?????? ??? ????? ??????

The Rogue Avengers exploded spectacularly. Clint couldn't even wait until they'd left the gala, confronting Steve as he was pining over the genius on the other side of the room.

The archer demanded an explanation, a reason why Steve had lied to them, hidden the truth to make Tony out to be the bad guy when it was the super soldier who had caused everything.

Nothing Steve said satisfied the archer and Clint tore his excuses to pieces.

"You're nothing but a selfish fucker. As long as you got Barnes then screw everyone else right? Screw me and Scott who might lose our families over this. Screw Tony who you lied to and betrayed. Screw the rest of the fucking world, everyone that got hurt in your crusade. None of us matter to you, as long as you got what you wanted."

No-one stopped the man as he stormed from the venue, intent on phoning his wife and doing anything he needed to, to get a second chance from her.

Sam was left standing in front of Steve, disbelief and despair clearly written over his face.

"Sam..."

The Falcon left without a word, shoulders slumped and his belief in Captain America no doubt shattered. Scott had fled right after Natasha had told them the truth.

Steve and Wanda were left alone under the disgusted looks of the partygoers.

###

"You didn't need to do it in such a dramatic way," Tony pointed out later when he was sharing a bottle of Vodka with Natasha.

She hummed. "I could have told them in private. I could have been more gentle and lessened the blow," she agreed.

"But you didn't," he pointed out.

"No. Because the world needed to see that Rogers lied to just about everyone. And the only person he didn't lie to has mind-reading abilities so that didn't count."

Tony nodded absently. "You wanted to absolutely destroy him and leave him with almost no one," he mused.

Natasha didn't answer but she didn't need to.

She was still a Black Widow. She and her sister were ruthless when it came to protecting those they cared about.

Steve Rogers made a fatal mistake when he made Natasha his enemy.

Tony shook his head, letting a soft chuckle escape him. "Remind me to never get on your bad side Itsy Bitsy."

Natasha's lips curved in a smile.

"You won't. You're not an idiot."

She enjoyed hearing him laugh.

###

It wasn't long before everyone forgot about Captain America's fall from grace, turning their attention to the impending invasion.

Why waste brainpower on the man when there were more important things to focus on?

Clint, Sam and Scott threw themselves into the preparations, eager to redeem themselves after following the wrong man.

Tony and T'Challa only grew closer as the days passed, rapidly becoming the most popular couple on the planet.

Nothing Rogers did drew the genius' attention away from his boyfriend.

The Captain still seemed to somehow hold out hope that Tony could change his mind after the upcoming battle. No one could really follow his logic there but Natasha was pretty certain that Maximoff was feeding his delusion.

Finally, the day arrived. Thanos landed with his army behind him.

He expected an easy battle. It was just Terra after all. What kind of struggle could a backwater planet put up?