TW: brief mention of PTSD
To my one friend reading this who helped me through writer's block like five different times while writing this piece of shit, thank you. Enjoy xx
......................................................
Rock music had a surprisingly calming effect on Tony Stark.
He was still sitting in the corner out of the team's line of sight. An AC/DC song was playing through his earplugs - the same one that had been on repeat over the past six hours because it has that one part that makes his brain tingly. One elbow was rested against some boxes of supplies, his hand in the air moving with the flow of the music. Tony's shoulders moved up and down as he lost himself in the song, swaying side to side. The music drowned out the sound of footsteps coming toward him, his eyes open but not processing anything he sees.
The song paused and Tony's head shot up like a bullet. Nat met his gaze with an emotionless expression.
"Heyyyyyy! Thanks for ruining my moment, Romanoff," he grumbled, taking out his earplugs and slipping them back into their case.
She responded with raised eyebrows. "Landing in five. Get ready."
....................................
Tony, now in his suit, exited the Quinjet and examined the area around him. They were in the parking lot of a seemingly abandoned warehouse in Italy, shrubbery surrounding them and nothing but a dirt road connecting the area to civilisation. The perfect place to make illegal alien weapons. Tony couldn't help but notice there were way more than ten cars in the lot.
"You sure they only found ten hostiles?" he called, suddenly wary.
He was met with silence and a nod from Steve. As they continued to approach the warehouse, he became more and more suspicious. There were way more than 10 cars, a bunch of trucks blocking their line of sight to the only suitable spot to land the Quinjet, and the place was surprisingly quiet for a weapons production site. There should be machinery cranking, saws, welding, and people bustling around the place. He understood they might want a low profile but there were very few machines this silent.
Now that he thought about it, there should be security cameras. Or at least someone on lookout. Something to protect the site from authorities. It all seemed too easy.
"Tony. Don't freeze up. We're not here to stand around," Clint's comment made Tony grit his teeth. Couldn't they see he was thinking?
"He's not frozen. He's... calculating," Nat whispered, putting a hand in front of Steve.
"Get behind that car," he motioned to a car a few steps away. "Now!" Tony barked when they didn't follow his direction.
"What? Tony, care to fill us in?"
He didn't figure out who had said that because a moment later an all too familiar shot rang out. Chitauri weapons.
"Ambush! Defensive positions!" Steve called.
Tony rolled his eyes. How had they not seen it coming?
He flew upwards immediately, remembering the formation, and analysed the situation below.
Nat was dodging blasts, taking down masked men two at a time with her almost robotic moves. Cap used his shield to send blasts back at the hostiles, knocking them down in droves. He fought his way through the swarm but they pushed him back with more advanced weapons. Possibly modified? Clint fired some of the new arrows Tony had designed, keeping the men back.
"Is this a code green? Should i- do you need me to come down?" Bruce radioed in and Tony responded in the negative.
"We can handle this."
Jarvis locked onto the rest of the targets and shoot them all in the legs, neutralising them without killing them.
"All clear everyone," he called, lowering down to the ground.
"What was that?" puffed Steve.
"An ambush," said Nat. "How did you know?"
Tony was silent, trying to calm his spinning mind. The team was safe. The chitauri army was gone. He was going to be fine.
"Didn't you notice? The trucks, the silence, the ease of it all?" He'd thought it was obvious. "The pattern pointed directly to an ambush. What, did none of you do the homework? For goodness sake, we can talk about strategy all livelong day but when it comes to reality, you've gotta notice the details."
Tony liked finding patterns. Putting the clues together, piecing together the puzzle. Evidently, that had paid off today.
"Alright, well let's wrap-"
Steve was cut off as another blast echoed through the parking lot. Four more men in masks ran out of the (now torn to bits) warehouse doors, aiming shots at the team.
"Ready for round two?" Steve said dismissively.
Tony sighed and activated noise cancelling to block out the panic-inducing chitauri weapon noises. "Suppose so."
Tony found the flow of battle relaxing, focusing his attention on the mission instead of the feeling of his clothes or the searingly bright sun. It was almost peaceful. As peaceful as being shot at by people who want to kill you can be. He ran through different tactics in his head, coming across one he'd memorised a few weeks back during a bout of hyperfixation. He flew towards a man at full speed, changing direction as he ran away before seemingly giving up and flying upwards. The man stopped, panting, and Tony took advantage of that, soaring down and snatching the weapon from his hand. The man pulled out a handgun and Tony grabbed his arm, twisting it before grabbing his legs and flinging him into the wall. The man groaned, incapacitated and no longer a threat. Amateurs.
He flew back to the parking lot and saw the team had taken care of the rest. Clint dusted off his hands and turned towards the Quinjet.
"S.H.E.I.L.D will be here in about an hour. They'll bring 'em in," Steve said after glancing at a message on his tablet.
"Awesome. You know, since we're here, I could 100% go for some Italian food today," Nat remarked.
"Any of you tried arancini?" asked Clint.
"No, actually. Is it good?" Steve boarded the Quinjet first, sitting down in a seat near the pilot seat.
"Oh, you have got to try it," said Tony. "Can't believe you've never tried arancini. Definitely not a man of culture, huh Cap?"
YOU ARE READING
Beating myself up so you wont find out
Fanfic!! This fic has been moved to and completed in AO3 under the same title !! Tony stark is autistic. Which was fine... until the Avengers moved in. There are spies in his house. Trained in extracting secrets. There are people he cares about counting o...
