Did I Do That?

by xfphile

Despite conventional wisdom, that's not the reason why. (a series of unconnected one-shots, primarily subverting common/popular fic tropes)

19. Strange Bedfellows

Happy Hump Day!

I'm sorry this one took so long, but as you can see, it's a bit of a monster. More precisely, it's a monster piranha. It's also the result and combination of two different prompts:

1) Spot Kempwood (Guest): ** I want Rogers to his serum and be back into that disgusting body he was born into early in the chapter I want all of team cap to know how he used them and hate him then he is imprisoned.

I want him to finally acknowledge how utterly useless he is without the serum how wrong he is about everything political wise and intelligence wise. I want that fucking witch to be burned alive like the fucking abomination she is. She deserves to suffer.

The others I don't care about as long as they KNOW ITS STEVE FUCKING ROGERS FAULT AND NOT TONY STARK! **

2) Cami (guest): ** I definitely would want to see a story where Laura tears her ex-husband a new one for what he said to Rhodey and make it very clear that's why she divorced him ("If you're that callous towards someone who's supposedly a teammate, I don't want you anywhere near my children ever again"). **

Like I said, this is monster long. The setup ended up being WAY more involved than I expected, but I loved it too much to cut it out. I also, for exposition purposes, needed to physically go over a lot of what happened in 'Winter Soldier' (you've never seen so many transcripts pulled up at the same time because I had to get ALL the movies), and here's why.

One of my biggest pet peeves is the massive amount of stories that have the 'Civil War fixit' tag, because the Accords were never the problem. They were the culmination of years and movies of Tony's 'teammates' not trusting him, respecting him, liking him, or even treating him with basic human decency. So CW cannot be 'fixed', because we literally have to go back to WS (or, in Romanova's case, IM2) and change certain actions and decisions there.

Since the primary prompt asked for the entire team to be forced to realize that hey, Tony was right about everything, I figured rehashing the movies was the best option — but not by making them watch them. That's been done and I also personally find it boring.

So, what to do?

Hey, Strange went Stone Walking in Infinity War (yes, I refuse to acknowledge it but it does occasionally have good ideas). That could potentially be interesting. So that's what I did. There are some vignettes/scenes both from the movies and things I've made up; there are also a lot of . . . soundbytes, for lack of a better word, utilized for the same purpose. So if this seems disjointed, that's why. It's intentional, because the Time Stone is both sentient and has a snarky sense of humor.

Well. tl;dr: that was a lot. Basically, Strange and the Time Stone gives the Rogues a well-deserved education. Thank you all so much for your patience while I've been wrestling with this one and I really hope you enjoy it. I'm sorry it's such a behemoth one-shot, but hopefully it's a satisfying read. I can't wait to hear what you think!

I present:

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Strange Bedfellows

From a very young age, Stephen Strange had certain set personality traits that had set him apart from his peers. While they had served him well in school and were the foundation of his ability to achieve goals most other people would have — and did, actually — consider impossible, there were undeniable drawbacks. Chief among those was that fact that they had prevented him from making friends or close acquaintances. But those traits also made Stephen extremely intolerant of stupidity, especially willful stupidity, and he could not bear to remain in the room with a person who rejoiced in ignorance.

But above all else, Stephen Strange absolutely despised people who claimed an arrogant superiority they had not earned or did not deserve. He himself was aware that his own arrogance was highly off-putting to most people, even if they conceded it was earned, which was the main reason he and Tony Stark either got along like a house on fire or were the impossible-to-remove splinter in the other man's foot, depending on the moon's proximity to Jupiter and whether or not both men had been sufficiently caffeinated.

(proving Stephen's point, most people failed to realize that his 'spats' with Tony were for show; the pair greatly enjoyed bantering, screwing with people's heads, and rejoicing in the pleasure of speaking with someone who was like-minded, smart enough, and educated enough to keep up with them. Hence, their snarking competitions: they got to indulge in all three without putting the vile little bastards known as 'emotions' into the mix. Thus, when anyone asked, no, they weren't friends.

Hurt him and die)

So it was a forgone conclusion that Stephen Strange, MD and Sorcerer Supreme, loathed Steve Rogers long before he had the misfortune to meet the man.

When that misfortune finally befell him, his feelings were quickly and firmly cemented. He would rather talk to Thor than deal with Steve Rogers. Now, he would admit to holding on to a tiny sliver of hope that his research was wrong and that Stark was projecting due to his deep-seeded Daddy Issues (ugh, what a stupid name. Why must everything be infantilized?), but it took less than three minutes of listening to the fool pontificate to realize that yes, he was absolutely correct in his assessment of the man. In fact, his research hadn't done Rogers nearly enough justice — and whoever had established the base information in the Captain America propaganda was an absolute genius at his job.

He was also a sadist who needed to be punished. Appropriately. In such a way that would traumatize him the way the rest of the world had suffered as a direct result of the pure fiction that made up his admittedly brilliant legend of Captain America.

Like, say, be forced to spend a day in solitary confinement with Rogers and being forbidden to agree with the man on anything, starting with the color of the sky.

Yes, that would be a good start.

But Stephen digressed.

He'd been more surprised than he should have been when Tony contacted him out of the literal blue — Stephen had been in the Blue Room, because the universe has a warped sense of humor — formally introduced himself, and then, with no preamble at all, asked if Stephen would be interested in helping him retrieve six extremely stupid, even more arrogant people who were already individual powerhouses, but when they joined together for a common cause, they created a force that could potentially destroy the planet. Given Stark's reputation, Stephen was fully prepared to roll his eyes at the man's hyperbole . . . until he caught a glimpse of a fading but still vivid scar peeking out below the waistband of his Doctor Who t-shirt (Ten and Rose; clearly the man had both taste and sense).

And stopped dead, both mentally and physically.

He knew exactly how Stark had gotten that surgical scar, and his memory decided to be helpful and remind him that the man had been completely out of sight for over five weeks . . . right after the very people he was asking Stephen to help capture had leveled an airport in Germany. Nine days later, Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross had been arrested on so many charges the media didn't even bother trying to list them; a website/database was set up to allow people to satisfy their own curiosity and the list of charges to be updated without having to rehash them in every broadcast or every time a new one was announced. It was, Stephen considered with the aggravation that always accompanied being forced to deal with incompetence, one of the most efficient things the mainstream media had done in the last century.

Even for a government official, it was a truly impressive list of crimes, albeit appalling (what? Being a Master of the Mystic Arts didn't render him immune to enjoying the occasional bout of drama, so long as he wasn't involved). And it had Stark's fingerprints all over it, despite his continued radio silence (he was half-right there; Tony had started the avalanche, but Pepper had placed the bomb and Rhodes had been the one to finally detonate it).

So, keeping these facts in mind, Stephen looked the other man straight in the eyes for a minute, reading and assessing what little Stark allowed him to see, though he was able to go quite a bit deeper than expected. Or wanted. But needs must, so Stephen wasted neither time nor effort on pleasantries that would only be annoying (for both of them) and simply studied one Anthony Edward Stark in silence.

He saw.

He saw the disbelief. The hurt. The betrayal. The anguish. The rage.

And he saw the shattered, bloodied shards of what could have been an unbreakable bond of brotherhood.

Being no stranger to betrayal, though not on this scale, and feeling the strong beginnings of personal respect for this man he'd just met — battered, bruised, and cracked, but defiantly undefeated — Stephen blinked to break the spell and nodded.

"Of course," he replied, gesturing lazily and smiling when the Cloak of Levitation zoomed over to him — and promptly blinked, jaw dropping a little, when said Cloak paused in front of Stark and subjected him to the same scrutiny Stephen had just given him, though it only lasted a few seconds. Then the Cloak . . . flailed, for lack of a better word, and twisted itself into an infinity symbol before exploding back to its original shape and regarding Stark with what could only be called 'wistful hope'. This puzzled Stephen, but Stark cleared it up before anyone could blink.

"Tony Stark," he said with a slight bow, grinning when the Cloak offered him a corner so they could shake 'hands' and readily accepting, unabashedly delighted at meeting the Eastern Seaboard's most exasperating sentient artifact. "And you are?"

This earned him a shrug, followed by a twirl (complete with spinning hem; Severus Snape would be jealous), and finished off with the unmistakable impression of 'what do you think?' that had Stark trying and failing to bite back a grin, while Stephen facepalmed over his artifact's antics.

People called Stephen a drama queen, and they were often correct, but he had nothing on his Cloak.

Speaking of . . .

"Huh," Stark said thoughtfully, rubbing a hand over his chin. "I could go for either Twister or Levi. Your twirl is awesome and it sucks you don't have a mustache to complete the look, but 'Twirl' is just too Disney princess, you know?"

The Cloak nodded emphatically before twirling again. There was a short pause while everyone waited for . . . something, Stephen really couldn't have said what, though the ridiculousness of the situation didn't escape him, before the mischievous red material rose higher and higher, until it was taller than Stark. Another second of stillness ensued and the Cloak laid itself flat out over the man's head, somehow managing to radiate satisfaction while serving as an (completely unnecessary) indoor umbrella. Stark slowly tipped his head back to study his impromptu, fabric mobile shade tree, and then he nodded.

"Levi it is," he stated, smiling when that garnered another excited twirl (and now that Stark had mentioned it, Stephen could absolutely see the resemblance to more than a few Disney princesses), followed by a showy fall of fabric that ended with the Cloak — who was apparently now called Levi, which . . . sure. Why not? — draped over his shoulders. Now Stark looked remarkably like a certain prince of Asgard, minus the eyepatch and hammer, and Stephen was hard-pressed to bite down his snort of amusement.

To distract them both from a truly absurd situation, Stephen shook his head and forcibly refocused his attention to the original matter at hand.

"How do you know where they are?" he asked, genuinely curious. Yes, Stark was a genius, but no one else on the entire planet seemed able to locate them, so it was a touch strange (heh) that Stark did.

The man in question smirked, eyes filling with vindictive satisfaction so deep that Stephen immediately mentally promised himself never to get on the wrong side of it — up to and including Stark's descent into villainy. He would doubtless have a good reason.

"All of them but the Ant guy have gear and/or weapons I designed and built," he replied simply, making Stephen blink. They were talking about the Avengers. Surely they weren't . . . they couldn't possibly be that stupid. One or two, that was human nature. But all of them?!

Stark nodded at his appalled expression, his own face doing something complicated and veering between disgust and amusement. "Yeah," he said. "They really are that stupid. And arrogant. And gullible, actually. They're in Wakanda," he explained in answer to Stephen's raised eyebrow. "And doubtless believe that old myth about the place being completely hidden and undetectable and impenetrable."

That last statement deserved a few puzzled blinks, which Stark was kind enough to ignore as he continued. "Of course, there's no such thing. Good ways of hiding and deflecting? Absolutely. But you can't make a country vanish that a) exists, b) is populated, and c) contains massive amounts of the most famous metal on the planet. The problem is that most people run into the first two or three roadblocks and firewalls and give up. And yeah, whoever designed and coded their security software is good. I'm better. And I have a lot more experience, both in actual life experience and in real-life application."

"Of course," Stephen murmured in understanding. "It's like the difference in learning the proper technique for using a scalpel on a dummy versus a surgeon who's operated on multiple, live people."

Stark's eyes lit with a spark of unfettered joy at having someone who could actually keep up with his thought processes, and Stephen sympathized. Manfully, they both ignored The Moment and moved on immediately.

"Precisely," was all the other man said. "I've given T'Challa two weeks to man up, king up, grow into Mufasa, or whatever the hell you want to call it — basically, I've given him more than enough time to turn the group over to the UN. Or, barring that, at least tell the world where they are. But he hasn't, which means he's sheltering them for some dumbass reason. He probably offered Barnes a place to hide since he realized he was wrong about the man killing his dad and has shown that he has a very convenient, very flexible definition of 'honor'. And since Rogers will destroy the planet before letting his BFF out of his sight, he undoubtedly bullied his way in, and brought the rest of them as a security blanket, since I have the shield now and Barnes' brain is a few steps below mush and Rogers can't function without someone either fawning over him or telling him how wonderful he is. And no, I'm not joking. I wish to God I was. I should have seen it y—well. Yes."

Once Stark tapered off into a stony silence, they both stood there for a very awkward moment while Stephen parsed through that disjointed deluge of information, but once he felt he had a grasp on the basics, he managed to contain his response to three slow blinks and an equally slow nod. He was also grateful beyond words that Wong had gotten curious about the powers Wanda Maximoff so freely — worse, and highly offensively to Wong's moral code, so destructively — used, and had researched them and her with meticulous thoroughness. He'd been horrified by his findings, as had Stephen, and they had taken a few hours to develop a way to contain her abilities that should work, assuming their research was accurate.

Barring that, tranquilizing her so Stephen could drop her into a different dimension would suffice. Speaking of . . . he gave the man a quick onceover, only to frown when he saw no sign of weapons or containment units. A matching frown met his gaze when he glanced up and Stark said, "What's that look for?"

Stephen cleared his throat and, with his usual bluntness, said, "I had assumed you would come equipped with the items needed to contain or subdue them."

Understanding lit that brilliant brown gaze and Stark nodded. "I did; they're just in my car."

Well, that made sense. Feeling vaguely foolish, since Stark really had no way of knowing that Stephen could open a portal to most places, he said only, "Of course. I should have realized." This was waved off with another understanding smile, which Stephen returned before making a slight change of subject. "I assume you have coordinates for the group?"

His easy acceptance of both Stark's preparedness and competence earned him a few slow blinks in return, his eyes clearly full of shock and gratitude that seemed almost — almost desperate, something that would anger him later, after he'd been exposed to the Rogues and also had time to really think about Stark's genuine surprise. Still, the man recovered quickly and nodded, pulling out his phone and doing something that resulted in a blue hologram showing latitude and longitude, the projected estimation of Wakanda's terrain, and several spots highlighted in a truly offensive acid pink.

In an impressive display of self-control, Stephen said nothing about the color choice; he understood petty retaliation all-too-well and in this case, it was definitely warranted. He simply studied the data intently until he was satisfied he could open a portal safely in the building, since he had the literal location of their weapons (and likely their actual bodies as well), then turned to Stark. "Shall we go?" he asked, and got a surprised look that was instantly replaced with a feral intensity that Stephen had never personally experienced . . . and wasn't sure he ever wanted to.

Being a hunter wasn't really part of his character, despite Christine's numerous (and pointed) remarks about how much he had in common with cats, personality-wise (he would never admit to liking the comparison; cats were curious, intelligent, and aloof, but had somehow managed to enthrall what seemed to be the vast majority of humanity. Even people who didn't like cats had to admit it was impressive).

His vague disquiet at Stark's obvious glee at the prospect of capturing his former teammates faded under the anticipation of seeing his face when he realized Stephen had instant transportation from here to there and back again (that reminded him; he needed to reread The Hobbit soon) and he cleared his throat, catching the man's complete attention.

"If you'll fetch the items you need, I'll do the same," he began, summoning the Cloak — Levi — with a firm wave and watching with thinly-veiled amusement as Stark tried and failed to hide his confusion.

"I—" he began, but Stephen took pity on him and explained further. As much fun as tweaking the man would probably be, now wasn't the time.

"I have a much faster method of transportation," he told Stark, nodding at the speculative look his words evoked. "And that is fortunate, because it will drastically reduce their chances of escape." He stopped for a split second of mental debate before deciding to unleash his inner sardonic asshole (not to be confused with his inner sarcastic asshole). "It will also confound the Wakandans, as they will know only that a group of trouble-making terrorists disappeared from their invisible, impenetrable palace with no warning and no trace."

Stark's eyes lit with malicious glee that made Stephen swallow, though he wasn't concerned, either for himself or the people they were going to capture. Stark wanted revenge, sure, and wouldn't object to some deep bruising and broken bones in the process . . . but most of all, he wanted them to suffer. And life in prison, ignored and forgotten, for people as entitled and fame-hungry as this group? That would be the ultimate form of suffering. Stephen was now fairly sure he understood the gist of what had happened, but seeing Stark sporting a scar that could only have resulted from recent open-heart surgery, coupled with his bitter statement about Rogers no longer having his shield, explained most of the rest. He didn't know what had sparked that fight, and probably never would, but it was clear that Rogers had hurt Stark badly.

Only . . . it was obvious that the physical damage was the least of that hurt. Also, given that Stark was not only walking around, but out of the hospital so soon, meant Helen Cho and her Cradle (another piece of medical tech Stephen was aching to explore and — oh. This might be his opportunity to make the request of Stark, assuming things went well) were likely involved. And as cold as it sounded, this wasn't the first time Stark had been badly injured by his enemies. Physical pain would heal, or one could at least become accustomed to it, but mental pain? Emotional trauma?

Well. Yes.

And since Stephen, being an intelligent man who was experienced in the ways of the world, agreed with the necessity of the Accords, he had no qualms about helping capture a group of people who had literally spit on the idea of accountability to almost the entirety of the world's population and caused incalculable death and destruction while throwing their tantrum — and throwing their backer, their benefactor, and their reason for being able to function as a group for so long to the wolves. Then, to add injury to insult, they had the unmitigated gall to blame him for their actions.

No, Stephen didn't know Tony Stark personally, but he had done his research there, too. It was why he knew they would likely end up being either very good friends or bitter, vicious enemies.

It was also why he knew just how much respect Stark was affording him now. It was true that with Rhodes in the hospital for the foreseeable future and the android (cyborg? No one seemed to know, which was frustrating) Vision still relatively untested and inexperienced, his options for people he knew were thin. But he could have gone to the X-Men, or even Magneto and his group. There were several bruisers in Hell's Kitchen and surrounding areas who could have helped him . . . but he'd chosen Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. Because he trusted Stephen's abilities and integrity.

So no, Stephen had no qualms about assisting him. The Rogues were dangerous, arrogant children. Worse, they were unstable. And they had no self-control at all. If they wanted something or felt threatened, not a single one of them had a problem with taking out anything that stood between them and their goal.

Or anyone.

Shaking himself free of his ruminations, Stephen hurried to the safe hidden in the Vault and retrieved the collar and wristlets he and Wong had devised for Maximoff. Then he took a quick detour to the Dungeon and gathered the four sets of shackles there as a precaution before making his way back to the main room. He arrived just as Stark came in the door, a manic gleam in his eyes and a bulky black case in each hand.

They stared at each other for a minute in silence, neither of them knowing quite what to say, and Stephen had the slightly-hysterical thought that this would probably earn a place in the Guinness Book of World Records: as The Moment where Anthony Edward Stark and Stephen Vincent Strange were rendered utterly mute for no discernable reason.

When Stark's lips twitched, Stephen knew they were sharing the thought and he let himself grin in response. The tension was broken and Stark nodded at him, clearly indicating he should take the lead, given he was in charge of transportation.

"Did you bring your suit?" he asked first, grin widening when Cloak — ah, Levi — twitched on his shoulders and lifted up, clearly eager to see that. Stephen made no attempt to reprimand him, since he was just as eager; the sheer brilliance behind the Iron Man suit was enough on its own to ensnare the interest of any intelligent person, but getting to see it live and up close?

Oh, hell, yes.

Shaking his head, Stark chuffed out a laugh and set both cases on the floor, knelt down, and pressed his hand on a random spot on the top of the one with gold accents. One soft whirr, an equally soft beep, and a faint click later, he stood up and took a relaxed pose.

And allowed himself to be fully immersed in the most impressive, powerful piece of technology mankind had ever seen and likely wouldn't see again for another century.

If Stephen hadn't possessed such ironclad self-control, he might well have orgasmed on the spot from the sheer, breathtaking elegant beauty of it. Still, given the choice, he'd rather dig into the Cradle, though it was a close race.

But he was digressing again.

And he refused to fangirl in front of anyone, regardless of how deserving they might be.

"Impressive," was what he chose to go with. And if a knowing gleam lit the other man's eyes, well, so what? If they pretended it wasn't there, then it didn't happen.

"I know," was the only response Stephen got, which was fair.

He nodded. "Ready, then?" he asked, watching curiously as Stark leaned over with no signs of hesitation or loss of flexibility and picked up both cases. Given how bulky the suit appeared, that was yet another example of the man's engineering genius, and Stephen watched with increasing awe as he strolled to a corner and tucked the empty case into a space it couldn't easily be seen, marveling again at the raw genius that had gone into not just the design, but the actual physical product. What Stark had achieved shouldn't be possible, and yet here he was, defying several laws of physics — and after nearly a decade, he remained the only person who had successfully created and built anything remotely similar (other than that Vanko person, but since he'd stolen the idea from Tony and the arc reactor design from Howard, that didn't count). His genius deserved to be appreciated without resentment or mockery, and Stephen did exactly that.

But just for a few seconds. As unfair as it was, they didn't have time to actually get to know each other right now. Their first meeting should have taken place under much different circumstances, but life was rarely that kind or considerate, so Stephen mentally flipped life off and squared his shoulders. Stark nodded back at him, looking oddly tense, and lowered his faceplate. Once it locked in place, Stephen took a deep breath, flexed his fingers, and nodded back.

Then he turned to the empty space to his left, summoned his powers, and, in his own impressive display, opened a portal to the Wakandan palace in a swirl of orange, set off by flashes of white and gold.

He couldn't see Stark's face, but the angle of his head told him the man was both intrigued and impressed, and he allowed himself a tiny smirk of pride before saying only, "Let's go."

Then he looked through the portal and stared, mouth hanging open at the sight.

Dear heaven, it was tacky. Gaudy, bright colors and splashy designs of forests and cats were everywhere, but the artist had clearly never heard of subtlety and wasn't aware there were softer, darker colors available, despite the frequent use of black to represent the cats.

"Ugh," Stark whispered. "It looks like a kindergarten class got sick in here. Picasso's stuff looks better and he was on LSD when he painted. Hell, I've seen guys drunk off their ass thrown random cans of paint on stuff and it looked better than this."

. . . that was an extremely accurate description, and Stephen laughed softly in response before movement caught his eye and he looked more closely. It was a man, standing with his back to them and futzing with . . . an arrow? . . . and unaware of their presence, and he and Stark exchanged a quick look before Stephen stepped through the portal, hands raised in preparation to cast a sleep spell, when a dart suddenly whizzed past his ear and sank into the man's neck with impressive accuracy.

Well, that worked too.

But his collapse warned the others, who were seated in some kind of sitting, and they all turned in alarm. However, not only were they all unarmed, but Tony Stark was a man on a mission. It took less than four seconds for him to take out everyone but Rogers and Maximoff, and that's where Stephen came in. He did appreciate Stark's desire to take down Rogers himself, and doubtless he was prepared for the man, but the witch was too dangerous and they couldn't risk Rogers' enhancements throwing their timing off. So he simply cast the most powerful sleep spell he could muster at the man, watching with satisfaction when the walking steroid managed one step before falling flat on his face, bloodying his nose in the process. Stark was unable to suppress a cackle of pure glee, and Stephen smirked.

That had been more enjoyable than he'd expected and he made a mental note to suggest including this kind of play—training with Wong.

In the meantime, they still had to deal with the witch, who had wasted her only chance at pure offense in favor of gawping at them, and both men took full advantage. Stark fired a set of three tranqs at her, all of which she deflected using her ugly red powers (like hell was he, the Sorcerer Supreme, going to give those nasty abominations the title of 'magic'), but that left her wide open for Stephen's own sleep spell. He wasn't surprised when it made her groggy but didn't knock her out, given what their research had shown, but he was surprised when Stark fired another tranq literally one second before he flew forward and slammed his gauntleted fist into her chest, using a downward angle that dropped her flat on her back before anyone could blink. The force of her head's collision with the equally-gaudy tile floor knocked her unconscious, thus clearing up Stephen's confusion as to why Stark had chosen that particular method, though he suspected there was more at work here than simply taking out an opponent.

Still, the takedown had been efficient, smooth, and fast. Given how little planning the pair had collectively put into this, Stephen was impressed. Not too much, mind; he knew very well how capable he was and Stark's competence could not be doubted, but still. This had gone extremely well, he realized and considered this promising sign for future teamwork as he cuffed and collared the woman while Stark shackled Rogers, his face dark but his hands unnervingly gentle, and they split the other four.

As they unceremoniously tossed the group back through the portal, Stephen found himself curious as to the inner workings of the minds of these people. The neurosurgeon in him was anxious to discover what possible brain maladies could exist that would cause a group who had possessed everything they could have ever wanted to throw it away, and in such a spectacularly bad fashion. The sorcerer wanted to know if there was any outside magical assistance to cause such moronic, self-destructive behavior.

And the man needed to see if such blind idiocy was the result of groupthink, lies, plain stupidity, or some unholy combination of all of the above.

All of which led him here: standing in the corridor connecting their cells two days later, and debating if he truly wants to force reality on them by way of a virtual trip down memory lane. All of their memory lanes. The main reason he is still vacillating is because the best way to have safe and fair trials is being hashed out, leaving everyone in a holding pattern. Tony had informed the UN the next morning, once he and Stephen had assured themselves that the Wakandans not only had no clue who had done it, but were also flailing between unleashing their indignation on the world at having their supposed impenetrable security so egregiously breached and acting like none of it had ever happened to as to save face and pretend they were still honorable people.

Given Stephen's ability to open portals at will, he and Wong had gotten several unobserved front-row seats to some truly hilarious rants and tantrums (which Wong, being the sneaky, morally-upright sorcerer that he was, had recorded for Stark; the man deserved to see them, and not just for the entertainment factor). It hadn't taken long for one of their own sorcerers to suggest magic, but nothing came of it, since they were unable to track Stephen's trail and, after many . . . discussions . . . they had finally decided to act as though no one in Wakanda had ever heard of Steve Rogers, much less his merry band of followers.

For some reason, it never occurred to anyone that the presence of James Barnes would shatter that lie like glass, but who were the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj to help them solve a self-inflicted problem?

All of which left Stephen Strange here: staring thoughtfully at the cell block after two days of silent, unseen observation. It has been . . . illuminating.

None of the so-called Rogues knew he was there, but they all correctly assumed they were being recorded, so everyone but Romanova had aired their grievances at the top of their lungs (Barton's language was both impressive and appalling, while the Witch was as articulate as a toddler, right down to stomping her feet as she screamed). But it is Sam Wilson who is Stephen's current target, as he is currently ranting about Stark's arrogance, selfishness, and general assholery after Wilson had trusted him to keep his word and go after Rogers as a friend, to help. At the mention of the walking steroid, Stephen gives him a quick, vaguely curious glance, only to pause when he saw a bright flare of panic cross those blue eyes.

Well. The bastard is clearly hiding something to do with Tony Stark, something his team doesn't know about. Isn't that interesting?

And it makes up the Sorcerer Supreme's mind. Without another second of hesitation, he pulls out the Eye of Agamotto, takes two deep breaths to center himself, and asks the Time Stone to take all seven of them back to a week just after the 2012 invasion, focusing on Rogers. He chooses that particular date for three reasons: one, because it was the first time all six individual members of the Avengers had come together. Several first meetings were had and the beginnings of bonds and alliances were formed — or destroyed — in the midst of that battle.

Two: no one had heard anything more about the main invasion fleet, despite the hysteria accompanying the scouting party, and he had always found that more than a little odd. Even taking into account the government's desire 'not to panic the people', there would have been leaks and rumors.

But only if things were seriously being talked about and considered.

Which led to the final reason: Tony Stark.

Given Stephen's knowledge of Tony Stark, both what he'd researched and observed from a distance, and what he'd learned over the last two days, he has no doubt whatsoever the man had been telling everyone he could think of that there was another invasion coming. Therefore, it stood to reason that somebody, somewhere, had been actively thwarting his efforts. And given everything he'd seen and heard, Rogers was the likely culprit.

However, he'd had help in his efforts, assuming Stephen was right and not doing the man a massive disservice. Frankly, Rogers wouldn't have had the contacts necessary to stop someone as powerful and influential as Tony Stark, much less the means to accomplish that goal. And, frankly, he just wasn't smart enough. Stonewalling Stark would take a level of tactical planning and influence very few people possessed, and Rogers was not one of them — but he knew people who were, people who were also unscrupulous, duplicitous, venal, and desperate to control one of the most powerful men in the world.

On top of that, Rogers being the figurehead driving the effort made sense; the man has a hero complex that makes Napoleon look humble, and his inferiority issues will leave Stephen gasping in horror for years. For the life of him, he cannot begin to fathom why anyone would think giving the man the power and responsibility of taking care of a single goldfish was a good idea, never mind putting him in charge of the Avengers.

And Stephen fully intends to get that answer, because the world deserves to know, but now isn't the time. No. No, now it's time to show these arrogant sycophants the disturbing truth about the man they so blindly followed — and the honest, untainted truth about the man they all used as a scapegoat, even as they demanded his time, effort, and money.

The best part? They would also learn the horrifying truth about themselves. Stephen might have cackled like he was auditioning for Young Frankenstein at the thought, and then the Time Stone activates and sweeps them all into a live-action, Technicolor vision of the past.

None of the Rogues have a clue what was happening when their surroundings suddenly disappear, replaced with — hold on, what is this?

An ominous, swirling maelstrom has torn a hole in the sky and it is rapidly approaching. Stephen flinches back, terrified for no reason he can name, only to blink when he hears a vaguely familiar voice say, "Sir. Would you like me to call Ms. Potts?"

A beat of silence and then, "Might as well."

That . . . that's Tony's voice. Wh—oh. This is the portal over New York, back in 2012. They are seeing what he saw.

Oh, clever, brilliant, diabolical Time Stone!

Stephen's teeth ache and his whole body goes cold when Tony flies through the portal and is immediately accosted with a bird's eye view of a massive, literal armada of ships. He manages to recover from his horror and launch the nuke, just before the male voice splutters out, the suit goes dark, and then so does Tony's view as the cold vastness of space overtakes him.

He falls.

*flash*

Their surroundings have changed to a dull grey conference room, occupied by Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanova, a black man with an eyepatch, and another woman. All of them are watching and listening to Rogers, who is mid-sentence and waving his arms as he paces.

"—n't keep letting Stark talk to the military, Fury! He's always taking the spotlight away from me by claiming he stopped the attack and now he's fear-mongering about this supposed 'next invasion' because he thinks taking that nuke into space makes him more qualified to lead this team than me. Also, Nat says there's no way there's another army and I agree. If there was one, we'd have seen it by now. But I can't keep having him undermining me by insisting to people that I don't know what I'm talking about."

Rogers stops, panting a little, and Romanova nods. "He's right, Director. Stark's ego is blowing up because you asked him to deal with the nuke and he did, and he's trying to panic people so they'll keep looking to him for answers. SHIELD needs to put a stop to it as soon as possible, or Stark will get dangerously out of control."

The man — presumably Director Fury — looks pensive for a few minutes before he nods and says, "I agree. We'll start talking to the people Stark hasn't gotten to yet and make sure they know we aren't worried, so they shouldn't be. The US military establishment is still pissed about him stopping weapons production, which means they'll be more inclined to blow him off, and since we're the authority on extraterrestrial and enhanced threats, they'll listen to us when we say everything is fine. Just make sure you keep cutting Stark off at the knees closer to home, keep him distracted, and we'll do the rest."

Well. That was certainly damning, Stephen considers with no small amount of anger, as the image freezes. And it explains much — for instance, how much damage Romanova's gaslighting Tony about seeing that massive alien fleet had screwed with his head and made his PTSD nearly kill him, because he wasn't able to believe his own senses, thanks to her relentless manipulative assaults. And then SHIELD piled their lies on top of it, telling everyone Tony could even think to talk to that planning for the next one was nothing but Stark crying wolf, there was no invasion because if anyone would know, it would be SHIELD. And since they said there wasn't one, clearly Stark was trying to incite hysteria to further his own goals.

Infuriatingly, very few people ever registered that Tony had no goals or ulterior motives when it came to preparing for the next invasion — because, despite SHIELD's utter secrecy and lack of transparency and accountability, plus Tony himself being a public figure whose trustworthiness in business could not be doubted, never mind his established success as Iron Man, people still preferred to trust a so-called 'government agency' than give him the well-earned benefit of the doubt. And God forbid they think for themselves. Fortunately, there were a few people and institutions that were willing to listen, verify, and trust, so the earth wasn't completely undefended, but it was a far cry from what it should have been.

Seeing the live-action replay of how corrupt SHIELD was, and how willing they were to destroy the planet in an effort to control one man, no matter how powerful and influential, made Stephen actually froth with rage. It was a very, very good thing this had already happened or he might well have violated his oath to do no harm.

A faint, foreign jolt of alarm pings the back of his mind and he blows out a deep breath, accepting the Time Stone's warning for what it is.

Time to move on. The Rogues don't need time to really think about what they were discovering; well, not yet. Hitting them hard and fast with the information would keep them off-guard, which would in turn stop them from digging in their heels and refusing to accept what they were seeing and hearing. They would have plenty of time to consider once the full depths of their treachery were revealed.

he thinks to the Time Stone, which hums in his mind for several seconds before their surroundings shimmer and reform to a restaurant Stephen recognized and strongly disliked. The food was outrageously expensive (appetizers for 4 started at $500) and just as outrageously subpar (Stephen had eaten tastier cardboard. Literally), the staff was both snooty and incompetent, and parking was a nightmare on a good day, but the place could only safely be reached by car.

So how could Rogers, Romanova, and Barton afford to eat there?

"No, Stark. We can't just drop everything to come save your ass because you were stupid enough to challenge a terrorist and got in over your head. Next time, don't let your ego pick a fight you can't win."

Romanova hangs up her phone and gives it an exasperated look as Barton snorts.

"Really?" he drawls. "Stark thinks we're gonna rescue him from his own arrogance? That's cute." He takes a huge bite, is unable to chew it, and quickly washes it down with several gulps of wine that makes Stephen wince on principle. Did these heathens have no table manners at all? "Well, maybe this will knock him down a few pegs. I'm sick of listening to him brag about how smart her is and how much better his tech is than SHIELD's. Sure, it's good, but it's not that good."

"Yeah," Steve sighs, taking his own too-big bite. "He brags about everything. And he's always showing off in public at press conferences and stuff. Howard wasn't anything like that; he'd be ashamed. I just don't understand how Tony is such a child. And he doesn't respect anyone."

"No kidding," Barton agrees, swigging the last of his wine. "Calling us out of nowhere to ask for help to fix something he broke. What a douche."

"That's enough about Stark. We have a show to get to," Romavona says firmly, signaling the waiter. When he arrived, she says, "Tony Stark has a card on file and this is an official Avengers meal. Charge this to it, please."

What the — did he actually see that? Did Tony's team just refuse to help him, degrade him, and steal from him, all in the span of five minutes?

This realization leaves Stephen breathless for nearly a full minute, and so disgusted he is queasy. He — they — he doesn't know how to begin to process that, but it kills the last sliver of uncertainty about whether this is a good idea, or advisable. Forget 'advisable' and 'good idea' was in the eye of the beholder. Showing these assholes the truth is a necessity and Stephen is going to enjoy every last second of watching their glass house shatter.

Before he can build himself up to a good head of steam and wreck the delicate balance he is currently maintaining, the Time Stone decides to show off its sentience and ability for individual thought and swirls them all into the next memory — but it isn't one Stephen would have guessed in a hundred years

"Everything comes full circle," Tony says, looking down at the table before the view shifts to reveal . . . Bruce Banner. Who is asleep, his chin resting on his chest. Unaware of this, Tony keeps talking. "And the fact that you've been able to — help me process . . ." He pauses when Bruce rubs his eyes. "Are you with me?"

"Sorry . . . I was, yeah. We were at, uh . . ." Banner tries, only to falter, and Tony blinks.

"Are you actively napping?" he asks, sounding incredulous, and the other man doesn't even have the decency to look ashamed, though he does offer a half-assed excuse.

"I was . . . I . . . I drifted," he stammered, and Tony visibly held back a sigh.

"Where did I lose you?"

He sounds resigned, though Banner doesn't seem to hear it, and instead looks sheepish as he answers, "Elevator in Switzerland."

"So, you heard none of it?" Tony clarifies, looking and sounding hurt now, and Banner grimaces.

"I'm sorry. I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm not a therapist. It's not my training," he whines to justify not just his failure to listen to a man who is trying hard to be his friend, but his complete lack of reciprocation.

Tony gives him an even look and says, "So?"

He's still hurt, but starting to hide it; he knows that he will get no help or consideration here.

Oblivious to this, Banner protests, "I don't have the—"

"—what? The time?" Tony interrupts, still visibly irritated, and that finally makes Banner notice, if only for a few seconds, and not enough for him to feel any actual remorse.

"Temperament," he corrects softly.

Once again, Stephen is furious on Tony's behalf, but he's also disgusted with these people's complete lack of moral fiber as a whole. Falling asleep while the man was talking was beyond rude, especially since there was no way Banner wasn't aware he was that tired. Doing so to someone who badly needed to talk but could not trust a licensed therapist (Stephen well-remembered that scandal; the medical community as a whole had been outraged on Tony's behalf)?

That was beyond despicable. This single instance kills any personal admiration Stephen felt for the man; he still appreciates his intellect on a purely academic level, but if he ever meets Bruce Banner, he is going to portal him to the Arctic — no. He'll drop the whiny, self-absorbed bastard in Siberia.

The Stone clearly dislikes this train of thought because it acts immediately and the scene changes again.

"Watch out for Stark," Romanova tells Rogers after watching him poke dispiritedly at a laptop on the small desk in his SHIELD quarters, grumbling about how extravagant and unnecessary all this technology is, what's wrong with a simple phone or paper and pen. He is clearly having trouble with whatever he's trying to do, but she doesn't offer to help.

Puzzled, he pauses and turns to face her. "Why?" he asks, genuinely curious.

"Because he's used to being in the spotlight and he doesn't like it when he's usurped, especially by someone like you, who's a good man, a nice person, someone who doesn't want to be there. So he'll probably offer to pay for college or tutors for you, so you can 'learn about the world' and be out of the public's eye in the process. He might even offer a new laptop and cell phone just to show off," she explains, pulling a frown to Rogers' mouth. He clearly dislikes the thought, but before he can ask a question, she nods, pats him on the shoulder, and leaves.

*flash*

Tony and Rogers are standing in the latter's apartment, which is tiny, cramped, and lacking a working elevator in the building. Tony is giving it an appraising look that isn't quite judgmental, but it is definitely surprised, and Rogers bristles when he sees it. But he has no chance to defend his new home before Tony says, "So, now that you're settled in on the outside world, I was wondering if you might be interested in taking some community college classes, either on your own or through SI's program."

Rogers' spine goes ramrod stiff and he narrows his eyes at Tony, giving him a hostile look that makes his eyebrows lift. "Why?" he demands, voice heavy with suspicion, and Stark blinks twice.

"Uh, to help you get better acclimated to the world," he replies slowly, his own shoulders tensing a little. "A lot has changed in the last seven decades and a structured class is the best way to learn that much new information. And it'll help you with . . . socializing, meeting people outside of SHIELD. They're okay people, don't get me wrong, but they aren't exactly your standard 9-5 workers. You know?"

For several minutes, Rogers says nothing. He merely looks at Tony, clearly displeased, and the other man frowns back, obviously unsure about his reaction. Carefully, he offers to provide tutors instead, if that's what Steve would prefer, as well as a new phone and laptop, and that finally elicits a response.

"No, thank you," Rogers says in clipped tones, straightening his shoulders even more. "I don't need to sit in a classroom to learn how the world works, I'm not going to live my life on some fancy gadget, and I can meet people just fine on my own."

Tony blinks again as he absorbs this, then shrugs. His casual acceptance might or might not be as easy as it seems, but he gives no argument and doesn't try to convince Rogers, and when an offer of lunch is brusquely declined, he simply shrugs again and takes his leave.

Once he is safely out of earshot, Rogers huffs and calls Romanova, thanking her for warning him about Stark's attempts to buy him off and restrict his ability to meet the general public. Her voice is warm when she reassures him it was no problem, she was glad to help, but the Time Stone shows a view of her smug, satisfied smile as the call ends and she turns to Fury, telling him it worked: so far, Rogers isn't interested in learning about his new world on his own, and he will not allow Stark to help him get acclimated to the 21st century either. Fury's return smile is just as satisfied and cold as hers, and his final words are alarming.

"Excellent. You know what to do now."

Hers are chilling.

"Of course," she purrs. "One compliant, super solider figurehead, coming up."

*flash*

Two men and two women, one of whom is Sharon Carter, are standing in Fury's office, with Hill in attendance.

"Is that your general consensus?" the director of SHIELD asks, looking disgruntled, and they all nod.

"Yes, Sir," not-Carter replies. "He's been out in the world for seven months and has done literally nothing to learn more than the basics of what he needs to survive. He got a library card maybe four months ago, but the only thing he reads are WWII history books and if they don't talk about the Howling Commandos, he puts them back. He doesn't have a TV, refuses to learn how to use the cell phone we gave him — he can't even text and hates getting them — and our software tracker shows the only web searches he does are for the Howlies and Peggy Carter."

The blond man nods and adds, "He's also not interested in getting out and meeting people. We've all tried inviting him for a drink or offering to share a homemade meal or even just going to a movie or for a run and he's refused them all. I thought at first that he'd pegged us as SHIELD, but he doesn't socialize with anyone. He's been hit on so many times at the library, it's sad, and he's oblivious. I mean, he politely refuses, but that's it. He hasn't introduced himself to a single new person. You and Romanova are the only people he really talks to, unless Stark pushes things. And he's only done that twice that I know of."

"It's disturbing," Carter interjects. "I get being anti-social, Aunt Peggy said he was never the outgoing sort, but this complete withdrawal is not good. As it stands, he'll never be able to go on any missions that don't include Romanova because he doesn't know how to interact with people and he really doesn't want to learn. He's had literally every approach in the book tried on him, either by us or random people on the street, and not a single one has worked. He just doesn't want to know. And he is alarmingly unconcerned with getting up to speed about the world itself. I don't actually think he could tell you the president's name, and I know for a fact that he thinks Pepper Potts is nothing but Stark's secretary."

This elicits a snort from Fury, who asks, "How did you keep from kneeing him the balls?"

A dark scowl is his answer, paired with a snippy, "He doesn't know I heard him."

The bearded man steps forward and says, "That's a problem. He's not interested in learning anything and we can't force him to, unless you want us to kidnap him and force him through a Civics course while he's tied up in a dunge—"

"No," Fury cuts him off. "That won't be necessary. I'll have Hill and Romanova set something up in a few weeks. Your efforts are appreciated, but you can stand down to Watch Level 2. Keep an eye out, but from a distance unless there's a problem or a genuine threat."

All four agents nod and file out, leaving Fury and Hill alone . . . until a shadow moves from the corner, showing that Natasha Romanova has been there the entire time.

"Well, that's promising," she remarks, settling herself in the chair by the wall. "I was worried we might have to hold him back, but this is definitely easier."

"Hmm," is Fury's agreement. "Keep doing what you're doing. He's useful on STRIKE missions as a battering ram, but only as long as he thinks you need his 'strategic brilliance'."

Up to that point, Hill has looked . . . contemplative . . . but she scoffs at that, and is given matching nods from the other two, indicating their opinion of said brilliance before Romanova takes her leave.

Stephen isn't surprised by this, but he is disgusted. Secrecy has its place, of course, and, unfortunately, so does manipulation at times — but what these two in particular have done cannot be justified. Seeing this makes it clear exactly why no one in SHIELD realized HYDRA was working next to them, but he can't find it in himself to feel sorry for them, because the reason they didn't notice was their complete, matching lack of empathy, consideration, morals, ethics, or even common decency. It doesn't mean they deserved what Romanova and Rogers did to them, but it is difficult to drum up genuine sympathy.

Thankfully, the Time Stone senses his anger is again building up and sweeps them away.

What it shows next is where the slippery slope becomes a vertical drop, with no stairs and only one handhold. From this point, there is a single chance to come back, to stop the destruction that is coming, or at least mitigate it. But no one is aware of this, and very few people would change things even if they did know.

Rogers has proven that in spades, and so has Romanova.

Steve Rogers has just met Sam Wilson for the first time. They run together for a little while, trading friendly but impersonal insults, before Wilson calls him out on not sleeping. A surprisingly detailed conversation about war and its affects ensues, though it is derailed when Rogers says he has been reading to catch up. Wilson suggests that he listen to Marvin Gaye's Troubled Man soundtrack, as it has everything Rogers needs jammed into one album.

"I'll put it on the list," the man in question replies, pulling out a small notebook and jotting Wilson's recommendation down. Also on this list are I Love Lucy (television); moon landing; Berlin Wall (Up Down) Steve Jobs (Apple); Disco; Thai Food; Star Wars/Trek (with Star Wars crossed out, indicating that he has seen it); Nirvana (Band); Rocky (Rocky II?).

Then he gets a text advising him of a mission before Romanova arrives to pick him up. He and Wilson banter a little more before he and Romanova head off, leaving Wilson behind, watching.

*flash*

Rogers has obviously just finished fighting, while Romanova is cool and collected, standing at a computer terminal without a care. She reveals, with no remorse or apology, that her mission was to save SHIELD data instead of his mission of rescuing hostages. He is not happy, but says little more to her about it after she praises his skills and actions.

*flash*

Rogers is berating Nick Fury about sending Romanova on a sub-mission he wasn't aware of. Fury, unconcerned with his anger, informs Rogers that he isn't obligated to share anything and unmoved at his complaint that a good team cannot function if they don't trust each other. Then Fury, overriding Rogers' SHIELD-acknowledged lack of a high enough security clearance, shows him Project Insight, where he admits that Tony Stark had considerable consultation about the design and construction of the helicarriers. If Rogers is curious, he hides it well and asks no questions about the project; instead, he wants to know when his next SHIELD mission will be.

Once he leaves Fury, Rogers visits the Smithsonian and loses himself in nostalgia over the glory of his past as Captain America and his lost life as Peggy Carter's husband. Then he visits her in a nursing home and lets her tell him how wonderful he is and how he's fixing the world they — she — mucked up.

*flash*

Rogers and Nick Fury are in the former's apartment, where Fury gives him a flash drive and tells him SHIELD is compromised and to trust no one before apparently being assassinated. His neighbor, Sharon Carter, reveals that she is a SHIELD agent 'watching' Steve at Fury's orders.

*flash*

After Fury is confirmed dead, Rogers hides the USB drive in a vending machine before following the agent sent to escort him to SHIELD.

Once there, he meets Alexander Pierce. He does not remotely suspicious of the man, though he does limit the information he shares. Shortly thereafter, he escapes SHIELD's attempt to kill him, downing a quinjet in the process and killing everyone aboard.

*flash*

The USB drive is gone.

Romanova has taken it and taunts Steve with his poor choice of hiding place, before the two engage in a verbal game of cat and mouse. Then Romanova states that she only 'acts like she knows everything' before admitting she knows who killed Fury: the Winter Soldier.

She offers no further info on this mysterious person, instead turning his attention to the flash drive.

"You know, our best for getting this info is Stark," she says, albeit reluctantly and with strong distaste in her voice. A faintly puzzled look crosses her face when he instantly shakes his head.

"No. He'll showboat and grandstand and brag about us needing his help and make everything about him and we can't afford that. Whatever this is, it's big and Fury told me not to trust anyone," he replies with a frown.

Romanova considers that for a minute, then shrugs. "Fine. I don't want to deal with his ego either and he's not as good at hacking as he thinks. I've gotten into his system and SHIELD has been keeping tabs on him for years, so accessing this can't be that hard."

They decide to go to a mall to keep SHIELD from tracking them while they attempt to access the USB and Romanova acknowledges that whoever encrypted the drive is 'slightly' smarter than her. 'Slightly'.

Then she tries to open the data and a locator program is activated, alerting SHIELD to their location. All they get from the USB before they have to run is a location. No data is recovered.

*flash*

Rogers and Romanova make no attempt at finding backup or alerting anyone to the situation, such as Barton, before heading to the abandoned SHIELD base. Once they discover the hidden room, Zola proves his consciousness is still alive and well, albeit trapped in a computer, brags about HYRDA infecting SHIELD from its inception, speaks of Project Insight, which is his brainchild . . . and then he shows the pair a video of the assassination of Howard and Maria Stark.

After they escape the destroyed base, Rogers and Romanova head directly to Sam Wilson's home. During transit, they do not speak of what Zola revealed about HYDRA, SHIELD, or the Starks, and neither of them attempts to contact anyone. After they arrive, the duo engage in a philosophical discussion about right, wrong, trust, honesty, integrity, and life choices, and Rogers declares to Romanova that he is 'always honest'. Then Wilson, unprompted and without asking a single clarifying question or suggesting that they reach out for help or backup, offers to assist them, providing a folder clearly marked 'CLASSIFIED'. But first, they must breach a heavily-guarded military base to steal something called 'Falcon'.

Neither Rogers nor Romanova hesitate for a second before agreeing.

*flash*

Rogers, Wilson, and Romanova interrogate Jasper Sitwell by throwing him off a building, catching him, and playing on his obvious fear of death. Sitwell reveals the truth about Insight and names a few targets. Among them are Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, the current Secretary of Defense, an unnamed teacher, and Rogers himself. After more questions, he confirms that the Insight helicarriers — the ones Fury showed to Steve earlier, that Tony Stark helped design and build — would eliminate the threats HYDRA had deemed to be against it, a few million people at a time.

*flash*

The four of them are in a car, heading back to SHIELD with the intention of using Sitwell's clearance to access the system, when they are attacked by an unknown assailant, who kills Sitwell. After a brutal but surprisingly easy fight, Rogers manages to remove his opponent's mask.

And reveals the face of James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes.

Rogers cries his name, which briefly confuses the man, before he vanishes and the trio are taken into custody by SHIELD, where they are rescued by Maria Hill, who has infiltrated the HYDRA team.

No one questions this.

She takes them to a cave, where Nick Fury is revealed to be alive, to even Romanova's obvious, unfeigned shock. Rogers demands to know the reason for the secrecy, to which Fury replies that playing dead is the only way to make your killer think he succeeded. Also, he didn't know who to trust.

So far, neither Rogers nor Romanova have asked why Fury trusts them.

Hill and Fury explain how Project Insight will work in conjunction with the helicarriers, with the hope of salvaging something worth saving in SHIELD, only for Rogers to declare that they aren't salvaging anything, they were taking down SHIELD.

Fury's denial of knowing about Barnes is met with the accusation that he wouldn't have told Rogers even had he known, and because of that corruption, the entire organization must be destroyed. Hill agrees, as does Wilson. And finally, so does Fury.

Despite knowing that Tony Stark is a technical, engineering, and computer genius who has knowledge of how the helicarriers work, Rogers does not attempt to contact him for blueprints or an idea on how to ground the craft or prevent the weapons from coming online. Nor does he try reaching out to any other SHIELD agents he knows he can trust — such as Barton — so he can begin to plan and strategize, or contacting the FBI or even the local PD for ideas, if not backup.

None of them so much as mention Tony Stark's name.

*flash*

Wilson meets Rogers alone and tries to reason with him that the friend he knew is very likely gone, and if that's the case, the Winter Soldier will need to be taken out. Rogers confesses he might not be able to do that, and when Wilson reiterates that Barnes will not know who Steve is, the man in question asserts that "he will" and starts to walk away.

Wilson does not question him further about his plans for taking Barnes out of the equation; instead, he inquires as to Rogers' choice of outfit and is told, "No. If you're gonna fight a war, you gotta wear a uniform."

He then breaks into the Smithsonian and steals his old Captain America costume.

*flash*

Wilson and Rogers are on the Triskelion, preparing to stop Pierce's plan to launch the aircraft.

"Why aren't we calling Stark to help with this?" Wilson asks, giving Rogers a puzzled look that makes him frown.

"Because Tony . . . he isn't HYRDA, but he's not a good person, either," he replies, sounding so sincere that Stephen's stomach churns. "So we can't trust him to do the right thing instead of something unnecessary and flashy that'll get him the most attention but also get people hurt or killed. He has to show off; he just can't help himself."

Hearing that is appalling enough, but seeing Wilson nod in complete agreement, without even a shred of hesitation, is actually worse, Stephen realizes, bile rising in his throat. It was insane: Wilson had been a member of the Air Force which meant, if nothing else, he was familiar with James Rhodes' career, his professional association with Stark Industries, and his personal relationship with Tony Stark. And that was completely separate from Stark himself. Yes, he allowed the media to portray him in a bad light, with more than a few scandals to his name, which were a hell of a lot juicier than any good deeds (a nuisance all truly famous people had to deal with), and after the 'I am Iron Man' announcement, he had been the first to admit that he'd been careless and selfish before Afghanistan — but there had never been a bad word regarding his treatment of his employees and he was emphatic about the American troops he was trying to protect.

And honestly, even back then, all one had to do was exert a little effort to see how wrong the media was about Stark; the facts were there, plain as day. No one could be as good as Tony Stark was at technology of any kind without there being rock-solid, undeniable evidence of it. And sure, there were the occasional accusations of theft and stolen work, but they were rare — and it virtually unheard of for that accusation to come from an SI employee, current or former. And not a single one of those accusations had been successful.

But Wilson had been perfectly willing to disregard all of that in favor of following Rogers, who he had literally known less than 24 consecutive hours, with his face duct-taped to the man's ass and red, white, and blue glasses superglued to his eyes.

The Stone jumps scenes again, to Stephen's mingled gratitude and annoyance.

Barnes confronts Rogers on the bridge of a helicarrier, but Rogers refuses to fight. When his pleas have no impact, he finally makes a physical attempt to stop Barnes, who dodges the shield and engages in hand-to-hand. Rogers is pulling his punches, but Barnes is not. However, Rogers finally gets the upper hand, breaks Barnes' arm, knocks him unconscious, and runs off, making no effort to secure the man or prevent him from escaping or following.

*flash*

Alexander Pierce is putting the last piece of his plan into effect when Rogers orders Hill to use one carrier to fire on the others. She objects and is overruled, and obeys.

The helicarriers began their uncontrolled descent on the unaware, unevacuated Potomac River.

*flash*

Rogers and Barnes are facing off again. But this time, Rogers refuses to fight. He does not attack, nor does he attempt to defend himself. All he does is tell Barnes both their names. When that fails to work, he removes his mask and throws it and his shield off the helicarrier.

Barnes violently assaults Rogers, declaring that killing him is the mission, and Rogers still refuses to fight back despite the damage he is taking. He just keeps talking. When the floor disintegrates beneath him and he falls into the river below, Barnes stares for a few seconds, then goes after him. He pulls him out of the river, barely, then vanishes.

*flash*

Romanova is standing in front of the US Congressional body, telling them that Steve Rogers couldn't be bothered to attend the hearing — after dumping countless intelligence secrets and data online with no authorization, no warning, and no actual plan for afterwards, before following that up with the brilliant decision to drop not one, but three massive helicarriers on the Potomac at midday, also without warning, authorization, any attempt at evacuation, or a plan for afterwards — because she "doesn't know what there is left for him to say. I think the wreck in the middle of the Potomac made his point fairly eloquently."

She then follows this up by declaring that no one is going to arrest Rogers or her, because while they are the main reason the world is now considerably less safe than it was before they acted, they are the only ones capable of cleaning up the mess they made.

And she walks away.

*flash*

Rogers refuses Fury's offer to join him in Europe to continue cleaning up the HYDRA infestation, as does Wilson.

Romanova also fails to accompany Fury, explaining to Rogers that she's blown all her covers. She then hands him a file before walking away.

It is full of information about the Winter Soldier.

Wilson confirms Rogers is going after him and declares he will join him.

Still no mention is made of asking for Tony Stark's help, not to clean up SHIELD's files, rescue any of the non-HYDRA agents, or to help find Barnes.

*flash*

Two high-ranking HYDRA operatives are gloating about surviving the data dump because SHIELD and Fury don't know they exist. They make plans to sacrifice other, less-important HYDRA bases to Rogers to keep him distracted before discussing a pair of volunteers who have developed powers from experimentation and are currently training them.

Their names are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff.

Seeing just badly the three of them — five if you count Hill and Fury — had fucked everyone over in that disaster kicks Stephen's rage into a higher gear, and his hands begin to tremble with a dark, visceral desire to do something to them, punish them, so they finally understand how badly they have behaved and seen the true depths of the damage they've caused.

The Time Stone sends another alarmed pulse through Stephen's mind and before he can blink, much less act, the next moment the Stone deems important shimmers into being.

This one is of Romanova manipulating Stark into giving her weapons a full upgrade by altering the message left by one of his lab directors. She 'accidentally' adds two weeks to the date he is supposed to have the SI project completed, but doesn't erase the original message, and in fact replaces it once Stark is occupied with her Widow Bites. So when Pepper Potts comes storming in two days later, lecturing Tony on his irresponsibility, his protests that Robbins had told him a different date are ignored when the actual message is provided, clear as day.

This incident is repeated four, five, twelve, thirty times, but Romanova doesn't stop at driving a wedge between Tony and his CEO and employees. She also uses it to get the others to see Stark as a lazy, unreliable jerk who doesn't care about anything but himself, but can be coerced into maintaining their equipment by 'catering to his ego, because he can't stand people not thinking he's the best'. This is appallingly easy to accomplish, helped along by the fact that Tony does work for SI and, thanks to Romanova's machinations, is constantly behind. So he never has a chance to stop and realize what she's doing, and the 'Avengers' never think about it at all.

Throughout all of this, Stark is never told about Barnes, the Winter Soldier, or the truth of his parents' deaths, though Rogers does promise Romanova he'll tell Stark 'when the time is right'. He either does not see her knowing look, eyes full of wary satisfaction, or he chooses to ignore it.

But the reminder of Barnes and his possible role in the murder of the Starks appears to be some kind of catalyst for Rogers. From all appearances, he has never liked Tony, or truly respected him, and resents his ability to steal the spotlight and attention from Rogers. But until the DC incident, he has kept his thoughts and feelings under wraps, at least for the most part.

That abruptly changes. Rogers now has something to lose.

Stephen has no clue the Time Stone takes a positively vindictive pleasure in showing the group the very, very revealing exchange between Romanova and Rogers a little over a month before the team first encounters the Maximoff twins.

"I can't talk to that man about anything!" Rogers fumes to his teammate, pacing the floor and waving his arms. Her expression is calm as she watches, but smug satisfaction is clear in her eyes and the faint curve of her lips. "He either makes everything a joke or just refuses to listen. I was in the Army, but he actually told me that HE was the better person to talk to the brass about folding the Avengers into some of their infiltration missions. Like he'd even be qualified to join us. He can't be subtle to save his life. He'd get everyone killed while he was showing off and never even notice. Or care. He is so selfish and arrogant and I can't stand it! And make him listen to me when he blows a mission because he ignored my orders? There's no point. I just have to make sure nobody is counting on him to watch their backs, because he'll abandon them in a heartbeat if he sees something shiny."

He is panting when he finally runs out of words, not seeing Romanova's quickly-suppressed smirk, which is covered by a commiserating look that is worryingly believable.

"I know," she agrees with a sigh. "That's why he wasn't recommended to the team to begin with. Iron Man has possibilities, but Tony Stark does not. Unfortunately, until we can convince him that his talents are limited to background tech support, we're stuck with him. Even Pepper hasn't been able to convince him to let someone else be Iron Man, and since Rhodes literally can't, we have no other options. But I know it's useless to share your concerns. Everything is about him and he can't be calm or reasonable about things he can't control. I've seen him throw a tantrum over the brand of coffee he got once."

(what she does not say is that it was an assassination attempt by a fringe faction of the American Communist Group, nor does she mention that Tony's anger was a combination of the knowledge that not only was someone trying to kill him again for something neither he nor his company had actually done, but the coffee company in question, who had been a trusted vendor for SI going on a decade, had been infiltrated and compromised so badly that it could no longer be used.

Rogers does not ask. He takes it at face value because it paints the picture of Tony Stark that he needs to see)

"Well, I'm done. He clearly doesn't want to be a productive member of the team, so he can just hide away in his lab. If he wants to join us, he needs to come up and ask."

This exchange is followed by scores of incidents where Rogers uses some of the Black Widow's tactics and starts treating Tony like a third-class citizen in his own home. He makes a point of setting up game nights and movie nights and team meals, both in the Tower and going out, but either schedules them when he knows Tony is busy . . . or he deliberately 'forgets' to tell him — and then tells the others that he refused. If, of course, anyone bothers to ask. Few of them do bother, and not very often.

But Rogers also begins to undermine Tony's authority, influence, and knowledge with the team. Anytime he brings up a political issue or situation, whether it's relevant to SI or to the team, Rogers scoffs and often makes a snide comment about Tony's ego, and how he cannot possibly matter to what's happening in Japan, or how the US president doesn't need his opinion on Brazilian politics, or how they didn't need to make an appearance at some stuffy, fancy, party of his, that wasn't their thing. And God forbid Tony have to refuse to do something because of prior commitments to Stark Industries. The accusations of inflating his importance are childish and elicit eyerolls from Tony, who is used to them.

Barton and Wilson, however, eat them up, and so does Thor when he is there. Banner generally doesn't, but he also never speaks up, not to defend Tony or even disagree with any of the patently false statements and assertions.

There's a rather violent shimmer before Tony and Banner are shown.

They are shutting down a project and Tony sighs as he closes the last file.

"It's a shame we can't get ULTRON off the ground," he tells Banner. "I know the others don't believe another invasion is coming, but having a planetary defense system is still a good idea on general principle."

Banner nods as he turns off his computer. "Yeah. But this one just isn't happening. We'd have to get the major world governments to agree on a central operating system first, and even then, the sheer number of variables we'd have to account for is going to make it impossible."

Tony sighs again and bumps Banner's shoulder companionably as they turn to leave the lab. "I know. We tried and failed, but at least we got some good data from it."

The date on the digital clock by the entrance is February 7th, 2014.

They are given a mere four seconds to absorb this . . . and then the Stone shows them the literal entirety of the ULTRON disaster.

It pauses on certain moments, such as Wanda Maximoff allowing Tony to take the scepter instead of killing him, as well as Rogers and Thor both agreeing that Tony and Bruce should study the scepter. Watching the entire team turn on Tony at the robot's first appearance, without so much as a question or even a second of hesitation, is horrifying in retrospect, made that much worse by Thor lifting Tony by the throat, with no one intervening or speaking up afterward. In fact, the prevailing attitude seems to be that Tony deserves it for 'messing with things he doesn't understand'.

Tony does not bother to protest that both Rogers and Thor suggested and agreed that he and Banner should study the scepter. Even if he wasn't in shock and grieving for JARVIS, it is clear none of the team is willing to listen to him.

After it's all over, Tony tries to talk to Rogers about what actually happened, only for the man to sneer at Tony and refuse to even look at the evidence he has proving that something screwed with his mind in Strucker's bunker, instead calling him despicable for refusing to take responsibility for murdering poor Wanda's parents and accusing him of picking on her to deflect his own guilt. When he finally winds down, Tony doesn't look remotely surprised. He is annoyed, but makes no further attempts to press the point.

He does, however, try speaking to Barton, who has a well-established hatred of any kind of mind-fuckery. 'Not unreasonably', he says to himself while transferring the info to a StarkPad, 'seeing actual physical evidence will hopefully gain him an ally against Rogers' blind trust'. He is therefore taken aback when Barton hurls a string of vitriol at him for trying to deny that he made a murderbot by faking evidence that couldn't possibly be true so he could pretend it wasn't his fault.

Then, showing its strong appreciation for irony, the Stone makes sure everyone sees and hears Rogers judging Tony for doing business with people who were part of the weapons-making business world. Then it highlights Maximoff declaring "I want the big one" before blatantly focusing her abilities on Bruce Banner and forcing him to unleash the Hulk — followed by Romanova doing the human equivalent later, after his point-blank refusal of her request. Then it shows Rogers, who still cannot do more than a basic Google search and access email, listens to Maximoff declare that Tony is creating something dangerous in his lab and immediately goes down there, with the twins, and orders him and Banner to stop. When they refuse, he throws his shield, causing untold amounts of damage and nearly killing Tony.

A close-up, high-resolution, volume-on-maximum screening of Rogers accusing Tony of keeping secrets is emphasized — while they are hiding on the farm no one knew Barton had, with the family only Romanva knew existed — before the same emphasis is given to Banner blaming Tony for the creation of a 'murderbot'. When the man in question calls him on his participation in said project, both he and it are ignored in favor of more recrimination against Tony, which everyone else jumps on.

Barton's secret family, protected from the SHIELD data dump, shows that Romanova did some very specific data erasure and clean-up before uploading the files, though this is never mentioned. Neither is Fury's appearance and warning that Wanda Maximoff is playing the entire team.

The entire team's callous indifference to Tony's anguish and grief over JARVIS' death. Even if they do not understand just what, exactly, he was, one would think someone would be sympathetic to Tony's feelings.

They are not. Wanda is fussed over and smothered with attention and sympathy, but Tony . . . not only do none of his so-called teammates NOT acknowledge his grief, they pile onto it with accusations and assertions that he's just being dramatic and deflecting attention because it's his fault Wanda's entire family is dead. The tablet on the table shows clear proof that the bomb was not his, but he makes no attempt to share this information. It will do no good; actually, with his luck, it will make his life worse. So he just . . . lets it go.

Almost as an afterthought, Maria Hill's duplicity is exposed. Tony saved her from the destruction of SHIELD by taking her on in a fairly-high position at SI, only to discover that the agency wasn't actually gone and she was there to ensure that he didn't look too closely into SHIELD's data and discover just how deep their betrayal and corruption went. Anything she could steal from SI was a bonus, and she had gotten a lot more than anyone had expected. And when Tony discovered the truth, she didn't even have the balls to own up to it. She tried to play the 'I know it was wrong but' card, because she doesn't even respect his intelligence.

This is enraging, particularly since Stephen had seen something similar happen while he was finishing his final internship. The scandal had rocked the local medical community and nearly destroyed what had been an excellent training program.

So he can't help the savage spurt of satisfaction when the entire group is forced to see not just their collective betrayal of Tony Stark, along with their general shitty treatment of him, but also how selfish and hypocritical Steve Rogers is, and how unfit he is to lead a team. There can also be no doubt as to how duplicitous Natasha Romanova truly is. Neither of them cares for anything outside their personal goals, though they are willing to work with others in the name of pursuing said goals. Rogers' frightening, though impressive, ability to project his own convictions on other people is also made clear, as is Barton's follower mentality. His first loyalty is to Romanova, then Rogers. And then, after ULTRON's destruction, he begins to vehemently defend Wanda Maximoff, which no one finds odd despite his well-established hatred for mind control.

Other than Tony, that is, who says that exact thing and is instantly accused of being mean to poor Wanda, who is a misguided kid who helped them and deserves a second chance. None of them questioned why the man stepped away after that. He can take a hint and this is a fucking anvil.

Then everything just . . . pauses. It is almost as though the Time Stone itself is taking a deep breath.

This is an accurate summation, as it turns out.

Because the 'Civil War' is next.

As a preface, the Stone gives them a rapid montage of more instances where Romanova is blatantly gaslighting and manipulating Tony for SHIELD and the Avengers by way of driving a deliberately-created wedge between him and his employees — and between him and Pepper. She goes to considerable effort to make them believe that he is ignoring his responsibilities to SI in favor of the Avengers, while simultaneously telling the team that they are taking second place to SI, but only as a power play. After all, Tony does none of the work. Everyone knows Pepper is the boss and the people who work there are the real inventors. But Tony can't let anyone else take the credit or he won't be as important in the public's eye, so he ignores his team to force his way into SI projects that aren't his business and don't need him.

It works because Tony is shouldering the workload of four different jobs, sometimes five, and cannot stop long enough to take full stock of his surroundings.

But it also works because the people in question want to believe the worst of him. It allows them to justify their own attitude and behavior . . . and yes, Stephen is including Potts, Rhodes, and the SI workers, albeit to a lesser extent. He knows what's it like to automatically be dismissed or accused of being selfish/arrogant/egotistical/etc, since past bad behavior, no matter how often — or rarely — it happens, is always the standard for all future actions.

Interspersed among these incidents are ones of Rogers refusing to allow Tony to ask questions or provide physical help on missions while demanding the use of his resources and money by using guilt, something that is, unfortunately, guaranteed to work on the exhausted, overwhelmed, responsibility-laden genius. And then, just to make nobody can claim 'I didn't do anything', they are shown Maximoff's hateful, snide remarks and deliberate displays of 'fear' when Tony is around, which always incites one of her male protectors to leap to her defense even though Tony has not said, done, or insinuated anything to or about her. They also see Wilson's clear disdain for the 'rich white boy who never had to work' — which he said out loud more than once and to more than one person, after quitting his job at the VA so he could 'be an Avenger' — and is now living completely and totally off Tony's generosity. Barton has retired by then, but the Stone still gives them a few instances of him making similar snotty comments about being filthy rich and showing off or buying friends — while greedily accepting every weapon and upgrade Tony provides.

Four instances of Wanda are shown where she is alone in her room, talking out loud to her dead brother as she scribbles somewhat manically in a journal. She speaks of how glad she is, now, that she didn't kill Stark. This is so much better, because he is gone, thrown out of the Avengers, so she doesn't have to see him, but she still gets to live there for free, and everything she wants, she gets. She does assure Pietro that she will kill Stark at some point, but right now, he's just too useful.

Stephen's passing thought as to why the AI didn't catch these alarming occurrences is answered by a quick recap of the team collectively losing their mind at the thought of having internal cameras. How dare the man want to keep his home and teammates protected? He compromises; no cameras in their bedrooms or bathrooms, but they stay in the kitchen and common areas. There is a lot of bitching about this, but when he tells them curtly it's that or they can damn well live somewhere else, they grudgingly agree.

Barton and Romanova are very, very careful about what they say in the public rooms, though she is forced to serve as a muzzle for Rogers more than once, which Barton finds hilarious.

All of them make free use of Tony's money and generosity, in fact, but not a single gesture of gratitude is made that the Stone can find . . . and it make sure they see it searching. The sentient gem makes this point very clear by showing instances of other people who are the recipient of Tony's generosity thanking him or treating him to lunch or coffee and a bearclaw or a new t-shirt. Little things, but obviously appreciated.

The complete absence of the so-called 'heroes' is glaring. Spitefully, Stephen hopes it is also nauseating. They are worse than a brain-eating amoeba. The effects are the same, but the amoeba has neither conscious thought nor the ability to choose. It is mindless by nature of its very biology. These people are mindless parasites because they want to be.

After firmly establishing the ever-worsening treatment and opinion of Tony by the group, the Stone pauses one more time, humming in Stephen's mind . . .

And throws them all into the maelstrom.

Nothing is hidden or glossed over.

The group's continued refusal to involve Tony in anything that might give him an inkling about Barnes, even if Wilson and Maximoff don't know why. They don't care, either; Rogers said 'no' and that's all they need. Questions are neither allowed nor welcome, but they're fine with that. Lagos. Rogers' refusal to acknowledge the disaster, much less his part in it. Tony being ambushed by Charlie Spencer's mother — and Rogers' arrogant, careless justification for his death while simultaneously blaming Tony. His refusal to accept the possibility that the Avengers' actions caused more death and destruction than staying out of things might have, and his coddling of Wanda, telling her it isn't her fault people are afraid of her reckless, uncontrolled use of power.

Then the Stone switches gears, making Stephen a little dizzy. Prior to Lagos and over the course of eight months, the group sees Rogers receiving seven, nine, thirteen emails from Tony regarding the Accords — and they see him reply to all of them with a curt 'It's been handled' before deleting them. He never once informs any of his team about Tony's repeated attempts to talk about the issue, which is why, after not receiving a single question about the Accords from any of the Avengers, Tony finally CCs everyone for the meeting with Ross.

A sharp turn here and the Stone shows Tony and Rhodes talking about how disturbing it is that someone with Thaddeus Ross' known history isn't in prison. Worse, due to his rank, his clearance level, and the astonishing fact that he didn't actually work for HYDRA (unlike his predecessor), he was named Secretary of State. Tony is working on getting evidence even Congress and the president can't ignore, but until that happens, the Secretary of State is the US liaison for the Accords and unfortunately for the entire world, that happens to be Thaddeus Ross. There is no choice but to work with the man for the time being.

Having a bitchy sense of humor, the Stone immediately follows this uncomfortable truth with the team's various accusations of Tony 'selling out' to Ross, which Stephen viciously hopes they all choke on. Then it shows Tony, over the course of nearly two years, working closely with his legal department, a lot of other companies, and several ambassadors and high-ranking government officials from multiple countries to make the Accords something palatable and equitable for the majority. He is fierce in his defense of not just his teammates but every person with enhancements, mutations, and future possibilities, staunchly refusing to even consider every single unethical suggestion tossed out, such as a registration act (Russia) and imprisonment without trial for deaths deemed unnecessary or avoidable (Venezuela).

The Stone plays that meeting again, in high-resolution Technicolor, and shows the group their arrogance in refusing to listen to what either Tony or Ross is saying, with Rogers declaring that 'their hands are the safest' while Wilson scoffs at the very idea of rules and regulations, despite being former military and in the presence of Colonel James Rhodes, active Air Force, who is supporting them wholeheartedly. They all witness again Rogers getting a text message and leaving without a word.

Then it shows Romanova trying to talk Rogers into standing down after the bombing because he's too close. It also shows her not going to Stark or Rhodes with her concerns; instead, she simply accepted his refusal to stay away. The destruction the group wreaked in Bucharest is shown in graphic detail; the violence of the injuries and deaths make Stephen's stomach churn, and he was a neurosurgeon. But the destruction itself, of roads and buildings and cars, is actually worse. Watching a building collapse in slow-motion, flattening the twelve cars in front of it with none of the passengers unable to escape, is beyond horrifying.

But the Time Stone is relentless. It knows what Stephen wants, and it is willing to oblige. More than that, it knows this is necessary, because unless something is done about this careless, selfish, reckless, destructive group of people, the Mad Titan will succeed in his quest and destroy everything — including the Infinity Stones. So this Stone makes the point in clear, unambiguous detail that can no longer be ignored, disregarded, or misconstrued.

They all watch Tony show Rogers the deal he'd secured for him, Wilson, and Barnes, if only they'll sign the Accords. And it shows Rogers, frustrated at being backed into a corner of his own making, seizing the slightest opportunity to refuse, to make Tony the villain. His immediate summons to Barton, who leaves his family before the call ends, is worrying. The ease at which Barton convinces Maximoff to join him and Rogers is frightening, but watching her literally throw Vision, a being she claimed to love, through 44 floors without a single provocative action from him, is terrifying. The fact that she and Barton simply leave without so much as a token effort to ensure he is unharmed is heartless.

But not surprising. Not by then.

Rogers' refusal to even consider talking despite Tony's repeated pleas cannot be ignored, and neither can the fact that none of his team is willing to talk, either. It is also clear that Barton fired the first unprovoked arrow. The ensuing fight is slightly less brutal than Bucharest, but that is only because Tony thought ahead and had Rhodes use his contacts to evacuate the airport. Still, watching Rogers drop a gangway on Spiderman without the slightest clue he has the ability to survive is disturbing. Seeing Maximoff throw a dozen cars on top of Iron Man with her full strength, clearly intent on killing him, is chilling. Watching Romanova turn on the Black Panther, her own recruit, in order to let Rogers and Barnes go, is, by now, not remotely unexpected. Witnessing Lang screwing with the Iron Man suit will have consequences no one could imagine.

Watching Rhodes fall is horrifying.

Listening to Tony scream as he tries and fails to prevent his best friend from crash-landing will haunt Stephen's nightmares for years.

Seeing Romanova yet again gaslight Tony at the hospital, and blame his ego for her foolish, shortsighted, selfish choices makes Stephen fume, and hopefully it's making some of the others sick to their stomachs. Hearing Barton's hateful jab as he blames Tony for Rhodes' injury nearly makes Stephen throw up, and watching Wilson treat Tony as the enemy and bargain with Rogers' destination by making him promise to go as a friend has him biting down a series of truly impressive curses.

(Stephen would find it odd, later, that the Stone didn't pause again, this time to savor, before utterly obliterating everyone's petty, hypocritical fantasy world)

And then . . .

And then.

Siberia.

Not a single person was spared from watching the Winter Soldier, using James Barnes' face, hands, and body, murder Howard and Maria Stark. Nor were they spared from seeing Tony watch it happen, barely five feet from the man.

And not a single, solitary one of them could deny the knowledge that Rogers already knew. He knew, he'd known for a long time, and he was utterly unconcerned with Tony. He cared only for Barnes. All of them were forced to watch and listen to him lie to Tony's face about knowing the first time he asked . . . and they watched him consider lying the second time as well. But it's obvious he didn't confess out of guilt or because it was the right thing to do; this is made clear by his immediate declaration of Barnes' innocence. When Tony punched him, Rogers' long-simmering resentment of the man finally boiled over and he unleashed his feelings.

It is clear to everyone that despite his rage and pain, Tony is not trying to kill either of them. Even if one ignored the wide open chances not taken, the Iron Man suit is armed with so many heavy-duty weapons that it can — and has — taken down armed terrorist hideouts in two strikes.

But Tony does not use any of them. The shot that takes off Barnes' metal arm is a clear response to his attempt to remove the arc reactor, and Tony's restraint is just as obvious, because he doesn't follow that strike up with a kill shot, despite Barnes being dazed and an easy target. And all the while, Rogers keeps declaring Barnes' innocence and Tony keeps demanding they stand down. He is ignored as the fight gets more and more brutal, to the point the pair of super soldiers are able to damage his faceplate so badly he has to remove it.

Listening to Rogers justify his protection of HYDRA's assassination because Barnes is his friend is infuriating.

Tony's soft "so was I" is heartbreaking.

But hearing Rogers declare that he 'can this all day' is so enraging, Stephen is genuinely surprised he isn't breathing fire . . . and he chokes on his tongue when Rogers and Barnes finally manage to get to Tony at the same time. Since he is pulling his punches and they aren't, they are able to take him down. He is flat on his back, staring at Rogers . . .

. . . who is glaring back, hate blazing in his eyes as he brings his shield down on Tony's unprotected neck.

Stephen cannot stop his strangled gasp, even though he knows Tony survives, but seeing that fucker change his mind at literally the last second and bury the shield in Tony's chest shatters his own heart.

And yet, somehow, watching him stagger to his feet and go to his friend, ignoring Tony completely, is worse. When he pauses at Tony's declaration that he's unworthy of the shield that Howard made for him and then drops it before just . . . leaving . . . the Time Stone has to pause things and hum for several minutes in Stephen's mind before he is calm enough to accept the fact that he cannot murder Steve Rogers.

Yet.

But the Stone is done. It has shown them everything it deems pertinent to their actions and behavior; anything past this is Tony's personal business. It is enough, more than enough, for them to know he survived, and if there is any justice in the world, they will finally understand what they have done. Because it isn't just Tony Stark they've betrayed.

It isn't even the entire world.

They have betrayed themselves.

Seeing them finally be forced to accept that will be one of the most deeply satisfying moments of Stephen's life.

The dull, grey and white surroundings of the Siberian bunker bleed into the gray, drab walls of the UN holding cells and Stephen takes a deep, fortifying breath. Then he turns his head, not quite sure what he wants to do next—

—and sees Tony Stark's face, less than two inches from his own, eyes wide with concern and a lot of alarm.

He will never know how he keeps from shrieking like every little girl in a horror movie ever and there is a definite stumble.

But he otherwise manages to keep his composure and sniffs hard, trying and failing to determine how long they've been under the Stone's influence.

"Are you okay?" Tony demands, sounding frantic, as his eyes search Stephen's for signs of injury. "You been unresponsive for almost an hour, according to FRIDAY."

Only an hour?!

Good grief. Stephen feels like he's been caught in an underwater dream for at least two days, with a massive hangover to top things off. And he at least has some experience with the Time Stone; he can't imagine how the others are fee—

Wait.

The whole point of this exercise was to show that group of . . . of . . . gah! He is so upset that he can't even think of a suitable insult! He has just finished a short explanation when the most God-awful pandemonium he has ever heard erupts from the cells — and he was in the ER during that damned Chitauri invasion.

Startled, Tony jerks around, eyes going wide when he sees an enraged Sam Wilson trying to claw his way through his cell door so he can reach Rogers, who looks appalled, vaguely guilty, and stubbornly defiant.

"Calm down, Sam," he says, sounding conciliatory . . . and Wilson shrieks a wordless noise of pure rage in response.

Shockingly, it is ignored.

"I don't know how Tony did it, but all of that was just a play for sympathy by only showing stuff that makes us look bad."

"WE ARE THE BAD GUYS, YOU ASSHOLE!" Wilson screams back, falling away from the door and panting. "Don't tell me it was taken out of context, because I remember the shit that I said and did, and I saw a lot of it, too! Oh, God," he groaned, doubling over and turning vaguely green. "Oh, God. Stark was right about fucking everything. The invasion, the Accords, us . . . we are going to rot in prison and we all deserve every second of it. Unless, of course, we die in the invasion you fuckers swore was just a figment of his imagination because he 'just wanted to be the hero'," he spat, eyes blazing orange with fury and his voice so raw and hoarse it didn't sound human. "How many people have you murdered just so YOU could be the hero instead?" he hisses next, venom dripping from the accusation, as he leans forward and refuses to let the man who has betrayed them all look away.

Rogers flinches back, stunned at the vitriol aimed so accurately at him, while Barton finally recovers, as does Lang.

The resultant pile-on from those three men is illuminating and lasts so long, Stephen opens a portal to a movie theatre to acquire two large popcorns and a giant box of Reece's Pieces; it's been a long day and he and Tony are both starving. Also, this kind of entertainment deserves popcorn (it says a lot about the unflappability of New Yorkers when the concession stand workers see an orange portal open and don't even blink when Tony Stark pokes his head through it to request their desired refreshments, offering a $100 bill and telling them to keep the change).

To neither man's surprise, neither Romanova nor Maximoff seem willing to accept the truths of what they just saw. Maximoff is such a child, this actually makes sense, while the Black Widow's ego will apparently kill her if she acknowledges a mistake that is result of her own actions.

Rogers . . . well. Guess.

Finally, after nearly two hours of screaming, raging, accusations, justifications, several broken hand bones, and some bloody scratches from failed attempts to break free of the cells, Wilson finally collapses on his cot and bursts into tears.

"I know you're watching, Stark. I'm sorry. I was . . . I was a complete dick and I assumed and I just . . . I'm just sorry. I'm sorry," he whispers, looking utterly devastated as he finally falls silent. Tears are still streaming down his cheeks and he looks completely, utterly despondent.

The entire cellblock is quiet now, with Barton and Lang pale and guilty and looking everywhere but at each other. Lang suddenly lurches to his sink and gags, shaking like a leaf; for a minute, it looks like Barton will follow, but he manages to keep it under control. The other three are staring at their teammates, clearly shocked that things have changed so drastically.

Into this vortex of an uncertain reality steps Tony Stark.

"Well."

It is all he says, and miraculously, no one verbally responds. They are all too busy staring at him in varying degrees of shock and . . . other emotions. After maybe two minutes, Wilson mentally recovers first and stumbles to the door. His eyes are desperate and his face is full of guilt as he faces the man he has so egregiously wronged for literally no legitimate reason, and the two men stare at each other for a while.

"I'm sorry," Wilson finally says, his voice still hoarse. "I . . . I'm sorry."

Tony sniffs and tilts his head, studying the man for several seconds. Then he shrugs.

"I don't care," he replies curtly. "Because you're sorry for the wrong reasons. Not once before this clusterfuck did you stop and wonder if maybe there was more to the story, more to me, than Rogers' sanctimonious bullshit and Romanova's obvious lies. You believed I was the devil incarnate because you wanted to and now that someone else has shown you otherwise, you're appalled. But you still don't think any better of me. And I don't care. Quite frankly, you aren't worth my time."

With another shrug, he turns to walk away. Two steps from the exit, he pauses and glances back, looking only at Wilson. "I'm glad you finally understand, though. At least now you know that you deserve to be in prison."

And with that, he leaves. Stephen is at his shoulder, though he sneaks one last glance and is satisfied to see that all of them look shell-shocked. It is very unlikely that Rogers, Romanova, or Maximoff will ever accept or understand what's happening or why, but he has an idea for that, too. Not being stupid, he waits until they get to Tony's lab office to breach it.

He will not acknowledge the enjoyment of seeing Anthony Edward Stark rendered speechless.

"I can ask the Time Stone to take us back and observe Erskine finishing the formula," is what he opens with. "I'm not a biologist myself, but between us, surely we know enough people that someone can reverse engineer it. It will be the perfect punishment for Rogers; scrawny, mouthy, and trapped in prison for the rest of his life. Even if he gets back into the general population, he'll be useless. And respect? People would laugh at him trying his Captain America shtick. Either way, it'll finish him."

He gets a thoughtful nod in response, but the gleam of vicious interest tells Stephen they will be Stone Walking very soon. Still not being stupid, he presents his other idea before Tony does what he does best and leaps off the cliff, full steam ahead.

"We can do the same with Maximoff; I have a Stone and so does Vision, so between us, we should be able to remove or nullify her powers," he offers, getting a quiet hum of agreement, before a tight grin comes to Tony's mouth.

"If that fails, I can always inject them with nanobytes and issue nullify commands," he explains . . . and his smile turns razor sharp. "But I would much rather take their abilities away completely, so they understand they have no hope of ever using or abusing them again."

"Absolutely."

It is all Stephen can say right now; it isn't that he's shocked, precisely, at the depths of Tony's rage. Nor are his plans for both revenge and justice unexpected. He just . . . he honestly didn't think the man would move quite so fast. It has been an eventful two days.

(he never does completely adapt to Tony's ability to assimilate and run with things before the rest of them have finished their coffee. Watching Stephen flail quickly becomes one of the Defender's team's favorite pastimes)

They are successful in both of their endeavors; the Time Stone, perhaps as an apology to Stephen for what was a brutal, rough journey, makes both trips smooth and give them a soft, easy landing. They are able to see exactly what they need and waste no time on implementing their solutions.

Everyone throws Rogers under the bus, and Wilson and Barton run over him a few times just make sure everyone knows they no longer follow, believe, or trust him. Maximoff gets quite a bit of blame as well, though not as much as Romanova. This is understandable and no objections are made by the populace. However, Wilson, Lang, and Barton are the only three who confess and offer any kind of apology.

Rogers, on the other hand, refuses to acknowledge any true culpability, despite the massive amount of evidence proving that he is, in fact, wrong. Not even the villain, necessarily; sometimes, he is just . . . wrong. But he will not admit it, and Romanova and Maximoff follow his lead. In the Black Widow's case, bets are taken on whether she genuinely believes she still did the right thing or if she thinks following Rogers' example will mitigate her sentence. Maximoff is obviously delusional; according to several different doctors, her mind is utterly incapable of comprehending the reality that she could be wrong about anything.

When the trials are finished, after an astonishingly short amount of time, and the verdicts are read, the entire world is actually satisfied, a minor miracle that is celebrated for a week straight.

*** Rogers is sentenced to life in solitary confinement once he is given the anti-serum, which is done in full view of the court, though they see only see it on a live feed. His reaction to losing the only thing he has ever truly cared about would have been heartbreaking . . . had he been anyone else. But given his complete lack of empathy, compassion, or even basic understanding of what he did, why, and how, not even his most ardent supporters could argue his punishment was unjustified.

At Pepper Potts' suggestion, one final act of revenge is levied, and everyone in the court vows to never get on her bad side. Because every single day of his sentence until the day he dies, he is informed that James Barnes — not Bucky, never again — refuses to see him or have any contact whatsoever with him. The only exception to this is the note he penned, given to Rogers on his first day in prison: it's the end of the line, Rogers. You are dead to me.

*** Romanova is executed by firing squad in a Russian gulag, with witnesses from more than two dozen countries present to confirm their pound of flesh is received. She is not offered the chance for final words and no one speaks to her. She is irrelevant now.

*** Maximoff . . . her verdict is interesting and the result of bargaining and negotiations that made the Versailles Treaty look positively anemic. It is finally agreed that she will have powers forcibly stripped or bound in front of the entire court, followed by an eight-year prison sentence in solitary. The first day of her ninth year in prison, she will be publicly executed — and Steve Rogers will witness it, one way or another.

*** Barton's sentence is reduced from death to life in prison after his ex-wife informs him, in front of God and everyone on the second day of his trial, that he had given her so many reasons for divorce, she'd made a drinking game out of it — but what finally pushed over the edge and made her go through with it was his hateful, ugly, vicious barb about Rhodes' paralysis, hurled at Tony for no reason other than to hurt him and deny his own culpability, which was not only repulsive, but it made her fear for her children the next time he got pissed off at something someone else did.

"Colonel Rhodes never did a damn thing to you!" Laura had raged, to the amusement (and satisfaction) of the court, which was set to begin for the day in ten minutes. "He's a good man, an honorable one, who would have died to keep you safe on a mission, because he was your TEAMMATE. And you, you despicable piece of shit, not only mocked a life-threatening injury he only got because you and your friends are morons, but you blamed the man who was there to help?!"

She had slapped him so hard, the handprint didn't fade for nearly nine hours, earning a standing ovation from her inadvertent audience. The icing on the cake came when someone recorded it, spliced in the clip from the Raft, and uploaded it to five different media platforms. It went viral in seven minutes. The search for the culprit lasted ten minutes before the trail went cold and everyone sighed, shrugged, and observed it was a shame that they just couldn't find a damn thing about the poster.

*** Lang is denied his request to serve his 10-year sentence in San Francisco. To his credit, he doesn't object, though he is clearly heartbroken. It will take his daughter four years to visit him.

*** Wilson gets off the lightest. He is sentenced to seventeen years, given a dishonorable discharge flagged with Bad Conduct, and ordered to pay restitution in the form of hard labor, during and after his sentence, to Tony Stark, Stark Industries (Pepper Potts was not impressed with his guilt or his remorse), the Leipzig Airport, Bucharest, and Berlin.

*** James Barnes willingly enters a high-security psychiatric compound in Austria, where he is treated by mind-healers from Asgard and provides what details he can clearly recall of his time as the Winter Soldier.

Life goes on. The Rogues are never mentioned again after the verdicts are read, something most of them would be appalled to know.

Tony Stark finally begins to gather the allies he should have had all along, and the world begins to prepare.

Thanos never knows what hits him (literally; he does not know if it's a giant axe, a pissed-off hammer, an overprotective cloak, or a Klingon Bat'leth that kills him).

And if those who witnessed his final demise took a vow of silence on the matter, well . . .

Wouldn't you?

~~~
fin