Thanks to blueteddybear3, akana45, Mikky96, eclispex.x and QueenKas for joining the party right at the good part lol
Enjoy
xo
Chapter 10
The End...?
Bucky's blood ran cold as he heard the video play along. He looked away, remembering the mission in detail. Howard Stark, begging for someone to help his wife, before recognising him and calling him by his rank and last name. His bloodied face with the look of disbelief and horror etched across it, struggling in his hand, before he finished him off with a single blow. The sound played back in his head.
Maria Stark, calling out her husband's name in horror, crying and sobbing, before he ended her life too, it had been very simple, a basic twist of his wrist. He continued to stare at the ground, his head beginning to hurt as their bloodied and lifeless faces played over in his mind.
It took him a moment to realise that Lex had backed her way over to him, not taking her eyes off of Tony Stark.
Steve also watched Tony anxiously, as a gunshot rang out in the video.
Tony lunged towards Bucky, but Steve was quick to stop him, holding him back. "Tony. Tony," he tried to calm him.
Tony glared at Bucky, consumed in grief and tears glistening in his eyes. He turned to look at Steve. "Did you know?"
Steve looked sympathetically at Tony. "I didn't know it was him."
"Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?"
Lex looked over her shoulder at Bucky. "Average men can do diabolical things when grieving," she whispered pointedly. Bucky furrowed his brow at, glancing at her, unclear as to what it was she was trying to say. "I would get out of here, if I were you."
Bucky looked back to Steve and Tony, unable to bring himself to move. Whatever happened next, it would be nothing less than he deserved.
Steve looked apologetic now, sighing before he answered. "Yes."
Tony stepped back, his face full of pain, as he twitched slightly, moving his head as if he was suddenly uncomfortable in his suit.
Bucky noted that Lex now moved to stand in front of him protectively. He went to move her out of the way with his arm when suddenly, Tony reengaged the Iron Man helmet over his face, before punching Steve into the floor.
Lex opened fire at him, but he easily deflected the bullets, swinging his arm at her. She used her rifle to block his arm, only for him to kick at her and knock her backwards off of her feet.
Bucky opened fire then, but Iron Man ignored the bullets, grabbing Bucky and flying across the chamber. He slammed Bucky onto the floor, before jumping onto his arms, he aimed one of his hand thrusters at Bucky's face.
Steve's shield hit Iron Man, distracting him long enough for Lex to tackle him away. Iron man shouldered her off of him, throwing her across the room. Steve charged him next, and Iron Man managed to floor him, before engaging a magnetic shackle around his ankles. He went to fire the same at Lex, but she had pulled her stave from her back, using it to hit away the magnetic shackle. The shackle engaged on the stave and she quickly threw it away, as she ran towards Iron Man again. She punched and kicked at him, dodging his counter attacks easily, before he tried to grab at her with both arms. She grabbed both his arms by his wrists, holding them wide from her. Bucky could see she was struggling to hold Iron Man's strength at bay, as he struggled to his feet.
Iron man turned his palms inwards, firing his thrusters and creating a blast that knocked both he and Lex away, Lex skidding along the floor for several metres.
Bucky got to his feet, moving to punch Iron Man, but he easily lifted him into the air and slammed him against a machine. Iron Man raised a hand to fire his thruster at him again, but Bucky was able to grab it, twisting and crushing it, causing it to malfunction.
A rocket shot out of Iron Man's arm causing an explosion that caused a towering structure of pipe works behind Bucky and Tony to begin to collapse. Lex, who was close by was quick to dive out of the way, as Steve finally smashed the lock on his shackles with his shield. Iron Man and Bucky were thrown down a level as twisted metal fell around them, showering them in sparks and debris.
Steve skidded to a stop in front of Bucky, looking back as he tried to get back up to his feet "Get out of here!" Bucky looked back at Steve for a moment, considering whether he should try and escape.
"Move!" Lex shouted, shoving him aside and ducking as Iron Man fired, the round hitting the wall of the chamber harmlessly. Bucky turned and ran.
Steve ran and jumped, landing in front of Iron Man and launching into a flurry of kicks and punching between them, while Bucky hit a control panel, triggering the silo-styled doors above to start to open.
Lex joined Steve as they tried to subdue Iron Man, ducking, weaving and trying to dodge Iron Man's artillery. "It wasn't him, Tony. HYDRA had control of his mind!" Steve shouted as Lex rolled out of the way as Iron Man tried to fire at her. He looked up to shoot at Bucky again as he climbed up the gangways towards the top of the silo, but Steve moved to stand in front of him. "Move!"
"It wasn't him!" Steve grabbed Iron Man's ankle in mid air as he tried to fly by him, smashing the thrusters with his shield. Iron Man shot at rubble overhead, causing it to fall on top of Steve, taking the opportunity to free himself from him, trying to continue up towards the top of the silo and Bucky. His thruster failed several times, slowing down his progress and Lex took the opportunity to try and get above him.
She scaled the gangways nimbly, leaping and swinging from platform to platform as Bucky did the same higher above her.
With stuttering jets, Iron Man continued to try and give chase, eventually reaching him. Bucky tried to fight him off, but Iron Man landed a kick to his chest, sending him flying back into the opposite wall of the silo. Bucky landed in a heap on the platform, struggling back to his feet.
"Lex!" Steve shouted to the female super soldier.
Iron Man took aim, but the energy bolt he fired rebounded off of Steve's shield and onto himself as Lex landed in front of Bucky with the shield in front of her, having caught it after Steve saw she was going to be able to make it to Bucky before he could.
Iron Man dropped like a stone and landed heavily on a lower platform, as Lex looked back up at Bucky and Steve clambered up onto the platform. "Are you okay?"
"Thanks," Bucky said, grimacing. Lex handed Steve back his shield and they looked over the edge of the platform they were standing on as Iron Man scrambled to his feet.
"He's not going to stop." Steve turned back to look at Bucky and Lex. "Go."
"I'll stay and help stop Tony," Lex objected, moving to jump back over the edge, but Bucky grabbed her arm roughly.
"No, it's not your fight," Bucky argued. There was no way he was letting her stay there and risk getting injured on his account, when she'd already become involved because of him. She looked at him icily, pulling her arm away.
"Bucky's right, it's not your fight, go with Bucky, keep him safe," Steve ordered, pulling her back by her shoulder gently. "He's going to need the help."
Lex looked annoyed at being told what to do, looking between the two men, but huffed, turning and beginning to climb again, Bucky following her.
Iron Man began to fly up towards them again, his left boot thruster still struggling to maintain power. Steve was quick to leap down towards him, shooting a wire from his wrist. It wrapped around Iron Man's neck and dragging him back down several platforms.
Bucky and Lex continued to climb, glancing back every now and then. Bucky was concerned for his friend.
Iron man managed to loosen himself from Steve's wire rope, letting Steve fall the rest of the way down while he continued to fly up towards them. He set down on a platform as his faulty thruster was struggling to get him higher up the silo.
Steve hurled his shield towards Iron Man from the ground but he easily deflected it away. Lex was already at the top of the silo and looked back down, seeing Iron Man aiming for them.
"Bucky, MOVE!" she shouted urgently.
Iron Man raised his right hand, a small rocket appearing from his suit as he tried to take aim.
Bucky reached the top, but didn't stop to look back down as Lex urged him to start climbing out of the silo.
Tony retracted the helmet, taking aim without the help of his helmet's automatic aiming system, closing one eye, as Lex moved to stand between Tony and Bucky. Bucky caught the movement in the corner of his eye. "Lex..." he warned, turning to try and grab her.
Tony diverted his aim at the last minute, aiming for the hinge of the silo hatch instead. There was a huge explosion, the hatch beginning to fall.
"Bucky!" Lex gasped, turning quickly and reefing Bucky backwards. She threw him over the edge of the platform as the huge metal hatch fell, causing the concrete silo to implode in on itself under the sheer weight of it.
Bucky landed on one of the platforms halfway up the silo. He heard Lex scream in pain as he fell heavily onto a lower platform. He looked back up, unable to see Lex through the falling rubble.
He didn't have a chance to try and find Lex, as Iron Man flew up towards him with great speed. Bucky reached for a metal pipe that had fallen within arm's reach, swinging it at Iron Man.
Iron man blocked his first swing, before dodging his second and grabbing him around the neck from behind. He began to squeeze and Bucky felt his airways starting to close under the pressure. "Do you even remember them?" Tony demanded coldly.
Bucky struggled to pull Tony's hand away from his throat, his titanium arm whirring as the hydraulics tried to push back. "I remember all of them," he muttered, before throwing himself backwards.
They fell from the platform, Bucky holding tightly to Iron Man to ensure he didn't break free from the fall, bracing himself for the impact. Before they could hit the concrete floor of the silo, Steve jumped into them, deflecting their fall. Bucky released Iron Man, landing heavily on a platform just above ground level, while Iron Man and Steve continued to fall to the ground, rolling down into one of the venting chambers that led to the outside. Snow drifts lined the concrete and cold air blew inside.
Steve slowly pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, as did Tony. "This isn't gonna change what happened."
"I don't care. He killed my mom."
They began to trade punches, blow by blow, until eventually Iron Man was able to pin Steve down on the ground. Bucky, having come to after being momentarily knocked out, hurried towards the vent shaft, picking up Captain America's discarded shield and leaping down to help.
Steve and Bucky began to team up, two super soldiers trading blows with Iron Man, the shield changing hands between them several times as they bounced it off the floor, the wall and Iron Man.
Finally, Iron Man managed to gain the upper hand, blasting Steve into the far wall. Bucky continued to try and dodge Iron Man's attacks, ducking beneath a punch, before stepping sideways to avoid another blast from Iron Man's hand thruster.
He turned quickly, shoving Iron Man roughly to back him into a wall, pinning him against it. He reached down to grip at the glowing core in the chest of the Iron Man suit with his titanium hand. Bucky knew that if he could destroy the arc reactor core in the suit, he could shut it down, preventing anymore fighting and give them a chance to escape.
He dug his fingers into the outer edges of the energy core, feeling it beginning to splinter in his hand as he squeezed. "Aaarrgghhhh," he screamed in frustration as he strained to destroy it with his titanium hand.
A blast of energy shot out from the arc reactor, knocking Bucky to the ground. His head was hazy, his eyes struggling to clear from the extreme blast of light that had engulfed him and his ears rang, but something felt wrong as he knelt on the ground. He felt strangely light on one side of his body.
As his eyes cleared he looked down his left side, his titanium arm had been completely blown away, only the shoulder left attached, the circuits and hydraulics exposed. He fell backwards, his head beginning to swim.
Iron Man moved to fire at him again, but Steve rushed towards him with his shield up and Iron Man's beam of energy fired right at it, causing sparks to spray at all angles. Iron Man stepped back as Steve tried to knock him back with his shield, before kicking the shield from Steve's hands, but Steve still ran forward, a flurry of punches greeting him.
Steve continued with his barrage of punches, not allowing Iron Man a chance to counter or block, eventually backing Iron Man back against the wall again, as Bucky had.
Finally, he caught one of Steve's punches with his hand. Steve looked stunned, and Iron Man took the opportunity to shove him away, before raising his arm and aiming his thruster at him, firing a beam straight at his chest.
Steve tumbled away, struggling back to his feet slowly, as Iron Man strode over, determined to put an end to the fight. Steve moved to attack Iron Man again, but he blocked him yet again, shooting him with another beam of energy that knocked him down beside Bucky.
Bucky tried to roll to his side, but his body refused to move more than a few centimetres, it was going into shock.
Steve rose to his knees, moving between Bucky and Iron Man defensively. "He's my friend."
Iron man stood still for a moment, just looking down at Steve. "So was I." He punched Steve again, before throwing him towards the snow drifts and he landed heavily against one of the concrete pylons, before tumbling to the ground. "Stay down. Final warning."
Bucky watched as his friend struggled back to his feet, his face bloodied, his body weary, but his fists raised in front of him, as he glared back at Iron Man. "I can do this all day."
As Iron Man raised his left hand to fire at Steve, Bucky summoned up all his remaining strength and grabbed Iron Man's leg, holding it tightly.
Iron Man turned, kicking at Bucky in disgust, landing a blow to his face. He raised his hand again, moving to blast Bucky with a hand cannon and Bucky stared up at him waiting for him to fire. Steve moved to stand and grab Iron Man, but his knee gave way.
From the darkness of the main chamber, Lex appeared, charging back into the fight.
"Aaaarrrgggghhhhhhh!" She hit Iron Man with the full force of her body, knocking him from his feet and onto the ground. She landed on him, pinning him to the ground with a knee to his throat, throwing fists to his head with great speed. The face plate of his helmet began to crack under the power of her punches, as every punch connected with her target.
Bucky rolled to his side, staring at her as she continued to assault Iron Man, her face contorted with rage, her eyes appearing black.
Iron Man finally recovered from the initial shock of Lex's assault and fired the arc reactor in his chest piece again, the blast hitting Lex and knocking her away from him. Lex was sent sprawling into one of the pylons, screaming in agony as her back slammed awkwardly against the corner of the concrete.
Steve took the chance before Tony could recover from Lex's attack, grabbing Iron Man, lifting him over his head and then throwing him onto his back on the ground roughly, before pinning him there, punching him over and over.
He continued the barrage of punches until he managed to knock off the already broken Iron Man helmet, exposing Tony's face.
In a rage, he reached for the discarded shield to his right, raising it high above his head. Tony, fearing for his life, raised his hands to his face in an effort to protect himself. Steve plunged the shield down, cracking through the outer protective casing of the arc reactor core in the Iron Man suit. The suit powered down, as the light in the arc reactor dimmed and disappeared.
Tony, bloodied and battered, looked from the shield up to Steve's face, horrified and angry.
Steve stared down regretfully at Tony, breathless at the effort of maintaining battle for so long. He sighed, shutting his eyes and slumped his shoulders, before moving to stand up. Steve struggled to his feet, taking hold of the shield still stuck into the chest piece of the Iron Man suit, gripping the edge and pulling it free. He walked away from Tony.
Bucky glanced over at Lex, she was sat leaning against the pylon where she'd landed, her face was also bloodied and dirty, her hair messy and she was breathing heavily, holding her ribs. Her shoulder stuck out at an odd angle and she watched Tony sadly, as Steve walked away from him.
Steve walked to Lex first, stooping down to help her up carefully. She hissed with pain as he hoisted her to her feet, before they both moved to Bucky, Steve reaching out and pulling him to his feet using his remaining arm. Lex quickly moved to Bucky's other side to offer support.
Tony rolled to his side, grunting in pain as he did so.
They turned and began to leave the chamber. "That shield doesn't belong to you," Tony sneered angrily. "You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!"
Bucky and Lex glanced sideways at Steve. Bucky knew that must have hurt, Steve and Howard had been friends.
Steve, however, stopped walking, raised his chin slightly, before dropping the shield with a resounding bang that seemed to echo throughout the bunker. He continued to lead them away, leaving Tony alone.
xo
Krayzee