Viper's Bite: The Other Rogers

14.

Sally knew that while she was skilled, she didn't have a vibranium arm, shield, or a suit of armor around her. Instead, she walked up and hugged Tony. He stopped for a moment to tell her to back off but she wasn't a threat so he couldn't hurt her. She wasn't actually doing anything wrong either. 

All he wanted to do was kill the man who had robbed him of his parents. His mom had never done anything wrong. She had been good and decent. He looked down and raised the face plate on his suit to tell Sally to back off when he saw her crying instead. His suit shrank away as he stepped out and held her close. Both of them collapsing on the ground as they let the grief wash over them anew. 

"He wasn't himself Tony. None of this is okay but, he wasn't himself. That was the Winter Soldier, not Bucky."

Tony said nothing and held her. He couldn't. He didn't trust his voice and didn't want to appear weaker than he already did. Steve and Bucky came out from the shadows to see Sally wrapped around Tony's waist and Tony's arms wrapped tightly around her. His head was sitting on hers as she buried her face into his chest. 

He looked at Bucky and cleared his throat. "We are not okay. I can't guarantee that I will ever be okay with you after seeing that but, I can understand not being in control of your own actions. I won't kill you for something you had no control over."

Turning his gaze to Steve, his eyes seemed to harden. "You knew. You said nothing to me. I don't think I will get past that. If we need you for anything, I will tell Sally, or Nat will. I don't want to see you for a long time. I can't even begin to fathom what you thought you were doing."

"He is my friend Tony."

"So was I."

Sally sat up and looked at him. "You are not leaving here alone. I will get you home and then I will disappear. I didn't mean to make things harder."

Tony looked into her eyes and kissed her forehead. In just over a day, she had gotten under his skin in a way few ever did. He knew he would fight to keep her in his life and might even le the two dumbasses behind her back in if it meant her being around more. 

"You aren't allowed to stay away for long periods. I don't care, you, me, Pepper, and the kid; after school lunch once a week. You have done nothing but try to help everyone around you, even throw yourself unarmed into a fight against a pissed off man in a metal suit."

"Eh, wasn't the first time I've done something stupid."

"I remember my dad telling me a story about you and an unstable element that went kaboom in his lab?"

"NOT THAT ONE! Just, don't mention that-"

"Excuse me!"

"WHAT!?"

Sally cleared her throat and stood up, offering her hand to Tony. "Isn't this my job?"

Sally laughed again before throwing her arm around his waist and leading him towards the plane. She knew the anger was subsiding and his body was exhausted. She was hoping nobody would notice her own limp from one of his repulsors going off too close to her side when she threw her arms around him. 

She was only lucky enough to make it into the plane before wincing enough for Tony to notice. He looked over at her and paused when he saw the growing blood spot on her black jacket. 

"Why didn't you say anything? Shit! When did you even put this on?" 

He dove into the back of the plane and set up a makeshift medbay for her to lay on while Friday scanned her. 

"Two fractured ribs and second degree burn covering the soft tissue of her side."

Tony immediately began apologizing as Friday walked him through how to clean and wrap the injury. Her shirt had a massive hole in it so they took it and the jacket off and threw them away. Tony went to search for a new one when Steve and Bucky stepped into the plane. They wanted to let Sally know where to meet them after she was done with Tony. Instead, they found her in a bra with a blanket wrapped around her. 

Bucky looked like he ready to murder and Steve looked too shocked to think clearly. Sally said the first thing that came to mind which she immediately realized was clique and mentally facepalmed herself. "I swear, it isn't what it looks like." 

Bucky was the first to fire back and told her that she hadn't even had the selfrestraint until she and Tony were in the air. He was angrier than he knew he was capable of and reminded her that she had only lost her virginity in the last month. "If you were that eager to try other people, you could have at least talked to me about it. Can't say I would have been okay with it but it would have been better than this!"

Tony was standing frozen in the doorway from the closet unable to understand what he had just walked in on. Before he spoke, Steve was yelling at Sally saying that she should have at least let him know she was alive before screwing all of his friends. Sally felt close to tears again. She had spent decades not shedding a single tear and yet in the last 24 hours, she felt like she had cried more than female lead in a chick flick. 

Taking a deep breath, she spoke coldly to the two men she trusted more than anyone else. 

"Thank you gentlemen. I needed a reminder as to why I avoid people as a whole. I got grazed by Tony when I hugged him while trying to keep him killing you two. He was nice enough to help me treat it but my shirt and jacket were toast so he was getting me a new shirt when you walked in. I appreciate the faith you both have in me. I will see you when I feel up to facing you again. Shoo."

Tony walked over and handed her the shirt he had found. It was too big but she appreciated that factor since her side still ached a little. Handing him back the blanket, she moved the the front of the plane to start getting ready to take off. 

"You heard her. I think you two have officially overstayed your welcome, even from her."

Tony made sure they got off the plane before going to sit next to Sally. Draping the blanket over her shoulders he apologized again for her injury. She waved him off like it was nothing. 

"When we get back, do you think I would be able to meet everyone? I would really like to have more than a sentence shared between us. I can't guarantee that I will great company but it is time to get everyone out of that prison. Can't let the bad guys think the Avengers are completely split."

"You think too much, you know that?"

"I may have been told that a time or two. You aren't even the first Stark to tell me that."

The two smiled and continued their trip back home with Tony calling in every favor he was owed to get those on the Raft released.