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"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Steve says. "I mean, what if something bad happens?"
"What's the worst that could happen?" Tony replies.
"Why would you say that?" Natasha asks.
"Yeah, whenever someone says 'What's the worst that could happen,' something awful happens," Clint adds.
"If my parents find out they're literally going to kill me, this better be worth it," Wanda says.
They were sitting in the used car lot a couple of blocks from their neighborhood, drinking at 3 am. That probably should have worried them, but it didn't.
"Tony, I love you, but stealing a car?" Steve said. "We could get in real trouble!"
"I think it would be fun," Clint piped up.
"Clint, no one cares about your opinion," Wanda shot back. "You're only here because of Natasha."
"Hey, don't be mean to Clint," Steve chided. "You didn't have to say it like that."
"What do you think, Kaylee?" Natasha asked.
"Whatever," she says, taking another swig from the bottle they've been passing around.
"Seeee," Tony slurs, taking the bottle from her. Steve would have normally snatched the bottle away at this point, but drunk as the rest of them, he just laughs."Soooo, anyone know how to hot wire a car?"
Unsurprisingly, Natasha raises her hand. "Which one?"
Wanda points to a random one and Natasha strides off with Tony stumbling close behind and Steve following him concernedly. The rest of the group slowly gets up to follow. Natasha picks the lock, opens all the doors, and pops the hood. Tony sits in the driver's seat but Steve sticks his foot out to keep him from closing the door.
"Tony, you're drunk," Steve says.
"Yeah, so are you," Tony points out.
"Yeah, but . . ." Steve trails off. There was definitely a coherent argument there, but his brain can't figure it out, so he just takes the bottle from Tony and goes to the passenger side. Tony can be such an idiot, he thinks. Natasha must get something to work because the car starts up with a rumble.
"Tony, put your seat belt on," Steve says firmly.
"Make me," he giggles, leaning close enough that Steve can smell the alcohol on his breath. Steve pushes him back, gently but firmly.
"Tony-" Steve tries.
"No," he replies with the same grin.
"Anthony Edward Stark," Steve grinds out.
"StEveN GRanT RoGErs," Tony mocks. "What? What's gonna happen, huh? Who the **** cares?"
Steve, frustrated, leans his head against the dashboard. God his head hurts so much right now, why did he have that much to drink? Steve feels the vehicle start to move, but he's too tired to lift his head, or put on his seat belt, ironically, given the argument he had (and lost) not a minute ago. Wanda, Clint, Kaylee, and Natasha sit squished in the backseat, none of them fussed about seat belts as there aren't enough anyway, talking or giggling or something. Tony fumbles with his phone and then loud music reverberates through the car. Steve feels like his head is splitting open.
"Tony," he mumbles, "the music my head"
Tony looks at him, and something changes in his eyes; he turns the music down. His voice is soft when he asks "You okay, babe?"
Steve groans in response, and Tony pulls over, leaving the car running because **** it's freezing. It's dark outside, the headlights of the car they "borrowed" aren't working, so Tony turns on the dome light as he twists in his seat to peer more closely at Steve's face.
"What's going on?" Clint yells from the backseat. Steve winces and Tony throws a "Shut up no one cares" back to Clint. Steve gives him a look at that and Tony sighs before explaining "It's Steve"
Kaylee, ever sarcastic, clips back.
"No **** it's Steve, we can all see that,"
"No, he's-" Tony starts but then breaks off. He can't explain the difference, that something's wrong, something that he only knows because of the closeness of spending almost every waking moment together. Tony turns his attention back to Steve. His face is paler than usual. Tony clasps Steve's chin, turning his head to inspect it, gently pokes the bruise on his forehead from the dashboard.
Bright light floods the car and suddenly everyone is screaming and everything is moving and the world spins around these six drunk, stupid teenagers in a stolen car. Tony is barely conscious when he hears someone say something about a fatality and for a moment, even in his delirious state, his mind screams in fear that it might be Steve. But then he hears Natasha's anguished yell of "Clint" and hates himself for being relieved because nothing will ever cut her as much as the death of her best friend. He hates himself for being alive, for getting them all into this stupid mess, for suggesting they go to the lot, for bringing the alcohol, for suggesting this whole ****** idea in the first place. He can't breathe and god why is he such an idiot. A paramedic places an oxygen mask over his face and tells him to breathe slowly, that's it. A police officer in the background mutters something about driving on the wrong side of the road, no decals, no permit, and Tony is floored for a moment. The wrong side of the road? They weren't. Were they? Car hit them straight on, teenagers are always idiots, someone else replies. The paramedic is saying something, putting a brace on his neck and telling him that they will take good care of him but something is rushing in his ears (the ocean?) and he just nods, or tries to, as two paramedics lift him out of the car and into an ambulance.