YEAR FOUR MISSING THEM

"Hey Tony," Curio smiled at the man, reaching out and shaking Tony's outstretched hand. Tony's grip was firm, comforting, yet the strength behind it could be viewed as dangerous - all Curio saw was Tony's grin lighting up his face.

"Hey Curio, long time no see." Tony's eyes drifted to the man stood behind Curio, the figure leaning against the wooden banister of Tony's porch. Curio had to bite back his warning for Octavian to stop disrespecting Tony's property, watching as Octavian's blind gaze looked out to the trees surrounding the serene house.

Curio coughed, moving out of the way so Tony could reach Octavian better. "Thank you for doing this. He... He really appreciates it. Even if he doesn't say it."

"I can speak for myself." Octavian muttered, thankfully only low enough for Curio to hear.

Silence filled the air. Curio shuffled on his feet, seeing Tony smile awkwardly at the pair.

"Let's go inside." Tony gestured for the pair to follow him. Tony was walking into the house, and Curio was on his heels when a voice piped up behind him.

"Why are we doing this?"

Curio sighed. He could understand Octavian's frustration - to him, this was a pointless task. This Tony didn't know Messalina apart from the few short hours he spent with her, but it was the closest thing to closure Curio could think of. He needed Octavian to get over her.

Of course, he didn't tell Octavian that.

"He bought us a house in San Francisco Octavian, meeting up with the man every month isn't going to kill us."

"Don't act like that's the only reason."

In times like these, Curio was grateful for Octavian's lack of sight, as sick as it sounded. It meant Octavian couldn't see the way Curio's eyes rolled, or the way he reluctantly reached out and grabbed Octavian's hand.

With little resistance, Curio managed to bring Octavian into the house. Every time he entered he couldn't stop a sense of awe taking over him - despite the house looking like a quaint little cottage in the woods on the outside, the inside was filled with technical wonders. Curio always had to resist the urge to gawk at Tony's interactive holograms.

"Hey Curio, Octavian." Pepper greeted them politely, a grin lighting up her face. "Are you two staying for dinner?"

"We have a long ride back -"

"You can stay over, we have the space."

Octavian scoffed, and almost immediately Curio delivered a swift kick to Octavian's shin. "Thanks Pepper, we'll think about it."

What Curio really meant was that it depended on how bad of a mood Octavian was in by the end of the talk with Tony.

She nodded, telling the pair that Tony was in the kitchen. She didn't need to show them where that was.

"We're really not going to stay, are we?" Octavian muttered in Curio's ear. Once, this would have sent shivers down his spine. Now he felt nothing.

While Curio was thankful for how Octavian decided for once not to announce his disdain to being here, he hated how Octavian wasn't even willing to give this a try. "Depends on how nice you act."

Octavian chuckled slightly, shrugging. "Guess we aren't then."

Curio ignored him, gently pulling him towards the kitchen. Octavian brushed off Curio's helping hand, making his own way slowly into the kitchen. Curio kept an eye on him from the corner of his eye; he carried on.

"I hope you two like juice boxes," Tony pushed two cartons with straws in their direction. Curio grabbed his gratefully, taking a deep sip from the carton. "How was the drive down?"

"Very long." Curio laughed, nudging Octavian with his elbow. "It's alright for this guy, he was asleep the entire time."

"I can drive on the way back if you want."

Tony chuckled, his laughter increasing when Curio nearly choked on his drink. "I'd pay to see that."

A few beats passed. And then some more. Tony seemed to enjoy the silence, drinking deeply from his own juice box and smiling distantly. Curio slurped his own, noting how Octavian was only playing with his.

"Tony - can I ask you a question?" Octavian spoke up out of the blue. His tone wasn't sarcastic or aggressive, curiosity lacing his words. For some reason this struck more fear into Curio's heart than anything else.

"Shoot."

Octavian snapped the straw off the carton, blindly stabbing the carton. Curio wanted to reach out to help; by the time his hands were going towards Octavian, the straw sunk deeply into the carton. "How come you still see us?"

"I don't quite understand what you mean."

"You haven't spoken to the Avengers in years. Ever since everything went to shit you cut off contact. So how come you still talk to us, help us out?"

Tony's smile had dissolved as Octavian spoke. His face became more serious, the wrinkles in his skin becoming more prominent. "Honestly... They didn't need me."

Curio interjected before Octavian had chance. "How can you think that? You're the supporting structure of the Avengers."

"The Avengers weren't needed anymore. It took Thanos destroying half the universe for me to realise that the Avengers don't save anyone - they just cause pain." Tony rubbed his hand over his face, sighing deeply. "I guess I wanted to try to ease your pain."

Octavian kept probing Tony for an answer. "We were strangers, why?"

"Oct, leave him alone."

"No Curio, I need to know why he needed to help us. Is it because that your pathetic Avengers are the reason my sister vanished? Or because when they needed to take Thanos down after what he did, Locusta ended up in a coma? Or how the Avengers failed to protect us, protect me and my sight?" Octavian's voice rose higher and higher, until he was shouting. "You didn't need to help us. We were perfectly fine. You just wanted to ease your guilt and feed your ego."

Tony stood there and took the verbal abuse. He didn't wince as Octavian hurled insult after insult at him, until Octavian was gasping for breath and clearly run out of things to say.

Curio was about to apologise when Tony spoke up. "Are you finished?"

Octavian nodded, taking a deep gulp out of his juice.

"You're right - I helped you because I felt guilty. Congrats."

Curio swallowed, looking between Octavian and Tony. Even though Octavian couldn't glare at Tony directly, the aura oozing off him said more than he needed. "Oct, go to the car."

Octavian didn't argue, leaving the room slowly and carefully. So much fury was bubbling in Curio's gut that he didn't care if Octavian stumbled on his way - after everything Tony had done for them, he continued to treat him like shit.

"I'm so sorry Tony." Curio apologised, reaching across and squeezing the mans hand. "I didn't think he would do that."

"He's not coping." Tony pointed out, staring straight into Curio's eyes. "He's in pain and he needs help."

It didn't take a psychic to know that Tony was speaking from previous experience. All of the wild times Tony had when he was younger were to mask the pain of his mother dying, of the unloving treatment of his father.

"Be there for him. No matter how bad he gets, be there for him."

Curio breathed out a large sigh. "It can be so hard."

"He'll get better with time. It doesn't seem like it now, but he will get better."

"I used to love him. Now, I'm not so sure that I even like him."

Tony smiled sadly at Curio. He opened his arms, Curio not wasting a second before leaping into his embrace. Tony squeezed him tight then let him go, ruffling his hair as if he was a child. Maybe he was - his childhood had been ripped from him, and even though he was in his twenties he still had an urge to hold onto Tony for so much longer.

"I'll see you two soon."

Curio frowned. "Are you sure?"

"More sure than I have ever been in my life."

-

hey guys! sorry for the wait, but here it is! i only have one more prewritten chapter after this, but its not an issue to lack of inspiration so I can easily whip up more chapters.

hope everyone is staying safe, thanks for reading!

-thirdwheelchurchill