Green Hal37: Yeah, I've read it and you are absolutely right on everything. It's why I dislike Tony is Civil War so much, he acts like his comic book counterpart when he's a very different person in the movies.
Guest 1: If Pepper had known what Tony did, I doubt she would have gotten back together with him or even spoken to him again. Bruce, well, I can't imagine he'd get passed telling them he was working with Ross before Hulk would come out and show him exactly what he thought about that.
Guest 2: Then Fury would be the worst spy ever, because anyone with an axe to grind with Clint could find out he has a family and all they would have do was watch him for a time and find out where they lived. It would be the same for Ross. Clint says in AOU his family was kept off SHIELD'S files, so Fury likely made sure Clint's marriage was not a matter of public record. Fury is the most paranoid person ever, so he would have gone to great lengths to make sure no one knew Clint had a family. Anything less would be very OOC.
Guest 3: Scott and Clint were shown to be in The Raft during Steve's prison break.
The scene changes to Siberia. Steve lands the Quinjet next to Zemo's Snowplow. Bucky grabs a rifle as Steve lowers the ramp. Steve and Bucky reminisce about having to ride home from Rockaway Beach in a freezer truck because Bucky had blown his money trying to win a bear for a redhead. Bucky struggles to recall her name and Steve reminds him it was Dolores, who Bucky had called 'Dot'.
Steve smiled sadly, remembering simpler times, back when it had just been him and his best friend against the world. Even when he had nothing, he had Bucky.
Bucky muses she's probably a hundred and Steve jokingly points out so are they as he clasps Bucky on the shoulder.
For a moment, the tension broke, everyone smiling at the banter between the two. Thor remembered Loki with a pang, remembering before his own arrogance and pride had caused Loki to learn the truth. Caused his brother to irrevocably change until Thor barely recognized him.
Steve and Bucky exit the Quinjet and head towards the door to the base, Steve pointing out that Zemo had already been there for a few hours. Bucky grimly notes this was enough time to activate the other Winter Soldiers.
And just like that, the tension was back as everyone was reminded of the situation, what was at stake.
Steve and Bucky enter the base and ride the elevator. Once it stops, Steve lifts the door up and he and Bucky began to make their way through the base, looking for any sign of Zemo or the Soldiers. Suddenly, they hear a loud thud. Steve whirls around as a door starts creaking, warning Bucky to be ready. He begins making his way towards the door as it opens, revealing Tony.
The Avengers sighed, relieved.
"I'm gonna have a heart attack if this keeps up," Scott said, none of them noticing Strange's grim expression.
But Wanda felt enough that she looked at him curiously. Remembering his warnings from earlier, Wanda wondered what was about to happen.
Upon seeing Steve, Tony retracts his helmet as he begins walking towards Steve, jokingly saying Steve looks defensive. Steve wearily says it's been a long day, not lowering his guard.
"You didn't lower your guard, that's smart," Rhodey said as Tony winced.
"I learned from the best," Steve joked and Natasha smirked.
"I remember when you were a sweet, naïve superhero who trusted everyone. Now look at you. I'm so proud," Natasha said in a fake motherly voice and Steve rolled his eyes.
"You know what Romanoff!" Steve said mock threateningly as everyone chuckled at their antics.
Tony tells Bucky to be at ease because he's not after him, causing Steve to demand to know why that is. Tony admits Steve's story might not be so crazy, which Steve simply acknowledged with 'maybe not'.
"Thanks Cap," Tony said, causing Steve to look at him confused.
"For what?" Steve asked in confusion.
"Not saying 'I told you so'," Tony sighed.
"Tony, there's more going on here than whatever happens between us," Steve said not unkindly and, after a moment, Tony nodded in agreement.
Tony says Ross doesn't know he's there, which Tony would like to keep secret, jokingly saying he'd have to arrest himself. Sounds like a lot of paperwork, Steve noted dryly. Steve lowers his shield as both of them acknowledge it was good to see each other.
"Please don't you two start staring into each other's eyes again," Natasha teased and the pair rolled their eyes.
"You'd know all about that, right Romanoff?" Tony cracked.
Clint and Steve both shot Tony a look as Tony realized the line he'd crossed. It was an unspoken rule between the three of them that no one would mention Bruce in front of Natasha. But Natasha simply shrugged.
"Fair point," Natasha acknowledged.
Seeing Bucky still had a rifle on him, Tony points out there was a truce and Steve gestured at Bucky that Tony was okay. Bucky nods, finally lowering his gun.
"Can you really blame him Tony?" Rhodey pointed out.
"No," Tony admitted with a sigh.
The now united trio begins to move through the base, looking for Zemo or the Soldiers, unaware of T'Challa trailing them.
"You're good at stealth," Natasha told T'Challa, impressed.
"And when Nat tells you that, it's a compliment of the highest order," Clint cracked and Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Thank you Ms. Romanoff," T'Challa said graciously.
Tony picks up some heat signatures. Steve asks how many and Tony says only one.
"That doesn't make sense. He should've had more than enough time to wake them up," Sam said confused.
"I fear there is more going on here than we realize," Thor said grimly as everyone tensed.
The trio enters the chamber with the Soldiers, all of them seemingly still in Cryo sleep. Zemo's voice comes over a speaker, assuring them that the Soldiers died in their sleep. As the trio walks further into the chamber, they see that each Soldier had been killed execution style with a single shot through the glass into the head.
"Holy crap," Peter said shocked as they all stared in stunned disbelief.
"If he didn't want the Soldiers, what was he after?" Scott asked stunned.
Strange readied himself once more as he eyed Tony, knowing it was about to get ugly. Something Wanda noticed, wondering what Tony had to do with anything.
Zemo asks the shocked Bucky if he thought he wanted more of him. But Zemo is grateful, because it brought the three of them here.
"That makes no sense though," Clint said as he narrowed his eyed. "Zemo…he would've had to have known that, right after finding out about him, Tony would've gone straight to The Raft."
"And that I would've trusted him enough to tell him where Steve was going," Sam added confused.
"There's just no way he could've known that," Steve agreed with narrowed eyes.
"Either this guy is the luckiest man alive or there's some cosmic force out there making sure everything goes according to plan," Tony added.1
A light comes on, revealing Zemo in a sealed room. The trio turn their weapons on him and Steve throws his shield. The shield harmlessly bounces off the wall and back into Steve's hand as Zemo points that the Soviets built the chamber to withstand the blast of UR-100 rockets.
"Bet I can beat that," Tony said confidently.
Tony confidently says he can beat that.
"No need to repeat yourself Tones," Rhodey joked and, for a moment, the tension broke again as everyone gave a slight laugh.
Zemo agrees, if Tony was given the time. But then, he'd never know why he came here, Zemo taunts him.
The tension returned as everyone leaned forward in their seats, curiously to see what this was all about. Strange continued to eye Tony, watching his reaction.
Steve angrily approaches the chamber, saying Zemo had killed innocent people in Vienna. This stuns to T'Challa, who had entered the chamber unseen to everyone else. Zemo says he'd thought about nothing else for over a year.
"So this is about Sokovia," Clint said as Wanda and Tony flinched guiltily.
"Not exactly," Strange said as they all looked at him curiously. "Just keep watching."
He'd studied them, followed them, Zemo says. And now that they're here, he sees Steve has a bit of green in his eyes, laughing at finding a flaw.
"Okay, this guy's a few cards short of a full deck," Scott said uneasily.
"No kidding Tic-Tac," Sam muttered.
Steve notes that Zemo is Sokovian, asking if that's what this has been about. Zemo says Sokovia had been a failed state long before Ultron blew it to hell.
Wanda flinched, painful memories of living in orphanages, poverty, staving for scraps of food flashed through her mind. Zemo wasn't wrong, she mused sadly.
Clint, seeing her eyes full of remembered pain, wrapped an arm around her.
He's here, Zemo says, because he made a promise. Steve asks if he lost someone and Zemo says he lost everything. And so will they, Zemo taunts as he presses a button. Steve turns around as a video begins to play on the TV set Zemo had set up.
"He brought you there to watch a video?" Peter asked confused as everyone but Strange, who looks even grimmer now, looks as confused as Peter.
An empire that is defeated by its enemies can rise again, Zemo says, but one that crumbles from within is dead, forever. Steve and Tony walk over to the TV set, seeing it was a video of a road at night. A disbelieving Tony says he knows that road.
Everyone looked at Tony, who had turned several shades of pale and was staring at the screen with a growing sense of shock and horror.
"No…it can't be…it's not," Tony stammered.
"Tony?" Steve called out concerned but Tony doesn't respond, simply continued to watch.
Tony looks at the date and demands to know what this is but Zemo only smirks. The car crash from the beginning of the recording happens and The Winter Soldier rides up on his motorcycle. Steve looks at Bucky, who has shame on his face as Tony continues to watch the recording in stunned disbelief.
In the recording, Howard Stark has fallen out of the car on his knees, begging The Soldier to help Maria.
The room is completely silent as they see this. The know what this means, they know the implications of it. More than that, they know what they are about to see. Everyone glanced over at Tony, who simply at the screen, pale, not seeming to be aware of anything around him.
While everyone else was looking over at Tony, Natasha glanced at Steve to see he had a shocked, sad look on his face. She remembered Zola's taunt about Hydra having something to do with Howard and Maria Stark's deaths, but she had never believed them until now. Steve had never brought it up, so she had assumed he hadn't either. It looks like they were both wrong, she mused.
The Soldier walks up to Howard and grabs him by the hair, lifting him up onto his knees. Howard is shocked to see Bucky before The Soldier punches him with his robotic arm.
Steve had a pained look on his face as Tony let out a shaky breath, this being difficult for them both to watch. Rhodey placed a hand on Tony's shoulder, silently letting his best friend know he was here as everyone silently watched the recording.
Tony seems in shock as he hears his mother call for his father. Tony looked over at Bucky, who met his gaze with a look of shock and shame. Tony turns back to the video as The Soldier punches Howard one last time before letting go. Howard's lifeless body falls to the ground as Maria continues to cry out for him. Tony has a gutted look on his face as he sees this.
Tony is completely silent, a single tear trailing down his face as Steve put a hand to his face, letting out a pained breath.
The Soldier drags Howard's body over to the car and places him in the driver's seat; positioning him as though he'd been killed in the crash as Maria watches in horror. Tony then watches in horror as The Soldier walks over to the other side of the car. In the flashback, The Soldier reaches in and grabs Maria by the throat.
Tony clenches his pants legs with his fists, his entire body trembling with grief and horror as the room is completely silent. However much they may have been angry for his actions in these recordings, no one deserved to see their parents murdered in cold blood. Strange eyed Tony and Steve, knowing what was about to happen.
The Soldier then walks over and shoots the Traffic Cam, covering up the crime. Steve stares at Tony, shock on his face as Tony stares at the now blank screen, shock, horror, and grief on his face. Tony moves to head towards Bucky but Steve grabs his arm, stopping him. Tony turns back to Steve, quietly asking him if he knew. Steve tries to explain he didn't know it was Bucky but Tony snarls for Steve not to bullshit him, asking again if he knew. After a moment, Steve remorsefully says yes.
"You knew?" Tony asked in shock, turning to Steve, pain and betrayal on his face.
"I didn't know it was him," Steve tried to explain as everyone looked shocked by this revelation.
"You knew?!" Tony exploded as he got to feet.
Suddenly, magical roped of energy wrapped around Tony, pulling him down and back into his seat. Everyone turned to strange in shock as he walked over.
"Tony, I know you're upset. You have every right to be," Strange said, an understanding look on his face. "But you need to listen."
"Why should I listen to anything this liar has to say!?" Tony snarled as he glared at Steve, who had a look of shame on his face.
"Because it's not that black and white. I will let you go if you agree to listen. Otherwise, we'll stay here all day. I can wait," Strange said and Tony glared at Strange for several moments.
"Fine," Tony spat out after a few moments. "I'll listen."
Strange nodded, waving his hands and the energy roped vanished from Tony's body.
"Tell him the truth Captain, right from the beginning," Strange told Steve as he stepped back.
"Well? I'm all ears," Tony said sarcastically, his voice filled with venom that made Steve wince.
"During the Hydra uprising, Nat and I found a secret bunker in an old SHIELD base. We found a supercomputer that had been uploaded with the mind of Arnim Zola, a Hydra scientist I captured in World War Two. He told us about Hydra and implied Hydra also had something to do with your parents' death," Steve explained gently.
"You both knew?" Tony asked as he turned to look at Natasha in pain.
"Zola admitted he was stalling us because Rumlow and other Hydra operatives were on their way, along with a missile. Steve and I barely survived. I thought he was just messing with our heads Tony," Natasha told him and Tony nodded, an unreadable look on his face.
"And you?" Tony asked as he looked over at Steve. "What did you think?"
"I don't know," Steve admitted with a sigh. "I never looked into it more. I didn't want another friend's death on my conscious."
"Why would it be your fault Steve?" Rhodey asked speaking up for the first time since Zemo had started the video.
"I thought I'd defeated Hydra when I defeated the Red Skull. Everything they did since, it's on me because I couldn't stop them," Steve sighed before looking back at Tony. "I told myself I was sparing you by not telling you, but I see now I was really sparing myself. I'm sorry Tony."2
"So what happens now?" Tony asked after a moment, the anger leaving him.
Because Steve hadn't known the truth, he just hadn't confirmed it was true. It didn't make it make it any better, Tony mused, but Tony could understand why Steve had done what he did. But without that anger at Steve…Tony just felt sad and empty.
"That's up to you," Steve told him gently.
Tony nodded after a moment, realizing Steve was right. Only he had the power to determine whether he could forgive Steve and get passed this. He wasn't ready for that yet though, so for now, he just turned and looked towards the TV, continuing to watch. Sensing the conversation was over for now, Strange waved his hand and the recording unpaused.
Tony lets Steve go, stepping back as if he'd been burned, devastated. Then, Tony punches Steve, sending him flying back.
Tony winced as everyone looked over at him. While he could understand why Steve had done what he had, his on screen self wouldn't. He would still feel the need to punish, to make Steve hurt as much as he was hurting.
"I'm sorry Cap," Tony said after a moment but Steve shook his head.
"I should've told you the truth a long time ago," Steve said. "And this hasn't happened. Hopefully, it never will."
Bucky raises his rifle but Tony blasts it out of his hand. Bucky tries to punch him with his robotic arm but Tony stops him with his gauntlet. Zemo smirks, leaving through a door as Tony flies Bucky across the room, slamming him onto the ground. Stepping on Bucky's robotic hand, Tony prepares to blast Bucky execution style when Steve's throws his shield. It hits Tony's helmet, distracting him and causing his blast to miss Bucky's head by mere inches.
Tony was a mix of emotions. On one hand, he still felt a deal of anger towards Barnes. On the other hand, he'd just tried to murder someone. He'd killed people before, but he'd never murdered someone in cold blood. And without the rage tinted glasses of his on screen self, Tony was able to see that murder was what he was trying to do. He'd done a lot of morally ambiguous things in his life, but murder was a line he was sure he'd never cross.3
Seeing the look of dawning horror on his friend's face, Steve was once again hit with the guilt of not telling Tony the truth.
The others simply watched the two Avengers sadly. It was impossible to take a side in this, because neither of them were completely right or wrong. Both of them had messed up.
The shield returns to Steve as he rushes Tony, tackling him and forcing him off Bucky. Tony flies back at Steve, punching the shield. The force of it sends Steve flying back and Tony then fires off some electric clamps, which clap around Steve's ankles, restraining him. Bucky sends a punch to Tony's helmet but this doesn't faze Tony. Tony then grabs Bucky and flies him into the wall. Bucky quickly grabs Tony's gauntlet, grabbing it and crushing the repulsor beam focuser. Angrily, Tony tries to fire a missile point blank but Bucky moves his hand, causing the missile to wildly hit the wall. Steve breaks free of Tony's clamps as the chamber begins to come down around them.
"Damn," Sam muttered as they all watched this, all of them growing even more horrified.
This was worse than the airport. The airport had been about a misunderstanding, it hadn't been personal. But this, this was personal. And it was painful for everyone to watch.
In the resulting chaos, Steve rolls out of the way of the debris as Bucky and Tony are both knocked down. Tony ends up pinned under some debris, Steve shouted at Bucky to get out of there. Bucky starts to run for the exit as Tony frees himself. Tony tries to head after Bucky, shooting at him as Steve jumped in his path, standing in his way. Outside the chamber, Bucky activated a hatch, which lifted as inside, Steve attempted to reason with Tony. However, Tony is passed listening to reason at this point, ordering Steve to move as he lifts into the air.
Tony flinched, the scene at the beginning of Bucky being tortured by Hydra flashed through his mind. He understood now why he had bought here, the true reason. So he could understand. Hydra was the killer, not Barnes. Barnes had just been the weapon. Didn't make him feel much better, as Hydra was all but extinct. There was no one to take out his anger on, nothing. Which just made it worse.
Tony attempted to fly passed Steve only for Steve to grab onto his leg. Steve damages the thruster in Tony's boots with his shield before letting go and Tony lands outside the chamber. Tony then uses a laser to cut out some rocks, locking Steve in the chamber as the rocks block the exit. Tony tries to fly after Bucky as he sees the soldier running up towards the hatch but the damage to his thrusters has compromised his flying ability, FRIDAY alerts him. Frustrated, Tony flies up as quickly as he can and kicks Bucky down. Tony attempts to fire a blast at Bucky but Steve jumps down to Bucky, deflecting the blast back at Tony with his shield.
Steve flinched, guilty at harming Tony filling his heart. Seeing the look on his face, Sam placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, trying to let him know he was there.
Tony is knocked down to a lower level as Steve warns Bucky to leave, as Tony wasn't going to stop. Bucky begins climbing onto a higher level as Steve pulls out a wire. As Tony flew up towards Bucky, Steve jumped; wrapping the wire around Tony's neck and the two fell below.
Steve and Tony flinched at this, avoiding looking at each other. The longer this went on, the more they just wished it would end. They both silently hoped it would end soon.
They landed on separate levels and Tony prepares to shoot at the hatch as Bucky nears it. Steve throws his shield at Tony but Tony blasts it, sending the shield falling down below. Tony resumed trying to blast the hatch but his targeting system had been damaged during the fight. Tony retracts his helmet, relying on his own aim. Tony fires a missile, which hits the lever, forcing the hatch closed. Bucky barely manages to avoid getting squashed as the hatch slams closed when Tony flies up to him. Bucky grabs a metal pipe and strikes Tony's helmet but Tony knocks the pipe out of his hands before putting Bucky in a choke hold, trying to crush his neck.
Tony flinched, the murderous lengths he was going to disturbing him as Steve clenched his pants legs until his fists turned white. Natasha stiffened, something which only Clint noticed, as fear for Bucky entered her heart.
Thor stared at the screen silently, memories of Loki's death flashing through his mind as he swallowed thickly. He could understand Stark's rage but this...this was too far. Something even he seemed to know, judging by the horrified look on his face.
Tony angrily asks him if he remembers them, to which Bucky grunts out that he remembers all of his victims.
Clint flinched, memories of all the lives he had taken for Loki flashing through his mind. While he had handled what happened better than Selvig, he still carried the guilt for what he did while under Loki's control. He probably would for the rest of his life.
Tony begins flying him down and Steve jumps, tackling Tony. Tony is forced to let Bucky go and all three of them fall, Bucky landing on a level as Tony and Steve both land on the ground. They stand up as Bucky looks down. Steve tells Tony this won't change anything, trying to reason with him once more, but Tony coldly tell him he doesn't care, as Bucky killed his mom.
Tony shivered. He sounded so…cold blooded, like a murderer. The callousness of his actions and in his voice chilled Tony to the bone.
Tony then lunged for Steve, the two of them engaging in hand to hand. Steve managed to get behind Tony and put him in a choke hold but Tony fired a repulsor beam, knocking himself and Steve back. Steve is knocked off and Tony attempts to bash Steve's face in but Steve dodges.
Tony flinched, becoming more horrified that he was even willing to kill his friend in order to kill Barnes. How the mighty have fallen, Tony thought in self-loathing.
Bucky sees Steve's shield and picks it up. Tony is still not managing to get Steve as Bucky jumps down with a cry, striking him with the shield in the back, knocking him off Steve.
Tony let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding, relieved that Barnes had stopped his on screen self from killing Steve.
Tony sends a blast at Bucky but Bucky uses the shield to block it. Bucky throws the shield to Steve and it becomes a two on one brawl as Tony attempts to fight them off. Tony sends a blast towards Steve, which sends Steve flying into the wall. Tony and Bucky continue to fight, Bucky grabs Tony's hand as he send a repulsor blast, which now harmlessly shoots into the stone ceiling. Bucky punches him, sending him into the wall before attempting to claw out Tony's Arc reactor. Tony then unleashes a Unibeam, which completely destroys Bucky's robot arm from the shoulder down.
Clint flinched, glancing down at his own arm. As an archer, losing his arm was his worst fear, second only to losing his family.
Bucky falls to his knees in pain before Tony fires a blast, which hits him. Steve then rushed forward, using his shield to deflect a repulsor blast.
Outside, Zemo is listening to the message on his phone as T'Challa approaches from behind. T'Challa removes his helmet, setting it on the ground as he announces his presence, declaring he almost killed the wrong man. Zemo notes Bucky is hardly innocent and T'Challa demands if this is what he wanted, to see The Avengers tear each other apart. Zemo explains he took his wife and son to his father's when Ultron attacked Sokovia, assuring his wife they'd be safe as they were miles from the city. But he had been wrong, as his father, wife, and son had all been killed during the battle of Sokovia. It took him two days to find their bodies.
Wanda and Tony flinched at this, shame filling both of them.
"It's not your fault, either of you," Steve said as he looked at them.
"I helped him," Wanda said hollowly.
"And I created him. What was I thinking, plugging alien tech into an interface?" Tony said in self-loathing.
"Okay, that's enough with the martyr crap," Clint said, at his wit's end. "Yeah, you both messed up. Yeah, it had consequences. But you know what? So do all of us. None of us are perfect, so stop feeling sorry for yourselves and get off your asses or go home!"
For a moment, it was completely silent in the room, he only sound Clint's heavy breathing. Then, the silence was broken by a laugh.
"Well said Barton," Thor said before looking over at Wanda and then Tony. "My friends, I know guilt. Wallowing in self-pity will give you no peace. If you wish for redemption, you must earn it through action."
Zemo knew he couldn't kill the Avengers, so he instead opted to have them kill each other.
Tony flinched, remorse filling him as Steve looked guilty. Tactfully, no one said anything.
Zemo apologizes for T'Chaka's death, causing T'Challa to realize Zemo has been consumed by vengeance, as Tony and Steve are becoming. T'Challa declares he is done letting it consume him, retracting his claws.
"A wise choice You're Highness," Thor said and T'Challa nodded. "Revenge never brings any peace. Only more pain."
Zemo grimly tells him to tell that to the dead as he pulls out a gun, putting it under his chin and pulling the trigger. However, T'Challa places his hand over the barrel, the suit taking the bullet. T'Challa then tackles him they land on the ground. The living are not done with him yet, T'Challa tells Zemo as he holds him in a chokehold.
"Yeah, you're not getting off that easy you bastard," Clint sneered.
Back in the facility, Steve and Tony are continuing their fight. Steve is winning as FRIDAY tells Tony he can't win hand to hand. Tony orders her to analyze Steve's fight patterns. Tony takes a few more hits from Steve's shield as FRIDAY analyzes Steve. When she finishes, Tony grabs Steve's shield, stopping it as he says 'let's kick his ass'.
Under normal circumstances, Tony knew, he would be teased for having to rely on FRIDAY to beat Steve. But everyone remained silent this time, painfully so. And the hollow feeling in his chest grew worse.
Tony blasted the shield away and exchanged a few more blows, striking Steve in the face before sending a repulsor blast to Steve's abdomen. Steve fell to his knees, overwhelmed before looking up at Tony, pleading that Bucky is his fried. So was I, Tony says coldly.
Tony and Steve both flinched at this, guilt and regret swelling in both of them at having it come to this.
Tony slugged Steve twice, making Steve double over before Tony grabbed him and threw him aside. Tony orders Steve to stay down but Steve crawls back to his feet, ready to continue as he claims he can 'do this all day'.
"Can't you just stay down?" Tony almost begged, not wanting to see himself kill Steve.
"No more than if it were Bucky who was trying to kill you," Steve said solemnly.
Tony raises his hand to blast him again when Bucky grabs his foot. Tony kicks Bucky and Steve pushes him. Picking Tony up, he throws Tony down and jumps on top of him. He punches Tony before picking up his shield and slamming it down on Tony's helmet. Steve knocks Tony's helmet off and raised the shield, as it to take off Tony's head. Tony raised his hands to shield himself and Steve smashes the shield into Tony's Arc reactor, completely destroying it.
Tony had tensed; half convinced Steve was going to kill him. But then he mused that was ridiculous. Steve was not someone who would kill someone he considered a friend, no matter how angry he was at them.4
Everyone now let out a breath, happy it was over.
Tony stares in shock as Steve gets off him, falling to his knees, exhausted before he removes the shield from Tony's suit. He climbs to his feet and walked over to Bucky, helping him up. They are about to leave, Steve supporting Bucky when Tony says the shield doesn't belong to Steve. He doesn't deserve it, Tony sneers, his father made it. For a moment, it is silent. Then, to the shock of Tony and Bucky, Steve drops the shield to the floor.
The room was completely silent, shock on the faces of almost everyone in the room. The stole exception was Steve, who seemed completely indifferent.
"You know I-he didn't mean that. He was just trying to hurt you," Tony told Steve gently.
"Doesn't mean he was wrong. I kept this from everyone Tony, even myself," Steve said with a sigh. "I became Captain America not because I wanted to, but because it's what I needed to be. My country needed a Captain American. Maybe now, it needs me to be something different."
"You thinking about retiring for good?" Sam asked in surprise.
"No. But, what this has shown me is that Captain America can only do so much. Maybe I need to be something else for a while," Steve mused.
"But you're Captain America!" Peter couldn't help but add and Steve smiled tightly.
"I became what I needed to be. Captain America, that's just a title kid. In order to help people, I'll be whatever I have to," Steve said kindly.
Tony then watches as Steve and Bucky walk out.
The scene changes to a cell at the Joint Terrorism Task Force base. Zemo, held in a container similar to the one Bucky had been held in, is greeted by Everett Ross. Everett tells him he has toilet privileges twice a day and will get meals at five and eight. Everett mocks Zemo, daring him to step out of line and asks how it feels to know after all his planning, his plan failed. With a smirk, Zemo asks did it really fail.
The Avengers all looked at each other solemnly, knowing Zemo had a point. While no one was dead, The Avengers as a whole had been broken. And even here, there were wounds that needed to be dressed before they became life threatening.
At the Compound, Tony drives up and gets out of his car, his wounds from Siberia still fresh. Tony stares at the Avengers symbol before taking off his glasses and walking inside. Vision is in the longue, staring solemnly at the chessboard, playing with a piece absently as Tony is walking with Rhodey, who is sporting a brace on his leg.
Nearly everyone relaxed that Rhodey was doing alright, some injuries aside. Paralyzed was better than dead after all.
"It could be worse," Rhodey noted.
Tony and Rhodey joke about upgrades for the brace, Rhodey cracking about adding some AC before he falls.
The brief good mood plummeted as they say this, the reality of the situation hitting them again. But Rhodey was undeterred.
"You gotta learn to crawl before you learn to walk. Yeah, this sucks, but I'll be alright," Rhodey assured them.
"Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up again," Strange agreed, thinking of his accident.
Tony kneels down to help him but Rhodey waves him off. Rhodey notes he flew 138 combat missions, all of which could have been his last, but he still flew them because the fight had needed to be fought. Rhodey likens them to signing The Accords, saying he signed because it was the right thing to do, and his injury hasn't changed his mind.
"Okay, seriously, who is this guy?" Rhodey wondered, not understanding why he was acting so weird as Strange put a hand to his mouth to hide the smirk on his face.
Their conversation is interrupted by a knock on the door. Tony and Rhodey look over to see an old man with glasses in a FedEx suit, asking for 'Tony Stank'.
"Tony Stank!?" Scott said, laughing in amusement.
"Oh my god, that is never going away!" Rhodey said in amusement as everyone snickered at Tony's expense.
Except Clint, who was studying the old man with a frown.
"Isn't he one of the people who was at our party at the tower before Ultron crashed it?" Clint asked and the all stopped, examining the man.
"Indeed, I believe it is Barton," Thor said shocked, remembering the man.
"I think he's the janitor from the Smithsonian Museum actually," Steve said with a frown.
"He might have been at the Stark Expo, now that I think about it," Tony said confused, all of them growing more and more bewildered.
"Yes, we've noticed that," Strange said as they looked over at him. "For some reason, he just shows up in all these recordings. We've yet to figure out why."
"So he's stalking us. Well, that's creepy," Tony muttered.
Rhodey is greatly amused, walking off as he declares he's never dropping that as Tony laughs.
"Never," Rhodey said cheekily as Tony laughed for the first time in a while.
Later in his office, Tony opens the package, finding a letter from Steve. Tony reads it and Steve's voice is head.
"Dear Tony, I'm glad you're back at The Compound. I don't like the idea of you rattling around a mansion all by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours. Maybe even more than mine," Steve says as the scene changes to The Raft, showing Wanda, Scott, Clint, and Sam n their cells. "I've been on my own since I was eighteen. I never really fit in anywhere, even the army. My faith's in people I guess. I'm happy to say, for the most part, they haven't let me down. So I can't let them down either."
The security at The Raft is shown to all be knocked out.
"Well, looks like there's gonna be a prison break," Sam said cheekily.
"Now all we need is Lincoln and Michael," Scott joked and they all snickered, except Steve and Thor who looked confused.
"Who?" Thor asked.
"We gotta get you out more Point Break," Tony said with a snicker.
"Locks can be replaced but, maybe they shouldn't," Steve's letter continues as the scene flashes back to Tony reading it. "I know I hurt you Tony. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents, I was sparing you but I can see now that I was really sparing myself. And I'm sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand."
"You could've told me the truth there. Why didn't you?" Tony asked curiously.
"Would you have taken that as anything but me trying to justify myself?" Steve asked pointedly and Tony nodded after a moment.
"Probably not," Tony admitted.
"I wish we agreed on The Accords. I really do," Steve's letter continued as Tony is shown pulling a flip phone out of the package. "I know you're doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do. All any of us should do."
FRIDAY alerts Tony to a call from Ross, telling him there was a breach in The Raft. Tony has FRIDAY patch him through but hangs up on Ross when he does.
"So no matter what, If you ever need us, if you need me…I'll be there," Steve's voice finishes as, at the Raft, Sam smirks as Steve walks up to his cell.
"You broke into The Raft and took out all the security by yourself. Cool," Peter said in awe.
"Thanks for coming back for us Steve," Sam said gratefully.
"You would never have been in that situation if it weren't for me," Steve said guiltily.
"We were there because it was our choice," Wanda pointed out.
"Just like it was our choice to make a sacrifice play. It was Zemo, not you Cap," Clint assured him.
The scene then changes to Wakanda. Bucky is being seen by some doctors as he eyes a Cryo chamber. Steve walks over once the doctor is done, asking if Bucky is sure about this. Bucky points out he can't trust his own mind, so it's best for everyone he go back under until they can get Hydra's programing out of his head.
Steve stares at the screen sadly, devastated. He can understand why Bucky would make that choice, but that didn't make it any harder for him to bear. Sam put a hand on Steve's shoulder, knowing how hard it was as Natasha looked at him in concern.
Thor looked at the screen sadly, his respect for Barnes growing. To willingly put himself into a prison to protect others, Bucky was clearly a man of honor.
T'Challa, however, was tense. He recognized where Steve and Bucky were and knew the secret of his country would likely come out all too soon.
Steve then watches silently as Bucky is put in the chamber, Bucky closing his eyes as it freezes.
Steve flinched. As, to the surprise of those who noticed, does Natasha. Clint shot her another curious look, wondering why she seemed to care so much about someone who almost killed her. Twice.
Steve is then seen staring out a window as T'Challa walks up to him. Steve thanks T'Challa, who says Bucky and T'Chaka were both victims. If he can help one of them find peace, T'Challa says. Steve points out if they find out Bucky's here, they'll come for him. T'Challa fearlessly says let them try as a statue of a Black Panther is seen out the window.
"Wakanda? How does a third world country have that kind of tech?" Clint asked as they all turned to the tense T'Challa.
"You will soon find that all you know about Wakanda is not the truth," Strange said but didn't elaborate as T'Challa tensed even more.
The scene then changes to the Parker apartment. Peter, sporting a black eye, is toying with a new gadget Tony gave him.
Steve winced, knowing he is the one who gave Peter that black eye. Peter, meanwhile, was simply looking at the device in wonder.
May is outside his room, asking who gave him the black eye. Peter says a guy named Steve from Brooklyn as he activates the device.
"Not bad kid. Not exactly a lie but not the whole truth either," Sam said amused.
Hearing May come in, Peter covers the device and holds his black eye as if in pain. May says she hopes Peter got in a few good licks, which he says he did but his friend was 'huge'.
"Hell yeah I was!" Scott cheered and they all chuckled at his antics.
May gives Peter ice wrapped in a towel and he puts it on his eyes as she leaves. He asks her to close the door and she does. Peter then takes the ice off and activates the device, seeing a beacon with his new mask shining on the ceiling.
"Cool," Peter says in awe as the screen goes black.
"I know that was a lot to take in," Strange said as he walked over to them. "So, we're going to take a break so you have some time to process what you've seen, eat something. And, the man in charge wants to meet you all."
1: There is no way Zemo's plan should have worked, just from using simple math and logic. Even if Zemo had known Tony would get the Intel about Zemo exactly when he did, he would have had to know Tony would go straight to The Raft and have that conversation with Sam and Sam would decide to trust him enough to tell him the truth. There's just no way he could've known that. Frankly, there's no way any part of Zemo's plan should have worked, because he should've been caught the moment he walked into the Task Force base.
2: Steve's initial answer that he didn't know it was Bucky was the truth, confirmed by the Russo brothers. The only Intel Steve had was that there was a possibility that Hydra may have been involved in Howard's death according to Zola. And Steve did not intentionally keep it from Tony; he just doesn't look into it, compartmentalizing it because he doesn't want to know the truth. Which makes sensei if you look at it from Steve's point of view. He hides it from himself as well as everyone else either because he suspects it was Bucky or, the more likely scenario, because he feels guilty for failing to stop Hydra during World War Two and thus blames himself. I can also see Steve justifying it in his subconscious that telling Tony would only cause him pain.
Before anyone jumps down my throat, let me clarify. I am not defending Steve's decision. He kept something from Tony, however unintentional, that he had every right to know. Whether he knew the exact details or not, he should have told Tony. But the fact that he didn't makes him human, not this irredeemable monster who deserves to burn in hell.
3: It's nearly impossible to be completely one sided in the Siberia situation. Tony's actions are understandable to a point, as he just saw his father murdered and found out his mother was murdered as well, on top of finding out one of his closest friends had been keeping something from him for years. But, that does not justify trying to murder Bucky. Tony is entitled to feel however he wants about Bucky and Steve, but when he starts trying to kill them, well, that's when his actions stop being understandable or defendable.
4: I don't even think I have to bring this up, as it should be obvious to most people. But, since I know there's at least someone who will try to twist the facts, I'll do it anyway. Steve was not trying to kill tony, only disable the suit. This is confirmed the Russos as well.
Now, we have finally reached the end of Civil War. There will be a break chapter then we will move on to Black Panther.