Unfriendly Fire

(A Cuts and Bruises AU)

By kerravon

Inspiration: Please see the note at the end of this AU, as the prompt is pretty spoilery.

"What's this?" Tony Stark muttered to himself as he wandered into the common area and spied a neat sheaf of papers sitting on the table. It was mid-morning two days after he'd gotten home from the hospital and he should have been hard at work in his lab, but found his thoughts so jangled that he couldn't concentrate, so he'd come up in search of fresh coffee. Eyeing the stack warily, he walked over and reached to pick them up, halting an inch from the cover sheet. It was apparently the briefing packet for an Avengers meeting, but dated from before he'd been officially made a member. He stopped guiltily; it was probably something he wasn't supposed to see, even if he was an Avenger now. He didn't want people thinking that he was invading their privacy again. He sighed as he straightened, still staring at the untouched pile, and rubbed his arc reactor nervously. He knew it was silly, but it still ached, despite all the diagnostics he'd run once he'd gotten back to the Tower. Must be phantom pain from the EMP.

Coffee. Right. That's what he needed after another restless night. He was sleeping even less than usual, and that had never been much. Every time he nodded off he'd jerk awake less than an hour later, gasping for breath and clutching his chest protectively as he fended off distorted nightmare versions of Barton and Rogers who were trying to rip his heart out (now that they knew how). He shook himself as an involuntary shiver raced up his spine. He knew he was just being ridiculous. Probably. Both men had been on their best behavior since Pepper and Rhodey had jumped in to fix things, and Bruce seemed to be hovering even more protectively than ever. It was hardly their fault that forced, fake smiles from people who hated him gave him chills since they didn't know about Obie. Who'd have thought he'd miss the open animosity that was at least honest? His shoulders slumped at the thought that, while Rhodey and Pepper had shamed the rest into allowing him to be an Avenger, they still didn't really accept him as one of the team.

'Oh well, life goes on.' He pulled his shoulders back and stood straighter because Stark men never showed weakness. He'd made his bed by being an asshole, he might as well sleep in it. Or lie awake in it, as the case may be. 'Right, coffee.' With a mental shrug he started towards the kitchen for the life-giving caffeine, only to almost barrel into Rogers as he left the pantry with a muffin and a glass of milk. The blonde's eyes tentatively met his own as he ventured, "Oh, Tony? Do you have a moment?" The soldier glanced at the papers on the table. "There's something I'd like you to see, if you can spare the time."

Well, at least now the engineer knew who was leaving classified documents just lying around. "Sure, Cap. Let me grab a cup of coffee and I'll be right back." He held up his empty mug as evidence of his honest intentions, then scurried through the door into the otherwise blissfully empty kitchen.

He didn't know why he was so nervous. From the title on the cover, Rogers wanted to review something that pertained to the Avengers that he'd not been privy to before. Given what had happened with the EMP arrow, that made perfect sense. After all, as team leader Cap could hardly afford to be losing his aerial support in the middle of a battle, so he needed to know Iron Man's weaknesses. Of course, after the debacle last week, Tony had improved the arc reactor shielding significantly. It would take a lot more than a small EMP to take it out again.

Gathering his steaming coffee he returned to the living room, hands warming around the ceramic cup. Steve looked up from his position on the couch and smiled in welcome, which made Tony even more jumpy than before. Just because he'd helped save his life didn't mean that the soldier liked him now. Even he wasn't that self-deluding. It was just for the good of the team. He scooted past the sofa and settled in an adjacent chair, close enough to see the papers and keep an eye on Rogers simultaneously. It seemed like Cap's smile dimmed a bit, but it was probably just his imagination.

"I got to thinking," Steve began, and Tony clamped down hard on the automatic joke that sprang to mind. There was no way Rogers would take the old line 'Did it hurt?' very well, so he remained silent and took a sip of his scalding beverage instead. He hid the wince as it burned his tongue.

"The arrow that hurt your…," Steve tapped his own chest to indicate Tony's arc reactor. "While you weren't briefed on it, and weren't officially on the team at the time," here the team leader flushed slightly, but pressed on, "R&D and Fury both knew that you regularly responded whenever there was an actual battle. If they spent an hour discussing the pros and cons of this experimental arrow, why wouldn't they caution us about possible side effects of using it in your vicinity?" He met Tony's eyes, bewilderment radiating from his own, and gestured to the papers. "At first I assumed that they had, but that I had somehow missed it or not understood the significance of what they were saying, so I pulled out my briefing packet and copy of the minutes and reviewed them. There's nothing like that here." He held out the packet to Tony. "I was wondering if you could look them over and see what I missed?"

The billionaire shrank back from the proffered papers, clenching his mug tensely with both hands. "Ummm….nothing personal, Cap, but I don't like being handed things. Could you set them down?" He jerked his head once towards the low table between them.

Steve complied with a raised eyebrow but without comment, so Tony reached over, placed his cup on the tabletop rather than the coaster three inches away, and picked them up. Flipping through, he frowned slightly and carefully considered his words. He really didn't want to offend the other man.

"Why paper? SHIELD emails everything it wants me to review."

Cap clenched his hands together, embarrassed. "Me, too. I…one of the first things I bought after we moved into the Tower was a printer. I just like working with paper; it's familiar, somehow."

The futurist, now absorbed in the documents, nodded absently in understanding. "I get it. It's like holding an old, leather-bound book instead of an e-reader. There's something visceral about it that makes you notice more details, or see things in a different light."

Steve was frankly surprised at the reaction; he'd expected ridicule, even though the other man was obviously screening his words oh-so-carefully around the team. But this time Tony's reply had been immediate, unrehearsed, distracted, and apparently uncensored. He actually did understand.

The inventor's frown deepened as he pulled out the printed arrow schematics and studied them intently. There were several pages, so he leaned forward and spread them over the sturdy coffee table, picking up his mug and sipping on it absently as he ran his finger from one page to the next, tracing out mechanical details and energy flow. After almost ten solid minutes of intense scrutiny, he lifted dark, wary eyes to meet still-puzzled expectant blue ones.

"There's a reason for that, Cap," he commented, tapping the diagrams meaningfully. "It's the same reason they warned Clint to get the arrow as close to the target as possible. While very effective at close range, the EMP effect of the arrowhead in this schematic rapidly disperses, and is easily and thoroughly blocked by any metal or thick stone it encounters. The only way this could have affected my arc reactor," he stabbed a finger viciously at the diagrams spread out before him, "Is if I was standing right next to it when it went off."

"But, then how …?" Rogers trailed off, confused.

Tony leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow. "The arrow on this diagram is NOT the one Clint used. It can't be."

Steve felt his protective hackles rise; was Stark accusing Clint of trying to murder him? "There's no way that Barton exchanged…" he began hotly.

The engineer blinked, eyes widening in alarm as he pressed backwards into his seat. 'What have I said now?' he mourned as he mentally played back the conversation. 'He thinks I'm accusing Clint of trying to intentionally kill me,' he realized in a heartbeat, then waved open hands in front of himself in denial as he spoke in quick, pressured phrases, afraid that Captain America once again wasn't going to give him a chance to explain. "No! No, you don't understand! I'm not accusing Barton of anything. Someone ELSE pulled a fast one here, not Hawkeye."

"Did I hear my name?" Clint sauntered through the far door and wandered over curiously.

Steve blinked, then blushed in shame. He was doing it again; making assumptions before getting all the facts. That needed to stop. "Tony and I were just going over the schematics for the EMP arrow."

The archer leaned over Cap's shoulder and stared at the plans on the desk. "Really? How'd you get hold of those?" he gestured to the diagrams. "Stark hack SHIELD again?"

"No?" Cap was confused. "These were in my briefing packet. Weren't they in yours?"

Clint shrugged, then plopped onto the couch next to the super soldier. "Yeah, but they disappeared later that night. I figured they got redacted for security reasons."

Tony arched an eyebrow and leaned forward. "Interesting. Not typical SHIELD protocol. Good thing you like paper, Cap." Eyeing Barton, he asked almost casually, "I don't suppose they gave you more than one of those arrowheads?"

Clint shrugged, stealing a pickle off Steve's plate. "Three, actually. They thought it might take multiple shots to neutralize a target."

The engineer stood abruptly, exhaustion forgotten in single-minded focus, and clapped his hands together, rubbing them briskly in anticipation of a new problem. "Great! Could you grab the two you have left and meet me in my workshop?" He headed for the stairs, already mumbling equations of force and distance to himself.

The archer and the super soldier exchanged a long-suffering look, then Clint rose to go to the armory. "Hey Cap, wanna tag along? This should be interesting."

Steve nodded. "Yes. Something nefarious is going on."

Clint's eyes widened in mock disbelief. "Nefarious? Really? Who uses words like that, anyway?"

"I do, when Stark tells me that the arrow on that diagram shouldn't have affected him from two floors up in a steel and concrete building." Steve's mouth set to a grim line.

Clint came to such a sudden halt that Cap almost plowed into him. He whirled on the larger man and hissed, "What?!"

Steve quirked the corner of his mouth sympathetically. "Yeah. So, not your fault. I couldn't remember being warned not to use them near Iron Man, so I checked my files. I don't like missing things, especially not when someone can get hurt. Turns out, we weren't warned, because the EMP field in the arrows they discussed is too weak and easily blocked by metal and concrete."

"Right," Barton's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "They said that I practically had to drop the arrowhead right next to the bomb for it to work."

"Exactly. Tony thinks they might have given you… something else."

Now Clint was as grim as Steve. "Let's get them to Stark, then."

-A-A-A-A-A-

"All right, JARVIS, we're as ready as we'll ever be. Go ahead and scan, please." Upon entering the workshop with the two remaining arrowheads, Steve and Clint found Tony pacing along the far side of the lab in front of two thick, clear rectangles set in the wall. They were apparently isolation boxes; impervious to radio waves, electronic signals, fire, water, microbes, explosions, and, most importantly, EMP. Each arrowhead was placed in a separate box, and JARVIS instructed to record as much information as possible, particularly in the event an explosion was accidentally triggered by the scanning. Steve was a little disturbed that Tony almost expected something to go wrong with passive examination of the weaponry; after all, only direct impact was supposed to set off the EMP blast. Of course, the one at the training exercise hadn't worked anywhere near specs, either. Cap was therefore relieved to note that, as a final safety measure, the inventor had wrapped himself (particularly his chest and arc reactor) in a lead-lined X-ray shielded apron.

To Steve's infinite relief, nothing unexpected occurred in the next few minutes. The three men were anxiously silent until JARVIS announced primly, "Scan complete."

"Huh," grunted Tony, sounding slightly disappointed. He strode over to his central computing area and demanded, "All right, put it up, along with a side-by-side of those plans I fed you earlier." Two glowing, blue, holographic, three dimensional diagrams appeared in the air before him, and he studied them intently for a moment before sharpening his gaze and stabbing a finger at the new scan. "There! JARVIS, magnify times ten." The region in question expanded, and the inventor squinted in concentration. "Twenty." The area enlarged again.

Stark glared at the ceiling and snarled, "Why am I not seeing any details? At this magnification I ought to be able to visualize something useful."

"There is an unknown shielding surrounding the area in question."

Tony blinked in surprise. "Really?"

Steve couldn't stand it any more. "What's going on?" he began to demand, only remembering to tone it down to a question at the last minute.

"This." If the billionaire noticed the abrupt tone, he didn't comment on it as he pointed to first one image, then the other. "This portion here was not on the plans you received in your briefing packet. And while JARVIS managed to get detailed interior scans of the actual weapon without causing an explosion, the new area appears to be intentionally shielded; we can't get a read on it externally, and it's rigged to blow if we try to dismantle it physically."

"Can't we just ask R&D what they changed?" Barton suggests helpfully. "Maybe it was a last-minute addition."

"Then why try and hide it from external evaluation? Why not inform you of modifications made to equipment that only Hawkeye can use?" Stark was grim, and gave a moment to the others for the implications to set in.

"Then what do we do?" Steve finally asked, truly at a loss.

Tony stared solemnly at Clint. "I have a theory, but I hope I'm wrong. With your permission, I'd like to detonate them while JARVIS records the explosions on all wavelengths."

The archer shot Cap a questioning look, then shrugged. "Sure, if you think it will help." It was his turn to look uncharacteristically serious. "And if you're certain it won't hurt your nightlight?" He tapped the center of his own chest meaningfully.

"I'm sure. Even without this lead shielding I'm wearing, I've already modified the reactor extensively to prevent a repeat performance."

The engineer went back to the first window. "All right, JARVIS, full spectrum analysis, particularly of the electromagnetic pulse, as we detonate the arrowhead in containment cell one."

A small weight dropped from the top of the box directly onto the tip of the experimental weapon, causing a small, controlled explosion. The genius hurried to his computers once again with just the barked command, "Show me."

Numbers and graphs began scrolling across several floating screens as Stark's fingers flew delicately over the interfaces, pulling up and discarding data as he needed it. The other Avengers could only stare awestruck at the beauty and complexity of the movements and figures. This was Tony in his element; the engineer was fully immersed in his work, mesmerized every second.

Finally satisfied, he glanced up and noticed the two men staring at him and fought down a blush. He hadn't blushed for decades, and he wasn't going to start now. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, then held his voice steady through sheer force of will. "That one went off just like your briefing packet predicted. If it had been completely unshielded and I had been standing here unprotected, nothing would have happened. That's our baseline."

Before Steve or Clint could question him, Tony picked a small device off the desk and flipped a switch. It began to radiate a small, blue glow, but otherwise did nothing. "This," the genius commented, "is where things may get interesting. This little do-dad emits an energy frequency identical to my arc reactor, but without the explosive power. I'm going to set it in the second containment field and repeat the experiment."

"Would you…could I do that, just in case it's mere presence triggers something?" suggested Cap, suddenly apprehensive, remembering the sickly flickering of the damaged arc reactor and Tony's slurred responses. He had a bad feeling about this, and really didn't want a repeat of their experience in that shattered basement.

The genius stared at him thoughtfully for a long moment, then shrugged. "Sure, why not?" he replied, holding out the now-inactive device. "Activate the signal by pressing this button," he demonstrated a small red button on the side, "just before you put it in the containment box. Place it in a corner away from the arrowhead, though; I don't want its readings to be incorporated into the EMP data."

Steve nodded, taking the small gadget and walking to the wall. Despite his fears, pressing the button did nothing but turn on a small blue light. He carefully set it in the corner of the box, secured the lid firmly, and backed away.

Tony, still in his lead apron, said, "All right, JARVIS."

An identical small weight dropped onto the second experimental weapon, resulting in a similar contained explosion. Steve thought the blast might have been a little larger than the first, but that could have been his imagination.

The data started scrolling at Stark's workstation unprompted, and Tony was quickly immersed, pulling specific parcels of data from the analysis of each blast for comparison, and minimizing the information that wasn't pertinent. Once he had the two lists compiled, he stood back, arms crossed, and studied them. After a moment he gave a long, low whistle and shook his head in disbelief.

Barton couldn't contain himself. "What?" he demanded, craning his neck for a better view. If the genius inventor had found data that proved that whole disaster wasn't his fault… well, it didn't excuse his lack of attention to the whereabouts of his teammates, but at least it was something.

Tony didn't even glance at him as he rapidly pointed out differences between the two recordings. "See, here? And here? The second blast's EMP is significantly strengthened by the presence of my arc reactor signal."

Cap narrowed his eyes contemplatively. "Could it be drawing power from the device in your chest? Sort of a feedback loop?"

Tony flashed him a brilliant smile before apparently remembering that they weren't actually friends. It faltered as he cleared his throat and carefully replied, "Good thought. Actually, that's why we used a machine that only reproduced the signal my arc reactor puts out, rather than one of my actual spare arc reactors. If the two blasts today were the same, then your theory would be the most likely correct answer. We'd be safe asking R&D for another set of arrows to test against that hypothesis. As it is…" He waved a hand grandly at the two very different sets of data.

Hawkeye frowned, unafraid of admitting to his confusion. "What? I don't get it."

Stark fixed him with an intense stare. "The presence of a unique signal indicating that the machine keeping me alive is nearby triggers something in the shielded portion of these arrowheads, causing the EMP wave to be over five hundred times stronger than if that signal isn't present." His voice lowered to a threat. "Someone just tried to use you to murder me, and make it look like friendly fire."

Barton's eyes became saucers as he hissed, "What?" for the second time in as many hours.

Tony turned to the team leader. "Cap, I want to ask you something, but before I do, I'd like to give you a little background information." Once Steve nodded, Tony dropped his eyes to the floor and continued, "I was a SHIELD consultant for a number of months before the team originally assembled, and helped their R&D department with a lot of different projects. I nevertheless kept tabs of the tasks I wasn't actively participating in, so that I'd have some ideas to throw out if I did get consulted." He pointed to the original arrow diagram. "Yes, R&D was working on controlled EMP arrowheads. No, they were no where near this advanced. The original development team had help, and it wasn't from me."

Rogers nodded. That all made logical sense.

The billionaire raised anxious eyes to stare into the Captain's as he tentatively concluded, "I'd like to find out who. That involves hacking into the SHIELD mainframe again."

"Why can't we just ask Fury for permission to examine the appropriate files?"

Tony opened his mouth to reply, but it was Clint that answered first. "Our target has already hacked into our briefing packets and extracted all the useful data to cover their tracks, so they apparently have some computer prowess. If we show up on the helicarrier without being summoned, the whole system will be wiped before we even reach the bridge."

"Exactly," Tony nodded in agreement. "SHIELD R&D had been working on this project for almost a year and were nowhere near this stage, much less the additional… special modifications. Whoever finalized these arrows was far from stupid, and won't be easy to catch." He grinned fiercely. "But they don't know JARVIS."

"Thank you, Sir, I appreciate your confidence," came the disembodied British voice, unprompted.

Steve wondered briefly at hearing a conversational tone from a robot, and then nodded his agreement. "All right. Let's do this."

-A-A-A-A-A-

The entire team (minus Thor, who was still visiting his 'Lady Jane') were summoned the common area. Steve felt it important that everyone know what was happening, in case it was not a Tony-specific problem. It was possible someone was after all the Avengers, and Steve wanted to be assured that everyone was safe and accounted for until they could get this straightened out. He also called Thor and promised to keep him updated if they discovered anything. Tony and Bruce set up laptops side by side on the kitchen table and, coffee in hand, got to work. The others busied themselves putting together an impromptu team luncheon while keeping both Tony and Bruce's mugs filled with their beverages of choice.

For a while the only sound was the frantic typing of the two scientists along with intermittent muttered questions to JARVIS and each other. The rest of the team wandered in and out, occasionally having low, murmured conversations and trying not to disturb the working men. It didn't take long before Tony, brows creased in confusion, leaned back in his chair with a whuffed "huh".

"What?", asked Bruce, peering over his glasses at the billionaire's screen.

The genius ignored him as he skeptically tilted his head to the ceiling and demanded, "JARVIS, is this right?"

The firm, British tone replied, "Yes, Sir. You are indeed in the SHIELD mainframe."

Bruce looked impressed while Tony snorted derisively. "Come on, how is that even possible? This should take hours! Fury always closes the backdoors after I use them, so I have to be more inventive the next time."

The computer was hesitant. "I am… uncertain, Sir. The typical firewalls are…much cruder than usually encountered."

Bruce smiled. "Hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"What's going on? Did you find something?" inquired Steve, coming up behind the two scientists.

Banner's smile slipped as Stark involuntarily hunched his shoulders, even though he tried to disguise the movement by leaning forward and tapping on his keyboard once more. "Not yet, but we're much further along than we have any right to be."

Natasha sidled up at that, with Clint right behind her. "Don't forget," she suggested softly, "Fury did say that he was having Hammer 'upgrade' the computer security."

Tony snorted again, a small smile quirking his lips, but made no reply. Rogers glanced at Bruce, but he appeared as clueless as the rest of them, so he cleared his throat and addressed the smirking spy. "Ummm… I remember him saying that he was having Mr. Hammer do it because he wanted to keep Tony out of SHIELD's systems. So… I guess we're getting this done before that happens?"

Natasha shook her head gently as the engineer actually cackled. She ignored him and replied, "No. Mr. Hammer has almost certainly installed his 'upgrades'. That is, without a doubt, the reason the security measures were so… wanting."

"Yeah, usually Justin can recognize when he's in over his head and delegates the job to one of his more competent employees. He actually knows how to hire good people. However, now that Agent Romanov mentions it, this code has 'Personally programmed by Justin Hammer' written all over it, and I would know. I guess Fury somehow got Hammer's hackles up, and this is the result." He peered at the window that just appeared and muttered, "Easier for us, anyway. Now on to Research and Development…"

"His pride was certainly involved," commented Barton, opening his mouth for the first time. "Remember? Fury said that Hammer 'loves getting a contract you weren't offered'."

Tony grunted and nodded absently, "Yeah, he doesn't like me too much. Long story." He trailed off, unwilling to waste energy elaborating as he became caught up in the data stream. Bruce was just as intently engaged, pointing at the screen from time to time and murmuring suggestions.

"There," Banner stated, pointing suddenly. "That looks promising."

"It does indeed," muttered the genius, opening the file. "Eureka! Now, let's see this puppy…" His eyes widened in shock as he read the single project memo contained in the folder, and his hands fell away from the computer keys.

Bruce's chair fell over backwards simultaneously as he jumped to his feet, hands clenched at his side, eyes tightly closed, and skin tinged a distinctive green. The other Avengers startled, automatically assuming defensive postures in case of an 'incident'. It was a near thing, but the physicist took several deep, steadying breaths, and his skin slowly regained it's paler, pink hue. No one said anything for a moment as Bruce pulled his tattered control together.

The industrialist, meanwhile, had remained perfectly still, his face slowly morphing from stunned surprise through absolute rage to quiet determination. While everyone else's attention was focused on Banner, Stark's eyes narrowed decisively and he rose gracefully from his seat and strode from the room, computer left forgotten on the table behind him. Cap raised a hand to stop him, or at least ask what he had found, but was distracted by Bruce's panting breaths and decided that dealing with Tony could wait until the danger of an incident was past. No one spoke for a few more minutes, waiting until Bruce opened his eyes and offered the group a shaky smile.

The first thing the scientist did was glance around the room in alarm. "Where's Tony?", he blurted.

"He left while you were trying to get the other guy under control," replied Steve. "We should go find him now that you're okay." He paused, then added slowly, "You are okay, aren't you Doctor Banner?"

Natasha and Clint backed away from the other two men, turning their attention on the abandoned computer instead. Their faces darkened as they read what was displayed.

Bruce didn't reply, instead yelling for the household AI as he headed for the exit at a run. "JARVIS! Lock down Tony's armors! All of them!"

"I'm sorry," the computer sounded actually regretful, "but I'm afraid that you are not authorized for that command."

The pair was headed for Tony's workshop, taking the stairs two at a time, Steve hot on Bruce's heels. "What's going on?" he asked, trying to make his voice commanding rather than baffled.

"Hammer."

The two arrived at the transparent windows in front of the lab, where Stark could be seen donning the Iron Man armor. Bruce rapidly typed in his entry code, but the word 'Denied' flashed on the keypad. He pounded on the window, but Tony studiously avoided looking their way so completely that Cap was certain he knew they were there.

"JARVIS, open this door," the scientist growled, voice gruff, and deeper than it should be.

"All access is currently denied," the AI answered primly. "The workshop is under lockdown."

Bruce was definitely greener. "Tell Tony that either he opens this door for us right now, or there's an excellent chance that the Hulk will be coming in regardless."

There was a pregnant pause as this information was relayed to the billionaire, who glanced up at them involuntarily. After assessing his friend's level of agitation, he visibly deflated and, with a small nod, the door clicked open.

The normally reticent doctor was through it like a shot, shouting at Stark. Steve hung back, but entered the lab as well. He stood just inside the door, waiting, ready to step in if necessary, even if he still didn't know what was going on.

"…right now!" Bruce demanded. "What were you thinking? Were you going after him yourself?"

Tony assumed his most disarming mask, smiling his best paparazzi smile and spreading his gauntleted arms out in a 'who, me?' gesture that was reminiscent of too many press conferences. "Come on, Bruce. I was just going to fly around a bit, blow off some steam."

The gentler man crossed his arms and stared at the engineer skeptically. After a long moment, he drawled, "Riiiiiigghhht. And did your travel plan today include a stop over at Hammer Industries?"

The billionaire positively pouted, sticking out his lower lip, staring at the floor, and mumbling, "Maybe…" He looked up again at Bruce through coal-black lashes.

Clint and Natasha joined Steve by the door. The super soldier, eyes never leaving the drama before them, asked soto voce, "Could somebody please tell me what's happening?"

Barton actually growled. "Seems Fury bargained for more than just computer upgrades with Mr. Hammer; he also apparently contracted him to provide consultation help to the SHIELD R&D department on a limited basis." He jerked his head towards the ceiling. "When they accessed the research file on those EMP arrows, the only thing there is a memo about how that project had been outsourced to Hammer Industries' research division."

"Who is this 'Hammer' person, and why has that sent everyone off the deep end?"

Natasha's smooth tones explained. "Justin Hammer and Tony Stark have been infamous rivals since college. I don't know the early details, but while I was assigned to profile Stark for consideration in the Initiative, Hammer made a fairly good attempt at stealing the Iron Man tech and got a copy of the reactor specifications from a psychopathic Russian ex-convict named Vanko. In the process, he almost got Stark killed."

Bruce and Tony's ongoing argument was almost forgotten as Cap's brain reeled with this new information. "So, when Director Fury made his deal with Hammer, he was not only insulting Stark by contracting with his competitor, but he was pardoning the man who almost got Tony killed?"

"The prison sentence was more for industrial espionage, but yes." Natasha was grim.

"And we unknowingly tested experimental weaponry made by this man, and it almost killed Tony again. What's more, it looks like that was the planned outcome."

Clint gave a short nod. "That's right, Cap."

Rogers leaned heavily against the glass, staring sightlessly at the center of the workshop where Bruce was now helping JARVIS remove the armor from a sullen industrialist. "Why does he even want to be a part of this team?" What Fury had done with the SHIELD computer system security seemed unforgivably insulting and actually fairly dangerous, yet Tony had somehow, through some unexplainable, convoluted logic, concluded that he only had himself to blame. Nevertheless, he'd shown up at the next battle when he had every right not to, and had been hung over to boot. Steve winced in remembrance. He'd been grudgingly admiring of the man showing up in pain, but had assumed he'd gotten the hangover from overindulging at a nightclub. Now he realized that Stark had every reason to get blindingly drunk; not only had the team he'd thought he belonged to rejected him outright, but Fury had added insult to injury by hiring his competitor (and near-murderer) 'Justin Hammer' to do a job Tony was already working on. He shook his head in amazement that his old friend's son never stopped surprising him. He straightened as Bruce gently grasped the engineer's elbow and guided him towards the rest of the team.

"Hey, guys," Tony said quietly, refusing to meet their eyes.

Cap crossed his arms, and projected his best 'Captain America' persona as he addressed the miserable scientist. "Let me make sure I understand this. You discovered that the experimental arrow that was meant to kill you, and nearly succeeded, was not manufactured by SHIELD, but rather your sworn enemy. This same man has contracted with SHIELD to avoid a prison sentence for nearly killing you once before and stealing your tech. After discovering these things, you decided that you'd pay the man an impromptu visit as Iron Man. Am I right? "

Stark nodded, still not raising his eyes. Bruce, however, fixed the Captain with a truly venomous glare and carefully draped his arm around his friend's shoulders in unspoken support.

"I am ashamed of you." Steve kept up the judgmental tone, and now Clint and Natasha were staring at him as well. He finally allowed the grin he'd been hiding show through as he concluded, "You need to learn to share; we all want a piece of this asshole."

Natasha nodded approvingly as Tony's head jerked up to stare at Cap. Clint piped up and added, "It can be a team-building exercise; see who can devise the best revenge plot. After all, he set me up to take the blame!"

Bruce was even smiling now at the billionaire's stunned expression, and continued in the same vein. "Bonus points for not getting caught?"

Steve nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely."

Tony appeared absolutely bewildered as his eyes flitted from face to face. "But… I thought you wouldn't approve. Any of you."

"What we don't approve of," Cap explained gently, "is you going off alone and doing something that could get you hurt or killed. I know we haven't acted like it, but we're a team, and teams stick together."

"Especially if someone is trying to hurt part of our family," added Bruce with a careful smile.

There was a warm silence then, as Tony, struck speechless, looked into each face with such gratitude that it made Roger's heart ache.

After a moment, Clint decided to break the awkward silence, so he clapped his hands together and nodded to the stairs. "OK, what say we head upstairs and brainstorm our revenge? We can order pizza!"

Tony smiled like the sun emerging from behind all the clouds of winter, and nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he commented, and moved towards the door. The rest of the team followed, with Steve bringing up the rear. They were far from fine, but maybe things were looking up.

The End?

NOTE: The inspiration? The comment section where Marie_Nomad suggested 'Hammertech', and Blue went on to say, 'So, Hammer's all like 'No, of course it couldn't interfere with Ironman. Why would you think that? See, the output readings here clear show they are not strong enough to breach the minimum hypothesize shielding of the suit. And of course, there is no secret imbedded hardware to cause the EMP levels to spike if Ironman's presence is detected within the blast radius. Why would you even ask that? You didn't ask? Oh.'