Heart Defect
“Steve, I'm not going to the debriefing, that’s the last time I’m going to tell you,” Tony said, collapsing into his workshop chair. He grabbed his chest when it suddenly twinged in pain.
“I don’t care, Tony. Two days now Fury’s been on my ass. Throw me a bone,” Steve said sternly, grabbing Tony’s arm.
Tony pulled away. “I said no, Steve. Now get out, i’m working,” he huffed.
Steve glared at Tony’s back. “Well you might as well sleep down here tonight if you’re so busy,” he grunted before stomping out.
Tony listened to the retreating footsteps and let out a pained breath. His breaths felt short, like the air was getting thicker and his heart fluttered.
“You should listen to him, you know.” Tony jumped at the voice. He turned to see Natasha standing where Steve had been. “Fury has been harassing him about how undevoted you seem. As your husband he’s been defending you, but Fury’s talking about benching you if you won’t get it together.” Despite her monotone words, he could tell she was mad at him.
“You don’t understand, Nat. I-I’m not trying to be difficult,” Tony said softly.
Natasha rolled her eyes. “When are you going to grow up Tony and start being responsible? This is a team, you can’t pick and choose when you want to be a part of it.” She started walking away.
“Nat,” Tony sighed.
The spy walked back up the stairs.
Tony let out a breath, ignoring the wheeze that clung onto it. Despite his teammate and husband’s beliefs, he was not purposely trying to avoid team responsibilities- it was in his best interest.
These past few days his heart’s been acting funny and since he was born with a congenital heart defect, Jarvis (human, breathing, heart-beating Jarvis) always told him to take it easy when he started to feel this way. Despite his wildness and inability to take care of himself, he actually didn’t want to die, thank you very much. And he definitely didn’t want a repeat of the heart attack he had had when he was five years old and got into a fight on the playground.
But the last thing he wanted to do was tell Steve, or anyone on the team. He was already the weakest one being human and untrained- they would definitely bench him, or worse, kick him off the team if they knew.
Tony grabbed the workbench as the world started to float and his body tipped with it. He caught himself just before he ended face first on the hard floor. Tony reached into the draw for his pills and opened them. His shaking hands immediately sent them all crashing onto the table before spilling and scattering on the floor. Tony picked up three of the pills that swam in his vision with shaking hands and forced them down his throat, dry.
After much debate, he dragged himself towards the elevator- Steve’s disappointed face glued into his mind. He knew he looked like shit, but if they wanted him at the debriefing, he would be there. Afterall, he was a ‘teamplayer’.
When Tony walked into the conference room slow and unsteady, Nick was the first to notice, but he stayed silent.
“Late,” Clint coughed dramatically, followed by a giggle.
If Tony was not seeing double, he would have glared at the archer, but he was too focused on finding a seat and not passing out. It took a bit longer than he would have liked but he found a chair and collapsed heavily into it.
“As I was saying, the last mission was a success but there are still some things we can improve on….” Fury droned on.
The words were fading in and out of Tony’s ears so he decided to ignore them in general (which is no different to what he usually did at debriefings). He turned his head to look around the room, searching for blonde hair, and eventually caught Steve’s eye. His husband didn’t smile at him but he didn’t look as angry as earlier.
“Iron Man.” Tony whipped his head to the front of the room, causing stars to erupt his vision. He hummed in attention. “You should have waited for Steve’s orders before going into the building.”
“I disagree,” Tony frowned. There were civilians inside and he had already had Jarvis scan the building before he entered to check for explosives.
“I don’t care if you disagree, Steve is your Captain and his orders-”
“But that doesn’t mean he knows better than-”
“Tony!” Steve shouted. Tony turned to him and noticed his reddening face. Steve hated when he argued with Fury.
“The fact is, whether it turned out fine or not, you should have waited for my orders,” Steve started. “Soldiers should always-”
Tony jumped up, “We are not soldiers!” He shouted, his words slurring. He grabbed the table as his vision darkened and the air seemed to leave his body.
Steve stood up. “Well maybe if you were, you would know not to risk the lives of everyone on this team by being so-”
Steve shouted in surprise as Tony collapsed on the ground, smacking his head on the table and knocking a few of the empty chairs down. The team stared wide-eyed in shock.
“Fuck, call an ambulance,” Fury said, moving towards Tony.
“Wait, what-”
“Call a fucking ambulance,” Fury shouted. “Bruce.” The scientists needed no further indication before running over to take Tony’s pulse and help check his vitals. He ripped the shirt off of Tony, exposing his chest. “Clint, find an oxygen tank.” The archer nodded and ran out of the room to search.
“He’s bradycardic,” Bruce said.
Steve kneeled next to Tony’s head, shaking. “Wh-what happened to him?”
“He has a heart defect,” Fury supplied, not breaking his eyes from the pale billionaire.
“How come I didn’t…” Steve whispered, upset.
“He was born with it. I only know because I used to help babysit him when Howard was gone,” Fury said. “What’s the ETA on the ambulance?”
“About a minute,” Natasha supplied.
Clint suddenly ran in with an oxygen tank attached to a mask. Bruce hurriedly placed it over Tony’s mouth to help with his breathing.
Suddenly, Tony’s eyes started fluttering. “Where?” He whispered. He unconsciously smacked at the oxygen mask with his hand but Fury quickly removed his hand and repositioned the mask.
“Hey Tony, do you know where you are right now?” Bruce asked.
Tony blinked, looking around with glossy eyes. “Dunno,” he rasped. “S’eve?”
“I’m right here, baby. I’m right here,” Steve said, leaning down and pressing a kiss onto his husband’s forehead.
“Hurts,” Tony whined, dragging a weak arm to his chest.
Fury pulled the hand away and moved into Tony’s vision. “Unc’ Nick?” He slurred. A rare smile formed on Fury’s face.
“You’re gonna be fine, Tony. Just take deep breaths,” the one-eyed man said, uncharacteristically soft.
Tony’s lips gradually grew less blue but his breathing still seemed troubled. “No hosp’al,” he slurred, becoming aware of his surroundings.
“Too late,” Fury said as they heard the paramedics come down the hall.
“S’eve’s coming,” Tony said firmly. “S’eve’s coming.”
“He can go but I want you to cooperate with the nurses. I don’t want any more complaints on my desk,” Fury said.
Tony let out a huff of breath and Steve just stared wide-eyed at the whole exchange. He was so confused at the last few minutes, he couldn’t comprehend it all.
He was silent until they got into the ambulance. Tony seemed to be fairing a bit better and the machines were no longer blinking red. “Tony?” Steve said softly.
The billionaire opened his eyes from where he was resting on the stretcher. “Yeah, babe?”
“I’m sorry for yelling at you. I didn’t mean to cause all this. I’m so sorry,” Steve said. Tony melted at his kicked puppy look.
“Aw Stevie. You didn’t cause this. I was born with a heart defect and sometimes my heart beats a bit slower than it’s supposed to. It just...wasn’t a good day. But this wasn’t your fault,” Tony said firmly.
Steve nodded but still looked extremely guilty. “I wish you would have told me.”
“I didn’t want you to worry.”
“I’ll always worry about you,” Steve smiled. He pressed his forehead to Tony’s and they both sat quietly, soaking the strength from each other.
It was right before they arrived at the hospital that the machines started beeping wildly and Tony's body went limp. "Tony?!" Steve shouted.
"He's in heart failure," the paramedic announced. The paramedic pushed Steve out of the way and started hooking his husband up to more machines. "Sir, I'm going to need you to perform CPR on him," the paramedic said, rushing around the ambulance. Steve stared in shock. "Now!" The paramedic said firmly, pushing the supersoldier's hands onto Tony. Steve pushed on his husband's chest robotically while the paramedic forced a tube into Tony's mouth. In seconds the paramedic was applying paddles onto Tony's chest. He forced Steve to move back and shouted "Clear!" before pressing a button on a machine. Steve stared in horror as Tony's body arched with the shock of the paddles.
Luckily, the machines stopped it's frantic red beeping. The paramedic took off the paddles and fiddled with the other machines and tubes. "Is he going to be okay?" Steve asked, still in shock.
"Honestly?" Steve nodded. "People with congenital heart defects like his don't survive incredibly long, it's a miracle he's lived to the age he is especially with his...profession. He's in desperate need of a heart transplant."
"Well how do I get him one of those?" Steve piped up, overcome with hope.
The paramedic looked at him sadly. "He'll be placed on a long list with other people waiting for one. But with his profession and his drug history- he'll be very low or I doubt they'd place him on it at all. I'm sorry."
Steve went pale and his heart dropped to his feet. "S'eve?" he heard.
"I'm here, Tones. I'm here."