Well, i don't know what to say. English is not my first language so if you see a mistake, please let me know in the comments. Also, I don't know why I'm posting something that I don't even know where I want to take it but the exitment of Infinity War made me do this.

"Mr. Stark this way!"

"Shaun Kirkman, New York Times!"

"Mr. Stark please!"

There were cameras everywhere, reporters yelling his name like crazy to get his attention or trying to get close to him and talk about the annulation of the accords.

Just a year ago he was doing his best to keep the avengers together and not fall apart along the way, and he did everything that he could but, in the end, it doesn't matter how hard he tried. And now, just like if nothing happened, they were over, gone, canceled, no more accords... just... gone.

"Please! Get back!" Happy was doing his best to keep the reporters at bay. These idiots, they always think that they are right, that they know everything about him, putting words in his mouth, where there is none.

"What do you have to say about the annulation of the Sokovia accords?!"

What he thinks? That it was necessary, but he did not necessarily agree. It was pure bureaucracy, an obstacle that could get people hurt. And he was tired of always being the one to hold the blame for every damage and death they made.

Is always the blame.

"Mr. Stark! Where is Captain America?!"

"Is it true about you and Ms Potts?!"

"Mr. Stark, please!"

"Mr. Stark, this way!"

"Tony!"

"Gentlemen, back up!"

"Move out the way, please!"

"The rogue ones, where are they staying?!"

"We're almost there boss." Happy whispered at him trying to reassure him.

It only took him two minutes to made it to the limo and with all the shouting and flashes.

"Woah, that was intense." He exclaimed while untying the first two bottoms of his shirt, Happy doing the same.

"Comparing it with your 'I Am Iron Man' conference, is nothing." Said Happy, frowning his face.

"Well..." He gave him an exhausting smile and shrugged. "What can I say? They love me. Besides, there have been worse."

"Yeah, like those beautiful bunnies in Venice, remember?" Joked Happy, raising his eyebrows. Tony bit his lips, looking out the car window. "I do—Yeah, Happy... I don't want to—, and those things were huge, really really huge, the hugest thing I've ever seen—Can we talk about something else? Because I do not—And it's not that I'm pervert or anything, but god! How I wish I could go back to that place!" Tony rolled his eyes, he was not in the mood to talk about his old-stupid habits of selfish playboy and billionaire. Those days were over. Now he was in relationship with the most amazing woman in the universe—He hoped so, if the kisses and night time cuddles in the sofa watching movies means anything to Natasha—, Shield was under his charge alongside SI, he had a new family to care of and somehow, he has managed to become the father figure of a sixteen years old. Oh! And, he was the one who teared the avengers apart. At least, that is what Rogers said.

"Are you okay boss? You look tired." Happy was looking at him with worried looks, that means that he looked really bad for him to not be his regular gibberish-self— How long was he wandering in his mind? —, o more like not talking at all.

He looked outside and notice that they were at the compound. It was late at night and he was pretty sure that everyone was sleeping in their rooms, which means no happy greetings from Cooper and Lila.

"Tony?" Demanded Happy.

Tony sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm fine, Hogan." He opened the door and looked back at Happy with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Goodnight honey, say hi to the family." He got down of the car and closed the door.

Inside the compound everything was quiet, as if no one had ever set a foot in this place. But it was full of life.

And the Barton family was the first to arrive.

Laura called him one night, two weeks after Siberia, saying that a man was outside, and the kids were scared.

"Do it for the kids. It's not their fault." Clint's wife said from the other side of the line. He could hear she was at the verge of crying and desperate.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. get the armor."

"But Boss, the doctor said— I don't care! Just get the armor!" His IA was right, but lives were in danger, and not any life; Laura, Cooper and Lila Barton were in danger. So he didn't care if his ribs weren't healed properly, that his body was getting used to the new arc reactor or that he couldn't feel his left arm at all—He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe. Roger was on top of him, destroying his heart. He was breaking and couldn't breathe—, this woman trusted him to go and rescue her family. And if he didn't do it there would be more blood on his hands.

"Mr. Stark, I-I understand if you don't want to but please..." Now she was crying.

"Laura! Laura, listen! Do you have a panic room or something?" He had to sound confident, in control. If Laura was terrified, that means that the kids too and more. He could hear their crying in the background.

But Laura was not responding, and his heartbeat was going faster.

"Laura, do you have a panic room? If you have one, you and the kids hide there and don't open the door until you hear my voice, okay? I'll try to be there as soon as possible but, meanwhile, do what I said, lock the door and don't open it until I say otherwise." That son of a bitch! Whoever it is, he would make sure that there's not a second time. If this was Ross, he was going to make his life a living hell. "Okay... I'll be there ASAP, I promise." That was more for himself than to Laura.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." The mother repeated like a mantra. It seemed as if she didn't expect him to come. That broke the genius heart. And he didn't know how to respond to that.

'Goddammit Barton! What the hell were you thinking?!'

Fifteen minutes later, he was in front of the Barton's family house door. Laura and the kids were still locked in one of the rooms, safe and sound.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. scan the perimeter and send in the tranquilizer armed scouts after the intruder." As soon as he said it a small plate from left shoulder lifted up and released tiny flying spheres, Tony developed them to neutralize the enemy with less blood and with more stealth after a particular mission had gone haywire 3 days prior the Civil War disaster, as the press elegantly called it.

"Sentinel mode." He got out of the armor and up the stairs. He was wearing the same clothes from three days ago, with oil and sweat on them.

Once he got to the door, from the other side, he could hear Laura reassuring the kids by telling them that Iron Man was on his way to rescue them. Then they went silent.

"Laura." He said, voice hoarse. The woman opened the door and without warning throw herself over him with a hug. She was crying of happiness, relief, fear, and despair at the same time.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou..." Sobbed. Lost of words, he put a hand on her head and with the other stroked her back in calming circles.

"Boss." Interrupted F.R.I.D.A.Y. "There are several explosives on the property."

'Shit!' They need to get out of here.

"We have to go." He detached himself from the hug, the adrenaline running through his body.

"What's going on?"

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" He tapped his ear, not looking at Laura and trying to sound professional. "How much?"

"Two minutes."

Laura took a crying Nathaniel in her arms, while he took Cooper and Lila. The jet was already waiting for them outside. And he may or may not have broken another rib in the process along side his left arm but that was not the moment to complain.

"Ten seconds."

"Get down!" He shouted when they made it to the jet— Yeah, definitely another broken rib—, behind them the house exploded.

Laura's horror expression was something that chased him in his nightmares for a half year. Still does, but not like in the beginning. But what you should said when someone loses everything?

"Did you know?" He was lying to him. He was being used once again.

"I didn't know it was him." Captain America, Steve Rogers, was lying to him.

"Don't bullshit me Rogers! Did you know?!" He begged, he didn't want it to be true. It had to be a nightmare.

"Yes"

Their home, their lives and memories were gone.

It was more than expected that they would feel confused. More than once Cooper approached him and asked him where his father was, and more than once answered with a negative response, seeing himself when he was a little kid every time he asked Jarvis about where his father or mother were. That's why he made everything he could to gave them a home. Then he became Uncle Tony, the unbreakable Uncle Tony.

Gosh! How he wanted to believe those words.

Then, out of nowhere, Natasha appeared with a guilt-ridden look in her eyes, in the middle of the night at the door of his workshop. That night, his lowest point, he had been drinking too much alcohol just to forget the nightmares, the feeling of hands playing in his chest, tearing it apart like it was paper, pulling out the reactor over and over again for sheer fun. Sometimes it was Obadiah, and sometimes it was Steve. He wanted it to stop, to leave him alone for little while but those hands keep pulling, drowning him in that ocean where everything hurts, and he couldn't breathe.

She found him on the ground, glassy eyes looking at nothing and surrounded by multiples bottles.

"Tony..." Hesitantly, she tried to touch him but stopped in the middle of it. Maybe, it was because of the tears starting down his eyes or the fact that he started to sob like a whining little baby.

"I'm sorry." She leaned against him and put his head between her neck, humming what sounded like a Russian song, and started crying. They were broken, scared, hurt and on the edge of giving up. One more than the other.

He didn't know what had happened that night, if it was just a bad joke, his mind playing some kind of illusion induced by the amount of alcohol in his system, or the lack of sleep; nevertheless, when he woke up the next morning, she was asleep beside him, with a peaceful smile on her face.

The last ones were Peter and his aunt, but despite his offers, they stayed at their little apartment in Queens. Although, more than often you could see Peter coming after school.

All of them, including Rhodey and Vision, were his family now. One who trusted and supported him, though they reminded him that it was okay to make mistakes once in a while. And only for them he did everything he could to not fall apart and be the support for all of them. But now that the people who betrayed him would return, he didn't know how much time he could hold it.

Looking at the living room, he smiled when he saw the scene in front of him. Everyone felt sleep while watching a Star Wars movie. Nathaniel was comfortable sleeping in his mother arms, Natasha beside them with Lila over the redhead legs; on the other side of the room, snoring like a bear—More like a sick bear, though. Seriously buddy, no offence but you need to see a doctor because that's really annoying. That I don't know how it is that nobody has complained yet with your snoring echoing all over the place! —, was Rhodey scattered all over the 'seat of love'— as Peter called it— with a bowl full of Cheetos; and finally, with the face against the floor, was Peter and Cooper.

Careful not to wake anyone, he took the bowl from Rhodey and ordered F.R.I.D.A.Y. to turn off the T.V. They seemed very cozy to wake them up, so he remained quiet.

"How did it go?" Natasha stopped him. Looks like she wasn't sleep after all.

He approached and sat on the armrest. He didn't want to disturb Lila. "It's over. The accords, Ross, everything is over."

Not yet.

"Thanks." She nodded. After the airport fight, Ross tried to arrest her and make her look like a criminal, so she run away.

He gave her a little, but actual, smile. He was tired. Three days of going to reunions and negotiations with the UN took away the energy for the week.

He was freezing, he could feel the cold cutting through his bones. Rogers was walking away. His childhood hero, his friend, was leaving him surrounded by cold blocks of concrete.

"Are you okay?" It was a simple question, innocent and full of concern at the same time.

He couldn't breathe.

"They arrive in three days, if everything goes well." He whispered. It was easy to avoid the question than reply.

He couldn't breathe. There wasn't air in the room and his lungs hurts. He needed to breathe.

They stayed silent for a little while, Rhodey snoring in the background and at some point, Lila joined the symphony. Natasha notice that he wasn't in the mood for a talk and didn't push the subject.

Out of sudden, Lila got up from Natasha legs, sleepy, and climbed over the genius legs, her little arms closing around his neck. The billionaire settled her in his arms and sat on the sofa, a hand running through the seven-year-old hair.

Tony closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of quiet and calm before the storm called 'Rogers and his personal flying monkeys' hits the ground. He knows that they were going to blame him.

"I'm trying to keep— I'm trying to keep you from tearing the avengers apart!"

"You did that when you sign"

If he was being honest, he would be an idiot to pretend that he wasn't angry, that he wasn't completely done of always be the one to blame when something went wrong. Or the fact that it hurts more than he expected.

Every day he could see the anger in Cooper's eyes towards Clint, Lila's sad look on Christmas or her birthday and Barton wasn't there, not even a phone call; Vision not losing sight of Rhodey even though he was already walking on his own, helping him whenever he could; Peter was fine, if almost dying from trying to keep his technology away from a vulture-thing-man is considered safe.

The funny thing is, he was the one who kept them all together. But how long would it take him to give up? How long he could hold it together and confront them?

Smile, they can't see you like this. Stark are made of iron.

Smile.

I can't I'm tired.

Smile.

"I'm going to hit him in the face." Said Laura, she had woken up at some point while he was lost in his mind.

"And if he dares to tell you something," Tony smiled at her, but never reached his eyes. "I'm serious Tony. If they dare to tell you something, I'll hit them myself in the balls."

"Thanks." Again, his smile never reached his eyes.

"Sorry Tony. You know I wouldn't do this if I have any other choice, but he is my friend."

"So was I."

"I'll taking the kids to bed" Nat took Lila in her arms while Laura woke up Cooper from the ground. Peter got up minutes later saying good night and went to his room.

There was silence once again. Well, except for Rhodey. He needs to remind F.R.I.D.A.Y. to make an appointment to some kind of doctor for his friend because that was not normal.

He could go to his room, take a shower and sleep, something that his body needed right now. But the simple thought of closing his eyes terrified him.

What if he opened them and Stane was there, holding the reactor in his hands? If Steve was the one helping him while he was dying slowly? Or if someone got into the compound and kill the kids, Laura, Peter, Rhodey, Vision and Nat just because he wasn't fast enough?

Breathe Tony. Breathe. Inhale, exhale. In, Out.

Everyone is safe, no one is going to hurt them.

He looked at Rhodey for the last time before getting up. Maybe it was a good idea to get some sleep and put back together his masks, make the walls higher and impenetrable than ever.

They didn't have to know that he was broken.