Tony and Steve don't look eye-to-eye when considering Howard. Steve finds out why.
The relationships are all written platonic, but can be interpreted as romantic.
Prompt fill for Cassandraxia.
Thank you, Cassandraxia, for the prompt!
Prompt: Steve and Tony having a fight and Bruce, Bucky and Natasha talking sense into them! I just love Tony and Steve!
"I cannot believe what a self-centered idiot you are, Stark!", Steve yelled. "Your father was a hero! Without him, we would have never won world war two! And here you are, ignoring him instead of paying your respect to him now!"
"Don't stand there pretending that you have got a clue, Spangles! You hardly knew my father! You were in the ice playing popsicle after barely meeting him!", Tony screamed right back, eyes glistening in anger.
Steve felt his blood boil. How dare he?! How dare Stark talk like this to him?! How dare he talk like this about Howard!
"Howard was a great man! A caring man who did everything for his country! He was my friend!"
"Sure! You loved him, didn't you? Knew everything about him! After all, you met him about, what, four times?", Stark growled right back, hosting his body in front of Steve, shoulders apart, that irritating cocky smile plaguing Steve's sight. "He was so great, wasn't he? Making destructive weapons able to burn the entire world and not paying any mind whom he sold them to!"
"He protected our country! The Western World! You should fall on your knees singing gratuitous songs about him! You owe him your life and freedom!"
"How can I be expected to act like I owe him something?"
"You don't! But you know that your father gave you everything in life, right?!", Steve yelled, anger burning through every pore.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever!"
Tony stormed off, his face twisted into an ugly frown. Steve sighed heavily before turning back to Natasha and Bucky. "Can you believe him?"
Nat smiled at Steve, a knowing gleam in her eyes. "I do", she answered softly before walking back into the living room.
Steve shook his head and followed her inside.
Nat walked up to the bar and took a seat next to it, sighing deeply. Bruce and Bucky quickly sat down, too, looking at Steve expectedly.
"Sit!", Bruce ordered which such authority, it did not fit the man Steve knew for several years now, so Steve complies, sitting on the chair opposite the group, waiting.
"What exactly happened there, Stevie? You weren't being yourself", Bucky finally asked, a concerned look on his face. Steve looked away guiltily before answering.
"I just... got angry. I didn't mean it like that", Steve mumbled while staring at his empty hands. "It just, ... how can Tony be so callous about his father? It is his death day, exactly fifty years, and I just, I miss Howard a lot. He was my friend. He was there for me when Bucky... He helped me when I thought you died." The last part came out as a whisper as his voice broke in half, but Nat, Bruce and Bucky heard it anyway.
"I know it is hard sometimes. I can only imagine how hard it was when I wasn't there. But it is not Tony's fault."
The room fell silent for a few minutes before Bruce spoke up again. "Tony... is different", he said slowly, trying to find the words he wanted. "Tony... has had a rough past. He doesn't usually talk about it. I mean, he redacted basically all of it from his file! Only left the stuff about Afghanistan in! But..." Bruce faltered, looking searching at the others.
Bucky took over. "You know how hard a lot of this was, with me and him, after he found out about... Well, anyway..."
Bucky took a deep breath, looking at Steve. "We had a hard time, but we are fine now. Do you have any idea why?"
"Because of Peter, Nebula and Morgan?", Steve asked, thinking about how Tony had mellowed after becoming a parent to these three.
"Partially, in a way.", Bucky agreed.
"Peter made Tony look at his family, look at himself and his father, critically.", Nat explained. "And Tony's father didn't treat Tony the same as a son should be treated. That's why he became bitter, how he gained this false persona we all know."
"So if anyone deserves a medal for making Tony feel more at home, it's Peter. Tony is a dad who needs some stability in his life right now.", Bruce added, a fond look for his nephew on his face.
"Not the point, but I agree", Nat chuckled, her eyes going soft for a minute. "Anyway, having Peter really made Tony see things differently. And then came Nebula, and he heard how her father treated her, and Tony just wanted to protect her, take her in... He realized that his father, that Howard, he was a terrible father, a cold hearted, violent, son of a bitch." She paused to take a sip from her glass, eyes distant. "That's why... he decided to be better, for him and his family. For Peter and Morgan."
"And he came to me", Bucky added, sad look in his own eyes. "Went and thanked me for killing Howard. Because Howard was cruel. Tony told me all about it. How Howard always belittled him, called him names, humiliated him, the daily beatings... You've seen the marking on his back, haven't you?"
"Er, no", Steve answered, confusion in his face. "Tony is always very careful not to show us any skin."
"Oh, well, Tony has scars from all the time his father whipped him every day as a kid", Bruce continued for Bucky. "You know how I am the only one allowed to give him a physical. He has markings all over the back, his legs, his ass, and his hands. He told me first that it was from Afghanistan. Easily believable, considering they are deep scars from whipping. They did torture him to built something for them. Took a long time until he told me they did torture him differently. That those were his father punishing Tony for not, well, being good enough for Howard's taste. Not being enough like you."
Steve felt sick hearing what his friend had gone through. He felt even worse knowing that he was the cause for so much pain and misery for his best friend. Howard torturing Tony because he wanted Steve ...
He opened his mouth to apologize but nothing came out. Instead, he closed it again, unable to think of anything to say.
What had Steve done to Tony? How could he have praised Tony's abuser, yelling at Tony for not doing the same? He couldn't understand why Tony hated him so much after all they had been through together. If he hadn't been such a selfish asshole to Tony, trying to force his own feelings onto the man, then maybe... Maybe Tony wouldn't be hating him now.
Suddenly feeling dizzy, Steve stood up suddenly, causing everyone to stare at him. "I'm sorry, I need to go", he muttered before running out of the room.
Steve ran through the halls, trying to calm down. He needed to get away from the Tower, away from everyone. Away from Tony.
He stopped abruptly when he saw a familiar figure standing in front of the elevator.
A lump formed in his throat. His chest tightened painfully. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
"Tony", Steve whispered quietly, still standing in the hallway.
The man looked exhausted, tear-tracks on his face, the clothes of before ruffled, the hair disheveled. He looked like he had gone through something just now.
Tony turned around. Seeing him like that was heartbreaking. "Steve", he called, concern laced into his tone. "Are you alright? What -"
Before Tony could finish his question, Steve rushed forward, wrapping his arms around him, burying his face in his shoulder. Tony tensed, hesitated for a second, surprised by Steve's hug, before letting himself relax in Steve's hold. His arms wrapped around Steve as they hugged each other tightly, breathing each other in.
"I'm sorry, Tony!"
"No, I am sorry. You deserve to know what Howard turned into after you disappeared..."
And for the first time, Steve truly listened to Tony when he talked about his father instead of arguing. He listened as Tony recounted the abuse, told about the fear and his insecurities, explained his anxiety attacks, and his fear to turn up like his father for Nebula, Peter and Morgan.
For the first time, Steve felt they truly were friends.