Chapter Text
It had been a month to the day after Tony and Ritzy began their texting that the ex-Avengers, or Rouges as the media called them, were welcomed back into the States with full pardons. Over that month, Tony and Ritzy had gotten to know each other pretty well and while he still kept a lot of his walls up, Tony had told Ritzy small details about the Civil War and his life that weren’t covered in the media, enough for her to not really like the Rouges and really not like Howard Stark. They had also graduated from only texts to calls and, after Secretary Ross was arrested, actually hanging out sometimes.
So it wasn’t all that surprising when late one night, one month after the Rouges had moved back into the Avengers Compound, Tony walked into her, Frankie and Lindsey’s apartment. What was surprising was the state he was in. He was shaking and way thinner than she had even seen him, there were dark bags under his eyes and his breathing was hitched and way too fast (really it was more like shallow panting). Ritzy stood from the small threadbare couch her, Lindsey and Frankie had all been sitting on and slowly moved toward him as Frankie and Lindsey cautiously moved off the couch to stand beside it.
“Hey. Tony are you okay? can you look at me please.” Slowly, she moved closer until she was only two small steps away from him. She watched as his eyes went from darting around the room to focused on her in seconds, with such an intensity that there was a split second where she thought he would attack before she was covered in shaking, terrified genius. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Ritzy guided Tony to the couch while Frankie and Lindsey scattered. When they made it to their destination Ritzy tried letting go of her brother to sit next to him but his grip on her tightened and she was dragged almost on top of him
“No! Don’t…I…Please.” Muttering, he buried his head into the crook of Ritzy’s neck and sobbed. Not knowing what else to do, Ritzy manoeuvred herself until she was in his lap holding him and whispered soothing nonsense while stroking his greasy hair. For one hysterical moment, she thought that seeing a grown woman dressed in a dinosaur onesie try and talk in the sweetest, most calming tone she knew to a panicking, incoherent billionaire must be a weird sight.
Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes and tried to calm down, now was not about her, she had to get Tony calm. Not long after that thought Ritzy felt a blanket being draped around her and Tony, who was still inconsolable, smelt Frankie’s special hot chocolate and felt the couch dipping on either side of Tony, though both Frankie and Lindsey sat as far away from the man as the tiny couch would allow so that they didn’t crowd him. Ritzy thanked every possible deity she could think of for her siblings and shot them both a strained but thankful smile.
What felt like an eternity later, Tony’s breathing levelled out and his sobs wound down into little more than whimpers. When Ritzy pulled away to look at his face she noticed that he was almost asleep, eyes half-lidded and glazed over.
“Tony, what happened?” she asked softly not wanting to startle the genius.
“We were all at a gala when Wanda cornered me. She threw me against a wall and started ranting about something. She looked so mad and I panicked and ran.” He slurred eyes closing of their own accord and head falling to rest on Ritzy’s chest, his breathing deepened and Ritzy shared a worried glance with her friends before they all moved and laid Tony on the couch. As she covered him with her favourite T.A.R.D.I.S blanket, Ritzy saw the bottom of an already purpling bruise on his back. She placed a kiss gently on his forehead and then quietly made her way to her room with Frankie and Lindsey following close behind.
“Shit.” Lindsey moved to sit on the bed after closing the door and ran a hand down his face. Over the months that Ritzy and Tony had been texting and hanging out, Lindsey himself had become close to the engineer, they all had really.
“He looks terrible, like he looks worse than death. And I don’t think that the thing with Wanda was the first thing to happen. This looks like it has been going on for a while.” He was staring at the back of the door looking like someone had just murdered his puppy right in front of him.
Sighing, Ritzy climbed onto the bed next to him and wrapped her arms around him, shaking with barely contained rage and shock. She had never felt this kind of rage before, not even when Lindsey finally told her about his life before meeting her. This rage didn’t course through her veins like liquid fire, heating and burning her from the inside. No, this rage was cold, like ice it crystallised in her very soul, twisting and distorting her thoughts while at the same time giving them an unnatural clarity and focus. It frightened her.
“Yeah.” She said, devoid of all emotion her voice now sounded as cold as the ice she was convinced had consumed her. She couldn’t believe the audacity of these Rouges. Tony had worked day and night to get then pardoned and they just make life hell for him.
“Okay. I just texted Rhodey and let him know that Tony and his suit are here. He said he’ll come get him tomorrow and to just let him sleep. We are also all invited to come back to the compound. We will all be staying for a week, or more…” Frankie’s eyes almost glowed as she glared at one of the cracked walls, anger radiating off her as her hands shook. Frankie was always like this when her family was threatened, she was always the burning flames that scorched the earth and reduced any threat to ash.
She quickly hugged Lindsey and Ritzy and fled the room. Ritzy heard the front door open and click closed and guessed that Frankie was going to the gym, trust her to find the only 24hour gym in Hell’s Kitchen. Lindsey stayed with Ritzy, his own anger cooling and clearing his thoughts.
If Frankie was fire, then Lindsey was ice. For someone who was as loud and unpredictable as he was, Lindsey would always fall into an unnatural state of calm when he was truly enraged. He would blank out, face holding no emotion and voice monotone, until he had planned out and executed his revenge.
The pair didn’t move from Ritzy’s bed until at least an hour later when Lindsey stood without warning and left, judging by the sounds from further in the apartment, for his own room. Letting out a deep sigh Ritzy fell back onto her bed and closed her eyes, letting sleep pull her into its comforting darkness.
Hours after her and Lindsey had gone to bed Ritzy was awoken by soft whimpering coming from the lounge room. Getting out of bed she stumbled toward her door and clumsily moved to stand in front of the couch in the living room.
She watched as Tony writhed and thrashed his head around in his sleep, eyes shut tight and sweat plastering his hair to his forehead. It took an embarrassingly long time for her sleep addled brain to realise that Tony was in the throes of a severe looking nightmare, and an even longer time for it to decide on a course of action. Knowing not to touch him (thanks to Lindsey socking her in the face one time after being shaken awake for the very same reason) she tried calling his name, getting louder and louder until she was sure her neighbours heard her, there was no worry of waking either Lindsey or Frankie, if she was home, as they both slept like the dead. Panicking because he was still asleep and running more on adrenaline and instinct than actual thought she began to sing
“Here comes a thought that might alarm you
What someone said and how it harmed you
Something you did that failed to be charming
Things that you said are suddenly swarming
And, oh, you're losing sight, you're losing touch
All these little things seem to matter so much
That they confuse you
That I might lose you
Take a moment, remind yourself
To take a moment and find yourself
Take a moment and ask yourself
If this is how we fall apart
But it's not, but it's not, but it's not, but it's not, but it's not
It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay
You've got nothing, got nothing, got nothing, got nothing to fear
I'm here, I'm here, I'm here.”
By the time she finished singing she had a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring at her from the couch. Crouching down to be eye level with the tired man she smiled, small and shaky.
“Hey, you okay now?”
“Yeah, thanks. You have a nice voice.” Sitting up he scanned the room tiredly. He was still tense but it was much better than how he had been moments before. Giving a sigh of relief, Ritzy plonked down onto the couch and rested her head on his shoulder while grabbing his hand and squeezing gently, it really said a lot about how out of it he was that he wasn’t flinching or moving to get away from the touch like he usually would, and didn’t that speak volumes about what he had been through. Neither of them spoke or moved much the rest of the night taking the time to think. By the time Ritzy managed to drift off again, still leaning on Tony, the first rays of dawn were peeking through under the curtains.
When Ritzy woke up she was alone. Sitting up she spotted Tony leaning on a bench in the kitchen, cup of coffee steaming in his hands, with a faraway look in his eyes. Walking over to him she noticed that someone had packed her bags already and had sat them in front of the door to the apartment.
“What are you wearing and where can I get one?” Tony smiled, a sharp, forced thing that was usually reserved for the media, and pointed to her dino onesie
“Rhodey’s out front by the way and it seems that you three are coming to stay with us.” Ritzy stumbled to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of tea
“ugh. How can you drink that leaf juice?” Tony glared at her cup of tea like it had personally offended his mother as he sipped his coffee. Ritzy mentally replayed his onslaught of questions and turned to mock glare at the genius
“This is my pyjama onesie and I don’t know where to get one ‘coz this was a gift from Lindsey and Frankie one year for my birthday. And I’ll have you know that I only drink the finest of leaf juices and you and your brown water can fuck right off.” Turning her nose up and huffing Ritzy spun to face away, smiling to herself when she heard Tony chuckle. Turning back around her smile dropped, she needed to talk about last night with him and she knew he wasn’t going to want to. “Hey about last night…”
“What about it? I freaked out like a baby. It’s nothing new and I’m fine so drop it.” Tony interrupted walking back to the couch and waving a hand before sitting on the end farthest away from Ritzy. Having none of it, she marched over to the couch and flopped onto it as far from Tony as possible.
“No, I’m not gonna drop it. Tones, you were hysterical and I have never seen you so strung out before.”
“I said stop. I’m fine…”
“No, you’re not. And if Wanda really did throw you at a wall then that’s as…”
“I said shut up!” Tony rose from the couch and glared down his nose at Ritzy before storming past her he stopped with a shaking hand on the door handle.
“Just because your Mom fucked my dad doesn’t mean you’re anything special.” The door closed softly as Tony walked out but the sound echoed through the small apartment like a gun shot. Shaking, Ritzy stood and quietly walked to her room. Shutting the door, she slid down it to land on her butt, and started to cry silently. She cared about Tony fiercely, just like she did for the rest of her family. But of course, he would think that. Sharing blood doesn’t mean anything, least of all that she has a right to poke around in his business. Hell, he was probably humouring her this entire time. He doesn’t need a dumb tattooist from Hell’s Kitchen even associating with him let alone being his sister.
Before her thoughts could spiral any further down, someone knocked at the door. Sniffling, she shimmied out of the way and turned to see Lindsey slide through it and into the room holding a fresh cup of tea and a box of tissues.
“Ritzy, you know he didn’t mean it. I'm still gonna punch ‘im for making you cry, but he didn’t mean any of it. Now come here.” Lindsey sashayed to the bed and sat, patting it with the box of tissues. As soon as she sat, Ritzy was enveloped in a bone crushing hug and then was handed the cup of tea
“Here’s what’s going to happen now Ritz. You are going to drink that and wipe those tears away then we are going to go to the compound and stay however long it takes to avenge, hehe, your brother and rescue him from himself. While we’re there you are going to find Mr Grumpy Pants and sort this out and I am going to go super soldier hunting.” Ritzy sipped at her tea and let out a watery laugh at the crazy, unhinged smile that promised disaster for all those who it was aimed at crossing Lindsey’s face.
After draining the cup of tea and another long, and slightly tight hug, Ritzy and Lindsey got dressed (Lindsey in a maroon dress that fell to just above his knee and sat off his shoulders with black platform stilettos and Ritzy in a white flowing shirt, patterned corset with black ribbon criss-crossing down the front, black skin tight leggings and light brown heelless boots that stopped mid-calf) and made their way out of the building, grabbing their bags as they went.
When they made it outside they found Frankie talking to a serious looking man in front of a nondescript but still expensive looking car.
“Guys this is Mr Hogun. He’s gonna be taking us to the compound.” Frankie gestured to the man as he started to lift their bags into the back of the car.
The ride to the compound was quiet for the most part with Frankie and Mr Hogun talking quietly in the front as Lindsey watched Game Grumps and Ritzy stared out the window listening to music. As the compound came into view Lindsey decided to challenge the universe by saying
“This is going to be fine. I mean what’s the worst that could happen.” Judging by the derisive snort from their driver the worst could be very bad.