A New Era
The moment Tony stepped through the temporal door, his eyes fell on the body nearby. Seeing it in person, swarmed by people, was a lot different than the breaking news videos. All of the Avengers had seen more dead bodies than anyone should ever have to, but knowing that this one was brought down by the shield in a brutal and flashy manner - that hurt him more than even the man’s life being ripped away.
“Boss - my system time sync was just overridden.” Friday announced in his ear. “We have stepped backwards in time.”
Tony responded by tearing his eyes away from the body to look at his watch. She was right - Loki had not only sent him to the scene, but given him extra time, meaning the videos probably had not even hit the news yet.
The implications of stepping into another time - another branch? - were lost in Tony’s mind as a not-as-distant-as-he-wished noise of a gun shot rang out. They most certainly had not fought a mad titan and lost half the universe to be taken down by an asshole with a patriotism complex.
“Friday, find them.” Tony said as he ducked away from the crowd, pulling his jacket closed so no one would see the arc reactor. Not that really any eyes had even noticed him or his arrival with the commotion.
“On it.”
There wasn’t time to waste, so Tony started moving immediately, following the first sight of a blood trail he could see. Upon entering a warehouse, Tony turned and froze in his tracks. More blood, like someone had been hit or shot.
“Boss, on the other side of the forward wall - Captain Rogers.”
“Capsicle!” Tony called out, jogging towards the wall to swing around it, finding Steve sitting on the floor there with his arm clutched against his chest. “Shit, Steve.”
“Tony? Why are you here?” Steve asked, watching Tony come closer.
Tony tapped the side of his sunglasses, “Friday, analyze.”
“Tony - Answer me.” Steve said, then let out a gasp of pain when Tony gave a slight tug on his arm to get a better look. Underneath where he had been clutching his arm was a bullet wound in his chest.
“Spiral fractures found in the left radius and ulna. Oblique fracture of the left humerus. Gunshot wound in the upper right chest. Ballistic analysis is inconclusive without sight of the bullet. Blood loss approximately 2-4% of total volume. He will fully heal in 3-7 days.” Friday paused for a moment. “But realignment is required. I would suggest two people for the task.”
“Got it.” Tony tapped the arc reactor, the nano technology spreading out across his body to form the suit. “I’m here because I saw the video going live. Where’s the fight and who can I hurt for doing this to you?”
“Tony, you’re not-”
“Stop telling me I’m not capable when you’re the super soldier with a broken arm and a gunshot wound!” Tony raised his voice, then leaned down to spray some of his healing spray on the gunshot wound. “Tell me where they are, Steve.”
Steve stared up at Tony for a half a moment before he glanced towards a doorway at the other end of the warehouse. “They went that way… But Tones, please… Please be careful.”
“I’ll be careful as long as you don’t die here.” Tony responded, then turned and let his repulsors kick in, taking him up and out of the warehouse to scan the surrounding buildings.
“The next warehouse on your right, Boss.” Friday spoke, showing Tony the coordinates on the suit’s HUD.
“Full power thrusters.” Tony practically growled out, dipping towards the line of warehouses at high speed.
Inside, Bucky was laid out on the ground, but seemed to be starting to stir. Walker had just ripped the wing off of Sam’s Falcon armor, and was getting ready to hit Sam like he had hit the Flag Smasher with the shield. Tony’s eyes went wide, and he realized what Loki meant - he could see how this unhinged man had killed both Sam and Bucky repeatedly in various timelines - branches?
For a genius, he was still confused about the new territory.
“Friday, as soon as we engage, analyze combat style.” Tony said right before he lifted his hands and slammed into Walker, thankfully saving Sam before he could take a blow.
“Analyzing.” Friday said as Tony slammed Walker against a wall, then received a hard punch in return.
For a brief second, Tony regretted suiting up as Iron Man today, because the punch actually knocked him back a good foot. But he recovered, and dodged the next hit before it could land, Walker’s momentum bringing him forward. Tony turned and engaged his repulsor, getting strength behind landing an elbow into the middle of Walker’s back, launching him forward off his feet. In an instant, Walker rolled forward and grabbed the shield he had dropped, whipping around to block a blast of energy from Tony. Tony cursed under his breath as the energy bounced off the shield and hit him in the shoulder, making him stumble backwards.
“Fighting style analyzed.” Friday announced while a whole new array of information popped up on the HUD. “Ready to engage.”
“Let’s do this.” Tony responded as he grabbed Walker’s fist, blocking a blow from the shield with his right arm.
He immediately regretted blocking that hit and realized that, unless he got his hands on far more vibranium, he was going to need a thicker suit with his injuries from the infinity stones. Nano tech was, obviously, amazing - but the old school suits had the power of protection.
Still, Tony just let out a grunt of pain and went on the full defensive, blocking each punch and kick as they came. Walker was in a rage, and the serum spread wildfire through his veins. They had dealt with so many reiterations of the serum that nothing felt shocking - nothing until now. Tony was being backed into a corner, but he knew it, and could see both Bucky and Sam stirring. He needed to keep Walker distracted - trying to jet would just mean getting grabbed and slammed around. So instead he kept the crazed man’s attention, blocking a barrage of hits and landing very few in return.
Just as Tony was feeling a burn in his lungs, Bucky grabbed Walker from behind and lifted him, slamming him hard against the ground beneath them, cracking the concrete. Walker twisted and kicked his legs out, knocking Bucky off his feet with a surprised yelp, but before he could pull his arm back to strike Bucky with the shield, Tony hit Walker in the back with a blast, making him tumble forward again.
“Get the shield!” Sam called out as he recovered, forcing himself up off the ground.
“Buck, down!” Tony yelled, sending off a blast from his chest as Walker tried to stand, knocking him back again.
This time, Walker recovered a lot faster, his adrenaline still forcing him to keep going. He blocked another blast, sending the reflection towards Bucky, who had to roll away to avoid being hit. “The Avengers need to retire! This is a new era, for new faces, ones that people can count on!”
“Count on to what? Kill people?” Tony remarked, catching the shield as it was thrown at him. He was unprepared for Walker to deliver a kick directly to his chest as he caught the shield, making Tony stumble and drop the shield once more.
Friday’s voice made Tony falter for a moment, “Boss, he cracked the face of the arc reactor. Power capacity has greatly decreased.”
“Well… That could be an issue.” Tony muttered in response, wincing as he recovered from the kick.
“To protect the world, instead of destroying it. We can choose threats to deal with! Why avenge anything instead of prevent?” Walker slammed the shield into Tony’s torso, knocking him back more.
“Not this shit again.” Tony grunted out, his mind flashing back to what he knew of the Project Insight meltdown.
Then Walker slammed the vibranium flat into his chest, effectively cutting off Tony’s thoughts, but he couldn’t get the momentum to push Tony himself back before Bucky grabbed him again and pulled him back, scrambling to grab at the shield. Sam joined the fight now, managing to land a solid punch on Walker’s jaw before he got hit backwards into Tony, who caught him with ease. Bucky got his hands on the shield while Walker was distracted and tried to pull it off. But Walker was fast and in a violent rage and sprung himself at Bucky, pinning him hard to the floor and getting a solid punch into Bucky’s face.
The idea that the government had decided someone could dress like Captain America and become judge, jury and executioner did not sit well with Tony. Especially not after everything they had gone through. Especially not after the accords, the fighting, everything they had been through and lost just to comply with the government who was now going against their own word.
The thought made Tony’s blood run cold.
Tony grabbed the back of Walker’s uniform and yanked him backwards, slamming him to the ground on his back. This time, Bucky spoke up as he was getting back to his feet, “That’s what you just did, John! You avenged your friend! And at what cost!?”
“He doesn’t know or care about the cost. He’s just a puppet.” Tony said as he practically stomped his foot down on Walker’s chest, pinning him for a moment while Bucky grabbed for the shield.
“He doesn’t deserve this shield anymore!” Walker called as he pulled against Bucky’s grip.
Bucky growled and twisted the shield. “Yeah, you think that? Well younever will!”
A howl of pain ripped from Walker’s throat as Bucky twisted his arm in the same way he had done to Steve, effectively shattering the bones and forcing him to let go of his grip on the shield. Vengefully, Bucky punched Walker with his vibranium arm, knocking him out cold with one hit. Bucky stumbled backwards, somewhat panting as he took a step back, exhausted despite also being a super soldier as well. The shield slid from his grip, clattering to the ground where Sam leaned down to grab it.
There was a long quiet that was disturbed only by the sound of the three men catching their breath collectively. Maybe they were getting old after all. The quiet was disturbed further by a soft buzzing sound from Friday running diagnostics already, showing a list of the bruises, scrapes and overall damage on the suit’s HUD.
The sound, practically inaudible to most, caught Bucky’s attention and his eyes looked over the Iron Man suit while his brain started to move again. “Tony, what the hell? You’re supposed to be taking a break from superhero business!”
“Couldn’t let you guys have all the fun.” Tony shrugged, though he realized now why he should be taking a break. His body was revolting, his right arm was on fire, and he felt absolutely exhausted from a short fight. “Bucky, are you hurt? You’re bleeding too and-“
“Steve-!” Bucky turned as he remembered Steve was injured, taking off back towards the other building. “If those Flag Smashers come back for vengeance—“
Bucky didn’t finish the thought, a thought that Tony had not considered before.
“Brace yourself, Sam.” Tony warned before he grabbed Sam with both arms, his thrusters rushing them to keep up with Bucky’s speed as he carefully maneuvered around the warehouses so they could all get back to Steve.
There had been rare moments in Tony’s life where he remembered feeling true fear. Most of them had happened in the last ten years - and most of those had been directly related to Steve or, at times he had not thought about, Bucky too. This was one of those moments. He had hated leaving Steve alone and injured, but Loki’s warning that Walker could have killed Sam and Bucky stuck to him.
Please. He pleaded silently in his mind as they moved back towards Steve, You better not have bled out on us.