Chapter 75

The journey to Siberia had been silent. She'd been unable to say anything, given her fear for Rhodey's life, and while Steve had tried to comfort her, nothing he could say would be able to help her.

Rhodey had fallen from the air because he was fighting on her side. In all his time in the Air Force, all that time she'd worried that something would happen to him, it turned out that at the end of the day, she would be the one responsible for his injuries, not his career choices.

He had trusted in her and he'd gotten hurt.

Steve landed the plane, and the two soldiers stood as Steve made his way over to her.

"Toni, I need you to promise me that you're not going to engage in this fight," Steve said, sounding worried as he put his arms around her. "I know you're upset after what happened with Jim, but I can't have anything happening to you. I can't let you get hurt in this fight. Please. Promise me that you're not going to fight. Especially not in your condition."

Bucky looked over at her sharply and she wanted to laugh. Were there any Avengers left who didn't know that she and Steve were expecting a baby?

Clint maybe. But he'd retired, which was why she and Steve had left him out of their fight. He'd gotten out. And she'd be damned if she dragged him back in.

"I promise," she reassured him. "I'll be in the suit the entire time, and I'll only fire from afar. I'm going to spend the time going after Zemo and making sure he hasn't hacked into any HYDRA systems, so we have no surprises.

"Good," he said, kissing her forehead. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you."

"I'll be fine," she promised him, as she took a step back and let the suit envelop her. She really did need to work on a way to make it faster. But for now, it would have to do.

They walked out of the ship, the three of them together, and she felt Steve's hand slip into hers, even if she was wearing the suit. She held on tightly, as they walked towards Zemo.

"I got heat signatures," she said, scanning the bunker. She used one of her repulsors to light the way, as Steve walked first and Bucky behind her. Like they were trying to keep her safe in case of an ambush.

"How many?" Steve asked her, and she rescanned the area again.

Because the number she got couldn't be right.

"One," she said in disbelief.

Shouldn't there be six? Or at least more than one?

Especially since Zemo had more than enough time to wake the soldiers.

They entered a chamber where the signature was, and lights filled the room. There was a hazy, yellow mist that filled the five pods then, where each of the soldier was.

There was no way they beat Zemo to getting to the base, was there? There couldn't have been.

But each of the enhanced soldiers were still there in the pods.

"If it's any comfort they died in their sleep," Zemo's voice came on over a speaker. As she moved closer, sure enough, each of the soldier had a bullet in the centre of their forehead.

Zemo had killed all the Winter Soldiers.

Steve glanced over at her in confusion and she didn't blame him. She had no idea what Zemo was playing at, but it couldn't be good.

"Did you really think I wanted more of you?" Zemo said, distaste abundant in his voice.

"What the hell?" Bucky asked, confused.

"I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here," Zemo said, as he lit up the control room he was in. She powered up her repulsor but not before Steve threw his shield at the room, only for it to bounce back without putting a dent in it. "Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that," she said, knowing she had more powerful weapons in her suit alone.

"Oh I'm sure you could, Ms Stark. Or I suppose Stark-Rogers for the time being, isn't it? But if you did, you would never know why you came."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna to bring us here?" Steve asked, disbelief evident in his tone. Because really, there were easier ways to bring them all to one place than murder and political assassinations.

"I thought about nothing else for over a year," Zemo told them. "I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."

He was toying with them.

She wanted to stand up to defend her husband, but his eye colour was hardly what this about. No, there was more to this.

A year ago was when Sokovia fell out of the sky. She knew from his file already that he was Sokovian Armed Forces. Was he a loyalist, angry that his country had been destroyed?

"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?" Steve asked what she'd been thinking.

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise," Zemo said, ominously.

"You lost someone?" Steve asked him again.

"I lost everyone," Zemo spat out. "My wife and my child. And so will you. An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within? That's dead forever. Tell me, Rogers; if you had to choose between your wife and your best friend, who would you choose?"

Steve placed an arm protectively in front of her, as Bucky looked wary.

"Желание. Ржавый," Zemo started speaking.

"No," Bucky said, taking a step backwards in fear.

"Семнадцать. Рассвет. Печь," Zemo continued.

"JARVIS scan for a way to get to Zemo," she commanded as she saw Steve survey the room.

"Девять. Добросердечный," Zemo said, without pause, "Возвращение на Родину."

"Barnes get out of here," she demanded, "Before he finishes."

"It's too late," Bucky said, sounding pained, as his eyes began to glaze over. "Get out of here!"

"Один. Товарный вагон," Zemo finished, "Good morning, Soldier."

She looked over at Bucky and saw that the man who'd grown to be her friend long gone. And all that remained was the Winter Soldier. The weapon that had murdered her parents.

"Ready to comply," Bucky said as she understood with enough broken Russian.

"I thought it would only be fitting," Zemo said then. "To tear the Avengers apart from the inside with the very weapon they sought to protect. How fitting isn't it, that all the Starks died at the hand of Captain America's best friend? Especially given the Starks have had an unwavering loyalty to the man over the years. Howard Stark dedicated his life to trying to find you, Captain Rogers. And his daughter married you. And it will be that dedication to you that destroys Toni Stark as it did her father."

She froze as she looked over at Bucky, begging him to be able to break through the spell. Ava would never recover if Bucky killed her. Peter would never recover if he lost another parent. And Steve, oh Galileo, Steve would never recover if his best friend, no matter how unwilling, killed his wife and unborn child. She subconsciously raised a hand to her stomach.

"Oh I see," Zemo said softly, "You're pregnant, aren't you, Stark? I can tell from the sudden fear in your composure. But you're not scared for yourself, are you? You're scared for your child. That is just, what do you Americans say? The icing on top of the cake. The Avengers took my family from me. They took everything. But now I'll destroy you the same way, Captain Rogers. I'll take your wife and your child from you too, just like you took my family."

Steve moved in front of her protectively.

"I do wonder however," Zemo mused, "The history books said you would go to the end of the line for James Buchanan Barnes. I wonder if I were to pit your best friend and wife against each other, who would you choose? Would you pick your best friend or your wife?"

"You're insane!" Steve spat at him. "Revenge isn't the answer. I'm sorry you lost your family, I really am. We tried our hardest to save them, but it wasn't good enough. No life lost is forgivable. But that doesn't change the fact that Ultron would have killed more people if we weren't there. This is why we need the Accords; it's why we're trying to do right by the world. Because we know we have limitations and we need do our best to save however many people as possible. Killing us won't change anything. It won't bring them back. It won't make up for what you lost. Let Bucky go and we'll talk about all of this. We'll put an end to all of this, once and for all. No one else needs to die."

"That's precisely what needs to happen," Zemo laughed coldly. "I have no illusions of making it out of this alive. But I'm going to destroy you before I do."

"Run," Steve whispered to her. "Go back to the jet and fly it into the air. I'll subdue Bucky. I've gotten through to him before, I can do it again. But I can't risk you getting hurt in the meantime. I can't risk something happening to you. Please, go."

"I can't leave you here alone!" she argued, "The suit will shield me, but I can't leave you alone with both of them. What if something happens to you?"

"Toni, please," he begged her, "Go."

"Not so fast, Captain," Zemo interrupted them, "Soldier, kill Toni Stark. By any means possible. That is your mission."

"NO!" Steve screamed out, as he turned to face Bucky. "Bucky, I know you're still in there."

"Oh he's long gone, Captain," Zemo laughed. "I do wish I'd brought some popcorn to snack on."

"You're sick," Toni spat out.

"No," Zemo said, "I'm just going to enjoy being the one to bring down the Avengers when so many others have failed to do so. You see, you will be your own undoing."

"Bucky, please," Steve pleaded, as the man stalked over to them. Steve stood firmly in front of her. "Toni, go. Please. I can handle this."

She tried to calm her breathing. She knew he was right; so much as one hard punch would be enough to cause a miscarriage. And not to mention if the suit was damaged, it could push against her and harm her pregnancy. And none of those were risks she were willing to take. But if she got back to the jet, she could remotely pilot her suit and help Steve so he wouldn't be alone.

"Okay," she told him, as she powered up the jets.

Bucky lunged at Steve then, tackling him to the ground, and she watched her husband get his face pummelled in as Steve tried to throw him off.

"I won't hurt you," Steve said firmly. "Please, Bucky. I know you're still in there. Please, I need you to come back to us. Please. This isn't you. I know you don't want to do this."

"Oh but he does," Zemo goaded, "Look at the murderous look in his eyes. He was born to do this. He likes doing this. This is who Bucky Barnes truly is. A murderer. And no amount of parading a wolf in sheep's clothing will take away his true nature."

"You're wrong," Steve spat out, as he threw Bucky off of him. The man stood up then, as he picked up a metal bar and threw it at her thruster, causing her to suit to stagger in the air.

"Shit, JARVIS. How much damage did that cause?" she asked, as the suit's vitals came up on her screen.

"Thrusters are at fifty percent, Miss," JARVIS told her. "You can still make it out of the bunker, but I'd suggest redirect all remaining power straight to the thrusters so you can safely get out."

"But if I do that the suit won't have enough power to properly help Steve fight," she said softly. "Nor will it have enough power if I stay."

So either way, Steve was on his own, against a mad man and his brainwashed best friend.

She felt herself fill with fear and wished out of desperation that someone else had come with them. Someone who'd be able to help them fight.

"Bucky!" Steve shouted as he caught one of Bucky's punches and flipped him onto his back, "I'm not going to fight you. But I can't let you get to Toni and harm her. This isn't you. The Bucky I knew would never hurt another person, especially not a woman who's pregnant. Remember when we rode the subway home after that film? We saw His Girl Friday three Fridays after it released. And there was a man trying to harass that poor woman who was almost at her due date. You got in between them and escorted her and her friend safely home because you couldn't stand to see a woman get attacked like that. Said she reminded you of your sister. Snap out of it, please. We're family. I'm your family. Toni is your family. I know deep down you know that. That you remember everything she's done for you. And you know if the Winter Soldier hurts her in any way, you'll never forgive yourself."

"Steve," she said, as she landed the suit on a higher vantage point. "I won't be able to help you help you fight against him. Not without the suit taking severe damage."

"I know, Darling," he told her in a pained voice, as Bucky landed a punch. "I'll be okay, alright? Just get to the jet. Don't worry about me."

She looked down at his face, JARVIS zooming in on it and saw it bruised and blood splattered, and let out a watery laugh. Bucky didn't have a scratch on him, given Steve was spending more time restraining and dodging his attacks over attacking himself.

"JARVIS, disable communication for Barnes from the comms. Turn volume down so just Steve can hear what I have to say," she commanded. "Scan for weak points in Bucky's fighting and send all information directly to Steve. Anything you can find that would give us the advantage, scan for and find. Please."

The desperation in her voice was slowly increasing.

"The Winter Soldier shows a preference to his mechanical arm," JARVIS told her.

"Disable the arm," she said quickly, "It's STARK tech so we can disable it. If he thinks it's a dead weight, he'll throw it to the side and have to favour his non dominant arm. It'll give Steve the advantage."

"I hate this," Steve said, as the arm she'd given Bucky went limp. "I hate that we're all but taking away his limb."

"I know," she said as she saw Winter's eyes look a bit confused. But as she'd predicted, he tore the arm off and used it to hit Steve across the face.

And just like that, her husband dropped to the ground.

Shit.

That was not what she was expecting.

"I had hoped he would be awake to see you die but I suppose watching him wake up as fear fills his body will be just as sweet," Zemo mused. "Looks like you have no one to save you now, Stark."

"It's Stark-Rogers," she spat, as she had JARVIS scan to see Steve's vitals. She saw the numbers and let out a sigh of relief. He was knocked out, but he was okay.

"Do I have enough power to get him out of here?" she asked JARVIS urgently.

"It would take you significantly longer to carry him out of the bunker given the damage to the suit's thrusters," JARVIS warned her.

And given that the Winter Solider had taken to scaling the walls to get to her, she assumed she wouldn't have time to get to him and get out safely.

Still, with Steve knocked out, she couldn't risk leaving him here with Zemo and the brainwashed Winter Soldier. She needed to get him out, so they could regroup and have a new plan of attack. Possibly with more Avengers who were hopefully enroute.

She took a deep breath and dove towards where Steve's body was, trying to get to him before Bucky got to her. She lifted him into her arms, bridal style, and her suit spluttered to lift into the air.

"JARVIS?" she asked, as she flew a lot slower. The Winter Soldier was quickly advancing on her, and she wasn't all that sure she was going to make it out of the bunker alive.

The Winter Soldier threw his body off the ledge and onto hers, sending the three of them spilling onto the ground. She groaned, as she turned her head and saw Steve lying on the ground beside her, still out of it.

"Take off her helmet," Zemo commanded, "I want to watch her die."

The Winter Soldier hovered over her, and she watched him rip off her mask.

"Yes, that fear," Zemo said, revelling in her pain. "The knowledge that death is coming for you. I wonder if your dear mother held a similar expression when she knew she was going to die."

"You piece of shit!" she swore at Zemo, unable to take her eyes off Bucky as he hovered over her.

She saw him lift his good arm into the air, ready to swing down at her face.

"Please," she begged him. "Please, Bucky. I know you're in there. Don't do this. You'll never forgive yourself if you do this. You'll never recover from this. Steve won't recover from this. Peter. Please. I can't leave Peter."

His eyes still had a glazed over expression, and she lifted her arm to protect her stomach. If she was going to die like this, then she wanted to at least shield her baby as best as she could. Let her take all the damage.

"Tell them I love them," she told him finally. "That I'll always love them. And Steve's religious. Tell him that if there is a Heaven that I'll watch over him and Peter, always. Bucky, I want you to know that I don't blame you for this. I don't want you to blame yourself for this."

"How touching," Zemo said mockingly. "My son was so excited to learn you would be fighting to save him. You, Iron Woman, were his favourite superhero. And you let him down. He was killed because he trusted you to keep him safe. Now you know what it feels like, Stark. To have that knowledge that you're going to die. And that nothing can save you. That those you trusted to protect you will be your undoing. Good. I want you to remember that pain. I want you to remember how that feels. So that before your death you can finally understand how I felt to learn my son and wife had died."

Bucky brought his fist into the air, and she closed her eyes, ready to accept her death.

She'd had a good life. She'd had a loving family, even if it was not her biological family. She'd had friends who loved her. She had a son.

She'd never get to meet her unborn child.

If there was an afterlife, maybe she'd finally get to see her mother again. Get to see Jarvis again.

She took comfort in knowing that if there was anything after death, that she'd be safe with Jarvis and her mother. That despite it all, she'd be safe with them once more.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the moment his fist would collide with her body, ready for the punch to come at any moment.

But it never came.

Instead, she heard a loud thump beside her.

She opened her eyes to see Bucky's fist, crashed into the ground beside her where the flooring had cracked from the force of the impact.

"I…am…James…Buchanan…Barnes," Bucky struggled to say, as he stood up. "I will not be controlled any longer. You cannot force me to hurt them. To hurt her."

"Желание. Ржавый," Zemo said quickly, trying to regain control over the situation, "Семнадцать. Рассвет. Печь."

"No!" Bucky roared, as he picked up Steve's shield and threw it on an angle towards where Zemo was safely located. And instead of hitting the glass that Steve had failed to shatter, he aimed for the one weak spot; a door towards the back of the control room. One that had allowed Zemo into the room and one that would grant Bucky access as well.

He jumped into the air, causing Zemo to splutter reciting out the words and launched himself into the control room, grabbing Zemo and throwing him onto the ground beside her.

"I will not harm anyone else," Bucky said firmly, as Zemo lay beside her, groaning. Bucky picked up the red book Zemo had used to get the words, as he handed it to her.

She looked at him in surprise, as he crouched down beside her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, looking her over, trying to assess the damage. Trying to see if he'd hurt her, if he'd hurt the baby.

"I'm okay," she promised him. Possibly had a broken arm or so, but nothing that wouldn't heal.

"And the baby?" he asked, almost fearfully.

"I don't know," she admitted, as JARVIS gave her a quick scan. He wouldn't be able to tell if the baby had been harmed during the fighting, but he'd be able to at least tell if the child was alive still.

"I have detected a heartbeat," JARVIS said, loud enough for them both to hear.

She let out a sigh of relief, as placed her hand to her stomach, grateful that her baby was alive. She'd get doctors to look her baby over the minute she returned, but for now it was enough.

Bucky gingerly helped her up, as she struggled to stand.

"I'm sorry," he said, full of remorse as he looked at her with pained eyes. "I didn't remember about the trigger words until it was too late. I didn't know. And because of them, I nearly killed you. I never would have forgiven myself if I'd killed you, after everything you've done for me. you've given me a home, fought for me, healed me. And this was the thanks you got. I'm so sorry, Toni. I'm not certain I'd even forgive myself for what I've done to you."

"It wasn't you," she told him, as he steadied her. "It wasn't you. You broke the conditioning. You fought against it. That's who you are. You're Bucky Barnes. And you found yourself before you…"

She let her voice trail off, unable to say it.

Steve groaned from beside her, and she ran over to him, with Bucky beside her.

"Toni!" he said quickly, as he tried to sit up.

"I'm okay," she told him, and he looked at her, as if he wouldn't believe it unless he saw her with his own eyes. She cupped his face and he held her hand against his face.

"What happened?" he asked, looking over at Bucky as he saw Zemo on the ground.

"He broke the conditioning," Toni said. "He pulled himself out of it. And he got to Zemo."

Steve looked grateful at that, as he stood up, "I'm glad," he said, as he wrapped his arms around her and her mangled suit. "I'm glad nothing happened and you're both okay."

"Let's go home, Steve," she said, and he nodded at her as he pulled away from her. He yanked Zemo up and marched him out of the bunker, as she and Bucky tailed behind him.

It was finally over. They'd beat Zemo. They'd won.

So why did it feel like they lost?