A/N: This is an idea that I've been toying with ever since the first Ultron trailer was released. I'm sure once the film comes out this will be null and void, but for now, here's a quick scene that wouldn't leave me be until I wrote it.

Warnings: Mild language and an attempted suicide, so please read with caution

Assembled we are strong

As he was running up the stairs to the top of Stark tower, Steve had never been so grateful for the super soldier formula that was coursing through his body.

Ultron had disappeared, god knows where, and the room had erupted into chaos. Everyone's anger had turned to the billionaire, who seemed as shocked as them. A blind man could see that Tony had no idea what was happening, and that had only seemed to make them angrier. Steve had managed to draw the attention away from him, and slipped back into his role as commander.

He hadn't notice Tony leave, hell none of them had, until he turned to ask the inventor something and was greeted with an empty space. Someone, Barton probably, made some snarky comment calling Stark a coward, but Steve wasn't listening. He looked around for some kind of clue as to where Stark had gone, when JARVIS answered it for him. He vaguely heard Bruce talking to the computer.

"Mr. Stark is on the roof; he left about 10 minutes ago."

Alarms started blaring in Steve's head. He knew from experience after the death of Agent Coulson, that Stark would retreat if need be, and get lost in his own emotions. However, with Ultron on the loose, he preferred to have his team where he could see them.

He was about to tell JARVIS to ask Tony to come back down, when he looked over at the table that Thor's hammer was resting on. He remembered both Natasha and Clint placing their guns on the table before Ultron had attacked, and didn't remember either having the time to pick them back up.

So why was there a gun missing.

It didn't take long for Steve to connect the pieces in his head. When he did, he took off towards the stairs, shouting at the others to follow him over his shoulder. An emotional, guilty man plus a weapon plus a tall building equalled a situation that Steve hoped to God that he'd misread.

He cleared the stairs in no time, and yanked the door to the roof open, before skidding to a halt, feeling his stomach plummet. Standing before him was Tony Stark. However, instead of oozing with his usual charm and self-assuredness, he was facing away from Steve with his shoulders hunched at the edge of his building, with Natasha's firearm held loosely in his grasp.

Oh no. Steve needed to get Tony away from that ledge, like yesterday.

"Stark…"

"Save it Rogers. Just…"

The inventor took in a shuddering breath, and Steve could hear the tears that were clogging his throat from the other side of the roof.

"You don't need to tell me that I've fucked up, okay? What's happening is all on me." He looked away, trying to supress the feeling of guilt that was threatening to overwhelm him, before glancing down at the weapon in his hand. "The guys are pissed, and they have every right to be. Trust me, no one in that room hates me more than I do right now."

His neck began to twitch at the reminder. Thor trying to choke him had been terrifying, and the glares and comments he'd received hadn't helped either. Even Bruce had looked at him with something akin to disappointment. He was just too tired to keep defending himself.

"I created Ultron as an asset, to try and change the world for the better. People are dying, 'cause I got it wrong." Tony paused, taking a shuddering breath "This is all my fault, and there isn't a damn thing I can do."

Steve knew that Tony felt guilty for his part in all this, but hearing the man's self-loathing first hand was something entirely different. This wasn't the man he'd met years ago; whose cocky attitude had infuriated him so much that he'd tried to belittle him in front of everyone, calling him selfish, worthless and unimportant. This Tony Stark was showing his true emotions, showing how he really viewed himself.

It was scaring the crap out of him.

"You were right, you know." The billionaire said, as if reading Steve's thoughts "When you said I wasn't a hero. This was my attempt at helping people, and look how that turned out. And sure, maybe this is what a coward would do. But it's the least that I deserve."

Oh god. Steve knew that the situation had been bad, but hearing Stark confirm his intentions gave him the push he needed to speak.

He had to stop him, and it had to be now.

"Tony, listen to me. Ultron was a mistake. A simple, tragic mistake, but still a mistake. You didn't mean for this, any of this! What do we have to do to make you realise you aren't alone in this, that we don't want you gone?" When he got no response from the engineer, he continued, dropping his calm façade slightly. "This one mistake doesn't erase everything else, Stark; you stopped a terrorist organisation, saved the President, heck, the whole of New York City from a bomb! Like it or not, you're a hero, you're an Avenger. We need you."

The small scoff he received in response was enough to break his heart. He heard several intakes of breath behind him, which told him that back up had arrived. Even with four of the most powerful people in the world behind him, Steve had never felt so weak in his life. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing the look of shock on their faces, especially on the god of thunder. The easy part of all this was getting the support from his team.

The hard part was convincing the man who needed to hear it.

"Tony, look at me."

The gentle tone made Tony pause, as he'd never heard it from the Captain. Well, never directed at him anyway. Turning around, his eyes widened in confusion at the sight of the rest of the team standing at the doorway, wearing the same looks of concern, sadness and determination as Steve, who was now holding his hand out towards him.

"You survived a missile attack, and came out of it a better man. Don't let one little bullet take that away."

Blinking back the wetness from his eyes, Tony looked at the offered hand, and then up to his leader, who was giving him a gentle smile. Unknowingly returning the gesture, Tony hesitantly brought his own hand up and held on, feeling more and more confident as Steve squeezed his hand tighter.

Things weren't perfect, not by any definition of the term. If something happened to a member of the team, the Captain wasn't sure how they'd band together. Everyone played their own role in this ragtag family that they'd put together, and Steve was adamant to make sure it stayed that way. Locking eyes with Tony, he stepped forward and gently removed the gun from his loosening grasp. There was still guilt swimming in those brown eyes, but now it was mixed with a glimmer faith and gratitude.

Steve relaxed slightly. A glimmer of hope was all they needed.

"Come on Stark. We've got work to do."

The End

A/N: I'm having a lot of Tony feels right now, in case you couldn't tell. I pray to god that the team doesn't just cast him out because he made a mistake with Ultron. I tried to keep everyone as in character as possible, but this was just something that I needed to write. Feel free to leave a review, and thanks for reading. Until next time guys :3