18
The fact that Tony goes against the Accords is one thing. Some may say he's doing it out of guilt, and others may say he's doing it because he's a good friend. He got the information from same about their whereabouts, and completed ignored Ross on his way back to the chopper. All he leaves with is a wink, and he's out of the raft. He stays in his helicopter for just a few seconds, before activating his Iron Man suit. He flies off enroute to Siberia.
Little does he know that a Wakandan jet silently flies behind him.
Steve and Bucky arrive at the base, after Zemo but before Tony. Bucky opens up a weapon's vault labeled "Romanoff" and takes out an automatic assault riffle. As the back of the jet opens, Steve looks over at his friend.
" You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?".
" Was that the time we used our train money to buy hotdogs?".
" You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a red-head".
" What was her name again?".
" Dolores. You called her Dot".
" She's gotta be a hundred right now".
" So are we, pal".
With that, they make their way inside the base. Spider webs everywhere. Little to no electricity. They get onto an elevator, their ears perking up with every creak.
Steve may not know about the horrors Bucky experienced, but he has a pretty good idea.
As they make their way down the hall way, a large noise comes from the elevator. Both of them turn around, shield up, gun cocked. The noise continues to grow, and the elevator doors begin to open, showing the one and only Tony Stark.
" You seem a little defensive".
" It's been a long day".
Both Tony and Steve make their way to each other, neither Steve nor Bucky letting their guard down.
" At ease, soldier. I'm not currently after you", Tony says, to which Bucky doesn't listen.
" Then why are you here?", Steve asks.
" Could be your story's not so crazy. Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise I gotta arrest myself".
" Well that sounds like a lot of paperwork. It's good to see you Tony".
With one defense down, Tony lets out a half smile.
" You too, Cap. Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. This is a truce here. You can drop it".
Bucky only drops his defense on Steve's okay.
The three, as a semi-team, make their way deeper into the base. Tony uses his suit to find any heat signatures, to which he only finds one. Steve keeps his shield tucked close to his body, and Bucky keeps his gun raised and finger on the trigger.
As they find the super-soldier cryo-genic freezing chambers, something's off. A bullet hole is seen in each of the chambers and the four soldier's foreheads, blood frozen in place.
" If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep".
Zemo's voice rings through their ears, only his face visible from inside a bunker.
" Did you really think I wanted more of you? I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here".
Steve throws his shield at the window of the bunker, but it just bounces back to him.
" Please, Captain. The Soviets build this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR100 rockets".
" I'm betting I could beat that!", Tony calls out.
" I'm sure you could, Mr.Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came".
" You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?", Steve asks as he walks up to the window.
In that moment, T'Challa realizes his mistake.
" I've thought of nothing more for over a year. I studied you. I followed you... your wife. But now that you're standing here I just realized... there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw".
" You're Sokovian. Is that was this is about?".
" Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise".
" You lost someone?".
" I lost everyone. And so will you. An empire toppled by its enemies will rise again. But one that crumbles from within... that's dead".
Zemo plays a video on the computer in front of them, the tittle December 16, 1991. A date Tony knows all too well... as does Bucky. Steve knows what's about to happen, and so does Bucky, but they watch anyway.
" I remember that road", Tony starts.
As the video plays out, one thing is clear: Howard and Marie Stark were not killed in an accident. On the screen as Howard get's pulled out of his car, he recognizes his attacker, and says two words.
Sergeant Barnes.
Tony's face reads sadness and anger as he watches the life of his mother leaving her body. As the video ends, Tony tries to attack Bucky, but Steve stops him.
" Did you know?".
" I didn't know it was him".
" Don't bullshit me, Rogers, did you know?".
" Yes".
With that, Tony takes a step back. Tears filling his eyes. And yet... he begins to laugh.
" You don't see the irony in this {sniffs} but I do".
Steve is confused by his words, but listens.
" See, back in Berlin... I-I tried to stop Lauren, but, uh... the repulser was to strong... and she was pregnant".
" Was?".
Steve looks Tony dead in the eyes as he asks his question.
" Tony... what did you do?".
" I killed your unborn child".
And now it's Steve's turn to take a step back. His brain not able to comprehend what he just heard. He physically cannot process it. His wife was... pregnant. Steve lunges for Tony, but gets knocked back.
Tony puts his mask on and tries to blast Bucky, but he dodges it. Bucky throws a punch, and Tony catches it. He flies Bucky to the ground, one of his boots on his metal arm, until a vibranium shield hits him in the head.
Their fight continues, up until Bucky's near escape, the three of them falling nearly two hundred feet where these words are spoken:
" This isn't going to change what happened".
" I don't care. He killed my mom".
Steve, not only angered by his words, but fueled by his actions, stands up for his friend, and fights his other one. Punches are thrown and laid, until Bucky jumps in with the shield, he and Steve acting as a tag-team to subdue the angered Stark.
And then, it's just Tony and Bucky. Bucky has Tony against the wall, in a desperate attempt to remove the power source of his suit to end the fight.
But things do not go down that smoothly.
Tony uses a strong blast, which ends in Bucky's metal arm being removed. Tony kicks him down and Steve stands up. Shield in hand, Steve runs towards Tony, blocking the blasts that he fires off. Until Tony uses his strongest repulser against the shield, and Steve uses all of his strength to keep it up.
" He's my friend".
" So was I".
Neither of them stop.
Not for a while, at least.
Tony fueled by the death of his parents.
And Steve fueled by the protection of his live-long best friend... and the death of his child.
Steve knows that Tony didn't do it on purpose, but it doesn't matter.
Tony knows that HYDRA had control of Bucky's mind, but it doesn't matter.
" Stand down. Final warning".
" I can do this all day".
The fight ends with Steve on top of Tony, throwing punch after punch after punch. He breaks off Tony's mask, and Tony puts up his hands, thinking that Steve was going to kill him. But he doesn't. Steve plunges the shield into the power source of his suit, ending their fight. For now.
Steve, beaten bloody, gets up. He picks up his friend and his shield, and hobbles away.
" That shield doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!".
Knowing that Tony is right, and out of respect for Howard, Steve drops the shield. He helps his friend out and to the jet, but before he can get in the air, Steve collapses. He breaks down.
He cries, mourning for the loss of his child. For the loss of a family. For what could have been. His heart aches, but his mind is set on a single goal.
He's going to get his family back.
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