Chapter Text
"Wow crime rate sure has shot up since I was gone, eh?" Tony tried to joke until he was smacked by a manicured pale hand, albeit lightly so not to aggrivate his wounds.
They were stuck in the somewhat-medical/lab room of his house. He was thrust here along with a doctor to make sure Tony didn't have some sort of major damage especially after what happened earlier..
The room was a shiny white, he never understood the doctors fixation on white due to their habits of dealing with blood and less than appealing fluids, with an entire wall full of large windows. He liked watching the water crash against the sand beneath the hill his house sat on, but now he only liked to watch. No touchy.
The room was littered with various instruments and tables and cabinets full of medicines and more equipment. Go big or go home. Pepper wanted him to have a room for if he got hurt, so he got everything for any situation he might come across. The doctor seemed a little intimidated at first but then quickly became awestruck at all the cool things around him. Children...
"Does this really seem to be a good time to be cracking jokes," Pepper practically screamed, "Do you realize how worried we all were?!"
"I'm sorry Pepper," Tony looked looked past the military doctor examining him to his frustrated PA.
She immediately deflated, "I know Tony.... it's not your fault, just why didn't you let us take you to a hospital? You've been tortured-"
He visably flinched.
"You've been held for months now," she corrected softly her big eyes engulfed in sadness, "I just wanna make sure you're okay Tony..."
"She's right," Rhodey piped up from his position behind Tony, "you could be seriously hurt and we wouldn't know..."
"Guys I'm seriously fine!"
"He's right," the doctor sighed as he stood up, "he's only suffered a few scratches from what I can tell, of course he refuses to show me his chest."
"Tony!"
"Oh no, this is my choice," Tony suddenly growled, "I'm not showing Dr. Prod-and-Prob over here shit! I said I'm fine now let it be!!"
Pepper was stunned into silence but Obadiah sure wasn't.
"Ah guys, don't worry its just Tony being Tony," Obie slapped a meaty hand onto Tony's shoulder but quickly pulled it away with wide eyes.
"Yes I know," the doctor acknowledged, "Tony is burning up, I gave him something to lessen it but he's always been hotter than most."
Tony was too tired to step up to the potential joke, he let his head droop forward.
"That right there is a cause for concern Tony," Pepper tried, "you look exhausted..."
He lifted his head, "Well maybe I wouldn't be so tired if you'd let me sleep instead of allowing me to be poked and violated."
The doctor flushed.
"He's only trying to help," Rhodey sighed.
"I get it, but I don't need help," Tony stood up, he was still favoring his left side though.
"After what you said at that press conference," Obie rubbed his gigantic greasy head with a groan, "we're all gonna need help."
"Are you serious though Tony? Is this what you want?" Pepper asked.
"Absolutely."
"Wait a minute Tony- think about this for a minute! Why don't you take a break for a couple of days and then see how you feel?" Obie tried his face giving away his concern; Tony sure as hell knew it wasn't concern for his wellbeing.
Damn, when did he get so suspicious and paranoid lately? Must've been the torture...
Tony snapped and walked up into Obadiah's face, his own face thunderous paired with Obiediah's carefully concealed horror stricken face, "No! You might not have noticed with your head so far up your ass, but it is called STARK INDUSTRIES not STANE INDUSTRIES, it's an honest mistake to make. Only a few letters difference. You get me Obie?" He was practically murderous now.
"Of course..." Obie murmured cautiously.
Rhodey and Pepper were gaping at him in astonishment.
"I want the changes done by tomorrow morning," he demanded, "Get it? Got it? Good. Now, Guten Nacht I'm going to sleep all of this off...." he trailed off as he walked through the doors.
"Poor Tony," Rhodey mumbled.
"You have no idea," Obadiah rumbled, quiet enough that no one heard, as he stalked out the building.
"T-the table....!" The doctor stuttered as he stared at the metal table Tony had been sitting on.
"It's..... dented?" Pepper was confused as her and Rhodey approached the steaming metal.
"It seems to have been heated so rapidly and at such a high temperature that it... melted itself?" Rhodey furrowed his eyebrows.
"Tony was sitting on that!!! He had to have been burned!!"
"What could have done this...?"
"Rhodey! Don't you care at all Tony could be hurt?"
"Pepper," Rhodey turned towards her, "worrying isn't gonna do shit, all it does is piss him off it seems. All we can do now is watch and help him from afar until he asks for us specifically. Okay...?"
"Yeah..."
"He's gonna be fine... if it's any consolation, I'm concerned too...," he admitted and she smiled weakly.
Pepper was suddenly startled by a sharp yelp of pain and she turned to see the doctor cradling his bloodied hand.
"What'd you do?" She asked as she grabbed the bandages for his wound.
This? She can handle this, she's been patching Tony up for years. Everything else? She's hopelessly lost...
"I touched it," he smiled in pain with tears in his eyes.
"Why?"
"I wanted to see how hot it was...."
"Do you know where the heat came from?" Rhodey asked.
"Not from the table that's for damn sure... and it isn't fading, any other heat would have been rapidly cooling but not this one...," the doctor murmured in awe.
"That's disconcerting..." Pepper sighed as she began to patch up the Doctor's hand; how ironic. "What's your name?"
The man stilled and looked up at her with a lightly dimpled grin full of unknown mischief, "Clint Barton."
"Well I'm sorry we met under such horrible circumstances Dr. Barton," she spoke softly and managed a apologetic smile when the Doctor winced at her first aid.
"Ah it's fine, I'm sure we would've met sooner or later despite the situation," he smiled like he knew something she didn't.
She brushed it off considering he was a doctor, they always knew more then her considering they were in school for 12 more years than they could be. That's dedication in her eyes; even Tony, who's a certified genius, didn't stay in school that long. "You know, you're probably right. Tony has been getting hurt an awful lot lately...."
"So has everyone else it seems," Rhodey spoke up.
"Tony wasn't wrong, the world's crime rate has skyrocketed in the last couple of days," Dr. Barton nodded, "I've been working overtime for the past couple of days. People just can't keep their hands off each other lately."
.....p.....
.....briel.....
........wa......p......iel....
......wake.....
....WAKE UP ....!!!!
.... gabriel...
Tony shot up with gasps wracking through his injuried body then immediately shied himself back down when his broken bones crunched under the skin. His body was covered in a sheen of sweat and his eyes were wide and glazed as he looked for some unknown danger.Tony felt his skin crawling from his position on the bed, he slowly rose this time.
His was empty as all ways and maybe a little too spacious. But hey, that's how he grew up: a little man in a big empty room that he filled to the brim with stuff to make sure it looked like he was alive. His childhood was a little too clean for his tastes, it was unnerving but that's what Jarvis and the cleaning staff was paid to do. To each their own.
What he means by filled up, he means his room is cozy. He's got books on machinery and tools and notebooks with utensils filling up his desk. He's got his creamy colored floor littered with crumpled clothing (is it clean or is dirty: that is the real question). The walls have posters of random things such as women, movies, and such. No photographs in sight other than the ones Pepper put up of the three of them, and one of him and Rhodey at their MIT graduation.
The wall beside his large (wonderfully comfy) bed, was nothing but windows. As of now they were covered in a sheen that Jarvis, mostly, controlled; he sometimes over rode the AI due to his tendencies to sleep in from a hangover and the sun basically burns into his skull those days. Jarvis is ruthless.
However no body was in sight, yet their were whispers flowing around in his ears as if someone was behind him. His body shivered.
Was he going crazy?...
Doesn't fucking matter now, he's up and he's..... he's gonna build shit. Yeah, that's what he was gonna do.
Iron Man: Mark II.
He crawled put of his bed with a hand pressed against his bruised and shattered ribcage.
"Felt worse yesterday...," he murmmered to himself as he trudged through his home and to the winding stairs and let out a groan.
"What made me think these were a good idea?" He sighed and sat down on the stairs. Basically he scooted down the damned projections on his ass to avoid shaking his body too much; it's not the first time he's done it and it sure as hell won't be the last...
He used the railing to pull himself up and strode up to the glass doors. He listened as the doors hissed open for their master and couldn't help the self-congratulatory grin that slipped on his features for a smooth fully functional machine he made himself.
This was his house in all terms of the name. He made this house, he designed it, and he built a good bit of it.
Why trust others if you can do it yourself?
He padded across the pearly flooring and sat heavily at his workbench.
"Jarvis?"
Immediately everything hummed to life around him and he spun around in his spinny/rolly chair (yes yes, correct term is swivel but who really cares?). He loved this place, it was like heaven to him and he closed his eyes.
Dum-E came over and placed his claw on Tony's head in affection.
"Hey there buddy," he opened one eye and grinned at his perfectly-imperfect droid.
Dum-E whirrled in a greeting.
Despite what most said, Dum-E was not malfunctioned. He was just quirky and he loved too much.
People were right in tbe fact that Tony had no heart, even more so now. These machines littered around him, were Tony's heart.
"You miss me?"
Dum-E roughly patted his head and rumbled enthusiastically.
"Ow.... I'll take that as a yes," Tony winced.
"I missed you as well sir," Jarvis' voice filtered through the pristinely cluttered room.
"I'm glad to hear that, but enough with bleeding hearts," Tony laughed at his own morbid joke, "but let's get to work, pull up a new set of blue-prints and help me dish this out."
"Of course sir."
The whispers kept on in Tony's head and apparently Tony zoned put 8 times in about as many hours.
"Sir? Are you alright? Shall I inform Miss Potts?" Jarvis inquired in his smooth accent.
They varied in octaves within his head and it was driving him crazy; sometimes they screamed and sometimes they whispered sweetly as if to lull him to sleep. More voices have been added to the conversation now, males and females alike.
It was all nonsense.
"No I'm fine Jarvis," Tony glared as he backed up and his body felt like it was alight with fire (or what he thought it felt like at least). He seized up with a cry, a shelf dug directly into the middle of his shoulder blades.
"Sir?"
That shit was sensitive, always has been. Tony has always had to be careful about his shoulders; it marveled the doctors because it seemed that they were his strongest bone yet Tony acted like they were glass. Tony cringed when they were touched and flinched when they were brushed by strangers, or at least he used to until he was able to either avoid it wholly or mask the reaction. He still didn't like it though.
"I'm good," he choked out from his position curled up on the cold marble flooring, "I'm just admiring the view from down here...."
"Of course sir...."
He sighed as the pain lessened and stretched his body out on the floor, "is it finished Jarvis?"
"Yes sir, you can begin building anytime."
He heard a frustrated scream of his name, "I guess now isn't a good time, eh?"
"It would seem not."
"Pepper?"
"The one and only."
"Does she seem angry?"
"Not at you, sir"
Tony picked himself up and basically crawled up the stairs, "Heyyyy Pep."
She scowled at him and thrust an accusing finger at his TV. There stood Obie and his greasy bowling ball of a head with a small perky blonde and a microphone shoved under his nose.
"He's probably just doing some damage control..."
"Listen," she hissed and turned up the sound.
"....he was just kidding," Obie laughed, "the doctors believe he was just acting out to show then Tony was still here. He just wants people to know that he's okay enough to start playing games again and not to pity him. Of course we aren't shutting down weapon manufactoring..."
Tony felt the wind fly out of his mouth in a hefty sigh as he closed his eyes.
"Tony?" Pepper whispered but he couldn't hear her over the raging fury inside of him.
All he could see was Yinsen and the blood.... God... all the blood caused by him. The officer that wanted his photograph.... all the children and women and husband's and....and....
He clenched his fists and slammed his hand on the counter and left Pepper cowering in herself. She could practically feel his rage, she'd never seen Tony this angry before. That's twice he's practically blown up in front of her and..... not to mention the gaping hole he left in his counter from his own fist..
Tony stomped up to his closet and dressed himself in his nicest suit. That little bitch thought he wouldn't show, let's prove him wrong.....
To say Obie was less than pleased to see him, was an understatement.
"Hey there Obie," Tony plastered on a grin as he pushed through the people dying for his attention.
"Tony! I thought you wanted to rest?" Obie squinted his eyes as his face forced a grin to match Tony's. The men around Obie smiled at Tony, none the wiser of the tension between the two.
"And miss this? I wouldn't miss this for the world!"
"I'm glad to see you feel better so soon. Look at you! You even took your arm outta that sling! Look at this little Champ!" He swung an arm over Tony's shoulder and slammed him into his side.
The man reeked of sweat and was drowning in cologne. Disgusting...
"Well yeah, it made working too hard and too complicated."
"You're even back working?"
"You can't keep me away for long, you know that," he grinned and saw Obie's eyes harden in understanding of the double-meaning in his words.
"What're you working on?" One of the men Obie had been chatting with piped up.
Tony turned to the man, "a machine."
All the men laughed at the abhorent joke, he was an electrical engineer after all.
"Is it a weapon?" One of the others inquired.
"Of course not," Tony slowly turned his head to the man, "I'm done with the whole 'Merchant of Death' thingy, I've moved onto bigger and better things."
"Oh really?" The group seemed intrigued and a little wary as they regarded Tony. Obie said something didn't he? Sigh.
Obie quickly made up an excuse and ushered the two of them away and out the door.
"I said I didn't want anymore weapons Obie," Tony spit when they were alone.
"Well the directors ignored that and overruled you Tony, they think you're still to emotionally raw from your.... y'know," Obie explained looking down at the smaller man.
"I am perfectly capable of making these decisions, I'm actually more clear headed than I have been in years," Tony sighed rubbing his face, "I'm fine."
Obie smiled, "I know Tony..." He hated that smile.
"So you'll talk to them?"
"No," Obie grinned and the photographers found them. They were soon assaulted by flashes and invasive questions; Obadiah grinned the entire time as he pulled Tony's small frame towards his own.
Somethings wrong...
...be careful....
'Great. More echoes of voices from Schizophrenic's past.... (bah humbug),' Tony thought to himself as he flashed more smiles at the cameras.
....I'm coming.... I promise..... be careful.....
'That sounds really creepy...' Tony sighed in his head as he unwound himself from the bald snake.
Tony walked straight over to grab a drink and downed it in one go, then another.....and another.....and another.....and...
Tony felt great. For a bit.
Why couldn't he have a mother? Or a father?
Tony regarded all of the party-goers and felt bitter resentment settle in the bottom of his stomach with the alcohol. He bet they all had somewhat doting and loving parents and siblings; they probably never had to feel the sting of-
Tony shook his head and walked outside. There was no need to go down the that road. All it left in its wake was anger and self-hatred.
The truth was: Tony just was never good enough.... His own parents agreed with that sentiment. He was just a pathetic boy with a knack for figuring things out quicker than most.
He was going to be all alone. He was gonna die that way. No one liked a smart ass or an alcoholic or a playboy or....or.....or.....
Nobody liked Anthony Edward Stark.
People everyday would just go on with their wonderful lives that Tony would never get to have a taste of. He's never felt familial love or... love in general. He's never been loved; sure Rhodey and Pepper like him and Obie tolerates him. But he needs more; he craves it. He wants what they have.... he'd give anything for it..... he'd do anything for it.....
Tony laid his head on the railing of the balcony and let the cool wind whisper through his hair softly.
This was one thing Tony could never understand.
Humans.
Such complexities for such simple creatures. It all completely baffled him.... he just didn't grasp the concepts, that's why he liked machines. So simple and so easy to fix, unlike relationships or people.
He really just wanted to be loved.
Tony choked back his whiskey and felt the delicious burn on the back of his throat as his eyes closed.
He wanted what he couldn't have and it..... pissed him the fuck off.
Tony chunked the glass off the balcony with a vicious intensity. He just wanted to destroy.... if he couldn't have it then why should they? What makes them so God damned special? What do they have that he doesn't?
His entire body was tense as he bent over the balcony and gritted his teeth.
He was handsome, he was smart, he was rich, he was funny, he was kind, he was generous, he was loving.... but he wasn't loved! How could expect someone to love him if his own parents couldn't..?
Tony sagged against the railing with a weary sigh but he could still feel his body brimming with unleashed rage. It'll come out sooner or later, but he'll continue burying until he can no longer bury.
He blanched when a hand was lightly placed on the small of his back, "Sir, you alright?"
Tony slowly straightened up and glued a grin to his features as he turned to the voice, "Peachy."
He was looking at a slender chest clad in a deep olive jade. He had to slowly raise his eyes to face the gentle giant standing in front of him. The man was beautiful, he could tell that much even in his drunken stupor.
"How much have you had to drink?" The man drawled out in a silky voice. The green was merely an undershirt to a nice tailored charcoal suit and he had these weird little bracelets on. They looked like handcuffs with peculiar scratches (might be writing but he can't tell) in his opinion but were hidden out of view by the sleeves of his jacket. They could easily be mistaken as bracelets but for some reason, Tony knew for a fact they weren't.
"Probably too much, beautiful men usually appear right before I pass out. Alcoholic delusions are the best..."
Smooth like crunchy peanut butter.
"You feel like you're going to pass out?" The man's vibrant candy-apple green eyes watched him through long lashes. He leaned down to take a closer look at Tony and pieces of raven hair fell in the man's face.
"The bartender told you to come out here didn't he?"
"Sure," the man stood up again with somewhat of grin, "can you walk?"
"Of course....," Tony fell, "not."
Did he really drink that much?
"The bartender honestly told me to take you to the hospital from all the alcohol you ingested."
Did he say that outloud?
"Yes," the man smiled as he practically carried Tony back inside.
"Don't go that way.." Tony put his feet out in front of him as a makeshift brake.
"Why not?"
"They'll think I'm drunk."
"You are."
"They really don't need to know that yet... especially not now..." He doesn't need to give his board anymore incentive to veto his decisions due to his self-angst from his little 'situation'.
"Of course," the man steered Tony another way off the balcony and to the parking lot. He somehow managed to avoid all the people, no one saw the drunken Tony thankfully. Pepper will be happy.
"Are you a kidnapper?" Tony's head lulled somewhat as he stumbled along with the arm thrown across his hips as a guide.
"Actually quite the opposite."
"Oh really?"
"Really."
"Isn't that what all kidnappers say?"
"Only the smart ones."
"You have really pretty eyes Mr. Kidnapper," Tony grinned loosely.
"Thank you," the man grinned back as he helped Tony into the back of the limo. He slid in easily beside him. He just realized how cold the man was, of course that wasn't saying much.
Tony lived his life being much hotter than normal, both temperature and appearance, so naturally he's always been more sensitive to the cold than most. However, even a regular person could feel this man was way too cold. Almost like a corpse. With frostbite. In the Artic. Swimming with the penguins. This man was that fucking cold to the touch.
It wasn't unpleasant, just odd. Oddly comforting, kind of like a mother's touch. Or at least what he thought one might be like...
Tony mumbled as he smushed his face against the barely-legal tinted windows, "I'm Tony."
"Nice to meet you Anthony," the man patted him on the back, the cold creeping through his thick suit, avoiding the shoulderblades, "You may call me Loki."
The man pulled his hand back and looked down at him with confusion. Loki slowly rolled the pliable Tony away from the window and onto this back, basically Tony was laying in the man's lap. Loki began to unbuttoned the red shirt he was wearing and Tony was really too drunk to put up a fuss; however, he watched the pale hands warily for any misconduct.
"Oh Tony...." Loki eyed the scar tissue and the metal gadget embedded messily in his scarred chest, "they really did a number on you did they...?"
Tony sighed as Loki gently rubbed his cheek.
"He's going to be pissed," Loki murmured with a soft laugh.
"Hm?" Tony grunted with his eyes closed, conciousness slowly slipping from his grasp.
"Oh nothing," Loki let the man fall asleep on him, "you were always my favorite..." Loki whispered to the unconcious man. "But you're infuriating," he sighed to himself and leaned back in the seat, "I don't really get what he sees in you but to each their own. He'll be here sooner or later for you; prepare yourself little 'Tony'."