She wouldn't let go of his neck. They had been at it for almost an hour, trying to coax Emmy to let go of Tony, several bags of anything she could possibly want packed and loaded into the sleek black car where Phil was waiting but the moment Emmy saw her things getting packed and no one else's, she had latched on to Tony and refused to let go.

"Baby, please," begged Steve, tears in his eyes. "I know you don't want to go, we don't want you to either, but you have to go with Phil for a bit. I promise it's not forever and Daddy and I will talk to you every day. It's just like when Daddy and I have to go to work, only for a little longer."

Emmy shook her head and wept into Tony's neck. Steve put his head in his hands, heartbroken and lost.

"Ducky, I need to talk to you but you won't be able to hear me over the crying," said Tony reasonably, running a callused hand up and down the girls back. "So if you could pause the tears while we talk, I promise you can continue them as soon as we're done, okay?"

It took her several minutes to calm herself down but eventually, Emmy nodded, tears still streaming down her face but no longer accompanied by the soul shattering wails.

"Good job," said Tony softly, praising her efforts. "You're such a smart girl, you know that? I'm so proud of you."

"Da-daddy," hiccupped Emmy, shaking her head in protest, normally vibrant eyes red rimmed, nose running, hair damp with sweat from the tantrum she had been running for so long.

"So you know Agent, right?" said Tony as brightly as possible. "He always wears a suit, likes Papa best, is a glorified babysitter?"

Emmy nodded.

"Good! Well, you get to go hang out with him for a few days, maybe longer."

Emmy started to sniffle, the tears falling faster.

"But Uncle Bucky is going to be there too because turns out his official residence is with Agent as part of his rehab or whatever. So basically it's a big sleepover with Agent and Uncle Bucky and Uncle Bucky is going to spoil you rotten because he's still trying to make up for being a dick-"

"Language."

"-tator, a dictator," finished Tony, throwing Steve a look. "So will you go with them please?"

Emmy shook her head no and started sobbing again, burrowing back into the spot where Tony's neck and shoulder joined. Tony sighed and looked up at Steve.

"Let's bring her downstairs," said Tony sadly.

Together, they rode the elevator down to the parking garage and walked out to the car that was waiting for them, Coulson in the driver seat, Bucky leaning against the outside of the car like a guard. Emmy sobbed harder the closer they got, clutching Tony's shirt so hard he thought it might rip. The entire time he kept talking to her soothingly, saying all the things he promised they would do when they were back together but nothing helped. Eventually he had to lean into the car, set Emmy in the seat, strap her in, and kiss her head while prying her small fingers off his shirt. When he leaned back, Emmy reached out to him, fighting the restraints of the seat, screaming her lungs out in desperation to get back to her family.

"I love you," said Tony with a fake smile. "We'll see you really soon."

Then he shut the door, which did little to muffle the high pitched screams still sounding in the car. Coulson didn't even flinch.

"Take care of her," said Steve in a choked voice.

Bucky nodded and climbed into the front seat. As soon as he was in, Coulson put the car in drive and drove away, leaving a super soldier and genius standing empty handed in the parking garage.

Silently, the pair turned and got back into the private elevator, riding it all the way back up to the top of the building.

"It's going to be okay," said Tony when they got two steps back into the common area and still no one had said anything. "She's going to be okay."

"How can you say that?" yelled Steve, turning and glaring at his husband. "Did you hear her? Do you even care that she was yelling for us and we just let her get taken away?"

"Yeah Steve," snapped Tony, staring back with just as much frustration. "But she's with Agent and Bucky, which is better than we could have hoped for."

"Oh, so now you're going to be Mr. Brightside of Life? Very rich coming from the man who spent decades doing his best to drown himself in alcohol. Our daughter is gone and you don't even care! What is wrong with you? Did they remove your heart when they took out the reactor? Are you really that soulless that you can be fine after that little girl begged you not to let her go and you still strapped her into that car and walked away? Fuck you, Tony!"

Steve stormed out of the room, heading for the gym, leaving Tony to stand in absolute stillness for a minute. It was as if someone had pressed pause on the man, until a single tear dripped down his cheek. That single droplet acted as an alarm, waking him up. Slowly, Tony turned and walked back towards the bedroom, Steve's words hounding him as he went because Steve was a fierce fighter and he knew where to hit to really make a man hurt, and he hadn't pulled any punches. Eventually, Tony crawled on to the oversized pillow bag that Steve, Emmy, and him always curled up on together for stories and had made blanket forts over many times. The billionaire hugged the small purple pillow that was Emmy's to his chest and cried himself to sleep there in the middle of his daughter's deserted room.

*So I did that thing where I threw in a bunch of feels because...because it needed to be done. Always - Ari