Authors note: Thank you guys so much for keeping with me and all the reviews. I'm sorry I haven't had time to answer you all like I usually do. Rest assured that I do read and treasure every little comment you all make my day with them.

I am truly sorry, but there will be no more updates until next weekend for I now have to work six days straight But I promise to come back with one hell of a chapter!

Bitter

Chapter Six

Stark wasn't even out of the building before his phone was out of his pocket. He dialled Coulson, who picked up on the second ring. "Are you okay?" the younger man asked.

"Tell Fury I quit!" Tony snapped.

"Is this about you and...?"

Tony cut him off, "There is no me and him, there will never be a me and him. I don't have to give you a reason. I'm volatile, self obsessed and don't play well with others, remember? It's in my nature and my nature quits!" He cut the call off and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

Storming back into his house, and slamming the door behind him, Tony threw himself together a strong drink and collapsed on the sofa to enjoy it. He pulled out his phone again and saw more then a dozen missed calls from both Pepper and Coulson's numbers. As he was deleting them a text message came through:

"Are you okay? What happened? Please answer me, I'm getting frightened. Pepper."

Tony sighed and punched out a reply, "I'm sorry Pepper, you were right about everything. I am such a fool."

"RING ME!" she text back.

Tony turned the phone off, he couldn't bare to speak to even her right now. A second later every phone in his house started ringing. "Jarvis, lock the doors to any id that is not mine, and turn off all the phones." he commented.

"Sir I do not think that is a wise course of action." Jarvis spoke.

"Wise or not do it." Tony snapped, a headache starting to form already.

Two days passed by Stark while he was in a daze of drinking, sleeping and crying. Waking up and doing the same all over again. It was all he was good for, all that he had ever been any good for in his own eyes. He retreated right back into himself, not even answering when Jarvis spoke to him now and then. He'd go from curled up in a ball on the floor, to storming around the house smashing things, to shouting at thin air about how unfair life was.

He ended up in his lab staring at the broken wreck of Steve's motorbike, that he'd had dragged her just after the crash. He sunk to his knees looking at the tangled pieces of metal. Tony's sighed and drank heavily from the bottle of scotch he was carrying. Then he seemed to steel himself to the job at hand and stood. "Jarvis, some music."

ACDC: Back in Black started playing as he started work on fixing the bike. He didn't feel any better, not yet, nor did he stop drinking, but at least he had something to keep his hands busy and focus his mind at long last. Something to fill the aching caysam in his heart. Something that would make Steve happy, he was starting to understand that if Steve was happy, then he would be happy as well.

Steve wasn't doing any better then Stark was emotionally. He'd finally finished all of the examinations the nurse had subjected him to painfully slowly. Like she was enjoying torturing him by keeping him here and away from those he needed so badly to be touching right now.

Finally she discharged him and allowed him his clothing back, he'd been so vulnerable in his underwear for the last five hours. He rang Tony a dozen times as he walked out of the building, with no answer. "Shit!" he muttered, he flagged down a taxi and headed to Tony's house as fast as he could.

His heart breaking, he hammered on the door trying to get an answer. Still nothing, so he tried phoning again. He nearly crushed the phone in his annoyance. "Damn you Tony, Don't shut me out. Not now, not when we are so damn close to being happy." he shouted. Steve kept battering at the door, trying to break it down. He knew that Tony was just the other side, he could hear things being throw around and smashed.

"Tony, let me in please!" he shouted, battering at the door again. The door was just too strong even for him to break. He noticed the keypad by the door, and looked at it in confusion. This modern world made no sense to him what so ever. He was so very close to giving up with it all. Seventy years was a very long time to try and make up for.

Hell, he could barely even work the remote for the television, or work out how to use the dimmer switches in the apartment. He was used to being so independent, so good at doing things for himself and now he had to resort to asking people how to do the simplest things. It drove him crazy all of the time! He pressed the buttons randomly trying to work out how it worked, he figured there had to be a code, but there could be millions of combinations.

After a few minutes Jarvis got tired of watching him trying to break in and spoke. "Mr Rogers I regret to inform you that Mr Stark will see no visitors at the current time."

"Let me in damn you!" Steve sobbed, "I have to see him."

"I cannot Mr Rogers, I am sworn to obey my programming, and my master says I am not permitted to unlock the door." Jarvis answered.

Steve punched his fist through the wall, ending up bruising his hand more then he damaged the building. Muttering a series of curse words under his breath he would be ashamed if anyone found out that he knew or had used. He liked to be the perfect gentleman at all times, but sometimes were harder then others. Today was very clearly going to be one of those days.

"Mr Rogers, there is one person who can over write my protocols and open the door." Jarvis commented.

Steve's head shot up, "Just tell me what to do."

Out of respect for Stark, Pepper made Steve agree to give him a few days before he blasted in with SHIELD behind of him. Steve hadn't been happy about the arrangement, but there was little else he could do bar follow orders just like he always did.

He spent most of the time in his apartment reading, and at least books were still made of paper and looked like he remembered. Someone had brought him this black plastic thing, that they had said was a book, but he had left it untouched as he went through the shelves he had been given. It didn't stop his heart bleeding for Stark every minute of every day. Nor did it stop him drinking himself to sleep at night. The tears never stopping from falling down his face. Needing to see and touch Stark again so badly, to sort all of this out once and for all. The memory of that stolen kiss, Tony almost admitting his feelings played over and over again in his mind.

"Damn you Stark, and damn me too!" he muttered, hating himself for all the pain he had caused them both. "I should never have told you the truth, never have brought all this pain on us. Never have broken both of our hearts." He despaired in that room, the dark hand of depression laying heavy on his heart and mind. He wanted so much not to feel, not to hurt anymore. To just be free from all this death! He laid his head on his hands and sobbed.

Coulson and Pepper had had enough now, a whole week had passed and nether of the two men would leave their homes, or speak to anyone. Both had quit the Avengers, and both were sulking like little children. So now the grownups were going to go and fix it all.

Coulson unlocked the door, using his overriding code. He felt a little guilty, but they were so worried about Tony what else could they do?

"Welcome Agent Coulson, Ms Potts." Jarvis said opening the door the second the code was punched in. "I have been expecting your presence."

"What happened here?" Pepper exclaimed, looking around at the smashed furniture and empty bottles of scotch everywhere. Tony seemed to have smashed up the whole house, as they moved from room to room looking for him.

"Love makes you crazy." Coulson commented.

"Correction, love makes TONY crazy," she said wryly.

Coulson nodded, and they quietly made their way downstairs to the lab to see if Stark was hiding down there. They unlocked the door and edged inside solely, around the chaos of wreckage. Work benches kicked over, tools scattered everywhere. Only one thing in the room was kept beautifully intact and clean. A motorbike, which had clearly only just been restored, the paint still looked tacky and the room smelt of fresh paint. The bodywork of the machine carefully re-sprayed in red/white and blue, with the Captain's shield designed painted on the engine. It had clearly been a labour of love that had taken a long time.

"Is that Steve's bike?" Pepper asked.

Coulson nodded, "He must have fixed it, last time I saw it before they took it away. Well there wasn't anything left but charred and twisted metal."

"Why would he spend a week holed up in here doing this?" she commented.

"Perhaps he doesn't know how else to express himself." Coulson suggested.

The made sense, he'd never been very good with the use of emotions or expressing them. Pepper spun around hearing a faint noise behind her. She worked her way through the smashed lab until she found Tony curled up on the floor in tears. Tony didn't cry often, in fact Pepper had perhaps known him cry half a dozen times in his whole life. The last time at his father's funeral, after that he had tried to be as emotionless as possible.

Pepper hugged the broken man to her, shhing him like he was a small child. "It's okay Tony, don't cry. It's all going to work out fine, I promise."

Coulson stood nearby trying not to look useless or embarrassed at the man's total breakdown. It was a hard time to know what to say or do. In the end he settled for fetching a blanket, and some tissues. Settling the blanket over him tenderly trying to stop the violent shaking. "Let's get you somewhere warmer and more comfortable shall we?" he offered softly.

"I will be fine thank you." Tony murmured, starting to collect himself once again. Pulling his emotionless mask back on as best he could, crushing back down the emotions that were threatening to destroy him. Just like he always did, and always would.

"Come on Tony, you can't cry all over me, and then brush us off like nothing ever happened. Talk to me, to us, let us help you." Pepper begged.

"Yes, actually I can. You should never have forced your way into my home. So get out both of you!" Stark snapped.

"Mr Stark, you are being unreasonable. We have all been worried about you and Steve most of any of us." Coulson said.

"Don't you dare say his name to me." Tony snapped.

"He loves you, the fool and you are an even bigger one!" Pepper snapped, she pulled out her ID card and threw it at him. "I quit, I'm not watching you ruin your life again."

"You can't quit, I already fired you last week." Tony commented.

"You arsehole!" Pepper said, running off crying.

Coulson watched her leave and glowered at Stark. "I told you to love him, to let yourself care for someone for once. And what did you do? Push away the only people who care about you. One day you will push them too far and they won't keep on forgiving you."

"Maybe I don't want their forgiveness!"

"It's about time that you forgive yourself whatever this thing you have is that makes you feel so unworthy of life and happiness." Coulson stated.

Tony sighed looking at the ground, "He is better off without me, I'd only break his heart and screw things up just like I always do."

"Pepper is right, you are an idiot. Do you think Steve isn't hurting right now? HE's been locked away in his home for as long as you have. Do you know that he quit SHIELD too? The he won't speak to anyone? That he's been drunk more then he's been sober since the accident? That he came to me, so drunk he could hardly stand, to beg me to override the lock and tell him if you were even still alive?" Coulson asked, "If you were dead, do you really think that he would survive much longer without you? That your stupid mistake could cost his life as well as yours? Think about it while there are still a few people who care." He followed Pepper out of the house, and relocked the doors behind him.

Tony shook his head, and sat down on the bike. Stroking the fresh paintwork tenderly, "Oh Steve, what have I done to you again?"