A/N: This is based off of a one shot I read once, I forgot who the author was but I am in no way trying to copy the story I just really liked the idea.

Summary: Tony was deaf, completely deaf. The blast of the giant reactor was more than he initially expected when he told Pepper to blow it up. The blast caused irreparable damage to his ears, but Tony being iatrophobic (Phobia of doctors) refused to let someone surgically implant a device to help him hear, so he made his own. One that sent the sounds directly to the eardrums, it was a slow process but he has pretty much got them down. But what happens when his plans to keep it a secret fail with the arrival of the Avengers?

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"Pepper hit the switch"

Those were the last words Anthony Edward Stark heard and they came from his own mouth. The blast that followed after shot him up and he landed expecting a ringing in his ears but nothing. There was no ringing there was no crashing, JARVIS was speaking to him but he couldn't hear him.

It has been a really long time since that accident and since then he has been working on hearing aids for himself. He doesn't trust doctors, never has never will. He guesses its a phobia but he'll never know because psychiatrist fall on his list of doctors, therefore he will never see one.

No one knows about Tony's disability except for Pepper, as she had been there the night he lost his hearing. He had a full on panic attack, clutching his chest and rapid short breaths which he couldn't hear. He couldn't hear Peppers calming words, but he could imagine them and the imagination calmed him down enough to say what he hoped was 'I can't hear, my hearings gone'. He thinks it was the right thing because Pepper nodded and helped him back to the tower via Happy's driving. Well that makes two others besides Tony then, because Happy had to know. Not only was he Tony's personal driver but also his closest friend, Tony felt complied to tell him. That was it, only three people knew.

When Fury told him that the Avengers would be living in the tower whether he liked it or not-Tony didn't understand the man's ideas but it was his tower he could kick them out at anytime-so Tony complied and renovated a floor for each of them based around their interests. None of them knew how Tony found out about all of their hobbies but they were glad to have a place to do them without asking for one. Steve had a full art studio the room was packed full of art supplies, sketch books and canvases; a window sat across from the main desk letting in tons of natural light and giving a beautiful view over the city. Clint had a prank room, yes Tony gave him a room full of items to prank with on one condition, that was that Clint never prank him and never prank on the communal floors without cleaning up after. Bruce of course had a second lab, better than his one that he shared with Dr.Cho, it was packed with devices to continue his study on Gamma radiation as well as having a lockdown procedure if the radiation became too much. Thor's floor had a room filled with pop tarts, all flavors because the only hobby listed for The god was 'Pop tart taster' He thought it was weird but bought the breakfast food all the same. The last was Natasha who had absolutely no idea how Stark had found out about her love of dance because it was on no database and she made sure of that, but was grateful when she stepped onto her floor to find that she had her own dance studio with a wall mirror and Bar.

They were all so thankful for Tony's "small" gestures of kindness that they wanted to give him one back. It had been two weeks since they moved in and in those weeks they had been getting closer and closer as a family to the point where they would gather together on the communal floor to watch movies together, or all help cook which usually resulted in a fire or two and ended in a call to multiple delivery places. So one night with the help of JARVIS they were able to set up a party for Tony, they just wanted to say their thanks and have fun with the man.

Tony was absolutely clueless, he was tweaking with his hearing aids when he got a bit thirsty. He decided to make the short trek down to the communal floor and grab a drink, the team wouldn't bother him he had done it so many times before. However when he stepped out of the elevator he was greeted with a the whole team yelling what he could only guess was 'Surprise'. He could only guess, he had no idea what was happening too many people were talking and he couldn't hear them, he left his hearing aids upstairs. In the few months without them he had been getting better at reading lips however, it took a while and a lot of concentration so he focused first on Steve who was in the middle and tried to read his lips.

'We just wanted to say thank you Tony, for all that you've done' Tony thought he heard so he said the appropriate 'no problem' and 'of course'. Then he turned his attention to Natasha who seemed to be speaking, thanks to his bad luck he only caught half of what she said, 'Found out about my hobby but don't tell anyone' So he said "I won't I promise" and prayed it was the right thing. When she gave him a light smile he knew he was on the right track. He continued to do this with Clint and then Bruce which took a lot out of him because Clint talked a mile minute and Bruce talked what seemed like quietly, so Tony had to kind of squint. Then he got to Thor who was easy to read because he always talked slowly and loudly. 'Thank you friend Stark, for the Pop tarts' "Yup it was my pleasure" He said before following them into the party which thankfully was just them, no more trying to figure out the way that someone talks and figuring out what they're saying based on it.

"You guys really didn't have to do this" Tony said wanting to go grab his hearing aids, the quiet was too much. Most of the time the quiet was peaceful but others it was stressful, he tried his best to sit in a position where he could read everyone's lips. He was watching Thor speak when he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned to his left and saw that Cap must have been talking to him. "Oh, sorry zoned out there what did you say?" He excused.

'I said what movie do you want to watch' Tony read his lips carefully and then when he decided that was what he said he answered. "Star Wars?" He questioned the group and looked around to see a bunch of bobbing heads signaling that they liked the suggestion. While Cap was searching for the movie the rest started talking and it took Tony a moment to realize they were talking to him.

"Sorry, you know what why don't we get our Pj's on and get comfortable we can watch movies all night" He suggested, praying that they agreed so he could stop in his lab and grab the hearing aids. His prayers were answered when they all bobbed their heads again and headed off to their floors. Tony was the last on the elevator, pretending to be deep in thought so that they wouldn't talk to him.

"See you in a minute Tones" Natasha said as she stepped off the elevator, to try and test a theory she had in her head. When Tony didn't so much as flinch when she spoke her thought was proved, she just had too remember to look behind Tony's ear when they gathered back downstairs.

Tony made it to his floor and hurried to put on his hearing aids, not worrying to cover them like he does in public. He relished the sudden sound that flooded his ears when they turned on, he took a deep breath and headed to his room to change. He threw on a pair of black sweatpants and a black short sleeve shirt, he grabbed a sweatshirt incase he got cold and wondered if anyone had grabbed blankets. Figuring they would he left his on his bed and headed back into the elevator. The elevator stopped when he reached Nat's floor and she stepped on wearing the same thing Tony was. She nodded and stepped in, she looked behind Tony's ear discretely as she turned and decided to speak up.

"How long have you been deaf for?" She asked bluntly. "JARVIS stop the elevator" The elevator jutted to a halt and Tony turned to face the assassin. "How long have you known". "I've always had my suspicions but I didn't know for sure until tonight, who long Tones" Her voice shifted from accusatory to kind and calm.

"Since the battle with Obadiah. Pepper had to blow up the giant reactor and the force permanently damaged my ears." He tapped his hearing aid and continued, "I made these because I didn't trust doctors to cut into my head and use an implant" Natasha nodded as if she understood and told JARVIS to start the elevator again. Before the doors opened Natasha asked, "Are you going to tell them"

"Yeah, I guess I should" He sighed and followed her out of the elevator, he looked at his spot on the couch and saw that there were many pillows and blankets there. He smiled, Maybe telling them will be good, maybe they'll understand, he thought hopefully. He sat down and wrapped the blankets around himself, he cleared his throat to get their attention. He looked over at Nat who gave him a discrete thumbs up and he started to talk. "I've wanted to tell you guys this for a while but I didn't know how you'd take it. Now, I think is the right time because we are all relatively close." He took a deep breath, "I'm completely deaf" He looked at his team mates as they registered what he said.

"But how can you hear us then friend Stark?" Thor questioned. "Simple, I build myself hearing aids, they can be planted on the outside of the ear so I didn't need surgery and they work pretty well. I was acting weird before, that's because my hearing aids were upstairs I forgot to put them in because the silence is calming sometimes and I was tinkering with them. I can read lips but not very well, please don't think I'm weak or something" Tony said, almost regretting telling them at all.

"YES, finally someone who can understand" Clint whooped. "I'm sorry what?" Tony asked unsure of what happened, none of them were sure. Except for Natasha she knew everything. "I'm partially deaf, I have hearing aid implants" Clint explained.

"Wow, I had no idea" Said Tony truthfully. "Yeah well I didn't know you were deaf either so we're even" Tony just nodded and Steve said, "Tony, why would you think that we would think you're weak because you can't hear. The fact that you lost one of your senses and can still work is incredible". Tony smiled at Steve and allowed him to pull him into a hug. Steve pressed play on the movie and Tony was able to enjoy his time with his family, because secrets had been spilled an they were closer because of it. Throughout the movie Tony's head had gravitated towards Steve's shoulder, and of course Steve noticed so he lifted his arm up and allowed the tired man to lay his head on his shoulder, before it finally gravitated towards his lap. Tony's legs were pulled up onto Thor's lap so he ended up sprawled between the god and the super soldier and he couldn't have been happier. Because for once he finally felt safe, knowing that whatever could possibly happen could be stopped by the Avengers- His Avengers.