Chapter 36: Loneliness

Steve looked at the city he had once called home. New York had been a shit hole-language! - back when he had been growing up, but it had most definitely been his, and he had loved it. He had known it like the back of his hand. He still did, but not anywhere as near as he had once done. It always felt weird coming back here. His old stomping ground. His friends were dead now, some had died during the war, others from old age. It wasn't his anymore. He stared at it, and then turned and walked away. Toward the place where he would be needed.

He looked at what the King had given him and sighed. An arrow, a vibranium arrow, that would kill on impact. All he had to do was throw the thing and that would be that. He didn't know how it had come to this. Nothing made sense anymore, and the world was falling apart. He moved into the shadows as the cars began to move. The police would get things going first. Steve watched the boys in blue and felt jealous. They had something to do, they had a purpose, a higher calling. He had nothing. He didn't even have Bucky.

Steve saw the President's motorcade approach, and prepared himself for what he needed to do. He got into position, crouched, arrow ready, arm poised. He steadied his breathing as he had practiced, closed his eyes and said a prayer, maybe God would forgive him. As he went to throw, he heard a chuckle, and a sigh. "Steve Rogers, a treasonous son of a bitch? Never thought I'd see the day."

Steve turned around and saw Tony Stark standing there, not as Iron Man, but simply as himself. "What are you doing here, Tony?"

Tony stood before him, dressed in an immaculate suit, a smirk on his face and Steve felt something simmer within him. "I've come to ask why Captain America, the man who represents everything that is good about America, is standing here, or rather kneeling here, preparing to kill the lawfully elected President."

Steve put the arrow down. "You know he wasn't lawfully elected, the Russians meddled in the election and bribed a few people to get them to tamper with the electoral college. Besides, he's dividing the nation even more than any other President that we've ever had. He is destroying our home."

Tony laughed again. "Steve, you've always been a follower, not a leader. Therefore, I'm going to assume then that T'Challa has been wringing you with all this nonsense. Yes, Trump isn't the best President, but he's a damned sight better than any other candidate out there. He says a lot of things and gets his idiot supporters to say them out loud as well. The fucking Nazis are out in the open now, and other idiots. We can finally heal our country if we really want to. There will be no more hiding behind catch phrases and meaningless plaudits. We can actually achieve something here."

Steve looked at Tony and asked. "Did you help put him into the White House?" it was the one thing that made sense.

"No." Tony said. "However, I know why he is good for this country. We are bleeding internally, we need an operation to ensure that the country heals. We need to ensure that we never have this situation again. Trump must stay alive for that."

"Why? If he continues to be President, this country will die." Steve replied. "And I cannot allow that."

Tony sighed. "Say you shoot and kill the President, you are going to be hunted down. The people of the US will never trust you, the whole of the superpower will be looking for you. You will be compromised and die. Do you want that? Do you want to be responsible for the fall of the union, or do you want to be the one to bring it back to what it could be?"

Steve looked at the man and asked. "What do you mean?"

"Look at everything, look at it from a soldier's point of view, the President is unpopular, there is a growing surge for change, and now there is an opening. You are a hero to everyone, you are America. Think about it, what do you want?" Tony asked.

Steve thought about this and then turned around, the President had disappeared. Steve sighed and then said. "I know what I have to do."