[ tony says yeah, sure and sam can tell it for what it is - him piecing together what he picked up. him taking note of what he has and hasn't seen. it's a lot to take in, probably a lot more for someone like tony stark, who has always been observant. who has always found his footing no matter the situation. sam remembers how long it took him to get a handle on this place, and if tony's only just gotten here...
sam's about to stand back up to do just that - get some food, maybe tell mag to hold anyone who might be coming through to find sam for whatever reason - when he catches the mention of strange's name. when the tension shoots through him. sam's seen tony stark angry, been an audience member between steve and tony's fights before, so it's not a new thing. but the level of this, the bright way tony's rage flashes through him. sam has to blink, to remind himself about why. god, it feels like ages ago, lifetimes, but it was less for him than most others, wasn't it?
titan. oh god. sam is still and wound tight as tony finishes his answer, exhales. he remains still despite the way this all feels wrong, off, having tony stark have to come to the realization of what happened. so much of that time sam only knows in fragments, in files that he called in a favor to read. in stories from sarah, from rhodey himself. tony mentions carol danvers and god, well, yes, that is how all that happened, isn't it? carol danvers came in and found tony stark, adrift out in space after titan. after the first phase of the war, the first battle.
sam takes a second to put it in perspective - tony remembers the compound. but more than that, getting rescued. which also means he's from the beginning, from right after the snap. maybe a few weeks, maybe a bit more.
( there had been a flash of something in sam's chest, at the start of all this. something almost protective, almost defensive, when tony said we lost everyone, everything – because of him. something that almost has sam saying I was part of that everyone, tony, I know what happened. but that's not the point, that wouldn't help anyone, so sam just swallows it back. )
tony look at sam with something he might almost call hope, and sam just holds his eyes for a moment. and then a second. before he nods. ]
You did, actually. [ because under the weight of the simple fact of tony stark's fate, his future, that feels...important. they killed him. no, they didn't all kill him. tony stark did. at a cost, because there always is one. sam deflates a little at the realization of what is going to have to happen here - because if peter hadn't told him, if he didn't know, then.
( maybe it is better this way, though. if it saves peter from having to do it. )
he feels the urge to look down at the glass, instead of holding tony's eyes. feels the urge to step back away from this, knowing what it might do. where it might lead. but in that urge, sam knows he won't, knows he couldn't, and so he holds the other's gaze. even gives him a smile, that is equal parts exhausted as it is thankful. grateful. ]
You killed him- and won us the war.
[ there is an and spoken, somewhere in there. but sam thinks that might be the best first step. ]
no subject
sam's about to stand back up to do just that - get some food, maybe tell mag to hold anyone who might be coming through to find sam for whatever reason - when he catches the mention of strange's name. when the tension shoots through him. sam's seen tony stark angry, been an audience member between steve and tony's fights before, so it's not a new thing. but the level of this, the bright way tony's rage flashes through him. sam has to blink, to remind himself about why. god, it feels like ages ago, lifetimes, but it was less for him than most others, wasn't it?
titan. oh god. sam is still and wound tight as tony finishes his answer, exhales. he remains still despite the way this all feels wrong, off, having tony stark have to come to the realization of what happened. so much of that time sam only knows in fragments, in files that he called in a favor to read. in stories from sarah, from rhodey himself. tony mentions carol danvers and god, well, yes, that is how all that happened, isn't it? carol danvers came in and found tony stark, adrift out in space after titan. after the first phase of the war, the first battle.
sam takes a second to put it in perspective - tony remembers the compound. but more than that, getting rescued. which also means he's from the beginning, from right after the snap. maybe a few weeks, maybe a bit more.
( there had been a flash of something in sam's chest, at the start of all this. something almost protective, almost defensive, when tony said we lost everyone, everything – because of him. something that almost has sam saying I was part of that everyone, tony, I know what happened. but that's not the point, that wouldn't help anyone, so sam just swallows it back. )
tony look at sam with something he might almost call hope, and sam just holds his eyes for a moment. and then a second. before he nods. ]
You did, actually. [ because under the weight of the simple fact of tony stark's fate, his future, that feels...important. they killed him. no, they didn't all kill him. tony stark did. at a cost, because there always is one. sam deflates a little at the realization of what is going to have to happen here - because if peter hadn't told him, if he didn't know, then.
( maybe it is better this way, though. if it saves peter from having to do it. )
he feels the urge to look down at the glass, instead of holding tony's eyes. feels the urge to step back away from this, knowing what it might do. where it might lead. but in that urge, sam knows he won't, knows he couldn't, and so he holds the other's gaze. even gives him a smile, that is equal parts exhausted as it is thankful. grateful. ]
You killed him- and won us the war.
[ there is an and spoken, somewhere in there. but sam thinks that might be the best first step. ]