Road trip with the avengers // Ft. angsty Tony

III

⚠️minor panic attack⚠️

Tony woke up with a blinding headache, which made sense considering he's had the worst panic attack he'd had in a while last night. The sunlight through the curtains was blinding him, it agitated his head so he buried his face further against the object in front of him.

The object moved as if it was breathing, and Tony risked the pain to see what it was. His half lidded eyes opened to reveal Steve.

"Morning Tony, how do you feel"

"Fine" he responded automatically, if there's one thing about Tony Stark, it's that he's incredibly stubborn. He wouldn't have let Steve know about his panic attack if he were cognizant.

"You sure? You look very pale, do you still feel sick?" Actual raw concern was painted beautifully across his face. It was an unusual sight to the genius, he wasn't used to concern.

It might have been the pain or maybe the way Steve looked like he really cared, but Tony answered truthfully.

"Yeah, my head hurts" he muttered out, closing his eyes against the harsh lighting.

"Alright, stay here and I'll stop down at the reception and see if they have any headache pills?"

"Mhm, thank you" he pulled the covers over his head and tried to quell the pain.

It seemed like seconds later when Steve returned with an unopened bottle of painkillers and a bottle of water. He helped Tony sit up after closing the curtains and gave him both.

"Are the others up?" Tony asked, his headache no longer blinding.

"Yeah, they're taking showers and stuff"

"Ah, that sounds like a good idea" he smiled slightly, now more present he didn't want to show his pain.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll take one after" Steve smiled and let Tony grab his clothes and head to the bathroom.

Tony stepped into the pristine marble bathroom and locked the door. He closed his eyes for a moment, thankful that the light didn't agitate his headache too much any more.

He slowly stripped of his sweat soaked clothes and felt the cool metal of the shower. He turned the water on and put it on the hot setting.

He didn't realize his mistake until he stepped under the water.

The panic he felt last night was too fresh in his mind. His thoughts twisting to associate the warm water on his neck and back, with the cold water of Afghanistan.

He felt as if the floor was torn from under him and he slid down the shower wall. Not having the strength to reach up and turn the water off, he was pushed further into a flashback.

His head was held under the dirty water as the wires connected to his heart were shocked. Pulsing electricity through his body. He convulsed as the men held him down, letting him up for air when the pain faded and shoving him back down to start the pain again.

He was shaking and cold.

*BANG*

He was pulled from the flashback by a knock at the door.

"Tony you good in there?" Steve called from the other side of the white door.

"Y-yeah" he called back, pulling himself onto shaky legs. He grabbed the shampoo and cleaned his hair quickly. Shaky hands combing through his hair.

He blinked rapidly, trying to erase the black dots swarming his vision. He cleaned his body and turned off the water. Releasing a breath as the dreaded sounds stopped.