As soon as Tony laid eyes on Steve, he forgot the years of resentment, all the negative feelings he harboured towards the other man, it melted off his shoulders. How could he push him away after all they had lost?
It had been a long journey back to Earth, and just finding it was there, even in the state it was in, was a beacon of hope in an utterly hopeless situation. Finding part of the team still alive even more so.
Steve was the first to meet Tony in the courtyard of the Avengers facility, his eyes red and puffy as if had been crying for weeks, his shoulders not held quite as high.
It took Tony a moment to fully recognize him, with the long hair and the beard. But he knew. This was Steve, and he was alive.
He didn’t even protest as the familiar arms wrapped around him and held him close. Tony kept a hand on the back of Steve’s head, the other on his back as he held close, never wanting to let him go. He couldn’t lose anyone else.
“I can’t believe you’re alive,” the first words spilled from Steve’s mouth as he pulled away, hands on either side of Tony’s neck, fresh tears spilling down his cheeks.
“Me either,” Tony said weakly, trying to blink back his own tears as the weight of everything felt like it would crush him. He looked into the blue eyes he once loves so dear and could see only pain, loss and sorrow. Tony’s heart twisted and pulled the taller man closer, “I lost him.”
“What?” Steve sniffed as his hands wandered over Tony disbelievingly, making sure it was really him and that it wasn’t another dream.
“He was just a kid for God’s sake, Steve. And it was all my fault,” Tony hung his head as his jaw clenched with the guilt that seized him.
Steve shook his head, “Tony, none of this is your fault. You cannot blame yourself.”
Tony closed his eyes tight as tears tracked their way down his face, “Who can I blame then? Who can I lock up for letting him get on that ship? Who can I fight for not turning the damn thing around when I had the chance?”
“You did what you had to,” Steve assured as he leaned their foreheads together, voice softer and so different from what Tony remembered, “We all did, and we’ve all lost people.”
Brown eyes fluttered closed as he swallowed a lump in his throat, not able to bring himself to ask who on their team was still alive and who wasn’t.
“We’re going to find a way to fix this,” Steve breathed, clutching the tattered fabric of Tony’s shirt.
“How can you say that? How can there possibly be a way to right this, Steve?”
“I…I don’t know,” he said honestly, “But we’re not all gone, and we have hope.”