Okay friends, this chapter has a mild moment of sexual material.

CHAPTER 14

"The first time Stark saw that video of his parent's murder was in a frozen bunker in the middle of Siberia, standing next to you and Barnes." Sam's voice was quiet, but he might as well have been screaming, the silence was so immense. "You knew about his family and you didn't tell him." It wasn't a question.

"I thought I would lose Bucky. I didn't- I was afraid-" He shook his head dolefully.

"Oh, Steve." Wanda put a small hand on his arm in what was sure was mean to be comforting, but it felt wrong. "Tony lost it. He went after Bucky and I had to stand between them."

"Is that all you did, Cap?" Clint looked up at him from the couch where he had sat down. "Cause Stark is mad as hell."

Steve shook his head, "I tried to stop him, but he just kept coming. Every time we put him down he stood back up."

"Put him down?" Scott's voice sounded slightly sick.

"I got tunnel vision. I was back on that train and it felt like the moments right before Bucky fell, only this time I could stop it. So…I did."

"And to hell with anyone caught in the crossfire." Natasha's voice made the rest of them jump. She and Bucky were in the doorway of the stairwell, back from wherever they had taken Tony.

"Even if they were your friend." Natasha pushed off the door frame where she had been leaning. "At least Barnes had the excuse of not being himself." She indicated the man next to her with a head tilt.

"Nat-" he tried.

"Please," She held up her hand, "don't. I'm too tired for this." She began to walk past them down the hallway to the bedrooms until she came to a stop in front of Clint.

"You are going to have to give them time. Laura and the kids went through a lot- "

"Stark- "

"Clint, don't let anger or jealously blind you. Those kids love their Uncle Tony, so if you want your family back, don't try and take them. Try joining them. Whether you," She turned to everyone in the room, "any of you, think so or not, Tony Stark is a hero and he's done a lot for you."

With a last arch of her eyebrow, she continued her path down the hallway to her room.

Sounds from the kitchen, including the slamming of the refrigerator, drew their attention.

Bucky turned around, an apple in his mouth and a bottle of water in his hand. He froze when he saw all of their gazes trained on him. "Uh… anyone hungry?"

Steve stood still staring at him, eyebrows raised, when Scott cleared his throat. "I'm actually starving. I think it's been at least an hour since I ate my last packet of fruit snacks."

One by one they all took their seats on the stools around the kitchen island as Bucky pulled out ingredients for sandwiches. They fell into a more comfortable rhythm, reaching across each other to get to whatever they needed. As Steve raised his own sandwich to his mouth he felt a small piece of home settle back into his heart.

He wished more than anything that the others would be here. He wished Tony would come waltzing through the door any moment with that smirk on his face as he made a witty joke. Steve always rolled his eyes at him when he did those things, but truthfully he loved every moment. He loved the self assured smug way that Tony carried himself. The way that everyone he spoke to was on equal terms. Tony didn't mince words, he would say the same thing to a politician that he would say to anyone else, and he wouldn't regret it later. He didn't shy away from a fight, no matter who it was with. And his smile, the genuine smile, not the fake one that he flashed for cameras, that smile was beautiful and it was everything Steve lived for.

He remembered days trying to catch up on pop culture references just so that when someone made a joke, he could participate just to see Tony's eyes widen in shock before that gorgeous smile would take over. Alternatively, sometimes he would avoid learning more about a subject because he loved seeing the fond eye roll and bright smile Tony would have in response to his confusion.

He felt his heart flutter and then strain at the thought of the man a few floors above him, hurt, bruised, and bleeding. Just like he had been when Steve had walked away in Siberia.

As he watched Bucky steal some of Clint's grapes, he couldn't find it in himself to be sorry that he held gone against the Accords or gone against the government in order to keep him safe. Bucky was his best friend, and he had owed him his life. Seeing his friend back, playfully chatting with his teammates, sporting the smile he never thought he'd see again, it made him happy. He couldn't regret it. His regret was that seeing Bucky's happiness should never have come at the cost of the trust and possibly forever, the love of Tony Stark.

He had thought there were moments, brief ones, where he could see a special shine in Tony's eyes when they looked at him. Times when it seemed like it was just the two of them. Late nights after the others had gone to bed, or early mornings when Steve would come in for his run to find the genius sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee clutched in his hands as he looked over the blueprint for his newest invention. He had looked so soft in those moments, it had taken everything Steve had not run his fingers through his brown hair and lean down and kiss him.

Once, on Tony's way out the door to a meeting Pepper had insisted he attend, Steve had stopped him to tell him his tie wasn't straight. Steve had barely caught the quick, "Its not the only thing." Before Tony had continued smiling and told him that it would just have to do since his hands were full, his tablet in one hand and a thermos of coffee in the other.

Steve had stepped forward without thinking and straightened the tie himself. His fingers pulled the silk through and his knuckles brushed Tony's throat as he worked. Tony's smile had faltered, to be replaced with something so much softer. They had been inches apart, Tony's eyes fixed on Steve's hands. Steve had been focused on trying to keep his hands from shaking. The moment had felt domestic, but, just like so many other moments, it was there and then gone when they were interrupted by Tony's driver arriving.

He and Tony had worked well together, despite what everyone else seemed to think. They carried the weight of the team together. Steve had been shocked when Tony had casually fallen into step behind him, deferring to his judgement to lead the team. Tony had pretended that it was easy, that it wasn't a big deal. They both knew differently and it had been touching for Steve to know that a man like Tony had trusted him enough to be led. Not that he led blindly, and God knows Tony would never follow without question, but it was those qualities that pushed Steve to be better. They made each other better.

Everything he had thought about Tony, everything Tony presented to the world had turned out to be absolutely false. Tony was brave, kind, selfless, gorgeous, and so much more. He was everything Steve loved. He didn't know if Tony had felt anything for him in return, and it used to make him itch to know more, to find out for certain. Right now, however, he thought he would be happy forever, just to be able to stand near Tony and watch his back.

Breathing deeply Steve pushed himself to sprint the last half mile of his early morning run. He reveled in the familiar burn of his lungs as he pushed his body. It seemed like the ghost of a memory now, but he could remember not being able to hardly do anything, for fear it would bring on another bout of asthma. He wondered how often people took for granted the small miracle that it was to be able to simply breathe.

Avoiding the front Gates, he backtracked over the field and entered the Compound from the garage doors. Riding the elevator up, he stepped in the kitchen. It was still early, so he didn't expect anyone to be there. He had this routine for the last 2 weeks, and no one ever was up this early. Truthfully, he liked the alone time, but he also hoped that at some point he might see Tony. In the last 2 weeks he hadn't seen him even once since that first day.

He had tried asking FRIDAY about him, but the AI had remained resolutely silent. He knew it was personal because she had answered questions for some of the others. Though it seemed to be also based off of what the question was about. She seemed to delight in their efforts to try and make the television and other things work.

Continuing with his routine, he headed to his room and stripped out of his clothes, turning on the water for the shower and letting it run for a moment. He wondered how Tony was healing, if the bruises on his tan skin were fading, if the movement to his wrist was improving.

His skin. Movements of his wrist. Nope, nope, nope, don't even go there. Just get in the shower.

Pulling the curtain aside he stepped into the stream of hot water.

Tony. His eyes, his hands, his smile. Oh my God, stop it. It's not fair, you cannot think about him like this, he's in this Compound somewhere, and he very likely hates you.

He did his best to focus on washing his hair and body as quickly as possible, but he couldn't help himself, the serum made his urges difficult to control or ignore. Taking himself in hand he took care of his problem quickly, trying his best not to think of Tony, ultimately failing, coming hard whispering Tony's name like a prayer.

Stepping out of the shower he toweled off and dressed in grey lounge pants and a soft white t-shirt. He emerged from his room a few minutes later and headed down the hall to the kitchen for breakfast. He stopped at the end of the hall when his hearing picked up the low hum of Tony's voice.

"Peter, I can't keep excusing it when you skip class, okay? Aunt May threatened to cut off my balls last time." A pause. "Yes, I do think she would do it, without hesitation."

Steve leaned against the wall and let his head tilt back against the cool drywall, closing his eyes to focus on Tony's voice. It felt like an eternity since he had been able to just listen to Tony speak.

"Parker, education is important, that's one thing I actually took fairly seriously. You're gonna have to just stick it out." Tony huffed, "Okay, listen up Spiderling, the best I can do is this; tell your teacher that you were up late working on a Stark Industries internship project. I'll have FRI send something out to confirm it."

Steve couldn't help the smile spreading across his face. Hearing Tony scheme to help out the young kid made his heart swell. It was…adorable. It was family.

"Yeah, yeah. Next time you decide to stay out until 3 a.m. trolling for trouble, I expect you to own up to it and take it like a man, got it? Alright. I'll be there to pick you up later, Parker."

He heard Tony's fond chuckle after ending the call. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Sam suddenly appeared at his side in the hallway. They looked at each other in silence for a moment before they heard Laura Barton's voice coming from the kitchen with Tony.

"Look at you, you look like an exasperated father!" She giggled.

"I'm getting way too old for this shit, Laura. If the drama in this Compound wasn't enough, that kid is going to be the end of me." He replied testily.

"And yet you love him. He's a good kid, Tones. I spoke to May when she came over for lunch a few days ago, she says that he's never been happier. He was under a shadow for a long time, with the passing of his parents and his uncle, but since meeting you, since becoming part of this team, he's a happy kid again."

Tony's sigh sounded tired. "He's family now, Laura, I can't imagine this place without his homework spread all over every surface. And the other kids are attached to him. Which brings us to the elephant in the room. Have you spoken to Clint yet?"

Silence followed his inquiry. "Yeah, I thought not. Honey, I love you, you know that, but you've got to talk to him at some point. The man is living a few floors under his wife and children and he can't see them. That's torture and you know it."

"Tony, I can't even look at him. It breaks my heart."

There was shuffling in the kitchen before there was sniffing and sounds of comforting and soothing whispers as Laura cried in Tony's arms.

"Mama Bird, I know it hurts. You know that I know it hurts, but you've got to think about the kids too. They need their father."

"He hurt me Tony, he hurt us." She sobbed.

"Honey, you know he didn't mean to."

"Tony, you and Nat had to come save us because he got himself thrown in jail!"

"Laura. Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel are upstairs missing their daddy. You don't have to forgive him; you never have to forgive him. I've already promised you the best divorce lawyers if that's the way you want to go, but honey, we both know you don't really want that. Talk to him. At least try."

Steve nudged Sam back towards their rooms away from the private emotional display.

"Wow." Sam said once the door closed softly. "Should I tell Stark that you're love sick and heartbroken too? Maybe he'd give you a hug like that."

Steve tried to smother his friend with the closest pillow.