Chapter Text
Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart
* * *
“Sir it’s 3 a.m. already.” Jarvis informed in a neutral tone.
“Alright, what do you want me to do with that information?” Tony hissed, focused on whatever was going on the screen of his holographic computer.
“Sir, you asked me to warn you when the time would be right for your body to rest.” the mechanical voice answered pragmatically.
“When did I ask that?”
“7 hours, 43 minutes and 36 seconds ago, sir.”
Tony remained silent for a while, as if he had forgotten what the question to this answer even was. After a few seconds, Jarvis went on, “that was also the time of your first whisky of the night, sir.”
“Mh…” Tony seemed unbothered by Jarvis’ statement and remained focused on his task. “Tsk.”
He suddenly raised to his feet, wavering a few seconds before steadying himself. “Damnit” he growled, annoyed, before quickly walking to another desk to gather a few wires, bolts, microchips and god knows what other scientific assets. He dropped them all on his work table, put on a pair of sunglasses and started assembling them with a soldering iron.
“Sir, this procedure requires a bit more protection than those diva sunglasses.” Jarvis pointed out with sarcasm.
“Thanks for the tip Siri, should I ask you to blink for me when it gets too bright?” Tony answered not looking away from his task, “next you’re gonna tell me fire burns and water wets?” he added sharply.
“I’m only concerned by your well-being.” Jarvis answered after a long pause.
For once, Tony stopped his work and looked up at the speaker from which Jarvis' voice came from. He lifted his sunglasses and raised an eyebrow. “What did you say?”
“I said I was only concerned by your well-being, sir.” Jarvis repeated.
Tony set down his iron and put his hands on his hips. “I’m gonna have to rewrite your program with more sass and less flirting, darling.” he stated. Without another word, he put his glasses back on and finished soldering the materials. Once he was done, he set his new assemblage directly on the floor and sat next to it, unfolding a ton of papers with drawings, plans, calculus and formulas.
“Bring me my glass,” he asked.
The mechanical arm of his armor brought him a half empty glass of whisky and Tony sipped from it with a pleased sigh. “That’s good. C’m’on J, put on some music.”
“Alright sir, playing work playlist.”
Some heavy rock started blasting from the speakers all around the workshop, ACDC, SOAD, Black Sabbath, and Tony focused a hundred percent of his brain into his work.
* * *
“Tony…?”
Pepper walked into the workshop, wearing a white wardrobe, her hair messy and her eyes still tired. It was now 5 in the morning and Tony hadn’t moved an inch from his spot on the floor, except his product had grown a few centimeters. Obviously, he couldn’t hear her with the music blasting and Pepper had to call out to Jarvis for help. Tony mumbled when the music went down and finally lifted his head from his invention.
“Tony!”
He turned his head to his right, watching Pepper walk towards him, still as pretty as ever.
“Oh hi Pep, what’re you doing up so early in the morning?” he asked, refocusing on his project.
“Tony, would you stop working for a second please?” she asked, slightly annoyed.
“Sorry darling, I’m too busy being an absolute genius.” he mumbled, voice deep and focused.
“Tony, you told me you’d go to sleep early today.” Pepper insisted, standing right in front of him.
Tony was forced to lift his head up to meet his girl’s eyes. “As much as I love you being on top of me, I gotta say I don’t have the time for that right now.” he declared before going back to his papers.
Pepper looked at what he was doing. The papers were scattered everywhere on the floor and she could barely comprehend what he was actually trying to build. The product didn’t exceed 15 centimeters and didn’t look like anything particular except it was shining blue light. She recognized some of the sketches and plans on the floor that he had created a few years ago among some new ones. It seemed as if he was trying to make something new out of something old.
“What are you doing?” she finally asked. “Are you drunk?” she added upon noticing the empty glass behind him alongside the smell of alcohol, burn and sweat.
“A tiny bit. Helps my mind focus.” he answered vaguely, writing down some new data on a blank paper.
“Tony you’re tired…” she whispered, “It’s been days since you slept in your bed. The only times I found you sleeping, you were on the floor next to your work or inside your armor after passing out from over exhaustion. You can’t go on like that.” Worry could be seen in her eyes, at least if Tony was looking into her eyes, which he wasn’t.
“Are you jealous of an armor?” he joked, brushing off the palpable worry in her voice.
“You never listen do you?” she sighed, annoyed. “I should’ve known before engaging in a relationship with you that my boyfriend would be a workaholic egotistical billionaire with only fantasies and excessive ideas in his mind.” she grumbled, crossing her arms.
“Indeed, I do live for the applause. But you love me for that.” he teased.
“I’m not sure, Tony. The man I love is a sweet idiot with a big iron heart and an ego and a pride so high he can’t even tell the ones around him he loves them. Easier to do with a machine huh.”
Without another word, she turned her back to him and walked away. Tony finally raised his head towards her, a glimpse of worry in his eyes that he chased away quickly.
“Pep you know I’m doing that cause I can’t help it! My brain’s creating new things every fucking second, if I don’t do it what’s the point of having a brain in the first place?” he said. “I mean, I’m doing this for you, for us, for the world! I don’t have time to rest in a bed with you!”
“Sure Tony…” she sighed, not looking back. A few steps more and she closed the door to the workshop, leaving him alone with Jarvis and his work. The music started blasting again in the speakers and Tony frowned.
“Shut it down J.” he growled, annoyed.
“Sir, if I may, you’ve been what we could call a jerk.” Jarvis stated with his usual neutral voice that annoyed Tony even more.
He frowned and grabbed his desk to stand, stumbling over his own feet, his head spinning. “Fuck…” he mumbled, closing his eyes for a second before steadying himself. “Jarvis, how’s my heart?”
A blue scanner passed in front of the genius and analysed him before Jarvis stated “your heartbeats are faster than usual, your blood pressure is a bit high and you’ve definitely had too much whisky.”
“Oh shut up, if only you could get drunk, you’d understand.” he said, rolling his eyes. He managed to walk to the sink and buried his head into it to drink, spilling some water all over his Guns N Roses long sleeves shirt. After that, he called the hand of his armor and put it on to regain his starting position, on the floor. He took the soldering iron and started working again.
An hour passed and if his workshop wasn’t underground, he'd have seen the sun rise over the gardens. Instead, he was still hunched over his invention, Jarvis regularly reminding him to eat something or to drink something, only to get royally ignored by the mighty Tony Stark.
“Sir, sorry to bother but someone entered the house.” Jarvis said, unconcerned.
“Huh? What did you just say?” Tony asked, quickly lifting his head up, which almost made him throw up all the alcohol he had drunk. “Oh fuck…” His head was spinning, his heart beating faster and faster, sweat dripping from his arms, chest and forehead, and his breathing quickened. “Who-... Jarvis, who…” he huffed.
“Sir, you need to breathe.”
Tony ignored him and called his suit, immediately feeling safer inside his shining red armor. This wasn’t the right time to be attacked. He was hella drunk, he hadn’t gotten an ounce of sleep in more than a day, he hadn’t eaten more than some protein bars, and he’d been sitting for several hours straight without stretching. He knew he couldn’t handle a fight in his state. Even the armor wasn’t enough to keep him standing up, he fell to his knees, breath cut short.
“Jarvis, cool the heart, it’s overheating.” he ordered.
“Sir, there is no sign of abnormal heat from your core.”
“Haha, very funny.” Tony half smiled under his armor.
“I am programmed to joke but not to put your health in danger, sir. You’re not overheating. You’re experiencing severe anxiety.”
Tony blinked. “Again??” he shouted, almost outraged. “I thought this was a one time thing?! Am I sick? That must be it, Jarvis, check for any illness.”
“You are perfectly healthy sir.”
Tony rolled up his eyes once again. “I definitely gotta rewrite you, you’re getting on my nerves.” he mumbled, still on his knees.
Suddenly, the door to the workshop opened and Tony felt his heart skip several beats at once. He felt the anxiety and the alcohol rise up to his brain and make his thoughts a mess. “Haa.. fuck..” he huffed.
“Stark?” a familiar voice called out.
Tony turned his head towards the intruder and felt his body relax immediately when he recognised none other than Captain America. “Oh my god I’m such a pussy…” he mumbled to himself.
“Steve Rogers coming in, sir.”
Tony launched a deadly stare towards Jarvis. “You could have said so earlier and spared me an anxiety attack, asshole.” he growled.
“Anxiety? What are you talking about Stark?” Steve asked, walking into the workshop. Those damn supersoldiers and their enhanced senses, Tony thought.
“What in the world are you doing here Rogers?” Tony asked. He tried his best to sound normal but Steve seemed to notice he was out of breath and above all, still on his knee. “Hoping to sneak on me while I’m changing?” he teased.
Steve stopped and crossed his arms on his chest, raising an eyebrow. “Well I sure wasn’t expecting to see you in full on fight mode,” he remarked.
“I thought you liked the suits.”
“When they’re needed.”
“Just say it if you want to strip me.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Just get out of there Stark.”
Tony did not answer. One thing he absolutely hated was being seen as weak, and that was precisely what he was at the moment. A drunken mess with wet hair and anxiety.
“Stark?” Steve insisted, seeing as Tony didn’t react nor moved. “Something wrong?” he asked, his voice softening.
“No.” Tony replied a bit too fast. He stood up on his feet, also too fast, and his head started spinning again. “Rah, fuck..” he whispered.
Steve realised instantly that something was indeed wrong and he hurried towards Tony to catch his arm. “Are you drunk?” Tony did not answer. “Jarvis, is he drunk?”
“Affirmative.”
“Fuck, Stark, get out of there.” Steve asked, a bit more authoritatively than the first time. “Tony.”
Tony shivered upon hearing his name and finally listened to Captain America’s advice. The armor removed itself and went back to its storage place. Steve was still holding on Tony’s arm to keep him straight.
“Tony you’re burning. And your breath is too fast. Was that why you were talking about anxiety?”
“Oh would you just shut up, you and your savior complex.” Tony growled.
Steve frowned but did not let himself be touched by a drunk Stark’s words. They were even sharper than the sober’s ones. Tony pulled away from Steve and started walking in circles in his workshop, still out of breath. “Just what on earth are you doing here? Don’t you see I’m busy? I’m already spending all my nights working on my projects since the paparazzis just won’t stop licking my ass during the day and you have to show up at night too?”
“It’s 7 in the morning, Stark.”
“And above all you walk in with no warning, almost giving me a heart attack making me think I’d be dead in no time since my stupid ass decided to get drunk with no safety or escape plan? And now what? Why’re you even here? Just let me go on with my work and go back from where you came from.”
“If you could at least let me talk-...”
“It’s not like I wasn’t close to finishing it anyways, it only lacks a few things before being perfect. Another perfection created by me to better the world. Fantastic huh. But now the creator himself can’t even walk in his own house without his armor or without getting drunk because his mind can’t seem to focus to one fucking thing at a time and he can’t even sleep at night because the nightmares keep coming back and what? Is he such a pussy compared to his coworkers that have been fighting monsters since they’re like 6 and have been dealing with that way better than him and-..”
“Stark.”
“And what even is the next step? A bigger and stronger armor? Yeah I can do that yeah, there’s nothing I can’t do, I’m the great Tony Stark the genius billionaire with the prettiest and smartest girlfriend. And yet some people want me dead and-...”
“Tony.”
As Tony went on with his internal loud monologue, Steve walked closer to him until he could reach his shoulders and stop him in his circles. He put his hands on both shoulders of the shorter man and stared at him straight in the eyes.
“Tony.” he repeated. “Breathe.”
Only then Tony seemed to realise he couldn’t even say another word due to the lack of oxygen. Steve held him straight for a few very long seconds where they kept staring at each other. Tony’s chest was lifting up and down very fast and his breathing was loud. Steve was patient and didn’t move an inch until Tony seemed to be better. He finally cracked one of his famous little smiles and lifted his hands from the mechanic’s shoulders. “You good?”
“Y- yeah.” Tony answered with a much calmer and deeper voice.
“Good.” Steve nodded, taking a step back to give Tony some space. “What was that all about? Nightmares?”
“Huh…” Tony still seemed a bit shaken up and couldn’t find the way to escape the question with a joke.
“You’re definitely not the only one, Tony. It’s not because you’re newer than us to this that we don’t deal with nightmares and all.” Steve explained calmly, resting against the desk and crossing his arms. He was wearing a black compression shirt and large jogging grey pants. “So don’t beat yourself up.”
Tony took a deep breath and turned his back to Steve to go back to his spot, sitting on the floor.
“Yeah I know, we’re all some drama queens.” he smiled.
Steve smiled in return as he watched the mechanic focusing back on his work.
“So what about a nap, playboy?” he suggested.
Tony raised an eyebrow. “With you, pretty ice cube?”
“With whomever you want, hell even Jarvis could do, but you just need some sleep Tony.” Steve answered, unbothered and already used to Tony’s border flirty jokes. “Jarvis, when was the last time he got some sleep?”
“54 hours, 32 minutes and 18 seconds, Captain.”
Steve raised an eyebrow towards Tony.
“Seriously Stark? You’re not a supersoldier, you can’t do that.”
“Alright grandpa, if you say so.” he replied without lifting his eyes from his work.
“And you’re still drunk. Would you like to wake up tomorrow and see a mistake in your work because you were drunk?”
“I never make mistakes in my work.”
“You’re insufferable.” Steve sighed, annoyed. He straightened up from the desk and walked towards Tony to sit next to him, looking at the sketches and his almost finished production.
“What.” Tony hissed.
“Nothing pal. Just trying to understand a bit of the dark magic you got going on, Gandalf.”
“Stop trying, you’ll never be up to task with me in terms of reference, Lannister.” Tony joked.
“Lannister?”
“You got the same hair.”
“Pff…” Steve couldn’t help but crack a little laugh even if he had no idea what or who this Lannister was.
“Finished!” Tony claimed proudly as he held the little mechanism in his hands.
“So are you gonna tell me what it is?” Steve asked, looking at the pretty shining blue thing he was holding.
“No.”
“Oh come on,” Steve grumbled.
Tony ignored him and stood up, finally feeling the tiredness hit his body. “I need a shower…” he mumbled, walking everything but straight towards the exit door. Steve stood up quickly and caught him up.
“No, you need some sleep.”
“Low battery sir.” Jarvis declared.
“What do you mean low battery??” Tony hissed. “My heart isn’t a damn phone, it doesn't need to recharge, it's always running.” he growled tiredly. He ignored Jarvis’ warning and walked on to the exit before suddenly closing his eyes shut.
“Oh shit.”
Steve stepped forward as quickly as he could and caught him up before he hit the ground. Tony was sound asleep.
“Well, he did need some recharge.” he smiled. “He’s okay right?” he still asked Jarvis, not being sure of how Tony’s heart was working.
“Yes, Captain. He’s just running low on alimentation, water and sleep.”
“Yeah, like, everything a human needs to live.” Steve sighed. “What was he actually building?” he asked, curious.
“An experimental heart supply to help cardiac issues.” Jarvis answered.
“He does medecine now?” Steve asked, surprised.
“No, it’s for a friend.”
“Oh, I see.” He didn’t ask more and took Tony more comfortably in his arms to lift him out of the workshop. “Have a good day J.”
“You too, Captain.”
Steve carried Tony to the elevator and to his bedroom. Pepper had already left for work, she was definitely a busy woman and Steve was pleased by this. He wouldn’t have wanted to walk into Tony’s girlfriend sleeping in some light underwear. He put his friend to bed under the blanket, wiping the sweat on his forehead. Tony shivered a little in his sleep.
“Nightmares huh? Tony, you’re not weaker than us, you’re not less. Only maybe more proud and egotistical.” he whispered quietly with a slight smile.
Tony sighed in his sleep and seemed to finally relax. Steve stood up and left the room, leaving Tony to a rest he deserved.