Chapter Text
As much as Tony hated to admit it, there was a reason Steve was the one in charge. And not just because he demanded to be and became an uncooperative, petty little bitch if he wasn’t. No, it was far more than that.
It wasn’t the fact that he was enhanced (so were Bruce, and Wanda, and Peter, and compared to what they were capable of, the super soldier serum was hardly awe-inspiring), or a matter of experience either (sure Steve was one of only a handful of their members who had received basic training and whose service in World War II was the stuff of legends...but Rhodey had done far more tours in the Middle East and technically outranked him. Not to mention, Clint and Nat's credentials made his look like a joke. Oh and there was that little tidbit of Thor being a king, but you know. Details.).
No, the simple fact of the matter was that, unlike the rest of them, Steve had the incredible (and often frustrating) gift of staying completely calm, cool, and collected even in the heat of battle. No matter what was happening, no matter how bad things looked, he never wavered. He never forgot or strayed from what was right. He could look past all distractions and stay on target. He did what had to be done, personal feelings be damned. He was brave. Dedicated. It was something that, as much as Tony hated to admit it, was admirable.
It still didn't make him any less of an insufferable asshole, though. And listening to him review the logistics of their latest mission for the thousandth time was really starting to grate on Tony’s frazzled nerves.
“Stop. Fidgeting.” He growled through his teeth, watching from the corner of his eye as Peter’s leg bounced hyperactively up and down beside his. “I swear to God, kid, if you don’t stop doing that, I’m gonna lose it.”
“I can’t help it.” Peter whined softly beside him, as, seemingly with great effort, he forced his leg to still. “I’m nervous.”
“Well, get over it.” Tony snapped. “Or else I’ll make you. I know we’ve got some of Cap’s sedatives on board, kid. Don’t test me.”
“Tony? Is there something wrong?” Steve called suddenly, turning away from the holographic projection of their flight pattern. A second projection, detailing Steve’s plan of action, hovered nearby. Tony scowled as the other Avengers turned their attention toward him, some looking thoroughly unimpressed and annoyed and some politely curious.
“Nothing you haven’t heard before, Cap.” Tony assured him, crossing his arms.
“Remind me again.” Steve said with a frown, looking genuinely concerned.
“Fury’s an ass, your plan sucks, and this whole thing is a disaster just waiting to happen.” Tony spat at him.
“Duly noted.” Steve replied flatly as he turned back to the projection.
Fury had informed them a few days ago that they had received intel about a deserted HYDRA base just outside of New Orleans, which Fury believed might (emphasis on ‘might’) have information that SHIELD could use to its advantage. According to his source, the base was established shortly after Higgins Industries began construction on the D-Day landing crafts, and had continued to operate in secret until Hurricane Katrina had forced them to evacuate. And while Fury had been frustratingly mum on exactly what it was he was after, even Tony could appreciate that sixty years of HYDRA intelligence just might be useful (emphasis on ‘might’, considering the place had supposedly been abandoned in 2005 and any information that had somehow managed to survive the mold and water damage was more than likely extremely outdated and useless). Which, fine. Whatever. They had gone much farther for far less before. And the mission was simple enough - get in, grab what they needed, and get out. Nothing they hadn't already done a thousand times before and hardly anything complicated.
Except for this time, Peter was with them. And Tony still wasn't entirely over the fact that their last mission had ended with Cho fishing a bullet out of the kid’s chest. A bullet that had been meant for Steve. A bullet that Steve still had yet to take any semblance of responsibility for. And a bullet that Fury seemed to have very little regard for, considering he had refused to let Tony take charge of Peter and instead had pointedly passed that responsibility to Steve. Again. So no, it was far from simple. And Tony was far from cheery about it.
It wasn’t even two minutes later that Peter’s leg began to bounce again. Tony groaned.
“Kid…”
“Sorry.” Peter said, quickly pulling his legs up and hugging them to his chest.
Though the remainder of the flight passed uneventfully, Tony’s unease continued to grow exponentially the closer they got. By the time they landed, his nerves were completely shot and he was more than willing to do whatever he had to do to get the whole thing over with as fast as possible. When Steve called them over one last time, Tony nearly put his fist through the wall.
“Alright.” Steve said, fastening the strap of his helmet. “This should be pretty straightforward, but we all know with HYDRA, you never know what to expect, so look sharp. First sign of trouble, call it in over the comms. Everyone clear on what they’re supposed to do?” He waited for a low murmuring of affirmations before he nodded. “Good. Move out!”
Tony turned, more than eager to get this whole thing over with, when Steve suddenly called him back. “Tony! I’d like a word, please.”
Tony huffed, but dutifully hung back as the others filed out, ignoring the worried look Peter shot him as he passed by. It was only when they were finally alone that he spoke.
“Really, now? You wanna do this now?” Tony snapped at him.
“I don’t want to quarrel with you, Tony, I just want to discuss-”
“I’m sorry did you actually just say the word ‘quarrel’?
“Tony, this is serious-"
“I know. Seriously, who the fuck says ‘quarrel’?”
“Tony.” Steve sighed. He sounded tired. “I can’t keep doing this with you. I can’t keep fighting you. It’s not working. If we’re gonna be a team, we have to find a way to move past this.”
“You’re saying this is my fault?!” Tony spat, disgusted.
“No-”
“Are you kidding me? Uh, okay, let’s review, shall we? After everything we had been through, everything we built, you were the one who walked away, not me. I did not abandon the team. You did. You were the one who threw it all away, and for what?! For that unstable, brainwashed psychopath who murdered hundreds of innocent people, including my parents!”
“It wasn’t-”
“And you knew! You knew exactly what he did and you kept that information from me! What gives you the right to decide whether or not I get to know the truth about my parents’ deaths?!”
“Tony-”
“And after everything you did, after leaving me for dead in Siberia, I still protected you from Ross. I did everything I could to keep the UN off your trail and from shutting us down. I was the one who got you pardoned, the one who convinced the UN to rewrite the Accords!”
“I know-”
“I have opened my home to you people. I have provided you with everything you need. I’m here. I’m here, and I’m following your orders. So what exactly is the problem, Rogers? What do you want from me?!”
“I want it to be like it was before. Please, Tony, just tell me what I have to do to fix it.”
“Fix it? Steve. There’s no fixing this. What you did…” Tony broke off, shaking his head. “You know, there was a time that I thought...I thought I was the last person you would ever betray. But it turns out you’d do it without hesitating. We will never be okay. Do you understand that?”
“I’m sorry. Tony, please, you have to believe me. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t regret what I did.”
“You'll forgive me if I find that hard to believe.” Tony answered coolly. “Where’s Barnes, Steve?”
“I don’t know.”
“Please, spare me. That man has fallen from the face of earth, and after everything you were willing to risk for him, you can’t tell me you don’t know where he is.”
Steve paused for a moment. “I’m trying to help him, Tony.”
“Help.” Tony snorted. “Steve, you need to wake up. Some people can’t be helped.”
“You know, I’ve always thought you were a lot of things, but a defeatist wasn’t one of them.”
“I just know a lost cause when I see one.” Tony said with a shrug. “Kind of like this conversation.”
“I’m not giving up on us.” Steve said quietly. “I’m going to find a way to save our team.”
“You couldn’t even save my kid from a bullet. What the hell makes you think you can save us?”
“I never wanted Peter to get shot, Tony.” Steve murmured. “You know just as well as I do that there are things we can’t plan for and control.”
“Yeah that’s what you want to hear when you’re about raid a HYDRA base.”
“An abandoned HYDRA base.”
“In theory.”
“Tony. I promise you that I will do everything I can to make sure that Peter is safe.”
“Yeah, you’ve made promises before, Cap. Look where it got us.”
“This is different. I’d give my life for that boy if it means getting your trust back.”
“Yeah? I hate to be the one to break this to you, Cap, but giving up your own life for someone else is actually pretty easy. There are far worse things you can lose. Things that are much harder to give up. What about the success of the mission? Is that something you would give up for him?”
“In a heartbeat.” Steve answered immediately. “I’d do that for any of you.”
“What about Nat’s life? Or Sam’s? If you had to choose between one of them and Peter, who would you save?”
“That’s not fair-”
“True sacrifice isn’t, Steve, that’s the bitch of it. What about my life? Would you let me die so Peter could live?”
"Tony-" Steve began, looking pained.
"Come on, I gave you an easy one there.”
“That’s not funny.” Steve snapped, glaring at him when Tony smirked. "For God’s sake, Tony, I don’t want you dead. I just want your trust.”
“You want my trust? You’re gonna have to earn it. Prove to me that you're willing to do whatever you have to do to protect the kid and maybe I'll consider it.”
Steve didn’t answer him. He just studied Tony quietly, and after a long moment, he finally nodded.
———————
“How’s it looking?”
“Just fan-freaking-tastic.” Tony drawled sarcastically, picking his way cautiously through the brackish, knee-high water, never more grateful for the ventilation filter in his helmet. “Can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.”
“I can.” Sam grumbled over the comm line. “Literally anywhere else.”
“Seriously though, all bitching aside, has anyone actually found anything even remotely useful?” Clint asked, sounding annoyed. “Or working?”
“Nothing.” Nat grunted. “I can’t find a damn thing.”
“On the plus side, though, that seems to include HYDRA goons - the place is completely deserted.”
“Yeah, that’s because it’s underwater, birdbrain.” Tony said irritably, wading further into the inner maze of the base.
“Oh, bite me - !”
“Tony, any luck finding a computer?” Steve interjected quickly.
“Yeah, I hate to break it to you, Ice Pop, but even if I do manage to find one in this rat maze, I doubt it’ll be working.” Tony answered grumpily.
“Keep looking.” Steve ordered. “HYDRA may have had some way of protecting their information.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Tony muttered, attention shifting as his HUD informed him that Peter was requesting a private comm line with him. He sighed, and switched over. “What?”
“Mr. Stark, are you okay?” Peter whispered.
“I’d be a hell of a lot better if you’d quit screwing around and focus on the mission, Pete.” Tony snapped at him.
“But, Mr. Stark-”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.” Tony told him before closing the line. Soon the only sound he heard was the gentle sloshing of water.
Tony heaved a sigh, turning to shine his light down another long stretch of hallway. In the absolute darkness, the image intensifiers were almost completely useless, as were the thermal imaging cameras without some kind of heat signature, and Fury’s source hadn’t been able to provide them with much about the base itself. From what little Tony knew, it was enormous, stretching endlessly on for miles and miles and burrowing deep underground amid various twists and turns. Navigating it without some kind of help would be impossible, and he already felt like he was wandering aimlessly in circles.
“FRIDAY.” He muttered. “What do you say we go ‘Hansel and Gretel’ on this bitch?”
“Wise decision, Boss.”
“Think we can tone it down on the sass there, babe?”
“I’m hardly a miracle worker, Sir.”
“Well, not with that attitude you’re not.”
Using the information the suit had collected so far of his progress, FRIDAY immediately went to work constructing him a map of the base. It wasn’t much, but he’d be able to use it to find his way back. With this in mind, Tony continued on, trying to ignore his growing anxiety the farther he went. By the thin beam of his flashlight, he could see that black mold lined the walls like wallpaper. The air seemed stale and cold, and the further he went, the higher the water rose. Every so often, he caught the faint scurrying of rats. It took him almost ten minutes before he finally found a single door along the miserable expanse.
Without waiting to find out whether it was locked, Tony quickly blasted it open and climbed through, shining his light around the small, pitch black room.
“Bingo.” He breathed.
“You find something?”
“Control Tower.”
“Anything working?”
Tony moved closer, inspecting the ancient computers with difficulty in the dim light. None appeared to be working, though to be fair, not a single one was plugged in, as far as he could tell, and all had been piled precariously above the water on desks and file cabinets.
“Not sure.” He said at last. “Give me a minute. FRIDAY, darling? Think you can help me out?”
It took her a minute, but eventually, FRIDAY managed to connect him to the main server. Tony cursed as information began to fill his screen.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. Just decades and decades of encrypted files all thrown together.” Tony told him.
“But it’s there?”
“How the fuck should I know?” Tony asked irritably. “I don’t even know exactly what it is that I’m supposed to be looking for. But I’m guessing there’s gotta be something useful buried in here.”
“Can you just decode it?”
“Cap, it would take me three days to decode this in my lab. The best I can do right now is have FRIDAY download all of it and look at it later. If Fury’s got a problem with that, then he’ll just have to get over it.”
“Wait, Tony-”
“Oh no, you’re breaking up!” Tony called sarcastically over him before quickly hanging up. The last thing he needed was Steve nagging him while he was trying to think.
He didn’t know whether to be annoyed or impressed when Steve found him just a few minutes later. Annoyed, he decided, as soon as he started talking.
“What are you doing?” Steve snapped, ushering Peter through the busted door before climbing in himself. Though his face was half hidden behind an air filtration mask, Tony could tell he was scowling.
“My job.”
“This isn’t-”
“Hey. I don’t know about you, but I wanna get the hell out of here and go home, so if you could just - Peter, hey, don’t touch that! - shut up for once, that would be great.”
Miraculously, Steve didn’t argue with him. Instead he merely folded his arms and sat back, watching Tony work while Tony did his best to ignore him and the uncomfortable silence that followed. “Okay. There’s only a minute left and then we’re good to go. Peter, goddammit, what did I JUST say-!”
“But that weird light’s blinking!”
“Who cares?!”
“But how is there even a light down here? We’re underwater, the circuitry’s shot, and no one’s been here in over ten years!”
That gave Tony pause. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember seeing the strange red light when he first found the room. Turning, he moved closer for a better look, gently forcing Peter out of his way. In the dim light, he was having a hard time seeing exactly what it was, but it appeared to be some kind of box.
“What is it?” Steve asked him, sounding uneasy. “A camera?”
“I’m not sure.”
Hesitatingly, Tony reached out a hand and the suit retracted, allowing his bare fingers to brush the surface, exploring it. It wasn’t until he found a wire that he realized exactly what it was.
“Jesus Christ.” He cursed, scrambling back.
“What? What is it?”
“It’s a bomb!”
“What?!”
“It’s a fucking bomb!”
“Holy sh-!”
“Move!” Steve shouted over the comm, grabbing Peter and shoving him forcibly back into the hall. “Everybody out! Code Black! I repeat, Code Black!”
A chorus of swears sounded off as Tony moved to hurriedly disconnect FRIDAY from the server, just as she had finished downloading the last file. However, the moment he did, two things happened all at once.
Across the room, a timer suddenly lit up on the bomb. 2:00. And immediately began counting down. And at the same time, a red “Warning!” flashed across the screen of his HUD.
Tony swore.
“What is it?! What’s wrong?!” Steve asked him, from where he was still waiting for him at the door.
“Run! Run, go!” Tony shouted at him, kickstarting his repulsors and launching himself into the air. Immediately, Steve whirled around and scooped Peter up in his arms before Tony had the chance. Ignoring the kid’s squawks of protests, he took off like a shot down the halls, Tony hot on his heels.
“What’s our time?!”
“Less than two minutes!”
“I don’t understand- what happened?!”
“It must have been synced to the files.” Tony ground out. “It started counting down once I finished downloading them.”
“I told you-!”
“Oh, yeah, good for you, Spangles!”
“That is so cool!” Peter shouted. “A real life booby trap - just like Indiana Jones!”
“Yeah, Peter, real fucking terrific!”
The sound of water splashing and the roaring of Tony’s repulsors echoed a thousand fold as they barreled through the hallways, with Tony shouting directions to Steve above the clamor.
“How much time?!”
“One minute! We’re almost there, keep going!”
It wasn’t long before Tony became vaguely aware that one by one, the others were announcing that they had made it out, until finally...they were the only ones left. Everyone else had made it out. And Peter was still with them. And the timer was down to seconds. Tony felt his chest tighten.
As they came hurtling around the corner, they were suddenly blinded by a bright halo of sunlight bursting through the darkness just a couple hundred feet away. The door! It was right there...and they were almost out of time...
10...9...8…
They weren’t gonna make it.
“Steve!” Tony shouted desperately.
Steve did his best. He really did. But he still wasn’t fast enough.
A great boom echoed from deep within the building, and the ground shook violently in its wake, with so much force it threw Steve completely off his feet. Tony reached out, trying to catch him, but was knocked aside by a piece of falling debris. He managed to correct himself just in time to see Steve crashing to the ground with Peter in his arms, rolling with the impact before throwing himself over the kid, shielding him. Tony too came to a stop, hovering over them both, with his arms raised hopelessly to try stop the walls from collapsing down upon them. He held his breath, and steeled himself for the worst.
But a second passed. And then another...and nothing happened. It was Peter, hyperactive spaz that he was, who finally broke the silence that followed.
“Um. Was that it?”
Tony hesitated, glancing down at the corner of his HUD where the timer had been counting down. It was no longer there. Slowly, he lowered his arms. “Apparently.”
“Wow. Worst. Bomb. Ever.”
“Yes, tragic. I don’t know how I’ll ever get over the disappointment.” Tony said sarcastically, shutting off his repulsors and dropping to the ground. He retracted the helmet, watching as Steve reached out and hauled Peter to his feet.
“You okay, son?”
“The kid’s complaining that the bomb wasn’t death-inducing enough.” Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes. “He’s fine.”
Even so, as much as he hated to agree with the kid on this one, Tony had to admit that had been incredibly anti-climactic. Especially for a group as ridiculously dramatic as HYDRA. Tony turned and took a few hesitant steps back down the hall, staring down at the into the great, maw-like abyss. Was that really it?
And then suddenly, a noise unlike anything Tony had ever heard before shattered the eerie stillness completely. The earth itself seemed to groan, followed by the scream of metal collapsing on itself. Then the ceiling split above them, and thick clouds of dust came raining down as the ground gave one last horrid shudder.
Time seemed to slow down. Tony turned in time to watch as Peter lunged for him. As Cap's arms flew out and wrapped around him, and then yanked him back. He watched as Peter writhed. He watched as Steve pinned the boy against his chest, holding him in place. Distantly, Tony was aware that Peter was screaming. Screaming for him. Screaming for Tony as though his life depended on it as Steve dragged him back toward the door.
For the first time that day, Tony breathed easy.
Steve had kept his promise. The kid was safe. That was all that mattered.
He met Peter's wide, terrified oculars and smiled sadly at him.
And then the world came crashing down around him.