Wakanda….
Baron Zemo had just departed down a back alley in a nondescript car as Natasha pulled in to the town square. She knew Steve was here somewhere but even in his uniform and beacon-like shield it was difficult to spy him in the riotous colors of the open air market. The crowd shifted and then swayed with commerce as people came and went intent on their destination or errand.
The heat began to plaster the back of her hair with sweat. Trying to ignore the itching trickles, she kept scanning from her Range Rover.
Suddenly a commotion grabbed her attention. Steve streaked across the square in hot pursuit of some henchman. A flying leap sent him up through the air, disabling a gun touting HYDRA goon who was on the rooftop of a truck with a midair kick. Not missing one beat, he ran on toward the Institute for Infectious Disease building, leaping upon a jeep and through a second story window. She admired for a moment his incredible physical ability before hopping out of her vehicle and joining the melee.
By the time she crossed the market, pushing through panicked people smartly running away from the commotion, Steve threw Crossbones out of the building through another window into the street. A few of his thugs jumped in. That's not terribly fair, is it, she thought and entered into the fray with a few spin kicks of her own.
Crossbones laughed a low raspy laugh as he and Steve exchanged blows, "Remember, it's not personal."
"You knew! You knew the whole time who Bucky was." Steve raged throwing punches that Rumlow deflected with his body armor. In his frenzy, Steve had dropped his shield on the ground.
"Nice trained dog. Maybe a better description would be our 'bitch'?" Brock teased shoving Steve roughly up against a wall and then activating a huge blade from his forearm. Rogers ducked just in time before the knife buried itself into the wall where his head had just been.
Throwing in a few well placed stomach punches while Crossbones tried to dislodge blade, Steve shoved him back the ground. Cap picked a wheezing Rumlow by the shoulders and shook him roughly like a fox shaking a rat.
Through the mask, Brock looked up at the manic face of Steve and breathed with a smile, "You know, he remembered you."
Steve's knuckles were white with fury around Crossbones' collar. His breath came in harsh pants and his heart hammered in his ears like blacksmith pounding iron into a sword.
"Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky." Crossbones voice cut through the thick humid air and dust like a knife straight into Steve's heart.
With a twist of his hands and an abrupt crack, Crossbones was no more.
Seeing their leader fallen, the Hydra scum scattered into the crowd. People sobbed in fear, hiding under tables and behind storefronts, wide-eyed and terrified. Natasha dusted herself off and looked towards Steve. Seeing the crumpled heap of Crossbones at his feet, she sighed and shook her head.
With a limp, she walked to Steve's side, his shoulders working up and down like a bellows. "You ok, Rogers?"
Turning his head towards her, she saw streaks of tears in his dusty face. The conflict in his eyes was obvious. Natasha read it like a book; he just killed a man in cold blood for revenge. Captain America doesn't kill in revenge. Rogers composed himself as best he could, "I gotta go." Picking up his shield, he jogged away from her and disappeared.
Looking about her at the chaos, the dead Brock at her feet and the destruction she felt the weight of being an Avenger grow heavy around her shoulders. Slowly, the dawning realization that Tony was right came to her. At first she wasn't sure but now it was plain as day. The Accords were needed. They were needed more than ever. She also thought that Stark had vastly underestimated Steve Rogers when it came to his best friend, Bucky Barnes.