I'm out of my head - hs AU

12

« I need help. »
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The two of them had gone to Pizza Hut, and at that point the two of them had been there for almost three hours. They had been talking and talking, about many different things in their lives. Tony about his unusual upbringing and Steve about his normal one, both equally fascinated by the other. Steve had wanted to ask on multiple occasions about the palladium poisoning and if he had spoken to his friends yet, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had too much respect for Tony's privacy, or at least he'd like to believe he did. And, seeing how down Tony had been before he didn't want to remind him about the hardships he had gone through. But he couldn't help the curiosity he felt to know about Tony's palladium values.

At one point during their visit to Pizza Hut Tony excuses himself to the bathroom, Steve sat there patiently waiting while he watched Tony leave the room. Once he disappeared from sight Steve stood up from his chair and walked over to Tony's instead, he had hung his jacket on the backrest and Steve wanted to see if Tony had brought the device he had taken out of Tony's locker a while ago.
Steve searched the pockets, even if there were any on the inside. "Bingo." Steve whispered once he had found the device. But his joy quickly ran out once he saw that the display didn't show anything at the moment.

"Fuck." Steve swore to himself. How am I supposed to swiftly prick his finger with this thing? It hurt like a bitch when I did that. But... maybe I should just ask him instead. Sneaking around like this is just creepy and rude.

"What are you doing with that?" A voice spoke behind Steve, he quickly turned around. He was met with Tony, who had a discouraged look on his face. His eyes flickering between Steve's and the device he was holding on to. From the surprise of Tony's voice Steve nearly slammed the device down on the table in an attempt at hiding it, not intending for Tony to notice he had been looking for it in the first place. Tony wasn't sure what to feel, Steve had been searching through his jacket and seemingly thought about the palladium poisoning. Even though he wished not to talk about it he'd have preferred Steve asked him about it rather than go through his stuff.

"Tony!" Steve exclaimed. "I'm... I'm so sorry. I— I was— I wasn't sure if... w—" Steve cut himself off and sighed deeply, letting go of the device. "I really am sorry, Tony. It was creepy of me to go through your pockets. It's just that— I can't pretend like I'm not wondering. How are you... fine? Have you talked to your friends? Did you find a cure? I— there are so many questions, Tony. I'm just scared to ask." Steve explained. Tony sighed and walked past Steve so he could sit down again, he slumped over and leaned his head against his hand.

"I'm not fine, Steve. It's lithium dioxide and it takes away the symptoms for a while. And no I haven't talked to my friends and I haven't found a cure. I'm still dying. I just can't feel it anymore." Tony pricked his finger on the device and showed it to Steve. Who gasped audibly and put a hand over his mouth. Once he realized how strong his reaction had been he cleared his throat and took the device from Tony's hand.

"5... 50%" Steve stammered, feeling like he was loosing his balance from the shock. Tony is technically half dead. Steve took a deep breath. The brunet noticed Steve's shortness of breath, and he began fearing his friend was on the brink of an asthma attack. But that wasn't it.

"Steve, maybe you should sit down." Tony suggested, seeing Steve swallow a lot and often. Steve wasn't listening.

"Hey, Steve. Calm down. I'm fine. Please don't freak out here." Tony whispered. Steve nodded. Tony couldn't wrap his head around why Steve even reacted so harshly to the values, not even he himself reacted that way. The only time, at the moment, he could feel the effects of the palladium was when he woke up after sleeping since he would be without new doses of the lithium dioxide. That's when he felt it the most. He would wake up every morning and he'd have to dash to the bathroom and throw up in a nearly blind haze, not only from the nausea but also from the excessive taste of iron and more recently little amounts of blood. Like he had abstinence he injected the lithium dioxide, watching as the ever expanding tendrils faded.