"What'll you do if he's dead?" asked Tony quietly, eying his friend who was staring out the window, observing the new SHIELD trainees.
Steve showed little reaction to his question, but his friend could hear the masked anger in his voice. "Get the rest of the victims out and blow the place to the sky."
"I thought you were gonna say personally assassinate his killer, but that seems fair too."
"I wouldn't do it for revenge, Tony. I'd do it to prevent what happened to Bucky from happening to anyone else. No one deserves to go through what he did." The man shook his head and turned his gaze to the engineer. "Going and taking out one of those guys because of what they did to us is more than tempting, but how does it help? Sure, they're all in league with the Devil himself, but we'd be killing someone else's best friend. His buddies find out and then the cycle of revenge continues. Killing for revenge makes us just as bad as them." Steve shook his head. "It's not the answer."
"So, you're saying blowing the entire base up and taking them all out is more morally justified?" Steve frowned as Tony shrugged and popped a blueberry into his mouth. "Hey, I'm just asking."
"Sometimes you gotta make the hard call. I'm not saying every guy in there is bad to the bone and beyond hope of saving - there's a good chance a damn lot of them are brainwashed too. But the job doesn't leave a lot of room for mercy. I'd save every one of them and turn them to the truth if they would be turned. They all have - or had - families, Tony. They've got friends, they've got dreams. The problem is, those dreams have been taken over by HYDRA's nightmare. And as long as they side with the wrong set of morals, I can't protect them. They might be brainwashed, but most of them not forcibly, like Bucky. They gave in, they chose it for themselves. Maybe they were deceived, but Bucky was captured. That's the difference: Bucky resisted. He gave in when it was impossible to resist, but even then he fought back. He didn't give up, he didn't lose hope. He's stronger than that."
Tony scoffed. "So that's why he's worth more? He's stronger? By that definition, you'd be dead in a back alley in the '40s, Rogers."
The veteran's eyes hardened. "Look, war doesn't give second chances. Neither does HYDRA. But I do. Bucky was manipulated." Steve clenched his fist as he let out a heavy breath. "Don't you see that if he'd had a choice his history would be clean? HYDRA didn't give him that choice. I'm giving it to him now. It's called mercy, Tony. You've had your fair share."
"Alright, old man, play it your way. But I can't promise I'll be in support. I deal with justice, not mercy."
"By those rules, you'd be in prison for Ultron months ago. You can't go both ways." Steve switched his gaze to the floor, weighing his words carefully. "Look, when I see a situation headed south, I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could."
Tony clenched his easy expression into a curt smile. "Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth."
"Then go ahead," replied the Captain with a smirk. "I've handled worse. But I'm not changing my mind. I've given you a second chance. Bucky deserves the same."
"Screw it all," muttered Steve, thinking back on his conversation with Tony just months before. Back when they'd been friends...they still were...or they could be, if he would only listen….A lot of things had changed since then. Too many.
"Hey." Steve looked up to see Sam toss him a granola bar and take a seat across from him in the helicarrier. His friend let out a sigh and shook his head with a crooked grin. "Dude, I tried, but Sharon refused to get us some Chinese pickup on the way." His expression turned serious. "You don't know understand how much I could go for some egg rolls right now. And some of that sweet 'n' sour chicken. Man, that'd hit the spot."
What if he's dead? The question lingered and overshadowed Sam's lighthearted banter. When he realized his companion expected a response, Steve gave him a small grin and glanced down at his hands. They were ice-cold and pale. Averting his gaze up, he clenched his fists to end the shaking and tossed the snack back.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked, frowning at the returned food.
"Just not hungry," shrugged his companion.
"I don't care if you're not hungry, you gotta eat somethin' before we go kick their HYDRA a-their HYDRA butts."
"Yeah, watch the language around Cap, Falc," chastised Sharon from the cockpit. "I can't believe you all sometimes," she muttered in pretend horror.
"I'll never hear the end of it," complained Steve with an irritated smile.
"Eat something, Steve," came her reply. "You'll be less grumpy."
"Fine." Sam tossed the granola bar back and he bit in, knowing he couldn't win this one.
"So, what's the plan, Cap?"
"Get Bucky out and attempt not to get killed in the process."
"Go figure. So I take it you're still coming up with one."
"Well, I'm pretty useless in this condition," muttered Steve, wincing as oncoming turbulence caused his seat to bounce, sending a sharp pain through his side.
Sam laughed. "I wouldn't call a guy with your brains and the best physique in the world useless. You're just in recovery. There's a big difference."
"Pfft. At this point, they seem the same."
"Yeah, well you'd have a lot to say if someone said that about Bucky, wouldn't you." Sam crossed his arms. It wasn't a question if he already knew the answer." Admit it, you're not being fair with yourself, Steve."
The blonde felt a wadded up wrapper hit his forehead. He looked up to see Sam's fond but challenging expression.
"Snap out of it. Let's go save our friend. You can pout about it later."