Nightingale
Prologue
"Dark will forever rival light. The challenge is determining one from the other."
-A.H.B.
"But what I don't understand is why we have to wear these stupid hockey masks. Everyone already knows what we look like, so what's the point?"
"The point is that Fury told you to wear the mask. Therefore, put the damn thing on and stop complaining."
Tony crossed his arms in defiance, staring daringly at his frustrated companion. "No."
"Stark, you're being childish."
"I'm aware of this fact, as you tell me on a regular basis. Still not wearing the mask."
Steve sighed at his friend's impudence, but chose not to fight back. Let Tony do what he wanted- their boss would get him for it later. He always did. Besides, mothering Tony Stark wasn't really his top priority at the moment.
For the thirtieth time that night, Steve pressed his left eye against the lens of a massive telescope. Assembled, it was close to the size of a small Doberman. Compacted, the monster could fit easily into the soldier's work-roughened left hand. He'd never let on about it, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s advanced technology was actually quite impressive. In a few years, they'd probably have a fully-functional flying car available for public transport.
"Any movement?"
"Absolutely none." He leaned away from the monsterscope with a face of ice. At least that's what anyone else would see it as; Tony instantly recognized it as a mask covering up his real emotions.
Tony missed her. He wasn't ashamed to admit that even when she was being painfully annoying, she'd been a real friend to him. The others had felt the same way; she'd been like a little sister to most of them. But none of their combined emotions would have been able to compound into the magnitude of guilt Steve was dealing with right now.
"Hey," The soldier felt warm, rough hands of Tony Stark on his shoulders. If he'd had the energy he would have pushed them off; but after going for three days with limited sleep and a handful of granola bars, there was no fight left in him. "We're going to find her. You know we're going to find her, right?"
"But what if we don't," It was more of a statement than a question. "What if we can't find her in time? What if we find her but she's-" He wasn't able to continue, feeling tears prick at his eyes. Not feeling anything, he rubbed them ferociously; he would not cry, he would not cry.
"Woah, woah," Steve's wrists were grabbed and secured at his sides. Suddenly Tony's face was inches away from his, eyes wide, voice earnest.
"We're going to find her. You're going to calm the fuck down and think rationally about this and we're going to fucking find her. Because if we don't," Steve felt his arms released and didn't mind the tingly sensation of regaining feeling in his fingers. "Hawkeye will kill us."
This brought a miniscule smile to the roughened soldier's face. Tony returned it with a tight-lipped smile of his own- it held so little recognition of the billionaire/playboy/philanthropist Tony Stark Steve was so accustomed to that he nearly blanched. He watched his friend carefully as he turned back to the monsterscope- brown, empty eyes, shoulders hunched with burden, two days worth of stubble. Though he refused to let on about it, Tony Stark was falling apart just as much as the rest of them. It wasn't a comforting thought.
Because once Tony fell apart, you knew things really weren't going to get better.