Chapter 5
Steve's face quickly became one of complete mortification as he saw the broomstick strike Tony, before clattering to the floor. Glancing up, he looked in sheer panic towards Bucky.
"What did you do?" he blurted out loudly, rushing forward towards the two men. Bucky himself looked horrified by his actions, his eyes wide and alarmed. He stood frozen. Steve wasn't sure if it was because he didn't know what to do, or if Buck was just in shock.
Although Bucky didn't answer, Steve quickly sat down on the booth, pulling the genius into his lap. Tony's hands were firmly clutched around his head, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. Oh god, they had hurt Tony. Hiding his absolutely guilty face, Steve focused on scanning over the smaller man for injuries. He let his hands trace softly around Tony's head and neck. He tried to keep his touches feather-light, not wanting to add any pressure to the most likely forming bruises. His mother had taught Steve quite a few things when he was young, and one of them had been to keep someone in pain comfortable.
Tony merely whimpered at the touches, turning his face up to look at his "attackers".
Steve froze at the image before him. The only noise his mind registered was a soft gasp from the direction Bucky had been in. Tony's right eye was black. Not bruised blue, but a dark, ugly purple black. His neck was outlined in light scrapes, cuts, and red marks. Steve didn't understand. He had seen where the broomstick had landed and it was nowhere near Tony's front face or neck. The broomstick had landed with a hard blow to the back of Tony's head.
"W-where...?" Tony trailed off, his voice rougher than it had been last night. Was it from all the singing? Steve wasn't sure. He was, however, the first to recover from the blatant misfortune as he responded.
"Um, hi Mr. Stark.. Sir?" he began awkwardly. How was he supposed to speak to his literal idol, especially as he tried to explain why, exactly, his best friend had hit said idol over the head with a broomstick. "You um...must have fallen asleep after your performance last night, and ended up sleeping on one of the booths to our cafe..." He trailed off lamely.
"I'm SO sorry Stark," Bucky began, having finally seemed to recuperate. He reached a hand out, pausing it in mid air. It was clear on Buck's face he wasn't sure whether Tony wanted Bucky to touch him.
Tony, on the other hand, seemed much more interested in Bucky's prosthetic than he was in the explanation as to why he had been attacked in his sleep. The smaller man seemed to just move on from the subject and possible injuries as he bulldozed into another topic. He reached out, slowly grabbing onto the metal hand. Bucky froze, watching in awe. Steve wasn't faring much better, his arms having unconsciously wrapped around Tony's thin waist as he watched. It felt so...natural.
"This is...amazing. How easy are the joints to move around? Do you have any sensory inputs in any part of your arm? It's waterproof, right?" Tony had begun to rant, shooting off question after question as he looked over the prosthetic arm. Steve couldn't help but think about the strange reaction. Most people were hesitant, to say the least, towards Bucky's arm. Kids were usually terrified, thinking Buck was some cyber cop or something. Teenagers and young adults always seemed to give Buck the famous "look of pity". Older adults and a majority of the elderly would shake their head and begin ranting about wars and injuries back in the day. Other than Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Sam, no one had ever just taken it for what it was, an arm.
Steve glanced up towards Buck, his eyebrows raised in amusement, before glancing back down towards the tinier of the two brunettes. He quickly saved Buck from all the questions by speaking up.
"You should probably see a doctor." he said. His voice offered the suggestion as that and nothing more, but anyone who knew Steve knew it was a secret demand, one he wasn't willing to debate on. Tony could have a serious head injury. He could be suffering a concussion, intense bruising and swelling, or even a cracked skull for all they knew.
The word doctor seemed to spark Tony back into focus as he turned to Steve, his always racing mind taking small notice to the arms wrapped around him. Okay, that was new.
"Doctors? What, no. I'm fine. I'm peachy. Just needed a little morning call, and that's what I got." he said as he stood up, running a hand through his unruly hair. Steve watched, noticing the way the man's nimble hands avoided connecting with any skin around his head.
"No, you're entire head is hurt. You have a black eye, dozens of cuts and scrapes, and could be suffering head trauma." Steve insisted, his voice going stern and firm. He only tended to use the voice on people close to him, when he was concerned. His friends would usually joke about it, calling it "Steve DISAPPROVES" look. It usually scared whatever poor chap was on the other side of it right into listening to the command. Tony, however, was never one to go down easily.
"So what? I tripped walking around town. It was a long night, now I'm awake and feeling as fresh as a daisy. No worries, Cap." he said, obviously teasing at Steve's "captain" voice.
Bucky cleared his voice with a loud cough, looking between the two.
"Hey, Stark I think Stevie's right on this one. You're not looking too swell." He said.
Steve glanced up to him, his brows furrowed. Tony always looked good. Tony didn't look that bad. Not to Steve anyways. Maybe making the situation seem a bit more crucial than it really is might convince the star to actually take it seriously though, so he nodded along in agreement.
Tony looked between the two, opening his mouth to argue his case further, when the door opened, the small bell on the top of it giving a short "ding", to notify them of the newcomer.
Clint walked in, his face looking more nervous than Steve was used to seeing it. Before he could open his mouth to ask the reason, Pepper Potts marched through the door, her eyes like lasers as she scanned the room. Once they landed on Tony, her shoulders visibly relaxed, a small frown etching into her features as she took notice to Tony's worse for wear appearance.
"Tony! What happened!" she nearly squawked, rushing over to the man, her 6 inch heels seeming like flats with her quick movements. "How many times have I told you to that you need to stop wandering off after concerts! What happened to you?" she asked, her eyes turning to deadly glares as she looked between the three taller men in the room. "Did they do this to you? I'll have everything they own taken from them and burned within an hour from now if they hurt you. Tony we can sue." she urged, looking suspiciously towards the men.
Steve visibly winced at the statement. They barely were making it by as it was, but she wasn't wrong. If Tony wanted, he could sue Buck and the cafe for every penny they had, and every shirt on their backs. He tried to avoid looking towards Clint. If Clint knew what had happened, he would surely start yelling it across town, and they really didn't need that sorta attention. While Buck stayed quiet, seemingly looking over every possible exit in the building, probably planning to bolt and hide away, Steve sighed and spoke up.
" 'm sorry ma'am...my friend here thought Mr. Stark was an intruder...he hit him with a broomstick." Steve spoke, keeping his voice calm and even. While he knew they could lose everything they'd worked for since childhood, he couldn't be dishonest. That wasn't how his mama raised him.
Tony quickly jumped to their defense, though Steve was clueless as to why. "Pep, calm down. I'm fine. Where's Rhodey bear?" he asked, the mischievous grin on his face seemingly being just enough to convince Pepper to drop the subject.
"He's on a date with that guy, Sam I think." she said, a faint smile tracing her lips. She was happy to see at least one of the three in their little group have a stable, happy and healthy relationship.
Tony seemed gleeful at the news, light shining through his one good eye. Steve winced at the thought. How had tripping given Tony a black eye that badly swollen? Geez ...the man wasn't even tall, the fall couldn't have been that far down. Then again, things happened. Rock stars got hit with broomsticks, short men fall to their eye's demise, and two broke fellas could be in a small room with their famous celebrity crush. Life was just FULL of crazy things, huh?
Steve was pulled out of his thoughts when the small bell went off again. Glancing over, he noticed a small group of teenagers gawking at Tony and Pepper. Right, it was opening day. Customers would hopefully be filing in throughout the day. The teenagers were quickly whipping out their phones, taking pictures of the stars and tweeting the cafe.
Tony grinned, turning to give Steve a soft smile that just about melted his heart.
"Hey guys," Tony looked over to the tweeting kids, grinning from ear to ear. "This place has the best coffee around. I think I might stop by again sometime. You should try the French Vanilla Special." he said. The teenagers gasped, their thumbs typing away furiously on their phones with each word.
Steve looked over to Bucky, who seemed to be realizing the same thing Steve was. In less than an hour, this place was probably going to see more business than the most popular coffee shops saw in months.
Tony wrapped his arm around Pepper's as she began walking out, gossiping about Rhodey's new man. Tony laughed, turning his head back to send a small wink towards the two men before he walked out.
Steve's mouth went completely dry, his eyes widening. He was sure Bucky was in even worse of a state. The Tony Stark...had just winked at them.
"What the HELL just happened?!" Clint burst out as soon as the cafe doors closed.