Chapter Text
One of the main emotions present in the various minds of the Avengers was confusion.
For Thor he had only heard second hand stories of what had happened. He heard that the Man of Iron had done something incredible without the amazing midgardian armor he had crafted himself. He was confused because he always knew Brother Stark was something more than what the others had seemed to think. He knew he was stronger than most of the team even without the suit. Though Thor was naive he wasn’t dumb and he had lived for centuries, not to mention he was a warrior, he could tell when someone was strong. He had spent enough time with Jane and Darcy to know enough about modern day Midgard. He didn’t call Brother Stark the Man of Iron purely because of his suit or his hero name, but rather he could tell that he was made of something greater than human flesh. He was confused on how no one else could see that. How supposed masters of observation and assassnation like the Widow and Hawkeye could miss something like that in someone who was their Shield Brother.
Bruce was just as confused as Thor was. He knew Tony was far different than what he showed the rest of the world and even what he showed the team. He caught glimpses of the long hours he would spend working on projects for his company, only to spend even longer repairing and upgrading the team’s gear all without break. He knew Tony was different from the moment he had greeted him the first time and when he willingly flew a nuke into a portal. Bruce knew that the man cared far more than most would realize. He had heard the same stories as Thor and they confused him. He knew Tony was different but he had no clue how different the man that wore shiny armors was. Though, once again, like Thor he was confused on how other members of the team couldn’t tell that Tony was different than what the world assumed him to be.
Was Clint confused? Yes, of course he was. With his eyesight he caught just how fast Tony had moved in order to stop that building from falling on those people. He could see the tension in his body had been far more connected to the reactions he garnered than the building resting on his shoulders. He was confused where the strength had come from, where the speed had come from, and where the anxiety that seemingly contradicted Tony’s character had come from. He was also equally confused about what was apparently Tony’s true colors and personality. He knew it was partially his fault that he never saw it. He never bothered to look past what had been a mask because he trusted Nat’s capabilities in reading people. He trusted her to make an accurate reading. The one thing he hoped for though was that the sarcastic banter the two would share every so often wouldn’t be lost now that Tony’s walls had fallen. Because whether he would admit it or not he enjoyed being able to banter with someone that could keep up with his wit and wouldn’t stab him if he pushed the wrong buttons.
Natasha experienced a flurry of emotions. Regret, self-doubt and hatred, and the common confusion. She was confused on his superhuman abilities, but she was focused far more on his real personality. The same one she had missed when she was sent to personally find it. The one that had been swept away by her own assumptions of the man named Tony Stark. She regretted what she had written on his file now. Though she knew it was too late for that feeling to do much for her or him. More importantly she hates herself. She had spent years with Shield trying to make up for the ledger full of red. She had spent years trying to make people forget the assumption that she was still the KGB assassin she was trained to be. Yet, she made assumptions about Stark and they blinded her from any signs that he had been using a facade to hide from everyone. She had found all the textbook signs for the classic narcissistic drunken playboy and of course they were textbook, where else would he have gotten his information about those traits? Now that she knew and she looked back she could see all the little signs that should have told her that her initial assessment was wrong. If she couldn’t forgive herself how would Tony ever be able to?
Steve was a mess. He regretted that it was his fault that Tony’s walls had fallen. He knew that if he had paid more attention that that situation would never have happened. As much as the regret weighed on him the confusion of where these superhuman powers came from still remain. When he and the other Avengers had watched the press conference, which was sadly the first time they had seen Tony since the incident, he learned about the truth. The experimentation and abuse that the man he had viewed as a brother of sorts had done to his son. He regrets a lot of what he said to the man now. He regretted so much and he only wishes that Tony would have it in him to forgive him.
The world itself was shocked. They had idolized a man that willingly experimented on and abused his son, and then demonized the son. There was of course the minority that chose to believe it was a lie and just a publicity stunt. Though they were quickly drowned out by the rising support for the new Tony Stark that wasn’t new at all.
Rhodey and Happy were ecstatic that the man that was a major fixture in both of their lives finally let the walls surrounding him fall. They didn’t judge him or change how they treated him, but they know that now they knew the truth that they could help Tony far better than they could in the past.
Pepper… well she was happy that Tony could be himself around her. She knew the man best out of the people still left alive on Earth. She had known he had walls and secrets but she could never bring herself to pry. She couldn’t risk hurting the man she had fallen for over the years because she had asked the wrong thing. So, when he had come to them to tell them everything she was overjoyed. She had promised herself that she would stay by his side for as long he would have her there, no matter what form that took.
The man himself that caused all of this in these people felt both incredibly empty and fulfilled. He felt empty because of the loss of what became a mainstay in his life after so many years. With that emptiness came a sense of relief and fulfillment. He knew that now he could truly be himself. He could act and do what he wanted without worrying about his mask. However, he would never know how long the habits he had formed would last either.
Life would move on for everyone. The Avenger would continue to fight the seemingly weekly bad guy, and the world as a whole would move on. Though the occasional story of a new invention released by Stark Industries would remain a fixture of life.
Tony’s relationship with the various Avengers only grew, though that was after the period of being treated like glass. Him and Thor would talk and spar. Tony and Bruce were still “Science Bros!” Clint and him still shared their sarcastic banter though now they would also play games and host movie nights they would force the other Avengers to join in on. Tony quickly forgave Natasha and Steve. He knew enough about Natasha, from reading her files on multiple occasions, to know how much the discovery must have caused her pain, and despite what Steve had said in the past he knew that he wouldn’t have said them if he had known the full story. If he had known how Howard changed after he went under the ice or if he knew that he would need to look for a mask he wasn’t trained to find.
Tony, Rhodey, and Happy were just the same as before. They still joked the same, and they still held the same conversations. Now though Rhodey and Happy knew what to do and say when Tony seemed to struggle on some days. They knew to give him space when he would silently leave on certain days to visit his people that weren’t with him anymore.
On those same days the only person who would go with him was Pepper. She would be there with him with a comforting hand on his shoulder as quiet sobs would shake his frame during those visits. She was oftentimes the quiet presence beside him that grounded him and the first voice and hand to reach out when he drifted too far out. She would become so much more to him as the months would pass.
While life wasn’t perfect it was far better that it had been when he had been living behind masks and the assumptions.
Everyone learned an important lesson from Tony’s life.
That assuming can cause you to be blind to even the brightest of colors and deaf to even the most beautiful of sounds.