Skull Fracture
The idea to play dodgeball in the new gym came from either Thor or Clint, unsurprisingly.
Tony had upgraded their training area to include a large area for sports that looks identical to a high school gym, hard shiny floors included.
For their ‘mandatory team bonding’ that his dear husband had put on the common room calendar every week, they alternated sports. Last week was basketball, the week before was volleyball, and today was dodgeball.
While Tony had fought pretty hard to be able to sit out during basketball, using his small stature as an excuse, it was hard to find a reason to get out of dodgeball. And to be fair, his competitive side was confident his short height and agility would give him an advantage when it came to dodging.
The sides split with Tony, Natasha, and Bucky, and Clint on one side, and Steve, Thor, Bruce, and Sam on the other.
It had taken a while for Thor to understand how the game worked, but after a practice round he was ready. The only challenge was getting him to pull his throws when aiming for a non-enhanced teammate.
The game was going well, and surprisingly, Tony’s team, who had the least amount of enhanced individuals, was winning. Tony was sweating badly as he jumped, ducked, and dove out of the way of the dodgeballs. While the supers made sure to throw softer, the balls were still pretty hard so Tony knew he’d wake up with a few bruises in the morning.
The game ended with a final round of Bucky vs. Thor. Because they were both advanced, the balls were thrown with full speed and strength, which was very interesting to watch.
Finally, Bucky got the last hit, smacking Thor on the hip despite the god’s efforts to dodge.
Tony walked onto the floor, intending to give Bucky a high five, but not noticing Thor throwing a final ball in his anger.
In slow-motion, the ball sailed across the room smacking Tony hard in the forehead. The genius blacked out before his head smacked the hard gym floor, echoing in the stunned silence.
“Tony!” Steve practically screamed, jumping off the bleachers and running towards his husband. He tuned out Thor’s frantic apologies, not even able to comprehend anything except the love of his life was unconscious and bleeding.
His husband was motionless, his eyes closed, and blood was quickly pooling under his head. There was a dark bruise where the ball impacted the man’s forehead.
Steve’s hands hovered over Tony’s prone body, shaking and breathing hard.
“Don’t touch him,” Bruce said loudly, “And someone call an ambulance.” He was the second to reach Tony’s side, gently grabbing Tony’s wrist to read his pulse.
“Bruce, he’s bleeding,” Steve said in shock, “He’s bleeding, he’s bleeding.”
“I know, I know,” Bruce said, overwhelmed. “Clint, can you go get a towel?” The archer raced to comply.
“Ambulance ETA 3 minutes,” Natasha announced.
Steve’s heart jumped when he started to hear whimpers come from Tony’s throat and see his eyes crack open. “It’s okay baby, you’re okay,” Steve said softly.
Tony’s cries became more audible and his breathing was harsh.
“Tony, can you hear me? Tony?” Bruce said loudly. The genius’ eyes lolled around his head, not landing on anything. “Can you follow my finger, Tones?” Bruce moved his finger left and right, but Tony didn’t even attempt to follow it.
Just as Bruce went to talk again, Tony gagged.
“Shit, we have to turn him on his side,” Bruce said. “Steve, Bucky, you guys help me hold his head steady.”
Bruce guided Steve’s hands to be on either side of Tony's neck and Bucky’s on either side of Tony’s shoulders. Natasha moved further down to Tony’s lower body while Bruce’s hands took the most important spot on either side of Tony’s head. Clint, who had returned, sat next to Bruce holding out the towel waiting for the scientist’s instructions.
Bruce counted down and in one motion they turned Tony onto his side. The genius let out an involuntary groan but soon bile was spilling from his mouth. His eyes switched between trying to focus and rolling to the back of his head. It was making him even dizzier as his vision faded in and out.
Steve noticed tears dripping out of Tony’s eyes and his heart broke. “It’s okay baby, i’m here, don’t cry. You’re gonna be okay,” he said gently.
“Hurss’” Tony slurred, voice soft and raspy.
During the exchange Clint was instructed by Bruce to place the towel on the back of Tony’s head, but not to add noticeable pressure.
“Okay lets turn him back down, gently,” Bruce said.
They followed his guide to ease Tony back down. Steve used his shirt to wipe off a bit of bile that was on the corner of Tony’s lips and reached down to kiss the genius’ cheek. “Tony, baby?” It took several seconds but Tony’s eyes rolled to Steve’s general area. “Can you hear me, sweetheart?”
“Seeviee,“ Tony slurred, “Head.”
“I know, baby,” Steve said softly, rubbing Tony’s cheek with a light finger.
Natasha took Tony’s limp hand and rubbed circles into it.
The genius was noticeably relaxing, now able to recognize his team around him.
The rising noise as the sirens got closer to the building had him growing tense again. Tony’s eyes squeezed shut and he started weakly squeezing Natasha’s hand.
“Mmmmm,” Tony groaned, his breathing picking up.
Steve ran his finger over the genius’ cheek. “It’s okay baby, breathe.”
Tony couldn’t hear him as the sounds grew louder, echoing in his throbbing brain. He raised a hand to hit his head, willing the sound to quiet, but it only caused the throbbing to worsen. He felt several hands grab his arm and move it back to his side, but it made him more confused and agitated. He didn’t know where he was, or what was happening, or why the sound was so loud.
He squirmed, trying to get up but the same hands held him down onto the hard surface. He was uncomfortable, he was lying in a puddle of something, and his head hurt.
“Seevie?” He whimpered.
“I’m here, Tones, calm down for me, okay?” Steve’s voice sounded far away. There were new hands touching him and none of them felt like Steve’s large warm ones. “I’m here, Tones, I'm here!”
Steve was being held back by his friends as the paramedics worked on Tony. His husband was disoriented and freaking out but he had to stay away so that they could help him. Tony’s eyes hadn’t opened for several minutes, but he could see the genius fighting to move his head out of the paramedics grasp as they tried to stabilize him. Tony’s arms and feet moved weakly as he panicked but Steve could only watch as they held him down.
In no time, they had Tony’s head wrapped and kept in place by a neck brace and immobilizer and then lifted onto a stretcher.
The Avengers rushed to follow them but were told to meet at the hospital. Even once they raced there they had to wait in the waiting room.
After hours of waiting, Tony’s doctor came to speak to them. He said they did several tests including a CT and found that Tony had fractured his skull. In the middle of one of the tests he suddenly fell unconscious and started seizing so they moved him to the ICU to watch for signs of a blood clot in his brain or a traumatic brain injury.
“Can we see him?” Steve asked immediately.
The doctor looked at them wearily but agreed to let three of them in at a time. Sam and Clint decided to stay behind to console Thor who was wrecked at the news so Steve, Bruce, and Natasha followed the doctor to the ICU.
Tony’s eyes were closed when they walked in the room, but they started squinting open when the group walked in.
“There’s my Antoshka,” Natasha whispered, taking Tony’s hand.
Tony gave a weak twitch of the lips that widened a bit when Steve pressed a kiss to them. “How are you feeling, baby?”
Tony’s shoulder lifted a bit and his eyes closed for a brief moment.
“Do you want some water, Tones?” Bruce asked softly.
Tony went to nod before flinching as a spike of pain shot through his head. Natasha rubbed his wrist while Steve fought not to cry.
Bruce poured some water from the pitcher that sat on the bedside table into a cup. Steve raised the bed up so Tony was sitting up. At Natasha’s gesture, he looked to Bruce who had set the cup down and made an encouraging nod. Tony, who had his eyes closed again, barely felt Bruce lifting his head and neck forward, but he did open his eyes in surprise when he felt his husband’s familiar body slip behind him.
“Comfy?” Steve asked as Tony leaned back and snuggled into his boyfriend’s chest.
Tony hummed in response as Natasha placed a pillow behind Tony’s head as a cushion.
Bruce lifted the cup of water and with Steve’s help, Tony took a few sips.
Suddenly there was a knock and the door creaked open.
Clint, Sam, and a sheepish Thor snuck into the room and closed the door quietly behind them. “Hey guys, look who made it past the guards!” Clint exclaimed. The group rolled their eyes.
“Man of Iron,” Thor said in a voice softer than they’ve ever heard. “I am incredibly sorry for causing you harm, and I will spend the rest of my life paying back the debt I have caused.”
Tony used his hand to gesture the God to his bedside.
Thor guiltily dragged himself over before lowing to his knees when he reached the bed.
“Iss o-okay,” Tony slurred before placing a hand on Thor’s head. Thor lowered his head to the bed sheet and let a tear roll down his cheek.
Steve could tell it was paining Tony to speak so he squeezed the genius' waist a bit tighter. At the action, Tony melted into Steve’s chest and his eyes fluttered. “You tired, Tones?”
Tony hummed negatively, but Steve could see his nose scrunching in pain. He laid a gentle hand over Tony’s eyes and his husband let out a breath. “Sleep, baby.”
Steve gestured to the others who got the hint and stood to leave. Bruce took one last look at the stats on the machines surrounding the bed before nodding to Steve and leaving to talk to the doctor.
“You scared the shit out of me,” Steve whispered when the room was quiet.
“Language,” Tony whispered back, squeezing his husband’s hand. Tony reached up, grabbing the hand over his eyes and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently.
Two weeks later, Steve had an arm around Tony’s back holding him up by his bent elbows as they walked out of the hospital to the car.
Tony leaned on him tiredly as they rode towards the tower, and Steve smiled down at him, grateful that the genius was okay. “I love you,” he whispered into Tony’s hair.
“I love you too,” Tony smiled.