"Where are they?!" Tony yelled as he joined Natasha, Bruce and Thor, who had all gathered to try to make a plan on how to go on with this incredibly broken team. "I leave the house for a few minutes and FRIDAY calls me, telling me that the kids have lost their goddamn minds!"

"Tony, calm down," Nat said in a quiet tone, hoping that he would take on her demeanor, "charging in here like that isn't going to fix anything."

"Do I look like I give a shit? I'm not here to fix anything. I'm here to crack some heads together!"

"Steve already tried that," Bruce added, "Barton just got out of the infirmary with a nice hand-shaped bruise around his neck."

Tony closed his eyes and rested his hands on his hips with a deep breath, trying to calm himself with limited success. There was no way in hell that he was going to be expected to just stand by and watch as the team fell apart and as you and Steve ruined something that he believed in his soul was right. "I'm only going to ask this one more time. Where. Are. They?"

~~~

Tony found Clint first, sitting in his car, unable to bring himself to leave. He had his keys in hand for the last thirty minutes, feeling like he couldn't remember how to use them, much less operate a moving vehicle. He was completely stunned at what he had done, admitting to himself that he was acting on impulse and without thought and was in the wrong. If he ever had any chance to be with you, this had definitely sealed his fate of never seeing it happen. When he watched you throw your ring at Steve, he felt a glimmer of hope for himself, but was thrown into the harsh reality that he had been the impetus for this and you might never forgive him.

He coughed with a small sniffle, wiping his eyes and sitting up at attention when Tony opened the passenger door without warning, dropping himself into the seat. "Stark, if you're here to kick my ass too, save it. I think Steve did enough for everyone."

"I'm not here to kick your ass, Barton," Tony replied with anger in his tone. "I'm here to ask you what the hell you were thinking. Were you even thinking?"

"No, I wasn't."

"At least you admit that."

"Love makes us do stupid things," Clint groaned, leaning his head back against the seat rest with his eyes closed, "or at least that's what I've heard."

Tony shifted in his seat so that he was facing Clint, leaning his back against the door. He studied his friend for a few minutes, seeing the anguish in his face and the defeat in his posture; he looked nothing like the confident and good-humored teammate that he was used to seeing. "Okay, so tell me this. Do you really love her?"

Clint finally opened his eyes and looked at Tony in complete shock at what he was hearing, his mouth agape and loud scoff from his throat. "That is a ridiculous question. Did you not hear what just happened?"

"Obviously. But I want you to think about this. I don't need an answer right now, but hear me out." Tony took a deep breath and held his hands up as if to keep Clint from interrupting, "Okay, before all of this started, (Y/N) was your teammate, right? Yes, you were close friends, but just friends. Then something really traumatic happens and you step up as the one person to call her out on her BS. You become so intertwined with her pain and her failures and her successes, that you're closer to her now than you ever have been before. She confides in you. She trusts you like you've never experienced," Tony paused, turning to look out the front window and away from the pain he could see growing in Clint's features as he spoke, "but we know that intense feelings are born of traumatic events. So, I want you to ask yourself this, Barton. When this is done, and she's healed, and when she doesn't need you as much, will you still feel the same? Will you love the fiercely independent, sarcastic, sometimes pushy and, frankly, always a bit scary side of her? When the intensity of this situation dies down, will you still love every part of her like Steve does? Or just the part that needs you?"

~~~

When Tony found Steve, he was in your room, packing to return to his permanent quarters at the upstate facility. The two of you had agreed to stay at the tower during your recuperation while you needed the therapists and doctors nearby, but now he had no reason to stay with you. There was nothing holding him back from returning to his work there. With each item tossed into the bag, his throw became angrier and he cursed under his breath at how stupid he had been and how infuriating you were. He wanted to apologize to Clint, but the thought of his teammate still only incited rage and it was probably best to wait until the urge to murder him was gone.

When he was done, he looked around the room at the emptiness without his presence, his eyes finding your ring that he had thrown haphazardly onto his dresser. He walked to it slowly, as if seeing it up close would cause him more pain; his hand reached out cautiously and took it, tilting it so that the gem sparkled in the evening sunlight that broke through the large windows of your room. He still wanted you to have it, even if you never wore it again; in his heart it was always meant to be yours, and he wanted to give it back. Steve took a long breath and sat heavily on the edge of your once-shared bed and felt nothing but remorse at how things had happened.

"Cap?"

"Go away," he sighed, fully exhausted and in no mood to talk.

"Yeah, not gonna," Tony said with a forced smile, pushing his way through the door. He stood steady there and watched Steve for a moment, trying to gauge where his emotions were before he began. "Just a few minutes, okay? You don't even have to talk if you don't want to, I promise."

With a huff, Steve stood and grabbed the ring box from his bedside table, putting the jewelry inside and giving it one last look before tossing it to Tony. "Give her that for me, would ya? It could never belong to anyone else."

"Steve," Tony groaned, opening the box and pulling the ring out to inspect it, still in awe of the work that the two of them had done together, "what are you doing? Why are you giving up so easily? This isn't the Cap that I know."

"Easily? You think this is easy?" Steve barked, pulling the zipper of his bag closed with a forceful tug. "Oh my god, Tony. Since that day in Wakanda, it has been nothing but hardship, and pain, and arguments, and..." he faded, shaking his head with thoughts that were coming too fast to say aloud, "and it's anything but easy."

"Nothing else?" Tony pressed, moving to stand face-to-face with Steve. "That's all it's been? Every day? So, that look on your face when you two got back together after months apart was what? You were beside yourself with almost giddiness and you can't deny that. And when you announced your engagement to us, remember? I've never seen you look like that before. This rock," he paused, holding the ring to the Captain's face, "looks dull compared to the ridiculous smile you were wearing that entire day. Oh, and don't even get me started on the tears in your eyes when you saw her walk again. That's another whole conversation in itself."

"No, it wasn't all bad, Tony. But it was a lot. And now this thing with Barton..."

"It doesn't need to be a thing, Steve. Don't let him be an issue; take a stand. If you want to be with (Y/N), then be with her, but don't just roll over." Tony put the ring back into the box and set it gently on the bed next to Steve's bag, refusing to give it to you for him. "You know," he said quietly, "all relationships have hard times and things that test them. I want you to take yourself back to the day you almost lost her for good. When we all almost lost her. You found the strength to keep her alive, until we had to physically pull you away. I've never been more afraid, Cap, and it wasn't for her. It was for you."

"I remember."

"So where is that strength now? Because, Steve...you're about to really lose her for good."

~~~

"Hey, trouble," Tony greeted you, wearing a weak smile as he entered the gym. "I thought you'd be done for the day. It sounds like you had quite the exciting afternoon without me."

"Your point?"

"Come on now, don't give me that attitude, I'm neutral in all of this."

You stopped in your tracks, leaning slightly against the apparatus with a raised brow as you looked at him skeptically, "since when have you been neutral on anything in your entire life, Tony Stark?"

"What?" he scoffed, "just last week I said I didn't care what we ordered on our pizza!" He held up his hands and pointed to himself as if it were totally obvious that you missed it, "neutral! I'm Switzerland, baby!"

"Mmm hmm," you murmured to yourself and returned to your work, "what do you want, Tony?"

"Just came to see how you were doing...with therapy...on your own...alone..."

"Oh my god! Are you serious right now?" you stopped, grabbing one of your safety belts and throwing it at him. "You have some damn nerve!"

"Okay, ow. Those things are heavier than they look." He rolled up the belt and set it to the side, thrusting his hands into his pockets to try to look unassuming and well-behaved, though you knew that was unlikely. "I just came to see how you were, I swear. I hear it got pretty heated in here."

"If you mean when Steve tried to kill Clint, then yeah, pretty heated."

He took a few steps forward to get into your eye line and waited until you finally looked up at him, "I also heard that you walked on your own."

You shook your head, diminishing any pride that you could have taken in it, knowing it was only because your adrenaline was surging enough to keep you moving; you had no confidence that you could do anything close to that right now. "I pretty much flung myself at him. I don't think that counts. I had to stop him."

You stopped again for a moment as the scene replayed in your mind, seeing Clint struggling under Steve's hand, knowing that you had fault in it. Looking down at your own hand, your chest ached at the lack of your ring, feeling remorseful in how you handled the whole situation. But, if you could go back, you weren't convinced yet that you would do it any differently. He admitted that he hadn't gotten over Peggy, and you had let Clint get too close.

"I was an idiot to rely on anyone but myself. I have to do this on my own, I see that now." You turned away from him and began to move again, "and I will."

"Never a doubt in my mind," he sighed, watching you slowly put one foot in front of the other, then turning and doing it again. "Have you tried without holding on?"

"Every now and then, yeah," you smiled slightly, thankful for a topic that kept your mind off of Steve. "I'm able to take more steps on my own than even yesterday. Whatever Helen did seems to be working. I never did thank you for that, did I?"

Tony shrugged, "well, you weren't really in any shape to say much when you came out of it. But I know, sweetheart. You're welcome. If I could fix all of this, I would."

"Tony..."

"You won't even talk to him?"

"Please, don't. I can't even think about that right now, okay? Please...just...just go and let me focus."

He lifted on his toes to reach your cheek for a quick kiss and made his way out of the room without another word. He may not have said any more, but he had done enough to fill your mind with Steve and the loss of him. And then there was Clint; you had surely lost him too, leaving you no choice but to do this on your own. Your body took the opportunity of your racing mind to lose focus and stumble, sending you roughly to the mat below. It was your final breaking point.

"Dammit!" you yelled with an angry growl into the empty room, now fully engulfed in tears and quiet gasps, turning onto your back but remaining on the floor with no will to get up again.

"Miss, shall I call for assistance?"

"No, FRIDAY," you sighed, closing your eyes for a moment and trying to gather the desire to move, feeling truly on your own. "I can do this." You rolled onto your stomach and pushed yourself up to your knees, pausing there to keep your mind focused on your movements, not the barrage of pain and emptiness you were feeling.

From a floor above, you had a watcher. Steve stood motionless, his bag of belongings slung over his shoulder, and his face calm but with eyes full of anticipation as he watched you. "Come on...get up...get up..." he whispered, finally smiling to himself when you found success.

"That's my girl."