Tony Stark

Tony watches as a war starts to begin.

Whoever Steve was, is warring with who Steve is now. And the switch will happen almost instantaneously.

'The Asset' will be talking about them, describing how to get back to the original base where he was held, and then he'll blink, look at Bucky and say, "where is Rebecca?" Or "how is Morita?"

Everytime Bucky reacts as if he's won the lottery, followed by the quick stab of pain as 'the Asset' settles back in place before hearing the answer.

If it wasn't so freaking tragic, it would almost be humorous. Almost.

—

Steve leads them through wilderness and to a well hidden entrance on the side of a mountain. The base door is fortified well, but Steve just walks past it and starts to climb up the sheer rock wall. They stare in awe as his fingers grasp the tiniest ledges, his muscles bulging and he starts to disappear further above them.

Bucky looks at the group and blinks. Then he's gone, following after Steve and moving as deftly as he can with his arm.

Clint smiles and chuckles, before saying, "I love a good challenge." He takes a running leap and grasps an edge, hauling himself up and going after the other two.

Tony rolls his eyes. "Well, I'm not a super soldier or assassin, you guys want a ride?" He snaps his faceplate down and extends a hand. The two girls laugh and grab on as the Iron Man Suit rises into the air.

Clint makes it 3/4th of the way up before the rest of the way is untraversable by mere humans. Steve and Bucky had managed to leap the 15 feet gap between ledges and had continued on. Tony had dropped the spiders off before flying back down to pick him up.

At the top Steve walks towards a huge circular door. And Tony watches as Bucky freezes. "I know this door." He rasps out.

Steve turns to Bucky and asks, "how?"

"We saw it in the footage. When you tried to escape. When you were still fighting against Hydra."

"The Asset doesn't fight against Hydra." He says sharply. "The Asset helps Hydra achieve order and pe—" His voice cuts off and something agonized escapes his lips, "shut up!" He shouts, clutching at his head.

"Steve?" Lydia cries out, stepping forward, but Natasha holds her back.

"Don't."

They watch, frozen as Steve grapples with his war, eyes clenched and jaw tight.

After a few seconds, he straightens up and looks at them blankly. "Let's go." He says flatly, bending over and grabbing at the heavy door. He lifts, his shoulders, arms, and back straining against the door.

It can't be possible. The door must weigh a couple tons, but they hear it creak and the image of him, emaciated and broken lifting this very door.

Bucky strides forward, pushing his fingers into the crack Steve has made and adding his strength. The door groans, and next thing Tony knows, they're throwing it wide open.

"Down." Steve states, before jumping down onto the metal ledge below.

—

Tony mumbles the entire way down. Down was right.

Down into the dark.

Down in the dumps like their mood.

The base is empty. Has been for some time by the three inch layer of dust and crackling electricity.

Tony's able to get the power working, but it's shaky and blinking, like a messed up dance club.

Except instead of dancing. It's room after room of torture devices and experimental labs.

No one mentions the blood stains on the grates in the floor or on the grout between the tiles.

Steve walks directly, without needing a map or to stop and consider hallways.

He stops in front of a door and pushes the door open. It's unlocked and he steps inside. It's a cramped, damp, and disgusting cell. A hole in the floor is clearly where sewage was supposed to go, and the cot on the side of the bed is small and stiff. That's it. That was all that was in there. A cot and a hole.

Bucky's voice is a rasp when he asks. "What is this?" And Tony hates that he asks. Because what the hell else would it be? Steve had walked directly here. It was obviously a priso—

"Home."

Oh hell.

Steve's voice is emotionless, "the Asset stayed here in between missions when Cryo was not a viable option."

"For the love of-" Clint hisses. Tony turns towards him and recoils at what he is pointing at. Small, precise hash marks, hidden by the cot. In fact, if Clint's keen eye hadn't spotted it, it probably would not have been noticed. And it's clear what it's drawn out of, but Natasha asks anyway.

"Is that blood?"

"Yes." Steve responds easily. "The Asset was refused tools. Blood was the only option to keep track."

"Keep track of what?" Tony asks, not sure he wants the answer.

"Days the Asset wished to be terminated."

Tony feels his throat constrict and the air in the room turns to ice. Steve must sense the shift because he straightens, going to attention, and bowing his head to the ground, "The Asset is aware that this behavior is unacceptable and not to be tolerated. The Asset is a useful tool to Hydra and would never allow himself to be harmed purposefully. The Asset has not kept track for many missions and does not require consequence training."

Please don't punish me for wanting to die while my sworn enemies tortured me for 70 years.

Lydia is over at his side, climbing his back and settling her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. Steve relaxes just a smidge.

"I remember when I snuck into your room to deliver the coin. I saw a few of these in there." She points to the mark as her voice gets tight.

"The Asset only desired to be terminated when he was ordered to dig."

Lydia's face pales and she's holding him tighter, shoving her face against his neck.

"I can't—" Bucky chokes out, "Steve, I'm—" He cuts off and it's Clint who steps in.

"Steve? Let's get you out of here, huh? No one is ever going to make you sleep here again. Let's go." Clint makes a motion for them to follow him and Natasha complies. Steve walks forward, Lydia still perched on his back until it's just him and Barnes.

"Having fun yet?" Tony asks solemnly.

"I will murder anyone I find who had a hand in this."

Woah. Okay. Going over the edge. "I get it, hey, I do. But… I don't think Steve would want you on a murder spree."

Bucky makes an angry noise with his throat and jabs at the wall with the hash marks. "Steve wanted to die, thousands of times!" His voice is agonized, "and half the time he didn't even know why! I can't—" He chokes and his voice cuts off, "I don't know how to do this? How do I do this?"

Tony blinks. He and Barnes had never been close. They didn't really see eye to eye on much. But… More and more, he'd noticed Barnes trusting him, and letting him into his somber circle. And Tony had stopped trying to annoy the guy to death with bad 40's references.

"I don't think there's a manual for hijacked super soldiers. You're just going to have to let him come back to us. He's in there. You see he's in there. But he's been free of that device for less than 3 weeks after 40 years. You gotta give him time. Just be there. We'll be there."

Bucky looks at him, eyes miserable. But he takes a deep breath and rolls his shoulder. "Whoever or whatever is left of Steve is enough for me."

"That's the spirit." Tony jokes. Bucky rolls his eyes at him and they exit the door, leaving the bloody hash marks behind.

—

The Asset - The Voice

Please. Just let me talk to them.

-You do. I've let you.

No, I mean, really let me. Without fighting me.

The Asset feels that same thrill of fear he's been experiencing for the past week. As the voice gets stronger, the demands it makes are harder to ignore.

-No.

Please, I need to try.

-Try what?

To let them know I'm here.

-The Asset is here too.

The voice pauses at that.

I know.

-If you speak to them. Will you take over?

Would you let me?

-What would happen to the Asset?

I don't know.

-Do they not want the Asset?

The voice falls silent and the Asset is left wondering about his question. Hydra had not come to collect him. The Spiders had left their web. And this group he's with only seems interested in this 'Steve'.

Does no one need the Asset anymore?

Does no one want the Asset anymore?

—