"Tony!" Captain America—no Steve—yelled, blocking yet another blast with his shield. The force pushed him back against the wall. Using said wall for support, the super solider pushed against the blast, angling it so that it crashed into the wall above him.

Steve took a quick glance across the field. Natasha had been knocked against a wall with an earlier blast. The impact had knocked her momentarily unconscious. Clint's broken arm had rendered his refined marksmanship utterly useless. And Thor had been knocked unconscious as 4 levels of ceiling had collapsed upon him. Had Bruce not have gone to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base for some sort of consult, Hulk's presence might had made a difference, and they would have stood a chance.

They had been caught by surprise. As superheroes, they had always thought themselves safe in the Avengers tower. In fact, they had been assured of that—with the state of the art security systems that their resident engineer was always updating. There was only one person, they had joked, that could ever break the complex security system.

And they were facing him now.

"Why are you doing this!" Steve yelled, staring with utter shock and confusion as the red and gold armor, he had considered a friend, flew in for another punch. The solider barely dodged the attack, rolling over to the other side. "Tony!"

The helm of the armor opened, revealing a cold hard glare. Though Steve stood firm, he felt his heart tear apart.

"Why!" the man within the armor screamed. "I'm tired. Tired of this. No matter what, it was never enough. I'm done. Done with this 'team' bullshit you all keep spouting."

Why? Steve simply could not understand why Tony would turn against him. They had considered him a friend—their ally. Steve had fought alongside Tony, trusted him…

… Loved him.

Tears welled up in his eyes as Steve looked into those chocolate brown eyes. They were so cold, distant. The Tony he knew was in there, but with every pulsar blast, every gunshot, Steve could feel him slipping away.

"You don't believe that. I know you don't, Tony," he heard his voice pleaded, as if the words would make them true. "This isn't you. You're not one of them."

Tony stopped momentarily, his words seeming to have some effect. The fierce chill in Tony's glare wavered slightly.

"…Steve," Tony whispered, his words barely inaudible. Without his serum enhanced hearing, Steve doubted he could have heard it.

But it was there, in that brief moment, he saw it. The world around them went silent. There was no police sirens, no fire or debris. There was just them—the real him behind those dark barriers of his mind. The Tony that Steve knew.

Tony took a slow hesitant step forward. Steve dropped his shield, his walk turning into a run, as if Tony would disappear before his very eyes. As they collided, Steve pressed his lips against the other's, kissing him fiercely. Tears streamed down Steve's face as he held Steve, arms wrapped around Tony's waist, pulling him closer, wanting to feel Tony's touch hidden behind the armor. He wanted this. He didn't care if the other Avengers didn't trust him; Steve wouldn't be able to stop loving Tony. It wasn't possible.

As their kiss broke, a sharp burning pain hit him. As Steve collapsed on the floor, he could have sworn he saw tears falling from those brown eyes.

-Later-

When he arrived at his make-shift apartment/lab, Tony fell back into a large bed. His entire body ached. While he knew every one of the Avenger's weaknesses did not mean it was an easy battle. While his armor took the brunt of the damage, he was pretty sure he had a few bruises on his torso and arms from Thor threw his hammer, probably denting his armor.

"J.A.R.V.I.S." he called out, the lab hollow and empty so his voice echoed.

"Yes sir?"

Tony picked up the Iron Man mask, mentally marking each scratched that would be buffered. "What's the damage?

"Your vitals are stable. Although it seems the extended amount of stress on your body has spread the toxins further into your system." The AI paused, briefly. "Sir, if I may suggest…"

"What?"

"…That you go tell Captain Rogers of your predicament. I'm sure that the Captain—"

"NO!" his voice echoed as Tony slammed his helmet against the floor. "I'm not going to tell them anything. Let them hate me. It'd be much easier…"

"For them? Or for you?"

"J.A.R.V.I.S., mute," he commanded, his end all to all arguments.

As the computer went silent, Tony sighed, covering his face with his arms as he laid back. He wished he could sleep. In his sleep, he could pretend that everything was fine; that he'd argue with Clint while Natasha and Bruce tried to explain to Thor the many reasons you can't throw the wii-remote, that you can only swing it gently; that Steve was asking him how to use his laptop again, or to fix his phone, completely oblivious to the genuine smile forming on Tony's face; that he'd wake up, wrapped in Steve's arms; that he wasn't deteriorating from the inside out.

But that reality was impossible now.

Song(s): Slipping from Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog / Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy VI

A/N: How I would have loved to do Civil War, but I don't know much about that. I'm sure there was plenty of angst without me adding any. This is a random AU where Tony's dying (again?). Since I had two evil songs back to back, I considered it appropriate to add them both into one post. Especially since the second song is 10-minutes long!