Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“So… that was fun.” Colonel Rhodes glared at Steve, who tried to feel anything aside from the fiery dread racing through his veins. He didn’t.

Running away from the elephant sized rhinos hadn’t worked, of course. It had taken Natasha and him a proximally thirty seconds to be sure of that. To escape they had climbed a tree. Which had been a challenge as Steve had been carrying Colonel Rhodes at the time. It was the reason he glared at Steve right now. Or it was the underhung reason.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to cling to Nat’s whispered hope that it could be a lie. Tony might be alive. The woman might have lied. Tony might be alive. But if he believed it. If he hoped… it would hurt so much more if he was dead. It would kill him even more, would destroy him, rip him into shreds so small no one would be able to piece him back together.

He could not not hope. It would kill him. It did. Every breath seemed to be worse than the last. Still, he had no other choice but to hope, to pray, that Tony was alive. That he was as safe as he could be. That he…

He turned on the branch he was still sitting on, watching Natasha come back, balancing elegantly on her heels. He glanced over both of them, assessing their mental state. Her expression didn’t betray anything but Steve knew all three of them were in a bad place. Sure, Nat hid it better but she was affected as well. Steve could read it in her eyes, darker than normal, a tightness in her frame she usually hid – or didn’t have.

Since the team moved into the Tower all of them had calmed down and relaxed – even Clint and Natasha. And all of it was because of Tony. Steve knew the genius didn’t see it that way. But it was the truth. He had always been there for all of them. They had talked about it. How Tony would be there whenever one of them woke up in the night. He talked with Steve, opened his workshop to him and most often let Steve take care of him because he knew sometimes Steve needed to- to feel useful. To know he could take care of his family. To keep him safe. And Tony accepted it. He indulged him even if Steve annoyed him.

How would they survive as a team without their heart?

“Did you find anything?” Steve looked at her, hoping for good news. For anything.

“No.” She sat down cross-legged, beside him, her eyes moving towards the Colonel before looking back at Steve. “There aren’t even tracks of the rhinos.”

“So, there is no way for us to leave breadcrumbs for the others.”

“If she doesn’t want us to, no.” Steve hissed, agreeing with the Colonel. As long as they didn’t know what the rules were, what was happening and who was doing it, they could try. And probably amuse her. And that was not an option.

Nat raised a questioning eyebrow.

They would look for the others. They would find them. And they would get home. All of them. He told the others as much.

“That’s not a plan. It’s a wish list.” But there was a smile on her lips.

“Let’s go.” The Colonel, not waiting for help, pushed himself off of the branch, rolling himself up on the ground. He grunted softly, but Steve knew it must have hurt terribly. The Colonel didn’t seem to care.

They didn’t have a strategy or any clues. Which way would they go? Exhaling, Steve pushed himself off of the branch landing beside the other man. It didn’t matter. They had to do something. They had to try to find the others. Yes, it was most likely that they wouldn’t be able to do it if she didn’t want them to succeed, but she might allow it. Or, even better, she wasn’t as all powerful as she appeared. They had fought situations that… They had won a lot of battles already. They wouldn’t lose here. They couldn’t.

Both Natasha and Steve had an eye on the Colonel, noting how his limb got more pronounced the longer they walked alongside of the fence. Steve wanted to help, but he understood the need to do it on his own. He let him, knowing full well it wouldn’t end well otherwise.

They couldn’t have walked longer than thirty minutes when Natasha, who had been scouting ahead, stiffened in an obvious reaction she most often didn’t show, before starting to run.

Steve glanced to the Colonel, who glared at him, making a harsh hand motion.

“Go!”

Steve went. He started running and moments later saw why Nat had started running. In the grass lay Bruce and Clint, sprawled as if they had been thrown there in a careless motion.

Tony wasn’t with them.

“Clint!” Nat let herself fall beside the archer, her hands carefully moving over his body.

Steve had been right beside her, kneeling beside Bruce and mimicking her movements.

Tony wasn’t here.

“Steady pulse.” Natasha murmured.

Steve checked Bruce’s pulse. It was steady as well.

Tony wasn’t-

“Are they okay?”

Steve looked up at the Colonel. His expression was set and empty. He was a soldier, a good one as far as Steve was concerned and of course he would ask for the other people on the mission. Still, there was the slightest tremor in his hands. The deadness in his voice and the icy cold in his eyes.

Tony was…

“They are fine.” Natasha looked up at him, her expression as emotionless as could be. She didn’t say what all of them were thinking.

“We… We should get them to safety.” None of them told Steve they didn’t know where that was. They didn’t tell him it didn’t matter. Tony was… wasn’t with them and that-

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Colonel Rhodes hadn’t moved. “She wanted us to find them. She wants us to… talk.”

It could be the truth. It also could be a tactic to make them feel safe. On one of their first missions, Tony had opened his mask, looking exasperated at Steve and told him Stop thinking any of this is logical, Cap. Crazy people do crazy stuff. If you try to find a reason for it you’ll go fucking crazy, too. Of course, after the mission Tony could explain in detail why anything had happened. All of them had seen some deranged logic in it, at least from the villain’s perspective. This was a situation just like it. After they might find explanations. Right now, they just had to keep going, to keep calm.

As if that was even possible.

Scrambling for anything to stop his thoughts spiraling out of control, Steve looked down on Bruce. The man didn’t even have a scratch on him. He glanced over to Clint, not a scratch either.

“Why are they fine?”

The other two didn’t answer him. If any of them didn’t need physical injury to feel pain in this situation, as far as outsiders would know, it was Colonel Rhodes. His friendship with Tony was well documented in the media for decades. Everyone knew it.

Most media commented on Tony not being a “real Avenger” or being disliked by them. Which was bullshit and Steve told every reporter that whenever he saw them. Often, with a temper that was barely held in check. The last rumors were that Tony and the spies had a fight and weren’t on speaking terms because Clint had yelled at Tony when the billionaire had left the Tower. What the media conveniently hadn’t seen or heard was that Clint had followed him to keep him safe, berating the genius for trying to slip past him.

Did she know more? Did she know how high valued Tony was? Or did she think the others were just that goodthat they would suffer for any missing team member? It still left Steve with the question why Clint and Bruce were fine. He was glad of course, but why injure only half of them? Why injure Tony the worst just to-

“One way to find out.” Nat said, raising her hand and slapped Clint’s cheek hard. The archer lurched forward into a sitting position. The only reason he didn’t hit Natasha were her fast reflexes. And that he recognized his teammate after a heartbeat.

He turned, his eyes going wide when they landed on Steve.

“You’re alive?!?”

Steve frowned. Mostly because of the accusatory tone. But also, of course he was alive, why-

“Where is Tony?” Clint asked frantic and it clicked for Steve.

Of course, they heard the message and believed Steve had died. Officially he was the leader. The government liked to paint it like that, even if the team knew both Tony and Steve parented them. Their words. Steve preferred co-leaders. No one cared.

“Clint-” Steve started, but was interrupted when Bruce stirred. He blinked his brown eyes open and gaped when he saw Steve kneeling beside him.

“Steve!” The scientist exclaimed relieved.

“Tony is gone.”

Steve flinched as if Clint had struck him. No. He couldn’t. He couldn’t be-

“What?” Bruce pushed himself up, looking around, his formerly relaxed posture tensing. “Where-”

“The bitch knocked us out and-”

“Stop.” Colonel Rhodes took a step forward, his injured leg obviously barely able to keep him upright. But Steve knew that expression he was sporting. He wouldn’t accept help.

Bruce, finally noticing the other man’s pain, frowned. “Didn’t you get a care package?”

“We did. Fried it.” Nat answered, her hands clutching at Clint’s wrist. The archer, leaning into her side, let his eyes wander around them as if he would be able to spot Tony. Maybe he had hoped the voice meant Steve. He couldn’t fault Clint for that. He wished it, too.

“Why?” Bruce asked, ripping a strip off of his shirt to bandage Rhodes’ leg as best as he could. The Colonel didn’t sit down for it. But he didn’t push the other man from him.

“You need to ask?” He asked, glaring down at the scientist that tried to stop his bleeding.

“James, you can’t keep walking like-”

“I don’t give a fuck.”

“Did you use it?” Natasha asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Tony insisted.”

It was a simple sentence. Barely a sentence really. Two words.

“What?” Steve almost grabbed Bruce to shake him and only barely refrained from doing just that. The Colonel didn’t hesitate. He grabbed onto Bruce shoulders, partly because he must feel the exhaustion and partly because that meant they had seen Tony. And he had been alive.

“When?”

“After the message.” Clint answered, his face set in stone.

“She told us we lost one of our leaders-”

They had thought it must be Steve, because they had Tony with them and Nat, Rhodes and Steve had thought it must be Tony, because they had Steve.

“Where is he?” The desperation in Steve’s voice was even louder when the harsh question of Colonel Rhodes, how injured Tony had been.

“Tony had at least one broken and two cracked rips, his wrist was broken, a severe concussion and claw marks all over his left side.” Bruce almost whispered. He looked up at the Colonel, agony in his eyes. “He decided to let us bandage him because he deduced she would want us to fight him on it. He didn’t. But…”

When he didn’t keep talking, Clint sighed. “He antagonized her, telling her what he knew and judging by her reaction, he was right.”

“What did he know?” Natasha asked because they needed to know. Because she knew Steve wouldn’t have asked the question. He didn’t care. Tony had been alive. He had been with Clint and Bruce and then he had opened his mouth, telling the voice what his brilliant mind had come up with and-

“For one he knew you wouldn’t be as badly hurt as him.”

Steve raised an eyebrow.

“For another he said everything what happened were movies. The basked was Hunger Games, the fence and our lizard was Jurassic Park and then we met a Thestral from Harry Potter.”

Steve didn’t know what Hunger Games was and couldn’t remember what a Thestral was even if he had read Harry Potter but Tony had shown him Jurassic Park. He glanced at the fence before looking back at Clint. How had he made that leap in logic?

“The rhinos could have been Jumanji.” Colonel Rhodes muttered, one hand pressed over his eyes.

“He asked her why she didn’t torture us physically-”

Steve groaned while the Colonel growled and Nat hissed.

“Yeah, we weren’t happy either. He asked why emotional pain and she answered-”

“What is fluff without some angst.” Bruce quoted with a dark voice.

“What does that even mean?” The Colonel growled, letting his arm fall to his side. Bruce had finished his makeshift bandages, sitting back.

“No idea. She must have knocked us out. I don’t remember anything.”

Steve met the archer’s eyes. His expression was carefully calm but he couldn’t hide the almost unnoticeable twitching of his hands and fingers. All of them were on edge. It wouldn’t take much to break any and all of them. He knew it was his job as their team leader to keep calm. Be strong. Make a plan and follow it through.

Steve wanted to scream. To destroy. To lay down here and cry. He wanted Tony.

“He said we wouldn’t be here long and she basically agreed.” Bruce muttered. He didn’t look up from his hands that were struggling to keep still.

Steve didn’t ask if he could change into the Hulk. One look at the other man assured him he couldn’t.

“What’s the plan?” Clint’s eyes wandered to Steve first, then he let it wander over all of them.

“Hey, girl!”

Steve twitched in surprise when one of the most level headed and calm people he knew screamed at the sky.

“Oh no, he must have learned it from Tony.” Clint sighed, defeatedly, while looking at the Colonel who glared up at a nearby camera. His dark eyes were ablaze with fury.

“You want your showdown? Get us to Tony and you’ll get it.” Every word was gritted out. Every word was sharp and precise.

“I’ll get that anyway.” The voice answered, cheerfully. “But since you asked nicely-”

Everything around them went black for a heartbeat and Steve feared she would knock them unconscious, maybe kill them or scatter them in this unreal place to play a new game.

Instead they slumped down on a rough stone floor. It looked like a cave and the hiss from Rhodes was more hatred than pain even if his expression couldn’t hide it behind the gritted teeth.

The scream, muffled by a gag, let him jerk upwards, meeting Tony’s eyes. On the other side of the cave was Tony. His Tony. The infuriating genius he loved. He hadn’t put it into this word. Not consciously. But seeing him now, Steve knew. He loved Tony. For a moment all he saw were the whisky colored eyes. All he felt was the relief that Tony was alive. Tony was alive!

Then he saw the blood, dripping from his temple and down his left side. He saw the contortion of pain in his body language. He saw the desperation and devastation in his expression half covered by the gag.

He was strung up by his wrists, his toes barely scraping the stone floor. Ignoring his rips, broken wrist and concussion, he struggled in his bonds, trying to move away, to tell them something because he kept screaming, the despair obvious without any of the words.

Steve made a step forward without thinking. All he could see was Tony. In pain. Afraid.

“Stop.” Four hands were on him, trying to hold him back. He glanced to the sides, seeing that Bruce was clutching at the Colonel, holding him up and back.

The stretch of cave between them looked innocent enough. It was a trap. Steve knew it was a trap. He didn’t care. If the woman wanted their emotional pain she wouldn’t kill him. He was about to ignore the spies trying to calm him when he looked back in the desperate eyes of Tony. What if this was not about Steve? What if this was about Tony? What if the voice had told him the others would die to save him and it would be his fault.

It wouldn’t be. It never would be. But Steve knew survivors’ guilt and he knew Tony. They were Tony’s family. He wouldn’t want them to get hurt to save him. He was just good like that.

“Tones!” The Colonel called, his voice forced so calm it almost hurt Steve’s throat. “Stop struggling or we will run over to you. Get it? Stay calm. Don’t hurt yourself!”

The next sound was something of a protest but Tony calmed down some.

“Stop it!” The Colonel ordered. “Right now, or I’ll start running.”

Tony huffed and Steve would have bet he had said something about Colonel Rhodes wound if the gag wouldn’t prevent it. Still, he stopped struggling, his body calming. It made the signs of agony and exhaustion even more visible.

“She got rid of the bandages.” Clint murmured and Steve stiffened.

“What movie is this?” Bruce asked, his eyes on Tony, his hands balled into fists without the slightest hint of green. “Indiana Jones or-”

Tony made an agreeing sound. He probably tried to keep the pain out of his voice. He didn’t manage. Not even with the gag.

Steve was cracking on the inside. Tony was right there. He was right there and he was in pain and Steve didn’t do anything. He just stood there not helping, not thinking, not-

“Steve.”

He forced himself to look at Rhodes. He didn’t want to look away from Tony. Not even for a second. He couldn’t know what would happen in that second. He couldn’t know that Tony wouldn’t vanish again.

“Throw your shield. It should activate some of the traps.”

Without a thought Steve grabbed the Shield and threw it, letting it bounce from the walls and catching it a few moments later. Nothing happened.

There was a moment of silence when all of them waited for something. Some clue, some reaction. Every second they stood there Tony hurt and they couldn’t know if they had a time frame. They couldn’t know how long Tony would be able to keep himself stable in this position.

The sound of pained annoyance from Tony was almost enough for Steve to ignore all common sense and charge forward.

“Fuck it.” Natasha pushed Steve back, before throwing herself forward, rolling herself up on the floor, before running at full speed, avoiding some parts of the ground as if she knew what was safe. She didn’t. On her fifth step there was a creak and she let herself fall flat on her stomach. A spear grazed her shoulder, ripping her suit.

Tony screamed, starting to move again.

“I’m fine.” Nat hissed, staring up at the genius and Steve was certain, she was glaring at the other man.

“Nat-” Clint started, but stopped himself when the assassin looked back a dangerous smile on her lips.

Slowly she pushed herself forward, avoiding certain stones. Steve could have seen the difference if he had been able to look away from the chained genius for more than a couple heartbeats at a time. He couldn’t.

Logically, he knew he should tell Nat to stop. To think. But he wasn’t logical right now. He wanted to follow, he wanted to-

Nat moved forward, stopped dead and kept her position.

“Nat-” Clint started, but before anyone could say anything, she carefully rolled on her back, moving her left arm at the last possible moment. She pressed herself as flat to the ground as she could. One of the arrows shooting from the right wall just barely missed her.

Tony was struggling again in his bonds. His eyes were fixed on the red head who couldn’t be bothered to look at him. The muffled screams were gut wrenching to listen to.

Steve knew that if he was in Tony’s position he would do the same thing. Trying to keep his team safe. But unlike Tony, he would have Tony trying to find a solution. And he would find a solution because Tony always did. He would change the laws of the universe to do it and he would do it with a smile on his lips. Steve couldn’t even concentrate enough to help Natasha avoid the traps.

This had to stop. This was just another mission.

Tony.

One of his teammates was in a dangerous situation, a possibly deadly situation to rescue another teammate. His team. His responsibility.

Tony…

If he just focused, just for a moment, he would see the mechanisms in the minimal differences in the ground. He would see the places in the walls where the weapons were hidden.

Tony was struggling again, blood running down his arms where he had cut his wrists on the metal handcuffs.

“Tones!” Colonel Rhodes growled, but Tony ignored him, he glared at the spy, willing her to go back, Steve was sure.

Natasha would never. It had taken Tony and her longer than anyone else to get along. Both hadn’t exactly told Steve what had happened, but the bits and pieces he knew were enough to paint a picture. But they had settled their differences. He knew they took care of each other. He had seen the soft looks both had thrown the other if they thought no one saw it. Steve had seen it. He knew that the other Avengers knew as well as him that they were a family. And except Tony, all of them knew that he was their heart. He was the Mom of the Avengers. He was their glue. He was their damn family.

Natasha wouldn’t retreat, even if it killed her. None of them would.

Rolling back on her stomach, Natasha pushed herself forward again, her posture indicating she was trying harder to see the traps, to find a safe path.

Steve’s eyes jumped up as soon as Tony fell silent. The genius was still conscious, his eyes glued to the path Natasha was taking. He struggled, trying to move forward and losing his footing. Agony flashed over his face, screaming in the way he held himself, but still he was focused on the ground.

When Natasha moved he made an alarmed noise and it clicked.

“Stop!” Steve barked, making Natasha freeze in her movement.

Steve looked into Tony’s eyes. They were as beautiful as always, with just a faint cloud of pain and exhaustion. They were sharp and focused. He made a sharp movement to his right, keeping the eye contact with Steve.

“Nat, move left.”

Tony nodded, relief obvious in his expression. He looked back down on the ground, keeping track of Natasha’s movements.

And what did Steve? He was still losing it. Tony was hanging by a broken wrist and was still more useful than the glorified Captain America.

The next time Tony made a sound Natasha froze. He nodded to his left and Natasha moved right, before looking over her shoulder. “Do you remember my path?” She asked Steve and he froze. He didn’t know. He wasn’t concentrating and he didn’t-

“Of course, we do.” Clint said, his hand reassuringly on Steve’s arm. “We follow you. Tony, keep an eye on us.”

Steve wanted to protest, to tell Clint he couldn’t put pressure on Tony when he was- but he didn’t. Because he knew better. Tony had to do something. He was better off doing anything to help them. Steve would be too.

Clint and Nat moved alternately, giving Tony enough time to clear both their paths.

Steve didn’t react when he heard the discussion of Bruce and Rhodes. He didn’t dare look back. Bruce won, making sure both of them would stay back, even if the Colonel was everything but happy.

“Can I stand up?” Nat asked, looking up at Tony and he nodded.

In an instant the spy was at his side, she grabbed around his waist, trying to take some of the weight off of his wrists.

Tony screamed, a sound that send chills down Steve’s back and made all of them stop in shock.

“Rips!” Bruce yelled and Nat, who had stepped back already, cursed in Russian.

Steve would have leapt forward if Clint hadn’t jabbed a painful elbow in his side. It only barely stopped Steve.

Natasha, in her pragmatism and desperation, went down on her hands and knees, offering Tony her back to stand on. Tony refused loudly behind the gag he obviously wanted to be gone. Why didn’t Natasha-

They had reached the last bit and Steve jumped the last two steps, ignoring the squawking Hawkeye, his eyes fixed on Tony. In the next heartbeat he was at his side and ripped the gag out of the genius mouth.

There were tears in his eyes. Probably of pain and annoyance. There was nothing more he wanted than hugging Tony tight, keeping him safe in his arms.

But he couldn’t. He hadn’t the right. And he didn’t know where to touch the injured man.

“She’s a fan!” Tony gasped, his voice strangled and rough. “She is making us live a fucking fanfiction!” The emotion behind that sentence wasn’t pain. It was furious rage.

Steve wasn’t sure what that meant, instead concentrating to get him out of the handcuffs. “Steady him.” He told Natasha and Clint, who had joined them.

“Where-” Clint started, but Tony interrupted him harshly.

“Just get me down here! I’m going to hunt you down!” He screamed his eyes glaring at a spot over Steve’s shoulder.

“His legs were uninjured.” Bruce called from the back and both Natasha and Clint grabbed one of Tony’s leg, holding him up, while Steve grabbed the chain holding up the handcuffs and pulled.

Nothing happened.

“Steve?”

“I’m trying.” He hissed, not looking at Tony. The chain wouldn’t budge. Shit.

“Tony, hold still.” He met the genius’ eyes. “I’m going to break the chain between the handcuffs.”

“Sure.” There was no hesitation in Tony’s words. Even if it was so much more dangerous for him. Especially if it was reinforced, too. If Steve used even a little too much strength, he could break his hands, worsen the injury of his wrist or-

Inhaling, he carefully tugged at the chain between the handcuffs, trying to be as gentle as he could.

It didn’t budge either.

“Fuck.” Steve cursed. He tried to not do it. Often. At least not in public, even if he did curse when the situation demanded it. Still, it got a smile from Tony.

“Push me up and let me take a look.” His breathing was shallow and Steve could hear the strain in his voice even behind the roughness.

Natasha and Clint both pushed while Steve tried to stabilize Tony with hands on his shoulders. The genius pressed his lips together, closing his eyes for a heartbeat, before taking a look.

“Break the cuffs. They should be easy.”

That was even worse. So many things could go wrong and if she wanted them to suffer-

“Just do it, Cap. I’ll be fine.”

Steve looked in Tony’s eyes and found nothing but trust there. It almost gutted him. Tony was hurt, he couldn’t keep hanging here.

Gritting his teeth, Steve grabbed the left handcuff, inhaling and ripped it apart. Tony’s hand fell down and he groaned. Carefully, Steve broke the right one too. Tony fell forward against Steve’s chest. In a movement fueled by reflex and need, Steve curled his arm around Tony, holding him up. He tried to be careful, to be mindful of the other man’s injuries. He couldn’t stop himself from pressing his cheek to the top of his head, exhaling shakily.

“You have him?” Clint asked and Steve remembered where he was.

“Carry him, we’ll make sure we’ll get back safe.” Natasha smiled at Steve, a knowing glint in her eyes.

“I don’t need to be carried and don’t think I forgot how fucking stupid you were, Red.” Tony hissed at one of the deadliest people in the world.

The Black Widow just stepped forward, pressing a butterfly kiss to his cheek and smiled. “Shut up, Tony.”

“The disrespect!” Tony exclaimed, letting Steve nestle him in the bridal hold to his chest. He was shivering.

“Everyone else fine?” He mumbled, barely loud enough for Steve’s enhanced hearing to pick up the words.

“Yes. Rhodes is a little banged up, but nothing serious.”

Tony moved in his arms, hissing, before settling again.

“Honey bear I hear you got stupid and hurt yourself?”

“I’ll kill you Tones. This time I’m going to do it.”

“You love me too much.” Tony laughed in Steve’s arms and Steve hated himself a little for the way his heart fluttered at that. Shock was the reason Tony snuggled closer to him. Pain and exhaustion the reason why he laid his cheek on Steve’s shoulder and closed his eyes for a moment. He had been kidnapped and hurt, strung up like a puppet and Steve enjoyed having the other man in his arms. He wasn’t better than the villain doing this to the genius.

“No pity party.”

Steve looked down at Tony, surprised to see a hard line in his expression.

“Firstly, because you did nothing wrong. I ran. She lied to us. We’re fine.”

Steve couldn’t help himself, he snorted.

“Secondly, because we will not give her the satisfaction!” That he had growled, furious anger flashing in his beautiful eyes.

Just for a second Steve thought about kissing him.

As soon as they were safe on the other side, Bruce and Colonel Rhodes all but ripped Tony from his arms, laying the genius on the hard ground.

“I’m fine, stop bothering me.” Tony tried to swat away the hands unsuccessfully. As he was barely able to move at all, he wasn’t very convincing.

“I’m going to make Jarvis imprison you in your workshop.” The Colonel growled, one hand digging into Tony’s shoulder. It must hurt and Steve wanted to tell the other man to stop it, but he understood the need to feelTony. And Tony smiled at his best friend, an expression full of love and exasperation.

“I’m fine. It just looks bad.”

“Liar.”

“Seriously this is-”

“If you say ‘nothing’ that means you get hurt more often and worse than you’re telling me and then I will make Pepper ground you!”

“-the worst I ever had. The worst, absolutely. And even though it is the worst, I’m fine.”

“Aha.” The Colonel glared at Tony, who still smiled. The most beautiful expression on his face. He wanted to glance around, see how the others reacted to Tony being so Tony after all this, but couldn’t make himself look away from him.

“Back to the important things.” Tony looked back at Steve and he only barely held back a flinch when his expression got hard.

“The… girl? She is a fan. A fanfiction writer, I bet.”

“Fanfiction?” He asked, because even if he could guess what it meant, he wasn’t even remotely sure.

“Peter showed me. Fans writing works about their favorite stories and characters and, as disturbing as it is, about us.”

“Why about us?”

“Beats me, but that’s what you’re doing, right? Letting us play one of your fucking stories?” Tony now looked at another camera Steve couldn’t be bothered to worry about.

“You created a story, build a set and made us play our part.”

“Yes.” There was an almost laugh in the melodic voice and Steve wanted to strangle her. It was bad enough she had made all of them believe one of them was dead. Worse enough this would visit all of them in their nightmares, but she had hurt Tony worse than all of them. He had just recovered from the last time and she-

“Even if you were a little difficult, Tony.”

Steve took a step closer to Tony, almost bending other the injured man, growling lowly.

The squeal of pleasure was one of the worst things Steve had ever heard and he knew it would hound him.

“This! This is why I did this!”

“What is?” Clint spat. He was pressing one shoulder against Steve’s. All of the others were building a protective circle around Tony.

“The fluff.” Tony answered, his voice cold.

“What?”

“It’s what they call it.” He didn’t elaborate but he didn’t need to.

“You did all this just for…” Steve couldn’t believe it. This had to be a horrible joke.

“This is everything!” The girl answered, happiness plain in her voice. “You’re my favorite Avenger, Cap, and I know how much you value Iron Man. I just had to see it!”

A cold shower run down Steve’s spine. No. No, this couldn’t be. This couldn’t happen. She couldn’t-

“I know he is your best friend. The media is wrong! You all go crazy whenever Tony is hurt. I noticed. So of course, he had to suffer.”

Steve didn’t move. He couldn’t. This was all his fault. All his fault. She had done all of this just because of Steve. She wanted to see him hurt and she knew how to hurt him. He had made Tony a target. And she didn’t even seem to know. She said best friend. She didn’t even know and still she had almost killed Tony. She had fucking tortured him and…

What would happen if she knew. If other villains knew? What would they do to Tony to stop the Avengers? To stop Steve?

Suddenly, Tony’s face was right in front of his. Concern and rightful rage were battling in his eyes and Steve understood. Of course, Tony hated him. All of this, his pain, the injuries of the others, it was all Steve’s fault and-

“Steve, breathe.”

Hands grabbed him hard and Tony, wincing because of the movements, leaned even closer. “This is not your fault. It’s not your fault.” He looked away and Steve whimpered.

Instead of moving away, Tony came closer, pressing against his side.

“Congratulations, you got us. I’ll give you a tip. Kill us now, because we will come after you.”

“Tony!”

“We will find you and we will make you pay.”

“Tony, stop!”

“Fair warning, as you are a fan of us and all.”

Steve shivered. That wasn’t his Tony’s voice. It wasn’t even the billionaire mask. This was someone else and Steve knew, Tony would deliver what he promised. He always did. But right now, there was something more in his voice. This was a man who could and would do anything he promised with a smile on his lips. Steve shivered again.

“I’m sure you’ll try.”

“That we will.” Tony agreed, his hands digging deeper into Steve’s arms. Steve didn’t care. Tony was still touching him. Even if he did this as a front for the villain, he would take it. He shouldn’t. He-

“I’ll be watching.” The voice promised and before any of them could even blink, darkness engulfed them again.

When Steven blinked open his eyes, he was laying on his side in an alley. Iron Man was in front of him, faceplate down.

“Tony!” He surged forward, grabbing frantically at the armor, ignoring the burst of a magical bubble around them. The eerie silence was filled with the noises of New York. Voices, traffic, honking and Steve couldn’t care less.

The armor moved. The face plate went up and beneath it was Tony’s face. Stress, pain, worry and the furious anger were flashing through his eyes and over his expression, but there was no blood.

“Are you okay?” Steve whispered, too afraid and emotionally exhausted to talk louder.

“I’m fine.” He looked over Steve’s shoulder, avoiding his eyes and it stung.

“You okay?” Tony called out and Steve could have kicked himself. He turned around. War Machine was sitting up, his face plant up, worry marking his face. Bruce was beside him, back in his body, wearing the stretchy trousers Tony had made him. Clint and Natasha were coming closer, both looking around, as if they waited for another attack. Nat’s head wound had vanished.

“Don’t seem to be hurt, but we’ll be sure once we’re out of the armor.” The Colonel answered, standing up.

“Good.” Tony stood up himself, not pushing Steve away who was still clutching the other man. He shouldn’t. He should let go. He shouldn’t take these liberties. He shouldn’t announce to the world-

“You” Tony made an impatient hand movement towards the group of heroes, “go back to the Tower. Cap and I are going to visit Dumbledore. This is his domain.”

“Tony.”

“We’ll be on our way back before you know it, Brucey, don’t worry. Rhodey, I make you responsible for getting them home.”

“Tony, I-”

“Thanks, you’re the best.” Tony didn’t wait any longer. He grabbed Steve around his waist and charged his repulsors. Steve had no other choice but to cling more tightly to him.

It was a familiar thing, clinging to Tony in his armor and being carried to wherever they needed to be. It felt safe. Good.

He shuddered again.

“Just a moment, Cap.” The electronical voice of Iron Man assured him, flying a few more minutes. Landing on a building a few blocks from the Sanctum, Tony put his face plate up, his brown eyes searching Steve’s.

Tony’s expression was troubled, a frown clouding his face.

“I… I am sorry.” It was all Steve could say. He wanted to say so much more.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Iron Man’s hands grabbed his shoulders, holding him steady. “It was not your fault. You have a crazy fan. That’s nothing. I have hundreds.”

Steve pressed his lips together. He wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t put that on Tony too.

“Last time, some guy grabbed me, put me in his cellar and confessed his undying love to me.”

Steve flinched, looking up in those eyes he would draw from memory but could never get right because he didn’t have the exact shades of brown however long he searched for them.

“What happened?” He asked instead of the growl of, where was I?

“Got out.” Tony shrugged unconcerned. “But he threatened to kill Pepper and Rhodey because they ‘were in the way’.” He quoted with distaste. “Was that my fault?”

“No.”

“Would it have been my fault if he had hurt them?”

“No, of course not.”

“See?”

“You still would have felt like it.” Steve mumbled, looking back in Tony’s eyes. He didn’t need to see the flinch, the guilt settling in his gaze to know it was true. He knew Tony.

“And it was stupid.”

“Seems like I’m stupid too then.”

Tony smiled. It was a little crooked and accompanied with a heavy sadness, but it was a smile full of emotion and it was just for Steve.

“Aren’t we all?”

Minutes later, Tony annoyed Stephen Strange into helping them. At least that was what he told the other Avengers an hour later. Dr. Strange had taken one look at them and ushered them in, listened to their story and promised to take care of it.

He did.

The girl he found at the end of the magical trail was a twenty-six-year-old social worker, nickname Bea, who had learned some magic. Dr. Strange informed them of that the next day, without telling them where she was. Steve was still not sure if he was thankful to Dr. Strange that he couldn’t make her pay or resentful that he couldn’t do just that. He had just told them that she was somewhere where she wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else.

Because she had hurt them. Steve saw the lingering effects. Colonel Rhodes barely left Tony’s side, his eyes flying towards the genius every other minute as if he feared he would vanish or hide an injury. Bruce, Nat and Clint weren’t subtle in their protectiveness, crowding close in all their personal spaces, barely leaving the room they were in.

Neither of the Avengers had left the common floor for longer than it took for any of them to shower and change. Afterwards all of them had been jittery.

All of them kept glancing at Steve as if they waited for him to break.

Tony kept close to Steve, as if he sensed that Steve needed to see him, to know he was there, alive and not chained to some wall, hurting himself and-

They slept on mattresses and the couch in the living room of the common floor for four nights. Although sleeping was a generous term for the disconnected shut eye they got until one of them woke with a start.

Even Bruce cuddled closer when he normally did, needing the reassurance as much as all of them to know they were safe.

On the fifth day Colonel Rhodes had to leave. He hugged Tony long and hard, whispering something to him that made the genius blush furiously and then nodded at Steve.

“Keep him safe.”

“I’ll do my best.” Steve promised.

“I know you will.”

That night Natasha told them she would sleep on her floor, because she actually needed to sleep. Bruce followed her.

Clint, glancing at Tony and Steve, grinned mischievously and told them they just needed to call for them, if they needed him and left.

“I’m not going to sleep any longer on this couch or it’s going to break my back.” Tony declared and Steve almost whimpered. He hadn’t slept more than an hour since their ‘island vacation’ as Tony called it. Without the others here, without Tony here, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.

“You’re floor or mine?”

“What?” Steve startled, looking at the genius.

“You’re floor or mine?” Tony repeated, a blush creeping in his cheeks. “I know I’ll have to grow up soon, hell, I have to travel to Germany next week, but… I thought you were dead.”

It was the first time Tony had said that. There was pain in his voice, lingering fear and something else Steve couldn’t pinpoint.

“I know.” Steve did know. Every second had gutted him, twisted him inside and- He shouldn't do this. He shouldn't indulge his hope. He shouldn't risk Tony like this. He couldn't-

“My floor.”