A/N: So, the Civil War trailer came out. And shattered my heart. And then this idea popped into my head, and I couldn't ignore it, even though I typically wait until after a movie's come out to write fanfic.
So, like I said in the summary, POTENTIAL AND DEFINITE CIVIL WAR SPOILERS.
Major character death.
Mentions of being suicidal.
She pirouetted midair, thrusting out her palm, scarlet light bursting from it in a powerful wave. Vision managed to dodge the worst of it, but the edge caught his side, sending him tumbling and crashing to the ground. Wanda dropped to the ground, raising her hands, scarlet light swirling around them, ready to do her bidding. Vision lay on the ground, disoriented, vulnerable. She should do it. He was the enemy now. She'd spent this entire battle working towards this moment.
But suddenly, all she could think of was his sweet naivety; every time he'd swooped between her and danger, saving her life whether she thought she needed him or not; the moments he comforted her when Pietro's death threatened to destroy her; the way he treated her like a rose, delicate but thorny, both needing protection and able to survive on her own… The first time they had kissed, only the day before this whole mess started, before they chose different paths.
Steve's voice echoed in her head. This isn't worth it.
A black blur had no such hesitations. Taking advantage of Wanda's distraction, Natasha leapt into action, viciously kicking Clint in the face and sprinting over, tackling Wanda to the ground. Instinctively, power surged through Wanda, knocking Natasha away. They both scrambled to their feet, Wanda sending bolts towards the former assassin, each of which she easily dodged, all while inching closer. Gritting her teeth with effort, Wanda spun again, sending a wave slashing towards Natasha. She sprang into the air, flipping over it, and brought her heel down on Wanda's shoulder. She screamed in agony, dropping to her knees. Natasha grabbed her hair, bringing her other fist back for a knockout punch.
But it wasn't the punch that froze Wanda, that made her gasp, that made tears of pain spring to her eyes.
It was the emptiness.
The emptiness where a mind had once been, pulsing with life.
The emptiness she hadn't felt this sharply since Sokovia. Since Pietro's soul was torn from his body.
Seeing her weakness, Natasha stopped the punch a mere inch from Wanda's face, horror painting her own at what she had been about to do. But Wanda knew it was nothing compared to what she would see when she looked up.
But God, God she hoped she was wrong.
She managed to rasp out a single word, a single name. "Steve."
Natasha glanced up, towards where Tony, Steve, and Bucky had been fighting. Her eyes widened. Overwhelming grief crashed over, dropping an unbearable weight on her shoulders, driving her down. Before her knees could hit the ground, shock blanked out her face, silent tears the only evidence of her agony.
As Natasha went down, the others gradually stopped fighting, turning towards the heart-shattering scene in front of them.
Steve lay on the gravel, blue eyes staring sightlessly at the sky, his body too still, too bloody… lifeless. Their leader, their moral compass, their friend… dead.
As silence dawned, as the fighting stopped, as they gathered in a loose circle around Tony and the 95-year-olds, Bucky's heart wrenching cries of "Steve, no! Steve!" reached their ears. He knelt over the body, blood coating his silver hand as he pressed it against the gaping wound in the body's side, even though life had fled a short eternity ago. His flesh hand cupped Steve's bruised face with practiced care, even after so many brain wipes, so many years. His yelling faded to whispers, the ones Wanda imagined he had used as kids when Steve was terribly sick.
"Steve, you can't die," he sobbed. "I just got you back."
Steve remained dead.
"Please, Stevie," Bucky whispered. "Please."
Sam took a halting step towards Steve. One wing was folded, but his other dragged on the ground, ragged and scorched by Rhodey's repulsors. He limped from more than just his injured knee, his shoulders slumping, his expression disbelieving. Steve couldn't be dead. He'd survived being frozen for 70 years, only to die? Die at the hands of friends?
Die over a stupid law?
Tony's suit stuttered open, and the billionaire stumbled out. Pure horror screamed from his movements, his expression, his mind, so overwhelmingly powerful it physically pained Wanda. He lurched forward, his entire body shaking, his voice breaking, stammering. "B-Bucky, I d-didn't- I thought- the s-suit- I-"
In a blur, Bucky surged up, whirled around, and slammed his metal fist into Tony's face. His head snapped to the side and he fell, skidding a few feet. His cheek now stained by Steve's blood in the form of Bucky's fist.
"Hey!" Rhodey shouted, starting to run forward.
Sam held up his hand. "This is for them," he warned.
Tony hadn't moved, his despair flooding over Wanda. Bucky stepped closer, his rage shading Wanda's vision red. Bucky and Tony's eyes met, and she felt their agony, felt their loss, felt their hatred of each other, felt their love for Steve.
She felt Tony's readiness to die.
She felt Bucky's readiness to kill.
Slowly, Bucky advanced, his fist clenching. And Tony made no move to protect himself.
Wanda jumped to her feet, sending a scarlet shield towards the pair just as Bucky threw the punch. She held her breath, wondering if she'd been fast enough.
His fist connected with her shield, the force behind it shaking her to her core. It flickered and wavered. But it held.
Bucky didn't look up, didn't unclench his fist. "Let me kill this murderer."
Behind Wanda, Natasha finally broke from her trance, slowly rising to her feet. Her tone was firm as steel when she said "No."
"I wasn't asking you."
Wanda softened her voice, but the edge was just as deadly as Natasha's. "No."
"He killed Steve!" Bucky yelled, his voice hoarse.
"And you killed his parents," Vision pointed out, his voice too mechanical as he suppressed his emotions. "Neither of you are blameless. Neither of you are guiltless. Just as neither of you deserve to die."
"Steve wouldn't want this," Clint added quietly. Carefully, he moved to Natasha's side.
"How do you know? He's too dead to tell us," Bucky snapped.
Wanda stepped closer, keeping her hands low but the shield active. "I know," she murmured. "I didn't realize it at the time – I thought I was just hearing things in the heat of a battle none of us wanted – but I overheard his last thought. You know what he said? 'This isn't worth it.'"
Natasha moved with her. "He cares – cared – for us all. Even Stark, as irritating and idiotic as he can get. There's nothing he wouldn't have done for him, just as there's nothing he didn't do for you. If you kill Stark now, not only will you get arrested and sentenced to death, you'll fail Steve. Because he never wanted this. He was blinded by grief, just as Stark was, just as you are. The rest of us were blinded by loyalty, but look at us now. We're not fighting. We're standing together. United by the very things that tore us apart."
Sam nodded. "You were his best friend first, I know that. It wasn't your fault you left him. But I've been his best friend for two years, and I know him, too. We all saw him as our infallible leader, but there was another part of him, one you know more intimately than the rest of us ever could: He was vulnerable. He was human. He made mistakes. He was just a 1940's guy trying to survive in a 2010's world, and then, within a week, the love of his life died, he had to defy the law to protect the best friend he thought he watched die, and then that single action was dividing his modern friends, and he thought his only choice was to fall in line. We all did."
"No," Wanda realized. "No. That wasn't the reason he was fighting. He was fighting for us. He was fighting for freedom." She flashed a glance at Sam. "He didn't die because we were idiots, nor did he die for a stupid law. He died for his friends. He died for his cause. And what are we going to do? Throw it away over grief?"
Bucky was wavering, his fist unclenching, his body relaxing. "But…"
Wanda moved until she was just at the edge of Bucky's reach. "I lost my brother, Bucky. I felt him die. It hurt like no pain I ever could have imagined. And I tore out his murderer's heart. You know where that got me? What I felt? Nowhere and nothing, besides the occasional nightmare afterwards. Now take that and compare it to what would happen if you killed Steve's friend. If you killed Howard's son. It's not worth the guilt and the pain, is it?"
Bucky slumped, shaking. Wanda dropped the scarlet shield and knelt beside the broken man, pulling him into her arms like Pietro had once pulled her into his. Bucky clutched her with his flesh hand, burying his face in her shoulder. "I know," she whispered. "I know."
Rhodey exited his suit and helped Tony up, gripping him in a one-armed man hug. "Don't do that, man."
Tony just hid in his best friend's shelter.
"You could fight for yourself, you know," Clint remarked.
"Shut it, Barton," Tony retorted, albeit half-hearted and muffled.
"Come on," Wanda murmured encouragingly, guiding Bucky back to his feet. As Tony pulled away from Rhodey, he pulled away from Wanda.
"Sorry," Bucky muttered.
Tony flashed a half-smirk. "I wanted to do the same thing to you. Guess we're even." His eyes widened. "Could you guys, uh, not tell Pepper about… that?" he requested, gesturing vaguely at where he'd lain, ready to die.
"Oh, we're telling Pepper," Rhodey, Natasha, Wanda, and Clint chorused.
"I'm dead," Tony muttered, beginning to limp back to his suit.
Bucky knelt beside Steve, gently closing his eyes. The others all turned to give him some privacy, but a few moments later, they all turned back as metal scraped on the ground. Bucky contemplated Steve's shield, his flesh finger drifting over a bullet-shaped dent.
"Peggy did this," he murmured, looking up at Tony, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Steve had pissed her off right before Howard showed him potential shields. Steve asked what Peggy thought, and she shot him to prove it worked. He and your father were terrified. I think that's when they became friends."
Tony managed a small smile. "I think I remember Dad telling me that story."
After a moment of silence, Vision voiced the question they were all thinking. "Should we bury the shield with the Captain?"
Sam glanced between it and Bucky. "No. There's one person who it belongs to now."
Bucky looked away as he held it out to Sam. "Like you said, you're his best friend," he rasped. Wanda squeezed his shoulder, the grief in his voice stabbing her heart.
But Sam shook his head. "I never replaced you, Bucky. No one could."
"Still. It doesn't belong with a villain."
"No, it doesn't," Sam agreed. "It belongs to the strongest hero among us."
Bucky lifted his head, looking around in confusion. No one moved to take the shield from him. "Who, Stark?"
Wanda couldn't suppress a small smile at how naïve he apparently could be – just like Steve. "You, Bucky. It's you."
"What?" he exclaimed. "But I'm the only villain here!"
Wanda shook her head. "I worked for Ultron."
"I was meant to be the strongest Ultron," Vision said.
Natasha crossed her arms. "I was a Russian assassin."
"I sold weapons for a living."
"I was an American assassin."
Sam and Rhodey glanced at each other and shrugged. "You're not alone, man," Rhodey summarized.
Sam elaborated. "Their point is, most of us have been villains in one way or another. You're not the Winter Soldier anymore. You dropped that title the second you rejoined Steve. At least, you dropped the HYDRA version, which is what matters. Now? You've got a second chance, just like the rest of us. That shield is your new start."
Bucky watched them all, his eyes wide, waiting for the blow to fall that would rip this from him. Hesitantly, he lowered his gaze to the shield. With a zap and a clink, he attached the shield to his metal arm. Instantly, the others stood at attention. Bucky shook his head.
"I'm not Steve. Don't- don't look at me like that."
"No one will ever be Steve," Natasha murmured.
"But you're the captain now," Rhodey finished.
Memories swam through Bucky's eyes, and Wanda saw one stand out, heard the words Bucky had once said. They tore her heart out, but now, they made just as much sense.
"Let's hear it for Captain America."
Dressed in their full battle regalia, damaged though it may be, they all saluted, one by one, first to Steve, then to Bucky.
"What's our next move, Cap?" Clint asked, his voice wavering but unhesitant.
Bucky glanced down at Steve, took a deep breath, and looked back up, suddenly with the calm authority of a leader. "First, we have a friend to take care of. And then…" He glanced at Tony, who dipped his head in acquiescence – Tony wasn't going to fight their leader, not this time.
"And then, we have a law to veto."
Maybe she was hallucinating, but Wanda felt two achingly familiar presences around her.
This is worth it, they murmured. She smiled through tears.
"They're proud of us."
No one questioned her. They accepted her words in bittersweet silence.
Survivors.
Friends.
Avengers.
United once again.