Hey Guys this is a multi-chapter sequel to my other Story 'The Spoils of War', so it will have mentions of past Rape/non-con as well as possible future Rape/non-con.
You don't have to have read The spoils of war but it would be an idea to.
Anyway, I don't own any of these characters, enjoy and don't forget to review and tell me what you thought.
Steve sat at his desk in the ruins of a small fishing town to the West after a run in with one of the Odinsons, and not just any of Odinson, but Thor.
God damn Thor Odinson, crowned prince of the golden city of Asgard, who while, not the best political leader out of the bunch, or so Steve had heard, but was like a god on the battle field. Steve begrudgingly felt jealous of the man, because while Steve was one of if not the best Midgard had to offer, Thor was the best Asgard had to offer and so far he was proving to be better than Steve.
Which technically mean that Asgard was better than Midgard?
Steve punches the hard wood desk in anger and glares down at the letter.
He knew that he could defeat Thor if he wasn't stressing out over his friend and brothers disappearance.
He re-reads the letters over and over again, frown lines forming thickly on his brow, he knows he shouldn't read them again because it makes him angry, frustrated and upset and it really feels like way too many emotions bottling up inside of him and the only way he can let them out is by punching something.
Why would he do this?
Why would he just leave in the middle of an invasion?
Why couldn't he have just asked for help?
Steve would have helped him fix the problem, so would have Bruce he is sure of it. He didn't need to go running of with Rhodey at the first chance he got.
Really Steve blames Rhodey, he should have told his friend to stop and that he should not go running off after Pepper. Stark was not fit for the outside world; he was too… scatter brained.
Sure he was a genius, smarter than his father and Steve would go as far as to say the smartest man in the kingdom, but for such a smart man he could be such an idiot.
Did he not know what the repercussions of what he had done would be?
Surely he should have.
But that is where Tony and Steve differed, Steve while admittedly not being of the same mental calibre as Tony he knew what would happen if he were to sleep with another man's wife even if he, himself wasn't married.
But Tony preferred things of the flesh and would have not thought twice about seducing the woman.
His fist crumbles along the parchment and he glares down at the writing, the messenger who sent them long gone with Steve's reply in his dirty hands.
He knew he was not the only one who wanted Pepper and Tony back, but Tony and Steve's parents Maria and Howard sending messages over and over again all with the same things on them and with each passing month they got more urgent and letters that were sent once every two days were being sent day after day with multiple messengers having to find them over and over again.
'Please Steve, find him. Find my son.'
Steve crumples the piece of paper up in his hands and growls.
Losing Tony was like losing a limb, you don't realise how important they are until they are gone and for the rest of your life you feel useless, helpless because you are missing something that just seems so important, something you had taken for granted.
Steve needs Tony back, he needs the younger man to come home so he can see his smile again and be reminded of the little bundle that Maria had shown him minutes after birthing him.
'Your baby brother.'
Sure they were not related by blood and Steve was an orphan boy Howard had plucked off the streets at a young age but Tony would always be his younger brother, would always be the little kid that decked him in the halls when the maids were near, the boy who had paid a prostitute to sleep with Steve, which he declined because it would be improper, the man who had stood tall listening to his father as he brandished all of Steve's accomplishments in his face only for Howard to later do the same to Steve about his only son when Tony's back was turned.
Steve wanted him back.
And he would do anything to get him back.
"Dammit Tony." Steve curses throwing a piece of parchment into the fire, there is a knock at the door at the exact same time and Steve turns and blushes, he doesn't like being caught in moments of anger by his men. A head pokes through the door with a blank and grimy face.
"Excuse me sir, we found James Rhodes." And Steve's heart flies for a moment; he swallows loudly and stutters for a moment.
"Bring him in then." Steve stands by his chair and watches the door open wider; Rhodey stands tall watching Steve carefully a question in his eyes, before shutting the door behind him.
"Where is Tony?" they both ask at the same time and almost immediately both hearts sink into a pool of freezing water and Steve has to sit down before his legs give out.
Rhodey is silent and looking at the ground, they both don't cry, but they know that even if they did the other wouldn't laugh at them. Because the pain is raw and cuts through them.
"Did you find Pepper?" Steve finally asks, but it's hollow, because if Pepper isn't here and Rhodey has no idea where Tony is, there is no chance that they had found Pepper.
It is silent for a moment and when Steve looks up Rhodey has his head in his hands and is shaking.
He takes a shaky breath and looks up at the man.
"No." he says finally and Steve almost feels bad for the man who has just lost his two best friends. But he can't find the power to, because if Rhodey had informed Steve of Tony's plan then there would only be one person missing and not two.
But Steve trusts Pepper out there on her own rather than Tony, she is more responsible and wouldn't have gotten into any trouble, he is sure of it.
Steve has had enough; his fist slams down onto the desk. Rhodey glares at him with venom.
"What and you think this is my entire fault?" he asks stepping closer, his leather vest moving up and down quickly as his breathing quickens.
"I think you could have told someone what Stark was planning." Steve says and Rhodey is suddenly with his fists on the desk his muscles flexing under his tunic as he stares Steve down.
"You of all people should know that once he has an idea in his head, he will do whatever it takes to carry through with it." And Steve is standing his hands clenched down on the table, afraid to lift them because if he does he will hit Rhodey, hit him so hard the man's great grandchildren will feel it.
"And you of all people," Steve growls their faces inches from each other "Should know how worried everyone was when he left."
"Boy's lets save the fighting for the field." A voice sounds from behind them.
Both men stand slowly their eyes never leaving each other's, until finally they are standing straight and Steve turns to look up at the door, the other man just looks down at the desk looking at the many letters Steve has been reading, laid out in no particular order and Rhodey knows who they are from.
"Barnes." Steve says gruffly before sitting back down on his seat.
"Captain." Bucky greets with a smirk and a flippant bow. "So," he claps his hands together and looks at each of the two men in the hopes that it would release some of the tension in the air. "What is happening in here gentlemen?"
"Let me guess," Rhodey turns around and frowns at the man slightly. "Siegfried called you for help, didn't he?" Bucky shares a smile at the man and clasps his shoulder. Rhodey has spent too much time around Stark.
"Naturally." He takes a seat on the spare seat and kicks his feet up onto the desk.
Steve doesn't yell at the man he simply grins and shakes his head.
"So, how did you and Stark separate?" he asks and Rhodey looks down at the man with a frown.
"I don't know," he says looking down at his hands and Steve wants to grab the man and shake some sense into him. "But I told him to stay in the walls away from the Asgardians, and I would be back for him when the path is clear, but when I came back he was gone. Not long after that the city fell and I had no choice, I figured he decided to come back."
"You should know not to assume anything about Stark." Steve mutters, he can't be angry at Rhodey he really can't it's not the first time Tony has done something like this, granted it was never during a time like this.
Rhodey nods his head and it settles in then.
It settles through the room like a weight has been added to each muscle in their bodies, and the world is quiet so quiet that Bucky thinks he could hear the wind from outside.
But he doesn't say anything he just sits there and tries to stop the tears.
Steve doesn't try and stop them, he can't find the energy to care and Rhodey, Rhodey is frozen to the spot his legs shaking so much that his sword slips down his hips slightly.
"I'm sorry." Bucky says softly, Steve doesn't care; he turns around and looks into the fire ignoring the world around him, ignoring the heavy thrumming in his chest.
Tony Stark is dead.
He doesn't want to believe it.
He tries to ignore the pain in his chest as he thinks it over, the stale taste on his tongue as he mouths the words.
"I will send a letter out to Howard and Maria Stark." Bucky says.
"No." Steve says and he tries to tell himself he says it because he knows Stark is still alive, but he knows that can't be true, Stark could never survive an invasion and their parents would never survive the news. "I will send one."
"Steve-" Bucky tries to object.
"Leave!" Steve orders both men.
He doesn't write the letter, he doesn't think he ever will.