The soldier and the metal man

Its all just a mess pt2

Ch. 18

Johnny woke up late in the afternoon. He regretted opening his eyes a few seconds after doing so. He felt like he had been hit by a truck. Okay, maybe hit by a truck then dragged by it for several miles before being forced to ingest slow acting poison. His stomach, throat, and body all hurt.

He also began to wonder where he was. The room he was in didn't look like the one he lived in at the Baxter Building. This room was neater, more nicely furnished than his own.

There was a nightstand next to him with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin on it. He assumed that whoever had left it had been the one who had brought him there.

He took a sip of water and tried to remember what had happened. The night was a blur. He remembered going to The Box, seeing a show, and then spending time with Tony Stark at the bar. Tony had been complaining about something...

Then he remembered walking back to Stark Tower, and asking Tony if he could come in. It blanked out from there. Considering that he wasn't sore below the waist, he assumed that they hadn't had sex.

Johnny popped a couple aspirin in his mouth and drank down the water. He should go back home. The others were probably looking for him.

00

As Johnny walked out of Stark Tower, he noticed that it seemed to be deserted. None of the Avengers were around, nor was Pepper.

He went outside and decided to walk back to the club and pick up his car. Maybe if he gave himself some extra time, it would help him figure things out.

00

Johnny finally arrived at the Baxter Building as the sun began to set. He was slightly closer to filling the gaps in his memory, having remembered being sick and Tony helping him. He stepped off the elevator to come face to face with Susan, who was looking pretty upset.

"There you are!", she said, "We've been wondering where you went!"

"Oh, sorry. I ended up at Stark Tower, spent the night there."

"So the rumors are true, then?" Reed spoke up. Johnny hadn't even noticed him there. He really was tired.

"Wait, what rumors?"

"The rumors about you and Stark? You know, Steve Rogers is really upset about it, you really crushed the poor guy."

Johnny shook his head, "What are you guys talking about? I didn't hook up with Tony, if that's what you're implying."

"Really?" Sue asked, "Because Bruce called us up earlier complaining about how you and Tony had slept together and how devastated the Captain is because of it. If that's not true, then you really ought to call them and tell them!"

"Do it soon," Reed suggested. "I heard he's really taking it hard, you know, being pregnant and all too."

"Oh, shit. Yeah I'll call them."

Susan handed Johnny her phone and he walked into the hallway. Bruce Banner's number was listed in her contacts list, so he dialed it. It rang four times before Bruce picked up.

"Hello?" he asked. "Wait, hold on."

Johnny listened as Bruce put the phone down and started talking to someone in the background. All he could make out was Bruce saying something like "It's just my phone" and "It's not Tony". It sounded like someone in the room with him was yelling or crying. He heard Bruce say "Just give me a minute!" before coming back on the line.

"Sorry about that. Cap's still pretty upset. Did Johnny come back yet?"

"This actually is Johnny. I'm calling from Susan's phone."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence before Bruce added, "What is it that you need?"

"I'm calling to tell you that nothing happened between Tony and I. Nothing at all. We walked home and he showed me to the other room and I got really sick and he stayed with me until I fell asleep. That was it. I don't know what you guys think happened, but it definitely wasn't-"

Bruce sighed. "You don't need to pretend that it didn't happen. Steve will come around in time. You just may not want to come by the building anytime soon."

Johnny was really getting aggravated. "I'm not pretending anything! Nothing happened! I swear on it! What do you need me to do to prove it? Take a lie detector test? I'm. Not. Lying!"

There was another silence as Bruce considered Johnny's statement.

"You're serious?" he asked, just to confirm.

"Very serious! Listen, I asked if I could come in but he said that he didn't want to cheat on Steve."

"Wow." Bruce suddenly felt horrible for the way that he had treated Tony earlier. "Do... Do ya think you could talk to Steve, maybe? He won't talk to Tony, but maybe he'll listen to you."

"Yeah, fine, whatever. Put him on."

A second later, Johnny could tell that Steve was holding the phone. He could hear him sniffling and sobbing. It made him angry for some reason. Wasn't Captain America supposed to be stronger than that? Maybe being pregnant really had messed him up.

"Captain Rogers," Johnny said, by way of greeting.

"What do you want?" Steve answered.

"I want you to pull yourself together, because I didn't sleep with Tony."

Johnny could practically hear Steve's breath hitch. "Is this a joke?"

"I'm not joking! I didn't screw with him, Cap. I wanted to, I'll admit that, but he told me that he didn't want to cheat on you. I spent this morning in the room next to yours throwing up everything in my system thanks to the vodka from last night. Tony stayed with me because he thought I had alcohol poisoning. That is literally all that happened."

Steve was quiet for a minute before talking. "You're not just doing this to make me feel better?"

"Do I seem like the type of person to do that?"

"Not really, no."

"There's your answer. Look, I like Tony, I think he is very attractive, and I won't lie, I think he was attracted to me too, but he loves you and he wants to be with you and he turned me down because he didn't want to disrespect you."

"I sorta feel like an idiot now."

"Can't say I blame you. You ought to go find him."

"I will. And Johnny?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for calling. But if you ever so much as look at Tony again I'll shove my foot so far up your ass that it'll tickle your throat."

"Wow, Captain America cursing. Never thought I'd hear that. Talk to you later, Cap."

"Bye."

Steve handed the phone back to Bruce, and immediately made his way out of the medical center where he'd been staying. Hopefully Tony was still around and would be willing to forgive him.