Chapter 22
Tony watched in horror as he was forced to watch the surveillance footage from December 16, 1991.
A car on a deserted road crashed into a tree. He watched intently as the Winter Soldier got off the motorbike. The driver Howard Stark, lied on the ground beside the car and begged him to help his wife. The Winter Soldier walked over, hoisting him by the hair. He stared at Howard's bloody face.
"Sergeant Barnes?" Howard said.
The Winter Soldier pounded Howard in the face with his metal fist over and over as his wife cried out for him. Tony closed his eyes when his father's lifeless body fell limp. The Soldier placed him in the driver's seat with his face against the steering wheel. Then, the Soldier walked over to Tony's mother, Maria, and wrapped his hand around her throat. Expressionless, the Soldier strangled Maria until she stopped moving. He then walked up to the surveillance camera, aimed his gun and shot at it.
Tony lunged towards Bucky, Steve stopped him. "Tony. Tony."
Consumed with grief, tears glistening in his eyes he turned to look at Steve. "Did you know?"
"I didn't know it was him."
"Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?"
"Yes," he answered honestly.
Tony stepped back, his chin jutting upwards, twitchy. Tony reengages the Iron Man helmet. He punched Steve to the floor and deflects gunfire from Bucky, disarming him. He grabbed Bucky and flew across the chamber. He slammed him onto the floor, then jumped on his arms. Steve's shield hit Iron Man, distracting him. Steve barged him backward, and Iron Man shoulders him to the floor, shackling his ankles. Bucky punched Iron Man who lifted and slammed him against a machine. Iron Man raised a fist but Bucky twisted it. A rocket shot out of Iron Man's arm, a fireball exploded. Steve sliced his shackles as a towering structure of pipework collapsed. Tony and Bucky were thrown down a level as the twisted metal fell around them, showering sparks.
"Get out of here!" Steve yelled at Bucky.
As Bucky bolted, Iron Man fired, but missed. Steve landed in front of him. Bucky hit a control panel and the silo-styled door overhead started to open.
"It wasn't him, Tony. Hydra had control of his mind!"
"Move!" He shouted.
"It wasn't him!" Steve grabbed Iron Man by the ankle in mid-air, smashing it. Iron Man blocked Steve by shooting down the rubble, then falteringly flew up the tower.
"Left boot jet failing. Flight systems compromised," FRIDAY informed.
"Ah, crap."
Above him, Bucky lept from platform to platform. With stuttering jets, Iron Man gave chase, then kicked Bucky and took aim, but the energy bold rebounded off Steve's shield onto himself. Iron Man dropped like a stone and landed on a lower platform.
"He's not going to stop. Go," Steve told Bucky.
As Iron Man soared upward, Steve jumped and shot a wire which wrapped around Iron Man's neck and dragged him back down. He deflected Steve's shield, then tried to target Bucky.
"Targeting system's knackered, boss," FRIDAY warned.
"I'm eyeballing it, he replied.
His helmet retracted and he shut one eye, aiming at the opening hatch. He fired and hit the giant hinge which exploded, cutting Bucky's escape route. He flew up, blocking two swings from an iron pipe from Bucky, then grabbed him around the neck from behind.
"Do you even remember them?"
"I remember all of them," Bucy replied as he pushed them both from the walkway. Steve jumped into them to deflect their fall. Bucky landed on a platform while Tony and Steve landed on the concrete floor beside the opening in the wall where snow drifted from the outside.
"This isn't gonna change what happened," Steve said.
"I don't care," Tony answered. "He killed my mom."
They trade punched and Iron Man pinned Steve down. Bucky picked up Captain America's shield to help. As the two super soldiers fistfight with Iron Man, the shield changed hands between them until Tony managed to zap Steve, throwing back into the wall. Bucky struggled to hold Iron Man at bay as he unleashed an energy beam, then forced Iron Man against the opposite wall, grip[ing the glowing core in the chest of the Iron Man Suit. A blast of energy knocked Bucky down, his metal arm was completely blown away. Tony zapped him again and knocked him unconscious. Steve rushed to him with his shield up and Iron Man fired right at it.
Zemo searched around in the snow for his sister. He called out for her, cooing promises of a painless death and eternal peace. When she was nowhere to be found, he tossed snow in the air, cursing the gods in the sky. When his fits were over, he sobbed in the snow, searching for his phone. He fell to his knees and played the voicemail of his wife, telling him about their son and how much she loved him.
T'Challa snuck up behind him. "I almost kill the wrong man."
"Hardly an innocent one," Zemo answered calmly.
"This is all you wanted? To see them rip each other apart."
"She tried to warn me, to save all of us. My father lived outside the city. I thought we would be safe there. My son was excited. He could see the Iron Man from the car window. I told my wife, 'Don't worry. They are fighting in the city. We're miles from harm.' When the dust cleared and the screaming stopped. It took me two days until I found their bodies. My father still holding my wife and son in his arms. And the Avengers? They went home. I knew I couldn't kill them. More powerful men than me have tried. But, if I could get them to kill each other...I'm sorry about your father. He seemed a good man. With a dutiful son."
"Vengeance has consumed you. It's consuming them," he blinked ruefully and retracted the claws in his gloves. "I am done letting it consume me. Justice will come soon enough."
Holding a gun, Zemo smiled thinly. "Tell that to the dead."
He shot himself, but T'Challa grabbed him just as he fired.
"The living are not done with you yet," T'Challa said.
Allie stumbled across the snow once she regained some of her strength. Her legs were heavy and it was difficult to breathe, but she pushed forward. She crawled through an opening and slid down a vent. She walked down the vast halls, following the sounds of metal clashing. Once she finds Captain America hovering over Iron Man with his shield over his head, Allie called out for them to stop.
Blood spattered across their faces, Steve looked back at Tony then shut his eyes and slumped down. The shield remained upright, stuck in the center of the Iron Man Suit. When Steve struggled up again he took hold of the shield, gripping the edge and pulling it free. He stepped away from Tony who rolled painfully onto his side.
Allie called out to Bucky, who lied bloodied and conscious on the floor. She crawled over to him, waking him up. Steve reached out and pulled him to his feet, holding him up.
"That shield doesn't belong to you," Tony yelled, causing them to stop. "You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!"
They stop. Steve raised his chin, then dropped the shield and walked away with Bucky and Allie.