Well I am pleased to see that people like the idea of this story so far. I will be messing with a few things in this story and may not stick to canon ways, mostly because i don't really know all the canon ways. From what I understand tony/Steve is kind of canon but im pretty sure thats where all my canon writing stops LOL.

I know of few of you think you have the story already figured out, and while you may have part of it, because its the part I want you to have figured out already, i assure you, there is more to this story than what you've seen. This is after all only chapter 2, what kind of writer would i be if i made it that easy?

Thank you for reviewing, following and favoring the story.

And now I shall shut up and let you read.


Off Kilter.

From drawing up divorce papers and dealing with the prenup, that Tony had smartly convinced Steve to get, to dealing with the press and the disappearance of his best friend, Steve's life was in an upheaval.

Julie had made good, at least partially on her threat and had, within hours of Steve's dismissal of her, ran to the press. Allegations of the nature of Steve's and Tony's relationship splashed across the tabloids the next day. The news casters keep a running commentary on images of the best friends together. Talking about everything from whether Tony or Steve were Top...Steve could only guess what that meant, to talk of how Captain America and Iron being gay could help the acceptance of the LGBT movement, not just in America but all around the world. Apparently the world thought they would be the perfect poster boys.

There had been allegations of abuse as well but thankfully those had been laughed off as totally and completely ridiculous. Steve had unfortunately found himself in a jail cell before they had cleared it up, and his mug shot was particularly depressing. He'd only been behind bars for a few hours before Fury had fixed the unfortunate issue, as he had so delicately put it.

Steve had told Tony about the incident in the gym between him, Clint and Julie. Tony had been furious that Julie had tried to cheat and use Clint to do it. Steve may have omitted the part where Julie and Clint both agreed that Steve and Tony had feelings for eachother. That was not a conversation he had been willing to have with Tony. In all honesty, he never planned on having that conversation, EVER, with anyone, especially with Tony. He could admit that he may have feelings that were less than pure for his best friend, to himself, in private, but he would never do it out loud to anyone.

But the Tabloids had gotten ahold of the Idea, he had seen how freaked out Tony was, and it wasn't the normal Tony Stark freak out, there was something deeper to it. Something that Steve hadn't expected to see in his eyes. Steve had seen hope on Tony's face when he had seen the tabloid. It gave Steve pause, to say the least. Maybe Clint had been right about everyone knowing about their feelings, everyone but them. He still wasn't ready to delve into the idea of him and Tony being more than best friends. It was a scary new territory that a boy born in the 20s had learned was not something normal people dealt with.

He had pushed his feelings for the dark haired man aside, he had other things to worry about. He had moved out of the house he and Julie shared and had moved back into his room in Stark Tower. Tony had kept it exactly the way Steve had left it. Somehow, Steve felt Tony had known that his relationship with Julie wouldn't work.

The days wore on as they tried, unsuccessfully to find the Iron Witch, who had vanished, without a trace. They had been scrambling to figure the new villain out, but Steve's head had not been in it. His emotional upheaval had put him in a fog. He had the backing of his team of course. Clint and Tony were around all the time. He was rarely on his own. He enjoyed the company, it had allowed him to keep his mind off of the impending doom he was facing with his life.

Even Bruce and Natasha had managed to get in contact with him after hearing what had happened. Bruce had been sympathetic and a good ear for Steve to rant at. Natasha was...PISSED! Clint and her had been seeing each other for a while, and the idea of someone coming on to him had sent her into a rage. The fact that it had been Steve's wife, had slipped her mind as she flew off the handle over the phone. Steve had pulled the phone away from his ear and had still been able to hear Nat shout all the nasty horrible things she was going to do to the "bitch".

Not normally one for violence, Steve had found it hard to scold Natasha for her language and her threats. Truth was, at that point, Steve would have loved to help her do some of the things she threatened. If it weren't for the fact that he would NEVER raise his hand to a woman, especially in anger, he probably would have let Nat go after Julie. Instead he had listened to her rant and rave and wear herself out. When she had calmed down enough, she had apologised to Steve for everything he was going through. Not that she had anything to be sorry about but he was grateful for her support anyway.

The hits to Steve just kept coming though. Everywhere he looked, more tabloid rumors about his sexuality popped up. They had gone so far as to question whether he and director Fury... Steve shivered at the thought. Tony had about come unglued when he had see that headline. The headline about Steve and Clint was more believable then Steve and Fury. At least Clint was good looking.

Everything had finally started to get to the Cap, it was the reason he had lost Tony. The day the tabloid about him and Fury had come out, had been the day the Witch had finally come out of hiding.

it had been an ambush, they had gone out with a light team, just Natasha who had just come back from some mission, Steve and Tony. They had been doing a recon mission on the witch and her last known playground, when Nat had suddenly found herself tied up, hanging upside down from a free. The tree branch shook violently and the limb seemed to come to life. Steve had though he had imagined it. Natasha had inadvertently triggered a trap, Without Hawkeye, Natasha's eyes were not nearly as sharp. Both she and Steve had missed the trip wire. Tony had been in there air, but the thick growth of branches and verge had made it difficult for him to see their position on the ground.

He had been distracted trying to get Natasha down when the Witch had appeared. Tony had not seen her coming, so Steve reasoned that she had been waiting there the whole time they were scouring the woods. They had been there for maybe an hour before Nat had triggered the trap. The recon had recovered nothing, and they had been considering wrapping it up.

The witch had come at Steve while he was trying to get Nat down. Instead he had had to leave Natasha to get herself down. Steve stood and threw his shield, expecting it to come back to him after hitting his target, instead, the witch caught it and threw it back at him. Steve had not expected the force at which the shield would hit him, he had not actually gotten close enough to the witch in their last battle. Before he had seen it coming the shield had hit him in the midsection, knocking the wind out of him. He was slammed into the tree Natasha was hanging from. Every time she tried to swing herself up to grab the branch, the tree limb would lurch up and shake violently, preventing her from getting any leverage. Her knife was in her boot, that she couldn't reach.

He didn't remember much after that, he could feel a few broken ribs, but had known they would heal fast. He remembered Tony landing next to him, a worried expression on his unmasked face. His mask was off, He had let his guard down, because he was worried about his friend., Steve told himself. Steve was winded and in pain. He had found himself having trouble staying awake, the pain in his body was taking over. Natasha was still hanging upside down, struggling.

Steve's vision started to fade but he could hear Tony talking and tried to stay focused on the smooth velvety voice. He opened his eyes, but his voice failed him. He had seen it coming but was unable to warn the brunett. His eyes went wide as he watched the web of green light hit Tony. Tony's whole body convulsed as the green light swallowed him, his face contorted in pain, he let out a ear piercing, agonizing scream, one that would haunt Steve for the rest of his life. The witch laughed, and the world went blank.

When he woke up, he was laying on a hospital bed, Natasha sitting next to him, her head in her hand. It was such a human position for the stone cold killer that it had knocked Steve off kilter. He had remained silent, just watching Natasha.

"Where's Tony?" He said, wincing as the movement of his chest made his broken ribs hurt.

Natasha looked up at him, a pained expression on her face. Steve knew, then that the witch had him.

A knock on the door pulled Steve from his thoughts

"Cap, We gotta get moving." Clint's voice came from the other side of the door. He had stepped up to the role of leader while Steve was unable to do it. And Steve was definitely unable to be leader right now.

Opening the door, he fixed his best "Captain America" look to his face, even if he didn't feel like it.

"Lets do this." He said, fixing his shield to his back and walking out of the room, Clint following close behind.


Thank you for reading! Leave a review and I will give you a preview of the next chapter :)

*hugs and Kisses*

~Jas