No one was pleased when the Avengers were called to a mandatory meeting by Hill. They all showed up (minus Tony who SHIELD was unable to contact and Bruce who was still locked up in his cage) and even Wade was pulled out of his mission for the occasion. None of the team spoke to each other out of fear that something would set someone off.
Hill walked into the room, no expression and cold eyes. "This situation with Iron Man needs to end." She said bluntly and sharply, tired of dealing with the backlash that all this had created. The media was still having a frenzy after months of it and all of the team was getting sloppy during individual missions. There had been no Avenger emergency, however, which Steve thanked God for that.
The entire team visibly flinched and stole nervous glances at each other with the exception of Steve. He showed nothing. He didn't move and he looked positively bored about it.
Hill continued, "I'm sending you all into retrieve him."
"Why?" Steve spoke, voice hard and unfeeling. "Who cares about him? He obviously does not want any contact with anyone and Stark always gets what he wants."
Peter had to bite his tongue to keep from crying or screaming. He didn't even have Wade sitting next to him for comfort. They had broken up when Wade left for the mission.
Hill gave a frustrated sigh. "Because I said so." She growled and slammed a folder down. "Get to it."
The Avengers (minus Bruce and Tony) left for Stark Tower but even Thor's hammer was unable to get into the lab and the genius was nowhere in the penthouse. Eventually they called in Loki who managed to pick the lock with some spell of the one room they couldn't get into. The master suite.
Steve felt sick to his stomach in this room. Tony had cheated on him in their room. On their bed. The one that they had shared for 19 years.
Something was even more off than that however. The sheets looked cleaned and made up. Definitely not Tony. The room looked neat. Once again, definitely not Tony. And according to SHIELD, no one came in or out of the upper levels of the tower. Not even Tony. He had been the only one with access.
Then something caught all their eyes and the same time. A few photos spread about Tony's side table. Natasha was the one to pick them up. She frowned before handing them to Steve.
There was one of Christmas. Steve and Tony was kissing under the mistletoe, both wearing goofy smiles.
There was another. Steve was trying to teach Tony how to cook. They were younger and the photo dated back to before they were married.
The third was of Tony guiding Steve along the ice at Central Park. Tony was laughing and Steve was trying to straight on his feet.
The fourth was of Tony playing with Peter on the living room floor, Steve smiling from behind the couch with Clint putting bunny ears behind the genius' head.
The fifth was of Tony in the Iron Man suit on his landing balcony. He was locked tight in Captain America's arms as they kissed.
The sixth made them all flinch. Clint recognized it as a photo he had taken a long time ago. It was of a dark alcove, seeming secretive considering it had been taken on their wedding. Both were smiling and both had tears in their eyes. They appeared to be slow dancing, one of Tony's hands on Steve's shoulder and one of Steve's on the genius' waist. Their other hands were locked together, rings visible and gleaming in the flash of the camera.
It was at that moment that Steve fell to his knees and cried.