afterglow - tony stark

48

Withdrawal.

        She'd get the shakes and the chills; she'd get muscle cramps so bad that she'd end up screaming. Then the real pain started.

                 It was probably intentional considering how much Aldrich Killian liked fire. She had a fever so high that she felt like her blood was on fire. She sweated so profusely and she felt like she was dying from the inside out.

              "Make it stop," she cried. "Please, make it stop."

          She kept shouting it over and over. It made it so hard for Tony to watch. She was a mess which made him a mess. She was supposed to be the sun and he didn't know how to be the sun for her.

"Tony," she begged. "Please, make more. Find a way to make more."

"I can't, Snowflake," he said softly.

She made a angry yell as she pulled against the restraints that held her to the bed. They didn't want her up and walking around while she went through this; her mind wasn't clear. She'd even tried scratching at her skin to remove the blood that was on fire.

She glared at him, "I hate you."

Then she began to cry again, "Why won't you help me?"

"I am helping you," Tony said with tears in his eyes. "But you can hate me if you want to."

"Just get out!" she shouted and Tony watched her for a moment before he left the room.

            He sat down on the bench outside the room. He played with his thumbs before Rhodey entered the waiting room and sat down beside him. Rhodey had gotten the President to safety before having the Vice President arrested; now he was here for his friend.

            Rhodey gave him a careful look, "How is she?"

             "They say she'll be fine once she makes it through," Tony said as a tear made its way down his cheek and he wiped it away quickly. "She's in there because of me."

             "Man, you can't think like that," Rhodey said. "She wouldn't want you to, either. You know that."

         He just gave a bitter smile. This was his fault; Killian was his demon that came back to bite him except it only ended up hurting Eira and he'd never be able to forgive himself for that.

             ____

           It had been two weeks.

          After a week, she'd been placed in a medically-induced coma while her body went through the withdrawal. This drug was a lot more powerful than any doctor had seen and the effects lasted a lot longer.

           But now she was starting to wake up and she was allowed one visitor. Tony looked at the man who had arrived within a day and hadn't left. Bucky.

             "You can go see her first," Tony said.

              "Me?" he questioned in confusion.

            "Yes, you, Cryo Man," Tony rolled his eyes. "Go see her."

            Bucky wanted to protest as he knew Eira would want to see Tony first. That man was all the girl ever talked about. But he could tell that Tony wasn't going to budge so he did as told. Bucky went into her room where she started to open her eyes.

          Eira couldn't remember much. She only remembered flashes of a needle and of Aldrich Killian. She blinked tiredly before she heard a familiar voice speak softly, "Hey, butterfly."

           She turned her head slowly and it was struggle to keep her eyes open from the heavy anesthesia. She smiled a bit, "Bucky."

              She started to look around a bit in confusion, "What happened?"

            "You don't remember?"

             She shook her head slowly before Bucky explained. He told her that Aldrich Killian was dead along with his Extremis soldiers. He told her that she was drugged.

             "Where is Tony?" she asked as she leaned forward to find she couldn't as there were bindings on her wrists.

              "Why do I have these?" she questioned.

             "You tried to hurt yourself," Bucky said so quietly like he didn't even to think of the possibility.

                "I did?" she said and Bucky nodded sadly.

               "Do you want me to get Tony?" Bucky asked.

            She went to say yes but she was so tired. Her eyes still felt so heavy but she fought to keep them open just so she could see Tony.

              "Sleep, butterfly," Bucky said gently. "It's okay..."

                And she did.

_____

When she woke up again, she was no longer restrained. But a new person was in her room as he sat in the chair next to her bed.

She smiled, "Tony."

He only gave her a sad smile in return, "Do you still hate me?"

She frowned, "Hate you? Why would I hate you?"

"You said it multiple times," Tony gained a bitter look.

"I did?" she didn't remember any of that and she started to panic as tears built in her eyes. "But I would never mean it. You know I don't mean it, right?"

Her breathing started to increase as she thought maybe Tony wouldn't love her anymore because of whatever she said. And she was terrified of that.

"I know," he quirked a small smile before it dropped. "But I wouldn't blame you if you did."

"Stop it," she scolded. "I would never hate you. And don't act like this is your fault because it's not."

He sighed before he stood from the seat and he stepped towards the bed a bit nervously, "Can I hold you?"

"You can always hold me," she confessed.

Tony moved and he now laid beside her in the small hospital bed. She was in his arms as she snuggled into his chest. She was safe, content, and she never wanted to move from his arms.

"You know when I told you I didn't want to waste a moment with you," he said as he pulled out a box from his pocket. "Well, I'm not."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she looked down at the small box he placed in her lap as he continued, "I figured I should do this properly and I wanted to know if you'd still say yes..."

She opened the box slowly to find a ring inside. It was a ring covered in diamonds with a red gem in the center in the shape of a heart. She smiled.

"You have my heart, Snow," Tony confessed. "I want you to carry it forever. So I'm asking if you'll marry me?"

She looked at him with the widest smile, "Of course it's a yes."

"You should be mad at me," Tony said tearfully.

"Are you trying to get me to say no?" she asked. "Because I'm never going to be mad at you."

"You should be."

"I'm not," she promised before she kissed him softly and slowly like she was kissing him for the first time. They only kissed shortly before they merely leaned their foreheads against the other.

"I love you," she whispered and nothing could ever make him smile as much as those three words did coming from his angel, his sun.

"I love you more."