Chapter 15
After few days, Clint had to leave and return to his family.
He and Tony reconnected a little. There is still much work to be done, but they will get there.
Tony also had to promise to visit soon, since little agents apparently miss him.
Clint confirmed what Tony already knew. Only Rogers and Romanoff knew the truth about his parents.
He also told him about what happened when they learned the truth about Siberia, but Tony couldn’t find it in himself to care.
His time with Hydra did however give Tony even greater inside and understanding for Barnes.
It’s truly tragic, what happened to Barnes…
Tony was with Hydra for almost two weeks. He doesn’t even want to imagine how 70 years would have felt like.
After few days that Clint left, Happy and Peter also went back to New York. Happy still works for Stark Industries and Peter had to return back to school.
Hope also went back home. Fury, just as he promised, managed to get UN and everybody else back off from Hope’s and Hank’s backs.
She and Tony also reconnected and worked out their argument from years back. Since she lives in San Francisco she is still around. If she doesn’t visit personally, she always at least calls.
Rhodey and Helen stayed for the longest, but eventually they returned to Malibu since Helen is a busy woman.
They, just as everyone predicted, became a couple soon after Friday’s “physical creation”
Rhodey also doesn’t wear leg braces anymore. Helen’s treatment worked perfectly and he is finally fully healed.
After they left, things were slowly returning to the way they were before…
Except one small detail….
Friday and Carol apparently bonded to the point Friday practically begged the other woman to stay with them.
Carol, at first, looked like she is about to refuse, but Friday is stubborn and persistent.
She made some good points that actually left Carol questioning her entire existence and eventually made her stay.
Fury wasn’t thrilled with Carol’s decision, but wished her good luck and vanished, god knows where.
Vision doesn’t have any problem with Carol living with them and Tony is… actually glad that she stayed. It’s clear that Friday looks up to her and loves to spend time with her.
And that’s the main reason that Tony is glad she stayed. When Friday is with Carol and Vision is in town, he is alone.
Tony might say that he is fine, but in reality… He isn’t.
He can’t sleep and if he does.. he keeps having night terrors.
And it’s only getting worse…
Sometimes he gets flashes even during day. He just hopes that nobody doesn’t notice that his hand keep shaking or that he flinches every time somebody gets to close.
Living with Starks is… surprisingly easy.
When Friday proposed this idea Carol was about to immediately refuse, but those puppy eyes that Friday made at her…
That made her to hesitate and gave the younger girl time to start to ramble and make some… really great facts.
She was also adorable when she rambled
So Carol have in and Friday exploded with happinesses.
Does Carol regret her decision?
Heck no!
She loves having normal life and hanging out with Friday or relearning how to cook with Vision.
What troubles her is Tony Stark. He gives them smirks and smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
Not that Vision or Friday notice… they are after all, only 4 years old.
But Carol does notice. She sees how Tony sometimes shakes or flinches out of nowhere.
She also sees how relieved he looks, every time she and Friday leave the house.
She didn’t want to invade his privacy. It was clear he didn’t want anyone to find out.
That changed one night…
Carol woke up at the sound of screaming.
It wasn’t to loud. If she wasn’t enhanced and the sound wasn’t coming from the room next to her’s, she wouldn’t hear it.
She without much of hesitation jumped out of her bed and head out to Tony’s room. She quietly entered and saw him trashing around at the edge of his bed. She moved quickly and prevented him from crashing on the ground.
She took in his appearance. He was covered in sweat and kept tight hold on his blanket. His arms also had some bloodied scratch marks.
She bend down and gently started shaking him
“Tony! Tony! Wake up!”
Tony’s eyes snap open and he jerks away from her like if she was made out of acid. He stares at her with wide and scared eyes and places his hand on his chest, running small circles at it with his fingers while also trying to calm down his breath.
Carol doesn’t move and once Tony’s breath slows down, he curled his legs against his chest and wraps his arms around himself while also keeping his head down. He was shaking.
Carol slowly sits down and gently takes one of Tony’s hands into hers, inspecting his nails and just as she predicted… they were covered in blood.
“I know how you feel” Carol started in soft voice as she let go of his hand
“The Kree brainwashed me into believing I was one of them. I was with them for 2 years when I finally remembered my life.”
Tony stops shaking and titles his head towards her, knowing that he was listening Carol continued.
She chuckles a little, brokenly “My life… my life was ripped away from me by them… And that’s exactly what Hydra tries to do to you.”
Tony’s body tensed and Carol noticed and moved a closer to him.
“But they didn’t succeed. You are still Tony Stark. You are still Iron Man. You are still.. you.”
Tony tightened his grip around his legs and looked down again. Carol frowns at his reaction and slowly places a hand on his shoulder.
“You are not with them anymore. You are safe”
Tony slowly shakes his head looking like he is struggling not to cry “They broke me…”
His soft whisper made her make double look at him and she saw his broken look. It made her heart feel like if her heart was crushing.
“Maybe… but not everything broken must stay broken. You have people that care about you. You just have to let them in.”
He doesn’t say anything so she signs and stands up, planning to return to her own room and as she is about to open the doors his whispers makes her stop.
“Please… don’t leave”
She turns to look at him, surprised and sees that he is looking down again. So she signs and moves to his bed and lies down beside him.
He looks at her for a few second before he also lies down.
They lie there in silence before Carol grabs his hand in her own and closes her eyes. Tony stares at her as if she grew a second head, but she doesn’t open her eyes again.
Slowly he follows her example and falls asleep. Not letting go of her hand.