Chapter 3
Tony knew he was dying but it was not what made him upset enough to throw that horrible birthday party. He was trying to drown out the voices reminding him that his results from the test would be in the next morning. Everything he did that night; too much alcohol, too loud music, relying on Pepper too much and the suits were all fueled by his fears.
When Rhodey had to show up and started to use his “dad voice” on him it really started to wear on him a bit more. He knew he was basically throwing a temper tantrum but he was entitled to have at least one more fun party before he was listed as something useless. Even with all of the therapy and reminders from Rhodey and Pepper, Tony still heard Stane’s and Howard’s disgust.
Classifications were a...touchy subject for the eccentric billionaire. His father (and mother unknowingly) taught him that Stark men are to be something great like Alphas. Stane had told him that any class that was not Alpha or Neutral was useless.
It had never helped matters that his best friend was a caregiver. Rhodey had always taken a role in Tony’s life that everyone thought was odd. He told the younger male off, made sure he ate, and took care of himself while also being like a big brother. Many who had gotten close enough to watch their dynamics all were sure of Tony’s classification. Sure that he was going to be a little and that he was going to lose S.I. because of it.
There was a tiny part that had been terrified of that possibility that had pushed him to name Pepper as the new CEO. That had tempted him into drinking himself into oblivion. To fight Rhodey. Tony was hoping that if he destroyed himself with bad decisions he would forget everything including his own imminent death along with the threat hanging over his head.
When Tony found himself eating donuts out of a giant donut should have told him that he was never going to be fit to be whatever his class was. His want to yell and piss off Nick Fury also should have been an indicator. Call him an asshole but he just seemed to know this entire meeting was going to piss him off.
He was right of course he was but at least it had given him a new thing to focus on. Fury was at least good at helping him forget that he was scared of a simple letter. Yet Tony was not sure that having to listen to his father’s droning about how amazing he, Howard Stark, was would help him. But hey anything to put off reading his classification letter.
Which Tony should have realized was that little distraction plan was never going to happen when Coulson appeared. The man had dropped the letter on Tony’s lap with a piercing glare as if he knew that Tony should be reading it and not worrying about creating a new element. When Tony had made the move to tuck the letter away of course Fury had to insist he read it and soon.
Jackass. The only word that seemed to come forth for naming the eyepatched menace. He waited until he was alone at least before with shaking hands he opened the manilla envelope. A fleeting thought of how he really should correct people on him not dating Pepper tried to divert his attention for a millisecond as the folded papers slid out.
Anthony Edward Starkblah blah blah We hereby classify you as a Caregiver. What the fucking hell???