Steve nodded and watched as Tony left the room in search of the bathroom. Steve walked over to Pepper's bed and grimaced as he looked down at the young woman. "I'm so sorry, Pepper. I promise, the next time you ask me to go anywhere with you, I'm there, no questions asked." He reached out and stroked away a stray strand of that amazing coloured hair of hers. Steve wondered if Tony really understood how lucky he was in having a woman like Pepper by his side. His thoughts drifted to Peggy and all the lost opportunities there were between them. If he had his time over Steve knew he would have played things differently, taken more risks and let the chips fall where they may. Some rides were simply worth the fall.
The electronic doors gave a quiet hiss as Bruce walked back into the room. He looked around. "Where's Tony?"
Steve quickly took his hand away from Pepper. "He's gone to use the bathroom."
Bruce looked at him. "Alone?"
Steve pulled a face. "I don't like the guy with his pants up. I don't see that changing with his pants around his ankles."
"Oh my God, how can anyone be this naive?" asked Bruce in disbelief.
Steve frowned. "What, do you think Stark lied?"
Bruce was already heading out of the room and making for the elevator. He punched at the elevator buttons as Steve caught up with him. "No, I think the earth is round," said Bruce in frustration, "I know Tony lied. He's going for those men."
Steve's frown deepened. "You don't think he's going to do anything stupid, do you?"
Bruce looked at him in exasperation. "Are you really going to force me to answer that, Steve?"
The elevator arrived and both men quickly stepped inside. Bruce jabbed at the button which would take them to the holding cell level of the Stark Tower. Their ride took them to where they needed to be with whisper-quiet efficiency. The doors slid back just in time to see Tony pulverising one of the captives with his bare fists.
"Ah, crap," said Bruce as Steve burst into action.
Steve covered the distance between them in a blink, grabbing hold of Tony and dragging him away from the blood covered man who was slumped on the floor, not moving.
"Let me go!" Tony screamed. "He tried to kill Pepper!"
"And killing him isn't going to change that," Steve shouted. "Stop it! Do you think this is what Pepper would want?"
Surprisingly his words actually seemed to penetrate Tony's rage and he stopped struggling. "I'm alright," he said roughly, "you can let go of me now."
Steve slowly let Tony go and the other man jerked free of him and stepped away, throwing him a dirty look. Steve looked over at Tony's victim. "Is he okay?"
Bruce bent over the unconscious man and inspected the bloodied remnants of his face. "Okay, yeah, that's going to leave a mark."
"Keep that lunatic away from us!" one of the other captives demanded. "He's crazy!"
Bruce pulled a face. "Hard to make an argument to counter that," he agreed. "Now, at the risk of sharing the same fate as your compatriot here, how about you tell us why you came after Pepper Potts?"
The man swallowed hard and looked nervous. "I can't."
"There are three of you," Bruce reasoned. "We only need one of you to be left with the capacity of speech. How'd you like that lucky guy to be you?"
Tony started to move determinedly towards him and the other man quickly backed up in his cell. "Okay, okay, I'll talk. We were hired by some guy from Hammer Industries. He said his boss had a score to settle and we had to nab some woman. He gave us a picture and told us her normal schedule and we just took it from there."
"What was meant to happen after you took Pepper?" Tony bit out.
"We had to take her to a private air strip." He shrugged. "After that I don't know."
"We're they going to kill her?" asked Tony, his voice low and ominous sounding.
The man grimaced. "To be honest, with the people we're talking about here, that would have been the best case scenario."
Tony's face was a picture of barely contained rage as he turned on his heels and stalked out of the room.
Bruce looked at Steve. "I don't see this ending well."
Steve sighed heavily. "Yeah, me either."
"We shouldn't leave him alone."
"Draw straws?"
Bruce reached into his pocket and drew out a coin. "We'll flip for it. Call it."
"Heads," said Steve as the coin rolled over and over in the air, waiting to be caught and decide the men's fate...
Tony glared at Steve. "Get out of my way."
"I'd love to, but I lost the toss, so not going to happen," returned Steve evenly.
Tony's lips thinned. "I don't need someone to hold my hand."
"Yes, you do, if that hand is planning on killing someone," Steve shot back.
"I've just got some business to take care of, it has nothing to do with you," said Tony tersely.
"But everything to do with Pepper," he countered.
"You only met Pepper a month ago, she's been in my life for twelve years," said Tony forcefully. "How this is handled is my call, no one elses, got that?"
"I don't think Pepper would want you to do anything stupid," Steve argued.
"After twelve years she's used to it," said Tony flatly. "It's kind of our thing. This isn't your business, Rogers, stay out of it."
Steve didn't budge. "I'm not going to let you run around town with some kind of vendetta."
"And I'm not going to let you get in my way."
The two men faced off as the elevator doors slid open to reveal Happy. He stepped out and looked between the two men.
Without taking his eyes off Steve, Tony snapped at him. "Where the hell have you been, Happy?"
.
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‼️🎈hello everyone thank you so much for reading this chapter! 🙏 If you'd like to read the full novel "The Price of Legacy", you can find it on my Ko-fi page: ko-fi.com in the store section in PDF format. This fanfic will consist of 30 chapters . 🎈‼️
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