A/N: This is second to last chapter guys! I can't even deal!

Warning: blood, mentions of death

Chapter 25

Hulk's roars and Thor's lightning guide them to Skull's location on the other side of the park. Rhodey is flying ahead to keep the stragglers off the Avengers running on the ground while Fury offered to stay with Cap while the team finishes the trials. Tony's glad—out of all the Shield Agents in the park with them that aren't Avengers, Fury's the only one he trusts with Steve.

Tony hears a whooshing sound coming from behind him. He turns around without breaking his stride and sees the pieces of his suit flying towards him. The brunet pulls off his destroyed gauntlet and jumps, watching as the metal encases his body. The suit comes online and he's activating the jet boots before he lands back on the ground.

"Sir?"

"Captain Rogers is down," Tony informs his AI, voice sounding shaky and pained. "Activate the House Part Protocol. Eliminate everyone who belongs to Hydra. Exception: Red Skull—he's ours."

"Understood; House Party Protocol activated. The suits have been deployed and will arrive on your location in approximately forty-five minutes."

"Good."

Up ahead, Thor and Hulk are surrounded by Hydra on all sides and are doing their best to fight them all in addition to avoiding the Skull's laser gun. Rhodey flies over first and immediately dispatches several soldiers. Tony follows his friend, firing a repulsor blast that incinerates the enemies it touches. Normally, the Avengers will incapacitate their enemies for two reasons: one, so Shield can question them; and two, because they would be no better by killing everyone. There are exceptions, however, but generally, that's what they will do.

Tony doesn't care about that anymore.

Hydra took away the one person he cared for more than anything else on earth—his one chance at true happiness. They all deserve to burn in Hell for the rest of eternity. He has no sympathy—or any feelings other than absolutedestructiveburning rage—for these devils.

Tony begins circling the perimeter of the battleground with Rhodey, picking off the soldiers as the try to escape now that the Avengers have arrived (which is pathetic, really). Natasha runs forward and jumps, wrapping her thighs around the neck of one soldier and shooting two others who approach her as the first soldier goes limp beneath her. Clint fires a series of arrows before ducking and behind a tree. Hulk roars and smashes his fist into the ground, crushing several enemies beneath his weight. Thor calls a bolt of lightning to the ground, incinerating the men who were nearing Clint's position. Bucky is weaving between his enemies with a dancer's grace, brandishing the knife in his hand as if the weapon is an extension of his arm. He easily takes out the men around him before engaging the Skull directly, catching the villain off guard and putting him on the defensive.

The Avengers work in silence, taking down the soldiers with a brutal efficiency. No one has spoken since Tony declared revenge and he's grateful. All he feels is a painful numbness throughout his entire being and he has no idea what might happen if he tries to open his mouth. He's pulled from his thoughts when Clint's voice comes over the comms.

"Guys, I'm out of arrows."

"What? Already?" Natasha says. "You need to learn to spread those attacks out."

Clint huffs. "Would you just help me collect my arrows?"

"I got you covered," Tony says, proud of himself for keeping his voice leveled. He flies low to the ground, using JARVIS to locate the archer's arrows and gathering the weapons from each of the enemies Clint shot down. Once he retrieved all of the arrows, he goes to his teammate's position and sets them at his feet.

"Thank you," Clint chirps gratefully. "At least someone is willing to help me out."

Natasha scoffs.

Tony moves away from Clint and lands on the ground where he immediately encounters several soldiers firing their guns at him. He frowns, listening to the bullets bounce off his armor. When will they ever learn that ordinary weapons won't work on him. Tony raises his hand and fires a repulsor blast that easily takes out the soldiers.

A loud, rumbling sound approaching their position pulls Tony's gaze away from the soldiers he just eliminated. He looks up, watching carefully as several suits of armor fly overhead in a three-line formation before splitting up and circling the perimeter.

"Incoming!" Clint warns, sounding worried.

"They're friendlies," the brunet says as the various armors descend to the ground, immediately overwhelming Hydra and giving the Avengers the chance to regroup.

Tony watches his suits take down the Hydra soldiers with a smile on his face. The last time he initiated the House Party Protocol was in Malibu when he and Rhodey were trying to rescue both the President and Pepper. When he moved back to New York, he brought all of his suits with him and stored most of them in a secure bunker underneath of Stark Tower. Like with Malibu, he was saving the House Party just in case they would be needed again, and Tony can't help but wish that he would have found a way to contact JARVIS to initiate the Protocol earlier. Maybe then, Steve would—

Tony forces the thoughts from his head. He can't allow himself go down that path. What good would he be to his teammates if he shuts down now? Sure, JARVIS could take over the suit while Tony has a moment to grieve, but he doesn't want to let someone else take out the enemies in his place. No, he wants to make Hydra pay with his own hands.

"House Party?" Rhodey questions.

"Yep," Tony confirms as he launches back into the air. "The suits are old prototypes of my armor that I've kept in case I ever needed back up. They're all controlled by JARVIS and will assist you if you ask."

"Sweet!" Clint says. "Hey JAR, can I get a ride?"

"Certainly, Master Barton."

The Mark Eighteen flies to Clint's position, lifting the archer off the ground by the straps on his uniform. JARVIS flies Clint around in a continuous loop around the perimeter of the battlefield thus giving the archer a mobile perch. The Mark Twelve and the Mark Twenty-Seven fly to the Hulk, circling him and picking off the soldiers that keep trying to scale his body. Thor runs forward and leaps, bouncing off the Mark Forty-Two and propelling himself to the ground, taking out a huge wave of the straggling soldiers in addition to leveling a small area of the park.

"Would you like some assistance Mistress Romanov?"

At JARVIS's words, Tony looks over and sees that enemies once again, surround Natasha. Tony isn't exactly sure why they keep swarming her like this. He's betting it's because they think she's weak because she's small and female, which is a gross assumption. If there is one thing Tony is assured of, it's that Black Widow always wins. Always.

"It would be appreciated, yes," she responds.

The Mark Thirty-Five flies to her and breaks apart, the metal pieces encasing her body until she's completely covered. The armor launches into the air, getting Natasha safely away from the crowd. It flies her around before landing in a less crowded area and taking down the few soldiers lingering before releasing her from the suit.

"I can see why you two like flying so much," she says once she is on the ground and Tony can hear her smile. "It's so . . ."

"Freeing?" Rhodey offers.

"Yeah," she says. "Very liberating."

Tony grins. Seeing and being carried by the suit is one thing, but actually being inside and flying around with full knowledge that the sky is no longer a limit is exhilarating.

"Stark," Fury says, voice startling Tony since he wasn't expecting the Director to speak. "I'm en route to your position with backup. Coulson, Hill, and Loki are going to stay with Cap."

Tony has to close his eyes at the on slot of emotions that hits him. He's still not completely trusting of Loki, even though he's been a major help to the Avengers and has proven himself an ally. At least Coulson will be there—the Agent won't allow for anything to happen to Steve.

He takes a calming breath, trying to get himself in check. They're really going to do this—they're actually going to finish this fight and be done with the trials for good. Tony opens his eyes and nods, even though Fury can't see the motion. "Alright."

The Hydra soldiers are finally eliminated when Natasha takes down the last one by impaling him with a metal rod she found lying on the ground. The enemy falls limp, with the weapon still embedded in his torso.

Tony lands on the ground and lifts his faceplate. His various suits are circling the area like vultures preparing for a meal. He exchanges a grim glance with Fury while listening to the sound of Rhodey landing somewhere behind him. He turns his head, giving his full attention to the only fight remaining.

Bucky's interlocked in a battle with Skull, movements so calculated and precise that the villain is having trouble keeping up with him. He forces Skull to abandon his favored ray gun and exclusively use hand to hand, which is Bucky's forte. The ex-Soviet has even gotten a few good hits in as the Skull is bleeding from a knife wound on his cheek. Bucky dodges the Skull's punch before spinning on his toes and delivering a roundhouse kick to his face. The villain stumbles backwards from the force of the blow.

While the Skull is recovering, Natasha leaps onto his back, throwing one of her legs over his left shoulder. She pulls out a piece of thick rope and wrapping it around the villain's neck. Skull manages to raise his hand before the rope makes contact with his skin. After a brief struggle, Skull grasps Natasha by her belt and toss her off him as if she doesn't weigh anything. Thor catches her around the waist and immediately throws his hammer, hitting the villain square in the chest. As he falls to the ground out of breath, Skull twists his body, barely managing to avoid having his torso crushed by Mjolnir. Skull leaps back to his feet and immediately has to dodge the series of arrows and bullets Clint and Fury fire at him, respectively.

Tony begins walking towards the villain, armor covered hands curled into fists as his body shakes with barely contained rage. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Bucky advance on the Skull, dangerous and predatory, before engaging the villain once again, keeping him distracted as the Avengers get into position.

Skull ceases all movement when he realizes he is completely surrounded, with Hulk looming in the distance. The villain looks amused by the whole situation as if he's still going to come out of this completely intact. He turns his back to Bucky in favor of staring down Tony.

The brunet takes a step forward. "It's over, Skull."

A slow smirk crawls over Skull's face. "You're not a killer, Stark."

"No, but I am."

Tony watches as a metal blade shoots through Skull's chest, piercing the man through his heart. Skull, wide-eyed and shocked, tries to look at the man who impaled him, but Bucky refuses to let him.

"Rot in hell, you piece of shit," he says before twisting the knife.

Skull makes a gurgling sound before he goes completely limp. Bucky removes his knife and lets the man's body fall carelessly to the ground. He looks at Tony, with dead eyes, not bothered by the fact that he's covered in blood. Tony can't even find himself to be frightened by the Winter Soldier standing in front of him, tightly clutching the knife in his metal hand.

"I remember," Winter Soldier says, and Tony imagines that if he could, he would be smirking. "I remember the yacht."

"Get him out of here," Natasha says in a clipped tone

Tony expects them to pull away Winter Soldier, but instead, Rhodey grabs him and physically moves him away before he can protest. The billionaire watches Fury pull Nat aside, who was starting to follow them.

"I'm going to tell this to you now, so you can relay it to your team whenever you see fit," Fury says, and Tony instantly knows that the Director is going to allow them as much time off as they will need. "Coulson, Loki, and Hill got to the site of the tech. The magic was contained in a small device—even smaller than the Tesseract. Coulson reported that the device was dormant when they arrived, which means that you succeed in completing the trials. With Loki's help, they were able to safety destroy the device as well as the Hydra base was it was found in."

"Does that mean that Steve was . . ." she trails off and Fury gives her a grim look.

Natasha's voice, sounding pained and broken, is what causes everything to click into place for Tony as he finally registers everything that has happened.

"It was real," Tony says aloud, sounding shocked and distant.

"Tones?" Rhodey questions, tone light and concerned.

"He's really gone—Steve's dead. It wasn't just some horrible dream."

"Yeah . . ."

"He died protecting me."

"He loved you and wanted you to live."

"How am I supposed to do that without him?"

Tony looks up at Rhodey's face, the other man's mouth pulled slightly downwards and eyes worried. The brunet must look completely wrecked for Rhodey tightens his expression and places an armor-covered hand on Tony's shoulder, who wishes he could feel his friend's warmth and comfort through the suit. He takes a breath trying to calm himself down.

"He was everything to me, Rhodey," Tony admits in a whisper, feeling a tear fall down his cheek followed by another. "He was it."

He closes his eyes and scrunches his face as a sob filters through his lips. The faceplate slides into place without prompting, giving him the privacy to grieve while also having the comfort of his friend nearby. He leans forward, placing his covered forehead against Rhodey's armored shoulder and opens a private comm link between the two of them.

"Rhodey?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise you won't leave me."

"Tony, you know I can't—"

"Please," he says sounding a little desperate. Tony knows what he's asking is unfair because he doesn't know what the future holds, but he needs reassurance that his longtime friend will stay by his side—at least for now.

Rhodey is silent for a beat. "I promise. You're stuck with me, Stark."

The corner of Tony's mouth quirks upward, and he nods to himself. "Okay."

The funeral is four days later.

Thousands of people show up—fans, supporters, friends, new friends, people Steve inspired. They all came to support the man who represented and loved them, even if he hadn't met them.

Bucky cries freely, body wracking with sobs and hands covering his mouth to prevent any sound from escaping. Stray tears run down Natasha's cheeks, her shoulders shaking and hands clenched tightly into fists. Pepper cries into her tissues and Rhodey has to hold back his tears, keeping his posture at attention. Thor has his head bowed in respect while his brother silent and mirroring his actions. Bruce passes Clint a handkerchief and the archer uses it to blow his nose. Hill wipes away a few tears of her own and Coulson looks heartbroken. Even Fury's eye is looking watery.

Tony is able to hold everything in until he was presented with the flag that laid on Steve's coffin, his shield, and his tags. He bites down on his bottom lip and manages to stop himself from completely breaking down. Tony accepts the items with an almost inaudible murmur of "thanks."

As the solider walks away, Rhodey places a hand on Tony's shoulder. Overwhelmed, the brunet leans his head against his friend's shoulder, unable to stop his tears from falling. He feels Rhodey envelop Tony into a hug from the front while Pepper wraps herself around Tony's back, the pair shielding their vulnerable friend from everyone else's gaze.

After the funeral, there's a dinner at the Hilton in downtown Manhattan with open attendance. Tony decides to skip it saying he wants to be alone for a while. The Avengers understand, citing that they will join up tonight back at the Mansion.

Pepper and Rhodey escort Tony to the parking lot where Happy is already waiting for him. Happy has been in California with Pepper since the Maria Stark Foundation Ball and came back for the funeral just as she did. Tony has a feeling that both Pep and Happy are going to be sticking around for a while, seeing as he heard the redhead mention to Rhodey that she wanted to move Stark Industries back to New York once the Tower was completed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony can see Bucky approaching the three of them, presumably to talk with him. There hasn't been another glimpse of Winter Soldier since end of the battle and Bucky has been acting like himself, more or less. Tony stops walking, which causes his friends to stop as well. The brunet passes off the flag, shield, and dog tags to Rhodey. He walks away from his two friends and goes to meet Bucky. He can hear the pair following him, but keep their distance and allow him to converse in private.

"Hey."

"Hey Bucky."

Bucky gulps before closing the distance between them and wrapping Tony in a hug. He rests his chin on Tony's shoulder, and the latter can feel tears prickling at the corner of his eyes as he returns the embrace.

"You know you're not alone, right?" Bucky says, hoarsely.

Tony's heart clenches painfully. "I know."

Bucky pulls away and Tony sees how absolutely wrecked the other man looks. He takes a shaky breath, and places a finger on Tony's chest, tapping him once. "You talk to me okay?"

Tony instantly knows what he's talking about—he hasn't forgotten their conversation on the roof. Not a single word. He knows Bucky is someone he can count on and trust.

The billionaire gulps and nods. "Okay."

Bucky places a fist against his mouth before nodding and turning to walk away.

"Wait," Tony calls, watching as the other man looks back at him with a curious expression.

The brunet goes over to Rhodey and carefully takes Steve's shield from his friend. He turns the object over in his hands before walking back over to Bucky and holding the disk out to the other man. "He would have wanted you to have this."

Bucky looks like he might start crying again at any moment. "I—I can't be Captain America."

Tony gulps, trying to hold himself together. "I'm not asking you too. You and I both know Steve, and we know that he wouldn't trust anyone other than you to have his shield. Please."

Bucky sniffles, looking like he wants to bolt at any second. He slowly reaches out his hands and takes the shield from Tony, looking at the object as if it holds the secrets to the universe. Bucky's wide eyes roam over the billionaire's face and he smiles brokenly. "Thank you," he says, sounding grateful. He straps the shield onto his back, offering Tony a nod before walking away.

Tony watches him leave before turning back to his friends. Pepper offers him a watery smile and Rhodey gives him a nod of approval. The brunet feels a small weight lift from his chest—if anyone other than Steve deserves to hold the shield, it's Bucky. They continue walking for a few more minutes before reaching Happy's location.

His former chauffeur opens the door and waits patiently while Tony hugs his two friend's goodbye. The brunet receives the flag and dog tags from Rhodey, who offers him a small smile. Tony nods to his friends before climbing into the car.

Happy closes the door and slides into the driver's seat. He starts the car and pulls away from the curb. Happy doesn't say a word, which is something Tony is grateful for. The billionaire runs his left thumb over Steve's tags before placing them around his neck, gaining comfort in the sound of the metal clanging against his arc reactor. Tony sighs heavily, leaning his head back against the seat and closing his eyes.

All he can see is Steve.