Chapter Text
Sam had been living at the tower for about a month. Tony didn’t see him beyond the random group dinner and movie night, though that could probably be considered Tony’s fault with his strange hours and often passing out from exhaustion in his workshop. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend time with the new guy.
Honestly, he seemed really nice. The kind of guy that wouldn't bug him for tech, but come down to his shop to gossip instead. The kind of guy that shouldn’t be hanging around Tony’s complex negativity in the first place.
So, he kept his space and watched from afar. And tried to not be creepy doing it.
It was that habit - and by that point, it was definitely a habit - that led to Tony overhearing a conversation between Sam and Steve. Tony had been heading for the common room floor in an unusual attempt to feed himself. He had his head in the fridge, grabbing what appeared to be the leftovers of the dinner he had missed. Happily venting the container of spaghetti, he paused when he heard voices talking in the TV area.
“I really need to get off my ass and contact the New York VA, see if I can salvage my job,” Sam was saying.
“Why would you need a job?” Steve asked. “You’re an Avenger now.”
“Well I do occasionally like a new pair of underwear,” Sam said at his highest level of sarcasm Tony had heard yet.
“That’s already taken care of, though,” Steve said, sounding as lost and clueless as ever, though also not worried about how he sounded. Which was also so normal for the man that Tony couldn’t even feel annoyed by the super soldier’s next words. “Tony takes care of that stuff. Didn’t he give you your card?”
“Tony? Why-?”
But Tony was no longer listening, a sudden lack of sleep fueled panic hitting him. Sam had been in the tower for this long and Tony had been neglecting his new Avenger now underwear? He had the man’s card to the Avengers account he had set up on his workstation since the third day Sam had been there. He was pretty sure there was enough money in the account to cover underwear if they covered Natasha’s Swedish massages.
Tony grabbed his cold spaghetti and rushed to the elevator as silently as he could, face flaming red as the lift descended. How could he forget something so simple? No wonder Sam barely spoke to him when they were in the same room.
Rationally, he knew Sam spoke to him just as much as any other. Sometimes even spoke more to him after a mission. Honestly, Sam was the only one who took the time to force him for a medical overview, the rest accepting his demand of being fine. So, Tony was determined to make this mistake right.
He got to his workstation and dug around in a few drawers until he found the card hidden in the back of DUM-E’s stash drawer, hanging out with random screws and wrenches. Sighing in relief, he chose to not get annoyed with DUM-E. Tony would have accidentally thrown it out. He planned to give it to Sam in the morning, which meant eating and not drinking so he’d go to bed this time.
He’d fix his mistake. He handed the container of food over to DUM-E, insisting it go in the microwave, before working on schematics for Clint’s arrows. He determinedly started working and even stubbornly drank the spaghetti smoothie DUM-E ended up handing him.
He needed to do better. He didn’t want to lose them all. He finally had the security of people around him, who would stand up to fight with him instead of having it go alone. So, he went to bed early, the bank card on his nightstand so he’d remember immediately.
And of course, he awoke to a blaring signal in the air, one hour before he was due to be up. Avengers Assemble. Sighing, he got himself out of bed and rushed to his uniform before meeting the others for their quick briefing. He barely paid attention, half his brain still asleep, but he got the jist of it. Iron Man in the air, attacking any airborne psycho plants (yes, plants) and guiding them with his steady flight. (They had tried to see if Thor could provide the same and that was just useless.) Falcon, of course, would assist with attacks but the function of his suit was for pararescue. So, Tony had a habit of watching over him the most, what with the guy being the essential medical guy.
The guilt of not giving the guy his bank card hit him, but pushed to the side as they headed out. He was going to fix it.
So the battle was fought and the plant things of weirdness were defeated, even though Tony ended up pissed off for Sam going into battle much more than he should be. Didn’t the man understand the term medical support?
In fact, he was so angry by Sam’s reckless behavior, that the moment he was out of the suit and found Sam in the common floor he stormed over to him. “What was the point in blocking an attack I could easily handle, huh? You put yourself in unnecessary danger!”
“And saved you while you were fighting a bigger target,” Sam calmly replied, leaning back against the kitchen counter.
Tony clenched his jaw and glared at the man. “I would have been fine.”
“And it turned out I was just fine,” Sam said, giving that little smile of amusement.
Tony glanced around, realizing Steve and Bruce were watching. He scowled, ignoring how he was probably more pouting than anything if the look on Sam’s face was any indication. “Fine, whatever. I have something for you, I think it might still-” Tony said, patting his pockets, before pulling out the bank card from his jeans back pocket. “-Nevermind, found it!”
Sam didn’t show any shock by the swift change of conversation, nor did Steve and Bruce, who continued to watch from the couch. Which, at the very least, proved they paid enough attention to be casual with Tony’s sudden shifts in thoughts. Sam cleared his throat and asked, “What’s this?”
“It’s your bank card, for the Avengers account,” Tony said, handing the bright red and gold card over. “I’m really sorry it’s taken this long for me to give it to you. I got it in the mail a couple days after you got here, but DUM-E hid it in his personal shop drawer. There is plenty there for you to get stuff you’ve been needing-”
“Why are you giving this to me?” Sam interrupted, eyes darting between the card and Tony’s eyes. “I’m a part of the team and here to stay, you don’t have to buy me off.”
“What?” Tony snapped, feeling offended. “No, everyone gets a card for that account. We don’t exactly have pay with benefits for what we do. They all have one.”
Sam stared at him a moment. “I get what you’re doing, but I don’t understand why you need to be paying for everything for us. That’s a form of abuse and I plan on talking to the others about this.”
“What? No, abuse? No, I offered,” Tony insisted, feeling a confused sense of tension flow through him, causing his spine to stiffen. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m not trying to buy you guys off or something, okay?”
“What?” Sam stared at him, then glared over Tony’s shoulder at Steve and Bruce, though Tony didn’t know why. Letting out a deep sigh, Sam turned back to him. “Tony, I know you’re not buying us off. I’m just baffled why the others haven’t told you that we don’t need you paying for everything. The fact they aren’t willing to get their own jobs means they are abusing your money and in connection abusing you.”
Tony squinted at Sam, trying to figure out what the man was talking about. “Look, just take it.”
Sam sighed and reached out to take the card. “Fine, but I’m only going to use it for emergencies.”
“You…what?” Tony asked.
“Tony, I’m happy to be here with my team and create bonds with them honestly. I like working the job I had. I’m not about to go relying on you when I can do better good out in the world than I even do as Falcon. Okay?” Sam softly said.
Tony nodded, confused. “I’m, uh, I’m going to go work on Clint’s arrows then.”
He strode toward the elevator and hit the down button. The elevator moved slower than usual, which meant Jarvis wanted him to stay there a moment. So of course he heard Sam talking to the others, his shoulders tensing at the words.
“Do you seriously use his money for everything you need?” Sam demanded.
“He offered,” Steve replied.
“He did…I didn’t use the card at first,” Bruce said, his voice oddly guilty. “He seemed upset that I didn’t, so started to.”
“You guys get what’s wrong with this, right?” Sam asked.
“I do and I agree. It’s a habit I need to get out of,” Bruce said softly.
“But Tony is just giving us the pay we need as Avengers,” Steve said, sounding awkward.
“Fuck, Steve, we need to talk…” Sam replied.
The elevator door opened and Tony automatically walked into it, brain on hyperdrive. He had no idea of how to understand Sam’s words. Or Bruce’s. Everyone around him benefited off his money, even Rhodey benefitted from his constand upgrades of War Machine which often hit the six digit level.
Even more confusing was that after another four day binge in the shop, he took a moment to check his accounts to make certain they were all fully funded for what was needed in his life. He looked at the Avengers account and found a lot more money than should have been there considering his team members normal habit. He didn’t even see Natasha’s weekly massage and manicure in the transactions.
He found Sam alone on the common floor, watching Firefly of all things. He sat down and enjoyed the view of Malcolm Reynold's ass as he waited to be rescued after being abandoned (and what an ass it was). The episode ended and Sam tapped the remote to stop the next from playing and twisted in his seat to look at Tony silently. So silently, Tony couldn't help from speaking first.
“What did you do?” Tony demanded.
Sam raised an eyebrow. “Gonna have to be more specific.”
“The account…it’s not being used like before. Not since you gave me that ridiculous lecture. What did you do?” Tony asked, face going red at the soft look Sam gave him.
“I just talked to the others,” Sam admitted with a shrug. “I told them that you shouldn’t have to pay for Steve’s forties toys, Natasha’s massages, Bruce’s imported teas, or everything Clint accidently damages just walking down the street. I can get Thor, considering he couldn’t get a legal job at all, but the rest? Tony, that’s not your job. Your job is to create things for SI and then, after that, upgrade our stuff. Nothing more. So, I told them that. I’m glad it took.”
Tony stared at him, eyes wide. “I…I don’t understand.”
Sam’s eyebrows drew together. “You don’t understand how you should be measured on your worth and not your bank account?”
“I need to go,” Tony abruptly said, standing and rushing away.
He didn’t know why Sam had made a point to do that. And while a part of himself had felt like just a checkbook, he didn’t think it had been that bad. Back on his own floor, curled up in his bed with a blanket tucked up under his chin, Tony could only feel confused and the need to please.
So the next day he started to design Falcon dolls and even boxers. Sam had always been awkward about the idea, but Tony had to show some sort of appreciation. He didn’t understand, but he knew how to show any attention with gifts.