Much to Tony's relief, time marched on without incident, and with no sign of Steve or Bucky trying to insinuate themselves back into your life. He continued to excuse your friend's absence away with explanations of an extended mission and you had no reason to doubt his word. Tony knew full well that his minutes with you could be numbered if you were to figure out what he had done, his only hope being that you would realize why and that it was because he desperately wanted to keep you safe. He hinged his entire life on that shred of hope, hanging from it by the tips of his fingers and praying that he wouldn't lose his hold.

But nothing lasts forever.

"Wow, my stomach is growling, can you hear that?"

"Sweetheart, I think the entire block heard that," Tony chuckled. "There's a great pasta place about two blocks from here, what do ya think? I'm pretty sure they're open late."

"I think that sounds perfect. I've had a longing for pasta lately like you wouldn't believe."

"Then why didn't you just say so? We're in New York. There's pasta everywhere."

You gave your husband a half-hearted shrug and continued to walk at his side towards your new destination. After a long day of waiting for him through endless meetings at Stark HQ, the two of you were finally getting some time alone; it had become a rarity lately between his work there and the commitments that the two of you held with the Avengers. It was more difficult lately without Steve, but as usual, the team knew how to pull together and make it work. It was just exhausting, but even this walk so late at night was worth staying up for.

"So, honey, I have a question," you began again after about a block worth of silence, "have you gotten any word on Steve lately? It feels like he's been gone forever."

"Um...yeah...he checks in here and there," he coughed nervously. "Last I heard was a couple days ago."

"Don't you think he should be getting back to the team? Whatever mission he's on, he's obviously not making a lot of progress if he's not done after all this time. If he's away too long, those fancy skills of his are gonna get all rusted up."

"Then maybe we just need an oil can ready for when he gets home?"

"Wow, Tony," you huffed with a nudge of your shoulder into him, "you're such a good friend. Maybe that's why he's been gone for seventeen weeks now. You've joked him into hiding just to get a break."

He nervously chewed at his lip while he came up with an answer that you would accept, realizing that with each mention of the Captain he became more and more unsure of himself and the plan that he had carried out this long already. Every time he looked into your eyes, he feared that you would look back and see him for a liar; the one person who should never hurt you, doing exactly what he was trying to protect you from. "Right..." he muttered under his breath, but his attitude changed quickly to disappointment as a new realization struck. "Uh, hon? I think the restaurant closed a few hours ago. Looks pretty dark in there."

"Really? What time is it? We haven't been walking for that long, have we?"

"I didn't think so."

You grabbed your phone to check the time, taking a deep breath with a shake of your head at the clear disorientation that you were both falling under. It had been so long since you had this kind of time alone that you had lost all track of it. "That makes sense, it's nearly five a.m. We're gonna see daybreak here any second now."

Tony's mind came to a sharp halt, and his eyes widened as if he had seen his greatest terror right before him. When he turned to look at you, his skin was as pale as you had ever seen it, and a trace of sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead. He couldn't believe that it had taken him this long to catch on, and that this was it; this was the moment he couldn't survive happening. "What did you just say?"

"Hey, Tony, what's wrong?" you reached out for him, taking his hand. "Honey, what's going on, you're as hot as a furnace."

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop talking."

"What do you mean? Did I say something wrong?" The only response you got from him was a panicked shake of his head and a step back; if you hadn't kept your grip as tightly as you did, he would've tumbled from the curb and onto the street. Even with the risk he tried to pull his hand from yours, but you wouldn't let him. "Tony, you're scaring me."

"Please..." he whimpered, "I'm not ready."

"Tony-" you tried again, but you were halted by your phone, the sound of it ringing shrill in your ears, with an urgency that couldn't have been real. It didn't matter who was calling, however; the only thing that mattered was the man in front of you, and what it could be that was throwing him into a panic attack right before your eyes. "Dammit," you groaned, reaching into your pocket to silence it, "alright, tell me what's going on, Tony. Let me help you."

But the phone sounded again, and when you stopped it over and over, it came back that much faster.

"Just answer it," he urged. "It's okay, and it won't stop until you do." He watched you pull the device out and look shockingly at the screen, breathless at the sensation of his heart dropping into his gut. This really was it.

"Steve?"

"(Y/N)? You're alive? I didn't believe it when I heard..."

"Of course, I'm alive. Steve, what's going on? Are you alright?"

Tony almost couldn't bear to listen, groaning softly as he released your hand and stepped away so that he couldn't be a helpless witness to the end of his marriage on a random street in Manhattan. It was such a pedestrian way for his life to fall apart, out in public where he couldn't succumb to his fear without ridicule, but he almost didn't care. He didn't care about much right now.

"Oh my god, (Y/N), I can't believe it," Steve answered, "all this time, we thought you were dead. Tony said..."

"Tony said what?" But there was no answer, only the sound of his hurried breaths, shallow and nervous even though the phone. "Steve. Don't you dare clam up now. You just called me at least nine times in a row to get me to talk to you, so spit it out."

"Tony told us that you died at the hospital after you were shot," he finally gave in, "after Bucky shot you."

You looked up and towards your cowering spouse, the question in your eyes shrinking his stature even more. He was up to something, and whatever it was, no matter how terrible, nothing would hurt more than knowing that even in this moment the look in his eyes was a lie. "Who the hell is Bucky?"

"What?" Steve gasped. "(Y/N), are you serious? Do you really not know?"

"Tell me right now, Steve. From the look on Tony's face, I think there's more going on here than I've been allowed to know."

Once again, the other end of the line was silent, and you had the sneaking suspicion that your friend was trying to find a way to give you the answers you needed without making Tony any more the bad guy than need be. Even after what had happened, Steve wasn't so vengeful as to risk tearing your marriage apart. "I'm sure that whatever Tony hasn't told you, it was to protect you. After what happened, I'm sure he's only saying what he needs to so that you're kept safe, (Y/N)."

"That's a pretty benign way of saying that he's lying to me, Cap."

"Please, stop talking," Tony repeated in a whisper, as if only to himself. "There's only three more."

"Steve, hold on," you commanded, putting a hand over the receiver. "Tony, what are you talking about? You've said that already, and I want to know why."

"(Y/N)! (Y/N), listen to me," Steve called out, "we don't have time to wait, I need your help."

You put the phone back to your ear and gave a sharp point of warning at Tony, whispering harshly, "we're not done here, Stark. Don't move." He nodded in agreement and turned away, the disappointment raging within himself too much to allow you to watch. You kept your eyes on him, not that you thought he would run, but so that you could watch for any reaction to the conversation you were about to continue. "Alright, Steve, I'm back. If you need our help, then come back so we can get the team together. Whatever is going on between you and Tony, and whoever this Bucky guy is, if you're worried about a rough homecoming, I can take care of that."

"Fuck" Tony hissed.

"One more word, Stark, and I swear I'll choke the truth out of you," you snapped. "I still might anyway."

"I can't come home, (Y/N)," Steve explained, "we've been on the run since that day at the hospital. Buck and I thought we had found a safe place at the rail station along the river, but Hydra still tracked him down. They took him four hours ago, and I need your help to find him."

"Are you serious? All this time and you've been living in a freight car? Steve...just come...home..." you faltered when your head began to swim so violently that you couldn't stay on your feet. The buildings around you wavered and swayed, and when you closed your eyes, it only felt that much worse. Nausea overtook your breath and choked your words out of your throat as the lump of fear began to swell within it. As the connection began to strengthen and your heart pounded against your chest, you opened your eyes to allow tears to fall in the disbelief that Tony would try to hide Bucky from you like this.

Tony watched helplessly, wanting to reach out to you when your knees gave way, and you knelt on the sidewalk next to him, but he was frozen in place in his own regret and fears. He could all but imagine what was happening in your mind, and the images that were beginning to flood back in after you had broken through the spell that Strange had planted in there; when the shield that Wanda had built around your connection to Barnes had finally fallen. As soon as he had recognized the words you were reciting in your conversation, each trigger word one by one, he knew that his time was up.