Avengers Imagines

I Can't Lose You- Tony Stark

(Gender Neutral Reader)

"Would you hold still?" Tony scolded for the fifth time. You tried to do as he asked, it was sort of the least you could do, but the antiseptic stung at the gash on your side and you jumped every time.

"Sorry, sorry..." you mumbled through your teeth as he dotted your injury with the practically sizzling disinfectant. You bit down on your lip and tensed every muscle to keep your torso still.

"Now you're apologizing?" he snapped quietly, focusing on your cut. Tony was kind enough to help clean up after a mission. However, he wasn't happy about the cause. It was a pretty close call. Well, more like "by the skin of your teeth escape." You weren't exactly careful, and now you had more than a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing lethal, luckily, so you saw it as a win. But, your boyfriend didn't see it that way.

"Well, I don't have anything else to apologize for..." You heard yourself utter the words before you registered it. You noticed his jaw clench, and he continued to avoid your eyes. This was easy for him, as you were sat on the lab's counter and Tony was in his desk chair and eye level with your stomach. Though you could feel his anger radiating off him. "Tony," you sent out a feeler to see just how pissed he was, but he pushed away from you to the other desk and grabbed a pair of tweezers.

His hands were hesitant at first, the gentleness of his hand holding your hip in place a stark contrast to the harsh glare he still held. The feeling was interrupted by the tweezers digging out rubble in your cut, and the breath you didn't remember holding left your lungs abruptly. "Tony," you repeated, wanting him to just look at you more and more. Unfortunately, he continued to stare a hole into your side and pulled out every piece of debris that had embedded itself in your side.

Once it was clean, he pressed a bandage to your side and leaned back with his arms crossed. You expected now to be the time for conversation, but he didn't think so. Tony spun around and casually got to his feet, heading straight towards the door.

"Tony!" you called after him, not expecting for it to be a shout. He stopped in his tracks once you said his name.

"Oh, now you want me? What could I do for you?" He spun on his heel when he spoke, passive aggressiveness dripping from every word. Though you weren't surprised. "Cover your ass while you run blindly into a compromised situation?" Despite wanting him to meet your eyes for so long before, you averted your gaze from his laser focused glare. "No wait, that's what should've happened three hours ago."

"I don't need you to cover me in every fight," you grumbled while yanking on your shirt. You wanted to stay calm during this argument, but that seemed unlikely. Tony started back towards you, looking determined and pissed as ever.

"When we started dating, we agreed to be careful in the field! That was the only way we could have some peace of mind, and when you do shit like this-" he started, but you cut off his yell with your own.

"Shit like what? Saving a teammate? A friend? Clint was unconscious, and the enemy was closing in on him. I was closest so of course I went to get him out! God you're such a hypocrite. You know you would've done exactly what I did!" you shout, hopping off the counter and landing on your feet with a wince.

"You were reckless and irresponsible! Are you really not going to admit that!?" You two were properly in each other's faces now, yelling like your team weren't in rooms on the same floor. 

"Real rich coming from someone who flew through a wormhole literally holding a missile!"

"You're really throwing that in my face?!"

"I don't always need your help!"

"I can't lose you!" You were silent after Tony yelled that. He shifted so quickly from angry to caring, and you could see the worry behind his eyes. Your own features softened when you saw tears dotting the corners of his eyes. "You're not indestructible Y/N, and every time you charge head on into the unknown, it's like I can't breathe..." he admitted, volume shifting way down.

Tony tried to make the drying of his tears subtle, but you saw right through him. Your arms wrapped around him, and your face nuzzled into his shoulder as he held onto you.

"I know I can be strong willed and, reckless...and I'm sorry because I know it must put you through hell. But, you know that's who I am..." You felt his arms tighten around you almost protectively. 

"It's honestly one of the reasons I love you. I'm just afraid of what the end result might be..." There was a crack in his voice too evident to miss. 

You leaned back to meet his eyes, and kept your arms on his shoulders to keep the proximity. "We're always gonna be worried about each other, I can't change that. But I can be more careful. Try to be, anyway."

You felt Tony's thumb gently swipe over your cheek, and he placed a soft yet meaningful kiss on your lips. "I'll take it."

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Hey, so this is the start of my chronological countdown of imagines of pretty much every major MCU character until Infinity War! I'm gonna do one every week until May 4th, and I think it'll help with my discipline in posting. Anyway, thanks for reading! Vote, comment, and request!