Stark & Silver (Tony Stark x Reader)

Chapter Twelve

Tony slowly walked into the main room of the underground base, his eyes staring down at his hands that were now clean of YN's blood, but Tony felt as though they were tainted for life. He had tried to fix the rest of his clothing, turning his shirt inside out, but you could tell what it was stained with, and It make everyone's eyes snap to him as he entered.

"Mr. Stark-" Tony's eyes snapped up, his eyes wide as he stared at the supposed dead Director.

"Son of a bitch." Tony snickered, wiping his face as tears threatened to spill over again. "If anyone gets to escape the clutches of death, it'd have to be you, huh?" The room remained silent as Tony shook his head. "That woman in there is dying because you-" Tony raised a finger, his face screwing up. "Because that man, that sick man you called a friend was sitting right under your nose."

"Tony-" Natasha warned, her posture growing defensive.

"Save it, Romanoff." He spat, leering at her. "She called it the first day, we knew she'd find out eventually, but we trusted the system, didn't we?" Tony laughed, the sound more cruel than humored. "That shows us."

"Oh, because you're all innocent in this?" Fury suggested sarcastically, hobbling to his feet. "You didn't believe her either, Stark. Worse even, you did some horrible things when she arrived, some she doesn't even know about. So, don't start pointing fingers when we all could have opened our eyes further."

Tony swallowed, turning his back to the group as he bit his fingernail. "Where's Rogers?" He said, changing the subject.

"In a bed close by, took a beating and we found him at the edge of the Potomac." Tony nodded, placing his hands on the bench in front of him.

"Is it over? Is Pierce gone, Rumlow, everyone?" There was muffled agreeance that it was over, Rumlow having gone down with the building and Pierce shot dead on sight. "Good, when YN wakes up I want to ensure she feels safe."

"So... Are you two... together?" Natasha asked as Fury left the room, the red head sliding up next to Tony, pushing her slim body up onto the counter. "Not a pairing I'd have predicted." Tony scoffed, crossing his arms as he leant back, staring at the roof.

"I don't know what to tell you, Romanoff. Not many women can resist Stark charm." Tony shrugged, his smile not reaching his eyes, and Natasha noticed.

"Don't bullshit me, Stark. I can tell you really feel something for her, she's important to you." Natasha smiled, resting her hand on his arm. "She's a firecracker, just your type." Tony chuckled, again not really meaning it. "And, when you tell her about-"

"She's not going to find out about that." Natasha's eyes widened at the sudden response, her smile falling into a frown. "She can't know, it'd ruin everything." Natasha's frown deepened, confusion evident as she jumped down from the counter.

"How?" Natasha said, stopping Tony from leaving the room. "It worked out in the end didn't it? She will see that." Tony suddenly turned, grabbing the red heads elbow. His eyes were dark with anger and what Natasha could quickly recognize as fear. "What's going on, Tony?"

"That... what I did? Got someone very close to her killed, Natasha." Natasha gasped lowly, her body stiffening under Tony's grip. "If she finds out... that's it. Done." Natasha nodded as Tony let her go, stepping away from her.

They quietly left the room together, heading down the hall to see their captain. Stepping in, Tony chuckled, trying to shake the bad feeling crawling up his neck. He leant against the wall as Steve slowly sat up in bed, wincing tightly.

"You look like shit." Tony snickered as Steve rolled his eyes.

"Then I look better than I feel." Steve returned, sighing as he got comfortable. "Nat told me about YN, how are you holding up?" Tony shrugged, moving to fall into a spare seat. "Don't fob me off, Stark, I know you two got close-"

"Not just close, Steve." Natasha smirked, nodding to Tony. "They're close, close." Steve frowned before it morphed into understanding, then inevitably came the disapproval.

"That is not a good idea-" Tony rolled his eyes, holding his hand up to stop his rant.

"Okay, Grandpa, let's save this conversation until I know she's going to live." Steve sighed, closing his eyes and nodding reluctantly. "How'd you end up playing with the fish?" Steve's mouth tightened, as well as his fists. "And more importantly, how'd you make it to the shore?"

"He stopped, he had stopped." Tony raised an eyebrow, meeting Natasha's eye from across the room. "Bucky, he pulled back before the beam collapsed. I know he did." Steve sighed for the hundredth time, running a hand through his blonde tuffs. "He remembered me, and I think he saved me from the river."

"We can't know that-" Natasha's sentence was halted when Steve glared at her. "Okay, say he did remember you-"

"He did." Steve interrupted, making Natasha roll her eyes.

"Okay, why'd he leave you? Why not wait for you to wake up?" Steve huffed and threw up his arms, only wincing slightly.

"Maybe because he was scared?" Steve shrugged. "I mean, it's not like the American Government is going to welcome him with open arms. I'd run too."

The room was silent for a moment, the three not knowing where to move with the conversation. Suddenly, the door opened and a doctor stepped in, his hands behind his back. Tony felt bile rise in his throat as the worst thought flew to the forefront of his mind.

"Is YN-" The doctor held up his hands to stop him.

"No, she's okay. Even better actually, she's awake." Tony's body physically deflated, the weight from his shoulders dropping as he got closer to the door. "Just, bear in mind, she is quite confused, the blood loss has caused some... spots in her memories of the last twelve hours or so. Don't expect her to know much about what happened."

Tony nodded, pushing past the doctor and into the room where YN was staring at a television, the images of D.C. flicking across the screen. "Hey, beautiful." YN's head flicked to Tony's, her eyes widening in shock before they settled into a new shape; happily crinkled at the sides.

"I didn't think you'd still be here." YN whispered shyly, looking down to her lap. "Thought you'd be on damage control." She gestured to the T.V. nonchalantly.

"They couldn't drag me out of this building with a crane, YN." YN blushed, her eyes still not moving from their lowered position. "Now, why are you acting all shy?" YN chuckled, wincing only slightly.

"I don't know, you make me nervous all of a sudden I guess." She whispered, her cheeks tinting even darker. "I mean, you always did, but now it's harder to hide-"

"Are we on an honesty high?" Tony laughed, sitting by YN on her bed, curling his larger hands around YN's smaller ones. "I'm glad you get flustered, but don't be shy, I like looking into your eyes."

YN sighed loudly, throwing her head back dramatically. "See, this is what I mean." She groaned, forcing a laugh from Tony. "I'm guessing everything has been sorted then? Pierce and his cronies are taken care of?"

"Well... we still need someone to take the credit for figuring it out... seeing as Fury is supposed to be dead." YN nodded, not catching on. "We were thinking, because you technically did figure it out yourself-"

"Oh, no way!" YN shook her head, causing Tony to jolt in surprise. "This is way too public."

"Alright, alright. We don't need to worry about it right now, just rest." YN nodded, sinking back into her bed. "I thought I'd lost you for a minute there, YN." Tony finally whispered, lifting a hand to rest it against her cheek.

"From memory, you promised me banana pancakes and classic movie marathons, how could I turn that down? Death couldn't even take that from me." Tony laughed as YN smiled cheekily, happy that YN was finally comfortable enough to smile properly. "I was a little disappointed I didn't wake up to a tray of them, though."

"When we get out of here, expect the highest stack of the most disgustingly banana-ry pancakes you've ever had." YN laughed, the genuine noise nearly making Tony melt into the floor, his stomach rampaging with a flock of butterflies.

"That's not a word, Tony." YN giggled, lifting her hand to intertwine her fingers with his. "But thank you, for being here with me. For not letting me be alone." Tony nodded, trying to stamp out the guilt from his earlier conversation with Natasha.

"You won't ever be alone again, YN."