Right There With You

Author's Note: I am still completely overwhelmed with the feedback from this story and everything I get from you guys helps me write this better. So, thank you!

Notes on this Chapter: This one was literally a word throw up. In two hours last night I went from two and a half pages to eighteen. My b eta sent it back and now I can finally post it! Hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own a single thing.

Chapter 4
And If The Sky Keeps Falling

Steve probably shouldn't have felt as hurt as he did, he knew that Tony was probably still trying to keep up the act, nonetheless, it still hurt.

He walked out of the lab, not sure of what he was exactly going to do, but the conversation kept playing over in his mind. Everything the two had said made sense and Steve probably would've stayed but between what Tony said and the way he was acting with Doctor Banner...well, maybe there was something else Steve could do to prove he could help. He's ignored direct orders before when he felt like he should be doing something different.

There were some things that the SHIELD agents looked over and that was the other things that Steve gained from the serum. No one seemed to look pass the tall, muscled man out of time to keep their conversations to their clearance levels.

That was something that was already bothering Steve about this century. Obviously being almost seventy years from his time, things were bound to be different but those were also things people looked pass when they commented on Steve's situation.

Everyone immediately thinks he's going to be scared off by the technology. It's not so much the computers and weapon advancements. Steve saw enough of those from destroying HYDRA bases. It's the little things that people think Captain America wouldn't pick up on, but Steve Rogers can't help himself from paying attention to.

Everything now is more about flash and style, a little more selfish and a bit more impersonal, which was different for what he grew up with. In his time, people were direct and honest, with sincerity to the way that people behaved. The way human interaction basically bled manners.
Maybe that's why Tony's behavior and what he said put Steve off, as if he was rubbing it in his face.

That also brings him back to a conversation he had accidentally overheard as he passed by a couple of higher up SHIELD agents a few days prior. They weren't exactly talking at a normal volume, but then again there was very little Steve's enhanced hearing didn't pick up on.

He remembered hearing 'weapons', followed by 'phase two' and 'prototype'. That's how Steve found himself in front of the door to one of the helicarrier's storage rooms.

Making sure there was no one around, Steve forcefully slid the door open and slipped inside. He was following his instincts on this one and began to look around.

Jumping up onto one of the catwalks, he continued looking around the storage room. All he was really finding was multiple crates of SHIELD-issued field weapons. He was about to give up until be spotted a slightly different shaped crate near the back of the room.

Opening the lid, Steve grew angry as he noticed a familiar emblem on the contents inside. This was definitely something he needed to show to Tony.


Tony was still feeling guilty for what he said to Steve, his anger obviously getting the better of him. He could feel the pain and hurt that Steve projected through the bond as he left the room.

He tried to ignore it, he did, that's why he had that conversation with Banner about The Hulk, which only served as a small distraction though.

"You know I didn't mean it right?"

There was no response from Steve. They were lucky that this whole telepathy thing sort of came naturally with the bond otherwise Tony wold be freaking out trying to figure out how it was worked.

"How's your decryption program coming?" Bruce had asked after a couple minutes.

Tony had honestly forgotten about it. Walking over to the computer screen closest to Bruce, he pulled it down and asked for JARVIS.

'ACCESS DENIED' the screen flashed at him. Nice try SHIELD, there's not much you can hide from Tony Stark.

"Jarvis, run it again," Tony ordered, watching as multiple screens asking for passcodes popped up and almost immediately popped away seconds later.

"What are you hiding Cyclops," Tony whispered as more screens passed by, ones asking for higher clearance.

He almost jumped with a sudden wave of anger came over him. Regaining his composure quickly, he pinpointed it to the bond.

"Are you okay?"

Was he worried? Probably. It's sort of out of his control.

"I found something." Steve's reply threw him off because, shit, were they actually having a conversation?

Big, long talk preferably over alcohol when all this Loki-crap over.

"What kind of something?"

"I'm on my way back with it, see you in a few."

So, not only had Steve listened to what Banner and Tony said, he went hunting on his own. Also, the anger wasn't directed at him.

Tony didn't even look up as Fury entered the room. "JARVIS, you were supposed to play ninja, not hide and seek," he whispered as more screens popped up.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?"

So naive.

"Uh- could kind of been wondering the same about you." Tony raised his eyebrows, almost as if he was challenging Fury.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are." Banner in for the save. "The model's locked and sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within a half-mile."

"And you'll have your cube back. No muss, no fuss." Tony squinted slightly at the document titled "Phase 2" that was pulled up on the screen, quickly opening the adjoined test files and simulation videos. "What is Phase 2?"

Steve came in, dropping a heavy object on the closest lab table.

That's weird. Tony should've been able to feel him coming through the bond, just like before.


Steve all but ripped the gun from the crate, blue eyes filled at with rage at the HYDRA emblem imprinted on the barrel of the gun. This was something Steve was hoping to not see in this era, but nothing could ever go his way.

"Are you okay?"

Telepathy. Right.

He was surprised with the concern that he could feel coming through with the bond. The anger and guilt quickly slipped away but the rage he was feeling from SHIELD hiding something as big as this.

"I found something,"Steve isn't exactly sure when they found out how to work the telepathy, how to even have a conversation through it, but he was thankful for it.

"What kind of something?"

"I'm on my way back with it. See ya in a few."

As he got closer to the lab, something began to feel off but he couldn't really place it. It wasn't the same feeling he had before, where instinct was leading thought, but a feeling that something should be there that shouldn't, something that didn't belong at all. He tucked the feeling away as he heard voices coming from the lab.

"What is phase 2?" He heard Tony ask. He smirked slightly, appreciating his timing.

Steve walked in and plopped the HYDRA gun on the lab table, sending an icing glare to Fury. "Phase 2 is SHIELD used the Cube to make weapons," he looked to Tony. "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

The snort he received from Tony was at least satisfying.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-"
Tony quickly cut him off, turning the computer screen towards them showing the test files and hologram schematics of the missile phase two would create. "I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?"

"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

That feeling came back in a tidal wave. Something was wrong, something was different. But what was it?

The door on the opposite side of the lab opened, Natasha and Thor walking in. Natasha had an unnerving glare towards Doctor Banner. In return, Bruce gestured to the computer screen, and looked to Natasha.

"Did you know about this?"

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?"

Bruce let out a chuckle. The tension was building in the room. It felt as if everything had been sucked into a different dimension, something was going on.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you."

Okay, where did that come from? Steve snuck a quick glance to Tony who had started walking towards Steve, and that's when Steve realized.

He couldn't feel the bond. He couldn't communicate with Tony. Was this some sort of side effect of a newly form bond? Was there something they were supposed to do?

"And you've been doing what exactly?" The conversation between Bruce and Natasha continued and without the bond to distract him, Steve had a pretty tough time blocking it out.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Fury sighed and pointed to Thor. "Because of him."

Thor and the rest of the room looked confused. How did this suddenly get to Thor. Loki was the one causing all this, right?

"Me?"

"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously out gunned."

Thor looked a little insulted, not surprising, but all the same. "My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

Fury turned to the Asgardian. "But you're not the only people out there are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up, with people who can't be matched- they can't be controlled."

The anger was building up in Steve again. This was something he was hoping would be the better difference in this time, apparently that wasn't the case. "Like you controlled the Cube."


Tony watched as the rage, the anger, the clashing swirled like an oncoming storm. These many people, with their attitudes, their way of life. How was Fury expecting all this to work?

He was still slightly put off about the whole not being able to feel his bond because you know; it was finally becoming to be something normal. Readjustment and all that. This wasn't what he was expecting when he went digging into the SHIELD files, this was something literally in a whole other universe.

The seething anger could be seen rolling off the Thunder god, like the lightening and the clouds were rolling in for him to unleash. "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies." He did have a point. "It is the signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?"

Fury looked well, furious, that his entire plan, this 'team' was falling to shambles. "You forced our hand. We had to come up with-"

Tony had been quiet for long enough. "Nuclear deterrent? 'Cause that always calms everything right down."

There was something else in the atmosphere of the room, something that couldn't really be placed. If Tony had the time, then maybe, but in the last twenty four hours he really didn't have all that much to himself.

The room quickly fell into a sea of arguments, as if people were just yelling to be a part of it. Sure they sort of all understood what was going on but only to a certain extent. There were currently way too many points to look at this situation and no one seemed like they wanted to find which one would be the right one to follow.

That glare, the one-eyed glare was suddenly on him. "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-" Okay, really? More crap like this from the iceberg? Maybe if was a good thing he couldn't feel the bond right now.


"Wait-wait...hold on! How is this now about me?"

There were a lot of things going on right now. Things Steve understood, things he couldn't make turn of and things he didn't even want to know about.

He didn't want to be here, he wasn't supposed to be here. Somehow he got pulled into it. The bond was cut off, he couldn't pinpoint his current feeling on that because it felt like he was being assaulted with something else.

"Wait-wait...hold on! How is this now about me?" Steve knew this was probably just part of the act, maybe Tony had picked up on not feeling the bond or something, Steve wasn't sure. Time to think the with brain, ignore the heart because it wasn't something that he could feel right now.

"I'm sorry isn't everything?"

And the wave came crashing back in. The anger, the rage. The tsunami of known and distant emotions, ones that didn't have a place, ones that did.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Apparently not.

Everyone was arguing over each other. Everyone wanted the last say. Bits and pieces of every argument could be heard, not knowing which ones related to each other or which ones were just there.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

"Are you boys really that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats."

"You furious? I'm furious."

"And Captain America is on the threat poll?"

"That's not your concern doctor!"

The feeling felt like they were being watched through a million different cameras. The feeling like someone had their eye on you and you'll never know who, you'll never know how, you'll never know why.

Suddenly, Tony's attention was once again on Steve.

"You're on that list? Are you above or below angry bees?"

Couldn't back down from a fight. Once you start running, you never stop. Suddenly Steve wasn't on the helicarrier in 2012; he was back in a dirty alley way in 1942 Brooklyn.

"I swear to God, Stark, one more crack..."

"You're a threat. Verbal threat! I feel threatened!"

"Show some respect!"

"Respect what?"

The arguing grew to an alarming volume once again.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos!"

"It's his MO, isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team?" No, Doctor Banner. Far from it. "No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're-we're a time bomb."

"You need to step away."

Tony grabbed Steve's shoulder, pulling him somewhere in between Brooklyn and the helicarrier. He wasn't sure if he was Captain America or tiny little Steve Rogers. He quickly knocked the hand off. "You know dam well why! Back off."

"You know damn well why! Back off." Tony didn't know where this was going, don't know if he even liked it. This was supposed to be his bonded yet they were fighting like a civil war.


"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Take that in any context that you wish.

"Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

That's an easy one. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." Here we go. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself." It's the only thing he can. "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

Tony tried to reach the bond, trying to see if this was sincere.

He got nothing.

"I think I would just cut the wire." Stick to the act; figure this out later, if possible.

"Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

Okay, what the hell. "A hero, life you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

A flash of hurt that Tony was slowly becoming familiar with flashed across Steve's face, reflected in his eyes as a smirk suddenly took over.

This didn't seem right.

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds."

Everything seemed to change with that, like the world had been turned on its side, like something was off-center. The quiet quickly filled the room, broken by Thor's laughter.

"You people are so petty, and tiny."

Confidence booster right there.

Then everything straightened up. It felt like a really bad hangover at first, and then suddenly the bond was back like it had never gone. He could feel his emotions pouring into the bond, he could feel the emotions pouring from Steve, he could feel the tugging on his heart-

The guilt, the apology, the despair. Steve hadn't meant anything of what he said. He was confused too. Tony was hoping he was sending the same things back. He didn't need to feel like a bigger asshole.

From the look, the feeling that Steve was returning, he understood. Thank God, or Odin, or- he didn't even know anymore.

Unfortunately, it didn't exactly go right back to black there.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Doctor Banner back to his-" God damn it, Fury.

"Where? You rented my room."

"The cell was just-"

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know. I tried."

The room grew eerie with silence after that remark. This is why Tony preferred noise, didn't like the silence.

"I got low. I didn't seen an end," Tony understood that much at least, as did it to everyone else. "I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was fine until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

They all do at this point. Tony wasn't sure if Banner knew or not but he had slowly been moving back to the scepter, like he wasn't in control. A puppet. The scepter was suddenly in his hand and he moved back around the lab table, challenging them.

Steve has stood in front of slightly, probably without thinking. In his peripheral, Tony can see Fury and Romanoff reaching for their guns.

"Doctor Banner, put down the scepter."

Bruce was just as shocked as the rest of them when he realized the scepter was in his hands. The moment was short lived as the tracker across the room started to go off.

"Got it." You got nothing, Fury.

Bruce placed the scepter back down and crossed the room. "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick."

"Located the Tesseract?"

"I can get there faster." Steve instantly turned to him. "Look, all of us-" Tony turns from him to leave, Steve grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back.

"You're not going alone!"

"The act Steve, keep it up, please."

"Right, sorry."

Tony smacked his hand away. "You gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

Sorry, Steve. "I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

Time seems to slow down, the seconds tick. "Oh my god," can be heard from Bruce, looking at the screen.

Then the explosions happened. One right after another, not even sure where they originated from. The lab seems to be a primary target as everyone is sent flying into different directions. He can't see anyone but Steve who has landed near him in the entry way.

Smoke and flames filled the lab and Tony couldn't see anything. Steve moved slightly as Tony reached threw the bond once more, incredibly happy to have it back. Not admitting that out loud yet, but Steve wasn't there yet and neither was he.


Steve groaned slightly as his shoulder hit a cabinet. He had landed near Tony when the explosion hit the lab, which he was thankful for. Tony wasn't hurt, he was pretty sure now that the bond had returned he would be able to feel that. That was something that came with every bond, no matter the strength.

The two of them look at each, igniting a spark and start to scramble to their feet. Steve get there's first and starts helping Tony. "Put on the suit."

"Yep."

The two of them leave the lab, not sure where they're really heading.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen right now, but god damn it, be careful." Steve was surprised as the amount of concern that Tony emphasized into the words.

"Same to you."

Tony sent him a small nod in understanding as the two continued down the hallway, passing members of SHIELD running in each direction.

"Engine three is down. There is a fire in engine three. We lose one more engine, we're going down. Somebody's gotta get outside and patch that engine," Maria Hill's voice comes over the comms.

"Well, I know where we're probably heading." Steve didn't say anything, just continued to follow Tony.

"Stark, you copy that?"

"I'm on it." Tony looked to Steve. "Follow me."


Oh, Fury you're a lucky bastard today.

"We're gonna double team the bond and the comms. I don't know how, but hell, we haven't figured anything out yet on our own, so might as well continue it," Tony explained to Steve as he lead the two through debris-filled halls on the helicarrier.

"You tell me if there is trouble right away," Tony said, stopping at the cargo room that he and Steve had spoken in earlier. "I don't know where the others are, they're not our problem right now. Find engine three, I'll meet you there."

Steve nodded and continued down the hallway as Tony continued into the cargo hall, turning into a tech room. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he clicked a button and his suit-his beautiful suit is lit up in all its glory.


It wasn't that hard for Steve to find it, eidetic memory and all. He just hoped Tony was ready for whatever he was planning to do.

He entered the room, quickly letting maintenance members pass through and he saw the damaged engine. An entire piece of wall was missing from the helicarrier.

"Stark! Stark, I'm here."

"Well, Star Spangled Man, definitely improved your acting from those talkies?"

Steve didn't comment as Tony came flying into view, still completely in awe of the Iron Man suit.

"Good. Let's see what we got."

Tony flew over to the smoking engine, the HUB screen inside the Iron Man suit quickly pulling up the schematics from the SHIELD files as Jarvis quickly matched up the damage pieces.

As they popped up, Tony quickly listed off the problems to himself. "I gotta get the super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors, work on dislodging the debris."

He turned to Steve who was standing at the ready at the damaged opening of the helicarrier.

"I need you to get to that engine control panel," he began, pointing a few floors up. "And tell me which relays are in overload position."
Steve really isn't sure how much of that he actually understood but followed Tony's gesture, and nodded in compliance. He stood back an inch or two before jumping across the damaged floor.

"Again, spry."

"Still don't know what you mean by that."

Locating what he thinks is the control panel, he pulls it open revealing a maze of orange lights with different wires sticking out in every which way.

"What's it look like in there?"

Steve sighs, because really, he has no idea. "It seems to run on some form of electricity."

Tony almost snorted till he remembered, forties. Right. Probably has no idea what a relay position is when it comes to something like this.

"Well, you're not wrong." Tony sighed. "Jarvis, pull up the control panel for engine three schematics and compare it to what the dear Captain is seeing would you?"

"Right away, sir."

Tony continued to remove debri from the engine, using his uni beam in one of his gauntlets.

"Okay, make sure the purple wires are connected to a port labeled 'alarm output.' It should be a little simpler from there." Tony listed everything off, hoping that Steve was following it.

After a few minutes they had double checked everything. "Kay, the relays are intact." Steve confirmed, pushing the control panel back in. "What's our next move?"

Tony was impressed. Steve caught on quick, incredibly helpful. "Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push."

"Well, if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded."

"Metal suit, dear."

"Then stay in the control unit and reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that should-"

"Speak. English." Okay, maybe not that quick.

"See that red lever?"

Steve looked over a little farther from the area he first jumped over from and saw what Tony was pointing out.

"It'll slow down the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word."

Steve nodded and made the jump, quickly taking a spot next to the lever and watched Tony go inside the engine.

"Please be careful."

There's more chatter over the comms, too much that Steve can only pick out certain things.

"We've got the Hulk and Thor on Research Level Four-"

"-will tear this place apart!"

"-attention."

"Escort 6-0, proceed to wishbone-"

"Copy."

Steve's not sure what exactly is going on. He can hear the sounds of gunshots, followed by a roar. There's more screaming over the comms.

"Target acquired. Target engaged."

Another roar, more gunshots.

"Target angry. Target angry."

Broken glass, an explosion.

Tony saws off pieces of the debris with a laser then jumps on them to knock them off the rotors, totally tuned out of everything else that could be going but in the back of his mind, paying attention if anything happens to Steve through the bond.

Steve's doing the same and can see men appearing near the entrance of the broken engine control room. They aren't dressed like any of the other SHIELD agents aboard the helicarrier. Maybe these are some of the men that Loki had under his spell.

Some men were moving closer and one threw a grenade, thinking quickly Steve jumped across the opening, knocking the grenade from the air, landing on the cat walk.

"What the hell was that?"

"A grenade?"

"What?"

"Loki's men. I think."

"-sir we lost all power in engine one."

Fury's voice comes back on the comms. "It's Barton. He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention lab. Does anybody copy?"
The comms. remain silent until Natasha's voice, slightly shaky breaks it. "This is Agent Romanoff. I copy."

Tony's now managed to knock out most of the debris that was lodged in the rotors, trying to push them but so far unsuccessful.

"Stark, we're losing altitude."

"Yep, I noticed." This time as he flies in between the rotors, they begin to move, slowly, but their moving.

Back on the catwalk, some of Loki's men had managed to gang up on Steve. He had managed to knock a few back. One knocked out into the air, a kick to the chest, a piece of debris thrown, knocked a gun out of hand, shooting freely at the ones closest. A few started slowly pushing him near the edge of the opening. Unfortunately, they get the upper hand and Steve slips, almost dropping off the carrier but had managed to grab a wire.

"What the hell, I thought I told you be careful?" Tony's mind is practically screaming at Steve. "What is going on?"

Steve didn't mean to send the panic through the bond, knowing that he shouldn't be distracting Tony.

"I'm sorry. I-"

"Steve. Are you okay?"

"I'm going to need a few minutes to get back to the lever-"

"Isn't it against the declaration to lie or something? I can feel you're in trouble, can't hide that big guy."

Okay, Tony changed a lot. This bond thing, wow.

"I slipped. I didn't mean to panic, but I slipped. Kind of hanging off the helicarrier right now."

"Hanging off the helicarrier-WHAT? Do I need to come help-"

"No. Focus on the engine. I've got it. I just need to climb back in."

"Kind of hard to focus when you're dangling like an ornament."

"I'm so-"

"I'm allergic to apologies, please don't finish that sentence."

Steve didn't say anything wisely keeping his mouth shut.

Tony on the other hand was trying to calm down but seriously, this bond everything was completely throwing him off. Seriously? Hanging off the side of the helicarrier?

Tony can feel the other engines of the helicarrier beginning to fail as it began to slowly fall from the sky. He's still trying to kick start the engine, the rotors starting to move a little faster, the blades starting to look like a blender. He flew faster and faster, feeling the full amount of the g's he was pushing challenging the suit until the rotors start spinning on their own and the ship levels off.

"Cap hit the lever!"

"I need a minute here!" So either still dangling or climbing, great.

"Lever! Now!"

Tony is quickly pushed up against one of the rotors which were now spinning too fast for him to escape, and as Steve predicted, he got sucked into the blades and spun wildly around, silently hoping that Steve had managed to climb up before either Tony became block of metal or Steve fell to his death.

Either or.

Steve let out the deep breath he had been holding as he quickly hauled himself up over the side. It was short lived as the men began shooting at him. He dodged as much as he could as he fought his way over to the lever. Luckily that quickly allowed Tony to be dropped out of the rotors, free falling for a couple of minutes before he leveled himself out using the repulsors. He flew up to the platform and quickly tackled the gunman shooting at Steve to the floor, knocking him unconscious.

Steve took that moment to collapse against the wall, finally catching his breath.

"Thank you."

"No problem, Cap."


"Agent Coulson is down."

"A medical team is on its way."

"They're here. They called it."


Nothing was said as Tony and Steve took seats at the table on the bridge, Director Fury facing away from that the command center. They had both changed, sort of. Tony had changed back into his clothes, Steve taking off the main armor of his uniform.
Nothing was said between them, nothing had needed to be. It was all felt but they weren't exactly which emotion belonged to who.

Guilt. Betrayal. Hurt. Angry. Alone.

Fury slowly turned toward the pair, not looking at them but instead to something that held in his hands. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket, guess he never did get him to sign them."
Thrusting his arm forward, a pile of cards landed in front of Steve on the table. The images of his past self, slightly aged, slightly covered in blood.

The guilt flared from within Steve the same time he felt the anger pouring off of Tony, but it wasn't directed at him.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the Cube. Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye, guess I had that coming."

Steve reached forward, turning one of the cards over and his heart clenched, quickly retracting his hand, he let it fall in his lap, eyes not leaving the table.

"The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to. To fight the battles we never could." He stopped, making a deep breath, eye flickering back and forth between the pair in front of him. "Phil Coulson died still believing in heroes."

That was the tipping point, the toeing of the line for Tony. He violently but silently stood up. The bond betraying whatever emotion his face was trying to hide, not that Fury knew that. His eyes darted around the bridge, avoiding eye contact with anyone. He turned and walked out.

"Wait a few minutes, then follow me."


Steve found him in the now empty detention center, they had found out Loki had tricked Thor into and dropped it. They're waiting to hear back about the demigod, but they know he's alive.

Tony was standing on the higher landing when he walked in silently, walking up the few steps to the lower landing. He leaned against the bars, crossing his arms over his chest.
The guilt and betrayal were stronger over the bond then they were back on the bridge.

Steve wanted nothing more than to go over there and just hold Tony but he knew he wasn't at that level yet, probably nowhere near it. Needed more time.

He needed to do something, say something.

"Was he married?"

Tony was silent for a moment. "There was a - uh - cellist in Portland."

"I'm sorry," he couldn't think of anything else to say, anything that would've mattered. "He seemed like a good man."

Tony snorted slightly and turned towards Steve, one hand in his pocket and flailing the other one around awkwardly as to wave off the comment. "He was an idiot."

"Why? For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone." He began walking slowly towards Steve, any emotion he was projecting was all over the place and Steve couldn't pinpoint any one specific. He noticed Tony quickly ignored the Loki-sized hole behind him.

"He was doing his job-"

Tony shot a questioning glance to Steve. "He was out of his league. He should have waited, he should have-"

"There's not always a way out, Tony-"

Tony was now only a few feet from the older-younger, he didn't know right now, man. The bond was providing the comfort he needed right now. The distance between Steve and misses elf was helping, especially since Tony was afraid of what would happen if he admitted out loud that he needed the comfort.

"Right, how did that work for him?" He walked closer to the stairs leading out of the room, his back turned.

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

That hit Tony faster than he could process and he turned towards Steve. "We are NOT soldiers." He shook his head, wiping a hand over his face slowly. "Sorry, I didn't mean that-"

"Its fine, I understand." Steve would be the one to understand everything Tony needed, another sign of why the universe had put them together.

"Yeah, I was thinking that too." Oops, apparently Tony was thinking out loud again.

"I'm not marching to Fury's fife."

Steve nodded in agreement. "Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does, but right now we gotta put that behind us and get this done." Tony nodded, taking a quick glance at the blood stain on the wall and willed himself to look away. Steve continued, "Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list-" The beautiful mind of a tactician.

Tony was thinking the same, but his speed was a little faster, a little different strain.

"He made it personal."

"That's not the point."

"That is the point, that's Loki's point," he snapped his fingers and look to Steve who seemed to be picking up on what Tony was trying to say. "He hit us all where we live. Why?" He started making his way towards the higher landing.

"To tear us apart."

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great but- he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us," he began climbing her stairs. "He wants to be seen doing it. He wants his audience."

"Right, I caught his set in Stuttgart."

Tony turned towards him as he reached the top step. "Yeah, that was just the preview, this is-this is opening night. And Loki- he's a full-tail diva. He wants flowers. He wants parade. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered-" Tony cut himself off as realization wash over him. With the way Steve raised his eyebrows, they were thinking the same thing.

Stark Tower.

"Son-of-a-bitch." Tony darted down the stairs quickly, stopping before he was completely out the door.

"Alright, so the plan of attack? Is still attack. This time with guidelines," he stepped closer to Steve with each word, stopping when they were only inches apart.

The tugging of the bond in their hearts was strong, forceful and determined, but it all felt natural.

Steve swallowed slightly, his voice barely above a whisper as he responded. "Alright, they are?"

"Same as before. Keep the act going on the comms. The bond is to be used for emergencies and the like, just like before. If I send you something, you respond, you got me?"

Tony could see the hope and understanding in Steve's eyes. Steve could see the concern and determination in Tony's.

Tony didn't even try to smirk when all Steve could do was nod. "You're the first avenger, you're the Captain. Make the calls, but if I say so, you pull back?"

"If you promise the same."

"Go find Romanoff," he said as he began to turn. "Meet me at the Tower as soon as you can."

"Got it."

Tony went to walk away but something else needed to be done, and he doesn't give a shit if this is happening on impulse.

He turned back towards Steve, grabbing him by the blue undershirt, pulling Steve as close to him as possible. He leaned up and claimed Steve's lips against his own. Everything just felt right, especially when Steve returned it with so much passion.

They pulled apart, Steve's forehead leaning against Tony's, their eyes shut, letting the bond being completed wash over them, the feeling of belonging right where they are and that feeling wasn't going anywhere.

Tony didn't need to open his eyes to know that Steve's grin mirrored his own. It didn't need to be said, probably never needed to be said aloud but both could feel it.

"I love you."