info: Agh, I just couldn't stay away. I am having intense Tony/Steve feels, and since the leak of The Avengers on Youtube, I've been a bit overwhelmed. So here, a second tiny tidbit. I'm going to keep the chapters short like this, kind of quick and gritty. Reviews are loved exponentially. Playlist was a lot of rainymood and Mumford and Sons. As for how Tony died... well that's going to be coming up soon. You might want to run to the corner store for some tissues. Thanks for all the fav's! Please enjoy.


It was raining.

Outside, the heavens pounded against the glass of Stark Tower, or formerly known as Stark Tower and presently used for the Avengers Initiative, of which Tony demanded everyone to be moved in to keep an eye on them. It was a clever ruse that almost passed under Pepper's nose undetected, but she was smart, there was no denying that. The longer Tony spent in the lab, the more Pepper catered to his needs. She was devoted, as loyal as anyone could be to an eccentric billionaire playboy. Steve loved that about her, and it almost made him feel bad for going behind her back.

He was never a stealthy person, so when he slipped into the lab at quarter past three that night, Tony looked up from the device on the table. Bags under his eyes, three days of beard taking back his face, haunted eyes.

"You could try being more quiet," Tony said offhand.

"You've been in here for two days, Tony, go to sleep."

"Cant," the man replied, tapping the work on the table. He turned away, rummaging through what Steve identified as an old vacuum cleaner.

"Pepper is waiting for you," Steve pressed.

"I don't want Pepper."

Steve couldn't fake the shock on his face. When Tony turned around, he snorted, a stupid smile on his face. Steve found his voice. "Yes you do."

"Well, sure, but not right now," Tony said, tinkering with the device, bent over the table with the delicate work. "What are you here for? Wait, don't tell me," he straightened up, tapping a wrench against his workbench as he stared the Captain down. "Let's see, you wanted a good conversation? No, I think Pepper sent you."

"No. I sent me. I'm worried about you."

"Don't be. I'm fine. Dandy. So why don't you go get some sleep, Cap?"

Steve took a deep breath. "I can't sleep."

Tony looked genuinely intrigued, his eyes bright, suddenly all attention on Steve. "And why's that?"

"I keep thinking about you."

Tony grinned.

Steve wakes with a start. His sheets are soaked in sweat and he realizes there are tears on his face. Wiping them away quickly, he gets out of bed and pads to the closet to get a fresh change of clothes. He passes Banner on his way to the shower, but they don't speak. Steve looks away to avoid the question lingering on everyone's lips, Why is Cap so distressed?

The night before, the day they buried Tony Stark, they went to the Shawarma joint for a bite, despite the entire crew having thought it quite dull the first time. It was after that, when they'd picked at their food for a bit with no appetite, that Steve suggested the bar. He can't get drunk, but he can try. When the asked for the best whiskey on the highest shelf, the bartender had poured him a shot and slid it over, and he had laughed and grabbed the bottle and chugged.

His shower is quick and to the point, in and out because running water makes him think of Tony and everything today needs to not be about Tony. They have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. Steve runs a comb through his lengthening hair, slips into his clean clothes, and steps out of the bathroom and into Hawkeye.

Clint staggers from the unexpected collision, eyebrows quirking up. "Everything okay?"

"Fine."

"Good. Fury is back. He has intel on Loki."

Steve judges Clint for a beat, as if trying to decide the level of excitement he should show for this information. He settles for anger, and tosses his dirty clothes into the corner of the bathroom. "What are we waiting for?" he growls, stalking to the main room.

Fury is waiting with everyone else. Thor is standing beside him, observing his fellows curiously as is his fashion. Pale and gaunt, Agent Coulson sits in a round chair, looking for all the world like he might break at any second. His recovery from his faked death hit a few bumps along the way and he's been out of the field ever since. Natasha is standing beside the window, looking out, arms crossed over her chest, closed off from the rest of the team, but her attention was nowhere else but on Fury. Banner is mixing drinks behind the bar – a habit he's been in to since Tony's death. Clint and Steve stand at the bottom of the stairs, and when Fury realizes neither of them are moving past that spot, he puts his hands behind his back.

All eyes are on the man.

"It has come to my attention that Loki is after something," Fury announces in his booming, authoritative voice. "It is apparently something that was left here a few hundred years ago. Quite frankly, we don't know a damn thing about it, except that we don't want Loki getting his hands on it."

Steve shifts uncomfortably.

"And with what happened last week, I know you all want revenge."

Only Thor doesn't grumble or nod in agreement. The God of Thunder looks down in shame. He has, twenty times now, tried to apologize for his brother's actions. Steve had punched him full on in the face and walked away shaking his bruised hand. After a few days, Thor stopped apologizing and vanished altogether. Apparently he was out playing recon with Fury.

"This isn't the time for it," Fury says, and the atmosphere in the room goes chilly. "That's what Loki wants. He's playing us like a fiddle. So if you can't put your personal feelings on the back burner, I'm gonna have to ask you to sit this one out."

Fury's eye fixes on Steve, as if that enigmatic man knows exactly what he's talking about.

Steve sets his jaw, squares his shoulders, and steps forward. "I'm a soldier," he answers, both the spoken and unspoken request.

Fury's gaze lingers for a moment longer than necessary. "That's what I thought. Now, the rest of you, Thor knows where Loki is. You'll be leaving in fifteen minutes. Do not fuck this up."

"You only have one chance," Thor adds. "Loki will know we are coming."

"The bastard always does," Clint grumbles, glancing to Agent Coulson.