On The Run

Tony

Chapter 9: Tony

The air smelled like freshly baked pizza as Sam pulled out plates and distributed pieces to all of the (ex) Avengers spread out around the den watching Monday night football (except for Wanda, who was listening to music on Steve's headphones and coloring blissfully.

"You know, I can phone one of my buddies back in San Fran," Scott began, his mouth full of pizza, "and I think I can get him to fly out here and wipe our phones tomorrow or Monday at the very latest. His name's Kurt and he's a whiz with computers-even better than I am."

"Is he anything like you," Sam muttered. Steve agreed; he wasn't sure they needed another Scott around quite so soon.

"No. He's Russian or something and he's really superstitious. If he can't explain it, it was probably Gypsies."

"Sounds like a great guy," Clint muttered, taking a bite of pizza. "Not bad, Cap."

"Thanks," Steve replied. "Wanda? What do you think," She gave him a halfhearted thumbs up, not looking up from the coloring book.

He and Bucky preferred to eat in the relative solitude of the kitchen, where they could supervise everybody from a safe distance. "I would say we're doing okay so far,"" Bucky said, taking another piece of pizza. "I mean, it's been about twenty four hours and we haven't been arrested yet."

"Even so, we should lay low for the next few days-in case anyone really did get suspicious," Steve replied. "Clint can go hunting-we can have some fresh venison."

Bucky nodded,"Sounds delicious. I've never had it, but we can give it a try."

He surveyed the members of his team, looking relaxed for the first time in days,"Answer me truthfully: how long do you think we can keep this up?"

"Until someone needs the Avengers," Bucky replied. "It'll be a lot harder to stay in the shadows when we're trying to save somebody. We'll probably need to move. Do you have any other safe houses?"

He shrugged, "I have some people I can call. Nothing concrete."

"We'll figure it out, Steve," We always have.Whenever they'd run on hard times in the past-days without enough food, nights that always seemed too dark-they'd found ways to get through it. Sometimes they'd had to rely on their own common sense, ingenuity, and more than a little luck-but they'd always found a way. He had to assume that was the case here too; things would work out. He just needed to keep everyone alive and hidden until they did. "What about Tony?"

Steve winced, unable to stop seeing the look of incredible hurt on his friend's face when he'd told him that he'd known the truth about the car crash that had killed Howard and Maria Stark. Truth be told, he'd never known anything concretely until Zemo had showed them that video-but he'd managed to put the pieces together, from newspaper articles and tattered Hydra file folders yellowed with age...but the look Tony had given him, the look of something broken that could never be prepared, had been enough to make him wish he hadn't kept such a secret to himself. "What about him?"

"Think he'll ever stop hating you?"

"I don't know. I see where he's coming from; I knew Stark had...problems with his family and I should have told him what happened. I just...I didn't want to hurt him when I didn't know anything for certain-all I had was Hydra rumors that were years old-and I didn't want it to change the way he felt about you-or whether or not he'd try to help me find you. If I were in his shoes...I don't know if I'd be able to forgive, much less forget. I lost a friend in Siberia-and everyone else in this house did too. Before Leipzig, I would have thought Tony was our ally-but now I have to wonder. If he saw one of us on the streets, would he let us go-or would he call the government? I can't tell anymore...so I think it's best if we stay off the radar. If he needs us..of course I'd come help him without a second thought. But until then, he's out of the equation," He shook his head, trying to clear it; ultimately, every time he thought about Tony Stark his mind turned into a jumbled mess. "I made a mistake."

"Everyone does, Steve. Even Captain America. You can't be perfect all the time-you know that, right?"

He shrugged, "Sometimes I forget."

"Yeah, you made a mistake. Yeah, you should have told him about what happened. But until a time comes when you can apologize...you have to move on, Steve. Take it from someone who's done things he regrets. You have too many people to look after-and who are looking after you too."

Steve nodded, watching Scott and Sam trade good natured vocal jabs at each other, while Clint looked out the window into the dark night-although Steve could tell he was looking past it, maybe to his family. The family that, thanks to Steve, he wouldn't be able to see for a very long time.

Yes, it was his fault. All of this was his fault. And yet, they'd followed him anyway. They'd chosen his side over Tony's and accepted all of the consequences that came with it. True loyalty like that was hard to find; he was grateful for each and every one of them.

And the next time he saw Tony, he was going to apologize. Maybe it wouldn't do a speck of good, but he had to try. They'd been through so much together (they'd saved the world twice), and he owed him at least that much. More than that, if he was being honest.

But for now, they were going to rest, they were going to recover, and most especially they were going to heal. One day at a time.