Blindness
1.
Tony strolled into the debriefing almost 30 minutes late as per usual. He sat down at the empty chair, ignoring the stares and took out his tablet.
Steve coughed and Tony looked up. “Oh please, continue,” the genius gestured, continuing to type onto the pad. He lifted his feet and crossed them into the table. Bruce hummed disapprovingly and tapped Tony’s leg.
“You’re being disrespectful,” Steve said, eyes narrowed. “Put your feet down and take off those ridiculous sunglasses.”
Tony put his feet down with an eye roll.
“Take off the sunglasses, we’re not outside,” Steve repeated.
Tony sighed loudly and his eyes narrowed behind the purple-tinted glasses. “Please continue the debrief, Capsicle.”
He and Steve stared at each other for a long moment before the supersoldier huffed and continued talking.
He hated Tony’s eccentricity. He understood that in front of the press Tony loved playing into the ‘playboy Stark’ persona, but Steve didn’t think he should have to tolerate it when the cameras were off.
Tony and Pepper were on a video call in Pepper’s office discussing a potential sponsorship with Stark Industries.
They were three hours into the discussion of financials and Tony suddenly remembered why he had given away the role of CEO so quickly. It was so boring.
“What time is it?” Pepper whispered to Tony as the other company skimmed through some paperwork.
“Jarvis, what time-“ Tony started.
“Shhh, just check your watch,” Pepper said, pointing to the expensive watch on Tony’s wrist.
Tony looked down as if just noticing the accessory. He stared down at the circular blur on his arm. He couldn't make out the clock’s hand much less the small tick marks.
Tony stared helplessly at his wrist for several seconds until finally Pepper finally rolled her eyes. “You can’t read analogue Tony, really?” She quickly dug her phone from her purse and checked the time.
Tony tried to keep the embarrassed flush from his face. He could read analogue...he just couldn’t see it anymore.
3.
Tony had just gotten home from a long meeting across town. He was tired and ready to crash. He was dragging his feet through the common floor in an effort to grab a drink of water before bed when suddenly something jumped down from on top of the fridge and landed on top of him.
Tony let out a scream as the person laughed and held him down before ripping the glasses off his face. Tony tried to recognize the outline of the face but luckily the AI in his ear piece told him ‘Clint Barton’. “Give them back, Clint!” Tony said, struggling.
“Woah, the famous Tony Stark glasses,” Clint said, laughing. He was about to place the orange lens on his face before Tony hit his arm, distracting him.
“I said give them-” Tony started.
“Uh,” Clint started, growing as he inched closer to the genius’ face. “Why are your eyes so glassy?”
Tony’s mouth hung open as he started to fumble for an answer. “I’m just tired so…”
“Yeah but,” Clint leaned in closer. “They’re like, really glassy. Can you even see me?”
Tony forced the archer off of him. “Of course I can see you. As I said, I'm tired. Now give me my glasses back so I can go to bed,” he said firmly.
Clint handed over the glasses reluctantly, still giving Tony a weird look. He watched the genius walk away towards the elevator with questions brewing in his head.
4.
“Tony,” Bruce said sadly. “I can’t do anything else.”
Tony stood up from the workshop bench, his face upset. “What do you mean you can’t do anything else?”
“I can’t add any more prescription to your glasses, Tones. I tried,” Bruce said sadly.
“But I can’t see,” Tony said brokenly.
“I know,” Bruce whispered, pulling his boyfriend into his arms. “But we can get you a white cane, and we can learn braille together.”
“But I can’t see,” Tony whispered again. Reluctantly, tears leaked from his eyes.
Tony had done everything he could to ignore the fact that he was going blind, but now he was at the point he could no longer ignore the inevitable. And it scared him. Because he needed to see to do his job, to invent, to be Tony Stark.
5.
Natasha, the spy that she was, quickly picked up on Tony and Bruce’s change in mood. They were quiet and kept to themselves even more than usual. So Natasha thought it was extra suspicious when Bruce had come home randomly with a large dog.
He said it was a gift for Tony, though the genius was not as happy as Nat would have thought seeing the dog. He smiled, but his eyes held a deep sadness and acceptance to them.
The dog also had Nat confused because it was no normal dog. The dog, Ana, was very quiet, rarely barked, and seemed more intelligent than any random dog. She was always at Tony’s side and always ran to him when he stood up or looked anxious about something.
It almost seemed as if Ana was a service dog, but no, why would Tony need one of those?
6.
It was a week later they were all in for a shock.
Tony came wandering into the kitchen, 20 minutes late to breakfast. The Avengers were quiet as the genius wandered in, Ana at his feet, and he looked right past them.
“Hey Tony,” Steve said, looking at the man suspiciously.
Tony nodded in their general direction and continued his trek to the counter.
The man looked tired. His hair was a mess, his clothes hung off him, his feet dragged, and even his famous colored glasses looked too big for his sunken face.
They all jumped as Tony’s fist slammed onto the counter. The piece of bread he held in it flattened. He froze, frowning, and Clint could see his eyes squint from behind the lenses. They watched as he moved his hand a few inches to the right. Again, his hand slammed into the counter. “Who moved the toaster?” He said in a low voice.
Everyone was silent, looking at the genius in wild confusion.
Tony moved his hand, pounding on the counter over and over. “Who moved the toaster!” He shouted, hysterically. “Who moved the goddamned toaster?!”
Bruce came running from his room and quickly took in the scene. He ran behind Tony, restraining his arm and pressing his lips to the genius’ ear. “Calm down, baby, calm down,” whispered.
“I just wanted some toast,” Tony said brokenly.
“I know, Tones, I know,” Bruce said softly. He took Tony’s hand and guided it to the toaster which sat about a foot away from its usual place.
Tony grabbed the toaster blindly, his knees going weak in Bruce’s hold. “How about I make you breakfast, okay?” Bruce said, guiding Tony towards the bedroom. Ana slid herself under Tony’s hand and followed them. “You just get some more rest and I'll wake you when the food’s ready, alright?”
As soon as Tony was in the bed, Bruce came back to the kitchen to meet frozen-in-shock Avengers.
“What just happened?” Steve asked.
Bruce sighed, cleaning up the mess Tony left of his mutilated bread. “He’s going blind.”
The group gasped. “But...but…” Clint sputtered.
“Why do you think he wears glasses all the time?”
“Because he’s Tony Stark and likes to be as eccentric as possible,” Steve answered, crossing his arms.
“Because he can’t see,” Bruce corrected.
“The dog?” Natasha asked.
“A seeing-eye dog.”
“He’s really going blind?” Steve asked softly.
Bruce sighed. “Be nice to him, okay? He already is having a hard time.”
“Of course, Bruce. We’re still his teammates. We’ll get through this together.” Steve said firmly.