Chapter Text
There were many things that Tony Stark was- playboy, billionaire, philanthropist, futurist and an Avenger. The list could go on, and honestly his ego was big enough to allow it to. But the one thing he wasn’t; was a morning person. Sure when he pulled all-nighters or went on seventy-two hour creation binges he had it all together in the mornings, but most of that was because he hadn’t been to bed and he didn’t need to go through the effort of waking up. The moment he opened his eyes and lifted his head from whatever surface had used as a pillow the night before the struggle began; he blinked like an owl and groaned as he pushed himself to sitting.
This morning he had woken up at his workbench, the indentations of a screwdriver pressed in to his cheek and a crusty pile of drool collected in the corner of his mouth and running down his chin. Groaning he rubbed at it, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water to try and generate some moisture and failing. Abandoning his dry mouth and drool patch he stretched his hands above his head and purred like cat when several vertebrae gave a satisfying pop followed by both shoulder joints. He was getting to old to fall asleep at his workbench like this.
‘J what time is it?’ He mumbled, standing up and scratching the back of his head vacantly as he looked for his coffee cup. His eyes alighted on several; he walked over to them and looked inside to find mostly mould and cold dregs which suspicious oil rings in them. He suspected DUM-E.
‘Good morning sir, it is six forty five in the morning today is Wednesday and you slept for approximately two hours, you had previously been awake for a record breaking eighty hours, may I suggest you try and get some more sleep in a proper bed?’ Tony looked up at the ceiling, smirking. He loved Jarvis, but sometimes he was just too nosy.
‘No can do J, things to do, company to run you know the drill.’
‘Of course sir.’ Jarvis answered demurely. ‘Should I alert Captain Rogers to how long you have been awake sir?’ There was too much sass in that AI, Tony couldn’t have been more proud if he weren’t so offended.
‘That offer to donate you to a community college is still out there Jarvis, don’t push it. Who’s up?’ He walked over to the elevator, giving up on the hope of finding any coffee that was acceptable to drink down here. He would have to brave the communal kitchen if he wanted his brain to kick in to gear and start functioning. He leaned lazily against the wall of the elevator as he descended.
‘Captain Rogers has just returned from his run and making waffles in the kitchen, agents Romanoff and Barton are beginning to show signs of waking up and Dr Banner is locked down in his lab not allowing visitors. Thor’s whereabouts are unknown at this moment.’ That was ominous, Tony was sure it would be on the news soon enough where the God of Thunder had gone off to in the night. He rarely ventured out of the tower on his own after Fury had put him through the verbal ringer for causing a media meltdown over a trip the beach.
‘Are the waffles gluten free?’ Tony asked hopeful, stomach growling its approval at the question. When was the last time he had eaten?
‘Thirty two hours ago sir, you have been running on coffee and fumes.’ Huh he’d said that out loud. ‘As for the waffles I am unsure.’
That meant he would be required to use actual words to talk to Steve, food wasn’t important until he got his caffeine fix. ‘Start the coffee J,’ Tony announced as he stepped out of the elevator and spotted Steve working at the kitchen bench, waffle mix being stirred professionally in a glass bowl. ‘Daddy needs his fuel.’ He stepped in to the kitchen and smiled dopily at Steve who returned the small smile with an amused look on his face.
‘You’re up early.’ Steve commented, Tony just grunted back as he moved to the coffee maker and watched the amber coloured drips languidly. His brain currently felt a lot like that, dripping from skull slowly as he attempted to wake up some more. ‘Would you like to join me for breakfast?’ Tony just grunted again and Steve laughed lightly, nudging him out of the way with a shoulder to reach up to cupboard and withdraw to large mugs.
Tony’s brain kicked over when he saw them, one bore the captains shield and the other one Tony’s arc reactor. Where on earth had they come from? He took the offered mug from Steve’s hand and stared at stupidly, it was too early to compute this or how they had made their way in to the tower at all. Clint probably bought them as a prank.
‘Pepper brought them last week, said she found them when she was out getting lunch and said she couldn’t resist. Was meaning to give you yours earlier, but getting you out of the workshop for anything short of an emergency, we all have one.’ Steve looked far too pleased with his mug as he smiled down at it, and that’s when Tony noticed the little chibi characters painted on the other side. He turned his mug around and yep, there he was in miniature form with too large eyes and an adorable little armour.
‘Holy shit.’ He mumbled, staring down at it. Pepper had brought these; Pepper who had complained and showed outrage when Tony had hung a portrait of the armour in his Malibu workshop. Huh, how things had changed since then. The cup was tilted upright and Steve was filling it with rice coffee that filtered up through his nostrils. He move on auto to the fridge, pulling out the hazelnut creamer and topping up the mug before taking a deep gulp and deflating against the counter in relief. ‘Mmmm.’ He moaned, almost seductively and smiled happily up at Steve who had oddly gone a little pink around the ears.
They stood in companionable silence as Tony made a second mug off coffee and Steve cooked the waffles, a large skillet of bacon and another stocked full of frying eggs. Breakfast wasn’t something Tony usually indulged in; he normally took his coffee and scampered off. But he was running dangerously empty and figured he needed more than fumes and caffeine to get through the rest of the day. Plus he was more than content right now to sit there and watch Steve methodically flip waffles out of the maker and turn eggs over before he moved to the fridge and pulled out a large collection of fruit. Did Tony order all of that food or was someone with a health conscious (Steve) hacking the shopping list?
Not that he was opposed to fruit, especially as a man that lived more on smoothies then anything solid. But that was a large quantity Steve was now breaking down in to perfect little cubes.
‘Gracing us with your presence today Stark?’ Clint Barton dropped down on the stall next to him, hair rumpled and dressed in a faded t-shirt and pair of silk boxers with cartoon faces; his feet were adorned with large green Hulk slippers. Tony let out a small snicker to cover up his minute jump of fright to the other man’s sudden presence.
‘Nice booties.’ He shot back, sipping his coffee.
He couldn’t hide the jump this time when a hand landed in his hair, ruffling it affectionately. Nat slunk down in the seat on the other side of him, smirking as she looked down at Clint’s feet. ‘You’re just jealous you don’t have a pair.’
‘When exactly did we start buying apparel?’ Tony lifted his mug with the cute caricature as support to his confusion. Tash just smirked at him again and stole some fruit from the large bowl Steve was filling, winking when he batted her away.
‘You gotta admit they’re pretty great.’ Clint said, hopping up and opening the same cupboard Steve had gotten their own from and retrieving his and Natasha’s. Tony was mildly curious to peak at their cute little cartoon as well.
‘Sir, Miss Potts has asked me to remind you that have a meeting with the board in three hours.’ Jarvis cut in as the Avengers shared their cute mugs, it was an oddly domesticated moment, if the villains of the world were to see them now scattered around the kitchen in various stages of undress (Natasha was wearing a hello kitty nightie) and stealing fruit from the bowl as they chattered over their coffee cups; they would never be taken seriously again as earths mightiest heroes.
‘Thanks J, is it in the building or am I travelling?’ Tony asked, moving back to the coffee machine. Steve gave him a disapproving look as he poured his fourth cup for the morning. It was hard to take someone with bed head and a track suit so tight fitting seriously though. So he just winked back, leaned over and snagged bacon straight from the pain to munch on.
‘It is a breakfast meeting Sir, three blocks away.’ Tony groaned, he was tired and hungry now. He didn’t want to wait for breakfast with a bunch of suits he didn’t like when there was perfectly edible food right here in front of him and people he much more preferred to be in the company of. Not to mention actually leaving the tower would mean the press, and putting more effort than normal in to his appearance for the public eye.
‘It won’t hurt you to eat twice Tony, join us for breakfast first. Lord knows the las time you ate an actual meal, two breakfasts surely couldn’t be a bad thing.’ Steve supplied, taking Tony by the shoulders and steering him back to his seat at the bench, removing the cup of coffee and replacing it with juice.
Tony just grumbled, putting the juice down and flopping his head on the counter with a thud. He hated mornings, he wasn’t a morning person and people were already asking too much of him and the resident super soldier just took his coffee away. ‘When did you last sleep?’ Someone asked above his head, but he ignored them in return for sulking and mourning the loss of his coffee.
‘In the past eighty hours sir has slept for two.’ Jarvis supplied chirpily from the ceiling, sounding far too happy about the situation he had just placed Tony in. He didn’t need to lift his head to see the look of disapproval on everyone’s face; he could feel it burning through his eyelids.
‘I’m putting you in a toaster Jarvis, that’s it.’ He grumbled, admitting defeat and sitting up. Clint looked vaguely impressed, Natasha slightly appalled before she schooled her features to cool indifference and Steve was frowning at him with sad puppy dog eyes, which okay, threw Tony a bit, because why was he sad?
He expected a fight but Steve’s shoulders simply slumped and he looked up at the ceiling with exasperation. ‘Jarvis how important is the breakfast with the board?’ Steve asked completely going over Tony’s head with the question.
‘Unfortunately sir must attend this one; Miss Potts wouldn’t have requested his appearance otherwise.’ Jarvis stated, almost sounding regretful. If anyone got on Tony’s case about his poor sleeping habits more than Steve it was Jarvis. Tony knew for a fact the two of them went behind his back to scheme ways to get him to sleep. The only reason he had gotten away with this recent binge was because had put the workshop on lockdown and full blackout from the other Avengers unless there was an emergency.
‘As soon as you get back Tony, you’re going to bed even if I have to tie you to it or sit on you to make you go to sleep.’ Clint snickered at Steve’s stern words and Tony just groaned. This was his life now; this was the price he paid for housing the rag tag team of super heroes and assassins in his home. They never let him do anything fun anymore.
‘Laugh all you want Barton, I’ll remember that next time you come to me wanting new arrow heads.’ Tony snarked back, sitting up a little straighter when Steve placed a loaded plate in front of him, bacon and eggs piled high on two thick waffles and a bowl of fruit salad. He picked up his fork and dug in, he was starving and the smell was making his mouth water.
They sat in relative silence as they ate, talking occasionally about mundane things. Like where Clint got his slippers, because yeah, Tony kinda did want a pair of them for himself. When they had finished eating, Jarvis piped up happily to remind Tony he now only had one hour to attend the breakfast meeting. He couldn’t even remember what it was for, or why the board were meeting outside of the office.
All the food Steve had put on his plate had filled him up and now he was even more tired. His body sluggish and slow to react as he fumbled the buttons of his shirt and had to do his tie twice before he got it right. He felt heavy and content, a bad mixture for board meetings. He usually got in trouble at them regardless of how he was feeling, he had a propensity for not knowing when to close his mouth or hold back a snarky remark. Pepper scolded him more often than not, but today he had a feeling it was going to be the opposite. He was too tired to form a coherent sentence.
Undoing his tie for the third time, someone came in the bedroom behind him and he looked around, wincing at the light pull around his arc reactor. It always hurt more when he was this worn down, his breath a little more shallow and wheezy through the exhaustion. Steve quirked his eye brows at him as Tony tried to get his hands to something that came naturally to him, but the tie just didn’t want to cooperate.
Steve took pity on him in the end, doing it for him and helping him in to his suit jacket. ‘Tony you need to stop working yourself in to the ground like this, I am almost willing to face the wrath of Miss Potts right now and put you to bed.’ Tony laughed at that, lips quirking. ‘It’s not just about the meetings either, your work is important but you need to remember you are an Avenger too, and we rely on you as well to have our backs on the field. You can’t do that if you’re so tired a tie is besting you.’
Tony rolled his eyes, he couldn’t help it. He had been expecting this little lecture over breakfast, when Jarvis had tattled on him. But Steve seemed to respect him enough to do it in private rather than in front of the others at least, so that was something.
‘Sorry Capsicle it won’t happen again, I just got caught up in the work is all.’ Tony gave him a quick part on the shoulder before turning back to his appearance, making sure he was presentable before heading to elevator; Jarvis had informed him a few minutes ago that Happy was downstairs waiting for him. It was only three blocks but he was already pushing it to make it on time and he was too tired to walk. He hated mornings. ‘Pick this charming lecture up when I get back? Maybe I’ll even take you up on that offer to tie me to bed.’ He winked, watched the blush rise up Steve’s neck and pink his cheeks before he gave a little wave and let the elevator doors close.
Riling Steve up was one of his favourite past times, beside that blush never got old and Tony had a soft spot for seeing it, especially as he had a special skill at inducing it. The Captain could be adorable under all that stern patriotism.
Happy was standing by a town care patiently, hands crossed in front of him as Tony came in to view. ‘Morning Boss.’ He said, standing aside to open the door as Tony responded with a jaw cracking yawn. He hoped wherever they were going had a lot of coffee, nice strong, black coffee that he could down by the bucketful. ‘Late night?’ Happy asked, holding the door as he looked at Tony with a tiny hint of concern.
‘Lost track of the work is all; I’ve slept though, s’all good.’ He slurred, leaning back in to the plush leather and closing his eyes as Happy shut the door and got behind the wheel. Three blocks in New York traffic could get him a quick fifteen minute power nap, but he wasn’t sure whether to risk it. Odds that Happy wouldn’t be able to wake him up again after so long between siestas was high. He squeezed the short, manicured nails of his left hand in to his palm letting the small sting wake him up a little.
It didn’t last though, he felt his eyes slipping closed as the engine purred beneath him and the hum of the city sounds, muted a little through the windows lulled him peacefully. He was so tired; it was only nine in the morning. Just as he was about to slip in to sleep he was jolted awake with the force of the car spinning before tipping over completely, he hadn’t put his seatbelt on when he get in. His hands scrabbled for purchase on the leather seats but he rolled with the car, hearing Happy swear as he too was thrown around before another sharp impact had the car sliding and coming to a stop heavily, the windows broken and shattered, letting in the bright morning sunshine.
Lying on the roof of the car, feeling blood oozing from numerous unpleasant places on his body, Tony blinked dazedly, groaning at the mess of pain he was in before noticing the black boots heading towards them, they stopped outside the broken windows crunching glass under heavy soles before the door was torn open. He didn’t see their faces or hear anything they were saying, ears ringing and vision blurring as he tried to struggle away but they grabbed his leg and pulled, pain exploding outwards.
He wasn’t tired now, Tony realised. But he really wasn’t a morning person he thought as he lost consciousness.