Mom…
Howard…
Murder…
Barnes…
Rogers…
Trust…
Lies…
Lies…
LIES!
The words rang through his ears as Tony tried to…tried to -
He didn’t know what the fuck he was trying to do…all he knew was that Barnes had killed his parents and Rogers had known - and he hadn’t - and Tony didn’t know how his heart was still beating…didn’t know how he was still fighting with two super soldiers…one who had killed his parents and one who had…betrayed him… but still he fought.
Fought like he was on autopilot.
Two super-soldiers versus just a man in a suit .
Two best friends versus Tony. Tony, who was no one. Nothing.
Barnes punching his father with his metal fist, his father’s bloodied face, the resignation in his mother’s eyes as she watched her dead husband- this was all Tony could see as Rogers fought him to protect his best friend. Protect him against Tony.
Because here in this bunker right now Tony was the enemy. Not the one who killed, not the one who lied. No no no. It was Tony. Tony was the enemy. Tony was the evil. Tony was once again the wrong one. Once again the one at fault.
Tony wanted to call a fucking time-out and just sit and laugh at the irony of it all.
But he didn’t because he wasn’t stopping, he couldn’t stop and Rogers was trying to stop him and Barnes was getting away. And Tony wanted justice. Wanted justice for his parents.
Tony fought and Friday…his baby girl…sounded so frantic. But he couldn’t stop now.
His mind whirled in a hurricane.
Was this how he was going to go?
That would make a good story. Wouldn’t it?
One friend killed the parents and the other finished off their son. A proper check-mate.
Yeah, that would indeed be a great story Tony thought as he heard nothing and saw nothing and felt nothing and he fought and fought and fought against these two super soldiers who had achieved the impossible. Had finally broken Tony Stark.
They will lose or maybe Tony will. Tony didn’t think he had the strength left to think about where all of this was leading to. His entire being was thrumming with rage and that is all he needed in this moment. He just didn’t fucking care anymore.
He fought and fought and fought and now he was on his knee as Captain fucking America and his buddy beat him up in perfect coordination as if they had been doing this all their life and Tony knew this was it and he just couldn’t anymore. He didn’t want to.
But-
But then he saw something that made all his senses snap to attention. All his rage all his pain, his resignation gave way to panic as he saw orange gold sparks forming outside in the snow.
Stephen
This could not be happening. Friday must have informed him. Must have informed him everything…shit. This was not good. She had the right to override his commands and call for help, call for Stephen if Tony was endangering himself. And he was.
Because Tony didn’t care whether or not he came out the other end of this fight. But Stephen was his whole world. Stephen who was moments away from entering this fight and Tony thought of Barnes who had killed his parents and Rogers who was ready to do anything for his best buddy and just knew that they would not hold back against Stephen, an innocent element in this whole fiasco.
Tony thought of all the police officers and civilians who Rogers had trampled over in his crusade and … he couldn’t let Stephen face this man…he just couldn’t. Nothing nothing could touch Stephen, especially these two.
He had to act and act fast.
immediately Tony's eyes snapped away from the sparks turning into a portal and his entire being zeroed in on Rogers and Barnes standing over him.
In a blink Tony grabbed Rogers’ wrist of the arm holding the shield and squeezed hard enough for him to keep his shield put, simultaneously he shot a repulsor blast at Barnes with a higher power than he had so far, launching him into the other wall, positively knocking the breath out of the man.
Ignoring the punches Rogers threw at him with his free arm, Tony grabbed the shield out of Rogers' slacking grip as he squeezed his wrist harder, and tossed the shield far into the snow. Still keeping a tight hold on Roger's wrist with one hand, he used his other hand to deliver two quick punches to Roger's head with almost full force of his Armour and watched as the man fell. Unconscious. Not dead. Tony told himself as he caught the swing of the metal arm that came his way, hyperaware of Stephen entering the space but before Stephen could put himself in the fight and before Barnes could even focus his hazy gaze on Stephen Tony caught Barnes's good arm and twisted it. Hard. Not allowing Barnes the time to regain the mobility of his good arm, he quickly shot shackles around Barnes's feet and just like he had done with Rogers, Tony aimed a couple of fast-paced high-powered punches at Barnes's head which made the already banged up soldier drop in moments. Unconscious. Not dead. Tony repeated to himself.
Both of them wouldn’t wake for a while, Tony would make sure they wouldn’t.
With the last of his adrenaline, Tony immediately asked Friday to scan Barnes’ arm and managed to find a way to detach it from the Winter Soldier and then tossed it away into the snow to accompany the shield. He couldn’t risk it, couldn’t risk Stephen being faced with this arm which had killed his - he couldn’t. He would have ripped it off if he had to.
“He is safe now, boss. You are safe now. You both are safe.” Friday whispered in his ear.
Tony let out a shaky breath as the soft sound of Stephen’s magic putting magic binding ropes on Rogers reached his ears.
All the adrenaline left his body in an instant as he slowly turned around.
“Stephen” Tony whispered and for a second he felt his heart stop at the look of utter rage on Stephen’s face as he looked down at Rogers, body rigid with tension, ready for a fight.
Retracting his helmet, Tony called again, trying to reach the man who seemed lost in rage, “Stephen”
Stephen didn’t react as he bound the winter soldier as well.
“Stephen love” Tony could hear a tremble in his voice and felt his heart break as Stephen looked up and his glare crumpled into tears as he immediately wrapped Tony in his arms.
Tony heard a series of “I’m so sorry Tony…I am sorry sweetheart” whispered in his ears.
And with Stephen’s arms holding him together Tony finally allowed himself to break. Allowed himself to grieve.
Stephen watched as Rogers slowly regained consciousness. Watched as the man took in the cell he was in. Watched as he noticed Barnes sitting in the cell opposite him. Barnes minus his arm. And that was enough to turn Rogers’ confusion into anger.
“Bucky!” He shouted, snapping his gaze away from the man and immediately zeroing in on Stephen, ready to charge at him like a bull. But he couldn’t. Not anymore. Not with Stephen’s ropes still binding him. They would disappear after a while. But not for now.
Stephen only watched with a smirk as Rogers struggled and struggled and then once again zeroed in on him and opened his mouth, no doubt to once again assert his will because what else did the man ever do?
This time he wouldn’t get to. Stephen was not going to coddle this man unlike the many people in this man’s life had. He had something to say to this man who had betrayed his Tony in an inhumane way, who had endangered his life. So, he indeed had something to say and this man would have to hear it whether he wanted to or not.
Thus before Rogers could say a word Stephen started, “Captain America” the name was uttered with such repugnance, “I can’t say I had ever given much thought to you. Despite all that you don’t quite live up to whatever basic expectations I had. What a shame.” Stephen clicked his tongue.
The Captain looked indignant as he spat “Who are you?”
“I am Dr. Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme,” Rogers looked confused so far, “and Tony’s fiance” he finished with a glare. That point must have made sense as was clear from the widening of Roger’s eyes.
Stephen let out a bitter chuckle.
“Yes, dear Captain, I am. I am the fiance of the man you betrayed.”
“That’s not true! I didn’t-”
“Didn’t what Rogers? Didn’t lie to Tony? Didn’t try to beat him up with the help of your buddy?” Stephen asked.
“Bucky is innocent” Rogers snapped. Stephen let a bitter smile sit on his lips.
“How is he innocent?” Stephen implored in a faux imploring tone.
“He didn’t…He didn’t…” Steve looked around hyper-aware of the rest of his team sitting in the cells around him. From his position, he could only see Barnes, Wilson, and Barton.
“Didn’t kill Tony’s parents?” Stephen put out the words he knew Rogers would never.
Rogers’ gaze immediately snapped to Barton and Wilson both of whom were looking at him with anger. Anger, that confused the Captain.
“Don’t worry about hiding your little secret.” Stephen smiled. “I have let them know about the final prize of this little game you played against all the other Avengers, against the world. Told them that they, like good soldiers rallied behind their Captain not for a great cause but rather to save his best buddy. Left their families, their children, their credibility, and their freedom to fulfill Captain’s little dream of having his buddy by his side.” Stephen said in a fake pleasant voice as he watched horror dawn on Rogers’ face with satisfaction.
“Let me tell you, none of them are very happy with you right now. They aren’t in your corner anymore, Wanda is out of the question, and Romanoff…well she has always been in her own corner. So that’s that. And Barnes is… well, he too isn’t going to say much.”
Rogers who had geared up to spit something at Wanda being ‘out of question’ forgot all about her as Barnes’ name was mentioned. Typical.
“Bucky” he called out. Barnes simply stared at the floor.
“What did you do to him? What did you do to his arm?” Rogers thundered at Stephen.
“What if I told you that we ripped it away from him and destroyed it? You know, for justice?” Stephen raised a brow, “but you wouldn’t know much about that, would you?”
Barnes looked up at the mention of his arm for a moment and then turned his eyes back to the floor, well aware of the fact that his arm was safe and sound. He would tell his friend later. But for now, Rogers didn’t know. And that is how Stephen wanted it to be.
“You can’t-” Rogers started. “Bucky is innocent.”
“He indeed is.” Stephen agreed. That drew Rogers short.
But before the foolish man could get his hopes up, Stephen tsked. “Hmm let me correct myself. He indeed was. Innocent that is. Not anymore. Not after both of you fought against the Avengers. Not after you sneaked around when and where you weren’t supposed to. Not when instead of surrendering and letting Tony help him, you dragged him all around and turned him into a criminal.”
Rogers opened his mouth again “That’s not-”
“You” Stephen cut him off “are a selfish bastard. Even now as you sit here with these idiots whose lives you have positively destroyed you can only think about one person. No remorse whatsoever.” Stephen spat.“For your information, Rogers, all of you will be tried in the court.”
“Bucky has done nothing wrong. We have done nothing wrong. I was doing the right thing and everyone knows it!” Steve managed to get out and Stephen lost the last bit of restraint he had kept over himself.
The anger that had consumed him when Friday had informed him about where Tony was, what he had been shown, how he had been betrayed, and how the two supersoldiers were beating him down, and how Tony was not even putting up a proper fight anymore, how he was about to lose against these two men, all of that anger burst out at Rogers's endless self-righteousness, at his utter and absolute selfishness.
“You bastard! Right thing? Do you think using lethal force against non-enhanced police officers was the right thing? Do you think throwing civilians in the oncoming traffic was the right thing? Collapsing a tunnel on a busy road…was that the right thing? Do you know how many people have suffered injuries, do you know how many people fucking died in your crusade to save one fucking man?” Stephen growled.
Rogers's big surprised eyes clearly showed he hadn’t ever worried about the destruction he left behind and no one had really made him face it, or made him hold accountability for it. He looked lost at the words.
“You thought it right to gather a team of these idiots and fight against those who were only trying to help you? You very well knew how powerful and clever Tony is, he could have helped Barnes but you refused! Your selfish, self-centered ass didn’t bother to think about the consequences of your actions. You wanted to save your best friend but do you think you did the right thing when as we speak Tony’s best friend is lying in a hospital bed, paralyzed? The great Captain America and his buddy didn’t even fucking look back!” Stephen roared.
Horror colored Rogers's face as if he hadn’t expected that someone would get damaged by his actions. As if it was unexpected for a man to be injured after falling from the sky. Rogers had never truly cared about anything other than what he set his mind on. And whoever came in between didn’t matter. Like Rhodey, like Tony. Just collateral damage.
Stephen felt a new wave of anger flash through him at the thought of his Tony, lying in a hospital bed, body injured, his trust beyond broken. All because of this man. How he wanted to kill this man in cold blood. But he couldn’t. So for now his words will have to do.
He raised his voice“And what about Tony huh Rogers? Why did you do that to him? Why did you hide his parent's murder from him??” Stephen slapped his head mockingly. “Oh, how stupid of me! Of course, it was because you couldn’t let Tony know about that. Of course because since your friend was the one to murder them now it's your secret to keep. How could Tony have any right to know it? It was all in the past. We can’t change what happened, right? What’s the use of talking about it now? As long as your friend is safe, fuck everyone else right? RIGHT?” Stephen thundered as Rogers flinched back. Yet no remorse in his eyes. Only defiance. Expected.
He took a deep breath and whispered, “For you to think that it was alright for a son to not know the truth about their parent's death, you must have really hated your parents, right Rogers? Was your mother terrible or your father? Did you hate them? Did you not care about them? Was that what made it alright to keep someone else’s parents' murder secret? ”
Taken aback by the words, Rogers bristled, “You have no right to speak about my parents!”
“So your parents matter and your feelings as their son matter, your feelings are valid huh? I have no right?” Stephen’s voice rose again, “Then who the fuck gave you the right to decide how Tony was supposed to react to his parent's death?” Steve flinched back at the fury flashing on Stephen’s face as he raged “Who gave you the right to expect that Tony would remain calm after watching his own father being punched to death by a metal arm, who gave you the right to expect that Tony should fucking be a bigger person after watching his mother being choked to death? Who gave you the right to keep this from him?”
Stephen roared, “Who the fuck do you think you are Rogers? You lied! And then you had the audacity to stand there like a statue and watch as Tony had to see his parents being brutally murdered with his own eyes. Had to learn that you, his teammate, someone he considered a friend had known all along! You, instead of apologizing, groveling at his feet, fought him when he went after Barnes as any child would go after their parent's murderer, and you and your buddy over there beat him down.Two against one. How much more shameless could you have gotten Rogers? How much more selfish could you be?” Stephen spat.
Rogers was shaking his head. In shock. In denial.
Stephen was far from done.
“And while you two descended into monsters, forgot that there was a baseline human under that suit, forgot that that human was once your teammate, Tony didn’t. Tony still held back, still didn’t go all out despite his grief.” Stephen bit out.
Rogers looked up at him in shock, as if this too was surprising.
Stephen shook his head at the man’s ignorance, “Rogers, Tony has demolished entire terrorist rings, has fought beings way way more powerful than you, has intelligence you could only dream of, has a suit that if Tony had wished could have leveled you, Barnes, Zemo and the entire fucking bunker in a second.”
Rogers looked alarmed.
“But he didn’t, he held back, would have held back until the end, would have probably allowed you two to beat him down, would have probably allowed himself to die at your hands if…if I hadn’t entered the bunker. Only when he thought that I was entering into danger he went all out and both of you were knocked out within seconds.” Stephen pointed out with a sneer.
Rogers looked stumped. The man clearly hadn’t seen the obvious. Had been too blinded by his own protectiveness. Had once again underestimated Tony. Had once again taken Tony’s restrain as an evidence of his own superiority. A reality check was sorely needed and that’s exactly what Stephen was here for.
“You are responsible for everything that went wrong Rogers. If only you had told Tony the truth beforehand in a controlled environment, if Tony had been given the time and space to grieve his parents, if Tony hadn’t been exposed to the truth so violently, hadn’t had to see his own parents being brutally murdered with his own eyes with the murderer standing two feet away, if he had been spared that cruelty, and if he hadn’t then been hit with the fact that you, someone my Tony considered a friend had betrayed him he would have…he would have…” Stephen broke off as he took another deep breath unable to finish the words, unable to think of a scenario of Tony being treated better by this man when the bitter reality was just so fresh.
Reining in his emotions, he continued, “It’s easy to blame Tony for all of you, always has been, easy to say that he should have understood, shouldn’t have attacked. But Rogers, remember that none of this would have happened if you had been a better human being.” Stephen said with a shake of his head at the man.
“You think too highly of yourself Rogers. But keep it in mind that you might be a super soldier in many people’s eyes, the idol of virtue and everything good in this world. But to me, you are not even a human. Even monsters are kinder than you.” Stephen spat.
The man seemed to have lost all his words.
“And” Stephen continued, “remember that the world will see it too.” Rogers’ head snapped up, lips ready to form a protest at the prospect of everyone seeing his truth.
“The world will find out. And if you even think that you could call upon Tony’s endless kindness and take advantage of it…remember I’m standing by his side. And I have not even a speck of mercy for you or your lot.” Stephen's voice rang through the cell.
Defeated at hearing the promise in Stephen’s voice, Rogers sank back onto the seat, eyes unseeing.
His work here was done for now. Stephen turned, moving towards the door. But just before stepping out, he had one last thing to say, “Your chapter is over. I will make sure Tony sees what is good for him, and good for the world and what is not. And who do you think Tony would listen to? You or me?”