What Are the Odds? (Stony Au)

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven: A Guide to Giving Up.

"Hold this," Bruce handed the shirt to Wanda, so she could continue to apply pressure.

Bruce grabbed a ClozeX, using the needle-less adhesive to tightly pull the wound together. Tony didn't react to the pain, so he pulled a bit tighter before setting it into place. He did one extra layer of gauze and bandages, before finishing.

"Switch me," Bruce muttered, already moving to Wanda's place. He repeated the process carefully, as to not hurt Tony.

"Is he alright?" Wanda asked, concerned for the man. He was awake, but not present. An unsettling feeling settled in her stomach when she looked at his blank stare, causing her to immediately look away.

"Yeah. Yeah, he'll be fine," Bruce assured, pushing her to the door of the infirmary, "Tell Steve to come, please. You've done a good job, thanks."

"Of course," Wanda tried to ignore the guilt on her chest. This was not how she expected Tony to react, at all.

She walked downstairs to Steve's room, glancing at Tony's halfway repaired room on the way. Upon entering the neat bedroom, she realized his absence. Steve was nowhere to be found, so she headed back to the stairs.

A faint sniff caught her off guard, so she stopped to examine Tony's room more thoroughly. The bed was remade with clean linen, and the clothing that usually occupied the floor was put away neatly in the realigned furniture. The hole in the floor remained, but all of the walls and flooring were clean of blood. She knew that it had to be Steve's doing.

"Steve...are you alright?" Wanda cautiously approached the teary eyed man. He was arched over on Tony's desk, but she could tell that he was upset.

"Y-Yeah," Steve wiped just face, clearing his nose, "Sorry, I just-...I just needed a minute."

"That's alright, it happens," Wanda gently rested a hand on Steve's shoulder, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, no," Steve politely declined, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "I'm fine. What did you need?"

"Nothing, right now," Wanda sat beside him, "What's wrong?"

"I told you," Steve's voice was still thick with emotion, but his tears had dried, "I just thought that he was getting better, that's all. It's hard to see him...like this, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Wanda paused, realizing something that she hadn't before, "You really like him."

"Yeah," Steve chuckled, "Yeah, I do. He makes me very happy for some reason that I just can't explain. He's like the song of the mockingbirds in the morning that you can't help but smile at. After a tough day, or a great one, I like coming home to see him. He gives me a reason to smile, a reason to fight. I don't know what I would've done if I...I hadn't-...if I hadn't, uhm,"

"If you hadn't found him in time," Wanda finished for him, standing up, "Bruce would like you to come to the infirmary. I'll walk you, if you're ready to see him."

"Yeah, I'm ready," Steve stood with a stretch, "Thanks."

~~~~~~

"Yeah, I get it. I'll stay here with him," Steve nodded at Bruce's explanation, "But he's going to recover, physically?"

"Oh yeah, for sure," Bruce assured the clearly worried man. Wanda entered the room with two coffees, and Bruce took that as his que to leave.

"Thank you," Steve accepted the coffee, keeping a watchful eye on Tony, who he thought to be asleep.

"You're welcome," Wanda offered a half smile, "Tell me, how are you here? Not like to visit, but how are you watching him when you know what he's done? Are you not mad? Does he not make you troubled? You put up with all of his moods, his burdens, you put up with him. How?"

"That's easy," Steve sipped his coffee with a small shrug, "I love him."

"You do?" Wanda tried not to be surprised.

"Yeah, all of him. Even the parts that he doesn't. Tony gives me mini heart attacks too often, and he keeps me up at night. He makes me sad and angry, and he's hard to keep up with honestly. He constantly needs to be reassured and watched," Steve spoke.

"I know," Wanda agreed.

"But I can't lie, it's all worth it," Steve smiled slightly, "I fell in love with his soft brown eyes. I love how his nose crinkles when he laughs, or how his cheeks flush when he's angry but won't admit it."

They both chuckled at that one, "I love how he's so strong. He doesn't think that I notice when he has a nightmare, or that I notice when someone tells a joke that hits just a little bit harder than they thought. I admire him for trying to hide it and not burden me, but I want that to change. I want to be a safe spot, I want to be who he goes to for help. But most importantly, I want him to know that it's okay to get help."

Steve brought his eyes back to the sleeping figure, "I don't want him to feel trapped or wrong. I want him to know that we all bend and break sometimes, but I also want him to realize that suicide isn't the answer. I want him to know that I'm not mad or disappointed."

"Really? Not even a little bit?" Wanda looked at him in disbelief. There was no way.

"No, it wasn't his fault," Steve explained, "He needed help, and I'm going to get it for him. He's going to be scared and upset when he wakes, and I want him to see a familiar face. So that's why I do what I do. That's how I do what I do. I do it out of love."

A small smile of content fell onto Wanda's face, "Good. Because I can see that Tony fancies you so. I can see it in the way he looks at you, and now, I can see that you feel the same way too."