2008
A loud moan left Daniel's lips before leaning back against the couch. Wiping the remaining white powder off his nose and sniffing, he looked around his surroundings. Broken glass on the floor, some unknown liquid next to it. The couch was stained and there was bottles of liquor and crumbs of chips. The coffee table before him had three fine lines of coke and a bottle of Scotch. It was a typical Friday afternoon.
There was no party. Well – not really. It was more like a small gathering that made a 5-person gathering to one of about 50. Still, he wouldn't consider it a party. Some brough food, others brought bottles of liquor and others some drugs that he enjoyed using the night before. It was fun. He got laid, drank, and got high. Well, that is generally how most of his days are. After quitting from Landman and Zack, he was free to do whatever the hell he wanted. He did not have to defend millionaires against the common folk or covering up allegations. Daniel was just tired, tired of everything. This moment of tranquility is what he wants, for what he yearns for.
Unfortunately, it was disrupted by the sound of some loud knocking before the door was opened. Daniel does not remember leaving the door unlocked. Glancing back, he saw Tony strolling in with Happy by his heels. It was a good thing that all his guest had left about an hour ago.
What time was it?
Daniel checked his watch to see it was around 1pm. Nice, lunch time. The thought of some pizza came to mind, and his mouth watered at the thought. A nice pepperoni and bacon pizza with a thick crust and the cheese being warm.
"What are you doing here? Not that I do not love our meetings, I just...don't love them," Daniel sighed as he pushed himself up from the couch to get his phone from the bar. He stumbled a bit as he reached the bar and his brother watched Daniel with disappointment.
It has been more than a year that Daniel had began to do this. The accomplished, polite, well-mannered brother was long gone. Oh, the public loved to call him the crazier brother, Tony Stark 2.0, the party guy of Manhattan. So many nicknames in the matter of a year. After all, news of his accident was national news, given his name. Everywhere he looked, tabloids and whispers about him and the loss of his fiancée. It would have driven anyone mad. Tony understood Daniel's behavior, to a certain extent.
"You and me, Dan," Tony sighed as he walked towards the couch and saw the mess on the coffee table. Tony knew that partying could get out of hand at times. He isn't a stranger to it, but he considers himself to have some limits.
Daniel Michael Stark does not have any limits.
Taking a seat on the couch, he eyed the white lines on the coffee table. Daniel took notice of it. "Try some if you want. I don't mind sharing," Daniel smirked as he pocketed his phone before reaching into his jeans to get his packet of cigarettes. Putting one in his mouth, he lit it up while he let Tony talk.
"Yeah, no thanks. I rather be drunk than high. That shit is too much," Tony grimaced a bit as he leaned back in his seat and gave a good look at his brother. He looked disheveled – wrinkled, blue, button up with the first buttons undone, black slacks and his hair was all over the place. It was noticeable that he hadn't shaved in a few weeks, the beard wasn't well taken care off. Hints of silver were seen. The 28-year-old was a mess. At his age, he should be living and enjoying his life. Instead, he is letting it go to waste.
"I got you into rehab – the best there is – ranch and all that stuff to help you", Tony said as he watched his brother smoke calmly.
"No thanks, don't like animals"
Daniel puffed out smoke up to the ceiling. Happy watched from the corner of his room, just making sure that this meeting doesn't turn out violent. Last time they talked, fists were swinging. He can't have that happen again.
No matter, Daniel remained cool as a cucumber. It was Tony that was getting upset.
"Fine, I'll put you somewhere else. No ranch or animals – or whatever you don't like. You are going to rehab," Tony stated, as if he was written in stone. Jaw clenched and a cold gaze upon his younger brother.
Daniel's nose flared in annoyance. Letting out a chuckle, he shook his head in disagreement. "That's funny."
"I mean, you – you, Tony Stark, the man with alcohol issues is telling me to go to rehab," Dan laughed, placing a hand on his chest, and leaning back to exaggerate how ridiculous that sounded to him.
Tony shot up from his seat and marched up to Daniel and both men stood less than a foot away from each other. Given that Daniel was taller, Tony looked up at him with a heated glare. "I am not the one pumping shit into their veins," Tony spat before grabbing Daniel's arm harshly and raising the sleeve of the shirt up to show bruises from the puncture wounds.
Yanking his arm from Tony's hold, he shoved his brother away – not liking the closeness. Happy was ready to step in, until Tony held his hand out to stop him from doing so. This was between him and Daniel.
"Fuck you!" Daniel took a few steps back as he matched Tony's energy. Both men radiated how angry they were. It was an uncomfortable feeling in the room. "You think I want to be like this?! A fuck up that can't even function a few hours clean. I would have rather died than be here, talking with you and feeling like shit!"
The younger Stark looked at the ground, feeling everything going within him. All the anger, pain, and sorrow he felt all bubbling back up to the surface. Memories of that night coming back, and it was like he was reliving that moment again. God knows how many times that memory plagued Daniel's mind. It didn't matter when or where. That memory would just hit him at random and that would quickly sour his mood. It would just let him want to crawl into a hole and die, just so he could be with her again.
Daniel's vision got blurry. Wiping his eyes, feeling the wetness of tears that threatened to fall – he got angry.
Tony stood, taking in the sudden outburst of his brother and his appearance.
"You are going"
"NO! I am not going to a fucking rehab to talk about my feeling and how life sucks and I wish to be dead," he scoffed. He is going to deal with it as an adult: getting high, fucking and drinking. After all, what else is there?
"You would rather continue doing this shit? Getting high until your fucking brain rots or until you overdose and die from choking on your own vomit?" Tony laughed in disbelief, shaking his head. He tried to understand, the drinking and getting high, but he couldn't. Not anymore.
"You think your girlfriend would have wanted to see you like this? A shell of who you used to be, a junkie that isn't worth shit – wasting away in this apartment?" Tony scoffed, hoping that using her will be able to bring him our of this. However, it just got Daniel even more upset.
"She would have wanted to live! She would have wanted to travel the world and have a family and live upstate with a house and all that shit that we can't have anymore," dragging his hand down his face, his cigarette long forgotten. It had fallen a while ago from his fingertips. It just laid on the floor.
"Fine, go ahead and kill yourself. I am done. I am done with your self-destructive ass," Tony sneered as he looked at Daniel with frustration. Frustration to himself and towards Daniel. He couldn't do this anymore. "I don't want to see you again, you ungrateful bastard."
With that said, Tony took his leave. Happy paused, feeling uncomfortable with what was discussed. Meanwhile, Daniel looked ahead with sorrow. "He doesn't mean that. You know how he gets. You two can continue talking when Tony comes back from his trip."
Daniel did not bother to turn towards Happy. He listened to his retreating footsteps before the sound of a door followed. Like always, Daniel was alone again.
It is safe to say that was their last conversation for a long time.
Two days after that conversation, guilt began to eat away at Daniel as he watched the news to read that Tony Stark had been kidnapped.
"Sources are telling us that a group of army soldiers have been attacked during a Stark weapon showing. Tony Stark, the CEO, of Stark Enterprises had been taken by a terrorist group and his location is unknown. Many government officials are dedicating their time and effort in the search of the weapon manufacturer"
Daniel looked at the television screen with a blank look. Thought ran through his head as he took in the last words that the brothers exchanged before Tony had gone missing. He isn't dead, Daniel was sure of it. It wasn't hope. It was logic. If a terrorist group took Tony, it was to use him for their agenda. No doubts to build them something. After all, Tony is one of the greatest minds in this modern day and makes weapons for a living. As he recalled, "The Merchant of Death" is what some call the eldest Stark. It would only be a matter of time for when the news will change their headline from MISSING to FOUND DEAD.
After that, everything just got blurry. It would be Monday and would later turn to Thursday. The days would get clustered together and time was lost. He lost all sense of it. For Daniel, time seemed to have just stopped existing. Drinking had taken most of his time. It had gotten too much that he had gotten back to the hospital. It may have been the first time that his substance abuse had landed him into the hospital. It was weird.
Waking up to the bright white lights and the sound of beeping beside him. The scent of disinfectant hitting him and the eye-irritating, white walls of the hospitals really have begun to sour his mood.
"Oh my god! You're awake" and soon he saw a strawberry-blonde in his sight.
Pepper.
"What-what happened?", Daniel slurred, trying to look around but he just felt groggy. Everything felt heavy, even his own hands that laid on his stomach. It was difficult to move. It was as if his entire body weighed 1,000 pounds, unable to move or even shift around. His throat felt sore. Dan knew it couldn't have been a cold or a simple sore throat. No, something happened.
"I went to visit you, just to check up on you. With everything going on, I thought you were going through hard time, and the door was unlocked. I stepped in and found you passed out in the living room. I called 911 and the doctors had to pump your stomach from all the alcohol you consumed," Pepper explained quickly as she took Daniel's hand into her own, to give him some comfort through all of this. Her warm hands did give Daniel some comfort to his freezing touch. Well, that answered why he had a sore throat.
"So, I suppose I will be able to go home later today?"
"Daniel"
"Stomach pumping isn't that severe that requires me to stay - "
"I have already made some arrangements for a rehabilitation center" Pepper interrupted him.
At the sudden news, Daniel remained quiet – processing what he was hearing.
Rehab.
Shaking his head, he moved his hands to take off the IV. Grimacing, he yanked it out from his hand – ignoring Pepper's exclaims. He just wanted to get out of here. The last thing that Daniel wanted was to go to rehab. He is happy with what he usually does. Plus, it would be a waste of time. However, it seems that his luck had run out. Nurses came into his room at the sound of Pepper's yells and immediately began to hold him down – believing that he was having an episode.
"NO! I – I need to leave!" Daniel cried, too weak to fight off the nurses. It wasn't long until he had soon lost consciousness. One of the nurses drugging him to keep him calm. Liquid valium had always been one of his favorites. However, this high was going to be the last one in a while.
I hope you guys like the new cover. I decided to give a little flashback, might be writing some more here and there. I will try to have the next chapter later this week.