tony bit his lip, but steve didn't move. then at last, captain america gasped for air “that's my man,” tony said, relieved. then he handed the shield to steve, “you lose this again, i'm keeping it.” his tone was affectionate, teasing. even in dark moments.
lifting his head, tony noticed someone in the distance jabbing their thumb in the air, except it wasn't just someone, it was steve. tony lifted the briefcase in his hand and pointed at it. steve nodded, then tony shook his head and turned right.
the agent turned to gaze at steve. even with the hat pulled down over his head and covering his eyes, he was still pretty easy to spot and not hard to look at, so tony took a step forward, putting himself between the agent and steve so she couldn't get a good view of him.
tony caught sight of the other 2012 avengers, captain america in particular. holding his shield 2012 steve turned around, giving tony a good look at his backside. “mister rogers,” tony joked softly into his coms, “i almost forgot that suit did nothing for your ass.”
steve slid his arm through the leather straps fastened to the back. the weight was familiar, and [the shield] felt perfectly at home. he lowered the shield to his side. “thank you, tony.” steve was grateful to have it and his friend back again.
and then he looked at steve rogers, “bunch of tired old mules,” tony snarled. i got nothing for you, cap. i got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options, zero zip nada no trust,” and then he condemned his former teammate in a harsh whisper, “liar.”
steve bolted over to help his friend, taking his weight from nebula. steve thought he heard tony say something, but his voice was so weak. “i couldn't stop him,” it sounded like. “neither could i,” steve replied. he simply didn't know what else to say.