Tony Stark One-shots

Quiet as a Mouse

"Stark, for the love of God, can you shut the fuck up for a second!?"

Tony couldn't blame Rhodey for snapping at him. He had just gotten back from the military base not even 10 minutes ago, only to be called in for an Avengers mission. Still, Tony would admit that it hurt to be yelled at by his normally passive-aggressive best friend. As a matter of fact, Tony felt his throat close like it did when his dad yelled at him all those years back. Maybe it was because Rhodey, who was practically in all intents and purposes but blood, was his brother and called him by his last name.

The complete static silence that came from the comms gave away that the others were also in a form of shock from Rhodey's yelling. They've heard him call Tony out on his lack of self-preservation and completely bullshit excuses, but Tony was just talking to himself like he does when he gets anxious,

"Um, sorry." The mechanic's voice came through softly and as quietly. He flew high enough to get above the portal that let in giant horseshoe crabs and got a good enough angle to shoot it.

All the while, the comms were still silent apart from the sound of the crabs walking around. At least until Hawkeye asked how they were going to gather the crabs.

"For crabs, these things creep me out," Steve said, herding the crabs to Clint. "They give me the heeby-jeebies."

The team expected some form of sass from Tony but all they received from the other was silence. The genius was currently carrying a horseshoe crab by the shell and flying towards the team.

Clint tapped his comm to open a private link with Tony. "Hey, Tony. You, okay?"

"Mhm."

"You sure man? I know I jumped when Rhodes yelled so..."

"I'm fine Clint." The voice was still very quiet.

The archer frowned as he shot a net arrow at the crabs. "Okay. Just, uh, Rhodes didn't mean it alright? It was an in the moment thing. You're good. I like it when you talk so, um, don't take what Rhodes said to heart."

"Mhm."

Avengers Tower, NYC

The entire flight to the compound was tense for the whole team, even with Tony deciding to fly in his suit instead. As soon as the Quinjet landed, the group quickly got off and greeted Bruce, who wasn't needed for the mission. Rhodey left the landing pad without a glance towards the man.

"Hey, guys. How was the mission?" Bruce asked as he watched Rhodey leave.

Steve greeted the man before answering. "It was quick Bruce. Have you seen Tony?"

Bruce gave a concerned look. "Yeah, he went to his floor as soon as he dissembled his suit. Did something happen?"

Nat, who was taking off her utility belt, responded. "War Machine yelled at Stark to shut up."

"Oh..."

"Well," Natasha sighed. "It's not like he's wrong. Stark talks so much during missions that it can get distracting. Eventually, someone would have told him to zip it."

Clint made a sound of disagreement. "I like it when he babbles. It distresses me. Hell, I'm pretty sure it helps him."

"And if you miss a shot because Stark can't keep his mouth shut," Natasha asked monotonal. "If you get hurt or killed because you were too busy listening to irrelevant chatter."

"Nat, you're not being fair to him." The archer argues. "We all deal with stress differently. Tony wouldn't do anything that would hurt someone during a mission."