I am sorry that it took me over 2 months to get this out.

I literately spent two months on this chapter. At one point, I threw out everything that i had written and restarted. I am sorry this chapter is so short, especially after the long wait.

I was ready to throw my laptop out the window. I was that angry and frustrated at myself over this shitty chapter. It made me question my entire ability to write.

Let me know what you think but be easy on my grammar. It probably sucks ass on this chapter, but i was ready to stab myself.

Chapter 15:

The Fall of Shield

After receiving the word from T'Challa that Ayo and Rhodey had been saved, the rest of the day was a blur—his relief flooding him-, as if all of the colors had blended together and he was working on muscle memory. People often described it as going into autopilot. Later, Tony would state it was due to his feral emotional state. With limited sleep and the heavy burden of the future on his tired shoulders, he was operating on empty, only dirt in his tank. He didn't have it in him to argue, in him to think. He just had to move and keep moving.

If he stopped for even a second, there was no telling what would happen. He may just implode. If he pondered for even a second, there was no telling where his mind would end up at. There was no telling where he would end up if he allowed himself to think. He would think himself into hole, which he had done time and time again creating things without assessing the consequence, and he could not allow himself to do that again. Especially with Peter always on his mind, and that never ended well for his moral.

Peter was never far from his thoughts, which was why he didn't allow himself time to process or celebrate the news that T'Challa had rescued Ayo and Rhodey. Yes, he was ecstatic they had been saved but he didn't have time hugs. There were five possible super Soldiers loose in D.C. ready to attack any non-Hydra agent, making this situation ten times worse than it had been prior. Tony doubted, with the unstableness of the five, that Hydra would risk using all five, but that all went out the door when Hydra was panicking, and there was no doubt that Hydra was panicked. Their favorite most stable—which was saying something- Super Soldier was stolen, and they were outed by Iron Man. To add injury to insult, a new player in the form of the Black Panther had just appeared on the board.

And that worried Stark. Would Hydra use all five Super Soldiers at once?

This kept him cold and distant, even under the watchful pained eye of Natasha. It wasn't to say a weight hadn't been lifted off his shoulders at the news, because it did. A large mountain had been lifted off Tony's shoulder at the sight of Ayo on T'Challa's jet. She may never be one of 'his', always belonging to Wakanda (as if anyone could technically belong to a country), but Tony would always claim people, an odd habit of his. Pepper, in any timeline and of any age, found it annoying, frustrating that he took in 'strangers' like lost puppies, and Rhodey sighed in return. Nevertheless, like all of the others he had 'taken', Tony was protective.

His mood kept most away, earning a calculating stare from Ayo—which looked painful in and of itself. With bruises all over her face, she appeared worse for the wear, battling Natasha for the 'best' looking reward. Ayo reminded him of a mummy with the amount of bandage covering her entire body, even if most of the bandages were hidden under fresh Wakandan clothes. Whatever she went through under Hydra's knife, it wasn't pretty, especially if those nasty looking cuts on her cheek and bloody lip were to judge. Over all, she should be fine in a week or so if she allowed herself to heal. Nevertheless, she wanted—no, demanded, to be in the field, refusing to stay behind even with doctor's orders, and she would dragged her injured self out into the field—well, if it wasn't for Okoye, ordering her in their native tongue to stay put. Rather, that was what Tony assumed she was saying. He couldn't be for sure, but he wasn't willing to ask when his mood was shit and Ayo looked like she could've skinned a cat.

Granted, that was nothing compared to Rhodey, who took the brunt of the torture. Hydra, it appeared, were sexist assholes as well as global terrorists, who took great joy in seeing that pain, scared gaze in someone's eyes. If Ayo was tortured, Rhodey was tormented and brutalized. Hydra seemed to have enjoyed torturing Rhodey in front of her. In some chauvinist fit, they tormented him more, dragging blades across his skin with a smile on their faces, while forcing her to watch. However, knowing Rhodey, he would rather receive the bunt of it (probably wise he not tell Ayo this). Regardless, Tony wasn't pleased with Rhodey's state, as he examined the scans over the holographic tablet handed to him by T'Challa. Anger boiled through his veins at the sight of his best friend blood and broken. His only comfort was that T'Challa had Rhodey tucked away in Wakanda, providing the best medical attention. Rhodey would no doubt be thrived to know he was in the golden city, probably never want to leave.

All of this did nothing for Stark's mood as it continued to sharpen and boil as the time when on, his mind doing the one thing he did not want it to do: overthink. He kept his mind on the mission not allowing anything to distract him, even blowing off Fury when the man tried to question him.

"How many secrets do you have, Stark?" Fury demanded, his words hot and heavily.

Tony gave him a cool look. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Stark." He sneered.

"This wasn't my secret to tell," He replied, vehemently and hotly. Unwilling to speak more, he turned from Fury and ignored any additional attempts from the man for more conversion. In his Iron Man suit and the Director half dead on his feet, Fury could not follow. Granted, it could have also been the fact that Tony had jumped out of the jet, ending any possible conversion.

*O*O*

Tony took a back seat this go around, allowing Rogers to take the lead. With the bigger picture in his sights, he didn't have the time or the urge to fight with Rogers over leadership. Be a waste of his breath. Rogers, unconsciously, always reached for the leadership role, popping out his chest in some show of strength. Some words would follow—Steve had the best words—and people would beg to follow him, melting under his smiling. Speeches were never Tony's strong suit, as he pissed off more people than he intended, not that he really cared about that. He didn't have time to worry about person's feelings, especially his own. His lack of filter was his catch phase.

Besides, doing this—permitting Steve to take the lead-, he was allowing a small bridge to form between him and the rest of the gang. Tony, groaning, rolled his eyes as a smiling Scooby Gang flashed before his eyes, which made him ill, but this was what this team needed. His trust had been broken many times over (others could probably say the same about him), and the idea of trusting someone else did not sit well with him, panic sneaking just thinking about it, but he needed to. He needed to allow himself to trust as the world needed the Avengers. Avengers that could trust and rely on the other.

Tony, something that probably stroke the team as odd, followed Steve's orders without a word. Ayo and Natasha stayed on the jet, coordinating from above. If they weren't dead on their feet, both would've protested at the thought of it; granted, there was some death glares from the both of them and cursing under Ayo's breath in her native togue. And as if they were communicating, Natasha was mumbling in Russian, sound just as angry. Okoye, frown and all, went with the bruised Director Fury, disguising herself as Councilman Hawley. Tony was quite impressed how the woman morphed into this councilman.

Okoye was taking over the position that Natasha held previously. A position that Tony wasn't a fan of in the first place. He understood why Natasha and Fury did what they did when they released SHIELD's secrets onto the internet. They wanted to out Hydra, bring them out into the light, but he didn't like the horrible repercussions. So many lives were lost when SHIELD files were dumped onto the internet, and since he was invited—or rather, invited himself- this time, he voiced that concern loudly and made sure, with help from Wakanda, to put safeguards in place to protect these lives. While Fury agreed, there was this hard expression on his face that didn't sit well with the genius.

T'Challa—few of his guards following- went with Rogers and Hills, assisting them with replacing the programming chips in the helicarriers' mainframe. Sam and Tony were air support, observing and taking out any aerial threats. Considering the shit show this battle was previously, aerial support was greatly needed. Why in the hell was he called in before in the last timeline? A major oversight on Steve's part. Knowing this, Tony, normally, would be shooting off at the hip about how they needed him for this, but he kept silent. Wilson, on the other hand, wasn't as chatty as some that Tony shared the coms with, conversed away annoyingly so, but he was good with one-liners, something that Tony would typically cheer. However, Wilson's jokes just went by Tony's head as he was solely focused on killing some hydra trash.

*O*O*

The Iron Man and the Falcon hovered in the sky just out of radar, waiting for the signal when Captain Roger's arduous voice stretched over the comm. "Attention, all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was, it's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building."

Tony couldn't see the Famous Captain as he leaned over the intercom breathing heavily into the mic, but there was already a picture of the man forming at the back of his mind with the stern no nonsense look that could glue you in place. Tony and Steve might have gotten along most of the time, disagreeing only on a few major items—like Accords-, but there was no denying Captain's ability to inspire, grow loyalty with winning speeches, even if annoyed Tony. This man could will broken legs whole by words alone. This man could make the dead walk.

"They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot the Nick Fury and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay." Rogers paused. "And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

Wilson snorted over the coms. "Do you think he wrote that down first, or was it off the top of his head?"

"I'm pretty sure Rogers has written a speech on hand for every possible situation," Tony replied, shortly, just as the headquarters came alive. It didn't take long for Hydra—for what Tony assumed to be Hydra— to storm and take to the air. It was unnerving to see the sneer number of enemy agents.

*O*O*

The eye twitch that Tony spotted was lost behind the Iron Man's suit as an angry swarm of Hydra Bees sprung up from the pits of hell. With the colossal amount of smoke and ash in the air, it choked the average person, and it was amazing that Tony had not been shoot out of the sky yet, his vision limited. Without his radar, he was screwed; with it, he was banking and turning on a dime. The Iron Man suit was dancing in the chalky air as he zipped around the bullets and deadly mortars. Several rounds did manage to scrape across the smooth reflective surface of the suit, digging harsh curves in his suit. Each round felt like a hard slap, but neither of them slowed him down. He charged onward.

Tony didn't keep track of how many Hydra agents he had taken down. Each simply made him angrier, imaging the dirty crimson blood soaking through his armor seeping into his skin. How could this many people choose a Nazi Organization? Did people go 'oh, that sounds fun' and joined Hydra like joining the gym? Who supported an organization, whose main goal was to steal your free will and force you to your knees? Whatever it was, these people were nuts. However, if the world was sane, there wouldn't be the need for Iron Man or the Avengers.

Sam suddenly went into a rapid drive, scarcely dodging a mass array of firepower. "Shit." He cursed, as his wings smoked. One appeared to have hit and black smoke rose from his backpack.

"JARVIS, are the wings done for?" Tony questioned, while JARVIS targeted the offending. Two compartments on his upper back opened and two missiles fired. Tony didn't wait for the missiles to make impact before the Iron Man changed direction.

"Yes, Sir." JARVIS answered as Sam disengaged the wings and pulled his parachute. The white parachute was only open for a few minutes before it became swiss cheese under instant fire.

Without waiting for a word, Tony drove for Sam, who was now free falling. He was able to zip through the air in no time, catching the Falcon before he could spatter against a Helicarriers. ""You okay?" he asked as he spun to avoid another Hydra drone.

Sam made what sounds like a puking sound as Iron Man Suit did a barrel roll, spinning a few times. "No dead yet," he croaked.

"Well if you were, just fly it off." Tony replied, channeling a line that Rogers used during Ultron shit show. Sam let out a pained chuckle as Tony dropped him off on the closest Helicarrier. Not a second later, the Iron Man suit took off, banking hard to the right at the last moment when a Hydra's fighter jet had him in their sights. With few well-placed repulsors blasts, Tony cleared the way for some Non-Hydra Shield agents, being pinned down by a few Hydra agents

Tony sailed back into the air as Sam took off on foot. Natasha's voice could be heard on the coms, communicating with Fury, but Tony paid no attention to the chatter.

*O*O*

"Incoming," JARVIS alerted.

A heavy fog lined the air from the destroyed and smashed jets and nonstop mortars, clouding and messing with the radar systems. JARVIS, a life savior, was a much needed second pair of eyes for the genius, catching and analyzing. Tracking the oncoming rain of fire, Tony veered hard left, barely able to dodge the string of mortars. "Shit, where did that come from?"

"It appears that the Winter Soldiers had finally made an appearance." JARVIS answered, bring up zoomed pictures of multiple Winter Soldiers. Right now, JARVIS was only able to track and locate two: both males. One had his sights directly on the Iron Man suit, firing heavy ammunition at him in an attempt to draw him in closer. The other was mixed in the crowd the grounds, clearing through the SHIELD agents like they were nothing.

Tony narrowed his eyes going in full force toward the man. "Super Soldiers on the field." He yelled over the coms. He didn't wait for a response as he made a beeline to the man, giving the man exactly want he wanted.

*O*O*

Natasha—in her 'I am not in the fucken mood' voice—was giving updates and providing status on teammates. Now off the Helicarrier, Sam, running through the crumbing headquarters, was in a faceoff with inflamed Rumlow, who seemed to be taking this entire thing personally. The Hydra trash could be heard in the background, mocking Sam and laughing like a hyena, while Sam sounded like a man who had smoked two packs of cigs a day for the last few years. Complete exhaustion was laced through Wilson's voice as he jumped and/or thrown over a desk.

T'Challa was now engaged with that Super Soldier from earlier, who was just as mean and nasty as the super soldier that Tony was facing off with. The Nameless soldier—there might've been a name provided to him, but he didn't care enough to retain it—had been using human shields to block, when he got too close. Tony had to back off a few times to avoid attacking/hurting the SHIELD agents. Heck, the soldier even used his own men to block some of the Tony's attacks, and his blood boiled in each passing second. The fucker.

Anger building, the Iron Man's gauntlet fizzled as Tony fired close range shot at the super soldier, who's nasty scowl morphed into something dangerous, rolled to the side to avoid return fire. The Fucker sneered as he ripped—straight up ripped off like paper—a metal door off its hinges and launched it at the Iron Man suit. This man may've the strength of the Captain America but not the brain. He wasn't strategic in the slightest, an angry brute flinging things when he didn't get his way. He wasn't the leader—if 5 sleeping soldiers could have one. From the research FRIDAY and Wakanda could pull from Hydra's mainframe, Josef was the leader of the group and this soldier was simply a muscle. From what they could tell, Josef was the most blood thirsty of the group, the one most likely to cut your throat and dance the blood. That was probably why Hydra held him back, sending only two super soldiers.

"Screw this," Tony hissed, dodging the door with easy. "Full power."

"Full power," JARVIS replied a few seconds later.

Tony, his genius mind of his, had repeated the fight with Steve and Bucky over and over in his head. His brain created and tested every possible outcome he could calculate, beating itself. He, shame boiling in his chest, could've ended that fight a few different ways. Sure, Steve was a mastermind in the field with super strength, but he was no match for the Iron Man armor and FRIDAY. Yes, at the time, his emotions were overpowering by the grief, which drowned out any sense of logic. Yet, there was something deep in him that bucked at the idea of crossing that final line. His mother's painful death in his head, he wanted to beat the shit out of the two, but there was that line, screaming at him. He came close to it.

There was only so much a shield could do against the Iron Man firepower. The shield may have been unbreakable, but it couldn't cover Steve's entire body. If Tony wanted to kill them, he could have. A super soldier was a disadvantage, especially if he attacked from above. There were only a few that could give him pause. Strange—though Tony would deny it to the man—, Thor and Hulk were the ones who would worry about (not counting Thanos). Okay, he would add Wanda to the list. They had the abilities that could hinder his suit and his mind. This Super soldier did not.

In some kind of sadist fit, the unibeam that exploded from Tony's chest and stroke the super soldier squarely in the chest, who sailed through the air. The man's clothes fizzed, and his chest smoked. Tony, not waiting for the man to get up, fired a row of missiles. He did not let up until he was sure the Super Soldier was dead, utilizing most all of his arsenals. They may have super abilities, but they were not gods. In the last timeline, they were killed by a bullet to the head. They weren't unkillable, and Tony proved this. The super soldier's body slumped down like a pound of bricks.

"One Super Soldier down," Tony annoyed, his voice heavy as the Iron Man suit took back up in the air.

Ayo's voice chirped over the comms. "We are 1/3 on the targeting blades. Rogers-"

"Sir, Hydra agents inbound." JARVIS interrupted, zeroing on incoming missions.

*O*O*

There had been an issue with Rogers as he struggled with the last chip. Tony wasn't quite sure what the holdup was; though, he was sure Natasha's head was going to pop as she called out to Roger, who hadn't responded in over ten minutes. Tony's eyes switched each time her throat cracked, and he was ready to ring out Steve for not replying. He would deny that he let out a sign of relief when Steve did respond. However, that was all short lived when he sounded like he was hit by a bus repeatedly.

Before anyone could ask if he was okay or if he needed assistance, Steve cut them off demanding that Hill have the helicarriers Fire on each other now.

"But, Steve…" Hill cried.

"Do it! Do it now!"

Steve's tone worried Tony, but he didn't have time to analyze it before all hell broke loose. The sun was still high in the sky, but gun muzzle flashes lit up the sky as the helicarriers turned on each other. Sound waves rocketed from each carrier, shacking the very ground beneath them. The three helicarriers went up in flames quickly as small explosions were triggered on each level of the carriers. Tony watched for a second, taking in the utter destruction. Pieces, large and small, dropped from the carriers, plummeting into the water below. The waves from the falling debris flooded the nearby streets, drowning the lower levels of the base. Tony was about to drive in to search for the Good Captain as he was rained upon by flaming rubble, licking at the armor when Sam's voice stopped him.

"Stark, I need a ride!"

There was a second of silence. "Again?" Pause. "Birdbrain, where are you?" Tony asked as JARVIS searched for Wilson. Tony's eyes were still focused on the burning helicarriers.

Wilson's breathing was heavy and shaky, and his footsteps echoed in the background as his feet slapped the ground hard with each step. "41st floor, north-west corner!"

Like all building, it did not list the floors on the outside, but with JARVIS, it was no problem finding the appropriate floor. "On it. Stay where you are." Tony ordered as JARVIS overlaid a set of blue lines with numbers for each of the floors on the Iron Man's display.

"Not an option!" Sam yelled, his throat cracked, as the smoke rose from the building in an eerie haze. Heavy cracks spread through the SHIELD headquarters, snapping the very concrete it stood on.

The Iron Man armor zipped to the building just in time for the battle worn Wilson to burst through the window like a movie star. JARIVS zoomed in enough to see the glass shatter and cut him as it fell with him. "Shit," Tony hissed as JARVIS applied more power to the thrusters. He made it in time to catch the Falcon before a large piece of glass could slice him. "Hey, Beautiful, come here often."

Sam scowled as he looked up at the Iron Man's mask. Tony's smile was lost to him. "41st floor! 41st!"

Out the corner of his eyes, he could see the quinjet take off from the roof with Fury and Okoye in toe, JARVIS whispering in his ears that data dump was successful and Wakanda was relocating all SHIELD agents. "I am-" Tony didn't get a chance to finish as a large crack above his head snapped open like wildfire across the building. A sickening vibration boomed across the air as one of the helicarriers sliced completely through the side of the building. The ground shook beneath the impact, and Tony had to veer right hard to avoid getting hit by a large slab. Sam groaned, as the ride was not smooth or painless. He smacked hard against the Iron Man suit under the sudden change in speed and direction.

"Shit," Sam cursed as Tony dodged another large piece of debris by driving hard and fast. Just before hitting ground, he accelerated quickly and sloped up hard at a 110-degree angle.

"Calm down," Tony ordered once they were free of the rubble. "Is everyone good on the quinjet?"

"Yes," Natasha answered, her voice strained. "However, we cannot locate Steve."

Ayo added. "We cannot confirm he got off the helicarrier."

"Fuck," he cursed. "Get any video you can and find our Captain." JARVIS searched through the camera feeds as Tony dropped the nosy, protesting Wilson in the quinjet before he dove back into the falling debris. T'Challa popped into the comms in attempt to call Tony back. T'Challa, who had cut down his own super soldier, had tried to talk Tony out of it, stating the visibility would be lacking and radar would have a difficult time cutting through the falling wreckage. Even his own Wakandan radar could not locate Steve through the mess.

Tony ignored all warning and flew right into the fire of the helicarriers, the future tombs to all those stuck on aboard. Relevant Videos flashed before his eyes from JARVIS as the AI continued to scan through the footage for the Famous Captain. At this point, most of the footage wasn't useable as a dark cloud from the flames darkened everything. It took a few passes to understand what he was watching. From what Tony could tell, the Captain never made it off, which did not bode well for the Captain. The heat would have killed him alone.

The helicarrier dropping from the sky above him reminded Tony too much of Sokovia and the moon that Thanos had thrown at him. Pressure that the Iron Man suit would not detect formed tightly around him and his chest felt like it was on fire. "Keeping searching," he ordered, hoarsely, as he flew into the decaying carriers. "Shit," he cursed, zipping past the heavy falling debris. If it wasn't for the Iron Man suit, the flames would've ripped and torn at his skin like a hungry breast. JARVIS was yelling in his ears—not that the AI ever truly yells. It just sounded like the AI was yelling in his ears as intense artilleries still echoed across the air. There was no doubt that FRIDAY would join in later when she learned how he drove into the fire.

His display zoomed in and out a few times spotting dead bodies—a sight Tony would never get over. The water belong was coming in fast, spraying the suit heavily with water. Tony was able to give up as another dead body passed his version when something red and blue caught his attention in the water. "JARVIS, what is that? Zoom in on that."

"On it, Sir."

In some good twist of fate, the shield was still attached to Steve's arm. Tony had no idea how long Steve had been in the water or how long he had been unconscious. If it had been long, Tony didn't have high hopes for the Captain, which flooded him with doom. "Shit." He cursed as he drove into the water for Steve.

Ayo was now in his ear, asking for a check in. "Stark," she demanded, her voice strained.

Tony didn't response as he gripped his hands around Steve's shoulders. Once he was sure he had Steve, he bolted out of there was fast as he could. JARVIS was able to pick up a heartbeat, but it was faint and fading. If it was any other person, Tony would be greatly worried, but this was Steve Rogers, the Captain American. This man was frozen for 70 years. There was no way he could die like this. However, one look at Steve told Tony it was more than the cold water. The blood might've been washed away but Steve was covered in injuries from head to toe. His uniform was torn, clear bullets holds scattered across his body.

Tony's mind flashed back to Barnes, who had almost killed Steve the last time. Obviously, it wasn't Barnes, who was locked away in a hidden base, this time, but a random Hydra agent would not be able to do this level of damage to Steve. Did a third Super Soldier make his way onto the battle ground? Shit, he cursed as he headed toward the Quinjet. The journey back was just as dangerous, and Tony's jaw was switching.

The End for now

I think one of my issues is this story is Tony's POV, and this movie was Steve's movie, so I was limited to what I could show. I already suck at fight scenes as is.

That being said, you will find out what happened to Steve and who beat his butt this time around.

Thank you!