So, staying worked out in a lot of ways. It let him see Steve everyday and well, no one really mentioned that they hadn't really gotten him a room yet. No one really mentioned how close they were. But then, Tony only really sometimes talked to Rhodey and tried awkwardly to start a friendship with Vision. The voice was comforting when he finally started to let the other sit and actually talk. Vision carefully chose to talk about projects for now and sometimes Steve. But he never brought up Jarvis or more personal things unless Tony did it first. Which was rare.

Tony didn't go out with the Avengers except to fly the quinjet... and well, the quinjet kept taking a beating because sometimes the new Avengers were not as cohesive as they should be. Something Tony didn't talk about and simply drove the bus and fixed things when they were broken. After retooling Romanoff's cuffs after being shorted out, he fixed Falcon's pierced wing. Then he moved on to routine maintenance on War Machine because Rhodey was quite literally a soldier that neglected his armor in favor of working more. Tony did take a minute to point out the bad things Rhodey did to his piece of art before working on through the night.

Vision found him the next morning hammering out the metal plating from the quinjet so he could work on the stealth net only to stop as the other purposely pulled the hammer out of his hand mid swing. If he'd not been so exhausted and hyped on coffee, he probably wouldn't have let it go so easily. Instead he cut a narrowed look at the other. "You should sleep, Mr. Stark. I believe I can finish this for you. If... that is alright."

Arching a brow at him, he brushed his hands on his pants. "What time is it?"

"Close to three in the morning. I had thought you would stop after repairing Colonel Rhodes armor." Tony caught that twist to the word 'thought' and knew he meant 'hoped'. The only reason he didn't argue was because he didn't actually mean to stay up that late.

"You're right." And he did far too much in a short period of time for people he really didn't even talk to anymore. Holding his hands up, he moved to the work bench and pushed the tablet toward Vision. "It's all here... if you haven't already looked." Glancing up at him, he caught the vaguest of smiles that told him Vision already looked. It caused him to smile just a little. "See you later then."

"I'm sure Captain Rogers will be happy you are returning to bed." Tony snorted and kept going out of the room. He looked a mess. He smelled like the workshop and his gray pants looked like they were supposed to be black marble by the time he was done. Not that it stopped him. A hot shower sounded a little like heaven as he very slowly walked down the hall careful not to run into any of the other Avengers if he could help it.

When he walked away, it was for a reason. Everything had been for a good reason. Wasn't that always the case? He lost Pepper because he couldn't truly give up the armor and kept going when Steve called. But he gave up Steve because he would be the death of him. And if there was one thing Tony Stark could not deal with... was knowing he would be the reason Steve Rogers died.

Not because he was Captain America... okay, maybe a little because of that. Because Captain America was more important than Tony Stark ever could be. Captain America was an ideal that he should never ever try to tarnish or destroy. He told himself that he had to make the decisions because it was his fault. How could it possibly be Steve's fault? Steve... yes, that was the real problem. He told himself it was Captain America, but the real problem was Steve Rogers. Seeing Steve Rogers looking up at him as he died and telling him he didn't do enough. That ripped his heart out and ran it through a meat grinder in ways far worse than anything 10 Rings did to him in Afghanistan. One split second...

So what could he do to keep Steve safe from himself and his stupid decisions? Run away. After all. He was good at that.

That did not mean he had to stop watching Steve. He watched over the Avengers in his own way. Watching. Staying back. Sending things for their team and funding recovery efforts. Making new things to keep them going. But he kept the armor locked up. Pepper would be astounded had she noticed, but she buried herself in work. Tony buried himself in his tower and worked to chase away the silence. No more Jarvis... no more Steve. So... no more Tony Stark in the lime light.

At least, until Friday decided to tune him into the Avengers latest mission where Steve was alone. Alone. Why did the idiot always insist on doing the dirty work alone? Tony always felt on pins and needles when he did that. And before he knew it, he was in his armor for the first time in far too long flying to god forsaken Siberia... was it Siberia? To save the blonde Avenger.

Tony's heart raced to a point it hurt. It felt like sheer agony as he destroyed the opposition that had managed to pin Steve down. Sound stopped. He didn't hear anything Friday said as he collapsed out of the armor. He thought he might have told her to go into century mode as he dropped onto his knees next to Steve. Pulling his helmet off in a jerking motion, his hands shook as they cupped his head. "Steve? Hey!"

Shaking his head to rid himself of the horrifying mental image in the falling ash and freshly falling snow. That was just a vision. It wasn't real. Pressing his forefinger and middle to Steve's pulse, he pleaded in a mantra 'please be alright' over and over until he felt the heavy pulse under them. Something untangled in his chest and he exhaled in a sharp almost sob he would deny later. "What were you thinking!?"

He didn't know why he felt so irrationally angry, but he yelled anyway in such a way he heard the squeaking of his armor behind him as it looked at him in alarm. "I LEFT FOR A REASON YOU BLONDE IDIOT!"

"Sir?" Friday queried softly behind him but he ignored her.

"You aren't allowed to die on me, do you hear me?" Hissing at the super soldier, he cupped his head and said sharply, "WAKE UP."

Murphy's Law states that if it can go wrong it will. When it rains it pours. And you know what? Murhpy was an asshole that needed to die in a fire. Just saying. Tony hated the guy even if he really wasn't all the sure that the guy was a guy or if a guy named Murphy ever existed. Did it matter? Life sucked right now. For just about everyone on the impromptu Avengers team. And being chased back to New York had to be the hardest thing in his life.

Especially when all the shit went down in DC. And he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Sitting in front of the armor he'd built most recently, he started cataloging the pieces. The piece he'd made first when Pepper started asking questions. The piece she started yelling when she realized what he was doing. And staring down at the helmet, he felt his brow furrow as he remembered her saying she needed to leave. Get far away and she'd not called since.

Lifting his head to the rest of the armor, he mused quietly that he'd not painted it yet. Turning the helmet in his hands, he pointedly ignored the hurricane of a mess that was his lab. He ignored the broken pieces all over the floor and the shattered glass... and the bottles of alcohol he'd meant to drink but he used for target practice instead. All that looked perfect was the armor.

Natasha didn't bother coming in anymore, neither did Bruce. Jarvis stopped asking him to leave the lab... and instead had people leave food in the elevator. And right now, the music was loud enough to make his ears bleed. Well.. if he were a lesser person.

[Player]

Name/Handle: Heidi
Age: 29
AIM/YIM/MSN/Plurk/Etc: AIM: Sunlightrhapsody, Plurk: Lunenightingale
Email: lunenightingale@hotmail.com
Current Characters: N/A

[Character]
Character Name: Anthony “Tony” Stark

Source: Marvel Movies Iron Man and Iron Man 2
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