#brokendefender

there’s years of words caught in his chest, a mix of apologies and arguments and endearments that he wasn’t able to formulate coherently enough to ever get it in writing to send. he’d been waiting for a call, the phone had been the best olive branch he could muster while on the run from the government. but when the phone finally rang, it hadn’t been tony on the other end of the line. and so he waited even longer; the world turned to ash and suddenly he didn’t know if tony was around to wait for anymore.

but now he’s here, alive-- though just barely it appeared. he moves forward to touch him, to place a hand on tony’s arm on autopilot, before caching himself. was he allowed this? was he within his rights to touch him? to reach out?

so with his hand hovering in an uncertain place between them ( he never wore doubt well ), features pinched but the shine in his eyes undeniably there due to relief, steve lets a single syllable wobble past his lips.

    Steve does not want to be here. Correction, he is not proud to be here. Rhodes got him an interview in a garage. He needs a job, he’s not stupid, he knows he needs it. And yes, he does have money sent by the Army every month but it’s not enough, it’s barely anything. They gave him medals & a pension but they left him damaged, broken and nothing can ever fix that. But he tries not to be bitter, it’s not a good look on him. Plus, it has no purpose whatsoever. So he swallowed this bitter pill ( or tried to, at least ) before looking for a job. And everybody is kind, they all want to help Captain Rogers ( war hero, veteran ) but then, he has sick days, he can’t do much of anything with his bad leg, with his bad hip and soon, he becomes a nuisance. He’s not mad though, he was paid to do a job, he didn’t do it, he was fired. It’s how business works. Alas, he still needs a job.

    Rhodes is a good man, an excellent soldier & a friend ( or at least, the friend of a friend ). He knows Tony Stark ( a mecanic apparently though the name is the same as the one stamped on the army's weapons ) and this one has agreed to meet him. Steve has no hope of getting the job. He will come to explain his physical condition, his incapacity to be totally reliable & the man will kindly tell him that this will not be possible. After all, what good can he be in a garage ? Still, Rhodes arranged everything and it would be extremely rude to not go, to waste this opportunity. That’s why he’s walking in the center of New York, white shirt and blue jeans on, trying to find his way toward the garage. He knows that he has already come to this part of town but, at the same time, he feels lost, like everything has been moved around. He sighs, relief flooding him as the garage finally appears. 

a excited gasp left parker’s lips at the mere sight of the lab that tony uses within the base. it was as if peter was in a dream of some sorts and he was practically in heaven. he wanted to test out so many things in the lab-- but apart of himself restrained because knowing his luck-- he’ll brake something and with his current situation? he doesn’t have the money to pay for it.

         **JESUS ,**  who hit him in the head with a frying pan ?  tony coughs ,  pushes himself to sit up ,  grimacing with a hiss between gritted teeth.  the pain is almost jarring ,  the one in his chest.  ribs ,  maybe.  it’s all been bandaged ,  but that doesn’t stop it from hurting.   ❛   i’ve rested enough ,   ❜   he argues ,  hand lifting to rub at the back of his neck.  if he’s woken up ,  there’s no chance in hell he’s about to go back to sleep.  tony’s not the type to close his eyes and slip back into slumber ,  not the type to let an injury or two keep him bystander.   ❛   sorry ,  doc.  got places to be and things to do.   ❜

“you are not going anywhere, stark.” reaching over, otto places a hand on the other’s shoulder, guiding him back down. dark eyes soften, though it’s hidden behind his sunglasses. “you can still give orders from this bed, and right now, that is all the avengers can ask of you. and i will make sure that IS all they ask.”

Pepper falls silent for several long moments, gazed fixed on him. ‘Sorry’ seems to be his new favorite word, as she hears it more than anything else these days. Her arms cross over her chest defensively, as if she were trying to protect herself from him.

i have 1920x1080 and it's fine on my screen. you might want to check like your display setting and see if it's at 100% scale instead of like 150% (right click on desktop → display settings → change the size, apps, and change the size of text, apps, and other items)* if ur on windows