Safe and Sound

Gold

He lifted as much of Steve's weight as he possibly could, leaning him against the wall for extra support, guiding him to the kitchen. He sat him down in the only chair in the room and searched the entire appartment for a first aid box. He may not have found what he needed, but what he did find gave him heartache. He stepped into the other room, which just so happened to be the bedroom. There was literally nothing in there besides one sleeping bag, a spare change of clothes and a sketch pad - he was choosing to ignore the seemingly infinate empty bottles on the floor - he opened the pad and flicked through. There seemed to be countless pictures of everyone at the Avengers tower and the rest of the team. It was quite flatteing when Tony saw the more recent pictures of him. They were of him, but they seemed to be from memory or made up. He sighed, picking up the book and the spare clothes and moving on to the next room, where there were even more empty bottles, a huge stash of drugs and a couple of different wash bags. He decided to leave that all where it was and go back to the kitchen, realising that Steve literally had nothing. Whilst Tony had almost everything, Steve had nothing and no one. He slowly came back into the kitchen to see Steve sitting upright, he looked more aware of what was happening. He snapped his head up when he noticed Tony standing in the doorway.

"You came?" He whispered. His voice hoarse and strained, but happy and relieved. Tony felt his heart contract as he looked at the broken soldier. He started to feel like a wife who saw her husband leave for war and never come back. He was just a shell of the man he used to be. The Steve Rogers he knew would never do any of this. He wouldn't do drugs, or drink, or self-harm. He would stand up proudly, like the old man he was, and come up with some logical, step-by-step, practical solution. Tony pushed himself off of the doorframe and walked into the room.

"Of course I came, spangles. What else would I do?" He teased, trying to keep up his usual cheerful exterior, but no matter how hard he tried, the image of the rough looking, broken Steve, burned his heart. He didn't want to forgive him. Not yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't help him right? He could at least take him back to his place and fix him up, get him into some kind of rehab program. He looked over to the man who was once his best friend and almost cried. He was picking at the cuts and scars laced across his arms. He never knew that he meant so much to him. He always thought that he was just a friend, the kind you talk to when they're around, but never go to bed or wake up thinking about. He decided not to worry for now and try and help Steve down stairs and into his car. "You can walk, right?" He asked, he felt his voice crack a little and cursed his emotional side. Steve didn't seem to notice, or he just didn't care, as he stood up and wobbled over to Tony.

"Yeah, kind of." He smiled reassuringly, letting Tony know that he would eventually be okay. Tony was just glad that he didn't walk in here to find him hanging from the ceiling. He placed his hand on Steves back and guided him out. "Wait, what about-" He stopped suddenly, asking about whatever he had in the apartment he'd called home for the past year and a half. Tony just held up the sketchbooks and clothes he had in his left hand and Steve smiled again at the sight of his life, but that sure changed when he realised that that was all he had for so long. Tony motioned with his head for Steve to start walking again. It was a long trip down to the car, but one that they made in one piece. Steve didn't pass out and Tony, surprisingly to himself, didn't feel the urge to shove Steve down the stairs. He kept thinking that maybe this was punishment enough, seeing the state of him and how he lived. He wanted to forgive Steve, he really did, but he just wasn't ready. It wasn't the right time. They got to the car and Tony buckled Steve in, noticing his shaking hands. When he stood back up he saw a bunch of people gathered round, they looked like they were ready to kill. Tony just assumed they were in gangs and quickly slid into his side of the car and sped off, trying not to look back. He couldn't believe that his, once best friend, lived in a place like that. It wasn't right. It was a good job Tony answered the phone when he did.

"Oh by the way," Tony started as they were driving along a quiet city street. "Peggy's back." He glanced over to him briefly to gage his reaction at the mention of the return of his daughter. He saw the quick glimmer of hope in his eyes when he heard Peggy's name, but that faded slightly when he realised that Peggy was Tony's daughter. Not his Peggy, but he was still happy for her none the less. She was a brilliant girl. Just like her father. She was super smart and often baffled Steve with her knowledge of the past and her music skills were beyond breath-taking, they paralysed you. She could probably out play Bucky on piano.

"And Billy? He taking care of her?" He asked and Tony could tell he was genuinely interested and smiled. Maybe his baby girl would bring them together again. His smile grew wider when he looked round at the curious light behind his eyes, but he shook his head with a knowing look on his face, hoping Steve got the message. "They broke up?" He asked, his voice having an underlying tone of anger.

"More like he quit." Tony scoffed with the same tone to his voice. Steve scoffed back and shook his head, muttering a small 'unbelievable' under his breath as he looked out the window. "Tell me about it. What an idiot. He didn't realise what he had. He had a life and a good ome at that. He had a family, he was loved and he threw it all away over something as stupid as Pegs' best friend-you know the obviously gay one that won't admit he's gay..." His voice trailed ofg as Steve became lost in his own thoughts. He realised that as Tony ranted his words had mirrored Steve's feelings.

"Yeah," Steve agreed, sliding down in his seat, resting his head on the back of the seat. "He had gold right there."