Hello my little darlings. So here we have my first every Avengers fic. Now, for anyone that hasn't seen Civil War, please walk away now. There are MASSIVE spoilers in here and I won't have people reviewing with accusations they weren't warned of spoilers. So consider yourself warned.

I will be working on this in my spare time, so please appreciate that updates may become sparodic. Also, I request that if I happen to get anything wrong, so please send me a quick message. Most of this is going off memory, and a little research.

Of course, Avengers and all things Marvel related belong to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from this story.

Mending What Was Broken

'If you ever need us. If you ever need me. I'll be there.'

Crumpled from being read so many times, Tony folded the letter- a letter he knew word for word- from Steve and put it back in the box that held the cell phone he had never used. And never planned to. Too much had happened, and it had been long over a year since the fight between him, Steve and the Winter Soldier.

Even though he was still deeply hurt by Steve taking Barnes' side, he couldn't help the void in his chest where his friend used to be, the playful banter, teasing and Tony making the super soldier blush with his lewd remarks. He and Steve had their differences, but in the end, their friendship always won. Except this time. This time the rift was far too deep.

Tony had been prepared to put everything behind them, especially after learning that Barnes had nothing to do with the attack in Vienna where the United Nations had gathered to discuss, and pass, the Sokovia Accords, and the death of the Wakandan King. An attack where many innocent people had died, and led to a civil war between the Avengers that left the team broken- or rather, Tony no longer a part of it.

Tony had fought against Barnes after the soldier had been captured and brought in for a full interrogation, and someone had tricked their way into the ranks and managed to bring the Winter Soldier to the surface of Barnes' mind with what was apparently a few choice words. He'd bruised for days, and that was only worsened later.

But then they had found Helmut Zemo, the man truly responsible for the death of King T'Chaka, in Siberia and he had taken great delight in showing them the footage from the night Tony's parents had died. A road that Tony instantly recognised, a car on it that was ran off the road, and finally the Winter Soldier came on screen. Tony could have even gotten over the death of Howard Stark, but when Barnes' hand closed over Maria's nose and mouth, rage had taken over.

Though in his heart he knew that Barnes couldn't really be held responsible when he'd been brain washed, Tony couldn't let it go. Barnes killed his mom and there was no going back from that. There was absolutely no way that he was ever going to be able to forgive that. Tony may not make weapons of mass destruction anymore, but the darker part of him that hadn't cared where his weapons went, still lived inside Tony.

When it had boiled down to it, even though Steve had always claimed Howard Stark to be one of his closest friends back in nineteen-forty-four, he had sided with Barnes, and nothing could have cut Tony any deeper than his friend, and leader, choosing to support the murderer of his parents. Steve knew Howard before he became a drunk, before he was a terrible father and an even worse husband, and to tarnish that bit of him by helping Barnes was the final straw for Tony.

"He's my friend."

"So was I."

Those few words had replayed over and over in his mind since Steve had left him battered and broken in the HYDRA facility in Siberia, after he and Barnes had managed to kick the ever loving shit out of him. The last that Tony heard of any of the Avengers, Steve had broken them out of the containment cells that Ross had locked them away in, and taken off. But no one had contacted him.

And the only reason he'd even known that was because Thaddeus Ross had rocked up on his doorstep, shouting and throwing around threats of prison when it had happened. He'd all but accused Tony of being in on the operation, but a few very choice words from Tony had set that record straight and the General had been sent packing with his tail between his legs.

Sometimes Tony would hear the whispers of the Avengers still together, keeping the world a safe place from the evils that still existed and the new ones that always seemed to appear. But with SHIELD no longer existing, and HYDRA still an ever present threat, they remained low key- surprisingly.

Then Pepper had left him. He knew it was only a matter of time, that he had been pushing her too far for too long. They had been on a break when everything between the Avengers broke out, but when he didn't respond to anything, not even her threat of leaving him, she went anyway- and didn't come back.

Tony couldn't even bring himself to care, and he knew it was cold, calloused even, but he simply did not care. Maybe he hadn't loved Pepper as much as he thought he had, but that was ridiculous. He adored Pepper, but there was no way he could be the man that she needed. He was never going to give up the suit, even though he was no longer a member of the Avengers.

Even though he'd blown up all his suits after defeating Killian and his insane Extremis people, Tony had gone right back to building even more of them, better ones that had newer features and soon, Pepper had stopped going to his workshop with coffee, stopped going to the Tower, and then stopped being in his life altogether.

It was quieter around, his lab no longer had the lingering scent of perfume and his bed was cold when he climbed into it- usually after being awake for thirty-six hours and drinking a ridiculous amount of caffeine. And yet, Tony found himself not missing any of it. DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers made less noise, his bots seeming to miss his ex-girlfriend more than he did.

As weeks turned into months, Tony slowly rebuilt a friendship with Pepper, pretty much handed her the reigns of Stark Industries, and sent her flowers with a huge letter of apology for being an ass to her. She didn't write back, but she messaged him, and he took that as something. It was far more than he deserved and he knew it, but hurting Pepper had been the last thing he'd wanted.

He'd given her the house in Malibu, under the promise that she kept the security floor below ground level- just in case. Because though she was no longer the girlfriend of the billionaire, Tony Stark, she still was the CEO of Stark Industries and that made her a huge target. After having the house rebuilt when The Mandarin destroyed it, Tony hadn't really been back, but he wanted Pepper to have something she could keep, so the house was hers.

Tony had no desire to live outside of the Tower anyway, he kept everything as it was, even the rooms that each of his once upon a time friends had, he never touched them, never removed anything, never changed a damn thing. Because that would mean admitting that he was alone.

He couldn't. Because no matter how angry he was with Steve, or how hurt he was, a part of him still secretly hoped that they would return home, that Steve would walk through the door and throw some bullshit reason that Tony should be making him something new to tinker with, and things could go back to the way they had been. But deep down, they wouldn't ever be able to. Because Steve sided with Barnes, and it had shattered their friendship.

From out of nowhere, DUM-E beeped frantically to get Tony's attention, whirring and getting himself into the genius' field of vision. "What DUM-E? I'm busy here."

"Sir, I believe DUM-E is trying to warn you that there are intruders on the roof," FRIDAY piped up, as if she were reciting the current state of the weather.

Tony dropped the soldering iron he'd been using on a new gauntlet for his suit and glanced at the security feed FRIDAY showed him, but the figures were shrouded in darkness. He didn't want to hit the floodlights and alert the intruders that he was on to them, he certainly want them to decide an open attack on the building because he knew they were there.

"Fry, have the armour ready, just in case. I'm going to go see who our guests are."

"Yes, boss."

He took the elevator to the eighty-fifth floor and got out, taking the stairs up to the roof. A second elevator would take him to the roof, but he wasn't interested in letting them know he was on his way. Slipping through the emergency exit door without a sound, he stood to the wall and peered out onto the roof.

His 'guests' hadn't moved, like they were waiting for something- or someone. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the glass open and walked out to them. "You know, most people who are trying to break into my home use methods a little less…obvious."

The floodlights came on and Tony felt his heart sink right down all eighty-seven floors of the Tower. A face he had long desired and dreaded to see again was lit up in the artificial light, making his normally boyish features look sharp, withdrawn, and just that little bit fed up.

"Tony…I'm sorry to crash on you like this, but we need somewhere to stay."

Seeing Steve, in the flesh, after so long, was enough to send Tony's brain into overdrive. But Steve wasn't alone. Barnes was there, along with the Maximoff girl, Vision and Clint. His gaze lingered on Barnes, making sure the soldier was always in his peripheral vision.

It crossed Tony's mind to outright refuse them, but something in Steve's expression stopped him. "Alright. I guess you'd all better come in."

He eyed Barnes wearily, the mechanic in him desperately wanting to look at his rebuilt bionic arm- since it had been blown off when the Soldier had tried to rip out the arc reactor from his suit- but the man who had watched his mother die stood strong and didn't give in to his want. Vision gave him a tight smile, a tiny bow of the head and Maximoff ignored him altogether, which really wasn't all that usual after he'd somewhat locked her in the new Avengers facility in upstate New York.

The only one who seemed genuinely pleased to see him was Clint, who enveloped him in a quick hug. "Yeah, I missed you too, bird brain," Tony teased.

The fact that Steve hadn't even thought to call ahead told Tony that whatever reason they were at the Tower- it wouldn't be good. Having Barnes around made him feel extremely on edge, and the man hadn't been in his home for ten seconds. A lump of lead settled in the pit of his stomach, and Tony stalked back indoors to find out just why Steve had chosen now to reach out to him, and what had possessed him to bring the others into something that clearly ended up putting them in danger.

Okay all, so this is the prologue of my first ever Avengers story. Please go easy on me, and drop a review. Please also appreciate that I will be working on this in my spare time, so updates might be a little sparodic