Rdj/Tony Stark x Reader

Invisible Pain

Tony Stark x Reader

Word Count: 3,050ish

Summary: You haven’t told the team something important about you out of fear of what they’d think.

each time with the kickback.

“Y/N, was that you?” Tony quickly fretted over the comms. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Tony,” you replied, limping further into the room. “Cap, I’m in.”

“Good job, L/N,” Steve responded. “They’re rushing out of the main base, so hurry.”

You nodded, knowing they couldn’t see you and went over to the computer. Your wrist and fingers screamed as you tried to type as fast as you could, but you pushed through. Even when your watch was screaming at you to slow down cause your heart rate was escalating. Unfortunately for you, your watch was connected to FRIDAY, informing Tony of your condition.

access the files.”

“Get Fury on the line. Now.”

The team waited anxiously for Fury’s voice to come over the quinjet, but nothing.

“Director Fury has requested that I tell you that he will meet you back at the compound,” FRIDAY finally said.

“He damn better,” Tony growled.

~~~

“Rheumatoid arthritis?” Many of the team members repeated after Fury had told them about your condition. 

The team was in the common room, while you had been tucked into your bed for some much needed rest. Fury was standing in front of them, stoic as ever.

“Since when?” Tony asked. He was beginning to grow angry at you for keeping such a secret. 

“Since before I knew her,” Fury answered. “Y/N was diagnosed at age 17.”

“You can get arthritis that young?” Steve questioned.

“It’s not that common,” Bruce answered, “but it happens.”

“Why hide it?” Nat asked. 

“Now that is a question Y/N must answer,” Fury replied. “I’ve already said too much. Right now though, Y/N needs some serious rest and not a lot of stress.”

Tony clenched his jaw and stood up, marching out of the room.

“What’s up with him?” Steve asked.

“Seriously, Steve?” Natasha questioned. “He’s in love with her. He’s mad he didn’t know sooner.”

“He’s in love with her? Are you sure? I’m pretty sure they’re just… best… friends… okay, yeah, I’m old.”

~~~

Tony was mad at you, no question about it. You two supposedly told each other everything, then this happened. Though his wasn’t happy with you, he was still very concerned. Locking himself away in his lab, Tony studied everything there was to know about rheumatoid arthritis. He absolutely hated feeling this helpless, especially when it came to you. Tony didn’t want to feel that way again.

You slept until well into the night. Slowly waking up, the pain was definitely still there, but more bearable. With your eyes not fully open, you looked around your room. You were surprised yet a little relieved to see that you were alone. Pushing yourself to sit up, you let out a small groan and a long breath. The mission definitely didn’t go as you had planned, and you were embarrassed because of it. 

With a deep breath, you slowly moved over to the edge of the bed. As you pushed yourself off to head to the bathroom, your bedroom door opened.

“What are you doing?” Tony fretted, hurrying to you. “You should be in bed still.”

“I need to pee,” you replied, sleepily, with your eyes squinting because of the light streaming in from the hallway.

“Then call for help next time.”

“I’m not injured, Tony. I can walk.”

“But you—“

“Need to be able to pee on my own. Wait out here if you want to but I don’t need help.”

You slowly went to your connecting bathroom, sighing as you sat on the toilet. When you were done with your business, you walked out to see that Tony had shut the door and was now staring out your window. You walked to your bed, the tension slowly building.

“Tony—“

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He was quiet and hurt, which hurt you. “I thought we told each other everything.”

“I just… I’m sorry, Tony. I really am.”

When he turned to face you, the look on his face broke your heart. It was hurt, loud and clear, shining through his eyes. Tears slowly began building up in yours. 

“I—“ your voice broke slightly. You took a deep, shaky breath. “There’s just so many sides to this… so many sides people can react to finding out… they believe me and worry too much, believing that just by breathing I could break. There’s those who don’t believe me at all and those who spend every waking second comparing me to their grandparents… and then there’s those who don’t believe… but that’s not even the worst one…. The worst one is those that believe but slowly think I’m overreacting. That I can just push through, like I don’t do that every freakin’ day already.” You let a tear slip out of your eye. “Like I don’t feel pain every damn day… when I complain, when I say it’s too much, I mean it’s too damn much… but people still don’t believe that I’m trying my best… that’s why I didn’t say anything. I was terrified about what people would think… about what you would think…”

Tony didn’t quickly move. He stood there, staring, while his mind was clearly turning. You closed your eyes, turning away from Tony. Your throat began to tighten, emotions building. Tony’s footsteps were heard, and you swore they were heading towards the door. So it surprised you when you felt a dip in your bed and a gently hand under your chin. Tony guided your head to face him as your eyes slowly opened, glistening with tears.

“It hurts that you kept this from me. It does,” he started. “But it doesn’t hurt as much as knowing that you’ve been hurt so many times because people didn’t believe you. That you’ve been pushing your body to the absolute limit to protect yourself.” He moved his hand onto your cheek, catching the tears from your cheeks. “You didn’t have to protect yourself from me, honey, cause all I want to do is protect you… I believed you were the strongest woman before this, and now I know it. You can depend on me, Y/N. I will be there when ever you need help, or when you believe you can do it on your own. But you don’t have to, cause I want to be there… I… I love you.”

“Even knowing the truth?”

“Honey, that only made me love you more.”

You quickly put your lips on his. He willingly welcomed it. When you separated, Tony rested his forehead against yours.

“I love you, too,” you breathed out.

He pressed a quick kiss to your lips. “Now, I’ve researched everything there is to know about RA and I think—“

You shook your head. “Okay, mama bear, do you think we could get some sleep and talk more about it in the morning?”

“Yes, dear.”