( It's funny how his mind works, how Tony listens, processes everything Sam is saying to him in such a calmly practical way, but all he can think about is the word itself hanging in the air over his head: amputation.
He tries closing his fingers toward his palm and he can't tell if he succeeded or not. His hands are his entire life. Working, drafting, creating, protecting; passing tools to his dad while they worked on the hot rod together; grease-stained while he replaced DUM-E's wheels the night before competition; feverishly drawing those first sketches of the MK I on onionskin while Yinsen hovered at his shoulder. Feeling the hum and shuddering release of a repulsor blast; sliding warm and needy over Pepper's hips; holding Morgan for the first time, for the last time. Tony remembers the way her little fingers nest perfectly inside his palm, even as he can't feel a fucking thing right now.
The horror that Viveca might send them all out, even the wounded, that passes pretty quick. They aren't on Earth; those rules don't apply. Sam's made an offer, and Tony finds that he trusts him. )
Disarticulation.
( He looks up at Sam again, his gaze steady. )
Give me a week, Chief. ( Tony's smile is lopsided, grim. ) Gotta exhaust all my options first.
cw: mentions of amputation
He tries closing his fingers toward his palm and he can't tell if he succeeded or not. His hands are his entire life. Working, drafting, creating, protecting; passing tools to his dad while they worked on the hot rod together; grease-stained while he replaced DUM-E's wheels the night before competition; feverishly drawing those first sketches of the MK I on onionskin while Yinsen hovered at his shoulder. Feeling the hum and shuddering release of a repulsor blast; sliding warm and needy over Pepper's hips; holding Morgan for the first time, for the last time. Tony remembers the way her little fingers nest perfectly inside his palm, even as he can't feel a fucking thing right now.
The horror that Viveca might send them all out, even the wounded, that passes pretty quick. They aren't on Earth; those rules don't apply. Sam's made an offer, and Tony finds that he trusts him. )
Disarticulation.
( He looks up at Sam again, his gaze steady. )
Give me a week, Chief. ( Tony's smile is lopsided, grim. ) Gotta exhaust all my options first.