Chapter 7
It seems to drag on for weeks, and you know what? It does. He's been spiralling for three weeks. His hands are covered in bite marks, his nails are pretty much gone, his lips are chapped and cracked from the biting, and he has huge bags under his eyes. The sedation is working, though, and keeps him calm enough that's all the damage he can do to himself. Hell, they've been trying test after test to see what's going on, but they come back clean, which doesn't help Tony in the slightest. He tries to go back into his memories, testing himself, but he finds a lot of his memories attached to his parents and friends, which are smudged and fuzzy. Bits are missing, and he feels like there are gaps, and it's freaking him out. He has no idea what caused it or what's going on, but they're ranging from his childhood, and each time he checks, the more recent ones start the blend into the corraded ones. He's forgotten about Barnes pretty much completely at this point, as well as his arm, which still needs work, but they weren't letting anyone in any way.
By the end of the third week, Tony is just lying on his side halfway into the fetal position, staring blankly out into the hall. The life in his eyes is gone again. They're blank and hazy, and he idly chews on his thumb somewhere far away in his head and nicely sedated thanks to the team on him. What Tony didn't account for was that Fury would still be given access if he wanted to come, and second, his cousin technically is not only his emergency contact but also his medical guardian in times of need. They must have called both of them, seeing he was only getting worse and showing no signs of coming back, but probably didn't plan on both showing up or at least not together. Fury looks just about as normal as he ever does. There is no rush or anything, but he must be off because he's in what Tony has started to call street clothes. A simple pair of jeans, his usual boots and a casual button-up with the sleeves rolled up a bit and a few of the top buttons undone.
Peggy, on the other hand, though? She looked freaked the fuck out. She must be just off the plane, her hair thrown up in a messy bun, pieces falling out and into her face. She's in a pair of leggings, and a way too big hoodie that Tony is pretty damn sure isn't her's, but he does know she's seeing someone, so maybe it's his. Peggy makes it first flustered and out of breath, frantic with worry at the nurse's station, probably demanding where he is. Before the nurse can try and calm her down enough to answer the questions she's spewing a mile a minute, Fury wanders in, and Peggy's head snaps over to him. Her bag has fallen to the floor, but she doesn't seem to notice or care. She runs over to him, grabs his shirt, and probably does the same thing to him as she did to the nurses. Fury doesn't even try to fake anything and just nods before putting a hand on her arm and pointing over her shoulder with the other one. Peggy whips her head around and finds Tony, who's staring blankly back at them and runs over to his room. Fury follows slowly behind, making sure to grab her bag on his way over lest it be left on the ground.
"Oh my god! Tony!" Peggy shouts, skidding into his room and making Tony almost gag on the panic and anxiety she's giving off
"God, Tony," She chides, stopping and kneeling in front of his face. "Shit. I'd kill your dad if he wasn't already. Look at you." Peggy rushes on, stuck between concern, anger and a motherly need to fix everything
"Long road," Fury mentions offhandedly, putting her bag next to the chairs and sitting down in the furthest one.
"You should have called me sooner," Peggy snaps at him.
"You were on base, Margret. Besides, he ain't going anywhere. It could wait," Fury reminds her, and he might have a point.
"Still," Peggy grinds out, but she knows he's right.
"Aw shit," Peggy sighs, her voice a little watery, her hand on Tony's head as she looks at his face.
"Well, kid? What is it now?" Fury asks him his elbow perched on the arm of the chair so he can rest his head against it
"It's wrong, everything is wrong, they're disappearing. I didn't remember them. Something is wrong; the tests are wrong," Tony mutters, still somewhere far away, staring through Peggy.
"You're memories!? Oh, fuck" Peggy curses, knowing just how freaked out he has to be no wonder he's in this state. It also explains a good few things.
"Fuck" Fury drags out, rubbing his forehead a little in the same boat as Peggy.
"Nick," Peggy drags out a little, her eyes more expectant.
"I know, believe me, way ahead of you. Besides, Cho is on speed dial at this point," Fury huffs, digging out his phone with his free hand.
"Good," Peggy says as her phone starts to ring.
"Hello?" Peggy says into the phone, "Oh, Stevie, hey. I am, yeah, but now isn't a good time. It's a family emergency," Peggy says, and recollections flash in Fury and Tony's eyes, making her squint her eyes a little suspiciously.
"Right. Gotta question love," Peggy says, the suspicion seeping into her voice. "You got a friend, Bucky, right? That's his name?" Peggy says, and Fury lets out this big sigh and looks a little resigned
"Oh, you fucking quaks!" Peggy snaps at them, forgetting she's on the phone. "Did you two nut jobs leave that out on purpose!?" Peggy barks, continuing on, "How on greens earth did you leave out the fact that damn drunk hit my boyfriend's best friend!? Oh my god! Ooh, I expected this from you but you!? You're a grown man. You should have fessed up!" Peggy goes off first at Tony and then at Fury, who looks perfectly innocent, just a little tired
"Might want to end the call there, Margret, before you let him listen on for too long," Fury huffs loud enough that Steve would have no choice but to overhear
"Ooh," Peggy grinds out but does hang up abruptly.
"To be fair, it could have been worse. We could have killed him," Tony mutters.
"Tony!" Peggy cries, snapping to her feet
"I mean, he somehow got Tony's arm, and I'm making him fix it, so it's a kind of apology, right?" Fury huffs, making Tony smirk a little
"Oh good lord, love a duck, you two are going to make me snap!" Peggy says, hands on her hair, frustrated
"Look, Barnes seems alright with the transaction. I doubt there is gonna ever be another interaction or line smudging once the fix is done," Fury says, and he has a point there shouldn't be any more cross-overs even if Peggy is dating one of the othersiders
"Still," Peggy says, calming down a little "This. This is serious, I mean seriously fucked up. I can barely wrap my head around this. And still, what about Tony!? How is he gonna be after this!? What the hell am I looking at!?" Peggy says as she starts to pace back and forth, hands over her mouth, anxiety ramping up again
"Peg, sit down. You're gonna make a trench," Tony huffs from where he's watching her pace, eyes tracking back and forth. "I'll be fine, probably more broken than normal, and have some serious or mild repercussions, but you know, should be expended given, you know, and a fucking mess might as well just leave it as is and pretend you don't see it," Tony continues.
"Tony, it's you; I'm never gonna just pretend I don't see shit! Do you even remember how many times I've cleaned you up!? Stuck you in a rehab!? Done everything I possibly could for you!? And now this!? Of all the messes to find yourself in, you land in this shit!?" Peggy explodes a little, still pacing
"Go to the boy toy then," Tony sneers, glaring at her now.
"Hey, enough, both of you," Fury snaps as they glare at each other.
"We need to talk, Nick," Peggy says with gritted teeth, grabbing her bag.
"We do," Fury agrees, getting up.
They leave, and lucky this visit has seemed to drag Tony out of his head enough to feel normal again, but he still refuses guests and even tries to give instructions so someone else can do the arm. Fury won't let him, even if it's only him and Peggy visiting for the next week, and half the time, Peggy just sits in the chair, her arms crossed over her chest and stewing. Tony has no idea if she's gone to base or wherever her boyfriend is, let alone talk to the man since that call in his room. Tony is stewing on his own, so he can't blame her, but even so, she nitpicks and fusses through every visit. Hell, she even follows his physical therapy and all the other hell he does while trapping her and hooked up to shit supposed to be keeping him alive. By the end of Peggy's first week, they finally decide to talk again, although it's mostly just blabber and nothing touching any kind of subject that should be addressed.
"How many sessions to go on Barnes's arm?" Peggy asks after they'd been quiet this whole visit
"I did one, so like five, I don't know, could be even more fucked" Tony grumbles, sitting back against the pillows, his arms crossed over his chest.
"You still don't know how he got it?" Peggy sighs, rubbing her temple with a manicured nail, feeling yet another headache coming
"No," Tony snips, then sighs. "I've tried, but I have no idea. For all I know, it was done before the crash, or this was premeditated by someone," He adds.
"Great," Peggy says, rolling her eyes. "Still, you should fix his arm so this can be done," She continues.
"What about you and boy toy then?" Tony sneers a little
"Stop calling him that. I don't know; I haven't talked since," Peggy shrugs.
"You should if you like him that much," Tony grumbles sulkily.
"Baby," Peggy huffs, both fond and annoyed. "Fine, you work on the arm, and I'll talk to Steve. Fair?"
"Fine," Tony says, not looking forward to this at all.
Peggy just hums and gets on her phone to play around or read for the rest of the visit, letting Tony do whatever on his own, which is fine because neither wants this to start. A few days later, Peggy decides she'd rather not do it in person, but she never gets the chance to voice that because the choice is made for her. She sits with her back in the hall as usual so she can face Tony fully and give him all her attention even if she isn't actively doing it. She's got one leg crossed over the other, wearing a pair of white and blue pin stripped flared jeans and a cut-off white long-sleeve crop top. She's got her hair in its usual finger wave sort of style, so with her back turned, she has no idea A: that people were coming and B: Who the hell they would be. Tony's mumbling under his breath from his bed, clearly upset about something even if he's in his normal clothes of ripped jeans and a band tee, but it's been dragging on for about half an hour.
"האם היית דופק את זה, כרוב טיפש," Peggy snaps at him in Hebrew, kicking his bed a little
(Knock it off already, you stupid cherub)
"Don't be mean to me, you bitch" Tony snaps back at her, pouting.
"Then quit muttering already. It's been ages," Peggy chides back at him, things quickly spiralling into squabbling.
"This would be better high," Tony grumbles at her, knowing it would tick her off.
"Antonio Edward Stark, if you so much as think of ever, and I mean ever, getting high again, I will put you in an early grave myself!" Peggy snaps, jumping out of her chair and cuffing him on the back of the head
"Oh, like you could! I'm practically your fucking baby," Tony snaps back, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, you know what!?" Peggy says and grabs the pillow so she can smother him
"No! Bad Peg leg! Nick, save me!" Tony cries, but he's laughing a little even as she actively tries to gently smother him in his own hospital bed
"Um," a deep, grave voice says from the doorway. Both freeze before looking over with the same glare, not sure what to expect.
"AH fuck nuts!" Peggy curses, seeing not only who she assumes is her boyfriend's mystery best friend but also her fucking boyfriend."Of course, you had to show up. Ugh, my luck fucking sucks. I didn't want to do this in person," Peggy snaps, half to herself, half to an unknown deity.
"Oh, I like her." Bucky laughs, taken aback, and from his face, so is Steve
"Oh! Oh! You're the boy toy! Oh my god!" Tony shouts excited before falling over laughing
"Hey, pet," Steve says, a little unsure, as Peggy glares daggers at the laughing teen.
"Fuck it, let's talk," Peggy huffs, grabbing her bag, a little annoyed.
"I'm good with that," Steve says, backing up to make more room. "Have fun, Buck," Steve adds over his shoulder before following after his girlfriend.
"Oh my god, she got herself a fucking golden retriever; oh, he's so much more poster boy than I ever thought!" Tony laughs loudly from his bed, still going, apparently
Bucky just shakes his head a little and moves into the room. He's surprised that's all that happened with Steve. He figured the young man would kill Stark or do something, but it seems his girlfriend is a little more than he had expected. Tony makes quick work sobering up once he gets the arm and works on it until he gets lost in it, and Bucky has to manually work on Tony to stop. Once he's finally free from the young genius, Bucky goes to find Steve. He finds him and his girlfriend down in the hospital lobby, where they seem to have made up. Bucky meets them halfway once Steve notices him, and he finally gets a handshake and proper introduction to Peggy. She leaves quickly, though, heading back up to the room, but Bucky is glad to see they seemed to work things out, and maybe Steve's therapy is working to see him let go of the whole Tony thing. They talk a lot and get through some stuff on the ride home, but it seems that Steve plans to introduce Peggy to the rest of the group soon, which will be nice before he gets shipped off on his next deployment. Bucky is officially out of the army after the accident. At least for now, he might go back, but he'll have to wait and see.