Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder (FND)
While Bucky loved Tony enough to die for him, he had to admit, it was pretty challenging living with someone who had such an unpredictable neurological condition.
Bucky could usually guess the intensity of Tony’s symptoms by his emotions, and considering yesterday was horrible and Tony went to bed sobbing from the stress of the day, he didn’t think today was going to be too great.
Their alarm went off at 9am and when Tony didn’t move, Bucky decided to let him sleep for a little longer and get ready in the bathroom.
30 minutes later when he was clean and dressed, he wandered back into the bedroom to see Tony still laying in the same position. He kneeled on Tony’s side of the bed and pressed kisses to his boyfriend’s forehead.
“Time to wake up doll,” he whispered, moving Tony’s hair from his face.
The genius’s eyes fluttered and set glassy eyes upon Bucky. “I don’t feel well, Buck,” he said, his voice raspy.
“I know, and that’s okay. Just tell me how I can help,” he replied softly.
Tony sighed, closing his eyes. “M’Legs are tinglin’.”
Bucky nodded and climbed onto the bed, pulling Tony’s legs into his lap. He started massaging them, hoping the paralysis wouldn’t last long.
“Are you excited for today?” Bucky asked.
“What’s today?” Tony asked, eyes still closed.
Memory problems, Bucky checklisted. “Today’s Peter’s birthday, babe. We are going to the beach with everyone to celebrate.”
“Oh yeah, Penny,” Tony yawned.
“Peter.”
“Peter.”
“How do they feel now?” Bucky asked after a long comfortable silence.
He saw Tony’s toes twitch slightly. “Better.”
Bucky nodded. “Do you think you want to go to the beach?”
“Gotta celebrate Penny’s birthday.”
“Peter.”
“Peter.”
“You don’t have to doll, if your body hurts you can sit this one out,” Bucky said, frowning.
“My body always hurts, I wanna go though,” Tony muttered.
Bucky sighed but nodded. “Let’s get dressed then, I think everyone is eating breakfast.”
Tony nodded. He slowly pulled his arms out from under the covers and held out his shaking hands for Bucky to take. The supersoldier pulled up his boyfriend so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Tony immediately slumped over, putting his head in his hands.
“No, baby, come here,” Bucky whined when he heard Tony whimper. He pulled Tony’s head to his stomach and ran his fingers through the back of his boyfriend’s hair.
“I hate this,” Tony whined softly.
“I know, I know,” Bucky whispered.
Tony wiped his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He grabbed Bucky’s forearms and used as much strength as he could to hail himself up. His weakened body gave out halfway through the effort and Bucky’s strength took over to help him stand. “Take your time doll.”
Tony gathered his bearings for another minute before nodding and taking a step. One of his knees was locked up so he limped slightly.
Random parts of his body ached but he tried to not let it show as he walked slowly with Bucky at his side.
By the time they made it to the kitchen, Tony could walk relatively normal- his limp barely noticeable.
“Hey guys, we’re just packing up the sandwiches now,” Steve greeted as Bucky led Tony to a seat.
Peter, who was talking with Ned and MJ, walked over when he noticed Tony. “Hey Mr.Stark! Thank you again for inviting my friends and I to the beach! I’m so excited!”
Tony frowned at Peter, his eyes staring hard at the boy’s mouth. He sent a helpless look to Bucky, who quickly realized the problem and walked away.
“Happy Birthday, Penny,” Tony said. “Peter,” he corrected.
Peter nodded, looking at Tony a bit strangely, before wandering back to his friends. Tony’s cheeks went bright red in shame and embarrassment and he squeezed his knee unconsciously.
The group continued to discuss the plan of the day. Bucky came back a few minutes later and subtly placed hearing aids into Tony’s ears as the team was distracted. Tony let out a deep breath in relief as the world’s volume seemed to increase like he had pressed the button on a remote.
“Can you eat breakfast?” Bucky whispered to him.
Tony shook his head. His throat already felt tight and he didn’t want to risk choking in front of everyone. He was a mess.
“You guys ready to go?” Sam asked, interrupting the pair.
“Yeah,” Bucky said, a bit flustered. “We leaving now?”
Sam nodded and gestured to the group by the door.
“Okay, you guys go ahead, we’ll ride behind you,” Bucky said.
“We gotta drive the kid right?” Tony spoke up, confused.
“You gave him a car for his birthday last year, remember doll?” Bucky said softly.
“Oh,” Tony said quietly. He didn’t remember.
Sam rolled his eyes. “Must be nice having so much money you can’t even remember what you do with it.”
Tony laughed uncomfortably until Sam walked away. Bucky squeezed his hand gently.
The pair walked behind everyone out to the garage, Bucky holding their bags. Tony was feeling stronger but he rathered the genius save his strength.
Bruce, who suddenly changed his mind at the last minute to tag along, decided to ride with Bucky and Tony. He hated the beach but he figured he could still hang out with his friends. Luckily, Bruce was the only one on the team who knew about Tony’s FND so Bucky was happy to have someone to help keep an eye on his boyfriend.
Natasha’s car took off first, with Clint, Steve, and Sam riding along. Peter’s car followed after them with Ned riding shotgun and Michelle in the back. Then finally Bucky’s car took the end with Tony and Bruce.
The ride was nice with a comfortable silence that was covered by fun music on the radio. Tony ended up dozing for most of the ride but was woken up when the car lit up with a call from Pepper.
As soon as Tony answered the call, the car lit up with Pepper’s angry voice ranting about how livid she was with Tony for missing deadlines. Bucky was concerned as the genius seemed to take the yelling and criticism without response, despite Pepper’s harsh words.
When Tony’s eyebrows grew tense and his hand found its way to his forehead in pain, Bucky quickly cut Pepper off and ended the call. Soon the car was quiet except for Tony’s quick anxious breaths.
“You work very hard, doll,” Bucky said after spending several long moments contemplating what to say.
Tony chucked bitterly. “But it’s never enough.”
Bucky sighed. “What’s on your to-do list? I can help when we get back home.”
Tony sighed heavily, slumping in his chair. “I have to update the new StarkPhone, organize a presentation for our investors about the new Arc Reactor energy theory, send Fury blueprints for the Quinjet upgrades, work on Clint’s new bow and Nat’s widowbites, check on the construction for Steve’s new bike, remodel-”
“Calm down, doll,” Bucky cut in when Tony started hyperventilating, his eyes widening at his long, seemingly impossible-to-complete list.
“Deep breaths, Tony,” Bruce spoke up from the back. Bucky looked up to the mirror and his eyes connected with the scientist’s worried ones.
Tony pulled at his collar, feeling like the air escaped from the car. Bruce settled a hand on his shoulder but he couldn’t feel it as a fog settled over his mind.
Bucky looked over worriedly as Tony’s features smoothed out suddenly and the man went quiet. “Tony? Tony?” Bucky shifted his eyes quickly from the passenger's seat to the road.
“Bucky, pull over,” Bruce said, his voice nervous.
“I can’t pull over in the middle of the high-”
“Bucky, pull over,” Bruce said firmly. As soon as Bucky moved the car over to the shoulder of the highway, Tony’s body started shifting and twisting wildly. Bruce quickly unbuckled himself, sliding outside the car and opening Tony’s door.
Bruce reclined Tony’s seat as his boyfriend unbuckled him, noticing the seatbelt rubbing uncomfortably against his neck and chest. The genius’ head lolled back and forth on the headrest and Bruce used his body as a barrier for Tony’s limbs which went to smack against the car door. Tony grunted and shook for a minute and twenty seconds before his body started to relax.
Bucky realized he was holding his breath so he finally released it as he saw Tony’s eyelids flickering. “Mmmughhh,” Tony groaned.
“It’s okay, doll, you can rest, you’re okay,” Bucky said softly, running fingers through the genius’ hair.
Bruce checked his science partner's vitals before declaring him okay. He buckled Tony in, leaving the seat reclined back, and put his sweater under Tony’s head for extra cushion. Bucky grabbed Tony’s thigh with his right hand and rubbed it gently.
They received a call from Steve just as they started driving again. “Hey Buck, where'd ya go? Peter says he doesn’t see you guys behind him anymore.”
“Oh uh, we drifted back, got stuck behind a truck. You guys keep going though, we’ll catch up soon,” Bucky said. Tony squirmed at the voices, his eyes starting to squint open.
“Okay, see you guys in a bit,” Steve said, ending the call.
Bucky turned his attention to his boyfriend who was rubbing his eyes sleepily. “Hey baby, how are you feeling?” He asked gently.
“M’ okay,” Tony yawned. Bruce helped him lift his seat up again.
“We’re almost there, then we’ll make sure you get to stretch your legs, okay doll?” Bucky assured.
Tony nodded and decided to rest his eyes for the remainder of the car ride. When they pulled up to the beach, Bucky unbuckled, letting Bruce out the car, and turned to Tony. “Are you sure you want to attend, baby? I can take you home right now if you’d like.”
Tony sighed heavily but shook his head. “No, it’s okay.”
Bucky smiled sadly and took Tony’s smaller hands in his. “I’m so, so proud of you doll.” Tony blushed and leaned to press a kiss to Bucky’s lips. Bucky gave him one more look of strength before they both got out of the car.
Tony took another moment to get his breathing under control, willing all the pain in his joints to quiet down and the fog in his head to leave, before joining his family for a fun day.