"Mr. Stark?"
Vision called out softly for the Billionaire who seemed to be in a catatonic state. Vision noticed how Mr. Stark was gently rubbing his chest, one of his recent wounds from the battle in Siberia, and staring at a wall on his left. Barely blinking. Vision knew not what had transpired there and Mr. Stark had yet to speak of the events which had happened 2 weeks ago. In fact...
Mr. Stark had yet to speak at all since Vision had brought him back from that frigid place.
Mrs. Hogan had cried when she visited Mr. Stark during his first week at the Hospital. She came by once a day for a hour, sometimes a hour and a half. Sometimes she was alone, sometimes she was with her husband. She was just happy that Mr. Stark was alive, though injured, he was alive. Colonel Rhodes was able to visit his friend on the fifth day of Mr. Stark's return. Mr. Parker was able to come right after the Colonel had entered.
Though Mr. Stark had woken up on the fourth day, it was the second week when everyone noticed who had come back was not their friend.
Just an empty shell of a man who was.
Mr. Stark would just stare silently at nothing. Sometimes, more often than not, he would begin to rub his chest and begin to mumble incoherent words. Sometimes they could catch a few understandable ones. Words that would stiffen both Colonel Rhodes and young Parker.
"'M sorry.."
"Still love you..."
"c'me back.."
"Tore this family apart."
"'S my fault."
The last one is what made the Colonel finally snap at the end of the second week.
"No it's not!"
Everyone had looked up except for Mr. Stark.
"Tones." The Colonel called out.
Mr. Stark still seemed to mumble even more incoherent words, eyes watering, tears threatening to fall.
"Tony, look at me."
Mr. Stark began to clutch at his chest, they could hear his shortness of breath. Hearing that, the Colonel wheeled towards Mr. Stark's bed and gently reached out to grab his hand away from his chest. "Tones, breath with me." Vision watched as Mr. Stark tried to follow the other man's words. The only sign of life besides the rubbing of chest and the mumbling.
Mrs. Hogan then stepped out of the hospital room along with her husband. The room was quiet except for the slow deep breathing between the two men. Seconds later they could hear half shouts.
"He did that, Captain America!"
"Pep.."
"No, Harold! I just.. How could this have happened? What happened in Siberia, I need to kno-"
The Colonel spoke up to Mr. Parker. "hey, kid, can you go out and try to calm them both down before the nurse ends up facing her wrath?"
"So you want me to face her instead?" The young man gave a wary smile. "Yes, sir." He walked out of the room and Mrs. Hogan stopped yelling, but they could still hear the three voices out of the room.
"Rhodey?" Came a soft whisper besides the Colonel.
The Colonel was taken back by Mr. Stark's sudden calling out. "Yeah Tones?"
"I.. I think I fucked up really bad"
"No, Tony, you didn't. The one who fucked up isn't here. And if I ever see his face again, legs or no legs, I'll beat his ass for what he did."
"B-But, Rhodey-bear. I almost killed his friend. I almost killed Bucky."
"Why, Tony? You gotta tell me what happened over there."
Mr. Stark used his free hand to rub his chest again. "Remember, when my parents died? I was just so lost and angry. I cussed my father out for his reckless driving and.. And for killing my mom. R-Remember that day?"
The Colonel took a deep breath and sighed. "I do. I stayed by your side as you drank as much as you could handle. I allowed it even though you were still underage. A stupid idea, but I couldn't say no, not after finding out about your parents."
There was a choked sob and Mr. Stark drew his knees up close to his body. "Rhodey... Rhodey, they didn't die from a car crash."
The Colonel paused, clearly in shock from the other's words. Vision himself straightened himself even more, which wasn't much.
"What do you mean, Tony?"
Mr. Stark gave a humorless laugh."My mom never died from a car crash. She was murdered. Murdered by B-Bucky. By the Winter Soldier. A-And I lost it, Rhodey. I lost it and tried to kill him. Steve defended him. They both attacked me and I destroyed Bucky's arm and.. and the next thing I know I'm on the ground and Steve's above me... He's above me and." Mr. Stark took a shaky breath. " He s-slammed his." He clutched his shirt. " He slammed his shield down on my arc reactor."
The last part was almost a hushed whisper, but both Vision and the Colonel had heard it.
"He knew, you know? Captain 'I-don't-like-it-when-people-keep-secrets-from-me'. He knew. God, Rhodey, it hurt. He even tried to lie to me about it." Mr. Stark was shaking again. Vision didn't know how to proceed. He felt a small burning pain inside. The same feeling he felt when Wanda...
When Wanda used her powers to smash him down through the floors.
Betrayal
"And that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was knowing that we were together and still he... I guess I wasn't important to him after all."
"I'll kill him, I swear Tony I will." The Colonel snarled and held Mr. Stark's hand tighter. Vision was sure, if the Colonel was able to stand, he would have pulled the younger man into a hug. Kept him there, a display of affection, and a promise of safety.
"No, Rhodey-bear... Nothing good will come out of it. I just... Let's focus on bringing Ross down. After that, well. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Platypus." Mr. Stark smiled a painfully sad smile that brought a different pain inside Vision and he was sure the Colonel had felt this pain as well.
"To-"
Vision blocked out all the noise around him as he stared at one of his Creators. Vision was not JARVIS, but he always had a feel for the A.I. when he was close to Mr. Stark. Blurry images and muffled voices, but sometimes, sometimes Vision could make out the words.
"You there JARV?"
"For you, sir, always."
"Ever heard the story of Jonah?"
"Er.. I wouldn't consider him a role model"
"Sir, I think I need to sleep now."
"JARVIS! JARVIS? Don't leave me, buddy..."
Vision looked back at Mr. Stark and thought of his painful injuries and how alone he must have felt.
And he came to a decision.
He would do better to stay closer to Mr. Sta- no. To stay closer to his Father. He promised to take care of him better.
"Everyone leaves in the end, JARV."
Vision was sure, he would not be one of those people who left his father.
Not ever.