"No, wait. No, that's not it." Fuck, he's screwing this up already. He didn't even think Tony would go in that direction. He knew things were complicated between Tony and Howard but it wasn't something they talked about because of how complicated it was. "Tony, it's not that."

Steve fixes him with a serious, firm look. He's telling the truth and Tony needs to see that. "Howard was not Hydra. He never would've been. Not after everything he went through in the war."

Considering the effort and money Howard put into trying to find Steve there's no way he would've joined Hydra. Considering how many times he went after Hydra with the Commandos when he shouldn't have, there's no way. Even Tony had to see the logic and rationality in that. Whatever feelings he had about his father even Tony couldn't ignore that.

Steve huffs out a breath and tries again. "It's about Howard's death."

That also means it's about Maria's. He knows Tony's going to put those two together too. Tony's the smartest man alive. There's no way he's not going to start putting the pieces together. Eventually the need to know will take over. He knows Tony will have to read the files eventually.

Again he offers them with a tight, grim expression. "You need to read these. I can't do that for you."