"A broken arm, fractured leg, several broken ribs and some bones in his neck were crushed as well. We've got great doctors here so the throat will be able to be repaired it will take time but…" Nick was saying, but Steve didn't hear any of it.

"Thank you," he kept saying, over and over, unable to think of anything else.

It had been two hours since walking into the war zone that was Clint Barton's room, finding the two bodies lying half dead in the aftermath and putting together the pieces just quick enough to feel the shattering rage that came after.

He'd never been so angry and all he could do was blame himself.

"Steve, it…Clint insists that nothing happened. There's no evidence to suggest there was anything but sleeping that occurred in that room."

Steve fought tears, smiling. "You keep saying that, but what reason would there be to sleep naked with him, Nick?"

Nick looked tired, exhausted even. "Steve, they've both been examined."

Steve laughed bitterly and said coldly, "You also keep saying that. You're a bit of a broken record. I don't want to hear this song anymore," before getting up and turning to leave.

"Steve."

He stopped, closing his eyes and swallowing. "Yeah?"

"The security tapes from the hall last night were all erased, there is nothing showing either of their whereabouts of the past twelve hours, you can't say it isn't strange." Nick said.

Steve walked out without a word and headed towards the hospital area.

He stopped just short of going inside, though Tony was still under sedation he knew Clint shared the space with him and did not want to hear the other man's rantings. Steve caught eyes with Clint who looked pained, shaking his head. He mouthed, 'He loves you,' and Steve looked away, feeling tears fall down his face.

"Steven?" came the heavily accented voice, making him sigh.

"Natasha."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "You should go inside."

"Why?" he said, his voice thick.

"You love him, he loves you. He would not hurt you, not for anything," she said, her voice wrought with emotion.

He shrugged her off and said, "If it hadn't happened now it would have happened later, right? That's what you and Buck both told me."

"And you said you did not care," she whispered.

Steve looked at her, tears leaking on his face as he whispered, "I lied," and walked away.

Natasha closed her eyes, sighing and walking inside. Clint Barton looked at her sadly.

"We didn't," he said, repeating the same phrase he'd spoken when he woke after everything had happened.

She nodded. "I believe you, Hawkeye. I am sorry to say that Steve and Bruce both do not."

He looked away, shaking himself. "They told me he won't change back. From the Hulk. I," he laughed, whispering, "I broke him."

She came to him and took his hands in hers. "There will be a way to fix this, trust in this."

Clint shook his head. "Obviously neither of them care enough to listen when there's no proof. I hate this!" he yelled, taking back his hands and walking to the bathroom, slamming the door.

Natasha walked over to Tony's bedside and sat down, taking his hand. "My darling Tony," she whispered, kissing his hand, "We will fix this."

Suddenly she felt her hand squeezed back and she looked up, smiling through tears.

Tony tried to whisper and she put her finger on his lips.

"Do not speak, my Tony. Your throat needs to heal."

He shook his head and she nodded. "Yes, you will not speak. You will lose the option if you strain your throat."

He squeezed her hand and made a movement like he was writing. She called out to the doctors, "May I have some paper and a pen?" and they obliged.

Natasha handed it to him and he used his good hand to write.

STEVE

She closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head. "He…will take some convincing."

He looked away, tears in his eyes.

"Tony, it will take TIME. But you have Nick and I on your side. There must have been someone at that party that did something to you and Clint."

He shook his head.

Natasha leaned in close and took his hand. "Tony, darling look at me."

A tear rolled down his face as he looked at her.

"I will be here for you."

He tried to laugh and then coughed, startling her.

She squeezed his hand.

"Why do you believe us?" Clint suddenly asked.

Natasha looked over her shoulder at him and smiled through her tears.

"Because I have seen Tony before love and I have seen Tony after love, and I have seen you, my Hawkeye. I have seen you with Mr. Banner and I know what feelings lie there. I know," she looked at Tony, "That I was wrong when I thought Tony would not be faithful to his lapochka."

Tony suddenly started to cry and she hugged him, whispering endearments in Russian that Clint did not know but found comfort in, lulling him back to sleep.

Natasha entered their room after midnight, not bothering to be quiet because she knew James would be awake.

He looked up at her, his anger prominent on his face.

"Where have you been?" he asked, though he knew exactly where she'd been.

"With Tony and Clint, as you well know James," she stated bluntly, taking off her clothes without care and walking over to the bed nude, climbing beneath the covers to lie beside him.

She draped herself over him, ignoring the way his body tensed at the touch.

"Why are you on HIS side? He fucked Steve over and…" he started to argue and she kissed his belly, surprising him.

"Let us sleep lapochka, please. I do not want to argue," she begged.

James was quiet and he ran a hand through her hair, whispering, " 'Nat, I…"

She smiled against his skin. "As do I, my James."

He lifted her head and kissed her softly.

"I'm just…it's Steve."

Natasha smiled and kissed him again. "I know, lapochka. I know."

She didn't know the protocol, but Pepper Potts walked tentatively into Tony Stark's room trying not to wake him or the man across the room. She nodded once to the doctor and sat beside her boss, taking his hand.

It felt clammy and warm, not at all like she remembered.

Pepper closed her eyes and whispered, "I can't believe you did this."

There was no response and she looked up to see that Tony was still asleep.

"You had it so good, I don't understand why you would just throw it all away over some cheap…god Tony, I gave you up for him. He's…he's such a good man, he…he doesn't deserve this. And you don't deserve him," she finished, tears on her cheeks.

Never once did she let go of his hand, squeezing it tighter as her words became more heated.

She looked up and gasped, seeing Tony was watching her.

The pain in his eyes was so raw that she squeezed his hand and choked back a sob. "Oh Tony, I'm sorry. I just thought that…"

He squeezed her hand back, trying to lift the mask off his face but she stopped him, shaking her head. "We'll fix this. I promise."

Pepper leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, closing her eyes.

"Get better. Fast. Whoever did this obviously has a hidden agenda," was the last thing she whispered before standing and turning to leave. She made it partly to the door when a voice called out.

"Thank you."

Pepper looked up and saw the man who was sharing the hospital area with Tony and nodded. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before exiting, then turned down the hall and ran right into Steve Rogers, who had been lurking around the corner.

"Steve, I was just going to…" she started to say but he interrupted her.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say. I'm sorry if that sounds rude but there is nothing that you could possibly say that would make me want to continue to talk with you," he said harshly, trying to get past her.

Pepper grabbed his arm and squeezed as hard as she could but knew he could barely feel it.

"I feel so sorry for Tony right now. I was so sure you were the one," she whispered, then let go of him and walked away.

Steve swallowed and let out a breath, closing his eyes.

"So was I," he whispered.

He took a few steps and peered into the hospital area, noticing that Tony was placed near the windows. His former lover was covered in bandages from throat to arms and he had something over his mouth. Steve tried to ignore the tightening in his chest that cried out to be with Tony and turned reluctantly away, walking back the way he'd come.

Clint recovered faster than Tony did but visited daily, the two men trying to piece together the night that altered their relationships and lives forever.

The doctors still forbade Tony to speak, it had been nearly two weeks now and they were seeing progress in his healing so they used a whiteboard to communicate.

Nick had provided them with a guest list and no one stood out on the list, which consisted of mostly celebrities and other superheroes.

It was nearly two months into Tony's convalescence and he was going to be released soon, though the doctors were still wary of allowing him to talk, his leg and arm had healed to the point that he had a walking cast on and his arm was no longer in a cast at all.

Clint sighed, laying his head down on the table between him and Tony, smiling. "This is going nowhere."

Tony nodded, pointing to the list and then writing: I DON'T EVEN KNOW HALF THESE PEOPLE

Clint laughed. "Yeah, me neither. I'll access the SHIELD computers for some of the names we don't recognize and go hunting."

He looked at the list they'd made and one name stood out among the rest.

"You invited Tem Borjigin? Isn't he one of your competitors?" Clint asked.

Tony wrote: HE DIDN'T COME.

Clint looked at the name again. "Didn't he steal like, half your work force in Singapore? On purpose?"

Tony rolled his eyes and wrote: SO?

Clint shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "I don't know, it's just strange. Everyone else on here that you invited seems to be an ally except him. Are we sure he DIDN'T come? Or someone came in his place? Have you ever seen him?"

Tony looked at him and then wrote: NO BUT WHY WOULD HE WANT ME AND STEVE TO BREAK UP?

Clint sighed. "I don't know, but I'm gonna check this guy out. He had motive, and if he was there it's something," he leaned over and squeezed Tony's hand, "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

He left and Tony sighed, laying back down and then leaning over to turn off the light. He closed his eyes and sighed again, feeling lonelier than he had the last agonizing weeks apart from Steve.

He heard the door open again and opened his eyes, blinking into the dark. There was a light coming from the hall faint enough that he could make out his visitor's face.

"Steve," he whispered hoarsely.

Steve was frozen in the doorway and his breath was loud enough that Tony could hear it from across the room.

"Steve I…"

"Don't. Just…let me talk," Steve said, his voice coming out thick with emotion.

Tony nodded.

He still didn't move and said, "I thought, when we started, that I could handle sharing you," he put his hand up when Tony started to make noise again, "But then…when I saw you, naked covered in blood lying on top of Clint, I….I was so angry. I've never been that angry…at anyone," he stepped forward and Tony gasped at the tears on his face, "Not even men I wanted to kill, Tony."

Tony wiped tears off his own cheeks and whispered, "Can I…talk?"

Steve shook his head. "I don't want to hear it. I…I know, that they didn't find any evidence that the two of you had sex, I know that. But maybe you wanted to and got naked then passed out because you were drunk or even…"

"Steve, no. I….I wasn't even attracted to other people after I met you," Tony said as lout as he could muster his voice cracking.

Steve laughed bitterly. "There's no…"

Tony tried to stand and Steve yelled, "NO! Don't….you can't move. Just...NO. I…I just came to….tell you to stay away from me. I know you're getting out of here and I just…" his voice broke and he looked down.

"NO."

Steve looked up, surprised. "No? I don't want anything to do with you! I just…Tony, PLEASE."

Tony stared him down. "No."

Steve growled and came towards him, angrily yelling in his face, his hands on Tony's bed, "I DON'T WANT YOU! I JUST WANT YOU TO…"

He was cut off with Tony's kiss, deep and possessive, the other man's arms digging into his shoulders. Steve kissed him back for nearly a minute before pushing him off, gasping with tears in his eyes.

Tony smiled.

Steve left without another word and he leaned back in his bed, closing his eyes.

Tony slept quite soundly that night, though Steve did not.

He paced his bedroom, his fingers constantly touching his mouth and licking his lips, cursing himself.

When Tony had kissed him everything rushed back in full force and he'd wanted nothing more than to push the other man down onto the bed and have his way with him.

"Stupid Tony," he mumbled, sighing.

There was a knock at his door and he called out, "Enter."

Nick Fury came through the door with a knowing look on his face.

"Don't," Steve said, glaring at him.

"What?" Nick asked, feigning ignorance, "I just came to update you on Bruce."

Steve sighed and sat down on the bed. "How is he doing?"

Nick sat down in a chair across the room.

"The same, he's under constant sedation because when we take him off he goes into a rampage."

"Is he still…?" Steve curled his arms in.

Nick nodded. "Been green almost eight weeks now, actually. We've banned Clint from even looking through the window. That was a fun time, him trying to break the glass and screaming."

Steve glared, "He's still asking about him?"

Nick nodded. "Every day. It's…strange. A lot like how you ask the doctors about Tony and think no one knows."

Steve looked away, blushing. "I don't know what you're talking about. And if that's all, you can leave."

Nick got up from his chair and stood in front of Steve. "If you're determined to lie to yourself forever, you know I'm always around."

Steve looked up and Nick brushed his fingers across Steve's cheek. The blonde made a face and moved away, shaking his head.

Nick laughed. "Is it that horrible to be touched by anyone but Tony Stark?"

Steve ignored him and he sighed. "Well, goodnight then. Just remember what I said."

"Goodnight Sergeant," he whispered.

Nick smiled as he closed the door.

The doctors were baffled as to why Bruce Banner remained the Hulk even as his blood pressure stayed regulated. He had been taken out of sedation approximately six times and none had been successful.

It was late and Clint Barton was on a mission. He snuck down the hallway that had been off limits to him since the Hulk's second rampage the week before just because he had been in the vicinity and the monster had spotted him.

The guards were all occupied and he quickly got past them, knocking them both unconscious with arrows and stepping into the room. There was a doctor at Bruce's bedside and the man's eyes widened and he said, "You can't be here! It's…"

Clint raised his fingers to his lips and took a step closer, then closer still, finally resting his hand on Bruce's arm.

The warmth spread through his fingers and he sighed, tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, then turned and left.

The monster in the bed twitched and the doctor walked over to it, looking up at the blood pressure. It had gone down. He frowned, checked the chart again.

"Huh."