"You're letting your personal feelings keep you from making a rational decision. Now who's the hypocrite, Steve?"

"What the hell do you mean?" he grunted, throwing you from his back and onto the mat in front of him. "My feelings are under control."

You winced as you stood, pressing your hand into your side as you caught your breath, but not taking so long that he could make another move on you. "The Accords almost tore the team apart because of your personal feelings," you spat, dropping low and swinging your leg to kick the side of his knee, making him stumble into the wall and allowing you to kick it fully from beneath him and send him to the mat this time. "This is no different."

"You still haven't forgiven me for Hydra either, have you?"

"Yes, I forgave you a long time ago," you panted. "I told you that."

He used his lowered position to his advantage, grabbing your ankle and giving it a harsh turn outward to flip you around and take you to the ground, his other hand swinging up to turn you over onto your stomach before you hit the mat. He pushed up quickly to take a hold of your arms so that you couldn't push away, yanking them back and holding them firmly with a knee pressed between your shoulder blades to hold you there. "If you've forgiven me, then why don't you trust me?"

"I've forgiven but I haven't forgotten. There's a difference."

"That's not fair, (Y/N)."

"How...is that not...fair?" you groaned, trying to get out of his grip. "I have every right...to remember..."

"Give up?" he asked plainly, barely having to struggle to hold you. "I've got you pinned."

"Like hell," you argued, bucking your hip and kicking your leg back just enough to hit his lower back and send the muscles into a spasm so that he had to move. You were just able to scurry out from under his hold before he regained his control, the two of you now standing face-to-face again and ready for the other to pounce. "How much more can we take, Steve? When is one more thing one too many for us?"

"Hold on a second," he stopped, raising his hands to signal a pause in the spar, "what are you saying? Do you think we're there? We've gotten through worse than this, (Y/N)."

"Yeah, but this is the second time that I've had to decide if I can trust you or not. You're my husband, and I should never have to ask this question once, much less twice in such a short time."

"(Y/N), come on, I didn't mean for this to break your trust," he pushed forward, only for you to take a reflexive step back. "I'm sorry."

"I shouldn't have to hear that again either, Steve."

~~~

Tony's footsteps were bounding and authoritative as he crossed the compound's main building, only one goal in his mind and a sheer determination to rectify a situation that was completely unacceptable to him. He stepped into the elevator and closed his eyes as the doors closed, taking a deep breath to try to calm his anger only to find it of no use. "FRIDAY, go slow."

"Yes, boss," she replied, raising the lift at half the velocity that she would normally use. "Would you like me to call the Captain to assist you? Or perhaps (Y/N)?"

"No, and don't ask me again."

The A.I. didn't reply, the rest of the ride being carried out in complete silence. He reluctantly opened his eyes and watched the numbers of each floor flash by on the display, sucking in a harsh breath when he arrived at his destination. With a nod of his head and a renewed resolve, he continued down the long hallway until he came to the door he wanted. "Open it," he snapped, stepping inside before FRIDAY could get it fully moved out of his way.

"Grandpa?" Anthony greeted from his bed, shielding his eyes when Tony turned the lights on without warning.

"Stay there," he commanded, turning to the first connected room, waking Brooklyn in the same manner and calling her in, followed by Grant, with the two of them wandering to Anthony's bed and climbing up to sit next to their brother as they waited for Tony to speak again.

"Is everything okay, Grandpa?" Grant began, but was quickly halted by Tony's interruption.

"No, it's not. FRIDAY, give us the replay please."

"If she really doesn't want us to go to the Sanctum, we should think about how we'll get there without her knowing."

"You mean sneak out? You do realize where we live, right? FRIDAY would have us outed in a second. Do you really want to face the wrath of the Avengers? This isn't just Mom that we have to worry about, Ant. It's every one of them."

"That might have to be a risk that we should be ready to take, Grant."

The three kids scooted just a little closer to each other now, after hearing their own voices replayed for them, and with such damming evidence as to their plans to act on their own if they had to in order to get to Strange's Sanctum. The unabashed rage in Tony's eyes was something that they had never seen directly, and certainly never aimed in their direction.

"Grandpa, we can explain-"

"Quiet," Tony barked, "there's nothing you can say to me right now that will explain what we just heard. Do you have even the slightest idea of what you're doing? Did you even once stop to think about how dangerous that would be? Did you stop to think at all?"

"But Mom won't let us-"

"I don't care if your mom won't let you go, because that's her right to make that decision, Brooklyn. As your parent, that's up to her and not you. You are seven years old. Seven. I don't want to hear one word about how much more advanced you are, alright? You're still only seven, end of story."

"We promise," Anthony tried now, "we thought that Mom knew, Grandpa. We would have told her but we thought that Dad did."

"That doesn't matter, Ant. You should have talked to them both together, because you know that they both have a say in what happens to you three. Talking to your dad alone was a way for you guys to play one against the other if you didn't get your way, and don't try to argue that it wasn't. I was your age once, and I know exactly how to play that game. Do you know how disappointed I am right now?"

His only reply was silence, the children looking at each other with a guilt in their expressions that they didn't want him to see. She tried to hold it in, but a quiet sniffle escaped Brooklyn's nose and Grant wiped a quick pass over his eyes with his sleeve.

"You saw how much it hurt her that you didn't come to her. Now can you imagine the pain she would be in if you went through with your genius plan to sneak out, not knowing where you were, or if you were safe? It would kill her."

Again, only a heavy silence filled the room as he stood steady, his arms crossed tightly to keep his hands from shaking. He hated every second of this; he wanted to pick them all up and hug them, to tell them that it was all okay and he forgave them, but he couldn't. His own pain wasn't being relived, so he wasn't ready to relive theirs just yet.

"You guys know that I love you beyond words, right? I'd die without a second thought to keep you safe."

"We know, Grandpa," Anthony whispered softly.

"You're my grandkids, and I love you so much. But your mother is my kid, and I'm not going to stand by and let anyone hurt her, do you understand me?"

"Yes," Brooklyn agreed.

"Good. You're grounded for the next week. No tech, no access to FRIDAY, no leaving the building. Bedtime will be an hour earlier, and once you're in your rooms for the night, you stay there. I'll have FRIDAY lock down your joining doors if I have to," he ordered, looking to each of them individually. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Grant answered for the group. "We're sorry."

Tony's shoulders dropped, finally allowing himself to breathe and feel the remorse at how firm he had to be with them. He shook his head and took a few steps forward, leaning down to press a kiss to each blonde head before ushering them each back to their own rooms and saying his goodnights. He turned off the final light and closed Anthony's door without another word, waiting for the definitive click to tell him it was fully shut before sliding himself down the wall to sit on the floor. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he sat that way for nearly an hour, silently letting the anger and pain go, trying to get the image of their sorrowful little faces out of his mind.

"Dammit," he whispered painfully, "I'm sorry too, guys."

~~~

The tables had turned quickly, Steve finding himself pinned with his face pressed into the wall, your arm around his neck so tightly that his vision began to get spotty. "Are you knocking me...out...doll? Will...that help?"

"No," you hissed, releasing him with a growl of frustration and dropping to the floor from your perch on his back, "it won't. Just making a point." You crossed the gym to grab your water from one of the benches, taking a towel as you passed by to wipe the sweat from your forehead, tossing Steve another. "It makes it harder to be mad at you if you're unconscious."

"Then by all means, try again," he smiled cautiously. "I'd rather you not be mad, so...hop on," he shrugged, waiting for your reaction with a raised brow.

"Maybe you should stop making me mad," you offered. "Don't you think that would be easier?"

"You would think, but I seem to be really good at it."

"Pfft, truth. I suppose I could say the same though. We sure know how to push each other's buttons." With a few tips back of the bottle, you emptied your water and tossed it away, taking one more pass of the towel over your forehead and neck, dipping the edges of the towel just below the line of your shirt and across your chest as Steve watched, though you didn't immediately notice until you heard a quiet clearing of his throat. "Problem?"

"Um...no...no problem." He turned to see the clock on the far wall, surprised that so much time had passed since your spar began. "It's 1am."

"Yep, sure is."

"Everyone should be in bed by now."

"I would hope so."

He let out a low laugh, his shoulders moving with his chuckle even despite the lack of sound that should be with it, "are you really going to make me beg?"

"I wouldn't think of it, but you know that angry sex never ends well, Steve. Even for us."

"Hmm," he considered, tossing his towel aside and taking slow strides to cross the room towards you, "well, I don't think that I'm mad anymore. Are you?" He pulled his shirt off, up over his head with one quick motion, dropping it to the floor carelessly as he approached.

"A little, yeah," you smirked, taking a few steps back until you misjudged your position and wound up pressed against the wall with nowhere to go. "I could work up a little angry if I had to."

"A little angry goes a long way. I can work with a little angry." He was pressed up against you now, but this time there was no animosity or hurt feelings; there was no fight in either of you to stop it, and it felt as if it had been so long that your bodies took over and searched desperately for each other as you finally connected. "Give me your best, doll," he murmured against your mouth as his tongue grazed across your lips and desperately searched for yours. He grabbed you in his arms and lifted you from the ground, holding you tight against the wall with his hands sliding up into your hair.

"Steve...wait..." you breathed out heavily, pushing away as best as you could to look at him and hold his attention, "I don't want to keep fighting with you. I don't want to keep doing this."

"I don't either."

"I want us to leave. Just for a while," you offered, immediately scared that you had just destroyed the moment that you hadn't had in far too long. "I want to focus on us again."

He held you there for a moment, looking into your eyes as if he were searching within your soul to give him the right answer, but just before you thought to say something more, he smiled with a gentle sigh and leaned forward to rest his forehead against yours.

"That's all I want, (Y/N). That's all I've ever wanted."