1) Clint
Tony was typing away on his laptop, trying to code for the new update he's performing on Redwing
okay... and I think Sam would like it if there is a laser coming out-
"Stark?"
He was snapped out of his musings with a start, practically jumping out of his seat at the sudden noise
he whipped around to see Clint standing in the doorway, arms crossed in a relaxed position as his eye's met Stark's
Tony's shoulders relaxed once he saw the familiar archer, and smoothly moved his eyes down to the man's nose- the nose was much easier to look at than those eyes
"Birdbrain", He nodded in greeting, "Come to admire my work? Because I'd have to say, it sure is-"
Clint cut him off with an amused huff, having gotten used to Tony's personality over the time in which he'd lived in the tower
Sure, Stark could be arrogant at times, but once you really got to know him, you start to notice the differences between the man's genuine arrogance and joking
"Actually," Clint started, taking a few large strides over to the smaller man, "Would it be okay if I had a request for the new design of my arrows?"
Tony nodded his head, a small smile tugging on the corner of his lips, "Thats what I do best"
Clint let out a sigh of relief as he reached into his deep pocket, pulled out a crumbled piece of notebook paper, unfolded it, and held it out for Tony to receive
Tony shoved his hands into his pockets while his breath got caught in his chest
he straightened his spine slightly, shaking his head at the blonde,
"I don't like being handed things"
He pressed his lips into a tight smile, hoping he didn't give off the wrong vibes to his fellow avenger
Clint didn't seem to mind, though. He just took a few more steps forward, placing the paper onto the table in front of Tony
Tony's eyes scanned the paper, noting it to be a sketch of some sort
"thats me", Clint piped up, pointing to the stick-man who was seemingly shooting an arrow at a building
Tony nodded, eyebrows furrowing, not quite sure what to make of this
"and that's my arrow", Clint continued, pointing to the thin pencil line, sticking out of what looked like a mini explosion
"Its exploding the building", Tony stated, still confused, "You already have exploding arrows."
"No", The archer clarified, motioning back to the sketch, "notice how only the building is exploding, not the surrounding buildings"
Tony nodded slowly, wondering if there was something he wasn't getting, "so you want me to make you arrows that explode buildings? Isn't that kind of-"
"Oh no", Clint cut him off, shaking his head promptly, "not at all. I don't know much about technology, so forgive me if this isn't possible, but is there a way to controll the explosion based on the size of the target?"
Tony blinked in concentration, trying to understand the man, "So", He started slowly, "You want me to make you arrows that scan the volume of an object, and create a controlled explosion, as to make sure only the object is effected?"
"Yes!" Clint exclaimed, clapping his hands together in excitement, "Can you do that?"
Stark nodded quickly, feeling excitement bubble up in his own stomach now, "Of course I can. Genius, remember? If I take the exploding arrows that I've already previously created, and insert Stark Industries' scanning technology into the..."
He kept going on, explaining each step he was going to perform in great detail, feeling nothing but carefree while he rambled about which technology would be best
He stopped immediately, though, when he looked back over to Clint, just to notice that he wasn't paying attention
Tony glanced up at the clock, eyes widening at the fact that he'd been talking for over ten minutes
wow, genius, nice job doing a full info dump on the man…
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you wouldn't understand", he quickly said, hoping he didn't ruin his chances with the first Avenger, other than Bruce, who actually talked to him without being forced to
Clint raised his head, with a confused look etched upon his face, "No, it's fine, why would you be sorry? I should be thanking you for this"
Tony shook his head adamantly, trying to fix this, "No, seriously, I’ll shut up” he sputtered out, “I tend to forget that you don’t understand the blueprints"
Clint just shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the whole situation, "Honestly, Stark, it's fine"
Tony squinted at the man, searching his face for any sign of dishonesty or annoyance
Finding none, he dropped his gaze and cleared his throat,
“well”, he straightened his spine, “do you have any of your old exploding arrows with you?”
Clint nodded, and took the quiver off of his back
“I have a couple”
He tossed the quiver onto the table in front of Tony
Tony reached in and grabbed the arrows,
“I can work on these now, and have them done by six, if you’d like”
Clint’s eyebrows rose slightly, “that fast?”
the smaller man shrugged, “I only need to make a few amends, its not that big of a change”
He carried the arrows over to the work bench behind him, and grabbed his tool box out of the cabinet by his feet
he reached into his pocket to grab the Stark Industries headphones that he kept, and put them in his ears, signaling to JARVIS to play his ‘Work Playlist’
Tapping his foot on the ground to the music, he worked on the arrows, time flying by like a leaf in the wind
“Tony!”
Tony’s head whipped around to see Clint, who had apparently not left the lab yet
“yes?” he asked, taking out one headphone
Clint let out an amused huff, “I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past thirty minutes”
Tony looked between Clint, and his project
“oh” he said, not really knowing how else to respond"
thanks hyperfixation…
Clint laughed, “man, if I didnt know any better I would have sword you have…”, He trailed off, eyes widening a bit, before hesitantly asking “wait do you have ADHD?”
Tony froze, showing no reaction to Cints question
the archers eyes widened even more, “you do”
Tony shook his head quickly, “No, I dont”
Clints expression didnt change a bit, “Its alright if you do, man, its to-“
“-ASD”, Tony blurted out cutting the man off
No turning back now I guess…
Clints eyes stayed widened, but his stance sagged slightly in confusion, “what?”
Tony internally took a deep breath, “ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder. You weren’t too far off with that ADHD guess”
realization sparked in the older mans eyes as Tony explained, “oh, autism, yeah, I’ve heard of that”
Tony just nodded awkwardly, offering the man a tight smile, though it looked more like a grimace
He was just about to get back to working on the arrows, when Clint spoke up again,
“Honestly, I expected something like that from the beginning. wouldn’t have guessed autism though”
Tony arched an eyebrow, congratulating himself for looking so put together on the outside, when internally he was falling apart
“yeah”, Clint smiled, sticking his hands in his pockets, “my son has ADHD, and I noticed a few similarities”
oh right, he’s a spy, idiot
wait what did he say?
Tony's brain did a full 360
Barton's son is neurodivergent?
"Oh", is all Tony breathed out, mind still reeling from the new information
Clint allowed a confused smile to play across his lips, "you didn't honestly think that I would judge you for something like that, did you?"
Tony looked down to his lap, suddenly finding the pencil in his hand to be very interesting, "No, of course not. Now, a genius' mind needs space to work, so shoo", he flicked his hands in a 'shoo' motion, earning himself an amused eye-roll from the older man
"whatever you wish, your majesty", he did a dramatic bow, before turning to leave the room
Tony breathed out a confused laugh while he watched the man leave the room
_______________________
2) Steve and Sam
"Do you ever shut up?"
Tony flinched back, breath catching in his throat
he was talking to Steve about the invention that one of his head interns had created. It would change the way that Stark Industries is running, and in a way that would knock Hammer Industries and Pym Industries out of the water
but the Captain clearly didnt share his excitement
"I- uh- what?" Tony sputtered out, which was a clear indicator that he was shocked, as he never stutters over anything
"You heard me", The captain grounded out, "I mean seriously, Tony, what's been going on with you?"
Tony just blinked dumbly up at the man,
what's been going on with me? nothing new, I dont think…
"You never show up to our after mission briefings, and when you do, you dont pay attention; you're always on one of those new device things. When you do talk to us, its always all about you. You just go on and on about these things that we are clearly not interested in."
Tony felt his heart sink as Steve listed more and more of his faults
“I-i’m sorry, I didnt realize you weren’t int-“ He started, only to be cut off by Steve’s voice,
“Just stop Tony”, Steve drawled out, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance, “Don't start with that crap. We have all made it extremely clear that we aren’t interested in your science stuff. Bruce understands, why can’t you?”
Tony’s mind was flooded with different emotions; he wasn’t sure how he should feel in this moment
on one hand, he was annoyed with himself. everything Steve was saying is true, and its on himself that he was annoying everyone
on the other hand, he was confused. he clearly wasn’t doing something right, he just had to figure out what he’s doing wrong…
“No really”, He tried again, practically begging the soldier to listen, “I’m just not too good with social cues and-“
Steve cut him off, again, with a loud snort, “No kidding. Tony, your attitude is getting in the way of us working as a team.”
Tony shook his head quickly, attempting again to get his point across, “seriously, I dont understand social cues as well as you! I have ASD, so I-“
he couldn’t even finish his sentence before we saw Steve’s blue eyes roll in whats seemed to be extreme annoyance,
“that won’t work on me anymore, Tony”, he huffed out, jaw tightening as he finished his sentence, clearly upset
This just enhanced the smaller man’s confusion, though
what wont work on him? I dont believe I’ve told him about this before,
“What wont?” He asked, hoping that the phrasing was okay enough to not upset the captain even more
This clearly didnt work, as Steve only threw his hand into the air in a fit of frustration,
“You know what!” He yelled, running a stressed hand through his hair, “The whole acronym thing. You keep throwing random letters around and expecting me to trust you! This A.S-whatever isnt your problem. Your problem is the fact that you only care about yourself. The world doesn’t always evolve around you, Stark”
okay, Tony thought to himself, that one hurt
just take a deep breath and remember he’s from a different time
“It is a real thing”, Tony stated, tightening his grip on the counter behind him, “It stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder. It makes it harder for me to do different things. Understanding social cues is just another symptom”
Steve didnt seem to be paying attention though, as he was shaking his head in exasperation, “Honestly, stark, you’re impossible sometimes”
“who’s impossible?”
both men turned to see Sam in the doorway, holding a book of some sort- probably a journal
“Tony is”, Steve answered bluntly, electing an annoyed glance from Tony
Sam let out a long sigh, before turning to Tony, “Tony, what’d you do?”
Tony rolled his eyes in response, “Absolutely nothing. Capsicle here is invalidating my mental health”
Sam just raised an eyebrow, “somehow I doubt that”
“See?” Steve motioned to Sam in a ‘told ya so’ manor, “He agrees!”
“he doesn’t even know what you said”, Tony bit out, annoyance starting to replace the anxiety in his stomach
“Fine then, I’ll tell him”, Steve announced, turning back to face Steve again, “Tony is making up disorders so he has an excuse for his actions”
Sam’s other eyebrow joined his already raised one, “Tony? is that true?”
“Of course not, autism is a real thing!” He shouted, growing impatient with the whole situation,
“It isnt, and you need to stop making up excuses for your actions. This is childish”, The good captain responded, just as stern
“Childish? oh, thats rich”
“yeah? how so?”
Understanding dawned on Wilson’s face as the situation started to make sense
“whoah wait, autism?”, he asked, facing Tony now, eyes wider than usual
Tony’s eye’s met his for a split second, before he showed a nervous smile, “uh, surprise…”
Sam did nothing but blink for a solid five seconds, brain still processing the fact that Tony Freaking Stark is Autistic
“Right, okay”, He muttered to himself, wrapping his mind around the situation, before looking at cap once again, “Autism Spectrum Disorder is a real thing, Cap. I don't know why Tony would lie about that"
“oh come on, he got you to believe him too?”, cap asked, shooting sam a deadpanned look
“What do you mean? He didn't make me do anything?” Sam responded, eyebrow knitting together in confusion
“of course not”, Steve spoke in a sarcastic, dry tone, “just like how its his ‘ASD’ that is at fault for his lack of understanding basic cues, and its because of his ‘ASD’ that he wont ever shut up, and its his-“
“yeah, I’d assume it is”, Sam cut him off, “whats so crazy about that?”
“oh please”, Steve spoke, as though this were all one big joke, “I know thats not true, and if it is, then he must be seriously retar-“
“Steve!” Sam yelled over him, eyes frozen wide in plain shock, “I dont know what it was like in your time, but we don't use words like that anymore. I’m a therapist, and I’m not going to stand here and watch you use words like that to describe a person.”
“what word would you prefer me to use!? messed up? wrong in the-“
“I think you should leave, Steve”, Sam’s voice became more demanding, as if he were a leader giving an order.
He pointed to the door, watching Steve’s face go blank, before disbelief became adamant
“You’re kicking me out? Seriously?”
Sam’s expression didn't change, hand still pointing towards the door
“fine then”, Steve huffed, turning to leave, “but when his ego becomes too big to manage on the field, thats on you, Wilson.”
He slammed the door behind him
Sam let out a sigh of relief, spinning back on his heel to face Tony
“Well, that sure was something…”
He trailed off once his eyes caught sight of the mess that was Tony Stark
Tony’s eyes were wide and staring at the toor where Steve just left, one of his fists were clenched enough to hurt, and the other was pounding against his thigh in a steady rhythm
“whoah, hey, Tones, you alright?” sam asked, concern seeping into his voice, as he studied the younger man in front of him
Tony shook his head back and forth, not tearing his hand away from the door, “no”, he whispered
“I'm sorry, what was that?” Sam leaned in closer, to hear him better
“No”, Tony repeated, still shaking his head, “No No No No No No No No No No”
Sam’s breath stopped in his chest as he realized what was happening, “Hey, Tony, look at me, all right?”
Tony snapped his wide eyes over to Sam, still banging against his thigh
Sam reached over to grip Tony’s shoulder, applying as much pressure as his hand could provide,
“It’s alright, Stark. Rogers didn't mean that in the way you think. He’s just from a different time than us. He needs some time to adjust to the modern world”
Tony didn't give any sign that he was listening, he only stared up at the therapist, too tired to speak
Sam lent him a sympathetic look, before asking, “Do you want to be left alone?"
Tony nodded, eyes going back down to the floor
Sam gave Tony’s shoulder a last squeeze, before saying his goodbyes and exiting the room
Once Tony was sure he was gone, he walked over to the sofa, sat down, and let his head drop into his hands
Of course he wouldn’t believe you, who would?
You really are messed up, aren’t you?
Now Sam thinks you’re a freak, nice going.
_______________________
3) Pepper
too loud
too bright
too… everything
Tony’s head felt like it was going to explode
He stumbled over to his desk, pulling out a pair of sunglasses, and putting them on
he almost melted at the feeling of dimmed lighting
he reached to grab his headphones, when Pepper came barging into his room
“Tony Stark”
ooh, she’s angry…
“hey pep”, he croaked out, wincing at the sound of his own voice
“You have a meeting in under ten minutes, Tony. Why aren’t you in a suit?”
Tony glanced down at his outfit, and back up to pepper,
“I dont think I’ll be able to make the meeting today, Pepper”
Tony watched he eyes narrow at him, scanning over his surroundings
“do you have a hang over, Tony?” he asked, throwing a hand up in exasperation, “I thought you quit drinking!”
Tony grimaced at her words. He knew how he looked, and how she may have come to that conclusion, but right now, all he could think of was his desperate need of silence
“No, I don't, I’m just a bit overstimulated right now. I cant-“
“overstimulated?” Pepper’s voice cut him off, “Tony, what have you-“
Tony shook his head, raising a hand to silence her for a moment, “Not like that. I’m neurodivergent, so my brain decided to randomly hate me today, and everything hurts”
“neurodivergent”, Pepper repeated blandly, stoping her rant to stare back at the genius
Tony simply nodded, squeezing his eyes shut
oh man, my head needs to calm down I swear…
“what… you know?”, Pepper asked, fat still blank with shock, not fully processing this new information
Tony squinted back up at her, “What disorder?”
Pepper nodded, confirming his suspicions
“Don't worry”, he waved her off, “its not offensive to ask. I’m autistic”
Pepper seemed to stop breathing, her blacked face slowly morphing into one of barely concealed shock
Tony took a glance at her, and huffed out an amused laugh, “What?’ He asked, “Thought it would be something more like ADHD?”
Pepper hesitantly studied Tony’s face, to make sure he wasn’t angry, before deciding it was okay to confirm, “Yes”
Tony offered her a small smile, still wincing at the pounding pain in his head,
“I don't blame you”, he shrugged, “ADHD and ASD are actually really similar, contrary to popular belief. ADHD just has been more normalized”
Pepper nodded tightly, mind obviously still reeling over the fact that she hadnt noticed something this bit throughout all her years of working at SI
“and your… your autism”, she quickly glanced over at Tony, making sure she didnt cross any boundaries, “it makes you feel like this?”
she motioned over to tony’s hunched over figure, shock slowly turning into concern
Tony sighed, and nodded, reaching up to massage his pulsing temples
“yeah”, He muttered out, “I have a lot of sensory issues, and sometimes things just get to be…”
He made vast movements with his hands, trying to convey the correct message
Pepper seemed to understand though, as she nodded, eyes narrowing slightly in thought,
“Thats it” Pepper spoke, tone leaving no room for argument
Tony’s eyebrows knit together in confusion, “what’s it?”
Pepper motioned to Tony’s body again, “No more doing this alone. I’m here, and from now on, I want to help”
Tony’s eyes widened slightly
crap
now she thinks you’re some helpless person who cant get by alone
“no, that’s alright, Pep, I’m fine”
Pepper just crossed her arms, and shook her head, “Nope, no arguments about this, Tony. I know you dont need help, but I want to help. So, let me know what I can do”
Tony blinked up at her, still not believing her words
I really dont need her pity
“No, I’m really-”
“Tony.” she interrupted him, her no-nonsense business tone covering her voice
Tony stared at her for a bit longer, before eventually dropping his eyes
man, she’s good
“water”, he croaked out finally, realizing he wasn’t going to win this
Pepper smirked and nodded, “I’ll take over your meeting for today, but you have one at ten am tomorrow, so be prepared”
Tony nodded, and Pepper turned to leave the room
before she could exit though, Tony called out to her,
“Wait, Pepper?”
Pepper turned, looking over at him with questioning eyes, “Yes?”
“Thank you”
she smiled softly, “anytime"