A/N: Here is some Avengers and Ruse of the Guardians! Came up with this idea during swim practice, and I couldn't focus forever. Here ya go!

It was official.

Tony was pissed.

He hadn't felt this angry in a long time. And as he stared into the infuriatingly calm blue eyes of the god-damned golden boy, Captain America, he felt feeling's he'd tucked away like an unused blanket threatened to boil to the surface after years of collecting dust.

"-Take that away, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." The response, while credible, was dry and automatic, simply autopilot. Rogers seemed to hear the change of tone and smirked, realizing that the constant sarcastic facade had slightly cracked.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." Steve put specific venom in his words. Dimly, he was aware of the other team members watching the fight like a tennis match. He ended that sentence, but something else, another jibe, prodded in the back of his brain. He knew it was wrong even before it came out if his mouth, but he froze and it was too late. "Your family would be ashamed of you." No. A voice, disjointed and sounding hauntingly like his dear Peggy, whispered in the corner of his mind. But it vanished. "Not that you have any. And if you did, I'm sure we would want those high and mighty people out of the way too." No, Steve, stop. "But no, you're the great Tony Stark-" Stop. "-you've never suffered-" Steve. "-you've never lost anybody-"

At that moment, Steve felt something in his chest rip apart. Tony, who had stoically been staring at Steve during this whole rant, suddenly looked up. His eyes exploded with a rage that no one had ever seen in him and he boomed, "DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT I'VE NEVER SUFFERED! THAT I'VE NEVER BEEN HURT! THAT I'VE NEVER LOST SOMEONE!"

Steve just stared. He wanted to say he was sorry- he had messed up big time. He opened his mouth...only to hear the whispers of his teammates behind him. The accusatory whispers. And before he could think, the quickest self-defense spewed out of his stupid mouth.

"Oh, yeah? And just who have you lost that could possibly mean anything to you? Oh, wait, did that stupid computer voice of yours short circuit?" He felt his face twist into a sneer. "What horrible agony have you endured, Stark? You don't have a monster who lives inside of you-" Behind him, he heard Banner suck in a breath between gritted teeth and distantly hoped he wouldn't go hulk on them. "Your friend isn't about to die under the influence of an evil god-" out of the corner of his eye, he saw Natasha shift, widening her stance as if she were about to fight. "And you didn't go through a coma that-"

Suddenly, Tony thrust his face right up to Steve's. They were nose to nose. Steve heard the drawn out rush as Tony sucked in a breath...and the noise exploded on his ears.

"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I'VE GONE THROUGH?" Tony bellowed. "MY WIFE DIED AND IT WAS MY FAULT! AND MY SONS-" Suddenly, his voice broke. He squeezed eyes shut and he wilted. "My sons..." He whispered. Again, Steve could only stand there, as could everyone else, in shocked, absolute silence. Abruptly, Tony lifted his head. His eyes were cold and hard, but brimmed with unshed tears. He reached into his pocket...and SLAMMED something down on the table before he turned on heel and stormed out, walking swiftly an silently, not meeting anyone's shocked eye. Everyone was frozen as he vanished through the hallway.

Steve tore his eyes away from the spot where Tony had vanished and gazed at the thing- no, things- that Tony had put on the tables.

They were photographs.

Review please! Continue?