#plus trauma

thanks, can't complain, it's life

I'm really glad that you enjoyed what I have posted of a broke machine, though! I mean, everything that I've written so far has been posted tbh ,but still. It was some kind of hard work to get the dynamic going in the direction I wanted it to while at the same time not screwing up the pacing just for being impatient. Don't forget to read the two side stories in brokemachineverse! Bucky's coda and the Sergeants aren't required reading or anything, but a broke machine is from Tony's POV and there's blindspots or things he willfully ignores.

So to answer the first question: yes. Peggy has her part to play and will be showing up and meeting Tony. She's already kind of putting her own kind of pressures on the story that are invisible to Tony and therefore the reader. Still, there's a big damned hero moment in it for her.

And as for the Sergeant,,, sssss,, i wouldn't be so kind as to call his thing regarding Tony a 'crush.' You really can't tell from Tony's POV, but he's having a really bad time of it, and it's less Tony than What Tony Stands For that he's all wrapped up in. I mean, ultimately, the Sergeant is harmless no matter how weird he's being inside his own head, and Tony's used to people being really fucking weird toward him and specifically about him, so as long as they're being harmless about it, he has no real reason to take special note of it. Besides, he's decided the Soldier has his back, and he already knows who will win THAT fight.

But like basically, the Sergeant is in full covet mode regarding Tony, that's about the kindest way I can find to describe it. His brain is super screwing him over, and he also wants someone who sees and accepts all that he is, even the ugly broken parts, which is what he sees with Tony and the Soldier? Which he could totally have if he were willing to put in the effort to haul his own weight rather than expecting someone to fix him - as if Tony just took a fuckin wrench to the Soldier's heart or head. But he doesn't see all the hard work and talking that Tony and the Soldier put into making their team-up function, so he just gets really super weird about it instead.

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