Bend Around the Wind by Scyllaya

Chapter 61: Divided Loyalties

Chapter Sixty-One

Divided Loyalties

Milky Way Galaxy

Sol System

Nine Realms / Planet Earth

When Tony left the stage they all turned and headed inside the building. Natasha's phone was ringing even before they made it to the lounge. She picked it up and started talking, most likely to Fury. Steve just kept walking forward, dozens of questions running through his head.

He was glad, obviously, Stark was alive, he returned. He learnt in recent years though that miraculous returns were not always happy reunions, so he couldn't help but feel just a little bit of guardedness. It was obvious that Stark was back for some time now and the fact that he did not contact any of them spoke volumes. Well, Steve did have an idea why he wanted such a public return, but he didn't want to jump into any conclusions yet. He would have to ask him all these questions personally. He hoped the answers would be satisfactory.

'Hold on,' Natasha spoke up louder and they all stopped to look at her. 'I put you on speaker,' she said to the phone.

'Was that really Tony Stark?' Fury's voice sounded from the other end.

'Sure looked like him,' Steve said.

'No, "looked like him" is not enough, I want proof. Did you know about this Rogers?'

'I don't answer to you,' Steve said instead of answering and headed further inside, Bruce followed him. He made it clear dozens of times that Fury couldn't just demand answers like this.

Natasha brought the phone back to her ear, most likely listening to instructions. And Steve was just about to ask Bruce where it was best to start looking for Stark when one of the elevators opened and Pepper's assistant Patricia walked out of it.

'Mr. Stark is about to give an interview, so he cannot meet you right now,' she said, clearly knowing whom they were looking for. 'Miss Potts suggests you return to the Avengers levels, where you can watch the broadcast.' She stepped out of the way to leave the elevator for them.

'We're probably going to hear some answers from that,' Bruce said.

'Yeah, the official public answers,' Clint said. 'Not sure how close to the truth it's going to be.'

'Well, it's not like we can drag him out of there and ask our questions,' Steve said as he headed towards the elevator. 'We might as well wait for him.'

Natasha put away her phone before she stepped inside after them.

'Fury's right about needing to make sure it's really him,' she said.

'I doubt some impostor would be able to fool Pepper,' Steve answered.

'Unless she found him herself,' Natasha said.

'Is that what Fury thinks?' Steve frowned at her. 'That Pepper found some Tony-look-alike? Don't be ridiculous.'

'We're just considering all options.'

'I could very well tell you to leave,' Steve warned firmly. 'The only reason you and Clint still have Avengers status and access to the tower is because you promised Fury would be kept out of our business. You are really not holding up your end of the deal.'

'This is not Avengers business,' she said. 'This concerns SHIELD as well.'

'How about we stop fighting for five fucking minutes?' Clint interrupted. 'Fury is going to want to know stuff and Tasha's right, Stark's return is not strictly Avengers business. It concerns the whole world, so Fury needs to be informed too. There.'