Something More [The Avengers: 1]

Man Down [6]

Tony and I sat at a table, neither of us saying a word. Fury looked down at something in his hands before he sighed. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." He threw them onto the table, blood smearing against the otherwise polished glass.

I picked one up, staring at the picture of myself in my uniform, grimacing at the sticky blood plastered on it. I looked over the other cards, and guilt filled in my chest. I should have been there.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." He sighed, standing between Tony and I. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this," at the mention of the man I looked over, making brief eye contact with Tony, "called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes."

With Fury's last words, Tony abruptly stood from the table, his whole body tense. He stared at me for a moment longer before walking off. I watched him go before looking back at Fury.

"Well, it's an old fashioned notion," he concluded. I stood, making my way out of the room. I stopped by the medical wing, grabbing a first-aid kit, before continuing my search.

Eventually, I found Tony in his private lab. "Tony."

He didn't even look at me. "I don't want to talk."

"Who said I was here to talk?" Tony looked up at me, and I held up the first aid kit in my hands. "Let me see your arm."

"'Steve-"

"Please." He didn't argue, so I walked towards him. I grabbed his bicep gently, guiding him to a chair as I pulled up his sleeve. I hesitated as I saw the blood stained bandage before unwrapping it. The gash was much wider than before. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," he replied, looking away as I unpacked some tools from the first aid kit. "You were busy." I began wiping his arm, trying to clear the blood. His fingers curled up before relaxing again. I tried to wipe slower.

"Was he married?" I asked.

Tony shot me a look, and I couldn't help but smile lightly before it dropped again. "No. There was a... cellist, I think."

I pulled out the old stitches that were now torn and useless. "I'm sorry." He flinched as I pulled out the stitches in his palm. "He seemed like a good man."

Tony chuckled humorlessly. "He was an idiot."

I held a syringe full of numbing medicine in my hand, staring at him for his bold remark. "Why?" I asked. "For believing?"