Work Text:
“Sweetheart,” Stephen whispered into the hospital room as sparks fizzled out behind him.
He hoped that it hadn’t been long since the doctors left the room. He hoped it hadn’t been long since Tony had been alone. Because now that the adrenaline had rushed out, the reality and the grief would sink in and Stephen couldn't let Tony be alone when that happened.
Stephen wished he had not had to leave Tony’s side, but the doctors had surrounded Tony and thrown him out and he also had to deal with Rogers. He had to look the man in the eye and tell him exactly what he was. A selfish bastard.
It needed to be done.
But within seconds after exiting the cells, his hands had formed a portal that led him to Tony. His Tony, who was in the hospital because of those bastards.
“Sweetheart,” Stephen whispered again as Tony’s eyes met his.
Stephen felt his heart clench at the way Tony had curled in on himself, his knees to his chest, his good arm wrapping his entire body into a ball. The position must have hurt with all his injuries but there were deeper wounds that needed to be tended to first.
“Steph”
The sound was barely above a whisper, but Stephen was immediately striding towards the small hospital bed.
He immediately situated himself opposite Tony and pulled the frozen man into his arms.
“Sweetheart,” Stephen breathed in the scent that he loved so much, “Tony.”
He didn’t know what to say. What do you even say to a man so utterly betrayed?
But he had to. He needed to reach Tony before he lost him to his grief.
“Tony, love,” He whispered, “talk to me.”
Stephen felt Tony’s body start to tremble. He held on tighter.
“Please talk to me.”
“Why?” Tony’s voice was small, something fragile that might break with a breeze. “Why did he do it?”
Stephen felt his heart break and his fury reignite in the same breath.” “Tony -”
“Why did they do it, Stephen? Why?” Tony’s voice broke as the beautiful brown orbs shone with tears. “Why does this keep happening to me?”
Stephen felt something in his chest crack. Getting his ribs broken had been less painful than watching his Tony hurt this way.
“Tony-”
“NO! NO!” Tony’s breathing became heavier as he descended into sobs, “Why did they keep doing this to me?”
Stephen swallowed hard as Tony’s bloodshot eyes bore into his, looking for answers, looking for explanation, looking for something to make sense.
“ Why? ” Tony sobbed, “Why did he think it was alright to do that? Am I - am I not a h-h-human in their eyes? In his eyes?” He looked Stephen in the eyes and whispered, “A-a-am I that terrible Stephen?”
And Stephen had enough. He would not let Tony do this himself. Especially not for those monsters.
“No, Tony,” Stephen pulled away from Tony and immediately cupped his beautiful face with shaking hands. “You are the farthest thing from that, my love, you-you are a blessing, you are the best person I know.” His voice shook with emotion.
“No, I am-” Tony began shaking his head in defeat.
“No, you listen to me, sweetheart,” Stephen whispered as he began running his thumbs over Tony’s tear-streaked cheeks. “You are a good man, Tony, you are someone who deserves the world. You deserve respect, admiration, and love . That is who you are.” Stephen finished softly with his lips pressed to Tony’s forehead.
“Then,” Tony began, voice laced with grief and doubt,“why did he-they-”
“Because they are horrible people , Tony,” Stephen whispered, yet he knew there was strength and conviction in his voice. That is what he needed to remove that lost look in Tony’s eyes, which were now staring at him in shock.
“They might call themselves heroes, Tony, but they have proven time and time again that they are narrow-minded, self-righteous, back-stabbing bastards .”
Tony’s eyes widened at hearing the intense fury in Stephen’s voice.
“These people don’t know one thing about being a team, let alone a family you thought them to be. You are a good man, Tony, a good human. You welcomed them into your space, gave them your trust, gave them literally anything and everything they wanted. But they have never had good enough hearts that could respect, understand, and love you. That’s on them , sweetheart. They are not good people. That’s why they have treated you this terribly, because you never fail to be a good person, a good hero.”
“But-” Tony started as more tears slipped past his eyelids. Stephen could see denial seeping into his eyes. So before it could, he continued.
“No darling, it’s the truth,” He whispered as he planted a kiss on Tony’s temple. “You have always stood by what is right, what is in the best interest of humanity. You have always always done things to protect people while each and every single one of them has betrayed and harmed the very people they claimed to protect. What they did is on them being terrible people, not on you love.”
“Rogers he- how could he keep this from me? F-for years ?” Tony’s face scrunched up with the pain of betrayal.
Stephen closed his eyes to rein in the red fury burning through his veins. Rogers . He will pay .
But for now, Tony needed him.
Stephen opened his eyes.
“Because he is a selfish man, Tony. Yes, he is a man who has lost everything in the past, but that does not excuse him from rampaging over everyone else for his own whims. It does not excuse him from harming innocents to save his lost best friend. Barnes is all that occupies his mind. For him, whatever he thinks is right has to be universally right, has to be understood by people, has to be accepted by people, and if someone doesn’t? They are wrong, they are selfish, they are someone he has every right to make judgments on. That’s why he thought what he did to you was the right thing.” Stephen let out through clenched teeth.
“Is it?” Tony asked, voice unbearably small, “Is it the right thing?”
“You know the answer, sweetheart.” Stephen smiled sadly, “You have always known that Rogers isn’t rational. I have seen your rage after the fall of SHIELD, your frustration after Ultron, and the acceptance of the Hydra witch Wanda. You know he hasn’t been right many, many times.”
Tony’s eyes turned towards the ground. Stephen knew that Tony knew. But he had never insisted on having that conversation with Tony. For Tony’s sake. To protect Tony’s happiness, happiness that he felt he found with the Avengers.
But Tony wasn’t happy now. He had been hurt. By those very people .
Now, Stephen didn’t have to hold his silence. Now, Stephen needed to break it. To make Tony accept what he always knew. To make sure that Tony would protect himself this time.
“Rogers has always been against you, Tony. The number of times you have risked everything to keep this world safe warrants immense respect. But none of them offered that to you, did they?”
Tony looked at him with pain-filled eyes. These were harsh truths that Stephen had kept locked away. But now Tony needed to hear them. Needed to understand why he has no duty to feel sorry for them, or to understand or protect them. They simply didn’t deserve it.
“You have done everything to keep this team whole. You have shown respect and understanding towards each of them, even the witch Wanda, but they have never bothered to do it for you, Tony. They were horrible to you.” Stephen could hear his voice break as he thought about just how many times and in how many ways this wonderful man had been disrespected.
“You-you deserve better, Tony. You deserve better than people who turn their backs on you in the blink of an eye. You deserve better than people who hurt you. Again and again.”
He brushed away Tony’s tears as he continued, “You deserve to protect yourself. You deserve to grieve. You deserve to feel angry. You deserve to hate Rogers for hiding your parents’ murders. You deserve to confront Barnes. And you deserve not to be hurt, Tony. You deserve to be a-a- alive .” Stephen broke down as a hand came to rest on his cheek as he heard Tony let out a soft sob
Tears streaming down his cheeks, his frame shaking with the memory of the horrible truth Friday had told him, memory of Tony being beaten down in that bunker, Stephen looked Tony in the eye, and stated in a tear-filled yet firm voice, “You deserve to stand for yourself Tony. It’s not selfish. It’s not unreasonable. You deserve to demand justice. Tony, you-you deserved to feel the need to protect yourself back in that bunker, and I hate that you didn’t. If I-I h-hadn’t-” sobs filled the room as Stephen finally broke down completely.
“Stephen,” Tony whispered as he felt his own heart break. He didn’t want to imagine what Stephen must have felt like seeing him down on his knees as two supersoldiers beat him down. “Babe, I wouldn’t-”
“No! N-n-no” Stephen took a shuddering breath. “You listen to me. If I hadn’t entered that bunker, you would have let those bastards beat you down. You would have let them-” another deep breath “- kill you. YOU WOULD HAVE-”
“No, sweetheart-”
“ You would have Tony, ” Stephen whispered. “You would have. You know you were going to. You wouldn’t have really harmed them, you would have never killed them. If you wanted to, then they would have been dead before I got there. But you didn’t. You allowed them to attack you. But Tony, you are not the one in the wrong. They are. He is.”
“But I shouldn’t have-”
“You watched your parents being murdered with the murderer right there and learnt that the person you trusted as a friend had kept it from you. For years . Another person in your place would have murdered them, Tony. But you didn’t. You have too good a heart to do that. Even despite such cruelty, you showed restraint. You know that even I wouldn’t have been able to. But you did. Even with all the grief and betrayal, you were still the most rational and kindest person in that bunker.”
“But Barnes and Rogers-” Tony started putting up a last fight against the truth.
“They were wrong . Barnes might not have been in the right state of mind, but Rogers ? He was. He did all of it, intentionally, with no remorse whatsoever because no one could possibly know better than Captain fucking America. He hid the truth from you for years, and then he teamed up with his best buddy to beat down a grieving man he himself had betrayed.” Stephen’s voice grew harder as he tried to make Tony understand. “He was wrong, Tony. He does not deserve you giving him the benefit of the doubt. He does not deserve your understanding or empathy.” Stephen stated firmly.
Tony looked at him as if someone was finally anchoring the ship that had been on the verge of sinking. He looked at Stephen as if Stephen’s words were the final nail in the coffin of something that had been dead all along. The final words he needed to finally accept that he didn’t owe the Avengers anything.
Stephen pulled Tony’s unfractured hand towards him and held it in his palm.
“Tony, promise me,” He looked into Tony’s eyes, “this time you will protect yourself . Promise me that you will not protect, Rogers. You will not protect any of them. They don’t deserve it. And most importantly, you deserve better than them. Promise me, sweetheart.” Stephen squeezed the palm held between his hands.
He could see Tony thinking hard. He knew he had said a lot of things. Probably too much. But he needed to protect Tony, and for that to happen, Tony needed to protect himself and for that, certain truths had to be accepted.
He watched with apprehension as Tony's watery eyes became clear and a soft, adoring smile broke out on his beautiful face.
He watched as Tony tugged at their joined hands till they reached his lips, and placed a soft kiss on Stephen’s fingers.
“I promise,” Tony whispered, “I promise , they will pay.”
Stephen let out a breath he hadn’t even known he had been holding. Finally.
Tony chuckled.
“What?” Stephen asked.
“Nothing, you are something, you know?” Tony’s lips stretched into a sweet smile.
“And you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, Tony Stark. I am not letting anything happen to you again.” Stephen promised.
Tony chuckled again as soft red tinted his cheeks. “You-you are a menace.”
“That I am.” Stephen quipped with a smug smile.
Tony shook his head at this miracle of a man. Many things had gone wrong, but at least he knew that Stephen felt right , and he was here with him, always. The protective idiot.
That reminded Tony of something.
“Friday told me that you paid a visit to certain criminals.” Tony inquired with a raised brow.
“I know there is already a video, and I know you are going to watch it. You should, in fact. They had it coming, though, and they have more coming for them. I don’t break my promises after all. By the time I am done with them, they will regret ever taking birth. Especially Rogers .” Rage flashed across his face.
“I love you.”
That brought Stephen back immediately. “What?”
“I love you, you know that, right?” Tony’s eyes were full of fondness and shiny tears. “I want to stay with you forever. What happened today won’t happen again. I will make sure to protect myself so that I can protect your heart. I promise.” Tony whispered as he pulled Stephen closer and buried his face in Stephen’s chest.
Stephen smiled contentedly. He felt the warmth from Tony’s words reach every nook and cranny of his being as he wrapped his arms tighter around the man he loved more than the universe itself.
Tony was his forever. He was going to keep his forever safe.
“I love you, too, sweetheart. I love you, too.”