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1) Lang
He ran into Lang on his way out of the Compound to meet Pepper for coffee.
The man he had never met before sneered at him like he was some criminal.
Oh the irony.
“Stark.”
“Lang,” Tony greeted cordially.
Lang scoffed. “You need to pull your head out of your ass and apologise to all the people you hurt. Starting with the people whose lives you ruined.”
The bitterness Tony could understand. He knew that Lang’s ex-wife was denying him visits with his daughter.
He knew that Cassie Lang had outright stated that she didn’t want to see her father.
Tony wouldn’t wish the disappointment and betrayal of a father figure on anyone, much less that little girl.
Before he could say anything, or just leave the furious man to stew in his emotions, a voice spoke from behind him.
“No Scott,” Hope’s voice was sad but firm, filled with disappointment and grief. “You did that all on your own.”
She hooked an arm through Tony’s and started pulling him away.
“Call me when you man up and admit that you ruined your own life. Again,” she tossed over her shoulder.
Lang was silent behind them.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Tony murmured.
“I know. But I wanted to. My father passed on his irrational Stark hate to Scott. And I did nothing to stop it.” She squeezed Tony’s arm. “I’m making up for my own mistakes Tony.”
They left the Compound in silence, comfortable enough with each other that they didn’t need to talk.
“Thanks Honeybee,” Tony told her softly just before they parted.
She gave him a sad smile. “That’s what friends are for. He’s my ex but you’re my friend and teammate Tony.”
2) Wilson
“You happy to have the world dancing to your tune Stark?” Wilson spat out, betrayal lacing his venomous words. “You betrayed all of us and got off with no consequences. I told you where Bucky and Steve were and all I asked was that you went as a friend. But you don’t even know what that means do you? And you don’t even have the common decency to apologise.”
Tony didn’t even need to turn to know that it was Rhodey coming up behind him. The soft whir of the braces gave him away.
“Tony went as a friend Wilson,” the colonel snarled, angry in a way Tony very rarely saw.
With Rogers, Rhodey was coldly furious.
With Wilson, Rhodey was fiery and burning in his anger.
“Tony went as a friend,” Rhodey repeated. “And as a result, when those two super soldier bastards beat him down and crushed his chest, he was left in Siberia for fifteen hours before someone got to him. Because no one knew where he went and the only reason Vision found him was because Friday disobeyed her coding to tell him the location.”
Wilson went still and silent.
“The military says no man left behind. That is the first fucking thing they teach us Wilson. And Rogers left Tony behind. He left an injured teammate in enemy territory and he told no one.”
Silence stretched between them.
“That’s the man you follow Wilson,” Rhodey practically spat, putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder and leading him away.
“Rhodey-"
“Don’t Tony. They don’t deserve your kindness.”
Tony leaned into the touch on his shoulder and didn’t look back at the lost and angry man behind them.
“Thanks Platypus.”
“Anytime Tones.”
3) Maximoff
“Stark!”
“You ruined my life Stark!”
“Where’s Vision?! Stop keeping him from me!”
“Stark!”
“Can you make the shield soundproof?” Tony wondered.
“Shouldn’t be too hard. It’ll need to hold up to banshee levels of screeching though,” Stephen mused as the two walked along, surrounded by a golden shield as Maximoff followed them, hurling accusations and insults.
But not magic.
Looks like she was actually capable of learning.
“Stark!”
“How about we stop for dinner on the way back from the meeting?” Tony suggested.
“That sounds nice,” Stephen agreed. “I’m glad,” he added after a pause.
“About what?”
“You realised you don’t owe her anything.”
Tony glanced at the crazed-looking woman on the other side of the shield.
“Because I don’t. I’m not to blame for her choices.”
“Good,” Stephen nodded firmly.
A screech made them flinch.
“I’ll work on soundproofing it tonight,” Stephen muttered.
Tony chuckled. “Good luck with that Stranger Danger.”
“Are you ever going to just use my name?”
“Never.”
4) Romanoff
“Tony, when are you going to stop pushing us away?”
Tony sighed softly to himself. He had to admit, Romanoff timed this perfectly. He was just returning from a meeting and no one was around since they were probably just sitting down to dinner.
“Natashalie,” he greeted her.
Her cheek twitched slightly at the nickname. The slap in the face reminder that she came into his life through lies and he remembered that.
“Tony,” her tone was chiding, like she was scolding a child.
“No,” he cut her off sharply.
Silence settled between them as Romanoff watched him, revaluating her approach.
“We’ll forgive you. You know that right? You’ve just got to say sorry Tony.” Her beseeching, concerned tone was really Oscar-worthy. It was impressive how much she could pretend to care about him.
“Mr. Stark has nothing to apologise for,” a new voice interrupted them.
Romanoff’s eyes widened as she turned to look at Phil Coulson. They were aware of the Agent’s miraculous return from the news since he was on the council that watched over the New Avengers.
(Tony would never forgive Fury for taking advantage of the amnesia-like side-effects of the treatment that saved Phil’s life. He kept the lie up and kept Phil away from them. Tony had watched Clint spiral in guilt after the battle of New York. He’d watched Pepper grieve for a friend. He’d grieved himself for a man he respected. All because of a lie.)
“Phil,” Romanoff tried to regain her composure. “I’m glad to see you.”
He just stared back with a blank expression for a long moment. “I’m so disappointed in you Natasha.”
The words were like a knife in her back. Tony wondered what she thought of the feeling she so often inflicted on others.
“Phil?” For once, the Black Widow sounded unsure.
“I thought you were better than this. I thought you were better than what they made you.” For a moment Phil’s eyes flicked down and away, a brief show of emotion. “I was wrong.”
Romanoff actually took a step back at those words.
Then Phil turned to Tony, clearly dismissing the shaken woman from his thoughts.
“You’re late.”
“Meeting ran long,” Tony shrugged. “Did you draw the short straw of dragging me to dinner?”
Phil raised an eyebrow. “It’s Matt’s pasta-"
“Say no more!” Tony raced past the man. “See you there Agent!”
Phil allowed a tiny smile to cross his face before following Tony, ignoring the spider he left behind.
5) Rogers
“Tony we need to talk.”
“Well I’ll be seeing you in court for breaking the restraining order. Again.”
Pepper stood between Rogers and Tony, back straight and eyes sharp. Her heels were sharp enough to be weapons and Tony almost worried that she’d use them on the disgraced hero.
“I need to talk to Tony,” Rogers repeated stubbornly. “He needs to get over his ego and apologise to the team. To his family.”
Tony didn’t need to worry though. Pepper never needed more than her sharp tongue to cut entitled men down to size.
“And I need for Erskine to have had better taste in lab experiments,” she shot back.
Rogers reeled back in shock and hurt while Tony kept his focus on his phone and not the verbal bloodbath behind him.
“Pepper-"
“Good becomes great wasn’t it? Well the reverse is true. And I think that fits you better,” Pepper continued relentlessly. “You’re a selfish bully Steve Rogers. You only care about what you want and you don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone outside of your little group of pet sheep.”
Tony ducked his head lower to his phone. She was really pissed.
Rogers seemed to be speechless for once.
“Now, for the last time Mr. Rogers,” Pepper had the purely professional voice out now and that still scared the shit out of Tony every time.
“Fuck. Off.”
Tony immediately started walking as his girlfriend spun around and strode off. They walked side by side for a moment.
“The nerve of that man,” she muttered.
“Pep.”
“I can’t believe how entitled he is!”
“Honey.”
“I’ll ruin the bastard. I’ll decimate him. I’ll-"
“Marry me.”
“What?”
+1) Barnes
Tony froze as he came face to face with Barnes after leaving one of the general labs. The guy looked just as surprised (and panicked) as Tony felt.
They just stood there for a moment, staring at each other.
“I’m sorry,” the super soldier croaked out.
Tony blinked at him in shock.
“I’m so fucking sorry. For pointing a gun at you in Bucharest. For Germany. For… for Siberia. For your parents. For Steve. I’m so fucking sorry Mr. Stark.”
Tony was quiet for a long moment.
“I’m sorry for attacking you,” he said at last.
Barnes shook his head frantically though, that mop of hair flying all over the place. “You punched Steve. Because he lied. I’m the one who got involved when I shouldn’t have.”
They stood in silence for another long moment. Tony swallowed hard and gave the man a sharp nod.
He turned and started to walk away before stopping and looking over his shoulder.
“Do you remember them?”
Barnes looked back with haunted blue eyes.
“Every single one.”
“I’m sorry.”
Barnes bowed his head and Tony’s heart ached for the shattered man. He wasn’t ready to be in the same room as Barnes never mind friends.
But…
He hadn’t known Barnes before. The man didn’t betray Tony like the others.
“Get a haircut Barnes,” he said. “You look like you're homeless.”
A confused gaze met his but Tony had reached his limit and was already speed-walking his way out of there.
Barnes didn’t chase him and Tony was absurdly grateful for that.