Tony's nostrils flared at the gates of the manor. He shoved away from the woman and slammed open the iron gates. He stomped up the steps, hands balling in anger as he opened the door. He threw his bags on the ground at the sight of Howard. Almost blind with rage, Tony stepped into the man's personal space.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he snarled. "Seriously, are you missing a few screws up there or something? Because you have to be an idiot to threaten to shoot a damn bomb at someone's house. What the hell were you thinking?"

Howard raised an eyebrow as he brushed past his son. Tony spun on his heel, anger simmering into confusion. Howard wanted him back, right? He was clearly adamant about that so why was he ignoring him now? Tony shook his head hard. He was still angry. Tony opened his mouth to shout some more but Howard silenced him by pulling out a decanter of scotch. Tony recoiled when the smell reached his nose.

"Go to your room," Howard said, smooth.

Tony tilts his chin up defiantly. "I'm not done shouting at you."

Howard cut his eyes to him sharply. It was a drastic change from the calm man a few seconds ago. It was closer to the Howard Tony was used to. Tony's hand flung up to his head when Howard threw the glass at him. It rained against the wall and a few pieces cut into his skin. Tony glared at Howard but it didn't have the usual heat. He scrambled back when Howard came forward slowly. Tony held his breath when the man touched his throat. Howard moved his lips beside Tony's ear, "Go to your room."

Tony closed his eyes with a gulp. "No," he said eventually. The hand on his throat felt heavier. Tony dug his nails into his palm. "You're sick and I'm tired of it, Howard. You can't just threaten to kill people when I don't come back as soon as you summon me. I'm not your damn pet. I told you I would be here after Christmas. What? You wanted to open presents with me that bad?"

Howard tightened his hold minimally. He closed his eyes as Tony twitched under his hold. Howard shook his head hard as he pressed Tony against the wall. Tony grabbed the man's arm as his eyes widened. Howard felt Tony's throat working against his hand, spasming erratically under his callouses. Howard let go and watched Tony slump to the ground. He sneered down at him. "Go to your room."

Tony's breaths had a slight whistle to it. He held his hand protectively over his throat as he scowled. "Shut the hell up. I hate you," he grinned self-deprecatingly, "but I think you should know. They know what you do to me." Howard's eyes narrowed on his smiling son. Tony swallowed around the pain. "They know, Howard. And they have evidence. I didn't do anything but I'm glad they took a liking to me. How long do you think you can keep this up before the police come, huh? Tell me how long. You're smart. Go on, make an educated guess. I hypothesize you don't have longer than a few days." Tony struggled to pull himself up as Howard turned back to his scotch. "I personally can't wait," he slurred as dark spots grew in his vision. "I'm going to miss our weekly conversations."

Howard's teeth ground together as he poured himself a glass. Tony stumbled up the steps as the pain in his throat doubled. Tony rummaged around his bathroom then downed some painkillers. Tony almost jumped when his phone buzzed. He hesitated for a moment before grabbing it. A text from Rhodey and Pepper about the holidays and a single text from Natasha. He furrowed his brow as his finger hovered over the screen. He laid back on his bed, trying to find a comfortable middle before his phone began buzzing again. He grimaced at the Facetime call then reluctantly answered.

"Tony? What hap- Already?" Tony shifted his sweater around his neck. Natasha didn't need to see it now. It was Howard's personal Christmas gift to him. Natasha snapped in Russian and turned the camera.

"Hey, Tony!"

Tony looked up slowly, clearing his throat painfully. "Hey," he mumbled.

Bruce smiled at Thor as he nudged him. Steve shoved Clint's shoulder when he tried to perch on him. Bucky tilted his head, his bun moving as he shook his head. Natasha set the phone down where he could see all of them and the tree. Tony felt tears well in his eyes as they opened gifts around him. This was definitely becoming his favorite Christmas. Tony bristled when Thor reached for another gift. He bit his lip sharply when Thor's voice boomed, "This is for brother Bucky. It's from Tony."

Bucky glanced at Steve before taking the sleek black box from Thor. He knitted his brow as he gingerly untied the red ribbon. Steve glanced at Clint then at Tony. Tony was resolutely fidgeting with the sleeve of his hoodie. He peeked out of the corner of his eye as Bucky opened it. Tony watched the color drain from Bucky's face and Bucky quickly closed it. Tony winced, throwing the phone facedown as if it was burning him.

Of course, Bucky hated it. He had worked hard but it wasn't enough. It was never enough. Tony raked his teeth against his lip worriedly. He shouldn't have brought the arm back up. It was obviously a sensitive subject and he had no right considering he was the one that broke it in the first place. He should've left well enough alone instead of trying to fix something unfixable. Anything Tony broke was irreparable. Now they would never want to talk to him and his threats would fall through and he'd never get away from Howard. He would be all alone again. That was a bitter pill to swallow. His throat chose that time to throb painfully in agreement. Tony felt dizzy with nausea, eyes staring unseeing at his phone as his body struggled to catch up with his brain.

Tony flinched when his consciousness crashed into his body. He fumbled his phone with shaking hands. Tony averted his gaze from Natasha's face. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Natasha sat down in a corner. "For what? Bucky loves it. He really wants to thank you."

Tony sagged into his pillows. "Don't lie to me. He hates it. He hates me. You all do. I don't even understand why you called me."

"We wanted to celebrate Christmas with you. Tony look at me. I am not lying. Bucky loves it and he's very thankful. And I promise you, no one hates you. It was a very thoughtful gift."

"Yeah, okay."

"Bucky wants to thank you. Can I put him on?" Tony gave her a half-shrug. He listened as she handed the phone over and muttered a few words. Then Bucky's face was taking up the screen with his usual blank face. Except his eyes looked a little brighter. "Stark. I mean, Tony. Hey."

"Hey, uh," Tony trailed off. Bucky pursed his lips. Tony curled away instinctively. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I just wanted to apologize for breaking your other arm and I thought making you a new one was a good idea, but obviously it wasn't because you hate it and I shouldn't have meddled in such a sensitive topic. People say I can be really selfish sometimes. I'm starting to see it more often."

"Tony, slow down, slow down. I don't hate it. It might be the second greatest gift I've ever received. Thank you."

The sheer gratitude in his voice made Tony blush. "Oh, uh, it was nothing. I was almost done with it before break anyway."

"You were making this before?"

"Yeah. Back when you said your joints were bothering you. I couldn't exactly take your arm and fix it and I totally understood why you didn't take me up on my offer." Tony winced. "Sorry. That came out wrong. I just thought I'd be able to do a better job than just fixing the joints. Was that narcissistic of me? Probably, right?"

Bucky chuckled and Tony's eyes snapped to the screen. Bucky's eyes crinkled in the corner when he laughed and his tongue darted out of the corner. Tony gaped at him until Bucky spoke. "Not narcissistic," he snickered. "You're right to think you could do a better job. You did a better job. I can feel, you know?"

"Those would be the pressure and heat sensors," Tony replied. He'd made Bucky laugh. Granted, he knew the boy could laugh but it was different when something good he did was the cause.

Bucky smiled. "Right. But, thank you, Tony. I promise I'm going to help you.

Tony rubbed his aching neck. The sound of footsteps jarred him from the warm bubble his conversation made. Tony paled. "I have to go."

"Are you okay?"

Tony flicked his eyes to the turning knob. "Yeah, peachy. I just have to go...experiment."

"Don't lie. He's coming, right?" Tony looked Bucky in the eye as he nodded. Bucky's eyes looked sad as he stared at Tony. "Call Natasha back as soon as you can." Tony nodded and hung up.

Tony threw his phone aside before the door had opened fully. Howard beckoned him forward with sluggish movements. He was drunk. Tony felt tears spring to his eyes as he tried to find his fight from downstairs. His body seemed weaker than it had in the past week just from Howard's stare. The freedom he had at Rogers' felt like a dream. He pinched his arm hard to wake himself up. There was no way he had been away from the suffocating manor. The warmth from being in the boonies shouldn't have disappeared so quickly. He looked at Howard again before puking all over his carpet. He tried to breathe through his mouth but the pain from his stomach acid and the bruises around his throat made it difficult. His head began to pound in sync with his heart. Tony mewled when his arm was grabbed forcefully and Howard snarled something at him.

Tony resigned himself to his fate without a struggle. It was always going to be like this. He'd get angry and then Howard would punish him and he'd be alone hiding his pain. Soon his anger would exponentially wither away with his body before he was left as nothing but a husk. Tony blinked when he was in the closet. His fingers fumbled with the marker before Howard made it down the hall.

Howard came back nursing a drink slowly instead of shutting the door. Tony didn't know what the man wanted him to do. He tapped the marker against his thigh nervously. Howard yanked on Tony's hair until his neck was aching from the force. "You won't ever leave me, will you Tony? Failures need to stay close to their creator if they want even a semblance of a chance to become useful. You still haven't proved yourself, boy. I've taken away your butler and your freedom. You are mine to control, understand?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Repeat it."

Tony averted his gaze. "Y-Yours to control, sir."

"Forever."

Tony bit his cheek. His mouth opened and closed before he parroted him. "Forever."

Howard patted his cheek twice before swinging the door shut and locking him in the darkness. Tony's body trembled as he uncapped the marker. He felt disconnected from his body as he began writing, the soft scratch of the marker against the wall fading into the background. Tony focused on how wonderful the last couple of days had been. He'd had friends and warm meals and an adult that cared about him. It was almost like he actually had a family.

And that's what really scared him. Tony is adept at destroying things, it basically runs in his blood being the son of Howard. He doesn't want to destroy what happened at Roger's. It was probably the happiest he'd been in a long time. And it was never going to happen again. Tony felt tears form in his eyes.

The truce would be over and he'd be alone. Everything would go back to normal. Everything would be exactly as he wanted. He didn't understand why that made him want to cry. Tony hated not understanding. The marker slipped from Tony's hand as he wept. He pressed the bases of his palms into his eyes because this is what he wanted. He wanted them to forget about Tony Stark. He wanted them to leave him alone with only Hammerhead to fraternize with. The thought made him want to puke and cry harder at the same time. He can't imagine how it's going to feel when it happens. He doesn't understand why it hurts. He wants this, right?

Tony tried to shake the cramp out of his hand as he grasps the marker. Tony cursed softly then writes four more lines as punishment because Tony'snot supposed to curse. The reason he cursed was that Bucky wanted him to text him back. He couldn't do that with his phone in his bedroom and he didn't know how long Howard was going to keep him here. He also doesn't have Bucky's number so he'd have to text Natasha. He didn't want to seem ungrateful for their hospitality over break but he couldn't do anything about being locked up. It was his own fault for being in the closet. Hopefully, Bucky wouldn't be too angry when he managed to answer.

Tony hung his head as he began another line.

I will never leave. I am grateful for Howard.