"You WHAT?"
Tony paced wildly in the workshop, hands threaded through his hair as he tried to come up with a plan. His nerves felt frayed and his mind out of control, but he forced himself to pull it together. He had to focus, had to come up with a plan to—
"Tony, I'm sorry."
He whirled around. "Sorry doesn't cut it."
Steve flushed and looked at the floor. He reminded Tony of a kicked dog. "I had no idea that she'd run off like that. I didn't even know she had a suit, let alone the rashness it takes to just… go AWOL."
"She's not AWOL, Rogers! She's a civilian and she's my wife! And now she's on her way to Stane and she's got half a day's head start!"
"I'm sorry," Steve stammered again. "Tony, I would never purposely do this to you or Pepper. I lo—"
Tony crossed the room in two strides and thrust himself into Steve's space, the edges of the reactor bumping into the Captain's chest.
"Don't you dare say that you love her," he snarled. "If you loved her, you would never have told her. You would have kept here here and kept her safe, just like I've been trying to do."
"It's because I love her that I told her." Tony's glare turned to ice and Steve seemed to shrink before him.
"I'm going to tell you something, Rogers," he said as he pointed in Steve's face, "and I'll only say this once, so listen carefully: if any harm comes to her, I'll have my revenge on you."
Steve squared his shoulders and drew himself up so that he towered over Tony. "If anything happens to her, I'll give myself up freely."
Tony nodded and stepped away, his feet already carrying him to the suit. "Good. Then we understand each other."