me to help?"
"No," Tony said firmly, "I can do it."
"Aren't you still in pain?"
"No." Tony lied, and he knew full well they weren't fooled one bit.
"In that case, you probably won't need the nurses to give you some painkillers."
Tony hesitated. "Okay, it hurts a little."
"That's what I thought," Natasha said, and walked out of the room to get a nurse.
"Steve," Tony said to the man, "um...can you, um...you know, help me with this shirt?"
Steve let out a small sigh and watched Natasha go before his attention snapped back to Tony. "Of course, yeah," he said immediately and reached for the shirt. He then stepped closer, hoping he would be able to help Tony without hurting him. "Okay," he slowly pulled the shirt down over his head and then paused for a moment. "Just tell me what I need to do to help you."
"Put the shirt over my head, that's all. I can barely lift my arms, so..." Tony set his jaw tight as he lifted his arms and Steve quickly put the shirt on over his head. Tony sighed in relief as the cool air conditioning was finally blocked from his bare chest. He shivered.
"Are you cold? Cause I can-" Steve immediately began looking around for a blanket or some sort.
"Calm down, mother hen, I'm fine now." Tony smirked, and Steve flushed a little as he sat down in the chair, hands in his lap.
"Why'd you fall down?"
"Because my ribs were hurting," Tony lifted an eyebrow at him, "why else?"
"Yeah, but..." Steve shook his head, "never mind."
He understood that Tony's ribs were hurting, but he didn't see that as reason to fall down. Still, he wasn't going to question it. "If you say so," he shrugged.
"I do."
"I know."
A silence fell over them then and Steve rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing what to say. It was strange, really, that he was sitting here feeling awkward and apprehensive around his own husband, someone that he had been able to just be himself with for so long. He was just afraid of saying the wrong thing right now, but it felt so... weird. But then again, with the Avengers, things were always weird.
"So I think Clint should be back with that cheeseburger for you soon," he finally blurted.
"I'm looking forward to that," Tony said, feeling his stomach growl. The only thing that he's eaten since he woke up 2(?) days ago is Jell-O. He hates Jell-O. "Cheeseburgers and painkillers. Dream come true."
"Now I'm jealous," Steve rolled his eyes.
Tony laughed. "Awkwardness aside, Cap, you're not a bad guy."
"I know," he smirked just slightly and leaned back in his chair. "You've told me that before."
Tony chuckled at that. "Oh, have I?"
"Many a time."
Another silence settled over them then and the two just looked at each other, until finally, Steve motioned to the cardboard box. "Do you want to look through anything in there?"
Tony swallowed hard. When he had touched put on the pants, a memory of him "borrowing" them from Steve had been triggered. So, their assumptions had been right; objects that had memories attached to them would trigger them into his brain. Thinking about how it made his head ache considerably, no, he didn't really want to. But he couldn't tell Steve that, because then he'd ask why. And the why would make things much more complicated. They'll want to shove everything in his face, trying to get him to remember everything, so that they'll have their Tony back. He was still "past" Tony. They didn't want him, because he could sure as hell guess that he'd changed for the best over the past two years. "Sure," he smiled tightly.
He lifted the box onto his lap and pulled out the first object. A picture. It was a picture of him, Steve, Natasha, Clint, and two other men Tony could only assume was Thor and Bruce. All of them were smiling. Except the one with the long blonde hair and the beard, he was trying to smile and stare weirdly at the camera at the same time. He also saw that Tony had an arm around Steve, and Steve's arms were wrapped around his waist.
He watched Tony's expression, instantly knowing that the other man wasn't too thrilled about looking through this box of stuff. He could just tell. "You don't have to look at it if you don't want to," he said quietly, his gaze focused on the picture in Tony's hand. "I just thought it might help." He gave a shrug at that and then flicked his eyes back to the other man's face, as if waiting to see if this picture had triggered a memory of some sort.
"I'll keep looking," he said quietly. Tony put the picture back in the box, and Steve found himself holding his breath as he picked up the next one. A wedding picture.
He always like that picture. He'd told Tony that he could where whichever suit he wanted, and naturally Tony had worn a white suit that Steve had told him he hadn't liked a month before. But he hadn't really minded that much, because it was such a fun and...happy day. He couldn't remember a day being so perfect. This picture showed Tony and Steve looking at each other with love in their eyes, arms wrapped around each other.
Tony gasped, and the picture fell from his hands. Steve caught the photo before it could clatter to the floor. He looked at Tony in concern. "Tony? Did you remember something?"
He glanced to the photo once, his heart clenching as he wished Tony would look at him like that again. Soon. He wanted to see those eyes full of love; he needed to see them...
Snaking the thought from his head, Steve went back to the task at hand: seeing if the other man was okay right now. "Tony?" his eyebrows raised in worry.
"Hey, I'm back!" Clint barged in through the door, a grin on his face. "And I bring gifts."
Tony couldn't be more grateful for Clint than he was right now. He smirked as he accepted the Burger King bag, and looked back at Clint. "How did you know I like Burger King the best?"
Clint scoffed. "Give me some credit, man."
"Oh yeah, I can see why we're friends," Tony said, unwrapping his burger and taking a huge bite out of it. "Mmm."
"Get a room," Clint teased lightly.
"This is my room. What's your excuse, Barton?" Tony asked the archer.
Clint chuckled and then abruptly whipped his head to Tony, "I never told you my last name."
Um, how did I even know that? Tony thought to himself. "Cap told me," he saved quickly, and could literally feel Steve's questioning gaze on him.
Clint caught sight of Steve's confused look, though he didn't say anything about it. "Here," he finally said and handed Steve the burger he'd gotten his as well. "So did I miss anything good while I was gone?" he looked from Steve to Tony, eyebrows raised. "Eh?"
The other two stayed silent.
"Well, alrighty then," Clint said slowly, sitting down in the extra chair by Tony's hospital bed and taking a huge bite out of his burger. "Where's Nat?"
"She went to get him some painkillers," Steve said, and then added at Clint's expression, "His ribs."
"Ah. Well, you might as well say your last words, then, Tony. They'll knock you out until morning." Clint smirked, "with head injuries, you know, they're paranoid. Once you say something starts hurting they act like you're going into cardiac arrest."
"I'm aware," Tony mumbled darkly.
"But, hey, there's nothing better than some painkillers, yeah?" Clint finished lamely before biting into the burger he'd gotten himself.
Natasha entered the room then. "A nurse will be by in a moment to give you more medication. She went to get it," she told Tony, who merely nodded at her.
"Thanks, Nat," Steve spoke up and smiled at her.
Natasha noticed the box on Tony's lap. "Did you get to look through it?"
"A little," Tony told her, still happily munching on his cheeseburger. "I'll look tomorrow, too."
She looked at Steve, asking silently if Tony had remembered something, but Steve shrugged and pursed his lips.
A nurse walked in then, smiling as she held up a small syringe. "I have your medication, Mr. Stark."
Tony didn't pause in the eating of his cheeseburger. He merely waved the woman over, still chewing as she began to administer the pain killer through the IV. "You'll be feeling the effects of this very soon."
Steve watched and waited for Tony to succumb to the effects of the drug. The billionaire finished the last of his cheeseburger, laid back in his pillows, and closed his eyes. "Good night, Tony."
"Hey, Cap?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't...um...give up on me, okay? I'll try. I promise I'll try." Tony said, his voice slurred as he slipped into unconsciousness.
"'Course not, Tony. I'll never give up." Steve said solemnly, knowing Tony couldn't hear him. He hesitated for just a moment, until finally leaning down to press a kiss to Tony's forehead. It was a habit of Steve's, and since the other man was knocked out, he was going to do it. He then stepped back and looked to the others. "I think he remembered something earlier."
Clint's head snapped up. "He did?"
"Yeah. He was looking at a wedding picture," he said softly and sat down. "And he got this weird look on his face and dropped it, but he wouldn't say anything about it."
"Ah, well, I bet he's just trying to see if it comes back on its own." Clint said.
"Or he doesn't want to remember at all." Steve muttered, hoping Clint and Natasha wouldn't hear. Judging by the expression on Natasha's face, she had. "Natasha, did you talk to the doctor again?"
"Yes. He said that tomorrow he'll be running some tests on Tony. If he clears those to his satisfaction, we can bring him home in a few days, a week minimum if there's no other complications that arise. But he'll have to be bedridden for a couple days at home, too."
"Like that's going to happen," Clint scoffed.
"I'll make sure he rests," Steve sighed, though he already knew that was going to be quite the task. Trying to get Tony to listen always was.
Nat shrugged at that. "I'm sure he won't be feeling up to much, though. And his painkillers will keep him down for a while."
"True. But still... You know Tony."
"Yes, I do."
"Bruce had Fury get a hold of Thor. He'll be here in a few days," Clint commented, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. "God, I'm tired. I haven't slept in...I don't even know."
"We should all get some sleep," Natasha looked pointedly at Steve, who looked at her in a way that said, no way I'm leaving. "Are you ready for all this, Steve? It's going to get worse before it gets better, and you know it. We can't sugarcoat it longer."
"I'm ready."
