Here it is! I know it's been a while, but after a few family emergencies I'm back! I'm going to start trying to update once a week until I get it finished, so fingers crossed that I can stick to that goal!

Chapter 3: Steve

It took him a while to come to terms with the fact that Tony was gone. When he had first gotten the call from Bruce, he couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it, in fact, and had headed straight over there to stop whatever prank Tony had decided to play this time. It wasn't until he had seen the expression on Bruce's face that it had sunk it. The man looked heartbroken, tears still steadily streaming down his face, eyes red and puffy. Steve had simply nodded and pulled him into a hug, letting go before it could get awkward and taking a seat next to him on the couch.

"So it's true, then," he said softly. It seemed wrong, somehow, to disturb the sombre mood but at the same time the silence also seemed to be worse. He knew that Tony, for all his snarky remarks and inability to take anything seriously, would have wanted to go out with a bang and to see him deprived of that chance made Steve want to find some way to bring the man back just so he could die in the midst of battle, as the hero Steve had always known Tony was. He was also surprised that Tony had managed to keep this from everyone, but he knew he shouldn't be as they whole team had gotten further and further apart as time passed. He took a deep breath and tried to push his emotions down. The rest of the team would need to be alerted, as well as SHIELD, and he knew that Bruce wasn't quite up to doing it just yet. He stood again, pulling out his phone, and turned back to Bruce.

"I'm going to call the rest of the team, they'll want to know about this. Have you called Pepper yet?" He waited until Bruce shook his head to sigh, not knowing how he was going to break the news to the woman, but realizing that she would need to be the first one he called. It was hard to completely push his emotions away, but he was a leader and a soldier, used to getting things done, no matter how hard they were to do. He had fought in tons of battles, led countless men into said battles, and brought most of them back. He could do this, and he would be as gentle as possible when breaking the news. Maybe he'd manage to convince the rest of the team to throw a big party in Tony's memory. That would be just the thing that the man would have wanted, people celebrating his genius and sarcastic wit with one of the parties that the man was always throwing. He nodded to himself and began to dial Pepper's number, readying himself for her tears and denial.

Pepper answered on the first ring, "Steve, what can I do for you? I'm a bit busy at the moment, so can I call you back?" He shook his head, but then realized that she couldn't see him and closed his eyes, which made this easier somehow.

"No, it's important. I have some bad news, Pepper, so you might want to take a seat if you've got one nearby."

"Alright, tell me what's going on, you're starting to worry me."

"It's Tony, he's-"

She cut him off, "You'll have to call Phil, he's the one in charge of Tony while I'm gone and he's the one who gets to clean up the messes Tony makes. What did he do, accidentally piss off the wrong person again?"

"No. He's...he's dead, Pepper. I'm sorry that I've just laid it out, but I don't know how else to break the news, so there it is," he swallowed over the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat. He waited a few minutes for her to say something, but there was only silence. A minute later he heard the click of her hanging up on him and went to sit back down on the couch. Perhaps he should have let Bruce gain his composure and do it, he was sure that the scientist would have broken the news a lot more gently. He took another deep breath and looked down at his phone to begin dialing the next number.

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SM