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Steve wasn’t prepared for anything to go off the rails at the gala. The Avengers were expected to go to parties like this every week, as a part of their contract with the American government. It was also not surprising that Tony would know some of the fancy rich people who came personally, considering he was a regular attendant of several other galas a week, and he ran in the same circle that most of the other attendees did. However, it was unusual for him to have a standoff with any one of the guests, excluding the one time that a guest had walked straight up to Steve and had proceeded to explain, in startling detail, why Captain America was the reason for all of the Avengers’ shortcomings.
Tony was the media darling boy, even more so than Steve. He had them all eating out of his palm, and everyone that knew him personally -- the Avengers, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy specifically -- had been a guest to one of the absolutely ridiculous schmoozing sessions -- aka press conferences -- which left the paparazzi and press reeling and confused as to why they hadn’t just agreed with him in the first place.
Long story short, Tony had gotten sent home for punching a civilian that night, nevermind that he was one, and had been lavishly rewarded later that night with a blowjob from Steve because it was so hot when Tony got pissy and protective.
This gala was different though, because, for the first time, Tiberius Stone was on the guest list.
…
Steve sat back on the barstool, and absent-mindedly swirled the contents of his glass around. He was pretty sure it was some kind of frou-frou drink that one of the ladies that usually hung off his arm had ordered for him, but one sip had him recoiling from the overwhelming sweetness and the fruit juice like taste. Across the room, Tony was laughing and chatting with one of the old ladies. They always attended and cooed over Steve’s arms, which never failed to make him blush even after all this time -- much to Tony’s delight. The rest of the Avengers weren't present since Tony and he acted as leaders, meaning they were really the only two who needed to be there.
Like Tony had sensed his gaze, the brunette turned to smile at him, squeezing the lady he was talking to’s’ hands and making his way across the dance floor to stand between Steve’s parted knees. “Like what you see, Cap?” Tony was smiling so wide that his rarely seen dimples were showing. Steve softened from his rather tense position -- relaxing made him notice how stiff his muscles were -- to press a kiss to Tony’s cheek. Galas still made him uncomfortable, still made him feel like a dancing monkey all over again, but Tony was here, and smiling, and laughing, and that eased the discomfort enough to make him relax.
“You know I do, Tony,” he said, hopping off the stool, still holding his pink and orange drink.
Tony smiled up at him. He plucked Steve’s drink out of his hands and took a swallow, wrinkling his nose, and his mouth twisting. “Why the hell are you drinking this? It just tastes like fruit juice.”
Steve shrugged. “Somebody gave it to me. Or rather,” he wrapped his arm around Tony’s waist and pulled him closer. “Somebody ordered it for me. It was some lady who was hanging off my arm and kept petting me. Sweet, but rather grabby.”
Tony opened his mouth to reply, probably teasing, just to be interrupted by a tall, muscular blonde-haired man that Steve had never seen before. He looked like one of the normal businessmen who came that Stee paid no attention to (Steve only had eyes for on businessman), his hair swaying against his shoulders. “Marc Antony,” he said smoothly, voice low.
Tony detangled himself with Steve and smiled stiffly. “Hail Caesar,” he said back, and though Steve had no idea who the hell this guy was, it was obvious that Tony wanted to upend the remanents of his drink onto this guy’s head. “Hello, Ty.”
The man -- Ty, he supposed -- threw his head back and laughed, tugging Tony’s stiff body into a hug. “You remembered!”
Tony stepped back into Steve, who wrapped his arm again around Tony’s waist, settling it on his hip. Ty shot a look to Steve’s hand and then back up to Steve’s face, face twisting into a mockery of a smile. “Tony,” the other man said. “Care to introduce me to your friend?”
Tony laughed a fake thing and gestured to Ty. “Steve, this is my,” he hesitated. “ Friend , Tiberius Stone. Ty, this is my boyfriend Steve.”
The other man’s face contorted for a bare second with rage before smoothing out into a calm look. “Just a friend, Anthony?”
“That’s all I intend to introduce you as, Ty.” Tony might’ve looked fine to an outsider, but years of being Tony’s teammate and parter had taught him to look for the small ways Tony carried stress. The way his jaw clenched, and how his hands were trembling. Steve knew that Tony’s hands trembled for a multitude of reasons. Tony’s hands shook when he was sad, they shook when he was tired, sometimes they shook when he was just sitting down to eat dinner. But for the life of him, Steve didn’t think that this was just because he was tired.
Stone stepped closer to the lovers. “Why don’t we get a drink, Tony? You can sit with me, and we can see about our old relationship, if I may be so bold.” he shot a look at Steve, and Steve clenched his jaw. He didn’t like the way that Stone was stepping into their space, he didn’t like the way he casually put words in Tony’s mouth, and, trivial as it may be, he didn’t like the way he kept glancing at Steve with an indecipherable look.
He didn’t like Stone, period.
And the way he causally ignored Tony and his’ relationship was just icing on the cake.
Tony bristled, and Steve braced himself for one of Tony’s rare outbursts. He didn’t know the history between either billionaire, but he would bet his shield that it wasn’t pretty. What came out of Tony’s mouth next, though, surprised him and angered him beyond all limits.
“You hit me.” Tony’s voice was flat. “You hit me, you touched me, you hurt me, and you told me it was my fault, that I deserved it, and I believed you.” He laughed bitterly. “I believed you because you told me that you loved me, and anything you did to me was love, and, and you told me you loved me until the ends of the Earth, and I thought for once somebody might've meant it.”
Stone looked taken aback. “Tony,” he started, voice irritatingly soft, like he was trying to soothe a frightened animal. “You know I-”
“Shut it,” Tony hissed. “Shut it. You have no say, absolutely no hold. You used to hit me and leave me bruised and bleeding in more places than just my skin and bones, and leave me crying on our--no your bedroom floor because you used to kick me out of that room more than I slept in it remember? You hit me and told me it was love. You told me that you were just showing me some tough love, that you were disciplining me, that you were treating me better than anyone else would’ve. You told me that nobody else was strong enough to beat this into me and nobody else could deal with me and that shattered, broken relationship that I was so pathetically grateful for was all I was ever going to get.
You raped me,” he went on and Steve felt his heart stop for a moment. “You would pin me to the bed and take what you wanted because that was all that mattered wasn’t it?” he said angrily, going on. “And then you left. You told me I was stupid and weak, and useless, and that Howard, who was supposed to know me the best, didn’t even like me and so that meant I was defective . Do you remember that? You hit me and called it love, you called me names and said it was love, you touched me and raped me in my own bed and said it was love, and you took and took and took, even when I had nothing else to give, and you think,” he said, bitter. “You think after all that, after you left me shattered and broken in what was supposed to be my home, that I would want, now, to have a drink with you?” he said, wiping away the hot, angry tears that had formed. “Take your drink and go fuck yourself,” he said, and Steve doesn’t think he’s ever been prouder of Tony than at that moment.
Stone was gaping at the both of them, and Steve didn’t bother to even smile at the asshole. He bared his teeth at the other blonde, tugging Tony with him towards the door. “Have a nice night, asswipe,” he called over his shoulder.
Tony didn’t say anything the whole way to the door and only opened his mouth when they were standing in the bracingly chilly air outside. “What’re we doing out here?” his voice was exhausted and overwhelmingly sad, and Steve’s heart ached for the boy Tony must’ve been, trusting and believing, alone and sad, all by himself with no one to turn to.
Steve tucked Tony farther into his side. “We’re leaving, baby.”
Tony tilted his head up to look at Steve from under his arm. “I still had people to talk to, Steve. Pepper--”
Steve shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re going home.”
Tony had a shadow of his genuine smile, a fraction of the smile he had when he had approached Steve before their encounter with Stone. “Thank you.”
Steve didn’t reply and squeezed Tony’s waist.
…
The cab ride was silent aside from Tony’s soft sniffles. Tony sat in his lap and hid his face in Steve’s chest and he kept his hand tangled in Tony’s hair, ignoring the tears that soaked into his shirt. He tosed the driver a wad of cash. “You mention anything about this to the press, and I will sue you of everything you own.” It was a Tony move really, but he had bigger concerns.
He scooped Tony up and set him down when they were in the elevator up to their private penthouse but Tony didn’t lean into him, but rather stayed upright and stared at the elevator doors with surprising intensity. Steve wondered if Tony saw anything.
When the door opened with a ding, Tony walked right out and didn’t even look at Steve, making a beeline for their room, not looking at Steve, which made his heart pang. Steve followed behind at a slower pace, not wanting to crowd the other man.
When he walked into the room, Tony was already fumbling with his tie in front of their vanity, but from what he could see, Tony’s hands were trembling too much to do anything.
“Tony,” Steve said softly, intending to tell him to sit down next to him on the bed, but Tony interrupted him before he could say anything else.
“I'm sorry,” Tony’s voice was soft, and Steve pretended not to see where Tony’s eyes were filling.
“What for?” Steve couldn’t think of anything Tony had done wrong, short of not punching Stone in the face when he had the chance.
“I’m sorry you had to see that. I shouldn't have, uh, said all that while you were there. You can,” he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing. “You can go if you’d like.” he didn’t turn to face Steve, but his eyes strayed to meet his in the mirror.
Steve rose from his perch on the edge of the bed and rose to wrap both arms around Tony’s waist. The smaller man obstinately didn't’ relace back into him like he normally did. “Why would I leave,” he murmured into Tony’s ear. “Why would I ever want to leave you,” he said, pressing a feather-soft kiss to Tony’s bristly cheek.
Tony spun around and glared up at Steve, eyes over bright. “Because I’m weak? Because I’m weak and stupid, and a part of me wanted that damn drink despite it all? Because you deserve better than me even though that’s not my choice to make?” he sagged into Steve, the fight draining out of him letting Steve walk both of them back to the bed and tug Tony into his lap. Tony let out a bodily shudder and clutched Steve’s jacket like a lifeline, pressing his face into Steve’s shoulder hard enough that it must’ve hurt. Steve pressed kisses to Tony’s head as he felt the sobs start-up against his shoulder, and wished he could let Tony curl up in his own heart, safe and loved and far away from anything that might lay a hand on him.
“I hate this,” came the whispered reply several minutes later. Tony lifted his head and wiped away some of the tears that were still coursing down his face. “I hate that you’ve seen this broken, broken thing inside me, and you have proof that I’m even more fucked up than you thought I was. I should tell you to go, and you really do deserve better, but,” he took a shuddering breath. “I’m so so tired of being left alone.”
Steve sighed and tugged his hand through Tony’s hair. “I’m not leaving, babydoll. I’m not leaving, and I can’t imagine who else I should be with if not you. You’re not weak, and you’re not useless, and you’re the farthest thing from stupid. I love you, and I’m going to marry you one day,” Tony’s breath hitched, but Steve went on. “And it’s going to be perfect, and romantic, and everything you deserve. But, right now, I want you to know that I’m not going to leave you alone, and I’m never, ever going to think you’re broken. You’re a survivor and will always be a survivor. And people like Tiberius Stone can never take that from you.”
Tony opened his mouth, presumably to protest, but Steve covered his mouth. “Sh. You trust me, you love me,” here Tony nodded vigorously. “And I just want you to believe me, baby. We’re going to talk about this. We’re going to wake up tomorrow and eat, and then we’ll talk. It won’t be pretty, both of us are probably going to cry, but we’re going to deal with this okay?” he removed his hand from Tony’s mouth and began to undo his tie. “Now, bed.”
Tony’s hand went to cover Steve’s on his tie. “Thank you,” he said, voice raw. “Thank you so much.”
Steve smiled at him and made quick work of removing Tony’s jacket and pants, tugging a pair of Steve’s sweatpants on him from the dresser and stripping himself down to his boxers. Steve got them both situated, Tony resting on his chest and Steve lying down. Tony was tracing patterns against his pec and was probably not going to sleep through the night, but Steve thinks that this won’t ruin him.
Tony was a phoenix.
Nothing would ruin him.