A/N: This Chapter is dedicated to MissMary and Rebe22 who reviewed the last chapter. Thank you so much for the reviews, ladies, this one is for you :-)

This chapter represents the low-point of Steve&Tony interaction. The Tony!feels isn't over yet, though, I'm cruel that way, sorry...

Chapter 8: First, War Destroys Love And Respect

Bruce did not agree, "Do you really want to take that risk, Tony? He isn't you."

"Do you know who he is, Bruce? Did you take the time to get to know him?" asked the former billionaire softly. "He's a good kid. I know he's in his late thirties," he hastily continued as Bruce's eyes furrowed. "But that doesn't make him any less my baby brother. Do you believe I would give my company to a person I don't trust?"

"No," said Bruce. "But I know that you would give the company to someone you think has a higher claim to it than you do."

"Arno is the son and heir, I am not," retorted Tony in a low voice. "He has a higher claim, but if I thought this wasn't for the benefit of SI and its employees, I never would have given him the company. He cares, Bruce, he was trained to."

"His creations obviously weren't," said the physicist suspiciously.

"Who do you think he is, Bruce?" It seemed like Tony genuinely wanted to hear what his friend thought. "Did he ever do anything to make you doubt him?"

Bruce avoided Tony's gaze before he repeated, "He's not you."

That made the engineer sneer, "Thank God, he isn't. I would have never given him Stark Industries. What time does the plane leave tomorrow?" he changed the subject. "I will only take the bots with me for now, but I am not leaving anything behind. Will SHIELD, or somebody, assure that everything is shipped home, or do I need to ask Pepper after this is done?"

"You won't inform her of your return?" Steve cut in skeptically. He knew how the man was utterly incapable of keeping secrets from Miss Potts. She had even heard of the Avengers initiative long before it had been activated. Sometimes, she had mentioned things to him that made him realize that there was very little that the CEO of Stark Industries did not know, especially when it came to Tony Stark.

"Of course I will, but only face to face and after I talked to Arno."

That sounded final, and Steve did not promise something in the name of SHIELD without talking to Phil or Director Fury first, so he readily agreed to Miss Potts sending for Tony's appliances. They continued their dinner in silence with the exception of Bruce who seemed to be talking about his latest research. The leader of the Avengers had not seen the man this animated in years. Watching Tony listen to the man made him realize that the genius could be attentive if he so chose. Often, back when they had still worked together, Steve had always had the feeling to never receive more than the man's partial attentiveness. Right now, the physicist had the other man's undivided attention. The only time Tony interrupted was to ask questions, or to make suggestions. Judging by Bruce' excitement, not only were the interruptions welcome but also very much appreciated. At some point, Bruce ended his narration and they started discussing, and Steve would not have understood less if they had spoken in Thai. Bucky seemed content listening to those strange words, while he was eating his pizza. For Steve, it was so painfully familiar he did not want to be here listening to it. It reminded him how many friendships had been damaged during that War.

"Why did you do it, Tony?" he ultimately asked when the bittersweet memories became too hard to bear and ended up as one whirl of laughter and tears. All of a sudden, the tension in the air seemed to increase exponentially.

"Because regulations are necessary," was the cold reply. All of a sudden, Steve was facing Director Stark again – genius, unyielding and emotionless – and it seemed like they were back in the past. Still, the soldier did not regret his words. He had to understand.

"I still don't get it… You, a borderline anarchist, why would you support the government in this?"

"Because if I had not, we would have done more harm than good to the civilian population. Fury said it 'the world is filling with people that can't be matched', and he was right! We are not above the law, Rogers," was the fierce reply and Tony rose from his seat, which was immediately mirrored by Steve. The short engineer did not honestly think he could intimidate him physically, did he? Even with his larger-than-life persona, Tony was physically no match for him.

"This comes from the man who created the Iron Man suit, one of the most sophisticated and dangerous weapons in the world, and who refused to share said technology…"

"It is too dangerous to be used by…"

"Anybody but you, Stark?"

Steve knew he sounded bitter. He was. Tony had been his friend. He may have been wrong about the engineer as a whole, but in return, Tony had been wrong about the war. He had created that war. That war had ripped apart so many families, bonds and friendships, it was heartbreaking. The Fantastic Four were only now starting to reconnect. Peter still struggled with the disclosure of his identity. "You who created Ultron? You who has shown again and again how you misuse your own power, be it simply your mind or your political influence? Who do you think you are? The peak of human perfection?"

By the end of his heated words, he knew his face had started to redden. In contrast, Stark was ashen white.

"No," was the hoarse reply. "No, that's still you, Rogers. That will always be you. Though if this is what we can expect from the peak of human creation, both humanity and the world are doomed. I'll go pack."

The door slammed shut behind the engineer.

Even Bucky looked surprised. "Alright, punk, what the hell was that? You need to let go off the past. Stark has done nothing to deserve your anger this time around."

Bruce looked almost as white as Tony, "You have shown more generosity with your enemies than with Tony. I have seen you forgive far greater crimes than what Tony did. All he did was disagree with you, and he was not the only one with that opinion if you remember. You are on speaking terms with Reed; you have developed friendships with people who had been on the opposite side of the war. What has Tony done to deserve your scorn if not hatred so much more than the others?"

"I don't hate him," Steve immediately denied. For a moment, Steve was unable to say anything more. Ultimately, all he could say was, "He was my friend." Helplessly, he shrugged. "He was my friend."

"You and Sergeant Barnes beat him within an inch of his life," JARVIS commented remorselessly, "Sergeant Barnes ripped the arch reactor from his chest. I was there when the light flickered and died. I was forced to monitor his heartbeat as it came to a stop. I was there when he sat by Colonel Rhodes' bed crying because this feud may have killed his oldest friend. I was there when he doubted his actions. I was there after you expressed just how much you despised his very existence, and his knees gave in. I was there as he pleaded, threatened, bargained and did everything in his power to protect everyone he cared about. You willingly gave your life for the future, Captain Rogers, which is an admirable feat, and, through a miracle, you survived. Sir did something else. To protect the future, he gave up his reputation, his legacy and his family, while he knew he would have to live on no matter what." He paused, and then added, "Because the death of Tony Stark was not beneficial at the time."

"At the time? What are you saying?" asked Steve, instantly suspicious at JARVIS' last words. Why would the AI stress that out? What was he trying to say?

"You are the peak of human perfection, Captain Rogers," the AI hissed. "You figure it out. However, don't you dare call him your friend again! You have hardly exchanged a sentence outside of work nor have you shown any sign affection for him whatsoever even before the, what has since been called, Civil War. While Sir may thrive in quirky friendships that consist of more sarcasm than is probably healthy, while he may love a challenge, and feel genuine affection for the people who are not afraid to stand up to him, we both know that, while you may be civil, possibly even kind, you cannot feel true regard for a person with standards and status unlike your own. It is almost amusing, really, that the man who supposedly represents America's most noble side tends to be more narrow-minded and class-conscious than the one representing America's selfish side."

The whiplash of the reprimand was enough to freeze Steve in place. He did not even know how to counter, and he knew JARVIS; the AI would be able to return every single hit, because he was virtually incapable of saying anything that is not backed up by evidence. Also, he did not want to fight JARVIS. He did not want to fight Tony either. He was hurt, these last two years had done nothing to soften the sting of betrayal, but Bruce was right: Tony was the only person on the receiving end of his resentment, even though others had sided with him. He still did not understand Tony's motives, but barking at him at every term was neither fair nor right. His friends and JARVIS were right about that. He just wished things had gone differently. Steve turned away, avoiding Bruce' and Bucky's gaze, and lowered his head.

The door opened with a bang, and Tony entered with a suitcase.

"Let's get this over with," growled Tony. "I know you have the quinjet ready whenever you need it. We go tonight. You will send someone for DUM-E, U and Butterfingers tomorrow. After this, I'm out. No more Avengers business, no more superhero business, no more saving the world, or destroying it, no more weapons, technology and all that crap. I'm done, Captain."

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