tw: death, blood.

chapter twenty
╰  ( civil war )

💫 ━━ SURVEILLANCE footage from december 16th, 1991 fills the screen.

Paisley is standing by the screen, watching with wide eyes as she witnesses someone's death.

"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within? That's dead. forever." Zeno smiles wickedly.

Tony freeze's when he looks at the screen, it's familiar, it's something he's seen before. His eyes move frantically as he watches whatever is happening play out on the screen in front of him. "I know that road. What is this?"

The video continues to play. A car that the Winter Soldier had forced off the road crashes into a tree. Smoke is quick to form and the front of the car is completely wrecked. The Winter Soldier rides up on his motorbike and slows to a stop by the wrecked vehicle. The driver lies on the ground beside the car, they're trying to say something. It's Tony's father, Howard Stark.

"Tony-pony." Paisley looks up at the person she would consider an uncle. She's heard stories about Tony's parents, and she never figured that she would be watching their death.

Tony shakes his head. "What are they saying?"

The volume on the screen increases, and the cracking static voices fill the room. "Help my wife. Please. Help."

The Winter Soldier walks over and grabs Howard up by his hair. He stares at Howard's bloody face, a gasp leaving Howard's lips as it all happens. "Sergeant Barnes?" He states, knowing he realizes who he's looking at.

Maria Stark, Tony's mother cries out for her husband. "Howard!"

Tony looks away from the screen, glaring at Bucky who looks towards the man softly. His past is haunting him, and it'll never stop, his life has been stolen from him.

Paisleys fingers are growing blue, holding her magic there as she readies herself for whatever is next.

The Winter Soldier in the video pounds Howard hard in the face with his metal fist. Killing him instantly. Howard slumps dead as the Winter Soldier pulls him back into the car and places him in the drivers seat, placing his head against the steering wheel.

Tony stares in horror as the screen focuses in on his mother. Maria is in the passenger seat with blood streaked down her face from an injury. The Winter Soldier walks around the car and grips her throat. Strangling her. When she stops moving, dead, the Winter Soldier aims a gun at the surveillance camera and shoots.

The room is still. Steve and Paisley watch Tony anxiously, waiting for him to snap. Tony lunges towards Bucky, but Steve stops him quickly.

"Tony. Tony."

Tony who's filled with grief and has tears threatening to spill, looks at Steve. "Did you know?"

Steve lies through his teeth. "I didn't know it was him."

Tony shakes his head. "Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?!"

Steve stills, but nods. "Yes."

Tony steps back, reengaging the Iron Man helmet of his suit. He punches Steve to the floor and deflects gunfire from Bucky, disarming him too. He grabs Bucky and flies across the chamber, slamming him onto the floor, then placing his foot on the Winter Soliders metal arm. Steve's shield hits Iron Man, the action distracting him.

Paisley stands there frozen. Her two uncles, Steve and Tony are fighting. She isn't sure what to do, it she should blast the room, or alter their surroundings, put them to sleep.

She's not thinking when she shoots her hands out at Steve. She knew he could take it. She knew they all could. The blue bubble of magic hits Steve in chest and knocks him to the floor. "Stevie, stop."

Steve doesn't stop. And he charges at Tony again, and again, and again until he manages to get ahold of Tony. That's when Paisley acts again, sending blue towards them both, hoping that it'll only temporarily harm one of them.

It hits Steve again. And he's taken back by it. He turns, forgetting all about Tony for a slit second. "Pais, what are you doing?"

Paisley struggles, but flicks her fingers and a line of magic surrounds everyone, holding them in their place. It cracks and flickers, but it's holding. "You — you are my uncle, Stevie. And Tony is my uncle too. He's my Tony-Pony. I can't let this happen."

Zemo shot an electrical bullet, one that would shock Paisley just enough that it would do a small about of harm. He wants them to kill each other, and the little girl is in the way of his plan succeeding.

Paisleys hands drop as she falls to the floor shaking. Steve believed it had been Tony. He wasn't in the right mind. He wasn't thinking. And the blast looked just like one that would come out of Tony's blasters.

"Why did you do that!" Steve yells out, charging at Tony. He punches the suit, hitting it left and right and tries to do as much damage as he can.

Paisley continues to shake on the floor. No one does anything. They're to busy wrapped up in grief to notice that she needs help, and that she could keep the Avengers together.

"That - that wasn't me!" Tony is trying to protect himself. But it's making it difficult when he's being attached by two super soliders who won't stop at nothing now.

Bucky attacks Tony, causing a blast to hit a wall and make things collapse. It falls fo the ground, sending things tumbling and shaking. There's sparks and fire.

Tony, Ironman, is trapped. He's underneath something that had fallen. He can hear Steve tell Bucky to leave, to get out well he still can. He sticks out his arm and fires a blast, hoping that it'll hit Bucky, but it misses.

"It wasn't him, Tony. HYDRA had control of his mind!" Steve is trying to plead for his friends life.

"Move!" Tony shouts, but Steve doesn't.

"It wasn't him!" Steve yells out as Tony flies above him. Steve grabs ahold of his ankles mid air and smashes it. His boot fails, and it's been damaged critically. The fight continues with Steve and Bucky teaming up to defeat Tony. At points it works, and at other points it doesn't.

Tony fires and hits the giant hinge nearby which explodes, cutting of Bucky's escape route. He flies up, blocking two swings from an iron pipe that Bucky held, then grabs the Winter Solider around the neck from behind. "Do you even remember them?"

Bucky struggles. "I remember all of them."

Bucky pushes them both from the walkway, Steve jumping in just at the right time to deflect their fall. Bucky lands on a platform while Tony and Steve land on the concrete floor besides an opening in the wall where snow is outside.

Steve tilts his head. "This isn't gonna change what happened."

Tony shock his head angrily. "I don't care. He killed my mom."

"Stop." Paisleys voice is heard, but no one sees her. A blue mist of energy is seen and everyone's eyes flash blue before it goes quiet.

"He wasn't him." Steve stated once more, but Tony didn't listen, he threw a punch here and there until he managed to pin Steve to the ground.

Tony zaps Steve, who is thrown back into the wall with a thud. Bucky tries to hold Tony as the man in red and gold unleashes an energy beam.
Bucky grips the glowing core in the chest of the Iron Man Suit. A blast of energy knocks him down, his metal arm completely blown away now. Tony zaps him again, and readies himself to do it once more until Steve rushed forward and held his shield in front of himself and his friend.

Bucky lies on the ground, bloody and bruised.

Tony grabs caps shield and flings it away, shortly blasting Steve and as sending him head over heels after he threw the shield away. Steve rises from his place on the ground. Tony blocks his punches then zaps Steve to his knees.

Steve looks up bloodied. "He's my friend."

"So was I." Tony punches Steve then throws him back towards the gaps in the wall where he could have fallen to a death. "Stay down. Final warning."

Steve Rogers struggles to his feet, but he stands. He raises his fists and stares Tony down. "I can do this all day."

It was a blur for Paisley. She isn't sure how she made it to where she was now, or how she was able to walk after what felt like a major kick to the ass. But somehow, she's walking and using a hand to lean against the wall.

She watches with wide eyes, scared wide eyes, as Steve brings his shield down onto Tony's chest. The ark reactor that once glowed now is void of any colour.   It's now that Paisley realizes that no matter what she does, things will happen.

She blasts Steve, sending him to his feet. She moves forward, taking a deep breath before she pulls the captain america shield from Tony's chest.

Tony-pony is knocked out cold. He's still breathing, but his eyes are closed and it's obvious that he won't wake up right away.

"Leave, Stevie. Take Buck and go before there's more trouble." Paisley points to Bucky, she smiles sadly.

"What about you?"

"Tony won't let anything happen. Go, I'll make sure he's okay."

Steve and Bucky left after that. And when they were gone, no longer in Paisleys view, she slumped to the floor right beside her uncle.