A/N: Always a thanks to you, readers!
For however long Tony's drunken stupor lasted, he was only aware of his headache, his ribs burning, the and heaves as he threw up his guts as Happy shouted that he was puking on his good seats. He was also aware of not being able to lay comfortably. His chest ached and throbbed at all positions. When he asked for painkillers, Happy had looked at him sadly and shook his head.
"You kinda lost that privilege, boss. Gotta wait till the alcohol is out of your system. Besides, we're not even home yet."
When he finally lost consciousness from the bumpy ride, he couldn't help but think that maybe he'd overstepped his limits. Also, Rhodey was an asshole.
Steve was distracted.
He knew he needed to focus on the task at hand- he needed to worry about HYDRA and stopping this nuclear-whatever-issue, but he couldn't. His mind was elsewhere. His mind was with his husband, who he truly wanted to be with at the moment. He wanted to be there to see that he was truly alright, and take care of him. God.
It didn't help that the mission had abruptly been cut short before it could even begin. Fury called in that it wasn't secure and they needed to wait another 8 hours in the damn jet. This, he might add, is a bit crowded when you have an impatient, enormous, bulky demi-god to house.
"Captain!"
He blinked, looking up to realize it was Natasha who had spoken to him.
"Focus."
"I am-"
"You're not. Focus."
Steve nodded to Natasha, knowing the woman wouldn't be too happy if he couldn't get his head in the game. He tightened his shoulders and the 5 Avengers stepped out of the quin-jet. It had landed about 90 kilometers from the base, just 50 feet short of the nearest patrol section of HYDRA. Clint automatically made for the trees, having mastered tree climbing and "flying". The archer could easily glide from tree to tree, and Steve knew that he could take out any agents on the way.
He motioned for Thor to make his way to the right and Natasha to the left. Both acknowledging this silently, Steve focused his attention on the center. He started running, dodging the tall forest trees and soon as he started pumping his legs to their full speed, the first HYDRA agent came into view. Raising his shield, the vibranium-laced object connected with the man's head even before he could raise his weapon to shoot. As he continued running, a few more fell to the ground, clearing a path. He smiled to himself. Thanks, Clint.
Using his enhanced memory to show him the way through the thick forest to the base entrance, he thought absently to himself that this would be much easier to navigate and communicate if Tony were above the skies in his Iron Man suit. Don't think about Tony, he told himself firmly.
But how could he not think about Tony? His husband had lost his memory of not only his team but everything that made up his life from then till now, nearly drank himself to oblivion out of pure frustration and sadness; who knows what other stupid thing Tony might try to do? Thor's heavy footfalls behind him snapped him out of his thoughts, and saw Natasha just ahead at the base wall, within arm's reach of a hulking guard; she aimed a single, precise kick at his wrist and the clatter of his gun against the floor mingled with his growling curses. She spun. Her opposite foot swung down in a sharp, scything arc until her heel clipped his jaw with a satisfying thud. The guard fell back on his back, unconscious and bleeding profusely from his mouth.
Steve blinked, marveling how quick, precise, and professional her martial arts were. He tended to use his strength to his advantage, while the Black Widow used weak points of the body. She smirked at him. "Still in the game, Captain?"
Ignoring the comment, he looked to the trees. "Clint?"
"I used Tony's comm jammer to hack the cameras. All they'll be seeing is pretty greens. The easy part is over, at least for you guys, seeing as I did all the work." Clint hopped down, a couple of leaves and twigs sticking to his hair.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Sure, bird brain."
"Bird brain," Clint scoffed as he ran a hand through his hair, ridding it of the few leaves and twigs that remained. "Call me what you want, but you know that I'm-"
"Friends, now might not be the time to discuss such matters," Thor interjected as he twirled Mjolnir in his hand. "We have other pressing matters that we must attend to."
"Yeah, yeah," Clint muttered, shooting a glare towards Natasha before he looked to the to the others. "Ready to get this shit done?"
Yes, oh yes, Steve thought. He was ready to get it done, and go home. Go home to Tony. His thoughts drifted to the genius once more and it wasn't until Natasha nudged him that he realized they were moving on. "Right, sorry," he muttered.
When Tony came to, he was still asking for medication. "Happy… Happy, come on. I've gotta have some. Those little blue pills work wonders," he insisted, frustrated when the other man would just shake his head.
"Sorry, boss."
Sorry boss. Right. Tony scowled as he shifted in bed, groaning as it caused an explosion of pain in his ribs. "Shiiiiit," he closed his eyes and sighed. "Just put me out of my misery. It'll make all of this-" He abruptly stopped and gasped, a hand flying up to his head with a sharp pain.
"Just put me out of my misery, Steve. It'll make everything so much better. You won't have to listen to my bitching, and I won't have to be in pain. See? Great."
"Tony…" Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head, reaching over to smooth back the billionaire's hair from where he sat beside the bed. "You're making a big fuss over such a little thing."
"I fractured my collarbone and a rib! That isn't little! It… it..."
"You're being a diva."
"A diva?"
"Diva." Steve's face was completely serious as he spoke, but he soon broke out into a grin and leaned forward, kissing Tony soundly on the mouth. "Not to mention, I'd be awfully lonely if I were to put you out of my misery. You sort of keep me sane."
"Me?" His voice sounded incredulous. "You're saying that I, Tony Stark, keep you sane?"
"Sure do." Steve said in that same tone, his blue eyes sparkling with love. So much love. "It's 'cause I love ya, I guess. And nothing's ever gonna change that."
"Shit." He was gasping; his mind reeling as he finally came back to reality, shocked by the sudden memory. His most detailed one yet, he realized in his daze as Happy fretted, repeatedly asking if he was alright.
Tony's vision returned to normal, Happy's worried face looming over him. His heart was pounding, head swimming, this time not from the lasting effects of alcohol. He closed his eyes again, trying to calm down.
That vision had been incredibly tense. If he thought they were a drag before, the short clippings felt like nothing compared to this. His heart felt like it was being squeezed now, as if one part of him held his "love" for Steve and the other part was pushing it back like a void. He felt the love, but his mind wasn't registering it. It made his already pained head hurt even more. Would the damn headache EVER go away, or had it permanently planted itself there
"Tony, try to hang in there for 20 minutes, and you can have some of the red pills."
"The red ones aren't as-" he raised his head up and realized that he wasn't talking to Happy anymore. "Bruce?"
"Hmm. They got this placed locked down tight." Clint commented, fingers prodding the wall. "Should we knock?"
"I don't think the enemy would find that as polite as we do." Thor frowned. "Saddening that our big green friend isn't here. Surely smashing would be more productive?"
"No smashing needed. We just need to climb over." Natasha told them, then looked towards Clint. "Maybe we should just stick with knocking, anyway."
Clint grinned zealously. "Be my pleasure, Widow."
"Hurry. We don't have all day." Steve said, far too scornful for his own liking.
"Watch it, Cap." Clint replied menacingly, clearly not going to tolerate Steve's impatience. He descended to the entrance, a tightly sealed metal door in place. He set his bow and arrow, prepared, and...knocked.
To all their surprise, the door slid from the bottom, revealing a guard. "Hasn't anyone ever told you its dangerous to open the door to strangers?" Clint asked.
The guard just stared for a moment in confusion, until Thor abruptly moved forward and smacked him on the side of the head with mjlonir. "There. Now we must move forward," he stated, catching a glimpse of Steve's satisfied nod. It was obvious that he was in a hurry. "Captain, it may not be wise to rush," he reminded him. "we must be-"
"Look," Steve muttered as he stepped inside the facility, shield at the ready. "I've got it. Now let's go."
He could tell that the 3 were concerned for him, mostly that he was anxious and unfocused. Now that they were getting close, Steve was deadset on charging in and commencing the attack (Tony would get a kick out of this) without a plan. He glanced around. Already more guards were nearing them. "Same deal, Avengers. Get to the main corridor and we'll find the codes, evacuate the building, and destroy it."
"And we're sure that there's no nukes inside?" Clint asked, arching an eyebrow.
Steve mentally cursed himself. He hadn't done all the info reading out of his worry for Tony. Usually Tony would've downloaded it into the suit and inform them, but...Dammit. "I'm sure."
Natasha looked suspicious of his word, and that was rare. But she shrugged and began to move toward the right. Steve nodded at Clint to go ahead and get to the roofs so he could secure the perimeter, and Thor moved to the left, twirling Mjlonir at the ready. Steve put out his shield and started running again, knowing his teammates would manage fine. Compared to the alternative, this mission looked easy.
Yet as made their way, and Steve realized the outside was nearly empty. Either they were being sneakier than they'd hoped, or it was a trap.
Was that really Bruce, or was he imagining something here? "Uh, hello," he muttered, rubbing at his forehead for a moment. He blinked once more before he leaned his head back against the pillow, just staring at the doctor.
"Before you ask, Steve convinced Fury that I come back to look after you," Bruce said simply as he looked at the medication bottle he was holding, reading the label. "Considering you scared the shit out of him with your little move, I don't really blame him." He put the bottle down now and sighed softly.
"You heard, huh?" Tony smiled weakly.
"We all did. And quite frankly, we think you're an idiot." Bruce told him, but his voice was kind. "I do, too."
Tony didn't answer, just carefully sat up and leaned back against the pillows, facing away from Bruce's gaze. Wait for it...wait...
"Steve is really worried about you, you know."
And there it is. Tony simply grunted in response, hoping Bruce would just go away. He just wanted to sleep. And get rid of the damn headache. "Been 20 minutes yet?"
"No. And if you fall asleep now, by the way, your back muscles will be clenched up and you're going to hurt even more. So stay awake."
Tony let out a short, annoyed huff. "But I want to sleep..." he muttered, shaking his head slightly. Sleep was supposed to be good and make you feel better, but noooo, it was going to make his muscles clench up or whatever. Ugh. "Been 20 minutes yet?"
"No, Tony. Asking every five seconds isn't going to make time pass any quicker, either."
"Fine, fine," he grumbled and closed his eyes, trying to ease the pounding of his head.
Steve's eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced around, not knowing if he should be suspicious or if they should count themselves lucky. Perhaps the universe was finally, finally giving him a break. "Thank god," he muttered. He was starting to think they weren't going to encounter anymore guards when he heard the sound of Mjonir connecting with what sounded like someone's head, and he glanced to his far left.
"This is easier than anticipated!" Thor smirked.
"Don't get comfy, boys," Natasha said sharply. The finally made it to the first corridor, and Steve followed Thor to where most of the HYDRA guards were to help Natasha and Clint make their way to find the codes. According to their intel, it was stored on a flash drive in the tech room, on the corner of the building.
As Steve used his shield to fend off the guards, he let his body get into the rhythm of swinging, and his mind drifted. He kept thinking of Tony. He thought of Tony's laugh, his smirk, his easygoing persona. He also thought of his PTSD, his nightmares, and the way his left hand twitched when he felt anxious...flaws that Steve didn't mind. He learned that although it was part of him, it didn't define him. What defined Tony was his strength of heart.
He realized he'd never seen Tony act this bad. Natasha had mentioned his rash behavior during the palladium poisoning situation, with his drinking and driving his own race car. He wasn't sure if this was worse. He was eager to confront Tony about his incident, first to chew him out and then get him to really talk. Of course, that was going to be near impossible.
"STEVE!"
Steve snapped his attention back to reality, realizing that almost all the guards were down; Thor was just finishing up the last remaining. Who had yelled in his earpiece? Clint? "Hawkeye?"
"You said there was no nukes in here!"
Steve's heart plummeted. "There shouldn't be!"
"Then why am I staring at one right now that's set to blow?!"
A/N: The Avengers are in trouble, Steve made a mistake, Tony's struggling with his memories...things are building up. Filler more than anything. But do you like? Be sure to tell us! Your reviews are like sacred bits of happiness to us. Never are they unread and ignored.
