Don't own Avengers or Ironman.

The Cupboard Under the Stairs.

Tony Stark knew he was more fucked up than anyone could imagine when he found out that, since he got PTSD from his time in Afghanistan, he was supposed to have a type of unimaginable fear and hatred at the mere thought of going into a cave. He had the rest of it down pat; he didn't have a pool or any bathtubs in the Avengers Tower, and any tubs that were in his other homes had long been removed. So he should also technically feel nervous in tight, dark places.

But he didn't.

In fact, he found a sick type of release in small, dark and almost claustrophobic places.

In the dark places, he was Tony Stark. Not Ironman. Not Howard Stark's son. Not a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Not The Merchant of Death. Not an Avenger. He became a man that was just a man, stuck in a dark place with only his thoughts and his opinions.

He was free.

That was why, when he designed the Stark Tower, then redesigned it as the Avengers Tower, he had one room hidden away. It was the only room in the house, including the closets, that was absent of technology. Sure it had metal in it, but those were all sheets of metal, waiting for his hands to bring them to life. Not even Jarvis was programed into the room, and not even Pepper had a high enough clearance to be let in.

It had a smelter, an anvil, a workbench, and anything important that would tie into either three. It was lit with a few sparsely placed free hanging light bulbs, and a robot would appear occasionally to slide him food through the flap at the bottom of the door.

It should have, in all technicality, been the equivalent of "Hell on Earth" to Tony, but it was more like a comfort blanket to him.

If Captain America says something cutting about him and compares him to his father, Tony goes to that room.

If Bruce doesn't want to be near him because he's been drinking too much, Tony goes to that room.

If Fury tries to contact him, Tony goes to that room.

When Pepper broke up with him, Tony went to that room.

Because that room accepted him; accepted him in ways no one had. The walls seemed to hug him as he tested metals and created sturdier alloys; the silence encouraged him as he whispered his thoughts to it; the lights swung away politely if he couldn't stop a sob from escaping him; the echoes agreed whole-heartedly with him as he shouted his anger at the people around him to it.

In this room, he wrote and rewrote the laws for science, breaking it over and over again like it was some form of childish game. Arrow heads, knives, shields and countless other things were designed and created in this room. Perfection was made and unmade in this room.

This room was everything.

This room was nothing.

And so Tony continued to run away here, to hide in this room, every time the world demanded too much from him. This tiny little room, where he slept on the floor with nothing but his metals and plans and the spiders to keep him company.

And he couldn't be happier in his own morbid way.

This was admittedly a weird one. I just couldn't help but think that Tony would want a way to escape his really stressful life that was a bit out of the ordinary. I also kind of feel that, despite the seriousness of the situation, Tony might have felt at ease somewhat while kidnapped, if only because he only needed to think about what he was building and keeping himself and Yensin alive.

And yes, for anyone wondering, the title is a reference to something. Feel free to guess.

Ja ne!